Surprising Lover (TVDxOC) (Complete)

Coming Home Was a Mistake

Grace and Stefan are having breakfast in the Salvatore boarding house when Grace's phone rings. They find out from Matt that Tyler's dead. Matt has arrived at the Salvatore Boarding house and Grace takes a seat next to a disheartened and broken looking Matt. Tyler's coffin is in the corner of the room, Stefan looking down at Tyler's corpse pondering what Damon had done.

"It's not gonna bring him back."
"Tyler deserved more than to be collateral damage in whatever game Sybil's playing with Damon."
"Yeah. I can't even remember our last conversation. We haven't talked in months. We've both been so busy. After everything we went through, I guess I just always assumed that he would be there."
"I'm at a loss with Damon. I don't know what to do with him anymore."
"Maybe the best thing to do is just to mourn Tyler with your friends. We all owe him that."

Matt, Stefan, Grace, Paul, Caroline and Alaric are carrying Tyler's coffin through the cemetery towards the other Lockwood graves, to be buried with his family.
"I was wondering when you guys were gonna show up. Body's probably starting to smell a little bit. Tried to keep it as intact as I could. But I got to admit, I got a little carried away about the whole ripping-the-throat-out thing. My apologies to Donovan. I'm sure you cleaned him up real nice. What are you gonna do with that? Stake me? Go ahead, try it. But first... take your pick. 'Cause I'm gonna bury everyone of you. Easy... underestimating me is what got Tyler killed. Matt Donovan, the only living boy in Mystic Falls. You know, it's shocking you managed to stay human this long. Maybe, I should fix that."
"Is that why you came home, Damon? To make empty threats?"
"Not empty, brother. Don't move or I'll snap his neck. Give Matt here a non-transferrable invitation to our supernatural breakfast club."
"Damon, enough!"
"Sweet Grace! How many innocent people did you kill on your no humanity bender, hmm? Doesn't matter what you say or don't. The devil knows what you did."
"What's happened to you?"
"What's so surprising about this? I'm who I've always been!"
"No. No, you're different."
"Professor Ric Saltzman, everyone! Certified genius. Knows you better than you know yourself!"
"Damon, just go! Nobody wants you here."
"You all despise me, right? Just so we're clear, hmm? I killed Tyler, you hate my guts, our ties are severed, huh? Great. If you thought there was any remaining opportunity to rescue me, let this prove you wrong."

(Phone call, Bonnie, Grace and Caroline)
"It was awful. Like Damon's desperate for us all to hate him."
"Sorry I wasn't there. I wanna be there. I just... I can't leave."
"Please tell us it's going better than it did yesterday."
"It's worse, if that's even possible. Drying him out didn't work. Starving him didn't work. I played the guitar. I told him our history. It's like talking to a brick wall. What did it for you, when you had your humanity off? What made you break free ?"
"I had to face my biggest fear. That I wasn't worth loving anymore. And that my mom would be ashamed of me. I had to be reminded how much she loved me, and then I had to want to live up to that. Is that helpful?"
"Yeah... it is."
"Keep us posted."
"And don't worry about not being here, we'll give Tyler a proper goodbye when this is all over."
"Yeah.. when will that be?"
"Soon. I hope."
"I hope so, too."
(Hang up)

"Remember, it's not Damon. This is Damon under the control of a she-devil. We have to find a way to break her control and we will. I've got my interns working on it."
"And, in the mean time, what, let him run wild and kill another one of our friends?"
"I am trying to prevent that, you know?"
"Look, even if we break Sybil's hold, once Damon realizes what he's done, what Elena will think of him, he may not recover."
"What are you suggesting?"
"While we figure out how to save Damon from the sirens, we have to figure out how to save him from himself. We have to put him down."
"For how long?"
"As long as we need to."
"You sure?"
"It's for his own good. And it's the only way that we can protect ourselves."
"I swear, if Seline wasn't so good with the girls, I would hate her. She's too perfect to be a real person. Who's that for?"
"Got a text from Damon a little while ago. He wants to meet up at the carnival."
"Why the carnival?"
"I don't know. But this is my only chance, I don't know if I'll get another so I have to take it."
"Are you gonna need some help?"
"No. I'm not putting you in any more danger, Grace."
"Two vampires are better than one, it's basic math."
"I have to do this on my own."
"It's the right thing. Okay? You know it is."
"He might not forgive me after this. And I might lose him forever."
"You already lost him."

"Thanks for coming. I thought we could give the funeral another shot."
"Welcome back."
"We're here to... honor Tyler."
"He was strong. In the face of so much loss."
"He fought the darkness inside himself and won. I respected the hell out of him."
"Tyler was willing to sacrifice everything for us."
"He cared about all of us. And he was my best friend."
"He was so much more than a small-town kid and he lived so much more than a small-town life."
"I loved him. You know, we all did."
"Look, we don't know what'll happen next to any of us. But we can't let that haunt us. We can't let that make us forget what we mean to one another. A few years ago, I sat on top of that Ferris wheel with Elena and I told her how important it was to appreciate these moments. Because moments are all we have. So in honor of Tyler and Elena, we need to keep creating moments like these. We need to remember to live."
Grace and Stefan have walked a little away from the group.
"Wow. You know, I realized that I never said thank you."
"I'm going to be your wife. Which means helping you and protecting you. Even saving you, if I have to."
"Well, hopefully you won't have to do that anymore."
"I remember the last time that we were at a carnival. I didn't know how I could possibly deal with an eternity of being with my darkness. And you told me the only way to get through it is to tell yourself that you're strong enough. Every day. Stefan, you're strong enough. And if you ever doubt that, I'm gonna be here to remind you."
 "You gonna be mad if I tell you I'm happy to have you back here?"
"I just wish it were under better circumstances. I'm sorry that I've been M.I.A. I've just been going through some stuff."
"Story of our lives."
"So how are the girls?"
"Practically teenagers."
"So I'm guessing you have a photo or two."
"Uh, that's them playing with the puppy filter, first day of school, uh, crafting at a friend's birthday party... Oh, I love this. Seline sent it, from earlier today."
"Seline?"
"Mm-hmm. The nanny. I know, Paul hired the hot nanny."
"No, Grace, you need to get home now."

"Lilith?"
"Hey, Ruby? Girls?"
"Lilith?"
"Girls?"
"Ruby? (Grace lets out an exasperated sigh; the girls are nowhere to be found.) Girls? Girls!"
"Girls?"
"Paul..."