So sorry for the wait! Thank you for everyone that's reviewed so far! I truly appreciate all the love!
This chapter might be confusing as it addressing some things that happened in the previous story which I purposely left as cliffhangers until now ;) You might have to go back and read it again to see what I'm talking about. If you remember everything in that story then kudos to you! :) Please enjoy and let me know what you think!
WARNINGS: usuals
The plane ride from Venice was uncomfortable and awkward, a complete 180 from how they first arrived. Jeremy couldn't keep his knee from bouncing up and down as he and Tyler sat surrounded by Italian police officers. Seeing this many grouped together unnerved him enough to make sleep elude him.
He smiled when Tyler gently placed his hand on his knee and squeezed. He sent him a reassuring smile and Tyler returned it. It was strained but Jeremy still took comfort in it.
"I think when we get back we should tell everyone," he said softly enough for Tyler to hear but not the police. "Maybe we can have a ceremony or something."
"Sounds like a plan. I can't imagine this will take long to clear with the police," Tyler grinned. "What do you think they're going to say?"
"They're going to be surprised probably but they won't be mad if we decide to have a ceremony and include them, right?"
"Is that why you're suggesting it?"
"Maybe," Jeremy grinned. Tyler chuckled.
"You're sneaky. But I don't think they'll be mad."
"We are about to land," one officer said to them. They stopped speaking and refastened their seatbelts.
Jeremy was relieved once they landed, having felt nauseous from the flight. The bright light assaulted him as he climbed off the plane after Tyler and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a flood of police cars before him.
"What the hell is this?" Tyler snapped when two officers approached him and pulled his hands behind roughly behind his back.
"Tyler Lockwood you are under arrest for the murders of Ryan Kentel, Paul Jenkins, Miley Jenkins, Aiden Jenkins and the unborn fetus of Miley Jenkins. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law…."
Jeremy felt his blood run cold as the police officer read Tyler the rest of his rights. The only thing that snapped him out of his trance was an officer bringing his own arms behind his back.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tyler snarled.
"Jeremy Gilbert, you are under arrest for conspiracy to murder and being an accomplice to murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law—"
Jeremy's panicked gaze met Tyler's frightened angry one and he struggled briefly before deeming it useless. It wasn't as if he was being dragged to some underground prostitution ring like before. He was going to jail. Maybe to prison if they could make these charges stick.
"I—I didn't do anything," he mumbled as he was dragged to a car. "I didn't do anything."
"Jeremy, don't say anything!" he heard Tyler scream before he was roughly shoved into the back seat. The door slammed and he jumped. His heart pounded in his ears and his breathing became labored as the realization that he was being arrested for murder started sinking in.
"This has to be a mistake!" Jeremy pleaded to the officers in the front as they took off. He could see Tyler being put in the back of another squad car and he felt violently nauseous. "I didn't kill anyone!"
"Talk it over with your lawyer," one of them said gruffly.
"But—but I don't need a lawyer! I didn't kill anyone!" Jeremy repeated, completely freaked at the word. "I don't even know those people!"
They didn't answer him. Jeremy grew frustrated and hit the black plastic blocking them.
"Hey!"
"Sit back and shut-up until we get to the station!" the same officer barked at him. Jeremy glared at him but did as he was told.
The journey from the airport to downtown was excruciating. Every negative thought of what was supposed to happen now ran through Jeremy's mind like a movie on repeat. He wondered what Tyler was facing right now, if he was being harassed or simply ignored like he was. His mind spun with how the hell they had gotten arrested for murder. He'd never murdered anyone in his life! He never even thought about it!
His heart sank when they pulled up to the police station and the entrance was surrounded by paparazzi. He was snatched out of the car before he could even prepare himself and was assaulted by people shoving microphones in his face asking for a comment and camera lights blinding him as they flashed pictures. Heart pounding, he shut his eyes and put his head down as the police guided him by his arm into the crowded station.
The process of being booked was shorter than he anticipated, mostly because he was still overcoming the initial shock of being arrested in the first place. He was searched for weapons, fingerprinted, his information recorded and had his picture taken all within twenty minutes. When the gruff officer was done with him he handed him over to a skinner, awkward looking man that led him to a dark interrogation room. He was and thrown roughly into a chair before he removed his handcuffs and left, slamming the door behind him. Jeremy immediately stood and reached for the handle, gasping when he found it was locked. Was this some kind of joke?
"Hey!" he cried as he pounded on the door. "You can't keep me in here!"
When no one seemed to be coming he gave up. He threw himself back into the hard metal chair and covered his face with his hands, thinking hard. The only person he ever murdered was Mikael out of self-defense and Vaughn promised he would never be charged for that. So the only plausible explanation would be Tyler. But that also wasn't plausible because Tyler was the man he loved and his husband and he would never….
He gasped as he remembered the last time he'd seen Trevor, how he had told him that Tyler was responsible for the murder of at least 13 people in the past few years. His heart sank as he thought back to how he said he had proof that he wanted to show him right before Mikael killed him. He'd thought Trevor had been strung out but now—
"He was lying," Jeremy breathed shakily.
It didn't make sense for Tyler to want to kill anyone other than Mikael. There was no one else Tyler hated more than the man who killed his father and tried to control his life. Tyler had anger issues and he was hot-headed but that didn't make him a murderer. He'd had a drug problem and a stroke that made him a little irrational at times but a murderer? It was a stretch. But there was always that possibility….
Jeremy shook his head desperately, wishing that someone would come inside and distract him from thinking. But his mind constantly drifted over the what if factor. If Tyler really was a murderer then being arrested was the least of his problems.
The door finally opened and a dark-haired man with light stubble dressed in an all-black suit came in with a manila envelope and a cup of water. Jeremy jumped when he sat down without a word and flipped it open and pushed the cup to him.
"I apologize for the behavior of my detectives. They don't have much practice with dealing with people," he gave him a wry smile. "My name is Detective Kale Messer. Do you know why you're here?"
"This is all a misunderstanding. I didn't kill anyone," Jeremy said firmly.
"Your charge isn't murder. It's being an accomplice to all the murders Tyler Lockwood has committed and conspiracy to do more."
"I haven't conspired against anyone!"
Messer gave him a slightly sympathetic, slightly annoyed glower. He took out three pictures and laid them across the table. Jeremy's heart pounded when he saw the names under each of them; the very familiar names of the boys that made his life a living hell in the orphanage.
"You recognize them, don't you Jeremy?" Messer said knowingly. "Those were the boys that you lived with in the orphanage in District 5."
"How…how did you know that?" he breathed.
"There's quite a bit we know about you. Your past is interesting," he pulled out more pictures.
"This is what two of them look like now."
Jeremy blanched at a picture above the profile of Ryan Kentel; a man lying face down clearly shot in the back of the head execution style. His hair was matted with blood and it was splattered all over the floor along with pink matter. Jeremy felt his stomach roll and he looked away.
"This is what's left of Paul Jenkins and his family."
Messer flipped to the pages of a man with what looked like a dozen bullet holes to his chest and his face and a woman next to him looking the same. He pulled out a picture of a little boy next. Jeremy grew pale at how he lay on the ground with his arms raised as if to shield himself and all the holes in it. Part of his head was missing.
"Oh my God," he breathed as he turned away from the graphic images.
"She was five months pregnant when she was gunned down. That's four people, murdered in cold blood. Do you want to know what was found at the scene of the crime?" he pointed to the little boy's picture. "We found Tyler Lockwood's finger print on the patio door that goes to the backyard. It took us a while to figure out what his motive would be to kill an entire family and when we discovered Ryan had a connection to him, we looked into everyone else that knew the both of them. That left you and Jared Hernandez, the only body not accounted for. Imagine how surprised we were to find that you and Tyler Lockwood have a history."
Messer folded his hands on the desk, looking smug as he watched for Jeremy's reaction.
"You think…I told Tyler to murder them?" Jeremy gaped. "Why would I—I would never—!"
"They beat you every day since you lived in that orphanage, which is about ten years on and off. They made your life a living hell. They were bullies. I get it Jeremy. You wanted payback and Tyler, being who he is, could give you what you wanted."
"No! I didn't—I've never even spoken to them after I was kicked out! Tyler doesn't even know what they look like!" he cried.
"You're saying you never told Tyler about the boys that hurt you?"
"I told him what they did to me but he never had enough information to find them! I didn't tell him anything personal about them!"
"Then what was his fingerprint doing at the scene?" Messer pointed to the picture of Tyler's perfect thumb print pressed into the glass. Jeremy shook his head helplessly.
"I don't know. I really don't know," he sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. "But I know Tyler had nothing to do with this. I know him—!"
"Are you aware that this is not the first time Tyler has been looked at for a murder?" Messer interrupted as he drilled him with a hard glare. Jeremy's mouth abruptly shut.
"What?"
"His father died a few years back and he lost his mind. Got into drugs, did some crazy things when he was on them—"
"I know the story. He's never been arrested for murder," Jeremy glared at him.
"He wasn't arrested then either because they deemed him too unstable to methodically plan out a murder. But he was a suspect until he was sent to an asylum. His name was Thomas DiRigo, a member of the very wealthy DiRigio family. Sound familiar?"
It did, but he shook his head regardless, "No. I've never heard of him."
"Interesting," Messer clucked his tongue. "Where were you the evening of May 5th?"
"I—I don't remember. At home, I guess."
"You guess? That's not good enough," Messer leaned back. "If you want me to believe you had nothing to do with this I'm going to need a good alibi Jeremy."
"I don't know what the hell you want me to say! I don't remember that far back!" Jeremy barked, quickly losing his temper. "I know I wasn't off killing anyone!"
"Was Tyler?"
"No! He was probably with me or his fiancée at the time or he was at work!"
"Who was his fiancée?"
"Rebekah Mikaelson."
"I'll be bringing her in for questioning then. Hopefully she can provide the alibi you both need."
"You're not just going to arrest her under the pretense of questioning?" Jeremy snapped. Messer chuckled.
"We had more than enough evidence to arrest you both. Tyler Lockwood was at the scene at the crime, which is not a good look for him, and you are the only link he has to the victims, which isn't a good look for you."
"Tyler would never kill an innocent child! I would never tell him to do something like that! He has charities that protect children from abuse so why would he kill one?"
"You tell me Jeremy. Why would Tyler kill these three people that beat you senseless when you were a child?" Messer's eyebrow rose. "Poetic justice maybe? These men destroyed your childhood so you decided his child should be taken from him."
"You're sick," Jeremy hissed as he stood from his seat. His head started to throb dully with pain and he knew he needed to get out of there. "I want to talk to Tyler."
"Not happening. He's being questioned and when they're done we'll take you both to your holding cells."
"Let me speak to him!" he snapped. "Don't I get some kind of privilege?"
"Why? Just because you're sleeping with him doesn't mean—"
"We're married," he snarled as he took off his ring and thrust it at him. "He's my husband and you're going to let me see him!"
Messer looked surprised as he tried to take the ring. Jeremy snatched it away before his fingers wrapped around it and thrust it back onto his ring finger.
"Is that why we found you in Italy? Eloping so you wouldn't have to testify against each other in court?"
"We didn't kill them!" Jeremy nearly yelled this time.
"The evidence says otherwise Mr. Gilbert! The evidence tells us that Tyler Lockwood was present at a scene where four people were butchered to death, including a fetus! The evidence tells me that you are the only reason Tyler would know about these three boys! The evidence is throwing your statement of innocence out the window, so unless you start giving me some answers, this isn't going to end well for you," Messer growled. "You think Tyler and his money is going to be able to save you from prison and it's not. People like you always think they can get away with anything."
"People like me?" Jeremy asked incredulously.
"People who pretend to be so innocent that no one would suspect them of committing even the worst of crimes. I think you use your sob story of a past to lure in alpha males like Tyler Lockwood to get them to do whatever they want because they're so entranced by you shaking your ass that they can't realize when you're putting a gun in their hand," Messer smirked. "I bet he's not the first billionaire you've been with, is he?"
"You're crazy," Jeremy shook his head. "I'm done talking to you. Either let me see Tyler or I'm leaving."
"You're not going anywhere. You've already been charged."
"With things I had no part in! You don't have any proof whatsoever that I've murdered anyone!"
"We have proof that Tyler Lockwood did. So regardless if your charges are dropped, he won't be coming with you."
"If you don't fucking let me see Tyler then you're going to regret bringing me in here!" the rage in Jeremy's voice was clear as he fixed the smug detective with a hateful glare. "You're just like the officers that were in on Mikael Mikaelson's case and I'm done being manipulated by people like you!"
"Sit down Jeremy," Messer said calmly. "Throwing a temper tantrum isn't going to make this any better."
"Go to hell," he spat. "Either get me Tyler or someone in charge but I'm done talking to you."
Messer snorted with a smirk as he gathered the pictures back into the envelope.
"Do you always act like a self-entitled spoiled brat Jeremy? Or is that something that you picked up from rubbing elbows with the rich? From what I've found, the only reason you even have money is because of Tyler."
Jeremy glared at the wall, intent on not rising to this man's bait.
"Parents died when you were nine, the city took everything they had left and threw you in a shitty orphanage where they didn't even give a damn if you were fed every day and they stuck you with those three boys that beat the living hell out of you on a weekly basis. Kicked out at 18 and worked a minimum wage job as a bus boy at, surprise, surprise, Tyler Lockwood's restaurant in District 4 for a year until you suddenly quit. No other job to speak of, moved out of your apartment with an extra $500 to cover rent you've missed, bills suddenly paid off even though you were behind, credit good as new…Tyler Lockwood just fixed everything for you, didn't he Jeremy? Even gave you an extra $1.5 million dollars in your brand new bank account for your trouble. Tell me, how does someone like you captivate someone like Lockwood so much that they're dishing out money left and right for you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jeremy snapped in confusion. "What $1.5 million?"
"Don't play dumb Jeremy. The bank account, an extension of Lockwood's with your name on it and a steadily increasing amount of money added every couple of months. You knew what he was doing. He was preparing you for this moment, wasn't he? Was he supposed to take the fall alone and you run off to some island and live off his money for the rest of your life while he rotted in jail?"
Before Jeremy could answer the door was thrown open and Andie stormed in, looking furious.
"You damn well know better than this Messer!" she snapped as she threw her briefcase on the table. "You didn't even give him his phone call!"
"I wasn't aware I was supposed to. He's already been booked."
"Get out," she hissed. Messer smirked at them before gathering his documents and leaving. Andie took his seat.
"What did you tell them?"
"The truth! Tyler and I have nothing to do with this!" Jeremy said desperately. "And he kept saying that Tyler's fingerprint was found there and he just wouldn't let up! And he started talking about some bank account with $1.5 million and I don't know what he was talking about at all!"
"What did you tell him exactly?"
"He asked me where we were that night and I said I couldn't remember because I can't. That's it. Tyler didn't do this Andie. He would never."
"We'll have to give the prosecution all your medical information so that'll contribute to your case of not remembering. How well did you know the victims?"
"Not well at all. I lived with them for years on and off at an orphanage," Jeremy's brow furrowed. "Andie I didn't do this!"
"I know you didn't. And we're working on getting your charges dropped before arraignment," Andie murmured as she pulled out a notepad.
"What about the charges against Tyler?" Jeremy asked. When Andie gave him a sympathetic look he felt his throat close.
"The evidence against Tyler is…it's good enough for the prosecution to make a case Jeremy. He'll probably have a trial."
"What?" Jeremy gaped. "No! Tyler didn't do this Andie! He wouldn't kill a child! He uses his money to protect them so why would he kill one? That doesn't make sense!"
"I know you're confused Jer. And we're working right now to see how they got that evidence but from what I'm looking at now, a judge would say yes to a trial. And given everything that has happened with Mikael and Elijah, they're not taking chances."
Jeremy swallowed heavily, "Is this going to mess up Elijah's trial?"
"No, that will still happen. But there is a very good possibility that you will have to testify at Elijah's since Tyler is now under investigation. The jury might not be open to hearing him if he's also under arrest."
He felt lightheaded and had to stand. Nausea built within him as he thought about telling a room of complete strangers about the hell he faced that night. A sudden thought struck him.
"Will I have to testify against Tyler?" he asked weakly. She sighed.
"You might if they call on you. Only under special privileges would you not be allowed to testify against him like if you were married or you were sick or—"
"We're married!" Jeremy blurted, stunning her into silence. "We got married two days ago! We were in Italy when we were picked up."
Andie blinked at him, surprise clear on her face, "Do you have a certificate?"
"Yes! It should be with all our stuff!"
"If we file it then we won't have to testify. But that means that the document will be in City Hall and accessible to anyone. Are you alright with that?" she asked. He nodded eagerly.
"If it helps our case then yes."
"Since you and Tyler are married you won't have to testify. Nothing he tells you or you tell him can be admissible."
He breathed a sigh of relief.
"I need to talk to Tyler," he told her. She shook her head.
"You can't right now. He's being questioned."
Jeremy felt his anger coming back with a vengeance.
"Andie, I want to talk to him now," he said as calmly as he could. "I need to talk to my husband."
"You can when they're done questioning him," she took out a blue ink pen. "Can you remember anything that happened around the first week of May—?"
"I want to talk to my fucking husband now Andie!" he barked, startling her with the ferociousness of is voice. The young lawyer swallowed, looking at a complete loss before she put her pen down.
"Jeremy, I know you're stressed right now but I need you to hold it together," she said calmly. "The sooner we get through this, the faster you can get out of here."
"They already charged me. According to them, I'm not going anywhere," he leaned forward, staring at her with blazing eyes. "Let me talk to him, and then I'll answer all your questions. But I'm not talking until I see him."
Andie nodded and briskly left the room. Jeremy winced as the back of his head throbbed with dull pain and he rotated his neck to try to find some relief from the stiffness. Andie came back moments later with Captain Vaughn in tow.
"I'll take you to see him," he murmured with an unreadable expression. It made Jeremy's heart sink. He thought they were guilty.
"I'm not a murderer," he pleaded to them. "I know I killed Mikael b-but that was out of self-defense. I have a bad past with these guys but I would never hurt them!"
Vaughn squeezed his shoulder and offered him a weak smile.
"Follow me."
Jeremy swallowed heavily before doing as instructed.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
"I didn't kill them!" Tyler snapped angrily at the two detectives interrogating him. "How many times do I have to fucking tell you that?"
"Then explain why your fingerprint is on the window of their back patio!" the detective with black hair threw the same pictures presented to Jeremy onto the table. Tyler pushed them away furiously.
"I don't know! I told you where I was that day! I was with Rebekah Mikaelson, her father and our contractors at the house we were having built for our wedding gift!"
"And now Mikael Mikaelson is dead, conveniently, so we can't ask him to clarify your alibi," his partner, a blonde haired beefcake with bulging tendons in his neck, leaned forward with his hands on the table. "Weren't you the one that killed him?"
"No," Tyler sneered. "Jeremy killed him out of self-defense."
"How unfortunate he beat you to it."
"Is there a point to these questions or are you pinning me for the murder of that asshole too?" Tyler barked, quickly losing patience. "If you want me to own up to a murder I'll gladly do so for that one."
"You think this is a joke Lockwood? An entire family is dead here!" black-hair yelled at him. "A 7-year-old kid had his face blown open from a bullet fired from your gun!"
"No he didn't! I didn't kill him!" he spat. "I created charities and programs to protect children so why the fuck would I kill him?"
"Your guess is as good as ours Lockwood. Did Jeremy put you up to it?"
"Are you fucking insane? Have you met Jeremy?" Tyler laughed harshly. "He can barely live with himself for killing Mikael in self-defense!"
"So you're saying he's completely innocent."
"Yes! And so am I!"
"What about Ryan Kentel? Are you innocent in this murder too?"
Tyler looked over Ryan's bloody body and did his best to reign in his temper, lest he give away that he did commit that murder.
"Where were you the night of April 30th?"
"At the Opera with my fiancée at the time," he spat through gritted teeth. "You can ask the ticket woman and the hundreds of other people that were there that night."
"We'll keep that in mind when we check out your alibi," the blond beefcake leaned forward. Tyler could smell the onions on his breath and he wrinkled his nose before turning away.
"Why did you do it Tyler?"
"For Christ's sake!" he glared at them. "How many different times are you going to ask me this question?"
"As many as we need until we get the answer that we want."
"So you're going to railroad me into a confession?" he snorted. "You're just as twisted and corrupt as the cops Mikael had eating out the palm of his hand."
"Interesting you would say that, since a lot of those corrupted cops are the same ones that overlooked you for murder the first time you were brought in. You remember that?" dark haired sat across from Tyler with a stony expression. "Thomas DiRigo, the guy that was floating around the river with missing teeth, burned off fingerprints and hardly recognizable facial features because someone butchered it."
"I do remember. I also remember telling the police that I was passed out somewhere high out of my fucking mind with ten other people that confirmed that story," Tyler snarled. "They tried to pin that murder on me the same way you're trying to do it now!"
"Well unlike the DiRigo case we have solid evidence you were at the Jenkins' residence, starting with your thumbprint at the scene. And when ballistics comes back, it'll give us everything we need."
"Good luck with that. You can check the two guns I own and I guarantee that it won't match," Tyler folded his arms. The detectives shared a look.
"Look Lockwood, you're not doing yourself or Jeremy any favors by keeping up this façade," the blonde beefcake sighed. "Tell us what happened that night and we'll consider taking the death penalty off the table for both you and Jeremy."
"What?" Tyler barked in alarm. "You have no evidence that Jeremy was there! You can't do that!"
"As far as we know he's conspired with you to commit these murders. That makes him equally as dangerous. We're pushing life in prison for him definitely, without possibility of parole," black haired smirked and it further agitated him. "What's the matter? Is Jeremy too fragile for prison?"
"Fuck you. You don't know the half of what he's been through," Tyler snarled vehemently. "A jury is going to take one look at him and wonder how the hell someone like him could be arrested for this."
"You're awfully protective of Jeremy. Is that why you had to kill the boys that made his life a living hell?"
Tyler said nothing as he looked away. A knock on the door interrupted them.
"Your time is up. Their lawyer is here," Vaughn said as he walked in. Behind him, Jeremy was looking at him eagerly.
"Their lawyer?" the buff blonde stood. "They can't share a lawyer!"
"They can if they're married," Vaughn fixed him with a glare. "You know the rules. You had your turn now get out."
The two disgruntled detectives shared another look.
"Where's the wedding certificate?"
"It's being filed as we speak. I can send you a copy of it later," Vaughn's eyebrow rose. "Do I need to call Isabelle?"
The detectives glared at them before shuffling out of the room. Vaughn made room for Jeremy to squeeze by him and he sat down in front of Tyler fervently.
"I'll be outside Jeremy. Get me when you're ready," Andie told him before closing the door. They stared at each other for a moment.
"You okay?" he asked softly. Tyler nodded.
"You?"
"I'm confused," he said honestly. "The boys that you're accused of killing are the ones that I lived with in the orphanage. And your fingerprint was found on the window of a family that was…murdered. I know you didn't do this but they have evidence that says you did so please explain to me how that happened."
Tyler looked away, his gut burning in dread and a lump forming in his throat. He should've known that this would come back to bite him in the ass. Someone was obviously trying to frame him for Paul Jenkin's murder but he could only think of Mikael that would go to these lengths to do it. But now Jeremy was sitting here, putting two and two together and he was terrified that he was going to resent him for the rest of his life if he told him the truth. This was the part of himself that he never wanted Jeremy to see and he believed like an idiot that he never would.
"Tyler?" Jeremy's voice wavered when he didn't give any response. "Tell me you didn't kill them."
"I didn't murder Paul Jenkins or his family. I would never hurt a child or a woman, you know that," Tyler stressed.
"What about Ryan and Jared?"
There was another potent silence. Jeremy felt his heart sinking as Tyler avoided his gaze and he felt light-headed. The silence told him everything he didn't want to admit.
"Why?" he asked thickly as he stood.
"Jeremy—"
"Why?" he cut him off. Tyler gave him desperate eyes.
"The less I tell you the better off you'll be."
Jeremy let out a shaky laugh that held no humor, "So when Trevor came to me the day I was kidnapped and told me that you…murdered twelve people since you were seventeen…he wasn't lying, was he?"
Tyler swallowed past the painful lump in his throat, "Jeremy—"
"Was he?" he repeated sharply.
"No," Tyler muttered as he watched his husband shrink away from him. The action tore his heart in half. The way Jeremy was looking at him now, he could tell he thought him no better than a monster.
Jeremy could barely breathe. His heart felt heavy, like the weight of his confession was literally crushing him. For the first time in a long time, he felt as if he didn't know the man sitting in front of him. Tyler just confessed to the murders of twelve people and who knew how many more he was hiding. It was too much to take at once.
"They were bad people. All of them were bad people," Tyler said hastily as he stood. Jeremy shook his head and moved for the door instead. Tyler caught is arm before he got too far.
"Don't go," he begged him with such desperation that it broke Jeremy's heart. "I'm sorry. I never wanted you to find out like this but if you just—!"
Jeremy wrenched his arm away. His eyes were wide and scared and Tyler felt sick to his stomach. He felt that familiar lump back in his throat as he saw Jeremy close himself off from him.
"Baby—"
"Don't," Jeremy shook his head with a shameful glare. He left without another word and crushed Tyler's heart in the process. The billionaire slammed his hand on the table before slumping into his chair and covering his face with his hands.
Caroline threw another shot of tequila back, hating how the burn in the back of her throat felt as she swallowed. Exhaling she slammed the small shot glass down harder than she meant to and sent an apologetic glance to the woman two seats down from her.
Her cellphone rang on the counter. Katherine's name appeared and she looked away painfully, letting it go to voicemail. She anticipated its ring again but it never came. It was common for Katherine to call her five times in a row before giving up. Today, however, it seemed she took the hint and gave up on the first one. It almost made Caroline worry that she wasn't more concerned before catching herself; that was what she had wanted, right? She wanted to be somewhere where Katherine wasn't hovering all the time. And now that she had achieved that goal, it wasn't nearly as satisfactory as it should have felt.
The alcohol burned uncomfortably in her stomach at the thought of Katherine not hovering over her anymore and what that meant. Perhaps the brunette got tired of her constantly pushing her away and this was the result of her actions. Maybe she would find another sweet blonde to take care of. Or help Damon with Vicki. She seemed more receptive to affection than she was at the moment. Vicki had already started replacing her in the family starting with Jeremy so it would be long before everyone else preferred her too.
"You want another?" the bartender asked her with his gentle smile. She nodded and pushed the glass towards him.
"Make it two," she sighed miserably.
"Tequila?"
"Yeah."
He filled them up, his smile never faltering, "You've been in here every day for the past week and a half and you only drink shots of tequila. Why is that?"
She shrugged and mumbled a thank you when he passed them to her. She took a deep breath before downing the first one, the burn returning to her throat worse than before but she held it in. When the bartender leaned on the counter and gazed at her she tensed.
"What?"
"Who is he and what did he do?" his lips quirked upward. "He must be a real asshole if he's made you drink like this for a week straight."
Caroline blinked in momentary confusion.
"He's…there is no he. I mean there was…kind of," she sighed. The bartender's eyebrow rose.
"Complicated huh?"
"Very," she sighed. "The problem isn't he or she. It's me."
"What did you do?"
Caroline snorted. How did one describe that? "I can't do anything right."
"I'm sure that's not true."
"You don't know me," she nearly snapped. She caught her tone and sent him an apologetic look.
"From what I do know, whatever it is that's bothering you is eating you up inside and drinking is only doing so much. You need to talk about it to someone," he shrugged.
"I can't talk about this. It's…hard," she muttered as she pushed the glass towards him. She was definitely drunk by the way her vision swam.
"There are a lot of hard things people think they can't talk about. It only makes them angry and bitter," he leaned on the counter after giving her a refill. "Talk to me."
She laughed, "You're going to think I'm nuts."
"I doubt that. You don't look like you're crazy."
Her eyebrow rose suspiciously, "Why do you want to know?"
"You just look like you could use someone to talk to. Someone that's not a part of your immediate life that you can just to vent to. Since I don't know you other than you like to drink tequila shots in the early afternoon, I thought I would offer my ear. I didn't mean to pry," he said gently. "Let me know if you want anything else."
Caroline felt guilty when he passed her another shot and took off for the other patrons down the bar. She'd become so weary of everyone that it was hard for her to tell good intentions from bad ones. He'd seemed genuine enough.
"I'm sorry," she started when he came back to her side. "I didn't mean to be so bitchy earlier. I've been going through a rough time."
"Don't apologize. You aren't the first customer that's turned me down," he smiled. She smiled back.
"I'm Caroline."
"Jesse," he offered her his hand and she took it. "You want another shot Caroline?"
"No…I shouldn't have anymore," she put her head in her hand and rested it on the table. "I really need to stop. They would be so mad at me."
"Who?"
"Katherine, Damon…my whole family, really. They would be pissed if they knew where I was. There's always someone to monitor how much I drink."
"Did you have a drinking problem?"
"When I was a teenager. It escalated to drugs when I got older."
"Wow. Well I will officially cut you off right now," he took her glass. She gave him a thankful smile.
"So is Katherine your sister?"
Caroline snorted, "She's my…I don't know what we are anymore. I told her to leave me alone and she's doing it so…I don't know."
A tear fell unbidden down her face and landed in the sleeve of her black hoodie. Another followed, then another, and then she was burying her head and stifling her embarrassingly loud sobs that seemed to flow from nowhere.
"Hey, it's alright," Jesse reached under the bar and pulled out a box of tissues. "Whatever you did, I'm sure it's really not that bad."
"It's not what I did…it's what happened to me," she said through hiccups and sniffles. Her heart ached tremendously when she thought about the brunette and about Damon, seemingly happy without her. She felt abandoned, though it was of her own doing, but she couldn't blame them for not wanting to be around her. She was a basket case; who would want to put up with her?
"Don't cry," Jesse said gently as he used his thumb to wipe away her tears. "You're too pretty to cry."
She laughed through her tears and used her hands to wipe away the rest of them. They were only replaced by more as she let out a couple sobs.
"Let me call someone for you," he murmured with a softness that calmed her. "If you really have a drinking problem then you should seek counseling."
"I don't want to talk to anyone yet. Can I just get a glass of water?"
He nodded and fixed an ice cold glass. She took it with a thank you and drank deeply. The cold felt good against the burning of her throat.
"Better?"
She nodded. Her face was red from crying and her eyes bloodshot and baggy from lack of sleep. She was certain she looked no better than a zombie.
"Thank you Jesse," she sighed as she brought herself under control.
"Of course," he covered her free hand on the counter. "Are you sure you don't want me to call anyone for you?"
"No, that's okay. They're going to want to talk about it and I can't. Not yet," she took deep breaths to steady her breathing. "I went through…a really bad experience recently and everyone wants to help but it's too overwhelming. Katherine just wants to be there for me b-but I don't know how to let her and Damon's avoiding me a-and Jeremy always tries to talk to me but I don't know what to say and Tyler's always coming to check on me but I just ignore them all and then they stopped and I just…I want my family back. I j-just want things to go back to the way they were before I was taken."
"It'll get better Caroline. I'm sure they know that you're coping with something traumatic."
"The entire world knows. My face has been all over the news for the past three weeks," she snorted bitterly. "When people look at me on the street they just give me these pitying looks like they know how I feel and they don't! They have no idea what it's like to watch your friend's house blow up with them in it o-or to be taken from your family by a psycho that p-puts you in a room no better than a jail cell! They don't know what it felt like to be raped over and over and over by men that paid for your body! They have no idea what it's like feel like a stranger in your own skin! They don't know what it's like to lose their families or themselves because of this! They don't know shit and I hate that they pretend to!"
She covered her eyes in shame as the tears started flowing again and the sobs came harder than before. She hardly believed she just told a complete stranger what she went through but that was the beauty of alcohol. Now she felt on the verge of throwing it all up.
"It sounds like your family is still there. They just want to give you space," Jesse murmured as he handed her another tissue. "I wasn't aware that you were one of the people saved from that prostitution bust. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you."
"There was so many times where I just wanted to give up. But I held on for them a-and now…now Damon can't look at me and I make Katherine cry and Jeremy and Tyler left home because they didn't want to be around me!"
Had she been sober she would've been embarrassed by how out of control her emotions were. But she couldn't contain her sadness, her disgust or her pain any longer as it flowed like water from a breaking dam. The woman two seats from her gave her both sympathetic and alarmed glances, as did the other bartender from the other side of the bar.
"Jesse," the woman with black-hair walked to them, keeping concerned eyes on Caroline. "Everything okay here?"
"Yes," Caroline hiccupped as she took a handful of tissues to wipe her face. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, we're fine May," he gave her a tight smile. "I was gonna ask for my lunch break now."
"Go ahead," she gave the sobbing blonde one last look before going back to the other end of the bar. Jesse quickly came around and took more tissues from the box to wipe her tears away gently.
"I'm sorry," she repeated sadly. "I can't even sit at a bar without making an idiot of myself."
"You're fine Caroline. You're not the first completely intoxicated person to cry at a bar. Given what you've been through, you have every right," he said softly as he cleaned her face. "You're definitely more composed than I would be if this had happened to me."
She went back to taking deep breaths to gather herself. It was funny how this complete stranger didn't judge her for the things she just unloaded on him. He was willing to listen to her blubber and cry despite only knowing her first name. And he seemed genuine most of all. Caroline felt as if she could tell him anything.
"There's this burger place next door. It's a great place for sobering up. Why don't we get some food to make you feel better? My treat," he suggested.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. He gave her a kind smile.
"You look like you can use a little bit of niceness in your life right now."
She gave him a watery smile and took his arm, allowing him to lead her out of the bar. Her phone buzzed in her pocket but she ignored it.
Damon awoke in the late afternoon feeling stuffy and slightly disoriented. His neck ached from where he had awkwardly slept and he cursed Alaric good-naturedly for not waking him up to go sleep in his bed. The bong and containers of marijuana on the coffee table in front of him told him exactly how he passed out. Without a second thought he grabbed the weed and the bong and prepared himself for another hazy session.
He was halfway through his first bowl when his cellphone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored the first call in favor of finishing the weed and growled when the phone never stopped making noise. Setting the bong down, he pulled out his phone and frowned when he saw Mason's number.
"Hello?"
"Where the hell are you? Tyler and Jeremy got arrested!" he hissed.
"What the hell? Why?" Damon blinked as he tried to think.
"They found Tyler's fingerprint at a house where an entire family was murdered, including a kid and a pregnant woman. Jeremy got arrested because he apparently used to live with the guy and he beat the shit out of him every day so they think he's got something to do with it. It's bad Damon. You need to get down here," he said softly. Damon's eyes widened as he recalled the three bullies Tyler spent time tracking down. How he wished he would've stopped him now.
"Fuck," he sighed.
"Tell me you didn't know about this," Mason said lowly. "I know that you and Tyler went on a manhunt for Stefan's attackers back in the day and I let that slide but please tell me he didn't murder a kid and a pregnant woman."
"You know Tyler would never do that. Someone's setting him up," Damon nearly snapped. "Tyler's done some questionable things but he'd never hurt children or women."
"I know…it's just the police are looking at all of us and its already affecting Carol's run for office. How the hell are we supposed to explain this to her?"
"What do you mean it's affecting her run for office? When did this happen?"
"They were brought back from Italy this morning and arrested when they stepped off the plane. Carol and I have already been questioned and I don't doubt that you, Care and Kat will be next. They might even question Elijah," Mason sighed.
"What? Don't they know that that bastard has been against us since before he even worked for Tyler? He's going to make him look terrible!" Damon cried. "How could they even question him when he's being held for his own trial?"
"I don't know. A lot of the rules that applied to the court before are being suspended given everything that's happened with Mikael," Mason sighed heavily. "Just get down here Damon."
"I'll be there soon," the raven-haired billionaire muttered before hanging up.
"Shit," he swore softly before setting his bong on the table and running to his room to throw on some jeans and a decent looking shirt. His mind spun as he tried to think of good alibies for himself and his best friend. He wasn't losing him or Jeremy to prison. Neither of them would last in there.
"Alaric!" he screamed as he ran back downstairs. He fumbled through a kitchen drawer for his keys and cursed when he couldn't find them. "Alaric we need to go!"
He frowned when he realized Alaric hadn't answered him. Looking around, it seemed as if his butler was nowhere in sight.
"Alaric," he nearly growled as he stormed around his kitchen, living room, dining room and parlor without any luck. Where the hell was he?
The front door opened and he sprinted to it. Alaric jumped, looking startled to see him.
"What?"
"We need to get to the police station," he huffed as he pulled on his coat. "Where the hell were you?"
"The mail came," he handed the envelopes to Damon. "Some of it was Stefan's."
Damon frowned when he shifted through them and saw two envelopes addressed to his brother without a return address.
"Who're these from?"
"Don't know. I asked the mailman but he didn't know either. He said it might be something top secret," Alaric shrugged. "Maybe we should open it outside in case it's Anthrax or something."
"Why would someone send Stefan poison?" Damon snorted. He slid his thumb under the flap and tore the flap open. He pulled the letter out and read through it hastily. Alaric frowned at the way his eyes squinted in confusion and then widened and his mouth dropped open as he read it a third and fourth time.
"What?"
"Holy shit," he breathed. "This isn't…this isn't possible."
"What?" Alaric nearly demanded. Damon handed him the letter with slightly shaking hands. When he ripped open the second one, much of the same expressions overtook his face.
"Well that explains why we never met his wife," the butler stared at the names of Katherine Pierce and Elena Salvatore and the results that clearly showed that they were identical twins. "How the hell…Katherine doesn't know, does she?"
"No…because she was adopted," Damon concluded as he swallowed heavily. "It all makes sense now. Stefan knew Elena was her twin and that's why he never let us meet her."
"Why the hell didn't he say anything?"
"I remember he said she was in danger from someone. I don't know who but that had to be why," Damon shook his head. "Look at this one."
They switched. Damon looked between Alaric's expression and the letter in his hand, watching the butler's expression change from confused to downright astonished.
"Is this…what I think it is?"
"Yeah, it is."
"How the hell did Stefan…how did he know?" he sputtered. "
"I don't know. Stefan's always been perceptive. Maybe it was something he saw," the billionaire ran a tired hand over his face. "How the hell are we supposed to tell him this?"
"I don't know, but we can't keep this from either of them. Both Katherine and Jeremy deserve to know what Stefan found," Alaric said softly.
"You're right. They deserve to know," Damon repeated with a heavy sigh, feeling as if his entire week had been destroyed of any peace it could possibly have. At the rate things kept happening, he didn't see any kind of peace in his immediate future at all.
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