Title: Dark Candy

Type: Slash, Snark, Uncon, FirstTime, UST

Rating: NC-17

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries [ Showverse ]

Pairing: Jeremy Gilbert/Damon Salvatore

Setting: Sometime after "The Sacrifice" (Season 2, Episode 10)

Word Count: 4431

Summary: Jeremy is feeling more than apologetic for making Damon mad at him, so when he notices Damon as school after meeting with Alaric and Stefan, he finds himself ditching class and following Damon when he leaves, in hopes that something good will come of it. Pretty soon, Jeremy finds himself being toyed with again, but missing the live model in art class might have been the best thing that's happened to him in a while. Damon isn't shy, and he wouldn't want Jeremy failing his class now would he?

Warnings: Not spiteful smut, actually pre-smut for the most part (this chapter). NC-17 rating is given for the series, not any individual chapter, though no chapter will be completely "clean" (language, situations). Might be spoilerish to those who have not seen "The Sacrifice" (Season 2, Episode 10) or any episodes prior to that. This is a co-write, so apologies if the perspective seems a little choppy but you can deal with it. Jeremy is written by VarrosGirly and Damon by me, Jaxon666.

Jeremy had been thinking about his last Damon incident at the house over the past few days. There'd been very few times in his life when he felt so conflicted over something, especially like this. Damon had gone from silly older brother to seductive vampire to murderous psycho in record time, which had scared the shit out of Jeremy, but he wanted to get a few things off his chest to the vampire.

Which was why he was lurking outside Alaric's classroom now. The teacher, Damon, Stefan, and Elena were all in there discussing something, but he didn't really care what it was. He had spotted them going in on his way between classes and decided that he'd had to stop. The timing was great, and he knew Damon would be going his own way afterward. Nobody would suspect what he was planning, which was just how he liked things sometimes.

Jeremy hung back as the door swung open, everyone thankfully going in the direction away from him, and followed once Damon split off from the others. His brush bag and roll of canvas were clutched firmly in his hand, book bag over one shoulder. Jeremy jogged to catch up to Damon, who just continued to walk. He thought about calling out to him, but waited to see where the vampire was headed to.

Damon made his way through the halls of Mystic High and on to the main entrance once the pitiful pseudo-secret meeting had been adjourned, paying no attention to the unimpressive, characterless students that couldn't help but notice him, parting like the Red Sea somewhat in their masses as he strode through them without a care for their physical presence or direction. He didn't like to linger after these meetings they had.

Besides Alaric, the company was not exactly worth his time; Stefan being Stefan and Elena being clothed. He particularly disliked the smell of high school, too; a distinguished aroma of white chalk and old books mixed in with economy cleaning product and teenage despair. Not good. Of course, Stefan wouldn't mind it but then, he had inferior standards and he was pussy whipped.

Damon smiled at his thinking as he paced a little further from the school's grounds, happy to be rid of the place. No doubt he'd be dragged back there soon enough. It wasn't even like he wanted to help, not really. He could care less would happened to these people who made his life a little more boring with every breath they took. But knowing something was being done and done badly, when you knew you could much better, the only one in fact that could get what needed to be done, done, well that was the clincher. These hadn't been the only things on Damon's mind as he casually strutted. No, there was just one more thing he had in mind since before he used the main entrance of Mystic High as an exit, although he'd given no indication of it just yet.

He was way out of Stefan's earshot now though, so it was time to spoil the surprise, "Shouldn't you be in class, Jeremy?", he asked ominously, without even turning around to face the Gilbert sibling he had always known was following him. When would these humans learn the basics of vampirism. They could hear, see and smell things on a whole other level to that of humans, and what was Damon if not the best vampire anyone had ever known?

Just as he thought he'd finally give Damon a clue as to somebody being behind him, he was caught extremely off-guard. Jeremy dropped his brushes and canvas, stooping to pick them up quickly, glancing up at the back of Damon's head. "I should...but I'm not. I wanted to talk to you about some stuff." He jogged up to stand beside Damon, a little out of breath from having to speed and that the vampire had known he was there all along.

"I mean...I also want to apologize for making you snap the other day." He didn't expect a return apology for the reaction, though. "Are you headed somewhere we can talk then?" Jeremy glanced around, since he hadn't truly been paying attention to the direction Damon was walking in. He'd just followed without thinking.

Having stopped dead in his tracks to address the sometimes dishevelled little human, Damon turned around after hearing his words, eyes scrunching and head cocking slightly to one side as though in negative consideration. And just like that, his expression became a neutral one; unexpected, but then Damon had a way of keeping others on their toes, perhaps intentionally or maybe it was just a passive side effect of his nature. Either way, within a split second Damon had gone from looking at Jeremy like a Happy Meal with limbs that has pissed him off, to smiling casually and seeming friendly. Well, as friendly as Damon could seem.

"I'm a vampire...a real one. We snap all the time.", Damon's way of reassuring Jeremy that he needn't worry too much about what had happened, though it was likely to happen again. He sighed at Jeremy's question; Damon relished in being so wanted by everyone all the time, but for tedious conversations which usually involved feelings he couldn't resemble, or helping somebody far less awesome than himself out with his superior awesomeness? It got old.

"What is it with you Gilberts? Always wanting one-on-one time with their favourite vampires. Why couldn't you both just follow in the footsteps of your ancestors. You're killing my mood with all this human stuff anyway, might as well kill me.", Damon turned away from Jeremy and carried on walking across the road to wherever it was he was going. Though he didn't divulge his location of choice, he did not exactly tell Jeremy to go away.

Jeremy pulled the other strap of his backpack over his shoulder, smiling hesitantly until Damon finally returned it. After all, he hadn't severely pissed off the vampire. Just annoyed him enough into action. He frowned at the insinuation Damon was making about him, though it wasn't a terribly inaccurate one, but Jeremy was nothing like his sister, or so he hoped.

"I just wanted to ask about a couple things," he said as Damon walked away again. Jeremy glanced both ways down the road before crossing. If he got hit by a car, that was just an accident, and a normal one at that. Damon could've survived being hit at least. He sped up his pace to catch up with Damon once more. "I'm not going to turn into some vampire hunter just because my ancestors were."

"But Elena and I have different reasons for uh...wanting to talk to you Salvatores." Jeremy grimaced a smile but continued on, keeping pace with Damon. "I want to talk because I want answers about some of the stuff that happened. Or almost happened I guess." Yes, the fact that he'd almost had some very personal time with Damon had stuck in his mind heavily, and he wanted to know if he'd ever have the chance again, or if it was something that his hesitant little ass had missed out on forever. With Damon, it could have been either, one never knew.

"Such a shame. You're so burly and intimidating...totally capable of taking me out if you wanted to. Uncle John would be shitting himself. Then again...you probably would make a better vampire hunter than him, but he hardly counts being that he's so...well...lame.", Damon didn't even look at Jeremy who had now caught up with him, as he parted with sarcasm, but he needn't do so for the boy to know that he was doing things with his eyes that no man or vampire should be capable of doing. Then he caught the last part of what Jeremy had to say, and his response to that required at least one look; though it felt more like twenty all at once; maybe more, "Oh really?", and his disbelief towards Jeremy and Elena having different motives in their choice of vampire could have smashed through a brick wall.

He went on to swing open the door of the coffee shop he'd arrived to, charging ahead as if Jeremy wasn't there. He didn't even hold the door open. It wasn't really passive aggressive of him though, it was just how Damon was. Finally, a place that smelled good for a change, the main reason for being here; it wasn't like Damon actually cared for the flavour of any drink that wasn't red and bled straight from the heart's circulation of a living mortal thing that resembled his shape and size, if paled in comparison. "You people and your need for answers. What is it about me that makes any of you think I care?", he looked at the menu on the table he'd sat at, not really inviting Jeremy to sit with him, though he was pretty sure that the human was still there.

Jeremy rolled his eyes just a little bit, but he couldn't help it. "I think I proved that I had what it took to take you down before." That had been wit above brawn, but in the end he couldn't finish the deed. Jeremy was just too fond of Damon to have killed him, despite having died at his hands so soon before. He sighed but continued to follow, not speaking what was on his mind at the multi-faceted expression.

The door nearly knocked into his face, but Jeremy caught it in time, following Damon inside. He hadn't been to this coffee shop before, but it seemed like a nice one. He knew he might have been pressing his luck by continuing to pursue Damon like this, but they were in public, so he took the chance. The vampire really wouldn't do anything in broad daylight, at least not in front of a crowd. At least that was what Jeremy hoped.

"Well I kinda figured you don't care about much, but it's not like you're doing anything else right now." Jeremy dropped his bag and took the seat across from Damon, setting his canvas and brush bag on the floor next to him. "So can I ask you about things or not?" It wasn't really a question for permission, but a verbal wondering as to if it was worth his time or not.

Damon folded the menu up and flattened it down on the table from it's previous standing position, hand resting on top of it for a moment as though to let it know it should stay where he'd placed it, "Fine, but the second this get's really annoying I will personally drag you outside, pants you, and post the pictures all over Facebook. Of course, I'd have to make an account first, but I'm sure it'd be worth two minutes of my time."

Damon smirked in a way that was uncertain of being cruel or mischievous. Perhaps it was both, but more importantly, nothing was beneath him; if mood struck, Jeremy would find himself with his junk swinging in the outdoor wind and slightly blinded by multiple camera flashes. "Well then? Aren't you going to tell Doctor Damon what's bothering you? He's just dying to know.", a lie on two counts; he really didn't care, and he was already dead.

Jeremy fiddled with a napkin that was on the table, finding himself just a bit shy now that he had Damon's full attention. He glanced around to make sure nobody he knew was around. But that was silly, they were all at school, and the coffee shop seemed to be relatively empty. He had to make sure that he at least tried to say some things that would pique Damon's interest long enough to get home with his entire wardrobe intact.

"So...when you said that the moment had passed last time...would you seriously have...done stuff with me?" Jeremy had been dealing with the typical teenage angst of wondering whether or not to show affections and how they would be returned if shown. "Like if it happened again...would you?" He glanced over, seeing a few people enter the shop, but nobody he knew.

The devious vampire's Wintery eyes lit up as he laughed gruffly in Jeremy's direction, which soon came to an abrupt stop. He wouldn't deny, Jeremy's fangirling of him was exceptionally amusing. "Maybe, maybe not. Next question.", it was clear that Damon was not ashamed to admit that certain interactions with Jeremy might have unfolded if mood had taken; guilt rarely perhaps yes, but Damon didn't do shame.

It just seemed much more enjoyable to deny the boy a definite answer. He wanted one; not giving it would make him squirm and act like an idiot. Squirming, idiotic Jeremy could provide entertainment.

Jeremy's expression made it obvious for just a moment that he was disappointed with the answer, even if it wasn't completely unexpected. He scratched at the back of his neck, looking at the menu in front of Damon, though it was upside down to him. "C'mon, why can't you just-" He sighed, cutting himself off, and sat back, folding his arms and looking back up to the vampire's icy eyes.

"We should get some coffee, dunno how long we'll end up being here," he said after a moment. Before either of them could get up to order one, though, he continued on. "Was it a spur of the moment kind of thing, or something you thought about before?" It had certainly become something Jeremy thought about frequently.

"Jeremy, what do you know about vampires...I mean the real one's like me that actually drink blood and enjoy being what we are, and not the glittery, bleeding heart, 'love me please, or it'll hurt my feel-bads' kind? We want, we take, we have. We do anything we want to do at the time. Most of the time we don't even know what we're going to want, and that's just part of the fun.", and that was the only explanation Jeremy would get. By no means a dishonest one though.

Just before Jeremy got to finish his anxious social escape clause, in suggesting that they order some coffee, a waitress appeared at the table and lay down two large mugs without even saying a word, leaving them soon after. "I'm a regular. They love me here.", of course Damon had compelled the staff to always bring he and his company a set order, because he tired of repeating himself and speaking to people devoid of intrigue or importance, but Jeremy needn't know that. Then again, knowing Damon, Jeremy would not have found the concept a difficult one to stumble upon.

He was pouting, feeling frustrated, though he didn't realize how his face was appearing at the moment. Jeremy did know that Damon knew exactly what his own face was doing to the teen, though. "Kind of frantic, isn't it?" He sighed and pulled his hand through his hair, jumping slightly at the sudden arrival of two coffees. Jeremy should have expected something like that.

He took the mug and dumped some creams into it. Jeremy didn't do straight coffee at all. "OK fine, I get it. You're the big bad vampire who wins everyone over no matter what he does." Jeremy stared at the drink as he swirled a spoon in it, adding sugar to it. "So what about playing games, acting all nice and stuff? Just part of your impulses too?"

"Pretty much. Nice to see you're getting the picture.", Damon took the freshly boiled coffee to his lips, perfectly black like whatever it was that he had in place of a soul, taking a mouthful and drinking it down comfortably where a human gullet would have been severely burnt. "You done asking questions now? I'd like if you were.", Damon did his eye thing, and even though it was in one of the more infuriating blends within his variety, he was not aware how much more wantable it made him, was he?

Jeremy sighed, finally taking a slow sip of the coffee in his hands. He'd added enough cream to cool it considerably, though it was still just a little hot. Damon hadn't answered the question about being so nice, which made him wonder. Was acting that way with people something he was ashamed of? And if nobody else knew about it, why would he be? It wasn't like there were other vampires to impress.

"I can lay off for now," he shrugged. His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, though he could imagine what it was about. Elena or Bonnie, maybe even Stefan, had gotten wind that he'd skipped out of the rest of the day, and they were now texting to see if he was alive and well. But what did they really care? Maybe he was just being cynical and emo again. Then again, it was funny, at least to him, to let them squirm about it for a while.

"So you don't want me asking any more questions," he said, taking a bigger sip of the coffee. What were they going to talk about then, since that had been the purpose of following him here.

And now Jeremy wanted an analyze the potential truth that Damon may not want him to ask any more questions, within a conversation that had been about asking him questions from the outset, which in itself came in the form of a question. Damon rolled his eyes upwardly. "You should get back to school. I wouldn't want to be seen as a bad influence...because of course it's my fault that you've decided to compete with my shadow. It's always my fault.", most if not all things that fell out of Damon's mouth were rife with innuendo, and now was no exception, but then even when Damon made a basic statement, he had a way of drenching his words with a sentiment that seemed at least a little suggestive and wrong.

Jeremy shook his head and set the mug down. "I only had my painting class and a study hall...I'd get in trouble for being late anyway, might as well take the rest of the day off." He crumpled up the corner of the napkin again. "I can tell them the truth...partly. It's not like you compelled me to follow you or anything." Jeremy smiled genuinely and shrugged, looking very comfortable in his chair.

"Besides, it's not too bad seeing you normal like this. You know, away from worrying about other vampires, master plans, killing off people and all the other fun shit." A regular Damon was so hard to come by, but worth the wait once found, so he thought.

"If you're going to be the President of the Damon Salvatore fan club, I think it's best that you don't ever call me normal...again. It's bad for public image.", those cold dead eyes so impossibly full of life, flaring with thunder that dazzled and threatened as they shone above that wicked shit-eating grin of his. Damon eyed the irrelevant art junk that protruded from Jeremy's backpack on the floor.

Oh how tragic his undead life had become, now that he had come to a place where he now shared company with someone who owned a backpack. He would do something bad to make up for that later. "You missed art class to bother me. How touching.", he teased; he might as well have blown Jeremy a mock kiss.

Jeremy realized why Damon didn't like to be compared to anything normal, but it was already misunderstood and too late to take back; he buried a potentially awkward response in his coffee, taking a long drink from it. Damon knew that the teen was intrigued by and attracted to him, obviously, and it didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. He blushed just a little, though, at Damon's sarcastic tone toward him.

"Yeah, I did. And I didn't even slightly get what I was hoping to out of it." He sighed and looked down at his bag and supplies. "We were working on painting figures, but I can make it up. I can just look up models on the internet and practice from those." He drained a good amount of the coffee, feeling the normal early afternoon tiredness leaving his system quickly.

"Sorry to disappoint. I'll say an extra Hail Mary just for you tonight.", as if Damon brokered any religion, to himself or anyone else, "This class you missed...it wasn't important, was it?", Damon prodded, as though he knew that Jeremy was keeping something from him that he shouldn't have been.

He sort of shrugged as if he wasn't going to answer, but they both knew he would. Jeremy enjoyed talking about things important to him, with people he thought cared enough to hear it. Well, Damon obviously didn't care, but Jeremy didn't mind sharing with him anyway. "Kind of yeah. We were supposed to have a live model today...but whatever."

"Well...is being here going to get you in to trouble, Jeremy? What is it you're not saying.", Damon's brow furrowed in towards the center as he deemed it necessary to pry whatever it was the boy held back from his tongue. He was already the first person to blame for everything that happened in Mystic Falls, and granted if it involved spiteful violence, murder or the stealing away of others' dignity, it was with good reason.

But he'd only just started gaining a fraction of trust back recently, not that he wanted to play happy families with Elena and Stefan and the rest of them, but at least being trusted spared his ears of their constant fucking whining. The last thing he needed was hearing how it was his fault that Jeremy failed a class and had to make up for it with extra credit.

He blinked at Damon for a moment with impossibly large eyes, holding off from the pressure for a decent amount of time, given the people involved. Jeremy did finally crack, though. "OK, OK, so this was part of a final project that's worth, like, a third of our grade in the class." He had wanted to speak with Damon too badly, though.

"We had to start with the basic figure today and elaborate it through the rest of the semester." Jeremy stuck the spoon into his coffee again, watching the way the liquid moved around it. "I just thought I could seize the moment or something; you were going off on your own, and..." He sighed, shrugging away the rest of the sentence.

Rolling his eyes again, Damon shook his head in detest whilst letting out an irritated breath, not that a vampire really needed to breathe, but then such was habit, and necessary to form words. "This is what I get for being unbearably desirable.", he said, apparently to himself though not hiding his comment from present company, which evidently perked up a little, if but for a moment.

"Well...I suppose, since I have so much of nothing to do today, I will have to make sure you don't flunk that class of yours won't I?", Damon finished the entire remainder of his coffee, which was still too hot to have been drank comfortably in such a way by human tongue, "The house is empty...Stefan and Elena won't be interrupting until school's out. I guess we can do this there.", Damon failed to fully explain what he was proposing to Jeremy, and it was likely that the human would never think himself so lucky to have fathomed it of his own accord.

"They don't know where I went off to," he said, "So they can just think I slipped back into bad habits or something. Then you won't get blamed for it?" Jeremy didn't want the vampire to be angry with him, especially since an angry Damon provoked the teen, which in turn made very bad, life-threatening decisions. Damon was very correct, though, in knowing how much Jeremy did want him recently.

Jeremy's first assumption was that Damon was going to take him back to the school, where he'd just be inexcusably late and miss the rest of the class by spending it in the principal's office anyway. It would also put Damon back into good graces, he supposed, returning a teenage delinquent to his rightful habitat. He had leaned sideways to pick up his bag but then stopped, looking at Damon from just above the table quizzically. "At the house? Do what...?"

Jeremy pulled his bag up onto his lap, more confused in this moment than he was by most of Damon's other antics. He finished his coffee, too, wincing a little as the still-hot liquid splashed down his throat. "Why are we going to your house?" What had he missed here?

He smiled and batted his eyelids for effect, "I'm going to model for you...unless of course, you think that's too...inappropriate.", his face flashed with infectious gestures as he emphasised that last word stupendously. Of course it would be inappropriate, as most private moments involving Damon in varied states of undress, but then that was the one thing that kept Damon from strangling Jeremy for putting him in a bad situation right now.

Damon stood up from his seat and walked towards the door, holding his hand against it and turning his head to Jeremy before he opened it, his usually precise body language for once seeming quite inviting, "Well? Let's go, little man, you have nudey pictures to draw.", or was that paintings to paint? But then, such details really didn't matter.

Jeremy's face lit up considerably as he realized just what he was going to be treated to today. It seemed like an impossible thing that had just happened, but this was Damon, so the impossible always seemed to be reality. "No...no, I mean I don't think it's inappropriate." He laughed lightly, standing and pulling his bag over one shoulder. Jeremy tripped a little over the chair he'd been in, but eagerly followed Damon out of the coffee shop. Damon had walked here, so were they going to be walking back to the mansion? Hopefully his car was close by. "I wasn't expecting this at all. You do that a lot." Jeremy looked around, as if the answer to his un-vocalized transportation question would pop out of the earth.

"You love it you little Damon-geek.", Damon said, ruffling Jeremy's hair as he walked through the door held open for him and walked ahead.

THE END