She turns her back and quickly walks through to the kitchen but he stops her, finally has a chance to lay his hands on her. Bonnie's pulled against his chest gently and his arms move around her. He does nothing but keep her close. Bonnie stays still, not speaking a word until he slowly lets her go and she moves around the kitchen table and he stays where he stands.
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok...lets just sit and figure this out." She pulls up a chair and after a hesitating moment he takes one opposite. A thick length of wood separates them but even so she finds the proximity and his gaze searing.
"Have you cast a spell on me?"
"No! What kind of question is that?" She stares angrily at him and he winces.
"I didn't mean it like that. I thought maybe you did something unintentionally. It's something magical Bonnie."
"I know, I just don't know how...I've read through everything but I can't find anything about this. It only seems to cover witches and humans, not vampires." She feels to pumped full of nervous energy to sit so she stands and opens a cupboard. "I'm thirsty, do you want some tea or coffee?"
"No thank you...so you think me being a vampire has something to do with this?" Bonnie shrugs and lays her mug down on the counter. She has her back turned but she can sense that he's watching her every move. She fills up the kettle with water slowly.
"Your blood should have passed out of my system, right?"
"Yeah, I didn't give you that much so it wouldn't have taken long...you think it's that?"
"I dunno, maybe it's different for witches." She pours the hot water into the cup, adds some milk and honey to take away the sting and steeling herself she turns back to him. He had moved to the chair closer to her and when she tries to move past him he grabs her waist. She stares into his eyes warily, her hair brushing his face gently. Her fingers jam around her cup tightly and the fumes from the vervain bathe her face.
"Bonnie..." the teaspoon in the cup tinkles against the rim as he takes it from her hand and sets it down on the table. Her hands grip at his shoulders and she manages to shake her head in warning.
"Nothing is going to happen...," she lowers her face to his, lips parting she whispers, "I can hurt you."
"If that's what you need to do then do it." His fingers dig into her sides before they begin to draw her down and Bonnie rests her knee between his legs to balance herself. She takes his face in her hands and after a confirming nod by Stefan she focuses on that place in his mind and makes it scream silently.
He yells in pain and the chair is knocked out from beneath him as he stumbles to his feet. Bonnie dances away, panting as he keels over, a hand clutching his head. Hearing him whimper she comes closer and stops the pain immediately.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She touches his hair and he lifts his head. It only last for a second but black eyes peer at her before they clear to green. Bonnie rubs her hand up and down his arm soothingly as he straightens. "Are you all right?" She didn't ask if it worked because she knows it hasn't. She lets her compassion move her closer and he leans down, threads his hands through her hair and kisses her.
Backed against the sink their dreams play out in real time. Bonnie grabs tufts of his hair, pulling it as she opens her mouth against his, tasting him. Just as in the dreams she's besieged with his emotions and they feed her own, intensifying them. His hands slide down her hips and he bends down slightly to hitch her up her nightgown. Bonnie pushes her body harder against his, feels his arousal against her belly and the kiss grows more ferocious. He growls into her mouth and with an enormous amount of self control pushes her away forcefully.
She hits the wall, stunned. "Stefan..."
"I can't do this, we can't. I shouldn't have come." He paces on the other side of the table, throwing her looks of longing and torment. It was Elena he was thinking of, worrying about.
Not me...Bonnie gathers herself together, pushes her emotions into a small bundle and rises her chin up. "I'll figure this out Stefan...I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Bonnie -"
"Please, just go...I have the power to uninvite you if I have to."
He looks down sadly, nodding. "That won't be necessary." He walks to the back door, gaze lingering before he's simply gone, the door banging open. Bonnie releases a pent up breath and sits at the table. The afterglow of his touch is peppered all over her skin and she sucks at her bottom lip as she reaches over for her tea. It's cold and a few tiny pieces of vervain float on the surface. She stares at them, a thousand miles away before she suddenly laughs and slaps a hand over her mouth. She stares with amazement into the cup.
"Shit...I'm an idiot." She flings the liquid down the sink, thankful that her grams wasn't here to see her make such a rookie mistake. But her eyes prick and burn as she closes the back door, certain he wouldn't return.
The dream fades but not completely. They mix and swirl with other nightscapes, the flashes of vervain and entwined bodies lasting moments.
But it never truly leaves her. As she grows into her power, gathers more knowledge about the nature of dreams she sees that what past between her and Stefan was not just her - and possibly his - desires fed by the vervain.
It was a foretelling.
She stares mutely, an expression that he can't abide but one she wears so often now. But at least she was talking to him. After that night in the kitchen he had kept his distance, so nervous about what he would do if he crossed paths with her in public. But his fears were unfounded, things were back to normal. Almost.
"I think you should take this back." Bonnie stands at the threshold of his home, offering him the packet of vervain seeds that he had given her. Seems an age ago.
"What? Why?" He looks behind furtively before gesturing towards the grounds. Bonnie walks out onto the grass, careful to keep some distance.
"I have my reasons." She answers cryptically and he pushes down a dart of frustration. The things she had been through had aged her so much, made her hard.
"Which are?" She doesn't answer, just regards him with a heavy air of indifference. He hated it. Stefan lowers his voice and comes closer. "Is it about the dreams?"
Bonnie glances down, fiddles with the hem of her coat. "You don't have them any more, do you?"
"Not like before. Bonnie we never really talked afterwards and I know that was partly down to me but - but I just didn't want anyone to get hurt."
"It's ok, there's nothing to discuss. It was nothing..." His face flashes with hurt and she softens tellingly, almost touches his arm before stopping. "I - I'm just not ready. Maybe one day...I don't hate you Stefan, you know that right?"
He nods, not a little relieved. "I'm glad to hear it." A silence stretches, both smiling awkwardly until Bonnie becomes aware of the seeds in her hand. She looks down and back up thoughtfully.
"This had a part in the dreams. The vervain, I drink it and it...amplified certain sensations. My feelings." She tries and fails to hide her humiliation. It was eating her from the inside. Stefan suddenly cups her cheek and she freezes, breath trapped in her throat.
"Don't be ashamed. I - I don't want you to think that you were forcing your feelings onto me. They were all my own." He stares intensely into her eyes until realisation dawns there. He draws his touch away and Bonnie gazes hard and long at him until she looks away. He was telling the truth, he had no reason to lie to her about this.
"I don't know what to say...please just take this, you know it was difficult for me to even come here." She pushes the seeds into his hand which he takes, confused.
"Why are you so eager to give it back?"
"To avoid temptation." She turns on her heel, prepared to leave it there. Stefan follows, pulling her back.
"What do you mean?"
Bonnie sighs in defeat, shaking her head. "I can dream the future and I know how to recognise them. That's our future." She points at the vervain. "It might be tomorrow or years from now but if I don't plant it then it won't happen."
Reeling, he stares open mouthed at the seeds. He remembers vividly how tall they grew and the smell of it crushed beneath them, the taste of it on her tongue. He's so caught up in this revelation that he doesn't realise he now stands alone. He thinks about going after her, everything in him is telling him to but instead he pockets the packet and walks through the town until the sun begins to sink, thinking of all the connections he had formed in his long life.
In darkness he makes up his mind.
The envelope sits neatly on her kitchen table, resting against the toast rack. She doesn't need to open it to know who it's from or what it contains.
She presses the seeds through the paper where they leave an impression on her skin.