A/N: Black Lighted Clouds: lol I wondered if someone would point this out. I wrote it that way on purpose. The way I saw it, Tyler wanted petty points (driving to return the card) but when something serious came up he decided to be the better man about it. I like to think that even on Tyler's worst day he wouldn't want to turn something like what happened to Elena into something about himself. - Thanks for all the reviews! And yes, Shai, in case you didn't catch that, Rutgers was a shout-out to you! Happy birthday!

Chapter Seven

Jeremy checked his phone for the fifth time in homeroom when Mr. Kinsey finally caught onto him. He closed his eyes as the man approached and held out his cell phone for him to take. The teacher grabbed and pocketed it without a word and went back to talking about the assembly that afternoon. He set it down on his desk and left Jeremy to stare down at his hands.

He told Elena to call him if she needed anything. He hadn't wanted to go to school at all, but after hovering around her all weekend she was ready to be on her own. Damon was out of town for a few days so she didn't have to worry about lying to him. Unfortunately, Caroline wiggled the truth out of her when she dropped by and immediately spilled the beans to Stefan.

It took a lot to convince the vampire not to turn around, get his brother and find the guy who attacked her. Elena managed to reel them all in though, which was not the result Jeremy was hoping for. For once, having friends with monster strength seemed very convenient. If he knew where to even begin looking he would do the job himself.

Leaning forward over his desk, Jeremy tapped his foot restlessly and stared down at his shoes. They were new black and white checkered Vans. The last pair he had like them were so worn the piping separated beyond the point of being wearable. He didn't like the way new shoes looked. Too clean and stiff. He bent the ends of them and frowned.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose so he looked over his shoulder, still leaning forward on his elbows. Tyler looked back at him three rows down and in a moment of weakness Jeremy let his eyes travel over him for a moment. He was wearing a brown sweater over preppy khaki Dockers. Jeremy would never dress like that himself but he always loved how crisp and clean-cut he looked, like a breath of fresh air.

As his eyes went back up, Tyler's lips rose in a small smile. The bell rang and Jeremy turned back around without returning the sentiment. He gathered his stuff and was surprised when Tyler stopped by his desk on his way out. He was being really good the last two weeks about just staying out of his way, something Jeremy was simultaneously grateful for and weary about. It was hard for him to stay away from Tyler while he figured things out. He wondered if it was a relief to the other boy to be away from him though.

Jeremy looked up at him as he reached for his backpack behind his desk.

Tyler's small smile returned briefly before he asked. "How's your sister?"

Jeremy hesitated. "You know about that?"

Tyler paused then and looked away toward the door before responding. "Yeah. Matt told me."

Jeremy's shoulders dropped and he shook his head at his desk. "Matt knows?" The way word was spreading he didn't think Elena would have much luck keeping it from Damon when he got back in town. He was kind of happy about that.

"Yeah," Tyler looked back at him and his little smile became a small line as he shrugged. "I guess Caroline told him."

"Figures." Jeremy stood up and pulled his backpack up on his shoulder. Tyler didn't move back so the effect was being suddenly a breath away from him. His brown eyes burned into his and Jeremy's heart instantly took off at the closeness. He opened his mouth but couldn't speak through the nearness.

Tyler blinked and collected himself. "Sorry." He whispered and stepped back. His eyes went around the room but everyone else had already flooded out.

Jeremy shook his head minutely. "Uh…" It was hard to have functional thoughts after feeling the electric current course between them. He stepped around his desk past Tyler and looked away to snap out of it. "Elena…she's," he gathered his thoughts with difficulty. "She's good. She's going to be okay. You know how she is. When something evil strikes her she kicks its ass…or dates it."

Tyler's face broke into a smile and he laughed shortly, looking down at the floor and nodding. It felt like a lifetime since he last saw or heard that lightness from him and it made something wrench deep inside Jeremy. He summoned a weak smile and started to turn away.

"I better go."

Tyler nodded but there was something nervous and formal in his manner as he did his best to adjust to the current circumstances. "Yeah."

The powerful urge to put him at ease rose in Jeremy like a monsoon, but he refused to make a snap decision based on the desire to protect Tyler from discomfort. To hold onto that resolution he shot him half a smile, turned his back on him and walked out of the room.

The assembly during sixth period was such a boring waste of time Jeremy was more out of his chair in the auditorium than he was in it, he was slouching so much. Beside him Anna's eyes were glazed over and her head fell sideways onto his shoulder. His eyes flitted to her but he didn't move in any more significant way. He felt like he could fall asleep soon so when the motivational speaker asked for volunteers for his presentation Jeremy raised his hand lethargically. His class was one of the first shuffled in so he was in the front row in full view of the man in the silver suit upstage.

"Oh shit." He muttered with a deep chuckle when he actually called on him. The irony in his fake effort to volunteer was lost on the stranger so he had no choice but to go along.

Anna fell into a fit of giggles as he raised himself to his feet reluctantly and made his way to the steps. He bounded up at a jog and crossed the stage to meet the man. What the hell, he was falling asleep anyway.

The mob of students packing the auditorium was at once more intimidating when he was faced with all of them from the stage.

"Hi, what's your name?" The man, Brinkley Siegfried, spoke into a blue mic connected to a headset around his ear. He looked like a tool, and he kind of had to be if he went around high schools trying to rally young minds. It was a pointless task. Jeremy couldn't imagine that more than a handful of students at any of his gatherings actually paid attention to anything he said.

"Jeremy Gilbert." He answered and the man leaned close to him so his voice reached the radius of his mic.

"Queer!" A faceless jock fake coughed in the crowd to a round of chuckling in spots around the auditorium.

Jeremy kept his face from reacting. 'Shit' was right.

The motivational speaker tactfully ignored the heckling. "Nice to meet you, Jeremy. What are your plans after graduation?"

Jeremy leaned over with his hands in his jean pockets to answer as the man indicated. "Uh, I applied to Virginia Tech. I got in. And I'm waiting to hear from NYU." He really didn't think he was going to get in but it was a nice dream. To get that far away from this small town hell hole was nice in theory. Probably should have thought about that before he slept through most of his classes freshman and sophomore year though.

"Ah, college. Good." Siegfried commended him. "Well that's good, but I mean-what are your plans for your life? Beyond school, beyond rules, beyond preparations-what are your plans for you? Who do you want to be?"

"Drag queen!" A member of the crowd shouted.

Jeremy ignored it. "Uh, I don't know."

Brinkley looked like he got exactly the answer that he wanted. He beamed. "'I don't know.'" He repeated and spread his arms out toward the crowd. "How many of you are just like Jeremy?"

"Faggots!" The jock coughed again and Jeremy looked out, able to trace it down to a group near the front on the left side of the auditorium. Mixed members of several sports sat in a bunch. Stupid Stanley had a hand over his mouth, so Jeremy figured it was probably him. A couple seats down the row Tyler was seated, slouched in his seat and looking up at the stage with his jaw set tightly.

The man hesitated on that one but turned around walking to a table he had set up behind him. The show must go on and all that jazz.

He lifted a pile of pamphlets up. "In these brochures you'll find clear and simple ways you can change your life and figure out who you really are. Like Jeremy, you might not feel like you know exactly what you want-"

"Dick!" Stanley was clearly behind the calls as he immediately crumbled into laughter and his friends on either side of him shoved his shoulders with appreciative laughter.

Anna jumped to her feet in the front row and flicked her middle finger back at the left side of the auditorium. Her eyes were sharp with warning. Their sixth period teacher barked at Anna to sit down. Jeremy did his best to stay stoic. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. It was just harder to be blasé about it with the entire school watching. The principal made his way to the left side of the auditorium in hopes of spooking them into silence with his proximity.

"Jeremy," Brinkley crossed back over to him. "Do you play any sports?"

Jeremy's mouth twisted in a weak half-smile. This guy was slow on the uptake. Jocks didn't normally hassle their own like that, at least not in public and not so spitefully. He cleared his throat. "Uh, no."

"Pussy!" The cough engulfing the word hardly did anything to cover it.

Jeremy looked down in time to see Tyler lean across the blond sitting directly next to him and throw a solid punch into Stanley's arm. The other athlete flinched to the side, rubbing the area automatically.

"Shut the fuck up!" Tyler warned gravely. His voice carried to the stage in the quiet auditorium but he glared uncaringly at the object of his anger.

"Or what?" Stanley asked but he was rubbing his arm still and was backing down against Tyler's dark stare.

"Or I'll beat your ass, Stupid Stanley, fucking tard." Tyler sat back in his seat and returned his attention to the stage. He met Jeremy's eyes and nodded once.

The principal made his way down the aisle and stopped at the group of jocks. He pointed at the entire line of them, uninterested in figuring out which of them was making the disruptions.

"Look what you did, dumbass." Another jock smacked Stanley's sore arm and others joined in as they filed out at the principal's request. Several others made similar remarks and shoved at him in annoyance. They would clearly attribute Tyler's testiness to his desire to avoid the retribution they were now getting. A moment ago Stanley was their hero and almost in the same breath he was the bane of their existence.

Tyler stood with the rest of them and stepped out into the aisle without protest. Halfway to the doors he looked over his shoulder and back up at the stage. The familiarity of his farewell glance sent up a flutter of gratified pleasure in Jeremy. A growing tension inside suddenly relaxed. He stood on the stage, insulted and humiliated, but as he watched Tyler's retreating form he had to struggle not to smile.