Author's note: First – that you so, so much for your reviews and comments! I have no words to say how much they mean to me! You're the best, guys :)

Also, I totally forgot to mention it in Chapter 1, but this video www. youtube. com/ watch?v=XsRcWSlkt90 (delete gaps) was initially made as a soundtrack to this story, if only because the lyrics kinda follows the storyline. I started writing "Give Me A Sign" first and made a video, then I put the story on hold in order to work on "Start Again" but still posted the video, which was a little bit aimless without fanfic… Oh well, just thought I'd let you know :)

Dig in!

Chapter 2

After hanging up, Alaric tossed his phone onto the couch, then sank desperately down and ran his fingers through his rumpled hair, letting out a long weary breath, his elbow propped on his thighs and his mind spinning like a carousel that went out of control, which was slightly weird because in this crazy whirlpool he failed to grasp a single coherent thought.

Well, okay, one was there – it couldn't be happening. The whole situation seemed to be nothing but a horrible twisted dream, and Alaric expected to wake up from it any moment, in his bed, with Jenna sleeping soundly by his side. Except that he knew that he wouldn't.

Damn it!

He rose up abruptly, feeling cornered and helpless. What should he have done? Should he have followed Jenna? Or was Elena right and giving her time to calm down was a good thing?

He wished he knew…

His first instinct was to rush over to the Gilberts immediately, and talk to her, and fucking explain everything at last, and make things right one way or the other. But that look on Jenna's face… of hurt, and shock, and betrayal, and – bloody hell! – fear was like a sucker punch that held him back in the first place, freezing him to a spot for a long while after she was gone.

"Oh boy," Alaric breathed out stopping in the middle of the living room as scrubbing his hands down his face. He could understand confusion, but, God, she was scared! She was genuinely frightened. Of him, for heaven's sake! And no, being well aware that he totally deserved it didn't make it any easier, not even a little. It still hurt. Knowing that he did it to her, that he upset her… God only knew what she must have thought when she found all of this.

His gaze went to the folder that still lay on the floor where Jenna dropped it, and he flinched.

Well, what on earth would anyone think if they found a collection of creepy medieval-ish weapons and a stack of not-less-creepy newspaper clippings on unsolved murders, psycho-style, at their boyfriend's apartment in a drawer between the one with dinner candles and napkins and the other with the school notes and finals schedule?

Yeah, it was bad. It was really, really bad. And it definitely wasn't how Alaric imagined her finding out the truth.

And he was sick of it. He was sick of keeping secrets from her. He was damn sick of having to lie to her. Oh, okay, it wasn't like he was lying to Jenna, not exactly. But half-truths and wiggling out of actually answering her questions were somehow making it so much worse. And he hated every single moment of it, feeling like a cold-hearted manipulative bastard.

So yeah, it was the end of it, he thought, overwhelmed by mixture of dread and relief at the same time. It had gone too far. Well, to be honest, it had gone too far quite a while ago, he added mentally. Right before getting out of control perhaps, but instead of coming out and talking to Jenna, he chose to cling to the hope that somehow someday it would all be over and left in the past, refusing to accept simple truth he knew all along – that it was not going to be over, ever. Once the Pandora box was open, there was no way to turn it back. The evil was out, inflicting chaos, and that was exactly what his life had been.

And now he was totally messed up. Jenna would probably hate him, like, forever. Okay, scratch probably. And, boy, could he blame her? But the thing was that selfishly, he wanted to have her all for himself. He didn't want to share her with the darkness, he didn't want that shadow hanging over them. He didn't want to ruin her life the way his was when he had discovered all of that. All he wanted was to protect her – from the vampires (which he failed more than once), and from having to live with it.

It was amazing how much she meant to him, Alaric thought wistfully. How much he loved having small talks with her, and fooling around, and family dinners at the Gilberts', and movies at his place with midnight pizza – when he was allowed to believe for a few hours that the whole vampire thing was nothing but a really bad joke that he could wave off like an annoying fly and just… live. Even if it wasn't fair. Even despite the guilt that filled him more and more often lately when he was lying awake at night listening to Jenna's soft breath and unable to put his mind to rest.

She didn't deserve being lied to, being kept in the dark when her family, people she loved and cared about, were involved. Problem was she deserved having her whole life turned upside down even less than that. Did he have any right to do either to her? Did he have any right not tell her? And who the hell did then?

Alaric rubbed at his eyes, exhausted, noting for the first time how pressing the silence was around him. Not even the clock ticking on the wall was breaking it. For a moment it felt like someone simply muted all sounds in the world. And then he exhaled soundly, snapping out of that slumber. Not that it changed anything…

Once again his life was a total disaster, and one again Alaric had a very faint idea of how to fix it.

Once in her room, Jenna slumped heavily down onto her bed but then jumped up almost instantly, feeling like her head would explode any moment. She raked her fingers through her hair – a nervous gesture she barely every registered – as she started pacing around, physically incapable of staying still even for one goddamned second. As if moving around was somehow compensating for her inner turmoil.

Oh God, what was it? Did it really happen or was she just losing her mind? The latter was getting more and more possible with each passing moment… Except that – why on earth would Alaric have all this stuff?

She sank down again, feeling weak in her knees, and dropped her head down on her clasped together hands, practically hyperventilating by this point.

Okay, she knew Alaric was totally crashed and devastated when Isobel disappeared, Jenna reminded herself. He had hard time accepting the fact that she was most likely not coming back and finding his ground again. She remembered his lost look and pain just beneath the surface a few months ago when they had just met that he was masking with light comments and easy smiles that never really touched his eyes until much, much later. Whatever happened to Isobel, it had an enormous impact on Alaric, leaving him scarred in a way that would never heal completely. They had never really talked about what exactly was going on when it had just happened but now that she gave it come thinking, Jenna found it quite natural for him keep the records, maybe even try to do something and search for her.

Yes, she could understand that. But the rest of it? All these… all these other articles about murders that were never solved and missing people that were never found, some so old they happened before either of them was born.

And all these stakes…

She bolted up again, breath hitching in her throat.

All these stakes, and wooden bullets, and these capsules with greenish liquid in it… What was it? Why would he have it? What was he doing with it?

Cold trickled down Jenna's spine, and she found herself shiver uncontrollably. What was about that stuff that he couldn't tell her? Should she have stayed and listened to him? Should she have noticed that something was off earlier? Something… like what? What exactly was she thinking about all of that?

Why did she freak out so much, to begin with? It was Alaric… Jenna started pacing again, restless. Ric… Was her reaction just about finding a stash of creepy stuff? Or was it also fueled by what John told her? No, of course not! But… but who would keep things like that? Who would have things like that? Why was he so interested in all these killings, and missing people, and animal attacks, or whatever?

Her head was spinning and she couldn't think straight. Fear, confusion and betrayal mixing and boiling and bubbling inside of her, making Jenna feel sick to her stomach. It wouldn't be true. Whatever it was about, there had to be a simple and reasonable explanation, she told herself. There had to be. Bad thing was that she couldn't see it—

Jenna span around when she heard a soft rap of knuckles on the door a moment before it cracked open a little and Elena's head poked in, her expression cautious. She spotted Jenna standing in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around her midsection. "Hey," the girl breathed out and stepped inside.

"Hey," Jenna called back and faltered, at a total loss of words. Period.

"How are you?" The awkward question hung in the air for a few moments. "Alaric called," Elena added if a little hesitantly.

Jenna stiffened by the second, her entire body going completely rigid as her mind suddenly blew up. "He did? What—what did her say?" She asked in a hollow voice.

"Nothing," Elena replied in a small concerned voice. "He was really worried about you and wanted to check if you're okay and all."

Not quite.

Jenna let out the breath she didn't even notice she was holding, and then shook her head as a faint rueful smile crossed her lips, as far from being humorless as it was possible. "It's nothing—it's fine," she said more to herself than to Elena. "We had an… argument." Kind of. One-sided and weird. Her fingers flexed on her shoulders clutching at the soft cotton fabric of Alaric's shirt. She averted her gaze, not really bothering to try and bring order to the chaos in her mind. Turned and looked at Elena again, her brows furrowing. "Why did you come back, anyway? I thought you were going to stay at the lake house for the whole weekend."

"Something came up," Elena responded nonchalantly, yet evasively but Jenna only gave her a distracted nod. "You want to talk about it? About what happened with Alaric?" Her smile was encouraging and reassuring as she reached out to touch Jenna's arm. "Girls' night, boy talk?"

Jenna let out a short, shaky laugh that we more nervous than humorous. "No… no, I'm fine," she swept her room with one quick glance. "I just have to give it some thinking, and…" she trailed off. Talk… talking sounded like a plan. Except that she couldn't quite out it into words, could she?

"It's going to be okay," Elena told her softly, and with confidence that Jenna had no trace of.

So, she chose not to respond.

"Hey, it's me. Again," Alaric breathed out into the receiver, trying to keep his voice low enough not to bother that company by the pool table that was obviously having a much better time than he but yet audible for Jenna to hear the message. His eyes went to the glass of bourbon, half empty by now, and he thought that it was hardly the last one tonight. Wasn't the first either. "Jenna… please call me. I will explain everything. Just…. Let's talk. Please. It—it wasn't what you thought…" he faltered and let out a long breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose trying to push away the growing headache. "Okay, I don't know what you thought. But I will tell you everything."

Dead silence fell of the other end of the line when the voice mail message time ran out and for a moment he debated calling again and saying… what? What hadn't he said in the last twelve hours? She never picked up and never returned any of the messages, and he had no idea what to think about it. Neither did she answer the landline phone, which he hoped was his loophole. And it was the moment he started to feel truly desperate.

At night, he drove Jenna's car all the way to the Gilberts, seeing no other thing he could possibly do and feeling sick to his stomach as his mind tried to process what had happened, the image of her staring at him in utter terror before his mind's eye. A phone call and short conversation with Elena wasn't enough, he had to make sure she was okay, that nothing happened to her on the way home, seeing as to how upset she was when she had left.

He needed to talk to her, explain everything, tell her that… that he was sorry. God, he had no idea what exactly he was going to tell her, but he simply couldn't stay in his apartment where the walls seemed to close in on him. At some point he even thought he was going to suffocate if he didn't get out.

His first instinct was to dial her number, of course – which he did – but then his heart sank when he heard a familiar melody coming from the bedroom. Yeah, when you're running away from your psycho boyfriend and his crazy toys, you don't normally think about taking your cell phone with you, he cringed, and marched into the adjoining room only to find Jenna's Blackberry lying on the bedside table, its screen alight and his name flashing in the middle.

It was Stefan who opened the door when Alaric hopped out of the car and ran up the front porch half an hour, and he spotted Elena coming down the stairs the moment he stepped into the hallway. She paused for the barest of moments, too, her eyes flickering up to the second floor landing.

"She'd just fallen asleep," she said in a hushed voice before Ric even opened his mouth.

Relief, mixed with subtle disappointment, washed over him. The necessity to have The Talk was looming over him on his ride to the Gilberts' like a black stormy cloud, and even though a part of him couldn't wait to have this weight off of his shoulders, Alaric still dreaded it. What if she thought he was nuts? What if kicked him out and slammed the door in his face? These, and a million of other thoughts flashed through his mind as he held the steering wheel in deadly grip. He even had some sort of a very lame speech prepared, what with him not being capable of thinking straight yet.

Having The Talk postponed was… not what he had expected. And Alaric didn't know how he felt about it. It was like having the dentist's appointment put off when you were happy on the surface but still knew deep inside that it was impossible to wiggle out of it altogether, and a part of you wished you could just get it over with and forget about it for good. In fact, waiting was only making it worse, and it was exactly what Alaric found himself feeling all of a sudden. But she was fine, she was really here, and this very moment it was all that mattered.

"What did she say?" He asked in the same hushed voice Elena used, his eyes also darted upwards.

"That you had a fight." She frowned slightly. Exchanged uneasy looks with Stefan. "What did actually happen, Ric?"

Alaric let of an exasperated sigh and filled them in. "And then she just took off," he finished. "And I…" he trailed off, his shoulders sagging in defeat, and then looked at Stefan and Elena in turns before fixing his gaze on the girl. "I'm sorry, Elena, but I'm not going to lie to her anymore." He rubbed his eyes with exasperation. "I am not going to cook up some half-assed story to cover up what she saw. I am going to tell her everything—" Ric faltered. "That is if she is going to talk to me ever again."

Elena gave Stefan a quick glance, and Alaric didn't miss the anxiety coming from her. It wasn't just about him and Jenna, he told himself, it was so much bigger with all the people – and vampires – involved but for now he refused to think about it. One step at a time, he told himself.

At last, Elena nodded slowly. "Okay."

Staying there was tempting but in the end Alaric decided against it. He left Jenna's car there choosing to walk back home and pick his own car some other time, not really in a hurry to get into the confines of his apartment where everything reminded him of Jenna and in desperate need to try and clear his mind a little, hoping that maybe a stroll across town would do the job and help his thoughts settle a little. Not that he was capable of doing anything else anyway, and not even contemplating sleep. At this point the very idea sounded like a bad joke.

The air was crisp and the wind was chilly, and had no trouble getting through his hoodie and to his skin, but the fact barely registered. Absently, Alaric tucked his hands into the pockets without giving it so much as a second thought. It was other cold that bothered him. He was scared, his mind was a mess. For the first time in a very long while he had something to lose, and he didn't know what to do not to make it happen…

And then there he was, sitting at the Grill because somehow staying in the crowd felt a little better than sitting on couch and trying to mentally will his phone to ring, or chirp, or anything – which was exactly what he had been doing for hours, starting from six in the morning, and which was like a definition of pathetic. Well, so was drinking alone. He wanted to go to her, to camp out on the Gilberts' porch in case she wouldn't let him in, to do… anything! Instead, he ended up at the bar, dialing her number over and over again. Forcing his way to her felt wrong, regardless of how panicky and frantic this waiting was making him feel. If she needed time… well, it was just as much as he could give her now.

Yet, there was that small voice in his head telling him with evil satisfaction that maybe all the time in the world wouldn't be enough. Not when he was that screwed.

A small black phone let out a protesting shriek – okay, maybe it wasn't protesting but it definitely sounded that way – and a small red lamp blinked a few times. Jenna ignored it altogether and shoved another spoonful of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice-creams into her mouth, rolling it on her tongue for a few moments before swallowing the whole lump as a thought about having her brain freeze instantly crossed her mind for a fracture of a second, which she ignored as well.

What was the memory limit of this thing anyway? She thought with a slight irritation giving her phone a quick glare. Another spoonful. God, it tasted like heaven.

"For how long are you going to keep dodging him?" Jeremy asked flopping down onto the couch beside her and snatching the spoon from Jenna's fingers.

"Hey!" She reached for it but he still managed to swallow his own share of ice-cream before she reclaimed it back. "Don't you have anything else to do, like, say, homework?"

"Don't answer the question with another question, Aunt Jenna," he chuckled grinning.

"The only real question is – what about your homework, Jer?" Jenna repeated, eyeing him suspiciously, and then swiftly moved away when he reached for the spoon again.

"Done." Jeremy flinched when her eyebrows arched. "I swear it's okay," he pressed on when the dubious look remained. "And come on, not a single parent-teacher conference in what, two months? I can appreciate the benefits of my aunt dating my teacher. Why didn't you go for the principle by the way?" Jenna aimed to elbow him in the ribs but Jeremy wiggled away, then craned his neck, choosing to wave the whole school talk off. "Half a bucket, and it's barely past six," he shook his head with mock disapproval.

"Shut up," Jenna scowled at him, an It's-only-ice-cream-and-it's-not-like-I-am-drinking-Jack-Daniels-instead-of-coffee-in-the-morning look.

The phone chirped again, making them both turn.

"You know, this thing is going to explode at some point," Jeremy noted, although his voice was more sympathetic, in a why-don't-you-answer-already-and-put-an-end-to-your-misery way, than teasing.

"That's the general idea," Jenna responded after a short consideration, her expression thoughtful. "I want to know how long will it take for it to happen. Call it a scientific experiment."

He shook his head. "You're being ridiculous."

Tell me about it, she flinched inwardly and sent another scoop of ice-cream into her mouth to avoid answering, as if saying that she had enough ice-cream to be whatever she wanted. Pouted for good measure and then pursed her lips stubbornly.

Jeremy sighed in defeat. "I was going to hang out at the Grill now. Wanna come over, have some food?" He offered. "Or we can order pizza?"

She shook her head. "No, I think I will stay here and sulk in my misery." Another chime, and she almost succeeded in pretended she didn't hear it at all. "And I have a good soundtrack to my life, too. And if I get bored, I will drown myself in ice-cream." So much for being a drama queen, huh?

"Yeah, there you go, Aunt Jenna." Jeremy patted her on the shoulder, his It's-going-to-be-okay look sympathetic, then grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "Stay close to the surface, okay? See you later."

Once he was gone, Jenna dropped the spoon into the half-empty basket of melting Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and put it onto the table by the couch before sagging deeper into the cushions. Jeremy was right. As much as she hated to admit it – hey, she was the adult in the house! – he was right. Her gaze flickered towards her phone with that blinking red lamp indicated new messages. Stubbornly, she turned away and stared blankly out the window, not quite bothering to actually see the trees outside.

[flashback] In the morning, Jenna crawled downstairs feeling more dead than alive after barely a couple of hours of restless sleep, full of disturbing images that she couldn't remember once her mind turned on at the break of dawn and the memories of the night rushed back in, as clear and vivd as ever. Jenna groaned into the pillow, squeezing her eyes and covering her head with another one. It took her about three minutes to realize that sleep wasn't an option anymore, and also – that she was even more confused than before. Whoever told that the problems looked different in the light of the day had been terribly wrong. Of maybe they never discovered creepy collection of weird stuff at their boyfriends' place, she added mentally and wished there was a rewind button in life.

She stirred, realizing that she had passed out on top of the colorful bedspread (when and how had escaped her mind completely), still dressed in Alaric's shirt, and someone – must have been Elena, Jenna figured – covered her with the soft quilt at some point.

Shower and usual morning routine did nothing to make her feel any better, her mind still on fire. She turned the water almost burning hot and let it fill her bathroom with white steam, which bore sweet flowery scent of her shower gel. Jenna closed her eyes and lifted her face up to the running water, as if hoping it could wash away her worries, or at the very least dull the aching in her chest that grew stronger with each passing moment, an image of Alaric before her mind's eye as she fought to stop replaying the events of the previous night in her head, failing miserably.

Well, it wasn't entirely true. Things did look different now, but they were still off for the reason she couldn't quite figure out and it worried her more than she'd like to admit. Something was seriously wrong with the whole situation, call it sixth sense if you please. Although it was the very fact that Ric was keeping things from her – whatever they were – that hurt the most right now, something she desperately hoped would not happen between them.

The smell of fresh coffee was strong when Jenna stepped into the kitchen almost an hour later, still feeling like she'd been run over by the truck, back and forth, a few times, and not really even trying to keep processing chaotic thoughts buzzing in her head anymore. Her lips curved slightly in anticipation of bitter taste that was simply bound to make her feel better, but then the small half-smile dropped just as fast when she spotted John standing by the counter, filling his own mug. She skidded to a halt for a moment but then chose to ignore him altogether, irritated by the fact that he managed to plant all these seeds of doubt in her. And even more – by the fact that he was right after all, that something was indeed up with Alaric's wife's murder. And John knew it… when she didn't.

He paused, too, when he saw her, his eyebrows arching in surprise. Elena, who was waiting for her toasts to pop out of the toaster behind him, straightened up.

"Jenna," John started with a poor imitation of surprise, the one everyone had when they weren't surprised at all. He put the coffee pot down and reached for the sugar bowl. "I thought you said you were staying with Ric."

She scolded him, wishing for the umpteenth time that the glare could kill, or at the very least do some serious damage. "It's none of your business," she responded coldly, brushing past him to get her own mug.

No, she was not going to openly admit it and give him the satisfaction of knowing that something was off, and that it was partly his doing – even if it was obvious. She was so not up to dealing with John just yet – not after everything that had happened at night, not when she barely had any sleep and was feeling more like a living dead than… actually living… something; and definitely not when there was not enough caffeine in her system for Jenna to function properly. And the fact that there were just too many sharp objects around them wasn't really helping.

John's eyebrows arched even higher. "Is everything okay?" He asked. "First Elena comes back home ahead of time, then you." Which was more of a question than a statement.

"Leave her alone," Elena gave him a warning glance as she set her plate down onto to counter.

Grateful – to have someone keep her from actually stabbing John – Jenna reached for her favorite mug, all thoughts about Alaric she fought to keep at bay for the time being – for, say, after coffee – breaking the barriers and flooding back in in huge waves, making everything inside of her tighten as her breath caught in her throat again.

"I'm just trying to make a conversation," John shrugged, taking a small sip of his coffee.

"Try less," Jenna told him dryly without so much as looking his way before going to grab the creamer from the fridge.

"Oh well, have a nice day then," he muttered, heading out and up the stairs.

When he was gone, Jenna sagged heavily against the counter and let out a long breath, then closed her eyes and counted to ten before opening them again… and meeting Elena's concerned glance.

"Do you think we can change him for a puppy?"

She made a funny face, letting out a small laugh as she joined Elena as the table, her cup of coffee clasped between her palms, choosing to joke it off – her natural defense reaction that kicked in automatically. That and tequila shots, but the latter seemed to hardly be appropriate this early in the morning. Well, being up this early was wrong by definition in Jenna's opinion, but she tried not to dwell on it.

She took a small sip, marveling, and it was then that she spotted something lying on the table by the fruit bowl. Something she didn't see at first. Something that was her phone. The very same one she knew for sure she had left at Alaric's a few hours ago because she definitely didn't have it with her when she'd returned. Or did she?

Jenna froze.

"I don't really think—" Elena started with a smile that faded momentarily when she saw Jenna's expression and followed her gaze. "Alaric thought you might need it," she explained softly. "Your phone and keys, and stuff."

Jenna's heart gave a leap and then started to thud dully against her ribcage. The images flashing before her mind's eye like a crazy carousel.

…Alaric shows up for dinner, and she looks over her shoulder making sure everyone is in the kitchen and then pulls him in, and they kiss in the hallway like two teenagers, hushing each other, thrilled by the possibility of being caught, if only because it isn't exactly a role-modelish grown-up behavior…

…She reaches into the box and takes a few wooden bullets, they are sharp and scratching gentle skin of her palms; she rolls them between her fingers as if hoping they would disappear…

…It is early Saturday morning and Jenna wakes up to the sun shining through the curtains, Alaric's arm draped possessively around her waist, his face buried in her hair and his deep even breath tickles the skin of her neck; he senses her subtle stir and tightens his grip, making Jenna's insides flutter as she smiles into her pillow…

…"Because he's such a great guy, right?... Did he ever tell you what happened to his wife?... So they found her body?... Why don't you ask Ric? I'd love to hear his answer."…

…They are at his place. "I didn't know you're such a good cook," Jenna teases him after he lets her taste creamy sauce for pasta. "Wait till you see dessert," he chuckles, amused, before leaning in to catch her lips with his, makes Jenna's head spin…

…"Young couple last seen two weeks ago at the campground was found in the woods last night. Investigation is in progress", "A mutilated body is discovered on I75, police is trying to identify the victim", "Five bodies discovered in the abandoned cabin. Cause of death – throat injures and severe blood loss", and the one that specifically caught Jenna's attention – "MISSING Isobel Fleming-Saltzman. If you have any information, please contact any of the following numbers…"…

…Alaric lets her into his apartment the previous night and flicks on the lights. Instantly, she catches the smells of coffee and his aftershave that linger in the air. "Thanks," Jenna makes a funny face, acknowledging that she is being ridiculous and immature, in a Can't-help-it way, "I had to get out of there." Alaric smiles, "You can stay here all you want." His arms go around her waist from behind and she sags against his chest. His breath is hot against her skin when he whispers, "Just let me call John and thank him for being such an ass."…

…She runs her hand along the stake, feeling rough wooden surface with her fingertips and desperately searching for an explanation – any explanation that would make sense; the air in the living room is cool but when she shivers, she knows it's because of the cold coming from the inside as her blood freezing in her veins, literary…

The more she was thinking about all of that, the less sense it was making.

Hesitantly, Jenna reached out and picked her phone up. Fifteen messages. "He was here?" She swallowed to clear her dry throat. "When?" Well, yeah, keeping her cool was an impossible task from the start.

"He stopped by last night, after you fell asleep." Elena told her. "He was really upset."

Fifteen(!) messages.

Jenna's finger hovered over the Unlock button but then she simply put her phone away and leaned against the back of the chair, eyes glued to the red light that flickered tauntingly. Coffee forgotten, she just stared at it for a while counting in her mind together with the clock ticking on the mantelpiece in the living-room – an antique piece her sister picked up at the garage sale when Jenna was fifteen, and that remained in the house ever since. Speak about quality.

Both she and Elena all but jumped when the phone beeped.

Sixteen.

"Don't!" She warned Elena before the latter made so much as a sound. "I have to think about it first."

"Fine."

[flashback]

Which happened about eleven hours ago – about two hours before Jenna called for the "reinforcements" and ended up in the company of the bucket of ice-cream. By now the number of voice messages increased to twenty five. But who was counting, right? She did stop counting missing calls after tenth or so, which was a good thing.

Well, it was a pathetic thing in the first place but she did stop, didn't she? And no, it didn't make her feel better. In fact, it was only making her feel worse, if only because she knew they were both miserable right now, and she was being a petulant child – at best.

The phone beeped.

Jenna sent another spoon of ice-cream into her mouth, not feeling any taste this time. Then she paused, listening carefully. The house was completely silent. She craned her neck to swipe as much of the first floor area and the staircase as she could for good measure, as if not wanting to be caught or something, and then reached stealthily for her phone, feeling like a kid who crept into the kitchen to steal a cookie from the jar. Even if it was her phone. And even if it was her boyfriend sending all these messages.

She bit her lower lip, and her finger quivered a little when she actually pressed Listen at last.

…Alaric picked up after half a ring, catching Jenna off guard.

"Jenna," he heard him breathe out into the receiver, relieved and disbelieving, and everything inside of her twisted at the sound of helplessness and desperation.

In the background, she could hear soft music as well as dull buzz of voices and occasional bursts of laughter.

"Hey," she all but responded in the same way but, her heart leaping at the sound of his voice, then cleared her throat and willed herself to stay cool. "I…" received a ton of your messages and listened to some of them twice. Her mind went blank though. "I thought you might want to have your car back," she blurted out. "Also, it kind of blocks the driveway." And yeah, I was the one who parked it there but that's details, right? Her heart thudded so heavily that for a moment she thought she would most likely miss his response.

He didn't seem to hear her though. "I'm sorry, Jenna. I am so sorry about what happened last night but… I can explain everything," Alaric said in a hoarse hurried voice as if fearing that she would hang up on him or something. "Can you please let me do it?"

No.

"Okay."

The Mystic Falls High School hallways were empty and cool, most of the students long gone or cooped up at the library. It was so quiet she could hear the rumble of voices coming from the cafeteria around the corner where the janitors worked on putting everything in place after the lunch and post-lunch hours.

Alaric offered to meet there after classes, which she accepted, grateful on the inside due to her mind being totally blank. She did not feel comfortable with the idea of coming over to his place until they sorted everything out. Same was about her house. And Mystic Grill was a bit too crowded and, well, inappropriate in general for whatever they were going to discuss. Just like Ric, she preferred to keep it a little more private than that.

Jenna paused for a moment outside the history class to take a steadying breath. Her heart was thudding so fast in her chest that she was feeling dizzy. It was tempting to turn and scram before he even knew she was here… because she was a chicken. Because there was something odd to the situation that was making her antsy and worried for the reasons she couldn't put her finger on.

She longed to see him, to hear his voice. It had been two days but it felt so much longer when they were at odds. She longed to have this mess behind because…. because there was an explanation that was going to make things clear, right? It wasn't like she actually thought that Alaric slaughtered half of the county and piled the bodies at some abandoned warehouse just for the hell of it. And no, she didn't actually believe he had anything to do with his wife's disappearance or whatever, regardless of John's ridiculous implications. She just knew it, period.

Yet, there was something about learning the secrets that was normally leaving Jenna with a sinking feeling and a wish to stay in happy oblivion. And maybe sometime it was better than knowing something that would shatter your world and kill you on the inside, she added sourly in her mind.

Her hand hovered over the knob for a moment before she actually took a grip of it and turned it, pulling the door open. Alaric was standing by his desk, eyes cast down, and the familiar image made something loosen inside of her. He looked up to the sound when she stepped inside, and Jenna let a small fleeing smile cross her face, which was more of a reflex than anything. Well, that and the fact that she missed him terribly. And she hated thinking about all that stuff what was spinning in her head for the last forty hours. And that… and that his expression was somewhat pained, which made her heart plummet down.

The smile dropped, however, the moment Jenna saw Elena who stood leaning against the windowsill, her arms folded on her chest and her face grim.

"Elena?" She frowned slightly, looking between her niece and Alaric, confused. "What—what are you doing here? What's going on?"

Elena and Alaric exchanged uneasy looks that made Jenna's insides twist before Elena turned and spoke, "I think you should take a seat, Jenna." There was defeat and finality in her voice. "We need to talk."

To be continued….

As always, all typos and stuff are mine :P having busy time at work now and my head is spinning :P Sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And as always, reviews=LOVE ;)