Landlord doing repairs a week prior to lease ending(NC)

[Jon Standard]

So my landlord, after me and my other roommate have told him countless times that we would cover it(We still have a week left in our lease), decided to tell us that he was going to paint the walls back and fill in the holes. From here we asked if that would be taken out of our security deposit. Once he verified that he would be deducting from our security deposit, we reassured him to not waste his time and that we would take care of the damages that we caused. He declined and went ahead and did it this passed weekend(We were out of town visiting family).

What are the legalities regarding security deposits and repairs done prior to the lease ending. Its been my understanding that once the lease is over, then the proper assessment of damages can be made and that anything prior to cannot be held against me.

He has tenants moving in on the 1st(Our lease ends after the 31st). so hes using our remaining week to do his repairs. Can anyone help me figure out if we're being cheated or not?