request: Do a Damon panic attack and Stefan helps him or like Damon crying
Stefan had never seen anything like it. He had never seen any kind of weakness from Damon. Never tears, never panic, never fear. But this time, he saw it all. He saw all the emotions that Damon had been hiding from both his brother and father. It was 1864. Summer. Damon had just returned from battle a few days ago. Katherine was away with Emily for the weekend and for the first time in a while, both brothers slept in their own beds.
But Damon didn't sleep, and when Stefan woke up to the sound of someone crying, he thought that his night would be restless as well. He tip-toed to Damon's room and slowly pushed the door open. Damon was sitting against the wall, with his knees to his chest and Stefan quickly dropped to his knees in front of him. He stared at his brother with concern, not really knowing what to do.
"U-uh... Damon...? What's wrong...?" It was a lame attempt, he knew that. And Damon kept crying and shaking. He was sweating too.
Stefan placed his hand on Damon's arm, but Damon slapped it away.
"Go help someone else! I'm fine! I'm fine! Go help someone else!" Damon yelled and Stefan got so confused. No one else needed help, did they? Their father didn't need any help. What was Damon talking about?
"But Damon..."
"Go help someone else!"
Tears welled up in Stefan's eyes. This was his last shot. Last chance to calm Damon down. He leant forward and wrapped his arms around his older brother. Damon gasped, pressing his face into Stefan's shoulder. Stefan felt Damon's arms find their way around his waist.
"What's wrong, Damie?" He asked gently.
"You wouldn't understand," Damon stuttered.
"Try to tell me anyways," Stefan said, pulling away to look Damon in the eyes. Tears fell down Damon's face.
"Sometimes when soldiers come back home after being in the war zone... it feels like they're still there... It's not like dreaming or nightmares or anything... We're not sleeping... We're awake but we talk like we're in a situation that we don't like... Sometimes we get violent... And when we realise that we had one of those attacks, then it gets ten times worse because we think about what could have happened... That we could have hurt someone while being in that state... and I really don't want to hurt you, Stef, I really don't..." Damon sobbed. "So whenever I'm like this, I need you to stay away."
Stefan shook his head.
"Someone must be able to do something. Someone must help you."
Damon grabbed Stefan's hand. He smiled a little.
"I'll be okay, Stef. You just need to give me time. It's like a broken bone, you know? It takes a while for it to heal and then comes the recovery. You just have to let me recover."
"You've been different after the war. What if the bone heals the wrong way? What if you're never gonna be the way you were before?" Stefan asked.
"I'm not gonna be like before. I've seen things that changed me. I'm not the old Damon, but that's not necessarily bad."
Stefan smiled proudly. Damon had stopped crying. He was talking now.
"What?" Damon asked.
"I helped you. You're okay again."