"There is a madness in loving you, a lack of reason that makes it feel so flawless." — Leo Christopher

1847

"Oh!"

Damon looked up to the origin of the sound, all the while passing his wooden horse between himself and his brother.

Their mother sat in front of them in her rocking chair, her blue eyes wide with shock, her pale hands stretched over her expanding tummy. She looked to be surprised and happy, but Damon didn't know why.

Without wavering his gaze, Damon asked, "what is it, Mother?" Stefan lifted his eyes to meet their mother's wide-eyed stare as well, his small and chubby hands swiping the toy away from Damon's distracted fingers.

Lily glanced up from her stomach to wave the boys over, a breathtaking smile enveloping her features, her bright cerulean eyes, so like her eldest son's, shining with an unwavering joy. Damon felt his breath catch in his tiny chest for a moment, his own happiness warming his heart. It had been a while since he had seen his mother so genuinely joyful.

"Come here, boys! The baby kicked!" Lily practically cried, frantically moving her hands over her baby bump. Damon and Stefan both stood and walked over to their mother. Well, Damon walked. Stefan waddled over on his chubby toddler legs, a thing Damon hadn't done since he was a baby. He was a big boy now because he was turning eight soon and because his mother and Mariah said so.

"What is it, Mama?" Stefan asked, sinking his tiny fingers into his mother's skirts. Lily turned her beautiful grin to her youngest son and took his hand, pressing his little palm onto her stomach.

Damon watched from the other side of the rocking chair, his head tilted over in childish confusion. He shot a skeptical look at his mother. "Is something supposed to happen to Stefan now?"

Lily tilted her back head and laughed, her raven hair spilling over her shoulders. She reached over and took Damon's hand, leaving it on the other side of her belly. "The baby is saying hi, boys. It just kicked mommy."

Damon's features twisted into a scowl and he snatched his hand away in a flash, crossing his arms. "I do not wanna say hi to the baby if he kicks you! That is mean!" Damon cried as indignation crashed over him, flooding his chest with fire. He was never so mean to his mother and he knew that because his mother always called him her "perfect boy."

Lily smiled in that strange, knowing way that adults always did whenever they thought they knew something that a child didn't. Seeing it always annoyed him a little bit, but with his mother looking so happy, it didn't carry the same sting it usually did. She untangled his arms and brought his right hand back to her belly. "The kick does not hurt me, my sweet boy, but I am glad that you feel so protective over your mother," Lily said softly with a smile. "The baby is just saying hi." She lowered her voice into a loud whisper so that both boys could hear her. "And do not tell your father, but I have a very strong feeling that it will be a girl."

"A girl?" Stefan garbled, pulling a face. "Why a girl, Mama? Girls are boring!"

Lily chuckled again, running her elegant fingers through Stefan's feather soft hair. "But would it not be nice to have a little sister to look after? I know that I would like it."

Damon silently agreed with his brother. In his limited experience, girls were boring and fussy creatures, who cared more about dolls than playing soldiers. If this baby was a girl then he hoped that she would like playing soldiers with him and Stefan.

Damon shrugged his shoulders, but kept quiet, before another ruffle of movement fluttered inside his mother's tummy. His blue eyes grew wide with wonderment, and the trio stood very still, waiting for the movement to happen again.

Suddenly, a sharp thud occurred beneath Damon's palm and he yanked his hand away, gasping out loud. He kept his eyes trained on his mother's stomach as he rubbed his hand.

Lily's face broke out into a grin as Damon came running back, now eagerly sticking both hands onto her stomach. Stefan followed his lead, and within moments, both boys were tripping over themselves to catch a hint of movement within her.

Damon looked up to meet his mother, his eyes wide, a toothy grin spreading across his face. He had never felt something so strange before!

His mother smiled that knowing smile again, and Damon found that he disliked it less and less as the minutes passed. "I think she likes you, my angel," Lily told him gleefully as a grin practically cracked Damon's face in half.

In the background, he could hear Stefan's jealous protestations and his mother's soothing voice attempting to calm him, but all Damon could pay attention to was the soft fluttering under his palm and the warmth that erupted in his chest because of it.

2009- Earlier that day

Caroline sat at her mother's desk, running her fingers distractedly over the small knick knacks that surrounded her. The disorderly state of her mom's office set an itch under her skin, but she set her near obsessive desire for tidiness aside.

She hoped to go out with Bonnie to the Grille today, and while in her opinion she didn't necessarily need her mom's permission to much of anything anymore, she still would like to avoid the gazillion where are you'sor you're grounded's or I'm calling your father's that would undoubtedly come later. Caroline huffed a laugh. As if her dad would care if she went out to eat with her best friend. Her mom, if it was not obvious by now, was the lame, overprotective parent. She called it an occupational hazard.

She had been waiting in her mom's office for well over ten minutes now. She came in earlier, striding past the deputies who undoubtedly knew their boss' daughter by now and plopped down on the desk. Now she wondered if she should have told them to get her mom for her.

Caroline rolled her eyes and reached up to run her fingers through her styled curls. A small, insistent buzzing came from the back pocket of her skinny jeans, and she maneuvered slightly to wiggle her phone out. A picture of her and Bonnie flashed on the small screen.

She smiled and pressed the green call button, holding her phone up to her ear.

"Care, are you driving over yet? I've been sitting by myself for five minutes now and the pitiful glances are just starting to go my way."

Caroline laughed and jumped off the desk, her sandled feet making a soft sound against the linoleum floors. She adjusted her jacket.

"Sorry, Bonnie," she apologized. "I'm leaving mom's office now. I'm guessing her deputies didn't tell her I was here."

Bonnie laughed, and the melodious sound brought a smile to Caroline's face. "Of course. You're not worried about getting grounded?"

Caroline shrugged nonchalantly before she realized that her friend couldn't see it. "She can't ground me. I'm going to be too busy helping Mrs. Lockwood with the upcoming Founder's Party and Comet Sighting Party and I think she's more afraid of pissing off Carol Lockwood than concerned with grounding me."

Bonnie made a shuddering noise into the phone as Caroline bumped her hip against the door. "I don't think Satan himself would get in the way of Carol Lockwood and making an impression."

Caroline giggled and rested her phone between her shoulder and her cheek as she distractedly walked down the hallway, digging her hand into her purse to fish out her keys.

Bonnie continued to chatter against her ear and Caroline made the occasional mhm sound to appear as if she was listening. Finally Caroline grabbed her keys and once again took ahold of her phone.

"Bonnie, hold on a second I'm-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Caroline bumped a hard object and started to fall bottom first onto the hard floor. She could feel someone's large hands attempt to balance her by catching her fall, but they must've either been too late or too weak, because Caroline crashed onto the linoleum, her phone and purse escaping her grasp.

Irritation and embarrassment slammed into her, causing her face to burn a cherry red all the way up to her hair line.

The hands came down to help pick her up but she slapped them away blindly, her shame turning to anger.

"What the hell is your problem, you asshole! Do you just like pushing over teenage girls or do those usually happen as accidents?" She cried, pushing herself off the floor, keeping her eyes trained on her hands as they dusted off her pink blouse and jeans.

"I can assure you this was an accident but I don't know if you would believe me," A masculine, apologetic, and if Caroline allowed herself to think about it, very hot voice said above her.

She snapped her head upwards to meet this mystery man's gaze and found herself promptly falling silent.

Remember how she thought that his voice was hot? Well, it turns out that the rest of him was hot too! Go figure.

Caroline's face fell slack as she took in the tall, green-eyed man in front of her, and oh my god his hair looked so soft, before she straightened herself up, plastering her practice Miss Mystic Falls smile on her face.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized, her voice significantly sweeter than it was prior which seemed to pleasantly surprise the man in front of her. He looked to be a couple years older than she, about four or five years if she had to guess, which only heightened her instant infatuation with him.

The man smiled and nodded, glancing around the room awkwardly, as if clueless on how to speak genially with the girl who insulted and snapped at him just a few minutes before. Caroline felt a part of herself deflate at that, so she flipped a blonde curl over her shoulder and batted her eyes at him flirtatiously. His anxiety only seemed to increase as he noticed her efforts.

"I'm so sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Caroline Forbes," she said, reaching out to shake his hand.

At this, the man seemed to regain his bearings, because he reached out to take her hand, only instead of shaking it like she expected, he brought it up to his lips and pressed a small, polite kiss on the back of it, as if taken over by some gentlemanly impulse. Caroline's blush returned with a force as her heart fluttered wildly in her chest and she resisted the urge to bring her hand up to feel her rapid pulse.

"It's nice to meet you, Caroline. My name is Stefan Salvatore. I'm kind of new here, actually," he said, abruptly shoving his hands into his pockets. Caroline let her eyes drift to his biceps, noticing with appreciation on how they bulged against his leather jacket, before she returned to meet his gaze.

"That's great. I don't suppose you would like a Welcome to Mystic Falls fruit basket, would you?" She asked coyly, her smile widening as Stefan's answering laugh rang out.

He shook his head, grinning at her in a way that made her heart stop. "No, that's not necessary. Thanks for asking though." His brows furrowed for moment then, his eyes taking in the contours of her face. "Wait. Did you say your name was Forbes?"

Now it Caroline who looked confused. "Yeah…" she said slowly, crossing her arms. "Why are you asking? Do you know my-?"

"Stefan Salvatore?" A familiar voice suddenly rang out in the hallway, and both Stefan and Caroline turned to look at the origin of the caller.

Liz Forbes stood at the door of her office, apparently having gone in after Caroline left. Her brown eyes flickered between Caroline and Stefan, gauging their distance and demeanors, before she finally settled her gaze on Caroline. She looked fairly surprised to see her there.

"Hi, honey. What are you doing here?" She asked, stepping out of her office.

Caroline walked past Stefan to be closer to her mom. "I came over to tell you that I was going to the Grille with Bonnie so that you wouldn't have to wonder about it later when I wasn't home."

Liz nodded in understanding, but raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "And even still after coming here to tell me that, you were going to leave anyway?"

Caroline felt embarrassment swarm in her chest at her mother lecturing her in front of Stefan, but she pushed it aside and shrugged her shoulders, pretending that she didn't feel Stefan's gaze at her back. "You were taking too long," she said simply.

Liz rolled her eyes at her candor but disregarded it, waving a hand dismissively at her side. "Of course you can go eat with Bonnie. Just make sure to be home before ten. You have school tomorrow."

This time, Caroline didn't bother to hide her annoyance. "Fine! I will," she groaned, reaching down to pick up her forgotten purse and phone, one of which was strangely no longer on the ground.

She chanced a look at Stefan and saw him staring at her, holding her missing phone out. That's funny, she thought. I never saw him pick it up. She shot him a small, albeit confused, smile and took her phone from his outstretched hand.

She waved over her shoulder at her mom, too annoyed to verbalize a farewell, but held Stefan's gaze. "Goodbye, Stefan," she called as she walked away from him.

Stefan waved at her retreating back, before calling out a low, "goodbye, Caroline" in return.

It wasn't until she got to her car that Caroline realized she was still smiling.

Stefan stared after Caroline as she strutted into the parking lot. He found that he liked her, strangely enough, despite the way she spoke to him earlier. She was funny, in an unintentional sort of way, and determined, which he respected. He could tell that she was a bit vain in the way that all beautiful teenage girls usually were, but he found that he wasn't annoyed by it too much. It was hard to get irritated at one's simple appreciation of their beauty after meeting someone like Katherine Pierce, who had vanity in spades. Once again, he was glad that she was dead.

He then switched his gaze back to Sherriff Forbes, who he was quickly realizing shared more physical similarities with her daughter than not. The shade of blonde was the same, as was their skin tone and smile. The only difference he could see was their height. He supposed that Caroline took after her father in that department.

"Hello, Sherriff. I hope this wasn't a bad time?" Stefan asked, approaching her slowly.

Sherriff Forbes waved her hands dismissively, turning around to walk into her office. She left her door open so Stefan took that as a silent cue to follow her inside. He closed the door behind them.

She stood at her desk, straightening out papers and rearranging random knick knacks that crowded her space. She looked up, smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry for the mess but I don't usually have visitors. I bet this drove my daughter crazy," she said with a small laugh.

Stefan smiled slightly, sitting down slowly into one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Its fine, I don't mind. And, if you don't mind my asking, your daughter's a neat freak?"

Liz shot him an amused look as she settled into her plush chair. "You don't even know the half of it," she said, chuckling.

Stefan's smile widened in turn, but it was sadder, wistful, almost. "No, no, I do. My brother was the same way."

Liz's face fell. "Was?"

Stefan's eyes widened as he realized his verbal blunder. "Oh, he's not dead," he assured her. "We just don't speak very often anymore."

Sherriff Forbes' features settled into a look of relief and understanding, before she straightened up, looking slightly more serious. "The coroner said that you had something to bring me?"

Stefan plastered a look of forgetful realization on his face, exclaiming an, "oh right!" as he grabbed the bag at his side and pulled out a weighty manila folder. He placed it in Sherriff Forbes' outstretched hand and settled back into his chair, carefully watching her face and lips as she silently read the document inside.

For a moment, shock and horror flitted across her features before she remembered that someone was still there, watching her.

The Sherriff closed the folder sharply and handed it back over to him, her face now smoothed over into passivity.

Stefan's curiosity ate at him unrelentingly but he refused to let it show on his face. Instead, he kept his features impassive and nonchalant, as if uncaring to whatever revelation she must've had. However, for courtesy's sake, he asked, "Are you alright?"

Sherriff Forbes shot him a brief smile and nod as she sat back in her chair. She looked at him quizzically for a moment. "What are you again?"

Stefan felt dread flare up in his chest, momentarily wondering if his fangs popped out when he wasn't looking, but just as quickly as the thought came to him, he dismissed it. If the Sherriff saw his vampire face than she would be terrified and not confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"What is your job at the hospital, I mean," she rectified, smiling at him apologetically.

"Oh," Stefan breathed out, silently relieved. "I'm an ambulance driver."

The Sherriff raised a brow at him. "And not a paramedic?"

Stefan shook his head, chuckling awkwardly. "No," he said. "Blood makes me uneasy."

Sherriff Forbes laughed softly and stood up, which Stefan knew was his silent cue to leave.

Stefan and the Sherriff walked towards the door and then paused at they reached the threshold.

"I hope my daughter didn't bother you earlier. I know that she could be quite a handful."

Stefan laughed again, genuinely this time. "You don't have to worry about that. Caroline was quite charming. She asked me if I wanted a Welcome to Mystic Falls fruit basket."

Liz shot him a grin, her brown eyes swimming with affection as she thought about her daughter. "Yes, well I hope you understand that she can't be too charming. Not for you, anyway," she said lightly, although her voice was heavy with warning.

Stefan glanced around, shoving his hands into his pockets awkwardly. "I wouldn't worry about that either. Your daughter is obviously beautiful, but she's too young for me." In more ways than you realize, he thought grimly.

Liz nodded, visibly placated and turned around. "I'll see you around, Stefan," she called.

Stefan turned around as well, striding away from the sheriff's office, yelling out a quick "I'll see you around" as he went.

By the time he reached the parking lot, his curiosity had basically eaten him whole, leaving him only with the burning desire to see the contents of the folder.

Once he reached his red Porsche, he practically shoved himself inside his car and frantically dug into his bag to pull out the file. When he had it in his hands, he first grabbed the document, letting his eyes rove over the words written inside.

The victim is a young female, early to mid-twenties. Brunette with brown eyes. Around 5'3 in height. Skin tone is hard to discern due to discoloration of the skin from exsanguination, but the victim is most likely of Caucasian or Hispanic origin.

The victim has a large bit mark on her neck over the carotid artery. Flesh has been torn away in the surrounding area by what appears to be teeth. Most likely the result of an animal attack.

Stefan sat in his car in shock, a heavy silence surrounding him. His eyes kept flitting back and forth between the words brunette, exsanguination and carotid artery, as dread stilled his tongue. His saliva felt like sticky paste in his mouth, making it hard to talk, to scream, to curse.

After a few moments of sitting in the tense quiet, he finally snapped, flinging his hands against his steering wheel. He barely registered the small flicker of pain that erupted against his palms before he did it again, slamming the back of his head against his chair.

It was so like Damon to do this. To waltz back into his life when he finally, finally, was able to regain that scrap of normalcy that he was left bereft of ever since 1864. Damon's promise to bring him eternal misery ran through his mind in an unrelenting current, torturing him over and over again with that reminder of forever. That was their reality, this was their forever, and Damon would never let it go.

"Oh shit," Stefan suddenly whispered as realization set over him. "Zach."

He grabbed the shift and put it into drive, speeding away from the police station and racing towards the boarding house. Images of Zach's bloodless body kept flitting through his mind, each one more awful and gratuitously gory than the one before.

Once again, Stefan was reminded why he hated being a vampire so much.

Within minutes he was back home, and in a flash, he was inside the boarding house, frantically zipping around the house, and in his haste, chaotically throwing everything around.

"Zach! Zach, where are you! Zach!" He cried as he ran into the parlor.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his great nephew run into the room, his eyes wide with worry and panic. "What is it? What's wrong, Uncle Stefan?"

Stefan flashed over to him and patted him down, checking for any external injuries. Relief swelled and crashed over him when he didn't find anything. He stepped back and met Zach's questioning stare.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked again.

Stefan swallowed and turned away from him, ruminating over whether or not he should mention Damon's supposed reappearance in Mystic Falls. The events and the subsequent compulsion of 1994 kept racing through his mind, filling him with fear and dread with every passing second. While it would perhaps be better to inform him of his suspicion, and safer too, Stefan decided against it. There no use in worrying in Zach if it wasn't necessary.

"Uncle Stefan?"

He turned back around, plastering a look of placid calm over his face, silently hoping that his eyes did not betray him. "Its fine, Zach. I thought that something was wrong."

Zach's face scrunched up with confusion, his eyes laced with suspicion as he glanced over at Stefan. "Why would you think something was wrong? What are you not telling me? You do realize that I am physically older than you, right?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Stefan sighed and inched closer. He brought a hand out and rested it on Zach's broad shoulder. "I know that. Look, I was afraid that something happened to you. There was rumors of a supposed animal attack," Stefan said gravely, all the while neglecting to mention anything about his brother.

Zach's eyes widened with shock as the gravity of Stefan's words settled over him. He walked out of his uncle's grasp and sat down on the couch in front of the fire place, rubbing a hand over his face.

He looked back up at him once the news sank in. "You think it's another vampire?"

Stefan shrugged, feigning confusion. "I honestly hope not." That statement, at least, was true.

Zach's eyes suddenly narrowed with accusation, a black hatred seeping into his features. He stood up rapidly, pointing a finger in his direction.

"What about you? How am I supposed to know that you didn't kill someone?" He yelled furiously as Stefan approached him, his hands raised in a placating gesture.

"Zach, please listen to me. You know me. You know that I don't drink human blood. If I did then you would already be dead," Stefan reminded him.

Rightfully so, Zach looked unsettled by Stefan's last statement, but he nodded nonetheless, still clearly unhappy.

"Fine," he conceded. "You didn't do it but if you find out who did then you need to tell me. I'm not going to let myself get killed just because you don't know how to control the situation."

Stefan hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly, still not entirely sure if he ever wanted to tell Zach about Damon. He had never been the best at compulsion, and he wouldn't know what to do if his nephew caught a glimpse of Damon and remembered the massacre he unknowingly lived through.

Zach stared him down for seconds more, his gaze hard, before scoffing and heading up the stairs. Stefan winced slightly when he heard him slam the door.

Anger once again swam in his chest as he considered the ramifications of his brother's possible actions. Despite his hedonistic tendencies, Damon wasn't sloppy. Even as a human, he was always a bit of a neat freak, so it was either that Damon was sending him a message or some other newbie vampire with a thing for petite brunettes was leaving his scraps around town.

He groaned, running both of his hands through his hair in frustration. Just thinking about the situation gave him a goddamn migraine.

Stefan wistfully glanced over at his crystal tumbler of bourbon, a sudden need to drown his confusion in alcohol consuming him. Before he could talk himself out of it, he strode over to the bottle, opened it, and then guzzled the liquid down, sighing in contentment as it burned down his throat. He held it away from himself.

"God I really needed that," he said as he moved to drink it again.

Hours later and well and fully drunk, Stefan remained in the parlor, stumbling around and shuffling in a half-hearted dance as Bon Jovi blared from the speakers. He felt a deep and gnawing yearning for Lexi as he sang the lyrics of You Give Love a Bad Name.

A loud caw suddenly sounded to the left of him, causing him to turn to the sound. On his windowsill, a raven crow sat innocently, peering at him with a cocked head.

Flashes of the early 1900s ran belatedly through his mind, and Stefan was barely able to register the half-formed memories before the bird flew at his side, almost crashing into him.

He turned as quickly as he could to watch where the bird went, when his eyes finally caught the dark figure standing at the threshold of the door. His breath caught in his chest as fear and realization slammed into him, muddling his inebriated mind.

"Damon," he choked out, suddenly without any words to say.

Damon watched his reaction with twisted amusement, his lips curling into his trademark smirk. "Hello, brother," he said and strode past him and into the house, once again leaving Stefan helpless and bereft of any hopes of future happiness.

I'm sorry for the lack of Damon and the overabundance of Stefan for those of you who don't like him too much. Unfortunately for those who don't, I actually really like Stefan and he, like in the show, is gonna be a big part of the trio that carries the story. Also, I'm sorry for the lack of Elena, but with Elena it's gonna be a little more difficult. For the first half of the story, Elena is mostly gonna show up in flashbacks or memories of either Damon or Stefan. Speaking of Stefan, I changed his age a bit to fit the story line. Damon is still 25, Elena is still 17, but Stefan is now 21, which is why I had Caroline remark on how he looked older than her. And for those who are wondering, the delena is coming soon I promise! It's just going to be very messy and complicated for a while! Don't say I didn't warn you.