A/N: Just a short bit of fluff revolving around one of Tyler's transformations. This is dedicated to Elsa for encouraging me to put publish my T/C stories on here! Thanks for all the reviews so far, you guys are awesome! :)
Rating: T
She can't do it again. She won't. Yet time after time, she stays. Every month the pain is shorter but every month she's so much more in love with Tyler that watching him suffer helplessly is worse than dying. She would know. She tries not to cry as he writhes against stone but her eyes are blurring so he's just a haze of flesh and grey. He tells her not come, gets so angry that his eyes flash and she can't help but shudder at the shadow of the predator lurking there. She knows it's just fear that has him punching his hand through a wall, it's only fear for her. He calls her a stubborn moron with a hero-complex and that if she follows him again this time he'll never speak to her again. She just shrugs her shoulders and replies blithely that she likes the sound of her own voice so bring it on. He storms out of his house and she doesn't see him again until sunset, it's not like she doesn't know where he'll be.
"Caroline, go away."
He sighs in frustrated resignation. Yanking the chain he's attached to his leg a little harder than neccessary.
"You need help with the rest of your chains."
He gazes at her with a tormented mixture of such fierce affection and desperation that her heart aches.
"Please."
She shakes her head determinedly.
"No Tyler. It's you and me, always. We have this argument every month and you never win. Just save your energy for transforming."
She can see in the drop of his shoulders that he's relenting.
"Stay by the gate then."
He strides towards her and kisses her so intensely he has her stumbling back against the wall, his leg chains clinking in the silence. She cups his face and tries to transfer her strength into him but maybe it achieves the opposite because soon after he's resting his head against her collarbone and struggling for breath.
"Tyler-"
"You're amazing, you know that?"
Caroline walks her fingers down his cheek as he continues to lean into her.
"I thought I was a stubborn moron with a hero complex."
His laugh hums through her skin.
"That too."
"Dick."
"You love it."
The moment is broken though when he groans in pain.
"Better get the rest of this shit sorted."
She sobs once she's slumped down outside the cellar listening to the rest of his transformation. The stillness of the forest is so surreal, she always finds herself praying to whatever screw up god that lets creatures like her and Tyler exist that it ends quickly. Last month she brought her iPod, attempting to drown out the desperation and then the snarls but it feels like cheating. Hell shouldn't have a theme tune. So she sits and tries to focus on the sounds of her shaky exhales until morning.
The sunrise is always so beautiful, it's ironic that upon the first rays of orange light she feels back in the real world when for most of her 'kind' it's a dreaded sight. Maybe she is the true hybrid, to be what she is and yet suffer and detest the moon once a month. A cold thought seeps into her mind that some day in the future the progress of the moon won't mean anything. It will be a vague reminder of something forgotten. She and the moon will have forever. Tyler on the other hand…
She forces herself to focus back on the cellar and is relieved to hone in on erratic breathing, human existence.
"Tyler!"
She's next to him in a flash and presses all of herself against his side, he's mostly unconscious but his heartbeat begins to echo her own. It's a learned habit; he'll usually shake and spasm semi-awake as if in a nightmare until her skin makes contact with his and he relaxes. He'll sleep peacefully for a few hours to give his exhausted body time to recover and she does exactly the same. Hard stone isn't that unwelcoming after a night of frayed nerves. Sometimes he'll even reawaken first. He'll turn over so he cradles her body instead and nuzzles his face into her hair. The shift usually alerts her and he'll wrap his arms around her tighter.
"Morning."
"Hmmm."
She feels hungover so she can't imagine what he is waking up to.
"Caroline?"
"Hmmmm?"
He mumbles something into her golden locks.
"Huh?"
"I said I love you."
"I love this too. Cuddling is goooood."
She begins to fall back asleep but his chuckle reverberates through her skull and tickles her scalp.
"Caroline I said I love you. Obviously not for your comprehension skills but-"
"You love me?"
Her foggy mind begins to put the pieces together. She bolts up and spins around to face him. His amused gaze is infinitely tender and it stuns her for a moment.
"You…love me. You love me!"
Her hands shoot up to her mouth and she giggles in delight. She stares at him agape for a second as he watches her every movement intently. Anything that shifts attention to her mouth tends to occupy his time.
"Tyler you just said that you love me!"
Now he bursts out laughing, big belly laughs that probably hurt right about now.
"I do know what I said but thank you for confirming that."
"Shut up! You can't be all blasé, you just admitted-"
"- that I'm hopelessly, irreversibly in love with you Caroline Forbes."
He stretches his hand out to stroke her hair but then cradles her head gently so he can reach up meet her lips with his own.
"I cannot wait to tell Elena! She will freak!"
Tyler coughs awkwardly.
"Sure, but don't make me sound like a total sap."
She pats his head patronisingly, provoking him to pinch her on the bum. She slaps his probing hands away playfully before sobering.
"How are you feeling anyway? I hate that you have to go through this."
"You know what? It's worth it. If I had never been cursed I wouldn't be with you right now. One day a month of unbearable pain is okay as long as I get to have you all the days in between."
An 'awwwwww' sound slips out of her mouth and he immediately recoils in embarrassment. He scratches his head just for something to do and she knows it's one of those musings he's probably had for awhile but never intended to blurt out.
"I might not be singing the same tune the night of the next transformation but you get what I mean."
Caroline smiles indulgently.
"I get it."
"Yeah anyway…"
"I love you too you know."
She shrugs her shoulders and smiles cheekily at him. He practically lights up the dungeon with his grin.
"I know."
He shrugs nonchalantly back at her but he's having a hard time keeping a straight face. There's a loaded silence before they're all over each other. Tyler grunts quietly as his battered body supports her weight but she can't be careful. Doesn't care to. He can recover later.