It's been almost a week since he's last seen her and now he's really starting to regret the way he acted because he thought that he might have drove her away again. It all just wasn't fair. She couldn't just show up and expect everything to be fine again, and even though that's how he wants things to be, he wasn't sure if that's the way they will be.

They needed to talk and he would wait a few more days for her and if she didn't show her face, he would be the one to go look.

She is his wife, they made vows before God so the least that he could do was try and if not for his sake, for Austyn's. His baby girl didn't deserve to be raised without her mother, and since Bonnie is trying, he wouldn't take that from her. He couldn't. Personally, he couldn't imagine being raised without his mom. Usually his dad was where he would go for advice simply because he's a man and can relate, but his mother was his biggest supporter. She always made him feel good about himself, she's always understood even when he would screw up on multiple accounts. She always had his back, no matter what, and to picture his life without that kind of support and love simply seemed impossible. He wouldn't be the man he is today if it wasn't for his mother.

Stefan sat up on his bed sighing rubbing his hands over his face. He said a quick prayer then went to go check on his baby girl. Seeing Bonnie again, Stefan now noticed that his two girls shared some of the same characteristics. He and everyone else including Bonnie says that he and Austyn were twins, but now he can't help but see the Bennett in her. When Bonnie would wash her hair and leave it natural having her curls spiral down her back matched how Austyn's hair would curl. He and Bonnie shared the same colored eyes but most of the time hers were more vibrant and that's how Austyn's are. Their daughter has a tight jawline matching his, but her face shape in general screamed Bonnie. As did her mouth and ears.

He sighed then walked over to her shaking her slightly calling out her name. She had woken him up last night saying that she had a bad dream and he was so tired and delusional that night that once she went back to sleep again instead of keeping her in his bed, he placed her back in her bed. He now feels horrible for that but glad that she didn't have another bad dream. He was thinking about them having a little sleepover tonight to make up for it.

Austyn yawns as her gorgeous eyes open blinking a few times bringing a smile to her fathers face.

"Hey, baby girl."

"Hi, dad."

He smiled running his hand down her hair. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Kinda."

He kissed her forehead then lifted her up from her bed holding her close as he carried her downstairs. He had to go to work soon so while she was eating breakfast, he went to change glad that he took his shower last night. He simply didn't have the energy to step in the shower. Stefan lists the numerous amount of things that needed to be done today not only at work but after as well and upon listing, he thinks of Elena. He had to return the skillet that he borrowed from her weeks ago and it's been on his to-do list ever since that night but it never had gotten done.

He sighs thinking about how he's been completely ignoring her ever since Bonnie showed up and to make matters worse they had just gone on their first date that exact night. He needed to call her and apologize and tell her what's been going on so he figured he call her during lunch. He didn't want her to think that he hated their date or anything so he needed to get that mentally crossed off his list.

Once his tie was tied, he headed downstairs to get some breakfast of his own before heading out.

[[]]

Bonnie laid in the fetal position on her hotel bed. Her mind was everywhere. She was wondering if she made the mistake of coming back but as soon as that thought entered her mind, it left. She's thought about if she's waited long enough to give Stefan some time to breathe and in her opinion she did. She wondered if he would forgive her and let her back in his life which she hoped that he would. She knew that he would. Bonnie hated to sound cocky, but she knew the kind of guy Stefan is, he's very forgiving and loving and it's not like she's done anything else in their relationship to earn her a strike. She only had one strike which left her two more chances to get things right. They love each other and from what she's been told love conquers all and her leaving and touring the country is part of that "all" category.

She misses him and needs to see him and their daughter. She hoped that he felt the same way because she couldn't wait another day.


After dropping his loved one off at his brothers place, Stefan headed to work. He knew that this day would be just like the rest of his workdays for the past few days. He wouldn't be able to get a lot done because he'd be too busy staring at their wedding photo. He had put it away a year after she had gone but took it out again the day after she stopped by.

They were so happy, so in love, and so young. He was surprised that both of their parents were okay with them getting married at seventeen, but they've been together for as long as he could remember and he knew that she was the only one for him. That there simply wasn't anyone else in the entire world that could make him feel like she does.

When she told him that she was pregnant just a year into marriage it was one of the happiest days of his life. They studied hard and graduated school a semester early so all their focus could be on the little one inside her. Stefan was grateful that he already had a job and that he's been saving and though he didn't know a whole lot about babies, one thing he knew was that it would put a hole in his account. None of that mattered, however because he was going to be a father. He was scared as hell but he felt like he was ready.

Stefan remembers when the doctor told them that they were having a girl, he cried his eyes out and clung to his wife because a little girl was what he wanted. He would've been just as happy if she was having a boy, but he's always wanted to raise a little girl to show and teach her how she should be treated and set the bar of how a man should act around her. He was going to make his little girl a daddy's girl and do everything in his power to keep it that way. He knew that it was a far stretch but he wanted her to be comfortable enough to tell him anything and everything. He would promise her that he wouldn't get mad, as long as she stayed honest with him, everything would be fine.

Nine months later, Bonnie had given birth to the most beautiful baby girl that he has ever seen in his life. Her name was already picked out with thanks to a baby naming book. Bonnie loved the idea of their daughter having a male name but spelling it in a way that by reading it you can more than likely tell that whoever it was was a female. 'Austin' was the name that they liked the best and Stefan came up with the spelling and although just a letter is different, Bonnie loved it.

Her middle name, Marie, was Stefan's grandmother's name who throughout Bonnie's whole pregnancy, she was there and was their biggest helper so they had to honor her in some way. Austyn Marie Salvatore was what was spelled out on the birth certificate in which they framed and placed it in her room on top of her dresser.

Just a year later, Bonnie was singing at work cleaning off tables when a manager heard and fell in love with her voice. He offered to take a chance on her, the band that he was managing needed a new temporary lead singer so she took the offer to Stefan and he told her to go for it. He figured that a summer of touring wouldn't do any damage as long as they kept in touch, everything would be fine.

It wasn't until the emails and calls and any form of communication had stopped that he knew that everything will not be fine but his hope stayed strong when Elena told him that she had received an email from Bonnie telling her that the tour was going to go on longer than planned. He wasn't sure why she would email Elena and not himself, but he pushed that thought aside and focused on raising his little girl until Bonnie came back but he never in all his days knew that it would take three years for that to happen.

"Mr. Salvatore there's someone here to see you." His assistant, Grace broke him out of his thoughts.

"Send them in." He stood up in hopes that Bonnie would walk through his door but stopped the disappointed look on his face when he saw someone else.

"I hope this isn't a bad time."

"It's fine, Elena, please have a seat." He referred to the chair in front of his desk and when she sat down, he followed. He was planning to call her and it had slipped his mind so he was glad that she had showed.

"I should've probably came to you sooner with this, but I've just been so busy with this new job that I didn't have the chance to until now."

He narrowed his eyes, "What is it?"

She let out a breath and pushed locks of hair behind her ear. "Bonnie came to visit me about four days ago. She was crying and telling me how she just got done seeing you-"

"Oh."

"I mean I get that you're upset, Stefan, but I think that you should give her a chance. She seems really apologetic and I think she deserves to be heard out by you."

He sighed. "Elena, about us, I-"

"I understand, Stefan. She's your wife and we're friends and that's how it should be. That's how it was meant to be."

"Listen, I really do like you, Elena. You are a fantastic, beautiful woman and a part of me hates that I didn't get the chance to know you better." She sadly smiled. "Thank you for understanding, maybe if we would've went out sooner things would be different, but I just can't give up on her yet."

"I wouldn't want you to. I should go, I have to get back."

He nodded then stood walking over to her pulling her into a hug. His hand moved along her back a few times before he let her free and watched her walk away. He frowned some when she disappeared behind the door but he was glad that everything went well.

[[]]

Bonnie took a deep breath parked outside of her house. It was another late night but she talked herself into going over. She's been MIA recently, she hasn't even gone back to see Elena since she spent the night and she hasn't even visited Caroline, but right now she removed those thoughts from her head and got out the car. She was hoping that Stefan would give her a chance, hoping that he would at least let her see Austyn, she would promise that she wouldn't touch her she just wanted to see her, and then she'd leave him alone for a couple days then ask to see her again. Bonnie wanted him to know that she was willing to make the effort of seeing her so he could agree for her to be back in her life like she's always wanted.

Her shaking finger pushed the button for the doorbell and shortly, it opened and their eyes locked. Tears filled them both and Bonnie was surprised when he pulled her into his arms. Tears escaped her eyes and she hugged him back just as tight. Her whole body warmed and for the first time in years she felt like herself again.

"I'm so sorry, Stefan." She cried.

Stefan let out a breath feeling himself being complete again. His wife was in his arms again and he's never felt more like himself. He hates the effect that she has on him, but he's not sure if she truly realizes how badly she affects him. Just a bat of the eyelashes could have him agree to anything she asked of him. It's been that way since he's met her and he's not at all surprised that it hasn't changed. She's his soulmate.

Stefan pulls away to wipe away her tears and before he can stop himself, he finds his lips connected to hers. Bonnie softly closes her eyes and kisses him back like she's been wanting to for a while and wraps her legs around his waist when he lifts her and carries her upstairs.

Her back hits the bed and their lips are moving again and she moans in his mouth feeling his hands run up her thighs. She lifts her hips up off the bed when he unbuttons her jeans and slides them down her legs. He switched their positions so he could remove her shirt and she then removes his and their lips meet again.

Stefan removes the band that holds her hair back the flicks his wrist to unclasps her bra and switched them to remove her underwear and once his are off, he slides in her letting out a groan as they start moving together and the feel of her nails on his back caused him to quicken his pace.

Bonnie moaned out his name moving her fingers in his hair and turned his head to meet their lips. She bites and sucks on his lower lip then kisses it to relieve any pain. He lets her name spill from his mouth when she straddles him and rocks her him with force. His hands ghost along her skin before he sits up having their chests meet and looks into her eyes. He uses his thumb to tug on the corner of her lip that was caught between her teeth. He then uses his thumb to run across her cheek then over her lips before he kisses her again turning her on her back where they stay moving together until they're both sated.

[[]]

For the first time in a long time when Stefan reached out, his wife is there trapped under his arm. A smile comes to his face as he pulls her in closer and kisses the back of her head.

"Good morning." Bonnie smiles.

"Good morning." He replies and kisses her again. "Last night was damn amazing and I missed you so much-"

"But?" Bonnie said turning to face him.

"But," he let out a breath, "we still have a lot to discuss."

She waited a little before speaking. "Does that mean you're not going to let me see her?"

He ran his hand down the side of her face, "Not yet. I want to talk to her first, I just don't want to ambush her with this."

She held back her tears but she understood completely. "Okay."

He nodded then placed a quick kiss to her lips. "I should go check on her."

"Wait, Stefan," she called after him stopping him from twisting the knob. "When can we talk?"

"Tonight." He answered. "Come over tonight around ten and we'll talk. I'll talk to Aussie this afternoon when I pick her up."

Bonnie nodded then watched him leave closing the door behind him. She walked up to the door pressing her ear against it and smiled hearing her little girls voice. It was the first time that she actually heard her speak in full sentences and it put her to tears.

What had she done? Why did she leave her life behind to do something that wasn't even important to her at the time? She blamed it on her grandmother but the reality is that she was being selfish. Hearing Stefan make his way back to the room, she hurried into the bathroom and tried to dry her eyes before he came in but had failed.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine I just… I'm just so mad at myself."

"Hey," he repeated three times and shushed her walking up to her when she started to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Stefan."

He sat her on the counter and held her close before pulling away some to kiss the side of her neck. "We'll talk tonight, okay?

She nodded then sniffed in quickly wiping away her tears then turned avoiding his eyes not wanting him to see her so messed up. Stefan smiled in knowing then moved her chin to the left so she could look at him. He found himself mesmerized by her beautiful face and it was like he fell in love with her all over again.

His smile grew wider in hopes that it would make her smile too and he laughed some when his plan worked causing her to roll her eyes.

"Come on,"

"Where are we going?"

"To take a shower. I kept some of your clothes in the closet so you can change into something new."

She placed her hand on the side of his face smiling when he lifted her off the counter and told her to rise her arms.

[[]]

Stefan held Austyn in his arm as he carried her in one arm and her backpack in the other. He had to force himself to stop smiling thinking of Bonnie as he knocked on the door. Damon opened it seconds later and Stefan returned his little girls feet to the ground to hug and kiss her goodbye.

"Be a good girl, alright."

She nodded and Stefan hugged her again then stood to his full height handing Damon her bag.

"I should get going."

"You got laid." Damon said in amazement.

"What?"

"You slept with Elena last night didn't you? Or was it this morning…" He gasped then narrowed his eyes, "Both?"

"Damon-"

"Don't feel bad about it, baby bro, it's about time you got some action. You were in a bit of a dry spell, I don't blame you."

Stefan at first thought about letting him believe that Elena was the one he's slept with and not tell him the truth until he got things sorted out with Bonnie, but lying about something like this just didn't feel right. "Okay, I did sleep with someone, but it wasn't Elena…" Damon raised an eyebrow. "It was Bonnie."

Stefan watched his brothers eyes grow wide. "Bonnie is... back?"

"Yeah,"

"So she just came back and you slept with her? Did you just forget about the last three years?"

"Damon, I don't have time for this right now."

"I can't believe that you would just forgive her like that. What about Elena?"

"Damon, Bonnie is my wife."

"A wife that abandons her husband and child-"

"I don't have time for this, take care of my daughter." He walked away.

"You mean unlike your wife?" Damon called after him.

Stefan stopped in his stride fuming and turned walking up to his brother and punched him in the face. Damon held the side of his face in a little shock then watched his brother pull off.

Stefan had to pull over on the side of the road to cool down a little. He couldn't believe that Damon would disrespect Bonnie like that especially if he didn't know anything about her return and how apologetic she is about the whole thing. He would apologize for hitting him when he went to pick up Austyn but in his eyes, he deserved it.

[[]]

She turned on the bed looking at the clock noticing how much slower time moves when she needs it to go fast. She's distracted herself with watching movies in her hotel room and it was working until she grew bored of that. She then distracted herself with the internet and search random, pointless things then moved to YouTube finding herself dancing and singing to some of her favorite songs. Now hours later, she was laying on her bed staring at the ceiling.

Thinking of something else to do, Bonnie got out of bed putting on her shoes. She was going to make things right and since she was going to talk to Stefan later, she decided to talk to Caroline. She's not even sure if she knows that she's back in town and though they weren't very close friends before she left, she still felt like she owed everyone in her life an apology.

She was making her way to her car when another car sped past her almost running over her.

"Hey, watch it you jackass!"

Bonnie regretted commenting at all when the car stopped and backed up making its way back to her. She was prepared to fight knowing that it was a battle that she would probably lose and her racing heart started beating normally when the person behind the wheel was Stefan.

"They're gone, Bonnie!"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Austyn, Damon, and Emily, they're gone, they're not home!"

"Stefan calm down maybe they just went to the park or something?"

"I called, they're not answering. This is all my fault, it's all my fault."

Bonnie opened her mouth but was stopped by a honking car. "Scoot over, I'm driving."

Bonnie got behind the wheel and pulled off not exactly sure where she was going but seeing Stefan panic, she had to at least pretend.

"Stefan you should try to calm down, we'll find her."

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say." He said looking out the window in search.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You left us, Bonnie! You walked away on us, so you don't know how it feels to be without her because you barely know her."

"Stef-"

"And to think I punched Damon defending you." He scoffed shaking his head. "What an idiot I am."

She kept quiet as a few tears ran down her face because everything he said was true and it sucked. She wasn't panicking, or even scared for that matter and maybe it was because she chose not to watch her daughter grow and establish such a bond that even if in her heart she knew that everything would be okay, that there still should be some type of worry flowing through her. She should be worried shouldn't she? Her child was missing and she wasn't even the least bit afraid. What's wrong with her? ...And what's this about punching Damon?

"I don't even know why I asked you to help. You probably wouldn't even recognize her if she was standing right in front of you." Stefan added under his breath.

Her mouth opened in shock looking over at him then back at the road driving a little slower now since her vision was blurred from the tears in her eyes. She knew that he was just talking out of frustration and worry, but she also knew that he meant it. She sniffed in and quickly wiped the tears from her face before letting out a breath just wanting to escape this whole situation wishing that she just stayed in her hotel and none if this would've ever happened.

"Stop the car!"

Her foot was barely on the break when Stefan got out running towards them. She parked as as soon as she saw an empty spot and watched as Stefan checked to see if their daughter was okay before holding her tightly in his arm. He stood and pointed his finger in Damon's face yelling blaming him for everything. When she noticed that he was making his way back to the car with Damon calling after him, she knew that it would be best if she leave. Trying to go unseen, Bonnie got out of the car and quickly headed elsewhere.

"Shh, daddy's sorry, I'm sorry, Aussie." Stefan soothed as his little girl started to cry. "I'm sorry I yelled, I didn't mean to scare you." He kissed her cheek as he strapped her in her car seat.

"Stefan, wait," Damon called out. "We were just getting ice cream, what's the big deal?"

"You need to learn how to pick up the damn phone, that's the big deal." He pushed his brother back a few inches. "How the hell was I supposed to know where you guys were? How was I supposed to know if you didn't just pick up and leave? Huh? You got me running around sick searching for my daughter!"

Damon shook his head. "Wow. Bonnie really did a number on you didn't she?"

"If you know what's best for you, I suggest you shut the hell up." He warned.

"This isn't healthy, Stefan. You don't trust your own brother to care for your child or anyone for that matter because you're scared that one day someone'll pull a Bonnie and leave and you'll never see your daughter again."

"I said shut up!" Stefan grabbed Damon by the collar pushing him against the nearest bricked wall.

"Dad!"

"You cling to her, Stefan, you're so over protective and it'll work now, Austyn will let you do things for her now, but she's going to grow older and she's going to gain some independence and you won't know what to do with yourself." He pushed Stefan back and held out his hands to ensure the people around that he was okay. "Let her go a little, Stefan, trust me. I'm just trying to help you, brother."

"I never asked for your help."

Stefan turned and got in the car driving off. Damon let out a breath feeling a bit relieved since he got to get everything off his chest. He's noticed how unhealthily protective and worried he's been over Austyn and knew that Bonnie was the cause of it. He's wanted to tell his brother what he just admitted for such a long time and despite the circumstances, he's glad that he's finally got the opportunity to say it.

[[]]

Stefan could just kill his brother for making him act out like that in front of his child. He pushed one too many buttons and poked his nose in shit that didn't even belong to him.

Who the hell was he to tell him how he should act with his daughter? He has no kids so how in the hell was he supposed to know? He can't relate, he's been through nothing like the shit he's been through so who is Damon to talk?

Stefan held his daughter in his arms holding her close after apologizing over and over to her. His worst fear was that she grew scared of him and he knew that if he was her age and witnessed his father act so violent, he'd probably be scared.

"Daddy loves you, I'm so sorry, Aus." He kissed her head then laid her down in her bed.

He watched her sleeping face for a while before walking out of her room and into his. Closing his eyes, the things he said to Bonnie shot in his brain and he sighs in regret running his hand down his face. Maybe he was more angry at her than he thought and it took such a horrible situation for him to realize it. He still loves her with his whole heart, but that doesn't change the fact that she's the one who broke it.


A/N: So a lot of things were said and done in this chapter some of which have the possibility to be restore while others it will take a while to fix. Make sure to leave a review telling me what you think and stay tuned for chapter four!