Crumbling Hearts and Shattered Minds

Chapter 7: Turning The Tables

Authors note; I like this chapter. It's kinda cheesy though :/ oh well. I like this kind of cheesy. But don't worry, its only cheesy towards the end.

Warnings: guilt, brotherly moments, cheesy moments, awkward friends, angst, chick-flick moments, fluff, and babying.

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Stefan POV

Dad.

It was dad.

Giuseppe Salvatore was haunting my brother.

For some reason, that thought couldn't sink into my mind.

Why was he haunting Damon? I'm the one that killed him.

Maybe Damon wasn't being haunted.

Maybe he was actually losing his mind.

No.

He's not.

He can't.

Fuck. Who am I kidding?

After all the shit I blame Damon for, it's no wonder all the blame and guilt trips didn't ware at his mind sooner.

I'm an ass of a brother.

But that won't stop me from helping him.

With that, I pulled myself from my thoughts.

I looked around. It seemed like its been silent in this room for ages. Everyone except Damon was standing behind me. They watched my brother and I intently, as if one of us was going to blow up.

They may not be wrong.

I chose to ignore them and focused my gaze on my brother. Damon was sitting up right, legs crossed, and looking at me like I was going to get mad and leave him for his own mind to eat away at.

He's dead wrong about that.

"Don't worry, Damon. I'll help you. No matter what the cost." I reassured him and put my hand in his knee.

To my surprise; he flinched.

I felt hurt at that, but shook it off and masked my face.

That's when I remembered Damon looking uncomfortable each time we spoke to each other.

That's when I knew what must've happened.

"Sorry... Damon, were the nightmares you've been having about... Me?" I asked, hoping the answer was 'no'.

Damon's eyes shot down and he stared at the floor for a few moments, then nodded.

I felt as though I was punched.

Actually, More like thrown into daylight without my ring.

My brother, who had raised and cared for me, was now scared of me.

And for good reason.

The hell I've put him through, the guilt I laid on him constantly.

It had been Damon who promised me an eternity of misery.

Instead, the tables had been turned.

Damon's head whipped up, as if he had heard something.

He was now staring at the wall.

Except, I doubted he was only seeing a wall.

Immense pain and guilt flooded the features on Damon's face. He looked angry at himself and shut his eyes tightly.

"Damon. Damon, look at me." Damon opened his eyes and looked at me for a second before glancing at the wall again.

"Look at me, Damon. He's not real. Everything that you've been keeping inside has been wearing at your mind. It eventually manifested itself to the point were its able to haunt you. You just need to keep fighting. Okay? If you can keep fighting for a while longer, than I can find a way to fix this. You just need to know what is real. The pain brought you back because it different than dad. Isn't it? That's why it worked. I'm real see," I grabbed his chin and made him look at me.

"I'm real. And Giuseppe isn't. You just have to remember that. He can't hurt you. Not anymore." The look that Damon wore told me that he was starting to believe me.

Then the look disappeared completely.

"What if I can't fight it? How am I suppose to know what is real? Because Giuseppe is saying that I stayed dead in 1864 and am being tortured in hell. And you say I'm actually here. I don't know what to believe, Stef. I have no idea what is real." Damon said, discouraged.

The fact that Giuseppe might actually be convincing Damon that he was in hell, scared the shit out of me.

"Please. Just believe in me. I'll find a way to help you and we both can be free of Giuseppe for the rest of our vampire lives. And I can go back to being dependent on you, and you can go back to being the hero. Okay?" I asked, hopefully. He smiled, with a gleam of new hope in his eyes, and nodded. I sighed in relief.

"Do you want anything to eat?" I asked Damon while standing up from my sitting position on the coffee table.

Damon gave me a curious look.

"You're actually offering to cook for me?" Damon asked in an astounded tone.

"Well... I just thought... Do you want anything or not?" I stumbled over my words.

Damon broke into a fit of laughter, to the point where he had tears running down his cheeks and he was clutching his stomach.

"Damon. What do you want to eat?!" I asked when he was done and wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"Ummm. Do you remember the soup I used to make you when you were little and had a fever? Because that sounds amazing right now." Damon said when he was able to talk again.

I nodded.

"Its kinda hard to forget the soup I grew up on."

Damon grinned at me.

For once, it didn't look like his past was hanging over him.

He just looked like my brother again.

I started walking towards the kitchen when I heard Damon get asked million questions.

"Do you want water? Or blood?" Elena asked

"I can get you some bourbon!" Alaric offered

"do you want a blanket?" Caroline.

"how about a book?" Jeremy.

"Want to watch TV?" Tyler.

Curiosity overwhelmed me and I had to look back. What I saw was everyone surrounding Damon; puffing up pillows and fussing over him.

And Damon in the middle looking overwhelmed, confused, resistant, weirded out, suspicious, and even a little scared.

I turned and laughed my way to the kitchen, thinking about how Damon better get used to being babied. Cos, it might be like that for a while.

I just hoped that this would show Damon that people actually cared for him. And that he's not alone in this.

I started on the soup and leaned on the counter and prayed, to whatever higher being that might listen, that I would have my old brother back soon.

And I made a silent promise, that when I do get him back, I would try and get my best friend back too.