A Fresh Start (Damon, OC, Klaus)

7. I will not be pitied

Elena and Stefan pulled up outside the Salvatore boarding house. They had spent the night in Elena's but today Stefan was continuing Elena's training in self defence. As they entered the house they saw Jessica coming down the stairs smiling. However both their attention was drawn to the designer scarf tied around her neck. She had not been wearing that last night. I waved at them,

"Hey guys. How are you?"

Damon was coming down the stairs after me. He did not look happy upon seeing his brother and Elena. But then, they didn't look happy with him either. I stood for a second watching them all glare at each other then sighed,

"Right, well I'm leaving before you all start doing that annoying 'everything is fine' smile at me. Damon, walk me out?"

Damon turned his attention back to me, "Of course".

A taxi pulled up, I stood on my toes and kissed Damon goodbye,

"Thanks, I had a blast last night. And try to remember, work for the fun. Taking what you want, there's always someone to kill your buzz."

He grasped my face and kissed me deeper, then pulling back whispered, "Jessi, you have no idea how right you are. See you later."

I got in the taxi and head home. Mom was in the kitchen. As I walked in she smiled, "Coffee?" she asked.

I gave her a quick peck on the cheek and told her that would be awesome. As I watched her move around the kitchen, making us coffee I thought about how lucky I was. How many girls, a week before they even turn 18, could stay out all night and not have their mother chew them out. My mother trusted me. She knew I drank, but she also knew I was very careful. I had never gotten in trouble and my school work had never once suffered over it.

Giving her another kiss I took my coffee upstairs. I drank it as I picked out a fresh outfit. I had a quick shower, got dressed, put the scarf back on and headed downstairs.

"Mom, I was gonna head into town, have a look around. Do you need anything?"

She told me she was fine, that she was going to have a lazy day for once and then told me to have fun. I gave her a quick hug and grabbed my keys and left.

At the square I saw Caroline Forbes handing out flyers. I walked over to her, she smiled when she saw me, but it was a nice genuine smile. I asked her if she needed a hand. She thanked me and handed me half the pile. For the next hour we walked and talked. She told me about her life in Mystic Falls. I could tell she was honestly such a good person. What you saw was what you got. When we finished handing out the flyers for the Mystic Falls bachelor raffle that was taking place the following Saturday Caroline took me to the grill for lunch as a thank you.

As we ordered I turned to Caroline, "I shouldn't order coffee, should I?"

She shook her head. I ordered a coke instead. As we waited her eyes were drawn to my neck scarf. She sighed looking down at her hands,

"Did Damon give you that?"

I smiled fondly as I touched it. "Yes. He is so sweet. I just feel like I want to wear it all the time."

She gave me a small smile, "Well I have a bag of neck scarf's that I was going to throw away. You can have them if you want, I have a feeling you might need them."

I thanked her. Just then our lunch arrived and we continued to talk about school and other things. After lunch, as we left the grill she asked me would I be attending the bachelor raffle the following Saturday. Without thinking I answered.

"Watching men parade up and down, I couldn't think of anything better to do on my birthday..."

Caroline stopped walking, crap did I say that out loud. She grabbed my arm,