A/n: Yay! We made it to the 100th review!

Chapter 21

No Time to Hesitate

[Flashback- Jeremy Over the Edge]

Jeremys' p.o.v

Anything's better than being inside all day. But damn it's cold. Never knew wind could sting so bad when it passes.

Tomorrow's going to suck. I've missed school too much already. I could just pretend to go and skip like I used to. But what would be the point? I'll have to go eventually. And- I'm not going to hide. People break up all the time. The best part about it was no one knew anyways. At least, most didn't. So it'd only be awkward at first. He missed him. And the possibility of seeing Tyler and not being able to be happy about it, was what would suck the most. They were over and Jeremy had to grasp that.

p.o.v over

His breathing was rapid because of the cold weather. The air was thin and he had to draw in deeper breaths each time. Jeremy had stood up and began looking up at the sky. Even though it was during the day he could still see the moon. It was Jeremys' favourite time of day. When the sun would go down within a few hours but the moon was visible. At that time of the month it was only a crescent. His favourite shape.

It must have been a squirrel or a rabbit or maybe even a deer, but Jeremy heard rustling in the woods. He wasn't startled, he just turned around quickly. Too quickly. That's when his footing became awkward and he found himself heading over the edge.

With every thing combined together Jeremy had no concentration. The air was thin and cold, his balance was shot, he was caught of guard, and the only thing that kept him from plunging to the ground was his unsteady grip on the edge. His fingers dug into the grass and dirt and his palms helped him the most. He could tell he wouldn't last much longer.

As he panicked and did everything he could to hoist himself back up, flashes of his memories came back. His parents. His sister. Anna. How he never forgot her. And Tyler. Jeremy wished he'd forgiven Tyler. He knew now the thing that mattered the most was him surviving the fall. And what he'd do if by some miracle he would survive. He'd tell his sister how much he loved her and he'd forgive Tyler. Leave it to Jeremy Gilbert to think about all of this while he's hanging off the edge and losing his grip.

Until he feels strong hands grabbing onto his wrists and his body being pulled back to earths' surface. He wasn't aware of who it was. He couldn't see anything. His body was numb and his eyes were defective. Jeremy had no idea who his rescuer was until they wrapped their arms around his body and Jeremy knew exactly who it was. Every muscle he could feel was so familiar.

Finally he could see again and saw Tylers' face. Jeremy had no control over what he did next. He took his hand and brought Tyler to where Jeremy could kiss him. He wasn't entirely sure Tyler would kiss him back. But he did.

[Flashback over]

"I love you", Tyler whispered after he pulled away from Jeremys' lips. He nuzzled his face in Jeremys' neck not caring that his tears streamed down his face and onto the other boys' skin.

Tyler kissed Jeremys' throat with his soft lips and fought the urge to draw out his tongue and suck the places he had missed so much. He didn't want to do too much. Fear for it would scare Jeremy.

Well, I'll be damn. I'm gone for 15 minutes and there they are just makin' out in the woods. Melissa smiled to herself and saw the emotion on Jeremys' face. He was smiling. Not wanting to ruin the moment, Melissa slipped away from out of the woods and made her way back to her car. She'd get the good details later.

Jeremy put his hand on Tylers' chest pushing himself away from the other boy and began to stand up. He could see where Tyler released his tear drops and Jeremy brought his thumb to Tylers' cheek to wipe them off. Instead of kissing like they had just done, the two of them just stood there staring at each other.

They weren't sure what to do. Both of them knew what they wanted to do, but Tyler didn't want to scare Jeremy but Jeremy was already afraid. He was afraid that he was about to forgive someone that had cheated on him and who would-, might, do it again.

"My car's over there. I'll take you home if you want." Tyler said low and slowly.

Jeremy cleared his throat and nodded his head.

.................................................

They were in Tylers' mustang. The drive seemed longer to Jeremy because Tyler took the scenic route. He took the unnecessary long way back to Jeremys' house and Jeremy didn't bother to say anything. He just sat in the car, occasionally looking at Tyler and back to the road.

It was completely silent. No radio. No one speaking. Just the two of them riding in Tylers' car until it reached its' destination. After the engine was off they both sat there in silence.

Until-

"I'm sorry." Tyler said. He made no eye contact while doing so and wondered if it was the right thing to say or not.

"I know." The other boy said plainly. His tone had softened compared to the last time the other had apologized in his front yard.

"So-", Tyler started to speak. He was cut off.

Jeremy leaned over to the drivers' side of Tylers' car and started to kiss him roughly. It was different from before. When in the woods the two kissed almost cautiously. Very slowly and carefully. Now, however, while Tyler tried slowing it down, Jeremy made it deeper. He started to bite into Tylers' lip and the kiss was almost painful.

His lip was bleeding and it hurt like hell. He licked the blood from his lip while Jeremy got out of the car. The door slammed shut and Tyler watched as Jeremy slowly made his way around the Mustang and opened Tylers' door. Tyler got out only to feel his body being pressed against his own car while Jeremy attacked his lips. Round two.

Jeremy took his tongue and traced over Tylers' lower lip where the blood had dripped from and forced into the other boys' mouth. Tyler wasn't resisting, he was just surprised. He finally had to turn his head for air and heard what Jeremy had to say.

"I'm still pissed. That's not gonna go away for a while." He missed Tyler and he loved to kiss him again, but he hated what Tyler did. There was a part of him that hated Tyler. You don't lose hatred for someone that easily. It was the same reason Jeremy couldn't get over Tyler. You don't lose the love for someone that easily either. But because he did love him, all it'd take would be one gesture that said it all.

Jeremy Gilbert wasn't 100% certain on most things, but he was certain on one thing: Saving a persons' life would be that gesture that'd say it all.

"I know. But-, I mean-, do you", Tyler had to force the next 5 words to come out of his mouth. "Do you still hate me?" It was honestly the saddest emotion Jeremy had ever seen on Tyler. If anyone could tell that boy yes after hearing the way he said it, and the way he looked, then they had no heart.

Instead of saying anything else, Jeremy kissed Tyler again.

This time he did it in a slower fashion. Less intense and almost casually. The truth was, those lips of Tylers' drove Jeremy mad. Even pissed, Jeremy couldn't resist them. And the way Tyler would move his tongue inside Jeremys' mouth, it was all too intoxicating. And to answer Tylers' question, he didn't still hate him.

His lips to Tylers' ear, "No."

Jeremy could see Tylers' lips curve into a smile. He wondered if he was making the right decision or not. But when you're thinking your time has come and death is only a slip away, other things seem less important. He just didn't want to get hurt again.

"Um, what now?" As soon as he said it he wished he hadn't. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut and wait for Jeremy to say something. Anything. But now Tyler was vulnerable again.

Jeremy got a kick out of it. He knew he had already forgiven Tyler. Jeremy was still angry, make no mistake, but after he almost fell, he made a promise to himself. If he'd survive, he'd forgive him. But he debated on how comfortable he wanted Tyler to feel. See how different Tyler would act.

"I'm gonna go. And, I'll see you at school tomorrow." Jeremy found himself smiling to Tyler again. It was his own way of messing with the Lockwood. Not in a cruel manner, but kind of-, teasingly.

With that said the two didn't kiss, touch, or anything. Jeremy just grabbed his bag from Tylers' car and he went inside. He grinned almost widely knowing that Tyler still had a look on his face that was kind of in disbelief. Like, "Am I missing something?", expression.

In a way, it was all a part of Jeremys' plan. He didn't want Tyler to be off the hook completely, but they weren't over either. It was all up to Jeremy and he liked it. He knew eventually he'd cave and tell Tyler he was forgiven, but not just yet.

A/n: Don't be mad! I know I said Michael would be in this one.
But I forgot they had to have the "moment after" talk. So for Michael to show up, I would've had to skip to the next day at school and that'd make no sense.
Next chapter, I SWEAR Michael will be in it. It's already planned out so I'm really excited to start on it.
This was kind of a filler/"where do they stand" chptr.
If anyone's dissapointed, I'm sorry! But next chapter will be good.
Tell me what you thought! :)