A/N

I was really blocked on writing this one. Hopefully (after several rewrites) it turned out ok.

Previously in chapter 3.….

God, as he tries to catch his breath, that was the most intense self love that he could remember, laying back against his pillows, he starts to feel relaxed for the first time in days. Then, he hears it, his door opening, he grabs for the sheet to cover himself just as Stefan walks into his bedroom.

"Damon?" Stefan calls out to him as he opens the door, walking into the room, stopping short before reaching the bed.

Damon rarely struggled with guilt. But fantasizing about his brother's girl and then his brother walking in, made him feel something he hadn't felt in along time, embarrassment. He decided to pretend to be asleep and hope that Stefan hadn't heard what he had been up too.

"Damon, are you asleep?" Stefan asks him walking over to the side of Damon's bed.

Pretending to wake up and to be irritated with Stefan. "What? Why are you in my room, waking me up Stefan?"

"I need to talk to you." Stefan told him

"Can't it wait 'til morning?" Damon replied his voice still showing his irritation.

"Sorry, but you rarely sleep, so I just assumed that you would be awake." Stefan signed and turned to walk out of the room.

"Just spill it. And leave Stefan." Damon tells him in a exasperated voice.

"I'm going to take Elena away for the weekend. Maybe to see a play in DC. But I want your opinion on whether we should tell anyone where we are going?"

"A play, in DC? That's what was so important that you disturbed my sleep?" Putting extra emphasis on important.

"But that's not the real reason you are here. Is it?" Damon continued, this time with a small amount of seriousness.

"No, I'll get to that in a minute. Look Damon, I know you weren't sleeping, so let's both stop pretending that we don't know what was going on in here before I arrived."

"So, you heard. That's not surprising since I hear just about everything you two do together. Are you going to call me out? What will it be? Swords? Or shall it be pistols at dawn?" Damon smirked waving his hand like it was holding a sword and then finishing with a fake quick draw with his finger as the gun.

"How about a stake to the heart?" Stefan answered with a slight smirk of his own. "I can't say that I'm happy you have fantasies about my girlfriend but I'm not going to fight with you over it unless you ever touch her. Then it will be World War Three." Stefan said, raising his eyebrows and looking Damon dead in the eyes.

"Ah, threats. That's more like it. Look, I'm clearly more than capable of stealing your girl but she 'says' she loves you and you are my brother…" Damon's voice trailed off not wanting to admit any feelings for Stefan. "Plus, she's not Katherine…." Damon said, letting his words trail off again but knowing that Stefan caught the implied meaning that Elena was loyal, Katherine was not.

Katherine. Everything always came back to her. Her playing with both brothers, dividing them, getting them killed, turning them. Also the fact that 146 years later they still had major trust issues that could all be traced back to her. And of course for Damon, him loving her for all those years and then finding out that she only loved Stefan , was still a real sore point with him.

"About Elena and me and this trip we are taking, I'm going to take the next step with her."

Damon couldn't contain his look of surprise at Stefan's announcement. "What's the next step? Marriage?" His voice showing strain. "Have you discussed this with Elena?"

"Not really in depth, we've just touched on it briefly. But I think I can safely say that we don't want to be apart anymore. So it's the next logical step."

"Are you going to turn her?"

"That we haven't discussed."

"But you have thought about it, admit it."

"I have thought about it everyday since we first confessed our feelings for each other. I've always been so torn about asking her to, literally, give up her life for me. But with Klaus coming, it is starting to look like an option we can't ignore." Stefan concludes with a sigh.

"So are you going to ask her to be your 'vampire wife' this weekend?" Damon asked with his usual snark.

"No, we're going to talk about our future and after we decide on some things, I'll decide when the timing is right to give her a ring."

"You have our Mother's ring, are you going to give her that?"

"No, you're the first born son, it should go to you."

"Like I'm ever going to use it. Elena should have it."

"No, I've taken enough from you already. If we decide that this is the right course for us, I'll buy a ring."

"Stefan, I want to be happy for you but…." he leaves the sentence hanging

"Damon, I'm sorry, for everything. For Katherine. For making you turn. For our Father. For hurting you with this… If I could live without her, I would. But I can't. I won't give her up. She's my soul mate."

"I know, I know. I've heard all this from her. You guys were meant to be. You're the reason why she lives, blah,blah." Damon concludes sarcastically.

"I'm sorry for what your going through but I know that your feelings for Elena has changed you for the better, Damon."

"Stop!" Damon said his voice filled with barely controlled anger. "We've bonded enough tonight. Next you'll be telling me to keep on the good guy, hero path. That there's a girl out there just for me, and other bullshit like that. Just leave Stefan, go back to your room, your girl, your bright future, that's so fucking perfect it makes me want to shoot myself with wooden bullets."

Stefan turns to walk away, knowing his brother. He's getting snakier by the minute, and that means he's had all he can take tonight. But he can't help but add.

"Whether you choose to believe me or not. I care for you and wish things could be different." Stefan tells him, as he walks out the door, and back to Elena.

A/N

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