Raphael wished he could have put it off longer but other clans were still questioning his ability to rule the largest clan on the east coast and he knew that he had to show that he was a good leader or else have to worry about vampires from other clans trying to take over. So, a month after Simon's return he sent out invitations to the LA, London, and Singapore clans for them to come and socialize with his clan. They were the most prestigious clans beside his own and would be able to decide for the rest of the vampire population whether or not Raphael was acceptable. After all there were hundreds of clans all over the world and he couldn't host everyone.

"You should have invited the Egypt clan Raphael. They will see this as a slight and won't be happy." Lily chided lightly as they read through the acceptance letters. Raphael rolled his eyes but didn't reply. They both knew he hadn't invited the Egyptians due to the fact that they had a nasty reputation for torturing fledglings when bored. Raphael didn't want to start an international incident over his Bebè, he knew it wouldn't end well and they didn't need a war among the vampires on top of the one they were fighting with Valentine. The London clan was bringing the most members at fifteen followed by the Singapore clan at nine. LA was only bringing five but that wasn't surprising. Thomas was the leader of the LA clan and an old friend of Raphael's. He would know already that Raphael was a good leader since he had never approved of Camille's leadership.

"The Paris clan is demanding to be included in the meeting. Said they were going to send a delegation whether we approve it or not." Lily said shoving a letter in Raphael's hands. Raphael frowned

"Camille created the leader of the Paris clan, what was the girl's name? Anne?" Raphael mused and Lily hummed

"Annette. Do you think she'll be trouble?" She corrected and Raphael wanted to roll his eyes.

"She will definitely be trouble. No doubt Camille has contacted her about how I have been leading the clan to ruins." Raphael said tossing the letter onto the desk. He glanced at the cracked bedroom door where he knew Simon was sleeping

"What's wrong?" Lily asked suddenly worried

"He's usually out here from a nightmare by now." Raphael mused quietly. Carefully he stood and made his way to the door, listening for any movement from the room beyond it. When he didn't hear anything, he pushed the door open and found Simon sitting up in the bed with the blankets and sheets wrapped around him like a cocoon. The room was dimly lit by a nightlight that Raphael had plugged into the wall socket by the bed.

"Simon?" Raphael asked gently as he moved into the room. Simon slowly turned to look at him with wide eyes

"Something's coming." Simon said so softly that it was almost inaudible. Raphael frowned

"Nothing's coming Bebè, I promise you're safe." Raphael said sitting on the edge of the bed. When he reached out to stroke the fledgling's arm Simon flinched back

"Somethings about to happen. I know it." Simon said and he sounded ageless when he spoke.

"Alright. I'll be on guard. I'll keep you and the clan safe." Raphael promised and Simon let out a shutter before practically climbing into Raphael's lap.

"I couldn't bear to lose any of you." Simon said, words so quiet that Raphael almost missed them

"You won't lose us. We couldn't survive without you again." Raphael replied glancing over at the door where Lily was standing.

"We'll finish the paperwork tomorrow." She said before shutting the door and leaving the suite. Simon nibbled at the skin of Raphael's neck but didn't drop his fangs to feed. Raphael laid them both back so that he was laying on the bed with Simon pressed on his chest

"Go to sleep volantón. I won't leave you." Raphael promised and Simon began to settle. Raphael hummed for a moment before beginning to softly sing the song his mother had sung when he was a child

"Dicen que la cucaracha

Es un animal pequeño

Y cuando entra en una casa

Se tiene que quedar dueño.

La cucaracha, la cucaracha,

ya no puede caminar

porque no tiene,

porque le falta

las dos patitas de atrás.

Cuando uno quiere a una

Y esta una no lo quiere,

Es lo mismo que si un calvo

En la calle encuentra un peine

La cucaracha, la cucaracha,

ya no puede caminar

porque no tiene,

porque le falta

las dos patitas de atrás.

Mi vecina de ahí enfrente

Se llamaba Doña Clara,

Y si no se hubiera muerto

Aún así se llamara.

La cucaracha, la cucaracha,

ya no puede caminar

porque no tiene,

porque le falta

las dos patitas de atrás.

Cuando Rita se bañaba

En el río San Fernando

Le picó la cucaracha

Pero ella siguió nadando.

La cucaracha, la cucaracha,

ya no puede caminar

porque no tiene,

porque le falta

las dos patitas de atrás." Simon was asleep by the second chorus but Raphael sang the song over and over in case he woke.


Simon listened as the clan made the final preparations for the delegate's arrivals. He had tried to help but had been told that he should rest because he would be needing to stand for a long time and he was still weak. The other vampires would be arriving within the hour so most everyone was getting dressed and making themselves look presentable. Raphael had already helped Simon get dressed that evening, another reason he hadn't been allowed to help because no one wanted to have to explain to the leader why something happened to Simon's only fancy outfit.

"You okay?" Deaton asked. He was an older vampire that had been turned when he was in his late fifties meaning he had not only the grandfatherly act but also the look with his slivering hair and beginnings of wrinkles.

"I'm fine. Just nervous." Simon replied as the older vampire sat down beside him

"Don't worry. I know Raphael can't stand with you but that doesn't mean I can't. If it would make you feel better I'll keep you company and you can lean on me if you start to get tired." Deaton offered and Simon shot him a shy grin

"That would be wonderful. Lily and Rapha told me that I would be safer at the back of the group in case a fight broke out and because that's where the other clans would expect a fledgling to stand. I know it's silly to want to always be around Rapha but…" Simon trailed off unsure how to finish the sentence

"I understand. Raphael took care of you even before you wandered off for a bit. He was more of a sire to you than your real sire. It isn't strange that you've become rather attached to him and if I could tell you a secret I think he's rather attached as well." Deaton said with a nice smile. Simon shrugged, not wanting to think about his relationship with Raphael. It wasn't that he didn't want to deepen the relationship into something more romantic it was more of the fact that he knew he had hurt the Latino vampire and that he should let Raphael make the first move. So far Raphael hadn't and Simon wasn't going to let his feelings destroy what they had. He wasn't sure if he could sleep without the comforting weight of Raphael in the bed next to him anymore. Lily appeared at the bottom of the stairs in a beautiful deep purple dress that came down to her mid-calf.

"There you are Si. We need to feed you before they arrive." She said waving Simon down to her. He stood, nodding goodbye to Deaton, and joined her at the bottom of the stairs.

"I must say Si, you clean up nice when you're not wearing your ratty tees." Lily teased as they headed to the kitchen. Simon rolled his eyes and nudged her with his shoulder making her laugh. She popped the fridge open and pulled out two blood packets that had a special green flag on them. It marked them as vampire blood and was for Simon.

"Tonight, you are dining on our fearless leader." Lily said as the blood warmed up in the microwave.

"When do I not?" Simon said only half joking. Lily snorted and rolled her eyes, turning away when the microwave dinged to pour the blood into two glasses. She passed the glasses over to Simon who practically inhaled the first one.

"Slow down Si, we don't want you to puke tonight." Lily said playfully and it was Simon's turn to roll his eyes. He drank the second glass slower, savoring the slight kick that he associated with Raphael's blood. To Simon, Raphael's blood tasted like chocolate that had hot peppers mixed in. It had been his favorite type of chocolate when he was human so it was no surprise that Raphael's blood would be his favorite as a vampire. Raphael had once asked him what his blood tasted like but Simon had only shrugged and avoided the question. He didn't want admit that he found Raphael's blood delicious in case the older vampire freaked out. Elliot popped his head into the kitchen

"Raphael's calling roll in three in the ball room." He said and Lily nodded

"Alright, we'll clean up." She replied and Elliot left. Lily threw the empty plastic from the blood packets into the trash and grabbed the dishcloth to wipe down the counters as Simon finished his blood and put both cups into the dishwasher. It was now full so he squirted soap into the proper place and set it to run. Lily lead him towards the ballroom where she gave him a tight hug before pushing him towards the back of the group that was already there.

"Go, Si. I'll check up on you before the sun rises, okay?" She said and he nodded. Simon took up the empty spot beside Deaton and the clan members that were around it shuffled closer to him to both block anyone's view of him and to protect him better. Deaton smiled at him

"Did you enjoy your supper?" He asked lightly and Simon nodded

"Had our 'fearless leader', as Lily put it, for supper." He replied and Deaton snorted to hold back his laughter

"I wouldn't go around calling Raphael that. It might inflate his ego or attract his ire and until someone does it we won't know which." Deaton said with a grin and Simon giggled

"I bet I could get away with it." He said and Deaton raised an eyebrow

"If I was to take that bet what would I win?" He asked and Simon broke down in silent laughter

"Could you imagine the stare that I would get if I called him that? It would probably be in the top ten." Simon said grinning. Deaton rolled his eyes and nudged Simon back into place as Raphael began to call roll and go over the basic protocol for the evening. Simon knew he should be listening because he didn't know any of the information that Raphael was going over but instead he replayed a memory of Raphael holding him late at night. He had plenty to chose from, Raphael still hadn't let Simon return to his own room but Simon wasn't complaining. It meant that he got to sleep in a bed that smelt like the older vampire and wake up smelling like Raphael. Simon loved everything about Raphael, the way his voice sounded, the way he smelt of musk and sandalwood and a bit of vanilla, the way he curled around Simon during the day as if to protect the fledgling from anything that might try to harm them. These were all reasons why Simon had fallen in love with Raphael. There was so much about the vampire leader that made Simon smile that it would have been impossible to list them all. So many reasons that Simon would follow Raphael into sunlight if need be and only one to keep from admitting it. Because Simon knew he had lost his chance when he had betrayed the clan. Yes, he had been mind controlled but for nearly six months the clan hadn't known it. For nearly six months he had lived in fear of one of the clan finding him and carrying out the kill order. Things like that didn't disappear overnight, the distrust and the fear. It would take time and even then, Simon didn't know if Raphael still felt the same way as he had before everything had happened. Simon wasn't sure when things had become so complicated or if they had always been complicated and he just had never noticed. Deaton elbowed Simon jolting him out of his head in time for Simon to catch a glimpse of a shimmery blue portal. It was time to play politics, Simon supposed and then thought about how much he hated politics. How he had never even registered to vote because of it.