After Vicki's death everything was different. Jeremy did not know anything of it because Damon manipulated his mind – so he believed that Vicki left Mystic Falls and that this is the best for everyone. He should not look for her, but there was one thing this manipulation could not take:
The feeling of gaping emptiness in his chest. It felt like a big hole which roped everything in.
Thus Jeremy was not sad about it however he felt that emptiness in his chest and did not know where it came from or what it was supposed to mean. For the first time in weeks he did his homework (he had to catch up a lot), sat downstairs in the kitchen and ran over the pages of his schoolbooks. Elena and Jenna could not believe what they were seeing there. Elena knew however that this was probably caused by Damon's manipulation – she was sorry that she had to lie to her brother. But she did not have another choice. She did not want him to live with this pain because he went through a lot after their parents' death. Anyway he lived his life now and it seemed he got away from all those drugs. At least Elena hoped so.
"How's it going?", she asked and went to the kitchen table where Jeremy put his school stuff.
Jeremy shrugged. "I've to catch up a lot. Well, if it is not important, be quiet please", he said with a slight grin on his lips. His sister nodded and left him alone. She was happy that he was occupied with other things. Some time she would tell him the truth but it would not be so soon. She just wanted him to be happy. Jeremy worked himself through all those boring American Civil Wars. They had a new teacher now, their old history teacher was killed by an animal. At least everyone believed that. Jeremy did not want to spoil it all. Tanner had it in for him and therefore Jeremy did his best to leave a good impression.
After a while Jeremy had enough and packed his things together. Just in this moment his aunt Jenna came to him in the kitchen and smiled. "Ready? Are you hungry? I could cook something", she said while she got a cup out of the cupboard. Jeremy shook his head but smiled back. "No it's okay. I will make me a sandwich or something like that later", he said and went upstairs to his room. His aunt looked after him and was a little bit disappointed because she hoped the three of them could eat in the kitchen together. But she was relieved that he spoke more than three words with her. He never took her seriously even less as a person of authority. Well, that wasn't Jenna at all. One day he claimed he needed wood for a bird cage but he rather went to Vicki Donovan. Well, Jenna believed him. Now Vicki was gone and he had to live his life again. She hoped he was going to be successfull.
Jeremy lay on the bed in his room and looked at the white ceiling. He could hear Elena next door talking to Stefan Salvatore. Actually, Jeremy liked Stefan because he was really a gentleman. Elena was kept well with him. But Jeremy rather had someone who cared for him or someone to care for.
At this moment he had to think of Vicki. She will never come back but he did not worried about her.
"Vicki Donovan left town. She will never come back. Don't ever look for her and don't worry about her. Although you miss her you know that she is fine and that it's the best for all." These thoughts came back every time when he thought of Vicki. They gave him hope and he felt better. But who told him that? He did not know. Slowly his eyes closed and sleep took him in a dark and blurry realm of dreams.
The next day he woke up because of the sunlight which promised a wonderful nice day. Sleepy he dragged himself out of bed and went to the bathroom where Elena was brushing her teeth. "Oh", he said and wanted to leave as Elena called him back. "Good Morning!" She looked at him with a pervasive glance. "I'm ready. You can come in", she said, left the room and closed the door behind her. Jeremy was relieved, washed his skin with cold water to wake up. He definitely needed a coffee. Hopefully there was coffee downstairs already otherwise he would not be able to do something.
So he was getting rid of his clothes and went to the shower. Probably a cold shower would effect miracles but he'd rather shower as hot as possible that it nearly hurt. That was exactly the way he liked it. He spent as much time as possible, towelled himself, combed his hair and shuffled to his room again where he took some new clothes out of his cupboard. Jeremy was getting dressed rapidly finally he arrived downstairs in the kitchen. Elena and Jenna were sitting there together eating breakfast and drinking some coffee. Jeremy just wanted to ask if there is another cup of coffee for him as Elena pointed to the free chair. "Breakfast is ready – and coffee as well", she said and smiled friendly. What was going on with them? Was there a common breakfast on the plan? Normally Jeremy never ate anything in the morning because he didn't have much time. But he decided to do it now, sat down and grabbed a cup of coffee. Firstly he sipped coffee to check if it's not to hot but it was perfect. So he was able to quaff it.
Elena and Jenna were blinking at him. Slowly they were getting weird. "What's wrong with you? Do I have something in my face?", he asked them and began to laugh. "Nope, we are just happy to sit together and eat breakfast. The last one was a long, long time ago." Well, Jenna was right. Jeremy could not remember it anyway. So he horked his sandwich down and his coffee afterwards. Then he went upstairs to get his schoolbag. "Jer? We're driving together, okay?", Elena asked and stood in front of the door already as he came down the stairs. "It's okay", he said in a monotone voice.
"Have fun you two!", Jenna called after them as they left the house. Hastily they went to Elena's car and stepped in. Jeremy was taking place on the passenger seat and looked over to his sister who was starting the motor. In some way, it would be a wonderful day like the sun promised this morning. Jeremy was smiling and looked at the houses and meadows passing by. They didn't talk during the drive, it seemed Elena did not want to bother her brother somehow.
As they arrived at the school parking lot they said Goodbye to each other, Elena went over to Stefan who was waving to her. Now Jeremy went over to the schoolbuilding because he did not want to be late for American History for the first time in weeks. On his way Jeremy didn't believe that somebody could rain on his parade.
But then he saw the only person who was able to do that in a second: Tyler Lockwood. He was sitting there with some of his new cheerleader chicks . Damn Tyler Lockwood, he couldn't cared less about Vicki, Jeremy thought. As Tyler saw Jeremy, he said something to the girls, stood up and came over to him. Jeremy's face went dark. What did he want again? He prepared himself for a bash on his head... "Gilbert. May I talk to you for a second?", Tyler said.
"What the hell do you want, Lockwood? Vicki is gone. She left town – leave me alone." Jeremy wanted to go to the school entrance, but Tyler did not want him to. "I don't want to talk about Vicki. I just want to bury the hatched. Alright?" Jeremy was stunned. What the heck was going on with Tyler Lockwood? That wasn't him. Jeremy didn't want to be friends with him. "Piss off!", Jeremy mumbled and ran over to the entrance.