I do not own anything in regards to the Vampire Diaries

Chapter 3

It was easier than Bonnie thought slipping into Taya's hospital room. Damon had compelled her parents to take a break and go get some coffee down the hall. Bonnie watched as Damon bit into his wrists and put it into Taya's mouth; he pulled away after a couple of seconds. Bonnie looked at him in confusion.

"What are you doing…it's not enough…Damon it's not enough blood to heal her." She said worriedly, walking around the bed to stand beside him.

Damon looked down at her, annoyed that she was being so dense. "Bonnie, don't you realize the doctors will find it odd that this girl is miraculously healed after she was one step away from death's door.…come on Bennett, use your brain…we have to play this smart…I have to give her a little bit of blood every few days so no one will suspect anything as she slowly starts to recover."

He was right; Bonnie didn't think about that, then something else occurred to her. If Damon had to slowly feed Taya his blood then that meant he would have to stay in Atlanta for a while, possibly the rest of the summer depending upon how long it took Taya to recover in a reasonable amount of time.

Bonnie looked up into Damon's face. "It looks like I'll be spending my summer in Atlanta…with you." He said smiling.

Bonnie looked back down at Taya's still form and sighed, the things she did for her friends. "Yeah, it looks like it."

Bonnie was silent as she sat beside Damon in his car, where he got this black vintage 1965 Ford Mustang Bonnie didn't know, and she honestly didn't care; her mind was too preoccupied with other things. She hadn't thought things through; Bonnie figured that once Damon gave Taya his blood he would leave, but now that it was going to be a slow process getting her to recover that meant she would have to deal with him for a while, and Bonnie didn't think she could do that. She needed Damon and that didn't sit too well with her. Damon was so unpredicted, she couldn't afford to piss him off because he would up and leave not caring if Taya relapsed and/or died. Shit, that meant she would have to kiss his ass until Taya fully recovered which could take weeks….months. She wouldn't be able to do that. Damn it, why did Caroline have to be in Europe this summer, and why couldn't Stefan's blood be stronger. Shit, this was going to be a long summer, thought Bonnie.

Damon looked across the seat at Bonnie. He watched as she bit her bottom lip as she looked out the window. He could practically see the wheels turning in her pretty head. She was probably wondering how she was going to survive a summer alone with him. Damon smiled to himself. There was no Stefan, Elena or Caroline to turn to; she wouldn't be able to ignore him now, especially since she needed him.

Damon cleared his throat to get Bonnie's attention. "What time does Lucy get home?"

Bonnie looked at him, her perfectly arched eyebrow raised. "What's it to you?"

He looked at her when he stopped at the red light. "Would you prefer I pulled over somewhere and bit you in the car?"

Bonnie's green eyes widen. "Now wait a minute Damon…your end of the deal is still a work in progress, so you don't get to bite me until Taya is fully recovered."

Damon's knuckles turned white as he tightly gripped the wheel. "Bonnie, don't fuck with me." He said calmly.

Bonnie swallowed hard. "Damon, I'm not going back on my word, but I don't trust you…how do I know you won't leave after you bite me?"

His blue eyes held an unreadable glint. "Fine." He said, giving in.

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief; at least she now had some time to gear herself up before he bit her. She still sometimes had nightmares about the night he attacked her in the woods. She unconsciously touched her neck and looked over at Damon; he looked away and punched the gas pedal when the light turned green.

Now that Damon would be staying in Atlanta for the summer, he needed to find a place to stay. Damon burst into laughter at Bonnie's face when he told her that he would be staying with her and Lucy.

"I'm kidding." He told her once he was able to calm down. But, damn, her face was priceless…it was too funny.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as they pulled into a gas station. Damon gave Bonnie some money for the gas and to get a newspaper. He watched as she walked into the store and then noticed that he wasn't the only one looking at her. Two twenty-something year old black guys in a black SUV leered at Bonnie as she made her way into the store. Damon got out of the car to pump the gas, but his eyes remained trained on the store door. After a couple of minutes, Bonnie came out and one of the guys in the SUV called out to her.

"Hey….red bone, let me holla at you for a second." He yelled to her.

Bonnie ignored him.

"Damn girl…don't be like that….you to pretty too be so mean." He continued. When he noticed her walking to Damon's car, his lips curved in disgust. "Oh now I see, you like that white dick….what's wrong shawty…black dick too much for yah?"

Damon started to walk towards him, but Bonnie stopped him. The black guy got out of the SUV and closed the distance between him and Damon. The guy got in Damon's face; Bonnie was in front of Damon with her small hand on his chest, trying to push him back but Damon didn't move. She looked up into his hard blue eyes. "Come on…don't do this okay…please just walk away…let's go…Damon…come on please…let's go."

"That's right, white boy….walk away….before I fuck your pretty boy ass up…you don't want none of this." The guy said, beating his chest.

Damon looked down at Bonnie. "Get in the car." Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief because she thought that they were going to leave. She thought wrong because when she walked towards the car, Damon got up in the guy's face. "I bet you like fucking pretty boys up the ass… don't you… because I can tell just by looking at you that you like black dick too…don't worry bro…I won't tell anyone." Damon sneered.

"White motha fucka, say what?" he said in outrage.

The guy swung on Damon, hitting him as hard as he could, connecting to Damon's jaw and then doubled over screaming in pain as he grabbed his broken hand. Damon caught his friend's eye and when he was satisfied that the other guy was smart enough to not intervene, Damon bent down and whispered in his ear. "You better be glad that this white mother fucker has that beautiful black girl in his car because if I didn't your red blood would be scattered all over this grey pavement." And, just because he felt like it, Damon kneed the guy in his face, knocking him out cold.

Damon walked to his car and got in. He cranked up the car and then turned to Bonnie. "Now, we can go."

Bonnie was mad, she just couldn't understand why he didn't walk away when she asked him to. "Why can't you ever let things go…why do you always have to take things too far?" she asked frustrated.

Damon couldn't believe that she was angry with him for defending her honor. "Bonnie, that guy was way out of line, if you ask me he got off pretty easily."

Bonnie sighed. "I'm not defending his behavior because he was out of line…I just wished that you had handled things differently."

Damon shook his head in bewildered wonderment. "What the fuck is with you and Elena, this is who I am so why do the two of you continue to expect me to act any differently. Stop trying to make me be something I'm not. If you can't handle how I am then I can fucking leave right now, Bonnie, because I didn't take that shit from Elena and I refuse to take it from you….so make up your mind right now…either take me how I am or leave me the fuck alone." He glared at her, leaving his ultimatum floating in the air between them.

For the sake of her friend, she needed for Damon to stay; she had no other choice. She looked into his hard unwavering blue eyes. "Okay Damon…I get it….you will never change and I accept that…I accept you and all of your messed up ways." She tried to be funny and make light of the situation but somehow it didn't come out that way; it came out much differently, and Damon had to turn away from her earnest green eyes.

Damon cleared his throat and grabbed the newspaper from her lap and searched for the classifieds so he could find a nice place to rent for the summer. They checked out four really nice apartments to rent, but Damon didn't like any of them so he settled for renting a luxury suite at the Omni Hotel located downtown.

Bonnie's green eyes almost popped out of her head when they walked into his suite. This hotel was freaking amazing, it was better than amazing, it was spectacular. She had never seen anything like it. It was just so rich and luxurious looking.

"Close your mouth Bonnie, it's just a hotel." Damon said to her. Bonnie snapped her mouth shut and glared at him.

He laughed. "You know, sense you like it here so much…you're more than welcome to stay here with me." He said, wriggling his eyebrows.

Bonnie snorted. "No thanks, I'm good where I'm at."

"Are you hungry?" he asked her picking up the hotel menu.

She kind of was hungry, in fact, she hadn't had anything to eat all day. Damon didn't wait for her to reply and just handed her the menu. "Order whatever you want." He told her, picking up his black bag and disappearing in his bedroom.

Bonnie ordered herself a chicken club sandwich with some fries and a sweet tea. Since being in Atlanta, she had become fond of drinking sweet tea with lemon. She walked out unto the balcony while she waited for her food. Man, they were really high up; luckily she wasn't afraid of heights. The city looked beautiful from up here. Bonnie was pulled from her thoughts by her phone. She took it out of her small purse that she had strapped across her shoulder. It was Lucy. Bonnie answered it.

"Hey, Lucy."

"Bonnie, where are you…I got worried when you weren't here when I got home."

"I'm sorry, I forgot to leave you a note…it's just when Damon showed up this morning I kind of got knocked off track."

"W-What? You mean Damon Salvatore is here in Atlanta?"

"Yeah, Stefan couldn't come, so Damon came instead."

Pause. "Bonnie, where are you now?"

"Umm, I'm with Damon, but listen I'll explain everything when I get home, okay Lucy." Bonnie held her breath.

Lucy sighed. "Okay Bonnie, I'll see you soon."

Bonnie hung up the phone. A knock sounded at the door and Bonnie turned around and watched as Damon opened the door. A really tall, skinny guy with red hair pushed the cart carrying the food into the room. Damon tipped him after signing a small black book. Bonnie walked into the room and took the cover off her food and smiled. The food looked and smelled delicious. She ate a fry before picking up her plate and glass of sweet tea and moving to sit down at the table.

Damon poured himself a glass of bourbon that was already waiting for him when they came into the room. He sat down across from Bonnie and watched her eat. Bonnie looked up and saw the puzzled expression on his face.

Bonnie wiped her mouth and hands on the really nice napkin. "What?" she asked before taking a sip of her sweet tea.

"Why did that guy call you red bone?" Damon asked intrigued.

Bonnie chuckled, shaking her head. "It's a term for someone who is black that has a light skin tone."

Damon nodded his head. "And, what exactly is a shawty?"

Bonnie burst into laughter because it sounded so wrong coming out of his mouth. Once she stopped laughing she answered him. "It's ebonics for the word shorty."

When Bonnie finished her food, Damon drove her home. He refused to just drop her off in front of her building instead he got out of the car and walked her to the elevator and rode with her up to her floor and walked her to her door. Bonnie couldn't hide her irritation; Damon just laughed, he liked that he got on her nerves.

She opened her door and turned back to Damon once she was inside. "Goodnight, Damon" she said in exasperation.

"Goodnight, shawty." He said and walked away.

Bonnie just stood there with her mouth gaped open.