Set after 'The House Guest'. Isobel didn't show up at Jenna's doorstep, it's the only thing I changed. Introducing a new character, Claire from Brighton, UK. This story will circle around Claire and Damon and all the other interesting relationships that are happening on the show. I do not really know where this will be going, but Claire has been on my mind for quite some time now, and I think she's really a fascinating character. Enjoy!
Proclaimer: I own nothing of the Vampire Diaries. All credit goes to CW and the brilliant L. J. Smith
It had been 7 years since Claire last visited Mystic Falls, but it hadn't changed much. There was still this kind of small-town, sleepy touch to it. The shops were the same and the decoration looked very familiar. She let out a hearty moan and parked her rented Renault Clio in front of the Mystic Grill. It had been a long journey and she wanted to grab a bite of breakfast before visiting her old friend Elena Gilbert. When she was a kid, she spent almost all of her summers in this town. Her parents were good friends of Elena's, and the two girls were very close since childhood. When the Gilberts died, Claire desperately wanted to come and help Elena through this difficult time, but her parents wouldn't let her, as she had some issues of herself back then.
She was special, she knew it since she was an infant, but a year ago, she was struggling hard to accept this kind of lifestyle. All she wanted was a normal life, to find a man to love and have kids with, live in a little cottage at the coastline and hell, she even wanted a dog. But it just was not possible. She had accepted that fact now, but back then, Claire had a really hard time.
A lot of eyes turned when Claire entered the bar. She wore black high heels and a deep blue, strapless dress that ended way above her knee. Her shoulder-long, black hair was put together in a tight pony tail, decorated with a deep blue bow. A very pompous necklace was dangling in front of her chest, a big silver heart with little crystals in it. Her intense green eyes scanned the room for a second, before she headed off to a table right in the middle of the bar. She knew how to make an entrance and Claire was not afraid of having people look at her. All in all, it was a small town, and everyone would know that she was here before she could count to ten. When she grabbed the menu, a tattoo was visible on her right inner wrist. It read:
You shall love your crooked neighbour
with your crooked heart.
The lines were from one of her favourite poems, W. H. Auden's 'As I walked out one evening' and were sort of her motto. Claire was a real sucker for poetry, and as her family's highest priority was to love and be loved, it kind of fit, because Claire was having troubles with finding real love in this world. She had always been a bit of a wild child, and when puberty caught up with her and made her features fine as an italian stone madonna and her eyes mesmerizing like emeralds, boys were never something she was short of. All in all, she was a physical kind of person, and appreciated a fine body more than anything else. Even the slightest movement of a strongly defined biceps could make her go senseless. She was definitely a big fan of aestheticism.
While Claire studied the menu, someone sat down opposite her. She looked up and saw a very familiar, smiling face.
"Holy shit, Jeremy! Damn it, you grew up!" she said while getting up to pull Elena's little brother into a tight hug.
"Hello, Claire! Pretty surprised to see you here. You look awesome!", he said while checking her out from head to toe. Claire's grin became even wider. He REALLY grew up, she thought to herself. He was definitely hot.
They sat down again and the waiter came to get their order. She ordered some orange juice and waffles. Speechless, Claire was still staring at Jeremy, who grinned back in a very cute way.
"Okay, that's it! You stop being so freaking damn cute and sexy right now, or I'll swear to God, I'm gonna jump my best friend's little brother right here in front of the whole town!" she finally managed to say while pulling herself back from him a bit to catch her breath.
Jeremy's eyes widened and he started laughing. "Wow, you still swear a lot. And that annoying habit of being completely honest about everything is still there too, I see", he countered while running his fingers through his hair. So she made him nervous. Good to know. They looked at each other for a short moment, and then started laughing.
"I'm sorry Jer, it's just, you really are very handsome. Somehow, I still thought of you as that little boy who stalked us when we were doing girl things. But now... I mean, look at yourself! You've become a man. I'm still kind of processing that, so give me a minute, please!" Claire finally managed to say.
"It's okay. I have to say you're not so bad to look at either. But of course, I always had a bit of a crush on you", he winked at her and flashed that gorgeous smile again.
"I'm bloody serious, Jer, stop it! I'd rather you tell where Elena is instead of flirting with me", Claire told him while taking a very needed sip of the orange juice the waiter just placed in front of her.
"She's home, I guess. But maybe she's also at her boyfriend's. Did she know you would come? She didn't tell me a thing! How long will you be staying?" he eagerly asked her.
"No, no one knew. It is supposed to be kind of a surprise. I'm actually planning on staying a while. You know, to get around a bit", she replied.
"That's awesome!" he was still grinning and his eyes were locked on her. How was she going to stand that? It had just been too long since she had decent sex. 'Pull yourself together!' she thought to herself. 'There will be other men out there waiting for you, just not this one', she finally convinced herself.
They did some small talk after that, and all the while, Claire was admiring his movements. She could see his muscles under his shirt, and just imagined how he must look like without it, when her order came. Happy to have a distraction, she dug in. While she ate, he told her that he and Bonnie have become close the last couple of weeks, so she quickly restrained herself from considering him as possible 'prey'. Claire knew Bonnie too, and she sure was a good match for him. Nevertheless, she could sense that he had gone through a lot of pain these past few months, and that there was something he was not telling her. He tried to smile his worries off, but behind those hazel eyes, there was another story waiting to surface.
"You know, I think I should probably go now", she said after finishing off her waffles. She put some cash on the table and rose from her chair. "See you later?" she asked Jeremy, who had stood up too.
"Yeah, sure! It's really so good to see you again. Elena will be so glad to have you here", he said while pulling her into another hug. Oh, it felt so good... They lasted a bit too long for a normal, friendly hug, but Claire managed to pull herself together again, so she flashed him a million-dollar-smile while leaving the grill. This was going to be so interesting.
If you liked what you read, please let me know and I will post further chapters as soon as they're finished. Thanks a lot for reading!
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