Chapter 23: The Beginning of the End

It didn't work. Another couple of minutes passed, and Bonnie still wasn't responding. She was limp in Jeremy's arms, but the latter still clung onto her tightly, warming her cold and frail body with his own.

Elena whispered into Stefan's ear and he kissed the top of her head, tears springing in his eyes as he slowly let her go. Elena got up and made her way over to her brother. Caroline didn't need to know what she was about to say next.

It was already written on her friend's morose expression. The revelation wrecked her from the inside out and she had to cover her mouth with her palm to keep herself from crying out loud. She couldn't imagine having to be in Elena's position.

Stefan could sense the pain that she was going through and quickly made his way over, blocking her view of the siblings. He opened his arms and Caroline immediately went to him, laying her head against his chest and sobbing softly.

"This is all my fault, Stefan. I shouldn't have been so stupid." she whispered shakily.

Stefan rubbed the back of her head with his palm and tried to calm her down, although he was actually quite upset himself. "Shhhh, Caroline. This is not your fault, okay? Don't even say that. Bonnie risked her life to save all of us and that was not your choice to make."

Caroline knew that he was right, but couldn't quite shake off the guilt. They all wouldn't be in this room in the first place if it hadn't been for her.

"No, Elena!"

And there it was – the cry Caroline didn't wish to hear. Elena must have told Jeremy to let go. Of course he would be frustrated with her. Who wouldn't be if they were asked to give up hope on the one that they love the most?

But Stefan didn't seem to agree with her suspicions. He swiftly let go of Caroline and moved to her side so that they could both see what the siblings were up to.

They were surprised with what they saw. Jeremy was still holding Bonnie in his arms, but Elena was crouched next to where Tyler had been knocked down. They couldn't exactly see what was going on, since Elena had her back turned, but Stefan didn't need another warning.

In a matter of seconds, he materialized at Elena's side.

"Caroline, you might want to give us a hand." Stefan said, glancing in her direction. His expression was no longer dark and pain-stricken. In fact, he looked almost relieved.

She quickly made her way over and found that Tyler had already opened his eyes. He looked dazed and confused with all of them gaping at him, but Caroline couldn't help herself as she dropped to her knees and hugged him.

There was a flash of movement on the other side of the room, and Stefan was quick to respond, breaking up the reunion. He had Kol by the neck against the wall before the youngest Mickaelson could even think of escaping.

It was only then that they all finally realized the curse was broken and that they were free to get out. Matt had snapped out of his daze and he called out for Rebekah, as if seeing her in pain was his last memory. Elena quickly came to his aid and pulled him in for a hug, whispering comforting words in his ear.

Stefan had other ideas planned for Kol. "Why did you have to bring Jeremy into this, huh? He is innocent and he could have gotten hurt. My friend is dead because of you and you think I'm going to let you off -"

"Stefan, stop." Jeremy interrupted insistently, his command coming from across the room.

The younger Salvatore squeezed even harder before he immediately let go of Kol. The latter once again fell to his feet. "Bloody hell, you should be thanking me, why don't you."

Stefan looked to Jeremy for an explanation. "He's right. As soon as I arrived in Mystic Falls, I headed straight to Bonnie's house. When I got there, her front door was wide-open. I thought it was a break-in but then I heard Kol's voice. There was a lot of arguing and just as I was about to head into the room and try to rip his head off for threatening Bonnie, I found that she had daggered him to the ground. Before she managed to see me, I hid"

"Go on Gilbert. Tell him what happened next" Kol encouraged, managing to get up on his feet without any help.

"As soon as Bonnie stormed out of the house, I pulled the dagger out of Kol. We got into a fight, but then he managed to explain to me what was going on, and told me we were wasting time trying to kill each other. He wasn't the enemy. I didn't know if I could trust him so I had to see it for myself. And then here we are"

Stefan was about to give Kol a piece of his mind, maybe not for forcing Jeremy to come, but for attacking him – but it was as if he had disappeared into thin air. Kol Mickaelson escaped, and Stefan knew better than to chase after an Original hybrid.

"Forget about him Stefan. It's not worth it." Elena said.

"Yes Stefan, if there's anyone to blame it's me. I'm the murderer."

Caroline was helping Tyler to his feet when she heard the younger Gilbert's words. "I don't want you to say that Jeremy. You saved all of us."

"Not all of us." he replied, brushing back Bonnie's hair that fell in her eyes.

And then suddenly, as if struck with a jolt of electricity, Bonnie's hand shot up and grabbed his. She blinked her eyes open, trying to get used to the light and in a faint whisper said "Yes, all of us."

Jeremy's jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered from the surprise of his life. He managed to break free of her hold on him, and kissed her softly on the lips. As soon as they broke apart, he wrapped his arms around her.

"I still can't believe that you're alive. I'm never letting you out of my sight again. In fact, from here on out, I will never ever let you go."

Caroline blinked back her own tears as she heard Bonnie's response "I should have never let you leave me in the first place. But I told you to trust me"

Matt, Elena, and Stefan headed over to the reunited couple, and they all couldn't stop themselves from smiling.

"I knew you would make it Bennett. Welcome back." Damon declared, a satisfied smile on his face, as if he knew all along that she would and never doubted for a second.

"Welcome back yourself."

Elena reached out a hand to Damon, but it was Stefan who helped him to his feet. Apologies were in order. "I'm sorry brother. I should have trusted you and your saving powers."

Damon laughed as he pulled his brother in for a hug. "Don't worry about it. Damon almighty to the rescue."

He smiled at Elena and she genuinely smiled back. Damon might be the risk taker, but he trusted Jeremy and Bonnie and in their choices. It might have appeared as if Damon provoked them, but he was simply helping them carry out their own plans. If it weren't for his courage, they all wouldn't be alive right now.

Damon gave Stefan a look and he nodded, as if giving the former permission. The older Salvatore then, without any pretense whatsoever, crushed Elena's body against his, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm really sorry for putting you through it again. Someone needed to help them, and I had no choice. I'm the selfish one remember. I needed to keep you safe no matter what."

She hugged him back. There was no use arguing. "Thank you Damon."

Afterwards, the three of them went back to celebrating with the rest of the gang. Caroline watched as they all tearfully hugged each other, even the boys – and she couldn't help but ask herself why she was ever confused in the first place. She had all of these people to talk to—the people who would risk their lives to save hers, people who loved her.

It was indeed a humbling revelation.

"Is it really over?" Tyler asked Bonnie, a worried tone in his voice.

"Yes, at least, for now, I think we're in the clear. I saw her on the other side, I don't know exactly if it was death or somewhere in between, but I saw her. The witches were angry with her for hurting innocents like Jeremy and Matt. They also saw how all of us were willing to risk our lives to save each other, and the strength that Tyler had to fight against his urges. It was enough for them to take matters in their own hands. I'm not saying she's gone, because I came back to life before I got the chance to see what they had done."

A look of relief passed through Tyler's face. "I don't think I can ever go through that again. I'm scared I might hurt someone."

His gaze shifted to Caroline, and she blushed. Elena grabbed hold of Caroline's hand and together they pulled Bonnie in for a tight hug. "We always have each other. I repeat, always."

Damon made gagging sounds in the background and Caroline could hear Stefan slap him on the back. Tyler just laughed. Matt on the other hand, seemed happy to be around his friends, but at the same time worried about something else. He wanted Rebekah.

Caroline knew the feeling all too well. As soon as the girls broke apart from each other, Elena ran into Stefan's arms and he enveloped her like she had always belonged there. Jeremy wouldn't stop staring at Bonnie, as if he still couldn't believe she was alive. She walked over to him and kissed him on the lips—hard, and that seemed to break him out of his stupor.

The last thing Caroline heard was a muffled, "I meant what I said. I'll never let you out of my sight again."

She was happy for them. She really was. But there was that big gaping hole in her heart that she couldn't seem to fill. All of her friends were here. Tyler was alive once again. But this didn't seem enough. She had to know if he was okay. Even if he didn't want to see her, Caroline just needed to know that Klaus was still around, and then she would figure out how to deal with her broken heart.

"He's alive, Caroline." Bonnie stated, as a matter-of-factly, as if she could tell what was bothering her friend.

But Caroline needed to see it for herself. She trusted her friend but her heart wouldn't let her off the hook that easily. She hated to admit it, but she hoped that he was also looking for her, and that he would want to see her alive, in spite of what he thought she had done – which was lie to him. Caroline mouthed a thank you to her friend, and caught Tyler's jealous and hurt gaze in the periphery. She closed her eyes but instead of finding some peace of mind, all she could see and think about was his arms wrapped around her, his lips pressed against hers, his stubble rubbing against her soft skin.

Her cheeks were turning red, and Caroline was embarrassed to be even thinking of those things.

Meanwhile, Matt didn't need to hear it from Bonnie. He had only stuck around to make sure everyone was okay, but now that things seemed to be settled, he could now leave in search of his own lady love.

Before he made it to the doorway though, Rebekah Mickaelson walked into the room.

Apparently, there was no need for words. She quickly rushed over to him and he pulled her into his arms. "I'm really sorry Matt. I didn't mean to hurt you. She possessed me and I didn't have control and I—"

He cut her midway with a deep kiss.

"Get a room you two!" Damon teased, and this time it was Elena who knocked him in the chest. Matt immediately let go of Rebekah, who still had a surprised look on her face from his public display of affection.

He couldn't help himself and she was glad to know how much he cared, and how much he trusted her in spite of all the horrible things she had done before. Rebekah glanced over to Elena's direction, fearing the disapproval and hatred from the younger vampire, but was surprised to find that she was smiling at her. It wasn't complete forgiveness, but it was a start.

Matt put his arm around Rebekah and held her close. For the first time in her life, she felt like she belonged and that it couldn't get any better than this. All her life she had only one person – Niklaus, but now she knew what it was like to have a family – or at least the start of a wonderful friendship.

Caroline walked over to where the two were standing, and immediately Matt stood in front of Rebekah, protecting her. Caroline thought she should be offended by his actions, but when she realized that she would do the same thing for Klaus if the roles were reversed, she stopped herself from cursing at him.

Rebekah appreciated the gesture herself, but quickly took Matt's hand and squeezed as if asking him to trust her. Afterwards, she stood in front of Caroline so they were eye-to-eye. "I'm really sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to hurt my brother, you have to believe that."

Caroline just hugged her, surprising everyone in the room, especially Matt. "I know that. I heard what you said earlier. But don't get me wrong, we're still not friends or anything and you still have to prove to all of us that you are worthy of our trust and Matt's love. I just wanted you to know that I don't completely hate you."

"Thank you." Rebekah whispered, hugging her back. As if she could tell what Caroline really wanted to know she said, "Kol's with him."

Caroline felt like all the blood had been drained from her body. She quickly backed away from Rebekah and snarled. "You left him with…Kol?"

Rebekah held Matt back before he could lunge for Caroline. "How else would I be here? Kol took the dagger from my heart. As soon as I recovered from the poison, I told him I had to look for Matt and he said he would take care of our brother. What's wrong with that?"

Caroline took a deep breath to calm herself before responding. Rebekah didn't know about what happened on their trip. "Klaus and Kol got into…a fight."

"Oh no." Rebekah said, realizing her mistake. She knew her brothers and how they always wanted to one-up each other.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you when it really isn't your fault. But I have to go. I have to make sure he's okay." Caroline said in a hurry, getting more worried and agitated over Klaus with every second. She gave Rebekah's arm a squeeze before she made her way to the door.

Stefan blocked her way.

"I'm coming with you. Whether you like it or not, I will not have you running into a lion's den again."

Caroline didn't want to argue with her friend, but she couldn't have Stefan complicating things further. If things went badly, she didn't want any of them caught in the crossfire.

"Stefan, I'm only going to ask you once. Just trust me on this one okay? I know what it looks like. You think I'm getting myself into trouble all over again and I'm not thinking straight. I can't assure you that everything will be okay, but what I can tell you is that I'm strong enough to deal with it and I can handle it on my own. I need to do this for myself. I need to face him and get it all over with. You know how I feel about him Stefan, and even though you don't believe me when I say this, I'm sure he cares just as much for me. Right now, he might be the one in danger, and I can't have you complicating things especially since the last time you guys saw each other, you tried to kill him."

Stefan listened to every word she said, but it didn't change his mind. He still looked as determined as he was before to accompany Caroline whether she liked it or not.

Caroline looked over to Elena, pleadingly. She didn't even need to ask.

"Stefan, let her do this. Believe me, I don't trust him any more than you do but we have to trust Caroline. The circumstances have changed. All along we thought he was the bad guy, when in fact he was also a victim. We owe it to Caroline to fix this. If it makes you feel better, we can scope the area to make sure there isn't any imminent danger, but we will let her handle this on her own, okay? This is her decision and you have to respect it."

Stefan looked all the more frustrated and worried. The frown lines on his forehead increased and he scowled. He didn't like being bossed around, especially when he was just trying to do the right thing. Caroline couldn't stand the look on his face, and so she immediately wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug. "Stefan, I love you for trying to protect me all the time. Really, I do. Please don't be mad at Elena. I just need to do this for myself and she understands that. I promise I'll be back safe and sound. You taught me everything I know and so you should believe that I'm strong enough. You always told me to trust my gut. This is me following your advice. Every nerve ending in my body yearns to be with him. I couldn't stay away even if I tried."

Stefan let go of her and forced a smile. "For you, I'll give him another chance and I'll let you handle this on your own terms. But just so you know, I won't be far away. You better call to check in or else I'm coming for you. And you know I will."

He grabbed her arm and squeezed, as if making sure she understood what he was saying. "If he ever hurts you or makes you cry again, I swear, I will have to break his neck."

Caroline nodded. She couldn't shake off her worry that she was wasting time discussing this. "Not if I break it first. I don't want to be rude guys, but I really have to go now."

Stefan stepped out of her way and Caroline rushed forward.

She almost made it to the door when Tyler suddenly materialized in front of her, blocking her way. She found herself immediately thrust into his arms, her head against his chest. "I'm not Stefan, and you can't force me not to come with you."

"Ty—" she began, carefully breaking away from his hold.

"Don't give me that Caroline. I can't stand you getting hurt again. No matter how much you think he's changed, it really doesn't make a difference to me. He's Klaus – and I've seen for myself what he is capable of. Remember when he tried to drain Elena of her blood? Or when he sired hybrids, do you remember that? How about when he forced Stefan to turn off his humanity, have you forgotten?"

His voice was shaking as he said these words and he had to take a deep breath before saying, "How about me Caroline, are you just going to leave me again?"

Caroline made the mistake of looking into his eyes. She could see the fiery anger, the desperate longing, but most of all the hurt. She knew that all of this was her fault. She had left him once without even saying a word to him and that was cruel. Caroline owed him an explanation, but all she could think about right now was Klaus.

She leaned her forehead against Tyler's, and had to choke back a sob before saying "You're hurting me now by trying to stop me. I'm sorry Ty."

Caroline didn't know what else to say. He was a part of her family, and she was overjoyed to see him alive and well, but her heart belonged to someone else. She didn't bother looking at Tyler in the eyes the second time. She already knew that she was breaking his heart with her words. She quickly ran past him and into the dark of the night.

Tears blurred her sight, but she continued to run. Tyler, it seems, had been glued to the spot where she left him and Caroline was now completely alone. But even though a part of her was afraid of what she might find at the cellar, she was more afraid of not seeing him at all.

She had to find him.