Matthew 'Matt' Honeycutt is a fictional character in L. J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries series. Matt is Elena's childhood best friend and long term ex-boyfriend and first love. He's the typical 18 year old All-American boy-next-door high school star quarterback. Physically, Matt is very tall and athletic, with blonde hair and blue eyes. During the summer prior to The Awakening Matt helped out on his grandparents' farm, which gave him a tanned complexion. He's described as being an attractive, wholesome, all-American, boy-next-door type. Matt and Elena were best friends since childhood and they know everything about each other and Matt understands Elena better than anybody. Before Elena met Stefan, Matt was the only boy in Elena's life who has had any kind of "influence" on Elena's transformation. Certainly Elena still thinks that he's handsome, even after breaking up with him, and Bonnie has shown some interest in him. Due to his family being poor, he tends to wear older clothes, and Elena surmises at the beginning of The Awakening that his scuffed shoes must have been the same ones he had the previous year on account of not being able to afford new ones. While Matt is heartbroken at losing Elena to Stefan, he accepts it. He continues to be very protective of Elena.