Touch (14/?)
Title: Touch (14/?)
Author: coquilleon
Pairing: Tyler/Jeremy
Based on: TV series
Spoilers: Season 2
Disclaimers: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.
"Are you sure that she should be out of the hospital already?" The question is directed at Alaric even though Jenna is the one who answers. Jeremy ignores Elena completely. He's still livid with her.
"I'll be fine. I just have to manage not to be a klutz while laying completely still on the couch." She hobbles over to the living room, arm around Matt's shoulder. Jeremy isn't so sure about her being alright. She just got stabbed -stabbed herself. Jeremy's anger rises - last night and the hospital has already released her. "I mean, who walks into a knife?"
Jeremy waits until Matt has Jenna facing away from him before he pushes himself roughly away from the wall. He turns around to go into the kitchen and knows that Elena will follow, but he still doesn't acknowledge her. He can't believe that there has been a dangerous, psychotic vampire who looks exactly like her (a doppelganger, she called it) running around Mystic Falls and she never bothered to mention it to him. He had to hear about Katherine, and all the insanity she has caused, for the first time, in a hospital waiting room wondering if another member of his family was going to bleed out on an operating table.
He couldn't get anything out of Elena at first. He'd been searching of Tyler in the crowd of volunteers, intent on getting some more alone time with him, when he'd gotten a call on his cell phone, picking up only to hear between Elena's hysterical sobs that he needed to come to the hospital right away and that Jenna had been hurt. It had taken close to a half an hour for Elena to calm down enough to explain everything; that Katherine had said that she supposedly came back to town for Stefan. That she had killed Caroline (and this is where Jeremy begins to gape disbelievingly) and had turned her into a vampire. They, Elena, Stefan, Damon, and even fucking Alaric, had all figured out that what Katherine really wanted was the moonstone, and the only way that they could have possibly found out what she needed it for was to torture and fucking kill Mason Lockwood, and that that's exactly what they had done. And that is why Jenna was in the hospital; Katherine's revenge.
Jeremy is still in a state of shock. He was under the impression that Elena had stopped hiding stuff like this from him, but obviously he was wrong. So, so incredibly wrong.
He's in the kitchen now, and he can hear her behind him setting down a bag of groceries.
"Jere-"
"Elena," he turns. He feels so tired. "Seriously. Just don't. There is literally nothing you can say that will make this alright."
"I was just trying to-"
"Protect me? Yeah, I know. I got that message the first time with what happened with Vicky." She shifts uncomfortably and he continues. "And you know, it took a while to get over it, what you did regarding that because I guess in some Elena essence it made sense. But I can't begin to think when not letting me know when someone with my sister's face is running around tearing up the town is best for me. I don't even understand how you thought that I would be better off not knowing weather or not I was talking to you was a smart choice. She is you, Elena. She could have been in this house, I could have spoken to her and I wouldn't even know!" She doesn't say anything in the face of his anger-laden words, and he sighs and shakes his head. "Stop trying to protect me, Elena. You aren't good at it."
He doesn't stick around to take in her hurt expression, and walks around her heading into the living room.
"Can I get you anything, Jenna?"
"Oh, no I'm fine." She cranes her head around to look at the clock on the mantel. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the Lockwood party?"
"I'm not going to that thing. You just came out of the hospital."
She waves her hand dismissively. "I'll be fine. Alaric is coming over in a few minutes and Elena is staying home tonight."
"Why isn't Elena going?"
"Well, it's understandable, after her and Stefan breaking up. I know I always avoided parties where my ex would be. I still do actually."
The rustling of the grocery bag in the kitchen has stopped but, Jeremy doesn't look back.
"Still, I think I'll just stay-"
"No," Jenna says firmly. "Go. I'll be in more than capable hands. Plus I want to see you in that suit."
Jeremy debates it; she really would be fine without him here. He doesn't know what help he could offer anyway. And then there's the chance of seeing Tyler...
As if hearing his thoughts, Jenna says, "And won't Tyler be expecting you?"
Jeremy thinks about it for just a moment longer, remembers Tyler's fingers lingering on his wrist. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess he is."
=..=..=
Tyler doesn't want to be in this room, let alone at this party. Where he really wants to be is... actually anywhere else but here. Somewhere with Jeremy, he thinks and a small smile lifts his lips. Their short encounter yesterday had left him with higher hopes, especially since Jere hadn't mentioned the whole thing with Sarah falling. Maybe he hadn't noticed how I reacted. It had been hard not telling Jeremy that he did know more, but he had told some truth; he really didn't know what the moonstone was for, and Mason was sorry for threatening him.
Their talk on the staircase that night had been a comforting one, with Mason assuring Tyler that he wasn't a monster and that his urges could be controlled. "You're only a monster if you want to be one," he'd said. "Yeah, at first you thought it would be cool, but you realized it isn't what you wanted." He'd put his hand on the nape of Tyler's bowed neck then, warm and reassuring. "You're a good kid Tyler." It had taken an immense weight off of his shoulders, and Tyler couldn't be more grateful. He hoped Mason knew. He's going to make sure he'll let him know as soon as he gets a chance, but he doesn't know when that will be.
His brow furrows; he hasn't seen Mason for a while now, come to think of it. He hadn't asked his mother where he was last night because Tyler assumed he was spending the night wherever he usually does, but he hadn't seen Mason this morning or so far at the party...
He's pulled by his thoughts by a drunken giggle. He doesn't really know why he's in his father's office. It doesn't exactly bring up great memories of both past and recent, but here he is, perched on the arm of a leather chair trying to look interested as Sarah drinks and Matt continues to get wasted, the latter of which makes him worry. Sure, he hasn't chilled with him for a while but, last time he checked, Matt doesn't get wasted. He barely ever drinks, but tonight he's edging on the side of belligerent.
"So, what happened to Aimee?" Sarah asks as she finishes pouring a drink. She steps to the side, staggering a bit, but finds her balance again quickly.
"I don't know, she disappeared," Matt shrugs and takes a swallow straight from the big clear bottle in his hand.
Tyler shrugs. "She's probably drunk some where."
"Like me." Matt stands up from where he was seated on the hard wood desk, and tilts the bottle in his hand so the clear liquid spills onto the expensive, embellished rug and polished floor.
"Whoa, don't do that." Tyler's confusion towards Matt's actions tonight deepen, and he watches an insolent smile, foreign to Matt's features, spreads over his face.
"What man? It's a party." Matt's lazy eyes slide over to a framed picture of his father and mother that sits on the corner of the desk, and he reaches over to pick it up, smirk widening. "Right, Dad?" Tyler watches in disbelief as Matt unscrews the bottle of alcohol with one hand and tilts it over the picture. "You know, looks like your dad wants a drink." The strong smelling liquid sloshes onto the glass and over the edges and the mild confusion Tyler felt morphs into full blown, tinted with anger. He stands quickly. "Hey, that's not cool," he moves forward, "what's wrong with you?"
Matt laughs and throws his hands to the side. "What? The guy was a dick!" He laughs some more and Tyler's anger spikes. He barely hears Sarah tell Matt to knock it off and, apparently, neither does Matt because he yanks the picture away from Tyler's reach, vodka flying into the air, and a glint appears in his eyes. "You remember how your dad used to slap you around?" The sharp sting of Matt's words are accompanied by the sharp sting of an actual slap against Tyler's face.
Tyler's disbelief redoubles; why the hell is Matt doing this? His eyes scan his best friend's face but it gives no indication as to why this is happening right now. "Are you kidding?" He has to ask, this has to be a joke because Matt has never acted like this, not once. Has never shown the animosity towards Tyler that he's showing now.
"Just having fun," Matt says, his voice low and threatening despite the easy smile on his face. Tyler's eyes narrow as he takes a careful step forward. "You know all about having fun, isn't that what you and Jeremy call it, when you fuck each other." Tyler's blood runs cold, and his mind flashes back to Matt's contemplative look that afternoon of the Bri Lancaster misunderstanding. He knew Matt would figure it out, but he never thought he would react like this. He tries to ignore the hurt he feels as Matt's words sink in, and more importantly the rage that is building inside of him. He doesn't want to discuss this now, especially with Sarah in the room. Matt waves the picture, "Bet dear ol Dad would hate that."
Tyler tries to focus on not allowing the instinctual need to fight to overwhelm him, tries to ignore the thrumming in his veins. "Put the picture down man." The words are barely out of his mouth before Matt brings his hand down quickly, smashing the picture and it's frame on the edge of the desk, and Tyler pulls back sharply as glass shards fly everywhere. He walks forward immediately, hands out and puts his hands on Matt's shoulders. "Okay, you need to calm your drunk ass down right now." He tries to calm him, but Matt resists, pushing him back roughly.
"Do something about it," he taunts, moving into Tyler's personal space.
Tyler takes a deep breath; the anger is pushing up underneath his skin, trying to get out. But he won't let it, he doesn't want to hurt Matt. "I'm not going to fight you," He says in a steady voice. He stands his ground as Matt moves closer, his normally light blue eyes dark and glittering from blown pupils. His expression is an odd combination of vacant and determined, and Tyler's pulse races at the sight. Matt's not in is right mind and Tyler doesn't have a clue why this is happening right now-
Matt's attack is sudden, and the tackle knocks the wind out of his lungs and both of them to the ground. He sees Matt draw his fist back and then pain radiates through his face as bone collides against bone again and again, and just like that, the barely restrained aggression that has been simmering for days erupts and Tyler sees red.
=..=..=
He'd ignored Stefan and Damon where they stood side by side on top of the stairs that faced into the large backyard and had given Bonnie a small smile in greeting when he'd seen her hovering near the dining room, but besides that Jeremy hasn't stopped to acknowledge much of anyone. He floats around, trying to catch a glimpse of Tyler, but so far he's had no luck.
He's taking a sip from his glass when he remembers that Tyler hates these things. He'd complain about how his mother would throw these lavish 'charity events' under the guise of it being the late Mayor Lockwood's last ideas, when really it was just something to keep her mind of off everything. He hates these things - of course he wouldn't be in the main crowd. Jeremy recalls where he'd found Tyler during his father's funeral and makes a beeline for the darker lit hallway. When he gets there, though, it's empty and he's about to turn back and check upstairs in Tyler's bedroom when he hears a noise.
He walks slowly further down the hallway and pauses when he hears a crash and muffled voices. He gets closer to the door that is ajar when he hears another curse, and when he recognizes who it is he moves closer to swing the door open quickly. What he walks into makes him freeze in the doorway. He barely notices Sarah standing in the corner, oddly quiet, and only registers what's going on in the middle of the room.
Tyler is on top of Matt, fists clenched in the other boy's lapels. They struggle, a mass of expensive black fabric that is becoming increasingly wrinkled. Matt's hand comes up to wrap around Tyler's throat and it looks as if he's trying to flip them over, but Tyler isn't having it; he pulls his fist back and punches Matt in the jaw. And he pulls back and does it again, and again, and again, and Jeremy's brain finally unfreezes and he rushes forward. He bends down and wraps his arms around Tyler's waist, hauling him off of Matt who, despite his bloody face and increasingly swollen eye, jumps up right away.
Jeremy rips off his mask and pushes Tyler back, but keeps his hand on the other boy's rapidly falling and rising chest. "What the fuck are you doing?" He demands. Tyler doesn't answer; his eyes are bright and angry. Jeremy turns to face him fully and grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him slightly. "What's going on-" His words are cut off as he's thrown to the side, and the wind is knocked painfully out of his lungs when he hits the edge of the hard wood table, which flips, ribs first. He groans, and sharp pain lances through his chest. He turns his head to see Matt push Tyler into the wall and grab his shoulders just as Jeremy did a second ago, but instead he's banging Tyler into the hard wood. Tyler pushes forward and Matt stumbles back. Jeremy struggles to get up, but he wheezes in pain; it feels as if he's broken a rib.
Panic seizes him when he sees Tyler's expression through watering eyes; he looks murderous and it only gets worse when Matt, his own chest rising and falling rapidly, gives a nasty smirk and spits out "You goddamn faggot."
Hurt licks sharply at Jeremy's insides, but he can't pay attention to that now, not when Tyler lets out something similar to a roar and the fury radiates off of his body as he rushes forward to tackle Matt. They hit the hard wood floor again, and Tyler sits up enough to wrap his hand around Matt's neck. He bangs Matt's head against the wood floor and Jeremy struggles to sit up enough to crawl over to them. But it makes no difference because before he can make his way over, there is a flash of red and high heels, and Tyler is suddenly thrown across the room. He hits the opposite wall but immediately tries to scramble to his feet. Matt does as well, even though he is unsteady. Blood is streaked across his face.
Caroline stands in the middle of them, looking furious. "What is going on?" No one answers, and Matt makes another move to get at Tyler. "Stop," she shouts, but it's like Matt can't even hear her.
He tries to push around her, saying "I have to finish." To Jeremy's confusion, Caroline is able to keep him easily at bay despite being significantly smaller than Matt and she gives him a strange look before shocking Jeremy even more, and stops him with an elbow to the face. She's a vampire, he recalls suddenly as Matt crumples a few feet away from where Jeremy is resting back on his elbows.
Tyler straightens up, using the wall for support; his body shakes from rage and he makes a move towards Matt's still body, but Caroline stops him. "What happened?" she demands.
"He came at me." Tyler bites out, eyes never leaving Matt's form. Jeremy has never seen Tyler look like this before -even when he was fighting Jeremy himself, there was no trace of that odd gleam in his eyes or such a focus that he couldn't be torn away.
Jeremy attempts to stand again, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, and Tyler's eyes finally move away from Matt. "Jere," the frightening gleam seeps away a bit and he sounds concerned. He's starting to move forward when it happens.
Sarah steps from the shadows and says something that Jeremy doesn't understand. If Matt failed what? But he has no time to figure it out because she's picked up something sharp - he can see it glint in the low light of the room. Caroline's warning of 'Tyler look out' rings through the room, and Tyler whips around in time for Sarah to stab him in the shoulder. Tyler cries out in pain and pushes her away roughly. She stumbles and trips on the overturned table and goes down. The sound her skull and neck make as they hit the edge of the desk makes Jeremy's stomach roll.
Tyler fingers his wound before he drops to his knees next to Sarah's body and begins shaking her. De ja vu hits Jeremy like a wave, but it passes seconds later when Sarah doesn't open her eyes and say psych. Her eyes remain closed, and her body limp, and it doesn't matter how much Tyler calls her name, telling her to wake up, she doesn't. Finally he stops shaking her, and from is vantage, Jeremy can see he's just staring down at the body in shock. God, the body, Jeremy thinks and he feels sick.
He can see Tyler start to tremble and Jeremy's alarm sky rockets.
"Tyler," he says and he can hear the distress in his voice but Tyler doesn't answer. Instead he raises quickly to his feet and backs into a corner, eyes looking wild. "This can't happen, this can't happen" he says over and over and suddenly he's doubling over. Both Caroline and Jeremy call out his name but he doesn't respond except to let out a gasp of what sounds like pain. He straightens up and his hands fist near his head. He lets out another choked gasp and he falls to his knees, body tight as if in the throes of a seizure. Jeremy forgets all about the pain in his chest and ignores the sharp tug at his muscles as he moves quickly over to Tyler. "Tyler? Tyler what's happening? Tyler-" he finally gets close enough to grab onto Tyler's shoulder, but removes his hand quickly, as if burned, when Tyler finally looks up and their eyes meet.
Jeremy feels as if his racing heart has stopped mid-beat when he looks into Tyler's glowing yellow irises.
( Part Fifteen)
Author: coquilleon
Pairing: Tyler/Jeremy
Based on: TV series
Spoilers: Season 2
Disclaimers: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.
"Are you sure that she should be out of the hospital already?" The question is directed at Alaric even though Jenna is the one who answers. Jeremy ignores Elena completely. He's still livid with her.
"I'll be fine. I just have to manage not to be a klutz while laying completely still on the couch." She hobbles over to the living room, arm around Matt's shoulder. Jeremy isn't so sure about her being alright. She just got stabbed -stabbed herself. Jeremy's anger rises - last night and the hospital has already released her. "I mean, who walks into a knife?"
Jeremy waits until Matt has Jenna facing away from him before he pushes himself roughly away from the wall. He turns around to go into the kitchen and knows that Elena will follow, but he still doesn't acknowledge her. He can't believe that there has been a dangerous, psychotic vampire who looks exactly like her (a doppelganger, she called it) running around Mystic Falls and she never bothered to mention it to him. He had to hear about Katherine, and all the insanity she has caused, for the first time, in a hospital waiting room wondering if another member of his family was going to bleed out on an operating table.
He couldn't get anything out of Elena at first. He'd been searching of Tyler in the crowd of volunteers, intent on getting some more alone time with him, when he'd gotten a call on his cell phone, picking up only to hear between Elena's hysterical sobs that he needed to come to the hospital right away and that Jenna had been hurt. It had taken close to a half an hour for Elena to calm down enough to explain everything; that Katherine had said that she supposedly came back to town for Stefan. That she had killed Caroline (and this is where Jeremy begins to gape disbelievingly) and had turned her into a vampire. They, Elena, Stefan, Damon, and even fucking Alaric, had all figured out that what Katherine really wanted was the moonstone, and the only way that they could have possibly found out what she needed it for was to torture and fucking kill Mason Lockwood, and that that's exactly what they had done. And that is why Jenna was in the hospital; Katherine's revenge.
Jeremy is still in a state of shock. He was under the impression that Elena had stopped hiding stuff like this from him, but obviously he was wrong. So, so incredibly wrong.
He's in the kitchen now, and he can hear her behind him setting down a bag of groceries.
"Jere-"
"Elena," he turns. He feels so tired. "Seriously. Just don't. There is literally nothing you can say that will make this alright."
"I was just trying to-"
"Protect me? Yeah, I know. I got that message the first time with what happened with Vicky." She shifts uncomfortably and he continues. "And you know, it took a while to get over it, what you did regarding that because I guess in some Elena essence it made sense. But I can't begin to think when not letting me know when someone with my sister's face is running around tearing up the town is best for me. I don't even understand how you thought that I would be better off not knowing weather or not I was talking to you was a smart choice. She is you, Elena. She could have been in this house, I could have spoken to her and I wouldn't even know!" She doesn't say anything in the face of his anger-laden words, and he sighs and shakes his head. "Stop trying to protect me, Elena. You aren't good at it."
He doesn't stick around to take in her hurt expression, and walks around her heading into the living room.
"Can I get you anything, Jenna?"
"Oh, no I'm fine." She cranes her head around to look at the clock on the mantel. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the Lockwood party?"
"I'm not going to that thing. You just came out of the hospital."
She waves her hand dismissively. "I'll be fine. Alaric is coming over in a few minutes and Elena is staying home tonight."
"Why isn't Elena going?"
"Well, it's understandable, after her and Stefan breaking up. I know I always avoided parties where my ex would be. I still do actually."
The rustling of the grocery bag in the kitchen has stopped but, Jeremy doesn't look back.
"Still, I think I'll just stay-"
"No," Jenna says firmly. "Go. I'll be in more than capable hands. Plus I want to see you in that suit."
Jeremy debates it; she really would be fine without him here. He doesn't know what help he could offer anyway. And then there's the chance of seeing Tyler...
As if hearing his thoughts, Jenna says, "And won't Tyler be expecting you?"
Jeremy thinks about it for just a moment longer, remembers Tyler's fingers lingering on his wrist. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess he is."
=..=..=
Tyler doesn't want to be in this room, let alone at this party. Where he really wants to be is... actually anywhere else but here. Somewhere with Jeremy, he thinks and a small smile lifts his lips. Their short encounter yesterday had left him with higher hopes, especially since Jere hadn't mentioned the whole thing with Sarah falling. Maybe he hadn't noticed how I reacted. It had been hard not telling Jeremy that he did know more, but he had told some truth; he really didn't know what the moonstone was for, and Mason was sorry for threatening him.
Their talk on the staircase that night had been a comforting one, with Mason assuring Tyler that he wasn't a monster and that his urges could be controlled. "You're only a monster if you want to be one," he'd said. "Yeah, at first you thought it would be cool, but you realized it isn't what you wanted." He'd put his hand on the nape of Tyler's bowed neck then, warm and reassuring. "You're a good kid Tyler." It had taken an immense weight off of his shoulders, and Tyler couldn't be more grateful. He hoped Mason knew. He's going to make sure he'll let him know as soon as he gets a chance, but he doesn't know when that will be.
His brow furrows; he hasn't seen Mason for a while now, come to think of it. He hadn't asked his mother where he was last night because Tyler assumed he was spending the night wherever he usually does, but he hadn't seen Mason this morning or so far at the party...
He's pulled by his thoughts by a drunken giggle. He doesn't really know why he's in his father's office. It doesn't exactly bring up great memories of both past and recent, but here he is, perched on the arm of a leather chair trying to look interested as Sarah drinks and Matt continues to get wasted, the latter of which makes him worry. Sure, he hasn't chilled with him for a while but, last time he checked, Matt doesn't get wasted. He barely ever drinks, but tonight he's edging on the side of belligerent.
"So, what happened to Aimee?" Sarah asks as she finishes pouring a drink. She steps to the side, staggering a bit, but finds her balance again quickly.
"I don't know, she disappeared," Matt shrugs and takes a swallow straight from the big clear bottle in his hand.
Tyler shrugs. "She's probably drunk some where."
"Like me." Matt stands up from where he was seated on the hard wood desk, and tilts the bottle in his hand so the clear liquid spills onto the expensive, embellished rug and polished floor.
"Whoa, don't do that." Tyler's confusion towards Matt's actions tonight deepen, and he watches an insolent smile, foreign to Matt's features, spreads over his face.
"What man? It's a party." Matt's lazy eyes slide over to a framed picture of his father and mother that sits on the corner of the desk, and he reaches over to pick it up, smirk widening. "Right, Dad?" Tyler watches in disbelief as Matt unscrews the bottle of alcohol with one hand and tilts it over the picture. "You know, looks like your dad wants a drink." The strong smelling liquid sloshes onto the glass and over the edges and the mild confusion Tyler felt morphs into full blown, tinted with anger. He stands quickly. "Hey, that's not cool," he moves forward, "what's wrong with you?"
Matt laughs and throws his hands to the side. "What? The guy was a dick!" He laughs some more and Tyler's anger spikes. He barely hears Sarah tell Matt to knock it off and, apparently, neither does Matt because he yanks the picture away from Tyler's reach, vodka flying into the air, and a glint appears in his eyes. "You remember how your dad used to slap you around?" The sharp sting of Matt's words are accompanied by the sharp sting of an actual slap against Tyler's face.
Tyler's disbelief redoubles; why the hell is Matt doing this? His eyes scan his best friend's face but it gives no indication as to why this is happening right now. "Are you kidding?" He has to ask, this has to be a joke because Matt has never acted like this, not once. Has never shown the animosity towards Tyler that he's showing now.
"Just having fun," Matt says, his voice low and threatening despite the easy smile on his face. Tyler's eyes narrow as he takes a careful step forward. "You know all about having fun, isn't that what you and Jeremy call it, when you fuck each other." Tyler's blood runs cold, and his mind flashes back to Matt's contemplative look that afternoon of the Bri Lancaster misunderstanding. He knew Matt would figure it out, but he never thought he would react like this. He tries to ignore the hurt he feels as Matt's words sink in, and more importantly the rage that is building inside of him. He doesn't want to discuss this now, especially with Sarah in the room. Matt waves the picture, "Bet dear ol Dad would hate that."
Tyler tries to focus on not allowing the instinctual need to fight to overwhelm him, tries to ignore the thrumming in his veins. "Put the picture down man." The words are barely out of his mouth before Matt brings his hand down quickly, smashing the picture and it's frame on the edge of the desk, and Tyler pulls back sharply as glass shards fly everywhere. He walks forward immediately, hands out and puts his hands on Matt's shoulders. "Okay, you need to calm your drunk ass down right now." He tries to calm him, but Matt resists, pushing him back roughly.
"Do something about it," he taunts, moving into Tyler's personal space.
Tyler takes a deep breath; the anger is pushing up underneath his skin, trying to get out. But he won't let it, he doesn't want to hurt Matt. "I'm not going to fight you," He says in a steady voice. He stands his ground as Matt moves closer, his normally light blue eyes dark and glittering from blown pupils. His expression is an odd combination of vacant and determined, and Tyler's pulse races at the sight. Matt's not in is right mind and Tyler doesn't have a clue why this is happening right now-
Matt's attack is sudden, and the tackle knocks the wind out of his lungs and both of them to the ground. He sees Matt draw his fist back and then pain radiates through his face as bone collides against bone again and again, and just like that, the barely restrained aggression that has been simmering for days erupts and Tyler sees red.
=..=..=
He'd ignored Stefan and Damon where they stood side by side on top of the stairs that faced into the large backyard and had given Bonnie a small smile in greeting when he'd seen her hovering near the dining room, but besides that Jeremy hasn't stopped to acknowledge much of anyone. He floats around, trying to catch a glimpse of Tyler, but so far he's had no luck.
He's taking a sip from his glass when he remembers that Tyler hates these things. He'd complain about how his mother would throw these lavish 'charity events' under the guise of it being the late Mayor Lockwood's last ideas, when really it was just something to keep her mind of off everything. He hates these things - of course he wouldn't be in the main crowd. Jeremy recalls where he'd found Tyler during his father's funeral and makes a beeline for the darker lit hallway. When he gets there, though, it's empty and he's about to turn back and check upstairs in Tyler's bedroom when he hears a noise.
He walks slowly further down the hallway and pauses when he hears a crash and muffled voices. He gets closer to the door that is ajar when he hears another curse, and when he recognizes who it is he moves closer to swing the door open quickly. What he walks into makes him freeze in the doorway. He barely notices Sarah standing in the corner, oddly quiet, and only registers what's going on in the middle of the room.
Tyler is on top of Matt, fists clenched in the other boy's lapels. They struggle, a mass of expensive black fabric that is becoming increasingly wrinkled. Matt's hand comes up to wrap around Tyler's throat and it looks as if he's trying to flip them over, but Tyler isn't having it; he pulls his fist back and punches Matt in the jaw. And he pulls back and does it again, and again, and again, and Jeremy's brain finally unfreezes and he rushes forward. He bends down and wraps his arms around Tyler's waist, hauling him off of Matt who, despite his bloody face and increasingly swollen eye, jumps up right away.
Jeremy rips off his mask and pushes Tyler back, but keeps his hand on the other boy's rapidly falling and rising chest. "What the fuck are you doing?" He demands. Tyler doesn't answer; his eyes are bright and angry. Jeremy turns to face him fully and grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him slightly. "What's going on-" His words are cut off as he's thrown to the side, and the wind is knocked painfully out of his lungs when he hits the edge of the hard wood table, which flips, ribs first. He groans, and sharp pain lances through his chest. He turns his head to see Matt push Tyler into the wall and grab his shoulders just as Jeremy did a second ago, but instead he's banging Tyler into the hard wood. Tyler pushes forward and Matt stumbles back. Jeremy struggles to get up, but he wheezes in pain; it feels as if he's broken a rib.
Panic seizes him when he sees Tyler's expression through watering eyes; he looks murderous and it only gets worse when Matt, his own chest rising and falling rapidly, gives a nasty smirk and spits out "You goddamn faggot."
Hurt licks sharply at Jeremy's insides, but he can't pay attention to that now, not when Tyler lets out something similar to a roar and the fury radiates off of his body as he rushes forward to tackle Matt. They hit the hard wood floor again, and Tyler sits up enough to wrap his hand around Matt's neck. He bangs Matt's head against the wood floor and Jeremy struggles to sit up enough to crawl over to them. But it makes no difference because before he can make his way over, there is a flash of red and high heels, and Tyler is suddenly thrown across the room. He hits the opposite wall but immediately tries to scramble to his feet. Matt does as well, even though he is unsteady. Blood is streaked across his face.
Caroline stands in the middle of them, looking furious. "What is going on?" No one answers, and Matt makes another move to get at Tyler. "Stop," she shouts, but it's like Matt can't even hear her.
He tries to push around her, saying "I have to finish." To Jeremy's confusion, Caroline is able to keep him easily at bay despite being significantly smaller than Matt and she gives him a strange look before shocking Jeremy even more, and stops him with an elbow to the face. She's a vampire, he recalls suddenly as Matt crumples a few feet away from where Jeremy is resting back on his elbows.
Tyler straightens up, using the wall for support; his body shakes from rage and he makes a move towards Matt's still body, but Caroline stops him. "What happened?" she demands.
"He came at me." Tyler bites out, eyes never leaving Matt's form. Jeremy has never seen Tyler look like this before -even when he was fighting Jeremy himself, there was no trace of that odd gleam in his eyes or such a focus that he couldn't be torn away.
Jeremy attempts to stand again, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, and Tyler's eyes finally move away from Matt. "Jere," the frightening gleam seeps away a bit and he sounds concerned. He's starting to move forward when it happens.
Sarah steps from the shadows and says something that Jeremy doesn't understand. If Matt failed what? But he has no time to figure it out because she's picked up something sharp - he can see it glint in the low light of the room. Caroline's warning of 'Tyler look out' rings through the room, and Tyler whips around in time for Sarah to stab him in the shoulder. Tyler cries out in pain and pushes her away roughly. She stumbles and trips on the overturned table and goes down. The sound her skull and neck make as they hit the edge of the desk makes Jeremy's stomach roll.
Tyler fingers his wound before he drops to his knees next to Sarah's body and begins shaking her. De ja vu hits Jeremy like a wave, but it passes seconds later when Sarah doesn't open her eyes and say psych. Her eyes remain closed, and her body limp, and it doesn't matter how much Tyler calls her name, telling her to wake up, she doesn't. Finally he stops shaking her, and from is vantage, Jeremy can see he's just staring down at the body in shock. God, the body, Jeremy thinks and he feels sick.
He can see Tyler start to tremble and Jeremy's alarm sky rockets.
"Tyler," he says and he can hear the distress in his voice but Tyler doesn't answer. Instead he raises quickly to his feet and backs into a corner, eyes looking wild. "This can't happen, this can't happen" he says over and over and suddenly he's doubling over. Both Caroline and Jeremy call out his name but he doesn't respond except to let out a gasp of what sounds like pain. He straightens up and his hands fist near his head. He lets out another choked gasp and he falls to his knees, body tight as if in the throes of a seizure. Jeremy forgets all about the pain in his chest and ignores the sharp tug at his muscles as he moves quickly over to Tyler. "Tyler? Tyler what's happening? Tyler-" he finally gets close enough to grab onto Tyler's shoulder, but removes his hand quickly, as if burned, when Tyler finally looks up and their eyes meet.
Jeremy feels as if his racing heart has stopped mid-beat when he looks into Tyler's glowing yellow irises.
( Part Fifteen)