Author's note: So sorry in the delay in posting this. I had an unexpected issue at home I had to deal with. This chapter is short, but it is the bridge we need to get into the next section of the story. Hope you enjoy it.

No, I still don't own any of "The Vampire Diaries" characters.

"Of course, Carol." Damon paused and turned to watch as Stefan came in the front door. "No, it isn't any trouble." Another pause. "I told you before. Whatever I can do to help."

Stefan stood at the base of the stairs and stared at his brother. Why was he talking with Carol Lockwood?

"I'll bring Stefan, and we'll be right over. Trust me, we're happy to help. Bye!" Damon ended the call and smiled at his brother. "Do you have a gray hoodie in that collection of yours?" He didn't wait for Stefan to answer. "Sure you do. Go put it on. Carol Lockwood needs some help. The crew she'd hired to get everything ready for the ball didn't show up, and it seems she's calling in a favor."

"I was going to Elena's." The tiny box was heavy in his shirt pocket. Stefan wanted to give Elena her present. He'd only stopped by the house to change clothes since he was covered in dust and cobwebs from digging through the attic all morning.

Damon shook his head as he jogged up the stairs. "Not right now, you're not. We have an invitation to wander through the Lockwood house, and we're going to use it. Let's go!" He walked into his bedroom, leaving Stefan alone in the hallway.

Stefan dialed Elena's number as he followed his brother up the stairs. "Elena?"

"Where were you today?"

"I'm sorry. I had to so something, and it took longer than I'd planned." Stefan hated being elusive with Elena, but he didn't want to tell her too much about his gift.

"So you sent Damon to have lunch with me?"

His silence answered the question for him.

"You didn't. That makes more sense. Damon just invited himself." Elena's car door slammed as she arrived home from school.

"Elena, I have to help Damon with something. I'm not sure how long it'll take. I'll be over to pick you up in time for the party tonight."

"Have you not changed your shirt yet?" Damon stood in the doorway.

"I've gotta go. I'll see you in a couple of hours." Stefan pocketed his phone as he peeled off his shirt and stepped into the closet.

Elena stared at her phone in annoyance. What were Stefan and Damon doing? She walked up the porch stairs and stopped in front of the door while digging for her keys. She let herself inside the house and began to walk up the stairs to drop off her things from school. Mentally going over her list of things she needed to do before tonight, she wondered why the teachers insisted on giving homework when they knew the majority of the students would be at the Lockwood house tonight. She dropped into her window seat and pulled out the novel she was reading for English class. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she noticed her closet door. Actually, she noticed what wasn't on her closet door.

Where had her dress gone?

Jenna hated it when Elena used the closet door as a hanger, but Elena hadn't wanted her dress to wrinkle before the party. She set her book on the floor and went to look in her closet. Nothing. "Jenna?"

Elena headed back downstairs, thinking the dress was likely hanging on the rack in the laundry room. "Jenna?" She remembered seeing Jenna's car in the driveway when she pulled into the house.

As she stepped into the kitchen, the phone rang. Elena reached for it. She didn't recognize the number on the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hello, Elena. Missing something?"

Bonnie hoisted the plastic container on her hip as she unloaded the last box of supplies from her father's catering van.

"Hey, let me give you a hand." Mason stepped closer as he took the box from her. "That looks pretty heavy." His hand brushed against hers and a jolt like an electric current flowed up her arm.

A shirtless Mason hovered over Elena in bed. Pinkish light spilled across Elena's face as he crushed his lips to hers. His fingers tangled in her sleep-disheveled hair as...

"Are you okay?" Mason's voice snapped her back to reality.

"Oh, sorry about that. I was just going over my list - making sure we'd brought everything."

Mason looked at her, more than a hint of doubt in his eyes. "I asked if you needed me to carry this into the kitchen." He shifted the box in his arms as he began walking toward the house. Bonnie knew how heavy the box was, but he made it look as if he were carrying a box of helium.

"Mmhhmm." Bonnie mumbled as she turned back to the van to pick up the last of the tablecloths. She let him walk ahead of her as she dug her phone from the side pocket of her bag. What on earth was Elena thinking? She dialed Elena's number and was disappointed as the call went straight to voicemail. Frowning as she typed out a text with one hand, she wasn't watching where she was going and promptly walked straight into Stefan. "Sorry." She apologized as she backed away.

"Bonnie? Is everything alright?" He held out his arm to steady her.

She looked back at him. Elena was her best friend. She couldn't break her confidence - especially if she didn't truly understand what was going on. "I need to get these to my dad." She adjusted the tablecloths on her arm as she scurried into the house.

"What's up with the little witch?" Damon came out of the side entrance of the house.

Ignoring his brother's question, Stefan tugged at a folded table in the back of the rental van. "Of course, you're really not sure of what you're looking for, are you?"

"I will know it when I see it." Damon answered with his characteristic cockiness. He took hold of the other side of the table and began backing toward the front door.

"Thank you both so much!" Carol Lockwood met them on the front porch. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been able to help. I know I confirmed the right number of workers with the company on Monday."

Mason stepped out onto the porch. "Too bad your Uncle Zack couldn't be here. I seem to remember that he lived for these balls."

"We hoped he'd be able to come back..." Damon began.

"Don't be silly! I hardly expected him to drag his new wife here so soon after their honeymoon. I'm just happy for him. If you two hadn't moved here to take care of the boardinghouse, he'd never have had the chance to go visit his college sweetheart."

Damon added, "Well, it was quite the whirlwind romance."

"Sounds too good to be true." Mason stood in the foyer with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"What are you doing?" Mrs. Lockwood turned and frowned at Mason. "Just because they were able to help like you suggested doesn't mean you get to just stand there."

Stefan and Damon positioned the table in the sitting room and turned to go outside.

"Why did Mason say we should come help?" Stefan pushed his sleeves up as he hopped into the back of the van to retrieve the next table. He looked up and saw Bonnie standing outside the kitchen door texting. Her wrinkled forehead spoke as much about her state of mind as her angry posture. "Bonnie?" He jumped from the back of the truck - leaving Damon with the whole weight of the table." "Bonnie? Tell me what's wrong."

"Its nothing."

Stefan shook his head. He nodded to the phone. "Who are you texting?"

"Its really none of your business."

Stefan pressed on. "Its Elena. You and Caroline aren't talking, and there's no one else who makes you that angry - except for my brother and he's..."

"Standing directly behind you." Damon finished Stefan's sentence.

Stefan stared at Bonnie while she glared at Damon. "Not here." She walked toward the party tent set up a distance from the house. When she was under the cover of the white awning, she spun and addressed Stefan, pointedly ignoring Damon.

"Mason helped me carry a box a few minutes ago. When he brushed against my arm, I saw something that I don't understand."

"What did you see?"

Bonnie took a breath. She didn't know how to phrase it without hurting Stefan. Since she really didn't know exactly what was going on, she decided to simply be blunt. "I saw him with Elena. He was kissing her...they were in bed together.)

Stefan clenched his jaw and shook his head. The pieces were starting to come together, and he didn't like the picture they were forming. "He wasn't in bed with Elena, Bonnie. That was Katherine."

"What's wrong Elena? Cat got your tongue?" Katherine giggled at her joke. "I asked you a question."

"Did you take my dress?"

"Is that really the best you can do?" Katherine sighed into the phone. "I thought you were going to be better at this. Let me give you another hint. I have something much more valuable to you than your dress." A car door slammed outside. "Oh, look, your brother's home. Guess you're not missing him..."