𝟐• 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 | 𝐓𝐕𝐃

THIRTY-ONE

Damon looked around at his friends in horror, before he sped to Bonnie and bit his wrist, before placing it on her lips so that it would get into her system and heal her. "Wake up, Bon." He said, before letting out a breath as her eyes opened a little.

He then sped to Matt, feeding the human his blood to heal him.

"Donovan, hey, wake up." He said, before getting to Aurelia as soon as he showed signs of consciousness. He pulled the makeshift stake right out of her chest, making her groan, as she opened her eyes which showed signs of pain. "What's wrong?"

"S-Splinters." She answered as the stake was thrown next to her. Without hesitation, he dug into her chest, making her gasp in pain and shock.

"One second, I'll- I'll get it out, 'Lia." He assured, before she winced and grabbed the stake and pushed it into his abdomen, catching him off guard before she punched him across the face with most of her strength, snapping his neck.

She closed her eyes, evening her breaths while her wound healed completely. She then crawled towards Stefan, who slowly came to, his eyes instantly landing on the bloodstain on her shirt. He shot up, looking at her as he smothered her with questions. She only smiled softly with his concern. "Are you—what?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Overprotective..." She sang, before he chuckled and pulled her up to her feet after he stood up. "So, what now?" She asked. He looked at his brother.

"You go change and sleep." He instructed. "I'll, uh, chain him up, okay?" She sighed.

"Okay." She said, before she walked towards the steps.

!

"Stefan." Damon groggily called out as he slowly woke up. "Stefan."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you." Stefan mumbled, walking out of the living room to the wall next to the stairs. He looked down at his brother, who had chains around his wrist, chains that went all the way up to the first floor.

"No vervain this time?" Damon asked. "We switching up the menu?" He then slightly narrowed his eyes, a little weirded out due to how calm Stefan was.

"Nah, I just wanted to make sure you had a chance to calm down."

"Oh," He shook his hands, letting the chains make a little noise from the clashing metal. "I'm calm." He then raised an eyebrow. "No, no, no." He began, looking at his brother's calm behavior. "You're gonna say to me that I screwed up so bad. I nearly killed all of our friends because I thought I was stuck in some fake hell-world."

"You don't have to explain." Stefan said. "It's not your fault."

"Huh?"

"It was an honest mistake. You're getting a pass." He rephrased. Damon looked at him, assuming that he was playing a joke on him.

"Wait—" The two looked at the stairs to see Aurelia walking down them slowly, with her hand over her mouth to cover a yawn. "Oh, hello."

"Mm.' She hummed, stopping as she looked down at them from the stairs. "Hi." Stefan licked his lips, sweetly thinking of why she was awake at 4 in the morning.

"Ice cream?" He asked. She shyly nodded once, making him smile.

"Is there any left in the freezer?" She questioned, her voice small and quiet. He nodded.

"I'll get you a little, okay?" He said. "One scoop?" She held up two fingers. "Two scoops, got it." He stated, placing his hands in his pockets as his smile grew. "You go upstairs and wait."

"I'll watch over him." She said. He sighed, hesitant. "Faster you do it, the less chance there is of getting cranky." She added, as she walked towards him.