Sixth grade-

Elena rolled her eyes as Stefan was intently reading the new book that Damon had gotten for his birthday two days ago, Frakenstein or something. He seemed to think it was pretty awesome, because even though she had turned the music up— and Stefan usually hated loud music— he hadn't paid any attention to her. She didn't care too much. She hadn't come over to do anything but really get out of the house and away from Jeremy who was driving her insane. As much as Stefan complained about Damon, she understood what it was like to have a little brother.

Since there probably wasn't any chance of Stefan paying attention to her until he finished the book, which wouldn't be that much longer, she decided to go downstairs and look for a snack. Mr. Salvatore was always nice to her and let her eat anything she wanted. The only one who ever complained about it was Damon, and that was only because one time she had eaten the last fruit roll-up with some superhero he liked on the wrapper. He was such a boy.

Before she could get all the way down the stairs she heard yelling from Mr. Salvatore and she paused, wondering what was going on. "You don't even try and yet you wonder why I held you back a year! You realize that at your age all of this should be easy? Stefan has no problem keeping his grades up, why do you insist on giving me problems?"

"Are you going to ground me yet, or can I go back up to my room?" Elena heard Damon say, and even though he sounded bored she thought he had to care about his Dad being so rude.

"How dare youtalk to me like that." Mr. Salvatore yelled, and Elena wanted to go back upstairs and pretend this wasn't happening but something in her made her stay and sit down on the wooden steps. Stefan had said that Damon and their Dad didn't get along, but she had never realized it was this bad... "I am your father, you ungrateful brat, and you will listen to me. Do you think I want you becoming such a failure for the entire town to see?"

"You don't give a shit if I fail or not," Damon yelled back, and Elena felt her stomach become uneasy— whether with fear or being upset she wasn't sure—, "you just don't want Principal Fell telling anyone what a waste of space your son is and talking to you like you're not a good father!"

There was a resounding thud as if something glass had hit one of the wooden desks or tables in protest, and Elena heard a few short shuffling noises as if someone was standing up and walking. There was a cold silence, and Elena wondered for a minute whether she should walk down or not and interrupt this for their own good. Then Damon spoke, so very coldly that she barely even recognized his voice, right as she started to get up. "What are you going to do, hit me again? I haven't fought anyone at school lately, so you might not want to bruise me."

Elena thought she might cry, thinking about it. Everyone knew that Damon got into a lot of fights at school and out of it, and so Elena had never thought to question any bruises. Surely Stefan didn't know what was going on, right? That it was this bad? Mr. Salvatore, who she no longer felt any affection for whether he gave her treats or not, did not start yelling. If anything, it sounded like he had sat down on one of the couches. There was another lull of silence. Then, "Go away, boy. I'm tired of looking at you."

She started to get up so she could reach the top of the stairs before Damon, but she still heard him snap back, "Cause I look like Mom and drinking all your disgusting bourbon can't make you forget about her when you still have to look at me. I get it. You're still pathetic."

There was an almost immediate sound of shattering glass as if it had been thrown against something, and Elena couldn't help but run back down the stairs and past the walls of the drawing room, in full view. Neither of them saw her, apparently far too caught up at looking at each other with absolute hatred. Elena had never seen someone look like that in real life, and she realized that it scared her. No one's dad should ever look like that... Mr. Salvatore was standing, only barely in Elena's view, and he snarled at Damon who was still fairly shorter even though he was growing. "Well don't just dance around the subject, son. Be a man and say what you mean. Tell me how you wished she was alive and I were the one dead. Go on!"

Damon's glare wavered, and for a minute she thought he might cry. Instead he just stiffened, snapping. "I'm not going to wish she was alive if she would miss you. You're the one who deserves this."

He moved now, walking away and she saw that he looked up and saw her. Before he could say something she hurried away and back up the stairs, hearing Mr. Salvatore yell at Damon once more. She ran all the way this time, barging back into Stefan's room with such force that he actually looked up from his book. Elena hadn't realized until now that she was crying, but tears were indeed falling down her face and Stefan looked positively alarmed as she shut and locked the door. "What's wrong? What happened? Was Damon an ass or—?"

She felt even worse at the assumption, and Stefan moved forward to hug her. He was good for that at least, but she pulled away after a few seconds and asked, "Stefan, does your dad hit you too? Why haven't you told me any of this?"

He looked like a deer in headlights, and Elena felt even worse. She waited for him to speak, still softly crying, but he only looked away and quietly asked, "What did you see?"

"I heard him and Damon yelling, and Damon told your Dad that he couldn't bruise him because he hadn't fought anybody at school," she answered, "Stefan, what's going on?"

Stefan looked down at his hands, shaking, and Elena saw that there were tears in his eyes. He shook his head, not answering or even daring to look at her. How could this happen? They were best friends. She had known Stefan and Damon even longer than she had known her little brother Jeremy. She put her hand on his shoulder, then pulled him into a hug when he still didn't answer. Finally, after quite a bit, he whispered, "Do you hate me for not telling you?"

"No," she replied as quick as she could, "just tell me what's wrong so I can help."

"You can't, Elena," he said, and he had an edge in her voice that scared her, "promise me if I tell you that you won't tell anyone else."

She looked up at her best friend of eleven and almost-a-half years, thinking that if she were going to make a promise this big to anyone it would be him. Giving a tiny nod, she waited for him to tell her, wondering if Damon would tell Mr. Salvatore that she had heard them and if they would make her stop being friends with Stefan.

"He didn't use to be this bad, usually it was just yelling and Damon and I don't really care about that. Damon didn't tell me anything about it until Dad was super drunk one night and I wouldn't go to bed cause I hadn't finished my history homework. Damon was being a jerk about it and then Dad came around and started yelling but Damon ignored him cause he wanted me to leave first, so Dad hit him. He only told me that it's been happening before then because I felt really guilty," Stefan said, the most miserable look on his face as tears came down. Elena wiped them, even though her own face was wet as well, "but he told me that I couldn't tell because then we'd have to go live with Uncle Zach far away and he knows that Dad wouldn't ever hurt him too bad. Or at least that's what he says."

"Living with your Uncle Zach wouldn't be that bad though," Elena said, trying her best not to care that their uncle lived four hours away, even farther than her family lake house.

Stefan shook his head, then said, "No, but Damon says if we tell Dad might get put into jail. What if after he's out of jail he's really mad at us and then he really hurts Damon?"

Elena hadn't thought about that. She frowned, and they heard knocking on the door. Both of them tensed, and Stefan froze in his spot, hurrying to wipe all of his tears away. Elena did the same, opening the door and feeling only barely relieved to see that it was Damon and not Mr. Salvatore. Still, Damon didn't look happy at all as he glared at her, and Elena noticed with a horrible ache that he had a huge red bump on his forehead.

"What were you doing down there, Elena?" he demanded. Stefan looked hesitant to defend her for the first time ever.

"I was going to get a yogurt when I heard glass breaking," she stammered.

Damon didn't look convinced in the slightest. "Liar."

"She's not going to say anything, Damon, I already made her promise," Stefan snapped at him, "leave her alone."

"What all did you tell her?" He asked, sounding angry as he rounded on his brother.

Elena desperately tried to appear brave at least for Stefan as she grabbed Damon's arm. He jumped back, looking scared for a moment, and then even more angry. She carried on, trying to appear confused and curious. "What more is there to tell? He just said not to talk about tonight..."

Damon glared at her, looking like he wasn't sure if he was about to run or try and scare her. He chose the latter, stepping close to her so she had to look up to see him glare, "I swear, Elena, if you tell anyone...,"

"I won't." She answered, "but you should. You could live with your Uncle Zach and—,"

"Uncle Zach listens to everything my father says," Damon snapped back viciously, and even though she wanted to, Elena didn't move, "it would be the same there. No one likes me, Elena, why do you think the teachers haven't noticed anything?"

She raised her chin stubbornly. "I like you and so does Stefan. Stop being so dramatic and do the right thing."

He looked very much like he wanted to hit her. She thought that if she was a boy he probably would have. Stefan stood up, apparently concerned as well, and finally Damon stormed out of the room instead. She felt bad, not wanting to hurt him, just wanting him to get help. She turned to Stefan. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me and talk to my dad?"

"No," he said, shaking his head quickly, looking scared, "but you should go home."

Elena felt herself sink with disappointment. There was no way she was going to ask Mr. Salvatore for a ride now, and if she was keeping something from her parents she didn't really want to see them either. So she smiled, told Stefan she had already asked her mom for a ride, and went downstairs and out the door. It was a very long walk to her house and scary in the dark, but she didn't care that much right now. She got home, thinking that maybe she could slip inside without alarming her parents— she really didn't want to talk to them right now— but it was no use.

"Elena, honey!" her mom said from the kitchen, "how was your day?"

"Fine mom. I'm pretty tired though, I think I'm going to go to bed," she said, trying to head up the stairs before her mom could stop her. Again, no use.

"Wait, wait, what's wrong?" she asked, coming into the living room quickly and looking up the stairs, "no eleven year old actually volunteers to go to bed."

"Eleven and a half," Elena corrected automatically, but her voice was weak and she felt very much on the verge of tears, "and I don't want to talk about it."

I promised I wouldn't.

Her mom frowned, but looked at the time on her watch and sighed. She looked back up at Elena who was very determinedly staring up at the light on the staircase and willing the tears to go away, before finally saying, "Alright, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

Elena didn't even sigh dramatically like she usually would have, instead bolting up the stairs and running into her room. She very slowly changed into her pj's, trying not think about what had happened that night and consequently only thinking about it more. She laid down in her bed, getting an Ipod to try and drown out the thoughts, but it didn't help. After hours of lying in bed with no sleep Elena thought she might scream, but finally it fell upon her.

Her first nightmare consisted of Damon coming up to her, looking like something out of a horror movie, asking, "Why didn't you help me?". She woke up, heard her Dad's footsteps and realized she must have screamed, and quickly pretended like she was back asleep and calmly breathing. Her Dad walked away, mumbling to himself. It took her awhile to fall back asleep, but she managed. The second nightmare consisted of a funeral, and in the dream she kept trying to figure out who it was and why she felt so sad. Then she saw Mr. Salvatore over the two caskets in handcuffs, and her dream self started sobbing uncontrollably.

Her Dad shook her awake, and she felt tears on her face. Oh no, she thought. "Elena, what on earth is wrong? Did you and Stefan watch another scary movie with Damon?"

"No," she answered, starting to cry and holding on to her Dad.

"What's the matter?" her mom said, standing in the doorway and looking half asleep, "does this have something to do with what you wouldn't tell me?"

Elena didn't say anything, trying to make her tears go away as her Dad moved his arms around her in a tight and loving way. She couldn't tell them. She had promised, and what if Stefan didn't ever talk to her again? Still, she did at least nod so they wouldn't think she was being rude.

"Did someone hurt you?" her Dad asked, sounding so terribly concerned.

Shake of the head and more tears.

"Did someone hurt Stefan?"

More tears. Technically, no one had. She shook her head again, hoping that they would consider themselves out of options and give up. Her parents still watched her closely though, and her Dad gave her that knowing look that he would get when he thought she or Jeremy had done something wrong, he just hadn't proved it yet. "Did someone hurt Damon?"

Elena cried, but didn't answer. Her mom quickly came over and sat on the bed, and both of her parents looked petrified. Maybe she was going to get in trouble for not calling the police right away. But then Stefan and Damon would too. She couldn't stop crying, and her throat was starting to hurt. Her Dad stroked her hair and started rocking her. "Calm down, sweetie. It's okay. It's okay, I promise."

She quieted after a few minutes, simply too tired to keep crying and probably out of tears. Her mom looked at her, asking in her serious voice, "Did he make you promise not to tell us?"

"Yes," Elena admitted, finally caving in, "and Stefan too. It's not their fault though, don't get them in trouble."

"Sweetie, listen to me," her Dad said, his hand pulling her chin up gently as he looked down into her eyes, "I promise that you and Stefan and Damon won't get in trouble, okay? But if someone is hurting Damon bad enough that he's making you promise not to tell, he could be in really big danger because the person who's hurting him doesn't think he'll get in trouble. Does that make sense?"

Elena nodded, feeling miserable. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep and know that everyone was safe but for some reason everything was so complicated. It wasn't this hard to do the right thing in the movies... "But what if that person gets in trouble and just gets more mad and tries to hurt him even worse?"

"He won't be able to." her Dad said firmly. "No one would let that happen, but they have to know about it first. Okay?"

She gave a silent nod again, wishing that she still didn't have to tell them. It was even hard to say. She opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words and finally just shut it again. Her Dad sighed, and she wondered if he would get mad at her, but all he said was, "I see Damon a lot in my office. He usually tells me that his broken bones are from football or getting fights at school. Is it someone at school doing this? That bully Duke maybe?"

She shook her head, pouting as she said, "No it's their dad."

Neither of her parents look too surprised, although they did look extremely upset. Her mom asked her, "What happened tonight? Is he okay?"

"He has a bump on his forehead," she answered, "it was red. He and his dad were yelling at each other and his dad threw a glass or something but I don't know if that's what hurt him. He told his Dad he couldn't give him a bruise cause he hadn't been getting into fights."

"Alright," her mother said, getting up, "I'm going to make some calls."

"Hold on sweetie," her Dad said, and they both stepped into the hallway for a minute. Elena got up to see if she could hear them when her Dad didn't come right back. She could only make out a little bit of what her mom said, she was a soft speaker.

"— yes, I know. But we told her they'd be okay, and isn't their Uncle—,"

"Miranda. He went into school with a broken arm the other day and pretended he was fine. The school nurse drove him to my office on her lunch break. We just weren't able to prove that anything was wrong because of his record. We need to do it now."

"You're right. I just can't stand it, Grayson. Sophia never would have wanted this. I'm supposed to be their godmother for Christ's sake—,"

"Do what you have to," he said shortly, and then came back to Elena's bedroom.

She had already sat back down, grabbing her teddy and holding it tight. He gave her a big smile, swooping down on her and scooping her up into his arms like she was a little kid again. He held her for a little bit and she let him. He kissed the top of her head, saying, "I am so glad you did the right thing, Elena. I'm sorry that Stefan and Damon's dad couldn't be better for them, but at least they have a good friend like you."

Yeah, a friend they'll hate as soon as mom gets off the phone with Sheriff Fell, she thought, but she didn't say that. It was too late, after all. She just hoped Stefan would forgive her. Instead she asked her Dad, "Why is he so bad to Damon when he was nice to Stefan and me? Damon said it was cause he looked like his mom and she's dead, but why would Mr. Salvatore want to hurt someone that looked like his wife if he loved her enough to marry her?"

Her Dad tensed, and looked very serious like he sometimes did when he watched the news and there was something bad on it like a car accident or an animal attack. "Mr. Salvatore hasn't let himself heal or move on from his wife dying. He's still very, very sad and sometimes people are so bad at feeling sad that they decide to be angry instead. I think Damon just got caught in the middle of his dad not being able to control how sad or angry he was."

"So if Mr. Salvatore decides to heal he won't hurt Damon anymore?" she asked, feeling a little better, "I thought he turned evil or something."

"He's not evil," her Dad said, but there was something about the anger in his tone that didn't make sense if that was true, "but what he is doing is bad and dangerous and illegal. It wasn't right, and even if he does change, he will have to deal with the consequences for the rest of his life. So will Damon."

"Oh," she said, feeling really confused. What was her Dad saying? Wasn't there only good or bad? No in between? "But why does Damon have to deal with it for forever too?"

"Because, sweetie, when someone you trust hurts you that much it leaves scars that take a very long time and a lot of helping people to heal." He said, and Elena felt so bad for Damon that she wanted to hug him or give him some really nice, huge toy. He would be mad at her, though, she knew that. Even if Stefan wasn't.

Her Mom came back in, and her Dad straightened while her mom told him, "Sheriff Fell is going over there right now, just to be safe. Because Zach is out of town they agreed that the boys could stay here for now."

Elena wasn't sure if she felt really happy about that or scared, but she was happy that Stefan wouldn't be moving all the way out of town. At least yet. He still had time to forgive her, then, and maybe Damon would too.

From the time that Sheriff Fell rang their doorbell in the middle of the night to the time that one of the deputies drove them over to the Gilbert house, Damon didn't speak. He couldn't ever remember being this angry at anyone but his Dad. Stefan was at least smart enough not to start asking him a million different questions. Stupid Elena Gilbert. Her big mouth was going to ruin everything for them. It's not like he had even been that hurt ever. Her Dad knew about his broken arm though, he remembered. Mr. Gilbert had looked pretty mad about that when all Damon would say was that he must have broken it crashing his bike or something, but it didn't hurt that bad anyway. It wasn't really his Dad's fault, the stupid guy was just drunk all the time and Damon was the one who kept pissing him off because of grades and behavior. Now his dad would probably go to jail...

Mr. Gilbert took Damon upstairs while Mrs. Gilbert talked to Stefan in the living room. Great, Damon thought, he's probably going to yell at me for lying about my arm. He took him in an empty room and sat on the bed, patting a spot where Damon could sit down. Damon decided to stand instead. Mr. Gilbert sort of smiled. "I'm sure you're really mad at Mrs. Gilbert, Elena, and I. That's okay, Damon. I'm not going to make you talk about anything right now."

Well that was weird, he thought. Mr. Gilbert didn't care if Damon was pissed at his precious little daughter? Stefan had told him that Elena hardly ever got in trouble, he had assumed she was just spoiled. "Okay."

"First things first, would you rather stay with your Uncle Zach or here? We need to sort that out for the Sheriff. Mrs. Gilbert is your and Stefan's godmother, so you can, we just need to know."

Damon debated this. He didn't like Uncle Zach, he was just as rude as his Dad was to Damon but he didn't have any excuses for it. Plus they would still be close to school here, and Stefan cared about that. He looked at the ground, muttering, "Here."

"Okay," Mr. Gilbert said, a sort of smile on his face, "now the deputies already talked to you, and Sheriff Fell took your Dad to the station so let me tell you what might happen now. They'll keep him in the jail or he can pay money to go back home, and he'll have a court date really soon. The judge will decide if he's guilty based on what Elena saw, what I've seen, and whatever you and Stefan say. From there he could go to jail."

"I won't say anything," Damon snapped, unable to stop himself, "I'm not sending him to jail. I don't care how it looks."

"Damon," Mr. Gilbert said with a sad sigh, "what he did to you and how he made you feel is not acceptable. You had broken bones. What if one of those times he was too drunk and he pushed you and you hit the floor too hard with your head? You could die and so could Stefan."

"He wouldn't hurt Stefan."

"Do you really think Stefan would tell you if your Dad did?" Mr. Gilbert asked, and Damon felt his confidence waver.

No, probably not, but, "I always make sure Stefan is gone when he's drunk and then I piss him off so he only hits me. I've never been gone when he's drunk, so it has to only be me. It's my fault I look like mom anyway."

Mr. Gilbert looked both shocked and sad and Damon realized he had said way too much, and tried to backpedal. "I mean so he would have only hit me, but he doesn't."

It didn't work. Mr. Gilbert only gave him a patronizing look, and patted the spot beside him once more. This time there wasn't any politeness about it. Damon gave a groan and sat down beside him. No wonder Elena was so stubborn... "None of this is your fault, Damon. I know you're not going to believe me right now after all this time, but at least try. It's not your fault for pissing him off. A dad shouldn't hit their children like this no matter how mad he is, and he shouldn't be getting drunk around them either. Your Dad knew he the consequences of his actions when he did it. It sucks, but it's better than getting hurt all the time and being in danger. Got it?"

"But if we have to move in with Uncle Zach it'll be the same, he doesn't like me either and then Stefan will have to go to a new school and he's too shy to make friends," Damon said, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he thought to stop them. This was becoming a bad habit.

"You're a good brother," Mr. Gilbert said with a sigh, ruffling Damon's hair. Damon barely stopped himself from hitting away the hand, "but no one will make you go live with your uncle if you don't want to. You both can stay here as long as you promise not to be mean to Elena or her brother, alright? And Mrs. Gilbert and I will probably tell you and Stefan to do things just like we do Elena and Jeremy, so you will have to listen."

Damon nodded. It would be annoying to live in the same house as a fifth grader, but he'd have to deal with it. It wasn't any worse than living with Benedict Elena, after all.

"Alright. This is your and Stefan's room for now, but I think he decided to sleep on the floor in Elena's room. Go ahead and try to sleep, we can figure more out in the morning."

Mr. Gilbert stood up, and so Damon obediently drew back the covers and laid down. He turned off the light and left, while Damon found he could do almost anything but sleep. All he could do was think. Think about his Dad and if he was pissed, think about jail, think about how he was still mad at Elena even if her dad wasn't that bad and they wouldn't have to go live with Zach... and then he fell asleep, dreaming about Elena saving him from bullies while he stood there angry that he didn't do it himself.

A/N: I know this is a little dark, but it will get better. Damon shows a lot of symptoms and behaviours that are typical of child abuse survivors, so I figured that in a modern human universe it would make sense.

Please review :)