kimkey prompted: "Do you think for a possible prompt idea, Lexi could visit and the two elders tag team against Stefan?"

Damon sits in a back booth at The Grill, pouring a shot of bourbon from the bottle. It's an early Monday afternoon so the place is mostly empty, save for a few college students typing up essays and the morning boozehounds. Damon usually joins them at the bar, they're always fun to bait into weird conversations.

Today, he needs privacy for him and his guest. If she shows up anyway.

Damon Salvatore does not get stood up. If anything, he does the ditching. And yet, he knows this is this one of the few women who resist his charm and looks. She couldn't care less if he lived or died.

"'Sup, buzzkill?"

Damon settles his glass down. Lexi's style may change to adapt to the times, but her beauty never will. Her blonde hair is parted into a long ponytail. Dark liner frames those large brown eyes. If she wasn't so annoying, Damon might actually develop real feelings for her.

Lexi slides into the other side of the booth and grabs the empty glass, pouring herself a shot. "Day drinking, always been your thing, huh?"

Damon rolls his eyes. "I seem to remember you and Stefan not caring what time you started."

"Wonder where he picked up that little habit." She knocks back the shot and quickly pours herself another. "So," she pours the sharp alcohol down and wipes at her mouth. "Wanna tell me why I'm sitting here with you instead of pulling my best friend out of school to have a day of fun?"

He stares at her for a few moments. Damon didn't want to call her. In fact, he put it off for 2 months. Every time he picked up the phone, he was reminded of Lexi's bond with his brother. She did a lot of good for him and in the process, it made Stefan dependent on her. His love for Lexi will never vanish, nor will him viewing her as a big sister. Damon has tried to fight it, ignore it. That's only going to hurt Stefan.

Damon can't be selfish anymore. If he's going to tend to Stefan properly, Lexi plays a factor.

"Stefan lied to you."

Lexi snorts. "This your fun way of trying to make me hate him? Gotta admit, not your best method." She pours another shot.

"No. I'm serious this time."

She settles the bottle down and looks into his sad blue eyes. Her tough bravado loosens, just a smidge, but it's evident.

Lexi clears her throat. "What's going on?"

"Stefan's not a caretaker, Lexi. He's a Little."

Lexi blinks rapidly. Damon reaches down onto the bench and grabs a folder, pushing it in her direction. Lexi fumbles to open it, scanning over the paperwork. Her mouth drops open.

"That little brat." Her head snaps up, eyes darkening. "How long have you known?!"

"Just about 5 months. When he came back to Mystic Falls, the mayor conducted a census on the Little to Caretaker ratios. He found Stef's original paperwork."

The folder crumples under Lexi's tight grip. "You've known for 5 months?! And you're just now telling me?!"

Damon's nostrils flare, his patience dwindling. "I didn't think I needed to!"

"He's my best friend!"

"And if he wanted you to know, he would've told you."

"Right, just like he told you." Lexi slams the file down. "How did you not know?"

He narrows his eyes. "Excuse me?"

"He's your brother! You walked around all this time and couldn't figure out who he was."

The words stab at his already overflowing guilt. He knows he didn't do enough to check in on Stefan. All those looks he ignored. The clinginess Stefan tried to hide. How young his voice would get when he was upset. Damon wanted freedom to travel and redeem his youth. In the process, he abandoned his baby brother.

At the same time, he often left him in the company of the angry woman sitting before him.

"Me? What about you?" Damon asks, bitterness seeping from his voice.

Lexi does a shot before jabbing a finger in his direction. "Do not shift blame here."

"No, you wanna say it's my fault for not noticing sooner? What about you?" Lexi tries to defend herself, but he keeps talking. "When you went drinking across Europe together? Or how about that summer you stalked Bon Jovi?"

Any stubbornness and anger melts from Lexi's face. It's the first time Damon has seen her so sad, so vulnerable. Still, he continues.

"Yeah, I admit, I fucked up too." Damon cannot believe he just said that to her. "But I will not shoulder all the responsibility on my own. You spent just as much time with him, if not more. If you didn't see it, you can't expect me to!"

Damon pours another shot, trying not to look at Lexi as he drinks it. The two sit in silence for a little bit, neither touching the bottle in the meantime.

"There were…there were signs," Lexi concedes, quietly. "But he always seemed so young and vulnerable to me. Even in his Ripper days, I could tell a soft, sweet little boy was behind there. I always assumed he'd classify as a Little but when he told me otherwise, I just…"

"Believed it?"

"Well, what else was I supposed to do?" She sighs. "I guess…fight him on it, right?"

Damon rubs the back of his neck. "Look, you know I hate to feel anything but contempt for you." Lexi rolls her eyes. "But I did the same thing. I didn't truly believe him but also thought there's no way he'd lie."

"Looking back, it's classic Stefan." Lexi scoffs. "Self-destructive and hurting himself. Though, I don't understand for what this time. When it came to rehabbing the Ripper out, I knew he wanted to absolve the guilt for that. But this?"

"He didn't want to bother us. Felt like it'd be an inconvenience to ask us to give up our lives to take care of him."

For the first time since he met her, Damon sees a tear fall down Lexi's cheek.

"That little boy," she whispers, her voice breaking. "I would've…I could've…"

"We both would've," Damon corrects. Lexi frowns. "We may hate each other, but we could've come up with an agreement back then. I'd take care of him for a bit, then you."

Lexi lets out a watery laugh. "Right, because you'd share your baby brother with me. Wasn't that always the problem with us? I made you insecure about your place in his life."

Damon growls at the accurate reading. How can someone who despises him so much understand him so well?

"You're right," he says. "Back then, I absolutely would've packed him up and hidden him somewhere, keeping him as my baby brother alone. And in a way, that's what I've done these past few months. Told myself that I can do this by myself. That I'm all he needs. But that's…"

Damon swallows and tries to starve off the tears in his own eyes.

"This is hard for me to say," he mumbles. "And I'm only doing it for Stefan."

For once, Lexi doesn't make a quip back. If anything, it almost looks like she holds pity for him. Damon sighs.

"He has rules, boundaries, I treat him like the child that he is and it works for the most part. But there are still times where he shows his old self. The other night, he snuck out to the woods to feed by himself. He wanted to prove that he was big enough."

Lexi's eyes widen in shock. "What happened?"

"Nothing. I heard him leaving right away and followed. I was able to grab him before anything happened but he also dropped right after. If I hadn't, he would've been at about 2 years old, in the woods, around wild animals."

"Stupid, stupid little boy," Lexi chides.

"I could keep putting up more restrictions but I don't want to. He should have fun, get to be a kid. But he can't do that when his guilt is trying to tell him the Little side isn't deserved."

Lexi nods. "But then what do we do?"

Damon runs a finger around the rim of his shot glass. He opens his mouth and closes it a few times before finally forcing it out.

"He needs to stay with me, that's non-negotiable. Any progress he has made comes from him going to school, living under my roof, being taken care of by me."

Lexi raises an eyebrow. "But?"

"I think you should stay. At least for a little while. Hel…help me," the words feel like vomit on Damon's tongue. He holds back a gag. "Help me with him. Do the whole big sister act, I'll be the big brother. It'll ground him. Even when he's in his big space, he'll know that we're there for him. He doesn't have to prove anything or be anything other than who he is."

"You're suggesting we play Full House?" Lexi smiles in spite of her incredulous voice. "Like what? You'll be Danny Tanner?"

Damon smirks. "I've always been more of an Uncle Jesse guy myself."

She laughs, shaking her head. Damon's mouth melts into a smile. This is perhaps the most fun he's had with Lexi in a while.

"We hate each other," she says, a smile still on her face.

"That we do. But we have one thing in common."

"Yeah," she nods, her features turning fond. "We do."

"I'm not saying you have to stay forever. Maybe just a few weeks and then pop in every so often. I just think that if instead of fighting we combined forces, it'll do him a lot of good."

Lexi bites her lip for a moment. She picks up the bottle and pours them each a shot. He picks his up as Lexi raises hers.

"To Stefan," she says.

"To Stefan."

A clink seals their truce.

Stefan frowns in confusion when his brother puts a hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards the living room after school.

"Don't I have to do homework?"

A familiar voice beckons from the couch. "You could, or you could come give me a hug."

Damon releases him once they enter the room. Stefan's eyes light up as soon as he sees Lexi. He vamps straight for her, dropping his backpack in the process. She wraps him tight in his arms, squeezing him tightly. He tries to hug her back just as hard. The two don't move for two minutes. Stefan starts to bury his head in her shoulder and then remembers, backing up.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, the smile not leaving his face.

"Do I need a reason to come see my favorite cutie?"

"Well, no, but you usually have one."

Lexi settles onto the couch, grabbing Stefan's arm. Instead of being placed beside her as expected, he's settled onto her lap. Stefan's eyebrows knit together, pouting slightly in confusion.

"Lexi?"

"Let me hold you, it's been too long since we've seen each other."

Stefan submits, slouching against her. Lexi runs her fingers through his hair, smoothing it down in some places. He glances over at Damon, expecting to see his brother annoyed or jealous, but instead, he's smiling.

"You rarely call anymore," Lexi says as she strokes his cheek.

Stefan shrinks back a little. "I…I've been busy with school."

"Ah yes, school. When you moved back here, I thought you told me that you weren't enrolling again."

Stefan squirms under her pointed gaze. "Uh, well, Damon said I had to."

"And you do everything your big brother tells you, eh?"

Heat rises to Stefan's cheeks. Lexi's face doesn't falter. Instead, she snuggles him closer and bounces her knee, him moving right along with it.

"You're a very good little boy," she coos.

Stefan struggles a bit, trying to get off her lap. Her arms tighten around him. "Lexi, stop. I'm a grown man…"

Damon slowly enters the room. "It's not nice to lie, Stef."

Stefan's eyes widen in betrayal. When this all started, he told his brother that he didn't want Lexi to know. Damon agreed. How could his brother do this to him?! Stefan tries once again to rip away from his best friend, ready to scream at his brother. Lexi keeps a tight hold on him, bouncing her knee more rhythmically this time.

"Hush now, don't be so angry with your big brother. He was just looking out for you." Lexi grips his chin and forces him to look up at her. "Especially as you didn't want to tell me yourself."

Stefan whimpers. "I'm sorry, Lexi," he whispers. "I just…I didn't want to bother you…"

"That is bull and you know it." She tightens her grip on him. "I promised you I'd be there to take care of you when you needed me. But how can I know if you won't tell me?"

He pouts. "I…I was fine."

"No, you were surviving, barely." She releases her grip and goes back to stroking his cheek. "Now you have your big brother and I know he's done his best." Stefan's face fills with confusion. Since when does Lexi compliment Damon. "But he cannot do it alone. That's where I come in."

Stefan looks between the two. Damon's face is stern yet soft. Lexi is bouncing him like a toddler and cooing at him softly.

"You…you're sending me away?" He asks Damon, his voice filled with heartbreak. "I knew it! I knew I was too much!"

Damon crouches down to his eye level and grabs his hand. "I'm not sending you anywhere, Stef. Ever."

Stefan sniffles. "But…what is she talking about?"

"Lexi is going to stay with us for a bit. She's going to take care of you the same way I do, regardless of your space."

He looks up at Lexi in surprise. His best friend nods, squeezing his cheek. "That's right, sweetness."

Damon rubs his thigh. "The same rules you have with me, apply to her.'

Stefan pouts. "So, she can spank me?"

"Can and will," Lexi says. "And the one rule that's doubled with me is the no self-loathing. You know how much I hate that."

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbles.

Lexi grins. "See, this won't be so bad. You'll have your big brother and your big sissy."

Stefan finds himself smiling at her referring to herself as "big sissy". He's always looked at her like a big sister. When he was a kid, he never wanted his mother to add to the family. He liked being the baby, Damon's baby especially. But he was okay with another older sibling.

"I'm not a little boy," he argues, trying to keep his bravado up.

"Shhh, shhh, you just relax."

She hooks her arms around him so she's cradling him like a baby. Damon rubs his back and coos softly in his ear. Stefan hesitates.

"Homework," he mumbles.

Damon shakes his head. "I've called you out for the rest of the week. This is a new transition for you and you need to get used to it."

"But…"

"Someone is fussy. I'll go get his baba."

Damon vamps out of the room. Lexi continues to rock Stefan, smiling down at him. He fidgets, desperately trying to keep his head into his big space. It's bad enough he's dragged Damon down with him, he won't do the same to Lexi.

His brother returns a moment later, bottle in hand. Stefan refuses to open his mouth, keeping it locked tight. Lexi shakes her head and grabs it from her former enemy.

"Damon, I put a CD in the stereo. Press play for me, will ya?"

He nods and crosses over, hitting a button. A familiar lullaby comes streaming out of the speakers. Stefan tilts his head, unable to place it at first until the harp's beat drops.

"Livin' On A Prayer," he mumbles.

Lexi takes the opportunity to stick the bottle in his mouth. "They have everything on the internet these days, including lullaby versions of rock anthems."

A small smile spreads across his face and he begins sucking on the bottle. Damon walks back over to them. Stefan frowns. He wants his big sissy, but he doesn't want to upset his big brother either. Damon reaches down and pushes a strand of hair out of his face.

"It's alright, Stef," he whispers. "You need people in your life who love you. Lexi's one of them. I can share…emphasis on the sharing part. I get the next bottle."

Lexi scoffs. "Um, excuse me, Dickhead. You've gotten the past six months' worth of bottles."

"Yeah, well, he's sleeping in my bed tonight."

"Hey!"

Stefan wraps his hands around his bottle, his smile remaining. Sure, they are arguing, but at least they're both in the same room.