AN: I am so unbelievably disappointed in the way the last episode went. I was really hoping for some Stefan/Damon moments and for some Damon self respect! I hate that he went for Elena the moment she decided he was worth it. Ugh!

Anyway, this is super, unbelievably, disgustingly fluffy and very OOC! You have been warned. So if that's not your thing than stay away :P I'm well aware that it's fluff and OOC so I don't need to hear it in any comments – although I love hearing from you guys!

And to those of you who follow my stories and videos, I'm sorry that I basically dropped off the face of the earth. Been busy and lacking any form of inspiration but I think it may be back so bare with me ;) I'm working on some stuff now.

Onward to the FLUFFINESS !

I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS ASSOCIATED WITH IT! If I did, Elena would have actually died when she went off the bridge (okay, that was mean)

Damon leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest and his brow furrowed. Stefan either didn't notice him (unlikely), or was choosing to ignore him (much more likely). He watched the younger rifle through his drawers; throwing some things into a bag while discarding the others.

"What are you doing?"

Stefan didn't even flinch (choosing to ignore him then), or pause in his efforts. Damon kicked off the wall and moved to perch on the edge of Stefan's bed, his eyes trained on the other vampire.

"You who, Stefan..." He drawled. "What are you doing?"

Stefan glanced at Damon over his shoulder briefly and returned to his task.

"Packing,"

Damon's brow furrowed further and he leaned back on his hands. "Road trip, huh. Where are we going?" he asked, assuming this was some crazy plan to find the cure and save Elena.

Stefan stopped then and slowly turned to Damon. Damon smirked lazily and shrugged his shoulder. Stefan sighed.

"We are not going anywhere."

Xx

Damon cut Stefan off in the hall and the younger was forced to come to an abrupt stop, barely missing crashing into his older brother. Damon's eyes narrowed on Stefan.

"Nu huh, no way. You don't get to drop this on me and just run out of here without a conversation."

Stefan rolled his eyes and let his bag fall from his shoulder before dropping it on the floor between them. He sighed, his exasperation clear.

"That was the deal, Damon. She chooses, the other leaves... well she chose."

"Not from the way you told it – you ended it."

"That's irrelevant, Damon. It is what it is and what it is is Elena's feelings have changed since she became a vampire. She's not the same person who chose me." He wasn't angry, or bitter. Elena had changed. They both had.

He shook his head. "I'm just doing what we agreed to."

"Bull shit, Stefan! I didn't leave when she chose you!" Damon snapped back angrily.

Stefan wasn't going to get angry. "That was different, Damon. She had just turned, Connor was a threat. She needed both of us here."

"And she doesn't now? What about the cure, Stefan?"

Damon was angry, no he was pissed. In spite of what they said he never expected to have to watch Stefan walk away. Truth be told he always planned to be the one to leave. He knew Elena would choose Stefan and she had, at least she had at first. This isn't how any of this was supposed to go.

"What's the point, Damon? She won't come back from this, not fully. And now she has you to help her. And you know Klaus won't let anything happen to her"

Damon shook his head slowly. "This isn't right." He didn't know what he meant exactly. He just knew it was wrong. Elena picking him. Stefan walking away. Leaving Mystic Falls, leaving Elena... leaving him.

"Let's not pretend like this isn't the best day of your life, brother."

Damon's head snapped up immediately and his eyes locked with Stefan's.

"The best... Are you serious?"

Stefan shrugged and Damon had to seriously fight the urge to punch his brother in the face.

"You think this is what I wanted?"

At Stefan's pointed look Damon continued, "This is never what I wanted, Stefan. When I came to Mystic Falls, it wasn't for Elena-"

"No, it was for Katherine," Stefan interrupted.

Damon waved his hand in the air. "Well, yeah, there was that. But it wasn't the only reason."

It was Stefan. Really it had always been about Stefan. Every moment of his life from the time his mother placed a baby Stefan in his arms and told him this was his baby brother had been about Stefan. His childhood, fighting his father so Stefan wouldn't have to, teaching him, protecting him, Katherine, becoming a vampire, being a vampire, Elena...

It had all been in some way about Stefan.

Even when he hated his brother and was promising him an eternity of misery, it was still about Stefan.

"I came here for you too, Stef. You're entire life I've been there, we've been together – Mystic Falls was no different." He said it quietly, almost hoping Stefan wouldn't hear him. He wasn't sure he was ready for this particular conversation.

"Damon..."

"No! I just, I need to tell you this and if you interrupt I never will,"

He waits for Stefan to nod before continuing. Stefan watches him warily. He's not sure where Damon's going with this or if he even wants to know but he'll give his brother this. He nods.

Damon breaths out heavily, "Our mother was a really sick woman. Even before she got pregnant with you there were doctors in and out of her room daily. Father was a cold man, made colder by her sickness. When she got pregnant, her body wasn't strong enough and she died shortly after giving birth to you."

Stefan wanted to say that he knew this already. How was this relevant at all? He nearly asked but a harsh look from Damon stopped the words from forming.

"The day you were born, mother held you while you cried. I remember thinking you were never going to stop and how loud you were," he chuckled. "I already found you kind of annoying."

Stefan rolled his eyes but without any heat.

"Mother called me forward. She'd quieted you down enough at that point and she held you out to me. I was so scared. I'd never held a baby before and I was worried I'd drop you. She smiled, told me it was okay, and I reached out for you. The moment you were settled I knew. I knew my life was never going to be the same."

"I couldn't take my eyes off you. Your eyes were open wide, so bright, staring up at me. I was entranced. Mother watched me but I paid her no mind, until she spoke suddenly. Her breathing was laboured and she said to me, 'Damon, this is your baby brother Stefan. Your his big brother and he's yours to take care of now,' she probably knew our father would be essentially useless, 'protect him, care for him, and above all love him, Damon, as he will you.'

Damon stopped talking then and Stefan didn't say anything – too shocked by their mother's words to Damon over a century ago.

"You never told me that," he said quietly.

Damon nodded, "I know"

"Everything in my life from that moment has been about you, Stefan. Maybe not the way she intended but it's still always been you and me. For better or for worse, mostly worse to this point; the best day of my life was when mother laid that wide eyed baby in my arms..."

Stefan blinked. His eyes were moist and he fought to keep his tears at bay. Damon looked in about the same condition as him but neither would ever mention it. He didn't know how to take what Damon had just told him, but he knew how to respond,

"Damon... you've always been my entire life. Growing up you were everything to me; my brother, father, friend, teacher, playmate. You raised me more than anyone ever did. My life didn't make sense without you." Stefan cleared his throat, and breathed deeply, preparing himself,

"I forced you to turn because of that. You were all I ever had, all I ever wanted really, and when I was faced with eternity without you – I couldn't handle it. I needed you and I was willing to do whatever it took. And as sorry as I am for what it did to us, I can't bring myself to regret it. Because if I hadn't done it than you would be dead and I couldn't handle that."

Damon was quiet for so long that Stefan was afraid he might have pushed his brother into closing up. He could feel the tension and Damon's silence made him anxious.

"Dam-"

"I know, Stef. It took me a little while to get past the anger but I understood, then and now. If our positions had been reversed, I'd have done the same thing."

Stefan felt like the greatest weight had been removed. He felt lighter than he had since he was human. Damon understood. Damon wasn't angry. He felt a few tears escape down his cheek before he brushed them away. Damon smirked but not in his usual manner, this one was more knowing, more affectionate.

"You and me, Stefan, we've been through a lot. We'll probably go through a lot more but this... I can't let you walk out of my life. El- It's not worth it to me."

"What do we do?" Stefan asked.

Damon shrugged. "We help her, find the cure."

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were okay with her the way she is?"

"I am. But you were right. This isn't who she's supposed to be. You and I... were not who she is supposed to be with. If I loved her as much as I say I do, then I would understand that and walk... walk away."

It wouldn't be easy, for either of them. But for the first time they were doing the right thing for the one they loved. Elena was meant for more, she wanted more.

"So we help her," Stefan voiced.

Damon nodded. "We help her, and then you and I move on."

"To an eternity of misery?" Stefan teased.

Damon rolled his eyes, chuckling. "To eternity, brother"

Review and let me know what you thought, please! : )