⌜ chapter nine ⌟

"So, you're in the clear because Klaus is now focused on Hayley, who's pregnant with his miracle baby?" Jay asks as she looks over at Tyler. "Meaning you don't have to run anymore?"

"Pretty much." He nods from where he's laying on her bed as she does her hair in the mirror that's sitting on her dresser. "I guess Jeremy was keeping an eye on the originals, since he knows that they scare you. He said that they're making a home for themselves in New Orleans."

"Nice and far away." She takes a deep breath, glad to hear some good news for a change.

"So, what's up with your boyfriend?" Tyler asks as he sits up, picking up the teddy bear that she has sitting on the side of her bed.

"Paul isn't my boyfriend."

"And what's the deal with that?"

Jay takes a deep breath as she turns to face him. "I'm still trying to get used to certain things."

"Like?"

"I knew that my emotions would be heightened." She says, and he nods. "And senses like smell and hearing..."

"You weren't expecting your sense of touch to be heightened." Tyler smirks, and she narrows her dark eyes at him. "What's wrong, Jay? He holds your hand, and you—"

"And we're done with this conversation. Thank you." The brunette grabs her jean jacket from the foot of her bed and then hits him with it.

"Hang on." He grabs her wrist, and she sighs as she plops down on the side of her bed. The older boy moves then so that he's sitting next to her. "I went through the same thing, remember?"

Jay's nose scrunches as she looks at him. "Is this weird?" She asks, and he shrugs.

"Maybe, but I think we can be mature about it." He reasons. "I know that everything's still kinda new, especially the things you're trying to avoid feeling, but you'll get better with all of it."

"It's just... I saw what happened when Caroline lost control with Matt, and then what happened with us. And I know that he's not afraid of me losing control and hurting him, but I still don't want to." She explains, and he nods. "And just with the times that he's held my hand or wrapped his arms around me, I can see how easy it would be to..."

"Get lost in the feeling?" He supplies, and she sighs as she looks at her hands in her lap. "You're not just afraid of losing control. You're ashamed of the thought that you might."

"It's not the whole...he kills vampires thing..." Jay shakes her head. "Ric was teaching me to kill vampires, and he wanted to die rather than become this..."

"You and Ric are not the same." Tyler tells her. "Ric's alter ego won out, and that is what he was afraid of. He didn't want to hurt the people that he loves while he lost all control in a very different way. You're more like Stefan...or Caroline. They both choose to live in a way that allows them to be what they are without hurting people. Sure, there are times when that doesn't always work out the way we want, but that doesn't make us bad people. You're still you. You're just you in a new way. And you have to live with training wheels for awhile, but you'll be alright."

The little brunette smiles as she looks up at him. "Thanks, Tyler."

"For what? Giving you the same advice I'm sure everyone else is trying to give you?"

"You've always given me room to grow and to change. You let how you see me change when other people didn't want to." She shrugs. "I think it's always kinda helped whenever I felt like I was drowning in the image of who I was before everything happened."

"I'm just returning the favor, really." He smiles at her. "You were one of the first to see me as more than the dick with anger issues."

"Yeah, well, the part of you with the anger issues liked to the beat down the nice guy that I knew was in there." She reasons, and he chuckles.

"Yeah."

There's a knock on the open door, and they both look over to see Marie leaning against the doorframe as she looks at them. "Time to go. You ready?" She asks, and Jay shakes her head.

"No please." The youngest sticks out her lower lip in a pout.

"I'll drive." Tyler says as he gets to his feet, pulling Jay with him.

—

Jay's hanging on the passenger side of Marie's car, arguing with Tyler who's refusing to let her sit up front. He keeps telling her that she's too short and that's why she has to ride in the back, like a little kid.

Her fingers are pressing into his cheeks as she holds his face under his chin. "You listen to me, you pain in the ass. I am not a child, and I'm not little. I'm fun-size. Like the cute chocolate bars. Do you understand me, Lockwolf?" Her voice gets lower as she narrows her eyes at him.

Marie's trying to suppress her laughter as she looks between the two of them. Tyler, however, isn't bothering to hide anything as he laughs at what she's saying. She's not trying to be intimidating, and they both know that she's actually in a really good place at the moment.

"Fun-size, huh?" An annoyingly familiar voice gets their attention, and Jay groans. "Is that what the guys you surround yourself with call you often?"

Jay lets her feet rest on the ground as she lets go of Tyler's face, then she turns to face Laura. "I see we're still doing this." She sighs. "Do you honestly have nothing better to do with your time than harass me because Paul doesn't like you?"

"I guess I just couldn't help myself when I saw you getting up close and personal with the older guy from the diner." Laura says. "Does Paul know how much time you spend with him?"

"Yeah, I think he knows." Paul says as he walks past Laura. "Hey, man. It's good to see you again." He holds his hand out as Tyler reaches out of the car to shake his hand.

"It's good to be back in town." Tyler tells him as Paul stands beside Jay. "Sorry Damon was bugging you guys at the beach yesterday. I was getting a little impatient to say hi."

"No worries." He shakes his head. "Are you sticking around?"

"Yeah. I actually filled out the paperwork and everything to finish school here. I'll have to bust my ass the next two months to graduate on time, but I have a good support system."

"And by that, he means we're gonna lock his ass in his room until he finishes his work." Jay says with a smile as she looks up at Paul.

"Literally." Marie whispers, a small smile forming on her face as Embry walks around the car to get to the driver's side. "Hi."

"What are you guys doing here?" The youngest asks as she reaches over and lightly taps her fingertips on Paul's bicep. He motions to Embry and Marie as his only response, and she smiles as she looks over at them.

"Can we help you with something?" Tyler asks, looking at Laura past the others, and she huffs before walking away from them.

"Okay, that one was actually kinda fun." Jay smiles as she looks up at Paul, and he smirks as he shakes his head at her.

"I'm glad you can find some amusement in that." Her imprinter says, and she nods.

"This too." The brunette leans against the door as she looks at her friends. "Hey, Ty, why don't you come with me and Paul? We'll let them hang out...and get to know each other better."

"Yeah, alright." Tyler agrees as he starts to climb out of the car.

"You're annoying." Marie says as she looks at her best friend.

"I love you too." Jay winks at her. "See ya!" She practically sings as she grabs Paul's hand and starts toward his truck.

"Is someone gonna explain...everything that just happened?" Tyler asks as he climbs into the backseat. "Who's the chick that thinks she knows me?"

"She's just an old fling of Paul's that's still very obsessed."

"Okay then."

"I didn't know she was still bothering you." Paul glances at Jay as he drives through the parking lot, worried that she's still been a problem and Jay just never told him.

"She wasn't." His imprint shakes her head. "That's the first time she's come up to me since the day you said you talked to her. Maybe seeing me with Tyler made her think that she stood a chance again; she thought she'd hear that you were available."

"Yeah. I'll pass on that one. Not even if you weren't around." He mutters.

"What's the matter, Paul?" She teases as she looks over at him. "Regretting certain decisions? I'll take it the car sex wasn't worth the stalker situation."

"There's something wrong with you." He says, glancing at her, and she chuckles as she turns on the seat so that her back's against the door.

"Wait, he slept with her?" Tyler asks. "And that doesn't bother you?"

"What? That he had a life before he met me? No, that doesn't bother me." Jay says as she looks back at the older boy. "No more than it bothered me that you dated other girls before you dated me. I mean, I never held your date with slutty Sophie against you, did I?"

"You really are a pain in the ass, you know that?" He says, and she smiles as she nods. "And this doesn't bother you? Me living with them?"

"No." Paul shrugs. "I mean, Jay living with her ex isn't my favorite thing in the world, but I know that you guys are friends. Besides, she dated you before I even knew that she existed. It wouldn't be fair for your relationship to bother me."

"Are you two aware that you're more evolved than normal teenagers?"

"You are aware that you — a vampire, werewolf hybrid — are talking to a vampire and a wolf-shapeshifter?" Jay questions. "And that our relationship is made more..."

"...complicated." Paul supplies when she struggles to find a good way to describe their situation.

"Sure, that works." She nods. "Our relationship is made more complicated by the fact that he imprinted on me the day that we met."

"What the hell is imprint?" Tyler asks, eyebrows furrowed, and the pair in the front seat glance at each other, not really having the words to describe their bond well.