Chapter 24: Bonding.

" ... And now I don't even know, if we're off or on, but she did tell me she love me, you know." Alaric looked up at Damon, but he was staring in a whole other direction. Alaric punched him on the shoulder. "Are you even listening to me?"

Damon blinked at him. "I am sorry, Rick. I was having serious eye-sex with the blonde in the corner."

Alaric turned his head to get a look. "She's not even looking at you, dick."

"She was until you started glaring at her, "Damon insisted, "What can I say? Not my fault I'm so damn hot."

Alaric drained his drink, shrugging. "You are not as hot as you think."

"Oh please!" Damon laughed mockingly, "I even make some men question their own sexuality."

"Yes, if they are gay."

Stefan, who was sitting beside Damon, gave a short laugh. "Good one, Rick."

Damon sent his brother a dark look. "Mind your own business, brat."

Stefan frowned at him. "Hey, I can't share your intoxication here. I'm on orange juice."

Damon ignored him, putting an arm around Alaric's shoulders. "You and I have a lot of things in common, you know ..."

Stefan snorted. "Let's hope one of them isn't syphilis."

(Break)

"Oh, dear Lord. Wooden stakes are so much worse than wooden bullets and steel knieves." Darwin sat up, finally spotting Jules' maimed corpse. He grimaced. "Oh no. I was going to say 'please, don't kill her, 'but I guess I passed out."

Elijah was dumbstruck and when the use of his senses returned, so did his anger for some reason. "You were staked through the heart. How can you be alive?!"

Darwin blinked at him. "Well, you sure don't seem too happy about it."

"You were staked through the heart!"

Darwin looked down at his chest, lightly touching the closing wound with his finger tips. "No, I wasn't."

"How?"

"Dextrocardia."

"What?"

"I have dextrocardia situs inversus, "Darwin explained calmly, "It means that my heart is situated in the right side of my chest."

Elijah grabbed him by the upper arms and shook him lightly. "And you couldn't have told me this?"

"Hey!" Darwin glared at him a bit groggily. "It hardly ever comes up in a conversation ... It's probably due to your retarded genes, anyway. And that's probably to blame for my bad vision, too. And the asthma and the chronic cold, not to mention the whole tapeworm infection. You know, my mother never had ... "

"Shut up, Darwin!"

Elijah shook his head. Then wrapped his arms around Darwin in a tight embrace, resting his chin on the boy's head and closing his eyes. He hadn't noticed before now that he was shaking.

"I hope you realise something now, "Darwin mumbled against his chest.

"What?"

"That no matter what you do, you can never keep me completely safe."

(Break)

It was quite late before the group returned to the Boarding House. Twilight crept over the land and Elijah and Alaric sat on the steps to the porch in front of the house, watching the sunset and passing a joint back and forth.

"You know, not many people are as mature and sophisticated as us."

"No, "Elijah agreed, passing the joint back to Alaric. "The others could learn a lot from us."

"Ah, yes, the distinguished 'quiet desperation.' So much more refined than the working class's bad temper."

Elijah frowned. "You're not working class?"

Alaric huffed. "I'm an academic."

"Ah, yes, "Elijah nodded taking the joint as Alaric handed it to him, "You know, I've actually never been to college."

"So, that would make you the lower class simpleton."

Elijah blew out a cloud of smoke. "I'm an Original. We're practically royalty."

"Well, you do dress classy."

"Yeah."

"And as I've told Damon several times, you do have nice hair."

"Yes, I do, "Elijah glanced at Alaric, "You don't."

"What are you talking about?" Alaric looked absolutely scandalised.

"It looks like you just rolled out of bed."

"It's modern!"

"It's a mess, "Elijah shrugged, "Look, either you are posh or you are not."

Alaric tried desperately to smooth his hair, but it was an impossible job. "Oh God!"

"And sometimes you have bad posture, "Elijah continued. "And always a bad attitude."

"I want to be posh!"

"Yes, "Elijah nodded gravely, putting his hand on Alaric's shoulder, "And I will teach you."

"Really?" Alaric looked at him hopefully. "And what will be my first lesson?"

"Well ..." Elijah considered for a moment. "How to hold your liquor."

"I know how to do that."

"Really?" Elijah's eyebrows went up. "How many nights have you spent on the bathroom floor these last couple of weeks?"

Alaric tried to count, but gave up.

"There's floor heating, "he finally grumbled.

"And the drunk tank?"

"Hey, that's my usual vacation spot! You know; the exellent service, the friendly locals, the steel bars ..."

"And all the amusing anecdotes to tell your unborn son or daughter, I'm sure."

"Oh no, "Alaric shook his head in despair. "God, I have no idea what it's like to be a parent."

Elijah said nothing for a minute, leaning back and feeling his frayed nerves slowly relax.

"You're always afraid." He finally said.

Alaric nodded slowly. "When did you first start to feel like a parent?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. You just seem to do the part so easily."

"Well, I guess I kind of always did, "Elijah handed the joint back to Alaric, "I was the oldest, I helped raising my siblings, especially Rebekah and Kol. And Henrik, of course. There's no complaint or excuse I haven't already heard. Or fight I haven't mediated."

Alaric nodded again, completely forgetting about the joint. Elijah took it from his hand, before it burned his fingers, and threw it on the ground.

"But don't get me wrong; no matter what, it is never easy, "he added.

(Break)

Darwin was trying to finish his essay, but kol kept disturbing him. He was stretched out on the bed, singing his own rendition of 'La Donna é Mobile'. It seriously grated on Darwin's nerves as Kol was both drunk and tone deaf. And his Italian was horrible.

Fifteen minutes later and he had finally had enough. "Kol, would you please shut your mouth?"

And he did, but then started humming loudly instead.

Darwin stomped over to the bed, grabbed one of the pillows and hit him over the head with it. "Shut up!"

"Hey, we're not scantily clad sorority chicks. Fight like a man!"

Darwin jumped at him and they scuffled for a minute, before Kol had him pinned down.

Darwin sighed. "Ok, I get it. You're stronger than me."

Kol let go and lay down, facing him. "I knew something had happened to you."

Darwin frowned. "What?"

"Today, "Kol elaborated, "I knew something had happened to you. I felt it. I always do, but never in the same way. Sometimes it's sudden goose bumps or a head ache. This time I felt cold."

"Really?" There was so many things he wanted to say, but he didn't. Instead, he wanted to hear, where this was leading.

"Yes." Kol wrapped an arm around his neck, pressing their foreheads together. "I promised you over a thousand years ago that I would never let anything bad happen to you. And whether or not I have been able to keep that promise to you, I want you to know that I did mean it, little brother."

"I know. But you always let me live my own life and I appreciate that."

Kol rarely showed him any real affection and he was always drunk, when he did. But it didn't matter. In fact, it made the moments mean so much more.

There was a long silence. Kol had closed his eyes and his breathing had stopped. Darwin thought he had fallen asleep, but suddenly his eyes opened a bit. He talked, his voice a drunken mumble: "I hope you won't forget me. You know, now that you have Elijah."

Ah, there it was!

"I never will."

"You do know that I love you, right?"

Darwin closed his eyes, sighing deeply. "Yes, brother, I know."

AN: 23 chapters without mentioning Elijah's hair. Well, it had to be brought up sooner or later. Practically unavoidable.

And I am not repeating you know what again!

(While dextrocardia situs inversus may be a benifit to Darwin, it is not to humans. Though most people with this condition have no medical problems because of it, they may be prone to bowel, bronchial and cardiovascular disorders among others, some of which may cause death if left unchecked.)