Bonnie once again wondered how she got involved in these situations. She had been working on hanging streamers when the Salvatores showed up and led her outside. Apparently, Jeremy wasn't able to get the moonstone because Tyler had given it to Mason.

"Okay, I'm not taking another step. We've been walking for almost half an hour and I'm pretty sure Mrs. Lockwood will kill me if I don't get back to work soon." She told them.

"I get it, but this is kind of important." Damon told her. She seemed hesitant.

"Look, we get how you feel about helping us right now, especially with everything going on with your friend." Stefan told her. "But you connected Mason with Katherine, so maybe we have a chance at getting an upper hand on them."

"I'm listening." Bonnie said. Just then, Stefan's phone started to ring. He looked at the caller ID.

"It's Elena." He told them. "I have to fill her in." He left to talk with her over the phone.

"Think you can see if Mason gave her the moonstone?" Damon asked.

"My visions don't work like that." Bonnie told him. "I don't get to ask questions."

"Right, forgot about that. What about that thing you do to take down a vampire?" Damon asked her. "You know, where you drop them by just looking?"

"It's like an aneurysm." Bonnie said. "Since I know they heal fast, I do it over and over till they pass out."

"Does it just work on them?"

"It'd work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability," She informed him. "But I don't want to hurt him."

"Look, I'm not sure who's side Mason is on, but I know Katherine wants to hurt Elena." Damon told her. "I'm just saying, maybe we could temporarily incapacitate him. I don't like it any more than you do, but we need to find out what's going on with them." Bonnie nodded, understanding.

About an hour later, they were at the Salvatore's house, with an unconscious Mason. "I brought this to tie him down. Doubt it'll hold him long, but hopefully you'll get the answers you need." Bonnie said.

"Thanks." Then she walked over to him and put her hands on his head. "What are you doing?"

"You wanted me to find to moonstone, right?" Bonnie pointed out. "Okay, I think I found it. Looks like it's…in a well." She got up and left. "I'm done here."

Back at the Lockwoods, Elena and Matt were still working on the outside decorations. "So where's Caroline?" Matt asked. "This is like her thing. I can't believe she's not here."

"She has something else to do." Elena told him. She could've just told him that Caroline was spending time with her mother, but she thought he wouldn't believe her. Heck, she could barely even believe it herself. But she supposed anything was possible.

"Is she seeing someone?" Matt asked her. Elena was surprised that he even thought Caroline was thinking about being with another guy. As far as she knew, she was into Matt, even if her recent change did complicate things.

"Matt, come on. She's not seeing anyone." Elena told him. At that moment, Stefan and Tyler showed up.

"Have any of you seen Mason?" Tyler asked them. Elena could feel that Stefan was nervous. Stupid blood bond! She thought to herself. She immediately turned red when she caught Stefan looking at her and remembered he could hear her thoughts now.

"He took off. He said he wouldn't be sure when he'd be back." Stefan told him. Elena had the feeling that he was lying.

"Weird. It's not like him to just take off. Then again, I wasn't sure why he even came here in the first place." Tyler said, walking away. Stefan's phone buzzed and he looked at it. Then he looked at Elena.

Elena, I might need back up. Meet me in the woods, I'm sure you'll figure out where I am through this bond. She heard him thinking. Then he left.

Elena turned to Matt. "Do I want to know?"

"We've been having a small fight." Elena told him.

"If you need some space, I can finish the lights." Matt said.

"Thank you, Matt." Elena said, feeling grateful. She wished she could tell him what he meant to her as a friend, but she knew they couldn't expose their secret. She took off in the direction of the woods.

At the Boarding House, Mason finally woke up, only to find himself tied up. "What is going on here?"

"Good. You're awake. I was starting to get bored." Damon walked over to him. "I'll let you go, but first you need to answer a few questions."

"Fine by me. I'm clearly not going anywhere for the next hour or two." Mason said.

"What the hell is this?" Damon turned around and saw Jeremy. "What are you doing?"

"Relax, I'm not the kind who would torture someone for information."

"Then why'd you tie him up?"

"So he wouldn't try to escape when we asked him about the moonstone."

"How do you know about that?" Mason asked, getting their attention.

"The how doesn't matter. Why were you after it to begin with?" Damon asked.

"Because I don't want Tyler to end up like me. If the curse is broken, then there's no risk of him turning into a werewolf." Mason told him.

"How did you find out about the moonstone, anyway?" Jeremy asked him.

"There was a family legend about the stone passed down for years." Mason said. "I didn't know it was real until Kat told me about it." Damon and Jeremy looked at each other.

Elena went into the woods and found Stefan no problem. "Stefan?" She thought.

"Right here." She glanced in the direction the thought came from and found him standing by a well.

"What's going on?" Elena asked aloud.

"Bonnie thinks the moonstone's down there." Stefan explained. They uncovered it. "You want to check this out?"

"I could probably get out faster." Elena told him.

"Careful down there." She nodded, then she jumped into the well. As soon as she touched the water, she figured out why Mason hid the stone down there. There were vervain plants in the water and it was burning her skin.

"Elena, what's going on?" She heard Stefan ask. She wasn't sure if he was speaking or using their bond, but she was glad he was there for once.

"This water's full of vervain!" Elena thought. "I'm going to need help!"

"Hang on."

Stefan found a chain next to the well and tried to move it, but it was too heavy for him to move. Luckily, Caroline arrived at that moment. "Where's Elena?" She asked.

"She's down there." Stefan told her. "It's full of vervain. We have to help her." Caroline grabbed the chain.

Back in the Boarding House, the guys were still talking.

"So, how do you know Katherine?" Damon asked.

"She helped me when I first turned, about a year ago." Mason said. "We've been hanging out ever since."

"Really? Cause last I checked, hanging out didn't mean…"

"Shut up, Jeremy." Damon said.

"Look, I never meant for things to go that far." Mason told him. "Sure, she's pretty and all, but I've got a girlfriend back home."

"Okay, here's the thing. I think Katherine's using you." Damon told him. "I know because she's been messing with us since she got here. The second she gets what she's looking for, she'll probably either leave you for dead or ditch you."

"Then it's a good thing she'll never find it." Mason said. "I've got it hidden somewhere safe."

"Wait, you believe us?" Jeremy asked.

"You guys have never given me a reason not to." Mason pointed out.

"Here's the thing, though. As a vampire, Katherine's probably going to be out for revenge once she figures out you betrayed her." Damon said. "I know you want to help you're nephew, but for your own safety, I think it's going to have to be at a distance from now on."

"Damon…" Jeremy began.

"No, he's right. Think about it, if I die, who else does Tyler have that can help him with this?" Mason pointed out. "I have to leave, at least I'll still be able to call him if he needs help. Gilbert," Jeremy looked at him. "Make sure he stays safe."

"I will." Jeremy said.

Back at the well, Caroline was helping Stefan. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am." He told her. Just then, Bonnie showed up.

"What's going on? You took off in a blur."

"I heard Elena scream. She's in trouble." Caroline said. "Please, help us." They both lured Stefan into the well. When he got close to the bottom, he found Elena.

Elena? He thought. When he didn't get an answer, he realized it was because the vervain burned her so badly that she'd passed out. He took the chain and put it around her. "Help her up! Hurry!" He called to Caroline. She quickly lifted her friend out of the well. Bonnie was horrified when she saw how bad Elena was burned and quickly unchained her.

While they helped Elena out of the chain, Stefan found the moonstone and placed it in his pocket. "Stefan!" Caroline called. "We're ready for you!" He held onto the chain and let her bring him up.

"You okay?" Bonnie asked him. He nodded.

"How is she?" Stefan asked.

"It's okay. I gave her some of my blood." Bonnie told him. "It was the only way I could save my friend."

He looked at Elena. She was still unconscious, but her burns had healed. "You're going to be okay." He told her, holding her close.

A few hours later, he walked into the Boarding House. "All this for that?" Damon asked.

"I guess so." He tossed the moonstone to his brother. "So, how'd it go?"

"He's left town." Damon told him. "It was for the best, otherwise, she would've killed him."

"Yeah, Tyler seems really on edge." Stefan said. "I hope he'll be okay with all this."

Suddenly, a phone started vibrating. They looked at each other. Eventually, Damon picked up.

"Hello?"

"Damon, for once, I'm surprised." Katherine said. "Have you seen Mason?"

"No, I haven't seen him." He lied. "He took off from setting up hours ago, haven't heard from him since. I think he took off."

"Are you serious?" She sounded like she was tired.

"It's been a busy day. Though he hid the moonstone in a vervain-filled well, so I doubt he trusted you." Damon said. "I could set up a meeting between you two if you'd like."

"Thanks, but I never go back once a guy walks out on me." Katherine said.

"Right, because you've started hitting on me the second you got back in town." Damon pointed out.

"First off all, I was the one who left in that instance." Katherine said. "And second, do you really think I don't have a back-up plan? See you." She hung up. Damon tossed the phone against the wall.

"I hope he has a replacement plan." He said. Stefan was just looking at him in shock.

Back at home, Elena walked inside. "Where's Jeremy?" She asked.

"He headed to his room." Alaric said. "He seemed kind of stressed out." Elena noticed Jenna was on the phone. She didn't want to eavesdrop on her, since she trusted her. "Everything going okay?

"Yeah, I'm fine, Ric." Elena said, taking one of her bottles out of the refrigerator and started to leave.

"Elena." Jenna's voice made her turn around. "It's for you." She handed her the phone.

"Hello?" Elena asked.

"Hello, Elena." She heard a voice on the other end of the line that sounded just like her.

"Katherine."

"Did you enjoy your little meeting with Stefan this morning?" Elena seemed stunned. "I will always know, Elena. I will always be one step ahead of you. When are you gonna figure that out?" Katherine asked. "Do you know how easy it was to get inside of your house? To replace Aunt Jenna's vervain perfume to convince her to stop drinking her special tea?"

"No." Elena said.

"Jenna's been my little spy for days now." Katherine said.

"You compelled my aunt?" Elena asked, furious. "That is really low of you."

"Have you met me? I don't like playing the bad guy, but I'm good at it." Katherine told her. "Jenna actually listens to me so when I suggested that the world would be a much better place if she was just…" Elena noticed Jenna holding up a knife toward herself.

"No!" Elena rushed over to her and pushed her to the ground. When she checked for wounds, she felt a cut near her abdomen and saw she was bleeding, but otherwise unharmed.

"Well, you got the idea."

Elena hesitated. Alaric had seen everything that'd happened. "Can you help her?"

"After what Katherine did to Caroline?" Elena pointed out. "I can't risk that happening to her, too. No, this time we're doing it the old fashioned way. Call the hospital, I'll get Jeremy."

At the hospital, Elena met Jeremy in the waiting room. "Is she okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah, she's going to be fine. Turns out, it was just a scratch, but still…" Elena shook her head, refusing to even think about it.

"Did she remember what happened?"

"No, nothing. It's all part of Katherine's mind compulsion." Elena told him.

"Why would Katherine hurt Aunt Jenna?" Jeremy asked.

"Because she's trying to send a message, that she could get to anybody." She said. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, come here." Jeremy put his arms around her. "It's gonna be okay."

"No, it's not." Elena pointed out. "All our human friends, they're in danger."

"Hey, we can protect them." Jeremy told her. "And somehow, we're going to make her pay for this."

Stefan was in his room when Elena entered. She'd called earlier and told him what Katherine had done to her aunt. "I'm sorry." He told her when she walked in.

"I'm the one who should apologize." Elena said. "For what I'm about to do. I can't believe we thought sneaking around was going to work, that we weren't going to get caught."

"I know, but our relationship's been risky from the beginning." He pointed out. He saw her frowning.

"And now, Jenna's at the hospital and for all we know, you could be next, or Bonnie… or Matt!" Elena hadn't realized her voice was rising until she said it. "And it's all because of us."

All around her, she could feel Stefan's guilt and sadness, which were probably amplified because she felt the same way. Please, don't say it. He thought. You know I feel about you. She could actually hear his desperation, which made her heart break even more.

I have to. I don't want to do this, but our friends are in trouble. This is the only way. I'm sorry. Then she spoke aloud. "Stefan, I love you so much and I know you love me the same way, but we can't do this anymore."

"I know. Guess I'll see you around?" He asked her. She knew he was heartbroken. Stupid blood bond. She thought to herself as she started crying again. She kissed him one last time, then started to leave. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Stefan on the way out.

"Elena, wait." She saw Damon enter the hall as she headed for the door. "It's my fault. Katherine called and I pissed her off."

"It doesn't matter, Damon." Elena said. "Cause we're over. Katherine won."

"Hold on a second, I went over some of my research on blood bonds earlier." He told her.

"And?" She asked, hoping it'd provide an explanation as to why she and Stefan were still bonded.

"It turns out, that while it's rare, it can sometimes occur between a vampire and a human if…" He seemed to hesitate.

"If what?" She asked.

"If the vampire and human are in love with each other." Damon finished. "It has to be real on both sides for a blood bond to form, which is why it doesn't affect all vampires." Elena seemed shocked by this news. Then, slowly and silently, she walked out the door and out of Stefan's life. For now, at least. She thought to herself as she headed home.