AN: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to write this chapter: this one was longer and harder than I expected!

When Jeremy left his car right after parking it, he had the feeling this was going to be a good day. As he stared at the school and the people walking around, he realized that he grew to enjoy this view he used to hate. Sure, school was boring and most people there were asses, but boredom was restful compared to risking his life with vampires, and most people didn't mean all of them. There were also some people he used to hate and grew to like, one person in particular he was looking forward to see. His face brightened when he found that person right in the parking lot, seeing Bonnie leaving her car carrying a set of books. She dropped them right after, which made him laugh and run to the damsel in distress.

"Here, I got it." he said bending over to help her pick her stuff up.

"Thanks."

When he turned to give her books back he saw her smiling at him. It made him smile too, knowing the good day he was hoping for was just starting.

"Where is Elena?" she asked as she got up.

He got up too, disappointed that she brought up his sister before even asking how he was doing.

"She's uh... she's actually running late today." he answered "What are you doing later? You want to hang out at the grill, shoot some pool? The winner owns the table."

"Uh, why?" his crush frowned reluctantly.

"What, why?"

"Well, you never asked me to play pool before so why now?"

"Uh, I don't know. I thought it'd be fun. So, you in?"

Bonnie hesitated. Her face was showing a mix of embarrassment and amusement.

"It's just... you're Elena's brother and…"

"Has someone mentioned playing pool?" interrupted another masculine voice.

They both turned to see Tyler coming towards them. His arrival comforted Bonnie but not Jeremy. Not that he didn't usually enjoy the sight of his friend, but it wasn't the right moment. He was afraid that another person showing up would turn his potential date into a group hang.

"Er... Yeah." Jeremy answered, confused. "I was offering Bonnie to play some after class."

"Sounds cool!" Tyler replied, more enthusiastic than Bonnie "God, I could really play some pool! If only Matt wasn't avoiding me."

"You know what? You two should just go together." the girl suggested "I'm really bad at pool!"

"Yeah, I thought you might be." said Jeremy, then noticing his mistake "But you can come too, you know, I could teach you."

"You know, Jeremy's not great either." Tyler added. "I totally kicked his ass the last time we played together."

"No, you did not!" Jeremy defended himself.

"Remind me who won then?"

"You did, but I wasn't in my greatest shape."

"Who's telling you I was?" the wolf teased him bending forward.

Jeremy tilted his head on his right, taking it as a challenge.

"Well, you'd better be today" he said turning his back to Bonnie to face Tyler "I'm fit enough to beat you several times in a row!"

"Are you offering a rematch Gilbert?"

Bonnie smiled at their interaction.

"Sounds good then." she said as she tapped Jeremy's shoulder "You two have fun!"

After that she walked away leaving Jeremy puzzled for a few seconds. He realized what had just happened, then turned to his friend: Tyler was smiling, satisfied of being the one who ended up bringing his crush to the Grill.

"Dude, you totally blew off my date!"

"You're kidding right?" Tyler said pointing his head towards the direction Bonnie had left to "I just saved you from rejection!"

Jeremy replayed the scene in his head and sadly admitted his friend was right.

"You're right." he looked down defeated, then glanced in her direction again "I sensed it would screw up when she called me "Elena's brother"."

"I used to see you that way too until Matt and Elena started dating. Then you became the only other guy I knew who wasn't always eating someone else's face, my savior of the group hangs!"

Jeremy chuckled at the memory of Tyler being uncomfortable around the two of them kissing.

"Well, if your purpose is to keep me single, you're doing it right!" Jeremy said jokingly, yet still disappointed.

At those words, Tyler was reminded of the time when it was his actual purpose; when he used to date Vicki just to prevent Jeremy from dating anyone. He started to feel guilty, realizing he just did something similar with Bonnie. Although he had promised himself he would stop keeping Jeremy's crushes away from him, Tyler couldn't help but want the boy just for himself.

"Okay, maybe I pushed her away on purpose so that I could hang out with you." Tyler admitted.

Jeremy frowned and tilted his head, wondering if he should be flattered or pissed about that.

"Look, I'm sorry if I get clingy sometimes." Tyler apologized. "It's just... I'm scared. It's gonna happen to me. On the next full moon, I'm gonna turn and I won't be able to stop it. I have no one else to tell. Without you, I'm alone in this."

"It's how I feel a lot of the time, alone."

Saying it out loud made Jeremy realize that it wasn't how he was feeling at that moment, not with Tyler. With him he felt understood, accepted and entertained. Something he could not say about most of his acquaintances, not even Bonnie. Maybe going to the Grill with Tyler instead of her wasn't such a bad thing after all. Even if hanging out with his friend wouldn't help him with his crush, he would at least have fun with someone without putting any effort into being liked.

The bell rang, forcing the two boys to split.

"So, pool after class it is?"

"Sure. Get ready to get your ass kicked, Gilbert!"

"You can dream on, Lockwood!"

"Alright, you kicked my ass!" Jeremy admitted "But it's not fair, you have supernatural abilities."

"My supernatural abilities have nothing to do with it!" Tyler replied applying chalk to the tip of his cue stick "Pool doesn't require strength or agility, it requires method and experience."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Rematch?"

Jeremy hesitated, looking back between Tyler and the pool table. He was afraid to lose again and Tyler could sense it. Part of him wanted to tease him but the other part thought it would be kicking him when he's down.

"Or do you wanna grab some food instead?" the wolf offered "I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah, let's do that."

Jeremy picked up his backpack and adjusted it as he followed Tyler. The older boy picked a table upstairs, close to a wall hidden away from sight. Not that he was ashamed of Jeremy, or at least he didn't think so, but he didn't want anyone to come and interrupt them. He wanted to spend this meal with Jeremy and Jeremy only.

As Tyler was sitting facing the wall, Jeremy sat opposite him. As the latter got installed he looked up to see Caroline and Stefan eating together across the room. They were too far for him to hear what they were saying, but he knew the inverse was possible since they had vampire hearing. The human didn't like the feeling of being potentially spied on, moreover seeing Caroline made him wonder if the girl had told anyone about Tyler. He really hoped she didn't: Damon would probably want to harm his friend and Elena would want to keep them apart. Not that it would stop him from seeing Tyler, but he didn't want to be lectured by her again. On the other hand, Damon would probably listen to Elena if she told him not to kill her childhood friend. Besides, the two present vampires didn't seem to have noticed him yet, and they were at a table for two, which meant Elena wasn't around. Maybe there wasn't anything to worry about after all.

The two boys got their menus and opened them. As soon as Jeremy laid his eyes on his, Tyler looked up to stare at his mesmerizing face. He felt incredibly at peace. Just this, just the simple vision of the person he loved could help him put all of the bad things in his life away, for a short moment. He could briefly focus his whole mind on the best thing in his life, the only person who was able to make him feel happy. But the happiness faded away when Tyler looked back on his life, wondering if he actually deserved Jeremy's friendship.

"Why are you doing this?" the wolf asked.

"What do you mean?"

"All of this: hanging out with me, helping me... Why?"

"Because we're friends, man."

"Why? I've been a dick to you and I don't remember ever making it up to you."

"But you did. Ever since the police found Vicki's body you've been trying to comfort me when you saw I wasn't okay. And you managed to last time."

"Still, it's not enough." Tyler added "I'm dragging you into this whole new twisted world, I've changed everything you used to believe in, or should I say to not believe in. Probably even put your whole life in question..."

"Wait, you think this is a burden to me? Discovering the supernatural world is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I know how you feel about all this, but I'm not seeing things like you do. Before this happened to you, you were leading your perfect life as a rich, popular athlete while I was just a weird, friendless kid. You didn't need those life-changing revelations but I did."

Tyler was drinking his words, happy to learn that he and Jeremy were doing as much good to each other.

"I've always felt like there was something missing in my life, even before my parents died." Jeremy continued "Then when they did, it got worse. I was in desperate search of something new that could give some meaning to my life. First I found drugs and Vicki, then I found the supernatural and..."

He was thinking of Anna, but Tyler wasn't supposed to know about her.

"... you. "

Although Tyler wasn't the one who made him discover the supernatural, finding out about another species with someone who let him be a part of it was just as thrilling. Plus Tyler was new to this too, while Anna already knew everything about being a vampire. She was the one who taught Jeremy everything, while this time he was the one teaching Tyler. It made him feel actually useful for once.

"Is that the reason you came back after dodging me?" Tyler asked still insecure "Because I became more interesting by being a werewolf?"

"No! Sure, I'm fascinated by this but you're more than just a werewolf to me! I mean, we've already hang out before I found out about your family curse."

"I don't get that either. Why did you try to befriend me at the career fair? You hated me back then."

"Because... when I found out you drew, I figured there was a side of your personnality that I could like. I didn't know anyone else I could share my passion with, and I saw this as an opportunity. It also made me want to get our old friendship back. Remember how it was like in middle school?"

Tyler could perfectly remember that time: Jeremy was just a friend to him, he didn't have any feelings to hide back then.

"Yeah, it was so simple." Tyler answered nostalgic "We didn't see each other that much though."

"It was still cool. Then all of you guys left to high school and I could only see you and Matt at the parties that were thrown in my place. Then I entered high school and you totally rejected me. Why did you even do that?"

"Because of Vicki." he answered with his usual excuse.

"You sure? I don't remember having a thing for her back then."

This started to make Tyler uncomfortable, so he tried to think quickly about a new excuse.

"Alright, I was ashamed of you just like I was ashamed of Vicki." Tyler answered trying to hide his discomfort "You were a failure, not good enough for the Mayor's son so... I pushed you away. I know, it was stupid."

"Yeah, it was." Jeremy paused as another question came through his mind "But why did you risk it with Vicki anyway? Why didn't you just... not date her to be with a respectable boring lady instead?"

Tyler thought quickly of a typical masculine answer.

"Well, she was hot." he managed to say with a complete perkiness.

Jeremy showed his disgust, reminding himself of the old Tyler.

"I cannot believe she has picked you over me."

"She and I weren't that different." Tyler justified "Her pride mattered a lot to her too, so she picked the most popular of us. Then she got herself a brain and went for the nice one, the one that was good for her. I liked that about her, I could relate to her fear. Though I didn't really understand it because she didn't have a father who would beat her up if she'd ever embarass the family."

"That's the point: she didn't have a father. Her friends were all she had."

"They're not real friends if they ditch you for dating the wrong person." Tyler said bitterly "If I had been her I would have picked you in the first place. I would have taken your hand in public and not give a crap about what other people would think or say. I would have seized every opportunity to spend some time with you, knowing other people's company would never worth your single company, knowing the happiness I would have with you would be so much bigger than the embarrassement of dating someone I'm not supposed to be dating!"

Tyler's concern in his speech intrigued Jeremy.

"It seems like you're talking of personal experience. Has there been a girl you've been even more ashamed to date? One that you couldn't even show to your friends?"

Tyler looked down uncomfortable, embarrased of having been carried away.

"No, it's just..." he got his grip back when he found himself another good lie "this raising empathy. I can't believe Vicki and I have treated you that way back then. You didn't deserve that and I'm mad at both of us for this."

Tyler's stomach turned and he was getting hot. The fear of potentially outing himself gave him a big urge of changing the subject.

"What are you taking?" the wolf said grabbing the menu "It's on me."

"Really? I'm gonna take the most expensive cheeseburger then."

"You're not gonna ruin me here unless you order a hundred dishes."

"Oh come on, there's gotta be some lobster hidden in that menu!"

"I'd even pay for it if there was. I owe you much more than that."

Jeremy raised his head and his eyebrows, giving Tyler the impression he was starting to talk too much again. He could feel his heart pounding, the heat he has started to feel out of discomfort was increasing... He couldn't look at Jeremy in the eyes or even talk to him without being terrified of every single word he could say...

"I'm going to the bathroom!" he said fast as he got up from his chair, then started to leave.

"Take your time finding your imaginary lobster!" Tyler said as he tapped his crush's shoulder on his way, thinking of the manly gesture as a reminder that their friendship wouldn't go further.

Going away for a moment was the best thing the wolf found to do: he was starting to lose his grip and had to spend a few minutes away from his crush to get it back.

As Jeremy was watching Tyler walking away, he saw another one on his friends; blonde, smiley and confident, walking toward his table before stopping right behing Tyler's seat.

"You two would be so. cute. together!" Caroline said with a bright smile.

Jeremy wondered who she was talking about, then remembered he was supposed to be there with Bonnie in the first place.

"You think so? I wish she could feel the same about us too."

"She?" the girl raised her eyebrows before understanding what he meant "No, not you and Bonnie: you and Tyler!"

"What?"

"Can't you see it?" the vampire exclaimed as she sat at her friend's table "He's so crushing on you!"

"No, he's not!" Jeremy replied, laughting out of discomfort.

"Oh come on! Can't you see the way he's looking at you? And the way you two speak of each other, it's so romantic!"

"Have you been eavesdropping?"

"Actually, Stefan was the one who started when I told him that Tyler turned."

"You told him?" Jeremy started to panic.

"Come on, it's Stefan, we can trust him."

"It's not Stefan I'm worried about!"

"Damon won't kill him." the girl replied just as confident "He knows he can't harm people close to Elena anymore, even if he wants to."

"Does he know?"

"No. Not yet, I guess. I just told Stefan today. After that we saw you two together, it worried him and he wanted to listen to you guys in case you were planning on doing something stup... dangerous, so it made me want to listen too. Everything made sense after! I should have seen earlier that what was going on between you two was beyond friendship."

Jeremy paused to think about his current relationship with Tyler.

"Well... yeah, it goes beyond regular friendship considering our crazy lifes." he replied "We have a strong bound, nobody can't replace the other, we hate staying away from each other..."

Jeremy stopped, realising how close he and Tyler grew, then decided to end his sentence quickly.

"... but that's still just friendship."

"Please, I'm Caroline Forbes! I can see these kinds of stuffs better than anyone."

"What do you see exactly?"

"Well, this: what you just described, how you two need each other, how everything is a much bigger deal to Tyler when it's something about you..."

"That's just because he's a werewolf: everything is amplified to him."

"Not that much, and as a young vampire in love I know what I'm talking about. He's just using it as an excuse because you don't know what it actually feels like."

Two words in Caroline's sentence caught Jeremy's attention.

"You think Tyler is in love with me?"

"I know Tyler is in love with you."

Jeremy made the connexion with their last conversation: Tyler told him he used to be ashamed of him then Jeremy suspected him of liking a girl he was ashamed of. What if this girl wasn't a girl, but Jeremy? It could have been a coincidence though, but it was enough to make him doubt. A lot.

"Why did you just tell me this?" Jeremy asked confused "You just complicated our friendship!"

Caroline bent over, giving him an accomplice smile.

"It wouldn't be complicated anymore if you two took it to the next level."

"You mean as dating? Sorry but no. Just because Tyler has feelings for me doesn't mean I feel the same for him."

"You sure of that?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm not. I mean, Bonnie has been sitting with this cute new guy for like, 30 minutes, and it seems like you haven't even notice."

Jeremy turned to the direction Caroline was pointing at. She was right, the girl he's been hitting on for the past days was at another table with another guy. They were talking and she was laughing, hiding her teeth behind her glass that he has probably paid for. She seemed to really like this guy, but it wasn't hurting Jeremy the way he thought it would.

"I bet you don't even care right now." the vampire added.

It wasn't that Jeremy didn't care, but he felt more offended about being chosen of than sad about losing the chances he had with the girl he liked.

Caroline saw Jeremy thinking, she saw that he was slowly realising it, slowly digging up those feelings he's been burying without realising it, without knowing they could exist... It was too slow though, and the girl needed to continue this talk.

"So?" she asked.

"Doesn't mean anything." he aswered with discomfort.

"Why are you still denying it? Don't be afraid of coming out of the closet! You've already reached the bottom of the social ladder and you were fine with that!"

As true as it was, Jeremy couldn't help but being impressed by Caroline's persisting lack of tact.

"It's not that." he answered "I'm just not sure. I don't want to take the risk of crushing on a straight guy. I may have more chances with Bonnie."

"Seriously? She has known you since, like, forever and she only sees you one way: as Elena's brother."

"Doesn't mean there's no hope; Vicki used to see me that way too."

"I bet Tyler never has." the blonde replied "He may have hung out with Elena in the first place, but ever since he has met you he has always been closer to you than her. Even when you two used to be enemies, he spent more time arguing with you than talking to her, and, you know, there's a really thin line between love and hate. You should think about it."

Caroline raised her head and showed a curious expression. Jeremy first wondered why but then understood she was hearing something he couldn't.

"I can hear Tyler coming back." she confirmed "Let's change our subject."

"What else can we be talking about?"

Tyler saw Caroline and Jeremy talking when he left the bathroom. Even if Jeremy has already told Tyler they were just friends, the wolf still had trouble seeing these two together. Though his jealousy faded away when he started to listen to their conversation.

"If you're friends with Tyler." the blonde said "Then you must be friends with Matt too. Has he mentioned anything about me? Or another girl?"

This comforted Tyler to know that Caroline still had secrets feelings for Matt; it was good both for him and his best friend.

"I don't know." Jeremy replied "Matt has been dodging Tyler right before I became friends with him again."

The girl sighted, annoyed. "How convenient!"

Caroline heard Tyler coming close and turned to him, pretending to be surprised and faking a smile.

"Hey Tyler!" she said with a high-pitched voice.

"Hey Care."

"We were just talking..."

"I can see that. You know, last time I spoke to Matt he missed you. Not just last time actually: all the time ever since you started avoiding him. I haven't heard of him for days but I'm pretty sure he still feels that way. If you miss him too you should stop pretending to flirt with Jeremy and talk to Matt instead. If you're keep acting the way you he's gonna think you're moving on and he will do the same."

"Thank you Tyler."

Caroline paused, lost in her thoughts, wondering if things could actually be so simple. What if she could just tell him what she has become? What if he would still love her in spite of that?

She came back to reality when she reminded herself of her mission: distracting Stefan so that Elena could interrogate Katherine in peace.

"Anyways, I'm going back to Stefan." she said as she got up "See you guys later!"

She waved at them and left, Tyler sat back at his chair right after. This time, it was Jeremy who was staring at him. During the entire meal he couldn't stop thinking about what Caroline had told him. She was right: Tyler was seeing him the way he wanted Bonnie to see him, whether it was in a romantic way or not. Tyler was probably the only person of the school who wasn't seeing Jeremy just as Elena's brother. Everyone has always been keep seeing him that way, even Vicki after they had sex. Though with time he has managed to get this state of mind out of her brain but it really took time and efforts, while he didn't even have to try with Tyler. Jeremy understood there was no point in chasing Bonnie anymore. He knew, because of Tyler, that he deserved better than that.

Although this affirmation made a lot of questions running though his head. Did this mean he should give up on dating or be into Tyler instead? If he was, would it be reciprocated? Was Tyler actually having feelings for him or did Caroline misinterpreted? Or has Jeremy been the one misinterpreting this whole time? What if Tyler's kiss meant more than he thought?

AN: I'm personally really proud of this chapter. I'd like to thank two of my friends for correcting my grammar (my maternal language is French) in the beginning and helped me improve my writing style. So thank you Jenny and Doreah!