"I cant believe you really think I'm gonna have a boy chat with you. I'm not your little gay buddy who spills all his feelings out to you." Damon hissed at Bonnie, who was sitting on the ground in front of him, flipping through her grimoire. She had been badgering him to tell her how he felt about Alaric, when he was alive and after he died, but Damon wasn't going to.

Bonnie smiled at him. "Well, since you're not going to talk willingly, I'll just start reading off spells." She looked back at her grimoire. "Oooh, this one makes it feel like your limbs are rotting off." Flipping a few pages forward, Bonnie smiled when she saw one particular spell. "And this one…" She looked back up at Damon, who had a cold sweat on his face. She stood up, leaning down to look directly in his eyes. "This one deprives your body of blood, making you the most hungry you've ever been in your life."

"Bring it on, witch." The vampire smiled evilly, which made Bonnie sit back on the ground, grimoire open and in her lap. She began reading the spell, and as soon as she finished the first line, Damon's body began feeling dry. Terrible thirst burned in his throat. He let out a large shout when his entire body flashed in sharp pain, then it all suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes to see Bonnie held up by his brother.

Stefan was glaring at her. "I told you and Jeremy to keep an eye on him, and leave the torturing to me. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You were gonna be soft on him! Jeremy and I weakened him up, so you'll have an easier time breaking him." Bonnie pulled herself out of Stefan's grip. She grabbed her grimoire off the floor and turned to walk out. "You're welcome." She slammed the metal door behind her, and Stefan sighed.

Damon stared at him, grinning. "Hello, brother."

"I would say I'm sorry for what Jeremy and Bonnie did to you, but, sadly…I'm not." Stefan stood a few feet from his brother, arms crossed, and a smirk across his face.

"What do you want, Stefan? I'm getting really tired of your little rehab sessions."

Stefan chuckled. "Oh, Damon. You're not getting out of this one any time soon."

Damon sighed, and rolled his eyes. He looked at his brother, face full of doubt. "Really? Well, then. I guess I'll just sit here and rot."

"No, you're going to tell me why you made Alaric move on." Stefan pulled something out of his back pocket…it was a blood bag. He dangled it in front of Damon's face. "When you do, I'll give you a little bit of this."

The older brother's face turned as soon as he saw the blood. "I can't really trust you, little brother. You know…seeing as I've never vervained you, chained you to a chair, and deprived you of blood. I think you should give me the blood first, and then I'll talk." Damon smiled, but Stefan shook his head, returning the blood bag to his back pocket.

"It doesn't work like that, brother." Stefan stepped to Damon, placing his hands on either side of his brother's head, and leaning down to glare into ice blue eyes. "You're going to get out of this killing phase, and I am going to break you."

The words hit Damon's ears like a stake to the heart. He felt tears in his eyes, but he forced them back, and he glared at his brother as his face returned to normal. "Don't ever say those words to me again."

Stefan cocked his head, looking at Damon strangely. "What words?"

"You're going to break me. Don't ever say it again."

"Why?"

Damon had to keep himself from grinding his teeth together. If he wasn't chained and roped to that chair, he would've had his brother by the throat by now. "Because I said."

Stefan laughed and stood back up. "Come on, Damon. We're not children." He brought out the blood bag again. "Why don't you want me to say it? I'm gonna break you, Damon."

"Stop."

"I am going to break you."

"Stefan…"

"Tell. Me."

"ALARIC SAID IT TO ME BEFORE HE DIED, OKAY? JUST AFTER HE TOLD ME HOW HE NEVER LOVED ME." Damon screamed at Stefan, the younger brother's jaw dropping as he stared at the writhing, crying mess that was his own flesh and blood. "HE SAID IT WHILE HE WAS BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF ME, AND I WASN'T FIGHTING BACK. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, STEFAN? ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH MY FUCKING ANSWER, OR SHOULD I GIVE YOU ANOTHER ONE?"

The look on Stefan's face was distraught, and he began stepping backwards. Without saying anything more to his brother, he disappeared.

\\/

The Salvatore brothers parked Damon's Camaro in the woods near the old witch house, but didn't get out of the car. They had been silent the whole ride there. Damon turned to his brother. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Stefan looked legitimately confused, and Damon rolled his eyes.

"Put Alaric's life before Elena's. You could have gotten her back faster if they had Ric."

Stefan sighed, averting his eyes for a moment. "You put Alaric in danger to save Elena, and he got hurt because of it." The younger brother paused, leaning closer to Damon. "I have never seen your face filled with so much sadness as when Klaus had Alaric's head in his hands. You don't deserve that pain, Damon."

"And you do? Next time, do me a favor and don't do any more favors for me. I'll be the judge of what I deserve and what I don't." Damon got out of the car, slamming the door shut. He waited for his brother to join him on the other side of the car, and they began walking. Stefan didn't say anything else about Alaric or Elena. "How do we even know they're here?"

"We don't, but if they're not, we have about ten minutes before Rebekah tears Elena apart."

Damon sighed, and stopped Stefan, turning his brother to face him. "And if they're up here, you know what we have to do, and you know Elena will hate us for it."

Stefan's head dropped, and his voice quieted. "I know," He raised his head again, slight sadness in his eyes. "And I know that if it was her choice, she'd let herself die way before her friend."

"But, she really only has to hate one of us. The one who does the deed." Damon had started walking again.

Stefan didn't say anything for a few minutes, until he realized what Damon meant. He smiled to himself a little. "I thought we weren't doing favors for each other anymore?"

"We're not. I told you to stop doing favors for me. Doesn't mean I can't do any for you." The smirk that captured Damon's face made Stefan's smile grow, but it faded when he heard voices at the top of the hill they were climbing. Firelight flickered in the night sky. Stefan stopped his brother with a hand on his chest.

"They're here. We need to call Elijah."

Damon nodded. "I'll figure out a plan for the witches."

And, he did. He killed Abbey Bennett, turned her into a vampire. He should have just killed her, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Bonnie would hate Elena, and Elena would, in turn, hate Damon. He didn't know why he felt like Elena's hatred for him mattered, but it did. Maybe it was because of his brother, or maybe he still had feelings for the girl. He hoped to God it wasn't the latter.

Damon tried to call Alaric, but his phone went straight to voicemail every time. He figured it was because Ric needed rest, and he thought nothing of it as he got himself ready for bed. The vampire was woken up in the morning by his phone vibrating on the bedside table. He picked it up lazily, not recognizing the number. "I don't know who you are, but you woke me up, and I am very pissed off now."

"Damon, you need to get to the police station, now!"

It sounded like Alaric, and Damon sat up in his bed, wincing at the sunlight peeking through the dark curtains on his windows. "Ric?"

"No, dumbass, it's your other boyfriend." Alaric scoffed. "Meredith shot me, and they're holding me here because they think I'm the one who's been murdering Council members, and they think I went at Meredith with a knife and she shot me in self-defense. Which isn't true, I found the knife on her kitchen table, and it just so happens to be the murder weapon that killed Bill Forbes and the knife I found shoved in my gut."

"How much bail do you need?" Damon was already throwing his clothes on sloppily.

Ric sighed. "I don't know if you've noticed, Damon, but murder suspects don't get out on bail. Just wake the fuck up and get down here." He hung up, leaving Damon in a panicked shock, racing to get dressed and out the door. When he got to the police station, Liz led him to the back holding cells without a word. Alaric was sitting on the bed of the cell, his head in his hands. When he heard footsteps, he looked up and was completely relieved to see Damon.

The human rushed to the bars separating him from the outside world. He glared at Sheriff Forbes. "I didn't. Do it."

"You're arresting him for what this nut job Doctor Fell says?" Damon tried to keep his voice calm. He also tried to keep his eyes off of Alaric, because the human's were pleading and helpless.

Liz sighed. "No, I'm detaining him. The cell is for his own good." She looked at Alaric. "You were shot, Doctor Fell used vampire blood to heal you."

"Doctor Fell is the one who shot me!"

"Because you came at her with a knife!"

"Yeah, with the knife I had found hidden in her things!" Alaric's voice was raising, and he couldn't help it. This situation was entirely ridiculous. All he wanted to do was go home with Damon.

The vampire rolled his eyes. "Are we gonna ignore the part where he's one of the killer's victims? I mean the guy was practically stabbed to death."

Sheriff Forbes looked at Damon sternly. "Doctor Fell suggested that his wounds could have been self-inflicted."

Both Damon and Alaric stared at her incredulously. "Oh my god…you think I stabbed myself?"

"Look, I think I don't know what to think." The Sheriff looked a little defeated. "I've got nothing except murder weapons from your stash, and a respected member of a Founding Family pointing a very long finger."

Alaric wanted to punch the iron bars in front of him. He couldn't believe any of this…he didn't know what to think either. "She is setting me up, I'm being framed!"

"Well that may be so, but I don't have any proof of that."

"We'll find something." Damon's voice was calming to Alaric's ears, as was the compassionate, worried look in the vampire's eyes. Ric couldn't help but smile a little as Liz continued yelling.

"No! Just, stay out of this, Damon." The vampire gave her a hard look, but she continued. "You getting involved will only make matters worse."

"Listen, Liz-"

"Don't make me put you in that cell with him!"

Alaric smiled at the words, because he knew nothing would make either of them happier than to be on one side of the bars, together. It didn't matter which one.

Sheriff Forbes walked away. When she closed the door, Damon immediately pressed himself into the iron bars separating him from Alaric. He reached an arm around the human's hips, pulling him closer. "Looks like this relationship has a new bad boy."

Ric sighed, but he also couldn't help but smile, too. Damon could make a joke in any situation, and Alaric loved that about the vampire. "You're not gonna let me live this down, are you?"

"Not a chance, stud." Damon kissed Alaric as best he could through the restricting bars. When he pulled away, his entire demeanor changed. His eyes were no longer playful; they were hard and stern. The vampire looked straight into Ric's green globes. "I'll get you out of this, Ric. I promise."

The human shook his head sadly. "She said not to get involved, Damon."

"I don't care." Damon's hands slid up Alaric's sides, then back down again. The touch sent tingles through Ric's body, as did Damon's low voice. "You mean more to me that what this town thinks."

"Yeah, and you mean more to me alive rather than dead. The Council will kill you if you act against them. Carol has told you that." Alaric's lips lingered over Damon's. His eyes found the vampire's, and he hoped he relayed the message in his words again, in that look. Alaric didn't want Damon to get into any trouble because of him.

The vampire smiled, if only for a moment. "I thought I told you not to make me worry, and you go and get yourself thrown in jail. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to show me up, stud." After that, Damon let out a breath on Alaric's lips, then disappeared, leaving the human yearning for the vampire's touch.

\\/

A/N: I was going to have a touching, sentimental reunion after Damon got back from the witch house, but then I decided to check the episodes and I had forgotten that Ric was put in jail. THE PLOT THICKENS, MY LOVELIES. I also hope you guys like my Defan moments. I'm not sure how well I write them, both in the future and the past, so let me know if it's good? Please review, it would make me positively giddy.