[*Chapter Forty-Eight*]

"I'm gonna on a whim here and think what is happening. After last night events, Stefan will be riddled with guilt and self-loathing. I can imagine the thoughts eating away at him. He already feels weak at not being strong enough because he's on the animal diet. That and those emotions will feel like a boulder is weighing down on his shoulders. Let's say he's also going to be resentful with being locked away."

"But surely he knows it's for his own good? That way, he wouldn't hurt himself or others," Jenna said.

Darcy shakes her head, crossing her arms across her chest. "See, that's the thing, and what will be running through his mind. Stefan hates the thought of hurting someone because of his actions. With him locked in the basement, it's beneficial but also a ploy for a depression attack. He wants to beat himself up, and it's a form of self-punishment."

"So, what are you gonna do? What's your plan?" Jeremy asked, shifting around in his seat.

Darcy turned back to Damon, a manic grin stretching across her face. "That's where Damon comes into action."

Damon shook his head at the expression and the tone leaking out of her voice. He points his finger at her. "No. Whatever you're thinking. Not happening."

"You haven't heard me out yet, and you're quick to deny," Darcy pouted in faux sadness.

"Because I know you, and I know that face you're making; you are up to something. And you know for a fact I won't like it,"

"Spill it out, Darce. What's your next mastermind proposal?" Jenna asked, skirting around the island and coming to stand next to her adoptive niece.

If possible, Darcy' grin widens, and her eyes twinkle in delight. Stepping over a pace, her hand grasps at a drawer next to the sink, pulling at the handle. The lighting from the room shimmers on silver resting inside its compartment. A wooden block sat there, its components pretty and sharp, glower up into her ocean eyes. Fingers caress over the collection before stopping on the furthest from the last; the second biggest, she doesn't want to cut a limb off.

Drawing the knife out of the drawer, the black handle settles into Darcy' palm like an old best friend. Her digits kiss the smooth steal of its face. "It's a shame you had to kill off my dealer, Damon. Maybe your uncle and I could have been good buddies, still," Darcy said in a mocking tone. "Oh, well, never mind, past is history, right?"

Damon ignores her remark, choosing to glare at the item in her hand. "My answer remains the same. No."

"Let her speak her ideas before you cut her off," Jenna intervenes, holding up her hand and rotating her head to Darcy. "What are you up to? Why do I get a feeling I won't like this either?"

"God, I could kiss you right now, woman!" Darcy cheers before straightening up at the deadpanned face glaring at her. "Right... Knife, human, vampire, equals what?"

Jeremy emits a sharp whistle, shaking his fluffy brunette head. His face was crawling with anxiety that matched Elena's. "Surely you're not that stupid... If I think I know with what route you're going down."

"I think you're right, little Gilbert. She's stupid and out of her God damned mind!" Damon grits his teeth, snatching the knife out of Darcy' grasp. "Do you want to die? We have a bloodthirsty vampire downstairs."

Darcy coughs, a cupped hand shielding her mouth, hiding her uptick lips. "Technically, he's a vampire on a starvation mission, and if he continues to be a brat, he'll deteriorate and start to desiccate."

"Desiccate?" Jenna parrots, looking between the pair.

"Yeah, desiccation. For us vampires, it's, erm, not a pleasant feeling," Damon responded, tugging on the black strands of his hair. "When we don't drink blood, our bodies begin to dry out. The psyche and minds' are forced to feed for us to survive. Over time we become weak. The making of skin becoming pale is one of the results, but this won't be enough to kill us."

"So, if you and Stefan don't feed, you won't die?" Elena questioned, feeling puzzled as she exchanged confused looks with her aunt.

"Nope, our bodies will be similar to mummified bodies," Damon shrugs, unaffected at the turn of the subject, that is, until Darcy picks up the knife again, waving it in his face.

"And that's what will happen to Stefan if he doesn't feed?" Jeremy asked.

"Yep. But we don't want that to happen," Darcy simplifies, slapping the face of the knife against her palm, making the two teens and Jenna cringe, eyeing the sharp point so close to her skin. "We want the opposite,"

"And how do you plan to change that?" Elena asked, moving around the counter to come closer to the trio, leaving Jeremy to sit on his lonesome.

"I'm glad you asked, Elena," Darcy grinned. "Our dear Steffy is mourning because he feels weak and detests what he is. He knows the animal diet is making him vulnerable, yet, he also fears coming to close range or digesting human blood, knowing it will send him into a ripper mode. I was thinking... we could wean him off the animal diet. Plus, if it's successful, it'll avoid any future possible ripper escapades."

"Let me just wrap my head around this... you want Stefan, who was previously renowned as a ripper, to wean out the animal and onto the human blood diet?" Damon asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Darcy nodded, a smile still present on her face, causing him to scoff. "I'm starting to question your sanity. Are you stupid or plain dumb?"

Darcy plucks the empty water bottle off the side and launches it at his face. Damon stands unfazed staring down at the bottles as it clatters to the floor. "Did you just throw a bottle at me?" He asked, chuckling with amusement.

"Yeah, you're lucky it was that and not this knife," Darcy said, waving said knife to establish her point.

Damon smirked, turning to Jenna, making the strawberry blonde raise her eyebrows. "Has your lovely, enchanting niece told you about her secret obsession?"

"Don't you dare, Damon!" Darcy ordered, taking a step forward before dropping the knife on the counter side. "Whatever he says, Jen is lies. Lies! Don't listen to him."

Damon dodges her extended hands, speeding across the room, taunting her with his vampire abilities. "See, this? A perfect example that she's knows I'm exposing the truth... Are you gonna tell her, or am I?" he goaded, laughing. "Oh, who I am kidding, of course, I am. Dear Jenna, your niece is a closet sadist. Hmm, I wonder if it extends to masochism?"

"You'll never know, because I'm going to kill you!" Darcy yelled, chasing after him, unknowingly falling for his trap. Damon cackles, fleeing the room, Darcy' soft but fast footsteps thudding after him.

The three remaining individuals left in the kitchen are left looking at each other in pure bafflement.

"Are they always like this?" Jenna asked, her stare fixed on the doorway the two exited, hearing the manly yelps and shrieks from Damon and the taunting mocking laugh from Darcy.

"I'm just confused as you are. I don't know what that was," Elena said, before jumping at the crash of china smashing, echoing down the hallway.

"Oops, my bad. Actually, you know what? Not my fault," the dark-haired girl insisted, staring down at the shattered vase on the ground.

"My vase!" Damon exclaimed, waving his arms around. "You broke it."

"It's not my fault it it's just sitting there! Whose dumb idea was it to place one in the hall anyway?" Darcy retaliated. "Besides, you pushed me first, you idiot."

"Well, you what'd you expect if you're trying to shove your foot up my arse?" Damon bit back. He froze before picking his head up and glaring at the girl. "This is the second one you've broken."

Darcy threw up her hands. "It's not my fault if they're just sitting there! I'm guessing you're the stupid dimwit who puts them there?"

Damon opens his mouth to retort but shuts it again, not willing to openly admit he is in fact the dimwit. He clenches his jaw, jerking his thumb at the mess. "You're replacing the vase. Both," he turns on his heels before pausing. "Oh, and you can clean up the mess."

"Like hell I am," Darcy snorts, barging past him and heading towards the basement stairs. "Fool thinks I'm his personal slave."

Damon glares at the mess and steps over it, joining her strides. They pause for descending. "Soo, Stefan?" Darcy hummed. "What are we doing? Are we doing what you said, weaning?"

Darcy smirks. "Are you saying you're agreeing with me?"

Damon tilts on his heels, avoiding eye contact. "Not agreeing perse, more on the edge of saying there's no harm in trying."

"Glad we can somewhat agree. On that note, you can fetch his favourite meal," she grimaces. "Poor bunnies and Bambi'... We'll have him on that for now just until he's got enough in his system to keep him satisfied, and then we start introducing him to human blood."

"Yeah, that... who's the human going to be?" Damon asked, his stare drilling hard enough into the side of her face for her to feel herself throb.

"Oh, yeah, that would be... me," Darcy laughs, nervously.

Damon hacks on his breath, stunned. He pounds on his chest his face turning furious. "Are you mad? Darcy! You're going to get yourself killed. There's no way I am going to let you offer your vein to a bloodthirsty vampire. No!"

"I'm not offering up a vein to him. All I'm doing is making a cut, drip enough drops of blood into a bottle or mix it with the animal blood. His fangs won't come near me. It'll be fine, Damon. Besides, it's not different to another human, so what's the issue?"

"No. No. No. No. Nope. Not happening. Absolutely not. You can't!" Damon ranted. He was reduced to pacing back and forth across the hallway, gaining the attention of the trio in the kitchen. They entered the long hallway coming across the scene of Damon pulling his hair out, and Darcy rolling her eyes, her arms crossed as she leant against the wall, watching in boredom.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked, not liking seeing the angered face of Damon's a few feet away from his sister's.

"I can!" Darcy said too much happily, loving getting the vampire worked up. "And I will. You can't stop me."

"Why can't he stop you?" Elena asked only to get ignored as Damon stepped toe-to-toe with Darcy glaring her down.

"You can't. I won't allow it!" Damon growled. His temper getting the best of him. "I refuse to let you put yourself in danger just for Stefan."

Darcy sighed and walked around him to go into the lounge. She took a seat on the single armchair, leaving them no choice but to follow, seeing as Damon wasn't finished with his tirade.

"Is someone going to explain what's going on?" Jenna asked coming to stand next to where Damon had planted himself at Darcy's feet. Jeremy and Elena sat on the lounge their gazes swaying between the trio.

"Darcella left out a little bit of information on her plan. A huge piece," Damon sniped. His eyes narrowed on the young woman. "How she planned on feeding Stefan her blood."

"Never took you for an imbecile snitch, Dickmon."

"For once, I agree with Damon here," Elena cut in. "It's not safe. Not now, anyway."

"I wasn't planning on doing it now. First, he needs to start feeding again. His usual animal diet would be best and then we wean him on to the human diet. Mix a few drops from me and then work up from there."

"And then what? Pop a vein and then what, shove your wrist into his mouth? Or you know, 

become his personal blood bag?" Damon mocked, his voice dripping with mirth.

"If that's what it takes for him to be able to control himself, then yes," Darcy confirmed.

"Darcy, sweetheart. I know you care for Stefan. But you can't be serious about this? You're willing to put yourself on the line for his sake?" Jenna said, crouching down next the chair and brushing her inky hair behind her ear. "Talk to me, Darce. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"You really want to know?" Darcy said. Upon receiving bogging and nodding of heads, she exhaled a breath.

"All throughout Stefan's existence as a vampire he hasn't had constant support. Apart from Lexi, he was on his own. There was no one there to guide him along to teach him from right to wrong. Both Damon and Stefan had this life forced upon them, but their bond couldn't bare for them to part, leaving Stefan to force Damon into becoming a vampire with. Because he couldn't bear a life without his best friend. Without his brother at his side, he went throughout the years depressed and alone, no one there to giving him a supporting hand. No one to teach him how to love himself, regardless of what or who he is.

He grew to detest himself, the being he is today. He went through a period defining him as a ripper. He turned off his humanity because he couldn't bare to face to guilt he shed. And if that wasn't enough the countless lives, he took on his bear hands added to that grief, likely to convince himself never to touch human blood again. Yet again, when Damon did show up, he never stuck around for long, eventually parting ways, letting the cycle repeat itself.

Lonely. Humanity off. Ripper Stefan. There was no chance for him to learn how to properly feed on a human without becoming bloodthirsty. The urge becomes too strong for him. Piling to the already high pile of used carcasses. And then, the guilt and depression continued to mount. Is it so wrong that I want to be that person, the one he can come to when temptation becomes too much for him? The one he can fall on when he believes he's not worthy of living because he hates himself so much? Be the one thing that is strong and consistent in his life? Cause' that's what he needs. He needs a comforting hand and consistency to overcome his fears.

"Do you see where I'm going with this?" Darcy asked, a stray tear sliding down her cheek. She sucked in a deep breath, brushing away the moment of weakness. She looked over at Damon, her lip wobbling seeing the vampire staring into the fire with a pained look. Standing up from the seat, she wrapped her arms around Damon' back, her head resting on his broad back. "Don't blame yourself, Dames. The past can't be helped. Just know the blame isn't on you. It's on her."

"How can I not blame myself? I left him. I left my little brother, promising him an eternity of misery, and look where we are now?"

"But you are here now. Let that be the start. You are what Stefan needs. He needs his brother, Damon. He needs to know you still love him. In his mind, he's that little boy you once protected with all your might. He needs to know that Damon is here. To know you have his back when he falls."

Damon sighs, turning around in her arms. He rests his chin upon her head, eyeing her family had cleared the room. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. He'll always be my little brother."

"Then show him. Show Stefan, you still love him. All these years he's built it up in his head that he's not worthy of love. I think he's beaten himself enough. It's time to close the doors to the past and open them to the future. He needs to know despite being a vampire he is worthy and so much more. Don't let him live in this torture no more."

Darcy feels his body relax in her hold, his chin brushing her mane of her as he nods his head, agreeing. Because no words are needed. Actions are stronger than simple meaningless phrases. Though that doesn't stop the gratitude he feels. His arms squeezed tighter around her waist. "Thank you. No, let me speak. Thank you for coming into our lives and opening my eyes to see my liabilities. Without... without you, I would have failed to see my errors. But now, I see. I know what I need to do."

Darcy patted his back, stepping back from his hold. "Good. Then my job is done here," she headed to the entrance of the parlour, leaving Damon frozen in his spot.

"Your job is done? What's that supposed to mean?" He calls after her, following once his senses return to him.

"What? You didn't think I'd willingly offer up my blood, did you? To a vampire, nonetheless? A vampire with ripper tendencies," Darcy said, walking into the kitchen and receiving her holdall from the island. She sighed in bliss, the coffee perfuming the air attacking her nose. Her gaze zeroes in on Jenna making another round of coffee.

Skipping over to the strawberry blonde, she kisses Jenna sloppily on the cheek. "Love ya!"

Jenna cringes, pushing her away. "I think your drool proved that enough," she retorted wiping her cheek with her shirt sleeve.

"Hello! You can't just leave me hanging like that. All the talk about feeding Stefan your blood was a ruse?"

Darcy grinned, shouldering her bag. "Exactly that, my dear Damon. I needed you to recognise your faults. Stefan may benefit from the extra help, but it's not me who he needs. He needs you."

"So, you're not going to wean him off the animal diet and onto yours?" Elena asked confused.

"Oh, that will happen, just not with mine. Besides, we don't know if my blood is safe. Not with what with the talisman and its bizarre mysteries, we don't know what could happen. I don't want to risk that. Blood bags will do fine."

"You cruel, evil, deceiving woman!" Damon exclaimed, a large grin spreading across his face. "You had us all fooled. Nice play, Princess."

Darcy bowed. "Glad to be of service!" she chirped, skipping out of the kitchen, bag in tow.

Damon's grin drops and he won't admit a pit formed in his gut seeing her walk away, panicking of thinking she was leaving. She can't. He needs her. They need her.

Damon jogs after her before she can reach the stairs. "Darcy!"

Darcy pauses glancing over her shoulder, the accomplished smile still in place. A crease forms between her brows seeing the anxious look on his face. A look that defiantly doesn't belong on Damon Salvatore's handsome face. "What is it?"

"You're not leaving, are you? Because we're not finished, and Stefan might need your assistance too. He's not seen you since yesterday evening and despite his tantrum, I know he's anxious to see you. You know you did leave abruptly after hearing his confession?"

Darcy's smile softens, she turns so she's facing him and walks back over to him. Stopping two feet away. She knows behind his words; Damon fears she's leaving. But she's not. Quite the opposite.

"I'm not going anywhere, Damon. I'm just going to shower. I'll be right back."

"You're staying?"

"Always," Darcy replies, leaning on her toes to kiss his cheek before turning around and jogging up the stairs, anything to get away to fight away the red hue attacking her cheeks. That and hide away her racing heart from his super hearing.

Damon stands rooted in place, a large smirk appearing hearing the "thud-thud" of her beating heart moving further away.

A cough sounds behind him, causing the vampire to spin on his heels and meet the blank stare of Jenna Sommers.

"You're in love with Darcy, aren't you?" she stated.

"Well, you don't beat around the bush," Damon chuckled.

"Don't avoid the question. Do you love her?"

Damon sobers. He's silent for a few moments, internally cursing himself for being weak. He swallows and nods. "Yeah. I love her."

Jenna nods, her sharp stare softening. "I can see that. You make it very obvious, all but to Darcy herself. Look, despite what you are and what I've come to discover, and any other sane person would forbid this. But I won't. I won't take this opportunity away from her. Darcy deserves her own love story. You see that girl upstairs? She gives and gives and never takes back things in return. She deserves happiness and much more. And maybe you and Stefan could be her joy. I've come to see you all need each other. You're all each other's anchors, and I won't take that away from her.

She's a rare gem. All I ask is for you not to hurt her."

"You can guarantee if I am the cause of her hurt, I'll shove a stake in my heart myself."

*•*•*•*•*

Two updates! Yesss! I felt bad for leaving you hanging last week. When I say I've been suffering from the worst case of writer's block ever, I mean it. It's savage and awful. I had no idea how I wanted to proceed with the story. I came close to taking the book down. But I don't have the heart to do that. They're up now, that counts, right?

So, tell me? What did you think? I changed this particular chapter around. Initially, in this episode, Elena 'tries' to help to get Stefan to feed, and I think there's some background history of his ripper tendencies. For the sake of my plot, I wanted to change that, and for Damon to help Stefan rather than Darcy. He needed to see his faults and recognise why Stefan struggles with his self-worth and realise how he can help his brother.

As you can probably see, this story will cover a few redemption arcs. I will say they will feature with more characters once we move on to season two. It's a little heads up for those who don't like these types of stories.

Before I go, I have just started my half-term break, meaning I'll have more time to complete the book, which will be in precisely two more chapters. Hopefully, by next Sunday they will be up! Wish me luck xD