Damon's POV

On our way to Stefan's house, which is in a neighborhood quite far away from when I live and work, we stop by a diner to pick up burgers. Ric said that we shouldn't go empty handed, because he was sure, that the kids would be hungry. Stefan especially, liked giving up his food if there were younger kids in the house who needed it. He also added that Stefan would most probably refuse getting anything from us. He hated people pitying him. I was eager to learn more about him so I began asking Ric questions.

"So, what does he like to do in his free time?" I ask and Alaric laughs as he places the bag of burgers on the back seat behind us.

"You mean besides stealing and fooling around?" he says and I can't figure it he's joking or not, which obviously confuses him. He gets that this is all new to me

"Well, he wastes all his time, basically. He barely goes to school, I'm pretty sure he'll have to repeat this year and I'll actually kick his ass about that when we get down there" he announces calmly, but I know he must be mad that Stefan is ruining his education and so am I. I can't imagine why he would want to desperately ruin his own life.

"But that doesn't mean he's not smart, on the contrary, he's really good with numbers." Ric explains and smiles more to himself than to me, probably remembering witnessing my brother being a smart kid who is great with math and numbers "I used to make him go to competitions when he was younger, but he stopped doing that a long time ago" he continues explaining, while furrowing his eyebrows this time

"What else?" I ask eager to learn more

"Well he is a very good runner. I mean he has to be because he steals all the time and he has to run fast, which is something, that just causes me more trouble since it makes him difficult to find. He's a bit of a Robin Hood, he hates rich people and he steals all the time, then goes and gives the money to some kid who needs them, and then he usually disappears from the face of the earth for the next few weeks until I find him again."

"But you always do, don't you?" he smiles and nods, obviously proud with himself.

"I know him very well." he explains patiently "I guess that makes it easier for me to find him, but he's gotten smarter the last few times. He's not that naïve kid who ran away from foster care for the first time when he was thirteen and wandered the streets all by himself, until eventually when I found him he ran and cried in my arms." I tried imagining how hard that must've been like and swallowed feeling the limp forming in my throat

"Now he never cries or waits for me to find him" Ric says and I feel the sadness in his voice "Now he just tosses and turns and tries to get away from me when I finally end up figuring out where he is. "

"So he likes math and he's good at running, what else is there about him?"

"He's good at many things, he just likes ruining his own potential. It's just who Stefan is. He doesn't believe he's good at anything, there is always someone better above him, he doesn't know how much he can do if he just puts some effort into things." I watch him run his hand through his hair and sighing heavily, slowing down as we obviously approach the car

"He loves reading as well" I look at him and for the first time I smile. So there might be something we have in common after all "When he was a child especially, I would always bring him books, whenever I had to go check up on him. He was such a cute child, always sitting in the corner of some room, buried in his own world. He would never talk much, he barely spoke to me, but the first thing about him that you notice, is how compassionate he is. He just hides it very well by being rude, so be prepared to see him as a total asshole." while he talked to me and explained all this I couldn't help but ask myself why?

Why would Stefan be like this? Why would he hide all the goodness in his heart? And then I realize, that I was stupid to even ask this question-he was alone his entire life, he never trusted anybody, he never had anyone to lean on or to cry to, he must've been hurt many times when he was a child, not only emotionally but physically too. Judging by the way Ric was talking about him, I figured this-the boy has lost all hope, that there's something good in this world and who could really judge him

"You just have to be patient and pay attention" Ric continues "When you do, you will see it-Stefan is a good boy. He is just very ruined."

He stops the car in front of a small house with two floors in a relatively nice, but definitely not rich neighborhood. Once we're out of the car, I realize that it looked far better when I was watching it from there. As we approached it slowly, I realized how old and shabby it looks-the yellow paint of the front façade was practically non distinguishable, the front yard was full of toys, but they were mostly broken and we saw a boy playing with a truck in the alley leading to the front door. There were a few holes on the roof, one of the windows on the second floor was broken and the front porch was a mess of shoes and clothes or all kind of tools just tossed somewhere-it wasn't the worst place to live, Alaric had said, but it's not very good either, I thought.

"Hey, there" Ric turned to the little boy, who couldn't have been more than five years old, dressed in a relatively nice and new jeans and white simple shirt. He raised his head from the ground and when he saw Ric, he jumped off scared, probably realizing who he is, or at least suspecting.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you" Ric explained and put his hand on his shoulder which made the kid relax a bit. He probably realized that we're not here to do anything bad and when I gave him a smile he smiled back "What's your name, little fella?" Ric asked

"Danny" he answered so silently that I barely heard him

"Hey, Danny, do you know where Stefan is?" Ric asked and I assumed this might be one of the kids my brother is living with. Gosh, this will turn out to be way more complicated than I ever thought it could be. I watch the boy nod, but he doesn't say anything, which makes Ric sigh, while I'm confused as to why Danny doesn't seem like talking.

"So?" Ric asks again and I watch Danny cross his hands on his chest

"What will you give me if I tell you?" he asks and my jaw hung open. A five year old kid was bargaining with us and it made me both laugh and feel kind of sad. "I know that you're the social worker." he continues

"And Stefan told you to keep you mouth shut if I came?" Ric asks and Danny nods. I watch Ric pull out ten dollars form his pocket and hand it to the little boy before us. He looks around, probably making sure there's no one watching him and grabs the money, shoving it in his back pocket

"He went out to get dinner." Danny responds immediately after that and I watch Ric pull out more money from his shirt's pocket. He'll probably get broke if he continues with this game, though apparently that's the only way to find out where Stefan is. I don't know why Alaric couldn't ask the woman who's taking care of them what's going on. I was afraid she might not even know, considering how Ric was questioning this child, believing he'll tell us more about my brother.

"If I give you this" Ric hands him over a twenty now "You'll tell me if he goes to school and if he's still selling cigarettes illegally?" Danny takes a moment to consider if there will be any consequences of him blabbing out all he knows, but in a minute or two he grabs those money as well, hides them in the same pocket and speaks up

"No to the school and I don't know about the cigarettes, but I don't think so." Ric furrows his eyebrows and sighs annoyed with the response he gets, which makes Danny tense a bit. I wonder if anyone ever abused him the way Stefan was abused. Is this why he was so scared when he first saw us? Did he think we'll do something bad to him?

"Can you go get your mom for me?" Ric asks again and the kid shrugs his shoulders, not sure what this man wants from him

"I don't have a mother" he responds and it breaks my heart, God, this is too much and I haven't even seen Stefan yet

"Okay, I meant Mrs. Collins, can you go get her?" Danny now understands and runs back to the door, pushing it hard and running inside, we can hear him talk fast to someone else and there are other children voices coming from inside.

We approach the front porch and when we get on there, using the half broken stairs, a woman in her late thirties, who is too skinny and with a very messed up curly blond hair leans on the doorpost, looking as if she just woke up.

As soon as she sees Alaric, she gets nervous and tries composing herself, but I can tell that she's not trying too hard. There's something really wrong in the way she's looking at us and she even gives me a flirty stare, which to me is way too disgusting an inappropriate right now

"Mr. Salzman, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asks with a hoarse, kind of drunken voice. She smells a bit like vodka to me and the smell coming from the inside isn't too pleasant either "Is there something wrong?"

"We're just here to check up on Stefan." Ric explains and she furrows her eyebrows, probably trying to remember, who Stefan is out of all the kids she's taking care of, which honestly pisses me off.

I look back at Danny, while her and Ric exchange a few more sentences and notice how lost he is in his own world while playing with this broken truck on the porch, he keeps humming, imitating the engine and pushing the truck forward to the stairs then making a rapid turn and crawling to the other side of the broken filthy porch. Everything here is so…wrong and it takes me only one look to make this conclusion.

Just when we're about to get inside, Danny stands up and yells from the porch

"Stefaaan!" he says and I see him jump from the stairs. I know who's he looking at and for a moment I'm afraid to turn around and finally see this boy. There is some fear inside me, but I know, I don't really have any choice-I came down here to meet my brother, so that's what I'm going to do.

When I finally find the courage to look I see a boy, who only vaguely resembles the one from the pictures Alaric has showed me. He is walking down the street, approaching the yard with a slow, but steady pace, while carrying a big package of what seems to be burgers in hand. He's wearing a blue baseball cap, which covers his eyes good, very washed out jeans, which are a bit too big for him or they're just like that, from those baggy stuff the teenagers wore, a white t-shirt under a brown plaid shirt which had a hole on the elbow and was also too big for him, and old black converse trainers with dirty shoelaces.

There's something really tortured in his expression and only when he approaches the house and welcomes Danny, do I notice his black eye and him furrowing his eyebrows as soon as he recognizes Ric.

He doesn't pay any attention to me at all, it's like I'm invisible like the paint on the wall behind me-he's only staring at the man next to me, with so much hatred in his eyes already.

I see Danny grab his leg and start pulling him. Stefan leans down to his level, takes a burger from the bag and hands it to him.

"Here you go, little troublemaker" he says and ruffles his head. Danny is about to run back to the house and enjoy his meal, when Stefan pulls his shirt and brings him back closer to him. He gets a popsicle and a bubble gum out of his pocket and hands it to Danny "Only for you" I hear him say, they're very close to us now, only a few feet away from the porch stairs "Hide it good."

"Thank you, Stefan!" Danny hugs him and runs back to the house. I'm amazed at how good he is with the kid. Alaric was right-his heart was big, I could see it just from this little gesture. I watch Stefan then stand up and stretch his hands annoyed at us.

"Why on earth are you here?" he asks and Alaric furrows his eyebrows. I guess now I would see the other side of him, the one where he's a rude fifteen year old who doesn't give a damn.

"We need to talk" Ric explains calmly, he was obviously very used to his behavior.

"What for, you weren't supposed to be here before the end of the month." Stefan continues, willing to just drive us off here, while Mrs. Collins is still leaning on the door, not paying any attention to us or our argument at all. Stefan glances at me for the first time and gives me an angry and unwelcoming look.

"Yeah, and you are supposed to be going to school." Ric continued and I realized this was going to be a very hard conversation. "But you're not."

"I will do whatever the fuck I want" Stefan responded harshly and very rudely, without actually giving a damn, that he is hurting another person, who cares about him.

"Let's just get inside, we have to talk about something" Ric glances at me and I nod while Stefan huffs annoyed and Mrs. Collins says we can go to the kitchen, while she deals with the kids.

Stefan hands her the bag of burgers and she takes it happily, he doesn't pull one out for him so I'm glad that Ric and I stopped by to get some food. It seemed like Stefan hasn't eaten in a long time. He looked so skinny, practically probably everything would look too big on him.

The house is even more filthy from the inside. I catch a glimpse of at least four more kids sitting on a couch in a living room opposite from the kitchen where we're headed, staring at the TV and eating pop corns. I wonder how many kids are here, Stefan was most probably the oldest one, everyone else seemed to be between the age 7 and 13.

We get in the kitchen and Ric and I settle on the shabby chairs near the table while Stefan hops on the kitchen plot, pulls out a packet of cigarettes, opens slightly the window behind him and lights it up.

"You said you'll stop smoking" Ric points out and Stefan shrugs his shoulders

"You also promised to find me a family when I was five and look where we are now." he is acting like he really doesn't give a fuck about anything at all and that's really sad. I thought that he would be broken, I just didn't suppose it would be that bad. Ric hands him the burger, but when Stefan doesn't take it, he just leaves it next to him and sighs annoyed with his behavior already

"You're not wearing the clothes I gave you" Ric states sadly

"I gave them to someone who needs them more" Stefan explains and I catch the same compassion in his glimpse as when he was giving Danny the popsicle "Who's that suit that you brought?" he nods to me and lets the smoke out "Oh my God, Ric did you bring a fucking shrink?" he looks at me with disgust

"He's not a shrink" Ric says again very calmly, figuring out that we're getting to the point here

"I told you that I'm fine!" Stefan is not convinced, that I'm not here to evaluate how good his emotional state is.

"Oh, I can see that" Alaric is not even slightly disturbed by Stefan raising his voice "Nice bruise you got there, did you try to steal something again and got caught?"

"Just cut to the chase, why the fuck are you here?" Stefan avoids his questions and tosses the cigarette off the window, after which he leans on the wall behind him and takes his cap off. I can take a better look of his face now, though that doesn't make things better. There's something really screwed up in the way he's acting and just looking at everything around him-he seems to be covering all his pain with the rudeness in his voice. He hates that we've come here, he despises it with every fiber of his being and he just wants us gone-I can see it.

"Cause you've been silent for too long and that means only one thing-you're planning to run away again."

"I'm not" Stefan responds way too harshly again and squeezes the plot with his hands. I only now notice how strong he actually is, even despite the fact that he looks like a ghost

"You're lying" Ric says simply and crosses his hands on his chest as he leans back on the chair. This entire time I just stare between the two of them and listen to their conversation, it's like I'm not even here anymore "Why aren't you going to school?"

"Because there's no point in school" Stefan responds as he laughs out loud "What's with the suit?" he turns to me again, I don't know why he thinks I'll bring him trouble

"Oh, Jeez, are you the owner of that sweet shop that I stole from a few weeks back? You look like him."

"I'm not" I speak up for the first time and Stefan furrows his eyebrows, feeling even more confused than before.

"My name is Damon Salvatore" I finally find the courage to speak up and Ric gives me a reassuring nod. I stand up and approach the kitchen plot slowly and when I'm finally in front of him I stretch my hand

"It's nice to meet you, Stefan." he gives me another pessimistic look, stares down at my hand, but doesn't take it, he seems kind of scared, or at least he has no idea what to do, so instead he looks back at Ric

"Did you bring a fucking priest over here? Oh my God, I can't believe you, Ric. I knew you were getting old but I had no idea you're going so crazy!" he exclaims and moves away from me a bit.

My hand hung in the air untaken, and I hide it behind my back, feeling more sad than ever. I watch Stefan roll his sleeves up, probably because he's feeling too hot, while Alaric stands and approaches us, I'm guessing now is the big moment.

"He's not a priest, Stefan. He is your brother." and just like that Alaric says it out loud without any hesitation. Stefan gives him a look of disbelief and looks between him and me for a moment, probably waiting for one of us to say something until he laughs out loud

"Nice joke, Ric." he says after that, somehow relieved that this can't be true

"He's not joking" I speak up this time and he looks at me as he furrows his eyebrows angrily. I don't think he wants to let this sink in at all "I'm your brother." Stefan peaks his right eyebrow and stares at me for a moment, trying to decide if there's something we have in common, but we're really way too different when it comes to the looks. He then turns to Ric, probably feeling a little bit scared and gives him a questioning look

"Damon came looking for you a month ago." he explains

"How?" Stefan asks and hops off the kitchen plot, we're all very close to each other and I swear to god, I feel so bad for hurting him like this now when he looked so ruined already

"My mother" I speak up stuttering as I remember losing one of the most important people in my life "Our mother" I correct myself "told me about you before she died."

"I don't have a mother" Stefan responds harshly and gives me a cold look "And I certainly do not have a brother. I don't give a shit who you are or what happened to you, I don't want to talk to you" he says and tries to get out, but Ric grabs his wrist and pulls him back

"No running away, Stefan" he says calmly but doesn't let him go "Damon did everything he could to find you, he wants to get to know you"

"I don't care." Stefan is bitter and I can see the pain in his eyes, this is really hurting him way much more than I could even assume "Let me go!"

"I'm not!" Ric raises his voice for the first time since we came here "I refuse to keep watching you ruin your life anymore, do you understand?" he asks, but Stefan is still trying to pull back

"Damon, give us a moment, will you?" he states and even though I don't want to leave, I feel like maybe Ric will be able to convince him that he should give me a chance, so I just nod and head outside to the front porch, far away from them so they wouldn't think I'm trying to eavesdrop.

And I already feel like crying.

Stefan's POV

As soon as I saw Alaric on the front porch, I knew I was in some kind of trouble again. He has said he'll come at the end of the month to check up on me and now what? He was suddenly back here? What for, it didn't make any sense? I was just hoping he has no idea what I was planning to do these days, but that's honestly the least of my concerns when he tells me who this guy he brought with himself is.

I'm quite literally stunned.

All my life, I've been an orphan, a boy they shipped from group home to group home. I rarely made any friends, I was all by myself, dreaming of my family coming to save me from this mess I was in. I didn't have dreams like the other kids-I didn't want to become a race driver or a doctor, I just wanted to find my home or if not that, for Alaric to find me a family, who would adopt me.

I continued living like this for many years until my thirteen birthday when Alaric moved me from one awful foster home where they beat the hell out of me, to a nice house in Savannah. Then I just realized that I won't ever get adopted, that my family has gave me up and won't come looking for me and I let all my hope disappear. I suddenly became a different person. I started running away from the homes Alaric found for me, I would hang out with the boys, who had the worst reputation including my friend Michael, who got killed six months ago and who's the only reason why I haven't packed my stuff and left this house by now.

I've accepted the fact that some people are just meant to be alone. That's it. You have to live with some realizations and when you actually let it all sink in, nothing else seems significant-school was boring and I had no patience for it, stealing was a thrill in the beginning, now it's just a means for me to find enough money to eat, running away used to be fun until I changed too many places and I saw most of the state. There wasn't much to live for anymore, if I have to be honest. There are nights when I ask myself why do I even keep bothering when there's absolutely nothing out there for me?

And now what? Some rich guy in a suit appears out of nowhere and says he's my brother?

How could I ever believe that? Even if it's true and we're related, I don't feel anything for him. I never could. He seemed quite stunned by my behavior, I noticed how silent he was the entire time I talked to Ric and now as I think about it, it makes me laugh-he probably thought I'll welcome with him open arms, hug him and beg him to take me away from here so we could have a good chat.

I wasn't that guy. I didn't need anyone's pity or silent promises. I hated promises. They turn into regrets which keep you up awake at night. That's why I didn't trust anyone. I stopped doing that a long time ago.

I wanted to respect Ric, because we've known each other for years, but lately he's just been shipping me from home to home or preaching that I have to go to school. I couldn't care less about my education if I have to be honest.

"Let me go!" I hiss again once Damon leaves us alone and Ric finally sets me free, but makes sure to stand in my way, so I wouldn't just disappear from the room.

"Listen to me and you listen good" Ric says sternly "I'm done with your awful attitude and your running away. I get that it's hard, okay? Trust me, I get it, especially after Michael's death, it's been hell for you without anyone out there, but you need to give this guy a chance" he says calmly and start shaking my head in disapproval.

"No way."

"It's not a choice, Stefan." I look up and see the stone cold expression on his face, which meant only one thing-he was pissed off at me. Really pissed off. I played too much with his patience

"You are going to start meeting with Damon every week or else I'm shipping you off to a group home and I know how much you don't want this to happen."

"You wouldn't!" I say through teeth. Group homes were hell. He has promised me after Michael's death, that he'll never send me to a group home again, no matter what. But I also promised him that I won't run and I did.

As I said-promises suck.

"Oh, I would" he says in a way which suggests he's not joking at all around "You need to be taught a lesson. I tried everything and I realized I've been doing it all wrong-I keep getting you out of your messes, paying your bails, helping you get rid from your troubles, going around and begging people not to press charges when you're caught stealing. I've been trying to find you good homes after you run away from all the bad ones, I've been getting you clothes and food that you simply reject, I've been talking to your teachers, praying for them not to kick you out of this school and now what? You simply throw everything away, Stefan and I'm tired of watching this." He sighs and I do realize that I've put him through hell, it's just that I had my own personal one and that's why I couldn't bring myself to apologizing to him

"Damon is a really nice guy. He cares, I can see it in his eyes, he would be good for you, so that's why I want you to start meeting him. You need some normality."

"He is not my brother, even if we share the same blood." I say stubbornly. He won't just come out here and want from me to be best buddies with a guy I haven't met before.

"Yes, but he's the first person, who cares and you need someone like this in your life, Stefan. So I want you to make this right, I want you to meet with him and talk. I want you to give him a chance."

"And if I don't?" I ask and he shakes his head tiredly

"Stop being so stubborn" he says seriously "Or else it will just get worse." he doesn't want it to get worse, I can see it in his eyes. Ric is a nice guy, he is rarely mean to anyone, but I'm guessing I've been fooling around for too long and now he was tired.

That didn't matter to me though, I hated people telling me what I should do. There was a reason I was still around and it was because I wanted to get back at the guys who killed Michael. After I'm done, I'll run so far away, that Ric won't be able to find me this time. I'm not going to a group home, no matter what he says. I'm not living through this again. I just had to keep this charade up for a little while longer and then I could leave.

I will leave, no matter what. This isn't my home. In fact, I don't have a home. I wasn't used to having my own bed or clothes-I lost things all the time, Ric would move me whenever he feels like it if the foster family ends up screwing up. I've been to more foster or group homes than my age.

"Just stop pulling up a fight. I want to help you, so let me and Damon help you. What do you say, Stefan?"

"You're not actually giving me a choice here, you do realize that, right? So stop making it look as if I have one." I say through teeth and he puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it tightly

"Just try, Stefan. Please, just try." he begs me and for a moment we're staring at each other intensely until I pull away from him and cross my arms on my chest.

I just want all this pain to be over with and this guy meant exactly the opposite-he would bring pain and misery, he would bring out stuff that I've buried a very long time ago. He would bring hope in me and I didn't need hope. So I had to fight it all with all my strength.

I couldn't get close to anyone. I would never trust a word he says. I would never let him in.

Never.


A/N: Thank you all for the nice reviews and the follows. I hope you will enjoy this story, I'm still a bit uncertain if I should keep writing about it and how long should I make it, but I hope you like it.

To the guest reviewer alex-if you have a profile, write me a personal message here and I'll answer all your questions about The sky above us. You can also find me on tumblr, my url there is stefansplaidshirt.