At home, Margret was upstairs in her room. She was on the phone with Amy. "So, you're coming to the party today, right?"

"I wouldn't miss it." Margret told her. "Besides, we could use it. How's Caroline?"

"I've been trying to reach her, but she hasn't been answering. Rob said Matt's getting concerned about her."

"She's fine, Amy. She's just having a hard time dealing with getting back to normal." Margret said. She was running out of ideas.

"So, you'll meet us there?"

"Of course I will." She hung up and headed downstairs, where Alaric and Jenna were talking.

"Hey, Margret."

"Hey, I heard about you're trip." Margret said. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks, but I think it'll take more than luck to deal with Damon." Elena said.

"Stefan not going with you guys?"

"He's got to help Caroline with…you know." Elena said, knowing Jenna was in earshot.

"Oh, right. Well, at least you've got Mr. Saltzman helping you out."

"Yeah, thank goodness." Elena said. "I'll see you later."

"Okay." Jenna came back into the room then.

"Well, looks like everyone's busy." Jenna said.

"Hey." Margret said. "I think you should give him a chance. Sure, things might be weird, but you like him."

"Wow. You sound so grown-up."

"I'm only sixteen." Margret said. "Anyway, I'm meeting the others at the swimming hole later."

"Hope you have fun."

A few hours later, the group was at the swimming hole. "This is so cool." Amy said.

"Is that Matt over there?" Margret asked.

"Yeah, he's still concerned about Care."

"So am I. it's not like her to miss an awesome party." Amy said.

"I don't think you have to worry about that." Margret said, spotting Caroline and Stefan at the edge of the woods.

"Hey, heads up, guys. We've gotta clear outta here by nightfall." Tyler announced.

"I'll bet it has something to do with Mason again." Rob said.

"You've gotta stop with the Uncle Mason conspiracy. There's nothing that the guy's hiding." Amy said.

"I know. It's just weird."

"Speaking of weird…" Margret said. She saw Caroline talking to a girl, looking directly at her. Then she realized what she did as the girl left. She headed over to her as Matt passed by.

"I cannot believe this." Matt said. "After days of no show, she suddenly shows up and becomes jealous."

"Well, that girl is kinda a flirt, man." Rob told him.

"I know, but Care's the only person I have feelings for." Matt said.

"She's been through a lot, man. Maybe you should give her a little space." Rob said.

"Well, she's been a little off lately, but that's partly cause of the incident." Amy pointed out.

Margret headed over to where Caroline and Stefan were talking. "Caroline, nobody deserves to have their mind messed with for shallow reasons."

"He's right, you know." Margret said. "I know you're jealous, but you can't just go around compelling everyone you hate."

"Great, like it's been going well already." Caroline said sarcastically.

"I told you this wasn't going to be easy." Stefan pointed out.

"Well, I may has well have stayed dead. My entire personality is killing me." Caroline told him.

"Yeah, and if you had, we'd all be devastated right now." Margret pointed out. "I know Amy would be."

"Hey, Care." Amy walked over to them. "I almost thought you wouldn't make it."

"Please, miss out on a party like this?" Caroline said.

"Come on, some of the girls from cheerleading are here and wanted to welcome you back." Amy said. Caroline looked at Stefan.

"Go on. You'll be fine." Caroline let Amy lead her over to where her friends were.

"So, I take it training's going well." Margret said.

"She's still struggling a little, but she's getting better." Stefan told her.

"You know what I don't get?" Margret said. "Amy said she practically flew into the shadows when they opened her window at the hospital, but it doesn't seem to effect her now."

"It's because she has one of these rings." He showed her the ring he was wearing.

"Do they have magic properties like the ones in our family?" Margret asked.

"Yeah, they prevent us from burning in the sun."

"That explains it. I was wondering about that."

"So how are things with Amy?" Matt asked.

"Well, they're great." Rob told him. "I will admit that watching her concern over her cousin kinda had me worried. She almost lost it."

"You two are good together." Matt said. "Sometimes I wish my relationship with Care was more like you guys."

"Well, she's probably still got some shock left. It's probably just one of those temporary bumps, you know?" Rob said. "I'm sure you guys will work it out."

"I think Matt hates me." Caroline said.

"Are you kidding? He was probably more worried about you than me and Aunt Liz combined." Amy said.

"Yeah, and look how I repay him."

"Hey, it isn't about owing him, Care." Margret said. "He loves you for you."

"She's right." Amy told her. "Besides, that other girl didn't really have the right to flirt with him anyway."

"Actually, from what I saw, he was turning her down." Margret said. "At least, before you two talked it out."

"Yeah. I guess it's silly that I'm jealous. I know he'd never hurt me like that." Caroline said.

"Hey, we all get a little insecure sometimes." Amy pointed out. "I was the same until Rob told me that he loves me."

"You two are dating?" Caroline asked.

"I know it's weird, but I really like him. He's a great friend and he's had my back for a while now, so we figured, why not? Even if it doesn't work out, we'll always have each other." Amy said.

"Wow. You sound so sure." Caroline said.

"You know, you're a lot stronger than you believe you are, Care." Margret said. "You'll get through this. I know it."

"You really think so?"

"I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't." Margret said. "You and Matt will be able to work things out, I'm sure."

"You know, it's kinda weird taking advice from my best friend's sister." Caroline said.

"True, but we're all friends here." Margret said.

"Hey, Care!" One of the girls called.

"Be with you in a minute." Caroline said. "Sorry, guys. You know how the cheerleaders get."

"Go for it." Amy said. Caroline left them. "She seems a little perkier lately."

"Maybe she just realized she's great the way she is." Margret told her. "Anyway, how are you doing with all this?"

"I'm just a little concerned. I wonder if she's been taking anything that they gave her, because I heard the meds can really mess someone up." Amy said.

"She's fine, Amy. She seems like herself to me." Margret pointed out. "Anyway, I think everything will be okay. She just needs a little time to re-adjust to things."

"You're right, Margie."

"So how are things with Rob, anyway?"

"They're amazing." Amy said. "He's been really supportive through everything. I think I might be falling for him."

"Amy, that's great." Margret embraced her friend.

"Yeah, enough about me. I heard about you and Alex going out the other night."

"It was just a school fair." Margret said.

"True, but you two did go on the Ferris Wheel, right?" Amy pointed out. "I want to know everything."

"Amy...nothing happened. We wound up clinging to each other at the top because we were so high up." Margret said. "We ended up talking about it and laughed it off."

"But you guys still had a good time, didn't you?"

"Of course we did. It was a lot of fun, up until I had to leave because a family emergency came up." Margret told her.

"I really think you two would be awesome together." Amy said.

"Are you kidding? He doesn't feel that way about me." Margret told her.

"Well, I think otherwise." Rob said as he and the other guys joined them.

"What do you mean?"

"I probably shouldn't say anything," Matt said. "But it seems like Alex has a crush on you."

"What?"

"You didn't know? It's kinda obvious." Amy said.

"Look, I like Alex and all, but I don't want to ruin things between us." Margret said. "Besides, I'm not sure I'm ready for a relationship right now. Not with…" She cut off, not wanting to spill the others' secret. She took a deep breath and walked away.

She headed toward the forest, stopping near a row of trees several feet away from everyone. Then she sat down and looked out at the water, where half the party was still hanging out. She heard a twig snap and looked up.

"You heard all that, didn't you?" She asked, without turning around.

"Yeah." Stefan sat down next to her. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." Margret lied.

"Margret, you don't have to lie to me. If there's anything going on, you can tell me."

"I just don't feel ready to get into a relationship right now." Margret said. "Alex is one of my oldest and best friends, and if we start dating, it'll change everything."

"When Elena found out about the whole vampire thing, I was worried that being around her would put her in danger, so I tried to leave town."

"I remember." Margret said. "She was really heartbroken when she found out. What made you change your mind?"

"I realized that no matter how dangerous our relationship was, it wasn't going to stop us from having feelings for each other." Stefan told her.

"Yeah, but I don't feel that way about him." Margret said. "At least, I don't think I do."

"No matter what happens, you can never run from love, Margret."

"You give really good advice."

"Well, I've been around for a while." They laughed.

"My sister's lucky to have you. I don't think I've seen her happier since before school started this year." Margret told him.

A few hours later, it started to get dark out. "We should probably get going." Rob said. "The sun's going down."

"Yeah, I know." Amy said. "Let's go before something happens."

"And you criticize me for not liking being out in the woods after dark?" Margret teased.

"I'm not scared, I'm just being careful." Amy pointed out. "You would too after the last few parties that were held there."

"Yeah." Margret said. Elena had pretty much told her everything that happened during those first few months. "Let's go."

At few hours later, Margret was looking at the bracelet she was working on, when she heard Elena come in. "How was the trip?"

"It was just great."

"You got into a fight with him, didn't you?" Margret asked.

"Yeah."

"Find anything out?"

"Not much that can help with this doppelganger thing, though we did find out about something else." Elena said.

A few minutes later, Margret looked at her. "He thinks the Lockwoods are werewolves?"

"I know it's crazy, but it could be true. We don't know anything for sure." Elena pointed out.

"First Rob, and now him? This just keeps getting weirder by the day."

"Wait, Rob?"

"He thinks it's weird that Tyler's uncle came back to town." Margret explained. "Honestly, how in the world do you deal with all this?"

"Like any other person would, one day at a time." Elena told her. "It's been a long day. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay." They both headed up to their bedrooms.