Damon Salvatore mindlessly wandered the woods past the penthouse. A dark figure stood not more than ten yards in front of Damon.
"Fancy meeting you here, brother," Damon said in his thick Italian accent.
Stefan turned to face his older brother.
"Damon," Stefan said, his blood-stained lips barely moving as he spoke.
"Last time I checked, brother, you were against the blood of animals. Are you tired of living off little Elena's blood?" Damon demanded of his brother, his black eyes glowed in the moonlight.
Stefan clenched his jaw and Damon smirked as he saw this.
"Aw, dear brother, are you mad at me now?" Damon mocked.
"Why do you always do this, Damon? What ever happened to the times when you and I actually acted like brothers?" Stefan asked, his tone sad.
Something flashed in Damon's eyes. Compassion? Anger? Or a combination of the two? Was it deeper than either emotion?
"Well, Damon?" Stefan asked after a few moments of awkward silence. Obviously, Stefan expected an answer from his brother.
Damon's eyes, that had been focused on the ground, looked back up to Stefan.
"Why must you bring up this topic now? Is it also the answer to why you are out here alone with blood on your mouth? Did Elena break up with you or something? Is that poor girl finally tired of you weak nature? Did she realize which brother she was meant to be with?" Before Damon could continue on with his ranting, he felt a hard blow to his chest. He blinked his eyes open after a few seconds, realizing they were closed and took in his surroundings. His back was now pressed against a tree and Stefan stood a couple yards away from him. Damon's chest ached from the hit, but he shrugged the pain off.
Just as Damon realized what Stefan had done himself, he smiled. "Finally learning to stand up for yourself, are you, brother?" Damon asked, pushing himself away from the tree to smooth out his leather jacket.
Stefan's breathing, Damon noticed, had increased from the usual rate at which he breathed. Red flushed his face, a sign of anger. His fists were clenched at his sides; the bones look as if they could tear right through his skin. Damon decided to push Stefan on. This would be a lesson for his brother, that's all. "A little angry, are we, brother? Was my guess correct?" Damon asked in low voice.
Stefan tried his best to stay in control of himself. He didn't want to force himself to hurt his brother, but he felt as if he couldn't fight the urge any longer. Stefan growled low in his throat and pounced forward, knocking Damon, who didn't see this coming, to the ground. Stefan knotted his fists in Damon's shirt and pulled Damon up so he was inches from Stefan's face.
"I have tried and tried to be good to you, Damon. I really have, but you keep pushing it. You can't allow someone to even have a simple conversation with you."
With that, Damon let out a laugh. "Just now noticing this, are you? You aren't very observant, obviously. What happened to the smart St. Stefan I used to know?" Damon continued to mock his brother.
Stefan let out another growl and let his fangs grow out of his gums. Damon smiled wider than ever. Finally, Damon thought to himself, not allowing his brother to listen in on his own little conversation, He's realizing what he needs. To fight. Yes, St. Stefan. Let all that anger out this way. Let's see what you're made of.
When Damon was finished conversing with himself, he let his fangs unsheathe also and unknotted Stefan's fists from his shirt. "Easy on the leather," Damon said just before he forced Stefan off of him and tossed him across the little clearing. Stefan's head slammed back against a tree but he got right back up and went after Damon.
Damon, expecting the blow Stefan was about to send, caught Stefan's fist before it hit Damon and slammed Stefan back across the clearing to the tree he had been hit against moments ago. Damon didn't realize how hard he had hit Stefan that time.
His brother's body lay limp against the tree trunk. I must have been having a little too much fun… Wait. Why should I care anyway? He stole little Elena from me. If it weren't for St. Stefan, Elena would be mine. I would be able to hold her in my arms as he does…
Damon shook his head to himself. Recently, he had been trying hard to not be so jealous of his brother. He knew he would find someone special soon enough.
But is there anyone else in the world as beautiful and perfect as Elena Gilbert? Damon thought to himself.
Damon sighed and decided to worry about the consequences later. He glanced over at his brother, his body still lay limp against the tree trunk.
"Stefan?" Damon spoke his brother's name, hoping for an answer. Nothing. Damon sighed and walked over to his brother's body. His chest was still faintly rising and falling. He was breathing. "Stefan!" Damon raised his voice, hoping that would help the situation. Still nothing. He was unconscious, but still alive.
"Why am I doing this?" Damon asked himself as he reached over to gather Stefan's limp body in his arms. With his vampire strength, his brother's body weighed next to nothing.
Damon easily carried Stefan back to the penthouse and back up to his own room. As Damon stepped through the door, he gasped.
Elena stood with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked directly at Stefan's limp body in Damon's arms.
"He's not dead," Damon merely muttered as he walked over and dropped Stefan on his bed.
Elena ran to Stefan and took his cold hand in hers. "What did you do to him, Damon?!"
Damon looked appalled, although he had no reason to. He had, in fact, caused this to happen to his brother. "Why do you always suppose it was something I did?" Damon asked, a crooked smile crossing his face.
"Because it's always your fault. Why can't you just leave Stefan alone? He never did anything to hurt you!" Elena protested, reaching over to turn on a lamp so she could see Damon better.
"Au contraire…" Damon started with a perfect French accent. "Stefan has told you of our childhood. Do you not remember what has happened between us? So, he has done things to me that deserve payback. And that's what he received." Not to mention that this was just a lesson for him, Damon thought, but didn't say so out loud.
"Does that even matter, Damon?! Why can't you just act decent to him for once? For me?" Elena pleaded, looking over at his with her large, blue eyes.
Damon's own onyx eyes stared back at Elena's eyes. "Why would I do something for you? I don't mean anything to you. Just Stefan's older, demon-like brother. If I did as you asked, it'd only be for you and Stefan. What would I get out of it? Nothing."
Elena was quiet for a minute. For that time, she stared blankly at Damon then turned her gaze to Stefan. Finally, she spoke up. "That's not true, Damon…"
Damon snorted. "How so?" He looked skeptically over at Elena.
"Like this…" Elena hesitated before dropping Stefan's hand and moving over to Damon. She leaned toward him until he was forced to press his back against the wall. Elena stood on her toes to wrap her arms around Damon's neck and kiss his lips.