bakerstreet | seven minutes in heaven

You know, I don't think I've had to play this game since sometime in middle school. [But clearly someone at Beacon Hills thought this a good way to spice up a high school party.]

Really?

[ This may not have been Lydia's party, but it might have been her idea - oh so subtly whispered in the ear of the host, and this had definitely been her plan. Though she hadn't realized that Suzan Barrelshore would be such a hardass and literally stand outside the door to insure that there was kissing; she'd just intended to use this moment to chat him up, be friendly, a little flirty, but mostly friendly. And now it was just kind of... ]

[ Awkward. ]

We didn't play this much in middle school. We only really had one middle school, so everyone knew everyone. We all just got over the awkwardness by high school, I guess.

[Just a little. Then again, most of the other times Tyler played this game he had been fairly drunk and not that interested in doing anything but kissing (or more) -- he's not really proud of the guy he was back then, but it is what it is.]

We had one middle school too -- but I guess we didn't care. Or we broke into my mom's liquor cabinet ahead of time, usually.

[Tyler had been one of those kids who experimented with drinking and sex pretty early on. Always pushing things too far.]

Really? You all got drunk in middle school? [ Though, really, that's not all that unbelievable.

Jackson had been the type to break into his parents hard liquor from time to time. He said he did it often, but Lydia got the distinct impression that he mostly did it when she was over to impress her. Her own mother left her bottles of wine in the fridge and paid no real mind if a swig or two was gone, so it wasn't as if Lydia had lived a dry life. She just most often preferred to have her wits about her and disliked that — as she knew exactly what alcohol could do to the underdeveloped brain and organs — she could practically feel her body disintegrating every time she got drunk.

Hangovers sucked, too, and if she was not academically stupid afterwards, the pounding headaches reminded her that she was at leaat adolescently moronic. ]

Please tell me you're at least talking eighth grade, right? And not sixth. I can't really imagine a sixth grader partying that hard.

Eighth grade, I promise.

[Though the first time might have been in seventh, he isn't positive.

Things at home were never great, and Tyler turned the partying and rebelling pretty early on. Partly because it just pissed off his dad and partly because he just enjoyed losing control sometimes. Consequence -- how it might effect him long term -- he hadn't cared much about those things.

Needless to say he's cleaned up quite a bit in the past year or so.]

Okay, if you promise.

[ She gives him a piercing look, as if surveying for any potential lie here before nodding sharply like they've they signed a deal.

They're surrounded by puffy jackets and shoes, which Lydia unceremoniously kicks aside to make room for herself before sitting down. She slides down the wall and draws her knees up to her chest, because even if they're stuck in here, they can be stuck in here casually and make it not awkward. ]

Do you think if we yell loud enough they'll bring us wine coolers?

[Tyler stays standing, at least for now. Okay, so maybe he's not so good at being relaxed anymore, but he'll still try to keep the awkward to a minimum.

At the next part, he makes a face.]

Why would we want them to? [Sorry, he's more of a beer and hard liquor sort of guy.]

I like wine coolers, [ she complains with a pout, and furrows her brow at him like he has deeply insulted on a personal level. ]

I can't imagine why. [Sorry Lydia but they are a wimpy, girly alcohol choice. Not one Tyler would make for himself.]

[ Well, she's a girl, so huff huff. And a light buzz is better suited to her wit and moronic facade. Who knows, if she gets well and truly sloshed, she might start reciting pi to the hundredth decimal and be mocked for being a nerd. ]

What about vodka and cranberry juice?

That's better, at least. [But really, Tyler is the glassy guy who just drinks the vodka from the bottle most of the time. Why bother with mixers?]

You're picky.

[ Lydia huffs once more, before shifting over and patting the carpet next to her. There's an offending shoe in the way, which she shoves elsewhere, and gives him a wide smile despite the darkness. ]

Here. Sit with me.

Not really. I mean, I used to drink about anything, even if I didn't like it.

[That sounds classy, doesn't it? But he will finally go over and sit down next to her.]

Do you do that a lot? [ She pesters lightly, holding her knees to her chest and peering at him. There's a goodnatured smile dancing around her lips that slips off her features slowly as the tone shifts and their conversation turns a little more serious. ]

Things you don't like, I mean. Like, I didn't totally drag you here against your will, did I?

I may do things I don't like. [He did a lot of that with Caroline, certainly.] But I never do things I don't want to, okay?

[So if part of him hadn't wanted to come to this party than he wouldn't be there.]

Okay, [ she drawls warily, fiddling with the bracelets on her wrist. Lydia's quiet for a second, pondering her next approach, but eventually the words bubble over her lips like a miniature waterfall. ]

But does that include coming into this closet with me? Because we don't actually have to make out. We can just be quiet for a while and pretend we did.

It's a little awkward. [He pauses for a moment, unsure of what to say.]

Not that you're not a nice girl, I like talking to you -- but I'm not exactly over my exgirlfriend.

[And he isn't going to use someone else to "help" with that either. He's not that sort of guy anymore.]

Ooooh, [ she intones. A majority of her concern is false. She doesn't really know this boy - is interested, but not overly invested, and doesn't know him enough to show sincere sympathy. But on a level, she gets it, because - ]

I get it. My boyfriend just kind of up and split town at the beginning of summer, so I guess he's my ex now, too. [ Birds of a feather apparently flock together in coat closets. Lydia nods dryly. ] What about you? Was it a nasty breakup?

It wasn't pretty. [He can still hear Caroline's words sometimes, if he focuses on it enough. Tell me you'll forget about me. Tell me you'll live a full and happy life without me.

It's what he's trying to do, be happy without her. Still live some semblance of a life, which is sort of how he ended up at this party and in this closet.]

There were a lot of complications we didn't expect. [And most of them start with a capitol K.]

Oh, that sounds like it has a story behind it, [ She prompts gently. Lydia's not above prying, or trying to do it subtly when she wants to learn something about someone. She starts gentle, with leading questions and perhaps a few stories of her own, but has been known to wheedle quite intensely — to the point of blackmail — when she wants something badly enough. Let's not get to that point. ]

Edited (screams at html) 2013-04-02 01:57 (UTC)

You wouldn't believe even half of it. [No seriously, life in Mystic Falls sounds really crazy if you didn't live through it -- or even if you did.

It's just a mess.

But he'll try to make it more simple.]

There was another guy involved -- and he and I were on bad terms even before he got a thing for her.

[Not that he left because of Klaus' feelings for Caroline -- but Tyler knows that's the reason why he got to leave with his life at all. Not that said feelings hadn't kept Klaus from almost killing her the day before.

Which is the real reason Tyler left -- he couldn't keep making her a target for Klaus. His own life -- well that doesn't mean quite as much.]

Oh, that sounds messy. [ She blanches sympathetically, nods gently and reaches over to pat his shoulder. Even without supernatural undertones — sire bonds, werewolves, vampires, whatever you get when you mix them — that's a complex and unfortunate turn of events. Not really crazy, though, not with all the omissions to the story, but that's okay because Lydia isn't really that interested.

Well, she's as interested as a friend should be, because she likes to think she's his friend. But as she's already parading him in front of her friends like he's going to be her next fling, she's no incredibly interested hearing about his ex-girlfriend. ]

So, did she pick him over you? Was that it?

You don't know the half of it.

[There's a lot of details being left out. Sirebonds, near death experiences, body possessions, a rebellion that was planned and failed -- it's all very complicated and not something he can talk about without doing a lot of other explanations.]

No. But if I stayed around, he would have hurt her.

[ One day there will be a really awkward conversation and realize things aren't so terribly difficult or inexplicable as they think.

But today, they're due for a very awkward, very complex conversation. ]

You left...because he was going to hurt her? [ Wow, her eyes are narrowing and voice pitching towards accusatory. ] And what did you think he was going to do to her when you weren't around? Manipulative and abusive people don't exactly stop being manipulative and abusive when they get their way.

I get that, believe me, I do. [He worries about it constantly --there's a reason why he gave Matt his house and it wasn't just because his best friend deserved someplace nice to live -- it could be a sanctuary to protect him and Caroline.]

But he was only hurting her to get at me. I'm not saying she's not in danger, but it'd be worse if I was there. [He tells himself that. But he can't say he's proud of leaving Caroline to deal with Klaus.

What other options had there been?]

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