regret_tomorrow | mystic falls | where did we let the reigns go loose (I just keep hanging on for more)

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mystic falls | where did we let the reigns go loose (I just keep hanging on for more)

Tyler Lockwood is not a talker. He's not someone who sits down with anybody and discusses his feelings. He prefers to move forward. He'll drink for a few days, isolate himself, but then he'll be good as new. Or, as good as he can be. His reunion with Caroline is everything and more. They go to a local place. It's impossible to keep their hands off each other. But, after, he falls right asleep. He avoids actually talking. He doesn't feel any different. He knows one that that is different, however.

He's no longer sired to Klaus.

It sucked dick that he ever was. When he realized what it'd meant, how much of a danger he'd been to Caroline, he went out of his way to break it. For days on end he broke his bones, transformed deep in Appalachia. He put himself through pain day in and day out.

And then the Originals were human. Esther's spell had worked. He was told she was their mother. The original witch. And then he was free. He broke himself daily for a guy he could break with his pinky, now.

He didn't know how he'd felt about that.

Returning to town, he tried to get back into a routine. He'd go to the gym. Hang out with Caroline. But, he wouldn't discuss what he went through and what it meant for him now. He never discussed what it was like in the woods. He'd discuss movies or what some girl at school was wearing that completely offended Caroline to her core. He'd even begun to watch those horrible reality TV shows.

Right now, beside Caroline, he was half-watching So You Think You Can Dance With a Bachelor Celebrity, or something. It was easier to focus on something, to block out an inevitable wave of pain and anger that could emerge if he acknowledged anything.

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With the Originals gone, things were finally starting to get back to normal around Mystic Falls -- or, at least as normal as they could get. Tyler is safe again, they all were, for a town that was full of vampires, and they can finally get back to their lives the way they were without Klaus interfering.

It's probably weird that Caroline has no idea what to do with herself without a looming threat on the horizon. But hey, according to Stefan there are vampire Slayers in town, so there's something new to worry about.

(And for the record, they are watching Dancing with the Stars, and Caroline is totally Team Lacey, even if she thinks Kyle Massey could use a little work on his footwork.)

Tyler's been quiet for the most part, not really doing any complaining about their current predicament which clearly means something is wrong. As they were winding down to the final dances of the evening, She shifts a bit from where she's nestled against him.

"Everything okay in there?"

(For the record, it says a lot about the state of everything around them when a show about celebrities dancing is even produced. But, Tyler is also Team Lacy. Probably for another reason. What? She's hot, isn't she?)

The thing is, Tyler isn't a complainer. Unless it's a problem that attacks him at the core, or unless it starts with K and rhymes with Laus, he's not really up to talking about it. His life has sucked pretty much... all the time. Except, in those moments with Caroline. Like this moment with Caroline. Why ruin the moment?

Okay, so he's sullen and has an attitude and it's not exactly Hallmark material. But, you're here together!

Is she talking to him? She's talking to him. He looks over. Why aren't you watching the dancing, Caroline?

"Yeah, why?" He doesn't mean to sound annoyed. It's a slight annoyance. He also doesn't mean to open up the conversation as the word 'why' does. Don't go there, Caroline. Just... don't.

She tips her head to the side a bit, before considering him closely. "You're quiet. Just wondering if there's something you want to talk about." She won't push him (much) if he doesn't want to talk, but she just wants to make sure he's okay.

She's Caroline. Obsessively caring is in her nature.

He shrugs, not really wanting to talk about it. But, he knows Caroline Forbes. They've been friends for years. If she has a bone to pick, she'll pick at it. But, he knows she won't push too hard. And he knows she cares.

"What should I want to talk about, Caroline?"

She shrugs a bit. "I don't know. Dancing with the Stars. School. Football. Just -- not spending all your time wearing your pensive and broody face?" Because usually when someone is being pensive and broody there's something that needs saying. She learned this from Stefan.

Is he doing that? He hasn't noticed. Maybe he's been quieter than usual. Quicker to distract with physical contact or a change of subject.

"You think that guy's got it in the bag? Sounds like the one judge liked him and his partner." Does this count?

It does. For now. There's something going on under the surface, but for now she'll welcome the distraction.

"Yeah, but I don't know. He's a little clumsy."

"The audience likes him." Doesn't that matter? America and all that? He gives her a look before putting an arm around her. Close proximity. Body contact. It can totally be distracting, right?

"Yeah, well, the audience doesn't always get it right." Because they're sheep. Or something. But Caroline always looks for skill rather than personality and the guy on screen right now just didn't have it for her.

"And sometimes, they get it right but people are still unhappy. And the guy or the girl spend the rest of their life with everyone not caring that they won Dancing With the Stars." He's not acknowledging that there may be a double meaning here. "They can't even be happy. What do they even win?"

"Why can't they be happy?" She frowns. "They still did something awesome. Sure, it may not make them famous forever but that's not the important thing. The important thing is that they did it."

"But, did they do it? They could've done it on their own. But, they had a partner and the partner did all the work. Half of every win is the expert. It's like they didn't do anything. Like, what they did doesn't matter in the end." Like, a waste. Doing the show is a waste. What, is it good for publicity? Tyler did what he did because he wanted to be better. He wanted to break the sire bond. He wanted Caroline to be safe. These people... they wanted this because their careers hit the skids.

"You can't ... do ballroom on your own, Tyler. You need two people. And so what if one of them is the expert? It's okay to ask for help sometimes."

"But, they didn't ask for help. They signed up, themselves, to dance. They get the help. And sometimes it gets them somewhere." Sometimes, it gets them a mirror ball trophy which is a pointless thing to get. "And sometimes, they go home even if they get high scores." He shifts, moving his arm to face Caroline.

She stares at him intently for a moment, before closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Okay, what are we actually talking about? Because I know you're not this upset about a stupid reality dance show."

He could be. He's not. He couldn't give two shits about the reality show. Well, this was unplanned.

"Nothing." He faces front again, a sigh escaping, trying to focus on the Jake from State Farm commercial.

"No, not nothing." She takes his arm, turning him to face her again. She's starting to look concerned and she just wants to help. "Talk to me."

"What do you want me to talk about?" Because, he knows what he doesn't want to talk about and he has a sneaking suspicion they're one in the same.

"Whatever it is that's bothering you and your projecting onto poor Kyle Massey." Kyle Massey does not deserve your feelings of inadequacy, Tyler. Out with it already.

"Do you want me to talk about how I spent months basically chained to an original vampire or how, after the fact, I wasted more time breaking myself down every single day to destroy a sire bond that doesn't even matter now," he says, not hiding behind Kyle Massey, anymore. There. He's said it.

"It does matter. None of that doesn't matter." She's sorry that he didn't get the chance to do it sooner, but that doesn't negate everything he tried to do. "You still were willing to do it, Tyler. That says so much."

"But, what did it do. I failed. I missed the mark and, and for what? I don't know how to be anymore. For so long, I was what he wanted." Never mind the help from her father, his idea to get out from under his thumb. "I still hurt you."

"Hey. Hey." She shifts a bit, pushing up on her knees so that she was facing him more, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders. "You hurt me because he made you. I know you wouldn't do that otherwise."

"I wouldn't." He means it in his bones. "I wouldn't. But, Klaus." And that's his issue. "He gets away. He gets to be human again."

"Do you really think that he of all people wants to be human?" She gives him a bit of a look at that before moving closer. "And Klaus isn't just human, Tyler. He's also a werewolf. So he is losing all the control that he had. He's going to have to go through what you went through once a month, every month, for the rest of his life." She leans in and presses a soft kiss to his lips. "And you and me get to be together forever."

Tyler keeps his eyes on Caroline, letting himself listen to her, letting himself understand and take in what she's saying. Closing his eyes, he fades into that kiss, hands coming to her sides before resting his forehead against hers. Words don't matter right now. What do matter - or does in this case, is that he loves Caroline Forbes. He breathes in and out, considering the idea that comes to his mind.

It's insane.

She says they're going to be together. Forever. And that actually means something to him but Tyler doesn't usually get forever. He's never thought about forever. Caroline's his first forever. But, he's young. And if his mother had a problem with her son's girlfriend being a vampire...

"I love you, Caroline Forbes." He presses a kiss to her lips. He pulls back. Kyle Massey gets the judge's scores. Tyler just sits, his mouth closing. "Will you marry me?"

Caroline blinks at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he's getting at before she finally responds. "You're ... kidding, right?"

It's not that she wouldn't maybe want to one day. But they're barely even out of high school, and she still wants to go to college. Getting married now wouldn't be smart.

He doesn't think so. He's kid about things before. He hasn't felt this way before. He just got her back, her life back. She's right. Klaus is going to hate his life. And he doesn't want to. He gets to be with the woman he loves. And he gets to be his own man while being with her.

"If we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, why not?"

"Well. That's ... good and all." Caroline doesn't want to frame this as though she's saying now, because she would marry Tyler in a heartbeat, but due to the fact that she hasn't even graduated yet, she feels like she needs to put some qualifiers on this. "But can I go to college first?"

It doesn't sound like a no. And college is still half a year away. And then four more years. But, there's still a forever to think about. What's five years from now? Five years in the grand scheme of things?

"Yeah," he says, without doubt in his voice. "Of course. Are you saying, after college. You'll marry me."

"I'm saying after college, ask me again," she says softly. "Because I mean it when I say forever, but ... I want to feel like less of a kid when it happens."

His hand comes into her hair, kissing her hard. When he's good and done with that he pulls back.

"Okay."

She leans into the kiss, her fingers coming around to slide through his hair gently before pulling back with a smile.

"Good."

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mystic falls | where did we let the reigns go loose (I just keep hanging on for more)

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