Elena and Jeremy were sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. Elena had a mountain of homework in front of her. It turned out that when you disappeared for more than a week, schoolwork tended to pile up. At least most of her teachers were understanding though. They'd given her a generous amount of time to complete it. "I can't believe how much I missed."
"Yeah, I guess that's what happens when you go off alone to do crazy, dangerous stuff without telling anyone. I still can't believe you willingly went off with Klaus so you could break his curse. I'm supposed to be the one that does dumb stuff," Jeremy said. When he first found out that Elena had left on her own, he had been a little mad, but after thinking about it, he realized he'd done some pretty stupid and dangerous things in the past. He was hardly one to judge.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Elena reasoned.
Jeremy laughed. "It always does. I'm just curious. When did it stop seeming like a good idea?"
"When it was over, and Dad and Uncle Nik were pissed," Elena said. She then noticed her brother shift at how she addressed her father. "He's my dad, Jeremy. He deserves the title, and I want to call him that."
"I know," Jeremy said. He didn't begrudge Elena or Elijah for their relationship. He was just jealous of it. He wanted it for himself. But that wasn't their fault. He knew he had to find a way to move past it.
"I can't see Grayson as my father anymore. I just can't. Fathers don't do what he did," Elena said.
"It's not that. The truth is, I can't think of him the same way either. It doesn't matter that you weren't his daughter at the time. He tried to hurt you for no other reason than because you were different. I can't forgive him for that. I can't look up to him or strive to be the man he was anymore. I don't want to be anything like him," Jeremy said strongly.
"What is it then, Jer. Why does me calling Elijah 'Dad' bother you? Is it because you think you mean less to me now? Because that's not true. You'll always be my little brother. Mom will always be my mom," Elena assured him.
"No, it's not that either. I guess I envy you. You have a dad again. You have a parent that will take care of you, and someone you can strive to be like. I feel like I lost my dad twice. Him dying was bad enough, but then I could no longer even respect him. His memory was destroyed the moment I found out what he was going to do to you. I…I just wish I could have what you do. I wish I could have it with Elijah," Jeremy explained.
"You're jealous?" Elena asked surprised. It had never occurred to her that her brother might be jealous of her. She'd thought he was upset because it somehow meant her family with him mattered less. "Jeremy, you have nothing to be jealous of. Elijah loves you."
"He cares for me because I'm important to you. It's not the same," Jeremy said.
Elena shook her head. "That may have been true in the beginning, but it's not true now. He loves you for you. You need to talk to him, Jer. Tell him how you feel, because I imagine he will tell you what I'm telling you now. He loves you no different from the way he loves me," she said. She'd already made the decision that if Jeremy didn't do it in the coming days, she would talk to her father. She wouldn't let her brother go on thinking that he was essentially an outsider. It wasn't true.
Just then, they both heard the front door open. Elijah joined them in the kitchen a few moments later.
"Dad, how'd it go with Jenna? Is she okay?" Elena asked.
"She is doing well considering. Alaric is with her. She is processing the information. She wanted you to know that she loves you very much and always will," Elijah assured his daughter.
Elena sighed in relief. She was really afraid she'd lose Jenna over this. She didn't know if she'd even be able to handle it if Jenna didn't want her around anymore.
Elijah turned to Jeremy. "And she wanted you to know that nothing is going to change as far as our arrangement goes. She trusts me to look after you. In fact, you will probably end up staying with me for a few more days so that Jenna can process everything properly. You'll both see her in a couple of hours. She's joining us for dinner."
Jeremy nodded, relieved to hear it.
"Where are your aunt and uncles?" Elijah asked.
"Uncle Finn and Uncle Nik are in the living room and Jeremy set Uncle Kol up in his room with his game consol. Aunt Rebekah decided to explore Mystic Falls," Elena told him.
"Excellent. I will be having them make themselves scarce for a few hours while Jenna is here. You two can get back to your homework," Elijah said before heading to the living room to speak to his brothers.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Elijah opened the door a couple of hours later to find Jenna there. "Hi, Jenna. Come in."
"Thanks," Jenna said before stepping inside.
Elijah closed the door before turning to her. "Are you doing alright?"
"Yeah, I think so. It's really shocking, but I think I'll be okay," Jenna said.
"Good. There will be some other things I'll need to discuss with you in the next few days, but it can wait until you've had more time to process," Elijah said. He still had to tell Jenna about Dahlia, but he didn't want to put that on her yet. He also still had to discuss that with Elena as well. He would do that in the next day or two.
"There's more?" Jenna asked incredulously.
"Not more shocking than what I've already told you, but, yes, there are some other things we have to discuss. It can wait a couple of days though," Elijah said.
"Okay, good. I don't think I can take much more tonight," Jenna said.
Just then, Elena and Jeremy came in from the living room. "Aunt Jenna," Elena called out.
"Elena," Jenna said before running to her niece's side. She put her hands on the sides of her face to make sure Elena was looking at her. "I love you so much! There is nothing in this world that I could learn about you that would change that!"
Elena threw her arms around her aunt and started to cry.
"I'm so sorry. I should've been there when you found out about Grayson. What he was going to do to you was so wrong. Please tell me that you know that. Nothing justifies it," Jenna said.
Elena pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I know that now. It was hard to accept that at first. He, John, and my biological mother thought it would be better if I were dead. It was hard not to think that they were right."
"They were not right! Don't ever think that! Who the hell were they to decide who does and doesn't deserve to live?! I should've been here for you. I should've been there to tell you that," Jenna said.
"Dad did. He kept saying it until I believed it," Elena said.
Jenna turned back to Elijah. "I still don't like that you hid this from me, but I get it. You were protecting your daughter from further heartache. I can't get too angry with you for that."
"Thank you, Jenna. I am truly sorry that I waited this long," Elijah said.
Jenna nodded, accepting the apology. "But you can't keep anything else from me. There can't be any more secrets between us. We're supposed to be a family, even if it isn't a conventional one."
"Agreed. As I said, there are a couple more things I need to discuss with you in the coming days, but after that, there will be no more secrets between us. You have my word," Elijah promised.
Elena frowned a little. What else could her dad have to talk to Jenna about? As far as she knew, Jenna now knew everything.
"I'm going to go start dinner now. Why don't the three of you relax in the living room? I'm sure you have more questions, Jenna. Elena and Jeremy can answer most of them, and any that they can't, I will answer at dinner," Elijah told her.
Jenna nodded and went with the kids into the living rooms. They all sat down on the couch. "Ric actually answered most of my questions, right before I threw him out."
"Jenna, he was only trying to protect you," Elena said. She knew why her aunt was angry. Ric had kept all this from her as well.
Jenna shook her head, not accepting that excuse. "That's not good enough, Elena, not from someone I've chosen to be with. It's one thing for Elijah to hide it. He was trying to protect you. I can respect that. That's his job. I am an adult capable of deciding if I can handle something. He had no business hiding it from me. It shows a lack of respect that I will not accept."
"So, you and Ric are done?" Jeremy asked.
Jenna nodded. "I think so. I still care for him, and I don't have any real ill will for him, but I cannot be with someone who thinks it's acceptable for him to decide what I can and can't handle."
Elena grimaced a bit. This was very similar to her relationship with Stefan. He seemed to think he had the right to decide what was and wasn't best for her. "I get what you're saying. That's something Stefan can't seem to understand."
"Uh, Jeremy, do you wanna go help Elijah in the kitchen?" Jenna asked. She sensed that Elena might want to talk about her problems with Stefan.
"Gladly," Jeremy said before getting up. The last thing he wanted was to sit there while his aunt and sister had a talk about his sister's asshole boyfriend.
Jenna waited until her nephew was gone before turning back to Elena. "Ric told me that Stefan is a vampire and that he knows everything that has been going on with you. Does that have to do with the issues you guys have been having?"
"Sort of. Stefan always feels like he has to protect me. It was sweet at first. It was even necessary. There were times when he did have to protect me, but that's not the case anymore. I have a father more than willing to protect me, and I can even protect myself to an extent now. What makes it worse is that he feels he has to protect me from my own father. Every time we were alone, he would go on about Dad and how I shouldn't be with him. I don't know what he has against him. It can't just be because he's a vampire. Stefan is a vampire too. Although, a lot of it might be because he feeds differently than Stefan. I don't know. All I know is that it's really stressful to deal with. That's why Dad won't let me be alone with him anymore. He's one incident away from forbidding me to see him altogether, and I'm not sure that would bother me that much. Being around Stefan has become a hassle," Elena explained.
"If that's how you feel, why don't you break it off? It sounds like you don't even enjoy being with him anymore. A relationship shouldn't be like that," Jenna said.
Elena shrugged. "I guess I'm not ready to give up. Stefan was there for me when I really needed him. I was drowning when Mom and Grayson died. I don't know that I would've gotten through it if not for him."
"I wish you had talked to me about that. I wish you would've let me be there to help you through it," Jenna said.
"You were grieving too. I didn't want to make it worse," Elena said.
"Elena, you need to stop keeping things from me too. You don't need to be worrying about me. That's my job, not yours," Jenna said firmly.
Elena nodded that she understood. "Anyway, I'm just not ready to end things with Stefan, even if I know it's probably inevitable."
"That's your choice for now, but please understand that it is not okay for him to act like that. Do not accept that type of behavior from him. If it continues, I just might be the one to forbid you from seeing him," Jenna said firmly.
Elena smiled at her aunt. "Thanks. Well, I don't have to figure it out right now. It's probably the only perk of being grounded for eternity."
"Eternity?" Elijah's voice called out from the doorway. He was smiling slightly. "Don't be ridiculous. A few centuries at the most."
Elena rolled her eyes at her father. "You're hilarious, Dad."
"Who says I'm joking?" Elijah asked. He was joking. He wouldn't ground her for centuries, but it would definitely be for quite a while. His daughter was going to learn never to do something like this again.
Jeremy appeared behind him chuckling, having heard the whole thing.
Elena pouted. "You're mean."
Elijah chuckled. "When my daughter disobeys me and puts her life in danger, absolutely."
"Yeah, Ric told me the full story, Elena. That was not the best judgement. However, I'm sure your dad is joking," Jenna said before turning to Elijah. "Right."
"Yes, I'm joking. It won't be centuries. Now, months, quite possibly," Elijah said.
"I still can't get over the fact that Elena did something dumber than I have," Jeremy said with a smirk.
"Well, coming home high all the time is a close second," Jenna told him.
Jeremy turned to Elena and gave her an incredulous look, as if to accuse her of ratting him out.
"I didn't tell her," Elena said.
"No, and you should've. I know what pot smells like, Jeremy. I also know what a high fifteen-year-old looks like. I've been a high fifteen-year-old," Jenna said. She knew she should've done something about Jeremy's drug use. She should've put her foot down about a lot of things. She wasn't the best parent until Elijah came along and taught her how it was done. She was much better at it now.
"I think we can all agree that there will be no more secrets in this family. And, Jeremy, if I ever catch you doing drugs, you will not see the outside of your bedroom for a month when you're with me," Elijah told him sternly.
"What he said," Jenna agreed.
"Got it," Jeremy said with a cringe.
"Anyway, dinner is ready. Shall we go eat?" Elijah asked.
They all nodded and followed him to the kitchen.
