This chapter has a lot of drama between Tyler and Elena. i was going to include the smut here but decided to have it as a separate chapter.

my mate and i had a lot of fun thinking this up though, especially imagining Tyler in all that leather :)

Tyler wasn't aware exactly how long he had been gone or how long it had been since that night but he now once again found himself staring at the sign above Nicky's front door. He wanted so badly to go in and see his friends but part of him felt that he didn't belong anymore. Besides, his new attire made him look like something out of the Matrix. It still needed a little getting used to.

"aw forget it" he told himself, before turning to walk away.

Reid was finding it hard to breathe in the smoke filled bar and decided he would go outside. Besides he missed his friend deeply and didn't feel like socialising. True he had his friends Caleb and Pogue, but he and Tyler were always closer, losing him was like losing a brother…even part of himself felt like it had died. Walking out of the bar he felt the cold night air brush past his face and through his bright blond hair. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he stood at the doorway. When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar figure walking away from the bar.

"Tyler!"

The sound of his name caused him to jump further than intended and Tyler found himself clinging to a lamp post…half way up. 'never gonna get used to that' he whispered before he let his eyes fall on a stunned Reid. To his best friend, he imagined he looked like a startled cat, the wild eyes, the fangs, the new look.

"Reid" he stated before sliding down the post "hey" being added with an attempted smile.

Reid looked at his friend in awe.

"dude! I scared you that much?" before he let Tyler answer he walked up to him scratching his head.

"so…wow, look at you, your, your…a vampire" He felt slightly uneasy, it seemed strange even though Tyler was a great friend. it seemed like he had become a stranger…an outcast. "so um, how have you been?"

"Good…I've been learning how to master my new powers" the former human said with a grin as he stared at his mate. "I just wanted to come tell you guys but I…yeah…" he said in a saddened tone, as though saying he missed them.

"hey look man, it's ok. You might not be human anymore, you might like to…suck blood, but your still Tyler! Still my best friend! just don't…bite me or anything. I mean look at us, we're not exactly normal humans anyway…we're superhuman." Reid paused for a moment.

"You do promise not to bite me don't you? You know…is your thirst for blood under control?" Reid gave a nervous look to Tyler and wasn't sure that he could trust his friends new 'animal' side

"Don't worry Reid I'm not gonna eat you…besides, we don't eat people" that struck Tyler as strange when he finally said it out loud. Not because it was how they ate, but because he now had the sneaky suspicion that Elena had intended to just eat him at first, before deciding to turn him.

"is Pogue and Caleb inside?" he asked, intrigued to know if all his friends were going about the usual routine.

"phew that's a relief! Haha!" Reid's relief was welcome. "yeah the guys are in there just playing pool and all that jazz. I just came out here cos…well I didn't really feel like socialising since you weren't there."

Nodding to his friend's response, Tyler eyed the doorway in consideration. He looked thoughtful before he removed his long leather jacket, loosened the top underneath and allowed his bright blue eyes to dim down to their human colour.

"fancy a game of pool?...I still gotta beat your ass"

Reid grinned from ear to ear. "hell yeah dude!...but your not gonna beat my ass!" Reid laughed. His happiness returned and he felt that his friend had come back, although he understood that there may be long periods of time when he would not see him. His new status would mean he would have other responsibilities to attend to, but still Reid hoped that Tyler would come back to help the other guys. He put his arm around the friend he missed so much and led him into the bar.

Caleb rose his head as he heard the door of the bar open once more. His eyes fell on Reid and then to his surprise, Tyler.

"Pogue…look" the eldest said to his friend before pointing to the pool table.

Tyler grabbed the pool cue and began setting up the balls.

"so how is everyone?" he asked, then became curious. "What did you tell my parents?"

Pogue stood arrogantly with his pool cue.

"we told them the truth" he said coldly "to be honest they seemed like they knew what we meant…as if they've heard of it before" He looked away as if in thought about the matter, then snapped his look back at Tyler.

"so what do you call this, huh? No contact from you in a month and then suddenly show up to play pool? Pft" Pogue walked off without waiting for a reply.

"Pogue…Come on man!" Tyler shouted before turning back to Reid and Caleb. "I couldn't come before now because I wasn't allowed…not to mention I was a danger. The 'you know' wasn't quite in check" he explained with a saddened shrug. "I didn't mean to upset you guys…" but he knew he had. He missed things the way they were as much as them: school, parties, girls…but it was time things changed.

Elena was not happy, first off, her coven had disproved of Tyler's turning despite being impressed by his strength. They knew something she didn't but they refused to tell her. Secondly, Tyler had had snuck out of the mansion without her permission and he wasn't ready to socialise yet…if at all.

Walking to Nicky's bar, she pushed both doors open with such a force they shook when hitting the inside wall.

"TYLER! WHAT DID I SAY?!" The entire bar went quiet.

"oh" Tyler said before bowing his head to the table and purposely ignoring her and taking his shot.

Elena's eyes went so blue with anger that it would appear they produced their own light.

"what did I tell you? It's too dangerous for you to socialise with…" She paused and realised that everyone was looking at her. "…lets take this outside." Turning around, she walked back through the doors.

Reluctantly placing his pool cue onto the table, Tyler started towards the door.

"take your shot, I'll be right back" he said with a reassuring smile to his friends.

Elena stood with her back towards Nicky's and waited with her hands on her hips. Her mind was racing with anger and unanswered questions. The frustration began bringing tears to her eyes, the fact that Tyler seemed reluctant to talk to her didn't help her emotions. 'emotions' she thought. 'thought they were gone but they were only suppressed' lowering her head, she allowed a tear to fall. Behind her she could hear footsteps approaching.

"Look I'm sorry I left, ok" Tyler stated as he approached his maker. "I just needed to see them…act normal again for a while, well as normal as I can get" he added with a smile, it soon fading as he saw that Elena started to cry.

"are you crying?" he found it almost hard to believe as the vampire didn't usually show emotion…or at least not much of it.

Elena turned around slowly, her head still bowed. Then raised it, the tears in her eyes falling freely down her cheeks.

"Tyler, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I know you just wanted to see your friends. I was just afraid something would go wrong…and your in danger, Tyler, from the coven. They know something…it's something to do with your past. And your other gifts you had before I turned you. I never told them, so I don't know how they found out. They are really up tight about it. It's like it's really serious." She moved closer, placed her hands on Tyler's cheeks and looked into his eyes "I don't want them to hurt you. You mean so much to me"

Tyler frowned in confusion at what she was saying. He was in danger from the coven he had become a part of?

"my powers?...but why does that put me in danger? Sure I have a few extra skills but…what are they? Jealous?...what?" the boy had been the shy and nervous type to begin with. Now he was just worried at what he had gotten himself into.

"the coven don't like any other creature or being mixed with our kind. They think you were more than 'just human' and now that you have been turned, you've become a Hybrid of some sort…or what they like to call, 'half-breed'. I…I remember them mentioning that the Lycans are going to make their move on 'the others'. I think they mean you and your friends"

"They're after my friends?!" Tyler shouted in an alarmed tone before he began to pace. "what did you drag me into?!" following before his eyes unintentionally flashed black.

Elena noticed Tyler's eyes change, they were different this time. Instead of being plain black, they had a bright blue circle where the irises would be.

"Tyler! Please calm down, I didn't know all this! They wouldn't tell me anything! I'm as much in the dark as you are!" Elena found herself hiding the sadness away, replacing it with anger. "so don't start bringing out your testosterone filled ego!"

"Ego…right, because this is all about my ego" he replied with a role of his eyes and a sarcastic laugh. "when you feel like being honest from the get go, come find me" shaking his head, he turned to walk away.

Elena became overcome with emotion, she didn't realise what she had said until it was too late.

"Tyler!" he didn't listen, but kept on walking. "Tyler!"

She flew at him, knocking him to the floor. He struggled against her but she was so upset she wasn't going to let him go. Flipping him over she screamed;

"don't turn your back on me! I'm sorry ok! I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said! I cant can't be mean to you, I can't let you go. I want to protect you"

She moved closer to Tyler's face until her tears fell on him.

"I love you Tyler Simms, I love you"

Tyler wasn't sure how to react, his eyes widening and fading back to their normal colour. He'd been tackled to the floor and yelled at before he could say 'Bob's your uncle'. There was so much emotion staring down at him that he was lost for words…speechless, reaching up, he gently touched her cheek.

"Elena…" falling in a reassured whisper. As much as he wanted to hate her for what she had gotten him into, he couldn't.

"I can feel your anger" Elena's voice was almost angelic "you have every right to hate me. I took you away from everything and everyone you cared about, but at the same time, I couldn't leave you and walk away. I knew in my heart you were the one for me. please don't leave me, please. I cant lose you." With that she moved closer until her lips rested on Tyler's.

It took him a minute to regain his composure before he gently returned the kiss.

"I won't leave you I promise" he said after breaking away. "sure you changed things on a major scale but maybe it's for the best…I mean, you pay attention to me, don't take me for granted. I like that"

Elena smiled.

"It's love Tyler and you are an amazing person. True, your friends are amazing too, but something about you stands out. Maybe it's because I love you, I don't know. All I care about is you and your safety. I will help make sure you and your friends are kept safe" then her voice hardened.

"But first I need to find out what that bastard of a coven is hiding from me…after we get some rest. Come on we should go, but warn the guys first" she pushed herself up effortlessly and her figure was once again domineering.

Nodding, Tyler slowly got to his feet, his eyes focused on Elena before he turned to re-enter the bar.

Seeing Reid and the boys still at the pool table, he wandered over.

"hey guys I gotta go…something's come up"

"Baby boy you just got here!" cried Reid. Now he was starting to get annoyed, his friend didn't seem to care anymore. "is the vamp-lady more important than your 'brothers'? you can't just get up and leave!"

"its not like that…you know I wouldn't bail on you unless it was important" Tyler attempted to say but found himself going quieter by the minute under the angered stares of his friends.

"what are you not telling us, 'baby boy'" asked Reid sarcastically. "are you lying? Hiding something we should know about?" After a short moment of silence he shouted; "answer me dickweed!"

Tyler wasn't sure where the anger cam from or what possessed him to do, but before he knew where he was, he was pinning Reid to the pool table. His eyes were a cross between black and blue, flashing both sides and his teeth were fully extended.

"don't you dare call me names simply because you don't like the answer, Reid. Im sorry I cant be there to hold your hand anymore, but it's the way things are dude. Let go"

"did it make you feel insecure, big boy?" Reid gasped through Tyler's suffocating grip.

Before He could raise a fist he'd curled up, Tyler felt a strong pair of hands grab him from behind. His attention fell on Pogue as he spun round to face the person that had interrupted. He let go of Reid, anger still flashing in his unusually coloured eyes. He didn't dignify his friend with an excuse however and instead let off a warning growl before turning to leave.