Remember, reviews are love and make me write faster.
"I'm on my way to see my mother," Tyler said. Caroline recognized the tone of his voice, too. It was the one where he was smug and practically begging her to do something so he could show her how much more superior he was. The tone practically made her cower, and Tyler knew it, the bastard.
"Mystic Falls is about an hour from here, Tyler," she said, her voice growing stronger. She needed to get over this fear she had of Tyler Lockwood. "If you wanted to be there, you'd be there by now. Why the hell would you take a stop in Richmond, just an hour shy of your destination?"
"Because, Caroline," Damon piped up, gritting his teeth, "he wanted to see you. Isn't it fucking obvious?"
"Get over yourself, Salvatore," Tyler said, coming just a little bit closer. "If I still wanted Caroline, I'd have her."
The comment made Caroline's blood boil - and Tyler knew it would happen. He was baiting her – making her want to do something incredibly stupid so she'd act on it. He'd always been a bastard like that.
"I don't belong to anyone, Tyler," Caroline finally said after debating in her head what she should tell him. "I'm not property – and you're not as good as you think you are. Not every girl is a little bitch who would trip over themselves just to fuck you."
That was it. Tyler raised his hand, and Caroline cowered, but she was very surprised when Damon was over to Tyler, in a flash, and had pinned his hand behind his back, holding onto the back of his neck. He added just a little pressure, and Caroline heard Tyler whimper. She actually heard his fucking whimper, and it brought a smirk onto her face. Part of her shouldn't have been surprised – Damon knew a lot of what she had been through, and Elena had told her that Damon was very loyal. While part of this scenario made Caroline proud to call Damon her boyfriend, a part of it made her pissed off.
"I don't know what you think you're trying to do, Lockwood," Damon said, with a particular bite to his voice, "but you have no right to even lay a hand on Caroline. She didn't say anything that wasn't true."
Damon let go of Tyler and shot his daggers with his eyes, but Tyler just dusted himself off like nothing had even happened.
"So, tell me, Salvatore," Tyler said, after a moment, "what are you with Caroline for? Is she your flavor of the week, or what?"
"Go ahead, Lockwood. Push me and see what happens."
It was then that a middle-aged woman came out into the parking lot, and Caroline knew that it was Maria and she had seen the altercation. She looked from Caroline to Damon to Tyler, "You need to go. I don't want any problems here," she said in a broken accent.
Tyler watched Caroline and Damon before clearing his throat and going to his car.
"Maria," Caroline said to the woman, "I'm so sorry. That was just Tyler, and – "
"Don't explain to me, Miss Caroline," Maria said. "I know about Tyler, and he's bad news. He was here a few weeks ago and he terrorized some customers. I told him to never to come back."
"And that worked so wonderfully," Damon muttered. Maria glared at him, and he actually looked intimidated by her.
"Excuse my boyfriend, Maria," Caroline said after a moment. "He doesn't know how to not be sarcastic. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, really. Are the two eating of you here?"
Damon replied with a yes, and she led them back inside. They sat down at a booth and Caroline looked at Damon.
"What the hell?" she asked him after their drinks arrived. "I mean, seriously, Damon?"
"What?" he asked, taking a sip of his beer. "What did I do?"
"You don't think I can stand up for myself? I mean, I was doing all right before you interfered."
"Tyler was going to hit you, Caroline," Damon practically hissed. "I mean, you were just going to let him."
"I was not!" Caroline said a little loudly. She looked around, but nobody was paying attention to them. "I can handle myself, Damon – I can."
"Then why did you spend so much time dating him? You're too afraid of him to stand up for yourself!"
The words hit her like a slap in the face. Damon realized after the words were out what he actually said, and he noticed her reaction. Tears threatened to escape as Caroline promptly got up out of the booth and walked away. Damon wasn't sure if he should follow her or not, and he thought, Well, fuck. That could've gone better.
-x-
Caroline got out of the taxi and went into her mother's house. She knew that Esther was not here, but Elijah was working a case here in Richmond and was crashing at Esther's house. She walked into the house and saw Elijah and Rose on the couch in the family room, cuddled up, watching TV. She went into the family room, and they saw her.
"Caroline!" Rose said brightly. It only took a second for Rose to see that Caroline had been crying, so she flipped off the TV, "What happened?"
Caroline took a seat next to them on the couch and started to relay the events that had taken place. She noticed that, as she went on with her story, Elijah started to look more and more pissed.
"And then Damon had a hold of him. He pinned his arm behind his back and defended me. After that Tyler was made to leave by Maria, and Damon and I had a fight."
"About what?" Rose asked.
She told them what their fight was about, and what he said afterwards. After her story, she sighed, trying to wipe the tears from her face, but she continued to cry, so honestly, it was a lost cause. Rose got up and got Caroline a box of tissues.
"Damon was defending you, Caroline," Rose said, after a moment. "I don't understand what he did wrong."
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I lived alone before Nik got home from the service two years ago. I know how to save myself – I'm independent. I don't need anybody to stand up and fight my battles for me – I am perfectly capable of doing that myself, thank you very much."
"Caroline," Elijah said after a moment, "There's a big difference between can and should. Can you stand up for yourself? Yes. You can stand up for yourself, and you're independent. Should you have to? No. You should not have to stand up for yourself, and do you know what? If I was there, I would've done the same fucking thing."
Caroline wiped her eyes with the tissues that Rose had given her, and she said, "What about what he said to me?"
"What he said was out of line, yes, Caroline," Elijah said, "but he did the right thing in standing up for you. You overreacted a little."
Caroline's eyes widened, "What?"
Rose rubbed Caroline's arm soothingly and took her hand, "We're not saying you're over sensitive, Care," she said. "But you and Damon just had a misunderstanding. He really cares about you – that much is obvious."
"How can you tell?"
"Because," Rose said, and for a moment Caroline knew she was unsure of whether or not she should say it in front of Elijah, but she continued anyway, "Do you think he would act like that for anybody who he didn't care about?"
Caroline could read what Rose was saying without her even having to say it. Caroline's eyes softened when she realized that Damon would've never done that for Rose. She looked away and said, "I'm sure that if my life would've been in danger, he would've saved me – he's noble that way. But the thing I want you to remember, Caroline, is that Damon has changed since then. He's different now."
"How do you know?"
Rose sighed, "It's easy to see, he cares about you, Caroline. He knows a little bit of what you went through, and Damon's not heartless – he's never been heartless. He's got a soft spot for you – a spot where you're special, Care. He may not love you yet, but, mark my words, he's capable of it."
Their moment ended with a knock on the door, and that's when Elijah got up and answered it. He saw Damon on the other side, "Is Caroline in there?"
Elijah nodded, "Yes."
"Can I see her?"
Elijah stepped aside so Damon could step through the threshold, and Damon saw Rose and Caroline in the family room right away. Damon was relieved that they didn't see him. He looked uncomfortable.
"Caroline is speaking with Rose. Let's go into the kitchen so we can speak in private," Elijah said, and Caroline nodded and walked in there with him. He poured a glass of rum out of the freezer – something that Esther kept there in case she had a hard day and needed to veg – and handed it to Damon.
"I told Caroline that you did the right thing by defending her, Damon," Elijah said after a moment. "However, what you said to her before she left Maria's was not right."
"Are you going to play mediator?" Damon asked rudely. Elijah was surprised that Damon would speak this way to him. Nobody provoked him, but the fact that Damon was trying amused him greatly, even if it shouldn't have.
"I just want to make sure that you didn't say anything bad to my sister, Damon. I would hate to hear that you said something derogatory about Caroline."
Damon's eyes widened. He had never, in his life, met someone who could scare him, but with Elijah – with Elijah he was a little worried. Caroline had told him that Elijah was a private investigator who found people and sometimes made them disappear. It was at this moment that Damon realized why Elijah was so good at his job.
"I know you have a history with Rosemarie, Damon," Elijah said, taking a swig of rum, "and I know you've changed. I can tell by the way that you are with Caroline that she means something to you. But you have to watch yourself. Caroline can take very good care of herself. She's always been able to. But Tyler, he broke her. He hurt her, and he made her scared. This is going to change everything, however."
"And how's that?"
Elijah rubbed a hand over his face, "I'm the one who suggested Niklaus to stay with Caroline. He was throwing ideas around as to where he was going to live. He wasn't sure if he was ever going to go back into the service, but he didn't want to buy a place in case that happened. I know a little bit about what happened between Tyler and Caroline. If it were up to me, I would have told her not to go anywhere near that guy. I've seen a lot of people like that in my line of work. But Caroline, she felt like she needed to be loved – by someone other than family, of course – and she couldn't resist what she thought he was offering her. With Niklaus around her, I feel like Caroline is protected. Niklaus would do anything for her, you know, even if it meant giving up his own life."
"Are you going to do something with Tyler?" Damon asked, really wondering what this guy's motives were. Elijah shrugged, and it was in that moment that Damon decided he didn't want to know.
"Caroline is too nice for her own good. I want you to pay extra attention to her, Damon," Elijah said, looking at him. "Is she staying with you at your house during her visit to Mystic Falls?"
Damon shook his head, "No, but she's going to be maybe ten minutes away. She's staying with Elena's brother, Jeremy, and his girlfriend."
"I want to make sure you communicate with her on a daily basis. Maybe even more than that. She'll say that she's fine, and that the altercation between herself and Tyler didn't matter, it didn't make an impression on her. Don't believe this. She's going to be broken inside because of it. Seeing Tyler again, even if it has been four years since the last time she saw him, has opened old wounds. She might start withdrawing, becoming anti-social. Don't let that happen. Maybe between yourself and Elena, you can help her."
"I feel so helpless when she tells me about her past," Damon admitted. He was surprised that he could admit this to Elijah, a man that he barely knew.
"I know," was Elijah's reply. "I can read people, Damon, read in between the lines. When I met you for the first time, I wasn't sure about you, since I know who you are. But it's easy to feel helpless when it comes to Caroline's past. She's met a lot of snakes. But I think you could be good for her."
"How do you not hunt that son of a bitch down and kill him?" Damon asked. He honestly wanted an answer. "Tyler has hurt your sister in so many ways. Hell, a lot of people have really hurt her. She's scared. She's got all those locks on her door, and her dog who protects her, and she's even got a Marine living with her. I don't understand how you can know what he's done to her and not be out for blood."
"Caroline is the reason, Damon. She wouldn't want us – any of us, honestly – to waste away in prison because of him. He's taken so many things from her, and my freedom would just be one more. Besides, Caroline's strong. She tries to see the positive in all this."
"And what's the positive?"
"Ah," Elijah said after a moment. "You've not had this talk with her. She says that no matter what she's gone through, good or bad, she doesn't regret a thing. She firmly believes that everything you face in life shapes you into who you are right now. She wouldn't be the strong woman she is today if she hadn't gone through that bullshit with Mike Jones and Tyler Lockwood."
Damon nodded.
"While she is not here, however, Damon I think you and I should have a word. I want you to make sure that someone is in contact with Caroline all the time. This altercation just may be bad enough to start the cutting again."
"I thought she only did it once."
"Kind of, but not really. Damon, Caroline cuts when she's really depressed, or rather, when she's feeling helpless. Helpless is an emotion that Caroline just does not do. She's probably one of the most independent women I've ever met, and when shit happens, she cuts. She's gone to therapy for it three times. The first was with that first foster family of hers, when she tried to commit suicide. The second was when Rebekah said all those nasty things about her, and the third time was when she ended things with Tyler. Well, rather, she was cutting before she ended things. She doesn't do helpless, Damon. Caroline wants nothing more than to be loved, and my sister does deserve to be loved."
Damon nodded as he saw Caroline come down the stairs, "Yes, she does."
It was then that Caroline came into the kitchen, and she stopped when she saw Damon. He smiled weakly at her.
"What the hell are you doing here, Damon? How did you know where to find me?"
"I figured you'd either go home or here. And since I really don't want to run into Klaus right about now, I thought I'd try here first."
"Nik's not home," Caroline said, crossing her arms over her chest and watching Damon closely. "What do you want?"
"I'm sorry, Caroline. I'm sorry about what I said. I just got a little angry. After everything Tyler's done to you, I wanted nothing less than to rip his heart out of his chest. I want him dead, and I admit it. But I really am sorry about what I said to you. I – I just got a little overwhelmed, so I said the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't mean it."
"I've been abused by every man I've ever dated, Damon. I won't put up with it from you."
Damon nodded silently, "It won't happen again."
"If it does, it'll be the last time," Caroline said, twirling on her heels and walking out of the kitchen. Damon looked at Elijah.
"Go after her, Damon. And for God's sake, don't let her be alone."
-x-
"So are you going to tell me what that was about?" Caroline asked Damon once they were on the road. Damon glanced over at her before looking back to the road.
"What what was all about?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Damon Salvatore. Something happened between you and Elijah, and I want to know what."
"Your brother and I were just chatting," Damon said, but Caroline didn't buy it.
"Elijah does not simply just chat with anyone, Damon."
"He was telling me that I was wrong for what I said to you," Damon lied, but he could tell that Caroline was buying it. "And I'm sorry for that. It's just that when Tyler showed up, you were scared. I could see it in your face, and I know he could, too. You looked like you were going to faint, and when he raised his hand, you stepped backwards. I just wanted to protect you." And the thought of him hitting you made me see red, Damon added silently, but he didn't want her to know that.
"I'm not exactly scared of him, Damon. I just…I'm intimidated. Yeah. That's a good word. Tyler Lockwood intimidates me."
"He shouldn't. He's not a man, Caroline."
"I know."
"And with this happening, I think you should seriously give consideration to doing those dresses elsewhere, especially with Tyler in town. Maybe you can get the girls to come to the boarding house."
"I'm not doing this at the boarding house, Damon. I need a bit of workspace."
"I can set you up in a room. There are nine other rooms in that house. Please do it this way to keep your overprotective boyfriend a little happier."
Caroline sighed. She never realized that her past could affect Damon this way, but it was happening. Finally she nodded, "Okay. Set me up in a room at the boarding house and I'll do it there. But I'm still staying a few days with Bonnie."
"That's fine, Caroline. You need your friends right now."
Caroline looked at Damon quizzically. That's something that she'd never come out of his mouth, not in a million years. This had to have something to do with whatever he and Elijah had been talking about. She sighed before looking at him, "Spill it, Damon."
"What?" he asked.
"Why would you tell me to go to Bonnie? You hate her. You think she's a judgmental bitch."
"How do you know whether I do or don't?"
"Please. It's easy. Whenever the subject of her comes up, you call her judgey. It's not that difficult to tell."
"So I'm not crazy about Bonnie Bennett. That's not a crime."
Caroline sighed, "But you want me to stay there now?"
"I just think that your friends would be good for you right now. That's it."
Caroline fell silent, and they spent the rest of the ride in comfortable silence.
-x-
Damon and Caroline had dinner with Stefan and Elena that night, since they never got around to dinner at Maria's, and both Stefan and Elena could tell that something was off. Caroline wasn't the same as she usually was. It was true that normally, she was a little serious, but the way she was acting was on the verge of depressed. She was antsy, depressed, and very jittery. After dinner, Caroline went upstairs, telling Elena, Stefan and Damon that she was just really tired, but Elena wasn't buying it. She cornered Damon.
"Something happened," Elena said, watching Damon very closely. "What the fuck is wrong with Caroline?"
"Why would you think that something is wrong?" Damon wasn't exactly lying to Elena, but he didn't want to go around talking about Caroline's business. If she wanted Elena to know, she'd tell her.
"She's off. Sure, Caroline is usually pretty serious, but she's downright jittery right now, like she's expecting someone to come in and –" she cut herself off as her eyes widened. "She ran into someone, didn't she? Who was it?"
"We may or may not have run into someone in Richmond. Caroline's a little shook up about it, but right now she needs to be alone –"
"Being alone is the last thing she needs right now, Damon," Elena said, picking up the dishes from the table. "She needs someone there. Who'd she run into?"
"I don't know if she'd want me to tell you –"
"I swear to God, Damon, tell me or else I'll force it out of you," Elena said, pointing a knife at him. Damon just rolled his eyes and started to clear the table. He got to the spot where Caroline had been sitting and mumbled, "Huh, that's funny."
"What is?" Elena asked him.
"There's a knife missing from the table…" he started, and then his eyes widened. "Oh, God."
Damon raced up the stairs and checked the bedrooms, mumbling to himself that "there are way too many goddamn bedrooms in this place" until he found her. She was sitting on the bed, a knife in her hands.
"Caroline, what happened? What are you doing?" Damon asked, taking the knife out of her hands. "Why didn't you come to me?"
"I hate you, Damon," Caroline said softly. "I really do."
Damon sat on the bed beside her, "Why would you say that?"
"Because I wanted to cut. I wanted to more than anything else, to try and get rid of this pain that is inside That's how I used to get rid of my inside pain – I'd cut. But you know what? I can't cut now – and it's your fault."
Damon wasn't sure what to make about what Caroline just said. Instead of asking her why she would say that, he decided to ask, "How is it my fault?"
"I used to cut to help my emotional pain. This is your fault that I can't cut – you've given me a reason not to."
"Really?" Damon asked, taking her hand. "What's the reason?"
"I, uh, I really like you Damon, and I don't want to fuck this up. I finally have something to live for."
Damon was speechless. He was not expecting something like this. This was huge, and he wasn't sure how to respond at first, but what surprised him the most was that hearing it almost felt…comfortable. Finally Damon sighed and then said, "Caroline we need to talk about why I walked in to you pressing a knife to your leg."
Caroline was silent, so Damon said, "Caroline, you need to talk to me. I can help you."
"I didn't expect to see Tyler today," Caroline spoke very softly; so softly, in fact, that Damon was having a hard time hearing her. "It was a complete surprise. It's been four years."
Damon nodded, but she didn't say anything.
"You were right. I'm scared of him. I'm fucking scared of Tyler Lockwood."
"You have every right to be, Caroline," Damon said after a moment, trying to remain calm. "Tyler hurt you very deeply. I'm sure he's had you scared for your life several times."
"Whatever Tyler wants, he gets. What if that is me, again? How the hell am I supposed to defend myself against him?"
"I think you should call Klaus," Damon said after a moment. "I know he's not my biggest fan, and I'm not too fond of him either, but he'd come to stay with you, you know."
"I need to start taking care of things myself. I need to start taking care of myself."
Damon nodded, but again, didn't say anything. He leaned over and hugged Caroline, letting her cry. After ten minutes of them just sitting in silence, Damon pulled out his cell phone. He didn't want to leave Caroline alone but he needed to know what to do so he was going to send a text to Elena. When she texted him back a confirmation, he said to Caroline, "I'm going to stay here with you tonight. Move over and lay down, I just want to hold you right now."
Downstairs, Elena pulled out her cell phone and dialed Esther's number – she knew the number by heart, after having been in contact with her for the last eight years. Elijah answered on the first ring.
"Elijah? Is that you? Elijah, this is Elena. We've got a serious problem."