Book Two: Aquiver (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Sixty-Three

A/N - I AM GOING TO PUT A WARNING IN HERE BECAUSE DIANA AND ALARIC TALK ABOUT RAPE AND I THINK A WARNING IS BEST. SO JUST BE AWARE THAT THEY DO DISCUSS IT. 

The shackle still attached around Diana's ankle rattles as she and Alaric enter the boarding house. She wanted to walk in. She wanted to prove she is still strong, despite how weak she feels. Alaric's hand on her back the only thing keeping her upright at the moment.

"You guys here?!" Alaric shouts. "Anyone?" Elena runs around the corner and stops seeing Diana. Elena lets out a relieved breath and hurries to her sister. Elena hugs Diana tightly, clutches to her sister as they both cry.

"I'm sorry" Elena offers. "I didn't know...." Diana shakes her head and runs her fingers through Elena's hair.

"How were you to know?" Diana counters as she presses her head to the side of Elena's. Jenna watches them both, Diana holds out her hand to her aunt who hurries over and joins them, the three of them wrapping around one another.

........

"Where is she?" Derek asks as he lets himself into the boarding house, Alaric glances to him from where he's sorting through tools to try and get that cuff off Diana's ankle. He motions behind him and Derek hurries past him and into the main room. Diana looks up from the couch and gives him a small smile. He lets out a breath and moves to her. He takes a seat at her side, kisses her head and wraps an arm around her. She leans into him.

................

Later; Derek is still on sat with Diana when his cell phone beeps away, he pulls it out of his jacket pocket to read the message on the screen. He hums a little. Diana glances at him.

"What?" She asks him.

"Damon" He offers, she frowns at him. Derek kisses her head and stands. "I'll check on you later"

"Be careful" she tells him, he nods and leaves her alone. She lets out a breath and looks down at her ankle. That shackle still there, still taunting her. Diana touches her stomach and closes her eyes. She's worried about her babies. She's spent more than two weeks hold up in Alaric's apartment. She hasn't had her vitamins. She's not exactly been eating enough. Alaric enters the room and stops to watch her as she worries over her bump. He lets out a breath and steps closer to her.

"I called Meredith" Alaric offers. "She's going to come over...check on you all"

"Yeah" She whispers. "Thanks" She looks away from him. Alaric knows, he knows, it's not all him she is bothered by, he knows that whatever Klaus did whilst wearing him, was bad for her, hurt her.

"Diana" he starts.

"I don't want to talk about it" She is quick to tell him, she looks at him. "I know it wasn't you....but it's just...going to take me some time" he nods a little.

"You forgave Derek" He whispers.

"I did" She agrees. "And I will forgive you..." She assures him. "Just...not exactly the same"

"What did he do?" He asks her. "When he was me, what did he do?"

"You don't want to know" She stops him. "Ric...you don't want me to tell you" he drops onto the couch beside her and lets out a breath.

"Yeah, I do" he corrects her. "I need to know"

"Ric" she scolds. "No, you don't" she looks at him, they share a look, he can see in her eyes.

"Did he touch you?"

"Ric" She stops him.

"Son of a bitch" he stands again and looks down at her. "I need to know that" he scolds her. "I need to know if he...." He lets out a breath and then leans on his legs as he tries to calm himself. "If he slept with you" He finishes and stares at her. He already knows the answer to that. 

"Ric" She whispers. 

"Diana....that is rape," he tells her. "He..." he clenches his jaw. "He raped you"

"I thought he was you" She admits. "I'm sorry," She tells him.

"This is not your fault" He is quick to tell her. "This is....you didn't know"

"And neither did you" She counters. His shoulders sag and he closes his eyes.

"It is still rape" he whispers as he looks at her. "He still did that to you wearing me.....I still did that"

"No, you didn't" She stands and moves to him, he looks at her. She can see how upset he is by this. Anyone would be.

"I'm going to kill him" he promises her. "I am going to kill him" he repeats as he looks down at her. "I don't care what it takes...He has to die.....I...I.." she presses her head to his chest and wraps her arms around him. He stops talking. Incapable of understanding how she can touch him after what happened, what he did to her.

"Please" She whispers, he closes his eyes. "Ric...hug me back" she begs. He wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly.

................

Alaric and Meredith both watch Diana sleep on the couch. She is exhausted and needs the rest after the last few weeks. Alaric looks at Meredith.

"Can you check on her without waking her?" Alaric asks.

"Kind of need to ask her stuff" Meredith admits. "I can wait, there's no rush..." Alaric lets out a breath and closes his eyes.

"What about..." Alaric struggles. "Urm...like...." He sighs. "A...vaginal..." Meredith shoots him a look.

"Stop" She scolds when she sees how uncomfortable it is making him, he nods. He's okay with stopping. "It's not like she can get sick, any sick" She gives him a look. "She's a demigoddess..." Meredith reminds. "Or pregnant...again" Alaric nods a little. "Are you okay?" Meredith asks him.

"No" he admits quietly.

"Will you grab my bags from the car?" Meredith asks Alaric who nods and heads out the room. Diana opens her eyes and looks at Meredith who gives her a sad smile. "How you feeling?" Meredith asks her, Diana shrugs back and sits up.

"Fine" Diana answers. "No..injuries, no...pain"

"It's not your physical health I'm worried about" Meredith argues. They share a look.

"I'll be fine," Diana tells her. "I don't have time to....break down and weep about how bad my experiences were" She sighs. "Bad vampire wants to kill my sister"

"Yeah, but you can't just push yourself to the brink, Di, you can't just ignore what happened, it'll cripple you eventually, and this isn't just about you anymore" Meredith points at her belly and gives her a look. Alaric walks back into the room with Meredith's things. He stops when he sees Diana awake, she glances at him.

"Hey" He greets.

"Hey" She whispers back. Meredith takes one of the bags from him and sets it on the coffee table.

"I borrowed this from work" Meredith offers as she sets up the portable ultrasound machine. "And have been reading up on antenatal stuff so I can help. Figured you'd be more comfortable with someone that knows about all of the weird stuff in your life" Diana nods. Meredith motions to the couch. Diana takes a breath and then adjusts how she is sat to make it easier for Meredith. Diana sighs and lifts up her dress to expose her bump. "You're definitely showing now, huh?" Meredith teases slightly, Diana nods. Alaric watches on with a pained expression, he missed out on nearly 3 weeks of her pregnancy. Meredith gets to work preparing Diana for the scan and then nods a little when ready. "Okay," she looks at the screen as she works the probe over Diana's skin. "They're fine" Meredith assures them both as she looks at the screen. "Wanna hear them?"

"What?" Diana asks her, Meredith presses a few buttons on the machine before the room is filled with a couple of thumping sounds. Alaric steps closer as Diana sits up.

"Their heartbeats" Meredith starts. "Strong, healthy...." She smiles at them both. "Their fighters" She gives them both a look. "Just like you two"