Tyler has forgotten about Jeremy.

Well, not totally; just... a bit. Or to put it accurately, he hasn't been as focused as he should be when it comes to him. He's been too focused on the power underneath the surface of his skin and trying to control it. If he weren't so preoccupied by this he might be a little more concerned about how distant Jeremy has been as of late. How for the past few days, when he as remembered to give Jeremy he call, he doesn't pick up, or that when they see each other in school, Jeremy's eyes slide away from his face and angles his body away.

He's been trying to catch his uncle, to ask him some more about this whole werewolf thing, but he hasn't seen him that much at all. After dropping this heavy revelation on Tyler, Mason is back to rushing out the front door, or brushing Tyler's questions off with a simple, 'you should be fine.' But Tyler doesn't think he will be fine at all, not when his dreams involve flashing woods, heightened senses, and power that surges through a body he's never had before. He wants to pull Mason back by the arm, turn him around, and shout that he won't be alright because he's been subconsciously picking who and when. Picking out the weakest in his Algebra class or trying to think when he could lure tiny Hannah Anderson from History away long enough to give into the need the hums in his veins.

And this scares him. It scares him enough to want to rethink this whole thing again; yes the power would be extraordinary, but is he really willing to do what it takes to change? And if so, what kind of person does that make him?

Not a person. A monster.

This is what he is thinking about as he scrolls idly, unseeing through his cell phone in the Grill. He needed a familiar place that wasn't home or school to ground him in reality. A shadow falls across his table and when he looks up he sees Jeremy standing there, looking unsure. "Do you mind if I..." he gestures to the chair opposite Tyler.

"Yeah, yeah." He knows he sounds eager, but right now Jeremy's presence soothes his frayed nerves. Jeremy gives a small smile, still looking unsure and why does he look like that? and pulls the chair out from under the table. He sits and they both sit in silence, Tyler looking at the table, and Jeremy out into the small after school crowd. When did things get so awkward? Why did things get so awkward? Jeremy can't possibly know. Hell, Tyler still has his split second doubts despite the new intensity in his blood. He looks up and studies Jeremy's profile. He hasn't really looked at Jeremy for days, talked to him yes, but it's been in passing and he's had other things on his mind, but he pushes that all aside now to really take in the strong jaw and straight nose, and long eyelashes. The lips he's enjoyed so many times are twisted as if Jeremy is thinking hard about something. "Jere?" he says lowly, pitched so that only Jeremy can hear is concern his tone bordering on tender.

Just as he suspects, Jeremy's brown eyes are full of worry. "Are you okay?"

Jeremy begins to fidget, but stops himself. "Yeah." The one word is heavy despite it's intended nonchalance and Tyler feels his heart begin to beat a little faster. Why is Jeremy acting so weirdly? Tyler begins to move his hand forward, to touch Jeremy's which is laying on the table, but he remembers where they are and draws back. But it's harder to do so today. Harder than the other days, because suddenly the fact that he hasn't kissed or touched Jeremy in days hits him hard.

"Do you want to get out of her-"

"Hey Tyler" a peppy voice interrupts them and a quick turn of the head shows Aimee Bradley standing near their table, a bright smile on her face. Irritation at being cut off creeps up on Tyler but he ignores it and forces a somewhat pleasant expression on his face.

"Hey, Aimee, what's up?"

"Nothing," she states at first, but there is a coy look in her eyes. "Me and Sarah were just wondering if you and Jeremy wanted to get out of here. Go back to your place?" This is kind of a forward suggestion, but Tyler recalls how unsubtle Aimee was when she was sniffing around Matt. He wants to say no, that right now isn't the best time, especially when he looks to where Sarah is hovering in the background and notices how she's eyeing Jeremy.

A wave of possessiveness surges up in Tyler and there's that prickling of his skin and the dangerous thought that tugs at the back of his mind, the thought that she could be the one, and he begins to bite out "Not today," but Jeremy beats him to it.

"Yeah," he says quickly. "Yeah that sounds good."

Tyler shoots a hostile look at Jeremy who doesn't seem to see it as he's already getting up from his chair. Actually, he doesn't seem to want to look Tyler in the eyes at all, and Tyler's anger gives away to unease.

Looking back at Aimee shows her gaze still on him, waiting for confirmation. He looks at Jeremy again, who's answering a question Sarah has asked, and gives an inaudible sigh. "Yeah, let's go."

=..=..=

Jeremy doesn't know why he jumped at the opportunity. Well, actually he does – he panicked. Tyler was about to ask if they could be alone, a prospect that Jeremy has been avoiding for days, and when Aimee had swooped in, he jumped at the distraction.

But as he leans back against the piano, tumbler of some liquor he's not interested in drinking in hand, watching two drunk girls dance around, Jeremy wishes he'd thought harder about this. Tyler has an easy smile on his face, but Jeremy can tell by now that it's fake - he's trying to stay relaxed despite the fact that he is angry at Jeremy. Yes, he knows Tyler is angry with him right now, and it makes him uneasy, makes him want to fix it right away, but he can't. And not just because of the two girls giggling over some inside joke. Jeremy just doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know what he's trying to accomplish by staying away from Tyler, especially when all he wants to do is kiss him, or just fucking talk to him. But regardless, this feeling of keeping his distance overrides sense and the conflict of emotions is starting to drive him crazy.

When he'd spotted Tyler sitting at that table in the Grill, he'd hovered for ten minutes, trying to gather his courage. It was pathetic.

Sarah breaks away from the group and wanders across the big room, eyeing the expensive decorations and fingering the soft upholstery absent-mindedly. Her fingers snag on Jeremy's bag and she looks down. "Oh, you draw?" She pulls out his sketch pad and his heart jumps in his chest. "Can I see?" Jeremy sets the glass down on the piano, and quickly makes his way over to her.

"Uh, no, I don't like anyone really..."

"C'mon Jeremy." Aimee says imploringly. "An artist? Always sexy."

Jeremy lets out something he means to be a laugh, but comes out as a huff of air. He reaches forward and snags the sketch pad from Sarah's grasp before she can flip the cover over. He's taken to drawing werewolves as of late, in attempts to just get it out of his head (so far it isn't working), but this isn't the reason why he doesn't want them to see. He's also taken to sketching Tyler. There's a particularly damning page of just various angles, and shading, and his eyes are drawn in startling detail large scale at the bottom of the page.

It would be very hard to explain that away.

"Yeah, I don't, it's a thing I... have."

He tries to ignore the suspicious look Tyler is burning into the side of his face, and stuffs the sketch pad back into his bag. The girls shrug, and roll their eyes before launching into a conversation that Jeremy has no intention of paying attention to.

This whole thing is fraying on his nerves, he should probably leave now.

"Can we go in the other room for a minute?" Tyler's voice is low in his ear and Jeremy stiffens slightly. He really doesn't want to do that.

"Why? I mean," he quickly covers his immediate question when something close to hurt flashes in Tyler's eyes, "Sarah and Aimee..."

"They're drunk off their ass right now. They won't notice." His tone gives no room for argument and he waits for Jeremy to start walking.

Tyler waits until the double doors are closed behind them before he starts. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Jeremy turns to face him, deciding that feigning ignorance is his best bet right now. "What are you talking about?"

Tyler takes a step closer to him. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Do that! Act like you have no idea what I'm talking about." Jeremy keeps his mouth shut, literally, and just shrugs. He knows hes being frustrating, can feel Tyler's annoyance building. "We haven't talked in days; you've been avoiding me, you don't seem to want to be alone with me. Why? What's going on?"

Jeremy looks away from burning brown eyes and takes a breath. "I've been busy. I guess I just assumed you were too."

Tyler shakes his head, confusion and frustration moulding together. "Busy? Busy with what, Jeremy?"

Jeremy shrugs again. "I don't know, your uncle. Keeping the moonstone safe." But they both know this isn't true – if Jeremy really thought this was the reason why Tyler would be busy he would have checked in, see how everything was going. Make sure Tyler was safe.

The silence stretches between them, and it takes a few moments for Jeremy to realize there is something funny to it; Jeremy looks back at Tyler and he doesn't look angry anymore. He looks uncomfortable, and slightly guilty, but there is still a hint of defiance. It's this defiance that suddenly has Jeremy's heart beating quicker. "Tyler... you still have the moonstone, don't you?" The defiance burns brighter and Jeremy's heart sinks. "Tyler."

"No. I gave it to Mason."

Jeremy's heart sinks. "What?"

"I gave it to him, Jeremy. I had no reason to hold onto it, and it was causing too many problems-"

"Why did you do that? You promised me you would hold onto it!"

"And then you just stopped talking to me for a week!"

Jeremy can feel the panic welling up in him. Mason has the moonstone. The moonstone they know nothing about and can really only mean trouble. It was daunting before, but now that he knows that Tyler carries this gene he is directly related to all of this. And he'd told Elena, and Elena was going to ask Stefan and what if the answer they found made everything worse? What if that stone is the trigger that can set Tyler off? And now Mason has it. Mason who is a werewolf and is at least a little dangerous if his threats are anything to go by. Jeremy is lost for words. He slides his hands into his hair, and stares at Tyler., disbelieving.

"You don't get, Jeremy."

No, you don't get it, Jeremy thinks vehemently, but he doesn't say anything. He can't because he knows if he does, the next thing that will come out of his mouth is something akin to the phrase 'you're a fucking werewolf,' and he can't have that. Instead he ignores Tyler's 'why does it matter so much to you?' and walks across the room, straight past Tyler who tries to grab his arm before he wrenches it away, and to the double doors. He needs to leave, to get out of here.

He walks out into the main room and makes a beeline for his bag. He swings it over his shoulder and begins to make his way to the front door when he hears Tyler say "oh hey, ladies. Not a toy." Aimee giggles and Jeremy turns to see an expensive, delicate looking crystal sphere with a dove glass dove floating in the middle of it clutched in her hand. She and Sarah must have helped themselves to more alcohol while he and Tyler were arguing because they both laugh loudly, and ignore his protests. Aimee glides past Tyler and shows her empty hands.

"Seriously guys," Tyler's nerves are undoubtedly already on edge, and Jeremy can hear his temper rising.

"Come and get it," Sarah says and darts up the stairs. Jeremy watches as Tyler runs after her, and he thinks he imagines the odd look on his face – a expression that, despite being angry, reads anticipation. But that can't be right, because as Jeremy looks up the stairs again Tyler just looks angry, his muscles taut. "Sarah," he forces out and she laughs again.

Tyler makes a swipe for the crystal sphere and everything stands still as his hand catches hers at an awkward angle and she loses her balance. Aimee's laugh dies away and the sphere is thrown from her hand as Sarah tries to right herself, but it doesn't work, her impaired state making it all the more difficult. Then everything seems to simultaneously speed up and slow down, and she falls – the sound of shattering crystal rings through the air as her body hits each stair roughly and she crumples a few feet from where Jeremy is standing.

His bag slips off of his shoulder when he rushes forward and falls to his knees. "Sarah," he says urgently over Aimee's cry. "Sarah, wake up." He shakes her roughly, but she doesn't stir. "Sarah, wake up. Sarah!" The blood rushing to his head makes him dizzy and Jeremy tries to blink back the sensation. He shakes her again.

When a smile spreads across her face and she lets out a slightly breathless laugh, Jeremy's breath whooshes out of his chest in relief. "Ugh, it was just a joke. Losers." She opens her eyes and winces as she sits up. "Ah, my fucking back."

Aimee is next to her in a second, snorting in laughter, and hitting her shoulder for scaring her, but Jeremy isn't paying attention. He's too busy looking up to where Tyler is standing on top of the stairs. He hasn't made a move to see if Sarah is alright, but that isn't what unsettles Jeremy the most – it's Tyler's expression.

His jaw is rigid, and his eyes are hard. There isn't a hint of any worry or relief at Sarah's well being, but instead, it what seems like disappointment and annoyance glitter darkly.

Jeremy blinks and shakes his head. He tears his eyes away from Tyler's still form and grabs his book bag before standing up and walking to the front door. He doesn't know what's going on, but he needs to get out of here, now.