AN: Okay, wow! Only one review on my last chapter. I'm so sad. I expected more, considering all the brotherly fluff I put in there, but oh, well, thanks to my last reviewer I am posting another chapter. I don't see any reason why I should continue to write a story when I'm not getting a lot of reviews. I'd hate to be writing to myself. As cool as it is to get a new follower, reviews are something I look forward to reading. I constantly check, even when I'm logged off. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 3: Dinner Party
"Tonight was fun." Damon says with a smile as he and Stefan enter the boarding house.
"Yeah, it was." Stefan agrees.
"Okay, so now that I'm back from my near-death experience let's start planning how we're going to teach you self-control." Damon says as he rubs his hands together.
"Damon, wait." Stefan says in a serious tone.
Damon turns around to face his brother, and tips an eyebrow at him, "What is it, Stef?"
"Did you mean all those things that you said about me, about us, when you were younger?" Stefan asks.
"I was thinking let's get you to sip a bag of blood and see how you feel afterwards, and about what you're asking, I meant every word." Damon says with all sincerity.
Stefan smiles, "Yeah, Damon, that'd be great."
"Okay, let's go get you a blood bag." Damon says and he disappears downstairs in the basement.
Stefan rolls his eyes, "You do that!" He gets a text message and looks down to see it's from Caroline.
It reads, "Hey, I was thinking should we have a party for Damon? You know considering he isn't dead and all? It can be a surprise party for him."
Stefan grins, "Yeah, how about a dinner party tomorrow. You can bring everyone, Jenna included and she can get to know us and we can all have fun." Stefan texts back.
"Okay," Caroline sends back.
That seems to be the end of the conversation, but then he quickly adds a side note, "We can have it here, at the boarding house." He types quickly.
"Okay." Caroline sends back immediately.
"Okay, so I was thinking you should sip it a little and we'll see how you feel and we can just do this every day." Damon says as he leisurely walks back into the room.
Stefan furrows his brow, "Okay." He answers cautiously.
Damon nods and walks over to the liquor cabinet and takes out two glasses and pours a little of the blood from the bag in each glass. "We'll drink together every time so you don't lose yourself and can actually see someone with control." Damon says that last part a little mockingly, but Stefan doesn't think anything of it. He grins and is at his brother's side in an instant. He takes the glass as Damon hands it to him and stares at the red liquid with an awed expression. "Take it easy, Stef." Damon says, his voice trying to mask the worry. It isn't working, because Stefan notices and looks up at Damon with a frown.
"Okay, so what do we do?" He asks dumbly. He's going to let his brother walk him through this with baby steps. He doesn't want to go off of the deep end.
"Cheers." Damon says with a grin as he raises his glass. He waits for Stefan to follow and he does and then Damon tips the glass back and slowly downs the glass. Stefan does the same.
Stefan's face changes as he takes in the delight of the human blood. He moans in pleasure as it flows down his throat. When he's done he immediately tries to go for the blood bag, but Damon was expecting this, so he has the bag out of Stefan's reach before Stefan is even going for it.
"Take it easy, Stef." Damon says in a calm voice.
Stefan instantly straightens up and lets his face go back to normal. He wants more, but realizes that he doesn't need it right now. He just has to keep his cool.
"We'll do this every day at this time, and as you start to build up your control, we'll add a little more. You'll be a pro in no time."Damon says.
Stefan frowns as he takes in his brother's form. Damon suddenly seems a little under the weather and his eyes a little more red than usual. Stefan nods. "Get some rest, Damon."
Damon shakes his head and tries to look as healthy as he can, "I'm fine, Stefan. I need to watch you now."
Stefan can't believe he just started noticing how his brother doesn't look completely well. He noticed earlier, but he's sure he didn't look this bad, this drained. Is something happening to him? "I'm fine, Damon. You don't look fine. You look like your getting worse with every moment."
"I practically came back from the dead and had a little bit of fresh human blood from the two donors. I then had to compel them and I ran here. I guess I've exhausted myself more than I should have." Damon shrugs, but Stefan can tell that he's obviously hungry.
"Damon, you need to drink the rest of that bag and many more." I say urgently. He seems to be unsteady on his feet as he stares at him more intently. He puts his hand on the wall and tries to act casual, but Stefan can tell he's tired. "Damon, please."
Damon nods, "Okay, Stef." He says in a reluctant voice. He wants to stay awake and help his brother with his control, but he knows that his brother will only worry about him. Damon pushes himself off of the wall and starts to walk to the couches, but his legs seem too wobbly and he would've fallen flat on his face had Stefan not been there to catch him. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought." Damon tries to joke, but his voice is too raspy for it.
Stefan doesn't even laugh or smile at his brother's comment, even though he knows what it was meant to sound like. "Put your arm around me and I'll take you to the couch." Stefan says. Damon swings his arms over his brother's shoulder and allows his brother to walk him to the couch where he plops down on the seat and seems to sink into the cushions. Stefan leaves his brother for a second to retrieve the blood bag, and he's back at his brother's side.
Damon feels the cushion start to lean in the direction of the added weight and he allows himself to lean into his little brother. "So, tired, I guess that blood I drank earlier just healed the wound from Ric's crossbow." Damon mutters quietly as he closes his eyes in exhaustion.
"Hey, Hey, Damon." Stefan says as he wraps his arm around his emaciated brother. "You need to drink before you decide to go to sleep. Just finish what's left in this bag and I'll let you sleep the rest of the night, okay?" He feels Damon nod against his shoulder.
"The fire looks nice, Stef." Damon mumbles.
"Yeah, Caroline's been coming in here every day to make up a fire and keep it going." Stefan replies. "Here drink this." He says as he puts the opening of the blood bag to his brother's lips.
Damon immediately sets to drinking the blood. He needs it and as soon as it enters his mouth instant relief floods over him. He grabs it with his weak hands and starts to try and squeeze as much from it as he can into his mouth. Once he's done, he hands it back to Stefan and adjusts himself so he's more leaning against the back cushion than his little brother.
"You want another one or do you want to sleep?" Stefan asks.
"Another one." Damon breathes out. His eyes are still closed, but he's still awake.
Stefan is gone in an instant and returns seconds later with six blood bags. His brother opens his eyes when he feels weight next to him once again. Stefan sets the bags down on the coffee table in front of the couch and immediately wraps his arm around his brother again. He leans forward and grabs at one of the bags and rips it open and puts the opening to his brother's mouth.
Once Damon's on the sixth one, Stefan thinks his brother has a little more vivacity in him than he did, but he's still not back to normal. He empties it and hands it to Stefan, who sets it with the others. "Do you want more?" Stefan asks.
Damon nods and lays back allowing his upper body to fall onto Stefan's lap. "It'd be nice to be back to normal." Damon says in a sheepish voice.
Stefan smiles solemnly and gets up to get all the blood bags he can carry. Damon is able to sit up to allow his brother to sit down under him and then allows himself to fall against his brother again.
They continue like this until the sun starts shining. Damon's nearly back to full health now and this time it isn't a jinx. He's practically drank all the blood bags, they probably have about three left by the time he's done. Damon is however, passed out from exhaustion, so Stefan carries him up to his room and lays him down in his bed. He notices the clock as he returns back to the living room and is surprised that it's about six in the morning. He cleans up all the empty blood bags and checks the sofa for blood stains. Damon cares about the furniture and would be angered if it were covered in blood. There seems to be no damage to the couch and Stefan smiles.
He decides to go to his own room and write in his journal, he has to write this memory down because he's sure that this is one of the most important he's ever had.
Dear Diary,
It's strange, I feel like I now have a new chapter to start with my brother. We've grown closer since he became a seven year old and now that he's not dead I think that our progress can only get better. I learned some things about my brother during the last week. He's a fighter; he refuses to give in, and perhaps that's not a totally bad aspect of his personality, because when used for the right reasons it can turn out to be a great character trait to have. I'm so glad that he's not dead, for the two days I thought he was, I couldn't mourn his death enough, and tonight when I'd seen him alive and well, not exactly healthy it scared me. I took him out to feed on some campers, but he had to compel them and he was severely wounded, not to mention the fact that he ran here at vampire speed and probably added a little extra energy in there just to beat me. It frightened me how quickly he started to fade. I became even more concerned when he had to use the wall for support. He was trying to act casual about it, but I knew that it was just a façade. I will always protect my brother against anyone that wants to hurt him and I will always be there for him. Like tonight for example, we spent all night not talking, but getting him back to full health. He drank blood bag after blood bag and nearly drained us of our supply. He wants to teach me control, and now I'm more motivated than ever, I want to protect him just as he does for me. I'm nearly useless on animal blood. He's asleep now in his own room. I made sure to close all the curtains and make the room as dark as possible for him, but his room isn't exactly the best room for that. He's exhausted, and even though the blood brought him back to what I believe to be full health he was so exhausted and his body probably needs proper sleep in his room. I figure that he can sleep all day until the surprise dinner party this evening. I will however be a better brother to him and I won't waste my time with him. Even though we have eternity to be together, I know that that could very well change any day. Yes, we are vampires and we are immortal, but this last week has shown me that we are certainly not invincible, and in fact are far from it. I don't want to have any regrets if something unexpected ever happens again.
—Stefan
He finishes writing and sets the pen down and closes the leather book. He stands up and walks over to his brother's room to check on him and instantly notices that his breathing is not labored and when he takes a peek inside of the room his brother looks healthy and peaceful.
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"Hey, Stefan, how's Damon?" Caroline asks as she walks into the house.
"He's fine, he's just asleep. We spent all the rest of the night getting him back to full strength. He drained us of our blood supply. We only have three bags left, but he's healthy, just exhausted and sleeping it off for now." Stefan says.
"Wow! He really was drained." Caroline says concerned, "I am glad he's better now, though." She smiles. So, I came with food and guests." She says happily as she steps over the threshold. "Don't worry I didn't cook, so the food is good. It's take out from the Grille."
Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Ric, Jenna, Anna, and Pearl walk into the house after her.
"Pearl, Anna." Stefan addresses.
"Hello, Stefan." Anna says and Pearl just nods at him.
"I am glad to hear that your brother is doing well." Pearl says after a moment's delay.
Anna, Jeremy, and Caroline go into the kitchen to set the table and warm up the food.
"Stefan." Jenna says cautiously.
"Jenna, I'd like to apologize for my behavior last night. I was a wreck, and hope that I can make it up to you." Stefan says in an apologetic voice.
Jenna swallows hard, but she nods and walks into the kitchen to join the others.
Elena walks up to Stefan and smiles. "I'm so glad you're both okay." She says as she hugs him. Stefan hugs her back and she stays at his side while Rick walks up to Stefan with smile on his face.
"Well, this is certainly different. We're all here and instead of a funeral wake, it's a party." He says with a laugh.
"It's nice." Stefan says.
"Oh, it is, I'm not complaining. I got my best friend back, and now I can hassle him and chastise him for what happened like best friends are supposed to do, but I do think that this last week has been one of the weirdest weeks we've ever had." Ric chuckles.
"I'll drink to that." Stefan says.
"Okay, so we're ready with the food and plates, Stefan, so how about you wake Damon up so we can eat." Jeremy explains.
"Damon! Get up we have guests!" Stefan shouts, never leaving Elena's side.
"I don't wanna!" Damon complains loud enough for the whole house to hear.
Ric laughs and Stefan can hear the others giggle in the other room. "Excuse me for a second." He says to them as he disappears up the stairs.
He pushes his brother's door open and walks over to the window, where he opens the curtains. Letting what's left of the daylight to enter. He even walks back over to the entrance and flips on the light. Damon groans and buries face in a pillow. "Five more minutes, Mom." Damon mumbles through the pillow, "Please?"
"Damon, no, we have guests." Stefan says as he walks over and snatches the pillow out of his brother's grasp and rolls his eyes when Damon groans in response.
"Uggh…fine." He says. He gets out of bed and walks over to his closet where he grabs a shirt off the hanger and puts it on. He buttons it up as Stefan stands silently waiting. "You can leave you know." Damon says.
"I know that as soon as I do you're going to go back to sleep, so no, I can't." Stefan replies knowingly.
Damon sighs and rolls his eyes, "You're incessant; you know that?" He says as he walks out of his room.
"What are little brothers for if not for that?" Stefan says with a grin.
"You said we have guests?" Damon questions as he descends the staircase.
"Just get downstairs, Damon." Stefan says exasperatedly as he follows his brother down the stairs.
"Damon, it's so good to see you, healthy and back to normal." Elena says with a smile as she walks over to him and hugs him. He does the same and she pulls back and goes over to Stefan. Together, they walk into the dining room.
"My, my, it certainly looks like a party in here." Damon says upon entering. All eyes turn to him and Caroline can't help the big grin on her face. She walks over to him and she hugs him. "Since when have I ever been so huggable?" He asks.
"Oh, shut-up, Damon, and by the way you owe me a dance." Caroline says with a smirk.
"Really, what kind of dance?" Anna asks, suddenly intrigued.
"It's not nice to eaves drop, little one." Damon says.
"Oh, grow up." Anna replies.
"I already did, in case you failed to notice. I thought vampires were supposed to have good eyesight." Damon says with a smirk.
Anna sneers at him and shakes her head.
"Why, Damon, it is so nice to see you well again." Pearl says as she enters the room with Bonnie, Jeremy, and Jenna carrying the food. They set down the newly warmed food on the table.
"An eighteen hundred's style dance. I've already bought my dress." Caroline says to Anna.
Damon rolls his eyes, "Can I get out of it if I tell you that I wasn't in my right mind last week."
"Nope." Caroline says with a smirk.
"Oh, it'll be so nice, I remember Damon back in 1864; he was a wonderful dancer." A voice purrs from the entrance of the house.
Damon rolls his eyes, "Go away, Katherine." Damon mutters.
"Don't be all pouty, Damon." Katherine says as she enters the dining room.
"Wait, you're Katherine?" Jenna asks.
"Oh, if it isn't the infamous Aunt Jenna," Katherine smiles, "Yes, I'm Katherine, Elena's ancestor. It was me that you yelled at the other night for kissing Damon by the way; I feel that I should straighten that out."
"Let's eat." Stefan suggests. Everyone nods and sits down.
Of course it was planned that Damon would sit next to Caroline. Jeremy sits on the other side of him and Stefan and Elena across from him with Ric and Jenna next to them. Anna sits next to Jeremy and her mother, and Katherine sits next to Jenna across from Pearl. Bonnie sits next to Caroline and across from Elena. They immediately dig into the food.
"So, Damon, did you enjoy being cuddled when you were seven?" Ric asks before he bursts into laughter.
"Oh, haha, Ric." Damon says.
"You were cute as a little boy, Damon." Caroline says.
"Ugghh…" Damon groans as he tries to hide himself.
"Yeah, I have to agree, Damon." Katherine interjects, "I remember when I had to help save you from Fredrick. The great Damon Salvatore needed my help." She mocks.
"This is so not what I had in mind for a fun night." Damon mumbles.
"Okay, okay, everyone stop, let's let Damon have some dignity," Stefan defends. Everyone thinks he's serious until he starts to barely hold back his smile and laughter as he adds, "He couldn't help it if he was cuddly cute."
"Ahh, not you too, Stef!" Damon exclaims as he shakes his head.
"So, when are we going to the dance?" Caroline asks.
"Is that all you've focused on since I suggested it?" Damon asks as he looks over at her.
Caroline smiles and nods, "Well, ever since I've found out you've been alive." She restates.
"Nice to see you have your priorities." Damon says.
"Don't deflect my question, Damon." She says.
"I don't know, how about next weekend. You know I still have to find a dance to go to." He says.
"No need, we were talking and we were going to turn this house into the dance room." Stefan says.
"Oh, good to hear that." Damon replies sarcastically.
"Yes, and that way we can all come and have fun. You should go in your military uniform, Damon." Stefan suggests.
Damon deadpans him, and Caroline's eyes go wide with excitement, "Oh, you'll definitely have to do that, Damon!" She screams, "I bet you looked absolutely handsome in it!"
"Oh, he looked downright dashing in it, believe me." Katherine interjects.
"Kill me now." Damon begs anyone that'll listen.
"Wait, you were in the military?" Jenna asks, "What war?"
"I fought for the Confederacy." Damon replies and Stefan scoffs, "What?"
"You didn't fight, Damon. Father sent you off to war and two years later you returned home saying that you've had too much fun to return to battle. I remember the letter Father got from your commander, and you were chastised for weeks. I read it and I could understand Father's embarrassment." Stefan says.
"The Civil War?" Jenna exclaims. "Wait, how old are you all?" She asks the vampires.
"Anna and I were turned during the American Revolution, and Katherine was turned back in 1492." Pearl answers.
"Wow!" Jenna says.
"You know you're right, Damon, you really didn't change much from the transition of childhood to adulthood." Anna says, redirecting the attention over to Damon.
Damon rolled his eyes, "Is this what we're doing now, teasing me?" Damon asks.
"Oh, yeah." Anna, Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Ric, and Stefan announce at once.
"Uggh…break my neck or something." Damon mutters.
Everyone at the table laughs. Damon doesn't really mind the torment; he knows it comes from love. He's glad that he's on good terms with everyone, and he actually is enjoying himself tonight. However, there is one nagging thought running through his mind: who turned him into a little kid? If they wanted him to die, and he isn't should he be worried about retaliation? He lets the thought slip away for now, because tonight he is enjoying the company and just being around his brother.
AN: Okay, I expect a lot more reviews. The last chapter had me so depressed with the one reviewer and all. I won't continue this if I don't get a lot of reviews. I made this chapter extra long, just because I couldn't bring myself to stop writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to put a little more brother bonding in there before I brought everyone into the scene. I can't wait to see what you guys thought of this. Please review. This isn't the end by the way; I've actually realized that I'm going to carry this story on for while. Who turned Damon into a seven year old anyways? What was their goal? Give me your thoughts and ideas, and who knows I may use a few. Thank you to the people who have reviewed, though, I greatly appreciate it, so keep it up. :)