Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I just want to take them out and play with them. I'll put em back, pinkie swear. (evil smile)

Author Notes: To be honest, I have fought for so long not to watch Vampire Diaries, convinced it was some knock-off Twilight (which I never saw and never wanted to and still don't. Sorry, Twightlers, but sparkling vampires...no thank you) Buttttt Netflix kept recommending TVDs. I watched the trailer for it, and I'm not sure what came over me, pure boredom, I guess, wanting to find another thing to binge watch other than rewatching Supernatural for the 100th million times, lol. I was like, what the hell? I'll give it a shot. Daaaaaamn I'm late to the party, but man, I'm glad I did. Anyhew, here I am; a few months later I've been hooked, and I now can't stop watching. So yeah, instead of working on my other stories like I should be...I'm only thinking about Vampire Diaries. So here you go, my first TVD's fanfic.

I hope you enjoy and like it and maybe want more in the future.

If there are any mistakes (waves hand in front of you), these are not the mistakes you are looking for. Yeah, I did it, I Obi-Wan you!

Warnings: Some child abuse just so are aware.

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"

1859

"Damon, come on! I don't want to be the Indian anymore! It's your turn to be." An eleven-year-old Stefan Salvatore yelled out through the woods that he was currently traipsing through loudly. So clamorously, his older brother Damon Salvatore, who was out of sight, could pinpoint exactly where his little brother was presently roaming. For a tiny human, Stefan was making so much noise the next state could hear him. However, that did not stop the smile that began to form on the older Salvatore's face as he continued to elude Stefan.

At eighteen years old, Damon had more adult things to do with his time than play Cowboys and Indians with his kid brother. However, that all changed when he found his little brother brooding more than usual. For such a young child, Stefan had the ability to be overanalytical and have such strong feelings about situations that Damon, on the other hand, could care less. Yet when Stefan started acting different and not wanting to do his normal activities of terrorizing everyone that came in arm's length, Damon realized what was causing Stefan's shift in demeanor. It had been a year since their mother had died. She had left them to defend themselves against their father, Giuseppe Salvatore. Not that she had a choice in the matter, that she had contracted conception. Deep down, completely submerged in the far recess of his brain, Damon was angry at her for leaving them behind. Yet he never would have told a living soul, not if he could help it.

He knew he had to get his brother's mind off their mother, Lily Salvatore, and thinking about other things that normal eleven-year-olds thought about. Such as trying to find his older brother in the backwoods of their plantation home. The sun was starting to set, and he could hear the irritation in his brother's voice as he continued to yell. Damon was pretty sure he heard Stefan's little legs tripping over tree roots. Damon wanted to wait for a few more minutes so that he could get behind his younger brother and surprise him.

Damon could now hear that Stefan had turned around and was headed back to their house as the sun began setting and it was starting to get darker amongst the trees. Knowing his back was turned, Damon soon started making his way. Stefan stopped suddenly and began slapping himself as mosquitoes began to land on any exposed skin and try and take his sweet blood.

"You little mosquito-buggerer."

Stefan was concentrating so hard to stop the tiny insects from landing on him he never heard Damon creeping up behind him. It wasn't until he was suddenly flung into the air and then brought back down to the ground with Damon on top of him and putting all his weight down on the younger sibling.

"Hey brother. I win."

"You make that face. It's going to get stuck like that." Damon smiled as Stefan struggled to get up, but he was no match for his older brother's weight and size. If looks could kill, Damon would be dead, and Stefan would be the victor.

"You fight unfairly, now get off!." Stefan was fuming at how easily had Damon bested him—struggling without the ability to accomplish much ground.

"Not before I do…," holding the last word for anticipation, Damon watched as Stefan stopped squirming just long enough to hang on to Damon's words with trepidation.

"THIS!"

Damon then began tickling Stefan, who began kicking and thrashing but letting out a high pitch squeals of laughter as Damon knew all the right spots to hit. Stefan knew he was at the complete mercy of Damon.

"DAMON, STOP. NO PLEASE" Stefan pleading for mercy but receiving none.

It felt like an eternity to Stefan, but it was only for a minute before Damon and Stefan could hear the dinner bell began ringing from the house, which meant supper time, and Damon would finally stop his onslaught of tickle torture. Finally relenting, he stood up, brushing himself off, and then before Stefan could even ask for a hand up or protest at needing assistance, Damon reached down and pulled his younger brother up. Damon even went as far as to start to brush Stefan off as Stefan tried to protest under his breath, but Damon was too quick. First, Damon wanted to make sure he looked presentable for their meticulous father, Damon then doing the same to himself. Though it was hard to tell if he got everything due to the sun setting fast, they were beginning to lose light. Suddenly a thunderous slap was heard, and Damon was hundred percent sure that it had echoed through the forest. He looked down at Stefan.

"I hate these stupid things," Stefan mumbled as he wiped away the dead carcass of another misguided mosquito that dared to land on the young Salvatore.

"You and me both brother, me and you both." They both turned around, Damon putting a hand over his brother's shoulder. "Come on, let's get going before father has something else to complain about."

The two siblings walked side by side as the night fastly approached, and they made their way back to their home. One of the servants who had been ringing the bell stopped once she saw the two younger Salvatore's making their way up the dirt path. "Bout time, thought I'd have to send out a search party." Miss Charlotte called out to them with her hands on her hips. As she got a better look at the disheveled and dirt caked all over their clothes, she could only imagine what their father was going to say. "Oh lord, you two, you better get cleaned before Master Salvatore sees you both. He'll skin y'all alive! Now get."

Stefan looked up at his older brother to see what he would do but, Damon said nothing, just held his tongue. They both knew better than to disobey Miss Charlotte. he loved her to death, but she knew how to put both young men into place with just a look.

Without saying anything else, Damon walked forward, with Stefan following closely behind. Stefan slammed into his brother's back as his older brother abruptly stopped. He was pretty sure he knew exactly why his older brother had not continued up the stairs. He didn't want to look as though he'd see a monster in front of Damon. If you asked Damon, their father was a monster. Stefan slowly peered around Damon's back to see their father standing near the study with a drink in hand. Their father had started early, which was never a good sign.

"Stefan, go upstairs and get cleaned. I need to speak to your older brother."

Stefan could faintly hear Miss Charlotte stepping away. She could not defend them. It wasn't her place. Though he somewhat wished she could save them both, it just wasn't meant to be. Stefan was rooted in his spot, not wanting to leave Damon to their father. It always felt like Damon got the full brunt of everything. Maybe he was too young to understand the reasoning, but most days, it felt like Damon could do no right by their father. It could start raining outside on a random sunny day, and somehow, it would be Damon's fault. Honestly, it wasn't fair. Stefan felt the glare of their father. He must have gotten lost in thought.

Giuseppe Salvatore's eyes left Damon's, and his hard stare fixated on the young Stefan still hiding behind his big brother. Stefan could feel himself slowly trying to swallow but finding it tremendously resistant. "Stefan, do I need to repeat myself."

"No, Sir." Stefan knew what that meant, and he took the warning for what it was. Glancing up one more time at his older brother, who had looked down at him as their eyes connected. Damon gave a slight nod, and Stefan did not want to make their father angrier than he already was. So he took off up the stairs, practically taking three at a time.

Damon had tracked his brother running up the stairs until he could no longer see him and heard his little feet hit the wooden floorboards and then the sound of his door opening and then closing. Damon slowly let his eyes come back and rest on his father. He was not sure what their father was going to do. It depended on how much the older Salvatore had consumed that day. As his father got closer, Damon could smell the liquor on the man's breath. Giuseppe wasn't slurring or stumbling, so he was still coherent and could hold a thought. That could be seen as a bad or a good thing, depending on Giuseppe's mood.

"So, where were you? You were to be in my office helping me. Learning the business, our very lively hood that puts food in your bellies and a roof over your ungrateful head."

Damon was swallowing slowly, trying to find the words he wanted to speak. He didn't know what to say to the man he despised. Damon wanted nothing more than to find a way to leave this house and never look back. Yet, Damon knew if he did such a thing that would leave Stefan in the hands of their father, he could never leave Stefan to be brought up by Giuseppe. No telling what kind of man Stefan would turn into then. The idea of Stefan turning into their father made him want to be sick. Yet somewhere deep in the recess of Damon's psyche, he wanted the approval of his old man. Yet, he would never admit to anyone breathing. He'd rather chop off a limb before he acknowledged that.

"Speak up. Or should I believe that my older son, who is a man, rather traipse through the forest with a child than do what is expected of him?"

Damon finally found his courage, his voice. "Father, Stefan was not himself. So I thought to bring him out of his set mood by getting his mind off of things."

There was no doubt about it in Damon's mind that Giuseppe always favored the younger sibling, and so, of course, Damon would use it to his advantage. It wasn't like he was lying. He was trying to improve Stefan's mood.

"Why would Stefan be in a mood? He's eleven." Giuseppe said with such a bite that made Damon want to scream and punch their father right then and there. The tone and how Giuseppe was speaking it as though Damon was stupid for even thinking there could be something wrong with his baby brother. Because young children should have nothing to fear or worry about, they should be worried about minding their parents and learning how to be future adults.

Damon almost laughed out loud. Either the man in front of him honestly did not remember his wife's one-year passing because he was wasted and forgot. Or the sadder idea Giuseppe did not know what day it was.

"Well, the one-year anniversary of our mother's death could have a big part in his mood. You know, your wife, Lily? Or have you forgotten her already so fast?"

The slap came so quick and so fast that it almost made Damon's teeth hurt. However, the anger that had begun to boil in his body fueled him enough to be able to turn his head slowly and stare his father down as though the strike meant nothing to him.

The two men now squared off. Either one not wanting to budge or back down, seeing as the other one would feel they just won the argument. When Damon was sure that Giuseppe was going to slap the shit out of him again or something worse, the sound of someone walking on the floorboards behind Giuseppe broke the stalemate. A soft clearing of the throat made Giuseppe finally broke his stare and turned around.

"Yes, Miss Charlotte."

"Sir, the table is set, and dinner is ready to be served."

"Thank you."

Damon watched as his father turned back around, and before Giuseppe could say or think of something, Damon quickly took over the conversation. "May I be excused so I can freshen up."

Giuseppe had barley had gotten the nod of his head yes before Damon was up the stairs and into his room. He was trying so hard not to slam the door behind him. Damon fell onto his bed, thinking of how much he loathed that man and wondered what their lives had been like if it had been Giuseppe who had gotten conception and not their mother. Things would have been different indeed. He touched his tinder cheek and closed his eyes, not wanting to cry, but he could still feel a slight tear rolling down the throbbing cheek.

Unbeknownst to either Giuseppe and Damon, two small green eyes had watched the entire thing unfold. Stefan had pretended to go to his room, even mimicked opening and closing his door. Tip-toeing to his favorite hiding spot overlooking the stairs completely out of eyesight. His entire core shook when he saw their father struck Damon hard across the face. It wasn't like it wasn't there the first time, nor sadly they're last. But it always hurt Stefan deeply when he saw this happen to his big brother, the man he looked up to and secretly idolized.

It reminded him of one of the worst beatings Stefan ever received at the hands of their father. He'd gone out to play in the woods but did not return home as always instructed to do so. Stefan knew better than to disobey a direct order from his parent. However, he would have done what was asked of him if he hadn't stupidly got lost in the woods, and the only thing lighting the way was the moon. What made the whole situation worse was being attacked by some animal that either felt threatened or saw him as a meal. He never knew what it was, but it had slammed into him with enough force causing him to strike the soft ground, his head connecting viciously, causing him to instantly blackout and lose consciousness.

Stefan did not know how he got to his house in his bed and who his savior was, just that he had been found and returned safely at his home. It wasn't until a few days that he recovered their father made him get a tree branch outback. Thinking to be innovative and find the smallest branch one could find, this ended backfiring on him tremendously. It ended up hurting worse than anything he had ever felt before.

He'd been struck and got an ass whooping before, but this time the smaller branch made it ten times worse. Then again, maybe it was because his father was hitting him harder than ever before.

Stefan could not stop himself from crying uncontrollably and screaming out in pain as each hit came down earnestly and swifter. He just wanted it to end. It would abruptly come to a finish when his big brother stormed up into the office, announcing for their father to stop.

The spanking had stopped, and Stefan pulled his trousers up and slowly slinking away from their father. Giuseppe's face beat red as he looked like he would start on Damon for daring to interrupt. Giuseppe slammed the branch hard on the desk and pointed a finger to Stefan, who was trying to be not seen or heard as he made his way cautiously behind his big brother seeking protection.

"There are monsters out there, Stefan. I'm trying to protect you. You don't know what lurks out in those woods."

Coming out of the memory, Stefan continued to watch the scene unfold in front of his eyes. After their father had struck Damon hard across the face, it was only a few seconds before he heard the distinct voice of Miss Charlotte telling them dinner was ready.

Before Stefan knew it, he heard Damon rush up the stairs and go into his bedroom. Guilt plagued Stefan. The only reason that their father struck Damon was because of his inability to be happy. He didn't know what was wrong, just that he just felt sad and didn't feel like doing much of late, including playing outside. He didn't want to tell anyone because big boys don't talk about their feelings. They suck it up and move on. Or that's what his father kept telling him to do. It indeed was Stefan's fault, and they also came back before dusk, which was another rule they broke.

After Damon had gone to his room, Stefan finding that he was holding his breath for fear Damon would see him or even hear his breathing. He stayed put for fear that their father would come right up the stairs after his older brother. Yet he let out a slow breath when he heard his father's footsteps depart the foyer and what sounded as though making his way to his office.

Creeping as quickly as he could, Stefan made his way to his room. He hurried up and began undressing and trying to wash up. The last thing he needed was to be late, and somehow it turned out to be Damon's fault, and their father then had a reason to take his anger out on his big brother. All because Stefan was a bad brother. He angrily brushed a single tear rolling down his cheek. Big boys didn't cry. He should know by now. He had to be strong, like his older brother. Stefan realized he didn't want his brother protecting him anymore; Stefan wanted to save Damon from anyone or everyone. Or at least die trying.

TBC...