Summary: Some Jalaric fluff, missing scenes from 2x04 Memory Lane.

Characters: Jenna/Alaric

Spoilers: 2x03 Bad Moon Rising and 2x04 Memory Lane

Timeline: During 2x04 Memory Lane

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone, just borrowed them for a little while. Promise to give them all back unharmed, more or less

Author's Note: this episode definitely lacked a couple of scenes, so here is my take on what could have happened :)

Jenna walks out of the kitchen when Damon shows up

Alaric caught up with her in the hall as Jenna was half way through to the door.

"Jenna-"

She turned around with a slight annoyance on her face and regarded him with a hint of displeasure.

"Did you really have to call him, Ric?"

He walked up to her looking a little sheepish and hell if she wasn't buying this small smile of his. Unbelievable as it was, she could forgive him pretty much anything when he was looking at her like that.

"I just wanted us to get relaxed, have some fun."

"Yeah," she folded her arms on the chest not at all convinced about the fun part, the very fact of having Damon around wasn't exactly her idea of fun and not being in control of it was frustrating.

Ric was right before her. He put her hands on her shoulders, the touch of his palms making her skin tingle as she let this comforting warm feeling spread all over her. She leaned closer to him involuntarily as his arms went around her.

"What's going on between the two of you?" He asked a little suspiciously, although his voice stayed soft and soothing.

For a moment Jenna contemplated telling the truth, but then again – it wasn't her secret, and as a matter of fact, it wasn't her business either. Except that she didn't like the idea of Damon hitting on Elena who was dating his brother, for starters. Not to mention that even if she thought he was awesome to hang out with, he wasn't exactly the best company for her niece. Both age and habits - and lifestyle in general, speaking of that - assumed. She'd been there and it never was good, and that was why she wanted Elena so much to avoid this rocky road. She didn't want her to get hurt.

"Nothing," she made a funny face looking away. Not to mention that she had no right to tell Alaric who she wanted him to be friends with.

"Hey, look at me," he whispered and waited for Jenna to lift her eyes up to his. "It's going to be a great day."

And the way he said it made her break into smiling. "Really?" She narrowed her eyes in mock disbelief knowing that he already knew that he got her.

"Really," he let out a short laugh before leaning in to kiss her.

She laughed too as he planted a few light kisses on her mouth, her arms wrapped around his waist. "I'm taking your word on this," she mumbles against his lips.

"Just give him a chance."

She groaned. "Did you really have to ruin the moment?"

Ric chuckled, and Jenna simply marveled in this feeling of easiness and comfort that he created whenever he was around. She was so in trouble and she knew it, and hell if she wanted it to be over. His strength and warmth washed over her body as his hands lingered on her body. Yeah, she was ready and willing to bear pretty much anyone, even five Damons, if that was what he wanted. Yep, she was definitely losing her mind. But then, why struggle against it anyway? She couldn't kick Damon out, no matter how tempting it was, so she might as well try to have some good time now that she could keep her eyes on Damon anyway and make sure he stayed away from Elena. Especially if it also meant spending some quality time with Ric, too.

He snickered and his breath tickled her cheek when he leaned to whisper in her ear. "I promise, it's going to be fine."

"Where have you…" Damon stuck his head into the hall. "…got lost?" He finished automatically as his lips stretched into the sly smirk at the sight of them. "Sorry to interrupt," he grinned. "But we sort of have everything ready here."

Jenna scolded him.

"Behave," Ric breathed out on a small chuckle, his hand ran up and down her back soothingly. Damon disappeared again. "I'm going to call Elena and Caroline."

"You are so in trouble," she drawled in a low voice.

"Is that a promise?" He took his time to kiss her again.

"I'll think about it," Jenna giggled.

"Looking forward to it."

After Damon and Mason left

When the door closed behind Damon, Alaric looked down at Jenna who stood with her arms folded across her chest and her back leaned against the rails.

"So?" He asked quirking up his eyebrow.

"Well, it wasn't that bad," she said with a mock serious expression making a strong emphasis on that and then laughed turning to him. "You are not going to leave, are you?"

"Not even if you asked me," he let his eyes linger on her lisp for a moment before meeting her gaze again.

"Great! I hate doing dishes alone," Jenna confided in a low voice struggling not to burst out laughing at the sight of his baffled expression.

Alaric followed her into the kitchen grabbing an empty bowl along the way. He watched her stuffing the salad dressings and a half-empty bottle of wine back into the fridge. She rummaged through the counters for the foil to cover the bowls and containers with the leftovers.

"Okay, it was good," Jenna admitted after a little while. "Just like old times. And Damon was civil."

"And he gets points for that," Ric scoffed. "So, you and Mason-" He started matter-of-factly as he picked empty beer bottles and put them on the floor near the door to the backyard. "You two don't have a history together?"

Jenna straightened up and then turned around and leaned against the counter near the sink. "Depends," she said evasively watching him with amusement.

He looked up and fixed his eyes on hers. "Depends?" He echoed.

"Well, we have it, of course," she said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Long and colorful," added meaningfully.

"Really? Like, how- long and colorful?"

She didn't respond at once waiting for him to turn all of his attention on her. "Are you jealous, Ric?" Jenna asked then and tilted her head slightly.

"What? No!" He exclaimed defensively. "Of course… I'm not. It's just-"

"You are jealous," it wasn't a question and she enjoyed watching the panic crossing his face for a moment as he fought to come up with something quick and convincing to prove her wrong. And then she enjoyed him failing in that even more. His uneasiness and obvious discomfort was heart-warming and the longer the silence lasted, the more assured she was, and God help her, but it was practically one of the best moments in her entire life.

Fighting to regain his position again, he crossed the kitchen slowly, came up to her and put his hands on the counter on either side of Jenna trapping her there, his eyes on the same level with hers now.

"I am not," he said in a low voice but the corners of lips tugged up slightly.

"Yes, you are," she teased him, smiling, her gaze darting between his eyes and his mouth.

"Do I have a reason to be?"

Jenna made an effective pause letting the tension escalate as he watched her expectedly, his eyes traveling around her face as if trying to read something. "No," she said at last breaking into a smile. She dropped the act then and for a long moment just watched his face seriously still not quite able to believe that it was happening for real. The feeling growing inside of her was bittersweet and frightening, but she longed to grasp and dissolve in every ounce of it. "Mason and I, we've always been just friends."

His grin widened and she felt him relax minutely. "Good." Alaric kissed her lightly then as if taunting her, making Jenna's head spin. Or maybe it was tequila. Or both. She didn't care.

"But I like you being jealous," she added not able to hold it back, her own smile growing, too. "It feels good."

"Oh, really?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded delighted by a small banter before letting her hand travel up his chest and around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. Felt his arms wrap firmly around her.

"I thought we were doing dishes?" Ric inquired mockingly.

"It's not like they're going anywhere…"

The end

Well, I was a little bored and couldn't help it, sorry. But if they added actually smth like that to the episode it would have been priceless :)