A/N – Finally an update! Kinda short, but it's the best I can do at the moment :)

Chapter Twenty

'Thanks Ray, I appreciate this. Bye.' Luke scrawled a number on a notepad and hung up the phone. It was dark outside and he was so hungry. He hadn't fed all day. He'd been too busy chasing after old friends from the night world. The man he'd just been speaking to was Ray Burrows, the most clued up witch he knew. Despite distancing himself from Jess since their talk on her porch the other night, he still wanted to help her. He just couldn't show her how much, how deeply, he cared for her. Remembering the way he had cried in front of her that night made him feel like such a fool. He always remembered the things she said to him, every word that passed her perfect lips, every expression on her flawless face. They were ingrained in his heart, and all those sleepless nights he'd had provided plenty of hours for them to float through his mind, again and again.

You're old. Like really, really old...All vampires are corrupt, Luke...Don't you see, I'm not her...Let her go, Luke. It's time.

Jess had tried so hard to push him away, and now it was time for him to face reality. She didn't want him. His heart twisted painfully at the thought, but there was nothing he could do about it. He'd just have to do what she had told him to do. He'd have to let her go. He had to face up to the fact that she wasn't his anymore. He wouldn't be able to do that in this town though. It would be too painful. He had only come here because it seemed peaceful and quiet, the ideal place for him to finish high school. Discovering Jess had been an accident. A happy accident, he thought sadly. At least I know that she's happy now, or at least she will be once I'm out of here.

He would stay just long enough to make sure that Malachi wouldn't hurt her, or try to exact any other kind of revenge for what had happened at The Onyx. Then he'd go. He'd find another town to finish school in. Then Jess would be free to get on with her life, and he'd get on with his. But he'd never forget about her. Never. There would never be another girl quite like her. Luke smiled sadly at that thought, then picked up the phone and dialled another number.

000

Jess was stood at her locker on Monday morning, sorrowfully contemplating whether or not to take down the photograph of her and Caleb that was stuck on the inside of the door. She wondered if Caleb had taken his photograph of the two of them down in his. Hearing the sound of someone quietly clearing their throat behind her, Jess turned and came face to face with Luke, his face just as blank as it had been in English on Friday. But there was something in his eyes that he was trying to hide, a new kind of sadness. Jess noticed it and felt guilty. She knew she'd crushed his heart and she felt bad about that, but what could she do?

'Hi,' she said gently. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

'Here,' he said holding it out to her.

'What is it?' Jess asked taking it cautiously.

'It's the number of someone who can help you,' Luke replied.

'A...?' Jess trailed off. She didn't have to say the word witch. Luke knew what she was talking about. He nodded.

'She deals in a lot of shady stuff, but she owes a favor to a friend of mine.'

'And this friend of yours would call that favor in for me?' Jess asked.

'No,' Luke replied. 'He'd call it in for me.' Jess nodded again.

'Well, thanks. We sort of know what type of magic we're dealing with now,' she lowered her voice to a whisper and stepped into Luke, speaking confidentially. 'It's called Vedauria. Do you think this witch would know anything about it?'

Luke looked thoughtful. 'I don't know. I've never heard of it myself, but it's worth a shot right?'

Jess smiled up at him. 'Thank you so much Luke. You didn't have to do this.'

Luke smiled back at her, unable to stop himself. They were stood so close to one another, talking in hushed tones so no one would pick up on what they were saying. It felt so intimate, and so nice.I don't like seeing innocent humans suffer at the hands of people from the night world anymore than you do Jess. I had to do something to help.'

At that moment Jess felt someone watching them. She tore her eyes away from Luke and looked across the hall to see Caleb walking by his eyes glued on the two of them. Jess's heart sank. Well this must look just so cosy, she thought sarcastically. Luke looked over and noticed him too. 'Hey Caleb,' he said raising a hand and waving.

'Hi,' Caleb replied coldly before looking away and quickening his pace, disappearing amongst the crowd of students.

'Did I miss something?' Luke asked turning back to Jess, seeming perplexed.

Jess sighed. 'Caleb and I broke up,' she said quietly.

'Oh,' Luke replied, not knowing what to say. Jess stepped back from him and eyed him warily.

Luke quickly raised his hands defensively, immediately realizing what she must be thinking. 'Hey,' he said almost forcefully. 'I'm not seeing this as an opportunity to move in on you if that's what you're thinking.'

'I never said that,' Jess replied in a tone that said that was obviously what she had been thinking. She turned to her locker and began grabbing books out of it.

'You'll get back together,' Luke said with a quiet certainty, and a hint of sadness that he just couldn't hide. 'You're meant to be together.'

Jess looked at him as though he was speaking Chinese. 'I thought you thought you and I were meant to be together,' her voice was slightly harsh, without her meaning it to be.

'Did I ever say that to you?' Luke asked, the harshness of her comment mirrored and amplified in his. 'I told you I loved you Jess - or at least who you used to be. But that doesn't mean we're meant to be together now. Maybe at one time I thought that it did, but I don't anymore. That's more than obvious.'

Jess looked at him wordlessly, shocked by his sudden coldness. 'Good luck with her,' he said gesturing to the slip of paper with the witch's number on it. 'I'll see you around.' With that Luke walked off, leaving Jess alone. She watched him go, still speechless. He loved who I used to be? Jess thought. Why was that comment so hurtful to her, she wondered. Hadn't she been the one to make such a big deal about pointing out that she wasn't that person anymore?

Jess was suddenly curious. What had been so great about that previous incarnation of her that had made Luke fall so hopelessly, so deeply in love with her that he would cling to that love for centuries? And why hadn't Jess, as she was now, measured up? That was what he'd been insinuating wasn't in? That the person she was now wasn't as precious to him as the person she had been. Tears stung Jess's eyes and she was instantly filled by anger at herself. She was angry at herself for getting upset by Luke telling her he didn't want her. Less than a week ago he had told her she'd always been the one he'd loved, and always would be. Was he lying now? Trying to save face?

Whatever it was, it had upset Jess in a way that she hadn't expected and couldn't explain. Then she remembered the vampires that came into Diandra's store that weekend. She had meant to mention them to Luke if he spoke to her, but she'd totally forgotten. Maybe I should try and catch up with him, she thought. She sighed angrily. Now she was wanting to chase after him just to pass on some stupid little message that wasn't even important? Why? The answer jumped right out at Jess, as if it had been waiting with eagerness for just the right opportunity to spring up and surprise her. The reason she wanted to chase after him, was because being near him, talking to him, always made her feel so good - she enjoyed being around him, but she'd never admit it to herself.

That night he'd come over to work on the essay when he'd left after the argument, Jess had wanted him to come back, but when she wondered why she had batted the thought away angrily. Now Jess realized something. It wasn't anything as dramatic or grand as love that stretched across the ages - that was an idea Jess found too unnerving to give any credit to. But what Jess realized was also kind of unnerving. She had a monster sized crush on Luke.

The thought that maybe she'd had a crush on Luke and was attracted to him wasn't a new one. She'd realized that before. But in that moment Jess was realizing that her crush was graduating from something that had been unobtrusive and fairly mild, something that she was able to ignore, to the type of crush that had you counting the seconds until the next time you got to see that person, the kind of crush where just a glimpse of them made your day.

Once again Jess looked at the photograph of her and Caleb, both smiling happily, their arms entwined around one another. She groaned inwardly. Why did things have to get so complicated?