A/N: Almost 300 reviews!? Oh my god! You guys are SO wonderful! Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following. Seriously! I write my stories for you all and I'm thrilled to know that so many of you are finding this story so addictive and interesting. ;)

Anyways, with that being said. Here's Ch.25. Hope you all like it!

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Thank you SO MUCH for reading! :)

Must Love Dogs- Chapter Twenty-Five

"Wait!" Elena shouted after him, opening the door and running to the middle of the hallway, stopping just a few feet away from where Stefan had already been.

She watched his body tense as he turned around slowly. "I already told you, Elena. Go home and-." He began to say as Elena ran up to him, placing her hands on to his cheeks, stroking each side with her thumbs.

"This is not your choice to make! Don't you understand?" She asked, deeply breathing as she tried to keep her tears at bay. As much as she hadn't wanted to fall for him. It had happened and in the back of her mind, she really was hoping that he felt something for her too.

"As mad as I am at you. I care about you too." She stated, placing her forehead against his and exhaling deeply.

"Please, don't push me away." She said, choking back her tears.

"I'm not good for you. But, I care about you enough to realize that you're better off without me. So, go back to your aunts house. Pack your things and go home to where you belong. Be with someone who's better than me, Elena. Be with someone who is going to love you like you deserve." Stefan suggested softly, kissing her lips and placing his hands on to her cheeks, cupping her face into his hands as he forced her to look at him.

"Maybe I'll see you again, one day." He told her softly, inhaling a sharp intake of breath as his shaking hands lifted off of her face and he brushed past her, walking away without looking back.

"Don't walk away from me, Stefan!" Elena shouted after him, tears falling down her cheeks as she placed her hands on to her face and felt them fall, watching him slowly turn around.

"It's better this way. You and I both know that." He said, his eyes glazed over with tears as he pushed open the door, leaving without another word.

Elena stood in the middle of the empty hallway, tears cascading down her face as she leaned her back against one of the large windows that lead into a conference room.

We're at Lapellah for lunch. I'll text you the address. Elena, are you coming? A text message from Jeremy caused her body to jolt a little bit as she took her phone out of her purse, reading the text message with blurry vision. Elena wiped away at her tears, exhaling deeply before replying back with a simple, On my way.

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"Elena! Over here!" Bonnie waved her over, noticing that her best friend was a little bit not as enthusiastic as she was in the morning when she had seen her last.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie quietly asked as Jeremy moved so that Elena could take a seat next to Bonnie.

"Nothing. I'm great. " Elena lied, making herself smile forcefully up at her brother, Jenna and then at Alaric who was looking down at the liquor menu. Bonnie shrugged as she watched Elena look down at the menu for a long drawn out moment.

"So, what are we having for lunch?" She asked, tapping her fingernails against the plastic laminated menu in her hands, hearing Jenna cough out a breath before she said. "We kind of already ordered for you. I know, you are kind of specific with your food. So, Jer got you a hamburger with fries." Jenna told her, smiling as Elena sighed out a breath, rubbing the back of her neck with the tension that she felt.

"Elena, are you alright?" Jeremy asked in a worried tone as he leaned forward to grab his sister's hand, squeezing it tightly and watching her flinch. Elena glanced up at him, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. "I need to use the bathroom." She told him quickly, not wanting to make eye contact with any of her family members as they watched her get up, darting towards the bathrooms.

"I'm going to talk to her." Bonnie said, ready to get up and follow Elena.

"No, I'll handle it." Jenna retorted, pushing away from her husband, giving him a knowing look before she walked back into the direction of where Elena had disappeared off to.

"Sweetheart. Elena?" Jenna called out to her, pushing open the women's restroom door and holding her breath as she noticed that Elena was nowhere to be found, that was until she heard her sobbing cries coming from one of the stalls.

"Honey, what's going on?" She asked sweetly, pushing open the stall that Elena had forgotten to lock. She found her sitting on the floor, her back leaning against the toilet, her tears falling into her mouth as she cried into her hands, not looking at her aunt.

"Did he do something! Elena, what did Stefan do?" She demanded to know, helping her niece up to her feet and holding her against her chest, helping her out of the bathroom before she embraced her tightly, stroking her hair with her hands.

"He...He didn't do anything..I..." Elena stammered out, inhaling in between gritted teeth before finishing her sentence. "I was just stupid to fall for him." She sobbed against her aunt's shoulder, burying her face into Jenna's neck, holding her for dear life.

"I'm so sorry, Elena." She heard Jenna tell her with an apologetic tone.

"I want to go home." She whispered out, letting out a shaky breath.

"Okay, so let's go home." Jenna said, taking a step back and wiping away at her nieces tear stained cheeks.

Elena shook her head, glancing down at her high heels. "No, Jenna. I want to go back to Oregon. I want to go back home with Jeremy and Bonnie. And, I want to go as soon as I can. In the next few days." She announced, watching as Jenna's eyes locked on to her.

Silence filled the room for a while before Jenna asked in a soft and low voice. "Are you sure? Elena, you still have 2 months left until summer's over. You don't even have a job lined up there."

Elena closed her eyes, sighing. "I have more going on there for me. Then, I do here. I'm sorry, Jenna. But, I think that it would be for the best if I went back home and put my degree to use. Before I came here, I wanted to be an art consultant. And, back home there's this cute little place that opened up just last month. I would try to get a job there. Maybe even doing interior design." Elena remarked with a hopeful tone, watching Jenna's eyes lift up to stare at her.

Jenna nodded, staying silent before she finally said. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe it would be better for you to go back. But, not until the week is over." She told her, hugging her tightly and sweetly speaking into her ear. "Remember that even when you go back home. I want you to call me every day and keep me posted on your progress there. Because, if it doesn't work out back home. You'll always have a guest room waiting here in Florida for you."

Elena swallowed the lump building in her throat, nodding as she choked back more tears. " I need to go back in a few days. I decided that this weekend will be my last weekend here. Jeremy, Bonnie and I can go enjoy the beach for a bit before we leave." She explained, smiling when she added. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind. About, the guest room." She said in a broken tone, wrapping her arms around her aunt.

"I love you, Jenna." Elena whispered, feeling her aunt tighten her grip around her.

"I love you, too. And, I'm going to make sure that your mom keeps an eye on you." She said, hearing Elena laugh a little.

They stood like that for awhile, only backing away from each other when a customer from the restaurant walked in and gave them a quick look. "Let's go back to the table and eat our lunch." Jenna suggested, grabbing a hold of her hand as Elena caught a quick glance of herself in the mirror. All the while, Stefan's words rang through her head. Go home... Be with someone who's better than me, Elena. Be with someone who is going to love you like you deserve.

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"Feeling better?" Katherine asked him, a binder of their next project in her hands as she leaned her shoulder against the open door that lead to Stefan's office.

"Yeah, a lot. Actually, I'm great." He told her, going back to work as he heard his sister in law step further into the room, running her fingers against the wood of his desk, glancing out the large glass windows that had a perfect view of the setting sun.

"You've always been a bad liar, Stefan." She told him, tapping her manicured nails against his desk, turning her head to look at him.

"I'm not lying, Katherine." He retorted, going back the stack of papers in front of him, signing and looking over some newly closed deals from a few of his and Damon's clients.

"Yes, you are. You know how I can tell?" She questioned, taking a seat on the sofa in his office, crossing her arms over chest and exhaling.

"How?" He asked her, annoyance filling his tone.

"You're avoiding my questions. You're deflecting them and working. Stefan, you barely work. You have over 85 employees who do most of that stuff for you." She told him, shifting in her seat. Katherine watched as he glanced up at her, rubbing his face in frustration before going back to focusing in on the documents in front of him and on his laptop that sat near the edge of the desk.

"Well," He paused, glancing over at her before adding in. "It's time for me to pick up the slack. My employees shouldn't take up all the work."

She sat still, lips pursed together with raised eyebrows. He waved her off. "Katherine, how about you go home and go be with Izzie." He told her.

Stefan heard Katherine's high heels hitting the ground as she walked up to his desk, slapping his desk with the palm of her hand. "Get over yourself! You aren't the only divorced person in this world, Stefan. Listen, I'm sorry Rebekah left you and that she cheated. But, you can't keep doing this to yourself. Sitting here and drowning! So, go home and be..." Her voice trailed off, unsure of what exactly to say.

"Be alone. Right? Because, that's what I'll be if I go home right now." Stefan snapped, flicking the pen in his hands across the room, anger in his eyes.

"Stefan, you know that I don't mean that." She replied with an apologetic tone, giving him that same sympathetic look that everyone had been giving him for nearly the past 7 months since he and Rebekah had broken their marriage off.

"Yeah, you did. But, it's fine, Katherine. You're right. I should go home instead of sulk around the office. Look, lock up before you leave." He told her, getting up from his seat and shutting the laptop off before he grabbed his coat. Katherine watched with wide eyes as he stepped beside her, staring directly at her side profile.

"Go find my brother, have a nice family dinner and be happy that you're not divorced. Because, it's horrible." He said flatly before walking out of his office without another word.

"Katherine! Just the person that I'm looking for." She heard a thick British accent coming from behind her, pivoting on her heel as she looked up to see his face. Enzo stood with his hands in his pockets, tilting his head to the side with confusion.

"Saw Stefan on my way up here. He looked pretty upset." He told her with an observant tone, watching as she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and crossing her arms over her chest.

"He is. But, I'm sure he'll be fine." She said, looking at the clock in the room that was just above the door.

"What are you still doing here? I thought that you would have left by now?" She asked him, watching as he smirked a little, removing a memory chip from his pant pockets, tossing it to her.

"Doing research. About our latest problem." He informed Katherine, noticing as she stared down at the blue and white computer chip in her hands.

"What's this?" She asked, a curious tone in her voice.

"It's about Rebekah. Let's just say that she isn't as clean and tidy in cleaning up all of her messes. She leaves trails behind, wherever she goes." He smirked, rubbing his hands together while turning his back to Katherine.

"How did you find all of this out?" She asked him, placing her hand on to her hip as she gave him a blank stare.

"I used to do a bit of computer hacking when I was in college. Well, that skill kind of landed me in hot water. Spent a few months in prison. Your husband helped bail me out from a really shitty place, once or twice. So, he made a deal with me. If I kept my nose clean. And, came here to help you guys with your little problem. Then, Damon would help make my record go away." He told her in an honest tone, tilting his head to the side and grinning. "Check out my work, I think you'll be impressed." Enzo smirked, before excusing himself and leaving Katherine all alone in Stefan's office.

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"You hired an ex convict to work in the offices! Have you lost your god damn mind!" Katherine bellowed as she walked through the door of their home, barging right into Damon's office as she shut the doors behind her, glaring at her husband.

Damon looked up from the blueprints he was reading, laughing a little. "Well, nice to see you too wife." He remarked with an amused grin.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" Katherine angrily asked him, her eyebrows furrowed with her hands on her hips.

"I did and I'm not concerned about it. Katherine, he's harmless." Damon tried to reassure her, watching as she crossed her arms, her unpleased and tired expression forcing him to wipe the smirk from his face.

"He was a hacker before you offered him a deal! God, Damon." She shouted, lifting her hands up over her head in an irritable way. "I can't believe you, sometimes. He could get into our company accounts and wipe us clean!" She exclaimed.

"Katherine, he won't. He's on our side and we can trust him. Trust me, Enzo would do that to Rebekah before he did that to me or Stefan. We're like his brothers." Damon revealed, watching Katherine's brown eyes widen.

"That's it!" She yelled, snapping her fingers together and leaning forward against her husband's desk with a glistening in her eyes at the words that he had just spoken.

Damon gave her a perplexed look. "What's it?" He asked as Katherine grinned widely.

"We wipe all of Rebekah's assets clean. We bankrupt her so that she's forced to leave the city with Elijah. And, so that she can't move forward with her plans of trying to take our company." Katherine replied with a beaming smile.

Damon shook his head. "You don't think that Elijah or Klaus would give her money again. Katherine, it's not going to force her to leave us alone. If she doesn't have a plan B. She's got a whole lot of other plans to protect herself. Believe me."

Katherine smiled at him, taking her finger and placing it under his chin. Damon's blue eyes locked on to hers as she gave him a sinister glance. "So, we freeze all of her bank accounts and deny her access to everything else then. Hell, let's do it to Elijah for fun too."

"You are evil." Damon chuckled, leaning towards her and trying to kiss her. But, Katherine was already on a roll.

"Are you sure that Rebekah isn't going to cry to Klaus about it and that he won't cave in?" She asked him, watching Damon shake his head.

"Klaus hates her as much as we do. I highly doubt that." He smiled, getting up from his desk. Katherine turned towards him, placing her hands on to the dark blue tie around Damon's neck, yanking on it a bit. "Call Enzo, right now and tell him to come over." She stated.

"Why?" Damon asked, hearing Katherine giggle out a laugh before her face became serious and hardened as ice. "So that we can finally take the bitch down. Because, all is fair in love and war, Damon. And, this is war!" She declared, opening the doors to his office back up and turning back to face him as she watched Damon hold his cell phone in his hands.

"Now, excuse me as I go take a shower and wash the grossness of today off of me." She smiled, closing the doors halfway just when she heard Damon ask. "Can I come with you?"

He watched Katherine open the doors back up just a bit, poking her head back in as she sarcastically stated. "I can do it myself. But, if you do try to sneak in the shower me with. It's not going to make up for anything. Until you call Enzo and have him help us with our pest problem."

"Pest problem?" Damon questioned as he heard Katherine laugh again.

"Yes, Damon. Rebekah is a rat that needs to be dealt with." She replied, closing the doors to his office and leaving him with no other choice. But, to call Enzo.

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A loud and thunderous knock awoke Stefan the next morning as he opened his eyes and looked around the room.

"It's 8:30. Shit!" He cursed as he glanced at the alarm clock beside him, hearing Duke sniffing and scratching at his door.

"I'm up. I'm up!" He groaned, pushing himself up off the bed and sighing out a breath as he kicked his shoes that Duke had ripped up just three days earlier, to the other side of the room.

Stefan opened the door, watching Duke step back as he rubbed his hand over his face and cleared his throat. He glanced down at his stomach and patted it for a brief second before patting the dog on the top of his head. "I guess I should take you for a run or something. I could use the work out." He remarked, glancing down at the dog and speaking to him with a shrilled voice, watching him spin around in circles, chasing his own tail before he saw Stefan grab the leash in his hands.

"Let's go and then we'll eat breakfast together when we get back." Stefan said, thankful that Klaus was still sleeping and not having to hear him talk to Duke as if he were a human being.

Stefan clipped the leash to Duke's collar, slipping into his running shoes and opening the front door. But, the moment they stepped out into the hot Floridian sun beating down on their faces, he glanced up to hear a car door slam shut and see a flash of blonde hair coming his way. Stefan squinted his eyes, trying to get a better picture of who it was. Yet, it was hard to see until he heard her voice call out. "Just the person I wanted to see. Good morning, asshole. You are in deep shit!" Rebekah yelled, her fingers tightly balled up into fists as she made her way towards him, a very unpleased look appeared across her features.

"Oh fuck. Just the person I didn't want to see." Stefan mumbled to himself. Forcing a fake smile when he said. "Hello...um, what should I even be calling you these days, Bexs. Because, sweetheart just doesn't seem appropriate anymore. Honey, you are far from it." Stefan pointed out, trying to make light of the situation.

"Listen here you jerk. I went out late last night, clubbing and was about to go home with a very wealthy and handsome gentlemen. But, you'd imagine my surprise when the bartender came back with my visa card and told me that it wasn't working. It was declined!" She screamed, just inches away from his face.

Stefan laughed. There really wasn't much else he could do. Well, maybe except take a stab at her. "You went out with a guy who let you pay for your own drinks? Rebekah, just to let you know. Those types of men aren't gentlemen. They are cheap skates." Stefan commented, watching her face reddened as it filled with fury.

"What did you do to my back account!" She shouted at him, pointing her index finger at his chest.

"I didn't do anything. I was here, for most of the night. With the damn dog. You know, we're actually warming up to each other. The little shithead and I." Stefan told her, smiling a gleeful expression that just made her even more irate.

"I don't give a damn, Stefan! Where's my brother, he'll fix this!" She exclaimed, pushing past Stefan and going straight towards the hallway into the house, making her way towards Klaus's room.

Stefan dragged Duke back inside, closing the front door behind him as he leaned his backside against the couch and watched his ex-wife pound her fists upon her brother's bedroom door that was clearly locked.

"Looks like he isn't home or he's just over you, like I am. You might need to come back next time." Stefan told her, watching her give him a death glare.

"There is no next time! My bank accounts are all frozen. None of my credit cards work and all of my other shit says that it's maxed out. Stefan, I swear to god that if you did this to me because I screwed up your plans with that brunette whore. I will make you pay!" Rebekah declared, seething from how pissed off she was as he watched her pouting a bit.

"I didn't do anything, Rebekah. Besides, if I did. You'd know when it was me." He winked, stepping aside as she shoved him out of the way, walking to the front door again.

He watched her open it and pivot on her heels. "If this is your way of stopping me from taking over your company. I'll give you props for trying. However, you seem to be forgetting a small little detail. I have friends here, just as you do and I make them turn against you within a blink of an eye. I'm sure you and Damon would love to lose some of your clients to some of my very big and well known friends." Stefan heard her threaten.

"I'd love to see you try." He grinned, watching the door slam shut behind her as she groaned out in what sounded like built up irritation.

"I hate you!" Rebekah screamed as she walked back to her car, hearing Stefan open up one of the windows in his living room as he shouted back. "Not as much as I hate you, darling. Have a nice day!"

The ping from his cell phone in his pocket went off as he shut the window. Stefan turned around, flopping his body down against the couch cushions, so that he could read it.

How seething mad was she? Katherine asked him.

What did you do? Stefan replied back, only receiving a short and sweet message from her that caused his mind to spin with theories. Oh, not much. I just had a little fun, toying with her. Hoping she won't be too much of an annoyance to you.

Stefan leaned back into the couch cushions, holding his phone as he shook his head. I think she's coming your way. To the offices, I mean.

There was a brief pause before he received another message back from Katherine. The final one that read nothing more than. Great! I can't wait to see her. It's going to be an unforgettable reunion. Oh and by the way, you're welcome. xoxo.

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"You did this!" Rebekah wailed, stepping into Stefan's office like she knew that she was going to find Katherine there.

Rebekah watched as Katherine took her feet off of Stefan's desk, biting down on her nails in a playful manner, a large smirk spreading across her lips. "Did I ruin your master plan? Oh, about that. I was just, messing around."

Rebekah's blue eyes contorted with more anger than Katherine had ever seen. "Messing around? Messing around isn't freezing someone's bank accounts and making them look like an idiot at dinner with a guy that they just met."

"Oh, you were trying to pull another victim into your web of lies? And, I stopped it?" Katherine gasped, still smiling. "I deserve a medal or a golden star for a job well done." Katherine stated, twirling her brown locks in between her fingers, smiling with a dire look on her face.

"You little bitch! Change it back! Change it back now!" Rebekah screamed, not caring that the door was wide open and a few of Stefan and Damon's associates were whispering while passing by the hallway.

"Can't do that, Bexie. Sorry." She stated, trying to stifle a laugh.

"And, why not?" Rebekah hissed out, tapping her foot against the carpeted area in Stefan's office.

Katherine paused, leaning back into her chair and crossing her arms over one another before she explained. "Because, I know nothing about computer hacking. However, I do know about being malicious and convening, just like you. So, I say that you stay broke for a while. Learn your lesson, maybe lose your condo because you can't pay it. That deal you made on the building across the street from us and your really really nice car. Yeah, those little things should be undone too. Leaving you with nothing."

Rebekah's face had fallen as Katherine watched it fill with pure hatred and her fingers curl against her palms into fists.

"What is Rebekah? Sound familiar?" Katherine provoked with a smirk, lifting herself up and straightening herself out, smoothing out the light green shirt that she was wearing.

"Ugh, you...You are evil! I'm going to ruin you! I'm going to.." Rebekah began stammering out, watching as Katherine leaned over the phone on Stefan's desk, pressing a button. She saw her face go pale when Katherine asked security to come up to the fifth floor because there was a disgruntled employee in Stefan's office.

Katherine scoffed, still smiling. "Like I haven't heard that I'm a bitch or that I'm evil before. You know, I like playing the bad guy. Because, it gets things done."

"What are you doing?" Rebekah stopped, shouting out her words from across the room as she turned back to see two burly looking men in security uniforms walking towards her.

"I'm making sure that I get my point across. You can't screw with other people's lives and expect to not get burned. What's that old saying? Those who play with fire, get burned. Yeah, that sounds about right." Katherine told her, leaning her hand against the desk and locking her eyes on to the two guys behind her former sister in law.

"Miss Mikaelson?" They asked with a surprised tone, causing Rebekah's face to become red with embarrassment.

"Yes, Miss Mikaelson here is causing a bit of ruckus and disturbing my work environment. So, Lloyd and Cliff will you two please escort her out? Frankly, I told her a few times to leave. But, she isn't listening." Katherine pointed out, lifting up her hand and waving at Rebekah as she continued to spew out threats.

"You know, if you keep pushing me. I will retaliate and it's only going to get worse from here for you and your minions. So, try me. Because, you think that you're bad." Katherine paused, deadlocking her eyes on to Rebekah as she spoke with a serious tone."Honey, you've seen nothing yet. I'm like fire. You play with me and you will get burned." She engaged the blonde, waving at Rebekah who had turned around to capture one last glimpse of Katherine who was enjoying her small victory before the security guards escorted her out of the offices and down to the lobby.

"What was all that yelling about?" She heard Damon ask just minutes later, closing the door behind him as crossed his arms over his chest, watching his wife kick her feet back up on Stefan's desk with a smirk on her face. Katherine wasn't looking at him, instead she was gazing outside as she grinned before explaining. "Oh, nothing at all, Damon. I got bored and I just got rid of some unwanted pests from the office."

A/N: Anyone else cry when Stefan was pretty much saying that he needed to let Elena go and saying his goodbye to her? Because, I shed a few tears. Also, when's Rebekah going to learn..Don't mess with Katherine because she's kind of scary! O.o

Please let me know what you all think. I love getting feedback and suggestions as to what you all would want to see happen in this story. Because, I play off of those ideas a bit :D So, feel free to leave me a review.

P.S. Chapter 26 will have lots more Stelena moments. I promise. ;)

-Until Next Time!-