atmenza1 prompted: "maybe he refuses to go back to school because of what Tanner did and when he's begging Damon to not make him, he calls him daddy and is then freaked out."

As a kid, Damon loathed bath time. It was tedious and usually took him away from his toys. As an adult, he's learned to love the relaxation, the warm water and bubbles. He likes it even more when he's not the one in the bath, but giving it. Stefan is always calm in the tub, swirling the bubbles around, using the water chalk that Lexi gave him, pushing his duckies around. It distracts him while Damon scrubs at his body, taking away the grime from the day.

"Let me wash that hero hair," Damon says, squirting some shampoo onto his palm and scrubbing it into his scalp.

Stefan giggles. "You're silly, Day."

"I am so silly, yes." Damon pulls back, making sure every inch is covered in suds. "Silly big brothers make sure their baby brother's hair stays perfect. Especially when they have school tomorrow."

The smile drops from Stefan's face and Damon cringes. It's been a sore subject for the past few days, whether his brother is in big or little space. Damon managed to bargain an extra week of no school, so long as Stefan finished all his assignments. His brother did so, happily. They sat in Damon's study, the older brother filling out his own paperwork and helping his little one as needed. If Damon had a meeting, Stefan went with him. At the end of every day, Damon dropped the assignments off at the Mikaelson house for Caroline to bring back to school. It was a good arrangement.

Now, the principal is cracking down. While he understands Stefan went through something traumatic, if he wants to act like a real student, he's going to be treated like one. He must return to school the following day or not return at all. Damon tried arguing then bribes, he even groveled. There was no changing the strict principal's mind, Stefan has to go back. The only exception is the same for the rest of the students: if he falls into Little space.

Damon did debate just pulling Stefan all together, but he knows half of the reason his brother thrives so well is his routine. He likes school, the nerd. It's going to be hard to leave him, but it's for the best.

"No," Stefan says with a slight pout. "I'm staying with you."

Damon shakes his head. "Bunny, we talked about this. You've had some time off and now you have to go back."

Stefan shakes his head. "No!" He slams his hand down onto the water, splashing his big brother with warm suds in the process.

Damon sighs, leaning over and cupping Stefan's face. "Shhh, shhh, please don't get all worked up." Stefan whimpers. "How about I finish washing your hair and then we'll get you in some jammies. Then we can talk about it."

His brother looks at him warily. "Jammies?"

"I just washed your Spiderman ones."

That's enough to pacify his baby brother for a moment. Damon washes the shampoo out and lathers up with conditioner a couple of times. Once it's all out and his brother's hair is back to its pristine condition, Damon drains the tub. He lifts Stefan out and wraps him up his bunny hooded towel. Stefan curls up into him as they walk back into the master bedroom. True to his word, the coveted footie jammies, fresh from the dryer, lay on the bed.

Damon lays his brother down and carefully towel dries him. He moves Stefan's legs and arms into the jammies, zipping them up. The footie concept was pretty new to Damon. Sure, they had them back when he was a kid, but they were never like this: covered in cartoon characters or fun designs. They made Stefan look adorable and if it were up to Damon, he'd wear them to bed every night.

Once his baby brother is nice and snug with his bunny tucked under his arm, Damon leans against the pillows and cradles him on his chest. Stefan looks up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

"No school, Day."

"You have to, baby," Damon says, softly. "Principal Weber says our little break is over."

"Weber's a meanie," Stefan grumbles.

Damon chuckles, stroking his damp hair. "I know, we've had a lot of fun together these past couple of weeks."

Stefan bites his lip. "Tanner."

Damon cuddles him closer upon hearing that name. Some Littles can't remember anything about their big spaces. Unfortunately, Stefan has always juggled both. Memories from his ripper days, becoming a vampire, and as of late, Tanner. The sadistic teacher was arrested and later moved out of Mystic Falls. He's looking at a decent time in prison. It's not good enough for Damon, but he tries to push those dark thoughts out of his head.

"He's gone far away, Bunny Boy," Damon promises. "He won't be able to hurt you."

Stefan sniffles. "New teacher could."

"No, we met the new teacher, remember? Mrs. Tig. She was really nice." Damon gives an encouraging smile. "Remember, you said you liked her."

Emma Tig was new to town. She's a witch, who like Bonnie, is supportive of vampires. This time, the school did their homework. Not only did they find a teacher who was classified as a caretaker, they found one with a Little of their own. Damon is wary, as he is of pretty much everyone, but he trusts that Emma will do a much better job than her predecessors. She came by the house, knowing Stefan would be too anxious to go to the school. He was in a bigger space at the time, but still stayed close to his brother's side. Emma was patient and even brought him a book they would be going over in class. She promised that Stefan could come to her with anything.

Stefan hesitates. "She was pretty," he concedes. "And nice."

"That's right." Damon sighs. "You know I'd never intentionally put you in harm's way, Stef. You mean the world to me."

Stefan's lip trembles. "But it could happen again. I get owies." He rubs his arms, which are now free of any burns. "I don't wanna go."

Damon frowns. "Bunny…"

Stefan clings to his shirt, his eyes wide. "Please, Daddy. Don't make me go."

Daddy.

The word echoes through Damon's mind. It's the first time he's heard his brother say it since the rules were put into place.

"Do I have to call you Daddy or something?"

"No. I'm still your Day."

He always felt like Stefan's father. A real father doesn't beat their kids to a pulp nor do they belittle and humiliate them for sport. Damon was there to tuck Stefan in, read him bedtime stories and bring comfort when upset. Over the past century and a half, Damon has tried to protect his baby brother.

Still, the title feels foreign to him. Stefan's never called him that, outside jokingly referring to him as "mom" or "dad" when he feels Damon is getting too serious about something. He's always been "Day" or "DayDay". It's what's comfortable, what makes sense.

And yet, it's rare he denies Stefan anything. If this makes him comfortable, he's not going to correct him.

"Shhh, it's alright," Damon coos, gently rocking him. "Shhh, shhh, I've got you."

Stefan lets out a shaky breath. "No school?"

"You have to go to school, Bunny Boy. But, I'll take you and walk you in. Would you like that?"

Stefan nods, rubbing his face against his brother's shirt. "Stay with me?"

Damon holds back a smirk. He has a feeling when Stefan flips back into big space, he is going to deny ever asking for this. It'll be a good reason to have a little fun.

"Yes, I'll stay with you. Hold your hand and walk you to class." Damon kisses his forehead. "My little Bunny Boy."

Stefan nods, his eyelids drooping. Damon continues to rock him, watching as he drifts off to sleep.

The next morning, Stefan awakes in his big brother's arms. His head hurts ever so slightly, as it always does when he transitions out of his Little state. He looks down at his pajamas, restricted by their feet and the zipper up the back. Stefan kicks his legs a little, looking infantile in the process.

"Morning, Bunny Boy," Damon says.

Stefan looks up at him, his brain still foggy from the night before. He remembers a splashy bath and then getting upset over going back to school. Stefan frowns. He's repressed his fear over reentering the school so as not to worry Damon. His Little side is almost always honest with Damon. He holds nothing back, knowing big brother will make it all better. Stefan smiles a little at the thought. He's still not a hundred percent about going back to school, but understands there's truly no choice.

"Please, Daddy."

Stefan's eyes widen and he tumbles out of Damon's arms. His brother looks at him strangely.

"Stef? What's wrong?"

Stefan shakes his head. "I…I mean…" He clears his throat. "I'm sorry about last night."

Damon frowns. "Baby, that's what I'm here for. Ease your mind, comfort you when you're upset…"

"No," Stefan whispers. "Not that."

Damon tries to pull him back on his lap, but the younger brother inches away. Hurt takes over his blue eyes.

"Stef," he whispers.

"I called you Daddy."

Damon bites his lip. "Oh. Yeah, you did."

Stefan shakes his head. "I'm sorry. That's…that's not what this is. I shouldn't have done that. I'm really sorry. I'll…I'll go get ready for school."

Stefan climbs out of the bed, landing on his feet with a tiny thud. He starts to head out of the room when Damon vamps in front of him. Stefan attempts to walk around, but his brother puts his hands on his shoulder, keeping him firmly planted in place.

"Stef, it's okay."

He shakes his head. "No, it's not. You take care of me, you've given up so much for me. I can't make you my dad."

Damon crouches down a little so they're at eye level. "Stef, all of that, is what a dad does. I want to be here. We've been over this." He moves one hand to touch his chin. "You're my baby boy, I'm not going anywhere."

"You weren't supposed to have kids."

"Well, I do. I have a precious little boy who can often be a pain in the ass but I love him anyway. Isn't that what being a dad is?"

Stefan smiles a little. Damon matches it, patting his cheek.

"I…I don't want to call you Daddy all the time," Stefan whispers. "I know you are like a dad, but…you're still my big brother too."

"You can call me whatever you want. Daddy, DayDay, it doesn't matter to me."

"You really don't mind?"

Damon shakes his head. "No, I don't. All I care about is that you're safe and protected. Okay?"

Stefan nods. "Yeah. Okay."

"Good." Damon ruffles his hair and stands up. "You go get ready for school, I'll get dressed then you can have your blood and some breakfast."

"Dressed? Don't you usually drop me off in sweats then round back?"

"Sure, but today I have to look my best so I can walk my wittle Bunny Boy to class and sit with him until he feels better."

Stefan's eyes widen and his mouth drops open. The memories of begging Damon to do all of that hit him like a ton of bricks.

"No!" Damon smirks. Stefan glares at him. "You know you can't go off of everything that part of me says. He'd have you carrying me around everywhere in a pouch or something."

"I do have that swaddle that keeps you on my chest."

"You're dropping me off. As a matter of fact, do it around the block. I am not risking you embarrassing me!"

Stefan stomps down the hall, rolling his eyes as his brother cracks up.

"Aww, does that mean you don't want me feeding you a baba at lunch?"

Stefan resists the urge to flip him off. The last thing he needs before school is a sore bottom.