Chapter 3

The first strings of "Broken" by Seether slowly danced across the open air and filled Bonnie's head. Once she recognized the song, she immediately turned up the volume on the radio. It was one of her favorite songs and it had been a while since she heard it last. And it always seemed to have a soothing effect on her frayed nerves. Which was what she desperately needed right now. After all, who could be calm when they were driving to their most certain death?

Bonnie was going to visit Damon.

It had been two weeks since their last encounter. For the first week, the witch had been relieved. There had been no awkward encounters or talks about things that had been said or actions that had been taken. But, by the middle of the next week, she started to worry. Damon was known for his ability to annoy anyone and it seemed he had found his newest target since Stefan and Elena were out of town. So, when she didn't encounter him at all, Bonnie knew to be worried.

She had already thought up crazy scenarios as to why Damon wasn't bothering her. After she had checked with Caroline and was assured the blonde had not seen him, one scenario was crossed off the list. When she checked the newspaper and saw no unusual 'animal attacks' another scenario was crossed off. That left only two options: Damon was in hiding, or he had skipped town.

Bonnie wasn't sure which scenario she wanted.

If he was in hiding, then that meant he wasn't off in some other city, terrorizing those inhabitants. But if he had skipped town, then she no longer had to worry about him annoying or confusing her to the point where she made a mistake and caused him to kill her. Either situation had it's pros and cons. Bonnie just wasn't sure which side out-weighed which on either scenario.

As the final verse of "Broken" played, Bonnie found herself reaching the driveway that led to the Salvatore house. After taking a moment to collect her thoughts together and to allow her nerves to completely settle, she continued on towards the house. She parked her car and slowly climbed out, her gaze focused on the front door.

When she had finally mustered up enough courage to knock on the door, Bonnie was surprised to see it already beginning to open. Standing in the doorway was Damon, staring at Bonnie with an unreadable expression. It unnerved her slightly, how blank his whole face was. It was as if he had no emotions at all.

Swallowing down her lump of unease, Bonnie said, "Hi."

Damon just raised an eyebrow.

"How are you?" she asked awkwardly.

Again, he remained quiet.

A small dose of anger flashed through her system. "Why aren't you saying anything?" She shook her head. "You're not known for being quiet."

Damon said nothing for a moment, simply content to stare at her. Bonnie tried to stare him down, but soon found herself tearing her gaze away from his. His eyes were nothing but black, bottomless pits that sent chills down her spine.

"Come inside."

Bonnie turned her attention back to him, surprise clearly seen on her face. Damon had stepped to the side, allowing room for her to enter the house. She hesitated for a moment, eyeing him for a split second, then quickly entered. The sound of the door shutting behind her echoed in her ears.

"What do I owe to this surprise visit?" Damon asked emotionlessly as he walked by her.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at his flat tone. "I, surprisingly enough, was slightly worried about you. You hadn't appeared out of nowhere in the past two weeks to annoy me." She shrugged. "Figured you either skipped town, or were holding yourself hostage here."

Damon moved towards the table that held the liquor. Once he poured himself a glass of scotch, he turned back to her. Smirking, he said, "You missed so much, you actually sought me out. I'm flattered, Bonnie." Then, he took a large gulp of the scotch.

She moved towards him slowly, eyeing him with uncertainty. Something was off with the vampire and it was putting her on edge. For all she knew, he could attack her right now without a care just for the fun of it.

Why had she come here, again?

"Damon," Bonnie started, her voice laced with confusion. "what is wrong with you?"

He shrugged, gulping down a large amount of the scotch. "I'm peachy-keen."

"Really? Cause to me you look like an idiot trying to get drunk," she replied. After a moment, she asked, "Can vampires get drunk?"

Damon finished the scotch in his hands before turning back and pouring another glass. "I wish," he muttered. Once the glass was filled to the brim, he turned back to face Bonnie. "And maybe me getting drunk is my way of showing how peachy-keen I am."

Feeling slightly annoyed, which seemed to boost her courage, Bonnie walked towards him. He watched her with amusement that quickly turned into irritation as she pulled the scotch from his hands. She placed it on the table behind him, never breaking her gaze from his. "Damon, what is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he hissed.

Her eyes narrowed. "Really? Then why have you stayed cooped-up in this house for the past two weeks?"

"Who says I've been here?" Damon fired back.

"There has been no reports of random 'animal attacks' in the papers and you haven't been bothering anyone, that I know of. So, that leaves you being cooped-up here."

"Who says I didn't terrorize another town?"

There was a moment of panic at his words, but then Bonnie shook her head, irritated. "Damon, I didn't come here to play this stupid game with you. I really want to know what is wrong with you."

"Take your noble, savior act somewhere else, Bennett," Damon snarled as he roughly shoved her out of his way.

Bonnie stumbled, having to catch herself against the table before she toppled over and crashed to the floor. Once she was righted, her angry gaze searched for the source of her ire. She watched as he strolled casually towards the stairs that led to the second floor. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, turned to give her one last glare, then continued on his way upstairs.

She turned, ready to stomp out of the house and get into her car, but stopped after the first step. Her hands became clenched fists, knuckles turning white, and her teeth were being ground together. Bonnie wanted to storm out of here, but she also wanted to know what was wrong with the idiotic vampire upstairs.

Damon had claimed he thought they were friends. How he considered them friends, Bonnie would never know. This…relationship they had was nothing but two meetings that involved verbal sparring and awkward moments. But somehow, Damon saw something in those two meetings that seemed to make him believe they were friends. Well, Bonnie thought, he concluded we were friends after that first encounter, but that was just to mess with my head.

With a frustrated sigh, the witch turned on her heel and made her way towards the stairs. She raced up them, needing to reach her destination before she lost her nerve. Once she reached the top, she looked left then right. Damon could be anywhere.

Running a hand through her hair, Bonnie hoped it would ease some of her frazzled nerves. She had never experienced this side of Damon before. Sure, Stefan had talked about how…lost he seemed after the necklace that could free Katherine was destroyed, but it was only talk. Seeing it first hand…it scared her somewhat. Damon wasn't suppose to have mental breakdowns like this.

Deciding to test fate, Bonnie turned to her right and walked down the hallway. "Damon, can you please talk to me?" she asked. She knew he would be able to hear her. "I'm…I'm worried about you." Was that not hard to admit, or what? "Look, if you're upset about what I said at the restaurant, you shouldn't be. I was just…talking without thinking." She had actually meant what she said, but if her words caused the town to have a crazy vampire terrorizing them, she would gladly take them back.

Bonnie stopped at the beginning of another set of stairs. These had to lead to the attic. Could Damon be seeking refuge up there? Knowing the only way to discover that answer was to see for herself, Bonnie began her trek up the stairs.

When she reached the top, she found herself entering a bedroom. After taking a quick glance of it, she deduced it had to be Stefan's, simply because she had never seen Damon read a book for as long as she had known him. But her gaze was caught on the figure sitting in the window, staring at the sunset.

"Damon," Bonnie whispered hesitantly.

He growled, "Go away!"

The witch flinched at the tone, but continued her cautious steps towards him. When she was mere feet from him, she stopped. In her mind, this was a safe distance. But she knew realistically that Damon could hurt her if he truly wanted to, no matter the distance.

She decided to try a different tactic. "You told me you thought we were friends back at the restaurant." She noticed with slight happiness that he turned his gaze towards her. "If that's true, then you can tell me what's wrong. Friends help friends with their problems."

Damon snorted. "You don't believe we're friends. And I don't know why I even entertained the idea."

"I'll be honest, it struck me odd that you would call us friends after just one, little encounter, but…"

He quickly interrupted her. "You think I'm calling us friends because of that one, stupid encounter in the woods?" His tone was harsh, which made her flinch.

Bonnie shook her head, not understanding what he was talking about. "What else could you be referring to?"

The vampire's laugh was cold and bitter. Then, with the speed that spread fear through her veins like water, he was standing before her. His eyes were slowly bleeding to black, the purple and blue veins shining against his pale skin. Then, she watched with morbid fascination as his fangs slowly appeared from his gums. The image of her blood coating those fangs and his chin, his smile wide, flashed through her mind.

When he spoke, his words were coated with the same coldness of his laugh. "I had actually entertained the notion that we were friends way before that inconsequential meeting in the woods."

Bonnie shook her head. "I…I don't…understand." She wanted to berate herself for her voice shaking in utter terror, but she knew there was no way she could possibly sound like her normal, strong self at a time like this.

"Think back, Little Witch," Damon hissed as he began circling her. "Something else more prominent happened between us."

She tried to think of a time when her and the vampire could have connected in a way to make him think they were friends. Going through every memory that she could, Bonnie found nothing that stood out. She didn't really have good memories that included Damon.

"I don't know," Bonnie stated helplessly.

"Yes you do!" Damon roared.

She stepped back out of fear, but felt her anger at being yelled at flame up. "Don't yell at me, okay!" She pushed past him and made her way towards the open window, needing room to breath. "You are acting like that same bastard the night of…" her voice died as the memory struck her like a stone fist in the face.

Before she could stop them, tears began coursing down her cheeks. Turning to face Damon, Bonnie said, "No, Damon Salvatore. You will not make me your newest obsession to ease the guilt of killing Katherine."

"Why not?" he asked as his face slowly morphed into that of a human's once more. "After all, I had to kill her to protect you."

The tears continued to gain momentum, along with Bonnie's anger. "So what? You hate me enough to play mind games with me because I'm the reason Katherine's dead?" She felt a small flare of anger directed towards herself at her foolishness to actually begin to believe that her and Damon could be friends. "Why don't you just get it over with and kill me? End your pathetic misery!" She felt a small pulse of power flood through her veins, singing to her for release. She ignored it. "That was why you were all upset over the fact Stefan wanted you to be his best man at his wedding to Elena. Because the one person you would love to obsess over, to ease that hatred for killing Katherine, is getting married to your brother, the one you blame for all your damn troubles! So you turn to the next logical choice: the reason you had to kill your damn beloved!" Another wave of power, stronger than before, flashed through her system. She still continued to ignore it.

Damon didn't even flinch at her harsh words. "Seems as if you have everything figured out."

Bonnie balled her hands into fists at her sides, but desperately wished to punch that emotionless mask off of the vampire's face. "My words about Stefan at the restaurant had no effect, huh? You're just going to write your brother off?"

He remained silent.

Bonnie felt a small piece of relief. It seemed her words did have some effect on him. "Katherine was a bitch, Damon." His eyes narrowed at her words. "She used you and your brother, hoping to fulfill some twisted fantasy of hers. She is the one that deserved your anger, not Stefan." Wiping away some of the tears that had fallen, Bonnie began laughing without humor. "And this stupid obsession with Elena because she looks like Katherine…you're smarter than that, Damon. You know she would have been nothing like Katherine. So you set yourself up for that fall all on your own." She turned to stare out the window once more, intently focused on the tree standing near the window. "And I won't tell you I'm sorry I got to live and Katherine didn't because I enjoy living. I enjoy seeing my dad every morning before he goes to work. I enjoy talking to Elena and Caroline about stupid girl things. I even enjoy gaining better control of my powers." Turning back to face him, Bonnie could only shrug. "I enjoy life, Damon. I can't apologize for that."

He still continued to stare at her.

Bonnie shook her head. "When you saved me from Katherine that night, I thought it connected us. You were the reason I was alive and I would owe you for as long as that life was still inside of me. I even entertained the notion that we could be friends." She wiped at her eyes, wishing her tears would stop. "But when Elena told me you had left town, I knew that notion was stupid. We would never be friends. I thought you hated me. But then, you show up out of nowhere at old Fell's Church and…and we have this moment where a piece, albeit miniscule, of ourselves was revealed to the other. It confused the hell out of me, Damon, because I had settled on the idea of you hating me. Then, you randomly appear at the restaurant where I work and we have another moment like the one in the woods." She fought past the large lump in her throat, needing to get this out. Her emotions were all over the place and her powers were increasing in the desire to be displayed. "That idea that we could be friends slowly crept back up on me, no matter how hard I tried fighting it. But then, you tell me it's all nothing but a mind game to you. Nothing but a way to ease the depression that is gnawing at you because of Katherine's death and the anger that Stefan ends up with the girl."

Damon frowned. "That's how it started…"

"Don't!" Bonnie snapped, quickly turning to face the tree once more. She didn't want to hear anymore of his lies. "I am done playing this game with you. Don't worry about me bugging you to go to Stefan's wedding and try to make amends with him. And don't worry about me trying to speak to you if we ever cross paths again. I get it now, Damon Salvatore, no one will come to mean as much to you as that bitch, Katherine."

The tree outside erupted into flames.

Bonnie felt the power erupt from her veins and turn her anger onto the nearest object, but found she didn't care. She was emotionally exhausted. Turning around, she moved around a surprised Damon and rushed down the stairs.

He made no move to stop her.

Once she was outside, she looked once more at the tree and the flames instantly disappeared. It didn't deserve her rage. Fighting back her urge to look at the open window at the top of the mansion, Bonnie climbed into her car and drove away.

On the drive to her house, Bonnie realized with a start that her heart ached. Strangely enough, she was deeply affected by the betrayal of Damon. She had believed it would only been a small sting, something that lasted for an hour or two. But this, this ache that seemed to rip at her insides, would last longer. It would consume her for the rest of the day.