[This chapter is personally dedicated to my dear friend Ashley of my Jyler Family.]
Baseball had given way to talking, which had given way to verbal expression, which had given way to a desire to be inside. Tyler had announced he was hungry, thus he wanted to eat. Jeremy nodded and followed, never one to get between a hungry Tyler Lockwood and food.
"So, what does Wolfy want to eat?" Jeremy asked, stealing a line from Damon. Tyler arched an eyebrow.
"A-what did you just call me?" He asked, looking so bemused he couldn't even fake annoyance.
"Wofly," Jeremy smiled, doing very well to hide his laughter. "I mean, it's not inaccurate, right?"
Tyler laughed out a growl in response, knowing full well it would temporarily rob Jeremy of most of his mental faculties. It worked perfectly. Jeremy found himself a blushing, near giggly mess fairly quickly. Trying to hide his sudden inability to speak, Jeremy opened the fridge and fished out what appeared to be a Meatloaf. It quickly went into the microwave.
"What, not going to cook for me?" Tyler asked, grinning shyly just a little. "You're such a good cook." He said, sarcasm a-plenty.
"It's what? One in the morning?" Jeremy asked. "Your mommy's Meatloaf will suffice."
"Ha-ha, Gilbert," Tyler rolled his eyes, a little amused that Jeremy was comfortable enough around him to use his almost fang-sharp insults. "Good one."
"Oh, I know," Jeremy winked, relaxing as Tyler moved behind him, muscular arms wrapping around him. Rugged hands quickly moved over Jeremy's upper body. "Dude, your arms are...sick." Tyler gawked, feeling beyond dense for not knowing or noticing this earlier.
"Thanks," Jeremy blushed, flexing wherever he felt Tyler's hands. For a split second, he was a bit jealous of how cut Jeremy way, then he realized that the young Gilbert was forever his and jealousy was quickly replaced with thankful bliss. Jeremy rolled his eyes as he felt Tyler smile a kiss into his neck. "Just don't slobber on me, got it?"
"Again with the dog crap," Tyler laughed. "Seriously, what's with that?"
"Well...isn't it true?" Jeremy asked back, all genuine smiles.
"That's not the point," Tyler blushed. "It's not like I chase the mailman or crap on your lawn."
"You're naming negative traits," Jeremy said, reaching a hand up behind him to lovingly pat Tyler's cheek. "Don't make me into Damon."
"I was just naming dog traits." Tyler answered, sort of confused as he angled his face into Jeremy's always comforting hand.
"No, no," Jeremy laughed a little. "You named negatives. You left out how when I come by your house, you coming running to the door, tripping all over yourself in the process."
"I wouldn't call it tripping," Tyler lied, not knowing Jeremy was that observant. "What else?" He asked, voice getting a little quiter, showing his interest in the answer.
"It's a lot of stuff, Tyler," Jeremy said, spinning on the kitchen stool to look up at the adoring Lockwood. He looked so pretty in the pale whisps of crescent moonlight that had found their way into the large manor. "It's how I can fall asleep in my own bed alone and wake up with either next to me or on top of me."
Tyler blushed crimson.
"It's how I can know that if I whistle, I mean call or text, you'll be in front of me before I can even blink. It's how when I've had a completely shit day, you'll look at me like I'm the only thing in your world." Jeremy confessed.
"You are." Tyler answered, eyes catching an errant stream of light and shining may have only been two words, but they were beyond profound.
"It's all that stuff, Tyler," Jeremy said, smiling shyly yet broadly. "I can't describe it. Like how you act around me. Just me."
"Hmm?" Tyler asked, really curious about this latest one.
"This, baby," Jeremy breathed out. "You can't keep your hands off me, in a good way. At school you're so aloof all the dame time, but here, now? Look at you?"
Jeremy had a magnificent point, if only for his observational skills. When the two were alone, or with the right people, Tyler could not keep his hands off of Jeremy. But it went beyond that.
"I love how you can be a complete and total dick at school, then talk to me like you're a poet. How the big, bad Wolf isn't so big and bad with me."
"...Because it loves you," Tyler broke in, not content to let Jeremy do all the emotional work. "It loves how you've taken a lifetime of shit from the world, and then told the world to go screw itself. That is amazing to me. And I love it."
Jeremy was caught off-guard. He was supposed to be the one that clumsily confessed his deeper feelings.
"Jer, you're the bravest guy I've ever met. Not only is that sexy, but it's beautiful in a lot of ways," Tyler whispered, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Jeremy's. "That big, bad Wolf? You know, the one that howls at the moon? It howls because of you. Because after I'm done howling at that Full Moon, it knows where to go afterwards. I get to run wild and free, and then come back to you, you're my real home."
Jeremy set agape, all those big words he knew completely gone. His mouth twitched into a smile as Tyler shifted and rested his head in the groove between Jeremy's neck and shoulders. Tyler's breathing slowed into something else entirely. Every breath pushed out something that wasn't a growl, but it was very close. It was quieter and smoother, but with just enough of a primal tone to show how the young Lockwood really felt. Silence ebbed and flowed like a sporadic wind not entirely sure of its direction or force.
"What else?" Jeremy asked quietly. Tyler smiled.
"I love how when I crawl into your bed at night, Wolf or not, you can be sound asleep and you'll always wrap your arms around me. Always." Tyler breathed. "How when you wake up, you...you kiss me. I feel it every time, Jeremy."
In the back of his heart and soul, Jeremy knew Tyler had always felt it.
"I love how when we wake up in the morning, you will walk downstairs with me hand in hand," Tyler laughed, enjoying how he didn't have to climb out of window. "That's really...cool of you."
"Least I can do." Jeremy laughed, giving Tyler a pat on the back of the head. He noticed his boyfriend was about to speak when his breath caught. "Baby...what is it?"
"Nothing," Tyler laughed off, a little shy. "Just a lot of thoughts at once."
"Need your tummy rubbed?" Jeremy asked, somewhere between loving and serious.
"Maybe later," Tyler said, winking. "You owe me a meal."
"Yeah, yeah," Jeremy stood up, smiling the whole way. "Is a plate okay, or can I put it in your bowl?"
Tyler rolled his eyes, having seen the joke coming from a mile away. "A plate is fine, Gilbert."
Jeremy nodded as he pulled the Meatloaf from the microwave and slid it onto a plate. True to appetite, Tyler finished it in record time. "Couch or bed?" Tyler asked.
"Bed." Jeremy answered, looping an arm around Tyler's torso. It was the best choice, after all.
Stairs passed, clothes were discarded on the floor, leaving only two figures in their briefs as they sled under the covers, not wanting to become victims to the cold of the night. They shifted, trying to distribute the sheets and pillows properly. The symbolism was perfect in a very roundabout sort of way. From one end, an owner clung fiercely to his beloved dog, his constant and perfect companion. From the opposite end, a dog carefully and purposefully wriggled his way closer to the man he would do anything to protect.
With adoring yet drowsy eyes still open the two looked at each other, content to lose themselves to the secrets of each other's gazes. Smiles bounced off of both faces. Tyler pulled a hand up to run through Jeremy's hair, down his back, across his torso and arms. Across wherever, really.
"Perfect." Tyler whispered, meaning the word as deeply as he could.
"Kinda like you." Jeremy replied.
