Disclaimer: I only own my story and any characters not recognized. The rest belong to their rightful owners.

Chapter one

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"- Stronger by Kelly Clarkson

Stefan was just barely alive.

He was lucky, so damn lucky that his attacker had missed his heart. But he had to be careful, the stake was a mere half an inch away from his heart. If he moved the wrong way, it might go into it.

Stefan groaned in pain, as the stake lodged into his stomach dug in deeper. Who was his attacker? A human? A vampire? Everything in Mystic Falls had been normal since Damon had left almost a year ago. And now Stefan was left for dead on the side of a road.

Carefully, he reached to take out the stake rubbing against his heart. With a cry of agony, he pulled it out. With that stake gone, Stefan pulled out the one in his stomach and the one in his back.

He was still weak, very weak. He tried to stand up, but just fell to his knees. Stefan needed blood, but would animal blood really help him? He couldn't drink human blood- he'd tried that so many times before, it never ended well.

The glow of headlights brought Stefan out of his thoughts, as a car slowly crept down the dark road. It stopped in front of him, and he saw Bonnie behind the wheel.

"Stefan?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Then her eyes widened when she saw him. "Oh my god! What happened?"

"A-attacked." He mumbled, as she rushed to help him.

"Who attacked you?" she demanded, pulling out her cellphone. "Let me call Elena."

Stefan half listened as Bonnie talked to Elena. He heard his girlfriend's frantic voice, and then heard another car pull up to them. Bonnie and Elena managed to get him into Elena's car, and get him back to his house. By the time they dumped him onto the couch, he was unconscious.

Elena bit her lip, tears forming in her brown eyes. She didn't know what to do, who to call. She turned to Bonnie, who was staring back at her.

"What do we do?" she asked quietly, sitting down beside Stefan. His wounds should've been healing by now, but they weren't. He needed blood.

"Alaric maybe?" Bonnie suggested, and Elena nodded. That would be the best option.

A half an hour later, Alaric was over. He managed to move Stefan to his room, and pull out several vervain darts that the girls hadn't seen. He inspected Stefan's wounds, while Elena stayed by her boyfriend's side.

"Whoever did this to him staked him in the stomach, back, and chest. Stefan was lucky- it looks like they just missed his heart." Alaric said, stepping away from the vampire.

"What can I do?" Elena asked, brushing a tear off of her cheek. She was so scared to lose Stefan.

"He needs blood, or he's going to die." Alaric said bluntly. Elena made a slight face, but nodded in determination. She would get animal blood for Stefan if she had to.

"Once he has blood, he'll start to heal. It will take him longer, since he'll be drinking animal blood, but he should be okay." Alaric said, and Elena sighed in relief.

"Okay, thank you so much, Alaric." She said, and he smiled sympathetically at her.

"No problem, Elena. I'm glad that Stefan's okay." He said, as she walked him out of the house.

"Wait, don't you think you should call him?" Alaric said, pausing at the threshold of the front door.

Elena glowered at the floor. "He wouldn't care." She said bitterly.

"It's his little brother, Elena. He deserves to know." Alaric insisted.

"He wouldn't care, Alaric. It would be a waste of time." Elena snapped.

"Maybe, but at least try. He deserves to know, Elena." Alaric repeated, before leaving.

Elena sighed, thinking about his words as she returned to Stefan. She didn't want to call him, but he was his brother. Stefan would want to know if he got hurt. She shook her head, before walking into Stefan's room. She would think about it more when Stefan was awake.

A few days later, Stefan was conscious. He was still weak though, and the only thing keeping him alive was the animal blood. He had no idea who attacked him, and Elena was afraid that his attacker would try to finish what they started.

After recruiting Caroline to get Stefan's blood for him, Elena waited in the car while the blonde vampire hunted down animals. She stared at her cellphone, biting her lip. She was torn; she didn't know what to do.

Taking a deep breath, Elena dialed his number. She didn't know what she would say to him, but she had decided that Stefan was his brother, so he deserved to know what had happened.

After the phone rang five times, Elena got his voicemail. She sighed, and then said, "It's Elena. I don't expect anything from you, but I just thought you should know that Stefan was attacked a few days ago. He almost died. He's okay now, though. Anyway, I just thought you should know."

Caroline came back into the car a few bottles of animal blood in her hands. She raised an eyebrow at Elena. "You called him didn't you?" she accused.

The brunette sighed. "I got his voicemail." She muttered, starting her car.

"He's not going to do anything, Elena. You know that." Caroline said, and Elena nodded.

"I know he won't, but he deserved to know Caroline. I did all I could do, and now it's up to him." Elena said, driving to Stefan's.

Three days passed with no phone calls, but Elena expected nothing less from him. She didn't tell Stefan that she called his brother, and slowly, Stefan was getting better. He could get out of his bed, and things were starting to get back to normal again.

Elena was glad that he didn't show up, didn't call. It was a mistake, that she called him in the first place. A week after Stefan's attack, Elena was warming up his blood for him, while her boyfriend relaxed on the couch.

Suddenly, Elena heard the front door slam open, and she froze. Was Stefan's attacker back? Were they here to kill both of them?

Forgetting about Stefan's animal blood, she ran back to him. Elena stopped running when she saw Stefan staring wide eyed at the door. Her eyes drifted to where he was staring, and then she froze in shock.

"Hello brother. Miss me?"

Damon Salvatore was back.

A/N: this was a little short, but it'll get longer. I promise.

Reviews are appreciated!

~Abby :)