Summary: Damon still is blind to what Alaric sees, Klaus is expertly keeping his motives secret, and Elijah is in turmoil on both sides of the battle field.

Damon made it to Alaric's place immediately after their phone call and was surprised to find a considerably large amount of blood on the floor along with two dead bodies and two hearts next to them. His eyes glanced up to meet with Alaric's and a silent question was asked.

"Wasn't me." Alaric answered.

"What the hell happened?"

"Elijah and these hybrids happened."

"What? Where is Elijah?"

"I don't know but-"

"Was he hurt?"

Alaric couldn't help but feel jealous, it was as if Damon ripped his heart out of chest and suddenly his lungs forgot how to accept air. "No."

Damon's expression seemed relieved but then shifted to concern. "Why are there dead hybrids on your floor and who do I have to kill for them coming after you?" He assumed that's the only reason hybrids would enter Alaric's place.

"Surprisingly, Klaus didn't send them. They were pissed about the ones you killed the other night."

Damon cursed to himself. "Shit." He once again put Alaric in danger.

He moved over to Alaric and just kissed him on the forehead then on the lips. Too much was happening. Klaus was using Alaric as his kryptonite and Elijah was growing on him and shit, how in the hell did he get this far tangled into the drama?

Alaric made no move to stop him but he wrapped an arm around Damon's waist and spoke softly. "We have to um," he gestured to carnage. "Dead supernatural bodies are not good for decoration."

They burned the bodies and Damon, as usual, check over Alaric to make sure he wasn't hurt. That was starting to become a regular routine for them.

"Damon," Alaric started with half-lidded eyes. "Elijah can handle himself, you know." He wondered why he was saying this to him. It had crossed his mind a few times actually because there were times when he hinted at Elijah's interest in Damon but Damon didn't quite get what he was hinting at.

Damon glanced up at him as they made their way to the car. "Yeah, your point?"

"I'm saying- I don't know what I'm saying, Damon."

The vampire raised a brow and stopped when they were on the passenger's side of the car. Alaric had been more weird than usual and he obviously noticed that but chose not to comment on it. Not yet at least. "Spit it out, blondie."

Alaric rolled his eyes and shoved Damon hard against the car door. His eyes scanned over Damon's expression and he seemed lost in translation. After what seemed like hours, Alaric finally spoke again. "Be careful."

That's not what he wanted to say.

Damon, stay far away from Elijah as possible, don't get close to him, don't befriend him, don't like him, don't touch him, don't fall for him, don't worry about him, don't care about him.

Don't drift away from me.

Damon just smiled and nodded. "Now when am I ever careful, Ricky?"

Alaric felt his heart drop because something deep down inside of him wanted Damon to hear those thoughts that he tried so desperately to voice.

What was he doing?

After a long and heated kiss and subtle gropes in the middle of Alaric's doorway, they reluctantly departed. Alaric was on board for Damon staying but the vampire insisted that he had to handle loose ends. Alaric didn't protest verbally but his grip on Damon's hips said something that measured to shouting. He wanted Damon to notice him, to really notice him. He needed Damon to see that he needed him there for the night so they could forget about everything else but all he could do was plant one more kiss to Damon's lips then release him.

Alaric pondered what it was that he had with Damon. They never discussed it but somehow silently agreed on 'it's complicated'. He regretted not cornering Damon and forcing him to define it because he wouldn't be in the situation that he was in now if he had of. He paced for a while and debated on calling Damon and telling him to come quick.

It was wrong, this was wrong, a vampire and a hunter were wrong. They shouldn't have coexisted in such a way. He groaned and palmed his forehead as he stopped his pacing in front of the counter, in front of a very tall bottle of Scotch. "Great, now I'm questioning the balance of life."

Instead of wallowing in his jealously and confusion he went straight to bed. He turned down the inviting idea of drowning in alcohol to ease the newly found pain in his chest. Damon wouldn't want him to do that. So he wouldn't.

Sleep was sufficient.

Damon on the other hand had business with a certain original- or two. He was greeted at the door by two hybrids and he didn't wait for an invitation. "Where's Klaus?" He asked as he walked right in.

"Obviously not here. What do you want?"

Damon smirked. "Road kill." He moved swiftly and ripped out both of the hybrid's hearts, compliments to the man he learned that from. He didn't sense Klaus around so he searched around for Elijah, he could still faintly sense his presence.

He scanned the entire place until he stumbled upon the coffin in the master bedroom that he was kept in only a day ago. "I should have known." He placed his fingertips over the cold waxy wood with a tiny shred of hope that it was Klaus daggered inside. He drifted his fingers down to the metal handle and lifted the top half up and was met with Elijah's drained body. "Damn it."

He didn't hesitate to pull the dagger from Elijah's chest. He of course pocketed the dagger in his jacket in hopes of keeping it for good measure. It would come in handy down the road. He watched as the color slowly began to restore in Elijah's face and smiled when the original's eyes fluttered open.

"What's up, sleeping beauty. Did you enjoy your nap?"

Before Damon had the chance to laugh he was pinned against the wall.

"What did you do?" Elijah growled.

"Aside from save your ass, I didn't do anything."

"You should not have undaggered me!" His expression hardened. "You could have been- you could have jeopardized the entire plan!" No, that's not what he was worried about. Screw the plans; he couldn't care less about that. Damon could have been bitten, killed, or injured, that's what fueled his anger.

"Fuck you. I could have left your ass in the box!" He placed his hand over the cold one that was tightly gripping his T-shirt then tugged. "Let go of me." There was no point in trying to pull his way free. Elijah was stronger than him and he had a better chance with his halfhearted demand than trying to use force against the original. "The plan isn't worth anything if you're incapacitated in a fucking coffin." Damon rolled his eyes and ranted on about how he should be grateful that he even thought to look for him and not a lot of people received that much attention from him.

Then it happened.

Shockingly soft lips were pressed to his own.

Damon's arms dropped to his sides and he began to feel weak in the knees but somehow Elijah's hands were now on his waist holding him up. He let his eyes slip closed and his stomach was turning. Did that really just happen?

Elijah dropped a hand to Damon's hip and pressed his lips to Damon's once more, this time deeper, more calculated and emotionally driven. He waited far too long for that and to stop was a hard thing to do. He broke the kiss in favor of dipping down to a pale neck then back up to his jaw.

Damon still had no control over his limbs but he parted his lips to speak but a moan escaped. "D-damn." He took a deep breath and found the energy to grip Elijah's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" He finally managed to say.

Elijah laughed and lifted up some and released his grip on the young vampire. "You young vampires these days, you are all so naïve and have no direction."

Damon rolled his eyes at the insult and gained the mobility back in his legs. He pushed Elijah away but the original pulled Damon close at the same time and their lips locked again.

This time, Damon kissed back.