Chapter 1

Damon.

Damon Salvatore sat alone in the spacious Boarding House, slowly draining his bourbon. He frowned as Elena's face appeared out of nowhere in front of his eyes. Great. Now he's seeing her everywhere. When he's drinking, when he's alone, when he went to sleep, even when in his dreams, she's there. It's like he can't think about anything else, and every thought he has leads to her. Dammit, he didn't want this. It was bad enough that he had to see her with Stefan all the time, now she's intruding all his thoughts too? What happened to the Damon that can switch off his feelings?

It was just too much. He didn't want to feel this way. Things were just so much easier when he wanted nothing to do with Elena. Being friends with her had been a great experience, since he never had many friends. Or, any friends, to be exact. But ever since she had said he had lost her forever, it was like a hole was burning slowly inside him.

He wished he could control what he felt. He was tired of moping around, tired of forever falling for his brother's girlfriend. He hated the way history repeated itself. If only he could just…stop loving Elena.

Damon tipped back his glass and swallowed down the alcohol. It scared him when he thought about how much he wanted to be with her, for her to love him back, for her to choose him over Stefan…This has got to end. The endless wonderings and what-if scenarios, they've got to end. He's had enough.

Making up his mind, he stood up abruptly. There might be one person that could help him lessen the pain. That thought had been pressing on him for days, but he refused to take action because he didn't want to appear weak and vulnerable.

But these feelings for Elena had grown too strong to be ignored. He had to do something, something that might be considered selfish and cowardice: he's going to make those feelings stop.

Bonnie.

Bonnie Bennet tried to close the door as soon as she realized it was Damon standing outside. But he grasped the handle firmly to prevent her from doing so.

Annoyed by this intrusion, she gave a frustrated sigh and opened the door wide enough to see him, "What do you want, Damon?" She asked in a flat voice.

"No invitation? No hugs?" Damon asked in feigned surprise, "Shocking."

Bonnie did not smile, or even let the corners of her mouth twitch. Instead, she crossed her arms in a hostile way, "What do you want?"

Damon smirked that famous smirk and crossed his arms too, but in a less serious way Bonnie did, "Easy. I want a favor."

"A favor." Bonnie repeated in disbelief, raising her eyebrows, "You're asking me for a favor? Is this a joke or something? What makes you think I'd help you with anything?"

"Which question do you want me to answer first?" Damon said good-naturally.

Bonnie reached for the handle again, "Goodbye, Damon."

"Wait, wait a second." For once, his tone actually sounded close to serious, "I'm…actually here for a spell."

"I'm doing no spells for you." Bonnie replied in a matter-of-fact voice and continued to close the door.

Damon stopped her once again by pushing the door back, "It concerns Elena." He said in a sort of desperate voice.

Bonnie hesitated, and reopened the door an inch or so, "What about Elena?" She asked dubiously.

Damon looked away. He wasn't comfortable discussing this on the porch. He wasn't comfortable discussing this, period. But Bonnie was the only witch he had any contact with right now, and he was determined to make her see that this was the best solution for everyone.

"Damon, what about Elena?" Bonnie asked again in a seriously crossed voice this time.

Damon turned his gaze to her, his blue eyes hard, "I want you to do a spell that takes away my feelings for Elena."

Eyes widening with surprise, Bonnie let go of her grasp on the door. This was not what she had expected. Hell, this was the least she expected. Damon Salvatore coming over to her house to ask her to take away his heartache? This did not sound like Damon.

Bonnie shook her head slowly, "Look, Damon, even if I wanted to help you, I'm not allowed to. Witches don't have the privilege to meddle with feelings. It's just…not right. It can go seriously wrong."

"But you can do it?" Damon asked, completely ignoring her point.

Bonnie sighed in exasperation, "Yes, Damon, I…I suppose I can, but that doesn't mean I will." She added quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

"Bonnie, think about it." Damon persuaded in a winning voice, "It's just best for everyone. If I go back to not loving Elena, I'll leave her in peace. I won't do anything I'd regret."

A frown crept up Bonnie's face as Damon's words settled in. Maybe he was right. Things would be easier. For Elena, for Damon, for Stefan… But this was a very complicated spell. If anything goes wrong, it would be her responsibility. And she wasn't even sure she could perform such a spell.

"I don't know, Damon…" Bonnie said finally in a hesitant voice. Damon said nothing and continued staring intently into her eyes, his jaw line hard. He was waiting for an answer.

Sighing in defeat, Bonnie stepped out of the house onto the porch to face Damon, "Alright. I'll help."

Damon's smirk returned, this time it looked somehow appreciative.

"But on one condition." Bonnie added quickly.

"Name it."

"Leave Mystic Falls." She said clearly in a very solemn voice, ignoring the look of shock on Damon's face, "Leave, and don't come back."

For the first time ever, Damon was speechless. He always knew Bonnie and he didn't get along, and he knew that she disliked him, but never had he guessed that she wanted him gone. He had no idea she detested him this much. Silently, he weighed his options. Mystic Falls held no fascination over him if it weren't for Elena. If this spell really DOES work, and he really DOES stop loving Elena, then it shouldn't matter to him where he lives.

Seeing Damon's facial expressions, Bonnie felt a twinge of guilt for her request. She took a deep breath and tried to explain, "Look, Damon, I want to believe you've changed, but what you did in the past doesn't just get erased. You manipulated Caroline, tried to take advantage of Elena, and killed many, many innocent people… It's just better if you weren't here. Safer."

Damon said nothing. The only important thing to him right now was Elena. And when Bonnie takes away those feelings, there's really nothing to tie him to Mystic Falls. There's Stefan, of course, but to say the truth, he had no desire to see Elena with Stefan all the time. And it's not like Stefan and him have such a close bond or anything.

Damon leaned back onto the wall and managed a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes, "If you do this for me, I'll leave."

"Then it's a deal." Bonnie agreed.