Stefan smiled, caressing her hair back, looking into her hershey eyes. This is what he was supposed to be feeling with Bonnie but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't and being with Elena, he realized that he shouldn't be trying after all. Everything should be natural, not forced, he shouldn't have to be trying and that's exactly how it is with Elena. Effortless. He wonders what his past self was thinking. Bonnie is sweet, but Elena is sweeter.

"What are you thinking about?" She smiled.

"You,"

"Yeah?"

He nodded then met their lips. "How it's so easy to be with you."

"Stefan, I never thought that I would ever be here again. With you, in your arms, looking in your eyes. I thought I lost you forever, but I was given a second chance, we both were. I'm glad we took it."

"Me too. I don't want to be anywhere else." He wiped the lone tear that fell from her right eye with his thumb, then kissed her again, moving on top of her.

...

He kissed her head then got up from his bed, walking into the kitchen barefoot. The wood cooled the bottoms of his feet but adjusted quickly once he reached the window. He never really appreciated his view so he took a minute to do so.

"Why'd you leave me?"

He chuckled hearing her voice then turned around. "Come," he faced forward again as she started walking up to him and held her in his arms once she was in front of him. He kissed the side of her neck then held her. "Watch with me," he swayed them a little. "I might just have one of the best views of the city."

She smiled. "Mines is better,"

"Oh yeah?"

"Definitely."

He chuckled then stood straight feeling her turning in his arms and as he goes to hold her face, he paused realizing that he's not seeing her face but Bonnie's. Her piercing emerald eyes, full lips, black hair, heart face. His eyes narrow.

"What's wrong?"

He snaps out of it by the sound of her voice then shakes his head some. "Sorry, I um, my head– it doesn't matter." He kissed her. "Are you hungry?"

"I can eat. Did you want to order out?"

"Yeah, I guess,"

"I'll order something from one of your favorite spots."

He smiled. "Sounds good, I'm gonna take a quick shower,"

"Okay,"

He walked back into his room and closed himself in the bathroom. He breathed deeply closing his eyes only to open them and see Bonnie there, looking at herself in the mirror as she did her hair. She looked over at him and smiled before walking towards him and his heart started racing again wondering if she was actually real but she walks right through him. His hands shake as he opens the door and sees a vision of himself and Bonnie kiss before hugging. He closed the door and turns on the water, quickly removing his clothes and steps in, having the cold water sting his skin hoping it would get him to snap out of it.

Bonnie reaches out her hand and felt the mattress and mentally kicked herself, hating that she hasn't gotten used to him not being there yet. She sat up and stretched out her upper half before getting out of bed and immediately in the shower. She brushed her teeth and washed her face while she was in there and wrapped a towel around her body before walking into the living room/ kitchen area and paused.

"Sorry, Mason, I didn't know you were here,"

"No, it's okay...it's only my apartment."

She smiled then poured herself a cup of coffee before walking back into the room.

"How's she doing?" Caroline leaned in.

"She's holding it all in. I try to help her, but she always changes the subject so I back off because I don't want to push her over the edge."

He sighed. "We have to do something, Caroline."

"She doesn't want to fight for him, she wants him to be happy or whatever but Stefan doesn't even know who Elena truly is. The bad guy can't win."

"Maybe I can talk to him and get him to snap out of it. He has to remember something of Bonnie by now, anything."

"Well I don't know her at all, but after hearing stories, I figure that with Elena in his ear, it doesn't matter what he remembers of her because Elena will swat it away before hitting it with a magazine, killing it."

He sighed knowing she was right. They looked over, seeing Bonnie entering again this time fully dressed. She hugged her best friend then Mason before joining them at the table. "I'm fine, guys, I promise. I just need a little more time adjusting, but I've accepted everything in full. If he wants to be with Elena then I won't stop him."

"Why not, Bonnie? You know who Elena is, what her agenda has been ever since you two got together. How could you want Stefan to be with someone like that?"

"I never said I wanted it,"

"By not fighting for him, you practically are."

"You're not supposed to fight this hard for love. If we were married, it would be different, but we're not so it's not. I don't want him to feel obligated to be with me because I knew it never would've worked out in the end. That there would always be a part of him that resented me so I let him go. He's with Elena now and I'm sure he's happy so that's all I've ever really wanted."

"Bonnie—"

"Seriously, I'm fine. Can we go out or something, I need air,"

"Okay,"

They all stood and Bonnie and Caroline went back to grab their shoes before joining Mason by the door and together they walked out.

"Have any ideas on where you want to go?" Mason asked once the elevator doors closed.

"Um, the park, I guess."

"We should get some lunch while we're out as well," Caroline said.

Bonnie narrowed her eyes and pulled out her phone and was shocked to see that it was twelve-thirty. She's never woken up so late and a part of her realizes why her friends were worried. The dinging of the elevator opening shook her out her head and she followed her friends out and tucked her hands in her pockets as the made it outside.

Stefan sighed feeling full then pushed his plate away reminding himself to not go for more. Elena chuckled then stood taking both of their plates to the sink. "I'm glad you still like it,"

"I have a great pallet I assume," he smiled as she laughed. "Hey what do you say we go out for a walk or something, I feel like we've been cooped up in here for too long,"

"Sounds good to me,"

"I'll get your coat."

"The Chanel one, please,"

He nodded then walked back into his room.

"Does this meet your standards?"

He jumped at the suddenness of Bonnie's voice seeing her dressed in a white thin-strapped top tucked into a black high waisted skirt.

"Surpasses, actually," he whispers remembering, making her smile.

"You find it?"

"What?" He looks back seeing Elena.

"My coat,"

"Right, I uh, I must be looking too hard for it, I couldn't see it."

She smiled then walked over to the closet and pulled it out, taking it off the hanger before slipping it on. She looked over at him seeing him just standing there and frowned slightly. "Are you okay?" She held his face.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just having a weird day today. I've been seeing things,"

"Things? Should we take you back to the hospital?"

"No, I'm fine, they're just memories, I guess. I'm not going crazy. Not yet anyway,"

She smiled. "Okay. Maybe some fresh air will do you good,"

He nodded then grabbed his coat.

...

Bonnie growled lowly as flashes invaded her vision and now she was started to regret leaving the house, especially without her sunglasses. The ones that cover practically her whole face so you wouldn't even know it was her. She held Caroline's hand feeling Mason's on her back and he eventually shooed them away and they gladly listened. They found a bench to sit on and Bonnie felt like taking a nap. Just lying down with her head resting on their thighs.

"I've got a ticket for the long way round, two bottle whiskey for the way," she glanced over at Caroline.

"And I sure would like some sweet company and I'm leaving tomorrow, what do you say?" She smiled.

They sang together, "When I'm gone, when I'm gone, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me by my hair you're gonna miss me everywhere, oh, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone."

"You both are crazy." Mason shook his head.

They laughed. "Lettuce eat."

"I thought you would never say so," Mason stood then reached out his hands for them to grab.

They did so, standing to their feet. He looked over as Bonnie's fingers moved between his before closing her hand against his. He forced his eyes forward and closed his hand on hers, calmly letting out a breath. "So where to?"

"I'm kind of in the mood for burgers,"

"Ugh, me too now that you say it." Caroline agreed.

"Burgers it is."

"And piggyback rides," she hopped on Mason's back. "Caroline, hop on,"

"I'm good, thanks," she chuckled. "But I will document," she took out her phone and told them both to look back. She smiled taking the photo.

Stefan glances over to check out the scenery then moved his eyes back seeing Bonnie only this time he doesn't know if she's real or not. He assumes so since she's with Caroline and someone else who he couldn't make out.

"Right, Stefan?"

He looked over. "Right," he forced a smile then stopped walking.

"What's wrong?"

"Come here, let me look at you for a second," he held her face, looking into her eyes before kissing her. He pulled away seeing her smile and smiled himself.

"I love you, Stefan."

His heart raced. "I—"

"I know. I just want you to know how I feel."

"It's not that I don't love you, Elena because I do, I love you. It's just such a weird time for me right now with my memories still not fully intact and I'm still trying to figure out who I am."

"So what are you saying?"

"Nothing, I'm just- I want you to know how I feel."

"Okay,"

He smiled and kissed her again before taking her hand to hold.

Mason smiled setting down his beer on his desk. The burger place was a little too crowded for their liking so they decided to take this party to his office since it was only a short walk away. "It's nice to see you smiling, Bon,"

She looked up at him. "It feels nice to smile. It's like I missed it or something."

"I bet it's the burgers," Caroline commented with her mouth half full causing the other to laugh.

Mason looked over as his computer dinged and tried to stop the look on his face reading the alert but figured that he didn't do a good job at it since Bonnie questioned what was wrong. "It's nothing,"

"Mase,"

He exhaled. "This blogsite uploaded a video about Stefan."

"What aren't you saying?"

He watched her eyes then decided to just turn the computer towards her so she could read the title herself.

Stefan Salvatore and Bonnie Bennett No More? Elena Gilbert Back in the Picture? Exclusive

"Click it."

"Bonnie,"

"Click it. I want to see what they have to say."

He sighed then glanced over at Caroline before clicking on the video.

"Good morning, everyone, thank you for tuning in, we're going to jump right to today, starting with movie star, Stefan Salvatore."

"That's right, June, to catch people up Stefan Salvatore was shot in the back of the head by his mother's abusive ex-husband just a few weeks ago."

"And before that, public records showed that Stefan had issued a restraining order against the abuser in his mother's honor."

"A little after that, Stefan took to Instagram to answer some fan questions joined by his then-girlfriend Bonnie Bennett where a fan had asked about her wellbeing, let's take a look,"

"This next question is about my mom, my mom is doing amazing and she's safe and well, thank you for asking."

"Rumors report that Stefan had bought his mother a house about twenty minutes away from his apartment and had hired a bodyguard to watch over and protect her."

"It's unclear where the bodyguard was during the time of the shooting or if he was fired seeming as though months had gone by with no issue. That is until weeks ago when Stefan was visiting his mother and nearly lost his life because of it."

"He had suffered "major memory loss," a source tells us but he was able to remember his "The Journey" costar and love interest Elena Gilbert."

"While the two were shooting, there were rumors that they were secretly dating during the duration of the film, but somewhere along the way the two split and during the movie's international premiere, Stefan had arrived with a mystery woman and once they locked lips on the red carpet, rumors started to swirl and within hours that mystery woman was revealed to be Bonnie Bennett."

"Now Bonnie has had small roles in TV and films such as 'Thanksgiving','Mental', and, 'The Warrant' but will soon show off what's she's really got in a short film which was written, directed, and produced by Salvatore's manager and best friend Mason Lockwood where Stefan and Bonnie play love interest."

"I wonder how that premier will go down because a source confirms that the two had decided to go their separate ways and Stefan is now dating his old costar and flame, Elena Gilbert."

"Remember Elena was one of the few people Stefan had remembered when he woke up,"

"I honestly cannot imagine what that must've felt like for Bonnie. Let's not forget the two were engaged to be married and Stefan created an entire jewelry line and named a ring after her."

"Well, I think I'm good to say that we're both wishing Bonnie the best, and also, Stefan and Elena as they start to repair their relationship."

"Now the two haven't confirmed that they're dating again, we were told by a close friend of the two that they are so until then, everything is still speculation. Stefan still has his photos up on Instagram featuring Bonnie, but I think Elena and Stefan will be really great for each other and the fact that Stefan remembered her just says a lot about their relationship."

"I agree,"

The video cuts off there and Mason turns his computer back toward him.

"Who do you think the source is?" Caroline asked.

"It's probably Elena herself." Mason scoffed. "Bonnie, I don't understand why you're not fighting for him,"

"Because I want him to make his own choices. I told him that he doesn't owe me anything and to think about who he wants to be with and he chose Elena and I respect that choice. If she makes him happy-"

"You honestly believe that he's happier with Elena than with you?"

"Before everything, I would say no. But Stefan is different now so I don't know. I'm not going to throw myself at him and act desperate. He remembered her and not me and barely remembered his mom so maybe that says something about his feelings towards me."

"Bonnie—"

"It doesn't matter. It's done." She exhaled. "I just want him to be happy." She stood and walked out of his office.

Caroline gathered their things. "Mason,"

"I'll handle it."

She nodded then followed her friend out.

Mason reaches for his phone and called his friend.

"Stefan's phone,"

"Elena, can I speak to Stefan,"

"He's napping after… rough sex."

He rolled his eyes. "Bonnie's not listening in, you don't have to act like a dick."

"What are you so angry for? This is your chance, Mason, Bonnie is single and Stefan is with me now and that's never going to change. Now's your time to get your girl."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because that's not what she wants."

"Then make her believe it is. Just as I did with Stefan."

"Just tell him to call me back, please, I have business to discuss."

"Whatever," she ended the call.

Caroline frowned watching her friend watch her phone as she wiped away tears constantly. "What are you doing?"

She sniffed in. "Some of Stefan's fans have been messaging me and commenting that we deserve to be together and that they're on my side. I don't know, it's just making me a little emotional."

Caroline hugged her. "I'm sorry this is happening to you. You don't deserve any of this."

"I feel like I should say something,"

"Okay, I'll give you the room,"

"No, stay," she pulled her back in. Bonnie took several breaths before recording directly on Instagram. "Hey everyone, I'm sorry to be coming on here looking like a mess and needing my best friend here for support, hugging me, but I just- I just want to say that I see all your messages and comments and I just wanted to thank you for all the support and love. All that matters to me is his happiness and wellbeing, that's it. I could've lost him forever but I didn't and that's more important than a ring. So please only send love, only send support, I'll be okay, I swear. I still love him with my whole heart," her voice cracked causing her tears to flow more rapidly so she stopped recording and hugged her best friend tightly.

Mason smiled as Stefan entered his office and told him to take a seat. "How's everything going?"

"Great, actually. Better than I expected to be after being shot in the head."

He nodded. "Listen, Stefan, I have to talk to you. About Bonnie."

"What's wrong?"

"She doesn't want to do this herself so I'm going to do it for her. You made the wrong choice. I hate that she even gave you one considering, but Bonnie is the best woman you've ever known. That I've ever known. She's- she's kind and smart and caring and you loved her more than you ever had anyone else. You asked her to marry you only after a few months of knowing her, you told me that you couldn't wait to have children with her. You fell in love with her after a day of knowing her. Elena- she barely meant anything to you other than a lay. It's brutal but it's honest. She only started to care about you when she saw you in Milan with Bonnie, she's been trying to break you two up ever since. She told me so herself."

"I don't—"

"I know I'm piling so much onto you right now but it's the truth. Check your Instagram, see for yourself."

"Instagram?"

"Here," he handed him his phone. "It's all Bonnie."

Stefan watched his face before looking down at the phone and scrolled seeing pictures of them. He clicked on a video that happened to be the one where he proposed to her and read the words he had written below.

Words cannot begin to explain how fucking happy I am that I'll be marrying the love of my life. Bonnie entered my life when I felt so lonely and broken and in an instant made those feelings go away and turn into 'loved' and 'healed'. She has been with me through thick and thin, stuck by me when I was at my worst, loved me when no one else would, understood me and made me a better man in only six months. She is the definition of the perfect woman and I get to be hers forever. I love you, Bonnie Bennett, soon to be Salvatore.

His heart sped.

"Here," Mason clicked on a story highlight.

"Alright guys this is the first question, actually before I answer I will be going in order and if someone asks the same question twice then I'll just have my honey here answer it and if someone asks it a third time I'm sorry but you'll be skipped over so ask something else if I used your question. But to answer this question, I would say yes, she is the love of my life. I want to have four children with her so we can start a band we got the singer, guitarist, bassist, and drummer and they will be called... The SalvaFour." He smiled as Bonnie laughed. "I think she approves." He chuckled.

"So what I have coming up with Elena is a surprise, I can't say but it has to do with… um,"

"Flashes," Bonnie helped.

"Yeah, flashes, that's your hint. Take it and run with it."

"My favorite photo of Bonnie is one that I took where she's sleeping. Cause she's so peaceful and beautiful," he looked over at her into her eyes. "Can I post it, baby?"

"Let me see it first," she looked back at the camera on his phone, "you girls know like a guy who loves photos of you looking your worst, that's Stefan. I could look like a hobo in a photo and he'd be like 'you're so beautiful' and like make it his lock screen."

He chuckled. "Give me a minute guys, let me see if I can post it."

"Holy fuck. I remember this."

"Y-you do?"

"Fuck, what have I done?" He placed the phone down and held his head. "I fucked up."

"Stefan—"

"Did she leave, where is she?"

"I'll take you to her."

They stood and rushed out of the door.

...

"Are you expecting anyone?" Bonnie asked, looking back at Caroline, hearing knocks on the door as she walked towards it.

"No,"

She narrowed her eyes but before she made it fully towards the door, it opened and for a moment it felt as if her heart stopped and the world stopped spinning. "Stef—"

He held her face then met their lips, kissing her deeply. She moved her arms tightly around him as he did the same to her before lifting her legs around his waist and walking towards the room. He closed the door then laid them on the bed. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie I—"

"Shh, it's not your fault." She wiped away his tears.

"How could I forget you? You're the love of my life, I'm so sorry,"

She hugged him tightly and they cried into one another's shoulders. "I just wanted you to be happy,"

"I know, babe." He moved back and held her face. "But if something like this ever happens again, if my memory goes away tomorrow or next week, I need you to fight for me, make me remember. I don't want to be without you ever. Okay?"

"Okay, I promise."

He kisses her twice. "I love you."

"I love you more."

He met their foreheads. "Bonnie, I—"

"It's okay," she caressed his face. "we'll get through this, we always have."

...

He frowned watching her sleeping face as he moved his hand gently down her face repeatedly. He closed his eyes then reached for his phone to ignore yet another call from Elena then returned his eyes back to her. "I love you," he hugged her tighter seeing her eyes open.

"Stefan?"

"I'm here, baby. I'm not going anywhere." He kissed the top of her head.

"You have to talk to Elena,"

He shook his head. "I can't believe I would ever choose her over you." Tears filled his eyes. "I hate myself."

"It wasn't you, Stefan. She took advantage of your weakness and twisted it to fulfill her agenda. Maybe I should've tried harder,"

"At least we knew what to do next time,"

"Shut up," she pushed his shoulder making him chuckle. "I missed you so much."

"Let's get married. On our day."

"That only gives us two weeks,"

"You have your dress, I have my tux, Mason could get certified to marry us. Caroline's still here,"

"You're serious?"

"Yes. Let's have at least one thing go our way before this year is over."

She smiled. "Okay. But you have to talk to Elena."

He sighed. "Okay. I'll come back here later tonight."

"Why can't I just meet you at our place?"

He looked away. "She- I kind of asked her to move in with me."

"Oh,"

"Babe,"

"It's okay. We're together now. That's all that matters."

"Please forgive me, babe, please," he held her face.

"I forgive you," she held his face. "I promise." She kissed. "Now go so you can get back to me."

"Okay," he kissed her then gets out of the bed.

He opens the door and walks out and was going to speak but noticed that Caroline was sleeping so he nodded his head towards the door and Mason followed him out. "Could you drive me home? I need to break things off with Elena."

He nodded and they started walking. "How are things with Bonnie?"

"She's the perfect woman, man, I just won't be able to look at myself for a year."

"Everything will work itself out."

"Hey." He grabbed his arm. "Thank you for not taking advantage of the situation. Thank you for being my friend."

"Of course."

They shared a quick smile before getting in the car.

...

Elena rushes to the door as it opened and threw her arms around him, exhaling as he hugged her back. "I was so worried."

"I'm sorry."

"You're here now, that's what matters," she stood on her toes ready to meet their lips but frowned as he moved his head away. "Wha—"

"I remember, Elena. I remember everything."

"Stefan,"

"A part of me wants to hate you but I don't. I can't. I'm the one to blame too."

"So what all of this was just a lie?"

"Yes."

She flinched.

"I wasn't myself, whoever I was back then is gone."

"Is that what you're gonna tell yourself, tell Bonnie so you won't feel guilty about fucking me, about loving me, about hating her?" She chuckled. "It's never going to work. Not for long at least. It'll eat away at you each and every day."

"That may be true but it doesn't change the fact that I can't be with you. One way or another it's always Bonnie. Visions of her played out in my head today and she was projected into the real world. She was always on my mind, I guess it just took her leaving so I could remember it. So my brain could want more of her.

I'm sorry, Elena, truly. Believe it or not, I feel horrible about this. I wish I never dragged you into it."

"Don't ever talk to me again."

He sighed, "Elena—"

"Please leave for an hour so I can pack my things."

"Okay," he walked away and went to grab his keys. "I really am sorry, Elena." He said before walking out.

Stefan frowned watching the Instagram story Bonnie posted close to twelve hours ago. He wishes he hadn't because now he feels more horrible than before. He broke her heart, made her cry, made her feel pain. He's seen comments posted on the photos he has of them, his fans telling him to remember, to get back with Bonnie again because they've never seen him happier. He pressed his camera against the bed and took a photo having the picture be black. I'm so sorry he typed then posted.

He looked down feeling her stir under his arm and smiled once her eyes looked up at him. He kissed her twice then held her closer. "I love you so much."

"I love you more."

"Bonnie, I have to tell you what happened between me and Elena. I know it's probably the last thing you want to hear but I hate keeping things from you. I feel like I can't move on, we can't move on unless we talk about it. You're the best woman and you're so forgiving but if you're mad at me then be mad at me. I'm mad at myself."

"Okay. I just- before you tell me about Elena, I just want to tell you how I feel. I'm not mad at you because I know it wasn't one hundred percent you. If the roles were switched and I viewed you as a complete stranger, I don't see myself accepting that you're my fiancé right off the bat. I probably wouldn't have dated anyone else but I honestly can't say because I don't know. But when you got back from the hospital, I thought that we could do it, we could get back to our normal, our routine. You didn't seem scared by me or anything so I figured that you were okay with me. But soon after I felt like I was only a body to you. A body that you could fuck wherever you wanted and I wouldn't refuse. I thought that having sex with you could trigger your memories of me somehow so that's why I did it, even when I felt horrible about myself but that wasn't the case."

His lip started to quiver.

"It wasn't until Thanksgiving that I knew this wouldn't work because your focus was on Elena and her only. And I told myself that was okay because you remembered her the most and I would be the same way too. Then I tried talking to you and you practically ignored me and that's when I knew that this wouldn't work. And I hated that it hit me when we were with our families and friends. That's why when we got home I asked you to choose. I knew it wasn't going to be me but I had a little hope which was why I didn't leave on my own. I don't blame you for choosing her at that moment, and I never will it just sucked but I wanted you to be happy more than anything."

"I just- I don't know what I was thinking. The first time we had sex after I got back was because I just wanted to make you feel better and a part of me believed that our sex could help with my memories too. And without trying to be funny or joke about it but you- your pussy is just damn and you're sexy and I'm attracted to you and I took advantage of you and I'm sorry. I feel horrible and ashamed. At Thanksgiving, seeing Elena again, I only felt the feelings that I had for her and some of it was amplified because she was who I remembered and I let my brain believe that she must've meant the world to me because of it. After I chose her things felt easy and simple. I didn't have to try and remember things, I could just be myself and that was enough. We- we had sex a few times. I betrayed you and I'm so sorry. The day I came to you is when I started having vivid visions of you almost everywhere I looked. Your face would often replace Elena's and when I was in a room alone, I would see you. Then Mason called me in his office and showed me my Instagram and I clicked on the video of me proposing to you and I read my words. I watched the Q and A we did and that's when everything clicked. That's when I realized I fucked up. I chose the wrong woman. I am so sorry for putting you through this,"

"None of this is your fault."

"I'm responsible for my own actions."

"Stefan, you can't hate yourself forever. I accept and appreciate all your apologies and I forgive you. I love you and I know who you are and what you would do and wouldn't do in your right mind and you know that too. We can't move past this if you can't accept it. Especially if we want to get married soon. I'm sure it's going to take longer than a couple of weeks or maybe not, but we have to start now."

"Okay."

"I love you, Stefan."

"I love you more, Bonnie."

He hugged her tightly.