When She's Ready, a vampire diaries fanfic

Author's note: No bells or whistles, just a short little piece I wrote featuring Damon and Bonnie :) Enjoy!

"When She's Ready"

"Are you sure you want to come with me and watch, Little Redbird?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Damon chuckled, not because of her determination but because of how the others may feel about this. "Elena and the others won't like it."

Bonnie huffed but shook her head. "This is what I want, and I want to watch you hunt."

It wasn't even midnight but the skies were nearly pitch black and very few stars were out. They could have gone out in the day time, but there would be less people out at night and that meant less witnesses. In the woods a few miles out of town, Damon and Bonnie were together with a third companion, some girl whose name will never matter... as terrible as that may sound to some.

From the moment Damon sank his fangs into the pretty girl's slender neck, Bonnie was transfixed. She was there, watching, as he slowly drained the blood from his victim that he held in what looked like a lover's embrace. Bonnie had long ago accepted him as a proud, dangerous, and powerful vampire. Not only did she accept him, but she understood that behind the walls he had built around himself during the span of five hundred years, was his humanity. It was a side of him he rarely showed willingly but in the presence of the little witch, it came out rather naturally. At this moment, though, there was nothing human about how he was feasting on rich, warm blood without so much as any further regard to the mortal he contained. As immoral as it was to others, Bonnie knew this was the way of life for him, for all vampires: draining the blood of the living.

If you wish to look away... Damon reached out to her mentally without so much as disrupting his feeding.

I'm fine.

Bonnie truly was fine. She was more calm and accepting about this then she anticipated. In truth, she hadn't been too sure what to expect. Not that she imagined Damon as this monstrous, incoherent beast who growled at anyone who dared to come between him and his meal. He was in control of himself and everything he did was so fluid. He made death look like an art form. It took virtually no effort on his part to lure the girl, an amateur trail blazer, to him. From the moment she saw him sporting an all sleek, black attire and accompanied with that winning smile of his, Bonnie knew the gal was doomed.

Her eyes fell upon Damon's lips as a hint of blood seeped out from the puncture marks he inflicted on the girl. It trailed down the neck and Bonnie vaulted forward without a second thought. She wiped it up using her finger and held it close to her lips. Seconds later, she slipped it between her lips.

It tasted like copper and it was bitter to the taste, but this was the source of life and a source of food for vampires. It surely had to taste better once she turned.

Wait, did she just say once she turned?

Not if she turned.

Are you certain that this is the life you want to have one day? To "walk on the wild side" as I heard my little brother say at one point?

She almost didn't hear Damon's mental question until she heard movement, as she was spellbound by her inner monologue. Could this descendant of the druids allow herself to turn undead? Would she still retain her powers or would she lose them once she came back from death? Most importantly, would she still be herself?

Damon set the unconscious girl down to the ground. Her skin was pale and aside from the puncture marks on her neck and the splotches of blood on the front of her shirt, she appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

"Is she dead?" Bonnie asked curiously, unsure of how to answer his question, because she wasn't sure herself just yet.

Damon used the back of his hand to wipe whatever trace of blood lingered from his feeding as he didn't spare his victim a second glance. "If she has the will to survive, she will wake up. If not, then it's the eternal sleep for her."

Live or die, kill or be killed. That was the life of the vampire in a black and white view of the world. Bonnie understood there were layers upon layers to the undead life style, many of which she had seen from both Salvatore brothers.

Damon offered her a sincere smile. It wasn't the flashy smile that made most females (including herself) buckle at the knees. It was one that he reserved for private matters such as this.

"You should enjoy the life you have now while you can," he said in gentle tone. "I'd hate to see you miss out on any opportunites once you become what I am."

She tipped her head back and noticed a few more stars decided to peek out from the blackness of the skies. What would her friends think if she decided to go for it? She wouldn't hear the end of it from Meredith, seeing as how she was a vampire hunter-slayer. Elena had been down the vampire path before and that entailed a lot of complexity; not to mention her own relationship with Damon had enough drama to push out a few novels or an entire television series. Stefan might be a little understanding only because he was one of the few who silently accepted the bond she and his brother shared with one another. Matt, oh goodness, it was hard to say how he would feel because he (nor Meredith) wasn't a big fan of Damon but he viewed Bonnie like a little sister...

The opportunities remark was rather loaded for her. Yes, she'd probably miss out on a few things if she turned. One of the biggies was having children. She adored them but did it necessarily mean she HAD to have them? Some women bore them when they were older. Would this itch for motherhood come to Bonnie long after she turned? Or would she, at that point, be so immersed in her undead life that she wouldn't even think twice about having little ones around? Not to say she's never entertained the idea of having children with Damon, and imagined what kind of father he'd be to their half-vampire child. Boy or girl, it wouldn't matter... Magic would obviously have to be involved in order for Bonnie to get pregnant because there was no way vampires could help create life, not without some assistance, anyhow.

Damon's hands rested upon her shoulders and he stood behind her. Tearing herself away from her thoughts of a possible outlook, and ignoring the blush on her cheeks, she looked down at the grove of trees before her, obscured by the shadows and the night itself. The path to vampirism would be as dark as this forest is now, but depending on the right person at her side, maybe she could walk on that wild side and still be herself, more or less.

His lips brushed against her temple and he was soon embracing her, keeping himself behind her, protecting her from the world. "I'll be here when you're ready," he promised her, as if having read her thoughts.

She beamed and leaned back in his arms, because she knew that one day, when that time came, she would want Damon to be the one to guide her through whatever path she chose in life.