Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Crying Wolf

Abigail's bedroom door opened early the next morning, but it did not wake her. She hadn't slept, she couldn't, not as the days before nagged at her through the night. There was still one thing that was right. One thing that contributed to it all: Alaric.

Elena walked into her room, climbed into her bed next to her, and quietly asked, "Can we talk?"

She sat all the way up. "Of course."

"Tell me about you and Alaric."

So, she did. And she didn't know if she was selling it short, it felt like it, but there were things that she wanted to keep to herself. Things that felt sacred.

"I can see it, you know, the way he's changed you." Elena smiled softly. "So, I'm sorry that I was so angry with you, and I'm sorry that I didn't give you the chance to tell me this when you wanted to. But, most of all, I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't tell me. That you felt like you couldn't trust me."

"Elena, it was never about trusting you." She took the pendant of her necklace into her hand. "It was always about trusting myself."

They walked downstairs, laughing. The only other sounds were coming from the low hum of the news and the coffee machine, so it seemed like they were being louder than normal, and maybe they were, but they didn't really care. At least until they realized it was John standing in the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?"

He held up the coffee pot. "Coffee?"

"We're not doing that; we did that last night," Elena fumed. "No more avoiding. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to protect you." Instead of elaborating, he said, "That's all I can say for the moment."

Abigail took a step toward him, toward the spot he was attacked. "What do you mean that's all you can say?"

"I'll tell you more when I'm convinced I can trust you."

Jenna ran into the room, pulling on her backpack in a hast. "Oh, God, I'm late. I'm so, so late!"

"That's what you get for hitting the snooze button three times!" Abigail's eyebrows were practically in her hairline, anger and shock the leading factors. "Well, that and you miss unannounced visitors."

Jenna looked up. "What the hell?"

He tilted his mug toward her. "Good morning to you, Jenna."

"It's okay I'm confused, right? Because we were not expecting you, like, ever."

"Well, I got in late last night. The girls let me in." He shrugged. "I decided to come back and stay for a while."

She shook her head frantically. "Not here, you're not."

"Actually," he droned. "You can't stop me from living here."

"Actually, as legal guardian I can!"

"Yeah, about that... Elena, you want me to explain the situation, or would you like to do the honors?"

With an exacerbated sigh, she asked, "Okay, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Jenna. I should have told you earlier, but-"

"I'm Elena's biological father. There. Now you know."

He walked away, leaving them alone to deal with Jenna as she yelled, "What?"

Damon barreled inside the Gilbert house on a mission to find one person. "Where is he?"

"He's not here, he left. We don't know where he went." Elena sat down on the couch. "He just blew in, announced to Jenna that he's my dad, and then took off."