Summary:

Short version: Damon has a human doppelganger and his name is Hamilton Fleming (a character played by very young Ian waaaaay back in 2000)

Long version: 15 year old Hamilton Fleming ends up doing his first semester of freshman year at Mystic Falls high after being sent to live at his father's cousin's house, because his father, the dean of the prestigious Rawley boarding school where his parents live in Connecticut, was forced to expel him for a full semester in order to keep his job. Of course, this means that Jake hacked her way into the system and will be joining Ham at Mystic Falls High too. Being new kids and misfits, they both end up befriending a boy named Jeremy Gilbert, which eventually leads to a lot of supernatural discoveries. One of the strangest though, even before they find out about vampires, is the fact that Hamilton looks almost exactly like a man named Damon Salvatore, except Ham is about 9ish years younger, at least physically. Turns out that Elena Gilbert isn't the only one with a freaky inexplicable doppelganger effect. Will Hamilton survive being Damon's doppelganger in season 1?


Introduction: This is technically a crossover with a very old, short-lived series called "Young Americans", which may have been Ian's first real role aired on TV in which, at about 20ish years old he played a 15 year old boy named Hamilton Fleming who was in summer school along with his crossdressing tomboy bestie Jake Pratt.

(Jake, who back in the year 2000, ended up admitting to actually being a girl after Ham befriended and first fell in love with her as a boy, but is more likely a non-binary or genderfluid person than a typical tomboy, considering that she went so far as to very successfully pose as a boy for an entire summer semester and seemed to really enjoy being a boy in public as much as being a girl in secret with Hamilton… But since the show was made over twenty years ago, Jake was simply passed off as a girl who was just faking being a boy enrolling in a boy's only school, just to get her neglectful mother's attention. I'm probably not the only one that thinks there was definitely more to it than that, but I do not think Jake is truly transgender either, but rather falls somewhere along a genderfluid spectrum.)

This story will be considering everything to have taken place in the summer of 2009 so that it immediately coincides with the season 1 of TVD with Ham and Jake being Jeremy's age. Things in 2009 were a lot different than 1999 when the show was first being filmed, and obviously very different from today's standards in 2022, and I'm going to attempt to pull this off as being in 2009 so may make some mistakes here and there.

Hamilton and Jake's love story is the only part of 'Young Americans' you'll actually need to know in order to read this 'crossover' fic, since the two of them are going to be coming to Mystic Falls at the start of TVD season 1, and it won't really involve anyone else from their other school, Rawley, except maybe a few name drops of a few of their pals. I'll try to summarize it and throw in background throughout the story, so if you are only a TVD fan and can't find a way to watch the 'Young Americans' series then don't be afraid to give this fic a chance anyway. Just treat Ham and Jake as OC's…

This fic will start off in TVD season 1, heavily focused on Jeremy, Hamilton, and Jake, and will influence the overall TVD story later as time goes on because it's going to be younger teens that interfere intitially through Jeremy, so the older teens won't even notice them as much at first, except for Stefan. Because he's freaked that Hamilton looks like a babyfaced Damon.

Also, there are plenty of shortened Jake and Hamilton youtube videos that show some of the scenes here and there, so if you can't watch the whole (only 8 episodes) TV series you can still 'watch' summarized Jake and Hamilton videos on youtube, which are actually pretty entertaining, even if they are sadly missing most of the original sound and dubbed over with music.

Honestly, I didn't ever even care about the rest of the show, only the Jake and Hamilton side story. I was able to find and rewatch all 8 episodes by googling them but in very low quality and some were split into smaller fragments, because it's not on any current streaming services, but it was worth it. Unfortunately, even those allegedly 'full' episodes have some parts cut from them, including several Jake and Hamilton scenes. The original DVD is impossible to find anywhere now.

The 'Young American' series ended with Jake allegedly getting 'caught' by a teacher just as they were about to strip down and sneak a shower together on the last day of summer school a few weeks before the fall semester at Rawley would have kicked off. This Fanfic is going to assume that Finn (the Rawley teacher) saw everything and Jake got expelled permanently from falsely enrolling in the Rawley boy's school, as well as hacking the system, but would be eligible to re-enroll in the girl's school maybe next year, because it was a rather progressive school and more open minded.

Hamilton, on the other hand, is currently only expelled for one semester, officially for getting ratted out for punching the bully Ryder in front of a bunch of rich kids, but also for knowing that Jake was technically a girl who hacked her way into a 'boy's only' dorm and Ham helped to cover it up all summer, sneaking around with her and also helping her hide the motorcycle that wasn't allowed. Basically, his dad had to send him away temporarily to keep his job as the dean of the prestigious school. Jake found out where Hamilton was going and easily enrolled herself in Mystic Falls with him, since her absent mother hasn't been paying attention, as usual, and Jake Pratt does whatever Jake Pratt wants to do. Also, Jake will be 'renting' a room in the house of another TVD character, since even with her hacking skills she's too young to get her own apartment.


And now…

Chapter 1: The Beginning


Mystic Falls, September 2009:


Jeremy Gilbert couldn't get out of the house and away from his aunt and overbearing, slightly older sister fast enough. He was starting a new school year and couldn't even make himself care enough to make it to more than half of his first classes on the first day. Not to mention that humiliating and infuriating incident where Elena attacked him in the boys' bathroom. Everyone in his age group was talking about it already.

What the hell was her deal? All he wanted was to get stoned and go back to bed, because Vicki had decided to snub him for that asshole jock, Tyler, just because summer was over and suddenly it mattered to her that Jeremy was 'just a kid'. Sure, maybe Vicki was a little too old, even older than Elena and Matt, and all she ever wanted to do with him was do drugs and have sex, but Jeremy still really liked her. Sometimes it felt like she was the only one who got him.

Ever since his parents had died, he didn't really care about anything else anyway. Not even drawing, which used to be his favorite thing to do. His taste in music had become a bit more emo and the darker more depressing rock and metal stuff rather than the more lively rock or metal stuff, and probably only made him drown in his sorrow more than he already was, but at least it let him keep feeling, instead of going numb altogether. Elena just seemed numb and acting fake most of the time. Except when she was mad at him, then she suddenly cared for five minutes, but only enough to publicly chastise and embarrass him, never enough to actually commit to actively help him or even have a real conversation.

All his sister did was write in her journal and ignore everyone all summer, then complain about Jeremy's own less acceptable method of grieving. He liked his Aunt Jenna, but she was a lot younger than his mom had been, and she didn't get much at all about teenage boys even if she thought she did. All her attempts to be the cool aunt in order to trick him into talking to her were so lame!

In his life, he was surrounded by girls that were clueless most of the time. His dad was dead and his Uncle John was a dick on the rare occasion he showed his face. The only guy that came around used to be Vicki's little brother Matt, who was Elena's age, but he hadn't been around since Elena had dumped him around the same time that their parents had died in the accident before summer had begun.

Problem was, Jeremy didn't get along great with most guys that he met either, at least not anymore. He didn't care about sports or acting like some macho jackass, and right now, he barely even cared about art anymore. His world pretty much revolved around Vicki, ever since she'd first offered him pot to cheer him up, and then deflowered him over and over all summer long, until now she'd suddenly stopped.

So basically, this year Jeremy didn't really have any friends that weren't Vicki's stoner pals, or any motivation to care about anything or anyone. All he had was a clueless aunt for a guardian, an annoying sister who had her own problems, and a fake girlfriend that cared more about Tyler the jackass than him, unless she wanted to get really wasted, at which point she found Jeremy again sometimes. Like this morning when she'd used him to pick up a quick fix before ditching him for Tyler, who practically rutted all over her two feet away from Jeremy.

With the school day two thirds of the way over, Jeremy snuck out of the building during a short break to his usual spot, but the stoner pit was getting harassed by a teacher, so he went back inside, just in time to see two other kids sneaking out a different back door. He was curious to see if they were going to smoke elsewhere and went to join in, but instead, he saw them shimmying up a clever route to the roof. Jeremy was really curious now, and a little freaked out since one of the kids looked like he had a backpack with weird electronics poking out of the partially unzipped portion. He decided to follow them up to see what they were actually doing.


Hamilton was always fascinated whenever he watched Jake set up her cool electronic trinkets. It kind of made him feel like they were on some crazy spy movie or something, and it was fun. Just watching her work turned him on; the super focused intelligent look in her eyes, the way the tip of her tongue poked out of her mouth a bit, and especially when she was concentrating on something and started biting her lower lip.

Even a few months back when they'd first met and he'd thought that she was a boy it had mesmerized him. Jake was the smartest person he knew, and he knew a lot of smart people. Even that genius boy Will Krudski from Rawley Academy was all book smarts, but Jake knew stuff. Real stuff. Yet she was still so bashful about stuff like sex. It was actually really cute. Even if it meant that they were still only at second base. So he was still a virgin.

"Oh, shit, look, Hamilton!" Jake had stopped setting up her new private 'hot spot' thingamajig and was pointing behind Hamilton. Another boy had caught them and had just climbed onto the roof! Ham tried to block the newcomer's view to what Jake was trying to finish up doing and went to head the intruder off.

"Uh, hey, um, we're not doing anything. So, you don't need to tell anyone else about it," Hamilton declared before grimacing. He always struggled with what to say in the moment! He looked back over helplessly as Jake breathed out a groan and rolled her head to the side a little before looking up at him like he blew it. Crap!

"Oh, no, I'm not a narc, dude! I was, uh, just gonna sneak up here for a smoke real quick, that's all!" Jeremy was still very curious about whatever these kids were doing, and he didn't want them to think he was going to rat them out! Maybe if he offered them a hit, they'd think he was cool, and would let him in on the big secret? "So, uh, you want some too?"

"We don't smoke," the scrawny techy kid responded, with a tight lipped frown, clearly hoping that Jeremy would just go away. Instead, Jeremy pulled out his joint and lit it, trying to offer some over to Hamilton, who stood there with wide eyes, like he'd never seen a joint before and had no clue what he should do.

"My names Jeremy, are you guys new here?" asked Jeremy, pointing at the device that the smaller guy had just attached to something on the roof. "Soo, what is that thing?"

Jake sighed. It was clear that this boy wasn't going away and they'd have to try to get on his good side too, after all. Jake loved Hamilton, but he sucked at being a lookout sometimes. "I'm Jake. That's my boyfriend, Hamilton. This is just a private internet 'hot spot' that I'm setting up for my own personal high speed usage, because being monitored by the school sucks, and the school internet blows. It should be right above the library so I can access it easier. If you can keep your mouth shut and not try to do anything crazy on it, like hack NASA or something, I can set up your laptop to use it too, if you want."

Whoa, what? Jeremy wasn't sure how to respond, and unexpectedly found himself choking a bit on the weed he'd inhaled. He was a little stumped that they didn't care about admitting that they were gay in front of a random stranger, even if it was 2009, but the hot spot thing was super cool. He didn't care if they were gay anyway. Hamilton seemed like a nice guy, and Jake was odd but kind of intriguing. He looked and talked like a guy, but had slightly feminine features too.

Damn, Jeremy regretted smoking, because now he felt a little dumb compared to this other kid, saying, "Yeah! That sounds really cool!"

Hamilton was relieved that Jeremy didn't react like he was going to go tell on them, and wanted to try to further get on his good side. "I've, uh, never smoked before, but, I guess I could try it while she sets that stuff up?"

Jeremy had just dug his laptop out of his bag and went to hand over the joint to Hamilton when he realized what he'd just heard. "She?"

Hamilton tried inhaling too hard and ended up coughing badly, and Jake rushed to his side and started rubbing his back, glaring at Jeremy for a second, before saying, "Jeez, Ham, what were you thinking? Were you trying to kill the whole thing?"

"I'm fine, Jake!" Hamilton rasped, and he so wasn't.

Jeremy felt kind of bad, he'd forgotten what it was like for someone who'd never smoked before. Hamilton managed not to drop the joint though and handed it back to Jeremy while trying to catch his breath. Jeremy pulled a Poland Springs out of his bag and handed it to Hamilton, "Hey, here's some water, dude. I, uh, have eye drops if you think you're gonna need it, too."

Jake reached out and grabbed the water before helping his boyfriend to open it and successfully get a drink. No. Her boyfriend. Damn, Jeremy was a bit too stoned right now. He really needed to stop smoking all day long. Although now that he looked, Jake's chest wasn't exactly totally flat like a guy's, even with the baggy clothes and hoody that she was wearing. In fact, she actually was kind of pretty even though she mostly looked and talked and acted like a dude.

Hamilton finally got control of his coughing, and mumbled out, "Sorry," with a sheepish look on his face.

"Oh, no problem, man, just go easy on it next time," Jeremy shrugged.

Jake, lips pursed, shook her head, "Hopefully, there won't be a next time. Seriously, Hamilton, if you get caught stoned here on the first day, after we both got expelled from Rawley for this semester, your dad will kill you! Then our parents will both find out that we came here together and they'll make sure we get split up for good. They'll never let me back in, not even over at the girl's school, and you'll probably be grounded until you're eighteen."

"Sorry," Hamilton repeated, "Although, if you get caught hacking, the same thing will probably happen?"

"I'll never get caught hacking, unless Jeremy talks," Jake responded, looking back over at Jeremy, then opening up the boy's laptop to set up the promised hot spot access, which was masked and hidden.

Jeremy held his hands up, "Still not a narc!"

"Jake actually hacked NASA once," Hamilton blurted out, because he was basically stoned instantly from that hit, and now he wanted to brag about how awesome Jake really was. Everyone should think that Jake was the best. Hamilton would follow Jake anywhere in the world. "She has a motorcycle, too! The groundskeeper confiscated it one time, so we had to break in and still it back in the middle of the night. Back at Rawley."

"Seriously, Ham? Break's almost over, and we are going to be so screwed if you talk, at all, in our next class," Jake finished up whatever awesomeness she did to Jeremy's computer and handed it back, saying to Jeremy, "Remember to keep your mouth shut and don't do anything crazy stupid, please!"

"Cool, cool," Jeremy laughed a little, he was having a lot of fun interacting with these two. "So you both have the same class together next? Where do you need to go?"

"We have all ofthe same classes together! Because Jake set it up that way!" Hamilton grinned, putting his arms around Jake and kissing her temple, who rolled her eyes but still leaned into Hamilton's embrace like it was the most natural thing in the world. They really were cute together, and now that Jeremy knew that she was a girl he could definitely tell by her facial structure too, and her eyes, but she could also still pass as a boy for sure, and clearly liked to do so intentionally.

"History," replied Jake in her uniquely husky voice. "Tanner?"

Jeremy's smile faltered a bit. He'd heard Tanner was a dick, and now he remembered that he had history class with Tanner now, too. In fact, he'd been intending to skip it, but now he wanted to go there instead, because these guys were in his class. He figured that he might as well lead the way. "Me too, I guess we're the same year then? Although fair warning, no one likes Tanner. He's a dick."

On the brisk walk to class, Jeremy learned exactly why the two kids had been expelled from their old school for a semester. He could definitely believe that Jake had passed as a boy for their summer school semester, but that she'd actually dared to alter her records and enrolled there as a boy in a boy's only dorm, just in an act of rebelliousness against her neglectful mother, who never even noticed! It was insane.

Hamilton also admitted that he'd thought Jake was a boy at first too, until she'd told him the truth, weeks after he'd been trying to deal with being confused by his attraction to her. Now Jake had decided that she liked dressing and passing as a boy sometimes, and had gotten rather comfortable with it, even if sometimes she decided to dress and act more like a girl. When she actually wanted to, instead of when other people expected her to. Mostly, she'd gotten accustomed to being one of the guys, and preferred to be treated that way unless stated otherwise.

Also, Jake had enrolled in Mystic Falls officially as herself this time, but now she still preferred to be always be called Jake, and didn't actually care if people called her a he or a she, but didn't like the way that 'they' or 'it' sounded. Hamilton admitted that sometimes he even slipped up and still called Jake a he, since Jake had spend so long as a boy when they'd first met. Jake was cool with that, too.

It sounded really confusing to Jeremy, but he just thought that they were both fun to be around anyway. At the very least, they were entertaining and friendly and kept him from thinking about sad stuff. He also found out that the other classes that he had already skipped earlier that day happened to be classes that Jake and Hamilton were both in too, so from now on Jeremy would probably start going to them. For now they offered to give him their notes.

Unfortunately, they were already late to history class, and Tanner was on a roll with being a dick. It seemed to have started the moment that the teacher had laid eyes on Jake and started on the roll call.

"Jacqueline Pratt," Tanner announced loudly, getting a few surprised snickers from many of the kids. Everyone had thought that Jake was a boy so far, including any kids she'd had class with earlier, and since she was basically feeling mostly like being in a 'boy mode' today, she hadn't bothered to correct anyone and had just gone with it. Jake hated being the center of attention.

She had enrolled with some provided past school records under her real full name but had definitely written her preferred name to enroll here as just Jake Pratt, so Tanner must have looked deeper into all of his students just to find someone to tear into before actually meeting them.

"I only go by Jake Pratt, now," Jake answered, crossing her arms. Hamilton was sitting next to her and reached over to lightly tap her shoulder and nod in support, as Jeremy watched from where he'd ended up seated right behind Hamilton.

"Well, Miss Jacqueline, this is my classroom, and I'll decide what my students are called. Mister Fleming, I presume, also from Rawley Academy?" Tanner sneered with disdain as he looked at Hamilton.

"Yeah, but how come you're calling everyone but Jake by their last names? At least just let Jake go by Pratt." Hamilton was too stoned to completely let it go, despite the warning looks from Jake. He definitely hated this teacher. Hamilton was used to really smart, progressive teachers, like Finn at Rawley, not this jerk who was just trying to hurt Jake for no good reason. Jake was probably way smarter than Tanner, too, and Tanner just wanted to have some rude power trip.

"Because, Mister Fleming, when I find out that I'm going to have not one, but two bratty delinquents that were both expelled from the same pampered, elitist boarding school, I want to make a few things clear, right off the bat. One, I know who you are, and what you've done, and two, you're not going to pull any of that same crap in my class, or I'll have you both kicked out of my school before you can blink," Tanner snapped his fingers, and because Hamilton was stoned, he couldn't stop himself from blinking like the teacher had some sort of mind control power in that second.

Jake sat there hunched down with arms crossed glaring forward at the board, but didn't want to say or do anything to make the situation any more difficult for either of them. At least not right here or right now. Eventually, there may come a time and place, but it wasn't right now.

Jeremy just felt bad for them both. Tanner had continued to be a dick and make a point of tauntingly calling Jake 'Miss Jacqueline' frequently throughout the whole class, as well as shit-talking about how he disagreed with everything that Hamilton's older cousin, Roger Fleming, wrote in all of his opinion blurb columns, because apparently Tanner was familiar with 'a few' of the Flemings that he knew of in town, and didn't care much for them, either. Hamilton thought that was lame since he didn't care whatsoever about his dad's cousin's work, but was glad that Tanner was targeting him more now instead of Jake.

Jeremy didn't really even give a shit when Tanner pointed out how surprised he was that the Gilbert 'heir' had decided to honor them with his presence today after already hearing not to expect Jeremy to show up for class from a few other teachers. It may have only been the first day, but the only 'history' that anyone learned was in little inappropriately exposing personal jabs about most, but not all, of the students that Tanner didn't seem to like. Jeremy figured that he might as well have just skipped this pointless class. History class in Mystic Falls was almost always the same stupid local shit anyway.

Hamilton wished that Tanner had been a teacher at Rawley, because he'd have been fired right after just this one class. Unfortunately, most of these freshman kids didn't seem to feel like they had any power. The rich kids he'd grown up around were the total opposite, which was sometimes bad, but there'd have been half a dozen pissed off high class parents clamoring for this guy's teaching license by now. He felt bad that he hadn't been able to get the teacher to stop harassing Jake. When he looked over, though, and Jake glanced back at him with a million gears turning behind her beautiful eyes, he knew right away that Tanner's days were, in fact, numbered. He just hoped that wouldn't get him or Jake in too much trouble again!


After school, Jeremy realized that he hadn't even bothered smoking another joint or looked for Vicki. Instead, he'd been hanging out with Jake and Hamilton for a long while. Problem was, Jake's motor bike was barely big enough for two kids, let alone three. Even still, when Hamilton had mentioned that he wanted to go get some good shots around Mystic Falls with his camera, Jake had been willing to drop Hamilton off in a few spots first, then came back and picked up Jeremy, before joking that they needed to get a sidecar for next time.

That had made Jeremy feel like they actually wanted to include him, and it felt nice that anyone actually wanted to bring him along. Of course, Jeremy was the one telling them about all the best spots since he'd actually grown up here, and it wasn't long before Jake would scout out a spot first with Jeremy before heading back to pick up Hamilton instead of the other way around. After all, Hamilton could just keep taking his pictures until Jake got back.

Instead of smoking, Jeremy had found himself pulling out his notebook and drawing sketches of the other two kids exploring the landscapes like the falls and the quarry. He found himself wishing that he'd actually kept his old sketch book with him, since he now had filled a bunch of pages in his school notebook with what he realized looked like a couple of boys holding hands and helping each other climb around on things, and also one of them kissing. He snorted as he flipped back through what he'd sketched but didn't really care what it might make someone else think. It was nice to be around people that seemed to be really happy and actually really enjoyed each other's company for a change.

Unfortunately, it also then reminded him of how happy together his parents had once been. With a heavy heart, he put away his notebook, and decided that maybe he wanted to go try to find Vicki after all. So he called out to the guys that they ought to call it a day before it got dark out here and head over to the Mystic Grill for dinner.


Watching their new buddy Jeremy getting snubbed by that much older girl at the town's bar and grill made Hamilton very thankful that Jake had always treated him so well, even if they had disagreements. Especially after they got past all of the confusing stuff that had mostly been Hamilton trying to come to terms with his own confusing reactions. In fact, Jake almost always made Hamilton feel good about himself, even when he screwed up a bunch in the beginning. Even if they had an argument, Jake definitely never tried to hurt his feelings on purpose.

Maybe that's why it bothered him so much when the girl that Jeremy liked didn't seem to care very much about him. He didn't really know their story, though, but he was surprised by how much older she looked. The worst part was when she was strutting around and blatantly flirting with an older boy that looked a little closer to her age as Jeremy painfully watched. That just seemed kind of cruel and intentional. Also, like she was trying to get Jeremy to take a beat, but in such an inconsiderate, public way. Jake also looked bothered by the way that Vicki was treating their new friend, so Hamilton figured that he was probably reading the situation right. It wasn't their place to say anything, though. Either way, right after that, Jeremy stalked out of the hangout, looking miserable. Jake stood up, tossed money on the table next to their unfinished food, and they both rushed out to try and find the other boy.

On their way out, Hamilton had a chill suddenly run down his spine when some older kid walked in and stared at him briefly as he brushed by with a very strange, dark look, right as Hamilton and Jake rushed out. For a split second, Hamilton even thought that guy was going to chase him down and fight him for no reason! Hamilton wanted to tell Jake about it, but first jumped quickly on the back of the bike and pulled on his helmet, as Jake threw the bike into motion and they went to seek out their new friend.


It had only been a split second that the boy had rushed past him, but Stefan Salvatore's entire mood had shifted immediately. Unfortunately, not only did Elena seem to have noticed his instantaneous change in demeanor, but so did a few of the friends that she'd been bringing him to meet after he'd returned her journal. He certainly saw the now uncomfortable glances he was receiving from a few of them even as they tried to make the 'getting to know you' small talk. Problem was, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to fix it if they'd already seen the hatred, the cold monster in his eyes that had wanted to emerge the moment he'd laid eyes on that boy. The boy that had looked almost exactly like Damon.

Except it hadn't been Damon. It had been a much younger kid. Human. Just like Elena was a human that looked exactly like Katherine. It didn't make any sense. Did all vampires somehow end up eventually having carbon copies of themselves being reborn into the world? He tried to chat with Elena and her friends but it went badly, he knew it did. All he could think about was his brother.

Now, there was a human replica of Damon running around in a young, human, teenage body. For some reason that bothered him a lot more than discovering Elena looking like Katherine ever had. What if that kid was just as evil as Damon, deep down? What if he wasn't evil, but Damon ever came back and saw him?

The only person that didn't seem to pick up on his dark thoughts was the blonde girl, Caroline, who seemed to be a bit desperate for attention. Stefan did successfully still get an invite to meet with Elena at a party in the woods the following night, so maybe it hadn't been as bad as he'd thought, but he still got the impression that Elena and her friend Bonnie had become a bit wary of him. Stefan could only hope and pray that Damon never actually come back to Mystic Falls, and that the human boy that could be his brother's younger twin was no more similar to Damon than Elena was to Katherine.

After returning home and being confronted by Zack about random animal attacks that he had nothing to do with, Stefan opened up one of his oldest journals, pulling out a picture of Katherine. Deeper still, he opened another very old journal, pulling out a picture of the brother that he remembered from long ago, who hadn't existed since they'd become vampires. The brother that he could now mostly only feel disgust and hatred towards, but also fear. What if those animal attacks were really from another vampire, and he wasn't the only Salvatore in town after all?

Stefan rushed back out into the night, planning on doing some more reconnaissance.


"Hey! Jeremy! You okay? Where're you goin?" Hamilton called out, as Jake pulled the bike up to Jeremy as he was walking down the street. It hadn't taken long to catch up to they boy, but when they saw him walking down the sidewalk smoking another joint out in the open it had them both worried. It was dark, but still, in this town it would be really easy to get caught by bored deputies.

"I'm cool. Just walkin' home. Nice enough night," Jeremy answered, sounding sad and a bit monotone.

"Well, okay, but if you want, Jake could give you a ride home first, then come pick me back up?" Hamilton offered, hopping off the bike and holding out the helmet for Jeremy to take. Jake nodded in agreement.

"No, thanks, no, I really think I just wanna walk," Jeremy replied.

"Sure, okay, but see you at school tomorrow?" Hamilton went to get back on Jake's bike, figuring that was the end of it.

"Yeah," was the only reply they got, as Jeremy kept walking away and smoking.

Jake frowned at Hamilton as they watched their new friend walk off down the dark road in his self imposed solitude. Then Jake noticed that it was almost eight PM. "Ah, shit, Hamilton, you're gonna miss your weekday curfew!"

"Ah, damn! If Roger or his wife notices and tells my dad, I'll be grounded after school all week, hurry up Jake!" Hamilton needed to follow Roger's rules because he was already on thin ice with his family. Especially after the whole fiasco when they'd ended up stranded overnight in a desolate cabin after crashing in their friend Bella's truck during their short-lived escape from Rawley after Jake got caught by Finn. His parents had told Roger to keep him on a shorter leash until they knew he could be trusted again. He was lucky that Roger was pretty laid back and not interested in parenting, so his big rule was just the school night curfew so far. Roger's fourth wife was pretty young and didn't care as long as he didn't interfere with her own life.

Jake didn't have a curfew, or any rules at all really, aside from needing to avoid any big trouble that drew any attention from her mother, who was off shooting another film for months. She wasn't even fully aware of the Rawley situation yet, because Jake was so good and intercepting and forging everything, and forwarding and deleting messages to a burner phone that anything from the schools immediately got diverted to. It was probably only a matter of time before everything exploded, but for now, Jake could still count on her mom being entirely clueless.

As they zoomed off down the road away from the direction that Jeremy walked, a dark shadow that had been listening in finally went the other direction, ensuring that, at least tonight, Elena's younger brother would not be the next victim of an 'animal attack'. Stefan felt a bit better after hearing the teenager's conversation too. Even if that kid looked like Damon, at least he was nothing like him. Hamilton. What a hell of a name.


End Note: Thanks for reading, and if anyone out there wants to try doing a similar crossover with Jake and Hamilton in Mystic Falls, and Hamilton is Damon's doppelganger, I am giving everyone permission for anyone to take this idea and try to run with it! I'd love to read it if someone else wrote it!