Only Fools Fall in Love, Call Me a Fool

Chapter Nine

A/N – Hello everyone! Nice to see you again! Right I know I always say five days between updates and this is the sixth day but yesterday was my 21st birthday and I consumed so much alcohol that it would have seriously hindered my ability to turn my laptop on never mind write an entire chapter so I thought it was best to leave it! Okay this chapter, still slightly sad but getting better and there is still lots of sweet moments. Onwards I hear you cry!

"Your dad would want you to laugh. No matter what Ric, you and I will make it, through everything that can come our way, I am here for you, and you know you aren't alone?" Alaric nodded slightly before saying,

"I know, I haven't felt alone for a long time now." He then tilted his head slightly to capture Damon's lips with his own.

Damon glanced up from his tie as he walked back into his and Alaric's room and spied the other vampire on the bed lacing up his shoes.

"Hey, the funeral, where is it exactly?" he asked as he sat down beside the blond and continued to fight with his tie.

"It's at the funeral home I think, why?" Alaric asked; his voice thick with emotion.

"Because I am not entirely sure vampires can walk onto holy land without bursting into flames and I do not want to test that theory." He told him as he almost strangled himself with the silk black tie; Alaric smiled slightly, whether it was because of Damon's attempts to distract him from the day's coming events or because he was totally useless when it came to things like ties and cufflinks, which he had already fixed to the cuff of his brilliantly white shirt this morning, either way he stood up and motioned for Damon to do the same. Once they were face to face Alaric began about fixing Damon's tie, while he was Damon himself was surveying the other vampire, they had been together about three years now and they knew each other inside out and Damon could read Alaric like a book and right now he knew he was just about holding it together. He was just about to say something when there was a soft knock on the door before it opened to reveal Arthur.

"Hey, not interrupting am I?" he asked, a weak smile on his face.

"No, Arthur its fine, come on in." Alaric said to his brother. Arthur proceeded further into the room holding a small box in his hand.

"I was going through a box of Dad's things last night and I came across some cufflink sets, I thought it might be nice if we all wear them, I forgot that dad used to collect them." He handed his younger brother the small box, Alaric then opened it to reveal two sets, both silver, one was set with emeralds and the other with sapphires.

"Alex and Ryan are downstairs, they have theirs and Caleb and Stefan have theirs but I found these two in the same box, figured they were meant to be together so I thought they were right for you two." He said, smiling again.

"Thanks Arthur, they are amazing, I think it will be great us all wearing them."

Arthur left them alone together as Damon took the box from the other vampire, gazing down at the silver objects,

"Wow, these are awesome. Here, let me help put them on." He said removing a set from the box before catching Alaric's look,

"I can put the on other people, it is just difficult with one hand!"

A few minuets later when Alaric had his cufflinks on and Damon's had been replaced they left to join everyone else down stairs. They walked in the sitting room hand in hand, Damon wearing the sapphire cufflinks and Alaric the emeralds.

***DS&AS***

The funeral service was short but perfectly fitting to their father, each of his children spoke about him, what they admired the most, what he would do that would drive them crazy and what they would miss the most. Alaric had almost lost it a few times when he was speaking but that was when he was either see Caleb and Stefan in the front row, hand in hand as Stefan tried to comfort his boyfriend as much as he could or he would catch Damon's eye and he felt a wave of love and gratefulness for him and it pushed him on to finish.

Now they all stood around a open grave staring down at the coffin, Damon had his arm around Alaric's waist, he knew nothing he said right now would have any effect so he just held on tight, letting him know that he was there, right there where he had always and would always be. Each of them took it in turns to throw a handful of soil over the grave before Caleb asked.

"Guys do you mind if me, Stefan, Damon and Uncle Ric have a few minuets alone?" It was safe to say that the other family members where confused but granted the wish none the less. Once everyone was out of ear shot Caleb turned back towards the grave,

"Granddad? I know you can hear me. I don't want you to worry about me, I know you always did but trust me I am safe with these three, I have never felt more apart of a family than I do now." He took a couple of breaths before finishing in a whisper

"I wish you could have met him." It was clear he was taking to both Stefan and his Grandfather.

"Okay, can we go Stef?" he asked the vampire who wrapped an arm around his boyfriends shoulder and guided him through the maze of head stones back towards the cars. The other two vampires remained where they were.

"Will it get easier?" Alaric asked.

"I don't Ric, I wasn't around when my family died and the only person in it that I would have ever really grieved over is walking your nephew back to the car but Ric, if it gets easier, if it doesn't you won't be alone, you'll never be alone again. I love you and that is never going to change, no matter if everything around us is." Alaric turned around and drew him into his arms as Damon circled his around waist.

"I just needed to know that you are here because Damon, if I ever lost you…"

"You won't, I am going nowhere and there is nothing in this world that could keep me from you." They stayed like that for a while, just comfortable in each others arms where they fir perfectly like each of the lines and curves of their bodies were sculpted to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When they finally did break apart Alaric turned back to look at the open grave once more,

"You don't have to worry about me either Dad."

***DS&AS***

Back at the house everyone was crowed into the kitchen, it was the only place big enough to hold them all, after a while the young children were taken to bed which left Alaric, Damon, Caleb and Stefan with Arthur, Cassie, Andrea, Ryan, Sarah, Alex and Alice. Everyone was either sat at the table or on one of the work surfaces, Caleb had introduced Stefan to the rest of the family who had all fallen under his spell and were all keen to know more about him, even Alex which surprised them all after his reaction to his younger brother and Damon's relationship. Apparently the information that Stefan was Damon's younger brother had escaped the attention of the rest of the family too but as soon as they were told they all started wondering how exactly they could have missed it.

They were all swapping stories of their father, Alaric was retelling the time that the old man up the road had brought him home by the scruff of his neck.

"Me and some of my high school mates had been messing around on his farm and he came after us all, we ran for dad's old Ford but he caught up with us, he dragged me and my mates down to the house by the collar and banged on the door, dad answered it and he old git said that he had found us drinking and the like on his land and though we didn't tell him who we were he knew one of us belonged to dad because of the car and dad just looked and me and smiled and said,

"He's mine, that one. He's got a wild side and then some, he is my old man's son and if you knew me back then there wouldn't be a question on your mind, he's mine and I'll claim him every time because he is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I love him unconditionally because he's mine. He then pulled me inside and slammed the door and broke into a massive grin, he was so proud."

"Sounds like our dad." Arthur said as he cracked open another beer. They talked for a while longer before conversation turned to Mystic Falls.

"So when are you four heading home?" Alex asked from beside Stefan.

"Few days I think, we want to see dad's headstone when it is put up before we leave." Alaric told him.

"We will have to visit sometime." Arthur said before Andrea spoke,

"Oh Art, I think we will all be visiting sometime soon." Ignoring the confused faces around her Andrea looked over to her baby brother and Damon,

"If you two didn't want us to know you were engaged you really shouldn't have worn those rings on your fingers." She said with a smug smile. In synch all the heads except Andrea, Caleb and Stefan's turned to look at the vampires and then at their hands.

"What is it with woman and sensing jewellery?" Damon whispered to Alaric, who shrugged before speaking to the room,

"It's not that we didn't want to tell you it's just that it hardly seemed the time."

"Come on Ric, we needed some good news." Arthur said to him before standing up,

"Anyway, congratulations little brother!" he said as he gripped his brother in a tight hug before sweeping Damon up too. Everyone congratulated them and the girls threaten to kill them if they didn't get enough time to pick out outfits. By the time they made it to bed that night the both of them were hugged out.

"Well I have to say, that went better than I thought." Damon told him as they lay on their sides so they were facing each other.

"What, did you think they were going to stake you?" Alaric asked as he reached over to trace random patterns on Damon's pale cool skin over his hip, well aware that staking him wouldn't occur to his family as a method of trying to kill the man he loved.

"Dating you is one thing, marrying you might have been too much for them to take."

"And by them you mean Alex?"

"Kinda, I mean you saw his reaction when they found out about us."

"Yeah but I think he has turned a corner, I mean you saw him with Caleb and Stefan."

"Yeah I hope so." Damon said with a smile before continuing,

"So now that everyone knows does this mean that this wedding is really, actually going to happen?" the grin on his face spreading as he spoke,

"Yep, it is really actually going to happen, if you'll still have me?"

"Well I haven't had any better offers yet so…. Ouch!" he exclaimed as Alaric playfully punched him before pulling him into his arms so he could lay his head on his chest. Alaric kissed the top of the other man's head,

"I love you Damon."

"Love you too Ric."

A/N – Well? What did we all think? I hope you enjoyed it! Oh and Ric's story? That is from the song He's Mine by Rodney Atkins and I think it is the best Father/Son song ever! You know the drill, five days till the next update so tune in!

xxx