Oh, the things I would do if I owned this show…

A nine-year-old Stefan walked into the kitchen from the living room with his big brother's music folder in his arms. It's dark out, almost time to go to bed, that's when Stefan can usually find Damon by the piano.

"Have you seen Damon?" He asked the cook, Clara. An older kind colored woman he's seen as a kind of mother figure since he didn't have one. Most of the workers (slaves actually) around the house love the Salvatore brothers because they treat them with respect, never seeing a problem with looking up to a slave from motherly guidance.

"No, not since this morning. But if you find him, tell him is teacher is not too happy with him. He's missed all of his lessons today." Stefan knew this already; he is tutored in the room next to his brother's lessons.

"I will." With that, he turned and left the room, thinking the best place to start to look for someone was in their bedroom. As he dawned the stairs to his brother's room, he heard strange noises. It sounded like the people in there were having trouble breathing. Looking through the keyhole in the door, he saw his sixteen, almost seventeen, year old brother lying on his bed with a young woman. They were moving around, almost like they were wrestling. Stefan found her familiar but wasn't able to place her face.

Just as he grabbed the doorknob and was about to turn it, the girl screamed. Stefan jumped back, wondering if his brother hurt the girl in some way. Perhaps she attacked him, they were fighting and he was winning. Perhaps their cloths fell off or ripped in the fight, cause neither were wearing any. He heard another noise that he could only assume came from Damon. It was hard to describe, like a growl or another animal sound, maybe Damon wasn't winning the fight after all. Stefan checked down the hall to see if someone heard and was going to see if they were okay. When no one came, he walked back, opened the door quietly and crept in.

The young Damon was laying next to the girl now, holding her face, a look of pure adoration gracing his features. He was sweaty and the only light in the room, coming from the candles on the two nightstands, showed his too-long hair sticking to his face, curling around his wide, happy eyes. "I love you, Celia."

The girl was very beautiful, with soft features, light eyes and dark hair. She looked close to tears when she heard him say those words, "I love you too."

The couple was in complete bliss. Lost in each other's eyes and in the moment they had just shared.

Not knowing he was ruining the moment, and in utterly confused, Stefan made it to the foot of the bed, "Damon?"

Both teenagers jumped at the sound.

"Stefan, get out of here!" Damon told him annoyed, leaning up to grab the sheet from their waists and pulling it to cover Celia.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked innocently.

"How did you even get in here? I locked the door."

"No you didn't," was his only reply.

The two stared at each other in silence for a good ten seconds (a/n: if you think about it, ten seconds is really long to say in silence) then Damon let out a sigh/laugh, "Get out, Stef."

"What were you doing?"

With a sigh of resignation, Damon lied back down on his back and mindlessly stroked Celia's hair. "Nothing you should have seen. Listen, why don't you go downstairs and I'll catch up in a bit?" Damon suggested hopefully, looking at his little brother. His eyes then narrowed in confusion when he saw what the boy was holding. "Is that my music?" he asked, leaning forward again and snatching the folder out of Stefan hand. He opened it, making sure nothing was messed with.

"Yeah, I wanted to practice with it."

At this, Damon gave Stefan an endearing, patient smile with his eyebrows raised in a gently sarcastic way, "You want to practice with my music?" When Stefan just nodded, his older brother laughed. "Alright, you can try this one time because you snuck up on us."

"Are you going to tell me what you were doing?" Stefan asked, hopeful to get some answers.

"Tell you what. Tomorrow, I'll tell you everything you need to know, right now, go downstairs and practice, I'll be down in a bit to help out. Just leave me to continue entertaining my guest." Damon smirked at Celia and she turned bright red.

"Do you think he'll tell anyone?" She asked him nervously

"Of course not, right, Stef? This can just be between the three of us until tomorrow. That means no telling Giu-father, got it?" Damon looked stern as he told Stefan.

The boy simply nodded and started walking away. He heard from behind him, "Are you really going to tell him what we're doing?"

"I'll give him the idea, no details. He'll go to Giuseppe if he isn't satisfied with my answers. So, I'll have to give him a little. Don't worry in a few years he'll understand completely what we're doing."

A little confused Stefan walked out Damon's bedroom door, closing it behind him.

The next morning, Saturday, Damon walked briskly down the stairs. He came into the kitchen, ruffled his brother's hair and plopped next to him, grabbing an orange and humming a bit.

"Someone's happy today." Clara said with a knowing smile.

"Why not be? It's beautiful out and I have a busy day planned with friends." Damon said brightly.

Giuseppe Salvatore lowered his newspaper and glared at his son suspiciously, "So this mood has nothing to do with a certain tavern maid I noticed walking by our house last night?"

"What? Father, the taverns and pubs are on one part of town, the housing is on the other, I'm sure there were plenty of tavern maids and drunks alike taking walking past our house, which happens to be in the center of town, if you forgot." Damon lied coolly.

At that moment, Stefan realized that's where he recognized that girl. She was a poor girl working with her sisters at her father's tavern. They were a respectable, wholesome family generally like throughout the town, she was always nice to him. Stefan decided that he liked her.

Their father eyed him once more them looked down at his paper again, "Yes, well be sure to stay away from their lot. I think she fancied you, the way she looked at your window."

Stefan had stopped paying attention by then, used to their morning bickering. After a few minutes of false, forced politeness, Damon excused himself from the table, picking up another orange sliding it in his pocket for later and set out to leave.

"Damon, wait!" Stefan jumped off his chair and ran to the front room, where is older brother was watching him expectantly. "You never told me what you and that girl were doing in your room last night. You promised you'd explain it."

Damon's eyes grew wide with shock and fear and they heard the floor screeching with Giuseppe's chair sliding out from under the table. "I knew it! You've been off with that girl from the tavern!"

Damon shot Stefan a glare, pushing him out of the way, hoping to keep him out of the crossfire. Then, he steeled himself for what he knew was coming. Giuseppe's hand came crashing against Damon's face. He was prepared for it so it didn't knock him off his feet like it sometimes did. "How could you associate yourself with those people!"

"Those people happen to be some on the best people I've ever met. Celia and I have been together for a long while and I've never been happier!"

"They are not the kind of people for you to be around! This is a disgrace to the Salvatore name!"

"I love her!"

"You lust for her, you sinful boy! You're too young to see the difference! You will not see her again!" Giuseppe's words were cold, his anger vibrated in every syllable.

Unfortunately, Damon's temper was the only match for his father's. The entire household seemed to have frozen in mid air as they watched the scene play out.

"And you think you can stop me? You've only just discovered now and that was because Stefan told you! I can easily make my way around you again!" He was hit again, this time harder; he stumbled back a bit, holding his face. He turned to stare coldly into his father's eyes. "But it's better that you know, now I can brag about her to you."

"That whore will be taken care of! If you don't get rid of her I'll dispose of her properly." This wasn't the first time Giuseppe made a threat like that, though nobody knew if he would ever follow through, no one ever dared to contradict him. Stefan had little idea of what they were talking about but his father never cursed so it must be serious.

"That whore has a name!"

"And you never should have learned it! You are an embarrassment!" Giuseppe was starting to loose control, "Get out before I do something I'll regret!"

"Gladly. Just know that while you sit in your office and make money from other people's hard work, we are going to take a leisurely stroll by the river, maybe have a swim. We'll have lunch and dinner together and then, we will consummate our love again and again! Under the stars! Out in the open for all of God's creatures to see! And there is nothing you will do about it!"

Giuseppe threw his hands up in rage, "Out! And don't come back until you know your place!"

"I will be in my place tonight! With her, beside her, in her!" Stefan had no idea what that meant but the way Damon said it made him think it was a dig at their father. It sobered up the household extremely quickly.

"Out. Now." Was all Giuseppe could manage to say through his anger. Damon gave Stefan one last glance before storming out of the house, slamming the door in the process.

There was an eerie feeling after Damon left. Giuseppe stormed into his study and refused to leave for the rest of the day, accepting a meeting with Jonathan Gilbert and then later another man Stefan didn't recognize. Stefan wasted the day away, waiting for Damon to return. After it got to be around seven a night, their father sent for Stefan and told him to go look for Damon by the river.

It was starting to darken and Stefan hoped to find his brother quickly. He would never admit being afraid, men weren't afraid. Damon wasn't afraid. And neither would Stefan be. With that thought, Stefan bravely marched down the length of the river. He finally found them, once again naked, lying with each other on a blanket. He approached the couple, this time they saw him coming and Celia started pulling her dress on and Damon grabbed his trousers.

"What were you doing?"

With a sigh, Damon looked up at his younger brother and said simply, "We made love." Getting an "aww" and a kiss from Celia, Damon let out an unashamed smile.

The boy's mind drifted back to what his father had said about Damon's relationship. How different the answers were, not that he knew what they meant.

"Father says you're sinning." It wasn't an accusation, more of a statement, a question even.

"Father doesn't understand what love is."

"He loves me…and you, sometimes." He was rewarded with a dark chuckle.

"Sometimes…. Were you sent to get me?" Without waiting for an answer, Damon stood up and offered his lover his hand. When they were both standing, she straightened out her dress as he fixed her hair. He brushed her face with the back of his fingers, sliding them down to her chin. He tilted her head towards his and leaned in to kiss her. Damon turned back to Stefan, seeing him watching them in curiosity, "don't watch."

"Sorry!" Stefan promptly covered his eyes and turned around. They both laughed at his antics, making him smile proudly. He always liked it when Damon laughed at what he did.

"I'll see you tomorrow;" Damon told her pulling her in for another kiss

"Mm.. Not until I'm done working this time. My mom was glaring at you the whole time you waited for me yesterday." Celia giggled

"Fine I'll meet you behind your house at two, okay?"

"Perfect!"

It took them about twenty minutes to say goodbye. And when she finally left, Damon folded the blanket around the scraps to take the remains of their day home with him. They slowly walked back to their home. They talked and laughed as Damon tried to explain, to the best of his ability and comfort, the wonders of love.

"So you….. want to be around her all the time?"

"Well, yeah. But it's more than that. She makes me feel great when she's around. She's everything I wanted from a woman. She beautiful, smart, and nice. She never tried to change me or expected more of me."

"I still don't get it." Stefan couldn't grasp the concept of being in love, being consumed by another person, not caring if it upset father.

"No one really gets it, it just happens. You'll understand when you fall in love. It's the best feeling you could ever have."

"Why does loving her mean you have to be naked?" Damon laughed at this one

"That is a talk for you and Giuseppe to have on your thirteenth birthday. And when that's over, you come to me and I'll tell you the truth."

"Okay. I guess I'll have to wait….. Are you going to marry her?" there was a long silence after that question.

"I'd like to. I want to. But Giuseppe won't allow it. We thought we might run away together. Her parents like me. They'd consent. But that would be another year for me to wait to wed her as a legal man."

"And you don't want to wait?"

"She's getting to an age where men want to marry her. I don't have time to wait another year."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, since Giuseppe knows now, I'm hoping to convince him to make an agreement with Celia's father. I'm going to talk to him later about it. It didn't come out right this morning."

"I'm sorry about that. I forgot it was a secret. You even made me promise!" Stefan almost felt like tearing up, his brother was hit because of him.

"Hey, calm down. It was bound to come out eventually, it's not you're fault." Damon said sincerely as he placed a comforting arm on his brother's shoulder. Damon let go as they approached the house.

Later that night, Stefan was already in bed when he heard shouting coming from his father's office. He figured Damon's talk didn't go as well as they had hoped. It ended in a loud, "We'll see who has the last say!" from Giuseppe.

Present Time

Stefan let go of Elena's hand. "Do you really want to know what happened after that? It's not pretty."

Elena contemplated what she saw today. It was a completely different, carefree, young Damon. Nothing like she knew him today. He was obviously younger looking, not completely as filled out as he will be, still lanky from the obvious growth spurt he had to have gone through a year or two earlier.

But he was happy, loving. It was weird. Elena was now twenty-two and stuck like that as a vampire. She had chosen Stefan but soon they grew apart, becoming close friends instead of lovers. She slowly realized her feelings for the elder Salvatore a little too late. They decided a little insight on Damon's past would clear things up for her. Whatever happened next was the reason for him being the way he was now. Se needed to see the rest of this story.

"Yes I'm sure. I need to know"

She took his outstretched hand and closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. Stefan had warned her that they were delving into the darkest parts of Damon's past, even the Katherine situation didn't compare. If she was ever to understand her future with Damon, she had to understand his past.

Hey, all!

This is my first Vampire Diaries fic! Let me know how you feel about it…. A little warning, I emphasized the age difference between Damon and Stefan maybe a bit too much, I donno, I made it seven, close to eight instead of six years. I also want to point out that this is from a nine-year-old's perspective; it's a little innocent on purpose.

A couple other things:

1) Let me know if you see grammar errors! I want to correct them before it's too late!

2) It might just be me, but I had no idea how to pronounce Giuseppe. I always said (or thought, really) "goo-seppe" but it's "juice-eppe" is from the same origins as Joseph… just saying… And I'm Italian, so I have no excuse.

3) Please Review! Even if you have nothing nice to say about it… I want feedback!