What Are Brothers For?

Though the thought of having Elena all for himself was rather attractive, he wasn't about to let his brother die for that. The thought of losing his brother caused on him a reaction that Damon didn't expect. He was terrified of it. He couldn't understand how, even after spending years making Stefan's life miserable, he could still care.

"You are going to make it, Stefan." Damon said, his voice regaining a bit of it's usual confident tone. "I'm going to make sure of it."

I nodded slowly as my heavy eyelids began to shut. It was becoming hard to stay conscious. The world around me began to spin, Damon's head splitting into three images.
"Damon..." I let out in a hoarse whisper.
Utter blackness.
(Third person point of view)
Stefan began to thrash in his sleep, the dream-state becoming more and more a nightmare. His fists clenched as the pain grew in his side.

As Stefan fell back asleep, Damon had only one thought in his mind. He had to keep Stefan awake. But as he saw him clenching his fists, he knew the pain was too much, and that keeping him conscious would be torture.

With a deep, worried and frustrated sigh, Damon sat back on his armchair and continued to research. The internet was proving itself to be more useful than the books, but he still found nothing. Research as he might, all he found were mentions to the toxin, nothing about how to cure someone who had been infected. He was starting to lose all hope when he found something. One site that held the instructions to curing Stefan.

With a great smile, a kind of smile he could hardly remember ever smiling, Damon walked over to Stefan, ready to wake him up.

The dreams had slowly emerged into utter blackness, a sliver of light appearing. Slowly, I walked towards the bright light. The click of my heels against the ground reverberated, creating a soft sound wave.
Suddenly, the light faded away, only to be pulled back to reality, once more.
My eyes cracked open, "What, what is?" With each word that passed through my lips, I had to keep myself from screaming. The pain was visibly painted across my face as it twisted in agony.
I could see his foolishly wide smile falter for moments before being placed back.
This smile sent shivers up my spine, I've never seen him smile like this before. Never. It made me want to jump out of my skin. "What?"

Damon's smile faltered as he saw Stefan's pain showing clearly on his face, but he quickly put it back on. He had finally found the cure, and by some reason it made him much happier than what he thought he would be.

"I found it, Stefan, I found the cure!" He told his brother, wondering why he was so ecstatic. The only time he remembered being like that was when he was a child.

He supposed, though, that only situations like that made people realize how much they care about others. He surely hadn't known he cared so much about his baby brother.

My ears perked up at the word 'cure'. My mind began racing with questions, endless questions.
"What is it?" I began, "Does it work?" I felt like jumping off the couch to see exactly what it was. I cocked my head to the side, truly curious of what the cure was.

Stefan's sudden animation startled Damon, but he was glad to see that his little brother was conscious and well enough to speak.

"It's going to be hard to get, but there's this plant, Bushy Lippia, which can be enchanted to cure what you have." Damon explained, hoping that it wouldn't get Stefan's hopes down. "It's the only thing I found about your condition, so I'm hoping it'll work."

As Damon scrolled down the screen, though, he saw that that wasn't all what was needed for the cure to work, but he said nothing. It sounded complicated enough without him saying anything else.

There was something in my brother's eyes that made me feel hopeful, yet uneasy. I couldn't quite put my finger on it exactly, but even if I did, he wouldn't want me to bother him while he worked on finding the exact remedies for the cure.
Suddenly, my upper body felt as if it were on fire, the wound became a fiery heat that I couldn't fight, no matter how hard I tried. "AH!" My body writhed in pain, soon going into a coughing fit. I brought my hand up to cover my mouth, and kept coughing. Something didn't feel right, so I glanced down to my hand. "Holy shit." I whispered, still looking down at my blood-stained hand. I looked to Damon, total fear taking over my eyes as I went into another coughing fit, blood pouring down my chin and pooling at my shirt. Everything burned, every cell in my body writhed in pain.
The blood loss was severe and catastrophic .

Damon backed away just slightly as his brother started to scream and cough, not knowing what to do. But when he saw blood dripping down Stefan's chin, he knew he had to do something. He had to get the cure, if not because he cared about Stefan, then because he owed it to him. Stefan had given himself to Klaus when Damon needed help, and he would do the same if he had to.

Of course, Damon cared about Stefan, and he could actually feel it as he stared at his baby brother, who was probably on his deathbed. But it hurt to feel, and so even when it was undeniable that he cared about Stefan he still tried not to.

Carefully, he attempted to wipe away the blood that was dripping down Stefan's chin.

"What am I going to do?" Damon murmured as he realized that Stefan couldn't be left alone, but he had to look for the cure. "It's getting worse fast, isn't it?" He asked.

I bit my lip between every cough. I glanced up to Damon's eyes as he wiped away the blood.
My lower lip quivered, "Y-es." I choked out, going into another coughing fit. I felt utterly human as the pain became more and more unbearable. For once in my vampire life, I actually felt true pain. Heart-jabbing, blood-curdling pain.
My face twisted with each wave of utter pain, fingernails digging into the leather below.
Damon, it's my time. Just let me go. I telepathically sent to Damon, the pain too much to speak aloud. The pain's too much. I bit my lip once more, staring directly at a spot on the wall, trying my hardest to concentrate on alleviating the throbbing pain. My whole body felt as if it were pain-painstakingly mummifying.

OOC: Sorry it took me forever. Super busy.

Damon heard his brother's request, but he knew it was one he couldn't comply with. Letting Stefan go was never an option, not even when he truly hated him, right after he completed transition. Even then, when he wanted nothing more than to kill his brother in rage, he couldn't let him go. He was always after him, always keeping close. So many times he could have killed him, but he never did it. He even saved his life more than once. He had no idea why, but he could never manage to stay away, to kill him, to let any harm come to him. Never.

And a life without Stefan seemed just... Empty? Damon wasn't sure what it felt like, but remembered feeling that once, maybe twice. He knew he just couldn't stand it if Stefan died. That was something he had never expected. He thought he'd be happy, or at least indifferent, but that was far from the truth. Very, very far.

"N...No, I can't do that." Damon replied, wishing he could just come up with a solution, a quick way to get what Stefan needed to be cured.

OOC: No problem.

OOC: Okay, there is no excuse possible to make up for the many, many days that I haven't replied. My apologies for the long wait.

Slowly, the light began to fade away as my eyes shut tight once more. All thoughts that were once rushing through my head began to slowly die away, ceasing to exist. Damon's face became barely visible, one giant blur. "I'm sorry.." The hoarse whisper was the last words muttered from my paling lips.
The cold hand that was once placed on the side of the couch grew limp, my fingertips grazing the floor as it swung back and forth.
For once, I felt at peace as a new light began to shine down on my inner self. The light grew brighter.

"No, no, no, you can't! Stefan, stay awake!" Damon exclaimed, worriedly looking at Stefan while gently shaking him. His brother couldn't just leave him, he couldn't just pass out or worse, die. "Stay with me Stefan!" He continued to say as he got up from the floor where he was kneeling to get a better look at his brother.

"I'll get the cure Stefan, just please stay awake!" His voice lowered to a mere whisper as he finally let the reality that his little brother might not come back dawn on him. "Just don't... leave me." Damon couldn't remember ever getting so emotional, but the idea of a life without Stefan just got to him in a way he used to think only Elena could.

The light grew impossibly brighter, even so,it grew a dark shade of red. Thundering booms were echoing throughout this mysterious universe before me. The shade of red surrounding me grew darker, just as my eyes had once changed during my Ripper years.
A sudden voice thundered, "Stefan Salvatore, do you know why you are here?"
My entire body shook at the intensity of the volume of the voice. "N-no." I stuttered out.
The voice grew louder, "You have killed hundreds of innocents."
My eyes grew wide, "Where am I?"
"Hell! You are in hell!" The voice boomed.
I immediately fell to my knees, letting the words soak in. My bottom lip began to quiver, "Please, I just want to go home. From the pits of my heart, I am so sorry. I had no control over my actions back then."
The room began to brighten, a softer voice echoed around me, "You must always keep these words in your heart; Never kill, for this is the result of the downfall to hell." I nodded feverishly.
"I promise on every bit of my heart that I will forever keep those words tightly wrapped around my conscience."
A weak, barely-audible groan escaped my lips, "I'm so sorry." I hoarsely whispered, "So sorry." I kept my eyes shut in fear of waking up to the same red world.

As Stefan whispered that he was sorry, Damon felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off him. Stefan was alive, his little brother was alive. But he knew that he had to act fast he wanted to keep him that way. But how? He couldn't leave Stefan alone. He didn't, however, have a choice. He needed the herb fast, and it was impossible to compel through the phone. He'd have to leave.

"Stefan, can you hear me?" He asked, his voice as gentle as he could remember it ever being. "I'm going to have to go out for a while, but I'll come back soon, okay?"

If anything happened to Stefan while he was gone, he'd never forgive himself, but he had to go. He knew that if his brother died because he hadn't done anything to help, he would never forgive himself either.

In the depths of his mind, Damon could almost hear a little voice half-mocking him. "In the end, you're as human as he is." It kept saying.

The sudden softness to his tone resulted in my eyes to crack open, "I'll be fine." My lips twitched upward to give a reassuring, small smile. Even though I knew that the odds were not in my favor, I couldn't have Damon stay here just to watch me pass on. That would be torture, it would result in him flipping the switch.
"I'll be fine." I said once more.

Fine. The last thing Stefan was going to be was fine, especially if Damon just stood there, looking at his brother, and he knew that. But he couldn't help but think that that could be the last time he ever did that, spoke to him and looked into his eyes while there was still a small spark of life in them.

All of a sudden, the image of Stefan dead invaded his mind. His forest green eyes cold and lifeless, his veins sticking out of his pale skin, a look of pain still showing in his face. Damon knew that he would never be himself again if Stefan died. Deep down, he had always known that.

As he cleared that image from his mind, he bent down and caressed his brother's cheek, not caring about keeping his composure for once. He just couldn't lose his brother. "Don't die." He whispered.

Taking one last glance at his brother, Damon ran out of the Boarding House, his destination clear in his mind. The herb store where he had found a big stock of Bushy Lippia. It was just outside Mystic Falls, and if he was fast he was sure he could be back at his brother's side within 20 minutes.

When I knew that he was far gone, I let everything go. The soft groans from before quickly turned into bellowing screams. The small jolts of pain had flipped into something far more painful, far more unbearable.
"Ugh!" I screamed, softly rolling around. With one more flash of utter pain, my entire body flipped off of the couch, crashing to the ground. As soon as my side hit the floor, the screams rolled off of my tongue, reverberating off every wall and corner in the house.
"I can't," I whispered, drawing my knees carefully up to my stomach, "I can't."
And with that, my eyes went wide, feeling the cold rush through. The hands that were gripping my knees fell to my side where the large amounts of blood were staining the wood.
The crimson blood that was once running through my arteries was now in growing, large puddles on the wood floor.
If someone were to walk in at that moment, it would appear that I was dead, for my eyes were unblinking and dull, my skin utterly paler than normal.

The woman who ran the herbs store had been very stubborn, and things hadn't ended nicely for her. Damon had no time to deal with her, he just needed the herb. He'd go back and clean up after himself later. Anyway, everyone would assume she had been mauled by an animal. People don't usually leave fang marks in their victims.

15 minutes. Nothing bad could have happened in 15 minutes, or so Damon hoped. He couldn't be too late, he just couldn't. But as he reached the door and scanned the house for any noises, he couldn't hear groans anymore, or the screams that were bound to come out of his mouth sooner or later. A part of him, a foolish part, hoped that maybe his brother had gotten better and was quietly recovering. But his rational side was sure that he was dead. Stefan was dead.

Running into the house faster than he thought was possible, Damon made his way to the couch where he had left his brother. The smell of blood invaded his nose, but that didn't mean anything. There had been plenty of blood even before he left. He anxiously glanced at the couch to find that Stefan wasn't there anymore. Maybe he really had recovered. But as he lowered his gaze, he found his brother laying on the ground, his body completely white, drained of any color it had ever had, and his eyes didn't even twitch.

He was dead. Stefan, his little brother, was dead.

I was paralyzed, every part of me was immobile. My eyes, my fingers, my legs, my toes, my hands, everything. I was trapped within myself. The only thing I could do was listen.
Listening very carefully, I could hear the thud of boots against the wood. But as soon as it came, the sound halted. Worry began to brim every bit of my mind.
'Help me.' I wanted to scream so badly.

"Stefan!" Damon wanted to scream, but his voice came out a mere whisper.

He kneeled down beside Stefan and scooped him into his arms, holding him tightly against his chest. "I should have stayed here." Damon whispered, tears starting to roll down from his eyes. "You shouldn't have had to go through this alone."

It was impossible for Damon to believe that after over a century of living that they shouldn't have gotten, after all what they had been through together, his little brother was dead. There wasn't even a spark of life left within him. Stefan, the brother who Damon who believed he hated for so long, was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.

However, as that thought popped into his mind, he realized that all hope wasn't lost. He still had the herb. He quickly fumbled through his pockets, one hand still keeping Stefan held against his chest, until he found the small package which contained the herb.

"Please work, please work, please work!" He whispered as he opened the little paper bag, his hands shaking in both fear and anxiety, and put them on the wound.

It burned at first, but the herb was slowly creeping its way through my system. Everything was still immobile, but I could still feel the stinging pain that the herb was creating within the wound.
The wound was utterly black and purple with a small shade of blue. It looked completely unnatural, as if it were a werewolf bite. I wanted to show some form of life, but no matter how hard I tried to move, my body just wouldn't budge.

Nothing. No reaction at all. Damon wanted to find the person who had killed his brother and slowly kill them, being that Klaus or not. There were so many things he had never said to him, so many things for which he wanted to apologize. He'd thought that they had all eternity, but Stefan's life had just been cut short.

Maybe it was his fault. He shouldn't have taken so long to leave, and he shouldn't have even bothered killing that woman who wouldn't let him buy the herbs. Either way, Stefan was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Tears burned his eyes as he looked down at his brother's ghostly body and the pain of guilt and loss started to strike him. Stefan would never know how much Damon truly cared about him, and he would never know that he didn't think it was his fault that he became a vampire. Too many thoughts flooded his mind, so many that he couldn't even set them apart.

But then he remembered something. He should bury Stefan. He would have wanted that. As he reached for his cellphone to call Elena, he realized that he didn't want her to be there. No, it should be a private movement between him and his brother, no outside interference. After all, that was what had brought them apart.

He got up and picked Stefan's body up, the tears temporarily stopping. He had a goal, something on which to concentrate, keeping his mind from wandering to places it shouldn't wander.

"I wonder what kind of flowers you would have wanted on your burial..."

As Damon walked towards the backyard, everything went into panic mode. Desperately I tried to use telepathy to warn him that I was still alive. The sound of the shovel digging into the hard dirt made me internally cringe with each thrust into the ground.
'Please, Damon. Stop. Look into my eyes.' I thought, desperately wishing he could hear me. Look into my eyes, it was all I wanted him to do. If he looked, he would see the minuscule bit of hope and life in my eyes. Hope, it was the only emotional that was pushing its way through.

Digging Stefan's grave was even harder than Damon had thought it would be. Each time his shovel hit the ground, he felt as though Stefan was further away. He wanted to check if his brother was still alive, but he was afraid that it would give him false hope.

Hope. That word sounded so far away, so lonely. He'd lost all hope he had ever had, all hope of ever becoming more human, of ever being happy. How could he be happy when his brother was dead. He'd never thought that he was such a big part of his life, but once he was gone, Damon found it hard to think of a life without him.

Once he had dug deep enough, he picked up his brother from the group and gently laid him inside the hole, not looking into his eyes. He would't be able to bear it if he got even a small spark of hope.

"Goodbye, brother." He said, tears coming to his eyes once again. "I'll miss you." He whispered.

And with that, he started to close the hole.