-Elena-

It's funny how so much time has passed and so many things have changed, but The Mystic Grille has stayed the same. The felt on the pool table looks new, and I think that they might have even upgraded the bar lighting, but other than the new set of high school students bussing tables and taking orders, it's the same old place from my memories. Caroline finds me sitting in what used to be our regular booth nearly the instant she steps out of the rain and into The Grille. I was lucky to not get caught in the down pour too badly while visiting my parents gravesites, but poor Caroline's usually perfect everything is all a mess. I mean, my hair probably looks a little tangled and the ends are kinda roped together from getting a little damp while making my way in here, but Caroline's usually sleek and shiny curls are matted and dull, a bit of blonde frizz beginning to form on top of her head.

"Hey you!" I smile and shrug a little when I say, "You're soaked!", stopping myself from standing up to hug her- There are literally drops of rain falling from her – instead, I gesture for her to sit across from me and then grab a large handful of napkins from the holder for her to begin drying off.

"Where did that come from!?" Caroline's voice carries, especially when she's frustrated, and when she goes on about the sudden storm ruining her hair and her make-up and possibly her Jimmy Choo's, I can feel the eyes of the other patrons on us. By the time she's done talking and drying, I've dabbed off Matt's carrier, found a dry blanket for him in his bag, and even though he's sleeping now, Caroline is fretting about not being able to find his pacifier.

I remember being a new mommy – freshly compelled, and unknowningly freshly widowed. A complete mess even without the incredible rush of hormones and emotions and life changing moments that were all wrapped up in a 7lb 6oz Allie. Gosh it was stressful, to say that least…

Little things like remembering extra paci's will come along with time for Caroline – sadly, breaking the habit for me might be an even harder task. Without much of a show, I take Grayson's just-in-case brown and green monkey pacifier from my bag and tuck it in the corner of Matt's carseat, adding a "just give it a quick wash and it'll be fine – what's germs between cousins?" joke that goes completely unheard by my ranting bestie. I push away the glooming thought that Grayson may very well be my last baby and, remembering how hard new-mommyhood can be, I refocus on Caroline. Other than a OneRepublic song playing on the jukebox that's turned down low, Caroline and I are the only two relics from our high school years here.

I don't know what I was worried about – I've always loved hanging out with Caroline and even with the $800+ shoes, Chanel purse, and designer clothes, it doesn't take long at all before it's just Elena and Caroline sharing a plate of fries and drinking Dr. Pepper in to-go cups.

"You threw it in her face!?" Caroline gasps through her laughs, her hands over her face as I tell her how I stood up to Dr. Fell. I feel so bad-ass telling her the story that I know I must be sitting cocky, because I'm feeling quite smug about the whole thing. That night, yea, it wasn't a laughing matter – God, Stefan was fuming... but with just me and one of my best friends in the world, I am not ashamed and there's a mega watt smile on my face as I remember the way the wine splashed onto Meredith's cheeks, washing that flirty look right off!

"She's lucky I didn't go all Alaric-trained Vampire fighter on her." I give my best saucy voice as I casually dip a fry in my bit of ketchup and pop it into my mouth with a fiendish smile, causing Caroline to chuckle again – loud enough that we both turn to check on Matt, sleeping peacefully in his grey and teal seat with matching baby elephant blanket.

"I bet Stefan was happy, huh?" Caroline says in a shushed voice, moving a tiny sock-monkey and the hand-me-down paci to the end of the seat and tucking Matt's blanket in around his tiny little feet. It's such a hushed tone that I am not sure if she's being sarcastic – I mean, surely she is.

Stefan was not happy.

I think I look at her too long, trying to figure out why that question sounds so genuine, because when I finally answer, Caroline is looking at me with a half smile, half frown on her now washed-clean of makeup face.

"Stefan was... well, he was not exactly the happiest he's ever been." I say sarcastically, remembering the way he was glaring at me, crossing the street in the lamp light, his green eyes flaming.

So caught up by my memories of Angry Stefan and my never failing response to it, I nearly miss Caroline's smirk. "What?" I ask, confused.

After a long moment of fidgeting, dancing her straw around in her drink, pursing her lips together, Caroline finally releases a heavy sigh, "Gosh, Elena, it's so hard to be your friend and his and not like, divulge insider information."

Nervously, I laugh a little – what does she mean by 'insider information'? "Just tell me... what?"

"Well, um. Elena." Caroline fidgets again, taking her mess of curls in her hand and twisting the length of it into a rope over her shoulder. "Ugh. You know, Stefan will kill me if he knows that I told you this, so you've got to keep quiet – ok?" I give a quick nod, agreeing, but to be honest, I feel a knot in my stomach so tight that right about now I'd agree to anything just to find out about this classified Stefan info. "And even though he'd already told me about the night and the wine, it was like hearing it all new from you, so I want you to know that I still want you to talk to me, okay?" Yea yea yea, come on Caroline, get to it – I say in my head, nodding silently. "He was worried about Meredith not helping, of course, but Elena, I think more than anything, he was happy to see you fight for him."

The waitress interrupts, chatting with Caroline about how cute Matt is and gathering our plates, giving me a minute to replay everything in my head. His tense shoulders, the tight set of his jaw, those fierce green eyes and the intense way our gravity was squeezing at me...

"So yea, I think he was pretty stoked about it, especially after Meredith told him she'd still help -" His determined step, his hands holding my hips, the feeling of his chest pressing against mine. There was that moment... I'm afraid I'll hurt you. Isn't that what he said? To be honest, with the way I'm feeling right now, I'd give anything to let him hurt me. "... is the same way, you know?"

Umm... sorry, I was imagining being ravished by my husband... "Hmm?"

Caroline shakes her head with an amused smile and I wonder for a moment if she knows exactly what is playing on in my mind, "I was saying -" Her smile quickly turns to a hard frown, her green eyes wide and suddenly panicked. Just the look of her makes me a little frightened and I hesitate to ask her what's the matter, "O.M.G. Elena." Caroline whispers, quickly turning away, fumbling through her purse as if she's looking for a handgun or grenade.

"Caroline, what?!" I say in the same loud whisper as her, beginning to turn in my seat to look behind me at what caught her attention.

"No!" She snaps, her command straightening my back and keeping me facing forward like a reprimanded child. "Don't you dare turn around," Caroline says through an open 'O' mouth as she applies watermelon pink gloss, then runs her fingers through her rain-dampened hair, "I don't think he's seen us and if we can manage to sneak out of -" Instantly, her face lights up and a beauty queen smile spreads over her pretty white teeth, letting out an exasperated whisper, "shit", through the perfect smile.

Nervously, and kind of anxious to see who 'he' is, I turn in my seat and see a face from the past that I'd almost forgot had ever been part of my life -

"Tyler Lockwood!" Caroline grins, "I heard you were in town. Elena, I told you that Tyler was in town, didn't I? Tyler, you remember Elena? Of course you do." Wow. I can't figure out where Caroline went and how she was replaced by a Stepford Wife, but the girl I'd been laughing with over fries is long gone – heck, I think she may even have a tinge of an English accent as she rattles on like a nervous teenager with a tight smile on her face!

Tyler – as fit and handsome as ever, his dark, reckless hair only even more reckless from the rain – slides into the booth right next to Caroline, not even so much as giving a glance at baby Mateaus Mikaelson sitting next to our table. Maybe it's having her first love squeezed into a booth with her, or his incredibly close proximity as he rests his arm on the booth behind her, but Caroline Forbes giggles her way out of that Mikaelson shell instantly.

"Hey Elena." Tyler gives me the same cool-guy nod that he's always had, then returns his attention to Caroline, who is dancing that straw in her cup again.

"Hey, good to see you, Tyler." I'm all of a sudden the odd man out, and to tell you the truth, there is some kind of crazy tension between these two that I can't wait to get away from. It's not really playful, or even sexual... gosh, I don't know – maybe this is what it feels like when you run into the guy you swore to love forever but ended up abandoning for his arch-enemy?

Whatever it is, I've had my fill of my own love-triangle drama and I'm getting away from it! "I'm going to run to the ladies."

-Caroline-

My brain is floating somewhere in his dead-of-night dark eyes, my heart pounding and stuck in my throat, and there's an overdose amount of some untitled chemical soaring through me that is making me feel tense and yet, too languid – like I might turn into a gelatinous version of myself at any minute and slip right off of this booth and into a puddle beneath the table - out of his heavy eyes and away from the memory-inducing scents of Tyler's hair and his skin and the way we… oh God.

We are coming to the end of the chit-chat topics – the storm, The Grille, what has and has not changed in Mystic Falls since we left, he's telling me about the restaurant he owns just south of San Francisco and I'm doing all I can do to comprehend what he's saying and at the same time, conjur up another easy topic – something far, far, far away from all the things that I know he wants to hear from me… things he deserves to hear. Apologies a mile long and explanations as to how what happened, happened.

"I'm talking right on the beach, most of the time we don't even have the shelter walls down and it's just all rocky beach and California sun, buckets of beer, plates full of fresh food, and live music!" Tyler talks about his life with a joyful expression on his face and a light tone to his words, but after he adds, "It's not what I thought I'd be doing, but I don't think I could be any happier.", I smile and he smiles and we both look away and try mentally grasping for something else to say.

"So, um," I stammer, losing my breath from the aerobic speed of my heartbeat.

I want to blame my reaction to Tyler on the incredible amount of guilt that I feel… and a lot of it – the stuttering, the inability to think, the way I feel as though I'm shrinking away – truly is because of how I've wronged him. But, I can't deny that seeing him here, so warm looking and enticing, and having him sitting near to me like this, after having him suddenly ripped away from me all those years ago… I'll never admit it, but I missed Tyler.

"How about you?" His question turns me toward him again and I catch him stealing his eyes away from the way my still-damp lavender top clings to me – I blink, leaving my eyes closed for a long moment to push away the memories I have of the way he's just looked at me. "You look amazing." He adds, his casual words wrenching tight the muscles of my tummy.

"I'm married!" I smile – a reminder for me and a confession to him – wiggling my left hand a little and wishing he'd look at my ring instead of looking at me.

Like that.

Like he always has.
Unfortunately, his gaze doesn't move at all, only intensifies.

Tyler gives a huff, a smug snarl of his half-smiling lips, "I know." He says, and I'm not sure, but I think he leans a bit closer to me.

For safety's sake – both his and mine – I lean away some, just in case. "To Klaus."

Tyler's thumb grazes over the top of my shoulder and it shocks me – in a hundred different ways – I turn to look at where he's touched me, and when I look back at him, Tyler is definitely closer to me than he was before I'd looked away and that spark in his eyes that I recognize oh so painfully well makes my mouth water.

"I know." Tyler smiles, unashamed by his advances and thrilled to have such an effect on me after all of these years.

I don't know what to say – stop touching me. Move away. I'm married to my soul mate. That's our baby you're beautiful body is blocking me from seeing. I'm sorry that I abandoned you. I missed you even though I love Klaus.

I'm stuck looking at him and trying to read his obscure eyes with my mouth half open when I'm saved by a Salvatore in uniform.

"Lockwood?" Damon's hand grabs Tyler's shoulder harshly, pulling him away from me with a friendly smile on his usually unfriendly face, "How's it goin', man? Long time."

Though he'd immediately gone tense, always ready for a fight, Tyler relaxes when he recognizes Damon's unthreatening tone, standing to shake his hand and going through a couple niceties before Elena finally comes back from the bathroom – cell phone in hand.

"Damn, Elena," Tyler chuckles as she and Damon share a nod, "I'd forgot you were here!"

"Sorry." She laughs, holding up her phone, "I got to texting with Stefan and lost track of time." Elena slips back into her side of the booth and I don't know why, but I look up at Damon, assuming he's going to sit with us, and instead catch him looking at me with a knowing expression on his face. I smile – a silent thank you – that's met with a 'you're welcome' eyebrow raise.

After a bit more of my pointless, nervous yammering, Damon keeps Tyler busy, allowing Elena and I to slip out with Matt and I think I take my first full breath of oxygen when we make it to the sidewalk.

I mean, I literally feel light headed… and Elena's pursed lip grin as she tries to focus on playing on her phone is not helping.

I must be glaring, because she asks, "What?", through a repressed giggle just as Matt begins to wake – my little man is eating like a horse!

I release a heavy sigh, "ugh!" Rolling my eyes and trying to gain my composure. "You know what!" I frown – incredibly frustrated with myself! With how terribly tired I am! With how sore my nipples are from breast feeding my hungry lil dude – and to add salt to the wound, I've lost his paci once again!

Over Matt's cry – gaining in volume with each breath he takes, Elena tries to make me feel less like a piece of crap. "I'm the last one to judge about that situation, Caroline." Elena's voice is light, but we both know what she's saying and that there is a lot of truth in that statement. It's refreshing to hear her actually accept some blame for her switching-Salvatore history… a good sign for her and Stefan. The sheer ridiculousness of how I'd just acted and the positive thoughts for my two best friends make me smile and I feel fifty pounds lighter – more myself. "He's your first love, it's normal to get a little caught up in everything that means." Yea, true. Okay… she's right. Cupping her hand around my sons crunched up, crying face, Elena coos "Come on, let's get you guys home before baby Matt really gets wound up."

-Stefan-

I'm not asleep.

Yes. I am laying very still and my eyes are closed, but I can hear Allie playing with her dolls and Grayson's tiny exhales into my ear continue to keep me just at that line of being completely out. Something about holding him when he naps always puts me out – it's possibly the most relaxing thing in my life, having my son laying on my chest, dreaming of whatever it is that causes that sweet smile he gets while he's asleep and safe against me. I slept a couple hours last night, after Katherine's visit and Elena's much-welcomed sleepover, but it was a restless sleep full of adult dreams and perverse thoughts and tons of very realistic imagery of my stunningly beautiful wife.

Its good – this mini-nap, the way my brain has finally slowed down – after the near-miss with Elena and the information Klaus sent on my laptop, the fact that I'm only a few days away from breaking a handful of federal laws to steal Katherine's amniotic fluid, and of course, the still-to-come make up with Elena that literally left me aching, my head was a mess.

I spent the morning staying busy. After breakfast, I took the kids to the park, picked up some groceries, and swung by the hardware store to get what I'll need to do a few repairs at Elena's house – I mean, our house. I let Allie pick out what color she wanted to do her room in and I just hope Elena isn't too upset with the daisy yellow paint. I figure this move and our issues have been hard on Allie; even without her abilities, these kinds of things take a toll on kids and God only knows what kind of thoughts she's heard coming from her mother and I. If nothing else, I'm hoping that letting her have some say in her new room will give her a sense of control. Sometimes, what seems like small, personal decisions and choices are the only power one can have and to take that away, it can be debilitating. I know that first hand.

I'm watching her host a tea-party with what I hope are imaginary friends – keeping in mind no one is quite sure just what all Allie can and cannot do – when my cell dings from the cushion next to me. It's a text. Still in my near-comatose state and not wanting to disturb Grayson, I plan on ignoring it, closing my eyes and wondering about Allie's condition when she says "It's Mommy."

My eyes open wide, focusing on Allie's replica green eyes sparkling back at me as if she's proudly performed a magic trick, a sweet and confident smile on her face as she sees that she has surprised me. I make a mental note to add this incident to the list of 'powers' and grab my phone.

She's right – the text is from Elena.

Elena: I love you.

I smile immediately, easily, a full-grin. I love her too. Before I can respond, another text comes through.

Elena: Come to dinner with us tonight? Bonnie is making Chicken Spaghetti!

You know how much I'd love that. God, I'd give anything for a normal dinner with my family, but they're still at Bonnie and Jeremy's… at this point, my anger with Jeremy is near boiling point and my being near him a bad idea. Very. Bad.

I give her a quick apology with my denial, explaining I have an interview early in the morning and maybe I'm being too cautious, but the 'Oh, Okay' she sends as a response feels off… odd, I think she's feeling somewhat rejected.

Not good this early on in our reconciliation.

Me: What about lunch tomorrow? After the interview. We can all go up to the zoo in Charlotte.

Maybe I'm imagining it, but while I wait for Elena's response I swear I see pre-zoo trip excitement in my daughters smile.

Elena: We can't. Allie has school and Grayson has a well-check with the new pediatrician…

Elena: Monday night dinner?

I play it out in my mind, how this dinner in Jeremy's home would work, and I swear to you I try very hard to find a scenario that doesn't end with me punching him in the face for being such a dickhead, but I come up with nothing.

Me: Believe it or not, I've got another interview on Tuesday morning. This one is not as early, but a farther drive. I'd say Tuesday night, but I'm planning on spending most of the night and probably a lot of Wednesday morning at the house. Repairs and whatnot.

The movers will deliver everything Wednesday afternoon, so that leaves me two and a half days to do a list of small repairs and updates. Sounds like an easy schedule until you add in the two interviews I'd lined up before the movers called and the laundry list of reading material from Klaus. Add to that my helping Caroline with Matt and that looming criminal activity... so though I am being less than honest with Elena about why I can't make it to dinner with Jeremy, it's not a complete lie.

As she plays with her Lalaloopsy doll, Allie is quietly singing a song I've never heard, singing in a language I don't know mind you – Slavic maybe? – as I do my best to let Elena down as easily possible. Let's face it, at this point, our relationship may as well be an egg shell pasted back together with school glue.

Elena is usually quick about responding, but my chest starts to get tight as I watch the screen of my phone stay dormant all the way through Allie singing two more foreign songs and the start of that Siamese Cat song from Lady and the Tramp.

By the time Allie has finished singing and is now pretending to be painting the walls of the living room and Grayson is beginning to wriggle out of his nap, rubbing his nose against my chest and pressing his warm, soft hand against my unshaved face as he stretches, I'm fully convinced that I've managed to both hurt and offend my wife in my trying to avoid killing her brother. Luckily, my highly imaginative 6 year old gives me an idea.

Me: Spend the night with me? Tuesday night. It'll be a christening sleep over for us at the new house. We can order pizza and drink wine while we work.

Me: Or just drink wine. ;)

Seconds later – like I said, she's usually quick to respond – I read,

Elena: YES! I can't wait!

My thoughts go wild – completely wanton and unrestrained thoughts that go something like …red wine on her pretty lipped smile, the way she looks at me when she laughs… an entire night alone with my wife after so many weeks apart… in an empty house… that raspy way she groans out my name…

I can't wait either.