"No." The rejection catapulted out of her mouth. She folded her arms, and shook her head just in case he didn't catch it the first time - or maybe to reprimand herself for taking a split second to consider his offer to drive her home. "You're going back inside or i'm going to use you as a guinea pig for a couple new spells I picked up over the weekend."

Damon tried to school his features into one of disinterest, and he thought about coming up with a story about him being bored all night and just wanting to prank her just for the hell of it. But he was curious, irritated and a whole lot of other emotions he felt were above vampires. He'd had nuns show less restraint than Bonnie did. He'd put himself out there on a platter, the least she could do was let go and kiss him back for a second. Even if she did her usual song and dance about finding him repulsive, he could've atleast had a little victory in the fact that she was under someone else's spell for a chance. Now she wouldn't even let him drive her home? Did she know how many girls would kill for that offer?

"You'd actually let Klaus drive you home?"

"He drove me here," she said. "I can take care of myself."

"Klaus can go from zero to a raving lunatic who shoves a lamp through your stomach like that," he snapped his fingers to emphasize. "You're our witch. If I think you're doing something stupid, I'm going to stop you."

"Are you on drugs?"asked Bonnie. "Or do you just have some kind of sick goal to taste, kill or do it with every girl in Mystic Falls?"

He flicked a dark brow at the thought. Perhaps that could be a future aspiration. Right now, he was in a funk of sorts. Elena actually had the nerve to call him a big teddy bear a few weeks prior. Maybe he was softening up. Small town life could change a person for the better or the worse with it's languorous pace. Not that Mystic Falls was boring all the time, but the past couple of weeks were calm. He missed the hustle and bustle of the city - preferably any city without glossy-haired doppelgangers with beautiful witch friends. It was easy to get so caught up in kicking ass every week that the normal days seemed unbearable.

Bonnie was supposed to be a badass - well, maybe not suppose to- but he thought she'd be a lot more fun if she loosened up. Outside of the Scooby Gang Show, their spin-off could've been Batman and Robin if she used her witchiness for fun sometimes. They made a pretty good team when the situation desperately called for it. He smiled at that thought. A week ago if someone would've told him he'd be wishing to be the Robin to the Bennett witch's Batman he would've asked them what kind of alcohol they drank because clearly they had the good stuff.

How could she have the best night of her life with that stick up her ass? He wanted to ask, but correctly assumed that wouldn't be the wisest thing to do.

"You know, one night of fun won't make you a bad person," he said, "You're like the hall monitor of witches."

She was used to being questioned about her capacity to have a good time, but no one else in the town had to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. "Excuse me for not taking off my top and throwing back shots of Tequila every night. I think most people would agree that I have more important things to do."

"You're afraid if you're not this textbook perfect, strong, loyal friend every waking moment, the people you care about will leave you," he said, adding a devious little simper that made her want to smack it right off his face. The world would be a much nicer place without it. "You care what everyone thinks. That's where your power to resist my irresistible charm comes from."

"First off, eww," she meant to grimace, but he managed to pull a grin out of her. She compensated for the slip with a business-like tone. "Keyword, the people I care about."

"You don't care about me?" he sounded casual, but his expression sold him out.

Bonnie hadn't expected him to ask that, and her mouth stayed open for a while to taste her options. "I don't know. Sometimes . . . I guess . . . for. . ." She wanted to say 'for the sake of Elena', but she noticed the way he narrowed his eyes and hung onto her every word. And maybe that wasn't entirely true. She did care about the prick more than she was comfortable with admitting. She wouldn't feed his ego, though. "I care about everyone."

"I don't know how you see over your nose when it's always cocked up in the air." He opened his jacket and fished his keys out of the hidden pocket. "What do you do when it rains?" He walked off before she could even respond, and she pattered behind him, wanting to get her insult in before he was out of earshot. His stride was no match for hers, and by the time she caught up with him he was standing in front of his convertible.

She continued, "The same thing I always do-"

"-And what's that?" he cut in.

"Think of new ways to take you out without anyone remembering you ever existed."

Damon had a knack for turning negative into infuriating positives - tonight was no different. He tilted his head to the side. "So you think about me then?"

"You're annoying."

"You too," he opened the passenger door. "Get in. "

OOOOOO

Bonnie knew three things.

Damon liked gloomy music, he had a bad sense of direction and was actually capable of closing his mouth for more than a minute. She knew the first thing because every song he listened to was by some poor tortured soul who lost the love of his life or his reason for living over a girl - if it hadn't been for the acoustic beat she might have opened the door and rolled out onto the highway to make it stop.

She knew the second thing because clearly they weren't going to her house when she told him to drive her straight home. And she knew the last one because he hadn't said anything for five minutes. She figured he was finally realizing that he screwed up. Maybe he was so busy formulating a reason for kissing her that he completely missed the exit. Bonnie didn't feel badly for him. He couldn't say she hadn't warned him. It served him right.

Bonnie hadn't said anything either. She found herself enjoying the ride despite the awful music. The sky was dotted with stars, the air was fragrant and she'd kicked her shoes off again. All was right in the world - annoying Salvatore chauffeur or not. Still, she couldn't relax as much as she wanted to. There was something about Damon that always put her on edge and made her alert; even more than other vampires did. She had to make a conscious effort to keep her feet still. Not that Damon was paying her much attention. The last thing he'd said was "Put your seat-belt on" followed by a scoff when she suggested that he did the same thing.

She glanced at the radio once the song went off. Maybe just maybe something a little more upbeat would come on.

Coldplay.

No such luck.

Bonnie blamed the song. One line really caught her attention because it was so fitting. I know something is broken and I'm trying to fix it. Trying to repair it anyway I can. That line pretty much summed up the past year. Do some broken Damon-y thing, promise to behave, do some broken Damon-y thing, promise to behave. She could only imagine the web that Katherine must've spun to make him so screwed up.

She allowed herself to take in his profile while he was too distracted to notice. He'd stripped down to his undershirt and mussed his hair before getting in the car. She figured he was as miserable in his stuffy suit and hairstyle as she was in her shoes. Annoying, murderous, disgusting vampire aside - he was actually quite handsome. She frowned at the admission, even though she technically knew he would be considered a "hot" guy, she'd never considered him one. He was a vampire. He was Damon. He was Stefan's older brother. He was in love with Elena. He made her miserable. He questioned her ability. He fed her ego sometimes. He amused her with snarky banter. But that was usually where the observations ended.

She had another more useful observation. He parked the car on the shoulder of the road - between a thick patch of trees and a cemetery The area looked like the kind of place the Boogieman would love to hide. A bunch of scenarios flooded her mind at once; none flattering and all ending with frying a vampire's brain.

"Before you go all wicked witch, you should know the place we're going has food."

"So does my fridge," said Bonnie. "Without the creep factor of this place. Where are we?"

"A few miles outside of Mystic Falls ." Better known as the place he went to get away from doppelgangers brooding foreheads, bubbly blondes and prying witches. He hadn't had much use for it over the last few months, but tonight was an exception. He got out of the car. Of course, the witch was still glued to the passenger's seat. "Staying here?"

"You want me to go walking through a creepy cemetery?"

"170 year old vampire," he pointed at himself, then pointed at Bonnie. "Prodigy witch."

"This whole day just keeps getting weirder."

That morning she woke up bummed about not going to prom, then a 1,000 year old vampire asks her out and gives her a gorgeous gown. As if that weren't shocking enough, Damon tells her he's fantasized about doing her in her cheerleading uniform and whisks her off to a cemetery - where there is food supposedly. She was almost tempted to pinch herself. She wasn't exactly a stranger to crazy dreams.

"You mean better?"

She slipped her feet back into her heels, and got out of the car.

Thankfully they didn't walk that far. He stopped in front of a stone burial vault. It looked like a tiny house without windows or doors. There was an entrance, just large enough to slip inside if a person turned sideways. Bonnie didn't know which would be worse. Going in first or going in last. She decided she'd better go in last and take her chances. She wasn't sure what the older Salvatore was up to. Damon scowled, and she matched his intimidating glare with one of her own.

"Where's that Bennett courage when you need it?" asked Damon with a smirk.

"I'm not scared. It's just, I'm not sure what we're doing here."

"If I was up to something I would've done it by now."

"What's inside?"

He let out an exaggerated breath. "Wouldn't it be so much easier to just trust me?"

"No," Bonnie said. "Why do you have this place?"

Her feet were firmly planted on the ground, her eyebrow raised and her arms folded over her chest. There was obvious challenge in her eyes. It was clear that she wasn't moving until she got an answer.

"You have five seconds before I turn you into a mouse."

"Not if I b-" his hardened features relaxed. "You can do that now?"

"Damon."

"Fine," he said. "I've had this place since I was human. No one knows about it. I used it the same way i'm using now. To get away."

"So why did you bring me here?"

That was a good question. Damon wasn't quite sure of the answer himself, he was just going on those pesky little things called feelings. He didn't feel like watching her get out of his car and go inside of her house. He didn't feel like bringing her to the boarding house where she'd most likely spend all of her time trying to console Elena if Stefan brought her there. He didn't feel like being the bad guy to everyone for coming on to Bonnie. He settled on, "You're here because I think you need to get away too."

She had to admit the prospect of getting away for a bit was tempting - undoubtedly Caroline would stop by her house to see what happened - but she didn't think it was the smartest plan to hide out with Damon.

"There better be really good food."

The truth was he wasn't sure what was left in the mini-fridge - besides mini bottles of Vodka. He hadn't exactly planned on going to the crypt. A part of him didn't even think she'd agree to go inside. He frowned. Humans and their human-y needs sucked. . .

When he started walking back toward the iron gate they entered from, Bonnie trailed behind him and was tempted to hold onto his shirttail to keep up. The area was horror movie quiet - aside from her shoes crunching the leaves and her breath as she tried to stay close behind Damon. She considered asking him where they were going, but she wasn't exactly disappointed that they were leaving.

So she decided to keep her mouth shut and let him lead the way.

OOOOOO

There was a diner a mile or so from the cemetery.

They sat in a booth with the best view of the parkingspot where Damon's beloved car was. Bonnie considered teasing him about it, but she had to admit the neighborhood seemed pretty shoddy. The patrons were just as shoddy, if not more. In fact, she thought they looked the most normal out of everyone. It took a strange group of people to make a vampire and a witch in prom attire look normal.

Damon reached across the table and stole yet another one of her fries.

"Buy your own."

"Coming from the girl who isn't buying her own."

"You insisted."

"All apart of the plan."

"What plan?"

He wagged his brows. "You're dressed up, I bought you dinner, I have a drink, we're sharing food."

"This isn't a date," Bonnie corrected, then pulled the basket of fries further out of his reach. "I may not have guys banging down my door to get my attention, but i'd expect more than this place for a first date."

"You wouldn't."

"Are you calling me a cheap date?" she asked threateningly.

"I'm calling you a sap," said Damon, taking a sip of coffee. "Even if some guy took you to Burger King you'd probably pull candles out of your bra and say something like 'As long as we're together that's all that matters'."

A sap? He was definitely showing his age, but now wasn't the time to tease him about that either. Since she was almost done with her food, they had more pressing issues. "So what happens after this? You take me home and apologize to Elena for being a jerk, right?"

He shook his head, pulling the basket of fries back to the center of the table. "We go back to my hideout and ignore everyone's calls. We stay up late, get into all kinds of trouble . . . and get you out of that dress."

She was about to give him the aneurysm of a lifetime until she realized what happened. "Crap." She licked ketchup off of her thumb before more of it ended up on her dress.

Damon considered spilling ketchup on all of her fingers just to see her do that again. Did she realize how seductive that was to a vampire? Of course she didn't. The hall monitor of witches would never purposely seduce the big bad vampire.

"That's a bad idea," she finally said.

"Of course it is." He leaned in, resting his arms on the table as he smirked suggestively. "Come on, Judgy. Be bad for a change."