Author's Notes: Children!Salvatores. Damon always had a fascination with storms when he was young and Stefan was still afraid of being alone.

Damon made his way toward the large window carefully. He'd managed to avoid his father and the housekeepers who insisted he should be doing something productive with his time. Damon liked studying, really. Well, not most of the things that his father wanted him to learn, but he loved books, loved stories of faraway places.

But there was something more important happening now. It was raining. Damon loved the rain, adored it. It was something safe and blanketing while at the same time being wild and untamed; something unpredictable that could turn in a moment. The housemaids always scolded him and asked what was wrong in his head after they had dragged him back inside from a downpour. He'd just smile at them.

There was nothing better to Damon, nowhere he'd rather be than in the middle of a storm so thick he couldn't see a foot in front of him. It was something like magic, even though he was told not to think about such nonsense things. He was sure he remembered that his mother had loved the rain too. So he wondered why his father seemed to hate it.

Finally to the window, Damon reached his arms up to move away the curtain. Standing on tip-toes, he was able to bring his eyeline just above the wood finish to see out the clear glass. It was beautiful. Not a light spring rain, but a heavy curtain of water with rumbles in the distance.

He knew he couldn't make it downstairs to the doors, he could hear the maids rushing about their duties. But he could get the latch on the window popped and slip out, shimmy down to the overhang above the entryway and jump down from there, no problem. He'd done it a few times before. The maids only knew he got out, not how.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, Damon finally jumped and caught the latch, unlocking the window. Damon grinned wildly as a few stray drop slid through the crack to touch his hand. He backed up a bit as thunder rolled a bit louder, closer. It always took him a running jump to make the sill. He was still the shortest seven-year-old he knew.

Damon jumped and landed with his knee on the sill, purposefully quiet even though he'd bruised his knee every time he'd done this and today was no exception. It was worth it though. He pushed the window open a bit more, preparing to slide out when the thunder rumbled again and he paused, thinking he heard something underneath the crash.

A few moments of silence had Damon chalking it up to his imagination. But lightning finally flashed with a loud crack and the accompanying sound was anything but unheard this time.

"Damon!"

'Stefan!' Damon pushed himself down and away from the open window and flew down the hallway to his brother's room.

"Damon!"

Damon let out an 'oomph' of air as he was tackled, arms wrapped tight around him. Damon kneeled, hugging Stefan back.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Wide eyed and waiting for Stefan to stop crying enough to speak.

"It was loud…"

"The thunder? It's just rain, Stefan. It's not scary." Tone comforting, not scolding; he pulled back from his sibling. "See? I was in the rain and I'm fine."

Stefan's eyes widened, seeming to notice for the first time that Damon was soaked through from the rain streaming through the window. He started crying again and flew at Damon, hugging him tighter than before.

"Stefan? What's wrong with you?" Damon was surprised and worried. He knew his brother was a kid, but he shouldln't be freaking out this much.

"The way you look when it's like this outside…I don't like it." Damon stopped struggling, listening to the soft voice. "When the maids bring you back, you always look far away…It's gonna come one time and it's going to take you away and I don't want you to go! I don't wanna be alone!"

"…It's not….I'm not going anywhere, Stefan. Nothing's gonna take me away."

But Stefan didn't let go and Damon thought maybe he was right. He wanted to go. Let the storm take him, and maybe one day, it would. But for now, he just patted Stefan's head and told him everything would be okay. He let him hold on a little longer.