Chapter 3

Elena woke up before Damon that next morning, which wasn't uncommon when they had sleepovers, or any time really.

Usually, Elena would wake him up just to be THAT person. However, she wanted him to sleep. She didn't even want him to go to school, but she'd have to wait and talk to Damon about that.

She went downstairs to make breakfast and saw that her mom was already a step ahead of her.

"Good morning honey. Damon still sleeping?"

Elena nodded and sat down. "I was coming down to make him breakfast."

Miranda smiled at her daughter as she flipped a pancake. "Well, honey, I think we all know that you aren't the greatest cook."

"I know but if I didn't then he wouldn't eat." Everyone knew that that was true, too. Elena would sometimes bring breakfast to school to ensure that Damon would eat. It bugged her that he didn't eat well. If he was given food, he would eat a whole army, but he didn't like getting up early in the morning to cook it. Of all of their friends, Damon was probably the best cook, he was just lazy.

When Miranda finished, Elena made a plate of pancakes, strawberries, and bacon for Damon and herself and went upstairs. She set it down and went to get ready for school while see let him sleep. When she was done, they had a half an hour until they had to be in school. She decided that she had to wake him.

"Damon? Wake up." She didn't want to touch him because she didn't know where he was sore.

He slowly opened his eyes. "What?" He mumbled.

"I brought you breakfast."

He looked at it suspiciously over on her bed side table. "Did you make it?"
She laughed. At least he still had his sense of humor. "No. Mom did." He immediately grabbed it and started eating. He loved her moms cooking.

"So, how are you feeling? Sore?"

"I'm fine. Really." He told her.

She quickly jabbed him in the stomach with her fingers, but not too hard.

"OW! Elena!" He scolded.
"So you're FINE? You are going to the hospital today. I'm taking you as soon as you finish breakfast."

He quickly got up as he winced. "No, Elena. I can't. I told you that."

She sighed. "I know. And I understand but you are hurt. I don't care about what happens to your dad right now. I care about YOU. You aren't arguing with me about this."
He rolled his eyes and went to get dressed with the clothes that he had left at Elena's from the last time he was over.

Elena told her parents that she was taking him to get checked. Her parents loved Damon, so they of course understood her reasonings for taking him instead of going to school.

At the doctors office they discovered that he had broken his arm, bruised three ribs and needed six stitches in his stomach and three above his eyebrow. Elena, of course, gave him an 'I told ya so,' look and he just rolled his eyes. The doctor prescribed him painkillers and told him that she would send the bill to his house.

Elena brought him back to her house for the rest of the day. All they did was sit and watch movies like they used to. She made him watch some episodes of Greys Anatomy, which he really didn't care for very much. They watched old favorites of there's like The Breakfast Club and Goonies.

They didn't talk much, he wasn't feeling up to it and she didn't really know what to say. What could she say? He fell asleep sometime around two, and she let him.

She heard someone running up the stairs. Figuring it was Jeremy, she went to close her bedroom door.

When she got to the door she saw Stefan about to enter her room.
She quickly stepped outside, trying to distract him so that he didn't see Damon.

"Stefan! What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I knocked but no one answered. You and my cousin didn't go to school today. I went over to his house but he wasn't home. Uncle G doesn't know where he is. Have you seen him? I've been really worried about him. You don't think he's gone and done something stupid do you?" Stefan rambled. It was obvious how worried he really was.

"No." Elena lied quickly. "Let's go downstairs. My room is a mess."

Stefan was surprised. Her room was almost never messy. She was probably the most organized person he knew. And even when it was, she'd always let him in. He just shrugged and followed her down to the kitchen.

"Wait. Why weren't you at school? You don't seem sick." He asked suspicious.

"Well... I didn't really feel well this morning. Girl stuff." She knew he'd probably drop it if she mentioned something about it being that time of the month.

"Say no more." He sat at the kitchen table after he had gotten himself some soda. "Do you know why Damon's been weird? Has he told you?"

Elena shook her head. If she opened her mouth, she knew that she would tell him. Stefan deserved to know what was going on, more than she did. She needed him to help her figure out what to do, because Damon wasn't being reasonable. Would Stefan tell her to go to the cops? Would he tell her to just leave it alone? Probably not. Would Stefan's family take Damon in? He basically lived there anyway. Between her house and Stefan's, Damon was there more than his own home since his mom died. His dad didn't let him out much but he'd sneak out for a night and return early in the morning.

"I don't know what do about him. I want to help him but I don't even know what's wrong. Do you think that he doesn't want our help?"

"I think deep down that he does. He just needs us to be there, like we always are. No drifting away."

"After seventeen years, I'm not suddenly going to abandon him. He's family."

She nodded and then heard rustling upstairs. It was Damon. Probably about to go downstairs after she just lied to Stefan about not knowing where he was.

Damon appeared in the kitchen, finding his cousin and tried to act like nothing was wrong. Stefan's eyes were wide, finding out that his best friend had just lied to him over something that seemed silly, which probably meant that it wasn't so silly.
"Hey, man. What's up?" Damon asked, nonchalantly.

Stefan looked at him, then back to Elena. "Nothing. Just wondering why you're here and why Elena had to hide it from me. What's going on?"

"Stefan, Damon just needed some peace and quiet. That's why I didn't tell you."

"Here? Would you people stop lying to me?!"

Damon looked at him. "I haven't lied about anything."

"What's going on in your life Damon? Why do you have a black eye and a bruised nose? Stitches? A cast on your left arm? What happened and why can't I know? Does Elena? Is that another thing that you both are lying about? And why is it so secretive that you're here?"

Damon sighed. "Some guy at a bar punched me the other night. I didn't want you to be mad at me so I lied. I fell down the stairs and broke my arm and cut open my eyebrow a little bit. Elena found me. She's been helping me out today because my dad wasn't home last night. Elena didn't tell you because I was ashamed."

Elena was surprised at how easy that lie came. She almost believed it for a second. It made her wonder if he was keeping other stuff from them.

And now for worried Stefan Salvatore. "Oh my god. Did you go to the hospital? Do you need to? I'm so sorry I got mad."

Damon laughed. "Elena already made me go, obviously, hence the cast and stitches. Don't worry. I'm just sore."

"You let me know if you need anything." Stefan ordered.

"You can go get me some bourbon...?" He asked hopefully.

"Other than alcohol Damon."

"Then I don't need anything."

Stefan nodded and then said that he had go after receiving a text. He ran out the door.

Damon looked at Elena. "Guess we aren't the only ones hiding something." He was referring to the text Stefan received.

Elena laughed. "Maybe he's having an affair."

Damon laughed. "Can you imagine Stefan having a friend with benefits?"

"Nope." Elena laughed again before getting serious. "You should tell him."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

"Why not?!"

"Because he'd make me do something about it or he'd try to protect me. You know Stefan."

"Maybe he will let you live with him? You don't even have to tell him why. He knows that your dad is a dick."

"Legally, I can't just live with them unless I have a valid reason and I'm not telling anyone anything. I'm not making Stefan clean up my mess. I was the one who ruined Giuseppe's life, I deserve this."

"You didn't ruin his life. He could've taken the high road and went therapy after your mom... But he didn't."
Damon looked down at his hands and said nothing.

"Stay here."


So Stefan ALMOST found out. He will eventually and I'm excited to share that part of the story for you, but you'll have to keep reading ;) What is Stefan hiding? Hmm, I wonder...

Thank you to reviewers , Angelpete87 and Guest. I hope you continue to review!

To Guest: Stefan will definitely have a very large reaction but you have a while until he finds out. I wanted to start this story with Damon only having one person to help him through this (Elena) but Stefan will find out before anyone else, if I continue with my original idea.

Thank you for reading! Review, I love hearing from you!