Damon Salvatore was so distracted by the small girl across the street that he almost shut his fiancée's hand up in the car door.

"Damon!" Elena Gilbert hollered, stopping the door just in time, looking up at him with her doe eyes from the passenger seat of the expensive black Audi.

He didn't even acknowledge her, his piercing blue eyes still glued to what was going on across the street from where they were parked.

"Hey, I know that girl...but what the hell is she doing in New York City?"

Elena followed his gaze, turning her head from her position in the car. The only girl she saw standing across the street was a short black girl standing in between two teenage boys, one was white and the other looked to be Latino and they were arguing with each other.

The pretty brunette turned to face her fiancé, a frown marring her features. "You know her?"

"Yeah...like since the day she was born." He said, still looking at the girl, trying to figure out why the seventeen year old wasn't in Mystic Falls where she belonged. "She's Connor's little sister."

At hearing that, the frown disappeared from her face. Connor Bennett was Damon's best friend who died two years ago in a car accident. He was only twenty-five.

"What the hell is she doing here?" He said to himself, but loud enough for Elena to hear.

Her brown eyes widened when he suddenly moved away from the door, walking towards the rear of the car.

"Damon...w-where are you going?"

"I'll be back." He answered before looking both ways and crossing the busy street.

Shit! This was really bad, Bonnie Bennett thought to herself as she stood in between Tyler and Jeremy.

It looked like they were about to fight.

Jeremy was high as a kite and almost got the three of them caught by the police and Tyler was furious, ready to kick his ass. His hands were balled up into fists and everything.

No. This definitely wasn't good at all and Shane wasn't there to break things up like he usually did when things got out of hand between the two boys.

Bonnie didn't know what to do and she literally was stuck in the middle of the two of them when she heard someone call out her name.

The 5'2 caramel skinned girl turned her head at the sound of her name and gasped, her green eyes widening in surprised shock.

"Damon?"

It was like everything slowed down as he neared her, Bonnie's eyes taking a mental picture of him and breaking everything down to the tiniest of details.

He was still the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. If it was even possible he'd grown even more handsome since the last time she saw him, which had been at her brother's funeral two years ago and he hadn't been back since, not even to pay a visit to his family who still lived in Mystic Falls.

And by the looks of his expensive clothes it looked like Damon was still doing very well for himself. Bonnie knew that he worked on Wall Street but that was about it.

Damn, he even smelled expensive she thought to herself when he pulled her into a hug and she suddenly became ware of her own appearance and how she must look to him.

Thankfully, she'd had a bird bath earlier that morning inside the restroom of the bus station, so she didn't smell bad or anything but her clothes were a little dingy and her hair was in serious need of a touch-up which was why she kept it in two braids so that at least it looked neat.

But it was hard trying to keep clean when you were homeless and besides basic hygiene took a distant second when the order for the day was trying to feed your growling belly, but under the circumstances Bonnie was doing a pretty good job at looking half way decent. But it was really dangerous, especially for girls having to use public restrooms to wash up. There were a couple that she knew personally who had been raped while doing this. So if Shane or Tyler wasn't there to stand guard outside of the restroom door then Bonnie would forgo washing up that day. She was taking no chances.

If it wasn't for Shane and Tyler who she now trusted with her life, Bonnie knew that things would have been a lot worse for her after having arrived in the Big Apple almost two months ago.

"I couldn't believe my own eyes when I saw you at first. What are you doing here?" He asked pulling away and holding Bonnie at arms length by her shoulders so that he could have a good look at her.

She looked the same, but different somehow.

Connor's death had long ago taken the brightness out of her pretty green eyes, but now there was something else there, a wariness that hadn't been there before as she stare up at him.

But Bonnie didn't get a chance to answer his question as Tyler, no longer arguing with Jeremy, turned his attention on them two.

"Bonnie, who's this guy?" He asked, knowing that Shane wasn't going to be happy when he told him about this, his eyes going to the man's hands that still remained locked on Bonnie's shoulders.

For a split second, the girl looked at Tyler like she didn't know him, but then her head cleared. She'd forgotten all about him and Jeremy just that fast.

She swallowed hard, stepping away from Damon and he dropped his arms, his eyes questioning as he stared at her.

Her eyes didn't leave his face. "He's just someone I know from back home...it was good to see you Damon but I have to go." She finally turned to her friends. "Come on guys, let's get out of here." She said, turning away from the man she'd secretly been in love with all of her life.

Before he could even think about it, Damon's hand shot out to grab hold of the back of Bonnie's forearm and he felt how small she actually was. His jaw tensed because she had no business being this far away from home, anything could happen to her.

"No. You're coming with me ." He said, pulling the girl to him. "I'm going to put you on the first flight back to Mystic Falls, where you belong."

At that Bonnie's eyes widened in fear and she began to frantically try to pull away from Damon. "No, I'm never going back there and you can't make me!" She fought him.

"Bonnie stop it! Your mom is probably worried sick about you. Now let's go!"

And that's when Jeremy surprised everyone and pulled a gun on Damon, aiming the pistol at the man's chest.

The twenty-seven year old froze.

"Get your fucking hands off her, man. She doesn't want to go with you."

"Jeremy no!" Bonnie yelled, not realizing that she was shielding Damon with her body as she pressed her hands against his chest, trying to push him back.

"Let her go." The boy repeated, running his free hand over his sweaty upper lip in anticipation.

"Damon, he's high on meth...so please just go before he kills you." She begged him, her love for him shining in her eyes.

Ignoring the boy with the gun in his hands, Damon's eyes focused solely on Bonnie as he looked at her intently. "I work at Hadley and Hardison, so if you ever need me that's where you'll find me, okay, Baby."

Bonnie's eyes watered at the sound of her nickname and she tried desperately to swallow down the emotions that were threatening to bubble up to the surface. She hadn't been called that silly nickname in a really long time. Not since Connor di...

She didn't finish the thought, nodding her head with no intention of ever contacting him for anything just so he'd let her go.

Damon Salvatore was apart of her past and it hurt too much to think about the past...to think about Connor.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief when he released her.

"Alright Jere, he let her go now give me the gun."Tyler said gently, slowly hovering his hand over the weapon.

The boy pulled away, the gun still on Damon. "Hell no! I found it. This is my gun now." He said.

"Then at least put it away!" Tyler said through clenched teeth.

Jeremy licked his lips, shaking his head. "No, I don't trust this guy. He might try something if I do."

He's not so stupid after all, Damon thought to himself, his steel-blue eyes glinting dangerously at the boy.

"Come on Bonnie, let's get out of here." Tyler said, losing his patience.

Jeremy had been nothing but a fuck up all day. He and Shane seriously needed to have talk about the sixteen year old boy because Jeremy was a loose cannon that they couldn't afford to have around anymore. Picking people's pockets was a far cry from holding them at gunpoint.

When Bonnie started to back away from him, Damon moved forward, quickly sticking his hand into his pocket and pulling out the two twenties he was going to use to tip the valet.

It was the only money that he had on him and he placed the folded bills into the palm of her hand.

"Remember Bonnie, Hadley and Hardison."

The girl gave him a small smile as she slowly backed away. "I almost didn't recognize you with the straight hair, Salvatore. Nonna would have a fit if she saw you right now. She loves your curly hair."

And so do I.

Nonna was Damon's grandmother. She was back in Mystic Falls with the rest of his family.

Bonnie gave him a small wave before finally turning around and walking away.

Damon just stood there and watched her go until she turned into one of the alleyways, disappearing from his sight.

The Salvatore's left Italy and moved to Mystic Falls when Damon was just five years old. Having watched a lot of American television shows, little Damon knew just enough English to get by and his parents enrolled him in school immediately where he would meet his best friend for the next twenty years of his life, Connor Bennett.

Theirs were a friendship that surpassed all understanding because the two boys were so different in so many ways and yet they just mashed. And their bond only grew tighter and stronger as the two of them got older.

Outside of his family, no one knew Damon Salvatore better than his best friend and vice versa.

So when Connor died in that car accident, it felt like a little piece of Damon had died right along with him.

Talking Elena into staying at her place tonight took some work, but Damon did it. He could tell that she really wanted to fuck him, but he just wasn't in the mood for that tonight.

He sighed with relief when she got out of the car and walked into her building. He just couldn't deal with her tonight. At times, Elena could be really self-absorbed so he knew that she wouldn't want to hear him talk about Bonnie and how he was worried about her. Hell, Elena didn't even know that he had a gun drawn on him while he was across the street from her because she was too busy fixing her face in the car mirror.

So the moment he dropped off his fiancée, Damon called his mother. For five minutes he patiently listened as she talked about the family as he drove himself home and when the time was right he casually asked about the Bennett's and that's when his mother told him that Bonnie had run away from home. He asked why no one bothered to call and tell him.

"And what exactly were you going to do about it Damon?" Isabella Salvatore asked her son.

He sighed, realizing that she was right. What could he have done?

No one in town knew why Bonnie ran away, but Isabella had a sneaky suspicion that it had something to do with her mother's new boyfriend who was living with them, but not one to spread gossip she didn't tell this to her son.

And for some reason Damon decided not to tell his mother that Bonnie was there in New York.

He spoke to his mom for another few minutes before ending the call, promising he would call her again soon.

Entering his 2,000 square foot Manhattan apartment that overlooked the city, Damon loosened his tie the moment he closed the door, securing the lock.

He purchased this apartment after he made his second million dollars on Wall Street.

Damon loved his job as a trader. It was the best job in the world. He looked forward to going to work every morning. And how many people could say that about their jobs?

Not many.

He was twenty-seven years old and he had the world at his feet and in just six months time he would be marrying the beautiful Elena Gilbert.

She was from a very wealthy family on the upper east side and of course being the rich snubs that they were, her family didn't take the news well that she was marrying some immigrant from Italy.

Not even Damon's impressive job on Wall Street could give him brownie points where they were concerned, but because Elena was their only daughter and was spoiled rotten, getting everything she ever wanted, her parents accepted her decision to marry Damon, even going so far as to throw the bride to be a five million dollar wedding.

All Damon had to do was show up to the altar on time.

He chucked his keys onto the granite counter top of the kitchen island, going straight to the refrigerator for his favorite drink.

Hawaiian punch. Original.

He twisted the top off the large plastic bottle, taking a long swig before placing it back into the fridge, his mind refusing to stop thinking about Bonnie.

He remembered how when she was little she used to run to him, jumping into his arms to give him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek every time he stepped foot inside their home and then one day she suddenly stopped and Damon realized how much he missed her affection.

What could have possibly made her run away from home like that though? And how in the hell did she end up in New York?

He shouldn't have let her go.

Connor would be so disappointed in him.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Damon's office phone rang just as he was about to leave work for the night.

Yes, night.

Damon Salvatore was a work alcoholic and besides he had to get home to get ready for Elena's twenty-fourth birthday party that her parents were giving her at their huge penthouse on Park Avenue, so he was going to ignore the call, but then something told him to pick up the phone.

He signed as he went back to his desk. "Damon Salvatore." He answered.

"Something's wrong with Bonnie." Tyler said from the pay phone inside of the warm diner.

"What...who is this?" Damon asked frowning.

Tyler ignored the question. "She's sick. I think she needs to go to a hospital. You said to call at your job if she ever needed anything. Well she needs a doctor."

Damon realized that this was one of the boys Bonnie was with a couple of weeks ago speaking to him. "Where is she?"

"Jerry's Diner." Tyler said before hanging up the phone.

The eighteen year old boy went back to the booth were Bonnie sat resting her head against the wall, holding her stomach.

Tyler touched her sweaty forehead. She had a fever. "Everything's going to be okay now, I promise."

The boy knew that Shane was going to be very upset with him for doing this, but Bonnie needed help. She'd been in pain for days and it was only getting worse.

"I called that black haired guy with the freaky blue eyes and he's on the way...please go with him Bonnie. You don't belong on the streets."

A tear rolled down her cheek because she knew Tyler was about to leave her. She grabbed the front of his coat before he could move away, but when he looked at her questioningly Bonnie didn't have the words to thank him for all that he'd done. This boy had looked out for her as if she was his sister, literally saving her ass on more than one occasion because even though Bonnie tried to down play her looks as much as possible, it was plain to see that she was a very pretty girl and therefore drew a lot of unwanted male attention.

Tyler smiled down at her, seeing the gratitude in her eyes. He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing it. "Take care of yourself, Baby." He just all of a sudden started calling her that a few days go, but Bonnie didn't mind. It was kind of comforting to hear. And after a moment he left.

Damon showed up at the diner a short while later. He spotted Bonnie immediately and walked over to where she sat alone at a table in the back of the restaurant. Neither one of them said anything as they stared at each other.

The boy was right, Bonnie definitely needed to see a doctor. She looked really bad.

"You ready?" He asked softly.

Bonnie swallowed hard, nodding her head, but when she went to move she winced in pain.

Without saying a word, Damon Salvatore gently scooped the tiny girl into his arms and carried her out of the diner.