Bonnie had just turned off the TV as the afternoon weather report was coming on, and was thinking about sinking back into her bed for another nap when a familiar face peaked around the corner of the hospital doorway. Both hands were hidden suspiciously behind his back as he smiled and sauntered into the room slowly.
While she, surprisingly, hadn't been in the best of moods for the past two days since she'd been back, she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face when she saw Damon. She sat up and ran her fingers quickly through her hair. Not that it mattered. He had seen her at her worst during their long months together. And she felt amazing just having showered, been given something clean to wear and some pain medication.
He stopped just a few steps into the doorway.
"Looks like somebody actually missed you, Witchy," he said, teasingly, looking around impressed at the cards and flowers that covered nearly every surface of the small, but bright hospital room. Bonnie followed his eyes, finding an empty spot.
"There's room for one more," she said, hinting at him to reveal whatever was hidden behind his back.
Damon deeply sighed in mock annoyance.
"Okay, you got me," he said, "But, listen, don't tell anyone. I don't want people getting any ideas about me being a considerate person or anything like that."
"I think it might be too late for that," Bonnie said, sincerely but with a smile on her lips. A small 'thank you' for his large part in finally bringing her home.
Damon smiled that smile. The one Bonnie could swear that no one had ever seen except her. Her stomach gave a little flutter that she tried to ignore. That and the relief that she suddenly felt from sharing a room with Damon again. Both of those things scared her. And she was tired of being scared.
He extended his right hand to produce a CD. He stepped forward to hand it to her before stepping away again.
"Ultimate Hits of the 90s, Damon?…Really?" Bonnie arched a perfect eyebrow at him, smirking.
"I figured you'd want something to remember our special time together," he said, his voice teasing, an attempt to cover up any sincerity behind his gift or his comment. Bonnie smiled, seeing right through his feeble attempt.
"In that case…" she said, unwrapping the CD and handing it to Damon, gesturing toward the DVD player on the TV behind him.
Damon took the CD and popped it in, closing his eyes and nodding his head dramatically as November Rain by Guns N Roses began to ring out over the hospital room.
Bonnie rolled her eyes and smiled, remembering the silly side of Damon that she had missed so much. That she had never even known about until they were imprisoned together. While she was happy to be home, and granted, she'd only been in a hospital so far, she hadn't truly felt at home until now. With Damon dancing goofily around her room.
He opened his eyes and smiled playfully. She shook her head, pretending to be exhausted by his antics.
"I actually have something else for you," he said, finally stepping closer, producing Ms. Cuddles from behind his back and plopping her right onto Bonnie's lap.
Bonnie's eyes lit up and she looked down at her beloved bear.
"I took very good care of her,"' he began, "Well, Stefan did kick her across a field. But she was teasing him pretty mercilessly about Caroline, and I have to say, she kinda had it coming. Quite a gossip, that one, I don't know where she gets it from."
Bonnie laughed at his story and hugged Ms. Cuddles tightly, forgetting that she had recently been stabbed. Pain medication will make you forget things like that. She cried out softly in pain.
"Are you okay, Bonnie?" Damon said, stepping toward the bed and instinctively reaching toward her. Bonnie's eyes snapped up to meet his, taken aback by both the tenderness of the way he had said her name and his attentiveness to her well-being. But, not wanting to make a big deal of it, she simply lowered her eyes back to her bear.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I keep forgetting that I was impaled," she laughed, holding her stomach and holding Ms. Cuddles more softly this time.
Damon watched her, concerned, for a moment before nodding in satisfaction that she was okay and taking a step away from her bed again. He had clearly become very protective of her and it was hard to get used to. The look on Bonnie's face was enough to show that. Damon looked away and shuffled his feet.
She held her bear to her face and inhaled deeply. Her stomach did a flip when she realized that instead of smelling like her childhood home, Ms. Cuddles now smelled like Damon. She closed her eyes and pictured him carrying her bear around everywhere he went, and sleeping cuddled up next to her at night. What she didn't know, was how right she actually was about that.
Damon cleared his throat and she looked at him, guiltily. What? Could he read minds now? Or just hear the quickening of her pulse?
"Something on your mind, Judgy?" he asked, trying to clear the air.
"She smells like you," Bonnie blurted before she could stop herself.
"I may have….slept with her a time or two," he said, his voice full of innuendo, "but it was purely physical." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively to lighten the mood, "You jealous?"
Bonnie let out a shocked chuckle and then clutched her stomach in pain. Damon flew to her side again in an instant. She looked from where he now gently clutched her forearm, to his face and smiled, fluttering her lashes. He was smiling at her with that smile again.
"How about we get you out of here, Bon Bon?," he suggested.
She raised her eyebrows.
"I'm not supposed to get out until tomorrow. Caroline wants to pick me up and take me to their dorm." Bonnie explained.
"I'm not supposed to. Caroline wants. Blah blah blah," Damon mocked.
Bonnie's mouth fell open in surprise at his sudden teasing, Damon laughed at the look on her face.
"And what does Bonnie want?" Damon asked in a whisper, leaning down close to her ear and tickling her with his breath.
Bonnie pulled back and looked at him, really considering his question before answering.
"I want to get the hell out of here," Bonnie decided, smiling mischievously.
Damon's grin broadened on his face and there was a dangerous twinkle in his eye. Not dangerous in the usual Damon way, but dangerous none-the-less as far as Bonnie was concerned.
"Pack your stuff and meet me outside in five minutes," he ordered, "I'll compel the nurses and pull the car around."
Bonnie nodded happily and stood up carefully. She packed her bag as quickly as she could considering she was still wounded. Truth be told, she wouldn't turn down a sip of Damon's blood if he offered. She had wasted enough time being hurt.
She eyed the nurses nervously as she tried to walk casually past them to get out. None of them even looked up. She made her way carefully onto the elevator and down to the lobby. Damon was waiting outside.
She smirked as Damon opened her car door for her.
"Don't get used to that, Witchy," he grumped, "I'm only doing this because you're mortally wounded."
Bonnie rolled her eyes because she knew better. She buckled up gently and popped in her new CD as they left the hospital. Pearl Jam's Courduroy filled the car. Damon bobbed his head. Bonnie closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest, smiling contentedly.
Suddenly something dawned on her and her eyes popped open.
"I'm sorry, did you say Stefan and Caroline?!" she exclaimed, whipping her head around to face him.
"I know, shocking right?" he said, "Or completely not shocking, very obvious, saw-it-coming-from-a-mile-away….I haven't decided yet."
Bonnie thought about it herself and couldn't decide either.
"I'll get you all filled in on the way," he said, turning up the music.
"I see where Ms. Cuddles gets her gossiping streak from," Bonnie said, sticking the tip of her tongue between her teeth playfully.
Damon flashed her that smile again and her stomach fluttered. Or maybe it was growling. She wondered if she was going to get any lunch out of this deal, then realized he hadn't said where they were going. Then realized that she didn't really care.
