Stefan's POV

Damn it, there was nothing left in his stomach. No blood to throw up. Just empty dry heaving that felt like it was ripping his stomach apart every time he felt it contract and the gagging overwhelm him.

He heard the door open and the corners of his mouth turned up in a partial smile at the sight of her. "Elena," he gasped out, his hands still gripping the garbage can between his fingers. She walked up to him quickly. Her hazy silhouette got clearer in the darkness the closer she got to him. "Elena." This time his voice cracked and it came out as more of a whimper of relief that she was there for him.

He felt the mattress sink in beside him as she sat down and his eyes closed as he felt her fingers brushing his hair from his eyes.

"Stefan, I'm right here. Are you okay? What can I do?" Her voice was low, like a hushed whisper as she knelt beside him looking up into his pain filled eyes.

He blinked and his grip loosened on the garbage can, letting her take it to dump it out. He just sat there and waited quietly for her to come back from the bathroom. She appeared not more than a minute later and it seemed within that minute his eyes had focused a little bit more. Her figure as she headed back to him was clearer than before and his eyes grew wider as he saw her long legs were bare and she was covered in nothing but Damon's button down shirt.

He knew she was happy with his brother. He was happy for her, knowing she was being looked after. He knew Damon would protect her with his life and keep her safe. He could be a selfish ass sometimes, but not when it came to Elena. He trusted Damon to get her away from here and save her from Klaus.

He knew he did not have long left. He had heard that a werewolf bite took about 2 to 3 days to fully metabolize and destroy the vampire's system. It attacks the organs and started shutting them down one by one in its final stages Katherine had told him.

But as much pain as he had been in, it had lessened after he had blood. He remembered feeding on Katherine before and she had told her that he had actually fed on Elena too. He must have blocked out that part of his memory. He felt horrible for doing anything to hurt her. He knew somehow that he had not been in his right mind. But knowing it and stopping it were two very different things.

Now as he saw her walking back up to him, he was scared that he might actually hurt her. He would never in his worst nightmares ever hurt Elena but it had not seemed like he was in much control of his motor functions as of late. He could feel his heart clenching and his hand flew to his chest like he needed to check if his heart was still beating. It felt so slow right now.

"Elena!" he rasped again, as she stared sadly in his eyes. "You shouldn't be here. I… I could hurt you."

She was already shaking her head as she moved to sit closer to him. He laid his head on her shoulder but pulled back almost instantly as he had just remembered that he was very dangerous with his head right there by her neck. "I mean it Elena. I can't risk hurting you again. I hate myself for what I did to you before."

He was reminded of the memory that he had with her back in his room, months ago. After Miss Mystic, he had been pacing in his room and she had been crazy to just show up their after what he had done to Amber. He felt like he had been a tiger pacing back and forth in his cage, just waiting for a chance to leap on his next victim.

He had yelled at her that night, and slammed the closet doors beside her head and he tried to get it through to her that he was a monster. That the blood just brought out who he really was.

Even she had not believed that, but it had been worth a try. But his anger had startled her and he had seen the briefest flash of fear in her eyes and he had sunk down against her, begging for her forgiveness.

His mouth had been right by her pulse pounding bare throat. He had felt the pull, the raw animalistic hunger that the blood brought out of him... to sink his teeth deep in her neck. He had been so hungry back then after he had sucked down almost a dozen blood bags the night before. And tasting that Amber girls delicious warm and thick blood right in her veins had helped one bit. He had just wanted more, so much more. But enough of his brain registered that he would never want to hurt her, so he had just cried in her arms.

Damon was right, there was no comparison. Nothing was better than blood straight from the vein. It was rich and warm, and pulsating with life. And that same blood called to him again now... with such a raw, need that he could barely hold back.

He was dragged back from his thoughts as he felt her hands around his head. "Stefan. Hey, look at me." She was calling to him and he was scared to look in her eyes.

He had apologized for feeding on her. Hell, he wanted to apologize about a 1000 more times. It felt like no matter how many times he did, he would never be able to make up for it. It was different than how he had fed on her in the tomb. Then they were still in love and he had made it feel so enjoyable and erotic. He knew how to do that and he knew that even with her initial reaction to his fangs, she had relaxed almost instantly and had succumbed to the feelings the feed could bring out. Feeding on humans could be extremely pleasurable, if they let go of their fear.

But she had been terrified when he had fed on her here, in this room before. He had blocked out almost everything about their encounter since it was too painful for him to face. But that one thing, her fear had stayed with him. He had heard how hard her little human heart was racing. And all he had thought at the time was how much the blood stopped the pain, even for a moment. He had been in so much pain already for hours already.

But he would never have fed on her if he knew it was her. He had 100% believed that he had fed on that girl from the pageant... never Elena. He could not bear to face her now, knowing what he had done.

"Stefan, Stefan." She was insistent. "Come on, tell me what I can do, please. I want to help you. I know you must be in so much pain." Her voice sounded strained with emotion. He could tell without even looking at her that she really must have forgiven him. She looked him up and down and stood up, pulling the damp blankets off him.

"Let's at least get you out of these wet clothes, Stefan. You don't have to hide the bite from me anymore. Just please let me do that for you, " she said her eyes pleading for him to agree.

He knew she was right and he reluctantly sat up more and allowed her to pull the torn and bloody hoodie off him. It scraped against the skin of his bite and he let out a gasp of pain. She saw instantly what had happened.

"I'm so sorry it hurts so much. Here come on. Just one more layer. Please Stefan and then maybe you will stop shivering.

He had not realized he had been shivering again and lifted his arms slowly so she could pull the wet, sticky t shirt off him too. It felt good to have nothing touching the rotted skin for once. She had lifted up another t shirt and he assumed to help him put it on when she changed her mind and went digging in the bag by the end of the bed. She pulled out a white wife beater tank and he smiled knowing she must have been thinking too of the pain of having anything touch the torn apart skin.

Her face looked flooded with pain as she looked at him, seeing what the werewolf bite had done to his skin. He lifted his one hand to tilt her chin away from his arm and to look in his eyes. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "It's okay, beautiful. I'm sure I look like hell. But don't cry, please don't cry," he begged. "You have cried enough to last a lifetime these last few days." He wiped a tear that had found its way down her cheek.

She shook her head and looked like she was trying to shut out what she was feeling. She helped him into the tank top and pulled it down over his stomach. Then she held out the pajama pants in her hands and he stood up on shaky legs, supporting his weight by leaning back on the wall, one hand on her shoulder. He inhaled sharply when he felt her hands on his belt and he looked back down at her.

"It's okay Stefan. Just let me get you out of these wet clothes and then I will get you back in bed." He nodded and shut his eyes as he felt her fingers unbutton his jeans and then pull down the zipper. Her hands were on both sides of his jeans and she tugged them down gently. He could feel the uncomfortable pallor in the air, with her being his girlfriend just a few days ago. They had both seen each other like this many times but now it was so different.

He could not deny the feelings he still had for her and how much he still loved her. But he was determined to respect her and his brother's love for her, if it was the last thing he did. His body still wanted to react to her touch, so close and intimate. But he forced it into submission the best that he could.

She knelt to help him out of his jeans and then he sat back down as she picked up the pajama pants and pulled them up his legs. It felt amazing to finally be out of wet, bloody clothes. He sank back into the mattress and she got a clean blanket from the closet and wrapped it around him. She sat beside him and rubbed his good arm and his back, up and down from on top of the blanket and finally he stopped shivering.

He forced himself to look up into her face. Her eyes looked so sad for him and when she saw him looking at her she forced a smile onto her lips. "I don't deserve this Elena. Any of your kindness. After everything you went through. You barely lived through so much hell... all because of me."

His voice was trembling as he looked at her. "I...fed… on you Elena. Like a monster would. I was rough and I could feel how scared you were. I never wanted you to ever be scared of me."

Her smile faltered as he spoke and he could see the confusion spread across her features. "I mean it Elena. Go back to Damon. After what I did to you..." he choked trying to hold back a sob. "I will never forgive myself for hurting you. And I can't bear it if it would happen again. You are safe with Damon, not me." He hung his head again, his gaze falling down to her lap.

Damon's shirt hung on loosely on her small frame, making Stefan feel his brother's presence with them even when he wasn't there in the room with them. She was his now. He knew it and had accepted it, but it still hurt like hell. He could see how much she loved him...every time she looked at his brother. He swallowed hard at the knowledge that she had never looked at him the way she looked at Damon.

Her desperation and fighting to get out of his arms when Klaus had Damon by his heart outside was the worst he had ever seen her. She had looked like her heart was the one that was being choked. That with every inch more he squeezed it... that she had been the one dying, not Damon. That was when he had truly seen how much she loved him.

His sense of smell was fading fast, as his organs were trying to shut down and make him gag and retch. The little blood somewhere in his veins healed them back up, over and over but still left him so weak. Despite that, he could still smell how strong Damon's scent was on her. She was as fully Damon's as she could be and he was so happy that amidst all this hell that she had been through that she had Damon to lean on and draw comfort from.

He thought back to earlier that night...

He woken up early in the night and had seen them sleeping on the chair, all curled around each other. As hard as it was to see her like that...with someone else, what he saw looked so right and so perfect. The moonlight had been shining down through the window and he could see her laying in Damon's lap. His brother's head had been down against her chest and her hand was up tangled in his hair. They looked so peaceful and so much like they belonged together. Like they fit each other like a puzzle. Damon's hand he saw, had been caressing her stomach under his shirt she was wearing.

He was happy they were right there for him. His brother, when they were growing up always seemed to know how to make him feel safe. And right now with them both there, he felt safe just like he had as a child. His eyes started closing and he fell into a fitful sleep.

"Stefan, hey. I'm here if you need me. I'm not scared of you. Just tell me what I can do?" She jerked him back to the present, but he still felt so weak and just wanting to fall asleep and not wake up. He felt his mind drifting back again to earlier that night.

He could not seem to stop coughing before and he had caught Damon's eye at one point before and told him he should take Elena back to Jeremy's room so she could sleep. He had seen her twisting and turning every time he coughed and gagged and he knew it was not helping her sleep. Damon had nodded his agreement and had stood up slowly with her cradled in his arms and headed for the door.

He liked them there with him but he wanted her to sleep. She had had so many nightmares lately that if the one thing he could give her was a peaceful sleep then he wanted to do that. He winced at the image of her nestled against Damon's bare chest, her long legs hanging off his arms as he carried her out of the room.

He fought between reality and the past, trying to figure out what was actually happening now and not. She was still looking in his eyes, hers pools of sorrow for what she must be seeing. He didn't even feel like a man anymore. He felt the shell of who he used to be. There was nothing there anymore, just pain and emptiness.

"Elena, go back to Damon. That is what you can do for me. I don't trust myself not to hurt you again. Go, sleep and stop worrying about me."

She bristled at his firmness. "I can't just stop worrying about you. You know that. Just because we aren't together anymore does not mean I don't care about you, Stefan." Her voice was as equally firm as his had been to her.

"I am just so tired Elena. I just need to sleep." It seemed like after throwing up more blood that he had a time however short, where his body just collapsed with exhaustion, till the next time he woke up gagging and dry heaving. So he was going to take full advantage of that.

He saw her nodding to his request and felt her stroke his face. He smiled at her weakly before his eyes fell closed again.

The next time he woke up, which must not have been very long from then, maybe 20 minutes, it was still so dark outside. Elena was gone and he felt the gagging start again. Damn it! He just couldn't even get comfortable to sleep anymore!

He coughed more as more pain radiated up his throat and his body started the agonizing process of getting rid of more blood. He felt his whole body shudder as it felt like holding back the gag to not get more blood all over the blankets made the pain pool more in his stomach and twist and turn like acid against his insides.

He was glad Damon had listened to him and brought Elena to the other bedroom. She had been through so much already and he wanted her to have some peace. He had pulled himself out of the bed as quietly as he could and stumbled to the door and out into the hall. The blast of cool air helped his dizziness some as he forced his body forward.

The door to Jeremy's room was open and he could see them there on the bed. Elena was laying facing the door, her long hair tumbling down her shoulder and he saw just the top of his brother's hair, his head buried against the back of her neck. Damon's arm was all the way around her waist and she was holding his hand against her chest. They looked so peaceful and deeply sleeping. Neither of them moved or opened their eyes as he looked at them like that. Seeing them like that made his heart ache and rejoice at the same time.

But the next second he felt more pain and he turned around, grabbed for the bathroom door, closing it quietly behind him and collapsed on the tiled floor in front of the toilet. Shit, he had no more blood left to lose!

Stefan just wanted it to be over with. He wanted to die and put an end to this suffering. His body was breaking down and he just wanted it to be over. He felt hot tears pooling in his eyes. He lifted his head weakly and looked around the bathroom. Fuck, there was no wood anywhere!

He felt the rage and the frustration building and he pulled himself to stand in front of the mirror. He stood silently for a minute just staring at his reflection. He saw the man in the mirror move when he did, but he did not look nearly like the man he remembered himself to be. This man was paler than paste and his skin was loose and his eyes looked so tired; so weak and so empty. His soft blonde hair was the only feature of his he still recognized. He would have smashed his fist against the mirror shattering it, destroying the horrific image staring back at him, if he had not thought that it would wake his brother and Elena up.

Why couldn't he just end it now? There was tons of wood downstairs by the fireplace. He could get there. He could just stop his suffering before anyone else even knew he was down there.

His mind made up, he gripped the doorknob and twisted it back open. The hallway was empty as he dragged himself along the wall toward the stairs. As much as he could tell, it was all quiet downstairs. He held tight to the railing and staggered down the stairs, leaning against the wall and feeling sweat dripping down his forehead. His body seemed to go been the extremes of shivering and now sweating.

Once he was down in the main living room he looked around. The fire was barely burning. There here just golden embers flickering in the darkness. There was no one around and with more determination he got himself across the room and in front of the fireplace. He sunk down on the rug and stared into the fire. It was almost out. The slightest whisper of wind and the room would be plunged into darkness. He felt like that fire; so weak and burned out that all it would take would be barely a gust of wind and he would be gone from this earth forever.

With trembling fingers he picked up a sharp solid piece of wood and brought it closer to inspect it. Yes, it would do nicely. In a few moments it would all be over. He looked around the room one last time and could see happy smiling pictures of Elena and her family on the walls like they were watching him. He was comforted by the fact that in the pictures she was smiling. That way, the last image of her face he would see would be her happy.

He lifted the wood up, leveling it with his heart. His gaze had been fixated on a picture of Elena on the end table beside him. It was of her here, at the cabin and her arms around Jeremy. Her hair was blowing in the wind, she was dressed in short shorts and a purple tank top and she was sitting right there on the back dock with her brother. They had turned it looked like, to the person with the camera and posed quickly with goofy childlike smiles as their toes touched the water at the edge of the dock. They both looked so blissfully unaware of all the hell that the world could lash out at them. So young, so pure and so innocent.

That was how they should have stayed. He should have just left her alone and never thrown her headlong into his world. Just because he wanted to know her.

His hand shook as he readied the stake against his chest. "I love you, Elena. Always," he whispered. He pulled his ring off and tossed it in the fire and clutched the stake tighter in his hand and lifted it up.

The next second he felt a whoosh of air and he was flat on his back and he heard the sound of the stake slamming into the fireplace. More sounds of rustling and crackling came from the fire. He opened his eyes to see Damon standing over him as his hand, that had at first looked like it was red and bubbly with burns was healing already. In his grasp was Stefan's ring.

Stefan stared back at his brother in shock. But before he could utter a word Damon had grabbed him up from the floor and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him fiercely.

Stefan just hung there in his brother's embrace, his arms tight against his sides under Damon's. His older brother had never hugged him like that before. He pulled back and studied Damon's face. His brother's eyes were yellow with anger and his jaw clenched. He grabbed Stefan by the shoulders and shook him. "Do not do this!"

Stefan gasped and felt like he could faint in Damon's arms. "I just did. You know what will happen."

Damon snarled at him, slamming him against the wall. "I don't care. You don't get to die tonight."

His head fell down as he felt all his bones jarring from the impact against the wall. "Just let me go. Let me die, Damon." His head snapped up as he regarded him with vague hope in his hazy green eyes. "Or better yet. Kill me, please."

He started coughed and gagging and again and since there was so little in him nothing happened except the insane pain of his stomach contracting again and again with nothing in it.

Damon's face registered the gravity of Stefan's words, his eyes wide with shock. "Like hell brother! You do not get to give up. Not till the last second! Do you hear me Stef?"

The blonde vampire nodded slowly, still taken aback by the ferocity of his brother's emotions. The very same brother that had promised him an eternity of misery... was fighting for him to live.

Damon's glare did not even fade a bit after he nodded. "I mean it brother. I am going to find a way to cure you. I can't lose you." His voice was cracked with pain and he swallowed the lump in his throat. Stefan could see the sadness on his face as he continued. "I won't lose you. And you damn well don't get to do this to Elena!"

Stefan nodded more as he sank down on the floor. "You can't risk it. Elena needs you, Damon! She loves you and you need to think about her."

"I am thinking about her!" he snapped back, falling into the chair behind him. He put his head in his hands and sighed. "She has been through so much Stefan. SO much and I know she is barely holding it together."

Stefan studied his brother. He knew he was right. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I just wanted it to be over." Tears sprung to his eyes as he poured out his heart to his brother. "I'm so sorry Damon. I know it was selfish of me, You are right. I need to think about Elena. But damn it brother, so do you!"

Damon lifted his head from his hands and found Stefan's eyes. His face twisted in confusion at what he could mean by that,

Like he could read his mind he spoke back. "You need to let go of this crazy, cocky idea that you can save me. It's too late for me, Damon. We both know it."

He saw Damon sniffle, his face almost completely hidden in the darkness. "She needs you now. She wants you Damon and she would die if anything happened to you. She looks at you in a way that I could have only have dreamed of when we were together. You are it for her, Damon. You will make her happier than she has ever imagined. I can see it on her face...how much she loves you."

Stefan swallowed hard almost not believing what he was saying, but he pushed on knowing he needed to get through to him before it was too late. "You need to let me go. I promise I won't kill myself. But you need to promise me something too, Damon. You need to promise me that you will not go after any chance of this damn cure. The second you get a chance, you take Elena and you run. She needs you alive. You need to give her a long life... with you in it. You need to make her forget about all the hell that these last few days have brought her. You need to make good memories to wash away the bad. You need to be there when she grieves for me."

His face was stern as he regarded his brother. "Promise me that, Damon and then I will have peace when I die." He felt tears threatening to slip down his cheeks as he looked at him. "You need to hold her when she cries, keep her warm at night, be her rock and let her lean on you when the hell of this day is finally over and you are safe. You being there for her and loving her more than I ever could is the only thing getting me through this."

Damon's mouth had opened and closed a couple times as he had spoken, but words seemed lost on him. Words could not really describe the way either of them were feeling. He cleared his throat and spoke slowly. "I will brother. I promise I will love her and take care of her. I will guard her with my life. She is my life Stefan. And we kinda did make a good memory last night already."

Stefan was scared to know what that could be but he wanted to know. They all needed some good news lately. "Really? Tell me please. I know I'll probably hate it, but I want to know. I need some good news brother. He forced a smile at him and waited.

Damon drew in a deep breath. "Well I kind of...asked Elena to marry me last night. And she said yes." His head was down as he barely whispered the last sentence.

Stefan let out a deep breath. "Wow, really?" It felt like he had been kicked in the stomach but he fought through his jealousy to reply. "That's, wow. I'm happy for you Damon. I am. I am happy for both of you. You deserve to be happy. I just wish I could be there to see your wedding." He was nearly in shock at the news. His brother he never dreamed would settle down and ever talk marriage with anyone. And it had happened so fast too.

He crawled closer till he was leaning against Damon's knee, his head down. "You will be a great husband. You must be so excited." he mumbled as another coughing fit started.

Damon was down by his side in an instant, looking so torn at seeing him like this. "Please Stef, tell me what can I do? Is there anything else that will help? I hate seeing you suffering. Hell, we are talking about me getting married and you are fucking dying. It's not fair brother. I would have wanted you there as my best man." He put his arms around him and helped him up onto the couch.

Stefan shook his head back and forth at him. "I would have loved that too. But just knowing that you will keep Elena safe and happy is enough for me." He looked up into his brother's eyes. "I'm so sorry too Damon for practically flaunting her around you when we were together. That was so, so wrong of me. I was insecure and I could sense how you felt about her right from the beginning and even more so after you found out Katherine abandoned you. I should have just backed off so long ago already. I didn't really see till today how much she loves you. And looking back I just should have let her go sooner."

Damon was so quiet and Stefan was getting really worried that this bucket list honesty was too much for both of them. They sure were not drunk enough for this conversation.

"I'm sorry too about Katherine. I knew then too that you loved her and I should have left it alone then and not competed with you for her. We should have been stronger than that. We should have been brother's first and I let a woman come between us. And now its happening again and I want you to know that I see it this time and its not just because I'm dying. I see the connection, the depth of her love for you too. And I am so sorry I ever showed off my relationship in your face, knowing how much you loved her too."

Tears were sliding freely down his cheeks now and he wiped them away. "I've been such a horrible brother to you." His voice was trembling now as his hands shook.

Damon put his arms around him and they just sat there on the floor by the fire. Stefan cried into his older brother's shoulder. "Me turning you too was such a coward's move. You were right. I just didn't want to be alone forever. That is my deepest regret Damon; taking that choice away from you."

The raven haired vampire rubbed Stefan's arm back and forth. "Hey, hey. I know. It's okay I forgive you brother. I forgive you for making me what I am. I absolve you of all the death and destruction I have caused as a result." He held his head in his hands and forced Stefan to look at him. "You wanna know why? Cause you are my brother and I love you. And there is nothing you can do, to ever change that."

Stefan smiled at him. He needed that; knowing his brother forgave him. So he could die with no regrets. He had felt another fit of coughing start and he gripped Damon's arm, leaning into him as the pain ripped through his body like lightning through the sky. He gritted his teeth trying to hide how bad it was and be strong.

"Damn it Stefan. Stop trying to be strong," his brother snapped at him, sounding like he again had read his mind. "You don't have to hide how much it hurts from me. Just lean on me. Let me help you brother." Stefan's tear stained face looked up at him and he nodded slowly and fell against him. Damon crushed him in another hug as he fell apart, the sobs wracking his body.

"It hurts so much Damon! I feel like my insides are on fire. And then the very little blood I have left heals the damage and it happens over and over again. I can't take it anymore." He was shaking, his arms clinging to Damon's. "Just make it stop, please?"

Damon didn't answer his plea but he felt him helping him up, his arm around his shoulder and they headed out of the living room. At the bottom of the stairs he heard the back door open and he saw Elijah walk back in the cabin. What would he have been doing outside in the middle of the night? But he was too tired to ask or talk anymore. He gave him a weak smile as Damon helped him up the stairs.

He felt the soft bed under him and sunk into the mattress. "Stay here. Don't move Stefan. I will be right back." Damon blurred himself out the door and Stefan closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose where he felt more pounding pain.

True to his word, Damon was back almost right away. Stefan blinked, trying to focus his eyes more on him, seeing a syringe in his hand. His eyes found his again. "I am not just letting you kill yourself brother. But maybe there is something we can do for the pain."

Stefan sat up more against the headboard. "We?" he mumbled.

And then he gasped as he saw Elena slip in the door to stand beside Damon. He saw their fingers intertwined as they both walked toward him. "Elena?" he whispered, looking so sadly at her.

"We want to help you through this. Can you let us?" Damon said, his eyes on him.

He nodded to them and Elena walked over to the bed and sat down beside him. "Damon has an idea. Just trust us, okay Stefan. We don't want you to feel alone in this." He smiled at her, running his hand over hers on the bed.

She moved till she was more or less behind him and he was laying down, his head against her chest. "Relax, Stefan. Just relax." He could feel his breathing decreasing and he almost moaned at the feeling of her one hand stroking through his hair.

Damon was watching them and he saw him nod to her and move closer and sit on the bed beside them. He lifted the syringe and pressed it to Stefan's neck and slowly let the vervain flood his system. Then he brought his arm under his head and held it out to his brother.

Stefan looked up at him and shook his head. "No way. I could hurt her again," he gasped out, looking up at Elena.

"Shh, brother. That was what the vervain is for. I can weaken you enough that the blood in your system will help with the pain but not cause you to go into a blind rage again. Trust me. We want to help you. We are both here for you." He held his wrist out again, closer to Stefan's mouth.

He could feel Elena holding him and he could not believe Damon's selflessness in knowing how much she would be able to calm him. He saw their hands find each others again and tangle together like they were a united front, committed to helping him. He looked back up at his brother and nodded in resignation that he would try it. He felt the vervain making him dizzy and he felt all his muscles just go lax. Maybe this could work. His eyes fell closed but he forced them back open and grasped his brother's wrist and sunk his teeth into it.

Gulping greedily he swallowed the warm, thick blood and felt the pain, the fire, the burning in every vein in his body start to fade. Damon was right this was helping. He took a few more large swallows and then unlatched his fangs from his brother's wrist.

His head fell back against Elena's chest and he could not find the strength to keep his eyes open. "Thank you. Both of you." he whispered. "It's helping, Damon. It is. I feel so sleepy but the pain is...is numb. I can't feel the fire right now. Thank you so much." He lifted his head enough to smile at Elena as she got fuzzier and fuzzier in his vision and then he felt he could sleep without any pain. Finally

A/N: Super long chapter. Please review it and let me know how you thought I captured the relationship between these three. Especially Damon and Stefan. They needed that talk so badly and it was heartbreaking to write yet so necessary to move things along. Stefan needed to open up to him before it was too late.

Another chapter on the weekend or sooner!

Do you guys like the longer chapters? I could have split in two 3000 ish word chapters but it was all Stefan's POV so I figured I'd leave it. Next chapter more Delena before we revist Caroline and her plan to save everyone.