𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓂𝑒? (𝒟𝒶𝓂𝑜𝓃 𝒮𝒶𝓁𝓋𝒶𝓉𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒳 𝐹𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓁𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇)

Ch 20: Pity for the Unforgivable

"What are you doing here, Stefan?", I sarcastically inquired. He uncomfortably shifted his stance, defending himself, "I am supporting Elena and her wishes. That doesn't mean I can't stop and take care of my family here". A very poor argument, really. Saying that we are "family". As if I felt like family at the moment, he should have thought clearly on what he was going to say. "Family... nice one, Stefan.", I scoffed in disbelief. Stefan looked like he had gotten his heart hurt, too bad because I wasn't in the mood for babying someone else's mistakes.
"Hello, Brother. What finally brings you to our home?", Damon walked in, placing his hand on my lower back and putting his other one in the pocket of his own pants. "He brought us more supply of blood bags, Babe.", I sighed, nodding my head towards the package. "I just want to let you both know I won't drastically starve my family, you can trust me on that.", Stefan repeated himself to Damon. "How sweet of you, Stefan. As if Katherine doesn't have you already wrapped around her finger.", Damon mockingly muttered the last words under his very breath. Stefan's mouth pulled back and he bared his teeth with rage.
"For the last time, y/n, Elena IS NOT Katherine!", Stefan had raised his voice, it was the only time he ever blew up at me. Once he realized that, he drew back and rubbed his mouth with his fingers. "Look, I'm sorry-", Stefan began with his clearly unwanted apology. "Stefan, don't you EVER dare say you are sorry. I get where you're coming from and I know it doesn't help much that I lied about a very huge secret when I first came back to mystic falls. I inserted myself into both your and Elena's lives. So you can still hold onto your godforsaken grudge, but I will not allow you to act this ignorantly in spite of yourself thinking that Katherine is Elena.", I growled at him. I added, tired of Stefan's bullshit ignorance, "Well I have some news for you, Stefan. KATHERINE IS ACTING AS FUCKING ELENA GILBERT, DIPSHIT!".
Thankfully, I was feeling empathetic and stopped myself before I wanted to lunge at him. But Stefan had other plans and decided he wanted to be a professional asshole, so he rolled his eyes and left right after. "Thanks for stopping by, little bro!", Damon shouted with playful gratitude towards the vast distance. I pushed him away and stomped up the stairs. "Hey!- That was uncalled for. What did I do wrong??", Damon whined, dramatically pointing at himself. I slowly turned around, giving him a hard and cold stare. It was a little funny to me, that Damon had audibly gulped and took a step back, when realizing he asked the wrong question... or was it the right one? Emphasis on "the right one". "Are you fucking kidding me, Damon?! Stefan's your brother and even you can't- or stubbornly choose not to- help him realize about Katherine?? He's your brother, dammit, Damon!", I screamed, taking a breath in after. He let his head fall with regret as I let out a pissed-off groan and continued stomping back upstairs to my room.
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Lying in my bed, I feel a twinge of pain linger in my heart. Almost as if a splinter had kept its place in there. I wish that Damon had realized how good of a brother he could be to Stefan. Not that he isn't one, but, sometimes he chooses not to be. It was very different than the one I had with Katherine. His relationship with his brother is bonded by blood. My relationship with Katherine was a relationship built on unwanted indebtedness. I snuggled into the blanket that I had draped over myself, trying to feel a sense of resolution to then fall fast asleep. Yet, I was completely restless.
A few knocks sounded on my bedroom door. Knowing that it was Damon, I didn't feel the need to peep a word. "Can I come in, please?", he politely asked. "Whatever, Damon.", I huffed dramatically, like a moody teenage girl. The door slowly creaked open, I sat up with my arms wrapped around my folded knees and rested my chin on top. "What's going on, Honey?", he dragged his feet cautiously and stopped at the edge of my bed. I tried to shrink myself smaller than I ever could. "Just thinking.", I mumbled underneath my arms. I felt his hand glide from the shin of my leg to the back of my calf, softly rubbing his thumb which made me feel more at ease. "What are you thinking about, if I may ask?", he softly spoke.
I looked up, weakly sighing with defeat, "I hate that Stefan can't see that Elena is Katherine, but we already knew that. I hate how even most of the time, because of your selfish wants and needs, you don't look out for your brother when he really needs it. I hate it when I see how strong of a connection you two have, being brothers and all by blood. Katherine is always a bitch to me even though she took me under her "wing", I guess it makes sense because we're not related by blood". Tears flowed down from my eyes as I process how much of an idiot I was... and I still am. Damon sat right next to me on my bed, wrapping his arms around me and leaning our body's back so we lied on the bed instead of sitting. "Well, fuck Katherine. I'm sorry you had to spend many years with that conniving hag. She can rot in Hell for all we care, right?", he reassured me with his thoughtful opinion, an opinion that also felt like a pep-talk for some apparent reason.
We stayed in bed till nighttime fell, Damon was stroking my head before falling to sleep, whispering, "It's you and me, Babe. Ride or Die, I'll be happy either way". "Me, too.", I tiredly mumbled into his chest. He kissed the top of my head as my heavy eyelids closed and I drifted to sleep.