Stefan is still locked in his brother's arms come morning. He wiggles a bit and looks up at him. Damon is still knocked out. Yet somehow, he's kept his death grip this whole time. Stefan whines, poking at his face.

"Day…Damon…" His brother shakes his head in his sleep, muttering something incoherent under his breath. "Damon!"

Damon's eyes flicker open a bit. He squints down at him. "Hm?"

"I have to pee."

Damon gains his bearings and unlocks his death grip. A bit of security leaves Stefan's body. He takes a step off the bed and winces a bit at the cold floor. His brother must of cranked the AC last night. Stefan rubs his arms as he makes his way to the ensuite. By the time he's stepped back into the room, Damon is out of bed.

"Turned down the AC," he says. "But it'll take a moment. Here, get back under the covers."

Stefan shakes his head. "I'll be fine, Day."

"You're cold. Stef, just get under the covers."

"Damon." Stefan shuts his eyes and inhales. After a few moments, he opens and exhales. "You don't need to do all of this."

Damon scoffs and bends down, clearly trying to pick him up. Stefan manages to be quicker and backs away. Damon straightens himself. Irritation builds up in those narrow blue eyes. Stefan frowns, folding his arms over his chest.

"I'm going to kill that guy," Damon mutters.

"No, you're not."

"Oh yes, I am. I'm going to rip his voice box out! Especially since he doesn't need it. He's talking out of his ass."

Stefan whimpers a bit. He wants to believe Damon doesn't mean it, but he sees the look in his eyes. Damon wants to kill for him. Again. Maybe he shouldn't tell him this stuff. It's just going to get people hurt. Or, at minimum, having threats against them.

"I don't wanna talk to you right now," Stefan whispers.

He heads for the door. In a quick whoosh, Damon is in front of him. His face has shifted so quick, Stefan nearly gets whiplash. He's softer now. That look he only seems to get with Stefan these days.

"I'm sorry," Damon says. Guilt drips from his voice. "I shouldn't talk like that in front of you."

"Are you really going to hurt him?"

"Stef…"

"You can't just threaten everyone who says something to me that you don't like!"

"And why the hell not?"

Because it scares Stefan. He doesn't like that. He doesn't like that sometimes he's afraid of his brother. Sure, Damon's violence isn't the same as Guiseppe's or Julian's. It's to protect Stefan. But that isn't the best feeling. To know that his brother would hurt someone over something like this.

"Because I don't want you to!" Stefan snaps. "And if you're going to run around defending me, shouldn't I get to decide how you do it?"

"I'm the adult…"

"And I'm the one it happened to. It's not a big deal."

"That doctor made you feel bad about needing to sleep in my bed. Who the hell knows what else…"

"Did you even bother asking? Or are you just going to run down there and hurt him?"

Damon goes silent. Stefan shakes his head and tries to leave the room once again. His brother stands firm at the door. Stefan whines.

"Move!"

"No. You want to talk? Let's talk. If you walk out of the room, I'm just following you. So."

Damon gestures to the sitting area in the corner of the room. Stefan finds this whole room ridiculous. All of the bedrooms here are big. It's supposed to be for sleep. There's no way it should fit a whole couch and some chairs.

Still, Stefan follows him over. He drops onto the couch and twists so he's looking away from Damon. His brother settles beside him, though leaves some space between them.

"Talk," Damon says.

Stefan shrugs. "Not much to say."

"I promise. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to sit here and we can talk about it."

"Then you'll go kill him?"

"I'm not going to kill him Stefan. Unless…" Stefan rolls his eyes. "Did he…did he do something?"

Stefan makes a face. "Do something?"

"Did he…touch you?"

It takes a moment for the words to truly register. He remembers Lily asking him the same question a couple of times regarding Julian. At first, he didn't get it. Of course, Julian was touching him. Every time he hit the young boy. But eventually, his mom explained herself a little better. Stefan vehemently shook his head. Julian was a monster, but he never went that far.

He quickly turns to face Damon. His brother's muscles are tense. Anxiety creeps over his eyes.

"No," Stefan says. Damon tilts his head. "No! Day, I swear! I would tell you, okay? He didn't touch me. Didn't even do a regular examination. We just talked."

Damon relaxes just a bit. "Okay."

"You believe me?"

"I do. But only because you'd tell me if anyone…"

"Yes! I swear!" Stefan squirms uncomfortably. He really doesn't want to talk about this.

"Alright. So, what did this asshole do?"

"You promise me you won't go kill him?"

"I promise." Stefan looks at him hesitantly. Damon sighs. "I'm sorry, Stef. I shouldn't get that way around you. It's like I've told you before. I don't want anyone hurting my baby brother."

"He didn't hurt me."

"He said something that made you scared and anxious. Made you think you didn't need me. Which is kind of what made me think the other thing."

Stefan stays quiet. Damon runs his fingers through his hair.

"No threats. No violence. I'm just going to listen. If you let me."

Stefan looks at him for a moment. He's still scared, but he wants to believe his brother. Deep down, he knows that Damon would never do anything to intentionally hurt him. Damon doesn't realize how much these threats get to him. They're supposed to feel comforting.

Is Stefan wrong to not feel comforted by them?

His brother is just trying to look out for him. After a year of having no one to truly do that, he should be grateful, right? Maybe he's just looking at this the wrong way.

He doesn't like keeping secrets from Damon. They make him feel all yucky inside.

"He said I'm too old to sleep in your bed," Stefan says.

"That's ridiculous," Damon argues. "You've been through a lot. It's okay for you to need some extra comfort."

"He said you do too much for me. Talking for me. Thinking for me. That I'm too dependent on you."

"Well, for one, do you think I think for you?"

Stefan shakes his head. "No, we rarely agree on a lot." He can't help but smile a little when Damon does.

"Exactly. And maybe I do talk for you," he admits. "But it's because you don't in certain situations. Which is more than okay. You're shy." Stefan blushes a bit. "And there's nothing wrong with that. It's why you have your extroverted big brother to help you out."

Stefan bites his lip again. "I'm supposed to be a man."

"Oh no, definitely not." Damon shakes his head. "You're 12, Stefan. Nowhere close to being a man."

"I'll be 13 in November."

"That'll make you a teenager, not a man. You are still very much a child." Damon reaches forward and gently grips his chin. Stefan squirms a little. "There is no reason to be in such a rush to grow up."

"Dr. Blake…"

"Dr. Blake is an archaic moron, who at the same time also doesn't look anywhere close to being old enough to practice medicine."

Damon shakes his head. He releases his hold on his brother but remains tense.

"He says I should grow up," Stefan continues. "Go to my appointments alone."

"Do you want to?"

Stefan hesitates. "I think I'm supposed to."

"That's not what I asked. Do you want me to stay in the lobby while you talk to Dr. Fell? And I say Meredith, because you sure as hell aren't seeing Dr. Blake again."

Stefan is quiet for a moment, then shakes his head. "I…I don't want to be alone with the doctor. I know Dr. Fell would never hurt me but…" He runs his hands over his arms that once contained bruises. "Sometimes she has to look at my body and I don't want to be alone."

"Then you won't. I'm going to stay by your side."

"But if I'm supposed to grow up…"

"Hey," Damon interrupts. He sighs. "Truth is, bub, you are growing up. A lot faster than I'd like. If it were up to me, I'd keep you my teeny baby brother with squishable cheeks." Stefan blushes as his brother pinches his face. "Dr. Blake is unfortunately right about that. You are getting older. However, you have also been through a lot in your young life. Trauma sometimes causes people to regress a little."

"You've been through a lot too," Stefan points out. "And you don't act like a little kid."

"Trauma affects everyone differently. I'd rather you act younger than have my temper."

Stefan hesitates then nods. He loves his brother as is. But he doesn't want to know what goes on in his big brother's head. He doesn't want to have that urge to hurt people, unless it was really, really bad. If someone hurt Damon, well, then he'd have to be like that. But no one's done that. At least not since Giuseppe died. Stefan couldn't protect him then. He hates that. But he will in the future.

Outside that, maybe being a little kid isn't that bad.

"You will sleep in my bed as long as you need to," Damon says. "Or I'll sleep in yours. I'll help you get ready and give you all the snuggles you need. You…" He trails off, a haunted look taking over his face. Almost as if he's seen a ghost. "You spent too long in that room stripped of everything. No comfort. No one taking care of you." Stefan's stomach sinks as he remembers that dark time. Damon shakes his head. "So, you need a little extra comfort. And that's what I'm here for."

"Dr. Blake…"

"Doesn't know what he's talking about. I've already discussed all this with Dr. Fell. She says it's normal."

Stefan arches a brow. "Really?"

"Yup," Damon says, popping the "p". "I should've talked to you about. I just assumed you didn't have any issues with it, so it didn't matter."

"Are you okay with it?"

"Of course I am. I want to take care of you, Stef. I've told you that."

"Just making sure."

Stefan crawls across the couch and snuggles into his brother's side. Damon wraps his arms around him. The chill of the room doesn't feel so bad anymore once he has the warm, firm grip. Damon kisses the side of his head.

"You know no matter how old I get," Stefan mumbles, gripping Damon's gray night shirt. "I'll always want cuddles."

"I certainly hope so," his brother whispers, stroking his hair. "Because I swear I will give you all the snuggles in front of your college roommates if you try to get out of it."

Stefan snickers. "As if you'd ever let me go to college."

"Oh, I will. I have such a smart little bunny." Damon tweaks his nose. "But I'm going to be as close by as I can."

That doesn't sound so bad to Stefan.

"I am going to talk to Dr. Fell about this," Damon says. Stefan groans. "Just so she knows that we're never meeting with Dr. Dickwad again," he clarifies. Stefan doesn't have an objection to that. "We'll wait for the next availability. And I'm going to see if she possibly has any openings soon. I feel like that douchebag didn't do a proper exam. Just lectured you with a bunch of bullshit."

"I'm fine," Stefan whines.

"We'll see about that." Damon gently pops his bottom. "I want to make sure you're nice and healthy."

Stefan whispers under his breath, mocking his brother. Damon clicks his tongue and gets a look about him.

"What do I do with fresh little boys?"

Stefan's eyes widen. "Day, no, c'mon, I was just joking around."

"Nope. In fact, I think I put this off long enough."

Damon begins tickling him under his arms. Stefan screeches, kicking his legs. That doesn't help, as his brother gets him on the soles of his feet. An endless amount of giggles escapes Stefan's lips.

"DayDay!" His brother leans his mouth down. "No, not the tummy! I'm not a baby!"

Damon ignores him and lifts up his Superman t-shirt. He blows a raspberry into his tummy. Stefan shrieks. Damon sits up, smirking and clearly pleased with himself. Stefan is still giggling as he catches his breath.

"You suck."

"Aw, I love you too, Bunny Boy." Damon presses a loud kiss to his cheek, making a mwah sound. "Now, up you go, I'm going to get some nummies in that tummy."

Stefan goes to stand up, but Damon ends up moving him to his hip. He locks his arms around his neck as he's carried down the stairs, burying his head in his shoulder. It hasn't been a full day and he already missed his big brother's cuddles.

Dr. Blake lives to see another day...but he is on Damon's shit list. Just what will he do in a couple of years when Stef starts high school and he meets Tanner?

Up next, Stefan is still grounded and takes issue with it. Damon deals with a pouty and irritated teenager.

Let me know what you think! As always, feel free to leave prompts or ask me questions! I am on Tumblr and love communicating on there, as well as in the comments.