Apparently in between writing fluffy bamon fic, I like to write more fluffy bamon fic. I hope you enjoy!
Bonnie tossed another shirt in her duffle bag and zipped it up.
"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Caroline asked, sitting cross legged on her bed with a disapproving frown settled on her face.
She riffled through the side pockets in search of her toothbrush. "I won't be al-"
"I know, not technically," Caroline rolled her eyes and leaned forward, "but you're going with Damon. We've worked together this far, I don't understand why you won't let me do this next part with you."
"You know you'd be my first pick for this," Bonnie lamented, lying through her teeth, "but if you come, then Stefan will want to come and honestly we don't need all four of us chasing rumours across the country."
That, and Caroline's incessant organization would drive Bonnie crazy if she was the only company she'd have for weeks on end. At least with Damon she knew exactly what to expect, and considering they both made it back from the 1994 prison world without murdering each other it bode well for the hours they'd be stuck in the car together.
And that's not accounting for Damon and Bonnie being the two people who would go to the ends of the earth for Elena Gilbert.
"Fine," Caroline conceded, studying the map laid out in front of her for the millionth time. Red circles indicated all the potential candidates, with long winding lines laying out the routes they should take.
Bonnie watched her friend pointedly avoid making eye contact with a small smile on her lips. "Care?" She said.
"Mmhmm?" Caroline answered without looking up.
"I'm going to miss you," Bonnie pulled the strap of her bag over her shoulder. A small sighed slipped out, and Caroline looked up reluctantly.
"I'll miss you too, Bon," she carefully folded up the map and handed it to Bonnie, "I still wish I was coming with you."
Bonnie clutched the map of Bennett witches to her chest, and Caroline pulled her into a close hug. "When's Damon picking you up?"
"He and Stefan are in the parking lot now," Bonnie read off her phone. Caroline's eyes brightened at the second Salvatore's name, and she promptly offered to walk Bonnie to the car.
"Be careful," Caroline warned, her hand sliding down the worn banister in their dorm. "I know you and Damon get along, but, I don't know. Just be careful."
"Caroline," Bonnie held on to held on to her friend's arm to stop her, "Damon's my best friend - he's not going to hurt me. I know you aren't his biggest fan but you need to let that fear go."
Bonnie felt Caroline studying her face for a few moments, leading her to consider looking deeper into her warnings, but Caroline's soft smile returned.
"They're waiting for us," she said. Bonnie raised an eyebrow but followed her out of their dorm into the sunlight.
"Let me come with you," Stefan pleaded for what felt like the thousandth time that day. It probably was.
Damon poked at something he didn't recognize under the hood. "No," he answered his brother, pulling the unrecognizable something right out of its place. Oops.
Stefan groaned.
"Put it back," he said, pain seeping into his voice. "Please."
Damon tossed it back in and closed the hood. "We'll be fine, I can do car stuff," he shrugged. Stefan covered his mouth with a concerned hand to keep himself from telling Damon exactly wrong he was.
He slammed the hood shut. "Are you sure you and Bonnie can handle this?" Stefan asked, resigned to being left behind. "I'm worried about what's going to happen when this wild goose chase doesn't work out."
"It's going to work," Damon said quickly. It had to.
Stefan ran a hand through his hair. "Look Damon, I want to break Elena's curse just as much as you do. But I don't want to see you get your hopes up and be crushed again."
Damon tossed his keys in the air and caught them before replying. "No you don't," he said, "there is one other person who could come close to it, and she's riding shotgun."
On cue Bonnie and Caroline walked towards them from across the Whitmore parking lot. "Ready to go Bon Bon?" Damon pulled the door open and leaned against it, tapping the keys impatiently against the roof of the car.
Stefan offered to take Bonnie's bag and tossed it in the trunk, while she gave Caroline one last hug. "Let me know the second you find anything, promise? And no murder," she instructed.
"I promise," Bonnie laughed and climbed into the passenger seat beside Damon. She blew a kiss to Caroline out the window as he revved the engine.
"Who's ready for a witch hunt?" Damon hiked his eyebrows with a smirk.
The buzz and excitement the beginning of a road trip offers wore off within about twenty minutes.
"This station is terrible," Bonnie reached for the dials, but Damon smacked her hand away.
"Yeah, and like your Top 40 station would be any better," he reached across the car and nudged Bonnie's legs, "feet off the dash." Bonnie rolled her eyes and placed her feet right back exactly where they were.
She dug the map out of her pocket and gently unfolded it to reveal the state of Virginia. "First up is… wildly distant cousin Annie Bennett-Lowe," Bonnie read from the notes Caroline left her, "Charlottesville."
Damon glanced at the clock. "Should be there in two hours, three tops," he assessed.
"Perfect," Bonnie said after reading through the rest of the notes, "we can stop by her classroom after school."
Hollymead Elementary School was out when they got there. "Caroline did give us a home address, didn't she?" Damon looked around the eerily empty hallways uncomfortably.
"Excuse me, can I help you?" A short man with round glasses carrying several folders appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh um, we're looking for Annie Bennett-Lowe's classroom? We were hoping to speak with her if she's still here," Bonnie said politely. The man looked between the two of them frowning.
"We heard her kindergarten class was the best one," Damon slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, "we're scouting out teachers in the district, and we only want the best for little Damon Jr."
Bonnie stifled a laugh and nodded along with utmost seriousness, laying her head against Damon's chest, patting her hand against him lightly to sell it.
The man pointed to the next hallway over. "It's the first left," he huffed, "prospective parents should really call ahead you know." He waddled away without a second look.
Bonnie lifted her head and smacked Damon's arm. "Damon Jr.? You couldn't come up with anything better?" She laughed.
He shrugged. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"Not in the slightest," Bonnie said, and rapped her knuckles against her cousin's classroom door, peering inside. "Hello?"
Worn toys and books lined brightly coloured shelves, but the room was empty save for a woman sitting at a child sized table reading over lesson plans.
"My name is Bonnie Bennett," she approached the table, "I was hoping you might be able to help us with something."
Annie set her pen down, and turned to face the pair of strangers interrupting her. "First you'll have to explain what exactly a vampire is doing in my school," she eyed Damon with disdain only a disappointed teacher can manage.
"There's a spell we're trying to track down, and from what we know of its history it could have been passed down through your line of the family tree," Bonnie explained hopefully, and described the spell in detail. "We just want to bring back someone we care about," she finished quietly.
Annie removed her glasses and looked at them with sadness. "I'm really sorry to hear about your friend," she offered, "but this is the first I've heard of any spell like this outside of the fairy tales I read for my students."
Damon nodded, stone faced and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Bonnie thanked Annie for her time, trying not to let the answer sting - there were still a dozen other Bennetts who could hold the answer to bringing Elena back, after all.
"Good luck with Damon Jr.," Annie called out to them wryly, laughter dancing on her smile. Bonnie shook her head at a smug Damon.
Back in the car she pulled out a small notebook and crossed off the first name on the list.
"Who's next?" He started the car.
"Thomas Bennett. Hanover, Pennsylvania," Bonnie read, hope seeping back into her heart. Damon nodded and pulled out of the school's parking lot.
One down. Eleven to go.
I have this whole fic planned its just a matter of writing it all now! I'll try to keep it updated regularly (at least once a week), let me know what you think!