vampireboulevard | spamalot } { crossed wires

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Tyler just laughed and kissed Caroline's cheek at that, then looked at Elena. "Yeah, I think it really is. It's completely different than home. I don't think I've felt more in a family than I did with my own flesh and blood."

Elena smiles a bit at that and nods. "Good. You deserve it." Not that any of them are perfect, but after everything Tyler's been through with his dad, he deserves a good family that's going to take care of him. Especially if it means him and Caroline being more close by.

"Now all we have to do is convince Bonnie to move to California and it'll be perfect," Caroline says with a grin. "All five of us together, just like it's supposed to be."

"You'd have to find a way to separate her from her family. You know how close they are. Her gram is her world." Then again, Bonnie's grandmother was really everyone's grandmother, and they all loved her.

Tyler grinned, then looked over at a bar and grill nearby. "Should we go get something to eat? I'm starving, and maybe they're looking for a waiter."

"Yes, please," Caroline says with a nod as she takes his hand to lead the way over to the grill. She walks a few feet before turning back to face him. "I'm pretty sure Matt wants to put my beautiful niece down and take a break for a bit."

Poor Matt has been carrying her all day. Not that she's thinks that he minds considering how smitten he is with her, but his back might not be so fond.

"Well, if Matt can't carry around a nine pound baby all day, I'll take a turn," Tyler teased. "Getting fat and lazy in your married life, buddy."

Matt gave his friend a look. "Just remember that when you two start having kids, Ty. I'm going to be laughing so hard."

Elena laughs, before shaking her head. "Don't worry. When he and Care start having kids, I'm pretty sure we won't hear the end of it." But she'll reach over to take their little girl out of the carrier as they get closer so that they have an easier time moving through the restaurant. "I think she's hungry anyway."

Kids were something in the near future, but not just yet. Still, Tyler slid his hand around Caroline's waist and went with the rest of them to eat. It was small talk and then after they decided to go to the park. Tyler and Caroline went to take a walk on the trails after leaving Elena and Matt at the playground with a baby swing.

Meanwhile, it was a family of Stilinskis that had come into town today. John had taken the day off to bring Stiles into the hospital for follow up exam and x-rays on his shoulder, and was told he could start using his arm again, but just to take it easy.

That was followed by lunch at the diner where Dina was introduced to her father's favorite curly fries, and afterward they were walking to the park as John and Stiles each had one of Dina's hands, and every few steps, the little girl squealed in laughter as she got swung into the air by the two men.

It was a good day so far, and even though the fading bruises were still on his face, Stiles wasn't hiding behind a hoodie. Lydia had helped him lighten them with some makeup - promising that no, he wouldn't look like a drag queen - and a ski cap to hide the back of his head where his hair was starting to grow back in from where they had cut it short to put in the stitches.

"Daddy look! There's a baby in the swings!" Dina shouted in joy, taking off to run over to the swings herself.

Swings are definitely a hit, if Ellie's face is any indication. Every time she swings forward towards her mom, no matter how lightly Matt is pushing her, she kicks her legs and waves her arms happily dissolving into a pile of baby giggles.

As a result, Elena's face is equally ridiculous making giant smiling faces at her as she catches her by the leg holes of the swing and letting her swing back again. She's a little small for the swings, so they're not pushing her very hard, but she's having a ball all the same.

Elena's head turns when she hears the other girl's voice and she flashes her a bright smile as she does. Kids. Elena loves them. She would just collect them all if she could. "Do you like the swings too?"

Stiles is about to call out to get his daughter back. He doesn't know the people at the swings and his protective urge rises, but John puts a hand on his shoulder gently.

"Trust, Stiles. They have a baby between them. I'm pretty sure they aren't here to hurt her." John told his son, and after a deep breath, Stiles just nodded and pushed his glasses back up on his face. The men, very obviously father and son, made to follow Dina as she jumped onto a swing on her stomach, pushing off.

"Uh huh. I get to fly when I'm on them!" she said, holding out her arms like she was superman.

Elena laughs a bit in return before nodding. "Definitely my favorite part too. Ellie's a little too small to fly quite yet, but when she gets bigger, I'm sure she's going to love that too."

She glances back as she sees the two men approaching, giving them a bit of a wave in return. Friendly people being friendly - she doesn't really have any reason to believe otherwise.

"When she gets bigger, she can be a princess superhero too! All little girls should be princess superheros."

Stiles licked his lips and waved back, moving to join them as the sheriff's office was calling in on John's cell phone, and he stepped off to the side to take the call. "Hi," he said as he got there, hovering dad mode.

"Amen to that," Elena says with a nod, before switching into adult mode and turning back to Stiles. "Hi. Sorry, I hope we're not getting her into trouble." She pauses for a second before holding out a hand. "I'm Elena, and this is my husband Matt."

Dina hopped off the swing and realized she was talking to strangers and looked up at her daddy with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I forgot not to talk to strangers."

"It's okay, Dina. They don't look that strange to me," He smiled up at Elena and Matt. "Did you introduce yourself to them at least?"

Dina gasped and turned around. She totally forgot to do that too! "Hi! I'm Claudia Marie! I'm three and a half years old." And then she did a little curtsey with her tutu.

"And I'm Stiles. Nice to meet you." He took her hand and shook it.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you Claudia Marie," Elena repeats as she shakes Stiles's hand before looking up at him curiously. She can't imagine there are very many people in the world named "Stiles" but at the same time, she doesn't just want to jump to any conclusions.

But she's gonna.

Because she's curious.

"Sorry, this is going to sound a little weird, but ... do you know Cora Hale and Lydia Martin?"

He blinks, a bit of his nerves and guarding nature kicking in as he shoved his hands into his pocket. "Yeah, I went to school with them. We all grew up together here." Which is easier to say than what his actual relationship with Cora had been.

To which Elena's face lit up because that is the answer she's looking for. "I thought so! Or I hoped so. But you gotta figure how many people are there in the world that go by 'Stiles'."

She can feel the look Matt is giving her through her shoulder blades. It's probably something along the lines of Wife, who I love so dearly, please stop being creepy and explain yourself. Which, she's getting there.

"I went to school with them, in Boston. Well, not exactly, I was at Emerson and they were at MIT, but we were friends there. Cora used to talk about you guys all the time."

That... shouldn't put him more on guard but it does. Just because that was a part of Cora's life he had no knowledge about at all beyond that's where she met the guy who had shown up with her to Scott and Isaac's weddings with her.

"Hopefully it was just the good things," he said, trying not to darken the moment. "You're pretty far from Boston being out here."

"We actually live in Palo Alto. I teach Women's Lit at Stanford - or I will be, starting in September. But Tyler is moving here so we came down to help apartment hunt."

Elena is sensing a bit of unease so she backs off with the excitement just a little. She knows that things with Stiles were complicated, just from the way Cora talked about him, but she doesn't know as much of the story as Tyler did.

"And yeah, definitely good things. You could tell she missed you guys a lot."

Tyler is moving here. Tyler is moving here for Cora is how his mind finishes the blanks. Cora and Lydia had been apartment hunting, after all, so it added a bit more to that topic. Plus, that had to be the topic of the conversations that he could tell where happening the last few days out of his earshot, with Talia spending time at Peter's house more than usual.

Cora's boyfriend was moving out to be with her. He should have expected it, but it hurt just the same but he masked it all behind a smile anyway, because that was how he dealt with pain.

The urge to run was so strong, but he stayed his ground.

"Small town. You tend to be tight knit, but times change when you move on."

"Mystic Falls was the same way. Everybody knew everybody." Elena knows small towns well. It's probably why she likes Beacon Hills so much. If Palo Alto were closer, she'd probably live here, just to have that small town feel again.

"But I think it's been really great for Tyler though. She sort of was there when he really needed her. I think being here and working with Talia is going to be really good for him."

Elena's just really excited about Tyler's pack, okay? He has a pack. A real pack. She has no idea what's going on in Stiles's head or she probably would have shut up by now.

She also doesn't know how in the know he is about things, but we'll figure that out in a bit.

Stiles looked down at his feet a moment, nodding. "Well, it's good for him. Talia is an amazing woman. She'll take good care of him."

He wanted to run. Run and find a corner to hide in. It was taking all his concentration not to let the panic attack he felt in his chest take hold. So he deflected and looked down at Dina on the swing.

"Well, we should probably get going. Dina, say goodbye to Matt and Elena?"

"Do we have to go? We just got here, Daddy." The puppy eyes. She was learning them from Ryan.

And Elena suddenly feels like she might have said something wrong. Her mouth falters for a moment, and she glances back to Matt with a shrug, before turning back to him. "You don't have to go. We should probably go find Tyler and Caroline anyway. You can stay."

Whatever she did, she doesn't want it to ruin Dina's fun. Kids should get to be kids and not get caught up in messy adult drama. Even if the adults have no idea what kind of drama they started.

Stiles is about to respond when on the other side of the park, the werewolf in question appeared. No idea he was being watched, the drama that was brewing, or really of anything except that they had figured out what apartment they were moving into and he was smiling and being cozy and affectionate with her against a tree out of the main sight of anyone on the walking trail.

The irrational anger in him jumped, and with a simple "Excuse me a moment," he moved past the swings. Who the hell did this guy think he was - moving here, joining Talia's pack, and yet finding some blonde in the parking and making out with her behind a tree?! This was who Cora left him for? This asshole?

So no, before anyone really knew what he was doing - and let's be honest, Stiles had no idea what he was doing either - his fist went flying just as Tyler turned hearing someone approach. The wolf went down, his nose breaking as Stiles cussed and gripped his hand in pain.

"Oh my God!" comes Elena's voice from somewhere behind him and she's jogging after him as soon as Tyler goes down. Caroline's reaction, on the other hand, is much more immediate and a lot more angry.

"What the hell?!" She glares back at him, eyes narrowing as she tries to figure out who he is. "Who the hell are you?"

Tyler rubbed at his jaw and nose, looking up and then blinking. "Stiles? What the hell?"

"Oh cut the crap. I saw what you were doing. Who the hell do you think you are!" he was shouting, and would have probably gone to throw another punch if his father hadn't appeared and grabbed Stiles' arm with one hand, his other around his son's waist.

"Stiles! Calm down," John ordered.

"Calm down? This asshole moves here for Cora and yet he's making out with the first hot blonde he sees in the park? You're lucky I'm not ripping him apart!" He struggled against his father.

Tyler stood up, just blinking as his nose healed itself. "Who the hell told you I was moving in with Cora?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject