AN: The next chapter for you, guys. Just a heads-up: I have a lot to do in uni this week, so I don't know if I'll be able to update until the weekend. I will try, but if I don't, you know why.

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – you guys make my day! I thought I'd take a few moments to address a couple of the questions/comments. SalvatoreLover17: There isn't much about Bonnie/Caroline/Matt in this story, I know, and that's mainly because it was originally meant to be a one-shot. Bonnie is going to make an appearance, and I'll see if I can at least mention Caroline and Matt, to let you know what they're up to these days. Notashamedtobesoilyfan: Everything will (I hope!) be resolved in the end, but I'm not going to give anything away prematurely. You'll just have to keep reading to find out what's going on with Jeremy and Anna and why he hasn't been in touch (evil, I know!). Gseeman: As far as Elena thinking about turning goes … I think the first chapter made clear that she is thinking about it, but all I'm going to say is that that particular storyline isn't for this fic to pursue! Lexipedia: I'm glad you like Alison! I haven't gotten any comments on her character before, and I have to say that I really like her myself! Vais: I know Damon's been a bit OOC in this one, and I am trying to keep him as 'Damon-y' as possible while balancing on the line of it not getting to be too much in the circumstances: Elena is upset after all, I think even Damon would tone it down a little. But I will try to keep him more in character!

Wow, that got really long! OK, just a big thanks to my beta, sunshine2006578, and then it's on with the story.

Disclaimer: The characters of The Vampire Diaries are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

Chapter four

When they passed the sign welcoming them to Mystic Falls a little before six thirty that evening, Damon glanced over at Elena and saw her biting her lip, an anxious expression on her face.

"Want me to turn the car around?" he asked, not seriously expecting her to say yes.

"No, I just want to get it over with," she replied.

"You know you don't have to do this," he noted. "It's Jeremy's mess, let him deal with it."

"Well, he's not here to deal with it," she pointed out. "Which does make it my mess, since Jenna is my family. I can't just let her keep wondering what's going on. And what do you want me to do, dodge her calls for the rest of my life?"

"OK, I admit, not a feasible solution," Damon agreed. "How about I do a little mind reconstruction? You know, she doesn't have to remember that she even has a nephew."

Elena gave him an incredulous look. "You're not serious, are you?"

He sighed. "No, of course not. I was just trying to … I don't know, lighten the mood. Mission unaccomplished, apparently."

She let out a deep breath. "Sorry, I guess I'm not in a mood that can be lightened right now."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." He flashed her a smile. "I have my ways."

Like he had hoped, she laughed a little. "Don't I know it. And I might be needing your distractions before the night is over."

"I'm counting on it."

He pulled into the parking lot at the high school and came to a stop close to the entrance. They had decided that it was probably a good idea to fill Alaric in on the situation before talking to Jenna, so that he would be prepared for her reaction. Elena had called him and he had agreed to meet them at the school without asking too many questions. Though she was pretty sure he had figured out what was going on, maybe even before she had.

The deserted corridors were a little spooky and, as they walked down them, Elena felt a chill run down her spine.

"I don't remember the school being so … creepy," she said quietly, but her voice still echoed off the walls. "It almost feels like a ghost house or something."

"What, did you forget about all the vampires that were running around this place when you were here?" Damon wondered dryly. "Or are you afraid of the dark? Scared something's going to jump out at you? I'm offended: you don't think I would be able to protect you?"

She rolled her eyes, knowing that he was trying to distract her, and ignored the mock-disappointed comment.

"I don't know, maybe it's everything else that makes me feel like that," she mused out loud. "Knowing what we're here to do."

"Nah, I think you're just afraid of the dark." He poked her in the ribs. "Scaredy-cat!"

"Ha ha."

They turned a corner and spotted a light coming from the history classroom halfway down the corridor. When they got to the open door, Damon knocked on the doorframe and Alaric looked up from a bunch of papers on his desk. "You're here," he said by way of greeting, gesturing for them to come into the room.

"I think you might have an idea why," Elena told him, sitting down on top of one of the desks in the front row. Damon took a seat next to her, taking her hand in his, trying to be supportive.

"I do have a hunch," Alaric admitted. "It's about Jeremy, right? I mean, the whole disappearing thing is a little suspicious."

"Yeah." Elena took a deep breath. She knew that Damon would tell Alaric if she asked him to, but she also knew that she needed to say the words herself, to make herself believe them. "I talked to the Administrations' office at UCLA, and both Jeremy and Anna dropped out last week. They have moved out of their dorm rooms and apparently manipulated someone so they wouldn't let Jenna know. We think Anna's going to turn him, if she hasn't already. It's been over a week now."

As she finished speaking, Alaric nodded thoughtfully, not looking all that surprised. "I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's been expecting this to happen?"

Elena sighed. "No. But I was hoping it would be a few more years."

"What are we telling Jenna?" Alaric asked.

"That's what we were going to ask you," Damon countered, making the teacher frown. "Do you think she can handle the truth? I mean, the last thing we need is for her to completely freak out and start yelling 'vampire' for the whole town to hear. I don't know about you guys, but I for one am not in the mood for the villagers to pull out their pitchforks and torches right now. Been there, done that, didn't even get the t-shirt to prove it."

"I honestly don't know," Alaric said after a moment. "She might be able to deal with it. Under the right circumstances, but this definitely isn't it. She's already really upset about Jeremy being missing, I don't think telling her that he's a vampire would do much to improve the situation."

"We think he's planning on staying away, since he hasn't contacted me," Elena continued. "It's one thing to not tell her what he was planning before it happened, but it's been a week. And Stefan went to his old dorm room at UCLA this morning; Jeremy didn't leave a note or anything. He's probably decided that it's better if he stays out of Jenna's life."

"Then I think it's best if we don't tell her what's really going on," Alaric concluded. "I mean, if he never gets in touch again, she'd still be wondering and worrying. In the long run, it might be easier for her to believe that he's just … disappeared. People do all the time, after all."

"That's what I think too." Elena nodded. "But she'll be devastated if she never finds out what happened to him."

"There's not much we can do about that, though, is there?" Alaric said quietly.

"I know," she agreed.

They all sat in silence for a while. "Well, we might as well get it over with," Damon then said. "Or, you know, we could procrastinate a little longer. I'm sure it'll be easier the longer we wait."

Despite the sarcasm, Elena knew that he was right, but she still didn't want to do it. She hated being the one to give Jenna the bad news, but knew that she had to be. "Yeah, let's go," she grudgingly agreed, jumping down off the desk she had been sitting on. Damon wrapped an arm around her waist, probably able to feel that she needed physical support as well as moral, and she smiled up at him as they left the classroom, trying to show him that she was holding it together.

The drive through town didn't take nearly as long as Elena had hoped and, within minutes, Damon pulled into the driveway at her house. Or, technically, her old house. She had come back for over two months this past summer, and knew that she would return next summer and the one after that too, but she also knew that she would never actually live there again, not permanently. That thought made her a little sad. This was the house she grew up in, the house her parents had moved into before she was even born. This was where she had lost her first tooth, learned how to ride her first bike, gotten ready for her first school dance and her first date. She had fallen out of the tree in the front yard when she was eight and broken her arm. The summer after she turned eleven, there had been a litter of kittens under the porch, and when there hadn't been any sign of their mother for days, she had begged her dad to break open the porch and help the kittens and he had. She didn't remember what had actually happened to the kittens, but she remembered her dad getting a crowbar from his tools and ripping up two boards, unearthing the tiny kittens. She and Bonnie had buried a time capsule in the far corner of the backyard when they were thirteen, making an oath to come back when they were fifty and dig it up.

This house was home. It always would be, no matter where she moved or what she did, no matter who actually lived in the house. Even if she lived for hundreds of years, she would always consider this house her true home.

"Hey, you in there?" Damon asked next to her, pulling her back to the present.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head as if to shake the memories off, at least for now. "I got a little sentimental for a moment."

"Maybe not the time for a stroll down memory lane," he noted, squeezing her hand. "Rick's waiting for us. Might as well get the show on the road."

She nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

They got out of the car and joined Alaric, who was waiting for them on the porch. "Do you want to wait out here for a little while, or should we just pretend like I found you in the driveway when I got home?" he wondered.

"Let's just go inside," Elena replied. "It won't make a difference either way once I've told her."

"OK." Alaric unlocked the front door and Elena and Damon followed him inside. "Jenna?"

"Kitchen!" her voice drifted into the hallway. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Is there enough for two more?" Alaric called back and a moment later Jenna appeared in the doorway.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" she exclaimed, hurrying to give Elena a hug. "And why didn't you call, I would have made more food!"

"That's OK, Aunt Jenna, we can order a pizza or something," Elena assured her, hugging her back tightly. "It was a spur of the moment thing, my class tomorrow was canceled."

"I'm glad you're here," Jenna told her, letting her go. "And, yes, I know I saw you less than two weeks ago, but I can still miss you. It's my right as your aunt, you know."

"Of course you can." Elena looped her arm with Jenna's and went with her back into the kitchen. "And I missed you too."

She had decided that telling Jenna could wait until after dinner, but unfortunately Jenna didn't cooperate with her plan. "So, did you get a hold of Jeremy yesterday?" she asked after checking the food on the stove. "I tried to call you twice last night, but I just got your voicemail."

"Yeah, we went out last night," Elena said quickly. "We got back really late, so I didn't want to wake you up. And then I found out today that my class tomorrow was canceled and we decided to come here and surprise you."

"OK. But did you talk to Jeremy?"

Elena saw Damon enter the kitchen out of the corner of her eye. He must have heard Jenna's question because Alaric followed him a moment later. Taking a deep breath, Elena sat down at the table.

"No, I didn't get a hold of him," she told her aunt.

Jenna frowned. "I don't know why he would have his phone disconnected like that. And I tried the number I have for Anna after I talked to you yesterday, but I just got the same result. Though I'm not completely sure it's the right number, I've never used it before."

"It's the right number," Elena said. "Why don't you sit down?"

Jenna stared at her for a moment, not understanding what she meant, but then she pulled out the chair opposite Elena's and sat down, still holding the wooden spoon she had used to stir the pasta with a moment ago.

"I called Anna's number too, and, like you said, it's been disconnected, just like Jeremy's," Elena started. "So … this morning, I called the Administrations' office at UCLA, and they told me that both Anna and Jeremy dropped out of school last week." She edited the story a little, not wanting Jenna to think that she hadn't told her as soon as possible.

Jenna looked at her blankly. "But why would they drop out of school? And why hasn't Jeremy said anything, the last time I talked to him he sounded like he was having a great time in LA, and he said that school was going really good!"

"I know, I know, I thought so too." Elena reached over the table and took Jenna's hands in hers. "But I guess he didn't want us to know the truth. Maybe he was afraid you'd be disappointed in him or something."

"But where are they?" Jenna asked, voice getting shriller. "If they left LA last week, shouldn't they have come home by now? It doesn't take that long to drive."

"I don't know," Elena said, glad that she at least didn't have to lie about that. Could that be why Jeremy hadn't told her anything, so that she wouldn't have to lie to Jenna more than necessary? That thought cheered her up a little bit, even if it didn't do anything to improve their present situation. "We know that they cleared out their rooms, but that's it."

"But …" Jenna fumbled for words. "But they can't just have disappeared!"

Alaric went to stand behind Jenna's chair, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe …"

"We have to call the police," Jenna interrupted him. "We have to report them missing, so that someone starts looking for them. Where's the phone?"

"Here you go." Damon produced the phone, handing it to Jenna. She had trouble dialing the number, only succeeding on the third try.

"Yes, hello," she said after a moment. "I need to report my nephew missing … a week … well, I didn't know that he was missing before today, so how was I supposed to … Los Angeles … thank you." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "They're connecting me to someone in LA. Yes, hi. My name is Jenna Sommers, and my nephew, Jeremy Gilbert, is missing … apparently he dropped out of school last week, he was a student at UCLA, but we only found out today, and nobody has talked to him since last week either and his phone has been disconnected … because he's a freshman in college, I just thought he was busy with school and … his girlfriend is missing too, and her phone has also been disconnected … no, they haven't run away! … because I know my nephew, and he wouldn't do that … please, can you just look into it? … no, I can't come to the station tomorrow, I live in Virginia … Jeremy Gilbert and Anna Johnson, they were both students at UCLA until last week, they lived in the dorms … thank you so much … yes, I will go to the police station here and have them fax all the information to you tomorrow morning … thank you." She hung up the phone and slumped back in the chair, looking like the call had taken most of her energy away.

"What did they say?" Elena wanted to know.

"They're going to at least look into it," Jenna replied. "He thought that they had run away together or something, but I think I managed to convince him that they haven't. They need social security numbers and some other stuff, so I'm going to the station here in town tomorrow."

Elena was sure that the police wouldn't find anything, but felt like she had to sound optimistic. "I'm sure they'll find them."

"Yeah." Jenna nodded, the empty look in her eyes disappearing and a smile spreading on her face. "Of course they will. And, you know what? I bet they're on their way back here, it's just taken longer than usual. Maybe he's just worried about disappointing me, like you said, and didn't want to head straight back here. They'll probably show up tomorrow, all embarrassed that we sent the police looking for them."

Elena wasn't sure if Jenna's optimism was good or bad, but she let her think like that, at least for now. Sooner or later, she would find out that she was wrong.

It turned out to be sooner. Already in the late afternoon on Friday, Liz Forbes, wearing a somber expression, knocked on the door.

"Have they found anything?" Jenna asked nervously. As the day had passed – after going to the police station, she had stayed home from work, wanting to be there if Jeremy showed up – the smile on her face had gradually disappeared, and she had become less and less optimistic each time the phone had rung without it being someone with news about Jeremy and Anna or Jeremy himself.

"Can I come in?" the Sherriff asked and Jenna nodded numbly, stepping aside.

They all went into the living room and Elena sat down on one side of Jenna, Alaric on the other. Damon perched on the armrest next to Elena and the Sheriff sat down in an armchair.

"I'm afraid I have bad news," she said.

"They've found them," Jenna groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"No, they haven't, they're still missing," sheriff Forbes assured her. "But it turns out that Jeremy bought an old van at a used car dealership in Los Angeles last week, and that car was discovered abandoned at a truck stop a few miles from Santa Fe last week. It was full of what they think is Jeremy and Anna's belongings. Also, Jeremy's driver's license was found in the car as well as Anna's purse with her ID in it. I don't know why the police there didn't take the case further, at least contacting you about it, but there seems to have been some sort of miscommunication."

Jenna tried to say something, but couldn't get the words out.

"What do you mean the car was abandoned?" Elena asked. Why would Jeremy have bought a car only to leave it on the side of the road like that?

"One of the clerks at the truck stop said that the car had been there since Thursday. That works with the time frame if they left Los Angeles on Wednesday, which the police there have been able to more or less confirm," the Sheriff told them. "The clerk at the gas station remembered Jeremy and Anna, they got gas there late on Thursday and after they had paid, they didn't go back to the car but apparently decided to take a walk around the station or something. He didn't see them come back but didn't t think much of it until he came into work the next evening and the car was still in the parking lot. That's when he called the police and they took it to their impound lot."

"But where did they go from there?" Jenna asked, regaining the ability to speak. "They can't just have wandered off into nowhere, can they?"

"We don't know, Jenna, I'm sorry." Sheriff Forbes gave her a compassionate look. "The car was working like it should, the tank was obviously full. The area around there is very rocky and it was dark; they might have gotten lost or fallen or something. The police there are arranging a search party that will set out as soon as it's light tomorrow morning, but they've been out there for over a week, without any water or food as far as we know, so it doesn't look good. I'm sorry."

Elena realized that Jeremy and Anna must have planned this. Jeremy wouldn't want to leave Jenna with no closure at all, but he couldn't give her more than this. Maybe they had even counted on the police making the connection between them and the car earlier and notify Jenna before Elena had to come up with a story to tell her.

"What's going to happen now?" Elena asked, knowing that Jenna would need to know.

"The missing persons case has been handed over to the police in Santa Fe," the Sheriff replied. "They'll keep looking for them, but, like I said, it doesn't look very good. Again, I'm very sorry."

Jenna nodded, tears rising in her eyes. "Thank you for coming over and telling us, Liz," she mumbled before burying her face against Alaric's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her the best he could.

Elena got up from the couch. "I'll walk you to the door," she told sheriff Forbes.

"I'm sorry, Elena," the Sheriff said quietly when they got into the hallway. "I know this must be hard on you and Jenna, especially so soon after your parent's death. I'll stay in touch with the police in Santa Fe and keep you updated on everything that's going on. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"Of course, thank you."

"And …" the Sheriff hesitated. "I've been trying to get a hold of Anna's mother, do you know where she is these days? The last listing I have is from when she lived in town, but that was over two years ago, and I haven't been able to find her in any of the databases."

"I can talk to Pearl," Elena quickly said, knowing that sheriff Forbes wouldn't be able to find her. "I think she's in Canada right now, but I'm not sure. I know she left the country, at least, that might be why you haven't been able to find her. I'll tell her to call you or the police in Santa Fe if she has any questions."

"Thank you, that's sweet of you. And, again, I'm very sorry about Jeremy."

Elena just nodded and opened the door to let the Sheriff out.

"You OK?" Damon's hushed voice came from behind her when she had closed the door. "That came out of nowhere, didn't it?"

"Am I OK? No, not really," she replied just as quietly, turning around and leaning against the door. "Do you think they planned this, that they left the car at that truck stop on purpose?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Maybe Jeremy wanted to give Jenna some sort of closure. Or maybe they just wanted her to stop looking for them, who knows?"

"I think he wanted to give her closure," Elena decided. "Do you think they're somewhere in New Mexico?"

He immediately shook his head. "No. I'm sure Anna wanted to throw everyone off her tail, they're probably as far from New Mexico right now as they can get. And I'm pretty sure Anna planted the story that the clerk told the cops. They probably had a second car that they left in, one that's in a fake name so we wouldn't be able to find it. Anna's no rookie, she knows how to disappear when she needs to."

"Probably," Elena agreed, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath. "It's so hard not to tell Jenna the truth! I hate to see her hurting like this when I could make it better, at least a little."

"I know," he said, pulling her into his arms. "But this was Jeremy's choice."

She wrapped her arms around him as well and nodded. "I know."

AN: OK, there we go, Jeremy did at least think about giving Jenna some closure! I get the feeling you're not very happy with him right now, and I get that, but he does have his reasons. As usual, please let me know what you think!