A/N: On my Ao3 cross post of Sleepwalker, there is banner art for each following chapter
Love; it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
The front door was wide open when Stefan got home. He parked quickly by the side of the house and ran inside. Everything was eerily still and quiet. Nothing seemed out of place except the door. Stefan went to check the bedrooms, a blur down every hallway. There wasn't anything that stood out there either. All the rooms were empty.
The silence rattled through him. Where the hell was Damon?
He went back to the front door, looking across the front yard. It took a minute to search through the shadows and settle on the distant silhouette of his brother.
Was he leaving after all? Stefan stepped off the porch, only then noticing Damon barely moving forward. He was still dressed except for his shoes. Stefan rushed to his side. The distant stare through half lidded eyes was barely familiar. He was so used to Damon's nightmares, he almost forgot that sleepwalking was what started the whole thing.
There were bridges crossed, and there were bridges burnt to the ground. Stefan spent so much of his life trying to save his own skin because his willpower had always bent towards Damon's influence. Damon could have whatever he wanted, because Stefan had wanted it first. Wanted Damon before he could name the feeling inside. Stefan stood directly in front of his sleeping brother and put a hand on his cheek. Immediately Damon stilled, the unease on his face clearing.
He took a moment to let the rush of knowing exactly what he had flood through him. Elena was gone. Everything he wanted stood in front of him. "Come back," He whispered. "Come back to me."
Stefan closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Damon's.
Shadows flickered, swirling in on themselves, swallowing the place Stefan stood. Damon tried to run. His legs dragged like they were encased in cement and buried in sand. Her laughter disappeared, but no sound came out when Damon screamed his brother's name.
He panted, the thickness of shadows filling his lungs. Stefan was gone. The darkness closed in on him as he squeezed his eyes shut, unable to tell the difference. It was over. He was on his own.
A weight slipped around his shoulders and something like fingers trailed up his neck.
"Hello, brother."
Damon's eyes flew open. There Stefan stood like a bright radiating light against the deep velvety darkness around them.
"Stefan?" The name slipped out as clearly as he saw his brother in front of him. "What—?"
"It's time to wake up." Stefan smiled softly at him.
"No." Damon gasped, too scared to touch Stefan in case he fell away again. "You'll be gone out there."
The solid darkness was starting to blur and fade into something lighter around the edges. Stefan stepped forward, pressing his hand over Damon's heart. "I'm not going anywhere. Just open your eyes."
The dark started fading, slowly revealing veiled streetlights and grass beneath their feet, the dark house behind them. Damon's heartbeat was wild and erratic, beating against Stefan's palm. Damon could actually feel Stefan's hand on him and tentatively put his hand on Stefan's shoulder.
"I'm still dreaming?" Damon stared at Stefan's arm, reaching out to rub his fingers down his brother's chest. He didn't trust what he saw. "Tell me something real." His hands scraped desperately along Stefan's shoulders.
With a small sigh, Stefan took Damon's hand. "You are the worst and the best parts of me. I've wanted you my whole life with this fucking unrelenting hope that I've had to hold back until it strangled me that one day you would stop looking at me without that disdain in your eyes." He brought Damon's hand up to his mouth and pressed it to his lips. "And then you did, and my entire world rocked in a way I couldn't hope to expect."
"I don't hate you, Stefan." Damon sighed. "I lo—,"
"Wait." Stefan said suddenly, stepping away. He tightened his grip on Damon's hand. "Not here. Open your eyes, so we can do this right."
The lights on the street and the porch behind them were suddenly brighter than the shadowed blurs of the dream. Met by the stars in the sky and noise of the trees rustling and bugs making the usual noise of night. Damon blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.
He wet his lips, surprised by the taste of his brother that was only beginning to be familiar.
Stefan wiped at his own mouth. "Hey there, sleeping beauty." He wrapped his hand around Damon's neck and pulled him close till their heads bumped together.
"I'm in love with you, Stefan." Damon put his hands around Stefan's hips to keep them from shaking, slipping beneath the fabric of his shirt to brush over the bare skin of his back. If he never got another chance, if Stefan was going to push him away, this would be his final act before he turned it all off.
Their heads were so close, his vision was filled with Stefan's eyes, but he couldn't read what was happening behind them.
Turns out he didn't have to.
Stefan tilted his head enough for their lips to meet. It wasn't the hard hungry crash together like every other kiss they'd shared. It wasn't soft like a girl's lips. It wasn't searching like a new relationship. It was familiar, like kissing a brother, or a best friend. It was Stefan. The one who used to look at him like he was someone vital. Who didn't care about his arrogant exterior because Stefan not only knew what was hiding beneath it, but also wrapped around him at night and held him close. Like he might not just want to fool around with Damon, but like he might actually—
"I've always loved you." Stefan whispered softly, lips catch-dragging against Damon's. "So fucking in love with you, feels like my whole damn life." Their breath shunted against each other as Damon scrabbled for a firmer grip.
Stefan buried his fingers in Damon's hair, pulling him closer.
