04; Friday Night Bites | Part One
Marissa pulled the light gray peacoat tighter around her body and folded her arms across her chest as she walked down the sidewalk early one morning on the way to school.
She couldn't believe Caroline picked this morning; the first cool morning since school started, to lay in bed with Damon all morning. Even if it was supposed to warm up during the day, at the moment she was cold and pissed.
She had beat on Caroline's bedroom door repeatedly but Caroline would never answer. Once she realized Caroline wasn't leaving the bedroom she knew to get to school she would have to walk.
Marissa still couldn't believe that her sister would even bring Damon home with her; sure he was nice to look at, but there was just something about him that gave her a bad feeling. He always looked like he was keeping a secret; a secret that would put you in danger if you ever found out.
While Marissa was in deep thought, she didn't hear anyone pull up behind her until she heard a horn blow. She quickly turned around and smiled when she saw it was Tyler.
Marissa walked over to the passenger side window and leaned inside to say, "Hey."
"Hey, Baby Forbes. Where you heading?" Tyler questioned.
"School," Marissa answered.
"You're walking to school? Is Caroline sick or something?" Tyler asked surprised. He knew Caroline always drove her to school and would never allow her to walk anywhere alone.
"No, not sick. Just tied up with Damon at the moment," Marissa answered.
"Ah, got ya," Tyler said. With a laugh, he added, "So at the moment she's probably literally tied up."
"Ew, I don't even want to think about that," Marissa said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
Tyler laughed at her comment, then said, "Well hop in, I'll give you a ride."
"Thanks," Marissa said as opened the passenger door and sat down in the seat.
Tyler waited a moment until she was seated and ready before he put the car into drive and drove down the road. They rode in silence for a few minutes until Tyler looked over at her and noticed she had her arms folded across her chest.
"Hey, you cold? I could turn the heat on," Tyler suggested.
Marissa looked over at him, then said, "No thanks, I'm fine."
She turned her head back to look straight ahead as she tried not to freak out. She couldn't believe she was actually sitting beside Tyler Lockwood in his car; sure they were just going to school, but she still couldn't believe she was alone with him.
"You sure are quiet early in the morning," Tyler said, glancing over at her with a smile.
"Sorry, I guess I'm still half-asleep," Marissa lied. She couldn't tell him the truth; she couldn't tell him she was quiet because she was trying to control her emotions.
"You going to the game this weekend?" Tyler asked, referring to the first upcoming football game.
"Of course. Caroline always likes for me to record the cheerleaders so she can watch it later and fix all the problems," Marissa answered.
"Record cheerleaders, huh? Any way I can borrow that tape?" Tyler asked.
Marissa scoffed. "That's gross, Tyler."
"Hey, I was kidding," Tyler said laughing. "Besides the only girl I want to see jump around is you," he added with a flirty grin.
"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not," Marissa joked.
"Oh, it was definitely a compliment," Tyler said, looking over at her and smiling again.
Marissa looked at Tyler and laughed when he gave her a quick wink before turning his head to look back at the road as he turned into the school parking lot.
Once they were parked, Marissa opened the door and stepped out. She grabbed her bag and shut the car door as Tyler walked toward her so they could walk across the parking lot together.
They had only taken a few steps when one of Tyler's friends, Brad, called for him, then jogged over to them.
"What's up, Lockwood," Brad said as he gave Tyler a high-five. He glanced over at Marissa for a moment and added, "You moving on from Vicki already?"
"Nah, just give Caroline's little sister a ride," Tyler answered with a shrug as if it was no big deal.
"Marissa, right?" Brad asked her.
"Right," Marissa said with a polite smile.
"I'm Brad," he said, holding out a hand. "And may I add that you're hot."
"Um...Thanks," Marissa mumbled as she quickly shook his hand, then pulled her hand away when he tried to hold on to it a little longer.
"I apologize for Brad, he's a jerk," Tyler snapped. He hated to admit it but it bothered him to see Brad checking out Marissa.
"Don't apologize for me, man, girls love to hear that shit, am I right?" Brad joked as he continued to check her out.
"Okay, I better get inside," Marissa said, ignoring Brad's question. "Thanks for the ride," she said to Tyler as she turned to leave.
"Damn, man, when are you going to tap that?" she heard Brad say as she took a few steps away from them. She didn't hear what Tyler said in return, but she heard them both laughing as she continued to walk away.
Marissa folded her arms across her chest and looked down at the ground. She couldn't believe how different Tyler acted around his jerk friend. With her, he was nice and a little flirty but when Brad came around he kind of turned into an obnoxious jerk.
'Maybe Jeremy was right'. She thought to herself with a sigh.
"Hey," Jeremy said, walking in step with her.
"Hey," Marissa said to him with a small smile.
"You okay?" Jeremy asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Marissa said smiling. The last thing she wanted to do was tell Jeremy the way Tyler was acting. It would just give him another reason to call Tyler a dick.
"Good, now answer a question for me," Jeremy said.
"What?" Marissa asked confused.
"What the hell were you doing with that dick?" Jeremy asked angrily.
"Don't start, Jer," Marissa said with a sigh. She wasn't in the mood to fight with Jeremy once again about Tyler.
"I'm sorry," Jeremy said as he lightly grabbed her arm to keep her from walking. "But seriously, why were you with him? Are you two having before school dates or something?"
"What? No, Jer, it wasn't like that. He saw me walking to school and offered me a ride," Marissa explained.
"Why were you walking?" Jeremy asked confused.
"Because Caroline is locked in her room with Damon," Marissa said.
"Why didn't you call me? Me and Elena would have come and got you?" Jeremy asked.
"I don't know, I was just trying to get to school before I was late and Mom grounds me. So I decided to just leave the house and walk. I didn't even think of calling anyone," Marissa explained as she began to walk again.
"Well next time you need a ride, call me, okay?" Jeremy said, following along beside her.
"Alright, I will. Just chill out, Jer, it's not that big of a deal," Marissa said, walking inside the school building.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm sure sitting beside him was a dream come true for you, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," Jeremy stated.
"I know. So can we just drop it and change the subject now?" Marissa asked as she walked to her locker and opened the door.
"Sure," Jeremy said, opening his locker beside hers. "So guess what?" he asked, changing the subject.
"What?"
"My sister is dating Stefan now," Jeremy told her.
"That's great, she needs some happiness in her life," Marissa said. "Although I think it's weird that your sister and my sister are dating brothers."
"That is kinda weird," Jeremy agreed.
Marissa placed all the books she would need in her bag, then shut the locker door at the same time Jeremy closed his. She looked at him and asked, "Want to walk to class together?"
"I would, but I need to head outside for a bit," Jeremy said. When she shot him a look, he added, "Don't look at me like that, I'm not going out there to smoke or take anything."
"Then why are you going?" Marissa asked.
"Vicki asked me to meet her out there," Jeremy answered.
"Ugh," Marissa scoffed as she rolled her eyes.
"Hey, don't start," Jeremy said. "I'll be inside soon, save me a seat, okay?"
"Okay," Marissa mumbled as he walked off. She couldn't help but feel hurt anytime he left her to go see Vicki, although she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like Jeremy was her boyfriend or anything, so it couldn't be jealousy, could it?
•••
When the final bell rang, ending the school day, Marissa dropped her books off at her locker and began to walk toward the back of the school where the cheerleaders and football players held practice after school.
She had tried all day to get in touch with her sister, who never came to school, but never got an answer. She knew Caroline would never miss cheerleading practice though.
Marissa glanced at all of the cheerleaders and sighed when she didn't see her sister. She pulled out her cell phone and tried to call Caroline again as she walked over toward Elena and Bonnie, who were stretching before practice started.
"Hey, have you two heard from Caroline?" Marissa asked as she ended the call when Caroline's voicemail message started.
"No, I texted her like a hundred times, but no answer," Bonnie answered her.
"I can't believe she's not at practice. She's always the first one here," Marissa said with a worried look on her face.
"I'm sure she's okay, Rissa," Elena said to the younger girl, hoping to ease her fears.
"I'm sure you're right, Elena," Marissa said with a small smile. "Okay, enough of worrying, what's the latest gossip, distract me."
"I was just inviting Bonnie over to dinner with me and Stefan, so she can get to know him," Elena said to her.
"Oh, that sounds like fun," Marissa said smiling.
"Bonnie doesn't agree because she's not too fond of Stefan," Elena added.
"Why don't you like Stefan?" Marissa asked Bonnie.
"I never said I didn't like him," Bonnie argued. "I just said I had a bad feeling."
"A bad feeling?" Marissa asked.
"Yeah, I accidentally touched him and felt something bad," Bonnie answered.
"It's the whole witchy thing again," Elena added.
"I still think that is so cool, Bon," Marissa said smiling at Bonnie.
"Not when you feel what I feel," Bonnie said sadly.
Before anyone could say anything else, they heard a car pull up and were surprised about who was in the car- Caroline and Damon.
"Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the Grill," Bonnie said as they watched Caroline lean over and kiss Damon before exiting the car.
"If by mystery you mean creepy than yeah," Marissa said, folding her arms across her chest and looking over at the car with a disgusted look on her face.
Elena chuckled at Marissa's comment, then said, "That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore."
"Salvatore, as in Stefan?" Bonnie asked in shock.
Marissa and Elena nodded, as Caroline walked in between them and said to Elena, "I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind."
Marissa glanced over at Damon and saw him watching her and Elena before giving her his trademark smirk and driving away. She scoffed and walked over to Caroline.
"Care, where have you been? And what's up with the scarf?" Marissa asked as she pointed to the bright color scarf around Caroline's neck.
"Sorry, sis, can't talk right now," Caroline said as she began to walk away.
"Wait, what's going on?" Marissa asked as she reached out and lightly grabbed Caroline's arm to keep her from walking away.
"I said not now," Caroline snapped as she pulled her arm away from Marissa and walked over toward all the cheerleaders.
Marissa sighed as she walked over to the football field. She could hear Caroline apologizing to the girls about being late before leading them into their first cheer. Snapping at her wasn't something Caroline did a lot, making her worry even more about her big sister.
She rested her arms on the fence that separated the field from the area where the cheerleaders practiced while she watched the football players practice one of their drills. Right away she noticed Tyler on the field as he ran toward the player who had the ball and tackled him to the ground.
Once the play was over, Tyler stood up from the ground and removed his helmet. He glanced over at the side of the field and saw Marissa watching him.
He gave her a quick smile and nodded his head toward her, as if to say hey. She smiled back and gave him a little wave as he placed his helmet back on and got back in position to do the play again.
She was so focused on Tyler, she didn't hear anyone walk up beside her until Elena spoke.
"How long?"
"Jeez, Elena, you scared me," Marissa called out as she turned her head to look at the dark-headed girl. Ignoring her question, she asked, "What are you doing over here and not practicing?"
"Caroline told me to sit this practice out since I'm so behind," Elena answered. "So how long?" she asked again.
"How long what?" Marissa asked confused.
"How long have you been crushing on Tyler Lockwood?" Elena asked her with a knowing smile.
"I-I'm, uh, I'm-I'm not," Marissa stuttered.
"You are a terrible liar, Rissa," Elena said laughing.
Marissa sighed. "Alright fine, I like him and have for years now."
"Does Jeremy know?" Elena asked. She knew it had to be killing her brother to know that the girl he loved- liked someone else.
"Yeah, he knows," Marissa answered with a sigh.
"So that's why he hates Tyler," Elena stated. Now everything made sense to her.
"What do you mean?" Marissa asked confused.
"Jeremy hates him because he's jealous," Elena answered.
"Right, because of the whole Vicki thing," Marissa added. "I still don't understand what Jeremy sees in her."
Elena laughed at the young clueless girl, then questioned, "You think Jeremy is jealous because of the Vicki thing?"
"Well, yeah, because Jeremy likes her, but Tyler is dating her," Marissa explained.
"No, Rissa, Jeremy is jealous because he loves you, but you like Tyler," Elena pointed out.
"Oh, no, don't start that again," Marissa said with a sigh. "I don't know why everyone keeps thinking Jeremy is in love with me. We are just friends, he would tell me if he was."
"Maybe you're right," Elena said. Even though she knew the younger girl wasn't right, but she didn't want to push her.
"Oh, my God, is that Stefan?" Marissa questioned as she watched Stefan walk out onto the field in pads, ready to practice.
Elena looked over at him and smiled as she said, "Looks like Tanner let him join the team."
"Wow, Stefan as a football player, I never would have seen that coming," Marissa said with a laugh.
The two girls watched the field as all the players did a few big plays. They cheered out loud for Stefan every time he caught the ball and ran with it down the field, avoiding being tackled.
"He is actually really good," Marissa said while they continued to watch Stefan.
"Yeah, he is," Elena said with a huge grin on her face, she couldn't be happier for him.
Marissa and Elena watched as the players lined up to do another play. Matt tossed the ball down the field toward Stefan, who jumped in the air to catch it, but before he could, Tyler tackled him hard onto the ground.
Marissa gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, as Elena asked, "Oh, my God, do you think he's okay?"
Before Marissa could answer, Matt ran over to Stefan and helped him to stand up as the coach asked out if he was okay.
Stefan nodded his head and called out, "Yeah."
"He seems to be fine," Marissa said when all the players, including Stefan, lined back up to do another play.
"Good," Elena said, breathing a sigh of relief. She looked over at Marissa and said, "Hey, you're welcome to join us for dinner tonight too, by the way."
"Thanks, I was planning on dropping by to hang out with Jeremy anyway, but I would like to get to know Stefan some too. I can see how important he is to you," Marissa said.
"Thank you," Elena said with a grateful smile as she wrapped her arms around Marissa to hug her. She was happy that at least one of her friends supported her new relationship with Stefan. Now if she could just get her best friend Bonnie on board too things would be perfect.
•••
Later that night, Marissa was laid on her stomach across Jeremy's bed with him laying beside her as they did their homework together.
They had already done their Science homework and was just finished up reading the last page for English, all they had left was answering a few questions for Math and studying for a History test.
"So what should we do now?" Marissa asked him as she read the last sentence, then closed her English book and tossed it aside.
"I say we take a break," Jeremy said, standing up from the bed to stretch.
"Come on, Jer, we're almost done," Marissa said while sitting up on the bed. "So take your pick, Math or History."
"I choose..." Jeremy began to say as he walked toward his radio and hit play to start a CD. "Music," he finished.
Marissa laughed as he began to nod his head along to the rock song that was playing. "Alright, fine, we'll take a short break, then we study," she pointed out.
"Sounds like a plan," Jeremy said, sitting back down on the bed beside her.
"So, what did Vicki want with you earlier today?" Marissa questioned. She knew it was really none of her business, but she just had to know.
"She wanted to tell me she had two tickets to see the Posers Saturday night," Jeremy answered.
"Oh, that's cool," Marissa said.
"Yeah, she wanted me and her to go," Jeremy added.
"Well that's great for you, right? I mean you really want to be with her and all," Marissa said. She couldn't help but feel disappointed at the thought of Jeremy and Vicki going out together.
"She said she wants us to be friends and hang out."
"I'm sorry, Jer," Marissa said sincerely.
"It's no big deal," Jeremy said back with a shrug.
"Of course it is, I know how much you like her," Marissa pointed out.
"Seriously, Ris, it doesn't bother me," Jeremy said. Without thinking, he added, "I mean, sure I like Vicki, but she's not who I really want to be with."
"What?" Marissa asked in surprise. "Jeremy Gilbert, I can't believe you have a crush on someone else and never told me. Who is she? Do I know her?"
"I'm not telling you," Jeremy said, standing up from the bed and turning off the radio. He couldn't believe he just slipping up and said that. Now he knew Marissa wouldn't stop asking until he told her, but he couldn't tell her that the girl he really wanted was her.
"Aw, come on, Jer. You tell me everything," Marissa said, jumping up from the bed as well.
"Well, I'm not telling you this. I can have some secrets, you know?" Jeremy stated.
"Hm...If you're not telling me, then that means I do know her," Marissa said, placing a finger on her chin and thinking out loud, "Is it Bonnie?"
"No, it's not Bonnie," Jeremy said laughing.
"Ew, please don't tell me it's my sister," Marissa said, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the thought of Jeremy liking Caroline.
"No, it's not Caroline."
"Then tell me," Marissa called out.
"No," Jeremy said, still laughing as she began to pout.
"Fine, I'll just have to make you tell me," Marissa said, grabbing a pillow from his bed and hitting him in the arm with it.
"Oh, it's like that is it," Jeremy joked.
"Yep. Tell me or get hit," Marissa said, hitting him again with the pillow, this time in the chest.
"Give me that," Jeremy called out as he tried to grab the pillow from her hand. She laughed out loud as she placed the pillow behind her back, hoping he couldn't reach it.
Jeremy laughed along with her, then moved his hands to her sides to tickle her. She laughed even harder and turned around to run away from him, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her body close to his so she wouldn't run as he continued to tickle her with one hand.
"Okay...Okay...I give up...I won't ask again," Marissa called out in between laughter.
Jeremy stopped tickling her but kept his other arm around her waist as she turned around to face him. He pushed a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear and smiled at her. He couldn't get over how beautiful she looked when she laughed or smiled.
He couldn't help himself as he glanced down at her full lips, wanting to feel them against his again like when he kissed her for the first time a few years ago. That memory would always be in his mind. He would never forget the things he felt when he pressed his lips against hers for the first time that day.
Without even meaning to Jeremy began to slowly lower his head toward hers, but before he gets close enough to her lips, they heard a soft knock at the bedroom door.
"Hey, dinner's ready," Elena called out.
Jeremy gave Marissa a quick kiss on the cheek to cover up what he had really wanted to do, before saying, "Come on, let's go eat."
Marissa stood still as she watched Jeremy walked toward the bedroom door. She saw the look in his eyes as he lowered his head to kiss her cheek. She couldn't help but think he was really planning on kissing her, but she knew that couldn't be right.
She was just his friend and he just admitted to liking someone, so why would he want to kiss her, it just didn't make sense, unless...
"Hey, Jeremy?" Marissa called out, getting his attention.
"Yeah?" Jeremy said, turning around to face her.
"The girl you like, it's not me, is it?" Marissa asked.
"No, if I did I would tell you," Jeremy said, hoping his lie would convince her.
"Right, of course, I-I just thought I would ask," Marissa mumbled as she continued to stare at him, as if she was trying to tell if he was being honest or not.
Jeremy couldn't stand the way she was looking at him. It made him want to confess everything he was thinking and feeling at the moment, so he did the one thing he could think of, lie to her again.
"You know what? I just remembered I told Vicki I'll swing by the Grill tonight," Jeremy lied.
"What? But we're supposed to be eating with Elena to get to know Stefan," Marissa said, trying to hide her hurt expression.
"I know, but the last thing I want to see is my sister and Stefan flirting with each other," Jeremy pointed out.
"Okay, well I guess I'll talk to you later then," Marissa softly said.
"I'm sorry, Ris," Jeremy said sincerely. He hated disappointing her.
"It's okay, we'll hang out later," Marissa said with a shrug like it was no big deal.
As Jeremy walked out the bedroom door she couldn't help but be confused about everything she was feeling. She was hurt that he was going off with Vicki again, but she was also feeling kind of hurt knowing he liked someone else and wouldn't tell her.
For a moment she thought it was her, she thought what everyone had said was true- that he was in love with her and for a moment she actually liked that idea. But now she knew everyone was wrong which left her even more confused as she walked out of the room and down the stairs to join Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan for dinner.
Marissa tried to put her confusing feelings aside as she sat down at the dinner table, but she couldn't get Jeremy out of her head. She was barely listening as Bonnie, Elena, and Stefan began to talk about football practice, then about Salem witches.
"Hey, Rissa, are you okay?" Bonnie asked as she looked at the confused girl sitting across from her.
Marissa looked up from her plate and glanced at Bonnie. She opened her mouth to answer but before she could, they all heard the doorbell ring.
"I wonder who that could be," Elena mumbled as she stood up from the table and made her way toward the front door.
"Surprise!" they all heard Caroline called out. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert."
"Oh," Elena breathed out. She was surprised to see Caroline and Damon standing in front of her.
"Care?" Marissa questioned as she walked up behind Elena.
"Hey, Rissa," Caroline said happily as she walked inside the house and hugged her sister.
"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked as he joined them and shot Damon a dirty look.
"Waiting for Elena to invite me in," Damon said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah, you can-" Elena began to say.
"No, no, no. He can't, uh...he can't stay," Stefan stuttered. He glanced at his brother and added, "Can you, Damon?"
Marissa looked back and forth between Stefan and Damon. She didn't know what the deal was between the two, but she could tell that Stefan was nervous about Damon coming inside the house and it made her nervous too. She hoped Elena would listen to him and not invite Damon in, but unfortunately, she didn't.
"It's fine. Just come on in," Elena said, opening the door wider to let Damon in.
Damon smiled as he walked over the threshold. "You have a beautiful home, Elena."
"Thank you," Elena said with a polite smile on her face.
A few minutes later, Marissa, Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, Damon, and Caroline were all sitting in the living room making small talk. Marissa tried her best not to glance over at Damon, but she could feel him staring at her and Elena, who was sitting beside her on the couch.
"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething," Caroline said with a laugh. She looked at Stefan and added, "But good for you. Go for it."
"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it," Damon said with fake enthusiasm.
"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today," Caroline said. She looked at Elena and added, "It's only because you missed summer camp."
Marissa looked over at Elena and saw her shift in her seat and looking uncomfortable. She could tell Elena was having second thoughts on being a cheerleader.
"God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines," Caroline continued to say in deep thought. When a thought hit her, she gasped and said, "Wait, maybe Rissa could take your place, she knows all the cheers like the back of her hand."
"But I don't want to be a cheerleader," Marissa said to her sister. It was true, she knew all the cheers, anytime Caroline thought of a new cheer she would run it by her and get her to practice it so she could see what it would look like, but she was never interested in being a cheerleader.
"I'll work with her. She'll get it," Bonnie said forcefully, taking up for her friend.
"Or I guess we can put her in the back," Caroline said, ignoring what everyone said.
"Care," Marissa called out. When her sister looked at her, she continued, "I don't want to be a cheerleader, but if Elena does she'll be okay. Bonnie said she would help her and I'll help too."
"Thank you," Elena whispered to Marissa and Bonnie with a grateful smile.
"I wouldn't mind seeing you jump around in a little skirt," Damon said with a grin as he looked over at Marissa, making her feel uncomfortable.
"You know, I think I'm going to go to the Grill and meet up with Jeremy," Marissa said, jumping up from the couch.
"Now? I can drop you off when we leave here," Caroline suggested.
"No, it's okay. I needed to talk to him real quick anyway before I forget," Marissa lied. "I'll just go grab my books from upstairs and head over there now."
"I don't like you walking around town alone," Caroline said with a worried look on her face.
"It will be okay. Let her go," Damon said to Caroline as he looked deep into her eyes.
Caroline looked over at Marissa with a smile, then happily said, "Okay, you can go. Have fun, sis."
Marissa glanced over at Caroline and Damon with a confused look on her face. She didn't understand what made Caroline change her mind so fast.
As everyone began to talk again, Marissa made her way upstairs into Jeremy's room. She gathered up all her books and notebooks, then placed them into her bag before turning around to head for the bedroom door.
Marissa gasped in surprise when she turned around and saw Damon standing in front of her. He gave her that smirk that was always on his face, the one that said 'I know I'm making you uncomfortable, but I don't care'.
"Leaving so soon?" Damon asked.
"Yeah, ya know gotta go meet Jeremy," Marissa lied as she took a small step back.
"I see," Damon said, looking at her. He could tell she was lying but decided not to call her on it.
"Well be careful out there. There are a lot of creepy people wandering around," Damon said to her in fake concern.
'Yeah and the main one is standing in front of me'. Marissa thought to herself as she accidentally rolled her eyes at him. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion when Damon grinned at her, almost as if he knew what she was thinking.
"It was nice seeing you again, Damon, but I got to go," Marissa lied again as she quickly walked past him and went into the hallway.
"It was really good seeing you, Marissa," Damon called out as she ran down the stairs and out the front door.
Once outside Marissa took a deep breath. She didn't know what it was about Damon, but being around him frightened her and it made her afraid for herself, Caroline and the whole town.
But she didn't know what it was about him that made her feel that way. She didn't feel that way with Stefan- with him she felt safe. For some strange reason with Stefan she felt like he would go above and beyond to save Elena and anyone she cared about, but with Damon she felt the opposite.
With all of that on her mind, Marissa quickly ran to the Grill where she found Jeremy and Tyler standing in front of each other, they looked to be in the middle of a heated argument about something and she could only guess it was once again about Vicki.
From where she was standing, she couldn't hear anything that was being said, but she knew she needed to rush over there and stop things before it got out of hand.
"You need to stay the hell away from Rissa. I mean it, Lockwood," Jeremy threatened Tyler.
"Why? What are you going to do, Gilbert?" Tyler asked. "You're going to do nothing. So just take a step back and shut up," he added as he shoved Jeremy.
"Don't push me or you'll see what I'll do," Jeremy said back.
Tyler laughed. "You're just jealous because deep down you know you could never please her the way I could. But don't worry I'll tell you how good she was when I'm done."
Jeremy felt his whole body shake in anger at his comment. He placed his hands on Tyler's chest and shoved him hard. Tyler walked back to Jeremy and shoved him back, then raised his arm to punch Jeremy until Marissa ran in between them to stop them from fighting.
"Stop it, you two," Marissa yelled out as she pushed Jeremy away from Tyler.
"Get out of the way, Rissa," Jeremy said, gently pushing her aside.
"No, stop, Jeremy," Marissa said as she stood in front of him again. She looked at both of the boys, then asked, "What the hell is going on with you two?"
"Nothing, just a friendly little chat, right, Gilbert?" Tyler stated.
"Just wait until the next time I see you," Jeremy threatened him as he pointed a finger at him.
"I'm looking forward to it," Tyler said, holding out his arms to invite Jeremy to fight him.
"Jeremy, just go," Marissa said, pushing him toward the door of the restaurant.
"See you later, Rissa," Tyler called out to her when she and Jeremy were almost at the door, causing Jeremy to turn around and make his way back toward Tyler.
Jeremy had only taken a few steps when Marissa grabbed his arm and pulled him outside with her.
"Just let it go, Jer," She begged him.
"Let me go," Jeremy said angrily as he pulled his arm from her grasp.
"Jeremy, calm down," Marissa pleaded with him as she placed her hands on his chest to keep him from running back inside the restaurant.
"I'm going to kill that bastard, I swear I will," Jeremy growled.
"What is wrong with you, Jer? What is going on?" Marissa asked confused. She had never seen Jeremy this angry before.
When he didn't answer, Marissa grabbed his arm and began to pull him away from the building. "Let's just walk it off," she suggested.
"Damn it, Rissa, I don't want to walk it off," Jeremy shouted as he pulled his arm away and caused her to stumble for a moment before she caught herself.
Jeremy saw her flinched when he yelled, causing him to feel guilty. He took a step toward her and softly said, "I'm sorry, Ris."
"What is going on?" Marissa asked again, shooting him a look that was a cross between confusion and hurt.
"Nothing, don't worry about it," Jeremy answered.
"I will worry about it. Whatever it is, it's got you pissed enough to want to kill Tyler, then yell at me," Marissa pointed out. "What were you even two fighting about?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Jeremy mumbled as he turned to walk away.
"Well, I do," Marissa yelled as she tried to grab his arm to stop him.
"Rissa, just leave me alone, please, before I say something I will regret," Jeremy begged her.
"Jeremy, please don't leave," Marissa said with tears in her eyes as she watched him continue to walk away from her.
She wrapped her arms around herself and took a deep breath as she tried to keep any tears from falling. She couldn't believe what had just happened, Jeremy had never yelled at her like that before. Sure they had argued some through the years, but never like that.
"Rissa? Are you okay?" Tyler asked sincerely as he walked up behind her. He didn't hear them arguing, but he did see Jeremy walk away and leaving her upset.
Marissa quickly wiped away the few tears that did fall before turning around to face Tyler with a small smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Anything I could do to help?" Tyler offered.
"You could tell me what you and Jeremy were fighting about," Marissa said, folding her arms across her chest and shooting him a look.
"It was nothing, it was just our daily fight," Tyler said. "You know anytime we get around each other, we fight."
"But that was different, I've never seen Jeremy that pissed before," Marissa pointed out.
"Well, maybe he was PMSing or something," Tyler joked.
Marissa sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes as she turned to walk away. She could tell Tyler would be no help in answering her question.
"Hey, where you going?" Tyler asked.
"Home," Marissa called out as she stopped walking, but didn't turn around to face him.
"Let me take you home," Tyler suggested.
"No, I'll be fine," Marissa said.
"Come on, let's go," Tyler said, lightly grabbed her arm and began to pull her toward his car. "If I let you go off alone and something happened, Caroline would kill me."
"Tyler, you don't have to do this," Marissa argued.
"I know, but I want to," He said back as he opened the passenger door. He looked at her and nodded toward the car, "Get in."
"But-"
"Stop being stubborn and get in," Tyler laughed as he interrupted her.
"Alright fine, I'll get in," Marissa said, playfully rolling her eyes.
"Good and don't worry...I won't bite," Tyler joked. After she sat down, he shot her a wink and added, "Unless you ask."
Marissa laughed at his comment as he shut the door, then ran around the car to the driver side. She couldn't believe she was riding in a car with him again. So much had happened that day since he gave her a ride to school that morning.
She just hoped everything worked itself out by tomorrow because she wasn't sure how much more drama she could stand.
•••
A/N; Thank you to everyone reading and/or adding the story. Also big thanks to DamnWhoopsIMeantDamon, KyroxIsxSmexy, Sage Londyn and Emmettluver2010 for reviewing the last chapter.
Happy reading!
xx