Shh, Just Go With It
Chapter 4: A Small, Small World
"Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns to be amused rather than shocked." -Robert Browning
Okay, so she hadn't expected to ever see Tyler Lockwood again, let alone see him mere hours after leaving his house in a very walk of shame manner. So, it was expected of her to look at him with her mouth open and a "duh!" expression on her face. She had every reason in the world to feel shocked.
His smile grew impossibly wide at her shocked expression. What a jerk. "What?" he asked. "Are you not happy to see me?"
Hell no she wasn't happy to see him! Was he crazy? "Umm," she said, finally able to form at least somewhat of a coherent thought. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was walking down the street and I saw you in here, so I had to come in and collect," he explained.
"Collect what?" she asked, suspiciously.
An amused expression settled on his face and he tsked her. "Did you already forget our deal?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
If she wasn't suddenly drowning in her own horror, she would have found that expression very, very cute. The deal. The stupid, stupid deal she created just hours earlier and he had agreed to. If they were to see each other again, she would go on a coffee date with him. What the hell had she been thinking? Oh, right. She hadn't! All she had thought about was she wanted to get out of there and making up some stupid deal would allow that to happen faster.
She could just slap herself.
"Caroline?"
"Hmm? Oh, right, the deal. No, I haven't forgotten," she said, smoothly taking a sip of her drink.
"Good," he said. "Because I wasn't going to let you get out of it."
She heard someone clear their throat, saving her from answering. Elena and Bonnie were staring at her-Bonnie with a bemused expression on her face and eyebrows raised, and Elena with an unreadable expression on her face.
"This is Tyler," she said. "Tyler, this is Bonnie and-"
"Elena," he said, looking surprised as he finally seemed to notice the brunette.
She gave him a small, awkward smile. "Hey, Tyler."
Caroline raised an eyebrow at their encounter. "Um, do you two know each other?" she asked, looking between the two.
Elena tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and nodded. "Tyler and I went to high school together."
"We grew up together," Tyler added.
The light bulb in her head went off with an audible click. Last night at the bar, Tyler said his dad was the mayor of Mystic Falls. Elena grew up in Mystic Falls. It was a small town, so of course they would know each other. How had she overlooked that?
"Right," Caroline. "You did say your dad was the mayor of Mystic Falls."
Just like the night before, his smile slipped at the mention of his dad, before returning. "I did."
Awkward silence.
Caroline being herself, didn't like awkward silences, so she had to fill it. "So, um, were you two friends?"
"Not really," Elena said at the same time Tyler said, "Sort of."
They looked at each other. Tyler looked amused while Elena looked annoyed. "Tyler was a year ahead of me, so we had a different group of friends, but we did spend some time together."
"I played football and she was a cheerleader, so we had to do a lot of fundraisers and stuff together," Tyler explained.
"Oh," Caroline said.
"So anyways," Tyler said. "That coffee date."
"Listen, Tyler, about that-"
"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "A deal's a deal. You can't get out of it that easily."
Damn it. She in no way wanted to have a coffee date with him, but he didn't seem like the type who accepted no as an answer. "Is there any way I can get out of it?" she asked, in vain hope.
Something very, very close to hurt passed through his eyes and she instantly felt bad. But come on, he didn't know the first thing about her. Why did he even want to take her out? It was just her luck to be with a guy who didn't want what most guys wanted: no strings attached.
He quickly recovered and smiled. "No way, you're not getting out of it."
"Fine," she said, feeling her headache coming back. She pulled a pen out of her purse and held out her hand. "I'll give you my number and you can call me tomorrow so we can set this up."
He gave her a triumph grin and placed his hand in hers. "I'll see you soon, Care," he said, looking so pleased she almost smiled. Almost. He turned to Elena and Bonnie, who were watching them with eyebrows raised and heads cocked. "Bonnie, nice to meet you. Elena, good to see you again."
They chorused goodbyes and he disappeared out the door. She watched him walk down the sidewalk until he was out of site. Then she turned to Elena. "Why didn't you tell me you knew him?" she asked, her voice rising an octave.
"You didn't say his last name," Elena said. "How was I suppose to know you were talking about Tyler Lockwood?"
"You saw me leave with him last night!"
"It was dark, so I couldn't make out his face all that well. And I was drunk."
Unlikely, Caroline thought. She ran her hands over her face. "Oh, my god."
"Come on, Care," Bonnie said. "He is cute. Maybe the date will be fun."
"I can't believe I actually gave him my number," Caroline said, more to herself than to her friends. She turned to Elena. "Be honest, how much trouble am I in?"
She hesitated. "Tyler is…."
"Oh, god," Caroline said, groaning.
"Look, he's persistent and a little egotistical sometimes, but he isn't a bad guy," Elena said.
"Maybe I'll just ignore his phone calls," Caroline said. "I won't pick up any unknown numbers."
"Ever?" Bonnie asked. "Come on, Care. He seems nice. One date with him won't kill you. And it's a coffee date. That's like, not even a real date. That's what two friends do to hang out and catch up."
"But we're not friends and I don't know him; therefore, we have nothing to catch up on."
Bonnie shrugged. "Do whatever you want, but he seemed like he really wanted you to go out with him."
Caroline groaned, dropping her head into her hands.
Shortly after Tyler made his appearance, Elena, Bonnie and Caroline left and returned to her apartment. Everything was how she left it, but it all felt different. They asked Caroline if she wanted them to stay with her for awhile, but she declined, saying she felt better now, not sure whether it was a lie or not. She did feel better, but not okay just yet. They accepted her answer, though clearly knowing she wasn't okay, and left.
When the door closed, she stared at the wood for a few minutes, wondering what she was going to do. She did have a quiz to study for, but she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the material.
She heard a high beep and jumped, her hand flying to her heart before realizing it was just her phone, telling her she had a new voicemail. She searched around the living room for it, listening for a beep and finally found it wedged between the couch cushions. She dialed her voicemail and entered her password, listening for the message.
"Hey, Caroline, it's Matt."
Her eyes went wide and her mouth popped open in a little o.
"Look, I know you probably hate me, and I don't blame you, but…."
She rolled her eyes as she listened to the silence, waiting for him to speak. Matt always had problems with finding the right words to say. She used to think it was cute; now it just annoyed her.
"I just don't want things to end with you hating me. And I-"
She hit the "7" button, deleting the message before she heard the rest. Matt had been a part of her for her entire life and in five minutes, he had painfully removed himself from her life. That was his choice- his decision. Like the old saying: he made his bed; now he has to lay in it.
Shaking her head, she went to her room and pulled out a thick textbook from her bag. She sat on her bed, ignoring the t-shirt, and turned to the chapter she had a quiz on tomorrow. This stuff might have bored her to death, but at least she wasn't thinking about Matt or Tyler and she was doing something productive.
Win, win.
Elena sat snuggled up with her boyfriend Damon on the couch in his sleek, dark house, watching (or rather, not watching) a movie. She barely heard the gunshots blasting from the TV as the protagonists fought to save their lives and return home from where ever they were. She was a little preoccupied with kissing him. She groaned into his mouth and he lowered her down onto the couch, clearly stating what he wanted.
She smiled against his lips and tugged his black t-shirt over his head. She threw the shirt down onto the floor and ran her hands over his toned stomach and chest.
Just as he pulled her shirt off, revealing her black bra, her cell phone rang. Normally, she would ignore it, much rather doing this, but something in her stomach told her to check it. It was late and no one would normally be calling at this hour.
"Ignore it," Damon said, his voice husky. Usually that voice would send her head spinning, but again, her stomach told her to check it.
She rolled out from underneath him, nearly forgetting who she was when his warm hand brushed her bare stomach, sending a whole other kind of goose bumps across her skin. She almost said to hell with her instincts, but the shrill of her phone put her back in her right mind. "Damon," she warned. It sounded half hearted, even to her.
"Come on, Elena," he practically whined. "Let it go to voicemail."
She sighed, cursing under her breath and reaching for the phone. Damon groaned and rolled over, pressing his face into the cushion.
She was about to lie and say pouting wasn't attractive, but she noticed the caller ID and forgot.
She cursed, much louder this time and sat up. "What?" she answered, snippily.
Damon sat up, curious as to who it was. She generally wasn't so rude.
"Is that how you always answer your phone?"
"Nope," she answered. "Now, what do you want, Tyler?"
Damon narrowed his eyes. Damon didn't like Tyler, for understandable reasons. One being, he loved to call Elena at the most inconvenient times.
"Come on, you know," he said.
She did know. "Nope, no idea what you're talking about."
"You're so difficult," he said, huffing.
"And you're needy," she said, only half joking. "Again: what do you want?"
He sighed, like talking to her was physically draining him of all energy. "Caroline."
Even though she already knew this, she couldn't help the irritated little noise that escaped her lips. Why, oh why, did she have to be drug into this? "Tyler, did you really have to-"
"Just help me please," he cut off.
She pursued her lips, pretending to think about an answer she already had. Finally, she said, "Nope. No way."
"Oh, come on, Elena," he whined. It wasn't cute on him like it was on Damon. And it certainly wasn't to get him his way like it did Damon.
"No, Tyler."
"But she's your friend and-"
"Absolutely not."
He sighed. "You owe me." His tone was flat, but she could tell he didn't want to say it. But damn it, he was Tyler Lockwood and he always, always got his way. The spoiled little-
"Fine," she practically growled. "But I swear to god on my life, if you hurt her in anyway, I will rip off your favorite body part and shove it down your throat."
Damon chuckled, shoving his face in the pillow so Tyler wouldn't hear. He lifted his hand, giving her a thumbs up, though.
She hoped her threat ruffled his feathers.
"Give me a little credit, Elena," Tyler said, sounding half afraid and half annoyed.
"Fine," she said. "I'll help. But you should know I don't want to."
"I know."
"And you're a dick."
He sighed. "I know.
"And I hate you." Okay, that wasn't completely true, but whatever.
"Okay," he said, huffing again. "Thank you. You're amazing."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she said, ready to get back to what she was doing before Tyler called. "I'm the next Gandhi. Whatever. Just remember what I said."
"I will. Elena?"
"Huh?"
"I owe you." The line went dead.
A wicked smile tugged on her lips. Oh, how she liked the sound of that.
Damon raised his head from the pillow and said, "You are so not the next Gandhi."
She tangled her hands in his raven hair and pulled his head to hers. "I know," she breathed into his mouth.
And they picked up right where they left off.
A/N: Thank you to all of those who have alerted, reviewed, favorited, etc! You guys rock! So, why do you think Elena owes Tyler?
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