Authors Note:

No, you're not dreaming. Yes, I decided to rewrite this a little bit and re-upload it. There were several reasons I chose to take it down the first time; I was working really hard and feeling like very few cared. It was weighing on me. I felt this pressure to keep up with things. I'm working on my own personal author career. It is all challenging at times.

However, with some prompting and personal reflecting, I have decided to re-upload and finish this chapter fic even if it takes me another year to get it done. I just need your patience.

I do want to add here that I will eventually be turning this into an original; more so, writing an original novel that will be heavily inspired by this fanfic within the next two years. It will be called 'Bound by Circumstance'. If you'd like to stay in the know about that book which will come eventually, and the other original books I am currently working on getting published in 2019, (Ignited; and a currently unnamed project.) You can find me on Instagram and twitter dmichelleauthor.

If you'd like to talk to me about this fanfic or in general, you can find me on tumblr: .com

I WILL be finishing this chapter fic. I chose it over several others of my chapter fics, and will be focusing solely on MBC when I am not working on my original fiction. I love this story so much; and it'll also help me rewrite it into and original if I finish writing it as a fanfic first. MBC is my baby, bamon are my babies. You are my babies. (If you wanna be.)

Thank you to everyone who still wants to support me. Comments and messages and shares mean a lot to authors fanfic and original authors alike.


CHAPTER ONE

4 Months Ago

To say it was unusual for his entire family to be standing in the foyer when he arrived home would be an understatement; which is why when Damon Salvatore walked through the door only to see his mother, father, and younger brother standing awaiting him, he immediately knew something was going on.

He ran a hand through his hair and pulled his suit jacket off handing it to the butler that stood of to the side of him. Damon's eyes scanning his family to and frow with caution and boredom.

"What's this about?" he asked, stepping to the side of his family.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to be back hours ago," his mother Lily asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Damon chuckled, "I told you, I was on a date with Melanie."

"We are aware. We figured you'd be home before the next day started to tell us the news." Giuseppe, his father smiled a twitching lip of a smile. Barely one at all.

"Oh," he blinked, not realizing his family had found out about his plans for that night.

"So?" Stefan asked with a smile and Damon bit his lower lip.

"The proposal didn't happen," he told them. His mother blinked; and stepped forwards.

"What do you mean it didn't happen? Did she have to rain check? Did you forget the ring?" Lily asked, her red hair straight around her face.

Damon cleared his throat, "No, we broke up."

"Oh, no, she broke up with you?"

"No, we mutually decided that we hate each other," he chuckled, not even in the least bit sad about the breakup.

"So? You couldn't just propose anyway?" Giuseppe asked and Damon scoffed.

"What? Marry someone who hates me? Sure, I could ask, but she'd never agree to it." he rolled his eyes, sticking his hands in his pants pockets.

"She was the sole heiress to her fathers' estate, she's one of the most known dancers in New York," Lily exclaimed, clearly upset.

Damon sighed, "Look, I know, you want me to marry so our family will climb higher. Which, I don't understand, although, I will respect your vigor... But, it just wasn't going to work with Melanie."

He walked over to the staircase and leaned against the banister.

"I don't know what you expect me to do."

Giuseppe clenched his jaw a little and inhaled, in an attempt to calm himself.

"Stefan, Lily, Mr. Wayne, please leave the foyer," he told them and they all nodded, walking away, although Lily was more hesitant.

"Damon, I don't think I've gotten it through to you good enough..." his father started taking several steps further.

"You're a Salvatore, the Salvatore's marry what's best for the family. We don't marry someone because of their... nice personality."

Damon took a breath and pulled his hands from his pockets.

"You've made it clear you want me to marry. It's sort of difficult when the women could care less."

Giuseppe nodded a little, "That's why I've been thinking. It'll be easier to do this if it's completely arranged."

"You'd already been arranging. That's how I started dating Melanie."

"I mean, arranged marriage. No dating, no proposal, just married." his father told him and he blinked.

"You think that will work? You're willing to just marry your son off to a stranger?" Damon asked, seriously.

"Yes, and.. yes. Son, you have two choices, marry the woman I find or walk away from this family, the company."

The choices his father were giving him were, honestly, the fairest choices Damon had gotten in his entire life.

He'd known for a long time, who he married would most likely not be someone he loved. He thought he'd at least get to meet them before the wedding.

"Do you enjoy controlling my life, father?" Damon asked, shoving himself away from the stairs.

"It's part of our life. I'm giving you a choice," he replied and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine, go find some entitled ballerina's daughter or pop stars cousin to marry me. Do whatever you need to do. It's all temporary anyway, right?" he sighed, his head hurting.

He didn't even give his father time to reply before he headed out of the front door with his car keys in his right hand.

His parents had married for the same reason they wanted him to marry. It was different though, his parents loved each other, for some damned reason. One which he was uncertain of. He could barely stand either of them half the time.

The truth of the matter was arranged marriages in his world were almost always temporary. You got married for the publicity, to get people off your back, for the added money and then 5, 6 years later you got divorced for the very same reasons.

Damon knew he could just back out, but he'd his entire life, 24 almost 25 years, growing and becoming who he was. His family didn't just own a dance company, and they weren't just dance critics, they were well.. family. His father was an ass sometimes, and his mother was overbearing but, that's just how it was.

"It's just business. It's how it is." He spoke to himself quietly as he was driving down the road, not sure exactly where he was going, just that he needed a drink.

It was kind of his thing... being serious about the business, the family business, yet at the same time resenting being born into such drama.

Maybe 24 years of money, parties, plays, shows, more plays, and more shows and more interviews after interviews had made him a little numb to his feelings, how things worked in the ordinary world.

He wasn't normal, this wasn't the ordinary world. In his world he needed to marry, so he would marry. There was no ifs or buts unless he wanted to be ripped from the only life he knew.

"Damnit, Salvatore, just relax," Damon mumbled looking around on the strip until he saw a club, the parking lot only semi-filled.

As he walked into the club, he looked slightly out of place in his black dress shirt, dress pants and shoes. But, with the dim lights, mixed in with the strobe lights on the dance floor, it was kind of hard to tell anyone from anyone else in the front of the club.


The heat radiated off the walls of the nightclub, filling the air like a thick steam. The strobe lights that flashed between pulsing music made it even more difficult for Bonnie to focus on her current task. The music filled her ears, heavy bass, mimicking the rapid beat of her heart. Suddenly her arm was grabbed and she spun around, her heart pounding even harder in her chest with a startle.

"There you are!" Caroline beamed at her, holding two large colorful drinks her hands.

"There I am? I've been standing here for like ten minutes," Bonnie rolled her eyes and cross her arms over her chest.

The blonde tilted her head to the side and handed her one of the drinks.

"Come on, let yourself have fun!" Caroline giggled.

Bonnie took a sip of the overly fruity drink and brushed her shoulder-length brown hair behind one of her shoulders.

"This just isn't my scene, Care. You know that." She leaned against the bar counter.

"Come on, it's your 21st birthday! At least mingle, you're single and sexy as hell." Caroline smiled and reached forward to fix the collar on Bonnie's velveteen peter pan collar shirt.

Bonnie bit her lower lip in thought. She sighed, then smiled and raised her drink up a little.

"You know what, you're right. Some fun couldn't hurt."

"No, it could not." Care replied and clinked her glass against hers.

Bonnie chuckled, "It does make up for the past few weeks of class."

"Ugh, yes. Ms. Bayes is working us like crazy." Caroline

"She hates us though, I was supposed to be the lead in the upcoming," Bonnie rolled her eyes and took a drink from her glass.

"Well, we knew what we were getting into when we decided ballet was our thing."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "Did we really though?"

Caroline laughed and shook her head, downing the rest her drink and setting it on the bar.

Bonnie had been going to Whitmore College of Ballet & Ballet Company for the last 3 years, before that she was a half credit transfer to the college from High-School, Senior year, and before that, she was part of the Mystic Falls Ballet School, which wasn't nearly as important.

She'd met Caroline Freshman year of Whitmore and they'd been best friends ever since, well not counting the several weeks they fought over the lead in the second year Spring show.

"Come on, let's dance." Caroline waited for Bonnie to down her drink, which made her throat burn a little and then dragged her through the crowd of people onto the dance floor.

Although, it was impossible to tell where the dance floor actually started and where people thought it started.

The beat of the music along with jumping, swaying bodies, sent a vibration through Bonnie's body as she inhaled and started to move her hips along to the music.

As a dancer it was easy to take things way to seriously, while everyone else was dancing like... well, normal people dance, Bonnie was paying to much attention to the angles of her feet, where her arms were, which way her hips were pointing.

"Woo!" Caroline screamed, hopping around, letting go easier than Bonnie was.

The slight buzz from what had only been Bonnie's second drink, started to set in and her hips loosened up, the people behind and to the sides of her moved in closer.

Bodies were grinding against each other, and she didn't care that she didn't know any of the people around her.

That is until someone backed into her so hard she went tumbling through a couple of people and when she looked around she couldn't find Caroline.

"Great." Bonnie huffed, wiping the sweat from her forehead and looking through the crowd again.

When she still couldn't see who was who, she made her way out of the crowd as best as possible and over to one of the more empty corners of the club.

Inhaling deeply she stopped near of the rounded booths and leaned her butt against the table.
Bonnie pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her jeans and pulled up Caroline's chathead.

Bonnie: Ready to leave tbh. Can't find you.

She stared at the chat for several moments waiting for an answer, but Caroline hadn't even read the message yet.

"Incase you failed to notice, this booth is currently occupied."

The male voice that came behind her gave her a startle and she gasped a little, turning around.

"Oh, sorry." Bonnie sighed, looking through the dim lights that hung above the booth.

The man sitting in the booth alone had dark thick hair. Several strands of it were hanging over to touch his forehead.

"I just um, lost my friend, " she continued when he didn't speak.

As the man turned his head to look away from her, she could see his jawline was sharp and covered in very short but rugged stubble. He was, attractive to say the least but a dark haired, quiet guy in a night club wasn't exactly a good sign.

"You're still here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and Bonnie chuckled a little. His voice was heavily accented; Italian perhaps.

"Unfortunately so," she replied and he licked his lower lip a little.

"Mind if I sit?" Bonnie asked him.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I d-" he replied but she had already moved to sit down in the booth about a foot and a half to the side of him.

The man sighed, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"You might as well have a drink," he said, sounding as bored as one could sound in a club filled with dancing people.

Bonnie eyed the half drank glass of bourbon he had slid over to her.

"I don't know if I want to take drink from a stranger," she mumbled.

The man turned his head to look at her, his blue eyes, so bright that despite being hazy from alcohol and whatever demon he was dealing with, shone through the dimness.

The place between Bonnie's legs tingled a little and she reached onto the table to tap her fingers along the side of the glass.

"You sat down in my booth, so I think you're already taking chances," he said smirked very softly, crookedly. Bonnie's heart fluttered.

Bonnie nodded a little, grabbed the glass and downed the bourbon quickly, which she instantly regretted.

"Oh." she coughed a little as she set the glass down.

"Yeah, that's a sipping bourbon," he replied, taking the glass, grabbing the bottle from the middle of the table and pouring more in it.

"Says you." She chuckled, watching him shot the bourbon just as quickly as she had but not react in the same way.

"I'm used to it." he insisted, pouring more, and sliding the glass over her.

Bonnie grabbed the glass, "And, who says I'm not?" she asked, downing it gain and still coughing.

"That does." the man chuckled.

"Okay, you're right," she cleared throat and ran a hand through her hair.

"I'm a little buzzed." Bonnie continued, scooting closer to him and grabbing the bottle to pour more.

"What's your name?" the man asked, and she slid the half-full glass to him.

"None of your concern," she replied watching him down it and she grabbed the glass, pouring more and downing it herself, this time it stung a little less.

"You're drinking some expensive bourbon, the least you could do is tell me your name." the man said with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm probably not going to remember you tomorrow, so what's it matter?" Bonnie smiled and then hiccuped.

"You're lightweight." he smiled and poured more, drinking it and setting the glass down.

"I'm not light-lightweight, I am f-fairly buzzed, that's all." Bonnie insisted, and grabbed the bottle, drinking straight out of it this time until her chest started to burn.

Moving the bottle from her lips, she inhaled deeply to catch her breath.

"Mhm." The man said drunkenly, and she suddenly felt his hand on her thigh.

"Woah, hey. Not that buzzed, handsy." Bonnie chuckled and pulled away from him, feeling kind of sick from the alcohol already.

"Bonnie! There you are!" Caroline huffed as she stopped at the table brushing her hair out of her face.

"I've been here, where were you." Bonnie laughed, as Caroline pulled her out of the booth.

"You're ready to go?" Care asked.

"I am.. so.. ready to go. I w-was ready ten hours.. minutes.. ago." she giggled, and Caroline smiled amused.

"Holy shit, you're smashed." Caroline looked around her at the man who wiggled his fingers, smiling drunkenly.

"Okay, yeah, let's get you out of here before the handsome man offers you the key to his hotel room." she whispered and Bonnie was struggling to stay standing.

"Okay..." Bonnie smiled and turned to look at the man in the booth.

"Buhbye, Handsy, t-thanks for the drinks." she said with a smile.

"Bye lightweight." the man replied.

Caroline put one arm around Bonnie's waist and started through the club with her.

"Happy 21st birthday indeed." she chuckled, looking over at Bonnie who smiled and shrugged.