Title: Dirty Little Secret
Chapter: 14
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. AU.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry. I wish I could say I was out of town feeding hungry children or something useful, but honestly I've just been lazy. Anyway, I listened to "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls on repeat while writing this chapter. I think it pretty much describes the mood and I would highly recommend listening to it while reading. (:
Friday
Once upon a time, when all their lives were normal- no one had a clue who the Salvatore brothers were, Mr. Tanner was alive, Mason Lockwood was just a rumor, Tyler was a dickhead jock and Matt and Elena were still dating- Tyler used to throw parties on the land of the old Lockwood estate almost every weekend. It was the perfect spot to blast music and drink beer without getting the police called on you. It was far enough from the road that if a car drove by, they would never know what was going on.
Caroline knew where the land was very, very well. The brightness of the day was dimming as she sped down the roads that would lead her to her destination. She used to love when it would get dark so early. Something about it intrigued her, made her curious. What mysteries happened in the darkness? Now she didn't want to know.
The trees blurred at the speed she was going, everything turning a dark, dark green. Everything seemed to be screaming ominous. Danger. Which seemed crazy, didn't it? Darkness itself wasn't dangerous; what was in the darkness was what she should fear. "'The guilty is not he who commit's the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.'"
She shivered. After kicking up the heat, she glanced at the clock on her dashboard. It was 5:30 and the sun was slowly beginning to set, casting a shadow on the already dark trees surrounding her. The moon would be maybe forty-five minutes- an hour tops- from rising. Whatever was happening, the moon was the key.
She racked her brain for a possible explanation. She just couldn't find one. She took every clue, every off thing about Tyler, every sentence with a double meaning, every stare, but none of it added up to one solid answer. Even though she hadn't expected to find one, it still frustrated her. Two plus two did not equal four in her life lately.
Lost so deeply in her thoughts, she almost missed the turn into what would lead to the old Lockwood land. It was just wide enough for a car to fit through, with grass hiding the road that had once been there and overgrown trees. If you didn't know what you were looking for, it was easy to miss. She turned and slowly crept her way through the trees, even though she wanted to go as fast as her car would allow her to. She couldn't afford missing something because she was traveling at a ridiculous speed.
The spot where the actual mansion used to be was about a mile from the turn off and the ground became more rough and dense. She was sure her car wouldn't make it all the way without losing a part or two. She would have to stop at some point and start walking. With that in mind, she hoped she would see Tyler's car or even better: Tyler, before that point came.
A minute or so later, when nothing but nothing stretched in front of her, her car was beginning to make noises that made her uncomfortable. She accepted she wasn't going to find what she was looking for unless she was on foot. She slowed to a stop and turned off her car.
The air outside had gotten much colder than when she first left the house and she found herself shivering instantly. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and began walking, following the dirt path. Nothing but trees surrounded her, but she couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her. It was more than likely just her imagination- she'd seen a million movies where a blonde is walking through the woods by herself. Still, when a rabbit jumped out from behind a tree and ran in front of her, she jumped a good two feet in the air and let out a half choked girly squeal.
Taking a deep, shaking breath, she fixed her gaze straight ahead and began walking faster than before. It wouldn't be long now before the moon finished rising - maybe twenty minutes, if that much. The steady pounding of her feet on the dirt steadied her heartbeat and she began to focus. She could see tire tracks leading down the path, so she followed those.
As she walked on, the sound of her feet no longer comforted her, and she found fear rising in her throat, choking her. What exactly was she going to find at the end of those tire tracks? It wasn't going to be pretty, she knew that, but how bad would it be?
She was so lost in her thoughts, she was surprised to see Tyler's car just a few yards ahead of her. The thick trees made seeing inside the already darkly tented windows even more difficult, so she hesitantly walked up and pressed her face up against the glass. She found exactly what she expected to find: nothing. The car was lacking Mason, Tyler and the bags she saw earlier. Where were they?
There was nothing around here but trees. There were no buildings or sheds, no houses or shacks. For miles, it was just trees. Were they out, somewhere deep within the woods? Should she go look for them? Or should she just give up? Sighing, she lifted her head to the sky in frustration. The moon was nearly fully risen now, a bright spot in the otherwise black sky. No, she wouldn't leave. Not until she found out what was going on. "Where are you, Tyler?" she asked the sky.
She hadn't expected to hear anything in response. She hadn't expected to hear a human voice. And she certainly hadn't expected a scream. It sounded far away and distorted, but it was no doubt a human scream. She recognized the voice as if it were here own.
It was Tyler's.
In that moment, she forgot everything. She forgot she was in the woods, scared and confused, desperately searching for answers. She forgot about Mason's strange actions earlier, and how the town seemed to be going to hell. Her mind cleared of everything but him.
Somewhere between hearing the scream and registering it belonged to him, she started running. Where to? She had no idea. He had to be close though. He was somewhere near and damn it, she was going to find him. As she turned around the car, she saw it. It was at least five feet off the ground and made of stone, stairs leading up into it. It took her mind a few seconds before she remembered what it was: the entrance to the old Lockwood slave quarters. She remembered a few years back at an old party when they were all young and hammered, Tyler had told her the story of the abused slaves, whose ghosts still haunted the quarters and how if you listened hard enough, you could still hear them screaming. It was all fake of course- the story. Carol and Richard Lockwood never talked about those days, so Tyler's story was just that: a story meant to scare her naive fifteen year old self.
Somehow knowing he was down there, she went to the stairs, taking them two at a time before stopping when she got to the top. A long, dark set of stairs greeted her. They were covered in cracks, dirt and weeds from many, many years of abandonment. She peered down into the darkness of the end of the stairs, trying to see what was down there. It was too dark to see anything more than outlines of chunks of stones that had broken off from the walls. She looked around for a flashlight or matches or anything that would give her a little light. There was nothing.
She cursed and took the first step, the feeling of fear making its way up her chest before settling it her throat, nearly choking her. Tyler, she reminded herself. He's down here. Repeating that in her mind over and over, she began down the stairs slowly, trailing her arm down the wall as somewhat of a guide. She stopped about halfway through to listen. There was the sound of water dripping, but other than that it was quiet. She began walking again. As her eyes adjusted, she was able to see more things: the color of the walls, the footprints in the dirt.
It was still so dark down there, so she kept a hand on the wall and moved slowly, as to not trip over anything. She peered down at the ground, following the footprints. She was so absorbed in looking at her feet, she forgot about her hand. A sharp, broken piece of stone raked across her palm, slicing it open. She cursed and looked down. The cut was maybe an inch in length and was slowly swelling with blood. She squeezed her palm shut and continued.
A few steps later, a piercing scream broke through the silence that had been in the cellar, like nails on a chalkboard. It was so full of agony, Caroline found herself frozen in spot. She'd never heard anything like that. Only the realization that the scream belonged to Tyler- there was no doubt about it. It was him- kept her moving. It had come from farther within the cellar, closer to the back than the front. She began running through the darkness. Just when she wasn't sure where to go, another scream cut through the air and she followed it to the very end.
She was greeted by a dead end in front of her, a wall to her right and a tall, dark door to her left. She could see light shining through the inch of space separating the door from the ground. A wooden board acted as a lock on the door. She wiggled it free and opened the door.
The light was coming from deeper within the cellar, beyond a barred, locked door. She went to it, peering inside beyond it. She couldn't see him, but she saw his bags from earlier. The lock was a basic combination lock, the kind with the combination on the back.
She turned it and read the numbers. Her fingers shook as she fumbled with it. 17... 44... 08. It clicked and she pulled it down, yanking it from the lock. She pulled the chains off the door and opened it, making her way inside the small cellar.
She took a split second to take everything in. The walls were dirty jagged stones, water leaving dark trails. There were scratches on the wall to her right, as if an animal had tried to claw its way out. Water dripped from the ceiling, soaking the dirt it landed on. The floor was a combination of rocks and dirt, dry and cracked from a lifetime of no water. Two lanterns illuminated the room, one on either side of the small cellar. The thing that held her attention the most though, was Tyler. His wrists, ankles, torso and neck were all chained, connected to the wall. He was laying stomach down on the dirt, his hands on either side of his head and his head turned away from her.
One second, she was standing by the door gaping and the next she was dropping down on her knees beside him, her hands already reaching out to touch him. His skin was burning hot. "Tyler?" she squeaked.
The sound of her voice stirred him, and he slowly moved his head. His face was flushed and his hair was soaked with sweat, eyes confused. "Caroline?" he asked roughly. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same," she breathed, eyeing the chains. "But right now, forget the questions. We have to get you out of here." She had no idea what was going on. She didn't no if Mason hurt him, chained him up and locked him down here. She didn't know what the hell was going on, but she knew it was bad.
She reached for the chain around his neck, having no idea how to unlock it. He jerked away from her, startling her. "Tyler?"
"No," he said. He pushed his hands against the ground, trying to sit up.
She reached out her hand to stop him, but he simply shrugged her hand off. When he was upright, he looked seriously into her eyes. "You have to leave, Caroline," he said. "Right now."
She heard the words coming from his mouth, but she didn't understand. She found herself shaking her head, her blonde curls bouncing around her face. "No," she said. "I won't leave. Not unless you're with me."
"Caroline, I-" he cut off suddenly, his breathing picking up. He closed his eyes and squeezed his hands into fists.
"Tyler?" she asked panicked, looking him over for a wound or anything that would explain his sudden distress. She couldn't see anything. There were a few cuts and scrapes on his skin from laying on the rocks, but nothing that would explain any of this. "What's going on?"
She didn't notice him open his eyes until he was grabbing her by the upper arms. "Listen to me, Care," he said, eyes desperate. "There is so much you don't know, so much that I didn't want you to find out."
"Tyler-"
"No," he cut her off, hands tightening around her arms. "Listen to me. For once in your life, just listen to me. I will explain everything, but not right now. Now here. Right now, the only thing you can do to help me is leave. Get as far from here as possible and do not turn around."
"I am not leaving you!" she yelled, worry and confusion making her eyes fill with tears.
Something in his eyes softened, and he moved his hands from her arms to her neck, tangling his hands in her curls. "I will explain everything," he said softly. "I swear I will, but not unless you leave."
"Why?" she asked, her voice sounding broken and pathetic.
"Because it isn't safe for you-" he cut off suddenly, gasping. His hands dropped from her neck to the floor, trying to hold himself up. It all happened so fast: one second, he was right there- solid, real, Tyler. The next, his arm was shooting out in the air, as if it had been yanked, and broke. She heard the snap, immediately followed by Tyler's scream of pain. His arm bended backwards by itself, snapping and twisting, darkening in color, muscles bulging. She may have screamed too- she wasn't sure.
Everything was in fast forward. Tyler's heart wrenching screams turned into something else- a shout for someone. Before she could process who he had called out for, strong arms were wrapping themselves around her waist, pulling her away from Tyler. She knew it was Mason without turning around. She struggled, tried to break free of his grip on her, but it was all too no prevail. He was too strong.
She screamed Tyler's name over and over as Mason drug her away from the cellar. She kicked and hit and clawed, but he hardly seemed to notice. It was like she was a playful kitten for all the progress she was making. "Mason, let go of me!" she screeched, Tyler slowly leaving her view. They were at the door now- a second more and he would be out of her site.
As Mason drug her that last few feet, she heard Tyler say her name and she would swear on her life she saw his eyes flash a burning amber.
Mason all but carried her the rest of the way, as she was no longer able to put up a fight. All of her energy and determination was back there with Tyler, who she had no idea what was happening to.
The night sky was suddenly in view, fresh, cool air rustling her hair and filling her lungs with oxygen, chasing out the claustrophobic, musty air of the cellar.
"Can you stand?" Mason asked.
What kind of question was that? Of course she could stand. "Yes," she snapped, her voice coming out much more stronger than she felt. He released her immediately and much to her embarrassment, she swayed a little. She quickly regained her balance, refusing to pass out in front of him. As far as she knew, he was the enemy.
"What in the hell is happening down there?" she asked, turning to face him. He looked… off. Not bad exactly, just not quite right. His cheeks were slightly flushed and tiny little drops of sweat were beginning to form between his brow.
"He's-" he stopped, taking a breath and wiping a hand over his face. "You wanted to know the truth, Caroline. This is the truth. But I think you need to hear it from him, not me."
"Like hell!" she shouted, finding her fire. "I think you need to tell me what's going on before I call the cops!"
His eyes narrowed slightly and the thought occurred to her that she should probably be afraid of him. He was about four times her size. They were in the middle of the woods. No one knew where she saw. But no, he was Tyler's uncle… who seemed perfectly okay with having his nephew chained in a cellar with god knows what happening to him.
"No you won't," he said confidently. "Because that won't help anymore. Especially not Tyler."
She scoffed. "Tyler needs to go to a hospital or-"
"No, he doesn't," Mason snapped. "You can not involve anyone else in this, Caroline. Listen to me. Are you listening?"
"Yes! I hear what you're saying; I just don't understand it!"
"I know you don't," he said. "And you won't until he explains everything to you. Right now, I need you to go home and keep quiet. When it's possible, he'll find you and explain everything."
"No," she said. "I'm not going home until I know what's going on."
Mason puffed out a breath like she was an obnoxious, pushy, hard-headed teenager, which she would proudly admit she was. "Fine, then go to our house. Carol isn't home. There's a key under a pot on the front porch. Let yourself in and wait for us to get home."
She weighed that option. It was probably the best she was going to get. "Fine," she snapped. "But if you aren't home by the time the sun comes up, I swear to god this place will be swarming with cops. And I will not hesitate to give them your name."
His lip twitched, whether from amusement or annoyance she wasn't sure. She didn't stay around long enough to find out. She walked the distance back to her car, which turned out not to be as far away as she thought. She got in, slammed the door and turned around, heading back out the way she came.
Now that all of her bravery and fire was gone, Caroline felt... numb as she drove down the familiar roads of Mystic Falls, leading to the Lockwood Estate. Her mind was going fuzzy around the edges, black and white and gray eating at her vision. There was the strangest high pitched noise inside her head. She probably shouldn't be driving. But she didn't care. Sanity was elsewhere. Sanity was back in the woods, back in that cellar. With Tyler and Mason. Tyler. Was he dying? He had to be dying. Whatever she had seen... it wasn't normal... it wasn't... human. The body couldn't do that by itself. But it was. Caroline had seen in with her own two eyes.
Maybe she should call the police, despite her deal with Mason. Maybe Tyler was dying and Mason was hurting him. She couldn't just leave him there, could she? He was hurt. He was screaming, but Mason told her to leave. They both told her that. He told her she couldn't get help for him. Why would he do that?
He knows something you don't.
Those words repeating themselves in her head were the only thing that kept her driving down that road and not panicking or calling 911. Whatever Caroline had seen back there, Mason knew what it was. Mason would help. He had to help him.
The Lockwood Estate came into view and Caroline pulled in the driveway, thankful that Mason had been honest when he said Carol wasn't home. No lights were on and no cars were parked in the long driveway.
She parked her car and shut it off, sticking the keys in her pocket. The air outside felt colder than it had earlier. She wondered if the temperature dropped or if she was imagining things. She didn't care enough to really think about it so she didn't. Instead, she walked up to the giant doors and reached underneath the small flower pot. Just like Mason had said, a silver key was laying underneath it. She reached down and picked it up. As she stuck the key into the lock and turned, she felt like an intruder, like she didn't belong there. But that didn't stop her from pushing open the doors and walking in. She shoved the key in her pocket with her own and walked to the living room. Everything in the entire house was big and extravagant, hinting of money and taste, but Caroline had never thought the house was a home. It felt like something out of a magazine: it was beautiful to look at but you could never really imagine someone living there.
She sat on a soft red couch and stared at nothing in particular, waiting.
She felt like she waited a very, very long time for something to change. And finally, something did. The calm, quiet that had been surrounding her and the house was broken by the sound of a car coming down the driveway. And then it stopped. She heard two doors open and then shut. She heard the click of the lock and the door being pushed opened. Lights flicked on and she blinked at the sudden brightness. She walked towards the door, terrified of what she was going to see.
Tyler and Mason were standing in front of the door, both looking exhausted. Mason's face was cautious as he watched Caroline, waiting for her reaction. Tyler, however, was looking down at the floor. He was perfectly fine. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black basketball shorts. There wasn't a scratch on him. She couldn't believe it.
"Thank you," Mason said, breaking the silence. "For not calling anyone."
She swallowed. "I- you said you would explain," she reminded him.
He nodded and glanced back at Tyler, who was still looking at the floor like he was memorizing the patterns. "Tyler," Mason said quietly.
Tyler looked up and Caroline almost gasped. Something about his face was different. It was... blank. Like the person who had occupied his body was gone, leaving just an empty shell. That looked scared her.
"I think you should take her upstairs," Mason said, glancing at Caroline. "Explain things."
Caroline was watching Tyler's every move, but he hadn't looked at her once. He simply nodded at Mason and began walking upstairs. Caroline glanced at Mason, who was giving her a knowing look, as if he was trying to tell her something with his eyes, before following Tyler up the stairs.
She followed him down the hall to a door. Tyler opened it and stepped in. She walked in and he shut the door behind him. His room had more of a homey feel to it than any other part of the house. It was like she imagined a normal teenage boy's room. It was a little messy; various clothes and bags and CDs were scattered around the floor. There was a large entertainment system with at least fifty DVDs piled up beside it, a black dresser, a black desk with a laptop on it, a large bed with a gray and black comforter and pictures and shelves hung to the wall. She could see Tyler there; it fit him.
He didn't turn on a light, but his windows filled the room with just enough light to allow Caroline to see everything. Tyler just stood there, unmoving, silent.
She was growing more and more scared. Scared for him... scared for the truth... scared for what she had seen. "Tyler," she said, her voice cracking. "Please, tell me what's going on."
He remained quiet but walked to the edge of his bed and sat down. He leaned down, resting his elbows on his knees and tangling his fingers in his short, dark hair. She moved slowly to him, unsure of what to do. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but was scared to. Instead, she sat down a few inches away from him. "Tyler."
She saw his knuckles tighten. "I didn't want you to find out," he said, speaking for the time. His voice was hoarse and scratchy, like it had been overused.
"Find what out?" she asked, her stomach tightening.
"But then tonight you came in there and I..." he trailed off.
She shuddered as she remembered. "Tell me the truth," she begged. "Tell me what's going on with you."
His hands dropped from his head and he looked up suddenly, staring into her eyes. Again, she almost gasped. His eyes didn't hold the blankness his face had held. His eyes looked haunted, like he'd seen something so horrific he would never, ever be the same. Somewhere mixed with all that horror was vulnerability, fear, anxiety.
"I don't want you to be afraid of me," he whispered.
"I won't," she didn't hesitate to say. She was afraid, but it wasn't of him. She could never be afraid of him.
He shook his head and closed his eyes. "You will be."
"I'll never be afraid of you Tyler," Caroline said softly. "I promise."
He shook his head, slowly. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Caroline."
"Hey," she said and reached for his hand. His skin was hot. Too hot, like he had a fever. She almost pulled back, but she didn't. She wrapped her fingers around his, squeezing tightly. She may not of known what the hell was going on, but she knew that Tyler was vulnerable and scared right now. He needed someone to be brave for him for once, instead of the other way around. "Tyler look at me."
He opened his eyes, looking into hers.
"I will never be afraid of you," she said assuredly. "No matter what you tell me, you will still be Tyler to me."
He stood up suddenly, pulling away from her. "I'm not just Tyler anymore," he said.
She stood too, feeling something bubbly up in her chest. When she opened her mouth to speak, she wasn't sure if it was gong to be a shout or a cry. "Really?" she asked, voice shaking. "Because you still look exactly the same way you did yesterday."
"Well, I'm not," he snapped, turning from her. She knew that tone, that stiffness of his shoulders. He was shutting her out. After everything, he was shutting her out.
She felt the hot, prickling feeling of anger rise in her chest, making her cheeks flush and her heart beat faster. "You are not allowed to shut me out, Tyler Lockwood," she said, her voice full of controlled fury. "Not after everything that's happened. I thought you were dying. I wasn't sure I was ever going to see you again. Do you know what that was like? Thinking that you might be dead? I was-" She didn't even know the words to explain the pain that radiated through her chest at the thought of him dead. It was crippling.
Suddenly, he was standing in front of her, invading her personal space. His face was just inches from hers, his body so close she could feel the heat radiating from his skin. Her back was pressed against the wall and his hands were on either side of her head. His chocolate brown eyes were peering into hers with such intensity, her bones felt like putty.
"Why do you care?" he asked softly.
Her mind was all fuzzy from the proximity of him. "I-I," she stammered. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," he said, "why would you give a damn if something happened to me? You don't even like me. You never have."
She shook her head. "I care about you," she said breathily. "I don't know why or when you became more than my boyfriend's douchy best friend and that kid I grew up with, but you did. The idea of something happening to you… I don't even want to think about it. It hurts too much."
The decision he had been trying to make while listening to her had clearly been made. His eyes were full of acceptance, a little worry deep down. Either way, he had clearly made his mind up. "If I tell you," he said, "do you promise not to run away? Do you promise to listen to everything I have to say before making any decisions?"
It was clear from the look in his eyes he was going to tell her regardless of how she answered him. Even so, she found herself saying, "Nothing you say will ever make me run away from you, Ty. I'm not going anywhere."
He'd told her to sit down. Initially she had refused. She wasn't weak. She was strong. She could handle this. After a good ten minutes of threatening, begging, pleading and finally an exhausted sigh, puppy dog eyes and a "please, Care?" she sat. And she was so damn glad she did.
The moment he said the word "werewolf" her bones turned to mush and she sank down into his bed, feeling as if the weight of the world literally just crashed down on her shoulder. And it only got worse as he went on to tell her about his family werewolf gene and how killing Sarah triggered it. Back in the cellar- that was him turning for the first time. He told her about how Mason was also a werewolf. His gene was triggered after getting into a fight with a friend and accidentally bashing his head in. She listened and listened, her world tumbling down around her.
When he finished, he simply looked at her, watching, waiting for her reaction. She couldn't speak. Words escaped her. Tyler was a werewolf. A werewolf. Tyler Lockwood. She couldn't even process it. It was impossible, wasn't it? Werewolf was right up there with vampires and the tooth fairy. Stuff like that just didn't exist. But it did. Now that she had a name for it, it made so much sense. Why he was acting so weird, all the secrets and lies, the physical changes. Tyler was a werewolf.
She felt like she was going to be sick. Tyler looked worried- worried about her! He was a werewolf and he was worrying about her. She was really going to be sick. "Caroline?" he asked nervously. "You look green."
"I-" that was the best she could do right now. She swallowed and tried to gather her jumbled thoughts. "A werewolf," she finally managed to get out.
He nodded.
"Holy shit," she breathed.
He laughed a humorless laugh. "Yeah, tell me about it." He hesitated for a moment, mouth half opened as he mentally weighed an option in his head. "There's more," he said quietly.
"More?" she squeaked. What more could there possibly be?
He nodded shyly. Her stomach did a nervous plunge. Tyler wasn't the shy type. "Well" she asked, voice wavering. "What is it?"
He scratched the back of his head, looking down at the floor. "Well, you're um-" he laughed another dry, humorless laugh. "You're kind of my mate."
She stared at him. Had she heard him right? She repeated the sentence a few times in her head. It stayed the same each time. "Mate?" she asked.
He nodded, avoiding her gaze. "We're connected, Care," he said. "In a way that I don't even understand. Sometimes I feel what your fell, I share your dreams, I almost know what your thinking. I have been able to think of nothing but you since the day I triggered this curse."
If she was surprised before about the whole werewolf thing, she was completely shell-shocked by the whole mate thing. In the messy, tangles of secrets and lies that she'd been working so damn hard to fix, she was somehow a part of. She was a part of this.
She felt something dangerously close to panic rise in her throat. She'd read things about mates- of wolves at least. How once they find their mate, that's it. They rule the pack together, they spend forever together. She'd seen Twilight too. Her promise to not run suddenly seemed like a bad thing to promise him. This was nothing like she had expected. Her legs bunched with the need to run away. To run away from this new reality. From him.
But then she saw the look on his face- so sad, so broken, knowing she was about to run, and that feeling evaporated. This boy sitting in front of her was still Tyler. Still the obnoxious boy she grew up with. Still the boy who shared his lunch with her back in elementary school when she forgot hers. She knew him inside and out- the good, the bad, the otherwise.
She couldn't leave him. That would make her the monster he was so sure he was.
So instead of running, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tightly against her, just as the last walls of his control began to waver and for the first time in his life, he wasn't hiding what he felt. They sank into the bed like that and she stroked his hair and held his hand as he mourned everything he had lost, and faced everything he had become.
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