Author's Note: HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Omg I'm so, so sorry I took so long! I'm really upset about this! This chapter is dedicated to Aryana (sexy-wesley on tumblr), whose persistence allowed my inspiration to flow and get this chapter done! Also, happy birthday! :) Oh, and btw, there's this one scene in which you may be like, "that doesn't happen in real life LOL." Just know that I needed something to happen to have that happen; so don't judge me too harshly lol.
Hell – I'm glad you liked Elena in that chapter. Yes, Damon is bound to be upset. Thanks for the review :)
MaraJade – Thank you :) Sorry about the wait! Here's a new chapter for you! Thanks for the review :)
Closebrighteyes – Thank you :) I'm glad you like Damon. And is this Cassidy, lol? Thanks for the review :)
Jj – Thank you so much! I'm glad you are enjoying it! Yeah, he's going to be pretty upset! Thanks for the review :)
"Alright. You got your blood. Now kindly get out." Damon said as he shoved Caroline out the door; his annoyance pushed to the max. The girl had continued to babble and babble and babble the entirety of her visit; which consisted of less than five minutes. Dear god, that girl is annoying.
Closing the door then, practically in her face, Damon made his way back to the kitchen to make some blood for himself. After getting the mug heated and taking it out of the microwave, Damon situated himself on the couch and sighed.
His thoughts drifted back to his younger brother. He hoped that Elena would be able to talk with him and get him to open up some. Damon knew that he should really be trying harder, but he just didn't know how. After so many years of avoiding resolving things with Stefan, "hating" him had been so much easier.
Damon also worried about how Stefan's nightmares had been affecting. Although his younger brother no longer told him about them or that he was even still having them, that didn't mean Damon didn't know. Every night the older brother heard Stefan's scared whimpers and sometimes his soft involuntarily cries.
It honestly killed Damon inside to not rush into Stefan's room and immediately comfort him. But he would sometimes stand at the edge of the room and try to send soothing thoughts to the boy. Occasionally placing his hand atop Stefan's head to give him some comfort. Damon sighed again. It wasn't fair that this Stefan had to deal with all these memories now. Why was the spell doing this? He really needed to start threatening Bonnie again to get better results.
The pair had been driving for a little more than 15 minutes now and were making their way out of Mystic Falls.
"Elena," Stefan said slowly, staring at the Mystic Falls sign as the car sped by. "Where are we going?"
Elena glanced back at him, giving him a small smile. "Somewhere a little out of Mystic Falls. I don't want anyone to recognize you."
"Oh, right." Stefan said, looking back out the window.
The farther the two got, the more nervous the youngest Salvatore became. He didn't know why, but he just knew this was a bad idea. He felt this need to run immediately back to Damon and tell him that he was sorry for disobeying him. His cheeks reddening at this sudden thought, Stefan shook his head. Why was he acting like such a baby? He had every right to go wherever he wanted. Damon wasn't his parent.
The two of them soon came upon a little building that had a cabin-like appearance. Elena turned to him brightly, "We're here!"
Stefan looked back at it confused. "What is it?"
"Oh, sorry! It's a bar. It has some good food there and it'll be quiet and dark enough that nobody should recognize us if they're from Mystic Falls. We are only about 20 minutes out, so it is possible that someone that knows us could be there. But we really should be fine." Elena nodded again as though to reassure the both of them and quickly got out of the car.
Stefan still looked confused back at her retreating form, and turned back to his door. He fumbled with the knob and slowly opened the door from his side. Elena appeared right away as he did this, probably coming to help him.
"I'm okay, thank you." Stefan said politely, with a small smile.
Elena smiled back affectionately. "Alright, shall we?" Without waiting for his reply, Elena looped her arm around his and guided him to the entrance.
After getting a booth in the back and ordering some waters, Elena proceeded with talking to him.
"Stefan, we should really talk about what's been upsetting you." Elena said gently.
Stefan looked back surprised and a bit embarrassed. "How do you know I'm upset?"
"Well, Damon told me what happened." Elena said.
Stefan looked a little upset at this but just stared down at the table. "I don't want to talk about it."
Elena reached across the table and took the vampire's hand. At first he was a little startled and felt the need to back away.
"Hey. It's okay," Elena tried to keep him relaxed. "Look Stefan. I know how much you both love each other, so you can trust me. I know that all you really want is to repair things with Damon." Elena said sadly.
Stefan glanced back at her and found himself reassured by her words. "It's just..Damon hates me. And he has every right to. I guess I can't stand it but at the same time I'm mad at him. But mostly me." Stefan looked down at his hands.
"Oh, Stefan," Elena got up from her opposite side of the booth and went to Stefan's. She wrapped him in a hug and brought a hand to his head, gently pulling it to rest on her shoulder.
Stefan, hesitant, but trusting Elena, allowed the comfort of her closeness. After days of countless "nightmares" all he was starved for comfort.
He could feel the tears prickle in his eyes as he started to babble to the teenage girl. "It's all my fault. I'm the reason for everything Damon has done. And I'm the reason why Damon's anger made him do those things. I truly hate myself. I'm a merciless ripper. A monster."
Elena was confused as to what a "ripper" was, but felt her own eyes tear up at Stefan's words. "Shhh, Stefan. No, you're not to blame. Damon accepts responsibility for his own actions and he absolutely does not hate you. He just doesn't understand his own emotions and struggles with the past." Elena ran a hand through Stefan's silky locks.
The young vampire pulled a little away and looked back up at her. "I don't know if I'll believe you unless Damon says it. I just want my big brother back." Stefan said quietly.
Elena felt so unbelievably sad for her boyfriend. It hurt her so much to see him like this. She knew that the present Stefan felt exactly the way this Stefan did about Damon, it was just this Stefan was more willing to open himself up to those issues. Underneath it all, she saw her Stefan hurting and pulled him back in for another hug.
"I know baby, I know." She kissed the top of his head and held him close. Stefan wrapped his arms around Elena and closed his eyes a little. He could definitely see how his present self had fallen in love with Elena. She was beautiful, kind and warm. Her presence was very soothing to him.
"We should probably head back then, huh? Have a little chat?" Elena asked. Stefan nodded a little reluctantly, as though scared of what would happen when he faced Damon.
The couple made their way then out of the bar and started the drive back to Mystic Falls.
Damon was currently having a wonderful little argument with himself at the moment.
A part of him kept saying, "Go have a talk with your brother, jackass!" and the other said, "Just get drunk and try to forget." This time though, Damon surprisingly took the first "suggestion". He was going to talk to his little brother and try and repair things.
Damon sped up to Stefan's room and knocked on the closed door. "Hey, Stefan. Can I come in?" When no reply came, Damon frowned. Wait; is Elena still in there?
It had been awhile since Elena had come to the boarding house and had disappeared upstairs. In fact, the more that he thought about it, he hadn't really been able to hear the slight murmur of their voices in the background since blondie had come over..
Damon threw the door open; none too slightly, the door almost falling off its hinges in his suspicions. His eyes immediately took in the empty room and he felt his fangs trying to break free.
Where was his brother?
Damon wasted no time, and immediately ran out of the house and into his car. He sped right over to Caroline's house and barged right in. "Caroline! Get your ass down here! Trust me, you don't want me to find you." Damon threatened. There was a blur of blond hair and Caroline was in front of him looking extremely nervous. Good, she should be.
"You better start explaining what's going on." Damon spat. "Where's my brother and Elena!"
Elena and Stefan had been driving for a couple minutes, quickly coming to a turn, when Stefan felt his first wave of hunger pain. He clutched his stomach and moaned softly.
"Stefan?" Elena asked. "What's wrong?" she looked back worriedly at him.
The young vampire shook his head. "It's nothing. Just a little hunger pain."
Elena was about to respond when the car ran over a large piece of glass left over from some construction work on the road, which Elena had not noticed in her concern. The front tire suddenly popped and the car began to spin dangerously as Elena had been trying to turn.
"Ah! No, stop!" Elena screamed and pushed her foot down hard on the break in an attempt to make the car slow down. It was useless though, and the car slammed into a tree on the side of the rode, tilting the car slightly backwards into the forest.
As the car had been moving towards the tree, Stefan grabbed a hold of Elena, knowing there was no way to stop the impact, and gripped her tightly to him. He felt a slight bang as his car door hit the side of the tree and his head smashed painfully on the window. He faintly acknowledged warm blood oozing into his hair and down his face.
Elena groaned. "Ugh, Stefan, oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She pulled herself out of his arms and took in for the first time his injuries. "Oh my god! Stefan!" The sight of him bleeding so much shocked Elena and made her incredibly scared. Stefan was also so indestructible to her. He looked so vulnerable right now.
Stefan slowly moved from his lopsided position on the window and glanced back at Elena slowly. "I-I'm okay. Are you okay?" Elena's head felt dizzy but for the most part she would be okay.
"Yeah, I –I'm fine." Elena said breathlessly.
"We need to get out." Stefan stated. Elena swallowed and nodded in agreement.
The couple slowly exited the damaged car from Elena's side, Stefan almost tumbling out. They made their way over to a spot on the grass near another tree and sat down, reeling from what just happened.
"Stefan, let me see your head." The boy turned his head and Elena cringed as she inspected the wound. It looked pretty bad; Stefan's eyes were glassy and unfocused. He was still clutching his stomach.
"I'm gonna call Damon, okay." Elena started to pull out her phone, her hands shaking. Stefan grabbed her hand however, stopping her, looking alarmed.
"No. Damon will be..he'll..he'll be mad at me." Stefan slurred, pouting.
"Stefan, it'll be ok. He'll be more mad if we don't get help, ok?" Elena reasoned. Stefan shook his head slowly and laid down more on the grass sighing.
"Don't fall asleep Stefan!" The girl said anxiously to the exhausted teen. Elena then fumbled to look up Damon's number – luckily she hadn't erased it this week – and waited impatiently for him to pick up.
"And that's why I did it!" Caroline finished in a huff. She had just been speed talking for the last five minutes to Damon, trying to explain why Elena and Stefan were gone.
Damon was just about to respond when he felt his phone buzzing in his pant's pocket. He contemplated not answering it just so he could properly yell at Caroline more, but reasoned that this might be important regarding Stefan and Elena.
"Yeah?" The eldest Salvatore greeted the other line.
"Damon! Thank god." It was Elena. And her tone of voice made Damon's stomach drop.
"Elena! What's going on? What's wrong!" Damon shouted angrily. Caroline's eyes widened and she listened in on the conversation.
"We- we had an accident. My car ran off the road, and .. ugh.." Elena's voice trailed off, indicating sleep was not far away.
Damon began pacing, alarmed. "Elena! Focus! Stay awake damn it! Where's Stefan? Is he okay? Where are you?"
"Uhh, Stefan's hurt Damon. You need to come and help. We're-we're outside Mystic Falls…" Elena's voice became farther away.
Stefan's hurt. Stefan's hurt. Stefanshurtstefanshurt. These were the only words echoing inside Damon's head. He felt his undead heart pick up speed dramatically; his hands begin to sweat and his fear spiked. This was all his fault. Because he was an emotionless dick, his defenseless baby brother was hurt.
"I'll be there in less than two minutes – just hold on okay." Damon hung up and was on his way to speed right over there, when Caroline suddenly grabbed him. It wouldn't have even stopped him, nothing could right now, but she spoke out.
"The car!" Caroline shouted.
"Caroline, I don't have time for this!" Damon said frustrated.
The blond raised her eyebrows. "We need it to bring Elena back. I'll drive. I'll be able to track you okay. Just go." Damon nodded, gave her his keys and was off in a second.
Caroline looked out the door at the ongoing blur for a moment, until she herself rushed to Damon's car and was off.
Elena realized vaguely that Damon was no longer on the line, and shakily dropped down to where Stefan had fallen to earlier. She looked over and noticed that his eyes were closed.
"No, Stefan. No, you … have… to stay.. awake." The girl shook him but stopped a second later, worrying that that would make it worse somehow. For some reason, she felt like crying. Although neither was seriously hurt, she felt so tired and dizzy. And she was mad that she couldn't help Stefan more; mad that she had even crashed in the first place. If she had never even dragged Stefan out, this would have never happened.
"I'm sorry, baby. Hey, I'm sorry baby." Elena pulled Stefan gently to her and rested a hand softly on his bleeding forehead, trying to somehow staunch the blood flow. "You'll be okay. You'll be okay."
Damon had been running at full speed, trying to catch his little brother's scent. Right after he got past Mystic Falls, a strong smell of blood filled his nostrils and he recoiled back. It was Stefan's. Heading in the direction of the blood, the vampire soon saw Elena's car crashed on the side of the road. The car looked to not have too much damage, so Damon prayed that assessment held true for Stefan's health as well.
Damon quickly saw the two teens lying down by a nearby tree. Elena had a couple scratches and her eyes were drooping. His eyes sought out Stefan and his heart stopped at the dry blood soaked into his long light brown hair, some of it on the side of his face, as he lay unconscious. The older vampire crouched next to the couple and he gently shook Elena. "Hey, I'm here."
Elena's eyes fluttered and she took in Damon. "Damon," She smiled looking relieved. Her eyes pointed down to the bundle in her lap and Damon nodded. Elena shakily got up, Damon steadying her and rested against the tree trunk as she watched Damon take care of Stefan.
"Stefan, hey buddy. I'm here," Damon smoothed back his little brother's hair and grimaced as he saw the head wound, his hands coming back bloody. Stefan groaned a little and wrapped his arms tightly around his slim middle. Damon's brows furrowed at the movement.
"I ..think he needs .. some blood. He was ..having hunger pains..before we ..crashed," Elena said.
Damon looked back at his younger brother in concern and nodded, fangs already coming out. He bit down hard and brought his wrist up to Stefan's mouth. Stefan, however, did not proceed to suck in – the blood dribbled down his mouth and onto his shirt.
"What the hell?" Damon tried to more firmly press the blood into Stefan's mouth. "Drink, Stefan. You need it, piccolo, drink."
"What's wrong?" Elena asked.
Damon glanced back confused. "I don't know. He's not willingly taking the blood. Usually he latches on right after I do it. Any vampire should.." Damon tilted Stefan's head back to allow the blood to flow down his brother's throat.
Unfortunately, Stefan started to choke a little and began to emit small desperate coughs.
"Damon!" Elena shouted, scared.
Backtracking his steps, Damon moved Stefan back up and began patting him on the back to get him to stop choking on the blood. "Stefan, little brother, please. Stop struggling, please, it'll be okay," Damon said desperate. What was happening to Stefan? Why was his little brother always put through so much?
Thankfully, Stefan stopped coughing, and Damon was relieved to find that some of his blood seemed to have gone through. Damon inspected Stefan's head wound again and was pleased to find it had shrunk a little. He then placed his hands under Stefan's legs and picked up into his arms. Just as he did this, Caroline honked from behind, signaling her arrival. She got out of the car in a rush and ran over to the little group.
"Is everyone okay?" Caroline asked, looking closely at Stefan resting in Damon's arms.
"Caroline, take Elena back home please, and then drop my car off at the boarding house." Damon said to Caroline and started to walk past the group.
"Damon!" Elena said. "I'm sorry about everything." She looked ashamed.
Damon merely looked at her and then was gone.
The older vampire kept at a steady pace as he ran back to the house, knowing he had precious cargo in his arms. He entered the house and placed Stefan on the nearest couch as he went to grab some medical supplies.
Gently, Damon washed off the large amount of blood on his brother's pale face and found he was at least was happy that the wound had now stopped bleeding. Stefan groaned a little and his eyes began opening. Damon stopped what he was doing and watched as his brother looked back at him, a little shocked.
"Damon?" Stefan asked.
Damon smiled. "Hey piccolo."
"Ugh, what happened? How'd I get here?" Stefan asked. "My head hurts," his little brother then pouted.
Damon smiled again at his baby brother's face. "It's alright little brother. You're safe now. You had a little accident, but your big brother is going to take care of you, okay?" Stefan looked back shocked with glassy eyes. Damon gathered Stefan up again in his arms, Stefan giving a small whimper of protest but too weak to resist, and carried him to the bathroom upstairs. He settled Stefan to lie on the floor, his back resting on the tub, as he started the bath water.
"What … are you..doing?" Stefan asked, sounding nervous.
"Relax. I'm just going to wash your hair." Damon said as he tested the temperature of the water.
The youngest Salvatore scrunched his eyes confused. "What? Why?"
"Because. Your hair is full of your..blood. And it's making me nauseous." Damon admitted. Stefan raised a hand up to his hair and felt the strands that were stiff with dry blood, perhaps noticing for the first time.
Damon came over and tilted his head back until it was touching the warm water. As his older brother gently washed out his mop of hair, he stared up at the ceiling and walls, mesmerized by the random patterns, obviously still out of it. The rhythmic touch of Damon's hand in his hair made him relax even further and he felt the need to fall asleep so badly. But Damon had splashed him several times, instructing him sternly not to do just that.
Soon enough, Damon had grabbed a towel and was gently running it through Stefan's hair. "Ok, all done. You can stop pouting now, hm?" Damon teased lightly. Stefan moved his head a little and looked at Damon with a curious expression. Why wasn't Damon mad at him?
"Damon? Why did you do all this? You..hate..me." Stefan said quietly, hair falling into his sad green eyes.
The elder vampire immediately stood still. His greatest fears were finally true. He had pushed Stefan so much throughout all the years that his baby brother now believed he hated him. What had he done?
Damon sat down next to Stefan near the tub and looked directly at him. "Little brother, I think we need to have a talk."
Author's note: Once again, really, really, sorry I took so long!