A/N: Thanks, everyone. BLC: I get what you're saying about it being a good place to end it, but actually it's only the end of the first act. Warned you guys this was a long one. lol Hope you decide to stick with it anyway.

Chapter Ten

Jeremy stared down at his phone on the edge of the bed, sending a quick text to Elena.

At Tyler's. Don't worry.

He set the phone down on the nightstand next to Tyler's bed and reached down for his t-shirt with a yawn. He pulled it off the floor and shook it out. He just finished pulling it on when he felt the weight on the bed shift behind him and Tyler's arms wrap around his waist lethargically. He twisted to see him as he pressed a kiss into his back. Jeremy smiled. They had a very tiring reunion and fell asleep for a few hours.

Full dark had settled outside and it looked like he was over for the night. Tyler looked up at him sleepily and Jeremy pointed to his phone.

"Elena." He said by way of explanation and Tyler nodded, laying back and dropping his head against the pillows. Usually, Jeremy wouldn't even bother giving his sister or aunt a heads up on his whereabouts but since he and Tyler had been on the outs lately and Elena had enough on her plate to stress about he didn't want to put anyone on unnecessary alert.

Jeremy crawled back under the covers and slid over to Tyler's side. He lifted his arm and hooked it around him compliantly. Jeremy rubbed his thumb over his bare chest and settled his cheek against his warm skin. As a member of the Were community, Tyler always ran a little hotter than everyone else. Jeremy blushed thinking about their evening. In more ways than one.

Tyler kissed the top of his head before pulling himself up and pushing the covers back on his side. Jeremy slid down against the mattress and watched him curiously. Unlike Jeremy he hadn't pulled his underwear back on, so when he stood up it gave him a full view of his good side. He chuckled low in his throat and pressed his face into the sheets. He didn't know if it was a werewolf thing or what but Tyler was as comfortable naked as he was clothed. He could be the king of a nudist colony somewhere and rule them all with his hot bod and confidence.

Tyler flipped the lamp on and grabbed something off his desk as a creak sounded outside in the hall. They both looked over at the door. Never in all the nights Jeremy stayed over had Mrs. Lockwood ever popped her head in or even knocked after bedtime but there was a first time for everything, so Jeremy went very still and waited. After several seconds nothing happened so he relaxed. Tyler, however, grabbed his black boxer-briefs off the floor and tugged them on. If he was going to get busted he could at least do it in a less naked way.

Sitting in his desk chair he tossed what he grabbed off the desk onto the bed next to Jeremy who lazily picked up the pamphlet. It said 'Brook Haven' on the front with a picture of a large modern looking building full of huge wall length windows and cabin-like exterior woodwork. It sat on a lake and it all looked very calming in a phony, staged way.

Jeremy looked up at Tyler and lifted an eyebrow.

Tyler pointed at it, tipping his chin up. "It's a rehab center in Florida. The day of the rally, that was the place my mom and Father Erikson wanted to send me."

Jeremy looked at the brochure with more interest, flipping it open. It had a program laid out and lots of encouraging platitudes. 'You can be better, and we can get you there.' It didn't sit right with him. Reminded him of compounds and Kool-Aid.

"Seriously?" He looked back at Tyler.

He nodded. "I'd just been partying a lot. I'm not an alcoholic. So of course to prove that I got really wasted and went ballistic on my too-good-for-me boyfriend."

Jeremy laid the pamphlet aside and sat up, pushing one of the pillows with him. He looked at Tyler in the soft lamplight.

"The truth is," Tyler went on and his face twisted, one side screwing up as though he didn't want to admit what he was saying. "The whole thing really pissed me off and I had all that brewing inside of me, but it wasn't until I saw you dancing with Vicki that I just kind of lost it."

Jeremy's breath came out in an airy laugh as he recalled the night when the two of them goofed off to Avril-freaking-Lavigne. "Vicki?" He couldn't hide the confused amusement in his voice. "What?"

Tyler was sullen after confessing his less-than-reasonable jealousy. He defended the lack of logic with facts. "You did date her for a year."

Jeremy didn't even try to suppress the big grin on his face as he sat up even straighter. The humor in his voice only grew. "Yeah. And she was a beautiful beard."

Tyler met his eyes then and smiled with him, embarrassed. "I know, I know." He conceded.

Jeremy watched him a moment before climbing out of bed and going over to him. His disbelief at the completely ridiculous trigger didn't fade but he managed to tame the look of hilarity in his eyes enough to keep from embarrassing him further. Facing him, he sat down over Tyler's lap, a leg on either side. Tyler's arms went around him as he turned his chin up to look at him.

Jeremy brushed his fingers through his hair with one hand and traced his jaw with the other. "That's crazy." He assured him. One side of his mouth curled upward, unable to keep from teasing him. "You know I'd rather do the dougie with you."

The traces of insecurity left Tyler's eyes as his face broke into a smile and transitioned into a smirk. "I do it better than her anyway."

Jeremy lowered his head and kissed him, nodding. If the dougie was a euphemism for sex then he was dead right, but on a purely dance related level Vicki had him beat hands down. Girl could move. There was no need to tell him that though.

The kiss started out innocently enough so Tyler caught him off guard when he suddenly gripped him tightly and launched out of the chair with him around his waist. He laughed loudly as Tyler threw him back on the bed and crawled on top. He wrapped his arms around his neck as he lowered over him and kissed him through his cheerful smile. He guessed it was time to dougie again.

Tyler was still in bed when Jeremy came out of the connecting bathroom the next morning. His arms were propped behind his head and Jeremy could fully appreciate his toned torso in the sunlight rising through the windows. He had to get home so he could shower and change before school, but not kicking off his shoes and getting back into bed with Tyler took a heightened amount of self-control. Tyler knew it too, lips cocked in a sneer as he made no effort to cover up.

Jeremy went over to his side of the bed and leaned down, kissing him and letting his heart beat erratically.

He left an arm on the other side of him as he bent down, informing him before he had to leave. "Damon got held up in Meadows."

Meadows was a much bigger metropolis about two hours away from Mystic Falls where Damon was currently speaking to a group of organized vampires trying to arrange a workable system of exchange between themselves and hospital staffers willing to hand over ice chests full of donated blood. When Damon first got wind of it he showed immediate interest because the hospital in Mystic Falls raised its security following the increase in blood theft. He could mesmerize one guard but when it became a matter of risking exposing himself as a vampire he backed off and was hungry because of it. Stefan was living off their reserves while Damon went off to negotiate with the other vamps.

"Elena's driving out to see him this weekend." He went on. "A bunch of us are going with her. You want to come?"

Tyler reached up and grabbed hold of his collar, jerking him down with a roughness that excited Jeremy enough that he had to concentrate on his self-control again.

"Yes." Tyler said simply and kissed him again.

Jeremy smiled and registered the sound of the bedroom door opening in time to pull himself from Tyler's grasp and jump backward. He almost fell over the desk chair as he stumbled back into the wall away from him. Mrs. Lockwood entered the room and didn't seem to notice his panic.

"Oh! Jeremy." She smiled brightly. She was already dressed and in full makeup. "I didn't know you stayed over."

He forced himself to stay calm as he realized she didn't suspect anything and planted as genuine a smile as he could on his tense face. Tyler didn't appear nearly as concerned as he should be. Then again, Jeremy knew he was often shirtless; slept that way, went for runs that way, and went down for breakfast sans shirt if his mother wasn't around to hassle him about it. Werewolves liked to flaunt what they had, so they were probably safe. On the off chance that she walked over and threw the covers off him, though, they would be totally screwed. Shirtless was one thing. Flat naked was another.

"On your way out?" She asked.

Jeremy pushed himself off the wall and layered on the charm she loved so much. "Yes, ma'am. Don't want to be late for school."

She turned from him and her expression soured noticeably on Tyler. "Tyler should take a page out of your book."

Tyler stared back at her. "Oh I've taken two or three pages."

Jeremy laughed and covered it with a cough. He crossed the room to the door before he did or said something to slip them up.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Lockwood."

"Have a good day, Jeremy." She wished him well and turned back to her son, immediately starting about needing him to let the housekeeper in after school because "that woman" lost her key. Jeremy didn't have high hopes for "that woman's" continued employment with the Lockwoods.

He stopped at the door and smiled at Tyler. Forced into silence, he held a hand over his heart safely behind Mrs. Lockwood's back. Tyler half-smiled, tuning out his mother and mirroring Jeremy's farewell. He lifted his hand to his chest and held it there a moment before curling his fingers over the area to play it off as a scratch.

With a quiet laugh, Jeremy slipped out of the room and headed out feeling better than he had in a long time.