Title: Dirty Little Secret
Chapter: 16
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: Hey everyone, I'm sorry it took so long for an update. I blame it purely on laziness. So there are only going to be about another 4 or 5 chapters. Once I wrap this story up, I will be continuing with my other Forwood story, "Shh, Just Go With It" so that's something to look forward to.
After Matt stormed out, Caroline had stayed with Bonnie for a few hours. She'd thought she was going to cry or at last feel depressed over her breakup with Matt, but she neither did, nor felt either. If anything, she felt relieved that they weren't together anymore. Deep down, she'd known that she and Matt were over. She'd already accepted it.
However, what she hadn't accepted quite yet was the guilt she was feeling over leaving Tyler. It had begun to creep up on her at Bonnie's and now that she was home alone- her mom was out working, again- it was steadily increasing to the point of nearly choking her.
"Caroline?" Elena's worried voice asked from the other end of the phone. "You still there?"
"Yeah, sorry," Caroline said. She'd completely forgotten she was even on the phone with Elena and Bonnie. "I was just…"
"Are you sure you don't want us to come over?" Elena asked. Caroline could imagine the dark eyed girl's eyebrows furrowed in worry.
Caroline sighed. She'd only been on the phone with them for twenty minutes and after the "how are you?" and "are you going to be okay?" Elena had nonstop asked if she wanted them to come over. And the answer had remained the same: no. The last thing she wanted to do was have to pretend that she wasn't choking on her own guilt over Tyler. "No," she said for the umpteenth time.
"Are you-" Elena began.
Thankfully, Bonnie- God bless that girl- interrupted. "Elena, I think Caroline just needs some alone time. We can check on her tomorrow."
Caroline sighed in relief. Yes, alone time. That's exactly what she needed.
Caroline heard Elena sigh. "Fine fine! But we're calling you first thing in the morning and we're all going out for lunch!"
"Deal," Caroline said. "I'll see you two tomorrow okay?"
"Okay," Elena said at the same time Bonnie said, "Night, Care!"
"Night," Caroline said and hung up. She glanced down at her phone. It was 10:30. Even though she felt mentally exhausted, her body was still energized from sleeping all day. Sleep was definitely out of the question, but she couldn't just sit here in her room all night and twiddle her thumbs. Or even worse, think. Thinking would be very bad right now.
After another few minutes of sitting crossed legged on her bed, she decided to go downstairs and watch a movie. She highly doubted it would hold her attention, but she could at least try.
She got up, tossed her cell phone on the bed and began gathering the must haves: a blanket, tissues and a pillow. She gathered them all in her hands and made her way downstairs, careful not to trip and fall. The last thing she needed was a broken ankle or worse, a broken spine.
She barely registered throwing everything down on the couch and grabbing a movie. It was a comedy- one that she'd never seen. She popped it into the DVD player and settled down into the couch.
Before the opening credits ended, she was crying. Like really crying. The kind of crying where your vision blurs to gray and your chest tightens and you shake from head to toe. She'd only cried like this once before: when her dad left. In comparison, this was worse. Her dad leaving was out of her control. She couldn't have stopped him from walking out of their lives whether she wanted to or not. She could have chosen not to walk away from Tyler, but she did.
This afternoon, leaving made sense. Leaving would mean she could go back to her life and forget about werewolves and mating. She could just be Caroline again. But this- this girl she was right now wasn't Caroline. This girl was weak and scared and selfish. This girl sat crying on the couch instead of facing her problems. Caroline hated herself for being this girl.
But here she sat, crying over how bad her life was when really, she should be with Tyler-assuring him that everything was going to be okay despite the fact that his life was changed forever. And in so many more ways than hers was.
How could she be so selfish? How could she just leave him? She wished she'd stayed in bed with him and waited until he'd woken up so they could talk. She wished she wouldn't have broken her promise to him. More than anything, she wished she was with him right now.
She couldn't do anything about the others, but she could for damn sure do something about the last. Feeling a lot more like Caroline, she shut off the TV and stood up. She turned to head upstairs when she saw something. No, not a something. A someone. A man with a scar on his cheek was looking right at her, a blank expression on his face. She knew this man. This was the man who had harassed her at the Sexy Suds car wash. He cocked his head to the side when he saw her looking and gave her a wicked smile. He winked at her and suddenly the window exploded, shooting shards of glass everywhere. She felt one hit her face and then the warm flow of blood.
She let out a terrified scream and ran upstairs. The smart thing to do would have been to run into the kitchen and dial 911, but the thinking portion of her brain had fallen to the floor the second she saw the man and survival instincts had kicked in.
She ran up the stairs with lightning speed (how she didn't trip and fall she'd never know) and ran to her bedroom. She locked the door behind her and a quick glance at her windows showed they were locked. She turned frantically, looking for a phone or a weapon or anything! And then she saw the most beautiful thing ever- her cell phone. She lunged for it, intention being to call 911. But as she dialed, she found it wasn't 911 she was dialing. It was a much different number.
Tyler was terrified. He had no idea why. One minute he was sitting on the couch beside Mason watching some lame movie, not so secretly brooding over Caroline and then bam! He was choking on fear. He realized that it must have been Caroline's fear the moment his cell phone rang, showing her name and picture. He picked it up. "Caroline, what's wrong?" he asked, already standing up.
"He was in the window!" she sobbed. "I saw him! Oh god, Tyler, he was watching me!"
Anger burned inside him and he was already out in the hall, grabbing his keys. He felt Mason following him, the sound of the movie still behind him. "Who?" Tyler asked. "Who was in the window?"
"The man from the Sexy Suds carwash!" she cried. "With the s-scar on his cheek."
Realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he began running to his car. "Alright, listen to me, okay?" he asked, trying to sound calm for her sake. "I'm on my way right now. I'll be there in less than 5 minutes. Go in you bathroom and lock the door."
Mason was already in the passenger seat and before she could reply, they were driving down his driveway at a dangerous speed.
"O-okay!" she said, her voice shaking uncontrollably. He heard what sounded like furniture sliding across the floor and then rustling, before finally the slam of a door. "Don't hang up."
"I'm not," he assured. "I promise. Did he try to come inside?" He was trying to hide the panic and fury in his voice so he didn't scare her even worse, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. The thought of someone-
"No," she said. "He was just looking in the window, watching me and then he-he-"
She was talking so quickly, he could barely understand what she saying. "What'd he do?"
"The window! I-it exploded and glass went everywhere!"
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," she said, taking a deep breath to steady her voice. "A piece cut my face but nothing s-serious."
The fury doubled and he felt his eyes change into something less than human. This must have been what Mason had said would happen if he got too upset- his inner wolf or whatever would try and escape. "You're going to be okay," he promised. "He's not going to hurt you and I'm going to be there in just a minute."
"Hurry!" she said. "Please, I want to leave."
He clutched the steering wheel and pushed his foot down on the pedal, the car lurching forward. Surprisingly everything around him didn't blur. He could still see everything, like he would see if he was going ten miles per hour instead of seventy.
"Tyler, slow down," Mason warned. "It's not going to help her if you wrap the car around a tree and kill us both."
He ignored him. "Alright, Care, we're going to be there in a few seconds. Stay where you are and I'm going to come up and get you."
"Please be careful," she begged.
"I will."
Her house came into view then and he was instantly searching for the man watching her. He didn't see him but he knew that didn't mean he wasn't there. He did spot the broken window however and he felt his eyes change again. Low enough that Caroline wouldn't hear him, he said, "Go look for him. I'm getting her." To her he said, "I'm here Care. I'm coming up right now."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
She heard someone running up the stairs and she quickly got up and unlocked the door. She had pushed her nightstand in front of the door, knowing that it wouldn't stop someone from getting in if they really wanted to, but that it would make enough noise to alert her of an unwelcome presence. She pulled it away and went to unlock her bedroom door but the sound of metal breaking echoed through the room and then the door was open. She was in his arms, breathing in his scent before she even saw him. If she hadn't been scared out of her mind and so relieved that he was finally here, she would have blushed at how horrible she looked in short shorts and a tank top, her face red from crying before and after she saw Scarface.
"It's okay," he said, squeezing her tightly. "I've got you. Come on, we're leaving."
He practically carried her through the hall and down the stairs, his eyes watching for any sign of him. They made it downstairs and Caroline screamed when she saw someone in the doorway.
"Its okay, it's just Mason," Tyler explained. To him he said, "Did you find anything?"
"A scent," Mason said. "But whoever it belongs to is long gone."
They closed the front door behind them and Caroline looked around the darkness of her house, expecting him to pop up and say, "Boo!" even though Mason had said he was gone. Mason got in the driver's seat without having to be asked and Tyler slipped in the back with her. It wasn't until the car was started and they were pulling out of her driveway that she really began to breath again. She drew in a shaky breath and released it.
His arms tightened around her. "It's okay, Care," he said, stroking her hair. "I've got you. I'm not going to let anything hurt you."
She buried her face in his warm chest, realizing how cold she was in her tank top and shorts. As if he read her mind, Tyler said, "Turn on the heat." He pulled her impossibly closer to him, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to warm her more quickly.
"So you found a scent," Tyler deadpanned.
"Yeah," Mason said. "It was all around the house."
Caroline heard a deep sound in Tyler's chest, resembling a growl.
"It disappeared at the street, so I'm assuming whoever he was, he had someone pick him up."
Thethought of someone walking around her house, spying on her made her skin crawl. How long had he been there, peeping into her window? Was tonight the first night or had he been lurking outside all week?
Mason and Tyler continued to talk about who he was, why he was there, etc. The farther they got from her house, the more she relaxed and the more she realized that in a sick way, her wish had been granted. She was with Tyler. Of course, she hadn't wanted to be a mess the next time she saw him, but beggars can't be choosers.
She was an awful person. Here she was, playing damsel in ditress when the last thing she should be doing is asking for his help. She shouldn't have the right to look him in the eye, let alone be in his arms.
She was so intent on mentally beating herself up, she didn't notice they were at the Lockwood Estate until Mason had stopped the car. He got out, closing the door behind him and heading to the front door. She stayed still, waiting for Tyler to move or speak.
"We should probably go inside," he said quietly. She tried to find any hint of anything in his voice. Anger, hurt, disapointment. There was nothing. His voice gave away no hint as to what he was feeling or thinking.
"Okay," she said.
He untangled himself from her and opened the door, holding it open for her. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and got out, instantly beginning to shiver. He slammed the door and put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the door.
Once inside, he locked the door and turned to her, his face blank. For a few seconds, he simply looked at her. Just as she was about to say something- anything- to break the silence, he said, "Why don't you go take a hot shower and then we'll talk."
She wanted to protest and say she didn't need to take a shower. She needed to talk to him and then figure out who the hell was lurking outside her window, but she didn't. Instead, she nodded and said, "Okay."
"You can use my bathroom. I'm going to go talk to Mason. I'll get some clothes and lay them on the bed." And with that, he turned and disapeared.
Tyler's bathroom was a lot neater than she had expected it to be. She imagined dirty towels, socks, boxers and empty shampoo bottles everwhere. Instead, she found a neat, perfectly acceptable bathroom done in black, gray and white. It was elegant, but it didn't have the feel of the rest of the mansion. No, she was sure Tyler had designed the bathroom himself.
She stripped off her PJs and dug around in the closest for towels. After finding two large, plush black towels, she turned the water on and adjusted the temperature to her liking. Once steam began rising from the water, she stepped in.
The water was hot enough to chase the coldess that had made its way to her bones away. She simply stood under the streams of water pelting her, relishing in the comforting warmth. It was so comforting, she had to force herself to grab Tyler's shampoo and lather it through her blonde curls.
Ten minutes later she stepped out of the shower smelling like a boy, but feeling a lot better than she had before. She wrapped one of the towels around her body and dried her hair with the other, dropping it in the hamper when she was done and walking into his room. Like he had said, there were clothes on his bed for her. The green t-shirt and gray sweatpants were definitely a woman's, so she assumed he had raided his mother's closet. She hoped Ms. Lockwood didn't mind.
The sweatpants fit perfectly, but Ms. Lockwood's upper body was not the same size as Caroline's. The shirt was too tight for her not to be wearing a bra, so she searched through Tyler's closet until she found one of his old football hoodys.
When she felt certain she was dressed appropriately, she took a deep breath and began her way downstairs.
"How do you think she's holding up?" Mason asked, pointing to the ceiling. They were in the kitchen, which was directly under Tyler's room.
"This is Caroline we're talking about," Tyler said. "She's shaken up, but she'll be fine."
"What about you?" Mason asked. Unless Tyler was hallucinating, he looked a little guilty. "Are you going to be fine?"
"Can you just stop with the whole worried uncle routine?" Tyler snapped.
"Listen, Tyler-"
"No," Tyler said. "Do you really expect me to believe that you're just worried about me? And that's why you've stuck around so long? Well I don't."
"Would you rather me of left and let you deal with all of this by yourself?"
Tyler ran a hand through his hair. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and with each passing day it was getting worse and worse. "You had no right to tell Caroline to come to the cell last night," he said.
"You and I both know you would never have told her," Mason said, as if this made everything okay.
"Maybe, maybe not, but it was my choice. If I didnt tell her, it was because I didn't want to drag her into all of this. At least before you took that choice away, she was in my life."
"She wasn't in your life," Mason said. "You were on the sideline of hers. Could you really have watched her stay with Matt, you're best friend? Could you have stayed out of it when she kissed him in front of you? What about when she goes to college and you don't see her anymore? Could you really have been okay with that?"
Mason was painting a painful imagine in his head. "Maybe, but I'll never know, will I?"
Mason sighed and ran his hand over is face. "I know it wasn't my decision to call her, but can you honestly say that you aren't a little bit relieved that she knows?"
"I lost her," Tyler said. "The moment she found out, I lost her."
"You never had her," Mason said.
Just as Tyler was about to snappily reply, a delicate voice cleared their throat. Caroline stepped around the corner in one of his old football hoodys, her arms wrapped around her waist. Her hair was wet, her face clear of makeup. Something in Tyler's chest squeezed painfully.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," she said, looking between the two Lockwoods. "But can we talk?"
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