A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

If there's anything you'd like to see please let me know.

Please let me know what you think.

Chapter 2: Sincerity

Erin was quiet, too quiet when she returned. Her expression was thoughtful. Immediately Vlad was beside her side, she was too deep in her thoughts to jump at his sudden appearance. She was just using the throne room as a cut through she didn't expect him to be in there with everyone else.

She glanced upwards at her boyfriend seeing his concerned face. "What's wrong?" He asked her gently, he was tempted to touch her but something screamed that touching her was the least of what she wanted.

"Nothing." She shuffled further where she stood, looking for a way around him.

He reached out to touch her but she darted away from him, he couldn't help the wave of hurt that rushed through him at her actions. "Erin I know something's bothering you."

"Leave me alone Vlad." She snapped at him.

Vlad let out a growl, his head lowering. There was only one explanation for why Erin was acting like this. "What did she say to you?"

"Drop it!" She yelled angrily, Vlad had never heard her shout at him. She'd raised her voice to him but never actually shouted, he'd yelled before but never her.

"If that's what you want." He spoke quietly, unused to her shouting at him. The rest of his family blinked as well, Erin had never shouted at Vlad in their presence before so it was shocking for them as well.

Her voice softened slightly as she looked at him, albeit briefly. "It is." She lowered her voice, "Sorry, I just need to get changed. I want out of these." She gestured to the yellow football kit she was still dressed in, he nodded seeing the way she was shivering.

Vlad stepped to one side to let her pass. Erin gave him a tight smile before breezing past him and letting out a sigh of relief.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Ingrid and the Count observed the scene before them from the comfort of the chairs in the throne room. Bertrand stood just behind Vlad and Jonno who looked as if they were being put on trial for what had occurred in the hall below them. The fire crackled, the glow reflecting on their faces and in their eyes.

Ingrid and the Count actually looked like they were enjoying this, they sipped at the blood as if it was some fine wine at some kind of private cinema screening. Bertrand tried not to look at them and alert them to the fact he knew they were against this truce of Vlad's even though their smirks were poorly hidden.

"This Truce was a mistake." Mina told Vlad sharply, "Your kind attacked mine." She paced back and forth in front of Vlad, nervous energy and anger too much for her to contain if she stood still.

Vlad shook his head, they needed to discuss who started this first before throwing around accusations that blamed the vampires entirely. "The slayers created stakes and slew two vampires."

"The vampires cheated!" Mina protested angrily, although it was no real excuse for the slayers to turn on them. They hadn't played fairly but vampires never played fair, it was something the man in front of her had promised to change. The slayers were the ones who'd made the first move, the vampires had just reacted to that. "You need to control them."

"Your slayers need to be controlled as well. They entered that game – except Erin – with stakes! They were looking for a fight."

"How dare you accuse…"

Jonno sighed, pulling the stakes from his pocket. "He's right mum. They had stakes; we should've stopped the match before it began. This was bound to happen." Vlad nodded, he knew he should have but he'd been so desperate to prove that vampires and breathers could live together in peace. No one was willing to take his and Erin's relationship as proof so he wanted to show them in a friendly way, typically it blew up in his face.

Mina rubbed her temples, her own son was against her in this. Jonno should still hold a grudge against Vlad for what he did to Eric but it was clear her son valued Vlad's friendship more than being practical.

Mina looked at Vlad, anger across her face. "You've lost your blood supplies." She raised her eyebrows as she spoke, her head nodding with finality. "There is no more."

Vlad wasn't going to deny it, "It's a setback yes…"

"What are your kind going to do while you restock? Where are you going to restock from? The Guild can't give you anymore…"

Vlad closed his eyes, trying to prevent himself from lashing out at Mina for her 'observations'. "I know." He wished things were going as he'd planned but nothing seemed to be going that way.

"Until you come up with an answer it's safer if we're not around to be bitten." Mina snapped at Vlad, she ignored the way his face fell at her words but she was concerned for the safety of her slayers. She turned away from him, briskly striding towards the doors. "Jonno we're leaving."

Jonno stepped forward a total of one pace, the ancient floor boards squeaking beneath his boots, before raising his head high. "I'm not." He wasn't going to let her win on this.

Mina looked at the young vampire in disgust. Jonno shook his head standing firmly beside Vlad. There was no way he was not going to support his closest ally. Jonno couldn't deny he still held bitterness towards Vlad for what had happened to his father but for the interests of everyone it had to be pushed to one side. Vlad had never intended to do it and while it didn't lessen the pain in any way it was an action that Jonno could clearly see Vlad regretted every time he looked into the youngest vampire's eyes. He'd worked closer with Vlad than his mother had and that obviously gave him the edge she didn't have.

"What?" She asked looking angrily at her son.

Jonno repeated himself more clearly. He gulped slightly, his mother could be intimidating being the chairman of the Guild but she was going to let him do this himself. He didn't think she was right in her decision to abandon Vlad. It was better if they were a part of dealing with the situation rather than sitting on the side lines. "I'm not leaving."

Mina couldn't believe her son had defied her. "I can order you…"

"Then you'll have to, I'm staying here and sorting this mess out with Vlad. Once its done I'll come back to the HQ."

"Fine." She conceded not wanting to show how much her son's actions had disappointed her. "I want you to check in every few hours."

Jonno nodded, it was a compromised to make sure he hadn't been bitten but he trusted Vlad. He didn't trust the rest of Vlad's family but he trusted Vlad. Vlad nodded encouraging him to accept it. "Okay."

Mina swept the room with her gaze once more trying not to focus on the smug gazes of Ingrid and the Count before nodding stiffly and walking from the room, towards the car that would take her back to the base.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Vlad was getting worried about Erin, he hadn't seen her since she'd fleetingly passed through the throne room. She was supposed to be getting changed but she hadn't resurfaced. He'd never known her to act that way before, it concerned him. Usually Erin would talk to him but perhaps she didn't want to talk with Mina in the room. If that was the case then he truly understood.

He couldn't use his sense of smell to detect her as he'd insisted that she continue to wear her stasis spray to protect her from his family and the constant troop of vampires that were coming in and out of his home. Jonno was forced to do the same although Jonno didn't have as much distain for it as Erin did. Vlad liked her scent, it comforted and reassured him but he knew it was a necessity. He just wanted to be able to be with Erin without her having to hide part of herself from the world.

He was approaching the brightly lit foyer when he heard something a shuffling followed by a squeak. As far as he knew there were no mice in this part of the school. He moved hurriedly towards the sound but didn't speed should he scar the source of it away.

He moved his head towards the direction of the wound, his right ear pinpointing it exactly. With his eyes he swept the foyer before his eyes landed on Erin and the bag that was bulging beside her. He felt his throat tighten with the thought of what it could mean.

She was sitting on the short middle landing, the century's old oak banisters shielding her from the casual glance. He shot towards her as fast as he could. He knelt before her, watching as her arms were tightly wound around her legs, her knees hugged up against her chest. She rocked back and forth in a manner that was supposed to be comforting to her – clearly it wasn't working.

"What's wrong?" Vlad had never seen her like this; she'd certainly never acted like this before. He wanted to help her but he didn't know how, he hadn't really helped her before other than hug her and he wasn't sure that he could do that with the way she was curled up tightly – no matter how much he wanted to hold her and soothe her worries away.

She could feel the coldness radiating from him; it was something that usually made her strangely feel safe but not now. She couldn't think about it now.

Erin could feel him waiting for her to speak. She had to tell him what was wrong, she couldn't let things remain as they were any longer. Erin drew her eyes up to his, he saw how red they were. Her cheeks were flushed red and the skin was tight as her tears had dried in rivers along her soft skin. Her top had clear watermarks where her tears had landed. "I can't pretend anymore." She whispered her words quiet, he barely heard them.

He was now confused, "Pretend? Pretend what?" He reached out to touch her face to wipe away her tears in his usual tender manner. Erin shot backwards, her back hitting the wall trying to escape his touch completely. His hand hovered in mid-air as he tried to process what she'd just done, she'd never responded to him like that before.

Her answer wasn't immediate, as if she was debating what to say to him. When she finally spoke her voice was full of venom, "I was only using you to save Ryan."

Vlad shook his head, he wouldn't listen to her words, "You're lying." She wouldn't look at him, if she was telling the truth she would. She stood sharply, knocking him backwards away from her. He couldn't see her eyes to see if there was an apology in there.

"Now he's gone…" She shook her head, it was lower than usual her eyes fixed on the floor. "I *never* want to see you again." Her words cut him to the core; he staggered back as he felt them twist inside of him. It felt as if he was being ripped open with those words. He'd spoken them to her before but he'd never expected her to say them to him. He thought that they… He felt sick, there was no trace of her lying in her voice but he knew her better than that.

Vlad grabbed her arm and held her back; she landed hard against his chest. She immediately struggled but he held her firmly. "Erin, don't lie to me." He whispered dangerously into her ear.

She had to get away from him. "I'm not lying." Erin yanked herself away from him, this time her eyes met his and he was taken aback by the raw emotion in them. He couldn't doubt the sincerity of her next words – there was nothing to doubt them with. "I don't love you Vlad and I never will." She looked up at him, her words targeting where he was most vulnerable. "How could I? You're a vampire."

TBC

A/N: What do you think?

If there's anything you'd like to see please let me know.

Thanks for reading.