First of all I need to thank everybody who reviewed the first chapter. You guys are amazing and I extremely appreciate it. The second thing is a little announcement. I was brainstorming for ideas and while doing that, I realized that all my ideas were somehow linked. These are still one-shots and you can read them all seperately, but please keep in mind that they take place in one and the same universe. I will just jump in time with each chapter. "Cool" takes place 17 years after "The Flowers". Please enjoy!


"Cool"

by Gwen Stefani

I can't believe how much time has passed. Two years and I'm finally driving back to Mystic Falls. Sure, I could have visited my aunt Jenna sooner, but it's not like I haven't seen her all this time. After all she and Elena, who also goes to college, came visiting me quite often. Nevertheless my aunt insisted on having us all back home for Christmas and I couldn't possibly say no, considering all the things she did for us. I roll my eyes, I really hate the holidays. The reason I didn't want to go home was a different one, though. Just to think of him hurts: Tyler fucking Lockwood. The jock, the playboy, Jeremy Gilbert's ex-boyfriend. MY ex-boyfriend. Maybe I can manage not to run into him the next few days, but I'm never lucky with these things. Anyway, it's not like we hate each other, I just haven't seen or talked to him in a very long time and I'm not sure how to even behave around him, especially since I was the one who broke up with him.

After 6 hours driving, I finally arrive at home. It feels better than I thought it would. I guess I really missed being with my family. Jenna and Elena are baking in the kitchen, when the telephone rings. I pick it up and almost suffer a stroke when I hear a very familiar voice. It's Tyler.

"Oh, hey Jeremy, I didn't know that you are at your aunt's. Do you mind passing the telephone to her?"

I gulp. "Y-yeah, sure."

I'm going to the kitchen, when he suddenly says something else: "Jer, it would be cool to see you again!"

Tyler Lockwood, you don't get to 'jer' me. I don't answer, though and give the telephone straight to Jenna. Why the hell does my ex-boyfriend talk to my aunt? And why is she laughing so much?

"Yeah, I think that's a wonderful idea!" She says. "I bring the cake and some wine. See you later!"

I stand in the door and look at Jenna questioningly. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, didn't he tell you? He invited us all for dinner with him and his fiancé." Jenna answers.

Holy sweet hell. Fiancé? Tyler Lockwood wants to get married?

"I hope that's okay for you.. I mean... should I have refused the invitation? I can still call him and...-" She says, but I interrupt her.

"No, let's go there. It's okay."

Maybe it isn't such a good idea to go to that stupid dinner after all. He has a fiancé for God's sake. I don't know if I can cope with that. But cope with what exactly? You don't love him any more, Jeremy. Remember that! I know what I need: a cold shower. And what do I wear? A sweater? No, too casual. Tyler doesn't do casual. The blue shirt, yeah, Tyler always liked blue on me. Jesus Christ, I really need to calm down. Suddenly Elena comes into the room.

"Are you ready, Jeremy? We are waiting for you downstairs."

The blue shirt it is.

Here I am. Standing in front of Tyler Lockwood's door waiting for somebody to open it. With me are Jenna, Elena and of course Stefan, because my sister wouldn't leave her precious boyfriend alone at home. Finally, the door opens and I expect to see Tyler, but get to see a rather pretty blond woman instead.

"Hi, you must be the Gilberts. I am Kate, Tyler's fiancé. Come on in, it's freezing cold outside!" A woman... I don't know why I excpected someone else, I know that Tyler is bisexual, but it's strange for me anyway. We enter the house and I notice that everything is exactly the same. I thought that he would have changed something, especially after the death of his father, but Tyler was always a bit lazy.

"Where is Tyler?" Elena asks Kate, who doesn't get to answer the question, because there he is. Tyler Lockwood is standing in front of us with his typical smirk in his face. Finally, Jenna breaks the silence.

"Thank you so much for the invitation!" She says and gives him a hug. Now everybody starts to take their jackets off and welcome each other. It's my turn, don't fuck this up, Jeremy!

"Hey... I haven't seen you in ages." I say and raise my hand.

"A hand shake, Jeremy? Seriously?" Tyler laughs and pulls me into an embrace. "Good to see you, man!"

The unexpected touch is... unexpected. I ignore the chills going down my spine and follow the rest into the dining room. It smells really good in there. Since when can Tyler cook? As if he could read my mind, he says: "That is all Kate's work. She is the most amazing cook. You are going to love it!"

I slightly roll my eyes, but he is right. The food is delicious and I even complement her for that.

"Kate, your sauce is perfect!" I say and ignore Tyler's smiling face starring at me.

"Oh thank you, dear!" She seems to be surprised. Now I wonder if Tyler told her about us and that's why she was expecting me to hate her. I shake off that thought and concentrate on eating. Suddenly Elena raises her voice: "So Tyler, how did you two meet? I would have never thought that you'd be the first of us to actually get married!" Oh God, sister! Why are you doing this to me? I, however, keep a straight face and await his reaction.

"I hate to say this, but it was my mother who introduced us and one thing led to the other and now we are engaged." He says and puts his hand on Kate's.

He seems happy. Fuck, he is happy and I should be happy for him and believe it or not, but I indeed am. Don't get me wrong. Of course it hurts seeing a person that you once were intimate with with someone else, but I guess we had our chance. I will have to move on. He sure did.

"Can you excuse me for a minute? I need to go to the bathroom." I say and stand up. I lied. The truth is I need to be alone for a minute and think about this. My legs take me to the library. It was always my favourite place in the house. There I sit on a couch and close my eyes for a few seconds. I'm happy for Tyler. There, I said it again. After all this time I never really tried to forget him. Although it was me who chose to end the relationship, I never let him go entirely. My heart has always belonged to him. This has to end. Suddenly the door opens and someone comes in. It's him.

"Hey..." Tyler says.

"S-sorry, I just needed to be alone for a few minutes. We can go back to the others." I explain quickly and stand up.

He just shakes his head. "No, it's okay. I wanted to talk to you anyway."

I nod and sit down again.

"Jer, I need you to know that I forgive you and I forgive myself. Everything that happened... it's over and I get it now. I want to be your friend!"

Tyler Lockwood, a friend. This sounds weird, but I nod again.

"So, college huh?" He says. "What classes do you take?"

A little bit surprised by the sudden change of topic I meet him with disbelief. "Uh... mostly art and literature..."

He smiles. "You were always the artist... but it's good. It suits you and you know that I really admire your drawings."

"Do you still draw?" I ask him. I really loved his drawings, too.

"Nah, I gave it up when you left. I guess I lost my inspiration when I lost you."

This leads to a sudden rush of silence.

After a few awkward seconds he starts to talk again. "I'm sorry, that sounded really bad. Maybe we should go back to the dining room. Jenna is serving her cake."

"I like to stay here for a moment, if you don't mind."

He nods and opens the door in order to go, but then he turns around and asks: "Are we cool, Jer?"

It's strange how a little question can trigger a million different emotions. All I want to do is to tell him that I miss him and that I need him. I want to say that I like to take everything back. All the mean things I said to him. The break-up. The rejection. The goodbye. I want to say a million things, but all I do say is: "Yeah Ty, we are cool."