Elijah made his way to the Grill. He had a meeting with Bonnie's father. He was extremely tired of the young girl's treatment of his niece. He would not put up with it a moment longer. The first step to trying to stop it was to deal with her parent.

Elijah found who he was looking for at a table in the middle of the restaurant. He immediately went over to the man. "Hello, Mr. Hopkins. Thank you for meeting me."

The man got up and shook his hand. "Thank you for agreeing to meet me in a public place, Mr. Mikaelson. You can call me Rudy."

"Elijah, and I was happy to. The last thing I want is for you to feel unsafe in my presence," Elijah said before sitting down.

Rudy sat down as well. "I have nothing to do with the supernatural world by design, so I can only assume you want to speak about my daughter."

"I do, but it is not supernatural related, not really," Elijah said. He supposed part of it was. This began because of something supernatural, but the real problem was that Bonnie had been bullying Elena.

"Then it's about the fight between Bonnie and Elena last week. Bonnie told me Elena was living with you now," Rudy said.

"It is about the fight, but it goes beyond that. The fight was simply the last straw. Your daughter has been harassing Elena for weeks," Elijah said.

"What? Bonnie told me it was a one-time thing and that the two of them had already made amends. Bonnie and Elena are friends," Rudy said taken aback.

"I'm afraid your daughter lied to you. This situation has been ongoing. It began when Elena came to live with me. You said you have wanted nothing to do with the supernatural world, so I'll spare you the details, but your daughter became aware of a supernatural situation regarding Elena. Elena had no control of it, but Bonnie blames her anyway. Since then, she has endlessly harassed her. She has said very cruel things to her on more than one occasion. She tried to turn her friends against her, and nearly succeeded in turning her brother against her with lies and half-truths. The fight broke out because Elena had had enough. Bonnie said something very cruel to her about her mother and Elena responded with a similar remark. That is when Bonnie hit her," Elijah explained.

Rudy was extremely unhappy to hear this. He had already been upset about the fight. He'd thought at eighteen, his daughter would have enough self-control not get into a fight with someone at school, or anywhere for that matter. Now he was being told that she had not only started it, but that she'd been actively bullying Elena. Assuming it was true anyway. He wasn't in the habit of believing others over his own daughter. "If this is true, why didn't the school say anything."

"Until the fight, they hadn't been aware of any of it. Elena tells me that they weren't even allowed to explain why the fight broke out. Apparently, they weren't interested in the details," Elijah said.'

"My daughter has never exhibited bullying behavior in the past," Rudy said.

"Yes, well, your daughter has a prejudice against my family, and my kind in general. Elena is a part of my family now. I believe that alone causes an issue for your daughter. There are other reasons, and I won't deny that your daughter has a right to be upset, but she is taking her anger out on the wrong person. I hoped that Bonnie would realize that eventually, but her behavior is only getting worse. I won't stand for it any longer," Elijah said in a strong tone.

Rudy stiffened. If anyone else has said what Elijah just did, he would see it as a protective parent simply looking for action to be taken, however, he was a vampire, and Rudy wondered if he was threatening his daughter. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"I do not wish to do anything. I want you to handle your daughter," Elijah said bluntly. As far as he was concerned, this was a parent's responsibility. Rudy needed to deal with his daughter himself. If that failed, Elijah would consider other action.

Rudy sighed. "I don't condone bullying behavior. If Bonnie is bullying Elena unprovoked, I will stop it."

"I'm glad to hear it," Elijah said.

Just then, Bonnie's voice could be heard. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get away from my father!"

Both men turned towards her as she walked over to them. Rudy gave his daughter a stern look. "That's enough! Who do you think you are talking to someone like that unprovoked!"

"Dad, you don't understand. He's a vampire," Bonnie said.

"I'm aware of that. I was aware of it when I agreed to meet with him. I may choose not to deal with the supernatural activity that happens in this town, but that does not mean I'm unaware of it. Now, we were having a conversation about the two girls under our care. Since you had to interrupt, you can explain to me where you get off lying to me and bullying another girl, one that had been a friend to you your entire life," Rudy said sternly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bonnie said uncomfortably.

"Don't, Bonnie! You told me your fight with Elena was a time thing. That is clearly not the case. You lied to me," he said.

"It's complicated," Bonnie said.

"No, it's very simple. I will not stand for bullying. I did not raise you to be a bully. I won't have it!"

"You don't know the whole story," Bonnie said.

"Have you sought Elena out to verbally attack her? Have you tried to turn her friends and brother against her? Did you try to use Elena's own mother to hurt her?" Rudy asked.

"Yes, but…"

"Then I know the relevant facts. You're going to apologize to Elena," Rudy said.

"No, I'm not!" Bonnie practically yelled.

"You know, Rudy, I actually agree with Bonnie on that. Meaningless apologies won't fix this situation," Elijah said. He didn't believe in apologizing just for the sake of it. An apology should mean something, otherwise it just became a word.

"What would you like me to do then?" Rudy asked.

"I want you to keep your daughter away from Elena and Jeremy," Elijah said.

Bonnie turned and glared at Elijah. "You can't make decisions for Jeremy."

"I just did," Elijah said shortly before turning back to Rudy. "I will not tolerate anymore verbal or physical abuse towards Elena. If you can't stop it, I will."

"Are you threatening me? As though I have anything to worry about. You're so cowardly, you couldn't even take me on yourself. You had to come at me through my dad," Bonnie sneered.

"Bonnie!" Rudy exclaimed.

"Oh, no, Ms. Bennett. See, I handle children differently than adults. I have decided to treat you as the petulant little brat you insist on behaving like. Believe me when I tell you, that is how you want it. You do not want to know what I'd do to an adult who harmed a member of my family," Elijah said before standing up.

"You son of a bitch!" Bonnie snarled before moving to attack him.

Rudy got up and grabbed her by the arm. "That is enough! I don't know where you get off attacking people! Did your grandmother teach you to act this way? Because I certainly did not!"

"Dad, he's a vampire," Bonnie reminded him.

"I don't care! Right now, he is protecting a young girl under his care," Rudy said before turning back to Elijah. "It will stop. Bonnie will not bother Elena or Jeremy again."

"Dad!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Thank you, Rudy. I will take you at your word," Elijah said before turning and walking towards the exit.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Jeremy made his way into his house at around eight. He'd spent the evening at the Mikaelson's. That was how he spent most of his free time, either that or hanging out with Tyler or Matt. He didn't spend much time at home anymore. It was just Ric there now, and Jeremy didn't want to be around Ric. It wasn't just that he was angry at him. It was worse than that. He couldn't trust Ric. He had to consume vervain now because he had to be concerned about possibly being compelled. That just wasn't something he should have to be afraid of from his own guardian.

Jeremy heard voices the moment he entered the house. He walked towards the kitchen and could hear Ric talking to Damon, much to his dismay. He never could stand Damon. He'd hoped now that Damon was banned from any contact with Elena, the asshole would disappear. No such luck, apparently,

"This has got to be the stupidest thing you've ever done, Ric," Damon said.

"Thanks, Damon. Luckily for me, I wasn't looking for your blessing. You certainly had no expertise when it comes to parenting," Alaric said.

"I know well enough not to hand a kid over to a bunch of psychopaths," Damon countered.

Jeremy frowned a little. Were they talking about Elena? It was a little late for that conversation. Plus, it wasn't like Ric had a choice in that. The Mikaelson's were taking her no matter what. She was their niece.

"Elijah has been good for Elena. He can do the same for Jeremy," Alaric said.

Jeremy gaped in shock. Ric wanted him to go live with the Mikaelson's? This was the first time he'd heard of any of this. Had Ric planned to discuss this with him at all? How long had he even been thinking about this? Since they left Denver nearly three weeks ago?

"Whatever? If you want to throw the kid to the wolves, that's your business," Damon said.

"Jeremy doesn't trust me, Damon, not since I let you compel him," Alaric said.

"That was Elena's idea," Damon said.

"It was on me to stop it. Elena is just a kid," Alaric said.

"Don't remind me," Damon said with a shudder.

"I just feel like Jeremy will be better off with Elijah. He spends most of his time there anyway. Look just don't say anything to him. I haven't had the chance to talk to him about it," Alaric said.

Damon laughed. "It's a little late for that."

Jeremy decided to make his presence known at that point. It was clear that Damon had already noticed his presence. "It doesn't sound like you were planning to talk to me much at all."

Alaric looked over at Jeremy in shock before standing up. "Jeremy."

"So, tell me something. Were you even planning on letting me know what was going to happen? Or was I just supposed to find my stuff moved to the Mikaelson's one day?" Jeremy asked angrily.

"Jeremy, it isn't like that," Alaric said.

"Oh, it sure sounds like it. You've made up your mind without even considering what I want! You're going to dump me on the first person you come across, someone you don't even like," Jeremy said heatedly. It actually wasn't the fact that it was Mikaelson's that bothered him. He was becoming a little more comfortable around them every day. It was the fact that Ric had just decided this without even bothering to have a conversation about it. It bugged him that Elijah hadn't said anything either, but it could be that he was waiting for Ric to do so. Ric was his guardian still.

"Look, I just feel like you'll be happier over there. I know how hard it's been for you to be here with me," Alaric said.

"That's crap! If this was about me being happy, you would've said something to me. This is about you not wanting to feel the guilt of what you did every time you look at me. At least admit that much," Jeremy said.

"Hey, if you wanna blame someone for the compulsion thing, blame your sister. She's the one who asked me to do it. If you can even call her your sister anymore," Damon said.

Jeremy ignored Damon. He wasn't engaging with that asshole right now. This was between him and Ric. "You know, you're right, Ric. I don't trust you, and now I have even less of a reason to."

Alaric watched as Jeremy walked towards the back door. "Jeremy, where are you going?"

"What do you care? You're planning to wash your hands of me," Jeremy said coldly before continuing out the door.