Bonnie could hear the sound of her own heart beating inside of her chest. How was that even possible? It was like she was listening to her heart through a stethoscope only there was no stethoscope, just the loud sound of her heart reverberating in her ears. It was so fucking loud that she couldn't even hear Damon and Stefan talking, and she knew that they were talking because she could see their mouths moving.
How could it be that the beating sound of her heart was drowning out their voices, preventing her from hearing them?
Damon stood across the coffee table, looking at her expectantly like he was waiting for her to say something while Stefan remained standing inside of the doorway with his green eyes moving back and forth between her and Damon.
Then all of a sudden both Damon and Stefan were looking at her with concern in their eyes. Could they hear the sound of her heart beating too? Was that why she saw the look of panic cross both their faces each reaching out to her at the same time like they were trying to catch her from falling?
That was the last thought that acrossed Bonnie's mind before everything went black.
Damon got to Bonnie first. He literally jumped over the coffee table and dropped to his knees, moving Bonnie's hair out of her face.
It had happened so fast, Bonnie was just standing there and before their eyes she just collapsed to the floor. Damon touched her cheek and it felt clammy.
Stefan was so worried about Bonnie that Damon's actions didn't even register in his mind. Stefan kneed down opposite Damon and tried to feel for Bonnie's pulse and he almost cried in relief when he felt the strong, steady beat of her heart.
"She just fainted that's all." Stefan said not really sure if he was trying to reassure himself or Damon. He caressed her cheek. "Come on baby and open those pretty eyes of yours so I can know that you're okay." Stefan pleaded.
Stefan leaned down as he cradled Bonnie's head in his arms, kissing her forehead. "Bonnie baby, open your eyes right now and stop scaring me."
Bonnie's eyes fluttered open to see Stefan leaning over her with an anxious, worried look on his face.
Bonnie reached up and touched his worried face. "Stef, what's wrong?" she asked weakly.
Stefan laughed, kissing her mouth. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me Bonnie Bennett?"
Bonnie wrinkled her brows together in confusion. "What are you talking about?" And then she realized that she was lying on the floor. "W-What happened…why am I on the floor?"
"You fainted." Damon said.
Bonnie turned her head to see Damon staring down at her with an unreadable look on his face. Bonnie tried to sit up, instinctively leaning into Stefan and grabbing a hold of his shirt. He held Bonnie against his chest, his strong arms wrapped protectively around her as she stared at Damon.
Stefan kissed the top of Bonnie's head. "How do you feel, did you hurt yourself when you fell? He asked, running his hands over her arms and legs to make sure nothing was broken.
"I'm okay…I didn't hurt myself." She said, trying to ease his worry.
Stefan wasn't appeased and began checking her head looking for any bumps to be sure.
"Stef, I'm fine…I promise." Bonnie said.
Stefan let out a relieved breath when he didn't find anything. "What happened Bonnie…why did you faint like that…were you feeling sick?
"I don't know what happened, I was feeling fine and then all of a sudden everything just went black." She explained.
"Have you had anything to eat today?" Stefan asked.
Bonnie tried to think through the haze in her head. "I had breakfast, but I had to skip lunch because Elijah needed me to sit in on a meeting with this new client we have."
Damon stood to his feet. "Maybe you should fix her something to eat Stef."
"Yeah, I was just thinking that." Stefan said, easily lifting Bonnie's small body in his arms and standing to his feet. He carried her to the sofa and sat her down, taking off her shoes. Stefan went to the downstairs closet and pulled out a light weight blanket and draped it over Bonnie. "There you go all snug as a bug in a rug." He said and then leaned down to kiss her.
"Is there anything special you want me to make you?" Stefan asked her.
Bonnie shook her head, reaching up to touch his face. "Whatever you make is fine." She answered and then kissed his mouth, needing to feel close to him.
Damon fixed his gaze to the abstract painting that hung on Bonnie's wall.
"Damon, will you keep her company while I go fix something up?" Stefan asked.
Bonnie was about to say no when Damon preempted her. "Yeah... no problem."
Bonnie tensed when Stefan left the room. Damon sat down on the coffee table facing her.
"You don't have to stay with me, I'm fine." Bonnie said, not looking at him.
Damon had to stop himself from reaching out to touch her, just like Stefan he felt the need to make sure that she was really okay.
"I already said that I would stay so just accept my company for once without giving me any grief because I've had just about enough of all I'm going to take from you today."
Bonnie's jaw tensed. "Well at least get your heavy ass off of my coffee table… that's what chairs are made for, to sit on." She said, glaring at him.
Forever the bitch even when her ass wasn't feeling well, Damon thought to himself.
"Bonnie, you do realize if I break your precious table that I can afford to buy you a hundred more just like it?"
Pretentious bastard. Bonnie felt like slapping his arrogant ass.
What came next just tumbled out of her mouth without any forethought. "Not that table you pompous jackass… my grandfather made it." She sneered.
Damon rolled his eyes but reluctantly started to get up from the table but stopped mid rise and look at Bonnie more carefully."
Why you little fucking liar!" He said in disbelief.
Damn. How did he know that she'd just pulled that lie right out of her ass?
"What gave me away?" she asked, looking at him like what she did wasn't fucked up.
Damon chuckled at her nerve. He couldn't believe how she'd delivered that bold faced lie with such ease, and if it hadn't been for the minor little slip up at the end he would have totally bought it.
They really were a lot alike.
"You almost had me but then that pretty mouth of yours started to twitch right at the end like you were trying not to smile."
Bonnie scoffed. "It figures that you'd notice something like that considering you are the master at manipulation and deception."
It wasn't so much what Bonnie said but how she said it that made Damon angry because it came off as highly judgmental and Bonnie was the last person to be casting stones at him.
Damon leaned towards Bonnie, his face cold. "Be careful of that high horse you're sitting on princess because you seem to be following directly in my lying, manipulative footsteps and might I add doing a masterful job."
Bonnie swallowed hard, turning away from Damon's angry glare but he grabbed a hold of her face, forcing Bonnie to look at him.
Damon's eyes got all big and scary looking. "You lost your ability to look down your nose at me when you started fucking around on my brother. You are on my level now, baby… we're two peas in a pod…and don't you fucking forget it Bonnie."
A tear slid down Bonnie's cheek. Damon roughly let go of her face. "Tell Stef that I had to leave." he said getting up, but then he leaned over her sitting form and Bonnie's entire body tensed.
"And just so you know I wasn't going to tell him… feel better princess." He whispered against her ear and kissed her cheek before straightening to his full height and walking out of her front door.
Bonnie angrily wiped his kiss from her face.
Stefan came into the living room a few minutes later carrying a tray of food. "Where's Damon?" Stefan asked, sitting the try on Bonnie's lap and sitting down on the edge of the sofa, facing her.
Bonnie cleared her throat. "He had to leave." She said looking down at the tray of food instead of at Stefan.
Stefan unfolded a cloth napkin and placed it over Bonnie's silk blouse to protect it from the soup he heated up for her.
"Why was he here anyway?"
Bonnie shrugged. "I guess he thought that you were here, but I never got a chance to ask him because you came in right after he did." She lied.
"Well, I'll call him up later then and see what he wanted." Stefan said.
Bonnie nodded her head. "So what happened to going to Vegas and seeing the fight?" she asked, dipping her grill cheese sandwich into the soup and taking a bite.
"We found out via twitter that Mayweather injured his hand and that the fight had been canceled so I didn't see any reason in going but Derek and Stiles decided to go anyway."
"I'm sorry sweetie… I know how much you were looking forward to that fight."
"Yeah… but hey… now I get to spend the weekend with my best girl, and that's not a bad thing at all." Stefan said, leaning forward and kissing Bonnie's mouth.
Bonnie pulled back after a while, looking into his green eyes as she lovingly caressed his face and when Stefan leaned so trustingly into her touch Bonnie liked to have cried.
"I love you so much Stefan." Bonnie said with her voice breaking.
Stefan kissed her again. "And I love you." He said, resting his forehead against hers. "We are going to make the most of this weekend because who knows when I'll have another one off."
Bonnie chuckled lightly, pulling back.
Stefan smiled, but then he noticed that she'd stopped eating. He picked up the spoon, dipping it in the soup and brought it to her mouth. "Open." He demanded.
Bonnie frowned.
Stefan raised his brow.
"You are going to finish this whole bowl, and I know you're not a big fan of soup but it was the quickest thing I could make so you are going to eat it…now be a good girl and open up and when you're done I'll cut you a big slice of the strawberry cheesecake I bought from that bakery you love so much."
Bonnie's eyes lit up like a little kid and she obediently opened up her mouth. Stefan chuckled as he fed her the soup. He knew her too well.
The following night, Bonnie and Stefan were at his mother's house for dinner where they met Morgan's new boyfriend for the first time. His name was Matt Donovan and he was a construction worker that Morgan met when her charity sponsored the rebuilding of a house for a family in need who'd lost everything in an electrical fire. This guy was nothing like the men Morgan normally dated; he was Middle America and blue collar all the way. They had absolutely nothing in common but somehow they seemed to work. Matt seemed to bring out the best in Morgan; she had lost that spoiled rich girl air about her. And though Morgan was never a mean girl she did have her ways and being with Matt seemed to even her out.
"You two look like Ken and Barbie." Bonnie said to Morgan once they were alone.
Stefan and Bonnie had been at Victoria's house for about an hour and got a chance to talk to Matt and watch him with Morgan. He seemed to be a nice guy though a little guarded but Bonnie understood his behavior because she too had been a little overwhelmed the first time she'd come to the Salvatore's house and took in the magnitude of their wealth.
At the first opportunity she got, Bonnie had dragged Morgan to the bathroom so that they could have a quick talk before dinner.
"We do not and besides I'm not all that blonde compared to him!" Morgan giggled.
Bonnie's eyes widened because Morgan was blushing right there in front of her eyes. Morgan Salvatore never blushed!
This was huge.
Bonnie was quiet for a moment as she looked at Morgan, really looked at her. "Oh my gawd…you're in love with this guy aren't you?"
Morgan bit her lip and nodded her head.
Bonnie smiled, hugging her. "I'm so happy for you sweetie. He seems like a really nice guy."
It took Bonnie a moment to realize that Morgan had started to cry; she pulled back in concern. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked, grabbing a couple of Kleenex from box on the counter and handing them to Morgan.
Morgan dried her tears. "I just know that somehow, someway I'm going to fuck it up."
"Morgan stop… don't think like that. You'll only sabotage yourself."
Morgan sighed. "Bonnie, you know that I don't have the best track record when it comes to men and Matt is so different from the guys I've dated in the past. He's so good and decent. Bonnie, he actually goes to church. Church!"
Bonnie couldn't help it; she giggled.
"This is not funny Bonnie… I mean I'm freaking out here…I've even considered breaking things off with him because we're just so different and it's only a matter of time before things start going south with us."
Bonnie hugged her. "Oh sweetie, you can't think that way. Whenever we're exposed to something new and different our first instinct is to be afraid but you can't allow that fear to stop you from seeing where this goes Morgan because you'll always wonder what could have been and you'll regret it for the rest of your life. And no one should ever live with regrets."
Morgan hugged Bonnie tighter to her before pulling away. She wiped at her eyes then her nose. "When did you get to be so wise Bonnie Bennett?"
Bonnie chuckled. "I watch a lot of Dr. Phil."
Morgan snickered and then her face sobered and she took Bonnie's hand. "I know that I don't say it but you're the best friend I've ever had Bonnie and I love you."
Bonnie's eyes watered and she squeezed Morgan's hand. "I love you too Morgan."
They embraced, hugging each other tightly. A loud knocking sound came from outside the bathroom door.
"Hey Bon, I don't know what you're doing in there with my sister but you might want to come out now before those ugly lesbian rumors get started up again!" Stefan yelled through the bathroom door.
Morgan and Bonnie looked at each other and burst out laughing.
After dinner at Victoria's house, Morgan, Matt, Stefan, and Bonnie decided to make a night of it and go out to a club because after all it was Saturday night. But when Stefan suggested that they go to Damon's club, Bonnie tried to persuade him to go somewhere else, but Stefan was adamant about going because he hadn't been there since it opened. So here they sat at Damon's club in the VIP section. They were let in on the spot, bypassing the long line to get in and their drinks were on the house because they were kin to the owner. Bonnie was so uncomfortable and tense that even Stefan picked up on it so he dragged Bonnie out onto the dance floor to try to loosen her up. He held Bonnie close to him with his hand on her ass as they swayed to the music. He whispered knotty things in her ear, making Bonnie giggle and it wasn't long before he'd worked himself up and could only think about one thing.
Stefan bent his head and whispered in her ear. "I want you so bad."
Stefan kissed Bonnie, sliding his tongue erotically in and out of her mouth, simulating the act of slow, lazy fucking.
Bonnie moaned into his mouth and for a second she forgot that they were on a crowded dance floor where any and every one could see them.
Bonnie pulled back, looking around. "Stef, people are watching us."
Stefan chuckled. "That's easy to fix. Come with me."
He led Bonnie off the dance floor and when she realized where Stefan was taking her, Bonnie felt sick to her stomach.
Stefan closed the door to the private room on the second floor of the club and immediately picked up where they left off on the dance floor.
"I want you so fucking much." He said, sliding her dress up over her hips. Bonnie closed her eyes and images of Damon saying and doing the exact same thing to her in this very room flooded her mind. Bonnie tried to block it out and concentrate on Stefan but it wasn't working.
She couldn't do this.
Stefan trailed kisses down her throat, making his way down to the exposed skin of her cleavage, his hand slipping inside her panties and rubbing her pussy.
"Stefan, stop…I can't do this." She said, trying to pull away. "Stefan…stop…" Bonnie said, pushing at his chest.
But Stefan was too far gone and didn't hear her through his lust filled brain. He captured her mouth again, thrusting his tongue inside but Bonnie broke away from the kiss. "STEFAN STOP!" She yelled.
It was like someone had dashed a bucket of cold water in Stefan's face, sobering him up. He immediately let Bonnie go and stepped away from her, his chest heaving.
The look on his face made Bonnie's heart squeeze painfully inside of her chest.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to yell…it's just that I don't feel comfortable having sex in here Stefan…I'm sorry." She said and tried to touch his face but Stefan backed away.
Bonnie dropped her hand, biting her bottom lip. "Please don't be angry okay."
Stefan nodded his head stiffly, his jaw tensing.
"Stefan say something, please talk to me." Bonnie said, starting to panic.
Stefan ran his hand through his hair. "We should probably get back downstairs before Morgan comes looking for us."
Bonnie just looked at him and then nodded her head. Stefan opened the door and allowed Bonnie to walk out ahead of him.
When they got back to their table, Matt and Morgan were still dancing. Stefan ordered another drink but this time instead of getting a beer he ordered a shot of Patron.
"Stefan, I'm sor…"
Stefan raised his hand silencing her.
The waitress brought Stefan his drink and he down it in one shot.
Matt and Morgan came back to the table, hanging all over each other. "Hey guys, we are going to go…Bonnie, I'll call you in the morning." She said, freeing herself from Matt's arm to lean down and hug Bonnie's neck. "And Stef, I'll see you the next time you're off." She said, shoving his head.
And with that they left.
Bonnie looked at Stefan. "Um… maybe we should leave too."
Stefan ignored her and held up his empty glass, signaling the waitress for another.
"Well lookie here. You two are the last two people I expected to see here tonight."
This night just kept getting worst.
Bonnie looked up to see Damon standing there with a Kate Upton want to be hanging all over him.
"Brother, I didn't expect to see you here either, have a seat and keep us company." Stefan said.
Damon cocked his brow at Stefan and then his eyes looked to Bonnie, who was staring down at her drink.
What the fuck was going on here? Everything about this scene just seemed off.
Damon sat down.
Fake Kate Upton began to pout. "But Damon, you promised we'd dance." She whined.
Damon glared at her. "Then go dance."
Fake Kate swallowed hard and wisely got lost in the dancing crowd.
Stefan chuckled. "Damn…that was fucked up, bro."
The waitress brought Stefan his second shot of Patron and he downed it like the first.
Damon stopped the waitress before she could leave. "Bring three more shots." He told her.
Bonnie spoke up then. "No that's okay, we're about to leave."
Stefan turned to Bonnie but didn't speak, he just looked at her, his eyes dropping to her mouth before returning to her eyes and after a moment he turned back to the waitress. "You heard the man, bring three more shots."
The waitress nodded her head and left.
Damon looked at Bonnie but she dropped her eyes to the table.
"Bonnie is everything okay?" Damon asked her pointedly.
Bonnie looked at him. "Everything's fine."
The waitress came back to the table with the shots of Patron, placing a shot in front of each of them.
Stefan took his shot to the head once again and Bonnie glared at him, becoming increasingly angry by his behavior. He was acting like a spoiled child and Bonnie didn't like it one bit. But then the guilt for the reason why he was behaving like this set in and Bonnie couldn't take it. She had to leave this table. Bonnie stood up causing both Stefan and Damon to look at her.
"Where you going?" Stefan asked.
Bonnie froze taken a little aback by his tone.
She looked into Stefan's eyes and saw his anger. Bonnie swallowed hard. "To the ladies room." She said, picking up her purse and walked away feeling eyes on her but didn't know from which one.
Bonnie came out of the stall and washed her hands. She grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and dried her hands lost in her thoughts. Stefan was drinking because of her. All of this was her fault. Bonnie was so in her head that she didn't notice when the door to the ladies room opened. It wasn't until she felt strong arms circle around her waist that she snap out of it. Bonnie jumped, her heart leaping into her throat until her fearful eyes snapped up to the mirror to see that it was Stefan.
"My gawd, don't you ever do that shit again...you scared the hell out of me Stefan!"
Stefan chuckled, kissing her neck. "Mmmm...you smell so good...I can just eat you up."
What was with him tonight? "Stef, you can't be in here…this is the ladies room."
Stefan continued to kiss her neck. "This is my brother's club therefore I can do whatever the fuck I want."
Unlike Morgan who had a tendency to act entitled every now and then, Stefan never behaved that way and Bonnie loved that about him so that was why now him making that comment rubbed her the absolutely wrong way.
"Will you please stop acting like a spoiled, entitled brat and just leave before someone catches you in here?
Stefan lifted his head and stared at her in the mirror, Bonnie stared back unflinchingly. "What is with you tonight?" he asked. His eyes hard.
"I can ask the same of you." Bonnie said.
Stefan turned Bonnie around to face him.
"What the fuck is going on with you Bonnie?"
Bonnie suddenly dropped her eyes to his chest. "Nothing."
Stefan grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. "You're lying, something is going on with you Bonnie…you've been acting different lately, ever since you came back from Hawaii you've been different."
Stefan searched Bonnie's eyes for a long moment, his grip on her face tightening. "Are you fucking someone else Bonnie?"
Bonnie's heart began to pound within her chest. Her eyes welled up with tears.
Stefan saw this and his grip tightened. Bonnie grabbed a hold of his arm, trying to pull free. "S-Stefan, you're hurting me."
Stefan ignored her words, his eyes suddeningly watering as well. "Bonnie please tell me that you haven't been fucking someone else behind my back." He choked out.
Bonnie started to cry, tears falling down her face. "Stefan…"
"Oh GAWD!" Stefan said, letting her go as if he'd been burned. He paced back and forth, red hot rage filling his entire being. If he didn't let it out he would kill her. Stefan began punching the wall.
Bonnie didn't know what to do.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…Stefan please...I'm sorry…" She cried over and over again.
The sound of Bonnie's voice only made Stefan madder so he grabbed her by her arms and forcefully pushed her against the wall.
"YOU LYING, CHEATING WHORE!" He screamed at her as tears rolled down his face. "How could you do this to me…how could you do this to us?!"
Bonnie could feel her heart breaking into a million pieces. She felt like she was dying. "I'm sorry… Stefan please…" Bonnie pleaded.
Stefan had to get away from Bonnie because the urge to kill her was so strong. She meant everything to him. He'd never loved anyone like he loved Bonnie. And the thought of another man touching her, being inside of her and taking what belong to him was making Stefan insane. He pushed Bonnie away from him, and she slammed hard into the wall, hurting her.
But Bonnie was mindless of the pain because all she saw was Stefan walking away from her and the thought of him leaving her was to much to bear. Bonnie went after him, grabbing his arm.
"Stefan…please don't do this...don't leave me… I'm sorry… I love you so much… please don't leave me…please!"
Stefan lost it. How dare she utter those words to him?! How the fuck can she claim to love him and turn around and fuck another guy behind his back?! That wasn't love!
Having the nerve to utter those words after what she did to him was like a slap in the face.
"YOU FUCKING LIAR!" Stefan roared, angrily yanking his arm from Bonnie's hold and back slapping her hard across the face.
The force of the slap sent Bonnie reeling and the only thing that saved her from hitting the floor was that her hands caught the edge of the restroom counter.
Stefan felt numb as he looked down at Bonnie's small, trembling body, clutching the counter for support. "You stay away from me Bonnie because I don't know what I might do to you." He told her before turning his back on her crying form and walking out of the ladies room.
If fake Kate grabbed Damon's dick one more time, he was going to break her fucking hand. She was drunk now and making a fool of herself by groping him thinking that it was turning him on when it was actually doing the complete opposite.
Tony one of the security guys walked up to the table and Damon saw his way out. "Do me a favor and call a cab to take her home."
Fake Kate looked at Damon, trying to focus because she was seeing two of him and it confused her because she didn't know which one was the real Damon Salvatore and she'd be damned if she was going to fuck both of them. She'd tried that once and would never do it again. So she'd gladly go home. Both of them could kiss her ass, fake Kate thought to herself before she killed the last of her drink. No sense in wasting it.
"Yes sir, I'll do that, but first there is a problem that needs your attention. A young lady was found in the women's restroom…it looks like she was assaulted."
Damon swore under his breath as he got up from the table. This was the last thing that he needed. All Damon could think about was being sued because some little punk couldn't keep it in his pants. Damon made his way through the crowd of dancing people. When he got to the ladies restroom, he saw three women surrounding the girl trying to talk to her.
"Ladies, I'm the owner of this club so can you please let me try and talk to her and see what happened?" Damon asked.
The three young women moved back, giving Damon space. And eventhough Damon couldn't see her face; he knew instantly that it was Bonnie the moment he saw her small body trembling uncontrollably as she held on to the counter.
Damon felt bile rise up in his throat. This couldn't be happening…not to her. Damon kneed down beside her.
"Bonnie." He barely got out. "Bonnie, please look at me." Damon said his voice a little stronger.
Damon moved Bonnie's hair away from her face and saw that her mouth was bleeding. "Bonnie… baby, who hurt you?" he said, trying to disguise the rage in his voice because he didn't want to frighten her.
"Bonnie, you need to tell me who hurt you?"
So that I can kill him.
Fear rose up in Bonnie. Fear for Stefan because Damon was dangerous and he'd hurt Stefan.
"No because you'll hurt him…and he didn't mean it…he didn't mean to hit me…he was angry because I hurt him...it wasn't his fault Damon!" Bonnie screamed hysterically.
Damon was blinded by rage. "Stefan did this…he did this to you…"
Bonnie saw the rage in Damon's eyes and terror seized her heart. Bonnie clutched at Damon's chest.
"Promise me you won't hurt him…please promise me…I couldn't take it if you hurt him ...it was all my fault…so please don't hurt him okay…I'll do anything you say, just don't hurt him Damon!" She begged.
Damon clenched his jaw as he held Bonnie's sobbing body in his arms.
He was going to kill that fucker.