Jeremy could feel it. The warmth of a pair lips pressed to his temple. If he relinquished sleep's hold on his senses he could feel the whole warmth of a body surrounding his. A tiny grin made its way onto his face, giving his state of consciousness away to the man currently holding him.

"I know you're awake Jer. Stop pretending." Tyler's husky voice uttered in his ear, his breath tickling his neck and sending shivers down Jeremy's spine.

He opened one eye and then the other before his face broke into a full-fledged grin.

"Good morning handsome." Jeremy propped himself up on his elbow, creating a slight distance between the two of them but this was soon remedied to as he leaned in to kiss him softly. "See? This morning you didn't even have to ask." There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, which just turned Tyler on.

"Less talking please." He grabbed onto the back of his neck and pulled him closer for another kiss, a more heated one this time. His warm hand had quickly moved from the back of his hand to trail down his bare chest and to tug on the cord of his pyjama pants.

This simple movement of his hand against his bare skin was enough to elicit a soft groan and an immediately more pliant Jeremy.

"Ty…" He mumbled against his lips as he pulled back and rested his forehead against Tyler's. His own hand was now resting on Tyler's chest, above his heart.

"I know. We've got school." Tyler moved his arms and circled them around Jeremy's waist to draw him closer. He stroked his back gently as Jeremy's arms went to rest around his neck and his face rested in the crook of his neck.

Nothing felt more natural in the world than Tyler holding him like this and kissing his face absentmindedly. It felt nice. Like nothing he'd ever felt before. The simple thought terrified him. This wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be secret experimenting, not a complete secret relationship. The thought of ever losing Tyler terrorised him. His body language must have changed because Tyler stopped and looked down at him with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay?"

"Fine." He nodded with a tight-lipped smile. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Oh you know… stuff."

"If you say so." He grumbled but planted a tender kiss on his jaw and began to nibble on his earlobe.

"Tyler…" Jeremy moaned as he felt his soft lips on his warm skin. His eyes fluttered shut giving him a vulnerable expression of pleasure. "I love you." He said; his cheeks flushed bright red.

His eyes snapped open and Tyler pulled away as soon as he'd said those words.

"Ty…"

"Just. Maybe we should cool it for a while Gilbert." He grabbed his clothes and stormed off without being noticed by any other inhabitant of the Gilbert house.

A single tear rolled down Jeremy's cheek, leading the way for a whole torrent of them to burn his face. Stupidity and guilt flooded him. How had he slipped up? Why? Now he'd lost Tyler forever and he couldn't cope with that. He stayed that way; with those same thoughts running through his mind, for what seemed an eternity before mustering the energy to get out of bed and get himself to school before the end of lunch.

Jeremy crept into the cafeteria and kept his glance fixed to his feet while he slid into the routine he should have found in the morning. He couldn't do it though. He could see Tyler and his friends in the corner of his eye. The pain was too much for him to handle; he went running out to the bathroom where he locked himself in a cubicle and broke down again.

Little did he know that the older boy had seen every last of his action and had followed him to the bathroom. The sound of Jeremy's sobs echoed within Tyler and broke his heart in the slightest way. He banged forcefully on the door.

"Jer…" He whispered soothingly. "Let me in."

"Fuck off." He muttered shakily. "I'm just your dirty little secret… but you're my… I…" He cut himself off before he repeated his mistake of the morning.

"You're not. I swear. Now please…"

"It's fine. I get it. You're Tyler fucking Lockwood and I'm Jeremy Gilbert. I'm nothing compared to you. I'm just a toy to you. A dirty little secret."

"Stop. You're not…" Tears pricked his eyes and he bit his lip to hold them back before he cleared his throat and banged more angrily on the door. "Open this door or so help me God I will break this door down."

Jeremy seemed to take him seriously as the door swung open, revealing the state he was in. Tyler sucked in a breath and immediately felt guilty as he realised it was because of him.

"I'm sorry." Tyler closed the door and tugged on his hands so he came stumbling towards him. "I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around Jeremy and kissed his hair softly as he made circular motions on his back to calm him down. Just like that Jeremy relaxed into his arms and all his hurt vanished.

"I'm sorry for…"

"Don't. It's not-"

"But the agreement was-"

"Things change Jeremy. People change." He cut him off and stepped back a little so he could cup Jeremy's tear-stained face in his hands.

"You haven't though… This morning you…"

"You caught me off guard. In case you haven't realised… No one's loved me before. No one who I've loved back anyway." Tyler murmured his breath catching in his throat.

"You?" Jeremy asked, shock visible on his face.

"I do," was all Tyler could say before he pulled his face towards his gently and sealed his promise with a kiss. It was unspoken but it was true, Tyler would love Jeremy forever as Jeremy would love him forever.