hi everyone! sorry for the long wait, i had a lot of schoolwork and i didn't have much writing time, but from now on ill try my best to make sure that waits between chapters aren't that long anymore. we have kind of a short chapter coming up, but it makes me really happy every time i read it over for some reason so i hope you like it. enjoy!

Chapter 9 - Parental Problems

Damon needed some alcohol. Now.

He didn't know what in the living hell made him think that he could hide the fact that his dumbass father cheated on his mother from Stefan.

If he just told Stefan the truth, he wouldn't be in his current predicament - which was driving to the nearest bar with his jaw clenched and tears brimming his eyes.

It all started when Stefan sauntered smugly into the house earlier that day. He had gone to the movies with Bonnie and then spent the rest of the day with her, and he had clearly gotten laid… he had that famous sexually satisfied Salvatore smirk. Damon practically wore that smirk everywhere, so it wasn't hard to recognize.

Of course, the grin was wiped off of Stefan's face when Giuseppe stormed out of the house with a suitcase in his hand. Lily had just told the patriarch of the Salvatore family to take a long walk off a short pier, and he hadn't taken that very well.

"I'm sorry, Stefan." Giuseppe said gravely to his youngest son before marching out the door and slamming it loudly behind him.

Stefan came into the living room with a confused expression on his face.

That was when Damon made his first mistake.

Instead of sitting his baby brother down and calmly explaining what happened, he attempted to lie.

"What was that about?" Stefan questioned.

"Stefan, honey-" Lily started, but Damon interrupted her.

"It was nothing, Stefan. Mom and dad just got into a little fight and dad's being dramatic." Damon lied.

He didn't know why he lied, but at that moment, all he could think about was how Stefan would react once he found out. He had this gruesome image of his little brother going into a depressive spiral, crying day and night about how his family was falling apart.

In that moment, when Damon looked at Stefan, regrettably, he didn't see a senior in highschool who could drive and had a girlfriend - he saw a ten year old boy being yelled at by his father because he accidentally broke an expensive vase.

He was snapped out of that vision when he heard his mother's voice.

"Damon, what are you talking about?" Lily asked. She turned to her youngest son. "Stefan, there are some things we need to discuss with you."

"I'm confused." Stefan said, looking at his mother and brother with questioning eyes.

"I know, honey. Just let me explain what's going on." Lily said and sat on the couch, patting the spot next to her for Stefan to join.

He sat next to her tentatively. Damon scoffed, looking at his mother. Wasn't it her idea to keep this from Stefan in the first place? "Mom, what are you doing? He doesn't need to know!" Damon exclaimed.

"I don't need to know what?" Stefan inquired, looking back and forth between his family members.

"Damon, he didn't need to know when we weren't sure, but now that we are, Stefan has a right to know." Lily reasoned.

"That's BS." Damon hissed. He would not have his brother's life ruined. Not in the way HIS life was ruined.

"Can someone please explain to me what the hell is happening?" Stefan asked, his temper rising.

"No, Stefan. You don't need to know. Just go to your room." Damon tried to order. That was his next mistake.

"Why won't you just tell me what's happening? How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a child?"

"Stefan, we're not having this conversation!" Damon yelled.

"Boys, calm down-" Lily tried to mediate but was cut off by her sons arguing.

"Lately we can't have ANY conversation without you treating me like a bomb that's about to go off!" Stefan replied angrily, standing up.

"Because you're finally happy! I don't want to ruin that!"

"Damon, the only thing that you're doing that's keeping me from being happy is hiding things from me!"

"You say that now, but-"

"Abbastanza!" (enough)Lily shouted, jumping up from her spot on the couch.

The Salvatore brothers' heads snapped towards their mother. When Lily spoke in Italian it meant… for a lack of better words…she was pissed.

"Entrambi dovete stare zitti e sedervi! Urlare avanti e indietro non causa altro che più conflitto! Ho avuto una lunga giornata e non ho più la pazienza di affrontare due bambini di cinque anni! Sei cresciuto, quindi comportati come tale!" (You both need to shut up and sit down! Screaming back and forth causes nothing but more conflict! I've had a long day and no longer have the patience to deal with two five-year-olds! You have grown up, so act like it!)

Stefan and Damon were both much smarter than to disobey their mother, so they silently sat on the couch as Lily paced in front of them. Though the brothers were quiet, there were noticeable ticks in both of their jaws and their fists were both clenched.

"Much better. Thank you." She said calmly. "Stefan, I'm sorry to tell you that your father and I are getting a divorce. He's been cheating on me for the past few months and I'm done with him."

Stefan swallowed. He knew it was only a matter of time… Giuseppe was bound to make a big mistake some day. But it hurt in an indescribable way. It was scary… like he missed a step going down the stairs. But he wouldn't let Damon see that he was in pain. He needed to show his brother that he could handle things.

He turned to Damon. "You weren't going to tell me?"

Damon's jaw locked in place and he shook his head.

Stefan scoffed, got up and walked out the front door before his mother or brother could stop him or even realize what he was doing.

Stefan hadn't come back home. It'd been hours, and his little brother was nowhere to be found. Lily was freaking out - she called Bonnie, Matt, Tyler - hell, she even called Elena . When Lily called Lexi, who was being extremely suspicious, she realized that she was who Stefan was with. She also figured that her youngest son didn't want to come home, and she respected that. At least for the night.

Damon, on the other hand, was drowning his sorrows in alcohol. Just the way he liked it. He knew he should deal with his shit, but for now, it just felt so good to put it off.

•••

Bonnie stayed in her bed hours after Stefan left, just staring at the ceiling. She said she wasn't going to get involved with the Klaus/Cami situation, but she was just so curious.

Who was it that Klaus loved so much to break up with Cami?

Bonnie, it's none of your business, was the mantra that she repeated to herself as she plopped herself on her desk chair and got a piece of paper and a pen from the drawer.

She scribbled out in her sloppy handwriting: 'Klaus' possible love interests'.

She bit her lip as she tried to come up with her first candidate.

Maybe it was Sybil? Sybil worked at the local library and Klaus spent a lot of time there - the quiet library was a much more peaceful workplace than the crowded Mikaelson house, even if it was a mansion.

Or perhaps it was Davina Claire. She'd had a crush on Klaus for years, and maybe she finally got her paws on him when he was with Cami.

Bonnie wrote both names down but crossed them each out a minute later.

Sybil was in a committed relationship with this dude named Markos that she met on a dating website. And as big of a crush Davina had on Klaus, she didn't seem like the type to sabotage he and Cami's relationship, so neither of them could work.

Maybe it was Valerie Tulle? She and Klaus could've bonded over being British or something. Or Qetsiyah, Bonnie's cousin that visited from Greece once. Bonnie was like 90% sure that her cousin and Klaus had a little something going on.

It could've been that foreign exchange student named Nadia or the lady (Rose-Marie) who worked at the grocery store!

The options were endless, and Bonnie, who was still chanting 'it's none of your business' in her head, just had to get to the bottom of it.

She grabbed her phone and clicked on Lexi Branson's familiar contact. In order to figure this mystery out, she'd need some help.

•••

Lexi sang loudly to the tune of the rock song blasting from her mini speaker, taking a big sip from her wine glass. She was livin' the life.

She was staying in a rental apartment outside Mystic Falls. Her neighbors were most definitely annoyed to hell and back with her - she spent most of her time getting drunk or blasting music. She didn't miss the scornful glares the old lady who lived in the apartment below her, Mrs. Decker, sent her

She grew up in Mystic Falls, went to high school there, but when her dad died when she was in her senior year, she fled the town to look for something new. She'd spent the last three years traveling around using the trust fund money from her rich grandparents.

She turned the music down when her phone rang. It was Bonnie.

"Hello?" She said in a singsong voice when she picked up.

"Lex Luthor, I need your investigator skills." Bonnie said, sparing the formalities.

"Alrighty then." Lexi plopped down on the couch. "What's the case?"

Bonnie sighed. "It's pretty complicated. Basically, I'm suspecting that Klaus had another lover when he was with Cami."

Lexi squinted her eyes as she tried to recall something. For some reason, that rang a bell in her head.

"Y'know what, I feel like I know something about that." Lexi remarked. "Maybe I spotted him with someone on one of those many night's where I was wasted. I don't know how, but you know how nosy I can be when I'm drunk. "

Bonnie chuckled. "That's what I love about you, snoopy."

Lexi smiled. "Can you come over?" She asked.

"I'll be there in ten." Bonnie hung up the phone.

Lexi snorted at the fact that Bonnie had called her without saying hello, demanded that she solve a mystery for her and then hung up, again, without saying bye. Manners, Bonnie, manners.

Not even five minutes later, Lexi received a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal an upset looking Stefan. There were tears glistening in his eyes and his hands were stuffed in his pockets, trying to imitate some sense of casualty.

"Stef? You okay?" She questioned.

He frowned and shook his head. Lexi stepped out the door, enveloping him in her arms. She let him cry for a minute, and then they went back inside and sat on the couch. She let out a humorless laugh when he wiped away his tears quickly, as if it would hide the fact that he'd been crying from her.

Lexi cleared her throat. "Do you, uh, do you want to talk about it?" She wasn't great at emotional talks but Stefan looked heartbroken, and she'd do anything for that kid.

He sniffed and shrugged. She raised her eyebrows. "Is that supposed to be an answer?"

Stefan chuckled a bit, and Lexi smirked. Hey, she got him to laugh. "My parents are getting a divorce."

"Oh, shit." She frowned and hugged him again. "I'm so sorry, Stefan."

"And Damon and I got into a fight. He thinks I'm a baby or something." Stefan said with a dejected look.

Lexi neglected to point out that at the moment he did kind of look like a baby with his eyes puffy and a pout on his face, but decided to kiss his forehead instead. That was a bit more moment appropriate. He stayed in her arms until another knock sounded on the door.

"Who the hell is it now?" Lexi muttered to herself as she squeezed Stefan one last time before getting up to open the door.

It was Bonnie.

"Okay, so I have four main suspects for Klaus' side h-" Bonnie started, holding up the list that she scribbled down earlier. She cut herself off when she saw Lexi's grim expression.

"What's wrong Lex?" She asked with furrowed brows.

Lexi took Bonnie's hand and led her into the living room where Stefan was sitting. When he noticed Bonnie's presence, he mindlessly got up from the cozy couch and engulfed her in his arms. She automatically wrapped her arms around him and began rubbing circles in his back. Stefan immediately felt better.

Bonnie pulled away to look at her boyfriend's face. His beautiful green eyes were red and lined with tears and his lips were parted - he had to breathe through his mouth since his nose was clogged from all the crying.

She didn't know why he was sad. All she knew is that she wanted to punch whoever did this to him. She also knew that she never wanted to see him in pain ever again, whether it be physical or mental. She wouldn't be able to take it. She sighed. "I'm so sorry, baby." She whispered as she met their foreheads.

Stefan had a firm grip on her waist as he dragged her in for a deep kiss and then another hug. "I'm okay now that you're here." He responded in the same hushed tone.

Lexi beamed as she watched them. We've established how nosy she was, she really didn't want to stop snooping, but eventually she sighed and turned to go into the kitchen, letting her friends enjoy the privacy of their intimate moment.

thanks for reading! lemme know what you thought of this chapter in the reviews!