Sob after sob racked his muscular body, his sight was blurry but he could still manage to make out the glass of amber liquid on the coffee table in front of him. He raised the glass to his thin, pink lips and downed the remaining contents.

Damon was quick to pour the ex high school teacher another round. He wanted to say something – anything to console his friend, but struggled to find the right words to say.

"Ric, listen, I know you already declined but my offer still stands. If you want me to feed her my blood, I will," the raven haired vampire spoke after the human had downed his drink.

"No. No, she hated vampires, you know that." Alaric shook his head and ran his fingers through his somewhat greasy hair. "It would be selfish to make her live like that – I couldn't."

"I'm sure she – "

"No, Damon. This is my fault, all of this," he motioned around the room with one hand, "is my fault. Maybe I'm paying for something I did wrong in a previous life, I don't know."

"It's not your fault," Damon tried to reassure him. "You couldn't have stopped what happened."

"You're right," he shrugged, "but I could've been better to her."

It was needless to say that Alaric spent the rest of that night falling back into the habit he had tried so hard to quit.