She tells him to call her Ruby, and she tells him that she's broken.
He smiles, sort of this crooked don't-I-know-it smile and tells her that they're all broken. She doesn't believe him, but it's a nice sentiment. And when a boy has eyes like that, girls are always inclined to believe them. Those are the kind of eyes that could make a girl fall in love, and she tells him that.
"Why?" He asks her later, his hand resting around his glass of scotch, skin barely touching hers. She cocks an eyebrow.
"Why?" She repeats, rubbing her lips together, knowing her perfect ruby lips have vanished with the light of day. She throws back the rest of her drink, and motions for another.
"Why're you broken?"
"Why do you care?" She asks, somewhat defensive. The entire night he has talked about nothing but this Elena, and how he's loved her for one hundred and fifty days and how he's never cared about anything so much in his life. His questions are few and far between, and she tells him nothing but lies. Ruby, city girl, big family- still broken.
"I don't." He tells her, but seems to rethink it a moment later. "Pretty girl like you, walks into a small town bar- a city girl mind you, it just doesn't add up. You're here for something." It isn't a question.
"Am I?" He hums, and glances at the door. "Expecting someone? Elena?" She sings, teasing him. He scowls, then smiles. So, so, serious. He shakes his head.
"Ric."
"Ric?"
"Friend of mine, thought he'd show up tonight." She nods her head, wishing she hadn't talked to him, wishing Damon was still a stranger. That was the plan, and she'd swore that she'd stick to it.
"We're leaving." She tells him. She grabs his jacket from the back of his stool, draping it around her shoulders. The door slams shut behind her, and she listens as he gives chase. And finally, it's fun.
The humid breeze of the south hits her face, and she feels her cheeks flush.
Breathe, she tells herself, you can do it.
They walk for miles and miles, him constantly questioning her sense of direction. But it isn't till they leave town, and the roads become unclear, following only the path of the moon.
"Ruby," His voice sounds somewhat dazed, and she knows that it's begun to take effect. It's just how Amara described it, and she quickly reminds herself that this is how she wanted it to be. "where are we going?"
"I need you to make a decision, Damon."
"Why're you broken?" He asks again, the sound of his feet has the rhythm of a soldiers march. She shakes her head, forces a smile, and wishes she hadn't spoken to him.
"You're very lucky, Damon." She tries again, this time her voice steady.
Soon enough, they arrive at the bridge, and she wonders if he's scared, as the mist clears from his eyes. He looks confused, like he has no idea how any of this came to be.
"I need you to think clearly." She says, clutching his arm. "Do you understand?" He nods, and she smiles. "You're very lucky, Damon. You love Elena, don't you?"
"Uh-huh." Bonnie rolls her eyes, because they never warned her that he'd be reduced to the mental state of a potato.
"Would you die for her?"
"Yes." He says immediately, and the regret seeps into Bonnie's skin.
"Elena's about to die." His eyes widen, and he begins to gasp for air. "Her truck is about to go off this bridge. Elena is destined to die tonight, but you can change that. A life for a life, Damon. You can't upset the balance of nature."
"I don't want to die tonight." Bonnie feels a tear float down her cheek, and reminds herself that she wanted this. This is what it means to be human.
"A life for a life." Like clockwork, the truck comes screeching round the corner, spinning out of control. Damon screams as it veers off the bridge.
"Okay."
"Okay?" She repeats.
"Yeah, do it. I want Elena to be happy, and to be old, and to- you know" He mutters, his cheeks tinged with pink. He swipes his hand through the air. "get her happily ever after."
"Without you?" She asks,
"Without me." He confirms, and she finds it odd that he's smiling. She grips his hands in her own then, knowing it's now or never, and repeats the words that she's memorized a hundred times.
"Walk." She tells him, and she feels it, as he passes through her. Blinding pain.
And just like that, he's gone, not even bothering to look back.
Bonnie is standing in her dorm room, trying to finish her Italian essay, when she feels a cold breeze of the back of her neck, and then, gentle as a whisper, she hears it brush past her ear.
"Why're you broken?"