Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

Chapter 4

AJ sighed as she was leaving the campus of the school and heading towards her car. The car that everyone was waiting for her at. She hadn't yet told them about her encounter with Elijah, but she knew that she would need to today.

Suddenly someone shouldered her, and not in an accidental way. She turned around. It was Mona Diago.

"You got a problem, Mona?" AJ said loudly, gaining the girls attention as well as everyone else's. She and Mona had not spoken kind words to one another since Jeremy broke up with the girl a few weeks ago and AJ didn't really understand what that meant. But she was mad that Mona chose to act the way she did, nonetheless.

"Only if you call having to see your face everyday a problem," Mona shot back, her voice snide and her comeback lame.

AJ laughed. "You must be joking. If I could stand in front of the mirror every second of everyday, I would, believe me. So there's no problem here," AJ indicated to her face, letting her cocky and confident side show through. It was a side that she wasn't proud of, but appeared whenever a bully was around. "So do I sense a hint of jealousy, Moan?"

AJ knew Mona hated being called that. She could see it had the effect she wanted it to have. "Oh you sorry bitch—"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence, Mona. You don't want to mess with me today, got it?"AJ was not in the mood to get into a serious fight with this girl, even though she was sure she'd kick ass.

"Why, are your daddy issues bugging you as usual?" Mona venomously said.

That comment was just what it took to make AJ loose her calm demeanor. She walked towards the girl and full-out punched her, right in the jaw. Mona screamed and fell to the ground, holding her face. AJ simply flicked her wrist, allowing the pain of the punch to sink into her hand and leave it. Pain never had the same effect on her as it did others.

AJ bent at the knees, getting in Mona's face. "If you ever say such an ignorant comment like that again, then I will make sure to do worse than a broken jaw," AJ's voice was menacing, the threat clear. No one ever dared speak of her parents who didn't know her personally. Ever. And it was going to stay that way.

AJ turned around, ignoring the incredulous looks of tons of fellow students, as she walked to her car. Shaking her hand again, the pain seeming to increase rather than decrease. She groaned. She'd better not have broken it, she thought, or else she wouldn't be able to work out for weeks. She looked at her hand, as did Elena, Bonnie, Stephen, and Jeremy. It was swelling.

"Did you really have to punch her?" Elena asked, not mad or anything. Just curious.

"Yes," AJ replied shortly. "I'll be sure to inform the therapist my mother continuously recommends that it was quite satisfying. Scratch that—I'd probably end up hitting him too."

Elena and the others weren't sure if she was joking or not, but laughed nonetheless. It was simply AJ's way.

"There is something very serious that we all need to discuss," AJ said, equally as serious. "Not here though. Stephen, do you mind hosting?"

He nodded, "Sounds fine to me."

Ten minutes later they were all sitting in Stephen's large living room waiting for AJ to tell them what was so important.

"Where's Damon?" she asked, turning towards Stephen.

"Right here," Damon announced as he lazily sauntered in, heading straight for the liquor cabinet. Typical Damon. "Speak." He waved a hand at her, telling her without any more words that she had the floor.

"Okay," she looked throughout the group, a nervous feeling growing in her stomach. They were not going to like what she was about to tell them. "The thing is, well—" she stopped, collecting her thoughts. Everyone stared at her, surprised. Words rarely escaped her. "Well, the other night… Elijah was at the boarding house." Mouths gaped open.

"What?" Bonnie asked incredulously, disbelieving to her own ears. "AJ, what are you talking about? He's dead."

"No, he's far from dead. I got the impression that Originals are kind of indestructible…" AJ trailed off, knowing the reaction she'd get. There were several gasps. Damon stared at her intently.

"And where exactly did you see Elijah, AJ?" he asked very precisely, obviously holding a lot of anger in.

"In the boarding house…" her sentence trailed off yet again as it hung in the room along with silence. Her friends were either exchanging horrified glances with each other or very angry ones.

"And when was this?" Damon now spoke through clenched teeth. "And who the hell invited him in?"

"Well… It was a couple of days ago… And I'm pretty sure Ms. Flowers invited him in…" With every word she spoke she grew quieter because Damon was growing angrier.

"Damnit, AJ! I told you living there was a stupid idea! And why didn't you tell us sooner?" He zoomed up into her face, giving her his best death-glare.

She straightened her back and looked him in the eye, even if he was one or two inches taller than her height of 5'9. She returned his glare, never one to be intimidated. When he had zoomed up to scare her, she hadn't even flinched. She knew he was just worried, anyway. "Damon, if I recall correctly, none of you told me I was the freaking Warrior, so I hardly think it's a big deal that I forgot to mention Elijah!"

"Forgot? Really AJ? You forgot to mention him?" He stared down at her as if she were painted green and wearing a pink wig. "Only you could forget to mention that an Original just so happened to be invited into your house. How do you sleep at night?"

"Better, actually," she replied honestly, her own eyebrows shooting up along with everyone else's. "That's the part I haven't told you yet. He asked to make a deal with me."

"A deal?" Stephen asked, one arm crossed over his body and the other elbow resting on top of it, his hand covering his chin. "What kind of deal?" He wasn't angry or upset with AJ like the others were. He trusted her, she was smart and cunning. She knew what she was doing. At least he hoped so.

"He asked that I stop with my suicide tendencies and help him lure out Klaus, and he will make sure that no one on my list of friends and family is harmed. Simple as that," AJ shrugged, truly thinking it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Simple as that? Are you kidding me, AJ?" Elena spoke up again but this time with force in her voice. She wasn't happy. "You could get killed trying to lure out Klaus. Remember he wants you dead too?"

"No, actually, he doesn't. He wants me on his side Elena, not dead. I'm not part of the sacrifice, I would just make things go much more smoothly if I was on his side instead of yours," AJ explained. Now would they see that it really wasn't that big of a deal?

"And who told you that? Elijah?" Damon asked rhetorically with venom in his voice. He hated the Original already. He hated him more than he did the first time he met him, or rather killed him.

"Yes actually. He told me more than any of you could," she pointed out, still using her card of –you-didn't-tell-me-what-I-was-when-you-should-have-so-I-can-do-whatever-I-want-now.

"So what else did he tell you?" Bonnie asked curiously from her seat next to Jeremy.

"He said that whatever side I'm on determines a lot for when the sacrifice happens. The Warrior can be good or bad, and my decisions play a huge role in whatever Klaus wants. Klaus doesn't want to kill me—he wants to persuade me to help him. I am in no danger, especially with Elijah around. And neither are any of you."

"So you trust him, then?" Stephen asked, his voice far from accusing.

"Yes. He gave me his word. Plus I have a feeling that he's a man of his word. So I trust him." AJ was very intuitive, always letting her feelings guide her. They tended to be right for the most part.

"Foolish," Damon spat, still glaring at her and still invading her personal space. "That's absolutely foolish of you."

"Whatever Damon, you're just mad that he's not still dead. You'll get over when he has to save your life at some point," she spat back, tired of arguing with him. She was getting a headache. She put both hands to her temples, rubbing at them tenderly.

"AJ, are you okay?" Jeremy asked, worried. Oddly, he was the only one who knew of her diagnoses. He had been standing in the doorway of her room waiting to take her to school one day, because her car wasn't working, when her doctor left a message on her answering machine. He had been surprised that first day, but she hadn't been. She knew something had to be wrong with her. She made him vow never to tell a soul, knowing that the others would worry constantly if they knew.

"Yeah, Jer, it's just a headache," she reassured him and everyone looked between them oddly. They knew, too, that AJ and Jeremy didn't talk much.

He nodded but didn't take his eyes off her. He knew she was the suffer-in-silence type, and so he wasn't sure if he should take her word for being okay or not.

The headache was getting worse, a side-effect of her medicine. "Alright, well I'm going home. I've got things to do, so we'll pick up this conversation later," AJ said as she excused herself.

Jeremy stood up," I'll drive you home."

She put her hand up, "It's really not necessary," she told him but he waved his hand at her.

"I don't care, I'm driving you home." They left with everyone's eyes on them.

"Is it any better?" Jeremy asked, worried again. Her eyes were pinched shut as she held onto her head.

She shook her head, only slightly. "Worse." She was afraid to open her eyes, afraid that it would make the migraine explode to tenfold.

He was nearing the boarding house and when he was finally there, he pulled up the long driveway and stopped near the front door. Ms. Flowers and the other elder ladies were outside working on the garden when he pulled up. They looked up curiously.

"Stay put," he instructed her, praying that she'd listen because she almost never did.

He got out of the driver's side of the car and made his way to the passenger's side, seeing her already trying to get out. He sighed. She never listened to anyone.

"AJ, let me help you okay?" He said as he gently put his hands on her arms, nudging the car door closed once she was securely out of it. Her eyes were still shut and he wondered how she could navigate without them open. "Hey," he spoke again, on the verge of shaking her. "Listen to me. You let me carry you to your room, got it? We aren't moving from this spot unless you agree."

She couldn't see him but his voice was determined. She knew he could be as stubborn as she could, but it hurt so much. "Fine," she agreed quietly.

Jeremy bent down and picked her up, bridal style. One of the women moved to open the door for him, seeing that AJ was in no condition to go up the stairs on her own. She nodded at Jeremy kindly as he passed over the threshold. In his arms, close to his warm body, she felt oddly secure. Safe, even. She was surprised at this. No one ever made her feel that way. It must have been because of the state she was in and the fact that he was the only one who knew about it. Now that she thought about it, she did often regard him as a brother of sorts. She did have one of her own, but he was older. Jeremy was younger and a lot different.

He made it to her room on the second story, opening the door and walking in. He lay her down on her large bed then moved to close the curtains. The light would hurt her eyes.

"It's safe to open your eyes now, AJ," he said as he took a seat in a chair by the bed, shrouded in darkness.

She opened them and looked at him graciously. "Thank you for this Jeremy. I don't know what I'd do if you didn't know."

He nodded his head. "You need to tell the others." It wasn't demanding but it was informing. He knew that she spent more time with them than she did with him, and he wouldn't always be there when she'd get a headache—or worse.

She nodded slightly. "I know. I just don't want to add to their worries."

"AJ," he sighed, looking at her sadly, "It's been over six months. You should have told them by now. What if you had a cataplexy attack at school, huh? What then?"

"Then you would still be there," she said in a small voice, not looking at him. She didn't realize it until now, but she had always felt comforted by the thought of Jeremy being around. He knew what to do if anything ever happened to her. He knew.

His eyebrows rose. "But what if I'm not?"

She shook her head now. "I'd be okay, at some point. They only last a few seconds, anyway." She sat up on the bed, pulling her knees up to her chin. She pouted at him. "Please don't tell them, Jer. Please." Her voice almost sounded like she was begging.

He looked down and shook his head. "I won't, AJ, but only because I promised you. But you need to tell them and soon, okay? I don't like seeing you like this and being the only one who knows," he admitted. "Does your family even know?"

"Yes. It's genetic, so they know." It was true, her family had been there when she went to see the neurologist.

He nodded, grateful for her honest answer. She could fool the absolute best of them, but she couldn't fool him. He read her too well. "Alright, well I'll let you get some rest. And rest, got it? I don't wanna hear about you going for a run or whatever else you do when you're not supposed to."

She laughed and nodded her head. "I'll be right here the rest of the night, promise." Her eyes were alight with humor but held truth in them still. She thought it was funny that he was bossing her around.

"Okay. Goodnight, AJ." And he left.

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