A/N: This is based on a Tumblr post I saw that suggested all patrons at Denny's were werewolves after the night they turned.
Bonnie hummed to the tune if the radio. She didn't particularly care about what was playing but it helped pass the time. Who knew when Tyler would get there. She was parked on the outskirts of the woods patiently waiting–it wasn't as though this werewolf thing was an exact science. She had the heater blasting to stave off the cold morning. It was five o'clock in the am, the sun would rise soon while the creatures of the night would go back to hiding from the living.
Normally she would be on her phone, like a normal human being, but it was too early for that and she was too nervous to mindlessly occupy herself with her phone. She didn't know why she was so nervous, it wasn't as though this was their first rodeo, but it still was an awful change every time. Could this be the time that killed him from the pain alone?
Her fears were unfounded as she saw him approach her car stark naked. She grabbed his clothes from the backseat and put them in his lap the moment he got in the car.
"Ready," she said.
"Yeah," he replied not bothering to look at her.
She shifted the car in drive and pulled away from her spot. It was a quiet ride to the Denny's on the outskirts of Mystic Falls, but it always was. This was time Tyler utilized to get back to feeling human again. He let the air from the heater warm his body, took in the idle chatter of the morning radio DJ, but mostly he just let the scent of everything Bonnie wash over him. She was his anchor, his connection to humanity and no matter how many times he shifted she was always there.
They pulled into the parking lot and parked near the entrance–the less time he spent naked in the cold the better. There were only two other cars in the parking lot this morning–not many people frequented this restaurant especially in the morning. Most of their business was the post-drunk crowd of Mystic Falls because the Grill didn't open until 11 am. They were not those people, but the waitresses always assumed they were.
When they walked inside Tyler quickly made his way to the bathroom clothes in hand while Bonnie made her way to their booth grabbing menus just in case.
The waitress approached annoyed. Naked guy and drunk girl again she thought passively.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked without a smile.
"Can you bring us a pitcher of orange juice, no glasses and I'll have a root beer."
"Alrighty." She was about to walk away but Bonnie stopped her.
"Also before you go can you take our food order?"
"Sure."
"Three grand slams, eggs scrambled, side of bacon, two ultimate omelettes, side of sausage, one sampler, hold the marinara. And I guess I'll have caramel banana cream pancakes, eggs over easy, bacon, and a side of grits."
"Is that all?" she asked as though this was their first time there. She then repeated the order back to her to make sure she didn't leave anything off.
"For now."
"Alright, coming right up." Her voice held fake enthusiasm.
"Also could you bring whatever ever gets done-"
"As it gets done, yeah I know." She didn't let Bonnie respond before she walked away.
Rude.
Tyler came walking out of the bathroom fully dressed walking toward their table. Nothing fancy, basic T-shirt and sweatpants outfit–wearing jeans while completely covered in dirt from the forest floor wasn't comfortable for him.
Sliding into the booth across from her he grabbed the rack of jams. Ravenous, he tore through each packet scooping jam into his mouth with his fingers. He was halfway through the sugar packets when the waitress finally brought over their drinks. She barely sat the pitcher of orange juice on the table before he removed the lid and chugged it down quickly.
"Refill?"
"Yeah, but can you bring cranberry juice this time."
"Yeah," she trailed off stunned with how fast he finished the orange juice.
He finished the rest of the sugar packets before Bonnie dared speak. She knew he was too hungry to listen to anything she said.
"Your blood sugar is lower than last time. You need eat more beforehand."
"I know, I just didn't have time yesterday. My mom had her charity thing and I almost didn't make it in time not to kill all the guests."
The waitress didn't bother to stay when she brought the cranberry juice. She just sat it down and moved away quickly. She was used to Bonnie and Tyler's quirks–they always came in super early in the morning, he was never dressed, and ordered massive amounts of food with a good tip, but he had never done that before.
Drinking out of the pitcher was weird, but she had seen weirder working at this diner, however drinking an entire pitcher of orange juice in three seconds flat was one of the oddest things she'd seen to date. He was clearly starving so she hoped the cook was done with at least one of his orders before he moved on to other tables making a mess there.
He slowed down to drink the cranberry juice knowing it might be a little while before he had food nearby. Bonnie just observed him sadly wondering if it would ever get any easier on him. She hoped so because she wasn't sure how much more his body could handle.
Werewolves were a creature of nature and nature always balanced itself. It should have balanced himself by now and he should be one with his wolf but something was blocking him from that. She suspected it was an emotional block. He never wanted this, never wanted to give in to his wolf in fear of what he would do. He had anger issues he was working to control and didn't trust that side of himself.
The waitress brought the first grand slam along with Bonnie's pancakes. They dug into their food without exchanging a word with Tyler eating a lot more quickly than Bonnie. Eventually the rest of the order made it's way to the table. It was not until he was three quarters of the way through did he start to feel full–feel human again like he didn't need to feed the beast and could start feeding himself.
Bonnie noticed the shift. "There he is," she said almost mockingly but he knew she meant it all in good fun.
"God, I'm so fucking hungry," he exclaimed sighing.
"Did you eat anything while you were…camping in the woods?"
"No, at least I don't think so. When I woke up I wasn't too far from the cellar."
"I still find it insane your family still has a slave cellar. You'd think they'd at least try to change it into something else."
"Crazy, but I'm kinda glad it's still there, not just because I need it, but it's a part of our history. It isn't great and it should show. Instead of erasing the horrors that went on there, it remains as an echo so we never forget."
"I know what you mean. It's just, knowing your mom I'm surprised she didn't turn it into something else years ago. She's someone who very much so would like to bury the bad things until they're unrecognizable."
"True, but my father would never let her destroy any historical landmark even if it makes us look bad. You know how our town is and it's nostalgia of the good old times."
"It must be nice to be able to remember it as the good old times, my Grams just mostly remembered it as having to fight tooth and nail for every little thing."
"What do you expect from people who continue to reenact a war they lost?"
"You were in a few of those reenactments, and you didn't turn out so bad. Why can't I expect that from others?"
"You know why."
"Unfortunately, I do." She stared down at her plate sadly.
"Well, this breakfast went downhill quickly."
"It's not like it started great to begin with. We just stayed on brand."
"You know one of these days I'm going to take you out and it won't be a bummer."
"Excuse me, we took my car, so I think you mean I'm going to take you out."
"No, I meant me. You deserve a break."
She was about to respond when the waitress came over interrupting her. "Everything alright here?" She asked staring at the decimated plates of food.
"Yes."
"Need anything else."
Tyler opened his mouth, but Bonnie cut him off. "Nope, just the check please."
The waitress left making her way over to the register.
"Hey, I'm still hungry."
"I know but we're meeting Caroline, Matt, and Elena later for breakfast."
"But we just ate breakfast."
"Exactly, and now you'll be hungry when we get there."
"What about you?"
"Don't worry about me."
"Alrighty, here's the check. I hope everything was to your liking."
"It was perfect," Bonnie said pushing the bill over to Tyler.
"I'm glad to hear," she said smiling for the first time that morning and walked away to tend to her other customers.
"I'm the one who had to turn into a werewolf last night. The least you could do is pay for breakfast."
"I'll tell you what, when I'm the one who lives in the big fancy mansion I'll pay for breakfast."
"That can be arranged," he said smiling for the first time since she'd picked him up.
He got up leaving a hundred dollar bill on the table not bothering to look at the check. She followed en suite shaking her head at his ridiculousness.
At least part of the old Tyler was in there–the one that was there before all this madness, and maybe the old Bonnie was in there too, but they only existed in the confines of this Denny's. Soon, they'd have to join the real world and go back to their assumed roles. Bonnie the witch and Tyler the werewolf in Mystic Falls Virginia where just about everyone else was their natural enemy, vampires. Fun.