Matt doesn't hesitate, and he's relieved it's her this time that's moving forward. It's effortless to pull her into him, slip her arms around her thin waist and hold her tight. Elena needs a link to the life that used to belong to her, to a life that wasn't always so immersed in the supernatural.

He can give that to her. He wants to, to be an anchor in a world that constantly tilts itself off its axis.

"You're welcome," he whispers softly against her hair, tightening his hold just a bit.