Review Responses:

Bornkiller9: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm sorry, but I had to do it to Sarena, mostly because I love the drama and I'm a cruel person. But yes, they will work it out at some point. But it'll be a while before they do I'm afraid!

pkayla93: Thanks for the double review! Season 4 is a ways off, but yes, I do have plans for it and I'm glad your excited for it. Damon and Scarlett would be an interesting pairing, I have seen some other people suggest it. Unfortunately, to me, they're more like brother and sister, so I probably won't be going down that route. I do have romantic plans for each of them in the future, but that's still a few chapters away. But if you like Damon/Scarlett scenes then there will be more in the chapters to come!

Sorry this is coming out later in the day than usual, but it is a busy time of year...even if it's a different sort of busy when compared to other years...all right fine, I left everything to the last minute...again. I'm sorry! Happy holidays, and stay safe!

Chapter 9: A Bed for the Night

Leiah purred. Her fingers moving through the thick hair of a young man whose lap she was currently sat on. After another game of darts, Klaus had decided he want to question Ray himself. That had left Leiah with not a lot to do. Klaus' suggestion, she go and take some photographs. Or learn some torture tips from him. Frankly, she thought her torture techniques were adequate, and the surrounding area wasn't exactly what she'd call photogenic. Plus she'd already taken pictures of inside the bar, she didn't need any more. So she found a distraction in the next young thing to walk in.

When the man first arrived, he'd been shocked to find a bloodied Ray sprawled out on a pool table while Klaus pocked at him with a snapped in half pool cue. A quick compulsion had made him forget all about that though, now ignoring it like the rest of the patrons. Leiah had then sized him up, and liking what she saw, asked him to join her for a drink. He'd been more than keen. And she'd felt exactly how keen he was once she slid onto his lap, rather than take the other side of the booth.

"You're cute," Leiah complimented, wrapping a strand of his blonde hair around her finger. The man – if you wanted to call him that anyway, was, as it turned out, only recently twenty-one – let out an embarrassed laugh. Either he wasn't used to such a playful compliment or he just wasn't used to it from attractive girls.

"So, Harry, what brings you out here?"

"Just left home, decided to set out and see the country," he said, quite proudly.

"Just the country? Why not the world?"

Harry shrugged regrettably beneath her. "Don't have the money."

"Ah," Leiah nodded, fingers still absently combing through his hair. A grin slid on to her face. "Best make it memorable then." Before he could ask what she meant, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. Not the biggest rush of her life, though it might well have been for him. She was perhaps setting the bar rather high for the rest of his road trip, but if she could open it up with a bang, why not. She wouldn't be around for the whimper at the end anyway.

She pulled away, gauging his reaction. While taken aback, joy danced around in his eyes, making Leiah grin. She swung around completely to face him, one leg on either side as she pushed him back against the booth. There wasn't a lot of room, her back against the table, but she could still work with it. Her finger circling the bulge beneath his zipper.

"So, how memorable do you want this to be?" she teased, easing the zip down at a painfully slow speed. "Just something you can call upon on those quiet nights alone? Or something to tell the boys when you get back home?" He was stunned, shocked at his fortune, with eyes so wide they threatened to fall out.

The zip reached the end of the line. Leiah began to lower herself, lips parting–

"Leiah, leave that chap alone and come over here would you."

Leiah's head swung towards her brother. He was staring at her, from the pool table. "Just give me five minutes." Her eyes moved back to Harry and her grin grew. "Maybe ten." His face looked as though it was starting to melt. "Maybe longer."

"You can give the boy a happy memory later. I'm making history over here."

"And history can't wait twenty minutes?" Leiah was starting to think Harry would pass out before she even started.

Then Klaus tone changed. "Get over here, Leiah." It wasn't a matter for discussion, she could tell. And while she could argue the point, she knew the risk of punishment. For a split second she weighted the options, then realised it wasn't worth it. She could wait for history to get out of the way.

With a sigh, she patted Harry's thigh, watching him shudder as she did. "Sorry, big boy. Just give me a moment." She climbed up from his lap and swung herself out of the booth.

Joining Klaus at the pool table, she leaned over to look down at Ray. He was even more bloody now, his face torn in half a dozen new places with fresh blood still leaking out. With a smile, Leiah playfully slapped the side of his face. "How you doing, Ray?" She got only a painful wince in response.

"Careful, sister. Our friend here's been through quite a lot in the past few hours."

"You're right. Now, what's this about history?" Leiah asked, giving Klaus what he usually wanted. Attention.

With a grin, Klaus then proceeded, removing a knife from his back pocket. "Get your phone out," he ordered, to which Leiah did. She moved around the side of the table, getting a shot of Ray spread out, each limb held down by a broken pool cue that had been thrusted through himself and the table. She then took one of a happy Klaus, gesturing to the knife. She smiled at the photo, before lowering her phone to watch.

"All right, Ray, the time has come for you to become something more than a werewolf. To become something great. It's a three step process, and this is step one. I want you to drink from my wrist," Explained Klaus, the knife now held against his own wrist.

"I already told you where to find the pack. What more do you want from me?" Ray groaned.

Klaus paused, now pointing the knife at Ray with an annoyance to his voice. "Have you not been listening to a word I've said? I have great plans for you, Ray. You, and all your pack."

Leiah bit back the urge to hurry him along, knowing it would only drag the whole affair out longer. She'd expected Klaus to give him the whole Hybrid race lecture again, the one he'd been sprouting off all summer and throughout his entire torture session with Ray. Luckily, he didn't. Instead he put the knife back to his wrist and cut it open. Before it had a chance to heal, he grabbed Ray's head and forced his exposed wrist to Ray's lips.

"You'll thank me for it later," Klaus chuckled, while Ray gargled on the blood. He was trying to spit it out, but it had no where to go except back down his throat. Normally, vampire blood didn't do anything for werewolves. If they died with it in their system, they stayed dead. But Klaus' blood wasn't ordinary vampire blood. Which was why Leiah snapped a photo of Klaus, as he feed it to Ray. Because it really was a historic moment.

"There we go, attaboy!" declared Klaus, as Ray began swallowing the blood. He kept his wrist pressed against Ray's mouth, forcing down as much blood as he could. But then he eased off, and not just because his wrist had healed. His eyes had moved to something behind Leiah. She turned, and grinned seeing Stefan had returned.

"You're just in time," she said, turning back to Ray as Stefan moved to her side.

"What are gonna do now?" Ray asked, while Klaus folded back his knife.

"It's time for step two, Ray," Klaus informed him. Then he grabbed a hold of Ray's head. Leiah snapped a photo with perfect time, getting a zoomed in shot of Klaus' hands on Ray's head. In the photo she saw the realisation in Ray's eyes. The terror and the fear. Then came the snap. Leiah took another photo after that. This one now showing Ray's broken neck, with his eyes rolled back into his head.

"There, history recorded, can I get back to my date now?" Leiah asked, pointing over to the eagerly awaiting boy.

"It's a date now is it?" Klaus teased, in a good mood after making history. "Maybe I should come over and introduce myself. Make sure he doesn't have any ill-convinced ideas involving my baby sister."

"Please, you know those are all my ideas."

"Don't I," Klaus agreed, rolling his eyes, but smirking all the same.

"So, I'll see you two in the morning," Leiah declared, making her way back over to Harry. She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up as soon as she was within range, already asking, "You've got a bed for the night, right?"

He nodded. "A motel just down the street."

"Great, let's go," she said eagerly, brow jumping up suggestively.

She began to lead him towards the door, when Klaus called after her. "Whatever you do, don't let it end up online."

"Go back to writing your memoirs, you wanker!" Leiah shouted back, hearing Klaus' laugh follow her until the door swung shut.

Stood in the doorway, Scarlett watch Jeremy's back, waiting for him to turn over. She'd been there for five minutes and he'd yet to look. There was always the possibility that he was asleep, but Scarlett could hear his breathing and knew he wasn't. He was wake, probably knew it was her standing there as well. Anyone else and he'd have turned to see what they wanted. But not her. He remained on his side, back to her as he pretended to sleep.

Scarlett started to play with her fingers, something to pass the time until Jeremy noticed her. How things had changed. A year ago he was the one trying to get her attention and hold on to it. Now he had it and she was the one struggling to hold on. As much as it had shocked her, she'd known right away that Damon had been right back at the house. She and Jeremy had avoided each other for the whole party, never being in the same room after they arrived. Heck, they didn't even leave together. He'd left earlier but had failed to tell her or anyone else.

Finally, around the ten minute mark, Scarlett spoke up. "Jer...can–can I come in?" She wasn't talking about coming into the room. She might have been stood at the threshold, but she wasn't a vampire. She was talking about the bed. A habit she'd gotten into ever since he'd died and they'd reformed their relationship. She never got in without him offering or asking first. Something else that had changed.

He didn't respond. Didn't even acknowledge her request. She checked to see if he was still awake and was fairly sure he was. Though if he wanted to pretend he was asleep, maybe it'd be better if she did so too. She turned slowly, eyes linger on Jeremy. She could ditch her cloths here and change for a run back home. But right when her eyes were about to leave Jeremy, she saw him reach over. His hand taking the corner of the covers and pulling them over for her to join him. He hand't looked over at her and was still on his side. But she understood the gesture.

Just let him set the pace. She had to keep reminding herself of that sometimes, but it was the right thing to do. She'd hurt him. And he'd died. They couldn't rush this. Every decision had to be carefully thought through on both sides. That was why he'd taken so long to offer her the bed. She was grateful.

Slipping off her shoes, Scarlett silently removed her shorts one leg at a time before sliding into the bed. She kept a space between her and Jeremy, giving him room if he wanted it. She lay on her side, staring at his back for a moment before she closed her eyes to try and sleep. A few moments later and she felt Jeremy press against her, arm going around her as he held her close. She smiled into him, inhaling his scent and seeing him through her closed eyes. Seeing his smile that she wouldn't see if she did open her eyes. Nowadays, Scarlett kept her eyes closed a lot.

She snuggled against him, and a few seconds later was peacefully asleep.

After saying goodnight to Elena, Alaric waited until she was up the stairs before retrieving the glasses from the kitchen. He returned with both of them in one hand and a half empty bottle of bourbon in the other. The bottle they'd reserved for nightcap uses only. They'd been steadily drinking through it for just over two weeks now.

Alaric held out the glasses to Jenna. She took one with a tired smile. He poured a sliver of the amber liquid into her glass. Not as much as they usually had, but then they'd already had a lot tonight anyway.

While Jenna stared down into her last drink of the night, Alaric flipped his own glass over in his hand and poured himself the same. He then plugged up the bottle and placed it on the coffee table, to be dealt with later. After that, he fell back against the couch, landing next to Jenna – his arm naturally reaching out around her as she moved to lean back against his shoulder.

"Some party, huh?" Alaric said, his own exhaustion as obvious as Jenna's.

"Yeah. Though not exactly what Elena had in mind I imagine."

"At least it'll be memorable."

"For the wrong reasons," Jenna pointed out soberly. She gave her glass a shake, watching the liquid inside slosh about. Now that she had it in her hand, she didn't feel like another drink, though it seemed a waste not to. The buzz of the party had worn off, after the abrupt ending brought about by Damon. She was certain something had happened with Andie, but since she wasn't answering her phone, and Jenna knew better than to ask Damon, she'd have to wait until morning to get the story.

"Do you remember your eighteenth?" asked Alaric.

"Bits and pieces," Jenna answered, a chuckle following after a pause. She smiled, thinking off the carefree delinquent she used to be. The girl who'd drank far to much at her eighteen birthday. Now though, she wasn't so sure she had enjoyed it. Miranda had insisted it had been a good night, but she had lied many time before in order to spare Jenna's feelings.

Maybe it was better that she didn't remember. Maybe she'd made a real fool of herself. It wouldn't have been the first time. Remembering some of those times, it seemed absurd that she'd somehow gone from that to who she was now. A vampire, a guardian to her niece and nephew. And now she was sat here having a night cap with her boyfriend while they slept up stairs…

Maybe she hadn't changed as much as she'd thought.

"What about you?" Jenna asked Alaric in turn.

"Wish I could forget it," he sighed.

"That bad?"

"Some stupid stuff happened," he continued, shaking his head. "I'd rather just forget about it." As if to aid this, Alaric drank his nightcap. When he was done, he put his empty glass on the arm of the couch. He looked over, seeing Jenna still staring down at her own drink, seemingly deep in thought.

After a moment, Alaric asked, "Do you think we're doing okay?"

At his question, Jenna sat up. Her brow furrowed as she sat her glass down on the coffee table, turning to face her boyfriend… Or at least he was her boyfriend for now.

Alaric continued, "With Elena and Jeremy, I mean." At that, Jenna relaxed a little. Maybe a little too much. She nodded along in understanding. Then she realised he might have thought she was answering his question and had to think of something to say.

"It's kinda hard to tell. What with supernatural morals and everything. What's right when I have to drink human blood to survive? What's wrong when we're all encouraged to lie about our lives? It's relative to the situation at this point." She sighed, letting herself fall back against Alaric's arm.

"I mean, I think we're doing okay. But then Jeremy starts doing drugs again, and Elena's spent most of the summer hold up in her room clambering for leads on Stefan while her life passes by. I could fix the problem with compulsion, of course. But is that right or wrong? I could make Jeremy never do drugs again. I could make Elena forget about Stefan. I could make them be the perfect kids Miranda thought they were, make them forget all about the supernatural world and go out and live normal lives. But then what happens when they turn around in twenty years and realise I haven't aged a day." A pause so she could sigh.

"So I can't do that. But then, how do I protect them form a world I'm only just beginning to understand. What if they're hurt and I can save them by turning them into a vampire? Do I do it? Is that what their parents would want me to do? Save them even if they become a monster."

"You're not a monster, Jenna," Alaric assured her, shaking his head. He then met her eyes, his dark eyes calming her thoughts for just a moment. "And you're doing the best you can in this messed up situation. But you're not doing it alone. I'm right here, and I'll help in anyway I can. Promise."

Knowing he was being sincere, Jenna smiled at him. But then the thoughts came back. No longer about her niece and nephew, but about her and Alaric. How things had changed between them since she found out the truth, since she became a vampire, since they'd…

Her lips rolled inward, eyes downcast for a moment. "Have you thought anymore about moving in?"

Twice today they'd been teased about moving in together. What neither Elena nor Sarah knew however, was that Jenna and Alaric had in fact been talking about that very idea. How could they not when it was so obvious. Alaric had been staying every night since Jenna got back, and since then, he was yet to spend a night in his own place. He still went their frequently to get a change of cloths or to stock up the fridge, but most of the time it was as if he was living with her. Yet when she'd approached the subject, about making it official, he'd tensed up. She'd taken it the wrong way and panicked, thanks to her sensitive emotions. He'd tried to reassure her and it had resulted in a fight that neither of them really understood. Since then they'd danced around the topic but never really discussed it properly. Even now Jenna could see Alaric's shoulders tensing, his gaze going down as well as he bit his lip.

Eventually, Alaric said, "I'm just…I'm just not sure it's the right time, Jenna."

For the sake of avoiding a fight, Jenna nodded her head frantically. "Yeah. Yeah, I–I just thought…" She trailed off when Alaric cut in.

"I mean, we don't want to disrupt Elena and Jeremy. Not when things are finally getting back to normal for them. Me moving in, it just feels…"

"I get it, totally," Jenna said, still nodding like a bobble head.

The truth was though, she didn't get it. She didn't understand how he could be so repulsed by the idea, and yet go to bed with her every night. How he could do chores around the house, go shopping for groceries with her and offer to pay part of the bills if he didn't want to move in? It didn't add up.

An awkward silence filled the gap between them. Both looking at each other and waiting for the other to make the first move. Was the conversation over? Were they going to change the subject? Watch something? Was Jenna going to finish her drink? Or would they just go to bed? Alaric, after a moment, provided the answer.

"I think I'm just going to go," he said, thumb pointing over his shoulder to the front door. Jenna's heart sank, but she managed to keep her face impartial. "It's been a long night. I think we could all do with a good night's sleep." Jenna forced herself to nod along.

"Yeah… Sounds good." It took everything she had to force those words out of her mouth. When she'd much rather beg him to stay, to hold him and entice him to do so. But she'd only end up hating herself for that, and it would lowering her standing in his eyes as well. She was a big girl after all, she didn't need Alaric to survive. He just made it easier to do so.

"Okay," Alaric said, now nodding his head as well. Even so, he hesitated, as if waiting for Jenna to speak up. When she didn't, he got up. Jenna remained on the couch. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow," agreed Jenna, watching him as he left.

The second he was out the door, she slammed her head against her back of a couch. I should have said something! She screamed at herself. But what could she say, without coming across as needy and pathetic. She didn't want Alaric to see her like that. That wasn't who she was anymore. Although, with her vampire emotions, it was hard to keep that side of her repressed. The hopeless idiot that wanted it all. The party, and the quiet happy life with a…family.

Realising this might be the closest she'd ever get to having one of her own, she understood now just how much she wanted Alaric. Before she would have been fine if he wanted to hold off on moving in. But now having had that taste of a life with him, Elena and Jeremy… She wanted to experience that for as long as she could. To live that quiet life with some semblance of the traditional family layout. A daughter, son, father and mother. And she didn't have long left to experience it.

Next year Elena would be off to college and beginning the next stage of her life. And then Jeremy would be off shortly after. And right here and now, Alaric had gone home to sleep, instead of sleeping here like he had so far. Her fantasy of a quiet life was breaking up, and she had so little time to put it all back together.

For the first time in months. She couldn't help but blame herself. If she'd never brought up the moving in issue, they could have been upstairs right now – snuggling into one another as they fell asleep. As it was, Jenna went to bed alone. Leaving her nightcap undrunk. She didn't sleep a wink that night. The large bed missing something as she tried throughout the night to get comfortable. It seemed impossible without Alaric there. In the end she settled on her back, and spent the rest of the night staring up at the ceiling, until the morning sunlight broke through the curtains. It was the worst night of her vampire life.