Summary: Damon and Stefan are dead but there's still work to be done. In the sequel to Stake the Salvatores, Bonnie, Tyler, and Jeremy set their sights on their final target, Klaus.
I advise you to read StS first.
Disclaimer: I don't own TVD. If I did, I like to imagine it would be much better than it is.
Happy Birthday, Bonnie
Bonnie flips through acceptance letters, examining the names on all of them. Whitmore, at the top of the heap. The obvious choice, where Caroline and Elena will both be, where Grams taught, where Shane teaches. The University of Chicago. Not so obvious and she wasn't even sure she'd make it into that one. Far away in a big city where she can become invisible and unnoticeable. University of California - Berkeley. Sunshine and hundreds of miles across the country. Virginia State and University of Virginia. Close but not too close. Far enough that she's away but close enough that she can come back.
The sun is just coming up but already she's got Happy Birthday texts from Caroline and Matt, plus a couple of other people from school who Bonnie almost forgot she knew. She almost forgot she had a birthday or that it was this close. Killing Damon and Stefan can make a girl forget about celebrating the day she was born. It snuck up on her. One minute she's contemplating April's death for the hundredth time in between reading acceptance letters then her dad is calling her to let her know she can expect her gift in the mail.
It's been a week since April's funeral and everything Bonnie does still relates to her in some way. April won't ever apply to college. Even now, there's a voice in Bonnie's head that asks, Do you know what April will never get? An eighteenth birthday.
Jeremy and Tyler are still asleep. As far as they're concerned, she's mostly recovered from what happened in the woods the night they killed Stefan. She's stopped crying, and that must be a good thing. It's the best thing since they've got an Original to kill. They have to grow Jeremy's mark, find the Cure, force it on Klaus, and kill him. It's probably better that she be focused on that particular task more than a girl she killed last week.
She hasn't even told Shane about it. He heard about April as well. She was on the news and everything. The official story was a break in at her house. It would be hard to explain an animal getting in and taking a bite out of her. And even harder to explain a witch who was actually bitten transferring said bite to a girl in the woods and killing her.
The difficulty of such an explanation, which would be an easy one for Shane, is what keeps her from explaining it. It's enough that Tyler and Jeremy know. No one else can find out. But Shane has probably noticed something's off, as she's kept her distance ever since. She knows she'll have to go back eventually. He'll be a help with the cure, Expression will, too. And she needs control, needs it so they don't have a repeat of April Young.
It's past noon when Jeremy and Tyler wake up, their usual Saturday routine. Well, their Saturday routine now that Stefan and Damon are both dead. They'll be right back on Killing Time - early mornings and late nights of tossing around strategies for killing Klaus - soon. It takes awhile for one of them to come upstairs. She waits for the knock on the door.
"Come in," she calls.
It's Tyler.
"Morning," he says. "And happy birthday." He holds out a pint of cookie dough ice cream and a bottle of vodka. There's a bow around the vodka and the sight of it makes her smile. It's the good stuff, too. Not the cheap brand she's always been forced to get.
Bonnie takes them. "Does it really count as a gift if you'll also be using it?"
"Sure it does," Tyler says with a shrug and a smile. "Sometime this week?"
Not tonight because they've already got drinking planned for tonight (which she's actually very excited about, if she makes herself forget April for a minute) but Bonnie wonders how ridiculous it would be to eat the ice cream now. She's been craving it. She hides the vodka in her closet and sets the ice cream on her desk. "It's a date."
Tyler tilts his head to the side and raises his eyebrows. "Is it?"
The way he speaks, his voice, makes her stomach turn into a knot. He stares at her and she stares back. She wonders what he's trying to say with that look.
"I don't know," Bonnie says finally. Since she kissed him on the porch they haven't talked about it. It was in the heat of the moment, smack dab in the middle of her grief ,and Tyler was saying all these sweet things, making her not feel so terrible. As soon as it was over, she felt terrible all over again. Kissing Tyler couldn't bring April back to life.
Tyler nods. "Okay."
He wants her, needs her. And she wants, needs him, too. However, there's still Jeremy and her feelings for him are nearly identical.
Bonnie tries to think of something else to say but she's cut off by the sound of Jeremy's approaching footsteps. Tyler steps back from the door so Jeremy can enter. He hugs her hard and says happy birthday into her ear, pressing a long, thin box into her hand. Jewelry. She likes jewelry. Even if it's not of the human bone variety.
"We have to go grocery shopping really fast," Jeremy says, apparently in no hurry to see her open his gift. He has a thing about that. "But we'll try to make it fast. If not, we'll see you when you get back from your movie."
"I'll see you at Caroline's at two o'clock for my surprise party," Bonnie says.
"You know?"
Bonnie smiles at Jeremy's sigh and Tyler's eye roll. They've been trying hard to keep it a secret, but she's noticed them talking quietly to one another. At first she chalked it up to concern for her. There was that, too but there was more to these clandestine conversations than April Young. Caroline hasn't mentioned anything except for her and Elena's promise to take Bonnie to a movie of her choice that afternoon, but they were four when Caroline first decided to throw Bonnie a surprise party for her eighteenth birthday. Just because she made the promise back when they couldn't even spell eighteen doesn't make it any less important in Caroline's eyes. And she can recognize Caroline's manic, busybody state from a mile away.
"As long as you look surprised when you get there," Tyler says, "I don't care." He steps forward to hug her and she smiles as he kisses her cheek. "See you there. We have to go set up."
Jeremy remains when Tyler goes. "I can't believe you've known this whole time."
"It was cute, you guys keeping a secret," she says.
"As long as it was cute," he says before he leans to kiss her cheek. She tries not to think of how purposeful it must be that he doesn't kiss the same cheek Tyler did. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you," she says. She waits until they go to open Jeremy's present. Inside is a silver bracelet. It looks plain at first but when she holds it up to the light she can see words - one word multiple times - engraved across its surface.
Bennett.
Caroline has volunteered her house for Bonnie's birthday bash and as soon as Jeremy and Tyler get through the door she's barking orders. Jeremy is assigned the task of hanging up some more decorations with Elena while Tyler is directed toward the kitchen to help Matt figure out a precarious situation with the food.
"Hey," Jeremy says, picking up a strand of streamers. "Haven't seen you in awhile."
Elena shrugs her shoulders. "I've just been busy with school and Caroline's had me working nonstop on this party."
"You doing okay otherwise?" Jeremy asks. It's easier, somehow to be around her, to call himself her brother, now that Stefan and Damon are gone. There was a weight on the title before, an invisible addendum. He's Elena's brother but Stefan is her boyfriend. Or he's Elena brother but Damon is her boyfriend. Or he's Elena's brother but she loves both Salvatores. There's always a but. Now there isn't one.
"I'm fine, Jer," Elena says. "It's Bonnie's birthday."
"Yeah," Jeremy says. "If you want to talk though, we can." She hasn't asked him to come back home, not yet anyway. Or maybe she realized he wasn't going to accept that offer.
Elena nods her head and smiles. "Okay."
They hang the rest of the decorations, the Happy Birthday banner and strands of white Christmas lights. Elena's quiet for most of it. Jeremy reminds himself she was in a funk over Damon for what felt like forever. It hasn't been as long as that yet and at least she's out of the house, hanging out with them. This is better than the way it was before.
The doorbell rings but it's too early to be Bonnie.
"That's Shane!" Caroline says, speeding through the living room.
"You invited Shane?" Jeremy asks.
"I told him to stop by for the surprise part," Caroline explains. "Come on, he's like Bonnie's...whatever. Who am I to deny her another present?"
"No one should deny Bonnie another present," Elena says, her hands on her hips. She appraises their work and nods in satisfaction.
Shane comes in, looking just as awkward as one would expect a nearly thirty year old man to look in a room full of teenagers. He slides his hands into his pockets. "Hello, all."
Thank God they don't have long to wait before Bonnie gets there because there's absolutely nothing any of them has to say to Shane except for "Hello". Tyler's had more contact with him than the rest of them, after Bonnie, so he goes to talk to him until the clock strikes two and the doorbell rings.
"She's very punctual," Shane comments.
Jeremy and Tyler exchange looks as she comes in, looking suitably shocked with the chorus of "Surprise!". They haven't talked about what happened with Tyler and Bonnie kissing. With killing Stefan and Bonnie killing April, it seemed stupid in comparison. It is stupid in comparison. With all the time they've allowed to pass, Jeremy feels dumb bringing it up now, even though he knows he should. They'll have to figure it out eventually, whatever it is. He's in love with Bonnie but Tyler likes Bonnie. Bonnie and Tyler kissed. Jeremy and Bonnie were - still are? - having sex sometimes. There's a big something to figure out.
For now, it's Bonnie's birthday. She makes her rounds through the room, hugging them all in turn. When she gets to Jeremy, she says into his ear, "Did I look surprised?"
"Very," he assures her.
Shane approaches. "Happy birthday, Bonnie," he says, enveloping her in an awkward hug.
"Caroline invited you?" Bonnie says.
"She said you deserved another present," Shane says with a shrug. "I brought one." If he notices her pendant, the first present he gave her, is missing Shane doesn't mention it. Instead he passes her a small box wrapped in red paper.
"Thank you," Bonnie says.
"And I was hoping to check on you," Shane adds. "We haven't talked in awhile. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Bonnie nods her head vigorously, too enthusiastically perhaps. "I'm great," she says. "I've just been kind of busy lately. With school and figuring out the whole college thing."
"Understandable," Shane says. "Let me know when you want to get back to work."
"I will," Bonnie says. "It'll be soon. We have things to talk about. The cure."
Right, Shane knows things about the cure they need to know. And they're going to need to know them soon. Jeremy looks down at his Mark, which has made it about halfway up his forearm now. They'll also have to get to making this thing grow.
But it's Bonnie's birthday. No business on Bonnie's birthday, Tyler and Jeremy already decided.
Shane nods. "Of course. You know where to find me. Now I should get going." He touches her shoulder and repeats his birthday wishes.
"You don't want to stay for cake?" Bonnie asks.
"I'm not big on cake," Shane answers, "but thanks." He probably just wants to get away from all the teenagers.
"Thanks for coming," Bonnie says. She holds up his present. "And for whatever this is."
"You're welcome," he says. "It was nice seeing you all."
They all say goodbye.
As soon as he's gone, Caroline breaks out the shot glasses and pours one for each of them. They gulp them down in unison. Jeremy would take another but they've already agreed they're going out tonight anyway and he might as well wait. They didn't need to surprise Bonnie with that information They never got to suitably celebrate Stefan's passing and now that it's Bonnie's birthday, there's no better reason to go.
While Bonnie is busy with Caroline and Matt, Jeremy and Tyler sit at the counter together with their empty shot glasses. "You think she's doing okay today?" Tyler asks.
"Not as bad as other days," Jeremy answers. She's smiling more.
"She's still not doing magic," Tyler says. He talks quietly. With the music and the chatter, they're drowned out already.
"Yeah, I know," Jeremy says. They've noticed that much, even if Bonnie hasn't said so out loud. It's like she's afraid the slightest bit of magic is going to make someone else drop dead. What are they supposed to say to her? You're a witch, Bonnie. Witches are supposed to do magic. Go do magic.
"What should we do?"
"I don't know," Jeremy says. "Let her work it out. She'll come through when we need her."
Bonnie always comes through.
"She looks like she's having a good time," Tyler says.
She does, that's true. Matt's said something funny and her and Caroline are both laughing. Or maybe Bonnie's just faking it. She's good at faking it, they all are.
Elena comes toward them. "Hey," she says.
"Hey," Tyler and Jeremy say together.
"This is fun," she says. "It's good that we're all together like this. We should do it more often. No special occasion needed."
"Yeah," Tyler agrees. "We should." Jeremy knows Tyler would rather not spend any more time with Elena than is absolutely necessary. He won't say it out loud but his feelings for Elena haven't changed just because Damon and Stefan are dead.
Jeremy nods his own assent.
"It's Bonnie's birthday so we shouldn't talk about it today," Elena says, "but we still might have a problem with the hybrid and the witch and the other one. We'll have to make sure we've got all our bases covered."
Jeremy keeps his eyes on Elena. He knows Tyler is doing the same. Don't look away, don't look spooked, don't look anything. "Yeah," Jeremy says. "Definitely. Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," Elena repeats.
"Bonnie," Elena says. She's being quiet today and she has been since Stefan died. But she looks good, she looks alive, which is better than she looked after they killed Damon. "Happy birthday." She pulls Bonnie into a hug and squeezes. She's gotten a handle on her strength and she's just as careful as Caroline is. Back when they were human they would try to hug as tight as they could and now it takes an effort just to be gentle.
"Thanks," Bonnie says.
Elena passes Bonnie a paper bag. "It's just a little something," she says. "I thought you might like it."
Bonnie reaches into the mess of tissue paper until her fingers close around something thin and heavy. She pulls it free. It's a picture frame. Inside are two photos. They had to have been six or seven in the first, sitting side by side on what looks like Elena's front porch. They're both in floral dresses and are clutching each other's hands as if for dear life, smiling giant gap-toothed smiles. It was years and a whole mouth of baby teeth ago, but Bonnie feels like she remembers taking it. The second picture is more recent but it was taken before Elena's parents died. They were both still cheerleaders then, at the championship game. They lost that year but you wouldn't know it by this picture. Elena's hair in a high ponytail and Bonnie's into two ponytails, the matching glittery red timberwolves painted on their cheeks, and smiles just as earnest and happy as the other photo, with all their teeth this time.
Bonnie has the same picture in her room.
"That's my favorite one of us," Elena says.
How is it harder to remember this photo than the other one?
Bonnie's fingers brush over the glass. She looks happy, at least. So does Elena. There was never a question then about what they were to each other. "Mine, too."
"Ready to go to the real party?" Jeremy says, peeking into Bonnie's bedroom. She's standing in front of her mirror in a pair of fitted jeans and a glittery black tank top, her hair hanging long and straight past her shoulders.
"In a minute," she answers. He sees she's holding Qetsiyah's pendant.
"Did Shane give you a pair of matching earrings?" Jeremy asks.
Bonnie laughs and slips the pendant back into her jewelry box. "No. He gave me some kind of rock. The note said it was calcified bone. Well a piece of calcified bone. Qetsiyah's. To witches, it's worth quite the dollar amount." She nods to her nightstand where Jeremy now notices the hunk of white rock, smooth and round.
"Um...cool," Jeremy says, arching his eyebrows. "Dude's really into bones."
She meets his eyes in her mirror and smiles. It fades soon after it appears. "What's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing," she answers.
"You're still thinking about April."
"When will I not be thinking about April?"
"Someday," Jeremy promises her. Eventually Bonnie will let go of this, he knows she will. Maybe not anytime soon, maybe not within the month, or two months, or the year, but she will.
"Thank you for my bracelet," she says.
It's only then he realizes she's wearing it. His face gets hot."You're welcome," he says. "I thought-I don't know. Cool family. I know it's not human bone but it goes with everything, right?"
It's good to hear Bonnie laughing. "It certainly goes with this outfit." She turns around to look at him and sighs heavily. "I haven't been doing magic."
"We noticed," he says.
"Time to get over it," she says, like she's trying to psych herself up. "We've got work to do."
"Not tonight we don't," he reminds her. "It's your birthday."
"There's no better time to start then."
She turns and stares at her reflection for awhile longer. He sees her run her fingertips along the bracelet, the etchings of her name. The candle on her bedside table flickers to life.
Then she unscrews a tube of lipgloss and smears it across her lips. "Now I'm ready."
Bonnie's been throwing them back since they got there. Tyler can't tell if she's just excited because of the occasion or if something else is going on here. She seems be over April dying, or at least moving on. But she hasn't been doing magic. Well, now she is. Jeremy said she lit a candle in her room. Progress is being made. Maybe she's feeling a little better now that she's downing one pink hued drink after the other. For now, what happened to April isn't a factor. They should hold onto this. In the morning, it could be different.
"A toast," Tyler says, holding up his beer, "to Bonnie Bennett on her birthday."
They clink their glasses together. Bonnie's is almost empty.
"This is nice," she says.
Tyler nods. "This is nice."
"Really nice," Jeremy adds.
Bonnie laughs quietly. "It's my birthday," she says. "And it's been a good day actually. I'm here with you guys and I love you guys."
Tyler can't help his gaze moving to Jeremy who seem to have had the same reaction. They look away quickly, focusing their attention back on Bonnie, and Tyler is reminded that they really need to talk. He doesn't think he should mention that Bonnie kissed him a second time on the porch. That'll only make it worse. He's distracted from his thoughts by Bonnie setting her glass down on the table and clearing her throat.
"I wanna dance," she says.
Tyler's about to tell her that she and Jeremy should go and he'll meet them out there once he's finished with his beer. Or finished another two beers. But Bonnie speaks, "But first..." She turns in her chair to face Jeremy. "Come here."
Jeremy blinks. "What?"
Bonnie smiles and extends her hands toward him, reaching for his face. She's balancing on the edge of her chair when she pulls his lips to hers. Jeremy obviously doesn't know where to put his hands, not at first. She caught him off guard. But he eventually lets go of his glass of beer to hold her waist.
Tyler's aware that looking away is probably the best course of action, but he can't. One of Bonnie's hands rakes through Jeremy's hair and Tyler sees the tip of her tongue as it slips into Jeremy's mouth. Then he looks away, down at the contents of his glass, and decides it could be more full than it is. He stands and Bonnie's hand wraps around his wrist. She's smiling as she hops off her stool, twisting out of Jeremy's arms. "Where are you going?" she asks, sliding her arms around his waist.
"I need a refill," he answers. Bonnie takes his beer from him and finishes it off. He didn't even think she liked beer. As she hands the empty glass back to him, she says, "Yes, you do. After you dance with us." When she raises herself up onto the tips of her toes, he doesn't realize she's going to kiss him until her lips are brushing against his own. He can taste cherry flavored lip gloss, beer, and the fruity mixed taste her drink. It's hard to do but he pulls back, telling himself not to look at Jeremy.
"You're drunk," Tyler says with a shake of his head and an awkward laugh.
"I'm not that drunk," she says. And she does sound eerily sober. "It's my birthday," she reminds him. Her voice sounds in his head, above the thumping bass of the music and the clink of glasses. He has super hearing but all he hears is her. It's been awhile since that's happened. Help me celebrate, she says.
He really wants to.
Tyler's eyes finally flit to Jeremy who shrugs his shoulders and raises his beer to his mouth. Is he drunk?
"Tyler," Bonnie says, drawing his attention once again. She bites down on her bottom lip, looking up at him expectantly, and he really wants to bite that lip himself.
Welcome to Mystic Falls, it's Bonnie's birthday.
Tyler kisses her.
They're creating a scene.
Or at least Tyler thinks they are. It feels like everyone should be looking at them. The hybrid, the witch and the hunter. If people aren't looking, then what are they doing? Bonnie's arms are around Tyler's neck and they're so close they might as well be fused together. He wishes they were. When she's not tilting her head back so her neck can receive Jeremy's kisses, she's kissing Tyler. His first kiss with Bonnie could be described as passionate. Maybe. The second was sweet. This one is...He's not sure what this one is. He'll figure that out when he's replaying it in his head tomorrow, probably in the middle of a cold shower.
Bonnie doesn't stop dancing while she kisses him. No matter what they're doing, Bonnie dances. Her mouth is hot and forceful against his, her tongue moving against his, and her hands are everywhere. They stroke the back of his neck, ghost across his ears, glide around his waist, underneath his shirt. Everywhere.
And when she decides she doesn't want to kiss Tyler anymore, she turns around and kisses Jeremy. He should be jealous. Every time she kisses Jeremy, Tyler should be jealous. But he's not because Bonnie keeps her hand on top of his, trained on her bare stomach where her shirt rides up and he can feel the warmth of her skin, damp with sweat. And Jeremy doesn't seem to mind it when Bonnie kisses Tyler.
In the morning, that'll be different.
For now, Tyler lowers his mouth to Bonnie's neck. He kisses a path to her earlobe which he pulls between his teeth. He can hear Bonnie's sigh and feel her fingers tighten on his hand. When he raises his eyes, he can see clear across Jeremy's shoulder.
Elena.
At a table in the corner with a drink in front of her.
Her eyes on them.
Tyler releases Bonnie's waist and squints his eyes in the direction of the table. No one's there. In the midst of the gyrating couples and flickering strobe lights, he might have imagined it. There are a lot of brunettes with pin-straight hair in Virginia, and half of them are in this bar. Still, he moves toward the corner. Bonnie might have grasped for him but he's not sure. He navigates the maze of dancing strangers until he reaches the table. It looks like no one was ever sitting here. He runs his hand along the flat surface and feels a wet spot, a ring left by a glass.
Tyler's eyes scan the dance floor, searching for a familiar face. Elena's not the type to hang out in bars, not alone at least. And with both Salvatores dead, the only people she'd be there with are Bonnie and Caroline. Caroline's nowhere in sight and Bonnie's with them, so what reason does Elena have for being here, at the same bar as them, two towns over?
"Excuse me," a voice says. "This is our table."
He turns. Standing behind him are two girls, one with a mane of shining blond hair, pulled up into a ponytail. The other, the one who spoke, has straight brown hair and giant, dark eyes. From a distance and in this light, it would be easy to mistake her for Elena.
"Sorry," Tyler says, with a sound of relief. Who wants to explain to Elena why he, Bonnie, and Jeremy are doing what they're doing? He steps away from the table and looks to the dance floor again. His eyes land on Bonnie.
She's noticed he's missing, her back to Jeremy now. Her hand is on top of his, keeping him in place and moving to the rhythm she's created. When she catches Tyler's gaze, she lifts her arm and motions to him. Come back, she says.
Tyler smiles. I'm coming.
When he rejoins them, Bonnie slides her arms around his neck and kisses him again. He takes a gentle bite of her lower lip this time.
And we're back! This one ended up being extra long. Think of it as a celebratory length thing. Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing what you guys think so far. There is a bit (a lot) of love triangle here. Bonnie's feelings for Jeremy and Tyler are something that she's gradually going to have to sort out and eventually she'll have to make a choice. OT3s are fun but can they last forever?
Also, the link to the Stake the Salvatores mix is now posted on my profile.
