Coming through into the Lockwood mansion when she got back, Payton went straight into the kitchen and grabbed herself a large glass of water, she quickly downed it and breathed heavily once she had finished.
Her cell phone buzzed in her back pocket, she immediately hoped it would be Stefan calling her back after her frantic voice message, but when she pulled it out and saw it was her Dad, she let out a large exhale and hit the decline button, feeling guilty as she laid it down on the counter top, but she couldn't talk to him after what had happened.
She was so embarrassed and ashamed.
"I thought I heard someone."
Lifting her head up, Payton saw Mason coming through to join her with a cardboard box in his hand, his usual charming look on his face, "Hi." She answered him back, not really in the mood to talk right now, she just needed Stefan, but she wasn't going to be rude to him too.
"Everything alright?" He asked picking up on her unease.
"Not really." She grumbled, going to refill her water glass.
"What's going on?" Mason questioned laying the box on the counter top and it wasn't until it was in front of her she noticed Christmas decorations inside of it.
"My hormones are out of control and clearly so is my vampire side." Payton explained to him in a frustrated tone.
"You're having cravings? Or vamping out? Or what?" He tried to suss out what she meant.
"All of it! God! This is so stupid! I feel like I've transitioned for the first time and I have no clue how to stay in control! Like this isn't me!" She protested back to him, thinking it was almost like going back in time to when she couldn't stay in control, it just felt odd for her to be here again.
"Payton, you're a pregnant vampire. You're not in control right now. Your body has been taken over by two babies," Mason tried to remind her in a gentle tone, as she sighed at his words, "I'm not surprised you're vamping out. But it will be alright."
"How can it? Ok, I nearly whacked the head off some stupid college girls who were making comments about me across Whitmore campus and then when I got back to my Dad's apartment, I nearly ate him! Like how is that ok?" Payton expressed her concern to him as she went to down the water.
"You're going to be fine because you have all of us to help you! Most of your friends are vampires who are going to stay in control. You've got Stefan. He helped you the first time, right?" He raised his brows up at her.
"Yeah but he's not here! And I need him!" She shook her head, before going on, "what if Matt comes home and I decide I want him as my next snack, huh?"
"It won't come to that. You're more in control than you think!" Mason wasn't convinced she would really let herself go.
"But you don't know that, ok? I don't know how I feel other than I feel so damn confused!" Payton grumbled, going to throw her fist against the counter top in rage.
"I told you I should have helped you with that anger." He pointed out to her in a knowing look.
"Well, go on! Now is your chance! Help me!" She demanded.
"Alright," Mason said to her casually, before going on, "but first you have to help me put the decorations on the tree."
"How is that going to help me?" Payton looked back at him in disbelief.
"Do you want help or not?" He grumbled back at her, as he went to pick the box back up and head out the room.
She sighed, shaking her head, thinking she had nothing better to do and she think she trusted him at least, so had no other choice than to follow him through into the sitting room.
Mason was stood at the Christmas tree now, the lights were already on it, the box he had been carrying beside his feet on the floor, a few other boxes were scattered around.
"Since when do you decorate for Christmas?" Payton found herself asking.
"I can do Christmas," He tried to tell her, as he bent down to pick out a decoration, "plus this house needs to get in the festive spirit with all the crap that's been going on. We'll have the best Christmas tree in the whole neighbourhood."
"Yeah because apart from the heretics we're the only ones living here!" She pointed out to him.
"Are you going to keep moaning or help?" Mason shot back.
Payton rolled her eyes at his bossiness, as she went over to the couch and to one of the boxes, she put her hand inside and brought out a couple of decorations, "you can tell these are expensive, huh?"
"You're living in a mansion, Payton. The Mayor used to live here of course they're going to be expensive." He explained.
"And dusty," She choked slightly on the dust, before coming over to him and the tree, "they mustn't have had these decorations out in years."
"This is the first time Tyler's lived in this house for a long time, Payton."
"I know," Payton nodded back, as she went to hang them on the three, "to be honest, I don't even think I've decorated a tree since our place in Florida."
"Our place." He smirked at her reference.
"You know what I mean," She gave him a look back, shaking her head, "what did you do with the place anyway?"
"I'm renting it." Mason answered.
"You are?" She was surprised.
"Yep," He nodded back, "I'm never going to be able to part with the thing and plus we need the money coming in somehow so."
"That's good idea." Payton nodded, going to go get some more decorations.
"So that anger of yours..." Mason began to say as he continued decorating.
"Yeah?" She looked over at him nervously.
"What's it like?" He asked curiously.
Payton paused for a moment, taking sometime to really think, as she went to explain, "it just comes over me."
"Like in waves?" Mason questioned.
"No," She was quick to shake her head, as she went on, "more like a massive tidal surge."
"How long does it last?"
Payton came back over to him with her new decorations, "I don't really know to be honest. It kind of feels like it's always lingering in the background ready to go off at any moment."
"Is it everything making you pissed or just certain triggers?" Mason pressed more.
"I don't know," She said although deep down she probably did, as Payton continued to decorate the tree whilst he watched her, "I guess if I feel overwhelming scared or useless that seems to be the biggest issue right now."
"Were you scared earlier on?"
"With the other girls? No! But with my Dad yes!" Payton answered back honestly.
"What did you feel when the other girls were saying stuff about you?" He asked.
"I felt ashamed I suppose." She shrugged.
"You suppose?" Mason raised his brows up at her.
Payton turned her head to look at him, sighing slightly, "I guess I felt ashamed because maybe they were talking sense in a way. I left college, come back and I'm pregnant..."
"Through no fault of your own, you know?" He reminded her, she looked down in sadness, "you know it's ok to feel scared, angry and confused as to why this happened to you? It doesn't make you a bad person or like you've failed your Dad. This wasn't your choice, Pay!"
Payton glanced up at him, surprised at how he had just gotten that out of her and hearing him say it, made her realise just how much overwhelm she had been holding on.
"Yeah, I guess, you're right," She tried to hold back the tears as Payton lifted her head back up to him, "I just...I feel like I can't say that in front of my Dad or anyone. Of course I feel grateful and honoured to do this and I want to do it for him but at the same time you're right, I, don't want to do it!"
Mason reached across and laid his hand on her shoulder in comfort, "No wonder you're so damn angry."
"So how do I keep it under wraps?" She looked back at him seriously.
"You feel."
"I feel?" Payton was confused.
"You gotta let it or it will eat away at you. I'm sure we can find some other things you could try. What about pregnancy yoga?"
"Pregnancy yoga?" Payton repeated with a slight chuckle, "that is so not me! I'm the girl who goes on runs not meditates for fun."
"Well how about a punching a bag? You can go hit a few punches when you feel that anger rising." Mason said going back to decorating the tree.
"And if I'm out about to kill someone?" She raises her brows up.
"Remember what helps you stay in control. The person who you want to kill has a family, friends, loved ones who is going to feel broken if they leave." He reminded her.
"You remembered." Payton smiled lightly back at him.
"Of course." He nodded sharing a smile back at her.
"Thank you," She said back to him in gratitude, before saying, "I'm so glad you're back."
"It's good to be back I think."
A couple of hours later, Payton still hadn't heard from Stefan and she was becoming increasingly worried about her boyfriend, so much so that she had even called Damon but even he hadn't picked up. Thankfully Mason wasn't letting her out of his sight so was helping keeping her unease at bay, he had cooked them pizza and was sitting with her in the kitchen, keeping her in conversation so she wouldn't go out of her mind.
"So this might be a pretty deep question but what are you going to do when the babies arrive?" Mason asked her as he finished off his last pizza slice.
"What do you mean?" She raised her brows up.
"Well are you going to help Alaric with them? Or just let him get on with it?" He wondered.
Payton looked back at him, picking up her water glass, "I guess I'll probably stick around for a couple of days to make sure everything's good. I mean it is kind of weird, what am I supposed to do? They're not mine. They are essential going to be my sisters but at the same time it would just feel weird if I just got up and left. Plus my Dad is probably going to need help. He hasn't changed a diaper in probably 20 plus something years."
"How old were you when your parents split up again?" Mason asked next.
"Like three I think. He was there for the diaper changing years. But I don't know any of that stuff! I kind of gave up on the baby idea as soon as I became a vampire. I didn't even really give it much thought and yet here I am going to give birth." She shuddered slightly at the thought before sipping from her glass.
"I'm sure you'll be fine!" He tried to assure her.
"Yeah you can remind me that when I'm trying to push them out of my you know." Payton narrowed her eyes to her downstairs that she was beginning to barely see these days because of her bump.
Mason flushed slightly at the reminder, "Uh yeah I don't think I'll be seeing that ever again."
Payton suddenly felt awkward, as she nervously laughed, "Uh yeah, don't think so."
"Although I have to say that night you came home in that cat suit." He teased.
She hit him playfully as she then broke out into a more genuine laugh, "You can forget about that!"
Before he could say anymore, Payton's cell phone began to ring on the counter top in front of her, causing her to look over at it, her heart pounding when she saw Stefan's name light up, relief washing over her to know he was going to be on the other end of the line.
Quickly she answered it and brought it up to her ear, "Stefan, oh my god, are you alright?"
"Can you come over?" He asked instantly in a strained tone.
"W-what?" She was confused, she didn't understand what he meant, "come over where?"
"To the boarding house. I really need you." Stefan said to her in a saddened tone, causing her panic to go through the roof at how choked up he said.
"Yes of course! I mean yes I will be there! Just give me five minutes!" Payton said back to him, before going to get to her feet.
She bid him farewell, then went to go head out of the room, "I need to go! Thanks for dinner!"
"Everything alright?" Mason asked following her out of the room and down the hall, he had overheard the conversation through his vamp hearing.
"I have no idea!" She sighed, grabbing her jacket and wrapping it around her bump, before grabbing her keys from the side, "I have to go though!"
"Call me if you need me yeah?" He said back to her not wanting her to feel like she had to go through all of this alone, he would always be there to help.
Pulling up outside the Salvatore boarding house, Payton felt her anxiety rise even more to be here, not only did it feel weird coming back to this place after months of not living there and having someone else take residence but also the fact she had no idea what the hell she would be walking into, everything was so out of control right now, but all she knew she had to do was go be with her boyfriend.
Coming through into the Salvatore home, she felt her stomach tense up, the familiarity of it almost felt like a dream to her, but there was this tense atmosphere around her that didn't give her the sense of home and safety she was used to when she walked through the door.
"Stefan?" Her voice called throughout the home, she used her vampire senses to lead her way to him, in which she found him in the library, she rounded the corner, her heart sinking when she saw the sight of him.
He was perched on the floor in front a body, when she got closer, she saw it was Damon, Payton couldn't help but gasp, "Oh my god." She quickly came over, looking at the body on the floor, she couldn't believe what she was actually seeing right now, now she could understand why he sounded so broken, why he had just told her to come over with no explanation.
"Damon wanted me to let it go," Stefan told her, shaking his head as he held back tears, "I should have let it go."
"Stefan." She breathed, feeling so bad for him right now, she couldn't even process this right now herself, she was just shocked.
"I couldn't..." Stefan went on, the guilt eating away at him as it always did, but this was way worse than usual.
"Stefan," Payton said once more, going to bend down to him the best she could with her bump, she could see he just needed to cry, "she was your Mom, Stefan. And if you think it's easy to let something like that go, you saw how I was when I lost my Dad. I was a mess. It's not easy. It's far from it."
Stefan wiped under his eye as he nodded, trying to hold it together, appreciating her being here right now, she laid her hand on his back in comfort, before she went to ask, "What even happened?"
"Julian stabbed him with a sword. The sword that sends people to hell through the Phoenix Stone." He explained to her in a tense tone.
"That damn stone," She grumbled under her breathe, wishing her Dad never brought that stupid thing back from the other side, but at least it meant there was hope they could bring Damon back, she remembered the last time Stefan had lost his brother, it was too painful and as much as she hated Damon, she didn't want to see him dead, "let's figure out a way to save him."
Payton went to bring her cell phone out to go make a call to Caroline, hoping she would be able to help her come up with some sort of plan, they could get Bonnie involved seeing as she helped so much with the Phoenix Stone before, hell she would even ask Valerie to come help if she really had to, because there was no way in hell she was letting Stefan lose his brother again.
"Urgh!" Payton grumbled when Caroline failed to pick up her call, she shook her head in frustration, thinking if she didn't keep her anger at bay she would be vamping out for what felt like the hundredth time that day, she couldn't be selfish, "she's not answering! Have you got Valerie's number? Even though I hate the idea of having her here, we need her help!"
She turned her head round to look at her boyfriend, who was staring down at Damon's body, his arms crossed, deep in though, she felt bad for him, so bad for him right now.
"Stefan?" Payton said in a soft and gentle tone, not wanting to push him, but they needed all the help right now, "babe?"
"He's not going to make it in there." Stefan said looking down at Damon's body.
"As much as I hate having to praise him, yes he will!" She tried to assure him, coming closer to him and laying her hands on his arms, she had no idea how Damon would do, but she had to be the positive one here.
"The stone is punishment for every bad thing you've ever done," Stefan informed her, as Payton's eyes nervously trailed down to Damon, "this is Damon. I don't even want to know what he's going through."
"Look at me," Payton said pulling him out of his gaze on his brother and onto her, he glanced down at her with concern, as she looked back up at him sternly, "he can survive this!"
Suddenly they felt someone's presence from behind them, causing Payton to snap her head over Stefan's shoulder and him to turn his head round to see Nora coming towards them, "Even if he can, he'll be different."
"What the hell?" Payton frowned, as her eyes narrowed down to see the exact sword Stefan had been going on about before in the heretics hand, she had a terrible feeling come over her.
"Just like you." Nora looked back at Stefan evilly, before they had a chance to think, she vamp sped forward and stabbed the sword straight into him.
Payton felt her whole world turn upside down, seeing her boyfriend get stabbed right in front of her eyes not being able to do anything or stop it from happening felt like a stab in her own guts, she felt completely and utterly useless, as she let out a large cry, "Stefan!"
He collapsed down onto the front of the couch and down onto the floor, grunting and groaning as he clutched the sword in his stomach, too weak and in too much pain to try to even remove it. Within a few seconds, he completely went out of it, the power of the sword taking over him and sending him straight to the one place he didn't want Damon to be and now he was there himself.
"You bitch!" Payton went to storm over to Nora and attack her, not even caring about her pregnancy state, she was just so upset and angry that this had happened, but before she could hit her, the heretic disappeared into thin air using her witch and vampire powers to get the hell out of there like a coward.
"Ergh!" She groaned loudly, before she found herself grabbing a lamp off the side and throwing it across the room, the light bulb smashing against the wall into little pieces, as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to hold it together, but when she got sight of her boyfriend lying out on the floor unconscious, his brother not far from him, she let out a piercing scream of true heartbreak.
This could not be happening. She could not be losing him again.
"You need to calm down!" Alaric roared at his daughter a few hours later when she had called everyone practically about to switch off her humanity because she had just watched Stefan get sucked into some hell stone right in front of her eyes along with his older brother.
Everyone had quickly driven over, Alaric, Matt, Caroline, Bonnie, Mason and Tyler, everyone had turned up. Bonnie and Caroline were staying behind to try work on some spell, everyone knew in Payton's pregnant state she could not be in so much distress, supernatural or not, she had to be taken care of and sitting watching her boyfriend right now was going to send her insane.
She had kicked and screamed the whole ride over to the Lockwood's place, she just wanted to be with Stefan, Payton didn't want to not be around him right now, she needed to be close to him, but no one was having it.
"I don't think that's going to work, Ric." Mason found himself saying as he glanced away from Payton who was panting heavily on the arm chair in the Lockwood study, tears streaming down her face and unable to catch her breath because she was panicking so much.
"Well, what do we do then big guy, huh? Seeing as you seem to know my daughter so well!" Alaric grumbled back at Mason.
"Ric." Tyler warned knowing that even if Mason's anger was under control now he knew his Uncle would not be afraid to make his views very well known.
"I'm just saying," Mason said trying to hold himself together, as his eyes turned back to Payton, "she needs to be listened to right now and taken care of. Not people shouting at her."
"I'm sorry if I'm a little worried! She is carrying my babies after all!" Alaric snapped back.
"Yeah but she's also your daughter who needs you!" Mason tried to remind him harshly.
"Would you all just shut the hell up?" Payton screamed at them, shaking her head as she got to her feet, "I am going to be upset and freaking out. This is my biggest fear happening right in front of my eyes. You saw how I was when I lost you," She narrowed her eyes at Mason, then back onto Alaric, "and you. I was a mess. No one understands how much I need Stefan."
"We will get him back." Matt tried to reassure her.
"But how long is it going to take?" She asked, knowing they didn't know the answer, "because I am lost without him and after today I needed him. He needed me!"
"Bonnie is going to do all she can to bring him back." Mason assured her.
"How the hell can I keep myself sane in that time? Because my emotions were already out of control!" Payton said back to them hopelessly.
"We will all be there for you," Matt said back to her, before looking at Alaric, "right?"
"Of course," Alaric nodded, breathing in a shake breathe, knowing he had to stop being selfish right now, he had to think about his daughter, not the unborn ones for just one-second, he came over to her and wrapped his arm around her, "I'm so sorry, P."
She engulfed him into a hug and cried on him, the other men looked around nervously, knowing they were going to need to really be there for her.
The next few weeks felt like a complete blur, all the cravings, the urge to kill, everything she had felt before was completely wiped from her, she barely felt like eating at all, she had to force herself to get a blood bag down her every day, it even got to the point where Alaric was so concerned something had gone wrong with the pregnancy, she went for an emergency scan, but everything was fine, everything was healthy, it was the heart break of it all.
Every single day, Payton sat with Bonnie and Caroline as Bonnie worked on trying to bring Stefan and Damon back. She barely left his side. Payton even fell asleep in the Salvatore home, not wanting to be away from him. Caroline and Bonnie stayed with her through it all and the guys came to visit a few times a day to check on how things were going.
Payton's bump had been growing remarkably in that time, she felt more and more tired by the day, but she barely had time to focus on how she was feeling as she was so damn focused on trying to get her boyfriend back.
When she saw his eyelids flutter open one morning, it felt like her whole world began to spin again but for completely different reasons, she was sitting on the arm chair in a slumped position, her bump making it hard for her to pull herself up with ease, but she used every ounce of strength she had in her to get herself up so she could have a proper look.
Her heart began to pound as she came over, "Oh my god," She hurried over a bit more, as Caroline and Bonnie stood around Stefan, who was now coming to, "Stefan," she cried, looking down at him as he returned to the land of the look.
Payton had no idea that that day was going to be the day he would come back to her. Every single day that passed she grew more and more hopeless that anything would happen. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Bonnie's ability but it was more she was worried about how Stefan was inside. He had been so concerned about Damon inside the stone that when she really thought about him being in there, she knew he had his own demons to contend with.
Payton clutched his hand quickly, as he slowly rolled his head to the side to look at her, he looked dazed and confused, "Stefan," She said once more, as Caroline and Bonnie also looked just as relieved to see him awake, "it's ok. You're home now. You're safe." She tried to assure him.
Stefan squeezed her hand back, before he slowly began to sit himself up, taking her all in, as their eyes met properly, she found herself bursting into tears at the sight of him, he also looked back at her with relief, before he pulled her into a tight embrace, snuggling deeply into her, she held him back just as hard, climbing onto the table he was laid out on so she could get closer to him.
"You're home," She told him again in a soothing tone, as she held him closely, "you're back."
Payton knew bringing Stefan back wasn't going to be the end of her heartbreak, she knew whatever he had gone through in there, she was going to be supporting him through it, because there was no way he would come out of it fine and she was right, as much as Stefan had missed her and wanted to be with her, he had been pretty distant with her, all he wanted to was hold her and she hold him, he didn't want to kiss, be close or anything.
She didn't want to push it because she knew he would come to her in his own time and she had to be patient. Payton dropped hints to remind him that she was there for him no matter what and that she would always be there to support him. She would be ready for him when he was ready. Stefan appreciated it but he was finding it so hard to even process what had happened himself let alone let her in.
He just wanted to keep her close, not letting her out of his sight, holding her, keeping her safe, but maybe he was doing it because he needed to be safe too. Maybe he was urning to feel safe.
3 whole months had passed since Damon had got put into the stone but they still had no luck in getting him back. Stefan had been way more easy to get back. But Damon just wouldn't budge. It could only mean whatever was going on for him inside the stone was holding onto him so deeply.
Payton knew Stefan was struggling with the idea of Damon being stuck in there, it had been his biggest worry before he had been sucked inside himself, yet thankfully he had no pushed her out this time. He was able to talk to her about it. Not his own experience, but the worries he had about Damon.
They had decided to move camp back to the Lockwood place, Bonnie had been trying every single day, hour by hour to try bring Damon back and she was growing tired, her body was growing weak from the power it took, but she didn't want to give up on Damon.
It was growing dark outside, they were stood around Damon's body, candles were lit so Bonnie could use them for her magic spell, she was performing the spell now from her book, Caroline and Matt were also there. They were watching on intently. Payton was stood beside Stefan, anxiously watching on, just hoping and praying that tonight would finally be the night when everything would work, they would get him back, for Stefan's sake.
Stefan began to pace up and down beside her, making the room feel even more tense, as he barely could hold it together, he was growing more and more restless by the day, his once urge to be cared for and withdrawn was now turning into anger as the days went by, she knew she had to keep an eye on him, like she had been to make sure he didn't go over the edge, but this anger was definitely one to be extra vigilant on.
"...the spells not working," Bonnie announced to them sadly, as she looked down at Damon's face, "I don't understand. It's like the stone is hiding his spirit."
"Well, maybe you should take a break, alright?" Matt suggested, concerned for Bonnie's welfare, it was getting late, "you've been trying all day."
"She can't," Stefan interjected, as he went on to explain, "the longer he stays in there, the more damaged he'll be when he gets out."
"And whose fault is that?" Bonnie spat back harshly.
Payton frowned back at the girl, thinking that was a real low blow, this was no one's fault other than Nora's, "Excuse me?" She found herself saying at Bonnie.
"You of all people don't get to lecture me!" Bonnie continued on directing her grouchiness at Stefan.
The girl got onto her feet, causing Payton to also step forward protectively of her boyfriend, Caroline sensed some tension rising in the air, so quickly went to break it up, knowing a pregnant Payton would kick off if she wasn't careful and Stefan was one break down away from going ripper on them, "Hey, hey, it's ok," Caroline said in a gentle tone, trying to get them all to back off, "yeah. We're all just a little bit stressed right now."
"Hmm." Payton grumbled, thinking that wasn't the word she was thinking of.
"Let's take a deep breath," Caroline said trying not to give Payton the reaction she wanted in her anger fuelled rages, "and we can start again when Bonnie's ready."
"I don't get it," Matt was now stepping back into conversation, "we pulled Stefan out no problem. Then what's different now?"
"Because he's not ready yet," Stefan answered him honestly, the pain clear in his voice, as Payton snapped her head round to look at her boyfriend, this was the first time he was actually opening up about what goes on inside there, "when I was in there, I could barely remember who I was. And then I was here with the visions and the tests,"
Payton leant across and took his hand in her own for comfort, as he went on, "the worst part of hell isn't what you're going through. It's the sliver of hope that you can actually get out on your own."
"How come we had no trouble reuniting your soul with your body?" Bonnie was quick to ask.
"Because eventually I submitted to the kind of suffering that just breaks you." Stefan admitted with tears in his eyes.
She swallowed away the harsh lump that had formed in her throat from his words, hearing him finally say what had really been on his mind and breaking him inside was almost a relief to her to hear him say it, but also just as heartbreaking as she could imagine at what he had been through and was still going through.
"Knowing Damon he'll do anything to avoid that kind of pain," Stefan continued on once more, as he added, "which means we may never be able to get him out."
After taking a short break, Bonnie decided to go back to it, knowing she couldn't give up and knowing Stefan was probably right if they didn't keep going, they might never be able to get him out so they had to whilst they still had a chance.
Payton was sitting with Stefan across the other side of the room on the couch, their fingers intwined, Stefan was rubbing circles on her arm with his other hand, she should have been comforting him through this, but he was holding her so safely that she couldn't help but enjoy being in the moment with him, maybe it was relaxing him too.
Suddenly they heard a gasp from across the room, causing Bonnie to jump as she felt Damon unexpectedly round, her hand was holding his own tightly as Stefan turned his head round to look at his brother, everyone's heard spun round to see Damon now back in his body and returning to the land of the living.
"No, no," Damon kept repeating as he came back round, Stefan quickly got onto his feet, Caroline was now stood right next to Bonnie, "we weren't done."
Damon sat himself up in confusion, as Stefan came over to his older brother who was clearly in distress and out of it still, "I gotta get her back! I gotta get her back!" He kept going on, as he swung his legs off the table and onto the ground frantically.
"Hey, hey, hey, Damon," Stefan tried to get through to him, as he came to stand beside him, as Payton lingered behind next to Caroline uneasily, Matt had now come to join them also, "hey, hey, it's me, it's me," Damon looked back at Stefan, "you're safe! It's okay. It's okay."
"No, no, no. One more time. Send me back," Damon begged still very much spaced out and not realising that he was back yet, he spun round to face Bonnie, "please send me back! I know what to do now!"
"Damon, it's not real." Stefan said back to his brother softly as Damon turned back to his brother uneasily.
"I know it's not real!" Damon interjected in an aggressive manner, Stefan had been right, Damon had completely lost it in there, "none of this is real!"
Suddenly Damon leapt forward, grabbed hold of Stefan's wrist, snapping it harshly before he snapped his arm, causing Payton to gasp, about to walk forward and defend her boyfriend, but Matt quickly went to hold her back, knowing in her pregnant state she couldn't break up fights anymore, she had to be kept safe.
Stefan groaned at his bones breaking before Damon snapped his neck in one swift motion, sending him flying down onto the ground, causing Payton to feel her stomach drop at the sight of her boyfriend lying there on the ground.
"Stefan..." She went to go walk over to him, wanting him to wake up, knowing he would be the only one who Damon would listen to, without him they were hopeless, Damon began to kick a chair and break it now in his rage, "Damon stop!"
Damon picked up a broken piece of the wood from the chair and stabbed the wood straight into Payton's chest, causing her to gasp in pain, her hands coming up to clutch her chest in horror at what was happening, "Damon!" Matt yelled across the room at the sight of Payton hurt, even if she wasn't pregnant he would still be fearful, but knowing in her state she had to be careful.
Damon spun round to face Matt and hit him over the head, causing him to fly down onto the ground, Payton screamed as she watched her best friend get knocked unconscious from the hit, she was still in agonising pain from the wooden stake in her chest, she couldn't master up the energy to pull it out of her, Caroline and Bonnie were both trying to get it out.
Suddenly Caroline and Bonnie were both pushed off Payton, Damon snapped Caroline's neck before she could retaliate and then he drove Bonnie into a wall, holding an iron bar from the fire place over her neck, the pressure from the iron bar was too much and caused her head to smack against the wall, knocking her down onto the ground with a bloody wound from her head.
Payton on the other hand was collapsing down onto the ground, the wooden stake in her chest becoming too much as she allowed herself to be knocked unconscious, the pain too much, the only hope that she would wake up and the babies would be safe, because if someone had to explain to Ric why his daughters were no longer with them anymore, Payton knew which vampire Alaric would be slaying that night.
Her eyes snapped upon, causing her to gasp and clutch her chest, before her eyes darted across the room, seeing Stefan sat beside her in the bed, where she was laying on her side. She breathed a sigh of relief to see him alive, before her hands rolled down to her stomach, feeling the babies moving around in her side and very much still alive.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Stefan tried to tell her, as he came to lay down beside her, laying his hand on her own, "you're ok."
"Where the hell is he?" She grumbled referring to Damon as Payton processed everything she remembered.
"We've chained him up down stairs." He answered.
"You were right," Payton said with a slight sigh, as she looked back at him uneasily, "Damon isn't the same Damon."
Stefan lowered his eyes, guilt and shame coming over his face, "I know."
"We'll get through it though," She tried to remain optimistic even if she had no idea how, she couldn't deal with the look on his face, "I just...god...seeing you and then being left with him was a disaster waiting to happen."
"I'm sorry he hurt you and the babies. Do you need me to take you to the hospital to get checked over? I was going to drive you there but then I didn't want you to go against your own will so I thought I'd wait until you woke up." He explained to her in a shameful tone.
"Stefan," She squeezed his hand, shaking her head, "the babies feel fine. Don't worry. Their surrogate has vampire healing abilities. She's fine!"
"Alaric would kill me if anything happened to you and them." Stefan said back.
"I know but thankfully I'm okay. The babies are very much moving around like normal." Payton tried to assure him, smiling lightly down at her bump.
He slowly nodded in acceptance, before going to roll over onto his back, looking up at the ceiling deep in though as Payton went to snuggle up against her pregnancy pillow beside Stefan on their bed.
"I'm proud of you." She told him after a few moments of silence knowing he needed her right now even if he wouldn't admit it.
"Hmm." He hummed back, appreciating it, but he couldn't accept it right now.
"You know, hearing you talk earlier on about what went on in the stone, I felt like I should have done more to save you." Payton then said to him.
"Don't be silly. You couldn't help any of that." Stefan responded back.
"Yeah but I could have stopped Nora or I could have worked harder to bring you back."
"Neither of those things were your responsibility. Nora's actions weren't your own and Bonnie is the witch. She's the only one who can bring us back." He pointed out.
"Exactly why you shouldn't blame yourself for Damon. Julian's actions weren't your own." She gave him a knowing look.
Stefan looked away from her, shaking his head, "You and I both know Julian wouldn't have even been there if it wasn't for me."
"Maybe, maybe not," Payton went on, as she kept her gaze on him, "but he made the choice to do what he did."
He glanced back at her, knowing she was doing all she could to help right now, but he wasn't at a place to accept it.
"Ouch!" She hissed slightly, causing him to frown back at her with worry, causing her to go pull herself up, "ow."
"Are you alright?" Stefan quickly sat up with her, laying his hand on her back.
"Yeah I'm fine," Payton began to laugh through the pain, as she went on, "the babies are just kicking me though!"
"They are?" He half smiled back at her.
"Yep!" She winced slightly, shaking her head in amusement, "this happens a few times a day they like to play soccer in my stomach."
"Can I feel?" Stefan asked with hope in his eyes.
"Of course." Payton said reaching over to take his hands and laying them on top of her stomach across her t-shirt.
"Wow," He laughed a genuine laugh for the first time since being back, causing her heart to melt at the sound of it, "they really are going for it in there."
"Yeah it's the weirdest feeling." She responded back.
Payton looked over at him pleased to see an ounce of happiness flutter across his face for the first time in weeks, when his eyes caught her own, he suddenly felt tears prick his eyes and his once smile fall from his face. She felt her chest tighten watching him break down, instantly reaching her hand out to lay on top of his own on her stomach.
Stefan quickly pulled his hands away and went to wipe his eyes, not wanting to cry right now, he was so tired of feeling down.
"I'm right here." She reminded him, laying her hand on his back instead and rubbing it once.
"I know. I'm glad," He said in relief, as he put his arm around her this time and brought her closer, "I'm sorry I just..."
"You don't need to apologise to me. We don't need to talk about this right now." Payton told him knowing she wasn't going to push him to suddenly offload everything to her just at the sign of his tears.
"No, but I want to talk to you about it." Stefan admitted in an uneasy tone.
"You do?" She was surprised as she looked back at him with slight wide eyes.
"I just..." He lowered his head down to his lap, as he sighed in frustration, "when I was inside there, I had to do some awful things and one of them...one of them was having to kill you and the babies. It felt awful. So when I came back and I saw you were still alive and pregnant, it was a huge relief, I've just wanted to keep you safe ever since."
Payton felt her heartbreak hearing him say that, she wasn't freaked out hearing that he had to kill her, knowing it wasn't the reality of the right now, she was just so damn relieved to hear him open up to her and feel like he was safe enough to share that hard information with her.
"Stefan," She snuggled in closer to him, breathing in his scent, "I really do love you."
"I love you." Stefan cried lightly, causing her to lift her head up to see a couple of tears falling down his face.
"It's you and I, Stefan," Payton reminded him, as she went to wipe his tears away, "when all of this is over, we can do something special, I promise."
"Secret hide away in the woods?" He suggested referring to the weekend break they had before.
"Of course." She nodded thinking that sounded like a dream right now.
Payton had been lying there for a good while, she wasn't tired after tonight, even though she felt exhausted, her body or mind just didn't want her to sleep, after the nights events she felt a bit overwhelmed with everything. She couldn't stop thinking about Stefan, wanting to help him through this but having no idea how to. Payton was also worried about what they would with Damon. Then there was the fact she would be giving birth. The thought terrified her.
Feeling some shifting beside her, she turned her head slightly to look at Stefan, he was fidgeting in her sleep, through the gap in the curtain where the moon was shining through, Payton could see his face looked distressed and almost like he was having a bad nightmare, she knew never to wake someone from a bad dream, so decided to let him sleep, snuggling a little closer so if he did wake, he would feel safe beside her.
She was about to shut her eyes and try to get some sleep again, when she heard light yelling coming from downstairs, Payton frowned at first, but then realised it was Damon.
Sighing to herself, she went to climb out of the bed the best way that she could in her state, with a large bump on her body, it was growing increasingly harder to do anything for herself these days. Getting up the stairs took longer than usual. Rolling out of bed took her forever. Putting on her shoes meant she always had to get ready earlier on.
"Stefan!" The yelling got louder, she knew if she went down there, she would be risking herself, but what else was she supposed to do, "Stefan!"
Payton was about to walk out of the room and go tell Damon to shut the hell up, when Stefan jumped out of his sleep with a loud gasp, causing her to spin her head back round with concern to look at him.
"You alright?" She asked softly slowly coming back over to the bed to check on him.
"Uh yeah, I'm fine," He tried to convince her, even if he wasn't and had just woken up from an awful nightmare, "what's all the yelling?"
"It's Damon." Payton huffed, going to switch on her night stand light to talk to him properly.
"I'll go check on him." Stefan answered back, going to get out of bed but as he passed Payton she noticed he was shaking.
"Stefan," She reached out to him, taking his hand in her own, "you alright? I mean really?"
"Just a nightmare," He brushed it off, not wanting her to worry, before he squeezed her hand and pecked her cheek, "go back to sleep."
"I can't sleep!" Payton whined, ignoring Damon's calls from below if Mason and Tyler were home, they would not be happy being woken up by that.
"Let me get you some water, yeah?" Stefan suggested, before going to walk out of the room.
She sighed as she went to sit back down onto the bed, using her vampire hearing to listen into the boys conversation downstairs. When Stefan reached the bottom of the stairs and went through the hall to where Damon was chained up, Damon began to ask him about whether he was going to be vervained again, but Stefan reassured him that he just wanted him to calm down.
Then Damon went on about how he was expecting Stefan to say that he had screwed up, that he nearly killed all our friends because he thought he was stuck in that fake hell world. Stefan did what he always did, was compassionate and assuring, telling Damon it wasn't his fault and he didn't have to explain himself.
Stefan then informed him that he was giving him a pass, that this was just a mistake, before Damon was completely taken back by this news. He had expected his brother to tell him off and that it wasn't good enough. But Stefan was persistent in reminding Damon that he had just come out of the Phoenix stone that he thought he was still inside so everyone understood why he acted the way he did.
"That's pretty generous considering I just stabbed your pregnant girlfriend in the chest..." Damon said causing Payton to shake her head in amusement, before going to head down the stairs to join them knowing she felt safe enough to do so.
"Yeah well..." Stefan shone a sad smile, as he looked back at his brother, "the hell stone does a number on you."
"Yeah, yeah it does." Damon agreed, Payton now began walk down the stairs.
Stefan looked up when he saw and heard her footsteps, he didn't like the idea of her coming down and being around Damon in this state, but he hoped the chains would hold and she wouldn't get caught in the cross fire again.
"Just don't do it to me when you and I are back to our normal states because I will make your life a living hell." Payton said to him in a half joking manner as she came round the staircase to stand beside her boyfriend who was crouching down to Damon's height.
"I'll keep that one noted," Damon answered her, before going on, "well I'm here and it's real. I'm ready for my big bro hug."
Damon chuckled lightly, as Stefan nodded slowly in sadness, "That would entail you unchaining me brother." Damon added.
"Here's the thing, Damon, uh..." Stefan went to get back onto his feet to stand beside Payton now, "hell messes with you but post hell is much worse."
Payton felt her heart ache for Stefan right now, hearing him admit more and more how he was feeling was hard to hear, she hated that this had happened and set him back so much. He deserved better than this.
"Huh." Damon nodded, not really buying it just yet.
Suddenly the front door opened, causing them to turn their heads round within a flash at the arrival of two familiar faces, "Tyler!" Payton was surprised to see him and his Uncle back, "Mason!"
They had gone on one their trips travelling again, helping wolf packs and also enjoying their time away, but yet here they were unexpected arrival, walking in to see Damon chained to Tyler's hallway.
"You guys have got to be kidding me," Tyler grumbled at the sight of Damon sitting there, "this is still my house!"
"Tyler Lockwoof," Damon greeted the guy in a teasing tone, as his eyes trailed onto Mason, "Mason former Lockwoof now Lockvamp."
"Very funny, Damon." Mason shook his head back, enjoying the sight of his former enemy chained up this time rather than him being the one chained up.
"You know, Stefan, I thought my allergies were acting up," Damon joked referring to the fact Tyler was in the building and was a wolf.
"We didn't know you were coming back." Payton stepped in thinking this conversation would go too far soon if someone didn't try to control it.
"Well we have plans here so." Tyler tried to answer acting a little shady.
Payton raised her eyebrows up, looking over at Mason, knowing he would struggle to lie to her, "Yeah we needed to come back." The guy answered.
"You failed to mention the part about Mystic Falls going to crap on your last video call, P." Tyler raised his brows up at the girl.
"Oh." She rubbed her lips together anxiously looking away from them.
"Yeah what the hell happened out there?" Mason questioned in confusion.
"I thought you two idiots knew we had to evacuate the town because of the scary heretics, fictional mining fires. Where you two just totally useless and oblivious?" Damon shot back at them.
"I don't think their talking about the evacuation, Damon." Stefan said back to his older brother uneasily.
"So what is he talking about?" Damon said in confusion, as Stefan nervously rocked on his feet and Payton chewed on her bottom lip, "I know you didn't manage the whole town up all over again while I was on my weekend trip in limbo."
"That's the thing, Damon..." Payton began in a nervous tone.
"You weren't just gone for the weekend," Stefan admitted to his older brother, "you've been gone for weeks."
Author note: Hello! I hope you enjoyed this brand new update. Thank you so much for reading and supporting!
Special thanks to Djone246 for reviewing the last part. I really do appreciate it! I'm so glad you're rooting for Payton and Stefan to make it through.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this part.
Thank you.
Best wishes always,
guiltypleasurexo