Complicated Predicament

by Vampirepancakes

Eric Northman arrives twenty seven years from the future with a dire warning for Damon and Bonnie. That there's a time traveler who wishes to kill them and end their lives. And they're shocked when they discover the exact reason why Eric Northman is so invested in preventing their deaths. Eric Northman/Original character pairing. Vampire Diaries/True Blood crossover.

7. Chapter 4

Fairfax County, Virginia Fall 2042

The time read 6:03 a..m on Monday morning as Damon made his way downstairs, towards the kitchen to prepare some coffee for his wife. Bonnie had gotten up at 5:40 to brush her teeth, then jump in the shower to get herself ready to go to her place of work at Aspens Clarke.

And just like he did every single weekday morning, Damon got ready to prepare coffee for her to have before she had to leave for work. This was part of the daily, weekday morning routine he had done every single weekday or work day in which she had to get up early to go work at her dream career and he had been doing it for years.

Bonnie would wake up between 5:40 and 5:45 a.m. every weekday morning to use the bathroom, brush her teeth, shower, get dressed and do her hair and make up before she headed out to work. And he had always gotten up around 6:00, often while she was busy showering, to come down to the kitchen and brew coffee for her to have on her way out of the door.

Although his business didn't require him to have to be there until 9:30 and 10:00 a.m., Damon would still get up at six every single morning to brew up some coffee for his wife, just the way she liked it. Because it was one of his many ways in which he showed her how much he loved her and he honestly enjoyed doing it for her, especially knowing how much she appreciated it. It was one less thing she had to worry about every morning in which she had to get up early to get herself ready for a day of work at Aspens Clarke.

The sky outside was still dark due to it being so early and due to them currently being in the fall. Which meant it would be about an hour or so before the sun would rise. Damon still dawning his pajamas, due to how he had let Bonnie have the bathroom and shower every weekday morning, since she had to be at work earlier than he had, got to the routine of preparing the coffee.

Placing coffee grinds into the coffee maker, followed by water in the coffee maker's water compartment, Damon pressed the button on the machine, which started the brewing process. And as the coffee brewed. Damon processed in his mind the current absolute domestic bliss he was in.

There had been a time period of his life, where he would or could never picture the life he currently and presently lived. Decades ago, he still had been in his ruthless vampire stages, the stages where he just didn't give a damn or a shit and stopped at nothing to get what he wanted or to have his way, which often had meant him brutally murdering or maiming a number of people, which created plenty of enemies along the way.

He used to be a man who would just go around wooing and bedding random women, feeding on some of his sexual conquests blood when he was either in the mood or hungry enough to do so. And he had done so without a care in the world, leaving some broken hearts in his wake of those who wanted more than sex from him.

There was a long time where he considered himself a forever bachelor, who would never settle down or tie himself to just one woman. Yet he eventually met Elena who was a Katherine look alike. Elena was everything Katherine wasn't, most importantly to Damon at the time, Elena had been willing to accept and show compassion and empathy for and towards him.

Due to this, he immediately became fixated on Elena, even while she was dating his younger brother. He developed this burning need on the inside to have Elena and to win her over. Looking back towards his actions with chasing Elena and the feelings he had towards her, Damon had to admit how wanting to win her over had as much to do with needing to prove something to himself as it had to do with whatever feelings he had for Elena.

He made it his mission to pursue Elena and get her to see how he was the right one for her instead of his brother. He just wanted her at all costs, as he developed the all consuming desire to get her to be with him and to "get the girl." He did this at the expense of Stefan, which caused a strain on the relationship he had with his younger brother.

He knew it had hurt and upset Stefan for him to pursue and go after Elena. This was something Damon honestly regretted to this day, he was truly remorseful and apologetic for how he had hurt his brother. He could admit to himself and to Stefan how selfish his behavior regarding Elena had been. And he had apologized multiple times to his brother for said behavior. Stefan accepted his apology, saying he forgave Damon and told Damon multiple times how he was forgiven. Yet Damon still regretted his actions, even while knowing Stefan had forgiven him and had long ago moved on happily with Caroline.

Still at the time, Damon had been selfish, not caring about how he was hurting his brother or straining their relationship as long as he got what he wanted. Eventually Stefan and Elena broke up, then very soon after, Elena got with him, Elena finally told him she loved him and wanted to be with him.

Which thrilled Damon, he remembered the feeling of how he finally felt like he accomplished something big when he had won over Elena's heart. Finally he had gotten the girl. And the way he had pursued Elena made the beginning of his romantic relationship with her exciting and thrilling.

The beginning of his relationship with Elena had been wonderful even, the two of them fucked like rabbits, spent nearly every waking moment together, to the point where they would disregard the other relationships they had, while they were consumed with each other. The first half of their relationship was all rainbows and sunshine, and for a while he really believed Elena would be the woman he would spend the rest of his life with.

But the rainbows and sunshine gave way to something grim, a grim realization. And the second half of his relationship with the doppelganger had begun to show it's cracks. During the second half of their relationships the foundation it was built on showed signs of wear and tear. And the grim realization Damon had was finding out inch by inch how bad they were for each other as their relationship went on.

Elena was bad for him, he was even worse for Elena. He would do something awful or commit some heinous act, Elena would act angry with him, they would fight, then quickly afterwards the two of them would have a round of make up sex. And this pattern would rinse, wash and repeat itself without them resolving the serious issues they had in their relationship.

They were toxic for each other and knew it, yet stayed together believing that loving each other was all that mattered. And as much as Damon did love Elena back in those days, he had to admit how his love for her and vise versa wasn't healthy. It was the unhealthy type which could only lead to more toxic relationship tendencies. Still he had held onto Elena and the belief of a future with her as she got put into a coma due to a vengeful Kai Parker.

Yet fate had a way of sitting a person upon their true path and destiny they were supposed to be on in and with their life. And it was fate that had gotten him trapped in the 1994 prison world with Bonnie. As the instance had changed the demeanor of their relationship and had forged their way into becoming close friends with an unbreakable, inseparable bond.

From that moment on he and Bonnie continued to get closer, as their relationship grew stronger. Bonnie Bennet opened his eyes to a fabulous world he hadn't realized existed before her. And before he knew it, he had fallen head over heels, deeply in love with the green eyed witch. And once she had grabbed a hold of his heart, she never let it go. And once he had fallen in love with her, he knew he would never be able to love any other woman the same before or after her.

His love for Bonnie was completely different than his love for Elena had been. Of course he felt passion, lust, and sensual desire. Yet his love for Bonnie was pure, healthy, secure, sublime, awe inspiring, solid, firm and filled with stability. His love for Bonnie is sacred and filled with serenity. And his love for her, elevated to a supreme momentous scale and level far above what he had felt for any woman before her, including Elena. So even though he thought at one point that Elena would be the woman he would spend the rest of his life with, he was beyond glad for fate showing him how Bonnie Bonnett was the true love of his life and the one he was destined to spend the rest of his life with.

Ten years ago it had been since Elena had woken up from her magical curse Kai had set upon her. Bonnie with the help of Kendra Maddox had discovered a magical solution to breaking Kai's curse and to waking Elena up from her coma without either her or Bonnie having to die. And Damon was joyful about this, because all he wanted was for there to be a way for Elena to wake up, without it causing Bonnie her life or Bonnie having to die. He did still after all care for Elena, even if he had fallen in love with Bonnie and didn't wish for her to suffer due to Kai's wrathful vengeance.

Bonnie used her magical solution, with assistance from Kendra Maddox to wake Elena up from her coma. Everyone celebrated when it worked, himself, Bonnie, Stefan and Caroline, they all were so happy the very minute Elena had opened her eyes. Especially knowing Bonnie would still be able to live. There were tears, laughter and reunion hugs.

After the initial celebration of her reawakening past, however Elena saw how her reunion didn't go as one hundred percent as she had expected it to go. Which was because she had expected Damon to be there, waiting to romantically reunite with her, so the two of them could resume the life together he had promised her before she went into a coma.

Yet, it wasn't to be so, because he and Bonnie were together by then and they had been together, in love with each other years before Bonnie could find a way to break Kai's curse. Naturally, Elena was upset and she had a difficult time accepting the man she viewed as the love of her life being in a long termed relationship with the woman she viewed as her best friend.

And not only were they in love with each other and were together, but that the two of them were married and even had a child together. Elena had a difficult time accepting or handling this during the first initial days right after she had woken up from the magical curse.

Taking her aside, he had explained to her as gently as he could how has feelings for her had changed and while he would always care highly for her due to the love he once had for her, he was no longer in love with her or didn't have the same type of love for her that he use to have. Somewhere along the way he had fallen out of love for her and didn't want to be with her romantically anymore.

Damon explained to Elena with a gentle tone, how he nor Bonnie had intended to or wanted to hurt her, but his feelings and need for Bonnie were just too strong for him to ignore. He had been honest with Elena about his feelings for the witch, including letting her be aware of how deeply in love with Bonnie and how happy he was with Bonnie. And how much he enjoyed his life he had with his wife and their who was at the time eight year old daughter, Autumn.

Of course at first Elena, who was honest about how she felt, said she didn't quite understand how the then love of her life and her best friend could get together, get married and then have a child together. Damon in return told her how he understood he she felt, yet he still had no regrets about being married to Bonnie, nor did he regret having a child with the Bennett witch. He cherished his role as husband and father, he wouldn't let that go for anyone, not even Elena. Yet, he did wish her the best life she could possibly live, knowing it would be lived without him.

Elena, however, did come around to accepting him and Bonnie being together sooner rather than later. After mulling over the situation for a couple of weeks, Elena came to accept the two of them being together. She made peace with the fact of Damon no longer being with her. And decided not to hold a grudge against either himself or Bonnie. She just realized it was a lost cause to try and hang onto a man who had stopped loving her romantically. And she ended up cordially reaching a resolution between her, himself, and Bonnie.

About four months after she had been awoken from her coma, the doppelganger took a flight out of Virginia to go and pursue a degree in the medical field. And now she presently lived in Toronto, Canada, where she had her own clinic as a pediatrician. She married a surgeon by the name of Evan Bridges. Whom she had three children with, two boys and one girl.

It had been ages since Damon last seen or even spoke to Elena, yet as far as he knew, she was still married to Evan Bridges. And she still resided in their Toronto home where they lived together with their three children. Elena currently was living the human life she wanted to live.

It had all been for the best. Elena wished to be human, while he wished to remain a vampire. Elena had taken the cure to turn herself human right before Kai placed her into a coma. Elena had told him how she wanted him to take the cure with her so the two of them could live out human lives together.

And yet deep down, it wasn't what Damon wanted. His true nature was a vampire, he embraced being a vampire. And him wanting to be a vampire, while she wished to be human made the two of them incompatible, he and Elena both knew this. Such incompatibility would have eventually doomed any hopes of them having a long termed relationship.

He would either have to take the cure to make her happy, yet would resent having to turn human and having this vampirism taken away. Or Elena would either grow old in age since she was a human now while she remained young. Or Elena would have to be potentially turned back into a vampire to fit with Damon being a vampire. Yet she wouldn't be satisfied as she wanted to be human, with a human romantic partner.

Because of all of this, Damon knew it was for the best of him and Elena to go their separate ways to live their separate lives. And now she currently has her life with the human husband she wanted in Evan Bridges. While he had his life with Bonnie and Autumn.

The blue eyed vampire sighed with contentment. At times he would catch himself looking at his wife, or sharing an intimate moment with her or having a moment of happiness with his family. And he caught himself not being able to fathom this life that he had. Meaning it was so good to him and felt so could, that he sometimes had thoughts about him suddenly waking from the best dream life ever, as if it were too could to be true.

He was in absolute domestic bliss and he seized every minute of this present life he was blessed with. He was so grateful for the present life he was blessed with. And because of Bonnie and Autumn, Damon felt like the luckiest man in the world, bar none!

The coffee machine beeped, signaling to him that it had completed its task of brewing up the morning serving of coffee. And soon the scent of freshly brewed coffee filtered into the air of the kitchen.

From above his head, Damon could hear the padded sounds of Bonnie's footsteps coming from upstairs, which meant to him she was about to come downstairs to the kitchen where he was. So, Damon got the bagel in which Autumn had brought him to her on the Friday before. Splitting the bagel, he placed it into the toaster.

Then he proceeded to reach into the cabinet where all of the coffee mugs were stored away, he got one large coffee mug, followed by a smaller coffee mug. After that he pulled out one of those large, to go, insulated cups, that was slightly over sixteen ounces. It was one of those to go insulated cups that either kept beverages hot or cold for hours, depending on the temperature of the liquid when poured into it.

Just as he started to pour some fresh coffee into the to go cup, Bonnie entered into the kitchen with her purse, as she was prepared to leave the house shortly. Damon looked up from what he was doing as she stepped into the room. She looked professional, yet still beautiful in her teal, feminine, business outfit, which had teal professional dress pants and a teal business top to match. And she had on flat dress shoes that perfectly managed to go with the outfit.

"Morning!" Damon greeted her.

"Morning!" Bonnie returned cheerfully.

He left enough room in the to-go cup to fit in some sugar and cream, then he grabbed the sugar and cream to mix into the coffee.

"What is that delicious smell?" Bonnie took a whiff of the air.

"Coffee" Damon asked her question with a question.

"I meant the smell which smells like blueberries."

"Oh, that's the bagel Autumn brought home for you the other day. I decided to toast it for you before you head out."

Bonnie recalled how their daughter had brought her home a bagel from the coffee and bakery shop she worked at. "That's right, glad you reminded me, it slipped my mind while I was getting ready for work."

The toaster popped up the two slices of blueberry bagels. Damon got a small plate out of the cabinet, then placed the slices on the plate, as Bonnie set down her purse in anticipation of eating the bagel, which still smelled fresh.

Damon then positioned the bagel onto the middle counter, where the breakfast nook was. The breakfast nook was a section of the middle counter which had been crafted for them to have breakfast in the mornings. And it was separated from the table they had their dinners at.

The breakfast nook contained about four chairs, next to each other, as these chairs were tall enough to reach up to the counter.

Damon gestured towards the bagel. "Eat up!"

"Thank you, husband." Bonnie said.

"You're welcome, wife." Damon said back.

As he mixed the coffee into the to go insulated cup, she grabbed the cream cheese out of the fridge. And used a butter knife to spread the cream cheese onto her bagel. After putting the container of cream cheese back into the fridge. She took a seat at one of the tall chairs at the counter, in the breakfast nook area.

As she munched on her bagel, she watched fondly as Damon was making her to go cup of coffee. He had done this routine every weekday morning for her for years. She would get up around 5:40 and 5:45 a.m. on the days she had to work. And he would always get up at 6: 00 a.m. to make sure she had her coffee before she headed out of the door.

No matter what, Monday through Friday, he had always been in the kitchen when she came downstairs, preparing her to go cup of coffee before she had to leave for her job at Aspens Clarke. And he had never missed a single morning. Without fail he would always be there to make sure she had her caffeine boost before she headed out.

Sometimes it was just coffee, and at other times it was a small bite of breakfast or a small breakfast to go along with the coffee, as it was this Monday morning with the blueberry bagel. Yet no matter what he was always up, always brewing her coffee as she used the bathroom, brushed her teeth, showered and got dressed for a day of work at the office building.

He could have slept in or stayed in bed for a solid hour or two longer since he didn't have to arrive at S&M as early as he had to arrive at Aspens Clarke every morning, yet he did it anyway and did it for her. This added to one of the gazillion reasons why she loved him and was so overwhelmingly in love with him.

There was also the added factor of her being reminded of the first morning after they had made love for the first time. She often recalled how she woke up the following morning in 2018, feeling the spot beside her in her bed in which they had made passionate love for the first time. She had been feeling for his body, since he slept next to her all night long. And she wanted to wake up to feeling his flesh under her hand.

Yet when she opened her eyes, the spot next to her was empty, so she had sat up seeing his presence wasn't in her bedroom. Yet she knew he hadn't left her house. So she scrambled out of bed, grabbing one of her robes out of her closet, wrapped it around her nude form. Then searched for him. He hadn't been in the upstairs area. So, she headed downstairs to see if he was there.

She had been halfway down the steps when the scent of bacon, eggs, and coffee hit her. A smile had come upon her face, realizing he got up before she did to prepare breakfast for her. Breakfast after their first night of love making. She had entered into the kitchen to see him over the stove, shirtless, with the pants he had left at her place just in case he spent the night, and barefooted.

He had looked over as she entered, the two of them sharing a loving, yet heated gaze and smile, knowing what they were to each other now. And knowing they were officially romantically together now. It would be the first of many mornings in which they woke up, having breakfast together after a night of passionate love making. Bonnie often thought about this when she would see him preparing coffee for her to go to work with. And it brought a fond smile to her face every single time.

Damon finished putting the exact amount of sugar and her favorite flavored coffee cream into the to go cup. And after stirring it with a spoon. He twisted on the lid.

"Here you go." Damon handed her the to go cup.

"Appreciate it as always." Bonnie took the insulated cup.

Now that her coffee was made, Damon proceeded to make his own. He poured some coffee into the large mug he had retrieved. Then got out some blood and put in about five drops of blood to the coffee, before stirring it. This was how he mostly drank his coffee every morning. Black, with about five drops of blood. The mixture of blood and caffeine was enough to get him through the day, until later on where he would consume more blood after getting off from work and coming home.

Taking a sip of her coffee, Bonnie purred as the warm, sweetened caffeine automatically boosted her system.

He saw her verbal and facial response to the first hit of coffee she sipped and thought it wasn't much different from the verbal and facial responses of pleasure she would make when they were in the passionate throes of sex. The thought of this nearly made him grin.

"How's the coffee?" He inquired with a bit of amusement to his tone at how she had reacted.

"You made it perfectly, as always." Taking another sip, she sighed.

Damon then took a sip of his own coffee, having to sigh himself, it was good stuff. As they could afford some of the highest quality coffee due to the salaries they made.

Reaching for the rest of her uneaten bagel, Bonnie quickly began to wolf the first of it down.

"In a bit of a rush?" Damon tilted his head towards her plate.

"Yeah, I am actually, I need to leave earlier this morning than I usually do." Bonnie let him know.

"Really?" Damon checked the clock on the stove, to see it was now 6:28 a.m. "Why is that?" She usually left the house for work between 6:45 or 6:50.

"I'm meeting Kendra earlier at the headquarters this morning, we have a lot on the schedule we need to get done during our work day today and we figured we should get there a little early to make sure we get it all in, since you know we have to leave work early to get ready for the event tonight." Bonnie replied.

She spoke of the black tie/ball event which was going to be held later in the night. As a number of high profile or rich people would be said to be attending.

"Right, which means I'll have to get off of work an hour earlier myself." Damon stated.

Bonnie finished off the last bite of her bagel. "I have to run."

"Alright."

She grabbed the to go cup of coffee he had made for her, which was still mostly full as she had only taken a few sips out of it. Then she grabbed her purse, slinging it over her shoulder. She made her way around the counter to where he was standing.

He put down his mug of coffee as she approached him.

"See you later." She communicated with him.

"Take care of my immortal witch!"

"As long as you take care of my immortal vampire!"

The two of them pressed their lips together in a lingering kiss.

Bonnie took a step back. "Tell our babygirl I said bye and to enjoy her day."

Damon returned. "Okay."

Bonnie then left the kitchen with her purse and her to go cup of coffee in hand. Minutes later, he heard the front door open and close as she exited the premises.

He took the now empty small plate in which she had eaten the bagel off of and placed it into the sink. Then he continued to drink his coffee.

Shortly afterwards, Autumn entered, with her work clothes on and her hair tied up into a bun.

"Hi, Dad." Autumn spoke.

"Hey, Scout." Damon said back.

Autumn's eyes scanned the area as she noticed the absence of someone. "Where's Mom?"

On an average weekday morning, there would be a brief period where she could have a chat with her Mom before they had to leave the house to go to their seperate jobs. It had always been a perk to start the day for Autumn.

"She needed to leave earlier than usual to get to the headquarters and get a head start on the things she needed to get done there." Was Damon's reply. "Your mother and I have that event we're going to tonight."

"Oh, yeah." Autumn muttered.

"Your Mom however did want me to tell you she said bye and she hopes you enjoy your day!" Damon added.

Autumn smiled as she thought of her Mom. "And I would wish her the same."

Damon gestured towards the coffee maker. "Coffee?"

Autumn shook her head. "No, thank you, I'm in the mood for something else this morning."

Damon nodded.

The witch-vampire hybrid went on with the task of fixing herself her own quick breakfast. She got out a paper plate and some strawberry flavored pop tarts. She removed the pop tarts from the foil wrapping and placed them on the paper plates. Then popped them into the microwave for about fifthteen seconds. Once they were done, she got a small glass out of the cabinet, orange juice out of the fridge and poured some of the juice into the glass.

Taking her pop tarts, along with her orange juice, she sat in the same chair her mother had vacated earlier. And started to eat her pop tarts.

"If not coffee, how about some blood to go with your breakfast?" Damon prompted.

He always made sure she got a little blood into her before she would leave for her job on the weekdays.

"Sure, I could use a little blood." Autumn accepted.

So he poured some warmed up blood into the small mug he had gotten out for this very reason, then handed the blood to her. And made a mental note to go to the vampire food store at the end of the week, in order to restock up on the blood in the house for himself and Autumn.

Autumn consumed about one to two blood bags per day along with the human food she ate, while he himself could drink up to three to four blood bags per day, depending on how hungry he was. He kept up their blood supply to last them about two weeks, before he had to return to the vampire store to buy them more fresh human blood, in the form of blood bags. Although he at times would buy extra, if he was aware ahead of time of Stefan, Caroline or other vampire friends and acquaintances visiting their home.

The father-daughter duo shared a fatherly-daugtherly conversation as Autumn ate her breakfast. Autumn ate her pop tarts, washed them down with the orange juice, then she finished off her breakfast by drinking the blood that was in the coffee mug. Which was only about three ounces of blood, as it was enough to get her day as a half vampire started.

Rising from her seat, Autumn put the paper plate into the trash, wiped her mouth with a paper towel and put that into the trash as well.

"I'm going up to brush my teeth, then I'll be heading out." Autumn let her vampire parent know.

"You go on ahead." Damon directed towards his hybrid daughter. "I wash out the glass and the mug."

"Have a great day, Dad!" Autumn exclaimed.

Damon gave her a thumbs up. "You too, Autumn!"

Autumn left the kitchen to go upstairs to her bathroom and brush her teeth before she would have to leave the house for work.

Within about ten minutes, Damon was alone in the house, besides Ryder the cat who was off somewhere no doubt still sleeping. He took his time to enjoy the rest of his coffee and blood mixture. Before he moved onto rinsing out the mugs, the glass and the plate he and his family had used that morning. He put all of it into the dishwasher that had been emptied out the night before. And made sure to turn off the coffee maker.

His wife and daughter had already left to go to their place of work. So Damon headed up the stairs to shower and get dressed for his own perspective job.

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Autumn now was in the car her parents had bought for her, making her way towards her job as the morning radio hosts of her favorite radio situation discussed the latest happenings and the hottest topics which was occuring in the news around the country and world.

Her weekend had been a relaxing one, besides going out to the grocery store with her Mom on Saturday afternoon, she had spent most of the weekend hanging around at the home she shared with her parents.

Her time hanging around the house had been surfing the internet, playing some video games, watching a little TV and ordering out delivery for dinner on Saturday. While on Sunday she had been the one to cook dinner.

On Sunday, which had been yesterday, she fixed up a nice pot of homemade chicken and rice. The quintessential, hearty, warm meal for days during the fall, where the weather was cooler. She actually had been cooking meals for her family since she was sixteen.

And since she was sixteen, she would pick at least one day out of the week where she would give her parents a break from cooking and she would be the one to cook up the meal. She grew into a better and better cook, with the more meals she made. And homemade chicken and rice had actually become one of her best meals she learned how to fix. As she put her own spin on the recipe.

When her parents told her how delicious her chicken and rice was, she figured they were just being nice to her since she was their child. Yet when she sought out Sidney's opinion, Sidney told her how excellent it was and even asked how exactly she made the chicken and rice.

And Autumn knew Sidney was telling the truth, because if her friend was serious about anything, it was food. And if her chicken and rice was bad or didn't taste so great, Autumn knew she could rely on Sidney to be honest with her.

She guessed her Mom going for seconds of her chicken and rice, during dinner with her parents on Sunday evening, was a testament to her skills in cooking chicken and rice. And Autumn had begun to have some talents for fixing other dishes as well. Cooking was something she actually liked doing and she was always willing to offer a helping hand when it came to chores around the house. Even while other teens or young adults were known for keeping their rooms messy, Autumn had always kept hers tidy and clean throughout her childhood and teenage years. And she made sure to keep a clean bathroom as well.

Pulling into the parking lot of the coffee and bakery shop, Autumn parked her car and turned it off. Getting out of her car, she shut the door, pressing the button to lock it. Then she headed around the back, where she used the back entrance the employees would use to get into the shop when their morning shift started.

Instantaneously, Autumn's senses were hit with the heavenly scents of fresh baked goods and sweets. The bakers always arrived earlier in the morning than the other employees did, to get to work on baking before the coffee and bakery business opened up. And they were making good work of it, as various smells of pastries and sweets filled the air, making Autumn's mouth water despite the fact she had already eaten breakfast. She would make sure to grab a choice of one of the bakery foods before she left for work on this day, since the heavenly scents had put her in the mood for it.

She went over to the room, where the locker rooms for those who worked there were held. She took off her jacket, putting it along with her other belongings in the locker which was designated to her. Everyone who worked there had their own locker to place their belongings in while they were on their shift.

Making sure to secure her apron around her person, Autumn then clocked in, half a minute later, Sidney had clocked in as well. And the two of them went into the back area to gather all they would need to start their shift out front.

The two best friends greeted each other.

"What did you do over the weekend?" Autumn asked.

"I went out to the movies with Brandon on Saturday." Sidney replied. "And yesterday me and the immediate fam went out to dinner, since my mama didn't feel like cooking much. And you?"

"Other than going grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon with my Mom, I spent the majority of it staying at home and chilling out." Autumn shrugged.

They gathered together all they would need to make customers coffee drinks and orders.

Autumn added. "Oh and I fixed dinner for myself and my parents yesterday."

"What was it you cooked up."

"Chicken and rice."

Sidney's eyes brightened up. "Seriously."

Autumn confirmed. "Yep, I made chicken and rice."

Sidney put her hands together, like someone did when they were praying. "Tell me you have some leftovers."

"There's just enough left over for about two bowls and a half."

"Could I have the rest, if you don't mind."

Autumn chuckled. "Sure, I'll bring you the remainder of the chicken and rice tomorrow. You can keep it in the fridge here until you get off tomorrow."

Sidney licked her lips. "Yes, I can practically taste it now!"

Autumn showed amusement. "Never figured I would see someone show so much enthusiasm over chicken and rice before."

"Well, only your chicken and rice." Sidney grinned. "I never knew I could develop a love for such a simple dish until I tasted yours."

Autumn smiled, appreciating the compliment from her best friend.

"So my folks will be at some black tie event tonight." Sidney spoke.

"Mine are too." Autumn put in. "Going to be some fancy event, where they serve up some fancy dinner, apparently some high profile rich people around the area and country will be attending."

They got the tea bags, which included black tea, green tea and some of the herbal tea that some customers loved to buy and drink.

"Since they're going to have dinner at the event, me and Markus will most likely just order a large pizza to share." Sidnay put in.

"Hmmm, I'm not quite sure what I plan on having for dinner later on." Autumn stated. "But, I'll think of something."

"So I'm thinking about moving out." Sidney mentioned.

"You are?"

"The pay here is so good." Sidney implied. "So, I'm planning on saving up enough to eventually move out, just enough for me to be able to rent out an apartment by 2044."

Autumn said in a tone which made it obvious she was kidding around. "Your parents and younger brother getting on your nerves that much?"

Sidney laughed. "Actually, no I love my fam, I really do. The whole idea is to be able to live on my own for a while, before I go off to dance school."

Autumn questioned. "Any dance school in particular you have in mind?

"Julliard is at the top of the list of course. But, there's also others I'm strongly considering, that are not quite as costly as Julliard but they're still just as good and can help me along to have a professional dance career."

"As long as you make the right choice on what's the best fit for you, it's all that matters."

"Correct." Sidney agreed. "Once I live out on my own for a little bit, then I'll start to put in admissions to performance art and dance schools."

"You're going to rock it either way!" Autumn expressed supportively.

Sidney responded in a way which let the friend she saw as a sister know that she appreciated the support.

The two of them moved to the front area, where the customers of the coffee and bakery shop would be served one it opened.

"So, you figure out what you want to do for a career yet?" Sidney inquired.

"Definitely having something to do with my art." Autumn answered.

Autumn had developed a love for art at a young age as a child. At first, her love for art had taken place in her using clay and craft foam to create different sorts and varieties of shapes and structures. However, he interest in art shortly thereafter moved on to drawing. She would draw everything from landscapes, buildings, foods, different items and structures, and would draw famous TV and movie characters. And could draw real life people as well.

And as she kept drawing through her childhood, to teenage to her now youn adult years, she had developed and grown into becoming a very gifted and polished drawer. Her drawings were so talented and life-like, that many people thought they were images which were taken by an actual camera or by some photographer. She developed a love for drawing and creating these images, which was why she hoped to have a career in the particular area relating to art.

"I know that you wish to make a career out of your awesome art skills." Sidney remarked. "Have anything specific in mind though?"

Autumn checked the coffee machines to make sure they were all on, the coffee and bakery shop was a short time away from opening to the morning crowd. "I'm deciding between using my skills and gifts to either go into the movie and TV animation or special effects industry. Or either the videogame industry where characters and whole backgrounds and environments are created by artists."

"Both industries are a hot commodity for artists who know how to draw or paint, since technology makes it so easy for artwork to be transferred over to computers and brought to life."

"You could always do work in both industries if you wished to. Like start in one then move on to the other or alternate." Sidney suggested.

"Yeah, that's true."

"Plus you're only eighteen. You don't have to rush your decision anyway, with your skills and the ever growing technology in both of those industries, you'll have plenty of opportunities, whenever you decide between going into movies, TV, or video games or all of those."

Autumn nodded, her best friend did have a point. "Yeah, there's no rush, My Mom and Dad both advised me to take all of the time I need to pick how I want to make ends meet. Just to make sure I work in a field in which I love, much like they're doing with their jobs and careers. They told me I could live at home for as long as I needed to in order to decide what career path I want to take in life. You know how some parents kick their children out of house and home as soon as they turn eighteen?"

Sidney arranged the tea. "Yes, I know how those types of parents work, even though mine or yours aren't like that."

Autumn shifted the sugars and creams which would be used to flavor the coffee orders. "They told me I could take my time and aren't pressuring me to decide before I'm ready to. And it makes me feel better not to be rushed or pressured to move out or live on my own just yet. I actually like living with my parents. So, I'm going to work here for a few years longer since the pay is so decent. Then move forward to the next step of earning a career as an artist creator in one of the industries I mentioned."

Sidney pointed out. "You have all of the time in the world, you are immortal after all."

"I am immortal."

"By the way, who was that man you were talking with the other night?"

"What man?"

Sidney hinted. "The guy sitting with you at the table, at the Halloween party, who got up and walked away when Brandon and I approached."

"Who?" Autumn pretended to be clueless.

Sidney put her hand on her hip, giving Autumn a certain look. "Girl, don't try playing that with me."

Autumn just snorted.

"The tall fella, with blond hair, he was in a leather jacket and looked as if he hadn't been out in the sunlight in a decade."

"Oh him."

"Yes, him." Sidney nudged her friend with her elbow. "Tell me why he was sitting with you."

Autumn's mind went back to the night she met and interacted with the man who happened to be a vampire, who called himself Eric.

Autumn sighed. "He approached me, asked if he could join me at the table to keep me company and I told him I didn't mind."

"I see, so he was interested in you."

"Why would you say that?"

Sidney gestured. "A man doesn't approach a woman he doesn't know the manner you explained, unless he is interested."

"Well, if you put it like that." Autumn arched a brow.

"What did you talk about with the tall blond stranger?" Sidney pondered.

"Just random and different stuff." Autumn responded.

Sidney said nothing, yet was curious for her best friend to tell her more.

Autumn added. "The conversation between me and him just flowed easily and comfortably. It's never always like that with most of the people I just meet."

"Because it takes you a while to warm up to some people." Sidney understood what she meant.

"Exactly."

"Yet, you warmed up to the tall blond stranger easily and comfortably as you put it."

"I did."

"So, how do you exactly feel about this tall blonde stranger?"

Autumn emphasized with her hand. "The tall blonde stranger gave me a name, he said it was Eric. He gave me his name after he asked me about my name."

Sidney pressed. "Eric who?"

Autumn humped up her shoulders. "He didn't give me his last name, come to think about it, I didn't give him mine either, just my first."

Sidney asked. "So then how do you exactly feel about this Eric?"

Autumn recalled memories of the night which was two days ago. She recalled her thoughts and feelings surrounding meeting with and talking to this Eric for the first time.

"He's cool, I guess."

"Seems more than just cool, it seems like you were getting rather cozy and comfortable in conversation with him, when Brandon and I were about to come over."

Autumn cleared her throat. "Oh my God, Sid, must we talk about this here, we're about to open."

Sidney raised both of her brows. "There's still a few minutes left before we open, more than enough time to tell me about this new man who entered into your life."

Autumn muttered with some shyness. "I just talked with him for a while for one night, it doesn't mean he's going to be some new man in my life."

Placing her hand on her hip once more, Sidney gave her best friend a certain gaze.

"Oh my God, What!" Autumn blew out a breath.

"I know that look."

"What look?"

"The look a woman gets when she really enjoys being within the company of a certain man and you seem to have the look with that Eric guy. Come on, Autumn, you're my girl, so you know you can be honest with me."

The corner of Autumn's lips tilted upward. "Alright, so I'll admit there's something I liked about him."

Sidney said in a tone in the common way two women friends discussed men or more specifically the more they found to be some sort of interests in their lives. "Do tell me more.."

Autumn smiled rather warmly. "We sort of clicked, you know in a way I can't explain but we clicked."

"Clicked enough where you hope to be able to meet with him again, so you could click some more.?"

"I don't know...maybe."

"Just maybe?"

Autumn laughed. "I mean it would be nice to see him or meet with him again, I guess."

Sidney commented. "Oh, you'll see him again."

Autumn arched a brow. "How do you figure I'll see Eric again."

"Because that's what happens when two people are meant to be in each other's lives. There's some fate or circumstance which brings them together to cause them to meet. And then the next thing you know there's in a close relationship of some sort."

"Ah, so you're saying this Halloween Party on Friday night is some sort of fate which caused me to meet with him."

"Yes."

"Okay."

Sidney grinned. "Plus, if he's as into you as he seems to be, I'm sure this Eric will make sure to work his way into your presence once more, in one way or the other."

The other corner of Autumn's lip tilted upward. "You really believe that he's into me."

"On some level, definitely, he wouldn't have approached you otherwise if he wasn't."

Autumn figured Sidney did have a point about Eric. She didn't know much about him and yet he didn't seem like the type of man who would just walk up to a random woman and ask to join her for company.

"Anyway since I saw you talking with some guy I didn't know, I was just curious as to what happened or why he approached you. Which was why I asked."

"I don't mind you asking at all, you know I see you as my sister and trust you with subjects of this matter when it comes to my life."

Sidney gave a nod. "I know, Aut, because I see you as my sister as well."

"And it's because I trust you that I'm going to tell you something else."

"Which is?"

Looking around, Autumn checked to make sure no one else was in listening or ear distance of them. The Bakers were putting their freshly baked goods and sweets into the display case for the customers to see, choose from and buy.

Gloria Kline was off with Adam Lee getting the cash register ready for his shift. But, they all were far off enough where Autumn felt confident enough they wouldn't hear what she was about to tell Sidney next.

"He's a vampire."

"A what." Sidney whispered as she wanted to make sure she heard correctly since Autumn had said it so low.

"Eric's a vampire." Autumn repeated under her breath.

"Oh wow."

"Yep."

Sidney kept her voice low so the conversation could only be heard between the two of them. "So, that's why he seemed super pale. Like slightly paler even than a normal person of this skin tone would be."

Autumn whispered. "Yeah it would most likely explain why he looks like he hasn't spent much time in the sunlight. It's where I was when you texted me Friday night, I'd just discovered he's a vampire and I revealed to him I wasn't afraid or surprised because I'm one as well."

"Oh wow." Sidney repeated. "This development is something else."

"It is." Autumn said. "Maybe his being a vampire had something to do with why I find him to be appealing right off."

"You find him appealing do you." Sidney raised both eyebrows again.

Autumn admitted. "This Eric is into me at least somewhat, and I like him on some level, just made Friday interesting."

Sidney teased. "Now when you say you like him how much of a like and what time of like are we talking about?"

The witch-vampire hybrid opened her mouth, preparing to give an answer. However the door signal charmed, which meant the shop was now open. Autumn turned to see the first of the morning rush of customers beginning to enter into the place.

"Whoops we're open now." Autumn said coyly. "So I can't answer that just yet."

Sidney laughed letting the topic drop. "Okay, let's get to work."

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Lots of people hated Mondays, they hated Mondays because it was the start of a long work week. And those who dreaded or disliked having to go to work looked at Mondays with disappointment.

Damon was different however, he didn't mind Mondays or the start of the work week at all. And it had a ton to do with the fact that he enjoyed working his job as a bartender and running his own business. There was a different demeanor to those who enjoyed their work as he so often did.

And he kept his promise, the one he made if he was ever fortunate enough to have his dreams of owning his own bar become true. As part boss of his business, he treated those who worked with him under him, with dignity and respect. And he, along with Stone made sure they were paid very well. Well enough to be able to pay their bills, keep a roof over their head and support their family for those who had one. And well enough where they could spend money on whatever they enjoyed or had fun doing.

It was why S&M Bar & Restaurant had multiple people who had worked there for years. They got paid well, got benefits like health insurance for themselves and their families and were treated with dignity and respect by the business owners. Those were all key factors in keeping around dedicated, hard working people.

Damon was dedicated and hard working himself when it came to the upkeep of the bar and restaurant. Especially on the bar side of the business which he was mostly in control of. He, as the head bartender, had hired other bartenders, who would either work the bar with him or they would bartend on another shift which he wasn't working or the days he happened to be off.

He used the years to his advantage to gather up a rather impressive list of regular patrons, who would often come when they knew he was on shift or working that particular day. His enthusiasm for the job, combined with his charisma, combined with his bartending skills, made for many loyal patrons, who by word of mouth recommended S&M Bar and Restaurant to out of state visitors, or those who were out of town and attending the area for some reason or the other.

This meant Damon often could be able to bring in five hundred to one thousand tips per shift he worked on average. And on the really successful shifts, he could even get more than one thousand in tips. The tips, combined with the money he made as part owner of the business, made for one hefty salary and bank account. He necessarily didn't need a job since he was pretty well off money wise before he decided to try having his own bar, but he wanted this particular job. Which meant earning money doing something he loved happened to be a huge bonus.

Another bonus of owning a business, was him being able to set and make his own hours. S&M operated from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 a m. Sunday through Thursday. And 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Damon mostly would work from 9:30 in the morning to about or around 5:00 in the evenings. He would get to work between 9: 30 and 10:00 a.m.. Because even though his business didn't open until eleven in the afternoon, there was prep and preparation he and others needed to perform before S&M opened its doors to patrons and customers.

The decision to arrive between nine thirty and ten a.m., altered depending on how many tasks he needed to get done before the business opened for the day. On some days he needed to perform more tasks than others.

He did occasionally work on weekends, and would sometimes bartend on the night shift. But the majority of the time, he worked from 9:30 to around 5:00 on the weekdays. Although he sometimes worked until six or seven o'clock in the evening, if S&M was super swamped and busy, which sometimes happened. Especially if there were some big event or occurrence happening in the area, which brought in people from out of state or brought in tourists. And if he needed to work overtime, he would always call Bonnie to inform her that he would be late.

However, this was a day in which he knew he wasn't going to be late. He would be getting off at 4:00 this evening, so he would be able to go home early and get ready for the black tie event in which he would be attending with Bonnie tonight.

He'd come into S&M at 9:40 and had spent the time checking notes and documents. And doing all of the tasks a bartender needed to do before they would open up their bar to awaiting patrons. Everybody who worked the afternoon to evening shift was doing their duty. The bartenders, waiters, waitresses, chefs, cooks, and the others who worked there, all were busily preparing for S&M Bar & Restaurant to open.

Damon was busy behind the bar, highly focused on getting ready to perform the skill of the job he had gotten so good at.

Stone Madison, the other man who owned S&M approached the other side of the bar. "Think you'll need me to help bartend today?"

Damon looked up from what he was doing, towards Stone. "No, I think Randall James and I will have the bar handled for today."

Randall James was a black man who had worked at the bar and restaurant for years. And he would often assist Damon or bartend on the same shift Damon was bartending on. Which happened to be the case today.

"Alright, then." Stone nodded. "Guess that means I'll spend all shift today managing the restaurant side."

"Okay." Damon nodded in return.

Stone turned to walk away.

"Hey, Stone." Damon called out.

"Yeah?" Stone turned back to face Damon.

"What are your plans for Thanksgiving?" Damon asked.

Stone put his hands into his pockets. "Well, me and Astrid would either normally go to my parents house in Fredericksburg or we would fly to her parents home outside of Chicago. But, my parents are going to be going on vacation during this Thanksgiving and Astrid said she wasn't really in the mood to fly out for Thanksgiving this year."

Astrid, Damon knew, was Stone's wife.

"So you and Astrid are staying home then?"

"I mean the plan this year was for the two of us just to have a small Thanksgiving dinner together, why?"

Damon checked to make sure all of the glasses were clean. "Bon and I are getting together all of the guests who are going over to our house for Thanksgiving. You think that Astrid and you would want to come?"

Stone ran a hand over his bearded chin. "The plan was for me and her to just spend Thanksgiving together, but that was before you offered us your place to come over. I'm sure Astrid would love to have it at your place since it's still close and there's no need to fly, I'll ask her."

Damon prompted. "What about you, would you like to have Thanksgiving at my house?"

"Man, I would actually like to have Thanksgiving at your house." Stone said lightly. "But, you know the wife has to decide."

Damon chuckled as his mind fondly thought of his own wife. "I know exactly what you mean, I can relate to you there."

Stone added. "I have a feeling she'll say yes, but I'll still have to make sure of that."

"No problem." Damon said.

"If me in Astrid come over, could my sister and nephew come over as well?" Stone inquired. "They would normally have Thanksgiving with my Ma and Pa, yet won't be able to since as I said, they're not going to be in town during Thanksgiving week."

"Sure, if you and Astrid come over to Thanksgiving at my home, then your sister and nephew can join us for Thanksgiving as well." Damon commented. "Bonnie and I are just getting a feel of how many guests we'll be having over."

"Astrid is working here today." Stone stated. "So, I'll let you know her answer before you get off of your shift."

Astrid was not only Stone Madison's wife, but she was also a chef who had graduated from one of the best culinary schools. And she had been the head chef of S&M for almost seven years. Astrid and Stone knew each other since their high school years, ended up falling in love then getting married.

"How convenient." Damon responded in knowing Astrid was on shift for the day.

"It is, I'm going to check on Astrid and the other cooks in the kitchen, make sure they have everything they need before we open." Stone said.

"Go ahead, as I said Randall and I have the bar handled for today." Damon returned.

Stone turned and headed towards the kitchen area.

Damon along with Randall James, then continued to prepare the bar to serve customers. They were sharing small talk, as the door handle of the front door of the establishment jiggled, as if someone were trying to open it, yet found it locked.

Both Damon and Randall James turned to see a white man, about medium build, with sandy brown hair and gray hair, standing at the door. The door was a little ways away from where the bar area was. Yet they could see him from where they were, since the door was glass and see through.

"Doesn't he realize we're not open yet." Randall spoke watching as the man tried the door handle again.

"He should." Damon checked his watch for the time.

The man tapped on the glass, then cupped his face in his hands, pressing them to the door like he was trying to see if someone was inside.

"Maybe he got the time wrong or is confused as to when we open." Randall mumbled perplexed.

"Our operating hours are right on the door." Damon gestured. "Let him stand there for a little while longer, he'll get the point we're not open yet."

But, the man in the sandy brown hair, just kept either trying the door handle or tapping on the glass, as if he was trying to get the attention of those who were inside.

"I don't think he's getting the point." Randall said. "You want me to go tell him?"

"No, you stay here and finish getting the bar ready. I'll go and let him know." Damon mused.

Leaving the bar area, Damon walked over to the front door, where the man of medium build was still standing.

A look off relief appeared on the man's face as he spotted Damon. He waved a hand for Damon to come over.

Damon walked, until he was standing right before the man, with the glass door between them.

"Could you let me in?" The man asked.

"We don't open for another twenty minutes." Damon let the man know.

"I'm not here to eat or drink and I'm not here as a customer." The man's deep southern accent came through as he spoke.

"If you're not here as a customer, then what are you here for?"

"I'm here because I need to talk to a manager who owns this place."

Damon mentioned. "I'm part owner of this place, what do you need to talk to me about?"

The man drawled. "My name is Jasper, I came here to see if you could give me an occupation here."

"Sorry, Jasper." Damon shifted his weight on his feet. "But, most of our essential positions here are filled right now and we aren't really hiring, perhaps you could come back in a few weeks and we might be hiring then."

Jasper frowned. "But, I really need some work right now, it can't wait a few weeks, I got bills to pay and only about one month's worth of money left in my bank account."

Damon signed. "I don't know, have you tried everywhere."

Jasper rattled out. "I've been putting in applications all over the county for weeks, no one won't call me and none seem to want to hire me. Yet I know that I'm a good worker. If you would please just give me a chance at S&M Bar & Restaurant, you won't regret it."

Damon considered as he studied Jasper to try and get a feel of the man's personality and whether or not to give him the position at S&M he had requested.

"Please." Jasper begged. "I'm really in a bad way to earn some money."

The man looked desperate enough, as someone who was at the end of his rope. So Damon guessed it wouldn't hurt to hear what Jasper had to offer and decide from there.

"Alright, I'll give you an interview." Damon unlocked the glass door. "It will have to be quick as we open shortly."

"I owe you one." Jasper breathed out in relief.

"That all depends on whether or not I actually hire you." Damon opened the door and gestured Jasper inside.

Stepping in with his cowboy boots, Jasper looked around, as Damon locked the glass door back.

"Let's just sit over here." Damon signaled with his hand to the nearest table.

Jasper took a seat.

And Damon took a seat across from him. ""What position are you exactly interested in, Jasper."

Jasper's knee shook, as he tapped his cowboy boots on the floor. "I figured I could work here as a barkeeper maybe."

Damon rested his elbows on the table. "And do you have any experience in barkeeping?"

"Not really." Jasper answered honestly.

"I take that as a no." Damon said dryly.

"I'll admit I've never worked as a barkeep before." Jasper responded with honesty. "But my last name is Merlotte."

"Not familiar with that name." Damon mused.

Jasper went on. "As in Sam Merlotte."

Damon shook his head. "Still don't recall meeting or knowing anyone with the last name Merlotte. For sure know I never met anyone named Sam Merlotte."

Jasper explained. "You see, Sam Merlotte is my Uncle and I'm Jasper Merlotte."

"And what does that have to do with bartending exactly?"

"My Uncle used to own a bar and eatery down in Louisiana."

"Oh and you worked at this bar and eatery?"

"Actually, I didn't, he signed it over to different owners in order to become Mayor. But. I thought if he could own a bar, then I could follow in his footsteps to be able to barkeep or something like it."

Damon pondered. "Just to clarify, you never actually bartender before."

Jasper confirmed. "No, I haven't. But, I feel here is as good a place as any to start."

"This may disappoint you, but I can't give you a bartending job here while knowing you've never had one. It may look like an easy job but it's not. At least not without experience." Damon emphasized. "I can't risk putting anyone behind my bar who doesn't know what they're doing. There's a certain art to barkeeping. And if one screws it up then the customer who got their drink screwed or messed over, will feel like going elsewhere the next time they want to go to a bar for a drink. I only hire the best tenders for my bar. So for that reason, I won't hire you here as a bartender."

"But, I really need to find some work." Jasper nearly pouted.

"Which is why I'm going to offer you another position here, even though we're not exactly hiring at the moment." Damon remarked. "Even though this position is already filled, we could always use an extra hand at bussing tables and washing dishes, especially during the evening to night shifts and sometimes on weekends if you're willing to work those."

"Bust tables, washing dishes, is that the only position you have for me?" Jasper made a face.

Damon leaned across the table. "It's the only opening that would possibly be available for now, unless you want to try to come back in a few weeks to see what else is available. You can either take it or leave it, but I'll let you know the pay is very decent, even for our employees who bust tables and washes dishes."

Jasper decided. "I'll take it, it's better than nothing."

"Good, then go to our website and fill out an application there. Once it's filled and you meet all the requirements needed for us to hire you, then you can start working at S&M in about a week."

"I'm going to go and fill out that application as soon as I can."

Damon kept his tone in the respectful manner in which he talked to those who worked with and under him at S&M. "Tell you what, if you show up to work on time, on the days that you're on shift and if you prove to me that you're a hard and dedicated worker, who treats the others who work here with respect. And if you work here hard enough at S&M, then there's always a chance you could get promoted from dishwasher to something else."

Jasper moved his head up and down. "Got it."

Damon rose. "And if you give me a couple of solid years of work, then I'll even consider training you for a bartending position."

Jasper's ears perked up. "Really?"

Damon stated. "It's something I'll strongly consider but again it's all up to you and how you show me how hard of a worker you are."

"I'll be one of the best workers you have." Jasper stood to his feet. "You won't regret hiring me, Mr?"

"Mr. Salvatore." Damon said. "Although I wouldn't mind if you called me Damon."

"Damon, you have yourself a deal." Jasper saluted.

"Great." Damon worked towards the glass door. "I'll see you out now, we're about to open and I have a shift to get ready for."

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The shift went by rather quickly for Damon, before he knew it, four 'o clock had come and it was time for him to go home, to get ready for the black tie event slash ball he and Bonnie would be attending.

When he turned into the driveway of their home, he could see how Bonnie had already beat him home, from how her car was parked in the driveway. There was a paved section on the side of the driveway, a short walking distance from the entrance of the house. This paved section was wide enough to fit about five cars into. While the long driveway in it's in entirety could probably fit about ten to fifthteen cars in total.

Damon parked his car in the side section right next to Bonnie's. Then he turned off the engine and stepped out of the car. He walked over to the front door of the house, grabbing his house keys out of his pockets.

Making his way inside of the house, he locked the door behind him. HImself, Bonnie, and Autumn were the only ones who had the keys to the house. Stepping into the vast entranceway, he called out for Bonnie, but there was no answer. So he figured she had to be in another section of the house. And the house being so big meant that a person could call out for someone in one part of the house and not be heard in another.

It was the reason why their home had intercom speakers to be able to reach and talk to each other. Instead of using the intercom speaker to try and find out where in the house Bonnie was, he went into the kitchen. He wanted some much needed blood before he would begin to get ready for the black tie event.

So he grabbed a couple of blood bags and drank the blood straight from the blood without bothering to put it into a different container to consume. Once both blood bags were drained and in his system. Damon felt a renewed burst of energy.

For his next move, he made his way upstairs, into the large master bedroom he shared with his wife. Speaking of his wife, he knew exactly where she was now, as he could hear the shower running in the connecting master bathroom, which was almost as large as the master bedroom was. So he knew she had her mind set on currently showering.

The both of them had taken showers earlier in the morning, as they would only take one shower per day on most days. Unless they had to go out to a special event or dinner during the evening or night, as they were about to attend the black tie event. Then they would often shower again on these occasions.

Bonnie especially preferred to jump into the shower again for special occasions, or as she would like to call if freshen up. When freshening up, she didn't spend as long of a time in the shower as she had during her morning showers. Her morning showers could last anywhere from ten to almost twenty minutes. While her freshen up showers lasted only for five minutes, just long enough for her body to have that fresh, clean feeling of those special events.

And since Bonnie already had the shower running, Damon figured he ought to join her to freshen up himself. Or to do as he put it, conserve water. So, he took off his shoes and put them at the foot of the bed. Then he removed the clothes he had on for the day. Which was a navy blue v neck shirt, dark blue jeans, and blue boxer briefs. He removed them all and tossed them into the dirty clothes hamper.

Naked he stepped into the master bathroom. Their large bathroom contained a long counter, which had a number of their toiletries stored on it, the counter also contained two sinks, which were next to each other one was for him and the other for her. And above the sink counter was a mirror which stretched the length of the counter. There was also a cabinet beneath the sink where they put any extra bathroom items and toiletries which wouldn't fit on the counter.

Off to the side of the counter was a tall cabinet which they used to put all of their towels and wash clothes in. Then on the other side of this master bathroom contained a large triangle shaped jacuzzi tub. Then there was a separate regular style bathroom tub. And the big stepped in shower which was big enough to fit several people in at the same time. Off into the corner of this bathroom, was a door that had the small room which contained the toilet.

They spared no expenses when they came up with the floor plan for their home. And took extra care to make sure they had the master bedroom and bathroom they wanted. And because of that and how the master bedroom and bath was still one of Damon's favorite parts of their home.

In the stand in shower, he could see the silhouette of Bonnie's nude from through the frosted glass door. He went over to his side of the counter, quickly using his sink to brush his teeth and rinse out his mouth with mouthwash. Then he made his way over to the shower, as steam started to flow around the area of the shower, fogging up the shower's glass door.

He slid open the back end of the sliding glass door, stepped in, sliding back the door shut. He then turned to face his wife. He connected immediately how she must have just stepped into the shower just a minute ago, as she had the hot water flowing over her body, yet hadn't lathered up or put soap on her body just yet.

She still had her back to him, yet he knew she was aware of the fact of his presence joining her in the shower. He took the time to allow his eyes to scan up and down her naked back. And couldn't help but to become instantly rock hard when his eyes landed on her plump, perfectly round rear end.

Her incredible body had been yet another reason he worshipped the very essence of this woman in so many ways. He always found himself wanting her and desiring her no matter how many times he had her before. He would worship and pay special attention to every inch of her body from head to toe, much to her delight. And had been grateful for the fact of her wanting and desiring him and his body as much as he wanted hers. Bonnie gave equally which meant she would often worship and pay special attention to his body as much as he did to her. It was one of although not the only reason for why their marriage was still going strong and steady after all of this time.

He intended just to join her in the shower, to wash himself off, in order to save some time. However, seeing her perfect ass had put him in the mood. As evident by the raging hard on he now had.

He stepped up behind her, massaging her shoulders, then her back with his bare hands. Stilling from what she was about to do, Bonnie sighed in content at the feeling of his hands upon her wet skin. She had been just a few seconds away from reaching for the soap to begin lathering it up on her body. Yet could see her husband had different ideas. And suddenly she wasn't in quite big of a rush to take a quick shower. The same ideas as her husbands formed into her mind as he continued to massage her back with his hands.

He stepped closer to her, intentionally pressing his hard on against her, to let her realize exactly what she was doing to him. She felt the hard on against her backside, instantly feeling the familiar liquid of arousal flow between her legs, as her body reacted to the intincing offering his gave to her's.

In return, she leaned back into him, intentionally grinding her backside against his hard on, which caused a verbal groan on pleasure to escape from his lips. A sound which made her smirk, as she very well knew of his desire for her and how she could make his essence tremble from the need he had for her. And the thought of that thrilled her.

They would often find themselves in this position of craving each other. And acting out on that craving by having sex, making love, and fucking for whatever they were in the mood for at the time. Sometimes it had been sweet, tender, and slow. At other times fast paced, passionate and a little rough. They did it in different ways, different positions, yet the result would always be them climaxing and being in awe of their sexual hunger and appetite for each other, which never faltered and never went away.

They had been together now for over two decades, yet their sexual drive and sexual needs for the other, was just as powerful as it had been in 2018 when they first made love. In the present, they didn't make love or have sex every single day, at times they would just cuddle or hold each other and talk.

Still their sex drive had them going at it multiple times per week. At times, they would be making love or having some sort of sexual intercourse or contact five or six times per week. Even multiple times in one day or night.

Their lust and hunger for each other, just like their love was unrelenting, unyielding, never ending like an immovable force. And even if a thousand years pass by, they were sure they would never stop wanting each other, just as they would never stop loving each other.

He moved his hands down her back, to her sides, around to her front and up, until he cupped her breast into his hands, which was as equally flawless as her ass was to him. He brushed his thumb over her nipple which were pebbled from her arousal and felt her body shudder in response.

Leaning back against him more, she closed her eyes, as now her own groan of pleasure slipped from her lips. This freshen up shower would wind up taking more than five minutes, yet she didn't mind at all. She could kill two birds with one stone, have some quick mind blowing sex with her husband and then freshen up her body.

She maneuvered herself until she was facing forward, face to face with him. In her green eyes, he could see the yearning that matched his own. He pressed his lips to hers, and could taste the minty freshness of her breath, he realized she must have brushed her teeth as well before she stepped into the shower.

The two of them wasted no time, he was stiff hard, and she was wet with arousal. They knew they needed to get ready to go to the event. Yet their desire and horniness for the other took top priority. He backed her into the shower wall, she hitched herself up, locking her legs around his waist.

With one quick movement, he thrusted his cock into her warm, dripping wet walls. And they both in unison, groaned out in pleasure from the contact. He supported her weight in his arms, as he back rested against the shower wall and began to thrust.

And there in the shower, as the steam and hot water ran around them, poured over them, they gave into the unrelenting, unyielding, never ending lust and hunger they had for each other. The sounds of flesh slapping against flesh echoed in the shower, as he thrusted up into her and she grinded down on him. As they both made vocal sounds of ecstasy.

They went at it like this for a few minutes, until the walls of her pussy clenched around him, causing her to cry out as she oragasmed. He joined her seconds later with his own oragasm. Bracing his hand tightly against the wall, next to her head as he released himself inside of her.

He then slipped out of her, lowering her until her feet touched the shower floor. Then they took a moment to catch their breath with their foreheads pressed together.

Once she had caught her breath, Bonnie reached for her wash cloth. "Now we wash up."

"Now we wash up." Damon agreed.

She motioned with her hand. "Could you hand me the soap?"

He reached over to where she had kept her brand of soap, handed it to her. He then grabbed his own wash cloth and the male scented body wash which he used.

"I wash your back, you wash mine." Damon suggested.

"Sounds like an agreement." Bonnie told him with a chuckle.

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Once they had lathered up with soap and bodywash, washed up, rinsed off and then dried their bodies. They went right to the mission of getting themselves prepared and ready for the ball they were going to attend.

Bonnie applied some lotion and body cream to her form, after she had put on a clean set of bra and panties. She then put on her dress and did her hair and make up. Damon applied some manly lotion of his own to himself, as he put on some clean, fresh boxer briefs and a white t-shirt. Then he put on his dress pants and dress shirt, for the tux he would be wearing to the ball. And he made sure his hair was put together.

Bonnie dabbed on some perfume, before she moved to sit on the edge of the bed, where she put on some knee high stockings, followed by her high heeled shoes. Sitting next to her, Damon put on his dress socks, followed by his dress shoes.

As he sat next to her, he took in her appearance. She had on a form fitting dress, the length up which came all of the way down until it stopped just below the top part of her calves. The dress was formal, elegant, a shade of purple that reminded him of lavender. And she had the high heel shoes to match her dress.

"You look absolutely, stunningly, gorgeous." He complimented.

"And you're." Her eyes scanned over him, in his suit. "Look incredibly handsome!"

He adjusted his tie. "Are you ready to go?"

She checked her ear rings to make sure that they were secure in her ear. "Just a second."

Bonnie rose and headed over to her big walk in closet. They each had a walk in closet of their own, that was right next to each other. She searched through the side of the closet which had all of her dresses, gowns, and formal wear. Her closet was organized in three sections. One section held her business suits, the other all of her dresses, gowns, and formal wear. And one section she put all of her casual and everyday types of clothes and shoes.

Damon's walk in was organized in a similar way, with one part containing all of his tuxedos, dress pants and shirts, dress shoes and suits. And the other containing his more casual clothes and shoes. They also had a big dresser in the bedroom where they each had drawers for their underwear, undergarments, socks, and some of their other clothes.

Bonnie pulled out a long, stylish, dress coat. Then grabbed a handbag. She put on her dress coat. Walking back into the bedroom area to see Damon had gotten to his feet. And had put his tuxedo jacket on.

"Now, I'm ready." She let him know.

"We can take your car." Damon informed. "I'll drive."

"That's fine." Bonnie said.

Together, the couple made their way down the stairs and towards the front door. Bonnie gave him the keys to her car, as Damon opened the front door.

There was their daughter, Autumn standing there, with the house key in her hand, preparing to use it to unlock the door, but they had opened it before she had to do that. And they were leaving just as she was arriving back home.

Autumn's eyes bounced back and forth between her two parents as she took in their state of dress. "You two are about to go?"

"We are." Bonnie directed. "Do you have dinner taken care of for yourself?"

"I do." Autumn nodded. "I'll either whip up something that's quick to fix or will figure something else out, but yes I can handle dinner for myself tonight."

"We don't know exactly what time we'll be back." Damon directed towards Autumn. "But, it should at least be by ten tonight."

"Okay, Dad." Autumn returned.

The parents and daughter exchanged a bye, before parting ways.

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Autumn strolled into the living room area with a bag, she had stopped by the art supply store after she had gotten off from work and had brought some more drawing supplies and utensils. As she had wanted to walk on some new drawings once she had gotten home from being off from work.

Autumn placed the bag of drawing utensils and supplies onto the coffee table. This was when Ryder, her pet cat had approached her.

"There you are, Ryder. I've missed you." Autumn greeted.

Ryder returned the sentiment with a meow.

"So, what did you do today, mostly lounge around the house? I take it."

Ryder just blinked at her expectantly.

"I know that look." Autumn laughed slightly. "You want to eat, don't you."

The cat blinked his eyes at her again.

"Come on." Autumn gestured. "I'll feed you."

Ryder gladly followed Autumn to where his food bowl rested. She scooped up some of the premium cat kibble that he loved enough for the bow to be filled. Just enough to satisfy his appetite for the rest of the day. Once his bowl was full, Ryder trotted over to it to have his meal.

As her cat feasted on his meal, Autumn went up the stairs and into her room. There she took off her work clothes, folding them neatly and placing them onto a dresser drawer for her to wear the next day. She wanted to get changed out of her work clothes, into her casual comfortable clothes before she went on about the remainder of the evening and night.

She pulled on a pair of cozy sweatpants, then proceeded to her dresser where her jewelry box was. Autumn Bennett Salvatore wasn't a woman who made a big deal out of wearing jewelry. She rarely wore jewelry unless the occasion was a very special one or unless she had to dress up.

Yet there were a couple of pieces of jewelry in which she made an expectation to and that she wore often. Which was her daylight ring her mother had made and spelled for her. And another piece of jewelry within the Bennett Witch bloodline.

This jewelry box contained those very special, sentimental pieces of jewels in which Autumn held dear to her heart. Autumn opened up the box and peered inside of it. Inside were some of her daylight rings, the ones she had worn when she was younger as a child, yet had outgrown them. She still held onto them, because they were still important to her, because her Mom had spelled all of them for her. She had received a new daylight ring from her Mom when she was sixteen. But the ones she had outgrown or used to have on still were important to her because of who spelled them.

The other sentimental gem she always kept safe in the box, was a necklace pendant. But this pendant wasn't just any random pendant, brought from any random jewelry store. This pendant was one in which Sheila Bennett had owned and made herself. This pendant was one in which Sheila had given to Autumn's Mom, Bonnie for meaningful purposes.

Sheila Bennett had given the pendant to Bonnie, with the request that Bonnie would give it to her daughter on her seventeenth birthday. And Bonnie's daughter turned out of course to be Autumn herself. Autumn could still remember the teary eyed expression in her mother's eyes as she had given her the pendant when she had turned seventeen. There was a mixture of sadness, yet there was also joy and a sense of pride there. As Autumn could tell how much it meant to her Mom to be able to give her the special gift that Grams had made.

Picking up the oval shaped pendant, Autumn allowed it to dangle between her fingers as she studied it. Her Mom had told her a ton of stories about Grams. Bonnie had told Autumn all about how her Grams was there for her and how she received support and love from her Grams during some of the biggest moments of her teenage life. And because she knew of how important her Grams was to her Mom, Autumn would often listen in awe at the stories her Mom would tell about Sheila Bennett.

Autumn tried to learn as much as she could about her great grandmother, through reading her great grandmother's grimoires and notes. To listening to stories from her Mom, to flipping through the photographs of Sheila Bennett, a lot of which included Sheila and Bonnie in her teenage years in the photographs together. All Autumn had to do was look at the photos of her great grandmother and her Mom to tell how much love had been there between the two.

Autumn only wished she could have met Sheila Bennett person to person, face to face. There was so much Autumn would have loved to know and learn from her great grandmother. Yet all she could do now was help carry on the legacy of Sheila Bennett as her Mom had been doing for years.

It was the very reason why Autumn had so often worn the pendant her great grandmother had given to her Mom, to give to her as a gift. The pendant which was handed down to her, was something very dear and precious to Autumn's heart because of who it had come from and because of how it was handed down to her.

Because of how remarkable and special the pendent was to her, Autumn had been super careful never to lose it and super careful to take care of it. This pendant was as equally important and meaningful to her as the daylight rings were. And it was meaningful to her mother as well, which was why Autumn treasured it so.

She flipped the pendant around so that the back of it flipped towards her. On the back was an inscription, an inscription from Sheila Bennett.

The inscription read. For my Great Granddaughter, with love from Shelia "Grams" Bennett.

Running her finger over the engraving, Autumn said softly to herself. "Same to you. Great Grams." She then put the pendant on, snapping it around the back of her neck and letting the oval shaped pendant fall against her chest.

Autumn retrieved her Virginia Tech hoodie from where she had all of her hoodies stored away in her room, She was a big fan of the Virginia Tech sports programs and closely followed all of their sports teams. Especially when it came to their college football and basketball teams.

She pulled the hoodie over her head, once she had in on, she felt warm and cozy in her sweatpants and hoodie. She then headed back down the stairs to focus on something which she enjoyed doing very much.

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The vampire and witch married couple made their way in Bonnie's car to the destination of the black tie ball event. Bonnie's car happened to be one of the latest higher end make and models. Her car was highly computerized, with all of the latest features and technologies in which cars and vehicles of this particular era had. Everything for the past decade has experienced a steady technology boom. And cars and vehicles were no different.

Her car which had the latest updated features, also included a mode where it could drive itself, without the driver having to touch the wheel. The driver would either say where they wanted to go or type in the address into the car's GPS system and the car would take them there. Although Bonnie had yet to use this feature and still took care of driving herself around in her car.

Damon had to end up eventually ditching the powder blue old model Camaro he loved so much. There was only so long a car that old could last, even with mechanics taking car of it. Damon had however brought new cars from himself to drive over the years. He would buy a car, have it for about five or so years, then trade it in for the newest model or make of the next car he wanted.

The latest model he owned was a 2041 Camaro, which had an awesome futuristic design to it. And also donned the latest technologies and features in which all vehicles of that area had. Now, however, he was driving Bonnie's car, with her next to him in the passenger's seat.

The black tie ball event was being held in one of the more populated sections of the area and was taking place in some upscale hotel's ballroom. Damon turned into the hotel, which had a large paved path, in which curved around to where the hotel stood about forty stories tall.

There was a line of cars and vehicles in this curved pathway. As they all were waiting to be valet parked. Instead of having to park their cars themselves, all of the event's guests would have their cars parked into the parking lot by the valets who were on duty for the black tie event that night.

Damon and Bonnie had to wait a few minutes as they inched their way up in her car. Eventually, Damon pulled next to the spot where a valet was standing. The valet took pictures of the car, as Damon stepped out of it. Another valet opened the passenger's side door for Bonnie. As the one who had taken pictures of Damon's car approached Damon.

The valet gave a ticket to Damon, which would be used to let the guests know their particular vehicles were ready to be driven away, once they left the event. The valet gave Damon a polite nod, moving around to the driver's side to drive Bonnie's car away to park into the hotel's parking lot.

Maneuvering his way around, Damon reached out to Bonnie, who had been standing waiting for him on the sidewalk. The two of them held hands as they joined the line of formally dressed men and women heading inside of the hotel. They made their way to the entrance of the hotel. Where a couple of hotel workers were taking coats from the attendees to be hung up under they were ready to leave.

The system made it so that the guests would give the hotel workers their coats or jackets, then the hotel workers would label the coats or jackets with the guests last names, so that the attendees could pick up their outerwear once they were ready to leave.

Bonnie handed one of the workers her coat, the worker placed a sticky label with her last name on it, then neatly hung it with the row of other coats and jackets. With her coat being off, her beautiful form fitting lavender shaded dress was revealed. And Damon made note again of how stunning his wife was.

He offered her his arm, she looped her arm into his, together with their arms looped together, they made their way into the massive ballroom of the hotel. The ballroom had a number of tables, which were set up like the tables in fancy, expensive restaurants.

Food for the guests and attendees of the black tie ball would be served at these tables. However, the meal wouldn't be served for another twenty five minutes, in order to allow everyone attending to be able to arrive, get into the building and settle themselves down. Once the meal was ready to be served, it would be announced for the guests attending to take their seats at one of the arranged tables.

This time waiting between arriving in the ballroom and waiting to be served food allowed the attendees to mingle. Men wore their suits and tuxedos, with their ties, as the women had on a variety of dresses and gowns in different shades and colors.

Damon and Bonnie took the time to mingle, as the pair of them worked their way around the ballroom with their arms still linked together. Soon, they ran into Wells and Kendra Maddox. And the two couples who knew each other well, exchanged their hi's and greetings.

Kendra looked at Bonnie. "You look fabulous in that dress."

Bonnie looked at Kendra in return. Kendra had on a yellow, sparkling gown, which brought out the melanin of her flawless skin tone. "Thanks, Kendra. And you look amazingly spectacular in that gown!"

"I hope so." Kendra ran a hand over the bottom part of her gown. "I spent weeks trying to find the right dress for this event."

"Well, you made the correct choice with your pick." Bonnie stated. "That yellow makes your skin glow!"

"Why Thank you, Bonnie." Kendra beamed.

"How are you, Wells?" Damon asked.

Wells answered. "Just fine Damon, been splitting time between the job and spending time with the family."

Damon nodded. "Same here."

Wells looked around. "In fact I think I may have seen a few of my clients around here, who have been keeping me busy."

Wells Maddox worked as an accountant. And over the years he had gained the reputation for being an excellent accountant. Which was why he had gained a list of rich and high profile clients of which hired him to handle their fininacials for them. Not everyone knew how to handle tons of wealth. There were some people who wasted their money, until they drained down their bank accounts to nearly nothing. And others who just were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of money they had to handle.

Which was where Wells came in. He had the experience and the expertise to tell his clients where to invest and save their money. And how to correctly spend it. He had both individual people and whole companies who had hired him to take care and arrange their finances. And in becoming an accountant who had such high profile clients, made him able to earn a high salary in which he was able to afford the best of the best, for his wife Kendra and their children Sidney and Markus.

Kendra, of course earned tons of money herself, with the high position career she had at Aspens Clarke. But, it still gave Wells comfort to know he had financial stability to be able to be there for and take care of his wife and kids.

"How does it feel like to be in such demand for the high class and rich?" Damon added in question.

"Some clients are better than others. Some are nicer and others act like there's a stick up their ass." Wells shrugged. "But, I'm not complaining. They still help pay my salary and if they get too pushy I'll always let them know they could find another accountant. Which makes them clean up their stick up the ass act real quick."

"I'm with you on that." Damon directed towards Wells.

Bonnie inquired. "Just so that we are clear, you two and your kids will be coming over to Thanksgiving at our house this year."

Kendra confirmed for her and Wells. "Yes, we're going to be there with Sidney and Markus."

Bonnie motioned with her head. "Damon and I wanted to make sure we get the idea of all of those who will be joining us for Thanksgiving. Just so that we can get an idea of how much food we need to make, even though we usually always make enough for there to be leftovers."

"We'll be there. All of us." Wells remarked.

"And I'm bringing the yams and collard greens." Kendra put in.

"Sounds delicious, there's a few dishes I have in mind to make myself for that day." Bonnie commented.

Damon added. "There will be plenty of side dishes I'm sure, I'll just have to make sure to get a big enough turkey for everyone to eat."

Wells twisted his head around as he seemed to have spotted someone else from across the room. "Looks like one of my clients is trying to get my attention to talk to me."

Kendra turned her attention to where her husband was looking. "Yes, he is. Guess you should go over to see what he wants."

"Excuse us." Wells said towards Damon and Bonnie.

Wells and Kendra excused themselves from Damon and Bonnie's presence, making their way across the room to where Wells' client was.

Damon and Bonnie continued to make their way through the ballroom, as classical jazz music played. Every now and then they would mingle or talk to some of the other men and women who were there. But, kept mostly to themselves.

The blue eyed vampire spotted a waiter balancing wine glasses filled with champagne and wine on a tray.

"Care for a drink, Bon Bon?" Damon questioned his wife.

"I'll allow myself to indulge in just one glass since I still have work tomorrow." She muttered as she spotted the same waiter Damon had. "I try not to drink too heavily when I know I have to get up early for work the next day."

"I'm aware." Damon signaled for the waiter to come over. "I might allow myself two glasses, but not too much since I have work still tomorrow also."

Taking two glasses of champagne from the waiter's tray, he handed one to Bonnie. And the two of them just stood there for a while sipping on their champagne.

Then Damon felt someone tap him from behind on his shoulder. The vampire and witch turned around to see none other than Klaus Mikealson before them, with his wife Camille by his side. Klaus looked nicely cleaned up in his suit and Camille looked very pretty in her green dress.

"We thought that it was you two!" Camille spoke.

"Hello, Klaus, Camille." Bonnie eyed the couple together.

"Hey." Damon addressed both Klaus and Camille.

Klaus focused on Damon. "Damon Salvatore."

Damon arched a brow. "Klaus Mikealson."

Klaus shifted his eyes to Bonnie. "Bonnie Bennett."

"Bonnie Bennett-Salvatore." Bonnie politely corrected. "Klaus Mikealson."

"Of course." Klaus gave his classic grin. "Bennett-Salvatore."

Bonnie couldn't help but to grin in return, the tensions were much easier between them than they were in her high school years. Back in her high school years, Klaus Mikealson was going around either trying to kill everyone or trying to ruthlessly gain power. Now he was much tamer compared to how he was back then.

"It's been a long time since we've seen each other last." Klaus stated.

"Yes it has been." Damon said.

"Years at least." Camille put in.

"At least around seven or eight years." Bonnie added.

The last time Damon and Bonnie had seen Klaus or Camille was when they took a family vacation to New Orleans. They had gone to New Orleans when Autumn was eleven. And the three of them as a family had spent about a week exploring all of the tourists' sites and the other family friendly options the city had to offer.

While they were in New Orleans, the three of them had visited with Camille and the Mikealsons, as well as Marcel. And Autumn had met Hope who was a handful of years older than she was. New Orleans had been an all around fun trip for them, made more interesting by their visit with the Mikealsons.

Damon asked. "What brings you pair to Northern Virginia for this event?"

Camille replied. "I happened to be invited by a colleague of mine, so I decided to accept the invite and she told me that I could bring someone else along with me if I wanted to."

Klaus explained. "And I didn't wish for Camille to have to fly here alone, so I wanted to come with her for support."

"Are you staying in Virginia for long?" Bonnie wanted to know.

"No, we have to fly back to New Orleans tomorrow." Camille answered.

"But, we plan on making a good time of it while we're here." Klaus stated.

Camille touched her fingers slightly to her face. "I'm going to go to the Ladies room to touch up before they serve the food."

Bonnie told Camille. "I'll come with you."

Camille smiled in appreciation. It was often an instinct for women to go to the restroom together for safety. "Alright!"

"You women go right ahead." Said Klaus.

"We'll be waiting right here for you." Said Damon.

Camille along with Bonnie strolled off together to the Ladies Room. The two men watched their wives until they were out of sight.

"Look at us." Klaus' accent came through. "Husbands and Fathers."

Damon slanted his eyes towards Klaus with lightheartedness. "We've come quite a ways haven't we."

Klaus grabbed a glass of wine from a passing waiter. "We have!"

Damon took a sip of his champagne.

"How is your girl, Autumn?" Klaus inquired of Damon.

"Scout, she's doing very good."

"How old was she when I last saw her in New Orleans, Ten?"

Damon corrected. "Eleven."

"Oh."

Damon continued. "Autumn just turned eighteen this past April. And she just recently graduated as well."

Klaus let out a breath. "Wow, they grow up fast don't they."

Damon agreed. "Yeah, they do."

"At times it just seems like yesterday when I was holding Hope in my arms as a baby. And it seems like I blinked and all of a sudden she's almost as tall as I am."

"How is your daughter, Hope by the way?" Asked Damon.

"Hope's doing wonderfully!" Klaus exclaimed with a fatherly proudness. "She just finished her College semester and is almost about to graduate. The field she wishes to work in requires a lengthy time in College. But, she plans to stick it out to graduate and allow her education to take her where she wants to go in life."

"That's good for her." Damon expressed.

Klaus sipped his wine. "Did you ever picture yourself being a father, Damon?"

Damon was honest. "Before Bonnie, No I didn't, I mean I'm a vampire who didn't believe I was capable of getting a woman pregnant."

Klaus nodded, he perfectly related to where Damon was coming from.

"When Bonnie first told me how she was pregnant with my child, I was completely shocked for the reasons I mentioned. However, I also felt nervousness and excitement. I realized how much I wanted to be a Dad to this baby, a very good one. I actually looked forward to the day when Bonnie would give birth to this incredible life that I created with her."

Damon affectionately remembered the day he was in the delivery room with Bonnie, as she had given birth. "Then the day came and right before my eyes I watched as my wife gave birth to a perfect baby girl. And from that day forward my life changed for the better. I knew right then and there from the very second she opened her eyes, how I would dedicate the rest of my life to her, cherishing and caring for her as a father should cherish and care for their child. Autumn became my whole world, right next to Bonnie. And her being born was one of the best things that ever happened in my life."

Klaus could see the sincerity in Damon's words. And once again knew exactly where the Eldest Salvatore was coming from. "I understand you completely. I'll admit at first I wasn't too sure about wanting to become a father. Yet after Hope was born, I quickly discovered how devoted I wanted to be to her. And how much she meant to me, my life wouldn't be the same without her and I'm glad she's my daughter and a big part of my life."

Damon nodded, understanding where the Mikaelson man was coming from.

"And while most men desire having sons, there's just something different about having a girl you know." Klaus murmured. "Something about a bond between a father and his daughter which sets it apart from a father-son bond."

"I know exactly what you mean, there's a lot of strong father and son relationships out there." Damon mumbled. "Yet, there's also something special in a bond between a Dad and his precious baby girl. Knowing that you would do anything to protect your daughter and see her have the happy, love filled life in which she deserves. It's why I proudly consider myself a Girl Dad!"

"Girl Dad! I love that term!" Klaus exclaimed.

The two men stood there discussing the wonders and joys of fatherhood and being Girl Dad's, until their wives were returning from their trip to the Ladies room.

Klaus then ended the conversation with. "If you ever need anything from me, just let me know, Girl Dad to Girl Dad."

Damon raised his glass to Klaus. "I'll certainly keep that in mind."

Soon the announcement came that dinner was ready to be served. So all of the attendees took their seats at the tables which were preserved for them ahead of time. There were six seated at a table. Damon and Bonnie, shared a table with Wells and Kendra, along with Klaus and Camille.

All of the guests were then given the option to either choose between a steak dinner with sides or a grilled salmon dinner with sides. There was also a vegan option for those who preferred not to eat meat or fish. Damon and Bonnie choose the Steak dinner. While the others at the table of the two. With Wells, Kendra and Camille settled on the Salmon and Klaus had chosen the steak.

Instead of alcohol for her drink, Bonnie had chosen water, which was naturally flavored with some fresh fruit. They had given her an option of which fruit to flavor her water with and she had picked grapes and raspberries. She kept her word not to have more than one glass of alcohol, as she still had to get up early for work the following day.

Damon had wine with his meal, yet would still make sure not to drink too heavily, as he had work the following day as well. The three couples exchanged conversation and light talk with each other as they had their meal. Once the dinner meal was finished, the guests were served their choices of deserts. They were then given a moment to let their food settle into their stomachs. Before the announcement came that it was time for the men to bring their dates, girlfriends, and wives onto the floor for a dance if they wanted to,

Some couples preferred to remain seated at their tables, instead just to enjoy the classical music together. And other men and women who were there, were single or had come alone. So they wandered around looking for someone to dance with.

Everyone at their table had no problems, as they were all happily married to their significant others. So, Klaus took Camille onto the floor for a dance, as did Wells take Kendra onto the floor for a dance. And of course Damon took Bonnie onto the floor for a dance.

He guided her to the middle of the floor, where all couples and pairs danced and moved slowly to the music that was playing. Some were man and woman couples, others same sex couples, yet it was clear that they all loved the person in which they were sharing a dance with.

They laced one of their hands together, with their fingers intertwined, as his other hand wrapped around her waist, while her other hand rested on the back of his neck, as she brushed her finger lightly through the hair which rested at the nape of his neck. Together they swayed to the tender, soft music which was playing.

Damon spoke. "This actually turned out to be a lovely event."

"It is lovely here." Bonnie agreed with her husband. "I'm glad we came."

"You know there's other guys staring at you right now." Damon informed his wife.

"They are." She honestly wasn't aware of the fact that other men were staring at her at the moment.

Damon stated in a matter of fact way. "A few of the single ones are, they wish they could dance with you, yet I can feel their disappointment at the factor of you already having a dance partner. Still their eyes were on you."

The scent of his cologne, the one she loved the most, hit her nose, delighting her senses, making her want to bury herself into him. Instead she just pressed herself closer against him. "Their eyes can be on me all they want, there's only one man's eyes I care for out of all of the guys in this room. As long as I have his eyes on me, then all right will be in my world."

He smiled showing all of his teeth knowing she was referring to him.

They continued to sway together to the tender, soft music.

"There must be hundreds of heartbeats in this ballroom right now." Damon mentioned.

"Yeah?" Her eyes scanned lovingly over his handsome face.

"I still can pick out yours out of all of them." He whispered with feeling as he looked deeply into her eyes.

Overwhelmed with her love for him, Bonnie laid her head against Damon's chest and embraced the dance with him for the remainder of the song.

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Once she had gotten her fill of blood, which was directly from a blood bag, that she had drunk through a long, tube like straw, in which she had the whole entire blood bag. Autumn moved to doing what she had been planning to do for the evening, which was to focus on doing the activity she enjoyed doing.

Autumn settled down on the couch next to her, with Ryder snuggled up beside her in a ball. She grabbed the art supplies she had bought on her way home from work. And proceeded to start drawing. She had the TV down on low, yet wasn't paying much attention to what was on, as her focus and concentration was on her drawings.

For about an hour or so, she just sketched out several images and pictures. Which included a picture of a tiny forest, a picture of tall futuristic looking skyscrapers, and a lifelike drawing of Vegeta. To Autumn sketching and drawing was like a form of meditation and relaxation. She could be so focused on her drawings at times, that she would look at the clock or her watch and be surprised at how much time had passed by.

This time, she didn't look at the time, until hunger for some human food hit her. She checked her phone to see what time it was and saw that it was about ten minutes before seven p.m. She then tried to decide what human food she wanted, since she already had her vampire food for the evening.

After thinking about it, Autumn came to the conclusion she wanted some ramen. There were several packs of store bought ramen in the pantry. Yet Autumn has a craving for ramen of higher quality and ramen which was more authentic. And even though she could put together a mean ramen from the store bought packs in the pantry, she knew she was craving a specific type of ramen. Which was the Ramen they made at Ramen Houses. And there was a particular Ramen House about ten minutes away from where she lived, in which she always went to when she preferred the higher quality stuff.

So she neatly stacked up the drawing she had been working on, and placed all of her art supplies back into the bag she had brought it home in. She turned off the TV and rose to her feet, telling Ryder.

"I'll be right back."

Autumn went up to her room, and put on a pair of rugged looking, women boots. Then she got her purse and her car keys. She ran down the stairs and out of the door. Making sure to lock it behind her. Then she jumped into her car preparing to make her way to the Ramen House.

The sun already set over an hour ago, so it was fully nighttime as Autumn drove to the area where the Ramen House was. The Ramen House was located on a street where businesses, stores and shops aligned both sides. The only options available for parking on this street was parallel parking. The spots next to the Ramen House were all taken up by cars which had already parked there. So Autumn had to drive a little ways until she found a parking spot. It was a few blocks down from where the Ramen House was, but Autumn didn't mind the walk to get some good Ramen. She parallel parked her car between a new model sports car and a 2027 ford pick up truck. She turned off the engine, stepped out and made her way towards the Ramen House.

Once in the Ramen House, she took her seat at the counter next to some of the other people who were in the mood for freshly made, authentic Ramen. She ordered the beef flavored Ramen which came with actual real beef. And ordered it on the level of three. This Ramen House had spice levels from 1-5. With 1 being the mildest and the least spiciest and five being the spiciest, made with one of the hottest peppers on earth. Autumn chose the level 3 of spicy. She loved spicy foods, just not unbearable, mouth burning, painful to the tongue sort of spicy. Just spicy enough where she enjoyed the heat and the flavor.

When the fresh Ramen Soup was served to her, she took her time to enjoy it. Using the provided chopsticks to eat the noodles and other ingredients that were in the soup. Then she drank some of the broth once she had eaten all of the contents inside of the soup. After she was done, she paid for the Ramen Soup. Then decided it was time to make her way back home.

She exited the Ramen House, looking down at her boots to make sure her laces were tied. This caused her to run smack into the chest of someone.

Autumn immediately apologized. "Sorry I wasn't…"

She cut herself off when she realized exactly who she had run into. Her eyes traveled up his tall form until she met his blue eyes.

"Be careful there." Eric told her with his lips curved upward.

She took in his appearance. He was dressed in all black again, although his attire was different than when she saw him on Friday night, he still wore all black nonetheless. So she guessed he wasn't a fan of wearing colorful clothing.

His blonde hair was slicked back from his face, skin pale around the blue eyes which was studying her, much as he had on the Halloween night they had met.

Eric looked down at her as he eyed her appearance. She wasn't in a costume like she had worn when he saw her two nights ago. She was in regular clothes. Which included sweatpants and a Virginia Tech hoodie. Her hair which had been covered up by the white wig she had worn, was down, loosely sweeping over her shoulders in a bundle of natural curls that framed a beautiful face. And her eyes, the unique shade of greenish-blue were mesmerizing, in contrast against her brown skin. He thought she looked even more stunning than she had on Halloween night.

"Autumn."

"Eric."

Eric towered over her as he asked. "What brings you out here tonight?"

Autumn jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Ramen."

Eric casted a brief look at the Ramen place, before he casted his eyes back down at her. "I see."

Autumn cocked her head to the side. "And what brings you out here tonight?"

"Some fresh night time air, I just was wandering around." Which had been the truth, with his vampire business already taken care of for this night, he wanted to enjoy the night air before he went back to his home.

He hadn't intended to even run into Autumn, yet Eric was absolutely thrilled to be in her presence again. And once again he found himself drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

"Are you looking for more people to compel, I mean glamour and then feed off of?" Autumn's tone had amusement in it.

Due to this Eric had equal amusement in his tone. "Actually I've already eaten, so no need to glamour my meal tonight."

"Ah okay." Autumn began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Eric called out after her.

Autumn looked over her shoulder. "To my car."

"Could I walk with you?"

"Sure."

He jogged to catch up to her, until they were walking side by side, down the sidewalk.

"So you've said that you've eaten already." Autumn resumed conversationally.

"I happened to pay a woman to allow me to feed off of her." Eric returned.

She glanced sideways at him. "There's people who will pay you to feed from them?"

He gestured. "They're sort of like the donors you explained to me the other night. Except for donating their blood to put into blood bags. These donors are humans who will allow vampires to feed from them for a certain fee, different prices depending on what area of the body a buyer wishes to feed on."

Autumn couldn't fault those people at all. "Hey, if they're willing to make money off of vampires like yourself who like to feed directly from humans, I say more power to them. It's a smart way to make money actually considering how few of the human world knows about vamps."

"I know that you're satisfied with blood bags but feeding directly from the vein is of a whole other experience level."

"I'll admit that feeding from the vein offers something in which a blood bag can't."

Eric remarked quizzically. "Wait, I thought you said you've never fed from humans before."

Autumn amended. "I said I don't make a habit of feeding off of humans, as you said I'm satisfied with blood bags. And blood bags are just more convenient for me than going around having to compel people to allow me to feed off of them."

Eric guessed. "So, then you have fed directly from the vein before."

Autumn confirmed. "I have, I practiced on some volunteers, the same people who donate their blood to vampires. I feed from a few of them, mainly so I'm able to have control around humans without blood lust taking me over. But, I still get my blood from blood bags the majority of the time."

Eric said nothing as he continued to walk down the street with her.

"Plus, going into an enraging, uncontrollable urge around humans isn't safe for humans, but it's not great for vampires either." Autumn mumbled. "We wish to keep our kind a secret and don't want the public to fear us. Which would certainly happen if there were a bunch of dead bodies laying around, drained off blood by a vampire unable to control their feeding urges. So, yeah it's best for me to learn how to control and harness my hunger, in ways which wouldn't have humans fearing vampires."

"You sound just like my father." Eric thought of Godric. "He's not keen on the idea of humans fearing vampires either."

"He would be right with that idea."

"So how was your day?" Eric wasn't sure why he asked this question of her but he did.

The witch vampire hybrid pulled her hood over her head. "It was fine I guess, I went out to work, then I came home and did a hobby of mine that I love doing."

That made Eric stop in his tracks.

She stopped right next to him. "Is something wrong?"

His eyes scanned the area surrounding them before he spoke. "You said you went out today, as in the sunlight?"

"I did." Autumn was confused by his questioning.

"So, what are you like…." Eric paused. "Immune to the sun?"

"Nope, I'm not immune to the sun at all."

"So then you burn?"

Autumn grimace. "If exposed to the sun without protection, yeah I'll burn. I won't die by the sun. But, I'll get very, very serious sunburn and severe 3rd degree burns. Like crispy, smoking skin types of burns. Which is very painful and uncomfortable."

Eric was perplexed. "Then how exactly were you able to go out today without burning?"

"My daylight ring."

"Your what?"

She scanned the area to make sure no one else was on the street within listening distance of them. "My daylight ring, you haven't heard of daylight rings?"

He shook his head. "I don't believe I have."

Autumn gave her explanation. "Daylight rings are rings that are marked with magic. When worn vampires are able to go into the daylight without burning. The magic in the rings protects them from the sun, like a magical sunscreen. However, a vampire has to have the ring on during the entire time they're exposed to sunlight or otherwise they burn if they take it off."

Eric expressed with a certain tenor to his tone. "Interesting."

"Most vampires with daylight rings have them on their fingers. And I did the same until a couple of years ago when I turned sixteen. Now I wear my daylight ring on my thumb." Autumn showed him.

"Fascinating." Eric commented as he spotted her thumb ring. The ring which was womanly in style had a make to it that he hadn't seen before. And in the middle of her ring was a marble like stone of greenish hue. This had only been his second time laying his eyes upon her, and yet he could tell how the ring suited her style and the type of person she appeared to be.

"You act like you never heard of vampires who walk in the daylight before."

"I've heard of rumors of daywalkers, but I figured they were all myths."

"You mean you never met a vampire who could walk in the daylight before?"

"I haven't no."

Taken aback, Autumn began to walk again. "Wow, I can't believe it since all vamps I know are able to walk in the sunlight."

Eric walked with her. "Well, where I come from all vampires I've ever met and have known can only come out a night. They have no daylight ring or protection from the sunlight."

Autumn wasn't quite sure how to respond to this so she said nothing.

"When do you sleep?" Eric pressed on.

"At night." Autumn mumbled.

"Where do you sleep?"

Autumn arched a brow. "You have a lot of questions Mr, Eric."

Eric casted a gaze her way. "I'm very curious about you, Autumn."

"Obviously."

The way she said it made the Viking vampire nearly smile. "So, where do you sleep?"

The witch-vampire hybrid snorted. "In a bed like normal people do, why?"

"Just asking."

They strolled for a little while longer, as they edged closer to where her car was parked.

"You never told me what you're a hybrid with." Eric pointed out.

"Enough about me." Autumn pursed her lips. "Why don't we talk about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"How about I ask you some questions about yourself."

Eric gave it consideration. "Ask!"

Autumn turned so that she was walking backwards facing him. "How old are you?"

The Viking vampire usually didn't reveal personal aspects of his past life to those who he just met, yet once again there was something about the aura of this woman which drew him to her and made him feel like he could reveal these aspects of his past to her. "I was born in Sweden, 900AD."

"Whoa." Autumn's eyes widened upon this revelation.

"Yep, it was that long ago." Eric responded to her reaction with the slightest of chuckles.

"So being born in 900 AD would make you about." Autumn tried to calculate in her head.

"Over thousand years old." Eric finishes.

"As I said, Whoa."

He watched her closely. "Then I was turned in 930AD by my maker."

Autumn stopped next to her car, on the passenger's side. "Which would mean you were turned when you were thirty."

Eric cocked his head. "And just when were you turned?"

"I wasn't turned in the sense of what you're referring to?"

"You weren't?"

She leaned against her car. "I was actually born as a vampire."

He drew his brows together. "So you were a vampire from birth?"

Autumn nodded. "I came out of the womb as a hybrid, having vampire genes within me."

Eric was about to speak, then some people walked by, so he had to remain silent, until they were out of earshot of the conversation he was having with Autumn.

"I don't think I've ever heard about a vampire being created from birth before." Eric's tone filled with astonishment.

"I guess because it's pretty rare, as is the type of hybrid I was born." Autumn said.

The Viking vampire once again found himself wanting to know more and more about this incredible woman who stood before him. "And how exactly did you grow up as a vampire?"

Normally, Autumn wouldn't socialize like this, with a person she only met just two nights ago. Especially not about something as valuable and secretive about her supernatural origins. Yet there was something different about this Eric in which she felt like she could trust.

So, she revealed to him. "I was born, then grew like a normal baby until the age of two. Which was when I first had to drink blood to help sustain myself. And I got my first set of fangs around four or five I think it was. After that I grew and aged like normal humans do during their childhood. Except for the factor of me developing more vampires traits along the way. Then when I turned eighteen, I stopped growing, stopped aging. So now I'm immortal."

"And those hybrid genes you have." Eric motioned with his hand. "What makes you different from a normal vampire?"

"Well, for one I'm immune to vervain and I'm also not susceptible to werewolf bites." Autumn stated.

Eric knew vervain was used to weaken a vampire's strength and was aware of how poisonous vampire venom was to vampires.

"But, I do burn without protection in the sunlight. And I still do have to be invited into private homes like all vampires do." Autumn added.

"Wow," Eric expressed in awe.

"Back to you." Autumn adjusted the strings on her hoodie. "How were you turned?"

"I was fighting in a war, and I got severely wounded on the battlefield." Eric recalled back to 930AD. "I was moments away from death, then my maker, Godric he took pity on me, saving my life and thus giving me the gift of vampirism."

Autumn looked him over, for a vampire who was so old, he adjusted well to the modern day way of dressing and mannerisms.

"I fought as part of a Viking army." Eric put in.

"You were a Viking?" The only place she had ever seen vikings were from period movies and TV shows. She never thought she would actually see someone who actually had been a viking and yet here he was.

"Actually from the family which I had been a part of, I happened to be a Viking King." Eric remarked in a matter of fact way.

She smirked. "So you were royalty, eh?"

He simply hunched a shoulder. "If you would like to refer to me as such."

She shifted the conversation. "So, where do you sleep then, since you asked such a question."

"I often sleep in a cubby that has light proof walls or I sleep in a coffin available."

"Seriously, a coffin?"

Eric cleared his throat, "Yes, as that is what helps provide protection from the sunlight, I sleep during the daytime in either a cubby area or coffin. And I have to stay inside throughout the whole day, so if I'm not sleeping then I'm shut away in a light tight room until the sun goes down again. I have to be inside before dawn comes or otherwise I'll burst into flames very shortly after the sun makes contact with my skin."

"And you don't." Autumn waved a hand in the air. "Miss the sunlight?"

"I don't, no." Eric returned.

"Are you sure? There's not one time in your entire vampire existence where you wish you could feel and walk in the daylight again?"

He hesitated just a second before answering. "I'm a night owl, a nightcrawler, who has been doing just fine all of this time without the sun. I've survived this much without having to feel the sunlight and I can keep on surviving without needing the sun."

There had been something in the way he hesitated for just a second which made her doubt him, as she caught on that he missed the sunlight more than he was letting on, however, she let the topic drop.

Through the moment of silence which passed between them, Eric couldn't help but notice how she smelled of cinnamon and honey. It only added to her allure.

"With you being over one thousand years old, there must have been so many historical events you witnessed throughout humanity." Autumn moved on.

"Oh, I've witnessed countless." Eric commented conversionationly.

"I'll admit I would be curious to learn what it was like for you to live back during those times." Autumn muttered.

"Just ask and I'll tell you anything you wish to know."

"Not tonight." Autumn maneuvered around to her driver's side door. She unlocked her car with it's keys. "I've got to be getting back home."

Eric quickly moved to the same side of the car she was on. "Met me tomorrow night!"

She eyed him. "I'm not available tomorrow night, I have plans." Which was the truth as she had family night to spend with her Dad and Mom.

Eric, however, wasn't discouraged. He just wanted to see her again. "Then Wednesday night."

"Why?"

"Because you intrigue me, Autumn." Eric expressed with honesty.

Autumn thought of what Sidney had said earlier and made her decision. "Okay, I'll meet you the night after tomorrow then."

"You will?" The Viking vampire studied her closely.

"I will." Autumn expressed in a pleasant tone, with match the pleasant countenance on her face. "Because I actually like you, Eric."

He felt a surge of delightfulness on the inside hearing her say she liked him, even as he kept his usual Eric Northman calm and collected demeanor on the outside. "If we keep meeting like those, I'll tell you all of my life's experience during the thousand years I have been on this earth, including those historical events you're interested in."

She gave him a slight smile. "I'll hold you to that."

Circling around, he opened her driver's side door for her. "Wednesday night then."

"Wednesday night." She slid into her car on the driver's side.

He shut her car door as soon as she was seated securely inside.

Autumn put on her seatbelt, turning on her car and gave him a nod.

Eric nodded in return taking a step back.

Autumn pulled out into the street once she made sure that the traffic was clear and drove off for home.

As Eric watched her tail lights disappear, he felt a strong sense of optimism and knew it had everything to do with Autumn.

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Eric stayed out into the night for more hours, until it was time for him to go to his own home. He arrived back at his home during the early morning hours, while it was still dark outside.

The home he had brought when he moved to Virginia, was a single story cottage style house, which was built in 2019. The next set of houses and homes were about a half of a mile away, which provided him and the one who lived with him just enough privacy for the lives of vampires that they lived.

The cottage style house also had several light tight rooms and rooms which offered protection from the sunlight during the daytime. It was one of the few in the area who has such rooms, which was one of the reasons why Eric brought it. For himself and Godric to have a place to live which offered some privacy and protection from the sun during the day.

Godric had been staying with him for quite some time when they reconnected. And when he moved to Virginia, Eric insisted for Godric to come with him and Godric agreed to without much resistance or hesitation.

Now his maker, who was sitting in a chair as Eric entered the cottage, looked up. "You're back home."

Eric looked at Godric, Godric reminded him of a human parent who stayed up waiting up for their human teenager to get in before curfew. "Yes, I'm back home, you weren't worried were you?"

"Just wanted to make sure you made it back before dawn." Godric templed his fingers.

"I always make it back before dawn." Eric acknowledged.

"So, you do."

Eric studied his maker's appearance. "You know you should have eaten when I paid that woman to come by here earlier."

Godric eyed the vampire he viewed as his son. "She was for you to feed off of."

Eric took off his leather jacket, tossing it to the side. "I could have paid her to allow you to feed off of her as well."

"I wasn't hungry." Godric calmly stated.

"You've haven't eaten in a week." Eric pointed out.

"I can go weeks without needing to feed or without needing blood. I'll live just fine with a few more weeks of not having to feed." Godric remained calm.

Eric shook his head on a frown. "Why go without food, when you have a live warm blooded meal who would let you feed off of them for a prize."

"You know my stance on this, Son."

"Yes, I know your stance."

Godric remarked in a peaceful demeanor. "Since I've evolved I prefer not to feed from humans more than I necessarily have to. Not even the ones who will volunteer themselves to be personal blood bags. For the humans who are aware of our kind, it's important for them to see how we aren't uncontrollable monsters and that we are capable of restraint. You understand?"

Eric sighed as he knew there was no point in debating. "Fine."

"Who is she?"

"Who is who?"

Godric closely looked at her. "The female who has you seeming so…..upbeat."

Eric figured he could tell his maker about meeting Autumn, then yet decide there wasn't enough time to do so at the moment. "Dawn is in about an hour, we should be getting some sleep."

Godric took notice of how Eric had avoided the subject he just mentioned, yet decided that his son was corrected about the arrival of dawn coming. "Very well, time for me to go into my coffin.

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Author's Note: For the universe in this story, daylight rings are the only way a vampire can walk or go out into the daylight.

The pendent that Bonnie gave to Autumn will play an important role in this story in the 2017 timeline which is why I wanted to mention it.

I'm slowly trying to work other Vampire Diaries and True Blood characters into this story, although it will take some time.

FYI: Stone Madison is Charlie Hunnam. Kendra Maddox is played by Nicole Beharie. Wells Maddox is played by Aldis Hodge.

Thanks for reading and supporting this story!

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