Stefan.

Stefan walked home from his little talk with Elena, with a million things running through his head.

Elena saw white smoke and a single crow. It's got to be Damon. He thought. Damon had a unique skill as a vampire, he could shapeshift. Only into two things that Stefan was aware of. A crow and a black dog. But a sudden thought hit Stefan. Doesn't shapeshifting hurt Damon? When Damon shapeshifts he can barely walk the day after he does it. So, why would he do that to himself, just so he could scare someone? Stefan thought vigorously, remembering the multiple times he had to practically carry Damon home after he shapeshifted on the many little adventures the two brothers had. God, did Stefan miss those days.

Stefan shook his head, getting himself to focus on the current problem. Wait, but Damon would think it was Katherine, so why would he try to scare Katherine, of all people? He thought. I'll figure this out later but all that matters right now is that Damon's alive. Stefan thought in relief.

"Damon's alive," he said, letting out a long sigh of relief. Stefan said it out loud because he thinks when you say things out loud they are more likely to be real, and not just himself pretending. Stefan felt a burden that he didn't even know existed, being lifted, and it felt amazing that it was gone. Stefan didn't realize how much not knowing if Damon was alive affected him, until that moment.

Before Stefan realized he was standing in front of the Salvatore boarding house. He walked in and realized that it was about 9 o'clock. He walked into the kitchen and drank the rabbit blood that was in the fridge, because he hadn't even eaten dinner yet. Once he was done Stefan decided that it was time to go to bed.

God, Stefan was exhausted. With all these thoughts about Damon, plus school, Elena looking exactly like Katherine, and meeting Elena at the graveyard. It was all very exhausting for Stefan. Stefan went upstairs and opened the door to his bedroom. His eyes widened when he saw what was waiting for him on the other side.

"Damon?" Stefan said in utter surprise.

"Hello, brother," Damon smiled. But, Stefan found nothing human or remotely friendly in this smile.

"Oh god, Damon," Stefan muttered, covering his mouth with his hands. Tears welled up in Stefan's eyes.

Damon looked like absolute shit. He was so skinny that Stefan could see his bones poking out all along his skin. Damon looked so much older then he did last time Stefan saw him, but vampires don't age. He looked so stressed that Stefan wondered what he could be worried about that could possibly make him look that stressed. Damon's sky blue eyes that used to be full of so much life, were gone. They were so far gone that Stefan wasn't sure if he would ever be able to see those eyes again. His eyes were now frozen cold, that when Stefan looked into them he shivered, Damon's eyes reminded Stefan of staring at two icicles. Along with the cold his eyes were filled with so much hatred that when Stefan looked into them they made a chill go down his spine, and that caused him to shiver in fear. Additionally Damon's eyes had no light left in them. God, they were so empty. They looked so far that it looked like Damon really didn't care about anything anymore. The part that made Stefan feel sick were the bags under his eyes. It looked like when someone messes up their makeup and smears it all over their face. They were so dark that Stefan questioned if they were even real. Damon had red marks on his face as though he had been slapped. Also, Stefan didn't miss the part of Damon's gray shirt that was turning red.

Has he been stabbed? Stefan thought in horror. Vampires heal very quickly so this must have happened recently. Or maybe it was vervain? If it was vervain it heals a lot slower. Stefan shook his head, deciding he would ask Damon about this later.

This can't be Damon?! Or can it? He thought. All Stefan knew is that the Damon he knew was gone.

"What?" Damon asked, interrupting Stefan's thoughts.

"You look terrible," Stefan said worriedly. Damon smiled weakly.

"Ouch. You know I was always the better looking brother," he mocked, giving Stefan that smile again. The smile that made Damon look heartless, and non human. "Are you done backstabbing people yet, or should I come back when you sort out your priorities?" Damon spat, his eyes filling with even more hatred, turning them a dark blue color.

Stefan immediately felt himself get angry. For so long he wanted to see Damon but he forgot how much he actually hated Damon, but mostly Stefan forgot just how evil Damon was.

Stefan used his vampire speed to push Damon against the wall. "Don't just come in here 150 years later saying shit like that!" Stefan yelled.

"This is my house, just as much as yours," Damon pointed out, using his speed to pin Stefan on the wall instead of him.

"I was worried about you Damon!" Stefan screamed, looking into Damon's eyes. "And for so long I wanted to see you, because I missed you. I thought you would change," he added, immediately looking away from Damon's eyes because they made him shiver. "But you didn't! You're still the same conniving, faithless, cold-blooded monster you were years ago!" Stefan yelled angrily.

"Don't call me a monster!" Damon yelled, grabbing Stefan's shoulders and throwing him out the window. The glass cut up most of Stefan's body, but he would recover. Stefan stood up quickly and watched as Damon jumped down to the ground. Stefan tried to punch Damon in the face but Damon was too fast. He caught Stefan's hand and used Stefan's own hand to punch Stefan in the face.

"Oh, you probably shouldn't hit yourself Stefan," Damon joked. Once he was done punching Stefan, he kneed him in the chest and kicked him to the ground. "Your weak Stefan," Damon smiled. He was now laughing hysterically, and to Stefan he looked like a psychopath.

"You monster," Stefan mumbled, with his face in the grass.

"I'm not a monster," Stefan heard Damon whisper. "I wouldn't call me a monster if I were you," Damon told Stefan, Damon had an evil smile on his face. Stefan looked up at Damon and saw he was holding something in his hand. He tossed it up in the air, and Stefan's eyes widened in horror when he realized it was his day ring.

"Damon," Stefan whispered, slowly getting to his feet. "Give me the ring," he demanded. Stefan was going to stand his ground no matter how terrified he was of Damon. That was one of Stefan's best traits, he never quit, and he never backed down from a challenge.

"Beg," Damon responded.

"Excuse me?" Stefan questioned.

"In order to get your ring back I want you to beg," Damon smiled. "So, beg Stefan," he laughed. Stefan took a quick look around for anything he could use to get his ring back. Damon was too powerful now, he couldn't beat him in a fist fight. When Stefan looked around he found nothing to help him, no wood, no vervain, nothing. Stefan's only choice was to do what Damon wanted him to do. Stefan got down on his knees and put his hands together in front of his chest.

"Can I please have my ring back," Stefan asked in an emotionless tone. Damon put his hand behind his head acting like he was going to throw the ring. "Okay, okay!" Stefan screamed. "Damon please! Please give me my ring! I'm begging you!" Stefan begged.

"Good enough," Damon sighed, throwing Stefan his ring. Damon gave Stefan a look that read "now that you know I'm stronger than you. You shouldn't mess with me" and then he was gone. Stefan punched the dirt ground with his fist.

I messed up again! Why do I always do this?! Stefan thought angrily. This was Stefan's second chance with Damon and he blew it. Why would I even say that?! Stefan thought vigorously. Stefan slowly stood up and jumped back through the window of his bedroom. Stefan decided he should go to bed before he obsesses over this so much that he can't sleep. After about 30 minutes Stefan fell asleep.

"You're still the conniving, faithless, cold-blooded, monster you were years ago!" Stefan yelled angrily.

"Y-y-you think I'm a monster?" Damon stuttered, looking completely broken-hearted.

"No I-" Stefan cut himself off when he saw Damon's heartbroken expression turn into an evil smile, in seconds. Damon started laughing hysterically.

"If a monster is what you think I am, then I'll become one!" Damon laughed. "Goodbye Stefan," Damon said psychotically.

"What?-" Stefan started, but he then gasped in pain. Stefan looked down at his chest and saw a wooden stake in his heart. He then looked back up at Damon.

He staked me? Stefan thought, crashing to his knees, and then falling face forwards onto the dirt.

"Why?" Was the only thing Stefan managed to say, before he was about to close his eyes, and accept death.

"Because I'm a monster Stefan," Damon laughed maniacally.

Stefan woke up screaming.

He was covered in sweat, and screaming so loud his throat felt raw. A second later Zac appeared.

"Stefan, are you okay?" Zac asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah I'm okay," Stefan stuttered dizzly.

"But, I heard you scream?" Zac questioned.

"Yeah, it was just a nightmare. I'm fine now," Stefan replied, desperately trying to get the events of the nightmare out of his head.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was it about?" Zac asked, cocking an eyebrow in a sad way.

"Well it was-" Stefan cut himself off. He didn't know how to start. "Zac," Stefan said in a very serious tone. "Damon showed up here tonight,"

"What?!" Zac yelled. Zac was very afraid of Damon, because Damon had tried to kill Zac but he only succeeded in breaking Zac's arm, because Stefan showed up to help Zac.

"Yes," Stefan stated.

"It's too dangerous for any of you guys to be here," Zac responded matter of factly, running his hands through his brownish red hair.

"I know. But I met a girl, and I really like her. And, besides I mostly came here to just restart my life," Stefan sighed. "I don't know why Damon is here," Stefan replied to the look Zac had on his face. "He didn't tell me when I saw him, he just took my ring," Stefan told Zac.

"He took your ring?!" Zac practically shouted. Zac was part of the Salvatore family, he was a human, but he knew that Stefan and Damon were vampires.

"Yeah," Stefan responded, running his hands through his light brown hair. After a minute of silence Stefan spoke again. "He looked sick, Zac. Really sick," Stefan sighed, his eyes glossing over again. Even though Damon was evil, Stefan still cared about him. Damon was his brother after all.

"Oh," Zac said, furrowing his brows together. They stayed silent for what seemed like forever until Zac broke the silence. "Well, I'm going to go to bed," Stefan nodded. "Goodnight Stefan,"

"Goodnight," Stefan waved. Zac closed the door leaving Stefan alone with his own thoughts, which he didn't really care for right now.

Stefan didn't sleep all night after his nightmare, he just couldn't fall asleep. He wanted to, but it just never happened. Stefan sighed and looked at his alarm clock that read "7:15".

Time to get ready for school, I guess. Stefan thought miserably. But before Stefan got dressed he saw something fly out his window, but he didn't see what it was. Ah whatever. Stefan thought, pushing the thought away. Stefan put on a gray zip-up jacket, and dark blue jeans. He grabbed his backpack, not even bothering to eat anything, he just wasn't hungry right now. He used his speed running to get to school. Once he walked in he went right to his locker.

"I know Bonnie," a female voice said behind Stefan. Stefan turned to face this girl and he saw it was Elena. They met each other's eyes. "I got to talk to someone," Elena whispered to Bonnie. "Well see you at lunch Bonnie!" Elena yelled, as Bonnie walked down the hallway. "Hey Stefan," Elena said. "Walk and talk?" She asked. Stefan nodded, while closing his locker. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for pushing you to tell me about your parents yesterday," Elena told Stefan.

"It's okay. I also wanted to apologize for being weird after you mentioned the thing that happened at the graveyard. I was just very curious that's all," Stefan apologized.

"It's fine. It was pretty weird," Elena replied suspiciously. "So how was your day yesterday?" Elena asked, changing the subject.

"Uh could've been better," Stefan mumbled.

"Oh," Elena responded. Stefan could tell that Elena was trying to decide if she should ask why his day was bad or not. But to Stefan's luck she changed the subject. "So, do you want to come eat lunch with us again today?" She questioned.

"Sure," Stefan told Elena.

"Okay great! Well I got to go to class. Catch you at lunch!" Elena yelled happily, waving goodbye to Stefan, and turning the corner

"Bye," Stefan mumbled. Stefan slowly walked to science class.

Science seemed to last forever to Stefan. And god, Stefan was just so miserable. When the bell rang for lunch, Stefan immediately got a little bit excited. He paid for his food, and walked outside to the table that Elena and her friends were sitting at yesterday.

"Hey Stefan!" He heard Elena yell, while she ran to catch up with him.

"Oh hey Elena," Stefan replied, looking beside him, seeing that she managed to catch up with him. "What's up?" He asked.

"Oh nothing," she smiled. Stefan smiled too, she could make him smile any day. "What about you?" Elena asked.

"I'm just trying to not be bored out of my mind," Stefan told Elena. "Science is draining," he added, laughing.

Elena laughed too. "Now, I agree with you on that one," she replied, when they arrived at the table. Caroline and Bonnie were already sitting beside each other at the table.

"Hey Stefan," Caroline greeted.

"Hello," Stefan replied. "How are you guys?"

"Good, but this morning was entertaining," Bonnie and Caroline said in unison. Bonnie and Caroline glanced at each other with confused expressions. Bonnie looked away from Caroline and Stefan heard her say "how did I know she was going to say that?" under her breath. After that there wasn't a lot of talking. All Stefan caught were dirty looks being shared between Elena and Caroline. Bonnie must have noticed Stefan's confused expression because she leaned across the table and whispered in his ear. "They got into a fight this morning." What Bonnie didn't know was that Stefan heard her say "over Stefan," under her breath. Stefan smiled.

So Elena likes me? Stefan questioned in his head. Before Stefan knew it, it was already time for class. He waved goodbye to Elena and walked to the gym.

Stefan was actually very excited for P.E. It was one of his favorite classes, after history of course. He changed into his gym strip and then walked into a world of chaos.

All of the girls were in a big group talking and laughing at each other's jokes, on one side of the gym. And on the other side of the gym were all of the boys, they were playing basketball, and beating each other up. Stefan swallowed hard, hoping when he went to hang out with the boys they wouldn't beat him up.

"Hey, look it's the new kid," a boy in the middle of the group screamed.

This guy had short dark brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes. He was wearing a bright red shirt, and gray shorts. He was shorter than most of the other boys.

"Leave him alone Tyler," the boy beside the brunette said.

This boy had dirty blond hair, and light green eyes. He was wearing a blue tank top, and black shorts. He walked away from Tyler, and towards Stefan.

"Hi, I'm Matt Donovan," he greeted, sticking his hand out.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Stefan," Stefan said, shaking Matt's hand. "Stefan Salvatore," he added quickly.

"Nice to meet you Stefan," Matt replied. "Do you want to play?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Stefan smiled.

"Tyler!" Matt yelled at the short brunette. "I've got a new player. Now the teams are even," Matt stated. Tyler started with the ball and passed it to someone on his team. When this guy tried to shoot, Matt blocked it and intercepted the ball. Matt passed the ball down to Stefan and Stefan dribbled it down the court. When Stefan reached half court he felt himself trip over something. He looked around and saw Tyler standing over him.

"Watch where you're going, new kid," Tyler laughed. Tyler had tripped Stefan. Stefan was mad now, and this was a very bad day to mess with Stefan. He got up, and heard Tyler cheer, and Stefan figured out that Tyler's team had scored a point. Matt started with the ball and dribbled down the court but Tyler knocked it out of his hands. Stefan ran up the court and used just a little bit of his vampire strength to knock the ball out of Tyler's hands. He dribbled to the opposing team's basket and swished the ball into the hoop.

After about an hour of basketball Matt's team was winning 67-11. All because of Stefan. P.E was over now and man Tyler was mad.

"Wow Stefan, you're really good!" Matt said happily. "You should join the team? That is if you want to?" Matt questioned.

"I'll think about it," Stefan said, waving goodbye to Matt.

Finally it's time to go home. Stefan thought, picking up his backpack, and starting to walk home. Stefan again ran into Elena on the walk home, so they got to talk. Right before Elena had to go a different direction then Stefan, she asked him something.

"Can I, uh, have your phone number?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, giving Elena his phone number. "Call me later maybe?" Stefan questioned.

"You bet!" Elena yelled, waving goodbye to Stefan.

When Stefan finally reached the Salvatore boarding house, he unlocked the door very tiredly. When Stefan walked in, he ran into something he never thought he would be seeing again.

"Damon?" Stefan asked, his eyes wide. Damon was spread out on the couch with a drink in his hand. He swished the alcohol around in the cup to acknowledge that he had heard Stefan.

"How was school little bro?" Damon asked, an evil smile spread across his face.

Maybe I didn't lose Damon forever. Stefan thought. They didn't like each other, but it was a start. And, Stefan could deal with that.