This is going to be a loooong chapter, but this one is one of my favorite. :) Enjoy


Damon's eyes fluttered open feeling the warmth of the sun against his skin. He felt good. He felt whole, for the first time in a very, very long time. The protective arm Alaric had wrapped around his waist made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, and Alaric's sleeping face has got to be the most innocent, angelic face Damon's ever seen, and there was no way it belonged to a vampire, or a monster of any kind.

But Damon suddenly felt a bang of guilt. He had spent his entire life looking for, and training to kill vampires to revenge his mother's death, and now he slept with one, only a few hours ago. This is insane, he thought, for the 100th time, and he suddenly had to look away from Alaric's face before the man changes Damon's entire perspective on life. Taking Alaric's arms with both his hands, he slowly and gently put it on the bed, and got up as quietly as possible. He knows vampires are light sleepers, and he didn't want to have to deal with Alaric first thing in the morning, he just needed to think through the event of the night before he does that. But he also didn't want to just run away, that would just send the wrong message, Damon thought.

Damon found his pants and put them on, he then started looking around the apartment. The last time he was here, he was feeling like shit.

There were no pictures in the apartment, which Damon found kind of odd. Even he has a picture of his family in his living room, and it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps, from the time Alaric did have a family, cameras weren't something that every family had the luxury to use. How old was Alaric, anyways? 100? 200 years old? And it was then that Damon realized how little he actually did know about Alaric Saltzman, compared to how much Alaric knew about him. It was only now that Damon realized Alaric did know he was a vampire hunter, and yet decided to tell him that he, himself, was a vampire. The man he hadn't stopped thinking about since the first time he laid eyes on, the man who consumed him. Who stole his heart. Just. Like. That. And the mere thought of that terrified Damon so much, he had to double check he was wearing his vervain bracelet.

Shaking his head, Damon continued his silent tour around the apartment after taking a quick look at the bed where Alaric was still sleeping soundly. When he saw a journal that wasn't there before, sitting on the desk in Alaric's office, Damon's curiosity kicked in. From where he was sitting now, he could clearly see Alaric sleeping on the bed in the bedroom, he shook his head, and then opened the journal, only now to realize that it wasn't Alaric's. Flipping through the pages until he had reached the final entry, which was written on the day of his mother's disappearance. Damon's heart started pounding in his chest. He couldn't breathe, but he couldn't look away. He needed to read, to know.. why..

January 16 1999

I don't think I can do this anymore. Dear journal, no one seems to understand. It's not hate but fear that I have now. I'm afraid it's all I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life. I don't want to be scared anymore, for my family. I just want to be free. Dear journal, please let my sons know that I will do anything, anything it takes to protect them. He's after me, and he won't stop until he has me. But I will do anything it takes to keep them away from him. Anything.

"Damon?" Came Alaric's voice, causing Damon to nearly jump out of his skin, and his first reaction should have been, 'I didn't mean to look through your personal stuff', but Damon looked up at Alaric's face and memories of a ghost from the past came crashing down on Damon,

"Damon, please," Alaric was calm, but Damon was far from calm. He got up, and almost without thinking, Damon started looking for something sharp,

"Damon, I can explain just listen.." Alaric said, trying to stop Damon, who was now just running around the room aimlessly, looking around himself in complete confusion and sickening realizations

"It was you, wasn't it.." Damon whispered, tears filling up his eyes, "it was you!" He finally screamed, pushing Alaric off of him. Alaric's own eyes were filled with tears, too, and it sickened Damon, "You sick monster, you fucking sick monster!"

"Damon, please listen to me!"

"You fucking killed my mother, it was you!"

"No, no I didn't, Damon, please, you just need to listen, let me explain!" Alaric's voice was filled with sadness and desperation, "Just listen," he shook his head, and when Damon, who had given up on trying to find a weapon, shaking like a leaf, finally spotted his shirt. He put it on, tears streaming down his cheeks, hating himself more than hating Alaric

Damon started trying to button up his shirt, and when he couldn't, he turned around and was about to leave the apartment, when Alaric suddenly appeared in front of him, looking furious, "Just. Listen to me!" He yelled, grabbing both Damon's wrists and pulling him to the living room. Damon's brain still couldn't function properly, and even if it did, Alaric was way stronger, and he easily pushed Damon down on the couch

Damon tried to look up at Alaric, but he couldn't. Still shaking, and unable to say anything, he stayed seated on the couch, remembering memories from the past. A man his mother had begged him to leave her and her family alone, one dark night. A stranger, who's face he couldn't properly see until this very moment. Thirteen years later, the picture is finally complete, and the man has a face.

"Damon? Are you ok?" Alaric said a few moments later, when Damon avoided looking at him

"You're him.. you're that man I saw, before my mom was murdered. You killed her." Damon squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head in disbelief

"No, Damon it wasn't me who killed her but yes, I was the one you saw, that night. Thirteen years ago. I remember, but I didn't think you would remember."

"Remember? That night is still hunting me, I still wish every single day that I could somehow return to that night and do something, then maybe my mother would still be with us today. Then maybe my life would be different."

"But I'm not the one who killed her," Alaric repeated, more firmly this time

"How do you know my mother? Why the fuck is her journal with you and what the fuck were you doing that night at our house?" Damon asked, still having a hundred questions more that he needed to ask,

"I tried to explain everything to you but, I just couldn't, I needed you to trust me first, and I didn't even know how to start." Alaric said, grabbing a chair and sitting on it, facing Damon

Damon scoffed, "So, you waited until you slept with me to tell me about your past with my own mother?" Damon was calming down, now

"God no, Damon it just happened. I never meant for this to happen, it just did,"

It was true, and it was sort of Damon's fault. A lot made sense now. Alaric freaking out the first time they kissed, telling Damon they needed to wait the second time they kissed, but Damon was too damn persistent.

"I didn't even mean to talk to you, I wasn't supposed to but then, the accident happened and I had to save your life,"

Damon took a few deep breaths, wiped the tears away and then looked up at Alaric who wasn't making much sense,

"I'm going to tell you everything you need to know, but it's going to be a lot. It could be too much for you to handle and-"

I just can't afford to lose you, I need you and I never realized that until last night,

"and it's going to change your life. It's not going to be the same anymore."

Damon was still looking at Alaric, jaw clenched, my life is already fucked up,

"Is Alaric even your real name?"

Alaric tilted his head, took a deep breath and resumed, "My name is Alaric. I am a vampire hunter," another deep breath, "And so was your mother. "

Damon raised his eyebrow, What?

"Your mother, your father and I were members of the council- well, your father still is, your mother was until the day she passed away, and I was until the night of my own death. The council members' secret job is to protect this town from vampires, Damon. But I know you didn't know that."

"What? You're.. you're telling me that my own father and mother.. hunted vampires?"

Alaric nodded, and went on, "Before your parents.. you know.. We were together, your mother and I. We were going to get married, stop hunting vampires and start a normal life until, one day, while Mary and I were hunting vampires, we were ambushed and," Alaric swallowed hard, "the next thing I remember was the sound of my own neck getting snapped and with vampire blood somehow in my system, came back from the dead. Only, facing the choice of whether or not to complete my transition."

"I was young. I was scared, and I decided that I did want to complete my transition. After that, everything between Mary and I changed. She wouldn't look at my face anymore. And I.. I didn't want her to have to live with a vampire.. a monster. I wanted to stay, however, and protect the town but, Giuseppe Salvatore.." Alaric shook his head, "The council members were my only friends, but they all wanted me dead after they found out about my transition. Giuseppe told me that the only reason I wasn't killed was for the sake of our friendship. But he threatened to kill me, if I don't disappear. Hell, I would've killed me, too, but I didn't know what it was like, to be vampire. I had to leave, eventually. I wasn't ready to die. No one ever is. After that, I would just come back every now and then to check up on Mary, you and Stefan," Alaric said, and Damon was now too quiet, listening to every word Alaric had to say, "But Mary thought I wasn't the same person anymore. She.. she loathed me, and I refused to believe that, even after all the times she'd told me to leave, I'd still have hope that maybe, with everything we had, she would still have some feelings left for me but, to her, Ric was dead. And then, there was me, Alaric.. Just, a monster." Alaric shrugged, trying so hard to hide sadness Damon could clearly see. Swallowing hard, Damon asked, "Then, who killed her?"

"Years later," Alaric sighed, "After everyone in town seemed to have moved on, and quickly forgotten about me, a hybrid showed up-"

"A hybrid?"

"Yes, uh, half vampire, half werewolf. His name is Klaus."

"What?" Damon raised his eyebrow, but Alaric ignored him,

"He showed up in Mystic Falls, and he was looking for werewolves, to turn into hybrids, like himself. I didn't even know werewolves existed before that! I just- all I wanted was to protect the ones I loved but, I failed."

Damon winced,

"The night you saw me, was the last time I saw your mother alive. But I came back every now and then, to make sure you and your brother were alright." Alaric whispered. He shook his head, and continued, "I'm pretty certain Klaus killed her. He was after the council members. He disappeared after that, Damon. But, he reappeared, after all these years, a few months ago."

"Is that why you're back?

Alaric nodded, and got up, finally. This was hard, he'd imagined it would be hard. He needed it, though. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair, "need a drink?" he offered,

"Fuck yes." Damon said, and Alaric quickly came back with two glasses of bourbon. Damon swallowed his at once, grimacing.

"Fuck.. It's not even noon.." Damon said, and Alaric smiled, nervously,

"Need anything else?"

Damon looked up, meeting Alaric's eyes,

"Ric, all these years, you've just watched over me and my brother?"

Alaric nodded, "Yes. Giuseppe thinks I'm here to kill him and the council members for everything they've done to me. If I wanted them dead I would have done it years ago." Alaric smiled, "No one knew I frequently visited Mystic Falls before because no one needed to. I just need help, this time. Klaus is... He's strong. Too strong. And the council has something that I don't. I can't kill Klaus without it."

Damon shook his head, sighing,

"I'm really sorry, Damon,"

"I gotta go.." Damon said, standing up,

"I can understand that you're mad at me,"

"No," Damon said, turning around to face Alaric, "I'm not mad at you.. I just.. this is too much," he sighed

"Yes I know, you need time," Alaric nodded,

"Yes and also.. you were with my mother," Damon grimaced, feeling awkward by the thought only, "I just need time".

Alaric bit on his lower lip,

"And, I'm going to help you kill Klaus. I need to. but I need to talk to my father, first." Damon said,

"I understand," Alaric nodded, "And, take all the time you need."


TO BE CONTINUED