Victoria was nervous about bringing Jeremy to the section of the cemetery where she often hung out.
The cemetery wasn't somewhere you usually brought close friends, but it felt like a safe place for her.
She was a little worried about Jeremy's reaction, given that his parents were buried across the grounds albeit in the nicer part of the cemetery.
She swallowed down the anxious thoughts as she pulled him along. He seemed okay so far...
"Where are you taking me?" The grin on Jeremy's face surprised Victoria, she honestly thought he might be judging her.
"We can't hide in your room all the time..." Victoria looked over her shoulder to reply, before turning back to see where she was going. "Welcome to my other favourite place."
Jeremy frowned upon seeing the derelict tombstones, "What, the cemetery?"
She paused, all her previous anxieties from before rushing to the surface.
"We don't-- I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking..." She began to ramble apologetically.
"No, no," Jeremy began, a reassuring tone to his voice. "It's okay, I was just... surprised, is all."
Victoria opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a voice, "Yo, Vic!"
She turned to the sound of the voice, seeing her usual crowd sat around in the small clearing between the crumbling headstones.
"What's up, Jared?"
Another guy, Tony, tilted his head when he saw Jeremy behind her, "Who's the kid, Donovan?"
Victoria rolled her eyes, "We're the same age, dumbass. It's Jeremy, he's cool."
Tony nodded in approval, making Victoria's relax a little, "Smoke up!"
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────
Victoria was enjoying the worry-free haze she was in, it seemed to be the only time her mind would quiet down enough for her to just be able to breathe.
She was brought out of her reverie by Jeremy's laughter, causing Victoria to ask, "What?"
"I'm stoned in a cemetery." He laughed again, shaking his head.
"I don't think they mind..." Victoria commented, hoping it didn't come off as an insensitive thing to say.
Jeremy shrugged, taking another sip of the beer in his hands. Victoria watched him before someone called her name.
"Hey, Vic! Catch!"
Victoria barely had time to think before an orange pill container was thrown at her, "Jesus, Tony!"
Jeremy took the bottle from Victoria's fingers, reading the prescription, "Who's Mark?"
"My uncle. They're leftover from his motorcycle accident." Tony replied nonchalantly.
Jeremy's head snapped up, tone disbelieving, "You took them from your injured uncle's house?"
Tony shrugged, "Don't think he was using them."
Victoria's eyes flickered nervously between the two boys as Jeremy scowled at him.
"Pretty sure he'll notice if they're gone, that's not cool." Jeremy said sternly.
"Jer..." Victoria trailed off, suddenly feeling extremely awkward.
"Damn, dude! Give 'em back if you don't want 'em," Tony laughed, turning to the redheaded girl next to him. "Vicki bought the party police!"
"Shut up, Tony!" Victoria warned as she watched Jeremy stand up and storm away.
Tony just laughed at her, cracking open the bottle that had caused all the drama in the first place and placing two of the pills in his mouth.
Victoria quickly stood up and followed Jeremy, "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
She was full of regret. She was stupid to think he'd actually understand, be okay with who she was.
"What are we doing partying in a cemetery with a bunch of losers?" Jeremy snapped at her, making Victoria step back in surprised.
Victoria blinked, she wouldn't cry, "Those are my friends..."
"They're waste of space small-town-lifers." Jeremy corrected, his tone hard.
"Yeah?" Victoria questioned, trying her best to hide the hurt in her voice. "What am I?"
Jeremy paused, guilt lacing his voice, "You're different, Vic..."
Couldn't he see that this was where she belonged?
Her walls immediately went up and she was defensive, "No, you are! You're the kid with the big house who's acting up because his parents died. Guess what? You're strong enough to recover from it. You will pull yourself together, move on and one day tell your kids stories about your 'dark period' growing up," Victoria blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. "And I'll still be here, waiting tables at the Grill and partying at the cemetery with a bunch of waste of space small-town-lifers..."
It was her reality as a Donovan. They weren't founding families.
They didn't have family to support them and love them and help them succeed. Jeremy did.
Victoria had Quinn and Matt, the only people in the world who cared about her. But she wasn't selfish enough to drag them down with her own problems.
Matt was doing well in school, even had the chance to get some kind of football scholarship and get out of this godforsaken town.
And Quinn? Elena had finally grown the balls to make her relationship with her public. Quinn was facing enough backlash for 'corrupting' the golden child that was Elena Gilbert. Being gay in this town wasn't easy, and it was even harder when you were from a messed up family of drug addicts that lived on the wrong side of town.
No, Victoria was strong. She would deal with her problems on her own. She didn't need anyone.
Jeremy interrupted her thoughts, "Vic, I--"
He held his hand out to her but she stepped away, a tear falling down her cheek.
"Go home, Jeremy," She pleaded, her voice breaking. "If I want to feel like crap about myself, I'll just go back to Tyler."
She spun on her heels, walking away from her crush and back to her friends. She belonged with them, just another waste of space small-town lifer.