Hey everyone! This is a pre-quel to my story 'Perfect'. This will make the third installment to my trilogy that I didn't know I was writing! So if you have read the other two already you can read this one and know that this is how it started. If you haven't, you can read this and then 'Perfect' and then 'Coming Home'. Hope you enjoy and please review!
"Tell me again, why did I let you set me up on this date?" Jeremy asked Anna as he buttoned up his burgundy dress shirt.
"Because I'm your best friend," Anna smiled and held up two ties to Jeremy's shirt-one striped with forest green and gold, the other black, "And because he's super-hot and totally your type!"
Jeremy rolled his eyes and took the ties from Anna's hands before turning and tossing them on the bed, "No tie," he mumbled and turned back to the mirror to fix his collar, "And remember what happened the last time you hooked me up with a guy you was 'totally my type'?" Jeremy asked, using his fingers to draw quote marks in the air.
"Oh, come on," Anna rolled her eyes and stepped in front of Jeremy, un-buttoning the top two buttons of his shirt and smoothing out the collar before smoothing out the wrinkles across his chest, "He wasn't that bad!"
Jeremy grasped Anna's wrists in his hands loosely and waited for her to look up at him, "He wanted me to dress like a woman and call him daddy!" Jeremy said exasperated.
Anna grimaced and pulled out of Jeremy's grasp before falling back on to the bed, bouncing a little on impact, "Yeah, but at least he was hot," Jeremy's jaw dropped as her stared down at her and she laughed, leaning back on her elbows, "Alright, I get it. It was bad. But this guy is different. And, like, twenty times hotter!"
"Does Matt know you talk about other guys like this?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow at himself in the mirror and ran his fingers through his lightly gelled hair.
"Well, no," she frowned thoughtfully, then smiled brightly rather suddenly, "But it's okay, cause they're all gay!" Anna beamed at Jeremy's reflection in the mirror and he rolled his eyes again.
"Right, because the fact that you don't have a chance with them makes it okay to oogle them and call them hot without feeling guilty," Jeremy stated and turned away from the mirror to face Anna.
"Exactly!" Anna exclaimed and jumped up from the bed, "Besides, this guy is Matt's best friend. Even if he was straight I wouldn't go after him. I have Matt and that's all I need." Anna smiled softly and smoothed her hands down Jeremy's chest once more.
Jeremy smiled softly as well and watched Anna's small hands move over his shirt. She looked happy, and because she was happy, he was happy. Anna was his best friend and she deserved the best. Matt was definitely the perfect match for her.
A sudden knock on the door startled them both and Anna's smile brightened again as she patted his chest, "They're here!" she giggled and bounded out of the room to answer the door.
Jeremy chuckled a little and grabbed his leather jacket from the back of his computer chair. Sliding into his jacket, he moved back over to the mirror to give himself a once over one last time. He nodded at himself and let out a breath, hopefully Anna didn't set him up with some freak again.
"Jeremy! Come on! Our reservations are for 8! I don't wanna be late!" Anna yelled through the apartment and Jeremy glanced at his alarm clock-7:02. Women. They always have to be early.
He huffed and grabbed his keys and phone from his nightstand, tucking them into his pocket as he made his way to the living room. His head was down as he rounded the corner, but as soon as he lifted his head his eyes were locked with deep, chocolate brown.
Tyler Lockwood. There was no mistaking this gorgeous man for anyone else. Jeremy knew his face well, had drawn the strong jaw line and high cheek bones many times from across the school courtyard. Tyler's eyes were wide in what looked like surprise and his mouth was tilted up slightly at the corners. Jeremy's eyes traveled over the smooth skin of his neck until it disappeared beneath the royal blue button down that Tyler wore.
"Tyler, this is Jeremy. Jeremy, Tyler." Matt introduced them and Jeremy's eyes quickly shifted over to Matt, then back to Tyler's face.
"The artist," Tyler's voice rumbled deep in his chest, making shivers run down Jeremy's spine, "I've seen you around campus, always got your nose buried in a drawing pad." Tyler smiled and reached for Jeremy's hand, the younger man's knees felt weak from the touch.
Jeremy's tongue was heavy in his mouth and he didn't know how to respond to the fact that Tyler had noticed him around campus, "I-uh, yeah, that's me. I guess." The heat spreading across Jeremy's neck and cheeks was starting to get a little uncomfortable and Tyler's hand in his wasn't making the blush go away anytime soon.
"Small world, huh?" Matt smirked and Jeremy watched as Tyler turned to glare at his friend, retracting his hand from Jeremy's. Jeremy frowned and dug his hand into his jacket pocket as he looked between the two, wondering what that was all about.
"Alright, now that introductions have been done, it's time to go!" Anna pushed Matt's shoulder until he turned to walk out the door, Anna following quickly behind him.
Jeremy started for the door and reached for the handle of the door to close it behind him when his hand collided with another warm, slightly smaller hand. He pulled back a little and looked down into Tyler's deep brown orbs that were shining with excitement.
"After you." Tyler smiled and grabbed the handle, ushering Jeremy's out in front of him.
Jeremy flushed deeper and ducked his head in a nod as he swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long night.
The ride to the restaurant was quiet and a little too awkward for Jeremy's taste. Matt drove with one hand on the wheel and the other laced with Anna's. Anna smiled widely and talked quietly over the radio about anything and everything to make the ride less awkward, but only managed to make it more awkward. Tyler sprawled out in the seat behind Matt left arm propped against the window, the other resting across his thigh tapping out the rhythm to whatever song was playing on the radio. Jeremy folded his tall frame into the seat behind Anna and tried his best to keep his knee from bumping into Tyler's.
When they finally arrived at the restaurant, they were 20 minutes early and had to wait for their table. Matt and Anna sat along the wall to wait and Jeremy left Tyler with the two to step outside for a moment when his phone started to ring.
"I know, Elena," Jeremy sighed into the phone and rubbed at his eyes a little, "I don't know, next month? Maybe? Depends on how my projects are going." Jeremy paused and watched a mother and father swing their child high in the air between the two, the child giggling loudly.
Smiling softly, he spun the ring on his finger, "I'll try my hardest. I promise," Jeremy said softly into the phone, "Okay, yeah. I love you, too. Bye." Jeremy ended the call and let out a breath.
"You okay?" the deep voice startled Jeremy a little and he turned quickly only to run right into Tyler.
"S-sorry," Jeremy stuttered and grabbed on to Tyler's arms to stable himself and stop Tyler from toppling over as well.
Tyler chuckled and rested his hands on Jeremy's hips, "It's fine, Jeremy," Tyler smiled at him and Jeremy's breath caught in his chest, "Are you okay?"
Jeremy wrinkled his brow and frowned, "I, yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Jeremy asked, touched by the genuine concern in Tyler's voice.
Tyler chuckled again as he squeezed Jeremy's hips tighter, "I'm fine, but I was talking about the phone call. You looked a little distant when you hung up."
"Oh," Jeremy sighed as he tried to get his brain to work and stop focusing on Tyler's hands on his hips, "I-yeah. It was just my sister, wondering when I'm coming home to visit," he shrugged and looked down to his hands that were still clinging to Tyler's arms.
"Do you not go home often?" Tyler questioned softly and dipped his head a little to catch Jeremy's eye.
"No," Jeremy shook his head and dropped his hands, right hand immediately connecting with the left to twirl the ring on his pointer finger, "Not since my parents died," he whispered brokenly.
Tyler frowned a little and settled his hands over Jeremy's fidgeting ones, "How about we go somewhere else? Just you and me. I know this small coffee shop about two blocks down. They have the most amazing hot chocolate ever!" Tyler smiled hopefully and Jeremy couldn't help but smile back.
"That sounds great," he nodded and Tyler beamed at him as he laced his fingers with Jeremy's and tugged on his hand gently, "Should we tell Matt and Anna?"
"Nah," Tyler smirked as they fell into step next to each other and squeezed Jeremy's hand, making the taller man's heart flutter, "Let them think we snuck off to have sex."
Jeremy snorted and rolled his eyes, "Oh, Anna's gonna have a fit the next time I see her. You do know she's going to ask for details right?"
Tyler laugher and shook his head as he pulled Jeremy down the street.
"You're a really great artist," Tyler stated and Jeremy almost spit his drink out.
They were seated in a small booth along the back wall of the coffee shop. Each had ordered a hot chocolate and then they got a few pastries to share seeing as how they skipped out on an actual dinner. They started talking about school and Tyler just snuck that comment in the middle of them talking about the inedible food that is served in the cafeteria.
"I-um, uh-I" Jeremy stuttered and started to play with the ring on his finger, "Thank you," he whispered and blushed deeply as he avoided eye contact.
Tyler chuckled and leaned his elbows on the table top, "I've seen some of your work in the school exhibit. The ones of Anna and you sister are amazing."
Jeremy blushed harder and stared hard at the silver ring on his finger as he spun it round and round. Tyler's hand snuck into Jeremy's line of vision as it settled over his own warmly.
"What's this ring?" Tyler asked as he slid his fingers along the edge of it, lightly trailing his fingertips over Jeremy's skin.
"It was my dad's wedding ring. My sister has my mom's, which I guess when you think about it, it's kind of weird. But," Jeremy sighed, "it's the only thing I have left of them."
Tyler's fingers curled over Jeremy's and his other hand reached out to tilt Jeremy's face toward him, "It's not weird," Tyler smiled, "At least they loved each other right?"
Jeremy watched Tyler's eyes sadden and he squeezed the smaller hand in his, "Your parents? Are they…well…do they-" Jeremy cut himself off and frowned slightly.
Tyler smiled softly and looked down at Jeremy's hand clinched in his own, "They're still married. Not happily, but yeah," Tyler shrugged, "They don't know I'm…they don't know I prefer guys." Tyler laughed a little and shook his head.
"Why? I mean, why are they still-" Jeremy flinched and took a deep breath, "Have you tried to tell them?"
"No. I don't think my dad would like it very much. He already hits my mom, why would I give him more reason to hit her. Raising a gay child," Tyler laughed humorlessly, "He'd probably kill her."
Jeremy's fingers tightened around Tyler's as the taller boy stood, "Come on," Jeremy tugged on Tyler's hand, "Let's go for a walk. I think we could both use a change of pace right now."
Tyler smiled and nodded before pulling his hand out of Jeremy's and tugging his wallet out of his back pocket. Dropping a few dollars on the table, he tucked his wallet back into his pants and reached out to lock his fingers with Jeremy's again, "Lead the way."
Jeremy grinned and pulled Tyler out of the coffee shop and across the street into a small park. They walked silently along the dimly lit path, fingers intertwined and sides brushing together every so often.
Suddenly, Jeremy started laughing and Tyler stopped to look up at him, "What?" Tyler smiled a little and cocked an eyebrow.
"Nothing," Jeremy tried to calm down and laughed some more, "It's just Anna. She has this thing about hooking me up with complete weird-os." Jeremy said through his laughter, then stopped abruptly when he saw Tyler's face drop.
"Oh," Tyler stepped back a little and made to let go of Jeremy's hand, but Jeremy held on tight and followed Tyler's backwards steps as his smile grew.
"Looks like she finally got one right," Jeremy murmured softly and Tyler's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he chuckled lowly.
"I'm gonna owe Matt so big." Tyler continued to chuckle as he raised his hand that wasn't clutched in Jeremy's grip to run through the taller man's hair.
"Why is that?" Jeremy asked softly and leaned into Tyler's touch.
Tyler smiled softly and leaned closer to Jeremy, "I used to watch you in the courtyard. You were always sitting against that old oak tree hunched over your drawing pad," Tyler laughed when Jeremy pulled back to look down at him in confusion, "I thought you were stunning and when I saw you with Anna I asked Matt about you and he said you two were best friends. I spent weeks begging Matt to introduce us."
Jeremy's jaw dropped and Tyler chuckled again as he closed Jeremy's mouth with one finger. "How did you-" Jeremy cleared his throat, "how did you even know if I was-you know-gay?"
Tyler shrugged, "I didn't. I hoped, but either way I had to meet you, to know you." Tyler slid his fingers through Jeremy's hair and the taller boy's head sunk forward until their foreheads rested together.
"I'm glad you begged," Jeremy murmured softly and Tyler smiled as he slid his lips across Jeremy's.
"Me too," he said against his lips and deepened the kiss just a little.
After a few moments, Jeremy pulled away and smiled, "Do you have to be anywhere important tonight or tomorrow?" he asked breathlessly and sighed happily when Tyler slid both of his hands through his hair and kissed down his neck.
"No," he shook his head and nuzzled his nose against Jeremy's neck, "Why? Got something in mind?"
Jeremy smiled and slid his own arms around Tyler's waist, pulling the shorter man's body flush against his own, "Well, first we can finish our walk," he nuzzled his face into Tyler's hair and breathed deeply, "Then catch a taxi back to my place."
Tyler nodded and pulled away from Jeremy's neck to look up into his eyes, "Sounds perfect," Tyler smiled and kissed Jeremy softly, "I think this is just the beginning for us," he whispered.
Jeremy nodded and kissed back, "And what a great beginning it has been," he said and leaned into capture Tyler's lips in a searing kiss that was just the first of many.