"You want to come in?" Selina asked.

Tyler nodded. "You bet I do," he said. Once he was inside and on the couch, he leaned forward and frowned again. "So," he said again, giving Selina a hard look, "you didn't answer my question: why didn't you tell me Miss Underwood was your mother?"

"When did you figure it out?" Selina asked. "I didn't tell you because I thought you'd eventually figure it out on your own. I mean, it's not like there aren't piles of pictures and things of my mother around your house."

"I didn't figure it out from looking at a picture," Tyler said tersely. "She stopped by and told me who she was."

"She did?" Selina asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "I think we're just lucky my parents aren't home. That'll give us time to figure out what to tell them."

"Well, do we have to tell them?" Selina asked. "Why can't we just keep it quiet?"

"Well, don't you think they'll wonder what's going on if she comes by the house again? In case you don't remember, we supposedly buried your mother awhile back. My parents think she's dead!"

"Well, your parents didn't seem to mind so much when I showed up," Selina pointed out. "There weren't any stories necessary to explain my sudden appearance."

"That's because my parents knew you were still around and so did every Lockwood who lived after Grandfather Michael," Tyler replied. "No one ever thought you were dead. Your mother, on the other hand, wanted to make certain that we all thought she was dead way back when. So what should I say if she comes by the house again?"

Damon stood up, advancing toward Tyler. "You know, Tyler," he said, "your lack of communication skills astounds me. I would think you would be inventive enough to come up with a good lie for your parents, but apparently not."

"Oh, yeah?" Tyler replied, standing up as well and going to meet him. "If I'm so bad at communicating, why did Selina come to me first after she had that nightmare about the day you shipped off?" By this point, they were practically nose to nose.

"All right," Selina said, squeezing herself between them, "I think we've had enough of sharing confidences for one day. Tyler, I will talk to my mother and we'll see if we can't come up with some explanation that'll please your parents. In the meantime, when you see them again, don't tell them anything about her being here, all right?"

"Fine, I won't." Tyler left the house without another word and Stefan, Damon, Elena and Selina sat in silence, until Damon said "did you really go to his house after you had your nightmare?"

"I did," Selina admitted. "But I didn't tell him anything. I left after a little while. The first people I told were those two," she said, gesturing at Stefan and Elena. "You were asleep, that's why I didn't tell you first."

"You could have woken me up. I wouldn't have minded."

Selina sighed. "No, that wouldn't have been nice."

"Oh," Damon's gaze became icy. "So it's kinder to go behind my back and tell Tyler instead?"

Selina frowned. "They're my confidences. I can give them to who I choose. I was just trying to be considerate, but if you're going to be such a pill, then you can just—"

"All right, all right," Stefan broke in. "Time out." He took a deep breath and looked at his brother. "Don't you get it?" he asked.

"Get what?" Damon asked frostily.

"It's when you act like this," Stefan said, "when Selina feels she can't talk to you, that's when she runs to Tyler."

Damon's expression smoothed over. "There are times when you feel you can't talk to me?" he asked Selina.

"Well," Selina shrugged. "Hardly ever. This time was different though, you know, because the nightmare happened due to a decision you made. But it was right for you to do, you know, and it made your father happy and I just didn't want to make you feel guilty for deciding to go off and fight when you were really doing something noble, and the issue rested with me."

He shook his head slightly and kept his gaze on her. "So if I hadn't come when I did, you wouldn't have told me what was wrong at all, would you?"

Selina kept her eyes downcast. "Yeah," she said quietly. "But they told me it would be best if I told you, so I did."

"And were we right?" Elena asked. "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded, looking at Damon. "I think I do." She shook her head. "Not telling you right away was silly, and I'm sorry."

Damon took her hand. "I don't ever want you to think that you can't talk to me, because you can. It doesn't matter when it is, or what it's about."

She hugged him. "All right," she said. "I'll try to remember that in the future."

Stefan cleared his throat, which caused them to pull apart. "What?" Selina asked.

"Don't you think you should call your mother and ask her what went on at Tyler's?" he asked.

"Yeah," Selina said, standing up in one graceful movement. "I'm eager to find out."

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her mother's number. They had a quick conversation, and then Selina hung up. "Mama wants us all to come over," she said.

They piled into Stefan's car and made the trip to Amelia's house. She stood waiting for them on the front steps with her hands in the pockets of her jeans. "Hey you three," she called cheerfully. "I've got quite a story for you!"

"My God, Mama," Selina said as they approached the driveway. "What in the world did you do to Tyler? When he showed up at the house, he was as white as a sheet!"

"Come inside the house and I'll answer your question," Amelia said. They entered the house and followed Amelia to the kitchen, which was done in dark red and burnt sienna. They sat down at the table while Amelia related the story in a slightly raised voice so she could be heard over a percolating coffee pot.

"I didn't to anything to him," she began. "You mentioned that the mayor had taken it in to his head to bury the body that they assumed was me in the Founding Families' cemetery. After you left, I went to have a look at the stone myself, and I saw that you weren't lying."

"Of course not," Selina said in surprise. "Why would I lie about something like that? We were there."

"I'd hoped you were mistaken," Amelia told her.

"Well," Elena said, "can you blame the mayor for wanting to commemorate finding your body? I mean, you disappeared for years. When they finally found what they thought was your body up in the hills, it was like a miracle, you know? What did you expect them to do when they found it?"

"I didn't want them to find it at all," Amelia said quietly.

"You mean you really intended to just run off with Daddy and not leave your family any word at all?" Selina asked.

"Yeah," Amelia said, looking up. "That's what I meant."

"Well then, why go to all the trouble of giving them a body?" Stefan asked. "Especially if it wasn't yours?"

"Look," Amelia said, "I didn't think they would look that hard for me. I just thought they would take a few days, and if they didn't find anything, they would just let the search drop. The reason why I thought of the substitute body was, well, I don't really know. But I thought that if they did find the body, they would maybe, ascertain that it was there and just leave it be, you know?"

"No offense Mama, but that's incredibly naive of you," Selina told her. "You come from one of the most prominent families in town. Your parents loved you, and so did your siblings. They wouldn't just give up searching for you."

"I know," Amelia said miserably. "That should have occurred to me back then, but it didn't and now I'm stuck with a grave with my name on it that's home to somebody else."

"Is that why you went to Tyler's?" Elena asked. "To clear up the misunderstanding?"

"Yeah," Amelia nodded. "And it didn't exactly go well."

"What happened?" Elena asked.

Amelia sighed, then stood up to get the coffee pot, grabbing a glass for herself, and filling it up. "Anyone else want coffee?" she asked.

They each took a cup, and Amelia sat back down. "It didn't go well, to say the least," Amelia admitted. "I thought it would be simple since Selina's first appearance to the family went so well. But I shouldn't have been so optimistic. Like Selina has repeatedly pointed out to me, they already knew she was still around, and thanks to Michael, were under obligation to watch out for her."

"Did something bad happen, Mama?" Selina asked. "Were you hurt?"

"No," Amelia shook her head. "It's nothing so bad as that, Lina. After I left the cemetery, I decided head to Tyler's house and clear things up. I thought for sure no one would be surprised to see me. My portrait and photos of me are all over the house. So after I had a look at the stone, I got in my car and drove to the Mayor's house, right?"

"His name is Richard," Selina said. "You don't have to keep referring to him as 'the mayor' since we're family."

"All right," Amelia nodded. "I drove to Richard's house and parked in the street. I only saw one car parked in the driveway, but the lights were on in the windows, so I assumed someone was home. I got out of my car and walked up the drive. Then, when I reached the front steps, I rang the doorbell. Tyler answered, and when he saw it was me, he looked a little…I don't know what word I would use to describe his look."

"Surprised?" Elena offered. "Confused?"

"No," Amelia shook her head. "Irritated might be the word. If there's one for irritation mixed with surprise, that would be what his look was."

"Why would he be irritated?" Elena asked.

"Wouldn't you be if your teacher suddenly showed up in the middle of the day?" Amelia asked. "He was probably afraid that I was going to rat him out for something."

"You told him why you were there, right?"

"Not right away," Amelia said. "I thought I would begin with some meaningless chitchat and then get to the really important things."

"Really?" Selina asked. "I thought you would be more inventive than that."

"Actually, I was," Amelia admitted. "After he let me in, he led me into this room- I think it was one of the parlors- that just happened to have a giant picture of me hanging in it."

"A photograph?" asked Elena."

"No," Amelia shook her head and took a sip of coffee. "It was a painting."

"I hope you took advantage of that to have a laugh at his expense," Selina said.

"Actually," Amelia told them, "I was grateful for it. It made for a nice way to transition. I looked up at the picture and asked him who it was. He told me that it was a distant aunt of his, which I suppose would be true. Then, he told me he had photographs of her too. I asked if he would bring some of those out so that I could have a better look at her, and he came in carrying an old photo album, I think one of the ones Charlie filled up in the early days of his and Rose's marriage. Tyler opened it and showed me a picture of myself that looked particularly horrendous."

"I highly doubt you could look completely horrendous," Selina said, laughing.

"Even when I'm a drunken mess?" Amelia asked.

"I admit that wasn't your brightest moment," Selina conceded. "But that wasn't really your fault. Anyway, continue."

"All right," Amelia placed her coffee cup on the table, heedless of the fact that it might leave a ring on the wood, and continued: "Tyler looked at the picture for a moment and then looked back at me and said 'you know Miss Underwood, you look a lot like her,' and that's when I decided to just tell him. 'What would you say,' I said, 'if I told you I am her'?"

"Did he believe you?" Damon asked.

Amelia smiled. "Actually, he burst out laughing. When he finally stopped, he said 'don't be silly. Aunt Amelia died years ago. We just found her body and buried it as a matter of fact'. I nodded. 'I know,' I said. 'Selina just told me and I saw the grave before I came here.'

"He wasn't laughing anymore by that point. 'How do you know her name is actually Selina?' he asked me.

"Because she's my daughter,' I told him. 'I named her that as a kind of tribute to the weird affliction all Lockwoods share'.

"You mean the werewolf thing?" Elena asked.

"Yeah," Amelia nodded. "But how do you know about it?" she asked.

"Selina's had some incidents during full moons," Damon said. "Last time, she killed five people, and if I'm not mistaken, also helped Tyler become just like his uncle Jacob."

Amelia looked dismayed. "Selina Amelia, you didn't! What were you doing out during a full moon, anyway?"

"I didn't mean to," Selina said quickly. "It was all part of a plot to use me to destroy the town."

"What?" Amelia cried, looking aghast.

"It's a long story," Elena said quickly. "We'll tell it to you another time."

"Do you promise?" Amelia asked.

"Yes," Selina nodded. "Now, what happened with Tyler?"

"Well," Amelia smiled mischievously. "After I brought up the bit about the 'family curse' all the color left his face and he kinda swayed on his feet. I thought he was going to pass out so I got him to a couch, and once he was lying down, he shut his eyes for a few minutes, then opened them and blinked up at me to make sure I was really there. Then, when he sat up, I asked him if he was okay."

"And what did he say?" Selina asked.

"He said he would be as soon as he checked out my story with you, and then told me I'd have to explain everything to him."

"I should probably come with you when you do that," Selina said. "In case his parents are there too, it might make things easier."

That night, Tyler headed back to Dr. Stensrund's house. "Katherine," he called as soon as he came through the door. "Are you here?"

"Yes," she came to meet him. "So," she said. "Did the plan work? Do you have Selina's blood so we can move on to the next step of the spell?"

"No," Tyler shook his head. "Something went wrong."

"Well, then why are you here?" Katherine asked bitingly. "Leave now and don't come back until you have my sister's blood!"

"I came," he said slowly, "because I found out something today that might be of interest to you."

"What?" Katherine asked.

Tyler took a deep breath. "Your mother showed up at the house today. Is that going to affect our plan at all?"