Chapter Six. Welcome to the Hotel Gemini
The hotel was fancy, one of the nicest that Bonnie had ever been inside of; and coming from a girl who had once had free rein over an empty planet, that was saying something. Whatever else might be wrong with the Gemini coven, at least they weren't stingy about splurging for their guests.
The moment she stepped into their suite, she slipped out of her shoes and sank into the depths of the King-sized bed and just luxuriated in the feel of comfort and indulgence, and tried to turn her brain off for a little while.
Of course, it was an empty hope. Even now, she was worrying that Damon would forget to tip the bellboy before he compelled away his memory of their small storage fridge of blood bags.
Despite herself, she listened to the murmur of the conversation at the door but barely heard much before Damon shut it, and then she heard his footfalls as he approached her.
When the bed dipped under his weight, and she felt his hands on her neck, she tensed.
"Wanna christen our room?" he murmured lowly.
A few days ago, the sound of his voice like that would have turned her insides to mush. Now, it just made her tense even more.
She sat up. "Lucy asked me to check in on her when we arrived."
He pressed his face into the space between her shoulder and her neck. "She can wait a few hours, can't she?" he said into her skin.
She shrugged him off as she picked up her phone.
She had just pressed the dial button, when the world shifted, and she found herself flat on her back, her phone falling to the floor, the wind knocked out of her as Damon loomed over her, with that familiar, semi-playful 'I'm not kidding around' smirk on his face.
"Damon!"
He cocked his head. "What's going on, BonBon? You've been icing me for days now, since you got back from Abby's. Don't think I haven't noticed."
She tried to sit up and shove him off, but he held her shoulders and pushed her back into the bed.
"Ow!" she yelled, more in surprise than anything else.
"Don't we usually wait a few more months before we start the 'keeping secrets from each other' spiel?"
Bonnie just glared at him. He heaved a big, dramatic sigh, then lifted his hands in a mock-innocent manner and shifted back. She got off the bed at once.
"Bon-"
"That was not cool, Damon," she snapped.
"Know what else is not cool? You keeping things from me so soon after the last time."
"Really? Because that's rich coming from you."
His eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Not for the first time in the past two days, it was on the tip of Bonnie's tongue to just blurt it out. The picture frame. What seeing him mourning over Elena's picture had done to her.
And not for the first time, she didn't.
"My mom doesn't like you, Damon. It bothered me, OK? I may be a witch but I'm still human."
He rolled his eyes. "So Abby hates me. How is this news now?"
"It matters now," Bonnie said, her voice turning waspish, "because with you and I are getting married, she and I are going to be even further apart than we already are. There goes any hope I have of having any kind of relationship with my mother."
His eyes boggled at her. "Where's all this coming from? Since when have you wanted a relationship with Abby? The same woman who abandoned you when you were a kid?"
Abandoned me because of Elena. She had a choice between protecting Elena and raising me and she chose Elena.
It's always Elena, isn't it?
"People change, Damon," she said quietly.
"Not people like that. She's a deadbeat."
"She's also the only mother I've ever known! And when I have kids of my own someday…" She trailed off at the shadow that passed over his face. "If I have kids of my own someday, I'm going to have to figure out not to be her." When he said nothing, her voice shook with feeling. "But who knows? That might never even be a problem at the rate at which we're going. Right, Damon?"
He frowned. "What are you saying, Bonnie?"
She smiled bitterly. "Nothing. Just that it's been taking you an awful long time to decide when you'll take the Cure."
He fell back on the bed with a loud groan. "Not this again."
She rushed to him, suddenly overcome. "When are you going to take it Damon?" she asked quickly. "Before the wedding? After? The honeymoon? Our anniversary?"
"Bonnie-"
"It's in Abby now. For god knows how long… By the time word gets out that Abby Bennett is a witch again, people will start putting two and two together."
"So let's make Damon the target instead, right?" he growled.
She shook her head, exasperated. "Don't you try to play that card. We've talked about this, looked at it from every angle. We've figured out a way for you to take the Cure and still stay safe."
"Yeah, we talked about it – and I promised to take it so why-"
"When? When are you going to take it?" After Elena wakes up?
He sat up, his eyes flashing. "Don't put me on an effing timetable, Bon."
"You can fly over to Abby's tonight and take it. There's no reason why you have to wait. Unless…"
Her voice trailed off as his eyes narrowed.
"Unless what, Bonnie?" he asked, his voice cold.
She opened her mouth - ready to spit it all out there and then.
Both of them glanced at the phone that suddenly started ringing.
It was Lucy.
"Perfect timing," Damon scoffed. He got to his feet, grabbed his jacket.
"Where are you going?"
"Away from you."
"Damon!"
But he was already gone, the door slamming hard behind him.
Bonnie let out a little scream of frustration, then picked up the phone.
"What is it?"
There was a surprised noise from the other end. "Er… Bonnie?"
"Lucy, this is not a good time."
"You called me first, remember? I'm returning your call."
Right. She had forgotten what happened barely moments ago.
"Lucy-"
"I just wanted to make sure you got to the hotel OK. I wrangled you guys into the guest list at the last minute and I wasn't sure everything would run smoothly for you'. Like the place?"
Bonnie didn't bother answering that. "When does the Gemini leader do the spell?"
"Soon enough," Lucy said. "For the first few days, he'll be up to his eyeballs in ceremonial crap so he'll be too busy but after that-"
"Did you just say days?" Bonnie shrieked.
"Gotta a problem with that? Your wedding is in weeks."
At this rate, Bonnie thought staring morosely at the door, is there still going to be a wedding?
"I have fittings," she said morosely. "Recitals. I have to choose the cake. We still don't have a band…"
"What about that anal friend of yours, Caroline whatshername? Isn't she in charge of things?"
Bonnie bit her lip hard, and fought back the sudden urge to scream – or cry. She and Caroline hadn't seen or spoken to each other since she left her at her mother's house. She only knew from Stefan that her friend had returned back to Virginia. Caroline hadn't answered any of her calls. The two women who were usually as close as sisters were probably the most estranged that they had ever been in their entire lives.
"That's not the point. It's my wedding, not Caroline's. I have to be there for these things. Why did you drag me all the way here so early if you knew I won't get to see him right away?"
"Who said you won't get to see him right away? I'll introduce you during tomorrow's presentation, then we go on from there."
"You just said-"
"I meant that he won't be available for serious magic business until he's done with the coven stuff." When Bonnie sighed angrily, Lucy laughed. "So in the meanwhile, consider this a paid vacation. Enjoy the West Coast. Check out the casinos. Have fun mingling with the other supernaturals. The hotel will be crawling with them. Or if that's not your thing then go to the beach and make your fiancé to get a tan so he won't look like a corpse on his wedding day." She laughed at that. "Good luck with that one."
"Lucy-"
"I'm in the hotel across the street so pop over if you're in the mood." She rattled off her room number. "Otherwise, see you tomorrow-"
"Lucy – Lucy…"
But she had already hung up.
Bonnie took a deep breath then she started pacing the room, trying desperately to soothe her frayed nerves.
She considered calling Damon, asking him to talk. She'd tell him about seeing him with Elena's picture; how that shook her so badly that she changed her mind about going through the lifting of the Curse because she'd rather just have Elena alive and Damon choose than live in her best friend's shadow for the rest of her life.
She'd tell him all these things and he'd stare at her with bitter hurt, and remind her that he loved her, that he chose her. Remind her that he had a choice between Elena awake and Bonnie dead and he chose Bonnie then. And had chosen her every-time since then.
"If anything were to happen to you, I would lose my mind."
She called him.
"Hello?"
Pause. "Bonnie."
"Damon… can we talk?"
There was another pause. "Only if you're ready to be truthful with me, Bonnie."
"I am. I will," she said quickly. "Can you come up?"
"Can you come down? I'm in the middle of a wicked game of poker here. These guys play hardball." He chuckled and she could hear a rumble of laughter in the background.
She sighed. "I was thinking…"
"What? I didn't quite catch that?"
She sighed again. "Nothing. Tell me where to meet you."
He told her, describing the specific casino downstairs that she could find him.
"Wear something sexy," he said lastly. "I wanna show off my girl."
She managed a weak laugh and hung up. He was having a good time, by the sound of things. He didn't sound overly mad, just exasperated. He wanted to show her off. They were all signs that he wasn't still in a bad mood.
She could do this. She could make this work.
Her bags were still unpacked so it took a while to find something that Damon Salvatore would consider sexy enough to show his future wife off in. But Bonnie finally found it* – slinky in silverish pink, and an eye-popping contrast against her olive skin and the streaks in her hair. She shook out her hair, freeing it from the braid that had become more or less her go-to style over the last few years, and let it fall straight to her waist. She was leaning in front of the mirror, carefully applying eyeliner when she realized that her hand was shaking so badly that she was messing up her face.
She dropped the pencil, sat down on the chair and called Caroline's number.
"Please pick up," she said under her breath. "Please… please… please…"
But it went straight to voicemail.
"Caroline… You still mad?" She started out with a flippant laugh that turned nervous, and ended in a sob. "I really need to talk to you. Please call me back."
She cut the call, then covered her face with her hands and breathed deeply.
In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.
It took her a few moments, but she finally calmed herself down enough to finish her face. She grabbed her purse, slipped into heels and left the room.
"Damon Salvatore? Tall. Black hair? Really good-looking."
Bonnie gave the female bartender a wary look. "Yes."
"He said to tell you – you're Bonnie right? – that he'll be back soon."
"What?"
The bartender pushed a tall glass across the bar.
"I didn't ask for…"
"You're from the Gemini group, aren't you? It's taken care of."
"Oh." Nervously, Bonnie took a sip. To her pleasant surprise, the fruity pink drink was quite good. She took a longer sip.
"Did Damon say where he was going?"
The bartender shook her head. "But he left with some of the other poker dudes. I guess they're moving around tables. It happens a lot around here." She gave Bonnie a commiserating smile. "I'm sure he'll be back soon. Meanwhile, want to try your luck at the tables here?"
Bonnie shook her head, her long hair sweeping over her bare back. "I'm not really a gambling person."
The bartender chuckled, and gave her a broad wink. "Whatever happens in Portland, stays in Portland."
Bonnie smiled reluctantly. "I thought that was Vegas."
"Same rules," the woman said smugly, then moved to attend to another customer.
Bonnie tried to call Damon, but his phone rang to the end. She wondered where he was that he couldn't – or didn't seem to hear his phone ring. With a sigh, she slipped the phone in her purse.
"Care for a drink?"
She looked up startled into a handsome, dark-skinned face eyeing her – or more specifically, eyeing her boobs – with interest.
"I'm waiting for my fiancé," she said sweetly, tipping her hand so that her ring flashed.
His eyes widened, then he grinned. "If I had a fiancée that looked like you, I won't keep her waiting for a minute."
He was a witch, Bonnie realized suddenly, feeling his power brush against her own in an unmistakable way. She hadn't dated many witches but she recognized what that meant. Her fiancé would probably describe it as a 'witchy mating call'.
"Move along now," Bonnie cooed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
He laughed, stepping back with his hands thrown up. "Can't blame a guy for trying."
She watched him go. Or more specifically, she watched his butt. It was a really nice butt. It seemed to tell well of the rest of the body under that well-fitted suit; and he had an amazing smile and laugh. More importantly, he wasn't pushy, backing off when she made it clear she wasn't interested. Too bad she didn't have any single friends to try to palm him off to.
She thought of Caroline and a cloud passed over her temporarily lifted spirits. She finished her glass and asked the bartender for another.
More guys came over, mostly witches, but there was the occasional vampire and even a female werewolf who insisted on buying Bonnie a drink, ignoring Bonnie's snippy reminder that the drinks were free anyway. But they got her to move out of her internal brooding and tune enough to her environment to recognize that the entire room was filled with supernaturals. She wondered if the entire hotel had been rented by the Gemini for their guests.
She wasn't even that irritated by the constant attention. She had dressed 'sexy' after all. Too bad, her get-up was being appreciated by everyone but the person who requested it. And, of course, the two and a half drinks in her system helped to put things in perspective.
"I spotted you from across the room…"
Bonnie didn't even bother raising her head, just her hand – which she flashed in the general direction of the guy who had cast a shadow over her glass.
"Taken. Not interested. Move along," she said curtly.
"Bonnie?"
She would recognize that voice in her sleep. She jerked up, so fast that she almost knocked down her drink. Her eyes took in the tall, dark-haired, thickly muscled man staring at her with mingled surprise and appreciation.
"Jeremy Gilbert?"
"Jeremy Gilbert, what are you doing here?"
He laughed, so clearly delighted to see her. "I was invited."
"The Gemini invited you? Why?"
"Well, not just me. I mean, all of us."
"Us?"
"We've worked with the Gemini coven several times since the new leader took over. We're allies, so to speak." He answered, distractedly. All the while he was talking, his eyes never left Bonnie – sweeping from her face to her shimmery outfit to her hair.
She bit back on the coy smile that was trying to break across her face. "Jeremy, who's us?"
"Oh," he finally caught hold of himself, his cheeks reddening slightly as he finally stopped with the blatant staring. "I mean the hunters."
Oh. Of course.
He insisted on buying her a drink, and while he was talking to the bartender, she studied him. He looked good – taller than she remembered, and filling out his suit with that well-muscled body of his. He had grown a beard, which was a surprise, but it fitted him funny enough.
It was amazing what five years did to a person. The last time she had seen Jeremy Gilbert had been just after his sister's … exit. Then she had still been too full of emotion from Elena being gone, and Kol's twisted punishment, and her own guilt over everything to have any leftover to process the fact that she was meeting the love of her life for the first time since she 'died' almost a year ago. For the first time, and what might easily have been the last time. Jeremy hadn't stuck around – spent most time in Elena's head, thrown out a flippant invitation for her to join him, looked indifferent at her refusal, and left with Tyler Lockwood.
Bonnie had never heard from him since. Once in a blue moon, Tyler's affairs would intersect with their lives and even more rarely, he'd have some news about Jeremy's activities. She had learnt that his Hunter's abilities had returned – around the time that the Cure had resurface – and he had banded the Five into a team of supernatural bounty hunters of sorts. She assumed that he stayed away from Virginia in order not to be tempted to turn against the people he cared about. But she hadn't thought about it too hard, either. After all, his sister was gone for the rest of his life, if Bonnie was lucky, and he probably felt there was nothing left for him.
Not even the girl who had died to save his life.
Bonnie's life since her return from the Prison World had been so full – dealing with Kol, then Lily and the heretics, then the Armory, and Rayna Cruz, and all the while her relationship with Damon had been growing and deepening until they finally made the shift from best friends to lovers. She was proud to realize that she had barely spared a thought for Jeremy Gilbert.
Even though now, he gave her one of those shy smiles she remembered from her high school days, and she felt something – like a shadow of a stirring in her heart. It was distant, from so long ago but it was there. You never forgot your first love, didn't they say? Even though he had kept breaking your heart.
"No need to ask what you're doing here?" he said softly. "Bennett royalty. I'm surprised I'm not beating off your courtiers with a stick."
Bonnie laughed. "Very funny."
"Not really," he said, and he smiled ruefully. "I've been around. Learnt a lot about the supernatural world outside Mystic Falls. You're kinda a big deal, Bonnie. As a Bennett, yeah, but even as you. The bad-ass who brought down the Armory, desiccated Klaus Mikaelson, vanquished Silas the Immortal, banished Kol Mikaelson into the Prison World and triggered the end of the Originals." He didn't notice the way she shuddered at that. "What makes it worse is how 'mysterious' you are to everyone outside Mystic Falls. You've rarely left Virginia. People only know you by reputation. If they only knew who was sitting at the bar, looking incredibly…" He coughed, his cheeks reddening again. "Hot. They'd crap themselves."
Bonnie laughed, her hair swinging as she threw back her head. "Smooth."
He grinned. "I try. So what have you been up to these past years, besides kicking ass and taking names?"
She filled him in gladly. His presence helped keep the admirers at bay, even if the bartender was eyeing her askance, obviously wondering why she was hanging around this new guy.
Bonnie ignored her. It was strange how easily the first moments of awkwardness passed, and suddenly she and Jeremy were chatting like if they had last spoken five days, not five years ago.
She flipped through her phone's pictures, narrating stories and laughing with him over the funny ones, although she noticed the way his eyes narrowed at the many pictures of Damon. He hadn't once said anything about the ring she had brazenly flashed at him when he first approached her.
She closed the last image and put down her phone. "So that's my life so far."
"Your job seems really interesting."
Bonnie gave him the side eye.
Jeremy chuckled. "Sorry, I figured that was the polite thing to say."
"My job is boring and stuffy. But New York and DC turned me down and this was the best I could get. The flip side is my boss is pretty chill about me taking time off at the drop of a hat. Comes in handy when there's Mystic Falls palaver to deal with." She winked at him.
His gaze was thoughtful. "That's very convenient."
She gave him another skeptical look. "I know what you're thinking, Jeremy but no, Damon didn't get my job for me and he isn't compelling my boss to be co-operative. I just get along with her very well."
He gave her a strained smile. "If you say so…" There was an awkward pause. "So I guess congratulations are in order."
"Took you long enough," Bonnie said breezily. She took a gulp of her drink to distract herself from the sudden sober turn of the conversation.
"Damon, huh?"
She swallowed, put the drink down and readied herself for this. "Yes, Jeremy. Damon."
He looked down at his drink for a long moment. Then he smiled bitterly. "Congratulations, then."
Bonnie scoffed. "Yeah, right. Look, if you have anything to say, then go ahead and say it."
"Why would I have anything to say, Bonnie?"
She shrugged. "Oh, I dunno. Something about your sister and my best friend and her boyfriend or something…"
"Oh that?" He snorted. Then he looked up, and the sternness in his face startled her. "If I was going to say something – and I'm not, by the way – it might have been about you hooking up with the guy that snapped your mother's neck."
Bonnie felt the blood drain out of her face.
"But hey," and his mouth twisted bitterly, "you barely even knew Abby and if Damon killing me didn't stop Elena from getting it on with him, then I doubt that a little thing like that would stop you either." He turned back to his moody contemplation of his drink. "Ask your boyfriend to bottle whatever it is he has that keeps the ladies coming, and put it in a cologne. It would make him billions."
Bonnie had to swallow many times before she could speak. "Damon didn't kill Abby. He turned her. To save your sister's life."
She could see his jaw working, as he clearly struggled against the words that he wanted to say. She wasn't sticking around to hear them. She hopped off the bar stool abruptly.
Jeremy's hand reached out and caught her.
"Don't go."
"I'm not going to stick around and watch you judge me for Damon. That's the whole reason I'm here already and I don't need any more of that. So if all you're going to say is-"
His eyes widened and she realized too late what she let slip out. "You're here because of Damon…"
She turned to go, but he held fast. "OK, OK. I promise. Damon is off the table."
She eyed him warily. He smiled tentatively at her and squeezed her hand.
She hesitated, the warmth in his eyes unnerving her. "Fine, but I've already hung here for too long. I have to…"
He pouted. "I've missed you, Bonnie. Can't we just hang as friends? I don't have anyone here."
She snorted at his pout. "When did that ever work?" she asked, even as she sat back on the stool, thinking what the hell. She had been enjoying his company – up until he brought up Damon and Abby. And Damon hadn't called or texted her so most likely, she was going to return to an empty room.
"And what do you mean that you don't have any friends here? What about the rest of the Five?"
He grimaced. "Believe it or not, hunting and killing vampires together may make us excellent teammates in a battle but not very good friends outside it. Since we re-grouped, we've lost and gained three hunters. When you work this kind of low-life expectancy job, you learn not to get attached to your colleagues."
It sounded sad. At least, she always had her crew in Mystic Falls. Somehow they had weathered through everything and still managed to stay together and alive. Even if it had taken a few sacrifices – mostly Bonnie's – to keep it that way. It had been worth it.
"There's one. Alex Gloriana," He pointed out a petite Hispanic-looking woman at one of the pool tables. She was playing next to someone Bonnie recognized – the gorgeous wizard with the remarkable butt that had tried to pick her up that evening. Her eyes narrowed at how cozy they looked together.
"Is that her date?" she asked casually.
"Dunno. We all came together but maybe they planned to meet up. That's Vincent Griffith, by the way." When Bonnie just looked blank, he added: "He's the regent of the nine covens of New Orleans. Kai would be pleased. The Gemini have been trying to strike an alliance with the New Orleans coven for a long time now. If Vincent's here, that's a good sign."
As if he realized that they were talking about him – and being a powerful warlock, he probably did – Vincent raised his head, looked straight at Bonnie, and winked.
Bonnie lifted her glass to her mouth to hide her blush, and ignored Jeremy's teasing stare.
"Should I introduce you two?" He asked in a sing-song voice.
"Er… no, thank you. Someone put a ring on it, remember?" And quickly, before the conversation dwelled on forbidden topics, she added: "Plus if he's not dating your fellow Huntress, then he's definitely dating that young witch that's been glaring at me since he looked over."
The last part wasn't just for talk. Bonnie had barely noticed the girl in question before Vincent's wink, but now it was hard not to notice the poisonous glances shot her way. The girl was young, younger than Bonnie, and even though her little black dress was cute enough, she looked incongruous in this place, surrounded by far more sophisticated company.
At least, she was definitely powerful, if her aura was anything to go by. But she was also clearly a novice; didn't even know to mask her emotions from her aura. Bonnie could feel the girl's anger from across the room.
Tone it down, already. I'm not interested in your man.
If anything, Bonnie's attempt at peace-keeping just made the girl glare more.
To Bonnie's surprise, Jeremy raised a hand in a wave at the group by the pool table. Vincent waved back, his eyes sliding from Bonnie to Jeremy and turning speculative. She figured he was concluding that Jeremy was the fiancé she had been waiting for. It didn't bother her. The huntress gave Jeremy a curt nod, then went back to line up her shot. The young witch gave him a shy smile, shot Bonnie another angry glare, then marched out of the room.
Vincent turned to say something to her, but she had already left. Rather than following her, he shrugged and went back to the game.
"Who is that?" Bonnie asked.
"You don't know? She looked like you as if you knew each other."
"I have never met that girl in my life."
"Huh. Well, that's Davina Claire. Vincent's protégée. A few years ago, she came into a lot of power and she got caught up in the feud between Marcel Gerard, a vampire who ran New Orleans and the Mikaelsons when they returned there."
"She – and Vincent – were in New Orleans when the Mikaelsons returned there?"
"Vincent's story is a bit more complicated. He didn't become Regent until after the Originals died. In fact, Davina was Regent before him but she disobeyed the Ancestors, lost her powers, and was shunned. Vincent was made Regent, and he adopted her back into the coven."
"How did she disobey the Ancestors?"
Jeremy shrugged. "Who knows? Ancestral witches are a temperamental bunch."
Didn't she know that, Bonnie thought soberly. She looked over at Vincent again. His re-adoption of Davina was an act of kindness, and she could see how the young girl must have gone from gratitude to hero-worship to something deeper. She wondered if he knew that. Somehow, watching him clearly hitting on the huntress Alex – and her flirting back – she doubted that.
Somehow knowing love sucked for everyone else did not make Bonnie feel better.
She flipped her hair back and smiled widely at Jeremy. He blinked at her in surprise.
"Wanna buy me another drink?"
"And that's Hayley Marshall-Kenner to complete the trio."
"A werewolf, a witch and a vampire walked into a casino…"
"I believe they call this place a game room."
"Same difference. So what do those three have in common?"
Jeremy shrugged, and finished his drink. "No idea. But Freya and Hayley have been friends since the others died; and when they resurrected Finn, he stuck by them. We hunters thinks there's more to it than just sibling loyalty and whatever alliance Hayley's wolves struck with Klaus. But whatever it is, it's a closely guarded secret."
Bonnie scowled hard at the three that were standing in the corner of the room, still and apparently engrossed in their roulette game.
"So vampire Finn and witch Freya are siblings. I'm still skeeved out about some long-lost sister turning up from the past, and one of the supposedly dead Original vampires resurrecting. What's stopping more from popping out of the woodwork? What's stopping Kol?" Her voice went up a slight octave at the last word.
A few people near them looked over at them. Jeremy gave her a worried look. "Bonnie…"
"How do you know so many people, anyway?" She asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"I told you," he said slowly, now eyeing the glass in her hand. "If you're constantly on the move like we hunters are, you get to meet just about everyone worth knowing in the supernatural world. Now, Bonnie-"
"And the Great O-so-powerful Gemini coven leader? Is he here? Have you met him? Do you think he's up to the scratch to break our Curse?"
He glanced around the room. "None of the Gemini are here. The coven is based in Portland. Even the few witches coming from out of state will already have home in some form of the other here. Besides they're probably caught up in some magical prep for tomorrow anyway." Her words finally registered, and he turned a sharp gaze to her. "Up to the scratch to break what Curse?"
Bonnie leaned forward, her hair falling over her face as she waggled her finger at him. "Nope. That would be telling, naughty boy."
Jeremy eyed the drink in Bonnie's hand again. "That's what number now?"
It took her a while to understand the question. Then she raised her glass and peered at it through bleary eyes. "Third? I think?"
"Third since when? Ten minutes ago?" He shook his head. "I think you've reached your limit."
She snorted. "Please. I can drink Damon under the table."
He scoffed. "Yeah, right."
She turned her attention from her moody preoccupation of the Michaelson-Marshall trio to glare at him. "Don't talk crap about my husband."
"I didn't say a word," he said mildly. "And you're not married yet," he added under his breath.
"I heard that. And you promised!" she wailed. "Jeremy, we were having so much fun and now you're ruining it."
More people were staring. Someone reached over and grabbed Bonnie's glass. She opened her mouth in protest – and found herself staring at the bartender's stern face.
"I'm cutting you off."
Bonnie glared at her. "Boohoohoo to you, too!"
The woman's mouth twitched and she eyed Jeremy. "He a buddy of yours?"
"The first love of my life!" Bonnie declared.
The woman and Jeremy burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Bonnie asked, confused.
"OK, Bon," Jeremy said, hopping off the stool and helping her down. Her heels were wobbly and she stumbled, falling against him. He caught her. For a brief moment, she reveled in the feel of his biceps around her back, the muscles against her front. Then he righted her, putting an arm around her shoulder companionably. He led her out of the place. "Let's get you to your room. What's your room number?"
She blinked at him. "I have no idea?"
He rolled his eyes. "Where's your key card?"
She tried to get it out of her purse, but her fingers were suddenly clumsy, so he took her purse. Then let out a rueful chuckle when he couldn't find it.
They were at the elevators by now. The lift car stopped and he waved the bellboy in it to send it right on.
"You left the room without your key card?"
Bonnie blinked again. "I did?"
He gave her an exasperated look. "Come on, Bonnie."
Her lips trembled. "Don't be mad at me."
He was immediately contrite. "I'm sorry-"
"Damon yelled at me. I was upset. He upset me. I upset him. Because of Abby. I don't even like Abby." She sniffed, then glanced at him.
His face had darkened.
"Don't look like that," Bonnie scolded. Then she shivered. "I'm cold."
He pulled off his jacket at once, and wrapped it around her shoulders. The warmth was delicious, the scent of him familiar, and it filled her with nostalgia. Tears filled her eyes. "Thank you," she said softly.
He looked at her, his face strangely sad, but all he said was, "come on, Bon. Let's get you somewhere to lie down." He tucked her to his side and pressed the elevator call button again.
"This isn't my room," she said as soon as she stepped in.
"No," Jeremy said, "it's mine." He bent down to help her with her shoes. "You can use the bathroom, then sleep. I'll take the couch. Let me know-" The rest of his words were muffled shut when her lips pressed against his own.
A/N:
*Bonnie's outfit is identical to what Kat Graham wore on the MTV Music Awards 2016, but with a different hairdo, not wavy and blonde but straight down her waist with colored streaks.
Thanks for the great feedback, guys! And I love that you're all asking for Long Shadows update. I'm working on it, but you know that story has looooooooong chapters. Any other update you'd like to read while I chip away at that particular block of text?
Also, I know I already have toooo maanyyyyy stoooories but I've been thinking of starting a new one. It's one of three choices, so you guys choose:
1. Bonkai/Klonnie Notorious - a BK/TVD version of the Alfred Hitchcock movie/MI-2 movie where Kai is a Gemini heir that needs to recruit Bonnie Bennett in a mission to capture Klaus Mikaelson. He thinks he's recruiting her for her Bennett skills, but he later on finds out that he's recruiting her because she's Klaus's ex-girlfriend and her assignment is to re-kindle her relationship with the Original and honey-trap him.
2. Bamonkai Human AU - all human AU that starts years after the plane crash/stranded-on-a-deserted-island moment in time that led to Bonnie & Damon, meeting the lost Gemini heir, Kai Parker. Now, Bonnie and Damon are on the cusp of starting a relationship when Damon's brother, Stefan suddenly dies in a car crash, making his wife and Damon's ex-girlfriend, Elena, a widow. As Bonnie is trying to understand what this means to her relationship with Damon, the story comes out that Stefan's death might not have been accidental after all and Kai is the primary suspect.
3. Calling this one S8 AU for now: It started as a drabble on tumblr and blew up; and it's basically an AU where Kai lives and returned to Portland; most of s7 still happened, with slight differences and now Bonnie is trying to find Enzo and Damon. She's out of options, so she goes to Portland to ask Kai for help and she's not above bargaining with ... anything and everything for that help. Yeah, I don't really know where this is going but it would be fun to find out.
So I want to start at least one here on ff-net. You guys help me choose which. (And still choose which of my current wips you'd like an update of.) :D