Price Check On Monogamy

"So what are you gonna do now?"

Tandem groaned and dropped his head into his hands, his eyes closed. Jeremy sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Are you pissed because I ended up with the girl?"

Tandem gathered just enough energy to pull his head up and raise a weary eyebrow at Jeremy. "Dude, shut up. You know I'm happy for you. I just hate my life right now."

Jeremy laughed, and it made Tandem laugh, too-- not just because Jeremy's laugh was always infectious, but because the moment was just so... surreal. Just about six months ago, they would have been doing this exact same thing-- laughing and hanging out in Tiger's kitchen. Only, once upon a time, it was Caleb's kitchen, not Tiger's, and Caleb was with them laughing, not with Heather shopping, and it was Tandem with a new girlfriend, not Jeremy. And it was usually Jeremy and Caleb aching over some ridiculous, hopeless love issue-- not Tandem. Never Tandem.

The thoughts magically made Tandem's laughter disappear.

Jeremy's laughs died off quickly, too, and ended with him shaking his head and sighing again. Sitting down next to his friend and propping himself up with his elbows on the counter behind him, he said,"So, I ask again: what happens now?"

"Now?" Tandem sat up straight and was out of his chair fast. A truck had pulled up in the driveway, and it was his cue to realize that he still wasn't ready to face Tiger again. Actually, it was more like his cue to realize he would never be ready to face Tiger again. "Now I get the hell out through the back door before she sees me and you run interference."

Jeremy shook his head and stood up, putting his hands back in his pockets. "You can't avoid her for the rest of your life, man."

Tandem laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Nah, man, that's ridiculous. I'm not gonna avoid her forever. Just until I get my groove back."

Jeremy gave Tandem a long look. "Love tends to fuck up grooves, dude. Especially when it's real."

Tanden blinked. "I never told her I love her."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "You never told her you had a penis, either. Should I assume she doesn't know about that?"

Tandem snorted. "Shut up, Jeremy."

"Should I also assume that she doesn't realize how hard she makes it?"

"Fuck you, Jeremy," Tandem laughed, backing out of the kitchen. He'd heard a truck door shut. "Shut the fuck up about this shit and have a good time with your new girlfriend. See ya' later."

Jeremy eyed his friend's back as he ran out through the back door. "Dumb ass."

- - -

"Tawny, I'm so happy for you!"

Tawny squealed again and latched onto me in a tight hug. "You know it's all thanks to you, right?"

I laughed and hugged her back tight. Apparently, after I'd left to go to Tyler's house, Tawny had met her knight in shining armour at Prom-- Jeremy West.

Evidently, that slam against the bathroom door I'd heard had been Jeremy throwing Adam-- and he hadn't stopped there. Goofy, fun-loving, slightly weird Jeremy had beat Adam so badly that he'd been carted off to a hospital-- and Jeremy had been carted off to jail.

The next morning, Jeremy made bail, and Tawny was on a mission to kill Jeremy; after she'd went to go visit Adam in the hospital, he'd dumped her thinking that she'd set me on him, and I'd set Jeremy on him. When she finally found Jeremy and given him the slap she'd wanted to give him, though, she'd started bawling, and Jeremy had held her for an hour while she just sobbed into his shoulder. The rest, I guess, is history.

That had all happened yesterday, when I'd still been at Tyler's house after spending the night.

"Okay, guys, I'm gonna be late for work," Eli winked at us, and Tawny untangled herself from me to open the door and get out. He'd picked me up from Tyler's place, and Tawny up from her house on his way to work. Once he was out of sight, we raced up to my door.

"I knew it!" I shouted, triumphant and laughing as Jeremy laughed. "I knew you would be here!"

"Hey, in my defense, what creep doesn't wait around for his girlfriend at his friend's house?" Jeremy laughed. Tawny squealed and squirmed her way around me in the doorway, launching herself at Jeremy and hugging him tight-- and Jeremy hugged her right back. I beamed, absolutely thrilled. I still have no idea how I never thought of it before. They looked so... perfect together. They just fit, even with Jeremy's awkward lankiness and Tawny's tiny Asian-ness.

Tawny pulled herself off Jeremy and beamed at me. "I'm gonna go take a shower, okay?" I nodded fast and Tawny bounded up the stairs. Her and Lexy always kept extra clothes at my house-- it was kind of a testament to how much had happened in the past couple months that they hadn't gotten to use those clothes in so long. Along with the fact that we'd given Kip her things back because, well... they just didn't need to be at my house anymore.

I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a Coke, then dropped down in a seat at the kitchen counter. "So I guess it kind of goes without saying that I heard what happened."

Jeremy laughed and sat down next to me. "Yeah, I guess so. By the way, this is cool with you, right, Tiger?"

I raised an eyebrow at Jeremy, but couldn't help but smile-- he honestly looked worried. "Of course it is, man. I haven't seen her this happy since... well, since she first started dating one of the twins." I smiled; it was true. She'd dated Adam because she felt like she was supposed to-- they'd liked each other at the time, he'd asked her out, his parents knew her parents. It had been more of an obligation than anything else, and we'd all known it. She was glowing now, and, after seeing her so miserable for so long-- and then finding out why she'd been so miserable-- it made me happy beyond words to see her this way. "Why does it matter what I say, anyway?"

Jeremy shook his head, grinning. "You still don't get it, Tiger. I'm not fucking around when I say I honestly think you're a friend of mine."

He was right-- I didn't get it. I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. "You hated me."

"I never hated you." And he sounded legitimately baffled to hear me say it.

"Your friends don't like me."

"My friends probably won't like my girlfriend, either, but I'll rip their balls off before letting them talk shit about her around me."

I couldn't help but smile; that was comforting to know. "My own brother doesn't acknowledge me."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow at me. "Caleb's... you'd be surprised what goes through his head, you seriously would. But hey, as far as our friendship goes, it's not like I'm gonna be your bestest girlfriend now, helping you pick out with underwear and shit. But I do owe you my first relationship in years, along with one hell of a prom night."

I laughed and shook my head. "I meant to ask. How did you know?"

Jeremy paused, and it amazed me to see that he was actually thinking about the question. In the end, he said slowly, "Don't be pissed, alright? I probably should have said something earlier, but Adam... well, me and him used to be tight, you know? Adam has a sort of... history of being a violent asshole. That's why I joined water polo, picked up your brother, and ditched his ass." Jeremy smiled nervously at me. "I thought that he'd left that shit behind with middle school, Tiger. I never would've guessed that that shit was still going on until I saw your face. The look in your eyes..." Jeremy shook his head. "That shit ain't right. Not for anyone, not for anything."

I smiled, and I realized just how much I honestly respected Jeremy. "Thank you, man. Thanks for doing this."

Jeremy winked at me. "Well, you know," he said slowly, "I'm not the only one to thank here."

I raised an eyebrow, and somewhere deep down, I knew I wasn't gonna like this. Whatever "this" was. "Is that so?"

Jeremy smiled shakily. "So I lied. I couldn't hear you shouting; even with your pounding, it wasn't loud enough to get over the speakers."

I shook my head and laughed. "Alright, then. So you lied. How'd you catch me?"

"Well... Tandem kind of followed you and sent me to go make sure you didn't get kicked out of the dance."

I stiffened instantly. And there was that name I really didn't want to hear; especially after the night I'd just spent at Tyler's house. "Really?" I managed to force out. Jeremy nodded slowly.

"And it was Tandem that bailed me out of jail yesterday. He skipped out half way through the prom after party to go get me out. Apparently, he hadn't been having a good time, 'cause he was waiting on my call."

I blinked, carefully keeping myself totally still. "That's... nice of him."

Jeremy tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Really, Tiger? That's all?"

I sighed and turned around to face the counter, then put my head down on top of it. "I don't know. What else is there to say? I have a boyfriend, remember?"

Jeremy laughed. "Yeah, I remember. Tyler. Weird accent, met him bussing tables or something."

"Hey, watch it, Jeremy, that's my boyfriend."

Jeremy just shook his head and held his hands up. "Okay, you win. But still. I really think--"

"I've been thinking," I cut him off fast-- I really, really, really didn't want to hear it. "I've been thinking about some things, and I realized prom night that I really care about Tyler. I really want..." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I really want to try and make this work. You know? It's like... Tyler's a good guy. And he fucked up a couple times, but he never outright screwed me over."

"How did Tandem screw you over?" Jeremy interrupted me.

I paused and sighed. "He did screw me over a couple times and you know it. But it's... Jeremy, we're too different. It was fun for a while, but this sort of shit never lasts. He couldn't even defend me against Katy's friend. Tyler might have run when things got hard, but Tandem couldn't even stick up for me with his fucking date. When he'd come up to me."

Jeremy bit his lip and nodded slowly, which I assumed meant to go on. I just sighed and took the hint. "I just... I thought about it, you know? Especially at Tyler's house. All we did that entire night was listen to music and lay in his bed. Tyler's like... like the tame middle ground. No one actually wants to describe someone they care about as "tame" but, in the end, that's what people want, right? Stability. They just don't want the words that go with it. And I want to try and make this work with him. Which means no more interference from Tandem." I gave Jeremy a long look. "I mean it, Jeremy."

Jeremy studied me for a second before he said slowly, "So what are you going to do about that one little hitch in your plan?"

"'What little hitch?" I asked slowly, totally lost.

"That little part about you loving Tandem. Where does that come into play with trying to make things work with Tyler?"

I rolled my eyes at Jeremy. "I don't love him, Jeremy." My phone rang and I flipped it open fast-- Tyler, right on time. Waving to Jeremy, I smiled and winked at him before glancing upstairs-- Tawny was gonna be down soon.

"Hey, Tyler," I said happily. For the first time in weeks, I felt good about answering Tyler's calls. It didn't feel forced anymore; like making up my mind about things had honestly just helped me let some stuff go.

Before Tyler could respond, however, I swear to God I heard Jeremy mumbled, "Dumb ass" as I was walking out the front door.