A/N: Wow, I finished this chapter really fast! Even if it's one of the most importants I was really inspired. This chapter is pretty special because it's the last one that I will consider as a deleted scene. From the next chapter this is actually gonna happen in an alternate universe where I change the original storyline. Enjoy it!

Tyler spent the entire lunchtime thinking about Jeremy, worrying about losing the friendship of the one he loves. He wasn't paying attention to what was happening around him, except for the food he was eating. He didn't care about what his friends were talking about.

But one of them had to cut him out of his thoughts "What about you Tyler?"

"What?" Tyler raised his head, confused.

"I bet he wasn't even listening" Another one of them says "Of all our teachers, who do you think has the funniest accent?"

Tyler didn't want to think about it, he didn't give a crap about his teachers for the moment. Matt started worrying about him.

"Tyler, are you okay? You've been pretty absent since we started eating"

"I'm fine, it's just..." Tyler looked at his lunch, saw green beans and answered "My father used to love green beans"

He didn't really like using his dead father as an excuse, but this was the best thing he could find at the moment. Though he didn't choose green beans for nothing. They did remind him of his father, but not for the same reasons. Like every kids, he used to hate vegetables when he was 10. He could remember how his mother insisted on making him eat green beans. One day she asked her husband for help: he first tried to intimidate Tyler with his father voice, but it didn't work. So the next thing he did was punching his son on the rib, after that the little boy held his chest and screamed of pain. When he opened his mouth Richard put a fork of beans in it. Tyler got grossed out by the taste, but he was too afraid to spit. So he ate his green beans, in fear and pain, restraining himself to cry, afraid it would make it worse. His mother was shocked when she assisted this but then, whenever she wanted to make him eat something she would say "You eat this or your father will make you" and it worked everytime.

Tyler wondered how other parents made their child eating something. He thought they probably all used better methods. Then he thought about Matt, his mother may didn't make him eat anything and fed him with whatever was left in their house. Maybe Matt or Vicki were even the one who did the groceries. After all that could be worse than Tyler's father, even if he's been harsh on him at least it showed he cared about him. Tyler never realised that before, even if Matt used to tell him he was lucky to have parents who actually take care of him.

Then he thought about the day his father died, something dangerous was happening and he knew it. The first thing he did was to tell his son to leave town, but he stayed and died. He put his son's life before his. He even stayed to protect everyone in Mystic Falls. He always thought of his father like the bad guy, but he was actually a hero. And it took him to die for Tyler to realise it!

Matt saw how bad Tyler was feeling. He wanted to comfort him but he knew Tyler wouldn't like that to happen in public. Besides even if he could he wouldn't know what to say. He knew what it was like not to have a father, but didn't know what it was like to lose one. He has still already tried the missing father card but he saw it wasn't enough to comfort Tyler. He hated being that helpless. He wished Jeremy was there to help him. Matt really hoped Jeremy wasn't avoiding Tyler. He saw that Elena's brother was the only one who could make Tyler actually happy, he saw how much he needed him to make through his father's loss.

The rest of his friends on the other hand, tried to ignore Tyler's bad mood. They were feeling uncomfortable around him, especially during these moments of absence. This day it was even worse. Even if Tyler managed not to show his sadness too much, he was obviously distracted and less entertaining. During the rest of the day, less and less people were around him, not seeing the interest of his company anymore. At the end of the day, when he left school, Matt was the only one who stayed by his side. Even if Tyler was mainly thinking about his father, his crush and his uncle, he could still notice this major decrease of popularity. He didn't care that much, the only friend loss he actually cared about was Jeremy's. Though he couldn't help but asking his best friend about the other ones.

"They don't like me anymore, don't they?"

The question made Matt uncomfortable, but he answered anyway.

"No! It's just... They miss the old you"

"I don't"

"Really? Do you like the sad, distracted you?"

"At least I'm not a dick anymore"

Matt was surprised to hear that. He thought Tyler stopped hitting other people because he was too busy grieving, not because he didn't want to anymore.

"Still, I don't like seeing you suffering"

Tyler really appreciated Matt's concern, but he wished Jeremy was there instead. He was better at comforting him about his father, but it wasn't only that. He also wanted to talk about his uncle leaving and how worried it made him be about the werewolf curse. Moreover, Jeremy's presence was enough to make Tyler feeling better, there was something warm and conforting about it. And Matt couldn't make him feel the same.

But Jeremy was avoiding him. Tyler didn't know if this would last, but he had to accept some help wherever he could get some. And even if Matt couldn't make Tyler feel this rush of adrenaline he could have when Jeremy was around, he could still do him some good in another way. He was his best friend since they were kids, there was something secure and familiar about him. He had to open himself to him. Besides, there was something he has never told to anyone, not even to Jeremy, that only Matt could have a chance to understand.

"Are you going to start the car?" Matt asks

Tyler didn't even noticed they entered his car. Though this arranged him that they were in a private space. He didn't start the car, thinking it was the right moment to confide in his best friend.

"Look, I'm gonna tell you about my dad"

"Really?" Matt reacted, happily surprised that Tyler finally decided to open himself.

"Yeah. And before you judge me, remember you kicked your own mother out"

"Why?"

"Because you know what it's like to have an unbearable parent. But first of all, I want you to know that I miss him anyway. I feel lost, empty... Actually, not completly empty, but like half empty. And that this half of me that's gone... was the bad part of me."

"So you think losing your dad made you a better person or something?"

Tyler was looking in front of him. He couldn't say this by looking at someone, saying it out loud was already hard enough.

"Pretty much, he used to put so much pressure on me. He was keep trying to turn me into someone he wanted me to be, and never gave a crap about what I wanted. Now ever since he's gone I miss him but I also feel relieved. I feel like I can be who I want now. It feels good, and I hate myself for that. I hate that a part of me is happy that my father is dead."

When he finished Tyler looked at Matt to see his reaction. He didn't seem shocked, but Tyler needed to justify himself anyway.

"What if your mother died? Wouldn't you feel the same? Wouldn't you feel all of the pressure going away?"

"I don't want to think about that"

"That's my problem Matt, I have to. And I really feel like a bad person"

"So turning into a good person makes you feel like a bad person?"

Tyler liked the way Matt phrased that. It made him feel less bad about himself. But he was forgetting how he was becoming a good person. Then he remembered who reminded him how much he changed. Jeremy Gilbert. He thought about their relationship before and after his father's death. Before he was a dick who would bully him because he couldn't accept his feelings for him, he dated Matt's sister to keep her away from him and made both of them suffer. After he decided to accept his feelings for Jeremy, he became his friend and tried to share the cool things in his life with him: his parents' alcohol, popularity... But it wasn't only his father's loss that made him a better person, it was also Jeremy. Tyler didn't love him for nothing: Jeremy was sweet, caring, strong... He was a real source of inspiration.

Song: Unwanted by Avril Lavigne

Tyler's thoughts got interrupted by the sight of Jeremy who was leaving the school. His mind told him to stay in the car and let him go, but his body did the opposite. Tyler got out of the car, leaving his best friend alone and confused. He couldn't let Jeremy avoid him like this. He became too important, Tyler had to try getting him back. He knew he was going to do a big mistake, but he had nothing left to lose.

Before Jeremy saw Tyler coming towards him he had his headphones on and was going to put on his music. When he saw his ex-friend he didn't have time to pick a song, he immediatly put his phone back in his pocket and walked away from Tyler, hoping he would give him up because of the headphones.

"Jeremy!"

Jeremy didn't react and kept walking away. Tyler ran toward him and grabbed his arm.

"Hey!"

"What the hell Tyler? Let go off my arm!"

Angry, Jeremy tried to get his arm away from Tyler's hand. The latter let it go, hoping his crush wouldn't take this as an opportunity to walk away.

"Sorry for that. Since you couldn't hear me or see me I thought you could still feel me" Tyler says with a sarcastic tone.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with YOU? You've been avoiding me all day! I think that if someone else I care about is gonna get out of my life at least I deserve to know why!"

Jeremy didn't believe what he just heard. Did Tyler just say he cared about him? Did he just compare losing him to losing another relative? Jeremy calmed down, thinking that maybe avoiding Tyler wasn't a good idea.

"I didn't know I meant that much to you"

Jeremy's tone calmed Tyler as well. He wished he could tell him how he was actually feeling, but it was too risky. What if it was the reason Jeremy was avoided him? Tyler preferred to limit himself telling Jeremy he was an important friend.

"My father's dead and my uncle's in Florida. I couldn't take it if I also had to lose a friend"

Jeremy's mind changed the second he heard "my uncle". He wasn't in Florida, he was buried six feet under in the woods!

"Your uncle is back to Florida?" Jeremy asks, pretending to be surprised.

Damn! He was playing surprised bad! Besides, was he even supposed to care that his uncle went back home? Was he even supposed to know his uncle was living in Florida? Maybe he was supposed to believe he went there for vacations. He couldn't pretend he didn't know, he especially didn't want to! Tyler could see Jeremy was uncomfortable, but he wasn't suspicious, he was concerned.

"Are you okay? You seem uncomfortable"

"Yeah, I just... gotta go"

Jeremy fastly walked away. Tyler got angry again, followed Jeremy and grabbed his wrist harder than the first time.

"Hey! I didn't get my explanation!"

"Dude, let me go!"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"You're hurting me!"

"I'll let go off your wrist if you don't walk away again!"

"Fine!"

Tyler let go off Jeremy wrist and asked his question again.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"Why can't you let me go? You already have Matt as a good friend"

The two questions left the two boys uncomfortable, since the two answers were what they absolutely wanted to hide from each other. Tyler answered first.

"Because... I need you. You're the only one I can share my two main problems with. You know what it's like to lose a father and the only one who knows about the werewolfes"

"Does it matter? You don't want anything to do with it anyway"

"Still, you're now the only one who can get me through my grief. You know what it's like to lose a father"

Jeremy thought about the time he was grieving his parents. It reminded him their relationship back then, when they were enemies. Tyler has been a real dick to him, but even if Jeremy forgave him he thought of it as a good excuse for avoiding him, so he used it.

"Yeah, I know what it's like to lose a father. And I don't remember you being helpful in my grief!"

"I know, and I'm sorry! You have no idea how ashamed I am for that!"

"Well, maybe I will have an idea if I leave you alone. Then I could find someone you love and take that person away from you, make fun of your alcohol problems, and everytime I see you never miss any opportunity to insult you or hit you!"

Wow, Jeremy really went far, he didn't know he still had this anger towards old Tyler inside him. A year ago he would have dreamed of something like this to happen. But he knew that Tyler didn't deserve that anymore. It made him feel even worse when he saw how bad Tyler was feeling after he said that. It felt like their roles were reversed, now Tyler was the one grieving, starting to get addicted to drugs and losing his friends, and Jeremy felt like he was turning into the bully. He wouldn't spend his time harrasing Tyler though, but he needed to say one more thing hurtful. So that Tyler could hate him and stop trying to hang out with him.

"By the way, where are your friends? Looks like you're having my old life back. Good luck in turning into someone you used to harass"

Tyler remained speechless by everything. So many things were going on in his head: shame, heartbreak, grief... Jeremy didn't manage to make Tyler hate him, but Tyler had his answer. He was going to leave his former friend alone once and for all. As Tyler watched Jeremy walking away he felt like a part of him was consuming. When his crush totally disappeared from his sight it digged a huge hole in his heart, widening the one he already had since his father died. Then Tyler noticed a few people were watching their scene. He wanted them to stop looking at him, so he went quickly to his car. When he finally reached the vehicle he saw Matt and remembered he was supposed to drive him home. So he sat on the driver's seat and apologized.

"Sorry I made you wait" he said as he was starting the car.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine"

"It was kind of a scene over there"

"I said I'm fine!" Tyler starts yelling.

Matt didn't insist and let Tyler drive him home without a word. When his friend finally left his car Tyler drove to the woods. He couldn't keep it all inside, and talking about it wasn't the solution. He felt like he was burning inside. The feeling was unbearable, it was the second worst thing he has ever felt in his life. And the first one happened not even a month ago! How could everything in his life fall apart? How could this go worse? Who else was he going to lose? His mother? Matt? It didn't even matter, because all of his hope for happiness rested on one person, and he just lost him! One of the things Jeremy said came back in Tyler's mind "I could find someone you love and take that person away from you" If he knew he just did it by walking away... Now Tyler could exactly know how Jeremy was feeling when he took Vicki away from him. Tyler was feeling so shitty, how could have he been so cruel to his crush? Moreover just after his parents's death? How could he have stolen Jeremy the only thing, the only person who was able to give a sense to his life?

When Tyler finally reached the woods he was tempted into crashing his car into a tree, but he knew how supid it was. So he stopped next to this tree, got off the car, took his jack from it and hit the tree with it using all of his strengh. As he was evacuating his rage his whole story with Jeremy was playing in his head, when they met as kids, when they started befriending at the beginning of their teenagehood, when they became enemies in high school, how they became close friends after, and how everything crashed in a day. When Tyler used all of his energy he stopped to catch his breath and looked at the tree. It was really damaged, but not cut in half. Tyler was still impressed of what he did. After he got a little of his energy back he went back to his car. Inside it he saw himself in the rearview mirror and noticed his eyes were wet. So he dried them and drove back home, pretending nothing happened. He still felt like he was over, empty. He didn't want to get through his life anymore but he knew he had to, for his mother's sake.

Jeremy was in his bedroom, laying on his bed. He felt really shitty for what he said to Tyler, but he couldn't have told him the truth, that would have been worse. Even if the guy had been a real dick to him when he lost his parents, he knew he has changed. Jeremy realised Tyler started being a different person the night he found out Vicky had died. He replayed that moment in his head.

Just after he heard the news from Sheriff Forbes Jeremy went outside, just behind the Grill. He rest his back on the wall, then sat, practically falling and started crying. As he was sobbing he saw a pair of legs walking and stopping just in front of him.

"You okay?"

The boy raised his head and saw Tyler Lockwood, why was he here? Since when did he give a shit about him? All Jeremy found to do was drying his tears with his sleeve. He didn't know what to say, so his ex-bully continued talking.

"That was a stupid question"

Then he got down on his knees and looked at the broken boy in the eyes.

"I just called Matt, everyone is going at his place. Do you want a ride there?"

"I'd rather stay here"

"That wasn't really a question, I'm not letting you here by yourself. We don't know how Vicki died yet, but if it's another animal attack I don't want to have your death on my hands"

The way Tyler was talking was very calm, it made Jeremy feel peaceful. Not that he was feeling better, but he felt like he could stop crying as he was hearing the sound of his voice. He felt the compassion in it.

"Alright, thanks"

"Come on, my car's right here"

Tyler got up and reached his car, followed by the younger boy. They didn't talk the first minutes of the ride. It wasn't an awkward silence but Tyler broke it anyway.

"I have no idea how you feel like. I know I'm supposed to say that I know how you feel like, but I'm not going to lie. I didn't love her like you did. I'm sad she died sure, but I'm not really grieving her. I'm especially feeling sorry for the people who lost her: Matt, you... The first time you had to grief, I was really shitty to you, but I won't be that way this time. So if you need anything, like talking, or help... You can ask me. Anytime"

Jeremy didn't say a word, he was wondering if he could trust him. He knew the guy was sinceer sure: Tyler was brutal, not sneaky. But Jeremy didn't really need anything from Tyler, he didn't feel like opening himself to him. The only person that could have a chance to make him feel better was Anna. He was still reassured that he lost an enemy though.

When everyone was at Matt's place it was pretty quiet. Silence and feelings were surrounding the room, a part of Jeremy wanted to be alone and break down but another part was feeling comforted by the presence of the others. He looked at the one who brought him here, thinking it wasn't such a bad idea after all. He knew he made peace with him, but could they really start being friends? Tyler looked at him back, so Jeremy looked down again, he didn't really want to communicate in any way.

That was the night when Jeremy stopped hating Tyler. Even though the guy couldn't really help him, he saw that he cared. He let the other guy in his life: they first had small talks, then they worked together for the Mystic Falls parade. Jeremy really had a blast doing it, it was the first time he could actually share his passion for arts with somebody. There was also Elena, but all she could do was listening and approving. With Tyler there was an actual exchange: they showed each other their drawings, talked about their technics... Jeremy felt a connexion with Tyler that day. This connexion got even stronger the day of the mayor's funeral. It was like they were merging, they both entered an universe they were the only ones to understand.

Jeremy started missing Tyler. He got up from his bed and went to his desk, he grabbed his drawing notebook and looked at the werewolf drawings he made. He thought how interesting Tyler was, how he wished he could talk to him again to know more about him... He also thought about Mason, who was also a werewolf, Tyler's uncle, that he let die... And how things couldn't be the same again between them anymore.

A/N: Okay, so from this point of the story you have two choices. Either you stop reading from here and pretend everything has actually happened on the show, either you continue to see these two getting further! Also, I will post these seven first chapters on archiveofourown as the beginning to another story "Our untold story" which will entirely be about their relationship offscreen during the entire series. Also, thank you for the reviews, it really encourages me to continue this :)