Thanks to pinkskyline for the lovely review.

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The next day was Friday and Ric had seldom been so happy about the impending weekend. He had no idea how he made it through the school day. He taught his lessons mechanically, noting vaguely that Elena looked tired as well and spent half the time checking her cell phone. Stefan was skipping class once again. Elena didn`t know where he was.

At least that was what she told Ric after class. "How´s Jenna?" the teacher asked. Elena shrugged. "Mad at me for lying to her. But other than that she´s handling it pretty well. We talked after you left and I told her everything I know. She made me promise never to keep something like that from her ever again." the brunette let him know, before leaving to go in search of her wayward vampire boyfriend.

After school Ric debated just going to bed again, but instead ended up at the Grill. He wasn`t all that surprised when Damon slipped onto the barstool next to his. "Took care of our friends from last night." he let the teacher know. "Everything okay with Jenna or do you need me to compel her?" Alaric risked a glance at him and shook his head. "She`s handling it pretty well. Stay away from her." Damon raised his eyebrows at the command, but remained strangely silent.

For a while they sat drinking in companiable silence. "So, did you snap out of your pissy mood? Can we talk now?" the vampire asked after a while. Ric regarded him with a frown. "Pissy mood? You made me forget all about our friendship. You can`t actually be surprised that I`m mad at you." he hissed. Damon just shrugged. "You got your memories back."

Alaric really wanted to punch him again. He noticed Matt Donovan watching them with a frown and fought to keep his temper in check. It wouldn`t do to get thrown out of the Grill. This was the only bar in town and poor Matt was one of his students. "Can we continue this somewhere else?" Damon seemed more than happy about this idea. "Your apartment?" he suggested, scowling when Ric said no. "I`m not going to invite you into my apartment." the teacher stated. "Fine, my place then. You drive."

The drive to the boarding house passed in uncomfortable silence. Once there Ric followed Damon inside, looking around in wonder. He`d only been here twice before and hadn`t really taken the time to appreciate the view. The house was quite impressive. "Stefan`s not home." the vampire commented, pouring both of them a drink. "Why did you do it?" Alaric asked without preamble. He saw Damon stiffen and avert his eyes. Sensitive subject?

"Isobel told me she had found a witch who could open the tomb. Even without the crystal and the comet and all that stuff." the vampire began, before asking. "You know about all that, right?" Ric nodded. "Elena told me about your undying love for Katherine and your crazy plan to free her from the tomb. She also told me that Katherine had never been inside and that you did all this for nothing." That had been shortly after they rescued Stefan and Elena had been taking cruel delight in Damon´s pain. She blamed him for the whole thing.

"Yeah, so I spent 145 years pining after her, only to find out that she`s always been a heartless bitch and never really loved me. Sucks, you know?" the vampire mumbled. He sounded desolate and Ric couldn`t help but feel a little compassion for him. They weren´t all that different. He´d spent the last two years trying to avenge Isobel´s death, only to find out that she wasn`t even dead, but had left him to become a vampire. Maybe it ran in the family, he mused. Isobel was a descendant of Katherine after all. "I can imagine." Damon sighed and went on with his story.

"So she told me about this witch and made me promise that I would turn her. When we met she had no idea that I was a vampire. I don`t know how she found out. But once she had, she kept begging me turn her. She also knew about Katherine and she used this knowledge as leverage. In the end, I agreed. So now I had a chance of freeing Katherine and I thought it would be best if you didn`t remember me at all. I was sure you wouldn`t miss Isobel. I thought you would mourn for a month or two and then go on with your life."

"Well, you thought wrong." Ric grumbled. "How the hell was I supposed to know that you would suddenly start obsessing over your wife? You wanted to get divorced back then. I thought I was doing you a favour. And you weren`t supposed to see me drain her. You should have been working late that day. I didn`t even know that you saw me. I just heard something and ran off." Damon shot back. Ric`s anger was growing. "But I did see you. And since I didn`t remember you, all I saw was a vampire killing my wife!" he shouted, getting even angrier at Damon´s dismissive attitude.

"Do you even feel sorry for messing with my head, taking away my memories? Or are you completely incapable of remorse?" he asked. "I thought it would be better this way." Damon insisted. Alaric shook his head. "Better? Maybe better for you. Did it ever occur to you, that you being there would have made it easier? That I would have forgotten about her soon enough if you had stayed with me?" the teacher asked, hating how weak his voice sounded. He would have left Isobel for Damon eventually and he suspected the vampire knew it.

He didn`t give Damon a chance to reply however. "But of course you had better things to do. You had to chase after the love of your life. I was only a diversion, right? A warm body to keep you occupied until you could be reunited with your precious Katherine." he spat.

Damon actually flinched at the accusation, but Ric wasn`t finished. He had worked himself into a rage. "Tell me, was any of it real? Anything you said or did?" he wanted to know, noting the pained look on the vampire´s face with mild surprise. Damon had always been easy and impossible to read. One minute he was an open book, his expressive eyes giving away every emotion and the next minute his face was a blank mask, devoid of any feeling whatsoever. It had always frustrated Ric to no end.

"All of it was real." the vampire whispered, slowly moving closer. "You almost made me forget about Katherine, you know that? And leaving you… that was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. But you`ve got to understand... I`ve been obsessed with Katherine for over 100 years. I couldn`t just... let her go. I made a mistake. I know that now." he admitted. Ric`s heart was pounding. He wanted to believe it. Wanted it so much. But he didn`t know if he could. "What do you want from me, Damon?" He was so tired of all these games.

Damon took another step closer, invaded his personal space. "I want to continue where we left off. And I know that you want it too." His voice had taken on a seductive tone. It was so tempting. Ric wanted to lean in, capture those perfect lips again, run his hands over the smooth skin hidden beneath the black shirt.

But Damon´s betrayal still hurt too much. Reluctantly he took a step back. "I can`t." He turned and fled out of the house without looking back.

###

Alaric spent the better part of Saturday afternoon on Jenna`s couch, pouring his heart out and asking her advice. She listened patiently, but told him it was his decision to make and insisted she really was the wrong person to ask for relationship advice. A while later Elena joined them, smiling when Jenna invited Ric to stay for dinner. She obviously thought the teacher was dating her aunt and he really had no idea how to convince her that this wasn`t the case.

After dinner Elena finally asked the question he`d been dreading all the time. "Can you tell me something about Isobel?" He hesitated, not sure where to start. "Please I just… I just want to know what she was like." She looked at him pleadingly. So Ric told her how he and Isobel met. How he had fallen head over heels for her. He told her about Isobel`s strong personality and how she had fascinated him.

But he also spoke of the hard times. Of her obsession with her research and the fact that it wasn`t always easy. The open relationship he left out. Elena really didn`t need to know everything. "So... do I take after her, or...?" Ric shook his head. "You`re nothing like Isobel." Elena`s face fell and he quickly assured her that it was a good thing.

"I loved her, don´t get me wrong, but Isobel was… difficult. She was selfish. Obsessed with her work. Especially towards the end. She spent a lot of time on her computer and sometimes she would just disappear for days. Damon said she blackmailed him with knowledge about Katherine, so he would turn her. And I think he`s telling the truth." the girl looked stunned at this and Ric was all too aware of Jenna standing in the doorway, listening as well.

"You´re kind-hearted and sweet, Elena. You care about others and you always put others needs first. There´s nothing about Isobel you need to know. Believe me." She didn`t seem pleased with this, since he hadn`t really answered any of her questions, but she accepted it. Ric breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have this talk over with and left soon after.

###

Damon on the other hand spent the better part of Saturday sitting in the boarding house library, drinking. Only Alaric would be able to do this to him, he mused. Had it been anyone else, Damon would have just killed him and moved on. Instead he was stuck here, moping. This thing was far from over.

Damon was known to fixate. His freshly cured, 145 year long obsession with Katherine was prove of that. So Katherine had turned out to be a completely heartless, evil bitch who never really loved him. Shit happens. Instead of mourning what he had lost, he had decided to move on. He was over her. He was free. Finally.

Ric had made him forget about Katherine once. At least for a while. He could do it again. Damon still wanted his happy end. And he was sure he could get it with Ric. Now he only had to convince the teacher of that. And he was determined to do just that. Ric would give in and they would continue where they had left off two years ago and he would forget all about Katherine and just be happy. Yes, Damon Salvatore was known to fixate and right now he was fixating on Alaric.