Hey guys!
I wanna thank everyone who reviewed, and put Crazy Beautiful in your favorites in the previews drabble, and all the drabbles before that. Hoping to get more :)
This drabble is from that insanely heart-tugging scene in 3x03. Pretty soon (I hope) I'll have written something about 3x05, because damn did this week's episode mess with my head!
But more of that some other time. Go ahead and read on to the actual story :D


Quiet Comfort

The way she's crying and resting her head on his chest with a blanket fisted under her cheek makes him feel oddly nostalgic of the night she and Matt broke up.

Only this time, they're not just friends. (At least he thinks they're not. They haven't actually had the chance to figure that out yet.) And this time, instead of stroking her arm with his thumb because he doesn't want it to feel too awkward, he can hug and hold her as close as he wants, as close as she needs. And he can kiss the top of her head and whisper sweet nothings into her hair without having to think about how much Matt would probably try to kill him for touching his girl.

Because she's not Matt's girl anymore.

But she's not his girl either, he knows that; and to be honest, he's fine with it. Because it's Caroline, and Caroline Forbes shouldn't have to belong to anyone.

The sound of her sobs and the feeling of her body trembling helplessly beneath his embrace forms a deep pit in his stomach and makes him feel equally helpless. He doesn't want to show it though, because he knows he has to be strong for her, but it's easier said than done, given that she's usually the one being strong for him. It's ironic really, how he's the bad boy who claimed that he didn't need anyone, and yet lately he's been relying on what used to be this bitchy blonde cheerleader to be the lifeline that gets him through every full moon, and most of every day. The Caroline in his arms is not the Caroline he's gotten used to.

It doesn't matter though, because he's secretly glad that she trusts him enough to show every side of her to him. And as much as he knows how wrong it is to think about it right now, he can't help but feel smug about knowing that she had never been able to be this vulnerable in front of Matt.

He wants to try to say something reassuring but is at a loss for words. He could say that she didn't need her father, that his inability to accept her is his own loss, but who was he kidding? He'd be a hypocrite to say that, no matter how true it was. He of all people knew what it was like to want nothing more than a father's love and acceptance, only to come up short. He can't say he's glad that she's okay either, because clearly she's not.

So he just holds her, and buries his face in her hair every now and then while her own remains on his chest, struggling to make the water works stop.

The moments pass and neither of them say a word. He had assumed she had fallen asleep, when he hears her voice whisper.

"Hey Tyler?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For taking care of me."

He can't help but chuckle softly. "You're welcome," he says, trying to mimic the tone of her voice when she had said those exact same words to him two months ago.

"And I'm sorry I missed the full moon."

He couldn't help but look down at the top of her head and give her his "are-you-for-real?" look. She had just gone through one of the most traumatizing experiences in her life. She had just been tortured as a method to be "fixed", by her father no less, and yet she was apologizing to him for not being with him during a transformation that could have killed her if she had been there and things had gone wrong.

Her selflessness (which he sometimes worried to be borderline martyrdom) amazed him to no end.

"It doesn't matter," he whispered. "I'm just glad you're safe."

He smiles to himself when he feels her snuggle closer into his chest.

It doesn't take long after that for Caroline to finally fall asleep, but now he's wide awake, thinking about everything they've been through, and how good it feels to finally have been given a chance to save her.

He's never felt this way about any person before; he's Tyler Lockwood for god's sake. And to have it start with Caroline Forbes, well that was definitely something.

He's not entirely sure yet if he's in love with her. But if he isn't already there, he knows he's pretty damn close.


Please check out my other story Sunrise. It's a oneshot and it could really use some more reviews.

But don't forget to review this one before you check it out! :)