A/N: Hey all! This is the official and TOTALLY REWRITTEN sequel to "Must Love Dogs" I know that there has been like two other versions of this darn story that I had written before and I keep changing it. But, this is the one that I will be sticking with and I will not be changing it around any longer. I promise! This version is somewhat similar to the very first version I had posted of this story. Although, it is very different. Please remember, I ALWAYS write about the pairings I say my stories are about! This story doesn't start with Stelena. But, we're going to go on a journey of ups and downs until we get to them. Also, there will also be Datherine, Klaroline and Lexi and Kol.

So, enjoy and thanks so much for reading!

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Remember Me- Chapter One

Nothing seemed that different as the sun shined down on her face and the limousine passed by the large palm trees swaying in the breeze. Six years, Elena thought. It was a long time to be away from such a beautiful place, from a place that she had once called home. Her jumbled thoughts all froze the moment she felt a light tap of someone hitting her knee.

"We're almost there, right?" He asked with a wide smile, intertwining her fingers with his own as he leaned forward and exhaled deeply. "Do you think they're going to like me?" He was just as nervous as she was. Coming face to face with Caroline and Klaus Mikaelson after she had spent so many years in his London flat without as much of as a thank you card sent his way for allowing her to be there was sending her on a nervous tailspin. "They'll love you." Elena smiled reassuringly, staring back out at the window as the driver drove them closer and closer into the hillside of million dollar homes and a beach front view that was beyond breathtaking.

"How rich are your friends?" He asked with a laugh as Elena leaned her back into the seat and exhaled deeply before she mumbled out. "Very wealthy people...All of them." She said simply, hearing him readjust himself in his seat across from her as he smiled just as she finally looked over at him.

"Do they know you've been seeing your therapist for the last year and a half?" He questioned as she shook her head. Klaus and Caroline hadn't really known much of anything in regards to what Elena had been up to since she called them for help that night after leaving Portland. To be honest, she had felt too guilty for everything she had done to everyone to even keep in contact with them either. After she had faced Stefan, just weeks before leaving the states. She was too torn up to face anyone else. The hurt and pained expression of Stefan's face had haunted Elena for months afterward as she had given Stefan full custody of Benjamin Salvatore, a newborn at the time, who was in good hands- he was with his father and knowing that was enough for Elena to have a piece of mind as she left everything she knew behind to fix herself.

"No." She said quietly as her mind drifted back to the present, feeling the car suddenly come to a full stop as the driver stepped out of the car and smiled at her while extending out his hand. "Welcome back home, Miss Gilbert." He stated. Elena took his hand, hearing her boyfriend grumble something about how the limousine from the airport to her friends house was a bit much.

"You clearly don't know the Mikealson's that well. Caroline used to be a bartender and Klaus. Well, all that man has ever known is how to spend his money. He's great at that, even when he spends it wisely." Elena commented, stepping out into the sun as she looked back at the brown haired young man who had just placed a pair of inexpensive sunglasses over his eyes. Kai Parker wasn't one to brag about his upbringing. He was raised in The Hamptons, his parents owned six different large restaurants nationwide because his dad was a renowned and famous chef. He was the only child and they had sent him aboard for schooling and the possibility to follow his passion of helping people. So, when the very wealthy and charming Klaus Mikaelson had come into contact with Kai about Elena Gilbert. They devised a plan. Elena, wanting to not burden anyone with her problems was sent to London, meeting up with Caroline there as Klaus had made sure that she was living in his old flat, all of her expenses paid.

"Klaus didn't want me to worry. He didn't want anyone to be worried about me. So, he paid for everything over the last six years. I owe him, Kai. Being back here is a big step for me." She said, turning back to him as the driver placed their suitcases down and he reached out to grab her hand. He leaned down and glanced down at their fingers as he smiled sweetly at Elena. "I know, that's why I'm here. To make sure everything goes smoothly." He stated, stepping forward just in time as they both looked up to see a flash of blonde hair rush out of the house as a young woman in a yellow summer dress ran towards them and screamed out Elena's name excitedly. "You're finally here!" She shouted, wrapping her arms around Elena instantly without even giving Kai a second glance. He took a step back, turning back behind him to hand the driver a tip. "Thanks man." He smiled, slipping him some money as he then heard Elena giggle out a laugh when she said. "Well, Mrs. Caroline Mikaelson. I'd like for you to meet someone. This is Kai Parker, my boyfriend."

"One more push up, come on!" Stefan screamed at her as Katherine glanced up at him with a look of hatred in her eyes. "You are the worst!" She screamed back as Stefan leaned back on the soles of his shoes, laughing. She lifted up her head as he extended out his hand towards her with a smirk.

"Since when did you go all health crazy?" Katherine questioned, sighing as she peeled herself off of the dark blue yoga mat underneath her tired and shaky body. Damon had been out of town for the last two months and Katherine was trying to lose all the baby weight that she had been holding on for the last few years since their daughter, Ella was born. Yet, everything up until now hadn't been working.

"Since I got together with Audrey. You know, Audrey likes her men all lean and sexy." Stefan winked, getting a groan from Katherine and a well deserved eye roll. "I miss the old you, the fun you. The drunk and irresponsible you. Remember when you came into the office at SD Realty and I had to have a pep talk with you so that you could pull yourself together?" She questioned with a small laugh at the memory. So many things had changed since then, she wanted to add with a deep sigh. However, she quickly stopped herself.

"Yeah," Stefan paused, licking his bottom lip and wiping the sweat that was dripping from his eyebrows. He exhaled deeply before stating again. "I'm not that person anymore, lots of things changed me. Good and bad things."

Katherine scoffed, leaning down to pick up her gym bag as she turned back towards him and stated simply. "Your love for Elena changed you. And, then Ben came along. They changed you, Stefan. She changed you first." She clarified, swallowing the lump in her throat because that had been the first time in five years since either of them had even spoken Elena's name.

"We both know how much we've all been through to get me here. I'm working again, I get the weekends off to spend with Ben and the nights off too. I love my job and I love spending time with my son. So, it's a win win." Stefan smiled thinking about the dark brown haired and brown doe eyed little boy that he was the proud father of.

Katherine shrugged her shoulders back, tilting her head to the side. "You've done a good job being his dad, Stefan. You are what he needed and I know that her leaving hurt you more than anything in this world. But, she made the right choice in leaving him with you. If it were me, I wouldn't have picked anyone else for the job. You and Ben are each others, everything." Katherine commented with a small smile, glancing back at the workout room in Stefan's house as she looked over to see him get back up and look out the window, the sun shining down on his exhausted looking face.

"I'm marrying Audrey in a few weeks, Katherine. She is amazing, she's going to be a wonderful step mom to Ben, every one of you guys loves her. And, I've finally moved on and things are good. I just can't live in the past anymore, all I can do now is wish Elena well and hope that she found what she was looking for. That she got the help she needed when she left us." Stefan replied, turning back to his sister in law and inhaling sharply.

"Does Audrey know, about Elena?" Katherine asked, her eyebrows furrowing at the way Stefan's eyes darkened a little.

"She knows everything and she's never said anything bad about it. All she's ever said was that if Elena ever came back and wanted to see our son that Audrey would be okay with it and that she wouldn't get in the way of her time with Ben." Stefan said softly, turning his attention to the door as it pushed open and they both heard a loud giggle and the sound of heavy set paws hit the wooden floor.

"Daddy!" Ben shouted out, running straight into Stefan as he bent down to pick him up. "Hi champ! Missed you today!" He commented, leaving a kiss on his six year old son's beat red cheeks.

"Forgot how much that kid loves the beach and the waves. Also, how much mud and sand this dog of yours tracks inside the house." Audrey frowned, leaning against the door frame as she waved politely at Katherine and smiled over at Ben and Stefan who were clearly immersed in each others company. It was almost as if neither of the women were even in the room with them as Stefan laid down on the floor and tickled Ben's sides until the little boy shrieked with laughter and alerted the old looking German Shepard with his dark gray hairs on his face and husky frame.

"How was he today?" She questioned, pointing to Katherine who looked as if she couldn't stand on her feet for much longer. "Rude, exhausting. A trainer from hell. You know, the usual. Look, I should actually get going. My kid is coming home from school in a little bit and I need to go pick up the little one from my mother in laws house. Poor Maria has been stuck with a very demanding five year old little girl all day." Audrey took a step away from the door and looked back at Ben and Stefan, allowing Katherine to pass although stopping her for a minute as she latched her hand against her wrist.

"Kat, I wanted to ask you something." Audrey paused, giving Katherine a wave of her hand as she ushered them into the next room so that Ben and Stefan couldn't hear anything. Closing the door behind them, she leaned against it and closed her eyes for a moment before speaking. "What's going on?" Katherine questioned with a small hint of worry as the dark haired brunette pushed herself away from the door and exhaled deeply. "I found out Elena's address from Caroline and Klaus. I didn't say why I needed it. But, I sent an invitation to our wedding to Elena in London."

Stunned, Katherine glanced down at the floor before she looked back up into Audrey's blue eyes. "I didn't think anything of it. Just a nice gesture." She stammered out as Katherine scoffed.

"A nice gesture? Sending your fiance's ex an invitation to his wedding to you! Oh my god, Audrey. What's wrong with you, woman!" Katherine nearly yelled, clutching her long curly strands of hair as she took a seat in one of the sofa chairs in the room. "Why would you do that?"

Audrey shrugged her shoulders back, giving Katherine a saddened look. "I grew up without a mother, Katherine and I don't want that for Ben. I know what that's like to not have someone that important in my life. My dad did the best he could raising my brother and I. He did everything for us and I love him so much for it. But, Listen, I don't want to replace Elena for any of you, especially for Ben. Honestly, I sent the invitation out because I thought that maybe she'd wanted to see her son again after all this time. That maybe she was better now." Audrey wiped back the tears in her eyes as she thought about the little boy. While choking back tears she added in. "Ben should have all three of us in his life. Not just me and Stefan. Elena is his mother. She deserves to know him."

"She's his mother? Audrey, she abandoned him! She couldn't deal with being a mother to him! Damn it, before you came into the picture. I was more of a mother to that little boy than Elena ever was! I was the one who drove him to the hospital while clutching his fathers hand and telling him that everything was going to be okay after Ben almost stopped breathing in the middle of the night from an asthma attack!" Katherine yelled out angrily. Caroline and Klaus had seemed to be the only ones on Elena's side after she had picked up her things and left. Even after all these years, Damon and Katherine had still been dealing with trying to forgive her. However, they just couldn't seem to get over the fact at how much Elena's departure had hurt Stefan and ultimately Ben too.

Katherine leaned back into her seat, a bit speechless as to what she wanted to say back to that confession. She knew how sweet and loving Audrey was to Stefan and to Ben. Although, she never really knew much about her. Audrey Whitmore's family was a bunch of college professors and her father had inherited millions after the passing of her grandmother. She had gone to school in Florida and had spent most of her summers in California. A beach bum, she had proudly called herself the night that Stefan had ran into her leaving Lexi's office and asked her out on a date, two years after tip toeing around each others feelings for one another.

"I was an intern at Lexi's design firm and then I became Stefan's assistant. He rarely talked to me though. I used to watch him sit in his office after we were closed and he'd just stare at this framed picture on his desk of this woman, himself and a baby in her arms. I didn't know it then. I didn't know anything about him because he didn't talk to me. But, Lexi set us up on a blind date after years of watching him attempting and failing to move on from Elena. Then, I knew more. I knew that the tears in his eyes were from crying over a woman that I could never even attempt to replace in his heart. But, I could try to mend it." Audrey told her as Katherine nodded and inhaled sharply.

"Like I said, I don't want to replace her. Although, I do want her to know her son. He is an amazing little boy and she might not have been able to deal with being a mom back then. But, maybe now she can learn to be one with a little bit of guidance. I'm not saying this is going to be easy and that she'd even want to do this or be a part of our lives. But, I don't think it's fair for you all to hate her for leaving because she thought she was doing the right thing. I read the letter she left Stefan. I've read it a million times and Elena made a choice. She was sick and she needed help. You shouldn't blame her for that." Katherine licked her bottom lip, shaking her head and ready to disagree. But, the look in Audrey's eyes stopped her from becoming angry again and suddenly she was intrigued at the woman's forgiveness for someone she had never even met.

"None of you probably know what it was like for her. I couldn't imagine what it was like for her either. But, I have seen it. My own mother suffered from postpartum depression for years before she left us. It was only up until a few years ago that we reconnected and I was mad at her for so long for leaving that I regret it now. She missed so many things in my life because of my angry towards her." Audrey sighed out a breath, glancing down at the floor. "I don't want that for Ben either. I want him and Elena to have a relationship and I just hope that she's able to forgive herself. Because, that is one thing that my mother never could do." She confessed, clearing her throat as Katherine got up from the seat she was sitting in and placed her hand gently on Audrey's shoulder before pulling her into a tight hug. "You did the right thing, sending out that invitation. I just want to know one little detail." She paused, watching the brunette's blue eyes twinkle with a bit of relief before she added in. "Does Stefan know about any of this? Does anyone know about it except for Caroline?"

Audrey shook her head and looked down at her red colored flats nervously as she stated. "Caroline told me it wasn't a good idea. But, I didn't listen. And, Stefan has no idea about it at all. To be honest, I didn't want him to know because he probably would have stopped me."

"Daddy, Duke got all muddy and pulled mommy Audrey into the mud!" Ben giggled as Stefan rested his head against his arm and the two boys stared up at the ceiling.

"Ha, I bet Duke loved that!" Stefan smiled, turning on his side to stare back at his son.

"Yeah. But, mommy Audrey didn't." Ben shyly laughed, leaning into his dad and inhaling deeply. Stefan watched as Ben backed away from him with his nose crinkled and his brown eyes wide. "You smell like bad."

Stefan couldn't help but back away and give his son a surprised look. "Oh, I do huh?"

"Yeah, like poop." Ben giggled out as Stefan paused and smiled shockingly at his son. "What did you just say?" He asked in between laughs.

"I said you smell bad, daddy!" Ben excitedly shouted out, getting up from the ground to run towards the door and outside of the gym before Stefan could stop him.

"Not so fast little man! Come back here!" Stefan shouted, getting up and running towards Ben who was shrieking loudly and laughing as he tried to run away right before Stefan hoisted him up into his arms and placed his lips against Ben's neck, allowing a little bit of air to escape past his lips which forced a loud rumbling noise from the contact. Ben squirmed and giggled, laughing so much so that Audrey who was talking to Katherine had now ran back into the room and was looking at them playing with each other as Stefan raised Ben above his head, pretending to be a fake airplane engine as Ben made fighter jet noises. She closed the door as she shook her head and without interrupting the boys, went back to into the other room.

"Daddy?" Ben questioned as Stefan smiled up at him, holding him tightly up in the air.

"Yeah, Ben." Stefan asked sweetly, a proud and excited smile never leaving his face.

"Momma Audrey was talking to auntie Caroline on the phone today and she sounded really sad." Ben pointed out, feeling Stefan suddenly stop their play time and gently place him back on to the ground.

"She did?" Stefan questioned as Ben nodded his head while Stefan bent down and stood in front of him.

"What did she say?" Stefan asked as Ben shrugged his shoulders back and placed his hands onto his dad's stubble covered cheeks.

"She talked about the wedding and then she almost dropped the phone into the ocean because Duke pulled her after seeing one of those loud gray birds." Ben commented nonchalantly as Stefan leaned forward, brushing his nose against Ben's.

"Hm, well. I'll have to talk to her about that." Stefan said more to himself than out loud as he stared back at Ben who still had his little hands on each side of his face.

"Daddy, can Duke be in the wedding?" He asked with a bright smile as Stefan shook his head with a laugh, leaving a kiss on Ben's forehead. "Sure, he can be part of it."

"Good." Ben stated proudly, backing away from Stefan and extending out his hand to his father. "Where are we going?" Stefan asked as Ben smiled up at him and shrugged his shoulders when he stated. "Anywhere daddy, anywhere."

"Your therapist?" Caroline nearly spat out as she leaned back into the lawn chair and watched Klaus and Kai talking just feet away near the fire pit that Klaus was setting up. Both men seeming friendly with each other as they spoke about sports and living in London.

"Yeah. He was there, he listened and well, he kept asking me out on a date. I rejected him multiply times until he brought the date to one of our sessions. He said that if I wouldn't date him, then at least we could have lunch together, an informal date." Elena elaborated, there wasn't much else to say. If she loved Kai wasn't really a question. She did love him. But, it wasn't the same kind of love that she had once felt with Stefan. With Kai, it was more of an understanding of sorts. He understood her and she understood him. The rich kid from the Hamptons who had left it all behind to reinvent himself. Like, Elena, Kai had been living in London for a few years now and had been too wrapped up his work for any sort of dating or to even start a relationship at all. And like Elena, Kai had also been trying to get over a long term relationship that he had blamed himself for ruining.

"So, he knows everything?" Caroline asked, passing by her as she squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Yeah. He does. He's the one that suggested I come back home..." Elena's voice trailed off as she exhaled deeply. Caroline glanced back over at her with a bit of confusion on her face as the brunette reached for her purse, pulling out a nicely off white envelop addressed to Miss Elena Gilbert.

"I got this in the mail, two days before we flew out here. I haven't opened it yet because I'm not sure who it's from. No one really was supposed to know that I was in London, Caroline. So, I brought this with me hoping that you'd be able to tell me who this is from?" Elena asked Caroline, handing her the envelop and watching the blonde holding tightly on to the heavy fancy looking envelop in her shaking hands.

"What is it?" Elena asked softly, watching Caroline lick her bottom lip, looking back at Klaus as she waved the envelop towards her husband. "Elena, we need to talk. There's something I should have mentioned before you came." Caroline, exhaled deeply taking a seat back down as she leaned forward and captured Elena's hand into her own. The brunette watched with a curious gaze as Caroline's blue eyes softened and she handed Elena back the envelop as she said. " The person who sent this to you, Audrey Whitmore. Well, she is Stefan's new fiancee and she sent this to you. Because they're getting married in three weeks. But, it's not because of that. The truth is, Audrey just thought that you'd like to come back home to see your son before she became Ben's step mom."

A/N: Please comment, favorite and follow this story if you like it and please let me know if you want to read more. :)