The Holiday
A/N: Sequel to Night Terrors. I started this a while ago, so it's set between The Houseguest and Know Thy Enemy (just pretend there's an extra day or two between episodes).
She was lying on soft, wet sand, cool water lapping at her toes. Warm sunshine soaked into her skin, relaxing every muscle in her body, and she felt more at peace than she had in days.
A grey cloud drifted across the cerulean sky, then another, and another. Bonnie frowned. There weren't supposed to be any clouds. She heard a caw come from somewhere nearby and lifted her head. On the beach, and only an arm's length away, stood a bird with glossy black plumage and beady red eyes.
It opened its mouth and said...
"So this is where you've been hiding."
Bonnie popped her eyes open and discovered a certain annoying vampire leaning against the hickory tree in her backyard. She jerked upright in the lounger.
"Damn it!" she said as she scrambled to find her discarded t-shirt, finally remembering that she'd dropped it on the lawn. She leaned over the armrest to grab it.
"Don't mind me," Damon said, grinning.
Bonnie yanked the t-shirt down over her bikini top and immediately realised that it was inside out, but she wasn't about to give Damon another eyeful. She scowled.
"What're you doing here?"
He pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket and held up the moonstone. "Wanted to see if you could do anything about this."
With a heavy sigh, she sank back against the lounger. "Can't it wait?"
His eyebrow rose. "You've got something better to do?"
"I'm taking a day off."
"Excuse me?"
"A. Day. Off." She flapped her hands in the air. "From all the craziness. The vampires, the werewolves, the curse...everything."
"Oh, okay. I'll just call Klaus and tell him to postpone his visit, shall I? Because our weak-kneed resident witch needs to take a constitutional."
She tried to speak, but he rolled right over her stutters, sauntering towards her with a searing look of contempt.
"Or maybe I should call Elena and tell her not to bother with her college applications because you need a time-out to pull yourself together."
Bonnie sprang from the lounger and waggled her finger in his face. "Oh no, you don't. You do not get to guilt trip me here. I talked to Elena this morning and she's doing exactly the same thing as me."
"What are you talking about?"
"She...she and Stefan went for a drive. Isobel showing up kinda freaked her out."
He looked away, but not before she saw his eyes flicker. "So that's where they disappeared to."
For a microsecond she actually felt sorry for him and then she remembered that this was Damon. Still, she softened her tone. "Look, maybe it's not such a bad idea to take a break. Relax...clear your head...especially after everything that happened with Rose."
Damon slowly swivelled his head, turning his icy blue gaze on her. "What do you know about Rose?"
She gulped. "Nothing! I mean, just that she died and that you were...kinda upset."
"Elena's got a big mouth."
She stared at him. "It wasn't Elena."
"Oh, really?"
"Well, sure, she told me what happened, but you were the one who..."
"What?"
Okay, now she was confused. Did he really not remember turning up on her front porch drunk as a... Hmm, she didn't know it was possible for a vampire to drink so much that they blacked out. She filed that tidbit away for future reference and glanced back at Damon. Her heart spasmed as she realised that he looked downright murderous.
"What, Bonnie?"
She instinctively fell back a step, but he grabbed her arms. Without really thinking, she lashed out with her mind. He let her go and clutched at his head, grunting in pain. She stopped immediately. She didn't really want to hurt him, just give him a taste to remind him that she couldn't be intimidated. Except now he'd ruined her perfect magic-free day and she was starting to think that maybe a few more aneurysms couldn't really hurt.
Gritting her teeth, she whirled and marched towards the house. She so didn't need this. Just as she reached the back steps, Damon blurred in front of her. He held his hands up in surrender.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay." He almost sounded sincere.
To her dismay, she felt tears prickle her eyes. "Why'd you have to come here?"
Damon's eyes widened. "Oh God, don't do that."
But now she'd started she couldn't stop. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she started to sob in earnest.
"Oh, holy hell," Damon said.
"Shut up," she mumbled.
"Come on." He took hold of her shoulders, steered her back to the lounger, and sat her down on the end. Crouching before her, he dangled a white blob in front of her face.
Bonnie blinked the tears away and a fine linen handkerchief came into focus. When Damon gave it an impatient shake, she grabbed it and wiped her eyes. She couldn't help noticing the softness of the fabric. Examining it more closely, she saw an elegant "E" embroidered in one corner and glanced at Damon, who shrugged.
"It's Elijah's."
The handkerchief fell from her suddenly numb fingers to land on her lap. She slowly picked it up again. "Elijah's?"
"He gave it to me after stabbing me in the neck with a pencil. I was planning on returning it to him in kind, but..." He rose and stared down at her. "What's with the waterworks? Do I annoy you that much?"
"Don't flatter yourself." Bonnie blew her nose.
"Then what's wrong?" he said brusquely.
She sighed. "Everything."
Damon rolled his eyes. "Bonnie-"
"Luka's dead. So's his dad."
His gaze didn't waver. "Then they shouldn't have gotten mixed up with Elijah."
"Exactly! They were witches who got involved with a vampire. Just like Emily. Just like...Grams." She swallowed. "Just like me."
Holding his hands behind his back, Damon bent towards her. "Nothing's going to happen to you, Bonnie." He sounded so patronising she half-expected him to pat her on the head.
"You don't know that." She shivered as she thought of the knowledge Dr Martin had passed onto her, the knowledge that was likely going to get her really, really dead. "Odds are-"
"Screw the odds. You think I got to be my age by playing the odds."
"You're a vampire. The odds are pretty much in your favour."
He let out a long-suffering sigh. "You know, all that self-pity is going to give you wrinkles."
Bonnie shot up like a jack-in-the-box and poked him in the chest. "Hey, I was perfectly fine until you showed up."
"Sure you were."
Damon's blue eyes sparkled as he smirked at her, looking so unbearably smug that she only just stopped herself from giving him the mother of all aneurysms. She scowled. It wasn't even what he said, it was the way he said it. With that cocky grin and the evil glint in his eye and...oh God, he was totally playing her.
"You're trying to rile me up," she said with narrowed eyes.
He shrugged. "Better mad than mopey."
Bonnie dropped back onto the lounger and held her head in her hands. "Damon, just please, please, go away." After a minute of silence she slowly lifted her head. Crap. He was still standing there. "You're still standing there," she said flatly.
Damon stared down at her for a long moment. "I don't have anywhere else to go."
"What?"
"The Grill's still closed."
"What's wrong with your house?"
"It's not empty."
"Oh. Ohhhh." Finally Damon's presence began to make some weird sort of sense. Laying on the mock sympathy, Bonnie said, "Is your houseguest getting on your nerves? I hear she's good at that."
"I can deal with Katherine." To her surprise, he turned and plopped down beside her. "I just needed a break."
"So you came here?"
Damon flicked a brief glance at her. There wasn't a whole lot of room on the end of the lounger and, though she tried to subtly create some space between them, she still felt his leather jacket brushing her bare arm.
"I know where I stand with you," he said at last. "You don't play games."
Huh. That almost sounded like a compliment. "Er, thanks?"
"Plus Alaric was busy."
"That's it. Get out."
"Come on, Bonnie. That's no way to treat a guest."
"You're not a guest! You just showed up!"
"But isn't that what friends do," he said, smirking.
Her mouth dropped open. He had some nerve trying to play the friend card, but before she could order him to leave again, he twisted to face her.
Looking completely serious for once, he said, "Look, you're right, okay, I guess I could use a break." He leaned closer. "Let me stay?"
His eyes really were an extraordinary shade of blue, she thought. This close to him, they were all she could see - pure, aquamarine pools that drew her in and...not that they had any effect on her. Nope, not at all.
Clearing her throat, Bonnie averted her gaze. "I guess you can stay...for a while, as long as you don't talk."
"You won't even know I'm here."
She rolled her eyes and rose to go fetch the other lounger from the porch. By the time she'd dragged it down to the lawn, Damon was already stretched out on her lounger with his eyes closed and his hands tucked under his head. Resisting the urge to magically tip him over, she lay down on the other chair. She had barely settled herself when...
"So where's your toyboy?"
"Shut up, Damon."
A few minutes later, "Is he a good kisser?"
"Elena's got a big mouth."
"It wasn't Elena."
"Then how did you-"
"Are you kidding? Teenage hormones. Sensitive vampire nose. You do the math."
Her face warmed. "You are so gross."
"I'm just telling it how it is."
"Who asked you?"
"Well, you did."
Despite herself, Bonnie laughed. "So this what you meant when you said I wouldn't even know you were here?"
Eyes still closed, he wriggled into a more comfortable position. "Admit it, Bonnie. Isn't it more fun with me around?"
"'Fun' isn't the word I'd use," she said, but she was smiling.
As she listened to his teasing reply, Bonnie automatically composed her own verbal joust. She had to admit that when it came to annoying distractions, Damon Salvatore was second to none.
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