Price Check On Monogamy

"Jeremy, what the hell is your problem, you fu--"

"Tandem--"

"No, you asshole, you have no idea--"

"TANDEM. She told me everything."

And suddenly, all rage in Tandem was gone. He went dead cold. "What... what do you mean, she told you everything?"

Jeremy didn't even hesitate. "She told me everything, Tandem. You fucked up, man."

Tandem groaned and dropped his head in his hands. It was two in the morning, and he hadn't been able to sleep. Or eat. Or do anything, for that matter. He'd sat in his bed-- the only place in his house that Tiger hadn't been in-- and tried to sleep. Tiger wasn't even skipping his calls; her phone was off. Jeremy, like an asshole, hadn't picked up his phone until just now.

And dropped this on him.

"What the hell am I going to do?" Tandem groaned.

This time, Jeremy paused. The line crackled and, right when Tandem was convinced Jeremy was just going to completely blow him off, Jeremy said, "Tandem, I gotta tell Caleb."

Tandem's head flew up, his eyes huge. "She knows?"

"No, no, man," Jeremy said quickly. "She didn't figure it out, I did."

Tandem let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. "Thank God..."

"You weren't planning on telling her?" Jeremy asked, incredulous.

"No, but I wanted to be the one to tell her. It... obviously, it sounds really, ridiculously bad if I'm not the one to say it."

"You were still hiding it from her, man."

"Jeremy, are you my boy or not?" Tandem snapped, frustrated.

"Tandem, you know you're one of my best friends. But this is ridiculous, man, you fucking broke her heart, you don't think Caleb's gonna piece it together when she's not happy to be out of this shit?"

Tandem took another breath and sighed it all out. "Fuck, you're right. Fine, fine, tell Caleb, just... let me talk to her first, please?Jeremy, please help me out here, I was going to tell her everything right after the library. Dammit, Kip fucked it all up."

"That's something else you need to explain to me, man. I can't help you if I don't know why the fuck you did it in the first place."

"I'll explain it later. I need you to promise to help me out, man. I've got to talk to her before Caleb can get involved."

Jeremy paused again. "Fine, man. Fine. I can get Caleb away from the house Sunday night, which is probably when Tiger's gonna get home. That's your best shot."

"You can't just tell me where she is now?" Tandem asked desperately. He couldn't wait an entire day to tell her everything. He'd already been waiting all day today, and it was fucking him up.

"I dropped her off at someone's house, but she's not there anymore, man. I can't help you out anymore than getting Caleb away from the house tomorrow."

Tandem closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "Yeah... yeah, I got you, man, I got you. Thanks."

"No problem. Now, you owe me a story."

- - -

On the plus side, that weekend was one of the most relaxed, emotional-roller-coaster-ride free weekends I'd had in a long, long time.

After spending the afternoon with Jeremy-- which, surprisingly, was actually a lot of fun-- I asked him to drop me off at Lexy's house. Apparently, Kip had called and warned them that I'd be devastated, because Lexy, Tawny, Jason, and Eli were all ready for me by the time I got there.

And they were all very, very pissed at Kip-- which, honestly, surprised me a little bit.

"Tandem, I understand," Eli raged. He was driving us all to his and Jason's house; they figured I'd need somewhere a little farther away than a couple roads down to get away from everything. "Kip was supposed to be one of your best friends. What the fuck is her problem?"

They'd all hurriedly explained to me that Kip had called ahead bawling about how Tandem had been coming on to her and, when she'd tried to sort out their feelings for each other, he'd gone crazy on her. It was pretty obvious that no one actually believed her story, but, just to make sure... I told Jason and Eli the truth. Err, again.

I thought I was going to die of relief when neither of them-- especially Eli-- called me an idiot and kicked me out of the car.

"Tigon, we all understand," Jason had smiled and grabbed my hand. "Besides, if you can't make him a better person, Tigon, no one can."

The second we'd gotten to the house, Eli had taken my phone and almost snapped it in half trying to figure out how to turn it off. The way he saw it, anyone important had his number if they needed to call me; which, at this point, was totally true. Even Caleb had Eli's number, if he was willing to spend two seconds in my room looking for my planner.

We'd spent the entire weekend watching movies and eating junk food, and it was exactly what I'd needed... but it all just seemed to drain away when I had to go home Sunday night.

"Tiger?" I jumped the second I got into the house, partially because it was almost midnight, and partially because it wasn't Caleb screaming-- or even talking regularly, like he had been the other time I'd come here. It was almost a whisper.

"Caleb, I'm not in the mood for your bullsh--" I cut myself off fast when I turned around and came face to face with Tandem.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" I whispered. It wasn't supposed to be a whisper, but whatever. He still winced like I'd just slapped him.

"Tiger, you have to understand--"

"I don't have to understand shit!" I screamed. And it wasn't a shout, it was a literal scream-- my voice went up so high that it cracked. Just like the fucking mosaic. That I still hope he cut his damned feet on.

Every emotion I'd felt watching him suck on Kip's tongue came flooding back like the weekend hadn't even happened.

Tandem, who'd been by the living room when he'd first caught my attention, was slowly moving toward me-- slowly enough to look like he was walking over glass to get to me. Or maybe I was still just absolutely stuck on the idea of him walking on glass.

"Tiger, please, will you please just listen--"

"If you touch me, I'll rip your arm off," I hissed, back pedaling up a few stairs. Tandem stopped dead-- and so did I.

"Tiger, she kissed me!" His voice cracked, and I thought my heart did, too, until I realized, oh, hey, he'd already done that to me. His eyes were huge and begging. "Please, you have to believe me, she kissed me!"

I opened my mouth to scream at him again, but closed it slowly. I didn't want to scream anymore. I didn't want to be angry anymore. I just wanted him to go away and leave me alone. "Tandem..." I said softly. Too softly. Clearing my throat painfully and swallowing my tears, I took another shaky breath and said again, a bit louder, "Tandem, these last few weeks have been... they've been good. Better than it's been for me in a long time. But..." I took another deep, shaky breath. "Tandem, I believe you. I really do believe that she kissed you. The thing is... you kissed her back, Tandem. And... and I guess we're too different to make this work. I..." I shook my head and, too my surprise, smiled a little. "I don't forgive you, Tandem. I don't forgive Kip for this, either, but I don't forgive you for any of it. I don't forgive you for making me believe that things were different. I don't forgive you for getting me involved with this bet. And... and I don't forgive you for making me start to fall in love with you, then jerking me back out of it." My smile didn't waver a bit. I figured if I was going to get him the hell out of my life, I'd send him off with something just as unexpected as him dragging me into his life.

A tear was running down Tandem's face, and part of me wanted to wipe it off and make him smile, but most of me was tired. Too tired to care about him. Or Kip. Or anyone but myself.

"Tiger--"

"It's late, Tandem," I cut him off. "Get out of my house."