Lucas sat in Matt's pickup truck outside of school. The blond could still feel his heart beating wildly. He knew it was reckless of him to have made that deal with Klaus, but there was no going back. Hopefully, Vicki was right about Elena's blood being the key to the Original Hybrid's hybrid problem.

If not, well that was something Lucas didn't want to think about.

For now, he just wanted Matt to hurry up and come outside so he could take his little brother home where he could let his little siblings reunite.

Lucas itched for a quick smoke, but he quelled the urge and instead grabbed his phone. He didn't have to waste his time opening any lock screen because he didn't have a password and couldn't be bothered to put one.

He scrolled through his contacts, noting that he would have to scrounge up money to get Vicki a new phone. He sighed at the thought and clicked on one of his contacts.

How's college going, nerd? I haven't seen you in ages and I have a hell of a story to tell you. Can't wait until Christmas. Wish I could see you sooner, but I respect your decision. I miss you.

Lucas looked at the message he had just typed and debated erasing the 'I miss you' so he didn't seem desperate.

Ultimately, Lucas left it and sent the message.

Christmas couldn't come sooner.

Hopefully, he and his little siblings will be out of Mystic Falls by then. With Vicki being a vampire, they could probably even live a bit comfortably for a while as long as Matt's morals don't get in the way.

A knock on the passenger side's window started Lucas out of his thoughts.

"Shit," Lucas softly cursed as he unlocked the door for a tired looking Matt.

Matt quietly got into the car and buckled up.

"What's wrong?"

Matt shook his head, "Everything's wrong. Jeremy's missing. Mom bailed on us. Vicki's dead but somehow Jeremy's seeing her. Vampires exist and all my friends are involved with the supernatural world somehow."

Lucas listened patiently to Matt's rant, knowing that as soon as they got home he would be able to lift his little brother's mood up. He also debated hiring a psychologist for him and his siblings as soon as they could afford it since they all had issues. For now though, he would have to help his little siblings to the best of his capabilities.

"How did my life turn into this mess?" Matt wondered. "Just last summer, I was a lifeguard at the pool and the only two problems I had in my life were that Elena was breaking up with me and I sucked at CPR."

Lucas snorted in amusement. He was sure that those weren't the only problems in Matt's life back then, but he didn't voice this thought.

"Stefan, Damon and Katherine. Choose one and blame them for everything that goes wrong. I'm sure that fifty percent of the time it's their fault anyways."

The other fifty percent was Elena, but Lucas was sure Matt didn't want to talk about that. Also, Matt would probably have to endure Vicki's full on hatred for Elena soon enough anyways, so he'd leave the wake up calls to Vicki.

Matt smiled. "Can't I pick all three?"

"Go big or go home, huh?" Lucas chuckled in amusement as he started up the engine of the truck. "As soon as we can, we're gonna replace this piece of junk."

With that being said, he started driving home.

"Sorry."

Lucas glanced at Matt's regretful face. "It was mom that got this truck, so don't worry about it."

"Not that."

"Then what?"

Matt sighed. "For forcing you to come back here. You had to give up that job offer just so you could come back and take care of me. You got out of this town but came back because of me. Because I couldn't properly take care of Vicki and she died."

Lucas' grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"You're my little brother. I'd choose you over some fancy job anytime."

"But you hate My-"

"And what happened to Vicki is on Damon and Stefan. Not you. Got it?"

Matt didn't answer.

Lucas forced himself to relax a bit. "I got you a surprise today."

"A surprise?" Matt slowly repeated, voice skeptical. "I don't really like surprises anymore."

"Oh, trust me, you'll love this one Matty."

Matt rolled his eyes, a small smile tugging on his lips. "Sure."

The conversation died out into a comfortable silence between them and Lucas turned on the radio.

::::

"Okay, I give. What's the surprise?" Matt curiously asked.

"If I told you it wouldn't exactly be a surprise."

With a knowing smirk, Lucas opened the door to their house. He immediately heard noises coming from the kitchen and figured that it was probably Vicki. Without a backward glance to a confused Matt, he walked towards the kitchen.

He was greeted with the sight of Vicki going through what seemed to be her fourth blood bag.

"Hungry, aren't we?" He teasingly said, despite the concern he was feeling.

Blood bags weren't easy to come by. Especially when he didn't want anyone but Matt finding out about Vicki for the time being. He had a feeling that Elena and her crew won't let Vicki be considering vampire Vicki's an addict taken up to eleven and fuck knows what other issues ghost Vicki had.

In response Vicki smirked at him, not even bothered to stop drinking.

"I have a surprise for you Victoria."

As if on cue, Matt walked into the kitchen. "Luke, whatever surprise you have I think I'm too tired for..."

Matt froze.

Vicki slowly set down her blood bag, tears already filling her eyes.

"Vicki...?" Matt tentatively uttered.

"Go on then, hug it out," Luke casually said, ignoring how emotional he himself was feeling.

Vicki didn't hesitate at all to vamp speed towards Matt and crashed into him in a hug.

"Matt..."

It was as if the hug made Matt realize that Vicki was real and it made the dam broke. Matt let the tears trail down his face as he hugged his sister in a fierce embrace.

Luke felt his phone vibrating and quietly walked out of the kitchen. He wasn't sure he could keep watching his little siblings crying anyways, even if they were tears of joy.

It was an unknown caller.

Forcing back a disappointed sigh, Luke picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Lucas."

Luke stilled. "...Klaus."

He could hear the hybrid chuckling on the other side. Oddly enough, the hybrid sounded happy and content. It made Luke unwillingly relax.

"You were right. Elena's blood is the key."

A relieved sigh escaped the eldest Donovan.

"What do you need a witch for?"

"A daylight ring."

"Consider it done."

Luke couldn't bite back the smile that tugged at his lips. Vicki would be able to walk in the daylight now and he didn't have to force Bonnie to make the ring.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Lucas."

With that, Klaus hung up. Immediately Lucas got a text from the same number with a motel address on it and a time.

Feeling a bit more confident that things really were starting to look up, Luke walked back into the kitchen to see Vicki and Matt sitting there conversing with one another.

'Guess Victoria hasn't started on the whole Elena thing yet...' he noted in amusement.

His amusement quickly faded away once the reality of the situation hit him.

Vicki wasn't going to rave about Elena being a bitch that didn't deserve Matt. Well...maybe she would do that too. Probably.

However, Vicki was also going to rave about Stefan and Damon. Vampires.

"We have to leave Mystic Falls as soon as we can."

Vicki and Matt both turned to look at him.

"What?" They asked in unison.

"This town is a safety hazard and I am not losing a sibling ever again. Pack up your bags. We're leaving."

Vicki snorted, "And go where? To your boyfriend's apartment?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Luke defensively asked.

"The asshole hasn't texted you in what? Four months? Get it through your head, he doesn't want you anymore."

Annoyance flared inside Luke. "We're just on a break while he finishes college."

"That's practically a break up."

"Vicki," Matt hissed in warning.

"No!" Vicki yelled, standing up. "I am tired of seeing Lucas crying over an asshole that can't even be bothered to send him a text and I am done seeing you hurt yourself because of your friends!"

For a moment, the Donovan siblings were quiet.

Luke, while slightly ashamed that his own little sister saw him crying sometimes, sighed.

"We can go somewhere else then."

"With what money?" Matt asked, arms crossed.

"Money's not an issue Matty," Vicki informed while letting her vamp features show.

Matt stared at Vicki for a while before sighing.

"We can't leave."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Matt looked at Vicki. "Do you want to just leave Jeremy? Tyler?"

Vicki bit her lips in thought.

Matt nodded as if he had proven his point.

"We can't leave because we have people we care about in this town. We can't leave them behind now when things are crap."

"We?" Luke asked. "The people in this town aren't my priority."

"No, Vicki and I are." Matt easily said.

Vicki smiled. "And you're not gonna leave us, right?"

'Never again,' Luke immediately thought.

Then he realized what his siblings were doing.

"Damn it."

The victorious smile Matt and Vicki shared annoyed him to no bounds.

"When this whole Klaus thing blows over, we'll leave. Deal?" Matt asked.

Luke crossed his arms. "On a few conditions."

"Which are?"

Luke looked at Vicki.

"I don't care if you're a vampire ghost hybrid, you're finishing High School with online classes. You're not going to let the others know you're alive until we get your blood addiction under control. If you abuse your compulsion, just don't get caught. No boyfriends named Jeremy or Tyler and no werewolf boyfriend either. No more drugs or excessive drinking. When something is wrong, you open your mouth and tell me. No dying on me ever again either."

Vicki slowly nodded.

"Good."

Then Luke looked at Matt.

"You're going to take vampire defense lessons from Alaric. Your priority is finishing school, not Elena. You're not allowed to be out late without telling me first. Don't piss off Klaus or his sister. No putting your friends before your own life. Don't risk your life, period. Am I being clear?"

It took Matt a bit, but he nodded anyways.

Vicki then giggled. "Okay, big brother, anything else?"

Luke thought for a moment.

"We're going to take family therapy at least twice a month."

Matt and Vicki started laughing.