No spanking in this chapter, just references.
Jeremy went to the Mystic Grill after leaving the Lockwood mansion. He saw Matt, who was working and a few other old friends from high school. Everyone was happy to see him, but where was his family?
As he checked his phone and was able to leave, he saw Damon sitting at the bar. Damon seemed to be gulping down his drink and in a terrible mood. For Damon, that was saying something.
"Little Gilbert! Is that you?" Damon said, now standing in front of him.
"Wow, did I surprise you, Damon. I'm backkk..." Jeremy said sarcastically.
"Where the hell have you been? Your sister has been worried sick," Damon yelled.
"It's a long story. I, needed a break from this town, I got a job as an art assistant to a film director," Jeremy mumbled making up the story as he went.
"Ah, that sounds like bullshit...Someone ought to beat your ass black and blue, you little brat, your sister was a wreck," Damon whispered, grabbing Jeremy's ear and shoving him back out into the street.
"Damon, ouch. Stop. Where is my sister? Jenna?" Jeremy hissed trying to hold his ear.
"Jeremy! Is that you?" Bonnie shouted. "Elena, look, it's your brother!"
"Oh my god, Jer, we thought you were dead," Elena shouted in relief and shock, suddenly clutching to him. Damon was leaning against the wall with his arms folded glaring.
"I'm sorry. I just needed some air. I met this guy who hired me as his assistant. He's teaching me about art. I meant to write or call, but I didn't know what to say," Jeremy mumbled trying to breathe with his sister's arms tight around his neck.
Damon was mimicking, "I needed some air. Give me a break. I'm outta here."
Bonnie's eyes narrowed,"Jeremy, why didn't my locator spells work on you? It's almost as if you were shielded."
"Oh, we were...um, on a boat near the Bahamas," he lied.
"Who is this guy, your boss? We'd love to meet him," Damon added, now scowling.
"I thought you were leaving, Damon. Goodbye!" Jeremy smirked as the handsome vampire disappeared into the night.
"Jer, if you ever pull this shit again, I swear I will kill you myself," Elena warned.
"Actually, Elena. Things are going really well. My boss is paying me well and I'm staying at his house," Jeremy admitted.
"I'm going to call Jenna and let her know you are alive. Can we talk about this more at the house?" Elena said dialing her phone.
"Um, sure," Jeremy said, wondering if Klaus was going to be mad that he wasn't 'home."
Back at the Gilbert house, Jenna was there waiting. Jenna also fawned over her nephew. She said that Sheriff Forbes had also been on the case. It sounded like things had been hectic and stressful the few weeks he had been gone.
Stefan joined the party and also was glad to see Jeremy. He took him aside at one point and confronted him.
"Jeremy, what you did was cruel. We were really worried about you. I know a lot of things are going on around here that are not fun. I would like to know more about your new employer. Can he join us here?" Stefan asked.
"Um, sure. Let me give him a call," Jeremy said, pulling out his cell phone.
"Klaus, it's me. I need your help," Jeremy whispered into the phone.
"Son, I was getting worried. Where are you?" Klaus replied concerned.
"I'm at my house. They want to meet you. Can you come get me?" Jeremy said imploringly. He was glad to see everyone, but this didn't feel like his home anymore.
"I thought we were going to wait until we had a cover story. I'm sure everyone there is on vervain, I won't be able to compel them," Klaus admitted.
"I'm sorry. I should have waited. I don't know what I was thinking," Jeremy admitted, filling Klaus in on the lies he had already made up.
"I'll be there in a few minutes. Just don't say much," Klaus warned.
A few minutes later, Klaus knocked on the door. Jenna opened it and invited him in.
Stefan immediately sensed with the Power that he was a vampire. A powerful one at that.
"Hello, I'm Raul Stern, Jeremy's employer," Klaus said shaking hands with everyone.
Jeremy laughed that Klaus took the driver's name.
"I must apologize for all of this. I found young Jeremy here in quite a state, running away from home. He, I'm afraid, stowed away on my yacht and ended up with me on a remote island in the Bahamas. There was a storm and we did not have radio communication for a week," Klaus lied.
"What were you doing on an island out there?" Jenna asked, confused. "And Jeremy why did you run away?"
"I was directing a film for a small French company. I'm afraid the financing fell through. Now, I'm back to my home back here in Virginia. I'm building a home actually, on the outskirts of Mystic Falls," Klaus smoothed over.
"Jenna, I'm sorry. I got really messed up over Vicky and Anna. I needed to get away from the drugs and pain. Can you forgive me?" Jeremy pleaded. He didn't want to admit that he was at first kidnapped.
"Jeremy, we were going to Mayor Lockwood's service and then you were just gone! I though you got kidnapped," Elena interjected.
Jeremy glanced at Klaus, not sure how much he should say.
"It was stupid of me to run off. But now I'm working with Mr. Stern as an art assistant. He's teaching me more about art and stuff than I ever learned at school. I'm helping him design his new house and we're working on a new film. I hate to ask but can I stay with him?" Jeremy pleaded.
"Oh Jer, no! I'm sorry, Mr. Stern, but I need my brother here," Elena exclaimed, bursting into tears. Stefan took her outside to get her calmed down.
This left Klaus alone to compel Jenna.
"You will allow me to take Jeremy. He is better off with supervision and a father than he is here alone. You will convince Elena that Jeremy is taken care of and in good hands," Klaus said staring into her eyes. Jenna agreed and repeated the statement back to Klaus.
By the time, Elena came back in, Jenna had signed over custody of her nephew to Klaus. He was now officially Jeremy's guardian.
Klaus noticed the necklace that Elena wore. It looked familiar to him, but no matter, it was probably full of vervain.
Stefan kept starting at Klaus. Luckily, Klaus had compelled him to forget that they were best friends in 1920s Chicago. Klaus couldn't have him taking Rebekah away from him. Stefan knew he was a vampire, but his mind could not overcome the compulsion of an Original. Stefan finally kissed Elena goodbye and left.
Klaus could see how attached the Katherine look alike was to her brother. She was not going to let him go without a fight.
Klaus whispered to Jeremy to get the necklace off her. Jeremy hugged Elena and unclasped the necklace quickly, when Jenna was in the bathroom. Klaus quickly compelled her to agree to the move.
Jeremy put the necklace back on Elena when he hugged her goodbye. He felt like he had the best of both worlds, he had his father and his family living in the same town. What could go wrong?
Klaus drove Jeremy back to the new mansion.
"That went better than I expected," Klaus said smiling.
"Hey, I'm sorry about disobeying you. I should have waited until we decided what our story was. I just was anxious to make sure my sister and aunt were okay," Jeremy blurted out.
"I did warn you that disobedience would warrant punishment, did I not?" Klaus said, glancing at Jeremy in the passenger seat.
"Yes, 'Dad', you did," Jeremy admitted, thinking he was really going to get it when they got back.
"Well, since 'dad' has a nice ring to it, I think you will be doing the dishes this week. It turned out Nicole will be delayed a few more days," Klaus smiled.
"Ugh, dishes. I'd rather end up sleeping on my stomach again. I hate cleaning," Jeremy whined.
"Oh, young man, now that can be arranged..." Klaus went on.
"Kidding. I was kidding. I'll do the dishes, Dad!" Jeremy laughed.
"Good. Because some things have come up, and I might need some help around the house," Klaus admitted with his eyebrows raised. Yes, he may need some help to complete his little family.
Nicole looked up in surprise, they were werewolves? She stared at the ancient volume in front of her. She was deep in the bowels of Mystic Fall's Founder's Hall.
Klaus had asked her to help him break the sun and the moon curse. He had found her many years ago when her own coven in France had cast her out. Her magic had no anchor now as she was covenless. However, she possessed a great knowledge of curses and hexes. She believed that the Lockwood family had possession of that moonstone. Until she found the family death records, though, she was unaware that they were afflicted with the werewolf curse.
She called Klaus to tell him immediately.
"Love, are you telling me that Tyler Lockwood has the werewolf gene?" Klaus asked in disbelief.
"Oui, would you like me to arrange to trigger it, Master Klaus?" Nicole asked nonchalantly. She would do anything for Klaus and had before.
"No, absolutely not. When you told me about the moonstone, I went to the Lockwood estate to investigate. I think that he might be the perfect brother for Jeremy," Klaus shared happily.
"Tres bien. How is your naughty son today? Did he behave himself?" Nicole asked lightly.
"No, he disobeyed me and went home to his family before we could come up with a cover story. Luckily, he called me and I got the situation straightened out. His guardian signed him over to me officially with a bit of compulsion, though I did put him on kitchen duty, for his sins," Klaus laughed.
"He is lucky to have a caring father like you. If only we had had the same, Cher," Nicole said ending the call.
"True, Love," Klaus said to the dead air.
The next week passed in a blur of activity. Klaus and Tyler got their new mansion fixed up with the help of an army of designers and workman. Klaus was not overly impressed with Jeremy's kitchen skills. He threatened to swat him with the wooden spoon if he found the sink overflowing with dishes and the dishwasher full one more time.
Jeremy visited his family for dinner one time by himself while Klaus had other business. On the way home, he stopped at Tyler's place to see how he was.
"Hey man, just wanted to see how you were doing?" Jeremy said as Tyler led him to his bedroom.
"Good. Things are good. How was your homecoming? I heard you got a job or something with some rich director," Tyler inquired.
"Actually, it's a lot more than that. The guy, Raul, is great. He's teaching me so much shit that I never knew. He's an expert in art. He would love your drawings, too. I'm serious. Dude, I live in a fucking mansion. You need to come visit," Jeremy said excitedly.
"Yeah, I will. I mean I've never seen you so happy," Tyler said honestly.
"So, have any more booze? Did your uncle bust you for that flask last week?" Jeremy wondered.
"Nah, I mean, he did bust me, but not for the booze. He doesn't care about that shit," Tyler exclaimed.
"Dude, what did he bust you for? Please tell me you're not doing drugs, man!" Jeremy said with feeling.
"Hell, no. It's my temper. I got really pissed and freaked out. I ended up knocking over my mom. It was bad. But my uncle was there and got me straightened out pretty good," Tyler said with a blush creeping up his neck.
"Damn," Jeremy said wondering what had occurred.
"Yeah, it's just that now my uncle is moving back to Florida. My mom took over as Mayor for my dad. She's never home. I just don't know if I can stay here alone. This house is fucking empty. I don't know, man," Tyler shuddered.
"Hey, come stay with me. I know that it will be cool. Wait until you see the game systems I have, pool, game room, theater, and this awesome studio. Oh, and there is an amazing weight room. You will fucking love it," Jeremy gushed.
"It sounds cool. I think my mom would be relieved to have me go somewhere honestly, especially if my uncle leaves," Tyler mused.
"Let me call and just double check," Jeremy said getting up to get some privacy.
Tyler hear Jeremy ask,"Dad, hey, you know my friend Tyler I told you about. Can he come stay with us?"
A moment later, Jeremy came in beaming.
"Pack your shit!" Jeremy said.
"Um, cool, but did you call him dad?" Tyler prodded.
"Yeah, it's kind of a long story," Jeremy started, "I'll tell you in the car."
Klaus welcomed the boys home with open arms.
Tyler felt comfortable with Klaus and was indeed blown away by the house.
"I'm not sure how much Jeremy has shared with you, Tyler. But I hope that you will consider yourself home here," Klaus said warmly.
"Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that," Tyler said in awe of the man taking him into his house.
"How respectful you are, Jeremy, you could pick up a few tips from Tyler here," Klaus joked.
"Dad, Tyler's gotten into ten times more trouble than me," Jeremy shared.
Tyler elbowed him, "That's true. But just because you never got caught!"
Tyler smiled, "Got me there. But now I'm clean and sober. I hardly swear anymore and Dad's got me doing chores now."
"Whoa, no one said shit about chores. I'm leaving," Tyler said pretending to get up.
"Hold up, lads. I can tell you are both in high spirits and I am delighted to have you both here hopefully for a long while. Tomorrow, we will go over some rules and consequences that will keep all in line. I had six siblings and the mischief we got in together was epic. I hope to avoid some of that with clear boundaries. Now, Jeremy, please show Tyler to his room. It's time for bed," Klaus said, patting them both on the shoulders.
"But it's like 10 o'clock," Tyler started to say to Jeremy. Jeremy held up a finger to silence him.
"Look, Dad, is kind of strict about some shi-, I mean stuff. It's not bad but it takes some getting used to, okay?" Jeremy shared.
"What stuff? You didn't mention any of this before," Tyler said with a look.
"I didn't think it was a big deal. Now, let's get to bed before..." Jeremy said glancing around carefully.
"Before what?" Tyler said a little alarmed.
"Oh, you'll find out!" Jeremy laughed, punching him in the arm.
Jeremy woke up Tyler at about 10:30 am. He usually got up earlier to have breakfast with Klaus, but today he wanted to wait for Tyler. He could barely wake up him and practically had to sit on him.
"Damn, what the fuck, man? I'm tired," Tyler said pushing Jeremy off of him.
"What time did you go to sleep last night?" Jeremy asked.
"Late. I was watching those Girls Gone Wild videos. The cable here is epic," Tyler admitted.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, when Klaus tells us to go to bed at 10, he means go to bed. I didn't realize you were such a rebel," Jeremy confessed.
"I didn't realize you were such a pussy. I'm 17. I don't want to go to bed at 10. I haven't done that since I was like 10," Tyler snarled.
"Well, Klaus wants to have a talk with us around noon. He went to see your mom," Jeremy said evenly.
"My mom? That's weird. About mayor stuff?" Tyler asked.
"Man, I don't know. All I know is that we have to meet Klaus in the library at noon," Jeremy said getting irritated with Tyler's attitude.
"I'll be there if I fucking feel like it, okay, now leave me alone. I'm going back to sleep," Tyler growled.
"Your ass, man," Jeremy said leaving the room.
Klaus met Jeremy with a hug.
"Hello, son! How's it going with Tyler? Did you tell him I wanted to meet with him?" Klaus asked looking around for the other boy.
"Yeah, he was up late and sleeping in. I tried to get him up but he told me to..." Jeremy started, pausing to choose his words.
"What, son?"
"'Fuck off!' I'm sorry, dad. I tried," Jeremy said sadly.
"Hey, it's not your fault. You can only control your own behavior. I talked with Tyler's mom and she filled me in on his behavioral issues. I think I can help. But I don't want you to feel like you have to play middleman, okay?" Klaus cautioned.
"He's my friend. I just don't want to see him get in trouble," Jeremy admitted.
"I know and your loyalty is admirable. But some of us, myself included, sometimes have to learn the hard way," Klaus said in a low voice.
"Sorry, I'm late. I was really tired," Tyler said coming into the room, still in the clothes that he slept in.
"Hi Tyler, thanks for joining us. I just came from meeting with you mom, lovely woman. She agrees that it would be beneficial for you to stay here with us. She'd like you to give her a call though so she can talk to you herself," Klaus said grandly.
"Awesome," Tyler said. "Now what did you want to talk about?"
Klaus was surprised by the boldness of his new son. The lad had a small chip on his shoulder, the size of New York.
"Some ground rules. First of all, this is your home now. You will treat it as such and behave accordingly. We do have several servants to help us but I expect both of you to clean up after yourselves. That means, putting dishes in the sink, your clothes in the drawers or hampers, and acting civilized at all times," Klaus looked to see if they understood. Both boys nodded.
"Bed time is at 10 pm. That means sleeping, lights out. If you are being punished, you may have an earlier bedtime," Klaus said matter of factly.
"Punished? Like sent to bed without our supper or some shit?" Tyler sneered.
"Something like that. Thirdly, no poor language. Where I come from, only the lowly classes used rough and offensive language. If I ask you to refrain from certain words or insults, I expect you to do so. No backtalk or smart remarks will be tolerated," Klaus said noticing Tyler's eyes grow wide.
"Fourth rule covers everything else: respect. Treat me, this house, the staff, and yourselves with respect. That means no lying, fibbing, omitting details. Respect me enough to get me your obedience and I will support you in every way possible. Without giving each other the respect of the truth, we will have no trust. Due to my lifestyle, I cannot always reveal everything to you. Yet, I expect you to trust me enough to make those decisions," Klaus uttered with a small frown.
"Klaus, that seems fair," Jeremy agreed.
"And when you break a rule, expect there to be consequences," Klaus went on, glancing at Tyler to see if he was listening.
Tyler blurted out, "Let me guess, my mom gave you permission to 'deal with me.'"
"Yes, she did, Tyler. She loves you a great deal. Everything that I will do, will be done with your best interest in mind. I mean that, I admit that I can be strict and old-fashioned at times. However, if you think the punishment is truly unjust or wrong, I want you to come to me. I'm not saying I will change it, but I'll listen to you," Klaus insisted.
"I guess you know by now, that I am not always easy to deal with. I promise, though, that I will try to make you happy that you took me in," Tyler offered.
Klaus got up and hugged him, "I will never regret giving you boys a home." He motioned for Jeremy to join in as Klaus held them for a long moment.