When plot bunnies attack me and I can't think about anything until I put them down to paper…this happens.

This fic will start before Damon decides to desiccate himself. Instead of just leaving Bonnie a letter, Damon goes to see her in her dorm room before leaving and things take off from there. I wanted to do this and I just had to get it down…let me know if you are willing to take this ride with me (and it WILL be a ride).

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, The Vampire Diaries or anything of the kind. CW and LJ Smith do.

Prologue

Bonnie's fingers rapidly went across the keyboard on her laptop. The stint in the hospital following the disaster in the armory caused her to fall behind in class and her English professor made it clear that if she did not deliver her paper about Antigone by midnight that night, she would be repeating English 301.

Bonnie bit her bottom lip as she finally finished the 5th page of the eight-page paper. She had no idea how she would fill up three more pages. "Where's a spell when you need one?" she sighed tapping her fingers on the track pad for a few moments.

"Only Bonnie Bennett would crack open her laptop as soon as she gets out of the hospital", Damon remarked from the doorway.

Bonnie immediately felt butterflies began to dance in her stomach. It was a feeling that showed up frequently when Damon was around. She wrote it off as a side effect of her powers, because she refused to consider any other option. "Well I am still in school and since I missed almost an entire year, I am trying to catch up so I can at the very least graduate with Caroline", she stood up from the desk and walked over to Damon.

He nodded with a smirk on his face as he looked somewhat distracted. The look on Damon's face, while not familiar, sent Bonnie on high alert, "Is something wrong, did something else happen with Caroline…Stefan…The Armory?" she asked searching for what could possibly make Damon seem so unsure.

"No, none of that…Stefan is still running, Rayna is still indisposed and Caroline is still…where exactly is Caroline?" Damon raised an eyebrow.

"She's on her way to Texas with Alaric and the twins".

"Right, the twins".

"Damon, what's going on? If something's wrong, you can tell me…I will help you".

Damon looked down at Bonnie. Bonnie Bennett had slowly worked her way into being one of his favorite people in the world. At times, she was the only person that he believed knew him. Just by a look, she could read him and know exactly what he was about to do. She could dance on his last nerve with her judgmental attitude, but she always made him want to be better and she would give him the kick in the butt that he needed to be better.

Damon touched Bonnie's cheek, "Nothing's wrong Bon, Bon…I just wanted to come here and bug you that's all", he walked over and plopped on her bed picking up her copy of Antigone.

"Hmm…" Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "something about that doesn't sound right".

"What, we're best friends aren't we?" he asked knowing that he had an ulterior motive for this visit.

"Yes, but you seem like something is wrong".

"Bonnie, do you ever think that everything bad that has happened to your life leads back to my presence in it", Damon replied concentrating on Mr. Cuddles who was propped in between Bonnie's two pillows.

"What?"

"Honest question…", he sat up and stared at her, "since I came to town, you've lost people you cared about. People have died…your Grams, your father…I snapped your moth…"

As he ticked off the people she lost, Bonnie felt like he was poking her with his finger, "Damon, why are you bringing that up now? I am aware of everything that happened since you've been in town. I've made peace with many things and we're friends now…best friends, right?"

"But why…why do you even give me the time of day?" Damon asked.

"Because I know that you are much more than the persona that you give off", she replied crossing her arms, "now why are you doing this? Did you come over to get into an argument with me?"

He frowned as he took in Bonnie. She was standing in front of him clearly confused by his presence and his words, but he had to press forward. He couldn't let that look in her eyes deter him. He had to do this for her, "I just think sometimes that you need to just walk away from me. I'm not worth the hassle".

Bonnie moved closer to him, "Damon, I can decide who is worth the hassle and I learned about you since 1994 and since then, you have been kinda my backbone. So no…we're friends and we are staying that way, whether you like it or not, because I'm not going anywhere", Bonnie stated confused.

Damon stared into her eyes and he swallowed, "I am", he uttered quietly and then spoke louder, "I'm leaving Bonnie".

Bonnie felt his words hit her like a punch to the stomach. She was sure she misunderstood what he said. There was no way that he was leaving her. Not now. He wouldn't do that to her, especially after what happened a couple of months ago. How she was alone for months with no one to talk to or argue with. Elena was gone, Caroline was gone and now Damon was saying that he was leaving her—he wouldn't be so cruel. She immediately felt a lump in her throat form as she choked out her next words, "No…no you're not".

"Bonnie, do you remember what happened at The Armory. You almost died because of me. Tyler attacked you because you were hellbent on saving me. You cut off Enzo's freaking hand to save me, you were willing to die to save me and I don't want you to do that anymore. You don't deserve to give your life for a guy like me".

"What…no…that's not what…" Bonnie protested.

"You and Stefan, both got hurt because of me and I can't let that happen anymore. I need to go away, Bonnie", Damon argued with his voice breaking.

"You can't…no…you can't do this".

"Bonnie, I want you to be ok…I want you to stay safe, after everything you've been through…"

The lump in Bonnie's throat was so big that it threatened to choke her, but she refused to cry.

"I don't want you to get yourself killed because of me Bonnie, you don't deserve that. You deserve to be happy", Damon went on.

"I'm happy with my friends around and that includes you…"

Damon gave her a self deprecating grin, "You don't mean that".

"Well maybe not completely happy, but you're my best friend…" Bonnie choked up, "and I can't deal with another person that I…", she immediately stopped as Damon's eyes widened and she then continued after a breath, "Damon, I don't want you to leave me here, not like this…not alone like this".

He stared back at her and his heart clenched. Bonnie Bennett stood in front of him and she had her heart on her sleeve. Maybe he had no intention on facing it until this very moment, but what he felt for Bonnie wasn't just this platonic 'best friend' love that they had reiterated so many times that it didn't even sound true anymore. The feeling knowing that he hit him like a sledgehammer. He knew that he had to walk away from her, for her to live for as many years as she had left…whether it be 60...80…100. He sat next to her hospital bed holding her hand and he promised that she would never have to sacrifice herself for him and he meant it. In some ways, his relationship with Bonnie was deeper and more profound than any relationship he'd had in his entire life and she didn't deserve to be caught in the crossfire of one of his dramas. He had to take himself out of the equation.

"Bonnie, you will never know how much your happiness means to me", Damon stated studying her eyes.

"You're leaving would hurt me", Bonnie looked down at the floor, "you standing in front of me telling me that you are leaving hurts…"

"Bonnie…", Damon placed his hands on her cheeks looking down at her. When he touched her, he felt a warmness come over him. A warmness that he had never felt before.

She placed her hands over his and met his eyes, "Damon, I am serious. I want you to stay in Mystic Falls".

He never thought he would EVER hear Bonnie Bennett say that to him. Their relationship had changed so much from that moment that he laid eyes on her in the Mystic Grille that night he picked up Caroline and that moment he confronted her over Emily's necklace. He smiled as he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead softly. He heard her take a breath as he found himself kissing her on the cheek and then his eyes met hers as finally his lips grazed hers. His lips caressed hers slowly and tentatively for a few moments. It was as if his brain shut off and he was caught up in the moment with Bonnie.

As they stood in the middle of her dorm room kissing, every nerve in Bonnie's body began to tingle and come alive. She almost couldn't think straight as she tried to think of a reason why she should stop this. Why she shouldn't be standing there kissing Damon in her dorm room. She broke their kiss and stepped back trying to catch her breath. Damon's face was flushed and Bonnie could imagine how she looked.

"Bon…"

She turned around and walked away from him. What had she just done? She had basically made out with Damon in the middle of her dorm room. The dorm room that she shared with his girlfriend or whatever they were considered at that moment. What was she doing? What was wrong with her? She gripped onto the desk chair, "That…that… shouldn't have happened", she stumbled over her words as she slowly touched her swollen lips.

She could feel Damon coming up behind her and she willed herself not to turn around. She couldn't face him…not at that moment.

"Bon…look at me", he stated quietly.

She shook her head as she felt him move closer to her.

"Bon, turn around".

She turned to him slowly and looked up, "That shouldn't have happened, I don't know why that happened…"

"It probably shouldn't have, but it did", Damon breathed out and focused so intently on her that it made Bonnie blush, "and I'm not sorry it did".

"You don't mean that…", she shook her head staring into his eyes.

"Oh but I think I do", he said cocking his head to the side gazing at her.

She backed up and realized that there was no where else to move to as he pressed his body against hers and brought her into another kiss, "Dam…Damon…", she said trying to push him away, "this is not right, we can't…", she protested as he kissed her.

As he moved to her neck with the kisses, she felt all of her defenses breaking down. This was wrong. She was wrong—but it felt so right. It was bad when he lifted her up off the floor. It was bad when she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her over to the bed. It was worse when he lifted her shirt over her head and it was horrible when his mouth moved from her lips, down her neck to her breasts. But what was the worst of all, is when minutes later, they were skin to skin and he laced his hand with hers and whispered in her ear, "Your life means everything to me and I will make sure you are happy" and she knew right then in there that she had fallen in love a long time ago.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The sound of rain echoed against the window pane as Bonnie slowly began to wake from her slumber. She wasn't sure when she had drifted off to sleep, but her back and her legs told her that she had fallen asleep from exhaustion. Her body came alive at the memory of what happened the previous night with Damon. She knew that she should have felt guilty or ashamed or something, but she couldn't allow herself to feel that way…not at that moment. Bonnie opened her eyes and stretched as she looked over at the other side of her bed. It was empty and she felt her stomach drop as she turned and looked over at her nightstand. There was an envelope staring back at her. On the front, it read…'Bonnie…I'm sorry'. Immediately a lump in her throat formed and she gulped as she reached over with a shaky hand and picked up the envelope. She stared at the words, 'I'm sorry', as a tear fell onto the words distorting them.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Three Years Later…

Two figures entered the storage container in a hurry. The male moved faster than the female as he walked up and down the aisles of the container. He stopped suddenly in front of a cherry wood coffin. "I found it!"

The female rushed over as the male pried the coffin open to reveal the desiccated body inside, "The bastard still looks like he's in peace", the female scoffed.

"The blood…", the male said holding out his hand.

"We should let him rot in there", the female stated with venom in her voice.

The male sighed, "You know we can't do that… not any longer anyway".

The female snorted as she placed the blood bag in his hand. He leaned over and placed the blood bag up to the body's mouth and allowed the blood to drip in. They watched as the greyish skin and blue veins began to disappear and suddenly the body's eyes shot open and sat up with a start.

"What…?" he asked confused looking around and then he focused on the blond female and brunette male staring back at him. He stared in their eyes for a few moments and instantly, he felt pain in the pit of his stomach. They had come. They were there and they had awakened him—that meant that she was gone.

"Get out of the coffin, we have to go", Caroline ordered as she stared at Damon with barely contained hatred.

"Where…where's Elena?" Damon asked looking around as Caroline sucked her teeth and and rolled her eyes at him.

"Elena's not awake Damon", Stefan answered quietly.

"So what are you two doing here?" Damon looked around, "I left you a letter, I didn't want to be disturbed until Elena was awa…"

"You selfish bastard, Bonnie needs you and you need to come with us", Caroline interrupted.

"Bonnie?" Damon asked, still trying to clear his head.

"You do remember who she is, don't you? Stefan, this was a terrible idea, close the coffin…let him go back to sleep and lie there like the cowa…"

"Caroline, how about you go warm up the car", Stefan asked gently turning to her.

Caroline glared at Damon, "Fine…", she whipped around and stomped away leaving the brothers alone.

"She hasn't changed…wait…how long has it been?" Damon smirked as he got out of the coffin.

"Three years and we don't have time to talk, Bonnie needs your help and that's why we're here…"

"What happened to her?" Damon asked heading towards the opening of the container, "and wait…how are you here? I thought you had to take off because of Rayna?"

"Things happened, but we don't have time to talk about everything…we need you to come with us".

Damon nodded as they reached the car, "Where is Bonnie?"

"She's in Mystic Falls…"

"And she's in trouble?"

"She needs you", Stefan answered cryptically as he and Damon slipped in the car, "me and Caroline left a few days ago to find you".

"But how did you find me?"

"Enzo".

Damon rolled his eyes, "Of course".

"Well if you must know, we tortured him until he told us where we could find you", Stefan smirked, "the bastard didn't stand a chance against Caroline when she got started".

"He thought we were joking with him, I hope he was able to find all of his fingers", Caroline quipped.

"Wait…you don't seem angry at me", Damon said grabbing Stefan's arm, "I have to explain why I did what I did, I know I left the letter but…"

"You can explain more later, we have to get to Mystic Falls", Stefan answered as he started the car.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

During their flight back to Mystic Falls, Damon tried to figure out why Bonnie needed his help now. He noticed Caroline on the phone a couple of times in the airport, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. Although, he had desiccated himself to protect her and Stefan—he would be lying if he didn't admit to himself that he was awake and he would get to lay eyes on her again and that made him feel not only apprehensive, but excited. That night, the night before he left to desiccate himself, left him with moments that stayed on his mind as he slowly starved himself in that coffin. Bonnie's kisses, her caresses, the way she held onto him while he made love to her, how she whispered in his ear how much she wanted him—it all stayed with him. A part of him knew that he was selfish for that night. He should have walked away from her before he found himself in a position to make love to Bonnie, but he couldn't. There was a part of him that had to show her, that he felt more for her than he ever thought was possible. That he loved her and that seeing her happy meant the world for him, that he was willing to put his life on hold for as long as it took to keep her safe. When he woke up that morning, kissed her on the forehead and stared at her for close to an hour. She looked relieved and happy as she slept. He hated to leave, but he had to. It was the only way to put a stop to it it all. He removed the letter from his jacket pocket and he knew that when he left that letter—he would be sealing his fate with Bonnie Bennett forever. All he could possibly hope during the rest of her lifetime, is that she read his letter and understood—that he chose her and her life over whatever he wanted.

Once their flight landed and the three vampires, slid into Stefan's car and headed towards the boarding house, Damon spoke again with a smirk, "So Caroline, you're just going to ignore me?"

She closed her eyes for a few moments and then spoke turning to him with narrowed eyes, "Damon, I hate you. I think I hate you more now than I have ever hated you before. The only reason why I helped find you is because of Bonnie, because after all these years…Stefan believes that you may be able to help. I have my doubts, but he believes that you may be exactly what Bonnie needs now. I think you are the last thing she needs".

"Soo…that's a no?"

Caroline screamed in frustration as she turned back around and stared out of the window.

"So you haven't told me what Bonnie needs, I take it she's not hurt or you would have told me by now…so it must be something else. Has she turned into a Dark Bonnie or something?" Damon asked.

"We will explain when we get to the boarding house", Stefan stated.

Damon sat back. Something was very wrong and he could feel fear creeping up on him. He watched Caroline and Stefan exchange looks between each other, but they said nothing. It was weird and unsettling. He wasn't sure what to expect when they finally reached Bonnie.

Stefan pulled up in front of the boarding house, which looked pretty much the same. There was a SUV outside and a police squad car. "What is going on here?" Damon whispered.

Stefan and Caroline got out of the car and he followed. They headed up the steps and Stefan opened the door. Immediately, Damon smelled a familiar scent. Bonnie. She always smelled like Jasmine and Vanilla and it had not changed. As he took in her scent, he heard her voice, "Matt, Stefan and Caroline have been gone for days…they won't tell me what they found, I'm not waiting anymore".

"Bonnie, please…just give them a few more days, they went to get help".

"A few days Matt? We don't have a few days. I am going out of my mind! I've tried everything! I can't sleep…I can't eat…I can't...", Bonnie argued and then stopped suddenly as if she sensed his presence.

"Bonnie…", Matt said reaching for her arm.

Damon watched as Bonnie turned around slowly to see him standing on the stairs along with Stefan and Caroline. He watched as she blinked a few times. Her mouth set in a straight line as she looked from him to Stefan and Caroline. If Damon looked close enough, he could see the heat radiating off of her body.

"Bon…", Damon choked out as he took her in. Her hair was longer stopping in the middle of her back and she was wearing it with a slight curl. She was curvier and those curves were all in the right places and then, her eyes. Those bright doe eyes that she possessed were blazing with anger.

She walked over to him and stared at him for a few moments. If there was a hint of a tear, she didn't show it.

"Bonnie...", he reached out for her and she immediately backed up and laser focused on Stefan. She stood in front of Stefan with her jaw so tight, she thought it would break.

"Bonnie, we need him…", Stefan began, but was cut off by Bonnie's hand slapping him across the face.

"Get him the hell out of here", she stated through clenched teeth before brushing past them and heading up the stairs.

"I told you this was a bad idea", Caroline hissed as she followed Bonnie up the stairs.

"I can't believe you two brought him here, I have to go. Tell Bonnie I will be back", Matt glared at Damon as he left the house.

Damon turned to Stefan, "I didn't exactly expect a 'Welcome Home' party, but I didn't expect you to get slapped by Bonnie for bringing me home—what's going on?"

Stefan was quiet for a few moments as his eyes drifted across the room. Damon followed his gaze and his eyes connected with a picture on the table. He looked over at Stefan and then walked over to the table picking up the picture, "You want to explain this?" he asked pointing to the picture of the little boy with tawny colored skin and bluish green eyes with a head full of curly brown hair smiling brightly.

So what I can tell you is that this is going to be A LOT. Bonnie and Damon's relationship is going to be a roller coaster, but one person has the ability to bring them together. Not sure when or how that will happen—but it will.

So let me know what you think? There will be a lot of emotions, explosive arguments, apologies and everything in between. I hope you are interested in taking the ride with me.