A/N: This takes place at 2x06. I just extended the scene where Tyler talks with Matt and Jeremy

Matt and Tyler were at Tyler's mansion, helping decorting for the Masquerade ball. Tyler used to love that party, and so did his dad. This was one of the few things they actually shared and not one of the plenty of things his father practically forced him to like. He could remember all of the times they've been helping decorating together, even when Richard was elected mayor he kept helping decorating with him even though he didn't have to, because it was a tradition to them. Even though he didn't like the balls because he always had to make a good figure, decorating has always been one of his best memories with his father. But this year he's gone, forever. And even thought this year he's decorating with his best friend, the moment he's spending is just another painful reminder of what he's lost. When he was seeing Matt at the top of the ladder, hanging the lantern, he thought his dad was supposed to be there. Though his best friend's company wasn't the worse, and he had to think about something else. So Tyler decided to start a conversation.

"So... How's it going with Caroline?"

"It's funny you're asking, I was wondering the same thing"

"Is it that complicated?"

"I can't even tell if we're still together. She's been acting so weird since the accident" Matt said as he climbed down the ladder.

"It must be some post-traumatic stress, it's normal when you have a near death experience" explains Tyler as he gave him another lantern.

"I don't know. I mean, you almost died too. And you seem to recover pretty well" Matt says climbing the ladder

"Well, finding out that my father did die kind of made me forget about almost dying" Tyler answers with a sarcastic tone

Matt stopped hanging the lantern and looked at Tyler. He remembered his best friend was going through much worse than he was, it made him feel stupid and selfish.

"Oh men, I'm sorry..."

"That's fine"

"How are you dealing with it?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Matt didn't insist and went back to his lantern. He knew that Tyler never wanted to show weakness or sensitivity. Even though not insisting made him feel helpless he knew that it was the way to behave with Tyler.

"Let's go back to you, what are you going to do with Caroline?" Tyler asks

"I don't know. I have no idea how to handle her now."

"Why don't you just drop it?"

"Because I love her Ty"

"How do you even know that?"

"You've never felt it before right?"

Tyler didn't answer while Matt came down to him for another lantern.

"I'm not even surprised" said Matt smiling

When Tyler took another lantern for Matt, he noticed Jeremy was there. Tyler knew that he hasn't been in love before, but didn't know if he was currently. He became curious about it, even if it scared the crap out of him. So he asked his best friend as he gave him the lantern.

"Enlighten me then! What's love like?"

"First of all, it's when you don't see someone as a sexual object" Matt answers while climbing the ladder

"Dude, how many times will I have to apologize for Vicky?"

"I wasn't even thinking specifically about her, you've been a douche to all of the girls you've been with"

"Because I haven't loved any of them"

"You didn't need to love them. Compassion is enough to treat a girl right"

"So what's love?"

"Why this sudden interest for love?" Matt asks climbing down the ladder.

"I'm just trying to understand how you feel" Tyler says as he handed a lantern to Matt.

Matt stayed down the ladder, keeping the lantern in his hand.

"You never asked me when Elena broke up with me"

"I didn't care that much back then, now I'm more concerned about you"

"It's not because you're falling in love and wonder if you actually are?"

"No, it's not!"

Matt didn't believe that. Considering how Tyler was about hiding his sensitivity, it was obvious he wouldn't admit being in love, especially with someone he wasn't not dating. Tyler doubted that Matt didn't believe him. It was okay though, he knew he could trust Matt. But he couldn't tell him about Jeremy, someone could overhear them or Matt could be a less good liar than Tyler is. And he wasn't ready to take the risk of ruining his reputation yet.

"Well love..." Matt started to explain "There are the basics stuffs: heart beating fast, blushing, legs shaking..."

"Those are actual stuffs? I thought these were only in books"

"No dude, that's real" Matt answers giggling

Tyler thought of when his heart was beating unusually fast everytime he had a contact with Jeremy. But he never blushed as far as he knew, and didn't have the shaking legs either. Still, he tried to look for other symptoms.

"So... stomach pains are real too?" Tyler asks thinking of all of the times he's been jealous of Jeremy.

"You've read it somewhere uh?" Matt says obviously pretending he didn't suspect Tyler being in love.

"Yeah, in a comic" Tyler answers playing the game.

"Yes, this is real too. There's also this sensation of burning inside, it makes you feel consumed and powerful at the same time. Being with her is magical, her presence is addictive, your world practically revolves around her... In short, it's the stronger feeling in the world"

"Even stronger than grief?"

"... Honestly, I don't know. You should ask Jeremy, he has known both"

The irony of this made Tyler want to laugh, but he had to pretend this was totally normal.

"Yeah, I'll ask him"

Matt climbed the ladder again to hang the other lantern. During this time Tyler tried to think of his feelings for Jeremy precisely. He was pretty much addicted to him since his father's funeral, like drugs, but in a saner way. He was the only one who could make him feel fine, he brought pauses to the constant pain he was going though. Tyler had a blind trust towards him, and he never regretted it. He thinks Jeremy is full of pras and can hardly find cons. Everything he does Tyler thinks he does it better than anyone else. When he was with Jeremy he felt comfortable and anxious at the same time, and there was also this something he couldn't put into words, was this something love?

"Can you pass me another lantern please?"

Matt's voice brought Tyler back to reality.

"Yeah, sure"

He looked under the tables and handed Matt the last lantern.

"It's the last one"

Matt took the lantern and climbed the ladder while his best friend continued the conversation.

"So... all of the stuffs you've been describing to me, that's how you feel about Caroline"

"Yeah, I just love her! But I don't know if it's reciprocated. I can't tell how she feels. Well, how she feels for me, her emotions on the other side she expresses them very well. I mean, she's this amazing girl one minute and then this raging jealous freak the next" Matt answers as he was climbing down the stairs.

"Look, you know what I think about Caroline Forbes. She's an insecure narcotic bitchy little twig"

"Hey!"

"But the girl's got heart, she means well. You just get the mean with the best sometimes"

He envied Matt, to be able to date the person he loved. Even if he was jealous he wished the best for his best friend, he wanted Matt to continue having with Caroline this thing Tyler couldn't have with Jeremy.

Matt gave it a thought and answered "Yeah. I'm gonna go get an extra. I'll be right back"

As Matt was walking away Tyler walked towards Jeremy, pretending he wasn't seeing him. He had to know what it would feel like to be around him, now that he knows what's love like, he could see if that was what he was feeling for Jeremy.

"Hey man" says his crush who noticed him

Tyler turned his face, the sight of Jeremy made him speechless. His heart started beating faster so he turned his face back immediatly so it would stop. He didn't want to do this anymore, he wanted to run away. But Jeremy already talked to him, there was no turning back. All Tyler knew he could do was saying just one word that wouldn't screw things up.

"Hey!" he answered

"Hey, so I did a little research on that stone you showed me"

Damn! He got rid of the moonstone, how could this werewolf thing be thrown into his face again? Besides, why would Jeremy actually care? The surprise made Tyler turn immediatly.

"What? Why?"

Fast heart beating again! Tyler turned his back on Jeremy again and took a discreet deep breath as the other one was talking.

"I don't know. Curiosity, boredom..."

Tyler faced Jeremy, acting natural, even though he was twice uncomfortable: on one hand he was talking to the guy he was potentially in love with and on the other hand this same guy was mentioning his family curse he didn't want to talk about. But Jeremy did researches, the least he could do was listening a bit.

"What did it say?"

The second Jeremy started talking again Tyler looked down, this situation was way too uncomfortable for him. He didn't want to look at who he liked the best talking about what he liked the less.

"Well, it turns out that it's part of this Aztec legend but I want to make sure it's the same kind of stone. You think I could er... check it out again?"

"No. I gave it to my uncle"

The news shocked Jeremy, why giving Mason the moonstone? He thought he was the only one Tyler could trust!

"Why did you do that?"

This time Tyler really faced Jeremy, he had to made it clear he never wanted him to mention it again.

"Because I'm done with legends and curses. I don't want anything to do with it, okay?"

Jeremy got troubled: he could neither get the moonstone neither talk about werewolves with Tyler again! Their relationship suddently lost half of its interest, but he tried to pretend it didn't matter.

"Yeah, yeah sure. It's probably… Just, uh, stupid folklore anyways. Forget it."

"Okay"

During the silence Jeremy looked for something else to talk about while Tyler was trying to figure out his feelings. All that he knew right now was that he was feeling uncomfortable, but being with Jeremy was still enjoyable. Even if it was a small talk with one of his least favorite subjects of conversations he liked being with Jeremy. The latter broke the silence

"Hey, do you still have my werewolves scratches? I couldn't find them when you gave me my backpack back" Jeremy asks

"Oh yeah sure. They're in my bedroom. Come with me, I'll give them back"

Tyler started walking away followed by Jeremy.

"Great thanks"

Tyler kept talking as they were walking though the living room.

"I hope you don't mind, I was just thinking about the curse and it made me want to see the drawings. Then I forgot to put them back in your bag"

"No problem man, I get it"

Everytime Tyler hears "I get it" from Jeremy he feels like the other one is entering his soul, like he was actually understanding everything he did and felt. That made Tyler feel overwhelmed, that was probably why he had this blind trust towards him.

When they arrived to Tyler's bedroom he opened a drawer and looked for Jeremy's notebook.

"They're with my other drawings, I'll get them"

"Your other drawings? Can I see some of them?"

Tyler freaked out a bit. He was afraid Jeremy would see the ones of him. But he quickly took others from his drawer and closed it.

"Yeah sure. Here"

Tyler gave a few papers and the notebook to Jeremy then leant against the wall, crossing his arms, while his crush sat on his bed.

"Thanks" Jeremy briefly looked through the drawings and looked back at Tyler "These are the same you showed me when we worked on the Willow Creek project together, you didn't draw since?"

"Like I said, not much. Nothing I finished at least"

"Can I still see an unfinished one?"

"It wouldn't interest you"

"I'm always interested"

Tyler thought for a few seconds and answered.

"Okay, just because it's you"

To Jeremy's surprise, he walked away from his drawer and looked in his bin.

"Wow, you must have really hated it"

After digging Tyler gave Jeremy a ball of paper.

"This was a one-shot that I drew under... emotions"

Song: Never Say Never by The Fray or I'm With You by Avril Lavigne

Jeremy unfolded it and saw a drawing of a stumbling boy on a floating rock, around him there were human bodies attached to the wall with knifes, one of the bodies were unfinished, the boy's eyes and eyebrows haven't been drawn and the entire scratch is crossed out.

"Well, this is... different from what I saw before"

"Because of what I drew or how I drew?"

"It's not as great as what I've seen before, but it's not that bad for a one-shot."

Jeremy looked at Tyler, he saw that he needed to talk about what he drew. So he looked back at the drawing and kept talking.

"You don't usually draw dark stuffs either, that's more my type. You're more into drawing athletes, cities and superheroes"

Jeremy starred at the scratch and put his hand on the boy, then the bodies. He could relate to this feeling of seeing everyone he knows dying, but didn't get what the floating rock meant. After giving it a thought he understood it was linked to the knowledge of the supernatural world, having a reality completly changed. Jeremy didn't feel that way about it, to him it gave a purpose in his life, while it made Tyler feel lost. Jeremy looked back at his friend and saw how much he could use one.

"Is this how you're feeling?" he asks full of compassion

"Alone, lost and confused?" Tyler uncrossed his arms and started walking around the room "Pretty much: people die on me, stuffs I stopped believing in since I was 6 turned out to be real and involving my family... " then he sat on the chair on his desk, facing Jeremy "I thought drawing would help me evacuating but it didn't work. Did you try it when your parents died?"

"To the contrary, it made me drop it. You and I didn't really grief the same way: you tried to give a precise idea of your emotions, while I tried to forget mines by getting high"

"We're not that different, I tried to drawn my emotions by getting drunk remember? Moreover, the drawing thing didn't work with me. I'm more into turning all my bad emotions into hate"

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Tyler didn't realised how much he was opening himself until Jeremy asked him this. He was just so comfortable with him he could tell him everything ,but his feelings. First he thought he went too far, but confiding in his crush felt so good he decided to continue anyway.

"Because you seems to be the ony one who can understand how I feel." Tyler stood up and walked toward his bed "We may not be the same persons but we've been through the same" then he sat on his bed next to Jeremy "Plus you're understanding, when you found out what type of person my father was you were ready to forgive me for everything I've put you through. When you came to me that night I was... sad. And I converted it into anger, that's why I punched you. And I'm sorry for that"

It was so weird for Jeremy to see Tyler that way. It wasn't the first time he felt this close friendship, but he always thought Tyler turned into a better person since the funerals. He just understood the guy has always been that way. This made Jeremy realising that Tyler has hidden his true self for a long time, that the guy he used to hate actually had this person he now likes so much on the inside.

"It's okay" Jeremy answers. He was still confused though. Why did Tyler hide it? Why hiding such a nice personnality?

"No, it's not. But I won't do it anymore, if I have to be sad around you, I will be sad around you."

And if I fell attraction for you, I will fight harder to restrain it Tyler thought.

Jeremy didn't know what to answer, he was just thinking about what his friend was going through. As Tyler was looking at him, he saw the broken boy he used to bully again. Even though he seemed to feel better, he realised this kind of pain could never completly go away. And thought about what he put Jeremy through when he lost his parents.

"I'm not only sorry for that, I'm sorry about everything" A mix of rage and sadness started to invade Tyler, he got so ashamed he couldn't continue looking at Jeremy "God! If I had known what you were going through, I wouldn't have been so awful to you! I would've help you through this... Who am I kidding? I was a real douchebag back then, but still, I would have left you alone instead of dragging you even downer."

"Tyler, are you okay?"

Tyler started to calm a bit when he heard Jeremy's voice, so he looked at him again. But even if the sight of Jeremy was pleasing and relaxing Tyler was still feeling awfully bad.

"No, I'm not! And I'm sick of pretending I've got my life all together while everything is falling apart! People are keep trying to comfort me by honoring my dad, but it only reminds me of what I lost!"

"Ty, I'm so sorry..."

Jeremy is about to put his arm around Tyler's shoulder to give him a hug but the latter stops him.

"Whoah, what are you doing?"

"I just wanted to give you a hug"

"No homo"

Crap, why did he say that? Jeremy had doubts and homophobia is now known to be the gayiest thing! But Jeremy wasn't thinking of Tyler's potential attraction, but about the fact that the douchebag he used to hate came back to the surface again and totally ruined the moment.

"What? Is it gay to hug a guy who grieves his dad?" Jeremy asks pissed "Whatever, I gotta go" he says while getting up

As Jeremy was starting to walk away Tyler felt like an idiot. Why did he do that? He had to stop pushing Jeremy away everytime he was afraid to feel something!

"Wait!"

Jeremy stopped and turned to Tyler. The latter walked towards his crush and gave him a hug. Jeremy was surprised at first but then hugged back. It felt good, Jeremy felt a connexion with Tyler, like he finally learned to know who he actually was, what kind of person was hiding behind the dick who slept with Vicky. And it was a great person, a person who was more than the owner of the moonstone, a person that he wouldn't use for Damon's purpose anymore, a person different from him on the outside but so alike on the inside. Inside that he seemed to be the only one to know about, which made Jeremy feel exclusive. It felt even better for Tyler. He was letting himself go, squeezed very hard and even clenched his fists into Jeremy's skin. It felt like he was exploding from inside, like he was loose but strong at the same time. He faced what he was afraid to feel for so long. And that was the best thing he has ever felt.

It was love. Tyler knows this now. He was in love with Jeremy, and finally learned to accept this truth.

A/N: Damn, I must have watched the scene between Tyler and Jeremy dizains of times to make this as close as this was in the show and catch any potential sign of attraction in Tyler. But that was totally worth it! Please review :)