She's brushing her straight, blonde hair – staring at her reflection in the mirror as she sits at her desk – when her mom walks into her bedroom, a solemn look on her face, and sits down on the end of her bed.
Caroline promptly turns around to face her mother, instantly noticing the serious expression on her face, demanding to know what has happened.
She just knows something bad has happened. It is Mystic Falls, after all.
That's when Liz tells her daughter that she received a call early this morning, someone having found a body floating face down in the fountain – Carol Lockwood's body.
Ty.
Her thoughts are immediately consumed of him, fingering the silver charm bracelet that is clasped around her left wrist.
Tears spring to her eyes, realizing that the one person he had left was now dead.
He lost his father.
He lost his Uncle Mason.
And now – now he has lost his mother.
She stands up from the wooden chair, grabbing her purse next to her mom and her car keys on her bedside table, and walks out of her bedroom, ignoring the fact she is still wearing her pajamas from the night before.
She can hear her mom calling out for her, following her out into the hallway as she tells her to give Tyler some time alone to grieve the loss of his mother.
She ignores her protests, needing to see Tyler, to hold him in her arms to give him what comfort she could. She knows from personal experience that there isn't much she can say to him to make him feel better, but she needs him to know that he isn't alone – that she is going to be there for him.
If he wanted to vent she wanted him to know that she would be there to listen, if he wanted to cry she would be there to offer her shoulder and to wipe his tears away, and if he couldn't deal with planning his own mother's funeral she would take care of all the arrangements.
When she finally sees him it's at the front doorstep of the Lockwood mansion. He opens the door slowly, hoping his new visitor – which seems like the millionth – isn't someone from the media.
He's wearing the same dark green dress shirt he wore the day before, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top buttons undone – revealing a small portion of his chest.
She immediately see the bags under his eyes. She doesn't say anything, she simply lifts her hand to his face, and caresses the space above his cheeks.
He closes his eyes at the contact and she continues stroking his skin for a few more moments before pulling him in for a tight hug.
For a moment, his arms stay at his side.
"I'm right here, Ty," She tells him, running her fingers through his hair. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere,"
His only response is to lift his arms up to her sides, encasing her in them. He holds her close, burrowing his head into the crook of her neck and seeks for the comfort he knows only she can bring him.
fin.
