Bonjour! You still remember me right? Okay, well I apologise for this chapter, I don't like it, I really wanted to move things on to like the future [Yeah there's going to be a time skip, just because my writing skills- or lack of, won't suffice to pull it off!] There's more Stefonnie in this one than I thought, ehe, okay next chapter Damon I hope. It's just that Stefan's the one helping her out at the moment! So yeah, this is dragging and you probably won't read this *_*


Bonnie removed herself from Stefan's embrace and ignored the coldness that she felt from leaving the warmth of his body already.

"Damon?" She said as innocently and oblivious as she could even though she already knew he was there; looking for her.

Damon stood at the bottom of the stairs looking at Bonnie with fondness, his electric blue eyes sparkled even under the brightness of the hotel lights.

They stood there for a while gazing at each other, until Damon turned his head slightly to Stefan who was casually staring at the rather awkward encounter between the two. When he saw Damon look at him he nodded his head lightly and gave a smile so small you wouldn't even think he was smiling. Damon knitted his eyebrows together and then turned his sight back to Bonnie

"Bonnie... hey!"

"Hi" she practically whispered so she cleared her throat and spoke again "Hi, err Damon. What are you doing here?" Damn! She didn't mean to sound rude, she was genuinely baffled to see him, she never thought she'd see him again, not that she'd actually thought about seeing him again after their goodbyes.

Damon's face displayed a sort of shock and confusion, he wasn't expecting Bonnie to respond to his spontaneous appearance in that way, well in all honesty he didn't really know what to expect, he hadn't really planned his whole approach to her. Somehow his throat suddenly dried up and he had to clear it once more before he spoke "Hello" You already said that dumb ass "I was just in the neighbourhood and thought I'd pop by and say hello" wow

Bonnie gave him a perplexed look "But aren't you just across the road... so you're kind of always in the neighbourhood?"

Shit, she remembered! How are you going to save yourself on this one! He opened his mouth forming an 'o' to say something but he immediately closed it with nothing to say. He turned his vision to Stefan who was trying to not to laugh at Damon and actually kind of felt sorry for him. He could understand the predicament Damon was in at the moment, not that he's ever been in one he was smooth as hell when it came to women, but he's seen many like them.

Deciding to help a brother out, Stefan excused himself from their presence to a chocolate leather sofa nearby where he was going to pretend to be so very interested in a sports magazine, but really he was just going to listen in on their conversation.

Damon watched as Stefan sat down at least 12 feet away from them and then looked back at Bonnie who had an inquiring expression on her face. He walked closer to where she was standing on the steps.

"So, how are you?" He tried to clear whatever awkwardness there was before with a small smile

Damn, his voice is like chocolate, so smooth… "I'm fine, thanks and yourself?" shaking the thought from her head

"Yes! I am very good myself" Bonnie tried not to laugh, he was speaking like how the headmaster at her high school would speak. Everyone always used to laugh at Mr Jenkins. Poor Mr Jenkins.

"Not to sound rude or anything Damon, but… what are you actually doing here?"

There it was again, she didn't want to sound offensive but she really needed to know why he came looking for her at the hotel. Bonnie couldn't imagine the confusion he would have had if she hadn't been at the hotel, if she hadn't snuck into the hotel and found Stefan. She wouldn't be here and he would be perplexed as hell.

He brushed off what she said as pure curiosity, well, it's only right for her to wonder why he would just show up on a whim.

"Well, I wanted to see you" honesty is the best policy right?

"You… wanted to see me? But it's only been a couple of hours…"

Stefan laughed from where he was sitting on the chair pretending to concentrate on what he was reading. How can she be so ignorant! Maybe it's just her.

Bonnie and Damon turned to look at him when they thought they heard something but when they looked at Stefan and he appeared to be invested in what he was reading.

"Yeah I know" He scratched the nape of his neck with a silly smile plastered on his face. Bonnie's noticed he tends to scratch his neck when he's embarrassed or uncomfortable, it's cute in a way. "I just wanted to see you." He gave her a faint smile

"Okay" she laughed awkwardly "well I guess you've seen me now" Her laugh faded into a small smile.

Her smile was such a beautiful sight for Damon to see, her teeth were perfectly straight, and her beautiful heart-shaped lips looked so soft and juicy it was just screaming 'place your mouth here'

"Yeah, I guess I have…"

He was staring at her with his pearly teeth on show and Bonnie couldn't help but stare at him, well mostly his lips, they were a raspberry pink, the perfect shade against the creamy complexion of his skin.

And those eyes, those damn eyes were so enticing, hypnotic and so very, very blue.

"Look awkward silences are the worst Bonnie! I didn't come here to just see you"

Bonnie's eyebrows knitted together in confusion at his confession

"Okay, well that's not true, I did come here to see you but I also came here for something else…"

Oh okay… Bonnie's whole demeanour changed, her body stiffened and Damon noticed

"How would you like to go out with me sometime?"

"Huh!?" Oops! She wasn't supposed to say that out loud

"I mean, err hmm I can't. I'm really busy with… with some things" Bonnie shut her eyes in complete embarrassment! She hadn't expected for him to ask her out.

"Oh" His body slumped a little in disappointment

"Yeah, so I won't really be able to uh go out"

Stefan gave up on his façade and was now peering above his magazine at Bonnie and Damon. He couldn't help it, it was an amusing sight to be witness.

"Okay then, when are you free and are not doing so-called things?"

"I'm not. Sorry to disappoint"

"Do you mind if I ask what things that are keeping you busy for a lifetime that you won't be able to go out with me, not even once?"

Shit… err well when you put it like that "Yeah, they're things you know" she cleared her throat "those special things that I have" Is there hole about 10 feet deep that I can just climb into now!

Damon's face held a passive yet inquiring look, it was as if he wasn't effect by her lies at all and if he was he didn't look to be.

Bonnie looked over Damon's shoulder to see Stefan looking at them, she gave him her best 'please help me out because I'm stupid and I'm stuck' look, which he kindly responded to as he stood up and walked to where they were standing.

"Yes, you have that special thing with me don't you Bon?" He spoke with such confidence and assurance even Bonnie believed him until she began to play along.

She froze for only a few seconds, but it felt like a life time. Stefan had called her 'Bon', no one had called her that in... Such a long time. The only person that did that was her dad. It felt good, she'd missed the sound of someone saying her name, acknowledging her.

She broke out of her reverie and spoke out

"Yes, yes I do!" She smiled at Stefan as he came closer, making sure her eyes were screaming 'thank you!'

Damon turned his eyes upon Stefan, he suddenly felt the need to puff out his chest even though he was built a little bigger than he was. He then looked at Bonnie and back at Stefan, staring him up and down.

Oh no! It's the dreaded awkward silence!

"Hi, the name's Stefan" he introduced himself with his hand extended towards Damon

Damon looked at Stefan's extended hand then back at him, he shook it and introduced himself

"Damon Emilio, nice to meet you"

"Same here" Stefan gave him a small smile

Bonnie stood there in the middle of them looking at their clasped hands and then to their faces, is it a natural thing for men to feel like there has to be an alpha male? Some sort of dominance when they're in each other's presence.

Ugh, so much testosterone.

"So how you do know Bonnie?" Stefan asked Damon. Somehow he could feel Bonnie's eyes burning lasers at his temple, he stifled a laugh with a huge smile

"We uh met today, she lost her way in the middle of the park and I offered to walk her home" Damon said smiling at Bonnie, who smiled back thanking him for not bring up the incident with drunk man again.

"Thank you for that, some other guys would have grabbed her up at the first opportunity especially in a city this big" He grabbed Bonnie and pulled her to his side "you're like a puppy aren't you" He winked at Bonnie and she chuckled with gritted teeth.

Damon stood there awkwardly, he came here thinking he may have had a chance of getting a date with Bonnie, a beautiful girl with such a strong spirit, but it turns out she has a boyfriend and has 'things' to do, which apparently won't be including time for him.

Why are the ones that I want always taken? They say find a girl Damon, here I thought I actually found one and her-

"Damon? I'm going to go now, sorry, but thanks for stopping by" Bonnie's sweet voice broke him out of his musing.

She gave him a small smile, Stefan's arm still held her close to him and they both stepped back towards the upstairs lobby

He gave her a small smile and watched as he walked away from her with another man in her arms.

"Goodbye Bonnie"


Damon walked out of the hotel, he'd walked in there with high expectations and was now walking away with a diminished spirit.

He could see it in her eyes that she was hesitant, she was lying also, what could she be so busy with? She doesn't look old enough to be over-working herself like that. Through her eyes though, that was where he saw inside her. Those green orbs captivated him, paralysed him to the spot, they were so green like Dioptase crystals, dark and clear with specks of light bouncing off them.

Get it together Damon.

He doesn't even know why he's acting like a love-sick fool, he met the girl today, they talked and shared laughs, but that was it; nothing more, nothing less.

The thing with Damon is, he's never had many girlfriends and he rarely dates. He was fine with his life, working at the clinic, meeting exotic women most nights, he had survived for this long without being a one-woman man, so why must he be one now…

Because she's different…

He'd let her off this time, but next time he sees her; and there will be a next time, he won't be taking no for answer.


Back at the hotel Stefan and Bonnie were in their room laughing and eating Chinese food. Stefan lay on his front and Bonnie sat beside him with legs crossed laughing at the walrus imitation that Stefan had done with his chopsticks.

She hadn't touched her food much, not that she didn't want it, she just generally wasn't hungry, her stomach protested each time she came close to it. She tried, but only because she felt bad for Stefan as he spent his money to buy it for them.

"Thank you Stefan, honestly you saved me down there… and thanks for the advice before that." She played with the fork in her hand trying to avoid his gaze, for around the thousandth time that night.

"Look at me" Stefan said, he noticed that she was became shy when speaking to him about things and he planned on changing that "You're welcome" he gave her a full smile that produced two of his dimples, in which she returned.

"Okay Bonnie! We've passed Step 1, now its step 2!" Stefan sat up from his earlier position to mimic Bonnie's.

For the thousandth time that night, just like her gaze avoiding, Bonnie's eyebrows were knitted together in confusion

"What are you talking about? What's Step 2? What was Step 1?"

"I am talking about you going to college…" Stefan shut his eyes in waiting for the moment Bonnie was going to detonate. Just like he expected she did.

Bonnie's eyes jumped out of their sockets!

"WHAT!? NO! No, Stefan, no!"

"No? Why not? Give me one good reason you shouldn't go to college? You've got the rest of your life ahead of you! I'm going to college, I've just started my first year at Columbia! You can go with me there, it's been 4 months since semester started so you can catch up on what you've missed"

Bonnie literally had no words, it was like someone walked into her brain and stole all logic that was there. He'd actually thought about this, he's being serious!

"Bonnie..? Come on, it's not that bad of an idea! My dad's a professor there, he can pull some strings and-"he was cut off by Bonnie who had seemed to regain her voice at the mention of his dad

Oh Dear God, No

"I forgot about your parents Stefan? Oh no" She began biting her lips "What are you going to say? No this was a bad idea a really bad idea... I can't do this"

Stefan wanted to chuckle at her ramblings, but instead he broker her incoherent words his own words of assurance.

"Do. Not. Worry. Bonnie! My parents are amazing, you'll love them! They'll love you!" He winked at her again, he really has that winking thing down. Stop it Bonnie! "They're the best parents I've ever had"

Bonnie ceased from biting her nails to look at Stefan. There was something about that sentence that was slightly off... "What do you mean 'ever had'?"

Stefan let a soft sight escape his lips, "Well since we're being so emotional and sharing things tonight, I'll tell you something about me." His gaze never left hers "I'm adopted."

"Really, wow" She felt kind of stupid for just saying that, she just didn't know what to say.

"Yeah"

"How old were you? Wait how old are you?"

"Well, my birth mom died during child-birth and my dad left me when I was 1. Didn't see him after that, he kind of just left me by the Manhattan Bridge. From what my father told me when I asked him was that I'd been crying the whole time, but no one even stopped to help me you know. There's a baby right there crying because he's all alone and scared, but no-one cares, luckily my parents saw me and took me to the hospital found out I'd been abandoned and then took me to the orphanage. Well the process of them adopting me was quite a battle, but I'm happy they won otherwise I don't know what would have happened to me these years.

I kept my father's last name, despite how much I know I'm probably hurting my parents, but I feel like I need to have a piece of him you know, with me, something that reminds me of everything that happened."

He wasn't looking at her any more, his crinkled foil plate becoming his interest

"Stefan I..." She didn't know what to say, what he'd just told her broke her heart yet made her flood with happiness. She became overwhelmed with happiness, because even though that there are some cruel people out there, whatever reason Stefan's father had to leave him didn't matter, because someone found him and he's here today, that's what mattered.

She reached over and encased her hand with his own.

"Thank you" A silent tear paved its way down her face

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For sharing a piece of you with me"


The next morning

Sweet smells invaded Bonnie's nostrils causing her to stir awake.

She had surprisingly slept very well last night, besides not being able to sleep for a couple of hours, she was in immense pain. Her stomach had agonized her for the better part of the night, but she managed to fight it and fall asleep.

She sat up and began to stretch, her body was sore she didn't know what from though, must be the new sleeping conditions

That sweet, sweet smell that had woken Bonnie up was flooding her senses once again, it smelled like...

"Pancakes?" Stefan's voice boomed from the middle of the room where he stood with a trolley full of breakfast assortments. From croissants to eggs and bacon that's a lot of food she figured saying it in her head was no use

"That's a lot of food" she quipped whilst getting out of bed

"Yeah well I do like to eat" He gave her a meaty grin before turning back to the tray of delicacies.

"I'll remember that for future reference" Stefan chuckled at that

"Good, you better, but also remember that I don't like raisins." He grimaced "Disgusting things"

"Hey! Raisins are awesome, okay!" She giggled, whilst brushing her teeth. "Do you have this every morning? Like all the food?"

"Nope, but I figured that I'd do this today. Honestly, I actually think room service is pretty extortionate, but hey it's a business." She laughed from the bathroom.

After brushing her teeth and throwing water over her face, she walked out of the bathroom to where Stefan was. Bonnie smiled at him standing by the food cart, shirtless and staring at her. He was beautiful, yeah okay you could call him hot- he was hot, but she preferred beautiful; winsome and beguiling. His eyes, compromised with the shades of brown and green, complimenting the natural tan of his skin. He looked mysterious, like there was something he's been hiding, keeping buried for so long under all that beauty and smiles she'd come to know.

She never really bothered to look, but now, if she looked carefully she could see it.

She could see pain, she could relate to it in some way.

She was staring at him, but it was okay, he was staring at her too as if he was doing the same thing. Searching her soul, she wondered if she was transparent; crystalline or maybe she was opaque and he had to break down a few barriers and look carefully at her like she did him.

"I also wanted to ask you something" Stefan broke her reverie

Hmm, wait what? "Yeah, sorry what did you want to ask me? If it's about college Stefan I…"

"Hey, look at me" She did as he requested and looked up from where her feet were and into his eyes "Please, I know this is hard for you to accept, but please. You deserve to live too you know… You have every right to. Don't say it's too late, because it's not, it's never too late! Carpe Diem! Seize the day Bonnie… I promise I won't help you with any of your assignments" She smiled at that, his hands were in hers and her vision was becoming blurry. All this damn crying

She had no words. Had she thought about going to college? Yes. She'd dreamt of the day that she would go to college, with her friends, she'd planned everything. She'd wanted this since she started the last year a high school. But if you asked her did she ever think that it would become a reality, she'd ask you to look at this past year and see what her answer would be.

Okay, okay, okay, You're going to regret this..."Okay"

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay, I'll do it, but I'll pay you back for everythin-"

Before she could finish her sentence his bare chest covered her face as he pulled her in for a hug and spun her around in a circle.

"Thank you" Wait why is he thanking me?

"You're crazy, you know that right"

"Okay, next step, we're going home! Pack your things"

Hold up

"Home?"

"Yeah, I don't live in the hotel, my parents came for some opera thing and I thought I'd tag along. I can leave when I want, and we are leaving today." Stefan could see the hesitation on her face and so he tried to calm her with 5 simple words

"One. Step. At. A. Time" and flashed her an incredibly cheesy grin

She inhaled and exhaled.

One step at a freaking time.


Yes/No? Oh gosh, bear in mind I suck at writing :P

Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate it! *smothers you with kisses*