Author's Note: I've had this in my head ever since we got that Damon/Jenna scene. If I'm being honest at that moment in the episode I totally would have shipped that couple.
Anyway please enjoy this little oneshot that I have created. It's mostly just my idea of filler that happened before Damon arrived, during his visit to the Gilbert home, and what happened afterward. You will recognize a couple of quotes.
Oh, and don't forget to review.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters. Don't sue me.
"He's freakishly hot!"
"Shh! He's an ass."
Those words were on a constant repeat in Jenna's head. Her eyes were trained on the glass in front of her, her hair spilling around her face. The curls brushed her cheeks until she flicked them away. The dark liquid in the glass taunted her, urging her to down the rest and pour herself more. She pursed her lips before biting the inside of her cheek. Her fingers tightened once, the muscles flexing, before throwing her head back and quickly swallowing. She released her grip, admiring the way the glass trembled before finally settling into a frozen pose. Her gaze lingered there before flickering toward the bottle on the opposite counter. A forgotten towel rested next to it. She sighed once, hopping off the counter and retrieving her glass before heading to the sink.
She was admiring the glass. She was staring at it the same way she had been eyeing the older Salvatore brother that evening. If she looked closely, very closely, and squinted she thought she could see his appearance reflected back at her. He wrote that careful smile of his. She could see his dark hair that contrasted so nicely with his light eyes. They were such a strange shade of blue, appearing gray one moment and a darker almost purple shade the next. But as her hand reached for the faucet the water tumbled down onto the glass and his image was washed away until all she saw was a clear surface reflecting her own portrait back at her.
The house was empty. It was silent. It always seemed to be lately. Elena was always with Stefan. She did like the boy but she just wished he would share her niece. Her nephew was no different. First he had been out and about because of the drugs and the partying and before that it was just centered on Vicki. After the troubled girl's departure it had been about the research for his paper. Now it was about his new girl, Anna. The two teenagers were her responsibility. They were never home long enough for her to judge whether not they were being responsible. Or to judge whether or not she was fulfilling her role as guardian effectively.
The house had been empty earlier that evening as well. She had been forced to beg Elena and Jeremy to promise that they would be home for dinner. Elena had been convinced after Jenna confided that she missed her. Well, that and, of course Stefan was welcome to join. Jeremy refrained from arguing after she threatened to sell his Xbox. Needless to say the two had agreed and she had been left standing in the kitchen. She had been left to her own thoughts about what she could possibly fix for dinner with her limited cooking experience. She had stood there for a full five minutes before the door bell rang.
Her steps had been hesitant as she moved toward the door. Elena and Jeremy had a key so there was no reason for them to ring the doorbell. She had not ordered anything online so she was not expecting a package. She was not waiting for company to arrive either. When she finally opened the door she had cringed and realized that she would need to check the peephole more often. But once the door had opened and there was no longer a wooden barrier between them, she was met with an icy set of eyes paired with a devastatingly handsome face. But even handsome seemed such a lackluster way to describe him. He had a cross between a smirk and a smile on his face and introduced himself as Damon Salvatore and shook her hand. He had asked if Stefan was home and Jenna had answered the negative before she decided to be polite to invite him to come back for dinner. He seemed to ponder the idea before inquiring about the meal.
"Actually I'm not even sure what I'll be making," She admitted as a steady color of scarlet brushed across her cheeks.
"Well perhaps I could be of assistance," He replied before taking a step toward the door. He paused then, leaning back on his heels. "May I?"
"Yes, please, come in," The sentence was out of her mouth before she really had time to consider it. She moved aside to let him slip inside past her, questioning her own motives for letting him in.
"Thank you," He smiled before turning to face her, inclining his head toward the kitchen. "So how do you want to do is? Do you have anything specific in mind or are you open to anything?"
She choked a bit then, covering it up with a cough. She cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair, mussing the curls. "I'm sorry?"
"Dinner. I'm a fantastic cook, not that I like to brag," Actually Jenna suspected that he absolutely did like to brag. "Do you want anything specific or does anything work?" He asked with a sort of knowing smile. "What did you think I was talking about?"
"N-nothing," Her face flushed again. Her mind was in the gutter and it probably had something to do with the romance novel she was reading. For a second she had a flash of Damon pressing her against the counter in little clothing dance around her head. "Uhm, Jeremy and Elena love Italian,"
"Something Italian it is," He replied with before stepping toward the kitchen, leaving Jenna to follow.
"You really are a life saver you know," She called after him, just a couple of steps behind. "I would have had no idea what to do for dinner if you hadn't shown up."
"My last name is Salvatore," He turned to look over his shoulder. "It is Italian for savior,"
He had disappeared through the kitchen doorway leaving Jenna standing with her brows raised before she finally decided to filter in after him.
She moved toward the counter, eyeing the bottle of wine warily. If she thought about it she could still taste it on her tongue. She contemplated retrieving another glass even though she had just washed one. It was a brief thought. She cast it away from her mind in an instant, grabbing the bottle by the neck before walking to put it away. She passed the sink along the way and her eyes were drawn there. A freshly washed cutting board was resting on one side of the sink. She paused, running her finger tops along the smooth surface.
"So, Damon, are you seeing anyone?" She inquired after taking a sip from the glass in her hand. She cringed inwardly. They had extinguished all other topics, covering travel to family. She had noted that his responses to both had been short and curt. But he had never lost the polite, friendly tone.
"At the moment? No, I'm single," He replied without looking up from the cutting board as the knife he held sliced through vegetables. "Why are you interested in changing that?"
"You haven't found the right girl or what?" She chose to ignore his teasing and asked her own question and he smiled because of it. She was prying but she couldn't find it in herself to care.
"I seem to be attracted to girls that are taken or don't want anything serious," He still did not look up, "I'm just...having fun, enjoying myself now. I thought I was ready to settle down once. I thought I had met the right girl but I lost her," He seemed angry. She could sort of tell when used a little more force than necessary to but a tomato.
"I'm sorry," She replied because it was the only thing she could really think to say.
"Oh don't worry about it. There is a chance that I'll see her very soon. So maybe I can fix things," He looked up and then offered a shrug. "I won't have anyone to stop me this time,"
'"Who stopped you before?" She was exceedingly curious now, it hummed through her.
"Not literally, they just stood in my way. But it had been Stefan I suppose, and my father,"
"Stefan? Really?" She was leaning forward now. She tried to picture Stefan, the charming, polite, Stefan she knew, do anything to intentionally put a stop to his brother's happiness. She came up short.
"My father never approved of anyone I dated. Which only made me want them more, of course." He ignored her question before he looked up, shooting her a half smile before turning the conversation back on her.
Jenna sighed with mild irritation before finally putting the wine away. She turned to admire the kitchen, checking for any sign that anything needed to be picked up, before exiting. She moved toward the living room, settling onto the couch and scooping up the book she was reading. She flicked to the page she had left off on, skimming the lines to find her exact spot. She blushed only slightly as the words took a more erotic nature. She pushed the book against her chest, shielding it from any eyes that could see it and checked for any sign of Jeremy or Anna, who had stopped by after Jeremy brought her back from The Grill. She didn't see them so she shrugged and curled up to continue reading.
She really did flush then, her cheeks aflame and she could feel the burning heat. She bit her lip before closing the book. Of course the main character had dark hair and blue eyes. That was not what she needed at the moment. Her thoughts already revolved around the older Salvatore. She did not need some smut to remind her about him. She closed the book and set it back in its place, staring ahead for a few moments. She could hear Elena and Stefan talking upstairs, could hear and see Anna duck in and mention that she was going to use the bathroom.
She moved from her spot, even though she was rather comfortable, and sat at the table. She grabbed a pen, absentmindedly writing. The paper in front of her was marred with squiggles and random phrased flickering through her head. It took her a moment to realize she had been scrawling bits and pieces of her earlier conversations with Damon. She fought back a groan as she saw Stefan appear as he descended the staircase. She put on her best smile and was thankful to see that he returned the gesture. Just because she was talking to the younger Salvatore didn't mean she had completely forgotten about his brother. She still had phrases on repeat in her head.
"You know you aren't staying the night, right?" She was serious and tried to appear so before Stefan came up with an answer.
For a moment she allowed the thought of Damon to be tucked back into her mind. But she had a feeling he would resurface when she picked up that book again.