(A/N): Lisbet talks to Shari about leaving, and what Leo talked to her about- and then about her relationship with Jerremyah.

Lisbet

I left Jerremyah to unpack his trunk using the excuse of going to check on Shari- I'm certain it was only because he knew he had all the time in the world to try to win me back that he let me do so without complaint- and when I found her, she was standing in the doorway to her room- or, Nicholai's room, I suppose.

She had moved into his room immediately after he had been killed- well, maybe 'moved in' wasn't exactly the right term. None of her possessions had ever changed location, and it wasn't like any of us needed to sleep- other than Leo- so it didn't really matter where she spent all of her time, but we had decided to put her in there while she had been at her worst, and she didn't leave unless we forced her to.

I had been using magic to repair any damages caused to the room in the course of trying to convince her to recover- like when she had thrown Jo through an end table. And an armoire. And one of the bed posts- so at least the room looked exactly like it had the last time Nicholai had left it, despite the four months that had passed.

She spent almost all of her time curled up on his bed- I think that, despite the fact that his scent had long since faded, it made her feel close to him. I couldn't fault her for that- I wouldn't- and I also couldn't help but wonder where exactly I would end up if (god forbid) something happened to Jerremyah.

I shook that thought from my head, and came up behind Shari, moving to peer over her shoulder into the room, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"What's up?" I asked tentatively, and when she turned her head to look at me, I saw an awareness in her eyes I hadn't seen in a long time.

"I don't want to be like this anymore." I felt my face soften at that statement, and I reached out to bump her shoulder with my hand- slowly, in case she wanted to avoid it.

"Okay. You know we're here for you, whatever you need." She nodded in acknowledgement, and I waited for a second before asking, "What brought this on? I mean, I know Leo was planning to talk to you-" She nodded again, confirming for me that Leo was the cause of her about face- which just made me even more concerned for him, but I tried not to let it show on my face.

"He- He told me to go." He did? "He told me he wanted me to go, if I thought it might help me get better." She seemed just about as heartbroken by that sentiment as I felt. "I don't want to leave, Lis. It's not going to- to go away, just because I'm in a different country, and as nice as it was for Herc to offer- I can't abandon Leo like that."

Maybe I should have felt some sort of envy, or maybe jealousy in the face of Leo and Shari's relationship, but all I felt was relief- Leo deserved to have people who loved him, and the more people who did so, the safer he was likely to be. I guess it's true what they say: 'It takes a village to raise a child'- and it takes a whole clan to raise a half-vampire child.

"You know he wouldn't see it that way- but I have to say I'm glad that you're planning on staying." Shari gave me a look that was vaguely amused.

"Is that because we're friends, or because you need as many people as possible to stop you from shagging Jerremyah?" I flushed, knowing that Jerremyah could absolutely hear her. Great, now Shari was making fun of me? What was the world coming to?

"I would've answered that we were friends, right up until you said that." Shari's self satisfied smile brought one to my own face.

"Friends don't let friends throw themselves at their prick of an ex- without teasing them for it, at least a little bit." I was not 'throwing myself' at Jerremyah! I may have obviously been having trouble resisting his considerable charms, but at least I could say I was trying!

"This is payback, isn't it?" I regretted referencing when I used to tease her and Nicholai about their relationship, but she didn't withdraw into herself like I thought she might- instead, she looked kind of wistful.

"Absolutely." She was quiet for a minute, and I let her be, worried that I would accidentally put my foot in my mouth again if I opened it.

"He told me he loved me." I froze as Shari said this, before tentatively assessing her mood. It was sad, but... touched? Ah, clearly she was talking about Leo, then, and not Nicholai.

Oh.

"Is that... something he's done before?" I had never heard him say it to her- I had never even heard him say it to Nicholai, either, at least not that I could remember- and Shari shook her head in response.

"No, never." If I had thought I was proud of him earlier for talking about his feelings, I was overflowing with pride now. "He's never exactly been... vocal, about it-" She huffed out a laugh, clearly remembering something that had happened. "He tried to take it back." He had?

"He did?" She shrugged.

"He wasn't serious- I started crying again when he said it, and I think it... I think I freaked him out, a bit." Ah. Yeah. That sounded more like the Leo we knew.

"Makes sense. He hasn't exactly had a lot of opportunities to-" I stopped, remembering that Jerremyah could hear us.

"To talk about his feelings without fear of repercussions?" I was glad that she had been the one to say it- Leo couldn't get mad at me for revealing information I shouldn't, and Jerremyah could hear from someone else about Leo's innate inability to properly express his emotions. It was win-win.

"Something like that." I peered back down the hallway, in the direction of Jerremyah's new room, half expecting him to appear just from the weight of my gaze. "I don't suppose you'd like to help me give my 'prick of an ex' the tour, would you?" A half smirk appeared on Shari's face.

"You know he's just going to be a wanker about it, anyway, right?" In a split second, Jerremyah appeared at my side, his arms crossed over his chest. Well, better late than never, I guess.

"You want to say that to my face?" She shrugged, looking smugger than I had ever seen her- clearly she had anticipated this reaction from him.

"You're a wanker, and you should thank god for giving Lisbet such sub-basement level standards." I rolled my eyes at her.

"Shari-" Jerremyah cut me off.

"I thank whatever god may listen every second of every day that fate brought her into my life, and even if she merely tolerated my presence for the rest our existences, I would still feel blessed." Well, that was... romantic. Obviously Shari thought so too, because her expression softened- before Jerremyah went ahead and ruined it, because this was Jerremyah we were talking about, after all. "Of course, we both know she more than tolerates me."

Shari shot me a look that made me flush, and she mouthed, 'Wanker' at me, which Jerremyah chose to ignore.

"I really don't know what she sees in you." Jerremyah shrugged at Shari's statement.

"Neither do I. She certainly had better options." And I'm pretty sure that the person I thought might be showing up tomorrow was one of those people Jerremyah considered a 'better option'- not that there was such a thing, in my opinion.

Sure, Jerremyah was outwardly an arrogant, prickly, wanker, who lived to make other peoples lives more difficult, but none of that applied to me. I was the exception to his rule, and honestly, that was one of my favorite things about our relationship.

"And yet, I still chose you." His gaze met mine, and there was an almost unbearably soft look in his eyes.

"Careful." He warned quietly, and I was confused for a second before I remembered that I was supposed to be trying to resist him- because I was still mad at him for being an overprotective arse before I had left. That was a lot harder to keep a hold of when he was looking at me like that, but luckily, I could tear my attention away from him when we heard footsteps approaching the house- Leo and Jo must be back.

"I should- Go meet them. Make sure they got in safe, and such." Jerremyah looked fondly amused, and held out a hand as if to say, 'Well, go on then'. I didn't feel the best about leaving him alone with Shari, considering her evidently poor opinion of him, but I also thought maybe that animosity would be healthy for her. As it was, I ran a hand down his forearm- watching him watch the movement like his life depended on it- and whispered to him, "Be nice."

Jerremyah and Shari scoffed in sync, and I felt myself smile without intending to do so before I started heading downstairs to meet up with the returning members of the clan.

(A/N): Lisbet: 'I chose Jerremyah over everyone else.'

Shari: 'I recognise that you made a decision, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.'

or

Shari: 'Jerremyah is trash.'

Lisbet: 'Call me a goddamn raccoon, I'm going dumpster diving!'

or

Lisbet: *stares down hallway in the direction of Jerremyah's room*

Jerremyah: *feels her doing so*

Jerremyah: *trying to pull his fingers out of a finger trap*

Jerremyah: 'shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit'