Price Check On Monogamy

I couldn't move. I couldn't breath.

Tandem saved me.

Tyler didn't. Tyler hadn't even stayed long enough to make sure that I was okay.

Where had Tyler gone?

More importantly-- why had Tandem saved me?

"How did you know?" I asked quietly. Tandem pulled back to look me in the face, but I refused to meet his gaze. I didn't want him to see how confused I was, and, most importantly, how I didn't want him to let me go. It wasn't that I was afraid of the guys-- they weren't the first to get in my face and, apparently, if I decided to go to college, it wouldn't be the last. No, I was more disturbed that Tyler-- wonderful, awesome Tyler, who I had just about fifteen minutes ago regained faith in-- had run. After I had put myself in front of him. Tandem had then turned up and saved me.

The world had been unofficially turned upside down. The only thing that made sense anymore was the most basic fact that I felt safe right now, and I didn't want that to go away.

"Tiger? Tiger, what did you say?" His voice was soft-- there wasn't a hint of sadism or teasing in it. "Tiger, you have to speak up." He loosened his grip on my shoulders a bit more to hold me a little further away. Out of desperation-- pride I corrected myself quickly-- I forced myself to look up at him. There wasn't a hint of sadism in his eyes-- just worry.

"How..." I coughed, clearing my throat. "How did you know what was going on?"

Tandem chuckled, but the sound was... different. Like he wasn't laughing at me so much as with me. Or that's how it would have been, had I been laughing.

"Nice to know you find it funny," I said drily, narrowing my eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry," Tandem said quietly, still smiling. "I heard you yelling. You're a fucking little hellion when you want to be, you know that? I would have stepped in sooner, but I only got there when he poured his beer all over you. Why were you so far into the house by yourself, anyway? If there wasn't anyone you knew at the party, you should have just stayed by me and your brother."

I stared at the dashboard behind just beyond Tandem's shoulder, putting the pieces together slowly. If Tandem had seen the guy pour his beer on me and still thought that I had been alone, that meant that Tyler had walked away before then. Why had he left me alone?

"Tiger? Tiger, are you okay? Did something happen before I got there? I swear to God, I'll slaughter--"

"No, no," I interrupted quickly. "No, it's fine, nothing happened. It's just... ugh, I smell like beer. I'm, err, sorry that you had to leave the party because of me. I know how to get home from here." I pulled away, suddenly awkward in his embrace. It was too... surreal for me. When I went to open the door, however, Tandem grabbed my hand.

"Tiger, wait. You can't walk home like that, it's a half hour walk, and you're covered in beer. The party was a bust; the entire reason that we had to go was because your brother wanted to get back with Heather again. Let me take me home, I really don't mind."

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but shut it just as fast. I really shouldn't walk home like this-- and what did I care if he missed his party, anyway? I chewed on my bottom lip for a second before sighing. "Thanks. Can you take me home now?"

Tandem smiled and nodded, letting go of my hand and starting the car. "Yeah."

The ride home was quiet, but, for once, not in a bad way. Instead of the cold that was usually between us, there seemed to be more... understanding. Like he knew that I would talk if I wanted to, and not a second before that, and he respected it.

When he pulled up in front of my house, against my better judgment, I turned. "Unn... thanks for helping me, Tandem. It actually really means a lot to me."

"No problem," Tandem said warmly. Friendly. "Regardless of what you think of me, I don't want to see you hurt, Tiger."

Now that was something I wasn't particularly expecting. I opened my mouth to tell him goodbye, but, somehow, "goodbye" came out like this:

"Do you want to come inside?"

I clamped my mouth shut so hard that it hurt. I hadn't meant to say that. I hadn't meant to say that. And, by the look on Tandem's face, he hadn't expected me to say it, either.

"I-- I mean," I added hastily, "It isn't late, and I dragged you away from your party, and you did help me, so--"

"I'd love to," Tandem cut me off suddenly, and I had to really think about it to realize that he wasn't insulting me or laughing at me. He was genuinely accepting the invitation. "Go shower, I know my way around the house."

I stared at him in wonder-- pure, simple wonder. Nodding slowly and getting out of the car, I hurried into the house and up to my bathroom.

A hot shower would get me thinking straight. I think.

- - -

Tandem watched Tiger almost run into the house and didn't quite know what to think.

Leaning back into his chair and staring at the dashboard, he replayed the event through his head, over and over again. He'd heard Tiger shouting on the other side of the house; he'd know that particular shout anywhere. It took him a few minutes, but when he'd finally gotten to where she was, he saw that drunk bastard dump his beer on her, and he saw her push him. At that moment, he respected Tiger more than he respected most anyone else in the house; the guy wasn't small. He towered over the small girl, and he was built like a wrestler. The fact that she'd managed to move him at all was pretty damn amazing. When the college student moved to grab her, however, and started with his disgusting comments again, Tandem had lost his temper. Not just at the guy, but at everyone in the house; the music was blaring and he'd still managed to hear Tiger shout. It wasn't like she was alone in the room.

Why the hell hadn't anyone lifted a finger to help her?

After that, he just remembered grabbing her and leading her outside. For the first time, he realized why she didn't like those parties. Not just because what had happened; but because of the whole damn night. He'd only been there for half an hour, and after about fifteen minutes, had started to regret not giving Tiger his jacket. She was a pretty girl. He'd known that; he hadn't known that a group of people who disliked her so much could be so interested in her and still so damn... vicious about it. His friends had been drinking for about an hour before he'd gotten there; they were all pretty gone by the time he'd started talking to them.

It was the first time hearing a girl being looked over actually repulsed him.

"She's got a hot ass," one of the basketball boys commented, laughing. "Nice legs, too."

"Maybe if you gag her, she'd be worth it," another guy laughed.

Tandem shook his head and opened the door, walking up the path and into the house slowly. Once he was in the kitchen, his favourite room in the house, he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a Pepsi. Leaning against the door, he noticed, for the first time, that the refrigerator was split in thirds; Pepsi on one side, Coke on another side, and, he knew, the bottom drawers filled with vitamin water. Assorted foods in each section. The Pepsi was Katy's, the vitamin water was Caleb's...

Tandem put the Pepsi back and grabbed a Coke.

"You like Coke?" Tandem jumped and closed the refrigerator. He turned to look at Tiger, and had to suppress a smile; she was wearing jeans cut-offs that ended at her knees and a black sweater. He had to give his friends credit-- she did have nice legs.

"I haven't drank Coke since I was, like, ten," Tandem confessed, opening the can and taking a gulp. He almost immediately started coughing. "And that's probably why. It tastes like acid!"

Tiger laughed and breezed by him to grab herself one. Popping the top, she took a deep swig and licked her lips after. "No acid to me, pansy."

Tandem snorted and put the can on the counter. "Yeah, well, I didn't think you'd be so hardcore, Tiger."

Tiger rolled her eyes and was about to say something when she realized just how surreal the moment was. The realization was quickly followed by awkwardness. "Hey, umm..." Tiger started, not sure where to go from there. She coughed once to cover the silence and continued, "Look, I'm really glad that you helped me. Honestly, I don't really know where it would have gone had you not stepped in. And thanks for bringing me home, it really means a lot to me. You can, umm, go home now... if you want." She added the last part with a slight hitch in her voice that she hadn't really intended; truth was, she didn't quite want him to leave. The moment, while out of the ordinary, was, by far, welcome. And it was making her curious. This was the second time that Tandem had done something thoughtful; true, the first time, he'd been the one to fuck everything up, anyway, so she hadn't given it much thought other than to disregard it as an attempt at getting rid of guilt. This time, however...

"Err, I don't really have anything to do right now," Tandem said slowly. "Maybe, if you'd like, we could hang out...?"

Tiger blinked, once, twice. For the first time, she didn't want to turn him down. She didn't want to be too quick to accept the offer, either; if, at any point, he randomly reverted back into the Tandem she knew and hated, she would hate herself for falling for it.

She debated the issue for a second of two before deciding that there wasn't much else to say than--

"Let's go rent some movies."

- - -

I probably shouldn't have said that. I mean, it's one thing to say that we could hang out then go to a mall-- a mall meant that, if he suddenly became an asshole again, I could just walk away. A mall meant that we weren't staying at my house.

A mall meant that I wouldn't be with Tandem, the infamous player, alone, in an empty house, with a bed.

But, in my defense, there's no malls open at ten at night.

The suggestion probably caught him as off guard as it had me, but he was a lot better at hiding it. Laughing and nodding, Tandem took his keys out of his pockets. "Alright, cool. Let's go pick some movies."

I smiled, relieved. "Race ya to the car," I said on an impulse and started running for the door.

"Cheater!" Tandem called behind me, laughing. I laughed and was almost a the car when he tackled me. I was still laughing when I realized that he was on top of me.

And sniffing my hair.

Right before I snapped at him to get his ass off of me, he got up and held out a hand to help me. "Next time don't cheat," he said, smiling. I looked at him warily, but grabbed his hand, anyway.

"Fine," I said, sticking my tongue out at him and getting into the car. "I hope the grass marks I undoubtably have on my ass stain your precious little car."

Tandem just laughed. "If you want, I could check for you. Hey, hey, just a suggestion, just a suggestion," Tandem said in defeat, holding his hands up in front of himself and backing off at the look in my eyes.

Damn straight.

The drive to the store was quick and mostly painless, filled with back and forth childish teasing. I'd mostly put the weirdness of it all out of mind and decided to enjoy it while it lasted.

"How about Fight Club?" I asked once we were at the store. Thank God Karter didn't work at night.

Tandem looked up at me, impressed. "Interesting choice, young one."

I quirked an eyebrow. "I'm only a year younger than you, remember, smart ass?"

Tandem laughed and shook his head. "Alrgiht, Fight Club it is. That's actually one of my favourite movies."

"Hey, mine, too," I threw over my shoulder, walking to the cashier. Apparently some new worker that I'd never met, he was half asleep and leaning over the computer on his desk like he was trying to prop his head up. "Hey-- hey! This, please."