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Part 3
"What do you think you're doing, Blondie?" Damon demands.
Caroline jumps, nearly dropping her charm bracelet. "I'm putting my bracelet back on. It's been nearly two days and..."
"And...no Blondie. The bracelet reeks of Wolf-Boy. Klaus will be able to smell it a mile away." He flashes to her and grabs her wrists, shaking them until she drops the bracelet onto her dresser. "Put the other bracelet back on."
She looks down at the charms, reaching down to touch the wolf paw. She is about to protest, when Elena enters her bedroom.
"Care, please. What Damon means to say is: Klaus is starting to trust you and we need to keep it that way."
Damon smirks and moves over to Elena's side. "Exactly, Blondie. Now, be a good Barbie and put the diamonds back on."
"Damon, get out." Elena's voice is surprisingly stern, and has the desired effect.
"Look, Caroline..."
"If you're gonna make another excuse for Damon, save it, okay?" Caroline huffs, blowing hair away from her face as she struggles to put the diamond bracelet on one-handed. Failing, she groans, near tears. "I hate this thing, Elena! The bracelet, the plan, Klaus, Damon! All of it."
Her friend frowns and moves to help her with the clasp, but Caroline moves away. "I got it." She sighs, both in relief and disgust when the clasps closes. The bracelet, though light against her wrist, feels like a ball and chain.
"What do you even see in Damon?" Caroline asks.
"I..." Elena begins to answer, falters.
"You remember what he did to me, right?"
"Caroline…"
"What? Caroline, don't be irrational? Don't be so impulsive? So judgmental? So shallow? So selfish? What, Caroline what?"
"Don't be so unforgiving..."
"Are you fucking serious?" The curse word causes Elena to jump, because Caroline isn't one to cuss. "He used me, compelled me, abused me...raped me."
Elena's eyes go to the carpet. "I...technically I'm still with Stefan."
"That's...just great, Elena."
"Caroline..."
The blond sighs. "Elena, I'm just worried about you, okay? He's dangerous. He's not a good person."
"It's not always that simple..."
"Sometimes it is."
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"I'm exhausted, Bill."
"I imagine so," is the only response he receives.
"It's been nearly two months..."
"More like a month."
The older man grabs a bottle of water and stands from the couch. "Get ready. We're starting early today."
Tyler wants to cry.
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"So, you want me to date him so I can stake him?" Caroline asks. She feels lightheaded.
"Yes, blondie," Damon confirms, rolling his eyes.
"Listen, Caroline, this needs to be done. I know it sounds scary..." Stefan's voice is soothing, hands hovering over her forearms.
She wants to ramble, to freak out, to refuse. Instead, she nods. "Uh, yeah, he's a psycho killer, Stefan!"
But, psycho or not, Klaus being gone means Tyler can come home.
She takes a deep breath. "Okay."
Both Salvatore men look shocked by her easy agreement.
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Klaus looks disturbingly human, smiling at her, blue eyes crinkled at the corners. She hates him. She wonders how he feels before he kills his victims, how he felt when he gambled with Tyler's life.
"So, Caroline, how was school?"
She hates the way he says her name, like he worships it. A year go, all she wanted was to be noticed, chosen first. Now, she wants to be invisible.
She smiles. "It's alright."
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Unlike other nights, there aren't any kicks, threats, hits, insults, just a simple command:
"Change."
At first, Tyler is startled, wondering if he heard right since he isn't even shackled yet.
"What?"
"Change." He shrugs. "Do it."
He elaborates, "start with your hands. Imagine the muscles and bones shifting. I recommend not looking."
"You're nuts...I can't..."
"Tyler..." The tone is scolding and Tyler feels the wolf stirring, but he quickly stomps it down; something he wouldn't have been able to do so easily before. Still, he feels his eyes change, and Bill merely rolls his. "Don't regress, son."
Tyler growls and denies the accusation.
"Don't be afraid of changing at will, of channeling your aggression. It doesn't even have to be anger that stirs it."
Afraid? He scoffs. "I'm not afraid."
"Do I really have to trigger it, again?" A sigh. "Would you like to take a night off?"
"NO!" The answer is immediate and instinctual. He needs to get back to Caroline. A break isn't optional. "Just, tell me how to channel...or whatever."
"Relax."
He does, mostly. He knows from experience that this is going to hurt.
"Think of something that makes you emotional, but not so much that you can't contain it." Pause. "Now focus on your left hand and imagine your fingers becoming longer, hair follicles expanding and hair thickening into hair."
He does. It hurts like hell. He screams. The pain lasts a moment, then subsides.
"Open your eyes, son." There is a sound of awe in Bill's voice.
Tyler opens his eyes hesitantly and feels a weight lift from his shoulders. He is close, so close to going home to Caroline. "Wow."
The pain had been worth it.
His hand has elongated into a paw of sorts.
"You'll be able to do that without the pain soon."
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The next day, they are sitting side-by-side on the sofa, beers in hand. The sun is low in the sky, and Tyler dreads the full-moon tonight.
"I can control it!" Tyler grumbles, fists clenching. "You even said that."
"I said, you were making progress," Bill corrects.
"I'm ready to go back." He sounds desperate to his own ears.
"Not quite, son." That's the only response he gets, before the older man starts reading the damned book, again.
"What the hell is that book?"
Silence. Tyler slams his open palm down onto the coffee table. He grabs at the book, ripping it in half with little effort. Bill's eyes, so much like Caroline's, narrow. He doesn't look scared, just disappointed.
The older man sighs and stands up. "Get ready and meet me in the cellar, kid."
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They're all gathered around the main room of the Salvatore boarding house.
Stefan and Elena are a couple inches further apart than normal, but still wrapped around each other. Bonnie is hunched over her grimoire,Pepsi bottle dangling from her dainty fingers. Matt is huddled in the corner, awkwardly shuffling his feet. Damon is shirtless and draining a whiskey bottle, reminding Caroline that vampires really don't need to breathe.
She feels bile rise up in her throat. Because Damon, her abuser, is here, and Tyler, her boyfriend, isn't. And she has to pretend to like a killer and possibly kiss him in the near future. And this party is supposed to be a celebration of being one-step closer to earning his trust, and she hates it all.
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"Like the last full moon, the goal is to not change."
Tyler sits down on the cool floor, the shackles heavy on his legs and wrists.
"You did good last month, son." Bill takes a seat next to him and hands him a beer. "You're gonna do better this time. I know it."
"I failed last month."
"No, you didn't."
"Felt like it."
Bill changes the subject."So, what are your plans after graduation?"
"At this rate, I might not graduate on time."
Bill shakes his head. "Nah, we'll get you back on time for that. Maybe, not for any of the parties, but I'm sure you've had plenty of fun, right?"
Tyler snorts. "Right. Loads."
"What are your plans, son?" Bill returns to the original question.
Tyler shrugs. He really hadn't given it much thought between near death experiences and no longer being human. "I don't know."
"Football, maybe?"
"Maybe."
"You can literally be anything. You can compel yourself into any profession now, for eternity."
Then there was the fact he was going to live forever. He doesn't know what to do with that kind of power and time. Preferably spend it with Caroline.
"What if Caroline doesn't want to be with me when we get back?"
Bill frowns at him. "Then you have an eternity to convince her."
The older man pats his shoulder. "Tyler, my daughter loves you. Don't worry."
"What if she wants kids?" It's an odd question. It's not what he had planned on saying.
Bill takes a long drink. "I know she does. Three to be exact."
"What if I can't give her that, being what I am?"
"No man can, Tyler. At least not easily." A heavy sigh. "That's what I've been reading about. Vampires and werewolves having kids."
"And?"
"And, I'll tell you more in thirty years." There's a playful hint to Bill's voice.
A sharp pain shoots down his spine, but unlike last month, he doesn't feel anything shift.
"I am immensely proud of you, son."
"I'm sorry about what happened earlier..."
Bill waves it off. "Don't sweat it. Just try to remember I'm a mere human." The older man chuckles, head lazily propped against the concrete wall.
"What happened between you and your husband?"
A sigh and silence is what follows before Bill finally answers, "he was afraid his daughter was in danger with you so close by, so we left." It's said so casually, with a shrug that Tyler almost forgets what they're talking about.
"You did that for me?"
"For Caroline," Bill corrects, then his shoulders slump. "Somewhat for you. You remind me of myself, in someways, teenage boy in love with a blond girl...that was me once. I just hope your story ends better."
"It will, sir." It has to, after everything Caroline and him have been through. He just needs to get home to her. "This is all for her, sir."
"I know."
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Tyler wakes up clothed for the first time in weeks. He wipes the drool from his cheek, his neck cramping and arm numb from sleeping on the cellar floor.
Bill is already awake when he sits up and stretches.
"You did it."
Tyler's mouth is already dry, but it becomes even more so. "Fuck yeah." He means to yell it, but it comes out scratchy and a near sob, as tears gather in his eyes.
"I knew you could, son."
He can only nod, sobs of relief overtaking him.
Later on, during lunch, Bill smiling is wider than usual.