Hello, my lovely readers. This is Jeremy's chapter. I hope you like it. And please don't hate me because Delena and Klaroline decided to take the week off for this chapter. On with the show…

Chapter 7: Pathway to a Hot Place

Temptation. It was all around us. We simply had to be aware of its presence and strive to abstain from it. Buttoning up the last button of his shirt, Jeremy adjusted the tiny cross around his neck before smoothing his hair down. The problem with temptation is that it tended to reside in the most wonderful packages. And Jeremy knew that he was being tested because he had fallen in love.

He had tried to not allow it to happen. And he was sure that if his soul was as pure as he had thought it to be, that this type of love would have never entered into his heart. Or rather a place that was located many inches south of his heart but filled with blood every time that he thought of the object of his affection. It was wrong. It was sinful. His body, his mind and his heart could not be trusted. They were going to cause him to tarnish his soul.

However, Jeremy felt relieved that he was aware of this temptation in a short red and black skirt. He knew that as long as he did not fall prey to these urges that he could withstand the last trying months, and the girl would be gone. Unfortunately so would his savior, Sage. She had shown him the wrongs of his former ways. She had taken him under her wing, she had taught him that abusing his body with drugs, alcohol and lust would not lift him from the masses. Sage had been there when Jeremy had hit rock bottom. He had been a pitiful sight to see. Waking up one day beside a pool of his own vomit, naked and having no idea how he had gotten there, Jeremy had barely registered a red haired angel staring down at him with a look of concern. "Honey, what happened to you?" she had asked. That was the day that his life changed, forever.

From that day on Jeremy had become devoted to Sage and to the Chastity Club. He would sit in groups and recite his tale for others to understand the lengths that he had gone before someone had reached out a hand to lift him up. The first time that he sat in the circle, he had felt naked and vulnerable, fearing the judgment of the others in the group. Instead of judgment, he had received sympathy because everyone in the group had their own tale to tell. None of them was without sin. But they did not want to die without the ability to cleanse themselves of their wrongdoings.

And it was an act of attempting to save the girl that Jeremy loved that brought him to his crisis. He had only wanted to show her the wrongheadedness of her exposing her body to crowds and performing those "routines." She was not treating herself with the same level of respect that he would, if only she were to… No, he would not think in that manner. It was wrong.

Anna. She was a work of perfection in Jeremy's eyes. But like many men and women who walked the earth, she was a work of flawed perfection. That is why he knew that he must save her from the fate that he knew her to be destined for. That is why he was coming to her now. Although he should not allow himself to be near her. 'Send Lexi to her,' his mind told him but he could not find himself dialing his fellow Chastity Club member's number and asking her to speak to the girl.

Entering the church, Jeremy felt his heart pound against his chest when he saw her. Anna was a vision in a white coat and dress. Her hair had been lightly dusted with the first snow and he felt like he would fall to his knees to praise her. Forcing himself to walk forward, he watched as she kneeled at the end of the aisle, with her head bent forward as she spoke so quietly that he could not hear her.

When she finally looked up, her eyes were filled with tears and Jeremy felt her pain as he sunk to his own knees and took her hands in between his own. "Anna," he breathed.

"My mother is dying," Anna moaned as she stared at Jeremy and then the floor between them. "She has leukemia." Sobbing, Anna's shoulders caved and she placed her head on Jeremy's knees.

Pulling her up, gently, Jeremy forced a smile. "It will be alright, Anna," he said. "You will be alright. You mother may pass but she will be welcomed by your family. You can take comfort in knowing that she is at peace and she will watch over you until you, too, meet her again, one day."

Anna's face contorted. "But, Jeremy, I don't want my mother to go to the light. I want her to stay here. I want her to stay with me," she said, moving backwards and away from Jeremy.

Getting to his feet and forcing himself to stay calm, Jeremy forced a smile. "Anna, I think that you're being a bit selfish. You know that your mother can not stay with you forever. Wouldn't you prefer for her to be in the light and away from the sins of man that continually ruin young souls like our own?"

Shaking her head, Anna backed away from Jeremy. "I shouldn't have called you. I should have known that you wouldn't care," she said with so much certainty in her voice that Jeremy felt afraid. She started to leave the church when Jeremy followed her and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Get off of me," Anna demanded as she attempted to free her wrist.

"I just want you to hear me out," Jeremy replied when Anna reared back and slapped him so hard that his head snapped to the side.

Anna's breathing was coming in little gasps as she stared at Jeremy and he could feel her rage, her fear and her denial of the inevitable. And all he wanted to do was to make her forget all of it. Taking ahold of her other wrist, Jeremy yanked the girl forward and pressed his lips to hers. Feeling her body fall into his, he slid his hands down to her waist and tugged her closer as his tongue entered her mouth and he tasted the mint of her toothpaste.

After being consumed by the ecstasy of lust, Jeremy pulled away and became aware of his surroundings. Looking down at Anna, he felt his stomach move uncomfortably. Not only was he defiling himself and the girl that he cared for, he had done so in a church. "Oh, no," Jeremy moaned. "I need to go. Good-bye," he said before he hurried away from Anna. He could hear her screaming his name as he fled the church and moved out into the crisp air. He needed to take a walk to clear his head.

Pulling out his phone, Jeremy started to call Sage but he could not bear to see the disappointment in her eyes. He had come so far and had now fallen. No, he needed to call someone who was not so close to him. Someone who was new to the process. It would ground him to be with a fledging, remind him what his true path was. Dialing the number, he sighed. "Hello, could you come to my house? If you're not busy?"

"Of course, I'm not too busy," Genevieve replied with a light laugh. "Did you want me to come now?"

Jeremy thought about his answer. He certainly could not ask her to come right then. She might arrive before he did and he would hate for her to arrive when Kat was the only person in the house. He loved his sister, but he was also well aware of her ability to try the souls of good men and women. "Actually, if you don't mind, I would say about an hour from now. I'm walking home so this way I can make sure that we'll be able to talk privately."

Some of the newer members of the club did not feel comfortable about airing their past indiscretions in front of others. That is what the group called "closed door" sessions, which were rare, but necessary at times to gain the trust of a new member. Genevieve was one of the members who preferred a closed door session.

Entering his home, Jeremy searched every room of the house to make sure that none of his sisters or their many friends were lurking around. It was important to Jeremy to give Genevieve as much privacy as possible. She still seemed too frightened to fully embrace the club and to tell them the full extent of her behavior. Maybe today was the day for a breakthrough.

Pulling out his phone, he called her. "Hey, I'm home, so you can come now, if you want to."

Genevieve chuckled. "I know. I'm parked about a half a block away," she told him and he had no idea what to say. "No, I'm not stalking you. I just didn't have anything to do, and I wanted to see if your sisters were at home. Elena scares me."

"Elena scares the Pastor," Jeremy replied with a laugh as he walked to the door and opened it to find Genevieve with her fist poised to knock. Hanging up, Jeremy waved a hand. "Want to come in?"

"Yes, it's getting cold out there," Genevieve told him as she slipped her black coat off to reveal a formfitting, red dress and Jeremy felt himself gulp. She looked down at the dress and then laughed. "Oh, sorry. I was trying this on for a party that a friend of mine is hosting and they said that all the women are supposed to wear red. I think it has to do with heart disease."

Sighing in relief, Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, I think I heard something about that. Anyway, did you want to do this down here, or go up to my room?"

Genevieve's eyebrows rose and Jeremy felt stupid. What was he saying to this poor girl? "I mean my family might come home, and I know you prefer closed door sessions."

"Oh, yes," Genevieve replied with a quick nod. "I'm sorry. I thought that you wanted me to go up to your room like other boys have asked me to. But I should have known that you would never ask that of me."

"Yeah," Jeremy replied as he escorted Genevieve up to his room. Turning, he found her right behind him as he opened the door to his room and allowed the girl inside. Closing the door, he turned to find that Genevieve was sitting on top of his bed with her legs crossed.

Moving to sit on top of the chair beside his desk, Jeremy forced a smile. "I was hoping that we could talk about your problems with opening up to the group. Since it's just the two of us I thought it might be easier, unless you would prefer to talk to another girl." He did not add that he wanted to talk about his own problems, too.

"I think I can talk to you," Genevieve told him. Folding her legs and causing her skirt to hike higher on her thighs, she looked Jeremy in the eye. "I want to talk about my thoughts on sex."

"Okay," Jeremy replied, hoping that she was truly going to open up to him.

"I've never had sex before," Genevieve murmured. "But I've had thoughts about what I would do and the more that I try not to think them, the more that they press and swell inside my head. And it makes me feel like I'm going to explode. There's just so much pressure that builds and builds and builds and then I wake up and," Genevieve's cheeks flushed as she looked at her lap.

"And?" Jeremy replied, feeling his breathing hitch.

"And I sometimes think that I can't take it anymore because I desperately need to be touched," Genevieve whispered and Jeremy pressed his lips together as she peered at him. "Do you ever feel like that, Jeremy, like all you want is to feel is the touch of a body against your own? To release some of that pressure that just keeps coursing through every part of you to the point that you have no idea what to do and one day you find yourself alone in your bathtub and…"

Jeremy felt his eyes widening as Genevieve laid down on his bed and moaned as she ran her hands over her thighs. "Ummm… No, I don't feel like that anymore," Jeremy choked out as he got to his feet. "Maybe we should talk about this some other time." Walking toward his door, Jeremy moved to open it when Genevieve came to stand in front of him.

"I'm so sorry," the blonde girl said while her lower lip trembled. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to know that I was not the only one who felt this way. Please, Jeremy, tell me you forgive me," she moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck and Jeremy could feel several parts of his body responding to her against his will.

"Oh, thank goodness. Now, I know that I wasn't wrong about you. You're just like me," Genevieve murmured, placing her face close to Jeremy's and he could feel her warm breath against his lips.

Suddenly, Genevieve kissed him and Jeremy wanted to push her away but her words were true. He, too, wanted a warm body pressing itself against his own. Drowning himself in her warmth. Pushing her back against the door to his room, he yanked her upward and felt her legs wrap around his wait as he jerked the zipper to her dress down. Genevieve tore his shirt open and Jeremy pressed his mouth to hers as she grabbed his belt.

When Jeremy was on the edge of fulfilling his lust, the doorbell rang. Loud and clear. It was like a sign from God. Taking a step back, Jeremy ran his hands through his hair as Genevieve looked at him questioningly with her dress pooled at her feet. Her black lace underwear were not helping matters. "I need to go," he said, taking ahold of the girl, he lifted her out of the way and jerked the door open.

Running down the stairs, Jeremy was thanking whoever was ringing the doorbell was saving his eternal soul when he pulled the door open. Staring at Anna in horror, Jeremy could not think of what to say. "I wanted to talk you about what happened but you seemed to have someone else to talk to." Anna snarled at Jeremy, her eyes narrowed as she looked over his shoulder. Jeremy looked up to see Genevieve coming down the stairs with a sheet wrapped around her and a look of deep shame.

"No," Jeremy groaned. "Anna, wait," he shouted as the girl ran from his porch. Shaking his head in disbelief, Jeremy could not believe that he had not only corrupted one, but two girls, today. He was officially at risk, yet again.

Answers to reviews:

Jessinicole: Thank you!

Alexis2106: Yes, that is what makes writing this story so much fun. I'm building toward Delena and Klaroline really, really slowly but you will definitely see more of the two duos the further we get and the closer we get to their individual chapters.

Taya: We're seeing a very different Elena compared to the girl that we have seen on the show. She's kind of wacky and erratic but she still has a sense of logic for why she does what she does even if it doesn't make sense to us, yet.

IamSatana: Do you remember how Damon and Stefan behaved toward each other in season one? Let's just say that these siblings care for each other but it takes something big to happen for them to express that. Elena had her reasons for what she did with Kol. Let's call it a test and Kol failed, miserably.

b-postive: We will see Klaroline begin to transition from friends to something more but first Klaus has to make how he feels clear and he's afraid of losing Caroline if he says something at the wrong time. This guy is all about the timing. And Damon is hetero in this fic.

ObsessWithElijah: Two more weeks and it will be. Klaus and Alaric singing anything gives me giggles. It's okay. I say like about three thousand times a day. Nope! Damon and Alaric are going to stay in the friend zone.

Starlight000: Jacara. That's about as close as I can get to a shipper name. We can keep trying to find a better one. Damon and Vikki are taking longer than I thought to officially break up in this story but Damon has a reason to make believe that he's still with Vikki which will come out in chapter 14. Caroline is not with anyone but she has a crush on someone. Not familiar with Mario Cart. Which is why it might take me a while to write Caroline's chapter because I haven't played a video game since I was like ten. Will you hate me if I say that I'm planning on having Kol end up with someone other than Bonnie in this fic? Okay, I will give you a clue of who is going to be with Josh now that I know… It took us a long time to see him on the TV screen and I have yet to introduce him in the story. Stefan was creepy.

Peace,

Jessica