Chapter 2

Jeremy skipped school the rest of the week. Alaric didn't even care about Jeremy's laziness as long as Jeremy got his assignments from his classmates. He just couldn't handle anything. His grief over Jenna wasn't a crutch to be lazy. He was really that hurt.

He missed half of the next week too. On Wednesday, Jeremy happened to be in the kitchen when the sound of the doorbell screeched the air. He darted out of the kitchen while he made his way to the front door. He glanced down at his watch as he realized that it was only 1:00 PM, which meant that school didn't let out for another hour. He couldn't imagine who it would be.

Jeremy yanked open the front door. His jaw dropped as soon as he saw who it was. "What are you doing here Tyler? Shouldn't you be in school?"

His eyes remained fixated on Jeremy. "I have 7th and 8th period free so I thought that I would come here to check up on you."

His eyebrows made half circles above each one of his eyes. "Why would you care about me? You hate me."

Tyler bit his lip. He decided that the best thing to do would be to just ignore the comment. "So why haven't you been in school? Art class has been kind of lonely."

He remained silent for a second. "I just have a lot on my mind. Anyway I have to go."

A grin twisted across Tyler's face. "Nice try."

Jeremy scoffed. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

He thought about the answer for a minute. "Because I've made a lot of mistakes and I really want to make amends. So are you going to invite me in or what?"

His heart crashed inside his chest. It got louder with each passing beat. The whole thing was too complicated for him to understand. "Fine."

Jeremy gesticulated at him to come in. Tyler shuffled into the living room. Jeremy shut the door behind him.

He turned to Tyler. His eyes scanned Tyler's body. He sniffed the air. The scent of Tyler's earthly cologne traveled into Jeremy's nostrils as it made his way through his entire body. "So what do you want to do?"

A bead of sweat crashed down Tyler's face. "Could we go up to your room to talk?"

Jeremy nodded. "Sure. Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

He shook his head in a vigorous fashion. "No. I'm good. But thank you."

Jeremy and Tyler ascended the staircase as the two of them made their way upstairs. They arrived at Jeremy's bedroom a couple of minutes later. Tyler made his way to Jeremy's bed as he plopped himself down on it. Jeremy just stood a few feet away from Tyler.

Something popped out at Tyler. He noticed Jeremy's sketchpad on the bed. Tyler grabbed it as he started to shuffle through it. "Your drawings are incredible."

He let out a loud scream. Jeremy rushed over to the bed as he tried to grab the sketchpad away from Tyler. "Give it back."

Tyler wouldn't budge. He continued to flip through the sketchbook while Jeremy paced back and forth. "Yeah. You're definitely going to get an A. No doubt about it."

A red color stained Jeremy's cheeks. "Please give it back Tyler."

Tyler grinned at his friend. "No way in hell. I think it's really nice that you're blushing. It shows your raw vulnerability."

Jeremy remained silent. There was nothing he could say.

He winked at Jeremy. "Aren't you going to come sit down on your bed?"

Jeremy sucked in a gulp of air. "I was just trying to give you some personal space."

Tyler motioned for Jeremy to sit next to him on the bed. "Come on Jer, don't be so formal."

He suppressed the urge to blush. Jeremy knew that he was grateful that Tyler was being nice but that didn't change the fact that he didn't want to seem vulnerable in front of another human being. The idea was just too damning.

Jeremy sauntered over to the bed. He was sure to leave some space between him and Tyler.

Tyler shot Jeremy a gaze. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. Go for it."

He inhaled a gulp of air. "Why do I always see you by yourself at school?"

Jeremy averted his gaze. He might have appreciated the fact that Tyler was taking an interest and was being something other than his usual dick self, but that didn't mean that Jeremy was ready to spill his secrets to his enemy…or whatever he and Tyler were. "I don't know. I mean I'm grateful that Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt and even Damon are nice to me, but I still feel out of place."

Laughter fell from his mouth. "You're never going to believe this but a weird part of me actually empathizes with you…I mean I don't mean to get all existential or anything but I feel like I don't fit in either. I just have this 'image' that I'm molded into. But that doesn't mean I want to become what everyone else expects me to be, if that makes sense."

"That's nice." Jeremy let out a small chuckle.

Tyler's gaze narrowed in even more on Jeremy-if that was even possible. "What's so funny Jer?"

Jeremy had to wait a minute before he got the all of the laughter out of his body. "I'm not trying to be mean. I swear it. It's just that I never knew that you knew what the word existential meant…"

He couldn't resist the urge to blush. Red spread across his face in a matter of seconds. Tyler decided to just go with it. He playfully jabbed Jeremy in the shoulder. "There's more to me than just some dumb jock."

"I might think a lot of things about you but I never said that you were dumb…" Jeremy wiped a bead of sweat from his face.

A smile returned to Tyler's face. "Okay. Good to know. I'm happy to hear that you don't think I'm dumb."

Jeremy shot Tyler a wink. "Oh really. My opinion means that much to you?"

His tongue wet his lips. "Well more than you think."

Tyler extended his arm. His hand brushed Jeremy's face. A burning sensation shot up Jeremy's back as it traveled all the way to his brain.

Jeremy didn't push Tyler's hand away. He just leaned in closer.

Tyler didn't even have a problem with it. Their lips were now less than an inch apart.

He forced a gulp of air into his body. Jeremy didn't care anymore. He lips touched Tyler's lips'. They became lip locked. It was as if nothing else mattered. They were both caught up in the kiss. Jeremy's tongue massaged Tyler's mouth.

Jeremy pulled back a minute. He let out another sigh. "So. I'm clearly fine. You can go now."

Tyler still had an amused grin on his face. "I have a better idea. I'm going to take you out for an afternoon and evening of fun."

He nodded in agreement. Jeremy smiled at the thought that he wouldn't have to dread the evening since it looked like something nice was going to happen for once in his miserable life.