In The Moonlight
:a Tyam Story
"Not everyone thinks Tyler Lockwood is hot." I called to Caroline.
She knew all too well that I was lying through my teeth, her bouncing blonde curls tossed over her shoulder, rolling her eyes.
"Mhm, Liam, sure."
Caroline Forbes had been my best friend since I was tragically forced to move to Mystic Falls, Virginia what seemed like a lifetime ago. After the Hale House fire had spooked my mother, she had gathered me up and moved us clean across the country and settled here. As I was forbidden to even contact my sister back home the last few years would have been excruciating with her and Bonnie Bennett.
In fact, I had become so close to the girls that I was able to tell them my greatest secret...
Well, my second greatest secret.
As I came over of the closet in what was a surprise to no one really, they made is easy, accepting me and supporting me even as I came out to the entire school. I had never been one to hide the fact, but there was still power in giving it voice and the pair had been a crucial in my path towards living out and proud.
If only being a witch could have been confessed so easily.
The years of keeping my crush a secret were gone. Whispered to the girls in private, I mooned over none other than Tyler Lockwood, telling them of the crush I had basically carried since the first day I lay eyes on him years ago. Never had I found myself so drawn to someone, not even my hometown crush of Scott McCall. When Tyler smiled my stomach was filled with butterflies and on the rare occasion that we spoke over the years I had found myself a bashful mess.
Anyone who knew me could tell you that was way out of character.
Here we were on the first day of Freshmen year and Caroline, a sophomore, was already teasing me as Tyler stood off in the distance. Standing with his best friend, Matt Donovan, the pair physically looked like night and day but it was a shock to no one that girls flocked to them... even if Matt was taken. My eyes saw nothing but Tyler, though.
He ran his fingers through his dark locks, his smouldering eyes trained on a cheerleader I vaguely recognize and I pursed my lips. Caroline gripped me by my jacket and tugged me along, but with one final look over in their direction I feigned a sneeze. Abruptly, as my intentions were made manifest by my magic, the girl fumbled with her coffee (no doubt something pumpkin spiced) 'accidentally' spilling it all down her front.
Oops.
"Bless you." Caroline said, looking at me with concern.
Thanking her, I waved off her concern as we continued toward the front doors of Mystic Falls High.
"You're not getting sick are you? You know I need you for the competition routine and I can't rework it."
It was my turn not to roll my eyes, waving her worries away yet again, "You're being dramatic, Care. Cheer competition is months away."
"Yes," she qualified with that expression that let me know there was a 'but' coming, "But we will be one of the only squads with a guy on the team and I need you at every practice until then so that you will be in peak form."
I couldnt help but laugh. This was just how Caroline was, a control freak no doubt, but for good reason.
Looking over my shoulder as Caroline and I entered the school, I spotted Tyler offering the girl a napkin with a wary expression as he and Matt suddenly seemed to make an excuse to leave the fretting girl. I should have felt bad, but what was the good in being a witch if I couldn't have a little fun with the competition.
As if I, myself, even had a chance.
Meeting up with Bonnie, the three of us walked together to our lockers and began putting some of our things away. It was the first day and already Caroline was making plans about dances and future events as Bonnie and I dutifully listened with barely contained amusement.
I honestly had missed it because having to go through my 8th grade year without the girls had been a challenge. It was different being the new guy in a town, something I had never had to do back home, and they had been two of the only people to make me feel welcome without question. Even now there were not that many people in my grade or below that I had bonded with aside from maybe Jeremy Gilbert, who was a bit of a golden boy goody two shoes which made it really hard to relate to him… that and I couldn't stand his sister.
Elena Gilbert was the bane of my existence. For one, she always seemed to one up Caroline without any concern for the feelings of her so called friend, and for another she completely took Matt for granted. Everyone seemed to give the girl a pass on everything she did, like they had all drank the same kool-aid in the 'Elena is a good girl' cult. I just saw her for what she was and that was a self involved bitch.
Excuse my French.
Regardless of all of that, I was happy to be here in my first year of high school and reunited with my best friends. Even if I missed my sister and best friend Derek back home it was easy to forget a little of the heartache when they were near. It was easy to fall into their infectious laughter and let go a little bit.
All in all Mystic Falls was not a bad place to be. The town had been founded by supernaturals and was a heaven of sorts for them, though the mortals of the town seemed to have long forgotten. That was what made the town such a nice place to live, or so my mother said.
The Lockwood's had long forgotten that they were from a line of werewolves. The Bennett's all attributed Grams' ramblings about witchcraft to the nonsense of a eccentric old woman. Even the Salvatore's, or what was left of them, seemed to have forgotten the old tales of the doomed brother's who had once caused this town to implode with it's very own version of Salem.
My mother, however, had not forgotten any of it.
Dutifully, like the rich, socialite, elitist witch that she was, she gossiped about every single one of their histories. I knew the power hidden within Bonnie, I knew the horror stories around the Salvatore Boarding House, but none of it vexed me the way that the curse above Tyler's head did.
One mistake, one wrong move and he would be forced to turn into a wolf and lose control of himself… a much different curse than the one that I was used to back in Beacon Hills.
I wanted to tell him, to warn him, but how could I? He was the mayor's son, popular and with all the right friends. He had everything going for him in a world that was not plagued by the supernatural horrors I had seen.
Me? To him I couldn't have seemed more than the token new guy who was now the token gay attached to the popular girl's hip. Had he ever been unkind to me? No. The few times we had talked it had been pleasant enough… well, if I could have opened my damn mouth to speak a proper sentence it would have been better, but I digress.
I didn't stand a chance of getting a guy like Tyler to believe me about the potential curse, let alone be interested in me romantically. I suffered no delusions of that, but this year I hoped to at least be his friend. That at least would have been nice. Much better than me forgetting how my tongue worked and just clamming up like a mute.
So embarrassing.
The first day over and done, I found myself leaving cheerleading practice a little more annoyed than I should have been. The entire practice I had spent biting my tongue as Caroline and Elena 'disagreed' (which was just a polite way of saying argued) over the steps in our routine, and by the end of it I was glad to be done. Walking together with Bonnie and Caroline it was no surprise as I found my eyes lingering on the football players in the distance upon the green field.
Eyes searched the sea of clashing figures as they ran plays, but I was really just looking for one in particular.
"Looking for your beau?" Caroline teased.
I shook my head, giving her a quick glance but she only laughed.
"You don't have to lie to me, Liam Martin."
I stammered and hugged my books to my chest feeling flustered.
Sure I had talked to them freely about Tyler in the past, but I felt like talking about it here with him so close was risky. For all the finer qualities of this small Virgina town it was still a small town and all that it took was one person overhearing Caroline for it to turn into wildfire gossip.
Bonnie saved me, bless her, "Caroline, leave him be. His ears are turning red."
She wasn't lying.
Caroline sighed as Bonnie stepped on her good time, pouting. Suddenly, she stopped and a light began to dance in her eyes as glanced from me, to the boys and then back again.
"Uh oh." Bonnie and I said in unison.
Pouting again instantly, she stomped and put her hands on her hips, "Oh, you guys are both no fun. I haven't even told you my idea yet."
"And we already know it is a scheme." I said, laughing.
"And we will have to do something neither of us want to do." Bonnie added.
She looked from one to the other with the look of a petulant child.
"At least hear me out?"
My baby blue eyes swept to meet Bonnie's gaze and we both sighed. There was really no point in denying her because at the end of the day Caroline Forbes gets what she wants and when she got what she wanted she was happy and we liked it when she was happy.
We both conceded defeat, "Fine."
She squealed and clapped her hands in excitement, "Okay, leave it all up to me, but don't the two of you dare make plans for the weekend until I tell you."
For the next few days I waited anxiously for her little scheme to unfold but each day I would ask her and each day she would tell me to wait. When Friday finally dawned on us I thought that surely whatever she had cooked up had fallen through but as the afternoon neared and I made my way to lunch I quickly found everyone buzzing about something. There was not a single doubt in my mind this was Caroline's doing.
Making my way through the mass of students, I walked with my tray of food to the table we normally sat at. Caroline was flitting about the room, slipping slips of paper into the hands of whoever she deemed worthy and looking gleeful in the act. I took my seat next to Bonnie, looking around at the circle of familiar faces to see if maybe one of them knew what was happening. Tyler, Matt, Elena, and Bonnie's eyes all seemed focused on a flier and soon I was passed one of my own.
It read as follows:
"Lockwood Lock-in Camping Trip.
All cheerleaders and football player attendance is mandatory.
Check in Friday night AFTER the game.
Check out Sunday morning
Bring your sleeping bags and campfire songs to the Lockwood Estate.
No Alcohol, just good clean fun."
Internally I was already letting out a groan as my eyes finished scanning the paper.
Looking up once more to see if anyone was as appalled as I was, but to my dismay all of them, even Tyler, seemed pleasantly amused.
He looked up as I gazed upon his handsome features and my heart did that jumping somersault thing that it did every single time he acknowledged my existence. He smiled with cool confidence, vaguely amused by something that I was not privy to and I felt like I was melting into my chair.
"Did you know about this whole deal?" I asked.
This was a step up from the stupid that came out of my mouth usually in his presence, which was definitely progress.
He laughed and shook his head, "Nah, but I am guessing Miss Mystic Falls worked the whole thing out with my mom or dad."
"Mom." Caroline said, appearing out of nowhere and taking the seat on the other side of me and thankfully separating me from Elena. "Mrs. Lockwood thought it would be a fantastic bonding experience for us and a great way from keeping Tyler from drinking and shacking up with some girl."
"Pfft, like that will stop him." Matt snorted, "This is just easy access."
Tyler side eyed him with that cocky smile and a part of me gave a dreamy sigh. Thank the lord no one at this table could hear my inner monologue.
"You know I'm breaking this 'no alcohol' rule, right?" He said, leaning forward and waving the flier at her as he continued to smirk at her.
She pretended to be innocent, "I have no idea what you mean."
Looking between the two of them I already knew that either one of them or both were already plotting to get kegs and whatever else we might need. Hell if Caroline had not secretly planned to have kegs there I would have been shocked. This was sure to be a weekend that I would remember. One way or the other.
I should have been happy about this because it meant not havin to go home to my mother and deal with her madness. Things were... complicated. Being a witch made everything complicated and as none of them knew my secret sleep overs could be hard. I couldn't exactly explain away random levitating in my sleep to them, now could I?
My mother had not been happy when I told her of my plans. Not for normal mother reasons, of course, but because she had planned an entire weekend of witch studies to help my powers along in their growth. She longed for the day when I would become powerful enough for her to use me for her own personal gain… but that was another story entirely. One that would take too much of your time to dig into right here and now.
As the day wore on into night, it was, as fate would have it, a great night for Caroline's even. The stars were bright in the cloudless sky and the full moon hung like a gem amongst them. Even the weather was agreeable; still warm enough that everyone could the lake on the Lockwood grounds. What was even more lucky was that the Mystic Falls Varsity team won the game and as a result everyone was amped up and ready to celebrate.
As Sheriff Forbes dropped myself, Caroline and Bonnie off, I was stopped as the girls went along to the tents we had set up before the game. Already the bonfire could be seen dancing in the distant gloom of the woods and if you listened hard enough you could hear the laughter of the partygoers.
"Liam, watch out for my girl, yeah?" She asked, her brows knitting as she watched Caroline laughing and vanishing into the brush with Bonnie.
For a moment I wondered what it was like to have a mom that cared that much; like really cared about your well being. It must have been a nice feeling to know that someone cared that much, to be secure in that feeling of love and support no matter what you did.
"Yes ma'am." I said finally, nodding politely.
"You're one of the good ones." The sheriff smiled fondly.
With a wink the woman put her cruiser back into gear and was off.
Even now, at the entrance to the Lockwood Estate, I could hear the base from the music pumping through the night air. I knew for a fact there would be more than just the team here tonight, but that was not my worry. My worry was that I would slip up somehow, someway.
Take your pick on my meaning because I was worried about both.
Being a witch was just as dangerous a truth as being in love with the straightest guy in Mystic Falls. Both of them were secrets I guarded highly.
As I made my way from the drive that lead to the large house in the distance, I looked to it and wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood were home. They had always seemed very laid back on the outside, but I knew a little more than I should have on that front.
The gleaming windows were warm with the light within, but I knew the whispered stories of the controlling nature of the Mayor. I had heard Matt and Tyler themselves whispering more than a few times about things dealing with Tyler's father but it was never my place to say or do anything as much as I would have liked to.
To everyone at school Tyler was the player. He was confident, blunt, and a bit rude, which made him a bit like the male version of Caroline. He carried himself with the swagger of the male who had the key to the city… but his eyes told that there was so much more to him than the party boy persona that he had donned since starting high school.
Even though I knew all of this there was still a layer of Tyler that had always been untouchable to me and I guess everyone else for that matter. He had things that he hid and I was not one to begrudge him that because that would have made me a hypocrite. I had too many secrets of my own, and as I was not the friend to him that Matt was it was not my place to pry for these secrets.
It wasn't hard to find my way to the spot that the girls and I had put up our tents; one for me and one for them. This spot was in fact the very place that we always designated to meet up should we lose each other at a party or something go wrong… until we got our cell phone, that was. But this was still our spot nonetheless.
I could hear the girls giggling in their own tent, no doubt getting changed from their cheerleading uniforms. Climbing into my own, I rid myself of the uniform, pulling on a pair of tan shorts, black flip flops, and a deep cutting, loose white muscle shirt.
"This is what normal kids do." I whispered to myself.
But I was not normal, the voice in my head whispered back.
As a child the only sleepovers I had been allowed to have had been with my sister or Derek Hale. While Derek was in the know of my true nature, as was his family, my sister was not, but back then my powers were not as strong as they had become lately.
Every year they seemed to grow a little more, and every year I tried to force them a little deeper down inside of me as if by doing so I could deny their existence. My mother wanted me to be this powerful witch. She wanted to exploit the power and use it to attain what she thought was her proper place in the world but all I wanted to do was live a normal life with my friends.
"Liam, you coming?" Bonnie called just outside my tent.
Smoothing myself over, I unzipped the door and climbed out with a smile to the girls that waited just on the other side. Bonnie offered me her hand and I took it and the three of us walked hand in hand. Emerging from the woods we saw clearly now the roaring bonfire and all the students gathered around it. Some danced, some sat and talked, and some were lined up at the keg, ready to get their drink on.
Honestly it was hard not to feel the infectious exuberance that was wafting off of the crowd. I felt myself worrying a little less as Bonnie and I grinned at Caroline. She had thrown this all together in a matter of days like it was nothing. The girl had a gift and there was no denying that.
She lead us over to the keg, getting herself and the two of us solo cups and filling them with the frothing beer. Taking a sip, I made a little bit of a face as the taste hit my tongue. Yes, this was my first beer. Don't be so judgy.
With a glance over to Bonnie I laughed as I noticed that she was making the very same face. Caroline, the seasoned pro of parties that she was, drank the beer as if it were nothing while she scanned the line of faces. She was on the hunt.
Bonnie and I soldiered up, drinking from our cups and soon finding that the taste wasn't as bad as the first sip. Maybe that was the buzz talking, but regardless, the more I drank the less the taste bothered me.
Being a whole what of one hundred and fifteen pounds I was filling it.
Again, don't be so judgy.
Pulled into a game of beer pong with some of the upper class meat heads on the team, Caroline, Bonnie and I were getting into the swing of the party. Even Matt and Elena seemed to have forgone their usual fighting and were having a good time with everyone else.
The music kept to the tempo of the party, swaying our moods and keeping us on a continuous high of youthful decadence. The teens around me danced, laughing and having the time of our lives like nothing else in the world mattered, and for a few moments I really did feel like a normal teen.
I was here with my friends and I was accepted. I belonged here.
As Caroline began to flirt with one of the jocks that had played us in beer pong, Bonnie and I decided to wingman for her and distract the other two. Did I use a little magic to speed the process along? You bet your ass. It was a sloppy spell that I sent out, but it quickly had the boys going off to bother anyone else once it became clear that they were both vying for rights to spend the night with the ebony goddess at my side.
Bonnie was not like most girls. Not that there was anything wrong with how the other girls were, but Bonnie was quite like me in that she was perfectly happy to spend the night with me, or Elena, or Caroline. She never needed to end the night with a guy which always made me feel less lonely since this being a small town meant that I was not likely to end the night with a guy even if I wanted that.
As the party wore on more and more of the dancing happy faces slipped off into places unknown. Even Bonnie tucked in for the night after I escorted her stumbling and laughing to her tent. Neither of us were surprised that Caroline was not to be seen in the tent or otherwise and we laughed as we parted and I went to go check on her.
I had made a promise, after all.
In the distance I heard that not even the good vibes of the night had kept Elena and Matt from their usual fight after all was said and done. Hoping to avoid that as Elena would not like what I had to say, I moved quickly towards the fire and away from their whisper shouting. Those two were exhausting together. Matt deserved better.
The fire was dancing lower as the logs became but kindling in the circle and like the fire the crowd had grown just as small. In exchange for the music that had been thrumming through the speakers was now a guitar held by some artsy guy no doubt as he crooned out tunes to the girls who surrounded him.
I had just stepped into the light of the fire as I found my quarry. Caroline was grinning like the vixen she was, dragging the brawny hunk off in the direction of the woods and looking unapologetic in doing so. I admired her, honestly. The girl knew what she wanted and how to get it and from the look on that guy's face he was shook by the fact. It was amusing. She would be fine.
Watching them fade into the dark, I had been about to return to my tent for the night when I saw a familiar head of dark, messy hair off in the distance. Admittedly Tyler had not been very present most of the night… at least not around me, but now when I saw him my heart sank low as a jolt of realization saw him with a girl.
Which girl? Well, none other than the one I had jinxed earlier that week.
She was wrapped around him like leather jeans on a 80's hair band rocker. Tyler pressed her against a tree, his hands exploring her form as she gripped at his hair and kissed him with a passion and display of affection like no other in sight.
I imagined for a minute that it was me there with him and my heart sank a little lower. Maybe it was the alcohol, of which I would like to put full blame on, but I felt tears quickly whelming up in my eyes. I was jealous. Horribly jealous, and it hurt to see that and know that it could never be me.
Quickly, before anyone could spot me, I bolted off towards the lake as a single set of tears stung my cheeks. It wasn't fair, seeing him like that with someone else… but it was also unfair of me to begrudge him that feeling of closeness with another. I couldn't be mad at him for something that he didn't know and likely would not reciprocate.
But irrationally I was mad at him.
I was mad at myself.
Mad at the world.
This was one time that I had to say that being drunk was the worst. My emotions felt so much more raw with my inhibitions so low. I wanted to make a scene, to throw a fit, to let Tyler know that he should be with me… but that was not what I did. Instead I stood at the edge of the lake and watched the way that the moon danced on its surface.
For all of my gifts supernaturally it was this one that was I was thankful for.
The more that I watched the rocking of the waves the more control I felt over my emotions. I was able to, little by little, talk sense to myself. Tyler had a right to live his life and steal every happy moment he could. The pettiness inside me would not be allowed to hold anything against him like this. He suffered enough in silence and struggled with things that he did not understand enough to not have someone who he owed nothing hold a secret grudge against him.
I think it was then that I realized that I, Liam Martin, loved Tyler Lockwood.
It was a bittersweet realization, knowing that I could only look on and support him from the outside and never be on the inside. It stung like a bee sting, but I was okay with that. I would just have to do my best to protect the guy from afar because that was the best I could do.
So deep in my own thoughts, my own childish inner turmoil, was I that I had barely noticed as a lone figure began to walk solemnly to the end of the dock far to my right. Finally coming from my reprieve, I looked over the short distance and at the shadow of the man and the dock that was barely illuminated by the moon high above. They were but shadows.
Ready to call it a night, I stretched and turned to leave when I stopped just short as the sound of the voice came whisperering over the surface of the trickling water.
"Here's to the son of Mayor Lockwood." The voice said, slurred ever so slightly, "He was a joke."
If the voice had not have been coming from Tyler Lockwood himself I probably would have cursed the dock to collapse under his feet. Again my heart sank for the second time that night, but this time it was with a different kind of sadness. Tyler didn't know I was here or that anyone had heard him as he tipped back his bottle upon cheersing it at the moon. Chugging what remained, the boy looked to the bottle and then hurled it into the lake like it had somehow offended him.
I had made up my mind without realizing it and my feet were guiding me to the trouble jock.
Tyler stood there upon the dock, still, except for the occasional sway due to his alcohol intake and I looked around but there was no traces of the girl who had just been all over him. How long had I stood there wrapped up in my own little drama? Had it really been so long that they were finished or had she spurned him and now he was beating himself up?
I could not have been further from the truth.
Slowly I made my way onto the dock. It was made from fine wood, the best that money could buy like all things thing Lockwood's owned. The lanterns were all extinguished, however, giving it that horror movie vibe. I fully expected Jason to jump up and snatch my soul out of my body at any given moment I will have you know. It stands a testament to my affection for the the boy at the end of the dock that I continued on.
I should apply for sainthood, I tell you.
Even though I did my best to keep quiet it seemed that my presence was detected. Only a few steps behind him, I could see the black v neck he wore paired with cargo shorts and bare feet in the moonlight. This was his land after all, of course he would feel comfortable running around barefoot.
"Liam?" He asked, not even turning around.
My heart did about six thousand of those flips I described earlier.
"Yeah, it's me."
He hummed, swaying gently and then decided to sit and put his feet into the water. Confused, I sniffed at myself, wondering how the he could have detected me. Shrugging it off, I decided to take off my flip flops and join him.
"You alright."
He laughed, "Define alright, Martin."
I paused, considering his words for a firm no, "I could leave if you want."
Silently, he shook his head and I placed my own feet into the water as I sat at his side, careful not to get too close. The silence stretched on between us as he and I looked out at the water but eventually the pull to look at him became too much.
I stole a glance out the side of my eye and what I saw took my breath away. Tyler was sitting with his eyes closed as the moon was just perfectly set in the right place to cast an ethereal glow around him. It was one of those moments you wished that a camera could capture but it was physically impossible.
His lips were outlined, full and pressed pensively with his head upturned into the sky. It was like he was bathing in the velvet moonlight that cascaded around him. His dark lashes fluttered a little, but he did not open his eyes. As he released a sigh and I noticed the corner of his lips tugging at a little smirk and I also realized that I was very much staring.
"I got something on my face?" He asked, still keeping his eyes closed.
My heart shot into my throat and I looked away at once, "I—uh, no. Sorry."
He laughed again, a deep, hearty sound that was genuine, "You don't have to apologize to me. It isn't like it's the first time I've caught you looking."
I faltered.
Staring at him again with wide, panicked eyes, I willed myself to speak but all that came to mind was a steady stream of 'oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit'. He had noticed all of my stolen glances at him? Here I was thinking that I was slick as hell with all of those looks. Or maybe I just thought that he didn't notice me at all enough to really care.
His smile grew and laughter spilled from his lips as if he could see my face.
"I—," honestly the lamest attempt at speech in my life.
"Lighten up, Li." He grinned and finally opened his eyes.
My heart melted at the sight. As he grinned up at the sky, the moon danced in the reflection of his dark eyes and I swear on everything in me it was the closest I have ever came to seeing something so beautiful it hurt. Be it that he was a creature bound by the moon, albeit uncurse, or whatever, in this light he had never seemed more handsome.
He stole my breath away.
"I notice more than you think."
It was as if he had heard my very thoughts but all I could do was sputter and finally look forward to bury my face in my hands. If it had not have been as dark as it was my face would have been visibly as red as a fire truck. I rubbed at it, trying to pull down the embarrassment.
"Well, I notice things, too, Tyler." I said at last finding my voice, but speaking into my hands.
He was silent for a moment but when he spoke I could feel him looking at me, "Like what?"
Tyler was challenging me. He was daring me to say something that no one else would. The truth of the guy was that he simply did not think that anyone saw him for anything more than a wild, fun loving party animal who had not a care in the world. He thought, barring Matt, that no one looked at a single thing but what he wanted them to.
He was wrong.
I sat up a little straighter, meeting his gaze and even though my throat threatened to seize up I spoke clearly, "Like the fact that you're not a joke."
Considering me, he then looked away as he pulled his feet from the water and rose back onto his feet. A hand tossed his already messy locks and he looked straight at the moon with his back to me.
"You're wrong."
The words rang in my ears with such a finality that it hurt.
He truly believed that he was nothing more than a joke.
"Ty." I whispered, pushing to my own feet and standing just behind him.
He kept his back to me and when he spoke it was a whisper, "Liam, you don't know. You think that I am this great guy and I see it in the way you look at me and it feels good that you think that of me. But you don't know the horrible person I am. You don't know how angry I am all the time… you don't know the darkness. If you got too close you would see that; everyone would."
The doors that the male hid behind had cracked open and now I could see the weight of the world pressing at his shoulders. The pressure of living up to the image of being the son of the Mayor, of being that perfect guy he was expected to be to keep his father's polling numbers up, it all suddenly weighed on him and it broke my heart to see behind that facade that he felt compelled to uphold.
Again I felt that pull that had lead me to the dock and to him.
My hand moved forward, clasping him at the elbow and I gently turned him to face me as I met him halfway. His eyes were closed again, but he turned to me as if he were too weak in his confession to fight back.
Whatever I had done, whatever the fates had in store, however they had managed to get me behind those walls that he hid so deeply behind, I was not about to waste the moment hiding behind my own walls. This was the time for truth and if I was rejected then so be it but he would know that this was not what I saw when I saw him.
Every bit of strength and courage was shored up, using the liquid courage I had consumed to push me just enough to excuse speaking the words that came thereafter.
"But, behind that rage is something more, Tyler Lockwood. You protect those that you love with an integrity that is like nothing I have ever seen. You have a loyalty that is the purest thing I have ever seen, and more than your father deserves. You fight for what you want with a strength that I can't fathom and you carry the weight of the world like a born leader."
I paused, looking upon his face and shaking my head that someone so brilliant could loathe themself so, "Tyler, you're the most amazing person I have ever met and if you don't see it then I will be here to remind you. Everyday. You're so much more than what this little town sees. So much more than you even see, and even though I can never have you, you deserve happiness."
The silence fell upon his again and slowly his eyes opened to look down at me. My heart pounded in my ears and I could have sworn that he could hear the sound. I took a breath as our eyes connected but I was prepared for whatever would come next as my hand dropped from his elbow and back to my side.
There was a rush in being so raw and real with him, an panicked sort of freedom that came with a mixed bag of relief and fear. Whatever happened next I was prepared for rejection above all else… but I had no way of ever preparing for what came next.
Slowly his hand rose to cup my jaw with a delicate touch. He kept his gaze on me, searching my eyes as if he had never properly seen me til this moment. His lips parted as if to speak but he remained silent as my hand moved to grasp his wrist gently, not understanding the full extent of what was developing within the male before me.
If I had not been so caught up in my own drama maybe I would have seen the longing there in his eyes. Maybe I would have noticed the subtle signs in the past of what was to come, but no one sees the love of their life coming and no one expects that person to feel what they feel back no matter who they are. Now, in this moment I was young and I was dumb and I was afraid of the rejection too much to see that was not what was happening.
"Liam," he whispered and I closed my eyes, prepared for the letdown no matter the fact he was cupping my jaw. "You're wrong."
Eyes snapped open again and I looked up at him, prepared to argue if need be but what I saw in his eyes gave me pause before I spoke. I could not figure out what he was truly saying to me, I couldn't get past my own self doubt to see the complexity of the simple words that left his lips.
"I am not."
Shaking his head, he was smiling like a man with a secret as he whispered to me, "Yes, you are, because I don't think there is any version of my happiness without you anymore, Liam Martin."
Realization swept over me with the same speed and intensity as the male that leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. Soft, supple lips were now slotted with my own and I felt a depth that connected us more than just physically. My heart pounded, mind swearing this was a dream, and my body simply molded to his own as our lips moved together in a slow dance that I wished never to end. He was impulsive in every act of his life, even this one, one that should have been hard for any male fearing the wrath of a town and a father that wanted him to be one thing when he was another.
Tyler had always faced everything so fearlessly, it shouldn't have surprised me that he faced this just the same. He embraced me with every ounce of emotion and there was not a hope inside of me of me not offering him the same in return.
It may be cliche but I saw fireworks when his lips met my own. The kiss was like nothing I had ever experienced and never would again without him. He may have been my first kiss but I felt it in my bones, like we were fated, something that pulled us together and I somehow I found myself in his strong embrace.
His grip was firm, wrapping me up and holding me to him despite the fact that my legs had turned to jelly. My own hand slipped into his silky locks, threading through them and gripping just barely as the other cupped his jaw and I tried to rise up on my tiptoes to get more of him.
Sensing this, he chuckled against my lips.
Gently breaking the kiss, he pressed his forehead against my own. When his eyes opened to look upon me it was as if for the first time the weight he bore had lifted. He was there, in the moment with me, despite what consequences it might bring. He was living in the fairy tale just as I was.
"Stay with me tonight?" He asked, his voice husky.
I bit my lip nervously, eyes cast to the distance where the others were no doubt sleeping or whatever else. My instincts screamed at me to protect him even at the cost of my own needs and hormones.
"What about the others?"
He shook his head, looking at me as if no one mattered right now. There was something sobering about having the guy of your dreams look at you that way. A gentle finger turned my attention back to him and I looked him in the eyes as my heart did that flippy thing.
"We'll stay in the mansion. Just stay with me. Please?"
Strong hands were now cupping my face as he was genuinely asking me to stay with him but even in the way he said it I could tell that he had never asked this. Not with this much depth and meaning behind it. This was Tyler being the most vulnerable he had ever been in front of me. I could see it in his eyes that he needed me, and that was something that I simply could not dream to turn my back on.
"For you? Anything." I murmured.
He grinned then, taking my hand in his own but not before giving me one final kiss. Sweeping me away, we found our way through the dark of the woods and he lead me into his house. We moved up the backstairs and without a single soul in sight we stole away into his room.
We kissed like the sun would never rise. Rolling around in his bed together, savoring each touch, each brush of the other's lips. My heart had never felt so full. He was a gentlemen, too, despite his reputation, not pressuring me to do anything as we talked and kissed and talked some more. He confessed the truth that I was blind to. Tyler had never ignored my existence, but instead, had been looking the entire time. From afar and with no one to confide in he had harbored his growing feelings but being someone who never questioned the purity of his emotions, he did not fight them. That did not mean that he was not afraid, though he tried to assure me otherwise, but with Tyler he always dove in head first, he always acted without thinking which was something I envied about him so much.
Hours passed and as the moon slipped into the horizon and the sun swept away the dark, I watched with an overflowing of affection as Tyler began to slip off to sleep. He looked at peace as I brushed his mess of hair from his forehead and kissed it. If this was truly a dream I hoped never to wake up. With one last look down at him, I began to move to the edge of the bed.
Gently, I felt him grasp me as he murmured sleepily, "Please don't go."
My heart heaved with the weight of such powerful words leaving his lips. Scooting back onto the bed, I rested beside him and placed a kiss to his lips one more time before moving my lips to his ear.
"I'll never leave you, Tyler," I whispered, "Just look for me in the moonlight."
He smiled, a sleepy smile before he slipped fully into unconsciousness and I wondered if it were possible to love someone so much. Making sure he was completely asleep I gently got from the bed and made my way out of the house.
The hour was early and I knew that the others would be asleep for a while yet as the shimmering dewy first light was cast upon all of Mystic Falls. Even now some of the others were just now laying down for sleep, paying me no mind as I made my way back to my tent.
I peeked into the tent of Caroline and Bonnie, noticing the blonde to still be gone and decided to slip in. Laying beside Bonnie, she slowly opened her eyes and then covered me up like the mother hen she was.
"You alright, Li?" She asked, her voice cracking as we cuddled together.
"Mhm."
Her eyes opened a little more at the dreamy look on my face and she smiled, "Have a good night?"
Eyes upon the roof of the domed tent, I nodded, "The best of my life."
