Disclaimer: The characters of The Vampire Diaries and Twilight are the property of L.J Smith and Stephanie Meyer. I just borrow 'em

The Cullens had all sped to the window when they heard a car veer off the main road and turn onto their road. No one came that way unless they themselves were going to or returning from work or school. On a subconscious level, they knew it was Stefan and Edward, but they didn't want to believe they would be foolish enough to risk such level of exposure by jumping into a cab on a sunny day. Suffice to say, they were both relieved and scared out of their minds when Stefan stepped out of the car with a bundled up Edward in tow. They had also heard Stefan ask the driver to wait for his money, so Esme grabbed some from her purse and handed it to Stefan as soon as they came through the door, while simultaneously pulling Edward into a relieved hug.

"What were you thinking?" Esme asked both boys while breathing into their necks. She had grabbed Stefan too as soon as he had paid off the cab driver and returned inside. "You can't… You can't do stuff like that, you hear me? You can't just disappear like that. Do you have any idea how wor… worried I was?" she said in shuddery breaths, barely keeping her composure

Stefan hadn't given that much thought to the sun coming out unexpectedly. Thanks to Emily, he had always been able to walk in the sun and therefore had taken it for granted. Edward, on the other hand, sniffled slightly as he hugged his mother. He felt a sudden chill settle in his stomach. As a vampire, he didn't have to deal with biochemical phenomena like adrenaline rush but if there was a vampire equivalent, he was feeling pretty close to the after effects right now. Being seen by humans in any other-worldly form was a big no-no by the Volturi, and their punishments were nothing to be trifled with. Speaking of punishment…

"How much trouble are we in?" he asked his father quietly

Alice winced and Rosalie tsked at the question. Even Jasper and Emmett looked slightly sorry for them, though Emmett was closer to angry than sorry. Edward winced at Emmett's emotion. His eldest brother barely got riled up, and now he looked quite ready to strangle him. His suspicions were confirmed when his father spoke.

"Esme, darling, would you hand me Stefan please?" Carlisle asked in a faux patient voice

Esme nodded. "Okay" and started pushing him away from her.

Edward's eyes turned wide at the same time that Stefan asked a confused "What's going on?". He shook his head frantically. "No! Please no. We're sorry. Please mum"

Esme turned stern eyes to him. "You do the crime; you do the time baby. Now go on" she said to Stefan, giving him one more shove towards Carlisle. She dragged a protesting Edward behind her as she went to the dining table and grabbed a chair, pulling both the chair and her errant youngest back into the living room.

Stefan's face paled when Carlisle pulled him towards the couch. He thought he had been joking when he said he could spa-punish him. "Wait. You can't. this is… please… I'm sorry… Carlisle… oomph" the wind was knocked out of him when his stomach connected harshly with Carlisle's knees. He was distracted for just a second however, and he got back to pleading- more erratically this time- as his trousers and boxers were unceremoniously pulled to his ankles. "Wait wait wait wait wait. Ow. Fu…"

"You finish that thought and you're going to have an unsavory taste in your mouth in addition to this" Carlisle warned

Stefan shut up quickly, the only sound coming from him now being gasps of pain and cries of distress. He shrieked (it was a manly scream, thank you) as Carlisle struck a particularly sore spot, and tried to rein in his sobs so he could beg some more for leniency, only for Edward's tear filled voice to cut through.

"Ow mum, please. I'm s-sorry. S-sorry" the poor boy stuttered. He writhed and bucked and twisted and turned but Esme's hold stood firm. She usually didn't dole out punishment-that was her husband's job- but there were two delinquents this time, and she felt the need to impress upon her youngest child the fact that he couldn't scare her like that. And boy would he learn. She brought her hand down on the naked behind before her again to the yelp of Edward.

Stefan felt a wave of guilt wash over him at Edward's cries. He had talked him into this. This was his fault. The guilt passed quickly though as Carlisle's hard hand brought him back to his own predicament; Edward quickly forgotten. "Uncle Carlisle please" he finally managed, stilling Carlisle's hand, though he didn't notice. "Pl-Please. I swear it won-won't happen ag-again. I s-swear. I swear. Please"

"What did you do wrong?"

"I… I…. we …."

"Edward?" Esme tapped his backside warningly

"We snuck out" Stefan gave in a rush. "We left the house when we were not sup-supposed to. When we were groun-grounded"

"And?"

"And we engender… danger… dangerous…life…" Esme smiled despite the circumstances as Edward tried to form coherent thought. This always happened when he was spanked. She tried to help him.

"You endangered your lives"

"Uh huh"

"Have you learnt your lesson then, or should we continue?"

"Yes… No…. learnt. Learnt les-son please"

"Okay then" Carlisle said. "Only ten more. Count them out"

"Nooooo" Stefan wailed. "But…but…"

"But nothing. Come on, count"

SLAP

"Owwww. One"

SLAP

"T-two"

SLAP

"Three" Stefan whispered faintly. "Please"

SLAP

"Fo-four. Four. Ow"

SLAP

"Fiiiivvve. Oh god"

SLAP

"Ssss…. Owww…. ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow"

"Edward I didn't hear the count"

"Six. Please six"

SLAP

"Sev… sev… seven. Seven. Mama please. I'm sorry"

SLAP

"Edward?" Esme prompted but all she got was loud sobs and quaking shoulders. She prompted again but Edward just couldn't catch his breath long enough to bawl out the count. Her boy had learnt his lesson. She knew she shouldn't leave a punishment unfinished but it wasn't like Edward would notice they ended at eight. Stefan had stopped counting at four and since she had stopped with Edward just a second before Carlisle stopped with Stefan, she knew he had ended at eight as well.

Edward wriggled out of his mother's grasp as soon as he was clothed and dived straight into Rosalie's arms. This was not a surprise. When Edward was punished, his punisher was his enemy number one for all of thirty minutes as he sought comfort somewhere else. Usually it was rejecting Carlisle for Esme but today, well, today was not a usual day. His eldest sister rubbed his back and whispered words of comfort as he sobbed into the crook of her neck while rubbing at his aching bottom like his life depended on it.

"It hurts Rose. It hurts"

"I know" Rosalie comforted. "It's okay"

Stefan just quietly sobbed in Emmett's arms. Unlike Edward who went to someone other than his punisher to get comfort, Stefan didn't want anyone near him at all when he just got a spanking. It always took some cajoling on Damon's part to get him to accept comfort but once he did he didn't let go easily. After the spanking, he had knelt at Carlisle's feet and snarled toothily at anyone who came near him. Emmett had to struggle with him for almost a full minute before he succumbed to the comfort he so desperately needed. He had settled on the couch with Stefan in his arms as he tried to make sense of the hiccupped ramblings coming out of his mouth. Emmett could swear he counted at least ten different languages that Stefan voiced his grievances in. He just continued to hold him as Alice joined him to calm the distraught boy down, Jasper also helping Rosalie with Edward. Their parents had long since left the living room; Esme to the kitchen-probably to cook Stefan a late lunch- and Carlisle to his study, though they knew their father would come down again in about thirty to forty minutes, when Edward would now want no one but his father to comfort him.

Truthfully, a little over half an hour later -with Esme still in the kitchen- Carlisle came back downstairs. He frowned a little when Edward didn't immediately turn to him. His boy was predictable like that. He always turned to his father when he came down the stairs, a fresh wave of tears cascading down his face as Carlisle takes him into his arms and starts whispering sweet nothings into his ears.

"Rosalie?" he said questioningly

She turned around carefully and peered at him over the ginger hair tickling her nose. "He's asleep"

"What?" Carlisle asked, instinctively dropping his voice to a whisper

"He's sleeping" Alice answered this time. "Actually, both of them are. It's so adorable"

Carlisle turned to see Stefan all but sprawled out over Emmett and soundly sleeping. "But, he fell 'asleep' just a couple of-eight months- ago. The last time before that was…"

"'99" Emmett interrupted

"And before that…"

"1980" Alice added helpfully

"Wow. This is…" Carlisle began before being interrupted once more

"They're good for each other" Rosalie concluded

"That is a scary thought" Jasper said, miming a shudder for effect

"You should get them upstairs" Carlisle said after ruffling both sleeping heads, an amused look crossing his face when it earned him a glare from Emmett as Stefan mumbled and moved slightly before settling back down to sleep. "Put them to bed"

"It's okay" Emmett said. "I like the feeling of him in my arms. It's not like I'm going to get tired or anything"

Carlisle rolled his eyes. He was so whipped. "Rose?"

"It's fine dad. Let him stay down here. Nothing's gonna happen. Besides, he might wake up if we tried moving him"

Carlisle rolled his eyes again. Yea, that was the reason. "Ok. Suit yourselves. I'm going to go do some paperwork" he said, kissing both slumbering heads before heading up the stairs.

Esme smiled softly at the scene before disappearing back into the kitchen, putting the food she had prepared for Stefan away. She would microwave it for him later.

Poor poor Stefan and Edward. They had it coming. Please read and review