Author's Note: Once again, really sorry for the longer wait! This one took me a little longer to get up because I had to plan for where things were going to go.
Enjoy! :)
iGG: Thank you SOOO much for your wonderful review! I'm so happy that you like my story that much! I love the drinking part too, it's so cute! Sorry I couldn't get this chapter up for you quickly! Thanks again for one of the sweetest reviews! =))
tvdrocks: Haha, thank you! And no problem! Thanks for the review!
dilweed: You know, I actually haven't really thought about that. We'll have to see, and thanks!
Hell: Yeah, Stefan has a lot to be confused about! Poor guy! Yeah, Damon did manage to control himself somewhat well, lol. Thanks for the review!
MaraJade: Thank you! And I'll try to be quicker! ;) Thanks for the review!
v-babe: Lol, I'm glad you like it! Damon is a great big brother! I'm glad you like the puppy dog eyes! Thanks for the review!
Stirring into consciousness, Stefan felt his eyes slowly open and took in his surroundings lazily. He noticed that he was in the room he knew to be his in this time period. Feeling very relaxed from the soft warm fabric brushing against his skin, the young Salvatore also registered that he was in his bed and under the sheets with the comforter pulled up around his body.
Hearing a soft inhale and exhale, Stefan's eyes shifted to the source and found his older brother fast asleep on a chair across the room. He looked to be in a very deep sleep
Probably exhausted from all the trouble I've caused, Stefan thought guiltily.
Slowly pulling the sheets and covers back, Stefan made his way over to where Damon sat. The younger brother had to admit; he was slightly surprised that Damon hadn't registered him waking up – what with Damon being all "super-vampire". But if he thought about it, he couldn't remember when he had seen Damon sleep since awakening in this century. He had almost come to believe that (normal) vampires didn't need sleep.
Looking back, he realized that Damon must have been keeping a sharp eye on him and losing sleep in the process. Stefan instantly felt bad about this and gave Damon a sad smile.
I'm sorry brother. Stefan wished he could move Damon to a bed, but he also didn't want to wake him. He settled for leaning down and giving him a light kiss on the head, feeling the need to display affection in the absence of giving him a verbal 'thank you' for watching over him.
Moving away, Stefan walked quietly out of his room, itching to use this little bit of freedom to explore the house and other interesting objects he had noticed from the other day. Just the thought of where he was still shocked him!
Walking down the lengthy staircase, Stefan admired the beauty of the boarding house. He wondered what had happened, though, to his home in 1864. Maybe it still existed in Mystic Falls – his father had always made grand praises of "The Salvatore Mansion", everlasting and indestructible.
Reaching the end of the stairs, Stefan moved towards the kitchen and an idea suddenly sprang into his mind. Maybe he could make Damon breakfast as a way of saying thank you! He felt the need to do something. But then, did vampires like anything besides blood? Could vampires even eat normal food?
Stefan decided to test out his little theory by going over to what he heard Damon call a refrigerator, and examined the contents inside. He was relieved when his eyes spotted an apple and immediately grabbed for it. Biting in, Stefan found he still enjoyed the taste of the apple, but when finishing the bite it didn't do much to soothe a distant ache of a different hunger.
Well, we could have blood on the side. Stefan shrugged somewhat giddy, happy that vampires didn't resist the taste of normal food.
Just as he was thinking of what, and more importantly, how he was going to make breakfast, he heard the noise of the front door closing softly.
Knowing this to not be Damon, Stefan started to slightly panic.
Oh no. Who could this be? Should I shout for Damon?
Stefan had hardly made up his mind when a blur had entered the kitchen, startling him and causing him to jump back. A girl with pretty features and flowing blond hair stood before him.
"Hi Stefan!" The girl practically squealed giving a friendly and excited smile.
"Um, hi." Stefan said shyly. The stranger didn't seem dangerous but she was also a vampire. But then again, she knew his name, so maybe they were friends from before?
The girl looked him over and got excited again. "Awww! Stefan you look sooo cute!" The strange girl gushed. She then seemed to take in his confusion and quickly introduced herself. "I'm Caroline. One of your friends."
"Oh. From before?" Stefan asked.
Caroline nodded. "Yes. And I'm a vampire too, but you probably saw that when I dashed in here," she blushed at this. " Sorry about that! I just got excited when Elena told me about what happened to you and I wanted to see you for myself!"
"Why would you be excited?" Stefan was confused again – it seemed to be his daily routine; wake up from extra sleep, get confused, go back to sleep; with occasional emotional ordeals with Damon.
"Sorry. I don't mean excited about the spell backfiring, but about what Elena told me about you. She said you were adorable – and she was right!"
Stefan shifted uncomfortably again. Adorable? Stefan pouted at the thought of everyone treating him like a child.
Seeing his look, Caroline responded swiftly. "It's just that the Stefan from our time is usually very serious and has a more mature look to him. You just seem more like a kid."
Stefan frowned at this. "But I thought I was turned when I was 17?"
"Yes, you were. But the present Stefan rarely acts like his age." Caroline said smiling slightly again. "It's kinda funny. I'm the more experienced and dangerous vampire now!" After having Stefan be her mentor of sorts, it was both a little odd and fun that she could take care of herself better now than Stefan.
Stefan awkwardly scratched his head at this, causing his hair to fall into his eyes. Caroline seemed nice, but a little too perky at the recent turn of events.
"What were you doing?" Caroline asked.
"Um, I was thinking about making breakfast - I know that we don't really eat normal food but maybe we could have it on the side as a drink or.." Stefan felt so embarrassed having to explain his dumb idea.
"Oh!" Caroline clapped her hands at this. "That sounds great! And vampires still like to eat food – especially with a cup of blood on the side." Caroline winked at him.
After making a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, and some toast, Stefan was very grateful that Caroline had turned up. He would have had no idea how to make the food without resulting in the house burning down or something like that.
Placing the last plate of food on the table, Stefan turned to Caroline. "Thank you so much Caroline! I would never had been able to do this without you."
Caroline gave him a sweet smile. "No problem sweetie!" Stefan blushed with embarrassment at this.
"I'll go get us some blood." Caroline rushed downstairs and quickly rushed back with different types of blood – animal for Stefan, human for her and Damon.
While pouring the blood into glasses, there was a quick gust of wind and Damon suddenly appeared in the kitchen freshly dressed.
"What is going on here?" Damon raised his eyebrows at the scene.
Stefan quickly walked over to him. "Damon I wanted to say thank you somehow for everything you've done, so I thought I'd make you breakfast."
Damon's eyes widened. Stefan made him breakfast? He was kind of speechless. "Well, that was very nice of you Stefan." Damon said awkwardly. "I do hope there's," his eyes spotted it, "ah yes, blood."
Caroline spoke up. "And there's human blood for us Damon."
"What are you doing here?" Damon walked over to the table and looked questionably at Caroline.
Caroline sniffed. "I wanted to see Stefan."
"She helped me a lot, Damon." Stefan added.
"Well, thank you Barbie." Damon complimented, giving her a mocking grin.
Everyone had seemed to enjoy the little breakfast. Damon couldn't remember the last time breakfast consisted of eating more than just blood and was glad for the change. His little brother also seemed very happy to be eating normal foods. Though Damon pushed him a large glass of blood and watched him sternly to make sure he actually drank it this time.
After clean up, Caroline said her goodbyes and dashed out the door. Stefan sat nervously on his seat at the table while Damon was putting the last dish away. "Damon? Can we do something? Like…play football?"
Startled, Damon immediately stopped and turned around at this. "You want to play…football!" He said incredulously.
"Yes, please! You barely got to show me how it was played." Stefan looked up at him hopefully.
Damon thought back, smiling softly. He remembered when he had taught his younger brother how to play the newly invented sport. He noticed Stefan was giving him a look.
"Oh, don't give me those eyes." Damon rolled his own and frowned. "You really want to…play with me?" Call him crazy, but Damon found himself liking that Stefan wanted to hang out with him - and apparently play football with him.
"Of course! I love hanging out with you, brother!" Stefan gave him a big smile and Damon turned away to hide his own. When did his brother start being so cute?
"Alright, little brother. But remember, you asked for it." Damon gave him a devious smile.
Running out to the front yard, Damon gripped the football close, breathing in the fresh air. It must have been an old one of Zach's or past guests when they had been allowed in the boarding house. To Stefan, however, the ball looked very slim and new.
"You ready?" Damon smirked back at Stefan.
Stefan smiled and let out a small shout as he charged to where Damon was standing. At first, Damon played along and allowed Stefan to chase him as he ran normal speed around the yard. Stefan quickly caught up to him, always being a fast runner, and retrieved the ball with a shout of glee. He then sped back to what the brothers had established was the other "end zone". Damon laughed to himself as he watched his brother go and then super sped into him, attempting not to give a vampire-strength tackle.
Stefan gasped as he caught from the corner of his eye a blur, and then felt the breath go out of him as Damon tackled into him and fell to the ground. "Ugh, Damon!"
Damon's smile turned into an instant frown. "Stefan, are you okay?" He kneeled down next to his brother.
Stefan suddenly bolted upright. "Gotcha!"
Damon was momentarily taken aback at this but then got angry. "Stefan!"
Stefan raised his hands in defense. "Hey, you're the one who started cheating, brother."
Damon sighed dramatically. "Oh, it was all in the spirit of fun and games. And I knew I was being careful not to hit you, you little jerk!" Stefan laughed back at him and Damon found himself smiling in return. Was he actually enjoying himself with Stefan?
Both brothers then laid back on the grass, content to rest for a while. Damon glanced back at Stefan and noticed him idly touching his bruise. Damon sat up. "Does that hurt?"
Startled out of his thoughts, Stefan sat up as well. "No, only a little. I didn't even notice I was touching it." Stefan admitted.
Damon gestured towards it. "Well, come on then, let me have a look."
Stefan sighed. "Damon, it's fine." He was getting slightly annoyed at how fussy everyone was being.
Damon paid no attention to his younger brother's protests and quickly pulled back his shirt, much to Stefan's embarrassment. The wound still looked nasty but seemed to be improving.
"It does look better." Stefan gave him an "I told you so look" before instantly wiping it off his face at Damon's own look. "Still, we should probably head inside and get some more blood into your system." Stefan nodded and followed his older brother back into the house.
Jules was waiting. She was currently secluded by the woods near the Salvatore Boarding house and had been watching the house for several days now. With alternating shifts in her "pack", no one had spotted Damon Salvatore leave the house yet.
Jules wasn't sure if she was annoyed or anxious. Probably both. She had been waiting for the perfect time to strike and kill that bastard. By watching him for a couple days, she could learn if he had any patterns; any set times that he would be home or go out so she could plan to attack. However, it would seem that something was going on that was causing him to stay in. And she also hadn't seen his younger brother, Stefan, either, so something must be keeping them in there.
For Jules, it seemed like the perfect moment to go in for the kill. Smirking, Jules moved from her spot and quickly ran back to where the others were waiting for her.
In just a short time, you will be dead, Damon Salvatore.
A few nights later saw Damon lounging on the couch. Reflecting on the past few days, Damon had to admit they weren't that bad. Despite his annoyance that Bonnie had yet to come up with a solution, his younger brother wasn't that bad of company. It was kind of nice to have a naïve Stefan who still looked up to him and believed him to be some kind of superhero. Damon laughed to himself. If only you knew little brother.
Stefan was currently in the kitchen putting away dishes from dinner. Damon had found the best way to make Stefan drink blood on a regular basis was to play human and fall into breakfast, lunch, and dinner patterns. It was odd at first, but Damon completely preferred it to not forcing it down his brother's throat, and it was also much easier to see for himself that Stefan was drinking it.
All of a sudden, a figure came crashing through the window to his left. Damon whipped his head back at the intruder. It was an unknown guy in his mid-20s. He charged right for Damon and immediately Damon knew this was a werewolf attack.
Like a flash, Damon sidestepped him and went right for his heart when he felt a needle being pressed into his neck hard. "Ah!" Damon flung the person off his back and kicked the first intruder to the other side of the wall.
Stefan had just about to go back to the living room when he heard his older brother cry out – the sound loud and ringing in his ears. Damon! Stefan panicked and ran out as fast as he could to where Damon was.
Damon had just ripped the heart out of the intruder who shot him with vervain when he heard the door to the house burst open. Are you kidding me! What the hell is this!
"Damon!" The older Salvatore felt dread instantly fill his entire body. Oh no, Stefan. He had completely forgotten about his younger brother.
"Stefan, get out of here!" A blur went past him and shoved another vervain needle in. "Ah God!" Damon shouted and fell to his knees trying to fight off the effects.
Stefan had no idea what was happening but ran up to one of Damon's attacker's and shoved him off. "Stop!" The attacker looked slightly confused at this but just gave a shrug and punched him roughly and threw Stefan back across the room, causing him to hit the wall hard.
Damon got back up from his position with a growl. Nobody could touch Stefan. Nobody. Grabbing a piece of wood from a broken chair and aiming to kill, Damon sped to the guy and stabbed him straight in the heart.
"Ahh." Painfully, Stefan raised his head up his position on the floor to see that Damon had just killed the person who had attacked him. Just as Damon faced the last intruder to kill, Stefan heard a noise from the front door. Trying to get up quickly, he heard the shuffle of footsteps and saw a woman with a type of gun.
Damon..
Running as fast as he could, Stefan shoved his older brother out of where he was sure the woman had been aiming. A burning, intense pain was felt somewhere around his shoulder and he gave a small cry of pain as he dropped to the ground.
"Wha- no Stefan!" Damon had barely time to think. One second he was about to kill the last bastard who dared to come into his house, when his little brother had slammed into him. Glancing up he saw Jules standing near the entrance, slightly shocked, with a stake shooter.
And he saw his little brother. Lying on the ground with a stake in his shoulder. With blood quickly spreading over his shirt and onto the floor. He looked up at Jules and pronounced each word slowly and clearly – making sure she understood that each word was important. "You. Are. Dead." Damon growled in fury and rage.
Knowing her plan had failed, Jules ran out of the house at full speed; loyalty to her last partner forgotten in the need to save her own skin. Damon was unfazed. It didn't matter that she had run away this time. He would own up to his promise. But it didn't hurt to take out some anger. Which is exactly what he did to the last werewolf remaining.
After a quick heart grab and body throw, Damon turned his attention to his little brother. "Stefan!"
The eldest Salvatore ran to where Stefan had fallen and turned him gently on his back. The smell of the blood was overwhelming and instead of the usual desire that sprang up, all Stefan's did made him want to throw up. Stefan had fallen into a semi-conscious state, blinking hazily up at Damon.
"Hey, Stef. It's ok, it's ok." Damon said this softly to his younger brother; all traces of his usual hardness gone. Damon tried to be as gentle as he could while examining the wound – trying to fight down his fear. Maybe when he pulled the stake out, Stefan would heal? Damon thought frantically.
Alright. I can do this. Damon took a deep breath and put his hands on the stake, getting ready to pull. "Ok, Stefan. I'm going to take it out. It's going to be alright." Gripping it tightly, Damon gave a quick tug, deciding that pulling it out faster would be best. Stefan cried out in agony, which Damon couldn't help but flinch at. After the stake was out, his brother's eyes drooped and Stefan fell unconscious, head turning to the side.
"Stefan. No Stefan, stay awake!" Damon wasn't exactly a doctor, but it probably wasn't good that Stefan had fallen unconscious. Looking back at his wound, the vampire felt his panic rise when no healing had taken place.
"Damn it!" Damon cursed. Intellectually, he had known that Stefan's healing abilities were gone, but he still couldn't help but hope that they would have worked. Knowing he had to examine the wound more now and see how bad it truly was, Damon pulled off Stefan's shirt as gently as he could and tossed the bloodied plaid shirt off to the side. Right near his right shoulder and above his chest, blood pooled out of a small hole and onto the carpet.
Just as Stefan's breathing started to become ragged, Damon thought of an idea and bit down into his wrist, shoving it hard into his brother's mouth – he only hoped that giving blood would increase the rate of the healing, or else Stefan would have to go to the hospital.
After a few minutes, Damon noticed that the bleeding had stopped and the wound seemed to be closing. Damon leaned back in relief and grabbed his little brother's head up to his, smothering his face in his long hair and giving him small kisses.
"I'm sorry Stefan. This is my fault little brother. I'm the one who should be protecting you." Damon drew Stefan closer and hugged the boy fiercely, all his worry and exhaustion finally taking over.
Now that the adrenaline kick was over and Stefan was out of immediate danger, the older vampire found it hard to keep resisting the effects of the vervain. Forcing himself back onto his feet, Damon sped to get bandages, and some blood. He then ran upstairs, placed the blood on the table and returned to Stefan.
After securely bandaging his now healing wound, Damon gathered his little brother up into his arms and carried him up to his room, placing a shirt on him to make him feel more comfortable. Feeding him another batch of blood and placing him back down on the bed, Damon knew that he could not hold off the vervain any longer. Deciding he'd rather be comfy then fall to the floor and feeling a big brother instinct to protect his little brother from any more danger, Damon crawled onto the bed on the other side of Stefan and pulled him close so that Stefan's head rested in his lap.
The last thing Damon became aware of was his arms wound tightly around Stefan and one hand resting gently on top his head, lightly brushing his hair.
Author's Note: Once again, I'm really sorry about the longer update! I also feel like this chapter wasn't my best work but I've been under a lot of stress lately, so that might be contributing to it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and please review! =)