(A/N): Hey Guys! Chapter four for tonight, hope you like!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Shari, Nicholai, Jonothan, Lisbet, Cipicia, Mia, Brooke and Quiggly.

Leo

I woke up again a while later, parched, but not in nearly as much pain. "Water?" I mumbled stupidly, trying to sit up using arms that felt like they were made of jelly- only to have an arm wrap around my back and help me make it upright, pillows being pushed behind my back as I slowly realised that I was, and had been, laying in a bed. My own bed, it seemed, but it was positioned in the middle of the living room floor, where there was plenty of space to move around it. As I turned my head slightly, I realised that it was Shari who was helping me to get, and remain, vertical, and my mouth remained open slightly until her eyes met mine. They were tired, and full of pain. "Shari...?" I asked quietly, but she shook her head, brushing my inquiry off.

"How are you feeling?"

I was confused for a minute, before looking inside myself. How was I feeling? "I'm fine." She rolled her eyes, sighing deeply before handing me a tall cup full of clear, cold water. I raised the cup to my lip and took a small sip, before starting to chug it down in an attempt to relieve my extreme thirst.

"Hey, hey, slow down or you'll-" Spew. All over the floor. Nothing came up except the water I had just tried to drink, which really had me worried. "Leo-" I cut her off.

"Shari..." I said quietly, staring at the vomit-covered floor. "How long was I out?"

We locked eyes and she shrugged, trying to blow it off. "Not-" I cut her off again.

"The truth, Shari," I warned, and she stared at me for a second before shrugging. With a wave of her wand, the vomit disappeared.

"A week."

I almost choked on my own tongue. "A week?!" I cried, before stopping myself as my throat burnt, feeling like someone had rubbed it with sandpaper so hard that little cuts had formed. "A week?" I asked again, more carefully, and she gave me an extremely concerned look before sitting on the edge of the bed alongside me.

"Yes. Your father was very worried about you."

I turned my eyes to my lap, wringing my hands together as I endeavored to distract myself so I wouldn't freak out. "What about Elaine, and her family?" I asked suddenly as they popped into my head, and I tried to swing my legs over the bed only to be stopped by a sharp, intense pain in my stomach, and Shari's hand on my shoulder. "Ugh..." I groaned, leaning back as Shari watched me with worried eyes.

"They're fine, your father and I have been taking watches- though I don't think Jonothan will be coming back again," She informed me, leaving her hand on my shoulder as she brought me the cup again, encouraging me to drink much more slowly this time.

"He wouldn't dare, not after this." The arrival of a new voice startled me into choking on the water, spluttering as I recognised it and pulled away from Shari to snap my head towards the door where, as expected, none other than Lisbet was standing.

"You... You saved me, didn't you?" I asked carefully, curiously, not entirely sure that what I'd seen hadn't been a dream.

"I did." I stared at her for a long few seconds, before turning my eyes back to Shari and raising an eyebrow- asking if we could trust her- to which I received a small nod I knew wouldn't go unnoticed. "Most of the other vampires want you dead, Leonides." I turned my attention back to her after that statement, before rolling my eyes.

"Surprise, surprise."

She grinned at me, and said, "To be honest, I kind of like you." I raised an eyebrow, to which she winked in response. "You've got moxie." I had no idea what 'moxie' was, but I was sure that whatever it was I didn't have it, especially if it made her like me.

"Why?" She seemed confused, so I elaborated. "Why did you save me?"

She grimaced, disappearing and suddenly reappearing at my bedside using vampire speed. "Because, Leonides, you're one of a kind- what with your half-vampire, part-veela parentage, and all..." Shari froze, then glared at Lisbet like I hadn't been supposed to know about it. I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face at the thought that I'd finally beaten them to the punch.

"Relax Shars, I already knew that."

She froze again, her eyes fluttering closed in frustration before she turned to face me once more. "How?!" She cried, throwing her hands up in the air like it was supposed to be a big secret, and I had ruined the surprise.

"An old friend told me- last year, I think it was. I've known for a while."

She stared at me for a minute, reading the trace of distrust on my face before she sighed, and shook her head. "I'm sorry Leo, I just wanted you to be safe."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Safe from what?" She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, she was cut off by the door opening to admit not only one person, but two.

"Leo!" A familiar voice exclaimed, and I managed to brace myself just before arms were flung around me- though I couldn't help but to grunt in pain as their body impacted mine.

"Hey, Damsel," I whispered as she pulled away quickly, having heard my grunt and now looking at me with incredible- and incredibly touching- concern.

"What happened?!" She sounded far more threatening now that I knew that she could legitimately kick my butt.

"I- I don't actually... know," I mumbled, first glancing quickly at Shari and my father, before down to my lap where I clenched my fingers into the blankets as I tried to avoid her penetrating gaze.

There was silence for a beat, almost too long to bear, before she tentatively asked, "Leo...?" She sounded confused, and my eyes jumped to her face again, worried.

"What? Are you okay?" I asked quickly, looking her over to try to find anything that could be causing her pain or trouble, but ultimately finding nothing.

"I'm fine- you just seem... different, is all." She staring into my eyes before they darted away from hers again, to the spot where Shari had just been occupying- but now wasn't. That was when I realised that all three vampires had somehow managed to leave the room without me noticing.

Elaine didn't seem happy that I was avoiding her. "What happened?" She asked again, and I winced, trying not to think of it- trying not to remember the pain of what I had been through, or the sour taste it left in the whole experience left in my mouth.

"I-" I cut myself off, looking for a way out of this conversation- anything.

"Leo, last time I saw you, you had a piece of glass sticking out of your side- what the hell happened?" It wasn't quite a demand, but it was more forceful than Elaine usually got with me, especially as she placed both hands on my shoulders to keep me from squirming away- even though she knew, by this point, that I could get out of it. You know... if I had my full strength back.

Still, it was more the knowledge of her concern that made me answer, than anything else. "A whole bunch of things... and then my mother..." She gasped- then winced, and briefly fell silent.

"Your... your mother?" She asked quietly, staring at me. "She did this to you?" I hesitated for a second, then nodded. "That bitch!" I glanced up at her again before reaching up to rest a hand on the side of her face, making her look at me instead of glaring into the distance.

"I'm fine, Damsel, there's no need to worry."

She glared at me weakly, furious, though scared to harm me in my hurt state. "No need to worry?" She hissed, her grip tightening on my shoulder in a comfortingly grounding sort of way. Like a reassurance that she was here- a reassurance that I was here. That I was here, and not there. "Leo, I will always worry- and I have many reasons to." And with that, she didn't leave my side for the rest of the day.

I don't know what she told her mother or brother about where she'd been or what she'd been doing, but she clung to me all day, carefully, trying not to hurt me, until it happened again. Pain tore through me, and I flung myself backward against the bed out of reflex, screaming at the sudden agony- the last thing I heard past my cries was my father and Lisbet reaching my bedside, and Shari pulling an incredibly distressed Elaine away from her attempts at comforting me.

(A/N): I both hate and love torturing Leo...

This chapter has had minor edits made to it on 29/12/22

This chapter has had edits made to it on 20/2/24 - formatting and reconfiguring, plus I changed Lisbet telling Leo he has 'spunk' to her saying he has 'moxie', because while I knew that spunk could be a slang word for semen, I didn't realise that that was specifically British slang. Moxie is predominantly American, but Lisbet has probably spent time in America (there's proof later that someone she knows very well has, so, yes, she most likely has as well), so she might have picked it up there, which explains more why Leo doesn't understand what she means. Moxie means 'courageous spirit and determination, or perseverance, or vigor, verve, and pep'.