Author's Note: First of all, I want to apologize to everyone for taking so long to update! I had been gone for a couple days and I had meant to get this chapter up before I left, but I hadn't finished it yet and well, here we are. So, once again I'm really sorry about the long wait!
Anonymous reviews below =)
v-babe - Yes, Damon is sure to be a tad upset ;) Awww, thank you! Haha, yes Stefan was really adorable! Thanks again!
iGG - As you requested ;)
Elena and Bonnie were just starting to dig into some new books when the boys entered the room.
Elena's eyes immediately sought out Stefan and noticed that he was lingering uncertainly behind Damon. She also noted that he was in the same clothes as they had found him in yesterday and appeared slightly warn out.
As Damon was about to speak, Stefan got a closer look at the girls sitting on the couch and suddenly gasped.
"Miss Katherine?" Stefan was stunned as he stared at Elena.
Damon gave a groan as Elena started to get up from the couch. Damon, however, gave her a pointed look to sit back down – not wanting to scare Stefan further.
"No Stefan. That's not Katherine. Sorry, I should have explained earlier," Damon mentally berated himself as he saw how confused his brother looked. How could he have forgotten how shocked his brother would be at the sight of Elena?
Stefan looked from Elena to Damon. "I don't understand.." The poor boy looked tired of finding surprises.
Damon sighed. "Look, it's a long story, but this is Elena. She looks identical to Katherine for reasons that are best left unexplained." Damon ended cryptically, looking very closed off. Stefan looked over at his brother and seemed hurt at Damon's response.
Elena couldn't stand Stefan's pained expression and finally got up from the couch despite Damon's continued glare. She walked over to where the brothers were standing and calmly tried to explain herself to the confused Stefan.
"Stefan, it's all very complicated but you should know that Katherine was a vampire." Stefan looked shocked again but allowed Elena to continue. "Before she was a vampire though, she had a baby and I'm one of her descendents. We just found out that I'm referred to as a doppelganger and that's why I look identical to Katherine." Elena stopped there.
Everyone waited while Stefan processed all this new information. After a while, the younger Salvatore looked up at Elena again.
"Is Katherine the one who made Damon and I vampires?" Elena looked shocked for a moment at the question. Her eyes softened but Damon was the one who answered.
"Yes, Stefan. It was Katherine who caused us to turn." Damon said this quietly.
Stefan's eyes looked pained again and he nodded to himself. "I'm not sure if I understand much of," Stefan turned his head towards Elena again, "what you all just said. But I'll try my best to help with whatever I can." Stefan's expression turned serious at this.
Elena smiled at this and looked like she wanted to hug her boyfriend but stopped herself. She had purposely left off the fact that she and Stefan were dating. She didn't want to bombard him with all this information.
As Stefan had talked, Damon had looked questionably at his younger brother again. When Stefan had said he would try his best to help, he had sounded very much like the Stefan Damon had known over the last century. Always wanting to help. Be the hero.
Of course, his little brother had always been sensitive and annoyingly nice, Damon thought smirking. But that statement was exactly what the Stefan of this time would say. As if he had dealt with previous endeavors and despite not knowing all the facts, would not give up if he couldn't help in some way.
Damon examined Stefan again but his little brother's expression was neutral and it seemed as though he hadn't even noticed his serious words just moments ago.
I'll have to keep an eye out for that again… Damon thought, walking over to the fireplace and creating a nice fire for the group while they would work.
Elena then motioned Stefan to come over by her and Bonnie on the couch but Stefan gave a slight shake of the head and settled to where Damon had isolated himself on the couch facing away from the rest of the group. Damon gave Stefan a confused look as his younger brother gave him a shy smile and seated himself on the other end.
Bonnie cleared her throat, "Alright then, let's get to it."
Hours later saw the gang frustrated at not finding any solutions.
Bonnie slammed down the latest book she had searched through. It was starting to look pretty bad. However, she found she didn't how to exactly break the news. Every time she looked over at Stefan - who after she had kindly explained what he should look for, had been bent over in concentration, staring intently at the pages – she felt extremely guilty again. She didn't want to break his hope.
And Damon would surely try to kill her again. Not that she couldn't throw him off her if she needed to, but still, she'd rather not have another fiasco with Damon if she could avoid it. Let's just get this over with, Bonnie thought solemnly.
Bonnie cleared her throat. "Okay guys," everyone looked up at this, "I'm starting to think none of these books are going to be helpful. Unless, any of you guys have found anything new." Everyone shook their head at this.
Elena shifted on the couch and put her book down on the table. "Well, are there other resources we could use or new books or something? Maybe we're just not looking in the right direction."
Bonnie's eyes lighted up. "Elena! That's it! Maybe the books won't help us but other witches can. I already tried to contact the one I borrowed the book I used the spell from, but she still hasn't responded."
Damon eyes darkened at this. "Do I need to go over there and have a chat to get a response?" Damon threatened.
Bonnie shot Damon a look. "No, I'd recommend not to." She said sarcastically. "I'll go over there myself and ask her. But, I'm going to ask some of Grams friends and maybe they'll have some new ideas. They have been doing this much longer then I have – it'll probably be almost like a common mistake to them." Bonnie finished happily; content she had found another game plan.
Damon looked less convinced. "Huh, well I'm glad you feel so confident about that. But if I remember correctly, this is exactly how you felt when you said that these books would surely have a reverse spell!" Damon threw his book across the room angrily and Stefan jumped slightly.
"Damon!" Elena sent him a stern glance. "For the millionth time, calm down! Let's not freak out until after Bonnie has contacted these other witches. Besides, it has only been one day." Elena felt bad about saying it, but Bonnie had already worked herself all night and this afternoon over tons of books. Elena was worried that Bonnie would put herself into overdrive again and that's exactly what got them into this mess.
Bonnie spoke up. "Elena, Damon's right." Elena and Damon almost dropped their jaws at this. "This is my fault and until we start seeing some results, I'm not going to be overconfident about it. But do know that I will not give up until I have solved this." Bonnie looked over at Damon determined and he consented with a nod.
Elena blew out some air. "Whew. Well, I don't know about you guys, but I sure am hungry!" She smiled.
Stefan immediately perked up from where he was sitting. Hungry?
He couldn't even describe what he was feeling right now. He had been hungry hours ago. Now his entire body felt weak and extremely sore – moving the slightest inch caused him pain. And there still was that hollow empty feeling that he knew somehow related to hunger.
Elena continued on, smiling at Bonnie. "Why don't we go to the Grill and take a break?" Bonnie looked doubtful about this. "Come on Bonnie! It's only for a little while and we all deserve a break for just one night. " Elena pointed out.
"Ok, I guess we can take a little break." Bonnie smiled back at Elena.
Elena then turned to Stefan, who had been staring at the girls anxiously. "Stefan, would you like to come?" She noticed that Stefan's eyes flickered over to Damon's.
Elena responded quickly. "Damon can come too!"
Stefan seemed to instantly become happy with this and was about to respond when Damon cleared his throat. "We will not be going." Elena and Stefan both frowned.
"Well, if you don't want to come that's alright. But why can't Stefan come?" Elena was getting annoyed with Damon. She really missed Stefan and even though she knew that he didn't know about their relationship she didn't care. She wanted to spend time with him and possibly get to know more about what he was like in 1864.
Damon remained adamant to Elena's pleas and rolled his eyes at her as if the answer were obvious. "Because Elena. Have you forgotten that Stefan isn't exactly himself right now?" Damon gestured to his brother, who was still sitting quietly on the couch beside him. "He doesn't understand this time and surely going out in public will not help. Plus, what is he going to do if people come up to him and he has no idea who they are? Not to mention the fact that he looks different."
"He'll be with Bonnie and I, it's not like we'll leave him to fend for himself! If someone comes up to him I'll handle it. And he can change clothes." Elena rolled her eyes back at Damon.
"Yeah? And what about his hair? It's gotten slightly longer in the past few days to pass for normal hair growth." Damon shot back.
"Oh please, Damon! I can cut it!" Elena continued to argue.
For the first time since the two started arguing, Stefan spoke up. "I don't want my hair cut." He said.
Elena and Damon looked back at Stefan. Elena was slightly stunned to hear him object but Damon looked smug. He remembered how Stefan had always liked his hair grown out and would fight tooth and nail to never have it cut short.
Damon smirked back at Elena. "He'll never let you cut it."
Elena sighed. "But Stefan, in this time your hair is cut much shorter."
Stefan looked back at Elena stunned. "Why would I ever do that?" Damon looked amused at his question.
Elena just shook her head while Damon chuckled. "It doesn't matter. Damon, he can still go out with his hair like that. We'll just go somewhere out of town so no one will recognize him."
Damon shook his head again. "Forget it Elena. He's not going. I'd really rather not deal with more problems resulting from this spell," Elena started to speak up again when Damon gave her one last look, "That's final." Elena sighed defeated and slowly nodded.
All while this was going on, Stefan was freaking out. Oh no! Damon won't let me go! How will I ever get this pain to go away now!
The younger Salvatore was beginning to panic. His plan had been that he would go with the nice girls he was apparently friends with, and hopefully solve his hunger issue by actually eating food – without Damon telling him to just drink blood. He knew that the moment he told Damon what was happening, he would find out that Stefan had not listened to him and Stefan was afraid of what this Damon would do to him.
The Damon he knew was still one to fear if he was in trouble, but this Damon was on a whole new level. Not to mention a vampire.
"Damon -" Stefan started but Damon quickly interrupted him.
"Quiet Stefan. You're not going." Damon gave him a very pointed look and Stefan immediately shut up. Though on the inside he was pouting. He was embarrassed that Damon was treating him like a child in front of the girls. I am not a child. Stefan sulked.
"Come on Elena. We should go." Bonnie gestured to Elena and she helped her gather all the books.
"I'll let you know how my contact with the other witches go." Bonnie told Damon.
Elena waved to where Stefan was still sitting. "Bye Stefan. See you soon." Stefan gave her a small smile and Damon then saw them out.
"Well, that was a waste of a day." Damon said as he came back into the living room.
Stefan glared up at him. "Damon, why didn't you let me go? I can handle myself. You acted like I was a child."
Damon barely spared him a glance. He was used to Stefan's pouting despite it being many years since Stefan had acted like his age.
"Stefan, I really don't want to get into this. You are not from here – you can't just go out. At least not on the second day." Damon said.
Truth be told, Damon wasn't sure if he was ever going to let Stefan leave the house until the spell was reversed. Especially with the recent wolf activity and that bitch Jules. Stefan may still be vampire, but he could honestly pass as a human in the state he was in now. There was no way he could be expected to be in any fights and Damon couldn't risk any unwanted attention.
The younger Salvatore merely sighed at his brother. "Okay. I understand."
Damon raised his eyebrows at the admission. Looking at his little brother for a minute he spoke up, "Come on. We should get you in some normal clothes."
After showing Stefan what a shower was and where he could find some clothing in his room, Damon resigned himself to a drink downstairs and settled down to relax by gazing at the fireplace.
After thirty minutes, Damon heard Stefan slowly shuffle down the stairs and glanced up at him as he walked into the room. Stefan was now dressed in jeans and a simple blue plaid shirt. He almost looked like the Stefan from a few days ago if it weren't for his still long hair, which was slightly damp and messy.
Stefan walked over to where Damon was sitting. "Damon, I think I'm going to rest a little bit upstairs." The warm water from the shower had done nothing to soothe all of his body aches, and the pain was quickly intensifying. Stefan was hoping that some rest might help.
"Alright. What about your wound? Is it feeling okay? Do you want some medicine?" Damon asked.
Stefan felt around to where the red bruise was on his chest. It still brought some pain but it was nothing compared to how the rest of his body was feeling. And the thought of putting medicine in his stomach made him feel unexpectedly nauseous.
"Um, that's okay Damon. Thank you." Stefan smiled slightly and Damon just nodded.
Damon watched as his brother made his way up the stairs again at a sort of sluggish pace and got a bad feeling again. He hoped his brother wasn't too angry with him for not letting him go out.
It was almost ten at night and his younger brother still hadn't emerged from his room. That had been hours ago and Damon was getting a little worried.
I should probably check on him. See if he's hungry for some more blood maybe.
Damon also wanted to check and see if Stefan was still mad at him and possibly if his bruise was hurting him. It probably had been earlier, but Stefan was being stubborn as usual and Damon hadn't wanted to get into another argument with him. Just as Damon was about to get up, he heard footsteps on the stairs and sensed his younger brother coming down.
"Finally. Look, I hope you're not still mad at me." Damon started.
"Damon." Stefan said faintly.
Damon frowned and quickly turned around at his brother's voice. Stefan was standing at the foot of the stairs and looked like he was barely holding on. He was very pale and seemed almost to be trembling.
Damon got up immediately. "Stefan, what's wrong?"
His little brother looked at him weakly. "Damon, something- something is wrong with me. I feel-" Stefan barely got it out before he started falling.
"Stefan!" Damon sped to his younger brother and caught him just before he could fall to the floor. "Whoa! Stefan, what's going on?" Damon was freaking out. What was causing his brother to almost faint?
Stefan responded weakly. "My whole body is in agony! I'm so empty, I feel terrible."
Damon's eyes widened at this. "You're hungry? But, I gave you some blood earlier today, you shouldn't be feeling this bad.." Damon trailed off confused.
Stefan looked back up at him ashamed. "I'm sorry.."
Realization took over and Damon felt rage quickly spring upon him. He stared daggers down on his brother. "You didn't drink it, did you?" He didn't expect an answer. Damon growled at his brother and then grabbed onto his arms and pinned him harshly against the wall. Stefan gave a cry of pain and looked back frightened at his brother's actions.
"You are going to drink blood. Now!" Damon was barely controlling himself. How could his brother have been so stupid? And how dare he lie to him!
"No, please Damon! I don't want to drink blood, please!" Stefan almost sobbed.
"You're drinking it, even if I have to force it down your throat!" Damon said furiously. His anger took over as his face changed and he bit into his wrist, hard and deep. Damon then forced his bleeding wrist into Stefan's mouth and Stefan stared back at him in horror. He tried to struggle against Damon but it was completely useless. With his strength gone and already being extremely weak, Stefan was absolutely no match for him.
After his little brother had pointlessly fought back, which Damon had to admit he had admired, he began to give in to the blood and suck in willingly. A few minutes into it, Stefan was firmly latched onto his brother's wrist and got very relaxed as his eyes began to droop.
"Alright, brother. That will do." Damon pulled back his wrist, certain that his younger brother wouldn't refuse the blood now. As if on cue, Stefan whined slightly. It was no wonder really, after starving himself for so long of the blood he desperately needed.
"Don't worry, Stef. I'll get you some animal blood." Damon said softly as Stefan zoned out – still very weak. When Stefan gave no response, Damon became worried again.
He quickly released his little brother from his pinned position on the wall and easily gathered him into his arms and carried him back up to his room. All the while, Stefan gave no objection. He then gently laid his brother down on his bed and muttered a quick "be back soon" and made a quick dash back to where the blood bags were stored in the basement. After quickly heating the blood in the microwave, Damon sped back up the stairs to Stefan's room carrying a large mug.
Stefan lay on the bed still semi-awake and whining softly – needing the blood. His body had seemed to go into a sort of survival state – relying on pure instinct. Damon wondered if his brother was truly conscious of all that was going on. Damon hurried over to where his brother lay and brought the mug up to his mouth, tilting his head up. Stefan steadily drank through it, occasionally looking up at Damon.
"That's good Stefan." Damon praised after the younger boy had finished all the blood. Stefan gave a small smile in response. Damon then proceeded to make another run and was back shortly with another mug. Damon watched intently as Stefan finished the second glass.
"You should rest now." Damon said, glad that some color had returned to his brother's face and his body was more relaxed.
Stefan stretched his hand out to grip Damon's shirt in an act to get more blood, but his whining had stopped and he looked very exhausted – his eyes barely open. Damon reasoned that he could wake Stefan up in a couple hours for another round of blood, but now was the time for his little brother to sleep.
"No, Stef. You need to sleep now." Damon sighed and gently extracted Stefan's weak grip on his black shirt and placed him more securely on the bed. Stefan, however, seemed content to just stare silently at his brother. Damon frowned at this. Little brothers can be so stubborn sometimes.
"Stefan, you're very tired. Please go to sleep. Don't worry, I'll give you more to drink after you get some rest." Damon was getting nervous again and he cursed his emotions. What was there to get nervous about?
But looking over at his still weak and exhausted little brother was all it took to remember hardly an hour ago and him falling to the floor, barely able to function..his immediate anger…anger to cover the fear..
Damn it Stefan! Just get to sleep already so I can stop these emotions! Damon fumed upset. His eyes were unable to not soften however as Stefan started to quietly mumble something to him.
"What?" Damon strained his super hearing and leaned in closer.
"I'm s-sorry." His little brother moved his up to look closer at Damon, his half-lidded eyes guilty and sad.
Damon audibly sighed. Curse your damn puppy face.
"Sleep now." Damon moved his hand over Stefan's bangs and continued to card his hand through the soft, floppy hair until Stefan had finally fallen asleep.
It seemed like he would be spending another night of watching Stefan sleep.
Author's Note: And I would just like to say I fell in love with the idea of Stefan feeding off of Damon in boycrazy30008's story "Something Normal" and got the idea from the author's story and couldn't resist using it in this chapter (I hope you don't mind)!
If you haven't checked out boycrazy30008's story, "Something Normal", I totally recommend it! It's great! =D