❝The past is never done and buried❞
•

I turn over repeatedly in my bed, trying to distract my mind from my conscious. I look at the time and see it was only around two in the afternoon, making me groan. I didn't know I stayed in bed that long.

I wanted this week to end already. My phone had been ringing and I ignored it, since I know it was Jonah. I felt bad from last night because I was honest. I was too honest. However, honesty is the best policy.

I want to kick myself for being a hypocrite.

I sit up when my phone goes off again. I pick it up and see it's a text from Matt about a party tonight. I sigh, as my head starts pounding, so I get out of bed and drag my feet, going to the bathroom. I open one of the cabinets, taking my emergency Advil.

Beside Klaus drama, I was trying to figure out why I didn't get affected by Katherine's death. Not emotionally, of course. But, I didn't understand why I didn't wail when she died. Probably because her and I never connected much, I guess. She was never a concern for me anyways.

I down the pill and chug it with my bottle of water. After, I splash my face, washing off most of my ruined makeup. I look in the mirror as I dry my face with a wipe.

I brush my teeth before taking a quick shower. After getting out, I felt better as my headache subsided. I go to my closet and take out my grey off-the-shoulder dress that had light blue stripes. It was simple and casual to me, so approvingly, I leave my hair up into a loose bun and move on towards my makeup.

I grab my makeup bag and redo my makeup, finishing off with my nude lipstick. It was around four o'clock when I was done, so I decided to slip into my flats and carry my grey wedges, knowing my feet would hurt if I just wear the wedges. I head out to the jeep, going to the Tyler's now so, I don't want to be stuck in traffic.

I put the key in the ignition, letting the radio play as I drove and letting my thoughts fade to the back of my mind.

•
•

When I get there, I seemed to be on time, seeing as there was a lot people here. I get out the car, taking my keys and shoes with me. The doors were open, allowing anyone to come and go. I walk up the front stairs and go inside, seeing crowds of people I've never seen before. Most of the faces, I know of since they went to school with me, but the others were strangers.

"Rowan!" A voice called and I turn to see Tyler walking up to me, pushing people while doing so.

"Hey, Ty." I greet, side hugging him, seeing as he had beer in his hand.

"You look amazing, Ro." He complimented and I blush lightly.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I compliment back, seeing as he wore a dark long sleeve shirt that fitted him well. You could see all his muscles practically popping out the shirt.

"Thank you. Thank you." He smiled, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Yeah, maybe something stronger than beer?" I wonder and he nods with a goofy grin. When we were together, sometimes we would sneak into his dad's alcohol cabinet and get some vodka or scotch before going to the Lockwood cellar to be alone. We would get drunk and just giggle as we watched the stars.

"Okay, I'll be back." He says and disappeared off into crowd. Remembering about my shoes, I walk off to upstairs to Tyler's room. I was glad to see it was empty, so I plop down on his bed and kick off my flats, before putting on my wedges.

"I knew I'd find you up here." Tyler's voice say after looking inside the room. I laugh lightly, standing up, "It's sad how you're still short in heels."

I glance down at myself and then at him to see that I'm indeed still short. "Hey, I'm only shorter than you by a few centimeters." I pout at him.

"You mean a few inches." He jokes, before holding out my cup, "Bourbon."

"Who am I? Damon?" I say playfully, taking the cup and taking a sip, "I don't think I can hold my liquor like I used to."

"What do you mean 'used to'? You never could." Ty chuckles at me and I laugh along, raising the glass to my lips again. "You're a lightweight, but it's okay. You're much more fun drunk." He whisper the last sentence to me, sipping his beer.

"Aren't I always fun?" I ask, offended. He just shrugs, so I hit his arm, though it had no effect. "Under all this sarcasm is a very fun person, you know."

"Yup, sure." He rolls his eyes and I shove him lightly, almost making him spill his drink.

"We should head down." I sighed, ruffling his hair, "You are the guest of honor anyways. You can't miss your own party."

"Matt threw this party, not me." He defends as we walk out his room. He closes it behind us and we walk downstairs, as he greets his friends. I give casual waves to them, before seeing Caroline and Elena at the bottom of the stairs.

I could barely hear the conversation, but Tyler seemed to be listening.

"So tell me. How was it, you know, compared to Tyler?" I hear Elena say loudly, and I raised an eyebrow when Tyler had his full attention on them.

"Elena Gilbert!" Caroline squeals.

"Caroline Forbes! Come on. Spill the beans." Elena pressed on. I push past Tyler slight to hear better. "Now that you've slept with Klaus, I mean, how was it?"

I stop at the last step when I heard his name. She slept with Klaus. He slept with her. I almost want to throw back up my Bourbon at the thought.

"I am so not answering that." Caroline blushed and I noticed that her smile was bright. She was happy about sleeping with him. Not about our friendship. Not her relationship with Tyler.

Tyler.

Slowly I look up to him, seeing his expression was mixed with hurt and anger.

"Oh, you so are- oh, my God." Elena's voice says and I see Tyler look directly as Caroline. I gulp down my drink and push past Caroline, hearing her call after me.

I ignore her, swallowing my tears and grabbing the vodka that sat on the counter before going into Tyler's backyard. I wipe at my tears, going far from the party. I sit on the bench in the distance, taking out my phone and scroll until I saw Klaus' name. I unscrew the cap to the bottle and drink from it, coughing violently after.

My finger ghost over his number, having doubts on calling him.

He wanted to hurt me. I said leave town and leave me alone, and he took his anger out and slept with my friend. And he succeeded. He hurt me.

I take another swig and sit it down in the grass and I lay out on the bench. My breathing shakes and becomes uneven as I look up at the sky above. It became dark so quickly, so now all I see it the half moon hiding behind the grey clouds.

I close my eyes for a while, pushing everything away and letting the alcohol consume me.

•
•

When I opened my eyes, I realized the house was quiet and everyone was gone. I ruffled my hair and stood from the bench, stumbling a little with my heels, so I take them off and carry them in my hand, with the vodka, and walk back inside the house.

"Tyler?" I call out, walking around. He wasn't in the kitchen, "Tyler?" I call again before I heard something crash. It came from his dad's office. I hesitantly walk towards it and open the door, seeing Tyler throwing whatever he could at the wall. "Ty?"

All his movements stops when he hears me enter the room, "I thought you went home." He glances at me before sitting on the couch, picking up his glass.

"Well, since I'm a lightweight drunk, I can't drive." I giggle, but he doesn't laugh. I sit next to him on the couch, but keep my distance. I just stare at him, until I saw blood trickle from his nose, "You're bleeding."

He looks up at me and dabs his finger under his nose, "Shit." He mumbled, before sitting there quietly. I, however, drop my shoes, dig in my purse and take out my packet of tissues.

"Here." I whispered, and pull off a tissue, wiping his nose for him. It was quiet for a long period of time before a laugh escaped him.

"Everything is so fucked up." When I finished, I get up and throw away the bloodied tissue, only to return next to him, "He killed numerous people; my friends; my mom. He chased me out of town and destroyed everything good I had... and she slept with him. Just like that."

I look down at the bottle I still had before handing it to him, "Everything will get better."

"How do you know that, Ro?" He asked, his voice harsh as he filled up his glass. "How do you know?"

"I just do." I shrug, ruffling his hair. I sniffle slightly, and he hears, looking up to see I'm on the brink of tears.

"Don't cry, Ro." He cooed, putting my face in his hands, so I look at him. "You're too beautiful to cry." He whispered, staring intently at me as he wiped away my tears. "And someone could be falling in love with your smile."

I smile softly, lowering my head a little as I felt a bit of butterflies. I blush when he rises my head when his hand. His face was closer than before, "You're too beautiful for him."

I insides turned into mush when his lips touched mine. It all happened so fast that I couldn't even contemplate how we got to his room.

Clothes were tossed and everything was a blur after. All I know is that our old flame isn't rekindled.