Book Two: Aquiver (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Seventy-One

Alaric groans as he wakes on Diana's couch, he frowns a little and looks around, a little confused as to how he got here. He sits up and runs his fingers through his hair. He suddenly appears to remember something and is quick to check his pocket for Diana's engagement ring, relieved when finds it there, where he left it. He lets out a breath and closes his eyes. He would never have forgiven himself if he lost that. He pulls it out of the pocket and stands, shrugs out of his jacket and sets it on the couch. He makes his way to the kitchen where he finds Diana cooking breakfast, he watches her a moment, the way she's moving around, careful of herself. She hums a little as she pours the scrambled eggs into a bowl on the side before taking the bowl and walking to the dining table.

"Sit, eat," She tells him as she sets the bowl on the table, his eyes follow her as she moves to grab the coffee pot and pours out a coffee for him.

"Diana" he starts, she hums a little in response before moving to set the mug on the table next to the empty plate.

"Sit" she repeats and motions to the chair. He moves closer to her and grabs her arm to stop her from moving away from him. She looks up at him. He takes a breath and nods before he holds the engagement ring back out towards her, she shoots him a look.

"Put it back on," he asks of her.

"Ric" She whispers in warning.

"Just hear me out" She sighs and nods before taking a seat on the stool at the counter. He sets the ring on the surface between them. "I know why you did what you did with Klaus and..." he touches the new crystal around her neck. "This" he adds. "Don't...like that you did it" he adds. "And I don't like that you didn't tell me...or that you locked me up and left me out of the fight....but I know why you did it...and part of me thinks that you did it that way because you can't trust me"

"No" she stops him, he nods.

"With everything that happened with Klaus...I don't blame you for having trouble trusting me after what happened. I don't trust me" he admits and gives her a small smile. "I know, right now, there is a lot of stuff going on with us" She nods in agreement. "But we can be grown-ups about this, about us......work through it..." He touches the ring on the counter and pushes it towards her. "Together" she looks at the ring. "I know one day I will marry you" he admits with a shrug, she looks at him. "In six months, a year, two...whatever. But it is going to happen" He tells her firmly with a soft smile. "So don't turn your back on us" She stands from the stool. "Don't ever turn your back on us....we've worked too hard and been through too much to give up" she looks at the ring as he watches her, waits to see what she does here. She takes a breath and then pulls on the ring. He lets out a breath and relaxes. She looks up at him. He smiles and nods as he takes her hand in his, curling their fingers together.

"I love you, of course I do...." she tells him, he smiles softly at her.

"I love you too" he assures her and then leans down and kisses her softly. She clutches to his shirt and then pushes him back, he frowns at her. "What's wrong?"

"You have a....day old whiskey stench that's unsettling the babies.....yeah, I'm going to hurl" she hurries past him and upstairs, but he can't help but smile.

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

Alaric sits on the couch with his coffee waiting for Diana to return. He glances at the stairs as she walks down them. She lets out a breath and moves to the couch.

"Did I miss anything?" he asks when she sits next to him on the couch, she shrugs a little and looks at him.

"Not a lot" she answers, he raises an eyebrow at her. "Urm...Damon got bitten by a werewolf" he sits up straighter. "Jeremy was shot by the sheriff" his eyes widen. "Bonnie brought him back from the dead with the help of some long-dead witch" he gives her a look. "Then according to the text I got from Damon this morning.....Stefan basically sold his soul to Klaus to save him....so...yeah not a lot"

"Okay, wait...just" He stops and frowns. "I slept through all that?"

"Yeah, you were pretty wasted" she answers, his eyes sadden.

"I'm so sorry" he whispers, she shrugs. "Diana...I promise that is not going to be our relationship, you having to pick me up from the bar stinking drunk" She touches his arm. "It was just..."

"It's okay" she assures him. "I know" she kisses his cheek and then stands. "Did you eat?"

"I was waiting for you" He answers and follows her into the kitchen.

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

"Don't get used to this" Diana warns as he tucks into his food. Diana grabs a bottle of water from the fridge before sitting next to him. He pushes his plate so it sits between them.

"What? You cooking for me?" He asks.

"I did it as sort of an apology" She admits. "For you know...everything"

"So if you ever cook for me again, I should assume you've done something that warrants an apology?" he asks her with a smirk. She nudges him and takes a breath. He touches her cheek and smiles, she smiles back at him. "We can make this work" he promises her. "But no more secrets or tricks...we're in this together" she nods.

"Together" She agrees with him, he kisses her head.

'Diana and Alaric will return for Season 3 in Ineffable.......'