"Step away from the door, Damon. I'm not going to do this with you . . . not tonight," Stefan snarls, taking a step backward, so that he can stare his brother straight in the eye.
Damon smirks, folding his arms across his chest, like a bouncer at an exclusive night club. "Yeah . . . now, see . . . that's where you're wrong, Little Brother," he begins conversationally, ignoring his sibling's growing exasperation. "Because, ever since I starting hanging out with you again, I developed this pesky little habit of wanting to talk about my feelings . . . and share my soul, and blah, blah, blah. It's really kind of nauseating, actually. But, if I'm going to have to suffer through all that . . . well, then it's only fair that you should have to suffer right along with me."
Stefan makes multiple attempts to move around his brother, sometimes even resorting to the use of his super-fast vampire speed. But, each time, Damon effortlessly mirrors his movements, repeatedly blocking his passage.
Once Damon is fairly certain that his brother isn't going to try to escape again, he decides to make another attempt at conversation. "You know how people are always saying, 'I know how you feel . . . and . . . 'I know what you're going through,' when they so OBVIOUSLY don't have a clue?" He reasons. "Well . . . I can honestly say, I KNOW how you feel . . . and I know what you're going through."
This clearly-loaded-with-meaning comment sets the already-on-edge Stefan off completely. He immediately, and ferociously, slams his brother into the back wall of the Salvatore Mansion. "Don't you DARE compare THIS to what happened with Katherine! This isn't even in the same UNIVERSE as THAT," Stefan growls, eyes blazing red, his fangs just inches away from Damon's face.
To Stefan's amazement (and annoyance), Damon doesn't seem the least bit fazed by his brother's use of brute force. And as for Stefan's pointed reference to Damon's tragic 140-year unrequited love affair with Katherine, it doesn't even cause the elder Salvatore brother to bat an eyebrow. Apparently, being loved by Elena has done wonders from Damon's temperament, just as the loss of that same love has seemingly destroyed Stefan's.
"Believe it or not, Stefan, I actually wasn't referring to Katherine . . ." Damon says solemnly.
Damon's words stop Stefan cold. He's right. Stefan thinks, dejectedly. Damon loved . . . loves . . . Elena just as much as I do. And for two years, he has had to live with the fact that she was with ME . . . that she loved ME, and not him. Of course, for all I know, Elena could have loved Damon the whole time we were together. Perhaps, it was ALWAYS Damon. Maybe it will always BE Damon . . .
Suddenly, Stefan feels exhausted. Relinquishing his grip on Damon's shirt collar, Stefan leans back against the wall next to his brother, and slides downward into a sitting position. Damon follows suit. Now the two brothers are sitting side-by-side against the wall. Their feet are splayed out awkwardly in front of them (making them look like two very tall rag dolls). Not ready to make eye contact with one another, both men stare straight ahead at the wall in front of them.
It's Damon who finally breaks the silence. "I'm sorry," he offers.
Stefan shakes his head. "No, you're not. You're thrilled. You finally got exactly what you've wanted all along," he insists bitterly.
Damon nods thoughtfully, "You're right. I'm not sorry that I'm in love with Elena . . . or that she loves me. But I AM sorry that our love for one another had to come at your expense," he explains.
"But it DID come at my expense," Stefan argues, his fists clenched. "You stole her right out from under my nose. I would have DIED for her Damon. I almost DID die for her."
Damon looks down at his lap, contrite. "I know you did. And I can understand if you want to hate me for all eternity, for my part in all this. I'd be devastated, but I'd accept it. What I CAN'T accept, though, is you hating HER. I won't let you hate her, Stefan."
Stefan sighs, and tilts his head back, focusing on a spot on the ceiling. "Why not?" He whispers.
Damon turns, addressing Stefan directly, for the first time, since they sat down on the floor together. His blue-green eyes are wide, and filled with love for his baby brother. "Because she's a good person," he explains, "probably one of the best people I've ever met. And hating someone, who's that good and pure . . . well . . . it rots your soul from the inside out . . . until there's nothing left but hatred, anger, and fear. I know, because that's what happened to ME, when I tried to hate YOU. Some people are just too good to hate," Damon concludes.
"Trust me, Damon, I'm not a good person," Stefan insists, looking at his brother, out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah, you are Stefan. You're a better person than I will ever be," replies Damon with a rueful smile.
Stefan blinks back the tears he feels forming at the corners of his eyes. "Not good enough, apparently," he insists.
Damon then surprises Stefan, by reaching his arm out, and tucking it around his brother, pulling the latter in close to his own body. Instinctively, Stefan rests his head on his brother's shoulder. Being close to his brother like this reminds Stefan of how, when he was a kid, he always used to come into his big brother's room, after having had a nightmare. Back then, Stefan would crawl under the covers with Damon, and the two would sit together just like this. "It's OK," Damon would whisper in his brother's ear, over and over again, until Stefan fell back to sleep.
"You know, when you came back into my life, I thought it was the worst thing that could possibly happen to me," Stefan begins, his head still on his brother's shoulder, eyes closed. "But it ended up being the best thing. I could never hate you, Damon . . . as much as I want to, sometimes. I realize you haven't had much happiness in your life, and I feel at least partly responsible for that."
"No, Stefan, I . . ." Damon interjects.
"Let me finish," demands Stefan. "You deserve to be happy, Damon. So . . . if Elena makes you happy . . ."
"She does," Damon says with certainty. "She really does. Elena's just so . . ." Damon looks upward, struggling to find the right words. "She's amazing! And whenever I'm with her, I feel like I could do anything . . . be anything. She SAVED ME, Stefan. Elena saved me from myself."
Stefan looks at his brother in wonderment. He's never seen Damon like this before, not even when he was with Katherine. For once in his life, Damon Salvatore is truly and utterly content. And it's all because of Stefan's girlfriend . . . well . . . his ex-girlfriend now. "Then, I'm happy for you . . . for both of you," Stefan finishes.
Damon inclines his head toward Stefan, brows furrowed, a look of skepticism on his face. "Really?"
Stefan smirks. "No . . . but I'm getting there," he insists.
Damon laughs, and proceeds to give his brother a noogie. "I love you, ya little turd."
Stefan lifts his head off his brother's shoulder. "I love you too, Asshole," he replies.
The two then rise from the floor in unison, and give each other a long heartfelt hug. "I still have to leave Mystic Falls though . . . at least for a little while," Stefan says, patting his brother on the back. "It just hurts too much to be here right now, with all that's happened. I need some time."
Damon nods sadly. "I know . . . just . . . don't be a stranger, OK?"
"I won't," replies Stefan, moving back toward the door.
Stefan opens the door of the mansion, and toting the suitcase behind him, crosses back over the threshold of his home, into the sunlight. Catching the heavy door with his foot, before it can close completely, he turns. "I know you will take good care of her," Stefan offers kindly.
Damon smiles and nods, "I will . . . if she lets me!"
Stefan laughs, as the door closes behind him with the finality of a loud thud. But his smile slowly fades, as he reaches his car, and tosses his suitcase in the backseat. It is at that moment that the tears truly begin to fall across the younger Salvatore brother's cheeks. For the first time in a long time, Stefan truly allows himself to cry. He cries for his lost love . . . his lost life . . . and for the town to which he fears he may never have the strength or courage to return.
Suck it up, Stefan. Be a man. He scolds himself, wiping his face on his sleeve. Stefan opens the car door, and slowly settles down into the driver's seat.
Stefan is so immersed in his own feelings, and so determined not to feel sorry for himself, that he barely notices the beautiful woman already comfortably seated in the passenger seat next to him. "Where are we going, Loverboy?" Katherine Petrova inquires.
(Thanks to all of you who have stuck with the story for this long. Next up is the big Delena finale . . . and it's going to be a HOT one. Stay tuned!)