A/N: This is a Bamon fic. It may be from Elena's perspective but it's literally about the moment it clicks for her that Delena is over – the moment Bonnie and Damon reunite. [this is a re-write of how I felt the season 6 reunion should've gone. Also it's part of my larger obsession of writing realistic, alternative Bonnie x Damon arc]
Elena Gilbert didn't expect this overwhelming feeling that bubbled up inside of her and threatened to spill over to the surface for all to see. Then again, there technically wasn't anyone to see any part of her expression since that look of surprise on her face was in fact brought on by her being on the side lines, ignored and watching as her formerly dead boyfriend and best friend buried tearstained faces into each other's shoulders. What was it about the warmth of their embrace that left her skin drained from its blood and every intake of breath colder than the icy water that should have sent her to her watery grave all those years ago? She was drowning again; this time in waves of jealousy, overpowering any shred of shame she would have felt if anyone caught her bitter gaze.
She couldn't tell whether time moved differently in this reality or Damon and Bonnie's hug was just that long. They continued to cling onto each other, their faces masked from her, leaving Elena in dark without an inkling of what the soft whispers and private laughs could possibly be about.
It made her sick.
She should have been comforted by Damon's confession. The two people she had mourned for four months weren't in some unpleasant hell dimension, alone and afraid. They had each other. Yet the soft sincere look on Damon's face as he spoke of his time with Bonnie cut into her like the familiar pain of a vampire's bite.
Their closeness could not be isolated to the proximity of their skin; Damon's face brushed Bonnie's as he pulled away slightly, but never quite let go, his gaze locked onto her watery eyes. A clear gasp escaped Elena's angrily pursed lips as Damon's fingers trailed across Bonnie's face wiping away jubilant tears and inspecting her for any damage.
His face hardened in an instant but that look of murder on the elder Salvatore's face was not for Elena. It was for Bonnie's torturer Kai.
"They haven't eveninvented the tortures I am going inflict on that mouthy magical reject."
"If you haven't gone and lost Ms. Cuddles, I'll be happy to magically conjure up a hell without pork grinds for that psychopath in three quarter shorts. "
Damon had told Elena that he and Bonnie talked. They did four months' worth of talking, the result of which was unfolding before her very eyes. Bonnie's inflictions when she talked about Kai were almost Damon like. Similarly, Damon's normally harsh blue eyes appeared as soft and warm as Bonnie's hazel ones.
"Can I get a hug now?" Elena barely managed to keep her voice light but there was a bitterness to her jest which caused her to swallow hard. She is my best friend and she is happier to see Damon than she is me. But the truth remained, it did not matter how many times Elena told herself it was love for Bonnie and her anxiousness to physically get a hold of the girl she considered her sister which left her feeling this envy.
"Of course," Bonnie responded with all the sincerity and love that Elena just could not muster. The young witch gently removed herself from Damon's grip (who Elena did not fail to notice was slightly resisting the action). The moment Bonnie's tired and broken body relaxed into her arms Elena too felt herself relax. She was being unreasonable, and she was about to laugh it off when she noticed Damon's gaze was still on Bonnie.
He had not once made eye contact with her since laying eyes on Bonnie.
"Thanks Damon," Elena said, loud and clear enough to interrupt Damon's thoughts. Whatever they may have been. "Thank you so much for getting her back to me."
"She promised me we'd get out of here together." Damon replied, locking eyes once more with Bonnie who had slipped out of Elena's arms with more ease than she did when she unfastened the tight arms Damon had wrapped around her.
"Yeah, let's get out of here. Together." Bonnie's voice was raw with emotion she struggled to fight back. Elena felt a similar lack of control as she helplessly watched them drawn towards each other once more.
As they walked together side by side, with her on the outside once more, Elena Gilbert thought back to how she came to feel the emotion twisting at the pit of her stomach. She had prepared herself for a countless number of feelings upon reuniting with her best friend. From the expected tears of joy to being overwhelmed at the awful memory of having gone through such a terrible loss in the first place. She had expected heart ache and tears to sting at eyes at finding Bonnie but not bitter ones at losing Damon.
And that is what her gut screamed at her as Damon quietly slipped his hand into Bonnie's instead of hers.
He had never come back for her.