Thanks for the Review. This is the second to last chapter. Hope you like it...

When Ric awoke the next morning there was no trace of Damon. Sighing the teacher got up and joined Nathan in the kitchen. "Morning. Damon still asleep?" the older one asked. "He snuck out sometime tonight." Ric mumbled and grabbed a mug of coffee. "He snuck out? I didn`t hear him." The teacher chuckled at his brother`s dumbfounded expression. "Yeah, he`s good at that."

"But he was drunk." Nate protested. Yes, Damon had been drunk. Really drunk. But as a vampire he sobered quicker. Only Ric couldn`t tell his brother, so he just shrugged and muttered: "Maybe not as drunk as he wanted us to believe." Nathan raised his eyebrows, but didn`t comment on that. Instead he turned back to the stove and continued flipping pancakes.

"He seemed pretty upset last night." he noticed after a while. "I think he saw me talking to Jenna." Ric told him. The older one nodded and served breakfast. "He was jealous." Nate spoke up again. When Ric only shrugged he heaved a dramatic sigh. "Oh come on, Ric. Stop pretending this isn`t serious. He`d gotten completely wasted, because he saw you with Jenna. I may not know him as well as you do, but even I could see that he was really upset. He wouldn`t have reacted like that if this was really just a friends with benefits kind of thing for him."

Ric had to admit that his brother was right. He`d never seen Damon this drunk. So maybe the vampire really had feelings for him. But how serious could he be? Wouldn`t he still grow tired of Ric soon? And what then? What if he really started a relationship with the vampire, only to have Damon leave him in a few weeks? The teacher had admitted last night, at least to himself, that his feelings for Damon ran a lot deeper than mere friendship. But he didn`t know if he was ready to admit that aloud yet, let alone do something about it.

Unfortunately Nate wouldn`t leave him alone. "What`s the problem? He obviously likes you. You like him. Why not give it a chance?" he reasoned. And it sounded so easy. But it was anything but easy. "You don`t know him, Nate. He´s fickle. He hated me not so long ago. What if… what if I really chose him and he leaves me in a few weeks? This is a small town. I have no idea how people would react to a male teacher dating a guy." he voiced one of his fears. The older one shook his head. "That`s a risk you have to take. If it`s real, you`ll take that risk. This isn`t about what other people think. It`s about what you feel. What you really want."

And damn, when did his brother get so wise? Because he was right. He couldn`t let the fear of what other people might think dominate his life. He shouldn`t keep dating Jenna (if she ever forgave him), just because she was the safe option. He had always followed his heart, fuck the consequences. Why should he change that now? "You`re right." the teacher murmured finally. "Of course I am." Nate replied with a grin, causing his brother to chuckle. "And now off with you. There´s someone you need to talk to."

Laughing Ric complied. After he was showered and dressed he told his brother to meet him at the Grill for lunch and then drove to the boarding house. His heart was pounding when he walked up to the front door. He knocked and waited, getting more nervous by the second. After what felt like hours Stefan opened the door. He told the teacher Damon wasn`t home and he had no idea when his brother would be back. Ric couldn`t tell if Stefan was telling the truth or if Damon was hiding somewhere in the house and just didn`t want to see him. "Tell him I need to talk to him. It`s important." Stefan promised to tell Damon.

So Ric had no choice but to leave. He stopped at the sheriff`s office and asked Liz if she had seen the vampire, but she shook her head. They had a short talk about the latest vampire attacks, before Ric took his leave. Since he had no idea where Damon might be hiding he went to the Grill to wait for his brother. Maybe Damon would show up there. He ordered his usual bourbon and waited, but Damon didn`t come.

When Nathan arrived he looked at the glass with a frown, but didn`t comment on it. He also didn`t ask and Ric was glad that his brother still understood him well enough to know when to keep quiet. They ordered lunch and talked about other things. Ric kept looking at the door, but still Damon didn`t show up. When he tried calling the dark haired vampire he only reached the mailbox. Great, Damon was pissed. They returned to Ric`s apartment, but Nathan didn`t allow his brother to sit around and mope.

Instead he dragged him off to catch a movie and then into a toy store, where he bought some souvenirs for his sons. Ric tried to call Damon a few more times, left countless messages on his mailbox, but the vampire didn`t pick up and also didn`t call back. Nate made dinner, ignoring Ric`s protest that he wasn`t hungry. After washing the dishes the teacher wrote his lesson plans for the next day and then went to bed early.

Monday came and went and still Ric didn`t hear a word from Damon. He`d stopped counting the times he had called the vampire or the messages he had left on his mailbox. Stopping by at the boarding house only proved that Damon was good at hiding. Stefan insisted he hadn`t seen his brother either and the teacher couldn`t tell if he was lying. He only hoped Damon wouldn`t do anything stupid. Sitting at the Grill with his brother later that evening he was relieved to see the dark haired vampire stroll up to the bar calmly.

That is, until he spotted the blonde girl attached to Damon´s side. She was giggling at something the vampire had said and Ric clenched his fists so hard his knuckles were turning white. "Someone`s trying to make you jealous." Nathan commented. Ric only gave him a dark look, before turning his attention back to the vampire and the blonde slut that had her hands all over him. "Go talk to him." Nate insisted. "He`s busy." Ric growled, watching as Damon started kissing the girl`s neck while his hands played with the hem of her skimpy tanktop.

Snorting in disgust Nate thumped him on the head. "Stop being an idiot. Go talk to him." he instructed again. The teacher hesitated a second, but one look from his brother finally made him get up. He slowly made his way over. Damon pretended not to notice him, although Ric was sure the vampire had heard him approaching. "Damon, can I talk to you for a second?" he asked quietly.

The vampire made a show of pulling the girl even closer. "Sorry Ric, but I`m busy." His words were dripping with venom. "Just a second. Please." Ric ground out, barely resisisting the urge to prie the blonde away from Damon and put a stake through her heart, just for the fun of it. He`d always been a jealous guy. He just couldn`t help it. "Actually, Mandy and I were just about to head home to have some fun, if you get my drift." Damon let him know. "Let`s go, sweetheart." The blonde giggled and walked towards the door.

Ric grabbed Damon´s arm to stop him, surprised when the vampire whirled around and pushed him against the bar. "Quit it, Ric. I`m not dating you, remember?" he spat. The teacher could only watch as he left with the blonde slut, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He looked up when Nate appeared beside him and held up his hand to stop his brother from sprouting any more stupid advice. "Don`t. Whatever you`re going to say. Don`t." he grumbled. "Let`s just head home." Nate heaved a sigh and complied.

Tuesday`s lessons took forever. After laying awake most of the night, staring at the ceiling and trying desperately NOT to imagine what Damon and the blonde were doing right now, Ric had awoken grumpy and lonely. He`d barely spoken to his brother during breakfast and left for work without so much as a goodbye. Of course he knew that it wasn`t Nate´s fault. But he just couldn´t help it.

Things didn`t get better once he was at school. He had to realize that he`d left most of his notes at home and therefore had to improvise his lessons. The students weren`t pleased about the impromptu test he came up with, since he couldn`t concentrate for shit today. Stefan was watching him with a weird, calculating look the teacher didn`t like at all and the girls seemed worried again. He spent his free period hiding from them, not in the mood for another game of 20 questions and left quickly once school was over.

Back home Nate tried to cheer him up and take his mind off things by suggesting a little trip. Since everything was better than sitting at home, Ric agreed and they drove around aimlessly for hours, talking about their parents, Nate`s wife and their childhood. It was way past midnight when they finally returned to Ric`s apartment, but still he couldn`t sleep.

Wednesday was even worse. After yet another sleepless night Ric contemplated calling in sick, but in the end dragged himself to school anyway. It was better than sitting at home, he reasoned, although he wasn`t so sure once he arrived at work. He had no idea how he made it through the school day. Or what he taught his students for that matter. If he even taught them anything at all.

When Elena approached him after class he told her he was fine and to just leave him alone. Her hurt expression made him feel awful. He knew she was just trying to help, but he just couldn`t deal with her concern right now. He also didn`t want to deal with his brother, so he called and told him he had to catch up on some work and he`d be home late. If Nate saw through the lie he didn`t say anything.

Ric started grading papers, but soon gave up since he couldn`t concentrate. In the end he just sat in his office, staring off into space, glad that he`d stored a bottle of bourbon there a while ago. When he finally stumbled out of the building, more than just a little drunk, it had long since gotten dark.

The teacher didn`t really pay attention to his surroundings and therefore didn`t notice the dark figure hiding in the shadows. The attack took him completely by surprise. One second he was walking towards where he supposed he had parked his car, the next he was laying face down on the ground. He tried to get up, but the attacker was faster. Ric managed to get to his hands and knees, only to be pushed back down again. Strong hands gripped his arms, sharp fingernails digging into his skin.

He heard a low growl as his attacker leaned over him and then there was a sharp pain in his neck and he finally realized just how dangerous the situation was. Sobering a little he started struggling in earnest and managed to dislodge the vampire, wincing when he felt the skin on his neck tear even further. Ric rolled to his feet and grabbed for the vervain darts he kept stashed in his jacket pocket, but he was too slow. A push to the chest sent him tumbling down again.

Looking up he saw his attacker for the first time. A female with dark hair. The one from the old farmhouse, that had gotten away a few days ago, he suspected. He didn`t have time to ponder the thought. She lunged at him again and he barely avoided her sharp fingernails, that were aiming straight for his eyes. Wincing when she scratched across his jaw, he scrambled backwards and managed to land a blow to her head and a kick to her ribs.

But she was strong. And obviously determined to kill him. The bite-wound on his neck was throbbing, still oozing blood. It weakened him and the alcohol in his system wasn`t helping either. Finally getting hold of a vervain dart he aimed for her chest, but she sped out the way. Ric managed to get up and grab another vervain dart, but she was beside him in seconds and gave him a shove that sent him sprawling against a tree. He hit his head on the rough bark and his vision swam.

Ric sank to his knees, barely able to stay conscious and could only watch as she stalked closer. He knew he had to fight, had to do something. But he felt too weak to even get up again. He had no more vervain darts on him and his other weapons were in the trunk of his car. Way out of his reach. Well, at least he had his ring, so his death wouldn`t be permanent. His last concscious thought was that he wished Damon would be here. Then everything went black.