- The Return

The next morning, Grace made her way to the hospital as soon as Matt called her informing that Caroline was now out of surgery and fully awake causing the red headed girl to attend to her best friends every need which wasn't surprising seeing as if it was the other way around Caroline would no doubt end up probably doing the exact same thing for her.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" Grace questioned with an concerned look on her face as she held a couple of magazines in her hands, "You've been out for most of the night and you haven't even touched your gross hospital jello. Unless you want me to go to the grill to get you something decent to eat" Caroline shook her head in reassurance as she grabbed Grace hand, " I'm fine, Grace. Trust me" Caroline beamed at her, " Besides, I rather talk to you about the British painter you've been saying. Come on I need details you've hardly even told me about him"

Grace furrowed her brows as she climbed into the bed next to Caroline as she let out a sigh tossing the magazines on the table next to the bed, " Well, if you want to know so badly, Nik's 25..." Caroline chuckled lightly as she wiggled her eyebrows playfully, " Oh, he's older. Definitely you're type then" Grace giggled nudging her shoulder against hers softly as she continued, " He's 25, he's kind of a history nerd, he knows everything about everything but I guess that's why I like him so much he's not like any other guy I've dated he's actually really smart. He's a little mysterious about his family though, He says it's complicated, must be why I've never met any of his siblings"

"Yikes, I'm sensing he has a lot of baggage" Caroline spoke sending the red headed girl a sympathetic look but Grace just shrugged her shoulders in return, "As someone who has baggage herself, I'm not one to judge. Besides, he's different with me while he might come by as a tortured artist there's just something about him... I can't explain it. I have always come second to Elena my whole life in everything but Nik he's always been there for me and puts me first no matter what it may be"

"You'll always be the one I choose first Grace. Your my person and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you" Caroline spoke causing tears to fill Grace's eyes as she smiled softly bringing the blonde into a tight embrace, " I'm so happy that you're okay. I wouldn't know what to do without the Caroline Forbes by my side" The two girls pulled apart as their chatter quickly ceased when Bonnie and Matt entered the room.

The dark-skinned girl was shocked to see Grace sitting next to Caroline in the hospital bed having a heart to heart but wasn't surprised seeing that the two girls acted more like sisters than best friends and knew that they would always be there for each other just like she is with Elena. Caroline beamed brightly at Matt and Bonnie not noticing the awkward tension between her two best friends, "Jersey Shore's on" Caroline stated happily as Bonnie sighed in relief rushing towards the blonde pulling her into a tight hug causing her to wince slightly, " Oh, Careful, still a little sore."

Bonnie immediately pulled away with an apologetic look and muttered under her breathe, " Sorry" Caroline smiled in reassurance as she glanced between Bonnie, Grace and Matt and informed, " but they say I'm healing really quickly" Grace and Bonnie shared a look knowing exactly why due to Damon giving the Forbes girl his blood for heal her injuries as if Damon didn't do this there would of been a chance where they would of lost Caroline for good.

"My turn" Matt spoke with a smile happy his girlfriend was going to be okay as he leaned in to give Caroline a kiss as Bonnie sniffled staring at Caroline with a guilty expression on her face as she came to realize that Grace was right if she didn't lie about de-activating the device Caroline wouldn't be here in the first place, "why are you crying?" Caroline curiously questioned with a look of confusion on her face.

"I'm just happy you're okay, Care," Bonnie replied wiping her tears away as Caroline beamed happily at her friends wrapping her arms around Grace as she exclaimed, " Oh,  I love you guys!" Grace leaned her head against the blonde's shoulder as she resorted, " I love you, too. Hey, are you going to be okay without me for a while. Richard Lockwood passed away and I want to check in with Ty make sure he's doing okay"

Caroline shook her head in amusement as she nudged Grace in the shoulder as the red headed girl climbed out of the bed with her hands on her hips, " I'll be okay, I promise. Matt will be with me the entire time, you worry way to much I'll see you later, okay" Grace hummed as she pressed a kiss on Caroline head, " Okay, I'm going. I'll check up on you later" Caroline chuckled as she watched Grace leave the room waving goodbye to Matt and Bonnie.

❀❀❀❀

After visiting Caroline in the hospital, Grace made her way to the Lockwood mansion ready to ready to comfort Tyler after the loss of his father. Grace and Tyler used be close as he was like her best friend before they dated but after finding out all about the supernatural they drifted apart but they were still friends and wanted to be there for him like he was for her when her parents died.

Her green eyes flickered over the numerous amount of people gathered around the household to pay their respects to the loss of Mayor Lockwood as she let out a heavy sigh walking up the stairs meeting Tyler who was stood by the door as he immediately pulled her into a tight embrace, " I'm so sorry, Tyler. I'm here if you ever need to talk at all"

"Thank you, Grace" Tyler smiled sadly as he pulled away from the red headed girl as he glanced around the lawn where the people of Mystic Falls were talking and drinking together to grieve the life of Richard Lockwood the mayor who had done so much for this town, " Does the pain ever go away?" Grace shook her head as she had a sympathetic look on her face, " I'm going to tell you what my sister once told me. It's going to hurt, it always will. Some days will be harder than others but eventually you'll remember the good times you had with your father too, hold onto those because it's the key to getting through this"

Tyler frowned at her words as he sent her a grateful look knowing those words her sister spoke helped her a great deal when she was grieving her parents death knowing if she didn't have her family and friends around her she would of probably spiralled out of control like Jeremy had done, " are you okay? I heard about the accident, what happened?" Grace curiously questioned changing the subject knowing that Tyler probably didn't want to talk about his father any more with people giving their condolences to the Lockwood boy.

" I don't know... I was driving Matt and Caroline home when suddenly there was this sound and I lost control of the car" Tyler informed with a look of confusion on his face as he remembered back to that night as Grace sent him a look as the same thing happened to her which is why she was took to the old Gilbert building to be burnt alive as she was mistaken for a vampire as she was also affected by the device.

Grace was confused as both she and Tyler aren't vampires but they were still affected by the device just like Richard Lockwood was even though the red headed girl is a witch and it shouldn't have impacted her at all. The youngest Gilbert twin was snapped out of her thoughts when Tyler called out, " So the black sheep returns" Grace turned around folding her arms across her chest when she caught sight of Tyler's uncle Mason who smiled as he made his way over towards the two teenagers, " Tyler? Grace?"

Tyler and Grace shared a look before nodding their heads in confirmation as Mason looked between the two with a look of surprise on his face as he continued, " what happened to you? In my mind, you're 12 years old. And I remember babysitting you, Grace. you were always so mischievous, antagonizing your sister to no end" Grace couldn't help but chuckle in amusement as Tyler shook his head and stated, " That's two years older than the last time you saw me, uncle Mason"

"Come here" Mason told his nephew with a small smile as he brought Tyler into a tight embrace before pulling away, " it's good to see you, man" Tyler nodded his head with a small smile and replied, "it's good to see you too. Come on inside" Grace frowned with a look of confusion on her face as she watched the two of them walk into the mansion before letting out a sigh as she grabbed a glass of champagne from a waiter and decided to explore to see if she can find anyone she knew.

❀❀❀❀

Elena was walking down the hallways of the hospital with Stefan by her side as she needed to speak with her father after what had happened with the device and the fact that Katherine had now turned up and attacked her uncle, "Ready for this?" Stefan questioned his girlfriend with an concerned look on his face noticing her hesitation.

The Gilbert girl nodded her head as she let out a heavy sigh before walking into the room making her way over towards her fathers hospital bed and called out, " John?" At the sound of his name being called he slowly opened his eyes but as he saw Elena his eyes widened in fear as he went to grab the panic button but was stopped by Stefan knowing exactly why he was afraid as his daughter assured, "I'm Elena, I'm not Katherine"

"We know she did this to you" Stefan commented narrowing his eyes at John who glanced between the two as Elena took a step closer to her boyfriend as she focused her attention on her biological father with a look of confusion and curiosity on her face as she spoke, "We need to know why" John ignored Elena and Stefan as looked around his hospital room in paranoia, " where is she?"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders as he kept his eyes on John with a look of irritation on his face and replied, " you tell us" John stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head as he looked between the two having no idea where Katherine actually is and informed, "I don't know" John tried to sit up on the bed only he was stopped by Stefan who placed his hand on his chest preventing him from doing so, " you're a little too weak to play tough guy. Why don't you just sit back and answer a few questions"

Elena grabbed her fathers hand and placed his ring on the palm of his hand as she pleadingly questioned in attempt to get some answers from him, "Please tell us. Why is she here? What does she want?" John remained silent not speaking a word making Stefan clench his jaw as he let out an annoyed sigh and told him, "She'll try again. we can't help you if you don't confide in us."

"In you?" John hissed with a look of disgust on his face as no way in hell would open up to a vampire as far as he was concerned all he wanted was to protect both Grace and Elena and get them as far away from vampires as being involved in the supernatural puts both his daughters in danger. " in your daughters, then" Stefan stated glancing over towards Elena before focusing his attention back onto John.

John harshly glared over at Stefan and harshly spoke, " my daughters should have driven a stake through your heart by now. I never spoke to her directly, she never trusted me. So either kill me or get out because I can't stand the sight of you with my daughter" Elena scoffed in disbelief shaking her head and resorted, " you see the world with such hatred? You nearly killed my twin sister and I swear to god if you ever think about harming a single red hair on her head I'll kill you myself before you could get yourself killed"

Stefan watched as Elena turned on her heel rushing out of the room as he was about to follow after her before he rushed over towards John gripping his throat tightly, "You may be okay with dying but I have a better plan for you." Stefan bit his wrist and forcefully placed it against John mouth making him drink his blood.

"You know, with my blood in your system all I have to do is kill you. Now take my advice.Leave town, Grace and Elena don't want you here." Stefan continued glaring at John in disgust, " you have 24 hours before the blood leaves your system, that's enough time to disappear or so help me god, I will turn you into a vampire and I will watch you hate yourself more than you already do" Stefan releases John who starting breathing heavily wiping the blood away from his lips as Stefan sent him one last warning before walking out of the room, "The clock starts now"