Jeremy was seated in the dining room of the Mikaelson mansion having dinner with them. It had been about six weeks since his talk with Elijah and since he'd asked to stay for a few days. He hadn't left. It wasn't even discussed. He just didn't leave, and the more time he spent there, the less inclined he was to leave.

It wasn't just his increasingly bad relationship with Ric. He liked being at the Mikaelsons'. His life felt more stable than it had since his parents died, and the irony of it wasn't lost on him. He'd loved his aunt and he'd liked having Ric as a guardian for a while, but it was different than what he had now. He had a stable routine going now. The Mikaelsons' had meals with him and Elena, like a family. They helped them with their homework, spent time with them. Even the rules, which Jeremy wasn't too fond of, felt normal to him, and that wasn't something he'd had for a long time.

It was kind of strange because several months ago, he would've considered the Originals to be enemies, but he actually liked most of them. He still had his issues with Klaus. It was hard to get past what he did. He might never get past it, but he had seen another side to Klaus. The man loved his family. He really loved Elena, and he was good to Jeremy too.

Jeremy had become good friends with Kol. Kol was kind of like an older, cooler brother for Jeremy. They played video games a lot and talked about girls. Finn and Rebekah had the protective aunt and uncle thing down, and obviously Elijah acted as his parent. Elijah was strict, and Jeremy couldn't say he was always his biggest fan, but he respected him. Unlike a lot of other adults, Elijah listened, and he treated both Jeremy and Elena with respect.

"How was school today, you two?" Elijah asked.

"It was okay. Nothing special, but it was fine," Elena answered.

"Good. Is Bonnie still leaving you alone?" Elijah asked his niece.

"Yeah, mostly. She still glares at me once and a while, but I just ignore her," Elena said.

Elijah smiled with pride. "I'm glad to hear that. How about you, Jeremy."

"I want to live here," Jeremy blurted out. He hadn't actually meant to come out with it like that. He guessed it did because it was on his mind.

Kol blinked in confusion a couple of times. "Don't you already, mate? I mean, you haven't left in six weeks. I'm fairly certain that means you live here."

"Kol, do not embarrass the boy," Finn admonished.

"Actually, Jeremy, I've already had the paperwork drawn up. I know I told you I wouldn't make any decision without your input, and I fully intended to speak with you before anything was signed, but your desires were self-evident. You have shown no desire to return home to Alaric. I took that to mean that you were happy staying here," Elijah said.

Jeremy nodded. "Things are better here, even without what Ric did. I haven't felt this at ease since my parents died."

"I'm happy to hear you feel at home. However, before things go any further, the two of you need to be aware of. There is a decision that we are considering that impacts both of you," Elijah said.

Finn frowned at his younger brother a bit. "Now, Elijah? I figured you'd give the lad a little more time to adjust first."

"It's best that he knows now. It's best that they both do. I don't want it sprung on them out of the blue," Elijah said. He had considered waiting, but the children would only feel like it was kept from them. They would be more upset than they likely would be now.

"Wait, what's going on?" Elena asked. She didn't know what this was about either, but it was bringing down her good mood about Jeremy staying. This was making her nervous.

"Well, nothing has been decided yet, but we think it might be time to leave this town and start over somewhere else," Elijah said.

"All of us? Me too?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes. We think it might be good for the both of you," he said.

"No, it wouldn't," Elena immediately argued. No part of her wanted to leave Mystic Falls. Not only was this where all her friends were, but this was where her mom would come looking for her when she woke up.

"Elena, please remain calm and hear what we have to say. You will get your chance to speak about it," Elijah promised her.

Elena shook her head. She didn't want to hear anything about it. "No, I'm not leaving! If you want to leave, you'll go without me!"

"Mind your tone," Klaus warned his niece. "You will do as we say."

"No, this is stupid!" Elena yelled.

"Elena, if you cannot calm yourself down, I will have to send you up to your room to do so," Elijah said calmly.

"I don't care what you say! I'm not moving! This has got to be the dumbest idea you ever had!" she continued to yell.

Elijah pointed to the door out of the dining room. "Go upstairs right now. I will come speak to you once both of us have had the time to calm down."

"Whatever," Elena said before getting up and storming out of the room.

Jeremy stood up to go after her. He was quite surprised by his sister's attitude. He'd never seen her act that way. Then again, until recently, she'd had to act more mature than she was. Still, it was weird, and a little disconcerting. He was usually the one to fly off the handle.

"No. Sit back down please, Jeremy," Elijah said in a kind but firm tone.

"But I can talk to her. I can help her see reason," Jeremy said.

"If you would like to talk to her in a little while, that's fine, but I want her to take some time to calm herself down first. She's not going to hear anything while she's in this state," Elijah said. That was why he'd sent Elena upstairs. He hadn't been happy with the disrespect either, but the main reason was because he knew nothing he said was going to get through until she calmed herself. "I would also like to speak to you and hear your thoughts."

"Okay," Jeremy said reluctantly before sitting back down.

"I have to admit, I expected you to have the more explosive reaction. You've barely had any time to adjust to living here, which is why I was reluctant to bring it up now, but I thought you should know before any paperwork was signed," Elijah said.

Jeremy nodded. "I appreciate that. I'd rather know now than later."

"As I said, nothing has been decided yet. I'd like to hear your thoughts on it," Jeremy said.

"Well, I kind of have mixed thoughts on it. This is my home. I've never lived anywhere else, aside from those few weeks in Denver. But the thing is, I kind of felt better in Denver, more normal. Maybe that's because of the compulsion, but there's also a lot of bad history here. It actually wasn't being sent away that made me angry. It was the compulsion," Jeremy said. He honestly wasn't that bothered about leaving. He would miss his friends, but it would be nice to get away from the chaos and the bad memories.

"You do understand that you will still have to deal with the supernatural no matter where we go, don't you?" Elijah asked.

"Yeah, I know. You're all supernatural. I get that, but it's not just that that turns me away from this place. It has a lot of bad memories. I lost almost everyone I loved here," Jeremy said.

Klaus cringed at the boy's words. He knew a lot of that was his fault. He wished he could take back what he'd done to Elena and her aunt. He shouldn't have sacrificed Jenna's life. He'd wanted to punish Elena for Damon's interference, which wasn't fair to her. If he'd known the truth about Elena, he wouldn't have done it at all.

Elijah nodded towards Jeremy. "Thank you for sharing your feelings with us. Finish your dinner, and if you want, you can try to talk to your sister afterwards. Perhaps talking to you first would be the best."

Jeremy nodded before continuing with his food. "Hey, where would we be moving to."

Klaus smiled as he thought about it. "New Orleans."

"That sounds cool actually," Jeremy said before picking up his fork and eating.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elena was laying on her bed on her stomach. She was a lot calmer now, but still really upset. She could admit she probably shouldn't have called her uncle stupid, but she really didn't want to move. Why did they have to leave? This was their home.

Soon, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in, I guess," Elena said glumly.

Jeremy came in carrying a plate. "Hey. I brought the rest of your dinner up. It's been heated up."

"I'm not hungry," she said.

Jeremy put it down on the dresser before taking a seat at the end of the bed. "You know, I think you outdid me as far as tantrums go."

"It wasn't a tantrum," Elena grumbled.

"It totally was. I get that you're mad, but going off was totally unhelpful, and now I sound like you every time you'd lecture me for losing my temper," Jeremy said.

"I don't want to move, Jer," Elena said before sitting up. "You can't really want that, can you?"

"Honestly, a part of me does. A part of me wants to get away from this town where we all lost everything," Jeremy said.

"But you got so mad when we sent you to Denver," Elena reminded him.

"That was because of the compulsion. I told Ric that I would be able to understand if he'd just sent me away. It was the manipulation I couldn't accept. Denver was actually a nice reprieve. I only came back for you, and because it pissed me off that I was compelled to leave," Jeremy explained.

"But we have good memories here too," Elena pointed out.

"Sure, and we can take them with us. Elena, I think leaving would be even more beneficial for you than any of the rest of us. That's probably why they're even doing it. They want you to have a semi normal life, and that can't happen if you continuously have to act like someone you're not," Jeremy said.

"I can't leave!" Elena cried.

"Why not?" he asked.

"This is where my mom knows to find me. If I'm not here when she wakes up, she won't know where to find me. What if I never see her again?" Elena asked in tears.

Soon, there was a knock on the open door, followed by Finn's voice. "Sorry to interrupt, but I heard, and I think I can help."

Jeremy nodded before standing up to allow Finn to take his spot on the bed.

Finn went and sat down before pulling his niece into his arms. "Shh, child. It's alright. Listen, your mother is going to find you no matter where you are. She will always find you."

"How do you know?" Elena asked in a broken voice.

"Because she is your mother. It is what loving mothers do. Besides, she's a witch. She could easily find you if needs to," Finn reasoned.

"Oh, right. I think I kind of forgot that," Elena said a bit sheepishly as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Hmm. You didn't think much through, did you?" Finn asked. He kept his voice kind, but there was a hint of sternness to it.

"No, I guess not. I just got scared. Leaving here kind of seemed like leaving my mom behind, since it's the last place I saw her," Elena said. Her mother had brought her to Mystic Falls before putting her in her current body. Then she left to return to where she was when she woke up the last time. Of course, she wouldn't tell Elena where that was. She told her she wouldn't give her the temptation to come find her.

"Wait, if your mom left you in Mystic Falls, doesn't that mean she's close by? You said being around you was the only thing that kept her from sleeping again," Jeremy said.

Elena shook her head. "It would take a couple of days for the link to break enough for the sleeping spell to take affect again. I don't know where she is. She went back to where she was when she woke up the last time pregnant with me. I don't know where that is."

Finn rubbed his niece's back. "We're going to find her. Leaving this town does not mean we're giving up on her. We just want you to have a better life, one where you can be yourself outside of this house. The way you've had to live the last few years isn't right. I know that your mother had no choice but to do what she did. It was the only way she had to protect you. We won't question that, but there's a better way now. We can protect you while also giving you a better life."

"I still don't want to move," Elena said.

"Like we said, no decision has been made. We're going to keep talking about it, but we will do so in a respectful way, understood?" Finn said sternly.

"Yes, Uncle Finn. I'm sorry for yelling," Elena said.

Finn nodded. "And for the disrespect, I presume. I know you were upset, but throwing a temper tantrum will never get you what you want."

"It works for Uncle Nik," Elena said with a small smile.

"No, he only thinks it works for him, and I don't think any of us want you picking up his bad habits. Now, I think you know that you owe your Uncle Elijah an apology. He didn't deserve the way you spoke to him," Finn said.

"I know. Is he really mad at me?" Elena asked.

"He's a little disappointed in your behavior, I'm sure, but I think he understands. Why don't you go see him? He's in his office, and I'm sure he's expecting you. Go make your apologies and then we can all move on," Finn said before standing up and pulling his niece to her feet.

"Okay," Elena said before reluctantly making her way out of her room and towards her uncle's office. She hesitated for a second when she got to the door before knocking.

"Come in," Elijah's voice called out.

Elena entered her uncle's office and shut the door. She found her uncle sitting at his desk. His face was expressionless. She always hated how he could do that. She could never tell what he was thinking. "I'm sorry, Uncle Elijah."

Elijah beckoned her towards him with his hand.

Elena walked over and took the seat in front of his desk. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, and for calling you stupid. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, you shouldn't have, but perhaps there was a better way for me to go about it as well. Maybe it would've been better for me to speak to you one on one. I also didn't take into consideration that you might feel like we were abandoning your mother. It's not true. Leaving Mystic Falls means nothing in regard to your mother. We're not giving up on helping her," Elijah promised. He'd heard her conversation with Finn. He'd never considered that she might feel that way. He thought she was so angry because she'd have to leave her friends and the town she knew.

"I know that now. I'm sorry. I should've listened before I got mad," Elena said.

"Come here," Elijah said before standing up and holding his arms out.

Elena got up and walked into her uncle's arms. "I'm sorry."

"Shh. No more apologizing. You're forgiven. I think the next time, we just need to learn to communicate a little better," Elijah said as he held her in his arms.

"Do we really have to move?" Elena asked.

Elijah released and smiled slightly. "I think we do, but no decision will be made until we've had a true conversation about it, and everyone will get a chance to voice their opinions."

"But you get the final say," Elena grumbled. She knew how things worked by now. Yes, her uncle would listen, but it was ultimately up to him and her other uncles and aunt.

"Your aunt and uncles and I do, yes, but you know we have your best interests at heart," Elijah said.

"Yeah, I know."

"For tonight, I'd like you to take time and really think about how things are now and how they can be in a new city. You might find yourself more inclined to leave than you think. Think about it, and then we'll talk about it another day," Elijah suggested.

"Okay," Elena said before heading back out of the room.