AN: Enjoy!

Prompt by snoozin81 on LJ: Rebekah/Matt, look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay awhile.

Matt watched as she stormed across the school car park, her blonde hair flowing behind her in the wind. Her face was pinched with barely contained rage as she growled into her phone, oblivious to the world around her. She stopped walking when she reached the pavement, her blue eyes hardening at whatever was being said to her on the phone. She muttered something then promptly hung up. He watched as her enraged expression turned soft and a tear ran down her cheek before she swiped it away quickly. She smiled at the passing group of cheerleaders but even he could tell that it was fake. A smile that broken couldn't possibly be real. He knew that the emotion she was trying to hold back was bubbling just below the surface of her skin, begging to claw its way out. His eyes followed her as she began to stalk towards the entrance, her head down as she milled through the crowds of other students.

He climbed into his truck and reversed out of his space quickly, narrowly avoiding a Fiat as it sped past him. He navigated the car park easily, leaving the school building behind him as he edged out onto the familiar road home. He slowed down his speed when he caught up with her. He was surprised he had actually, he figured she would walk out of the school gates and then use her vampire speed to get home. He reached across the seat and rolled down the passenger side window as he pulled up beside her.

"Rebekah?" he called out. He needn't have bothered, she had heard the tell-tale sign of his truck as soon as he had started the engine. Normally, she would have ignored whoever it was but he was different. He treated her differently to the rest of their Scooby Gang. He looked at her as if she was a person and not an enemy; she had always thought that was stupid seeing as she could tear him apart in seconds but she appreciated it now. She turned when he called her name a second time.

"Need a ride?" he asked politely as she stared at him warily.

"No... thank you," she murmured, her gaze darting around the empty road as she wondered whether he was setting her up in a trap. She expected the Salvatore brothers to jump out at her any minute now and attack her with vervain but it was silent. "I don't really feel like going home right now," she confessed.

"Been there," he nodded empathetically. "You could always come to mine... if you want, that is."

She looked into his earnest blue eyes as he waited for her response. Everything in her told her she shouldn't but then he offered her an encouraging smile and she found herself opening the rusty door and settling herself into the leather seat. She breathed in the scent of the car deeply; it was a nice smell, she surmised. The scent of his blood enticed her as it pumped around his body but she was more drawn to the musky smell that was purely him. They sat in silence but, for once, she felt comfortable. Her home had been shrouded in quiet during the past few weeks. It seemed that, although their family had been reunited, they were strangers to each other. They seemed to frequent the manor at different times or when they were all there at one time, they did their best to avoid each other. Klaus had only called her today to yell at her for threatening Elena. He was choosing his doppelgänger bitch over his own sister.

"So, this is it..." Matt trailed off, breaking her from her reverie as he pulled into his drive way. He climbed out of the truck gracefully, despite his bigger stature. He quickly walked around the hood and opened her door. She smiled politely as she climbed down the step and followed him dutifully to the door.

"You're really going to invite me in?" she questioned incredulously.

"I probably shouldn't," he mused, scratching the back of his neck warily. "Rebekah, you can come in."

Her heeled boot rose in the air steadily as she slowly crossed the threshold, smirking when no barrier blocked her entrance. "You're either overly nice or overly stupid. Either is a risky trait to have." He chuckled at her musings as he threw his books onto the kitchen table. He gestured to the seat and she slowly sank into it, her defenses still in position as she watched his every move. "Is anyone else in?"

"Actually, it's just me," he smiled sadly and she felt a pang of something in her heart. Pity? It wouldn't be surprising, she pitied humans and their pathetic lives but this was different. She gasped softly as she realised it was sympathy, she cared that he was by himself.

"I'm sorry," she murmured before she could stop herself. He nodded to show he'd heard her as he moved over towards the counter. He flicked the kettle on as he gathered two mugs from the cupboard, tea bags and sugar from another cupboard and milk from the fridge. She watched him intensely and found that she felt peace simply looking on as he did something so mundane as making tea. He returned to the table a few minutes later, sliding one of the mugs across to her hand as he took a long sip of the hot drink.

"Why are you doing this?" she questioned, her eyes darting around the room as she prepared herself for when he told her it was all a joke and she was so gullible to believe that he would actually want her in his home.

He frowned, "what?"

"This," she spat, motioning with her hand the surrounding house. "Being nice to me," she expanded.

"Why do you expect the worst of people?" he asked.

She scoffed. "Believe me, when you have a brother who stabs you in the back, literally, you learn not to trust people. Everyone has an ulterior motive," she muttered as she brought the mug to her nose and she inhaled the scent, looking for any remaining traces of vervain.

"It's clean," Matt ensured. "It's sad you know, that you can't accept people's kindness."

She stared at her mug as she traced her finger around the rim. "Well, it's unnatural. People aren't normally kind to me."

"Maybe that's because you don't let them try," he noted.

"What do you mean by that?" she frowned, her blue eyes narrowing as she stared into his.

Matt laughed humourlessly. "I mean that you put up this bitchy front so no one can even get close enough to know you. You want people to like you and you want friends but you're too afraid to open yourself up. Believe me, you have every reason to not trust people but that doesn't mean you have to be nasty to them."

"Maybe they deserve it," she spat, thinking of Elena.

"No, they don't," he shook his head. "But you think that if you can't get them to like you, then you'll get them to hate you. At least that way, they still acknowledge you, right?"

Rebekah's eyes lowered in defeat as she mulled over his almost frighteningly accurate insight on her. He had pin-pointed her perfectly; she was too scared to be loved but also afraid to be ignored and forgotten so she settled for being hated. "How do you know all of that?"

"I'm pretty much unnoticeable. People don't tend to realise I'm even there so when they show their real selves, even if it's just for a second, I see it," he sighed.

She frowned. "Why are you even bothering trying to be nice to me? God knows, I've done some hateful things to your little band of friends."

"I know," he granted. "But I think that everyone deserves someone who is nice to them."

"But why me?" she asked, her eyes widening earnestly as she tried to understand him.

"It's always the bitchy girls who need kindness more. Behind that exterior that they put up, there's someone crying out for help but they're too scared to voice it," he decided, nodding his head, agreeing with his own words.

Rebekah allowed herself to relax, knowing that he wouldn't take advantage of her vulnerable state. He didn't. They talked late into the evening about inconsequential and totally mundane things that made her feel almost normal, something she hadn't felt in a few hundred years.

"I should go home," she muttered, checking the time.

"You don't have to," Matt continued at her startled gaze, "I have a spare room you could stay in."

"That's very kind of you," she laughed softly. "But, I will need to have a proper drink soon."

"Ah," he nodded. "Well, any time you need it..." he trailed off as he led her to the door.

She smiled softly. "Thank you."

"Do you need a ride?" he shivered as the cold air blew around him.

"No, I'll be fine. I don't feel the cold."

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled. "I forget that you're a vampire, sometimes."

So do I, her mind whispered as she stared at the boy who made her feel more human than she had in a very long time. "Thanks again," she murmured, leaning in to place a soft kiss onto his cheek.

Matt smiled softly as she sped off into the night, his hand touching the skin of his cheek that had heated up at the feel of her lips. "Anytime," he whispered softly into the cold night air.

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