Leaning her hands against the kitchen counter, Payton drew in a shaky breath and huffed loudly, thinking this whole night had been one rollercoaster of emotions. She had been so close to losing her Dad all over again, but Jo, the miracle Doctor, had saved him and returned him back to human form, which meant that she'd eventually have to lose him again, but at least for now, he was alive and well.
Standing back up straight and pushing her hair out of her face, she went over to the refrigerator and opened it up, pulling out a blood bag and going to grab a glass to pour the liquid into, needing something to take the edge off what had been a wild night. Payton had nearly been so close to asking Stefan to come home with her, to spend the night with him so she could feel safe and comforted, but she knew they needed this time and space apart to figure things out.
She couldn't keep relying on him. Payton knew she was stronger than that. She didn't need to keep relying on people to pull her through. She had an inner strength to do that.
Once she had finished pouring the blood bag into the glass, she went to bring the glass up to her lips and drink it, when there was a loud knock at the door, causing her to frown deeply. She couldn't think who it could have been other than Caroline or maybe even Stefan. But Payton had been pretty damn clear to him earlier she needed that space.
Putting the glass back down, Payton went to the door and pulled it open, confusing coming over her when she saw a huge bouquet of flowers sitting on the front step. Bending down to pick it up, she pulled the note out of the blooms and felt her heart sank when she read over it.
'I know exactly how to cheer you up.'
As she stood back up in shock, Payton heard the sound of a car unlocking and not even giving it a second thought, Payton raced out of her apartment and down the steps by using her vamp speed, not even caring if anyone caught her right now because she was too damn fed up and desperate to find out just who was toying with her like this.
Once she reached the bottom and came over to the roadside, she felt her chest tighten when the person reached their car, their back to her with their hood up, but she could tell the tone and shape of the body resembled a man, their posture and their broad shoulders proved otherwise.
"Turn around now!" Payton yelled at them in a stern tone, as she bawled her firsts together in anticipation and the person froze on their tracks, "take off your hood!"
Slowly the person carefully turned on their heel, causing her to feel her forehead deepen and Payton braced herself for the reveal, just as the person now stood there facing her. But she couldn't see them properly, not until they eventually withdrew their hood in a slow movement, causing her to gasp in shock at just whom she was seeing in front of her.
They stared back at her, just as surprised as she was looking, but rather than looking horrified like she did, they looked anxious and on edge to be facing her like this.
Releasing her hands, the crumbled up note from the bouquet of flowers floated down onto the pavement below her, before Payton found herself racing off back inside, her head a complete mess right now at who she had just seen. Payton couldn't quite comprehend as to what was happening. If she thought earlier had been a whirlwind, what was happening right now was like nothing she could have ever predicted.
Slamming the front door as soon as she got inside the apartment, Payton quickly went over to the untouched glass filled with blood and downed it, before she swallowed harshly after she had finished the glass off. Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, Payton suddenly noticed she was shaking and that her stomach was in a tight knot.
Suddenly the sound of someone knocking at the door made her jump after being on edge and clearly shaken up, Payton hissed at her reaction and felt the tears stinging her eyes, her emotions all over the place right now as she listened to them say, "Payton, please. Open up. I just want to talk."
"Shit..." She whispered to herself, putting her hands through her hair and shuffling around on her feet uneasily.
"Please, Payton." They begged through the door, knocking on it again, but more lightly this time.
She didn't know how she even had the strength, but Payton found herself slowly edging over to the door and opening it up, but not far enough so that they could see her. Payton withdrew back to round near the kitchen counter, as she nervously watched the door slowly creep further open and the person came into full view again.
They stared back at her, looking pitiful and just as choked up as Payton was behaving, but their movements were different to hers, maybe because they had planned this in their head, that they would eventually be reunited like this, but not realising how soon and that their movements that night would be caught out.
"Payton." They said once again, in a softer and lower tone than before.
"Mason." She breathed back, her voice barely above a whisper.
After their awkward greeting between the two of them, Mason came inside the apartment and closed the door behind himself, an uneasy silence clouding back over them. She didn't know what to do or say. Part of her wanted to kick him out and run far out of there, the other part of her wanted to demand an explanation as to what the hell was going on here, how it was even possible that Mason was stood here in her apartment, years after she had last seen him.
Grabbing the bottle of wine closest to her, Payton took a clear wine glass from the draining board and began to pour herself a very large glass of wine, Mason slowly came further into the room, as Payton went to down a large percentage of the wine she had just poured herself before going to pace up and down the room in complete and utter shock.
Mason hated seeing her like this, he knew that when he eventually saw her again that she would be shocked, but he never pictured her to be this wound up by his appearance. He didn't know what to do or say. But all he knew is that he couldn't stand to see her in such a state especially when it was him causing it.
"Sit down." He urged after a while.
Payton suddenly stopped in her tracks at the sound of his voice again, as she stumbled out, "H-h-how the hell are you even alive right now?"
"The same way you and your Dad are," Mason began, as she stared back at him in confusion, "the same way Stefan, Tyler, Elena, everyone who passed through from the other side."
"How is that possible?" She choked out, still confused and completely blown away by what was happening here, "I never saw you come through. None of us did."
"I was the first through. I got through before anyone showed up. Bonnie allowed me through because she knew how much it would mean to you." Mason explained.
"W-w-why didn't you stay to see me?" Payton then questioned, looking back at him with tears in her eyes.
She didn't understand why he didn't wait until she was through from the other side and surprise her.
"Because..." He trailed off, feeling the guilt eating away at him.
"Becuase what?" Payton repeated, looking back at him with anticipation when he failed to answer her and kept quiet, she demanded, "because of what, Mason?!"
"Because I didn't want to come back and ruin your happiness, ok?" Mason finally answered her heavily.
"My happiness?" She repeated with a slight scoff, before shaking her head, "Seriously?"
"Yes! I saw how happy you've been on the other side and me walking back into your life would have ruined that. I couldn't do that to you." He explained.
"What are you on about?" Payton looked back at him like he was crazy, as she tried to understand what he was saying, "you really think I would have been that disappointed to see you?"
"I don't know," He shrugged nervously, looking down at the ground slightly, "you've changed so much since I've been gone. You're a lot happier now. You have a great group of friends who've got your back and I've never seen eye to eye with any of them. You and Stefan were together..."
"Yes..." She sighed lightly, thinking her relationship with Stefan was so messed up, but now so was this one, "Stefan and I were something."
"I just didn't want to cause drama, ok?" Mason looked back at her with a serious expression.
"So you just lied to me about your existence for four months and instead of telling me you were alive, you harass me and stalk me, you break into the beach house and then you turn up at my apartment with flowers?" Payton recalled it all to him, in which he looked away from her with guilt again, as she scoffed loudly, "why go through all of that effort?"
Mason began to scoff himself and shook his own head, as he stared back at her again, but looked angrier now, "because I'm a dick, ok? I'm a Lockwood, I do things, I'm stupid about it, I'm just," He paused, as Payton frowned back at him, "maybe I'm just jealous."
"Jealous?" She repeated.
"Yeah. That you're ok without me." Mason admitted nervously.
"You told me to move on, Mason," Payton pointed out to him with a small sigh, "what was I supposed to do?"
"No, I'm glad you do, it's just..." He paused again, almost like this was harder for him than he ever thought, facing her again.
"Just what?" She asked, surprised to see him looking so vulnerable and timid.
"Ah it doesn't matter," Mason cleared his throat before he pulled out a crumpled and folded piece of paper from his back pocket, "now we've spoken again, I need to give you this..."
Handing it over to her, Payton stepped forward and took it from him, frowning as she held it in her hands and read it over, her stomach sinking when she saw what the letter in front of her was getting at and what it would mean.
"W-what is this?" She stuttered out, another low blow coming from the guy that night.
"It's an agreement. I want to take full ownership of the beach house." Mason informed her.
She stared back at him like he was crazy, a lump forming in her throat, hurt and betrayal washing over her, Payton never thought she had to give up the beach house for anyone, it was her safe haven, the one place her and her closest ones escaped to when they needed a break from the craziness of their lives and now someone wanted to take it away from her.
Payton wanted to retaliate back, she wanted to get angry at him, but then she thought about Mason and what he had come back to her, whilst she didn't know what he had been up to exactly, she knew that rightfully it was his beach house just as much as it was hers, she couldn't be selfish with it anymore and if he needed it for a place to stay until he got back on his feet, then she would have to give it up for him even if she didn't want to let it go.
"Oh...sure...I understand." She tried to answer him, but inside she was upset by this news.
"Yeah, I mean, I don't want your money, just an agreement that it's mine now since you're living here." He responded back uncomfortably, knowing this was hurting her.
He could tell and seeing her look so broken by this news, made him not only feel bad but also made him never ever want to be the cause of her pain ever again.
"Yeah, uh, ok," She nodded, before turning on her heel to look for a pen, "I'll sign it."
"You don't have to do it now," Mason interrupted her, not wanting to put her through any more stress tonight, plus he still was holding onto some hope.
"Won't you want to take it with you?" Payton said back to him.
"Uh, you can mail it to me. It's fine. It will give you a chance to read it through properly. You don't want to rush into anything just yet." Mason tried to tell her uneasily.
Payton nodded back at him, puzzled by his words, but she didn't even get a chance to question it, when he sparked up a further conversation with her, "I see you've come back to college then, what are you studying now?"
"Uh, business management." She informed him.
"Sweet." Mason found himself smiling, almost proudly and happily for her.
She found a small smile gracing her lips, it meant a lot to her to see him looking so pleased for her because it had been his wish for her to be happy and to be successful in her career dreams.
"What about you? What are you up to now?" Payton asked him.
"The usual." He answered blankly.
Payton was taken back by his sudden change in manner towards her, but also the fact he was being super shady about it. They both had to remember though that year had passed since they had last spoken properly since they were last in each other's lives, so much had happened and it wasn't so easy to just fall back into old conversations.
"I'll, uh, wait for your response then," Mason said when it fell silent again.
"Uh sure." She nodded before Mason turned and headed over to the door.
As he opened up the door, Payton watched Mason bend down and pick up the flowers, she nervously looked back at him as he went to offer them to her, "Goodnight, P."
"Good night." She mumbled back, taking them from him and watching him walk away from her, an awful feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach.
When she got back inside and poured herself another glass of wine, Payton went to sit by the window in her bedroom as she dialed her Dad's number, knowing he would be trying to get some rest, but she had no one else to talk to about this or maybe she just trusted him the most with something as shocking as this.
"Hi sweetheart," Alaric answered in a groggy tone down the line.
"Hi, Dad, god, sorry did I wake you?" She asked him, knowing he would be in his hospital bed resting up.
"No, you didn't. The pain meds are making me quite sleepy though. Is everything ok?" He asked her.
"I don't know how to even say this," Payton sighed, as she anxiously chewed on the inside of her cheek, "but, if I didn't think tonight could get any crazier then it did."
"What's happened?" Alaric questioned with more concern this time.
"I saw a ghost tonight." She remarked.
"A ghost?" He repeated in confusion.
"Of the Mason Lockwood kind," Payton admitted to him.
"What?" Her Dad exclaimed in shock.
"I know it sounds crazy because trust me, I have felt so confused and shocked ever since, but I caught him leaving flowers at my door," Payton began to explain to him, "so I ran down so I could catch them before they ran off and I forced them to turn around not expecting my dead ex-boyfriend to be stood there."
"What the hell is he doing back? How is he back? And why the hell has he been toying with you?" Alaric questioned, airing his father concerns right at her.
"He came through just like the rest of us. Bonnie said to me I was going to be so happy and I presumed because of you, but now I get it," She explained to him more, "she was talking about Mason."
"Then why didn't he stick around and wait for you?" He questioned further, before he dropped another realisation, "why wasn't he on the other side reuniting with you? Or why didn't he show up that time the veil went down."
Payton sighed, knowing he had a fair point because she had been thinking the same things since she had seen Mason stood in her apartment, she had briefly thought about why he hadn't shown up when the veil went down all that time ago, whether the glimpse in the rearview mirror had been real or just her imagination, but she had tried to deal with that by thinking he had found peace.
But clearly, he hadn't.
"Trust me, Dad, I've asked myself those questions over and over. I tried to quiz him and he shut me down." Payton told him.
"So what are you going to do? Where he is now?" Alaric pressed more questions to her, the anger clear in his tone that Mason was not only back but that he had been messing with his daughter.
"I have no idea. He's been living at the beach house. So I guess he's going back there. He wants the beach house in his name. He wants to own it."
"What? And you're just going to let him take it from you?"
"It's his home as well, Dad." She sighed.
"Yeah, years ago when he was still alive and hadn't come back from the dead just to mess with you," Alaric exclaimed.
"God, I know, it looks bad," Payton agreed with him, as she shook her head, "but part of me feels like there is more to it."
"Maybe you need to find out some answers, P. The man supposedly loved you but he's been hiding out and messing with your emotions instead."
"You're right. I need to know more. But surely this is just going to overcomplicate things?" She pointed out.
"We both know what you always wanted, P. You wanted to be happy and that was always with Mason." He surprisingly said.
"Wait so you're wanting me to go back to Mason?"
"No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that Mason has never upset you like this before. So whatever is going on with him must be big enough to make him act this way to you. You deserve to know the truth and some answers regarding his actions. Stefan has been messing with you so forget about him, even if it's just for one day and go figure out what your ex wants." Alaric encouraged her, knowing not only it was the right thing to do, to get some answers for her own sanity, but that it would do her good to get away for a bit.
"Yes, you're right I guess," She sighed lightly, before going on to say, "I love you, Dad."
"And I love you, P. So much." He responded back in a softer tone.
"Please do me a favour," Payton asked him next, as she scrambled through into her bedroom and grabbed her duffle bag to pack somethings.
"Sure. Well, I'll try from a hospital bed." Alaric half-joked.
"Can you cover for me for my lectures? Call my professor and let him know I had to take a family emergency out of town." She requested.
"Ok. I'll try my best." He answered.
"I'm going to pack up some stuff and then head out on the road so I can arrive by morning," Payton informed him, throwing random essentials into her bag.
"Be careful," Alaric warned.
"I will and you. I don't want to get back and for you to still be stuck in that hospital bed." She teased.
"I think I might be here for a while. I'm safe and having a lil break from the drama." He sighed lightly.
"Lucky for you. I gotta go. I'll call you when I get there and I'll keep you updated. I should be back by tomorrow night." Payton explained, before closing up her bag and then going through into the kitchen.
"Alright. Take it easy, P." Alaric said back to her.
"I will. Thanks." She responded, before bidding him farewell and then ending the call, her bag now packed and herself now ready to leave her apartment for the night.
Stepping out of her apartment, Payton locked up and then went down the steps towards her car that was parked against the roadside, she felt a presence near her car and glanced over to it, her stomach knotting when she saw Stefan, of all people, stood there, clearly having driven this way specifically to come by the apartment, his car was parked directly in front of her own.
"Stefan, I can't talk right now." She told him bluntly, unlocking the car and going over to it.
Stefan glanced down at the duffle bag in her hand, as well as her hasty movements as he went to ask, "What's going on? Where are you going?"
"Trust me, Stefan, I've had enough ex-boyfriend drama for one night," Payton grumbled, she didn't mean to be so horrid to him, but she couldn't deal with any more men that night who were used to toying with her feelings.
God, she knew how to pick them.
"Ex-boyfriend drama?" He repeated in confusion, as he stood with her by her car.
Payton sheepishly looked back at him, knowing this wasn't the kind of conversation they should have been happening, discussing Payton's ex, when they were going through their own complications, their relationship messier than ever, but never did she think Mason would be back from the dead for her to even have this conversation with anyone.
"Payton?" Stefan raised his brows back at her with worry when she failed to answer him and looked at him timidly.
"Mason alive!" She spluttered out, in a more panicked tone than she intended, but god Payton was nervous to tell him.
"H-h-how?" He choked out, completely blown away by what she told him, he didn't even think it could be possible, but she seemed pretty serious.
"The same way we all are through Bonnie," Payton answered, before she swallowed harshly, "four months ago."
"Seriously?" Stefan stared back at her in confusion.
"Serious." She nodded, rubbing her lips together uneasily.
"You've seen him?" Stefan then asked.
"And talked," Payton answered, before she then admitted to him, "and now stupidly running off to Florida for answers."
"Wow, uh," He cleared his throat dryly, picking up on how uneasy this conversation was, how wrong it was for them to discuss this, but before all the romance, they were best friends, this would be a normal conversation, "that's.."
"Risky?" She presumed that was going to be what he said, because it was incredibly risky, "yeah I thought so too."
Stefan didn't like the idea of this, Payton running off to Florida to go visit her ex-boyfriend, whilst the two of them still hadn't resolved things and figured out what was going on between them. If Mason was back, it would mean that he would more likely want her back, which meant he had competition and that it would take more for him to get her back.
He knew the hold Mason had over her. The two were deeply in love. Maybe more than they ever were. He did and could have given her everything again. Stefan could never compete with that because he had been so afraid of letting her in and giving her what she deserved because he thought she'd fail. Stefan had ruined most of his chances with her.
But Mason had never. And that would make him be the weaker one of the two in that sense.
"Sure you don't need a chaperone?" Stefan found himself offering, wanting to be there to support her, but also to keep her close to him.
"You?" Payton raised her brows up with surprise, thinking facing one ex was bad enough, let alone bringing your current love interest along, "uh, I'll be fine. Thanks."
Opening up the driver's door on the car, Payton tossed her bag across to the passenger side and went to slid in, when she found herself coming back out to question him, "Wait, what are you doing here anyway?"
"I, uh, I just came to check on you. I wanted to see if you were alright after what happened tonight with your Dad." Stefan explained to her in a nervous tone.
"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you." She shone him a small smile, before getting into the car and sighing lightly.
Why did he have to be so damn understanding and kind to her?
Payton was running off to her ex to find out more answers from him, he should be begging her to not go and getting aggressive, not letting her to just go like the understanding, sympathetic man that he was. Maybe he was always too good for her. Maybe it was her who wasn't good enough. Maybe she couldn't give him enough.
Stefan waved his hand back at her lightly, before closing up the car door and stepping away, as Payton started up the engine and pulled away from the roadside, beginning her journey to Florida, whilst Stefan stepped away and turned back to look up at the apartment, the place where they had intended to start their next chapter together, not realising it would be the place that things might have ended.
The ride down to Florida was one full of anxiety and confusion, the further she got to Florida, the more her curiosity as to what Mason had been keeping from her for all these months and why he had hidden from her grew and grew. Her head was a complete mess. Everything was a mess. Not even just things with Mason, but also Stefan.
She was about half an hour out of town when her car suddenly began to slow down and a loud bang went off in the engine, causing her to frown deeply and put her hand on the break steering the car to the side of the road before it slowed down completely and the engine went off.
"For god sake!" Payton grumbled, getting out of the car and going round to the hood of the car to see what was going on.
She had no idea about cars. Cars were not her speciality and now she was regretting not bringing Stefan along. He would have been good company and good with helping her fix her car.
As she popped open the hood, a cloud of smoke broke out from the engine, causing her to curse under her breathe and go to bring out her phone, to call someone to come pick up her car. After getting off the phone, Payton took her bag from the front of the car and began to make a long walk to the beach house, which would take her now over an hour to get to, but at least she was closer than before.
When she rounded the path that leads down to the beach house, Payton was surprised to see Mason coming across the front of the house heading towards the sand, a wet suit on his body and a surfboard tucked under one of his arms. He didn't notice her at first until she awkwardly cleared her throat to try to grab his attention and folded her arms as the man lifted his head to the side to acknowledge her.
"Payton." He said stunned to see her back there, confusion crawling over him to see her back here so soon.
"I need answers. And I'm not leaving until you give me a proper and honest explanation." Payton told him in a stern tone.
Mason was quiet for a moment, looking back at her, knowing just how serious she was, as he responded back, "Alright."
"I'm not going to just sign this house over to you just like that! It's my home too!" She protested back at him.
"Of course," He nodded, propping the surfboard up on the sand below him, "although I haven't got a problem challenging it against you."
Payton scoffed loudly, thinking he would be stupid to do such a thing, as she shook her head and requested, "Can we just go inside and talk please?"
Again Mason failed to answer her straight away, his head hung low slightly, before he brought it back up to look at her with a mischevious smirk, that would have once made her feel weak at the knees, but now it was irritating her, because she didn't understand how he could find this situation they were in so amusing. It was one big mess. It was confusing, awkward and uneasy. Nothing about this was amusing in the slightest.
She didn't see how having your ex come back from the dead was something to be laughing about.
"On one condition." He said to her.
"What?" She sighed lightly, wondering what this favour had to be.
"You surf with me." Mason put the idea to her, the same arrogant amused smirk still plastered right on his face.
"What?" Payton exclaimed with another scoff leaving her lips, shaking her head as she did so, thinking he was being ridiculous.
"C'mon," He encouraged her, picking up his board again, before going on to say, "you used to love it. And I bet you haven't done it in a while."
He was right about that one. Payton hadn't surfed since last summer. This summer she had been so busy helping Stefan and her Dad, that she completely forgot to take some time for herself.
"Exactly why I shouldn't do it. I've lost my skill." She tried to tell him, fighting the grin that wanted to fall on her lips at how easy it was to talk with him.
"A pro like you never loses her touch, no matter how long she's been out of the game," Mason replied with the same mischevious look.
Payton rolled her eyes playfully at his charm, not having to forget how persuasive he could be, "I don't even have a wet suit!"
"Go in your underwear. It's not like you haven't done it before." He raised his brows up suggestively.
"Mason!" Payton squealed at his comment, thinking he was completely overstepping it, but she knew if she didn't accept, he would keep her waiting, so Payton thought she had nothing to lose and would go have some fun in the waves, "let me get changed and I'll come to meet you by the shore."
Mason slowly nodded back at her, as Payton pulled her keys and cell phone out of her jean pocket, before going towards the beach house, anxiety rumbling through her body with every step she took, to be back here with Mason after all this time, but also to be stepping back into the house they once shared together.
She wondered if he had done anything to the place the past couple of months. Payton had started to redo some of the bathrooms when they had left for Whitmore and moved into her apartment with Stefan. The next summer she had planned on returning to finish it off and redecorate in some of the other rooms with the possibility of putting the beach house up for rent.
"Payton!" The sound of Mason's voice broke her out of her thoughts and her to stop in her tracks to turn back to him, "uh, you might not want to go in there. I kind of got rid of most of your stuff..."
"You better not have!" She hissed back at him.
Mason began to chuckle at how easy it was to get her angry, as he went to say, "I'm just messing with you. Go on. Don't take too long."
Payton shook her head at his behaviour before she continued back to the beach house and went inside to grab her wet suit from the bedroom. Upon stepping into the home, Payton noticed that the kitchen space had a fresh coat of paint and more of Mason's things, some old and new were spread around the home, replacing some of the things she had left behind.
In the bedroom, everything that belonged to Payton still sat there, even some of Stefan's things he had left behind were still there, Mason didn't even throw them out. He must have really not known what to do with them or maybe he didn't even plan on sticking around here either after getting full ownership of the place.
Slipping out of her clothes and into her wet suit, Payton grabbed her surfboard from out the back of the beach house in the shed and went round to the front to go find Mason near the sea. When she got to the shore, Mason was already out surfing, so Payton got onto her board and went out onto the water to join him, the surreal and crazy feeling that they were actually doing this hitting them both hard.
For the next couple of hours, the two continued to surf, small talk passing between them either about the waves, the surrounding area and their surf skills, rather than the actual important things that needed to be talked about. Payton had forgotten how good it felt to be out in the water, having fun and letting loose, it was exactly what she had been needing after the craziness of the supernatural world.
When they got out of the water and headed back inside, Payton went off to the bathroom to shower and change into some comfy clothes from the closet in the bedroom. She also hung her wet suit out to dry. Mason had finished off the bathroom that she had started, he had put up the shelf she had got and put plant pots along with it, as well as putting up the cabinet. He had also finished off the other wall with a fresh coat of paint. It looked nearly exactly what she had in mind for it.
Coming out of the bathroom a little while later, her wet hair cascaded down her back as she came on through to the kitchen living space, where she found Mason serving them up some lunch. She felt a small smile fall on her face when she saw the spread he had put on from them, lots of chicken, salad and bread for them to tuck into.
"Sorry, it's not vampire cuisine." He joked, laying down the salad bowl in the middle of the table.
"It's fine," She brushed it off, smirking slightly at his comment, "I ate a big breakfast."
"You did?" He raised his brows up, almost like he was urging her to go on.
"Uh-huh," Payton nodded, as she went to take a seat down at the table, "my car broke down on the way and I didn't want anyone to see the blood bags in the back, so I had to wash most of them down, but I saved some for the trip home."
"I'm glad you're better at dealing with that now," Mason said back to her genuinely, before he asked, "I mean you are better with that now, right?"
"Yeah. So much better," She smiled lightly, thinking that when Mason had last been alive, she had been struggling, "all thanks to Stefan."
Payton winced slightly when she realised what she had just said, as Mason awkwardly nodded back at her before going back over to the kitchen, she sighed lightly thinking she never imagined this to be this awkward, but of course, it was going to be. They were exes. So much had happened and changed since he had been gone. It wasn't going to be easy and straight forward.
Back in the kitchen, Mason grabbed two wine glasses out of the cupboard and opened up a bottle of red, pouring the liquid into the glasses before bringing them back over to the table. He laid one of the glasses down in front of her, before drinking a small sip out of his own and then going to take a seat down opposite her.
"So coming back from the other side," Payton began sparking up a conversation with him in a gentle way before she went in thick, "did you come back as a wolf or?"
"Uh, no. Not a wolf," He answered, shuffling on his seat as Payton went to grab some chicken and salad, "but I can still feel the gene within me."
"Oh, you mean like the aggression and out of control urge to kill?" She raised her brows, sounding harsher than intended.
"Yeah, that." Mason nodded simply.
"Well, at least you can keep yourself on track, right?" Payton tried to make him see the positives, "I mean, at least you won't have Katherine forcing you to trigger your curse this time."
"Yeah, I guess not." He forced a smile onto his lips in agreement, helping himself to some food.
"Unless..." She breathed, sensing his unease about the whole thing, "it's hard enough knowing you could trigger it any point if things got out of hand."
"That too."
"D-d-does Tyler know you're back?" Payton found herself wondering because if he did know, she would have been hurt he didn't mention it to her, "he's also come back as a human with the curse still running through his veins."
"No. He doesn't. And I'd rather he didn't know either." Mason grumbled back at her.
"Why not?" She frowned in confusion.
"Because," He sighed, trying not to get angry at her, but this was hard for not just her, but him too, "I don't want him to know."
"The same way you didn't want me to know?" Payton responded back bitterly.
"Payton," Mason huffed again, putting down his cutlery in slight frustration, "I wanted to tell you..."
"But you didn't! Instead, you harass me and stalk me," She went on just like she had last night, her own anger rising about the matter, "then when I bust you, you try to tell me it's because you're jealous, but I call bull shit on that, Mason! Because I know you..."
"What do you want me to say, Payton?" He exclaimed back at her, looking at her with a pained expression, "that I'm sorry for not telling you and being a dick instead, then fine, yeah, I am sorry. But it's done now. We can't change anything."
"I just don't understand any of it, Mason! Sure it would have been hard for you to come back, but it hurts me to know that you thought I wouldn't want you to come back," Payton looked back at him, feeling her chest tighten with sadness, "of course I would, I thought you had found peace..."
"You know that I didn't." He corrected her.
"So it was you that night a year or so ago?" She frowned back at him.
Mason nodded back at her, picking up his wine glass and saying, "I wanted to see you, but I knew I couldn't face you."
"Why?" Payton asked nervously.
"Because you had fallen for Stefan. What kind of guy would I be if I had come back from the dead and toyed with your emotions?" He questioned her.
Payton scoffed, ignoring his kind gesture, because the anger she felt about what he had done recently had taken over, "But that's exactly what you have done." She pointed out.
"Yes, it was wrong for me to do that. But we're here now, aren't we? Having this conversation." Mason answered, trying to cover his own tracks.
"But what was your intention to do what you did? What did you want to get out of it?" She frowned back at him, taking a sip from her wine.
He shrugged his shoulders, sinking back slightly on his chair, "I guess I wanted to reach out to you but I didn't know how."
"A text, a call, maybe even sticking around in town so I could see you and speak to you properly would have been a good idea."
"Maybe," Mason nodded before he went on to say, "but then we wouldn't be here right now, having this conversation in our home."
"Why do you want to take it from me?" She questioned next.
"I don't want to take it from you, P, but we have two separate lives. You're at college miles away and I'm here, needing a home and to get myself back on my feet." Mason explained.
"But why do you have to own the whole thing?"
"Why not?" He raised his brows up, going on to explain, "you have your life away from here, Payton, I have nothing. You don't need..."
"You have no idea what I need, Mason!" Payton quickly interrupted him harshly.
"No, I do actually," Mason shot back, causing her to frown deeply back at him in confusion, "I know exactly what you need, Payton."
"What are you on about?" She shook her head.
"See the thing is, watching you for all of these months and all these years from the other side," He went on to explain, causing her to look on anxiously, "I've seen how things have been for you, how you've felt, what you've done and I've come to the conclusion that you're just letting yourself get by, the Payton I remember, she wouldn't get by. She would always dream big and not settle until she got what she wanted."
"Mason," Payton breathed, as she nervously went on, "years have passed..."
"And you're still not happy, Payton. Don't lie to me. We both know you want more." Mason said to her in a serious tone.
She looked back at him, taking in what he was saying and what he was getting at, a churning feeling hitting the pit of her stomach. Payton knew what he was saying was somewhat true. She had quietened down a lot since he had been gone. Payton had accepted her situation and just been getting by because she felt like she had to.
Payton had never stopped to think about how much she had changed since Mason had been gone, how she hadn't gone above and beyond to get what she wanted or how she hadn't fallen seriously in love with her life since he had left her. Maybe just maybe he was on to something here. But she didn't want to believe it could be true, because she had felt happiness since he had been gone.
But was it enough?
She didn't know if she could answer that one.
"I-i-i don't get why you're saying all this, Mason."
"Because if I don't say it, no one else will. No one knows the real Payton as I do." He replied in a soft tone.
"You just don't know the one I am now." Payton tried to tell him.
"Oh trust me, I do," Mason smirked slightly, laying his wine glass down and putting his hand on the table near her own, "I know that you're unbelievably strong, courageous, determined and loyal. Traits I always knew you had, but they've shone out more."
"So what's the problem?" She raised her brows up.
"The problem is watching you from the other side has been a struggle in some many ways, but it's so hard to see the girl you love not being fully herself and not getting the happiness she deserves." He said to her in a passionate tone.
"T-t-the girl you love?" Payton repeated in a quiet tone, surprised he had said it with so much ease.
Mason stared back at her, knowing he had dropped that in due to habit, but he did mean it because he meant every single word to her. He wanted her to be so happy and to have a fulfilled life, to have the happiness that she deserved, not just because he loved her, but because he wanted her to because he had always wanted her to.
"Let's not lie to each other, P, of course, I still love you," Mason answered in a timid way.
She looked back at him, rubbing her lips together nervously and sitting forward slightly, "Then please explain to me how you hid away from me."
"I already told you, Payton! God, what do you want me to say?" He expressed his frustration back at her.
"I don't know," Payton began to shake her head, thinking she was more confused than ever, "I don't know what to say or think right now!"
"Well, how do you feel?" Mason said back at her, looking back at her with pain, "how do you feel when you look at me?"
She stared back at him, unsure of how to even respond to that because Payton had been so focused on finding out some answers that she hadn't even stopped to think how she felt about him being back. Payton didn't know how she should have felt.
When she looked at him, she felt sorrow for him, sorrow that he had been living here alone, away from her and people who care, confused and trying to adjust to being back alive. But she also felt angry that he had hidden away, that he had instead harassed her and stalked her, rather than just facing her and letting her know he was ok.
Although when she was around him, having a normal everyday conversation, she felt safe and like she was home. Payton felt like they hadn't been apart, that this was just normal for them to be around each other and talking like this. He still looked the same. His mannerisms were still the same. How he acted around her wasn't quite the same, but she saw traces of his old affection towards her trying to shine through.
And she knew she would always love him because she had lost him, they had never ended things, other than the supernatural taking their time away from one another, he was her first love and one she would never forget.
Now it was just the two of them sat there, away from everyone else and the years that had passed them by from two separate sides of the world, Payton was hit hard at just how much she had missed having him around, how much she had missed the life she had walked away from when she lost him and found herself settling into Mystic Falls.
She never imagined she would come back here with Mason, to have this conversation and be stuck in this situation, but she was and she had to be honest with herself.
When she failed to answer him and went deep into her thoughts, Mason slowly reached over and laid his hand over her own on the table, causing her to jump back slightly at his sudden touch on her own, the warmth of his larger hand resting on her smaller softer one.
"Do you still love me, P?" Mason questioned her in a soft tone.
"I..." She breathed, struggling to find the words to say when she knew inside how she felt, "I..."
"I know." He nodded back at her.
"How?" Payton asked.
"You wouldn't be here if you didn't," Mason commented before he ran his thumb over her skin softly.
Jumping back and out of her seat this time at his touch on her own, Payton quickly took a few steps back and turned away from him, trying to comprehend how this was happening right now and how her emotions were all over the place. This was fucked up. Payton felt completely and utterly thrown. She felt so confused.
She didn't know Mason in any other way than love for him. Payton had never hated him, held a grudge against him, disliked him or even had a friendship with him because she didn't know him in any other way than being in love with him. They didn't even break up. Mason died and she continued on, she fell in love with Stefan and now Mason was back, what the hell did that mean for her feelings.
Getting up from his seat, he slowly came over to her, his heart pounding at this point as the energy in the air went from one of frustration and confusion to one of thick tension, the kind of tension which always lead to one thing.
Author note: Oh my god I can't believe this is the 100 part of this story! I can't actually believe it. I can't! Thank you so much for your continued support whether you were here at the beginning, half way through or now at the present, I'm so grateful and thankful. It means the world to me :)
Please do not hate me for bringing a certain character back! But I thought it was about time we try to spice things up a bit. I've been playing on having Mason return for years I'm not even kidding!
But what will this mean for Payton and Stefan?
Special thanks to Adorable-Exploding-Kitten, HPuni101 and LMarie99 for reviewing the last part. I'm so excited you guys are enjoying the story and you're looking forward to more. I love reading your thoughts :)
I'd love to know your opinions on this part!
What's going to happen between Mason and Payton?
Should she trust him?
How will Stefan deal with the fact that Mason is back?
Will Stefan and Payton ever work it out?
Thanks so much.
Stay safe!
Best wishes always,
guiltypleasurexo
