A/N: I'm so sorry for disappearing for so long but this is pretty long so I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading! xoxo

Disclaimer: I do not own TVD! I wanted to get this out to you guys as quickly as possible so it is not beta'd!

Heart Strings
Chapter 8: Show Me Your Teeth


"The best lies about me are the ones I told,"
-Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind


Songs:

Lady Gaga-Teeth [Gabby and Kol]

Duffy-Rain On Your Parade [Caroline and Tyler] [Elena and Damon]

Say Lou Lou-Stayin' Alive [Gabby and Caroline]

Zella Day-East of Eden [End, Caroline/Gabby/Elena/Bonnie]


"Ow!" Gabby shrieked and yanked her hair out of his grasp. She turned around sharply, glaring icy daggers.

Kol held his hands up with a roguish grin. "That wasn't me, love." Her left eye twitched.

"Of course it wasn't," she said through gritted teeth. She closed her eyes and went back to studying the week's vocab for English. This carried on for another four minutes until she felt Kol's gargantuan hand creeping up her thigh. She slapped it away fiercely without opening her eyes, already used to his advances. He leaned his head into the curve between her neck and shoulder, pouting against her skin.

She used all of her might to avoid clenching up and antagonizing him. She'd learned the hard way to let him play with her. Last time she slapped him, he snapped her neck and she woke up at 3 am with a crick in her neck that lasted the following days.

"I'm trying to study, Kol," she said, trying for patience.

"The only thing you should be studying is me," he mimed biting into her neck with his blunt, human teeth. She sighed through her nose and turned to face him, twisting her nose when she realized that Kol's long body was almost completely wrapped around hers.

He grinned darkly when they came face to face and pressed his nose next to hers, their foreheads pressed together.

"Hello," he growled seductively, his fingers curling into her side, strong enough to undoubtedly leave a bruise.

"Hi," she squeaked, leaning back from him until her back hit his legs. She was practically laying down on his lap now.

He followed her movements with amusement, his nose trailing up her body. As he reached her neck, he looked up, his features beginning to transform. Her breathing picked up and she closed her eyes as the veins crawled up his eyes. With a vicious grin that she missed, he attacked her neck, making her gasp in pain.

He pulled his legs up so he straddled her, his arms like bands around her body, with hers clutching his back as her legs braced against his hips.

He leisurely pulled from her neck for more than ten minutes, his smooth tongue idly licking her blood up as it trailed down to her collarbone, making her shiver. He drew back, blood surrounding his plush lips as she lazily looked into his eyes, which were dimmed with euphoria.

"Thank you for the lovely snack, darling. I'll see you tonight."


Gabby woke with a start, her alarm going off. She switched it off and laid back with a sigh. It had been weeks since Kol first appeared in her dreams, and he'd gradually grown bolder as he realized what he could and couldn't do to her. Luckily for her, there were no knives in his never ending limbo, just fangs.

She would have to remind him not to take so much next time. She was left whoozy and exhausted afterwards.

She dressed and headed downstairs, desperate for coffee to wake her up. She frowned as she caught Alaric leaving, swinging around the staircase to the kitchen.

She caught the tail end of the previous conversation. Ice slid through her veins when John revealed he was Elena's biological father. He walked past Gabby with a weak nod as she echoed Jenna's sentiments.

"What?!"


Gabby shivered as she and Caroline walked down the street. She'd called Caroline around three in the afternoon, desperate to rant to her girlfriend about her bitch of an English teacher and the unbelievable reveal of Uncle John's relation to Elena.

She noticed Matt approaching out of the corner of her eye and grinned, picking up the pace to give them the chance to talk. She waited by the passenger side of the car, tapping her finger nails on the handle. She watched Caroline step away from Matt with a small smile on her face and step up to the driver's side.

"So Matt's back in the picture, huh?" Gabby teased playfully. Caroline grinned before she froze. The brunette frowned in confusion before she heard the voice.

"'Scuse me," a blonde woman walked up from behind Caroline. Caroline discreetly checked Gabby before she turned around.

"Caroline, right?" the woman, who Gabby recognized as Jules, said as way of greeting. "Hi, Gabby. Nice to see you again," she said politely. Gabby attempted a smile back, but she was sure it came off as a grimace.

"Yeah," Caroline said unsurely. Jules walked closer.

"I'm looking for Tyler. You haven't seen him, have you?"

Caroline shook her head, "Nope. Not since earlier. Sorry." She punctuated her sentence with a nod, and turned to put her purse in the car.

"I know you're lying," Jules said strongly.

Caroline bit her lip and gave Gabby an apologetic look before she turned around and braced herself against the car, giving Jules a sassy look. "Really? How? Is that one of your little wolf tricks?"

Gabby feened confusion as Jules responded, "Actually it is." Caroline nodded and turned, closing the car door.

"Well," she trailed. "I have a trick too." With that, she turned around with a snarl, undoubtedly baring her vampire face. Gabby gasped when Jules sprayed what looked pepper spray into Caroline's eyes, making the vampire groan in pain and cower against the car.

"What the hell!" Gabby yelled as she ran around the front of the car to comfort Caroline. She turned around to look for Jules, only to receive the butt end of a gun to her temple. She slid to the ground, her back against the car, to the sound of a gun shot. She blinked blearily and stared up at the man, silent. He glared at her and sent his foot into her face, knocking her out.


Gabby paced in front of a very confused Kol.

"Gone for a nap, darling?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Some douche nugget knocked me out," she told him. He frowned. "A what did what?"

She sneered at him. "Sorry, I always forget you're a trillion years old. A grown ass man hit me-a child-in the head with a gun."

He narrowed his eyes at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Watch the sass, Gabriella. Don't forget I can kill you."

"Not for forever," she said defiantly. His long legs took slow steps towards her, and he would admit he was slightly impressed that she didn't shy away.

"Perhaps not kill you," he mused. "But I would love to make you hurt." Gabby shivered and braced her hand against his chest.

"As adorable as I find your psychotic side, I need you to wake me up. Now."

He grinned and brought his hands to the side of her head.

"With pleasure, darling." With that, he jerked her neck to the side, absolutely snapping it.


Caroline gasped and coughed as she woke up, an immediate shriek of pain escaping her. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she rolled onto her knees. Her shaking hand went to her forehead, feeling for the bullet still embedded in her skull. She groaned and cried out as she dug her fingers into the wound, fishing the wooden bullet out of her head. She sighed in relief and dropped it from her hand, wiping away the fresh blood from her forehead as the wound closed.

She surveyed her surroundings and moaned as she spotted Gabby laying down in the same cage as her. She crawled over to her friend and brushed her hair back, sighing as she recognized her steady heartbeat. She studied the cage from her spot on the floor and raced to the edge, sliding her arm through the bars and towards the latch close to the bottom. Her fingers were just barely out of reach, but she tried fruitlessly.

As she began to draw her arm back, her eyes caught sight of the man that had kidnapped them and shot back, bumping into Gabby, who stirred.

"I see you got the bullet out," he said. With a shake of his head, he continued without moving his eyes away from her," that was...nasty."

Gabby groaned and slowly sat up. The man ignored her as Caroline reached for her hand.

"I've got lots of wooden bullets. I like toys," he told them. Gabby, still drowsy, was confused. Caroline began crying.

"It's gonna be a long night sweet pea," he told Caroline, and shot her in the bosom, making the young vampire scream. Gabby jumped as Caroline screamed, falling into the brunette's arms.

"Don't worry, kid," he said to Gabby, over Caroline's head. "I haven't forgotten about you."


"You wanna be friends," Tyler said to the pacing Stefan, "great, we're friends. Will you go now?" Stefan sighed and sat down.

"Look, I don't know what else to say, Tyler. I came back to this town because I wanted a life. I wanted to exist where I could have friends and where I could build a family. I have that here. We can both have that," he said passionately to the young werewolf, who only shook his head as the phone in Stefan's pocket began to ring.

He picked it up when he saw it was Caroline. "Hey, everything okay?" he asked quietly, standing.

"That depends, how badly do you want to keep them alive?" a woman-not Caroline-said.

Stefan scrambled at the unfamiliar voice. "Who is this?" he asked with a warning in his voice, drawing Tyler's attention.

"Ask your brother. Where's Tyler?" the woman snarled. Tyler frowned as Stefan realized who had Caroline's phone. "Jules. Where's Caroline?"

"You made a mistake, Stefan. I'm gonna give you a chance to fix it."

"Where is she?

"Right here. Want proof?" Jules asked quickly, eager to supply it. She pulled open the trailer door and stormed in.

"He needs proof," she told the man, holding her phone out. He easily raised the gun with a quirk of his brows and shot the blonde in the arm, making the brunette cry out.

"Stop! Leave her alone!" Gabby wailed, making Stefan freeze.

"What's happening?" Tyler asked, concerned.

"Oh yeah," Jules added as she left the trailer. "I've got the kid too."

"Hurt her again, either of them, and you're dead."

"I hurt her again, and she's dead," Jules said seriously into the phone. "Bring Tyler to me, the clearing by Wickery Falls. You have twenty minutes until they both die."


Elena watched from her spot with a glass in her hand, as Damon stood from the bar, walking away from the woman with Aunt Jenna.

"You totally blew her off," she said as he walked past her.

"I'm steering clear of all women at the moment," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth as he rounded the side. She turned with him, saying gently, "You didn't have to be rude."

"Trust me, it's in the best interest of all women everywhere," he grimaced, looking her up and down. He took a sip of his drink as her phone began to ring.

"Stefan," she answered, looking away from Damon. "What is it?" she asked, worried from his distressed tone. Panic surged through her as Stefan began to fill her in. Her eyes flicked up to Damon, who grew alarmed as he listened to his brother.

He ended up dragging Elena to the bathroom.

"Why am I just finding out about this now?" he asked her, annoyed.

"Stefan was worried that you-"

"That-what, I would kill him?" Damon asked, making Elena nod with wide eyes. "Of course. That's what needs to happen," he whisper shouted.

"No, Damon, not Tyler. Do whatever you need to do to get Caroline and-" her breath shuddered, "-and Gabby back but just leave Tyler out of it, okay?"

"Why? He's a werewolf, he needs to die, I'm willing to kill, it's win-win!"

Elena grabbed his arm, trying to reach him, "Damon, please. Okay, too many people are dead."

He glared at her, "You have to stop doing that." She frowned at her hand, and slid it away. "Doing what?"

"Assuming that I'll play the good guy because it's you who's asking."

She sighed. "Be a better man, Damon." Damon looked her up and down, unsure of how to respond.

The door burst open, John following it. Damon was speaking as he turned around, already knowing who it was, "Do you mind?"

"What's going on?" he ignored Damon, looking at Elena.

"Nothing," she said harshly.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

"Well guess what, John," Damon said loudly, sliding his way between the estranged father and daughter, "trust works both ways. Get out."

"We don't have time for this, we need to get Gabby and Caroline back," Elena said hurriedly.

"No, we don't need to do anything," Damon told her. "I'll take care of it."

He turned to John, putting his hands on his shoulders. "First Dad duty, ground your daughter," he said smartly, gesturing to Elena. "Keep her here," he whispered as he left.

"I'm coming with you," Elena said bravely, attempting to follow.

"No no no no no," John caught her. "I'm with Damon on this one."

"Mmnmm," she shook her head, "no."

"No, stop, stop. You're not going anywhere. Just tell me what's going on," he said gently.


Gabby whined from the wooden bullet in her thigh as Caroline shook from the amount of pain rocketing through her. Every time she pushed a bullet out of her body, he put two more in.

"So," the man said conversationally as he balanced on the balls of his feet, his forearms braced against his thighs. "How many vampires are there in this town anyway?"

Caroline stayed silent, looking at him from the corner of her eye. He held up the little green squirt gun, spraying her face and eyes with the vervain-laced water, making her cry out. He watched with interest as burns appeared over her milky skin.

He muttered to himself as he stood, listening to both girls cry out and plead.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Caroline whimpered, slamming her feet into the bars.

He squatted back down, fiddling with the unidentified object in his hands. "Because you're a vampire," he said with a smile. "Why not."

He raised the object to his mouth, pointing it at the blonde.

It shot several little wooden sticks into the base of her neck and collarbone. She screamed through her teeth and slammed her boots into the cage.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" he said diplomatically.

"Get me out!" Caroline screamed for help, gripping the bars with white knuckles.

"Excuse me? What was that?" he said calmly. She kept slamming her feet into the ground and the bars, screaming. Gabby was silently watching him, with red eyes and tear streaks staining her face. Her nose and lips were red and puffy as she clutched a hand to her thigh.

With a sneer, he stood and left the girls to themselves.

"Care," Gabby rasped. "C'mere. We have to get those out." With a sniffle, Caroline turned around and scooted towards the younger girl.

"You're taking this really well," Caroline said tearfully with a wince as Gabby began to pick the wooden sticks out of her neck.

"You guys'll have a lot of explaining to do," she lied with a weak smile.


"I know you're out there," Jules said into the forest. Her eyes followed Stefan as he stepped into view, Tyler in tow.

"Where are the girls?" Stefan asked as they approached the female werewolf.

"Locked up tight," Jules said, betraying nothing.

"Let them go and I'll release Tyler. This doens't have to get any messier than it already has," Stefan paused, inspecting her. "I'm not your enemy, Jules."

"It's a little late to be waving a white flag, don't you think?" she asked sharply.

"You need to leave town," Stefan said seriously. "No one else has to get hurt."

"I'm not leaving without Tyler," Jules said strongly, glancing at the teen wolf.

"Tyler's free to make his own decisions, as soon as you release the girls," Stefan retorted.

"My brother the peacemaker," Damon announced himself. "Since Stefan got here before me I'm gonna let him try it his way before I resort to my way, which is a lil' bloodier. So, give us the girls."

"Let go of Tyler," Jules said again.

"Give us the girls," Damon demanded. "It's not even a full moon, it's not a fair fight and you know it. We will take you," he threatened with a smile.

"I'm not so sure about that, tough guy," Jules countered. She raised her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly. Large figures descended upon them, and with one smell, they could detect the wolves.

"Let's try this again," Jules began. "Give us Tyler."

Damon looked around, sizing up the opposing werewolves. "You heard her," Damon said quietly to Tyler. "Go," he whispered. Tyler looked Damon over. "Get over that," Damon gave him a light shove, Stefan releasing him as Tyler walked to Jules side.

"Which one of you killed Mason?" Brady, the man who had tortured Caroline and shot Gabby, asked.

"Ahh, that'd be me," Damon pointed to himself carelessly.

"Boys," Brady called, pointing his sharp wooden stake at Damon. "Make sure that one suffers." Damon smiled awkwardly, muttering out of the corner of his mouth to Stefan. "We can take'em."

"I don't know about that," Stefan whispered back.

"Well then," Damon smiled arrogantly.

The black haired vampire charged at Jules, who jumped onto the trailer and did a back flip over him. Tyler, meanwhile, raced inside the trailer as the wolf carrying the flamethrower started it up. Stefan ran to the wolf manning it and put him in a headlock, using the flames to ward off wolves.

Damon raced for Brady, only to be attacked by the wolf on top of the trailer. He easily ripped his heart out, tossing it to the side.

Tyler swallowed harshly at the sight of Caroline, bleeding in several different spots, trying to reach for the latch to open the cage.

"Tyler," Caroline nearly cried with relief. "There's a latch, there's a latch I can't get to it," she told him, panicked.

Tyler hesitated, unsure if he should let her out. He still felt betrayed, and she was a vampire...

"Tyler?" Gabby's small voice said from behind Caroline, and he blanched at the sight of all the blood seeping out of her thigh.

"Tyler, please," Caroline shook the metal bars. "Tyler?"

He steeled himself and bent down to the latch, quickly figuring it out and holding it open as Caroline slowly moved Gabby out of it, before racing out herself.

Outside, Stefan snapped the wolf's neck and easily caught the stake coming for him, stabbing the wolf closest to him.

The wolf shot another stake, but Stefan caught it again and reserve it, stabbing the wolf in the neck. He made his way to the wolf on the ground, only to be stabbed in the back by another wolf. He let out a yell of pain and fell to his knees, face planting in the dirt.

Brady raised his stake to stab Damon, wrestling for the upper hand. Damon flipped the werewolf over his back, preparing to kill him, only to be shot in the chest by Jules.

Caroline jumped out of the trailer, but was quickly snatched up by Jules and forced against the side of it, a gun no doubt containing wooden bullets pressed against the back of her neck.

Tyler, with Gabby leaning on him, looked out of the door at the sight of Caroline struggling against the female werewolf.

Brady stood and grabbed the stake, rearing it up to stab Damon. He yelled out in pain, dropping the stake in order to clutch his head. Jules and the other wolves had the same reaction.

Caroline looked around, confused. "What's happening?" she whispered to herself.

"What the hell's going on?" Tyler muttered, feeling Gabby lock up against his chest. A man approached from the shadows, his hands raised and fingers spread. He was obviously the cause of their pain.

Damon and Stefan both struggled to stand up as Caroline snatched Gabby from Tyler and hesitantly walked towards the man.

"Elijah made a promise to Elena," the man said to Stefan. "I'm here to see it's upheld. You need to go." Stefan slowly nodded, hurrying to pick Gabby up.

"You need to get out of here. Now," he instructed strongly. Stefan nudged Caroline to walk after Damon, leaving the wolves and the witch behind.


Gabby had taken Stefan's blood with a grimace, taking his excuse that he would explain later. They stood together in the archway between the living room and kitchen, watching Elena tear up as John spoke to her about their parents. Stefan rubbed Gabby's back comfortingly, sensing her upset growing.

Elena caught sight of the two of them and sighed in relief, racing over to capture Gabby in a hug.

"Are you okay?" she asked frantically, cupping her sister's cheeks and looking her over. She paled at the sight of the blood in her sister's jeans and on her hands.

"I'm okay, El, Stefan gave me his blood. Which, y'know, totally healed me, which is really something," she smiled weakly. "But uh, I think you got some explaining to do."


Elena, with the help of Stefan, 'explained' everything going on. Elena commented on how well she was taking everything.

"I guess you've got a lot on your plate, sis," she shrugged. "The last thing you need is me all up in your grill."

With Stefan's concern for Caroline (and the Gilbert sisters), he decided to put them all together in order for them to recover from the night's terror.

He knocked on Caroline's door, giving her a smile and wave through the window in the door as she walked out of her hall. She wrapped her robe tighter around her body and opened the door with a quiet greeting.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I was a bit worried about you, with everything you went through tonight," Stefan admitted.

"I'm fine," she said gently.

"Well good, but, just in case, I uh, brought backup," he pointed over his shoulder. She looked at him, confused, as Elena, Gabby, and Bonnie appeared around the corner.

"We're gonna slumber it," Elena said warmly. Caroline began to cry as Gabby wrapped her arms around the blonde.

"How are you?" Caroline whispered in the younger girl's ear.

"Dude, my best friend's a vampire. I'm friggin' awesome," she said with a grin, leaning her head on the blonde's shoulder.

Caroline burst out crying as Elena and Bonnie joined the hug.

"Thank you," she whimpered.

"What are friends for?" Bonnie rubbed her shoulder. Caroline smiled and hugged the girls harder.

"Love you, CareBear," Gabby said lovingly.

"I love you guys," Caroline cried.


Gabby sighed as she rejoined the land of the kind-of-dead. She'd been high on adrenaline the last time she was here, and she greatly regretted sassing Kol the way she had.

"Look you leagues better, darling," he said jovially from behind her. "Did you miss me?"

She gasped as his hand quickly enclosed her neck, his lips at her ear.

"As...attractive I find your passion, my dear, talk back to me like that again and I'll gut you like a fish. Am I understood?" he licked the shell of her at the end.

She nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, sir," she said through gritted teeth. Kol grinned wolfishly, his fangs grazing her neck. "That's my girl."


A/N: Well THAT took me all day to write. Thanks for reading!

P.S. Kol will not always hold so much power over Gabby, their relationship will grow and evolve, I promise!

Reviews:

NatalieLynn: Indeed it does! Thank you for reading!

RHatch89: Thank you :P

Ying and Yang - Balance: That's a word for it ;) Thanks for reviewing!

Originals101: Thank you!

theoriginalsrizzlesouat1D: Thank you so much, love! Thanks for reading!

Guest #1: Thank you so much!

katraj0908: Thank you! Sorry for the long wait!

Liliange83: Thank you so much! I have definitely not abandoned this story, I have many plans for it. Thanks for reading!

ThePhantomismyLove: Thank you! Sorry for the wait :D