A/N I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! I ONLY OWN THIS PLOT! THANKS TO MY AMAZING AND WONDERFUL BETA ELENA RAIN! Ok so I'm going to be honest with everyone I had a moment and almost went over to the dark side and became a...dare I say it...Delena fan *gasps* Lol, but I watched a few Stelena moments and now I'm back on the good side. But that will explain the beginning of this chapter. :P Please don't hate me! Sorry for such a long wait, been busy with Holidays and battling the not so welcome writer's block :{

The front door opened and Damon walked in.

"We need to talk, Damon." Stefan said instantly.

"Yeah, just a second. I need to give Bad Boy Gilbert his medicine." Damon said back.

"No, now." Elena said strictly. "Stefan is going to give Jeremy is his medicine. We need to talk." Elena repeated.

"Sounds serious. What did I do this time?" Damon asked sarcastically. He walked over to them and sat on the chair next to the couch Elena was on.

"The depends." Elena answered as Stefan got up and went down to the basement. "My brother…well Jeremy has told me that you beat him to weaken him and squeeze his cheeks together and force the medicine down his throat and then feed him vampire blood to hide the bruises. Is that true?"

"No!" Damon answered automatically. Then he sighed. "Well, not all of it is true. I do not beat him. I do squeeze his cheeks together, but it's the only way to get the medicine to go down. Jeremy doesn't take it willingly. But Elena, if you never believe another word that comes out of my mouth…believe this. I do not, nor have I even beaten your brother."

Elena inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. "I believe you."

"Thank you, Elena, and I know you're still scared I'm going to kill him. But I want you to know if the roles were reversed. I wouldn't want you to kill my brother so I'm not going to kill yours. Because truth be told and if you repeat this to anyone I'll deny it but…but I need Stefan just as much as you need Jeremy. We both may be older but we both know sometimes it's the younger sibling that really helps us more than anyone else can."

Elena nodded her head. "Thank you, Damon. I do believe you now. Thank you for helping take care of Jeremy."

"I sense a but." Damon started softly.

"But….is there any way we can get the medicine to him without squeezing his cheeks together?"
Damon chuckled. "I knew that question was coming."

Elena smiled innocently.

Damon moved to the couch. "I know this is hard. It's even harder because everything is heightened but Jeremy isn't going to take the medicine on his own. So they only way to make him take it is by force. It's why I never let you watch me give it to him."

"But it hurts him." Elena whimpered trying not to cry.

"I promise it doesn't. I make it so it doesn't."

Elena only nodded. "I still hate this."

"I know, me too."

"Me three." Stefan said as he came back upstairs.

"Is he ok?" Elena asked quickly.

"Lucky for me, Jer, was out and he took the medicine willingly. So there was no force."

Elena sighed in relief. "When will he be able to come out?"

Stefan sat on the other side of her and rubbed her back. "It's working, that's a good sign. But Angel we're in for a rough couple of months."

"Months?" Elena choked out.

"If we want this to work better than it did with Ric, which we do, it's going to take time."

"But months?"

"I'm sorry, it's the only way."

Elena buried her face into her hands. Stefan rubbed her back.

Damon glared. "Look, Elena, you've got two choices. You can wait the several months and get your brother back or you can let him out now and then we have to kill him."

Elena jerked her head up. "But you just said…"

"I know what I said Elena, then stop crying over it! It's not worth it! I'm tired of you crying all the time! Your brother is sick we're helping him its working he's going to be fine, GET OVER IT!" Damon actually yelled at her.

Elena stood up as more angry tears filled her eyes. "Just when I was starting to think you were good you've proved me wrong…AGAIN!"

In a flash she was gone. Stefan growled. "Damon! Seriously! Did you have to yell at her?"

"Yes, because maybe if I yell she'll listen to me!"

Stefan shook his head. "No, she'll just lose all respect and trust she has in you."

In a flash Stefan was gone too.

He found Elena upstairs in their room sitting on the bed crying into her hands. Stefan was by her side in a flash. He pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back.

"Does he think I like crying like a baby? Does he think I'm doing this just because I can? He's wrong! I hate crying so much, but I'm scared to death! Can he not see that? I'm scared!"

"No, Baby, he can't see it. Because he turned it all off a long time ago." Stefan soothed.

"But, Stefan, before you came up he was really open and honest about his feelings."

"I know and it's because I came up that everything changed."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked as she sat up to look at him.

"I mean, he's the older sibling. Even if he is scared too, he isn't going to show it. He's going to be tough and care free because he's Damon and that's how is he. Because deep down, Elena, I bet he's just as scared as you are. He just doesn't show it. At least not to me. You're the only person I've ever seen him show real emotion too. I see it sometimes. But it's very rare. Look, Baby, I know he hurt you, but I'm sure he meant every word he said to you before I came up those stairs."

"I know, he's just never screamed at me like that before."

Stefan rubbed her back. "If he wants to save your friendship he won't ever do it again."

Elena just nodded and rested her head on his lap as he stroked her hair and rubbed her back. It was going to be a rough couple of months. Stefan honestly wasn't sure if Elena would survive it or not.

A couple weeks passed and things slowly got better. Damon was nice to Elena again and they made up. Jeremy was…well depending on when you spoke to him, better. Elena couldn't be there sometimes when he was Jeremy because he always made her feel guilty and it was too much to bare. But she always had Stefan and yes, Damon too, to make her feel better.

During the day she'd go to school and learn. Then after school she'd go to the woods with Stefan and train, learning how to fight as well as learning how to control your blood control. She was getting better everyday. She could now have at least half the blood bag before it became too much and she lost control. She was also better and holding herself back when she smelt it and her body begged for her. Stefan was so proud of her. She didn't admit it but Stefan could tell she was really starting to feel more comfortable in her own skin.

After six long, difficult months it was time to check in on Jeremy. They all believed he was ready to be set free but they wanted to be sure fist. Damon and Stefan went inside. Jeremy was curled up on the small cot in a fetal position.

"Jer?" Stefan asked slowly.

"It's me." His soft voice whimpered.

"Are you ok, Buddy?" Stefan asked. "Jeremy hasn't tried to come out anymore has he?"

"No." Jeremy whimpered again.

Stefan went over and knelt down in front of him. "I think you're ok now, Jer, you can leave if you want to."

"No." Jeremy cried out and curled tighter into a ball.

"You're safe, Buddy." Stefan soothed.

"But are you? Is Elena? What if Jeremy tries to take over again?"

"He won't. Bonnie promised that medicine kept him away for good. You're all good now, Jer. Nobody is going to take that away from you again."

"If he's not ready to come out, let's just leave him here. I don't care." Damon said.

Stefan sighed at first but then looked back to Jeremy. "We all believe you're ready to get out of here, but if you don't we aren't going to force you. But when you feel the same way and you're ready to leave we will be upstairs."

With that he stood up and walked out leaving the door opened. Damon followed behind.

They got upstairs and saw Elena's face fall. "What's wrong, where is he?"

"He's not ready to leave just yet." Stefan said. "Just like I was when you and Damon locked me up in there that one time. Remember?"

Elena nodded. "As much as I hated it, I had to let you come out on your own."

Stefan nodded. "You need to do the same for him."

Elena sighed and nodded. Now it was all up the Jeremy and that scared Elena. What if Jeremy never wanted to come out? What if he never felt ready?

A/N so what do you think? I know the time skip seemed rushed but I'm out of ideas. So the next chapter will be the last. I'll reveal then what the next story will be. I'm really excited about it and I think you all will be too. :) Leave me your thoughts in a review please :)

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