Except for the infodump of stuff you don't even need to know. [But she's missed Tyler, even if this one isn't hers, but that line is one she's likely to blur easily.]
But it's kind of my thing when I'm a little overwhelmed, I guess.
I don't think you want to know everything, but you've got a point about the whole everyone being from my side of things.
Except you anyway. [...Which is a good thing in a way. Everything had gone to shit with her Tyler since Klaus had entered the picture.]
...Although I kind of prefer this you, if we're being honest. [The one she'd been happy with.] I mean, Tyler at home, he had every right to be angry and want to pay Klaus back, but it just...everything went wrong.
[He swallows down something - fear? disgust? it's hard to tell - as he peers down into his empty mug.]
Care, you can't use me to re-do whatever happened between him and you. Whatever happened is something you'll have to live with, and I don't know, something you might want to consider repairing.
[If the situation had been reversed, he knows his Caroline would've given him the same courtesy.]
He has to seriously think that over. His Caroline and he have had a smooth relationship - and some day, he knows they'll have to end. Even werewolves age, and Tyler wants that normal life with kids and a white picket fence. But that doesn't seem to be the problem here.
Klaus had been far more interested in Bonnie than Caroline, too, given that Klaus had once dated Bonnie in the 20s. So hm.]
You mean you cheated on him? ["That's pretty low, Care."]
I didn't cheat on him. We were already broken up at that point because he was more focused on getting revenge on Klaus than anything else, and he didn't want to be with me because Klaus had given him permission.
I tried to talk him out of it, but he chose to leave.
And...I may have slept with Klaus after that, but with the understanding he'd leave me alone after it happened. After that, there was really no going back. I wasn't even going to tell him, but Katherine had possessed Elena and made sure he overheard it.
So, even if there had been a chance of reconciling, I kind of ruined it. [But it wasn't like she didn't have other options.]
[He stares at her, with the most unimpressed look Tyler Lockwood has possibly given anyone in his entire life. The way she says it, the way it just comes out - He may have never been sired to Klaus, but Klaus ruined Bonnie's life.
Klaus also almost ruined (and killed) two of his best friends.]
Care, that's never going to be okay. In any universe.
[softly, out of habit more than anything:] I know.
But - based on what I do know - it's gonna take other-me a long time to get over it. If we even do at all. Klaus sired him, which probably means Klaus abused him and.
[He rubs his temples, gnashing his teeth a little.]
I swore, after Dad died, I wouldn't let anyone get to me like that.
He is, yeah. [The complete lack of death is something that gnaws at Tyler's stomach. His world lucked out. His world really, really lucked out.] He also knows, but um. He still loves you, no matter what or who you are.
Yeah, apparently the Gilbert ring has a side effect for some people with the dying and all. I mean, Esther kind of helped it along, but he had this dark side thing going on. Dad wasn't the only one his other side killed in a bid to 'cleanse' the town. So it wasn't really him. [Not that it had mattered all that much once her dad was gone.
[End of the conversation, he knows, so he pulls out his phone and distracts himself with the network.
He can't reassure her, or tell her it's going to be okay - but he sure can't fill the silence like he used to. This isn't his universe anymore; her story, her rules.]
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But it's kind of my thing when I'm a little overwhelmed, I guess.
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[He's gonna call it like he sees it. Sorry, Care.]
If it helps? Let me get something stronger, and you can give me all the info you want.
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Except you anyway. [...Which is a good thing in a way. Everything had gone to shit with her Tyler since Klaus had entered the picture.]
...Although I kind of prefer this you, if we're being honest. [The one she'd been happy with.] I mean, Tyler at home, he had every right to be angry and want to pay Klaus back, but it just...everything went wrong.
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Care, you can't use me to re-do whatever happened between him and you. Whatever happened is something you'll have to live with, and I don't know, something you might want to consider repairing.
[If the situation had been reversed, he knows his Caroline would've given him the same courtesy.]
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I miss the Tyler I knew before Klaus entered our lives. I'm not looking to retread old territory though. I'm just...
There's no way to repair it. I did the one thing he won't forgive and I knew it, but by that time, he was so far gone, I didn't really...
[Caroline takes a slow breath.]
We're moving on. He's been kind of pursuing this new girl and I hope it works out for him.
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He has to seriously think that over. His Caroline and he have had a smooth relationship - and some day, he knows they'll have to end. Even werewolves age, and Tyler wants that normal life with kids and a white picket fence. But that doesn't seem to be the problem here.
Klaus had been far more interested in Bonnie than Caroline, too, given that Klaus had once dated Bonnie in the 20s. So hm.]
You mean you cheated on him? ["That's pretty low, Care."]
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I tried to talk him out of it, but he chose to leave.
And...I may have slept with Klaus after that, but with the understanding he'd leave me alone after it happened. After that, there was really no going back. I wasn't even going to tell him, but Katherine had possessed Elena and made sure he overheard it.
So, even if there had been a chance of reconciling, I kind of ruined it. [But it wasn't like she didn't have other options.]
It was just a mess.
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I'm sorry, you - what.
[He stares at her, with the most unimpressed look Tyler Lockwood has possibly given anyone in his entire life. The way she says it, the way it just comes out - He may have never been sired to Klaus, but Klaus ruined Bonnie's life.
Klaus also almost ruined (and killed) two of his best friends.]
Care, that's never going to be okay. In any universe.
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And then he left and I haven't seen or spoken to him since. It was a deal we made and Tyler had already broken up with me and he was gone and...
I was in a bad place, it was a moment of weakness.
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But - based on what I do know - it's gonna take other-me a long time to get over it. If we even do at all. Klaus sired him, which probably means Klaus abused him and.
[He rubs his temples, gnashing his teeth a little.]
I swore, after Dad died, I wouldn't let anyone get to me like that.
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But I've probably done things your Caroline hasn't either....
Is my dad still alive? In your universe? Does he know what I am?
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You and Mom saved me. [She stares down into her cup for a moment before glancing back up at him.]
Alaric killed him not even a year later. He...well, he chose to stay human and die.
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[Tyler shakes his head.]
I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that was like.
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Caroline dropped her head into her hands.]
I really need to stop talking.
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[His smile doesn't quite reach his eyes, even if he is teasing.]
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Yeah, I need to stop. [Because seriously, she's going to tell him eveerything and there's no coming back from that.]
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[End of the conversation, he knows, so he pulls out his phone and distracts himself with the network.
He can't reassure her, or tell her it's going to be okay - but he sure can't fill the silence like he used to. This isn't his universe anymore; her story, her rules.]