Two weeks had passed since Jeremy had moved into the Salvatore house and not much had changed in that time.

Damon had been trying- with very little success- to communicate with Jeremy at every opportunity. Despite his efforts, every time he tried to hold a conversation with the teenager Jeremy would just give him one-word responses- sometimes a short sentence, if he was lucky- and then lock himself up in his bedroom.

Jeremy only really ever came out of his room for three things: food (dinner was still just as awkward, even when Stefan was added to the mix), school and going over to Jenna's for dinner a couple times a week. Stefan always gave the younger boy a lift to school as well as to dinner at Jenna and Elena's since he had an invitation to join them as well. Those nights left Damon utterly alone in the too-big house until around 9 when they came back.

This particular Friday afternoon Damon had to pick up Jeremy from school.

Jeremy had decided to stay over at Jenna's for the weekend for the first time since moving into the Salvatore house. Stefan couldn't drive him because he had football practice so Damon had volunteered to pick him up, drive him back to the house to pick up his stuff for the weekend and then drop him off at his aunt's.

The teen wordlessly climbed into the car without so much as a "hello" but Damon was, unfortunately, used to Jeremy's campaign to ignore him as much as possible.

But Damon, being Damon, had merely taken it as a challenge and continued to talk to the boy despite the monosyllabic or sometimes non-existent responses he tended to get.

Once Jeremy put his seatbelt on Damon pulled out of the parking lot and began to head in the direction of the boarding house before he broke the silence, "So how was school?"

Jeremy shrugged half-heartedly, "Fine."

Despite the teen's obvious disinterest in continuing the, Damon pressed on.

"How are your classes going?"

"Okay."

On this went for another ten minutes, until they were halfway back to the house: Damon asked questions and Jeremy replied with one word or a grunt.

As he turned the corner onto the more secluded roads leading back into the woods he remembered seeing Jeremy drawing in his room once or twice and wondered if maybe he needed a new one.

"Do you need to go shopping for anything, like supplies or a new sketchbook? I noticed that yours looks almost full."

Jeremy inhaled sharply and snapped, "You're not my mother, Damon! Leave me the hell alone. If I need a new sketchbook I'll freaking get one myself!"

Pissed off and more than a little hurt (although he'd never admit it out loud) Damon snarled back, "Fine! Be that way, you little brat."

The rest of the ride to the house, the time it took for Jeremy to gather everything he'd need for the weekend and school on Monday and the drive to Jenna's was spent in complete silence.

The car just barely stopped in front of the Gilbert house when Jeremy clambered out, bag and backpack in hand, and stalked up to the front porch and through the door without a single glance back, slamming it behind him.

Damon closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the steering, letting out a heavy sigh.

A few minutes later Stefan and Elena came outside and the couple exchanged a concerned look at the elder Salvatore's exhausted position.

Worried, Elena gently asked, "What happened?"

Damon snorted, the sound washed out and tired-sounding, "Little Gilbert was just being his usual sunshiny self, that's all."

Elena frowned again and exchanged another look with her boyfriend who watched silently as his older brother's shoulders slumped.

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm gonna head over to The Grill, I could really use a drink. ...I'll pick Jeremy up from school on Monday."

Stefan, unused to seeing his brother so stressed, immediately cut in, "I can bring him home. The coach said practice is cancelled on Monday."

Damon gave him a weak grin, "Thanks, brother."

He nodded to Elena and put the car in gear, pulling away from the curb and turning around to head back to the boarding house.

Upon reaching the house and locking the car Damon called a cab to take him over to The Grill. Yes, he'd been known to do some reckless things in the past but he wasn't stupid enough to drive drunk.

Two hours later and Damon was working on his fourth bourbon of the night.

He gulped down the last of what was in his glass and waved over the bartender, a young guy probably in his late teens with cornflower blue eyes.

The guy pulled out the bourbon Damon had been ordering all night and poured some into his glass. As he finished pouring he asked, "What's got you down?"

Damon took a sip from his newly refreshed drink and sighed, "I've got a teenager in my house."

The bartender laughed, "Your kid?"

Damon shook his head and raised an eyebrow at him, "Do I look old enough to have a teenage kid? He's not even related to me... My little brother's a couple of years older than him. He lives with me too."

He took another gulp of bourbon and continued, "He's a stick-in-the-mud though, doesn't act like much of a teenager. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that we're actually related."

The bartender chuckled as he wiped down a couple of glasses, "So you're having some problems with this kid then?"

Damon huffed, "I'm pretty sure he hates me, actually. From the moment we met it's been like cats and dogs whenever we're in the same room. I guess I don't blame the kid for not liking me, I've been told that I'm something of an asshole."

He gave the bartender a sardonic grin and waggled his eyebrows, garnering a sympathetic look from the guy before he moved down to the other end of the bar to refill another guy's bourbon.

Damon couldn't make him out because he was sitting in a darker corner or the bar but he could tell that he was tall and had short hair.

Raising his glass to his fellow bourbon drinker Damon knocked back another sip and mumbled, "Cheers, buddy."

Hehehe, I amuse myself by including little references from the show sometimes. I'm sure that you guys got it, right? Let me know if you did!

Poor, poor Damon I do feel bad for making you suffer but I can't help it, the plot requires it! The next chapter will probably be up in a few days. Thanks so much for reading, I'd love to hear what you think of this so far.