Chapter 9:
Suspension

The next morning started for Taylor with her cell phone going off. She jolted up in bed grabbing her phone with her vampire speed, clicking the answer button and grumbling into the phone.

"What?"

"Taylor," an irritated voice complained, waking her completely.

"Caroline?"

"Are you sleeping? Taylor you said you would come today and help with the picnic thing."

The young vampire stretched before she dragged herself out of bed and over to her dresser. "I did?" Leave it to Caroline to remember something she'd probably agreed to just to get her to stop asking.

"Yes you did. You have to come today, please," she begged and Taylor noted there was a hint of sincerity in her voice. "Mom has decided to play mom for the day. I can't handle this on my own."

Though it surprised her that she didn't think of asking Elena she agreed. "I'll be there in thirty minutes, Caroline. I just need to get dressed."

The phone dial ended and she quickly got dressed in a pair of jeans, a white tank top with a pair of ankle boots. Taylor contemplated asking Elena for a ride, but the sound of Stefan made her decide otherwise. Her sister had told her about their suspicions with Caroline and their faked fight. It all seemed too much for her. Katherine was capable of doing some crazy things, but Taylor was certain that she wouldn't manipulate her like that. Either way it was something she didn't want to get involved in if she could help it.

Instead of bothering the two love birds, Taylor ran down the stairs and out the door. It wasn't long before she stood at the picnic, regretting her decision to come as dozens of people swarmed the grounds, including Damon who she spotted on the other side of the field.

"Caroline," she sighed to herself. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret this in a few hours."

The vampire closed her eyes hoping that maybe when she reopened them it would be magically better. With her eyes shut her ears focused more on her surroundings. The tail end of a conversation caught her ears.

"There's two of us and one of you. I think you're the one who has to watch his back."

Her eyes snapped open, searching the space until her eyes landed on the two whom the conversation came from. Stefan and Mason? What was going on? Taylor had the faintest feeling that this had something to do with Damon (everything always did). But what she couldn't figure out was why Stefan got involved.

Worried for her friends she sped across the field to where they were as fast as she could without drawing attention. When she finally reached the two she could practically feel the testosterone emanating off of them.

"What's going on," she asked calmly, though she held an edge to her voice. "Stefan?"

The younger Salvatore looked uneasy – like he hadn't wanted her to hear any of what he'd said. "Nothing. Right Mason?"

"I'm not stupid. I know something is going on."

"It's nothing," he pressed. Something caught his attention and he excused himself, but not before giving Mason another glance.

"What just happened," she asked, turning to Mason, who had returned to his truck, once Stefan disappeared.

"An attempt at a truce."

"A truce?"

"Damon followed me last night," he started.

There was no describing the irritation she felt with Damon. He knew he'd upset her by doing something and yet he goes ahead and does it any way.

"I know. I was afraid of what he would do. Are you okay?"

"Just a knife to my chest."

"What," Taylor hissed, grabbing Mason's arm, dragging him behind his truck. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Mason nodded his head, a smile still on his face. "I'm fine. See?"

She refused to let it drop, anger bubbling in her. "He's such an ass. I can't believe he did that. Actually, I can. He –"

"Taylor? What are you doing back here?"

Taylor nearly jumped, not suspecting Caroline to appear out of nowhere. "Caroline! You scared me!"

"Come on. We need to start helping out," Caroline said, dragging on her arm.

"Oh okay – bye Mason," Taylor managed to get out as she was dragged, sending Mason a look that asked for help, though he only smiled and shook his head. "So what are we doing today?" She asked, finally walking without Caroline's hand dragging her.

"Painting for us. Elena's over there," she said in her usual bouncy voice.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. Something was different about Caroline and not in a good way. Maybe Elena and Stefan were right? Maybe Katherine was making her behave that way. But what possible reason would she have for that? Taylor nearly laughed. Of course she knew what it was – Katherine still had feelings for Stefan, whether he would realize it or not. Still, she rushed to no conclusions. She would find out for herself.

Either way, she played along with Elena and Stefan's game, agreeing with Caroline that Katherine seemed to be pushing them apart.

"How are things with you and Stefan," Caroline asked Elena.

Caroline stood with a paintbrush in hand, absentmindedly painting the pillar in front of her while she watched Elena. Elena sighed and though it was fake Taylor knew how much it bothered her.

"We haven't spoken since the fight."

She sounded broken hearted.

"Give it some time," Taylor offered, a soft smile on her face. "It'll work out."

"Don't give her false hope," Caroline butted in, reinforcing what Elena and Stefan had said about her.

"I'm not," Taylor argued. "I'm telling her what I think."

"But it is false hope," she argued back.

Elena watched cautiously from her spot on the floor. Where ever the conversation was going it didn't seem good. Taylor had taken an edge to her voice. Though Elena was sure that Taylor loved Caroline like a sister, there was only so much the vampire would take before she snapped.

Caroline continued, completely abandoning the pillar. "Didn't you date a human? Or a witch-human? That didn't end to well."

"Caroline!" Elena gasped, glancing between her and her sister.

Frozen in her spot, Taylor's eyes widened. She didn't know who had told her, maybe it had been Elena, but she didn't care. Caroline could know – she loved Caroline like they were sisters. But did she have to bring it up in such a blunt way?

Immediately Caroline's hands sprang to her face, covering her mouth. "I'm so sorry Taylor! I didn't mean to say that. I really didn't –"

"It's fine, Caroline," Taylor smiled. It was Katherine making her say that – or so she assumed – but it didn't make it hurt any less. "I'm just going to go over there for a while."

As she turned and walked away, she could hear Caroline's regretful voice trailing behind her. "I really shouldn't have said that. I'm so stupid!" Rather than dwelling on what she'd said, Taylor searched the grounds for Mason, the one person she was sure could cheer her up or at least get her mind off of things. Unfortunately for her, Damon got in her way when she'd begun to walk over to him.

"What Damon," she sighed as he blocked her way, stepping in her path every time she tried to move until she finally caved.

"We need to talk."

"No, we don't," she said blankly.

Taylor wanted nothing more than for someone to take her away. She didn't want to talk to Damon. Too many conflicting emotions filled her to make it safe to talk to him – anger, sadness, longing. All she wanted was to be alone, but she was stuck at the picnic with Caroline. If she had to be there the least he could do was leave her alone.

Pleadingly, something unlike Damon, he gently grabbed her hands. "Please."

She shouldn't. She knew she shouldn't cave, but the look on his face was too hard to resist. With a sigh she nodded her head and waited for him to speak. It was Damon who said they needed to talk, after all.

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Just my brother?"

The young girl's sharp voice cut through his calm façade and he adorned a look of worry and regret.

"I was talking to Elena and he came in. It wasn't planned. I don't know what I would have done if he had been wearing the ring. Taylor," he begged, which threw Taylor off in and of itself. "You need to believe me."

Ignoring the feeling of jealousy she surprisingly got at the mention of Elena's name, she shook her head. "I can't do this, Damon. Not right now. It's too much."

Taylor made a move to leave when Damon's hand grabbed her arm, stopping her. She turned to look at him, pleading with her eyes for him to let her go. Finally he released his grip on her arm and watched as she walked away from him and towards Mason. If ever there was a time he wanted to kill him, it was now.

Taylor was very aware of Damon's eyes as he followed her movements and she knew how angry he must have been as he noticed she stopped by Mason, but she didn't let it consume her thoughts. Instead, she hoped Mason would be able to get her mind off of things.

"Hey Mason," she said, smiling.

Mason looked up from his spot on the ground, where he had been grabbing a large box the sheriff wanted him to move. Quickly standing, he said, "Hey. How are you holding up?"

"What do you mean," she asked innocently, hoping to avoid the topic of Damon Salvatore.

"Damon's here. I know it upsets you. I can see it on your face."

The young girl childishly stuck out her tongue. "Maybe you know me too well. I'm fine," she insisted. "I'm a big girl and I'm not going to let it get to me. Anyway, how are things with Tyler? Did he ask you?"

On the subject of Tyler, Mason looked around cautiously, making sure no one would hear their conversation.

"I told him early this morning. I had no choice. By the way, sorry about trying to attack you."

Taylor waved off his apology, more interested in how her friend reacted. "Is he okay?"

"I don't think he's going to think about much of anything else for a long time."

Sighing, Taylor pulled her hands up to her face and ran them down her face. "That must have been why he called me so early! I didn't answer because I was completely drained of energy. He's not here, is he?"

Mason laughed. "Does Tyler seem like the kind of kid to help out at these types of things?"

"You're right," she laughed. "Do you think he's home?"

"It's a possibility. Why?"

With a shrug of her shoulders, she answered, "I was thinking of going by and seeing if he wanted to talk about it."

"You sure Caroline's going to let you go," he asked, nodding in the direction Taylor had just come from where Caroline and Damon watched her actions carefully.

"I'm pretty sure she'll let me leave," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'll call you later."

Taylor turned to leave, ready to head over to the Lockwood's when a thought popped into her mind. Turning her head to see Mason, she suddenly spoke. "Have you heard from her in the past couple of days?"

Mason was confused. "Who?"

"Kat."

"Oh," he paused, suddenly uncomfortable.

"She just hasn't answered any of my calls. I'm a little worried."

"I talked to her once or twice. She's fine. Just upset, as usual."

"Oh." It was Taylor's turn to pause. "If you talk to her can you tell her I said to call? It's important."

"Sure… You know you can talk to me if you need to."

"I know, Mason," she replied. Before she walked away she pulled him into a tight hug. "Thanks for everything."

"Tyler? Hello? Are you home?"

Taylor stood at the front door of the Lockwood mansion, her hand lowering from the door she'd just knocked on. No one was answering. Using her instincts she closed her eyes, listening to the conversations going on inside.

"She fell," she heard Tyler's worried voice shout from inside.

Having been invited in by Mrs. Lockwood, she rushed in, using her speed to get to the stairs in a few seconds.

"What happened?"

"Taylor?" Tyler's surprised voice called from the bottom of the stairs.

"You pushed me," Sarah's voice whined.

"It was an accident," Jeremy's voice interrupted, causing Taylor to raise an eyebrow.

Something was going on. It seemed too coincidental that Jeremy was with Tyler, when the last time she checked they weren't on speaking terms. Let alone the dreadful feeling she got at the thought that if Sarah had died, the curse would have been triggered.

Once Sarah was back on her feet and walking toward the drinks with Aimee, Tyler walked up to Taylor and whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you."

"You're not my mother," he snapped, on edge.

"Obviously not," Taylor replied, letting his attitude roll off easily. "You don't usually date your sons."

"Can we not get into this right now," Jeremy piped in, sharing glances between their group and the two girls.

"Whatever," she snapped, peeved. You try and help someone and that was the type of thanks you get in return. "I was just trying to help out."

"I don't need help."

"Oh don't give me that shit! I saw that look on your face, Tyler. You were scared."

"You were seeing things," he argued, taking on a defensive tone. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned in feigned calmness against the stair railing. Of all the times to be stubborn he had to choose now. Why she had gone out with him she couldn't remember.

"Fine," she hissed, turning towards the door. "But I tried to help. Tell Mason to call me when he gets home. See you later, Jer."

With an aggravated sigh the young girl turned, disappearing before the two girls could turn from their drink and notice. It took her less than five minutes to reach the boarding house. The second she stepped on the porch she froze. Why had she gone there instead of home? She supposed it was because she'd spent so much time there it felt like home. Maybe it was because she knew Elena would be there and she needed to vent. But Damon was there too. That alone made her want to turn.

But one guy was not going to keep her from doing what she wanted to do.

"Elena? Stefan?" Taylor asked as she walked into the house. Surprisingly, she was met with the smell of blood.

"What's going on? Why do I smell blood?"

Taylor followed the smell down the stairs and into the basement, where Katherine had been locked not to long ago. The smell, confusing her, led to one of the doors where Caroline's mother sat, a sad and hopeless look on her face.

"What's going on," she asked Caroline, who stood by the door frozen.

The blond didn't answer. She turned and walked up the stairs, leaving a suitcase at the entrance to the room.

Damon, irritated that Taylor refused to talk to him, said, "Your dog almost got us killed."

"What?"

"Mason. He got the sheriff here to launch an attack on Stefan and me. Caroline saved us."

In a flash she stood in front of the sheriff with anger written plainly on her features. "Is that true?"

The sheriff looked up with surprisingly strong eyes. "Yes."

Taylor turned and walked out, past Damon, stopping while the sheriff could still see her. "You know," she called back, not bothering to turn around. "You should really treasure your daughter. You aren't going to get another Caroline."

"She's not my daughter any more."

"Bullshit," Taylor hissed. People could be so entirely stupid. "She is and always will be the same Caroline you remember. She hasn't changed, Mrs. Forbes. You just need to get over your delusion and realize that you have a daughter that loves you and wants you to love her."

"Taylor," she sputtered out, standing.

"I'm out of here."

"Where are you going," Damon's concerned voice cut through her calm façade. She tensed, her shoulders stiffening.

"I'm going to find Mason and figure out what the hell is going on."

Another chapter! It was a doozy. Following the series is a lot of work! Haha. Next chapter is going to be EPIC. Come back for the drama!