Vampire Diaries Blood Brothers

~Chapter Fifty Six~

I trudged down the hall, glancing down at my dying cellphone as the notification bar remained empty. The other night I hadn't shown up to the Founders Party because Uncle John forced me to stay home and study. Stefan was expecting me but he didn't text or call to see where I was or how I was doing. I'd hoped he'd come over and surprise me, but that didn't happen. Was he still ignoring me? The Miss Mystic Falls Beauty Pageant was this weekend. He knew how important this was to me, he couldn't bail. Not this time. I needed him. 
   "Whoa." I gasped, reaching for the locker as I stumbled back. As if an instinct, his hand reached out and pulled me back to my feet before I hit the unsuspecting student behind me.
   "Sorry," I mumbled, regaining my balance as I lifted my gaze to his weary eyes. "Hey, Matt, are you OK? You look... Awful."
   Dark bags hung from Matt's lower eyelids, the same way they had when he worked a long shift at the Grill, or when his mom Kelly returned to Mystic Falls. His hair was sticking up in every direction and the side of his chin was smudged with some sort of condiment. Despite his quick reflex in helping me, he seemed strangely disoriented. 
   "Oh, uh, thanks. I mean, um..." He scrunched the side of his face, bowing his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I'm just..."
   "Hey," I murmured, resting my hand on his bicep. I tilted my head, finding his worn grey-blue eyes fixed on the floor. "Are you OK?"
   He nodded, glancing towards a locker while he continued scratching his head. "Yeah, uh, fine."
   "Matt, you used to date my sister, remember?" I raised my eyebrows, shifting his face to force his gaze on mine. "What's wrong?"
   He hesitated, debating whether or not to answer. Sighing, I leaned around the row of lockers and banged on Alaric's classroom door. He swung around in his chair, eyebrows raised expectantly as I poked my head through the door. "Hey Alaric, Matt and I are just gonna be a sec, OK?" 
   He nodded, trusting that I had a good reason for missing the first part of his lesson. "Yeah, OK, sure. Everything alright?"
   I offered a tight lip smile, nodding as I ducked back into the hall. Grabbing Matt's arm, I dug my fingers into his sleeve and dragged him outside onto the lawn just as the bell rang. "Eva," he groaned, shrugging his arm out of my grasp. "C'mon, we have to go to class. Mr. Saltzman-"
   "Don't worry about Alaric," I cut in, tucking some loose strands of hair behind my ear. "I'm here to talk about you. What's up? Something happened, I know it."
   "Eva-"
   "Matt," I pleaded. "I know our relationship... Changed, after the accident, but, well, I miss you. And I want you to know that I'm here for you, always."
   Matt finally lifted his head, his eyes full of sorrow and expression pained. "Well, it's my mom," he confessed. "She uh, she left town."
   "Oh, Matt." I shrugged my back behind my arm, reaching up on my tiptoes before wrapping my arms around his neck. I rested my chin on his shoulder, squeezing him tight. "I'm so sorry. I-"
   "No, Eva, you don't get it," he sighed, pushing me back. "I told her to leave. I told her that I was better off without her."
   I frowned, folding my arms across my chest as a cool Fall breeze blew through the still air. "I don't understand."
   "I wanted her to leave," he explained. "But she said she wouldn't. She said she was going to try and redeem herself as a mother and stay. But then, at the party..." He shook his head. "I caught her making out with Tyler and we got into a fight. She ran off and I haven't seen her since."
   "How do you know she left town? I mean, no offense but Kelly isn't exactly the most stable of people. Have you checked the hospital? Or maybe ask the Sheriff-"
   "No, Eva, I'm sick of you slandering my mom like that. She's not perfect, but that doesn't mean you have the right to talk about her that way. Anyway, she left town." He reached into his bag and pulled out an envelope with Matt scrawled to the front in messy writing. "She wrote me a letter, stuck it to the front door last night."
   I took the letter, smoothing out the paper before reading it aloud. "Dear Matt, I'm sorry to leave without saying goodbye but it's better this way. I know I hurt you, and for that I'm truly sorry. I came back to be a better mother but I failed. It's clear to me now that you're better off without me so I'm leaving, for good this time. You don't have to worry about any more surprise visits. If this one has taught me anything, it's that you're better off without me so, as a parting gift, I promise that you will never see me again. Have a good life, love Mom."
   I blinked, my eyes brimming with tears while my hands trembled as I handed the letter back. "I know," he murmured, stuffing it back in its envelope. "She also left me some cash," he continued, discreetly pulling a rolled-up wad from an internal pocket of his bag.
   My mouth fell open. "Oh my gosh, Matt!"
   "I know. 5 g's, can you believe it?" He shook his head, hiding it with the envelope. "I have no idea where she got the money from, it's probably stolen, but, yeah."
   I wrapped my arms around his again, squeezing tighter as he returned the gesture. Kelly was crazy and completely out of sorts, but how could she do this to Matt? She could have at least said goodbye. "I'm so sorry Matt."
   He sighed, wiping the corner of his eye. "Yeah, me too."
   "Is there anything I can do?" I asked, letting him go. "Does Caroline know?"
   "No, and no. Uh, I'm sure I'll be fine," he said as though he were trying to convince himself. "But thank you."
   "Well, would you like me to tell Caroline for you? She's not always the most sensitive person but having someone who loves and cares about you is better than having no one at all," I pointed out.
   He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, no. She's with Bonnie, I don't want to ruin that. I'll tell her later."
   My eyes widened. "Wait, Bonnie's back?" A hopeful gasp caught in my throat as I thought about Bonnie, my best friend who sacrificed her own Summer to sit with me in my bedroom while I mourned my parents and sister. 
   Matt frowned, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah she came back on Friday. Caroline's been talking about it forever, I can't believe you didn't know."
   "Yeah," was all I could manage as tears welled behind my eyes. Bonnie was mad at me for what happened to her grandmother, I got that, but I'd been trying so hard to reach out to her. I had apologized over and over again, stolen Alaric's phone even just to get her to hear me. And what did I get? Shunned. And not just by Bonnie, but Caroline too. Was this because I kept the secret of vampires from Caroline?
   "Anyway," Matt disrupted my thoughts. "I uh, I think I'm gonna go."
   "Right," I forced a smile. "Alaric will be wondering where we are," I agreed.
   "Oh, um, I actually think I might go home. I just need some time, you know?" I nodded, understanding more than he could possibly know. "Mind telling Mr. Saltzman for me?"
   I shook my head, adjusting my books balancing in my arm. "Not at all. And Matt?" He raised his eyebrows expectantly. "If you need anything, ever, call me, OK?"
   He nodded, squeezing me one last time before heading off. "Thanks E, you're a real friend."