Damon has no idea how much time has passed since Alaric left. It could have been hours, could have been days. Weeks, maybe. But Damon doesn't care. He stays in his room, mostly in his bed, but he sometimes sits in one of the chairs on the other side of the room, staring at his bed. Drinking. He takes showers when he feels he needs to, and only drinks blood when Stefan brings it to him. He doesn't sleep.

He never talks to Stefan. Only nods a thanks and waves his little brother away when he begins to try and get information out of Damon. Stefan always leaves when Damon tells him to.

Damon hasn't seen Elena yet, but he knows she's there. He can hear her talking about him with Stefan, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care about anything anymore. He realizes killing will only distract him for a short while, and possibly get him into trouble, so he doesn't do it, as much as he'd like to.

He just stays in his room, and exists.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Damon doesn't move from under the heavy blanket on his bed. He only sighs as someone enters and sits next to him. Burying his face in the pillow, Damon can still smell the strawberry shampoo she's used since before he's known her, and some God awful new perfume Stefan has probably bought her. He groans. "Go away, Elena."

"No," She says, softly. Her hand finds Damon's leg and she rubs it gently, even though it's covered by the blanket. "This isn't healthy, Damon. You need to come out of here." At this, there's snark on the tip of Damon's tongue, but he just doesn't have the willpower to execute it. So he just grunts and shifts a little, his leg moving from under Elena's hand. She sighs. "Do you just expect to stay in here for eternity? Avoiding everyone? Making Stefan and me worry about you?"

Damon sighs, and turns over, the blanket falling from him and cold air hitting his bare chest. It should be refreshing, but it's just bitter. "Go away, Elena." He pushes her off the bed and she staggers forward, on her feet, giving him the worst kind of Elena look.

"Seriously, Damon? You can't expect me to just leave, and let you lay here to rot. Believe it or not, I actually care about you, and I don't want to see you like this." Elena sits back down and takes Damon's hand in both of hers. When he tries to pull away because the feeling of another person's hands on his is just too much, she keeps her grip strong. "Alaric comes around, probably worried about you. I can smell him sometimes."

"Don't," Damon says, hard, and his eyes are fierce as they bore into Elena's. "Don't talk about him, like he's alive. Like he can just stop in and check up on me. He can't." At his words, Elena averts her eyes for a moment, and Damon can see they're filling with tears. He sighs. "Lena, please don't. I don't need-"

"You know you're not the only person who lost him!" Elena cuts him off, tearing her hands from his and meeting his eyes once again, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Jere and I lost him too, and it fucking hurts, him not being here, because we need him so badly right now. But Jeremy can see him and talk to him and so can you, and you two are just avoiding him and sending him away." She shakes her head, and Damon instinctively pulls her into him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Elena cries into his chest. "I just miss him so much."

Damon sighs again, and kisses her head, and rubs her back. Because he knows exactly how she feels, and he didn't have anyone to help him through it. "I know."

\\/

"So we're going over here to negotiate Damon back with less stakes than we actually have? When Klaus doesn't trust a word we say?" Alaric tried to keep sarcasm from his tone, but it failed miserably as he sat scrunched in Stefan's small car on the way to the Originals' mansion.

Stefan sighed, and gave Alaric a look. "Klaus thinks I'm his friend, and I think I can use that to our advantage. You're the one who volunteered to go with me."

"Yeah, because if I'm there, Klaus will have more reason to believe you, and maybe I can keep you in check since you seem to be running off nothing but impulse lately."

"Don't do that," Stefan pointed a finger at Alaric as he stopped the car. "I'm not Damon. You can't boss me around."

Alaric scoffed, and got out of the car, stretching his legs. "And you think he lets me boss him around? If he did, he wouldn't even be in this situation because he would never have slept with Rebekah." Ric ran a hand through his hair, and looked at the giant house in front of him. He definitely did not want to go in there and see what Rebekah had managed to do to Damon, but he knew he was right in what he said to Stefan. Klaus knew about he and Damon, and he would believe Stefan's story more if Alaric was there. Sadly.

Stefan held up his hand as he got the duffle bag with White Oak stakes out of the trunk of the car. "Boyfriend drama, Alaric. You're putting it on me."

Alaric rolled his eyes, but said nothing, and was surprised when Stefan just opened the front door and walked in. It made Alaric wonder just how close Klaus and Stefan were. Still, he followed Stefan into a room joined to the foyer, and as soon as he looked up, it was like he hit a brick fucking wall.

Damon was held up by his wrists with what looked like bear traps. Blood was soaked into his open shirt, and was all down his front and arms. Seeing Damon like that, had the vampire been underneath Alaric and completely naked, would have turned him on tremendously. This made him want to puke.

Alaric held his stomach as Damon lifted his head slowly. When he saw Alaric, he glared at Stefan as best as he could, and spoke hoarsely. "Get him out of here."

Stefan ignored his brother and called out for Klaus, and a few moments later, the hybrid accompanied by Rebekah entered the room. Klaus smiled at Stefan. "Oh, good. A hero." He glanced at Alaric for a moment and nodded, then turned his attention back to Stefan. "What do you want?"

Stefan threw the bag in his hand to the floor, in front of Klaus' feet. "I'm here to make a deal."

"Stefan, what are you doing?" Damon's voice sounded, and everyone in the room but Alaric ignored him.

Stefan continued talking to Klaus. "Eight stakes made of White Oak. A part of Wickery Bridge that you forgot to burn."

Klaus looked at Rebekah, who shook her head in disbelief. "That's impossible…"

"Actually, it's not," Stefan grinned at her, looking back at Klaus. "Finn's dead."

The Originals looked at each other, and the hurt was plain on Rebekah's face. "You killed my brother?"

Stefan ignored her once again, stepping closer to Klaus. "Damon, in exchange for the last eight weapons that can kill you."

"And how do I know there aren't any more left?"

At those words from Klaus, Alaric tensed a little, but Stefan didn't hesitate. "Because there aren't."

Klaus looked from Stefan to Alaric, then back to Stefan again. Alaric didn't like the smile that formed on the hybrid's face. "Let's be certain, shall we?" Klaus begins walking toward Damon, and when he reaches him, he takes Damon's face in his hand with a firm grip, and Alaric somehow finds his voice.

"No, please," He begged, but was frozen in place next to Stefan. "Don't hurt him."

Klaus looked back at Alaric, grinning, but spoke to Damon. "You might want to tell your pet to keep his mouth shut, Damon," He finally looked back at Damon. "Wouldn't want him to lose any limbs."

Damon then began to struggle to get free from his restraints, along with pulling his face from Klaus' hands. "Touch him, and I will kill you." Damon growled the words at Klaus, who only smiled, catching Damon's chin in his hand again. He compelled Damon to leave, and stepped back, smiling. He never looked away from Alaric.

Damon didn't, either, as he began trying to pull his arms out of the bear traps. His skin scraped off, as did a little flesh, and he made plenty of painful sounds. Alaric saw the pain in his face, and shook his head. "Stop." Klaus did nothing, and Damon shouted, and Alaric finally stepped forward, towering over Klaus. "Stop!"

The man looked up at Alaric, and spoke low. "Now, why would I want to do that?" He smiled, and Alaric wanted to vomit at the next sound of pain from Damon, but he somehow kept his dinner down. "You told me not to hurt him, and I'm not. He's doing it to himself."

"Please!"

"Alaric," Stefan pulled Alaric back from Klaus. "You'll only make it worse."

More shouts from Damon. Alaric wants to die. "I can't watch this." He steps past Stefan to leave, but Rebekah is in front of him before he can react, pushing him back.

"You're not going anywhere," The blonde cooed. "You're staying right here, just in case we need to keep Damon honest."

Klaus chuckles, then, and it is the most emotionless sound Alaric has ever heard. "Alright, stop, stop, before you hurt yourself." He speaks to Damon, and Damon finally stops trying to get out of the bear traps, and Alaric's heart isn't threatening to beat out of his chest anymore. "Well, now we see that you can finally be compelled, now," Klaus steps back to Damon, a hand taking his face in a firm grip again, compelling him. "Minus the one that's in my brother, how many other stakes are out there that can kill me?"

Damon's head lolls for a moment, and Alaric is pleading with his eyes at Stefan but he's not looking. Damon takes in a short breath before replying. "Eleven."

"Eleven, really!" Klaus muses, loudly, turning back to Stefan. "So not eight, then?"

"You really shouldn't have lied." Rebekah purred in Stefan's ear, and Stefan groaned.

"We'll get you the other three."

All the while this is going on, Alaric cannot take his eyes off of Damon, who looks completely and utterly miserable. His entire body is telling him to set Damon free, and take him home, let him feed, and sleep, and hold him until he fell asleep. But Alaric didn't do any of that. He just stared at the man he loved, chained up, and in pain.

And then Stefan has Klaus pinned to the wall, and Alaric swallows, hard. "Stefan, what the hell are you doing?" Not getting an answer as the hybrid and the vampire stared each other in the eyes, Alaric found himself sighing in time with Rebekah, who promptly walked over to Damon and freed his hands from the bear traps. Damon fell on his knees, and Alaric is by his side before he even knew what he was doing. He takes his face in his hands. "Damon, can you stand? Please tell me you can stand. I'm not dragging you out of here by your feet, man." Damon nods weakly, Alaric hears Klaus threaten Stefan once more before walking out of the room. Bringing Damon to his feet, Alaric wraps his arms around the vampire's torso tightly to keep him up, and stares at Stefan. "Well, that went well."

Stefan shook his head. "Just get him in the car."

Alaric said nothing more as he followed Stefan back outside slowly, wishing he would at least help Alaric carry Damon. It's not like he was human, with a human's measly strength, or anything.

With Damon in the back and Alaric still scrunched in the front, the three of them rode in silence to the boarding house, Stefan getting out of the car quickly and slamming the door shut. Alaric helped Damon out, leading him into the basement for a blood bag or two. He stared at Damon while he drank, feeling a little awkward because of the question that was looming around in his head. Damon took notice, as he always did, and quirked a brow at Ric. "Got something on your mind, stud?"

Alaric anxiously ran a hand through his hair, averting his eyes. "Is, uh, is there anything going on…with Klaus and Stefan?"

"What?" Damon looked quizzically at the human, shutting the cooler and leaning on it. "Klaus…and my brother…?"

Alaric nodded. "Yeah. They seem…close."

Damon shook his head and stood straight again, pushing Alaric back toward the door to the stairwell. "I think you look way too far into Stefan's broodiness. C'mon, we gotta get that stake of yours before my brother's apparent boyfriend rips us apart."

"Fine, but I seriously think there's something-" Alaric started, but was cut off by Damon blurring in front of him, and kissing him. Alaric sighed in relief, glad to feel Damon's lips against his own again. He thought he never would.

After a moment, Damon pulled away, his eyes fierce. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"You're not that lucky, Salvatore."

"Oh, I beg to differ, Saltzman." Damon pressed his lips to Alaric's once more, gently, before turning and walking up the stairs and back into the boarding house.

Alaric is left standing in the basement, wondering how the hell he ever got caught up in Damon Salvatore.

\\/

A/N: hey guys! I know it's been a while since I've updated and I'm really sorry about that, this story has so much potential and I don't wanna ruin it by trying to update fast & having crappy muse. I hope you're not too angry with me. Please review!