Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries (the TV show). I wish I owned Damon, he's just so HAWT! I do, however, own this story and all the original characters that will appear in it as the story goes on. Thank you.

Chapter 1- Rent It Out

"Shit!"

Stephen looked up from his bowl of cereal, his brow raised. "Something wrong Damon?"

The shuffled of paper answered him, followed by another loud curse.

Stephen sighed and put down his spoon. "Damon, will you just tell me what's wrong? I don't really think that your cursing is going to help you with anything, if it's ever helped you at all."

Damon Salvatore glared up at his younger brother, his mouth turned down into a mean grimace. He noticed that Stephen looked rather amused watching him fume over the stack of papers in front of him. He put down the one he was clutching presently to shine a sarcastic smirk Stephen's way.

"Well, brother dear, it seems that we have hit a speed bump on the road to financial stability."

Stephen's brow furrowed. "What do mean?"

"It means we need money." He snorted before turning his attention back down to the stack of accursed tree droppings. "And everyone thinks that you're the smart one."

Stephen ignored the comment, standing up and making his way beside Damon. He peered over his shoulder. "Those bills then?"

Damon shook his head. "No, their invitations to fabulous parties hosted by the richest and fakest Orange County Wives… Of course their bills!"

Stephen held his hands up defensively. "Hey calm down. Don't take it out on me. I'm not the one who's making you pay."

"No, you're not. Hmm, say Stephen, how far away is the headquarters of Harlequin's Gas and Hydro?"

Stephen shook his head. "No, you're not going to compel anyone to let you off from paying these bills."

"Um, I never said that I would compel them."

"Damon…"

"Alright, alright. I won't do anything. But how do you suggest we make money? My social security number isn't exactly up to date you know. I think it might be 3, or was it 7…"

A few minutes of silence went by before Stephen piped up with, "Well, why don't we open the boarding house for service again? If we get a few tenants, we could pay off the bills, and it would take care of that pesky problem of unwanted 'visitors' from just barging in whenever they want to."

Damon looked at his brother with a dumbfounded expression.

"What?"

Damon shook his head slowly, as if clearing it of a thick fog. "By God, you are the smart one. Well, one of us had to be I guess." He smirked. "Thank God that I got the looks and the charm though. I can barely keep the female population off of me as it is. If I was smart too, I'd have died buried under a cheerleader dog pile long ago."

Stephen chuckled despite himself. He walked around the table, sat down and resumed eating is now soggy Cheerios.

Damon on the other hand reached for a calculator to do some quick calculations. A few minutes later, a resounding "Ah Ha!" echoed through the kitchen. Damon slapped down the documents in front of him onto the cool marble of the kitchen table, all the while giving Stephen a triumphant smile.

Stephen scooped up some honey glazed O's. "Figured out how to pay the bills?"

"Yup. All we need is to charge 3 people three hundred and fifty dollars a month for a few years; we'll be able to pay off the bills completely."

"And what about after that?"

Damon looked at Stephen blankly. "After what?"

"What are you going to do after we have no more tenants? What will we do to pay the bills?"

Damon snorted a he shuffled the papers together and got up from his seat. "By then I would have seduced a little old blue haired socialite-or three- that will pay the bills whenever we need them to. Please Stephen, as if I'm interested in babysitting a bunch of losers and loners. That may be your favorite past time, but I have more important things to do."

Stephen smiled as he watched his brother saunter up the staircase. He quickly finished his breakfast and decided to go out into the woods to find something that would satisfy his other 'hunger.' He put his dishes in the sink and quickly made his way outside. It wasn't long before he found a couple of plump rabbits that would get him through the day.

As he wiped his mouth clean, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He dug it out and smiled when he glanced at the caller ID. He pressed the answer button and lifted the phone to his ear.

"Hey, what's up?"

A soft, feminine voice floated across the line. "Hey Stephen, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today. After everything that's happened with Isabel and the tension between me and Bonnie, I feel like I need a day off. You know, just a day where we have fun."

Stephen grinned. "That sounds great. Do you want to go to the next town over so we can catch a movie?"

"That's sounds like a good idea. I heard the latest romantic comedy got really good reviews. And don't wince, it spoils you face!"

Stephen laughed. "How did you know I was wincing?"

"Let's just say that you're not the only one with super powers," she said as he pictured her grinning.

"Alright, how about I pick you up in an hour?"

"Sounds good to me. See you then. Love you."

"Love you."

Stephen hung up, and ran back to the house, changing his cotton pajama bottom and white tank for a pair of dark wash jeans and a dark green t-shirt. He picked up his car keys from the small table near the front entrance and started to make his way outside when he was stopped by Damon's sudden appearance blocking the door.

Damon smiled as he leaned against the door frame. "Where are you going?"

"Out," Stephen said as he pushed his way past his brother.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Obviously. I just wanted to know where you were going out to. Will you be seeing Elena? If you are, say to her for me. I haven't seen her since a week ago when we gave that bitch mother of hers Jonathan Gilbert's device. By the way, have you guys talked about the fact that the man she thinks is her uncle is actually her father?"

Stephen glared at Damon. The older Salvatore answered his glare with his trademark smirk. "Would that be a no?"

"Stay out of it Damon. This doesn't concern you." Stephen unlocked the door to the car and climbed inside.

"That may be, but the problem concerns my friend," Damon called back to Stephen as Stephen started the engine.

Stephen gave no farewell to Damon as he drove out of the driveway. Damon, however, waved goodbye to Stephen, calling out as he drove away, "Have a nice day dear! Remember to say no to drugs!" He chuckled as he walked back inside the house and closed the door behind him.

He walked into the living room and picked up the phone. He dialed the number he got from the phone book, and waited until someone picked up the other end.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard a click and a friendly, "Good afternoon, Mystic Falls Daily Newspaper. How may I help you?"

"Yes, how much is to publish an ad?"

Stephen picked up Elena at her house and they both drove out of town toward the next town over, which was a bit bigger than Mystic Falls by a population of 5,000. The town of Richter Hills didn't have much, but at least they had a mall and a decent sized movie theatre.

After a few minutes of enjoying the wind blowing through her hair, Elena turned to Stephen.

"So, how's your day been so far?"

Stephen glanced at her before turning his attention back to the road. "Well, Damon and I have decided to open the boarding house to tenants."

"Really?" All ears now, Elena turned her whole body towards the driver. "What made you guys decide to do that?"

Stephen told her about their need for money and the practicality of having people living in the house.

Elena nodded. "That actually sounds reasonable. But what about Damon? You really think that he'll be able to control himself enough to keep his fangs off?"

Stephen grinned. "Well, I'd like to see him try when he won't be able to compel them."

"How do you figure that?"

"Easy. I just have to spike all the drinks in the house with vervain, and presto, no compelling. Damon will just have to deal with getting take out instead of eating at home."

Elena giggled. She leaned over the seat and kissed his cheek. "You're so smart."

Stephen smiled over at her. They drove in comfortable silence the rest of the way to Richter Hills.

They spent the rest of the day browsing through various stores, eating at a small café, and watching the latest romantic comedy. It was almost eleven o'clock when Stephen drove Elena back home. They kissed goodnight, and Stephen watched as Elena walked up her front steps and through the front door before he put the car into gear and drove away.

When Stephen arrived at the house, he saw that some of the lights were still on, so he assumed that Damon was still up. He climbed out of the car and locked the doors. As he approached the front door, the sound of music could be heard blaring through the walls. He walked inside to see Damon lounging on the couch with a glass of scotch in his hand.

Stephen walked over to the stereo and turned down the volume. "So, put an ad in the paper already?"

Damon nodded. He took a slow slip from his glass before saying, "All we have to do now is wait for the calls to come in. Did you have a nice date with Elena? Did you guys talk about anything interesting?"

"Goodnight Damon," Stephen said as he started walking up the stairs to his room.

"Goodnight baby brother. Sweet dreams."

Damon listened to the footsteps of his younger brother until he was sure that he had entered his room. He took another sip of his scotch. The corner of his mouth turned up.

"Let the fun begin."