I feel bad for making them fight, but I think that's because I love Vlad/Ingrid stuff an unhealthy and obsessive amount. Alas, we must continue!

-YD-

Sleeping alone felt weird. Sleeping in pyjamas felt wrong. The mattress felt alien beneath him, and the lack of Ingrid in his arms made him feel cold and empty inside. All in all, Vlad felt utterly awful when he climbed into his own bed - for the first time in weeks - after putting Wolfie down for the night. Ingrid was perfectly happy to ignore him, but Vlad wasn't surprised - she had someone else now, he was nothing anymore. Biting down hard on the inside of his cheek to stop any choked, sad sounds from escaping his mouth, he felt tears slide down his face.

Why was he so hurt over this? They were teenagers, and related, and he had no sane reason to be feeling broken up about Ingrid getting bored and finding someone her own age who wasn't her little brother. If he were a real vampire, he mused, he wouldn't care because he wouldn't have gotten attached. Hell, if he were a real vampire he would go back over to her bed and have her anyway, because Ingrid wouldn't stop him, she would use him again because she could.

That wasn't what hurt him though. What was currently curling like barbed wire around his lungs was that he had deluded himself into thinking Ingrid cared. And she didn't. That was why he hadn't bothered telling her about Jared, because she wouldn't care. If anything, she would probably be happy Vlad had someone to ease the pain, because she was a far greater loss to him than he was to her - she was Ingrid, that much was common sense.

He got next to no sleep, again, and barely held back from trying to flame his alarm clock when it went off. He took his clothes to the bathroom, cleaned up and changed in there then all but ran down from the tower, hoping the cold morning air would do something for his exhausted state. It didn't, but he made it through the round and only stumbled a little as he clambered off his bike, dying to crawl back into bed and cling to Ingrid like the pathetic, lonely wimpire he was.

She was already up and dressed, eyes lingering briefly on his neck and reminding Vlad he still had a cover up to do. It had been worth it before, to keep them secret, but now he hated it because they would heal beneath the concealer, then be gone forever. He noted she was giving Wolfie his bottle, but knew she abhorred giving him his soft food because he was still messy when he ate - that was Vlad's job.

Dragging his uniform on over his battered skin, he stifled a yawn in his hand and chewed on toast that tasted like sawdust before convincing mushy vegetables into his baby brothers mouth. Ingrid slammed the castle door behind her, though garlic knew how with no external handles, warning Vlad he was going to be late if he didn't get going after her.

Even so, he decided the potential detention was worth being late enough to not see Ingrid right in front of him. The teacher writing down late students eyed Vlad suspiciously, but he mumbled he had to take care of his little brother, eyes downcast and it obviously made the teacher too uncomfortable to question Vlad's potentially bad home life. Waved off with a "don't let it happen again" and a late pass, Vlad dropped into his empty table for Maths and stared at his textbooks like they could solve all his problems.

"How come you were late? You're never late even though you live all the way up that hill."

"My little brother didn't want to eat his breakfast peacefully, babies don't do as they are told."

His friend shrugged, called Vlad a dork and went back to the boys' favourite hobby - Ingrid watching. Before, it had given him a thrill, knowing they would never know Ingrid the way he did but now, jealousy was the knife twisting in his gut. Whether Will Clarke had bragged about it or someone else had seen them, there was the occasional mention of his name amongst jealous complaints, turning Vlad's stomach and pushing him to look for somewhere alone.

Hiding out near the sports pitch, he saw Robin again - playing football with some year seven students and it still perplexed him, because the boy hated sports of any variety. Or he had... A lot had changed in the last year, so maybe Vlad didn't really know Robin Branagh at all anymore. Shaking his head to clear it, he caught a flash of blond curls and instantly felt his insides flare. An outright attack would be too obvious, but he could still do something...

Heading over to Will, he wondered what Ingrid would think of him putting that hypnosis book to this use.

The 'command' didn't kick in until lunch, and Vlad wished he hadn't waited for maximum impact when he saw the bruise on Will's neck. Still, he got plenty of enjoyment watching Will dopily stumble towards the Branagh twins, declaring his utmost desire to give them both "big, manly hugs" while half the playground dissolved into laughter.

"Geroff!"

"Paul, get 'im off me!"

Ingrid looked utterly confused for a few seconds - Vlad saw, nobody else was paying her mind for a second or two while the Branagh twins wrestled the blond boy - before understanding dawned and her eyes sought Vlad instantly. In spite of his insides twisting uncomfortably, Vlad kept his face clear, his gaze cool as he looked back, then turned away as if disinterested while drinking from his water bottle.

Jared hadn't so much as hinted at what had happened, and Vlad was reminded he was lucky to have an exceptionally understanding friend in the boy. A round of cheers went around his friends, and Vlad wished he weren't so attuned to her presence that he didn't even have to look to know why. He didn't turn around, because there was no way they could have any of the conversations they were avoiding in front of anyone.

Of course, when one was dealing with Ingrid Dracula, logic and reason went out of the window. He didn't get a chance to fend her off when she grabbed the back of his blazer and yanked, dragging him stumbling away from his friends. He just about managed to grab his backpack as she did so, trying to slow her down and pull away but Ingrid was on a mission.

"Get off me!"

"Have me instead Ingrid!" was called after them, but Ingrid either didn't hear or didn't care - he leant towards the latter as she shoved him against a wall around the corner, hissing in warning when some nosy eleven year old stuck their head around to investigate.

"What is your problem?"

Ingrid all but growled the words, glaring hotly and Vlad wasn't sure if he was scared or aroused by it. Settling on scared because he thought it the more rational, he shrugged.

"You stink like breather, that's my problem."

She didn't deny it, not that he really expected her to, but the blaze in her eyes died just a little, like she had forgotten Vlad would be able to tell without the mark on Will's neck. That was what really got him, he knew, because he had been proud of the possessive marks hidden on his skin from her, but now he had yet another reminder he was replaceable to her.

"So you hypnotize my boyfriend because you don't like breathers now?"

Boyfriend. The word was like liquid poison burning through his blood vessels, but he refused to let her see what effect it had. Some part of him aware they were in the open, at school, he kept his voice low and hurried to limit the risk of being overheard.

"Breathers, I have no problem with. You think your boyfriend" Vlad spat the word, because it sat wrong on his tongue to even think it "would still hang around if he knew you got off on making your little brother hard? If he knew I know your body better than he ever will?"

Ingrid was going to say something cutting, but Vlad couldn't hear it and switched them, pushing her into the wall and she didn't stop him. Her legs were still bare, a fresh wave of anger rising as he wondered if Ingrid had ditched them for Will, not him. He had never wanted this less, but it seemed Ingrid wasn't having that problem when his hand slid over her thigh, the expected low whine escaping her before she could quiet it.

"Don't ever forget, I know what makes you come. Pretend all you like, that will never go away."

He moved before they really did get spotted, knowing Ingrid could do nothing with so many around, though he was almost certain there would be fireworks of some variety when school was over. As it was, in spite of the clear sky there was a roll of thunder - he had made some kind of impact on Ingrid. Though if he knew her - and he did - angry Ingrid generally led to angry sex. So when she slipped neatly between the Branagh twins and Will, he wasn't surprised to see her subtly snap her fingers, breaking his hypnosis.

"Why did she ruin the fight?"

"One of them is holding her bag? Ingrid probably didn't want blood on it, I swear I heard her say blood splattered clothes are so sixteenth century once."

Vlad didn't answer, but he wasn't surprised at the thought of Ingrid saying such a thing.

"Nah, its cus she's with that Clarke kid. Look, they are going in together. And he's not standing the requisite three steps behind like Branagh one and two have to."

"Oi Vladdo, are they dating?"

Vlad could only shrug, even with Ingrid's voice forming the word boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend over and over again in his mind.

"How should I know? Ingrid doesn't talk about boys, I half expected her to grow up a serial killer rather than someone's future wife."

There were titters and snickers at Vlads words - they didn't take him seriously, obviously. Why would they? They didn't know Vlad and Ingrid were Draculas, not Counts. Didn't know Ingrid was leaving school to become one of the undead, fangs and allergies to sunlight and all. So the idea Ingrid would incur a body count to her name was a foreign idea to them, not a constant, gnawing concern as it was for Vlad.

"Vlad?"

Looking up from his unappealing food, he found Jared looking hesitant.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering... Ok thats a lie, my mum has been nagging ever since she saw you and said you were too skinny, want to come to my house for tea sometime? It's ok if not, but at least I can"

"No. I mean. No, stop talking, I'd like that."

Watching Ingrid go off with Will had only served to make Vlad want some infinitesimal spark of revenge. And proof he wasn't just something easily replaced, because Jared liked him in spite of how weird Vlad's reputation had portrayed him as, and even when Vlad was clearly a couple of candles short of the chandelier right now.

"Cool. I'll pass it on to her, let you know tomorrow whens good yeah?"

Nodding absently, Vlad registered the bell for end of lunch going and felt sick at the prospect of going into the building Ingrid could still be touching Will in. Still, he couldn't say that to anyone, so he tossed his lunch in the bin and forced himself to class, to keep acting normal. It was all he could do.

Part of him feared Ingrid waiting after rugby for him, but he got a moments grace in the time between showering off mud and dragging his tired muscles towards the castle. He couldn't loiter - the marks on his neck weren't covered, so he had to climb the stairs to the tower almost as soon as he got in, dreading each and every step. To his surprise, and a touch of relief, Ingrid wasn't waiting with a large weapon or an attempt to pitch him out of the tower window, so he was able to cover his neck and dump his muddy rugby kit in the laundry in peace.

It started to confuse him when Ingrid wasn't downstairs either, sat watching Wolfie crawl around his playpen area with determined little scowls when he realised he couldn't go further, then turning himself around to pitter patter his way over to the other side.

Renfield appeared perplexed too, putting food in Ingrid's usual seat at the table - completely empty. Shrugging to himself, Vlad ate mechanically, fed and bathed Wolfie, settled him in his cot again and went right back to staring at the ceiling in the tower, unsure whether he wanted Ingrid in the room or not at that moment.

It darkened outside, the sky shifting slowly from blue with greyish clouds to clearer, purple and blue and stars starting to appear. He heard his mother get up, realizing how early he had actually gone to bed before he heard the front door slam open, then slam closed again and strained his hearing. He couldn't hear conversation, but there was an angry sound and a flash of thunder and lightning outside, so it wasn't a happy chat whatever was being said. The only words he caught were cooed chillingly.

"Just like your father, perverted thing for breathers."

When he heard her heels clacking on the stone steps up to the tower, Vlad rolled over quickly to be facing away, not wanting to raise Ingrid's ire after their mother had probably annoyed her. She stopped for a minute, then continued storming around the room, making a great deal of noise and occasional huffs of irritation.

Vlad tried to stay silent, breathing shallow and slow to minimise any sound he was making and hoping he just appeared asleep. He revised that opinion a minute later when he found himself on his back, Ingrid kneeling over his chest with her hand around his throat. She reeked of breather, and he realised exactly where she had been - with him.

"This is your fault!"

She wasn't letting up the pressure on his throat, the instinctive arousal response beginning but his brain was rebelling knowing she had spent all afternoon with Will, and he didn't have enough air to try and ask what exactly he had done. For a terrifying second or two, he was scared Ingrid was actually going to kill him. He couldn't process it, couldn't remember how to fight her off but Ingrid seemed to realise and let go, nails scraping roughly across his skin as she shoved away from him.

Choking and spluttering as he gasped for air, Vlad managed to cough out a few words.

"What's my fault?"

Ingrid didn't answer, already off him again and turning away before disappearing into the bathroom. His neck hurt and his erection didn't give a shit about the state their 'relationship' was in, the familiar burn of brief oxygen deprivation making his groin hot all over even though cold distaste was sitting icy in his stomach.

He heard the shower run, glad Ingrid would at least stop smelling strongly of Will before she came back and tried to kill him again. Trying to will away the inappropriate erection was mostly successful by the time she came back, and he sat on her bed - she wasn't avoiding the question again when she had almost crushed his windpipe for whatever transgression she had decided he was guilty of.

"Move."

"No. What the hell was that when you came in?"

Ingrid glared, crossing her arms and refusing to meet his eye.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? I thought you were actually going to kill me, and you are bloody well going to explain why."

"You like it, I don't see why you're complaining. Not like you're going to let anyone else touch you now."

"That's where you're wrong."

Ingrid's eyes widened, and Vlad cursed himself for letting irritation overrule rational thought - he hadn't meant to say that.

"Who?"

"Nobody."

He was lying - he knew it, and so did Ingrid.

"Who?"

Now Vlad was the one looking away, ashamed of the fact he had essentially used Jared because he was mad at Ingrid.

"You still haven't told me, what exactly did I do?"

He wasn't looking at her, but his mind was trying to process what exactly he could have done while she was out getting fucked by the breather boy. She had never been angry after having sex with Vlad - they usually wore each other out, she never had the energy. Yet when she came back from Will, she was angry and by no means tired.

"Oh."

Ingrid looked unsure for a second, where he could see her out of the corner of his eye.

"What?"

Figuring he was dead either way, Vlad stood back up, shorter than her by three or four inches still but ignoring it as he held her stare, letting the Dracula smirk cross his face.

"He's no good. That's why you were gone all day, why you're mad. He doesn't make you feel the way I do."

This time, he was invading her space, backing Ingrid up against the wall and enjoying the way her breath hitched a little too much.

"You give yourself too much credit."

He might have believed her, except her voice shook a little and when Vlad's fingers brushed lightly against her bare thigh Ingrid automatically leant into the touch. Knowing he was right, even if Ingrid would stake herself before she admitted it, his mind was processing the rest of what had happened. Ingrid couldn't have been that curious about sex with breathers - he was essentially the same except he didn't smell human.

"You didn't go for him because he's human. You went for him because he's not me. Why didn't you just tell me that?"

He wouldn't have been thrilled by the idea, but if Ingrid had told him she needed to know someone could arouse her that wasn't Vlad, he could have understood that. Instead she had just gone off and done it, leaving Vlad to feel betrayed and alone and to drag Jared into the whole mess. Ingrid wasn't admitting anything, and he still felt betrayed because she hadn't tried to hide it, or explain it, and the word boyfriend still rang in his ears.

"I hope he was worth it."

Dragging himself away from her, lungs full of her sweet, alluring scent, Vlad went back to his bed and curled up facing away from her again. Ingrid didn't move for several minutes, but then he heard her climb into her own bed and a heavy, painful silence built between them. Knowing why she had done it didn't make it any easier, because she could have just been straight with him and nothing would really have changed, and he would be laying next to her, not feeling so alone as the anniversary of their fathers death drew near. Instead, he had all these memories and feelings, and there was nothing he could do about them.

-YD-

I have had so much to do this week, I had intended to have updated all my stories by now but only this update is finished! On to the next one!