Heat. Damon could feel it all around him. The flames were coming dangerously close to him. All that he could think of was Stefan, and how he hoped that Elena would look after him better than he had after he was gone. The smell of burning flesh from the other vampires mixed in with the fumes from the fire made their way to Damon. The smell was absolutely nauseating. Damon tried to get up, but he was getting weaker. The heat was getting to him, and he was getting ready to give up. Just as Damon was about to succumb to the world of darkness beneath his eyelids, he heard the door open, and felt a gush of oxygen enter the room. He saw a figure run into the room. As the figure got closer, he realized that Stefan was in the room. He tried to tell Stefan to leave, but it only sounded like a croak escaping his lips. Damon felt Stefan's arms around him as he was practically carried out of the fire.

Damon felt his body practically scream in relief as Stefan brought him outside. The cool air was soothing to his skin as opposed to the hot air from the fire. Elena was there to meet both of them, as was Bonnie. Damon caught Stefan glance thankfully at Bonnie, to which she smiled back. This struck him as off, but he was too weak to ask questions. Damon felt himself begin to fall, but Stefan's strong grip held him up.
"Let's get you home." Stefan said to Damon. The younger Salvatore held the other supportively all the way to the boarding house. When they got inside, Stefan gently lowered Damon onto the couch. "How does that feel?"

Damon tried to respond, but his throat burned too much, and once again, nothing but a croak escaped from his lips.

"I have to go see Elena, okay? I'll be home soon." Stefan said. He took another glance at Damon and left.

After Stefan left, Damon got lost in his thoughts. He realized that not only did Elena think that he was worth saving, but Stefan did, too. Stefan had thought that he was worth saving. That notion meant more to him than anything else. At that moment, Damon knew that he had to make everything right with Stefan. It was the least that he could do. Damon knew that their lives were anything but perfect, but he hoped that soon enough, Stefan would catch a glimpse of the truth. The truth that Damon loved his brother.

Damon found that he had a new message on his phone.

Damon,
I'm sorry about the tomb. I'm back, and I'm more than willing to give this a second go.
-Katherine

Damon dropped his phone in shock. All of the hate that he had for her suddenly vanished. He picked up him phone and called the number.

"Katherine?" Damon finally managed to speak.

"Damon! So nice to hear from you! How about we give this a second go?" Katherine's voice came through.

"Uhm, sure! When?"

"How about now?"

"Sounds great!" Damon exclaimed, excitement boiling up inside of him.

"There's just one thing, Damon."

"What is it?"

"You're going to be all mine." Katherine stated. Damon didn't seem to understand what she meant, and quickly agreed.

Stefan returned after talking to Elena, only to find an empty house. He found a note.

Stefan,
I'm with Katherine. I guess she really does care.
-Damon

Stefan's heart dropped. He was looking forward to talking to Damon, or at least looking after him. Then, it hit him.

Katherine was back.
*****

Damon sat happily with Katherine. After pining away in an attempt to be with Katherine for 145 years, he had finally succeeded.

"Stefan may want to see you." Damon said.

"But I don't want to see him." Katherine said. She looked at Damon. "I came back for you, my love."

"He saved me, Katherine. Wouldn't you at least want to thank him for that?" Damon asked.

"Why, yes. I'll thank him with this." Katherine muttered darkly, pulling out a stake. Damon's eyes widened.

"But why, Katherine? He didn't do anything!" Damon cried. He suddenly wasn't so sure if he wanted this.

"Since when did you care about Stefan? I've been observing you. You had nothing but hate for him!"

"He saved me, Katherine. Even after all I've done to him, he still thought that I was worth saving." Damon defended.

"You've changed, Damon."

"Well, 145 years alone can do that to a person." Damon growled. He picked up the stake. Suddenly, he stopped. He couldn't hurt her, even if he tried. His feelings for her came bubbling to the surface.
*****

Stefan sat on his couch with Elena.

"I'm sure he's fine, Stefan. Perhaps he's happier than he was?" Elena suggested. Stefan sighed. He didn't have the heart to say anything, especially since when he was with Elena at that moment, he was only thinking of Damon. Stefan was thinking of Damon and what he would do if he was spending the night with him instead of Katherine. "Stefan, look at me." Elena said. Stefan raised his eyes to meet hers and couldn't help but wish that he was looking into Damon's eyes instead.
*****

Damon sat with Katherine once again. She wouldn't stop talking about how sorry she was about the tomb, or how she planned on getting revenge on Stefan.

"Katherine, Stefan didn't do anything wrong!"

"Why are you defending him?"

"Because I love him!" Damon cried. He shocked himself by saying that out loud. "...More than I love you."

Katherine lunged at Damon, but she missed. Damon once again picked up the stake. There was pain in each difficult step that he took. Damon brought the stake down forcefully. He winced as he heard it rip through Katherine's chest. Damon took one last look at Katherine before speeding home, just wanting to be with Stefan.
*****

Stefan looked up when he heard the door open. When he saw that it was Damon, he looked at Elena. She took the hint and left.

Stefan was going to start lecturing Damon, more or less, when he saw the pained expression on his face.

"What is it?"

"Katherine isn't who I thought she was. She's gone now."

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked, genuinely confused.

"I was with her, but then she started going on about how she wanted revenge on you. I staked her, Stefan." Damon explained, pain evident in his voice.

"Damon, I don't get it. Why would you hurt the love of your life just because she said that she wanted revenge on me?"

"She wasn't, I guess. I suppose that what I'm trying to say is...I love you, Stefan. You were my best friend, you understand me better than anyone else, and I want to go back to that. I'm your big brother, and no one is allowed to mess with you." Damon said, looking Stefan in the eyes.

Stefan stepped forward and hugged Damon.

"Let's go back, okay?" Stefan asked. He felt Damon nod into his shoulder.
Stefan and Damon: brothers in arms, brothers in mind, going back to the day that started it all, and this time, they weren't going to let each other go.