Selina pulled up to the Lockwood mansion praying that Mason and Tyler were still asleep and hadn't noticed that she'd been gone. She parked the car and got out, walking up the drive and taking one step at a time until she reached the front door. She opened it and was plunged into almost total darkness until her eyes adjusted. "Thank goodness," she whispered to herself. "If it's this dark, Mason and Tyler are probably still asleep; and if they're still asleep, I bet they never even realized I was gone." She made her way carefully across the front entryway and had her foot on the first stair when lights suddenly flashed on. Momentarily blinded, she missed the second step and fell. When she managed to pull herself up, she found herself looking at Tyler and Mason who were standing by a light switch near the door.

"Hello, Selina," Mason said easily, although the smile on his face was forced. "Do you mind telling us where you went?"

Selina breathed in sharply. "I went out," she said. "Not that it's any of your business of course. I had some errands to run."

Mason looked at the clock. "So early in the morning?" he asked. "What could you possibly have to do so early in the morning?"

Selina cleared her throat. "Again," she repeated, "I don't think that my nocturnal activities are any of your business."

"Of course they're our business," Mason said. "What if, while you were gallivanting around town, you ran into somebody? May I remind you that the whole town thinks you're dead! You could have gotten in trouble and we wouldn't have been any the wiser!"

Selina nodded. "Yes, I'm well aware of that Mason. That's why I ran my errand early instead of in the middle of the day when more people are out and about. I'm less likely to run into living souls at three a.m. And any ones I do happen to run into probably won't be seen as particularly believable, will they?"

"Please tell us what the errand was, Selina," Tyler said.

She sighed. "I went to the boardinghouse. I wanted to tell Damon that I was okay and that I could never see him again." Despite her best efforts, tears began running down her cheeks.

"You see?" Mason said, putting his arms around her. "This is exactly why I wanted you to stay here instead of telling Damon goodbye; I knew it would just upset you."

Selina pushed him away. "Don't touch me," she said angrily. "I broke up with Damon because of what you said. Because some of what you said happened to be true, and I like being human. I'm grateful for the second chance you gave me, and I'll stay here with you because I have no place else to go at the moment. But don't you for one second think that I'm going to become one of your puppets just because you did me a favor. My life is mine, and nothing you can do is going to change that." She nodded at Tyler. "Good night," she said. "I'll see you two later."

Elena came downstairs around sunup and found Stefan in the kitchen frying eggs. "How are you?" she asked. "And how's Damon? Do you think he's going to be getting up this morning?"

Stefan sighed. "I don't know. I've never seen him like this before. Even with Katherine he managed to bounce back."

Elena pulled silverware out of the drawer. "But that's because he never truly loved Katherine," she said. "It just took him awhile to realize it. But with Selina, it's different. You remember; each is the only real relationship the other has had. So recovering will take time."

They sat down at the kitchen table. A few seconds later, Damon came downstairs and joined them. "You got enough for me?" he asked.

"I only made two," Stefan said. "I wasn't sure if you were planning to make contact with the outside world today or not. But it won't be any trouble to make another."

"Thanks," Damon said, taking a seat next to Elena.

"How are you doing?" she asked him.

"Well," Damon said, putting his hands together and gazing at her thoughtfully, "my wife just dumped me because she was brainwashed into thinking I was going to hurt her and now she's living with her cousins who both have crushes on her because of some spell that her other cousin, my sworn enemy and an eternal pain in my ass, requested that a witch put on his male descendants. How do you think I'm doing?"

"Okay, I'm sorry," Elena said, giving a gesture of surrender. "I was just trying to be polite." She paused. "In a way, this whole thing is kind of poetic justice, isn't it?" she asked. "Katherine brainwashed you so that you hated Selina for years and she suffered, and now, Tyler and Mason have brainwashed her to hate you, and you're suffering."

"What's your point?" Damon asked. "Are you trying to say that it's good this happened to me? That it's about time I got what was coming to me?"

Elena shook her head. "No, I'm just making an observation."

"What's your plan?" Stefan asked. "Have you thought of one yet?"

"What plan?" Damon asked.

"The plan to get Selina away from Mason and Tyler," Stefan said. "What is it?"

"I was thinking of going to the mansion, killing both Mason and Tyler, and then spiriting Selina away," Damon said. He looked at Stefan. "I know you don't approve of killing people, but do you want to help me?"

"Wait," Elena said. "I know that it would be very cathartic and romantic for you to go bursting into the Lockwood mansion, kill Selina's captors, and then take her away, but you can't do that."

"Of course we can," Damon said.

"No you can't," Elena said. "That's the worst thing you could possibly do at this point. I mean, the whole reason why Selina left you is because she was afraid you would hurt her. If she sees you killing Mason and Tyler, don't you think she'll assume you're going to kill her too?"

"Give her a little credit," Damon said. "Maybe by now, she's realized that Mason was wrong about me and what she did was rash, and is just waiting for me to come rescue her."

"But you don't know that," Elena pointed out. "Do you really want to risk getting rejected again? I think you should just be patient. Things will work themselves out in the end."

"How do you know?" Damon asked.

"How would you like me to put it?" Elena asked. "I'll start this way: the relationship that you and Selina have is a lot like a boomerang. Things happen; you have troubles, you get separated. But, sooner or later, one of you always comes back and things end up just like they're supposed to. And that'll happen, just like it did when Katherine interfered. But you have to be patient."

"I don't want to be patient," Damon said testily. "I want Selina, I want Selina now, and I want to break every bone in Mason Lockwood's body."

Elena and Stefan looked at one another and sighed. "If you love someone," Elena said, "then set them free; if things are meant to be, they'll come back."

Damon frowned at her. "I need a drink," he said. "A really, really big one."

Two weeks later, Selina was still at the Lockwood mansion and she was beginning to get restless. Except for a few very short errands to the local store, she hadn't really been allowed to leave her room. She now lay on her stomach on the bed, staring blankly at the television across the room. It was off. A knock on the door snapped her out of her stupor. "Come in," she called dazedly.

The door opened and Tyler entered the room, grinning at her. "I just came to check up on you," he said. "Are you okay? Can I get you anything?"

"Sit next to me," she said, sitting up and patting the bed. "I want to talk to you."

"Sure," he said, taking the seat she had indicated, his gaze full of concern. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes," Selina nodded. "I'm bored. I've been human for two weeks and it really hasn't done me any good. Mason barely lets me out of the house. What's the point of being able to walk around in the sunlight if I have to stay inside all the time? I want to see people and talk to them. I need more than just you and Mason for company, no offense."

"Selina," Tyler said, "Everyone around here thinks you're dead, and it might shock them if they see you walking around when there's a grave in the Founding Families' cemetery with your name on it."

"So?" Selina said. "Mama's got a grave in the Founding Families cemetery too and she's walking around all she wants."

"But that's because no one but us, Elena Gilbert and the Salvatores know that she's your mother. Everyone else just thinks she's an English teacher. People around here know you as you."

Selina sighed. "I just want to go outside. Is that such a difficult request?"

"Not really." Tyler got up off the bed and opened the curtains. "You remember that there's a balcony out here, don't you?" he asked.

Selina got up off the bed. "I forgot," she said. She pushed the door aside and stepped out into the light, reveling in the feeling of warmth on her skin.

"How's that?" Tyler asked. "Better?"

"Much," Selina nodded. "Thank you. I don't know why I forgot about this balcony when it's my room and I should know every inch of it."

"Who knows?" Tyler shrugged. "The point is, you now have a way to be out in the sunlight without alarming any locals." He sat down on a bench near the balcony and she sat beside him. "But that's not the whole problem, is it?" He put his arm around her shoulders.

Selina shook her head, moving it to his shoulder. "No, actually; it's not the whole problem."

"What's the rest?" Tyler asked. "Does it have to do with Damon?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "I guess I'm kind of lonely." She stood up and went back into her room, returning to her spot on the bed. "It's been awhile since I've felt loved. Really and truly loved." She sighed. "The best thing would be for me to go back to Damon, I think. But you and I both know that as long as Mason's around, that's not going to happen."

Tyler thought a moment. "What if I had a way to make you feel better?" he said. "What if I told you I could make all your pain and boredom disappear?"

"I'd say hand it over, whatever it is. I could use some relief," Selina said.

"All right," Tyler said, standing up. I'll be back in a minute." He left the room and went back to his. He opened all the drawers of his dresser, finding the necklace in the last one he tried. He looked at it for a moment, then closed his fist over it. He left his room, shutting the door behind him. As he walked back to Selina's room, something caught his attention: her bathroom door was open and the fruity scent of her body wash and lotion still filled the room, even though she'd been out of the shower for quite some time. He went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, taking a deep breath. Then, he began to think about everything that had transpired in the last two weeks.

He and Selina had had a lot of opportunities to spend time together, and whenever they did, it usually consisted of talking. Just talking about things like art, the weather, books they read, and movies they saw. And she really seemed to care about what he said and take it to heart. Sometimes, he'd bring up a board game and they'd play it. She was really good at Monopoly. She'd beaten him every time. But they always managed to laugh about it afterwards. She had a lovely laugh. He sighed, coming back to reality. He looked at the necklace he was holding. He'd had it made so that she would love him, but he realized that she already did, in a way. Maybe not the way that he really wanted her to, but in a way that was good enough. And if he gave her the necklace, would it really make things better? Or would it just change them for the worse? He wasn't sure and he didn't want to take any chances. He balled the necklace up and threw it into the trash can, continuing on his way to Selina's bedroom.

When he entered, she looked up. "So where is this wonder item?" she asked, looking at him. "You don't seem to be carrying anything."

He sat next to her on the bed. "Here it is," he said. He put his arms around her and gave her a hug. To his surprise, she hugged back without hesitation, squeezing so hard that for a moment, he struggled to breath.

"I'm sorry," she said, tearing up. "But that was the first time I've gotten affection from anyone since I came back."

"You could have asked earlier," he said. "I would have gladly given it to you."

"I know," she sniffled. Then, she brought her head up and their lips met. After a long kiss, he began planting little kisses on her neck. "You know," he said between kisses, "I realized something just now."

"What?" Selina asked, kissing him back and beginning to pluck at his shirt to get it off.

"I realized," he said, "that you're beautiful, you're smart, you make me laugh, and you care about me. It's nice to have someone who cares about me. I love you, Selina." He pulled away and they looked in each other's eyes for a moment before resuming the removal of each other's clothing, coming back to the world when they heard the door opening on the lower floor, and Mason calling up to tell them he'd returned home.

That night, Selina had a dream: She was looking at a gray stone castle surrounded by lush green forests and a river, usually sparkling blue, but now black. It would be easier to see the natural beauty in the daylight, but just then, it was night and almost nothing was visible. Her attention was directed to an open window on the side of the castle, high above the ground. There was a young woman sitting close to the window, looking out into the night. The room she was sitting in was nearly as dark as the sky outside, the only light from faint, flickering torches. Quite suddenly, torchlight danced across the young woman's face, making her features visible. The young woman was Selina herself! She was wearing a long red gown and a silver crown set with rubies was in her long black hair. Squinting, at a piece of needlework, she flinched as the needle pricked her and blood welled up on her finger.

Just then, she heard a sound at one of the other windows; this particular window had closed curtains in heavy red velvet. Sucking on the finger she'd wounded, Selina stood up and hurried over to the window, opening the curtains. She gasped when she saw who was hanging on to the sill. "What are you doing?" she asked him. "You're an enemy here. Do you realize what they'll do to you if you're found?"

The young man ignored her and boosted himself into her room. Plucking a torch from one of the holders by the inside of the door, he held it near his face so that she got a clear view of his features. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I've failed you once. I don't intend to let it happen again."

"Why did you come?" she whispered desperately.

"I came to rescue you," he said. "Gather your things and we'll be on our way. I have horses waiting outside."

She opened her mouth to argue, but realized that it was futile. She blinked and said "there's nothing here I want to take with me."

"All right," he said. "Come with me." He took her hand and they walked the length of the room until they reached the door. He put the torch back and opened the door, shutting it quickly when he heard the growling. "What in God's name?" he said, looking at her.

"The wolves," she whispered back. "They guard me. They make certain that I'm not able to leave this place."

He took a deep breath and opened the door. Two wolves charged into the room. The bigger of the two was growling and drooling and baring his fangs. The other, smaller one stationed himself near Selina. He kept silent.

"Grab a torch," the young man whispered to her. "And then give it to me. I'll injure them and that will give us the chance we need to get away."

Selina nodded. Picking up her skirts, she slowly made her way around the wolves. The one who was growling stopped momentarily to trace her path. She grabbed the torch and handed it to the young man, who brought it forward in a wide arc. "Back!" he yelled at the wolves. "Back, you fiends! You will harm no one tonight!" Then, quick as a flash, he threw the torch at the curtains, which caught fire and began to burn. As the fire spread, Selina and the young man made for the doorway of the room, which was now unguarded; the bigger wolf wasn't distracted for long, however, and he bounded after them, growling like mad. In her haste to get away, Selina tripped over her long skirts and fell to the ground. The wolf's snapping jaws came closer and closer to her throat. Just as she was certain she was about to die, the wolf let out a yelp of pain. Selina sat up slowly to see what had most certainly saved her life. She gasped as she realized that it had been the smaller wolf who had bitten the bigger wolf on the leg. Blood was spurting from the wound, yet she and the young man watched in horrified fascination as the wolves continued to fight. Finally, the smaller wolf managed to kill the bigger one, but the victory had a cost. The injuries he had sustained killed him as well. Once Selina realized he was dead, she ran her hands over his hide and sobbed, turning to the young man.

"He was always good to me," she said, referring to the smaller wolf. "He wasn't scary like the other one. He was protective." The young man put his arms around her for a moment. "We must go now," he said. "You said I was an enemy here, and the noise the wolves made destroyed any chances we had of escaping undetected. I want you to hold on tightly to my hand, and don't look back. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," she nodded, taking his hand. "I love you."

He nodded. "I love you too," he said, gently kissing her forehead. "So very, very much."

Selina woke up with a start, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized that Tyler was still beside her.