A/N: THIS CHAPTER FEATURES: Steroline :) and just a quick note on some character backgrounds in this chapter, Mason Lockwood is still alive! Damon never killed him, he skipped town in mid- season 2 and didn't return until beginning of season 3. Rebekah is having a bit of a romance with him.

Tyler and Bonnie have a really strong friendship because she helped a lot with magic during his transformations, creating a closely bonded relationship between witch and wolf.

Chapter 10~ Her Departure and His Return

It was almost noon by the time Stefan and Caroline reached the airport. To Stefan's surprise, Caroline had kept her word and packed lightly, limiting herself to only one suitcase and one carry- on bag.

They got their boarding passes and made their way down an escalator to get to their gate.

"I'm sort of nervous."

Stefan heard Caroline say.

"Yeah? Are you afraid of flying?" He asked her.

"Not really, I guess it's just been a while since I flew internationally out of the country. It's almost an 11 hour flight."

"Well it's a good thing I compelled our way to first class." Stefan confessed.

Caroline's mouth hung open. "Oh my God you did WHAT? Is that remnants of Ripper Stefan behavior or…"

Stefan laughed; "You will thank me once you board the plane. It was kind of late to buy first class on short notice."

"So then what did you do exactly?" Caroline was curious.

"I compelled this couple to cancel their flight and go home while you were using the ladies room. That's the only way they would have given the spare seats to us."

Caroline didn't know whether to slap him on the back and say GOOD JOB!Or to frown and feel guilty.

She stopped walking and looked right at Stefan. He couldn't hide his smile, because he knew Caroline was trying to hide hers with a ridiculously failed attempt to show off a serious and stern expression. She finally laughed and gave in.

"You are just a genius, know that?" Caroline remarked, before turning to start walking again.

Stefan chuckled and then gently grabbed Caroline's arms. She had distracted him from what he wanted to say to her earlier. "Wait." He waited for her eyes to meet his. "It's not too late to turn back now if you want Caroline."

She scanned his face with her eyes, he was very sincere and it made her feel warm inside. She had missed the caring Stefan.

"Are you kidding me? It was hard enough convincing my mom! No way I'm going back now and miss out on our rescue mission." Caroline smiled and continued to walk to their gate. She turned back and looked at Stefan.

"Well? Are YOU coming or not?" She teased him.

Stefan smiled and caught up to her as they both walked to board their plane at the gate.

Just as Caroline's plane was taking off, a black Dodge pick- up truck pulled into town. He drove through Mystic Falls and found his way on Caroline's driveway. He parked his truck and soon found his way on Caroline's porch.

Sheriff Forbes was busy making a sandwich in her kitchen when she heard the doorbell. She abandoned her tuna sandwich and headed towards the front door of her home.

"Tyler? Hi…"

"Hi Sheriff Forbes, is Caroline home?"

Tyler had been waiting for this moment for months and he could hardly contain his excitement.

Caroline's mom frowned in disappointment. "Oh Tyler, she left about a couple hours a go."

Tyler's smile was still even and unwavering.

"Oh okay, is she with the girls? At the Grill?"

"She just left the country today…"

Tyler felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"She left the country?"

"Yes, I'm sorry I thought she would tell you."

Tyler looked confused.

"Elena left for England last week, we all kind of found out sort of 'spur of the moment' by her Aunt Jenna. And this morning Caroline was all hell bent on going and meeting Elena there. I called Jenna and confirmed everything. She said that Elena was staying with family in London and that she did indeed invite Caroline to come along. I of course would have preferred my daughter to stay with me for the summer, but she's 18 now, and I can't hold her here against her will."

"She left for London?" Tyler was still in disbelief.

"I'm sure she would have stayed, had she known you would be back." Sherriff Forbes said sympathetically. She could see how much he cared for her daughter, it was written all over his face.

Tyler nodded. "Thanks for telling me. I better get going; mom still doesn't know I'm in town."

"It was nice to see you Tyler." Sherriff Forbes smiled and said farewell to the handsome young hybrid that had only recently broken his sire bond.

Damon handed Alaric a glass of bourbon before pouring himself a drink. Alaric had dropped by the boarding house not too long ago to check up on his vampire partner in crime.

"How are things with Jenna?" Damon asked, he was bordering along the lines of complete intoxication.

"Couldn't be better, your compulsion took her confusion, panic attack and 'oh my God, I'm such a horrible parent' away. She completely freaked out the night Elena disappeared and wanted to call the Sheriff. Of course I had to stop her until you two got back in town. So, thanks for compelling her. It wouldn't do her any good trying to understand everything all over again.

"I seem to be the one that's always practicing my compulsion on people around here." Damon scowled and swigged back his glass of bourbon that was generously poured to the brim.

"Have you figured out where Elena is at least?" Alaric asked, taking a seat on the sofa across from the unlit fireplace.

"Nnnnope." Damon replied with dramatic emphasis. The alcohol was beginning to take its long lasting effect.

It wasn't long before they heard a loud knock at the door.

"That must be Bonnie." Alaric said. He had called her over prior to his arrival at the boarding house.

Damon opened the door and let her inside. "You were right, witchy's here."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I have a name Damon."

He ignored her comment and resumed his early morning drinking.

"Hey Bonnie, any progress with Ida?" Alaric asked.

Bonnie took a deep breath and then looked at both of them, her face completely turned serious. "I think you two better sit down."

She explained from beginning to end about how Stefan received a call from Elena, and how they ended up finding Elena's location. She watched Damon's face twist into anger when she finally dropped the bomb on him and said that Stefan is out of town with Caroline.

"That bastard! He lied to me!" Damon grabbed his phone and started dialing Stefan's number.

"He's on a plane, he won't pick up." Bonnie tried to reason with him.

Damon heard Stefan's phone go straight to voice mail.

"Please leave your message after the tone…"

BEEEEP

"Well played LITTLE BROTHER, how dare you decide who gets to play watch dog around here, clearly you assumed I would be the best candidate! Why the hell did you take Caroline with you? Are you insane! She's going to get herself killed! OHHHHH WAIIIIIIT...I get it…SAINT STEFAN GETS TO SAVE ELENA AND WIN HER HEART TWICE OVER…YOU PLANNED THIS DIDN'T YOU! YOU JUST CAN'T FATHOM THE FACT THAT SHE'S IN LOVE WITH ME!" He was really in a drunken craze at the moment.

Alaric sighed and grabbed the phone away from Damon before he could do anymore damage. "Alright that's enough." He muttered to his intoxicated vampire buddy before taking Damon's phone to his ear.

"Never mind him Stefan, he's had too much to drink this morning. Just give us a call when you land. Talk soon" Alaric left him a message and hung up.

"You really need to cut back on the drinking." Bonnie said as she noticed all the empty bottles of alcohol on the ground, scattered around the fireplace.

Damon held his weight against the wall and raised his finger up in Bonnie's face.

"Don't you starrrrt with meee witchy." His speech was slurred.

"Alright Damon, that's enough. You look like hell, did you sleep last night?" Alaric asked.

"When was last night?" Damon was confusing himself.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I think we have our answer. You need to sleep it off man." Alaric was concerned.

"But I…can't…I'm the town watch dog" He leaned his arm onto Alaric's shoulder and whispered in a drunken stupor; "Stefan told me so."

"You're a vampire Damon, not a dog, don't get the two mixed up." Alaric winced, smelling the alcohol on Damon. He glanced over at Bonnie and said ;"rain check?"

She nodded and grabbed her bag before leaving the house.

Damon spontaneously started singing "George Michael's- I'm never going to dance again" followed by ridiculous dance moves that almost caused him to trip and fall.

Alaric couldn't help but laugh as he reached for his friend and swung Damon's arm over his shoulder to help him upstairs.

"I'm never gonna dance again…guilty feet have gotttt no rhythm…"

"Somehow I doubt that, and WOW, someone's out of tune. Easy there buddy, let's get you to bed."

It's going to be a loooooooong day, those were Alaric's last words before he left a very drunk and passed out Damon in his bed.

When Tyler finally arrived at the Lockwood mansion, he noticed that two things had changed since he left; his mother had re landscaped the front garden and his uncle Mason was back.

"Ohhh, it's so good to have you back Ty" Carol Lockwood hugged her son tightly. "I seriously thought I would have to end up renovating the whole mansion to keep myself busy."

Tyler laughed; "Yeah I noticed the front yard mom, looks nice." He was happy to be home.

Tyler pulled back from his mother's embrace and noticed a man step into the foyer.

"Mason?"

Mason Lockwood flashed a brilliant white pearly smile and welcomed his nephew home.

"Dude when did you get back?" Tyler gave his uncle a pound hug and placed his duffel bag down on the ground.

"I got in last month; your mom's been nice enough to let me stay here."

Carol smiled warmly at Mason. "Well he's been an amazing help around the house. Ever since you went away, Mason has pretty much been the man of the house."

"How long are you staying? Please don't tell me you're leaving today too…" Tyler hoped for the best.

"Too? Who was the first one that left today? And no I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. I'm here for the entire summer." Mason replied.

"Long story." Tyler said.

"Well maybe we can talk about it over lunch, you up for some burgers at the Grill? It's on me." Mason offered. He really had missed his nephew and felt bad for having to lie to him so much because of Katherine's manipulation.

"Honestly, yeah…I'm starving."

"You two don't stay out too late." Carol said like any good mother would.

Tyler didn't know whether to be happy for Mason or to feel sorry for him, because what he just witnessed was enough to make him want to tell his uncle to run the other way and never come back to Mystic Falls.

Rebekah had been waiting for Mason at the grill and had seen him walk in with Tyler. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around her new boyfriend's neck, planting a huge kiss on his lips. Tyler was a bit of a short notice surprise, because Rebekah had not been expecting him.

"Tyler, so nice to have you back." There was nothing but sarcasm in Rebekah's voice. To her, he was nothing but a poor puppet his brother played with whenever he got bored.

"You two are dating now?" It almost sounded like he was disgusted.

Mason wrapped his arm around Rebekah's waist and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah" Mason admitted; "Once THIS one FINALLY admitted that she has feelings for me. You know how we are, ladies can't resist the Lockwood charm." He smiled proudly and winked at Tyler.

"Excuse me! But it was totally the other way around!" Rebekah said in her sexy British accent that drove Mason crazy. She playfully bit into his neck and slid her hand up his tight blue v neck t shirt.

"Bekah! Not here!" Mason chuckled, pulling her hand away.

Tyler felt like he had just returned to another alternate reality; one that he didn't like very much. First he finds out that the girl that he loves is not just out of town but out of the country and next he discovers that his one and only favorite uncle, is dating the little sister of the Hybrid Dictator. Tyler wasn't the only one who had drastically changed.

Still, he remained polite for Mason's sake. As soon as they went home, he would make sure to warn his uncle. He didn't want Mason to get played again like he did with Katherine.

They sat down at a table and ordered some food. They talked about their plans for the summer and Tyler's football scholarship. It was rather boring for Tyler. It wasn't until he noticed Bonnie sitting across the room, that he decided to excuse himself for a moment and go say hi to her.

Bonnie was eating a Caesar salad and texting Ida, when she noticed someone standing next to her table. Her face lit up.

"Tyler!" She got up out of her seat with a big smile on her face, and wrapped her tiny arms around his muscular shoulders.

"Nice to know you're glad to see me." Tyler said as he chuckled and squeezed Bonnie tight in his arms.

She gently pulled away and smiled wide. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you, we've all been missing you so much, especially Caroline."

Tyler frowned a bit, and Bonnie caught on to it.

"You went to her house didn't you?"

"Yeah…Her mom said she's in London with Elena." He sounded like he almost didn't believe it and needed to hear it from Bonnie to accept it.

Bonnie looked uneasy, she was about to tell Tyler the truth when she saw Rebekah sitting with Mason in the distance.

"Umm, yeah listen, call me when you get home, or just drop by. I'll tell you all about it."

Tyler arched an eye eyebrow at her suspiciously. "…Kay.." he paused before adding; "And did you know about these two?" He tilted his head to the side, motioning towards Mason and Rebekah.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, not surprised at all. "Yeah, they've made it no secret. Damon tried warning Mason, but well…you know how those two are, they never get along." Bonnie sighed.

"I see…" Tyler replied.

"TYLER! YOU BETTER GET BACK BEFORE I DEVOUR YOUR BURGER!" Mason hollered over the busy crowd.

"I got to go." Tyler said, feeling half disappointed because he wanted to talk with Bonnie more. "I'll call you." He said goodbye to her and returned to where Mason and Rebekah were sat at.

The entire trunk of Elijah's car was full of clothing and shoe bags once they had finished Elena's shopping. She had actually enjoyed herself and yet again, Elena got to see another side of Elijah's personality that she really admired; his generosity.

They arrived home around dinner time and he helped her drag all her bags inside her room.

"I really can't thank you enough." Elena said, as she dropped her shopping bags on her bed.

Elijah followed behind her and placed the remaining bags he had carried in on her bed as well.

"It's crucial to feel comfortable in the clothing you wear; otherwise it effects your day and the way you present yourself to others." He took a step closer to Elena and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Even though you look absolutely ravishing in the few dresses I've had viewing pleasure to see you in, one must respect another's sense of style…and I apologize on my brother's behalf for imposing his idealistic expectations of how a woman should dress on you."

Elena felt herself blush. This vampire was just so different from the rest of his siblings; it was hard to believe that they were related. Elijah wasn't cold like Klaus, but gentle, warm, generous, kind, considerate to her feelings. She felt her stomach tighten when he flashed a charismatic smile.

"I have a surprise for you."

Elena watched Elijah pull out a white bag that he had placed inside of another shopping bag that belonged to her.

"I remember you said you wished that you could take pictures and so I thought…this would be very useful."

Elena opened the bag and peered inside. It was a brand new professional, photographer's camera.

"Elijah…oh my god, you really didn't have to."

He watched her face light up and couldn't help but smile, because that's exactly the reaction he wanted to see on her pretty little face.

"I know I didn't have to" Elijah closed the remaining gap between them and caressed Elena's face with the back of his hand; "But, I wanted to." His tone was low, soft and seductive. Something was happening between them and they weren't even aware of what exactly that it was.

Elena shivered in place as she felt that magnetic pull that Elijah so attracted. Whenever he was close to her, it was becoming a bit of a problem because she didn't trust her body to refrain from impulsive desires that were buried deep within her subconscious mind…the little voice inside her head that whispered; "I'm indescribably and without logical, sensible reason, ATTRACTED to you Elijah…"

"I love it, thank you." She said politely and placed the camera back inside the box, breaking the connection that was forming while they were staring at each other.

"My pleasure krasivaya princesa"

Elena blushed again, trying to avoid Elijah's eyes.

"Are you going to get changed so we can head out for dinner?" He asked her.

"Actually, I was thinking we could dine in tonight. The fridge is stocked, I want to cook, AND I want you to eat with me. I promise it will be more than edible, I'm quite confident in my culinary skills." Elena boasted, hoping that he would say yes.

Elijah chuckled lightly and said; "Well, we shall just have to put it to the test."

TO BE CONTINUED

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I was a huge fan of Mason Lockwood on the show and was so disappointed when they killed his character off, because I saw a lot of room for potential to mix his character into major plots, but oh well, in my story he's alive and kicking :D please feel free to give me your thoughts on Rebekah and Mason paring, I really do feel like I could make some magic happen between them, if given the proper time and opportunity. Love yall!

Next chapter will be published: April 13, 2012