Alaric strolled down the streets of his hometown, enjoying the smells around him that reminded him of the innocence and peace he'd once known and for a split second, Alaric had considered the possibility of going back to living in Boston but, it had proven to be a hard task now to leave Jeremy behind, who was still in high school. And Elena, who still needed love and laundry advice.

And of course, Damon, who would have killed the entire town of Mystic Falls if it hadn't been for Alaric being there to stop him.

It was crazy. No, mind-blowing just thinking about how his life had become. And still, Alaric had no regrets. He just needed a break from all the craziness, and an excuse to visit his family, which, after his long weekend, had reminded him that he really, really did not miss them.

Well.. He had eternity now. Maybe after a decade, or two, he could come back here, start a new life, alone or with a friend. Doesn't really matter. Alaric sat down on a bench in a park he'd spent his childhood visiting every day after school, and recalled a time in which he used to think that, someday, he would have been lucky enough to bring his own child to play here, too. But you get what you get, and Alaric had to think of the ways Damon's existence had ruined him. Although, Alaric fully realized that it was Isobel that ruined him, and not Damon.

If anything, Damon was the one that saved him. If Isobel hadn't found Damon to turn her, she would have hunted someone else down to turn her. It was really, as simple and honest as that. And then, Damon was there for him. Reminded him that there was much more to life, vampire or not, you can simply have fun, let go of the past and enjoy the moment.

Doesn't change the fact Damon is an annoying prick most of the time, Alaric thought.

Examining the visitors of the park, playing with their dogs and enjoying life, Alaric's eyes spotted a figure that was will known to him. Getting up, he started slowly walking towards the man standing not very far away from where he was sitting,

just when I thought I could have spent an entire weekend without any trouble. Alaric thought annoyingly, when he finally confirmed to himself that the man standing by the park's coffee stand was, Damon. He considered avoiding him as it seemed that Damon hadn't noticed him yet. But first, why the fuck was Damon here? Did he seriously follow him? He had absolutely nothing else better to do than to hunt him down and annoy him?

Rolling his eyes, Alaric finally decided to confront Damon. He was flying back to Mystic Falls tonight, anyways, so it's not like Damon was going to ruin his entire trip. Alaric's already won!

"Lost your way?" Alaric said, crossing his arms as he blocked Damon's way, who was just about to leave the coffee stand, almost spilling his coffee on himself and Alaric,

"Whoa, I'm so sorry," Damon said, holding on to his coffee, and looked at Alaric apologetically. Alaric noticed something different about Damon. For starters, Damon wasn't dressed all in black. Actually, this was the first time Alaric had ever seen Damon wearing a white button-up shirt. Hair was a bit longer than when he'd left him, a couple of days ago. He could be wrong, though. And there was something about the eyes..

"Damon! What are you doing here?"

Damon, who was about to leave after his weird and sudden apology, seemed to have been confused by Alaric's question, "Uh, sorry man I think you got the wrong guy,"

"What?" Alaric shook his head, "Ha, ha. Damon. Very funny. Come on, there's a bar right around the corner. And you're getting your own hotel room." Alaric said, grabbing Damon's arm and was about to walk when Damon pulled his arm back and took a couple of steps away from Alaric, "Whoa, okay, dude, you're going to stay where you are. I think you've confused me with someone else, ok?"

"Damon- what are you talkin-" Alaric said, but Damon's resistance to go along with him alarmed him, and Alaric gasped. Could this be true? Am I imagining this?

Of course, Alaric knows better. He'd seen so many things in his life that this, could 100% be possible.

A fucking doppelganger.

Carefully, and without making a scene, Alaric gripped on Damon- wait, uh, the doppelganger's arm and locked his eyes to his, "Don't move."

Just a test

And what do you know. The doppelganger froze in place, but his eyes kept moving, looking around him in confusion and on the edge of panicking, so Alaric whispered again, "It's okay, don't be scared! What's your name?"

"Boone."

"Boone what?"

"Boone Salvatore."

Well, shit

Alaric stared at Boone for a while, not sure what to do. Of course, the right thing to do is to let Boone go, live his life normally as if nothing has happened. The wrong thing to do would be dragging him to this fucked up, complicated world of the supernatural that had ruined Alaric's life. However, curiosity beats everything.

"Please, follow me," Alaric whispered, "It's okay, I will not hurt you, I promise."

to be continued