Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement intended.
"I had a dream about Stefan last night."
Elena Gilbert tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and didn't make eye contact with her best friend as she revealed this tidbit of news. She pretended to be actually doing her homework but was really just doodling on the corners of the page. Bonnie Bennett, however, was not surprised by her revelation.
"Another one, huh," she said as she really did work on her essay. "Third one this week."
"I don't know what it is," Elena said with a sigh. "It's weird, dreaming about Stefan then waking up next to Damon."
"Was it a sex dream?" Bonnie asked curiously, looking up from her paper.
"No," Elena said quickly. "None of them have been sex dreams. This time we were married, and we had two beautiful children. It was…it was…" Elena's sentence faltered when she noticed the way Bonnie was looking at her. "Don't start, Bonnie."
"I didn't say anything," Bonnie said, going back to her work.
"You didn't have to," Elena responded. "Stefan and I are friends, but I'm with Damon now."
"Really? I thought you guys were just doing it," Caroline joked as she strutted into the room, a laundry basket in her arms.
"At every single opportunity," Bonnie added with a smirk.
"Listen, you've been torn between the Salvatores for almost two years," Caroline pointed out as she began folding her newly clean clothes. "You know Stefan is still in love with you and Damon has always loved you. You didn't want him, now you do want him, who knows how you're going to feel in a month or two. There's a quick and easy way to solve this dilemma. Get a TiMER."
Caroline had invested in the most expensive TiMER there is. It didn't just count down to the day she would meet her soulmate, but the very second. Unfortunately for her, her TiMER remained blank two years later, meaning her soulmate was not yet equipped with one, but the positive blonde continued to hold out hope.
Elena rolled her doe brown eyes toward the ceiling. "This again?"
"You know she never lets up until she gets what she wants," Bonnie mumbled.
"I will never give up on love," Caroline shot back. "I've had a TiMER for two years, and it still hasn't activated yet, but I still have faith. I have faith that my soul mate, whoever and wherever they may be, will one day get his, and we will find each other, fall in love, and it'll be epic."
Elena got up and quickly gathered up her things. She wasn't in the mood for another one of Caroline's spiels about epic love. "I love Damon. I know he's the one. I don't need a stupid device to tell me what I already know." She slung her backpack over her shoulder and flitted past Caroline out of the door.
"That stupid device has led to millions of marriages and happy families!" Caroline called after her roommate.
"And what about the rest?" Bonnie asked, standing to face her. "What about the ones who were already happy, and the TiMER did nothing but destroy what two people in love had?"
"That love would be nothing compared to the love they would have with the one they're meant to be with. Come on, Bonnie. You need one too, I'll go with you!"
"You forced both Matt and Tyler to get a TiMER, and what did that do for you?" Bonnie questioned. "You lost two good guys."
"They weren't the one," Caroline's usual cheer was being deflated but she refused to lose hope. Bonnie saw the sadness creeping into her childhood friend's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Caroline," she apologized, placing a comforting hand on her arm. "I don't mean to make you feel bad. It's just…this TiMER business has been putting a strain on me and Jeremy's relationship. He wants us both to get one and I refuse. He says he already knows we belong together, that this will just confirm our love. I say if he really believes we belong together, he shouldn't need confirmation. Honestly…"
"What is it, Bonnie?" Caroline's brow furrowed in concern.
Bonnie sighed. "I think he wants to know if he should continue wasting his time with me," she revealed. "I think if our TiMERs don't align, he'll leave me. Just like you left Matt…just like you left Tyler."
"Oh, Bonnie," Caroline wrapped her arms around her friend. "Jeremy would never leave you, he adores you."
"So, then it's completely unnecessary," she stated, pulling out of the hug. "The situation with Elena is different. She's leading Stefan and Damon on, and I would never do that. I know what I want. Neither the Universe nor Science gets to decide who I should be with. I do."
And with that, Bonnie grabbed her bag and strutted out of the dorm after her friend.
Damon Salvatore drummed his fingers on the table as he surveyed the bar. The Mystic Grill wasn't picking up too much business this Tuesday, and he wasn't perched at his usual spot at the bar, but at a booth as he awaited his buddy's arrival. He smirked at the sight of a familiar face coming through the door. It wasn't who he was waiting on, but she would do for now.
"Not even going to say hello," Damon said as Bonnie breezed past him without a look in his direction. She stopped in her tracks.
"Damon?" She said, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"This is public domain," Damon replied in his usual sardonic tone. "I don't really need a reason. Don't pretend you're not happy to see me."
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. "Elena's in class so I assume you're meeting Alaric. Why aren't you at the bar, starting your afternoon binge."
"Actually, I'm meeting Enzo," Damon corrected. "Alaric isn't my only friend." Bonnie gave him a knowing look. "Anymore." He finished. "Ever since Alaric's been back in town they haven't been getting along so great. Now, I have to do this annoying thing where I can only hang with one at a time. Anyway, the jackass is running late so why don't you park it."
"I'm meeting Jeremy."
"And that jackass is always late so..." he gestured to the empty seat in front of him. After a moment's hesitation, Bonnie put her bag down and plopped into the booth across from the eldest Salvatore brother.
Dark hair, icy blue eyes, and a slick mouth, there wasn't a woman in Mystic Falls that didn't go wild over him. With the exception of little Miss Bonnie Bennett. She'd never bothered to hide her contempt for Damon. She wasn't blind to his good looks and charm, but his constant drinking, womanizing, and trouble making overruled the former. She and Caroline had always been Team Stefan when it came to who should be with their best friend, but Bonnie had to admit she'd seen a noticeable change in the man since he'd started dating Elena. He cut out all the women, his drinking had minimized considerably, and he seemed to be staying out of trouble recently. Damon liked to bother Bonnie, but he knew she was a good girl and a great friend to Elena. Yet, they both liked to remind each other they were each other's least favorite person.
"How's college life been treating you, Bon Bon?" Damon asked with a little smirk.
"Do you really care?" She retaliated.
His smile dropped. "No, not really," he admitted, leaning back. "I've been thinking about this TiMER thing a lot lately."
Bonnie was surprised by this. Damon had always written it off as ridiculous in the past. "You're thinking about getting one?" She questioned.
"No," he replied. "I'm thinking Elena should get one."
"Why would you want her to get one if you're not going to?"
"See this annoying couple to our right?" He asked. Bonnie had noticed them the instant she walked in the place. They were giggling and holding hands and being insufferable. It was clear they had both TiMEd Out with each other, and wanted to shove it in everyone's faces. "That is what Elena had with Stefan, and she may be okay with what we got going on right now, but eventually she's going to want that again."
"You don't think she can have that with you?" Bonnie hadn't been expecting him to open up to her like this.
"Don't pretend like you've failed to notice that our relationship has become...toxic."
She definitely had noticed. And even if she hadn't, Elena always filled she and Caroline in on what was going on with them. It was a repeating cycle with Damon and Elena. Fight, fuck, break up, fuck again.
"I haven't failed to notice how much you love her, Damon."
"Which is why I want to be selfish with her, but I can't," he explained. "I don't know, maybe I am crazy. What do you think, Judgy?" This time, Bonnie didn't roll her eyes at the nickname he'd coined her with long ago. She could see the stress in his cerulean eyes, and she wanted to help.
"She's not going to go for it," she replied, honestly. "Caroline just gave us both the TiMER speech yesterday, and it didn't end well."
"I'm surprised you and little Gilbert haven't went and got them so you can make those goo goo eyes at each other for the rest of eternity."
"He wants to...I don't."
"Why not?"
"What if..." Bonnie hesitated but she saw the genuine curiosity in Damon's face. "What if I'm not the one for him?"
Damon leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. He looked Bonnie in the eyes as he spoke. "He should be a lot more concerned that he's not the one for you," he stated in a serious tone. There was a moment of silence as the two gazed at each other, and if Bonnie hadn't known better, she would've thought she felt her heart skip a beat at the way he was looking at her. Was Damon implying that Jeremy was lucky to have her? Couldn't be, that was too close to a compliment and Damon never gave her those. The moment was interrupted by a familiar voice above them.
"What's going on, guys?"
Damon and Bonnie both looked up to see Jeremy, looking down at them strangely. Bonnie gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Just talking. Hey babe," she said, standing up.
"Sorry I'm a little late," he apologized as they embraced. "The game with Matt and Tyler went longer than expected."
At that moment Damon's cell tinged with a notification. A text from Enzo. Be there in 5. Had an unexpected visit. Damon smirked as he put the phone down. He knew what that meant. Since Damon was no longer a single man, Enzo had gladly taken the role of town womanizer.
"It's okay," Bonnie assured. Jeremy pointedly wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Damon," he acknowledged the older man as he led his girlfriend away.
"Gilbert," Damon muttered under his breath as the two sauntered off. He suddenly was in the mood for a drink.