Vampies in Love

10. A Dreaded Conversation

    The man at the desk looked at the two strangers in front of him with confusion. "Just the one bed?"

    Elijah responded. "Yes, that's all we request."

    Damon could tell that he was getting irritated, but he was doing his best to keep a calm composure. Losing one's temper in public was heavily frowned upon, apparently, and Damon understood why he wouldn't want to draw attention to himself. Two grown men sharing a hotel room with a single bed would surely cause them problems if the wrong person overheard.

    "Are you sure, because we have plenty of rooms. I could book you two seperate rooms, or even a room with two beds."

    "One room, one bed. That's what he asked for, so that's what we would like," Damon chimed in. His patience tended to be significantly thinner than Elijah's. Damon looked the man behind the desk in his eyes. "So, write our names down in that little book of yours, and if anyone asks, just tell them that we're in the middle of a very important drug deal."

    Damon leaned back, smirking as the man did exactly as he asked.

    "You compelled him?" Elijah leaned over to whisper in Damon's ear.

    Damon shrugged. "I think his brain was going to explode before he could comprehend why we would be sharing a bed." Elijah breathed a laugh. "God, I am hating this decade so far. So suffocating."

    Elijah leaned in more and planted a kiss on the side of Damon's neck, right where he likes to bite him. He shivered at the touch.

    "It will get better," Elijah said into Damon's hair. "It always does."

~~~~~~~~

    Stefan immediately stood up from where he was brooding in front of the blazing fire place. If he had been worried, he didn't let it show. For some reason, Damon was the only person that Stefan seemed to hide his emotions from.

    Damon forced himself to walk towards his waiting brother, but granted himself a few feet between them for his own comfort. If this went south, Damon wanted any chance of escape he could get.

    "So," Damon said.

    The space between them was well beyond awkward, the tension palpable. Stefan seemed expectant, and Damon hoped that his patience would extend to him more than usual given what both of them had just gone through.

    "So," Stefan said. "is there something you wanted to tell me?" His voice sounded defeated.

    "What?"

    Stefan gestured in Damon's general area, as though that were explanation enough. For some reason, it was pissing Damon off the way his brother was acting right now. Would it hurt Stefan to at least pretend to not expect the worst of him, to not be waiting for him to screw up?

    "Yeah," Damon said, fueling his words with as much anger as he could muster. "I have something to tell you."

    Stefan raised his eyebrows and said "Okay,"

    "You're a terrible brother," Damon said. It's not what he had planned to say, but he was going with what felt right. Stefan had told him over and over what he thought of Damon, so now he was going to return the favor.

    This clearly took Stefan by surprise. "What?" is all he could get out before Damon continued.

    "Throughout all the years we've spent as vampires, do you know how many times you have reached out to me? Every time that we've tried being in each other's lives, it's because I was the one to convince you to do it." Damon stalked closer to his brother. His heart was pounding, and this time, it was not because he was nervous. If anything, he felt more confident in what he was saying than he could ever remember when talking to Stefan. "And even when you do give in to it, you make it perfectly clear that I'm a hindrance to you, that your life was better before I showed up." Damon paused. "That you didn't want me there.

    "And before you get all defensive, I know that I'm a handful. I know that I tend to mess up whatever peaceful life you've established for yourself. But you don't even try to be in my life." At this point, Stefan had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was looking down at the floor. It could've been because he was ashamed or because he was giving Damon a chance to speak his mind, but Damon didn't care either way. "I'm your brother! Your family. We're the only family we have left, and instead of having an actual relationship with me, you've managed to drive me away so many times that I can't even tell you when I get a boyfriend!"

   Stefan's head snapped up. "Boyfriend?"

    But Damon wasn't slowing down. "Yes! Elijah, the original vampire that Elena let in to save me, the one you obviously don't trust, is my boyfriend. But you would have known about that for years if you weren't so idiotic." Damon's hands were at his side, his fists clenched. "And here I was too scared to tell you when it doesn't even matter, because you're just going to end up pushing me out of your life like you always do!"

    Damon's chest heaved. Stefan was as still as a statue, clearly shocked. For a beat, the two brothers stood in front of each other, silent and unmoving.

   Damon couldn't hear anything over the beat of his own heart. He couldn't believe everything he had just said. He couldn't even remember thinking them, instead just letting his feelings flow out of him in whatever order they pleased. It took him a second to fully realize what he had just told his brother. Not only did Stefan now know about his relationship with Elijah, but he also knows everything involving him that Damon had repressed until just now.

   He almost panicked, but there was nothing for Damon to do at this point. It was impossible to take anything back. Damon had played his hand. Now it was Stefan's turn.

    Stefan spoke. "That's it?"

    Damon scoffed. "What do you mean 'that's it'?"

    Stefan shrugged, surprised, yet relieved. "I thought you were about to tell me something much worse than that." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Your telling me that your big secret is that you hate me and you have a boyfriend?"

    "Is that not-?"

    "Damon, I already know that you hate me, and honestly, I'd be happier if you had a vampire boyfriend that you actually liked than if you had a human girlfriend that you only kept around for her blood."

    "I thought you didn't trust Elijah." Damon was suspicious of Stefan's easy acceptance of everything he had told him, so sue him for being just a little cautious.

    His brother sighed. "I guess I don't, at least, not fully. You can't blame me for not immediately trusting him just because you do. I don't know anything about him. He hasn't told anyone about his motivations, his loyalties, nothing." Stefan seemed tired, explaining as if Damon were his kid brother, rather than his elder. "I don't care what relationship you have with him, just be careful that you're not getting played."

    With that, Stefan turned to go to his room and end the conversation.

    When he was about halfway up the staircase, Damon called out. "We met in the fifties." Stefan stopped midstep. Damon continued, his eyes cast down on the floor. "We worked together for about a year before I kissed him." He looked up, directly at Stefan's head. "We were in love for over a decade when Elijah had to leave."

    Stefan turned his head to partly face Damon. "Why'd he leave?" he asked.

    "To protect me."

    Stefan let out a huff.

    "Don't tell me that I'm getting played when you know absolutely nothing about my life."

   Looking forward again, Stefan started to speak. "I'm sorry," he whispered, but before the words finished coming out of his mouth, Damon was gone.