Damon
I wake up at the police's office, I groan low and try to run my fingers through my hair but I meant with a struggle as I realize I'm handcuffed, I look around the office, my eyes hurt and my back hurts from sleeping in this awkward position.
I look at the name plate on the desk in golden and black letters, Matt Donavan. Great, I was handcuffed to the captain's desk. I sit up straight when the captain comes back in, his blue uniform is crisp and he barely glances at me as he sits at his black desk. He swirls around with his chair and looks at me, his face relaxed and as his blue eyes connect with mine.
"I see you're awake." He says, folding his hands on the table, he fiddles with his silver wedding band.
"These won't be necessary." I say, lifting my hands a little to show him the handcuffs.
"Oh, right." He says, walking over with the key, he uncufs me and then I rub my wrists from the ache in them.
After a minute he speaks.
"So, I heard you went after the deputy." He says, raising in eyebrow at me.
"I did." I confess, looking down a little.
"I'm sorry I just can't believe Stefan.."
"Is in Jail?" He cuts me off, staring at me.
"Yes." I say, quietly. I want to bring up about his health but the way the Captain is staring at me just makes me uncomfortable so I decide to ask later, even though I'm pissed about it.
"And he's your brother?" He asks me, and I nod my head, licking my lips a little.
"Yes, he is." I say, nodding my head again.
"So, as you know he was involved in heavy gang activity, selling drugs on the street which he denies, and he can't seem to talk, either."
I nod my head, understanding what the captain was saying.
"Was he involved in those activities?" He asks me.
I try not to feign nervousness, as I look into the captains eyes, they seem to be studying mine too, looking for any indication if what I'm about to say next is a lie.
"I don't know.. we haven't really been each others life." I say, sadly, folding my hands over my lap, he studies my face for a minute, my heart beats against my chest and I'm afraid he can hear it.
He nods slowly, still watching me with his blue hawk eyes.
"So since hes not talking it doesn't look good for him, maybe you could go in there and make him talk?" He questions me, looking at me.
"I can try." I sigh, deeply.
"Stefan is very stubborn." I add, looking at the captain and he grumbles a little, nodding his head.
"Yes, he is, but what I'm saying is maybe you can get him to talk, and you said you guys haven't talked in years so maybe you two could catch up." He says, patient with me.
And Stefan can get sent to jail, I say keeping a blank face, but inside I'm pissed, they expect me to snitch on my brother, I know he hadn't been the best person, lately, but, he can do better, and like he said he did it for all the right reasons, because I wasn't there to direct him in his life.
I feel an intense amount of guilt enter my gut and I nod lightly, agreeing to the captain's proposal.
He smiles tightly at me and dismisses me, telling the deputy, who's eye is black from me punching them, to send me back to Stefan's cell, I sigh deeply and follow him.
We get to Stefan's cell and he's laying there, shaking slightly, I see the bruises covering the upper half of his body, the knife marks, the nails of the club dug into his skin, over and over, it must have been agonizing and suddenly, I feel sick to my stomach as I enter Stefan's cell, he looks up at me, his eyes hard, and his face bruised and covered in scratches, but I recognize his expression, anger.
He sits up quickly, the handcuffs jerk him back, and he growls lightly, still looking at me with his cold expression, his green eyes seething with rage.
I look at the deputy, and tell him to let him at least move around a bit, he starts to disagree but I somehow convince him to uncuff my brother from the bench, Stefan moves his fingers around his bleeding wrists, and rubs them, wincing at the pain.
I sit next to him, and he moves a couple places, putting a space between us.
The deputy leaves, and says the doctor will be here to check on Stefan soon.
I nod my head and thank him lightly, as I look at my brother, he's shaking slightly, his shirt is ridden up, and wrinkled and his dirty brown hair is a mess, he looks better then he did a few hours ago, they gave him some medicine to get the swelling down, around his eye and he can actually see with both, which I'm a little happy about.
"Stefan.. I'm so sorry this happened to you." I whisper, feeling tears prick my eyes.
"It's all my fault and you can hate me all your life, I don't care, but I want you to know that I love you, and when I said those things at dinner, I was just so angry, I couldn't believe that you were acting like a smug kid, and not like an adult, but when you left the night, I realized something, I'm the reason you're like this, you had no one to teach you how to be an adult, so you acted out, and somewhere along the way you made a name for yourself, and you overcame a lot of things in your life, and I.. I'm proud of you, brother. Even if what you do isn't exactly legal, and you're right, I'm not half the man you are today, God, I should of stopped you from leaving that night, even Bonnie said so, but.. you know, Salvatore pride.. " I trail off and look at him, his expression softens a little, he fiddles with his hands in his lap, something he did as a kid too, when he was nervous.
"I love you, Stefan." I whisper, putting my arm around him, he tenses at first, but then I feel his soften in his arms, his shaky hands wrap around my waist, slowly, like he's testing if this is a dream or reality, and it makes my heart break into two, as I hug him back, tears falling from my eyes.
I hear him sobbing in my shoulder, but I don't pay attention, I don't let him know I'm know he's crying, as I rub his back, gently.
A million memories surge through me as I hold my broken brother in my arms, his head resting on my shoulder, I know he's not able to talk, doctor said it should take two or three days but I didn't need words to know that he has forgiven me already, that we can start fresh.
Gently, he traces something on my shoulder, and I tell him to do it again.
I feel an I then a L then an O and my breath hitches when I realize he's spelled out love you, on my shoulder, I tighten my grip around him and hold him, both of us shaking.
"I'm never going to leave you again." I say softly, as I stroke his sweaty hair.
"Never again." I murmur, feeling a huge weight lift off my shoulders.
Later, when Stefan and I part ways, he falls asleep on his cot, on the side, because it doesn't hurt that much, and I take the gray blanket I found on the top bunk and rest it on his frail body, he stops shaking for a little bit, I tuck him in, like I used to do when I was a kid, and he doesn't try to stop me, I can just imagine how tired he from all the crap they put him through today.
"Goodnight, Stefan." I mumble, and start to leave but he grabs my hand tight, his green eyes afraid and for a second, I feel like he's 7 again, begging me to stay with him until the lightening storm presides. I don't let go of his hand, as I sit down on the hard metal chair, ignoring my aching back, Stefan needs me right now, and I intend to be there for me.
I watch as his face begins to relax, his mind drifting to a better place as I hold onto his hand, his shallow breathing becomes even as he leans back, cuddling in the pillow, I smile lightly, and don't let go of his hand as I watch him drift off to sleep.
Stefan's voice slowly comes back the next day when we wake up in the morning, and it's good to hear his voice again, knowing that he is getting better. The doctor checks on him, and he seems to be getting a little better, we catch up, he tells me about the girl, he met that's amazing and I can only assume it's the captain's wife but he doesn't confirm nor deny it since the cell wasn't a very safe place to share secrets, I listen to him though, how happy he sounds in his raspy voice, this girl really changed his life around and this is what I like to hear, Stefan being happy for a change, it's almost like old times again.
Later that night as I'm just about to leave I ask the captain about Stefan's bail and he tells me 10,000. I almost drop to the floor, I didn't have that kind of money, I didn't know even where to get that kind of money, so I do the one thing I was taught to do when I was in this kind of situation, I call father.
I'm feeling good about where the conversation is going, but once I tell him it's for his son, the one that "never made something of himself." He argues with me and tells me that he's not going to pay for a low life to get out of jail only for him to never learn his lesson and get into more trouble the next time. But, I'm so angry that he thinks this of Stefan, what a hypocrite, I could name the seven affairs he was having while our mother lay dying in the hospital. I spit out that I'm not going to work for him anymore, in complete rage and he fires me, suddenly, but I'm not even worried about my job, I'm worried about the money, where was I going to get 10 grand?
Suddenly my mind drifts back to Stefan talking about the girl.
The captains wife.
I grab the phone book from the desk of the captain and flip through until I find D, I find her home number and put some quarters in a pay phone, praying to God this wasn't going to be traced.
She answer with a shaky voice, and I tell her all she needs to know, happiness shoots through me when she tells me she'll have the money, she was going to save Stefan with me, I feel my heart burst with joy as I thank her and hang up.
Of course, I know Stefan would never ever forgive me for this, but with him out of jail I could help him, help him rebuild himself, shoot for his original goal for being a doctor, Bonnie and I may not have enough money to send him to medical school, but at least we can get him out of jail, and that was the plan, get Stefan out of jail, and back into the real world, where he can reinvent himself, he's a smart kid, and as my Bonnie says, that always makes me smile.
Everyone deserves a second chance at this life.
(Yay Defan reunion, comments and questions?)