I don't own anything.
A/N: Sorry. . .so sorry for the long break. The break was due to a mixture of writer's block and a allergic reaction. First off I want to thank my reviewers from last time; David Fishwick, artemisn, Yson, NaeNae1495, babyshan211, mdpierrette, Reighn Venhem 33704, anadams, LunaSolTierra, nicnac, Ali08, and annabella. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and please remember to Review.
Baby S
Chapter Ten
"Bonnie are you sure that you're okay with all this? I know you might not want to deal with the drama." Stefan stated as he followed Bonnie into the room that he would be staying in until he felt like going back to the Salvatore Manor. Judging by his current feelings, moving back home wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Bonnie walked over to the lone window in the room and sat down on the bench that rested beneath the window sill and gave him a look.
"How many times do I have to tell that it's okay?" Stefan rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he set his bag down at the foot of the bed. She had told him countless times that she would be okay with him staying there but he still felt like he was intruding and he didn't want to do that to her.
"I'm sorry I just didn't want you to feel like I was using you."
"You're my friend, Stefan." Bonnie stated simply as she stared at him before sending him a small smile. "Believe me you aren't using me and if I felt that way you would certainly find out." Stefan laughed at that and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I guess you're right about that. You certainly aren't shy." he murmured with a shake of his head as a small smile broke out across his face as he thought about how she continually put his brother in his place. The smile, however quickly disappeared as he thought about his brother. "Seriously though, what about your father. I know you said he wasn't here but-."
"He's on one of his four month long business trips. He might make it back for thanksgiving but I seriously doubt it." she said with a shrug, trying to appear as if she couldn't care less about her absentee father but Stefan could see right through that. "Normally I would have this house all to myself but I don't mind sharing it with a friend." Stefan smiled at that and nodded his head.
"Well thanks again. I just had to get of there you know." he admitted as he looked at her. Bonnie just nodded her head in understanding. She could just imagine what he was going through, she would have hated to love someone and then have them betray her as she willingly sacrifice herself for their greater good and that's exactly what Damon did. She wasn't even gonna touch on the Elena element, all she would say about the situation was that her soul-sister messed up big time.
"Don't worry about it Stefan. I'm glad I could help out. I know everything's hard right now but-." They both paused as the doorbell rang. Stefan sent Bonnie a look as he pushed himself up from the bed.
"You expecting company?"
"Nope. You're the only person I know of that would be coming over tonight." Stefan tensed up at her words as a feeling of dread washed over him. His mind immediately thought of Klaus, maybe the original had come to get him back. After all it wasn't like Klaus allowed him to leave, no he had escaped. Bonnie studied Stefan and picked on his nervousness, standing up from the bench she looked at him and wrung her hands together.
"What is it?"
"I don't know but let me go downstairs and greet your late night visitor." he stated as he moved towards the door, Bonnie followed behind him and almost ran into him when he stopped abruptly and turned around and gave her a look.
"I can fight too you know," she said as she placed her hands on her hips and shot him a look as well. "Remember I am the resident witch of Mystic Falls." she pointed out while looking up at him. Stefan sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before issuing a final warning.
"Resident witch or not. . .let me handle things first." Bonnie just nodded her head and followed Stefan downstairs. When he gave her another look that clearly told her to stay back, she stopped at the edge of the hallway that led to her front door. She was ready to give her friend backup no matter who was on the other side of that door. She watched as Stefan made his way towards the front door only to throw it open. She couldn't see who was on the other side but she knew it was a friend by the way Stefan sighed and slumped his shoulders in relief.
"Um okay so I'm just gonna assume that you're really happy to see me." Caroline Forbes stated as she pushed her way by Stefan and entered her friend's house. Kicking the door closed with her foot she held up two separate bags.
"Hey Care-bear what brings you by?" Bonnie asked as she looked at her friend.
"Well I heard that a certain Salvatore was moving in with you and I decided to come over and give him a house warming gift. . . well one for the both of you to be exact. I have real people food in this bag right here," Caroline said as she handed the bag over to Bonnie. "And over here I have um something else." Stefan reached out and grabbed the bag from Caroline, he looked over at Bonnie and then cleared his throat.
"I'll just go out back. . .excuse me ladies." Bonnie turned and watched as he as Stefan disappeared in the back of the house before turning back around and facing Caroline who was now smiling at her.
"Thanks for the food. . .and I'm sure Stefan feels the same way."
"I hope so. . .it took me forever to catch it." Caroline mumbled as she wiped a hand over her forehead. "So how is it?"
"I really wouldn't know, Care. He just got here about an hour ago. In fact we were just upstairs when you decided to drop in on us." Bonnie said as she turned and headed for the kitchen very much aware that Caroline was following behind her. Caroline didn't say much as Bonnie sat the bag down on the kitchen counter. "Oh and. . .real people food, really Care?"
"What else do you want me to say, Bonnie?" Caroline asked with a shrug of her shoulders as she pulled herself up on one of the stools that lined the outside of the breakfast nook. "By the way you have you talked to Damon and Elena." Bonnie drummed her fingers on the table as she looked over at her friend for a moment.
"I talked to her briefly on the phone before Stefan got here. I wanted her to know what was going on." Caroline nodded her head at that and watched as Bonnie fished out the food that she had picked up for her at the Grille. "Thanks for stopping by."
"I love seeing my friends and right now I'm sort of giving Elena the cold shoulder. You know for hurting Stefan like she did. That wasn't right of her and she knows it." Bonnie just nodded her head as she looked over at Caroline.
"Well I'm sure Stefan appreciates the support."
"And the meal, he better appreciate that cause you have no idea how long it took me to catch that thing. All this vampire speed and it still took me an hour." she mumbled as she shook her head while Bonnie just picked up a fry and laughed at the expression on Caroline's face. "But enough about me, I wanted to ask you about that guy."
"What guy?" Bonnie asked in confusion.
"You know that guy who knew I was vampire like immediately. He was all protective of you and stuff, very knightly." Bonnie rolled her eyes at that description and shook her head for a minute as she thought about Samil.
"You're talking about Samil."
"Right that's who I'm talking about. Are you two dating yet? I mean I could see the chemistry and-."
"No I'm not dating him yet. I mean Jeremy and I just broke up and I really don't want to just jump back into the dating game."
"I guess you're right but it was a mutual break-up right," when Bonnie nodded, Caroline continued. "Since that's the case I don't see a problem with you trying to move on with Samil. I mean he's fine and extremely nice. I mean he was going to fight me outright even though he knew I was a vampire."
"Who knows you're a vampire?" They both turned around and saw Stefan standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Bonnie gave him a look but didn't say much as he walked further into the room and sat down at the breakfast on her free side.
"Bonnie's new boyfriend." Caroline answered, laughing as she received a glare from Bonnie who reached out and smacked her shoulder playfully.
"He's not my boyfriend. . .he's just a friend that helped us get you back from Klaus. He helped with the locator spell and all that." Stefan narrowed his eyes in thought before slowly nodding his head.
"How come I haven't met him yet? You know I would like to thank him for helping out cause he certainly didn't have to get involved." Stefan said as he placed his arms up on the counter and looked over at Bonnie. "Besides as your friend. . .male friend, I should probably check him out and make sure he's on the up and up." Bonnie laughed at that while shaking her head.
"Well Samil's already failed one inspection-."
"Really who?" Caroline asked.
"Damon doesn't like him. . .when he forced himself to go shopping with me, we saw Samil and well they aren't anywhere near being friends. I probably should have stopped them from fighting but Damon's um. . .attitude sort of confused me." Stefan raised an eyebrow at that while sharing a look with Caroline.
"What do you mean by his attitude?"
"It was like he was jealous or something," she chuckled and shook her head. "I know that's far fetched and all but that's the vibe I got. So I was sort of caught off guard, and then Samil was messing with him cause well Samil likes me I guess."
"Oh he most certainly does like you, Bonnie." Caroline stated while nodding her head at her friend.
"Well you know I'm not at all used to a situation like that." Bonnie said with a shake of her head as she looked at Caroline. "Anyway Samil was messing with him and insulting him and well I. . .I didn't say much of anything."
"Damon probably got a few digs in as well." Caroline stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "I wouldn't dwell on that for to long, Damon probably forgotten all about that little incident by now you know."
"Probably." Bonnie mumbled as she looked down at her untouched meal. Looking back up she gave Stefan and Caroline a look before smiling. "But enough about that how about we talk about something else." Caroline tapped a finger on the bottom of her chin as she thought over where to take their conversation next.
"Well you know Devon Watts has been asking about you." Bonnie smiled as she thought about the linebacker. He was an attractive guy but she didn't think that she had been this type. Stefan cleared his throat and shook his head.
"Maybe you two can talk about that later. Right now I'd rather have a conversation that you know sort of includes me." he said with a wink as he crossed his arms over his chest. "No offense but spending my evening talking about boys isn't exactly ideal."
The next morning Bonnie's cell phone woke her up, reaching out blindly she grabbed it off her nightstand and answered. "Hello?"
"You sound tired, Bonnie." Immediately recognizing the voice, Bonnie sat up a bit in her bed and looked over towards the alarm clock on her nightstand and angrily read the red digits before pressing the phone to her ear in annoyance.
"It's six in the morning, Damon."
"I thought you were the servant of nature. . .shouldn't you be rising with the sun." he teased lightly. Bonnie clenched her jaw and wished that she were facing him right now so she could give him the proper punishment for this.
"I can't believe you called me at six in the morning."
"Well, I wanted to call you before you're little witchy friend Samil called you," he mumbled out in annoyance and Bonnie didn't have to be at the boarding house to know that he was frowning. "So how's my brother?"
"So that's why you're calling me up this early in the morning."
"Don't worry next time I call, I'll make it all about you." he stated his voice softening just a bit. Bonnie nibbled on her bottom lip and curled her hand around the edge of her sheets. "So how is my little brother doing?"
"He's fine, in fact he's suppose to be coming with me today when I go to see Samil at his shop." Bonnie paused as she heard some glass breaking on Damon's end of the phone. "Um is everything okay?"
"Perfect." Damon growled out. "Do you mind telling me why Stefan and you are on your way to see the wicked witch of Mystic Falls."
"He's a warlock not a witch." she corrected patiently.
"So you're saying he's the wicked warlock of Mystic Falls?"
"He's not wicked either, Damon. He did help you get your brother back." she exclaimed tiredly. "That's mainly why we're going over there. Stefan wants to tell the guy thanks and I don't see any problem with that."
"Besides you need to pick up your little free gift," he blew out a breath and Bonnie was positive he was rolling his eyes. "Although, I don't understand how he could say that I'm buying your friendship when as soon as he meets you he offers you some type of free gift."
"Damon why do you even care what Samil does for me."
"I don't trust him." Damon admitted with a shake of head. "The guy just shows up in town and immediately gets to know you, you know I'm starting to think him meeting you in the Grille was all this doing. Maybe he wants to start some type of witchy harem with you as the center piece." Bonnie sat up in bed and rolled her eyes at his statement.
"I'm not even going to address all the wrong I just heard in that statement, Damon." She heard Damon murmur something over the line before clearing his throat.
"Well I'm just telling you how I see it." He admitted coolly. "I don't think that guy is a good person." Bonnie resisted the urge to laugh at Damon's statement as she shook her head and looked back at the alarm clock.
"I think I'll keep that in mind, Damon."
"You do that," he stated strongly as if he could see the smirk on her lips. "I'll call later to check back up on my brother."
"Do you want a full report?" Bonnie asked innocently.
"Yes I do smartass," he replied drily. "Talk to you later." With that said, he hung up the phone. Bonnie sighed and tossed the phone back on her nightstand and laid back down. As she rested her head on her pillow she thought about Damon and his early morning call. The older Salvatore brother was certainly acting out of the ordinary with her. It was strange and Bonnie certainly didn't want to dwell on that for longer than a minute, simply cause she wasn't used to dealing with Damon when he was like this. Deciding to file these incidents in the darkest corner of her mind, she settled back down on the bed determine to get in some more sleep.
"You mind telling me how old this guy is," Stefan asked as he leaned his seat back in the car so he could stretch out his legs. "I mean he does own a store."
"Well he's younger than you," Bonnie said with a laugh as she looked over at him. "But I guess he's around twenty-three. . .I think he said twenty-one or twenty-two." Stefan looked out the window and shook his head.
"You don't remember."
"That's what he told me. . .twenty-one or twenty-two." Bonnie said with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"Don't you think that's a little strange?" Stefan asked as he turned and looked at the girl in front of him. "He didn't even tell you his real age." Bonnie looked over at him for a moment before looking back out the window.
"I guess it's strange but maybe he didn't tell me because he likes me. . .you know like Caroline said. Maybe he was scared his real age would scare me off."
"Once he found out you were dealing with a bunch of vampires, he could have dropped that attitude and told you his real age." Stefan stated as Bonnie pulled into a parking space right outside the shop owned by the man they were currently talking about.
"Goodness, don't tell me you don't trust him either." Bonnie said as she looked over at Stefan who unbuckled his seatbelt and gave her a pointed look.
"Don't tell me you trust him." he replied simply. "Just cause he's a warlock doesn't mean that you should be giving him all your trust. Mystic Falls isn't exactly the place that good supernaturals come to. . .settle down, especially warlocks and witches. Most know the history of this place and avoid." he stated easily.
"Well what about my family?" Bonnie asked as she looked over at Stefan who merely grinned back at her and opened the car door.
"Your family? Oh come on, everyone knows that the Bennett witches are a stubborn bunch." Laughing he quickly hopped out of the car while Bonnie shouted out some type of threat as she too climbed out of the car.
"You are so gonna pay for that, Stefan."
"I don't see why. . .all I did was tell the truth and you're mad." he said pouting at her while shoving his hands in his pockets. Bonnie just shook her head at him and started making her way towards the shop with Stefan following in line beside her. "So he really owns a herb shop?"
"Yeah with his friend Sovann." Bonnie answered as she looked up at Stefan. "They're really close. . .best friends I think." Bonnie said with a small smile as they walked down the sideway towards the store. As they neared the store's entrance, they both stopped as they saw Devon Watts exiting the store with a bag in his hands. He turned and locked eyes with Bonnie and gave her a small shy smile.
"Hey Bonnie."
"Hey Devon." she said, he looked at her for a few more moments before looking away from her and rushing away from them. Stefan followed the man with his eyes and shook his head before looking back at Bonnie.
"It seems you have a shy admirer."
"Devon's always been a little shy around me." Bonnie stated with a soft laugh as she looked at back at Stefan. "But he's a sweet guy." Deciding that Bonnie knew the guy better than him, he returned his to what was in front of him and stopped just outside the door of the herb shop.
"Nice place so far."
"You haven't even been inside yet." Bonnie said, Stefan just reached out and held opened the door and waited till Bonnie headed inside before following behind her. They entered the shop and saw that the front of the store was mostly deserted. "Looks like no one's here." As soon as she spoke the door to the back of the shop opened and Samil came waltzing out. Dressed to the nines in a black business suit. Stefan raised an eyebrow at that, the outfit seemed to be completely out of place on a herbal shop owner. Samil smiled when his eyes landed on Bonnie.
"Are you finally here to pick up that gift?" he asked bluntly as he leaned on the counter and looked her directly in the eyes staring her down while ignoring him. Seeing the man that had pissed off his brother earlier this week, he sort of understood now why his brother had gotten into it with Samil. His brother hated being ignored and Samil seemed to be a master at that.
"I don't know I might pick it up. I don't want you to take the gift away now cause I waited to long." Samil chuckled at that and shook his head.
"Now you don't have to worry about that Bonnie. You know I would never do that." Stefan watched as Bonnie blushed and looked away from Samil and over at him. Reaching out, she laid her hand on his shoulder and cleared her throat.
"I wanted to introduce you to my friend Stefan Salvatore." Samil's eyes widened slightly in an attempt to look surprise but for some reason Stefan didn't really believe he was. The man just didn't appear to be someone who became surprised easily.
"Oh so this is Damon's brother- Yes, the one I helped you rescue." Samil looked Stefan over and then took a step towards him with his hand extended. "Nice to finally meet you, I'm glad you're back safe and with family." Stefan looked at the hand and then cautiously reached out and shook it.
"Thank you for your help."
"You shouldn't thank me," Samil said with a small smile before he looked back at Bonnie. "I was merely doing what was right." he said as he carefully removed his hand from Stefan's and moved back over to Bonnie's side. "Now are you ready to pick out your gift?"
"I guess I better go ahead," she said with a bright smile. "What exactly do you have in mind?" Stefan crossed his arms across his chest as he looked at Bonnie and Samil. Seeing the two of the together really made his stomach knot up in dread.
"Nothing much. . .maybe some vitamins or something like that. I don't really think you're ready for anything else." he said with a chuckle just as the door the shop opened and Sovann came strolling in. Samil turned and looked at Stefan, pointing at Sovann he cleared his throat. "Stefan, allow me to introduce my friend Sovann. . .Sovann this is Bonnie's friend Stefan Salvatore." With that said, he returned his attention back to Bonnie and walked her deeper into the row of shelves leaving Stefan near the cashier counter with Sovann.
Sovann eyed him cautiously as he made his way to the register, "So what brings you and Bonnie by?" he asked as he took off his jacket and placed it beneath the counter. Stefan finally took his eyes off the direction that Bonnie and Samil and disappeared in and looked back at Sovann.
"Have we met before?"
"No," Sovann replied as he looked Stefan dead in the eyes. "I don't forget faces." Stefan continued to stare at him for a minute before sighing.
"Sorry, you just gave me a strange sense of déjà vu." Sovann smiled at that and shook his head as he looked at Stefan.
"I've been told I have a familiar face." he said with a chuckle. "So you're friends with Bonnie huh, she's a good person." Stefan nodded his head in agreement as he listened out for Bonnie and Samil. He could hear him hitting on her near the back of the store while trying to convince her to pick out so type of herbal product.
"Yeah, she's been my friend since the day I met her." Stefan replied with a smile. "I'm really protective of her so how about you tell me what your friend's intentions are towards her." Sovann smirked at him and leaned on the counter.
"Samil can be trusted," he said as he turned and looked to the side as the sound of Bonnie giggling reached their ears. "Believe me I wouldn't be here if I thought differently. I know you're protective of your friend but believe me Samil is trustworthy." Before Stefan could say anything else, Samil and Bonnie walked back out of the aisle. He stepped back and saw that Bonnie was carrying a small bottle with her.
"Now maybe we can work something out about that next gift."
"Samil we aren't gonna make any money if you keep giving things away," Sovann deadpanned as he looked over at his friend and Bonnie. Stefan smirked at that statement and looked at Bonnie and Samil. Samil waved off Sovann's concern and laughed.
"Oh we sale enough to have one VIP customer." he stated as he place a hand on Bonnie's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Isn't that right Bonnie?"
"Um sure, I guess." she said as Stefan continued to watch their interaction. "Anyway, Stefan and I should probably get going I don't want to distract you too much from your duties."
"You're a welcomed distraction, Bonnie. Never think otherwise," he said with a wink as he finally took his hand off Bonnie's shoulder. He immediately looked over a Stefan and graced him with a smile. "It was nice meeting one of Bonnie's. . .friends." he said trailing off slightly as if he was unsure about the title.
"Yeah, and it was nice meeting one of Bonnie's. . .new friends, hopefully you can come around more and we can all get to know you."
"Maybe but I'm quite particular about the company I keep." Samil replied coolly while Bonnie cleared her throat and shook her head at the both of them.
"I really want you two to get along. You're both my friends okay." Stefan and Samil both looked down at her and then nodded their heads. "Good, now come Stefan lets go. I promised Caroline that I would help her out with the back to school carnival."
"Carnival huh, maybe I can drop by." Samil said as he looked at her.
"Sure it's open to the public so feel free to drop by." Bonnie said as Stefan gave her a slight tug, with one last wave she allowed Stefan to pull her out of the shop. Samil watched as they disappeared and then turned towards Sovann.
"Let me guess you don't like him." Sovann replied as he pulled out a stool and sat down. Samil suck his teeth and glanced one last time at the door.
"The feeling mutual. . .he doesn't like me either. Which is probably gonna end up being a problem in the future especially since Bonnie trusts him." He mumbled as he headed towards the back of the store. "I'm gonna have to correct that, I can't have him interfering."
Bonnie nudged Stefan as they made their way back towards her car, "So what do you think? He's a cool guy right?" Stefan paused briefly as his mind went back to Samil. He'd be lying if he told Bonnie that he liked the man. The guy made his skin crawl, he could just tell the man was slippery like a snake.
"You want me to be honest."
"I wouldn't ask for you to lie to me." Bonnie replied softly as they starting walking again. "So what do you think?"
"I don't like him. He rubs me the wrong way," he looked down at Bonnie and caught her expression. Sighing, he ran a hand over the back of his neck. "But that's just my opinion and I guess I'm a little bit weary of any supernatural entity that comes to this town. It seems that the only people who come here are up to no good."
"But he did help you, Stefan. I mean do you really think he's up to something." Stefan sighed and shook his head. Bonnie was right, Samil did help them find him. If he was up to something he probably wouldn't have done that.
"No. . .I guess I'm just being overly cautious," he murmured as they reached the car. Walking over the driver's side, he held the door open for Bonnie. "Don't worry though I'm sure I'll like him once I get to know him better."