All this hesitation it's killing me, it's breaking me in two. I'm not about to give up on you. And can it be that you're the one, or maybe there's another reason I can't get you off my mind? I'm trying to break the habit, but it seems like you're the only one who's breaking anything tonight.

TYLER & JEREMY

Tyler swung his keys out of his jacket pocket, blowing out a sigh. Leave it to Caroline to have Matt and Stefan waiting in the wings.
"So," he called to Jeremy, "your place or mine?" Jeremy shrugged.
"Pretty sure that Jenna and Ric are at mine."
"Mine then. Race you." Jeremy just laughed.
"Didn't I already tell you about not getting into things I wasn't going to win?"
"Oh, there's a chance," Tyler said, letting a cocky smile shape his lips.
"I'll see you there," Jeremy said, shaking his head as he got into his car. Tyler let out a small laugh and followed suit. As he drove he wondered what the hell they were going to do. Apparently Caroline was serious about this. Elena and Bonnie, as well as Matt and Stefan, were probably just along for the ride he thought. Then he wondered why exactly Caroline was doing it…as if he had a chance of understanding her twisted mind. Sometimes, Tyler really wished that he was smarter. Surprisingly, Jeremy beat him back to his house. Tyler figured he must've spent too much time thinking. "Good thing we didn't race, huh?" Jeremy questioned, climbing out.
"Yeah, yeah," Tyler sighed. "Maybe I just felt sorry for you."
"At this point I feel sorry for both of us." They again gave each other a once over, shaking their heads as their lips quirked.
"One thing's for sure, we're never living this down." Tyler walked towards the door, assuming he was following. "Maybe Grace thought it was cute."
"Really?" Jeremy questioned, his voice closer than Tyler expected, curling in the shorter boy's ear, "Cute? That's the best you've got?"
"I don't hear you offering anything," Tyler shot back, taking larger steps forward.
"Yeah well, I'm not the expert on how to read Grace."

Tyler let the statement go, noting how Jeremy's voice turned bitter. He pushed open the door and walked through, spinning and waiting for Jeremy to enter before closing it. "So?" Jeremy questioned, propping his hands on his hips as he watched Tyler. Tyler let himself shrug.
"Ty, is that you?" his mother called.
"Yeah, I'm home."
"It's so early," she murmured, stepping into the foyer and tugging her glasses down, folding them in a hand. She squinted her eyes and let out a strange little sound, somewhere between a chuckle and a hiccup. "Um," she crossed her arms after gesturing between the two of them, "what's this?"
"An unfortunate coincidence Mrs. Lockwood," Jeremy assured her. When Tyler glanced from Jeremy back to her she was holding up her Blackberry.
"Mom!" Tyler let out on a groan.
"I'm sorry dear; this is really just too adorable. I'm sending it to your grandmother." Tyler ran a hand over his face in frustration and Jeremy barely managed to conceal his laugh with a forced cough. She chuckled to herself and put her glasses back on before fiddling with her phone.
"We'll be in my room," Tyler muttered, yanking Jeremy towards the stairs by the back of his collar. Jeremy stumbled after him, working vigorously to wipe the smile from his face. Tyler dropped his collar at the top of the steps and Jeremy almost tumbled back down, catching himself just in time. He followed Tyler into the third door on the right and closed it behind him.

Jeremy watched as Tyler flopped down on the bed, covering his face.
"This can't be happening," he said, hands slightly muffling the words. Jeremy laughed, crossing to Tyler's desk and sitting down. "I mean this whole night has just gone so wrong."
"You have to admit; when we first saw each other tonight it was sort of hilarious."
"Maybe in an utterly fucked up way."
"Get your kicks where you can." Tyler sat up, rubbing his face again.
"So what are we going to do about this?"
"Send you in with stakes while I hide in the bushes?" Jeremy suggested after a moment.
"Very helpful Gilbert," Tyler drawled.
"Well I'm not going to fight Caroline plus Stefan and Damon are practically a package deal. I'll pass."
"How about a plan that doesn't involve anyone dying?"
"Sorry," Jeremy let out, crossing his arms, "I spent too many of my formative years plotting against evil psychopaths."
"So what you're telling me is that you're completely useless."
"When it comes to helping you with Grace, yes. I'm having enough trouble all by myself."
"Speaking of," Tyler returned, "you ever going to tell me what happened?"
"Not a chance in hell."

For a little while the room stayed silent.
"So," Jeremy finally said, "what's there to do around here?"
"You mean we're not going to open up and have an awesome bonding session?" Tyler questioned dryly, smirking.
"You're not as funny as you think you are Lockwood."
"Yeah well your opinion doesn't matter Gilbert." Jeremy spun in the chair, lifting the cover on Tyler's sketchbook. Tyler sprung from the bed, slamming it closed with one hand. "That's private," he gritted out. Jeremy held both hands up in surrender, watching in sick fascination as Tyler's eyes flickered from brown to orange to yellow, back to orange and fading to brown again.
"Does that," he flicked his tongue over his lips, reaching out a tentative fingertip, "happen a lot?" Tyler let his eyelids flicker closed as Jeremy finally made contact.
"Sometimes," he admitted quietly.
"It's kind of," Jeremy paused, smoothing over the skin under Tyler's eye before drawing away. Tyler tensed. "Cool," he let out.
"You're not afraid?" Tyler questioned on a whisper, slowly opening his eyes again. Jeremy didn't answer immediately, thinking it over. Eventually he shook his head.
"You probably would have done something by now."
"Yeah I guess so," Tyler let out a shaky laugh, sitting on the bed again.
"Sorry about that," Jeremy said, titling his head towards the book.
"Nah, it's cool man." Tyler shook his head. "I've got more stuff to do downstairs."

They made their way downstairs to the basement, where the home theater was.
"This is pretty sweet Tyler." Tyler just shrugged.
"Guess I'm used to it." He gestured to the Xbox. Jeremy just held up his bandaged hands, shaking his head and smiling sadly.
"Right," Tyler said, tossing himself on the couch. "Guess it's whatever is on TV then." Jeremy had to laugh.
"I never could have seen this coming," he said in response to Tyler's questioning look. He settled himself on the couch as well. He wasn't terribly far away but he wasn't really close either. Both boys were somewhat surprised by the situation but it was sort of like Grace. Neither one found himself wanting to back down. So they both stayed on the couch, watching TV. They fell asleep there. When Tyler woke up there was a rivulet of drool working its way down his cheek. He wiped it away with one hand and groaned.
"Shit," he let out. Glancing at his watch revealed that it was almost six in the morning. "Jer," he reached over slowly and pushed the other boy's shoulder, "Jer wake up, we're gonna be late." Jeremy groaned slightly, swatting blindly at Tyler. Tyler cleared his throat. "Gilbert! Wake up!" Jeremy jerked up, gasping and then choking on the sudden influx of air. He looked around as he coughed. Tyler finally turned the TV off.
"Shit," Jeremy let out, eyes landing on Tyler, "what happened?"
"You fell asleep loser," Tyler said, standing and stretching.
"Oh? And what about you?"
"Shut up."
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Jeremy said, standing slowly as well. Tyler scratched the back of his neck.
"Did you uh, want to borrow some clothes or something?"
"I guess so. Seeing as pretty much everyone saw us last night. This would be pretty hard to explain," he said, half gesturing around the room.
"That's why no one is going to hear about it," Tyler murmured, going to the stairs.
"Agreed," Jeremy muttered, following him.

They went back up to Tyler's room, avoiding his mother by some miracle. Tyler threw some clothes at him and gave him directions to the bathroom.
"You have time for a shower; did you want food or something?"
"We didn't have a one night stand, you don't have to be so nice to me," Jeremy said, smiling crookedly. Tyler's cheeks heated. "But since you asked, I'd love some coffee."
"Punk," Tyler called after him. Tyler dressed quickly before jogging down the steps and going to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water and poured a cup of the coffee his mother must've made for Jeremy. He took a seat at the kitchen island and ate an apple while waiting for Jeremy. Tyler heard him coming down the stairs, on the phone.
"What? No I'm not still with Tyler, are you crazy?" There was a pause and Jeremy came in, hair damp. Tyler nodded towards the coffee. Jeremy smiled slightly and went to it. "Then where am I? Uhm…I'm just," he brought a hand to his forehead; "I'm already at school." Another pause. "I couldn't sleep, what are you going to do? Sue me?" He blanched as he took a sip of coffee, moving the phone away from his ear and clearing his throat a few times. "No I won't come meet you. Jesus Elena I'm not twelve years old anymore." He slammed the phone closed and tossed it onto the counter. "That was a close one," he said with a slight smile, lifting the mug again.
"You think she believed you?" Tyler asked, tossing the core into the trash. Jeremy shrugged.
"It's better than telling her the truth." He shoved hair out of his face and set his elbows on the counter. "I put the clothes I didn't use back in your room, the pants were too short."
"It's not my fault you're freakishly tall Gilbert."
"Whatever oompa loompa." Tyler surprised them both by letting out a chuckle.
"How're the hands?" Tyler questioned softly. Jeremy half shrugged, finishing his coffee.
"They're alright." He held up the mug, "What do I do with this?"
"I'll take it," Tyler reached across the island, fingertips brushing Jeremy's as he gripped the mug. He rinsed it out and set it in the sink before turning back to Jeremy. "So we should probably go."
"Hey, just because we slept together doesn't mean you can order me around whenever you want." Tyler stared at him for several moments, shocked speechless.
"I-I just meant we'd be late," he finally mumbled. Jeremy smiled.
"Oh, alright."
"Little punk," Tyler let out, crossing the kitchen and wrapping Jeremy in a headlock.
"Hey, get off me," Jeremy let out, laughing as Tyler pulled him along. "I was just kidding!" he protested. The scent of Tyler's own body wash filled his nose and overwhelmed him for a moment. Jeremy used the distraction to wiggle away and run to his car. "See ya Lockwood," he called, climbing in his car. Tyler just stood still, dumbfounded again. He half waved, thoughts moving through his brain sluggishly. What was happening to him?

A/N: I want to apologize but I'm also a bit torn. I know it's going slow. I'm trying to work it as much as I can. It's sort of because (in most cases) I can't stand Jyler fics where they just jump into bed. I want this to be as believable as possible when it actually happens. So yeah… I am sorry. You guys rock and just take my breath away. Thank you for putting up with me! Oh and don't kill me for this…but technically they did already sleep together. *facepalm*