(A/N): Hey Guys! So, three chapters in one day, woohoo!

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

Leo

I spent the whole night there, wide awake the entire time, just in case Jonothan- or others- came back for Elaine, thinking I had left. They didn't, but I wasn't going to trust their word and leave, only to have put Elaine- and her family- in danger. I checked in on the others as well as I could, just to make sure that they weren't facing the same treatment Elaine had, but they were all safe, snug in their beds. I thanked whatever gods may exist that they were safe, and stayed on the swing outside the Folley family house until Elaine emerged, early the next morning.

"You stayed all night?" She sounded shocked, but she shouldn't have been. I would have stayed all year, if it would keep her safe. After all, she was my best friend.

"Of course I did," I said, not even turning to face her as I kept my gaze fixed on the trees ahead of me.

"Leo..." I shook my head and she fell silent, knowing that I didn't want to talk about it. "Thank you," She finished anyway, wrapping her arms around my chest from behind.

Her chin rested atop my head for once, as she was finally in a position where she was tall enough to do so, and it made my heart twinge. "I'm sorry." I could feel her confusion, so I explained. "For all of... this." She knew I was talking about what had happened the previous night with Jonothan, and she shrugged.

"It's nothing-" I cut her off, turning to stare at her with wide eyes.

"It isn't nothing!" I was on my feet immediately, rounding the swing-set until I was standing in front of her. "If I hadn't gotten here so quickly, he would have killed you- I know he would have."

She raised an eyebrow, as if to challenge me. "And how do you know that?" I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest as I cursed her naivety when it came to these sorts of things.

"Because I know him!" Both of her eyebrows shot up now, and I realised my mistake. "Them. I know them." By the look on her face, I knew she wasn't buying it. After all, she wasn't anywhere near stupid enough to believe such an obvious cover-up.

"Of course you do," She drawled sarcastically, rolling her eyes at me before fixing me with a stern look. "Who was that guy, anyway?"

For a second I was confused, before I realised that any conversation I'd had with Jonothan had been held too low for Elaine to hear properly- or, well, at all. "Jonothan. He's an old... friend." I spat the word, and she nodded sagely.

"Ah... so, what is he really?" I raised an eyebrow at her, a small yet amused smile gracing my lips at how easily she saw right through me.

"I met him a few years back through my father... he's my uncle." Elaine raised an eyebrow, glancing in the direction of the forest as if she were watching him go all over again.

"...older or younger?"

I winced- then shrugged, refusing to take my eyes off of her but keeping my ears open for any signs that he was coming back to finish the job. "That's... complicated. Technically, he's older- I mean, he is older, there's no two ways about that, but I meant- He was born first, so he's existed longer than my dad, but the thing is, technically, physically, he's younger. He was turned a couple years before dad, so..." I trailed off, shaking my head before chuckling lightly at the absurdity of our conversation. "Could we talk about something else, please? Anything else?" Elaine gave me a sympathetic smile, punching me in the shoulder lightly.

"Sure, like what?"

I thought about it for a second before shaking my head. "I don't actually know." I started to rub the sleep from my eyes before my head lifted again of its own accord, in reaction to hearing Elaine's brother leave his bedroom. "Your brother's getting up, anyway. I should leave."

She looked like she wanted to stop me, one arm outstretched, but then she let it drop and nodded sadly. "Bye, Leo." I smiled at her gently in response before taking off into the forest using vampire speed.

"Goodbye, Elaine," I whispered, heading towards home.

(A/N): So, what did you think?

This chapter has had edits made to it on 14/2/24 - formatting stuff, plus a little rephrasing to make things actually readable.

This chapter has had edits made to it on 15/2/24 - I was typing up my synopsis of this chapter when I realised that it kind of didn't make sense for Elaine to be surprised that Nicholai and Jonothan were brothers because Jonothan looked younger than Nicholai, because A) it was too dark for her to tell that he wasn't Leo for the longest time, so I doubt she could tell how old he was, and B) for her to be confused as to how they could be brothers, Jonothan would have to look A LOT younger than Nicholai, which as we later find out, he doesn't. Nicholai was turned at 32, and Jonothan was turned at 29, which is only three years- probably not even enough to be able to really tell, let alone enough to shock. So, I changed it to Elaine asking who was older, and Leo clumsily explaining the situation. This also has the added bonus of assisting me with something much later in the story (to the point where I'm far from writing it, at the current moment), since as of the chapters written by the time I'm editing this (520), Elaine (and everyone else outside of the Ellwood Clan) has never actually SEEN Jonothan- only heard about him. Does that count as foreshadowing?