"I don't see why you're making this into a big deal, Damon." Jeremy whined as he followed Damon into the house. "Everyone has cheated before."

"Well I'm not everyone's guardian. I'm yours. And cheating is a very big deal in this house." Damon lectured, leading them into the living room.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. Damon could be so ridiculous sometimes about stupid things. This was like that time Jeremy started a small fire in the kitchen while trying to make pizza. He'd fallen asleep with it in the oven and Damon had freaked out. It hadn't even really ruined anything. He could be such a drama queen.

"Do not give me that look, Jeremy." Damon said, voice raising slightly. "Now sit." he said, pointing at the couch. Jeremy sat, albeit with a put-upon sigh.

"You should be groveling right now, not acting like a brat." Damon snapped.

"Please, oh great one, forgive my indiscretions." Jeremy said, clasping his hands in a mock plea.

"Keep this up, Jer. I dare you." Damon said, raising an eyebrow calmly.

They had a silent stare off for a moment before Jeremy averted his eyes to the floor. "Sorry." he muttered. Damon sighed and ran a hand through Jeremy's hair, his common gesture towards Jeremy for an apology being accepted.

Damon began pacing in front of Jeremy, who watched him, suddenly feeling much more nervous. God, how could he have gotten himself into this deep of shit? Oh, that's right, Kol. It was all his stupid fault. Although Jeremy would never be able to stay mad at his (only) friend.

"Alright. Here's what's going to happen." Damon said, stopping his walking and turning to face Jeremy, who sat up a bit. "You're getting spanked for this." Jeremy wasn't surprised. "And you will be apologizing to your teacher." Jeremy stood up at that, shaking his head.

"No! Come on, Damon, don't make me do that." Jeremy complained. Damon gave him a look that made Jeremy sit back down, if only so his guardian didn't have access to smacking his ass.

"You don't think what you did warrants an apology?" Damon asked, crossing his arms. Well, that was definitely a trap.

"Well, I guess, but that's embarrassing." Jeremy slumped down on the couch with a scowl. "Elena never made me apologize when I got in trouble at school."

"Do I look like Elena? When you do something wrong, you apologize. If you had hit another kid I would make you apologize to them. You're going to either write your teacher a note or apologize in person." Damon said with finality in his voice. "Which will it be?" he asked.

"I'll write the damn note." Jeremy mumbled. At least that way he wouldn't have to face the teacher. Which, yes, he does realize is the cowardly approach. Shut up.

"Language." Damon said sharply. "You can write the note after we finish up here." Damon said, sitting down on the couch. Luck me, Jer thought, but didn't have the guts to say out loud. "Go upstairs and get me the hairbrush." Damon ordered. Jeremy's eyes widened comically wide.

"Damon! I'm sorry, alright? Don't use that." he pleaded. Damon pointed to the stairs.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" he warned. Jeremy gave him one last pleading look. "Now, Jeremy."

Jeremy went upstairs for the damned brush. Stupid thing. Jeremy knew for a fact that Damon had never brushed his hair with it, so the monstrosity was just around for ass kickings. Jer had only gotten it one other time since living here, and he had sworn that first chance he got he would burn it.

Jeremy dragged himself into Damon's bedroom and over to the dresser, where the brush was kept. He grabbed it, shooting the object a look of disgust. If he tried hard enough he could blame the brush for all the trouble he had gotten into today.

Jeremy brought it back down the stairs, handing it to Damon once he reached the living room. "Here." he grumbled.

"Thank you. Now come here." Damon said, patting his lap invitingly. The gesture would seem kind if Jeremy didn't know what would follow.

Jeremy placed himself across Damon's lap. He didn't get a chance to get situated or appreciate the fact that he could keep his pants up before Damon started in with the brush. Damon never seemed to waste time with warm ups, he just gave it his all from the start.

Jeremy grit his teeth and kept quiet for the beginning part. Damon never really spanked in any particular pattern. He really just smacked all over, which meant Jeremy couldn't predict where the next one would ever land. Jer figured that was the point.

"Dude, come on." Jeremy whined after a solid minute of this. Damon gave a particularly harsh smack to his thigh, causing him to jump.

"Don't call me 'dude'." He said, although Jeremy swore there was some amusement in his tone.

"Alright, ahh, no dude." Jeremy said quickly. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Damon asked, starting in on his sit spots, which Jeremy found to be a particularly mean thing to do while asking him a question. Did he want him to be able to answer coherently? As it was, Jeremy had already started crying softly.

"For cheating." Jeremy said, kicking his legs. Damon pinned them down, not even stopping in his volley of swats. He hummed in approval of Jeremy's answer.

"Why is that wrong?" Damon asked. Jeremy had to think about that for a moment, which Damon didn't seem to like, if the increase of strength behind the spanks was anything to go by.

Jeremy started sobbing over his lap, shoulders shaking. Damon seemed to take pity on him, and stopped spanking. He rested a hand on Jeremy's back, rubbing it gently.

After Jeremy had had a minute to calm down and had begun squirming (because seriously, lying over Damon's lap when he's getting his ass handed to him is one thing, but just lying there without the beat down is awkward), Damon repeated his question. "Jeremy, why is that wrong?" Jeremy made a move to sit down before he answered, but Damon held his down. Great, Damon wanted to have a chat in this position.

"It's against school rules. And it isn't honest." Jeremy said shakily. Damon nodded.

"That's right, kid. I don't want this to happen again, got it?" Damon said firmly. Jeremy nodded quickly.

"I got it." he said. Damon landed three more swats to his bottom before letting him up.

Jeremy stood up and rubbed his ass, giving Damon a sad pout. Damon rolled his eyes, but stood up as well and tugged him into a hug. "You'll be fine." he said, not unkindly. Jeremy hugged him back as Damon rubbed his back.

They pulled away after a moment. "Go on and write that note, Jer." Damon said. Jeremy groaned.

"You expect me to concentrate while my butt is on fire?" Jeremy moaned. Damon patted his cheek gently.

"Go." He said, shooing Jeremy out of the room with a lighter swat on his ass.

Jeremy went upstairs to his bedroom to write the letter. When he walked in, he saw Kol sitting on his bed.

"Hey mate. Mind if I crash here?" Kol asked.