Damon

I had basically just told Saint Stefan to shut up or break a promise, and he was looking at me angrily. I knew he wanted to kill me, but he would just have to listen to one of those how-we-met-and-hooked-up couple stories. It was so awkward for him at that moment that I was nearly tempted to release all the tension in a laugh. Royally pissed, as my Bonnie put it in her thoughts. He looked ready to pounce on any false word, any clue that Bonnie was under my Power's influence. He was the most enraged he had been in… well, two years, I guess.

Jees. Oh, well, some people are just lost causes. Continue…

Elena looked at Bonnie, and was a bit scared, obviously. But I saw that look of wanting to trust, trying to believe that everything was well and we could just visit with each other in peace. But she was fairly disappointed that that was a far-off option at the moment. She looked at my brother for a quick second, and then right at me. Her eyes were pleading for me to prove myself right.

I looked at Bonnie, smiled quickly, and then turned back to the family reunion from Hell. I just started speaking again from where I had left off just a couple of seconds earlier.

"I am changed; a different Damon Salvatore. And for you skeptics, it's simply because I'm finally with my true soul mate." I looked to Bonnie, and I felt her grip around my waist tighten for a moment as a sign of love. Just a reminder that she was right behind me on everything I said. But we had to get our little story straight with them, and quick. I continued to watch her, quite affectionately I would say, as I continued speaking. It's good for them to see the two of us together like this, and how we felt for each other.

"We met about a month ago, at a club down the street," I mused in a low tone. "We talked, we danced, and it was epic. She was a bit scared of me then, but I didn't bring up anything vampire-ish. She thought I was safe enough to walk her home when I asked if I could. But she never invited me in. Smart move, cara," I whispered the last part loud enough for them to hear, but it was in a joking tone. I winked at her, and she giggled sweetly, blushing that beautifully sweet red on her cheeks.

"I waited a bit to see her again, and found her a few days later after her class. We just hung out, as simple as it may sound, and I asked her out. She said yes and we had a date night at her place at the end of that week.

"Of course, she had to let me in for that, and in my gratitude I made lasagna," I continues, but was interrupted.

"He makes a mean lasagna, guys," my cara giggled sweetly.

"Yes, and so we ate and talked into the night. She fell asleep with me still there – on the couch; we were talking. So put I picked her up and placed her on her bed. Just as I was leaving, I think, was the moment I realized I loved her." Bonnie gasped a bit and blushed even more, smiling at me even wider. Her teeth were now showing, which meant she was pretty much overjoyed. I had succeeded – would I ever fail her?

"He moved in a week ago. When my classes end next week, we'll be staying here for the summer, we think, because this apartment is not really school property, and we can stay. We're not going all the way home just yet," Bonnie cleared up, casually jumping in. By the sweet way she said I lived with her, I knew Stefan could tell that we hadn't done anything yet. But we would be sleeping in the same bed from now on. So put more emphasis on the yet.

Bonnie

I had been looking at Damon the whole time we had been talking. He had been looking at me too. We had been staring into each other's eyes, so deeply. We could read each other – his shield was definitely down, and if I had one, it was too. He was a bit uncomfortable with Stefan and Elena here when we were so happy and in sync, but knew it was good for them to see us together – wait, Stefan and Elena? Holy, I had completely forgotten about them! I blushed deeply, and Damon turned back to our unexpected guests. I gripped him harder, and he pulled me closer into his side. It just made me feel safer before turning back to my old friends.

Their expressions were fairly blank, as if they were processing things. Elena was staring at Damon wonderingly, and she looked a bit sad – maybe that he had finally gotten over her. And that I had been the one to break him out of his barriers and find the real him. Elena was used to guys being all over her, and everything being all about her. And I knew, of course, that part of her had loved him, even though she was engaged to his brother.

Stefan was staring intently at his brother, obviously sending him some mental message. Damon was looking right back at him, and they were obviously having some silent conversation we each other. They didn't want Elena and I to hear what they were saying. If it made Stefan accept the situation, I was all for it, but I still really wanted to know what they were talking about. I was very connected to Damon, so was it possible that I could listen in…? I watched Damon and tried to sink right into him, as if we were one.

Stefan:: 'What's the catch? She hasn't been bitten, and she's obviously still a virgin. Damon, please, I'm lost. What are you possibly getting out of this?'

Damon:: 'Little brother, are you ever going to give me a chance? I love her; she loves me back. Can't you see? You must be deaf and blind, you idiot.'

Stefan:: 'What is it with you and sarcasm? This is serious, Damon. She's a person. You have no idea what this will do to her, you…'

Damon:: 'Stefan! Shut up. It's your older brother here, finally finding real love after, like, half a century? That's a really long time to be alone, and I'm sure you know that. I'm going to spend the rest of forever with her, if she'll let me. Don't you under stand that I love her? Katherine doesn't compare. Elena comes nowhere close. I couldn't ever enjoy feeding form another as much again, and once I get my first sip of her when she's ready… I'm a different man. Don't you see that? Stefan, you idiot… I love her, god damn it!'

Stefan was stunned silent. First off, Damon hadn't called him his name in a long time, and he had just called him that twice. And Damon's pleading for acceptance and believe was actually honest. Stefan could find no fault in Damon's emotions toward Bonnie – he loved her so intensely and purely.

And how I, Bonnie McCullough, knew all this about what Stefan was thinking… I have no clue. Being so linked to Damon, and with Damon's Power, he could probably see everything I could. Was I possibly looking through Damon's eyes right into Stefan?

Damon:: 'Yes.'

Oh, all right then, I thought. I was a bit embarrassed that Damon knew I had been eavesdropping, and could hear me now. Stefan also knew I'd heard their exchange, as I felt his gaze on me. I looked up to them both, smiling sheepishly. I giggled nervously, and saw Stefan smile at me. It was a bit reluctant, as if he was still skeptical, but right now, he was fairly convinced. We better not blow that.

Elena cleared her throat, because now that she was just your average human, she had no clue that we had been having a silent exchange without her. She obviously pouting, a bit ticked of, still looking at Damon sadly. What was that feeling I felt… possessiveness? Jealousy? Damon was mine, not hers. But he'd once loved her, hadn't me? Oh yeah. But Damon's mine now; of course he is. Silly me.

Damon and Stefan looked to Elena now too. Her arms were crossed across her chest, and now she looked up at me. She knew that I was part of what had been going on with out her. She blatantly frowned, leaned on one foot, and gave me her best what-the-hell look. It hadn't changed one bit since high school, but even then, she only did that to me when she was really annoyed or pissed or something. That was very rare.

"Nothing, nothing," I groaned, rolling my eyes at her. My voice dripped in sarcasm, which even though it wasn't normal for me, felt natural right then. "Nothing going on here. Come on, popcorn and a movie, the couch is all set up. Who needs sleep?" I pulled Damon behind me, walking into the living area. I motioned for them to follow, and they did.

Damon was setting up the DVD as I fetched the popcorn back for the kitchen. Elena and Stefan were sitting atop the fold out couch-bed thing, waiting patiently for us hosts to set up everything. I saw on my way back with the popcorn as Stefan and Elena scrutinized Damon from behind. It seemed very judgmental, their gazes intent on him as he stood and turned around with my remote in hand. I wondered casually how he easily knew how my TV worked as I set the snack down on the coffee table.

Damon sat down casually in the loveseat, as if he did all the time. I curled myself up in his lap, leaning lovingly against his chest. He wrapped one arm around me as he used the remote to start the movie.

"Wait, what exactly are we watching, guys?" Elena asked, and I could tell she had steamed down from her earlier anger. She was leaning her head on Stefan's shoulder, staring at the blue TV screen. I thought she was intentionally avoiding looking at Damon and I. But Stefan looked over to us, curious for an answer. He obviously couldn't tell form Damon's or my mind – Damon must've been hiding it or something. Either that or Stefan's Powers were really waning down.

"Why, Interview With a Vampire, Miss Elena. Our favorite," Damon responded, chuckling slightly as the movie started. I wrapped my arms around him inside of his leather jacket, breathing in his scent. It was going to be exceptionally difficult to watch this movie with such a huge distraction underneath me.

I leaned my head into the crook of Damon's neck, and his head leaned down sweetly on top of mine. I may have been on his lap, but he was much taller than me anyways. I felt his breathing, which was sending shockwaves down my spine. I could only hear his slight movements as the movie started – in fact, I really didn't know what was going on. My mind was so fogged up by Damon's presence.

His head leaned down and I felt his lips in my hair, resting gently on my scalp for a quick second. I felt my back arch a bit at this subtle, sweet couple-like gesture. This was totally real; this was Damon. I couldn't breathe. I could think. I couldn't process one thing on the TV screen in front of me. My mind and body and heart and soul were all screaming Damon. I was sure he knew what he was doing to me.

He wrapped his other arm around me now, both of them trapping me closer to him. I didn't argue. I turned my head towards him, closing my eyes and leaning my temple against his collarbone. If Stefan and Elena were awake and paying attention to the world around them, they would think I was just tired. But all my senses were on hyper-drive, screaming one word into my head so loudly I was sure the voices would give me a headache if I didn't get what I wanted eventually. Damon. Damon.

Why did Stefan and Elena have to pick our first night to surprise visit us. Simply tomorrow would have been so much better; next week would have made me the happiest girl in Virginia. If they hadn't interrupted us… what would we be doing right now? I really wanted to find out.

I leaned my head up towards Damon's neck and kissed it lightly. "Are they awake?" I whispered in my best attempt at a seductive tone.

"They haven't slept in 24 hours getting here. They won't be up until noon tomorrow," Damon said back, a bit louder than I had spoken. He sounded very pleased with what he'd said.

"So, what do you want to do now, then? It's just like we're alone," I asked him, kissing his neck again, but very slowly. I kissed my way up to his jaw, until I could finally look into his eyes. In the light of the TV screen, they looked solid black. And with his mouth slightly open, I could his canines slowly getting lengthening.

His mouth was suddenly roughly down on mine. His intensity was on high as his lips took mine. I kissed him back hungrily, greedily trying to take control of it. I felt him pick me up bridal style, never parting our needy lips as he speedily brought me over to my bed. He laid me down there, finally breaking our lips apart. They immediately felt swollen, cold, and empty. Damon watched me intently, with a loving yet hunting smile on his lips. He was hungry for both my blood and my body.

Damon slowly crawled on top of my, his legs and hips in between mine. He lay himself lightly down on top of me, careful not to put all his weight on me. It seemed like centuries of teasing until our faces were finally inches apart, our bodies touching. His hands rested on each side of my head, pressing down and holding his face back so he could stare into my eyes. His were the deepest black, shining with the reflection of my own. I could see into his soul, past his deepest, darkest barriers and into the real Damon. The man I loved.

"I love you," I whispered to him.

"I love you," he whispered back, before looking down at my lips and bringing his down to mine once again that night.

Damon

The moment our lips met, something exploded in each of us. There was no restraint as she immediately wrapped her legs around my hips. She threw her hands into my hair, latching on so tightly I was sure she would never break away her hold on me. Her warm lips were movingly ravenously against my own. Her tongue felt amazing on my teeth, and her erratic breathing was rubbing off on me. She was driving me wild, and I couldn't contain myself.

One of my hands was on the back of her neck, pulling her face and upper body up even closer to me. My other hand was wrapped around her back, pulling her back slightly off of the bed. Her legs seemed to somehow get even tighter around my hips, sending my pleasure off the edge. And we kissed for what seemed like years.

But for some reason, I had to stop us. Something came over me, that I didn't want my little brother and his fiancée in the other room when I made Bonnie mine. That didn't want her ring finger to be bare when I made love to her. Shit, I was getting all sentimental over this. I was so deeply in love with her already; maybe I've just loved her all along, from when we'd first kissed or last kissed back in Fell's Church 2 years ago… I didn't know. All I knew was that when I pulled back from the kiss, il mio piccolo uccello was laying underneath me with her lips in a pout. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at me as I stared smiling at her. My cara was so adorable when she was sad.

"What? Damon?" she murmured, confusedly staring up into my eyes. She had no intention of stopping, but if we went to far, I knew we would both regret it in the morning.

"My brother and your best friend are in the other room sleeping. I think we should catch some sleep, too, cara," I whispered pleasantly to her. I leaned down and kissed her forehead chastely. I felt her sigh and nod her head, but she didn't remove her arms or legs from around me. This might be difficult.

"Why? They'll sleep till noon tomorrow, so we can do whatever we want until then," Bonnie suggested, leaning her face up towards mine. She tried to close the distance between our lips, but even though it was all I wanted, I restrained myself.

"They're in the other room, Bonnie. Elena and Stefan. We won't have alone time for a while after this. We really should wait; you'll regret it in the morning anyway. Cara, please listen?" I pleaded with her to see my reasoning. Her eyes were disappointed, but she could see that she really didn't want to push me any farther.

She reluctantly untangled herself from me, and stood us up beside her bed. She blushed at me, smiled in understanding, and skipped off to her closet to change into her pajamas. I figured, without any wardrobe to speak of at the moment, that I would just under-dress. I slipped off my jacket and jeans, leaving myself in a black tee and boxers. It was appropriate enough with company, even though part of said company was my brother.

As Bonnie changed and did all the other human stuff she did before bed, I figured I would just check in on the other room. I walked into the living area to find Stefan and Elena, fully dressed, and quite asleep underneath the covers. The movie was just finishing up on low volume. I picked up the remote from the coffee table and stopped the movie, taking out the DVD and putting it back in its case. I moved the half-eaten bowl of popcorn from where it sat on the couch armrest beside Elena to the kitchen counter.

I felt the warm night breeze coming in from the open window by Bonnie's fire escape. I had apparently never closed it after she'd invited me in. I went over to close the window, and heard Bonnie walking over towards me. After the window was securely locked, I turned to face the beauty standing before me that was my soul mate. She wore the same night set she'd been wearing earlier. It was modest enough for our guests to see her in.

She held out a hand to me, and I took it. She led me to her bed, where we both proceeded to cautiously open and crawl underneath the covers while closely watching the other. Once we were submerged in her sheets – they smelled just like her, so good – she climbed over to me. She was a calm smile on as she rolled over to face away from me so that we were spooning.

"Why the shirt?" she simply asked me, her shoulders shaking a bit in silent laughter.

"Just to tease you," I responded jokingly, kissing the back of her ear. She tasted and smelled so good that I had to keep kissing down toward the base of her neck. Her aroma was overpowering. She was just so tempting and willing and beautiful…

"Hey! Wasn't it your idea to call it a night?" Bonnie giggled, bringing me back into my right mind. I smiled against her neck, and sighed tiredly.

"Well, maybe you should stop being so tempting," I chastised teasingly and growled playfully in her ear. She gasped nervously, laughed loudly for a quick second, and then covered her mouth. She was thinking about how silly she was being at the moment, and I could tell that she was blushing madly. I chuckled and pulled my head back, finally leaning it on her pillows. I relaxed my senses and focused on Bonnie. I felt her doing the same as me, loosening her tensed muscles. She leaned back on the pillows, mattress, and her boyfriend. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. I breathed in her aroma as I thought about what a day tomorrow would be. What a family reunion this was… we would all eventually be in-laws anyway, wouldn't we?