Mistletoe Kiss (Three)

"So how come they get wine and we don't?" Cookie protested loudly, implying Stefan and Damon.

"We're older than you." Damon said smugly.

"Big deal. You don't act it." She retorted, flipping a flame red lock of hair behind her shoulder. The red hair had been a shock. Stefan had been expecting her usual blue, and had to look twice before he recognised her. Apparently she'd dyed it red for the festive season.

Damon's own response had been far more amusing. He'd done a double take himself, then voiced his shock. "Your hair's red." He'd said.

Cookie eyes had grown wide, and her hands flew to her head. "No, /really/?" She'd shrieked. "Oh, no, I can't think how /that/ could possibly have happened. It wasn't like it yesterday. Those damned pixies must have been colouring my hair again with felt tip pens while I was sleeping."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you." Damon had said dryly.

"Shame. I thought it did." She'd retorted, then skipped off into the kitchen. In Stefan's opinion his brother had opened himself up to that one.

Now they were all seated in the family room as dinner settled. Plans were that they would go out to the community party that evening. It was a huge town party that almost everyone in Redditch attended, the proceeds going to some local charity or another. Normally, like this year, it was held in the high school gym.

"You're not old enough for wine, young lady." Abigail Tate had told her daughter.

"Uh huh. So what about the ritual wine."

"That's different."

Stefan grinned as Cookie changed tactics.

"Aww, come on mom. /Please/ let us drink some wine this year. We're eighteen." She whined.

Abigail had exchanged glances with the other adults in the room. Hazel spoke up finally.

"Okay. I guess you guys can drink wine this year." Everyone cheered. "But no one under the age of eighteen is to touch a drop."

"Aw, mom." Kirby started whining and began to sulk. "That's not fair."

"Hey, /I/ wasn't allowed to drink at sixteen, so I don't see why you should." Jess said smugly.

"Any more crowing, Jessamyn Webber, and you won't be drinking either." Hazel said sternly. Kirby grinned and poked her tongue out at Jess behind her mother's back.

"Should you be drinking it at all, Jess?" Stefan asked her quietly. She'd spoken a bit about her diabetes and he was pretty certain alcohol wasn't good for her.

"I can have a little bit." She said. "A taster. A glass won't do me permanent damage." She'd replied. Stefan made a mental note to keep an eye on her. Everyone else was overly excited about having permission to drink. Chances are they'd wake up the next morning with bad hangovers, and if they were going to drink that much, he doubted Jess would be able to stick to just one glass.

"Hey, Jess, what are you wearing tonight?" Zia asked, approaching the pair.

"I have no idea." Jess grinned. "I'll probably just grab something from my wardrobe."

"No way. There are gonna be some cute guys from the college there tonight, so we're gonna get dolled up." Zia laughed. "We need some men in our lives."

Jess looked unsure. "I dunno about the guys."

"That's not like you. What's up?"

"Nothing. I just feel like having fun with you guys."

"Whatever. You're nuts. And you're still getting dressed up."

"Do I have to?" Jess moaned.

"It'll be fun. I have this cool hair glitter."

"No way!" Jess laughed. "I'm still picking bits out of my rug from the last time we used that stuff."

"So a little extra won't show." Zia grinned and dragged Jess towards her room. Stefan watched after them, a melancholy mood settling on him. He wasn't sure why. It was when Zia had mentioned guys from college. *Feeling jealous, eh, Stefan?* He shook the thought off. It was too soon after Elena, he told himself, but the feeling didn't go away.

***

Stefan had been dressed for a half hour. They were gathered in the hallway waiting for Cookie, Jess and Zia. The adults had left a short while ago, taking the younger kids with them.

"Why is it girls take so long to get dressed?" Adam groused, staring at his watch.

"I think it's a genetic thing dating back from when it took hours to put corsets and stuff on." Stefan grinned. "They seem to regard it as an excuse to take ages."

"Well, it's annoying...whoa." He broke off and stared wide eyed up the stairs. "Cookie, if you weren't my sister, I'd say you looked really hot."

"I am your sister." She called down laughing.

"Then you're butt ugly." Adam grinned.

"You, too." Cookie snorted. A lie from the pair of them. Adam was good looking, and the wire-rimmed glasses he sometimes wore only added to his looks. He wasn't wearing them tonight, which meant his brown bangs weren't interfering with his vision too much. Stefan had to admit that Cookie /did/ look good. She wore a long velvet dress, dark blue, almost black. The bodice was low-cut, revealing more cleavage than Stefan thought she had, and the skirt flared out from the hip, to her ankles. She wore a pair of ankle boots with inch high heels, and her hair, normally held up in some fashion, cascaded down her back like molten lava.

Zia followed her down a few moments later with Jess. Zia's outfit was simple but elegant. She wore a tight burgundy jacket with matching trousers, the whole outfit showing off her lithe dancer's body. Her blonde hair was loose like Cookie's, and little flashes like stars glowed as her hair caught the light. Stefan hated to think how much of the glitter had ended up on Jess's carpet, but it did produce an enchanting effect.

But it was Jess that caught his attention. She was dressed the simplest out of the three, her own dress a classic example of the 'little black number', black stockings, and a pair of flat heeled shoes. Her chin length red hair was pulled back at the sides, and held at the back with a silver clip, Celtic in design, and probably belonging to Cookie. She looked elegant and sophisticated in it, and Stefan's mouth hung open. Admittedly the other two were dressed to kill, and Jess wasn't. He guessed she'd down-played on what Cookie and Zia wanted her to wear, but despite this, he still found himself drawn to her. He didn't understand, he didn't /want/to understand. It frightened him more than a little.

"Shall we go, then?" Adam asked, grinning and following Damon to the door. "I'm sure there are some lucky guys out there that these three want to get their claws into."

"Meow." Cookie purred, and hooked her long nails into claws.

"I pity the guys that fall into your clutches." Mike muttered.

"It might be you." Cookie growled dangerously.

"Uh uh." Mike said hurriedly. "If you're on the prowl, I'm gay for the evening."

"Thanks. You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself." Cookie pouted. "But if you find any nice young men you don't want, send them my way." She laughed as Mike blew a raspberry at her.

"Uh, no thanks." He said. "I have my eye on Robyn Winston."

"What does she have that I don't?" Cookie grumbled.

"Really long legs to die for and..."

"And what?"

"Uh...really big...uh..."

"Really big what?" A dangerous gleam had entered her eyes.

"Uh...hooters." Mike said quietly, shrinking back. Cookie punched him hard in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Men are so shallow. And sexist. And hooters is a vile word." She sniffed, and walked out of the door. Stefan watched her go, holding his hand over his mouth to hide his grin.

"Hey." Zia said suddenly. "You two are standing under the mistletoe."

"Huh?" Stefan asked.

"Oh. Yeah." Jess said, looking up and eyeing the sprigs warily.

"You have to kiss, now." Zia said, a little too gleefully for Stefan's liking. He looked at Jess, who arched a brow and shrugged. He leaned down a little closing his eyes, brushed his lips gently against her lips, and started to pull away. But before he could stop himself, he found himself bending down again, his lips meeting with hers once more. Her lips parted, and their mouths joined together in a sweet and passionate embrace. Shivers ran up and down his spine, the pressure of her lips on his own taking his breath away. It wasn't intense, not the way it had been with Elena, but somehow that made it sweeter, more innocent. Where kisses with Elena had set his soul on fire with passion and need, this kiss made his soul weep with it's gentle tenderness. It startled and dismayed him when she broke off suddenly, and stared into his eyes like a frightened animal. He stared back, his own eyes wide with shock. She turned abruptly, and ran up the stairs, a small sob escaping her body. Mike and Zia stared after her, then looked at Stefan.

"What was that about?" Mike whispered.

"I...I don't know." Stefan's thoughts were jumbled. "But I'm going to find out. We'll catch up with you later." He said firmly, rushing up the stairs after Jess. Zia and Mike watched him go.

***

Jess slammed her bedroom door shut behind her, twisting the key in the lock, then throwing herself onto her bed. Her breath was ragged, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She hadn't meant for that to happen. She hadn't meant to kiss him that way. She'd dropped herself in a real mess now, and she knew it. Stefan wasn't stupid. He had to have guessed now how she felt, and things wouldn't be the same again. She'd lose his friendship. Another sob burst out, and she buried her face in her pillow.

There was a gentle, and tentative knock on the door. "Jess? Are you there?" Stefan. *Oh, God.* She thought. *How can I face him now?* She kept quiet. The handle turned, and then Stefan knocked again, a little more sure now. "Come on, Jess. I know you're in there, and we need to talk."

"Go away." She sniffled.

"I understand that you don't want to see me, after what I did. I'm sorry. It shouldn't have happened. But we need to talk." He sounded lost, and a little scared.

Jess sat up, frowning a little through her tears. *What /he/ did? What's he got to be sorry about? This is my fault, /I/ kissed /him/.*

"Please, Jess."

"I can't talk at the moment." Jess cried.

Stefan changed tactics. "I can stand out here for however long it takes." He said, stubbornly. "You'll have to come out some time." He had a point. Jess sighed, pulling her clip from her hair, letting it cover her face to hide the tears. She didn't need a mirror to tell her she looked a mess, she always looked a mess when she cried. Reluctantly she got up from the bed, and unlocked the door. She trudged back across the room as Stefan opened the door and slipped in behind her.

"Sit where you want." She mumbled, sitting back on her bed. He stayed standing. *Not good.* She thought miserably.

"Are you okay?" He asked. He sounded weary. She shrugged in response, still not looking him in the eye. "Look, Jess. I'm sorry. I shouldn't..." Jess looked at him then, and burst into tears. His expression became alarmed.

"What have /you/ got to be sorry about?" She wailed. "It's all my fault, and I've ruined our friendship totally now. I didn't mean to do it. I /tried/ not to do it, tried to hide my feelings. But it was too hard. Now I've blown it."

"What do you mean /you've/ blown it?" Stefan was visibly confused. "What are you talking about?"

"How I feel about you." Jess moaned. "I tried not to do it, I tried my damned hardest, then I tried to forget about it, to hide my feelings."

"What feelings?"

"I fell in love with you." Stefan flinched back a little as she yelled it at him, then his face lit up with understanding.

"Oh." He said simply.

"Yeah. Oh." Jess whispered. "I knew this would happen, so I didn't want to tell you. But the mistletoe thing was too hard, and I'd had too much wine to drink, and so I blew it."

Stefan sat down then, next to her on the edge of the bed. They were silent for a few minutes, Jess wallowing in self pity. He spoke up finally. "You love me?" His voice was filled with a strange kind of wonder.

"Yeah." Jess shrugged, staring at the carpet.

"You know what I am, and yet you still love me?"

"You're you. I don't see how anybody /couldn't/ love you. I can see why Elena loved you so much." She wiped at her nose with her blanket. "And I'm sorry about the kiss. I didn't mean to do it, and I wish I hadn't now. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"You're sorry?" Stefan's voice was incredulous. "But I was the one who kissed /you/." Jess's head flew up in surprise, but Stefan continued. "I was going to tell you the same. That it was my fault, that I shouldn't have kissed you. I don't know why I did it. It just...happened. And...and I think I love you."

Fresh tears sprung up in Jess's eyes. "Think?" She whispered, almost holding her breath.

"No, I /know/ I love you." Stefan looked down at the floor. "I've been feeling things for a long time now, but I refused to accept them for what they were, refused to take notice of my feelings. It seemed too soon after Elena. I didn't think there /could/ be anyone after Elena. When she died, it broke my heart. She was my life. I didn't want anyone else, I /wanted/ to die, to be with her. Then, when she came back, I thought that she was the only one for me. I'd regained my life, and my soul. But things started to go wrong, and I guess when we broke up, I thought that there could never be anyone like Elena again. I suppose I was right /and/wrong.

"There won't ever be anyone like Elena, but that's no bad thing. Elena is Elena. I loved her for who she was, an individual. So there /won't/ be another person like Elena. But people /are/different. You love them for different reasons. Only it took the kiss to make me realise it." He looked at her then, and took her hand in his, holding it gently on the bed sheets. "You're so different to Elena. You're both strong, passionate and caring people. But you're still totally different. Elena was filled with a passion for what she did, she was a blazing beacon of light that drew people to her. You, you're full of energy and life, full of happiness. You're like the wind, you run free, and you touch everyone. Elena set people's souls on fire, you calm them, you protect them, make them feel secure. Yet you're just as much a fighter." He sighed. "I don't know. I guess it's wrong to compare you both in this way, but it helps me sort my thoughts out. I think what I'm trying to say is that I love you just as much as I loved Elena, in the same way, but for different reasons. For your individuality. Just as I loved Katherine differently to Elena, I love you differently."

Jess listened wide eyed as he spoke, her chest expanding with hope and love. "It's taken you five hundred years to work that out?"

"No. It's taken me five minutes, but I was too stubborn to think of it before, I suppose." He grinned.

"So what do we do now?" Jess asked, staring at their entwined hands.

Stefan shrugged. "Give it a go. I can't promise everything will work out, that we'll be perfect together. I want to try. I love you, and I'd like to show it, to express it and explore it. It depends on what you want to do, too, though."

Jess looked up, a smile spreading across her face. She leaned over, and kissed him softly as her answer. "I want to try." She said, breaking away, a small laugh escaping her lips. "Hell, it'll drive me crazy if I don't."

Stefan pulled her close to him, and they sat together, quietly contemplating their thoughts and feelings, and enjoying the closeness of the other.

***

Everyone had converged on Jess's room after the party, dying to find out what had happened to make the pair miss out on the fun. Mike and Zia had told everyone what had happened in the hallway, and Cookie had shrieked in delight when she found out the outcome, yelling in triumph that she knew it would happen. Damon had earned himself a fist in the stomach when he'd enquired if she'd seen if she and he would get together. He took it as a no, and gave in gallantly.

After Christmas was over, Jess personally took down the sprig of mistletoe in the hallway, putting it carefully and lovingly into her keepsake box. She briefly traced the carved lid of the box with her fingers before putting it back safely under her bed, and ran down to join Stefan for the evening. Together.

~*The End*~