A/N The Vampire Diaries Settings and Characters all belong to LJ Smith and the CW. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Stefan sat up with a gasp as he quickly looked around the room. He had just had the worst nightmare. Damon drank from Elena and killed her. Wait…Damon…that's when he saw Damon sitting at his desk with all smiles.

"Bad dream?" he smirked. "It was way too easy to get inside your head. You should drink some people blood."

Stefan growled and jumped out of bed and grabbed a letter opener off his side table and threw it at Damon. Damon just pulled it out and stood up completely unharmed.

"I guess I deserved that. But I just wanted to let you know they caught the animals that been killing all those people."

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked.

"It was a mountain lion, really big one. It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news. "Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls."

"You're covering your own tracks…why?" Stefan wondered.

"I'm going to stick around for a while. I'm having so much fun here with you and Elena."

"You can't touch her now." Stefan told him confidently.

"The vervain only keeps me out of her head. Maybe that's not my goal. Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift."

With that he shoved the letter opener into Stefan's side causing him to groan and fall to his knees.

He walked out of the room just as Lexi walked in.

"Oh Stefan's a bit…under the weather today. Maybe you should keep him home from school."

Lexi glared at Damon and rushed over to Stefan.

"I can't leave the two if you alone for two seconds, can I?" she muttered and pulled the letter opener from Stefan's side. He lifted his shirt and they both watched the wound heal slowly before he pulled his shirt down.

"I can't take it anymore, Lexi. He's driving me nuts. We needs to find a way to stop him."

"Don't worry, Zac and I have been coming up with something. Just keep going on as normal. When the time is right we will fill you in."

Stefan sighed and nodded. He trusted Lexi, he just wished he knew what she was planning.

"Good, now wipe that frown off your face and go see your girl. I know that will make you smile."

Stefan sighed.

"No, no writing in your journal and feeling sorry for yourself. Get your butt dressed and go see your girl!" Lexi demanded.

"Yes, Mommy." He teased.

"Shut up, go!"

Stefan chuckled and headed to go shower and get dressed.

He arrived at Elena's house within the hour. He wasn't sure what happen after that because the next thing he knew they were up in Elena's room on her bed making out passionately.

As they kissed they carefully laid themselves down so Stefan was on top. Things were getting heated. Stefan moved to kiss her neck when he felt his face change. He looked up and saw his face in the mirror and quickly sat up facing his back to Elena.

She giggled softly. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said after getting his face back to normal. He turned to face her. "Sorry…that was getting a bit…"

"Yeah." Elena nodded. "Maybe we should press pause."

"Yeah." Stefan nodded

"Yeah." Elena nodded once more.

They both giggled and Stefan moved to sit on the small ledge under her window.

"How do you look in a suit?" Elena asked.

"Uh….I can pull it off." Stefan answered with a smile.

"How about tomorrow night? Will you be my date to the founder's party?" she asked with the most adorable smile.

Stefan was a bit surprised. "They still do that?" He asked without thinking.

"Have you been before?" she asked surprised by his answer.

He quickly found a way to cover his tracks. "No, the Salvatore's don't get invited anymore."

A look of disappointment crossed Elena's face but she tried to hide it. "Well, this year, there's this heritage project that meant a lot to my mom. She was really involved in the founder's council, and it was her favorite party. I know it sounds really boring, but—

Stefan smiled and cut her off. "I would be honored to accompany you, Miss Gilbert."

She giggled at how proper he sounded. "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Salvatore."

They both giggled and shared a kiss on the lips.

When Stefan went home later on that afternoon he was in a good mood. That is until he walked into the living room to see Damon strangling Zac.

"What's going on here?" he asked causing Damon to release Zac.

"Having a family moment, Stefan. Spending some quality time." Damon answered with his famous smirk. Then he walked out of the room.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked

"No, I'm not." Zac growled angrily. "And neither are you. How many more people have to die before you see that?"

"I see it. All right, Zach, I see it!" Stefan exclaimed.

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it?"

"Because he can't." Lexi said walking into the room, her hair was wet telling Stefan she just got out of the shower. "He physically can't unless he's on human blood and he's not going down that road again."

"The vervain could weaken him if he ingested it. It would help get you the upper hand." Zac said.

Stefan just sighed, that wasn't going to help him. "Vervain hasn't grown here since 1865. Damon saw to that. The little I had, I gave to Elena."

Lexi and Zac shared a look.

"What?" he asked them.

Lexi nodded her head telling him to the follow them. Which he did.

The ended up in the basement cellar. There was vervain growing inside there. Stefan looked shocked.

"What… how?" he asked."You've been growing it?"

" It's just something that's been passed down through the generations. Blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires. Damon would kill me if he knew that I had it."

"But you're telling me…why?"

"Because we trust you and you're going to need it if you want to get rid of him." Lexi answered for Zac.

Stefan nodded softly and looked to the vervain. He could do it; he just needed the right set up.

A few hours later he had it all set up. Damon was getting dressed and ready for the party tonight and Stefan figured it was the perfect time for some brotherly bonding. He had even gotten himself a small drink and cracked a few jokes and in the end…his plan failed. Damon knew what was happening the entire time and didn't fall for the trap.

Stefan sighed as Damon walked away from him.

Lexi walked in.

"I thought for sure it was going to work. Lexi you've got to do this. I can't, I'm not strong enough. Please, just inject him with vervain and let this be over with."

"No, I could easily take him on and kick his butt and enjoy it, but I'm not going to do this. You have to do this, Stefan. You need to be the one who weakens him. Not just for Elena, but for yourself. Now at the party try again. You can't spike his drink, he'll be expecting it."

"So what can I do? Lexi, how can I do this!?"

"Spike Caroline's drink. She won't taste a thing and it won't have any effect on her. But when Damon drinks her blood again…."

"She'll have the vervain in her system to weaken him." Stefan said as his eyes lit up.

Lexi smiled and nodded. "I'm going to stay here, to lessen the suspicion. But trust yourself, Stefan. You can do this. I have faith in you. You can do this."

Stefan nodded believing her. "Thank you, Lexi, thank you."

They shared a smile and a hug. Stefan went to get ready for his evening. He knew one thing was for sure…it was going to be an interesting night.

He picked up Elena and they went to The Lockwood's House. The invite in was casual and very none awkward which is the way Stefan would have wanted it.

Just before they entered another room Stefan stopped walking and leaned over to whisper in Elena's ear. "You're the most beautiful woman in this room right now."

She giggled softly and blushed and gave him a 'yeah right' look. He chuckled and smirked at her. Together they went into the other room to look at everyone that was on display. While Stefan was looking at one thing another item caught Elena's eyes. She walked over to it and smiled sadly at it. It was her parents wedding rings. She sighed softly forcing herself not to break down and cry.

She felt a hand on her back and turned to see Stefan. "Your parents?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Are you ok?" he asked once more.

She chuckled softly as a few tears leaked down her cheeks. She quickly went to wipe them away but Stefan was faster and used his thumb to wipe them away for her. "I'm all right, just having a small moment. Come on." She took his hand and lead him away. "Let's go look at something else."

Stefan just smiled and nodded. She was getting stronger and braver every day.

Everything went smoothly after that. They both enjoyed looking at all the items on display. They got to some older pictures and that's when the trouble started.

"The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration. Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names- Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, look, Stefan Salvatore."

Stefan panicked un-sure of how to answer that. Damon picked that time to come to the rescue. "The original Salvatore brothers, our ancestors…tragic story, actually."

Stefan tensed. He wouldn't bring up Katherine here and now…would he? "We don't need to bore them with stories of the past, Damon."

Good old Elena just smiled sweetly. "It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."

Stefan glared harshly at Damon. Damon just held his famous annoying smirk on his face.

Caroline broke the silence. "Well, I'm bored. I want to dance and Damon won't dance with me."

Damon smiled and shook his head. "Nope."

"Could I just borrow your date?" she asked Elena.

"Oh, uh..." Elena was unsure how to respond. Things got awkward super quickly.

"I don't really dance." Stefan tried to cover up.

Damon being Damon ruined the entire thing. "Oh, sure he does. You should see him, Waltz, The Jitterbug, and The Moonwalk. He does it all."

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?"

"It's up to Stefan." Elena answered being the caring person she was just wanted everyone to be happy.

Stefan was about to decline because he knew Elena really wanted to say no deep down but was too nice of a person. Then he realized he could use this time to spike her drink with vervain so he nodded and smiled. "Sure, just one dance."

"Yay!" Caroline squealed and grabbed his hand and rushed off to the dance floor.

Dancing didn't end up being so bad after all. Caroline really was a nice girl. If she wasn't being used as Damon's puppet Stefan knew they'd be really good friends. She was a lot like Lexi.

After dancing for a little while and getting the chance to put vervain in Caroline's drink Damon and Elena walked over to them. Stefan instantly went tense again and tried to casually offer Damon a drink. He denied and they both glared at each other. Luckily Elena saved the night.

"Stefan, do you have one more dance in you?"

"Of course, I do." Stefan smiled at her. Together they went over to the dance floor and pulled each other close and slowly started to dance.

"I hope, Damon didn't drive you too crazy." Stefan said with a small smile.

Elena chuckled. "Actually he was on good behavior. He even apologized and explained why he is the way he is. It all goes back to Katherine."

Stefan just nodded softly. He wasn't about to talk about her right now. Elena wasn't giving up without a fight though. She rubbed his arm gently. "So what happen, tell me about her."

"Uh…" Stefan muttered softly. "It's not something I like to talk about."

"I get that. I do." Elena said truly. "But I just…I burden you with all my drama and I just want you to know it's ok if you want to open up to me. It's ok if you want to talk about it. It wouldn't be awkward or anything."

Stefan only wished he knew how wrong she was. Talking about her would be very awkward. He smiled nicely and nodded. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

Elena sighed. "The truth is, Stefan…I really don't know that much about you and I'd really like it if you'd open up to me."

Stefan sighed too. This had Damon written all over it. "Did Damon say something to you? Look, he likes to play mind games with people. Don't listen to him."

"This isn't about, Damon. It's about me trying to get to know you. You're the mystery guy, Stefan. I like that about you, I do. But mystery comes with secrets and this thing with Katherine…"

"Just let it go. It's over, in the past. I don't want to talk about it."

"Then say something, anything about yourself. If you don't I'm left with nothing, other than what people say."

"Don't you see what's happening here? Damon is trying to get you to turn against me."

"Well I guess it's working." Elena said and with that she pulled away from him and walked away. Stefan groaned and buried his face in his hands. He walked over to a more private and quite spot by the large pond and huge water fall and took out his cell phone. He hit a speed dial button and listen to her ring a few times.

"Hello?"

"Lexi? It's me."

"Stefan? You sound upset, what's wrong?"

"Damon…"

Lexi sighed on the other end. "What did he do? Please tell me he didn't sudden grow a heart and let Caroline go?"

"No, he's making Elena doubt me. She's asking all these questions about Damon and I and Katherine and I just…I can't tell her the truth and she is getting angry at me for that."

"Stefan, she just wants you to open up and trust her the way she opens up and trusts you. Girls like honesty. It's why I said you should just tell her everything."

"I can't do that, Lexi. Elena can't know anything."

Lexi sighed once more. "Then you need to make her understand that you're not ready to talk about what happen, but when you feel ready enough you promise you'll talk to her about it. You just need more time."

"What if that doesn't work, Lexi? She's close to hating me right now."

"If she keeps pushing you to talk about a past that has traumatized you for life even though you said it's too upsetting right now, then she clearly isn't the girl you thought she was and you need to break up with her as soon as you can."

Stefan sighed and nodded. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"Look, just go find her and talk things through. Explain to her just as I said before. I'm sure this time it will work."

"All right." Stefan sighed. "Thanks, Lexi."

"Anytime, Stefan. Hang in there we will be rid of Damon soon enough."

Stefan nodded again. "I know, thanks. I'll see you at home."

Stefan hung up and looked into the water. Lexi was right, he had to go find Elena and talk to her. He had to make things right…again.

Just as he turned around to go find her, she was standing there. She looked upset. "I'm sorry!" she cried out. "You were right about everything!"

"Whoa, slow down. What happen?" he asked. As much as he was happy to hear that…something was wrong. He could see it in her eyes.

"You were right about, Damon." She said again.

"What did he do?"

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body…bites marks. He has her all confused and mixed up in the head."

"I'm uh…handling it." Stefan said slowly.

"Handling it? Stefan, you should be having him arrested."

"Elena, please. I... I don't expect you to understand."

"I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?" Elena all but begged

"Look, there are things that you don't know, ok? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't and I may never be able to. I just need you to trust me."

"Trust is earned. I can't just magically hand it over."

In the distance he saw a very angry Damon pulling an upset Caroline away from everyone at the party. He knew now was the time to attack. But it had to be now, he had to leave Elena. "I'm so sorry. I have to go. " With that said he quickly ran off.

He arrived just in time to see Damon laying next to Caroline on the floor groaning in pain.

"I knew I couldn't spike your drink, so I spiked hers." Stefan told him. He bit into his wrist and fed Caroline his blood to heal her. He knew when she woke up she wouldn't remember anything.

Then he grabbed Damon and ran home. Lexi and Zac would be waiting to help lock Damon up.

Once he got back to the house Lexi and Zac helped his take Damon to the basement and lock him up in the cellar. Mystic Falls was now safe. Elena was now safe.

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