Take The Pain Away
Ich wollte schon länger einen Jeremy/Anna One Shot schreiben und nachdem die letzten zwei Folgen gesehen hab, hab ich mir mal einen Ruck gegeben. Ich hoffe es gefällt euch!
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I know I screwed up but there are some things I want to tell you. Meet me in the school library, please.
Anna sighed and slowly let her arms drop along her sides. She had expected Jeremy to call or text her eventually after she had cowardly fled his bedroom. She couldn't have stayed although he had been crying. She had wanted to comfort him at first but then when he had told her that he had wanted to become a vampire so he could be with Vicky – whom he had suspected to be a vampire, too – she couldn't have done it. It had been so obvious since they had first talked after Jeremy had exposed her. It was stupid to be hurt but she was.
She liked Jeremy very much. When he had kissed her in the woods she had been shocked of course but also happy. Somehow she had developed feelings for the human boy and somehow she had thought he'd return them. It turned out that he didn't. He was still in love with Vicky Donovan.
Anna wasn't sure about meeting Jeremy. One Part of her urged her to go, another part of her was afraid of getting hurt. Vampire or not she was a girl after all.
"I'll be damned," she sighed and took off.
Jeremy had already been in the library when he had sent Anna the message. His mind was racing since he had read his sister's diary last night.
She knew! he thought fiercely. She knew it all long.
He wasn't mad at her for not telling him. He understood that she only wanted to protect him but he was mad at her for letting his memories being erased. Those had been his memories after all and that made him the only one to decide if he wanted to forget or not. If he'd kept them then he might have been able to move on sooner.
That was why he had texted Anna. He desperately needed someone to talk to since his sister and her vampire friends were out of question.
He wasn't sure whether Anna would come or not. In fact he almost doubted it. She probably thought he had wanted to use her and he didn't blame her for it. It was the truth after all. But he was hoping that she could forgive him so that they could start over. They were at least friends. She was his only friend and he didn't want to lose her because of his foolishness.
He walked past the shelves and occasionally pulled a book out.
"Careful," a voice told him from behind. "They might go kaboom."
Jeremy recognized her voice anywhere. Smiling he turned around to face Anna. "You came."
"I decided to give it a try and if your speech sucks I'll use my Get-Out-Of-It card."
"I'll try hard so that you won't need to use it," Jeremy promised. He was so glad she came. Hope was rising in his chest.
They stared at each other. No one said a word. Jeremy, taking Anna in, had temporally forgotten why he had called her in the first place. Anna chuckled.
"Come, let's sit."
They sat down at a table. Anna looked expectantly at Jeremy.
"Well, um," Jeremy cleared his throat. This was more embarrassing than he had thought it would be. "I want to apologize to you. You probably think I was going to use you to become a vampire so I could be with Vicky. And you're right I was."
Okay, Anna made mental note. No denying. He gets credits for honesty.
"Apology yet to be accepted," she told him. "Try harder."
"I haven't finished yet," he replied. He was nervous and Anna didn't really help it. "So I had had this secret agenda. But I didn't realize that you were getting your hopes up. I was so occupied with Vicky for so long that I didn't notice it. I'm sorry for that, too."
"I didn't get my–"
Jeremy cut her off. "Please, let me finish. Well, I really screwed up but… I meant it when I said that I'd like you. You're cute and floppy and I wanted to make a good impression."
"Hey, those are my lines," Anna reminded him and a smile appeared on her lips. Jeremy took it as encouragement to go on and come to the most difficult part.
"And I didn't kiss you in the woods because I just felt like. I really like you. I don't know what we are and how we'll go on but I think we'll figure that out." He gave her a hopeful smile. "So," he said. "How was it?"
"Mmh," Anna teased him. "Okay, you're forgiven."
Jeremy's face lit up in relief and he felt the need to hug her so he did and was happy when she hugged him shyly back. After a moment they let go of each other. Anna studied his face with narrowed eyes.
"Sorry, I have to ask that. What about Vicky now? You're still not over her, are you?"
"No, I'm not," Jeremy admitted. "But I understand everything better now, why she had to die."
"How come?"
"It's all in my sister's diary."
Anna was appalled. "You read your sister's diary?!"
"I knew she was hiding something from me which had to with Vicky and I knew that she writes everything in it," Jeremy explained.
"But still," Anna insisted. "You invaded her private sphere. It's like you pied on her."
"She would have never told me so protect me but I can handle it. I found out you're a vampire on my own and I'm not afraid.
"That's what I still don't get about you. After all you're a Gilbert. Your ancestor used to hunt us," Anna told him.
"I'm not my ancestor," Jeremy clarified. "I accepted the fact that you're a vampire. I'm not scared."
Anna smiled. "So you got answers to your questions?"
"Yes, I did. Did you know that Stefan and Damon are vampires, too?"
"Yes, I did. I know them from back then."
"Back when?"
"1864."
"Wow," Jeremy said. "How old are you?"
"I'll turn 230 in a couple of weeks," Anna replied shyly.
"Cool… Well anyway," Jeremy continued. "I was right. Vicky was a vampire. I remember everything now. She tried to bite me and Stefan killed her so I wouldn't get hurt. And after that Damon erased my memories. Elena wrote he'd taken my pain away."
"Figures," Anna said. "Are you mad at your sister?"
"A bit, but not because she hid everything from me. I appreciate it that she cares so much about me. But I'm mad at her for telling Damon to modify my memories. That wasn't her decision to make."
"So you would've preferred to keep the memories?"
"Yes," answered Jeremy. "If I'd kept them I might have gotten over Vicky sooner and not worried so much about her in vain."
"It wasn't in vain," Anna contradicted. "You loved her. It's only natural that you worry about her. Do you feel better now that you know?"
"Not at all," Jeremy admitted bluntly. "It still hurts. Look, can you do me favor?"
"What kind of favor?" Anna inquired suspiciously.
"I want you to take the pain away like Damon did."
"You mean numb it? I don't think so. You have to feel it," Anna refused.
"I've felt it long enough. I've been in pain when my parents died and now with Vicky. Believe me, I know how it feels and I've had enough of it. I want to feel better. I want to move on. Please."
Jeremy's pleading eyes met Anna's. His begging made her weak. He was a nervous wreck. Maybe it was really better for him to forget and move on instead of clinging on to it.
"Okay, I'll do it," she gave in. "As I'm older than Damon my powers are stronger so I can do it more precisely, more thoroughly. How do you want me to change it? What do you want to forget and what do you want to keep?"
"I don't want to forget that she died and how but I don't want to hurt to any longer. I just want to accept the fact that she'd dead and that life goes on.
It was true. That was what he wanted but he needed help. He would never have the strength to do it himself.
"Okay," Anna said. "Take off your bracelet."
"Why?" he asked puzzled.
"Ever heard of verveine?"
"Nope."
"It shields you from vampire influences," she told him. Jeremy nodded and took the bracelet off. "Good. Now into my eyes." Jeremy did and as he was told and Anna began to modify his memories. "Vicky is dead It's sad but she wouldn't have wanted you to mourn over her for long. Accept the fact that she's gone and move on. Life goes on, at least for you."
She snapped her fingers and ended Jeremy's trance.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Better. Much better. Thank you," he answered smiling.
"You're welcome," she replied, returning the smile.
"So, um," Jeremy said. "You want to do something fun now? Like pool?"
"Sounds great."
They left the library, holding hands and went over to the Grill. Jeremy's thoughts lingered on Vicky for a moment as they walked but then they drifted into a different direction. Of course, it was sad that she was dead but he had to move on and with this beautiful girl right beside him it seemed to be the easiest thing to do.
