The Inconvenience of Feelings

Chapter 4

Damon pulled into an empty parking spot at the school, immediately catching the attention of a group of pretty high school girls all dressed in their best 60s get-ups. He smirked and exited his car. “Ladies,” he said seductively and winked as he walked passed. They waved and giggled flirtatiously. If there was anything Damon was certain of, it was his looks. He was easily the most attractive man that would be at the dance tonight. Hell, he was easily the most attractive man in Mystic Falls.

The walk across the parking lot was uneventful. Most of the partygoers had already made their way into the gymnasium, leaving only a few stragglers milling about outside. His heightened vampire senses caught a whiff of what smelled very strongly of skunk. He followed his nose and looked in the direction of what happened to be a small group of teenagers huddled together a good distance away, clearly trying to smoke a joint discreetly, but failing miserably. He chuckled to himself. He couldn’t say he blamed them. These high-school dances had a tendency to bring out the crazies.

While continuing his trek to the gymnasium he caught another scent that he had to admit he was annoyingly becoming all to familiar with; Jasmine and vanilla, two of his new favorite scents it would seem. He looked around trying to spot the object of his begrudging affection. Of course, the girl in question was nowhere in sight, but he could tell she was close. Inhaling deeply through his nose he followed the aroma directly to the source and was awarded the sight of Bonnie and Jeremy talking with one another, rather heatedly he might add. Once Damon put his vampire hearing to good use, he understood why they both seemed so upset.

Bonnie was hugging Jeremy when Damon caught her eye. The recognition on Bonnie’s face left no doubt that she knew that Damon had heard everything. That pesky vampire hearing was good for a lot of things. Eavesdropping on other people’s conversations being among them.

They stared at each other knowingly for a few quick seconds before Bonnie turned her attention back to Jeremy. Damon was definitely going to have to have a conversation of his own with her before she did something really stupid.

After Stefan and Elena showed up, they all made their way through the groovy 60s walkway and entered the dance. The party was in full swing when they entered the gymnasium. Teenagers of all shapes and sizes were gyrating against one another on the dance floor while listening to the best music the 60s had to offer. Damon had to admit that the 60s was a great decade for many things, music being one of them.

They didn’t even have a chance to make it to the dance floor before a girl on the stage caught their attention by dedicating a song to Elena from none other than Klaus. No one outside of their little group was none the wiser, but everyone Damon cared about was up in arms. He however, was unimpressed. He had seen better. Hell, he had done better. He prided himself on his ability to torment people. It was easily one of his favorite past times.

Elena glanced around the room trying to spot a face she didn’t recognize in the crowded room, but had no such luck. “I don’t see anyone I don’t know,” she commented clearly unnerved.

“He probably isn’t here. He wouldn’t show his face already. He’d lose the element of surprise. He just wanted to spook you and it’s clearly working. We can’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing he got to us.” Damon swung his arms out enthusiastically. “It’s a party people. Dance, blend. Act like you want to be here.”

Damon watched as Bonnie practically dragged Jeremy out on the dance floor. He allowed himself a quick moment of reflection; a moment of wondering what it would feel like to be the one she was dragging out on the floor, to be the one she pressed her body up against while they danced slowly to whatever song was playing. He made a mental note to ask her to dance later.

After the moment passed, Damon focused his thoughts on the task at hand and informed Stefan that he was going to find Ric. He scanned the room and easily spotted his best friend since he stood out like a sore thumb surrounded by a throng of dancing teenagers. Damon made his way through the dancers to stand next to his best friend.

“That was pretty twisted huh?” Alaric asked sounding impressed. “Dedicating that song to Elena like that.”

Damon rolled his eyes. “I’m not impressed. You’d think for a thousand year old vampire he could come up with something better, but I guess some people just don’t get better with age. Keep your eyes peeled okay. Let me know if you see anyone that looks suspicious.”

He didn’t wait around for Alaric’s response and made his way around the room. He let his eyes wander and saw Stefan and Elena on one side of the room dancing semi-happily together and Bonnie and Jeremy in the center of the room dancing entirely to slow for the song that was playing. It didn’t escape his attention that both the women he felt something for were dancing with other men. He really didn’t know how he let himself get into these situations sometimes.

He noticed Stefan gesturing him over to Elena. He nodded his acknowledgement and walked up behind her just in time for Stefan to spin her around into his waiting arms. She was caught off guard, but quickly gained her composure and started dancing with him. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked dressed in her 60s garb. Her tiny dress and go-go boots would have had her fitting in perfectly.

They danced for a few moments, talking about nothing of importance except maybe Damon’s excellent dancing skills. He didn’t want to toot his own horn, but… oh who was he kidding? He loved tooting his own horn.

After he left Elena he went to find a certain witch that he needed to have a very important talk with. He found the couple in the same spot he had seen them before, dancing the same way they were earlier as well. Little Gilbert clearly needed some new moves.

He cleared his throat when he was next to the couple. “Mind if I cut in?” he asked, but really left no room for argument.

Jeremy didn’t look like he wanted to leave Bonnie, but she nodded her head letting him know she was ok with it.

“Sure,” Jeremy said clearly bothered as he walked away.

Damon threaded his fingers through Bonnie’s much softer ones and started dancing and just like he had just moments before with Elena, he took in the sight that was Bonnie Bennett. She looked stunning in her tiny orange dress that complimented her gorgeous caramel skin. Her beautiful brown locks looked every bit from the 60s with a white headband keeping her hair pulled away from her heart-shaped face. Most importantly though, he couldn’t help but notice how right it felt to have her in his arms. This was easily the most they had ever touched one another and Damon had every intention of milking it for as long as he could.

“You heard me and Jeremy talking earlier, didn’t you?” Bonnie asked, getting right to the point.

“Is it true?” he asked,, answering her question with a question, hoping her answer would be the opposite of what he knew it would be.

“Yep,” she answered simply.

Damon nodded perturbed. He was conflicted in that while being annoyed with her, he also acknowledged how easily they moved together. He wasn’t surprised however, even when they argued they were in perfect sync with one another. He twirled her out and away from him and then twirled her back to him with her back pressed up against his front, a position that was making it very hard to focus on the matter at hand.

With his one arm wrapped around her chest and his other resting firmly, but gently on her hip they continued to sway to the music. He tried not to think about the feeling of her body beneath his hand at her hip, but that was proving to be a difficult task. Bringing his thoughts back to the forefront, he brought his mouth down to her ear and asked, “and that part about having a 50/50 chance; was that true too?”

Bonnie swallowed hard. She really didn’t want to answer that question. She didn’t want to deal with the repercussions of what others knowing the truth would be. She knew Damon would keep her secret though, so she answered truthfully, yet slightly ashamed. “I didn’t want to worry him.”

Damon sighed. Stubborn ass witch. He spun her back out so he could face her again. “And you’re willing to lay it all on the line for Elena? No matter what?”

Her face was mere inches away from his when she lifted her chin and answered firmly, “No matter what.”

Damon swallowed and tried not to look at her very kissable mouth. Heeding Stefan’s warning from earlier and not wanting to raise any more suspicion he said the safest thing he could. “Good.”

Bonnie would be lying if she said that it didn’t sting a little bit when Damon said that. She knew that her life would never equate to Elena’s in his eyes, but he had been slightly different with her lately. She was starting to think that maybe he didn’t hate her anymore and actually cared whether she lived or died. Perhaps she was wrong in thinking that, since he was dismissing her life so easily now.

Damon for his part, wasn’t ready to give up and just let her die. He loved Elena, he knew that with every fiber of his being, but Bonnie had warmed her way into something inside of him and he would be damned if he let her go without a fight.

“You’ve got all that power. Isn’t there anyway to increase your odds?” he asked as nonchalantly as he could as he spun her back out and in again. Her back to his front. He couldn’t help it. He liked holding her like that.

Bonnie was clearly taken aback. This was that side of him that had her so confused lately. Just a moment ago she felt as if Damon was ready to throw her to the wolves, so to speak, if it meant saving Elena. Now though, he seemed a little worried about whether she made it out of this alive or not. She wondered if being bi-polar was a side effect of vampirism. She smiled slightly and said, “Careful Damon. I might start to think you actually care.”

Damon’s eyes went wide and he returned her smile. “We wouldn’t want that,” he said honestly and in a much lower and seductive voice than he intended. He really didn’t want her thinking he cared about her, but he was positive he was fighting a losing battle in that regard.

Bonnie didn’t know if it was their close proximity or the low timbre of his voice when he spoke or a combination of both, but she felt a very unwanted shiver shoot down her spine. The small gasp she let out had her wanting the earth to open up and swallow her whole. She prayed to God that Damon didn’t notice the effect he seemed to be having on her because she didn’t even want to acknowledge it herself. This was Damon Salvatore; the demon vampire that she vowed to loathe for the entirety of her life. She could not afford to develop any sort of attachment or dare she say, attraction towards him. No, absolutely not.

Damon most certainly did notice her slight intake of breath and the tiny shiver that racked her equally tiny body. He knew she tried to hide her bodies reactions the best she could and had it not been for his heightened vampire senses, her very subtle reactions might have slipped his notice, but as it was, he was very much aware. He had to admit that having her react that way to him gave him a small sense of satisfaction. At least now he knew she wasn’t as immune to his charms as she thought she was and his body definitely wasn’t immune to her.

He really needed to cut this dance short before he gave away way more than he wanted to. Loathe as he was to admit it, Stefan was right. If Bonnie found out about how he felt, it would most certainly be because of him and his inability to control himself around her.

After they danced awhile longer and parted ways, it seemed like the shit hit the fan. One horrible thing after another went down. Jeremy spilled the beans to Stefan about Bonnie and then Stefan obviously couldn’t keep his mouth shut to Elena, who in turn confronted Bonnie. Then Klaus compelled some teenage boys to beat the crap out of Jeremy. Stefan and Damon quickly deduced that it was a diversion to separate them from the girls. The girls discovered that Alaric was no longer in possession of his body and had indeed been taken over by Klaus. Which of course, nobody could have seen coming.

Damon had literally ran into Bonnie in one of the many hallways at the school and she frantically informed him that she discovered that no matter what she threw at Alaric/Klaus, it would only hurt Alaric and Klaus would be free to possess another poor unsuspecting soul. Damon was at his wits end with the whole situation and was determined to not let Klaus win.

He looked Bonnie directly in her beautiful green eyes and inwardly kicked himself for what he was about to ask her. “You still prepared to do whatever it takes to kill Klaus?”

Bonnie froze for a split second, second guessing every decision she ever made that led her to this moment. Steeling herself, she swallowed hard and in realizing she was unable to form a sentence without breaking down, just nodded her consent instead.

Everything happened quickly after that. Bonnie went to confront Klaus. Elena and Stefan found Damon sans the little witch and promptly demanded to know where she was, to which he replied solemnly, “She’s doing what needs to be done.”

Elena’s eyes went wide. “Where is she Damon?” she demanded.

Stefan looked murderous, “Damnit Damon, what did you do?”

When Damon failed to answer them, they both took off running to find Bonnie and hopefully save her from her apparent suicide mission. They followed the sounds of glass breaking and ended up standing at the door of the lunchroom. The sight before them was one they would never forget.

The room was in complete shambles. Light fixtures shattered, tables and chairs were blown about the room. Papers were flying all over the place. Bonnie was using every bit of power she possessed to try and kill Klaus. She broke every bone of his that she could, but it seemed to be having little to no affect. She would break a bone and it would heal instantly. She was basically killing herself for nothing.

“Bonnie!” Elena screamed, standing in the doorway.

Bonnie turned around and magically sealed the doors to the lunchroom shut to keep Stefan and Elena out. “Bonnie no!” Elena cried and beat on the door as she watched her best friend go head to head with the original. Stefan shoved his body against the doors over and over again, hoping his vampire strength would be enough to find a weak spot so he could bust through the doors. His attempts proved to be futile. Bonnie’s magic was too strong, making them powerless to help her.

The fight seemed to go on forever, but in reality lasted only a few moments. Finally Bonnie turned to look at Elena and with tears in her eyes and blood pouring from her nose, she smiled at her best friend one last time before she used up the last of her power. Her body contorted unnaturally and she fell to the ground. Instantly everything stopped. Stefan was finally able to bust through the doors and they ran to Bonnie. Elena dropped to her knees. She pulled Bonnie’s head into her lap and cried, frantically calling out Bonnie’s name hoping she would wake up.

She checked for a pulse and felt none, “Stefan I can’t feel a pulse. Stefan give her some blood. Please Stefan!”

Stefan pushed two fingers against Bonnie’s wrist feeling for a pulse as well and came up just as empty as Elena. He looked at Elena somberly as she cried and begged him to give Bonnie some blood and hated what he had to tell her. “I think it’s too late Elena. Bonnie’s dead.”

Elena’s cries turned to banshee like wails. She pulled Bonnie close to her and continued calling her name hoping something would happen and she would miraculously wake up.

Damon entered the lunchroom and froze at the sight before him. He only let himself have a couple of seconds to be shocked before he came to his senses and remembered what he had to do. He walked quickly toward the three of them and tried to avoid looking at Bonnie for as long as possible.

“Stefan get Elena out of here while I take care of it. The last thing we need is for the sheriff to see this.”

Elena raised her eyes in disbelief. “Take care of it? This is Bonnie,” she yelled in anguish.

Damon bent down next to Bonnie’s body, looked at Stefan and said quietly, but firmly,” Stefan get her out of here so I can take care of the body.”

Stefan nodded his head, still in shock himself and grabbed Elena trying to pull her out of the room. He was thankful he was a vampire in that moment or he may not have been able to get her to move. As it was though, he was able to pull her to her feet and escort her out of the room and away from her dead best friend.

Damon felt that if his heart could beat, it would have stopped again the moment he walked in and seen Bonnie lying on the floor. He acknowledged that if there was ever any doubt that he might feel something for her, there was no denying it now. Seeing her like this broke him a little. Her make-up was smeared and she had blood all over her mouth and chin. A sheer sign that she had used entirely too much magic and her fragile human body couldn’t handle it.

Damon only allowed himself a moment to come undone before he composed himself and did what needed to be done. Apparently, that was a theme tonight. He couldn’t handle looking into her unseeing eyes that always held so much life in them, so he gently pulled her eyelids down. She went from looking dead, to looking like she was asleep or just unconscious. It was a lot easier to handle her after that.

He gently picked her up bridal style and cradled her head to his chest. He could easily admit that if he would have ever got to hold her like this, he damn sure hated that it had to be under these grim circumstances. Making his way out of the school was easy enough. The dance was still in full swing, so there were hardly any straggling teenagers wondering around the halls. He had already moved his Camaro to a back entrance and left the trunk open to make the getaway quicker.

Damon abhorred the idea of putting Bonnie in the trunk. She deserved so much better, but for the umpteenth time that night, he did what he knew needed to be done. He laid her body down as gently as possible, looked at her for a few moments longer and then shut the trunk, leaving her body to the lie alone in the darkness.

He rested his palms on the trunk and hung his head. Sighing heavily, he couldn’t help but wonder why their lives had to be so hard all the time. Damon had always been one for excitement, but he would gladly take some boredom and monotony right now, if it meant they could have a moments peace.

After his moment of reflection passed, he walked around to the driver side of his car and opened the door. Just as he was about to slide into the drivers seat, he heard his name being called. Damon turned his attention to the teenage boy running towards him and steeled himself for what was to come.

Jeremy finally reached Damon and slightly out of breath asked, “Damon’s what’s going on? Where is everyone?” The look on Damon’s face made Jeremy pause for a second. “Damon…where’s Bonnie?” he asked more firmly.

Damon stared back at Jeremy somberly and without his usual snark replied, “We need to talk kid.”

BDBDBDBDBDBD

Back at the boarding house, Damon prepared himself for what was sure to be a furious Elena waiting for him to show his face. He entered the house and was immediately met with the fiery brunette. Sitting her coffee cup down on the nearest table, she stood up from the chair she was sitting in and shrugged off the blanket she had draped over her shoulders. She marched towards him with purpose until she was standing eye to eye with him.

Damon held his hands out in front of his body trying to calm the heart-broken teenager down. “Elena,” he started softly. “I need you to listen to me.”

“Where is she Damon?” she asked, not even trying to give him a chance to talk. “What did you do with her?”

He tried again. “Elena, please just listen to me.”

Elena was having none of it though and asked through gritted teeth and with tears in her eyes, “You knew didn’t you? You knew if she used all that power she would die, didn’t you?”

Damon didn’t answer. He hardly wanted to admit it to himself, he damn sure didn’t want to admit it to Elena.

Her eyes went wide at his silence and she yelled infuriated, “Didn’t you!?”

Damon’s eyes went equally as wide as he finally admitted it. “Yes,” he replied through gritted teeth.

The slap came so hard and fast, Damon didn’t see it coming. His head snapped to the side from the force of her fury. Under normal circumstances, Damon would have been enraged from someone putting their hands on him, but this was Elena and these damn sure weren’t normal circumstances. So he reigned in his anger and said calmly and evenly, “Elena, I need you to listen to me. What I’m about to tell you is very important and is going to change everything.”

She was still seething, but he knew she wouldn’t be lashing out at him again. “Nobody could have predicted that Klaus was using Alaric’s body. None of us seen that coming. Bonnie wasn’t prepared for that.” He paused for a moment. “Klaus went in there prepared for Bonnie. He knew she had all that power and he knew she was going to use it to try and kill him. He also knew that her body couldn’t handle using all that power. He wanted her to die and we had to make him believe that she did.”

He watched as Elena’s face switched from anger to confusion and then finally to recognition. He watched as relief flooded her features.

“You mean…” she started hopefully.

“She cast a spell on herself. It gave the appearance of death without the nasty side effect of actually dying.” He paused. “Bonnie’s fine.” And with that he walked away from her and towards the bar. The events of the night definitely called for a drink. He started the night skeptical, yet slightly hopeful that Bonnie could take down Klaus and ended the night by putting her, thankfully still alive, but dead looking body in the trunk of his car and doubting that the bastard original could even be killed.

Sighing, he poured himself a drink and knocked it back quickly. Not nearly sated, he poured himself another, knocking it back just as quickly as the first. He slammed the glass down on the bar and headed toward his room to take a shower to wash the events of the night off. He was stopped abruptly though, by a voice he had been on pins and needles to hear again. Damon slowly made his way around the room so he could see the laptop screen sitting on the table in front of Elena and so he could see Bonnie’s beautiful green eyes filled with life again.

She hadn’t been awake yet when he dropped her off at the dead witches house. He had laid her body down on a few soft blankets and a pillow he had set up in the basement, as far away from any prying eyes as he could get her. He had lit some candles to illuminate the room so she didn’t have to wake up in the dark and he had made it very clear to Jeremy that he wasn’t to leave her side, so she wouldn’t  have to wake up alone. He had wanted to stay until she woke up, but he was positive his was not a face she would want to see first thing after the ordeal she just went through. He had also known that he needed to end Elena’s suffering as quickly as possible. So he had left and as much as he hated to admit it, walking away from her lifeless looking body had been one of the harder things he had done.

He was quickly coming to the realization that he was in deep where the little witch was concerned and since he still clearly had feelings for Elena as well, he knew he was in some deep shit. He had stupidly fallen for his brothers girlfriend and then even more stupidly developed feelings for her best friend, someone who just happened to hate his guts and with good reason too. He had done nothing but make her life miserable since he had come to town. She had lost her beloved grams because of him. That fact alone was enough to make it impossible for her to feel anything even remotely close to what he felt for her. Yeah, he was in deep shit.

He stayed out of the view of the camera so Bonnie couldn’t see him, but he could see her beautiful face just fine. She was crying heavily. Apologizing to Elena profusely, like she was the one who had gone through the traumatic experience of casting a spell that rendered her body lifeless. Damon shook his head, that girl would never change. She would always be more worried about the feelings and lives of others over her own. She needed a serious reality check. She needed someone to show her that her life was not disposable. Damon was ashamed to admit that he played his part in helping her believe she was expendable. He always put her life at the bottom of the totem pole. That would definitely be changing though.

“Maybe you should tell her how you feel Damon,”  Stefan whispered coming to stand next to him.

Damon glanced at his brother from the corner of his eyes and then back to computer with his little witches face still gracing the screen. He sighed deeply and answered just as quietly. “She’s the best one out of all of us Stefan. She deserves better than me. She’s happy with Jeremy and I won’t come between that.”

Being the bigger person was definitely not one of Damon’s strong suits, but for Bonnie he would make an exception. Stefan nodded his head in understanding and patted Damon on the back for comfort. Damon just shrugged him off. He didn’t want Stefan’s sympathy. He just wanted to go to his room, take a shower and wallow in his own self pity. He might even go out later and find a pretty girl to feed on. There was nothing like a full belly to put things in perspective.
Walking away from Stefan and the computer screen that no longer had Bonnies face on it, he headed to his room. The look that Elena gave him as he walked passed, did not go unnoticed. He knew he could be expecting a visit from her in the near future.

BDBDBDBDBDBD

The future came even quicker than he expected. Elena was waiting for him in the doorway of his bedroom when he walked out of his en suite bathroom in nothing but a pair of dark black jeans that hung low on his hips and a towel soaking up the water from his jet-black hair. He glanced over in her direction, but said nothing. She was biting her lower lip and fidgeting nervously. Damon had to look away from her to keep his body from reacting to her unintended cuteness in an inappropriate way.

“Damon,” she started softly, closing the large gap between them until she was once again standing eye to eye with him. “What you did for Bonnie tonight…I don’t know how to thank you and I should have never hit you. That was completely uncalled for.”

He dropped the towel he was using to dry his hair on the bed and gave her his signature smirk. “Apology excepted.”

She gave him a sincere smile before a look of determination planted itself on her face. “I want to make something clear Damon.” She paused for a beat.  “We have to find another way to kill Klaus. There has to be something because Bonnie will not die for me.”

She didn’t have to tell him that. He’d already decided that they would have to find another way to kill Klaus. He wouldn’t be allowing Bonnie to sacrifice herself. Not now, not ever. “I sincerely hope we can find another way. I don’t want Bonnie to die any more than you do.”

A look of curiosity graced Elena’s beautiful features. Damon mentally kicked himself. Shit. He needed to do some damage control and fast. “But let me be clear about something.” He took a step toward her, practically breathing the same air as she was and continued firmly, “ If It comes down to you or the witch. I will choose you every...single…time.”

He didn’t mean it, not even remotely. Truth be told, he prayed he never had to make a choice between the two of them because he would probably just sacrifice himself to keep from having to choose and Damon loved himself, so that was saying something.

Elena didn’t look upset. In fact, she almost looked flattered. Her and Bonnie were definitely polar opposites. Bonnie would have fought him tooth and nail if it meant saving someone’s life. Elena always put up a strong front, but eventually just went with whatever him and Stefan came up with. He wasn’t saying it was a bad thing, he was just pointing out their differences.

She gave him a small smile and said softly, “Goodnight Damon.”

He gave her a small nod and replied, “Goodnight Elena.”

She walked out of his room and left him to his thoughts. Thoughts that ventured very quickly to a certain witch hauled up in a creepy basement with nothing but little Gilbert to keep her company. Making a split second decision, he grabbed a black shirt from his closet and threw it on. He slipped into his black boots and snatched his leather jacket off the back of the chair and draped it on. Grabbing his keys off his nightstand, he headed downstairs and out of the boarding house. He had a witch to visit.

BDBDBDBDBDBD

Damon entered the basement of the witches house as quietly as possible. He could tell when he was outside that both Bonnie and Jeremy were sound asleep and he didn’t want to wake them. The candles he set up were still burning, giving the room an eerie glow. He looked over at the sleeping couple. This was the second time in recent history that he got the benefit of seeing them all cuddled up together, him lying on his back with his arm wrapped tightly around her and her head resting on his chest with her hand laying over his heart, looking as peaceful as they did the first time.

He’d do almost anything to be the one she was lying next to, to be the one with his arm wrapped around her and her head resting on his chest, but he knew he could never be that guy for her. She would never want him to be and he couldn’t say he could blame her.

He watched them for a few moments longer, fully acknowledging how creepy he looked, but not caring in the least. Sighing in relief at having seen her in person, alive and well, he turned on his heels and quietly walked out of the basement and out of the house, never noticing the pair of emerald green eyes that had opened and watched him leave.

“Damon!”

A very soft, very recognizable voice stopped him in his track. He had no idea how she was able to follow him without his knowing. He must have been so deep in thought that his vampire senses were taking a back seat. For the second time that night, he mentally kicked himself. How the hell was he supposed to explain to her why he was here without looking suspicious? Resigning himself to his fate, he turned around slowly to face the pretty witch.

“Bonnie.” He said simply.

She had changed out of her tiny 60s dress and into a more practical t-shirt and sweatpants combo with a cardigan sweater to finish the comfortable look. She wrapped the sweater she was wearing around her body to protect herself from the cool night air and walked towards him. “Damon.” She paused as she stood in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

She was considerably smaller than Elena so she had to look up at him to look him in the eyes. Damon found her tiny frame sexy and alluring. She could be picked up easily and tossed around with no effort at all. His gums itched just thinking about it.

Bonnie looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer. She couldn’t help but be curious as to why Damon had shown up at the witches house so late. There’s no way he had come to check on her, that would mean he cared and he couldn't care about her. Could he?

Putting his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and schooling his features, so as to not let her in on his inner turmoil, he tried like hell to come up with a good enough excuse to explain his showing up here in the middle of the night unannounced. Think Damon, think. He racked his brain and then it came to him. He had the perfect excuse.

“Elena; she wanted me to check up on you. Even though she saw you earlier, she was still worried.” He hoped he sounded convincing and judging by the way that Bonnie’s face fell, he assumed it worked. He had to admit, his interest was peaked by how upset she looked for a second. He wondered if she was hoping he had come to check on her for himself.

Bonnie would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't slightly upset when Damon said he was there because of Elena, but she wasn't surprised.  It always came to back to Elena. She loved Elena like a sister, but sometimes it would be nice to be as important as she was to everyone.  It would always be Elena, then Bonnie. Always, and that hurt her more than she cared to admit.

She gained her composure and said, “Elena, of course.” She nodded. “Well, tell her thank you and that I'm fine.”

The corner of his mouth raised in a crooked smile. “Of course. I’ll tell her.”

They stared at one another awkwardly for a moment before Damon decided to put himself out of his misery. “Well…you need your rest. Goodnight Bonnie.”

“Goodnight Damon.”

She looked as though she wanted to say more, but thought better of it. Damon took that as his cue and with one final nod of his head turned to leave.

“Damon wait!”

He sighed. He really just wanted to leave. Being so close to her and not being able to touch her was excruciating. He turned to face her again though and waited for her to speak.

She cleared her throat and moistened her lips with her tongue. A motion that Damon’s eyes zeroed in on before forcing his eyes back to hers.

“Damon…I just wanted to say thank you.” She swallowed and took in a deep breath. “If it wasn’t for you and your idea, I would most certainly be dead right now. So…thank you.” She didn’t wait around for his response. She just turned on her heels and made a beeline back to the house.

“My pleasure,” Damon said, too quietly for her retreating form to hear. He stood there until she was safely back in the house and listened as she made her way to the basement, where he knew she had curled back up next to Jeremy and would soon drift off to sleep peacefully.

He would never know that Bonnie’s dreams that night consisted of pale skin and ice-blue eyes. He would never know that she woke up more times that night than she could count because her body was on fire due to the inappropriate manner of her dreams. He would never know that she had to remove her body from Jeremy’s because she was ashamed to be dreaming of a man that wasn’t her boyfriend. He would never know, no one ever would.

Damon checked the time on his phone and deduced that there was still plenty of time to head to some seedy bar on the outskirts of town and pick up a pretty brunette to sate his hunger, for both blood and the more baser of human and vampire needs alike; sex. Between Elena and Bonnie, his body was in serious need of release and never being one to deny himself, he fully intended to find it.

He climbed into his Camaro on a mission and in a considerably better mood. Putting the key in the ignition and turning the car on, he wondered what the odds would be of him finding both Bonnie and Elena look alikes tonight and getting them both in bed. He chuckled to himself at his twisted thoughts and sped down the road. No time like the present to find out.