Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to Vampire Diaries except my own writing; all rights go to the rightful owners.

A/N: A set of drabbles based upon Elena's journey from childhood to becoming a young woman, and the place her brother and his friends hold in her life.

Did You Do Something Different…?

Her entire life, Elena's older brother Jeremy had three best friends–'Ric and Damon. 'Ric was the smart one, the one with aspirations. Damon was the guy who always had a knack for getting into trouble, fights, antagonizing. Her brother was the neutral one, funny and smart. She watched them all during Jeremy's soccer games–as they all had signed up for the same team–and birthday parties and laughed along with them. They were nice to her, but didn't pay her much attention because of the three year age difference. For most 17 year olds, a 14 year old girl was a baby, their younger sister. For 20 year olds, a 17 year old was just a high school student. Now Elena was newly 19, the boys 21. It was her brother's 22nd birthday, and aside from torturing them all with Taylor Swift's '22', Elena didn't have many plans. See the weird friends her brother had acquired early in his life, watch him blow out a match because they hadn't bought candles, eat cake. What she didn't expect… Well, let's see.