"You're lying! That makes no sense!" she said, shaking her head wildly.

"Think about it Caroline," Bonnie said. "Just be quiet for a minute and think." They were sitting on the couch in Bonnie's house.

Bonnie thought she would have had more time to introduce Caroline to the idea that any romantic relationship with Tyler was beyond all possibility, but no...Caroline had called her this morning with a hare-brained plan to lure Tyler back. Knowing what she knew, Bonnie couldn't bear to sit back and watch Caroline fail. So she'd tried to let her down gently. She'd even brought out cookies and Caroline's favorite strawberry-flavored milk before she said anything.

Caroline wasn't taking this well. It had only been fifteen seconds before her eyes snapped back open and she glared at Bonnie.

"Do you really expect me to believe that Tyler Lockwood is gay?" Caroline let out a snort. "Please, Bonnie, the boy has had a girlfriend since he was five. There's never been...I mean, I just can't picture it," she trailed off.

"Caroline, love is love. It isn't about - "

"Wait. Now you're telling me he's in love?"

"If he's not yet, he will be, the way he looks at him...whew. It's definitely headed that direction."

"How are you seeing all of these signals Bonnie? Wait, I know, it's because you're a witch, and I'm not...how convenient."

"Stop pretending Tyler's been perfect and you've both been joined at the hip. Do you remember the reason you came to see me? I'll remind you: Tyler has been distant. Tyler hasn't spoken with you. And, if I remember correctly, he hasn't really kissed you in about a month. In fact, he's been avoiding you."

That last gave Caroline pause. She thought about the way she and Tyler had been together, once. It had been sweet, promising. Then came his first transformation. She'd been with him, seen him through the pain and accepted the silences that seemed to linger between them in the days afterward. At the time, she did the only thing she could do; she shook it off, pretended that everything was really fine, that her and Tyler were on track to become the next super-couple. She'd wanted to believe in their love story, so she'd glossed over his mistakes. She'd forgiven all the times he forgot to include her, to call her and ignored how he never seemed to initiate spending any time with her.

Was it her fault? What could she have done differently? Or was it really all because of Jeremy?

She wanted to believe Bonnie, but she couldn't.

"If I believe you, do you realize what this means?" Caroline asked, tears in her eyes. Bonnie shook her head.

"It means that I'm becoming my mother!" Caroline shouted. She fell forward on to Bonnie's shoulder, sobbing loudly.

Bonnie looked puzzled for a moment and then her features cleared.

"Oh," she said softly, "I forgot about your dad." Caroline sobbed harder.

...

Tyler couldn't help himself. Why did he say that? He'd ended up teasing himself thinking about all of those future moments they'd have alone. He moved closer to Jeremy, whose hands he still held captive. It was too soon, but he knew he'd already waited too long. Jeremy looked so adorably shocked, so shy, it was killing him.

He took it as an encouraging sign that Jeremy's breaths became uneven and his eyes seemed to be focused on his lips. God knows Tyler had been thinking about Jeremy's mouth all day.

Mine, was his last thought before he let instinct take over.

...

There are so few werewolves in town, Klaus mused. And by the look of things, there weren't going to be many more for the years to come. Klaus had ideas, had all manner of diabolical plots concerning the union of vampires and werewolves, but he wasn't sure how this fit into the equation.

He was hidden behind a copse of trees in the Gilbert yard, eyes fixed on Tyler and Jeremy. He had planned on using Tyler for his experiment, but hadn't known how attached he was to Jeremy.

They were kissing so earnestly, so intensely that Klaus was almost moved. It was strange, seeing them. Tyler cradled Jeremy's face so gingerly, as if he was delicate and precious. Then Jeremy's hands started moving up Tyler's sides, finding their way underneath his shirt, caressing him hungrily.

Klaus raised his eyebrows. Didn't they care that they were right out in the open?

Between all the touching and desperate sounds they were making, Klaus was starting to get uncomfortable.

Then suddenly, Tyler pulled back, breathing hard.

"Jer, we've got to stop."

"Why?" he asked, bringing his arms up to Tyler's neck, trying to draw him back.

"Look at where we are." Jeremy looked around briefly.

"So? We can go inside."

"You're terrible."

"You don't want to come in?"

"You know I do, but we can't...you know."

"No, I don't actually. I can control myself. If I let you into the house, all we'll be doing is making lunch and maybe watch a movie. What were you thinking?" Tyler stared at him and shook his head, disbelieving.

"Yeah, right. You kiss me like that and you're thinking it's going to lead to a sandwich and a movie?" Tyler asked laughing lightly. "You, beautiful, are a tease." He smiled up at Jeremy and placed a gentle kiss in his mouth.

"Let's get some food," Tyler said resignedly and followed Jeremy into the house.

Well, Klaus thought, what to make of that?

Klaus shrugged and smiled. All information was good.

...

Elena wasn't sure what to think when she came home later that day. First of all, it was loud. There was movie playing and booming laughter and conversation somewhere in the house. It was all so chaotic. It couldn't be Alaric, but it was so unlike Jeremy that it made her suspicious.

"Jer?" she called out. She had no hope of being heard over the din.

"I told you, the guy is going to jump!"

"If he does, I'm picking the next movie. This is awful!"

Elena plunged ahead, braver now that she recognized Jeremy's voice. As she approached the couch, she hesitated. She didn't see Jeremy. She saw Tyler and at the end of the couch were someone's feet, presumably Jeremy's, those were his crazy plaid socks, after all...but that meant...

Was Jeremy laying on Tyler? Weird.

No, she thought, continuing forward.

She gasped, prompting Tyler to look her way. Jeremy hadn't heard her though, so he was still comfortably resting on Tyler, his back against his chest, head tucked under Tyler's chin. As Elena watched, Jeremy reached for Tyler's hand and placed it over his chest, removing all doubt in her mind.

Tyler had kept still and watched the expressions flit across her face.

It was a tense moment for him. He felt threatened by her, but wasn't sure he would need to fight just yet.

Elena's eyes met Tyler's and she remained, mercifully, speechless.

She left the room silently, unable to understand what she had seen, what it meant and how she was supposed to respond.

She would decide tomorrow.

Tyler relaxed only when he had heard Elena's bedroom door close.

They still had time.

Tyler placed a kiss on the top of Jeremy's head before leaning down a little further to kiss his neck.

"Hey...don't start that now, we were doing so good," Jeremy said playfully, moving his head so that Tyler had better access to his neck. It felt so good.

Tyler tried pulling away, realizing what he had just started, but Jeremy pulled him back and flipped himself over so that he was laying flush against him.

After a moment of forgoing the challenge he saw in those gorgeous eyes, Tyler relented and reached up to kiss him. Jeremy leaned back and away and the rush of movement pressed so deliciously against him that Tyler was shocked breathless.

"I told you I could control myself," Jeremy said, laughing.

Tyler cursed.

Notes

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading! I apologize for the delay between updates, but my vacation was a littler crazier than I anticipated. Now that I'm back home I hope to post more frequent updates.

Also, thank you so much to those of you who review - it makes my day. Really, it does!