Chapter 5: Parental Advisement Discouraged

Tyler came arrived home one evening with Caroline in tow only to find his mother and three other people at the dinner table.

"Tyler," Carol Lockwood said approaching her son and giving him a quick hug. "Oh, and…Caroline. I didn't know you were going to be here." Caroline nodded.

"I hope that's okay. Am I interrupting something?" she asked, taking note of the specific five plate settings out on the dinner table.

"No, no not at all. This is Richard and Dakota Smith along with their daughter Tierney, and the Smith's have just relocated back to Mystic Falls. The Smiths were one of the original founding families as well." Caroline nodded, as did Tyler.

"Nice to meet you, Tyler. You mother has told us so much about you, and you really are the spitting image of your father." Tyler extended his hand out to shake Mr. Smith's.

"Nice to meet you too, sir." Then he turned to Caroline. "And this is Caroline Forbes." Caroline extended her hand out to Mr. Smith.

"Forbes? As in William Forbes?"

"Yes, the very one."

"Caroline's mother is the sheriff, Richard," the voice coming from Dakota, who gave Carol a knowing look.

"Oh, of course." Silence filled the air, and Caroline immediately felt out of place. She could tell something was going on, she just couldn't tell what. "Oh," Richard began, taking a quick glance at his daughter, "and this is our daughter, Tierney. She'll be attending Mystic Falls along with you. She's sixteen and a junior, and she's very smart. In fact, she's going to be attending Harvard."

Caroline looked at the brunette, who was, well, if Elena was what you considered gorgeous, Tierney would be whatever the step above gorgeous would be. She was just absolutely stunning in her sundress, which looked just fine on any old regular girl, but on Tierney it looked magnificent. Suddenly, Caroline felt very uneasy and a bit territorial, as Tierney was most definitely giving Tyler the once-over. Actually, it looked as though Tyler was a juicy steak she was planning on devouring.

"Oh dad," Tierney giggled, "Stop. You know I hate it when you gush about me." She extended her hand out to Tyler as well. "I've heard so much about you. Your mom has been regaling us with stories about your numerous achievements in sports."

"Um, thanks."

"Well, why don't you two sit and I'll tell Eloisa that we're ready to eat." Tyler and Caroline nodded and went to sit down. Tyler pulled a chair out for Caroline to sit on and he then sat down next to her.

Soon afterwards Carol rejoined them.

"You know, Tyler, Tierney is brand new to Mystic Falls and I was telling her that you wouldn't mind showing her around." Tyler looked over at Tierney who was smiling.

"I'd really like that. It's hard, you know, starting in a new town." Tyler looked at Caroline who was sipping her water. Tyler took hold of Caroline's hand and put it up next to him on the table.

"Yeah, we'll see. Caroline's actually a much better tour guide than I am. I'd be lost without her," a wink at Caroline's direction. Tierney glared at Caroline.

"Okay."

"Well, you know, Tyler, Caroline is a girl with many responsibilities. She may not have time to show Tierney around."

"Well, mom, we'll make the time."

It was a warning that Carol was obviously not willing to follow. You could cut the tension with a knife. It was clear that Carol Lockwood was suddenly not fond of her son's choice of girlfriend, which was nothing new to Caroline, sadly. She thought that Carol would have loved her, but apparently, not.

It made Caroline sick to her stomach seeing Carol try to force Tierney onto Tyler, and Tyler was trying so hard to show that it was only Caroline he wanted, but Caroline couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling a little tempted. He was only human (on twenty-nine days out of the month anyway) after all. Even the most loyal guys get tempted to stray, and before Caroline Tyler had never been in a relationship, so she had to question how long Tyler would remain faithful.

It was a horrible thought though. Tyler had no qualms about showing his affection for Caroline. He was always holding her hand or putting his arm around her shoulder, or saying I love you, but still…who knows?

"You know, Tyler, your mom didn't say anything about you having a girlfriend," Tierney piped in. Bitch.

Caroline wanted to smack her smug smile right off her face. Carol shrugged.

"Well, kids today. Tyler has inherited a lot of his father's genes, and in there is infidelity."

"MOM!"

Caroline got up from her seat.

"I should go. I'm sorry for…I should go." Tyler followed Caroline out to the foyer.

"Caroline, I'm so sorry, I don't know what she's –" Caroline put her finger to Tyler's mouth.

"It's okay. It's fine. Look, don't worry about it. I should go." She went to walk out the door, but Tyler took her.

"No. Don't leave like this."

"Tyler it's fine. Really, you know your mom."

"It's not all right, and I'm going to talk to her about this. I will. She cannot treat you like that, okay? I'll call you tonight."

"Maybe you shouldn't…"

"I'm going to call you tonight. I love you." Caroline forced a smile, but Tyler could tell she was hurt.

"I love you too," she said leaning in for a kiss. "Bye."

Just then, Carol showed up.

"Mom, I don't know what the hell you're doing, but it better stop."

"Tyler, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset your friend, but I just think –"

"Girlfriend."

"Excuse me?"

"Girlfriend mom. Caroline's not just my friend, she's my girlfriend. We're committed to each other and I cannot believe you did that to her! Do you know how awful she's feeling right now, do you?"

"Tyler, I know that you don't understand this. I'm not saying Caroline is some horrible person. I'm simply stating that you're young and you and Caroline won't be together forever. Might be nice to keep your options open."

"Mom, I swear to God…"

"She is not good enough for you." Tyler snorted.

"Good enough for me, or for you?" Carol crossed her arms.

"And what does that mean?"

"It means you don't want me dating Caroline because of her mother. You and Sheriff Forbes have some ridiculous antagonism going on and you don't want me seeing Caroline because of it. Well, that's too damn bad. Caroline and I may be young, but make no mistake. We will be together as long as we want to, and if that's forever, you'll just have to deal with that. I love her, mom. No, I don't just love her, I'm in love with her. So, you can sic all the Tierney's and Mary Kate's on me as much as you want to and I'm not going to change my mind. All I want is Caroline, and you better accept it or you'll lose me, mom. I mean it."

With that, Caroline watched her son walk away, and though she had lost the battle, she had not lost the war. Caroline Forbes was a vampire, and her son would not get sucked into their lies and their filthy vicious world. He would see her point sooner or later, even if she had to kill Caroline.