Disclaimer: Characters and situations belong to LJ Smith and respective copyright holders.
Oh, Bonnie Bennet has kissed boys before. Tall boys, short boys, cute boys, fat boys. Boys with boozy breath and clammy hands. Boys who've kissed everyone, who know exactly what to do. But Bonnie's never kissed men like Damon Salvatore. He kisses to kill. He kisses to steal hearts, to befuddle minds.
And the worse thing is, he doesn't care.
Bonnie will never tell her best friend Elena Gilbert that she once kissed Damon Salvatore. Just once, in the very beginning, back when Damon dated Caroline. Back when Bonnie didn't know what Damon was.
She remembers the light press of his lips, the cool seduction of his eyes. After that first kiss, Bonnie said, "No."
He had smiled in response, flashing white, white teeth. "I'll be very good," he promised.
There was something about his eyes. She still remembers his eyes and their strange blue-green intensity. She'd never seen eyes like that before.
"No." The second time around, shaky.
"You don't mean it."
"I do." She stepped away from him, just to prove it.
His eyes flared bright – not with displeasure, not quite with anger. Perhaps, impatience. Even back then, Bonnie's gut had told her to run far, far away. And she did. And she had been right to do so. Damon Salvatore only wanted one thing that night. Blood.
Bonnie's blood. Not that the 'Bonnie' part mattered. Anyone else could have been a substitute.
Secretly, when Bonnie found out Damon Salvatore was a vampire, she was disappointed.
(Bonnie never wanted Damon Salvatore at all)
SLOPPY SECONDS
1
Lately, it's like everyone is competing the 'Worst Friend' competition. Bonnie is coming first. Nothing can quite top certain murder. Caroline's coming last, and she doesn't even know it.
"You and Elena need to talk." Caroline frowns down at her half-painted nails. Stray French tips are scattered on her dressing table. "Me and Elena need to talk, too. We both need to talk to Elena, period."
"That's not a great idea." Bonnie takes a deep breath of nail polish fumes and wonders if ethyl acetate can scramble minds. She'd like a quick fix guilt-removing high now, thank you.
"So you're going to let this super bad thing you've done, this super bad thing you won't give me the details of… just play out? Bad idea, Bonnie."
"It might be better that way." Bonnie's trying to convince herself. Maybe Elena's mom won't even use the device in Mystic Falls. After all, who knows how many vampires lurk around the world?
Then again, who wouldn't want to kill Damon Salvatore? Somehow, Bonnie highly doubts anyone would be wanting to kill Stefan. Stefan, who wears his heart his sleeve, who looks at Elena like she's the sun the world revolves around. He truly loves Elena, and Elena loves him. It's a pity that destroying all the tomb vampires means destroying Stefan too. But then sometimes, Bonnie thinks Elena's better off without either brother. These days, the Salvatores seem to come in twos.
Bonnie picks up the bottle of strawberry scented nail-polish remover from Caroline's bedside table and considers drinking it. End everything now. She's such a crap friend.
"I know that look in your eyes, Bonnie Bennett." Caroline snatches the bottle from Bonnie's grasp. "And I think I know how to fix it."
Bonnie blinks. "You do?"
The blonde haired girl smiles cattily. "Of course I do. I mean, think about it. What is the difference between you, and me and Elena?"
Bonnie can think of many things…
"You don't have a boyfriend!" Caroline declares triumphantly, after brushing one last glossy coat of beige paint on her pinky. "Think! How long ago was it that you broke up with Raymond?"
A boyfriend. Yup. That's what Bonnie's totally been missing. With deceased relatives and deliberate betrayals… a boyfriend is the sure fire way to fix everything.
"I'm serious, Bonnie!" Caroline chirps when Bonnie doesn't answer. "You really need someone to talk to who isn't me."
"But you're brilliant!"
"I am brilliant," Caroline narrows her eyes at Bonnie's unsubtle side-tracking. "You know, a little TLC and romance goes a long way to make everything better. Or at least distract you, and give you some reason to groom yourself properly. When was the last time you've had a manicure before today?"
"Last week."
"Because I dragged you over here. I mean, do you even condition your hair these days?"
Bonnie self-consciously touches her dark head. It feels fine. Sure, it mightn't smell like Britney Spears perfume and sunshine, or cascade like a waterfall of silk, like certain people...
"Seriously, Caroline."
"We could go on double dates!" Caroline bubbles, already full of plans. "And it won't be horrendously awkward, like that one time we doubled with Elena and Stefan. Gosh, that was awkward."
In the face of Caroline's jubilant enthusiasm, Bonnie's at complete loss of how to respond.
Once she's completely sure her nail polish has dried, Caroline clasps Bonnie's hands. "Listen," she says. "You mightn't feel like it, but trust me, it helps. Not to boast or anything, but being there for Matt… I really made a difference."
"You and Matt really like each other." Bonnie stares at Caroline's hands. Caroline's fingers are perfectly French-manicured, she wanted a classy look for the Founder's Day parade. "I don't think I can find something like that so quickly."
"Think of it as a distraction then." Caroline's smile is sunny. "We'll find you someone really cute, with a really good body. That way, if he bores you, at least you'll have something…" She waggles her brows.
"Caroline!" But Bonnie's laughing.
"Oh, that's distracting too!"
Bonnie collapses on Caroline's bed. "You're terrible."
"Terribly brilliant you mean." Caroline beams. "Trust me, okay? I'll find you someone terrific. And we'll all have loads of fun together. With Elena. Everything's going to get better soon."
Caroline says this so earnestly; Bonnie can't help but have a frisson of hope. That tomorrow will bring a new day, that the weapon won't be used, and that perhaps maybe, Caroline will find someone so amazing that Bonnie will entirely forget about Damon Salvatore.
Maybe.
A/N: After reading the Bonnie M and Damon short story by LJ Smith (that everyone should totally check out, by the way, so cute!) I was inspired to write this, in the TV-verse. This takes all the TV canon up to 'Isobel' (and maybe more, depending on how the Founder's Day episode goes...) and with one fantastical extension that Damon tried to bleed Bonnie at one point, very early on. It was completely memorable, of course, and despite everything Bonnie can't help but think back to it…