I Am... - JCapasso - The Vampire Diaries (TV) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Snarky Damon took center stage as Stefan and Aaron left and turned to Enzo. “So is this the part where we bargain for your keeping of my secrets? Or where you kill me?”

“Nah, mate,” Enzo offered him a drink, relatively sure who he was talking to right now unless there was someone new, which was a good possibility. “I don’t need a bargain to keep your secrets. It’s not my place to tell anyone. And I have no intention of killing you either.”

“Then what was all this getting us alone about?” Damon asked dubiously.

“I wanted to see how you were without having to dance around the elephant in the room,” Enzo said honestly. Sure, he was a bit unhinged at the moment and fighting his anger and bitterness over being left behind, but until he understood who it was and where it came from, he couldn’t really hold a grudge logically. Feeling it was a different story, but he was doing his best to hold that part back. At least for now. “So…anyone new I haven’t met?” he went fishing. He knew that Sal would never have left a man behind and that should have been who was handling the party.

“You don’t want to meet Dante,” Damon shook his head bitterly. “He’s the one who left you to die in that fire.” It had been hard to hold Dante back earlier. Especially when Enzo lost his temper, but Damon’s emotional overload hadn’t helped either. The fear that Dante might actually be willing to kill Enzo was enough for everyone to help hold him back.

“I thought as much. I knew Sal would never have left me behind and I didn’t think any of the others would either. Well Sammy might have run scared, but he would never have come out in that situation in the first place, so I figured it was someone new.” He’d hoped it was at least. He trusted all the others and wouldn’t have wanted that trust to be misplaced. Well he trusted the others that he’d met anyway. He knew there were two that never came out and one of those definitely /couldn’t/ be trusted. He’d actually been rather worried that he’d escaped and been the one to leave him, so he was glad to find that wasn’t the case.

“You’re really not going to tell anyone?” Damon asked skeptically.

“No. I’m really not,” Enzo rolled his eyes. This one could be so paranoid sometimes. “I’m guessing your girlfriend knows though…no?” he figured out by the look Damon gave him. “How’d you manage to hide that from someone that close to you?” He didn’t know how close Damon was with his brother these days to guess, but a girlfriend was a different story.

“We’re very good at pretending,” Damon told him. Elena did mention his mood swings from time to time and occasionally said something along the lines of ‘this isn’t like you’, which was the cue to fix it.

“She should know, Damon. So should your brother if you’re getting close to him again. I won’t tell them, but I think you should,” Enzo said gently.

“My brother tried to lock me up to desiccate for ‘being a danger to people’ just two years ago. What do you think he’d do to me if he knew I was genuinely crazy and unpredictable?” Damon asked bitterly.

“Okay. I’ll concede your point,” Enzo said. For now. If he managed to find his way back to Damon’s life to protect him and take him away if necessary they could revisit the idea. Until then, he wasn’t going to push and risk Damon ending up like that. It was time to deal with something else first though. He didn’t have forever. “So, I might be in a bit of a pickle.”

“What kind of pickle?” Damon asked with a frown.

“The good doctor gave me a poison. If I don’t return for the antidote, I’ll desiccate. In a way that blood won’t revive me from. And I’m supposed to return with your head to get it, which I think we can agree isn’t an option,” Enzo told him. It was only a few seconds before he noticed the shift in Damon’s stance and demeanor. “Sal I presume?” He was the soldier and tactician so it would make sense.

“You presume correctly,” Sal told him. “First, I would like to apologize for what happened back then. I was trying to get you out…”

“It wasn’t you, Sal. You have nothing to apologize for,” Enzo told him. “Remember that you can’t take on the blame and guilt for the others.” He still had trouble with the feeling that part, but he did know it. And he would worry about the rest later.

“Thank you,” Sal said gratefully. “Now about your ‘pickle’…where are you supposed to return to him?” He wasn’t letting his old friend down again. Not for anything. The fact that it would mean finding Elena was inconsequential.

“There’s an old abandoned warehouse down the street where I’m supposed to meet him,” Enzo said.

“Hmm. That sounds fishy. What do you want to bet that’s a trap?” Sal said thoughtfully. “If he’s smart…”

“He is,” Enzo agreed, having had the same thoughts about it being a trap.

“Then he would have at least considered the possibility of us working together against a common foe, regardless of any hostilities he assumes between us after the unpleasantness of the last time we saw each other,” Sal paced the room with his hands clasped behind his back as he thought.

“That was my thinking too. But I don’t really know where else to go other than the main lab in the Whitmore house. I might could find the secondary lab. I have enough clues from things I heard and saw while I was there to possibly figure it out. But the secret lab, I don’t have a clue. I was always drugged for transport and there wasn’t anything there to indicate where we were,” Enzo explained.

“I think I know where the secondary lab is already. The secret lab will be our best bet to find him, but I don’t think finding him will do us much good as far as getting the antidote,” Sal said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t give it up without proof that you were dead. We’d end up having to kill him and I’d rather not do that before we’re sure we can find the antidote ourselves,” Enzo agreed.

“So let us go search this secondary lab. I did see a lot of vials and test tubes the one time I was there. It seems that was where he did most of his work of that nature. If we find nothing there, we can check the main lab before considering other more dangerous options,” Sal suggested.

“Lead the way, Sal,” Enzo motioned him ahead. If he knew where the lab was all the better.

“While we walk, you can tell me what all you know about the secret lab. Perhaps give us some clues where to begin,” Sal said as they headed out.

“I know it’s underground. There are wooden stairs going up. It looks burned out, like there was a fire there. It makes it hard to pinpoint anything else,” Enzo told him. “Oh, and the smell of burning flesh seeped into the place.”

“That’s something. I don’t think he would go far, so we can use the internet to look up any fires in wooden buildings that people were caught in within the last few years,” Sal nodded.

“Internet?” Enzo asked confused, not familiar with that term.

“It’s a new thing. Complicated. Damon would be the best to explain it.” He barely understood it himself. He could just manage to use the google when necessary. “Here we are. The lab is here.”

Once they got there, they started looking around, Sal whistling a jaunty tune as they searched. They found a bunch of vials all marked antidote with different symbols on them. “Just give me all of them, mate,” Enzo decided as he doubled over in pain. He was running out of time. “I’m a vampire. If it’s marked antidote it’s not likely to hurt me.”

Sal considered for a long moment, weighing the possibility that he would mark poisons as antidotes in his personal lab, but decided the risk was minimal. “Alright then. But if something happens, I’ll track him down and let Dante at him until he gives up how to fix it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Enzo chuckled as they both just started injecting him with everything. “There. That was it,” he said after the eighth one. “The pain is gone now.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it,” Sal said relieved just as his phone rang. “It’s Stefan,” he said before his demeanor changed again. Enzo watched him slump lazily in his chair from the straightbacked position Sal was in and the serious look be replaced by a smirk. “Stefan. I hope you have good news.”

Enzo listened to both sides of the conversation as he considered his next moves. He was free now, but staying around Damon at the moment wasn’t a good idea. He’d been managing so far, but he was far too unhinged himself to handle Damon and combined with the part of him that still wanted to blame him for leaving…he needed some time and space to get over this. To find himself again. To relearn how to live. But he definitely didn’t want Damon to think this was a rejection either, so he would have to explain as best he could. Once the call ended, Enzo told him. “I’m glad your girl’s okay now.”

“Thanks. Me too. I’m glad you’re okay now too,” Damon replied.

“Okay is a bit of a stretch, mate,” Enzo said wryly. “I’m a mess right now. I need to take off and take some time to get myself together and figure out how to live in this world and all.”

“I’d be happy to help you,” Damon offered. “It’s the least I could do.”

“I appreciate it, Snarky,” Enzo chuckled. “But this is something I need to figure out alone. Do some soul-searching, see some sights, a bit of traveling. Just revel in my freedom. You stay here and take care of your girl. I’ll be back once I’m more together.”

“Yeah, okay. Just watch out for cars. Look both ways before crossing the street and all,” Damon joked.

“Will do, mate,” Enzo said amusedly. “I’ll check in later. And if you need me, come find me, yeah? I’ll make sure it’s not too hard.” He wasn’t sure how yet, but he’d figure it out.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

As Damon headed home, he considered the decision that he’d started debating when he was trapped in the cells with Elena. The debate that had gotten stronger due to Elena’s reaction over him killing Aaron’s family. And stronger still when Enzo pointed out that Elena deserved to know. He didn’t /want/ her to know. He couldn’t take the rejection from her if she did. And even if she didn’t reject him, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. As Sal had been telling them all along, she was too young and immature for them. They just hadn’t listened, but they were listening now. Most of them anyway. Core Damon had mostly lost interest early on, though did enjoy their time together when he got it once she was theirs and the drama was over. It was mostly the other Damon and Eros that had been chasing her and enjoying the fruits of their victory ever since. Eros was the last holdout that refused to let her go. Ever the hopeless romantic. Sammy would just miss the pillow fights and the ice cream trips. And her teddy bear.

By the time they pulled in at the house, Saint was the one that was elected to have the breakup talk with her though. The martyr that suffered for them all. He’d been rather indifferent to the idea of Elena all along. When he got there, he found that she’d found the one happy passage in her father’s Augustine journal in a thousand pages of horrific torture and was using that to try and defend him and Saint got even more invested in getting rid of her. He’d woken up during the whole Augustine mess to be able to take the torture when Sal couldn’t stand being helpless and unable to fight back anymore, so it was definitely a sore subject for him. “He’s my dad. I can’t just not defend him,” she argued.

“No, I know. You do it for me all the time,” Saint said bitterly as he got up and turned away from her. They were used to all talking like one person to keep people from figuring them out.

“I’m not defending you,” Elena said. “I’m not defending your decision to kill Aaron’s /entire/ family. To go out of town and kill his aunt while we were still together.”

“So why are you still here?” he asked incredulously. “I’m /bad/, Elena. I am bad for you. So why wouldn’t you have run away from me as far as humanly possible?”

“Because I love you, Damon,” she said as she slammed the journal on the table and got up to go over to him. “Because I chose you and because I stand by my choice.”

“Well now I’m choosing,” he said evenly. “And I’m choosing to let you go.”

“What?” Elena breathed out in shock. “No, Damon…”

“I am choosing to not have to think about how you must feel every time some ghost from my past comes into our life. I’m choosing to relieve you from having to defend me for every awful thing I’ve ever done.”

“Stop acting like I’m perfect. Damon, I’ve done horrible things too,” she pointed out, despite knowing that it was a weak argument. “You think I’m gonna stand here and judge you after I find out you’ve been tortured for five years?”

“Stop defending me!” Saint yelled heatedly as he spun around to face her. “I won’t change who I am. I can’t,” he said defeatedly. No matter how hard he tried. “But I refuse to change you.” He turned and walked away. And that was that.

Now that the hard job was done, Core-Damon just wanted to kick back and relax with a book and forget all about this awful day. While it was rather fluid how much each of the alters knew about what went on when they weren’t ‘out’, they had worked out a system of everyone getting the cliff notes version to help prevent any slip ups from missing memories when they weren’t watching or were cut off from watching.

Over the next few months, things settled into a new normal, both inside and outside Damon’s head. Not that it was a particularly /good/ normal. Eros’ pining was getting on everyone’s nerves and any time he was out, he was getting day drunk, sometimes even at the grill chatting with Matt and Tyler who none of them liked so much. They would get used to it again though. Eros had been pining since the day he woke up after Katherine left and sent them on a century and a half quest. He would level off soon enough and put it on a simmer. They hoped. The rest of them just went along with their lives. Snarky Damon, as always, enjoyed riling Stefan up. Especially about his insane lapse of judgement with Katherine of all people. He had always been the one most often dealing with Stefan. He was also the one going out to party regularly and doing the non-moping getting drunk. All of them, save Sammy, drank, but most of them didn’t actually get drunk.

Basically, they were back to the pre-Elena routine, especially since Damon had his room to himself again. That alone made things much easier. Having a space he didn’t need to hide. Well other than Sammy’s room, of course, that was hidden all the way at the back of the unused wing of the house and securely locked. Eros and Core-Damon were even able to make more progress on their recent novels. Not that it had been /that/ hard since Elena had moved into the dorms during the week, but he still went to see her often anyway and she was home sharing their room on the weekends.

When it turned out that Katherine was dying, Snarky took control once Matt told him that during Eros’ drinking time at the grill. He decided to bring Matt and Jeremy back to the boarding house for a Katherine is dying drinking party. One where every time they came up with something awful she did to them, they took a shot. They were soon joined by Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie, and the stories just continued to flow. Until Stefan had to be a total buzzkill and start talking about how she was a survivor and to be admired. Clearly she’d managed to get back in his head at some point with their sleeping together again. When Matt was kidnapped by Nadia and locked in a safe and buried, most of the group went out to look for him. All Damon could think was that Katherine was left all alone and unattended, as a human, on her death bed. Dante wasn’t about to resist that fun, so he took over and headed up to Stefan’s room where she was laying.

Dante smirked when he saw her sleeping and quickly slipped into her head to bring her nightmares. Ones where he was present taunting her. Using his words to torture her. Showing her the death of her family and rubbing in how it was her fault. Searching her memories for other nightmares to play and doing the same with them. Paying her back for every bit of crushing pain that he’d had to take away from the others when they found that she wasn’t in that tomb. Making her feel the same pain that Eros and both Damon’s had. All the knives she’d twisted in them, he twisted right back, waiting eagerly for her end. This one he wasn’t going to kill. No, she would feel the pain and fear of her impending death for as long as she could. Until he was interrupted by her daughter wanting to save her life. He just smirked and wished them luck as he left her alone. He’d made his point and they wouldn’t be able to save her. Even if they did, that would just give him more time to play before he killed her himself.

Sure enough, she was dead a few hours later and Dante took her body to hide it away. She would never have the honor of a proper burial. He just threw her haphazardly in the same tomb that she should have been in all along. No one would look for her there and he would never tell anyone where to find her. She could just rot away slowly with the bugs and maggots feasting on her open corpse, alone and forgotten in the world. It was no less than she deserved. And he made sure that no one else knew either. They all tended to have crisis of conscience and give up stuff like that. He’d shielded them from everything since he took over in fact, as he usually did. Only when they got back to the boarding house did Snarky reemerge with only the knowledge that Katherine was dead and he'd gotten rid of her body.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Snarky came back out just in time since Stefan came around the corner. And promptly refused to give up the location of Katherine’s body. He agreed with Dante about hiding it and was glad that he didn’t know where it was to be able to give it up. Especially when her daughter wanted to take it home. He might have been tempted to have a heart if he actually knew, but since he didn’t, he just declined in his amusedly flippant manner. Unfortunately that incident seemed to jolt Stefan into another ‘save Damon’ crusade. One that involved trying to pep talk him about Elena, pointing out how she was the best thing to ever happen to him and that he was being an idiot by letting her go.

He didn’t make much progress with most of them, but Eros was listening and that was the last straw for him. When he came out later that evening, he shut everyone else out and called Elena, leaving her a flowery voicemail trying to get back together. Once it was done, the others wouldn’t do anything about it and risk exposure. He didn’t care that they were right to let her go. That it wasn’t fair to keep her in the dark. That she would never accept them romantically as they were. He didn’t know what to do with himself without someone to love and couldn’t just let her go. He managed to get a couple more voicemails sent the next day before they came home to find a surprise. “Enzo,” Snarky said surprised. They hadn’t thought he would be coming back. At least not so soon.

“Hello, Damon,” Enzo said cheerfully raising his glass. He’d taken some time to learn the way of things in this world, get himself at least mostly back together. He still wasn’t completely sane and probably wouldn’t be for a while, but he was as good as he would get for the time being. Now he just wanted his friends back. But first he wanted to meet Dante. They were overdue for a bit of a chat. Getting him to come out might be a bit tricky though, so he had a plan based on the little he knew of him. “We have a bit of business to attend to.”

“Missed a spot,” Damon pointed out the blood in the corner of his mouth as he eyed the bag that looked suspiciously like a body curiously. Why was Enzo bringing him a body? Was he more upset than he let on and planned to take some sort of revenge?

Enzo just ignored him for the moment, letting the tension build, as he went to the fire before he started taunting Dante a bit. “Oh, I love a good fire,” he said contentedly as he made a show of warming his hands. “Ironic isn’t it? Since you left me to burn alive in one.”

“What’s in the bag?” Damon asked impatiently, getting the hint that it just might be revenge.

“More like who,” Enzo chuckled. “Since you and I last spoke I’ve done a bit of soul-searching. Had a trip to the barber and did a little research. Which revealed to me that you killed almost every member of the Whitmore family in the years since you’ve escaped, leaving just one alive each time to carry on the family name, producing a whole new generation of victims for you to slaughter.” It was proof that he’d never been forgotten. That Damon was getting revenge for both of them. Dante most likely. Which meant something. “Exactly as you said you’d do. Back when you and I were cellmates.”

“Well you know me. I like to keep my promises,” Damon joked tensely. The more Enzo babbled the more nervous he got.

“And it’s occurred to me that perhaps I wrote you off too quickly. That, in fact, I might actually appreciate meeting Dante. And I have a present for him,” Enzo smirked as he leaned down to open the bag.

“You brought me Aaron Whitmore,” Damon said almost relieved. It could have been a lot worse. “Alive,” he added when he listened for the heartbeat. The others were nervous about letting Dante out with Enzo. They weren’t sure if they could trust him. New people to care about were always tricky with Dante.

“He’s the last of the Whitmore clan,” Enzo said with a grin before reaching down and pulling his arm out. “Do you remember this vervain wristwatch? Doctor Whitmore never took it off. Even when he was rooting around in our chest cavities. It’s fitting Aaron should die wearing it too.” He was losing hope the more Damon hesitated, and the look on his face that said he didn’t want to be doing this. Maybe this was the wrong way to get to Dante. “So…do you want to kill him, or shall I?”

Damon decided to try and stall, not sure what he should do. He did at least pull Aaron out of the bag and lay him on the couch as he made excuses for waiting. Including wanting him awake to see death coming. Enzo didn’t argue with that and just poured himself another drink as he sat down in the chair.

“Much as I’ve enjoyed your quality bourbon, I feel confident that our next drink will taste better with the sound of young Aaron’s dying screams ringing in our ears and the knowledge that your final act of revenge will have brought us both closure and a new beginning,” Enzo said, knowing that Damon was stalling, but the indecision he could see in his features was enough for him to allow it and keep pushing. He’d never actually /tried/ to get to one of the personalities over the others before. He usually just accepted whoever came.

“I’m just curious. Do you ask all of your friends to prove their loyalty by killing someone over drinks?” Damon quipped.

“His grandfather slit our eyes open with a scalpel,” Enzo snapped, losing his patience as he got up to face Damon on an even keel. Trying to piss Dante off and get him to show himself. “You’ve taken out everyone else in the Whitmore family. I thought you’d want this?”

“Would you believe that he’s a friend of a friend?” Damon tried to appeal to sentiment.

“No. Because that would force me to believe that you’ve gone soft. When we both know that your very first impulse when I presented him to you was to rip out his throat.” He turned and went back to the chair, sitting down comfortably. “Let’s end this. For all of us.” When Damon’s phone chose that moment to ring, Enzo rolled his eyes at the timing. Especially when Aaron started waking up. “Looks like he’s coming round,” Enzo said impatiently, glad when Damon hung up the phone. “Time to make a decision, Dante. Do you want to kill him or should I?”

The call from Caroline, reminding him about Elena was enough to bring Eros back and he blurred over and snapped Enzo’s neck. A first for him. He was a lover not a fighter. But if he let them kill Aaron, then they would never get Elena back. He forced through the pain to get off the vervain wristwatch and then compelled Aaron to go pack up and leave town and never come back. And he needed to be gone before Enzo woke up. Then he raced for the party to find Elena. Having her rush into his arms felt like heaven, but then it started going downhill and he found himself dumped. For good, she said. No more chances. Eros’ pain was so great that Dante came out to dim it as Elena walked away. And now that he was out, he had someone to see.

He got back to the boarding house just in time for Enzo to be waking up and he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms with a cold smirk on his face. “Dante?” Enzo guessed. He’d never seen any of the others look so cold before. Especially not at him.

“I believe you wanted a word?” Dante raised an eyebrow. “Or is this to be a fight? You blame me for leaving you in that fire?”

“No. I don’t blame you. You didn’t know me. You didn’t have any reason to be loyal to me. But you’re part of my friends. So I want to at least make peace. Thought we could share a meal,” Enzo looked around as if pointing out that their meal was gone.

“We could. But I prefer to make it more fun. A bit of a hunt. I know where he’ll be very soon if you’d like to join me,” Dante decided. He didn’t do ‘friends’ but he could do lack of hostility. And see what this guy was made of in the process. Why the others were so protective of him. See if he was /worthy/ to be in their lives unlike all the other useless people that they surrounded themselves with. This one /knew/ them. And that made him a potential liability. And he protected them from those.

Chapter 4

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Enzo could see the fun in the game Dante wanted to teach him so he went out there and laid in the road, waiting for the car to come by. There was one but was it the right one was the question. Not that he wouldn’t mind an extra meal, of course. Sure enough, he heard the familiar voice asking if he was alright. “Never better,” he sat up with a smirk, enjoying the recognition and fear he could see dawning on the guy’s face. “We’ve been waiting for you.” That was Dante’s cue to blur in and lean against the car behind him. “Damon’s been teaching me a little game. See, he assured me you’d be on this road heading out of town.” It would take him a little practice to remember to refer to them all as Damon in front of other people. They’d never had other people around to worry about that with before.

“You said that you were gonna let me go,” Aaron said, feeling betrayed.

“I did. I tried,” Dante shrugged. One of them tried at least. More than one maybe.

“Does Elena know that you’re here?” he tried the only thing he could think of to stay alive.

“She’s the reason I’m here,” Dante smirked. Her twisting of the knife into Eros’ heart was enough to let him through. “No, scratch that. /I’m/ the reason I’m here,” he corrected, not wanting to let it seem like Elena had that much control over him.

“What do you want, Damon?” Aaron asked wearily.

“I want the same thing you want, Aaron,” Dante mocked. “Go back in time. Fix the past. Get someone back I’ve lost.” This kid was so easy it was sickening.

“Everyone that I’ve lost is because of you,” Aaron said hatefully. “You murdered my entire family. You.”

“Justifiably,” Enzo chimed in, enjoying watching Dante work. The toying with his prey. Playing with their heads. This was rather fun.

“Either way, I did it,” Dante said matter-of-factly. “I tore them apart. I liked the sounds they made. Because I realized they deserved it. Like you.”

“Elena was too good for you,” Aaron said coldly.

“I used to think that, yeah,” Damon said. “That I had to be better to deserve her love and she had to be worse to accept mine. I’d lie in the middle of the road, looking up at the stars, having conversations with people like you, trying to convince myself that killing them was a bad instinct and that sparing their lives was the right thing to do.” Core-Damon could be so maudlin sometimes.

“So what’d you do? Did you kill them?” Aaron challenged him, not seeing any point in being afraid anymore. He was dead anyway.

“It doesn’t matter. The point is, I was conflicted,” Dante told him. They were always conflicted. Just for being what they were. “But right now, in this very very moment,” he shared a smirk with Enzo, feeling like they were actually bonding. He saw no judgement over the psychological torture or playing with their food. “I am crystal clear. See, Elena thinks I’m a monster. And you know what? She’s right.” He gave that a second to sink in as he pulled his vampire face forward and advanced on him. He was so very tempted to kill him, but wanted to see if Enzo had what it took to see it through too, so he motioned him forward.

Enzo smirked and bracketed Aaron on the other side, vampire face showing too. He recognized a test when he saw one. Dante was the killer. The one who did whatever needed to be done to protect the rest. And Dante’s acceptance could only help him get his friends back. Even if he didn’t want to eat the last Whitmore himself, he wouldn’t risk failing this test anyway. But he /did/ so want to eat him and quickly sank his fangs into his neck draining him dry. They got Aaron in his own trunk and Dante let Enzo take that car back to the boarding house. They could find a chop shop later. And take care of the body later.
Tonight the others wanted to celebrate. Having Enzo back or the fact that Dante accepted him, he didn’t know, but he let Snarky back out to play. Damon underestimated how rusty Enzo was at driving, but they made it okay. Ish. And then spent the night getting sh*t-faced drunk and trashing the place. As familiar as Enzo was with all Damon’s personalities, save Dante who he’d just met, he’d never seen them cycle so rapidly as they did that night. It made him feel good to know that they’d all apparently missed him.
He spent some time talking about literature with Core-Damon, and admitted that he’d looked up his books and was working his way through them. He talked old war stories with Sal for a while. Commiserated with Saint over the Augustine torture. Eros wasn’t out for long and just chased the bottom of the bottle moaning over Elena, but he did say hello at least and ask if Enzo had found Maggie yet, which Enzo told him he was working on. Just not too hard yet. There were more important things. The rest of the time was spent partying with Snarky. Sammy was the only one who didn’t come out given the way the booze was flowing. He would reconnect with Sammy again later. And had even brought him a present. They ended up passing out on couches in the wee hours of the morning.

Damon woke up to the sound of the front door opening and rolled off the couch with a groan. Since it was Stefan, Snarky was roused for the conversation. “Hey. Sorry about the mess. Had some company and things got a little out of hand.”

“You want to tell me what the hell’s going on out in the driveway?” Stefan asked sternly.

“Ah. I let Enzo drive last night. He’s a little out of practice. Almost ended up in the damn foyer,” he chuckled.

“Huh,” Stefan said, giving his brother a pointed look.

“Oh! You mean Aaron,” Damon pretended to remember.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, well, last night we hunted him down and ripped his throat out,” Damon said matter-of-factly. “You know, I just figured it’s time to shove the last branch of the Whitmore family tree into the woodchipper.” He turned up the half empty bottle he’d found.

“So…Elena breaks up with you…and your first instinct is to go on a killing spree. Could you be any more predictable?” Stefan asked disappointed. All the progress that his brother had made in becoming a better person was now coming undone. This was exactly why he’d tried to get him and Elena back together in the first place.

“It was my idea if it makes you feel any better,” Enzo said as he came in behind Stefan. He wasn’t gonna let Damon take the blame for what he and Dante had done. “Enzo. Remember? We met when…”

“When you were trying to tear Damon’s head off. Yeah, I remember,” Stefan ignored the hand again as he turned back to Damon. “So what? You guys are old pals again? Murder buddies? Is that it?”

“Oh you know how it goes. I left him for dead. He tried to kill me. We worked things out,” Damon quipped. “You spend five years with someone in a dungeon, you have a pretty unbreakable bond,” he met Enzo’s eyes with a smirk as he passed the bottle around Stefan.

“Say, you haven’t heard from doctor Wes Maxfield by any chance?” Enzo asked Stefan. “Bloke’s next on the Augustine hit list and he’s a slippery little devil,” he said as he turned up the bottle. Best to change the subject if possible.

“Is that the plan?” Stefan asked Damon, not so keen on the change of subject idea. “Kill off Augustine and then go back to your sad*stic psychotic old self?”

“I happen to like my old sad*stic self, Stefan,” Damon said pointedly, not seeing any point in arguing over his past character with his brother any more than he had in the past. It never did any good anyway. Stefan would always think of him as the root of all evil and would never see that he was only sad*stic when he had reason to be. Stefan knew nothing about him really. At least Enzo did. He hadn’t anticipated how freeing it would feel to have someone he didn’t have to pretend with. “In fact, I miss that guy. That guy was dumb enough to try and change himself to get a girl,” he laughed bitterly. Like they could ever really change. “Seek another hobby, brother, because I’m not in the mood to be saved.”

“What do you say? Should we get you a new hobby?” Enzo asked wryly, playing along. Snarky Damon was always amusing to hang with. “Golf? Scrapbooking?” he suggested as he went to pour himself and Damon drinks rather than continuing to drink from the bottle.

“Scrapbooking,” Damon threw his vote in on that one. Just a step up from journaling really.

“Come on, Damon. You’re better than this,” Stefan tried to reason with him. He knew that Damon was spiraling right now, but letting this other guy drag him back into the darkness wasn’t something he was just going to lay down for.

“On the contrary, brother. I’m better /like/ this,” Damon smirked. When he could be himself. When he could be free. He knew that they could never let someone like Wes Maxfield live. Even without how dangerous he was with that vampire ripper virus, just the fact that he was a torturer marked him for death. That he tortured Enzo, and Elena, just made it clearer that he would never let him go. And as long as Dante was willing to play nice with Enzo, they could take care of it. Stefan just turned and walked out disgustedly.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

Once Stefan was gone, Sammy finally had enough of waiting, and Enzo saw the wide open grin break out on Damon’s face. “Enzo! You’re back! You were gone forever.”

“Sorry, Sammy,” Enzo reached out to ruffle his hair. “I was still stuck in the bad place for a long time and then needed some time to get better.”

“But…why didn’t we get you out?” Sammy asked with tears in his eyes. “We were supposed to get you out.”

“Sometimes plans don’t work out. Things got crazy and you guys thought I was dead. But I’m back now and I brought you a present,” Enzo tried to distract him from asking any more questions about that difficult subject. And especially get those tears out of his eyes. He never could stand to see Sammy cry.

“A present?” Sammy perked up. “What is it?”

“You have to open it to see, silly,” Enzo chuckled as he went to grab his bag that he left there when he brought Aaron Whitmore. He reached in and pulled out the wrapped present and handed it to him. As he’d expected Sammy ripped off the wrapping paper like it was confetti and then hugged it to his chest happily. “You said you always wanted a pet turkey. This one you can keep forever.”

“Thank you, Enzo!” Sammy barreled into him with a hug, keeping one arm around his new turkey plushie.

Enzo hugged him back cheerfully, though it did feel a little weird that the ‘little kid’ was the same size as him. He would get used to it though. Just like he did everything else. They’d never been able to actually hug before in separate cells. “You’re welcome, sport. I’m glad you like it.”

“I’m gonna call him Zoey. After you,” Sammy decided as he pulled back and held up the turkey and asked it, “What do you think? Do you like the name Zoey? Okay. Zoey it is,” he decided. “You wanna come see my room?” he didn’t wait for an answer before he grabbed Enzo’s hand and started dragging him that way.

“Sure, Sammy,” Enzo said amusedly as he followed. He would give the kid an hour or two before he asked him to let someone else come out so they could get to work. He looked around the room making the appropriate comments to everything Sammy showed him and then sat down and played legos with him for a while as Sammy chattered happily about everything under the sun.

Sammy had missed having someone to play with when he was out since Elena left. And even with Elena he had to pretend not to be Sammy and only got to do a few things. This was a hundred times better. He was happy to have his best friend back. His only friend. He didn’t completely understand why he couldn’t make friends with other kids. Not since Stefan was a kid like him. He knew it was one of the big rules though, so he followed it.

Once they finished the castle they were building, with Enzo’s help, Sammy dropped the last two blocks and changed demeanor, getting up to gently put the stuffed turkey back on the bed. “Sal?” Enzo guessed. He was usually pretty good at knowing who was who just from the way they carried themselves.

“Yes. We cannot delay too long in finding this mad doctor and removing him from this world,” Sal said as they headed out of Sammy’s room, locking it back behind them and returning the key to the hiding place.

“Agreed,” Enzo told him as Sal gestured Enzo into another room and then out to the balcony facing the back of the house to light a cigarette. “Thanks,” Enzo took the one he was offered. He wasn’t much of a smoke, but wouldn’t turn it down either. “There were two different brands?” Enzo asked curiously.

“I like Camels, but Dante prefers Winstons,” Sal told him.

“Ah. I didn’t realize Dante was a smoker too,” Enzo said understandingly. He knew none of the others smoked.

“He is,” Sal said before getting to the important subject. “I thought, to find the doctor, we would begin looking through all of his labs and computers to find any clues as to where he might go. Do you know how to use a computer yet?”

“Yeah, it was one of the things I made a point to learn. And about the internet you mentioned before,” Enzo said amusedly.

“Good. You can work with one of the Damons for that,” Sal told him, having no interest in learning more than the basics about computers himself. He didn’t even like to use the smartphone any more than he had to. The phone didn’t seem all that smart to him. They spent a while discussing strategy before heading out to get to work.

Once they were back and ensconced in Damon’s room to go through all the papers and thumb drives they’d found, Snarky extended the invitation for Enzo to stay at the boarding house. Enzo might have declined just to avoid the confrontation with Stefan but decided that Damon needed his support more than Enzo needed to avoid the headache. He deserved to have someone around he didn’t have to pretend with. And if he could help prime Stefan for Damon’s revelations all the better. He had every intention of trying to convince Damon to tell the others that he was close to about himself. Keeping the secret from most people was fine, but family at least should know. That was a conversation for later though.

It took them days to get through everything. Mostly since, on Damon’s side, Sal, Saint, Dante, Snarky, and Core Damon all had to have a look and make sure no one else missed anything. They didn’t have anything concrete on locations, but they did have a few people that might know more and worked their way through the list. This was taking and interrogating prisoners, so Sal did most of the work. Until torture came into play then Dante took over. None of the people had anything useful, but they were all part of the doctor’s sick experiments, so they died anyway and body duty was alternated. By body, not by personality, which meant Enzo got to bury half of them.

Enzo was burying his last one when he heard someone approaching and realized it was Stefan. Well…this should be interesting. “I see Damon’s got you on shallow grave duty,” Stefan said, glad that he’d managed to find Enzo for this conversation.

“Yeah, mate. Grab a shovel,” Enzo said, despite knowing that Stefan wouldn’t.

“I’ll pass. Buried enough skeletons out here,” Stefan said wryly.

“I’m sensing a metaphor,” Enzo rolled his eyes.

“I think you need to find a new best friend,” Stefan got to the point. He wasn’t giving his brother up without a fight. “Damon’s in a bad place right now and you’re not really making things better. I know you just got out of captivity and looking to blow off a little steam, which is fine. Just…do me a favor. Leave my brother out of it.”

“I find it absolutely hilarious that you don’t know the first thing about your brother and still manage to think you know what’s best for him,” Enzo said amusedly.

“You think I don’t know my own brother?” Stefan bristled.

“I /know/ you don’t. But you’re gonna believe me anyway, so why bother,” Enzo shook his head and got back to what he was doing.

That just pissed Stefan off and he snatched the shovel from Enzo’s hand and swept his legs out from under him before putting the handle of the shovel against his chest. “Why don’t you be a ‘mate’, huh? Get in that car, start driving, and don’t look back.”

Enzo let out a harsh laugh as he grabbed the shovel and stabbed it into his own chest. “You think that hurts?” he asked bitterly. “I’m curious, Stefan. What do you think you can do to me that hasn’t been done a hundred times before? Go on. Give it your best shot,” he let go.

Stefan flipped the shovel around at vampire speed and put the sharp part at Enzo’s neck in perfect position to behead him. If he’d had any doubts this guy was crazy before, they’d be long gone now. “What I do to you, Enzo, will be final. You got it?”

Before Stefan could blink he was pinned against the tree by his brother who had an arm across his throat looking as cold and dangerous as he’d ever seen him. “You touch him, Stefan, and what I do to /you/ will be final. You got it?” Dante snarled. Seeing how much happier everyone was with Enzo around, how accepted and free they felt, how much better they worked together…no one was threatening that. Not even Stefan.

“Yeah. I got it,” Stefan croaked out, tapping Damon’s arm to make him let go and when he did, Stefan slumped over gasping for breath. “So that’s how it’s gonna be then. You’re choosing him over your own brother.”

“You’re the only one making this a competition, Stefan. Grow the hell up,” Dante snapped before letting Snarky back out to check on Enzo. He didn’t do the touchy feely parts. He was done after the threats and intimidation.

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

Since all of the people they looked into ended up being dead ends, Damon and Enzo started looking into the sketchy mentions of locations that their attention to detail managed to sift out. With as much as they were gone chasing leads, and the fact that they were sequestered away most of the time when they were home, Stefan hadn’t caught on to the fact that Enzo was living there yet which they found rather amusing. Sure, there were a few nights when Enzo and Snarky were partying and drinking in the parlor, but Stefan just thought Enzo was coming by for that. They didn’t dare go down to Sammy’s room anytime Stefan was in the house though, but Sammy and Enzo did play a bit in Damon’s room when he was home. He had a few toys hidden in there in a secret compartment under Damon’s bed after all. Including some sketchbooks that they could play hangman and tic tac toe on like they used to do in the cells with the dirt on the floor. Under a loose floorboard were cigarettes for Dante and Sal for when it wasn’t feasible to get to the other side of the house for a smoke too and Damon’s room had a balcony as well, so they were set.

It took them a total of two weeks to find Wes Maxfield from the time they started looking, and they found him holed up at an abandoned hospital in Richmond that had only been mentioned in passing in his files since he’d gotten equipment from there. Since Dante took over as soon as they got there, fully intending to play with the doctor, there was no banter or chit chat as they crept through the halls. When the group of travelers were found, Dante was on them immediately, followed half a second later by Enzo and they were dead before they could get a spell off. Not even Dante played with witches. When they were attacked by another vampire Wes apparently had stashed away, a rather crazed one at that, they made short work of him too. They were impatient to find Maxfield, and they finally did, catching him just before he got to his car to make a run for it.

He was dragged back inside, and Enzo was honestly a little creeped out by the smirk on Dante’s face. Not that he would admit it, of course. Or the fact that he got a bit chilled by the slow methodical emotionless way Dante was taking Wes apart. It was a beautiful work of art. But also, a bit terrifying. He found himself watching more than assisting when he realized he was doing a lot more permanent damage than Dante. It took hours for the disgusting man to die and they were both covered in blood by that point, but went searching for any samples and research to destroy before cleaning up and heading home, putting that part of their life in the past.

As they walked into the boarding house, they found Caroline curled up in a chair reading a book that she quickly tried to hide, but Snarky blurred forward and snatched it. “Wild Rose by Eros Salvador,” he read amusedly.

“That’s what you’re reading?” Enzo tried not to laugh.

Caroline snatched the book back and leveled a sharp look at Enzo. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“I’m Enzo,” he introduced himself.

“Oh. You’re Enzo,” she said with a frown.

“And this is Caroline,” Damon said since she wasn’t introducing herself.

“Pleased to meet you, gorgeous,” Enzo said amusedly.

“So you like that book?” Eros asked as he came out to talk to her about it.

“Why, so you can make fun of me?” Caroline huffed as she put the book away in her purse.

“No, I actually love the book too,” Eros told her.

“Oh yeah? Then how does it end?” Caroline asked smugly.

“Rosaline finds Jace working in a cobalt mine in the Congo and sells her mansion on the moor to purchase him from the slavers and they get married in the park where they met as children,” Eros answered.

“Wait what?!” Caroline asked, grabbing the book back out and flipped to the end. “Oh my god! I can’t believe you just spoiled the ending!”

“I can’t believe you /asked/ for the ending if you didn’t want to hear it,” Eros laughed.

“I didn’t think you’d actually read the book,” Caroline huffed.

“Yeah, if he says he read a book, then he read it,” Enzo said amusedly, handing Eros the drink he poured him. “There probably aren’t many he hasn’t read.”

“Have you read any of Eros Salvador’s other stuff?” Caroline asked, putting aside all differences in favor of talking about her favorite author.

“I’ve read everything he’s written,” Eros said amusedly.

“Even Endless Soul?” she asked. That one had only come out last month.

“Yep. Even that one.”

“Okay, don’t spoil that one for me. I’m getting to it next,” she told him quickly before they launched into a detailed discussion about the writing style in general and a few of the books in particular. Enzo had never read the books himself, not being much of a romance fan, but based on what they were saying, he was able to interject a few things into the conversation. Often just questions to dig deeper into the writer’s motivations, finding it hilarious that Caroline had no idea she was talking to the actual author of the books. Eventually she posed a question, “I’ve considered trying to look the author up, but I’m afraid I’d end up disappointed.”

“How so?” Eros asked.

“Well, what if it’s some ninety year old lady with a dozen cats and a smoking problem,” Caroline said amusedly.

“Eros is a male name,” Enzo pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’s obviously a pen name. Just the fact that the author never does book signings or even has an author picture in any of the books makes that obvious,” Caroline rolled her eyes.

“So, you think it’s an old woman?” Enzo tried not to laugh at the disgruntled look on Eros’ face.

“Maybe. But it’s clearly either a woman or gay guy. No way a straight guy could ever write romance like that,” Caroline said, completely sure of herself. “You agree with me, right Damon?”

“I…couldn’t really say,” was all Eros managed, too deep in thought. So much so that Core-Damon took over to continue the literature discussion. Romance wasn’t his personal preference, but he didn’t hate it. He did try to steer the conversation towards his preferred adventure books though, which it seemed Caroline enjoyed too. Not necessarily the same books, but some overlapped.

Enzo was able to participate much more in that discussion, that being his preferred genre as well and he asked casually, “Have you ever read Nomad Torevasal’s stuff?” He knew that Core-Damon was in charge now.

“You know Nomad Torevasal’s books?” Stefan asked surprised as he came in.

“He’s my favorite adventure writer,” Enzo told him.

“Mine too,” Stefan said dubiously, not sure how he felt about the idea of sharing something like a favorite writer with someone he hated so much. “He just has this way of making you feel like you’re really there.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, mate. Especially the Pirate’s Landing series. You can almost smell the sea air,” Enzo added.

“Oh and what about Desert Dreams,” Stefan chimed in with his favorite book.

“Just nobody spoil any endings until I can look him up and read them,” Caroline chimed in. She would have to look up this guy too.

Damon joined the conversation about his own books amusedly, not sure if he should thank Enzo or smack him. Though knowing that his brother enjoyed his books meant something. This was the first time Core-Damon had interacted with his brother since they became vampires. He couldn’t handle seeing the monster Stefan became for a while, nor could he handle the constant vilification of him after that. Whenever Stefan showed up, Snarky Damon took over. Or Dante when needed. Sometimes even Sal when the situation called for it. But as long as the conversation stayed on his books and off himself, Damon could handle this much.

It couldn’t last forever though, because the conversation took a turn when Caroline started looking up Nomad Torevasal’s books on Amazon and Enzo offered, “I have all his books upstairs if you want to borrow some.”

“Upstairs?” Caroline asked with a tilt of her head. “Do you live here or something?”

“Yep. Yeah. No,” was said by Damon, Enzo, and Stefan respectively, but the Stefan turned and looked at them incredulously. “Since when do you live here?”

“Since about two weeks ago give or take?” Enzo asked Damon for confirmation.

“That sounds about right,” Damon nodded, Stefan’s attitude sending Core-Damon into retreat and bringing Snarky Damon back. “His room is a few doors down from mine.”

“And you didn’t think you should ask me about this? Or at least /tell/ me before moving someone in?” Stefan asked pointedly.

“It’s my house too, Stefan, and I figured you’d notice. Not my fault you’re clueless,” Damon shrugged unconcerned.

“I can’t believe you haven’t noticed someone else living here for two weeks,” Caroline snickered.

“Is that why we suddenly started keeping Funyuns in the house?” Stefan realized.

“Yep. That would be Enzo,” Damon snickered. “Don’t know how he can stand such a potent flavor.”

“Says the guy whose favorite food is pickles,” Enzo gave him a playful shove, knowing he was dealing with Snarky now. Core-Damon’s favorite food was chocolate chip cookies.

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

Eros was finally out of his depressed slump and had a new obsession. One that actually relieved the others quite a bit. He finally chose someone they could consider worthy. Whether it would actually happen remained to be seen, but as long as he wasn’t cruelly rejected, it should be okay. The regular pining they could live with and at least this one wouldn’t break his heart even if he did get rejected.

The next evening, Enzo was sitting on his bed picking at his guitar when someone suddenly flopped onto his stomach next to him. It took a look for him to know, “What can I do for you, Eros?” He had the same lazy relaxed demeanor as Snarky, but Snarky never had such a soft look on his face. Or flopped on his stomach. He would have flopped onto his back instead.

“Did you ever consider dating men before?” Eros asked casually.

“Not really,” Enzo answered honestly. “It’s not something that was really talked about in the past or accepted, so it’s not something I ever thought about.”

“Yeah. Same here. But is it something you’re against?” Eros asked.

Enzo considered for a second before shaking his head. “No. I’m not against it. Why?” he suddenly started getting a suspicion and sure enough…

Eros grinned with a light in his eyes. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” he started, not at all daunted by the way Enzo rolled his eyes. “Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer’s lease hath all too short a date…”

“Oh get out of here, you plonker,” Enzo laughed and gave his head a playful shove.

“Oh, my heart,” Eros rolled off the bed to his feet, holding his chest theatrically. “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” He chuckled as he ducked the pillow Enzo threw at his head before leaving. Enzo wasn’t against the idea. He didn’t say no. He could be worn down. Probably just didn’t think he was serious. That could be fixed. It was a much better place than they started with Elena, after all.

Enzo shook his head amusedly as Eros left. At least the guy was bouncing back after having his heart broken. He hated seeing Eros so down. He didn’t dare consider the fact that he might have been serious. He knew that if he let himself go there, there would be no going back. Not with Eros. Or with either of the Damons. He knew better than to let himself fall.

Eros found his way down to the kitchen, craving some strawberries and got a bowlful before running into Stefan on the way out. “I thought you liked pickles?” Stefan asked confused, having never seen his brother eating strawberries before. Though now that he thought about it, they did keep them in the house for some reason. He didn’t really know when they started though, not usually paying attention to such things, so probably would have assumed they were for Enzo who he still didn’t like staying there, but wasn’t willing to push his brother away even more to kick out.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t eat other things, Stef,” Eros said cheerfully as he continued back up to his room, popping one of the berries into his mouth. He needed to make plans to woo a particular stoic vampire.

“I know that,” Stefan called after him. Damon just didn’t seem like the strawberry type. He’d never seen him eat any kind of fruit at all actually. Maybe rarely an apple if it was laying around, but even then he wouldn’t come down to the kitchen for one to take back to his room. That kind of thing was reserved for cravings. Which were usually a favorite food. If not for the fact that Damon had seemed a bit weird in general, he wouldn’t have even mentioned it, but something about the way he was carrying himself or the tone of his voice was just…off. He soon put it out of his mind. This was Damon. He changed moods on a dime all the time. It was just usually between snarky and deadly. Unless Elena was around of course. Maybe that was it. He and Elena were talking again. Hopefully they would work things back out. That might even solve the Enzo problem too. He could hope.

The next morning, Enzo was downstairs in the parlor working on a song on his guitar after Stefan left to go somewhere, when he heard pattering feet and then the unmistakable sound of someone sliding down the banister. Sammy was out apparently. “Hey Enzo. Let’s go out for ice cream,” he bounced on his feet.

“In public? Are you allowed?” Enzo asked curiously. He knew them all well, but was still learning how they functioned in the outside world.

“Uh-huh. Mama said it’s okay as long as I ‘conduct myself properly’” he said the last part in a clear mimic as he scrunched his nose.

“Okay then. Let’s go for ice cream,” Enzo agreed. Mama was one that he’d never met and knew that she didn’t come out, but she was in charge. At least from what he could pick up from the few mentions of her. Sammy was the only one who talked about her often. He’d done some research into what was now called Dissociative Identity Disorder and how it worked during his time away getting himself together and figured mama was the gatekeeper and probably the internal self-helper too. Once they were in the car, after Enzo had been handed the keys, he asked, “Do you ever go out for ice cream yourself?”

“Sometimes. One of the others will drive and then let me come out when we get there. For a while I always went with Elena before she went away,” Sammy chattered.

“Sorry, sport. You miss her?” Enzo asked, trying to figure out more how the alters interacted with other people. And how the hell no one noticed.

“Kinda, but kinda not,” Sammy shrugged. He was used to people coming and going, and while he did have fun with her, “I got pulled back sometimes with her in the middle of what we were doing.”

“Ah. I see,” Enzo said sympathetically, easily guessing why. Elena didn’t know about Sammy, so she would have treated him like Damon. And while playful and fun was good, Sammy couldn’t process things like when she went for a kiss or more, so someone else was always available to jump in when that happened. All the more reason she should have been told, but he did understand why they were afraid to tell her. “Do you ever play with anyone else?”

“No, the rest of the time I played by myself, but she was around all the time and I don’t like being locked away all the time,” Sammy shuddered.

“Has that ever happened?” Enzo asked concerned, noticing the sad tone in his voice. “That you were locked away for a long time?” He knew that even in the cells he came out at least once every few days in the evenings when it was safest and all the healing was done.

“Uh-huh. When Dante came I was locked away /forever/ before he let me out again,” Sammy said morosely. “But he promised to never lock me away for that long again.”

“That’s good. I’m glad. You shouldn’t have to be locked away,” Enzo told him, figuring out that he meant when Dante had their humanity off. He wondered if it was the letting Sammy out that brought it back and if the others felt locked away during that time too. They chatted a little more about better things before they got to the ice cream parlor. Enzo had brought them to the city instead of Mystic Falls, knowing that Sammy liked holding people’s hands when they were out and about and didn’t want to answer any questions from the people who knew Damon.

As Enzo expected, once they got out of the car and were headed inside, Sammy took his hand. Not in the way a couple was more likely to with fingers threaded together, but in the way a child did, with fingers together just cupping each other’s hands. Enzo, of course, let Sammy get what he wanted which was two scoops of rocky road with a scoop of chocolate fudge swirl between them. Enzo just got a single scoop of his favorite butter pecan. He wasn’t particularly a fan of ice cream, but he could live with it. They sat at an out of the way table and chatted while they ate their ice cream before heading back to Mystic Falls.

Since they didn’t know when Stefan would be back, Sammy had a glass of tea from one of the partially hidden bottles for him on the lower shelf of the drink cart and got some of his toy soldiers and dragon figurines for him and Enzo to play with on the couch. Once they heard Stefan’s car drive up, the figurines were quickly put in pockets and Sammy finished his tea just in time for Snarky to come out and deal with Stefan. Enzo refilled the glass with bourbon, as well as his own and even poured one for Stefan.

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

Stefan was trying to at least be civil with Enzo. If he pushed Damon away completely then he might as well give up on him forever. At least he could be here to /try/ and counteract Enzo’s bad influence on him. As such he took the offered drink politely and sat down to talk for a while. He started with the subject he was wondering about yesterday. “Have you talked to Elena recently?”

“No, why?” Damon asked lazily, not liking this subject at all. Especially with Enzo here. They were letting Eros do the wooing, but talking about the ex wouldn’t help that much at all.

“I just wondered. You seemed like you were in a good mood yesterday so I thought maybe…” Stefan trailed off with a shrug.

“You think that the only way I can be in a good mood is if I was talking to the ex that never accepted me or understood me and then broke my heart?” Damon asked wryly.

“She did accept you and understand you,” Stefan said emphatically. “More than anyone else, she stood up for you. Defended you. How can you say that she didn’t accept or understand you?” He just couldn’t make that make sense. It had to be something that Enzo was putting in his head.

“If you say so, little brother,” Damon snorted. He was starting to get used to being truly accepted and understood with Enzo around and he liked it. Granted he knew that it was party his own fault, /their/ fault, that no one understood them, but if they’d ever really bothered to /look/ they would have figured /something/ out and backed him into a corner. They just saw what they wanted to see and ignored everything that didn’t fit their views.

“Echoes of the Jungle,” Enzo jumped in to change the subject to the only thing he and Stefan agreed on and had a civil conversation about before. “Have you read that one? I just finished it last night.” He was still working his way through Damon’s books and considering giving Eros’ a try too. He wasn’t really into the romance genre in general, but it was supporting a friend either way, and he didn’t /hate/ romance books.

“No, I’m not letting you change the subject just to avoid whatever crap you’re putting in my brother’s head,” Stefan said bitterly.

“Excuse me? You think I can’t think for myself?” Damon asked incredulously.

“Clearly /someone/ is convincing you of crazy things if you’re claiming that Elena of all people is like that,” Stefan said pointedly. “The one person who saw the good in you before anyone else did. The one person who gave you chance after chance. The one who spent so long convincing everyone she cared about that there was more to you than they saw.” When he noticed Enzo snickering quietly, he rounded on him. “You think this is funny? That messing with his head is a joke?”

“Not at all. I would never mess with his head. It’s messy enough as it is,” Enzo teased Damon and got a playful shove in return as Damon barked a laugh at that. “Just think it’s hilarious how any of you think you actually know him when you’re blind as bats.”

“Whatever. I just can’t even do this right now,” Stefan drained the last of his drink and set the glass down hard before telling Damon, “You need to get your head straight and figure out the difference between fantasy and reality. And do it fast before you lose everything.” With that, he stormed up to his room.

“Always the dramatic one he is,” Saint sighed as he came out.

“I’ve noticed,” Enzo chuckled. “Nice to see you Saint.” He didn’t hang around much. His primary purpose was take on the pain that the others couldn’t. He wondered if that meant that Stefan had hurt them more than they let on, or if he just wanted to ‘stretch his legs’ a bit. They did that sometimes too. Just to have a drink or a smoke for those that did so or have someone to talk to. Once he realized that Saint was an introject of himself, he definitely started having more of a soft spot for this one though. Not that he saw himself as a martyr like Saint did, of course, but there were still similarities. “Are the others okay?”

“Well enough,” Saint told him, knowing what he was asking. They were hurt, yes, but not badly enough that he /needed/ to be out. And that kind of hurt would be more Dante’s forte anyway. He was the one who dulled the emotional pain until they could work through it. “Does it bother you, helping us keep this secret?”

“Not really, no. I don’t think it /should/ be kept secret. Not from the people you’re close to anyway. But it’s not mine to tell,” Enzo told him as he refilled their drinks.

“It’s not an easy thing to admit to. Being broken,” Saint told him.

“I know. I get that,” Enzo said sympathetically. “But I don’t think of you as broken. I just think of you as different. I have a bunch of friends. They just happen to inhabit the same body.”

“And that’s why we like you so much. You don’t make us /feel/ broken,” Saint said with a rare smile.

“I always envied you all in a way, you know?” Enzo admitted.

“How so?” Saint asked surprised.

“You have a system where none of you get overwhelmed. You have someone who can take the pain and compartmentalize it. You don’t have to try and meld all the different aspects of yourself into one person and figure out who you are and how all the pieces fit together. You’ll never lose your childlike joy and innocence. You’ll never lose your longing for love. You’ll never lose /yourself/ in other people’s expectations because you all carry a different part of yourself. Does that make sense?”

“It does,” Saint nodded thoughtfully. “We’d never thought of it like that.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s hard. That you have challenges and fears the rest of us can’t even comprehend. That you’ll never be completely understood, even by me. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find the good in it too, you know?” Enzo told him. There was a lot that even he didn’t understand about his friends and how they functioned. His mind couldn’t even really process the disconnects that must take place between mind and body to even allow it. He could just accept it as it was and go with it.

“You do make an excellent point,” Saint told him. “But the world will still see us as broken. Will still look down on us with pity or condescension.”

“Maybe. But maybe the people you’re closest to can learn to understand like I do. You remember how I reacted at first. How confused I was. How many questions I had,” Enzo reminded him. “But I never pitied you, or looked down on you.” He’d actually found it fascinating. Things were always interesting around them. Always a new point of view or a new perspective or a new idea.

“Yes. We remember,” Saint gave a rare chuckle. “You made us feel safe for the first time in our lives. Free. Which was rather ironic given our situation at the time.”

“I don’t think ironic is a strong enough word for it, mate,” Enzo laughed. The two of them talked for another couple hours. Enzo did enjoy the deep introspective conversations with Saint just as much as he enjoyed the others. With most people they only saw one or two sides of someone, but at least some people were more complex than that and Enzo enjoyed having outlets for all his different sides in his friends.

Once that conversation wound down, Enzo noticed that Eros was out, and rolled his eyes amusedly at the sappy greeting of, “Hello my dearest love.”

“Hey, Eros,” he replied casually. He knew what Eros was doing. He was trying to get over Elena by scrambling for whatever love he could find and Enzo was here and available and he was latching on. If they were anyone else, Enzo might have been willing to be the rebound. Have some fun. Soak in the affection. Anyone would want to be loved the way Eros loved. But he wasn’t anyone else, and Enzo couldn’t be a rebound. Not for him. Not for /them/.

Eros knew that going too hard too fast wouldn’t help his case much, so he settled down to just talk. If he was turned sideways towards Enzo, head resting on the back of the couch gazing at him while they chatted, then oh well. And the occasional compliments that came out in the conversation couldn’t be held back. Enzo’s eyes /were/ the color of warm chocolate and his skin /was/ ‘sun-kissed perfection’, and his smile /was/ as radiant as a glowing star in the night sky, lighting up the room. And when he grabbed Enzo’s guitar that had been discarded earlier, there was one particular song on the top of his mind.

“He's everything you want, he's everything you need. He's everything inside of you that you wish you could be. He says all the right things at exactly the right time. But he means nothing to you and you don't know why. You're waiting for someone to put you together. You're waiting for someone to push you away. There's always another wound to discover. There's always something more you wish he'd say…” Eros sang as he played the song by Vertical Horizon.

Enzo could handle this much easier. At least if it didn’t seem like Eros was serenading him. So he went over to the piano and joined in. This was just playing music with a friend. It didn’t matter that it happened to be a love song. Just like he could ignore the besotted looks while they were talking. The compliments were a little harder, but he could manage. Eros would get bored and find someone else to shower soon enough. Or even learn to function without someone to love and to chase. Not as likely, but possible. Once the song was over, he grabbed his guitar back from Eros’ hands. “Get your own guitar, you doofus,” he said with a laugh. “Or you take the piano and I’ll take the guitar.” Eros took the second option and joined in the song that Enzo started before he had a chance to pick another one.

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

Enzo played for a while with Eros, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He loved sharing music with people and Eros was the musician of the group. Core-Damon played some piano, but usually just puttered around with it while trying to get his muse going. He just had to ignore the undertone to it all with Eros for the moment. After a while, Sal came out and suggested a meal. It was usually Sal, Snarky, or Dante who took care of the vampire feeding. With Dante, people usually died though, so he only did so when someone needed to die. Even if it was just spotting some creep roofie a girl or some guy smacking his girl around. It was usually Snarky Damon when they were having fun and partying it up at the bars and clubs. Otherwise, it was Sal when they were just going out to eat without any other preamble.

Enzo and Sal headed out to the city to eat a few people, enjoying their nice chat and, of course, only smoking with the windows down in the car. And had one or two at the outdoor café they were scouting their meals at. Once they got home from that, they split up to their separate rooms. Core-Damon wanted a nice relaxing bath and to work on his newest book for the evening and Enzo could use some time to work on a new song he’d been picking around with recently that he couldn’t get quite right. He wasn’t complaining at all when there was a knock on his door about an hour later and the one he recognized as Core-Damon came in. He didn’t get a whole lot of time with this Damon. He wasn’t as social as some of the others. He did enjoy their talks about books though and, of course, the reason that brought him there this time.

“My muse has abandoned me,” he sighed heavily as he sat in the chair at Enzo’s desk.

“I know the feeling,” Enzo said sympathetically. He liked that he was good at jumpstarting Damon’s muse. Just the little things he would say or do would spark an idea that he could run with. Or even just talking out the problem could get him over the hump. “You want to talk about it or a distraction from it?” he asked, wondering which this would be.

“I know what big thing I want to happen next, but getting from where I am now to the start of that one is just…staring at a blank page,” Damon huffed.

“Tell me about this one then. See if we can’t get those creative juices flowing,” Enzo suggested, and then got the brief overview of the new book and the characters. They didn’t really push at the wall Damon was experiencing. That wouldn’t be helpful, but they did discuss the psychology of the characters, the overall plot, and the relationship dynamics between them. And that was enough to jog it loose. They also discussed the song Enzo was working on too that he was struggling with. Funny enough it was the transitions that were giving him fits too and Damon helped him work that out as well and realize that he was just overthinking it. Once they were both over their respective writer’s block, they returned to their previous activities and Enzo finally got his song finished and Damon made good progress on his book.

Over the next few days Eros got more persistent with Enzo. Wanting to make him see that he was being serious. The others had seen it before him, but now that he saw it too, he couldn’t make it go away. They had dumped Elena as soon as Enzo was back in their lives. Because he was the right one for them without question. They might not have all realized the depth of it until Eros did, but they saw that they needed Enzo in a way they never could have Elena or anyone else. Maybe it always would have been Enzo if the idea of being with a guy had dawned on them before. But then they’d still been chasing Katherine at that time and then Enzo was dead, or so they thought, but now he was back and Eros wasn’t giving up. Even though the others would only let him try once a day. He tried songs and poetry, both his own and other people’s. He tried just talking to him and showing him how well they fit. He was starting to think this might be a longer fight like Elena had been. Which would require a change in methodology. But he had one more to try first.

When Enzo got home, he heard the piano and could tell that it was Eros and recognized the song that was playing. He was almost prepared for the way Eros met his eyes when he came in as he sang, “I can’t make you love me if you don’t. You can’t make your heart feel something it won’t. Here in the dark, in these final hours. I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power. But you won't, no you won't. 'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't…” What Enzo wasn’t prepared for was the slam of emotions hitting him. The heartbreak and hopelessness in Eros’ voice. He knew that he couldn’t keep going like this any longer. He needed a different way to handle this. Just waiting for him redirect to someone else wasn’t working.

When the song ended and Eros got up to leave with a sad look, Enzo stopped him, bracketing him against the wall, almost touching but not quite. “If you catch me, Eros, what happens then hmm?” Enzo asked, voice thick with emotion. “How long until you get bored without the chase? Until you realize that I’m not the one you really want.”

Eros realized then what the problem was and he reached a hand to cup Enzo’s cheek. “That won’t happen,” he said earnestly. “You /are/ the one I really want. It should always have been you all along.”

That was what Enzo both wanted and feared to hear so he thought fast. “Okay, how about a deal then. You and the others agree to tell your big secret to those close to you, and I will go on a date with you,” he decided, unable to resist leaning into Eros’ touch. That would serve multiple purposes. First it would make sure that Eros checked with the others and got their approval before dating him since he would have to give them a reason for wanting to spill the secret. It would give them the chance to call him down. He knew that they could block each other from knowing what was going on in certain situations, so it was possible that they just didn’t know. It would also give them other people to lean on besides him. Give them other options. He didn’t want the be the choice because he was the only one they could be open with. They would have a bigger support system…hopefully. He was aware that it could backfire on him in that way, but he could hope for the best. At the very least they would /know/ who they could count on and who they couldn’t.

“We’ll be in touch then,” Eros leaned forward to whisper, breath ghosting against Enzo’s cheek and over his ear, before he disappeared at vampire speed.

Enzo let out a heavy breath and let his head thump forward against the wall where Eros had just been standing. He really hoped he didn’t regret this. That his heart could take whatever consequences came from that impulsive decision. He would, at the very least, live up to his end of the bargain. If it did come to that, he could use the date to feel out everyone else’s opinions on the matter in more detail before making a decision on more than just the one date. And get a little more insight into how they made the big decisions like that. It wasn’t something that had been relevant before, but now it was. At least to his mind.

Eros wasn’t too worried about not being able to live up to his end of the deal. The others had been considering Enzo’s advice to tell them already. Having Enzo there to lean on if it went bad helped quite a bit. And once they knew there was a chance that he could love them, that would make it even easier. It only took a few hours to get an agreement from everyone, though some were more on board with the idea than others and they were all more than a little nervous about it. Eros headed back downstairs to find Enzo and tell him the news. “We’ll tell them, meaning Stefan, Caroline, Elena, and even Bonnie and Jeremy if they’re around, the next chance we get. And if you get a good chance before we do, you’re welcome to tell them yourself.” In fact, some of them hoped that Enzo would bite the bullet and do it for them so they could avoid the whole thing.

“Okay. Then you can start planning our date,” Enzo replied, trying to hide his nerves as he clinked his glass with Eros’. He wasn’t expecting that response at all, much less so fast. Before anything else could be decided on the matter though a new disaster landed in their laps.

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Caroline and Stefan descended on the parlor where Enzo and Eros were sitting, prompting Snarky to make his reappearance, as Stefan said, “We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem, brother? Did someone break Blondie’s nail?” Damon mocked, irritated at the moment being interrupted.

“Don’t start, Damon,” Stefan huffed.

“Ooh. Stefan’s got his hero hair on. This might be good,” Damon stage whispered to Enzo.

“This is serious,” Caroline snapped.

“Then by all means. Enlighten us,” Enzo waved for her to go ahead.

“Katherine’s not dead,” Stefan dropped the bombshell.

“What do you mean she’s not dead?” Damon asked incredulously.

“She managed to use that stupid traveler spell to take over Elena’s body. She’s been inhabiting Elena for weeks,” Caroline explained.

“Which means, Damon, that your all your acting out, killing Aaron, your whole murder spree…it was reacting to /Katherine/,” Stefan told him. “She was the one who dumped you. Not Elena.”

“The fact that you think everything I do revolves around Elena is comical, brother,” Damon said dismissively.

“I just can’t believe…how could we not have noticed that it wasn’t Elena. For weeks?!” Caroline asked miserably.

Enzo looked at Damon with a raised eyebrow and got a nod in return, so Enzo said wryly, “Probably the same way none of you have noticed over half a dozen different Damons.” Every eye in the room turned to look at Damon and Enzo incredulously. Enzo put a hand on his shoulder as he noticed the change in him. “Easy Dante.” Everyone else apparently retreated. Not surprising. This was always going to be hard for them.

“What are you talking about?” Stefan asked incredulously baffled.

“Dante?” Caroline picked up. “Does Damon have a traveler too? You’re behind this?” she asked Enzo accusingly.

“Oh for the love of god,” Dante rolled his eyes. “You are both completely useless imbeciles and I don’t know why /anyone/ puts up with you.”

“Can you at least let Sal or Saint handle this one. I don’t think you’re helping,” Enzo said amusedly. He knew that they could handle this well enough.

“Fine, but Katherine is mine,” Dante said coldly before receding for Sal.

Now that she was watching for it, Caroline noticed the change come over him and the difference in the way he held himself, his facial expression and, once he spoke, his tone of voice. “What’s going on?” she started to form a suspicion.

“Have either of you heard of Dissociative Identity Disorder?” Enzo asked.

“Oh my god,” Caroline gasped. “Like Sybil from the movie?”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Stefan said suspiciously.

“It used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder,” Sal told him.

“You think you have multiple personalities?” Stefan asked skeptically.

“The first emerged when the core-Damon was twelve years old,” Sal told him. Well first two to be exact, but they didn’t talk about Mama. “There are currently seven of us who interact with the world.”

“And you knew?” Caroline asked Enzo.

“I’ve known since not long after Damon landed in that cell in fifty-three. I consider all of them friends. Even Dante. More or less,” Enzo said wryly.

“He won’t thank you for calling him a friend,” Sal snorted amusedly. “But we have more important things to worry about right now. Such as how to save Elena from Katherine.” The main reason he’d come out rather than Saint. They had work to do.

“First, what’s your name?” Caroline asked him.

“I’m Sal,” he told her. “I’m the soldier and the tactician. Which makes this situation my forte. So are you going to follow me or are Enzo and I working alone?”

“We’ll listen and work with ideas, but make no promises about following until we know what we’re following into,” Stefan said firmly. They could deal with Damon’s delusions later. This had apparently been going on for a long time so it could wait. Saving Elena was more important.

“Matt gave me the traveler knife that can get rid of a passenger,” Caroline told them. “If we can just get to her we can stab her with it.”

“Getting to her is going to be difficult. Katherine Pierce is a formidable opponent. She’s lived on the run for more than five hundred years, always staying ten steps ahead of any of her pursuers,” Sal told them.

“If she knows we’re onto her, she won’t come within ten miles of us,” Enzo said. While he hadn’t met Katherine before, he’d heard plenty about her to know that much. “What we need is to find her weaknesses.”

“She doesn’t have any weaknesses,” Stefan huffed. “She won’t let herself. It’s how she stays alive.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Caroline said hesitantly. She didn’t really like where this conversation was going, but saving Elena was too important to hold back. “Her daughter is a weakness.”

“Isn’t her daughter also a five hundred year old vampire?” Enzo asked wryly. “I think we have very different ideas of the word weakness, Goldilocks.”

“Tyler bit her. She’s dying,” Caroline told them.

“No mother would let their child die alone. Especially from as awful a death as werewolf venom,” Sal said thoughtfully.

“So, we find Nadia, we find Katherine,” Stefan nodded.

“Can’t we just…try and get her to come here first?” Caroline asked hopefully.

“It is worth a try. But I would not expect it to work,” Sal told them.

“If nothing else, we can get clues from the calls to help find her,” Enzo pointed out.

Caroline tried first and struck out. She had too good of an excuse not to come. Then Stefan tried and got another good excuse. They even called Bonnie and updated her on the Katherine situation and asked her to try, but she got the same. They did at least manage to tune in their ears and get some clues from the phone calls. “It’s a large open space,” Sal said. “There was definitely an echo on her end.”

“I heard train tracks in the background. We should check nearby train schedules,” Enzo added.

“I’m on it,” Caroline had her phone in hand looking it up. Once they had a location, the four of them rushed there to get Katherine. They weren’t waiting for Bonnie and Jeremy who were on their way back from Whitmore. Not when it might lose her.

Once they got there they found Katherine gone and Nadia lost in a hallucination. While Stefan and Caroline were debating what they should do next, Dante took over and just picked Nadia up. “Sal? What are you doing?” Caroline asked.

“That’s Dante,” Enzo told her. “He takes care of the distasteful things that need to be done, but the others don’t have the stomach for.”

“Distasteful like kidnapping a dying woman to lure her mother into a trap?” Stefan asked disgustedly.

“Yep. Like that. Unless you /want/ Elena to be gone forever because you couldn’t suck it up and grow some balls,” Dante said bitterly. “Because you know that once her daughter’s dead, there’s not a damn thing keeping her from running as far and as fast as she can.”

“Like it or not, he’s right,” Enzo followed him out along with a reluctant Stefan and Caroline.

By the time they got back to the boarding house, Bonnie and Jeremy were there and Dante just flopped Nadia onto the couch. “You could at least be gentle and respectful about it,” Caroline huffed as she rearranged Nadia more comfortably. It dawned on her then, “I’ve met you before haven’t I?”

“What are you talking about?” Bonnie asked confusedly. “You’ve known Damon for years. We all have.”

“No, not Damon. Dante,” Caroline was still looking at him and waiting for an answer.

“I was the first one you met, actually,” Dante told her.

“Damon has a twin?” Jeremy furrowed his brow.

“No, Damon thinks he’s other people,” Stefan rolled his eyes.

“It’s called Dissociative Identity Disorder,” Enzo said bitterly. “He /is/ other people. He’s not delusional.”

“Oh like in the United States of Tara,” Jeremy said.

“Ugh that was the stupidest show,” Bonnie rolled her eyes having been forced to watch it with Jeremy who loved it.

“But it’s also a pretty accurate portrayal of DID,” Enzo chimed in. He hadn’t seen the show himself. Just read about it in his research which said as much and lauded it for being realistic and humanizing the disorder.

“So which of your personalities is the smoker?” Jeremy asked.

“You smoke?” Stefan asked incredulously. How could he have missed that? How could he have missed /any/ of this really.

“I do. And Sal does,” Dante told them. “How did you now?” He narrowed his eyes at Jeremy.

“Every once in a while I get a whiff of cigarettes around you and I’ve found a few butts on the ground under your window when I’m out running. I didn’t want to rat you out when I thought there was just one you though,” Jeremy shrugged. “The rest don’t smoke?”

“Who are the rest?” Caroline asked curiously. “Have I met any others?”

“Why don’t you wait for someone more sociable to come out before making us an experiment. I’m already having to resist stabbing you in your perky little heart,” Dante said coldly.

“Right. No talking to the psycho personality,” Bonnie muttered, thinking over what she knew about DID from the show Jeremy liked and from the movie Sybil she saw and trying to make that fit with Damon.

“And we’re up,” Dante said as he handed Nadia’s phone to Stefan. “Don’t screw this up,” he ordered as Stefan took it.

The plan worked to get Katherine there and when the overemotional children insisted on letting her stay at Nadia’s bedside until she was gone, he just scoffed and headed outside for a smoke, followed by Enzo who he motioned around to the back. Neither Dante nor Enzo trusted the morons not to let her escape. At least they weren’t talking about his ‘condition’ in front of her, so that was a plus. Even if she would be dying, he wasn’t taking any chances of her escaping with that information.

Sure enough, she made a break for it, but Dante had lifted the knife already and she opened the door just in time for it be buried in her gut. “There. Problem solved,” Dante said as she hit the floor and he headed upstairs. Snarky wanted his turn in a relaxing bath so they could forget about the disastrous day. And avoid anything more the ‘kids’ had to say and/or ask that would make them feel like a bug under a microscope. They could do their research or Enzo could answer questions, but they were done.

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

Enzo had no intention of getting involved in a barrage of questions just yet either though, so he went up to his room too. After knocking softly on Damon’s door and not getting any answer. He got if they wanted some time alone tonight which they apparently did. He would give those who knew about DID a chance to compare notes and do more research before he started answering questions. Give himself fewer to answer and he really didn’t like Stefan’s attitude about it either. Let the others try to get it across to him because if Enzo had to Stefan would end up seriously hurt. He wouldn’t kill him, only for Damon’s sake, but he would sure as hell hurt him if he was an ass about this.

Stefan went to pick Elena up and carry her up to a room to rest and wait for her to wake up. Naturally everyone else followed him, talking about Damon’s big revelation, and Caroline researching on her phone. Caroline, in particular, wanted to know everything she could before Elena woke up so she could help explain it to her. Elena would probably be more embarrassed than anyone for not knowing. She’d dated him for six months. Lived with him. Shared a life with him. Unless she did know and just kept his secret, but Caroline was pretty sure she didn’t know given how she always got so frustrated about his ‘moods’ and the things she would say about them. She kept half an eye on Bonnie and Jeremy explaining what they knew from tv and movies while she looked up more accurate information and used the vampire speed-reading that she preferred not to do given how it missed details to get as much as she could as fast as she could.

Her speed research was enough for her to jump in when Stefan suggested, “Do you think we could find a witch to just…lock away the bad ones and leave the good ones?”

“No! Absolutely not!” Caroline said emphatically.

“Why not? Sounds like a good idea to me,” Bonnie said.

“A good idea if you want to completely destroy Damon’s brain and entire psyche,” Caroline said. “Look, these ‘alters’ are created to /protect/ him and his mind. It’s like an intricate puzzle. If you start playing with the pieces, you could destroy his entire mind. It regulates itself.”

“You’re telling me, you want psychopaths like…what was he called, Dante? To be running around in Damon’s body?” Stefan asked incredulously.

“The really evil ones are usually kept under lock and key by the others. The ones that carry the self-hatred and persecution and rage. That Dante is able to be out means that he has a purpose. An important purpose,” Caroline tried to explain.

“I think what she’s saying is that it would be like putting a spell on you to make sure you never got angry again, even when you should, or to take away certain types of thoughts or feelings or likes and dislikes,” Jeremy chimed in.

“Exactly. It would be like trying to reprogram his brain, but without having any idea what you’re doing because everyone’s brain is different, /especially/ someone with DID. It’s the most horrifically invasive and cruel thing you could possibly do,” Caroline said disgustedly.

“So what do we do? Just live with it?” Bonnie asked with a frown, seeing Caroline’s point.

“Do you know what DID comes from? What causes it?” Caroline asked as everyone shook her head. “Severe childhood trauma. The alters are created to protect and preserve parts of him that the trauma tries to strip away and destroy. And whenever he undergoes a horrible trauma that his current alters can’t process, a new one ‘wakes up’ to take on the job. The fact that he has it at all means that he’s been horrifically abused and traumatized since he was just a child. Are you really going to vilify him for it?” she asked pointedly.

Stefan closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as her words sunk in. He’d known that their father was awful and abusive. He’d seen Damon get burned, beaten, berated. Now that he thought back, he’d also seen him taken away into another room that he was never allowed to go in. It wasn’t something he’d thought about in so long, but now he found himself wondering what horrors his brother endured in that room. And remembering how Damon always took the blame for anything that he did wrong. “Okay,” Stefan said shakily. “Okay, so how do we fix him? Cure him? Whatever.”

“We don’t,” Caroline said. “There is no cure for this. Once it’s done, it’s done. They really are all separate people just sharing the same body. And trying to suppress or control the alters will only ever make things worse. They have an internal system that controls them and we can’t do anything about it. The only question is whether you can accept him…all the hims, or hers if there are any…or if you want to walk away. I, for one, plan to be his-/their/-friend. At least some of them. Probably not Dante.” She would never walk away from someone who was suffering just because they were different.

“Yeah. Me too. I’ll figure it out and get to know them. Somehow,” Stefan decided. No matter how much it hurt that he didn’t know until now.

“I don’t know. This is all a little out there for me,” Bonnie said hesitantly. If she’d ever like Damon in the first place, she might have felt different, but she was even more dubious about him now than she was before.

“Maybe the reason you haven’t seen the good personalities is because you’ve never given him a chance,” Caroline told her gently. “I mean, you remember how Elena always said that there was more to him that we couldn’t see and how he was a great guy under the surface. Maybe she got to see those parts because she gave him a chance to show her. I’ve seen some good parts of him too once I started giving him a chance. The meaner ones probably protect the feelings of the softer ones by taking all the abuse for him.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll see,” Bonnie said hesitantly. She had no intention of vilifying him for being sick, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with it herself either.

“Well I’m gonna give him a chance,” Jeremy said. “Yeah there are parts of him I hate, but there are pretty awesome parts too. And now that I get why he’s always flip-flopping around like that, I have a better idea how to handle it. It’ll be weird for a while, but we can figure it out.”

“If Enzo can do it, then we can do it,” Stefan agreed. And now he got what Enzo meant when he said that he didn’t know the first thing about his brother. And the shame of that cut deep. He had no idea how he could have missed it for so long. They really were blind. He thought back over all his interactions with his brother, trying to find times that were different. He said that there were seven of them. But he couldn’t really pinpoint them. Not without more information. There were times that he knew Damon was different than others, but not anything concrete. He couldn’t really put them into categories. There was just so much there that he couldn’t make sense of it all. Maybe when he knew them better he could figure it out.

Stefan wasn’t the only one thinking that. Caroline always prided herself on her attention to detail and the fact that nothing slipped by her. But when it came to Damon, she had been completely blind. If she was feeling more charitable with herself, she could admit that she had a decent reason. She’d been somewhat traumatized by him too at the start. Not nearly as bad as what he’d been through, but enough to color her perceptions. Thinking back now, she was relatively sure that their short-lived relationship had involved at least two personalities. Yes there were times that he was cold and cruel and rough. He never beat her around or anything, but he would grip her too tight and say cruel and hurtful things. He wasn’t exactly gentle when he bit her. But there was another side that she saw too. Fun, witty, snarky, and just overall ‘cool’. There might have been more, but those two she was sure of in hindsight.

Jeremy was doing the same. Looking back over his past interactions with Damon. Meeting Sal today, he was pretty sure he’d met him before. When he needed adult advice. When he and Damon first bonded over crappy fathers. He knew he’d met Dante. In particular when he had his neck snapped. Often when he was being trained as a hunter. He was pretty sure that was a split between Dante and Sal. There was also a fun one that drank and smoked pot with him and enjoyed a party. He couldn’t really pick out any others from his memories.

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

Elena still hadn’t woken up by the time the rest of them were getting tired, but she seemed fine otherwise. Stefan reminded them that Matt had taken a long time to wake up when his passenger was removed the hard way too and he hadn’t been in him nearly as long. As such, they set up a watch rotation so one of them could be with her at all times. Stefan offered to take the first watch and Caroline could relieve him in four hours, enough time for a vampire to get a good nights sleep and then Bonnie and Jeremy could sit with her after that if she still wasn’t awake yet. Once that was settled, they split up to sleep, Bonnie staying in Jeremy’s room and Caroline already had a normal spare room she slept in when she’d stayed in the past that she took again.

Stefan, once he got tired of turning everything over in his head repeatedly, left for about ten seconds to get his computer and start doing his own research. Maybe even watch a few episodes of the show that Jeremy and Bonnie knew or the movie that Caroline mentioned. Enzo hadn’t said anything about the movie, but did say that the show was pretty accurate to the reality, so he would start with that. He was surprised to find that it was a comedy show, well dramedy, but close enough. He mainly paid attention to the way that Tara’s family took the changing of her personalities and adjusted how they interacted with them based on who it was. And how they figured out who it was without being told like he’d seen Enzo do. He quickly realized that the show wouldn’t help him with that last part though. There were much bigger changes than he’d ever seen in Damon. But the big thing that struck him was how they didn’t treat her like she was sick or like she needed handling. He would have to try and do that too.

By the time Caroline relieved him, he’d been through most of the first season of the show and had been reading in a separate window, so he thought he was started to get a handle on the disorder and understand it a little better. And he knew now what Damon meant when he said that Elena never understood or accepted him. Though he did think it was unfair if he never told her and gave her a chance to. Unless he did and she just didn’t take it well, but he would have thought she’d have said something, or at least dumped him rather than keep stringing him along, so he was assuming that Damon had never told her. They talked for a few minutes in the changeover and he easily agreed to let her borrow his computer where she did the same thing he did, restarting the show from the beginning. She had the heartbreaking traumatic view of DID from the movie Sybil, and this new view was completely opposite and thus particularly helpful in getting a full view of it all. She agreed with Bonnie that it was a stupid show overall, but it helped a lot anyway.

Bonnie and Jeremy had gotten up together and thus were taking their watch together, though Bonnie would have to get back to school for the afternoon. Caroline was lucky that she didn’t have any Monday classes at all, but Bonnie hadn’t gotten so lucky. Caroline chuckled a bit when she found Stefan about to do the same thing she was. Knock on Enzo’s door. He opened it wearing nothing but a pair of red silk sleep pants and looking rather sleepy and grunted them in as he went to find a shirt. “Sorry. We didn’t mean to wake you up. We should have waited,” Caroline said apologetically.

“S’fine. Probably a better time for this now than later anyway,” Enzo pulled his shirt on and motioned them out. “Be more comfortable downstairs though,” he suggested.

“Yeah, probably,” Stefan huffed a laugh. Once they were all seated with drinks in hand, he asked, “Can you tell us about Damon’s seven…alters?” he struggled over the word.

“I’ll give you the basics, but nothing too personal you wouldn’t already know. But just for the alters that regularly interact and that you’re likely to meet. There are others that never come out and even I don’t know much about them and won’t tell what little I do know. That’s for them to share when and if they choose to,” Enzo told them.

“That seems reasonable,” Caroline nodded her agreement.

“In order then, we’ll start with Core-Damon. The one originally born into the body. He’s a bookworm, daydreamer, writer. He’s quiet and studious. The first alter was Sammy…”

“Wasn’t that the name of his pet turkey when he was…twelve…” Stefan trailed off remembering that it had been mentioned that was the age he first split.

“Yes. It was. After he was forced by his father to chop off his beloved pet’s head and then eat him,” Enzo said as vaguely as possible for Stefan to understand. He knew Stefan already knew at least the generalities of that, even if he hadn’t thought of it in those terms.

“Oh my god…” Caroline felt like she was gonna be sick. “So it was like keeping Sammy the turkey alive in a way,” she realized.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Enzo told them. “Sammy is eight and a bright, happy, carefree little boy. With none of the hardships or fears that Damon had. He’s the embodiment of innocence and joy.”

“His inner child,” Stefan said. “It’s just more literal for him.”

“And Sammy is /never/ to be told about the turkey incident in any way shape or form,” Enzo said seriously. “Or Dante /will/ make you regret it.”

“Yeah, of course. And anyone who did that would deserve it,” Caroline agreed emphatically.

“The next to ‘wake up’ as they call it, was the one I call Snarky. He calls himself Damon too and from what I understand, he and Core-Damon argue over the right to the name from time to time. When referring to them together, I just call them ‘the Damons’,” Enzo said amusedly.

“Pretty sure just based on your nickname that I know Snarky well,” Stefan said wryly.

“Yep. He’s usually the one on Stefan duty,” Enzo chuckled. “He’s the teenage rebellion and woke up after a particularly nasty beating when Damon was fifteen. Snarky is nineteen and just likes to have fun.”

“How was he nineteen when Damon was still only fifteen?” Caroline asked. “He didn’t have the experience of being nineteen to draw from so…”

“I’m honestly not sure how that works. I know that it does, but that sort of cognitive disconnect isn’t really something that I can process,” Enzo shrugged. “Like how Sammy doesn’t seem to notice he’s in a grown man’s body.”

“Yeah, that does seem pretty weird. We can just leave that as one of those ‘it is what it is’ situations,” Stefan said wryly.

“Moving on, Sal was next. He woke up when Damon was sent off to war. He’s around forty. A master tactician and the soldier. He was the first /true/ protector alter. He took care of any fighting, including in the war. The next to wake up was Eros. He’s twenty-two. He woke up when Katherine left and had Emily give them the key for the tomb to save her. He’s the hopeless romantic. Musician, poet, writer…”

“Oh my God…” Caroline gasped as it dawned on her who her favorite romance author really was. “Sorry. Never mind. Continue,” she told him. That was for later. She wanted to know who else was in there first.

“He’s the one Elena knew best isn’t he?” Stefan guessed.

“Pretty sure he and Snarky were the main ones she interacted with. Maybe Core-Damon too. That’s more of a question for them,” Enzo shrugged. “The next alter didn’t come up until the Augustines. As you know, that’s where we met. Sal was the one who took the torture for the first while, but he couldn’t cope for long. He was a fighter. Being trapped and helpless was like his worst nightmare. And so Saint was born. The martyr who took on the weight of it all to protect the others from it. He’s thirty. The last to wake up was Dante.”

“I would have thought he’d be one of the earlier ones,” Stefan frowned. None of them seemed bad to him yet, but his brother had always had a monstrous side…hadn’t he?

“Nope. Dante was born basically for the specific purpose of leaving me to die in that fire. Sal was doing the fighting to get us out of there, but he couldn’t get my cage open. Ever the soldier, he wasn’t about to leave a man behind. When it became clear that they were doing to die with me, Dante woke up, turned off their humanity, and walked out to save their lives.”

“That’s awful,” Caroline said horrified.

“That’s life,” Enzo said matter-of-factly. “The whole point of DID is to protect themselves. Dying wouldn’t have protected them. You might think of Dante as a monster, but he’s not really. Even after the humanity switch got turned back on, he operates on a permanent dimmer switch. He doesn’t kill indiscriminately, but when someone needs to die, he takes on that burden. Like Katherine. Or the depraved doctor torturing sentient beings and trying to release a doomsday virus on the world and the people working with him to do so. He’s dark, yes. He’s not nice. Doesn’t care about compassion or empathy. But he’s still a protector. He’s the one who does what no one else can. And when the others are overwhelmed with emotional pain, he takes over with the dimmer to ease it.”

“So he only comes out when they’re hurt or when there are awful people that need to die?” Stefan guessed.

“No, that’s his purpose. His job. But he does come out other times just to exist. Like all of them. They are still real people and are more than just their jobs. He doesn’t really do ‘friends’ or ‘hanging out’, but he’ll come out for a smoke or to sharpen some knives or to get laid.”

“How can we tell them apart?” Stefan asked.

“They all have different quirks, different ways they carry themselves, different demeanors. Even different food preferences.”

“Which one likes pickles?” Caroline asked curiously.

“That would be Snarky,” Enzo said amusedly. “Core-Damon’s favorite food is chocolate chip cookies. Sammy’s is ice cream. Sal’s is jerky, beef or venison in particular. Eros likes berries, especially strawberries. Saint likes the larger tree fruits, apples, peaches, pears, and plums. Dante’s favorite food is the blood of his enemies,” he finished with partial joke, and got the expected laugh from both Stefan and Caroline.

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

Now Caroline could get to the question she put off before. “Eros is Eros Salvador isn’t he? The romance author?”

“Sure is,” Enzo smirked. “And yes that was him you were talking to about his books.”

“Oh my god,” Caroline buried her face in her hands from embarrassment. “I can’t believe I actually said all that to his face! And accused him of not knowing the books!”

“And accused him of being a ninety year old woman with a dozen cats and a smoking problem. Don’t forget that one,” Enzo piled on amusedly.

“Oh god,” Caroline groaned. “Just kill me now.”

“That’s okay, Caroline. I’m pretty sure I unknowingly had a similar conversation with my favorite author. Didn’t I?” Stefan asked suspiciously. “Nomad Torevasal. Damon Salvatore backwards. You said Core-Damon was a writer too.”

“Yep. That was him,” Enzo chuckled. “Funny enough, I’m pretty sure that’s the only time you’ve spoken to Core-Damon since you became vampires.”

“Wait, really?” the amusem*nt slid off Stefan’s face to make way for hurt. “Why? Why wouldn’t he talk to me? Tell me any of this?”

Enzo hadn’t been planning to end the fun, but really it was better that he have this conversation than Dante who would be the most likely to take it if Stefan asked them that question. “Do you want the real, honest, nothing held back answer or the pretty one to spare your feelings?”

“The honest one,” Stefan said seriously. “I need to know…to understand…why he rejected me so completely.”

“Because you rejected him,” Enzo said bluntly. “After you turned, you shut off your humanity and became a monster. He couldn’t stand to see you that way. It was mostly Sal you dealt with during that time. Maybe a little Snarky. After that, when you got it back, you were all about vilifying him just for drinking human blood instead of animal. Even though they rarely hurt or killed anyone and when they did, it was to protect themselves or others or just a simple mistake when they were trying to learn control with no one to teach them. You still considered them a monster. Frankly put…you reminded him too much of your father in how you treated him, and he couldn’t face it.”

Stefan just sat there for a long moment letting that sink in before he got up, grabbing a bottle of bourbon from the cart on the way, and walked out the door. “You couldn’t have put that a little nicer?” Caroline huffed.

“He needs the blinders ripped off fast. Before Dante does it the hard way when he says something too hurtful. Stefan has the remarkable ability to hurt Damon deeper than anyone else in the world with just a few words. And he’s particularly vulnerable right now with all this coming out in the open. If he’d asked that question, in that tone, to them…Dante would have been /much/ harsher than I just was,” Enzo explained.

“Yeah. I guess that makes sense,” Caroline deflated. “I should go find Stefan. Make sure he’s okay,” she decided before getting up and running out after him. The little he’d heard about their father, and knowing that he was the one who broke Damon so horribly, she couldn’t imagine how Stefan must be feeling at being compared to him.

Since the Q and A was apparently over, and he’d gotten out about as much as he was willing to say anyway, he went back to bed to get some more sleep. He’d only been asleep for a little more than an hour before they woke him up. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be awake in time to intercede in the next situation. Though, really it was a good thing. Damon needed to handle some things on his own. Enzo couldn’t shield him from all of it, and in that particular situation, it would have been rather awkward for him to intercede.

Elena woke up about an hour after Bonnie left when Jeremy was with her alone. “What happened?” she asked as she sat up and looked around.

“You’re awake!” Jeremy said happily, almost knocking her back down with a hug. “What do you remember?”

“I remember some kind of spell over Katherine’s body. I managed to get away. Her memories were slamming into me, but I found Damon and then ran into his arms and then…nothing. Just waking up here.”

“Yeah, that was about three weeks ago,” Jeremy said apologetically. “Katherine’s been in your body ever since. We got her out yesterday and you just now woke up.”

“Three weeks…” Elena said hollowly, trying to process that. “Damon…he must be…god I can’t even imagine what she would have done to him.”

“Yeah…about Damon…” Jeremy said awkwardly.

“What about him? Is he okay? Please tell me she didn’t kill him?” Elena asked fearfully.

“No he’s fine. As fine as he’s ever been I guess. It’s just…you should really go talk to Damon,” Jeremy decided that he couldn’t explain. Damon should be the one to do it. He didn’t even know where to start.

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll find Damon,” Elena got up, a bit shaky on her feet for a moment, but once Jeremy helped steady her she was better. She headed downstairs to see if Damon was around and found him in the library.

Snarky came out as he put Core-Damon’s book to the side and got up to refill his drink and pour her one. “She lives,” he said wryly.

“Yeah. I do,” Elena sighed. “You should have noticed,” she said hurt. “That I was Katherine…that Katherine was me,” she corrected herself. “You should have noticed.”

“Well aside from the fact that I barely even got a glimpse of you in that three weeks since we were broken up and all…there’s a lot you should have noticed too, there princess, so you might not want to go throwing stones,” he said bitterly.

“What are you talking about?” Elena asked confused, trying to figure out how he was turning this around on her.

“Have you ever heard of DID? Dissociative Identity Disorder?” he asked.

“Yeah…why?” she asked confusedly. They’d watched the most heartbreaking movie in psych class about it and some stupid show that Jeremy liked that she’d seen a few times had someone with it.

“Because I was finally convinced to come clean with the fact that I have it. I have for more than a hundred and fifty years. And you’ve interacted with four of my different personalities regularly, and three more occasionally. And you never noticed anything different about me either. Just said I was ‘moody’.”

“But that’s…I don’t…I can’t…you can’t expect me to just jump to a crazy conclusion like DID out of the blue,” she said defensively.

“Maybe not,” Damon admitted. “But you could easily have backed me into a corner if you’d started questioning things. If you’d ever bothered to ask for ‘whys’. If you ever cared enough to really pay attention.”

“It’s not like it was obvious or anything,” Elena huffed.

“And yet there are those that know exactly who I am with just a moment’s glance. But that’s beside the point. It wasn’t exactly obvious that Katherine was you either. She was even better at pretending than I am. So for you to blame me for not noticing, regardless of any other factors, is rather hypocritical, don’t you think?”

“I…I see your point,” Elena deflated, realizing that he was only blaming her because she was blaming him. At least partially. “I’m sorry. Can we start this conversation over?” she asked as she walked over to him.

“Sure. Why not,” he chuckled, glad that she got the memo. “So how are you feeling?”

“I feel like I’ve been in a fog for the last three weeks,” she sighed. “Do you feel like that? When you switch?”

“I don’t know,” Damon shrugged. “I’m so used to it by this point that if I do, I don’t notice it.”

“I wish you had told me,” she slung her arms over his shoulders. “We could have worked something out. I could have been more understanding. Helped you keep the bad ones at bay and…”

He pulled her arms off his shoulders and took a few steps back as Sal emerged for this part of the conversation. “It doesn’t work like that, Elena,” he shook his head. “You can’t control who comes out and when. That’s all handled inside our head by a complicated system that has taken a hundred and fifty years to work out. That’s part of the reason we broke up.”

“What do you mean? You felt like I was controlling you or something?” Elena tried to understand what he was saying around her heartbreak.

“To a point, yes, but that’s not what I meant. What I meant is that you can’t handle this. You are young and immature…and I do not mean that in a bad way,” he told her.

“Wait…you’re someone different now, aren’t you?” she guessed by the more formal way he was talking.

“I am. This particular conversation is easier for me, and I can explain better than the others,” he told her. “My name is Sal. I’m a forty-year-old Civil War veteran. And I tried to tell the younger ones from the start that we could never work with someone so young. You don’t have the life experience or understanding to handle our situation. It took the only friend who ever really knew us pointing out how unfair it was to expect you to, without even knowing, to convince them that us elders were right.”

“E-elders and youngers?” Elena asked, trying to wrap her head around it all. Sure, she knew that Damon was technically a hundred and seventy three, but he didn’t act it. He acted more like her age. Maybe a little bit older. This guy was acting like a father. Or even a grandfather. And it kinda creeped her out a bit. Which just ended up bringing his point home. “O-okay. I guess I get that. I don’t want you to be right, but…but I think you are.”

“And it was very mature of you to admit that,” Sal gave her a proud smile. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of in that. You are welcome to still be our friend. To learn and grow in that friendship. Or if you wish to walk away completely, we will understand. But to take on a situation like ours romantically is a big thing for one so young as you. It is complicated and messy and not easy to cope with. They were being as unfair to themselves as they were to you by trying.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” she said sadly, blinking the tears from her eyes. “I…I’m pretty sure I do want to be friends, but right now I just…I need to go and…”

“Drive safe, Elena,” he told her as she left.

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Caroline caught up to Stefan, finding him sitting by the creek in the woods, bottle half gone, and just looking lost. “You okay?”

“No,” Stefan said bluntly. “No, I’m not.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder as she sat down next to him.

Stefan took a long swig from his bottle. “My own brother…the one who stepped in and protected me from a thousand beatings…what he must have endured in my place…and he’s been so…” Stefan choked a sob before taking another long swig. “He’s been so /broken/…for so long…and I never even noticed.”

“None of us did, Stefan,” Caroline rubbed his shoulder soothingly. “You were what? Five when this started? It would have seemed like just a Damon quirk to you. It was something completely normal that you grew up with.”

“I-I think I played with Sammy often as a kid,” Stefan admitted with another long swig. “H-he loved the toy soldiers the most. I thought it was just…just my big brother playing with me, but…I didn’t even notice…”

“If anyone doesn’t have an excuse for not noticing, it’s the rest of us,” Caroline told him. “We all knew about DID. From movies, tv shows, psych classes. I mean, it’s not /well/ known, but we knew about it. No one knew about it back when you were young. By the time it was even thought of, you already had your opinions of Damon formed. Us though…all the signs were there and we just didn’t look.”

“That’s not even the worst part though,” Stefan said miserably. “That he…the core him…was afraid of me…reminded him of our father…the one who /broke/ him…” he got up to pace. “And he’s right…I made him my own personal villain…all because of one statement said in justifiable anger…when I didn’t even have my humanity…and I turned on him…just like Father did,” he drained the last of the bottle and threw it at a tree watching it shatter before he realized what he’d done and all but fell back to the ground wrapping his arms around his knees. “I really am just like him…getting drunk and losing my temper…throwing things...no wonder Damon was scared of me,” he laid his head on his knees.

“Now you’re being silly,” Caroline wrapped a comforting arm around him. “I’ve seen Damon do that too. Get drunk and throw a bottle or a glass. You didn’t hurt him. You didn’t torture him.”

“Oh god…” Stefan groaned. “Yes…I did. I locked him up in that basem*nt to desiccate. Stole his ring…stole his ring more than once and locked him up…just because he wouldn’t switch to animal blood…and yeah, he almost killed you the second time, but…but I didn’t know that when I set the trap and…I never even /asked/…I tortured him and…and locked him up to starve and he’s just…”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Caroline said firmly, moving in front of him to unwrap his arms from his knees. “No more pity party. You know as well as I do that he wouldn’t want to be treated like he’s broken and fragile. Yes, you’ve made mistakes. We all have. But right now, he’s back there feeling vulnerable and exposed and needs to hear that he’s accepted. That we’re not turning our backs on him. And that we don’t pity him or look down on him for being who he is. He’s not /broken/. He’s /different/. That’s how you have to think of it. You can make up for the past by doing better. So buck up and lets go get started,” she pulled him to his feet.

Stefan took a few deep steadying breaths as her words sunk in before he pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Caroline. I needed to hear that,” he told her gratefully. He’d missed a hundred chances to help his brother before, but he had one now and he wasn’t going to miss it again. He would show Damon that he /could/ count on him. That he /wouldn’t/ become their father. He would be the person he should have been all along. And for the time being, he would watch Enzo for cues on how to treat him. Because Caroline was right. He wouldn’t want to be pitied or seen as broken. He would want to be treated normally. Like Enzo did. And he refused to be jealous of their friendship. Or at least refused to admit it. Or show it. That was about the best he could do. But he could get there on the rest.

They got back to the house just in time to see a teary Elena leaving. “Elena! You’re awake!” Caroline cheered as she ran to her to wrap her in a hug.

“Yeah. I’m awake,” Elena hugged her back, trying to push away her sadness for this.

“It’s nice to have you back, Elena,” Stefan told her.

“Did you know? About Damon and his…personalities?” Elena had to ask him.

“Not until yesterday,” Stefan shook his head. “I guess you’ve been filled in then?”

“Not a lot, but enough,” Elena said. “We’re done. For good now.”

“Did you…or did he…” Caroline wasn’t sure how to ask what she was thinking.

“He pointed out that I couldn’t handle all this in a romantic relationship and I agreed. We’re still gonna be friends. I’m not gonna be one of those people who turns their backs on people just for being…different. But he’s right that I just have no idea how to cope with this and it’s one thing to learn as you go with a friend, but as a couple it’s different.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Stefan said sympathetically.

“That and not all of him ever wanted me in the first place, so that just makes it feel weird too, you know?” Elena shrugged.

“Why don’t I head back to school with you,” Caroline suggested, not wanting her to have to be alone right now and she could give her the rest of the info that she didn’t get yet.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Elena said gratefully.

“Just let him know I’m with him, yeah?” Caroline asked Stefan.

“I will,” Stefan promised. “He’ll understand that you need to be there for Elena. Some of him will at least I’m sure,” he chuckled.

“Yes. I do,” Snarky said amusedly from the doorway. “And I heard you, Blondie.”

“I’ll see you later…Damon?” she guessed and got a nod. It was really just a lucky guess at that point, but she would get better at it. At least with Damon she had a two in seven chance instead of one in seven.

“Can we talk, brother?” Stefan asked as he followed Damon inside.

“Sure, Stef,” Damon poured him a drink and handed it over.

Stefan had more than enough to drink already, but he took it anyway. He could just sip it slowly. “I assume you have questions.”

“Enzo answered a lot earlier. He told us the basics of the seven alters and when they came about and a few little things. Wouldn’t tell us anything too personal, but we got the cliff’s notes.”

“By we you mean…”

“Caroline and I. Bonnie and Jeremy were still waiting for Elena to wake up. We didn’t want to leave her alone,” Stefan told him.

“Understandable,” Damon said as he kicked back lazily. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Well…first of all…would you like…consider all of you or do all of you consider me or…I don’t know how to word it, but…am I everyone’s brother?” Stefan gave up on figuring it out.

Damon chuckled a bit at the confusion and first told him, “Just do your best with the wording and we’ll figure it out. It can get confusing sometimes, but you’ll get the hang of it. As far as your question, that’s up to you. If you /act/ like a brother, we’ll see you as a brother. Well maybe not Dante. He doesn’t do relationships of /any/ kind, but the rest of us are good.”

“I will. Act like a brother, I mean. Like I should have all along,” Stefan promised. “You changed?” he guessed.

“I did. I’m Saint,” he introduced himself. “If we’re going to be answering procedural and etiquette type questions, I’d be best to do so. Damon gets bored with those kind of conversations easily and ends up making them more difficult than they need to be.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Stefan chuckled. “I’m not sure if I’ve met you before, but it’s nice to officially meet you.”

“You have, but the sentiment is returned,” Saint said with a hint of amusem*nt.

“Okay, so procedure and etiquette. Is it…okay to ask for a specific person to talk to?” Stefan asked.

“If it’s something important specific to that person than sure. But more often it would be better to just tell whoever’s out what you need to talk about and let them come out naturally. If it’s not obvious by the subject who you need then ask directly, but unless it’s important it’s best to wait until who you need is available. Think of it like if someone came over and said, ‘No I don’t want to talk to you. I want someone else.’”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Applicable if important but rude otherwise,” Stefan nodded his understanding.

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

“If I don’t know who I’m talking to, would it be rude to ask?”

“It would be more rude not to,” Saint chuckled. “We don’t expect you to be perfect at identifying us right away. It took Enzo a little while too before he could do it reliably, but then he spent nearly every moment with us. Anytime one of us wasn’t on the lab table.”

“I can’t even imagine how awful that must have been. Especially for you,” Stefan said sympathetically, remembering that Saint was the one who was created just to take that. “But he learned how to tell you apart in there? Does that meant the others came out then too? Even…even Sammy?”

“Yes, none of us like being shut out for too long at a time. Sammy took his time in the evenings though. After the doctors were gone for the day and all the healing was done. We would never have let him endure the pain. There was little we could do about the hunger though.”

“Or the loneliness and isolation,” Stefan said sadly.

“Oh that part wasn’t so bad. Sammy is used to not having playmates. He actually had a better time of it there than he usually does on that subject. It’s not exactly easy for a child that looks like a grown man to go to a playground and make friends.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah. That would be tough,” Stefan realized. “He played with me a lot when I was a kid didn’t he?”

“He did. You were his first playmate. The only one he’s ever had near his age,” Saint told him.

“But Enzo played with him? Even in there?” Stefan asked, trying to understand the bond between Enzo and the various parts of his brother better.

“He did,” Saint smiled. “He taught Sammy to play tic tac toe and hangman by drawing in the dirt that coated the cells. They played charades. He always either told Sammy a bedtime story or sang him to sleep.”

“So he just…accepted it? Right from the start?” Stefan asked. “Even back then when nothing was really known about it?”

“You will learn about Enzo, if you give him a chance, that he’s a very easygoing person. He just goes with the flow and lets things come as they may. There’s nothing he doesn’t accept. Even if it takes him a bit to understand,” he explained.

“I’ll give him a chance,” Stefan promised before turning the conversation back to them. “So if none of you like being shut away for very long, does that mean you all came out during the long time without your humanity too? But it was Dante without it, so was it coming on and off or…”

“No, we were all shut away for that very long thirty-five years. Sometimes, new alters can be a bit difficult to work into things, and a bit unreasonable about sharing. Especially with the complication of the humanity switch, it was even more difficult and took far too long for us to get through to him. It was little Sammy that finally did. Not even Dante’s cold heart can resist a scared, lost, heartbroken Sammy,” Saint told him.

“I…have something I need to ask, but I don’t know if I should…” Stefan said hesitantly.

“You may as well while we’re in an answering mood. Letting it fester will only make it worse later,” he said.

“Was it Dante who massacred that party back in ninety-four?” Stefan asked, wanting to know who to hate.

“No. Dante wouldn’t have…” Saint started before he cut off.

Stefan could definitely see the change of features this time and almost managed to brace himself for getting pulled out of the chair and slammed against the wall. “That was entirely /your/ fault, you little sh*t,” Dante snarled. “Being locked in that shed without a ring…the physical pain had Saint trying to get out, but your words…they were tearing them apart so I needed to get out there to dim it too. The confusion allowed Ghoul to escape from his chains. /He’s/ the one who massacred that party. Even /I/ would never go so far as to slaughter so many innocents for no reason. Especially to kill a pregnant woman.”

“I know. I know I screwed up, and I’m sorry. Really. I just wanted to understand what happened,” Stefan said placatingly. He did the math in his head and realized that they would have only had less than a year since the humanity came back on to try and work out a new routine to include Dante, so they were probably still adjusting and why the confusion he caused was so disastrous. He also realized that Caroline was right when she said there was probably a /real/ monster locked up in there.

"You should be sorry," Dante said before he made way for Saint to return.

“Sorry about that,” Saint let Stefan down and smoothed out his jacket. “He’s a bit touchy about that incident.”

“I completely understand,” Stefan told him. “I don’t like thinking about it either.”

“Good. Then let’s just leave it in the past from now on, shall we?” The only good thing about the incident was that it was the impetus to calm Dante down and get him to work together with them rather than fight with them. Seeing the true damage that their fighting could do.

“Yeah. It’s in the past,” Stefan easily agreed as they returned to their seats. While there were a few more incidents he had questions about, none were nearly as devastating as that one, so he just let them go. It didn’t matter anymore. He would never /like/ Dante, but he didn’t /hate/ him anymore either, knowing he wasn’t responsible for that. That conversation did bring into stark clarity exactly what Caroline had meant about if they got a witch to go messing in his head. If a simple argument disrupting their internal system was enough to cause that, there was no telling how much damage could have been done if he’d gone through with his first thought. He moved on to his next question. “How aware is everyone in there of what goes on when they’re not out?”

“That varies. By the person and what they’re doing. Sometimes we want privacy and block anyone from being aware. Dante does most often, not wanting people to experience the burdens that he’s meant to shield them from. Sal and I do so often as well in those situations, but for everyday things like this, we don’t bother. Sammy isn’t often aware of much because he’s just a child and we live in an adult world that he’s not capable of processing. Beyond that, it’s however much they’re paying attention for,” Saint explained.

“So you can all communicate in there then? Like are you communicating with them now, or do you have to be ‘inside’ to do that? What happens when they’re not ‘out’?” Stefan asked curiously.

“We can communicate just fine in there. We actually live in a version of this house. It used to be the old estate before Sal had this place built for our half-brother. I /can/ communicate with them while I’m out, but it’s more difficult. Distant. Like yelling across a crowded room. Not something most of us bother with really.”

“So how do you decide who comes out and when? Is there like, a schedule or…”

“No, nothing like that. Mostly it’s just whoever wants to be out. If more than one wants out at a time, unless there’s a reason for one over the other, it’s whoever has been in the longest. We have agreements not to hog time, though some of us prefer to be out more than others. Snarky Damon for example is out most often, but he gives way for the rest of us when we want to ‘stretch our legs’ so to speak. He’s more or less the primary.”

“What if there arguments that aren’t so easily resolved?”

“Then the gatekeeper steps in. That’s more of a personal thing though, so don’t ask for more details on that,” Saint told him. Mama didn’t want to be known.

“Okay. Not asking then,” Stefan agreed. He was being open enough that he could live with some mystery remaining. He knew all he needed to know on the subject. That they had a way to handle it. “Thank you for satisfying my curiosity.”

“Your better understanding of us will help keep the peace. Especially if things develop as we hope soon,” Saint told him cryptically.

“I’m guessing I shouldn’t ask?” Stefan asked wryly.

“You’ll know when and if it happens,” Saint told him. “Do you have any other questions for me?”

“No, I think I understand enough now. Thank you,” Stefan said gratefully. “Oh wait! I do have one more. How much of this can I share with the others that know?”

“As much as you want. Their understanding will help as well,” Saint told him before receding.

Chapter 16

Chapter Text

Stefan heard the footsteps approaching as he saw the change come over Damon’s features. “Enzo! My darling Adonis,” Eros said cheerfully jumping over the back of the couch to get to him. How are you this morning.”

“Afternoon more like,” Enzo chuckled. “I’m good. How are you, Eros?”

“Want to talk,” Eros grabbed his hand and pulled him back upstairs, leaving an amused and rather thoughtful Stefan behind. Though for all Stefan knew, Eros was like that with everyone. Well everyone who wasn’t family anyway. He really hoped that Eros didn’t get like that with him. It would just feel weird.

“I’m guessing this is about our date?” Enzo asked as they got to Damon’s room, trying not to show his nerves too much.

“Yep. You ready?” Eros asked eagerly.

“What, now?” Enzo asked surprised.

“Yep,” Eros grinned.

“Can I at least have like half an hour to shower and change and get ready first?” Enzo asked amusedly. “Dress code?”

“Casual,” Eros answered first. “That works. I’ll pick you up from your room in half an hour,” Eros told him, brushing a hand down Enzo’s cheek lovingly.

“Okay. Half an hour,” Enzo agreed, suddenly wishing he’d asked for an hour. Might as well not waste it then. He headed back to his room down the hall and quickly started the shower. He would need it to calm him down if nothing else. He couldn’t get too invested in this yet. Not until he knew how the others felt about it. God, but he was so close to falling. All the more reason to get this out of the way fast. Before he couldn’t stop himself anymore. If it wasn’t already too late for that. He finished his shower and then dithered over clothes for a while. Before he realized he was acting like a girl, so he just grabbed his nicest black jeans, a white undershirt, and a dark red button-up and threw them on. He brushed his hair and made sure it looked presentable and then hesitated a moment before spritzing on some cologne. Might as well do this right.

While Enzo was getting ready, Eros was doing the same. He only made minor changes to what Core Damon had put on that morning, changing the black t-shirt out for a blue silk button-up, and adding a stylish blue and silver patterned scarf. He did his hair in his preferred touseled style, and put on his favorite cologne. He loved the thrill of a first date, but he would love even more if this was his last first date. It had only taken him about five minutes for his person to be ready, so he blurred down to the kitchen to get the rest ready. He’d been up most of the night preparing, so it was just a matter of packing it all up. Including the perfect wine he’d chosen from the wine cellar. One that they’d been saving for eighty years for a special occasion. They all agreed that this could be it and were glad that they’d never had the chance to waste it on Katherine when she wasn’t in the tomb.

Eros knocked on Enzo’s door at exactly the right time, and Enzo opened it immediately. Eros gave his most charming smile and took Enzo’s hand, pressing a lingering kiss to the back of it. The fact that he could tell that Enzo had used cologne meant that this date really mattered to him too and his hopes raised even higher. “Shall we go?” Eros offered his arm.

“Yeah. Let’s go,” Enzo slid his arm into Eros’, even more sure now that he would either regret this greatly or get everything he ever wanted. There wasn’t really a middle ground there anymore. If there ever was. He got his first clue what Eros had planned when they grabbed a picnic basket with a blanket draped over it on their way out the door, and they started walking into the woods.

Once they were into the woods, Eros dropped the formality and slid his hand into Enzo’s threading their fingers together as he began reciting a poem about beauty. One of his own. It included the natural beauty of the forest and equated it to Enzo’s beauty. The poem lasted them until they got to the spot he picked out and laid out the blanket for him and Enzo to sit down, and he pulled out the wine and chocolate covered strawberries to start and started pouring the former.

Enzo knew he needed to get the important parts out of the way fast, so as he took the glass of wine from Eros, he leaned to the side on his elbow and asked him, “What do the others think of this whole thing?”

“Us dating?” Eros asked to confirm, leaning on his own elbow facing Enzo, far enough to stay relatively casual, but close enough to change that in an instant.

“Yeah. How do they feel about it?” Enzo rephrased his question better.

“Both the Damons love you as much as I do and hope that you can develop feelings for them too,” Eros purred, hearing Enzo’s hitch of breath. “Sal and Saint aren’t interested in men romantically, but think you’re good for us anyway. They think of you more as a best friend/brother type and hope this doesn’t change that. You already know that Sammy thinks of you like the best big brother ever. Even Dante thinks you’re good for us even though he wants nothing to do with any kind of emotional stuff. We decided after the Elena debacle that if any of us disagreed on a potential relationship, we wouldn’t do it,” Eros told him, trailing his hand over Enzo’s arm. “How do /you/ feel about it?”

“I’m afraid this is just a rebound and…and I’m so close to falling,” Enzo said nearly entranced by Eros’ eyes and the feel of his hand trailing hypnotically up and down his arm.

“Just for me?” Eros asked breathlessly, leaning close. He’d never hear the end of it from the Damon’s if he hadn’t asked that. And he’d already made it clear that this wasn’t a rebound, so there wasn’t much more he could say on that one. Time would have to do the rest.

“For you and the Damons,” Enzo admitted.

“Then let yourself fall, Enzo, and trust us to catch you,” Eros whispered softly as he finished closing the distance, fingers trailing along Enzo’s jaw as he pressed his lips lightly against Enzo’s, testing the waters.

Enzo felt every breath being sucked from his body just from that one short light kiss and Eros’ words and he desperately wanted more. “It is so much fun to commit to the leap,” he whispered breathlessly, hand moving to Eros’ hip as he pulled him in for a firmer kiss. The last of his reservations were gone now. He felt exactly like they all did and they all agreed to the relationship. Even the ones who wouldn’t be a part of it. They thought he was good for them and he knew they were good for him too. “I love you, Eros,” he committed to the leap. He would tell the Damons that personally later.

“And I love you, Enzo. With the heat of a thousand suns and the light of a million stars,” Eros said lovingly as he reached for one of the chocolate covered strawberries to feed to Enzo. The rest of the physical stuff was for the /end/ of the date. At least he very much hoped he would get more then. This was time for talking and connecting and romancing.

Enzo ate the strawberry from Eros’ hand and grabbed one to feed him as well. “I hope you know that I’ll never be as poetic with my words as you are,” he told him. He did like poetry and had quite a bit memorized, but Eros could string his own words together in ways that were beyond him.

“We love you just the way you are, Enzo,” Eros assured him.

“How come you’ve been the only one to say anything about it?” Enzo asked curiously before taking another strawberry from Eros’ fingers. If anyone else had expressed their interest, he might have given in sooner and easier.

“Because wooing people is my job of course,” Eros playfully dabbed some of the chocolate on Enzo’s nose.

“Right. Of course,” Enzo chuckled. He should have known that. “But maybe next time mention that the others are in agreement from the off hmm?” he had to add.

“Well, I sincerely hope there won’t ever need to be a ‘next time’,” Eros pointed out before he kissed the chocolate off the nose.

“Yeah, that would definitely be preferable,” Enzo agreed, stealing another soft kiss before Eros got far. They spent another hour talking, feeding each other, drinking wine, and stealing a few kisses here and there before they headed back to the house. It was a rather shorter date than Eros had planned, but he could just extend the next part instead.

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

Once they got back to the house, they headed to Damon’s room, but Eros had no intention of taking this to bed just yet. No, this was going to be the perfect first date. He did sit Enzo down on the bed though as he grabbed his guitar and sat on the desk to serenade him. He started with a song he’d written that was clearly for Enzo. It described him to a tee and how much Eros loved every part of him. Not just the physical either. The way he laughed, the glimmer in his eyes, his strength, compassion, easygoing nature, acceptance. Even how he made them feel safe and free just by being who he was. It was really two songs that Eros blended into one extra long one.

When it was over, Enzo asked him, “How long have you felt this way about me?”

“I think we always have. It just never dawned on us just how deeply until the idea was put in our head,” Eros told him.

“So in a week and a half you’ve written two songs and a poem for me?” Enzo asked incredulously.

“All the feelings and words were already there. I just had to get them in the right places,” Eros said lovingly as he reached out to caress Enzo’s cheek.

“You’re incredible, Eros,” Enzo had to say before he took the guitar himself and returned the favor of the serenade, breaking into Elton John’s Your Song. He put particular emphasis on certain lines. Especially, ‘How wonderful life is now you’re in the world’, but also ‘Yours are the sweetest eyes, I’ve ever seen’, and how people like him kept the sun turned on.

While Enzo played and sang to him, Eros moved to the bed, laying on his stomach and looking up at Enzo adoringly. Once the song was over, Eros took the guitar from Enzo and set it aside as he moved up for a kiss, deepening it for the first time, long and slow and sweet. If he’d had any doubts before, they would be gone now. Enzo truly was his perfect match. The one his heart beat for. His soulmate. When the kiss ended, Eros asked, “Let me give you a massage?”

“Anything you want, my love,” Enzo purred, still rather dazed from that incredible kiss. He helped Eros get his shirts off quickly and then laid on his stomach on the bed while Eros started the massage. Not just with his hands either. His lips followed sensually, soft ghosting kisses in some places and firmer in others like they were part of the massage too and Enzo let himself get lost in the sensations. In feeling more loved than he ever had in his life.

As Eros started the massage he recited poetry, starting with, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” Once he reached Enzo’s lower back, Eros slowly removed Enzo’s pants and boxers, feeling how hard Enzo was already, and continued the massage with his hands as he just gazed at the back of Enzo’s naked body. He massaged over Enzo’s glutes, pulling the cheeks apart and ghosting his fingers over Enzo’s tight hole, pulling twitches and needy whimpers as he got his mouth back into the game and his hands continued down Enzo’s thighs. By then he was reciting the same sonnet he had the first night he expressed his interest in Enzo and this time got to finish it before telling Enzo to flip over.

Enzo was burning with both love and desire by that point, co*ck hard as a rock as Eros kissed him deeply. Enzo was already working the buttons on Eros’ shirt and when the kiss broke he said breathlessly, “You’re wearing far too many clothes.”

Eros let out a breathy laugh and continued the massage from the front of Enzo’s shoulders, letting Enzo resolve the clothing issue. “And I might need to revise my ode to your beauty. Or even just write a whole new one,” he said as he got the full view of Enzo’s body. “Because perfection like this deserves to be immortalized in words.”

“Then I’ll definitely need to do the same,” Enzo replied as he got Eros’ shirt open and shoved off his shoulders before running his hands over the hard body over top of him. He found himself captured in one more kiss as he undid Eros’ pants and started sliding them down relishing in the feel of the hard length pressing against his own. From this position he was perfectly free to touch more and his hands explored Eros’ body as the massage continued down his pecs and Eros’ lips moved over his neck and shoulders, still whispering loving sonnets. He was starting to wonder if he was going to end up getting off just like this before letting out a whimper as he lost the contact between them as Eros moved down.

Eros skipped the best part in the massage at first, moving down Enzo’s thighs and back up as his tongue flicked his nipples. That was when the breathless begging started as Enzo’s resolve broke. Eros let his thumbs rub over Enzo’s balls as he made his way back up the thighs before his hands started moving inwards over the v shaped muscles. Eros wasn’t the slightest bit surprised, and really rather pleased, when all it took was him wrapping a hand around Enzo and giving a slow stroke for him to cum. Eros wasn’t far from that himself without even being touched. But then he didn’t always need to be touched anyway. He got off on the emotion just as much as he did on the physical. All it took to get him the rest of the way was licking up what Enzo spilled as he continued downwards and let out a breathless moan as he twitched through his own org*sm.

When Enzo realized that Eros was coming too, just off touching Enzo and giving him pleasure, he was bowled over by the wave of emotion that slammed into him, and his desire only increased. By the time Eros had him cleaned up, he was half-hard again and asked, “Where’s the lube?”

“Top drawer right next to you,” Eros said as his mouth busied itself over Enzo’s hardening length. A moment later he felt it pressed into a wandering hand as Enzo spread his legs open farther. He hadn’t gotten so far as considering which way they were going to do this first. Unlike the Damon’s he didn’t really have a preference as far as giving or taking, he just wanted it all, so if this was what Enzo wanted first, he was happy to oblige. And he would take his time and prep him very well. He slid his first finger in at the same time he took Enzo’s now hard length in his mouth and quickly found the sweet spot. Naturally they’d done some research into the best ways to do this once they’d gotten the idea in their head.

Enzo arched off the bed with a gasping moan. He’d never imagined that this could feel so good. Not the blowj*b. He /knew/ that was amazing, and suspected that it would be even more amazing with Eros as was being proven right, but the rest of it was the surprise. He knew it wouldn’t be /bad/ or no one would ever want to do it, but he’d always considered it as something that one did to please their partner rather than themselves. He was definitely revising that thought now as Eros’ finger moved in and out of him, eventually joined by a second. By the time the third was sliding inside, he was more than ready to get this show on the road. He gave a little tug to Eros’ shoulders as he said breathlessly, “Take me, Eros. Please.”

He didn’t need to be told twice and slid up Enzo’s body, slicking up his own length on the way and leaned his forehead against Enzo’s, short panting kisses every so often as he slid inside slowly. The physical pleasure was just as strong as the emotional buildup between them and as he was fully seated, he whispered, “I love you, Enzo.”

“I love you too, Eros,” Enzo whispered back before they started moving, hands and lips trailing over each other’s bodies and one of Eros’ hands moved between them to slowly stroke Enzo’s hard length. After all the leadup it didn’t take very long for them to spill over. Eros stayed there, over top of Enzo, as they caught their breath before Enzo flipped them over. “My turn to worship your body, gorgeous,” he smirked as he started kissing his way down. He wasn’t going to drag it out as much as Eros did, but he had every intention of showing him just how much he was loved as well. And he would tailor his style to the one he was with, so Eros would have the slow, loving, tender parts that he so enjoyed. Not that Enzo didn’t enjoy it too, he just liked a little more variety, but he did have three of them to get variety with, so there was no reason not to give Eros what he loved best.

Enzo marveled at his lover’s beauty in his full glory just as Eros had his as he worked his way down and took Eros in his mouth. He used his fingers to give him the same attention and preparation as Eros had for him, but once he was ready, he nudged him to flip over. He caught a brief hint of disappointment in Eros’ features, but it was gone as fast as it came. He knew what Eros was thinking, but he would be surprised. Enzo did keep him on his hands and knees for a minute, as he slid inside, but was leaned over him pressing loving kisses over the back of his shoulders as he did. Once he was fully seated though, he sat back up and pulled Eros along with him, holding him close and caressing him as they moved slowly and he could feel Eros’ happy contentment at the position as he turned his head for a loving kiss and reached back to touch Enzo everywhere he could. It was a few more hours before they fell asleep happy and sated wrapped in each other’s arms.

Chapter 18

Chapter Text

As he often was, Core-Damon was the one to wake up in the morning. He enjoyed the quiet stillness of the mornings, just laying in bed and letting the mind wander. And when applicable, enjoying the feel of holding someone in his arms. And that was even better than ever since it was /Enzo/ he was holding. While he was a bit insecure over how Enzo would feel about it, he did remember him telling Eros that he was falling for him and Snarky too. They’d been shut out once things started getting heated, but they didn’t mind that. They would rather wait and form their own experiences. At least for their first times. After that they might enjoy watching sometimes, but they wanted their own first. Damon just laid there daydreaming for a good while before he felt Enzo starting to wake up.

Enzo mumbled a “good morning,” as he snuggled deeper against Damon’s side. It took a minute in his sleepy state to suspect that this wasn’t Eros anymore, and he sat up a bit to look at him. “I’m not familiar enough with bed habits yet,” he said with a hint of sheepishness.

“I’m Damon,” he told him, completely understanding that much, and appreciating the word ‘yet’ in there. “This is okay?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course,” Enzo said contentedly as he laid his head back on Damon’s chest. He didn’t need to ask which Damon. That much was obvious enough, even in the unfamiliar situation. He debated for a second which of his two thoughts he wanted to address first and decided to start with the more casual. “I’m always happy to cuddle any of you that want it. Even Sal or Saint. Hell, even Dante if hell over froze over enough for him to want cuddles,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, I don’t think even Hell could freeze that much,” Damon laughed.

Enzo then got on to the other thought, but this one he propped up on his elbow to look Damon in the eyes for. “But regardless of that, I-I love you, Damon. Just as much as I love Eros.” He only had the courage to admit that as easily as he did because of how Eros said that the Damon’s loved him and wanted something with him too. He still would have sucked it up and done it either way, just so it was out there and they knew he wasn’t just choosing Eros over them, but it would have been harder.

“I love you too, Enzo,” Damon smiled brightly and lifted his head for a kiss that Enzo happily gave him. Yes, this was infinitely better than kissing Elena. Enzo was better than Elena in every way. While he had been interested in Elena at first, he’d lost interest before they even got together. He’d enjoyed being with her well enough, but was never really invested in her. Enzo though…he was all in with this one. Enzo was perfect and their first kiss just made that even more obvious. No one would ever touch his heart the way Enzo had. Even from the very beginning. He didn’t realize until now that some part of him had always been waiting for Enzo.

Enzo could definitely tell the difference in their kissing styles. Where Eros was tender and lovng, Damon was firm and commanding. Something of a surprise given how quiet and reserved he normally was, but he wasn’t complaining. He loved surprises. And would be even more surprised later. But first they resumed their cuddling, reveling in their new relationship, hands and occasionally lips wandering over their upper bodies, but not going lower just yet, as they talked. As conversations often were with Damon there were frequent long silences and random subject changes as his mind worked on multiple different levels, but Enzo was long used to keeping up with that. Among the topics was how they felt about each other, much like Enzo and Eros had talked that part out, but without so much flowery language and poetry. Included in that was the fact that Damon would prefer not to bottom if Enzo didn’t mind. He didn’t. That conversation eventually led into more as one of their frequent kisses deepened and Damon pressed Enzo onto his back, moving over top of him and letting his passion take over.

There came Enzo’s second surprise of the morning as he realized that Damon’s sexual style was much like his kissing style. There was apparently some truth to the saying that it was always the quiet ones. Enzo met his tone happily though, hard kisses and gripping touches and sharp nips over skin as their hard co*cks rubbed together. After a while, Damon grabbed the lube and slicked himself up as he lifted and spread Enzo’s legs and then pressed in hard and fast with a grunt. Enzo felt a bit of a burn that he hadn’t last night, but even that much felt good with the pleasure combined with it and it didn’t take long for that to fade. While Eros had been primarily foreplay with the sex as almost an afterthought, Damon was the opposite.

Damon did start slow, not wanting to hurt Enzo and built up slowly, as he let his ubridled passion take over. God but this felt so incredible. The tight heat gripping him and Enzo’s responsiveness to every touch. And Enzo’s hard co*ck felt so good in his hand too as he stroked it slowly. He didn’t want this to end so soon though. Hell, he didn’t want it to ever end, but he knew it would have to. Just not yet. He brought them back from the edge with some effort before building them back up again.

After a while, Enzo found his hands pinned against the bed as Damon slammed hard and fast into him breathing heavily against his neck that was peppered with hard sucks and sharp nips a guttural moan pulled from his throat. The passion and desire that Damon was putting into every movement, like he was claiming him, dominating him, was driving Enzo to the brink, but then Damon slowed down again. He didn’t let up his grip on Enzo’s hands, keeping him restrained, but he shifted so that his wrists were together being held by one of Damon’s hands and that was even better. And not just because it freed a hand for Damon to touch him. “God…Damon…yes…please…” Enzo panted as he thrusted up into Damon’s grip. God he needed to cum so badly.

Damon couldn’t resist Enzo’s begging, and didn’t bring them back from the edge again. He didn’t know how much more he had left in him either and just went hard and fast, timing his strokes of Enzo’s co*ck to his thrusts and it was Enzo falling over the edge with a gasping moan that pulled Damon’s org*sm from him with a force that nearly bowled him over. Once they were spent, Damon let go of Enzo’s wrists and all but collapsed on top of him, burying his face in Enzo’s neck and just reveling in his presence. “I love you, Enzo,” he breathed out.

“I love you, Damon. Always,” Enzo whispered, running a hand through Damon’s hair and over his back.

They lay there like that for a good while before Damon suggested, “Let’s have a bath?”

“Yeah, I like the sound of that,” Enzo agreed. And they both rather needed one after last night and this morning. Or more like afternoon now. Once the bath was ready, they settled in the tub, Enzo leaning back against Damon and wrapped in his arms while Damon peppered kisses over his shoulders and hands roamed all over his body. It didn’t take long for them both to be hard and ready again and Enzo rocked his ass back against Damon, feeling his hard co*ck sliding between his cheeks while Damon slowly stroked him and played with his balls. After a while, Damon shifted them so Enzo was more sitting /on/ his lap, with Damon’s co*ck inside him. The fact that it didn’t change much just made it that much better. He was mostly just sitting there with some slight rolling of his hips, just feeling Damon inside him.

Damon saw no reason to speed this up either, just letting the feelings take over. Just being inside Enzo was enough for now. And touching him. Eventually they sped up though, not caring about the water splashing over the side of the tub. This time, Damon was the one to cum first, which set Enzo off and once they were done, they just relaxed there in the bath for a while longer, cuddling and chatting. It was late afternoon by the time they got out, dried off and got dressed. Just in time for Snarky to make his appearance. “We’re hungry, so it’s my turn. Let’s go hit a club.” Core-Damon didn’t like feeding, so let others handle it.

Chapter 19

Chapter Text

Enzo was happy to go clubbing, but first he pinned Damon against the wall for a kiss, wanting that much clear first. And now he would always be able to tell the difference between them with just a kiss even if he couldn’t tell them apart otherwise. This Damon was playful and teasing in his kisses, just like Enzo would have suspected, but also with a hint of submission which was less expected. When the kiss broke he said, “So we’re clear…I love you. And I want you.”

Damon gave his trademark co*cky grin, not letting on how much that kiss had made him weak in the knees. “Good. Because I love you and want you too. Even if I am out of your league,” he joked with a wink before sauntering off, leaving Enzo to follow.

Enzo laughed and shook his head amusedly before catching up with Damon. God, he loved them. When they got outside, Damon tossed him the keys which he caught expertly before getting in to drive them. Snarky didn’t much like driving when someone else was available. Just as much as Sal hated riding with someone else driving. The rest of them fell somewhere in the middle other than Sammy, of course, who never drove.

Once they got to the club, they danced a few songs together, more than a little dirty, both of them staking their claim from the off, before they split up to graze and get a meal, and then were back together again. Once they were full, they didn’t split up again on or off the dance floor, spending most of the night teasing each other in their own kind of foreplay until they headed home a little after midnight. As soon as they got up to the room they were both tearing each other’s clothes off before tumbling into bed. Damon immediately moved to his hands and knees while he tossed Enzo the lube and Enzo wasted no time slicking himself up and sliding in, trying to go slow and easy.

“Jesus, Enzo, just f*ck me already,” Damon said impatiently. “I won’t break.”

“If you insist,” Enzo let out a breathy chuckle and slammed hard and fast.

“Yes…” Damon breathed out, pressing back to meet him with every thrust. When Enzo slowed down after a few minutes, Damon didn’t complain this time, knowing that he was just trying not to cum too soon. And he was still going plenty hard. Just not as fast. “God, your co*ck feels amazing.” He’d suspected from the start, and now was absolutely sure, that he wanted to be a bottom. The feel of that big co*ck opening up his little hole was just perfect. Just enough pain to bleed through the pleasure.

Enzo leaned over to press hard sucks and sharp nips over the back of Damon’s shoulders as he reached around to stroke him in time with every hard thrust. He knew he wasn’t lasting long this time. Not after a full night of practical foreplay at the club, but he was gonna try and make it last as long as he could. Next time he could last longer, but this Damon was such a bloody tease. And the way the dirty talk continued flowing out of his mouth wasn’t helping either. He only made it about twenty minutes before he couldn’t hold back anymore and was pushing them both to the brink. Once they were spent, they just collapsed to the bed in a heap, trying to catch their breath and sharing a few short kisses in the process.

As soon as he was ready for more Damon pressed Enzo onto his back and took his co*ck in his mouth. No leadup, no warning, and the surprised moan from Enzo made him smirk around his mouthful. He may have never given a blow j*b before, but he knew what he liked and used that as his guide to tease Enzo with pleasure, but not enough to get him close. Seeing how responsive Enzo was turned him on too, but not nearly as much as when Enzo gave a tug on his hair that pulled a guttural moan.

Enzo smirked as he noticed that. So, he liked the hair-pulling huh? He could work with that. Especially since the little sh*t wasn’t even letting him get close. He wasn’t the only one that could be a tease. It wasn’t much longer before Damon was climbing up his body, and he quickly figured out that this one would apparently be primarily a bottom when he straddled him and dropped on his co*ck with nothing but spit and precum for lube this time. “Yes…Damon…” Enzo gasped as he thrust up into him.

Damon braced his hands on Enzo’s chest to ride him hard and quickly found the sweet spot. He couldn’t ride that too long or this would be over too fast though, so he tried a variety of movements and angles just looking for the ones he liked best. While he did, he rubbed and flicked over Enzo’s nipples, getting a twitch from the co*ck inside him every time. He could certainly see why when Enzo’s wandering hands returned the favor.

Enzo was loving every second of this. Just watching Damon in full glory bouncing on his co*ck, Damon’s own co*ck bouncing along with him. He wasn’t even touching his co*ck yet, enjoying just watching, but he couldn’t resist for too long. As one hand wrapped around that big gorgeous co*ck, his other hand pulled Damon down into a searing kiss as he rolled his hips up in time with Damon’s movements. “I want to bloodshare when we cum,” Damon said breathlessly as the kiss ended.

“Bloody hell, yes,” Enzo agreed eagerly. He knew that was likely only going to be a thing with this Damon, but he’d heard enough about it to want it badly. There were plenty of kisses and licks and nips as they moved together before Damon sat back up again and this time Enzo had an idea he wanted to try. He lifted his head and bent his back enough to reach Damon’s dick, but could only get as far as the tip of Damon’s co*ck in his mouth, and Damon’s hips stuttered and he let out a choked moan at the feel of it.

Damon quickly found a new position and rhythm that could let him have this without losing the co*ck inside him and when Enzo sucked hard, tongue flicking around the head, his eyes rolled back. This would never get him off. He had too little of both parts. But god if it didn’t feel incredible. Especially as Enzo stroked what wasn’t in his mouth, playing with his balls at the same time. He let that continue for a few minutes before he just really needed to cum and shifted back, leaning down for a hard kiss, loving the taste of himself in Enzo’s mouth as he started riding hard and fast again. He waited until he could tell that Enzo was close before he started riding the sweet spot and bared his fangs to sink into Enzo’s neck.

Enzo bit Damon back just as he felt them falling over the edge and he let out a whimpering moan as the taste of Damon’s blood kicked the intensity up a dozen notches. He knew he wasn’t the only one from Damon’s reaction as they both had the most intense org*sms of their lives. Once they were spent, Damon slumped his weight on Enzo, both of their necks healing fast once the fangs were removed, as they both gasped for breath.

“I hope you don’t expect me to keep up with three libidos long term,” Enzo said with a laugh once he could speak again.

“Nah, we know you’re not as awesome as us,” Damon teased as he stole a kiss and moved to the side to cuddle. “We just all wanted some time of our own to start out.”

“I get that, and I’m glad to have had this time with each of you to settle things and learn each other,” Enzo said happily as he wrapped Damon in his arms. “It’ll just get exhausting to keep up for long.”

“Does that mean you’re having second thoughts about taking us on?” Damon asked flippantly, trying to hide the insecurity of that statement.

“Not a chance,” Enzo said firmly. “I love you, Snarky. All of you. Just in different ways for some, but you, Damon, and Eros are mine now and I’m not giving you up for anything.”

“Good. Because you’re stuck with us,” Damon smirked and kissed him deeply before snuggling in. He was pretty tired too. It may not have been his mind in control, but the body was pretty worn out too. The main reason they couldn’t keep up this pace long term either. They would share from now on. At least most of the time. It didn’t take long before they were both fast asleep, feeling more complete and content than they’d ever been in their lives.

Chapter 20

Chapter Text

The next morning, Sammy woke up and climbed out of bed to get dressed, not thinking anything of he and Enzo being naked in the bed. It wasn’t something that really registered for him at all. The only thing that mattered was the fact that Enzo was sleeping so he needed to be quiet, which meant once he was dressed, he popped off the cubby for his toys and pulled out a coloring book and the crayons and laid on the floor to color for a while until Enzo woke up.

Enzo stirred awake and the sound of scratching told him he wasn’t alone. It wasn’t until he opened his eyes that he remembered where he was so he picked his head up to look and saw Sammy laying on the floor coloring. “Morning Sammy,” he said sleepily. “Want to toss me my pants over there, kiddo?”

“Kay,” Sammy reached over and grabbed them and tossed them over to the bed, barely making it.

Enzo grabbed them and put them on from the other side of the bed before getting up. “Whatcha coloring?” he asked as he sat down next to him.

“Dinosaurs,” Sammy told him as he put the crayon down. “Can we go to my room and play?”

Enzo took a minute to listen before telling him, “Depends. Do you feel up to talking to Stefan yet?”

“We can play toy soldiers in here,” Sammy decided. He wanted to. But he was scared too. What if Stefan didn’t like him anymore? Stefan was the only friend he had before Enzo and it had been a really long time since he saw him.

“Sure we can, buddy,” Enzo ruffled his hair and pulled out the bin as he asked, “Are they gonna be fighting other soldiers today or will they be fending off the horde of dragons?”

“Dragons!” Sammy said excitedly. “I’ll be the dragons, you be the soldiers this time.”

“Sure thing,” Enzo agreed amusedly and spent the next hour heroically fighting dragons and theatrically dying to the soundtrack of Sammy’s giggling roars.

“Damon says you’re moving into our room now,” Sammy said matter-of-factly as they cleaned up the toys.

“He does, does he?” Enzo chuckled, not even needing to ask which Damon.

“Uh-huh. Cuz you’re his sleeping buddy now like Elena was before,” Sammy continued what Damon told him.

“Yeah, that’s right. Is that okay with you?”

“Ya-huh,” Sammy nodded. “I’m good at being quiet in the mornings when I need to,” he told him. Even though he usually went to play in his own room when Elena was there so she didn’t see him. He didn’t need to hide from Enzo though.

Once the toys were put away, Sal came out for a smoke that Enzo joined him for and they spent the rest of the morning chatting and drinking, making it clear that their friendship wasn’t changing just because the others were, and then Saint did the same before Eros was back for the evening. They played a little music together before going to bed, and Enzo got a good idea of how they were planning to share in the future because he was with Eros for the first round and then halfway through the cuddle time, he got Snarky for a round and then a third round with Core-Damon. Three rounds a night for a vampire wasn’t too exhausting, so he could live with that. And he got the chance to talk with all of them about Sammy’s statement of him moving in.

All the responses were exactly what he would have predicted. Core-Damon mentioned how much more convenient it would be. Eros waxed poetic about how empty his life was without Enzo in the center of it. Snarky Damon just made a joke about him having three people to satisfy so why would he ever end up in a different bed. So, the next day, Enzo was moving his stuff in. Not that he had a lot of stuff yet. That afternoon marked the first time they’d been to the rest of the house in three days, and Enzo and Sal found Stefan there already with a drink.

“Hey, Enzo and…”

“Sal,” Enzo mouthed inaudibly to help him out.

“Sal,” Stefan finished.

Sal shot an amused look at Enzo, knowing what he’d done, but he didn’t mind. “Good afternoon, Stefan,” he said as he took the offered drink.

“Haven’t seen you around in a few days,” Stefan said questioningly. And Damon always kept his noise machine on whether he was home or not, which he got now, but it made it hard to know where he was.

“Yeah, we’ve been rather…busy,” Enzo chuckled.

“Okay…” Stefan said worriedly.

“He has been ‘affirming’ his new romantic relationship with Eros and the Damons,” Sal answered.

“You’re no fun. I could have drawn that out for at least twenty minutes,” Enzo laughed.

“Thank you, Sal,” Stefan snorted a laugh. “And that makes sense.”

“It does?” Enzo asked, having expected more of a shocked reaction from Stefan.

“What was it Eros called you the other day? His ‘darling Adonis’? Before dragging you upstairs? It was kinda obvious,” Stefan said wryly.

“Oh that’s just Eros,” Sal said wryly. “He’ll flirt with anyone and everyone. At least when he’s in a good mood. Which is likely to be permanent now.”

“Yeah, let’s hope he skips over me in the flirting,” Stefan shuddered.

“Let’s hope he wasn’t paying attention to hear you say that, or he’s gonna do it just to mess with your head,” Enzo snickered, making Stefan groan. The three of them sat around for the afternoon sharing war stories as Stefan got to know one of his brother’s personalities before Snarky came out. Enzo noticed the change immediately and wrapped an arm around him, getting a kiss in response as Damon leaned against him.

“I’m guessing Snarky Damon,” Stefan said, trying to get better at this.

“Gee what gave you that idea, little brother?” he said sarcastically, answer enough in itself.

“I’m curious, how does it work with three of you being in a relationship, but the others not?” Stefan asked.

“Not much different than it works otherwise. I react accordingly depending on who’s out,” Enzo shrugged.

“It doesn’t make you feel rejected by the others?” Stefan remembered Elena saying that not everyone wanted her anyway and she seemed hurt by it.

“No, because they all agreed to the relationship. Sal and Saint aren’t interested, but we’re still best friends. Sammy’s just a kid and can’t process adult relationships anyway, and Dante’s idea of a relationship is where they fall on the ‘to kill or not to kill’ spectrum,” Enzo laughed.

“Did they all agree to the relationship with Elena?” Stefan asked curiously.

“No. Saint and Sal thought she was too young and immature. Dante thought she was too weak and soft. Core-Damon was interested at first, but when she started jerking us around decided that she was too fickle. Sammy likes anyone who will play with him. It was mostly Eros and I who liked Elena. And after that debacle we ended up making a deal for no relationships unless everyone agrees,” Damon explained.

“Yeah that makes sense,” Stefan nodded. “Why didn’t you have that deal before?”

“It had never come up before. Eros is the lead on any love situations, and he’d been so hung up on Katherine until she ended up as a bust and then switched to Elena,” Damon shrugged as he refilled his drink. The three of them hung out as Damon and Enzo cuddled for a couple hours before Eros came out and wanted to take Enzo out. They ended up going to a book café that had a poetry reading that night, and Eros did one of his poems for Enzo. The rest of the evening they spent critiquing the skill of the other poets at vampire hearing level.

They did realize that they’d been so wrapped up in each other the last few days, they did need some time to do their own things, so they started working on figuring out a new routine that gave them all time together without overcrowding. It had been easier with Elena since she had other friends and school, but it was too easy for Enzo and them to lose themselves in each other and forget everything else. That was common at the start of a new relationship though, so they didn’t worry much about it. Just corrected it once they noticed. It was a new book that Eros wanted to start that actually helped them notice. He decided to branch out a bit and try a straight to gay second chance book to break the ice into a few gay novels. He would still do the straight ones, just mix them up a bit more. But he didn’t have time to start it while spending every moment with Enzo in one form or another.

Chapter 21

Chapter Text

Saturday, when he found out that Elena and Caroline were coming over, Sammy decided that he wanted to see them and was ready to see Stefan too. He missed Elena too and had heard a lot about Caroline and wanted new friends anyway. They were going out to lunch with Stefan and Jeremy so it wasn’t until lunchtime when Sammy came out and he and Enzo were playing legos in the living room while waiting for them. Enzo followed Sammy’s lead so when he didn’t stop playing when they came in neither did he. They could have a minute to process who was out if Sammy would let them.

Sure enough, they stopped in the doorway and blinked for a moment. Stefan was the first to recover and said, “Hey Sammy.”

Sammy looked up then with a bright smile, able to tell by the tone that Stefan wasn’t gonna be mean. “Hi Stefan. I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I know. I missed you too, bud. Do you remember the last time we played?” Stefan asked, actually wondering when that was.

“Yeah, we were playing football after Damon learned in the army camps,” Sammy nodded. “Hi Elena.”

“Hey Sammy,” she said with as much of a smile as she could manage. She was still processing the whole thing, particularly the breakup.

“I don’t think you’ve met me yet, but I’m Caroline,” she said as she crouched down next to him, which only worked because he was sitting on the floor.

“And I’m Jeremy,” he said, trying to ignore how crazy it was to see grown men sitting around playing legos and see ‘Damon’ acting so childlike. He hadn’t been around much between school, work, and Bonnie.

“Nice to meet you,” Sammy grinned. “You guys wanna see my room?” he asked excitedly.

“We’d love to,” Caroline answered. When he stood up and took her and Stefan’s hands, it felt a little weird, but she went with it.

“I’ll catch up when I finish cleaning up the legos,” Enzo said amusedly. Stepping on those things hurt.

“Kay!” Sammy decided that he was safe enough with them, and they skipped off towards the unused wing of the house as he explained. “It had to be hidden all the way at the back cuz nobody knew about me, but it’s still a really great room.”

“Do you usually have a room in other places?” Elena asked curiously.

“Uh-huh,” Sammy nodded. “We always have a big people room and my room. Cept when we’re in hotels.” Once they got to the room, Sammy reached up and knocked open the hole in the wall above the door to pull out the key.

“Oh wow. This is a pretty great room,” Stefan was the first to say as they looked around. He noticed the large mural sized posters on the wall with a variety of animals. One had just a bunch of turkeys though. “You like turkeys?” he asked, guessing that the animal in general was okay to bring up since he had the picture of it.

“Yeah, they’re my favorite animal. I always wanted a pet turkey, but the others keep saying no. Enzo bought me this though,” he grabbed the turkey plushie off the bed to cuddle it as he hopped up to sit on the blue and bronze bedspread which was made up despite the fact that he never slept in there. It just made him feel more at home. “It’s almost like having a pet turkey. I named him Zoey after Enzo.”

“And now you can bring him elsewhere other than your room since everyone here knows about you now if you wanted to,” Enzo said as he joined them, sliding the box of legos back in the cubby they belonged in. They were foldable to make them easier to take from place to place as they moved.

“So what else do you like, Sammy?” Caroline asked curiously, which got them the tour of most of his toys and stuff before he said, “I like to climb trees too when I play in the woods.”

“Yeah, and jump on unsuspecting people’s shoulders, you little scamp,” Enzo teased ruffling his hair as Sammy giggled. Everyone laughed at that one, just imagining how that would have gone down with his size.

“Can we go get ice cream?” Sammy asked hopefully.

“You’ve been with me for ice cream before haven’t you?” Elena realized.

“Uh-huh. None of the others like ice cream much,” Sammy told her. “But it’s my favorite.”

“Yeah, I’ll take you out for ice cream buddy. Anyone else who wants to come can.” They all ended up volunteering to go for different reasons. Though part of it was not wanting to disappoint Sammy. The trip also helped them all get more comfortable with him. Though Elena was still feeling a little creeped out that she’d unknowingly ‘dated’ a little kid. Because spending time with him, there was no doubt whatsoever that he really /was/ a little kid. Though he’d tried to hide it back then, she could see the signs in hindsight too. She’d just thought he was showing his open playful side.

They all had the news that Enzo and some of the alters were in a relationship, and Elena couldn’t see how he could handle it. Just accepting that the man he loved was someone else half the time that he couldn’t be with. That incident, more than anything else, drove home Sal’s point about how she couldn’t handle them. And she couldn’t ask or expect Damon to keep hiding himself for her comfort or for anyone else’s. Enzo really was so much better for him. He gave him the freedom to be himself and didn’t seem at all bothered by it.

After the ice cream trip, they headed home and they got Snarky Damon during the drive. Stefan was getting more used to the changes, but it took the others a beat to catch up. Stefan wasn’t nearly as good as Enzo yet, especially at knowing who it was with just a glance, but he was making progress. When they got home, Damon almost tripped over the bag at the side of the hallway, but Enzo’s arm around him steadied him. “What’s this?” Damon asked as he picked it up and opened it.

“Oh, that’s mine,” Caroline tried to grab it from him, but was too late.

“These are all Eros’ books,” Damon said amusedly.

“Yeah, I was gonna…kinda…maybe…see if he’d…sign them? The next time he’s available?” Caroline said sheepishly.

“I’d be happy to for such a radiantly beautiful fan such as yourself,” Eros immediately appeared, and kissed her hand flirtatiously.

“Aren’t you with Enzo too?” Jeremy asked with a frown.

“Course I am. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate beauty when I see it,” Eros winked at her.

“That’s just Eros for you,” Enzo shrugged amusedly. He wasn’t at all threatened by it. He knew that Eros would never stray as long as they were together. It wasn’t in his nature. He just blurred off and came back with a pen as the group moved into the living room and Eros started signing, having a short discussion with Caroline and Elena both as he did. Since Elena was a fan of the books too. She just felt weird about asking him to sign them given their history. Caroline had no such compunctions though.

Eros was perfectly capable of carrying on a conversation while coming up with a different flowery compliment to sign in each book, and when he got to the end he frowned. “I’m wounded that you didn’t deem my early works worthy of your attention,” he put a hand over his heart theatrically.

“Wait, I missed some?!” Caroline asked horrified. “Which ones? I’ll find them.”

“A Spinster at Heart, Kiss Me With Dreams, and The Rival Wedding. Published 1875, 1883, and 1894 respectively,” Eros told her as she noted them down.

“I didn’t look all the back to the eighteen hundreds,” Caroline admitted. “I should have once I found out who you were.”

“I suppose I can forgive you this time,” Eros said as though it pained him. “You’ll soothe my wounded heart, won’t you, my love?” he fluttered his eyelashes at Enzo.

“Always, my darling,” Enzo said amusedly as he kissed him tenderly, making half the room ‘aww’ and the other half jokingly pretend to gag.

“So are you working on anything new?” Elena asked once the moment was over.

“I am actually. Something a bit different from my usual fare,” Eros told her.

“Ooh fun. What’s it about?” Caroline asked eagerly.

“It’s about a man who looks up an old friend for a fresh start after his wife leaves him for another man and then realizes that the friend is the one he’s loved all along but it hadn’t dawned on him because it was another man,” Eros told her. “It’s still in the early stages though. Probably at least a year before it’s out.”

“But friends get an early look right?” Elena asked hopefully, recognizing the situation of him and Enzo. She wasn’t particularly happy to be cast in the ‘cheating wife’ role, but it was fiction and that sounded better than ex-girlfriend with an amicable split.

“I suppose. But still not until it’s done,” Eros wagged a finger playfully at her. The rest of the afternoon was spent with the group chatting while watching Eros and Enzo fawn over each other just barely under the level that would have made them uncomfortable, and crossing it a few times, but only briefly. And Eros flirting with everyone else in the room whenever an opportunity arose as well. The look on Stefan’s face was rather comical when he was the target, but Caroline was the most frequent target of his ‘non-Enzo’ flirting. Stefan was too close to family, Jeremy was too young, and Elena had too much history.

Chapter 22

Chapter Text

Enzo was just waking up when someone else did. Someone he hadn’t seen before. Someone who just got out of bed elegantly and walked over to the closet to get dressed. “Who are you?” he asked curiously, as the person pulled a large carpetbag out of the back of the closet and he started to get a suspicion. “Mama?”

She just turned and smiled softly at him as she said, “Sammy’s birthday is next week.”

“I know. I already ordered him a cake,” Enzo told her. He was also the only one other than Mama and Sal to know that the birthday was based on the date that turkey Sammy had been bought and became little Damon’s friend.

Her smile widened as she walked over and pressed a motherly kiss to his forehead. “You are good for my boys. Thank you. I very much approve.”

“Th-thank you,” Enzo said a bit discombobulated. He was under the impression that she never came out. But now she was, and in front of him which was a whole new level of trust. Not to mention how much her approval meant to him and that kiss was about the closest he would ever get to knowing a mother’s love.

“The others won’t remember any of this,” she told him before she slipped out to do her shopping. The bag full of wrapped gifts would be found in Sammy’s closet the day of his birthday. He knew to look there. And a few other gifts would be found around for the others too.

The next day, Stefan was in his room journalling when his brother walked in, and he was relatively sure he was right when he looked up and said wryly, “Ever heard of knocking, Snarky?”

“Heard of it, sure. See the point? No,” he quipped as he looked around. “We’re having a birthday party for Sammy on Saturday.”

“Okay. Want me to spread the word to those in the know?” Stefan asked.

“If you would,” Damon said as he walked over to the bookshelves.

“How old will he be?” Stefan asked, wondering if he ever went up in age.

“Eight. Always eight,” Damon told him as he pulled a book off the shelf. “What’s this then?” he asked amusedly. “The autographed, annotated, collector’s edition of Desert Dreams by Nomad Torevasal? And oh look, you have two others…” he teased.

“I’ve had those for years. Before I knew it was Damon,” Stefan tried to brush it off like it was nothing, even though it meant /more/ now that he knew whose they were. And he’d spent a fortune on those on E-bay.

“Oh. Then you probably don’t want them anymore. I’ll just take care of them for you,” Damon said as he reached for the others, waiting to see how Stefan reacted.

“No!” Stefan said quickly as he blurred over, jumping his desk in the process. He pulled the one from Damon’s hand and gently put it back on the shelf, shielding the others. “Fine, they matter okay? Leave them alone or I’ll break your hand.”

Stefan noticed the change come over him before Core-Damon said, “It’s okay, little brother. No one will mess with your books.”

“Damon?” Stefan asked hopefully with bright eyes. “The real Damon?”

“Real is subjective, and not the best word to use in our situation, but I’m the original Damon, yes,” he said a bit nervously. He still wasn’t sure about facing his brother, but seeing how much the special editions of his books meant to Stefan, even after knowing who wrote them, meant a lot.

“Damon,” Stefan breathed out happily before grabbing him in a hug. “I’ve missed you, brother.”

“Me too, Stef,” Damon said with tears in his eyes as he hugged him back. Something he’d missed since they were human. “I always thought you hated me.”

“I thought /you/ hated /me/,” Stefan huffed a laugh. “I was wrong and stupid and took one statement said in the heat of the moment and blew it all out of proportion and I was awful to you and didn’t understand,” he babbled. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“I’m here aren’t I?” he said with much less sarcasm than Snarky would have. “I forgive you, brother.”

“Thank you,” Stefan said earnestly as he let go, blinking the tears from his eyes. “And you know you can come hang out with me about something other than your books too, right?” he tried for some light teasing.

“I will. They’re just usually the only thing I can’t resist when you’re around,” he chuckled as he took the seat Stefan motioned him to and then the offered drink.

“I just realized something,” Stefan said thoughtfully. “That time I found sweet tea in the bourbon bottle…that wasn’t a prank was it? How many of you don’t drink?”

“Sammy’s the only one that doesn’t drink. One of the special bottles at the back has tea, the other has apple juice,” Damon told him amusedly. “It does work pretty well as a prank though too apparently.”

“Yeah, it does,” Stefan laughed as he sat down to get to know his original brother again after so long.

Enzo, obviously, was running things for Sammy’s first ‘out’ party. The first time he’d had people in the real world who knew about him. Also present were Stefan, Caroline, Elena, Jeremy, and even Bonnie had come for this. Elena and Caroline had been talking her around and she was more willing to give him a chance. Not to mention, she didn’t want to disappoint an eight-year-old on his birthday, no matter how dubious she was of whole idea. It didn’t take her long to realize that he really was an eight-year-old, no matter the body he was in.

Enzo had arranged a few games for them to play and the whole day would be for Sammy. Watching vampires staggering around dizzy as they tried to find the donkey on the wall to pin the tail on was hilarious. As were some of the places the tail ended up. Enzo was the spinner, except when it was his turn and Stefan spun him, so he always gave Sammy a nudge in the right direction at least. None of the others got that so it was chaos that had Sammy rolling on the ground giggling the whole time. Especially when Stefan almost pinned the tail on Caroline, and then she laughingly chased him around teasing him about calling her a donkey. The pinata was similar chaos and it was a good thing most of them were vampires given how often they got whacked with a stick. Bonnie just hid behind Jeremy amusedly, since as a hunter he could take the hits better too.

The three-legged race went much better. Stefan wanted to team up with Sammy, so Enzo sat that one out so they wouldn’t end up with an uneven number. Caroline and Elena were a team as were Jeremy and Bonnie. Jeremy and Bonnie, due to their height difference, came in way last, but still had fun. Caroline and Elena could have won, working together very well, but they ‘tripped’ once they got too far ahead and let the birthday boy win. After that game, they headed inside for cake and ice cream and Enzo brought out the turkey shaped and decorated cake with eight candles that said, ‘Happy Birthday Sammy’ on it and they all sang to him. When he blew out the candles he wished that he could have a birthday like this every year. He was given a tail feather for the cake and an extra scoop of his favorite rocky road ice cream.

After the cake and ice cream came the presents which they all went to Sammy’s room for, Bonnie’s first time seeing it. Sammy first went to the closet to pull out the big carpet bag and start pulling presents from it. “Where did those come from?” Bonnie asked curiously.

“Don’t ask,” Enzo told her, and everyone else he could see wondering. “It’s a personal thing.” They left it at that and just added their presents to the pile Sammy was making on the bed. His presents from Mama were mostly the simple old-fashioned things as they usually were. A new set of toy soldiers, some new toy dinosaurs, hot wheels cars, a new sketchbook, a few coloring books and a new set of crayons and color pencils. From everyone else he got new specialized lego sets, a handheld video game, a few stuffed animals including a copy of Elena’s teddy bear that he’d liked so much, and a coupon for fifty-two free ice creams from Baskin Robbins. Once a week for the next year.

When the party ended around eight, and Sammy went back in, Eros came out and draped himself over Enzo. “You, my dearest love, deserve a treat for making this day so special for little Sammy,” he purred, before dragging Enzo upstairs to a chorus of snickers and rolled eyes from the group still hanging out downstairs.

“Well, we won’t see them until tomorrow. Or next week,” Stefan said amusedly.