That Kind of Love Never Dies

Prologue

Elena swiftly got out of her car and closed the door in a harsh fashion. She unlocked the door to her old house and walked in, slightly reminiscent of all the good memories she had in the place. Everything looked like it had before she left. And to think, of all the scenarios she could have come back to, she returned home because of a funeral.

Elena slowly treaded down the hallway full of pictures framed on the walls. There was one with her and Jeremy sitting on the porch swing with ice cream cones. Another was with Caroline and Bonnie at graduation. She even had one with Stefan practically lifting her off of her feet in a hug before she left for college. The further she walked down, the more depressed she became. Family portraits were hung in order by year.

There was the first one in 1992, before they had Jeremy and right after they had her. Miranda, holding baby Elena, and Grayson were sitting in lounge chairs with innocent smiles on their faces. As Elena went down the line, the pictures got more and more recent, just as the people in them aged older and older. Elena stopped at the last one in the row.

It was taken when her parents and Jeremy decided to surprise her in New York. About three months ago, it was taken right in front of the Statue of Liberty. They were all posed like cheesy tourists, which Elena absolutely adored.

And that was the last picture there would be of the whole family together. 'No more cliché family photos…' Elena thought bitterly. 'How did everything get so bad in just seven years?'

The door swung open and Jeremy entered with a briefcase. Elena looked up from her hands at the same down the briefcase was put down. That was when the siblings rushed towards each other with long strides and the sounds of sobbing filled the air.

"Oh, god, Jer...I can't believe-"

"-that they're gone...yeah, me too. It was horrible, Elena. I can't even stop thinking about it."

Elena squeezed him even tighter at the thought of what happened. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. And the fact that I wasn't even in the damn town, Jeremy…" Elena bursts into tears once more.

"No, no, hey. Nobody could've predicted that this would happen. You would know first-hand from experience, Elena."

"But you had to wake up alone! You were there for me, Jeremy! I should have been here for you! For them...I should have been here...and now they're dead. They're both dead...I can't...if I think about what you had to go through, and how I didn't even get to say goodbye to them, I can't breathe," Elena whispers, practically hyperventilating.

"Shh, shh, Elena. You're breaking down. I'm here."

"But they're not…our parents are dead, and I'm not okay. And I might never be okay. It was a car crash, Jer. I feel like hell, like I'm going to die…"

"Hey, Elena, I need you to calm down. We don't want you to relapse. Shh, it's okay..."

"It's not, Jeremy. It's not and you know it. These past years of my life have sucked beyond belief. I don't even know if I…"

"We'll travel, then. How does Europe sound? I know you've always wanted to visit Paris. Italy, maybe? We could travel anywhere you want to go. I promise you, we can move on. It'll all be in our past."

"I've been running for the past seven years, Jeremy. I can't keep doing it. I have to face what happened and I have to move on from it. Everything that happened, everything I went through...running isn't going to solve those problems."

"Of course, Elena. We'll do what you think is what's best. If you want to stay, then we'll stay."

"I do. I need to get a grip on my shit-filled life."