Release Me

Chapter Nine

Bonnie went to bed happier than she'd been in a long time, feeling the heaviness in her heart start to fade but she knew as high as she felt then she'd feel equally as low.

She slipped out of her days outfit until she was down to just her panties and bra and stood in front of the floor length mirror admiring herself although for the most part she was unhappy with what she was seeing. Not wanting to take away from her slight upturn in mood she decided not to render in her daily dose of self-loathing.

She reached in to the top drawer of her dresser pulled out the first shirt she could get her hands on and frantically slipped it on. Almost instantly she felt the warmth from the sweet, musky scent of his Armani code cologne infiltrate her nostrils.

Feeling done with the day Bonnie slumped her way under the covers of her freshly made bed, closed her eyes and ever so lightly drifted into the oblivion of sleep, tossing and turning not able to fully send her conscious mind away.

She opened her eyes and huffed, looking up to the ceiling thinking of something that would send her into the peaceful slumber she craved oh so badly.

Bonnie knew several different techniques for falling asleep, she'd tried them all. But now she was convinced that doing them would only keep her awake for longer. Every few minutes she would roll over and look at the time, disappointed at how slow the seconds seemed to pass. Tired and somewhat cranky she flicked on the lamp switch and fumbled out of bed.

She gently fell back on the bed when she felt the sharp draft of cool air on her bare feet making her patience with life decrease. She reached in her bedside table and pulled out a pair of thick fuzzy socks quickly sliding them on to her small feet instantly feeling the warmth run up her legs.

She glanced to the corner of her room unable to escape the harsh reflection that tormented her through the looking glass.

Without a second thought she slid off of the cloud that was her bed and crept to the door turning the knob as gently as she could trying to avoid the scrutiny of the extreme-hearer of the house.

Not closing her door all the way she crept across the hall and lightly knocked on the obnoxiously fancy one waiting for a reply which came quicker than she expected.

She felt her breath get caught in her lungs as her eyes trailed up his bare abdomen to his tired eyes.

"Did I wake you?" She apologetically questioned feeling bad

"No I didn't quite make it that far" He smiled at her letting her know she done nothing wrong.

"I can't sleep... Can we do it like old times?" She tiredly smiled back semi-yawning

He stepped out of the way letting her slip through the space between him and the door frame and happily shook his head looking down before re-closing the seal to his quarters.

*Flashback*

"Bonnie! Bonnie!" Damon half yelled while carefully shaking her awake. This had been the every night routine for the past almost two weeks. Bonnie screams in her sleep, Damon runs in, awakens her from her not so peaceful slumber and attempts to calm her down, half succeeding but not enough to get her to fall back asleep on her own.

Although she begged to differ, Damon knew Bonnie was weak from the sleep deprivation and was unable to take herself up the stairs so against her stubborn wishes he would carry her up to his room and lay her comfortably on the right side of the bed. While that was generally the side he slept on he always made the exception for her.

They both turned to face each other and even though it was dark and he couldn't see all that clearly Damon could pretty much feel the exhaustion radiating off of her warm body.

Damon opened his mouth to speak but closed it again not wanting to keep her awake for any longer than she had to be.

"Just say it" She sweetly whispered letting him know that he was open to expressing his thoughts.

That was one thing he loved about her. No matter the situation, she never pushed away his feelings or disregarded what he had to say.

"Okay Bon I don't want you to feel weird about this, but why don't you re-locating your sleeping arrangements to with me?"

"Damon do you get how sketchy this looks from the outside? I don't want to get people talking and I-It's just too complicated."

"Bon it's not like i'm asking you to move in with me." He snickered

"Do you know how much it terrifies me when you're having a nightmare and I can't snap you out of it? You only ever get proper sleep when you're in here with me and we all know how much you need sleep."

"Okay I am choosing to look past that somewhat shady comment you just made because I can hear sleep calling my name but i'll think about it."

"Bon come on. I'm not worried about what other people are thinking because right now my main priority is you." He breathed out in a strict mannered way.

"Fine. Just please shut up so I can sleep now." She whispered back snuggling deeper into 'their' warm bed inhaling his lingering scent.

*End Of Flashback*