In Memorial

"Tyler's Mom was here for the memorial, she's not exactly president of my fan club but maybe she knows if he's okay, are you okay if I go and try and catch up with her?" Caroline's eyes darted from Elena to Stefan and Damon and back to Elena. They all looked worried, most of all Elena.

"Sure," Elena smiled weakly, "We don't even know for sure if they're coming, just be careful okay Care?"

Caroline nodded and made a beeline for the gym.

"How are you feeling?" Elena asked Stefan, but the blood on his shirt was from before Bonnie had fed him, the wound looked healed.

"Fine, thanks to Bonnie," Stefan smiled reassuringly and rather embarrassed. This was all getting a bit awkward.

"I'm fine and dandy too, thanks for asking," Damon input with a hint of jealousy.

"I can tell," Elena shot back, giving him a look that said don't try that with me Damon Salvatore, you are not my just ex's jealous brother anymore Mr so don't even go there. Damon couldn't help but grin and he met her gaze with a smouldering look that said, just making sure you haven't forgotten. Bonnie and Stefan couldn't help but be aware that they were not part of the exchange taking place between the two lovers. Bonnie felt awkward for all of them and Stefan's stomach churned but he did his best not to grimace. The new dynamic between them would take some getting used to and they had more pressing concerns.

"As much as I hate to ruin a good party I have a feeling we're going to have company," Damon warned. Damon went to the teacher's desk and before Elena could tell him not to poke around he pulled out the draw and retrieved the remaining white oak stakes.

"What was your hiding place?" Elena asked dubiously.

"Well it wasn't my first pick but I had to improvise when Klaus showed up," Damon rolled his eyes. "So, one each and one for Vampire Barbie and one for that busboy you're always dragging along on your little adventures."

"I want to keep Matt out of this for as long as possible," Elena returned seriously. "And I'm not sure if giving him a stake is going to protect him or just get him into more danger."

"As long as they don't know he's got it, it could help keep him safe," Stefan suggested. "But if they find out, they'll do anything to destroy it."

"We'll head back to my place, I'll send Jeremy and Matt a text saying them to stay away, it's too risky trying to give Matt stake now without getting caught, we don't know who could be watching, but the house is safer than the gym. Elijah's been invited in before but Kol and Finn haven't," Elena returned.

Damon nodded. "Elena rides with me. Stefan are you taking your new bff home or is she going to stick around his time?" he glanced disparagingly at Bonnie.

"I'm coming with you until I know Elena's safe," Bonnie asserted, her eyes giving Damon a defiant look. Whatever had passed between them all Bonnie was as committed as ever. "And I'll do anything I can do take down the originals," she promised.

Damon nodded and almost smiled with satisfaction, "That's more like it. Still, car pool with Stefan. Meet back at the house, do us a favour and find Blondie first and fill her in," Damon suggested.

Bonnie was about to agree when a shattered Caroline walked in through the classroom door. "He's gone," was all she could say before sinking to the floor. "Tyler's gone."

Elena ran to Caroline and hugged her friend. "What happened?" she asked quietly into Caroline's hair.

"His Mom got a call, from some she-wolf he was staying with, he just died on the spot, just like he'd been staked only there was nothing, there was now warning, she thought it might be some sort of witchcraft, she knew his Mom knew the truth about him so she called her from his cell." Caroline's blue eyes were glassy and distant, imagining the scene she was describing. "It only happened about half an hour ago, just when I tried to call him about Klaus."

There was a long pause where Caroline cried and Elena just held her.

"It doesn't sound like witchcraft," Bonnie said to Stefan looking worried.

"I know, I think it's got something to do with the Originals," Stefan returned. "After all Klaus turned Tyler."

"So we kill Klaus and hey presto wolf-boy drops dead, well that's inconvenient," Damon remarked.

"No one has ever killed an Original before," Stefan continued, deep in tough, "is it possible?" he asked himself.

"What?" Damon asked puzzled.

"What if the vampires Klaus sired died when he died?"

"Do you mean if you kill Klaus you kill all his hybrids? That's convenient," Damon smiled.

"What if when you kill an original you kill their whole bloodline?" Stefan finally vocalised the thought he had been chasing around his mind.

Suddenly Damon didn't look so pleased. Neither he nor Damon had any idea which Original had sired the bloodline they came from.

Elena was sitting cradling Caroline and stroking her hair but she hadn't missed the conversation between the Salvatores and her eyes met Damon's with unspeakable fear. Caroline's grief was raw and real and powerfully present, Elena's own grief over Alaric was still fresh, the idea that she could lose the two men she loved, both her lover and her ex, was unthinkable. Elena gently detached herself from Caroline and lifted Caroline's face by her chin, "Caroline, I'm so so sorry about Tyler, but we have to go now, it's not safe for you here, Damon's going to take you out to the car and you're going to come with us, we need to get out of here until we can work this out."

Caroline nodded numbly. The vampire part of her didn't want to crumble, didn't want to lie there helplessly on her knees, but the part of her that had loved Tyler with the intensity of a seventeen year old girl with a big heart couldn't find her feet.

Then Damon was on his knees beside Elena, in front of Caroline, whispering to her, "I'd carry you to the car myself if I didn't think it might get us killed. Caroline you need to get up and you need to walk out of here with us, and then you can fall apart all you want. You can do this, you may be blonde and bubbly but you are strong."

Through her tears Caroline looked up and met Damon's blue eyes and that was all the agreement he needed, he grasped her arms and lifted her to her feet like she was a feather, he slipped his arm behind her back and Elena took her other hand and together they walked her out of there. The tears dried on her face but she didn't need to hide them because after all, they had come for a memorial.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates, hope everyone had a nice Easter/break. Hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing, I know more grief, but there's more action coming and I think they all needed a beat after the confrontation with Klaus.