A/n: Thank you so much for the reviews everybody!
To Emoboy101- I'd love to incorporate some of what's going on in the show but I haven't watched it in about 2 months. Weird, I know. But when the season gets closer to the finale I stop watching it and wait for the end so I can watch them all at once, otherwise I'd go nuts because I'm too impatient, lol. Sorry about that.
Hope you all like this one!
Enjoy.

Chapter 23

Deception Can be the Most Charming

The game of pool between Michael and Jeremy ended already and they were on for a re-match. Michael won by a landslife the first game but Jeremy was determined to walk away with a win.

"Hey man I'll be right back. Don't move these around now." Michael said with his bright smile as he pointed to the balls that were aligned in his favor. He balanced the pool stick on the wall and went around the corner to the restroom.

Elena and Stefan were getting ready to leave and told Jeremy,

"Hey Jer, we're going to pick up Caroline. It'll only be about 15 minutes or so, you wanna just stay here and we'll pick you up later?"

"Okay, yeah. Just swing by whenever you're done."

"Sure thing." Elena and Stefan walked out of The Grill to pick up Caroline.

Jeremy scanned the rest of the people in the place and noticed again how weird it was for it to be not as crowded as it usually was. Just a couple of people gettin' smashed at the bar and a few still eating.

Michael stayed in the bathroom for longer than he intended. There he was playing pool with Jeremy Gilbert and he had no idea what he was doing. He didn't even know if Jeremy knew. Michael guessed that Tyler told Jeremy but he still didn't know if they were together or not. He remembered Tyler saying that they were on the verge of ending it before the thing happened. The only thing he was certain about was that the amount of time he was spending in the bathroom was getting a little odd; so he fixed his hair in the mirror and decided he'd figure out away to ask Jeremy if there was anyone he was seeing and if Jeremy didn't bring up Tyler, he'd drop it and probably part ways with the kid. He took a breath and walked out of the restroom.

"Whatchya doin'." He asked as he saw Jeremy with his sit with what Michael guessed was his sketchbook.

"Oh nothin', just sketching. I've been trying to do faces lately but they're just not comin' out real enough." Jeremy put his pencil and book in the chair near him and reached for his pool stick.

"C-can I see your sketches?" In all honesty Michael was intrigued. He always admired artists because that was one of the few talents he lacked.

Jeremy chuckled a little nervously at the boys question. He knew his art wasn't half bad but this was still someone he hadn't known that well and his drawings were kind of personal to him.

"Oh no, no. They're uh, well I don't show em to too many people." He laughed as he said it, but he wasn't gonna change his mind anytime soon.

"Really? I bet they're good. C'mon, just one?" There was that charming smile again. What was with this kid? Even when Jeremy was telling him no, Michael still managed to flash that smile and make his eyes do that thing that only few people can do just right. Jeremy couldn't help but notice all of this about him. This kid was pretty much a stranger still but the way he smiled made Jeremy focus on his face. Not in a weird way, of course not. Jeremy just noticed that that was what he needed. He's been drawing faces that he's seen from afar or from memory or just random facial features. He's never just focused on a face before and attempted to draw it out. It'd definitely look more real because it was based off of a real person.

But what was he gonna say? Oh hey, can I draw you? Talk about a weird question.

"Y'know, I don't know. Uh-", he paused for a moment observing the boys' face. What the hell? Worse case scenario is the kid says no and they part ways.

"Okay, you know how I said earlier? That I've been trying to draw out faces and they just weren't coming out as real as I'd want em to? Well it's because I've been doing them from memory and-."

Michaels' mouth curved into a smile and if he hadn't known better he could've sworn that his cheeks had begun to turn rosy pink from the heat he was feeling.

"I'll tell you what. You sketch me, and I get to see your other stuff. How 'bout that?" Okay, so this was completely not what Michael had planned on. But as odd as it sounded, there was something about Jeremy that he liked. Michael wasn't sure if it was Jeremys' innocence or just how nice he was but whatever it was, it threw Michael for a loop. He had decided that it'd be best to just finish the game of pool and part ways. His plan, however, took a one-eighty.

Jeremy couldn't believe it. Was he that obvious? Either way he laughed it off and said,

"Really? You sure? It'd actually really help me a lot but wouldn't that be kind of, well kind of weird?" His chuckles were so cute. They had a hint of nervousness in them with almost a flirty flavor that worked in his advantage. It was a quality that Jeremy never noticed he had, but others did.

"Nah, you ever seen professional art classes? Trust me, they sketch a lot worse than just faces." The kid was funny and he had a point. The plus side was that the only people at The Grill were probably too drunk to even see straight and the bartender was busy getting his flirt on.

Jeremy took a deep breath and he looked around him once more.

"All right. You let me get some sketches in and I'll show you my art. But if you're disappointed, I tried to warn you." He laughed as he reached for his sketchbook and pencil. Jeremy glanced in front of him to find the other guy already sitting across from him ready to be drawn.

He smiled to himself and flipped through the pages for a clean place to draw.

"Okay, uh- just sit as still as you can and um, just let me know if you get bored." He laughed almost bashfully.

"No problem, it's actually kind of cool. I've never been drawn before."

Jeremy started where he always did. The eyes. He focused on getting them just right. It didn't matter if the facial shape or bone structure was a little off, just as long as he got the eyes just right. Michael had very distinctive eyes which made them easier to draw. The more they look like the real thing the easier it is to recognize them.

Every once in a while Jeremy would take his eyes off of his sketch to see Michael (He still doesn't know who he is) sitting still staring into Jeremys' eyes. It was one thing Jeremy wasn't used to; such an intense stare from eyes that weren't intense at all. Michael had soft eyes, their colour was a warm brown and almost almond shaped. Now this came from watching one too many Americas Next Top Model, but Michaels' eyes smiled. It was just one more show his sister Elena said he should watch at least one time. She could be too persuasive sometimes.

Once the eyes were good enough to be left alone Jeremy worked on the mouth. The shading was the most important thing. Getting where the light shown and where the shadow would appear was important for capturing the "real-ness" in facial artwork.

It actually took Jeremy less time than he thought it would for him to finish it up. It was only a sketch so it wasn't a million dollar master piece or anything, but he was pretty proud of himself.

"Aaand-, done." Jeremy swiped his pencil along the page one more time and lifted the sketchbook to show Michael.

"Wow, you did all of that in just a few minutes. That's-, that's impressive." He grabbed the book from Jeremys' hand with ease. Once he was done admiring Jeremys' sketch, Michael turned to the first page and looked at Jeremys' other drawings. The kid was being modest, they were amazing.

Jeremy turned around to see Elena walking through the door.

"I'm glad you like it, man. And thanks a lot, it's definitely more realistic than my other stuff. I actually got to go though, my ride's here but it was cool talkin' to you."

Michael handed him back his book after he saw the last sketch and said,

"Yeah, yeah. No problem. It was worth it, your stuff- it's pretty incredible. You too. I'll see you around."

As Jeremy turned around to see Elena waiting, he looked back to say goodbye but Michael was gone. He didn't even catch his name first. Jeremy grabbed his stuff and walked over to Elena.

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

It was Sunday night and Jeremy had stepped into his shower. He twisted the "Hot" knob as far it would go. Jeremy always said that when he'd move out the first thing he'd do was buy and install a steam shower. Once it got to the temperature he desired he met his body with the running water. There's something that's said a lot; everyone is entitled to their personal indulgences. Well his was the coconut-vanilla scented shampoo he'd use every time he showered. It was the best scent he'd ever experienced.

Tyler had gotten back from his trip with the football team. He went back to his house to change his clothes and figured he'd stop by Jeremys' house to hang for a bit. Two days and nights with a bunch of jocks had Tyler exhausted.

Hey Jer, got back a few hours ago.

I'll come over in a bit.

- Tyler

Since Jeremy was in the shower he hadn't heard his text alert so he didn't rush to get dressed or anything.

Tyler decided to climb up through the window like he used to do; it was still a pain in the ass. Still though, climbing that damn tree was a better option than knocking on the door and risk Jenna or Elena to answer it. He was pretty sure Jeremy hadn't told them yet. Every time his body would greet the warm air from Jeremys' room he'd feel a surge of tingles run through his body. The shower was still running so Tyler just sat at Jeremys' to wait.

His eyes observed the room around him. On the table next to Jeremys' bed was his sketchbook. Tyler had to admit that Jeremy was an excellent artist when it came to his sketches and drawings. The first couple pages Tyler had seen before. It was the new stuff that intrigued him. Tyler got to the last page and was stunned. It didn't take him more than a few seconds to recognize who it was. Michael?

Tyler was so focused on the sketch that he didn't even hear the shower turn off, the door open and close, and the door knob to Jeremys' room twist open. He looked up to see Jeremy walking in the room in just a towel and clearly obvious that he didn't get Tylers' text. The expression on his face made Jeremy think that Tyler was made that Jeremy had drawn a guy in his sketchbook but Tyler obviously wasn't mad, he was shocked and felt guilty.

"Oh," Jeremy let out a nervous laugh when he saw the picture that Tyler was staring at, "that's just someone I met at The Grill. Yeah we ended up playing pool and talkin' about art and stuff."

Tyler sat the book where he found it and he knew Jeremy had no idea.

"A-are you mad? I just did the sketch because my other facial ones weren't turning out real enough. In that one I focused more on the shading than anything else."

"What? Oh- uh n-no. Nah, I'm- I'm not mad. It's r-really good." He could feel his face grow hotter and his forehead was beginning to feel clammy.

Jeremy let out a relieved sigh and went over to his drawers to find some pajamas to sleep in.

"So did you have fun?"

For a second it was as if Tyler forgot to breathe. He means on the trip, Tyler.

"Uh," he clears his throat, "y-yeah, it was um-, 'bout as much fun you could have with a bunch of jocks who eat like animals in the wild." His laugh wasn't how it normally was; it sounded hesitant. Did he not think Jeremy would notice?

"So uh, the guy you drew. You catch his name?" Tyler didn't want to sound jealous but he wasn't sure what the hell to say. Or even how to say it for that matter.

"No, y'know what? I didn't even tell him my name either. No idea who is. I think he might have been into sports though, he kinda looked like a jock."

Oh, hell.

Jeremy walked back to their bathroom to put on his bottoms and brushed his teeth. When he went back to his room Tyler was lying on his bed with his eyes shut and Jeremy leaned down and kissed him. Without hesitation Tyler kissed back and attached his hand to the back of Jeremys' neck. Tyler kissed kind of harder than he usually did and he felt terrible. They were doing so well at getting past his dumb-ass move and the last thing he wanted to do was dredge it all up again.

But how would he feel? If the situation was reversed and he was the one who was lied to? It was when he realized that he didn't deserve Jeremy; but that didn't change the fact that he loved the kid. He just had to be a better boyfriend. The familiar phrase came to his mind: Sometimes the truth isn't always the best option. Was that his case?

What'd you guys think?
Oh, and Michael isn't meant to be the villain. We'll see him in the next Chpt. hopefully.
So, do you think Tyler should come clean?
Quick question: Is anybody interested in Tylers' trip?
If so I'll be more than happy to write it for the next chptr. There'll probably be Matt in it (for Matt fans) so let me know.