This is my first TVD story, so I hope I got the characters voices right. The story takes place in the middle of season 5, after Bonnie returned, before the Traveller business got too crazy, and around the time Jeremy was off with Liv.
Thanks to my beta Paige Saraya Knight for giving me some tips on description. It really helped add to the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It's been a month or so since Bonnie's been returned to the land of the living. The caramel-skinned witch is the Anchor to The Other Side and it is a much bigger responsibility than she planned for.
She loves being able to take everyone's pain away as they pass through her from the land of living to the land of the dead, but the pain hurts like hell.
On top of having strangers pass through her, she has a lovely boyfriend who's been AWOL. Jeremy Gilbert is a good guy when he wants to be, she often finds herself getting lost in his sweet brown eyes, but right now he is winning the award for Best Invisible Boyfriend.
Bonnie is thankful for him and everything he's done with keeping her secrets and helping to bring her back from the dead, but the gratitude is wearing thin with every shot of whiskey Matt gives her. Matt Donovan is Bonnie's blonde haired and blue eyed best friend. He's lost a lot in his life, but he's not letting it weigh him down and for that Bonnie adores him, but right now the alcohol is what she needs.
She's sitting at the bar in The Grill, the best hangout in town. The place is empty and Matt's boss had to leave early and left him to close, so Bonnie gets free shots! She doesn't normally drink, but this is a special occasion. Today is the day she tells Jeremy that she wants to take a break. Maybe if he's at risk of losing her, he'll realize what a jerk he's being.
Bonnie takes another shot and slides the glass over to Matt. "Another, please."
Matt shakes his head, "You've already 4, Bon. I think that's more than enough." He takes the empty glass and walks away before she can say anything.
She shrugs. He's probably right. She thinks as she starts to feel a slight headache coming on. Yet she's not buzzed at all.
The bell of the front door rings. Someone just entered. Actually, judging by the voices, two people just walked in, two people with voices that Bonnie recognizes. She spins around to face Jeremy and his pretty blonde witchy friend, Liv, walking over to a table. They don't notice her.
Bonnie swallows deeply. She takes a deep breath to gather herself and walks over to them. "Hey, Jeremy." She says sweetly as she makes it to the table. "Liv." She greets. She smiles awkwardly as the two eye her. They greet her as well. Bonnie looks to the blonde witch, "Can you leave us for a moment? I need to talk to Jeremy."
Liv looks from Bonnie to Jeremy. He gives her a look and she nods. "Okay." She says to Bonnie and walks over to the bar where Matt is wiping off the counter.
Bonnie sits where Liv was. She's nervous.
Jeremy notices this and tenses a little, "What's going on, Bonnie?"
She takes another deep breath, "To make this simple, I want to take a break." She says slowly, just barely managing to get it out.
Jeremy is shocked into a temporary silence, "Wait, what? Why? What did I do?"
Bonnie can't meet his eyes, "I just don't know where we stand, Jeremy. You've been off with Liv doing God knows what and you've been dodging me for weeks." Jeremy attempts to speak, but she cuts him off, 'I'm not blaming you for anything, but I think we both need to figure out where we stand."
No words are spoken.
Bonnie gets up and leaves before she's suckered into staying and making up. It hurts, but she knows this is for the best.
Liv sees what's going on and walks back over to Jeremy after Bonnie leaves in a hurry. "What just happened?" She asks, noticing how sad Jeremy looks all of sudden.
"Nothing. Can we talk later? Please?"
She wants to fight him on this, seeing as how the Traveler situation has not magically fixed itself yet, but she knows the look of a broken heart when she sees one, so she nods and walks out of the quiet bar into the night.
Jeremy swallows his emotions and heads over to the bar. "Help me, man."
Matt nods and places a shot of Bourbon in front of his friend. "It gets better, Jer."
He says. He talked to Bonnie about what she was going to do to Jeremy before he walked in.
The door to The Grill opens and a noisy Caroline Forbes walks in, looking terrible. Anyone can see how sad she is with her golden hair all over the place and the tear-streaks down her angelic face. For a vampire, she looks extremely disheveled. "I need a drink, Matt. Tyler is being a douche again and I stupidly let him hurt me again." She sits next to Jeremy and takes a swig of whatever beer Matt just set in front of her. "What's wrong with you?" She asks Jeremy.
He doesn't answer.
"Bonnie wants to take a break." Matt said.
Jeremy eyes him, "How did you know that?"
Matt winces, "She talked to me about before you walked in with Liv."
Caroline's eyes widen, "What were you doing with Liv?"
Jeremy shakes his head and takes another shot of Bourbon. "Traveler business."
"Oh." Is all Caroline can say at the moment. "How is that going?"
Jeremy shrugs, "Pretty well I guess, but I don't care to talk about it. All I want to do is drown my sorrows."
"I hear that." Caroline agrees, taking another swig from her beer.
Matt sighs in relief, "And I hear the clock telling me that it's time to close." He locks up the front door and is heading to the back when he stops to look at his friend, "You guys can drink whatever you want, just don't clear us out, okay? Good night."
Caroline and Jeremy nod as Matt leaves through the back to go home.
"I just can't believe he would hate me for sleeping with Klaus. I mean, I get it, but I gave him the chance to be with me and he chose to revenge." Caroline says randomly.
Jeremy shakes his head at her. "You're too emotional about this."
"How dare you say I'm too emotional?"
"Well you are. You're right, you gave him a chance and he didn't take it. Yes, he has a right to be frustrated that you slept the guy who killed his mom, but he doesn't have the right to be jealous about it." Little Gilbert says simply, taking another shot and feeling the buzz.
Caroline calms down. She can't believe that Jeremy is right. She grabs the bottle of Bourbon off the counter and downs the rest of the bottle. She got sick of the useless beer. "Well what do I do now? Tyler is pissed at me and I don't know how to fix it."
"Don't."
"What?" She asks.
Jeremy leans closer to her, "Don't fix it. He made his choice months ago, just like Bonnie made hers tonight. So I'm gonna make mine." His lips brush over Caroline's.
Caroline is caught off guard. She knows she should push him away, but her lips subconsciously move against his.
The kiss starts off smooth, and then suddenly a fire sparks and clothes are coming off. Jeremy brushes the alcohol and glasses off counter and lifts Caroline on to it. They have a passionate night on the bar of The Grill.
The next evening, Bonnie is making her way back to her favorite hangout. She had a quiet, lonely night in her house. Luckily no supernaturals died. Unfortunately, she had to deal with her problems by herself.
As she walks into The Grill, she smiles at the homey feeling. The place is more packed than it was yesterday, granted she was in here near closing time, while it's only 6pm now. She was heading to the bar when she heard Caroline say three terrible words, "slept with Jeremy". She covers her mouth and hides behind a large man, standing far enough away from him that he wouldn't notice she was there.
"I know it was a mistake, Matt, but we were both sad and it kind of just happened. The thing is, it felt like more than just sex. I'm sure he felt it too. I kind of want to explore things with him." Caroline says to Matt.
The large man walks away, leaving Bonnie open. She catches a sad look from Matt before she leaves, unbeknownst to Caroline. She must've been really drunk not have sensed her.
She walks through the streets of Mystic Falls to clear her head. The night is peaceful and she realizes how spectacular her hometown is. It's spacious and filled with a strip of stores on every corner, and little parks that sit between. She passes a few Colonial style houses with stereotypical white picket fences lining the freshly cut lawns. The streetlights illuminating the town make for a pretty sight that manages to take a little of Bonnie's pain away.
The Bennett witch comes to a dark corner, where she has a choice to make. Go left to continue walking in the light of the town, or go right into dimly lit park. She recognizes how metaphorical this decision is, and because she's Bonnie, she goes left, refusing to give into the darkness and rage that she's tempted to give into.
A wind whips her hair back; she wonders where it came from.
"Hey, Bonnie. What are you doing out here?" Stefan asks, coming out of nowhere.
She jumps at the sound of his voice being so close, but relaxes when she knows who it is. The younger Salvatore brother is Bonnie's favorite of the two. She has always liked him the best because of his ability to express his feelings to the people he cares about, plus he's handsome and that's always a good thing. She clears her throat; "I'm trying to clear my head with a stroll through the town. It's not working though."
Stefan chuckles, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "Same here. Damon and Elena wanted some alone time. I heard them about to have sex and I had to get out of there."
Bonnie smiles.
Stefan notices that the smile didn't reach her eyes, "Tell me what's wrong."
She shrugs, "It's not important."
He walks closer to her. "You know that's not true." He motions down the sidewalk with his head. Bonnie takes that as him wanting to join her stroll.
The pair walks side by side, passing the parked cars on the side of the road, and watching the traffic pass them by.
After a minute, "Tell me what's going on, Bonnie. Is it the people passing through you thing? Did Damon do something to piss you off?"
"Jeremy…" Is all she says.
Stefan nods, "Oh okay."
"…and Caroline slept together last night."
Stefan's eyes bulge. "Wow." Before he could comprehend what he was doing, he puts his arm around her.
She leans into the touch. "I'm not mad about it. He didn't cheat on me. I told him that I think we needed a break yesterday. And then he sleeps with my best friend and she thinks that she might have feelings for him now."
Stefan holds her tighter. "How do you know all of this?"
"I overheard her talking to Matt about it at The Grill." She wraps her arms around his middle, pulling him closer as they walk down the sidewalk, looking like the cutest couple in the world.
"Well if you want my advice, I say you should talk to them both about it. Get it all out on the table and figure out what's going on. You have a chance to go from a cloudy situation to a crystal clear one, just be prepared for whatever might happen."
Bonnie made it home around 9pm after her talk with Stefan. She feels a little better knowing how much he cares about her, but she's also really nervous. She sent Jeremy and Caroline SOS texts to come to her house. They both should be here any minute now.
Bonnie is sitting on the couch in her PJs when the front a door opens and in runs the pair now. Jeremy is breathing a little heavy, looking as if he followed Caroline, who looks gorgeous, here on foot.
Caroline notices that nothing looks out of the ordinary. She looks to her best friend, "Is everything okay?" She asks, looking a little nervous.
As does Jeremy, "What is going on, Bonnie?"
The witch stands from the couch, "I wanted to talk to you two about what happened at The Grill last night."
Jeremy and Caroline's eyes look like they're about to fall out. Jeremy doesn't want to talk about this, especially not with Bonnie. He's barely had enough time to process this himself. "I don't know what you're talking about." He says as he walks to the front door, only to bounce back from an invisible barrier. "Crap." He turns back to the girls.
Caroline looks down at the ground.
Bonnie looks at the pair she calls her friends, "You two were feeling down yesterday and you slept together. I understand that much, but do you feel sorry about it? Are you happy?" She asks, her eyes starting to water.
Caroline takes a step forward, "Of course I feel sorry about it."
Bonnie takes a step back.
"I'm so sorry, Bonnie." Caroline says, looking as sorry as she sounds with large tears pouring form her eyes. "I never meant to hurt you."
"Me neither." Jeremy speaks up. "I didn't sleep with Caroline to get back at you. I needed someone and she was there."
Caroline sucked in a breath, feeling like a knife went into her heart.
"That's not what I meant." He says quickly. "It's just…" He sighs, "I liked it." He admits.
Bonnie swallows her sadness and the anger that's not supposed to be there and folds her arms, "Do you two want to be together now? To try things out?"
Caroline looks to Jeremy for answer.
It's silent for what feels like a long time.
Jeremy gathers his strength and walks up to Caroline. He grabs her hand and locks eyes with Bonnie. "It's too soon to decide if we love each other, but we want to try to something out."
A tear escapes from Bonnie's deep green eye, she quickly wipes it away. "Okay. I won't stand in your way. You can go." She turns away from them.
"Bonnie—" Jeremy starts.
"GET OUT!" Bonnie yells, turning to glare at them and setting the drapes behind her on fire.
In a flash, Caroline has whooshed them out of her house.
Bonnie waves the front door shut and calms the fire behind her. She sniffles and pulls out her phone.
Stefan shows up 30 seconds later, offering a sweet smile and a tight hug. "It'll be okay, Bonnie. I promise that it gets better." He leads her to the couch. They both take a seat.
"How did you do it? How did you see two people you love become happy at the expense of your heart and not want revenge?" Bonnie asks, looking at her friend with the tears pouring out.
Stefan looks down with that cute smile still on his face. "It's because I love them that I don't want revenge. Damon was a jerk when he showed up and now because of Elena he's tolerable, and Elena is happier than I've ever seen her." He clasps his hands together and meets Bonnie's eyes. "Does it suck that they hurt me? Yes, but it's okay because they're both better with each other than they've ever been with me."
"But you stayed to watch them be happy? Damon chose a girl over you, his own brother, how do you not want to leave him with her and to let them figure out their own issues? In my eyes, he doesn't deserve to have both you and Elena in his life. He chose her and now you're alone, just like Caroline chose Jeremy."
Stefan reaches over and squeezes her dainty little hand, "I could look at it that way, but that makes me the victim and I refuse to be victimized by anyone. Did Damon choose a girl over me or did he choose himself? The same with Elena, did she choose Damon or did she choose to make herself happy no matter what?" Stefan sighs, "It sucks to admit that I'm not the guy to make her feel alive, but it's because I love her that I want her to be happy. And it's because I love Damon that I want him to be happy too."
"I just wish they wanted you to be happy as well." She says, referring to herself as well.
Stefan shrugs, "I'm sure they do, they just can't stop being so self-obsessed to realize it." He chuckles. "Maybe we should be a little more selfish like them…"
Bonnie grips his hand tighter and leans into him. "Maybe."
Their lips meet in sensual kiss.
They break apart and Stefan wraps his arm around her, laying Bonnie's head on his chest.
Bonnie and Stefan fall asleep together on the couch, both knowing by the burning in their hearts that they've found their eternal happiness.
I really needed to get this story out of me. It came to me in like an hour, but I realized that I had a lot preparation for this. Stefan's relationship with Damon was always frustrating to me. Like, in season 5 when Stefan had the chance to be an ass to the two people that ripped his heart out of his chest on purpose, he was still the good guy who saved them. But then I realized that I was looking at the situation as if Stefan was a martyr. It wasn't until I went back and watched the first episode of season 2 that I realized that Stefan loves Damon's humanity and that's why he's okay with him choosing his happiness (and humanity) over Stefan. It still sucks to say that, but I understand the logic. I'm glad for Silas and Katherine though, cause they gave enough attitude about the girlfriend stealing situation for Stefan, so he didn't have to look like a jerk when he returned.
Which brings me to Bonnie and her constant sacrifices. She always chooses her friends over herself and gets nothing in return but dead family members and friends that only care about her when they need something from her (excluding Caroline and Matt). I've never been a fan of "Stefonnie", but I think it might be a really good option. Unfortunately, if Stefan and Bonnie get together, it will be a problem because another one of Elena's friends is going after her ex. Damn it writers! Why are you going with Steroline?!
Anyway, hope you liked it. Please review and favorite!