A/N: Thank you for going on this journey with me. You can't believe how much I appreciate all your support and likes and reviews. It's comforting to know I'm not alone in my obsession with these boys. ;) The last song is called As I Lay My Head Down by Other Lives


"I'm exhausted." Stefan murmured, rolling over onto his side. He propped his head up on one hand and looked Damon over.

Damon crossed his arms behind his head, arching up as his back popped in a cathartic stretch down to his toes. "What day is it?" He felt unbelievably relaxed; time all blurred into their own private dreamland.

Stefan chuckled. "I have no idea." He scratched through his hair and sighed. "Does it matter?"

"You're really not going back?" Damon studied him as Stefan shook his head.

"No. There's nothing left for me out there."

Stefan didn't seem upset but concern wriggled in Damon.

"Shit. I did ruin your dumb new life, didn't I? I'm so sor—"

"No." Stefan quickly curled over him, stretching his arm over Damon's side. "Don't apologize. When I can have you. It's better."

"You should have everything you want, brother." Damon buried his fingers in Stefan's hair, gently pulling his head up. "Me and whatever friends you like. You deserve everything."

"Somehow, I don't think they'll understand this." Stefan smiled softly as he trailed his hand down Damon's chest.

That surprised Damon. He let go of Stefan's head. "Did you plan on telling them?"

Stefan shrugged, sighing before he started sitting up. "I'm not ashamed of us. Secrets don't really last long here anyway. Caroline knows. She smelled you on me. That's not going away."

A surge of ridiculous pride hit Damon but he resisted grinning. He suddenly wanted to rub himself all over Stefan to make damn sure everyone else could tell Stefan was his too. "Ric knows." He watched Stefan carefully as he sat up next his brother. He pulled on the sheet tangled around them and leaned against Stefan's side. "So does Katherine, but she's probably gone by now."

Stefan didn't seem surprised by either admission. "So her guardian and best friend know." He pursed his lips. "Then there's Katherine who may go all Katherine on us. It's only a matter of time before Elena knows. If she doesn't already."

Damon considered that for a moment before deciding he didn't really care. "I'm not sure it matters. We're already blood-sucking monsters, right? And not only are the children barely human themselves, but they don't care about what I do until it somehow affects them. Would this really make a difference?"

"It'll hurt her." Stefan tipped his head, watching Damon's fingers splay across his thigh. "She learned to tolerate the blood, and get over the deaths we've caused. People they cared about. I don't…" Stefan sighed. "I don't think she'll forgive either of us for abandoning her to be with each other. After everything she's given up, and everyone she's lost." He eyes fell to Damon's. "And when Elena is upset, Bonnie and Caroline get involved."

Damon shuddered. "Do you want to leave then? Start over somewhere else for her sake?" His fingertip started making circles against Stefan's skin. "They'll need our help again eventually."

Nodding, Stefan agreed. "I offered, but maybe they won't need to. Their lives seemed okay before we got involved. Most of them are so different now. They're all so much stronger."

"Yeah maybe." Damon groaned and pushed himself back. "This town, man. It's a fucking gauntlet."

"Maybe we leave for a while." Stefan shrugged again, turning slightly so he was between Damon's legs. "You and I have other houses."

"Well, this is our home, Stefan." Damon sat up against the headboard, pulling Stefan's back to his chest. "No one is going to change that."

"No." Stefan leaned against him. "This is just a place I keep my stuff. Some memories I'd rather forget." He smiled softly, running his fingers along Damon's hands where they were wrapped around him. "You're my home, and I'm yours. Because when we didn't know what we were looking for, this is where we always found each other. But as long as we leave together…"

"If we leave, that makes it real."

Stefan nodded. "We are real. You see that by now, don't you?"

Running his hands down Stefan's arms, Damon leaned his head against the back of Stefan's neck and chuckled. "Yes. I'm gonna feel the ache in my ass for days just to remind me."

Stefan leaned away, turning enough to see his face. "I'd think…" Looking at him intently, Stefan narrowed his eyes. "You never actually bottomed for Ric, did you?"

Rolling his eyes, Damon offered a wry smile. "Sure, except for when I didn't." He dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. "On the rare times we even went as far as…" Damon wrinkled his nose. "Is there a better word than penetration?" He shook it off. "But that's why there are condoms around." Damon kept his legs braced tights against Stefan's, not remotely willing for the man to pull away from him. "Ric insisted, thought vamp blood fucked with his ring's abilities, so he worried my jizz inside him would make it inoperable. So it might not have always gone the way I told you."

"What the hell, man." Stefan shook his head. "The shit you say to me." He rested his hands on Damon's knees around him. "Do you know how much those stories, all of them, have fucked me up?" When he looked at Damon again, his eyes shone bright, betraying his complaints.

Damon knew he should feel something other than turned on. Hell, they'd barely paused since they started who even knows how many hours ago. But he was still Stefan's big brother. "A few notebooks worth, I'm betting. Somewhere I haven't looked yet." He smirked.

Damon leaned in close enough for his nose to brush the column of Stefan's neck. "Don't worry, baby boy, I wanted you to fuck me more than I ever thought possible. That's not going to change anytime soon. And being inside of you... my god." Damon nudged Stefan to face him and kissed him hard; happy Stefan met his lips even though he was looking at Damon in surprise. "We have plenty of time to figure out the intricacies and preferences of our coupling. Everyone else was just a fun distraction."

Stefan huffed, the familiar annoyed little brother sigh making Damon smile wider.

"You know Ric is seeing someone, right?"

Nodding, Damon's brow furrowed. "Of course I know. I introduced them." He didn't know what Alaric's availability had to do with anything. He wanted his friend to have a chance at happiness that didn't require Damon to be someone he could never be.

"What?" Stefan seemed surprised. "When?"

"After you took up his place in my bed." Damon thought the answer should have been obvious.

"You... really?"

Damon pulled Stefan back against him. "In my sleep, I was always running to you." His mouth brushed over Stefan's ear. "What was the point once I got what I wanted?" His teased, keeping his hands tight around Stefan's waist.

Running ticklish fingertips over Damon's arms, Stefan nodded. "We're gonna have to sleep in the same bed every night, I guess. That sleepwalking thing is an expensive problem." He looked back with a smirk of his own. "You're what I want too." Stefan leaned his head onto Damon's shoulder. "Whatever we do, I want it." He tilted just enough to meet Damon's kiss.

Maybe things would settle down between them, maybe they'd get out of the house eventually. There was a pile of shit they had to work through; feeding, and doubts and the trouble this town brought to the people in their life.

But for now, for this, for him, Damon wouldn't trade a thing.


The umbrella outside the small cafe shaded their table and kept the two vampires from getting too nervous in the bright sunlight. Stefan sipped his cappuccino as his brother stirred sugar into his coffee. When they caught each other's eye Damon leaned forward. "Why me?" He asked with no preamble. "If you and Elena were supposed to be so epic?"

The sudden questions about their relationship were getting fewer and far between. Stefan smirked at him. The reason wasn't really hard to describe. If there had ever been a Pro/Con list, Stefan could rattle off the top ten cons without hesitation. But those didn't outweigh the one shining positive that made his entire life better.

Damon, in all of his facets, loved him.

"Epic is a fad." Stefan held his brother's gaze, reaching for his hand. "You and I are eternal."


Oh, look at the years going by
No, troubles come into your life
Oh, now that you finally have found the end

The end.
The end is all we need.