Title: I'll Still Be Here
Author: Katie (TheIrishShipperholic) and Erin (Erin Salvatore)
Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story
Show/Movie/Book: The Vampire Diaries
Couples/Category: Tyler/OC, Matt/April, Caroline/Klaus, Jeremy/TBD, Elena/Damon; AU
Rating: Mature/R, for the necessary chapters and foul language
Summary: AU. The unexpected loss of their friend Bonnie will bring Tyler a secret he's been keeping for over a year. Caroline will go to New Orleans. Matt gets the surprise of his life when the young girl he loves fiercely is pregnant. Jeremy will finally get a normal life while Elena & Damon decide to move to Italy. [Set after TVD 5x04/TO 1x04; collaboration with Erin Salvatore]
Author's Note: This will be the second and last canon collaboration Erin and I write together. There might be more, but we won't know for sure until we end some of the others that we're currently writing.

Chapter One
A shaky breath is released from the chest of Meghan Fell as the brunette witch finally pulled her van to a stop in front of the apartment complex her older sister lived in. Her brown eyed gaze went to her rear view mirror as Meghan checked on the sleeping toddler boy in the car seat in the backseat of her van. Meghan smiled as she watched T.J., her precious angel, while he slept. The memory of the last time she saw her toddler son's father rose to the front of the witch's mind and she forced it away when she heard T.J. stirring into a waking state. The witch turned around in her seat after removing her seat belt then smiled at T.J. as he rubbed his eyes free of his previous state of slumber. "Momma, what are we doing here?" he asked in a sleep-filled voice.

Almost two years old, Tyler James Lockwood Jr. had picked up more words than she was ready for him to learn, even though Meghan knew she couldn't keep her precious angel little forever. Meghan sighed. "We're here to see your Auntie Meredith, sweetheart. It's been a while since I've seen her and I thought we'd visit her."

T.J. nodded then smiled at his mom. "I love you this much, Momma," he said, opening his arms to show her.

"How much is that, little man?" Meghan said with a sniffle.

"I love you bigger than the sky loves the ground," he said.

Meghan smiled. "I love you just as much or even more, T.J."

He grinned at her then looked through the windshield behind Meghan. "Is that Auntie Merry, Momma?" he asked curiously.

Meghan whirled around to see that her sister had spotted their van in the parking lot and was making her way over to it. "That's your Auntie Merry, yes," she replied.

Meredith smiled at her sister. "Hello, Meghan." She looked at her nephew. "Hello, T.J. Are you being a good boy for Mommy?"

"Uh-huh," he replied with an eager nod of his head. Meghan smiled then climbed from the driver's seat before opening the back and began getting T.J. out of his car seat.

"Okay, Mr. 'Uh-huh', let's get you inside so that you can play for a little bit, okay?" Meghan suggested.

T.J. nodded even more eagerly and Meghan and Meredith headed up to Meredith's apartment, where there were was a play room for him T.J. to occupy himself in while the sisters talked. Meredith noticed that her sister was unusually quiet and it wasn't long before she said, "Everything okay, Meghan? You're awfully quiet."

"I'm scared, Meredith," Meghan confessed in a whispered tone.

"He hasn't asked anything about you since you left, you know. There's no reason to be scared anymore," Meredith told her.

"Still, I'm scared," Meghan said. "How am I going to face Tyler? I can't keep T.J. from him forever. He has to know his son and T.J. has to know about his father."

Meredith nodded. "And you will. If you're worried how he'll react, I'll be there with you when you do face him."

"You're the greatest sister ever, Merry," Meghan said with a grin, jumping out of her chair and pouncing onto her sister's lap.

"I'm your ONLY sister, Meghan," Meredith said with a groan when her sister's weight made her legs fall asleep. "Why the sudden need to be all energetic when I decide to be there for you, sis?"

Meghan smiled. "I'm just so happy, Meredith. I need all the help I can get when I see Tyler and tell him about T.J."

Meredith groaned again. "I can see how happy you are, but you don't have to jump into my lap and cut off my circulation."

Meghan looked down and giggled, moving out of her lap. "Oops, sorry," she said as she ran a hand through her hair. "I just want my eventual meeting with Tyler to go smoothly. He has the right to know the truth. I love him, Merry, and I love our son just as much."

"I know you do, sis, and I'll be there for you…like I always am," Meredith said with another smile, this time hugging her sister fiercely. "I just wish that my own love life hadn't gotten so screwed up."

Meghan knew that her sister was referring to the fling Meredith had had with Jonathan "John" Gilbert and that they had two children together, and she was not sure if her sister was willing to do this on her own, but she'd seen how good Meredith was with 7 ½ Savannah and 6-month-old Christopher. "It hasn't gotten screwed up, Merry. People and circumstances weren't in the right place at the right time when he decided to kill himself to remove himself from his daughter's and his nephew's lives."

Meredith sighed. "I guess you're right. I miss him very much. Raising Savannah and Christopher on my own hasn't been easy. They're too young to really know what happened to him now, but when they're old enough to know the truth, I know that I'm going to have to tell them about why their father had to leave them and their mommy behind."

"I know it's hard, but you're a good mommy, and you're doing a good job."

Meanwhile

Tyler was sitting behind the desk at his parents' mansion when he heard footsteps, and he glanced up to see one of his many hybrid guards stepping into the main office doorway. "Mr. Lockwood?" the guard hesitated with his question.

"Yes, what is it?" Tyler asked.

"She's here," the guard replied.

"Thank you. That will be all," Tyler said, his words the only dismissal the guard needed as the other hybrid turned and left Tyler alone in the office.

A few minutes later, Caroline entered, with a suitcase in her hand. "Tyler, we need to talk."

Tyler noticed the suitcase. "Where are you going, Care?"

"That's what I came to tell you," she replied. "I'm leaving. I can't take it anymore. You have hurt me too many times, Tyler Lockwood. I deserve better than that, so I've come to tell you we're over. I can't be with someone who doesn't want to be with me."

Standing and rounding the desk, Tyler moved toward Caroline then embraced her gently. "Go. Be with him. He's the only one who has made you happy. You have my blessing," he said softly before stepping back.

Caroline raised a curious eyebrow. "You're…actually giving me your blessing?"

Tyler nodded. "Yes. I realize now that I can't compete with Klaus for your affections. He's got me beat in every way. So, yeah, go to him, Care. He can give you more than I ever could."

His now ex-girlfriend replaced her curious look with a soft, warm smile. "I hope that you also find that one you told me about, the 'one that got away'," she told him.

Tyler nodded, knowing who she was referring to. "Yeah, I guess I should start looking for her. Hopefully, she hasn't forgotten me."

"Of course she hasn't, Tyler," Caroline said, giving him a reassuring smile and a final hug before turning and leaving the Lockwood mansion, her suitcase rolling noisily behind her. When she got out to her car, Caroline placed her suitcase in the back and climbed into the front, taking out her phone, scrolling down the list of contacts before coming to Klaus' number, going to the text option and began to type: "I'm on my way. Just broke up with Tyler. He gave us his blessing. Hope to see you soon. Don't get into too much trouble, okay?" Once she was done and had sent it, Caroline placed her phone into the cup holder and started the engine.

She pulled out of the driveway and turned her car in the western direction, smiling for the first time in days.

In New Orleans

Klaus heard his phone vibrate and looked at it, seeing that he got a text message. Opening the message, he saw that it was from Caroline, telling him she was coming to him and that she and Tyler were done for good. A smile appeared on his face as he read it. He had missed his little blonde angel dearly and knowing that she was coming to New Orleans to be with him was the most wonderful news he ever received.

Rebekah noticed the smile and looked at her brother. "What are you smiling about over there?"

Klaus looked up at her. "That is for me to know and you to find out, sister." With that, he put aside his sketchbook then left the room, holding firmly onto his phone so that she didn't get any ideas about trying to sneak into it behind his back.

Rebekah watched him go and snuck over to where he had placed his sketchbook, thumbing through the pages and her eyes widened when she saw the recent drawings. They were of her, the blonde vampire from Mystic Falls, the one he'd do just about anything for. No wonder he was smiling like an impish boy. "Oh, big brother…I will find out about her eventually," she said in a soft murmur before returning to her seat when she heard him returning.

Elijah was right behind him with that 'little wolf', the nickname given to Hayley by Klaus. "You can spare me the lectures, Elijah," he said. "I am well aware of the situation with Marcel. Though, I have something he doesn't have."

"Have you now?" his older brother replied. "And what is that exactly?"

"A Queen, only she doesn't know that she's my Queen," Klaus said. "Yes, brother, you heard correctly. My Queen is on her way here and together, we can take this city back and rule it side by side. I think that, after all this time, I can at least have some degree of happiness."

"Wait, what about me?" Hayley demanded.

"You are nothing but a means to an end, little wolf. I never did love you, but, since you are carrying my child, you are allowed to stick around," Klaus replied with a smirk.

"And what if your Queen learned about Hayley and the baby, Niklaus?" Elijah asked. "What do you intend to do about that? You know that you can't hide something like that. Not for long, anyway, since pregnancies tend to show themselves as time progresses. You're going to have to explain it."

"It won't be easy, but I do intend on telling her," Klaus said. "She'll be the one it calls Mother."

Hayley looked indignant. "She…it's a she, dick. I told you that when I found out."

"Yes, little wolf, I remember. The continuous reminders don't seem to be enough for you," Klaus said with an unhappy look on his face.

Elijah looked at Hayley. "Hayley, could you give Niklaus and me a moment alone, please?"

Hayley nodded. "Okay." She snarled at Klaus and then left the room, Rebekah following after her without being told.

Once Rebekah and Hayley were alone, the Original sister snatched a chunk of Hayley's hair by the roots. "Let's get one thing straight, Hayley…as my brother mentioned, you are nothing but a means to an end. When you bring up this so-called twice blessed child that you bring up constantly when he tries to change the conversation? It's going to keep getting a subject change. So, remember that when Caroline comes here, you'll only remain because either Nik OR Caroline allow it," she said, snarling to prove her point before letting the pregnant werewolf go.

"So, that's who his Queen is?" Hayley said. "I figured as much. The way he talks about her, you'd think she was already his wife."

"Let's get something else straight, Ms. Marshall, you are also NOT allowed to be in the same room with Caroline, because if memory serves me correctly, I learned that you were the one to help her boyfriend Tyler into breaking his sire bond to my big brother, am I right?" Rebekah said.

Hayley crossed her arms. "Yeah, I did. So?"

"So, it would be in your best interest to stay as far away from Caroline as possible."

"And if I chose not to listen?" Hayley asked.

Rebekah smiled evilly. "Then I will kill you and the baby."

Hayley gasped but didn't get a chance to respond before Rebekah was walking away toward the stairs.

Salvatore Boarding House – That Same Moment

Elena Gilbert stood by the window in the living room, not really looking at anything in particular. She hadn't said much since after the memorial, since it was hard to say anything without crying. Fortunately, she had Damon there to lean on. He was always there for her, in good and bad times.

She glanced over when she heard footsteps approach and she tried to smile at her boyfriend, but it soon faltered. "You don't have to pretend around me, Elena," Damon said softly as he moved closer then hugged her from behind.

The brunette vampire nodded. "I keep forgetting that you can see right through me." She sighed. "It's just…I can't believe she's gone, you know? I've lost so much…first my parents, adoptive and biological, then Aunt Jenna and Alaric. Jeremy doesn't exactly count because he was only dead briefly. But, still, all of those losses hit me hard. The loss of Bonnie, it's fucked me in ways I can't describe. And don't tell me to turn off my emotions again, because I don't want to be that way again."

"Then," Damon started before continuing, "I say that we get out of town, so that you feel like you don't have to lose any more relatives."

"That does sound like a good idea," Elena said. "But, where can we go…Atlanta again, or New York?"

"I say…we go further than that. Let's go to Italy," Damon suggested.

Elena smiled. "Italy sounds great! I've always wanted to go to Italy!"

"Elena…" Damon paused. "What if we moved there and not just went for a visit?"

"You…You mean live there?"

Damon nodded. "That's exactly what I mean. Granted, this is a nice town, but after a while, you need a change in scenery. Hell, Caroline just left a while ago, no doubt heading to New Orleans to reunite with a certain Original that's been obsessed with her since they met."

"Caroline left? And she didn't tell me? I had to find out through you after the fact?"

"Relax, don't have an aneurysm," Damon said. "Call her. You have her number, right? So, just call her and ask her why she didn't tell you first."

Of course, Damon knew why. It was because she didn't want to worry her even more, what with the other things Elena was dealing with, including the dreams she kept having about Stefan and the mystery involving her adoptive father in connection to the death of their roommate.

He watched Elena step around him then begin dialing her best friend's cell phone number. "Caroline? It's Elena. Please, give me a call when you get this," Elena said into the blonde vampire's voice mail box before ending the call.

Damon watched as she placed her phone back down then asked, "Anything?"

"No, I had to leave her a voice mail," she replied. "Probably still driving and couldn't answer it." She sighed. "I guess I'll have to wait until she isn't focusing on driving so that she can answer her phone."

"She'll call back. Let's just wait for her to do so to start planning, okay?" Damon said as he gently embraced her. Elena sighed again and rested her head on his broad chest.

"Okay," she replied. "I suppose we could wait to make plans until I hear back from Caroline. She probably does have a good reason for not telling me before she left town, but I don't want to jump to conclusions without hearing what she has to say."

Mystic Grill – That Same Moment

April Young looked nervous as she walked into the Grill, sitting in a booth near the billiard tables. It was no mystery who she was here to see. She was here to see Matt Donovan in regard to something she just discovered earlier. She couldn't keep this to herself, she had to tell him before anyone else found out, the side effect of being in a small town.

But, before she could stop herself, the orphan found her mind drifting back in time, to weeks ago, when she last saw Matt:

Seven Weeks Earlier

She couldn't believe why she was suddenly so nervous about him, the person who had danced with her, the newest Miss Mystic Falls' was coming over to her house. And yet, here she stood, waving her hands to push the smoke from the pure black dish out the open window of her father's ranch house's kitchen. April had ruined the dinner she'd planned for them and she hastily removed her oven mitts then turned around and slid down onto the floor, her hair matting in place to the cool metal counter above the kitchen island. Matt arrived at April's house a few minutes later, seeing smoke coming from the kitchen and hurrying into the house, finding April against the kitchen island, looking like she had gone through hell. "April, are you okay? I saw smoke."

April looked at him. "No, I'm not okay. In fact, I feel like this whole evening is ruined. I burned the dinner I was making for us."

"I don't care about that," Matt said. "The most important thing is that you're in one piece." She shook her head hastily but was soon paused in doing that when she felt him cup her cheeks in his strong, callused hands before helping her stand up and then crashed his mouth to hers. April moaned against his mouth and returned his kiss, placing her hands on top of his. She then felt his tongue enter her mouth, pulling away a bit. Matt noticed this. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"I'm sorry, I…I guess I wasn't expecting that."

Matt nodded. "It's okay. I should've warned you before I did that."

Slowly, and with a bit of hesitance, April brought his face back down to hers and placed her lips against his. She let out a soft keening sound of pleasure when he deepened the kiss once more then gently sought out entrance between her lips with his silk and velvet tongue. April gave it to him, her slender hands lifting to move into the sandy blonde hair on Matt's head while his lowered to rest at her waist and then moving lower, to caress over her backside in that incredibly sexy pair of curve-hugging jeans she wore. "Matt, please…" she whimpered as she gently tore her mouth away from his.

"Please what, April? Tell me."

"Don't tease me. I don't like it," she murmured.

Matt kissed her softly. "Don't worry. I'm not going to tease you. I will give you everything you desire and nothing less." The previously soft kiss soon regained its earlier passionate momentum as Matt proceeded to guide April out of the kitchen, both of them whom had their eyes closed, and although the guiding was a bit unsteady, they still managed to make it into the doorway of the downstairs bedroom she had directed him toward. When they got there, Matt kicked the door shut with his foot. They were alone, but he wanted to really ensure their privacy. "Are you sure you want to do this, April? I'm all for it, but I want to make sure that this is really what you want."

Her answer was to simply step back from him, cross her arms down by her sides and proceed to wiggle the sweater dress she wore up and over her head. "Does this look like someone who isn't sure?" she asked softly once the sweater dress was tossed to the side and she gestured to her remaining clothes, a pair of leggings adorning her lower half while a bra far from demure, the color a dark rose pink, hugged the curves of her upper body.

Matt was stunned when he saw what she was wearing. "Wow. You look…amazing."

April shook her head no in silent disagreement. "I don't feel amazing. I'm still too…plain," she said softly.

"You're not plain, April," Matt said as he walked back to close the small amount of distance between them then framed her face in his hands, like what he'd done in the kitchen, tugging it gently up until their eyes met. "You're amazing and beautiful and gorgeous and very, very lovely. Hell, I wish I'd have met you sooner, because on that day at the Miss Mystic Falls' pageant? That was the day I knew that you were going to be the one."

April felt tears sting her eyes. Damn it, why did he have to be so sweet? "Matt, I…" She didn't get any more words out because Matt then captured her lips with his in a deep and passionate kiss.

And then he continued the backward trek toward their final destination, down onto the mattress of the bed, where he fell down with her. His hands wove into the black curls of her hair then left her head before tenderly, gently stroking down her sides and then back up, going around to unfasten the hooks of her bra, marking a trail of open-mouthed kisses down into her neck once the hooks were free and then moving down further until his mouth had closed around her left breast. April felt what he was doing, panting heavily before letting out a pleasurable scream.

Matt then began to lick a trail away from her chest, moving downward and toward her navel, where he used his tongue to stroke in circles. "Matt…"

"Yes, say my name," he said in a soft murmur against the skin beneath his lips. April then watched as he began removing her leggings, his eyes going wide when she saw the matching underwear that had come with her bra.

April trembled under his touch, never wanting him to stop. "Matt please, just take me. I…I want you!"

Rocking back on his heels while keeping her gently pinned to the bed, Matt ripped open the shirt he wore with the MYSTIC GRILL written in red (the shirt was a dark blue color) then proceeded to work on the frustrating belt that held his jeans up. April pushed his hands aside then did it herself before lowering the zipper and then pushing both his jeans and his boxers down past his hips, where he removed them the rest of the way then rejoined her on the bed.

Present Day

April shook her head as she remembered how happy they had been that night. The cooking fiasco had been forgotten and they had spent a wonderful night in each others' arms. Sighing, she placed her hand on her belly, hoping Matt would still want to be with her after she told him. A few moments later, she got her answer when she saw him approach her then lean down to brush his lips over hers. She eased away, however, and Matt noticed this, like he'd noticed that night they'd been together-together. "April, what's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant," she said in a rush.

"I'm sorry, what did you say you were?" Matt asked.

"I'm pregnant," she replied. "And before you ask, yes, it's yours."

"And how long have you known?"

"I found out yesterday and I've been working up the courage to tell you," April said. "I love you so much, Matt, but at the same time, I hope you still want to be with me. I know you have enough crap to worry about without me throwing a baby into the mix."

"A baby…my baby," he said, tears springing to his eyes as he put down the pitcher of the soda he was carrying around to pour into the glass of a customer down a few booth from April's and then knelt down in front of her, turning her gently toward him. His hand hesitantly lifted toward her still-flat stomach. Her own hand gently clasped his in between hers then brought it toward her stomach, pressing it gently and keeping it in place. Matt grinned up at her when he gently stroked her stomach through her shirt's material. "That's my baby in there."

"Our baby," she corrected him with a returned grin.

"Our baby," he agreed. "I like the sound of that a lot better."

April then kissed him gently. "I love you, Matty. We both do."

Matt returned her kiss, not minding that she had called him the nickname his sister called him. "I love you both too, April."