Oh my gosh, i have to stop thinking up new stories! AGH the plot bunny won't leave me alone!

Elena Gilbert sits in the mystic grill with her friends, Bonnie and Caroline. She's pretty much lost in thought -about her parents, dead for 5 years now, and her brother, off at college- when an excited "Ooooh!" from Caroline makes her turn to the blonde with a frown. Wordlessly, Caroline points at the door, and a -admittedly very attractive- man who just walked in. Elena quickly takes in the man, his average height frame, pale skin, black hair... the worry lines decorating his face. Now I can sympathize with that... Appearing to sigh, the man walks over to the bar. The three friends' eyes follow him hungrily. He speaks with the bartender for a moment, and then approaches their table.

"I couldn't help but notice the three of you staring, and I was wondering what was so interesting." His voice is amused. The three young ladies blush. He smiles slightly. "Do you mind if I sit here a while? I'll be here for less than twenty minutes, I assure you."

Caroline tilts her head. "Why leave so soon?" She asks. "I don't mean to pry, but you seem to be new in town, and there's no better place to get aquainted with the new neighbors. Oh! And I'm Caroline, by the way." She says all of this in one breath.

The smile wavers. "Nice to meet you, Caroline. I'm Damon. And your friends would be...?" He raises his eyebrows at Elena and Bonnie.

"Elena." The girl in question says with a little smile.

Bonnie rolls her eyes. "Bonnie." She introduces herself grudgingly.

"Nice to meet you all. And I realize that I should probably meet the neighbors, but I left my younger brother at home, and I really don't like to leave him alone too long." The worry lines deepen for a moment. And then he smirks. "But of course you're all welcome to come over if you'd like. We're living up at the Salvatore Boarding house." And then he checks his watch. "Oh hell! I'll see you later, girls." And then he stands quickly and rushes out.

Damon walks slowly back into the house. "Stef, I'm home!" He calls softly. He immediately makes his way to the living room, where -as expected- his brother is sleeping on the couch. He allows himself a small smile before facing reality as usual. Yep, somebody you love being sick like this could wipe the smile off anybody's face. He thinks sadly. And then he shakes his head -At least it's not cancer or anything- and steps closer to Stefan, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon Stef, get up." He murmurs softly.

His brother's green eyes snap open, as usual, and he starts to protest that he was not sleeping, before a cough interrupts him and he grimaces. And then he shakes his head, recovering from the spasm quickly. "I was not sleeping." He repeats, voice hoarse but stronger than it had been only a moment ago. "I was just... resting my eyes for a while."

"Riiiiiiiiight." Damon teases. "That's why you were snoring." The amusement quickly leaves his face. "How're you feelin'?" He asks gently.

Stefan shrugs tiredly. "As good as ever, I guess." He croaks, the wheeze in his breathing becoming more pronounced as he's reminded of the situation. Damon shakes his head sternly, and Stefan nods slightly. "Sorry. Relaxing, got it." He attempts to sound amused as he responds to Damon's usual command.

Damon nods back. "Good. You need to at least try to take care of yourself." He says quietly. And then he sighs. "So. You up to going to your room, or do you just wanna sleep on the couch tonight?" He hoped it was the former, because if Stefan slept on the couch, Damon would make himself take the one opposite, and it wasn't exactly comfortable.

"I'll go to my room." Stefan responds hoarsely. He gets up slowly, Damon hovering anxiously. And with good reason, as Stefan staggers as soon as he gets to his feet.

Damon sighs. "You sure you can make it, Stef? I don't want you to feel sicker tonight because you're being stubborn." He says the last part warningly. If you do that to yourself again you are going to be in so much trouble. Even as he thinks this, he knows he really wouldn't do anything.

Stefan nods wearily. "I'll be fine." He says firmly.

Damon hesitates, and then nods. He helps his little brother up the stairs slowly, occassionally murmuring "It's okay Stef." or "Just a bit farther." until they get to the top.

"Damon, I need to stop for a second." Stefan whispers. The older brother glances at him worriedly, and then nods. They sit on the top step, Stefan's breathing shallow. A few minutes pass, and then Stefan mumbles, "I think I can get up now..." and Damon helps him to his feet. They manage to get to Stefan's room, where Damon gently deposites him on the bed. "Thanks, big brother." He mumbles.

He's asleep within seconds.

Damon didn't know anything was wrong when he woke up that morning.

It was a pretty normal day, and continued to be so when he got up and walked out into the kitchen, where Stefan sat reading. "Ugh, how are you always up so early?" He wonders, scowling at his younger brother.

Stefan chuckles. "Because I don't stay out all night?" He offers, smile drawing attention away from the dark circles under his eyes... which Damon would later kick himself for missing.

"I have to get you drunk one of these days." Oh how he would wish he'd been paying attention rather than plotting.

Stefan rolled his eyes and gave his brother an innocent look. "I'm not of age yet." Yeah, Damon knew that of course, he had had to spend his brother's twenty-first birthday making sure he was in as little pain as possible. But he didn't know at the time...

"Oh who cares." He says, laughing. It was the last time he would sincerely laugh for a long time.

Stefan merely rolled his eyes. "Just go to work, bother somebody there." He teases.

And Damon just left.

Three hours later, he would get the call. "Mr. Salvatore, your brother is in the hospital."

And twenty minutes after that, he would be sitting by his brother's bedside, trying to get someone to explain what was going on. "Well... near as we can tell, it's a bad case of aplastic anemia... coupled with a bout of bronchitis." A bout. Ha. A bout that went on non-stop for months?

He blamed himself for a while. "Stef, if I hadn't been so worried about having a good time, I would've noticed. Maybe you wouldn't be so sick if I had noticed..."

And his brother's attempts at reassurance didn't help. "Damon it isn-" and then a coughing spasm interrupting his sentence. All of these attempts ended with Damon scolding his brother not to talk so much and hugging him until his breathing returned to normal.

When it became clear, several months later, that the crowded city was only making Stefan sicker, Damon suggested a move out into the countryside. "Remember? Dad always talked about that town he grew up in? And we still own the house? It might help, Stef..." But of course Stefan just shrugged and closed his eyes, looking exhausted as usual. As soon as Damon was in the other room and out of earshot of his brother, he whispered, "It has to help. If it doesn't, I don't know what I can do for him..."

Damon retreated from the memories, shaking his head. I really hope this move does him some good. And then he shakes his head again and quietly leaves the room so his brother can sleep.

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