Title: take my heart out of my chest
Fandom: the vampire diaries
Rating: teen
Length: ~500 words
Author notes: +24 hours for the bingo here, title from tegan and sara's feel it in my bones, s1e8 au: lee isn’t turned & the girl who saw the attack was in too much shock to bring her in the bar so soon

Lexi walks away from Stefan and Elena, heading back to the bar with empty shot glasses- her good deed done for the night. It’s nice to see her boy in love, and she can’t help remember her fleeting time with Lee. Sixty wonderful years, may the birthday boy be as lucky or more.

A sudden wave of wet coldness interrupts her musings, and she looks down to see her arm covered in some neon pink cocktail.

“Ohmygod, I am so sorry!” a woman says, grabbing napkins off a nearby table and patting her arm down.

“No worries,” Lexi says, giving the redhead a proper once over as she finishes.

She shakes her head, curls bouncing, “Can I buy you a drink at least?”

Lexi smiles, “Sure, if you tell me your name first.”

“Jenna,” she says, elbowing her way to the bar like a pro. “What’s your poison? And name, that too.”

She chuckles, might fall a little bit in love with her already. “Lexi, and how about a Manhattan?”

She nods, turning back to the bartender, “A pair of Manhattans please.”

“So what brings you here?”

Jenna snorts, “That obvious I don’t fit in with this crowd?”

Lexi smiles, “I will say you don’t look like you need a fake id, unlike all of lil Steffie’s friends.”

“Steffie?” Jenna echoes with amusement.

“Oh yeah. I had to babysit him and his brother, embarrassing nicknames is the least I can share on his birthday.”

Jenna laughs, throws some cash on the bar and grabs their drinks from the bartender, passing her one.

“Thanks, wanna get a table?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Three rounds later, and they’re thoroughly tipsy, walking around downtown. Jenna talked about her dick ex that left with just an email of all things, and with a pang, Lexi realized he was the journalist killed. Lexi lightens the mood with some fictitious stories about the Salvatore brothers, changing blood to ice-cream and updating the stories by a century.

They start talking about the future, and Jenna starts leading her in a specific direction- conversation and more literal. Lexi’s happy to follow, the night is still young, the sun hours away. Too soon declarations soak her tongue whenever Jenna mentions any of her exes, with far too much self-depreciation. But it is too soon to say she would celebrate her until Jenna sees herself truly, that she would dance with her under the moonlight forevermore. (Lexi’s always been one to fall hard and fast, even before she turned.)

“So how long are you in Mystic Falls for?”

“Just tonight, I have an early morning flight. Twenty-four hour vacation from the nine-to-five.”

Jenna nods, taking her hand, “No time to waste then.”

Lexi smiles, has always been one to live in the moment. “Yeah, I feel the same way.”

They’re at a house now, she hadn’t even noticed, Jenna kissing her not-quite chastely on the steps. They taste the same, on a shallow level, echoes of their matching cocktails. “Won’t you come in?”

“I’m all yours for the night.”

Jenna’s grin lights up her entire face, and Lexi already knows she’ll be making it back to Mystic Falls before the year is up.