Hello there! :) Sorry for my absence! It was my birthday on Sunday and I had a terrible hangover to deal with. Add in a hyperactive, toddler niece and you can imagine how busy I was haha Anyway, to make up for taking so long to update, I have this lovely chapter for you all. I didn't expect it to be so long and I didn't even add in everything I'd planned to write but I think it turned out well :) I hope you all enjoy reading it. I have got the next couple of chapters planned out and you're in for some drama *evil smile* Enjoy!

A big, big thank you to alwaysnnever, Panda0990, , somebodywhocares, rikkiblake777 and tvdlover87654 for reviewing on the last chapter :D It means a lot to me xxx

Damon woke to find himself alone in his bed; the space where Jessica had been sleeping now completely devoid of her presence. Still half asleep, Damon rubbed his eyes and took a look around his room. Jessica was no-where to be found.

"Jessica?" Damon shouted; his voice ringing out around the silence of his room.

No reply came and Damon frowned. For a second, he wondered if Jessica had, had second thoughts about being with him and a loud groan escaped his mouth. Maybe he had come on too strong with the subject of telling Caroline and scared her off. If that were the case, Damon thought, then he was indeed an idiot and needed a lesson in keeping his mouth shut.

Grabbing his boxers off of the floor and tugging them on, Damon ignored the coldness of the room and went in search of the missing girl. The moment he left his room, he was met with the delicious scent of his girlfriend and he smiled with relief. She hadn't left him after all.

Making his way down the stairs and through the house, Damon eventually found his girlfriend standing in his kitchen, fully dressed and ready for a day of school.

"Jess?"

Hearing Damon's voice, Jessica turned around to face him and felt her eyes widen slightly when she took in Damon's undressed state; a faint blush creeping into her cheeks as she remembered the previous night's events.

"Did I wake you?" she asked.

She had tried to be as quiet as possible when she showered and got herself ready for school; half-surprised that she hadn't woken Damon when doing so.

"No." Damon replied, walking up to his girl and planting a small kiss on her forehead as he embraced her.

Stepping back from Damon slightly, Jessica noticed a look on Damon's face that disappeared quickly when he caught her staring.

"What's with the look?"
"What look?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Damon."

Damon tried to keep his face as impassive as possible as he watched Jessica eye him carefully. He could practically hear her brain trying to figure out why he had been looking at her strangely and it amused him a little.

Finally realising the meaning behind Damon's facial expression when he saw her standing in the kitchen, Jessica sighed.

"You thought I'd left you, didn't you?"

The slight burrowing of Damon's brows told her all she needed to know and she laughed a little at the man stood before her. It annoyed her that Damon could think her possible of such things but it also pleased her that the big, bad vampire was so affected just by the thought of her leaving him.

"Don't worry, Damon, you're not going to get rid of me that easily." Jessica smirked; kissing her boyfriend's lips tenderly.

Damon tightened his grip on Jessica's waist and pulled her in closer to him. Her thick, cream jumper shielded his body from the cold air and he nuzzled his nose into her neck.

"Good."

There wasn't anything else he wanted to say. He was just glad she hadn't left.

"Damon, you need to let me go. I'm going to be late for school."

Reluctantly, Damon removed his hands from Jessica's body and allowed her to leave the kitchen. He followed her though the downstairs of the house, watching her wrap up in layers in preparation for the winter weather conditions.

"Skip school."
"No. I'm only in today and tomorrow. You can do without me for one day."
"Fine." Damon muttered.

Jessica was just about to leave when she opened the front door and found Stefan waiting on the other side. Smiling at the younger Salvatore brother, Jessica said goodbye to Damon and braved the cold weather as she began her journey to school.

Stefan smirked at his older brother as he took in the sight of him standing by the door in just his boxers; an expression of loss and forlorn on his face.

"You've got it bad, Damon."

Closing the door, Damon stared at Stefan.

"Shut up, Stefan." Damon replied, storming off to his room to dress.

Smiling as he watched Damon walk away, Stefan took a moment to admire the change Jessica had caused in his brother and he vowed to thank the young girl for making Damon so happy.

Jessica sat at a table with Bonnie and Jeremy as they waited for Caroline and Tyler to get to The Grill. With Christmas only days away and their mother on another late shift at work, Caroline had insisted that she and Jessica have dinner at The Grill with their friends instead of eating in an empty house.

Listening to her two closest friends bicker with one another, Jessica couldn't help but smile. She had neglected her friendships recently and she realised how sorely she missed spending time with Jeremy and Bonnie.

"Tell her she's wrong, Jess."

Jessica stared at Jeremy, noticing the roll of his eyes as Bonnie spoke to defend herself.

"I'm not wrong, Jeremy! You're just being a selfish ass!"
"I am not! Jessica, please. Help me out here."

Jeremy's eyes were pleading with Jessica to take his side and although Jeremy was her closest friend, she knew better than to get involved with an argument between Bonnie and Jeremy.

"You're on your own. I'm not risking my ass and pissing off a powerful witch." chuckled Jessica.
"Traitor." Jeremy shouted; eventually choosing to fall silent once he knew that he would get no support from his best-friend.

Bonnie's eyes met Jessica's and the two girls smiled at one another; laughing quietly at Jeremy's pouting face and sombre mood.

From the corner of her eye, Jessica swore she saw the familiar silhouette of Damon and she snapped her head around to get a better look. Confirming her initial suspicions, Jessica saw Damon standing near the bar accompanied by Stefan. She couldn't stop the smile from forming and she grinned with happiness as she stared at her boyfriend.

Taking a seat at the bar, Stefan looked on in amazement as he watched Damon and Jessica smile at one another from across the room. He had seen his older brother in love before but Stefan could sense that this time was different; his brother was different.

"Damon, sit down and have a drink."
"Hm?"

Damon turned to look at Stefan when he heard his brother address him. He had been so caught up in gazing at his girl that he had almost forgotten about Stefan's presence beside him.

"Drink."

Stefan smirked, pulling Damon down onto a stool and shaking his head when he saw him glance back over at Jessica again.

"If you weren't her boyfriend, that would be considered stalking."
"Well, luckily for me, I am her boyfriend." Damon said with an air of triumph and pride in his voice.

Damon remembered, for a moment, the first time he had said those words months before when he caught Jessica dancing with a stranger. It had never occurred to him back then that those words would become truth.

Stefan smiled into his drink and patted his older brother on the back.

"It's nice to see you so happy, Damon."
"Yeah, yeah, Stefan." Damon said, rolling his eyes. "Drink your drink."

Damon loved his younger brother dearly and was glad to see that he was almost back to his old self. However, he had never been one for sentimental talk with Stefan.

Ordering his own drink, Damon made himself comfortable and chatted away with his younger brother; waiting patiently for the moment to arrive when he could steal his girl away from her friends.

Caroline stormed through The Grill; her eyes seeking out her sister. She was late for dinner with her friends but she had good reason to be. Fury swept through her and she found Jessica within seconds.

Towering over her sister, Caroline glared at the young girl and saw Jessica's face turn pale.

"Where the hell were you last night?"
"Excuse me?" Jessica asked, shocked by Caroline's rudeness and sour attitude.
"You heard me. Mom said you stayed over at Stefan's, that he was helping you with a report for school, but Tyler saw Stefan with Elena. So where did you go?"

Caroline loved her sister fiercely and wanted to protect her from the dangers of the world, both supernatural and non-supernatural, but Jessica made her job difficult. Caroline knew that her sister frequently snuck out of their house to go dancing and she knew she couldn't judge her for doing so, considering her own past actions. Yet, the idea that Jessica had involved their friends in her lies made her angry and made her wonder what her sister was hiding.

From across the room, Damon and Stefan observed the situation playing out before them. Damon wanted nothing more than to go over there and set the record straight but Stefan's hands were holding him back.

"Don't, Damon. You'll only make it worse."
"You were supposed to cover for us." spat Damon.
"How was I supposed to know Tyler would see me?" Stefan reasoned.

Damon was angry at his brother's stupidity but another emotion was overwhelming him. He wanted - no, needed - to get to Jessica and save her from the furious screeching of Caroline, who was now accusing her of lying about where she stayed the night so she could sneak out and fool around with some random guy.

The tears he could see beginning to form in Jessica's eyes were the last straw for Damon and he broke free of Stefan's hold; charging over to the table where Jessica was sat.

Glaring at Caroline, Jessica fought desperately to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill from her. She could see the shocked faces of Jeremy, Bonnie and Tyler as Caroline shouted at her. The idea that her sister would think so lowly of her hurt Jessica more than she could have imagined.

"Is that what you think of me, Caroline? Your own sister?!"
"You're the one who lied about where you were last night and I've lost count the amount of times you've snuck out in the middle of the night in the past."

Jessica was more than aware that Caroline knew of her past antics. In fact, her older sister had covered for her on a few occasions. Knowing there was no other way to satisfy her sister's questions, Jessica took a deep breath and made the decision to confess about her relationship with Damon. She wished she'd have had more time to just enjoy being with the man she loved, but it seemed things didn't always go to plan.

"I didn't lie to you, Caroline. I…"

The arrival of Damon stunned Jessica for a moment and she almost reconsidered her choice to divulge her secret. Resisting the urge to look at Damon, Jessica continued on with her speech.

"I was at Stefan's house. All night. I didn't leave until this morning."

The conviction in Jessica's voice told Caroline that her sister wasn't lying to her and she struggled to comprehend why Jessica would have been at The Salvatore Boarding House if she hadn't been there with Stefan.

"Then why were you there? Clearly, Stefan lied when he said he was with you."
"I was with Damon."

There. It was out and there was no taking it back, Jessica thought. Now that she was standing and facing Caroline, Jessica could hear the gasps of Jeremy and Bonnie as they registered what she had said.

Damon slipped his hand into Jessica's and gave it a light squeeze; wanting her to know that she was not alone as she faced her older sister. Caroline noticed the small gesture and immediately felt a fresh wave of anger flow through her body.

Using every ounce of her self-control to remain calm, Caroline gritted her teeth and glared at the smug face of Damon Salvatore.

"Did you sleep with my sister?"
"What I do with my girlfriend is none of your business, Barbie."
"Girlfriend?"

From the high pitch of Caroline's voice and the slight trembling of her body, Tyler knew that the young woman was about to explode and wanting to avoid a public confrontation, he pulled her back and urgently addressed Damon.

"Get her out of here, Damon." Tyler said.

He had had his suspicions of Damon's feelings for Jessica for a while, but he hadn't known that they had progressed so much that the two had begun a relationship.

"She is not going anywhere with him!" Caroline shouted.

She would be damned if she was letting Damon take her sister away from her.

Freeing herself from Tyler's grasp, Caroline lunged forward and felt her fist collide with Damon's nose; feeling it crack under the pressure. Blood poured out from Damon's nose and before Caroline could get another hit in, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her body; this time belonging to Stefan.

"Calm down, Caroline." Stefan pleaded.
"Get the hell off me, Stefan! I'm going to kick his ass!"

By now, the entire population of the building were watching the group and Stefan wished that Caroline would indeed calm down before she did something that would reveal their supernatural secrets.

Pushing through the pain, Damon readjusted his nose so that it would heal correctly and tried to stop the flow of blood with the napkins Jessica had handed to him. He wanted nothing more than to hurt Caroline but doing so would anger Jessica and he wasn't willing to risk doing that. He would deal with Caroline at a later date.

"What the fuck, Caroline?" cried Jessica.
"Girlfriend?! You're his bloody girlfriend?! Are you an idiot? I dated him, Jessica. He's an evil, manipulative, lying, self-centered dick and you're letting him mess with you. How could you be so stupid? After everything he did to me!"

Seeing red, Jessica stood to her full height and glared at her sister. Her hand was raised before she knew what she was doing and she felt her hand sting painfully as she slapped Caroline full-force across the face.

"That's my boyfriend you're talking about!" Jessica shouted; feeling the need to defend Damon. "I know what he did and it was wrong but he's not the same guy he was. He's shown me nothing but love and kindness. I have no illusions about the man he is, Caroline, but as long as he treats me well, I don't care what he does. I love him and you can either accept it and support me like a sister should, or you can stay out of my way."

Silence. Everywhere. Caroline was so surprised by her sister's violent act that she was lost for words. She never imagined that Jessica would fall for Damon or that she would be willing to turn her back on her own sister to be with the vampire. Clearly, Caroline thought to herself, she didn't know her sister as well as she thought she did.

Not even bothering to say goodbye to her friends, Jessica grabbed her jacket and bag and ran from The Grill followed by an extremely concerned and bloody Damon. Grabbing his girl by her arms, grateful that his nose had now healed, Damon pulled her into a hug; one hand stroking her blonde locks.

"Are you okay?"

Lifting her face away from Damon's chest, Jessica looked up at Damon and smiled slightly.

"I'm fine. I'm just so angry. She had no right to say those things or to hit you."
"Yes, she did. I'm a dick and she hates me."
"I don't care. You're not a dick to me and that's all I care about."

Damon smiled. He couldn't help it. It felt good to know that Jessica, a human girl, was willing to fight for him; that her feelings for him were strong enough to make her hit her own, vampire sister.

"You know, it was pretty hot when slapped Caroline." Damon said as he guided Jessica towards his car; musing that Stefan could find his own way home later.

As if to prove his point, Damon gently pushed Jessica against the car door when they reached the vehicle and softly kissed her neck.

"Does nothing bother you?" Jessica laughed. "My sister just broke your nose and you're trying to get me into bed."
"I don't have to try." Damon said, smugly.

Pushing him away, Jessica smiled at Damon.

"Let's go home so I get this blood off you."

Caroline paced back and forth over the floor of her living room; throwing Stefan an evil glare every few seconds. She was furious that he had known about Jessica and Damon and hadn't bothered to tell her. Next to Stefan sat a stunned Elena and an equally shocked Bonnie and Jeremy. Tyler feigned shock for the sake of his relationship with Caroline and he hoped the woman would not see through his façade.

"I can't believe this!"
"Care, babe, just calm down." Tyler said, trying to soothe his girlfriend.
"I swear to god, the next person to tell me to 'calm down' is going to get their neck wrung!"

Elena watched the events unfold in silence. When she had been informed of what had happened at The Grill she felt like all the air had left her lungs. As much as she tried to deny it to herself, she was jealous. She was jealous that Damon had moved on from her; that he was giving all of his attention and affection to Jessica. Elena knew that it was wrong for her to think and feel such things, a betrayal to Stefan and everything they shared, but she couldn't control her emotions. So, she remained quiet.

"How long has this been going on, Stefan?" Caroline asked.
"I'm not sure. A while."
"Oh god." Caroline cringed.

The thought of Damon touching her sister made her feel sick and furious. The memories of Damon's abuse against her years before were still fresh in her mind, and she prayed that Jessica would not suffer the same fate as her.

"I can't stand this. I'm going getting Jessica!"

Caroline made a beeline for the door; stopping dead in her tracks when Stefan sped over the her and prevented her from leaving.

"Move, Stefan."
"Just listen to me, Caroline. If you go over there now all you're going to do is make things worse. Let me talk to her, I'll get her to come home."

Standing with Stefan's hands on her arms, Caroline considered her options. Jessica was stubborn and would most likely refuse to leave Damon. Stefan really was her only option. Maybe he could persuade Jessica to return home and from there, Caroline could convince to stay away from Damon. He would only hurt her sister.

Watching Caroline nod her approval, Stefan sighed and said a small goodbye before heading towards the home he shared with Damon. He understood Caroline's reaction but he did not agree with her assumptions about Jessica and Damon's relationship. Stefan had seen firsthand how much Damon loved the young girl and how much he had changed because of her, and he didn't want that to change. Yes, he would talk to Jessica and convince her to return home for Caroline's sake but he was not going to allow Caroline to ruin the one good thing in his brother's life.