They managed to get Caroline involved with their plan which saw the girl managing to manipulate Mary Lou and Nora into coming to this party. Caroline and Payton had originally planned to get ready together, but Mary Lou had persuaded Caroline or should we say, forced Caroline to give her an outfit for said party, so she joined them as they were getting ready.
Caroline had given the heretic a ruched red body-con mini dress so that Mary Lou could go as a devil and Nora was busy in the hall creating her angel costume. Caroline was also going to go as an angel with a strappy mini dress, angel wings and a halo whilst Payton had decided to go as a cat, wearing faux leather pants, a faux leather halter neck tank top and some black heels.
On her head sat some cat ears and she drew some whiskers on her cheeks in eyeliner, making her natural waves curlier and doing a dark black lip with some lipstick. She decided to forget the tail thinking it would just get in the way.
Payton was meeting Stefan at the party so she headed over to the party with Caroline a little while later slightly buzzed from the bottle of wine she had consumed before they had left. It had felt like forever since they had been to a party. She was looking forward to doing something normal even if it meant babysitting two heretics and making sure they didn't kill anyone.
"When was the last time we actually went to one of these?" Payton asked as they came on through a crowd of drunken party students who were dancing to the music.
"Well," Caroline awkwardly eyed her as Payton turned to look at her, picking up on her sudden unease, "I guess the last time we went to a party was when..."
Payton quickly caught on to why she was so damn tense, as she memory hit her, "...when your humanity was off," She sighed lightly, before trying to make a joke, "that was definitely one to forget."
"Yeah tell me about it," Caroline sighed lightly, the shame eating away at her, before she went on, "I wish Elena was here to enjoy it."
"Yeah me too. Where's Bonnie tonight?" She asked the girl.
"Helping your Dad apparently." The blonde informed her.
"With what?" Payton frowned suspiciously wondering what was going on, she hadn't seen him in a couple of days nor had she spoken to him other than a simple text to see if he was ok, he had been out of town with Damon and Bonnie on an Oscar hunt, but since being back he had told her he had been busy marking papers, but maybe she should have been more worried.
"I have no idea." Caroline shrugged back helplessly.
Payton wondered if it had anything to do with that stone that was supposed to bring people back from the day. She wondered if he was getting Bonnie involved to help him and he wasn't actually getting rid of it. But then again, she knew Bonnie had been struggling with these awful visions because of the stone, so why would Bonnie help him if she wanted it gone too?
She knew she was going to have to do some digging around and check in with her Dad properly. Payton shouldn't have been so naive and cut up in her own problems to assume he'd just let it go and get rid of the stone. The guy was grieving and wanting Jo back more than anything. She knew he wouldn't given up.
"There's Stefan," Caroline's voice broke her out of her thoughts, as Payton spun her head round to see the guy now approaching them, she felt a nervous yet excited feeling hit her stomach as she took him in, "I'll go get us some drinks."
"Thanks," Payton told her friend, still keeping her gaze on her boyfriend, who was now coming to stand with her, so she spoke up softly when Caroline had left, "hi."
"Hello," Stefan looked back at her, before his eyes trailed down to her body, feeling himself taking in a deep breathe, "Payton, Payton, Payton..."
"What?" She smirked back at him knowing he was checking her out in her cat suit, but she couldn't also keep her eyes off him in his suit, he had ripped his shirt and put some fake blood or what she could assume was fake blood splatters over it.
"I don't think I am going to be able to keep my hands to myself tonight." He instantly laced his arms around her waist pulling her into him.
Payton laid her hands on his chest with a light chuckle, "you're going to have to because I'm in control now."
"You make it so damn hard though," Stefan leant down and pecked her cheek lightly, before whispering in her ear, "I can't wait to take you home tonight."
She rubbed her lips together excitedly, before leaning up to him, "well let's hope this night goes quickly then."
"Let's hope so," He agreed with her, just as caught sight of Nora and Mary-Louise, "oh they're here."
Payton spun her head round to look at where Stefan was looking at the two heretics, she sighed lightly, "guess it is time to come back down to reality."
"Mmm-hmm." Stefan hummed back to her, taking her hand in his own and going to drag her away.
They spent the next hour or so trying to save as many people as they could at the hands of the heretics, they were beginning to grow restless between the three of them, not even a cocktail could calm Payton's unease, so Stefan decided to give his brother a call to see if he had managed to fix the Oscar problem so that they could stop.
"...three," Stefan said to his brother once Damon answered the call, she couldn't hear Damon on the other line because the music was too loud as they came through the crowd of dancing students, "that's the number of people we've managed to save. Barely," Payton spun her head round to see her boyfriend's frustration, "how much longer?"
The three of them came to a stop as Payton looked back at Stefan nervously, Caroline also sharing the same look, "Good. Just hurry up!" Stefan demanded, before hanging up the call.
"Well?" Caroline asked him.
"Apparently they're close." Stefan answered her but sounded unconvinced.
"I swear if they don't hurry up..." Payton grumbled, before going on, "what's he even doing to get them back anyway?"
Stefan lowered his head slightly, "using that stone your Dad has."
"They what?!" Payton exclaimed back, pissed off to hear that her suspicions had been true, her Dad had been distant on purpose, because he hadn't gotten rid of the stone, he still had it, "why is my Dad consistent on making me worry more about him?"
"This isn't your fault." He tried to assure her.
"I need a drink!" She announced, before going to head off to the bar, knowing if she didn't down something right now, she would blow up.
After downing a shot and then ordering a beer, Payton turned around to see Stefan and Caroline now coming to join her, she gave them a small smile, embarrassed for storming off but also wanting to assure them that she wasn't mad at any of them, she was more annoyed at her Dad for being so reckless lately.
Stefan immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him, "Alright?"
"Hmm." She nodded back lightly, although she felt far from it, but she'd put on a brave face.
"Do you think they forgot they came here to murder people?" Stefan questioned the two girls as he looked over to where Mary Louise and Nora were stood in the crowd, Nora was dancing away lively whilst Mary Louise looked so uncomfortable stood still in the middle of a crazy dancing crowd.
"Oh, no they're just wrapped up in their own drama." Caroline remarked looking over at them.
"Why is she just standing there?" Payton commented on the fact Mary Louise looked like she didn't even want to be there.
"Nora wants some breathing room," Caroline began to explain to the two of them, pointing over to the girls, "Mary Louise is scared if she gives it to her, that Nora's going to leave her."
"You got all that...from that?" Stefan was surprised at how easy Caroline had been able to analyse what was going on between the heretics.
"Well, it is kind of obvious." Payton shrugged back, clearly girl's saw something men didn't.
Suddenly the lights went darker and the mood changed, a slow song came on and everyone began to slow dance with their lover that night, Mary Louise and Nora wrapped their arms around each other and held onto each other, swaying to the music and smiling back at each other timidly.
"Or not." Caroline looked back slightly defeated that her theory had actually been wrong, before suggesting, "you two go dance."
"What?" Payton looked back at Caroline with a shake to the head, just as the bar tender brougth over her beer, she took it from him with a thanks, "no! We're not going to leave you by the bar on your own."
"Don't worry about me. I owe you this. C'mon. Go!" Caroline encouraged her two friends to go be with what they wanted to be, she wasn't going to stand in the way anymore.
"C'mon," Stefan was now liking the idea of that and knowing that Caroline was also ok with it, he wanted to dance with the girl, "let's go."
Caroline leant over and took the beer from Payton's hands, before grinning back at her friends when Stefan went to grab Payton's hand and drag her over to the dance floor.
"Stefan." She breathed slightly, trying to fight off a grin, as she allowed him to whisk her over to the dance floor.
Payton found herself laying her hands on his shoulders once they were amongst the crowd, he laid his hands on her waist and pulled her into him, their foreheads resting on one another, "I wanted to do this with you at the wedding." He told her.
"You did?" She smiled lightly back at him.
"Yeah," Stefan nodded, swaying with her to the music, "the only ever time we've danced together is when you were drunk at Elena's party that time."
"Oh god don't remind me!" Payton began to chuckle lightly at the memory, "I also remember telling Matt that day that I had feelings for you."
"Was that before or after Elena told you to take me out of for a spin?" Stefan teased.
"After," She smirked more, as she went on, "she must have picked up on our clear chemistry."
"Yeah even with her humanity off she could see it."
"That seems so long ago now," Payton leant backwards slightly, taking her head off his own, "I still feel just as in love as I did back then."
"I'm even more in love now."
She went to lean back into him, planting a kiss on his lips, staring intently back at him, a wave of contentment hit her and in that moment, she was suddenly hit with the feeling of regret. Regret that she didn't say yes to him those months ago when he had intentions of proposing to her. Payton was beginning to wonder how things could have been between them, if she had said yes, maybe she should have said yes.
Stefan picked up on her sudden change of mood, noticing how hard she was looking at him right now, "What?"
"Nothing..." She quickly shook her head, knowing if he knew she was having regrets, he would probably be angry at her, "nothing at all."
"I really cannot wait to get you home." He smirked once more the mood instantly lighting.
"Like I said I'm in control now," Payton reminded him mischievously, before she found her eyes rolling through the crowd, suddenly realising that Mary Louise and Nora were nowhere to be seen anymore, "oh my god, Stefan!"
"What?" He was quick to react to her sudden panic.
"Where did they go?" She began to question looking around for any signs of the heretics as she broke away from him.
They began to search around when they found Caroline who had been busy ordering herself a cocktail at the bar, her back to the crowd, purely so she didn't have to see their moment, but completely giving her also the chance to not be watching anymore, they moved frantically around.
Payton was about to bring out her cell phone to text Stefan to ask where he had gone off to since she had been looking everywhere, when she found him talking to Mary Louise at a table, the girl was now getting up looking quite upset, before taking off.
Payton quickly hurried over to see him, wondering what was going on, "What the hell happened?" She asked.
"Damon brought Oscar back. I was just showing her the evidence." Stefan answered.
"Oh thank god!" Payton sighed in relief, as she went on, "does this mean we can go home?"
"I thought you wanted to go to a party and have some normality." He teased her.
"I do but I'd rather be at home right now with you." She smiled back at him.
"Well, let's go find Caroline and head out." Stefan took her hand in his own and began to make their way out of there.
Caroline decided to head back to the dorm and wait for Bonnie to get back, giving Payton and Stefan the chance to head back to the Lockwood home, she hoped the boys would be asleep when they got home, because she really did not feel comfortable going back home dressed like a sexy cat, it would be slightly embarrassing and awkward.
On the car ride home, Stefan kept his hand on her knee, wanting to feel her and comfort her in that moment, the two of them having a wave of excitement in their stomachs after a crazy night of supernatural drama. She couldn't shake off the feeling from before, like she had missed out on something that could have been, Payton wondered if it was just a spur of the moment feeling, that she would just forget it once her excitement had died down, but it felt pretty intense right now.
Coming up to the Lockwood mansion, Payton went to get out her key, noticing all the lights were off in the house, Matt's cop car wasn't in the driveway, signalling he must have been on a halloween patrol, leaving Tyler and Mason inside the home, hopefully asleep and not up drinking like they sometimes were.
Stefan found himself vamp speeding behind her and pushing her up against the front door, causing her to squeal and then his hand to fly up against her mouth, "Shh," he tried to quieten her, "you'll wake everyone up."
He moved his hand from her mouth, as she went to push him off, trying not to smirk, "then don't do that to me!"
Stefan couldn't fight off his own grin, "I can't help it."
"Well you're going to have to try," She spun back around and went to unlock the door, just as she felt him move his hand round her neck, moving her hair away from it and over to one shoulder, before he planted kisses on her skin, "Stefan," she sighed at the touch, her hands fumbling with the lock now, "stop."
"I love you," He breathed into her, as he left another trail of kisses on her skin, "I really do."
"I love you too," Payton sighed lightly, before spinning around to face him, she found herself bringing his face closer to her own and smashing her lips onto his, kissing him hard and passionately, "so so much."
Stefan instantly picked her up in her arms, her legs now wrapping around his waist and her hands firmly sitting on his shoulders, their kiss never breaking as Stefan opened up the front door and carried her inside.
He closed the door with his hip and then walked them through to near the stairs, where he pushed her up against the wall just next to the first step, Payton moaned as her back collided with the wall and she deepened the kiss between them.
"We should," She breathed between the kisses, her fingers running up to the hair on the nape of his neck, "go upstairs," she said to him, before adding, "like right now."
"Hmm." Stefan moaned into her before going to put her down on the floor and go to walk with her up the stairs to their bedroom.
Just as she was about to take the first step and link hands with him, her cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket, causing her to sigh lightly and go to pull it out, seeing Matt's number flash across the screen, "It's Matt." She whispered to Stefan, knowing Matt was out on patrol and after the other day, she feared every time he stepped out the door.
"Can't it wait?" Stefan remarked knowing the bulge in his pants wasn't in the mood for any more interruptions that night.
"Not after the other night! What if something has happened to him?" Payton exclaimed, before going to say, "go on up. I'll come join you in a minute."
Stefan sighed lightly, flashing her a small smile to hide his disappointment, before he went to go head on up as Payton headed to the kitchen.
As she came on through, she answered it quickly, "Matt is everything ok?"
"Well I don't really know how to say this, Pay," Matt began to say to her, causing her stomach to drop in worry, "but Enzo and Valerie, one of the heretics, they broke into the Grill tonight."
"They what?" She felt the rage suddenly begin to rise inside of her, the once fear she had was now replaced with that nasty anger she had been feeling the past week.
"I saw the lights were on inside and knew it wasn't you or Stefan because you were at the party so I thought I better investigate. To be honest I just thought it was some kids on a ghost tour of Mystic Falls breaking in and trying to steal booze, I didn't expect to find Enzo and Valerie inside." He explained to her.
"Are they still there now?" Payton questioned.
"Yeah. They basically told me to get out or they'd try to kill me." Matt informed her.
"I'll kill them when I get my hands on them!" She threatened.
"I just thought I should tell you."
"Yeah I appreciate it. Thank you. Can you come home? I hate you being out there." Payton told him as she went to go grab herself a drink to try calm herself down.
"I'm nearly finished." He tried to tell her.
"Do you know what Enzo and Valerie were up to?" She wondered why they would need the Grill of all places.
"I have no idea."
"Great! Well, I'll soon find out when I bust their asses for breaking into my property!" Payton grumbled.
"Maybe you should just leave it, Pay. I know it's wrong for them to be there but won't this just make things worse?"
"They broke into my bar, Matt! I'm not letting this slide! I'm so done with trying to please them."
Coming back upstairs after getting off the phone with Matt and downing a glass of bourban, Payton went to go find Stefan, he was getting undressed when she walked in, he instantly picked up on her anger and spun round to face her.
"What is it?" He asked in a quiet tone not wanting to wake the others.
"Well just that your first love and Enzo have broken into my bar!" Payton informed him in a raging tone.
"They what?" Stefan frowned back in confusion, before he pressed, "what do you mean they broke in?"
"Matt saw someone was inside and knew it wouldn't be us because we were at the party. He went inside and Valerie and Enzo were there. He has no idea how they got in or what they were up to. They threatened to kill him if he didn't leave." Payton explained to him.
"What are you going to do?" He asked knowing she wouldn't just let this slide.
"I am going over there to kick their asses!" She told him.
"Do you think it's the best thing to do?" Stefan was kind of like Matt right now he didn't know if it was worth it.
"They broke into my bar! Why can't no one understand that?" Payton snapped.
"Alright, alright," He knew there was no talking her out of this one, "let's go."
"You think you should come?" She raised her brows up at him, knowing that if he did it meant he would be reunited with Valerie.
"I'm not going to let you go their by yourself." Stefan insisted.
"But you'll see Valerie!" Payton pointed out with a look.
"I don't care. She didn't show up so I don't really have anything else to say to her." He shrugged back unbothered.
"Alright," She drew in a shake breathe, before going to say, "I'll meet you in the car."
A while later, Payton and Stefan pulled up outside the Grill, the lights were still on inside the bar signalling they were still there, Payton knew she would try to keep her cool, but if they seriously pushed her, then she would not be held responsible for her actions that night.
They went round the back, knowing that was the only entrance they had not boarded up, but they had put a lock on it, which Valerie or Enzo clearly had broken that night. Payton hissed when she saw the damage, before opening up the door and storming through inside, Stefan having no other choice than to follow her, knowing he really had to keep a watchful eye on that anger of hers.
She shoved the door open with a powerful force, coming out to the bar and Payton found herself freezing in her tracks when she saw only Enzo sat up the bar, she was expecting Valerie to be with him, but clearly the girl was nowhere to be seen right now. Stefan came up behind her, also a little taken back to see just Enzo inside, he had helped himself to a bottle of bourban.
"Oh look," Enzo found himself smirking as he took in Payton's outfit, she was still wearing her leather pieces just minus the cat ears, she still had the whiskers drawn on embarrassingly, "it's Cat woman. Although I'm not sure who you've come as, Stefan."
"What the hell are you doing in my bar?" Payton questioned him abruptly ignoring his mocking tone.
"I thought I'd come have a drink." He shrugged back innocently.
"In my bar," She repeated once more, before stepping closer to him, "that is closed. So what the hell gives you the right to come here?"
"It wasn't me if I am honest." Enzo tried to tell her.
"Oh I know Valerie was here," Payton glared at him, as she went to ask, "where is the heretic bitch?"
"She left. Just missed her." He answered casually.
"Well good job she isn't here then because it's only one of your asses I will be kicking then!" She threatened.
"Why so much angst love? All you had to do was ask me to leave. There's no harm done here. We just came for a drink that's all." Enzo tried to convince her otherwise.
"Why couldn't you drink in the grand big mansion house Stefan kindly gave you and the bunch of freaks living in it?" Payton raised her brows up questionably.
"Maybe we fancied a change of scenery."
"Well this is my bar so get the hell out or I will drag you out myself!" She yelled at him.
Enzo smirked slightly at her anger as he picked up his glass and downed the contents of it, before sliding the empty glass towards her and jumping up off his stool, he went to come closer to them, Payton folded her arms and continued to glare at him, as he came past her and then narrowed his eyes over to Stefan.
"You should have picked the blonde, this ones a handful." Enzo remarked to the guy referring to the fact Caroline had liked Stefan not so long ago.
Stefan frowned back at him, not liking how he was putting Payton down right now when all she had done was get people off property she owned, she had kept her anger at bay and hadn't even fought, yet here was Enzo trying to preach about things he had no clue about, maybe it was Stefan who needed to keep his anger in tact.
"I think I can decide that for myself thanks." He grumbled back at Enzo.
Enzo shook his head in amusement, before going to leave out back, leaving Payton to turn round to her boyfriend and sigh, "So much for a fun night, hey?"
"You handled that well." Stefan praised her with a light smile.
"Did I?" She looked back at him with surprise.
"Well yeah you're more in control of your anger than you think."
"Thanks I suppose," Payton sighed once more, before going to pick up the empty glass Enzo had left, "I should go put this away and then figure out how the hell I'm going to keep this place off limits to heretics."
"We don't have to think about that right now. It's getting late. Let's just go home and deal with this tomorrow." Stefan suggested to her.
"I don't know, Stefan," She breathed, shaking her head as she did, "this place might not be anything right now, but it means the world to me and the fact someone just thought it would be cool to break in pisses me off."
"What can we do right now though? We have no tools or anything." He tried to reason with her.
"I guess so," Payton felt deflated right now, every time these heretics caused trouble, she felt so damn weak, "I guess we should go then."
Arriving back home that night, Payton was so not in the mood to carry on where they left off, in all honesty she just wanted to be by herself for a moment, she had so much on her mind and she just needed some space to figure things out. Stefan decided to give her the space she needed and headed up to bed, knowing he would check on her in an hour to see if she was doing ok.
Payton was sat in the study with a glass of bourbon, when she brought her cell phone out and went to make a message to her Dad, knowing that he was one of the things on her mind that night. She felt like he had been distant with her since coming back from Europe and especially because of the stone thing. Payton didn't want him to be like that with her.
She wanted him to trust her and know she would support him.
But it felt like he was putting a barrier between them, she didn't know if it was because of the stone, because he was afraid of what she might think or whether he just couldn't talk to her anymore.
Every single time he pushed her out, the more she thought about him putting that gun to his head after he lost Jo, the sheer fear she felt about him killing himself and her losing him, her witnessing him do that right in front of her, her having to go through that heart ache of losing him again and him leaving her, every single time she felt distant, it felt like that fear hit her so hard, she felt like she could barely trust him either.
'Are you up? Can we talk?'
Hitting the second button, Payton sighed and laid her cell phone down on the arm of the chair, she heard the front door go and within a matter of moments, Matt came on through, dressed in his deputy uniform.
"Hey." He greeted her before going to take a seat on the arm chair.
"Hey," She smiled lightly back at him, "I'm glad you're home in one piece today."
"Yeah well I nearly wasn't. Have you heard from Damon tonight?" Matt asked her.
"Not recently no, why? What else has happened?" Payton frowned back with concern.
"Well whoever that Oscar guy is he was running through the woods killing people. I nearly got caught up in it but strangely Damon told me not to." He explained.
"What the hell?" She was confused to hear this, "we haven't heard anything from Damon but that's probably why. Something must have happened to Oscar because of the stone."
"What stone?" Matt raised his brows up in confusion.
"It's a long story," Payton sighed, knowing she really did not want to go into it and it was all more reason she had to talk to her Dad, "I'm just glad you're home and safe."
He smiled back at her in gratitude before going to ask, "Did you go over to the Grill?"
"Yep," She grumbled, as she went on, "Enzo was the only one there. Valerie went before we got there. Still no idea what they were doing there other than they wanted a drink in a different setting."
"Weird." Matt frowned.
"I don't trust any of them and I especially do not trust Enzo or Valerie." Payton declared.
"I don't think any of us do." He agreed with her.
After saying goodnight to Matt, Payton felt her cell phone vibrate and she looked down to see her Dad had gotten back to her.
'I'm now heading to bed. Catch up tomorrow.'
Her heart sank reading his words, knowing that before, her Dad would have made sure he was available to talk to her no matter what time of night it was, he would be there to listen to her no matter what and now this only confirmed to her that he was avoiding her on purpose.
Downing the rest of her bourbon, Payton went through into the kitchen to grab the bottle and pour herself another glass, when she heard footsteps coming across the hall and into the kitchen, she presumed it was either Stefan checking in on her or Matt coming back to her talk to her, but when she saw a sleepy looking Mason strolling through she was surprised.
"Oh hey," He greeted her, noticing her choice of outfit for the night, he couldn't help but break out into a grin, "oh.."
"Don't!" Payton warned him, not sure whether he was checking her out or about to tease her for her appearance, "it was for a halloween party."
"I always remember when you went as a vampire to the beach bar halloween party." Mason jogged her memory of the event.
"Ironic that the following year I became one," She chuckled lightly, before going to offer, "you want a drink?"
"I actually came for the other kind," He said to her before going over to the fridge, "I usually have a late night one if I don't really feel like sleeping."
"Well I guess that keeps you going." Payton said as she poured herself another bourbon.
"We have to do what we have to do to get by," Mason shrugged back, before going to ask, "how come you're not in bed?"
"Don't really feel like sleeping either." She admitted, it wasn't just her Dad on her mind, she still hadn't shaken that regret she felt about Stefan's proposal.
Mason began to pour his blood bag into a glass from the cupboard, he looked back over at her, "how come?"
"Just a lot on my mind," Payton looked down at the bourbon in her glass, "tonight should have just been a normal night, a little bit of drama, but then we should have just come home and relaxed."
"What happened?" He wondered, feeling still so out of the loop, him and Tyler liked to keep themselves to themselves these days.
"Well Enzo and one of the heretics broke into the Grill," She began to recall the nights events to him, before going on, "and now my Dad is dodging me."
"Why?" Mason was slightly taken back knowing it was unlike Alaric.
"I have no idea! I don't know if it's because he doesn't want to disappoint me or maybe I've done something I don't know..."
"That's very unlike him." He remarked going to down his blood drink now something she'd never get used to seeing from him.
"I know! I'm worried about him. I haven't stopped worrying about him since Jo died and he went to pull a trigger to his head." She shuddered at the memory.
"I'm sure he'll come around or if not you'll just have to force it out of him."
"Yeah trust me, as soon as the sun rises, I'm going over to his apartment and demanding answers!" Payton exclaimed.
"I don't doubt that for a second." He chuckled lightly.
"I'm glad you think my life is amusing." She teased him.
"Hey!" He held up his hands defensively, as he went to rinse his glass out, "I don't! I just know what you're like."
"Likewise," Payton remarked, before going on, "have you given much thought about getting back out there yet?"
"Nope," Mason shook his head, as his smirk grew, "Why? Do you know someone interested?"
"I don't but if I think of someone I'll let you know." She laughed quietly.
"I'm glad you think my love life is so amusing," He teased her, repeating what she had said before, as he added, "you would think that since you're my ex girlfriend."
"I don't think it's amusing!" Payton corrected him with a smirk, she knew he was only messing with her, "I just want you to be happy and have moved on. You deserve it."
"I'm moving on...I just don't feel ready to have a girlfriend or date yet. You have to remember I was a single man for many years before you came along. I never was the settled down kind of guy and I don't plan to be for a good while." Mason reiterated to her.
"Well, if that's what you want then so be it." Payton said back, knowing Stefan would be pleased to hear he was moving on, he had been so paranoid about it.
"You and Stefan all good now after the other day?" He asked out of interest.
"I think so," She nodded, her mind flashing with the proposal regret, her face showing it, "I am happy but..."
"But what?" Mason was slightly confused by her reaction.
"It doesn't matter," Payton shook her head, knowing it wasn't appropriate to be having this conversation with him, "just forget it."
"Nah c'mon. You can tell me." He encouraged.
"Just..." She looked back up at him uneasily, "how did you know you wanted to propose to me?"
Mason frowned slightly at her question, not expecting her to come out with that, as found himself answering, "Uh, I guess, I just knew? I don't know, Pay. Why do you ask? You're not thinking of proposing to Stefan, are you?"
"No," Payton shook her head firmly, before going to explain, "it's just..." she breathed, knowing this was so risky telling him about it, Stefan would be so pissed if he knew that she was telling Mason, but he was so easy to confide to and since her fears had concerned him, she thought it might help, "he was going to propose at the wedding, but I found the ring."
"Oh jeez, Payton," Mason couldn't help but chuckle at what he was hearing, knowing the girl never liked to be subtle, "how did he take that?"
"It wasn't necessarily him, it was me! I freaked out!" Payton put her hands over her face as she cringed at the memory and explained, "all I kept thinking was that the last guy who wanted to propose to me got himself killed and I did not want to lose him!"
"Payton, your situation with Stefan is completely different. What happened to me was my own doing. Stefan isn't going to go out there and voluntarily allow himself to get killed, is he? The guys what? Hundreds of years old. I'm sure he is here to stay for the long haul." Mason tried to convince her.
"Yeah I know but the fear of losing people is so high within me. I just couldn't bear the thought of it all going wrong."
"So you prevented your own happiness to try to protect yourself which has left you with regret and wondering how things could be?" He presumed.
"Yep," Payton sighed, as she went on, realising how problematic she sounded, "I bet you're glad you're rid of me now."
"I haven't got rid of you when you live in my house!" Mason chuckled once more, before he said in a more soft tone, "why wait around if you want it, huh? If your heart is telling you to for it, then ignore that doubt in your head and go for it, Payton!"
"You make it sound so damn easy." She pouted.
"Because it is!" He pointed out, before he went to edge out of the room, "I hope by the time I next see you stood there drinking a bourban late at night you've got a ring on your finger."
Payton scoffed lightly before rolling her eyes playfully and watching him head out of the room, before she downed her drink and went to go follow him up the stairs. Mason waved to her as he went into his own room and Payton waved back, as she headed into her own. Stefan was laying in bed in the dark, but she knew he wasn't asleep.
She kept quiet as she undressed out of her cat costume and into a t-shirt, before going to go get ready for bed and take off her makeup in the bathroom, when she came out, Payton went to slip in the bed beside him with a light sigh.
"You alright?" He asked as he found himself wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Hmm," She sighed lightly, not wanting to go over it anymore that night, but she thought she'd catch him up, "My Dad's avoiding me so I'm going over there first thing to confront him."
"What do you mean he's avoiding you?" Stefan asked curiously.
"Just not answering my calls or texts. I asked to talk to him. He told me no. He never does that!" Payton pointed out.
"I'm sure he's probably just busy..."
"Yeah busy keeping things from me." She grumbled.
"Try get some sleep and we'll figure it out in the morning." He tried to assure her, leaning over and pecking her cheek.
"Good night." Payton told him, snuggling down and shutting her eyes.
Author note: Sorry it's been a couple of weeks since the last update. To be honest I don't know where the time went and I think the weight of this crazy year has caught up with me. I'm sure a lot of you guys can relate!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and get this far in the story. I really do appreciate it. I've wrote another 20+ chapters from this part you're reading right now so there is plenty on the way.
Special thanks to Djone246 for reviewing the last part.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this one!
Is Alaric right to push Payton out right now?
Why is he pushing her out?
Thanks so much.
Best wishes always,
guiltypleasurexo
