A/N This is the first episode of Season Five. These episodes will be short for a while, but then it'll get back up to longer episodes. I hope you like this chapter/episode. Oh and in case there was confusion: Bonnie is still alive and attending college with Elena and Caroline; Beth was the only one that died in the season four finale. Please review and tell me what you think!

Jeremy had my phone out where I could see it to read Caroline's email to me. He had kept my phone, but to help the story that I had moved to New Orleans, he had the rest of my stuff packed and buried in the back of his closet in his bedroom at the boarding house. I read the email to myself.

Beth,

Hey, you haven't called me. What is up with that? We need to talk about what we're going to do when I'm in college and you're still back in MysticFalls. I pity you, having to live with Jeremy and Damon without your wonderful best friend. Also, we need to talk the color palette for Elena, Bonnie's and my dorm room. Bonnie and Elena don't want to talk about it because it's 'not important'. Can you believe that?! Anyway, email me or text me or call me back. I just need to know that Klaus didn't kill you or something.

-Caroline

I chewed on my lower lip before saying anything to Jeremy.

"Okay, tell her that I'm fine, first of all. Tell her that I've just been busy in New Orleans because I've been sight-seeing with Elijah. Also, tell her that they should go blue and pink for the colors for their dorm and to slap Bonnie and Elena since that is important." I told him. He typed it all down.

"Whoa, erase the first part. Don't start with 'dear'." I told him.

"It's bad enough you're dead, now you're a control freak?" He asked.

"I'm just saying no one starts an email with 'dear' anymore!"

"Fine, fine…" He erased that part and hit send. He stood up, tucking my phone into his pocket.

"I have to go get to school." He told me. He went back inside the boarding house and I followed him since I had nothing else to do. Elena was talking to him when I caught up.

"Let's go over the cover story one more time." She told him.

"There were issues at home. Ever since I lost my parents, my aunt… I've been acting out. Drugs, drinking… I was looking for attention, so I lit my house on fire and faked my own death." He quoted from memory.

"How come you have to act like you're the crazy one when it was Elena that burned the house down and had a major freak out?" I asked. He had to ignore me since Elena was there, but I had to wonder what his answer would have been if he could have talked to me.

"Really stress the drug thing. And I definitely say that the fire was an accident. There's crazy and then there's… well, me." Elena told him. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, yes, we all know you're wacko, no need to remind us, Elena." I muttered. I could see Jeremy try hard not to smile.

"Or I could just not go back, considering my school already had a memorial for me." Jeremy suggested.

"Ding ding ding! We have a wining answer! Jeremy can just stay here with me! FOREVER!" I yelled, knowing that no matter how much noise I made, no one but Jeremy could hear me. Bonnie knew I was dead, but she couldn't see or hear me. Jeremy was the only person I had left to talk to because it's actually kind of hard to reach out and talk to another ghost. When they said it's lonely on the other side, they weren't kidding! A car horn honked outside. Damon came into the foyer, carrying Elena's suitcase.

"Caroline just pulled up." Damon told Elena.

"I… I can't leave. I should stay, at least until Jeremy's settled into school!"

"You're leaving, Elena. You're going to college. You're going to drink cheap beer and protest about things you don't care about! And I am going to take care of your little brother! Trust me, there is nothing you have to worry about!" Damon assured her.

"Okay… Well, Whitmore is only a couple hours away. So if there's anything you need, Jer, call me." She told Jeremy.

"Hey, I'll see you on laundry day." Jeremy and Elena hugged and she mumbled a goodbye before going over to kiss Damon. I rolled my eyes.

"Jeremy! Jeremy!" I jumped up and down in front of him.

"What am I supposed to do where you are at school?!" I asked. He walked out of the room and I followed him into the kitchen.

"You're going to come with me. At least we can talk, even if you can't talk to anyone else since you're… you know." He told me, saying it quietly to avoid Damon and Elena hearing him and wondering if he'd gone insane.

"Um… No. I've been to high school seventeen times. I'm dead and I'm done!" I told him.

"Fine. Find a way to entertain yourself until I get back." He suggested. I sighed.

"I hate being dead." I complained. He gave me a sympathetic look.

"JEREMY! GET TO SCHOOL!" Damon yelled.

"And I hate being me." He returned.

During the day, I was bored silly and actually regretted not following Jeremy to school. I followed Damon around, willing him to actually see or hear me. It didn't work, of course. I sat on the coffee table as he got a call from the school, listening intently. I sighed. My vampire hearing wasn't working like a charm anymore. I just sat there until Damon got up and walked out the door.

"Jeremy… Think about me…. Any time now…" I whimpered, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet. He could only see me when he thought about me and when he thought about me, I was instantly pulled over to wherever he was. As if on queue, I was suddenly in the Grill. I looked at Jeremy as he sat at a table.

"What happened at school? Oh, and you have about a minute before Damon comes in here." I warned. He grimaced at the thought.

"Okay, fine, don't tell me. But Damon looked kind of pissed." I flopped down on the chair next to him and stared at his French fries.

"I miss eating." I moaned.

"I bet you also miss being alive…." He whispered to me, keeping his voice very low since we were in public. I looked over at him, tearing my eyes away from the fries.

"No crap, Sherlock." I shot back. Damon sat down across from Jeremy.

"Uh-oh, you are in so much trouble!" I said in Jeremy's ear.

"One day! One day where you don't screw up!" Damon growled.

"Leave me alone, Damon."

"You're lucky you didn't put one of those idiots in ICU!"

"Says the guy that once killed Jeremy!" I snapped, knowing he couldn't hear me.

"Says the guy that once killed me." Jeremy told Damon. I smiled. It was almost like talking to my brother, just through my boyfriend and my brother not knowing I'm there because he doesn't know I'm dead, not in New Orleans like I made him believe.

"Yes, the privacy of your own home. Away from prying eyes, unlike you who went all hunter in the middle of a hallway! You got expelled, genius."

"So I don't have to go back to school?" Jeremy asked hopefully.

"I compelled Principal Weber into a very generous three-day suspension. Elena does not need to know about this. Finish eating, meet me outside." Damon got up and went to the bar. I saw Stefan enter the Grill.

"STEFAN!" I cried. I jumped up and ran to him, following him over to Damon as I bounced up and down excitedly. He was back! Then I stopped bouncing and grimaced. What if he realized something was wrong? If anyone was going to see through my whole 'I'm in New Orleans' lie, it would be my brooding, hero-hair brother, right? Damon and Stefan hugged, Stefan smiling widely at Damon. I cocked my head at Stefan. That wasn't exactly like him…

"Look, I get why you haven't called me back all summer. I wouldn't call me back either." Damon said.

"You mean because you stole my girlfriend? I'm over it. Cheers." They sipped their drinks. I stared hard at Stefan. Was his humanity off? There was something not right about him.

"Katherine's living at Chateau Salvatore."

"How did you know that?" Damon asked.

"Because I can read your mind." Damon looked over at him.

"I'm kidding, buddy. Katherine called me first. You know it's always been me first." I turned on my heel and raced back over to Jeremy. He looked over at me.

"That is not Stefan, or at least not the Stefan that left! Something's wrong!" I told him urgently.

"His brother just stole the love of his life! I think he's earned the right to be a little less… well, right." Jeremy whispered.

"Jeremy! I know Stefan! Something is wrong!" I cried, desperate. He got up and walked over to Stefan and Damon. I scampered along behind him. Stefan looked at Jeremy.

"Hey, Jeremy, looking good, man." Stefan told him, patting him on the arm.

"Hey, Stefan. Glad you're back." Jeremy returned.

"Yeah… Yeah… All right, I'll, uh, see you at home."

"Great." He left. Jeremy looked at Damon.

"Something's wrong. When he touched me, I felt a chill where my tattoo was." Jeremy told Damon.

"What are you talking about?"

"Right before I died, Silas grabbed me and I felt the same thing!"

"Silas is gone. Bonnie turned him into a big rock, remember?"

"Jeremy! Bonnie used expression to do it. Expression's not exactly a sure-fire thing! Also, she did a big spell to push you out while the other side went up, maybe that did something to effect it!" I told him.

"That was Silas!" Jeremy assured Damon.

"That's impossible."

"I'm a hunter! The whole reason for existing is to kill him. I know what I'm feeling, Damon. That was Silas!" Jeremy hissed.

"I just watched him walk through a crowd of people that saw Stefan. There's no way he could fool that many people at once!" Damon protested. Jeremy just sighed.

"What did he want?"

Jeremy, Damon and I ran into the boarding house. Katherine ran into Damon. Stefan/Silas came downstairs. Damon shoved Katherine into Jeremy's arms.

"Get her out of here. Don't tell me where you're going, just get away from here!" Damon commanded. Jeremy took Katherine and ran out.

I sat in the backseat of the car as Jeremy drove with Katherine in the front seat.

"Where are we going?" Katherine demanded.

"Shut up! Shut up! You might be human, but you are still as annoying as ever! AND YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE ME TO KNOW THAT I'M HERE AND INSULTING YOU!" I screamed.

"Hello? Are you deaf? I asked where we're going!" Katherine snapped when Jeremy didn't answer. His phone rang. He answered it.

"Hey."

"How far did you get?" Damon asked on the other end.

"You said not to tell you."

"You pick now to listen to me?"

"We just passed Miller road."

"Good. Turn around, bring her back." Damon hung up. Jeremy made a U-turn.

"What are you doing!? Jeremy, stop! You can't take me back there, Jeremy! Damon wouldn't just hand me over! Silas clearly got his head!" Katherine cried.

"Shut up, Katherine." Katherine looked around, desperate. Then she jabbed her hand into Jeremy's seatbelt buckle, releasing it, and grabbed the wheel, driving us head on into a pole.

I woke up in the forest. Everything was quiet and grey… I was on the other side again. I felt a pull, not strong enough to instantly take me to Jeremy, but enough to tell me where I was supposed to go. I started running towards where the car crash had taken place. I burst out of the trees and saw Jeremy lying on the road, bloody and not moving. I ran over to him, throwing myself down on my knees next to him.

"Jeremy, hold on! I know you can hear me, Jeremy, or I wouldn't have been pulled here! Please, don't die, Jeremy, please, please!" I pleaded. I heard a car pulled up behind me. I looked over my shoulder. Damon got out of the car and ran over to Jeremy.

"Jeremy!" He groaned. He bit into his wrist and fed Jeremy his blood.

"Open your eyes, Jer. You do not get to die on me, you hear me? I'm supposed to be taking care of you, you little punk! Wake up or I'll kill you myself!" Suddenly Jeremy moaned and moved a little. I let out a sigh of relief that turned out to be in unison with Damon's.

"Katherine…. Is gone…" Jeremy choked out. Damon hugged Jeremy.

"I don't care…"

A little while later, Jeremy sat on the hood of Damon's car as Damon talked to Elena on the phone.

"Don't scare me like that!" I hissed in Jeremy's ear.

"I'm sorry." He whispered back. Out of habit, I reached for his hand. When I touched, neither one of us felt it. I felt myself start to cry again.

"I'm sorry." Jeremy repeated, though I knew it was for a different reason now. Damon hung up and came back over. Jeremy looked at him.

"You didn't tell her Silas was here." Jeremy noted.

"Nor did I tell her Stefan's missing, Katherine's in town and you got expelled."

"So you lied."

"No… I withheld a bit of the truth, so that Elena wouldn't drop everything and come running home to help. I'll figure all this out." Damon corrected.

"Also, Beth isn't answering her phone… Where did you say she was again?" Damon asked.

"New Orleans. Apparently there's drama there and she's helping Elijah out." Jeremy explained quickly. Damon slowly nodded.

"Sounds like her… Just try to call her tonight, make sure she's still alive." He said it half jokingly but even then I flinched at that. Make sure she's still alive…. Impossible at this point. I was dead, no fixing that. I started crying again. I could see Jeremy's shoulder's tense, but he couldn't do anything to comfort me with Damon right there. I guess it sucked for both of us…

A/N Hoped you guys liked that chapter/episode. As always, please review and tell me what you guys think.