The days all seemed to run together when you were constantly on the road.  It was a series of safe houses one by one as the battle against evil monsters never stopped.   Jeremy Gilbert made his way toward a safe house that he had established just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.  There was nothing but farmhouses all around him for miles.   It was usually pretty quiet there.

He entered the front door carefully looking from side to side as he did.   His muscles were always tensed and at the ready as a member of The Brotherhood of the Five.   It was just who he was and what he did.  He’d been doing it for so long, that he had nearly forgotten what life was like before.  Once satisfied that his safe house was clear, he plopped himself down into a modest chair made of a blue material that was coarse to the touch.  It reminded him of something that his grandmother had in her house when he was a little boy.

Jeremy took a moment and pulled one of the burner phones out of his pocket.   It was a phone that he used to keep in contact with Elena mostly.   Examining the date on the phone, he realized that today was Valentine’s Day.  He leaned back in that chair and snorted a half laugh as he looked at the screen.    He decided to dash off a quick text to his sister.  He had to do that ever so often to let her know he was still alive.   Besides that, if he didn’t Alaric would usually get her up in his face demanding to know where Jeremy was.

Happy V-Day.  - J

It was short and sweet, but in his business, he couldn’t afford to put anything out there that could be easily traced back to him.   There were too many big bads out there who hated him and had often tried to kill him.   It honestly wasn’t like Jeremy didn’t know what being dead was like, but that was different now because of being who he was.

Jeremy stuffed the phone in his pocket and wandered in to where this refrigerator stood in what used to be a kitchen.  He opened the door locating a six pack of beer inside, an ice cube tray and a package of bacon.  He pulled out a beer and pondered the idea of the bacon.  His stomach growled loudly.   That was that.

It wasn’t long before the snapping and sizzling of bacon along with that smell of pure heaven filled this lone safe house.  He was downing a bottle of beer while cooking.   Valentine’s days were supposed to be filled with love and copious amounts of chocolate.  It hadn’t been that way for Jeremy in a long time.   He did remember a time where it was a lot more innocent and fun.

~*~

14 February 2000
The Gilbert Home, Mystic Falls, VA

Jeremy Gilbert was all of six years old.  The boy with big brown eyes and a head full of messy brown hair was in his room playing with his favorite Ninja Turtles toys making them battle the Shredder for the ultimate victory in the end.  “HAHA!  DIE DIE!”  He smirked as he smashed the toys together enjoying being a little boy and all the things little boys did.

He was interrupted by the sound of two little girls laughing.  He jerked his eyes toward the door.  Elena and Caroline were in Elena’s bedroom after school.  There had been a Valentine’s Day party at school and they came home with a bunch of stuff.   Caroline had come home with Elena and they immediately went in Elena’s bedroom and shut the door.   Jeremy tried to go back to his Ninja Turtles, but another bout of laughter came from Elena’s bedroom.   Jeremy dropped his Turtles and headed out into the hallway.

He crept slowly down the hallway until he came to Elena’s bedroom.   He could hear them giggling and squealing inside.  The door was actually open just a little.   He was small enough he could slide into the room without them noticing.  Once inside, he saw Caroline laying flat on the foot of the bed while Elena was leaning up against the headboard.  They were just giggling and laughing out loud enjoying being second grade girls.  “Man girls are so yucky!”  He muttered wrinkling his nose at them both.   

Elena’s eyes widened.  “JEREMY!  Get OUT!”  She picked up a down pillow and tossed it at her brother.   “NO BOYS ALLOWED!”

Jeremy dodged the pillow and moved toward the bed.  By now, Caroline was sitting up and glaring at Jeremy.   “Wow, that’s a lot of candy!”

Elena shoved a fist full of candy at Jeremy and then climbed off her bed.   “Take this and GO!”   She led out of the room by his shoulders.  He let her lead him out of the room.  He was grinning because he got what he wanted.   Once inside his room, Elena closed the door behind her and left him to his toys.   

Jeremy spread out the loot he’d gotten from Elena and started into his ill gotten gains.  He went back to playing with his Ninja Turtles with a lollipop in his cheek.   Girls were still yucky but candy sure wasn’t.

~*~

Current day, outside of Cincinnati

Jeremy chuckled remembering that day all those years ago.  He heard the knock at the door.   He was expecting someone and he was glad she was finally here.   He moved toward the door to open it for her.   His eyes twinkled when he saw her.

Anna Zhu was standing in the doorway wearing a hoodie that was dark.  It molded to her body like it was made for her.  “May I come in?”  She asked softly.  Her nose was twitching.  “Something smells really good.”

Jeremy smiled at the woman he loved.  He didn’t care if she was a vampire and had recently returned from the dead.  There was no one else better he wanted to spend time with than her on Valentine’s Day.   He hadn’t known about it when he told her to meet him here.  He answered her.  “Anna Zhu please come inside.”   He knew that vampires had to be invited inside before they could stay.   He pulled her into his arms and into a deeply passionate kiss.   “Happy Valentine’s Day Baby.”   He told her.

She grinned back at him returning his kiss with all the love she felt for him.  “Happy Valentine’s Day.”   She answered with a look of pure happiness in her eyes.