Title: Dirty Little Secret

Chapter: 5

Summary: Caroline Forbes is a lot of things. Neurotic, controlling and insecure being top of the list, but one thing she is not is stupid. So she knows that something is seriously up with childhood friend (and occasional enemy) Tyler Lockwood. She's determine to figure out why all the sudden he's acting as if he's seen a ghost and why he looks at her all the time with a heat she doesn't understand. As she digs deeper, she finds out about a whole new world she didn't know existed and- despite her lack of knowledge- how she's part of it. Mostly AU.

Author's Note: Hello people. So this chapter was originally going to be the Sexy Suds car wash plus what happens in this chapter, but it would be like waaaay to long to be just one chapter so I split it up. This chapter is mostly in Tyler's POV! Yaaay. Anyways, thanks for the reviews, alerts, etc. Enjoy!

Light was streaming in through her curtains and hitting her directly in the eyes. Even closed, the light felt too bright. She turned and buried her face in her soft pillow, trying to force herself back into sleep. And hopefully a more peaceful one this time. No such luck though, because as she felt sleep ease its way over her, her alarm clock went off, causing her to gasp in surprise and jump. Groaning into the soft cotton pillow, she extended a heavy arm and tried to locate the alarm clock. Finally, after knocking over a few things, she found it and switched it off. She contemplated staying in bed and going to school late, but then she wouldn't be able to cheer at tonight's game. Normally, that rule only applied to the football players, but Coach Mayhew had made it a rule for the cheerleaders too.

Caroline sat up, feeling heavy and exhausted. She cursed Coach Mayhew and swung her legs out of the covers, the cold air hitting her scantily clothed body, making her shiver. She practically ran to the shower and turned the hot water on, sighing a little more happily when the steam poured out, warming her. She slipped off her clothes and stepped into the shower, shivering as the hot water hit her goose bump covered body. She just stood there a minute, enjoying the hot water before finally sighing and picking up her shampoo. She squirted a fairly large amount in her hands and began scrubbing her unruly blonde bed head.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Okay? I have no idea why I care so much, but I do!"

Just as suddenly as he had stepped forward, he stepped back. "You shouldn't," he said, seriously.

"Why?" she asked and this time she took the step forward, her eyes never leaving his. "Why shouldn't I care?"

He laughed bitterly and looked down at the ground. Finally, after a few seconds he looked up and there was something very close to sadness in his eyes. "Because its not good for you."

His words made no sense but she easily heard the warning, like he was actually saying he was dangerous to her. It didn't make sense but she didn't ignore it. "I don't know what's going on with you, Tyler," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "But I'm going to find out."

At first she didn't think he'd be able to hear her. They weren't far apart but her words had been low. His expression suggested he had though. He took a small step forward and leaned down so his mouth was a few inches from his ear.

"I really wish you wouldn't try," he whispered, his hot breath tickling her ear.

Despite the heat of the shower, she still shivered remembering his words. I really wish you wouldn't try. It was like a song on replay, or a chant, continuously going through her brain. I really wish you wouldn't try. I really wish you wouldn't try. I really wish you wouldn't try. Why didn't he? Was he scared of letting someone in or scared of something else she didn't understand? God, did she wish she knew.

Not wanting to be late for school, Caroline shut off the water and shivered immediately. She reached for her towels and wrapped them tightly around herself. Stepping out, she walked into her room and pulled her cheerleading outfit out of her closet and laid it on the bed. Cheerleaders were required to wear their uniforms on game days and Caroline had always liked that. She thought it showed school spirit and all that. After drying off, she slipped it on and threw a pair of sweats into her bag for tonight, just in case it got cold enough. She then went back to her bathroom and began straightening her hair. After it was to her liking, she pulled it up in a high ponytail and tied a red, black and white bow around it, matching the outfit.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked tired with bags underneath her eyes and her already pale skin looked even paler. Whether it was from lack or sleep or something else- that something else being Tyler of course- she didn't know. She sighed and thanked whatever genius created makeup. After a little foundation, mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss, she'd look much better.

While putting on her makeup, her mind drifted to Tyler. The one thing that scared her more than the whole situation itself was the fact that she cared about him. She didn't know why or when it happened, but she did. She cared if he was hurt or upset. Even thinking about him hurt or upset made her want to talk to him, to comfort him. And she didn't understand this stupid… protectiveness over him. She'd felt it when she talked to the officer after Cody had been attacked and he had hinted that maybe Tyler had attacked Cody. She had wanted to protect him, defend him. And it didn't make sense! When did Tyler become more than that dickhead friend she put up with just because they had been in the same group of friends since birth? When did he start to matter?

Her hands were shaking thinking about it. Her whole body was shaking actually and she wanted to cry. She was so confused and jumbled up that her emotions were all out of whack. For the first time in quite awhile, she felt helpless, like her life was no longer controlled by her anymore.

A feeling of despair washed over him, waking him up from his already restless sleep. He sat up, rubbing his eyes confused. He looked around. Everything was in place. Nothing had changed since yesterday so why did he feel like everything was different? The faint feeling of fear and confusion were tightening his stomach and that only confused him further.

He shook his head and walked to his bathroom, turning on the shower. Ten minutes later, he was dressed in black basketball shorts and his red football jersey, which he was required to wear on game days. He gathered his football stuff and through a gray hoody in his duffel bag, though he knew he wouldn't need it. He hadn't been cold or cool even for over two weeks.

With that same feeling in his stomach, he hitched his bag over his shoulder and walked downstairs, hearing his mom and Mason's voice from the kitchen. He tip toed down the stairs, vainly hoping he could slip out of the house unnoticed. He wasn't up for family time this morning. Just as he reached the door, thinking he was actually going to get away, he heard Mason's voice.

"Hey, Tyler can you come into the kitchen?"

Tyler cursed low under his breath, though he knew Mason would hear him, and walked slowly to the kitchen. He saw his mom standing by the door, frantically putting things into her purse. Mason was watching him carefully and Tyler glared at him, though his uncle seemed unaffected by it.

Carol turned around, putting her bag over her shoulder and gave Tyler a smile, which he half heartedly returned. "Morning, Tyler," she said, walking to him. She kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his arm, her way of showing affection.

"Morning, Mom," he said.

"I'm going to be working late tonight so I left money for dinner after the game on the counter," she said and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. As if he didn't have his own credit card.

"Okay, thanks," he said instead.

"Have a good day at school and I'll see you later!" she called. "Bye Mason!"

They both said goodbye and were silent until they both heard the sound of a car door opening and shutting, then the sound of the engine starting. They both seemed to unfreeze when they heard the car going down the driveway. Tyler waited for Mason to say something, tell him why he had called him into the kitchen, but he continued to sit on the stool and eat a bowl of cereal.

"Alright," Tyler said, after a few seconds of awkward silent- at least on his part. "What?"

"Hmm?" Mason asked, raising eyebrow and looking up from his bowl.

Tyler sighed, already annoyed, which wasn't unusual. He felt like he had constantly been angry, annoyed or somehow unhappy the last two weeks. Why should today be any different? "What do you want?" Tyler asked. "Why'd you call me in here?"

"I can't just talk to my nephew without having a motive?" Mason asked, his gray-blue eyes shining with innocence.

Tyler rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Cut the crap, Mason," he snapped. "You always have some kind of motive. Just spit it out."

"I'm worried about you," he said, simply.

"Don't," Tyler replied. "Don't play the concerned uncle act."

"Its not an act," Mason said, frowning.

Tyler scoffed, feeling his temper begin to flare. "When was the last time you came to visit?" he asked. "When I was what? Thirteen?"

"That doesn't mean I can't be worried about you," he said, looking genuine.

Tyler shrugged and took a step back. "Whatever," he said, turning to leave.

"Tyler wait!" he called. "I want to talk to you."

"Look," Tyler said, glancing at the clock on the stove. "I can't be late top school or I can't play tonight. Can we do this later?"

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Mason asked. "Playing tonight?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt," Mason said, giving him a pointed look.

Tyler felt his insides freeze and he swallowed back the baseball sized lump suddenly in his throat. He watched, frozen as Mason stood up and walked to him. "Tyler, I think you're in denial," Mason said. "But just because you won't accept it doesn't make it any less real. You need to understand that you are different now. You're stronger, faster. You could hurt someone without meaning to."

"Believe me, I'm not in denial," Tyler said, the lump still in his throat. He wasn't even remotely close to being in denial. He was far too aware of the truth. He wished he was in denial. In seemed much better than reality.

"You say that, but you aren't facing this either."

Tyler almost laughed. "Not facing it? Mason, I'm facing it. I'm facing it and it is scaring the hell out of me." It felt weird finally saying those words out loud; finally admitting he was scared. It didn't release any of the weight off his shoulders though. No, he still felt like he was being crushed with the secret.

Mason's expression softened a little bit. "I know," he said. "Believe me, I know. I've been there. I know how scary it is feeling like you don't have control of your life anymore. But Tyler, you do. After the full moon, you're still going to be you, just a different version of yourself."

It sure as hell didn't feel that way. It felt like his entire fucking life was over. It felt like he was no longer the one controlling his life, but he was still forced to stay on the ride. He couldn't find his voice, so he remained silent.

"You have to be very responsible with this," Mason warned, more serious than Tyler had ever seen him. "You have more power than you can imagine now and you can hurt people with that power. You have to be careful."

"I am being careful," he said, thinking about how many people he had pushed away since he found out that he was a… werewolf. He shuddered. Jesus Christ, he was a werewolf. In less than two weeks he was going to turn for the very first time. The thought made him want to throw up. He didn't even believe in this stuff. At least, he didn't use to. But now, now he did because he was a part of it. Tyler hadn't believed Mason when he told him that he was going to turn into a werewolf. Actually, he thought he was insane, but the moment that stuff Mason called Wolf's Bane touched his arm and he felt its burn and smelt his own flesh burning, he believed it.

"Okay," Mason said, though he didn't look like he believed it completely. "Any news on Cody?"

Tyler sighed. He was going to have to haul ass to get to school in time. "Not that I've heard," he said. He knew he was alive, but that was it. Remembering carrying Cody out of the woods freaked him out. And not just because half of the kid's blood was on him, but because it had been like lifting nothing. Cody wasn't a huge guy, but he was nowhere near small either. It should have been too hard to carry him out of the woods. But of course, Tyler was a werewolf now and he had more than human strength.

"Any news on who did it?"

Tyler shook his head. He'd heard a lot but it was probably all rumors and made up crap. ""Nothing official."

"Alright," he said, his eyes thoughtful but his face easy- the eternal surfer. "You should get going."

Tyler nodded, wanting nothing more than to be out of this house.

"Remember what I said!" Mason called out.

Yeah, yeah.

…

Something was seriously wrong with him. And something more than being a werewolf. He noticed it right after Sarah died and it had been getting stronger the last two weeks. He came to the realization yesterday and it freaked him out almost as much as becoming a werewolf. He was crushing on Caroline Forbes. Like he was really crushing on Caroline. He'd only had a very collect few crushes in his entire life- most of them being in elementary and middle school- and none of them have ever been this strong. When he really thought about it, it felt like more than a crush.

Tyler had known Caroline from as far back as he could remember. They'd played together in kindergarten out on the play ground, him trying to put mud on her and her screaming and running for cover. Back then Caroline was kind of like a little sister to him. He remembered one time in second grade some kid had pushed her down on the play ground and Tyler had punched him right in the face, giving the kid a bloody nose. But he would have done that for Elena or Bonnie too. Sometime in elementary school he realized that girls definitely weren't gross and he realized that Caroline was actually really pretty. He'd more or less spent the rest of elementary school trying to get her attention, and a little something more in middle. Despite his attempts of trying to hook up with her, Caroline had always declined and he never actually liked her, liked her. Sure, she was hot, but they got on each other's nerves way too much to really form a friendship, let alone anything else. Not to mention the fact that Tyler wasn't relationship material.

But recently something's changed and he's looking at her like that. He can't stop himself. Its like she's a magnet. He's tried his best to shake that feeling, but it won't go away. He knew he should not be feeling anything for Caroline. It was just wrong. That was Matt's girlfriend and Matt was the closest thing Tyler ever had to a brother. Matt was his best friend and he couldn't make a move on Caroline. He wasn't going to lie, he could be a huge dick but still, he wouldn't go that far, not too Matt.

But damn it, every time he was anywhere near Caroline she was all he could think about. Whenever she was smiling, he found himself smiling too and when she laughed, it was like a freaking drug. He needed to hear it more. He would do anything to make her laugh. And she was being so damn nice to him lately, it was driving him insane. It was like he was an open book when she was around and every time she asked him what was wrong, he wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her everything but he couldn't do that. Even if she wouldn't think he was completely insane, it was too dangerous. He was dangerous and he would never forgive himself if he hurt her. He wished she would just leave him alone, even if that made part of him ache. It would be safer for her in the long run. But she wasn't and it was becoming harder and harder to be rude to her, to avoid her. Every time she talked to him, concern for him clear in those blue eyes of her, it got that much harder to push her away.

He'd come up with a theory and it scared the hell out of him. This had started as soon as he had triggered the curse. What if his feelings for Caroline were somehow connected to being a werewolf? He really needed to talk to Mason about that. Maybe he knew what was happening but he really didn't want to talk to Mason. He used to love Mason coming and visiting because he was much cooler than his dad was, but lately his presence has seemed more like a curse. But Mason knew about this stuff, so he would talk to him tonight after the game.

"Tyler!"

He turned at the sound of his name, seeing Matt jogging towards him wearing his red jersey.

He slowed down and waited for him. "Hey man, what's up?" Tyler asked when Matt was in hearing distance.

"Nothing," he said. He rubbed the back of his head and looked almost… embarrassed? "Listen, can I talk to you for a second?"

Damn it. Tyler was so tired of people wanting to talk to him. They were either prying, attempting to "be there for him" or… whatever Matt was about to talk to him about. "Yeah, sure," he said, reluctantly.

He was quiet for a second, looking wildly uncomfortable. Tyler shifted his weight to his other side and tried not to sigh impatiently. Did being a werewolf make time seem like it was going slower or was he just really that impatient? Either way, he wished Matt would hurry up. Wherever Matt was, Caroline usually was too and he really didn't want to see her. Actually, he did but he pushed that thought from his head. "What's going on?" he asked, trying to move the whole process along.

"Is something going on with you and Caroline?" he asked.

His heart stopped for a second before picking back up, twice as fast as before. Tyler tried to keep his face controlled and not show any sign of nervousness or even worse, guilt. Because they hadn't done anything, much to his dismay (and guilt). "What do you mean?" Tyler asked. Had she said something about him?

"I don't know," Matt said, shuffling his feet. "Its just that I keep seeing you two talking and I don't care or anything, but you never have before and then yesterday-"

"Listen, nothing is going on between us," Tyler said, though he wasn't one hundred percent sure if that was true. "Yesterday… she was just reminding me about the car wash and what time it was."

Matt still looked skeptical, but he dropped it, shrugging and saying okay.

The rest of the day went by without a hitch. Much to his happiness and annoyance, he didn't talk to Caroline the entire day. He saw her plenty of times, looking incredibly hot in her cheerleading outfit. How had he never noticed how hot she was before? He could just imagine running his fingers through her curly blonde hair and- he cut himself off. Jesus Christ, this was getting unhealthy. Shaking his head in the hopes of getting that mental image out of his brain, he walked unhappily to the football to begin their practice before the game tonight.

...

They won 42 to 12. The game had been ridiculously easy and Tyler couldn't help but think that was the only good thing coming out of this whole werewolf thing: the speed, the strength. It was making anything physical a whole hell of lot easier. The whole quick reflex thing was good because many, many times during the game he found his eyes wandering to Caroline in her short skirt, cheering them on right in the middle of a play. He thought he saw her watching him a few times, but he could have been deluding himself and she was really watching Matt. That made his jealously flair. Rationally, he knew he had zero right to be jealous but irrationally, he wanted to punch Matt right in the face whenever he even looked at Caroline.

God, he was losing it.

"Hey Tyler!"

He turned around in just enough to jump back as Jeremy Gilbert's fist came at his face. Jeremy's eyes widened in surprise but it didn't deter him from trying again. And again, Tyler blocked it and, only using part of his strength, pushed Jeremy back. Still, it sent him stumbling back a few feet and Tyler smelt the familiar sent of alcohol in the air.

"What the hell, Gilbert?" Tyler snapped, annoyance rushing through him. What was his problem? Tyler couldn't recall doing anything to him recently. Actually, aside from seeing Jeremy maybe once at lunch, he didn't see or associate with him at all.

Jeremy straightened himself back up and came towards him, though he didn't swing again.

"She told me!" Jeremy accused.

Okay, now he was annoyed and confused. "Who told you what?" Tyler asked, imaging throwing him against the wall.

"Vicki!" he yelled.

Ah. It all made sense now. "And what did she tell you?" Tyler asked, already knowing it was a lie. Best friend's sister or not, Vicki was a liar, an addict and manipulative. She wouldn't think twice about making up some stupid story to get what she wanted.

"That you tried to force yourself on her!"

His jaw nearly hit the floor at that one. Yeah, Vicki was a liar but he never thought she'd cry rape when it wasn't true. He wasn't that big of a douche bag and the only time they had hooked up she had been a very willing participate. Afterwards, he'd caught her trying to steal his pain medication he got last year after breaking his collarbone and he'd ended it really quickly after that.

"Check your facts, Gilbert," Tyler said. "That didn't happen."

"Like I'm going to believe you over her," Jeremy said, incredulously.

"Believe whatever you want," Tyler said. "But Vicki is a liar and she's using you. Do yourself a favor and walk away before you end up OD-ing out in the middle of the woods."

He turned to leave. Before he could react, he sensed Jeremy right behind him at the same time he felt something sharp slice across his hand, then the warm, wet feel of blood. He looked down at his hand and sure enough, he had a gash right across the center of his palm and it was dripping blood. He turned around, full intent of knocking his teeth in when, but someone grabbed him before he could take the first step.

He tried to shrug the person off, but they had a good hold on him. "Stop Tyler!" Stefan yelled. "Don't!"

Tyler struggled against his hold before finally relaxing, Mason's warning ringing in his ear. "You have more power than you can imagine now and you can hurt people with that power. You have to be careful."

"Alright," Tyler said, trying to shrug Stefan off. "I'm fine, let go!"

He hesitated but finally did and Tyler saw a few people watching them. The broken bottle Jeremy had used was on the ground, red with his blood. Someone had already pulled Jeremy away and he saw Elena walking up to him, looking like she was about to choke him. Tyler almost laughed at that one. Almost.

"What was that?" Stefan asked.

"The result of getting brainwashed and being naive," Tyler said, shaking his head. He picked up his bag that he dropped and made his way to the field house, where he would wrap his hand and then go home. Halfway there, he sensed her. He turned and saw Caroline-no longer in her skirt but a pair of sweatpants- on her cell phone, looking annoyed and impatient. She hung up and before he could walk away, she spotted him.

She then noticed his hand, which was dripping blood. Her eyes widened she rushed over to him. "Oh, my god Tyler!" she exclaimed, reaching for his hand. "What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing," he said, ignoring the electricity that seemed to pass through them when she touched his hand.

"That is not nothing," she argued, examining the cut. "This might need stitches."

He rolled his eyes at her dramatics. "Its fine," he said. "I'm just going to wrap it."

"Fine," she huffed. "Let me do it."

He knew there was no point in arguing, not to mention he really wanted to talk to her, so he agreed and they walked in a comfortable silence to the field house. Once inside, she instructed him to sit down on one of the chairs while she went and got the first aid kit. He kept his eyes on her the entire time she looked through the cabinet, her face hidden behind the door.

"Got it!" she said, emerging with a little white box. She walked over and sat down beside him. "Hand," she said.

He sighed and placed his hand in hers. She opened up the box, pulling out gauze pads and Peroxide. After dousing one with the clear liquid, she wiped his hand clean of all blood. Her eyebrows furrowed when all the blood was clean and he looked down too. The cut had already begun to heal itself and it wasn't as deep. "That's weird," she said, staring at the cut. "I thought it was deeper."

"Guess not," he said, quickly. "It was too covered in blood to really tell, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess so," she said, though she still looked confused. She put some white stuff that burned on the cut and wrapped it up.

"Done," she said.

"Thanks," he mumbled, wondering how long it would be before the cut was completely gone. An hour? Two?

After putting everything away, they made their way to the door. She shivered when they stepped outside and he saw goose bumps on her arm.

"Hey are you cold?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, blush rising in her cheeks. "I forgot my jacket this morning."

"Here," he said, unzipping his bag and pulling out his gray hoody. He held it out to her. "Take mine."

She bit her lip, hesitating. "You don't need it?"

He shook his head. She smiled gratefully and slipped it over her head. It was about five sizes too big and she could probably fit three other Caroline's in it, but she didn't complain.

They were halfway to the student parking lot when someone finally spoke.

"So what actually happened to your hand?" she asked, looking over at him, her blue eyes filled with curiously.

"Jeremy Gilbert," he said, rolling his eyes.

"What? Why?"

"Vicki told him that I tried to force myself on her and he confronted me about it."

"Why would she lie?" Caroline asked.

"How do you know she's lying?" Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow at how quickly she had rejected the idea.

She rolled her eyes at him, a small smile on her face. "You're not that much of an ass," she said., shrugging. "I know you wouldn't do something like that."

He smiled. "Nice to know someone does."

"Plenty of- damn it!" she exclaimed, suddenly.

"What?" he asked, looking around for any kind of explanation for her outburst.

"She left me!" Caroline said, angrily.

"Who did?"

"Bonnie!" she said. "I was suppose to ride home with her, but her car isn't here."

There were only a few cars still in the parking lot and none of them were Bonnie's Prius. Tyler felt a moment of annoyance at her for just leaving Caroline.

"Now what the hell am I going to do?" she asked, his voice rising with stress.

Tyler laughed. "Caroline, I'm not going to leave you at the school. I'll give you a ride home."

"Are you sure its not too big of a problem?" she asked, still annoyed at Bonnie.

He rolled his eyes. "Not at all."

She gave him another grateful smile. "Thanks, Tyler."

Coming up next chapter: Tyler learns what he and Caroline really are, the Sexy Suds car wash and a plot is finally introduced!

Review!