AN: I own nothing hope you all enjoyed Thanks for the wonderful reviews that I have gotten so far they help my muse a lot. Each time post the new chapter(s) they will be complete in line with this series. Special Thanks to ForwoodForever I will try and include some of the things you want to see. Yes I don't want everybody to know, but a few key people. There are reasons they find out.
Secret Love
Story 5
Chapter 1
Caroline had spent the week before Christmas at her dad's house. She decided to go the week before and have time with Tyler still when she got back. It still was only two people that knew about their secret. She wasn't sure what she had gotten was the perfect present for Tyler, but she hoped he liked it. It would be their first Christmas together as a couple. They had text, emailed, and video chat the whole time she had been gone.
Caroline went to the art store after she picked up her prescription. She was glad she'd gotten back a day early, not wanting to skip a pill on her birth control. She didn't want to have to wait any longer. A week without Tyler had been painful enough. She looked around the art store trying to find some supplies; it was going to be part of Tyler's present. She had done something she didn't know if he was going be happy or little ticked about, but he had won first place though. She had used her address as the mailing address so it would come to her house.
She was looking at the isle that had the sketching pencils not sure which ones were better. He'd only drawn in front of her a few times and she hadn't taken note of what he used. She sighed trying to pick the right ones. It was a ton of them across the area she was standing in. She was wondering if a gift card would be better when she saw Jeremy, Elena's younger brother.
"Hey, Jeremy, you think you could help me out?" she asked with a smile, "I have a friend that likes to draw like you, and I have no clue which pencil's are right," she said not mentioning Tyler's name. She didn't want him to get mad at her for letting his secret out.
"Yeah, sure," Jeremy said before picking out two packs, "I use these for drawing and these when I want to add color," he said handing them to her. He wondered who exactly she was shopping for because he didn't know all her friends, but most. His sister and Caroline had hung out since he was born.
"Thanks, how is your break going?" she asked, Jeremy wasn't bad to talk to, he was kinda cool even if he was a freshmen. She'd known him her whole life and had to help Elena with baby sitting sometimes. He was only year and half younger than them though. She was glad he wasn't into the drug scene any more. Elena had been worried about him and she had told her couple times he find his way out. Apparently he had found his way back to drug free.
She still remembered when he had actually been friends with Tyler, before the whole Vicki thing. It wasn't close friends by any means, but they'd talked without beating each other up. They could sit at the Gilbert house and play video games, hell Tyler was one told Jeremy to ask the girl out he liked. She felt bad because it had ended up being Vicki. She wished they could go back to that. She'd heard about the fight while she'd been gone not sure who had instigated the start of it. She wasn't going to be mad at Tyler though even if she wanted to, the anger washed away all the time before it even started.
"So you are Tyler's new girlfriend," Jeremy came out and said, he had over heard Elena on the phone the other night with Caroline. He hadn't left the room like she'd thought when he'd handed her the phone. He was trying to confirm it because Elena had told him to but out what he didn't know. If he found out then he would know.
"What, how the hell did you find out, who told you?" Caroline asked glaring at him.
Jeremy raised his hands in defense, he had gotten his answer in the way she reacted, "I'm not going go tell the entire world, no need to try and kill me," he said knowing that glare. It was the same one she gave people that ticked her off. He'd been on the end of it a few times. "I didn't mean to start the fight with him, okay I meant to say what I did, but didn't think he would punch me," he said handing her a sketch pad. It wasn't a complete lie, he did mean it, but he knew that Tyler would punch him. He kept his mind off that right now though. He had his reasons after all for what he did.
"You two used to be some what friends, Jer, so seeing you two at each other's throats all the time, I just hate it," she admitted taking the sketch pad he was handing her. "Sure it ended up into drug supplier, then each other's punching bags, but it was there once," she just wished everybody could see Tyler like she did now.
She wished she could fix this like she usually fixed the problems of their friends. She had changed Tyler in a lot of ways and he had made her different too. He didn't see her like the rest the world did, to him she was wonderful, amazing and not the neurotic bitchy twit she'd punched him for calling her at the last year. She smiled remembering his look when she'd done it at Duke's party last year. He'd started yelling back at her, but she'd walked off with Elena and Bonnie. They had their moments back then, but they were friends. It was like it had never happened the next school day.
"I tried to make nice once, he punched me, so I gave up on that," Jeremy said back stopping; he knew that starting the fight about Vicki after Halloween hadn't been the best thing to do. He still felt bad for Tyler, his dad was, as Mr. Saltzman had said, a full grown alpha male douche bag. He'd tried to make Tyler and him fight. Tyler had backed down refusing, but he'd still had taken a swing later when his dad wasn't there.
"I know that, he felt bad about hitting you that night," Caroline said, it had been more than that, it was like he'd about had panic attack when she had found him. She'd about left with the news guy Logan Fell, but she'd seen Tyler, Jeremy and The Mayor. "I blame the moon," she said with a smile, "It just does things to people," She'd taken Tyler back to her place that night to let him cool off. It had been obvious something was up.
"So the fight we got into while you were gone, I only took two swings, he blocked the second one," Jeremy said, they had gone back on the ground, but Tyler was favoring his left side, "I didn't do any damage to his side," he added looking at Caroline, he was waiting for her to say something or her face to give away what he thought.
Caroline groaned in her head, what had triggered this out burst of anger in his dad she wondered. It was the only person she could think of because there hadn't been any parties while she'd been gone. Jeremy could fight, but he had never inflicted any damage to Tyler really. Tyler was good at blocking punches and better at throwing them. "I believe you, just don't say anything okay, promise me Jeremy," she said giving him a look.
"So I'm not wrong, his dad is a dick?"
"I'm serious Jeremy, do not repeat what you told me, I gotta go, but thanks for the help," she said walking away.
Jeremy left out the reason he picked fight with Tyler, he'd seen him get pissed off. He hadn't been sure about what, but he was looking at the guy that had said something about Caroline few weeks back. The guy was still talking about her and he'd watched Tyler get more and more pissed off. The other guy was just asking for it.
Matt had walked off to go work, they had been there for the Christmas Fest thing the school was having. He'd in a way let Tyler hit him instead the other guy. He still didn't know why though. The suspicion that he'd had about the Mayor was true though. The guy was a dick that took his anger out on his son. Tyler needed a venting point so he let it be himself instead the other guy. Elena was pissed at Tyler again for it, but he'd told her leave it alone. He'd been the one start it not Tyler.
Tyler was sitting in one the back booths at the Grill. He wasn't hiding out; he just didn't feel like going home, he hadn't been there in three days. He'd seen Caroline earlier, but had avoided her. She would know just by looking at him. He didn't feel like eating much less being grilled on what happened. He still didn't get why the hell Jeremy had got between him and kicking the other guy's ass. Now Elena was giving him a glare every time she saw him.
It wasn't his damn fault; her brother was the one that started it. He had wanted to kick the other guys ass, Jeremy wouldn't back off and Jeremy took the first swing. He had tried to keep it under control and not hit him, but he just snapped again. He hated that about himself, he couldn't keep his temper under control.
Caroline walked into the Grill going to the back; she had seen Tyler from outside. She sat down before he looked up, "Hey, I'm back," she said, she'd already dropped the bags off at her house. She saw the bruise on his face, which was probably Jeremy's doing.
Tyler attempted a smile, he should known he couldn't escape her. He'd missed her the week she'd been gone. "I saw you earlier, guessing you know by now," he said with a sigh staring at the plate in front of him. It hurt to breathe let alone eat right now. He'd told the family doc it had been a fight he'd got into with another guy. The doc had seen right through him, but nobody ever told. It was like just because they ran the town they were off limits.
"Yeah, but I don't blame you," Caroline said taking his hand, "I told you, I'm on your side always," he gave her a smile finally looking up. "You're staying at my house tonight, no buts either," it was Christmas Eve the next day, but she didn't care. "My mom and I always go to your house for Christmas Eve any way, so we can just hang out," she said with a smile knowing he didn't want go home right now.
"I gotta get my stuff, Matt let me crash at his house last few nights," Tyler said, the one good thing about having a best friend whose mom was never home. He knew Matt hated it, but he was surviving own his own. Some times Tyler wished he could just find his own place, but didn't want leave his mom there alone. His mom had never been hit and he wasn't going let it happen.
"Okay, my mom be home, but we can always lie, not like you aren't my friend," Caroline said with a smile, "Your mom know you been at Matt's?" she asked few minutes later.
"She's out town, some historical society thing, be back in morning," Tyler said picking up the burger, he really needed to eat. It had been almost two days since he'd had a real meal. He didn't try to complain to Matt, he knew he wouldn't understand. He'd always thought he was lucky to have a dad, he never told him that secret.
The only reason Caroline or Elena knew was because he'd gotten drunk once and let it slip. The two them had always seen it when it happened. He used spent lot of time at Elena's hanging out with Caroline and her after one those moments. That was how his friendship with Jeremy had started if he thought about it. Elena was still missing her parents so he got why she hadn't been around, plus her boyfriend Stefan. She seemed to be coming out of that depression though; he guessed it had to do with her boyfriend.
"We can eat ice cream and junk food," Caroline said with a smile trying to get one out of him again. He was trying to get lost, pulling away from things slowly. It always started like this before he went off on somebody, it be better if he just went off on her. She knew he would never hit her, not even when he was lost in his anger. It was like he could still see it was her, he had punched hole in her bedroom wall once. He'd apologized for hours, but she told him over and over she was okay. He could never scare her; she'd known him her whole life. Tyler just snapped sometimes, and he had good reason to do so. "Or we could go to Elena's Christmas Eve Eve party tonight," she offered.
"Just want to watch bad TV, she's not really liking me right now either," he said. Being stuck in the house with death stairs was not something he wanted tonight. He just wanted to go to Caroline's and get lost in her. He didn't want the walls to crumble now; he kept them up for a reason. Caroline was only one he let in. She understood and never thought he was weak, he just needed to hold her. A week without her and he was going to loose it if he didn't hold her soon.
Caroline nodded before stealing some of his fries; if he didn't want to go then she wasn't pushing him into it. She took her phone out told Elena she couldn't make it to the party. When she got the reply back of why she just said one name in response, Tyler. She wasn't in the mood for fight with her friend right now, but he needed her.
Elena would know what was wrong if she just got passed the fact that he'd got into another fight with Jeremy. They both had seen the walls start forming around Tyler. The rest of their friends had missed it, but they hadn't. She was sure Matt saw him changing, but never did figure out why.
Caroline walked in the front door knowing her mom was home. It was after seven and her squad car was parked outside. Caroline felt Tyler let go of her hand as soon as the door was closed. They had stayed at the grill until after four and then she had dropped Elena, Jenna, and Jeremy's presents off at the party.
Jenna convinced them to stay for a while. Stefan had been there with his brother Damon along with their history teacher, Mr. Saltzman. Matt had been at work so he couldn't make it, but Bonnie was there too. It had been fun even if there was tension at first.
Damon had kept giving her that odd look and it freaked her out. She didn't know why he had been there; then again he was Stefan's older brother. She had sat beside Tyler and refused to move. It was the only seat left so it didn't seem odd to the ones that didn't know. Stefan had been the one to cook and it had been good. Her mom wasn't planning on cooking for Christmas and she didn't feel like cooking at home.
They had eaten a little and before they had left she had gotten Elena and Tyler talking again. It was her mission to make sure they all were okay. Apparently Jeremy was claiming responsibility for the fight even though Elena hadn't bought it. When they left Jenna had told them come back if they didn't have plans on Christmas Day. She knew neither of their parents was really around.
Jenna was the cool aunt, Caroline thought. She had put a hold on her future just to take care of Elena and Jeremy. She wondered if she knew about the secrets of the town. She had kept eying Tyler the whole time they'd been there. He hadn't noticed it though; he'd been trying to keep a safe distance from the ones that lived there. She had been looking at Tyler when she'd invited them there for Christmas Day.
Caroline had agreed before they had left; now she was hoping that her mom didn't ask a ton of questions. "Mom I'm home," she said going towards the kitchen seeing her mom, "Elena's Aunt Jenna sent this over for you," she said handing her mom a wrapped plate.
Liz took the plate making a mental note to thank her later. She looked passed Caroline seeing Tyler looking towards the stairs. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the kitchen. She could tell he was hurt. He was standing like his left side was in pain. She knew Richard had been drinking again, she never witnessed it, but she knew.
The thing about knowing the Lockwood's all her life was she knew about their secrets too. The one secret she wished she never knew was the Mayor's tendency to hit his son. She'd be out of a job and called a liar if she ever spoke out about it. She had grown up with Richard and Carol knowing both of them drank. Richard was the only one that lashed out physically and verbally at Tyler, but never Carol as far as she knew.
She'd taken note that Tyler was around more. She might not notice her daughter a lot, but she knew something was going on between them. They had been friends, but it was the first time she had seen Tyler over this month since before Elena's parents had died. He had been over more then, Elena too. She had come home in the mornings finding Matt, Elena, Bonnie, Tyler and Caroline there almost nightly some weeks. She wished she could be better at being a mom, but she'd failed somewhere in that department.
"Are you staying the night?" it was directed towards Tyler, but the reply came from Caroline.
"Yeah, we're going start working on project we have to have done before we go back to school," Caroline said. She hoped her mom didn't ask too many questions. She didn't want to have to go into detail right now. It was one the bad things about being the sheriff's daughter.
"Okay, just remember we're going to his house tomorrow, don't study too late," Liz said before she left the kitchen. She wasn't going to kick Tyler out, she'd rather him stay here than go home. The idea of the two them being innocent had left years ago. She had busted them plenty of times for drinking and most the time let them sleep it off. She just hoped if they were together they remembered protection.
Caroline looked shocked at her mom as she left. She shook it off before going upstairs, if her mom was going act like she didn't know then so be it. When they got in her room she shut and locked the door, her mom wouldn't be coming up here any time soon. She cleared the stuff off her bed before turning on the TV. She let it play on the MTV station a rerun of Jersey Shore playing.
"I think she suspects something," Tyler finally said leaning back against the door. He knew she knew about his dad, hell she'd seen the bruises that time the new nurse at the hospital had called it in. It wasn't like anybody would ever say anything. He was pretty sure the nurse hadn't had job after that either, leave it to his dad to get her fired. "Not talking about me, either," he said looking at Caroline.
"If she does she's not saying anything, that's my mom, she doesn't really pay attention to me," Caroline said sitting on the bed taking her boots off. She took them over to the closet before changing into pair of boy shorts and a tank top. It was hot in the house and she'd been burning up in the three layers. Her room was nice and warm though. "Tyler, don't make me come over there and pull you on my bed," she warned when he didn't move.
He gave her a weak smile walking over to her bed sitting down. He kicked his shoes off before getting under the cover once his shirt was off too. Caroline wrapped her arms around him just holding him. When he was hurt she hurt and vice versa. The world would never know what went on behind the closed front doors of his house. If they found out they'd be threatened, his mom had to see it she thought, but if she did she paid no attention. She did though, and so did two their friends, it seemed like her mom had too. The way she had looked at Tyler then just said he could stay.
She was his safety net, what kept him from sinking under the water. She was the only person that would ever see him like this. Caroline knew that Tyler would never show another person this side of him. He only had her to confide in. She knew he was broken inside, but she never would turn him away. He was the strongest person she knew and sometimes even he needed to let the pain out. He took what hell he was given and never once thought about just ending it. He never would take the easy way out because that wasn't who Tyler was.
She held onto him trying to let him know without words that she was there if he wanted to talk. She just wanted to keep him safe, let him know without saying it she would always be that safe place. She thanked whatever fates had led them to each other. Even if she wished her mom was around more, she sent up a silent prayer for him this time. They never talked about it afterwards, but she'd always keep his secrets. She rubbed his back whispering in his ear that she loved him.
TBC
AN: one more chapter of this story and then this story will be complete. I got the idea after seeing season one episode Under Control after the fight between Tyler and Matt at that party. What the Mayor did near the end in retaliation over the fight. We all saw that part. I asked some of my friends that watch if they thought there was more there than just the one time they all said yes. This wasn't based off the episode though.