Your Tired Eyes
Chapter Eleven: A Reason
-
Jeremy P.O.V.
I park, badly, I might add, in front of the Lockwood mansion and then unsteadily, I run/walk to the front door. Pressing the buzzer, I lean against the railing to the stairs, anxious. It is dark outside, and I can hear the distinct sound of crickets in the silence.
After moments of waiting, the door opens, and Tyler holds the door open, "Jeremy?" he asks.
"Tyler. Hey, I -," I stop after I get a glance at the bottle of liquor in his hand, and shake my head, "Are you serious?"
"What?" he asks, squinting.
"Did you learn nothing today? Where did you even – never mind," I say, grabbing the bottle from him, which earns me "Hey!"
Without waiting to be invited in, I walk into their kitchen, and dump the contents of the bottle down the sink.
"That's expensive man! What the hell?" Tyler protests.
"You know what else is expensive? Hospital bills, which I'm sure your parents are going to be paying a lot of when you get liver disease."
"Can you stop with the lec – wait, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out rendezvousing with the blond?"
I roll my eyes, as I throw the empty bottle into the trashcan, "Why are you drinking again, Tyler?" I ask turning to him.
"I'm thirsty," he says sarcastically, glaring at me, "You walked out on me; you're not allowed to judge."
I scoff. "Well it would've been nice if you were sober for this, but as you are apparently the one who should've gone to rehab, I'll just have to settle."
"Sober for what?" Tyler asks, shuffling through a cupboard of liquor, shifting past bottles in an apparent attempt to find something.
"Tyler," I say, firmly, closing the cupboard.
"Look Jeremy, I can do whatever the hell I wa-,"
"You're going to kill yourself."
"Why the hell do you even care?" he asks, his eyes boring holes into me.
I answer almost immeadiately, "Because I fucking love you, you idiot."
He is silent for a moment, and after intaking a sharp breath he says, "You're not just saying that to get me to stop drinking are you?"
I smile, and scoff, "No."
Tyler stares at me, his breathing soft, "I'm still going to kick your ass for dumping my whiskey," he tells me matter-of-factly.
"I missed you," and then I kiss him.
I can taste the aged whiskey on his mouth, but for once, I don't mind. One of Tyler's handss entangle in my hair as the other clutches my face, our lips moving against each other.
I break apart from him briefly, "I need you - not to...I need you to tell me the truth from now on."
"Yeah. You got it," he says, slightly breathless.
I am skeptical. "Look, Tyler...I never expected this. I mean, we hated eachother, for god's sake. I need things to be different. It can't - it can't go back to how it was."
"It won't. I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Right." I say unconvinced. "I uh - I need to head back home. Jenna's expecting me."
"Stay with me."
"Tyler. I know we haven't had sex in while but -,"
"I don't want sex, Jere."
I raise an eyebrow, to which he rolls his eyes and says, "Okay, fine. I want sex, but - that's not it. I just want you, Jeremy. I don't deserve you, and I know I've treated you like crap, but I can't - I can't... I need you to stay."
I stare at him, as he fumbles for the right words, his voice nervous and compromise. "I'll call Jenna."
Tyler watches me as I dial my home phone number. Running a hand through my now unruly hair, I talk into the answering machine, "Hey Aunt Jenna - I'm, uh, I'm staying at a friend's, so don't worry about me. I'll be at school tomorrow, and I'll be back home by tomorrow."
I hang up, and roll my eyes, which Tyler picks up on instantly.
"She's trying," he says. This isn't our first conversation about Jenna.
"She's going to ask me where I was when I get back home tomorrow. I think I'll tell her I was doing drugs in the cemetery."
"Sorry, I'm all out," he says.
"No shortage on the alcohol, though, I suppose," I say, cocking his head.
"I'm not even that drunk," Tyler protests.
"You smell like a whiskey cellar."
"This house is a whiskey cellar."
"You need to take a shower."
"Will you be joining me?" Tyler asks, raising an eyebrow.
I don't know how we make it up the stairs with our lips interlocked, and Tyler half-drunk, but we do.
"I wasn't joking about the shower thing," Tyler says, as he presses me against the wall outside the bathroom.
"You think I was?" I ask.
"Fucking love you," Tyler says, as we begin to rip each other's clothes off, and slip into the lukewarm shower naked. I make it a mission to trace my lips over every inch of skin possible, as his fingers cling to my wet hair. I've missed the taste of him, and I hope he doesn't notice my tears.
-
Tyler P.O.V.
Jeremy's head is resting on my chest when we wake up the next morning, among my blankets and discarded clothing. I don't dare move, I don't want to wake him, he looks too peaceful in his sleep, his eyelids flutter once in awhile, and he mumbles something incoherent before snuggling back into me. Tentatively, I run my fingers through his brown hair, to which he says, "You awake?" his voice scratchy.
"Yeah. For awhile now."
"Sorry," he says, moving his body up, trailing kisses along my sternum, and then moving up so that his eyes are on mine."How'd you sleep?"
"Better than I have in awhile," I admit, leaning over to catch his lips in a quick kiss, "Last night was -,"
"Do you remember it?" Jeremy asks, "All of it?"
"Most of it."
"So, you remember the -,"
"Yeah. I meant it."
"I'm sorry about the Reid thing. I was pushing it. I didn't - I never slept with 'im. I was trying to piss you off."
"Worked," I reply, staring up at the ceiling.
After a few minutes, Jeremy says, "What're you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about what you said, about changing? And that day. When we had that fight in the courtyard? And I - I lost it. I hurt you. And I shouldn't have."
"Tyler, don't."
"I was being an ass. And I hurt you. It's not going to happen again."
"Let's go back to sleep, huh?" Jeremy says, stifling a yawn behind his hand. I have a tugging feeling in my gut that tells me he doubts it.
"I mean it. I - I'm tired of not feeling anything, Jeremy. And it's stupid. It's stupid for me to be a jerk to the one person...," he trails off, "I've been waiting my entire life for a reason to give a damn. And you're it. I'm - I'm going to be an ass. It's who I am. I'm also going to love you the best I can."
Jeremy smiles, and finds my hand, intertwining our fingers together before falling back to a blissful sleep for the first time in a long time.
-
"So, when's your dad coming home?" Jeremy asks later, as he slips his jeans on. I lay on the bed, watching him tentatively; boxers slung low on my hips.
"Today, I think," I say.
"Where's your mom?" Jeremy asks, furrowing his brow.
"Oh, right. She's kind of an alcoholic. I apparently inherited the douchebag and drunk genes. She's probably sleeping it off at one of her friend's."
"How can you be so cool with that?" Jeremy asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I got used to it."
"You get used to your dad abusing you, too?" Jeremy asks.
"I knew I shouldn't have told you about that. It's not serious, Jere. He just likes to push me around sometimes."
Jeremy shakes his head, in obvious disagreement. "How do you put up with it?"
"Lots and lots of sex," I tell him, sitting up.
Jeremy glares at me, "Tyler."
I give in. "It's hard, I mean would I like to have a dad who gives a fuck, or a mom who's sober? Yeah, but I don't. It's okay," I tell him, "I have you." Seeing the look on his face, which is one that clearly states that it will not stop probing me, I say, "Hand me my jeans?"
"Yeah," Jeremy says, grabbing them off the floor, and giving them to me. Shoving my pants on, I look up at Jeremy, who's scrounging my floor for his sweater.
"Just wear one of mine," I tell him, "Closet's filled with crap."
Jeremy looks up at me, smirking, and says, "You're giving me one of your tee shirts?" he asks raising an eyebrow, "Someone's whipped."
I didn't disagree.
-
I let Jeremy drive me to school, since with my father around it'll pretty much be impossible for him to pick up his car later. One arm hanging out of the banged up car, I let the cool air run through my fingertips as I think about the last five months or so, and drastically everything has changed, as Jeremy goes on about how he hates limes. Vicki's death and our hook-up at the Haine's house seems so distant. All the hurt, confusion, angry sex, and arguments just seemed to fade away.
I tune back into Jeremy's voice soon enough to catch him continue his rant, "- and they're so obviously trying to be lemons. But will they ever turn yellow? No. They won't. So they need to stop. It's just ridiculous is all, I mean, why do they even exist? No reason. Hey, do people put limes in guacamole? Because that would explain why I don't like guacamole. I mean it's such a creepy name, too. Guacamole. It sounds like an STD for god's sake. Like chlamydia or -,"
"I think chlamydia's an STI, actually," I reply, bemused, as we pull into the school parking lot.
Jeremy smiles, "Of course you'd know this."
"I wouldn't have to if you weren't constantly bashing vegetables."
Jeremy laughs, as we pull into the parking lot. "Lime's a fruit."
I roll my eyes, as I grab my bag from off the car floor, and push the door open, stepping out of the car. Jeremy follows suit, and says, "Oh crap, Elena," as I turn to ask him what he's talking about I see her half-sprinting towards us.
"Where were you yesterday?" she asks, frantically, "I was worried. Jenna was worried. We were worried."
Jeremy gives me an i-told-you-so look before saying, "I called."
"I didn't get a call."
"I left a message. On the answering machine. That's what they're for, right?"
"Oh. Well, you should've texted me! I thought you were out doing drugs or -,"
"I was at Tyler's," Jeremy cuts her off.
She stops, furrows her brow, and asks, "Since when are you two friends?"
"Since two days ago," he replies, "I'm going to be late for first period if you don't let me get to class."
"Oh. Sorry," she says, moving out of the way.
"See you later, Ty," he calls over his shoulder.
Elena gives me a confused look before returning to Stefan, who is standing by the steps waiting for her. Watching Jeremy walk up the main staircase wearing my vibrant blue sweater of mine that slightly too big for his lean frame. I smile.
-
Ugh, sorry for the lapse in updating, last week was the last week in term three for me, and I've been struggling a bit, so I had to focus on schoolwork and such.
On another note, lots of drama in the next chapter as well. I was wondering if anyone wanted me to do a werewolf storyline as well, for Tyler, I'm a little fuzzy on the details but I think I could swing it. Review and tell me what you think? Thanks! :)