Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the characters of The Vampire Diaries.

Warning: Contains spanking. Don't like, don't read.

Holding On to You

You promised an eternity of misery, brother.

And now you broke it.

You died.

And it was my fault.

Damon had promised Stefan that he would be there for him, forever. Even when they became their worst enemies, Damon was still there for Stefan. He promised him an eternity of misery. But now all was promises were broken because Damon wasn't here. And Stefan could do nothing about it than telling himself that Damon died for him. There was no hope to bring Damon and Bonnie back. And it was too much for Stefan.

He tried moving on and settling down with Ivy but yet he just couldn't let go of the guilt. Meanwhile, Elena had moved on in life. She had Alaric erase her memories. It's not that Stefan blamed Elena but he just didn't want to face any of his friends right now, not even Caroline. He stayed away from them as long as he could. But when they finally learnt that Stefan was doing nothing to find Damon, they all started blaming him. As if it was not something Stefan regularly did to himself.

Enzo killed Ivy and it brought Stefan a little more to the edge. He no longer had something to hold him to this world. Not that Ivy was a good reason but at least Ivy was there for him. He could handle the glares from the others. He could handle even Caroline telling him to get out, though it did hurt a bit but Alaric's words stung more than Stefan could even think. He'd listen to Alaric curse him for giving up on his brother and silently walked out of there.

He couldn't see where he was going. Or perhaps it was the tears that were blurring his vision. But suddenly he was standing in the Salvatore crypt, in front of the window waiting for the sun to rise with his ring off his finger.

"I know I'm a crappy brother… But you know I really miss you. None of them really understand what it is for me to lose you…" Stefan choked on a sob before drawing a hitched breath and continuing, "They expect me to keep looking for you when they only have already moved on in life. I cannot continue looking for you because if I fail, it will be too much for me… So I kept hoping, you know… That you'll come back soon… But it doesn't matter now… Because I'll soon join you there… Besides nobody cares about me here…" Stefan ended his little rant, raising his head to look for the sun rising to end his life when suddenly and arm grabbed him at his waist and pulled him back.

"Are you an idiot? Were you going to kill yourself, Stefan?" Alaric shouted.

"Why do you care suddenly?" Stefan shouted back.

"Stef" Alaric sighed. "Listen, I get it okay? I heard you before. I had a feeling I spoke a little too harsh to you, so I started looking for you." And a little more softly he said, "Guess it was the right thing to do?"

"Go away" Stefan said trying to get in front of the window again but this time he felt a harsh swat to his backside. "Owww… Ric" Stefan whimpered. "You can't do this" Stefan said.

"What would Damon have done if he had found you here trying to suicide?" Alaric asked. He already knew Damon would have flipped Stefan on his lap and make sitting down a mere memory for Stefan but yet he waited for the reaction from Stefan.

"He would have… But you can't…" Stefan trailed off.

Alaric didn't say anything as he sat down and pulled Stefan over his lap. A sharp swat to the jean claded backside in front of him had Stefan stop his struggles for a minute enough to let Alaric push Stefan's jeans and boxers down too. At first, Stefan tried to not show any emotion but Alaric knew exactly how to do this and soon Stefan was reduced to a mess of tears and hiccups.

"Please… Ric… It hurts… I get it okay… No more suicide… Please stop... I'm sorry" Stefan cried.

"You trying to suicide is only part of the reason why we are here, Stefan. You need to let go of the guilt that Damon died because of you." Alaric said as he applied more force to his swats and tipped Stefan a little forward.

Stefan tried his best to stay strong but with the force of the swats, he was soon crying out his guilt too. He didn't even realize when Alaric had finished the spanking. Alaric slowly turned Stefan on his lap and was surprised to find the boy throw his arms around his neck and bury his head in his shoulder but Alaric didn't hesitate to return the hug.

"I just want Damon to be back." Stefan cried.

"I know buddy. I know. Even I want him to be back." Alaric said as he slowly rubbed the boy's back.

After a while, Stefan's sobs turned quiet and Alaric found that the boy had fallen asleep on him. He pulled Stefan's clothes up and carried the boy to Damon's room upstairs. It was the first room he came across to and it seemed much better for Stefan to be there at this moment. Settling the boy in bed, he tucked him in and smiled sadly at the boy.

Returning down, he snatched a bourbon from the counter and sat down where he had just been with Stefan.

"He's broken Damon. You have to come back. For him at least… He needs you… And we haven't really done any good to him… This past week… You've got to come back Damon. Stefan needs you…" Alaric said looking in front in the blank space when suddenly a figure appeared in front of him.

Blinking again and again, he found a smile creeping on his face as he recognized the person in front of him.

"Damon" Alaric got up pulling Damon in a hug.

"Hey! Missed me?" Damon asked.

"You have no idea, Damon" Alaric chuckled.

"Tell me how much I missed in these days" Damon asked, chuckling too.

Alaric sighed. "Well, there's a lot. But I'm glad that you're back, buddy. We really missed you" Alaric said, silently hoping Damon would go easy on Stefan after he'd told Damon that part of the story but he knew Stefan was in for it.

Author's Note: It's my first attempt to fanfiction. So please review, constructive criticism will be appreciated.