hey! so I just wanted to apologize for how shitty the previous chapter was haha — but I'm really happy with this one! so I hope you all enjoy :)


A couple of days went by and while Stefan's hygiene had definitely improved, he was still isolating himself from the outside world. No friends, no school, the only person he regularly saw was Damon and it wasn't like Stefan was opening up to him.

Yeah, they had a moment together but that was pretty much it, which was extremely frustrating for the oldest sibling, as he thought that they were actually getting somewhere.

Stefan was up in his bedroom writing in his journal for the first time since his binge. He wasn't going to talk about his feelings with his friends or brother, so he figured it was a good start to open up to paper.

Damon on the other hand was down in the kitchen, pouring some bourbon in a mug full of coffee. His head perked up when he heard the faint sound of pen gliding against paper.

Taking a sip of the coffee—which was honestly more liquor at that point, he walked upstairs to his little brother's bedroom.

"Don't you knock?" Stefan asked, not even having to look up to know Damon was standing in his doorway.

Lifting up his mug in a 'cheers' motion, he gave Stefan his signature smirk. "Nope," He responded, before quickly switching the conversation. "Your writing, eh?" He asked, leaning against the doorway.

"Yup…" Stefan responds aloofly.

Damon didn't get the hint that his brother wasn't in the mood for a conversation. Well, he did but he didn't care. "You can chat to your little diary but not to anyone else?" He raised a brow.

Sighing softly, "my 'little diary' doesn't give it's opinions." Stefan stated, still not looking up from the rough pages.

Walking over to where Stefan was sitting, the eldest leaned over him and shut the journal. "Why don't we go out, have a drink at the grill or something?" Damon asked his brother, though he had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't accept so easily.

The younger sibling finally looked up when his journal was closed, letting his pen fall on the desk. "Damon, I-"

Damon wouldn't let Stefan finish his sentence, not wanting to hear him explain why he didn't feel like going. "You're not going to be able to sit in the house forever, little brother." He took a sip from the mug.

"You're not gonna let up, are you?" Stefan rolled his eyes, laying back his head.

Damon's lips perked up to form a large, satisfied grin. "Not a chance," He stated, wiggling his eyebrows.

Letting out a large huff, the younger brother agreed. "Fine, but we're not going to the grill," he told Damon, as he didn't want to run into their friends… Stefan wasn't ready for that.

Damon shrugged, not really caring where they went. "Deal — but where will we go?" He asked.

Stefan hummed, picking up his pen and putting the tip up to his mouth. "We can go to a bar out of town, I know a place…" he decided.

A couple of hours went by and an impatient Damon was ready to get going, "Stefan!" He called, vamping into his little brother's bedroom. "I'm already dressed, what's taking you so long?" The eldest asked, as he himself was already dressed.

"Again, you don't knock!" He said in annoyance, immediately picking up a towel on the bed and holding it to his crotch. Stefan had just gotten out of the shower when Damon barged in, so he was completely buck-naked.

Chuckling at Stefan's reaction, Damon plopped down onto his brother's bed. "We used to take baths together, brother." He stated, putting his arms behind his head.

Stefan didn't respond, instead he used his vampiric speed to dress himself. It wasn't anything fancy, just a white shirt and a pair of jeans. "Come on, since you're in such a rush." He said, though there was a subtle playfulness in his usually bitter attitude.

And with that, the Salvatore brothers were off — going to the diner just outside of mystic falls. It wasn't the mystic grill, that was for sure… the lights were dim, one of the bulbs flickering lightly, and it was overall just dirty looking.

"You really picked a top notch place, brother.." Damon said softly, before turning and making his way to the empty bar.

The two sat down and ordered their drinks; Damon obviously choosing bourbon and Stefan getting the same. Throughout the evening, both of the siblings got along very well — in fact, Stefan even had a good time, though he'd never admit that to Damon.

"Hey, why'd you ask me that last night?" Stefan asked as he took a sip of his drink, "about father, when I stole his cigar."

Humming into his glass, the older brother looked ahead. "Just thinking about stuff like that, about…" He trailed off. "Look, he obviously took his methods of discipline too far — hell, if you even can call what he did discipline," he turned to look at Stefan, who was tilting his head curiously.

"I'm just saying, you never stole anything again after that." Damon shrugged before finishing off his drink, waving at the bartender for a refill.

Stefan laughed lightly. "Yeah, probably 'cause' I was scared of getting my ass worn out." He said, shaking his head. "Shit, remember when he put his hands on his belt? It petrified me, even when I was sixteen, seventeen."

Damon chuckled, swirling the brown liquid in his glass. "I think I still have a little scar on my butt from a switch," He stated.

The brothers were quiet for a little bit, probably both lost in thought about their troublesome childhood.

"You always protected me… always took a beating for me," Stefan spoke, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry that I haven't thanked you for that."

The older Salvatore shrugged, turning his head to face his brother. "I'd say it was my pleasure but…" he smirked lightly. Damon didn't need a 'thank you' from Stefan — protecting his little brother was his job, even if he wished it wasn't from time to time.

Stefan rolled his eyes, his lips curling up to form a grin. "Fuck you," he platefully quipped.

A couple more hours went by and after a while, the Salvatore brothers eventually got into the car and began to drive home. Classic rock blasted on the radio and for the majority of the ride, the two stayed relatively quiet — that was until Damon turned down the volume, 'dream on' by Aerosmith playing quietly in the background.

"What if we treat your y'know… murder spree the same as you stealing that cigar," Damon said out of nowhere, probably bringing it up in an awkward way — but it was awkward, how could it not be.

Stefan turned his head away from the road ahead of them, facing Damon with a puzzled expression. "What do you—" he halted, his face getting hot. "You can't mean what I think you mean, Damon…" he said in disbelief, refusing to believe what his brother was getting at.

Damon tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. "Look, I know it's pretty out there, but just hear me out-"

"Hear you out? Oh my god, Damon—" He turned a little bit in his seat, facing the other better. "You're seriously threatening to spank me," He lowered his voice, even though nobody could hear them.

Damon shook his head, raising his shoulders in a defensive way. "The other times you've flipped the switch or went on a bender, you've been either compelled or done it to save someone — but you had absolutely zero reason for this last time, and I'm sorry but I think facing some sort of consequences would help you." He stated.

"And I'm not threatening you. I'm just saying that maybe it'd give you like… a sense of release." The older brother added, wanting Stefan to know that he wasn't being forced.

The blonde scoffed lightly and put her elbow on the window, resting his head on his fist. Stefan stayed quiet, mainly because he was thinking.

Was Damon right? It was pretty weird, considering they were brothers… and both over a century year old — but it did sound nice to finally get rid of some guilt, though he wasn't too sold on his brother's method.

Nearing the boardinghouse, Stefan could feel his palms beginning to sweat and he hadn't even agreed to anything yet… key word 'yet'. "Okay…" He said after a couple minutes.

"Okay?" Damon raised his brows, before nodding. "Okay… it's getting pretty late though, should we wait until tomorrow?"

Stefan kind of wanted to get it over with, but he figured it'd be better to wait, given that they both had quite a lot to drink. "Yeah." He said simply.

Giving one final nod, Damon pulled into the driveway. They both got out of the vehicle and went inside, going to their separate rooms.

The youngest got into a pair of sweatpants and took off his shirt, before plopping down onto his bed and grabbing his journal and a pen.

Fuck, he really just accepted getting spanked by his brother.