A/N: Hey ya'll. As you know I, like many were left feeling raw after the catastrophe that was 3x15, and my love for Bamon/Stefonnie vanished like Jimmy Hoffa. But after some soul searching, I decided to continue this story. I had to battle some writers block, but here's the final product. Hope you approve. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.
London, England United Kingdom
He wasn't sure what to expect. From the moment they arrived in London, Bonnie was swept away by another entourage with promises that she'd be well looked after and taken care of. At first Stefan thought she was being kidnapped by the enemy camp, but Elijah—smug and self-knowing, shouldered past Stefan with one hand buried in his pant pocket and said Bonnie was in good hands. The people she just left with were loyal "subjects" of the Mikaelson family.
"You didn't think we'd just walk into a hostile environment without preparing for everything? Besides, she is a queen and has to make a queenly entrance, something we all will play an integral part in."
"But why weren't we told ahead of time?" Stefan bit out through clenched teeth. He had no problem with Bonnie being pampered if that's what was going on, but to have her bumrushed after leaving the airport with a half-ass explanation did not sit well with him.
"My mother entrusted me that she be shown proper treatment for her elevated rank, Stefan," Elijah said in that cool British accent of his. "And that is the end of this tiresome discussion."
Damon at that time chose to step into the situation by getting in Elijah's way. "If you have anymore surprises lined up for Judgey, then you need to let us know now."
Elijah snickered and ran a manicured finger across his eyebrow. Stefan recognized Elijah typically did that just a second before he turned violent.
"I would appreciate it if you'd forgo calling Bonnie by any colorful nicknames that our host might find offensive. I didn't promise to protect you or your degenerate brother. You should remember that."
Damon smirked evilly. He loved pressing buttons, it was a favorite past time of his. "And I didn't make any promises not to stick a dagger in your chest. Oh, yeah, brought it with me and never leave home without it."
All emotion drained from Elijah's face. Kol at that moment chose to stand behind his brother as he glared at Damon.
Stefan closed his eyes and shook his head. They really didn't need to stand on the sidewalk having this pissing contest. What they should be doing was heading over to the hotel and doing a security sweep. They were, for all intents and purposes, in enemy territory where scouts could be all over the place looking for the perfect time to kidnap Bonnie.
"All right, boys, simmer down. We have a job to do," Stefan said taking the stand as the voice of reason. He was all for duking it out but right now they needed to be on their best behavior and acting like a cohesive unit.
Damon and Elijah eyed one another disdainfully and finally stepped away and got into the idling SUV. Kol spared Stefan the briefest of looks which Stefan couldn't really decipher. Once he slid into the truck, he pulled out his cell phone and sent a text to Bonnie checking up on her status.
She instantly replied back that she was at a dance studio. His right eyebrow shot into the air and he inquired what did she mean she was at a dance studio. Minutes ticked by with no answer. So that prompted Stefan to ask Elijah what was going on.
"Bonnie just texted me that she's at a dance studio. Why is she at a dance studio?"
"The queen we have an audience with is very old-fashioned and she likes to be entertained. I thought it would be appropriate to introduce Bonnie through an elaborate dance."
Again this was something that wasn't discussed or purposely left out that Stefan didn't approve of.
"Why can't she just walk into a room and say 'What it do? I'm Bonnie'?" Damon asked and snickered.
Stefan chortled. Leave it to his brother to ask what was running through his mind, but form the question in a totally inappropriate manner.
Elijah made some guttural noise in the back of his throat. "Have you no formal home training, Damon? I'm almost convinced you were raised by wolves. Look, I'd be happy to break down the intricacies of courtly etiquette but there's simply no time. Bonnie will be performing…as will the rest of us…like I said we all have a part to play."
Hours later, dressed in a fashionably tailored suit, Stefan waited by the bank of elevators for Bonnie to descend and show herself. He hadn't seen her since they were seated next to each other on the plane, and had only been able to communicate with her through text messages. He was feeling anxious and antsy again, and constantly rubbed the back of his neck.
Kol and Damon merely held up opposite walls and glared at one another. Elijah for his part stared out the large glass windows- people watching.
The bing of the elevator caught all the immortals attention and out strolled Bonnie. Her eye makeup was elaborate with an Egyptian influence. Her hair was parted down the center with deep long waves. But he couldn't see what she wearing because the black pea coat covered up what he suspected was a mini-dress of some sort that she paired with Christian Loubontin ankle boots.
"Ready?" Elijah asked, his eyes weren't shy about looking her over with approval.
Bonnie curtly nodded her head and looked at Stefan. She smiled only a little and before he could even take a step in her direction, Kol was already at her side, taking her very lightly by the hand.
"You don't mind if I escort you to the car, do you?"
"I mind," Elijah intervened.
Here we go again, Stefan thought and licked his lips.
Kol sized his brother up and was two seconds from dismissing him.
"Guys, please, not now. Kol…according to Elijah no one is allowed to hold my hand or arm. You all have to…walk behind me by three paces."
Damon gawked. "You're taking this queen business a little too seriously."
Four pairs of eyes glowered at him.
"She's a queen, Damon and protocol states that no one can walk beside her unless invited, and we all have to maintain a space of three paces and line up according to importance," Elijah couldn't hide his smirk if his life depended on it. "And because Kol and myself are the predecessors of our kind, we line up directly behind Bonnie while you and your brother…"
"Tail behind like dogs, which I think is fitting," Kol interjected.
Damon had several points to argue to this. If anything they should be lined up according to who's important to Bonnie. As far as he was concerned he and Stefan had seniority so they should be the one's walking behind her.
"We're wasting time," Bonnie said and began heading towards the entrance of the hotel. She didn't care who lined up where and who walked next to her. She was trying to keep her nerves in check. In any case, they all piled into the car. Stefan slid in sitting beside Bonnie.
That would turn out to be a mistake.
It was bad enough she used his shoulder for a pillow for most of their flight from Virginia to London offering him the chance to peek down her V neck sweater, now she was forcing everyone to listen to "No Bullshit" by Chris Brown as they were being chauffeured to the summit.
Stefan kept his gaze locked outside the tinted window staring at the buildings, the people milling about on the street, every and anything so he wouldn't focus on the explicit lyrics of the song, or the fact he'd very much would like to make Bonnie cum over and over again.
A growl slipped out when one of the back tires of the SUV ran over a pothole causing Bonnie's boob to brush up against his arm. She was seated between him and Kol in the back. Stefan closed his eyes briefly wishing he didn't feel certain things for Bonnie. How he yearned to go back to the days where he only viewed her as Elena's friend and only wanted to be Bonnie's friend. And then for a while he didn't care if he had friends or not. Surviving was all that mattered.
Little by little the green-eyed beauty beside him was making Stefan remember the things he missed. He missed having someone to talk to late at night on the phone, or to randomly text throughout the day, or merely being able to wrap his arms around a nice, warm, pliant body at night. There had been few distractions in his long life that could take his mind off the fact he was so damned unhappy. Lexi had done her best to bring back his humanity, to make him a member of an already existing community. Elena hammered in Lexi's hard work and Stefan found himself taking her friends and family under his wing and protection.
But those days were long gone. He wasn't that Stefan anymore, self-sacrificing, a complete and total fool for love. That Stefan needed to die.
Who was he now? He really had no clue. Here was his conundrum; he was vampire and man, both at once and neither one. Stefan wasn't fully vampire nor was he fully human, he was his own sort of twisted hybrid and it was screwing with his brain something fierce.
Bonnie for her part had remained completely ignorant of the constant, daily battle he had to fight whenever they were alone or smashed together in close quarters. Her skin literally called out to him to touch, kiss, fondle, do everything that popped into his mind to do. Yet he couldn't partake in any of it because if he allowed himself to really care for her, he'd open up Pandora's Box and that really wasn't an option.
Not now.
Not when this complicated hybrid situation changed shape yet again.
Werewolves and vampires were consolidating their efforts and resources to take out Klaus and Elena. It went without saying Stefan didn't give a crap about what happened to Klaus, but Elena…he only wanted to keep her alive because she had people who cared about her and he wanted to spare them that pain.
Everyone else figured he was tagging along as his last ditch effort to prove to Elena that he wasn't a lost cause, that he still loved her. Sure, he loved her. Something like that didn't simply fade overnight, but it wasn't the passionate love he used to have for her. That had evaporated due to lack of use, plus he was just pain tired of their song and dance.
Bonnie yawned, arched her back against the seat, and nibbled on a corner of her mouth. She flipped through a glossy magazine not really reading the damn thing, just looking at the pictures of the fashion models. If she was nervous Stefan really couldn't tell. Her hands weren't shaking, and she was singing along to the music blasting from the speakers.
Stefan quickly looked at the other males present in the truck.
Elijah sat stone faced yet constantly rubbed his middle and thumb fingers back and forth across one another. His foot tapped very lightly against the carpeted floor, keeping beat with the music.
To be a psychic to know what was going through his mind. Stefan figured he had been on the longest sex drought, but Elijah was probably the winner of that contest.
He then directed his attention to Kol. From Stefan's perspective it seemed he was keeping his eyes on the back of Damon's head. Yeah, that had been another situation that had to be diffused ASAP before anyone stepped foot outside of Mystic Falls.
Kol was pissed when it was announced that he and Damon would be going with him, Elijah, and Bonnie to London. Stefan almost wanted to laugh out loud at the original's shocked face. Damon may have been just a tinsy bit worried Kol would try to rip his heart out of his chest. He did snap his neck on the night of the ball. Just saying, vampires were notorious for holding onto grudges and seeking revenge.
But Bonnie stepped in with her authority and told them that if they tried anything, she'd personally stick her size six and a half foot up someone's ass.
The queen had spoken.
Queen, Stefan was still wrapping his head around that. Bonnie was a queen. Queen Bonnie the First of…Mystic Falls. Bonnie had been adamant that no one call her by any official title. She was simply Bonnie Bennett, daughter of Thomas and Abby Bennett, granddaughter of Sheila Bennett, and great-great-great granddaughter of Emily Bennett.
That's all she wanted to be acknowledged as.
Her coronation ceremony had been brief and beautiful, and took place in a secluded and cleared out part of the woods. Bonnie had pulled out her dress, the one she wore to the ball, but this time she paired it with rhinestone encrusted shoes, a diamond wreath necklace, and wore her hair swept up from her neck.
Esther had made some long-winded speech about accepting responsibility and promising to adhere and keep the laws of nature, and blah, blah, blah. All of it kind of reminded Stefan of a wedding except there was no groom, but he figured Bonnie was marrying herself to the land. She drank some kind of wine concoction, signed a contract, and then a very small coronet was placed on her head.
It was done. She was officially a reigning monarch. Two hours later she and her entourage had boarded a flight headed for London.
So far everyone had gotten along and kept conversations to a minimum.
The music changed and now they were now being serenaded by a classical selection from Vivaldi. Maybe her schizophrenic tastes in music were the only clear indication of her rising nerves, but Stefan heard a sigh of pleasure escape Elijah. Kol remained impassive and Stefan was pretty sure Damon rolled his eyes and quirked his lips in a sneer.
Twenty minutes into the drive, they arrived at yet another hotel—this one fancier than the one where they were lodging.
When Stefan stepped out of the SUV, he could see nothing but Aston Martin's, Rolls Royce's, and Lamborghinis are far as the eye could see. He reached for Bonnie's hand, breaking protocol, he didn't care and helped her out of the truck and onto the cobble pathway.
The procession of hot males followed after Bonnie and she was once again intercepted. Elijah merely inclined his head as a signal this was part of the program, and to leave your grievance at the door. He motioned with two fingers that all the men follow him. Stefan turned at the last second before Bonnie disappeared behind a pair of doors, their eyes meeting. He offered a smile, Bonnie winked and that would be the last time he'd see her as simply being Bonnie Bennett—teenaged witch.
Stefan stood in the center of the grand room, three feet behind Kol and listened as Elijah made the proper introduction since he voted himself spokesperson. That was fine. The less talking he had to do, the more acutely aware he could be of everything around him.
So far the room was set up in the English traditional style. Three long tables were aligned in a boxed shaped U filled with a mixture of vampires and werewolves alike. The Queen, a beautiful mahogany hued woman with electric green eyes, and long black hair sat adorned under a canopy of cloth-of-gold. When he had entered the room, he gave a customary bow and walked to the center of it and bowed again. The Queen infinitesimally nodded her approval and listened intently as Elijah sang her praises and thanked her for granting them permission to stand before her. Inwardly Stefan rolled his eyes at all the ass-kissing but knew it was a necessary evil.
And for as beautiful as the foreign queen was, Stefan knew that under those eyes and those killer good looks laid the heart of a truly ruthless being that was used to getting her way. They would all have to tread very lightly.
Now, he waited for Bonnie to arrive.
He, Elijah, Kol, and Damon had a brief meeting where Elijah filled them in on what was going to happen. Stefan hated dancing. He was a touch above rhythmless whereas his brother was just a plain hot mess. To remedy this Elijah presented them with a potion Bonnie had spelled that would magically give them rhythm. This would be interesting to watch.
"I now present to you, my sovereign, Her Lady Priestess, Queen of Commonwealth of Virginia, Bonnie Bennett," Elijah finished saying.
Four draped liters with half naked gladiator type men entered the room. A liter was sat down next to each of the four men. Stefan wasn't sure which one Bonnie was in. But he reached blindly for the hand that slowly emerged from the liter and he pulled the woman out.
To his disappointment it wasn't Bonnie. But he spotted her out of the corner of his eye. She had been paired up with Damon.
Stefan remained still like a statute as the woman executed some type of spin to stand in front of him, her back facing his front. She along with Bonnie was dressed in something that reminded him of a belly dancers costume which left their arms and torsos exposed.
As the music began to descend in the room, the woman reached backwards and planted her hand on his chest as she fell down to rest on her haunches.
Again, Stefan's eyes traversed over to Damon and his eye twitched a little as he saw Bonnie doing the exact same thing to his brother that the woman had done to him. She, his dance partner spun around and was facing his crotch. Stefan kept his head facing the front and reached for the woman to pull her up to her feet.
They began their elaborate cadence and during this everyone switched partners at least once. Yet Stefan was always consciously aware of Bonnie.
With Damon she danced with the familiarity they were used to dealing with each other. His brother held her a little tighter than he did his other partners and touched her in places the dance really didn't call for. When Bonnie danced with Elijah he held her almost reverently. With Kol, they were more playful with one another. He'd wink at her and Bonnie would half-smirk.
When it was his turn to dance with Bonnie before they departed to do a traditional waltz, she braced her hands on his shoulders, as he picked up her left leg in a lunge. Bonnie surprisingly licked him from the bottom of his chin, over his lips, and flicked the tip of his nose.
Stefan almost dropped her and wondered if that was improvised or if it were apart of the dance. He was too shocked to look around for confirmation that all the other dancers were instructed to pull the same move. And hey, he wasn't going to complain.
Much to his chagrin Bonnie was taken away from him by an overeager Damon who she finished the dance with.
Once they were back in the positions they began with, the audience clapped and cheered. The dancers, Bonnie included all fell to bended knee, but then Bonnie rose, and when she did her clothes magically began to transform until she stood in a beautifully beaded black gown that swept the floor with a mermaid train.
A gasp fell over the crowd and the claps turned into a thunderous roar.
Try as he might to take his eyes off Bonnie to ascertain if that move impressed the Queen, Stefan didn't have the willpower to do so.
Elijah moved next to Bonnie, bowed before her and took her very gently by the fingers leading her to stand five feet from the high table.
"Queen Aaliyah, I present to you again, my sovereign Queen Bonnie."
Queen Aaliyah rose from her chair and everyone else rose from their seats as well. She grabbed her flute of champagne and held it out in honor of Bonnie.
"From one sovereign to another I welcome you to my realm, Majesty."
"And from one sovereign to another, I am pleased to be in your company, Your Grace."
Queen Aaliyah smiled in approval and retook her seat. Everyone else did the same.
Once the queen was seated again, with the flick of her hand she dismissed the dancers, minus Bonnie's party out of the room.
"All of your reputations precede you," she looked at Elijah. "Elijah—the intuitive yet cold and calculating mercenary. Kol, his younger psychotic brother. Damon, the whoremongering self-destructive immortal. Stefan, the walking Shakespearian tragedy who moonlights as a ripper. And you, the newly appointed queen of a land that is very young indeed. And you are here to negotiate a treaty. To what end?"
Bonnie licked her lips and maintained eye contact with the Queen. She really was a beautiful woman and probably the first black vampire she had ever met. Her beauty was shocking as well as the fact that whenever she smiled, Bonnie could see her fangs. Perhaps because she was so old—rumored to be even older than the original family—was the reason for it.
Bonnie had learned several things about vampires—that like in the animal kingdom there were different species. Queen Aaliyah was part of a branch of vampirism where you are born vampire. How that was even possible, Bonnie had no clue. But Queen Aaliyah was from the land formally known as Ur, but as of late considered Egypt her true home.
"Your Grace, I'm here to say that I agree with the message that the hybrid has to be destroyed and the balance must be protected, however, there is a part of the plan that is unsettling to me. It's the part that involves the wholesale killing of the doppelganger."
Queen Aaliyah, who had been lounging against her throne sat up rod straight. "So the rumors are true? The doppelganger exists?"
"She does."
"And she is under my sovereign's protection," Elijah interrupted.
Queen Aaliyah snapped her head like a cobra ready to strike at Elijah. "And why should we spare the key ingredient in making those abominations? If it were not for her blood, then this summit would not be commencing as we speak."
"She is an innocent bystander in all of this, my Queen," Bonnie went on to say. "She didn't ask to become the key to making vampire/werewolf hybrids. If you lead this war, her life isn't the only life that would be placed in danger. You should know how a land reacts when it is filled with nothing but blood."
The Queen allowed Bonnie's words to sink for a minute. However, there was something else about this motley group that drew her curiosity.
"I'm surprised that for being a witch that everyone in your employ is a vampire. Your kind is no friend to mine."
"Yes, that's true," Bonnie agreed. "Witches and vampires don't have a good history. Even you can say the same. You're breaking bread with werewolves." A low murmur rumbled through the hall. Bonnie continued. "But in this we're united that the true target of this impending war should be the one who can initiate the vampiric/lycanthropic transformation, and that's Niklaus."
"Those two…" someone in the Queen's camp pointed his finger at Elijah and Kol. "They are his brothers. Are you not?"
Elijah replied, "I assure you that I've been searching for centuries for a way to kill my brother. For reasons I'll only elaborate if you feel its necessary, but Niklaus has proved he is no respecter of persons. He won't hesitate to kill you family or perfect stranger—makes no difference with him. "
The Queen eyed Elijah before she rose from her seat again. She walked down the dais and approached Bonnie who was a little surprised they were almost exactly the same height.
Stefan noticed that Queen Aaliyah's eye flicked over to Damon before she brought her attention back to Bonnie. She took her hand and led her to the high table.
"Sit with me."
And with that dinner had commenced.
The guys were also allowed to sit but they were purposely assigned to places that were far from the two queens.
Stefan listened intently to every word that was spoken between the monarchs and he especially paid attention to the rate of Bonnie's heart beat. Since he couldn't really see her from where he was seated at the end of the head table, he only sipped the alcohol that was continuously poured into his goblet.
At sometime during the night, the Queen turned to Bonnie and said, "I will consider a negotiation of terms that would exclude the doppelganger. Only if you permit your servant Damon to attend me."
Stefan nearly swallowed his champagne down the wrong pipe.
Bonnie agreed only after a moment of hesitation. Apparently she didn't know what that meant.
A messenger was sent down to his end of the table and Stefan listened to the whispered conversation between his brother and the page boy. Damon rose from his seat, buttoned his suit jacket and followed the messenger.
The Queen and Damon spoke for only a few seconds prior to her rising from her seat. "I will adjourn to my chambers. We will resume this conversation at my earliest convenience. And there will be no fighting in my absence."
To Bonnie, the queens exchanged words and double kisses on the cheek, and just like that his brother was gone.
Bonnie remained in her seat for a moment before she rose. Stefan followed suit, along with Elijah and Kol. They followed her out into atrium of the hotel where Bonnie exploded.
"She chose Damon! Damon to negotiate the terms of this pact or tract or treaty or whatever the hell it is we're supposed to be doing? Damon cannot keep his mouth shut and he's liable to get us all killed right here in London."
Stefan reached for Bonnie to get her to stop pacing. "Bonnie, calm down. Damon…might not have the most sensitive mouth, but when it comes to Elena he can be tactful. He won't say something too offensive or outlandish that will warrant all of our deaths."
"He better not," Kol growled and ran a hand over his face. "I need a real meal and drink, preferably in that order. What do you say, Elijah?" he clapped his brother hard on the shoulder. "Care to paint the town red with me for old times sake?"
"As much as I'd love to, I think it best if I remain here. If Damon does say something untoward I might be able to intervene."
Not long Damon came strolling out of the elevator. There was no distinguishable expression on his face.
Bonnie met him half-way. "That was quick. So did you do it? Were you able to convince the Queen to stand down her efforts, and only concentrate on going after Klaus?"
"About that," he began elusively. "We haven't exactly hammered out those terms," he laughed briefly. "She said she's willing to drop Elena from her kill list if I do one thing for her."
"That is?" Bonnie asked impatiently.
"If…I pretty much…bang her brains out."
Bonnie wiggled her ear. She thought she lost her hearing for a second. "Okay, what?"
"Yes, I know you're still a virgin and all, Bons, but even you know what the expression bang someone's brains out means."
In any other situation Bonnie would have blushed at having her virginity put on blast like that, but this wasn't the time nor place. Instead she just realized that Damon, who was something of a gigolo, would literally have to pimp himself out to a queen to get her to not kill the woman he loved.
Something rumbled in her belly and before she knew it, she was laughing and snorting like a pig.
Elijah looked disgusted and walked away. Kol appeared bemused by the whole turn of events whereas Stefan merely pressed his lips into a hard line. Why did everything always have to boil down to his brother's package?
"Are you done?" Damon snapped.
Bonnie tried her best to sober up but when she looked at him her chuckles began all over. "I'm sorry," she choked out and wiped a corner of her eye. "How ironic that the life of the woman you love depends on how good you can screw another. I hate to be in your shoes, Damon."
"Yeah, I can't exactly agree to her arrangement, Bonnie," he said contemptuously.
"What do you mean? Are you already having performance anxiety?"
He glared at her. "No. Queen Aaliyah needs your permission to…have me. She's all about not stepping on toes here since I'm in your camp. She believes you have a sexual relationship with all of us, your presumed favorites."
At that Bonnie's eyes ballooned and all humor fled her body. Her jaw dropped. "Wait, she thinks that I'm sleeping with all of you?"
Damon merely nodded his head slowly.
"This is so twisted," Bonnie said emotionlessly.
"You have no idea," Damon agreed.
"It can't be this simple," said Elijah. "She's willing to leave Elena out of the attack on my brother so long as you please her…sexually?"
Damon shrugged. "It seems like a simple enough request. I mean she's willing to work out a contract, you know for official reasons, as long as I get her off."
Elijah scoffed at his crassness.
Damon turned back to face Bonnie. "So do I have your permission to have some fun or not?"
"I really don't care what you have to do. I mean…I guess I could ask you how you feel…being used like this."
Damon shrugged. "It beats torture any day."
"Are you sure?"
"Look, Ju…sovereign," Damon corrected when he got that annoyed look from Elijah. "She's not bad on the eyes and from our brief encounter it's plain to see its been a while for her," he shrugged. "I am the best there is at what I do."
"Please don't steal Wolverine's lines, Damon." Pause. "All right, if you're comfortable and won't feel objectified…then yes, Damon you have my permission to…lie with the Queen," a snicker escaped.
"Great," Damon said with false cheer and walked away. Stefan felt compelled to go after his brother and caught him before he hopped back on the elevator to have a few brotherly words together.
Bonnie watched in amazement as they shook hands. Bonnie wholeheartedly expected Stefan to produce a box of condoms and a cigar.
Stefan approached the group again yet kept his eyes on Bonnie.
"So what are we supposed to do while they have…intense negotiations?" she asked.
Stefan shrugged. "Whatever we want I suppose."
"I'd like to go to bed and forget that the last ten minutes just happened."
And she wouldn't be the only one.
Three days later…
That's how long these special "negotiations" lasted and during that time the others took advantage of being left to their own devices. They became like tourists going to all the major notable places in London, from Buckingham Palace, to the Tower of London, to Big Ben. Bonnie had absorbed everything like a child. For the originals they took everything in, in a subdued manner because they had seen it before although for Kol he was a little more enthused simply because he had been daggered and trapped in a box for a hundred or more years.
Stefan wasn't really interested in the sights around him but merely keeping watch of Bonnie who as each hour passed grew more and more relaxed around the two original brothers whose death she was going to bring about if Esther's plan—whatever that might be—was carried out.
This whole plan seemed over simplified and Stefan couldn't escape feeling as if they were being ensnared in an elaborate trap. Wouldn't be the first nor last time that happened. But he didn't want to bring those fears and speculations to Bonnie because for the first time in so long she was simply enjoying life.
But touring London was how they spent their days, and at night they ventured into clubs. Bonnie danced to the techno music that was prevalent. Stefan really couldn't stand it so he'd stand on the sidelines keeping his attention on Bonnie, looking for danger.
Of course no one could really tell he was pining. Often he'd replay those few moments they danced together on their introductory night and she boldly licked his lips. He didn't have the opportunity to question her about it because her time was inexorably monopolized by either Elijah or Kol.
However, when they all went back to their hotels after a day of sightseeing and a night of partying, Stefan would accompany Bonnie to her room. There she'd let her guard down, show that as cool and composed as she let on, she was worried about Damon since they had no way to communicate with him, but they convinced themselves that each hour that passed and his corpse wasn't dumped outside the hotel meant he was still alive.
But during those moments she'd let her vulnerability show, that's when Stefan felt the closest to her. They hadn't reached a point where he could openly hold her and whisper that everything would be all right. She would allow him to help her undress. He'd unzip her dress or remove her jewelry but that was it.
Yet as the hours passed and they were left in a displaced limbo, and all he could focus on was how alone he felt regardless of being surrounded by people. Bonnie was too busy with her new "friends" and his brother was sexing his way into history. That left him with far too much time on his hands to think, and his thoughts weren't good.
And the fact he hadn't had a sip of human blood in weeks wasn't helping either.
On the third day Damon finally showed his face which was in the form of a grimace. He entered Bonnie's suite, favoring the left side of his body as he limped his way to the dining area where she and Stefan were eating breakfast.
"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked.
Damon slowly eased his way into the chair and hissed. "I can't feel my dick," he said through clenched teeth. "I never want to have sex another day in my life."
Bonnie and Stefan attempted to keep a straight face and barely made it.
"So tell us, brother, what happened during your conjugal visit."
Damon, after consuming half a bottle of vodka spilled out what happened. Queen Aaliyah after being thoroughly pleasured agreed that the force of the impending attack would be diverted to Klaus instead and that she was willing to sign a blood contract agreeing that no one in her camp would go after Elena. If someone dissented, the treaty would be null void and it would be within Bonnie's right to end them all.
"Whoa," Bonnie said.
"Whoa indeed. You sign the contract tonight so try to look nice," Damon winced and then hobbled his way out of her suite.
So that found Stefan once again attired in a suit, as he stood on the sidelines taking everything in. Bonnie who was beautiful in a diaphanous amethyst gown, signed the contract and spoke with the Queen dispensing how appreciative they were that they were able to find an alternative that would not involve the death of her best friend.
"Are you certain there is nothing between you and Damon?" Queen Aaliyah asked, those uncanny ice-green eyes of her boring into Bonnie.
"I promise you, he and I…we were barely friends months ago, and now…I find his service tolerable at best."
"The only reason I'm persistent with this thought is the way he spoke of you. I'm sure most of it was exaggerated flattery on his end, but I've always had a specially built intuition when it comes to sincerity and he sincerely respects you as his queen. That kind of devotion only stems from a deeply intimate relationship."
Bonnie cleared her throat feeling several degrees of uncomfortable. More than likely Damon was thinking of Elena when he was with the queen supposedly singing her praises. That was the only explanation she could think of.
"Are you sure we're talking about the same person?" Bonnie asked cheekily.
"I know of what I speak. But then…they all are sweet on you, but the Salvatore boys in particular. Damon was an absolute joy."
Bonnie refrained from commenting. And of course he would approach, kiss Queen Aaliyah very deeply on the cheek before reaching for Bonnie's hand to spin her around the dance floor.
"So according to Queen Aaliyah, you have a thing for me," she teased.
Damon spun her out and when they stood chest to chest, he rolled his eyes. "Please, I would have proposed marriage to you if that's what it would take to get her to agree not to attack Elena."
"Such a martyr you are."
"I know, I think I would have outshined St. Stefan that's for sure."
Stefan watched his brother dance with Bonnie, listened to their conversation. A very noticeable tick went off in his jaw. He'd had and heard enough.
Upon hearing his name Bonnie immediately began to search the crowd for Stefan. She didn't spot him anywhere.
Bonnie stopped dancing and began to search the crowd for him.
"He went back to the hotel," Kol said after materializing behind Bonnie.
"And he didn't say anything to anyone?"
"No. He's been looking sad all night."
"I have to talk to him," Bonnie announced.
"I'll go with you."
"No, stay and enjoy yourself."
Bonnie hailed a cab. She didn't have the patience to wait for her driver. In minutes she arrived at the hotel and went directly to Stefan's room.
He answered the door and Bonnie noticed he lost his tie and dinner jacket and that his button down was open revealing his perfect pectorals and abs. And he didn't make a single move to button it up.
Stefan stepped aside and allowed Bonnie entry. She felt the air around them turned into charged tension.
She also spotted that he appeared to be packing. Had he planned to leave tonight without telling her?
"You're packing?" she said and pivoted on her heels to face him.
Stefan nodded his head. There was such sadness and resignation in his eyes and she wondered why that was.
"Stefan what's up? You've been in this…mood the whole trip."
"I'm sorry but I thought you made it clear you didn't want ripper Stefan around. This was about business and that business has been achieved so there's no point in me pretending that all is well with the world, when that's far from the truth."
"Okay, so tell me what's going on. We have the queen's word that Elena is safe from attack. I mean…that's a reason to celebrate…"
"I'm not in the mood, Bonnie."
She moved closer to him. His voice had taken on a gravelly quality something that only happened when he was trying his best to conceal his emotions.
She gripped him by the sides of his face. "Stefan, I'm asking you what's wrong. You just bailed and didn't say anything to me. That's not like you."
The flatness she recognized in his eyes terrified Bonnie. She felt like he was slipping back into his doom and gloom ways.
She gripped his face tighter. "Stefan, look at me. Something is bothering you. What is it?"
"That's the thing, Bonnie. If I allow myself to care, all I'll feel is pain."
That drew her up short. Stefan forced her hands off his face and put the entire room between them.
"Stefan," she began quietly.
He held up a hand, his back to her. "It's all right. I have a part to play and I'm going to play it till the end."
"You don't have to play at anything, least of all with me."
"You know I'm just a means to an end, Bonnie."
"Why are you acting like no cares about you, Stefan?" she felt her anger rushing forth.
"Because nobody does!" he raised his voice and turned to face her.
"That's not true and you know it." Bonnie stomped up to him. "The last eight months have been hell for you, I get that. But after everything that's happened, everything you lost and gained, there was one thing that remained constant, and you want to know what that is…love, Stefan. People love you."
He scoffed.
"Damon loves you. Elena still loves you. Caroline is included on that list; and Alaric in his own way, and…" Bonnie licked her lips nervously, "I love you, Stefan."
His jaw went a little slack at the admission. He could hear Bonnie's heart pounding in his ears and it was the sweetest sound ever.
He lifted a hand and lightly cupped her cheek. "Bonnie…you can't love me."
She gulped nervously. "I choose to."
The bottom of both their eyes were about to be flooded with unshed tears.
For the last four days he's had to watch Bonnie dote attention on others and observed others dote on her. Which all of it was deserved. But for someone so selfless and pure, Bonnie didn't need his constant dread and moodiness in her life.
He was a witness to what his love for Elena did. And he couldn't do that Bonnie.
However, he felt his reserve weakening by the look in her eyes. She meant what she said, that she loved him. He wanted to know when and how it happened because he hadn't done anything to earn her love. When he returned to Mystic Falls, he wasn't nice in his approach in retaining her help with Klaus' coffins. He insulted her when she confronted him on his rogue ways. Yet through all of that, a friendship was built from the rubble and now…it was turning into something that equally terrified him.
"For so long I didn't want to love anyone. Not after what happened to my Grams, and then with Jeremy…loving someone was the last thing I wanted to do, but these last few weeks between us, Stefan…they mean so much to me. And from what I see in your eyes, you're scared of the same thing."
He was terrified of loving her only because he thought it might be one-sided and that she'd somehow end up getting hurt. Stefan didn't care much what happened to him. But Bonnie, she had to be protected at all costs. Even protected from himself.
As much as he wanted to yield, he couldn't. Stefan stepped away, rupturing the spell.
"This can't happen between us, Bonnie. You need someone good in your life; someone who can give you a future that won't be filled with pain and disappointment."
Bonnie growled, entered his personal space, grabbed him by the back of the neck and brought his head down. Bonnie crashed her lips into Stefan's and at first he was too surprised to respond, but she persisted working her mouth over his, stabbing the crease between his lips trying to gain entry, when finally he gripped her right under her backside, lifting her, as he began to kiss her with months of pent up frustration.
She ran her fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp which sent sparks flying all over his body. Bonnie gripped him tightly, one for leverage, and the other so he couldn't escape.
The assault continued for minutes, hours, days, Bonnie wasn't too certain. Her lungs begged for oxygen but she didn't want to put an ounce of space between herself and Stefan.
Stefan fell backwards on the bed. Bonnie squealed briefly before moaning into another head spinning kiss from Stefan. She yelped again when he switched their positions and she was pinned against the mattress. He was perfectly content with just kissing her until she didn't have any lips left.
But his hands were desperate to know how the rest of her felt. So he languorously dragged his hands over her feet that were still trapped in her heels, over her shins before curving to massage her calf muscles, before journeying upwards.
Bonnie was delirious. That was the only way she could classify how she felt. Stefan was driving her crazy with his touches and caresses and she broke the kiss to catch her breath.
Reluctantly he pulled away and stared into her lust-filled eyes. "Bonnie…" he panted and planted his forehead on hers. "Are you…? Do you want to…?
Yeah, she was in agreement with whatever he had in mind. Rob a bank. Kick a toddler. Push an old person into traffic. Didn't matter. She didn't want him to stop kissing or touching her.
"Please…" she nearly purred like a little kitten.
Her hormones were more than likely talking. They had just established that they cared for one another and already they were about to do it. Stefan was old-fashioned in some respects and had embraced 21st century life in others, but in this particular area he wanted to do things the right way.
But still…Bonnie was looking at him like he was Superman who was more than willing to blast her insecurities away.
He kissed her senseless again and then, very tentatively, curled his fingers around the waistband of her undergarment and tugged.
Panic slammed into Bonnie once she realized that's what he meant. "Wait!" her heart was beating so hard she felt herself vibrating against the bed.
Stefan cocked an eyebrow in the air. "You're not…you want to wait?"
She thought for a moment, confused, terrified, and horny all rolled into a huge ball of uncertainty.
"Would you be mad if I said that I wanted to…wait?"
He shook his head. "No."
"That doesn't mean I don't want to," she added hastily.
He grinned. But then his jaw clenched because he could feel her heat and smell her. Oh, boy this was going to be hard.
"We'll wait," he decided and then very reluctantly fell beside her on the bed. He pulled down her dress, but confiscated the only souvenir he'd leave with. Her underwear.
"Bonnie…"
"Yeah?"
"I love you, too."
Chapter end.
A/N: This chapter was wild because I didn't want to go the "traditional" route with coming to a viable agreement on how to handle the Elena situation. So Damon was used for stud services which I think was appropriate for him at least. And the thought of having a black vampire, I must admit came from a blogger from Tumblr who raised the question of why haven't there been any black vampires on TVD. And I'm hoping you know where I drew my inspiration from for Queen Aaliyah—Queen of the Damned ring any bells? But this was difficult to write simply because Stefan broke my heart, but I'm pressing through and I'm going to finish this story. And who's happy Stefonnie finally kissed! There are only two chapters left. I didn't intend for this to be long. But thanks again for reading! Love you guys!