Tough love

Getting Help

Once Elijah woke up with his baby brother in his arms, he had to take a few deep breaths to remind himself that all of his brothers were alive and safe. They may be broken, but he was still able to patch them up.

He nuzzled his face into Damon's hair, breathing in and grounding himself. The boy was far too underweight, malnourished, and emotionally unstable to be considered okay, but he was safe in Elijahs arms. And eventually, he would be happy again. Elijah just wished eventually would hurry up.

"Mmm. 'Lij?" Damon asked from under him, shivering as he slowly woke up.

"Morning day." Elijah replied, wrapping his arms tighter around him.

"S cold." The younger mumbled out, burying his face in Elijahs collarbone.

"I know bubs, I know. It's probably gonna be like that for a while until you get some of your body's natural weight back. Okay, come on, we gotta get up. We pick Sammy and dean up today, remember?" Elijah encouraged, rubbing his back.

Damon groaned, rolling over and swinging his legs so they were over the bed. Elijah got up, walking towards the bathroom and stretching his sore muscles.

Getting all the boys up and into the kitchen for breakfast was hard. Getting Damon to eat was even harder. The boys were all shocked once they saw Damon with a t-shirt and sweatpants on and could see how thin he was, but one look from Elijah ensured none of them said anything.

"Peter and Zac, I need you to go upstairs and grab jackets. Then go get the car started and make sure there's no frost on the windows. We'll be out in a minute." Elijah smiled over at them, prompting them to leave.

Once it was just Stiles, Damon, and Elijah the oldest sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose between his eyes.

"Day, honey, you have to eat. I'm not against having stiles hold you down while I force you to eat, either." Elijah said, folding his arms in front of him and looking at Damon seriously.

Stiles looked between them as it snapped into place what was happening. He pushed back the tears threatening to build and scooted closer to his older brother, laying a hand on top of his shaking one.

"Day? Listen um... I know you're scared. Like, really scared, but you gotta eat. It's not healthy for you to go without food. Listen, you're my big brother, and I've always looked up to you, Damon. And even though you might not believe it, you're brave. I know you are, I've been seeing it my entire life. And I really, really don't want to have to hold you down. I can't hurt you like that. So please Day, be brave for me." Stiles said, eyes darting between Damon's.

Damon nodded, tears reaching his eyes as he picked up a forkful of the scrambled eggs in front of him. He brought it up to his mouth and chewed it, having to force down multiple gags before he finally swallowed. His hand gripped Stiles's tightly as he picked up the next forkful. Ten minutes later, when he was finally done with the single scrambled egg on his plate and sobbing, stiles pulled him into a hug, wiping the tears off of his cheeks and whispering to Damon that he was beautiful, strong, and loved.

Elijah smiled softly before rushing up the stairs and throwing on a hoodie and grabbing two more for the boys downstairs. He quickly made his way to the kitchen, finding Stiles making Damon laugh. The sound was sweet to his ears, and then he realized how long it had been since he had heard Damon actually laugh. Or any of his brothers for the matter. It was definitely way too long.

"Okay boys, let's get going." Elijah said, throwing a hoodie at them each.

The oldest walked over to get his keys as he looked over his shoulder slightly, making sure the other two didn't know he was watching them. He smiled as he saw stiles get Damon into his hoodie before popping his ADHD pill and giving Damon a quick hug. The younger then patted him on the back as they both walked towards the car, the smile on Damon's face never leaving.