Chapter Two

A/N: I know I posted chapter one this morning but whatever. I like you guys. Enjoy!

Monster

As each school day passed by, Tyler found it harder and harder to talk to Caroline. He felt ashamed that he'd opened up so much to her, so he just sat behind her everyday in English without saying a word. She'd tried to speak to him a few times and it felt forced and very strained. She decided to leave it alone but deep down she couldn't think of anything else. She felt his stares from behind her as she sat in English class. She could feel everywhere his eyes went. He typically settled his gaze on her neck when she wore her hair up or on her shoulders and arms when it was down. She could feel his eyes move from her neck to her shoulders to her arms and all the way down to her feet before they made their way back up. Everyday she forgot to breath and had trouble paying attention to anything else. Sometimes she'd close her eyes just so his eyes were the only thing she could concentrate on and she didn't have to watch her teacher babble up at the front of the class or the kid next to her fall asleep everyday. But even when she did that she made her best effort to not seem rigid so Tyler wouldn't know that he was making her feel a certain way. Though he made her undoubtedly uncomfortable, she'd miss him if he went away like she did the weekend before.

After school Caroline walked through the lot in order to get home as she normally did. All she wanted was to take a hot bath and sit around her house with a bottle of wine and watch a sappy movie. But of course nothing ever went her way. Matt chased after her and grabbed her by the arm to turn her around.

"Caroline, I just have to talk to you." Matt stroked her cheek. "Look. I miss you so much. I know you're going through something right now but I want to be there. Let me be there."

"Matt I can't. Just forget me, okay?" Caroline regretted that she sounded a little unintentionally cruel.

"Is it Tyler? I know you guys have become … close … lately but it's because I haven't been there for you isn't it? What are you hiding from me Caroline?" Matt put his other hand on the other side of her face.

"Nothing. Just please. I want to go home." Caroline started to pull away but Matt pulled her lips to his.

"Matt, I have to go." Caroline pushed him off a little harder than she meant to and walked away, not looking back at the hurt expression on his face.

Tyler's POV

Honestly I was way too embarrassed to talk to Caroline since that day after my transformation. She saw me cry, she saw me lose control, she saw me vulnerable and weak, she even saw me naked. There was nothing I had left to show her. I had really nothing at all left that I hadn't shared with her.

I was beyond embarrassed. I felt way too open. I had to stay away from her for at least a little bit, just to clear my head. I'm sure she would understand if I explained later. She's a really good person like that.

It'd been two weeks since that day. My next transformation would be a little shy of another two weeks away. To say I wasn't scared would be a lie.

Since that full moon my skin has just been hot, especially at night. My eyes turn yellow when I get angry or sad or any heightened emotion I guess. But Caroline didn't lie. Drinking definitely helps. It curbs my mood swings a lot. I don't think alcohol affects me the same way either. I just don't get drunk anymore.

A lot of things are different and it's going to take some adjusting.

End of POV

Tyler skipped down the steps of school after the last bell rang and raced to Caroline's neighborhood. He sat across the street and waited for her to come home, not wanting to take her by surprise by just breaking into her house.

Finally he saw her arrive in a blur of speed. She looked around to make sure no one had seen and her eyes fell on Tyler. She sighed and took a deep breath before walking across the street to meet him.

"What are you doing here, Tyler?" Caroline asked, concerned.

He smiled and shook his head, "See this is why I haven't spoken to you in so long. I feel like every time you talk to me I can hear the pity."

"I'm just concerned okay?" Caroline snapped, not understanding why Tyler was so agitated.

"Look. I just wanted to apologize. I didn't want to ignore you for all this time but I just couldn't face you. I know Matt has been on my ass about if we have something going on and like, I'm so confused about everything right now. I don't want to interpret what you did for me as meaning something more." He looked down as he said the last part.

"I really care about you, Tyler. Even though we haven't always acted like it, we're friends. Just. Friends." Caroline exaggerated her last few words.

She placed a hand on his cheek and lifted his face up so she could look into his eyes. Those bright brown eyes were the source of her discomfort for the past few weeks but somehow looking into them directly replaced that discomfort with sadness. There was something tragic and beautiful, strong but vulnerable, and enticing about his eyes.

"I swear if I cry around you one more time," he laughed and swiped at the drop swimming down his cheek.

"It's okay, Tyler. I'm here for you, but right now I just want to be alone." Caroline wiped away her own tear this time and Tyler put a comforting hand on her waist.

Caroline went to take Tyler's hand off of her but she forgot he was just about as strong as she was. With her other hand she tried to push him away but he wouldn't budge. He grabbed both her arms near the elbow and held them down.

"Whatever you need, I'm right here." Tyler stared hard into her eyes.

"You're a lot stronger than before," was all Caroline could manage to say.

"Please tell me what's wrong. You helped me through the toughest moment of my life, please just let me help you with this?" Tyler looked questioningly at her, wondering what could have made this strong and beautiful girl cry.

"Matt …" Caroline mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tyler said, not sure he heard the right thing.

"He kissed me and I couldn't kiss him back because of you, okay?" Caroline fumed. "You're just in my head like a parasite! I spend two full weeks worrying about you and if you're okay and you ignored me. Your transformation might have been terrible for you but it affected me too, okay? I couldn't talk about it with anyone, so you and this whole situation has been plaguing my brain. And today Matt kisses me and all I can think about is you. He even mentioned you himself! So I'm sorry but I just want to go inside."

Caroline knocked his arms away and disappeared with speed. She celebrated in her head when she made it to the door and got her hand on the door knob. But her happiness was gone as quickly as it came. She felt Tyler pull her hand off of it and flip her around to kiss her. It was so fast that she didn't know how to react. She was so impressed with his speed.

He pressed his body into hers until she was leaning on the door. She was trapped. Her body melted and she kissed him back as if to demonstrate all of her feelings of the past two weeks with her lips. There was pure passion behind that kiss, passion that she had never felt with Matt. Tyler knew her ins and outs now and he understood. He was able to get deeper into her being than Matt ever could, being only human still.

Before Caroline completely lost it, she pushed Tyler off of her.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Tyler took a step back, fearful that he'd just ruined the great bond he'd formed with what seemed like his only friend.

"I-I just wanted to be alone, Tyler." Caroline breathed in deeply.

"I'm here for you in anyway you want me to be, okay?" Tyler looked at her sternly and his eyes flashed yellow.

Something about how kind Matt and Tyler were being to her just made her angry. Matt seemed like he was all right with her liking Tyler and Tyler knew very well that she still had feelings for Matt. Yet instead of bad mouthing each other they were the sweetest guys ever and they seemed like they'd be okay with whatever she chose to do. Something about that just made her boil over with annoyance.

"Everybody just needs to stop kissing me!" Caroline shouted, before slipping into her house and slamming the door in Tyler's face.