a/n: I apologize that this took so long. School has me swamped.

Stefan/Elena stuff in this part.

Growing up, Damon did his best to shield Stefan from their father's physical abuse. He kept their father from learning of anything that might be constructed as disobedient and nipped any bad behavior on Stefan's part in the bud.

There was a period of time that Stefan resented Damon for punishing Stefan for the things Damon did freely and without remorse. Stefan was to study daily, always attend church, never be around a girl unsupervised, always be respectful to his elders, to do what he was told when he was told, and countless other things, large and small, that was demanded from their father. If he stepped a toe out of line, he could expect a painful session bent over Damon's lap or a sturdy piece of furniture.

Bringing up Damon's hypocrisy would only amount to an extension of his punishment. Sulking quietly as he tried to rub the soreness away was a strategy he quickly learned to take up instead.

However, as much as Stefan may have disliked Damon's actions, he never resisted when Damon decided Stefan was in need of a spanking. He had copious amounts of blackmail he could have used to at least reduce the sentence. He never did.

Stefan had trusted Damon.

These days, Stefan did not.

"Is something wrong?" Elena asked.

Stefan looked up from the lunch he was not eating. "I'm fine," he lied. Elena rose her eyebrows at that so he sighed and said, "Damon."

Elena met his eyes with hers. She looked concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Stefan said. He poked at his green beans. He couldn't help but remember his father demanding he always clean his plate. He pushed away his plate and then gave Elena a smile. "We'll talk later. I just need to adjust to things first."

Elena pressed a quick kiss on his lips. "At least tell me if there's anything I can do to help?"

"Well," Stefan said, leaning down, "that's certainly not hurting me."

Elena's eyes were sparkling as she set a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down for an open mouthed kiss.

Unfortunately, A loud cough and a pointed look from the vice principal stopped them before it could get truly interesting.

Damon looked up from the book he was reading when Stefan walked through the front door. "Where's your sleepover buddy?"

"Grounded for the weekend," Stefan said as he walked past the living room and down the hall to the stairway.

"The downsides of dating a teenager," Damon said, sing-song, as he followed Stefan. "How did your oh-so-precious and moral Elena get into trouble?"

Stefan sighed and turned around. "You aren't going to let this go, are you?"

"I'm just taking a healthy interest in the life of my little brother," Damon said, closing the distance between the two of them. He set a hand on Stefan's shoulder, making his muscles tense up. "My only motive is keeping you safe."

Stefan rolled his shoulder into Damon's hand. "PDA."

"With you?" Damon asked. Stefan glared at him, which just made him laugh. Then Damon leaned forward into Stefan's personal space. "Do we need to have a little talk about the birds and the bees, Stef?"

Blushing, Stefan jerked away from Damon and said, "No."

"I need to know if you're using protection," Damon said. Stefan's response was to walk up the stairs. He got halfway up them before Damon spoke again. "What happened when you two got caught doing the deed?"

"We were just kissing!" Stefan snapped without thinking.

"Answer the question," Damon said, quietly.

"We got off with a warning," Stefan said, palms sweating a little at the tone his older brother was using. "Are you done harassing me now?"

"Dunno," Damon said and moved with a blur. Then he was in front of Stefan, a few stairs above him. It made him seem taller and Stefan feel smaller. "Don't you think it's a little unfair that Elena's getting punished but you got off Scott-free."

"It's not fair at all," Stefan said. He'd offered to talk to Jenna, to explain that Elena was just trying to comfort him because Damon was being more of a bastard than usual. He was sure that Jenna would have ended up laughing it off. But Elena has insisted she's handle it on her own. And then reminded him she was there to listen to him when he was ready to talk. "Did you want to ground me too?"

"Making you spend you spend the entire weekend alone without anyone to bother you," Damon said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "I don't think making you do what you already planned to do would be much of a punishment." He finished walking up the stairs. "Put your bag in your room and meet me in mine."

Stefan supposed that meant he had another spanking coming. Third time this week. It was a little unnerving, find himself punished more frequently than when he was an actual teenager.

While Damon was happy to go into Stefan's room whenever he felt like it, irregardless of how Stefan felt about it, Stefan did not usually venture into Damon's room and he almost never did without permission or an invitation. That had been true when they were children. Damon had always been protective and nosy and Stefan enjoyed being with his older brother and rarely had anything to hide so Stefan never really minded that Damon didn't have much respect for his privacy. But Stefan had never felt he had the right to do the same. Damon had been nearly eight years his elder and spent a great deal of time and energy caring for Stefan. He deserved deference and Stefan was happy to give it to him.

These days, Stefan's motive for respecting Damon's space had less to do with deference and more to do with fear of what his brother might do to him or not wanting to start a fight with him when they were actually getting along. But when Stefan stood in front of the door to Damon's room and lifted his hand to knock, it wasn't fear he was feeling.

It was something deeper. Something less reactive. When Damon opened the door and Stefan got a good look at his face he realized what it was: fidelity. He wanted to please Damon, make him proud. A large part of Stefan was more than willing to submit to Damon's discipline, to pay for his mistakes, to make things right with his older and stronger brother.

Every single bit of self-preservation instincts were telling him to make sure that Damon never found out. His kind older brother was gone and all that was left was a monster. Stefan bore invisible scars that proved that.

Damon led Stefan across the room and to his bed. Stefan set his hands behind his back and bowed his head. Let Damon guide him over his lap without resistance. Then Damon started spanking him.

It wasn't too hard. Stefan's jeans absorbed much of the impact. But it still only took six swats for Stefan to start hissing softly. Damon's hand was strong and steady, restoring justice with Stefan's pain. Damon had always been good at spanking his brother - the pace and force always fit the crime, always brought Stefan to tears. And now he had over a hundred years to practice doling out violence.

After a dozen smacks on each cheek, Damon set his hand gently on the small of Stefan's back. "Do you promise to behave at school from now on?"

Stefan wanted to ask what the hell Damon knew about being behaving but he was draped over his brother's lap with his wrists bound to his back, memory of Damon striking him still very fresh in his mind. Damon expected him to be polite and submissive during a spanking and was more than willing to enforce it.

So Stefan squeezed his eyes shut and said, "Yes."

Damon patted his hip and allowed him up. "Do your homework," he said as he straightened Stefan's button down shirt absentmindedly. "Try and put some effort for history. Ric could use the pick-me-up of having at least one decent student."

"Caroline's in the same class," Stefan pointed out, "she's got the best grades in our year."

Damon didn't look impressed. "Consider her competition." He swatted Stefan and pointed at the door. "I don't want to hear his drunken ramblings about wikipedia come grading time. It's really boring."

Stefan found himself smiling a little. "I'll see what I can do."