A/N: Hey guys! Here it is; the second update. I hope you all enjoy it. Let me know what you think about this one. There's some stuff with the Gilberts in this one. My sister, Princess976 rolled her eyes at them so let me know if you guys have that same reaction.

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Enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own: TVD, or any characters, places. Singer's Roadhouse is all mine.

THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D BUT PROOFREAD. ANY REMAINING MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

Elena ran into Bonnie the following week on campus. She had spoken to Bonnie twice over the weekend; just to check up on her.

"Hey," she said joining the witch one of the benches in the quad.

"Hey," Bonnie smiled.

"So, where are you staying?" Elena asked, pulling an apple out of her bag.

"The boarding house," Bonnie answered.

"Why?"

"It's where I stayed while I was...away."

"Oh," Elena said. "Is it helping?"

"I don't know. It's only been a few days," Bonnie said rising to her feet. "Ask me in a few days," she said before she strode off to her next class.

When Bonnie returned to the boarding house that evening, she could hear Damon and Stefan laughing. It was a good sound. The brothers didn't nearly laugh enough. None of them did.

"Hey Bon Bon," Damon said cheerily.

"Hi guys. What's going on?" she asked, joining them in the living room.

"Stefan here is the best brother that anyone could ever ask for," Damon beamed, throwing his arm around his younger brother.

"He exaggerates," Stefan said with a wide smile.

"Why's he so great?" Bonnie questioned.

"Let me show you," Damon said grabbing her hand and pulling her all the way outside to the garage. "Tada!"

"It's your car," she said smiling as she slid her fingers along the blue car.

"Yep. Stef fixed her up for me," he informed her. "Wanna go for a ride?"

"Maybe later."

"Alright."

"I'm gonna go to the Grill and grab dinner," Stefan said, appearing suddenly.

"Just the usual," Damon said. "Bonnie wants a bacon cheeseburger, no onions, mayo on both buns and lots of fries." Stefan smirked and lifted and eyebrow before looking to Bonnie for confirmation.

"That's fine," she said, rolling her eyes. Stefan nodded, got in his cherry Porsche and sped off.

Damon and Bonnie headed back inside. They were silent as she sat on the floor and began to work.

"You got any plans this weekend?" Damon asked breaking the silence.

"What?" Bonnie asked looking up from her book.

"Do you have any plans this weekend?" he asked again.

"Not that I know of," she answered. "Why?"

"I wanna take you to Singer's Steakhouse."

"Why and when?"

"A welcome back to present day Mystic Falls kind of thing and Friday night," he smirked.

"Yeah ok," she smiled. They were silent again but it was broken by the front door opening and foot steps, that they assumed belonged to Stefan.

"Hey guys," Elena's voice said. They both looked up from what they were doing and smiled at her.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked as she took a seat next to him on the leather couch.

"I came over to talk to Bonnie," she answered.

"About what?" the witch asked.

"Caroline wants to go shopping on Friday, I was charged with getting you on board," the brunette explained.

"That's cool. We can just go after class then," Bonnie said.

"That's what we were thinking," Elena said. "Um, Damon can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yeah sure," Damon said putting his book down.

"I'll just take this stuff to my room. Call me when Stefan gets back," she said collecting her books.

"I will," the blue eyed man said, as he watched her leave the room. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to thank you for letting Bonnie stay here," Elena said, locking eyes with him. "I know you don't necessarily like people staying here."

"It's just one person and why are you thanking me?" he asked.

"You and Bonnie don't always get along," she began. "So, I was shocked when she told me that she was staying here."

"Well, her house and her Gram's house have a lot of bad memories," Damon said with a shrug. "I wouldn't want to stay there either."

"Yeah but she could have stayed with Caroline's mom or at the Lockwood house with Jeremy," Elena said. Damon looked away from her. "But I'm thankful that she has you. You guys went through this horrible thing together. Maybe you can help her get used to being back."

"I can try," Damon said softly, looking at his hands.

"Thank you," Elena said putting her hand on his back. "It really does mean a lot." Damon looked at her again and saw the sincerity in her brown eyes.

"I'm back," Stefan interrupted. "Oh, sorry. Where's Bonnie?"

"Upstairs," Damon said. "I'll get her," he said getting off the couch.

"I'll go. I'm assuming there's not enough there for me," she said pointing at the white paper bags.

"No," Stefan said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was here to see Bonnie but I had to talk to Damon too," she told him.

"Oh," he said.

"I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Stefan," Elena said as she left the house. A few minutes later, Bonnie and Damon came in to the kitchen where Stefan is fixing up plates.

On Wednesday, Bonnie was walking across the Whitmore campus when she heard her name; turning she saw Jeremy Gilbert jogging toward her.

"Hey Jer," she said when he caught up.

"Hey. How are you?" he asked as they began walking.

"Good. It's weird being back but I'm good. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We haven't really talked since you've been back, you know," he said. "You got time?"

"Yeah, my next class isn't for another hour or so," she answered as she led him to one of the benches. "What's up?"

"So, Elena told me that you moved out of the dorm," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, I couldn't deal with the hectic stuff out here and then deal with dorm life. Too many people," Bonnie explained.

"How are you supposed to assimilate if you don't stay here and try?" he asked looking into her eyes. Bonnie was, at the moment, at a loss for words. What was to get? Being in solitude, fighting for your life every single day does not prepare you for college life. It's not like she's had that much time to experience it.

"Assimilation is what I'm trying to achieve," she said. "Did you just come here to lecture me, Jeremy because if you did, you're wasting your breathe."

"No. I'm not trying to lecture you. I just don't get it."

"It's not for you to get."

They were silent for a long moment.

"You're right," he said finally. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, gazing out over the manicured lawns.

"Bonnie, before you and Damon...you know...you broke up with me," Jeremy said, turning on the bench to face her.

"I know," Bonnie whispered.

"You're back now. We can be together," he said. She could hear the hopefulness in his voice but she didn't share his enthusiasm about getting back together. It had taken Damon of all people for her to realize that she and Jeremy was tired and being back in the present made her see that being with him was a step backward into the Old Bonnie and she wasn't that girl anymore.

"No we can't," Bonnie said, looking him in the eyes.

"What?"

"No, Jeremy. I'm not the same girl I was four months ago."

"I'm not the same Jeremy," he said.

"But you are," Bonnie said. "Caroline wasted no time telling me about how you "grieved" for me."

"Bonnie," Jeremy began. "Caroline doesn't get to talk about anyone and how they grieved. She didn't grieve at all. She just started trying to get you guys back."

"That's who she is," Bonnie spat. "When her dad left, she started planning his welcome home dinner. Caroline doesn't deal with loss well, so her brain doesn't let her deal with it in ways that most people do but at least she didn't drink herself into oblivion and screw everything this side of the Wickery Bridge."

"You were gone," he said softly.

"And I'm not judging you, Jer. I ended things with you so that you could move on," she told him. "But I had a lot of time to think and you and me...it just doesn't sound that good to me anymore."

"I'm not going to give up on us, you know?"

"You wouldn't be Jeremy if you did."

"Ok, so I have to work to get you back, that's fine but that doesn't explain why you're staying at the boarding house," he said.

"While we were over there, the boarding house became like a...safe haven. It gives me a sense of normalcy," she said.

"You should come stay at Tyler's," Jeremy said.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"The boarding house is dangerous and Damon is a dick."

"He says the same thing about you."

"But he's wrong," he said. "I just want you to be safe."

"I am safe," she said, rising to her feet. "I appreciate you, looking out for me, or whatever but I'm good where I am," Bonnie said before she turned and walked away. As she got to the sidewalk, she lost her footing and almost hit the ground.

"You ok?" Jeremy asked, his strong arms catching her.

"Yeah, I just got a little dizzy," she said, holding on to his forearms.

"Are you ok?" Luke asked, rushing up to them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm gonna bail on the rest of the day," Bonnie said, releasing Jeremy.

"Do you want me to drive you?" Jeremy asked.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks though," she said walking away from the two of them toward the parking lot.

"I gotta go Jeremy," Luke said when Jeremy opened his mouth to speak.

Bonnie spent the rest of the day in her bedroom. Her dizzy spell had caused some nausea and she just didn't want to be around people. Both Stefan and Damon had checked on her but she assured them she was fine so they left her alone. As the sky grew darker, Bonnie dressed for bed. She brushed her hair before she climbed under her blankets and drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Damon and Stefan met in the hallway.

"Do you hear that, brother?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah," Damon said his eyebrows knit together.

"Is that Bonnie?" the younger Salvatore asked.

"I think so," the older Salvatore answered, his eyes trained on Bonnie's bedroom door.

"What's going on in there?" Stefan asked but his question went unanswered. Damon zoomed down to Bonnie's room and pushed the door open. Fear consumed him as he watched the witch groaning in pain and writhe and contort on the bed.

"Bonnie!" she heard his voice call in the distance. "Wake up, Bon, come on," she heard Damon say but there was so much panic in his voice. "Damnit Bonnie, wake up!" he yelled pulling her out of her sleep.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked groggily.

"Are you ok?" Damon asked, brushing her hair out of face.

"I told I was fine earlier," Bonnie said yawning. "I was sleeping, Damon."

"You were moaning. And not the sexy kind."

"What?"

"You sounded like you were in pain," he informed her. "Don't you remember?"

"No. I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "I was dreaming about Grams."

Damon sat her up and pulled her into his arms. Stefan, who was standing in the doorway, smiled at the scene before him. Seeing his brother care for someone other than himself was refreshing. It was oddly wonderful that Damon being sucked away into the unknown had brought back the Damon that he had so desperately wanted to be growing up. He had missed him.

"Come on," Damon said standing up, holding his hand out to her.

"Where are we going?" Bonnie asked, taking his hand. Damon grabbed her pillows and led her from the room, Stefan following. Damon stopped a few doors down and allowed her to go in first. "Your room?"

"Yes, I can keep an eye on you better," he said shoving her pillows in her arms. "See ya in the morning, Stef," Damon said before closing the door. Stefan knew it was late but he couldn't help but shoot a text off to Caroline and Enzo. He knew that they would want to know about what happened to Bonnie and about how Damon cared for her.

It wasn't long before Caroline text him back, "NO WAY! HE IS SO IN LOVE!" Stefan laughed as he laid his phone down on the nightstand. It went off once more before he closed his eyes. "I told you mate. It's love." Stefan chuckled as he closed his eyes.