Chapter 18

"Stefan?"

He moved out of the shadows, his eyes falling to the sleeping Elena in Damon's arms.

Damon's jaw flexed as he stared at his little brother. The image of how he had found Elena flashed through his mind and he controlled the urge to throw her onto the sofa and rip Stefan's throat out.

"You're back." Stefan stated, shifting his weight awkwardly.

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Obviously." He said coldly.

Elena stirred and murmured something unintelligible. Damon sighed.

"Stay here." He said to Stefan, his voice firm and nonnegotiable.

Stefan nodded briefly and watched as Damon carried Elena up the stairs.

He took her into his room and put her into his bed, pulling the covers up around her chin. She sleepily grabbed his arms as he turned to leave. He softly kissed her fingers and placed her hand back on the bed.

"Sleep sweetheart." He whispered.

She drifted off and he quietly left the room.

He stalked back into the sitting room to find Stefan standing in the exact position he had left him in. He poured himself a glass of scotch and downed it in one.

"Why are you here?" He asked stiffly.

"I wanted to talk to Elena. She wasn't at her house so…"

Damon grit his teeth, forcing himself not to lose control.

"How can you come in here acting like nothing happened?" He ground out.

Stefan looked confused.

"What?"

"How can you talk to me knowing that you forged a letter in my name, a letter that not only could have gotten me killed, but hurt Elena?" His voice rose and his gaze flicked to the ceiling, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl upstairs.

Stefan looked away.

"You know about that." He muttered.

The tumbler in Damon's hand shattered and shards of glass fell to the floor.

"I wasn't in Europe Stefan. I was fucking kidnapped by some psycho Salvatore hater."

Stefan flinched and actually had the decency to look guilty.

"I'm sorry. I am, but Elena was going out of her mind…She was planning to go looking for you. She could have gotten hurt Damon." Stefan said quietly.

While his fury at his brother for his treatment of Elena was still ever present. Damon had to agree that her setting off on a rescue mission would have been dangerous.

He sighed and brushed the glass that was still stuck in his hand onto the carpet.

"Whatever, I'm not even that bothered about the stupid letter. Do you have any idea what I found when I got back here?" He spat, trying to push the image of Elena's lifeless body from his mind.

Stefan frowned.

"What happened with Jenna and Jeremy was…unfortunate but…"

"There are no 'buts' Stefan." Damon yelled. "Her family died, her boyfriend took off with her best friend!"

Stefan's eyes flashed.

"She asked me to leave." He countered.

Damon rolled his eyes.

"I wonder why? Oh yeah, you got her family killed."

Stefan flew at him, knocking him into the wall. The house shook at the impact and Damon grabbed his brother's neck, quickly gaining the upper hand. He whirled them around and pinned Stefan down.

"It was an accident. I was trying to save them." He roared, struggling against his grip.

Damon's fist made contact with his face with a sickening crunch. Stefan cried out in pain as his nose broke.

"You don't get to defend yourself Stefan. There is nothing you can say that will change anything."

Stefan finally managed to throw Damon off him, sending him sailing across the room to smash into a bookcase. Damon was taken off guard by his strength. He groaned as a large shard of wood skewered his abdomen. It was clear that his brother was no longer on the animal stuff.

He pulled it out and grit his teeth as blood began to soak into his shirt.

Fighting the pain he blurred towards Stefan, stopping an inch from his face.

"You need to leave." He said, his voice low and dangerous.

Stefan met his gaze.

"I won't let you steal her from me." He said coldly.

His fist met his face again, re-breaking the nose that had only just begun to heal. Damon winced at the action, the wound was taking its toll on him; he was having trouble staying upright.

"Damon?"

Soft footsteps padded down the stairs, pausing as the tired girl took in the destruction in the room.

"Oh my god." She whispered, her eyes falling on the two brothers.

She flinched when she looked at Stefan. The only thought that crossed her mind at the sight of him was that night; she had put her faith in him and he had let her down in the worst way possible.

"Elena…" Stefan turned and walked towards her, his hand outstretched as though approaching a skittish animal.

She backed away.

"What are you doing here?" She asked coldly, looking anywhere but his face.

"I thought maybe we could talk…"

Her eyes shifted passed him, to Damon, widening when she saw the blood seeping through his clothes. He was swaying on his feet.

"Oh god."

She dashed passed Stefan, her eyes full of tears as she ran to his brother. She yanked his shirt up and pressed her hands over the gaping wound, trying to stop any more blood from escaping.

"Why isn't it healing?" She choked, pushing him onto the sofa and watching in horror as his eyes fluttered with pain.

The thought of losing Damon for good was not even worth thinking about. It was unbearable.

Stefan watched the scene, unmoving.

"Splinters." Damon murmured.

Realization hit Elena and she ran out of the room, pausing only to glare at Stefan. She felt a swell of satisfaction as she noticed that his nose was broken.

"Touch him and I will kill you." She said darkly, not waiting for his reply.

She ran into his bathroom and fumbled through the cupboards knocking items to the ground as she searched with shaking hands. She raced back downstairs with tweezers held firmly in her fist. He couldn't heal while there was still wood in the wound.

She was relieved to see that Stefan hadn't moved while she was out of the room. She didn't spare him a glance as she knelt beside Damon.

She pushed his shirt out of the way and got to work, Damon forced himself not to cry out as she pulled a two-inch fragment out of his stomach.

Five minutes later there was a small pile of splinters on the floor next to them. Elena was relieved to see his skin begin to knit itself back together. She left the room again and ran down to the basement, returning with a blood bag.

She held it to Damon's lips and smiled when he took it and drank deeply, the color returning to his cheeks. When he was done, he chucked it on the table and sat up, looking completely back to normal. Elena felt such an acute sense of relief at that moment that she unthinkingly threw her arms around his neck. He returned the embrace and stroked her hair soothingly.

"I'm fine Lena. You did good, thank you." He murmured.

The moment was interrupted by Stefan; who was still standing watching them, his hands fisted at his sides.

"Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?" He said angrily.

Elena leapt off the sofa and whirled around to look at him.

"I thought I said I never wanted to see you again." She spat.

Stefan flinched.

"I just thought that maybe, after all this time…"

"That I would have changed my mind?" She managed to meet his eyes, and glared at him in fury.

She walked towards him, stopping a few feet away.

"Did you or did you not write that letter from Damon?" She asked coldly.

He looked down.

"Yes, I did but Elena…" His voice was pleading.

"There are no 'buts' Stefan." She shouted, unknowingly echoing Damon's words from earlier. "How dare you?"

She stepped closer, her eyes blazing.

"You realize you have taken everyone from me? My aunt, my brother, my best friend… then you have the audacity to come here and try to take Damon as well."

Stefan's face, hardened at her words.

"I didn't know my brother was so important to you." He said coldly.

Elena slapped him. She put all her strength behind it and was satisfied when his head whipped to the side.

"Get out."

Veins appeared around his eyes as he brought his hand to his cheek.

"You can't kick me out of my own house Elena." He said threateningly.

Damon was in front of her in a second.

"Actually it is my house. And you are no longer welcome here." He said, making it clear that he would not be caught off guard again.

Stefan seemed to consider his options before reluctantly turning and storming out.

The door slammed and Elena sank to the floor.

Damon rubbed his face and was about to pour himself more scotch when a potent smell hit him. He immediately crouched beside the tired exhausted sitting on the floor.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, running his eyes over her body looking for an injury.

"Huh?" She asked, still dazed from the confrontation.

"You're bleeding Elena."

She looked up at him.

"Oh…I think I stood on some glass." She murmured distantly.

Damon had her in his arms, on his bed in a second. She smiled as he pulled a shard of glass out of her foot.

"Those poor tweezers are really getting a workout tonight!"

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