A/n: Readers and reviewers, you all are simply amazing. The reviews are incredible, I see some new readers all the time. To tvdfan09, teamdelena1 and everyone, thank you again for the kind reviews.
Primavera15, you've been reviewing since the beginning too, and I am so grateful :)
Hope you guys enjoy!
Psssst: Listen to Purple Rain by Prince! The title's quoted by it.

Chapter 20

I Never Meant to Cause You any Pain

"Okay. I'll help you. But I can't make any promises. The best I can do is talk to him about it and see where his head is at. And maybe, if I see an opportunity, I'll try and-", her face got all tense and she seemed a tad annoyed, "defend you."

Tyler was elated. His heart felt like it was flipping with joy and his stomach felt as if a flock of butterflies made their way in. This word would never come out of his mouth, but he might even say it felt like butterflies fluttered through his whole body. Tingles causing his mouth to smile real wide and his eyes to light up.

"Even if you help just a little bit, I will be so grateful. I don't know how to thank you." Sincerity was apparent.

"I'm not doing it for you. You screwed up and personally, I'd never forgive you. But Jeremy was happy and now he's not even showing up to school. If you two together will make him happy again, then I'll help you out. And-", Tyler saw her struggle and heard sadness in her voice, "there was a death in the family. It'll distract me."

Awwwwww! Tylers' eyes were so sad for her. He watched as she looked down avoiding eye contact. He could see the shimmer of her eyes though. How they glistened. She was actually a very pretty girl and seeing her sad almost broke his heart. He then thought about if Jeremy cried like that. Tyler was aware that losing a family member is 900x harder than finding out your boyfriend cheated, but he still wondered if he had cause Jeremy to look as sad as she did.

The deceased Mayors' son was all ways known for being the type who wasn't good in emotional situations, but he did his best to comfort her. He took his hand and placed it on Melissas' and said, "I'm sorry."

She blinked her eyes and faint tears ran down her cheek. She opened them again and found a napkin held near her face. Tyler really did look sympathetic. Which made Melissa confident to know that she was helping a guy who might actually deserve it. Her opinion of Tyler Lockwood had changed at that moment. He was a better guy.

...................................................

Melissa texted Jeremy after school and asked if she could come over.

Jeremy was in his bed room. The curtains were drawn closed and the only light in his room was from his phone. He heard the buzz and saw it was a text. (He got a new one, by the way. Said a car ran over it. Good thing there was a warranty.) He knew who he wanted it to be from. But at the same time he dreaded to see if it were him.

Nope. Text: Melissa

Well, at least he wasn't disappointed. He was glad to hear from her.

Hey Jer, since you didn't show up for school today, I wanted to know if I could come over. See if you're actually sick. ;P

He sent-

Lol, sure come over any time.

Maybe company was what he needed. His room had been so damn depressing and his mood wasn't any better and he thought, Why the hell should I be depressed? I ended it. Not him.

10 Minutes Later

Knock-knock-knock.

Melissa may have had small hands, but she beat that door like it had pissed her off six ways from Sunday. With Jeremy being all the way upstairs, he still heard it. First he thought it was a big burly man coming to kill him. Then he realized Melissa was on her way. And apparently took her frustration out on the door.

He decided to open his curtains to let in some light and his eyes were blinded from the unfamiliar sun light. Jeremy hauled himself down the stairs only to hear the door being knocked again. And even with more power. He was almost afraid to open it. Afraid Melissa would knock again and hit him up side his head.

He opened it quick and stepped back.

Melissa stood on the front porch just staring at her friend.

What a wreck. Baggy sweat pants, rustled hair, and a black t-shirt. And- his smile isn't there anymore. It's been replaced with this sheepish forced thing that could barely be called a smirk.

"Oh, Jeremy. You are sick." She knew better, but wanted to see if he'd 'fess up.

Jeremy let out a small chuckle. "Nahh, I just uh- just didn't feel like goin' to school. It happens." His shoulders shrugged and he motioned for her to come in.

"So um, how've you been? How was the service?" Jeremy asked. He felt so bad for her. Losing a parent is rough.

"Mmm, it...was...very emotional. And um, I cried as much as humanly possible and now I'm done. I know he would've wanted for me to let out my emotions early so I won't be even more depressed about it later on and that's what I did. He's in a better place now and the robbers are going to prison." She sniffed a little and changed the subject.

"So. I've decided I need something to take my mind off of all the sadness and put it on something else. And I figured the best way to do that is come see my incredible friend Jeremy." She perked up as much as she could. She was still sad, obviously. But the girl was strong enough to put on a smile. She knew he'd need it.

"Well. What did you want to do?" His smile was coming back.

"Hmmm?", her tongue made a "tsk" sound and her eyes looked determined.

"I think it's time you told me who the lucky person is. I've asked before and have got nothing. So now I wanna know." Melissa knew it hurt Jeremy, but it was the only way. He'll either tell her the truth, tell her part of the truth, or just ignore it all together and tell her things are goin' splendid. And if he went with the last option, she'd drop it.

Jeremy didn't look at her. He directed his eyes to the floor and thought about what he should say.

Why not? It's over now. What more could hurt?

His throat was cleared and he looked at her with eyes filled with sorrow.

"Um, well. I'm- I'm single. It didn't work out."

"Will you tell me who it was at least?" She hated this. She saw his smile fade and she hated it.

Surprisingly, she heard him chuckle.

"You're never gonna believe me." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away again.

"Try me." She smiled.

"Tyler Lockwood. It was Tyler Lockwood and now it's over." Eventually he blinked and looked up at her again. He was expecting pure shock and maybe even a little disgust but only found a comforting friend who was ready to be there for him.

"What happened." Her voice dropped to almost a whisper and she was going to be as comforting as possible.

"Well, uh. He did something that I couldn't forgive so I ended it." His voice almost shook slightly.

"I'm sorry, Jere." She really was. She even debated whether or not she'd push the subject. But she knew she'd have to just bring it all up again and now was the only time.

"It's okay. Y'know. People break up, they move on. No big deal." His face said otherwise.

"It doesn't look like no big deal." She lowered her eyes where she could see him looking down.

"It is. It-", he sighed, "breaking up is a motherfucker but I'll live." He said trying to lighten the mood.

"Did he make you happy?" Oh no. Wrong thing Melissa. Wrong thing! Wrong!

"You want to go for a walk?" Jeremy had enough of being in his house. Sure it was chilly, but that's what coats were for.

...................................................

They walked along a path that Jeremy had taken for years. When he was younger he felt like such a dare devil because it was near an ending that lead straight to the ground. It wasn't exactly a cliff, but if you fell down it, you're pretty much screwed. So he made sure never to go close enough to the edge. He went there sometimes to clear his head.

"It's beautiful here. How come I've never known about this spot?" Melissa was curious. It wasn't like it was hard to find. Just cut through the woods and there it was.

"Well, not many people come here. A lot of people don't even think to walk past those trees." He sat down near the edge. Not where he'd fall or anything. But so he'd see the view.

"Hey, I'll be right back. Kay? Forgot my phone at your house. It won't take me long."

She walked off after she saw Jeremy stand back up again. He worried her, but she knew he wouldn't do anything careless.

...................................................

Tyler Lockwood.

Tyler knew Melissa was going to talk to Jeremy after school. He went for a drive as he hoped whatever Melissa planned to do would work. He figured once she'd talk to Jeremy, maybe he could try talking to him again. If anything, Jeremy wouldn't hate him as much. Tyler never thought he'd make the one person who was there for him feel that way, but he hoped it wouldn't last.

Normally his windows would be rolled up and he'd blare his music but not today. The weather was chilly but nice and he wanted just peace. Peace to think.

He thought about a lot. His drive went on and on and his mind juggled a lot of things. How his mom was dealing with his dads' death. How Melissa lost someone in her family. He didn't know who or how but it was still on his mind. He also thought about-, about Michael. How he knew that night was really a mistake. He lost a friend and his boyfriend all at once. Even though Tyler loved Jeremy, he found himself missing Michael. They hadn't spoken since that night and Michael didn't even show up for practice.

But he thought about Jeremy the most. Thought about how he never wanted to hurt him. And that the saying was true. "You never really know how much someone means to you until you lose them." His face cringed and thought about every thing there was to Jeremy. His eyes. His skin. The way he'd laugh.

Thought about his voice. How when they were together and Jeremy would get a little too loud. Especially when he would-, well hit his climax. He'd actually yell.

It was as if his thoughts had speakers because as soon as he thought about it, he heard it.

What the hell?

The voice was so close. He parked his car immediately and took no time at all to find the scream.

Tyler cut through the thin wall of trees and found Jeremys' bag on the ground and his fingers curled around the earths' surface.

Without thought he hurled his top half down and used his muscles and both arms to literally grab a hold of Jeremy and swung him around to the other side. Bracing himself with his lower half.

It must have been adrenaline because his strength surprised even him. There was no way he could have done that any other time. Jeremys' body was literally hanging off of the edge.

Tyler turned around to see where he threw Jeremy. The boy was laying down trying to sit up when Tyler held him up in his lap. He could feel Jeremy shake. It was natural. The kid almost fell to his death for god's sake. This only prompter to hold onto Jeremy as they sat down on the ground together.

His fingertips drove into Jeremys' skin through his jacket and he squeezed the boy that he had his arms around until it was hard for Jeremy to breath. Plus the kid was shivering, so that didn't help either.

Jeremy coughed trying to gain air and he looked up at Tyler. He didn't need to think about what he was going to do next. He took his freezing hand and brought it to the back of Tylers' neck bending him down to where Jeremy was. He kissed the older boy. There was no force, just Tyler kissing him back. With Jeremy in his lap, Tyler had to lean his head down but it only made it that much better.

He could feel Tylers' soft lips moving with his own and his tongue not controlling, just...sweet. Jeremy also felt something else. At first he thought it was beginning to rain only to realize that while they were lips to lips, Tyler Lockwood had started to cry.

A/n: Please, please, please tell me what you all think!
It's the reuniting chapter so the reviews are really imporant.
They always are of course, but I really didn't wanna disappoint. I figured this way would be the most exciting & heart-felt.
Ch.21 might explain how he fell over the edge. Let me know if you're interested.
To Daniel Carrero, no worries. Our Michael will be in the next chapter! :D
To view Melissa, check out my profile. It's beneath Michael!
[Ut-oh. We are SO close to the 100th review. That will literally make...my...day! Sad, I know. Hahh.]