Hey y'all! Summer 16 has officially started! Let's celebrate with a new chapter.

The buzzing in Damon's lips distracted him from the fluttering in hiss belly as he stared into Bonnie's wide green eyes, then her lips, then back to her eyes. He could feel her- really feel her- deep in his chest, on the balls of his feet, in the marrow of his bones.

She was heavy and thick, like sap dripping down the bark of an old tree, except he was the tree and the sap was the blood that flowed through him. He was always helplessly wading through it whenever he was in Bonnie's presence.

Tonight, it coursed through him heady and heated, boiling inside him all because of one kiss. That one kiss that grew a sweet tooth in his mouth and unleashed a craving he could not control. It created an addiction to which he would never recover.

He kissed her again before it was too late. He gently took hold of her chilled face with both hands, closed his eyes, and wrapped Bonnie's lips up into the yearning warmth of his own.

He was immune to the biting cold when he was attached to her. She was the flame reducing him to sugary syrup and each caress from her soft lips tapped his chest for more sap to the point of overflow.

He loved her.

Oh, how he loved her. Her wit. Her beautiful, crooked face. Her empathy, her grace, her stubbornness. How could he love someone so much, he wondered as she placed dizzying kisses along his jaw and cheeks.

How could she draw so much love from him so effortlessly, so efficiently, that Damon began to find it impossible to be…

Without her.

He had used a comforting kiss to her cheek to let her know she would not go from this world without someone thinking something was amiss, but now he was a man cursed with a final countdown. In the end, his sweet tooth would cause so many cavities, and he was not sure a root canal would fix the pain of it.

Damon softly pecked Bonnie's lips for the last time and another peck to the tip of her nose. She sighed quietly and buried her face in his chest, clinging to the back of his jacket. Damon committed the moment to his memory, the embracing "best friends" forever immortalized.

"Damon," Stefan called from his spot on the couch as his brother walked into the Lockwood mansion.

Damon ambled into the study room frowning and didn't even look at Stefan.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asked. He placed a thin leather bookmark inside of the novel he was reading before giving Damon his full attention.

"I think," Damon started, "that I have to go."

"Go where?"

"To Elena."

"Okay…?" Stefan said slowly. A silence flitted between the two and Damon didn't explain any further. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm going to coffin myself, Stefan," Damon answered, finally looking at his younger brother.

Stefan's eyes widened dramatically. "Why?"

Damon shook his head and dropped to a seat like a sack of rocks. "I have to. I can't…"

"Damon, whatever happened, we can fix it. You don't have to disappear."

Damon let his head fall back on the sitting chair. "This can't be fixed, Stefan."

"Maybe if you just told me what's wrong-"

Damon promptly stood back on his feet, glaring at Stefan as if his concern offended him. "You can't help me, Stefan. And you can't convince me not to leave."

Stefan's brow became heavier, if it was possible, and his mouth soured. He lifted himself off the couch with nimble ease to stand in front of the black haired Salvatore. "Don't do this."

"I have to."

"You've said that already, but haven't explained why. Why can't you just tell me? You don't think I'd understand?"

"No, Stefan, I know you'd understand far too well. But I'm not in the mood for a lecture, or some brotherly heart to heart tonight. I've got a coffin to catch."

"You're trying to do this tonight?" Stefan exclaimed.

"Not trying- doing."

They stared face to face, sizing each other up- Stefan trying to find an inkling of reason for his brother's sudden wish to mummify, and Damon searching for some sort of resignation from Stefan.

"You can't be without Elena that badly?"

Damon didn't answer. He cracked his knuckles distractedly, looking beyond Stefan to the study wall.

"What does Bonnie think about this?" Stefan threw at him.

Damon flinched. "What you'd expect from a judge-y little witch," he lied and rolled his eyes for emphasis.

"You haven't even told her."

If only Stefan didn't know his so well. Maybe he should not have come to say goodbye to him either. Realization lit up Stefan's eyes followed closely by shock.

"Damon…" Stefan started.

"Don't," Damon hissed through gritted teeth, trying to stop it.

Stefan hesitated, but continued anyways. He took a step closer to Damon as if proximity could convince him from making this mistake. "You don't have to run away," Stefan whispered conspiratorially. "It doesn't have to be this way."

"That, dear brother, is where you're wrong."

Another silence. Disappointment marred Stefan's face. "You will regret this, brother."

Damon smirked, a touch of sadness twisting it awkwardly on his otherwise perfect face. "Famous last words."

He pulled Stefan into a hug and they felt like brothers again, before the insanity Katherine brought into their lives tore them apart. He clapped him on the shoulder when he pulled away. "I'll be seeing you. Try not to get staked while I'm gone."

Stefan frowned harder and watched silently as Damon walked to the door. He stopped at the doorway and without looking back said, "Take care of her. Keep her safe."

Stefan folded his arms tightly. "I wish you would take your own advice."

"I'm asking for a favor."

"And I'm asking you not to leave. But you won't listen."

"I guess that's why you're the 'good Salvatore'. Goodbye, Saint Stefan."

And with that, he was gone.

All you need is a taste and it will hurt.

xoxoxoxo