Hello to you all!
I would like to present you my story. As it is written in the summary it's post 2x18, actually, right to the scene where 'Damon chooses Elena'. Everything prior to that on the show happened, with an exception of one scene, where Bonnie wakes up and video chats with Elena. It's a Bamon story, but it will be a very slow burn, and it will also follow a little bit Stelena, Delena, and Beremy, along with the exploration of friendships.
I hope you'll give it a chance and read it! Reviews are welcomed!
Enjoy!
Chapter 1 - Lost
„I will always choose you."
His intense eyes on her, tell her, he really means those words. But, they also tell her something else. Something she's been trying to deny for a long time now. Damon cares about her. He loves her. And he is her boyfriend's brother.
So, the definition of the situation is complicated. Why? Because, as much as Elena wants to deny it, she feels a pull towards him. She loves Stefan, she would never do anything to hurt him in any way, but how does she ignore such devotion that Damon is giving her?
He gives her this look, a look that says he would give her the world, he would show her how to live, how to have fun, how to love with no limits. And he would die for her, too. There's no doubt about that. He would give her a life to live, even if it meant he would have to die.
Buzzing of his phone stops all her thoughts, as she diverts her eyes to the floor and her hand shyly sweeps her hair behind her ear.
He looks annoyed, and when he pulls his phone out of his pocket and looks at the caller ID, he becomes even more annoyed and rolls his eyes. He answers the call and puts the device to his face. Before the person on the other side of the line has a chance to say anything, he cuts him off, through his teeth:
„This better be good, Little Gilbert."
Elena looks back at him again with her eyes widening a little, showing an interest in the phone call that is playing in front of her.
„Damon?" he hears Jeremy talk on the other side. The boy seems a little panicked, so he knows instantly, something must have gone wrong. „You need to come here now!"
„What did you do?" Damon asks him practically growling on the phone, already assuming Elena's little brother screwed something up.
„I didn't do anything!" Jeremy yells. „It's Bonnie! She's...!" he stutters and takes a deep breath before continuing, „You have to come now! I don't know what to do, Damon. Just come to the witches house right now!"
Damon can hear the panic in the boy's voice and as he looks at a confused Elena he answers. „I'll be right there." With that, he ends the call.
„What happened?" Elena urgently asks.
„That was Jeremy, your brother," Damon tells her as he puts his phone back in his pocket and turns around to find his jacket sitting on the chair near the window.
„What happened, Damon?" she asks him slowly, but angrily, noticing he is somehow trying to avoid the question.
Damon doesn't speak. He puts his jacket on and turns around to face a confused, worried and lost Elena. He's aware she can read his facial expression, as well as he can read hers. She just knows something has gone very wrong.
But Damon being Damon, tries to get away from her, with passing by her and not saying anything to anyone. Unfortunately, she stops him middle way and stands in front of him.
„Tell me what is going on? What did Jeremy say to you?" she asks him angrily.
„I have to go. Take care of something. We'll talk when I get back." Damon tells her as calm as he can.
„No, you're not going anywhere!" She pulls him by his jacket as he tries to go away, once again. „You're not going anywhere until you don't answer me!" she's yelling now and he's way too calm, so she feels frustrated not being able to get anything out of him.
She starts punching his chest, but he manages to take her wrists in his hands as she struggles and yells at him. He tells her to calm down but she just doesn't listen.
That's when Stefan enters the room asking what is going on and grabs an upset Elena by the waist to pull her away from his brother.
„Tell me what happened! If something's wrong with Bonnie I have a right to know!" she keeps yelling in tears.
Turning her towards him, Stefan puts his hands on her face, trying to soothe her so she would calm down.
„Elena, tell me what happened." he talks to her in such a soft and comfortable voice, it makes Damon's stomach turn in disgust.
„I don't know what happened! He won't tell me!" she cries „Jeremy called him and he was just about to leave...Something's wrong! He won't say it, but I know something's wrong!"
Hearing her words, Stefan turns around and looks at his brother seriously.
„What happened?"
Damon just rolls his eyes and holds his mouth shut. He looks at Stefan but refuses to speak.
„Damon, answer the God damn question!" Stefan yells, losing the patience with his brother.
„I don't know." he answers shortly.
„Stop lying!" Elena yells from behind Stefan „You know! You talked to Jeremy and he said something to you!"
„What did he say, Damon?" Stefan asks.
„I. Don't. Know." Damon slowly pronounces each word.
Elena huffs in annoyance, as she starts pacing around the room.
„He didn't tell me." He says calmly.
„Don't you think that it's enough with the secrets and going behind our backs?" Stefan presses him.
„I am telling you the truth." Damon says. „He just called me and said to come to the witches house. He didn't say why."
„It has something to do with Bonnie." Elena says shaking her head. „Something's wrong."
Damon can't really say she's wrong on that one. Something is wrong with the witch and he knows it would be pointless trying to deny it, from both Elena and his brother.
„We have to go. We have to the witches house." She decides.
„Wow, wow, wow!" Damon says all of the sudden annoyed. „Little Gilbert called me. He said I should come to the house. He didn't say anything about you two!"
„You don't really think I'm gonna sit here and wait to find out if my best friend is okay?" Elena asks him incredulously.
„We're coming with you." Stefan nods his confirmation to Damon.
„No. I don't think that's smart." Damon tells them. „Klaus still thinks that Bonnie's dead. It needs to stay that way. If we all go running to the witches house, he's gonna suspect something."
„I highly doubt that Klaus has eyes on us all the time." Elena says and rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed by him.
„Well, I don't think we should risk it! This is a safe house for you and you're not going anywhere!" he yells at her, getting more and more frustrated with this girl.
Elena stops her pacing and turns to Damon, walking over to him and stabbing a finger in his chest.
„This is my best friend we're talking about! The best friend that almost died tonight, trying to save my life, stupidly got into some kind of partnership with you, and now is in trouble because of you! You want me to sit around in a safe house when you can't even tell if she is alive at all?!"
It doesn't take long for Damon to crumble.
So, here they are, after the discussion he, Stefan and Elena held in his room, the trio is on their way to the witches house. The ride over is quiet, because they don't really know what to expect when they come to the finish line. Elena tried calling Jeremy from the car, but he didn't answer, which only rose their worry more.
Parking his car in the woods, Damon steps out of the car, with Stefan and Elena following him.
As they got near to the house, they can see Jeremy running out of it. He looks panicked and his clothes are filthy and wrinkled. Elena starts running towards him and Stefan and Damon quicken their pace not to fall too behind her. She runs straight into her brother's arms.
„Jeremy, thank God!" she exclaims. " I tried calling you, but you weren't answering!" She pulls away from his embrace just when Stefan and Damon appear next to them.
„What is going on? Where's Bonnie?" Elena asks.
„It's bad." The boy says. He looks at Damon. „I don't know what's wrong with her. I brought her here like you said, and waited for her to wake up."
„Oh, God." Elena cuts him off. Tears are already forming in her eyes as she thinks for the worst. „Did she woke up? Please, tell me that she woke up?"
„She did." Jeremy answers quickly. Somehow, they all release a breath they were holding.
„Then why did you called me?" Damon asks.
„Is she all right?" Stefan asks.
„I don't know." The younger Gilbert says. „She woke up and I tried to hug her, make sure she was okay...but she pushed me away. She pushed me off of herself and yelled at me. And she looked at me... she never looked at me like that. Like I was a stranger. Like she didn't know who I am."
Elena's eyes widens and her mouth slowly drops.
„And then she started to ask where she was, and who I am, and what did I do to her!" He continues. „She had no idea who I was, and no memory how she got here."
„Oh, my God!" Elena exclaims.
„How the hell did that happened?" Damon says quietly. Stefan looks at him from the side, but decides not to comment.
„What happened then?" he asks Jeremy to continue.
„I tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't listen. She somehow pushed me away and run away from me."
„Damn' it!" Damon yells. „Did she get away?!"
„She tried. She didn't know where she was going, she was disoriented, and she found the door to get out of the house, but they didn't open. They were locked."
Elena and Stefan look confused at each other, but Damon smirks knowingly.
„How was the door locked, Jer? Did you lock them?" Elena asks her brother.
„No. You can't lock the door." He answers.
„Then how-?"
„The witches." Damon cuts off Elena's question. „The witches sealed the door so that she couldn't get out."
Elena looks at him with her eyebrows raised.
„Yeah, probably." Jeremy says.
„Where is she now?" Stefan asks him.
„Well, she couldn't get out of the house, so she went upstairs when she saw I was coming after her. She run upstairs and she got in one of the rooms. She closed herself there and I guess she barricaded the door somehow, cause I couldn't get in. She's still inside, I tried to talk to her, but she won't listen to me. I didn't know what else to do."
„You did a good thing calling us." Stefan assures him.
„She's completely lost it." Jeremy says defeatedly to his sister. „She doesn't know who I am."
„We'll talk to her, and we'll help her. She's gonna remember, Jer." Elena tells him, trying to comfort him.
„I don't think it's gonna be that easy. It's not just that she didn't know who I am. I think she didn't even know who she is either."
Elena takes one quick glance at Stefan and without another thought runs inside the house. The rest of them follow her. With Jeremy's guidance, they get to the second floor, and over to the room where Bonnie is hiding. They're all quiet and Stefan uses an opportunity to listen for any movements inside.
„I can hear her breathing." He whispers.
Elena knocks on the door softly.
„Bonnie." She calls her friend, leaning close to the door. „Bonnie."
They hear no sound at all.
The brunette tries twisting the doorknob to open the door but she can't push them further.
„Bonnie. Can you open the door, please?" She begs her. „We just want to make sure you're okay."
They wait for a few more moments, but nothing happens. Stefan tries to open the door and as they bunch a little, a gasp comes out of the room.
„No!" Bonnie yells from inside. „Stay away from here! Leave me alone!"
Elena flinches at the words her best friend says. Stefan looks at her, and she nods giving him a sign to keep trying to get in the room. He manages to open the door a little further and notices that Bonnie used a dresser to barricade the door. He looks around the room, with Elena looking over his shoulder.
„Bonnie?" he calls for her calmly.
They enter the room, while Jeremy and Damon stand at the door watching closely, making sure not to make much noise.
They can't see anything inside, so Damon asks Jeremy. „Can you get us some light in here?"
The boy looks at him, „There's an electrical fuse downstairs. If we switch it on, we could get the light in the whole house." He says but turns his head back to the room with no word anymore.
Damon grows impatient. „Well, are you gonna go and do that or do I have to find a switch on your ass so you would do it?"
Jeremy gives him one nasty look, but hesitantly obeys.
Stefan makes his way further into the room with Elena glued to his side, holding tightly on his arm, trying to see something in the room. It's night outside and very dark inside. Stefan hears Bonnie's sobs and lets them lead them to her. He looks over a bed that is on the wall from opposite where they stand and there he can see Bonnie, kneeling down like a little scared girl on the floor.
By now, Jeremy makes it to the fuse, and at that moment the house lights up. They can see clearly now, and they can also see Bonnie, too. And she looks... like a mess. Stefan and Elena stop in their tracks and don't move a limb.
Curious, Damon makes his way over to them and follows their gaze. His eyes fall down on her. She still looks like the same old Bonnie, but something about her is so disturbing that it makes him freeze in his tracks.
She's crouched down on the floor, hugging her knees close to her chest. She looks unrecognizable.
She lifts her look at them and her eyes are lost and terrified. „Please." She begs „Don't hurt me. Please... Let me go. I won't tell anyone. Just, let me go."
Elena takes a step forward, standing in front of Stefan, her eyes on her best friend.
„Bonnie, calm down. You don't have to be afraid. Nobody wants to hurt you. We just want to help you. Okay?" she takes a few more steps forward, but Bonnie jumps up, as she sees the girl going straight at her.
„No! Don't come near me! Let me go!" she yells and starts to cry harder.
Damon watches confused and can't believe his eyes. Who is this girl? The scared crying girl in front of him can not be Bonnie Bennett. The great, judging, self-righteous witch, he met a few months ago. She is not the same girl when he first met her, because even that one had more bravado than this one. She's not the girl who just a couple of hours ago was ready to take down Klaus even if it was the last thing she would do. This girl is something else. She is scared and lost.
Stefan takes Elena by the hand to put some space between the two girls. He then slowly approaches to Bonnie, as the girl in the question shivers with fear.
„Do you know who we are?" he asks her quietly and softly.
For a long time, she doesn't answer and just observes him closely. He doesn't push her to say anything and patiently waits for her answer. She finally shakes her head for no. He kneels down, so he can be in her face level.
„Do you know where you are?" he asks her again. This time she shakes no a little quicker.
„Do you know who you are?"
She frowns, bits down on her lip and starts sobbing again.
„It's okay. We can help you. You just have to trust us." He tries to assure her.
She doesn't say anything more, but it seems to do the trick and calm her down a bit.
„Do you think you can do that?" he asks her sincerely.
She takes a moment to think about it, and then finally nods. Stefan extends his hand to her, and after a few moments of hesitation, she accepts it. But, touching Stefan's arm makes her freeze in her intention to get up. A very weird feeling runs through her body, and she can see all kinds of flashes in her head. She feels them too. The fear, the pain, the blood, and finally, death.
„No!" she screams as she lets go of Stefan's hand and takes a step back from him. Panic raises again in her and she starts screaming. „What was that!? Who are you?!"
Stefan tries to get to her again, but she refuses to listen to him.
„Get away from me!"
And then, Stefan falls down to his knees, grabbing his head in pain and growling at her. Elena rushes to his side and yells at her friend to stop hurting him. Bonnie confused by the scene in front of her, somehow manages to bypass the couple, and as she tries to get out, Damon appears in front of her in flash and grabs her by the wrists, as she tries to struggle from his grasp.
„You're not going anywhere, Witchy!"
Her emotions are flying over the room, the window glass is breaking down and at that moment, she's more scared than ever. She trembles in Damon's strong grip and tries to get away from him. He can see her fear and how he is about to receive his punishment, just like his brother. In self-defense, his face vamps out and he makes more pressure on Bonnie grabbing her by the shoulders and trying to keep her steady in place.
Seeing his face all monster like, Bonnie freezes for a moment and then starts screaming in fear from the top of her lungs. The good thing is, that it seems to mess up her concentration and Stefan is released from the excruciating pain in his head.
The three of them yell for Bonnie to calm down, but, she doesn't listen. She just keeps screaming, and the moment she stops her eyes roll in the back of her head and she loses her consciousness, having her body go limb and aims to hit the floor. Damon grabs her, before she can fall down, holding the young unconscious witch in his arms.
'They were in a fine mess. How were they supposed to get out of this?' Damon asks himself, while pouring himself a glass of bourbon, in his living room.
After the mess at the witch's house, they had to take care of Bonnie, and they all agreed that it is the safest to get her out of the house and bring her somewhere else. The last place they could take her, was her own house because they didn't want to pick Klaus's interest. The Gilbert house was out of the question because of John, and they couldn't be banging on Caroline's house in the middle of the night to shove an amnesic witch straight to the Sheriff's arms. So, the boarding house was the most logical choice, and after all, Elena was the owner now and staying here, as well.
Elena is on the other side of the room, nervously pacing the room and rubbing her neck, while letting out frustrated breaths. At that moment, Stefan enters the living space.
„I put her up in my room. She should be awake any moment now."
„Then, I should go upstairs and wait for her to wake up." Elena announces and already starts to make her way out of the room, before her boyfriend stops he, grabbing her arm and looking her in the eyes.
„I don't think that's smart." Stefan tells her and Elena looks at him, confused and a little offended. „I just don't think that's what she needs right now." He tells her.
„She's gonna wake up in an unknown place, all confused and scared. She needs a familiar face by her side." She argues.
„And, we already established you are not a familiar face." Stefan points out. Elena lest out another frustrated sigh and makes her way to sit down on the sofa.
„I'm sorry, Elena." Stefan tells her and puts his hands in his pockets. „But, it's the truth. I think we should leave her alone and let her get comfortable with herself and her surroundings."
„So, what are we gonna do with her?" Damon finally asks.
This time, Stefan lets out a frustrated sigh and looks up at his brother.
„I don't know. We'll have to look at the spell she casted and find out what went wrong. But first, we need to take care of her, and convince her we are her friends." Stefan says. „It's gonna take some time, but we can't pressure her."
„Hate to break it to you, brother, but time is something we don't have." Damon spats out. „Klaus is out there, waiting to make his next move! We don't have the time to babysit the amnesic witch."
„Well, I don't know what else to tell you." Stefan says tiredly.
„We need to find a way to get that little witch on her feet again so that she can kill Klaus!"
„We already agreed that she is not doing that, Damon." Elena tells him.
„No, you agreed. But, what you don't want to understand is that Bonnie is our weapon against Klaus and the only way for you to be safe."
„And I told you we will find another way!" Elena stands up from the sofa and glares angrily at Damon.
„There is no other way! She was the only one who can do it!"
„Then, maybe, you should have thought better, then letting her cast a dangerous spell on herself in order to full Klaus!" Stefan yells at him.
The two brothers glare each other angrily.
„So, now it's my fault that the witch lost her memories?" Damon frowns confused and pissed off.
„Well, hate to break it to you brother, but yeah, it is your fault." Stefan answers, throwing his words back at him.
„Uh! This is rich!" Damon yells. „Of course, you would think that! Whenever there's a problem, it's my fault! Bonnie knew what she was doing, and I didn't do anything! She did it all by herself! You just waited for me to screw something up so that you can gloat over me for being the bad brother!"
„This isn't about you or me, Damon!" Stefan tells him."It's about Bonnie. And, you were the only one who knew what she was planning on doing tonight, so that puts you straight first on the suspects list."
Heavy steps are following her. She can feel it. It's dark around her and she can't see anything familiar. The air is stuffy and her breathing is heavy. She tries to catch her breath, but ineffective, her lungs can't get any fresh air that can help her. Her steps are quick in running and numerous higher than her persecutor. He walks in hurried and bigger steps, as she tries to outrun him. Nothing seems effective. He doesn't give up.
Her hair keeps falling in her face as she keeps turning back to set her eyes on how far away she is from him. Everything is dark around her, but it seems as if she is in a very long hallway, with stone walls and floors, cold surface all around her. It seems so far away from her home. With each faster step, the man comes closer to her, and she knows it's impossible to outrun him. He's gonna catch her, no matter what. He's going to get her. All she can do is, run, hoping to postpone that dreadful moment.
With a gasp, she wakes up. Her eyes open and in a second she is in a sitting position. As her breathing decreases, she takes in her surroundings. She's not in that dark awful hallway, but a warm nice bedroom. She is on a large bed with cream sheets and pillowcases, and a deep green cover she lays on is soft and very comfy.
Next to a bed, there is a nightstand with a lamp on it. The wallpapers in the room seem to blend with the tones of the room, the cream, deep green, and brown are the colors that surround her. She slowly stands up from the bed and looks around the room. It doesn't seem familiar. All of it around her is very unknown and even though it seems like a warm place, she can also feel the coldness inside, a cruelty of such intensity, it makes her shiver with fear.
This place is weird and unknown, but she knows she has to get out, as soon as possible. There is nobody guarding her, so she thinks, if she can be quiet enough, she could get away. Looking out of the window she notices she is in a house on the second floor, so, she should probably find the staircase first. As she slowly makes her way downstairs, she takes notice of this large house she's in. It seems very old and very beautiful too.
Once she is on the lower floor, she makes sure her steps are, even more, quieter, because there are voices coming from the room on her left. It seems like there is someone arguing in there.
„I don't give a damn what you think!" a very deep voice says „All you do these days is bossing around like some big chief and everybody should just follow you around! Well, forget it! You're not bossing me around, Stefan!"
„Like you would ever listen to anything I say!"
„Stefan, please calm down, don't do this!" there is a third voice, a woman's voice.
Bonnie slowly raises her feet using the opportunity of the fight that is going on in the room, to get away. She doesn't have much time, so she has to work fast. Looking down at her feet, she carefully makes her way further trying to get to the exit.
„Going somewhere?" a deep voice asks, and in a blink, she can see another pair of black combat boots in front of her. She raises her look and founds the pair of the bluest eyes she has ever seen. A pale handsome face, black dark hair, and black clothes that make his eyes poop out even more. For a moment she forgets what she is doing, how she is trying to run away.
That's when she remembers his face from earlier. His monster face that scared the crap out of her.
Her face transforms into a horror one, as she starts screaming again, and turns around to get away from him. But, before she can even think about running away, a man with the sandy brown hair and nice brown greenish eyes steps in front of her, grabbing her elbows.
„Bonnie!" Elena yells behind Damon, trying to get closer to her friend and her boyfriend.
„Calm down. Breathe." Stefan talks to Bonnie calmly.
„O my God, Bonnie!" Elena comes right behind her and grabs her to pull her into a hug, but the girl pushes them both away and starts running towards the door.
Damon just watches her leave as he stands in his place not moving. Elena starts to go after her, but Stefan pushes her away and goes by himself.
„Why didn't you stop her, Damon?!" Elena yells at him looking after her boyfriend and hitting Damon on the shoulder.
Bonnie is already outside and trying to run into the woods, when Stefan manages to catch up with her. He pulls her by the elbow and turns her to face him.
„No!" she screams. „Let me go! Don't touch me!"
„Okay! Okay. I won't touch you, but you can't run either." Stefan decides to listen to her and lets go of her arms.
She looks at him with tears in her eyes and watches him slowly take a step back from her.
„Okay." She answers quietly.
„Okay." Stefan confirms with a nod.
They both observe each other closely and breathe heavily. Stefan puts his hands on his hips and Bonnie looks around her.
„You shouldn't run away." he warns her. „And even if you do, I'll catch up to you. I'm a lot faster than you are."
„What do you want?" she asks him on the edge of tears.
„I want to help you."
„But, I don't want your help!"
„You need it." He tries to convince her.
Silence falls between them. She watches him carefully, trying to decide if she should trust him.
„How can you help me? You kidnapped me and took me away." she finally says.
„Kidnapped you?" Stefan asks her confused „What do you mean kidnapped you?"
She opens and closes her mouth, refusing to answer his question.
„Okay, Bonnie, we really need to have a conversation." he tells her seriously.
„How do you know my name?" she asks, her voice going an octave higher.
Stefan looks at her in surprise.
„Do you know your name?"
„Of course I do. What do you think I'm stupid or something?" she asks him offensively.
„So you remember?"
„I don't remember anything! I have no idea who are you, or where I am, or how did I get here? Care to explain that to me?" she asks crossing her arms under her chest.
„Wait, what is the last thing you do remember?" Stefan takes a step closer to her, to which she takes a step back.
„What are you talking about?"
„Please, just tell me, Bonnie."
„I'm not telling you anything. I don't trust you." she shakes her head at him.
He stops for a moment and thinks about the situation.
„Okay, how can I make you trust me?" he asks her, sounding really concerned.
„You answer my questions and I'll think about it." She looks closely at him and shrugs.
„Fine. I can answer your questions, if you answer some of mine?" he tries to make a deal with her.
„Why should I tell you anything?"
„Because, if you want me to tell you anything, I need you to tell me something, too. Trust is a two-way street, Bonnie." He tells her, extending a hand for her to shake, so they can seal the deal.
He can see her contemplating, rethinking all of this and he is aware she is still suspicious of him, but there are things she wants to know, too. When she finally sighs and accepts him hand, shaking it, he knows she is putting her trust in him.
„Okay."
Thank you!
