Damon's POV

I stopped in front of the little wood factory where my little brother's been working for the past few weeks. It was already 10 in the evening and I was hungry, sweaty, but most importantly tired like hell. I waited until all the other workers started getting out the front door and lit a cigarette. I knew Stefan would be appearing last because he walked very slowly due to his limping.

I sighted and let out the smoke disappear fast into the air. It wasn't supposed to be like that. Stefan shouldn't be working to support the family right now. Especially not in the condition he was in. I felt this bad pit in my stomach as I was suddenly brought back a year ago when he was beaten almost to death and barely survived. It was a miracle he was walking at all, even if it was so hard. I didn't want Stefan to work, not now with school starting up tomorrow, but I really didn't see another way especially with a six month old baby in the house. If Stefan didn't work we wouldn't be able to live through another week.

My little brother himself insisted that he kept on working after the accident. I guess he wanted to find some peace for his thoughts. It was hard to find him a job that didn't involve him standing straight constantly. Thank God our late father had good friends here back in Mystic Falls. Once we moved in almost a month ago we called Joseph-our father's buddy and he immediately agreed to hiring Stefan. When we met him I had the feeling that Stefan will soon be fired as I thought his hiring was simply because Joseph pitied us. But only a week after Stefan has started Joseph said he was his best worker.

I smiled to myself. I was proud of my brother. Only if he wasn't so stubborn and took care of himself more things would've been perfect.

I finally saw him getting out of the building. Once he came closer I could see that his work clothes and his hands were in sawdust. His eyes were tired and they didn't suit his 18 year old self.

"Burnishing all day again?" I asked, trying to hide the concern in my voice. He looked worse than me."

"I swear I feel my hands made from sandpaper" he sighted and he got his own pack out. He was smoking for a while now and I wasn't really trying to stop him which was probably a mistake. But I knew he needs to get all of this weight inside him out somehow. Deep down I knew this wasn't the solution.

"Come on. You'll smoke in the truck. We need to get going."

"Bonnie will kill you. " Stefan said once we settled in and I started the engine.

"Yeah, well, she's not gonna drive it anytime soon so she won't find out. Just open the window." he did and turned on the radio. He loved doing that ever since we were kids.

"Oh damn. I forgot to pay the electricity bill." I slapped myself in the face.

"Don't worry I'll take care of it." he calmed me down while trying to suppress a yawn.

"You can't take care of it cause you gotta get your ass to work after school. Tomorrow is your first day of the new year."

"Don't even remind me of that. Can't I not go?"

"No. You'll finish your education just like our parents wanted. I'm not gonna let you ruin your life."

"It is ruined enough already." Stefan added silently.

"Stefan, don't start." I raised my voice "You do as I say and I say you're gonna get yourself together and start studying. Last year you had awful grades. Except for the history."

"Well you know that it's my favorite." he added as I was about to park in front of the house. I turned off the engine and the lights. "Look." I started being dead serious "I don't want you getting into any fights, skipping classes and not writing homework, ok? We've both got enough on our plate and I don't want to have to go to the principle because you've done something stupid. Plus Bonnie will get even more worried than she is already and she doesn't need that right now. Ok? "

"Yeah" he answered silently. I knew he was listening to me and I sensed that he felt guilty when there was no need for that.

"Good. On Friday we got an appointment to the doctor."

"Oh, Damon " he started complaining. "Can we "

"No. We're going! You haven't been checked up for almost two months." I could say he was limping more than usually lately and Bonnie said she caught him stagger a few times this week when he got up in the morning. I was getting worried all over again but I was trying to hide it from him. He never tells me he's in pain.

He sighted. I felt he wanted to argue more but to prevent this from happening I got out of the car. He followed me slowly. Bonnie was probably in the kitchen since we saw the light on.

"I really hope she's fixed something for dinner." I said and looked behind my back. He has leaned on the car with his eyes closed. He seemed in pain.

"Stefan?" I asked suddenly worried.

"I'm fine" he said angrily and started limping next to me. I only furrowed my eyebrows but decided not to deal with this now. We were both tired as hell and we would get into a fight. Bonnie opened the front door and smiled at us with little James in her hands. The moment I saw her all worries got away and I realized once again how much in love I am even after so many years have passed. She was in the simple blue dress she wore at home and the kid who has already started resembling me with his dark dark hair and blue eyes smiled widely even though I'm not sure he understood what's happening. I hurried to climb the few stairs and kissed her gently but she pulled me in closer and after we separated hugged me tight, which she didn't usually do but it made me feel even better.

"How's the best nephew in the world doing?" asked Stefan and reached his hands to get James from Bonnie' s embrace. In the beginning he was afraid to do that because he was scared he would drop him but I encouraged him to try because I knew he could move laths and still balance well without falling so he shouldn't be afraid to hold my son. I trusted him. I knew he would never do anything to hurt James simply because he adored him and spoiled him so much more than me and Bonnie. The kid smiled at the sound of his voice. I guess he could recognize that and once Stefan hugged him tightly and made one of his crazy funny face expressions the kid was amused by him and wouldn't glance away even if Bonnie held his favorite meal in front of him.

"He's good. He missed you." James made some kind of sweet baby sound. It was still warm outside so Stefan sat with my son on the porch and started playing with him and telling him stuff. What I loved was watching them. Stefan treated him like he was a grown person with whom he can have an honest conversation about life. Sometimes he talked to him about what kind of stuff he carved from the wood today and he was waving his hand up and down which only got James more interested. Other times he told him stories. He never read him books, cause he remembers everything and makes it better then the fairytale itself. James often fell peacefully into sleep while listening to his calm and warm voice. A voice full with so much sadness that I prayed my son would never get to know in his life. What my little brother has been through is so much more than a grown person can take. And yet I am grateful that he is here, next to me, to my wife and my son. I am happy that my kid can grow around such a person, such a man already.

Stefan himself thought that he was a burden to us. Once we got into a huge fight and the words has slipped. It hurt me very much, because I never wanted him to feel like that. Stefan was the kind of man who hated attention. He never tells us if he has a problem, he just deals with it all by himself. He never tells me if he's in pain, which is almost all the time. Especially after James was born he was less and less trying to draw attention to himself. And with all the working there was really no time for that. He was so tired he practically almost falls asleep on the table. When Bonnie and I decided that we want to move here he was trying hard to persuade me to leave him alone in Chicago. He had a good job there, but I couldn't let him be on his own. My mother asked me to never leave his side on her deathbed and I was trying to fulfill her wish. We had a huge fight, like usually, but in the end Bonnie managed to persuade him to come with us. Moreover I knew that if I leave him there he would cut school off and he would never graduate. Here I could keep an eye on him.

After a while James really fell asleep in his uncle's arms and we all got inside. The house was really small. We had two rooms a something we called a living room, but it didn't look like one and a relatively big kitchen. Stefan slept in the smaller room while Bonnie and me slept in the bigger bedroom. We really didn't have any new furniture. We moved what we could with us from Chicago and Stefan fixed some of the stuff himself while I painted the front façade. He did a great job actually. The big bed that my mother and father used was as good as new after he finished. He truly had a talent. Our mother used to say that her father was a carpenter so I guess Stefan took that from him. I myself got most of my father who worked with cars and all sorts of machines.

After we showered we both sat on the table and started eating eagerly.

"So how was work" Bonnie asked and got me back to reality.

"Oh, I almost forgot" Stefan said standing up suddenly and going to the corner where our jackets were hanged. He got a big envelope out of it. "Here's my paycheck" he handed it over to me. He always gave me all of his salary and kept some money for cigarettes. He knew that now we were in desperate need of buying James new clothes. I swear-this kid grew faster than I wished. Bonnie always felt bad that we are taking almost everything he earns so now, again she glanced away and murmured silently.

"Stefan..you"

"Oh please, don't start again" he said and smiled gently at her. She finally met his eyes and nodded lightly too.

"Thank you, brother." I added.

"Welcome" he said with his mouth full. With school starting he could buy himself some new clothes or shoes. His jacket was very shabby too. Instead he was helping me dress my firstborn and pay the electricity.

"You excited for school tomorrow?"asked my wife in attempt to make the mood in the room lighter.

"Ugh….I prefer to be scolded by Daniel all day long than go to classes" Daniel was something like the supervisor of the youngest workers at the firm. Stefan hated him because he always yelled and made people hate whatever they've done even if it was looking great.

"Stefan, please don't start. You know that you need to"

"To finish my education as you stubbornly keep reminding me. I still don't see the point in all of this."

"I am still your older brother and I say you have to do it."

"I know." he answered sadly.

"Maybe you'll make friends." suggested Bonnie. "Meet new people who'll walk you around."

"I don't make friends." he answered silently and stood up after he has finished eating. For a moment he staggered a bit so he caught the edge of the table. I stood up harshly and caught his free hand. He tried to make me let him go but I didn't.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed."

"I can get myself to it" he answered through his teeth, but he was still clearly in pain. That was nothing new to me. I often heard him turning right and left in his bed in the night. I tightened my grip and helped him move to his room. As he sat down on his bed he sighted.

"Thank God we're going to the doctor this week."

"I am fine, Damon."

"No, you're not" I pushed him on the shoulder lightly just to make him lie down already. "Where are your pills?" I asked and looked on his bedroom drawer where he usually kept them but there wasn't a single bottle there now. He avoided my look and try to mumble something that I should leave him sleep but I suddenly got what was happening here and it made me so mad "Stefan Salvatore!" I yelled and he furrowed his eyebrows just like when we were kids and mom was scolding him for something. "You finished them, didn't you?"

"Oh, just relax already. I'll buy new tomorrow. They aren't helping anyway."

I caught his hand and made him look me in the eyes

"Don't ever do this again." he looked away again "Stefan! Don't do it!"

"I won't" he responded and I let him go.

"Go to sleep. You look like crap." I said and stood up harshly, still very angry with him. He knew that. He knew me very very well. He also knew I would make it hard for him in the next few days.

I went to the door but waited until I saw him cuddle up, then I turned off the lights and went out.

Bonnie has heard me raise my voice and was already next to me with a worried look. She cared deeply for my brother. They had a special relationship. Something between a deep and trusting friendship and a parent-kid guidance bond.

"What is wrong? Is he ok?"

I just shook my head and went to the kitchen. She knew that I was mad when I behaved like this, but she was also concerned and I had to give her an explanation.

"I'm so tired of dealing with his stubbornness sometimes." I practically crashed on the chair and she poured me a glass of bourbon. "Thanks."

"He is confused, Damon. He lost the love of his life and then he had a near to death experience which left him marked for the rest of his life. You can't expect him to just act like it is all great again."

"A whole year has passed. A whole damn year."

"It's not so much as it looks to you." she whispered.

I sighed. It was hard to talk sometimes but the good thing about my wife was that she understood me just by the way I held her hand or kissed her slowly.

I drank up the glass and leaned back. She hugged me tight and I kissed her on the forehead. We stayed like this until James woke up, desperate to eat once again.

Stefan's POV

I felt them kicking me in the stomach, then in the head, I knew there was blood. I tried to touch it but my hand hurt too. I saw him take a bar and the next thing I new was he was hitting my knee.

"How about the star-cross basketball player of the school being unable to move his leg, huh?" he yelled and I screamed out consumed by pain. "It was all your fault. She died because you couldn't just leave me the hell alone. She is dead because of you."

I woke up, all sweated again. As I stood sit so rashly in bed my head started hurt and I leaned back only to realize that it I was just dreaming again about the fight. I looked to the clock on the drawer only to find out that it was 3:30 in the morning. Damon would want me to get up in less than three hours so I can get ready for school.

I tossed the ruffled blanket away and stood up slowly, trying to limp my way to the window so that I can open it and smoke so as to calm myself down. I found my packet in the pocket of my work jeans. I had only 2 left. The night was nice and still warm which is why I didn't regret waking up. The only thing I regretted was dreaming about one of the worst days in my life.

I didn't want to think about that right now and I thanked God that my thoughts were interrupted by James's cry in the other room. I smiled to myself and heard Bonnie' s steps towards the kitchen. He often woke us up at night but I didn't mind. Taking care of him felt good. It felt better than anything I was feeling lately actually. It made me keep on going, keep on moving, even when in reality I was standing in one place for the last year or so. Life is strange as I came to realize not so long ago.

I looked up at the sky. There weren't any stars tonight and it made my smile fade away. My hand reached the left pocket of my shirt and I picked up the small photo I always carried with myself. There were two people there, hugged in each other's arms, smiling at the one who was taking the photo. I remember that day-Damon made this shot in the back of our house in Chicago. It was my last photo of her, a little before she died. If you looked carefully at it you could see the dark circles under our eyes. I was working 14 hours a day by that time of the summer vacation. She was studying hard for her medical exams. Still I was strong and healthy back then. I remember my brother's face too. He was happy, for he was about to become a father. There was no concern in his eyes, there was only the sadness we both desperately hid from the rest of the world about our parent's death. But he was happy and ready to start a family. Now, even if only one year has passed, he seemed so much older than back that summer. I kept asking myself whether or not it was because of the baby or because he had to take care of me, to make responsible decisions? He surprised me so much more than I've ever expected. I guess I've underestimated him.

I loved my brother but I didn't feel like I really belong here. Damon thought moving on will be good for all of us. He believed that I can leave everything that happened in Chicago behind but things weren't that simple. Maybe this was a good start for him and Bonnie. Maybe James could grow healthier and happier here. For me it was just a place I had to live in. It was just a continuation of a life I wasn't sure how to lead anymore. Go to school, go to work-that's what I was doing. In the middle of it I was supposed to study, to make friends, to meet new people, to enjoy it -everything around me. But I wasn't..and I wasn't going to start.

I finished the cigarette and throw it out the window. My bed seemed somehow warmer and comfortable now, I was longing to cuddle up and forget about the world and all the bad things in it, but I stayed for a few minutes enjoying the silence of the house both confused and calm at the same time, looking at the nothingness of the dark sky. A nothingness that didn't demand anything from me unlike the bright sunshiny day I was about to fill with the daily routine of a poor lost boy.