I am sorry that it took me so long to update. I have been so very busy and I've been writing this chapter for at least few weeks :D

Enjoy :)

"So what's new with you?" He tilted his head to one side to look at me then slowly sipped from his whiskey. The others had left a couple of minutes ago and now Damon and I were sitting on the bar, drinking whiskey, trying to remember old times. "We haven't seen each other for...how long? A decade or two?"

I nodded with a smile.

"We last saw each other in the 90s. And for what's new. Not much. Broken a few hearts, cracked mine a few times." I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip. He kept looking at me for a few seconds with a smile and then looked down.

A grin grew on my face as I slightly kicked his chair.

"I see that nothing has changed in your life, though." I said with a slight smile. He narrowed his eyes.

"Why do you think that?"

"Well you are still helplessly in love with one of my relatives. " He rolled his eyes "At least you switched to another this time, even though, they kind of look alike. Don't you think? Maybe is something in their jaw line or..." He cut me off by kicking my chair. I grabbed the edge of the bar, trying to regain my balance. "That was mean." I murmured

"I'm not in love with Elena. And besides she is with my brother, Belle." He pursed lips and looked down. I stared at him for a few seconds, wondering whether I should tell him what I know or leave him to suffer like that. I tilted my head to one side.

"Yeah, but you know that she doesn't love him, right?" I released the bomb with a casual voice and quickly turned my attention to the bartender, signaling him to pour me another drink. It took all my will power not smirk as I saw Damon's reaction.

"What? No. That's not possible." He said with a high pitched voice, trying to sound as if he didn't care. I covered my smile with a light cough. "Right?" He darted his head towards me.

"Mmm...it is possible. In fact, I'm not just saying it, I'm stating it. Elena Gilbert is not in love with Stefan Salvatore." I nodded. "100%."

"How can you be so sure? You just met her." He shook his head and looked down.

"Well, I may have just met her but that doesn't mean that I don't know her. And I'm telling you-she is not in love with him."

"But why is she staying with him then?" He raised his eyes, looking at me with mixture of disbelief, hope and provocation.

"Easy. Stefan is perfect for her." I paused and he cut me off.

"This doesn't make sense." He said with annoyance and ordered himself whiskey. I sighed.

" Well, it does in my head and if you let me finish, it will in your head too. Ok?" He nodded and took a sip. "Fine. I'm not a psychologist but I have lived long enough to know how the human brain works. Elena met Stefan right after her parents died, right?" He nodded. "Well, she instantly fell in love with him because he was new, mysterious and he wasn't looking at her with a oh-poor-girl-your-parents-just-died look like everyone else did. He was the much needed distraction from the horrible thing that had happened to her. And when she found out that he was a vampire she felt secure. Because she knew that what had happened to her parents would never happen to him, she knew that he would never die, that he would never leave her."

I paused.

"His love is pure, Damon, he will always be good for her. You ,on the other hand, are either the worst or the best thing that can happen to her. You irritate her, make her question her beliefs, you challenge her, you turn her into a new person. And frankly I think that she just can't shake you off. And I guess it's not from lack of trying."

He just stood there for a few minutes, staring at me.

"You still didn't answer my question. Why is she with him and not with me then?"

"Oh my God. Do I have to spoon feed this to you?"I tilted my head and sighed from irritation. "Were you born blonde or something? Imagine that you are with a girl and you love her a lot, she has helped you get over a lot of things and she has risked her life multiple times to save yours. But you meet her sister and at first there is physical attraction but then feelings start to evolve. And now you find yourself loving the girl you are with but being IN love with her sister. How would you feel?"

"Screwed up." He murmured and drank the rest of his whiskey.

"Exactly. Plus you would feel confused and scared." I paused." Elena doesn't know what to do. No matter what choice she makes, someone is going to end up hurt. It's kind of a sucky situation."

We stayed silent for a few minutes then Damon's eyebrows furrowed. He raised his head with a smile.

"What did you mean by 'that doesn't mean that I don't know her' ?"

"You caught that, uh?" He nodded with a smirk.

"Of course." He tilted his head to one side. "Didn't you say that you found out about Elena days ago?" I laughed and shook my head.

"Damon, when you spend 500 years trying to escape a psychotic hybrid, whose main obsession is finding a new doppelganger, you kind of learn to keep up- to- date with the latest doppelganger news." I took a sip." I was actually the first one who found out about Elena."

He pursed lips and turned around, fully facing me.

"What do you mean?" I thought for a second whether I should tell him or not. But he was my best friend after all so I decided to tell him.

"Well..." I was rudely cut by a loud buzz, coming from Damon's phone. He looked at me apologetically and took it out of his pocket. A big smile spread across his face. I narrowed my eyes with suspicion.

I moved my chair closer to him and looked over his shoulder. My eyes slightly widen as my body started shaking from laughter. Damon tried to push me away but didn't succeed.

"Where are you? I need to see you, we have to talk. I'm here at the bar. I'm waiting for you." I sat down and continued laughing. "Who the hell are you writing to? Your girlfriend?" Damon glared at me as I continued laughing, having seen the name of the receiver. Ric. Who the hell was Ric?

"No. My friend. Ric." He said with almost offended look. I brushed my tears and patted his shoulder. "He is coming over so be nice." I had at least 100 snarky replies but I was still trying to stop laughing. Damon continued looking at me then suddenly a smile spread across his face. "Oh, just wait to see his face when he finds out about you. He is going to..." And the last traces of laughter disappeared .

"Hey, hey. Back up. When he finds what about me?" Damon had a confused expression for a second then waved his hand.

"You know...about you." He came closer and started whispering, which was pointless because the bar people were still under compulsion. "About the witchy stuff and all." He suddenly pulled away seeing the way my eyes started shining with threat.

"You are not going to tell him anything."

"No, no, Belle." He waved his hand again."You don't understand. He knows everything and he has helped us so much. He is a vampire hunter. He has probably killed more vampires than I have..."

"Thank God that you are not a lawyer. Is the fact that he is a vampire hunter supposed to make me feel better about him?" I shook my head but he continued with such passion that I almost didn't believe it.

"Yes! And Elena trusts him, you can ask her. We just HAVE to tell him." I cocked my head to one side as his behavior immediately struck me as incredibly weird.

"No. We don't have to do anything. You may have to, but I don't have to do anything. And as much as I am deeply touched by the little bromance I'm seeing here, and I am deeply and truly, you are not going to tell him my secret. Under any circumstances."

"But why?" I breathed deeply , trying to calm down the anger that was escalating up my spine.

"Why?" I repeated and the look on his face made me lose it."Because it's my secret and I have kept it for 500 years. And if it was up to me, like it should have been, no one would ever have found out. You know not because I suddenly got the urge to sit in a circle and tell you my deepest secret while braiding your hair, but because you are simply too close to Elena and have apparently taken over the role of being her bodyguard. Elena knows, again not because I want to, but because she is too closely concerned by the matter." I paused to calm my nerves." I'm our secret weapon against Klaus, do you really want the whole fucking town to know about me?"

"But Ric is family."

"Family my ass. If it was up to me, I wouldn't have told Katerina ,either. And while we are on the subject, has she met your boyfriend?"

"He is not my boyfriend, and no. At least as far as I know." He looked down and I smiled, taking a sip from my glass. But then he raised his head with a mischievous smile. Oh, no. "OK, but I have one more thing to say."

I sighed.

"Fine."

"Ric is Isobel's husband." He said with a triumphant smile. My eyes widen.

"MY Isobel's husband? Wait...Ric is Alaric? Alaric Saltzman?" His smile widen.

"Yep. Now that you know that he has been with one of your people , do you feel better about him?"

There was something wrong but I couldn't place it. I waved my hand, trying to think of it and said with absent minded voice.

"Well you have been with more that one of my people ,but I don't feel very good about you right now...so..." I took another sip and then it dawned on me. I turned my head abruptly towards him. "Are you sure that we are talking about the same Alaric Saltzman, Damon? Are you really sure?"

He looked confused as he shook his head.

"Of course, I am. Belle, what's wrong?" He asked as my eyes went darker. This was so not good. I look around, suddenly feeling colder.

"Damon." I said with a serious voice. "I need you to focus. When is he coming?" Damon's eyes moved to look behind me as I heard a familiar voice.

"When is who coming, Annabella?"I felt chills going up my spine. I was still facing Damon, whose eyes lit up.

"Ric! You two know each other?" I clenched teeth, my suspicion being proven.

Alaric Saltzman had died a few years ago. Now I remembered it clearly, I remembered Isobel's voice when she told me.

The man behind me was not Alaric Saltzman.

I slowly turned around, feeling my heart beating like a hammer. This was called a bad situation.

The man behind me was...

Klaus.