Vampies in Love

11. Getting Used to Things

PART TWO: Family Business

The club was surprisingly packed for how late in the evening it was. Elijah knew that younger people loved nightlife, but he had never cared enough to experience it himself. That is, until he had no choice.

The club he was currently in was on the higher end, thank goodness, allowing Elijah's formal attire to go unnoticed. He sat amongst the low lights and the loud music of the local band, paying attention to every patron that entered. People mingled on the dancefloor and kept to themselves at the various tables scattered meticulously throughout the club. Elijah sat alone at one such table, nursing the same drink he ordered when he first arrived. He wasn't here to enjoy himself.

There were a couple times that a woman would walk up to him and start flirting with him, only to be disappointed to hear that he was waiting for someone.

Hours passed, people cleared out, and Elijah sighed to himself. He had wasted another night. He gave a cursory glance to the remaining people, just in case, and then exited the club.

Outside, the night was dark, and there was hardly anyone else out walking. Elijah himself didn't need to worry about any of the dangers most humans did, so he almost missed the strange sound coming from one of the many alleys.

Elijah paused, turning around when he heard a clamor too loud to ignore. He may not need to fear anything, but that didn't mean he would just allow humans to needlessly get hurt.

The first thing Elijah noticed when he entered the alley was the silhouette of two people pressed together against a wall. He would have assumed it was a lovers' embrace and left if it weren't for the smell of blood.

"Excuse me," He called out, hoping whoever was causing the other person harm would get scared and leave. Instead, they completely ignored him. He stalked closer to the pair, intending to handle the situation swiftly and concisely.

Surprisingly, the man, as he could now see, let go of the woman before Elijah was in arms reach of them. The woman fell to the ground, on the brink of death if the dwindling sound of her heartbeat was anything to go by. The man turned to face Elijah. A smile contrasted with the blood that dripped from his mouth and down his neck.

No, not a smile. A smirk.

"Damon?" Elijah nearly gasped. He couldn't believe his eyes. All of his careful waiting and searching these past few years only for him to stumble upon Damon in an alley of all places. "Damon, where have you been?"

"Oh you know, around the city," Damon said, his words laced with a coldness Elijah had hoped to forget. "Snacking."

"For five years?"

"Well, not the entire time, obviously."

"I've been looking for you, Damon." Elijah was incredulous. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew when a vampire had turned off their humanity. He had never seen Damon without it, and had hoped he would never have to, yet here he was, as cold and emotionless as he could be. "You just disappeared."

Damon rolled his eyes and held up his hands, as if annoyed by the implied question. "Okay, I was kidnapped, tortured, and turned off my humanity to escape, yada yada. By the time I got out, I was starving, so I've been indulging myself these past few days." He paused. "Any questions?"

Elijah looked the man he loved in the eyes, hoping to see a glimpse of the person he had been five years ago. Another disappointment.

Instead of responding with words, he closed the space between them, moving slowly as if to not startle a wild animal, and placed a hand on Damon's cheek as gently as he could. They maintained eye contact the whole time, and the smile slipped off of Damon's face. Elijah brought their faces together until their noses were almost touching.