The course of true love never did run smooth;
But either it was different in blood—
Or else misgraffèd in respect of years—
Or else it stood upon the choice of friends—
.:.
Jeremy tugged his headphones down to his neck and headed for the kitchen. It was getting close to midnight but the obscene giggling could still be heard behind Elena's door. Looked like he wasn't getting much sleep tonight. He stopped outside the door and knocked.
"What?" Elena called.
"I'm going down to the kitchen, did you guys want anything?" He realized it was a mistake about four seconds too late.
"Ice cream!"
"Cookies!"
"Soda!" The voices came too quickly for him to discern who said what. He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah, alright." A few minutes later he struggled up the stairs with a huge tray of snacks. He knocked again.
"Oh good boy," Caroline sighed, opening the door and letting him in. He rolled his eyes again. He set the tray on the bed, where Elena and Bonnie were sitting, looking into a huge yellow bowl.
"What are you guys doing?"
"A love spell," Caroline announced from behind him. "That yummy new guy will be mine. It's fun, you want to do one too?" Jeremy felt his cheeks flush.
"Oh," he let out, "no thanks."
"Aw, live a little Jeremy," Bonnie said, "I'm doing one for Tyler." He automatically tensed.
"You like Tyler?"
"No," she laughed, "but it'd be nice to have that ego sack nipping at my heels for a while."
"Don't be like Elena," Caroline said, rounding Jeremy and glancing at the bowl. "She's not doing one at all."
"What about Matt?" Bonnie questioned, looking over at Elena. Elena sighed and shook her head.
"Nope, I don't want anyone to be in love with me." Caroline scribbled on a piece of paper and threw it in, smiling widely.
"Too bad missy." Elena's eyebrows shot up.
"What did you just do?"
"Oh relax." Caroline rolled her eyes and handed the notebook to Jeremy. "Go ahead," she murmured, "just write a name and toss it in. We have to light them on fire so don't worry, we won't see them or anything." She reached over to pinch his cheek. "So cute!" That sealed it. Hadn't Vicki just said the same thing about him? He gripped the pen tightly in his hand, scribbling her name down. He tore off the sheet of paper and threw it in the bowl after crumpling it.
"You don't have to let them push you around Jer," Elena said.
"It's fine," he smiled and edged out of the room. The last thing he saw was Caroline dropping a lit match in the bowl as Bonnie began chanting over a book that had clearly seen better days. What a trip, what teenage girls did for fun. He realized he'd completely forgotten his own snack the moment he sat back on his bed. Damn. He really needed to get some sleep anyways.
He woke to the sound of screaming. What the-? He ran to Elena's room, to find the three girls cowering in the bathroom, Stefan Salvatore wide eyed with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
"Please," he murmured, dropping to one knee, "I just need to tell you that I love you."
"Oh," Caroline let out on a shaky breath. She flipped her hair. "Well then," she stepped forward, reaching for the flowers. Stefan jerked them away.
"Not you," he snapped. His eyes turned towards Elena. "You."
"Uh," Jeremy said as all three girls' jaws dropped. "Well now you've told her and you can go." Stefan laid the flowers on the floor, nodding to himself.
"Yes, of course." Without another word, he paced to the window and jumped down. Jeremy watched the curtains fluttering in the wind and had to assume he'd come in the same way.
"What the fuck?" Caroline questioned, spinning and looking to Elena and Bonnie. "What did you do Witchy McGee?" Bonnie shrugged helplessly.
"Better question," Elena said, stepping closer to the flowers and nudging them with a toe, "who else was in the bowl?"
"Tyler," Bonnie murmured, touching her forehead.
"Stefan, and Damon," Caroline sighed.
"Damon?" Elena questioned.
"Stefan's brother," Caroline said with another hair flip. "We've been hanging out a little bit. He's got this mysterious air about him, but I still wanted Stefan." Her brow furrowed as she spoke.
"And you intended him for me?" Elena questioned.
"It was just for fun," Caroline protested squeakily.
"Knock it off you two," Bonnie murmured, stepping between them, "who else was in the bowl? Jeremy?" All three of them turned towards him. Fuck. He couldn't exactly lie about it.
"Vicki," he sighed.
"Vicki Donovan?" Elena questioned, spinning to Jeremy so fast her hair fanned out, slapping against Bonnie.
"That's just gross," Caroline added.
"Focus," Elena said, still watching Jeremy. "How do we turn it off Bonnie?"
"Uhhh." Bonnie went to Elena's desk, where the book still sat. "I can work on it?"
"Maybe Elena and I are the only ones who switched?" Caroline asked.
"When has any of us been that lucky?" Bonnie questioned, turning pages.
"Who decided this was a good idea?" Elena questioned, sitting on her bed and tucking her chin into her hand.
"I didn't think she was actually a witch," Caroline murmured. "Sue me for trying to have some fun."
"Let's all calm down," Bonnie said, "maybe I'm not actually a witch and Stefan really just decided that he loves you." She paused. "You've been hanging out, right?" Elena let out a delicate snort.
"Yeah for all of three seconds."
"I'm going to go…get dressed," Jeremy muttered.
"No, no. We need to talk," Elena argued, standing. A thump sounded from Jeremy's room, silencing them all. He crossed the hall carefully.
He sighed in relief the moment he entered his room.
"Vicki," he crossed to her. "How are you?" She looked frazzled, pacing back and forth, tearing a hand through her hair.
"Jeremy, I need a favor. A huge, huge favor. You know that friend of your sister's? The blonde bubbly one?" Jeremy tensed, his teeth clenching.
"Yes," he let out slowly. A relieved smile fluttered across her face.
"Can you introduce us?"
"No," Jeremy snapped shortly, "please leave."
"Wait, Jer, no." She protested the entire time he pushed her towards the window.
"Go on," he said, "scurry down the drain pipe." She'd done it before after all.
"Fine," she muttered, "I'll just do it myself."
"Great. You do that." He got dressed and went downstairs, pulling Bonnie aside.
"We need to talk." She arched an eyebrow.
"What?" He dropped his voice to a whisper.
"Vicki is in love with Caroline." Bonnie choked on a laugh. She clearly struggled to control her features.
"Can we please focus?" Jeremy snapped. She snickered once.
"What?"
"Only Damon and Tyler are left." She laughed once again.
"Sucks to be you."
"You have to fix this." A knock sounded on the door.
"Can someone get that?" Elena questioned from the stairs. Jeremy shot Bonnie what he hoped was a pleading glance before walking to the door. He opened it to reveal Damon Salvatore. Damon looked him up and down and Jeremy's throat ran dry.
"Hey Jeremy. Your sister's friend here?" Thank God was quickly followed by Oh fuck. So Elena had Stefan. Caroline had Vicki. And Bonnie had Damon. That left him…with Tyler.
Fuck.