(A/N): Jerremyah comforts Lisbet, and thinks about why Lisbet is upset, and his opinion of Elaine. Lisbet and Leo discuss having to control Jerremyah, and (briefly) what Leo means to her.

Jerremyah

As soon as I was sure that Leo had left the room, I put my hand on Lisbet's shoulder and lightly squeezed, in an attempt to comfort her. I knew she was hurt that Leo had flinched when she touched him when he hadn't been expecting it, but I also knew she was more upset with herself- both for startling him into doing so in the first place, and for being upset by what must be a natural reaction for him at this point.

She knew it wasn't Leo's fault that he had flinched at her touch, and she refused to make him feel like it was. He had tried to make jokes- to make her feel better about getting overexcited while making him food, and to try to make things less awkward- but instead, all he had done was make Lisbet even more sympathetic towards him.

Before she had told him that she wasn't willing to risk him not having food, because malnutrition stunted growth, she had looked at me- I didn't know why. Being malnourished hadn't affected my growth at all. If anything, she should have looked to Greygorry- the only time he hadn't had food was when his family had had no food to give, but I guess we would never know whether that had been the cause of him only growing to be five foot ten inches- sorry, five foot, ten and a half inches- or if it was simply genetics.

And Leo, already being at least an inch taller than me- I say 'at least' an inch, because the only time I had seen him standing straight up was when he had squared up to me, when I had tried to confirm whether Elaine was Tarea Hugar's daughter. I assumed he probably usually slouched to make himself look smaller- less intimidating. It wouldn't do a damn thing to help, if his genetics affected humans the way a full vampires did.

I didn't know how to feel about the fact that Leo's friend- 'friend'- was the daughter of a vampire hunter- especially when that vampire hunter was Tarea Hugar. If what Leo and Lisbet said was true- and I wasn't sure whether his judgement could be trusted, when it came to this particular girl- then she hated her father almost as much as I did- as much as most of the vampire community had reason to.

It didn't matter if she hated him though, if she wasn't genuine about her relationship with Leo- but if she was... If she deserved the way he spoke about her- how Lisbet spoke about her- then, and only then, would I do everything in my power to protect her. I didn't know what I would do if asked to protect her before I was sure of her honesty- but that wouldn't matter, because there was no way they were going to ask me anytime soon.

As I heard Leo coming back from the bathroom, I removed my hand from Lisbet's shoulder- and immediately mourned the loss of that brief instance of intimacy.

"Here." Lisbet said, and with the brown paper bag containing the wrapped sandwiches and a can of fizzy drink in her grip, I thought she was talking to Leo- until she pressed the bag into my hands, instead. Her hands made contact with mine, and I tried to absorb as much of the sensation as I could, knowing she would inevitably pull away soon- but then, she didn't.

We stood there, barely making contact, but I felt as if my feet had been stuck to the ground- like I couldn't have moved even if I wanted to. I really, really didn't want to. I stared into her eyes, the eyes I loved so dearly- the eyes I had spent years, probably literally at this point, staring into. Eyes I saw in my dreams- dreams that had made me weep after she had left me behind, ripping my heart out of my chest as if to take it with her.

She could have it. It had always belonged to her anyway, and if I couldn't stay by her side, keeping her company day after day for the rest of our eternity, then maybe my most vital organ could.

I knew Leo was staring at us- I could see him, over her shoulder, but there was no way I could bring myself to tear my gaze away from her to give him my attention- luckily, Greygorry decided to distract him, probably returning to his purpose for the past ten years- trying to get the two of us back together.

"Ugh, my neck... I can't even look down at the newspaper without it aching." I felt Leo roll his eyes- which meant that Greygorry must have, also.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you compared Elaine to him." He said, and I watched as the corner of Lisbet's lips twitched up- she was proud of him for showing no guilt, and honestly, so was I.

"Well, considering the way you act during our training sessions, I assumed that you would hold back, like you always do." For whatever reason, this is what made Lisbet's gaze leave mine. She pressed her hand against mine a little more firmly, as if to make up for the loss of connection, before she released the paper bag, and stepped back.

I almost dropped it- distracted as I was- but Lisbet had given it to me, and, as such, I had to take care of it. I clutched the bag of nourishment to my chest, feeling the cold of the can through the bag, as Lisbet turned, and walked straight over to Leo.

"Leo." He seemed startled by her sudden change in demeanor. She glanced back at me, and gave me a- worryingly apologetic- grimace. "Do whatever you have to do to keep him under control. I mean it. Whatever you have to do." Leo looked half concerned, and half like he didn't want to be a part of this particular conversation. He looked at me, and I did my best to make it clear that I wasn't offended by this- but I knew my face was not meant for softer expressions, and thus, I probably just looked constipated or something. Either way, he shrugged.

"Okay." Lisbet's eyebrows furrowed.

"'Okay'? What do you mean, 'okay'?" Leo shrugged again.

"I'm fine with having to hurt Jerremyah in order to keep him under control." Lisbet blinked, clearly surprised- and she wasn't the only one.

"What do you mean, you're 'fine with it'? What happened to you being so scared of hurting anyone that you would never even consider raising a hand to someone- vampire or not?" Greygorry's inquiry made Leo wince.

"If it comes down to a choice between hurting Jerremyah, or letting him hurt someone else, then it's my responsibility to do whatever it takes to stop him from doing so- and besides, before last night, I would've said that he was the clan member who most deserved to be punched in the face." I frowned, and Leo continued- clearly thinking I was frowning at that assertion. "What? Even you have to agree that you need to be taken down a peg or two-" I cut him off.

"It's not other people Lisbet's worried about." He blinked. "She knows you'll protect other people at any cost- she's worried about whether you'll go to the same lengths to protect yourself." He stared at me for a second, shocked, before he glanced at Lisbet- and she nodded, confirming my statement.

"He's right." She said quietly. "You are my top priority." Her only priority, if she was forced to pick one, for whatever reason. "If it comes down to it-" He cut her off, looking incredibly pained.

"No." She paused for a second, taking in his unexpected objection.

"Leo-" He cut her off again.

"If I killed him, it would ruin you." I struggled to suppress the thread of satisfaction that coursed through me at his acknowledgement of our bond, even as Lisbet smiled sadly, and shook her head.

"And if he killed you, it would ruin the both of us." Leo looked disbelieving, but I nodded.

"I've done more than my fair share of killing, and I'm sick of it." More like, it makes me sick. "I would choose only to kill to protect my clan-" And my family. "-but I'm not usually afforded the opportunity to choose. I would rather die than hurt Lisbet- and hurting you achieves that just as surely as if I took my own claws to her." Leo blinked again, appearing lost- and small. Almost... childlike. I suppose that was fitting, given the fact that he was only fifteen.

"I- Okay." Lisbet nodded, but I pushed further, not satisfied with that vague assent.

"You'll do whatever you have to do, in order to protect yourself from me?" He met my eyes, and for a few moments, as he searched my face, there was only silence.

"Okay. Yes. I'll- I'll do what I have to. But only if I have to." I nodded solemnly- then cracked a smile.

"Well, I would hope you wouldn't try to kill me if it wasn't necessary- it's against clan rules, after all."

(A/N): Jerremyah: 'If Elaine isn't genuine about her relationship with Leo, it doesn't matter if she hates her father.'

Elaine: 'What did I do?'

also

Leo: "If I killed Jerremyah, it would ruin you."

Jerremyah: * :D *

Jerremyah: 'Oops, I mean-' * :( *

also

Jerremyah: 'Lisbet ripped my heart out of my chest and took it with her when she left.'

Jerremyah: 'She should have asked me, I would have gift wrapped it for her.'