CHAPTER 2

Stefan was walking along the road back to the inn he was staying that night. If he wanted, he could have just used his lightning speed to reach the place quickly. Nevertheless, he had always preferred walking. The cool night air often soothed him as calmness overtook his mind. He was able to rewind all of his memories – the ones he cherished and those he'd rather left them be.

Invariably, his mind dwelled back over that last encounter with his older brother. It was the last time he had seen Damon. He began to feel a knot in his chest as he replayed his brother's accusations and reimagined the hatred in his eyes. How could he have broken Damon's trust so completely? – Stefan silently blaming himself.

It had now been 50 years since then. Stefan had neither seen nor heard of his brother. Despite Damon's vow to give him an eternity of misery, his older brother had simply vanished without another word. Each day that had gone by found him praying more and more for his brother's return. He couldn't care less if Damon decided to hit him, torture him or make his vampire life an undead-living hell; he would take all of that if it meant he could see his older brother again. The pain that resulted from being abandoned by his brother was unbearable. They used to be so close, closer than any other brothers he had ever known. Stefan had adored Damon and his brother had always loved him more than anyone else. Until the day that woman came, destroying everything that they had always shared.

Stefan's anger overwhelmed his guilt and sadness. His eyes became darker and he could feel the fangs started to appear. He was so preoccupied with his despise for Katherine that he failed to notice the sound of someone running at a speed not altogether normal for a human, moving towards him.

'Ah!' Stefan cried out when he felt a weight crushing him from behind. He immediately tried to free himself however, he found himself being pinned to the ground.

'Don't try to fight.' He heard a female voice spoke in a very calm manner. 'Or I will kill you.'

Stefan awoke from his sleep with a start. His ears were still ringing with the female vampire's voice. Immediately, his eyes settled on the figure sitting on a chair near his bed, facing him. Damon was looking at Stefan curiously. 'Good morning, sunshine.'

His brother smirked and then, without waiting for his reply, he suddenly got out of his chair and moved out of his room. Stefan – still dazed from his sleep – was silent for a moment, trying to process the whole thing. Was he watching me sleep? – Stefan mused to himself. After a while, he sighed and forced down the memory that the dream had brought up. It was time to get ready for school.

It seemed funny that after 145 years, Stefan was still going to school. The bane of a continued existence, frozen forever in the same state until the end of time. It wasn't that Stefan didn't like school; he knew that he had to go through the motions so as not to get anyone suspicious. Besides, he had already grown a liking to this school and more significantly, its students. Or maybe one student, for that matter.

Stefan had met Elena during the first day of school, here in Mystic Falls. That wasn't exactly the first time he had seen her. Stefan had been following Elena since the day he saved her when the car she was riding with both of her parents went off of the bridge and into the river. He wanted to save her father first but the man had adamantly pointed at his daughter. Stefan understood this and went on to save her. In the end, both her parents died before Stefan could save them. Elena was unconscious at that time therefore, she hadn't seen Stefan.

He was completely beyond shock the first time he had laid eyes on her. She looked exactly like Katherine. Stefan had fled the scene after realizing this and stayed at his home for several days without going out. He was deeply terrified to find out that that monster was still alive.

After he had regained enough control, he went on to do a background research on her. He found out that Elena was indeed not Katherine and her family name was Gilbert and not Pierce. Nonetheless, Stefan still couldn't shake the feeling that they were related. That kind of uncanny resemblance was utterly hard to come by.

So, he went on to dig deeper and deeper into Elena's history. After some efforts, he finally obtained Elena's birth certificate. That was when he learned that she was actually adopted by the Gilberts.

One hell of a resemblance, he thought. Of course, Elena was not at all similar to Katherine. Their personalities were polar opposites. Katherine was a manipulative, vengeful and controlling bitch while Elena was lovely, kind and friendly. However obvious the differences were, Stefan knew his brother wouldn't agree with him.

Damon. Stefan wondered why his brother had returned to live with him after he'd last seen him fifteen years ago. Over the years since he became a vampire, he had only gotten to see him several times. His brother never told him he came to visit. One day, Stefan just found out that he had moved all of his belongings into the boarding house. Damon had come to live with Stefan before but Stefan was not convinced that he had done that because he craved his company. He knew that whenever Damon was in town, he must have got something to do. And now, Stefan was trying to find out what had actually forced his brother to return to their hometown.

God, how I hope he knows how much I miss him when he's not around. He had gotten used to feel happy when Damon was around him and become sad again when he left. Over time, their relationship had somehow improved even though they hardly spoke with each other. Stefan felt that it was enough that his brother still acknowledged him. He never talked about the past with him. They continued in each other's company with Stefan yearning so much to close the distance between them and Damon seemed uninterested in it. Maybe I hurt him too much.

Nevertheless, he always knew that at the bottom of his heart, Damon still cared for him. Sometimes, he noticed the way his brother looked at him or when he did those things like giving him a small smile or even a smirk after doing something like this morning; he knew his brother also wondered if Stefan still felt the same way about him. I always do, Damon.

After he had cleaned himself and dressed for school, Stefan made his way downstairs. As he was crossing the living hall, his eyes caught Damon sitting on one of the couches. He seemed to be reading something.

When he approached the door, his brother suddenly spoke up. 'Give my best to your lady friend, Stefan.'

He froze in his steps and turned to regard his brother. In a blink of an eye, he was suddenly standing face to face with his brother who was smirking a little at him.

'How…how did you know about Elena?' Stefan softly asked.

'Oh come on, Stefan. You don't think I'd miss out on anything remotely fun about your sad, boring life,' Damon calmly answered.

Yes. Of course. An eternity of misery. You won't allow me to become happy about anything or because of anyone. Usually Stefan would ignore what his brother did even though he was overcome with heartache. He realized what he had done to his brother to deserve this and he felt so guilty about it. But the thought of Elena seemed to elicit a new, different response from him. Although they had just hung out together several times, he had grown fond of Elena and her friends. He had felt accepted; it almost felt like he was having a normal life again. This had made him feel more protective about them, the same way he would feel when his best friend, Lexi (though they only met each other occasionally) was in any way threatened.

'Damon…stay away from her,' he determinedly told his brother.

Damon was staring at him questioningly. He could almost hear his brother speak, Or what?

'Please,' he softly implored. Though how hard he tried to stand up to his brother, Stefan often found himself too guilty and scared to do something that could make the gap between them grow ever larger. Instead, he settled to just pleading.

After a while gazing at each other, his brother turned on his heels and walked back to the couch while speaking to him. 'I don't care who you're hanging out with, Stefan as long as they're good company. You know, I don't like you hanging out with losers and all. The girl however, seems nice.' Damon finished and threw a wink at Stefan.

Not knowing what else to say, Stefan said, 'Thank you.'

'You're welcome, little brother. Now, aren't you late for school?' His brother had turned back to his reading.

Smiling a little, he made his way out the door. Suddenly, he heard Damon speak up.

'Just remember, Stefan. She's not her. Don't let history repeat itself.'

He once again froze in his steps before he quickly recovered and stepped outside.

On the way to school, Stefan contemplated on his brother's reaction.

I hope this isn't some sick game to him. I have to keep Elena and her friends safe. I can't let Damon hurt anyone else just because he wants to hurt me. I won't let him do that. I have to protect them.

Even though he might kill you? He heard his own mind question him back.

No, Damon wouldn't do that. If he wanted to kill me, he would have done that a long time ago. He may well have wanted me to suffer but he never would have wanted me dead. I know he still cares about me. Somehow.

He smiled a little when he remembered his brother's concern about his choice of friends this morning. He knew that it probably meant nothing but still, the thought strangely comforted him.

If anything, Damon had called him 'little brother' earlier. His brother might not have realised it but Stefan did. It had been over a century since his older brother used to call him that.