This story's a bit unusual, but the idea came to me and I had to go with it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

Contains spanking.

(Takes place right after "Night of the Comet.")

Prelude-

Jenna barely glanced up from her laptop when her nephew moped through the door without a word, but her heart pounded in her chest as he made his way upstairs. The second she heard his bedroom door shut, she closed her computer and headed up after him, rehearsing what she was going to say again for the twentieth time. She knew the drug raid wasn't going to go over well, no matter what she offered up as an explanation. And she was right; halfway up the stairs she heard things being slammed and thrown around from Jeremy's room. She reached the door and poked her head in without knocking.

"Looking for something?" She asked, trying to sound innocent and relaxed, two things she was most definitely not at the moment.

"It was you, wasn't it?" He accused, shooting her a glare as he rifled through his dresser drawer. "What did you do with them?"

"Well the pot and the pills got flushed, but I thought I might keep the bong as a reminder of my younger, cooler days."

"You went through my stuff?" He asked. "You had no right to do that."

Jenna nodded and stepped into the room. "You're right, I probably didn't, but I am not going to stand by and let you become the town stoner, even if it means going through your stuff every day. And believe me kid, no one can read a stoner better than an ex stoner."

"Whatever, he said. "I need to go back out. I forgot something at the Grill." He headed straight for the door.

How stupid did this kid think she was? She thought, blocking his path. "Not so fast. What'd you forget? I can call Elena and see if she can stop by and look for it on her way home." She could tell from his eyes and his speech that he was completely sober, a nice change from last night. By his insistence on going back out again, it was a safe bet that he didn't have anything on him either.

"Will you just let me go?" He said, trying to side step her this time. "My curfew's not even up for another half hour."

"Nope, can't do that," she said. "You might've pulled a couple of fast ones on me before, but it's not happening anymore. I'm here, Jeremy, I'm paying attention and I'm not going to let you out of my sight until I'm sure you've dropped the whole bad boy drug routine you've got going on."

"Great, sounds like a fun time," he said with an eye roll and retreated to his bed. "So does that mean you're like going to watch me sleep and brush my teeth and stuff too? Or hey you could watch me take a shower."

Jenna took a deep breath and reminded herself that he was just a fifteen year old kid, lashing out as a form of defense. "Here's the deal," she started. "No more drugs, Jeremy, that's it. I don't want to lecture you; I know you've sat through the anti-drug spiel before. Bottom line, they're illegal and they're bad for you, end of story. I will search your room, I'll have your locker searched, I'll search you, if that's what I have to do, but you're done using."

Jeremy laughed. "Yeah right. Both you and Elena with your high aspirations to save me; too bad all you have is empty threats."

"Excuse me, they're not empty."

"Yeah they are." He stood up. "It's cool, Jenna, you can't help it. You have work and a thesis. I just don't know why you keep wasting your breath. Bottom line, I'm gonna do what I want no matter what you say, so you should just stop talking and just let me go."

Again he tried to push past her, but this time she did more than just block his path. "You're kidding right?" She said, hooking him by the hoodie and pulling him over to the closest seat she could find, his desk chair.

"Hey," he protested. "What are you doing? Let go."

"No way, you want a legitimate threat then you've got one." She didn't even think about what she was doing, her instincts just came over her.

If she had ever talked to her mom like that her butt would've paid the price, regardless of how old she was. She didn't know if her sister had spanked them and at that moment she didn't really care. Jeremy was getting it one way or the other. Maybe he'd listen when he thought there was a real consequence for his actions and not just a potential one.

She grabbed his arm and tripped him at the same time. Just like she had hoped, the teenager went toppling over her knee.

"What are you doing? Get off me," he said, struggling to stand back up.

Good thing she had taken those self-defense classes down at the gym, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to get him over her knee at all.

"No you don't." She wrapped a leg around his to hold him in place and then raised her hand in the air and brought it down hard on his jean clad butt.

"You're spanking me?" Jeremy asked, incredulously. "Come on, I'm not five."

"Maybe you should stop acting like it, then." She brought her hand down again.

"This is a joke," he huffed, still struggling to right himself. "It doesn't even hurt.

He probably had a point there, but she couldn't let him up without making her point first. He'd never listen to her again. She looked around frantically for a solution. After a few seconds she saw it, a hairbrush partially covered on the mess of papers on his desk. She brought it down on his butt with force.

He sucked in air. "Owww."

Satisfied with his response she picked the pace up a little bit and delivered four sharp smacks to his behind.

"You cannot keep doing this, Jeremy."

"Alright, owww, alright," he said, trying to push himself up. "You've made your point, I'll stop using, let me up."

"Not so fast. I'm sorry, but I've got to get through to you one way or another." With that she continued to spank him. She laid on swat after swat and didn't stop until she felt his breath hitch and sobs start to come out. She might be known as a softie, but she was not a quitter and she wasn't going to stop until she was absolutely sure that Jeremy was ready to listen to her.

"Alright," she said, compelling herself to remain tough until this was over. "Here's how it's going to be for now on. You get high and I'll spank you, you cut class and I'll spank you, am I getting through to you now?"

"Yeah," her nephew squeaked out, through sobs. "I get it."

"Good, then we're almost done." She dropped the hairbrush and she laid on ten more hard swats on his behind with her hand. He ducked his head and cried out harder.

Convinced he had enough; she stopped and rubbed her nephew's back. "I'm sorry Jeremy, but I can't let you go on like this. It's not safe and it's not fair to you."

"I get it, no more using," he sniffed out. "Lesson learned. Can I get up now?"

"Yeah," she nodded and released her hold on him.

Jenna watched as he pushed himself to his feet. His face was red and covered in tears as he struggled to get himself under control. He used his sleeve to wipe his nose, a movement that reminded Jenna once again that he was just a fifteen year old kid going through a hard time.

"Man, you're crazier than I thought," he finally said, once he'd composed himself.

"Come here," she said, taking a step toward him. When he didn't back away, she took it as a good sign and wrapped him in a hug. He didn't return it, but he didn't pull away either, so she did her best to soothe him. After a few seconds he lifted his arms up and returned her embrace.

"I know this sucks," she said, rubbing small circles across his back. "But I can't let you keep this up."

He nodded into her shoulder. "I get it," he said again, pulling away. "I already said I won't use anymore."

"Good. That's what I was going for," she said, struggling for the right thing to say. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great," he said, rolling his eyes and rubbing his butt at the same time. "Nothing like getting your ass handed to you to brighten your day."

"Jeremy, I know this is tough for you-"

"Can we not do this right now," he said, cutting her off. "Look, Aunt Jenna, I get it you did what you had to do, but can I just be alone right now?"

She studied him for a second, wishing she could somehow read his mind. "Alright," she finally caved. "But I'll be downstairs if you want to talk."

He just nodded and she headed toward the door patting him on the shoulder on the way out. Once back downstairs, she headed straight for the wine cabinet. She wasn't sure there was enough alcohol in the house to calm her down, but she was going to find out.

XXXXXX

Elena walked into the kitchen still floating on air from the kiss she had shared with Stefan. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so free. For once all her thoughts and worries weren't weighing her down.

She pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and turned around to see her aunt smirking at her over a glass of wine.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing, I'm just glad you had a good time tonight."

"Is it that obvious?" She asked, sinking down into a stool at the counter.

Jenna just smiled. "I don't suppose you want to give me some juicy details?"

"Maybe tomorrow," She said, after mulling it over for a second.

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"Alright, I think I'm going to head up to bed."

"Goodnight," Jenna called after her as she headed toward the stairs. She paused at the kitchen door. "Is Jeremy in bed already?" She asked as an afterthought.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Oh, he's in bed alright."

Elena cocked her head in interest. "That doesn't sound good," she said. "What happened? Is he sulking because you raided his stash?"

Not exactly," Jenna stood up and started clearing stuff off the counter, turning her back to Elena in the process. "He's sulking because I spanked him."

"What?" Elena asked, not sure she heard her aunt right. "Did you just say you spanked Jeremy?"

Jenna turned around to face her, taking a gulp of her wine. "I was going to tell you about it tomorrow. I know it sounds crazy, but he kept back talking me and the raging adult in me just went into full throttle. One minute we were arguing and the next he was over my knee and that is not a small feat let me tell you. He's stronger than he looks."

Stunned, Elena walked over and sat back down. "I don't understand. I mean I know you were trying to get through to him, but spanking him? He's fifteen and you're…" Elena searched around for the appropriate word. "Well, you're…you," she finally spit out.

That was the only way she could put it. Aunt Jenna was like her sister, sometimes it felt like she was even her younger sister. Just a few hours ago she had been the one giving her aunt a pep talk, not the other way around. She hardly ever raised her voice to either of them and Elena found it impossible to imagine her spanking her brother. She didn't know whether to be angry or amused.

"Thanks," Jenna replied, rolling her eyes.

"I mean, I just thought you were afraid of doing the wrong thing."

"Let's just say I overcame my fears."

"Apparently," Elena said, still trying to figure out how to react. She knew that he probably deserved it and Jenna didn't even know that he was dealing, though now was probably not the time to bring it up. "Did he feel it?" Elena immediately regretted her words when she saw the look come over her aunt's face. "I mean are you sure you made an impression?"

"Oh, me and his hairbrush made quite the impression," she responded, still looking horrified by her own actions. "Look, I know it's arbitrary and barbaric and sadistic and I don't even know if you guys got spanked, but I did and your mom did and I was just drawing off of my childhood experiences and I was just desperate, Elena, really desperate, because I am so terrified that he's going to-"

"It's alright, Aunt Jenna, he had it coming."

"You're not mad?" She asked, incredulously.

Elena shook her head. "I'm surprised, yeah, but like I said, he deserved it. He's been warned by both of us so many times." She thought about the information she'd discovered that night. He needed to stop messing around with drugs before it got out of hand; before the sheriff picked him up or before he got a bad dose or even worse, before he gave a bad dose to someone else. "You did what you had to do; I mean throwing apples at his back wasn't really doing the trick."

Jenna returned her smile with a laugh. "No, it wasn't, was it?"

"And besides, I know you would never do anything to hurt him," Elena said. "We did by the way."

"Did what?"

"Get spanked. It only happened a handful of times, but we both knew it was always a possible consequence, even as we got older, so I wouldn't feel too bad about it. Is he talking to you?"

"Let's see, I got an 'I already said I won't use anymore,' and a 'you're crazier than I thought,'" she said, mimicking Jeremy's voice. "But he's upstairs in bed instead of out running around who knows where and I have all his drugs, so I feel like I've at least accomplished something."

Elena knew Jeremy wouldn't have much trouble getting a new stash, but she didn't want to ruin her aunt's semi-victory. "Definitely a step in the right direction," she said with a smile before standing up. "I think I'm going to check on him, are you going to be alright?"

"After a couple more bottles of wine," Jenna joked.

XXXXXXXX

Jeremy rolled over onto his back, wincing at the pain. He couldn't get comfortable no matter what position he rolled into and his brain wouldn't shut up long enough to fall asleep anyway. He really needed something right now to take the edge of life; fat chance of that happening. He kept trying to wrap his head around his aunt's impromptu punishment. One minute he was telling her to leave him alone and the next he was over her knee, getting his ass handed to him.

The perfect ending to a perfect night. His butt stung, Vicki just chose that ass wipe, Tyler over him, he wanted his parents more than ever, and he couldn't sleep. More than anything he wanted the bed to disappear into the floorboards, with him on it. He could barely stand not being high.

There was a knock at his door. "Jer," his sister's voice floated through the crack.

"Go away," he said, without thinking. If he had been thinking he would've faked sleep to fend her off. She was about the last person he wanted to talk to right now.

Of course, Elena took that as a cue to let herself in. "How are you?" She asked.

"Get out," he ordered, rolling his eyes. He knew Jenna would tell her.

"I'm not leaving," she said, hovering over him. "Are you okay? Jenna told me what happened."

"Of course she did and then you told her what happened at the Grill and you both tried to figure out what to do with poor, tortured Jeremy."

It was Elena's turn to roll her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. I didn't tell her either, but you should."

"Why?" He huffed. "So she can beat my ass again? No thanks."

Though he'd never say it out loud, he had to give Aunt Jen credit; he didn't think she had it in her. Up until an hour ago, he hadn't been spanked in years and it had hurt more than he remembered. Not to mention the embarrassment factor of it all. His aunt, who was a good twenty pounds lighter than him, had made him cry. If word got around school, he'd never be able to show his face again.

"You deserved that, and you know it," Elena said. "You can't keep this up Jer. I know the last few months have been torture-"

"And this conversation is officially over," he said rolling onto his side and throwing a pillow over his head. "Get out!"

Much to his annoyance, Elena did not get out. Instead she yanked the pillow off his head. "Just talk to me, Jeremy, please, that's all I'm asking."

Fat chance of that happening, Jeremy thought. "Just get out, Elena," he growled again. "Quit treating me like one of your little school projects, you can't just fix me."

Jeremy cursed himself for his word choice when his sister practically sat down on top of him.

"Is that really what you think, that you're just some kind of project to me? It's not like that at all; you're my brother, Jeremy, I'm just worried about you."

"Well don't be. Just cause you magically feel better, doesn't mean I'm going to. We're not the same person." Like, you always get what you want, he thought to himself, trying not to feel jealous about her new relationship, but he couldn't help but think it unfair that everything came so much easier to her, while he practically had to beg Vicki to no avail.

"I don't expect you to feel better Jer," she answered, thoughtfully, slipping a piece of loose hair behind her ear. "Or I dunno…maybe I do. It just hurts to see you suffer. I just wish I could take it all away for you."

"Well you can't, so get over it," he said and rolled away from her.

He felt her sigh and then sprawl out next to him on the bed, much to his annoyance. She never could take a hint.

Jeremy hated that Elena treated him like some sad, sick puppy dog all the time, always worrying about how he was and what he was doing. It was bad enough that almost everyone else pitied him because their parents died, but for her to do it too was just too much. She got the same strange stares and comments of false empathy that he did, how couldn't she see how annoying it all was?

He guessed that's why he fell for Vicky so hard. She made him feel good without throwing a pity party for him. She was probably the only one in Mystic Falls who didn't feel sorry for him, well besides Tyler anyway. He should've known that she was using him just to get high for free. His stomach clenched just at the thought. How could he be so stupid?

"Remember when we put those stars up?" Elena said after several minutes ticked by.

Jeremy rolled back over onto his back, silently wincing once again. "Yeah," he said, welcoming the distraction. He stared up at the faded green orbs on his ceiling. "You fell off the desk and twisted your ankle, and mom made dad put up the rest of the stars."

"She was terrified we'd break our necks," Elena said, and Jeremy could hear the smirk in her voice.

Jeremy tried to laugh at the memory, but picturing his mom's face hurt too much. "I can't," he told her, rolling back over. He could feel the tears form behind his eyes and he struggled to get himself under control.

"I'm sorry Jer," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

He didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't her fault, but he didn't have the strength to tell her that, so he didn't say anything at all. When he felt her shift, he thought she was leaving; after all she had her own life with a new boyfriend to add to the mix. He didn't expect her to hang around and feel sorry for him. But instead she scooted closer to him and rubbed his back and he didn't mind the comforting motion so much at that moment. It felt good even if it didn't change anything. He allowed her to sooth him until exhaustion overcame him and he drifted off to sleep.