Damon's POV
I wake up, maybe twenty minutes later and feel a bunch of hands laying me down on our bed. I weakly turn around to see they're placing my brother next to me, a big improvised bandage on his head, his face blue, hopefully from the cold, even though I assume, that he lost a lot of blood and probably so have I.
I turn around and look up to see Bonnie nervously talking to Ric and sitting down to me, grabbing my hand in hers once she realizes my eyes are opened.
"S-Stefan-" I let out, and raise my hands trying to bring their attention to my brother-there are at least four people in our bedroom, I see Tom as well as a few of the other workers, who probably brought us here
"The doctor's coming, Damon, don't worry!" Ric leans down and tells me and I nod. I feel Bonnie's lips on my forehead and I try to ignore all the noise around us, but it's making it so hard for me to think. I stretch out my hand and put it on my brother's, which is cold and irresponsive-God, please save Stefan. Please, keep my brother here.
I hear a man's voice and suddenly most of the workers are urged to leave, though Ric and Bonnie stay with us. I see the Gilberts-Grayson and his daughter Elena enter our small gloomy bedroom and I immediately try to rise up and nod to my brother, but Bonnie pushes me down on the pillow.
"You have to-" I try saying, but a cough interrupts me and I give up, sinking back in the bed. I close my eyes again and take a deep breath as I feel Bonnie squeezing my hair tightly for the last time before moving away and probable letting them take care of me.
"Stefan's worse, we have to take care of his head" I hear Grayson say and I sigh relieved. They had to save my brother first, no matter what. "Elena, start cleaning Damon's wounds!" her father orders and I feel someone's gentle hands touching my face. I open up my eyes for a brief second and try to speak, which is a really hard task right now
"Please…help my brother!" I beg her and she nods with a light smile, which is supposed to calm me down but I'm actually freaking out way more when I turn my head to Stefan again and see Gilbert untying the cloth that the workers put on his head, and reveal the bleeding wound there.
Elena gently turns my head in the opposite direction, even though I try to fight her and I see Bonnie worriedly hovering behind her, wondering what's going to happen now. When she sees me staring at her, she smiles through tears and whispers that she loves me.
I say it back and close my eyes, only to drown back in the darkness and maybe pretend for a moment that everything that happened today is a dream and I'll wake up early tomorrow and go to the coal mine, so I could protest with my brothers there. So we could fight for something that matters.
I wake up probably hours later from someone's grunts next to me and it takes me a minute to open my eyes and realize that it's Stefan. Judging by the light coming from the window, I concluded that it must be dawn and as I turned around I noticed my brother squirming in pain-there was a big bandage on his head and I swallowed hard at the sight of his face, even though I felt really bad myself.
He was tossing in his sleep and he was probably in pain too, so I tried to move to him a bit and sit up in the bed, which proved to be a difficult task. He was mumbling something under his nose, which I couldn't quite understand, but I finally managed to stretch out my hand to him. Then as I finally looked at it, I realized that they've bandaged it and that's where all this dull pain was coming from. I remember the guard stomping on it and I swallow hard at the memory of my bones cracking. I overcome my pain for my brother, I had to wake him up, because he was really trashing the bed right now from this nightmare
"Stefan!" I shake him and the sharp pain in my hand makes me squeeze my eyes and grunt "Stefan, wake up!" I urge him as I try to shake his shoulder
"Wake up, you're having a nightmare!" I continue, but he doesn't open his eyes and I realize that I'm not strong enough to do this on my own "Bonnie! Bon, come help me!" I yell at the open door and see the light coming from the kitchen but no one enters our room "Bonnie, where the hell are you?" I continue, while my brother keeps tossing under my bandaged hand
"Goddammit, Stefan, stop this!" I yell at him "Wake up! Wake up, brother!" and he finally does turn to my side and open his eyes, breathing heavily. "Thanks God!" I finally sigh relieved
"What is going on?" I ask him but he just shakes his head and I see his mouth open as he lets out a painful sigh. Then all of a sudden his head starts bleeding and I yelp surprised as I watch it soak down the sheets.
I try to stretch out and put my hand on his wound but I can't-it's like we're miles away and no matter how hard I try I can never reach him. He tries to tell me something, but the only thing that escapes his mouth are painful grunts, then he closes his eyes, swallows hard and sighs tiredly one last time. I keep yelling and trying to get to him, but I can't change the fact that he's not moving.
"Stefan!" I wake up abruptly and rise up from the pillows until I feel someone's hand on my chest, pushing me back down. I see Bonnie's face staring at me intensely as she sits on the bed next to me
"Shh, Damon it's fine, it's all good" she assures me and I lean back on the pillows tiredly as I take deep breaths. I turn around to see Stefan sleeping peacefully next to me, covered with a blanket, his head bandaged, just like in my dream, but his face is as white as snow and I swallow hard
"What's the time?" I ask with my hoarse voice, hoping that I wouldn't wake him.
"It's about noon now" Bonnie explains patiently as she eyes me carefully and keeps pushing me down or fixing my blanket "Damon, lie back, you need more sleep."
"Noon?" I ignore her words completely "That means…we had to go to the mines...now we're fired" that's the first thing that comes to my mind, I'm scared, we lost our jobs how am I going to raise a baby now, how is Stefan going to get better? I see her shaking her head as she starts explaining
"No, it's fine, two of your people are going in instead of you today. They took your cards and will check in on your behalf" I raise my eyebrows confused, how was this even possible, why would they risk anything just for the two of us "Turns out one of the guards is on your side so he'll cover things up in case someone has any doubts, but we found out that all the bosses are not in town today so it's all good. And tomorrow is Sunday so you'll have your time to rest."
"I…I can't believe…how?" I run my fingers through my messy hair as I try to rise up more and she helps me as she puts another pillow behind my back
"That's nothing Damon" she speaks silently, so that we wouldn't wake my brother, though I doubted it, he looked so pale and broken, he needed the rest "You've got no idea how much everyone did. They donated blood for you two" she nods to Stefan, who surely must've lost a lot
"They brought food and clothes for you guys. Caroline Forbes even gave me baby clothes." she seemed happy from this fact, but I didn't like people pitying me so I just grunted and looked away uncomfortably-sure, it was nice of them to help, but it seemed like we're too poor and we couldn't even afford decent clothes. I mean yes, most of the workers were also in our situation if not worse and them doing this was a wonderful gesture but it also made me feel guilty and pitied and I hated it.
"They shouldn't have done this, I can provide for my child!" I say through teeth and the smile disappears from her face
"Damon, get over yourself! You've got no idea what you two did to these people." I raise my eyebrow confused as to what she means "You gave them hope' she smiles warmly now and I open my mouth in surprise a bit "They were all so proud of you and they hated that Elijah douche with burning passion for hurting you. They consider you the leaders of their rebellion and they won't stop asking me what's going to happen now." her words really surprise me.
I thought that this protest was a total failure and now she's telling me that we've actually united people and made them want to fight?
"The guys want to talk to you two as soon as you get back on your feet." she furrows her eyebrows at the last sentence and I stretch out to grab her hand with my healthy one
"Bon, it's going to be okay" I promise her, even though I realize, that I did this last time as well and things fucked up
"I don't like this, Damon. You were beaten almost to death yesterday, what's going to happen next, huh?" she asks but I don't get to answer, because I feel my brother stirring next to me. He lets out a loud grunt and she hurries to his side, while I push myself to him and put my hand over his chest.
"Damon?" he asks as he opens his swollen eyes and sees my terrified expression and my battered face staring down at him worriedly
"It's okay buddy, we're here" I say as I squeeze his shoulder gently. It kind of hurts me to be in this position, but I wanted to make sure he's okay. Bonnie sits on his other side and smiles at him, he tries to smile back, but fails in it "You're going to be fine" I say even though I might be lying to him
"My head…is killing me" he sates with a grunt as he tries to move up a bit, but just like with me, Bonnie pushes him down "We are…home" he concludes as he looks around us and I nod
"The guys brought you here" Bonnie explains and he smiles "Everyone keeps telling the story of you pissing Elijah off"
"Well…I did something right after all" he smiles with his eyes closed for a moment, before he tenses again and tries to swallow down his pain "Dam, are you okay?" he asks as he looks up at me after the pain is gone
"Yes, I'm fine" I assure him, even though I feel like hell right now and Bonnie notices it because she keeps throwing angry glances at me
"You hand?" he mumbles as he stares down at my wrapped up hand and I shrug, patting him gently on the arm "Dammit" he curses
"It's okay" even though it's not really okay, I don't know what I'm going to do from now on, how I'm supposed to go to work with this and both Bonnie and I knew that we had to show up on Monday, they couldn't keep covering for us.
"I'll go get you two something to eat" Bonnie notices that I want to be with Stefan for a bit and I thank her with a smile "Gilbert will pass by to check on you later in the afternoon."
"Thanks, Bonnie" my brother lets out with a painful smile on his face and we watch her leave the room, closing the door behind her, for which I'm grateful.
I turn to Stefan and despite the fact that I really want him to rest, I help him move up a bit and throw my arm over him, pulling him closer, so I can keep a close eye on him. His head must be killing him because he keeps touching his bandage and trying to touch his wound as if that will make him feel better and I have to scold him and remove it every damn time. Eventually I keep his hands down and tell him that the workers have found a way to cover for us today.
"What are we going to do now?" he asks after it and I raise my eyebrow
"What do you mean, brother?"
"Oh, come on, don't pretend like you've not been thinking about this ever since you woke up. We have to do something. Obviously peaceful protesting won't do shit to change things so we have to-"
"Stefan, what the hell! You're not doing anything anymore, you almost got yourself killed!" I slightly raise my voice, because I don't want Bonnie to hear us "We can't….I'm not going to risk it anymore."
"So what?" he looks at me confused "We'll just hide in our house and continue working with our mouths shut? Damon, we started this! There are people out there who rely on us, don't you see this? Did you not notice their looks when they brought us back in front of them?"
"They were terrified, brother."
"But they were also angry!" he states with certainty in his voice "And that means they're willing to keep fighting for their rights. You knows this better than anyone-our salaries suck, we should receive more money for the work we do, our working conditions are awful, we risk our lives every day that we go there, so honestly, protesting is way more safe than getting in that elevator and going underground admit it."
"I know this" I sigh as I look down at him and grips his shoulder "It's not even about me anymore, it's you, Stefan." he looks up and furrows his eyebrows "I have to keep you safe. It's the promise I gave mother before she died and I have to keep it." he knew this well enough, but he couldn't understand it.
"You can't always keep me safe, brother" he responds and moves away from me, lying on his pillow and I watch him put his arm over his eyes, refusing to face me right now. He sighs tiredly before he speaks again "That's the thing. But you can change your child's future."
"Why are you so bent on continuing this, Stefan?" I ask him after we spent five minutes in complete silence and I lose myself in thoughts, realizing that he's right. I could make my child's life better if I keep fighting for this. It's true that our salaries sucked and we risked out lives every day, for our labor we should receive enough to live decently at least, but instead we didn't have enough beds or clothes or food for that matter and that made me mad once again.
"Because if I don't then our father's death means nothing" he responds silently as he turns his back to me and pulls the blanket up his shoulders to keep himself warm.
I sigh as I run my hand through my messy hair.
"Okay" I sigh, it's not like he really had to convince me. He was right-I've been thinking about what we could do from the moment I regained my consciousness-I wasn't ready to give up.
Probably for the exact same reason he has just mention-our father died while working underground, the conditions then were the same as they are now, probably even worse. People kept dying and leaving their families behind, kids kept growing without fathers and I sure as hell didn't want mine to live in poverty and fatherless.
"I'll gather Ric and Tom tomorrow and we'll talk about what we can do, but here's the deal" he turns a bit to me, his tired eyes staring in mine make it hard for me to breathe "You stay out of it."
"Damon, you can't-"
"You stay out of it, Stefan!" I raise my voice sternly and we stare at each other for a moment, before he turns back to his side, angry at me for doing this to him.
Stefan's POV
I'm standing in our kitchen, leaning on the plot, listening carefully to my brother, Tom and Ric, who were discussing intensely on the table what they should do from now on.
I couldn't keep my eyes away from the orange bandanas that Ric has brought to show us-they were symbolizing the fire that people died in a few weeks back and had a flame with a fist coming out of it printed on them.
I grabbed one in my hand and stared in it, before finally fisting it and getting up on the counter-they haven't even noticed that I've approached the table-they were in a heated discussion and I was about to interrupt them when they realized that their ideas sucked.
I looked at my brother-he seemed far better than two days ago when they've brought us home, though his hand was really crushed and I knew it hurt him a lot because last night while I was sleeping here in the kitchen, he came to the drawer to get his bourbon out and take a few sips to kill the pain.
I had no idea how we'll go to work tomorrow-we were still very sore and he couldn't pick up any kind of tool with this hand. My head was still wrapped up in this big bandage that made it feel heavy and I staggered a lot when I walked because it hurt, but as a whole I was better and I was trying to keep up my façade in front of him, because I knew he worried a lot.
I heard him talking to Bonnie the other night when they thought I was sleeping and I almost cried when he said how proud he was of me when I stood up to Elijah and said those things.
I honestly don't believe I've done anything that significant, I was just speaking out my mind, but I suppose people really got caught up in the moment. In the past two days since we were trying to recover, almost every worker passed by our small house to express their gratitude or bring something to us. I knew Damon hated the fact that they were pitying us, but we really had nothing to eat these days and Bonnie had to keep up her strength. I was concerned about her.
I was sure that Damon and I would manage, we always did, we were tough, not that she wasn't, she was stronger than us when it comes to many things, but she was carrying a child and she was so small and slim and I knew she's not eating enough, so whenever we had dinner, I would finish half my plate and leave the rest for them. I don't know if they realized what I was doing or if they just believed I'm not that hungry, but my brother liked to scold me.
"That won't work, Damon" Ric raised his voice slightly annoyed and I was brought back to reality "They've hired more guards since the last protest, they won't crush us, but they'll make us get in the elevators and go back to work."
"You guys need to look at the bigger picture here" I finally intervened and they all immediately turned their heads to me. I slowly came off the counter, still holding the orange bandana in my hand and stared for a moment at the badges he has brought-they were the same, orange with the flame and the first.
"What do you mean, brother?" Damon asks, peaking up his eyebrow
"You don't need to protest in the mine yard" I explain simply "Then it will be easier for them to surround you and catch you, especially if they call the police as well. They'll cover it all up in less than two hours and fire half of you." Ric grunted and stared down at his intertwined hands, fiddling nervously with his fingers, realizing that I'm right "What you need to do is get out the damn mine and go downtown."
"You mean protest on the streets?" Tom asks and his face lits up at my idea, I can see he's already supporting it.
He was my age, we were both very close and knew each other since high school. Together, we talked to the younger workers, convinced them to stick to the plan since there were some idiots out there who were unpredictable. He was smart and very hard working-I liked him a lot, especially now when he was supporting my ideas
"Yes" I stretch my hands and see my brother and Ric looking at me curiously. I pull the chair and sit down next to them as I feel a bit dizzy again and I don't know Damon to notice this
"We all know that sitting there peacefully won't do us any good, it's better if we finally raise our voices and get down on the streets. We can make posters and we will need more of these" I nod at the badges
"And that will work?" Ric asks not entirely certain, that this is a good idea
"You are missing one big fact here" I smile at them knowingly "Who owns the sewing factory in town?" I ask them
"The Mikaelson's do" Tom responds right away, I think he sees where I'm going here
"And the construction company downtown?" they all lean back on their chairs and sigh "What about Kent's garages or that small metal factory? They own all of these things and I'm pretty sure the workers there are not happy with their conditions or their salaries."
"So you're saying we talk to them and ask them for help?" Damon says
"You won't have to ask them, brother, they'll join us willingly. The majority of the people in this town are mine workers, we bring them a lot of money, they can't fire us all because there won't be enough people qualified for the job. The rest of them are silent and obeying because they are minorities, they are not enough to make a difference, but if they join a greater force, then they'll have hope for making a change in their workplaces as well."
"When on earth did you get so smart, kiddo?" Damon laughs out happily as he finally gets my idea. I can see Ric agrees with him as well, he's nodding his head and rubbing his stubble, Tom is as usually glowing, his goofy smile makes me laugh as well
"But we're going to need some time to prepare, maybe a week or so and inform the others too." we all nod and they keep discussing things while I listen to them carefully and give them other ideas here and there.
My brother shuts up when we hear the front door open and soon Bonnie joins us in the kitchen. He swallows hard at the sight of her, I'm pretty sure he hasn't told her anything about this yet and he's up for a big fight with her.
She crosses her hands as soon as she sees the badges on the table and the bandana, which I've wrapped around my wrist, but I hurry to take down when she eyes me angrily. I was honestly more scared of her than any police force.
"Hey, Stefan, you wanna go out for a walk?" Tom suggests as Ric stands up and starts excusing himself. Tom approaches me and whispers while nobody's watching "We have to talk"
"Okay"I respond and look out for my jacket, trying to get away from here as fast as I can.
"Stefan, where the fuck do you think you're going?" my brother raises his voice just when I put my jacket on, Tom is already waiting for me outside "You're still sick, you need to rest."
"I'm fine, I could use the walk, brother" I oppose him as I find my shoes and put them on as fast as I can "I'll be careful" I promise him and he gives me a sad look.
He wanted me to be here for when Bonnie starts scolding him, but I was slipping away and he hated it. I didn't want to be in the middle of this, though. Bonnie had a problem with him participating and he didn't even want me to be there for the future protests-I was kind of stuck, because I was trying to find a way to go without him finding out-I wouldn't leave him behind no matter what he says. I'm old enough to make my own decisions.
"Come on, buddy!" Tom yells at me from the porch and I slam the door behind me.
I decide to take it slowly, because my head still hurts a lot and he figures just as much as he sees me stagger down the stairs. He puts his hand on my shoulder and I smile gratefully as we start walking down the street and to our favorite pub.
We talk about random stuff on the way there and I don't pressure him to tell me what's on his mind right away-Tom liked to take his time, so instead we discuss his wife and their soon-to-be born kid. He got married to his high school sweetheart Beth and I was the best man on their wedding.
We settle down on the darkest table in the corner of this doomed place and I listen to him with a smile on my face while he explains how Beth keeps waking in the middle of the night and asks him to go buy her ice cream or donuts or whatever else she craved at that moment and he was always like, "Honey, it's after midnight, where am I going to find these things?"
We laugh out loud as we take a sip of our beer and he clears his throat, which is how I know he's about to get to the subject.
"So, I talked to the other workers, the younger ones, you know?" I nod patiently listening to him "And they want you to lead us if there is another protest."
"You know that my brother wants me to stay out of it this time, Tom" I sigh as I grip my glass and stare down at the beer
"I do, but I also know you're not going to do what he says anyway so…" he smiles at me and I nod, agreeing with his statement, he knew me far too well. We've been friends since diapers. "Look, we agree with the elders and all that and we respect them, but we trust you, because you understand us. They don't really listen to what we have to say and they barely take under consideration our suggestions." he continues explaining and I take a good sip from my beer. I knew he was right. I mean, I loved my brother and Ric and all of them, but they weren't really considering our point of view. "They listen to you, though."
"That's a bit of an exaggeration, Tom" I sigh, not entirely convinced he's right. Yes, they listened to me when they had no other option.
"Are you kidding me? You just came up with this whole thing for next week, without you they would've had nothing or would've done something to get us into a bigger mess.
"To be honest, what is about to happen, is going to make things worse. Once we disturb the public peace and the entire society of this doomed town joins us, they'll use force, Tom-truncheons, dogs, tear-gas, probably even guns."
"That's why we need you" Tom continues stubbornly and to be honest I'm not doing anything to stop him. I want to participate in this protest, I was going to whether Damon wanted me or not, but I wasn't sure how much of a leader to this guys I was.
"Why I need you too, Stefan. You know how some of them can get violent, I just want to keep them safe and you can help me do this. I'm afraid that they can provoke the wrong people just because they're young and stupid."
"And we're not?" I raise my eyebrow
"You're definitely not stupid, Stefan. You're wise and you look at things objectively." I sigh as I run my hand through my messy hair and touch the bandage which is already annoying me as hell and I want to just take it off, but if I do I'll probably start bleeding
"Look, we'll be with the others, we don't want to separate or anything, but we'll be at the back of these stuff, probably not even at the same street, so your brother won't even know about you being there until later. I'll feel safe only if you're with us." he says and waits patiently for my response. I take a few minutes, not to decide about what I'll say, I already know my answer, but to think over his words and what they meant to me. It was nice that people trusted me, but that also brought great responsibility.
"Okay" I nod and I feel him relaxing next to me" I'll be with you guys."
"I knew you wouldn't leave us" he smiles as he puts his hand on my shoulder and pulls me in for a hug. I pat his back and chuckle in his embrace.
He's right-I couldn't leave them, they were my brothers. Damon led his people-the older and wiser ones, but he couldn't keep any of the other safe. He wasn't even taking under consideration the fact that a bunch of them were seventeen year olds who dropped out of school-they were young and angry, they also had no idea how to protect themselves.
"Another round for me and my buddy here!" he yells at the waitress and I chuckle. I wasn't supposed to drink too much, I had to take pills tomorrow, but anyway, I was hoping it will be out of my system by then "Listen, we have to talk about something else too."
"Okay, I'm listening" I say as I finish my beer and the waitress brings the new glass. We wait for her to leave before he speaks up again
"I think we should call the National Miners Union, they might be able to help us if things get too bad."
"They are bureaucrats, Tom" I sigh tiredly "They won't do shit for us. Telling them or not, they'll just throw our complaint in some trash and forget that we ever sent it. You remember what happened in Wyoming last year-they turned their heads in the other direction."
"Yes, but we're different-we're actually about to do something big here, Stefan, they won't just let it pass, this can go on a national level, other cities might protest too, especially in our area."
"Let's just try to fix what we can here, Tom, what do you say?" he seemed too eager, he sometimes forget that things just don't magically happen like this. It's true, all you needed was someone to inspire you and I had no problem with helping other people from different cities if I could, but for now we had to try and change our own situation
"You can send them a letter if you want, me and Damon will sign it as well, but I doubt it will do anything."
"I would take anyone I could against the MIkaelsons."
"You're right" I agreed with him, I just didn't believe the state gave a shit about some coal miners who were up against one of the most powerful families in the country, but I didn't want to kill his enthusiasm so I squeezed his shoulder and gave him a sad smile.
"So, how's that thick head of yours?" he asks as he looks up at my bandage "Everything alright?"
"Gilbert says I will be fine" I reassure him and he sighs relieved, I knew he cared about me and I appreciated his concern, but I couldn't help but think that maybe he was so relieved because he wouldn't have to deal with all the guys on his own and I didn't blame him for it.
"I heard Elena came to your house as well" he points out and I clear my throat uncomfortably. Elena and I had something like a fling back in high school.
It was actually the summer between junior and senior year. She had a boyfriend with whom she has supposedly broke up and things between us just happened-it was kind of the best two months in my life until Matt came back and she decided to go back to him.
Why not? He was rich and very smart, every girl in the school wanted to be with him. She broke my damn heart and I still loved her to this day despite everything that happened. I heard he proposed to her after senior year, but then again this fall things got messier between them and I had no idea if they're still dating or not at all.
When I regained my consciousness the other day and saw her taking care of my brother, I swallowed hard at the sight of her beautiful face and decided that I was probably dreaming, but when her father called her to come help him patch my head, I realized that it was her indeed and when she touched my forehead with her skinny hands, I pushed back as if afraid that she'll dig back that hole into my heart. I wasn't thinking straight, that's for sure, but then I relaxed and let her take care of me. I can still feel the gentle way she touched my face and took care of my bruises, but we barely spoke.
"Don't go down there, Tom" I ask him with a astern voice and he nods, realizing that I'm not up for having this conversation now.
We talked some more and drank another beer and because I wanted him to go home to his wife sober, I urged him to leave, even though I knew he needed his friend. I was getting kind of tired too, my head still hurt a lot and it took me half an hour to get to our house.
When I got inside, I saw my brother was laying a blanket on the floor next to the couch where I slept and tossed one of the pillows next to it in an angry matter.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked confused and he turned to me, his face red and I can see how angry he actually is when he fists the blanket in his hand
"Nothing" he grunts and turns back around. I roll my eyes as I realize what's going on here.
"Did you and Bonnie get into a fight again?" I sigh as I approach him slowly, supporting myself on every possible furniture on the way there, but the only response that I get out of him is a silent scoff "Damon, you can't sleep on the damn floor you're hurt!" I say out loud angry at their childish behavior.
They really drove me insane sometimes.
"I know what I'm doing, Stefan" he responds as he starts searching for his sweater-he's freezing and he can't sleep down there-it was so damn cold in this room as it is.
I sigh tiredly as I head to their bedroom and he stops doing what he's doing, staring at me confused. I open the bedroom and find Bonnie sitting on their bed folding clothes in a very angry manner.
"Bonnie, come with me!" I urge her and she looks at me surprised "Come on!" I say and she shakes her head stubbornly, knowing well enough what I'm going to do
"Bonnie Bennett, please, come with me to the kitchen!" I try again "You know my brother is an idiot, please don't become one too-two of you gets too much for me." she huffs annoyed and crosses her arms on her chest like a little girl, her nice red shirt is crumpled and her hair is messy and she is honestly adorable when she's pissed-she looks like a five year old mad girl who didn't get ice cream after dinner even though they promised her.
I don't know if it's the puppy face that I give her or the fact that I really look pathetic right now with this big bandage on my head and my messed up face, but she follows me and we end up back in the kitchen where my brother is still fighting with trying to make this bed on the floor.
"Okay, you two wanna tell me what it is that you're pouting about right now?" I stand between them and grab my brother's hand, shoving the blanket off of him and pushing him to me.
They avoid each other's stares and the only thing you could hear coming out of their mouths was grunts and huffs as if they were about to start fighting any minute now
"He's going to risk his life for this stupid thing again, even though I told him I don't want him getting involved in it anymore!" Bonnie finally spills the truth, not that I didn't know that it will have something to do with the protest
"It's not stupid!" he lets through teeth and stretches his hands tiredly at me as if I'm some referee who's going to decide who's wrong and who's right which is probably what will happen eventually "These people count on me!"
"Two days ago, you were brought home barely breathing and now you want to get your ass kicked again, really Damon! I don't understand this, do you want to die so damn much and leave me alone here!"
"Bonnie, I am not going to die!" at this point I'm already rubbing my forehead tiredly, but they're so damn fast that I can't even interrupt them
"You HAVE THREE BROKEN RIBS AND YOUR HAND IS SMASHED ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" she yells out and just as he's about to open his mouth I raise my hands and stand between them
"Okay, okay, how about we all calm down here!" I start and they both shut up staring in all possible directions
"I'm not going to" Bonnie starts again but I huff
"No, no! Stop! Do you realize that you're acting like kids right now?" I ask them and they looked down at their feet suddenly ashamed
"Damon, you can't sleep on the damn floor, your ass will freeze and you'll be sick tomorrow morning and you and I both know that's the last thing you want to happen cause we can't afford paying for more medications that we're already taking, because we got our asses beaten!" I watch my brother scratch the back of his neck like a little boy who's just done something wrong and is trying to come up with a decent answer to explain his actions
"Bonnie" I sigh as I turn to her "I know he's an ass okay?" I tell her and she nods in understanding while my brother huffs at me disagreeing, but I jab him in the ribs and he doesn't dare speak up, because he knows I am about to convince his fiancé to let him go back to bed with her
"I know this is all too much for you and that you're scared and extremely angry right now, I understand…okay, I really do. We bring you so much headache, but we can't disappoint these people. They rely on us, they want us to help them so desperately and there's no one out there who's so stubbornly brave and determined as my brother." Damon relaxes behind me while Bonnie slightly furrows her eyebrows. I know she sees my point but she still doesn't like what's going on
"Just look how much they helped when we got beaten up" I nod at the clothes on the chairs that they've brought "They got our backs, so don't worry, he'll be fine. He's not alone."
She looks at us for a moment and her and Damon's look finally meet. I watch her sigh tiredly and let her hands fall on her sides, which is how I know she's no longer that mad.
"Okay" she says and I smile as I approach her and give her a tight hug. She hugs me back but my brother is still somewhere behind us, refusing to swallow his damn pride. I huff out annoyed as I let her go and push her a bit to him, eyeing him wearily.
"Damon, go kiss your fiancé" I scold him and he grunts annoyed like a five year old "Stop snorting like a damn horse, go hug her, you idiot!" I urge him as I slap his shoulder and he finally approaches her and leans down to kiss her on the forehead. I know they're both still angry but at least for now things are better.
"Now go to your damn bedroom and let me sleep." I urge him as I toss the blanket at him and he turns around heading to their room, cursing under his nose "I can hear you!" I let out loud and Bonnie waits till he gets inside to turn to me.
I sit on the couch tiredly and I think that she's about to leave and join him in there, but instead I feel her hand on my shoulder and I look up.
"Hey, you okay, kiddo?" she asks and I nod with a smile "Did anyone change your bandage today?" she asks as she carefully touches the big bulge on my head and I shake my head
"No, Damon's been too busy." I explain and she huffs as she goes to the table to get fresh gauzes and a bandage, as well as some cotton swab and the peroxide.
"I'll give him busy!" she warns and I chuckle at their stubbornness as she starts unwrapping the bandage and I squeeze my eyes from the thumping pain in my head
"I swear if this child is as stubborn as you two are" I swallow hard when she removes the old gauze and the pain consume me for a moment "I'm going insane." she smiles as she starts cleaning it and I stare at the budge on her stomach thinking how this baby is growing more with every passing day.
When she presses the cotton swab I wince, but she steadies my head and pulls me closer to her chest. It feels good and it reminds me of how mother used to take care of me and Damon when we bruised our knees.
"Almost done, hold on" she asks of me and I bite my lip as I feel her hand gently cleaning the place. When she puts it down on the table I see there's some blood and I clear my throat "It's still oozing, we have to make Gilbert take a look at it" she announces and I shake my head, I didn't want any more doctors, I knew I would be fine.
"You're going to be a great mother, Bon" I say and I feel her smile even though I can't see her face now. She's already wrapping the new bandage, but the place stings a bit.
"I hope you're right" she sighs and I feel how tired she actually is.
"He's going to be one lucky boy" I comment and she stops wrapping the bandage for a moment
"Are you kidding me! You think it's going to be a boy too!" she exclaims annoyed and I smile
"Sorry" I apologize and she rubs my shoulder when she finishes wrapping this thing up. She smiles at me and pushes me down to the pillow, covering me up with the blanket and leaning down to give me a motherly kiss on the forehead.
"You got pretty messed up, didn't you, kiddo?" she says as she fixes my sandy hair and smiles down at me. I can tell she feels too bad "Does it hurt too much, huh?"
"I'm fine, Bon" I promise her and she shakes her head
"Damon and I might be stubborn, but you're silently going through everything that life throws at you and that terrifies me sometimes. You have to take care of yourself, Stefan."
"I will" I promise her as I squeeze her hand for a moment and watch her stand up and turn off the lights. I felt bad for not telling anyone that I was going to participate in the protest as well.
Damon was going to kill me when he finds out.
