"Can you not look at me like that?" Payton snapped at Mason as she stood in the kitchen with him a while later, Stefan had decided to sleep in the study so he wasn't far from Damon incase he needed him or felt like escaping in the middle of the night.

Tyler had headed up to bed and Payton was making herself a glass of water and Mason had decided to join her with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"I'm sorry but I get back and you're just massive!" He remarked with a slight chuckle.

"I know! And it's not even funny! I can't even see my toes anymore." She grumbled wriggling her feet.

"Are you nervous?" Mason asked her swigging his bourban.

"I'm terrified!" Payton expressed her concerns thinking she hadn't really told anyone how scared she was, they had been so wrapped up in bringing Damon back, looking out for Stefan and trying to deal with this town drama, that everything was a mess and her feelings had got pushed to the back burn.

"I'm surprised your Dad hasn't shipped you off to stay at his with him away from this drama." He said to her.

"Oh trust me! We've had that conversation so many times. If he found out that I got stabbed in the chest tonight he'd be vervaining me and bringing me over to live with him." Payton explained.

"No offence but I'm staying as far away from this shit as possible."

"I don't blame you. I've literally been on house arrest ever since Julian and his pack of vampires imploded on this town. Every single day I worry about the Grill."

"I think you have bigger things to worry about right now like how you're going to pop that out." Mason nodded down to her bump.

"Would you stop?" She shook her head in amusement, before laying her hands on the bump protectively, "I'm hoping my vampire healing will make it as a pain free as possible."

"Well I hope for your sake it is."

"What are you and Tyler really doing back?" Payton raised her brows up at him curiously.

"We came back because this is our home." He shrugged.

"No Tyler said he had plans." She pressed for answers not buying their story.

"Can we just not come home?" Mason looked back at her nervously.

"I just thought you guys were having fun!" Payton pointed out.

"We were but we thought we'd come back."

"You're being weird." She remarked back..

"And you need to sleep," He said back to her, before nodding to the door, "come on."

The next morning, Payton was heading over to her Dad's to see him, she hadn't seen him in a week or two and they needed to catch up, he wanted to check in with her and see how the bump was growing. She was anxious about going over after last nights antics, Payton hoped he wouldn't find out about her life being put at risk, but no doubt someone would blab eventually.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Payton asked Stefan when he had walked her to her car that morning on the driveway.

"I need to keep Damon safe and inline otherwise we will have another episode of last night and I can't afford that to happen again." He said back to her with concern.

"Yeah I suppose," She sighed, wishing he was just coming with her, she hated leaving him when he wasn't 100% himself still, "I guess I'll call you when I'm on my way later."

"Yes you will," Stefan nodded back, before pulling her into him, "I can't wait until I can hold you properly again."

"Yeah sorry about the massive bump," Payton laughed lightly, as she went on, "Mason couldn't stop going on about it last night!"

"It is kind of massive." He said back to her with a small shrug.

"I know it is," She shook her head, before going on, "do you think it was weird how they just showed up late last night?"

"No?" Stefan responded back looking back at her in confusion, "why? Do you?"

"Well yeah! They usually let me know. It was just weird. Then when I asked why they had come back they couldn't even give me an answer."

"I'm sure it's nothing and you're thinking too much into it." He tried to tell her.

"Hmm maybe," She sighed, before going on to say, "please look after my bar today."

"I still don't know why we didn't just try lock the place up and put a spell on it or something." Stefan explained to her.

"Stefan, I'm a pregnant woman who is pretty damn useless right now and plus if we get involved, we'll just cause drama and I..." She winched slightly, causing him to look back at her with concern.

"Pay?" He asked, looking down at her and laying his hand on her stomach.

"Just kicking," Payton winced once more, before shaking her head and taking a deep breathe, "they just love to remind me they're still there."

"Do you want me to drive you?" Stefan questioned.

"No. I'm good. I've still got a few more weeks left of being behind the wheel and I'm going to enjoy it." She smiled back at him through the kicking.

When she got to her Dad's a little later, she was surprised to see him waiting out the apartment building for her, "Oh hey, I thought we were going up." She said in confusion when she got out the car and walked over to him.

"I thought we could go out for a bite to eat. My treat." He beamed back at her.

"Uh yeah okay." She nodded back with a smile, thinking free food right now sounded a good idea.

"Everything okay?" Alaric asked as they began to walk together.

"Yeah. I take it you heard Damon got brought back last night." Payton answered him.

"Yeah I did. I also heard it didn't go so well." He responded.

"Nope," She shook her head, before going on, "we had him chained in the hall all night."

"That doesn't sound promising."

"I know but we'll find a way through it. We always do." Payton said back.

Suddenly she felt someone's presence behind her, before someone covered her eyes with something, causing her to spin around in confusion, "What the hell?" She went to put her hands on her eyes to remove the material from her.

"No, no, no," She heard the sound of Mason's voice before her, then her Dad chuckling beside her, "you can't remove this."

"What is going on?" Payton asked in confusion, as she went to go remove it again.

"Payton, I swear," Mason said back to her, before putting his hands back on the material of the eye mask he had put on her, "keep this on!"

"Why?" She was so lost right now as to what was going on, she was supposed to be going for lunch with her Dad not playing games with her ex.

"We've got a surprise for you." Alaric informed her, before he linked his arm through hers and began to lead the way.

"A surprise?" Payton repeated in confusion, as she held onto him tightly allowing him to walk with her.

A few moments later, she felt them go inside somewhere and then walk further down a hall, "Where are you taking me?" She asked in confusion, hating surprises when she had no idea what was going on.

"Surprise!" Payton suddenly heard before the eye mask was being ripped from her eyes and instead her vision was now focusing on the scene in front of her, she gasped as she took in the sight of her friends in front of her, Matt, Caroline, Bonnie and Tyler, as well as Mason and Alaric, they were all here and by the looks of things it was some sort of party.

There was balloons, banners, presents, food and drinks laid out everywhere, it wasn't until she saw the baby themed that she realised this wasn't just some ordinary party, this was a baby shower and this was for her.

"What the hell?" She gasped back, as she looked around at all of them, "is this for me?"

"Of course!" Matt grinned back at her.

"Who else out of our friends is pregnant?" Tyler raised his brows up at her with a smirk.

"Oh my god!" She looked between him and Mason, "so this is why you guys were acting weird!"

"It is so damn hard to keep things from you." Mason chuckled beside her.

"I take it this was your idea?" Payton looked back at Caroline thinking she would plan something as sweet as this.

"Yes and your Dad's! He wanted to throw you a party since you've been doing such an amazing job doing this for him. It's a celebration of you not just the babies." Caroline explained to her with a smile.

"Well you guys!" She beamed back, still in shock that they had done this for her, she had not expected nor did she think it had been necessary, this wasn't her babies, she was just doing it because she had to and wanted to do it for her Dad, as well as to have sisters, "thank you!"

For the next couple of hours, they were chatted, had drinks and food, opened presents and played baby shower appropriate games. Mason, Matt, Tyler and Alaric were playing a game where they were blind folded and had to change a doll's diaper, Payton burst into laughter as soon as the game began, watching them struggle to figure out where the diaper and the baby were so that they could put it on.

"I can't! Oh my god!" She laughed loudly at the sight, Mason, Matt and Tyler were all struggling, but Alaric seemed to remember his past changing diaper years because he didn't find it all that tough.

"This is the best blackmail material ever." Bonnie chuckled as she filmed the game on her cell phone.

"Time!" Caroline called shortly after as the men quickly ripped off their blindfolds to see what they have done.

"Yes!" Alaric exclaimed at the sight of his winning diaper.

"You've still got it, Dad." She laughed back at him.

"That's terrifying," Alaric remarked when he looked at the guys attempts around him, seeing Tyler's baby didn't even have a head on anymore, "neither of you are babysitting."

"Good job I only have to do the hard bit of carrying and arrival. I'm glad I won't be changing a diaper." Payton found herself saying at the sight of the failed attempts.

"You got the easy job." Matt joked.

"Oh yeah definitely." She joked back, thinking her pregnancy had been far from easy and she was already dreading the labour but it would be worth it.

"Nah I think I got the easy job. Being able to watch my beautiful daughter give me two new children is going to be a blessing." Alaric told Payton with a genuine smile.

"Dad, stop it. You'll make me cry." Payton said going to pull him into a side hug.

"Have they been kicking around anymore?" Alaric asked Payton as he hugged her back.

"Oh all the damn time!" She answered back, as the others went to mingle by themselves so they could chat, "I swear they've already got your Saltzman self defence skills."

"Well I hope they never have to use them." He replied back hopeful.

"Yeah me too but if they're anything like their Mom I'm sure they won't need them." Payton said with a smile.

"She would have been proud of you, you know, for doing this for me." Alaric smiled back.

"What my Mom or their Mom?" She looked down at her bump.

"I guess both," He said back to her, as she glanced up at, feeling emotional, "your Mom would be proud of you. I know she would. And Jo, well she'd be so grateful."

"She would be proud of you too." Payton reminded him.

"What Jo or your Mom?" He repeated her words with a slight chuckle.

"Both of course," She teased him, before going in a more serious tone, "but seriously, Dad, you've got a lot to be proud."

"As have you."

She went to go hug him when she spotted Stefan stood in the middle of the doorway, causing her to turn her head round to look at him fully, Payton went to smile and beckon him in, but when she saw the look of horror on his face, Payton quickly excused herself from her Dad and went over to him.

Instantly she took his hand and brought him out into the hall, "Stefan?" She asked him, turning him round to face her and looking at him with worry, "what's going on? Where's Damon?"

"It's happening again!" Stefan said back to her in distress.

"What is?" Payton quizzed him, not understanding, but by how he was talking it sounded like he was referring to something that had gone on before.

"I never told you about what really happened to me." He responded back to her in unease.

"Stefan," She sighed, thinking this was the wrong place to have this conversation, "just wait here a sec."

Coming back through into the party, she went over to Caroline, "Hey, Care, mind if I use your dorm room?"

"Uh yeah sure. But why? Is everything okay?" Caroline asked in confusion knowing she had seen Stefan turn up moments before.

"I just need to talk to Stefan in private." She answered, before Caroline handed her the key then watched the girl hurry out the room.

Stefan began to breathe heavy as they walked down the hall away from the party area and towards Caroline's dorm room, when she got there and unlocked the door, he went inside and asked, "Did Damon come to the party?"

"What? No. Why?" Payton was growing concerned something terrible was happening more than just her boyfriend struggling with his thoughts, as she closed the door and came to talk to him.

"I don't know where he is." He admitted to her with worry before explaining, "I thought he was with me and then he wasn't."

"Okay, just calm down," She laid her hands on his cheeks, rubbing her thumb against his skin soothingly, "what can I do to make it better?"

"I just need..." Stefan began through heavy breathes, as he began to admit to her, "I didn't tell you when I came back but I kept imagining things..."

"Like hallucinating?" Payton presumed looking back at him.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"I know, I mean, well I gathered. There was a few occasions I caught you and sometimes you'd wake up in the night and sleep walk. I never wanted to tell you incase you were too afraid or embarrassed for me to know so I thought I'd tell you once you were ready to let me know." She explained to him uneasily.

"Every time I think Damon is there and then he's gone. That's what the visions are," He explained to her, not really caring if she had noticed, because he was finally ready to confide in her, "I think he was there just now but now I don't know when he left."

"It's okay," She tried to assure him, running her hands down from his cheeks to his shoulders, "you're okay. I'm right here."

Stefan quickly took his hands in his own, before frantically saying, "No I'm not."

"Stefan." Payton breathed, feeling bad for him right now, she just wanted to make everything better but she had no idea how to.

"And neither is he." He added referring to the fact that after being with Damon all day his brother was a mess.

"Look at me," She tried to gage his attention, she had never seen him look so mad man like before, "alright. Just sit down and we can talk about this."

"I can't!" Stefan spat at her, he didn't mean to be aggressive, but he was just freaking out, "I need to find Damon, alright?"

He went to push past her and head out the dorm room door, but Payton managed to keep a hold of him and get him to stay, "Not right now you don't. Stefan, you need to focus on your right now."

"Payton, my soul was literally trapped inside of a rock..." Stefan tried to tell her.

"I know it was! Which means you had to do something to get out of there!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not going to do this with you right now." He shook his head in frustration.

"Something happened in that hell world, something that you won't tell me about and it's fine if you don't want to because I haven't pressed it for weeks now, but at the same time, I worry about you and I feel like if you don't tell someone or at least try to accept it on your own accord, then you will break, Stefan!" Payton tried to get through to him, the same way he always did with her when she was spiralling.

"There's nothing we can do it about now, okay?" Stefan dismissed the idea of going into this with her when all he could think about was Damon and he didn't want to do it when they were having a heated discussion, he wanted to do it in the calm of their own privacy when they were both more level headed.

"Of course there is! I am always here to listen you, you know I am. I'm not going to judge you or shame you for whatever the hell went on!" She tried to remind him.

Stefan went and sat down on one of the beds, looking across at the floor in front of him, as she slowly came over to him, "Maybe I'm scared of hearing myself admit it."

"Then that's okay," She sighed, coming over to him and sitting beside him, "it's okay to be scared."

"I was living in a repeating loop of misery," Stefan began to admit to her but also himself, as he confronted his memories, "every loop ended with Damon dragging me to the quarry."

"Like when you were drowning?" Payton presumed referring back to the time Silas had locked him in a safe and Stefan repeatedly drowned inside of it months on end.

He slowly nodded, before he went on, "The water was black and freezing. We were drowning together. Every time I tried to swim to the surface," he paused to look at her, as she sadly looked back at him, "he dragged me back down. Every time I tried to save him, I died too. I finally realised that there was only one way to escape."

"Which was?" She asked nervously wondering what he had to do which was the thing causing him so much grief since coming back.

"If I wanted to survive, I had to go on without him. So I let him go," Stefan admitted in a painful tone, as the realisation hit him hard, "I abandoned him. I left my brother drown so I could save myself."

"So that's why you're hallucinating him?" Payton put the pieces together, it all seemed to make sense to her now, when she heard Stefan mumbling in his sleep about Damon, she thought it was just because he was missing him and wanted him back, but now this added up, "because some fake version of Damon is upset with some fake version of reality?"

"The hell-stone is trying to tell me something." He concluded to himself but also her.

"What?" She looked back with raised eyebrows.

"It's trying to prove a point," Stefan explained to her, as he went on, "I will never be happy until Damon is out of my life for good."

"No," Payton began to shake her head, thinking this wasn't like Stefan to think such a thing, she couldn't believe it, "do you really believe that?"

Stefan turned his head away from her in silence, he wasn't so sure how to answer it, he didn't want it to be true, but maybe all along it was right, maybe Damon was the true cause of all his misery and that he would never be fully happy with his older brother around causing mayhem.

As much as Payton enjoyed the idea of Damon being out of her life, she also could remember how miserable Stefan was without his brother around and how dedicated the two were to each other which is why she couldn't believe that Stefan would believe such a statement, it didn't make sense to her and what she knew.

A little while later after allowing Stefan to just have a moment to calm himself, Payton was letting him walk her back to the party, "You know you can come join us, right?" She suggested to him, knowing he could probably do with not being left and she didn't want to leave him either.

"No, uh, you have fun. I need to go wait for Damon to get back." He told her.

"Are you sure? I mean, I just worry about you." She expressed her concern.

"Payton, I'm going to be fine." Stefan tried to reassure her even if he didn't believe it himself.

"After what you told me, nothing sounds fine." Payton responded back to him.

"If I've got myself this far in one piece, then I think I can do the rest of the day, alright?" He tried to convince her otherwise, before leaning across and pecking her cheek as they arrived at the party, "I'll see you when you get back later."

"Alright," She sighed, giving into him, wanting to trust him, "please call if you need me."

"Of course." Stefan assured her, before squeezing her hand and going to head out.

Coming back to the party, she wasn't really in the party mood anymore after what happened so after grabbing some food and wrapping things up, she headed back to her Dad's apartment to bring the presents back and spent a little bit of time with him before she headed back to Mystic Falls.

"Everything okay with Stefan? I mean I didn't want to pry earlier on." Alaric said when they came through into the kitchen and he laid the presents on the counter.

"It's complicated," She answered with an exhausted sigh, going to slip out of her jacket, "stuff happened inside of that stone and he's still dealing with it. I feel bad for him, you know? He doesn't deserve this."

"I'm sure he'll figure it out. What about Damon? How is he getting on?" He quizzed next as she anxiously glanced over knowing last night was a disaster.

"Uh, not so great either. He's gone missing. Stefan was heading back to wait on him." Payton explained.

"Sound's like everything is spiralling out of control right now. I hope you're keeping safe!" Alaric warned her.

"Dad, I'm fine. I literally don't even leave the house unless I'm driving over here which I won't be able to do much of very soon." She pointed out to him.

"I still think you should just come stay with me, it would be easier." He told her again.

"I know you do but I want to stay at home with Stefan and our friends." Payton hated letting him down but she had to be selfish on this for her own happiness.

Alaric decided not to press the idea anymore that night, "I'm going to go change, alright? Do you want a drink before I leave?"

"No I'm all good." She smiled back at him urging him to go.

"Alright." He nodded, before taking off and go to his bedroom that was next door.

Payton sighed lightly as she turned to look at the gifts in front of her, there were the cutest pieces of clothing that Caroline had got the babies, she picked them up and looked at them, thinking they were so adorable and she couldn't wait to see the twins dressed in them, they were going to look so sweet. She was so excited to see them. Payton wondered if they would have the Satlzman genes or whether they would look more like Jo.

Her smile and day dream suddenly came to an abrupt halt when her eyes caught a piece of paper and some booklets laying down on the counter top a few inches from one of the gift bags on the counter. She couldn't help but let curiosity get the better of her especially when one of the booklets had the words 'Dallas' across the front of them.

"What the hell..." She muttered under her breathe, as Payton slowly picked up the paper, realising it was a letter from Southern Methodist University, her heart began to sink as she began to read through it.

Her Dad had applied for a position at another university in another state, away from Whitmore, away from Mystic Falls, away from her.

Payton felt physically sick reading over the letter, she knew she shouldn't have done it, but now she was reading it she couldn't ignore it, her heart was literally breaking in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was even reading right now and the fact he had gone behind her back to do it.

Hearing his bedroom door open up, Payton quickly put the letter back down on the counter top and turned round to him, she went to grab the jacket she had just taken off, "I, uh," She said when he came over to her, picking up on her sudden weird mood, "I need to get going I think."

"You don't have to go yet do you? I thought we were going to watch a movie and have pizza like old times." Alaric said in confusion at her sudden urgency to leave, he wondered if it was Stefan.

"Yeah I know, but I just thought after today, we're both tired and probably could do with just putting our feet up..." She tried to tell him although she was a shit liar, always had been.

But she just wanted to get out of there and leave. Payton could not face up to this yet. As angry and sad she felt, she didn't want to do this with him, because it would mean having to face the reality of the situation she was going to end up finding herself in and it was heartbreaking to her to think he was going to do this, as well as doing it behind her back.

"Yeah exactly we'll be sitting in front of the TV with a takeout pizza." He chuckled lightly not understanding why she was in such a hurry to leave.

"I know but you don't need to be looking after me. Plus I have to drive back and I don't really like doing it in the dark with all the vampire hooligans running around." Payton went to go slip her jacket back on and get out of her car keys.

"Hey, what's going on with you?" Alaric interjected, as she nervously glanced back up at him, "you alright?"

Payton knew as much as she didn't want to go into it, she had to now he was asking her, spinning around she reached for the document, Alaric quickly caught on, his stomach now beginning to churn as he folded his arms and she turned back to face him, tears now welling up in her eyes.

"How could you?" She said to him trying to hold it together, but now she was asking him, the reality she wanted to avoid was hitting her, "when were you going to tell me that you were leaving?"

"When I officially got the job." He answered truthfully not wanting to do this either, it was hurting him just as it was her, seeing her look at him like that, he felt awful.

"And what's wrong with the job you have now?" Payton raised her brows up, although she knew it had nothing to do with work, it was more, it was exactly what he was planning when Jo had been alive, but she thought since he lost her, he would stay, clearly she was naive to think so.

"There's nothing wrong with the job," Alaric continued on honestly, knowing if he didn't, he would just make it worse, "it's the place."

"Still not happy with that, huh?" She shot back bitterly.

"Payton, I am not raising my kids anywhere near Mystic Falls!" He tried to tell her.

Payton scoffed loudly, shaking her head as she did, "I am your kid, Dad! Or have you forgotten that since you lost Jo and have been so wrapped up in these babies?"

"Look, I'm sorry, Payton!" Alaric tried to apologise to her, knowing it went way back further than just this, it went all the way back to when he pulled that gun out, "but I thought you would be fine! I still do! Alright. You're settled here. You have friends, a home, you have Stefan, you're stable, Payton. You don't need me."

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, the tears now seeping out of her eyes and down her cheeks, "I've always needed you! But clearly you don't and never have needed me!"

"That's not true!" He shot back aggressively.

"Yes it is!" Payton grumbled back at him, wiping under her eyes, "you have never needed me, Dad! Otherwise you would have never brought that gun to your head."

"I am sorry for that! And I will always be sorry for that!" Alaric would always be sorry for that.

"Did you not think that maybe I'd like to be in my siblings life?" She then said back to him.

"Of course you still can be!" He assured her.

"It's not like I'm carrying them, is it? I mean you just take them and yourself away after I've spent the past few months carrying them, not like I've not done a good deed by you and Jo, is it? I'm just doing this for you to run off into the sun set and play happy families with your new children, forget about your old one, the one you're so disgusted with because she's a monster you hate!"

"That's not true and you know it!"

"You know it's actually a good idea, you and your babies, get as far away from here as possible," Payton spat at him sourly, she was so hurt right now, she didn't even care anymore, she was so exhausted and so fed up of feeling pushed out by her own father, "I'll see you at the birth!"

And with that, she headed straight to the door, Alaric went to call her name to bring her back, but instead she stormed out of it and slammed it on her way out, when she got to her car, she closed the door up and began to sob to herself, she couldn't believe this, losing her Dad was her worst nightmare and ever since he went to pull that gun to his head, she felt like he had been slipping away.

Now he had well and truly faded, as soon as he would leave town, the man she knew would be gone.

Getting home that night, Payton was well and truly exhausted, it wasn't just the struggles of the pregnancy that was making her feel this way, it was also the emotional turmoil of the day. She was seriously worried about Stefan and she was now heartbroken over her Dad. She just wanted to get into bed and sleep off the day.

But she knew that would never happen when the babies kept her up all hours kicking and her mind just never wanted to shut up.

Coming through the front door, she went to track down Stefan and found him in the study drinking a bourban, the roaring fire being the only light in the room, as she went to sit beside him on the couch.

He instantly picked up on her sadness as well as the mascara smudges under her eyes from the crying, "What's wrong?" He asked putting down his bourban and shuffling over to her.

"I can't even talk about it." She rubbed her lips together trying to fight off another wave of tears.

"What is it?" He pressed further, hating seeing her so upset.

"It's my Dad," Payton cried, the tears now leaving her eyes again, as she wiped under her face, "he's leaving town."

"What?" Stefan was confused to hear this, he knew she had been concerned about it before but now it seemed like it was becoming a reality, "since when?"

"When he gets this job and the babies are born. He's going to leave town so they can be safe. I mean I don't blame him but at the same time, how could he leave me?" Payton shook her head, she knew she was being so selfish, but she couldn't bare the thought of him being so far away.

"What did he say about it?" He asked her knowing Alaric would have probably thought this through enough.

"That he wants them to be safe and that's away from vampires. Trust me I want them all to be safe. I've always wanted him to be safe and it would be a real shame to carry them for all this time then they get caught up in supernatural drama," She explained to him, as he wrapped his arm around her, "but at the same time, how could he just leave and not even think about telling me his plans? I had to find out from spotting a letter in his kitchen! He wasn't even going to tell me."

"He probably didn't want to."

"But he should have!" Payton exclaimed, shaking her head as she did, "things have been so rocky ever since he tried to shoot himself. He's been slipping away from me and I just know him moving towns is going to push us over the edge."

"I think your Dad is holding a lot of guilt and shame for doing what he did in front of you, Payton." Stefan told her in a sad tone.

"Even so," She said, thinking she wished he would just admit that to her, "he should have told me about this!"

"I know you don't want to hear it right now but you'll get through it. I'll always be here. I'm not leaving." He assured her rubbing her back.

"I'm glad you're here." Payton sighed, leaning her head into him.

"We've got the house to ourselves," Stefan told her, as she lifted her head immediately back up in confusion, "Matt's on patrol. Mason and Tyler have gone out drinking back at Whitmore and Damon is, well, he just left."

"So you found him?" She asked with surprise.

"Yeah he came back to the house. I told him I wasn't going to give up on him." He admitted to her.

"That's great," Payton was pleased to hear this, knowing earlier it wasn't his true feelings speaking, "how are you feeling?"

"Like I don't want to do anything other than be with you." Stefan leant down and pecked her lips.

"Me too." She smiled into the kiss, feeling happier already just by having him by her side, this is the most affection she had from him in weeks.

"Would you wait here a second?" He asked her as he broke away from her.

"Uh, yeah sure. I won't be able to move anyway with this bump. It takes me about 5 minutes to muster up the energy to get up and then when I do I can barely move!" Payton chuckled lightly.

"Well I'm glad as I need you to stay here," Stefan said to her, before getting onto his feet, "wait here."

Payton raised her eyebrows up in confusion but also amusement as to what was going on, when he left she slipped herself out of her jacket and went to take her cell phone out of her purse, wondering if her Dad had called her anymore since she had turned her cell phone on silent after he had called her repeatedly in the car on the way home, instead he had just left her a text message telling her to call him when she was ready to talk.

But she wasn't ready to talk, she needed to accept his plans and she wasn't at that stage yet to be at peace with the idea.

Just as she was about to slip her cell phone back into her bag, Payton heard Stefan return back from going upstairs, as she lifted her head up to look at him coming through to the study, her stomach dropped when she saw what he was holding in his hand.

There in his hands stood that black velvet jewellery box she hadn't seen in months, the last time she had found it was months ago in his drawer, she had spoken to him about it a couple of days later, he had been taken back by her regret of the proposal and that he needed more time, she had completely pushed the idea out of her mind because so much had happened since, there was no way it would be happening after everything, she had just gotten over it and decided to just wait until the moment would come.

Stefan slowly began to wonder back over to her, the tension in the room rising with nervous energy, as he anxiously looked back at her, "I know it hasn't been easy lately and this definitely wasn't how I had planned to do it," He began to say before he was now stood in front of her, as Payton nervously looked up at him, completely taken back by what was going on.

"But I was sitting here earlier, thinking, why am I sitting here waiting for the perfect moment when their isn't going to be one? I could be waiting another few months to do what I want to do because who knows what is going to happen," Stefan said to her as she watched in awe, she was completely speechless that this was even happening, as she watched him go down to get on one knee, "and to be honest, I don't want to wait any more, you're the one I want to be with, I don't want to do this crazy life with anyone other than you so, Payton Saltzman, will you marry me?"

Payton felt the tears well up in her eyes at his question, she couldn't believe this was happening right now, she knew even if she wasn't pregnant, she'd be in tears at this, because this moment meant so much to her and it was finally happening.

"Of course!" Payton gasped, as she went to pull herself up to be close with him, but her bump was stopping her from getting up, "of course yes!"

Stefan smiled at her reaction, chuckling slightly at her lack of ability to get up without the bump sending her back down, instead he quickly came to sit beside her so it was easier, taking her hand in his own and sliding the ring onto her finger.

She watched with a thumping heart as he gently put the ring on her finger, Payton began to beam at the sight of it on her finger and what was really going on right now, she was engaged, she was actually engaged to Stefan Salvatore, Payton could not believe it, it didn't even seem real right now, when she woke up this morning she never thought this could happen.

But it was and it had and for the first time in months she felt truly happy and Stefan felt the same, wanting to put the past behind him, the hell stone, he needed to move on, he needed to focus on the good in his life and go back to normal with the girl he loved more than anyone, he had been waiting for the perfect moment for so long now.

They smashed their lips onto each others, sharing a long hard kiss, again for the first time in so long, but it felt so right and the happiness they felt was indescribable, it was like nothing they had ever imagined before.

He had originally planned on proposing before he got sent into the stone, Stefan wanted to give her a Christmas proposal, but it never happened because of the stone.

When he came back, it just didn't feel right because he wasn't himself and he couldn't do it to her, yet now he was ready to be himself and move forward, as well as seeing how heartbroken she was about her Dad, Stefan knew he had to promise and reassure her that he would always be there, that he wasn't going to go anywhere, that she was his forever.

And now it was officially official, they would be together forever.

Author note: Eeeeek! I hope this was the part you've all been hoping for Stefan proposed to her and she said yes! Finally.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this part. I really hope you enjoyed reading it.

Special thanks to Djone246, LMarie99 and GirlyGamer1986 for reviewing the last part. So glad you are enjoying the story right now! I hope this part was everything you could have hoped for.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the proposal and that Alaric and Payton argument!

Thank you so much.

Best wishes always,

guiltypleasurexo