"You're leaving."

Lizzie turned from the clothes she was stuffing into her bag guiltily, eyes sad as they landed on Landon.

"Not by choice," she admitted. "I was expelled."

"What?" Landon stepped inside the room. "I heard about Josie and the cafeteria, but kids here have done much worse. I mean, Jed beat me up on my second day here -"

Lizzie zipped her bag up. "It wasn't because of that."

"What happened?"

"I …" Well it didn't matter now, did it? She could tell him she lied without telling him the truth. She was leaving forever. She didn't need him to trust her. "I sort of lied about who I am. And Dr. Saltzman found out."

"What? What do you mean? Who are you?" Landon moved his face in front of hers, forcing her to look at him.

"That doesn't matter." Lizzie turned away.

Landon caught her arm. "It does if you're being expelled for it."

"I …" Lizzie stared at him, trying to come up with an explanation. "I'm just not who I said I am."

"I know." Landon's face melted into a smile. He still held onto her arm. "You're secretly a nerd."

"That's not -" Lizzie smiled back, wiping at her cheek. "That's not exactly it."

"Then what is it?"

"This was my chance to start over, remember? That doesn't happen if everyone knows who I am and my past gets reattached to me."

Landon opened his mouth to reply, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Alaric clearing his throat in the doorway.

"Almost finished?" he asked.

"Dr. Saltzman!" Landon plastered a big smile on his face and clasped his hands together. "I was just looking for you! I need the - the forms to drop out."

"What?" Lizzie shot a glare at him. The muppet was so fucking dramatic.

Thankfully, Alaric shared her same idea. "What are you talking about Landon?"

"Well, I've been thinking a lot since Malivore's defeat, and I'm not a phoenix anymore and I'm not with Hope anymore and Rafael is … gone, so it just makes sense for me to move on and rejoin the human world," Landon explained.

"You sure that's the reason why?" Alaric pushed gently, eyes shifting to look at Lizzie.

"What, her?" Landon pointed at Lizzie with his thumb and laughed. "I met her like two days ago, no offense."

"None taken."

"I don't belong here anymore, Dr. Saltzman. I'd like to transfer back to Mystic Falls High to prepare for college and a human life."

Alaric considered it. The timing was suspicious, but something in him believed that Landon really meant it. "I … think we can make that work, Landon."

The three of them sat silently in the car. Lizzie and Landon's bags sat on top of each other next to Lizzie in the backseat, and Landon stared out the front window as Alaric drove them away from the school.

"Where would you like to be dropped off, Landon?" 

"Uh … where are you taking her?" Landon glanced over his shoulder at Lizzie.

"I have an apartment in town she can crash at until she's eighteen."

"Is … I mean, could that offer extend to me? I sort of don't have a place lined up."

Alaric glanced over. "It's a one-bedroom."

"I've lived on couches before."

Lizzie gnawed at her lower lip.

"Up to you." Her father caught her eye in the mirror.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course. Don't throw him out on the street." Lizzie nodded along. She was thinking she still hadn't fully come to terms with what was happening yet.

Landon turned to smile at her, and Lizzie looked out the window instead of returning the gesture. It would be nice to have someone with her instead of starting a new school all alone. But Mophead? Hope's ex-boyfriend? The over-dramatic dork hellbent on making her feel good about herself? That was … asking a lot to say the least.

She snuck a peek at him between the seats. His curls caught the sunlight and his eyes darted around like he was trying to see everything along the road at once. Lizzie nibbled on a thumbnail as she thought about what it would be like to have him as a roommate.