“Just because she is his daughter doesn’t make her exactly like him. It just means she gets a lot more family baggage to carry around than the rest of us,” Bonnie pointed out. “And people like us who try to have their backs.” Because despite everything she had given up for her friends over the years, she would still give up more for those girls. “Accepting your death and grieving for it… That is what starts it all. I didn’t really let myself deal with it after I died. I just tried to pretend like I was fine and that Jeremy could help me cover the fact that I was dead. Then Matt died with the ring on and I got to see him, to talk to him. He didn’t remember afterwards, but the things he said… It helped me to grieve. It helped me to accept that I wasn’t fine. Then you guys had a little memorial service for me and I got to say my goodbyes, even if I was still there. It helped,” she explained, staring down at her coffee cup or a bit as she thought back on that time. “Even if you’re back now, you can still grieve everything you lost. It still hurts even if you’re back now. Feel the hurt. And let people know that it happened. Because if you hide it, you’re just hiding it from yourself.”
“Yeah, yeah I see that… now.” Tyler shoved his hands in his pockets. “When Hayley was pregnant I didn’t want the baby to come into the world. I was under the impression Klaus was going to use her to make hybrids.” It wasn’t one of his finest moments and he’d admit that now. He listened to her words and before she was done he let a single tear fall. Tyler didn’t like to show emotion, so he quickly recovered. He realized now that he needed to let himself accept what had happened. Pretending it was all fine wouldn’t help anyone. He nodded. “I’m going to tell her, but maybe tell Damon to hide out for a bit. Liv can be very feisty.”