vampireboulevard | spamalot } { crossed wires

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spamalot } { crossed wires

Moving clear across the country so that her fiance could join another pack to get away from his crazy dad is not exactly what Caroline Forbes had planned on doing with her life at this particular age, but when it comes to things like fiance (mostly that fiance being Tyler) and getting Tyler away from his crazy dad she's willing to make little changes in order to benefit the good of all. It also helped that Elena and Matt were already on this coast to make the transition a little easier.

(It was five hours to Palo Alto. Five hours driving was still better than all the coordination it takes for a five hour plane ride.)

Still, once she actually arrived in Beacon Hills, she's willing to admit that she may have prejudged this town a little harshly. It's actually more than a little adorable. It's got a Mystic Falls vibe all it's own, but lighter, which I guess is what happens when your mayor isn't a psychopathic alpha werewolf trying to make your life miserable. Talia Hale? A plus alpha from what Caroline could tell - which, she could tell a lot, if just knowing Cora even as little as she does is anything to go off of - and she has a feeling they're going to be very happy here. The TV station even approved her transfer to the local syndicate, so as soon as they find an apartment, she's pretty much set.

Which is what she, Elena and Matt (poor, poor Matt) are doing while Tyler is doing his alpha bonding with Talia and getting to know the pack as a whole. It's been a few days of meetings up at the Hale house, and him coming back to the hotel seeming so much happier than she's seen him in a long time, and that? That is worth every inconvenience, every hiccup, every ounce of homesickness because they fought for this for so long, and now they finally have it.

(This is probably the only universe in existence where Caroline Forbes would actually be grateful for Klaus Mikaelson. Whadaya know?)

She's coming out of one of the buildings, finishing up the details with the realtor, when she spots Tyler coming up the sidewalk and grins. Once they part ways, she's skipping over to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in close. "I love this town."

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Oh.

Oh crap.

There are a million different ways that could have gone, and each one of them is currently playing them out slowly in the back of her mind as she tries to figure out how she's supposed to react to this. She doesn't say anything for a long time, until she finally exhales with a:

"And I'm guessing this isn't a 'wow, you have an excellent choice in mate' call."

Tyler wrinkled his nose. "No, not really. But he does have a surprisingly strong right hook for a human."

Her eyes fly open at that. "He did what?" Because that wasn't very Stiles like. At all. Even with his shorter fuse lately, he hadn't been violent. Especially without a good reason, but she can't imagine that Tyler gave him one. Not knowing who he was to Cora.

"Yeah. Apparently, he was under the assumption that we were still together, moving in together and then saw me and Caroline kissing and had a very strong urge to defend your honor."

Her hand comes up to cover her face, leaning back against the wall of a nearby building as she tries not to be completely horrified by the situation. "I'm so sorry." Not that it's really her fault (except for the parts where it was about her), but she's going to say it anyway. "I have no idea why he would have thought that."

"Not really sure myself either. Maybe he just put it together when Elena mentioned I was moving into town and talking to your mother?"

He actually could get that, to be fair. Especially since the last time Tyler had seen Stiles was at Malia's wedding and they had been each other's dates and barely talked.

"Maybe." She sighs heavily. "Are you okay?" Not that she doesn't think he would be - Stiles may have a good right hook but Tyler is still a werewolf, so he couldn't have done permanent damage.

"Hey, I'm fine. Your boy's hand was the victim of all this." Tyler chuckled. "Have you talked to him yet about your feelings?"

Tiny chiding in his voice? Yes.

Her head falls back against the wall a bit. Shut up, Tyler. Just because you're getting your happily ever after doesn't mean the rest of them can find it so easily.

"It's not something I can just spit out. Not with what he's been through lately."

"Yeah, I figured as much, but has no one even bothered to tell him you're not dating anyone? I mean the entire pack is keeping him in the dark on that?"

"No, it's just ... " she exhales slowly. "When we talk we don't really talk. Not about him or about me. We talk about things that are ... neutral. I'm just glad he's at least talking to me, I don't want to push us to the point where we're not talking at all."

Because that would be worse. Maybe not for Tyler's nose, but for her.

"It hasn't come up. So I don't think anyone's thought to tell him."

"So basically you guys have changed roles and he's the one not talking about his feelings and you're trying to draw him out." Yes, he was smirking. "You see the irony in that, right?"

She huffs a laugh at that, before shaking her head. "Trust me. I'm aware."

"Listen, if everything you say he's been through is real, I can sympathize. I've been there. You saw what I lived through. And you see I came through it fine because of my friends, and Care. He can do it too."

"I know he can. He just has to let us help him - that's the hard part." It feels like they're making progress though. Another reason laying her feelings out there for him to deal with might not be the greatest idea right now.

But now it might have to be sooner rather than later.

"I think we're getting there, though."

"Just keep working on him." He licked his lips. "But I can tell you one thing. The boy still loves you."

Her throat goes a little dry at that, unsure of what to say at first. "What makes you say that?"

"Guy like that comes after me, threatening to rip me apart because he thinks I'm cheating on a friend of his? That's someone thinking more than a friend. Somewhere under all that hurt, Cora, the boy still loves you."

She pauses for a moment, quietly processing that. There's a part of her that hopes, no matter how much she tries to clamp down on that, but she knows that it's going to be a lot of time before he's anywhere close to trusting her again.

And she'll give it to him. She just needs to remind herself that this isn't going to be fixed overnight. So she just accepts Tyler's statement in the silence, before pushing away from the wall.

"I should go. Derek's waiting for me and I don't want to keep you from Caroline."

"Yeah. Go, I'll chat with you later."

And with that, he hung up.

Cora takes a deep breath as she hangs up the phone, staring at it for a moment, before pocketing it and continuing on her way to Derek's.

When she gets there, she doesn't even bother to knock, just lets herself in the front door, makes her way into the living room and faceplants into the empty couch. She takes a deep breath, inhaling the mingling scents of her brother, Fiona, Bob and another wolf that must be Liam. It calms her down a bit, but she's still going to stay there for a while.

Unless Bob comes over. If Bob comes over, he gets pets, but her hand's the only part of her body that's moving.

Derek was sitting at his desk when Cora walked in. He just watched her, one eyebrow going up at her dramatic entrance.

Liam, being on the patio with Bob playing lacrosse, came in at the smell of the new wolf. "What the... who's that?"

"That would be my sister, Cora." He went to stand up as Bob went over to check on the female wolf. "Why don't you hit the showers, and I'll introduce you when you're done."

The fourteen year old nodded, running for the stairs that lead up to the landing and his bedroom as Derek went to sit on the coffee table across from her. "Should I even ask?"

Bob licks at her hand and Cora reaches over to scritch him behind the ears as she formulates the best way to answer that question. Eventually she shifts a bit, rolling onto her side so that she's facing Derek and sighs.

"Stiles punched Tyler, because he saw him with Caroline, Tyler's fiancee, because for some reason he thought that we were together, and that he was cheating on me."

Yep. Her life has become a soap opera. If that's what the universe is aiming for, she personally thinks that she should be having way more sex.

"Stiles punched someone? Stiles, who's currently afraid of shadows and hiding in mom's house went up to another werewolf and punched him?"

Derek didn't know if he was supposed to be proud of the young man, or beat him over the head for his stupidity.

"Why would he think you two were still together?"

"I don't think he knew that Tyler was a werewolf."

It's not like he can tell like they can. She isn't sure if that makes it better or worse, but at least it's something. She can't justify his behavior any more than that though - even if Stiles hadn't been through what he'd been through, she can't see him punching anyone - on her behalf or not.

"I have no idea. Tyler said that Elena might have told Stiles that Tyler was moving to town and he knows that I was looking for an apartment - he might have put two and two together and gotten five." There's a beat as she shifts, stretching out more so that Bob can hop up onto the couch and settle into the spot between her and Derek. Her fingers curl around his collar, keeping him closer and closing her eyes as she admits the next part. "And the thing is, Tyler and I were never actually together."

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