Chapter 5

"So, did you find out what she's hiding?"

Elena closed her eyes at the sound of Damon's voice behind her, slowly turning to face him. "You're not supposed to be here unless you're going to school." She pointed out, slamming her locker shut, heading outside to meet Stefan.

"I'm aware of that and could care less." Damon informed her, walking with Elena. "What did you find out? Was I right? Is she hiding something?"

Elena was at a crossroads and decided she would talk to Stefan, wanting his opinion on what she found out from Jessenia. "I used compulsion on her and there was nothing. She just said she moved back here to live with her cousin because things at home were rough with her family." She lied smoothly, sighing when Damon stopped her from walking through the double doors. "What?"

Damon searched her brown eyes, looking for any hint that she might be lying to him, not finding any. "Damn it." He growled, scrubbing a hand down his face. "I really thought she had a motive for moving here." Then he had a thought. "Did you do it right?"

Now Elena looked offended, eyes narrowing. "Of course I did! The necklace was off and everything. Now please leave and go back home. You shouldn't be here." Brushing past him, Elena headed straight for Stefan, wishing she could use her super speed around the others, but knew blending was the key.

Damon watched Elena hurry over to Stefan and snorted, deciding he would be having another chat with Jessenia. He would have to get the necklace off of her, wondering if blondie would help him with it. Obviously, he couldn't trust Elena because she had hurried over to Stefan a little too fast for his liking. Already setting his plan in motion, Damon knew he would have to play the good guy act with Jessenia and get her trust him again.

This was going to be very painful.

Stefan watched his brother walk away, keeping his eyes glued just in case Damon tried anything, while listening to Elena. "Wait, what?" He blinked when Elena got to the part about Logan Fell being Jessenia's father. "Are you certain?"

Sighing exasperatedly, Elena lowered her eyes to the clasped hands in her lap. "I wish at least one of you had a little faith in my abilities, Stefan." She said, sounding a little hurt, which she was. "Yes, she said Logan Fell is her long lost father. She's never met him before and she wants to find him."

This was definitely a game changer, one that Stefan didn't expect at all. "Have you told Damon yet?" He asked finally, staring straight ahead with intense eyes.

"No, I lied and told him I didn't find out anything." Elena murmured quietly, looking up at him and could see the trouble on his face. "Stefan…"

"Keep this between us for now." Stefan said, hopping off the table and turned to face her. "The less Damon knows, the better. You and I both know he hates Logan.

"I know…"

"If he finds out that's Logan Fell's daughter, Damon will use it to his advantage." Stefan explained what Elena already knew, their foreheads meeting gently. "Promise me."

Elena smiled, caressing his face tenderly with her hand. "Of course I will, you know that."

"Good." Stefan kissed her tenderly, trying to forget about what Elena told him even for a second.

Meanwhile, Jessenia was once again under the tree alone with a book, leaning against it while eating a salad. When she looked up from her book, Jessenia jumped at the sight of Damon crouching right in front of her with those aquamarine blue eyes. She didn't have the mace in her hand and Jessenia had a feeling she wouldn't need it because they were around other people. Slowly closing the book and setting it aside, Jessenia folded her arms in front of her chest, her knees already drawn up and simply stared at him.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot, Jessenia." Damon broke the silence between them, seeing she was willing to hear him out. It shocked him a little and it wasn't easy to do that to someone like him. "As much as that burned, I'm willing to look past it and start over."

Jessenia raised a slow eyebrow, eyes narrowing almost sharply. "Why?"

"Why what?" Damon asked, scooting over to sit beside her, their arms touching.

It sent an electric shock through her body as soon as Damon touched her, but thankFelly Jessenia didn't physically react to it. "Why do you want to start over? I already told you, I'm not hiding anything, Damon." She said, looking away from him to stare out at the other students.

"That's precisely the point."

Damon stared at the beautiful skin of her bare neck, glad she put it up and could already feel his instincts kicking in. What he wouldn't give to just be able to sink his fangs right in her succulent flesh, just to taste her one time. She smelled incredible, jasmine not gardenias, or maybe it was a mixture of both. He wasn't even mad about the whole vervain thing because he knew he scared her and she just defended herself against him.

"I know you're not. That's why I want to start over, to apologize for my foul behavior towards you and wipe the slate clean." His mouth hovered over her ear now, resting his hand gently on her side and could feel how fast her blood raced. "I won't hurt you, Senia."

Normally, this would've been grounds to use the mace because he was touching her. For some reason, Jessenia enjoyed him doing this and she couldn't figure out why, confusion filling her jade eyes. What was it about Damon that drew her in, that wanted to get to know him better, even after their intense talk? This was an entirely new intensity she was feeling and Jessenia was short of breath, wishing her pulse and heart rate would slow down as her chest rose and fell faster.

"I have to go."

Jessenia pulled away from him instantly, fear overpowering every other instinct. Grabbing her shaking hand before she could get to her feet, Damon knew if she didn't calm down she would end up having a heart attack. He pressed his finger to his lips when she tried pulling away again and placed her hand against his chest, the thin material doing nothing to hide his muscular body. They rippled against her soft touch, this girl had possibly the softest skin Damon ever felt in his life.

"Breathe in and out slowly." He ordered in a soft voice, his eyes locking with her and smiled when she actually started doing it. "Good girl, keep doing it."

Jessenia did it several times, inhaling and exhaling slowly, her eyes never leaving his. "Thank you." She whispered, once her heart had slowed back to normal along with her pulse.

"You're welcome. Sorry if I scared you, wasn't my intention." Damon said honestly, slowly letting her hand slide from his chest, not wanting to frighten her again. "I meant what I said, Senia. I want to start over with you, only if you want to though."

"You still didn't answer me why you want to though." She pointed out, wrapping her arms around herself and didn't pull away when he lightly placed his hands on her upper arms.

"Because Elena doesn't have a lot of friends. She has Bonnie and Caroline, the blonde you met yesterday along with her brother and a few others. She likes you." Damon shrugged, letting his hands slip from her upper arms and took a step back. "I don't want my actions interfering with your friendship."

Jessenia could only stare at him, wondering if he was telling the truth and could hear Elena's words in her head about staying away from him. "That's very…noble of you." She lowered herself to the ground, being mindful of her skirt and picked up her things, shoving them in her bag. "I'll think about it, Damon."

That's more than what he was expecting from her, especially after yesterday and Damon nodded in understanding with a small smile. "That's all I ask." He murmured, holding out the same book he picked up for her the previous day, their fingers brushing together when she took it. "Have a nice day, Senia."

"You too Damon." Jessenia whispered at his retreating form and turned to walk in the opposite direction back into school to finish the day off.

Elena had watched the exchange with Stefan, both of them staring at Damon with dubious eyes. "What was THAT about?" Stefan couldn't help asking, glancing down at an anxious Elena. "What are you up to, Damon?"

Damon rolled his eyes, waving his brother off dismissively. "Nothing, I felt bad and wanted to apologize for what I did to her." He had his own agenda and refused to divulge any of it to Stefan and especially Elena.

"Why don't we believe you, Damon?" Elena retorted, not believing a word Damon said because she knew what kind of man he was. "I told you I didn't find out anything…"

Damon was tired of this and finally threw his hands up in the air, growling. "Fine, I went over there and told her I didn't want to interfere in your budding friendship. I can see you like her, Elena. That's why I did it, for YOU." Spitting ice daggers at her, Damon stormed away from both of them and headed back home to have a few tumblers of scotch, needing the rush.

Elena blinked, looking up at Stefan and wondered if he believed Damon or not. "Come on, we need to get to class."

Nodding, Stefan guided her inside and couldn't help being skeptical of what Damon said. "Don't worry about him right now." He whispered, sitting down with her in the classroom and both just focused on their studies for the time being.

Elena could only nod, but that was definitely easier said than done when it came to Damon Salvatore.

After school, Jessenia was heading home on foot again when she heard someone calling her name from behind. Turning, she smiled at the sight of Elena and Stefan, though it was Elena that was calling her name. In the very short period of time she'd been in Mystic Falls, Elena was the first person that ever came up to her wanting to be her friend.

Elena pretended she was breathing heavily, even though she could've ran several marathons without breaking a sweat, perks of being undead. "Hey, you're a fast walker!" She exclaimed, chuckling and finally stood up straight. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Well, Damon told us about what happened today and…if you've forgiven him, we wanted to invite you over for dinner tonight." Elena said, smiling widely. "It would give us a chance to get to know each other better, hang out. What do you say?"

Jessenia was taken aback by this offer, blinking. "Will Damon be there?" She didn't mean to ask, but had to know, secretly hoping he was.

Elena chewed her bottom lip, nodding. "I know I said to be careful around him, but with me and Stefan there, you won't have any problems. I promise." If Damon so much as said one wrong thing, Elena would beat the hell out of him.

"My brother means well, Jessenia." Stefan piped in, an easy smile on his face. "He's not really that bad of a guy once you get to know him." Something told him big brother felt something for Jessenia and tonight would definitely be a test. "He will be on his best behavior."

"Hey if you want, we can invite Caroline and Tyler over too." Elena offered, looking up at Stefan, her eyes glittering. "That way it's not just the four of us?"

How could Jessenia turn down this offer? She would be able to see Damon again, not to mention hang out with Elena, who she already considered a friend. The main reason she was agreeing to go though was to see Damon, their moment from earlier under the tree not forgotten. If he wanted a fresh start between them, Jessenia didn't see the harm in doing it, trusting Elena wholeheartedly.

"The four of us is fine, I know you won't let anything happen to me."

"So that means you'll come?" Elena squealed out when Jessenia nodded, throwing her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. "Okay we really need to get going then. Is there any preference for dinner?"

"Nothing spicy, I can't eat it because I have really bad acid reflux." Jessenia said, refusing to spend her night in the hospital just to satisfy someone. "Other than that, have at it. What should I wear?"

Elena thought about it for a few seconds, deciding it wouldn't hurt to dress up a little for this. "No jeans, is that okay?" She didn't want to make Jessenia uncomfortable and watched the woman nod, both of them grinning. "Be there around six or six-thirty so we can relax a little before eating."

"Got it. What is the address?" HopeFelly it wasn't too far away from Meredith's because Jessenia didn't have a car at the moment, so she had to walk.

Elena gave her information and then Stefan informed her she would have a ride. He had a feeling her only transportation was Meredith, who constantly worked at the hospital. Jessenia agreed and they parted ways, heading in opposite directions to get ready for tonight. ThankFelly, Jessenia had finished her homework in every class that day so she would have at least two hours to find something decent to wear.

Arriving home, Jessenia headed upstairs instantly to get ready, tossing her bag to the side and stared in the Fell length mirror. It was antique, something she couldn't part with when she moved from Maryland. Taking a deep breath, Jessenia stepped into the walk-in closet and began sifting through her clothes, smiling when she saw the perfect thing to wear. Pulling the dress out of the closet, Jessenia couldn't help touching her neck and closed her eyes, still able to feel Damon's hot breath.

He was dangerous and not trustworthy, but none of that seemed to bother Jessenia. There was this intense attraction to him that she just couldn't ignore and that scared her more than anything. What if she lost control with him? Jessenia could already feel her cheeks burning and touched one, shivering.

"Pull it together." She whispered, coaching herself and walked over to hold the dress of choice up to her, smiling in satisfaction. "Tonight is definitely going to be interesting." Chuckling, Jessenia tossed the dress on the bed and stripped out of her clothes, deciding a shower was in order.

All Jessenia could hope was that she was making the right decision by going to this dinner.