A Fresh Start (Damon, OC, Klaus)

31. Elijah

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I was still standing staring at the empty bar stool when Damon noticed me. He was by my side in seconds, his arm on my shoulder.

"Jessica, are you ok?" he was asking me.

I fought the urge to lean into him, instead, looking him in the eye I shook my head. "Klaus..." I whispered. Damon was on full alert, his eyes scanning the bar. When he didn't see anything or anybody, out of place, he led me to the booth where the others sat, concern on their faces.

Damon moved in on the booth to make room for me. When I hesitated slightly I saw hurt flash across hi features and I instinctively felt the need to do what I could to make him feel better. I slid into the booth next to him and gave him a small smile before turning to face the others.

I instantly regretted being here. The pity was clear on Stefan's face, Caroline's wore concern and Elena... well I was probably imaging it out of jealousy, but I thought Elena looked a bit smug. Ignoring the urge to run from the bar I took a deep breath.

"I met Klaus today."

Shock replaced all the looks the small group wore, and Damon grabbed my hand. I still felt a flutter when he touched me. "Are you ok?" He once again asked me, his eyes searching mine.

Was I ok? I didn't know anymore, but that was a whole other thing. Right here, now, I nodded. "I'm fine, he didn't hurt me or anything. In fact, he was... nice." I felt my nose scrunch up in confusion. "He's obviously playing some kind of game with me, with us. I just wish I knew what it was. I don't like being used."

I saw Damon flinch out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored it. I don't think I included him in that statement. Realistically I knew he did love me. I just didn't know if I could fully trust someone who was also in love with his brother's girlfriend.

Damon, Elena and Stefan started talking, I think they were talking about Klaus and the next step in stopping him. I couldn't be sure though, I wasn't exactly paying attention. My gaze was stuck on Elena as she talked between the two brothers.

Precious Elena, the girl everybody risks their lives to save. What the hell was so special about her anyway? Sure she's a doppelganger, but did that truly make her life more important than Bonnie's, or Caroline's, or even mine? I started to feel the old familiar feeling surge through my body.

Kill her!

I blinked rapidly, the thought was gone as quickly as it had popped into my mind. Did I really want to kill her? I mean sure, it would solve the whole Klaus issue. No doppelganger equals no spell to break. It would be easy as well. I could get her on her own, tell her I need to talk about Damon. I could probably pin it on Klaus or Elijah...

"Elijah is out of the question." Damon was saying.

I felt my body stiffen. Did I say all that out loud? As I looked around the table I realised they were talking about something else. They weren't even looking at me... wait, Caroline was watching me, worry and concern on her features. I gave her a quick smile before joining in on the conversation.

"So why is Elijah out of the question?" I asked.

Stefan looked at me in confusion, "Don't you remember? Last week we stuck a dagger through his heart. He's lying in the basement of the boarding house."

It was obvious by the surprise on my face that I didn't know this. We all looked at Damon. "I did tell you... didn't I" He didn't sound too sure.

"I guess you had more important things on your mind." I had turned to look at Elena as I said this. "But now that I do know, is it really wise to keep the one person who might actually be able to stop Klaus, daggered?" I asked.