This one is slightly longer than usual and includes only Bonnie's and Tyler's POV's but Jeremy's will return in the next update. Thank you for reading and as always, your reviews are a joy.

Options (Partners Redux)

When Bonnie sat down, Tyler instantly lost his place in his book. He's been doing that a lot, mostly because it's boring but he was making headway when Bonnie joined him and shattered his concentration and every bit of motivation he'd scraped together to finish the crappy thing. He'd scrambled to find something normal to say, anything really. If it was about Stefan, he could have talked easily about it. Stefan, killing Stefan, is a topic he can run with. When she said, "It's about us," his heart stopped.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

What us is Bonnie referring to? Her and him? Her and Jeremy and him? The three of them?

She folds her hands on top of the table. "Caroline told me why she's mad," she says. "She told me about you. And me."

Tyler's eyes drop to the tabletop and he fingers the edge of his book, wishing he could just go back to reading it now. "When did she tell you?"

"A few days ago," Bonnie answers.

"A few days ago?"

He thought the secrecy part of this situation was implied to Caroline but apparently not. But why should he have expected her to keep his secret anyway? It's not like she owes him anything now that he's fallen hard for her best friend.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"You don't have to apologize."

"Yeah, I do. I'm ruining everything."

Now Bonnie feels awkward and so does he. Caroline's not talking to her and it's all his fault. He knows it's not his fault he feels the way he does. He's said that more than once but he could have hidden it better. There was no reason Caroline had to find out the way she did and there's no reason Bonnie had to find out either. And if Jeremy ever finds out...

Yes, he's ruining everything.

"You're not," Bonnie insists.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he says. "It was just supposed to be killing, you know? Killing Damon and Stefan. And that's all. This wasn't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to..."

Bonnie tilts her head to the side. And she looks so pretty when she does it, he can barely remember where he was going with that. "What?"

"You weren't supposed to be you," he finishes. "The Bonnie I knew a few years ago wasn't like this. I didn't expect-"

"I've always been like this," she says.

"I didn't know you," he says. "Not the way I do now. You're amazing, Bonnie. The things you do, the way you are. And I'm so grateful-"

"That's all it is," she says. "You're grateful. I helped you, saved your life. You're just-"

"No."

She looks taken aback by his certainty.

"That's not all. I'm grateful to Jeremy." He almost stops when he says Jeremy's name. They shouldn't be having this conversation. Because of Jeremy. But Tyler keeps going anyway. Now that he's started, he can't stop. If she knows, he might as well get it all out there. Then she'll have the full story. If he's already messed up what they'd been doing, their delicate dynamic, then he might as well go all the way. "I didn't realize what it was at first but I do now."

It started that day he found her at Whitmore when she was his only hope and his last chance. Bonnie was vengeance and justice and magic, a necessity if he planned on getting anywhere near achieving his goal. He needed her then and he needs her now but his reasons have changed. He needed her help, her on his side. And now he has that, will probably always have that. Bonnie's the kind of person who will always give that to him.

"You're my friend and my partner and my savior," he says, "but grateful is the least of the things I feel toward you."

Bonnie looks down at the table. He thinks he can see the ghost of a smile at the corner of her mouth but it comes and goes so fast he thinks he was imagining it.

"You've fought for me and with me. I'll never be able to tell you how much that means to me."

He can hear Bonnie's intake of breath.

"Bonnie, I-" He reaches for her hand and she pulls away. Tyler stares at the space her hand once occupied and feels the empty air he finds instead of her skin. He tries not to look too disappointed by her withdrawal. "Life hasn't been what any of us expected, you know? It's hard but when I'm around you it seems easy again."

Even though killing Damon and still trying to kill Stefan has been a wild, bumpy ride, it's still the best one he's ever been on. And a lot of that he can attribute to Bonnie.

"Tyler," she says, "we can't. You and I...We're not an option."

No, I guess we're not. He puts his hands in his lap and looks at the table instead of her. "I know. I'm Caroline's ex and you're Jeremy's...whatever you guys are. He loves you, you love him. You love Caroline. I love Caroline, too," he adds. "And Jeremy. He's my friend. I know we're not an option but if we were..." He told himself and he told Caroline he wouldn't entertain the thought. Because they aren't an option. Caroline and Jeremy are there, will always be there, and they can't erase what they were or are. But he's entertaining the thought, this stupid hypothetical. "If we were, I'd be with you. If you'd have me."

She probably wouldn't.

"Tyler," Bonnie says. When she extends her hands to him, he takes them even though he's sure it doesn't mean what he wishes it did. "Thank you. For saying all that."

He swallows.

"People don't say that kind of stuff to me," she says, her fingers tight on his. "Thank you for feeling that way about me."

Tyler tries to smile. "You're welcome." It comes out as a question.

"You're important to me," she says. "Really important. You're one of my best friends. When you came to me and told me you wanted to do this, I...You gave me a purpose again, Tyler."

"You've always had a purpose."

Bonnie's whole life is a purpose, more than his. At this point, all he wants is to be part of it. Part of her.

"For other people. Not for me. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you, and I never would have considered trying without you." Her fingers are twined with his, small and dark against his bigger, paler ones. "It's actually been really fun."

Tyler returns her smile with one of his own. "It has been fun."

They sound like homicidal maniacs but there's no one else around to hear anyway.

"I'm so glad you came to me," she says.

He is, too.

"But we're not an option. Okay? We're not."

He fools himself into thinking she's trying to convince herself, too.

When she touches his face, Tyler tilts his head to her touch. He nods and runs his fingers along her wrist. She's warm and he can hear her pulse thrumming along near his ear. "But if we were? If we could...Would we?"

He can't stop picking at it. If she just tells him it would never happen - not in a million years, not even if her and Jeremy never happened, not even if Caroline gave them her blessing - he would let it go. If she didn't want him at all, he would let it go. He'd do his best to forget this, the feeling of her touching him, and his long winded confession. He'd move out and they'd only meet to talk about finishing their mission. He can do that if she tells him to. It'll hurt but he'll do it.

Bonnie closes her eyes and sighs but she doesn't move her hand. "We can't," she says, "so what's the point?"

"There isn't one," he says. "But would we?"

She presses her lips together. She's got perfect lips.

Tyler knows she loves Jeremy. Whatever it is she's thinking about, whatever she thinks about him, will always be right beside what she feels for Jeremy. He will never cancel that out but he doesn't mind it right now. He touches her face and pushes a piece of her hair behind her ear. He's been wanting to do that for so long.

"Bonnie," he whispers. Their knees knock together as he moves closer to her. "Would we? Would we at least try?"

She touches his hand and he thinks she may pull it away. He thinks at any moment she's going to stand up and repeat how they can't. But she doesn't. She just stays there, her hand on top of his. She doesn't look at him but down at the table and her lashes are long and thick against the tops of her cheeks. Her pulse is fast.

Bonnie swallows. "Yes."

His relief must be palpable. He strokes the back of her hand with his fingers and looks at her. Really looks at her, without feeling obligated to look away, without needing to hide what he's staring at. Her. Her very green eyes and the gentle curve of her mouth. Her mouth. He raises his eyes to hers and knows she's realized what he's looking at, what he wants to do.

They'll never do this again. They'll never talk about it again. Tyler won't think about it again. Well, he'll think about it a lot but this is it. Nothing can - or will - come from it. Nothing but this.

Just one kiss. Just to see what they could be.

Bonnie's fingers slide to his neck to wind around the collar of his shirt. At first he thinks she may be trying to hold him in place, so he won't kiss her. His fingers twitch against her cheek and he's about to pull away, let her disengage, go to her room, and forget this ever happened. But then her hold tightens and he realizes she's pulling him in.

Her eyes flutter closed milliseconds before his lips touch hers.

And she does taste like magic.

Bonnie remembers that day in the cellar, when her and Tyler decided they were in this together, when they agreed to do this daring thing as partners.

This wasn't the partnership she'd anticipated.

She expected clandestine killing under the dark of the night and secret glee when Stefan and Damon dropped dead. She didn't expect to be sharing a house with Tyler and Jeremy both. She didn't expect to be one of a threesome. But those things are easily forgotten, easily accepted, a natural deviation from plans made early.

But this.

She never expected Tyler Lockwood to have her by the mouth.

He was hesitant at first and so was she, even as her fingers gripped his collar and she guided him toward her. After awhile, he became more certain and she let his tongue skate across her lips. The second time his tongue flicked out, she met it with her own. And they haven't come up for air since.

One hand holds the back of Bonnie's neck, angling her lips to his. The other rests on her knee. She doesn't know when it got there but it probably happened around the time she released his hand to touch his chest. He's cold but it's an electric kind of chill, one that leaves her fingertips tingling. When she presses her palms wholly against him and glides them along his stomach, he hums against her mouth. She wants to feel all of him and her hands mark a path along his chest, around his waist, and slide across his shoulder blades.

The cold still clings to her fingers but he's warming up beneath her touch. His lips are scorching. When her hands go back to his chest and find his heart, she feels Tyler shudder. His other hand drops to her leg and squeezes. It's her turn to hum when he slides her chair closer to him with his foot. If she got any closer she'd be in his lap, and his hands take hold of her waist she wonders if that's the endgame. It would be easy for him to lift her. She's surprised at how badly she wants him to.

Tyler's phone rings and she glances over. It looks like such an insignificant thing, a slice of metal and technology, nothing compared to them or their kissing or his hands on her hips.

The name that flashes across the screen isn't as easy to write off.

Jeremy.

Bonnie pulls her lips from Tyler's and untangles herself from him. She has to push the chair back to make room. "Bonnie?" he says. He stands, too, when she starts pacing the living room, trying to figure out where to go.

"Bonnie?" he repeats.

The ringing stops.

Tyler stands next to her. "Bonnie."

The house feels like a tomb. All she can hear is her frantic heart and Tyler's low voice. The ringing of Tyler's phone has faded into oblivion.

It's quiet when Tyler's fingers brush against hers. And still quiet when he takes her hand and laces their fingers together again. His other hand rises to stroke her cheek and he's leaning toward her, to kiss her again. She watches his mouth as he gets closer and clutches his hand when his lips barely brush hers.

The ringing returns.

She lets go of his hand.

"Bonnie," he says, as she steps away from him.

She wishes he wouldn't say her name like that. Like a spell, she thinks. Jeremy says it like that, too. She retreats to her bedroom and grabs her purse and keys. When she goes back down, Tyler hasn't moved. He's rooted to the spot in the living room and neither of them speaks as she goes out the front door.

Bonnie's only been gone for a little while when Jeremy comes back. "I called you," he says. Tyler's sitting at the kitchen table again, his book closed in front of him and his eyes glued to the chair where Bonnie had been sitting just a few minutes ago, where he'd been holding her tight against him, his mouth fastened to hers.

He tries not to think about it as he answers Jeremy. "Yeah, sorry. My phone was on silent."

If it had been, he might still be kissing Bonnie right now.

"I was going to grab dinner," Jeremy says, "but I didn't know if you guys were hungry."

Jeremy sits in front of the television with his history book open. "Where's Bonnie anyway?" he asks.

"I don't know."

She'll come back eventually but Tyler wonders if he should be here when she does. It might just be better to go now, before she returns. He'll tell Jeremy they discussed it already and it won't be a big deal. Tyler decides that's what he'll do but still doesn't move from the table. Instead, he rereads the same page of his book at least ten times, continually distracting himself with thoughts of Bonnie and her lips and her blissful sighs. Then he busies himself with the guilt and Jeremy sitting right there.

Jeremy's asking him what he knows about the French Revolution when Tyler interrupts.

"I kissed Bonnie."

The Grill is slow today. Bonnie finds a booth in the corner and sits down. For awhile, all she can do is stare at the tabletop and think about the tingling in her fingers and the still present burning sensation on her mouth.

"You okay?" Matt asks.

She nods. "Yeah. Are you okay?"

"...Yeah," Matt says. "Have you talked to Caroline?"

"No," Bonnie says.

Is this the one grudge Caroline's going to be able to hold for all of eternity? Before she even knows they kissed? When she finds out about that, she'll officially never speak to Bonnie again.

"I'm sure she'll get over it," Matt says, in a failed attempt at making her feel better. "I mean, you told her nothing's going on, right?"

She really doesn't want to talk about this.

Matt takes her silence as a "yes". "She'll get over it," he says certainly. "Can I get you anything?"

She's not hungry but she asks for an iced tea and Matt goes to get it.

"I'm such an idiot," she mutters to herself.

From her purse, her phone rings. She reaches for it, not knowing what she'll do if it turns out to be Tyler calling. Not even knowing what she'll do if it's Jeremy.

It's not Tyler. And it's not Jeremy either.

It's Stefan.

Tyler doesn't know why he says it. Because Jeremy's his friend? His family? And with the exception of Bonnie, he's all Tyler's got left in this stupid deathtrap of a town? And sitting there with him, after what happened and not telling the truth, makes him feel sick?

All of the above?

Jeremy's silence makes him feel worse.

"Jeremy," he begins, when the quiet has stretched too long, "I-"

"Why?"

Tyler tries to shake off his discomfort. He did this. He opened it up. Of course Jeremy's upset - he's got every right to be. Still, he can't unlock his fingers, clasped in front of him, and he still can't look at Jeremy, too worried about what he'll see. "I like her," he answers.

Jeremy scoffs. "You like her?"

Tyler tries to remember a time when Jeremy sounded as angry as he does now. Maybe back when Vicki was alive but he can't remember it for sure. But he remembers the way Jeremy sounded at Elena's Christmas party, right before he cut through Damon's neck with a butcher knife. He doesn't think Jeremy will go that far but he's pissed and they both know it. Most of Jeremy's gear is gathered in the duffel bag in the corner anyway, out of reach for the moment, and there are no other sharp objects around.

"You like Bonnie?" Tyler nods. Jeremy's yell fills the whole room and reverberates in Tyler's head. "I'm in love with Bonnie!"

If there had been a knife around, that would have been the moment Tyler would expect it to slice cleanly through his throat.

Tyler turns his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Shut up, Tyler," Jeremy hisses. "You weren't sorry when you kissed her. Were you?"

Tyler shakes his head.

"Did she kiss you back?"

Tyler still doesn't look at him.

"Did she?" Jeremy persists. "Come on, Tyler! Did Bonnie kiss you back?"

Tyler doesn't speak. His silence is his answer.

Under any other circumstances he would be smiling at the thought of Bonnie kissing him the way she did, her hands exploring his body and her tongue tangling with his. If Jeremy wasn't upset, if what they did hadn't hurt Jeremy, he'd be relishing in it. But these are the circumstances and Jeremy is hurt.

There's nothing to be happy about.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jeremy says. "You know how I feel about Bonnie. We've talked about it. You gave me shit about it. Why would you...?" He trails off and pulls on his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asks as Jeremy heads for the door.

He doesn't answer.

Tyler would rather Jeremy stuck around, even if it meant taking a punch or two.

He follows Jeremy out of the house, calling after him. They both stop short when they see Bonnie coming up the pathway, her hair blowing in the wind. "What's wrong?" she asks when she sees them.

Tyler opens his mouth to explain but Jeremy does so first. "So you two are just kissing now?"

Bonnie's eyes are wide when they land on Tyler but she doesn't see his apologetic expression because she's turned her attention back to Jeremy. "Jeremy-"

"I changed my mind. I don't want to talk about it," Jeremy says, throwing up his hands. He starts walking away from them. Tyler calls after him but Jeremy doesn't turn around until Bonnie speaks.

"Stefan's back," she says. Jeremy pauses and turns around, looking reluctantly intrigued.

Tyler faces her. "He is?"

"He got back earlier today," she says. "He found something on the cure. He wants me and Elena to meet him at the boarding house."

Tyler expects Jeremy to stay, if only for this. Even if he hates them both right now, he'll still want to kill Stefan. But all he says is, "Okay." Then he resumes his walk.

"Jeremy!" Tyler calls.

He stops just long enough to look back at Tyler and say, "Fuck you."

Tyler can't think of anything to tell him. He knew this would happen and he knew he would deserve it when it did. He looks to Bonnie imploringly. If someone could get Jeremy to come back, it's her. Even when he's angry with her, Jeremy loves her. But she's pushing her hair off her forehead, looking after Jeremy with an expression just as lost and sad as Tyler imagines his to be.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry," Tyler says. How many times is he going to say that today?

She looks at him and shakes her head, letting out a sigh. "I have to go." She goes to her car and Tyler looks up the street, to Jeremy's retreating back. Bonnie's car pulls away from the curb and Jeremy gets smaller and smaller the further he goes. For a moment, Tyler thinks about going after him but it would probably only make it worse.

Tyler turns and goes back into the house.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where everything's falling apart.

By the time she gets to the boarding house, Bonnie's brain has been separated into two halves. One half is thinking of Stefan and what he found while he was away, how they can finally kill him now. But that leads to the second half of her brain trying to figure out just how that's going to happen with Jeremy rightfully pissed at her and Tyler. The two of them could probably do it alone. That was the original plan, after all, but it wouldn't feel right. Even now, just thinking about it, feels wrong.

Jeremy was going to find out eventually. Maybe not as soon as the same day, within an hour and a half of the kiss happening, but he was always going to find out. The memory of him walking away and his bitter "Fuck you" to Tyler replays itself in her head as she approaches the front door of the boarding house. The memory weighs her down.

Stefan opens the door before she can reach it.

She doesn't know what she expected. Maybe for him to look different, aged somehow even though that's not possible. He looks the same, in fact right down to the gray t-shirt and dark jeans. "Hey, Bonnie," he says with a smile that used to be comforting to her. He hugs her and she awkwardly pats his back.

"How was your trip?" she asks, as he pulls away.

"It was okay," Stefan says. "I did some thinking, figured some things out."

Bonnie takes off her jacket and drapes it over the back of a chair in the living room. "Where'd you go anyway?"

"Louisiana," he answers. "New Orleans, to be specific. Ever been?"

"Always wanted to go," she says.

"It's fantastic," he says. "And for a witch, it's probably even better."

Bonnie smiles as genuinely as she can.

"Do you want something to drink?" Stefan asks. He's trying to make up for everything that happened before he left. Elena will be here soon and it'll only help Stefan's image if she sees him being kind and normal, or as normal as Stefan can be. "Water? Soda? I've got tea."

"I'll take tea then."

Maybe that will help her focus.

Bonnie sits down at the edge of the chair as Stefan goes into the kitchen. She checks her phone, looking for something from Jeremy or even Tyler. But there's nothing. She's about to punch out a text to Jeremy when Stefan returns with a steaming cup of tea and a napkin for her. She drops her phone back into her bag. "Thanks," she says. She takes a sip. It's not nearly as good as Shane's but she drinks it down anyway while Stefan sits down across from her.

"So what'd you find?" she asks.

"We should wait for Elena," Stefan says.

"Okay," Bonnie agrees. She sets the cup of tea down on the table and stares at it. The surface of the brown liquid trembles slightly and then becomes still. Stefan doesn't speak.

Bonnie lets her mind drift to Tyler and his mouth on hers that morning, hot and cold, gentle and forceful, all at once. She can still feel his hand at the back of her neck, angling her mouth to his to kiss her harder and his tongue brushing against hers. She can still hear the contented humming sound he made when she pressed herself against him. But she drifts to Jeremy, too. His back, getting further and further away from her, coupled with memories of his mouth on her neck and his voice in her ear. His hands, everywhere, and in a moment of perfect bliss, his name the only word she's capable of forming.

The room is spinning slightly.

She doesn't know when it started.

"Bonnie," Stefan says. His voice sounds far away. "You okay?"

She rests her head in her hand, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opens them, she expects to see things right side up. She gets the opposite.

"Stefan," she says. Her own voice sounds warped.

"Bonnie," he repeats, standing and stepping toward her. He squats down in front of her, peering up at her face. He reaches behind his back and digs into his pocket.

When he holds out his hand, with something resting in his palm. She doesn't know what it is. Her sight focuses just enough for her to make it out. A tiny little makeshift bag, loaded with fake herbs. Her blood turns to lead and she swallows down a lump in her throat.

"Remember these, Bonnie?"

To block the magic, she almost recalls telling Stefan.

"I got my hands on some real ones," he says, nodding to the tea. "They seem to be doing the trick."

They are. She can barely think of a spell much less use one.

Her hands drops to her bag, reaching for her phone, but her movements are slow. Stefan easily reaches and pushes her bag out of reach. She doesn't even know why she tried.

Human instinct, she thinks. The fog that's settled over her mind, over her magic, is thick. It rolled in so quickly. She eyes the cup of tea, inoffensive and harmless looking, now only half full of the liquid that's doomed her.

Stupid, she thinks. This is Stefan. She should have known. How could she have come there, distracted with thoughts of kissing Tyler and Jeremy when she was going to be face to face with the vampire she's been conspiring to kill? What ever happened to witch's instinct? Stupid. Stefan touches her face and tilts her head back so he can look at her. His fingers are just as gentle on hers as Tyler's had been earlier. This time she's more aware of how very snappable her neck is.

Bonnie remembers that cellar again, where her and Tyler decided Stefan would be the first to go.

If only he had been.

His finger floats across her neck. "Now let's talk about why you killed my brother."