The sun was going to be rising soon. Tyler went about cleaning up the cellar. It was hard for him to touch the chains. He kept picturing Caroline bound by them and whimpering in pain. If Jules wasn't already dead he would have killed her again, made her suffer. Tyler wanted to take time and answer Caroline's question, why? He himself still was a little confused but thought he had might have a pretty damn good idea.
After he had drunk Caroline's blood he felt stronger than ever. Every single scratch, bump, and wound on him had healed flawlessly and it was as though he could feel Caroline herself running through his veins.
"We are Family. We are blood."
Jules's words nipped at the back of his mind. She may have told him the truth but only what she wanted him to hear. Tyler understood why Caroline couldn't tell him the truth and even though there was still anger inside him it wasn't directed towards her. Hell, it wasn't even all directed towards Damon or his brother Stefan. Mason was literally his family and his own blood and he betrayed not only Tyler but everyone including his own kind. There were things that were thicker than blood and for Tyler, it was his connection, bond, and love for Caroline.
"I got rid of the body."
Tyler turned to see Caroline, standing at the entrance of the cellar, the sunlight behind her making her look like she was glowing.
"Where did you..."
"It's best that you not know. Let's just say Damon would actually be impressed for once."
Tyler nodded his head. She was right. It was probably best that he didn't know. He turned back to the only item that belonged to Jules, her bag. Tyler had already dowsed it with gasoline and he grabbed the lighter that he had taken from the bag earlier and set it on fire letting it slowly burn, letting the memory of Jules, the one person he thought he could trust, burn away. When the bag was reduced to ashes, Tyler stomped out the flames.
He took one last look around the cellar and then turned to Caroline who was trying to wipe the blood stains off of her mouth. Tyler came up to her and grabbed her wrists. "Don't." He told her. Her own blood was still stained on his lips and face.
Tyler placed his hands firmly on her waist and kissed her hard. He kissed her with desperation and need. He kissed he with relief and joy that she was alive, that he was alive. He kissed her with love, love that he now knew could not be broken by anything.
Caroline gently put her hands on his chest and pulled back. "Tyler, I need to go find Elena or Bonnie or even Stefan or Damon. I'm sure they don't really care but they should at least know that I'm alive.
"Caroline, I..."
"Can talk about this, whatever this is, later?"
Tyler reluctantly took his hands off her waist and nodded his head. He didn't want to let her go, he never wanted to let her go but he understood that last night had been chaos and hell and she needed time to think what happened over. He held her hand giving it a small squeeze before she vanished from sight.
...
"I'm telling you something is not right." Bonnie paced back and forth in front of the fire place as Damon, Elena, and Stefan watched her. "I could just tell when I talked to Tyler yesterday."
"What? You think the little puppy offed blondie or something? When I saw him yesterday he was pissed off. Maybe he did kill her. Should we send a fruit basket?"
Stefan, Bonnie, and Elena shot him dirty looks and he took a sip of bourbon and shrugged his shoulders.
"Nice to see you too, Damon" Caroline was standing by the couch. She was filthy and covered in blood.
Stefan went to her to check if she was all right but stopped when he smelled the vervain that still lingered on her. Elena brushed past him and pulled Caroline into a hug.
"Oh my God. What happened? Are you okay?" Elena frowned when she saw the blood on Caroline's face. "Did you kill someone?" Elena asked not sure if she really wanted to know the answer.
Caroline was beside Damon in a blur. She grabbed the glass of bourbon from his hand and downed it. "Jules isn't a problem anymore." She said.
Damon quirked an eyebrow and his nose crinkled up when he smelled the vervain on her. "How is she not a problem anymore, blondie?"
"Well, Tyler impaled her in the back with a stake and I snapped her neck." Caroline explained casually like she was giving someone directions. Damon stared at her, his clear blue eyes wide.
"Why would Tyler help you kill Jules?" Stefan asked in shock.
"She kidnapped me. Kept me in chains covered in vervain. Tortured me. Tyler saved me. I saved him. Those are the cliff notes. I don't really feel like giving you the whole story right now or maybe ever. Just know that Jules is no longer a threat."
Damon was speechless for the first time in his life. No one knew what to say.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked still in complete bewilderment.
"I have to go. I need to clean all this dirt and blood off of me. The vervain is pretty much out of my body but it's still irritating my skin." With those last words Caroline disappeared.
As she headed home she could feel Tyler wondering where she was. He was worried. She remembered bits and pieces of his and Jules conversation the night before. She remembered hearing the words imprint and bond being used but she couldn't recall anything else. However, somehow she knew that when they drank each others blood whatever there was between them was sealed forever.
TBC
A/N: Caroline and Tyler moments galore, coming to a computer screen near you soon.
