Payton could feel Mason stood behind her now, she could hear his breathing with her normal hearing and the pounding of his heart with her vampire hearing, she could tell he felt just as nervous as she did to be in this moment, the two of them alone, confused and all over the place, him coming back from the dead trying to adjust to normality again and her being reunited with a man she just had to push out because she had to move on.

Slowly Mason brought his hand up to touch her shoulder, as Payton at first tensed up under his touch, her eyes painfully shutting at how tense this felt, but when he squeezed her lightly, Payton found herself easing into him and she reopened her eyes. Mason carefully managed to get her to turn round to face him, her nervous expression coming to meet his timid one.

She stared back at him, properly this time, not just staring at him hard through anger or betrayal, but really taking in every single inch of him, how he looked, how he had changed, how much she had missed him. She took it in every single ounce of his appearance, from the stubble that always ran across his chin and jawline to the blue-green ocean eyes that went straight through into her own ones.

God, she had missed him.

There was no denying that. Every day since she lost him to the other side she had missed him. For the first year and a half, she missed him so much in a romantic way, longing for his hold, his kisses, his touch, everything, she had missed him. Then as the months went by and the more she began to fall for Stefan, she began to miss him in other ways, not just for the romance and love, but more for the loss of such a kind and genuine guy who didn't deserve to die.

But now she was stood here, with him again, in their home that held so many amazing memories, Payton felt like she missed him just as much as the first time.

And there was no question about how much he had missed her.

Watching her on the other side all of these years had been like torture, watching her cry over him, watching her get hurt and beaten up by the supernatural world, not being able to do anything about it, to seeing her happy, moving on and having fun without him by her side. When he began to notice her change when she began to fall for Stefan, Mason could barely even look at her, it was why he had not shown up when the veil went down, he couldn't bring himself to face her now she loved another.

It was the exact reason why he couldn't tell her he was back. But he had gone out of his mind not being around her, not watching her and not having him communicating with her, so instead of showing his face, he hid from her and kept his communication towards her anonymous. Mason eventually planned on telling her, he just had no idea when or how he would ever do it, he didn't realise he would get busted and she would find him out so soon.

After he had left her apartment at Whitmore and went back to Florida, he didn't expect to see her ever again, he thought it was over and within a matter of days, he would have the agreement form that she would be signing the house over to him. So when he saw her turn up earlier on, Mason was stunned to see her again, but now she was stood there, with him, it was like the answer he had been needing for so long.

She still cared. Payton still loved him. And he wasn't the only one who still cared.

Carefully moving his hand off her shoulder, he brought it up to her chin, where he sat one of his fingers under it and she found herself closing her eyes, the feeling of him on her again made her heartache, she had missed him so much, but god, she wished it could have been under different circumstances, not like this, but she couldn't hide how she truly felt to be here with him.

Slowly Payton felt Mason's lips grace over her own, a fluttering feeling hit her stomach as Payton stood still for a moment, unable to move, the feeling of him kissing her again completely taking her by surprise and making her feel things she hadn't felt for him in such a long time. When she felt Mason's lips move over hers again slightly, Payton slowly returned the kiss with a soft peck.

Gradually the two of them pulled back away from each other slightly to look at one another, Mason trying to read her to see how she was feeling, whether he had overstepped it by kissing her, but he couldn't help himself, he had wanted to do that for so long. Payton looked back at him, nervous and feeling the heat, she couldn't believe this was happening, but something inside of her was encouraging her to go on because it was almost like she needed it.

"Payton..." Mason breathed, about to say something, but he was taken back when the girl smashed her lips back onto his with a hard force.

Mason stumbled backwards slightly as Payton began to kiss him heavily, the passion, the heat, the tension, the past memories, everything hitting the two of them hard as they found themselves in a hungry kiss. She ran her hands up his back before she reached the nape of his neck, where she began to play with the ends of his hair, just like she used to.

He took it upon himself to push his hands up her back, under her top and onto her bare skin, feeling the bareness of her back and where she had failed to put a bra back on after their surfing session earlier on. The two of them moaned lightly into the kiss, the chemistry through the roof and passion just as big as they both remembered.

The two of them stumbled through into the bedroom, where Mason kicked open the door and quickly laid Payton's body down on top of the bed. He quickly tugged himself out of his shirt, as he felt Payton's hands instantly go to the button on his shorts. She quickly pulled them open and helped him out of them, before reattaching their lips together, her hands going straight towards his manhood, wanting him more than she ever had before.

Mason allowed her to take control, enjoying this new side of her, he was always the one in control before, but he just presumed it was because he was a lot more experienced than she was, but clearly, since he had been gone, Payton had grown a lot and wasn't afraid to be the one in the drivers seat. After the two shared many kisses, touches and moans, the pair were under the covers, naked, ready to take things back right to the start.

The two of them began to make love, a lot more hot and heavy than ever before, but still filled with just as much love yet it was a different kind of love, it was more of a need and a reminder of what they once had, what they both lost, what they had been missing out on all of these years.

After they had worn themselves out, Payton laid with her back to Mason, staring ahead of her looking at the wall where her closet door was, Mason laid behind her, propped up on his elbow, his fingers tracing patterns on the now fading moon tattoo on her back, the matching one they had got together after Mason had told her about being a werewolf.

Both of them hadn't said a word to one another since before they even found themselves in the situation they had just been in for the past couple of hours, Payton was feeling more confused than ever and a little shameful. Just days ago, she had been laying in bed with Stefan, making love to him, overstepping their break mark and now here she was laying in bed with another ex, overstepping the mark once again.

She never regretted sleeping with anyone because at the moment it had been what she had wanted. Payton never regretted sleeping with Matt, because at the time it was what she had needed to get through the emotional pain she felt. She never regretted sleeping with Kol because she was lonely and had seen a softer side to him even if it did end up with him using her for his own killing gain.

And of course, she never regretted sleeping with Stefan, because she loved him, god she still loved him, but here she was laying in bed with Mason, a man she still very much loved as well.

Her head was a mess, a complete mess and she had no idea what the hell she was even doing anymore.

Maybe she did love up to her name, maybe Damon spoke more truth than he ever let on, maybe she was just like Katherine or maybe worse.

She suddenly felt the feeling of Mason's lips go to graze over the bare skin on her shoulder when Payton found herself quickly getting up from the bed before he even had the chance to. Payton wrapped the blanket from the end of the bed around her to hide her naked body, as Mason still lay tangled in the bed sheets, confused as to why she had suddenly moved from the bed onto her feet.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Turning back round to face him, she suddenly felt tears hit her eyes, the confusion, the shame, the upset, everything hitting her hard at what the hell her life had turned into the past few days, as she said, "It's easy, isn't it?"

"What is?" Mason frowned back at her, hating seeing her look so upset, especially after they had just had sex.

"To just fall back into old routines and old feelings like we haven't been apart for all this long," Payton explained to him in a sad tone, as she went on to say, "but we have. You died, Mason. I was left to pick up the pieces," She paused, before pointing out, "twice. I rebuilt my life. I made new friends, I even started dating again. I got my Dad back and I started studying what I always wanted to at college. I moved on from you and then you turn up alive and well."

"What's the problem?" He said back to her, knowing this wasn't going to be easy, but he didn't understand why she was getting so ahead of herself, "I'm not asking you to get back with me, P."

"No, because if you wanted that you would have waited for me..." Payton cried before she quickly bent down to pick up her clothes and stormed out of the room, changing as she went.

Mason quickly scrambled out of the bed and grabbed his boxer shorts off the floor, trying to catch up with her as he threw them back on and chased after her, "Payton, wait, c'mon!"

Payton was about to walk to the door and storm out, needing to get out of this house, the house that held so many memories and into some fresh air away from all of this craziness, but Mason managed to cut across into her path before she could, trying to trap her before she could get out.

Feeling anger mixed with the trapped feeling and upset, Payton found herself vamping out on him, pushing him and herself forward into the wall near the door, causing him to wince slightly as his back collided with it and she gasped, taking her hands off him when she realised what she had just done. She had nearly lost control. No, she did lose control and Payton felt awful that she had done that to him after being in control for so long.

She felt another wave of guilt and shame hit her when she saw the fear glistening in Mason's eyes, causing her to lower her head and shut her eyes, taking in a large breathe as Payton tried to calm herself down so he didn't freak out anymore on her. Payton didn't mean to lash out on him, but she was just all over the place and he had unfortunately got the backlash of it.

"Please move, Mason." She told him, not wanting to make the situation any worse.

After seeing how she acted around him, Mason didn't stop her this time and moved out of the way so she could get to the door. Pulling her t-shirt over her head, Payton then dug her hand into the back of her jeans pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper that had the agreement for the house on it, going over to the kitchen counter, she grabbed a stray pen from off the side and went to scribble her signature on the dotted line near the bottom.

Slamming the pen back down on the counter, Payton turned back around with the paper in her hand and shoved the agreement into his chest as she stormed past him back towards the door.

"Payton, c'mon, don't do this, please" He tried to tell her in a desperate tone, as she reached the door and hesitated, "I know it's crazy and messed up what I did when I came back, but I'm here now and I still love you so much," Payton lowered her head at this, finding this so damn hard, "Please."

"And I love you," Payton admitted back to him after some moments, as she lifted her head back but failed to turn back to him, "but that's exactly why I can't stay around."

She went to put her hand down on the front to open it up and get out there, but Mason stepped forward and said, "If you step out of that door, Payton, then I won't ever bother you again if that's what you really want."

Payton felt her stomach drop at his words, what he was asking her to do, the choice he was making her make, how messed up she felt inside and how confused she felt about everything in her life right now. Nothing seemed to make sense or feel certain to her. She felt like she was walking a tight rope, not knowing when she was going to fall or how she was, but she felt like she was barely making it across without losing her step.

Turning back round to him, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, she stared at him hard and responded, "No you're wrong. It's what I need."

Grabbing hold of the door handle, Payton opened it up and quickly stepped out of it, not even bothering to turn back as Mason watched her walk out of the house and down the path, heading towards the beach and out of sight from him as she headed toward's the town about a five-minute walk from where the beach house was.

Huffing loudly to himself, Mason ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, before he aggressively turned on his heel and threw his fist at the wall in anger, angry that he had toyed with her emotions for the past few months, angry that he was selfish and wormed his way back in, angry that he gave her multiple ultimatums and neither of them had worked out.

Grabbing his cell phone off the kitchen counter, he made a quick call and once the person on the other line answered he said, "I need your help."

Meanwhile back on the other side of town, Payton had headed to the nearest beach bar, the rival one to the one she used to work at, she hopped up onto a bar-stool and ordered herself a round of shots. She quickly wiped her tears away as the bartender handed her the shots and Payton tossed some dollar notes their way.

For the next couple of hours, Payton downed her sorrows at the beach bar, deep in thought about everything, drink after drink going through her veins, hidden tears when no one was looking, wasted cash as she paid for the drinks she was consuming. The night was falling around her, as she finished off her beer bottle and banged her hand down on the bar surface to call the bartender over.

"Hit me up with another!" She called over to them when they noticed her.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" The guy said to her as he came down to her end of the bar.

"I said," Payton grumbled at him, leaning up slightly on her seat as she looked into his eyes and began to compel him, "hit me up with another!"

The guy blinked back at her, before pulling away and nodding his head, turning to go walk to go get her another beer from the cooler, as Payton went to sit back down on her seat, but completely lost her balance and found herself tipping toward's the side, almost falling off the stool when someone grip gently tightened around the back of her arms preventing her from going anywhere.

Lifting her head up and shaking her hair out of her eyes, Payton was shocked to see Stefan stood there, now helping her back onto her seat, a concerned look on his face looking back at her surprised one.

"W-w-what are you doing here?" She choked out, not being able to break her hold from him.

"Did you really think I would let you go all of this way by yourself?" Stefan asked her, before sliding next to her on another bar stool.

"Seriously, I've had enough of ex-boyfriend's today, Stefan." Payton sighed, putting her head on her hands and looking down at the bar top.

"Well good job I'm not an ex then." He remarked half-jokingly.

"Why are you even here? How did you know I was here?" She questioned him, just at the guy brought her the beer over.

Payton went to dig her hand in her pocket to get some cash-out, but Stefan was already handling the bill and answering her, "Well I first swung by the beach house. Then Mason told me you took off and said you headed this way towards the town. It didn't take me too long to figure out you'd be here."

"Y-you've seen Mason?" She remarked, bravely glancing back at him now.

Stefan nodded back at her lightly, before saying, "he's worried about you."

Payton scoffed and shook her head, "If he was so worried he wouldn't have done what he did."

"What did he do?" He frowned back slightly fearing the worst now.

"I never told you because I didn't want you to worry, you had so much going on with Damon being gone, but someone had been stalking and harassing me all summer long," Payton explained to him in her a drunken tone, but Stefan just listened to her, "I thought it would eventually stop when we got to Whitmore and they would get bored. But no, it just got worse. Then I found out it had been Mason all along."

Stefan lowered his head at this news, feeling bad he wasn't there for her when she was going through it all, instead, he had been so wrapped up in his own drama with Damon and trying to push everyone out, he had barely taken the time to check in with her and how she was doing.

"Now he's made me sign over the beach house to him," She sighed, before running her hands over his face, "and that's not even the worst part. I'm such a stupid person. I am so shameful and disgusting..."

"No, you're not." He tried to tell her different.

"Yes. Yes. I am. I am exactly what everyone thinks of me." Payton exclaimed.

"No," Stefan responded, knowing she was referring to the names Damon and others liked to taunt her with, "you're not and you know it..."

"I slept with him, Stefan!" She interrupted him, staring back at him with guilt in her eyes, "I slept with Mason, Stefan. And I shouldn't even be telling you that considering everything, but god, I can't have you defending me after what I've done."

Stefan was taken back by her confession, not expecting her to say that, he was hurt to hear this news, hurt that she had gone back to him so quickly and so soon, when days ago they had been tangled in the sheets together when weeks ago they had moved into their first home together when just days ago he had told her he loved her.

But Stefan couldn't be selfish right now, because that's all he had been the past few months, selfish and a useless person to the people who had needed him, so pushing aside his own feelings, he did what he had to do, he had to be there for her and support her because she might not know it, but she needed him.

"As I always tell you..."

"No don't!" Payton interjected again, shaking her head as she did, "I don't want to hear it, Stefan. Please. You should hate me."

"I could never hate you. Sure I'm pissed you slept with him, of course, I am, he's your ex and I..."

"You?" She repeated, looking back at him suddenly very nervous.

"I want to be there for you," Stefan corrected himself, not wanting to make this more complicated with his own feelings, so he tried to defer her off him actually loving her, "Because despite it all, I hate seeing you so upset."

"No, you're just happy it's not you upsetting me." Payton teased him with a small tearful smile.

He felt himself ease up slightly when he saw her making a joke, "There's that smile I love."

Payton smiled back at him more at his comment, even more so when he smiled back at her, but then she was suddenly hit with another wave of guilt at what she had done, the shame she felt for sleeping with Mason and sitting here now with Stefan, a man she also loved, god her head was such a mess, two men who meant so much to her, two men who had changed her life in so many ways.

Suddenly Payton felt the tears well up in her eyes again and it wasn't long before she let out a large sob, Stefan quickly got up from his chair and stood in front of her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her into him. Payton's head came to rest on his abdomen, as she cried and allowed herself to be comforted from him.

"C' mon," He whispered into her ear, as he put his arm around her shoulders and said, "let's get you home and safe."

Payton allowed him to carefully help her off the stool and then he walked with her back to his car that was parked not too far away, knowing it was best if she got back to Alaric and Caroline where she could talk to the two of them and figure things out by herself without him or Mason making matters worse. It was the least he could do for her.

When they got back to his car, Stefan leant down to open up the passenger door, as Payton lifted her head up to look at him and caught his eyes, "Thank you, Stefan, really. I don't deserve it."

He lightly smiled back at her with regards and responded in a soft tone, "it's the least I could do."

"You're a good guy. You always have been." She told him, leaning up to peck his cheek.

Stefan looked down at her, his eyes flickering down to her lips, feeling his chest tighten when he realised just how close the two of them were, "Payton." He breathed.

"I know." She breathed back, resting her forehead on his own, "I know."

"I'm sorry it has to be this way." He apologised.

"God, no, this isn't your fault. You're not the one who's ex has come back from the dead and now I'm stuck in the middle with two guys." Payton sighed loudly.

"But if he wasn't here, if he wasn't back, you know..."

"Please, Stefan, I can't."

Stefan slowly pulled away from her and looked back at her with a pained expression, thinking if this was hard for him, then it must have been even tougher for her to try to figure out how she felt. Payton gave him one last look before she climbed into the car and Stefan closed the door up, going round to the driver's side to get in beside her.

Once he started up the engine and drove out of there, heading back for the long drive home overnight, Payton laid her head back on the headrest and got herself comfortable, feeling the exhaustion from the drive the night before, the day's drama and being drunk take over her, as she slowly shut her eyes and felt herself begin to drift off, allowing herself to rest.

Payton woke up a few hours later, they were about halfway into the drive when she stirred from her sleep, but neither of them spoke for the rest of the ride home, maybe because they were afraid what else they would say to one another to make this situation worse than it already was.

Nearing 6 am that following morning, Stefan rolled the car up outside the apartment and turned the engine off, as a thick tension crept over the two of them as they were back home, in the complete silence, with no real clue of where they were going next.

"Thanks." She said in a quiet tone breaking the silence.

"Uh, you're welcome," Stefan replied in a dry tone.

"I guess, I'll, um," Payton tried to find the words to say, but to be honest, she was unsure what to say, "pay you for the gas."

"No, don't worry about it." He tried to tell her.

"Well, maybe I can get you a coffee or something." Payton then put the idea to him, wanting to repay him.

"I could do with a drink, to be honest," Stefan admitted, knowing he hadn't had any blood for the whole drive and since before.

"Uh, yeah, of course, there's some blood bags in the fridge. Come on in." She suggested, getting out of the car and heading for the apartment.

Stefan followed her inside and took a seat down on the couch, whilst Payton poured their blood bags into two cups and then brought them over to join him at the couch. He took the cup from her and took a large sip from it, as Payton also did the same, glad to be curbing her cravings after a long night and a long day yesterday had wiped her out.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her after he finished his drink.

"Tired," Payton answered.

"Yeah me too." Stefan agreed with her.

"I still can't believe you came all the way for me." She said with surprise in her tone.

"Well, I'm glad I did." He told her.

"And for that, I owe you one." Payton looked back at him.

"You don't have to. Like I said it's the least I could do after everything." Stefan tried to tell her otherwise.

"You were grieving."

"But afterwards, even when Damon came back, I just pushed you out." He pointed out.

Payton shrugged, trying to find the light of this situation if there was one, "I guess you're just not ready."

"It's not even that." He sighed.

"Then what?" She asked.

"I screwed this up for us. I have to live with that. You shouldn't feel guilty about sleeping with Mason because we're not even together." Stefan tried to convince her otherwise.

"I slept with Mason when I know how I feel about you." Payton pointed out.

"Mason has always been a better man than I have been. He's always treated you better than I have." He grumbled.

"Not since he's come back he hasn't. He kept himself from me for months. He didn't even tell me he was alive." She reminded him.

"Even so, he was probably afraid and didn't know how to come back when the world had moved on since he was last here."

"Yeah you're right with that one," Payton looked down at her cup before she found herself going off, "for so long, I thought I wasn't good enough for you, that I wasn't as good as Elena, that you wouldn't ever love me the same way I loved you and when I finally got you, when things finally fell into place for us, I couldn't quite believe it, it felt like a dream..."

Stefan looked back at her with pain in his eyes as he listened to her continue on, "And when Damon died, I had to put my own feelings on hold for your own, I had to let you grieve in the way you wanted to and I didn't ever question or doubt where this was going because I knew I couldn't be selfish. Then when I started to feel like I was being selfish, I realised it wasn't me being selfish, it was me just wanting what I knew I deserved to have."

"And that's exactly why I can't be with you because I can't give you exactly what you deserve. Damon died and I pushed everyone out. I used you to cover for me and I kept you there because even though I knew I loved you, I knew that if I let you go as well, then I would probably drive myself insane, but I had ruined every single chance we had." Stefan explained his own feelings.

"Even if there were any changes left," She said back to him, bringing her head up to look at him, "now Mason is back, it changes things. I don't want it to but it does."

"Do you remember what I asked you all those years ago?" Stefan then questioned her.

She frowned, "What?"

"I asked you whether you would go back to him if Mason was alive." He jogged her memory.

Payton breathed lightly, remembering when Stefan had asked her that, they were getting him ready for his graduation and the veil from the other side had been down, Mason hadn't shown up yet and Stefan had got curious to know whether she would go back to him, especially since they had begun to develop feelings for one another.

"I do." She answered.

"Well now he's back would you?" Stefan asked, just as curious as the first time.

"Honestly," Payton began in a shaky breath, as she thought for a moment and explained, "I don't think I would. So much has changed. He isn't the same guy I once knew and I'm not the same girl. As I told him earlier we can't just go back to how things were. He died. I moved on because I had to. I fell in love with you and I'm not going to just drop this life for him."

He looked back at her slightly relieved to hear her say that as he nervously then went to question, "And now I'm here, would you go back to me?"

Payton stared back at him, feeling her heart pound in her chest as she found herself unsure of how to answer that, because her head and her heart were saying different things, "I..."

Before either of them could continue on with their conversation, there was a loud knock at the door and Payton turned her head to the door in confusion, wondering who would be knocking at her door so early in the morning.

Putting her cup down on the coffee table, she rose to her feet and went over to the door, as Stefan stood up and waited for her to open it up when he did he was uneasy to see Caroline stood there, in her running attire, looking just as surprised to see the two of them together.

"Payton," She greeted the girl, before awkwardly saying to Stefan, "Stefan."

"Hey, Care. What's up?" Payton asked as she shuffled uneasily, knowing this looked weird right now and things were still tense between the three of them, "you're out early."

"I needed to run to distract my mind. I saw someone was home and thought I'd swing by. Your Dad said you went on a road trip." Caroline responded back.

"Uh, yeah, it's a long story." She swallowed harshly, thinking back to Mason.

"Are you two back together or?" The blonde then questioned, looking between the two.

"Uh, no." Payton was quick to answer to clear that one up.

"I was just, um, getting some more of my things," Stefan answered, before turning and grabbing the duffle bag off the back of the couch.

She lowered her head slightly, saddened their conversation was being cut short, but they couldn't exactly have it with Caroline around, so Payton allowed Stefan to pass her by and head back out to his car.

"Where did you go off to?" Caroline then questioned.

"Maybe you should come inside," Payton suggested, thinking she didn't want to air her business out in the open.

The blonde nodded and came on through into the home, taking a seat where Stefan had once left as Payton came to join her, "So what's happened?"

"I had to go to Florida." She began.

"For?" Caroline raised her brows up.

"Mason's alive," Payton confessed in a shaky tone.

"W-what?" The blonde gasped in shock, not expecting that to fall from her friend's lips.

"Mason is alive," She repeated again, taking in a nervous breathe as she tried to explain, "he showed up here the other night and I wanted answers so I headed down there."

"Oh my god, Payton," Caroline was just as surprised as Payton, Ric and Stefan were to find out Mason was alive because it really was so surprising, "h-h-how did he even come back?"

"The same way we all did all those months ago." She swallowed dryly.

"God, this is crazy!" Her friend exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief, noticing how broken Payton suddenly looked, "you must feel..."

"Confused," Payton interjected before Caroline could say anymore, because truthfully she didn't want to keep going over it, "yeah. I do. But I also feel betrayed."

"I can imagine. I'm so sorry." The blonde laid her hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"It's not your fault. It's just how it is."

"How come Stefan was with you?" Caroline then found herself wondering.

"He followed me down there," Payton admitted in a nervous tone, "he wanted to make sure I was ok."

"And how are things between the two of you?"

"Not good." She answered.

"Are you going to get back together?" Caroline wondered eyeing her friendly suspiciously.

Payton stared back at her, sensing her questions were more than just friendly chit chat, as she shrugged, "I don't know."

"Right." The blonde rubbed her lips together.

"Do you want to say something?" Payton said to her friend, noticing a change in Caroline at the mention of Stefan, as the girl looked back at her nervously, "I mean, whatever it is you can tell me."

"It's just..." Caroline paused to take a deep breathe in, before she confessed, "I think I might have feelings for him."

"Oh."

Payton looked back at Caroline stunned and a little hurt, to be honest. She hadn't expected her friend to be so brutally honest. But now not only did this make everything way messier for her and Stefan, but it also complicated things again for her and Caroline. This was a total mess and her head was a mess.

"S-since when?" Payton found herself asking after a tense silence.

Caroline shrugged this time, as she nervously went on, "Uh, I guess since the summer."

"T-t-that makes sense." She responded.

"It does?" The blonde raised her brows up at Payton.

"Yeah," Payton slowly nodded, as she leant back and said, "I mean, I knew you'd be hurt that Stefan was pushing you all out, but I didn't realise how much it would hurt you. I guess I should have seen it coming."

"I'm so sorry, Payton." Caroline sighed, feeling guilty.

"No, I'm sorry, Caroline. None of this is fair on any of us."

"So what do we do?" The blonde questioned.

"You should tell him." Payton found herself saying, although she kind of regretted it once she did.

"Really?"

"Yeah," She nodded back, pushing her own selfishness aside, taking in another deep breath, "he should know how you feel."

"It won't change anything though. He likes you."

"Maybe, maybe not," Payton shrugged, as she continued on, "but it's better to be honest, right?"

"Are you speaking from experience?" Caroline smiled lightly.

"I guess I am."

After engaging in some more small talk with Caroline, the blonde left a little while later and Payton went to freshen up in the shower, getting ready for her lecture that was a couple of hours away. She wanted to also catch her Dad before she left for class so she could check in with him and give him an update on the events of Florida minus the drunkness, sex and Stefan showing up.

"Thanks so much for this, Jo." Payton found herself saying an hour later on when she stood outside her father's hospital room.

He had transferred from the Mystic Falls hospital to the campus hospital yesterday morning and Jo was monitoring but it wasn't visiting hours until later on that day, but Payton managed to persuade Jo to let her visit her Dad due to her trip and her having class soon.

"Don't mention it. He'll be happy to see you." Jo smiled at her, before ushering her inside the hospital room.

Payton smiled back at her, before going on through to see Alaric sleepily looking back at her, but once he registered it was her coming over to him, he grinned back happily.

"Hey, P." He greeted back in a soft tone.

"Hey," She said back to him, coming over to stand by his bed, "how are you feeling?"

"Better. Jo is going to be releasing me today." Alaric told her.

"That's good," Payton breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she was going to be able to visit her Dad whenever she wanted now, "it will be good to have you back."

"Well, it's good to have you back. How did it go?" He questioned her somewhat tensely.

Payton sighed and found herself flopping down on the hospital visitor chair beside the bed, "Honestly I have never felt more confused."

"What did he say? Did he give you answers?" Alaric questioned next.

"Kind of," She shrugged, shaking her head as she thought back to yesterday, "honestly it was just like reminiscing about the past."

"So he still loves you?" He presumed.

Payton slowly nodded and answered, "And I love him. But do I want him? No."

"Of course you still love each other. You two don't know how to feel anything else but love for one another. Did you manage to persuade him to give the house back?" Alaric asked her.

"Not exactly. I signed it over to him." She admitted in defeat.

"What? I thought you loved that place." He said back.

"Yeah, well Mason needs a place to stay and if he's down in Florida then he's not toying with my feelings," Payton explained.

"Did Stefan reach you?" Alaric then asked, surprising her completely.

"Wait...you knew about Stefan coming down?" She looked back at him confused.

Alaric slowly nodded, "Yeah he told me that he was going to follow you to protect you in case Mason was dangerous. I approved because I couldn't go with you because I was stuck here."

"Well let's just say throwing Stefan into the mix has made this even worse. Now Caroline has told me she has feelings for him." Payton grumbled.

"Hate to say it, Payton, but I could have told you that one."

"God, this such a mess!" She put her hands over her face in distress.

"Hey, you'll figure it out. Why don't you come with us tonight?" Alaric then suggested.

"Where?" She frowned, removing her hands from her face.

"Jo's invited me to a fundraiser at the hospital. The more the merrier." He tried to convince her it was a good idea.

"No thanks," Payton grumbled back, standing back onto her feet, "I don't want to third wheel my Dad and his new girlfriend."

"I never said she was my girlfriend." Alaric corrected her.

"Yeah well let's face it, we've always been honest with each other and this has never been weird so there's no denying she's your girlfriend," She explained to him with a smirk, "and for the record, I actually like this one."

"That's good to know." He smiled.

"Look, I have to get to class so I'm going to head there now. I just wanted to make sure you're ok. Maybe we can go for dinner later before you head out?" Paton suggested.

"Yeah of course." He nodded, as she leant over to embrace him lightly and Alaric held her back, pecking the side of her head.

Pulling away from him, she smiled at him one last time before bidding him farewell and heading out of the hospital room. Coming out of the hospital, she headed towards the campus and to her lecture room so she could get their early to make herself known after a few days of not attending. Payton was just 10 minutes away from her class for the first time actually feeling free that she could go about her day with no stalker on her back.

As she rounded the hall and went to head to the staircase to her lecture room, Payton felt her eyes widen when she saw a familar face stood at the end of the hall talking to a member of the college staff. She knew he was a member of staff because her Dad had stood in a similar spot talking away to him before. Payton felt puzzled seeing him there and a little pissed off.

She couldn't help herself. Payton had to find out what the hell was going on.

Storming her way over to him, she didn't even care that there was another professor stood there, Payton came and stood right beside them, folding her arms crossly and given Mason a glare.

His eyes came away from the professor and onto the girl now stood in front of him, a smug look came over his face to see her there so soon. The professor who had been talking stopped and looked back at Payton in confusion.

"May I help you miss?" The professor asked her in confusion.

"I would love to speak to Mason here if you don't mind," Payton told the professor in a dry tone whilst keeping her gaze held on the guy.

The professor frowned in confusion at how this strange woman knew Mason already, as Mason quickly turned away from the professor and said, "Excuse me, sir, I'll give you a call later, I have to deal with this."

Pulling Payton over to the side of the corridor away from listening ears, Mason let go of her and then Payton erupted at him, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Is it any of your business?" He smirked back at her, folding his arms across his chest.

"Uh, yeah? Not only do you stalk me for months on end, then tell me to give up my own house, now you're back here not even after a day and talking to random professors at the college I go to?!" Payton exclaimed at him like he was a crazy person because she was beginning to think he was.

"I'm just trying to get on with my life. Isn't that what you wanted?" Mason said not understanding why she was so mad right now.

"You're kidding me, right? I meant away from this! Away from my world, Mason!" Payton shook her head in disbelief.

"An opportunity came up that I just couldn't say no to." He informed her smugly.

"Like what? Stalking your ex-girlfriend?" She frowned deeply.

He decided to ignore her remark about his past actions, as he shrugged his shoulders charmingly, "I may or may not be the new football coach"

"What? Why?" Payton looked back at him like he had just told her the worst news possible because to her it was, not only did she have Stefan drama to deal with, now she was dealing with Mason drama too, since when did he qualify to be the football coach either.

"Because I want to, Pay? Why does it matter anyway? You're busy living your life and I'll be living mine."

"But you took the house from me, Mason! You were so persistent on me not owning it anymore and that you needed a place to live and have a life, but now you're here, on my campus at my college!" Payton pointed out to him in frustration.

"Not to be petty, but this isn't just your campus or your college, Payton. It's a lot of people's. You'll probably barely see me around."

"Yeah right," She scoffed shaking her head, before going on to warn him, "you know Damon is around here a lot, you know, Tyler too..."

Mason's smirk slowly began to wipe off his face, "I'm not scared."

"Well, you should be. Because Damon won't be easy and Tyler, well, he will hate you for not telling him sooner." Payton pointed out to him.

"Why don't you just run along and go tell him, huh?" He nodded over at her.

"Why? And let you get out of it? No thanks." Payton shook her head disapprovingly.

"Did Stefan catch up to you in the end?" Mason found himself wondering.

"Why?" She frowned over-protectively.

"He swung by. Was looking for you."

"I know," Payton said remembering that Stefan had gone over to the beach house looking for her when he had reunited with Mason.

"He really cares about you, doesn't he?"

"Why does this matter, Mason?" She sighed in tiredness, before getting out her cell phone and looking at the time, "I really have to go to class."

"I'll be seeing you." He smirked back at her, before stepping aside to let her go past.

Payton gave him a weird look, knowing that was one of the lines her stalker aka him had used on her, she couldn't believe this right now. She had never dealt with the side of Mason before, but now she could understand why the Salvatore brothers had made an enemy of him and why so many people got so angry at him because he acted like this and she wasn't used to this side of him.


Author note: Ahhh please don't hate me for letting her sleep with Mason but I can only promise you that she totally was not thinking with her head! But please stick with it because I know you won't regret it if you do!

Thank you so much for reading and taking an interest as always :)

Special thanks to WickedlyMinx, LMarie99, HPuni101 and Adorable-Exploding-Kitten for reviewing the last part. I loved reading your thoughts on the last part and your feeling towards the next part. I'm glad at least some of you are glad Mason is back but are also rooting for Stefan to grow a pair and just bloody win her back! He has to, right?

I'd love to know your thoughts on this part!

Was Payton right to sleep with Mason?

Why do you think Mason is being such a dick?

Do you think Stefan handled her telling him about Mason in the right way? Should he have been more upset?

How do you think Caroline having feelings for Stefan will impact their friendship?

Will Stefan finally pluck up the courage and win the girl back?

Thank you so much!

Best wishes always,

guiltypleasurexo