AN: Thank you guys so much for your sweet reviews. Your words and thoughts make me so happy and they are honestly the highlights of my week. I can't believe we are already on chapter 13, but time flies and here it is for your enjoyment.

Love you all,

Mydarkside975

Chapter 13: Blood is Thicker than Water

Damon

He was going out running with her? What was it with this girl and the things she made him do? He never went outside to run. He was perfectly content with his 10.000 dollar treadmill. Also, why did he ask her on a date? He had never been on a date in his life not even as a teenager but the question just popped out of his mouth when he thought she was going to leave. He must have sounded desperate. He was desperate, dammit.

The elevator doors opened to his penthouse and the clinking of glass sounded from the living room. Someone was already here. He walked the few steps to the living room to find the intruder sitting on the couch, his legs crossed and his one arm stretched along the back. He had already helped himself to a glass of scotch which he was balancing on the armrest, as he stared at the amber liquid.

"How did you get in here?" Damon asked irritatedly.

The man whose last name he shared lifted his gaze from the glass and looked at him, his face showing nothing but hard lines and green unexpressive eyes. "I own the building," he said simply.

Damon thought he had to go through this anyway and now was as good a time as any even though he would rather not have this conversation at all.

"Why did you come?" He walked closer to the couch but stayed on the opposite side of the coffee table.

"Your brother stopped bringing me your news, he seems to be distressed."

"Stefan needs to get over himself."

Giuseppe put the glass on the table and stood op. "Congratulations, Damon. You finally managed to alienate yourself from your family."

"What family?"

"You need to stop doing that, son."

"What?" Damon managed to keep his voice devoid of any emotion even though his insides were churning.

"Wallowing in the past…" He walked to the window and watched the New York skyline. The sun was all the way up now its rays reflecting on the glass of the skyscrapers. "… I've let you do it long enough." He turned back around to face Damon. "You need to get back to your life."

"What life?"

"They died almost a year ago, Damon. You have to let go now."

"Don't!"

"Don't what? Don't talk about it? Well you need to hear it. We've coddled you enough."

"Shut up."

"Katherine and Daniel are gone…"

"Shut up!"

"… Wake up and move on."

"Shut the fuck up and leave… NOW!" He yelled. His plan of staying cool and unaffected was shot to hell.

"I'm already leaving but I'll be waiting for you to come to me and ask for your job back." He walked out of the living room and Damon heard the elevator ding.

"Don't hold your breath," he whispered to the empty room.

An incessant burn started in his stomach and spread like venom to the rest of his body. When it reached the very tips of his fingers, he took his hands up and looked at them. They were shaking. He was shaking. He clenched his hands into fists and tried to hold still.

It did not work.

Why did he have to bring it up, say their names? Why would he not just leave him alone? He looked down and found the scotch still on the table. He took it up and the smell of sweet oblivion drifted to his nose. He could drink this and regain control, banish every memory back to the darkest recesses of his mind.

No!

He could not go back to numbing himself. He needed to find control without this. He was still shaking, the liquid sloshing around in the glass. He clutched it tightly then found himself throwing it against the wall, the crystal tumbler shattering into pieces.

The burning intensified around his lungs. He realized that he was not breathing. He sucked in a shaking breath as his knees gave out and he landed on the floor.

It was too quiet and too loud, too dark and too bright…

Two years ago:

A loud wail shook him to the core and filled his heart with the most unprecedented joy. After months of pain this very loud little creature was finally out into the world. A nurse with a kind face lined with the evidence of a lifetime of smiles and wearing pink scrubs held the little bundle of fabric with a tiny human being inside out to him.

"I… I don't know…" His voice was small and weak.

"It's okay, honey. Just support his head like that." She showed him where to put his arms as he held onto the little bundle and stared into the face of…

His son.

He could not take it. He was too weak. There was only one way to stop this agony.

He could not stand. His legs refused to carry him but he managed to crawl closer to the couch and lift the cushion to reveal his emergency stash. He pulled out a bottle, broke the seal, unscrewed the cap and guzzled down half of it.

There, now everything was going to be okay.

Stefan

Stefan left the company earlier than usual. He found out that his father had paid a visit to his brother and knowing them both too well, Stefan expected the worst so he had to check on his brother. He would rather have done it as soon as he found out but he was tied up in meeting after meeting the whole day. He barely managed to get through them all without embarrassing himself as his mind kept straying to whatever kind of state he would find his brother in.

Damon always had a bad reaction to their father's pressure and Giuseppe was a very demanding man. This time Stefan was sure their encounter had some disastrous effect on his brother because of the state he was already in.

For a year now, Damon had been spiraling, aiming for rock bottom and Stefan had to stand by and watch, not able to do more than be there in the morning with a couple of Aspirin. Even though he had no chance of easing his brother's mental pain, he could at least take care of his physical pain.

All this time Stefan knew that his brother was hurting himself but it was his choice and he could not do anything about it other than try and talk to him. Then he found out about the drugs and suddenly everything was completely different. Damon was deliberately hurting other people, dragging them down with him and although Stefan would always support his brother, he could never support him hurting others.

Stefan was angry at Damon for giving up on life and humanity in general and angry at himself for not being able to help. He was angry at their father for making everything even more difficult but mostly he was angry at circumstance for dealing his family such horrible cards.

He sighed remembering how they heard about their mother's accident. They were in school and in the middle of third period, they were called to the principal's office. Stefan thought he was in trouble.

When they arrived, they were ushered hurriedly inside and placed on two uncomfortable chairs facing the principal sitting behind his desk. He was wiping the sweat off his forehead as he cleared his throat and started telling them about the accident. Seven year old Stefan felt the tears slide down his cheeks at the thought of something bad happening to his mother and he looked at his brother for reassurance. He wanted him to say that everything was going to be okay but Damon stayed silent.

The principal told them that their father had called and said that he was going to send a car for them so they stayed in the office waiting for the car. Stefan sniffling quietly and Damon staring into space during the half hour's wait. Even in the car on the way to L.A., Damon did not say a word. He just kept staring out the window.

The sound of a loud ding shook him out of his thoughts and the elevator doors slid open into Damon's penthouse. Stefan stepped inside holding his breath for what he would find. The apartment was dark and quiet like there was no one there but he had asked the doorman if Damon was home and he had assured him that he had not left the building since he came home early in the morning.

He made his way to the living room turning on lights as he walked. Once he flicked on the lights in the living room, he quickly scanned the space and his eyes fell on a discolored patch of wall with a pile of shattered glass underneath. He did not see his brother at first but then his eyes fell on a pair of boots sticking out from behind the couch. When he walked over there, he found his brother lying on the floor, a couple of empty bottles around him and a nearly empty one in his hand. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping.

Stefan kneeled down next to him and reached out to try and take the bottle from him but he took it out of his reach. "Well come on in, brother... but you know; it is polite to call before you visit someone." His words were slurred.

"I thought you were passed out."

"Nope, still here… Unfortunately."

"Come on; let me help you to your room." He helped him in a sitting position throwing his arm around his shoulders to support some of his weight then helped him to stand.

"Why? You already got over your self-righteous grudge? I thought it would last at least a couple of weeks more," he slurred as they slowly managed to walk to his bedroom, the bottle still hanging from his one hand.

Stefan thought things were better than he had expected. He had found his brother in much worse conditions before, this was nothing in comparison.

"It was not a grudge, Damon. What you did was wrong."

"… but you're talking to me again."

Stefan sighed as he turned on the lights in the bedroom, walking towards the bed. "Yes, well I found out that Giuseppe paid you a visit."

Damon snorted as he dropped onto the bed. "Yeah, the old man always knows how to fuck me up."

He was still fully clothed as he drifted off to sleep and Stefan did not want to wake him so he just pulled the covers over him and went to turn off the lights.

The days after their mother's death Stefan would stay up late, too scared to close his eyes and missing his mom so bad. He used to wrap himself in his blanket and sneak into his brother's room. Damon never turned him away. He just pulled the covers aside and let him climb in with him.

"I miss her," he would say and his tears starting to run.

"I miss her too," Damon would say.

"Why did she have to leave us? It's not fair," he would sniffle.

"I know." Damon would say as he held him. He was only ten but he stayed strong for his brother.

Stefan would cry himself to sleep and by morning, he would go back to his room before anyone noticed.

Their father never knew.

"Stefan!"

"Yeah?"

"I did not put drugs in the food."

"I know."

He did.

Damon did a lot of crap but he never lied to him. Right now he sounded as honest as ever. That did not mean that Caroline was lying though because he trusted her even though he had only known her for a short time. No, there must be some other explanation, he thought. Maybe someone else put the drugs in the food, someone who wanted Damon to take the blame. But who would hate him so much that they would want to put him in jail? Maybe, someone who wanted to hurt their father by ruining his reputation but then it could not be a coincidence that journalists got access to the party where someone had drugged the food. It all smelled like a conspiracy that Damon, his guests and Caroline and Elena were chess pieces in.

AN: I now you guys were waiting for the not-date in this chapter and I hope you don't hate me now for making you wait more but I have said it before; I am my character's slave and who knew that Giuseppe would choose that day in particular to pay Damon a visit? If you want to put the blame on someone then put it on him.

Joking aside, what did you think?... Rotten tomatoes are accepted ;)