Hey everyone. Welcome to my new multi-chapter Dalaric-fic. Hope you like it. I got the idea while watching reruns of season two. Please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don`t own Vampire Diaries. If I did, Alaric wouldn`t have died.

Caught between two worlds

Sitting in the Mystic Grill one Friday afternoon, drinking by himself, Alaric Saltzman wondered when his life had become so chaotic. He supposed it had all started years ago, with him meeting Isobel.

Their relationship had been a rollercoaster ride from day one. It had started as a passionate affair and he had fallen head over heels for the beautiful brunette. They had moved in together after just a few month, breaking up again just as quickly. They had always fought just as passionately as they made love. Isobel had even filed a restraining order against him at one time.

But it had never taken them long to get back together and when he`d asked her to marry him she had said yes without thinking twice about it. They had been together for about a year back then. To say his family hadn`t been pleased was an understatement. They hadn`t liked Isobel at all, with her weird fascination for the supernatural and the occult and had tried to make him change his mind. His father had even threatened not to attend the wedding. In the end he had attended, but Alaric supposed that had been mostly thanks to his mother and the fact that he didn`t want people to gossip.

His mum had at least tried, he had to admit. She had been nice to Isobel, had sat down with her to have tea and listened to her talk about her research. But still it had been plain to see that she didn`t agree with her son`s choice of a partner, although she`d never said anything. And Isobel never really liked his mum either, which was strange. Usually everyone loved his mum. But Isobel had always been a little different. Luckily they didn`t see each other all that often. After Ric had moved out of his parent`s house to go to College he hadn`t been home for more than one or two days at a time.

Unfortunately he and Isobel had agreed to spend Christmas with his family in the year they had gotten married. That had to have been one of the worst weekends of his life. His father hadn`t even tried to hide the fact that he hated his new daughter in law. He had glared at her the whole time and had barely spoken a word to anybody. His mother had been overly cheery, bustling around the house, laughing at anything and singing Christmas songs all the time, like she was compensating for her husband`s grumpy attitude.

Alaric`s older brother, who worked as a lawyer (something that really came in handy when Ric had a few run-ins with the police in his younger years), had been engrossed in work, having just been promoted. His wife Margaret had been heavily pregnant with their second child and stressed out because the other one was teething and therefore crying most of the time. Ric had never been so happy to leave his parent`s home.

That had been the first and last Christmas he and Isobel had spent with his family. Not that the Christmas with her family the next year had been that much better. He knew he couldn`t blame everything on Isobel, but marrying her had certainly estranged him from his family. He hadn`t seen his father for years after the disastrous Christmas.

His mum had visited every now and then and at first she had made a point to call him at least once or twice a month. But her visits and calls had lessened as time moved on. He wasn`t sure, but he suspected she might have had a fight with Isobel while he wasn`t there. His brother had been a little pissed when Ric didn`t attend the christening of his second child and they hadn`t spoken for a while afterwards.

Things didn`t really change for the better after Isobel`s disappearance, as Ric liked to call it now. His family had come to the memorial, mostly because people expected it, he supposed. His mum had dutifully cried a few tears at the empty grave, while his dad had grumbled about the whole thing being "a waste of time", since there was no body found and therefore no proof that she was even really dead.

And if only Ric had known how right he had been. But back then, blinded by grief and out for vengeance, he had fought with his dad, which led to the two of them not speaking for more than a year. His brother hadn`t been there. He`d been too caught up in work after another promotion. So it had been only Ric`s sister in law and his two hellish nephews, who fought over anything and were unable to sit still for more than five seconds.

He hadn`t really seen his family much after that, too engrossed in his research about vampires, especially the one who had killed his wife. Once his family found out that he was into that whole supernatural stuff now as well, hard words were exchanged once more. His brother accepted it after a while, but teased him about his weird hobby any chance he got, his mother simply ignored it, probably thinking it was only a phase, while his father voiced his opinion rather loudly. Alaric hadn`t spoken to him for about two years now and hadn`t seen him since the memorial.

So yes, he could blame a lot of his dilemma on Isobel. His life might have taken a completely different turn if he hadn`t met her. And yet he didn`t wish he`d never met her. They had been happy together, for a while at least. That didn`t change, even now that he knew that she had lied to him, had practically faked her own death. That she had a daughter she never told him about.

Although Isobel was the reason he had become a vampire hunter, had moved to Mystic Falls and tried to kill Damon, he couldn`t blame her for the things that happened afterwards. He even had to thank her for his life, because if she hadn`t given him that ring, he would be dead. He couldn`t blame Isobel for his newly found friendship with Damon or for the fact that he had a completely new dilemma on his hands right now. That was entirely his own fault.

He could have let go of his hatred, chosen to forget all about vampires and to concentrate on teaching. Concentrate on Jenna. Sweet Jenna, who had caught his attention shortly after moving here, with her beauty and her quick wit. Jenna, who he didn`t dare to call his girlfriend, even though they had been dating for a while now.

She was beautiful, smart, funny and spontaneous. Pretty much anything he could hope for in a woman. He should thank his lucky stars that she was even interested in someone like him. That he could have another shot at a normal life. It could all be so easy. If it weren`t for a certain dark haired vampire, who had obviously decided to drive him mad.

Alaric had no idea why he had allowed it to happen. Or how it happened in the first place, really. Damon had strolled into his apartment a few days ago (and he couldn`t even remember when or why he had first invited the vampire in) and told him that he needed help taking down a bunch of young vampires who had decided to turn Mystic Falls into their new hunting ground.

And wasn`t it ironic that he had teamed up with the vampire he had come here to kill? Even more surprising was the fact that they worked really well together. Just last week sheriff Forbes had thanked the two of them for helping her take care of the vampire problem. Ric barely resisted the urge to laugh when he thought about the fact that one of the towns vampire hunters was a vampire himself. But he couldn`t deny that it felt good to be needed. Just like he couldn`t deny that he enjoyed the rush, the adrenalin of hunting down evil vampires.

So when Damon had asked for his help it hadn`t taken Ric long to agree. They had tracked down the vampires in an old cottage, hidden somewhere in the woods. The fight had been short and brutal, with three vampires getting killed quickly, while the last one managed to escape. Damon had shrugged it off, stating that he wouldn`t get far without a daylight ring and they`d kill him later.

So they had walked back to the car, the adrenalin from the fight still pumping through Alaric`s veins, when Damon had suddenly pushed him against a tree, his lips descending on the teacher`s in a kiss that left both of them breathless. It had been so sudden, so unexpected that Ric had found himself kissing back without giving much thought to it, his hands roaming under Damon`s shirt of their own volition.

They had tumbled onto the backseat, shedding clothes on the way. Ric had forgotten everything, the fact that they were somewhere in the middle of the woods, with a vampire still out there, probably seeking revenge as well as the fact that technically, he had a girlfriend and this was cheating.

He had no idea how he had ended up in the backseat, with Damon buried deep inside of him. The world around them had ceased to exist. All that had mattered at that moment was the beautiful creature moving inside of him, filling him so completely, making him see stars. Damon`s blue eyes were glazed over, his lips slightly parted. He was amazing. Ric couldn`t remember ever coming so hard in his life.

It had taken them a moment to come down and when they had, reality had hit like a ton of bricks. Ric hadn`t known what to do, how to behave. Damon on the other hand had been completely cool about it. He`d cleaned up and asked the teacher if he would join him for a drink before going home. Half a bottle of bourbon later Alaric had stumbled into his apartment, still wondering what the hell had happened. And even more important - what it meant.

That had been three days ago and he felt still just as confused. He had immersed himself in work and seen Damon only briefly. And while he had decided early on to just forget about it, keep dating Jenna and act like nothing had happened, he found that he simply couldn`t.