Caroline Forbes was about a half hour away from clocking out. She'd taken up a late-night shift at the Casino bar which was not usually like her, if she had to work the next morning but since she'd admitted to herself-and to Bonnie and Damon-the feelings she had for Stephan, she found herself unable to focus on any of the things that used to interest her. Music and going to the cinema had lost their flavor of excitement and Bonnie swore she almost passed out when she'd offered to take the Blonde shopping to the newest Boutique in town, and Caroline had simply said she 'didn't feel like a shopping trip.' Stephan had certainly wound her friend up tight and Bonnie began to worry about the Blonde Vampire's sanity. So, her and Damon had concocted a plan for this evening as a small means of perhaps easing some of Caroline's tension…and hopefully opening up Stephan's eyes a bit. Bonnie made the phone call: "Hey Care, Babe, I'm really sorry but something's come up; I can't pick you up tonight…yeah girl, I'm so sorry but hey listen, Stephan got home early so he's offered to come pick you up when your shift is over!"

The Blonde deadpanned on the other end of the line…she nibbled on her purple polished finger nail before she ventured an answer. "Bon…I don't know if I can…"

"Honey, just be normal, be yourself remember? You're Stephan's best friend. You can do this. And besides I think you need some time with him to really help you put some of those feelings into perspective. Don't be so eager to just force them down without addressing them ok? Because ignoring them is only going to make them stronger and harder to deal with. Whereas if you acknowledge that they're there, it makes it easier to compartmentalize them…you get what I'm saying?"

Caroline nodded but nervously gnawed on her bottom lip. "I just hope you're right, Bon."

"Trust me on this, Care…plus, I ran it by Damon and he agrees with me."

"Hell no I don't! This isn't about 'compartmentalizing' Caroline's feelings" Damon chimed in rather forcefully as he jumped up from his reclining position on the couch and ventured to the wall opposite Bonnie, where he leaned his shoulder against it and folded his arms over his strong chest. His brows knitted together and his lips pressed together in a firm, determined line. "This is about forcing them together and then hopefully, Caroline's feelings for him will just spill over and then he can finally stop lying to himself, thinking that he's dating a perfect angel." Damon punctuated his statement with an exaggerated widening of his glacial blue eyes and air quotations as an exasperated sigh pressed through his lips. Then suddenly, as if an idea suddenly dawned on him, Damon snapped his fingers, and began to pace the room. "Aha! You know what we really need? All we need is a good dose of aphrodisiac aroma, strategically seeping through the vents and A/C system in Stephan's car. That way, the chains of reckless passion can be released and not only will Caroline's feelings for him be known without her having to verbally say it, they can finally give in to their primal instincts-which by the way should never be restrained in my opinion, its just unhealthy-and consummate the long-delayed-but-equally-inevitable-and-indisputable fact that A, Caroline and Stephan are better for each other, and B, Elena can't hide from the ugly truth that she is no longer privilege to walking all over everyone just because she wants everyone else's cake and ice cream, in addition to hers."

"Damon, Please!" Bonnie hissed, covering the mouth speaker of her cell phone so Caroline wouldn't here.

Damon spread out his hands innocently and his glacial blue eyes widened again just slightly. "What?"

Bonnie only shook her head at him then returned her attention to the phone call. "Look, Stephan should be there in five…just relax, it's gonna be ok. I'll see you tomorrow, Babe." She hit the 'end call' button as she swiveled around to face Damon.

The Vampire was presently holding a glass of 1860 bourbon in his right hand, while the other was shoved into his front jean pocket and he casually rocked back and forth on his heels. "You know I'm right, Witchy…all this sneaking-around-make-him-chase-you-by-acting-normal-and-mysterious shit isn't gonna get us anywhere. You can be as subtle as a gun…which Caroline is…and Stephan still won't get it. Hell, part of me thinks it would take him half-way through screwing her, to realize that he was actually having sex with Caroline and not Elena."

"For God's sake Damon, now is not the time to chunk this all down to sex. This is more serious then you needing to grab some ass and bang-bang just to get rid of your cock-blocking!" She huffed as she brushed past him. "This is about Caroline and Stephan needing to realize that they are both in an unhealthy place. Whether they get together or not isn't the issue…and honestly, I don't think that is at all the best answer to their problems right now. Care needs to face the fact that she has feelings for him so that she can properly analyze them and put them in the right place; not fly off the edge and throw herself at Stephan in a hormonal rage! And Stephan needs to realize that he deserves better, that he can't keep taking responsibility for every 'catastrophe' that Elena finds herself in and that he needs to start thinking for himself. And even if he does decide that the best decision for him is to break it off with Elena, that has to be his decision, not ours and not because we're forcing someone else on him…even if that someone else is as amazing as Caroline. He'll need time to heal as well if he does break it off because…they've been together for almost four years and…that will take some time to heal from."

Damon waved a dismissive hand at her, rolling his eyes as he threw back the last bit of his bourbon, slamming the glass onto the counter. "So when did you become all-knowing and wise when it come to complicated relationships…I don't remember you being this…objective when it came to you and Jeremy…all he had to do was give you a half-ass kiss and suddenly you were determined to do anything and everything for him."

Bonnie stiffened when she caught the harsh edge in Damon's voice. The reminder of her haphazard relationship with the young Gilbert boy, somewhat stung because not only had it lasted for a mere few months, but it ended in Jeremy cheating on her and running after someone else…and that someone else hadn't even been human but the ghost of his ex girlfriend. Bonnie had felt hopeless and humiliated to have been dumped so suddenly for a mere ghost…and what did that say of her chances to compete with an actual living, breathing human being? Bonnie fought with this question for countless months after the incident and even though she hadn't seen Jeremy in two years…and he was now gone forever, she still sometimes wondered if perhaps she could have done more to assert herself. Or if the fact that she'd fallen for someone so much more fragile in heart and spirit than herself, was her mistake and therefore the only thing to be blamed for how things ended.

Sensing her distance, Damon set down his third glass of bourbon and moved across to stand in front of her. Her face was turned away from his, towards the window where her emerald green eyes seemed to be staring far off into another age of time. He gently took her chin between his fingers and turned her face back towards him. Her eyes fluttered back into focus and she locked them with his cerulean blue ones. "I may have been gone for two years, Judgey but I honestly hardly know what to say to you half the time…you seem so 'sagely wise' all of a sudden. Sometimes I look at you and the look in your eyes makes you seem older than I am…and that's really saying something because I'm older than fuck." He gave her his signature smirk and she couldn't help but let out a soft smile as his deep blue eyes sparkled. "Com'on, Bonnie, you have to admit that this…where we're all at now is pretty fucking awesome, considering the shit we've been through to get here." His smirk widened into a genuine smile…though there was still a hint of teasing behind it… and Bonnie couldn't help the smile widening on her cupid bow-shaped lips.

"Ok, ok, you're right Damon I know…we really do have a lot more to be thankful for in the here and now. And I guess I do get a little…carried away with the analytical side of everything."

Damon leaned towards her, his smile deepening as she eventually turned back sparkling green eyes to meet his. "You know I've missed that…" He looked deeply into her eyes.

She cocked her head to the side, giving him a somewhat puzzled look. "Missed what?" Her perfect white teeth flashed as a soft laugh rolled off her tongue.

Damon raised a tentative hand to cup her cheek. His fingers lightly brushed the soft caramel skin there as his thumb trailed down to her mouth and brushed across her bottom lip.

Bonnie's breath hitched in her throat and she thought her heart would literally burst from her chest cavity at any moment.

"You're smile…and not the smile that you always plastered on as a fake mask to try and fool everyone into thinking you're all invincible…but the genuine one. The one that's Bonnie. You were always so much on the defensive; saving Elena at every turn. And then if it wasn't Elena's life you were saving, you were on the offensive, trying to concoct a new and more creative way to set mine on fire." He couldn't help the edge of mirth his voice held as a soft laugh escaped his lips. "You were always a hard ass, Witchy. Tough as nails and the badass bitch that always had her shit together. You were stronger than all of us. Even when you were at your weakest, you always had to be stronger. Sometimes I…I had this crazy urge to just…" He paused for a moment, searching for the words. Then he tossed his head carelessly towards the ceiling. "Take you away somewhere where you could have at least a day to just be human. Be Bonnie the care-free seventeen year old… that's of course when I'd seen you 'dead' for the first time." He inserted air quotations and Bonnie threw her head back and laughed.

"Hey that was a fake death, remember?"

"Yeah well you didn't see how freakishly real it looked from my standpoint." He half-circled her and then turned around to face her again, this time both hands shoved into his jean pockets as he cocked his head to the side, eyeing her pointedly. "You know you really had me freaked out that night. I just kept remembering how you told me that there was a 'slight' chance that you may not have woken up and that's all that my mind could think about…it just kept rewinding and replaying in my head like a broken record." He shook his head at the memory and Bonnie noticed a trace of discomfort and dread pass through his eyes.

She bit the corner of her lower lip and playfully slugged him in the shoulder like she used to do. "Hey, com'on it wasn't that bad… she bit back a giggle and looked him square in the eyes. "Be careful, Damon…I might start to think you actually Care."

He shook his head at the all-too-familiar words that had since been a long-standing joke between them since the time she'd first uttered them. He smirked again and only conceded to answer her in kind; "We wouldn't want that." His eyes widened dramatically and then the two of them broke out into soft laughter.

"Ohh, good times…" She smiled somewhat wistfully as she observed the man before her. From his boot-clad feet to his black jeans and his classic black fitted T and leather Jacket, Damon was the same he'd been when she first met him. His raven black hair even hung in the same careless way, sweeping across his pale forehead, offsetting his stunning deep ocean eyes. But it was in his eyes that she could detect the change in him. Deep down, Damon Salvatore had come to some kind of revelation…an epiphany if you will, to what he really wanted in life and what mattered most to him. She never thought she'd live to see the day but here he was, standing in front of her…still the same charismatic, snarky, sarcastic, arrogant Damon…yet sincere, genuine and honest beneath the surface…and willing to lower his pride and become the man she had always known he was meant to be.