So I don't know what Anna's last name is, and I'm sure no one does, so I just used Katherine's since her mother and Katherine were best friends.

Anyway, here's the next chapter. I don't own anything besides the story – you already know this. Enjoy and review.

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Chapter 4

Jeremy felt his hand tightened around Anna's own small hand as they stood in front of the tombstone which read Pearl Pierce. It'd been three months since his own Uncle had killed Anna's mother. He looked silently over to Anna as the snow fell around her; the cold catching the tears the leaked down her face quietly. He lowered his eyes to the ground as he tried to think of the words to say, to make this better – but there wasn't any that came to mind.

He could have told her 'It's okay Anna, I know how it feels to lose someone you love. But you won't lose me, ever. I'm here for you.' but it wouldn't have done any good. After his parents' death, people from all around Mystic Falls had told him the exact same thing, and what did he do about it? Nothing. Nothing except sit back with Vicki and pop pills and get stoned. He'd loved Vicki; however, she refused to allow their relationship to be public. For one, he was much younger than she was. For two, she was in love with Tyler. After Vicki's disappearance, he met Anna. At first, the relationship was just to be friendly with a small cute girl, but as soon as he learned of Vicki's death and read Elena's diary, he wanted nothing more than to become a vampire himself – even if it meant using Anna. However, things changed and feelings developed on both sides of the relationship, resulting to where they were now.

"She liked you, you know," Anna started in a low feminine voice, "She hated all Gilberts, even all humans, but she liked you. She was willing to stay in this town to keep me with you because she saw how happy I was."

"Your mother was an amazing woman who loved you with her entire heart," Jeremy replied quietly as he caressed Anna's hand.

"The first time I lost her, I was afraid. I had just became a vampire and still didn't know all of the abilities and such. I had lost my only two guides – mother and Katherine. Emily agreed to take me in, but we had to leave Mystic Falls. The council men had weapons that'd be able to track down vampires from miles away, which made every ounce of the land in and around Mystic Falls unsafe for me, and of course if Emily got caught with me she'd be killed as well," Anna started as she turned to look at Jeremy, "When I brought her back, I was so thankful that Bonnie and her grandmother – Elena, Stefan, and Damon, had allowed me to free her. They could have easily killed the both of us, but they didn't. I had finally gotten my mother back after years of looking for her, Jer. Could you imagine the feeling? Imagine if you had the chance to bring your parents back, you would, right? I thought we'd be able to start off our own life, and make it normal this time. We had such big plans, it was supposed to be great. But obviously...obviously things didn't work out."

"I'm sorry Anna," Jeremy whispered. There wasn't much he could say. No matter what he'd do or say he couldn't change the fact that his own relative had killed his girlfriend's mother.

"And what hurts the most is, she wanted to leave that morning because she felt it wasn't safe for me or her. But I begged her to stay, because of me, she's dead," Anna whispered, dropping her head to the ground as she leaned down and gently placed a red rose in front of the tombstone.

"Hey, hey, listen to me," Jeremy said lightly as he placed his hand under Anna's chin and gently brought it up, causing her to face him, "You didn't do anything wrong, neither did she. Things happen for a reason, Anna. I know that sounds like bull right now – believe me, I thought the same thing when my parents died and people would tell me that, but it's going to be okay, alright? I'll hide you, I'll protect you, and I'll love you."

Anna felt her back shaking as she slowly lowered her face against Jeremy's shoulder as he wrapped his strong arms around her, pulling her closer to him. He held her tightly as her entire body went numb from the amount of liquid spilling from her eyes. It hurt, so much, to know that her mother was gone forever. For the rest of her eternal life, her mother wouldn't be around. She whimpered slowly as the tears begin to reside, allowing her to breathe the much needed oxygen – even vampires needed to breathe every now and then.

"Why am I so lucky?" she whispered against his chest as he placed a soft kiss against her head.

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Dear Diary,

Today, is currently December 15th, and I must say although Damon has been being his usual cocky self, I'm honestly enjoying having him with me every hour – ever day. Except when he goes to hunt of course. His presence around the house just lightens the entire mood, especially when he goes around cracking jokes every few minutes.

Damon seemed to always have that effect on me, even when I was dating Stefan. Every second Damon would seem to get me alone, he'd demand a list of reasons for me loving Stefan. I'd always begin with the same reasoning – he's the good brother. And of course Damon would reply with "I can be the good brother with a hint of bad ass." And as usual, I'd roll my eyes and continue with "He's faithful." And Damon would reply with, "But I can make you happier than he ever has."

Anna seems to be falling for my brother more and more everyday, which is an extremely good thing. After Jeremy's history with girls, it's about time he finds someone who loves him just as much as he loves her. After he learned of Vicki's death – the real reason for her death, I never thought he'd be alright. Just seeing the pain in his eyes caused me to have pain in my entire body. But once Anna came around, everything changed. He started to smile, he was laughing, and more importantly, he forgave me.

"Dear Diary, Damon's an amazing boyfriend. I don't see how I could have resisted him for so long, I regret it very, very much. Especially when I sit here and think about all my boring dates with dear Saint Stefan," smirked Damon as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the nearest wall.

Elena laughed as she raised her head slightly just in time to see Damon wink at her. "Dear Diary, Damon's cockiness and high confidence continues to happen."

"Dear Diary, Elena's desire grows more and more every second Damon continues to move closer and closer to her," he smirked once again as he stood dangerously close to her face.

"Dear Diary, Elena believes someone's on an ego trip," Elena whispered as she felt Damon's lips capturing her own in a passionate kiss. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as he kissed her softly but yet hard at the same time. Slowly, he pulled away as he allowed Elena time to catch the much needed oxygen.

"I love you," she whispered as she laid her head against his chest while he ran his hand gently through her long dark hair.

He was silent for a moment as he stared off into the near distance. "I love you too."

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Jenna sat by herself outside the local coffee shop as she waited quietly for her date to appear. Alaric and her had agreed to meet for a coffee date which would allow her some time out of the house. Although she didn't mind Damon or Anna, she enjoyed her much needed alone time. She frowned as she looked down at her watch – ten minutes late.

"Great, getting stood up," she whispered to herself as she stood up and grabbed her purse. She turned around swiftly only to find herself bumping into someone. As she looked up, she recognized the face as Alaric's, causing her to laugh nervously.

"Sorry," he smiled as he pulled her chair out motioning for her to take a seat. Quietly, she listened to him as she sat down. "The school called last minute, they needed some grades in before ten today."

"Thought you were standing me up for a minute," she laughed as she smiled sweetly at Alaric. He was a good guy – so sweet, caring, charming, and funny. And Elena and Jeremy seemed to love him, which was also a plus.

They were silent for a moment as they noticed their waitress walking over to their table. Almost instantly, both recognized the small waitress as Elena's friend Caroline Forbes. "Mr. Saltzman, Ms. Gilbert, surprised to see you two here, together," Caroline smiled as her head looked back and forth between the two, "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a cappuccino," Alaric replied as he waited for his date to announce her own order.

"Alrighty," Caroline said as she scribbled away on a small notebook pad, "And for you Ms. Gilbert?"

"A hot chocolate would be nice. Thanks Caroline," Jenna replied as Caroline nodded and walked away.

"Great girl, she's in my second hour," Alaric stated as he nodded towards Caroline, "She's really got an understanding on the world, even if she doesn't apply it towards her school work."

"Well, from what I can tell, her and Elena have been pretty close since elementary school years. She's a bundle of fun, kind of like a small child just learning to walk," laughed Jenna.

"Speaking of Elena, how's the whole Damon Salvatore situation going?" he asked. Although Jenna was unaware of Damon's secret, he secretly hoped Damon was able to control himself around a house full of humans. However, he had faith in the vampire, even if he didn't like him all that much.

"Surprising well. He's the same Damon Salvatore, cocky, arrogant, sarcastic, but he keeps to himself more than anyone. The only time I ever see him looking like a normal human is when he's around Elena," Jenna replied.

"Normal, eh?" Alaric smiled as he found himself chuckling quietly, "Sounds like Damon."

"You never told me why you two didn't like each other," Jenna stated as she backed up slightly, giving Caroline room to place the steaming hot cup of hot chocolate in front of her.

Alaric paused as he took a sip of his cappuccino. "It's not so much dislike we have for each other, I'd say it's more of an acquaintance relationship sort of thing. You have to be really close to Damon to see the side of Damon that no one but Elena has seen. Damon and I have had a few close encounters...where we've helped each other out with certain things," Alaric said as he chose his words carefully, "But in the same sentence, Damon's also done some things that I could never forgive him for."

"Like what?" Jenna asked curiously, causing Alaric to quickly think of a logic reasoning.

"Ex-girlfriend issues. Damon dated a girl that had broken up with me; however, I was still very much in love with her. He toyed with her right in front of my eyes," Alaric replied.

"Should I worry about him hurting Elena?" she asked suddenly.

Once again Alaric found himself chuckling due to how ironic Jenna's words were. "In my opinion, I believe Damon is actually in love with Elena."

Jenna allowed herself to relax, "Yeah, me too. I'm just worried, I still haven't gotten used to this whole parenting thing."

"You're doing fine for being only a few years older than Elena. How's Jeremy handling everything with Vicki's death?" asked Alaric.

"Oh, poor child. First the death of my sister and her husband, then he finds out his girlfriend was murdered. I can't begin to imagine what he was going through. For the most part he's pretty alright, I think a majority of his happiness has something to do with Anna. She's a really sweet girl, you know?" Jenna replied as she took a sip of her chocolate.

"She just enrolled at the school. I'm looking forward to teaching her, from what her transcripts say she's a promising student," Alaric nodded.

"You'll love her," Jenna promised with a gentle smile.

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"Elena, what are you doing?" Damon managed to say between the laughs escaping his mouth.

"Making you take a picture with Santa Claus," Elena smiled evilly as she grabbed Damon's arm and drug him towards a smiling Santa, "With me. Memories, Damon."

"Elena, I met the actual Santa Claus once, this guy looks nothing like him," Damon whispered into her ear before walking over to the right side of Santa.

"Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three!" called the camera guy as a white flash went off, leaving Elena and Damon half blind.

"Remind me to never take a picture in this mall," Damon mumbled as he stumbled towards the large camera stand. Elena rolled her eyes although she felt pretty blind herself.

"Stop complaining," she laughed, "Matt?"

Elena walked over to a large table containing rows of pictures. Matt stood behind the occupied table as he scribbled people's names across their orders. He smiled as soon as he saw Damon and Elena approaching.

"Hey guys, took a picture with Santa I see?" Matt smirked as he looked down at the package in his hands, "Nice dude."

"What did you do?" Elena asked as she noticed the small laughter between the two boys. She quickly reached from the package but failed due to Damon's fast reflexes. He held the photographs above Elena's head as she crossed her arms and looked at him with an annoyed face.

"I'd give it to her dude. You haven't seen her angry side yet," Matt warned.

"Oh trust me, I have. A slap here, a slap there, one more won't hurt," smirked Damon.

"Damon Salvatore, I'm warning you," Elena said sternly as she felt her fist tightening.

"Come on Princess, jump!" Damon laughed as Elena reached for the photograph but only caught air.

"Damon, come on. Stop being immature," she groaned.

"What do I get out of this?" he asked with a wink, forgetting that Matt was around.

"Dude, hello, bystanders around," Matt muttered with a disgusted face.

"Nothing if you don't give it to me," Elena answered.

Damon smirked as he slowly placed the package in Elena's hands – seeing her reaction would be enough for him. He felt his smile capturing his entire face as Elena's mouth dropped open and eyes widened as she turned towards Damon with shock.

"I told you that that guy was a fake," Damon laughed as he looked down at the picture of him pulling down on Santa's beard. He'd managed to time his movement perfectly, so that as soon as the flash went off, his hand was there pulling down without Santa even knowing.

"Damon!" Elena shouted but found herself laughing along as well. Leave it up to Damon to do something only a child would do.

"You dig me," Damon smirked as he wrapped one arm around Elena's waist and continued to roam the mall with her.

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"What ever happened to those antlers Damon made you and Elena wear one the first day?" Jeremy asked as he walked down the sidewalk with Anna at his side.

"Oh God, I burned those things the night after," Anna replied as she rolled her eyes as the thought of her having to ever wear those things again.

"Why? They were cute. You were like a man-eating reindeer," laughed Jeremy.

"Don't remind me," groaned Anna.

"Well, let's say I got you a present, well an early Christmas present," Jeremy said with a smirk, "Would you want it right now?"

"But I didn't get you anything yet," Anna replied quietly as a small smile formed.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Seeing how happy you are will be enough," Jeremy grinned, "Okay, close your eyes. Don't peek either."

Anna listened and instantly closed her eyes. Slowly, Jeremy withdrew a small pair of reindeer antlers as he quickly placed them on Anna's small head, causing her eyes to shot open as her hand flew to her head.

"Jeremy Gilbert!" Anna called out as she laughed. Jeremy laughed as well before breaking off in a run causing Anna to run after him.

"Be careful not to run over grandma, Rudolph!" smirked Jeremy.

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okay here's chapter four, enjoy guys.

And review please!