CHAPTER SEVEN
When Bonnie's eyelids fluttered open some hours later, the sun was peering through the opened curtains, causing her vision to blur for a moment. Swallowing, she exhaled a little, her body shifting underneath the cool covers and she realized Damon wasn't beside her. Or else the sun wouldn't have been staring her straight in the face.
"Damon?" she said slowly, turning her head again and she was greeted by a low, "Shhh."
Bonnie lifted her head and looked in front of her to see Damon walking quietly back into the room, pushing the door closed with his bare foot.
She raised an eyebrow at him as he reached the bed.
"My parents are about to leave." Damon said sitting down, holding a carton of orange juice.
Bonnie licked her lips, her mind still kind of tired, she just looked at him like, 'uh okay'.
"They think we're asleep, if they notice we're awake my mother will want to talk." he explained, scratching at his past 5 o'clock shadow.
"Is that why you're drinking out of an orange juice carton?" she asked, sitting up in bed, the blanket falling to her lap.
Damon had the circular nozzle up at his lips and he chuckled before swallowing.
"The cabinets are squeaky." he insisted and looked at the wild mess of hair around the woman's face.
Bonnie's lips turned upwards and she ran her fingers through her hair.
"So are we home alone, or is Stefan here?" she asked while she stretched her arms above her head.
"Alone." Damon replied, taking another drink.
"My parents are going back to Georgia for a week or so." he said, with some orange juice running along a corner of his mouth.
Bonnie nodded, "You have some ah..." she touched her own face, but he wiped at the wrong side of his mouth.
"Here, I got it." she reached over and used her thumb to wipe the corner of his mouth and then brushed it on the bottom of her shirt.
"Thanks." Damon smiled at her and offered her the carton.
She shrugged and took it, taking a drink from it and swallowing before holding it in her lap.
"Is there Champagne in this?" Bonnie asked, licking her lips.
"Probably, it was hidden in the back of the fridge." he smirked and she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, so someone's gonna be out of luck when they go looking for their mimosa carton." she chuckled and shook her head handing the carton back to him.
Damon shrugged, "They should've labeled it."
Bonnie smiled and watched him take another drink.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"About 10 am." he replied, running a hand through his dark messy hair.
"You have class today?" Damon asked her, and she shook her head.
"We have an hour rehearsal later, but it'll probably be two hours." Bonnie chuckled, and rubbed at her face.
Maybe it was everything that had gone on the last few days, but she felt reluctant to go into ballet. Honestly, she'd rather skip out; but, if she missed anymore time, there was no telling if she'd even be in the show.
"I can drive you." he offered.
"Sure, that'd be nice." she smiled and tossed the blanket off of her.
"I'm pretty sure your parents are gone now." Bonnie noted, standing up and stretched her arms above her head again.
Damon stood up as well, "Yeah, I heard the door close."
"How much is left in that?" she asked, pointing at the carton that now had the lid screwed on.
"I don't know, like a few drinks." he replied, and she pursed her lips.
"What?" Damon asked, but Bonnie quickly step over, grabbed the carton from his hand and rushed for the door.
"Hey!" he called.
She opened the bedroom door and ran down the hall and down the stairs. Damon chased after her, but he wasn't quite fast enough. Bonnie, laughing, made it to the kitchen before him.
Unscrewing the lid, the tilted the carton to her mouth and drank the remaining juice. Damon got there, stopping front of her as she had a mouth full of juice.
"You heathen!" Damon chided and a laugh burst up from her stomach, causing her to spit the orange juice out across the room, some of it spraying onto Damon's t-shirt and neck.
Bonnie gasped, "Oh my god! I'm sorry." she closed her eyes, shaking with laughter.
Damon stood there, processing that he had orange juice along the front of him and reached up to wipe some off his lips.
"That's okay, I've been thinking about a juice cleanse." he whispered, and Bonnie tossed the empty carton in the trash.
She walked over pulling some paper towels off the rack and stepping over to pat dry his face.
"You don't have to do that." Damon said but she continued patting his face, then pulled her hand away.
"On the bright side, you smell like a fruit salad." Bonnie snickered and he narrowed his eyes at her.
Bonnie touched his cheek with her pointer finger.
"Lil' sticky though." she licked her finger.
"I'm going to hop in the shower, before you start eating me." Damon teased and she rolled her eyes.
"You go do that." Bonnie turned around to open the fridge while he made his way back up stairs.
Looking in the fridge she furrowed her brow.
"It looks like the depression in here." she moved around a few bottle of alcohol, only to reveal a half package of cheese, a head of lettuce, some apples, a jug of milk with maybe 10 oz left and a wrapped up avocado half.
Bonnie closed the fridge and found the bread, making herself some toast. After eating it, she decided it might be a good idea to get some groceries. After all, it was her house now, she needed some food she wanted to eat. Not to mention, she needed to get some snacks to restock her mini fridge.
Walking up the stairs she opened the bedroom door, she could hear the shower running.
"Still need to unpack all my crap." she mumbled to herself, finding her clothing.
Pulling out a pair of black leggings, light blue long sleeve shirt, bra, socks, comb and a brown coat, she laid it all out on the bed.
Pulling off her pajamas, she put her bra on and started to pull her leggings on. The waist band snapped above her hips and she reached for the shirt.
The water turned off, and she quickly pulled on the shirt.
Grabbing her socks and coat, she turned around to leave, only to see Damon standing there, a towel wrapped around his lower half.
"Oh, sorry!" she blinked, her cheeks going light pink as she glanced the dampness of his chest.
Bonnie grabbed her comb as well, and hurried back downstairs.
Once she was down stairs, her heart beating a bit faster she set her things down on the stair railing and combed her hair blindly.
Sliding on her socks, and coat she looked around, trying to remember where she took off her shoes the night before.
"Where are you going?" Damon asked, once he had walked down the stairs, dressed in jeans, and a black button up shirt .
"To get some more orange juice, and other things." Bonnie said sliding on her sneakers.
"You don't have to do that." he said with a chuckle.
She rolled her eyes, "Your fridge looks like the food moved out."
"Oh, yeah, the staff doesn't usually restock the fridge until Friday." Damon fixed the collar on his shirt.
Bonnie looked to the side, "Okay, well, it's Thursday, and I have two fully functioning legs, so. " she looked back at him.
"I'm gonna go to the grocery store." she grabbed her keys off the key rack near the door, shoving her phone in her coat pocket.
She opened the door and looked back at him, "Do you want to come?"
Damon pursed his lips.
"Sure, why not." he felt his jeans pocket to make sure his phone and wallet was there.
"Okay, we're taking my car." Bonnie said and stepped out the front door, Damon following behind her, closing and locking the door.
Once they got into Bonnie's car, they headed down the road. It was snowing very lightly out, the first snow of the year. It was pretty early, but it would most likely be the last snow until December, at least that was assumed.
"I should probably mention this, I have an international meeting starting on the 14th." Damon told her as they traveled along the road.
"Oh, to where?" she questioned, both hands on the steering wheel.
"London." he said, resting one of his arms on the door.
Bonnie blinked, "Oh, wow, London."
Damon looked over at her, "I would bring you, but it's all business." he explained, although he didn't exactly want to tell her his father had 'insisted' that he not bring Bonnie.
"Of course, I understand..." she nodded.
"How long will you be gone?" Bonnie asked, turning into the parking lot of a Meijer.
"About 3 days, it's fairly short flight to and from. 8 hours." he unbuckled his seat belt.
She unbuckled hers, feeling a little.. was that sad? That was understandable, she didn't have be away from Damon for 3 days on her bucket list. Plus, this probably meant she'd have to talk to Lily more than she wanted.
However, it was more than a week from then, she didn't need to worry about it.
Bonnie shoved her keys in her pocket and got out of the car, Damon stepped over to her.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Damon reached into is pocket.
"What?" she asked, shutting her door and pressing the lock button on the control.
He held a silver band engagement ring, with a circle of small diamonds encasing a emerald in the center.
"You could of course just wear your wedding band, but most women prefer the engagement ring, and since we didn't have an engagement..."
Bonnie blinked, "Oh, you didn't need to do that."
"I wanted to." Damon stated.
"Every woman should have a sparkly engagement ring." he smiled.
Bonnie took the ring from his fingers and slid it onto her ring finger, in front of the wedding band.
Looking down at it, it.. well, it was stunning. Her favorite stone was emerald, but she didn't remember telling him that.
"At the wedding, you told me you loved emeralds." Damon said, almost reading her thoughts.
She blinked, "Oh, yeah, I guess I did."
"Do you like it?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
"It's perfect." Bonnie whispered, before looking up at the man towering above her.
Damon smiled, "Good."
She cleared her throat and walked past him, grabbing a cart from one of the corals.
"Thank you." Bonnie said as she pushed the cart with him walking beside her through the slight snow fall.
"You're welcome." he chuckled, and they walked through the self opening doors into the buzzing grocery store.
-beep- the sound of customers scanning their things at the self checkout hit their ears.
"Let's start in the fruit." Bonnie said turning the cart that way and heading over.
"What, are we gonna make our own orange juice?" Damon teased, and she shook her head.
"You say that as if it's implausible." she grabbed a plastic bag from a stand and swooshed it open with her left hand.
He smirked, "Well, if you want to make your own juice, I'm not stopping you."
"Lucky for you, no I'm not going to make my own juice." Bonnie walked over to the cucumbers and placed a few in the bag.
Walking back over, she placed them in the cart.
"Why don't I push the cart?" Damon asked, and she shrugged, letting him push the cart as she grabbed another bag.
Bonnie stepped over, checking some banana's before placing them in the bag.
"You want some strawberries?" he asked stepping over to them.
"Do you like strawberries?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Then get them." Bonnie chuckled, watching him place some in the cart.
"Wait, did you check the bottom?" she asked and he raised an eyebrow.
She stepped over to him, grabbed the plastic bin of strawberries lifting it up so she could check the bottom.
"Yeah, see the ones on the bottom are kind of mushy." Bonnie set them back and lifted another up.
"Yup, those too." she whispered.
"You want them to be bright and not mushy." she explained.
Damon blinked and started doing the same thing.
"What about these?" he asked, and she looked.
"Oh, perfect." she smiled and took them from him, setting them in the basket.
Damon continued pushing the cart as she walked beside him.
"Are done with the fruit and vegetables now?" he asked her and she nodded.
"Yup." Bonnie lead him out towards the main isles.
"Are we just going to walk through every isle and grab whatever you want?" he asked.
"That's the plan." Bonnie said smiling.
"Don't normal people make lists?" Damon inquired, turning down isle 1.
She pursed her lips, "Yes, they do." she started.
"But, we don't really have a limit on what we can spend, so." Bonnie shrugged.
"So, normal people make lists and, even if they want something else, they don't get it?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, playing with her.
She turned and glared at him.
"Stop messing with me... I'm not the one who has staff who grocery shop for me." Bonnie put her hands on her hips.
"Hey, are you saying you wouldn't grocery shop for someone if they paid you $2,000 a week?" Damon asked her.
She nodded, "Touche." she turned back around as they walked down the frozen dessert isle.
"I'm not judging you, believe me. I'm just used to doing things differently." she said opening a door and pulling out a thing of chocolate ice cream.
"I mean, I could afford to have staff, cooks, maids, butlers, before we married but... I never saw the need."
Damon nodded, "No, I get it. You grew up without that, I grew up with it."
"Right." Bonnie nodded, grabbing a few more things.
Some time later and they had made it to the chips isle, their cart half full.
"I got it." Damon chuckled, when she tried to push the cart while he was grabbing pringles.
"You got it? You're slower than a turtle!" Bonnie teased.
"Mhm." he rolled his eyes and she moved a little bit away from the cart.
Hunching over a little, she put a hand on her back, and pretended to be walking very slowly with a cane.
"Okay, that's a little dramatic." Damon stopped the cart and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Oh no, I can't hear you, I'm so old..." Bonnie put a hand to her ear like she was trying to hear better.
He shook his head and continued down the isle.
Several more isle's later and they were smack in the alcohol section.
"Don't even think about it!" she said smacking his hand away from the bourbon.
Damon turned to look at her.
"Why not?" he asked, with a smirk.
"Uh, because your fridge looks like a bar." Bonnie replied and he tilted his head downwards a little.
"You're not getting any." she said pursing her lips.
"And you're going to stop me?" Damon asked, looking at her with smoldering eyes.
She blinked, "Do you wanna test me?"
"I think I might." he replied, grinning crookedly and she rolled her eyes.
Turning around, she looking at the wine, trying to pick one or two.
Suddenly, Damons arms were around her waist and he was holding her from behind.
"Uh..." Bonnie mumbled, surprised.
"There's a paparazzi to the left." he explained with a chuckle, and she could see the small flash of a camera from the corner of her eye.
She was beginning to wonder if Damon had a app that alerted the paparazzi of his whereabouts.
After a second, he backed away, and she placed two bottles of wine in the cart.
"Oh, crap, lemons. I forgot the lemons." Bonnie sighed and turned around.
"I asked you if we were done in the fruit, you said yeah." Damon shook his head.
Her lips vibrated, "Does, I forgot the lemons, not mean anything?" she asked.
"I'll go get them." he insisted and she nodded.
"Okay, but, make sure there's no brown spots." Bonnie pointed at him.
"I will... definitely do my best." Damon pointed back at her and turned, walking away.
Bonnie probably should've stayed in one place, but she started roaming around, grabbing a few other things from the food isle, the orange juice they'd originally planned on getting and ended up in the clothing section.
Okay, maybe she purposely ended up in the clothing section.
After grabbing several dresses, sweaters, shirts and a pair of shoes, she realized Damon was probably wondering where the heck she was.
So, she headed back to the chip alcohol isle.
However, there were several people blocking the main isle with the carts, so she had to go around in the adjoining isles. Two of them being the baby isles.
She walked through the diapers, and the wipes, the powder. Not phased at all, but as she started down the next isle, the bottles, the formula, the tiny pacifiers, she got distracted.
Bonnie stopped, running her hands along a row of small, infant sized pacifiers. She had only stopped for a second, but suddenly, she felt a presence beside her.
"There you are." Damon said from beside her and she blinked, being pulled from her thoughts.
"Oh, sorry." she said and took the bag of lemons from his hand.
"Thanks." she smiled and set them in the cart.
Damon looked over, to the pacifiers that she had been looking at.
"Do you want kids?" he asked, and she blinked, looking back over at row.
"Well, I've never actually, sat and thought about it, in a serious way. But, in general? Yeah, I want kids." Bonnie replied honestly, her green eyes scanning the little pacifiers with fun decorations along the handle.
Damon looked at her face, for the first time in, he didn't know how long, he felt... hopeful. He would be lying if he said that something about Bonnie wasn't starting to get to him.
"Alright, I think were done, we can go check out." Bonnie cleared her throat and motioned to him, that he could push the cart.
He followed behind her to the check outs, chuckling when she tried to casually explain the clothing.
_
30 minutes later and the two of them were standing in the kitchen, having put away the groceries, despite the staffs insisting on helping.
"I have never seen someone ask so many times, if they can put the groceries away." Bonnie chuckled, flipping a grilled cheese that was cooking in a skillet.
Damon leaned against the counter, "I've never seen someone insist they don't need help so many times." he smirked.
Bonnie placed the grilled cheese on a plate and turned the burner off.
"Here's yours." she handed him a plate, then took her own.
"Thanks." he said, while walking over to the fridge and grabbing a miniature bottle of hot sauce from the door.
Bonnie headed out of the kitchen and was going to go into the living room until Damon grabbed her elbow a little.
"Follow me." he told her and she looked at him, curious; but followed him down the hallway.
They turned down the hallway near the end, then down another, which Bonnie hadn't gone down the night before and it grew a little darker, since there weren't any windows.
"Sorry, it's a little dark." Damon apologized, and she heard a door open, then a light switched on as they turned into the room.
Bonnie blinked, taking in the room. It was huge, spreading out yards on all sides, primarily dark wooded, and every single wall was a book shelve.
"Holy..." she whispered, looking around and as far as she could see, there wasn't a single space left for another book.
"This is the library, it's the first room that was built of the house in 1902." Damon explained turning around to look at her.
"There must be a thousand books in here." Bonnie's eyes were the size of the moon, as she took in what was around her.
He smiled at her, and moved to sit down in a leather love seat several feet from them, with a coffee table in front of it.
"A couple thousand at most." Damon teased and she sat down beside him.
She bit into her sandwich as watched as he poured hot sauce beside his.
"Gross." Bonnie said with her mouth full, and he rolled his eyes.
"It's good." he insisted, dipping his sandwich in the red liquid and then biting it.
She shook her head.
"Here, try." Damon offered her the bottle.
"Nope." Bonnie said looking away from him.
"Come on." he shoved her playfully.
She looked back at him, "No, it's yucky!" she crinkled her nose.
"Nuhuh." he smiled.
Bonnie sighed, "Fine."
Damon grinned and poured a few drops on the edge of her grilled cheese.
She just looked at it for a second, with narrowed eyes like she was trying to police it.
Finally, she took the bite and her eye twitched for a second.
Damon just looked at her, watching her swallow and then lick her lips, thinking.
"How is it?" he asked.
She nodded a little, "Alright, not bad." she coughed.
"However, my tongue might possible be numb." Bonnie took another bite of the sandwich in order to get the feeling back in her tongue.
Damon chuckled.
After a few minutes they were both done with their sandwiches, Bonnie looked over at him.
"Do you want kids?" she asked, kind of randomly.
"What?" he said, looking over at her.
"You asked me in the store, if I wanted kids." Bonnie reminded him and he nodded.
"Oh, yeah.." Damon cleared his throat.
"I haven't really ever thought about it." he said slowly.
"Really? I mean, you wanted to marry Lucia, so you thought about marriage at least once." she brushed her hair behind her shoulder.
He bit his lower lips before speaking.
"Honestly, I think I do want kids." he started.
"But, they are cute."
Bonnie smiled a little, "Yeah, they are."
Her phone started to ring, and vibrate from beside her and she picked it up, seeing her father was the one calling.
"Hi, dad." she said as she pressed answer, putting the phone up to her ear.
"Hi hun, I hope your not busy." Rudy said from the other end.
"Oh, no." Bonnie replied.
"I'm stopping by tonight, there's a break in the tour, I would like to meet Damon." he told her.
She blinked, "Alright, well, what time are you getting here?"
"Around 4." her father said.
"Okay, hold on."
Bonnie put the phone to her chest and looked at Damon.
"My dad's coming into down during a break in the tour tonight and wants to meet you, is any time tonight okay?" she asked Damon.
"Yeah, I don't have anything." Damon smiled.
She put the phone back to her ear.
"Alright, I have class, but we can meet you for dinner." Bonnie told her dad.
"Where and what time sweetheart?" Rudy asked.
"How about, Buca di beppo, at 6?" she asked.
"Sounds, great, I'll see you then."
Bonnie hung up the phone and set it on the coffee table beside her empty plate.
"So, Buca di beppo, huh?" Damon asked.
"Yup, it's our favorite Italian place." she explained.
"Ironic." he said casually
Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "How is that?"
Damon ran a hand through his hair combed hair, messing it up.
"Beh, perche io parlo Italiano, miele." he spoke, with a smirk on his face.
Her lips turned upwards a little, "I'm going to guess, that you said you speak Italian."
"Si, e correcto." Damon grinned and scooted closer to her.
Bonnie tilted her head to the side.
"That's not really a surprise, your last name is Salvatore after all."
"II vostro un asino intelligente." he said with a chuckle.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Did you just call me a smart ass in Italian?" she asked.
"Si." Damon smiled.
"Well, 'asino intelligente' to you too." Bonnie shoved him a little.
_
"I don't think my father cares what tie you wear." Bonnie said from across the room as she looked in the tall mirror along one wall.
She was dressed still in her black leggings, with a hip length red chiffon shirt with a keyhole neckline, and nude toned heels.
"I honestly don't think you even need to wear a tie." she said when he didn't reply, and she turned around to look at Damon. His eyes were narrowed as he thought way to hard about which tie to wear. There were several hanging along his closet door.
Bonnie stepped over, and touched the collar of his white button up.
"You're not going to want to wear this shirt." she told him, and he looked at her.
"What are you talking about?" Damon asked, looking down at his shirt.
"The primary colors in Italian food are red, and grease." Bonnie said with a chuckle.
"Grease isn't a color." he said raising an eyebrow.
"When you're wearing a white shirt it is." she shook her head and took a step back from him.
She walked back over to the mirror as she put her hair up in pony tail and checked to make sure her shirt was even.
"What do you think I should wear then?" Damon asked as he unbuttoned his shirt.
"I don't know." Bonnie said, seeing his reflection in the mirror, and it distracted her for a second.
He pulled his shirt off completely, turned around and pulled two other shirts out of his closet.
"Nero o blu?" Damon asked in Italian and she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, I'll wear black." he said when she didn't reply.
"No, wear the blue." Bonnie said as she turned around.
"Why?" he asked, still holding both shirts.
She walked over to him.
"Because you look good in blue." she replied slowly, stopped 2 feet in front of him.
Damon smirked, reached over to put the black shirt back in the closet, and close the door.
Bonnie's eyes ran along his broad shoulders and chest for a moment, but that was kind of difficult not to do when your head stops at his shoulders, although, the heels made her about two inches taller.
He pulled on the shirt, slowly buttoning it from the bottom up.
"You look good in blue too." he said after a second, and watched her cheeks flush with heat.
Damon liked when that happened.
"I'll remember that." Bonnie said with a small smile, and watched him button the last button of the shirt.
"You know..." he started, and she blinked looked at his face.
"I don't know if I like it when you wear heels." Damon teased.
She rolled her eyes, "Don't even make another joke about how short am I. I'm aware."
He chuckled, and looked down at her.
"I like how short you are, that's all I was applying." he said softly, eyes pouring into her face.
There he goes, being intense again.
Bonnie swallowed, "Well, I... enjoy how tall you are." she said placing her hands behind her back.
"Do you now?" Damon asked, and his voice got a bit deeper.
She nodded, her chest getting a little tighter and she knew that it was because of him. Whether or not she wanted to admit it.
"Stop it." Bonnie smiled and hit him in the shoulder.
"I can't, it's just me." he smirked and she shook her head, reaching up to fix the collar on his shirt.
"Alright, we should get going." she said and turned, grabbing her phone, and heading back downstairs.
Damon followed behind her with his keys and shoving his phone in his pocket.
"Hey, I never asked, how did class go today?" he asked, although he had picked her up, she seemed hesitant to talk about it earlier in the day.
Bonnie sighed, "I don't really want to talk about it right now." she grabbed her coat off the hook and pulled it on.
Damon nodded, and let her walk out ahead of him as he closed and locked the door, but as he walked to his car, he realized for the first time, he actually wanted to know what had happened. Usually when he asked people how they were, he expected a generic response, and was okay with it, but not this time. Not with Bonnie.
"Well, whenever you want to talk about it." he said slowly, opening the car door for her.
She smiled at him, "Thanks."
He watched as she got into the car, and shut her door, then walked over and got into the drivers seat.
"Have you been to Buca di beppo?" Bonnie asked him after buckling as they headed down the road.
"Not in a very long time, no." Damon replied, tapping his fingers along the steering wheel.
She nodded and turned her head to look out the window.
That day at class had been... Well, it wasn't a surprise, but it was difficult none the less. She was used to being pushed to the back, used in the rehearsal for the main, but not in the show. Bonnie knew she was a great dancer, and she loved dancing. But, it wasn't just her poor treatment that was making her weary. She was just... growing bored, tired, and while she used to be excited to practice, now she felt like she was just running through the motions.
What a great time to realize she wasn't as happy in ballet as she thought... Right after someone married her because of her ballet background.
"I think I'm going the right way." Damon said after a moment, and she blinked, pulling herself back to reality and looked out the windshield.
"Yeah, were almost there." she said quietly, fiddling with the zipper on her coat.
Once they had pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, Bonnie got out before Damon could and waited in front of the car for him.
"The res is under Salvatore." she reminded him, although that should've been obvious.
She wasn't really used to her last name being Salvatore yet. She was thinking about getting it changed to Bennett-Salvatore, but then again she could just say it was that, rather than pay money and fill out a bunch of paper work.
She was still waiting on all her brand new ID's with her new name on them.
Ugh, that reminded her, she needed to refill out all her paperwork at the doctors office.
The two of them walked up to the restaurant, but Damon stopped when they got to the door.
"My hair look okay?" he asked, turning to look at her.
Bonnie blinked, and her lips turned upwards.
"Are you nervous to meet my dad?" she asked.
"What.. no..." Damon scoffed, shaking his head.
She reached up, having to put her arm straight in the air, in order to brush a small curl of his hair from the side of his forehead.
"Well, rock-star, yes your hair looks good enough to meet my dad." Bonnie teased and put her hand down.
Damon blushed, and she smiled even bigger, linking her arm with his and walking into the restaurant.
Something was different, she didn't know what, but everything just flowed with him. Even when they fought, or picked at each other, the last few days had been... oddly normal. She didn't feel like she was pushing anything, or trying too hard. Not with him, not with Damon.
Once they got to the counter, the woman asked for their reservation name.
"Salvatore." Damon replied, and she grabbed two menu's and lead them through the restaurant.
It was dimly lit, as most authentic Italian restaurants are, with large tables, booths, tons of photographs of celebrities, some so old that you had to look really close to see who was in the photo.
'un angelo disteso al sole' was playing at a low volume through the restaurant.
"Here you are." the hostess set the menu's down.
"Your waiter will be over shortly."
Bonnie turned her head and looked at the table, smiling when she saw her father in the booth.
Rudy stood up, "Sweetheart." he chuckled, and leaned over to wrap his arms around her for a hug, squeezing her tightly.
"Hi Daddy." she hugged him back, and then pulled away, sliding into the booth.
"And, you, Damon Salvatore." Rudy smiled and held a hand out.
"Mr. Hopkins." Damon said slowly, shaking the mans hand.
"It's nice to meet the man my daughters married too." he chuckled and patted Damon on the shoulder before sitting down in the booth.
Damon sat down beside Bonnie and loosened his collar a bit.
"It's nice to meet my wife's father." he joked, and Bonnie smiled a little.
Bonnie and Damon opened their menu's.
They picked three things, that all 3 of them would share. Since, the plates are bigger than any of them could even begin to try and eat by themselves.
"My dad and I have a habit of coming here, and ordering so much food, that we end up sitting here for hours, eating slowly, and still have left overs." Bonnie talked, a few minutes after their order was taken.
"You really like food huh?" Damon asked her, tilting the glass of red wine to his lips.
"She more than likes food, she loves it. You'd never think she could eat as much as she can." Rudy chuckled.
"Dad..." Bonnie glared at him and he waved her off.
"Who doesn't though?" she asked, tapping her pointer finger on her wine glass.
Damon nodded, "I love to cook, although I don't get to often."
"Really? You ever take any classes?" Rudy asked him.
He shook his head, "Oh, no. Just a luck passion."
"Well, it's good, because Bonnie cannot cook for the life of her." he teased.
Bonnie rolled her eyes, "I can kind of cook."
"Grilled cheese, pancakes, mac n cheese. Sure." Rudy chuckled.
"That's still food!" she insisted, "Plus, I can make potatoes in every way possible, and fried zucchini."
"Oh, yes, her fried zucchini is amazing." she smiled.
Damon pursed his lips, "I've never had fried zucchini."
"Hah, Bonnie, you actually make something the cook hasn't." her dad took a drink from his glass.
Bonnie smiled, "I'll have to make it for you sometime."
"I guess you will." Damon smirked, swirling his wine around in the glass.
"So, Damon, I feel like you two get along pretty well." Rudy noted.
He nodded, "Your daughter is, a very nice woman, not that difficult to get along with her." he smiled.
"I'm glad, I want her to be happy, even the circumstances are strange."
Bonnie smiled over at her dad.
"Honestly, that's really considerate of you. A lot of parents couldn't care less how their children feel." Damon said, clearing his throat, trying not to get into detail about his own family.
Bonnie frowned a bit, but Rudy spoke before she could.
"Trust, I want you to be happy too. Bonnie didn't just join your family, you joined hers."
Damon nodded a little, exhaling.
"You're right, and... I am.." he started, "..happy so far."
The waiter brought their food over, and Rudy poured more wine for them, holding up his glass.
"A toast." he said.
Bonnie and Damon lifted their glasses as well.
"To both of you, and your new life together."
"To new life." they said at the same time and clinked their glasses together.
Damon looked over to smile at Bonnie, the same time she looked over at him, and Rudy just smiled at Bonnie and his son in law, with a look of knowing in his eyes.
As he watched his daughter and Damon, look at each other, it was so apparent; the sparkle that their iris' did when they met, blinking in union, like they didn't want to be looking at the other, unless the other was looking at them.
"Alright, lets get these plates split up." Bonnie said after a second, grabbing the extra plates and laying them out on the table.
Damon helped spoon all three different foods onto their plates and several moments later, they were all eating.
Damon was glad Bonnie had told him not to wear a white shirt, as 5 bites into his food and he had already spilled sauce on his collar.
"This is.. ughhgmm." Bonnie mumbled, mouth half full of food, and Damon chuckled, swallowing the food that was in his mouth and taking a drink of wine.
He looked over at her, seeing that a large lock of her hair, near the side of her head had fallen out and was doomed to be dipped in her food.
As Bonnie started to take another bite, he reached over and brushed her hair behind her ear and she blinked.
Swallowing her food she smiled, "Thank you."
Damon smiled back at her and continued eating his food...
_
Hours later and the front door handle jiggled as Damon unlocked it, the door opened with a woosh and Bonnie was the first to fly into the house, kicking off her shoes clear across the room.
"Woah, hey." Damon laughed and walked in closing the door behind him.
"It's dark!" Bonnie laughed and fumbled her way across there room to find the stairs.
The living room light was on, so Damon was sure Stefan must be home then.
"Did you g-grab the take out boxes?" she asked him, a little buzzed, started up the dark stair way.
Damon stayed right behind her in case she fell, for once he actually hadn't drank that much. One of them had to be the responsible driver, and well, let's just say Bonnie didn't drive home.
"Yes, I did, I set them on the table by the door, I'll put them in the fridge once I get you upstairs."
Bonnie turned around sharply on the stairs, he put an arm out, worried she'd fall.
"You don't need to take me anywhere, I can go." she insisted with a smile.
"Okay, then you're taking me upstairs." Damon said with a chuckle.
"Alright." she turned back around and started yawning as they made it to the top of the stairs.
"Maybe I am a little buzzed." Bonnie chuckled, and he rolled his eyes.
"That's what I was saying in the car." he smirked and walked with a hand behind her back, just barely touching her.
Bonnie sighed, "I think my dad liked you, so that's good."
"He's definitely different than my father." Damon said taking off his shoes once they got into the bedroom.
Bonnie's things were for the most part taken out. Her clothing was hung up in half of 'his' now technically their closet.
His black curtains were replaced by purple ones he let her put up... Let, meaning, she chased him, using the curtains as a cape, until he agreed.
Her dresser was along one wall, his desk was cleared on half, so she could use it.
Underneath his TV were a couple dozen new movies, and tv series. His personal book case was now a them book case, and one of the pillows on his bed had a butterfly case on it.
For some reason, when he flipped the light on and saw all this, it made him smile.
"Your mother is a little... difficult, I can't imagine your father." Bonnie said stretching her arms above her head.
She pulled off her shirt, to reveal a tank top underneath it, and he was glad, because for a second, he expected something else entirely to grace his eyes.
Bonnie grabbed her pajama pants, and walked into the bathroom, closing the door almost all the way, leaving an in open.
Damon grabbed his sweat pants, and t-shirt, and quickly changed while she was.
"He is... worse, by far." he spoke while pulling on his shirt.
Bonnie opened the bathroom door and turned on the sink so she could brush her teeth.
"I'm sorry to hear that." she replied.
Damon bit his lip and walked over, leaning against the door frame beside her.
She handed him his tooth brush and he smiled.
They stood there, brushing their teeth for a few minutes and finally walked back into the bedroom.
"I should probably tell you..." he started, watching as Bonnie pulled her hair out of the pony tail, and it fell around her face.
"Yeah?" Bonnie asked, walking over and sitting on the bed, folding her legs criss cross.
"Our honeymoon to Italy.." Damon started, running a hand through his hair.
"I was supposed to be going to a business meeting there as well. When we skipped out, I missed it." he admitted and she furrowed her brow.
"Well, okay, now I understand a lot more about what your mother said to me..." she frowned.
"Why would you offer to skip out, if you needed to go to a meeting?" Bonnie asked.
"I didn't want our honeymoon to be business, our wedding was enough business as I could take." Damon said slowly, and her face softened.
"I get that... I just wish I would've known." she sighed.
"Would you have insisted I go?" Damon asked.
"I would've said, you probably should, but you're a grown man, you can decide. I just want to know these things." Bonnie turned to face him when he sat down beside her.
He nodded, "I'm sorry, I won't keep something like that to myself again."
She smiled, "Thanks."
After a second, she sighed and ran her hand through her hair.
"So, do you want to talk about how ballet went today?" Damon asked.
Bonnie pursed her lips, "Honestly, I don't know what to say."
"Well, you don't have to tell me a lot, or everything that happened." he tilted his head to the side.
"Just, what are you feeling?" he asked, genuinely wanting to know.
She swallowed, looking away from him for a second.
"I don't think I'm in love with ballet like I used to be. It's not the same, as it was when I started out, or even a year ago. I like dancing, but I'm tired of it. I'm not passionate about it anymore." Bonnie told him and looked back at him, expecting him to be disappointed in her.
Damon nodded, more than knowing what it was like to be tired of something you used to love.
"Okay, so, think on it, give it time. If you're still not into it, you shouldn't do it." he said slowly.
She sighed, "It would be a disappointment if I quit though, me being a ballet dancer is part of why this marriage was arranged."
"I don't care, if you're a ballet dancer. A great deal of this marriage, was arranged because of your father's money and publicity. My father might not be happy if you quit, but.. I don't care." Damon said, furrowing his brow.
"Being a dancer is your choice, you get to chose if it is or isn't what you want to do."
Bonnie's lips turned up a bit, "Thanks, that means more than you know."
He nodded, and smiled back at her.
"I'm going to go to sleep, I'm full, and tired, so." she chuckled.
"Alright, I'm going to talk to Stefan for a bit." Damon got up off the bed and headed for the door.
"Don't forget about the food." Bonnie reminded him as he turned the light off.
"I won't."
Damon made his way downstairs, and after putting the food away, he walked into the living room, where his brother was lounged on the couch, clicking the remote as he stared at the TV.
"Where were you?" Stefan asked, looking at him.
"Dinner, with Bonnie and her father." he said sitting down beside him.
"How was it?" he asked, and Damon inhaled.
"It was good, her father is a good man." he replied.
Stefan smiled and turned the TV off, not able to find anything interesting.
"What about Bonnie, she a good wife?" Stefan asked, curious.
His brother didn't often actually sit down and talk about anything, but the dinner seemed to loosen him up a bit.
"Why? You spying on me for dad?" Damon teased, and pushed him on the shoulder.
"No, no. You just, you seem... different." he mused.
Damon raised an eyebrow, "How so?"
"You're getting home, at 11pm, not drunk, not with a random blond, smile on your face and you're not covered in glitter." Stefan said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Aren't those all reasons I wouldn't be happy?" he asked.
Stefan smirked, "Precisely."
"So, and I repeat myself... How is Bonnie?"
Damon licked his lips.
"She's... good." he started, and Stefan just looked at him, waiting for more.
"She's beautiful, of course, that's obvious. But, it's more than that, I don't know what it is." he admitted.
"Bonnie is... different. It's like she challenges me, but as though she thinks she's better than me. One second, she's this excited fireball that is telling me what to do, the next second, she's getting red faced and shy at the sound of my voice." Damon smirked.
"And you're not used to that." Stefan said slowly.
"No, not at all. With Lucia... I loved her, but... it wasn't the kind of love I wish I still had." he said quietly.
"I don't know what it is, with Bonnie. What's even happening, maybe I do and I'm just, shoving it back due to past experience."
Stefan nodded, "Coming from someone, who knows you best in this family. I don't think you should let the past dictate. Because, from what you're telling me, Bonnie isn't anything like the past."
Damon smiled, nodding and looking to the side a little.
"Something about her, just gets to me."
