While you were gone, time passed like you wouldn't believe

Chapter Two

Light.

Light shoving its way behind her eyelids like she's facing the sun head-on. The sheets are too cool against her skin, too stiff and instantly Bonnie knows that she is not at home in her own bed.

Where am I? If only she could open her eyes. It's hard. Everything feels heavy.

Her body is not her own. It feels alien.

Bonnie wishes she could make her body work. She tries to make her fingers move. They do, but the movement is awkward with disuse.

Success. Little success.

She tries to open her eyes again.

She sees tiles on the ceiling.

Damon was not paying close attention as he's wont to do. He misses the movement. He misses Bonnie rapt blinking. He wasn't staring at her face.

"Where am I?" Bonnie croaks, her throat dry.

The question startles Damon like no other action can. He rises so quickly from his chair that it topples over.

Stefan appears in the doorway, no doubt hearing the commotion. One look at the confused woman on the bed sends Stefan back the way he came, shouting for a doctor.

Faces rush into the room. Faces she knows. Faces that she can put names to, unlike the dark haired man who was sitting near her bed, or the brown haired man who was just in her doorway.

"Oh my God! Bonnie..." Elena doesn't finish her statement. Her throat is too clogged with tears. Her hand is cool and clammy in Bonnie's own.

Mr. Bennett brushes the hair out of Bonnie's face, lightly presses a kiss to her forehead. He's not crying, not now, but he looks like he has been. They all look like they have been.

Bonnie tries to rise her upper body but her father insists she stay right were she lies.

A doctor comes in soon after. A flashlight is shone in Bonnie's eyes. She's lightly poked and prodded in the most clinical way.

Bonnie can't help looking at the dark haired man in the corner of her room. Shouldn't she know who he is too? Shouldn't she be able to recall his name?

"I would like it if I could speak with Bonnie and her father privately," The middle-aged, graying doctor says.

"I'm staying." Elena asserts, as if there will be no argument on the matter.

"Me too." Jeremy fiercely declares.

Caroline is silent, but she makes it clear she's not moving one bit.

Stefan joins his brother in the corner. Damon won't look at his brother. He just stares at Bonnie.

The doctor looks to Mr. Bennett for some judgment, some momentum to get these people who all but camped out outside of this room for days and days to leave.

"They can stay," Mr. Bennett says, resolutely.

"Okay," The doctor responds with a nod of his head. He turns to the patient in question.

"I'm going to ask you a few question, and I want you to answer them as sure at you can. What is your name?"

Bonnie doesn't think. Nothing second nature requires thinking, "My name is Bonnie Bennett."

"Okay. Who's the President of the United States?"

"Barack Obama." Bonnie wishes the questions were harder, something like who is the president of Nicaragua.

"What day is it, Bonnie?"

Bonnie arches an eyebrow, like that's the most ridiculous question she ever heard. "It's April 23."

"Did you say April?" The doctor responds, frowning a little.

"Yes," Bonnie responds confidently.

"Bonnie, what year is it?"

Bonnie doesn't think too long. She knows exactly, "It's 2009."

The doctor leans back. He makes note of something on paper, and motions for Mr. Bennett to follow him outside.

Her father squeezes her hand and there is a moment of sheer panic within Bonnie. Something is wrong.

The look on her friends faces tell her that something is really, really, wrong.

Bonnie should focus. She should focus but she wants to know who those guys in the corner are. She wants to know why they look at her so strangely.

"Bonnie, do you know who I am?" Elena asks like she can't resist, like she can't keep the words from tumbling out of her mouth.

"You're Elena Gilbert. My best friend."

Something like relief and hope flashes on Elena's face.

Caroline steps closer to the bed. "And who am I?"

"Caroline Forbes. My other mejor amigo." It's an inside joke. From that semester when they all took Spanish class together. Mejor amigo para siempre - Best friends forever.

"Who am I?" Jeremy asks from the foot of her bed.

"You're Jeremy Gilbert. Elena's little brother."

Jeremy starts like he wants to say more. He's more than Elena's little brother.

Stefan can't seem to wait his turn any longer. "Do you know who I am?"

Bonnie opens her mouth to tell him that, yes, she knows who he is. But there's a blank. A large gap.

"I..," Bonnie begins but doesn't finish.

"Way to go, little brother. I always knew you would be forgettable to someone," Damon quips.

Mr. Bennett and the doctor re-enter the room. Bonnie's father approaches the bed slowly. The doctor stands within Bonnie's eyesight.

"Bonnie, you were in a car accident, three and a half weeks ago. You had extensive internal damage: ruptured spleen, broken pelvis, some brain swelling. Miraculously, you have healed from you injuries in such a short time. You are a very strong young woman, Ms. Bennett." The doctor smiles at her them, seemingly pleased with Bonnie's rapid return to health.

"What concerns us now," the doctor continued, "is that you seem to be experiencing memory loss. You stated that the year was 2009. It is currently the year 2011. And it's February. I suspect that because of your injuries there is some damage to the temporal lobe of the brain. I would like to run some tests, if that is alright with you."

"I guess it's alright. Dad?" Bonnie suddenly implored. She needs him to make this decision for her because right now she can't think. She can't think like she used to and that scares her to no end.

"Do what you have to do," Mr. Bennett responds with some finality.

"Okay. I'll order an MRI, and someone will be along shortly to take you to Radiology."

Everyone around her blinked slowly as the doctor left. They seemed happy.

They seemed happy but cautious.

It's the big wait for the other shoe to drop.


What Bonnie has discovered:

Her Grandmother died of heart failure.

Caroline was Ms. Mystic Falls.

Jeremy has gotten taller and he's not stifled by drugs and/or depression. He can smile.

Tyler has disappeared.

Elena is not with Matt.

Elena is in love with Stefan Salvatore.

Stefan Salvatore has a brother named Damon Salvatore.

Bonnie feels like she can do things that others can't do.

What Bonnie knows:

Bonnie used to like French fries with ketchup. Now she likes French fries with ketchup and a hint of mustard.

Bonnie is sick of flashcards that tell her things that she already knows.

Bonnie trusts Stefan Salvatore but it feels like death whenever he's near her.

Damon Salvatore is unbelievably sad when no one is looking.


Retrograde amnesia is like losing your car keys over and over again.

"I miss the hospital. Sometimes." Bonnie declares out of the blue.

Elena stops her actions, leaving clothes strewn all over Bonnie's bed room. "Don't say things like that."

Spring cleaning at its best.

Bonnie thought that if she could clean up her room, if she could look at all of her things, she'd remember.

But she doesn't.

She's tired of everyone filling in the blanks for her.

Everyone's so worried about her. Her father, her friends, even Jeremy. Jeremy, with his searching brown eyes, keeps looking at her as if she should remember something important where he's concerned.

"I know you are tired Bonnie but you can't give up."

"I just feel like I should know things that I don't know. I look at your boyfriend and I feel like I should know these important things about him. Worse, I look at Caroline and I feel the same way. Caroline is so different now and I don't know what to make of it."

"Different how?" Elena knows the difference but if Bonnie can remember for herself then that's a step forward.

Or a set back.

"It's not a bad kind of different. She just seems confident now, less self -absorbed. Something happened to make Caro grow up and it kills me that I can't remember what it is."


"We have to tell her." Elena can remember the first time she tried to explain all of the crazy things that was happening with her and Stefan. Elena can recall how she had to come clean after the Emily Bennett debacle. Maybe this time she could do it the right way.

Without bloodshed. Without the possession of an ancestor.

"Bad idea." Damon says it like everyone is going to listen to him and follow his orders. He knows there is not a chance in hell where Elena and Stefan are concerned.

Stefan, Elena, and Damon formed a little commune in the living room of the Salvatore residence. Discussing the Bennett witch has become their favorite pastime it seems.

"She is going to find out soon enough anyway, Damon. We might as well make it easier for her." Stefan had this annoying habit of wanting to fix things. Damon sometimes hated him for it.

"And how do you suppose we tell her about? We start talking about vampires, witches and werewolves and I guarantee you she going to be begging her daddy to send her far, far away from us lunatics."

"We have a chance to make things right for Bonnie." Elena was determined to re-make history where Bonnie's concerned.

"Why should she get a do-over? I don't get a do-over. Stefan doesn't get one. Or you, for that matter. I'm still a vampire who wasted my time on psychotic bitch, Stefan's still a sad excuse for a supernatural entity, and you're still going to die when all of this is over. Do what the hell you want. I'm out of here."

Damon exists the same way he entered the room: with anger wrapped around him like a blanket.

"Do you think he's right." What's important to Elena right now is that Stefan is with her on this.

"I think that we should help Bonnie. We should tell her the truth."

Elena smiles a grateful smile and wraps her arms around Stefan's neck, their bodies pressing quick and close together.

What ever happens, they have each other.


Caroline talks so fast and stuffs food her mouth just between breaths.

Bonnie is in awe.

The Mystic Grill is packed with the young and the not so young. Everyone eats and drinks and prays for normalcy.

"Do you remember anything, yet?" Caroline asks without censor.

Bonnie loves this. She loves that Caroline doesn't tip-toe around the obvious.

"Nope. Not a damned thing," Bonnie smiles, surprising herself even.

There is still this excruciating ache in her chest for not remembering the last moments of her Grandmother's life, but Bonnie has this strange feeling that remembering would only make it hurt worse.

"So when are you going to tell me the dark secret your hiding?"

Bonnie's unexpected question causes soda to squirt out of Caroline's mouth. It's funny and disgusting.

"I'm not hiding anything," Caroline says not too convincingly.

"Are you sure?" Bonnie is just jesting at this point. She is sure Caroline wouldn't hide anything from her.

"I'm not supposed to tell you," Caroline allows.

Bonnie is somewhat taken aback. "What can't you tell me?"

"Damon would kill me."

Bonnie spears a look around the Grill, pretending to be conspicuous, "Damon's not here. Spill it."


Damon misses his reporter "girlfriend." She was sexy and bendable and knew all of his secrets. Sure he had to compel her but it was freeing dating someone who didn't run screaming from the room whenever he described what his day had been like.

Damon's awareness spikes the moment Bonnie saddles up next to him at the bar. He doesn't spare her a glance, though. He sips his drink and wonders when it was they stared watering down the product.

He can't even get a decent drink anymore.

"For someone who is a vampire, you sure seem very human."

Damon doesn't start at her words. He's practiced this. He's practiced not having any type of reaction at all to a Bennett witch.

Damon skips the niceties, "Elena told you."

"Nope."

"Stefan?"

"Guess again."

"Caroline," Damon finally settles on, because even as a vampire she can't keep her mouth shut.

"Yep."

Damon decides to throw caution to the wind and chances a look at Bonnie.

She looks perfectly calm. And perfectly amused.

"You don't believe her," Its the only thing Damon to reason. Bonnie thinks it's a big joke, or something.

"No, no. I believe it. She showed me. You know that face where the eyes go all dark and bloodthirsty."

Damon blinks slowly, and blurts out, "What wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you...Shouldn't you be judging the whole damned town by now. Shouldn't you be threatening to kill me and every vampire within walking distance."

"Why would I do that?"

Damon stops thinking because this is too much. It's too much to compute.

"Don't you hate me?" Damon settles on after a few minutes.

"Why would I hate you?

That's as loaded of a question as Damon ever heard.


What Bonnie has discovered:

Caroline is a vampire.

Stefan is a vampire.

Damon is a vampire.

Elena is the doppelganger of a chick named Katherine.

Katherine is also a vampire.

What Bonnie Knows:

Everyone is insane.

Jeremy has a crush on Bonnie a mile wide.

Klaus is going to kill them all.

Bonnie can definitely do things that others can't do.

Bonnie can drink Damon under the table. Or at least attempt to.


"Have you killed people before?" Bonnie asks the question like she really wants to know the answer.

Damon knows better.

Why rock the boat when it works so well.

"Next question." Damon demands.

Bonnie frowns. Damon knows she's going to go on a tirade about honesty and not hiding things and why was everyone treating her like a child. Damon seriously thought that Bonnie's memory loss would make her not so quick to judge.

But it's worst now. Damon is not only expected to act like the proper human that he's not anymore, he's also expected to act like the proper vampire.

Someone died and made Bonnie Bennett boss of them all.

"You aren't going to answer me, are you?"

"Nope. Next question."

"Okay. How long have you been in love with Elena?"

At that precise moment, Damon wanted to kick her out of his house. He doesn't know why he invited her over in the first place. He doesn't know why he's been inviting her over night after night.

It just so he can hear her complain. It's so he can hear her judge.

It just so he doesn't have to be alone.

"What was the question again?"

"How. Long. Have. You Been. In. Love. With. Elena?" Bonnie says it slow and deliberate and the best thing about the question for Damon is that he can watch her mouth move around the words.

"I'm not in love with Elena."

"Bullshit. It's written all over your face. Have you told her yet?"

"Sort of." Damon answers suddenly unsure of himself.

"And what did she say?"

"I didn't give her a chance to respond." He'd rather compel the second love of his life then hear rejection.

"Then how do you know she doesn't feel the same way?"

Damon scoffs and shrugs in one uniform fashion, "She's in love with my brother." It's the first absolute truth in the past 5 minutes.

"You have a point there. I've never seen her that way. Not even with Matt."

Damon changes tactic. "What about you and Gilbert Jr.?"

"That my friend, is a no go."

Damon likes that she called him her friend. He can count the number of friends he has on one hand. two fingers actually. Stefan doesn't count. He's his brother and that is a whole different lovely dysfunction in itself.

"Why is it a no go?"

"He wants someone that he can be devoted to. I'm not that person right now. He wants someone to love. I can't be that person. Whatever happened before my accident, I'm not the same."

"What did happen with you and Indiana Jones?"

Bonnie laughs at the nickname, "Not much, from what I'm told. Jeremy did inform me that we kissed. It was magical but I don't remember it."

Damon considered this. It was obvious that Jeremy wanted to recapture what they had before Bonnie's accident. This bothered Damon, although he couldn't say why. "So, What? You're not attracted to him anymore?"

"It's not that. It's just I don't feel connected to Jeremy like I must have before my accident. My doctor says its normal to go through personality changes. I may not be the same person I was planning to be last year, or even the year before that."

There is a brief moment of silence. Then Bonnie asks out of the blue, "Have you ever done anything bad to me?"

Damon smirks, his mouth very close to forming a full grin. "Describe bad."

"Anything that I'd hate you for, or that I'd kill you for."

"No."

It was a satisfying lie.

"Damon, whenever I'm near you, a part of me tells me to run in the opposite direction. Why is that?"


"You lied to her." Stefan says it like he can't believe it's possible.

Somehow Damon knew that telling his brother would be a mistake. He only meant to tell him that he would be helping Bonnie get a reign over her re-found powers. For some irritating reason he felt like over-sharing.

"It better this way. It won't feel like pulling teeth when ever we ask her to do something for us. We won't have to use Elena as the magic password to get the witch to help us."

"Is that it?"

Damon frowned at the question. "Say what you mean."

"Do you have feelings for her? I mean, you've been spending so much time with her lately and you don't act as if it's a big chore." A part of Stefan would be relieved if Damon cared about Bonnie. Another part, a larger part, would dread it.

Damon scoffs, "Bonnie's in high school."

"So is Caroline. So is Elena for that matter. Age has never stopped you before."

"This conversation is boring." Damon moves to exit the living room.

"Damon, wait."

Damon stops, he turns slower than a vampire should to face his brother."

"This can backfire on all of us."

Damon squints, "Are you scarred Stefan? Scared of a little Bennett witch."