Chapter 15

The Truth Comes Out

The next day when Damon was sitting on the couch and reading a book, he suddenly found himself confronted by both Stefan and Jeremy.

"Damon how could you compel Elena?" Stefan was holding up his cell phone and glaring.

"Yeah! What else did you compel her to do?" Jeremy was glaring too.

"Yes Damon, what else did you compel Elena to do?" Demanded Stefan.

Already annoyed, Damon closed the book and stood up. "I didn't compel her to do anything else. It was just a joke."

Jeremy just shook his head while Stefan got into Damon's face. "Compelling someone isn't a joke Damon. Don't lie to me. What else did you do?"

Damon was getting seriously ticked off. "When have you ever known me to lie about anything? That's all I had her do, and I didn't make her forget. You can ask her yourself!"

"I'll do just that Damon, and I'll ask her if she's missing any time from her memory!"

Damon saw red and shoved Stefan against the wall, clenching the front of his brother's shirt in his fist. "I am getting sick and tired of you're the saint and I'm the devil act! You are not perfect! Hell if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been orphaned when we were!"

Stefan was angry too. "What are you talking about?"

"It's your fault Mother died! Not just Father!"

"I didn't have anything to do with Mother dying, she got sick!"

"Hey guys come on, no need to get nasty here..." Jeremy watched them uncomfortably, but they both ignored him.

"Right, she got sick. She got sick while she was pregnant with you, and she died in child birth! Nobody told you because they wanted to spare your oh so tender feelings! Well I'm tired of sparing your feelings brother. You never spare mine. Oh that's right, you think I have no feelings. Well here's a news flash for you, I do." He let go of Stefan and blurred out the door.

Stefan stared after his brother in shock. Jeremy hesitantly moved closer to him. "Stefan... are you okay?" Tears were welling up in Stefan's eyes and Jeremy didn't know what to do. He quickly turned away but not before Jeremy saw his eyes overflow. "Stefan?"

"Can you just go... please?" Stefan's voice was choked up.

"Yeah..." Jeremy headed out the door after one last worried look back at him.

Damon was angrily pacing back and forth in the woods, his fists clenched, when he heard Jeremy walk up.

"Do you like hurting your brother like that?"

"Mind your own business." Damon growled.

"You made him cry Damon." He paused. "I didn't know vampires even could cry."

Damon rolled his eyes. "We can feel and express any emotions you can. So I made him cry, so what? He's the sensitive one, not me."

Jeremy observed him for a few moments. "He hurt you didn't he? So you wanted to hurt him back."

"You're not a shrink Jeremy, so don't go trying to analyze me."

Jeremy sighed and shook his head. After a moment he left and headed for home.

Stefan was laying on the couch and hiding his face in the cushion when he felt someone gently touch his shoulder. He looked up and saw Elena looking at him sympathetically.

"Jeremy told me what happened."

He sat up and wiped his face while she sat next to him. "I just... I never knew."

"I know." She hugged him and he started to sob softly. "Shhh... it's okay. It wasn't your fault." She stayed with him until he fell asleep.

Elena set out to find Damon, intent on giving him a piece of her mind, but stopped when she saw him. She could tell he was angry, but she could also tell that he was upset. She approached him cautiously, watching him pace.

"Damon?"

"Come to tell me I should go apologize?"

"What happened Damon?"

"Oh I think you know."

"Why did you go off on him like that?"

"Because I'm tired of everyone making me out to be the bad guy! I mean I've been trying to change Elena I really have, but nobody will give me a break but you! He accused me of lying... I never lie. I've done lousy things but one thing I've never done is lie!"

Elena hugged him. "It'll be okay Damon. It just takes time. They'll see it eventually, just like I do now."

Damon hugged her back and sighed. "I won't compel you again. It was just supposed to be a joke you know? Ha ha?"

"I know, and you were mad at me for hurting you. I'll tell the others to lay off of you okay?"

"Thanks." He pulled back after a moment. "At least you see some good in me."

She looked at him seriously. "I always have Damon. Try to make up with Stefan okay? He's really hurt."

"I will if he quits acting all high and mighty with me. I hate that."

"I'll talk to him later, he fell asleep. I should be getting home. Just take it easy Damon. The whole world isn't against you."

"Sometimes it feels like it is, but I'll try to cool it."

"Thank you. I'll call you tomorrow." She headed off.

Damon went back inside and spotted Stefan on the couch. He picked him up and carried him up to his room, laying him on the bed. He sighed and dried his brother's face for him, feeling a little guilty. "We need to have a serious talk tomorrow bro."

He went back downstairs to get his book, even though he knew he probably wouldn't be able to concentrate on it.

To Be Continued...