Journey To The Past [Sequel to At The Beginning]

Chapter 7

Lockwood Mansion

The next day was Mayor Lockwood's funeral which was being held at The Lockwood Mansion. Cassie arrived right after Damon. She walked up to the house and saw Tyler standing at the doorway greeting everyone. He smiled when he saw her. "Hey Cas. Thanks for coming." He said, put one hand on her waist and kissed her cheek. Cassie put one hand on his forearm and kissed his cheek at the same time. "Of course I'd be here Tyler. He wasn't just our Mayor, he was your Dad. I've known him personally since I moved here and I figured you could use a friend besides Matt." Cassie said with a smile. Tyler chuckled. "Well, seeing you makes my day better everytime." He said flirtatiously. Cassie blushed and lightly shoved Tyler. Cassie looked inside and saw Carol Lockwood talking with Sheriff Forbes and Damon. "I'm gonna go say hello to your mom." She told him. Tyler nodded and Cassie turned and went inside.

She stood a few feet away from Mrs. Lockwood so she could hear what was going on. "I want to know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband." She said angrily. "I'm looking into it but you have to be straight with me. Is there any reason Richard was affected by the vampire device?" Liz asked curiously. "What are you implying? That he was one of them?" Carol asked with disgust in her voice. "No, no. No one's implying that." Damon interrupted; trying to calm Carol down. "Your deputy screwed up, plain and simple which makes you responsible." Carol said with a finger pointed at Liz. "Carol..." Damon tried to interrupt again but Liz scoffed. "Your husband is the one who helped John Gilbert execute his idiot plan in the first place." She spat back at Carol. "Liz..." Damon tried to stop them both before someone said something too loud. "Someone got my husband killed." Carol said whilst choking back tears. "We're all on edge here. You've suffered a great loss. The whole town has. We have to stick together, okay? Trust each other, we'll get through this." Damon said as he put a hand on each woman's shoulder. Cassie felt now would be a good time to pay her respects. She walked over to them. "Mrs. Lockwood..." Cassie said to get her attention. Carol turned to face her. "Oh Cassie. Thank you for coming honey." She said and took Cassie's hands in hers. "I just wanted to be here for Tyler and pay my respects to a family that has done a lot for me." Cassie said honestly. Carol pulled her into a hug. "Thank you so much sweetie." She said and pulled out of the hug. "I appreciate that, and I know Tyler does too." Carol said with a small smile. Cassie nodded to Liz, scowled at Damon and walked back to where Tyler was.

She walked up to Tyler as a black Ford Bronco XLT pulled up to the front of the mansion and a man stepped out. He had light brown curly hair and light blue eyes. He was dressed in a white button up and khakis. Cassie saw that as this man walked up to the house Tyler's face got a little happier. "So the black sheep returns." Tyler said with his hands in his pockets. "Tyler?" The man asked surprised. "Yeah." Tyler said with a small smile. "What happened to you? In my mind you're twelve years old." The man said confused. "Then that's two years older than the last time you saw me, Uncle Mason." Tyler said sarcastically. "Good to see you again." Mason said and hugged Tyler. Cassie remembered Mason. He was a free spirit and didn't come to Mystic Falls ever. Cassie smiled when she saw them hug. Tyler needed family right now. "It's good to see you too. Come on." Tyler said to him. Tyler walked over to where Cassie was standing. "Uncle Mason, I don't know if you remember Cassie." Tyler said gesturing to her. "Cassie? The surgeon's daughter? Was always getting into trouble alongside you, Matt & Vicki?" Mason asked with a smile. Cassie blushed. "Guilty as charged." Cassie said sarcastically. "It's nice to see you again Mason." Cassie said and extended her hand to shake his. He took her hand and shook it.

She suddenly got a weird feeling and a vision of a white stone. She stayed in focus though. She pulled her hand back as normally as she could. "So you two together yet?" Mason asked and looked at both of them. Cassie and Tyler both blushed and chuckled. "Uncle Mason." Tyler said trying to stop him from talking. "What? You two were always flirting when you were kids then Cassie would hang on Matt and Tyler would get super jealous. I had to ask." Mason said and now Cassie was bright red and Tyler was avoiding eye contact. Sadly, her and Tyler knew everything he just said was true. "Okay, I obviously said too much. I'll go find your mom and let you two talk." He said and walked inside. Cassie and Tyler couldn't look at each other due to being completely and utterly embarrassed. "So..." Cassie said trying to break the awkward silence. "Yeah, awkward." Tyler responded and shifted uncomfortably. "Is what he just said true?" Cassie asked him. "I don't know is it?" Tyler asked her and looked her in the eyes.

She knew she couldn't lie to Tyler. She sighed. "Me getting Matt to give me hugs and piggyback rides...All to get your attention away from Vicki." Cassie admitted with a tight smile. She bit her lip; nervous of Tyler's reaction. "Well it worked, I was just flirting with Vicki to get back at you for flirting with Matt." Tyler said and looked at her with a guilty expression. Cassie chuckled. "Wow, our twelve year old selves were so oblivious." She said and Tyler chuckled. "Yeah we were." He said and smiled at her. "So are those feelings still there?" Cassie asked curiously. Tyler was uncomfortable again. Cassie knew he wasn't one for expressing himself. He never was. She put her head down when she though he wasn't going to answer. "They're coming back." He said as he stared at her. She lifted her head in surprise. "What about you?" Tyler asked with hope in his voice. Cassie was now uncomfortable. "Honestly Tyler. I'm still getting over Damon but I know I have feelings for you because they've been there since we were 11. I guess they never went away." She told him the whole truth.

It wouldn't be fair if she told him she did have feelings for him and no one else. "Tyler nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess we can go on date number two and take it from there." He said with a small smile. She returned the smile. "Thank you. I don't wanna lie to you or lead you on at all. That's why I told you the truth." She confessed. "I appreciate it Cas." He said and put his hand out for her to hold. She smiled and slid her hand into his. He smiled happily and went back to greeting everyone. Cassie turned to look in the house and saw Damon watching them and listening to them. He had a hurt but jealous look on his face. Cassie's smile faded when she realized he could hurt Tyler if she crossed him. The man she loved was now becoming the man she feared.