I realized that I did some bad math and needed to get rule six in. Bonnie was saved from a paddling by my need to fix up a plot hole. Stefan finally gets some aftercare!

Stefan wasn't able to fight down a flush as he watched Damon hang up the new paddle he'd just bought on the wall above the fireplace in the library. It was two feet long, about foot wide, and three inches thick with ten holes drilled in its blade. When he was done, Damon took a step back and took a moment to smile in satisfaction at a job well done.

"I'm sure you looked over all your rules this morning, Stef," Damon said. Stefan nodded, flush deepening as he thought of the black leather bound diary resting on his desk. "Got them memorized?"

"Yes, sir," Stefan said.

"Rule six," Damon asked.

"Paddled at school, paddled at home," Stefan said as he reached behind to rub his sore sit spots. "Did we go over that during, ah," why was his skin so pale? He squirmed as face became redder than his well spanked posterior.

"The conversation we had with the brush?" Damon supplied after Stefan spent a few minutes failing to get that out. After a nod, Damon answered, "No. I think I accidently skipped that number."

Stefan decided to be glad he wasn't learning about that face down over his big brother's knee. It was also a rule he already expected to be made official and thought it fair, so he couldn't find himself too annoyed by it.

"Fair warning," Damon said, "your principal is a bit on a tear lately. He's pushing the teachers to start handing out licks for every misbehavior. In public. He thinks the more students are squirming in their seats over the coming months, the better." Damon squeezed Stefan's shoulder and gave his little brother an affectionate smile, "Ric told me that there's a strong push to end the limit of swats and to make them mandatory for every student. A well behaved and squirming student body might be all the proof he needs to get it approved by the school board."

Stefan knew his brother was counting down the days until he could make a joke about the board of education being applied to Stefan's seat of learning. "What does he think of that?"

"Archaic," Damon said, "but teachers aren't getting a choice either." He was suddenly standing in front of Stefan and removing Stefan's hand to give him a few gentle taps on the behind. He remembered being little and thinking his backside belonged mostly to his big brother, who smacked it to teach and protect Stefan. He'd hated and feared a spanking, but had always understood they were helpful, even during the times he'd protested them. Damon was continuing to pat Stefan's bottom and Stefan had a sinking feeling that this version of Damon considered Stefan's behind his property that he was entitled to punish however he saw fit. "But I think seeing how much better behaved you're becoming will turn him around."

Alaric was a hunter and physically very strong. He could probably make those torture devices the school used to punish misbehaving teenagers extremely well. They'd worked together a few times as partners but he couldn't help but think the power dynamics would shift rapidly under this new policy if Stefan was caught misbehaving in his class. He'd start to see Stefan less a vampire and more a child. If Damon had his way, Stefan would have very few chances to remind anyone what he was capable of.

He wondered if Damon would smack him if he stopped calling the history teacher Mr. Saltzman outside of class. He'd only started to do that to annoy Damon, but he wouldn't be terribly surprised if that backfired on him. What if Ric scolded him? Or called him a young man? Stefan needed to make sure that his middle name was erased from al publicly available records. Ric might be the type of spanker who'd use his full name.

"Do your chemistry extra credit," Damon said, "your school stuff is still on kitchen table. I want your ass glued on the chair the entire time." He swatted Stefan non too gently and reminded him, "I'm punishing you, baby brother. It's supposed to hurt."

"It sounds like you're heading out again," Stefan said.

Damon guided Stefan to the kitchen, landing firm swats on his sit spots as he did so. Stefan was able to keep his cries to himself until they were at the kitchen table and Stefan was bent over and and given a brief, but sound thrashing. He didn't bother to hide his yelps as Damon focused on reheating his sit spots with smacks so hard that they sizzled terribly even through Stefan's jeans.

"Sit," Damon said, pushing Stefan onto the chair. "I have some things I need to do. Can I trust you to obey me?"

"Yes," Stefan said, "I deserve this for how badly I've been treating my teachers."

Damon gently squeezed the back of his neck. "Don't dwell on it after this is over. Let the punishment clean the slate."

"Might work this time," Stefan admitted.

"Why do you think I've been so hard on you?" Damon said, brushing his fingers through Stefan's hair.

Stefan looked down at his marked up chemistry extra credit he had to redo. He felt sick to his stomach. "I've been assuming the worst, brother."

"Because I've earned it," Damon said, "I know how much I've hurt you. Instead of beating yourself up, let me earn your trust back. I'll whip you if I catch you brooding about this."

Stefan nodded and looked down. He should have been spanked much harder for what he did to Amber. He deserved a sound paddling for being so bratty. He - he should have explained why it hurt so much for Damon to use Lexi's brush instead of yanking it out of Damon's hand. He'd barely given Stefan anything to cry about when Stefan demanded more human blood. And he probably should have gotten the ruler -

Damon turned his chair around, grabbed Stefan's chin and forced his head up. Damon's icy blue eyes were stern. "Whose in charge here?"

"You," Stefan said, "you should have strapped me for what I did to Anna."

Stefan was crying. Damon gently brushed the tears away with his thumb. "I am in control of your punishments, Stef. How much or little I spank you is up to me. Your only job is to submit to and learn from them."

"Yes, sir," Stefan said.

He was very surprised when Damon pulled him into a hug. It felt like it'd been centuries since his big brother held him. He buried his face in the crook of Damon's neck and clung. After a few minutes, Damon pushed him down and turned his chair around. Stefan squirmed and a spark of pleasure shot up his chest when Damon dropped a kiss on his head.

"Obey me," Damon told him.

A few hours into the morning, Stefan's phone rang.

"I'm with Bonnie," Elena said, "and she's agreed to let you help. She's at her Gram's house."

"I'll be there soon," Stefan promised.

Stefan prayed he wouldn't get a strapping as he headed out. He felt terrible about disobeying Damon, particularly after he'd been treated so gently earlier, but he could not, in good conscience, deny Bonnie help. No matter how severely Damon decided to handle him, it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as what Bonnie went through when she helped them with the tomb vampires and lost her Grams.

Bonnie looked shocked when Elena pulled Stefan into the house. "I didn't invite him in," she hissed.

"The house isn't in your name," Elena said.

"I can get that changed for you," Stefan said. He wanted to offer to get her in contact with Bree, who could teach her more ways to protect herself from vampires, but he was afraid of overdoing it.

"We'll need to do that soon," Elena said, worrying at her lips, "Bonnie's usually here instead of with her dad."

"Elena!" Bonnie hissed.

Elena did not look ashamed. "I'm not leaving you unprotected. You're practically vampire bait like this!"

For a moment, no one could talk because of an oncoming onslaught of hail that hit the roof with loud bangs. Bonnie closed her eyes tightly and started to take in deep and slow breaths. After a moment, the hail stopped.

"You knew Emily, right?" Bonnie asked Stefan. Her voice was stiff and her words clipped. Stefan nodded. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"You've figured out it's tied to your emotions," Stefan said, "it looks like you can calm it down really well."

Bonnie's eyes flashed. "Don't patronize me, Stefan."

Stefan stopped Elena from scolding Bonnie with a pleading look. He held up his hands to Bonnie and took a few steps toward her. Bonnie held her ground. Stefan kept plenty of space between them. "You have a lot of raw power, Bonnie. The fact that you can influence the storm at all without years of training is impressive."

"Stefan can help us decode your Gram's grimoire," Elena said. She wrapped an arm around Bonnie's shoulders. "We can figure this out."

Bonnie jerked away from her and dropped down on her couch. "I've been lying to you, Elena. I can read it. I have to get my anger under control, but I can't."

Elena sat down next to her. "I know how much this hurts - "

"Don't give the dead parent talk," Bonnie snapped at her, "you spent months acting like a zombie and everyone let you. Grams has only been dead for a few weeks because of your boyfriend and his psychotic brother. Don't give me some lecture about how I should be coping."

Elena's eyes flashed in pain. Stefan knelt down beside her. She grabbed his shoulders and squeezed them as she blinked rapidly.

"Oh god," Bonnie's was in tears and she was huddling up against the arm of the couch. "I didn't mean that, Elena. I'm so sorry - "

"It's okay," Elena said. She grabbed Bonnie's wrist and pulled her into a hug, wrapping both her arms around her best friend. "It really sucks you can't be as angry as you want to be."

"We can break up," Stefan offered, "I can leave. Damon will follow me. Mystic Falls will be vampire free again and you can grieve."

"And watch Elena turn back into a zombie?" Bonnie said. She huddled closer to Elena. "No way."

"Caroline would probably hogtie me and drag me back," Stefan said. Bonnie started to giggle. "She spent her snow days harassing Damon to let me back on the field."

"She handpicked the new coach," Elena said, "and begged Andy Fell to strong arm the school board into hiring a coach who isn't a teacher and got Carol Lockwood to bank role it."

"Caroline wants Matt to have two state championships under his belt," Bonnie said, "she's determined to get him into a good school with a football scholarship. You need to help the timberwolves, Stefan. I just need to get over this."

"No you don't," Stefan said. He scooted over so that he was kneeling in front of Bonnie. "Anger is something you process. And you can only do that with honesty. If you honestly hate all vampires - "

"It's not vampires that I'm so angry at," Bonnie said, "or you. Or even Damon."

"You're blaming yourself, aren't you?" Elena asked.

"She's dead because she was helping me," Bonnie said, "she knew I wasn't capable of carrying my own weight on that last spell so she burned herself out so I could keep both of you."

Elena grabbed Bonnie with both hands. "Your Grams loved you, Bonnie. I once overheard her blaming herself for your mom leaving. She'd do anything to protect you from losing anyone else. We don't know what she was thinking during that last spell, but I know she wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

Stefan wondered if Elena would be able to apply that logic to her own guilt about her parents.

Bonnie buried her face in Elena's chest and began to sob. She made a grab for Stefan's hands and dug her nails into his his wrists. Her shoulders shook as she began to scream. Elena looked like she wished she could take on all her pain. All she could do was tighten her arms around Bonnie's and witness her grief.

When Stefan left Shelia Bennett's home, the storm had calmed. As a vampire, he didn't have to worry about the biting chill. He enjoyed the sparkling snow under the afternoon sun as he walked home at a leisurely pace. He wasn't keen to get home and face Damon's wrath.

Damon found him while Stefan was making his way through the town square. He grabbed Stefan by the elbow and his fingers dug bruises into his skin. "You are in so much trouble, little boy."

Stefan flinched at the tone. Damon hit the seat of his jeans hard enough to make him jump. Despite the cold, families were out, eager to enjoy the outside after days of being cooped up inside. He could hear children snickering and pointing as Damon spanked him. Worse were the eyes of approving adults who were happy to see a teenager being put in his place with a smacked bottom.

After getting in about a dozen firm smacks, Damon pinched Stefan's ear. "If it wasn't so cold, I would yank down your jeans and wear you out with my belt right here."

"Not in public," Stefan begged as Damon dragged him down the street, fingers still gripped tight to Stefan's ear.

"If you misbehave in public," Damon had taken to firmly applying his hand to Stefan's seat every few steps, "I'll spank you in public."

There was a group of teenagers from Mystic Falls High School watching Damon swat him like an errant child. He hoped none of them could see his quickly watering eyes. Stefan tuned out their jeering and teasing as he was dragged and smacked towards Damon's car. He was given a round of extra hard slaps to the top of his thighs before being pushed in the passengers seat.

"You're going to be a very sore young man before I'm done with you," Damon promised as he buckled Stefan in.

Damon pinched his ear again and dragged him into the library. Stefan figured he was going to get a taste of that new paddle hanging above the fireplace. Instead, he was pushed down onto the couch. Damon zoomed up into the attic and found an old fashioned slipper that he dropped on the cushion next to where Stefan was sitting.

Stefan stared at his shoes as he heard Damon pour himself a shot. And another. And another. His brother downed six shots before speaking. "Were you planning on disobeying me this morning?"

"No, sir," Stefan said.

"I used to always be able to tell when you were being dishonest," Damon said. There was hurt behind his anger. "Now I don't know if I need to punish you for lying or not."

Tears burned behind Stefan's eyes. "I'm sorry, sir."

Damon didn't talk for awhile. He just drank in silence. Stefan kept his head down. "What happened, Stefan?"

"Bonnie's been struggling and she was willing to let me help," Stefan said, "I didn't want to disobey, brother." He couldn't bring himself to explain why he did so anyway.

"Stand up," Damon said after several moments of complete silence passed. Stefan stood up and a second later Damon was sitting on the couch. Stefan folded his arms behind his back and bowed his head. "I'll strap you tomorrow for going into the storm you knew could be dangerous." Stefan flinched. "Today we're dealing with you disobeying me."

Stefan forced himself to say, "Yes, sir."

Damon hooked his finger underneath Stefan's jeans and underwear and yanked them down with a tug. "Step out," he said and applied crisp smacks to his naked bottom as Stefan obeyed. Tears burned behind his eyes as his big brother spent several minutes making sure every inch of Stefan's spanking spots were given some fresh discipline for disobedience. Stefan inhaled sharply but managed to submit to the punishment without squirming.

"I'm sorry," Stefan said.

"You will be," Damon told him as he forced Stefan to kneel, "after a slippering. Speaking of which." He grabbed Stefan by the chin and got into Stefan's head. "When I beat you with a slipper you're going to feel each smack like the naughty little boy you are." Stefan's body was as still as a statue as he absorbed Damon's commands. "After I'm done teaching you a good lesson, you're going to sit in a corner. You will not heal until I've completed your punishment."

"Yes, sir," Stefan said.

Damon yanked him onto his feet. Stefan's hands flew to his front so he could push his twitching sex down and protect his modesty.

"Fold your hands behind your back," Damon snapped with a smack so hard it pushed Stefan on his toes.

Stefan shook his head.

"Are you really disobeying me right now?" Damon was flabbergasted and enraged.

Stefan couldn't bare to look at his brother's angry eyes. He lowered his gaze. "You always used to let me cover myself."

"You have until the count of three to fold your hands behind your back," Damon told him. Before he that count began, Stefan did a he was told. He could feel his brother's eyes on what he'd been trying to hide. His brother bent Stefan over his lap, gently. He moved Stefan's legs onto the couch. "Hands in front." Stefan obeyed and Damon handed him a pillow.

Stefan wanted to beg, but he wasn't sure for what.

Damon sighed. He rubbed Stefan's back for a moment. "Teenage hormones suck," he voice felt like a blanket being secured around his shivering form, "nothing I haven't seen before. You don't need to hide this from me."

"I wanted privacy," Stefan said as he set his forehead against the soft pillow he was clenching with both hands.

Damon picked up the slipper and set it on the crown of Stefan's buttocks. The shoe was so long that it covered both cheeks. "And I want an obedient little brother." The sole of the slipper felt rough and irritated Stefan's sore skin. Damon set a hand on the small of Stefan's back and rose his other. "Naughty boys don't get privacy."

He made that point very clear by slamming the slipper down. Stefan gasped. Damon punished, fast and hard, hitting down his buttocks and thighs alike, giving Stefan's sit spots three blows before moving down. After smacking the back of his knees, Damon began to spank back up, adding extras when he got to Stefan's creases. The sole of the slipper was not smooth and the ridges smashing into his vulnerable skin really hurt.

The second round of his slippering hurt more, not just because it was litigating freshly corrected skin, but because Damon hit him harder. Stefan cried into his pillow as his brother spanked him with the slipper briskly for directly disobeying him. Damon added more power each new round of smacks and he always took care to make sure his sit spots got three additional spanks before moving back up or down.

Save the sound of solid leather smacking bare skin, the library was quiet. Stefan broke that as his spanking continued when he gave into his tears and yelps. He wished he was allowed to kick and squirm in response to the constant sensation of a slipper pounding new heat into his bottom, but he wasn't. He wish he hadn't broken a rule. But he did so now his spanking spots were getting soundly smacked with a slipper.

"What am I doing to you?" Damon asked as he wrapped an arm a around Stefan's middle and lifted his hips up higher.

"Spanking me," Stefan yelped.

In order to teach Stefan to obey, Damon spanked down his left cheek with the sturdy slipper. The ridges of the business end of the slipper packed a terrible punch. The correction was extremely effective, making Stefan shout out his pain. It felt like the sturdy hunks of leather were made of fire and bit hot flames into vulnerable skin. And now that Damon was only spanking one cheek and thigh at a time, those horrible ridges were terrorizing the bits of skin that had been previously been spared.

The only reason Stefan didn't break more rules by drumming his feet his because his legs and chest being supported by the couch made him feel secure. He'd let Damon down, but Damon wasn't returning the favor. The way that the sole of the slipper corrected Stefan's behavior made him howl in pain - but that's what was supposed to happen when he was over a parental knee. The only reason Damon was spanking him with a slipper was because of Stefan's actions. The building fire scalding Stefan's special spanking spots was teaching him to always obey.

"Where am I spanking you?" Damon asked as he tightened his hold and spanked up his right leg, making sure Stefan's crease got extra correction with additional smacks that hurt so much Stefan had no choice to scream and sob. Stefan knew the tanning was his fault, alone, but he couldn't help but wish his big brother didn't hit quite so hard.

"My bottom," Stefan said between his cries. Damon was a very strict older bother and continued to punish him by spanking down his left cheek with the solid slipper. Stefan learned from the blows that his big brother was raining down so hard and fast. He was being taught that disobedience meant a hot and sore bottom. His special spanking spots were getting a thorough smacking with a slipper! "My bare bottom!"

"Why are you getting a spanking?" Damon demanded to know as he crashed the slipper down again and again.

Stefan had to endure several more rounds of his slippering as he admitted, "I was naughty." Stefan burst into open weeping because the guilt on top of the blistering smacks from the rough material of the slipper was too much for him. He could taste his salty tears. His strict big brother lifted up his hips even higher and began to punish him even more swiftly than before. Instead of giving his under curves just three smacks before moving on, he gave them five. And they were harder than the smacks that came before. Each time Damon used the slipper to beat new fire into Stefan's creases, the overall spanking because harder, firmer, and faster.

Stefan had no choice. He had to drum his feet and wiggle. His pillow was soaking wet with tears. His big brother continued to slipper him for being a bad little boy.

Damon started to paddle him with the slipper even harder and Stefan screamed and kicked his legs wildly. Damon sometimes needed to shove an errant leg aside so he could keep spanking. His strong brother spanked him with the horrible leather slipper without a problem as Stefan failed to squirm away from his just desserts.

"How were you naughty?" Damon asked without pausing the rhythm of the spanking.

Stefan couldn't answer right away. He was howling and crying fat tears because his big brother was slippering his sit spots with one hard blow after another, fiercely determined to make sure Stefan learned his lesson. "I broked a rule!" Damon had set the sole of the mean slipper right in the middle so that he could punish both creases at the same time. And Damon wasn't smacking new heat anywhere else. He just spanked on top of where Stefan had to sit over and over. "I obeyed wrong!"

"What were you supposed to be doing, little boy?"

Damon was twisting his wrists to add additional fire to the flame he'd built to punish Stefan for being so naughty. He didn't use the cruel slipper to teach anywhere but the sit spots. He paddled Stefan's under curves with increasing speed and force. Stefan learned as he yelled and cried out. He learned to always obey his brother. Damon burned that lesson in deep by skinning Stefan's bottom with a big slipper. "My punishments!"

"That's right," Damon said. He started spanking with less speed and power, but he kept spanking Stefan's sit spots all the same. "You were being punished. I trusted you," Damon spend what felt like hours beating Stefan's poor creases with the leather slipper. "I trusted you to obey me and do you punishment homework. And how did you repay me?"

"I was bad," Stefan buried his face completely into his pillow.

"You were very naughty," Damon told him. Stefan's heart broke. Damon continued to teach him a good lesson by smacking him where he sat. "What kind of spankings do I give naughty, disobedient little boys?"

"Hard ones!" Stefan wept.

"And where do naughty little boys get hard spankings?" Damon asked.

Stefan squirmed and kicked as his slippering continued. "Bottom!"

"What kind of bottoms?" Damon smacked and smacked.

Stefan was smacked and smacked. "Bare ones."

Damon paused. But he rested the slipper the soundly punished creases of skin Stefan had to sit on for his coming corner time. "What will you get if you disobey me again?"

"Spankies," Stefan whispered. He wept because his spankie had burned and made his poor bottom hurtie.

Damon set the meanie slipper aside. He picked Stefan up. Stefan pressed his face in Damon's shoulder and wrapped his legs around his waist. He wanted cuddles and forgiveness, but he knew his punishment wasn't over. He sobbed pitifully as Damon deposited him onto a stool. Stefan broke out into loud fresh tears as he had to sit down on a hard wooden surface. The wood was cool, but Stefan could only feel heat. Stefan sat on his soundly spanked bare bottom and stared at the corner.

Stefan hated that he had to sit down in a naughty corner after getting a spanking. He cheeks were so sore that he had to squirm on the hard surface he was sitting on. And when he squirmed, it somehow made his sore bottom hurt even more. But he couldn't sit still because the burn hurt way too much. Lexi was right. A little boy's bottom got owies smacks by a parent when they were bad. And sit spots got the most smacks so that sitting down would hurt so much. Stefan made cries because the owie sitting was teaching him a extra gooder lesson. Only good boys got to sit comfortably and only bad boys needed to be put in a naughty corner.

He was so naughty and bad! His bottom stung so much. Damon had hit his upturned bottom with a meanie slipper because Stefan needed learning! The kind of learning that only happened when he was on his tummy and his bottom was spanked! He was sore and hot where he sat because he was bad! Only worser bad boys has such hot and sore smacked bottoms!

When Damon let him out of his corner, he scolded Stefan. But Stefan couldn't hear. He was too busy hopping from one foot to another while he rubbed his sore bottom with both hands. He sobbed loudly and hopped as fast as he could. He didn't understand how a smacked bum could hurt so much.

"I haven't seen you do a spanking dance in awhile," Damon said.

Stefan sniffed as he hopped and rubbed his burned bottom a little more slowly. He was too tired to keep moving fast. His big brother was smiling gently. "Are you mad at me?"

"No," Damon said, "and your punishment is over."

Stefan slumped as the worst of the burn went away. "Sorry I'm bad."

Damon grabbed his chin firmly. "Your actions were bad, not you. I gave you a hard spanking to punish you for disobeying and to teach you a good lesson, but now it's over. Let go of the guilt, little brother."

"Okay, sir," Stefan said. He suddenly felt lighter. "Did I get gooder?"

"You did." He giggled happily when Damon kissed his forehead and pulled him into a hug. "Bath and a nap."

Stefan frowned. He was scared. He shuffled from one foot to another. "I get reminder spankies?"

Without warning, Damon picked Stefan and held him in both arms. "Not this time." Stefan cuddled his big brother as he was carried up the stairs.

To Damon's room! He was going to get a bath in his big brother's huge tub. He really had become gooder! His eyes went wide with joy as Damon made bubbles for him to play with. He splashed the water and blew the soapy bubbles as his big brother washed him. He only stopped when Damon gently parted his legs to wash between them. He put his thumb in his mouth and turned his trusting gaze to his brother's kind face. He had no idea why he'd wanted to hide what his big brother was gently cleaning.

He yawned as Damon dried him off with a big fluffy towel. He thought his brother might have left when he was blinking sleepily. But that was silly thought. Damon was right there! His big brother dressed him in soft pajamas and picked him back up.

Stefan got to lay down on Damon's bed! He was scared for a moment when he was put on his tummy. Laying on his tummy sometimes meant his bottom was due for a smacking, but not this time. Damon just put a warm blanket on top of him and kissed his forehead. Stefan smiled around the thumb he was sucking and closed his sleepy eyes.