Keeping Secrets
Ch. 12

Over the next three weeks Katie kept her head down and focused on work and school. To keep her hands even more occupied she bought a guitar and started teaching herself how to play. She didn't get to spend much time with her friends because Bonnie was still at her aunt's house, Elena was wrapped up in Stefan and Caroline was wrapped up in Matt.

She was working after school and was picking up the tip that Tyler had left behind on her table when Matt walked up to clear it. "Is it just me or has he been coming here a lot more than usual?" she asked him.

"Yeah and he's tipping you more than the other girls." Matt said as she split the money then handed him his half. "I think someone has a crush."

"Is Tyler Lockwood even capable of crushing on someone?" Katie asked with an eye roll.

"I don't know, but he's only human so...maybe." he said with a shrug then started clearing the table.

Katie brushed the conversation off and got back to work.

The next day Katie was working after school when Tyler came in and sat down in her section. So she grabbed her notepad and pen and walked over. Seeing Damon sitting at the bar Katie made her voice sound more cheerful. "Hey, Tyler, what can I get you?" She asked with a small smile.

"A coke and some curly fries." He told her with a smile back.

"Alright. I'll put that order in and be right back with your drink." She told him then walked to the bar finding the ice scoop and coke sprayer to be faster than the soda machine in the back.

"You're not seriously flirting with the dimwit football player are you?" Damon asked, clearly having been listening.

"Screw you, Damon." She told him then turned to see the order of curly fries be slid into the order window. She carried them and the drink over to Tyler and set them down in front of him. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Your phone number." He said with his jockish smirk.

Katie gave him a questioning side eye. "Did you seriously just ask for my number?"

"Yes. I seriously just asked for your number."

She pursed her lips to the side as she thought about it. "Okay." She bit her lip and smiled at him as she pulled her note pad out of her apron pocket and wrote her number down. She tore the paper out, put it on the table then slid it to him.

"I'm kind of surprised that worked." He told her with a suspicious smile. "You gave me a fake number didn't you?"

"There's only one way to find out." She told him with a playful smile then got back to work.

That night she got a text from an unknown number. "I swear if this is a fake number..."

"Hi, Tyler." She texted back.

"Well what do you know. Katie Finnegan actually gave me her number." After she got the text her phone started ringing so she answered it.

"Hi."

"Hey." He answered back a little awkwardly.

"Why wouldn't I give you my number?" She asked as she walked over to her bed and sat down on it cross legged.

"I don't know. You've been kind of…off, here lately." he answered. "You don't smile anymore."

Kate made sure her hair looked okay and her glasses were straight then snapped a pic of herself with a too big, cheesy smile on her face. She typed "I do too." then hit send.

She heard a noise on the other end of the line as Tyler opened the message then laughed. "I've known you long enough to know that smile is fake." He replied.

"Eh, well, I tried." Katie replied.

"So I heard you and Damon broke up."

"Yep." She answered.

"I also heard you're living with him and Stefan."

"My grandpa kicked me out. I had no where else to go." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Must be a pain in the ass living with your ex." He commented.

"Pain in the ass isn't a strong enough expression." She replied as she fell back putting her head on her pillow.

"What would you say if I asked you out?" He asked making Katie's heart jump up into her throat.

"Um that depends, are you asking me out?" She asked avoiding his question.

"Yes." He answered not missing a beat.

"How's your mom going to feel about you goin' out a piece of trash like me?" She asked remembering what his mother had said when she had given him a ride home.

"You heard that huh?" He asked and she could hear a hint of how bad he felt about it in his voice.

"Yeah she wasn't exactly quiet about it." Katie answered trying to keep how much she hated his parents out of her voice.

"Sorry." He told her sounding like he didn't say the word much to other people who weren't his dad.

"You don't have to apologize. You didn't say it." She told him.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He told her and things got quiet for a few seconds so to break the silence he asked, "So what are you wearing?"

Katie actually laughed. "You did not just ask me that."

"I did." She could hear a smile in his voice. "Am I gonna get an answer?"

"Only if you answer first." She told him with a smile still in her voice.

"Just some grey lounge pants." He answered and Katie instantly pictured him shirtless. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him shirtless before. Tyler was proud of his body and had no problem showing it off. But it was the first time she gave how hot he was more than a fleeting thought and actually found herself attracted to him. "You're picturing me shirtless aren't you?" He asked when she didn't say anything.

"No." Katie drawled sounding a little embarrassed. "Why would I do that? You're repulsive." She joked to smooth over how obvious she had been.

"Uh huh, sure." She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "So..." he drawled, "What are you wearing?"

Katie looked down at her red sweat pants and overly worn t shirt with a faded band logo on the front. "My red cheer shorts and a black spaghetti strap tanktop." She lied but used clothes from her wardrobe to do so.

"The ones you wear to practice all the time?" He asked and Katie blushed as she hummed a positive answer. "Nice."

"I wasn't aware you even noticed me at practice." She replied without thinking.

"You really don't see it do you?" He asked.

"See what?" She asked completely oblivious.

"Practically the whole football team has had the hots for you since you joined the cheer squad." He explained and Katie felt like her head was going to explode. "I mean we've all whistled at you one point or another."

"I always thought y'all were whistling at the squad as a whole." She replied as she rolled over and sat up.

"If you paid attention you would've realized that we were looking at you." He answered.

Katie's stomach growled making her realize that she hadn't had dinner. "Okay if that's true then why are you the only one that's asked me out?" She asked as she headed down stairs to the kitchen.

"We all assumed you were a lesbian." He answered.

"Seriously? A girl doesn't flirt back so guys automatically think she's just not into them?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen and saw Damon getting a bag of blood out of the fridge.

She hadn't been shopping and knew that there wouldn't be anything in the icebox for her. So she pulled a cup of noodles out of the cabinet next to the fridge. "Yeah." He answered as if it were the obvious one. "But then you showed up at my house with that Damon guy and proved us wrong."

"That Damon guy, seriously?" Damon asked loud enough from Tyler to hear.

"Is he there right now?" Tyler asked.

"I had to leave the solitude of my room to find food." She answered as she put a pot of water on the stove to boil.

"Do you have me on speaker?" He asked curious as to how Damon could hear him.

"No. He just has really good hearing." She said then pulled herself up to sit on the kitchen counter. She glared at Damon as she kept talking to Tyler. "So I'll ask again. Why are you the only one that's asked me out?"

"I think I'm the only one who noticed you and Damon broke up." He answered.

"I broke up with her." Damon chimed in.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" she popped off at Damon not caring if Tyler heard. "Or sorority girls to exploit?"

"Nope." He answered with a smart ass smile.

She shot him the finger. "Do I need to call you back later?" Tyler asked as the water in the pot started boiling.

"Nope." Katie answered as she peeled back the seal on the cup and poured the water in to the fill line. "I'm going to eat in my bedroom." She grabbed a fork out of the drawer and closed it with her hip as she held the phone with her shoulder and the cup in both hands to keep from spilling hot water on herself. "Okay I'm back in my room. No more interruptions." She sighed as she kicked the door closed behind her and set the cup of noodles on top of her dresser.

"Right, so are you going anywhere for Christmas break?" He asked knowing that tomorrow was the last day of school before the two week break.

"Nope. My schedule is wide open other than the winter festival that the gang usually drags me to." She told him as she waited for her noodles to be ready.

"You wanna get some dinner and catch a movie this weekend?" He asked making Katie realize that she'd never been on an actual date before.

"Sounds fun." She told him feeling nervous.

"Alright, cool." She smiled at the smile she could hear in Tyler's voice. "Well it's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow?" She hummed a positive answer. "G'night."

"Night." She replied then hung up.

She was in the kitchen when Stefan walked in wearing a pair of black pajama pants. "Hey." He greeted her where she stood with her back turned to him washing her dishes.

"Oh, hey." She replied with a look over her shoulder at him.

"Did I hear you talking to Tyler Lockwood earlier?" He asked as he grabbed a glass out of the cabinet.

"Is privacy not a thing when you live with vampires?" She asked as she put the pot and fork in the draining board and turned to see him making a glass of ice water.

"Sorry." He said with a tight lipped smile even though he wasn't really sorry. "Isn't he kind of a hot head?"

"Yeah." Katie answered as she leaned her hips against the cabinet. "But I broke my grandfather's nose and stabbed Damon in the hand. So who am I to judge?"

"Point taken." He replied then took a drink of his water. "I just don't want you to rush into anything just because you want to get over Damon."

"I appreciate your concern, but if I'm being honest I've kind of had a small crush on Tyler since, like, junior high. So I kind of feel like it'd be a missed opportunity if I turn him down." She admitted as she walked over to the island that he was standing on the other side of. "Is that stupid?" She asked sheepishly.

"Nope. It makes total sense." He told her with a shake of his head then finished off his water and set the glass in the sink. "Goodnight." Katie hummed back at him.


Katie and Tyler were standing at her locker after school when Caroline and Bonnie came over. "Hey, are you going to help us set up for the festival?" Caroline asked Katie with a smile.

"Hey, you're back." She greeted Bonnie with a hug.

"Just for the winter festival then it's back to my aunts." She said as Katie let her go.

"Well, I'm glad your here. Christmas would suck if we weren't all together." She told Bonnie then looked at Caroline. "Yes, I will help with the festival." She then looked at Tyler.

His eyes got big and he held up his hands. "No. You're not roping me into helping."

"Awe come on you don't want to string up popcorn with me?" Katie asked with a laugh. "I usually end up eating half of it anyway."

"No eating the popcorn." Caroline scolded pointing at both of them.

"Yeah I'm gonna pass." Tyler told her with a no nonsense face. "I will see you later though." He gave her a quick smile then left the group of girls.

"So what's up with you two?" Caroline asked.

"We're… going out." Katie answered watching him walk out the double doors at the end of the hallway as they followed slower behind him.

"What?" Bonnie asked. "When did that happen and why didn't you tell us?"

"When did you and Damon break up?" Caroline asked looking at her across Bonnie.

"Damon dumped me two weeks ago. I assumed Elena or Bonnie told you." Katie answered Caroline first. "Tyler called last night and asked me out. So I haven't had a chance to tell you guys."

"How'd he even get your number?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"He asked me for it." She answered with a shrug.

"Is Tyler even your type?" Caroline asked as they pushed the doors open and headed out into the cool air.

"I don't think I really have a type." Katie answered.

"So are you guys going on a date or something?" Bonnie asked as they walked up to the table that held two bowls of popcorn, string and needles.

"Yeah. Dinner and a movie this weekend." Katie answered.

"That's predictable." Caroline laughed.

"After being with Damon, predictable sounds nice." Katie argued and Bonnie made a face that said she understood.

Hours later after the festival started Elena, Stefan, Caroline, Matt, Katie and Bonnie all gathered around one of the picnic tables. "Nobody open their gift until every one has exchanged. Okay first off who picked who?" Caroline, who had arranged everything, ran the show.

"I got Stefan." Elena started and handed him his gift.

"I got Caroline." Stefan said as he handed Caroline her gift.

"And I got Bonnie." Caroline said with a cheery smile. "That means Matt and Katie got each other." Caroline finished and Matte and Katie switched gifts. "Okay open."

Katie was surprised when she unwrapped a silver jewelry box and opened it to find a black leather wrap bracelet with silver letters on it that spelled out her name. "Thanks, Matt, I really like it."

"Thank Caroline. I had no clue what to get you." He told her with an ashamed look then started unwrapping his gift.

"I kind of had no clue what to get you either." Katie said as he tore the paper off of the Nerf football. "Figured I couldn't go wrong with a football."

"You figured right." He said with a laugh then tore the cardboard packaging off of it and started tossing it in the air.

"Boys are so easily amused." Caroline said with an eye roll as she walked up.

"Thank you for the bracelet." Katie told her with a hug.

"He wasn't supposed to tell you." Caroline complained. Katie just laughed and shook her head. "He wanted to buy you a cheap bath set."

"I would've been fine with that." Katie shrugged.

"Even if it smelled like old feet and flowers?" Caroline asked with a grossed out look.

"Ew, no. Thank you for saving me from that disaster." Katie thanked her again. "What did you get from Stefan?"

Caroline pouted and held up her hand and the mini snow glob of Mystic Falls that dangled off the key ring on her finger. "We're not including the boys in secret Santa next year."

Katie just laughed at the pathetic excuse of a Christmas gift. "Hey, Tyler, catch!" She heard Matt say and she looked up in time to see Tyler catch the ball.

"You're man is here." Caroline smiled and bumped Katie's shoulder with hers then walked over to Matt.

"What is she talking about?" Elena asked with a look between the blushing Katie and Caroline.

"Katie and Tyler are going out now." Stefan answered for her.

"You knew?" Elena asked with a look up at Stefan who was hugging her from behind.

"We live in the same house and I have good hearing." Stefan pointed out.

"Wait you live with the Salvatore's now?" Caroline asked turning away from Matt who took the football from Tyler. Katie just nodded. "Why?"

"My grandpa kicked me out." Katie answered with a shrug as she took the jewelry box out of her pocket and opened it.

"Why?" Caroline asked not letting the subject drop.

Katie didn't look at her and instead focused on putting on her new bracelet. "Can we talk about this later?"

"No, why do I feel like I missing something?" She asked getting mad as she looked around at her friends who were giving her warning looks.

Katie looked around at all the people. "Okay," she sighed and walked over to Caroline and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of earshot of her friends. "I've been trying to find the right time to tell you this, but you're always so cheerful I didn't want to bring you down with sad stuff."

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked quietly. Her super sweet voice making it harder on Katie. They came to a stop on the sidewalk.

"For the last seven years, up until I started dating Damon, my grandfather abused me. Physically and emotionally." Katie put it all out on the table.

"You're not really clumsy are you?" She asked, the light bulb going off in her head. Katie shook her head. "Oh my god, I should've realized..."

"I was really good at hiding it." Katie shrugged. "Damon caught Grandpa in the middle of beating me and stood up to him. He stopped physically hurting me, but not emotionally." Katie explained while Caroline stared at her with a furrowed brow. "I spent the night at the boarding house for a couple of nights and when I came home and told Grandpa where I had been he accused me of sleeping with both of the Salvatore brothers. I saw red and broke his nose. He kicked me out and Damon and Stefan offered me a room at the boarding house."

"I am so sorry." Caroline said with a shake of her head.

"No I'm sorry. I should've told you about all this sooner." Katie argued. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." Caroline said with a shake of her head.

"Hey," Tyler called as he ran over to them. "I hate to interrupt, but they're about to light the tree."

"Oh, we can't miss it." Caroline perked up and headed over to the big tree that was set up in the middle of the decorated parking lot.

"You okay?" Tyler asked with a curious head tilt.

"Yeah I'm good." Katie answered.

"I got you hot coco." He said as he held up a to-go coffee cup.

Katie tried not to cringe at the thought of drinking hot chocolate, but she managed a small smile as she took the cup from him. "Thanks."

They all stood amongst the crowd as Sheriff Forbs gave a speech. Katie noticed Elena standing next to Stefan, leaning into his side while he had his arm wrapped around her side and Matt hugging Caroline from behind. When she looked across her shoulder at Tyler he rolled his eyes with a smile and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You don't have to just because they are." Katie told him considering she had never seen Tyler be lovey dovey with Vicki. He was handsy, but he never came off as the type to hold hands.

"I want to." He told her with a look that suggested she was being ridicules.

"Okay." Katie answered skeptically.

"You don't believe me?" He asked with raise brows.

"You never really came off as the romantic, hand holding type." Katie shrugged.

"I'm not." He shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to be."

"Okay." She told him with a small smile.

The tree being lit caught their attention so they both watched as the lights came on going up the tall decorated tree. When it was completely lit everyone started cheering and clapping. Katie just smiled.


Katie kept her outfit for her date with Tyler simple and wore a plain white t-shirt, dark wash skinny jeans, black wedge heeled ankle boots and her black leather jacket. She was sitting on her bed putting on her boots when Damon walked up and leaned against her door frame with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "Your boyfriend's here."

She looked at her watch to see that it was twenty till five. "He's early."

"I was talking about me." He told her with a smirk. Katie rolled here eyes and went to her bathroom to put the finishing touches on her eye makeup. "You're seriously going on a date with that guy?" He asked as he stumbled into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"That guy has a name and yes I am." She answered as she finished lining her eyes.

"He's a stupid jock." He told her with scoff.

She turned around in his arms and took them off of her. "I'll take a hot jock over a murderous ass hole any day." She walked around him to her room.

"A murderous asshole that you love." He pointed out and she turned to see him standing in the middle of her room.

"Yeah and what did you do with my love Damon?" Katie asked as she walked over and grabbed the bottle out of his hand. "You flushed it down the toilet like you do everything else good in your life." She took a swig of whatever dark liquid was in the bottle.

"I miss you Katie." He said giving her his sad eyes. A big part of her wanted to give in to them, but another part of her just as big and more logical told her that she couldn't stay on the emotional rollercoaster that was Damon Salvatore.

"You miss me?" She asked with pissed off wide eyes. "That's why you keep dragging whole sorority houses of girls here and partying all night?" She asked and he just blinked at her. "I told you if you pushed me away I wouldn't come back and you pushed anyway." She told him with an exhausted shake of her head. "You know, Elena once told me I was like a fish on a hook that you kept throwing out then reeling back in..." she took another drink of the alcohol then slammed the bottle into his chest. "I'm cutting the line."

"It's that simple for you to give up on us?" He asked and she was pretty sure she saw tears welling in his eyes.

"Simple?" She scoffed with a sarcastic laugh. "There is nothing simple about this. A part of me will always love you, but I can't keep letting you push me away then pull me back in. It's not right and it's eventually going to rip me apart. It's not fair for you to expect me to be happy with only half your heart." She watched him take a drink from the bottle. "So I'm going out with Tyler and if, slash when, he kisses me I won't feel guilty. Hell, I might even sleep with him on the first date, who knows."

She was halfway down the stairs when she heard glass shattering. She flinched as she stopped and looked back, fighting the urge to go to him. "Katie." She looked to the bottom of the stairs to see Stefan looking at her with sympathetic eyes. "Tyler's waiting for you in the living room."

"Did I just make a big mistake, not going back to him?" Katie whispered as quietly as she could.

"No." Stefan told her with pursed lips and a shake of his head. "I don't think so."

Katie walked down the stairs and stopped in front of Stefan. "How am I supposed to get through tonight after that?" Katie asked.

"Easy." He said as he grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Take a deep breath." She did as she was told. "Let it out." When she did Stefan made a face. "Now just remember to relax and smile, but first go brush your teeth." He let go of her shoulders. "You reek of alcohol and no one wants to kiss that on their first date."

Katie let out a tense laugh. "Will you let Tyler know I'll be down in a few?" She asked and he nodded so she turned around and went back to her room. Damon was still standing where she had left him. They ignored each other as she went to her bathroom, brushed her teeth then headed out of her room, but she stopped when she saw the broken glass and alcohol all over the floor. "Please clean that up before I get back?" She said not looking at Damon then walked out.

When she got to the living room she saw Tyler talking to Stefan and when Tyler saw her he gave her smile. She smiled back at him where he stood with his hands in his pockets. "You ready?" He asked as she walked over to him.

"Yeah." She answered then turned her eyes to Stefan who gave her a nod of encouragement. "Let's go."

They made small talk on the way to the movie discovering that they had similar taste in music and movies. After calling to see what was playing they decided on Avatar.

Thirty minutes into the movie and halfway through a large popcorn Tyler took his eyes off the movie to look at Katie. One of her legs was crossed over the other and one hand was tucked in the bend of her knee while the other rested on the arm rest that she shared with him.

Katie, feeling like she was being watched, glanced over at Tyler to see him looking at her hand. So she turned her eyes back to the screen and flipped her hand over. A few minutes later he placed his hand over it, slipping his fingers between hers. She looked at him and smiled. She was almost positive that there was a bit of a blush on his cheeks as he gave her a closed lipped smile back, but it was hard to be sure in the dim lighting.

They held hands for the rest of the movie and until they walked to his car and he opened her door for her. "So what do you feel like eating?" He asked as he started the car.

"Umm, you chose. I'm not picky." She told him with a shrug.

"Is this one of those trick questions where you tell me to choose just to see if I get it right?" He asked with a playful glare making Katie laugh.

"No, I promise, I really don't care. You could bring me to McDonald's and I'd be happy."

"Ew, really?" He asked and she nodded. "Well, we're not going to McDonald's." He put the car into drive.

"So where are we going?" Katie asked curiously.

"You'll see." He told her as he pulled out onto the highway. "And if you complain when we get there I'm throwing you out of the car." he told her making her smile.

A few minutes later he pulled up in front of the Mystic Grill. "You brought me to the place I work?"

"I brought you to where we both were when I decided I was finally going to ask you out." Katie felt her cheeks warm as she gave him an almost bashful smile. "I was aiming for romantic. Did I completely miss and land in cheesy?"

"No." Katie laughed out the word and shook her head.

Katie's heart dropped when they walked in and her eyes landed on Damon sitting at the bar. "Do you wanna go somewhere else?" Tyler asked when he saw him too.

"Nope." She told him as she forced a smile on to her face.

"Okay." Tyler guided her to the table he had been sitting at when he asked her for her number and they sat down. "So, what do you do for fun?" Tyler asked trying to get to know her better.

"No one knows this, but I actually write poetry." She answered. "I kinda think some of my poems could be songs, but I have zero knowledge of music so..." she shrugged. "What about you?"

"I draw." He answered while playing with the square cardboard coaster in his hands.

"Are you any good?" She asked as their food was sat down in front of them.

"The art teacher thinks so." He answered with a shrug. "If you want to go to my place when were done here I'll show you some of my sketches."

Katie grabbed his left hand and looked at the watch on his wrist. "Won't your parents be mad if you bring me to your place this late?" She let go of his wrist.

"They're gone for the weekend." He answered.

"Then sure." She answered then they started eating.

Somewhere in the middle of their dinner Damon left and Katie didn't notice. When they were done Tyler paid the bill then drove to his house.

"So was it just me or were there big brother vibes coming off of Stefan when I picked you up?" Tyler asked as he unlocked his front door the walked inside.

"It wasn't just you." She answered as she followed him inside and he turned on the lights.

"Every girl in school went gaga over that guy when he showed up." He said as she followed him up the stairs then stopped and looked at her when they got to his bedroom door. "And you live in the same house as him."

"Are you afraid you might have competition?" She asked challengingly.

He rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. "No."

"Good, because you don't." She replied with a smile and he opened his bedroom door. "I'm one of the few who didn't take one look at him and instantly want to jump into his pants." She didn't know what she thought his room would look like, but it definitely wasn't what she expected.

She always thought most teen aged guys would have messy, cluttered rooms, but Tyler's was neat and clean. Just like her room in the Salvatore house his had a fireplace that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Sports trophies and a signed baseball sat along its white mantel. White nightstands with lamps on them sat on each side of his queen sized bed that was made with a simple thin white bedspread and goldish yellow pillow cases.

Tyler pulled a drawing pad off of the book shelf in the room and walked over to her as he flipped through a couple pages. He flipped the pad around and handed it to her. "Whoa." She commented when her eyes landed on a drawing of a guy crouched down in what she thought of as superhero landing. "I'm no artist, but this is really good." She said as she flipped to the next page revealing a sketch of a woman in short shorts and a tank top with gun holsters on each thigh and a gun in each hand. "Oh thats-"

"Lara Croft." Katie finished for him. "The video game one, not the Angelina Jolie one."

"You play video games?" He asked with raised brows.

"Nope, but Jeremy does. I've picked up on a few things over the years." She shrugged and handed him the pad. "You plan on doing anything with your art or is it just something you do for fun?" She asked.

"It's just for fun." He answered as he put the book away then walked over to his bed and sat down. He looked at her like he wanted her to sit down next to him.

She just walked over and leaned on the post of his four poster bed and turned her eyes to the floor with a frown. She hadn't thought things through and didn't even think about what was going to happen after he showed her his drawings. "Can I ask you something without you possibly getting offended?" She asked looking up from the floor to him.

"Sure." He answered giving her a curious look.

"Did you bring me here just to see if I would sleep with you?" She asked already kicking herself for being so blunt.

"No?" He asked more than answered.

"Because I'm not one of those girls that's going to go further than first base on the first date and I don't want you to get pissed when I don't put out. I know that I'm a cheerleader and cheerleaders are supposedly easy and-"

Tyler stood up and put his hand over her mouth. "I never thought I would say this to you because you're so quiet at school, but shut up." Katie rolled her eyes at him. "If I move my hand are you going to keep freaking out on me?" He asked looking at her with a playful smile on his face as he looked at her through his lashes. As she looked down at his hand over her mouth she decided to be mean. She nodded her head yes. "Then I guess my hands going to stay here all night." As soon as he finished talking Katie licked his palm making him pull it back with a disgusted face and she started laughing. "Oh, you are so going to pay for that." He told her as he tried to wipe her spit on her face. She laughed and tried to dodge him, but he managed to wipe it on her neck instead.

She yelped when he tackled her to his bed and started trying to lick her face. "No." she laughed and attempted hold him back but failed miserably. He managed to grab her hands and pin them to the bed then licked her from chin to cheekbone. "Okay. Okay we're even." She laughed as he pulled back and they both realized the position their wrestling had put them in. He still had her hands pinned down and was straddling one of her legs, both of them breathing a little harder than normal after their playful tiff. "Can I have one of my hands please?" she asked and he let go of her hand.

She wiped his spit off of her face then smiled deviously as she wiped it on his cheek. He closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose. "Really?" he opened his eyes when Katie laughed.

"Mhmm." Katie hummed then hooked her pointer finger into the collar of his button up shirt. She was thankful he couldn't hear the rapid beating of her heart as she looked up into his chocolate brown eyes. She let her eyes slip down to his naturally pouty lips then back to his eyes. He took the hint and leaned down, pressing his lips gently to hers. Katie always thought a kiss was a kiss, they'd all feel the same, but that wasn't the case. Kissing Tyler felt nothing like kissing Damon, but she found that she liked it all the same.

He kept the first kiss short and simple and pulled back after a few seconds. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and bit it as she gave him a closed lipped smile. "You are so not a lesbian." He said with a goofy smile.

"Shut up." She laughed. "I can't believe you guys thought I was a lesbian." She said with a shake of her head.

"I never really believed it." he told her with a tilt of his head.

"So should I keep proving to you how straight I am?" she asked.

"Hey I won't stop you." he said making her smile as she started unbuttoning his shirt. Once she had all the buttons undone he took it off then rolled them over so that she was on top and sat up so that she was in his lap. He cupped her face in his hand as he kissed her and started pushing her jacket off of her shoulders. She took it off and let it fall to the floor behind her then pulled back from him long enough to grab the hem of her shirt, take it off and toss it to the side.

His eyes glazed over when they landed on her cleavage, pushed up by her white bra with black pinstripes and black lace trim. She was going to take it off, but the hardness she could feel against her butt told her he liked it, a lot. So she kept in on and slid her hands up his chest to cross her wrists behind his neck. When he still didn't look up from her chest she smiled. "Tyler?" she sing songed his name. When he still didn't take his eyes off her chest she grabbed his hand off her hip and brought it to her lips. He watched with lustful eyes as she kissed the tips of his fingers starting with his pinky. When she got to his pointer finger she swirled her tongue around the tip then sucked it into her mouth. Her teeth grazed it as she pulled her head back then let go over his hand.

A quiet laugh left her lips as his other hand flew to the side of her neck and pulled her into him. Any restraint either of them had left was thrown out the window as he moved them around to be on top of her. Her legs wrapped around his hips as his lips attacked hers and their hands roamed each other.

After thirty minutes of making out things started to cool off. He was leaning back against his headboard with Katie in his lap, his hands gripping her jean covered thighs while she kissed his neck when she pulled back and grabbed his wrist to look at his watch. "Whoa, it's late." She showed him his watch.

"Time flies when you're having fun." He commented as he cupped her face in his hand. "We should probably get you home huh?"

"Unfortunately." she answered as she moved off of him and slid to the edge of the bed. "Have you seen my shirt?" She asked as she scooped her jacket up off the floor.

"I think you threw it over there." He pointed to the foot of the bed. She stood up and walked around the bed to see her shirt on the floor. "You know my parents won't be home until tomorrow night. If you don't want to go to the boarding house you can stay here." Katie paused and bit her lip thinking about it. "You can use the guest bedroom if you want." He added thinking it might help convince her to stay with him instead of going back to the house with Damon.

"I'll stay." She answered as she put her jacket on the back of the chair that sat in front of his tv then crawled onto the bed and laid down next to him where he still sat leaning against the head board, "but not in the guest room." he slid down to lay next to her and she rolled onto her side, putting her head on his shoulder as she placed her hand on his chest.

As much as she liked Tyler and how much he made her laugh, in that moment all she could think about was how she should be lying like this with Damon in his bed. Then she remembered all the crap he'd put her through and looked up at Tyler who was looking up at the ceiling. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked looking into her eyes.

"Everything. Asking me out, taking me on a classic date, making me laugh, giving me a place to stay for the night where I don't feel like murdering anyone." She said with all seriousness.

"You're welcome." He cupped her face in his hand and slid his thumb over her bottom lip. She smiled and bit it. "Damn woman." He smiled and rolled over pinning her hands to the bed beside her head.

"What?" she smiled at him innocently.

"You know what." He told her with lust back in his eyes.

"Tell me anyway." She said then bit her lip.

"You're a tease." He told her then started kissing her neck.

"Yeah, but you like it." she sighed tilting her head to the side as she slid her hands over his still nude back.

They messed around until neither of them could keep their eyes open. She fell asleep on top of the blankets while Tyler slept under them. He asked her to get under the covers with him but she lied and said that she doesn't sleep covered up.


Katie thought she heard someone clearing their throat, but being half asleep she didn't pay it much attention and just snuggled into Tyler's side. That was until some one clapped their hands and yelled "Tyler!"

They both shot straight up in bed and looked at his open bedroom door to see his mom. "Crap." Katie sighed and felt herself wanting to sink into the mattress and disappear.

"Yeah, crap." Mrs. Lockwood snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest then looked at her son. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing, were weren't doing anything I swear." He answered as he got out of bed showing his mom that he still had his pants on.

Katie stood up and grabbed her jacket. "Mrs. Lockwood, I-"

"You, don't get to talk." She pointed at finger at Katie who closed her mouth and held her jacket in her hands in front of herself. "You, explain yourself." She said with a point at Tyler where he stood on his side of the bed while Katie stood at the foot of it.

"We went on a date then came back here to hang out. We watched tv and ended up falling asleep." He lied, but it didn't really matter because his parents wouldn't believe them anyway.

Mrs. Lockwood stared at him looking like she was considering believing what he was telling her, but then she looked at Katie and said, "Get out of here."

"Yes, ma'am." Katie answered quietly then headed for the door with her eyes down cast. When she was out of the door she turned back to Tyler and said, "Thanks, again." then headed downstairs.

She ran into the mayor on the way to the front door. "Katie, what are you doing here?" he asked looking confused.

"Tyler and I fell asleep watching tv last night." She answered making the mayor frown. "Your wife wouldn't let me talk, but maybe you will?" she asked and he nodded and motioned for her to speak. "I know coming home and finding your son with a girl in his bed doesn't look good, but I promise we didn't do anything last night."

"Okay, time for you to go." He told her and put his hand on her shoulder to push her toward the door.

"Please let me finish?" she asked as he opened the front door. He gave her a tight lipped nod and she saw Mrs. Lockwood walk down the stairs and look at her husband talking to Katie. "Tyler knows my home life sucks, as I'm sure you well know, and I didn't want to go home. He's a good guy, please don't punish him for my mistake."

"Have a good day Katie." He told her then shut the door in her face.

"Way to get on the parent's good side Katie." She scoffed and looked around as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and started walking. She knew she should call someone, her ankle boots weren't made for walking, but she didn't know who to call. If she called Caroline or Elena she'd get a judgmental lecture on how she shouldn't have stayed the night with Tyler. So she called the one person she knew might possibly understand, Stefan.

He picked up after a few rings. "Hello?" he asked sounding sleepy.

"I am so sorry if I woke you up or if you're with Elena," She started and she heard him grunt as he sat up. "and I don't mean to bother you-"

"No, no, it's fine. Elena's not staying here until Damon calms down." He explained. "Are you okay? You didn't come home last night." He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I fell asleep at Tyler's." she said then tripped when her heel landed on a rock and she twisted her ankle. "His parents came home early and found us asleep in his bed."

"Oh, that sucks." He said and she could hear humor in his voice.

"I know, way to make a good impression on the boyfriend's parent's huh?" she asked then tripped over another rock. Stefan laughed. "So I hate to ask, but do you think you could come pick me up? Because I'm currently doing the walk of shame down a rock road in heels when I don't even really have anything to be ashamed of."

"Okay, stop walking before you twist and ankle. I've heard you trip twice already." He said and she could hear the rustle of him putting on clothes.

"You could hear that?" she asked a little surprised that he could figure that out over the phone.

"Super hearing applies to phones too." He answered. "I'll steal Damon's key's and come get you."

"Thank you, Stefan."

"Hang tight." He answered back then hung up. Despite what he told her Katie kept walking, kicking rocks as she did so that she wouldn't trip over them. Soon she saw Damon's car headed her way so she stopped walking and uncrossed her arms from her chest. He stopped and rolled down the window even though the top was down. "Hey stranger need a ride?" he asked jokingly and Katie just rolled her eyes and walked around the car as he rolled the window up.

"Why don't you have your own car?" Katie asked as she climbed inside.

"I do, I just don't drive it." he answered.

"Why not?" she asked tying to keep the conversation off of her and her recent mistakes.

"It's too showy, draws too much attention." He answered and the conversation fell for a few minutes. "Why did you call me instead of one of your friends?" he asked with a look at her across his shoulder.

"Because I knew that if I called them I would get all kinds of questions and judgmental comments and possibly a lecture. I didn't feel like hearing that today." She said with a shrug.

"How do you know I'm not going to lecture you or judge you?" he asked and she looked at him to see his eyes on the road.

"I don't know, you don't seem the type." She shrugged. "And out of all of my friends I figured you would understand why I didn't want to come home." She admitted.

"You just celled me your friend." He pointed out.

"That's because you are." She pointed out. "I wouldn't have called you otherwise." The conversation fell again and after a few more minutes he pulled into the boarding house driveway.

They headed into the house without another word to each other and when Katie got to her room the first thing she noticed was her journal sitting on her bed and not where she had left it on her desk. Cautiously she walked over to it and picked it up and opened it. Damon's handwriting in red ink marred every page with notes in the margins. She didn't even read what he had written all she cared about was the fact that he had read her whole journal. With shaking hands Katie sat down at her desk and took all of her poems out of the back pocket of the spiral book to see that he had written and doodled on those too. She sighed and placed her head in her hands, willing herself not to cry. It worked, but sadness turned to anger.

She got up and locked her bedroom door to keep anyone from coming in. Then went to her bathroom and showered. After she got dressed she grabbed her keys and purse and left her room. She was halfway down the stairs when Damon zipped in front of her. "Where are you going?" He asked with a smirk.

"If you must know I'm going to by a new journal since you vandalized mine." She answered flatly.

"Why didn't you tell me you wrote poetry and songs?" He asked tilting his head to the side.

"Because you never asked what I did for fun." She told him already tired of the conversation. "Just like you never took me on a date." He opened his mouth to argue but she didn't give him the chance. "Founder's parties and school dances don't count as dates." He closed his mouth and frowned. "Now will you please get out of my way?" She asked and surprised her when he stepped aside and let her pass.

A/N: Okay, so there was a song at the end of this chapter, but I've been told that they make my chapters horrible and that its corny and annoying. So no songs in the story, message recieved. As always reviews are very welcome and appreciated.