AN: The episode broke my heart, I really hope this is going to be very AU soon. Set like a hundred years in the future.
Warnings: If you haven't seen 4.14 (Down the rabbit hole) this will probably not make a lot of sense to you.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I'm not that clever (or evil)

She remembers that time foggy, like a dream, faded and confused. She knows what happened, she remembers the names, Elena, Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, Damon, Klaus… but they are all just names with stories attached. She wouldn't remember what her best friends from so long ago looked like if she didn't have photos. She hasn't seen them in… what is it now? A hundred years? Maybe it's more, probably, she hasn't exactly been keeping count, and time has an uncanny way of just floating past you when you're not affected by it.

There is only one person she remembers perfectly, she can't forget him, she's tried, she got rid of every photo of him many years ago in a desperate attempt to move on. She can still recall his face, remembers how his hair felt under her fingers. She hears his voice sometimes, not often, but every few years when she's feeling down she will hear it.

It doesn't hurt anymore, the memory of him, it has had too long to heal, and she has loved and lost others since. But there's something about him, the first one she truly gave her heart to. She remembers his hands on her skin, all heat and passion, she remembers them cuddling on the sofa, all comfort and safety, she remembers him clinging to her in pain after being hurt one way or another.

Most of all she remembers sending him away, saying good bye, begging him to be happy without her, him promising he would. She takes another sip from her drink, bars and clubs are one of the few places she still feels comfortable in, no, that's not true, she loves all the new stuff, but bars haven't changed that much and so she visits them at times like this, times when she wants to remember. The bartenders places a drink in front of her.
"From the bloke in the corner", she says and nods while Caroline muses over the british slang that seems to be everywhere these days, maybe it's just her.

She shifts her eyes to the dark corner, the music is loud and the corner is dark, even for her it's impossible to work out details. There's something familiar about him, something… he couldn't be… and before she can stop herself she feels the excitement rushing over her. She tries to cool it down, it's just because she was thinking about him just now.

This happened a lot in the early years, she would see someone with the same hair color, someone who moved similar, someone with a smell that reminded her of him, but it would never be him. As the years went by it happened less and less, because even if it was him, things wouldn't be the same.

All these things go through her head and still her heart refuses to slow down. He starts moving towards the exit and she think she can hear his voice saying her name, but there are too many voices and music is too loud and she is probably just imagining. She follows him before she knows what she's doing, her feet working by themselves. It's not until she's out of the club that she's sure, when she can distinguish his smell and hear his voice.
"It really is you", he says and she could never forget that voice, not in a million years. The first touch brings back memories she didn't even knew she had, it's not until she's holding him hard, ready to never let go that she allows herself too whisper his name, a name she hasn't said out loud in years and years.

Tyler

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