Message from the author . . . .

Wow, I can't believe I wrote two chapter's in one weekend. I felt like the last one was like pulling teeth, but this one came a lot easier.

You all do know this, but I have to stay it. Damon and Elena, and the whole vampire diaries story line belongs to Warner brothers, the CW, and probably half a dozen other people I don't know. I created Darren and Alexandra, Seth, Michael, Richard, Vlad . . . and probably will create a few more. Who knows what will come out of my messed up psyche next?

Enjoy this chapter, because you it will be a week and a half before you see something new from me. I have clinical prep paperwork to do, an enormous exam on fluids, electrolytes, acid base function and endocrine disease to study. Yeah, nursing school is just so much fun. It will take me that long to figure out and create a hunter, and all the other potential problems, and I really do need to study. I can only check out of reality for so long. Which is are real shame. I'd rather live in this world than mine sometimes!

As always, I look forward to comments, reviews and any suggestions.

~OFANV~

Elena took Alexandra to her favorite spa. Damon was always sending Elena to the spa. When they'd first come to New York last year, he'd sent her to a different spa every other weekend – booking her day long treatment packages. She'd settled on a spa she liked the most, and now this was where she went every time.

"You seriously do this twice a month?" Alexandra asked her.

They were sitting in pedicure chairs that allowed them to soak their feet in hot swirling water, while the heavily padded chairs had rollers massaged up and down their backs.

Elena smiled, "Every other weekend, unless there's some occasion and I need to re-arrange my appointment . . . like the charity ball in three weeks."

"Darren was always dragging me to those," Alexandra said, "I as having one of those PMS weeks from hell – and he'd booked me an afternoon at this salon – he was trying to be nice – but I flipped out, I was convinced he wanted to pretty me up so he wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with me."
Elena had her head back and her eye's closed, but that made her open them and look over, "Oh come on, look in the mirror Alex! You got lucky in the gene pool department."

Alexandra groaned, "I know, I know. PMS is like temporary insanity and there was this girl who was always throwing herself at Darren, and she was petite and super skinny and had these huge boobs, and I was in one of those PMS weeks from hell and had the zits to go with it."

Elena groaned, "It used to bother me – all the women in Damon's past – but I had to get over it. Every time I turned around, he was screwing someone new – this was before he and I were together. Then when we got together, every time I turned around, we'd meet or run into some woman that he had screwed in the past – and screw was the operative word. If she was female, and remotely attractive and showed an ounce of interest he'd just jump right in. He had the same excuse, 'she was cute' – and he had a liberal definition of cute."

Alexandra laughed, "OK, I can see women being interested in him – he is pretty – but how did you reign that in?"
"I didn't have to," Elena said, laughing at Alexandra's commen, "I knew he was in love with me – long before we were together, and I resisted it – because I was dating his brother, and I couldn't resolve the Damon I originally met with the Damon I was seeing him become – and then it just happened – and I never had to worry about what he was doing when I wasn't around. Would other women try? Yeah, they would, but he turned them down. He flirts, but if they make a move he shuts them down really fast. I can't be mad about the flirting – I do it to –and I think it's just part of our nature."

"Irina," Alexandra began, "That was the blond bimbo's name. She knew all about my history, growing up in foster care, my mother being a drug addict hooker, and she just pushed my buttons. That day, I'm all hormones, zits, and my dress felt too snug when I tried it on that morning, and there she is at the coffee shop, wearing a 'barely there – why even bother' miniskirt and a halter top meant for a woman with much smaller boobs, and she's throwing herself at Darren – again. I just went off."

Elena nodded, "I hate those women. What did you say?"
"I screamed at both of them, accused him of trying to polish me up because I came from the wrong sides of the track, and when he grabbed my arm to stop me from leaving, I threw my coffee in his face. If I could go back in time, and undo anything – it would be that."

Elena sat up, "You threw your coffee at him – did you know him then, I mean, really know him?"

"Yes," Alexandra said, "I'd just moved in a few weeks before, he'd been begging and arguing and harassing me about moving in for months – and I have this whole thing about being independent. Where I grew up, a woman moved in with a man who had money when she was looking for a sugar daddy, and they usually pimped you out. I was not going to be my mother."

Elena cocked her head to one side, obviously weighing the thought out, "I can see that. So you got over this little problem, right? Because anyone can see he is totally 100% off the market."

A smile spread across Alexandra's face, "Yeah, I'm over that. He flirts, but not like he did before, and it's the friendly flirting thing – the way Damon does – the way we all do I think. I kept my job as a bartender, which drove him crazy, because he wanted me to quit work, just go to school, he was planning out our whole life long before he convinced me to move in."

"I didn't know you were a bartender," Elena said, "He couldn't seriously be worried about you, right?"

"It wasn't me he worried about, not my behavior, but he always worried about me, even now, still, he worries. He has that whole, macho, 'I can take care of my woman' thing. His mother worked hard, so did his sisters, one of them was raped and murdered by a boyfriend, and his dad was kind of a bum, and so his ego is all wrapped up in not being the man who does take care of things."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Elena commented.

"But for me, it took some getting used to. Needless to say, he never booked me a spa day again. I did ask to go once, and he was happy to send me, but after the coffee incident, I think he was afraid. During PMS week, the man must have been praying for divine intervention on a daily basis. I don't miss that."
Elena only nodded, chewed her lower lip and schooled her features. She didn't miss PMS, the bloating, or getting a period every month. What she did miss was the possibility of having children – even after all these years. But she had everything else, and she knew she was lucky.

She picked up her drink, and sipped, "I don't miss PMS either."

~tvd~

Damon had gone with Darren to look at 'the problem'. Darren had gotten a phone call that morning from the landlord, telling him they were doing a pest treatment in the building to treat a problem.

"Those," Damon said, his eye's narrowing in a frown, "Are termites. You had to pick the one building that's all wood, in city full of bricks and cement – and it had to have termites. Nice job buddy."

They were across the street. They didn't even need to go into the building. With their intensely strong and sensitive vision, they could see the little bugs in their mass exodus out of the building, and smell the gas the pest control company was using, and whatever chemical they were spraying around the base of the building."
"God only knows what kind of damage they've done too," Darren said, groaning, "Damnit . . . Alex grew up in shitholes with rats, ants and god knows what other kinds of pests – no way in hell I'm gonna have her live in one now."

Damon shook his head, "Time to go compel your deposit back, and stop that pod delivery."

Darren sighed, "Damnit! She really liked this place too. All open concept and all that- she likes big spaces."

"Why are you renting – why don't you buy a place," Damon said, "Elena and I own our homes. We move about every five to eight years, keep them, rent them out, in 60 years when we come around again, we've got a place to move into."

Darren sighed, "Jesus – you stay in one place for 8 years?"

Damon nodded, "that was the longest, but yeah. But we're smart about it. We come into town as young 20 something's, celebrate birthdays, we're discrete, we age up our look as time moves on. You can stay with us as long as you want, find a place you like – think of it as an investment."

Darren nodded, "That investment is going to be built with brick. I hate bugs. We had cockroaches bigger than in the house I grew up in."

Damon laughed, clapped Darren on the back, "Let's go get your deposit back, and then I'll introduce you to my friend at the blood bank."

~OFANV~

It was a whirlwind day. They spent the morning at the spa, the afternoon shopping, and then they got back to Elena and Damon's place and changed into party dresses, and they were out the door again.

It wasn't a night for snatch, eat and erase training, it was just a night to go out and have fun. Balance, that's what Elena had been telling her all day long. That was how you enjoyed this life, did well in it. You appreciated the fun aspects of it, and still did all the regular human stuff you could too.

Alexandra's human life in foster care growing up didn't involve spa days where she'd drop hundreds of dollars in one day, but she'd enjoyed it, and she knew Darren could easily afford it and would enjoy the idea of pampering her. Maybe it was a male vampire thing, pampering their girlfriend or wife . . .

They'd had massages. They'd gotten their hair done. Instead of just coloring the growing white streak over her scar her normal orangey red, Elena talked her into getting something different and fun – now she had a some purple streaks dyed into her hair. Elena had a few candy apple red streaks. There was a story behind that one.

They'd gotten manicures, pedicures, and someone had fixed their makeup.

Then the shopping began.

Elena liked slinky sexy lingerie – or Damon did, or both. Even Alexandra had left the store with a new nightgown – one that she'd never wear out of the bedroom.

They'd also gone party dress shopping.

There had to be some collusion going on too, because Darren reminded her as she left that morning that she did have her credit card, and there was no reason not to use it. She knew he could easily afford it, but this wasn't what human life had been like for her.

Alexandra suspected the whole 'girl's day out' had been preplanned and arranged.

But she enjoyed it.

When they got home, Damon and Darren were in the living room, highball glasses in hand, engrossed in a real estate website.

That was when she found out about their apartment – or rather, the apartment that was no longer theirs.

The nightclub was a converted warehouse. It had a very long bar along one side, a kitchen behind it, tables and booths lined two sides, and the middle was one big huge dance floor, which was full. The last wall was a big stage, where a live band played for a while, then a DJ took over during set breaks.

They danced, and drank, and danced again, and drank again, and it went on and on for hours.

That was one of benefits of being a vampire – the incredible stamina. She could wear heels for hours and her feet never hurt.

The crowed moved and mixed and churned, sometimes people they didn't know (mostly women) kind of joined them on the dance floor, and it was just so much fun.

And she'd 'cracked a bag' or two before they left for the night, so she wasn't hungry. Not that the urge didn't occasionally find its way in, especially when someone was close, but she could control it. She could see the pulse, hear the heartbeat, imagine the taste of the blood, but she could keep her head. That's what she kept telling herself.

~OFANV~

"She's fine," Elena said in Damon's ear, "Really."

Damon had been keeping an eye on Alexandra most of the night. He knew Darren was watching out for her. He knew Darren never took his eyes off her for more than a second, but newbie vampires didn't have the best self-control, Alexandra was holding onto hers by her freshly painted fingernails still.

Damon looked down at Elena, "We're in a room full of people with their blood pumping fast and hard through their veins, and I'm even a little distracted."

"But she wants to be fine," Elena said, "and she wants to make everyone else happy, so she'll keep it in check. Trust me."

Damon sighed, "I hope your right. Darren's so in love with her he has tunnel vision."

"And you didn't with me? Still don't?" She pointed out, smiling up at him as she ran her hands up his chest.

Damon's pulse doubled the moment she touched him and looked up at him like that. Yes, right now, he definitely had tunnel vision, and one other very hard problem.

He grabbed her hand, and they wound through the crowd. He had no idea exactly where he was taking her yet, but there was someplace, somewhere, or he'd be compelling a lot of people to forget what they saw and go away . . . or maybe just go away. He was kinky like that.

They reached the edge of the bar, and he saw someone go into the manager's office, and they followed.

The man turned around quickly, "Hey you can't come in here, this is . . ."

His words trailed off, as Damon's gaze caught him.

"Yes we can, you're going to walk out, and not let anyone in her for 15 minutes, and you're going to forget all about us after."

The man blinked a second later, "I'll watch the door."

He walked out, pulled the door closed behind him.

Elena shoved Damon back against the door a moment later, her mouth hungry on his, yanking his shirt out from his slacks.

Damon kissed her back, just as hard and hungry. It was always like this between then. All fire and lightning and raging out of control passion, like nothing he'd ever experienced before – even with other vampires.

He yanked the zipper from her dress down, pulled the dress up and off, and then he picked her up, and in a flash he swept the desk clear with his arm, and laid her down on it. She had his belt unbuckled, his pants unzipped, and her hand wrapped around him a second later.

"OH God, Elena!" he gasped, as she stroked her hand up, her thumb rubbing over the sensitive tip.

He tugged her bra down, freeing her breasts, and took one of the swollen peaks into his mouth. She moaned and writhed under him, and pushed her hand away, then he yanked her panties right off, ignored the tearing ripping sound of the delicate fabric as it just tore clean away, and thrust himself deep inside her.

She gasped, and he knew immediately she was already close. He pulled his mouth from her breast, and instead kissed her neck, and then sank his razor sharp fangs in, just enough.

She met this thrusts, gasped and cried out with pleasure, and relished in the feel of him inside her, the feel of him slowly drawing blood from her neck.

Her climax came, and he went right over with her a moment later, and only a few moments after that did he pull his mouth and this teeth from her neck, kissing her again, slower, still hungry, and she could taste her own blood in his mouth.

Intense, crazy, amazing, every last time.

Their kiss broke and he looked down at her, the look in his eye's still intense, but definitely satisfied.

"Fifteen minutes? Is that all you're planning on giving me?"

He smirked, "I'm talented, it doesn't take me 15 minutes to satisfy my sexy hot wife – but I'll give you lot longer than 15 minutes when we get home."

She smiled ran her fingers through his hair, "I just bought those panties today you know."

~OFANV~

Darren has his hands on her hips as they danced. Her back was to his chest, and he kept her close, enjoying the feel of her body moving with his. She loved to go dancing, and they always seemed to find that rhythm that was just right.

There as another couple dancing with them, the woman was rubbing all over his back and his ass, and the man with her was watching every last twist, shift, sway and turn of Alex's body, but he kept his hands off, so Darren was ok with it. If he touched her that might change in an instant, but at the moment things were good.

Darren's gaze swept up, and that was when he saw it. If his sense weren't so sharp, he may not have seen it, but the man across the room had definitely just bit into his dance partner's neck. The woman swayed a little, her body weakly swaying in his arms, and only a few short moments later, he let her go. He held her gaze for a moment, and then she wandered meekly away.

Another vampire was in the club.

Darren watched him for a moment longer, committing the details to memory. The vampire left quickly, moving through the crowd a little too fast, and then was out the door.

Alexandra felt the change in Darren's demeanor, and she glanced up and him, and reached back, running her hands down the front of his thighs for moment.

He tightened his grip on her, pulled her tighter to his body, rubbing up against her firm ass, and he knew she could feel him hard and aroused, but that was just fine. This was foreplay for them after all . . .

The music changed, and Alex announced to the couple they were with that she and Darren were going to get a drink, and added that they'd find them again later. Darren knew they probably wouldn't, and that Alex wasn't interested in finding them later, she was just nice that way. She'd gotten bored with them.

They wove their way through the crowd, over towards the bar. Shamelessly, she compelled two people to move away so they could have that a spot right at the end, and not be standing two or three feet away.

He smiled to himself. Yeah, she was adjusting.

The bartender came over, "what can I get you two?"

"Captain for the lady, and for me, Correllejo Anejo," Darren said.

Darren watched as Alexandra did a quick scan down the rows of liquor bottles. Still a bartender . . .

The bartender came back with the two shots, "Are we running a tab for you?"

Darren dropped a 100 dollar bill on the table, "Not yet, we'll take another round in few minutes.

"I don't see your favorite," Alexandra said, turning and picking up her shot.

"They don't have it," Darren said, "I'm surprised they had the Correllejo."
They raised their shot glasses, touched them together, and then tossed them back.

"Our hosts are nowhere to be seen, which I'm guessing means they've found a coat closet or cleared one of the bathroom's for a quickie," Alexandra said, laughing.

"Manager's office," Darren said, "I just saw them come out."

Alexandra smiled, shaking her head.

The bar tender came back with another two shots.

"We'll need shot of the smoothest bourbon you have, and the darkest rum for our friends too, with our third round," Darren said.

Once again, they clinked their shot glasses, and tossed back their liquor.

A few minutes later, Damon and Elena joined them.

"We have another round coming, for all four of us," Alexandra said, trying hard not to stare at Damon's obviously very recently disarranged hair. It was literally standing up and out everywhere, and pressed flat in one spot.

Darren didn't have any problem calling him out.

"Dude, do something about that hair," Darren said, "Seriously."

Damon smirked, ran his fingers through it, at least evening it up.

"My wife was distracted," Damon replied smugly.

Elena rolled her eyes, "smug jerk."

The shots arrived, and they raised them up, saluting again.

"To old friends," Darren said, clapping Damon on the back.

"And new ones," Elena added.

~OFANV~

The next afternoon . . .

Elena poured out two bags of blood into mugs, and warmed them up in the microwave for just a few seconds.

She had on knit shorts and a t-shirt, her hair was pulled up in a messy knot, and she'd scrubbed off any trace of makeup. She'd think she looked plane and boring, but to Damon, she was stunning. It still amazed him that she chose him and that they'd made it work. He hadn't always had that confidence – determination and desperate hope – yes, he'd always had that. But the old insecurities were gone and had been for years.

He hadn't dressed up this afternoon either. He had on sweats and a t-shirt. The only reason he'd bothered with a t-shirt was because they had house guests.

He kind of liked it, even if it did mean he wasn't bending his wife over the sofa quiet as often.

"So who's cooking tonight – you or Alex?" Elena asked, sitting down next to him.

Damon blinked, smiled, and brushed is lips across Elena's, "Wow . . . never thought I'd ever hear something like that!"

"That Crap soufflé, Damon it was really good!"

"I know," Damon said, "I might actually start taking her with me to the market when I go."

Elena smiled, leaned over into him, and sipped from her mug. Damon's arm went instinctively around her shoulders.

"Oh she'd love that," Elena said, "She's relaxing – the sheer terror of what could happen is fading out thankfully."

"How'd it go yesterday?"

"Easy," Elena said, "aside from the fact that she has a ton of emotional baggage – she's still dragging around with her. It's easy to forget they've been together for only two years."

Damon nodded, thinking back to some of the hang-ups he used to have, some that he still did.

"Some of that never goes away," Damon said, "Darren told me some of it – but I know I got the PG, abbreviated version. They're perfect for each other, like hallmark channel movie perfect. It would get old fast if I didn't know what that was like."

Elena smiled, ran her hand along Damon's thigh, "Speaking of hallmark channel romances – have you talked to Stephen?"

Damon grimaced, "That would be a big NO . . . and there is nothing romantic about that whole mess there. That's all sex, obsession, mind games and lies. I dread the day it falls apart, and it will."

Elena nodded, "Christmas and thanksgiving is only weeks away you know . . ."

Damon groaned, "God . . . you're gonna make me do it, aren't you?"

Elena nodded, "yeah, I am – and I am such a cool wife to my wonderful husband I'll even tolerate his ex girlfried/brothers current girlfriend in my home."

Damon snorted, "You don't get off the hook that easily! You dated both of us."

It was Alexandra's voice that chimed in next as she came down the stairs, "But did she have sex with both of you in a nightclub?"

That earned another smirk from Damon.

"My brother's cool, but he's not that cool."

Alexandra just shook her head, "I'm making coffee, tame coffee for you east coasters."

~OFANV~

Darren groaned. God he was hung over. Not that it was a new experience for him. But last night he'd drank way too much.

It was almost like it used to be. Out for the evening, Alex not afraid of what she might do . . .

He knew she wasn't in the room, and he listened for a moment, heard the chatter, smelled the coffee, and he knew where she was. She really was getting comfortable, relaxing, and he was relieved. He knew she'd get used to it eventually, she'd adjust. They all did, or they didn't . . . and if they didn't, they suffered the fate that Seth suffered, eventually. But it helped that he had a friend around, friends really, to help. This way, it wasn't just him telling her this was normal, that she'd get used to it.

His mind drifted, and he remembered the vampire he'd seen across the room the previous night. Tall, skinny, blond shoulder length shaggy hair – and careless. Humans wouldn't have noticed what Darren had. Humans would have seen two people making out, and then the guy running out of the club a little later – sort of running, that would be what their mind told them it was.

He didn't think the vampire had notice them, and he if did, they weren't doing anything that would tip him off. They'd have just seemed like two more anonymous faces in the crowd. Darren meant to tell Damon about it, but they'd started drinking and dishing history again last night, and it had just slipped Darren's mind. Of course there would be other vampires in the city. New York City was the perfect hunting ground for a vampire. Vegas used to be, but with camera's damn near everywhere there now, one had to be a little more careful. He could just imagine the video's that could show up on you tube . . .

Then his mind wandered to the whole apartment debacle. That had really sucked. Alex had that deer in the headlights look on her face when he'd said something about buying a place, fixing it up. Not that he thought she had doubts about them as couple. It was just a big move, and she didn't do big moves really well.

He had to get her back into school soon too, next quarter if it was possible. Sometimes, when everything else was stressing her out, if she was in that lab, focused on crap not even he could see – like bacteria and viruses and cells and all that crap, that was the stuff would relax her. It was weird, but it worked. She'd resolved herself to a lot of big changes when she spent time growing or killing bacteria, or doing something strange with DNA to a virus. She'd come home excited about something she'd seen or done, practically bouncing off the ceiling, and while he didn't get the appeal, it was important to her, so it was important to him.

The scent of bacon wafted up, and that was it. No more lounging in bed, waiting for his headache to go the hell away. So he grabbed a pair of jeans, pulled them on, and headed down the stairs.

Damon was by himself the living room, looking at the newspaper, a grim look on his face. There it was, 2nd page – the vigilante had struck again, according to the article.

"That's not her work," Darren said, "She hasn't had the chance – and she'd tell us."

Damon nodded, "I know. But someone is doing it – and when I checked with a buddy of mine at the morgue – the bodies are all coming in drained of blood – disarticulated at the joints, with a knife, but the knife has changed apparently. I played dumb, said I was worried it was the work of someone I used to know, but it obviously wasn't. I figured I'd blame it on Stephan's alter ego, the ripper of Monterey."

Darren nodded, "I saw a vampire in the nightclub last night. I saw him have a human drink, and leave. I don't think he saw us."
"There's a handful of them in the city," Damon said, "I know a few . . .but none of them would copy-cat this, it's not worth it. We were so stupid! I should have insisted on burying those bodies."

"We spread them out!" Darren said, "Jesus – we picked people no one would care about! We used multiple dumpsters for some of the bodies. We did what we could."
"Damn bleeding hearts, there's always someone wanting to save trash like that," Damon swore, and he sipped the coffee, "Really, not much we can do about it. By now, hunters have noticed. It's in the damn New York Times reporting after all."

Darren sighed, "I've never actually met a supernatural hunter – just the crazy human ones."

"Supernatural ones are even more crazy," Damon said, "almost no self-control, and they can't be compelled. It's a real pain the ass. Elena's younger brother is a hunter – was – he's pretty much not hunting anymore."
"How did that exactly work out?" Darren asked, "with her being a vampire."

"It was touchy. Mystic falls was just a messed up place for about 10 years," Damon said, shaking his head, "He got his urges under control, and he doesn't try to kill Elena, so we're all good. He's in his late 40's now, and so is his witch wife, so visits can get a little weird, especially since my niece is starting to notice we don't age."

Darren shook his head, "It's all because of that Mayan priest. You caused all that – with one bad meal choice."

Damon groaned, "You are never going to let that go, are you?"

"Never," Darren said grinning.

~OFANV~

Three weeks later . . .

Alexandra came to the event full. Two bags of blood before they left for evening, so she wasn't hungry. She was so easily falling into this new lifestyle that sometimes it scared her. Elena had booked her an appointment at the spa right along with hers. They'd been out shopping again, two more times. Her little small makeup bag was now a tote bag. She had new heesl, new boots, even a new pair of running shoes. She was starting to wonder if her new friend had a little bit of a shopping problem.

Darren wasn't worried about it, but buying her thing's fed his ego – and it was his money she was using, because she wasn't working. He actually seemed to be enjoying it. He and Damon exchanged that look when she and Elena came home from shopping.

A waiter came by, with a tray of champagne glasses, and Elena plucked two off, and handed one to Alexandra. They resumed their stroll around the room and Elena was pointing out people she and Damon knew. Only two other people in the room really knew them – knew what they were, but they were vampires too, and right now Damon and Darren were comparing notes with them about what they'd seen in the paper.

They were leaving their part out of it of course. Vampires could be vindictive.

"Oh her," Elena said quietly, "She's a real peach. She practically starts panting if Damon says two words to her. She acts like she's familiar with the whole Salvatore family line, which is hysterical, since we have to doctor documents almost every damn time we move."

The woman in question reminded Alexandra of a something out of comic strip. Skinny neck, big head, big hair, over-painted face, and stuffed into a dress she shouldn't have been wearing. She was dripping with jewelry too. If it was all real, there had to be a hundred's of thousands of dollars on her this very minute.

Alexandra snorted, "Do you think we'll hear it if the seams start to pop?"

Elena laughed out loud, and then said quietly, "Maybe!"

Alexandra caught glimpse of them in the glass. Yeah, she was falling into this life way too easy.

Elena was wearing a stunning red cocktail dress that came to just above the knee. The bodice and tank straps hugged her curves, the skirt flared out. Her hair was curled and piled up on top of her head, she had on a beautiful tier patterned crystal necklace, earrings to match, and strappy peep toe high heels.

Alexandra's dress was a rich royal blue, strapless, and it came to a few inches above her knee's. Her red hair had been curled up and lightly sprayed, then tousled loose. She had on a smoky quarts pendant necklace, three inch heels that looked spectacular, and should have been killing her, but they didn't.

"Now that's a 'cat that got the cream smile' if I ever saw one," Elena said, "I gotta say, I'm impressed. I was a mess still, when I was this . . . young."
Alexandra shrugged, "maybe I'm good at faking it. I'm still worried I'll have one of those moments where I just can't control the thirst – but I'm barely having cravings lately if I have a bag or two before we leave your apartment."

"I think you don't give yourself enough credit," Elena said.

Alexandra looked over at her new friend. Right now, Elena her only female friend, and that was weird for her. She'd totally walked away from her life in Seattle, and everyone on it when she and Darren left.

"I don't think I'll ever forget what happened to poor Seth," Alexandra said, "What was it like for you when you first turned?"

Elena laughed a little, "Oh . . . well, this is a fun story. I was sire bonded to Damon – it was his blood that was in my system when I died in that car accident . . .

Elena told gave her a brief history of how things played out that first year. The big differences that had grown up between her and Stephen, and how it ended their relationship, the sire bond, the ill-fated trip to find a cure, flipping her humanity switch for a while, how Damon and Stephen went to crazy lengths to bring her back to her senses. Losing her brother, getting him back, getting Bonnie back from the other side . . .

Alexandra listened with rapt attention, half thinking Elena was stringing along an elaborate tale to tease her, but she was so convincing. She was through her second glass of champagne before she realized it.

~OFANV~

Darren listened mostly, and let Damon do all the talking. He didn't know any of the vampires they were discussing. He knew his friend had a reputation for being dangerous, lethal, sometimes people – their kind of people – called him crazy.

The more Darren listened and heard, the more Darren was glad they were friends, and not enemies. Darren had his own fair share of dangerous, asshole moments and experiences, but it seemed like Damon had spent the last 30 years playing the role of badass and superhero at the same time.

Of course, Damon did fall in love with and steal his brother girls, so he wasn't totally all superhero.

"It could be Vlad," Richard said, "he comes and goes, and that is his style . . . but he usually looks us up when he's in town."
"It's been like 40 years since I've seen Vlad. I didn't know he was even in the country. Last time I talked to him he was going back to party his way through Moscow and terrorize some old human enemies."

"He did," Leo said, "and drew a lot of attention and had to clear out. A hunter was hot on his trail all through Europe apparently – and now he'll come here – if Vlad is here."

"Great," Damon said, "A hunter a personal vendetta – what did Vlad do, turn his sister?"

"Ate his wife," Richard said, "Foolish really."

They talked a while more, then went their separate ways.

Darren waited until they were far away before he spoke again.

"Eating a hunter's wife definitely trumps eating a Mayan priest," Darren commented.

~OFANV~

Looking forward to your comments. They seriously get me through the week, especially when you tell me what you like. I had a crap day last week, and then I got an email from someone telling me how much they were enjoying this story, and it just made my day. You know who you are I'm sure . . .