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Persistence

Jade watched the news that morning on tv in the break room at work, grateful they had caught the animal responsible for the recent attacks. After the attack on Vicki, there was another attack that resulted in the death of Matt's football coach, Mr. Tanner. She had no idea how a mountain lion had gotten into town, but she didn't care as long as it was over. Finishing her food, she headed back out onto the floor for the rest of her afternoon shift. Opening the door to the break room though, she jumped back when she saw who was on the hall.

"Oh, told you she was back here," her friend from work, Annette, was telling Damon before going into the break room. Jade rolled her eyes at Damon.

"Showing up where I work, really?" she asked, walking down the hall to the nurses' station.

"That's all you do anymore I hear," he commented, walking alongside her.

"I have kids now Damon," she muttered to herself, finding herself to be the only one at the desk now, beginning to sort through the charts left there. She had hoped that mentioning she was now the guardian to two teens over and over would drive him away; any other guy would have left, right? But there Damon was, continuing to ask her out any time he saw her.

"Very admirable," Damon commented, leaning against the counter and watching her. "But, I think you deserve a night off."

"Some people would call this stalking," Jade smirked at him.

"Other people would call it persistence," Damon said back, matching her smirk.

"Well, I'm not falling for it," Jade said without amusement.

"Come to the Founder's Party with me tomorrow," Damon told her now and she gave him a look.

"Seriously?" Jade laughed, raising her eye brows and he shrugged. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"We'll get dressed up, drink, dance," Damon listed off. "It'll be fun."

"Or painful," Jade commented now.

"Jade," Damon really got her attention now, looking into her eyes. He had never told her he was a vampire, but he had never compelled her either; he never wanted it to be forced. "I am really sorry, I'm trying to make up for it."

"You're going to have to do better than the mayor's party," Jade told him, walking off now.

Flashback

Jade was with some of her friends at college, hanging out at a bar after the football team's latest victory. Her best friend from high school, Lucy Fell, came down to Florida to visit her, both girls currently in their sophomore year of college. Though both were too young to drink still at age twenty, they had fake IDs since they were in high school.

"Wait, wait, wait," Lucy was laughing, both girls sitting at the end of the bar, having just taken shots. "You've been hanging out with Mason Lockwood?"

"Yeah," Jade shrugged.

"Hot Mason?" Lucy said and Jade laughed.

"We've got to get a new name for him," Jade giggled, sipping her drink; they had referred to Mason Lockwood as Hot Mason when they were in the ninth grade, hanging out with seniors who Mason bought beer for.

"Jade's Mason," Lucy said suggestively.

"Ew Lucy," Jade shook her head at her. "He's, like, thirty."

"Twenty-eight," Lucy corrected her.

"That's still too old for me," Jade told her.

"Not for the girl on your ID," Lucy said, making her laugh. "C'mon, he's a babe! And spending all this time with you since you've moved here."

"He's just helping me adjust," Jade shrugged. "Since we're both from Mystic Falls." She rolled her hazel eyes now. "Said he was worried about me or something. I don't know, it was very big brother-y."

"Oh," Lucy made a face now, brushing her dark hair off her shoulder, her green eyes falling back on a guy she had been keeping an eye on all night. "Well, this guy coming over looks age appropriate."

"What?" Jade asked, starting to turn.

"Don't look," Lucy stopped her. "Tall, dark hair. I think blue eyes." She smiled. "He's been checking you out all night."

"Please don't do that thing," Jade was telling her.

"Oh my God, I totally forgot," Lucy said, hopping off her seat and grabbing her clutch. "I have that thing with that guy-"

"At that place?" Jade said sarcastically, feeling the guy standing next to her.

"Yeah, my favorite place," Lucy grinned at her. "So, I will just see you in the morning. Have fun!" She finished her sentence, taking off abruptly.

"Well, she's painfully obvious," Damon commented, taking the seat Lucy had been sitting in.

"She thinks she's helping," Jade laughed. "I'm Jade."

"Damon," he introduced himself to her. This girl was different, he knew that right away. At first, he had been checking out her friend, intending to get her home and feed before compelling her to forget. Then, he caught sight of Jade and couldn't take his eyes off her. It was unlike him, he knew that. And that was why he had to go over and talk to her.

"Hellooo, Jade," Vicki interrupted her train of thought, her tone a bit annoyed. Jade was currently sitting in the middle of her sister's bed after her shift at the hospital. Vicki got Tyler to invite her to the party tomorrow and was now trying on all the dresses she and her sister owned until she found the perfect look. It made Jade sad because Vicki seemed to think that Tyler was going to introduce her to his parents, to show her off as his girlfriend, but Jade knew better about guys like Tyler.

"Hm?" Jade asked, focusing now after her day dreamed memories about Damon.

"What do you think of this one?" Vicki asked, standing in front of her sister in a yellow dress.

"It's really pretty," Jade nodded.

"Is it meet Mr. and Mrs. Mayor pretty?" Vicki asked, looking herself over in the full length mirror.

"Oh, way too pretty for the mayor's son," Jade half smiled and Vicki smiled at her reflection. "Are you sure you want to go to this?" Jade asked now. She had dated guys like this, they never wanted to bring her around their parents. She knew the same thing was going to happen to Vicki, she had seen Tyler ignore her if he was at the grille with his parents. She didn't want her sister to get hurt.

"Yessss," Vicki insisted. "You should come."

"I don't have a date," Jade told her.

"Go alone," Vicki shrugged.

"Dateless, non-founding family member?" Jade half laughed. "I'll pass."

"Bring Matty," Vicki offered now.

"He's working this weekend," Jade reminded her and Vicki got that grin on her face.

"You should go with Damon," Vicki told her and Jade rolled her eyes. "What? He's cute and he's so into you."

"There's more to it than being cute," Jade informed her.

"What happened with you two?" Vicki asked.

"It's nothing," Jade shook her head and Vicki gave her an expecting look, sitting on the bed next to her sister and waiting for an answer. "He disappeared," Jade sighed.

"What do you mean disappeared?" Vicki asked now.

"It was..." Jade didn't know how to word it. "Like dad." Vicki looked at her curiously. "I woke up and he was gone, all his stuff too." She shrugged at the memory of her step father. "I don't need another guy like that in my life." Her own dad was MIA, though to be fair he might not even have known about her. Then, her step dad left. Her mom wasn't a guy, but she had walked out too.

"Well," Vicki tried to reason now. "Maybe Damon had a really good reason."

"Please," Jade scoffed, getting up and going to Vicki's dresser now. "How are you going to do your make up?" she changed the subject.

"Dad never came back," Vicki pointed out, coming over now. "He was never sorry."

"I think," Jade continued on her subject change. "That you should stick to your normal make up. But, you should straighten your hair." Vicki rolled her eyes, but went with her sister anyway on this.

"Would you please come?" Vicki practically begged.

"I don't want to third wheel it in the corner," Jade told her.

"Then bring Lucy's brother," Vicki said, knowing they had a fling in high school. "Anybody, I'm just so nervous." She pouted. "Please be my back up."

"Ugh, Vic," Jade complained as her sister made a pathetic face. "Fine, fine, I'll go." She made a face. "But, Eric Fell, are you kidding?"

"He's cute," Vicki grinned again. "And, I bet really sorry too."

"He's not the one that has to be sorry," Jade laughed, making her sister laugh now too.

The next day, Vicki and Jade went to the party together after dropping Matt off at work, with Jade's car still not fixed. Vicki was wearing her yellow dress and Jade was wearing a similar one, though hers was a turquoise color. There was a long line leading up to the house, where people were waiting to greet the mayor before going into the party. Vicki kept glancing up at the stairs where Tyler stood next to his parents. While she smiled at him, he looked increasingly nervous to see her there, though he finally came down the steps to talk to her. Jade would be pleasantly surprised if he brought her up to the front of the line to see his parents.

"Hey Vic," Tyler greeted her, giving her a quick hug while she kissed his cheek. "Jade," he nodded at her. "You guys wanna go around this way?" Shocking, Jade thought to herself. He wanted to pull them from the line completely, taking them around the back of the house to the party.

"Why?" Vicki asked.

"This is gonna take forever," Tyler shrugged. "Party and food are around this way."

"I'm gonna wait," Jade told him. "I'll say hello to your parents." She looked to her sister. "You can wait with me if you want." Jade would love for Vicki to just show Tyler, to wait and talk to his parents even if he didn't want her to. She didn't want to see her sister get treated like trash.

"No, it's ok," Vicki nodded back at Tyler. "I wanna get to the party." She half smiled. "See you in there?"

"Mhmm," Jade nodded, watching her sister go, getting pulled to the back yard by Tyler, far from his parents' sight. "God, I'm gonna kill that kid," Jade muttered to herself.

"Mayor's kid?" Damon asked, appearing at her side.

"Would you stop doing that?" Jade asked in annoyance, continuing through the line.

"I thought you wouldn't be caught dead at this thing," Damon reminded her.

"Well, now that my date's ditched me," Jade rolled her eyes, looking in the direction her sister had left. "I'm wishing I hadn't come."

"Too bad you don't have a spare date just waiting around," Damon smiled at her.

"Persistence?" Jade asked, getting closer to the steps now; Damon just nodded. "What are you doing at this thing anyway?"

"Founding family," Damon shrugged. "It's pretty much a requirement."

"Oh, I forgot," Jade nodded. She knew that the Salvatores were a founding family in Mystic Falls, not that many of them were ever around. When she had met Damon in Florida, she had never really made the connection, since the only Salvatore she knew of graduated a few years ahead of her, Zach.

"Just give me this date," Damon told Jade now. "If you want me to leave you alone after this, I will."

"Fine," Jade finally agreed, willing to take the chance she still wouldn't want to see him and he would have to leave her alone after.

"Jade," the mayor smiled at her. Jade remembered her mom never really liking the Lockwoods, but Richard was always really nice to her. She figured Kelly probably didn't like the mayor's wife, Carol, who was known to be snobby. "Glad you made it, is Matt with you?" He knew her brother mostly through football and his friendship with Tyler.

"He had to work," Jade told him and he nodded.

"How's your mom?" he asked now. "Have you heard from her?"

"No," Jade shook her head. "Nothing really."

"Is this your date?" Carol asked now.

"Oh, right," Jade said now. "Um, this is Damon Salvatore."

"Related to the founding Salvatores?" Richard asked now.

"Even named for them," Damon nodded with a smile.

"Well, why don't you both go in and have fun," Richard invited them into the house.

"It was nice of you to introduce us to your date," Carol commented, and Jade knew she was talking about Vicki.

"Yeah," Jade nodded with a fake smile. "You know, that's quite the son you have there."

"We're very proud," Carol nodded back, her smile equally as fake.

"He's not too big on introductions though," Jade agreed. "Or, goodbyes even." She lowered her voice. "You know, when he thinks I don't hear him sneaking out of my house."

"Let's go inside," Damon said now, taking Jade's arm and leading her into the house. Jade jerked her arm away, still annoyed with Carol and her comments; no wonder Kelly hated her. "You know how pretty you are when you're mad?" Damon smirked. He wasn't lying, he found it incredibly sexy when Jade was angry, the gold flecks in her hazel eyes seeming to shine brighter. Too bad she was often mad at him.

"Seriously?" Jade asked now.

"Too much," Damon agreed, getting her to smile a bit. "Hey, come on," he insisted now as her smile faded. "Let's have fun, all right?" He nodded back at the door to Carol. "Forget about her."

"Hey Jade," Elena smiled, coming into the party now with Damon's brother Stefan.

"Hi Elena," Jade said back, then looked at Stefan. "Hey Stefan."

"Hi," Stefan greeted her politely, still uneasy around his brother. Just because Damon was being careful to cover his tracks now so he could see Jade didn't mean he wasn't still tormenting Stefan and trying to ruin what he had with Elena. "You're here together?"

"My other date bailed on me," Jade said lightly. "Actually, I wanna go check on Vicki. I'll be right back." She smiled. "It was nice seeing you Elena."

"You too," Elena said, watching her go, wondering how Matt's sister knew Damon.

Flashback

"I have to study Damon," Jade was giggling as he kept her close, the sheets wrapped around them. It was the start of her senior year of college and she had her first round of exams coming up. Damon had come for the weekend, staying in her on campus apartment with her, her roommates both gone.

"You're smart," Damon smiled at her, kissing her once as he held himself over her now. "You'll be fine."

"Damon," she protested, though she loved each kiss he placed along her skin.

"Stay with me," he insisted, kissing her lips again.

"Mmmm," she acted like she was thinking about it. "Ok," she grinned, rolling him over so she was sitting on him, leaning down to kiss him now.

"Hey," Damon came over now where Jade was out back at the party. They had been having fun at the party and Damon was happy to see her smiling, though she kept wanting to check on her sister. Right now, Jade was watching her sister sitting off in the dark with Tyler, who kept her from the party all together. "Got you a drink," Damon said, handing her champagne.

"Thanks," Jade half smiled, taking a sip.

"You wanna dance?" Damon offered.

"You want to dance?" Jade laughed, setting her drink down.

"I wanna dance with you," Damon told her.

"I forgot you do that," Jade told him as she let him take her hand and lead her out to the dance floor.

"What's that?" Damon asked now.

"Make cheesy lines sound good," Jade laughed and he smiled at her. Jade looked past his shoulder at Vicki who was trying to get Tyler to come up to the party with her, but he kept pulling his hand away, not letting himself get brought up there.

"Hey," Damon stopped Jade, getting her to look at him. "If she's anything like you, she won't take his crap."

"She's more like my mom unfortunately," Jade commented, looking back to her sister now. Surprisingly, Vicki was storming off, leaving Tyler alone. "Damon," Jade stopped dancing now. "I'm really sorry, I just..."

"Go check on your sister," Damon told her.

"Thanks," Jade told him. She turned to go, but then stopped. "But, um, we should try this again," she offered. She was having fun that night with him, she would be lying if she said she wasn't. She had missed him a lot since they had split up. It was going to take more than being sorry though to make it up to her, though it looked like he was trying really hard.

"Looking forward to it," Damon smiled at her, watching her leave.

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