CHAPTER SIX

There's a persistent knocking on the front door until Jay finally makes it down the stairs and opens it to see who's on the other side. "Oh, thank God." Tyler sighs as she nudges him back and steps outside as well, closing the door behind her. "You haven't been answering your phone."

"I was making breakfast with Ric, didn't really want to have this particular conversation in front of him." She tells him, and he nods.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so— I could say it a million times, and it would never be enough." He steps forward, and she looks down. "I don't know what happened."

"It's because you're new to vampirism." She says as her gaze meets his again. "Stefan had to stop Vicki from killing Jeremy, and then Caroline from killing Matt. I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."

"You're— You have nothing to be sorry about." He's looking at the scarf around her neck. "I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"No. I have a band-aid on it now, and I'll use cover up later. It shouldn't scar, and it doesn't really even hurt." She tells him. "I put vervain in my coffee this morning — I usually do anyway. You know, 'cause necklaces come off pretty easily, but I had run out of what I had. Stefan would give it to me from the stash in the Boarding House basement, but he flipped his switch, and I didn't want to ask Damon. But I went by the Boarding House late last night, so—"

Tyler cuts off her rambling by leaning down and pressing his lips against hers. He rests his hands on either side of her face as she kisses him back, and her hands settle on his ribs over his shirt as she steps closer to him. After a few seconds, he pulls back, resting his forehead against hers.

"I don't know how yet, but I am going to make this up to you." He promises.

"Just as long as you don't break up with me like Care did with Matt." Jay says, and he shakes his head as he stands up straight and looks down at her.

"You clearly know more about all of this than I do, so I'll go with whatever you say." He tells her, and she offers him a small smile.

"It really isn't your fault, Ty. You don't have anyone helping you quite like the others did." She says. "Stefan said it's linked to your emotions, which are heightened. Maybe I should be flattered that you feel something for me that strongly."

"You're insane." He says, amused by her comment, and she chuckles.

"It keeps life interesting." The little brunette says as she stretches up onto her tippy-toes and wraps her arms around his neck. "Apology accepted, I'm not mad at you. We'll both be mindful to be more careful from now on."

"Like right now?" Tyler asks, and she pulls back.

"Sorry." She says, and the corner of his mouth pulls up.

"I'll pick you up later for the homecoming dance?" He asks, and she nods.

"Okay."

He leans down and kisses her again. "I'll see you tonight." He tells her, and she smiles as she looks up at him. He quickly pecks her cheek and then turns around to leave.

Jay heads back inside and she walks over to the kitchen. Ric looks up upon her entrance; he's sitting at the dining table. "Who was that? The boyfriend that you're pretending we don't know about?" He asks, and she can't help the smile that spreads across her face.

"Shut up." She covers her cheeks to hide her blush, and he chuckles as he looks at her.

"Hey, I'm happy if you're happy." He tells her. "I'm happy that you look happy."

"I am happy." She smiles. "I mean, I know there's gonna be bumps, but he's a good guy. And I really like him, Ric."

"I see that." He nods. "But if he hurts you, I will kill him." He says, and her smile widens as she chuckles, walking over to the refrigerator to get herself some orange juice.

She spends the day with Ric, glad that Jeremy's out of the house. And eventually she has to actually start getting ready for the homecoming dance that she promised Tyler she'd go to. It normally wouldn't be something that she'd bother with, but he wants her there with him.

So, she curls her dark brown hair and does her make-up. It's a simple look, just some mascara and pink lipstick, but she thinks she looks nice enough. Then she puts on the light blue dress that she chose a few days ago before grabbing the short, black heals from the floor of her closet.

The doorbell rings downstairs, and Jay runs down the steps with her heels in her hand. She opens the front door and smiles when she sees Tyler standing there in a tux. "You look good."

"You look gorgeous." He says as he leans down and kisses her. "Party's at my house now. Are you ready to go?" He asks, and she nods.

"Yeah, but why's it not at the school?"

"Gym's flooded." He tells her as she slips her heels onto her feet. "Come on." He holds his hand out to her, and she takes it after grabbing her jacket from just inside the door.

They get to his house, and Tyler tells her that he has some stuff that he has to do. So she wanders around by herself before heading outside. There's a band playing in the backyard, and the little brunette looks around confused, eyebrows furrowed. She doesn't understand how he put a party like this together so quickly.

"Good evening, everyone!" The voice makes her stop cold as a chill runs down her spine. Jay turns and sees Klaus standing on the stage. "I want to thank you all for being here with me to celebrate. It's been a long time coming." He has a smug look on his face, and her jaw tightens.

Jay steers clear of Klaus while he talks to Stefan, but she can't find Tyler for awhile. When she finally does see him, he's talking to Klaus, so she keeps her distance as she waits for her chance to make her way over to her boyfriend. As soon as Klaus walks away from him, Tyler rushes over to Jay and pulls her away from the crowd in the backyard.

"What are you up to with Klaus?" He asks after he closes his bedroom door behind them, and she turns to look at him.

"What are you talking about?" She questions.

"He's on to you, Jay. Whatever you all think you're about to pull off, he's two steps ahead of you." He tells her. "So don't lie and tell me that you don't know what's going on."

She scoffs as she looks at him. "I have spent the last week with you, Tyler. And then you bit me, and I ran home to hide it so that no one would get pissed and try to kick your ass for it. After you talked to me this morning, I hung out with Ric all day to pretend for a few hours that my life was actually normal. Why the hell would they tell me anything when they know that my boyfriend is sired to the bastard who has done nothing but ruin our lives since before he even got here?!"

"You don't know what they're planning?"

"I don't even know if there is a plan, but if there is... I hope the son of a bitch dies, and I hope it's bloody and painful." She tells him. "Now, can I go home? 'Cause I really don't feel like being at a party where Klaus is having a celebration. Hell, I don't even know what he's celebrating."

"His father's dead." He tells her, and she nods.

"Well, I hope hell won't miss Satan too much." She says and then tries to walk past him, but he gets in front of her.

"I can't let you go off on your own." Tyler says, and her eyebrows furrow as she looks up at him.

"What the hell does that mean?" She questions, and his expression softens.

"Please forgive me."

—

Jay groans as she starts to wake up on the couch in her living room, and she blinks a few times before opening her eyes. The first thing she sees is Matt sitting on the coffee table next to the couch that she's laying on. It feels like her heartbeat is in her head as she pushes herself up.

"Take it easy, nice and slow." Matt says as he helps her sit up properly on the couch.

"I got some aspirin." Ric says as he walks over and hands her the pills and a glass of water. "How do you feel?"

"Like an idiot." She mutters before taking the pills to get rid of her headache. "He knocked me out. I wanted to leave anyway. Why couldn't he just let me go?"

"Would you really have left?" Matt asks. "After he told you that our friends all had a plan to take down Klaus, would you have just come home?"

"That was my choice." Jay says as she looks at him, both of them knowing that she wouldn't have just left them. "And he took it from me. He couldn't compel me to do things his way, so he knocked me out cold."

There's a knock at the door, and Ric sighs as he looks over at it. "What do you want me to do?"

"Make him leave. I don't wanna see him."

Alaric and Matt both walk over to the front door, and Jay hears them arguing with Tyler. He wants to go inside and explain why he did what he did, tell her how things turned out, but they all know that she doesn't want to talk to him right now. They finally convince Tyler to leave, and then Matt takes off shortly after as well.

Ric then sits down with Jay on the couch in the room connected to the kitchen, and he doesn't say anything as she sinks into the cushions. The little brunette leans into him, and he wraps his arms around her, wanting to comfort her. Jay fights back tears as she closes her eyes, and he hugs her just a little tighter.