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Happy reading!
It was already late at night when Bonnie and Damon were finally on their way back home. Bonnie watched the vampire quietly out of the corner of her eye while he was driving the car and was still amazed at how much fun she had had with him at the wedding.
"I think I need to explain a lot to my father tomorrow. After Martha has talked to him he was watching us, especially you." Bonnie said.
"Yes, or we skip the whole explanations and make it official. We're going to spent a lot of time together anyway." Damon joked.
Bonnie rolled her eyes and reached out for her purse.
"Elena tried to call me a couple of times." Bonnie announced when she pulled out her cellphone.
Damon was immediately alarmed and looked at his own phone.
"Three missed calls." he said.
"You told them, where we went, right?" Bonnie asked while dialing her best friend's number.
"Are you kidding me? I could lose my bad reputation by letting anyone know that I actually did you a favor today. I told Stefan that we would meet in order to practice and to do some research."
"You're going to lose your reputation anyway since you're going to save and protect the town. So you better get used to being a good guy." Bonnie told him seriously.
"Damn it, Elena isn't answering her phone." she added worried.
Damon was still a little bit overwhelmed by her comment about him being a good guy but eventually had to admit to himself that she was right. However he wasn't sure whether he liked it or not.
When he finally pulled up at the driveway of Bonnie's house they spotted Elena and Stefan sitting on the steps of the porch.
"Finally, we've already tried to call you." Elena stated and got up.
"I thought you were practicing." Stefan said and eyed his brother and Bonnie suspiciously.
"We were." Damon replied.
"That's why you're all dressed up?" Stefan asked back.
"Well, there is this one spell that requires that the witch and the vampire are dressed up or it won't work." Damon said.
"And did it work?" Stefan inquired seriously having decided to play along.
"Yeah, but we decided to do without that spell since there's probably going to be only the ghost of a chance that those vampires are going to wear suits and ties." Damon replied smoothly.
"Let's talk about it later. What happened?" Bonnie eventually asked.
"First off, we met Frederick at the Grill where he addressed Elena as Katherine. I didn't see him, but according to Elena's description it had to be him. But what I did see were four other vampires that had been locked up in the tomb." Stefan told them.
"And what else?" Damon inquired.
"Alaric Saltzman called us. Isobel showed up and asked him to arrange a meeting with me." Elena said looking at Damon.
Ever since she had learned that her mother had approached the older Salvatore to ask him to turn her her anger toward him had subsided. Alaric knew the truth about that fateful night now, too, but he was still having a hard time to accept that he hadn't be able to make his wife happy. After Elena and Stefan had told him about Bonnie's and Damon's roles in the whole matter he had eventually dismissed his intention to kill Damon and even offered his help.
"Great, another vampire in town." Damon muttered.
"You don't have to meet her, you don't owe her anything. She was the one who left." he added.
"There is no choice, she threatened to go on a killing spree in Mystic Falls." Elena replied.
"Okay, let that history teacher arrange a meeting but we're going to stay nearby. And Bonnie and me are going to practice some magic and fighting tactics tomorrow." Damon suggested and the others agreed with him.
When Bonnie showed up at the boarding house the next day she wasn't nervous anymore. Not even when she found out that she would be alone with Damon as Stefan and Elena were meeting Alaric Saltzman.
"Okay, let's start." Damon said when they entered the living room.
"Do you want me to tell you about the spells before I try them?"
"No, surprise me." he grinned.
Bonnie just nodded and put her books on the table. She took a deep breath and eventually focused on the vampire. Damon looked expectantly at her but nothing happened.
"What exactly are you trying? Staring me to death?" he teased her.
But all of a sudden he felt an immense invisible force and found himself flying through the air until he crashed into a wall and slid down to the floor. Bonnie gasped and immediately hurried over to him.
"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"
"Yes, but that was the whole plan, wasn't it? Wow, that was great." he exclaimed.
Bonnie laughed about his enthusiasm and helped him to stand up.
"Okay, try another one."
"This is really going to hurt, if it's works." Bonnie warned him.
"You have to be a lot more confident. Don't say if. You're a Bennett, you're powerful, it will work." Damon assured her and reached out to give her hand a squeeze.
Bonnie was really touched by the fact that Damon was encouraging her in this way and felt instantly stronger. Again she focused on Damon and the next moment he was holding his head and moaned in pain. Bonnie stopped when she felt him getting weaker and looked dumbfounded at him.
"What?" Damon asked when he noticed her glances after he had recovered.
"I'm just wondering what else Emily's spell has up its sleeve for us. I could feel that you were getting weaker."
"Honestly, I'm not surprised anymore. I wouldn't even be surprised if we could suddenly read each others minds."
"The mere thought of that scares me. And I don't know what's more frightening, the thought of you invading my mind or the thought of being able to read yours." Bonnie replied dryly.
"Ouch, that really hurt my feelings." Damon said with feigned hurt.
"You're lying, I would have felt that." Bonnie replied grinning whereupon Damon chuckled.
They continued the practice for quite some time until both of them were exhausted and needed a break.
When Bonnie woke up she was still tired but also disoriented. Scanning the surroundings she realized that she was still in the Salvatore mansion and that she was lying on the couch next to the fireplace. She remembered that Damon and her had decided to take a break during which she must have fallen asleep. The blanket that covered her hadn't been there before and she had to smile at the thought that Damon had tucked her in. Sitting up she spotted the vampire in question lying fast asleep on the other couch. He was lying on his stomach with his head resting on his right forearm whereas his other arm was dangling over the edge of the couch. Bonnie couldn't help herself but to notice the peaceful expression on his face. Usually his features were hardened probably in order not to show any feelings, but now he looked relaxed and simply beautiful. By now the young witch was completely convinced that there was still a lot of good inside of him and also that his good side was taking over. And in spite of everything that had happened in the past she found herself liking the good Damon. She startled when he stirred but he didn't wake up. Assuming that he must be really worn out because of all the spells that she had cast on him she walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Damon, I'm going home now." she whispered into his ear.
The vampire slowly opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Okay, just give me a minute." he replied bleary and attempted to turn around and sit up.
"No, go back to sleep." she said with her hand still resting on his shoulder.
"You shouldn't go alone." Damon objected and eventually sat up.
They were still in the living room when the front door opened and Elena and Stefan entered the house returning from their meeting with the history teacher.
"Hey, how did it go?" Bonnie asked when the couple appeared in the doorway.
"Mr Saltzman called Isobel and she agreed to a meeting at the Grill on Tuesday." Elena told them.
Bonnie and Damon nodded and updated them about the status of their training.
"I need to go hunting." Stefan stated and was satisfied about their progress.
"Are you staying?" he asked his girlfriend.
Elena nodded and looked at Bonnie. "What about you? I think a girl-talk is long overdue."
"I guess you're right, but I'm really tired and Damon was about to take me home." Bonnie answered.
"Tomorrow, I promise." she added and hugged her best friend.
Bonnie, Damon and Stefan left the house together but whereas Bonnie and Damon headed for the car, Stefan ran straight into the woods. They had been driving only for a couple of minutes when Damon suddenly stopped the car so abruptly that the tires squealed.
"Are you still up for some magic?" he asked Bonnie.
The young witch nodded but was frightened. The undertone that she had detected in Damon's voice told her, that he wasn't talking about another training session. Within the fraction of a second he stood at the passenger's door, opened it and picked her up.
"Hold on tight, we need to hurry." he said and sped into the woods.
Although she knew that he would never let her fall she leeched on to him with her arms around his neck and her face buried into his chest. She didn't dare to look up until Damon stopped and put her down. When she turned around she spotted Stefan lying on the ground and Frederick and six other vampires were standing around him.
"Leave him alone." Damon growled.
"Oh look, the other Salvatore and the Bennett witch. Seems to be our lucky day." Frederick exclaimed.
"If you consider your day of death as lucky day, you're right." Damon sneered and glanced at his younger brother who was still out cold.
"Let's see, we are seven vampires versus one vampire and a human. It's definitely not your lucky day." Frederick replied.
Damon looked at Bonnie who nodded and lunged at Frederick. While he was fighting with Frederick and two other vampire at the same time, Bonnie managed to bring the other four down by causing them some agonizing headaches. She tried to use that power against a fifth vampire but found herself being too weak to do so. By now Damon was still fighting with Frederick but had already killed the other two vampires. He stabbed Frederick with a branch aiming for his heart but the other vampire dodged it so that the piece of wood only pierced his lung. Damon made use of the fact that the older vampire was weakened for a moment and staked the other four with another branch knowing that Bonnie wouldn't be able to keep up the spell that caused them the pain any longer. He had barely finished off the last one when Frederick was already back on his feet. But Bonnie had regained some of her strength as well and now it was Frederick's turn to moan in pain. Damon grabbed his head and forced him to look at him.
"Where are you hiding and how many of you are there?" he asked.
"Spill it out already, I'm not renowned for being patient." Damon yelled and plunged another branch into his enemy when the other vampire didn't answer.
"A farmhouse north of Mystic Falls. There are ten of us." Frederick panted through gritted teeth.
"I really appreciate that you cooperated but I'm afraid I still have to kill you." Damon announced, pulled the branch out of him and used it again to pierce his heart.
"Are you okay." he asked Bonnie who was still panting.
When she nodded he walked over to his brother who was just about to wake up. Damon detected some blood stains on Stefan's shirt but the wound was already healed.
"Have you already fed?" Damon asked and helped him to sit up.
Stefan shook his head and glanced weakly at him.
"Okay, let's get back to the car, I'll drive Bonnie home and then I'll help you to get some dinner." Damon said.
He had to support Stefan on their way back to the car and immediately took him back into the woods once Bonnie had safely entered her house.
"Squirrel or rabbit?" Damon joked when he lowered Stefan on a log.
Stefan rolled with his eyes but was really grateful that Damon was doing that for him, especially since he knew how much Damon his way of living and feeding actually disdained. He watched him disappearing into the woods and for the first time in centuries he could feel a spark of the caring brotherly relationship that they had once had.