It didn't even feel like my birthday. Nothing felt right. My mom wasn't home this morning when I woke up, I hadn't spoken to Tyler in weeks, and I was technically dead. Having a birthday wasn't the same when you stopped aging. It wasn't an accomplishment anymore, it was just a marker of time. I looked down at my phone and saw that I had two text messages waiting for me. The first was from Stefan.

Stefan: Happy Birthday Care. I won't be in school today so I just wanted to wish you a great day and I'll make it up to you later

I knew Stefan had something going on with Klaus at the moment so I didn't press him for the details. And the second text was from Tyler.

Tyler: Happy Birthday Care. Love you.

The last time I had had a full conversation with Tyler had been three weeks ago when I had thrown him out of my house and rescinded my invitation. He had been trying to defend his actions once again and I was tired of hearing it. But I still thought about him a lot. It was hard to go from texting and seeing someone every day to cutting them off entirely, and I found that I missed his company. But even though Tyler was usually on my mind, there was someone else who was even more so now. I couldn't help my thoughts from constantly turning to the handsome Original, the same man who had also invaded many of my dreams. They never made any sense to me, but they were always so vivid that I could almost feel like they were real. Last night I had dreamed of a beautiful cliff side overlooking an ocean. I was leaning against a small gnarled tree and Elijah Mikaelson came to sit beside me. He didn't say a word in the dream, he just took my hand and I laid my head against his shoulder. Feelings of peace and strength washed over me, contrasting severely with the reality of the situation in which Elijah Mikaelson was after me. And these dreams always left me exhausted and full of confusion. I tiredly got out of bed and got ready for school.

I pulled up in front of the school and just sat in my car for a moment, watching everyone else in the courtyard yelling and laughing like they didn't have a care in the world, and then my eyes met Tyler's. I sighed as I turned my car off and got out, knowing I would have to deal with him.

"I can't talk to you" I say as I try to walk by him but he takes my arm

"I now you're upset with me"

"Upset! And before you ask me to understand or to support you can you at least tell me what you plan to do about your sire bond to Klaus?'

"There is nothing I can do about it Care, but I know that it doesn't control me and I would never do anything to hurt you! I'm stronger than that"

"Okay? That's fine Tyler, but it didn't stop you from hurting me"

"That whole thing with Rebekah was messed up, but it wasn't anything with the sire bond. And I talked to Matt about it and he helped me to look at it from your point of view. I'm sorry that I hurt you Caroline. I love you" and my heart went out to him at his depressed expression, and I was so tired of being angry.

"I love you too Tyler, but I don't know if right now is the right time for us"

"That's okay, I know that you need time and I need to prove myself to you. But… I just… here…" he said and he took my hand and placed a small silk bag in it and then he pecked me on the cheek and walked away. I turned the bag over and a pretty silver charm bracelet fell into my hand. I smiled down at it as I saw the cheer symbol, a silver C and T, a wolf's head, and a heart. But then as I stared down at the twinkling silver I saw a flash of deep blue. It was a deep royal blue with swirls of darker blue and twinkles in it like staring up at a galaxy… but I examined all of the charms again and there was no trace of color on any of them. I shook my head to clear the image and looked up at the school. There were so many smiling faces going into the front doors which only caused my mood to plummet further. Before I could reconsider my actions I turned and hurried to my car, put the key in the ignition and sped from the parking lot. I drove around for hours before getting a text from Stefan asking to meet for lunch. Neither of us asked why the other wasn't in school, we just kept our topics light. I knew Stefan was going through his own turmoil with Elena's complicated relationship with Damon, which was making his revenge plot against Klaus a bit reckless And he filled me in on a situation with Jeremy being compelled the other day, and he didn't say it, but I knew he suspected Klaus was behind it, but that he had done so through Tyler. After lunch I walked around a couple of shops in town, even compelling a cashier that asked why I wasn't in school. Sometime in the afternoon I decided to return home.

I walked in the front door of my empty house and dropped my bag on the floor with a thump and a sigh.

"Surprise!" came a loud chorus of shouts from behind me and I jumped at the loud yell and spun to find Elena, Bonnie and Matt jumping into the hall wearing hats and carrying balloons and a poster.

"Happy Birthday Care!" Matt said with a big smile

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask in shock as I try to get my breath back

"Well you blew off school and missed our work of birthday art." Elena said with a fake pout as she placed a purple furry tiara on my head, "So change into warmer clothes, we're going to the falls."

"S'mores. Campfires." Bonnie added

"Cake" Elena says

"Just like when we were little" Bonnie said

"Except with Tequila!" Matt says as he shows me the huge bottle he brought and we all laugh

"Thanks guys, really um… I'm just not really feeling my birthday this year" I said sadly

"I'm sorry what? You've already claimed your birthday as everyone's favorite day of the year" Bonnie laughed

"Yea and now it's just a reminder that I'm technically dead" I snap at Bonnie and I instantly regret it as her smile fades. I had just been feeling so crabby lately because I hadn't been sleeping, and with feeling crabby came all of the depressing thoughts that I tried so hard to ignore. "I didn't even like being seventeen. The only point of getting through seventeen was to get to eighteen. It's a filler year. I am stuck in a filler year" I said, unable to stop myself and getting more and more upset.

"You're not stuck Caroline" Elena tried to say

"Yea I am. But its ok and I will be fine. I am all good. I just need some time to wallow in it." I try to explain my need to be alone with the pint of Ben & Jerrys waiting for me in the freezer.

"I think I know what you need" Elena said as she wrapped an arm around me

"And what's that?" I asked with a sigh, knowing that when Elena got an idea in her head there was no talking her out of it.

"You'll just have to see when we get there" she smirked at me. And then I was poked and prodded until I consented to change into jeans, a tank and a warmer sweater, and then I was herded out the door.

We all piled into my car, but Elena insisted on driving since she was the only one who knew the new destination, and I sat in the back with my arms folded. I knew I was acting childish and ungrateful, and I hated it. As I watched the scenery go by and I listened to the chatter of my friends I felt my mood lift. I had people that loved me enough to force me out of the house and celebrate my birthday, and I resolved to be a better sport about it. We pulled onto the dirt road leading out of town, and about a mile down Elena pulled over to the side and got out.

"This isn't anywhere near the falls" I said as I looked around. I thought I knew where we were but I hadn't been this way in years.

"We're not going to the falls… we're going to a cemetery" Elena smirked

"What?" Bonnie asked

"Just trust me!" Elena sighed before she took off through the trees and we hurried to keep up. She seemed to know where she was going and after about fifteen minutes of walking we had in fact reached a cemetery, but it looked like an ancient one. Elena continued walking as she navigated her way through the headstones.

"There it is" Elena said after another ten minutes of walking and I saw we were heading toward an old mausoleum.

"This is creepy, even for us" Bonnie said as she opened the door

"No Caroline was right. Technically she's dead. Sorry." She said with a wince as she set the cake down and opened the lid, "But you don't need a birthday, you need a funeral. You need to say goodbye to your old life so you can move on with your new one" and I really considered what she said. Maybe she was right, and even if she wasn't it was worth a shot. So I removed the purple furry tiara from my head and placed it on a nearby statue.

"Okay… here lies Caroline Forbes." I start to say

"Cheerleader. Miss Mystic falls. 3rd grade hopscotch champion." Elena said with a smirk as she put candles on the cake.

"Friend. Daughter... Overachiever" Bonnie said with a smile as she walked closer to me.

"Mean girl… sometimes, no offense" Matt said.

"Eh none taken" I shrug

"She was 17 and she had a really good life. So rest in peace so that she can move forward. It's what you really need, it's what we all really need. So Amen… or cheers or whatever people say at the end of these" she laughed and Matt held up the now half empty bottle of tequila and we all cheered. We had all come to stand in a close circle and Elena was holding the cake full of unlit candles. "Bonnie?" she asked as she gestured to them and Bonnie closed her eyes and the flames came to life.

"Make a wish" Elena said quietly and I stared into the dancing flames with a smile. Elena had been right. I had been so focused on taking every possible opportunity to maintain my old life that I wasn't really living my new one. I smiled at my friends, taking in Elena and Bonnie's smiles and Matt's rather tipsy one and I knew that no matter what was in store for me that I would never have to face it alone. So I closed my eyes and blew out my candles, not really wishing for anything in particular, but just for more nights like this. Content, smiling and feeling loved.

After a few hours of passing the bottle around and telling stories the conversation had trailed off and I looked down at my wrist, noticing the sparkly silver in the light of the torches Bonnie had lit when the sun went down. In my tequila laden mind all I wanted to do was text Tyler, so I did…

Me: Heyyy

Tyler: Hey Care. Hows ur birthday goin?

Me: it would b better if yoou were hereee

Tyler: Are you drunk?

Me: Psshh no!

Tyler: Where are you? I'll come get you

Me: At my funeral.

Me: Your bracelet is really pretty

Tyler: I was hoping u'd like it

Tyler: Wait your funeral? What?

Tyler: Are you at the cemetery?

Me: …yea

"Caroline what are you doing?" Elena's voice rose and my head shot up from my phone

"What? Hmm? Nothing" I smiled guiltily

"Okay you're a bad sober liar and you're an even worse drunk liar" Elena said

"I might've texted Tyler" to which there are some groans, "What? I'm delicate!" I laugh

"Give her a break, you can't control what everyone does all the time" Bonnie said to Elena and it was met with silence

"Ouch Bon" Matt says

"I'm sorry I know it Caroline's birthday…"

"Yea it is and I just want to make sure she doesn't do something that she's going to regret"

"But it has nothing to do with you!"

"You guys are ruining a perfectly good funeral" Matt said as he got his feet to retrieve the bottle

"Your right… I'm sorry Care, I'm just going to go sleep it off" she said with a sigh as she got to her feet and slung her purse over her shoulder, "Happy Birthday Care" she with a smile to me before she left. There was a moment of awkward silence as the door closed behind her where Matt, Elena and I stared at each other, until Matt took a swig of the bottle and said, "Hey Care, remember in 5th grade when you sang in the Christmas show with your skirt tucked into your underwear?"

"Oh my god I had totally forgotten about that!" Elena broke out in laughter and I joined her despite my blush.

"I'm just glad I wore a good pair that day!" I said with a snort, and just like that the awkwardness was dispelled. I walked over to the bench and laid down with my head on Elena's lap as we continued to try to outdo each other with embarrassing stories.

"Wait how is Bonnie going to get home?" I asked suddenly during one of the lulls in the conversation, "We only brought one car"

"We're actually just at the back of the main cemetery, I drove the long way to through you guys off" Elena said, "Her house is like a ten minute walk from here, yours is like twenty" she said as she looked down at me.

"It probably should have occurred to me to ask when she left!" I giggled… and then I heard footsteps approaching us. I shot up my head up from Elena's lap and faced the entrance of the mausoleum, but the doors opened to reveal Tyler.

"Sorry, didn't mean to crash the party" he said when he sees us all sitting there

"Then don't" Matt says, his tone hard. I guess there was a fight there I didn't know about.

"No its ok" I said to Matt as I got to my feet.

"Can I talk to you for a sec? It's kind of important?" he asks me. I look back at Elena and Matt, both wearing rather stony expressions and I sigh and nod my head before following him out. He leads me through some more tombstones until the mausoleum is out of sight and then turns back to me.

"I just wanted to say again what I said this morning. Klaus can't control me, not when it comes to you. I won't let him!" he said passionately

"Tyler…" I sigh, realizing he's still doesn't get it. And why is he suddenly being so adamant that Klaus can't control him when it comes to me? That's never come up in any of our fights. I thought it was weird this morning when he mentioned it but here he was mentioning it again. Forcefully. "Maybe we just weren't meant to be together. Maybe we just have to accept that and move on?" I say gently, finally saying what I had been thinking for a while, but it still hurt to say.

"I'm not moving on from anything. I love you" he murmurs as he moves closer to me. He leans in closer until he starts to kiss me gently. I'm surprised by how good it feels, the familiarity and the comfort of it makes me smile when he breaks away and I see that he is smiling too. I had really missed him, and that may just be the tequila talking, but I let the kiss intensify. He started to kiss away from my lips and down my neck. I wrapped my arms tighter around him as I sighed… until I felt a piercing pain where Tyler had just been kissing me and I gasped, "Ow!" I pushed him away from me and brought my hand to my neck, feeling wetness, and when I pulled it away I saw blood covering my hand. Tyler stared at my neck in shock and covered his mouth.

"What just happened?" I asked him bewildered, wondering what possessed him to bite me. I started to feel a strong burning sensation in my neck as the realization dawned on me, Tyler's bite would kill me.

"Did you just BITE me?" I yelled at him as I backed away to lean against a tree dizzily, "Oh my god" I whispered as I started to slide down the tree to the ground.

"No no no no Caroline," Tyler tried to say desperately, "I am so sorry Care ple-"

"Just get away from me! Don't touch me!" I scream as he started to reach down for me

"I'm so sorry!" he said again as he backed away from me

"Just go!" I screamed again and he finally turned and blurred away. I sat against the tree for another minute and tried to calm my breathing. A gentle mist had started to fall and the cool water felt so good against my hot skin that I shut my eyes, thinking I could just rest here.

A painful jolt from my neck forced my eyes open and I brought my hand to my neck to try and stop the bleeding as I slowly got to my feet. I needed to get home. I needed to get home and have my mom call Stefan, he would know what to do. I fished the keys out of my pocket and started weaving through the tombstones. I couldn't seem to pick my feet up enough so they kept getting caught on roots and stones, causing me to trip each time. My progress continued to slow as I felt the poison spread, and my panic increased along with it. I grabbed onto tree limbs and trunks as I finally exited the cemetery and I found the path to the car; I could've cried with relief when it finally came into view. The gentle mist, which had once been so comforting and cooling, had increased to an uncomfortable drizzle, pulling my clothes down and making them heavier. My hair dripped into my eyes and over my neck, causing me to hiss in pain when it brushed my wound. When the car was finally unlocked and I sat behind the wheel my vision swam dangerously, I took a deep breath to calm myself and pulled the car onto the road and started to drive slowly. The trees started to dance menacingly on either side of the muddy road and the road itself seemed to bend and twist. I kept blinking, trying to clear my visions, but I didn't think it had anything to do with my sight. And then out of nowhere a giant bolt of lightning strikes the ground right in front of my car. I panic and force the wheel sideways, and I can hear screaming as the car suddenly starts flying. I can feel myself flip over and over as the car flies down, hitting tree after tree. In the first jolt of a tree my head slammed against the window, the second jolt caused the seatbelt to rip and burn the skin of my shoulder, and the third jolt broke my leg when the car finally landed upside down.

It would have been welcoming to surrender to the unconsciousness that was waiting for me, but as water slowly started to pool inside of the car I realized that I had landed upside down in the ravine that flowed from the falls. My dizziness was the least of my problems when I realized after a minute that I wasn't healing. My broken leg throbbed and shot pain up and down my leg and my shoulder burned as my head ached painfully. I carefully unbuckled my seat belt and tried to brace myself for the landing but my leg wouldn't support my weight so I fell face first into the pool of water. I dragged myself to the passenger door but it wouldn't budge because the crash had caused it to cave in on itself, and no matter how much strength I applied to it, I was too weak. The driver's side door was wedged against a boulder and wouldn't budge either, so I crawled into the back of the car. I searched frantically for anything to help me break the back window and finally I found a snow scraper, having once scoffed at my mom for buying it for me in the mild Virginia winters I now blessed her. The water, now up to my waist, was threatening my sanity as my awareness of the poison came back to me tenfold with a burst of dizziness. I tried to steady my shaking hand as I started to beat against the back window, using all of my limited strength and screaming with frustration when I didn't even create a crack. My frustration turned to desperation as the water continued to rise inside of the car, swirling with my blood. I knew the water wouldn't kill me, but I didn't think drowning would be pleasant, and eventually if no one found me the venom would finish me off. And finally as the water rose above my head I felt myself succumbing to the unconsciousness that had been just out of reach before.


Much like Caroline, it is also my birthday weekend, so I apologize for the delay in uploading! And just a reminder, if you ask me questions in a review as a guest I have no way of answering them! No matter how much I want to. So just quickly create an account and ask me questions to your hearts content!

And I hope anyone else in the northeast area like me is ready for the amount of snow coming for us over the next few days. Stay safe!

Read. Review. Enjoy!