TVD OneShots

A Brother's Heartache

I originally wrote this as a separate OneShot, but I figured it would be good here, too.
Characters: Damon & Stefan
Pairings: None
Warnings: None
Summary: What if Stefan had chosen to go to Damon, the night he dug up their father's grave, instead of staying with Elena?

"I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me." Elena pulled Stefan into a comforting hug, but but he quickly pulled away; saying, "No. I'm sorry, Elena. I have to go... I have to see him." As he headed for the door, he could feel Elena's sad gaze as she called after him. "Stefan... you don't owe him anything." She said. Stefan paused, shaking his head. Glancing back, he replied softly.
"He's my brother."

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With the book in his hands, Damon rose to face the fire as Stefan approached. As the younger brother walked the last 50 metres across the clearing, Damon inclined his head slightly towards him. "Stefan..." there was a short pause where Stefan failed to speak. "Little brother... what do you want?" Damon said quietly. Stefan sighed. Damon was behaving out of character. Stefan was used to the sarcasm and smirks, acknowledging that it was part of his brother's aesthetic. Growing up, the arrogance and quips were assuring- it meant everything was alright. It was when Damon was like this, quiet and somber, that alerted Stefan that something was seriously wrong. And so, over the years, Stefan had learnt to listen out for when the cockiness wasn't there

"Why are you still here?" Stefan asked. Damon huffed. "Thinking... remembering the good old days." Stefan came to stand beside him, replying "I understand. I do the same... something about this place brings it out in me, I guess." Damon returned Stefan's sigh with his own and shook his head. "It's every time I come back, though. Every time I'm here, I get reminded of things I never wanted to think of ever again, a past I'd rather forget."

Damon exhaled before drawing a deep, steadying breath. "I didn't know." he said about a minute later. Stefan hummed in confusion. "I didn't know she was compelling you... Katherine."
"What?" Stefan asked defensively as he glared into the fire. "If I had known that K-Katherine was compelling you, I would've done something. I would've stopped her somehow. She couldn't have that. I wasn't until fairly recently that I figured it out." Stefan huffed. They lapsed into quiet, the sound of the crackling fire filling the air. Stefan had always assumed that Damon had known, that Katherine had either told him or that Damon had figured it out in 1864...

"I didn't tell him." Stefan said to break the silence. "What?" Damon asked, sounding slightly frustrated. "Katherine. I never told our father about Katherine." Damon's head twisted towards his younger brother with a viciousness that Stefan wouldn't be surprised if Damon had managed to get whiplash. The older vampire turned to face Stefan fully, taking a few steps towards him. Eyes flashing in anger and confusion, he opened his mouth to demand an explanation. Stefan exhaled and told him, "Before Katherine was burned, I questioned father about the possibility of good vampires. Father obviously got suspicious, and slipped me some vervain. Then, while Katherine and I were... having a moment, she bit me and... well, you know the effect vervain has on vampires. That's when father discovered us and took her." Stefan moved to arms' length away from Damon. Damon appeared gobsmacked; seeming as if he was trying to process and come to terms with discovering the truth after 145 years of ignorance.

"You... you didn't tell him?" Damon breathed, feeling the way the sentence rolled on his tongue. Stefan sighed and shook his head slightly. "No... no I never did. I wouldn't. I'm so sorry, I- I shouldn't have brought it up, I was-" Damon interrupted him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded, his gaze piercing as he captured and held Stefan's eyes, which had just raised from the ground. "What difference would it have made? Katherine was still thrown in the tomb, I was still responsible, and-" but he was unable to continue as Damon cut him off once again. "For 145 years, I hated you. Stefan, I thought you'd betrayed me... that you'd gone ahead and lied to me! I believed you didn't give a damn about how I felt, or about Katherine... Stefan, it freaking hurt to think that you had screwed me over like that. It killed me inside to think that you had turned your back on me in favour of our father. You, the only one I ever fully trusted, the only one I ever depended on, the one I loved the most, and I thought you'd cast that aside like it meant nothing to you! Stefan... knowing the truth? It would've made all the difference in the world to me!" Stefan hung his head, guilt bubbling and churning within him. "I'm sorry, Damon. If I had known that knowing the truth would have such an impact on you-" Damon cut in, speaking over his brother with a voice that grew steadily more embarrassed with each word spoken. "You mean... all this time, you knew you had never told father, and you believed it wouldn't have affected my decisions, my life, if you had just admitted the truth..." Damon's voice broke, his next words barely above a whisper "... and trusted me?"