Their extended track across Texas took them an extended period of time, this was a result of the state being so large and them having to take more breaks and more time to stop and rest due to the intense heat of the summer. Temperatures would often go into the one hundreds day after day. This made them have to stop and rest more, to drink water in order to avoid pressing themselves too much and risk overheating themselves. So they took their time.
Not that either of them were in any rush, they were rather enjoying their joined trip across Texas. They went into county after county, traveling through several towns. On their trip, they even made their way into the city of Dallas. Which like most major cities in the United States was mostly abandoned of people. Even though they spotted a few homeless people on the streets, but the homeless people weren't of any threat and was only interested in finding food and a place to sleep, and seemed to have made Dallas their home. So, they left the homeless alone.
Making their way across Dallas, and spending about four days in the city, even spending the night in the stadium that used to host Dallas Cowboys games, before eventually moving on with their travels. And Bonnie took advantage of the new camera that Damon had given her. Doing her best impression of a photographer. She took pictures of everything from landscapes, to trees, from animals to wildlife, she took pictures of the towns they went through, many of the pictures she took were the tall buildings in Dallas.
She also took plenty of photos of Damon, some were of him posing for her in front of the camera and some were of his candid moments, when he was in the natural flow of doing or saying something. He took some pictures of her as well, in the same fashion where she was posing and others of her most candid moments. They even managed to get the trick down of taking selfies together, where both of them stood or sat close together, faces close next to each other, smiling their close friendship and relationship obvious if anyone else could see the photos.
All in all, by the time that they were through, Bonnie had taken about sixty pictures in total together. She had taken the instant photos she had collected and put them all in a ziplock bag to keep, then she placed the ziplock bag in her backpack.
And during their extended trip, things between them started to change and they both noticed it. This change was the direction in which their relationship was going in and that direction was in one where it was surpassing the close friendship that they had. Damon kept noticing how beautiful that she was. He had thought of her as attractive ever since he first met her.
But, now after spending so much time with her, he saw Bonnie not only as an attractive woman, but physically as a very, very beautiful woman. Everything from her flawless, smooth brown skin, to her heart shaped lips, to her gorgeous green eyes said beauty to him. And because of this he would find himself often just staring at her, like he was in awe of her beauty.
Bonnie Bennett was a truly stunning woman to him in every sense of the word. Sometimes she would catch him staring while she wasn't looking, and he would look away, other times he wouldn't look away and he would hold his stare, even after she caught him doing so,
At times she would blush in a shy, coy way as a result much to his delight. And to his equal delight at other times she would stare back and hold his stare, with one of her own and with shared longing. As if she found him just as attractive and physically appealing to her eyes, as she was to his. They would occasionally do actions indirectly which hinted at feelings more than friendship.
However, even if both had feelings for each other that were hinting towards something more, they never voiced it or verbally expressed it with each other, whatever their growing feelings were, they each kept it to themselves. But, no matter what, the bond that they had was still growing stronger and they continued to get closer and closer with each passing day. To the point where they were inseparable and nothing, no one could come between them. And if anyone dared tried they would soon learn to regret it.
Now their extended travel across Texas had taken them three and a half months, which lasted over much of the summer. Three and a half months which it had taken them to reach from the Western side of Texas, all the way to the Eastern side. Currently in the Eastern part of the state, they were about fifty miles away from the Louisiana border. It had now turned into late summer and summer wasn't going out without a fight. The heat was still high and around the high nineties. High enough to cause heat strokes and to make anyone who spend a while out in it thirsty and in need of water to stay hydrated.
Heat like this also made for dry conditions and it had been weeks since it last rained outside. This made it difficult for Damon and Bonnie to find decent sources of water, which were beneficial enough for the two main things they needed it for. Drinking and bathing, when the two of them did find it, it was very rare and in between. Which made their sources of drinkable water dwindle down to one last twenty four ounce water bottle. That they were splitting between them. Each taking a sip from it every few hours to prevent themselves from dying of thirst. While at the same time trying to conserve the water as much as they could. With this method they were able to conserve the last battle of water for for a handful of days,
But soon even that water bottle began to run low. So much they were down to their last sip, much to dismay of both.
Feeling thirsty, she took the bottle out of her bag and was disappointed. "Damn, down to the last sip."
"I know." Damon grumbled with equal disappointment. "Enough for one person to take the last drink of."
"Yeah, but we still need to find another source of water soon and fast." Bonnie eyed the bottle.
"Yeah, we had better and hopefully we will find more water soon. It;s just been so damn dry that water has been harder and harder to come by." Damon let out a breath.
She shook her head. "Unfortunately, that's what happens during this time of year, especially in this part of the country. Sometimes weeks can go by without a drop of rain."
He wiped the sweat off of his brow. "It's been so hot all throughout the summer while we have traveled, typical Texas weather as you said. I need for it to cool down soon."
Bonnie pointed out. "We are in late summer, so perhaps in a little while longer it will cool down, once fall comes around."
Damon returned. "I'll be looking forward to it."
"In the meantime." Bonnie gestured with the nearly empty bottle of water she had. "Who is going to take the last sip."
"You go ahead and take the last sip." Damon told her without hesitation.
"Really, you're sure?" Bonnie questioned.
Damon assured. "Yes, I am. You go ahead."
Bonnie paused. "...but you must be thirsty."
Damon admitted. "I am, but you must be all well."
She frowned. "Of course I am, I just feel kind of bad for taking the last sip of water when you're in need of it too."
"I'll be fine, I'll be alright." Damon replied.
"You're sure." Bonnie repeated her words from earlier.
"I am perfectly sure, I'm thirsty, yet I know I can last a while longer without water to drink. So no need to feel bad about it." Damon stated.
Bonnie uncapped the bottle of water, however hesitated without one last look towards him.
Damon insisted. "You know I'm not taking that last sip, with you being thirsty, so you might as well take it."
Bonnie relented and took the last sip, which wasn't much. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
Damon said to her. "No need to thank me, still you're welcome though."
The last sip of water still left her feeling thirsty, still she hoped that it would hold her off until they could find another legit source of water.
The two of them kept walking side by side. Hoping that they would luck out soon and find what they needed.
"You know what would be nice at this very moment." Bonnie spoke.
"Tell me." He was using his hand to shield the hot sun out of his face.
"A very tall glass, of ice cold, freshly squeezed lemonade." Bonnie explained as her mouth watered with the thought.
"Whew, that would be perfect in this heat." He whistled in agreement.
She went on. "One of the items I traded for would be for lemons, on hot days just like this one I would mix a lemon into a tall glass of water, along with some sugar and drink it right down. That would do the trick in helping me stay cool. Heck, it's so hot right now that I would even take a tall glass of lemonade without the sugar."
He muttered. "Hell, I would too. You know what else ice cold would be nice to have right now."
Bonnie wiped the sweat off of her brow with a cloth she had. "What would that be?"
Damon thought. "Uh...you know that frozen dessert that they make out of milk and cream."
"You mean ice cream?" Bonnie hinted.
"Yes, ice cream that's what I would love to have." Damon snapped his fingers.
"You've had ice cream before?" Bonnie eyed him as they walked.
"Nope., I have seen pictures of it before and it looks delicious." He licked his lips.
Bonnie mentioned. "It is delicious."
Damon asked. "You've had ice cream before?"
Bonnie confirmed. "Yes, I have."
Damon curiosity went up. "How."
Bonnie answered. "Um, I had one of those old fashioned type ice cream makers even though I don't anymore, because I needed to trade it away for more important supplies. When I had it though, I would often make ice cream with it. Takes a little time and some effort, the ending result and taste makes it well worth it."
Damon commented. "Lucky you, wish I had the chance to get ice cream."
"How about I make some for you then." Bonnie offered.
"You would do that for me." Damon perked up.
"Sure, why not. Once we get to the settlement community in Virginia, I'm positive they have ways to make ice cream there. So. I will for you." Bonnie shrugged.
"Awesome, yet another motivation for me to reach our final destination." Damon pumped his fist.
She gave him the thumbs up. "It will be well worth it, you're going to love ice cream."
He exclaimed. "You Bon-Bon are one hell of a friend!"
Her lips curved upward. "Don't I know it."
Together they continued along their walk for a few more hours, with the heat constantly bearing down on them. They knew they would have to take a break soon to stop and rest. However, at the same time they were searching for water, in the need to find a source big enough to support the both of them.
Just as it looked like they might have to go through the rest of that day without finding what they were looking for, they came up on the edge of woods.
"Wait, do you hear it?" Bonnie asked as they stood there.
"Hear what?" Damon didn't hear anything,
"Sounds like water." Bonnie spoke up with hope.
He tried to hone in his hearing. "I don't hear anything."
She returned. "Listen, it's faint but it's there."
He listened trying his best to hear. "Sorry, still don't hear anything."
Bonnie's tone got excited. "There is water near by, I know that it is."
"You really believe so and you're not just hearing things because we're in desperate need of water." Damon rubbed his hands together.
"Of course I'm not hearing things, water is close by trust me." Bonnie stated.
"I do trust you." Damon nodded.
"Then come on." Bonnie signaled with her hand.
So together, they moved into the thick forest, maneuvering their way through the thick foliage. Until they got close enough where Damon heard what Bonnie had heard. It was the sound of water running.
This made Damon pick up his steps. "There is a source of water close by."
Bonnie skipped ahead. "Told you, I have a powerful sense of hearing."
Damon commented. "Yes, you do. Let's go, I'm thirsty as hell."
They jogged the rest of the way until the came up on a stream of flowing water, just a few feet wide and shallow enough where they could see the ground beneath the water. But, it was still enough for them to drink at least and was the most legit source of water they had in awhile.
Neither of them said anything, they both lowered themselves to the ground and into their bellies until their faces were just above the water. Then they scooped up the water directly from the stream with their hands and brought the water to their mouths to drink.
Damon was especially thirsty, he drank handful after handful of the water, the cool water was clean and clear and it tasted good as it smoothed his dry throat.
Next to him, Bonnie did the same thing as the water relieved her thirst.
After a few minutes of them drinking in silence, they stopped and leaned back until they were sitting on their bottoms rested on the ground.
"Water at last." Damon lifted his eyes towards the heavens.
"Perfect timing too, I was really growing concerned that it would take awhile before we were successful in finding any." Bonnie lifted her hands to the sky.
"Lucky us, huh. Guess things will always find a way to work for us in the end." Damon mentioned.
."Guess they will." Bonnie rose to her feet.
So, Damon rose to his. "We should fill up all of our water bottles with this stream."
She brushed some grass off of the bottom of her pants. "We should but, before that maybe we should follow this stream, see if it leads to a larger body of water."
He took her up on her suggestion. "Alright."
They walked along aside the stream for about a mile and a half, the stream got wider and wider the further that they went downstream, as well as a little deeper. Then after a mile and a half, the stream opened up to a larger body of water just like Bonnie thought that it could. And this larger body of water was a lake, filled with fresh mostly clear water. The lake stretched out for miles as far as the eye could see.
But, it wasn't just any normal lake, as both of them stood, with their mouths dropped open at what they saw.
The lake was surrounded by tall cliffs of smooth black and brown rocks, which enclosed the lake on one side. Lushish , thick forest surrounded the lake also. With the sounds of birds chirping peacefully. That wasn't the best part. The part was the pair of waterfalls, which fell from the tall cliffs above, down to the rocks and lake below. Creating a loud, yet peaceful sound of waterfalling.
All of this combined together made the area have the appearance of a alluring, natural oasis. Looking like it belonged more in a rainforest, instead of Texas.
"Wow, can you believe this place." Damon spoke first.
"I know it's incredible!" Bonnie exclaimed as her eyes scanned over the scene before them.
"What are the odds that a place like this would exist in the middle of the South midwest?" Damon added.
"I have no idea, I'm just glad that we found it for both of our sakes." Bonnie spoke.
Damon pointed. "Just look at the waterfalls."
Bonnie looked ahead. "I see them, they're quite an amazing sight."
Damon gestured. "Waterfalls are like mother nature's showers, just the right amount of water to wash the dirt and grime away and get clean."
She shifted on her feet. "You're right about that, it has been so dry out, it has been what eight days since either of us last bathed."
"Nine days, It's been nine days since we were able to have our last shower or bath." Damon corrected.
"Nine days, is a while. I know that bathing isn't a daily luxury in this world, still I like to stay as clean as possible. The longest I used to go between bathing was four days before now." Bonnie sighed.
"Hmmmm, I could really use a vigorous wash up. I feel like I'm starting to pick up a slight stench." Damon muttered.
Jokingly, she waved her hand over her nose. "Phew, you're telling me."
Damon pretended to be offended. "Hey, not cool."
"I'm just speaking the truth, nine days can work up some serious body odor without washing up." Bonnie smirked.
"Don't think I smell so bad, considering." He took a sniff under his arm.
"Keep telling yourself that." Bonnie jested.
In response he playfully poked her in her shoulder.
Giggling, Bonnie put in. "To be honest, I think I worked up a little stench myself."
Damon snorted. "No comment, we can just both use the waterfalls for our own personal shower."
"It will definitely do us both some good." Bonnie agreed.
"You could take your shower yourself first, I'll move back enough where you could have your privacy." Damon offered.
"I'm fine, you could take yours first if you'd like." Bonnie returned.'
"Really?" Damon cocked his head to the side.
Bonnie stated. "Yes, really you can go first and I'll take my bath later."
Damon gave her a nod. "Okay, I'll use the waterfalls for a shower first, once we set up camp nearby."
Her eyes scanned over his face. "And perhaps you should take care of your beard while at it."
He rubbed his fingers over the his facial hair. "What's wrong with my beard, I've grown to like it on me."
"Not saying that anything is wrong with it exactly." Bonnie returned.
"You just told me to get rid of it." He furrowed his brows.
"I told you to take care of it, not get rid of it." Bonnie corrected.
Damon blinked. "Take care of it, in what way?"
Bonnie motioned. "Your beard has grown a little shaggy there, buddy."
He knew it had been awhile since he had shaved, in fact he hasn't shaved since before he met her, which was months ago. So, as a result his beard had grown a little thick. Not out of control or overly long. But, it was still quite the impressive beard, which gave him a more distinguished look than when he was clean shaven.
"Just think that you should trim it up a little, you know make it more neat and you can still kept your beloved beard." Bonnie hinted.
"Trimming, yeah perhaps I could use a trim." He ran his hand over his chin.
"Just a small one." Bonnie suggested.
He maneuvered. "In the meantime, why don't we set up camp around here. Then we can stay here for a few days before moving on."
She inclined. "We're near a source of plenty of water, all of the trees provides us a lot of shade, thus a shield from the hot sun and the lake and waterfall is peaceful to be around. Yep, I think we should spend about five days here."
He stated. "Five days is just about right, after spending days walking in the hot sun. We could both use a break to spend some time in the cool shade. Five days here it is."
They set up there camp a few yards into the forest, close enough to the lake and it's waterfalls where they could hear the water falling. But, far enough away where they couldn't see the lake because of it being sheided out of view by the trees, It was about a five minutes walk away from the lake to where they had sat up their camp.
They each made their makeshift sleeping bags, where they would sleep in for the nights they were spending there. They had been creative in making makeshift sleeping bags and tents, during the times where they had to spent nights outside, when there was no buildings around for them to shetler in.
The two of them unpacked the items that they needed out of their bags and set them up on their campsite.
After the campsite was set up, Damon had gone towards the lake to take his shower underneath the waterfalls. While he was doing so, she remained at the campsite to give him his privacy and waiting her turn to take a wash up.
In the meantime she was taking in her surroundings and listening to the birds chirping, as well as watching the squirrels move through the treetops. The sounds of the birds chirping and the water from the waterfalls falling, created a smoothing sound. All of the trees around combined to give the area a majority of shade. With some of the sunlight shining through the openings that the leafs provided.
The shade brought down temperatures slightly, it was still rather warm, but made the heat more tolerable to bear than being in the direct sun. All of these conditions made Bonnie go into a very relaxed state. Such a relaxed state that she dozed off before she knew it.
Her mini nap was interrupted when she heard a footsteps approaching the campsite at a steady pace. Which startled Bonnie out of her sleep. In her brief haziness of just waking up, she reached for her knife just in case it was some stranger coming up on her that wished her harm. She raised her knife in a defensive manner and narrowed her eyes towards the direction of the footsteps.
Damon stepped out of the trees and saw her defensive manner with the knife. He raised his hands in surrender. "Easy there."
"Oh, it's just you." In relief, she lowered her knife and put it back where she had gotten it from. After seeing that the footsteps belonged to him.
"Who did you think it was." Damon wondered.
"Some creep trying to sneak up on me for misdeeds." Bonnie confessed.
"Why, there is no one else around for miles and miles, besides us two." Damon muttered.
She shrugged. "Don't know, I dozed off to sleep, when a noise wakes you up it can catch you off guard at times."
He said. "You fell asleep, are you tired."
She responded. "Not really, the surroundings were just so relaxing to me."
For some reason this amused him. "I see,:
It was then she noticed his state of dress or lack there off. He was shirtless,barefooted and had a towel wrapped around his waist. She was caught off guard but this time it had nothing to do with her waking up from her mini nap. She had seen him shirtless although not quite like this.
He was dripping wet, like he has stepped off out of the waterfalls and didn't bother to dry off. His hair was wet from the water and beads of water ran down his naked torso. His broad shoulders, muscular pecs, bulging biceps and six pack abs were all wet with water.
The towel which he had around his waist, hung dangerously low, revealing his fitly shaped pelvis, in the class V shaped. And there was a thin line of hair just beneath his body button that disappeared underneath the towel.
Bonnie had recently come to realize that Damon Salvatore was a stunningly handsome man, who she found good looking to the extreme. But, now she was discovering Damon Salvatore had the body to match his face. And seeing the sight of him had the temptation of desire stir up from somewhere inside of her.
He noticed the way that she was staring, smirking in response. "You alright there Bon-Bon?"
"What?" Bonnie blinked not realizing how long she had been staring at him.
"I said are you alright there." Damon took a couple of steps forward.
"Yes, I'm fine." Bonnie cleared her throat to gather herself.
His smirk almost widened into a grin. "Okay, then."
Quickly, she played it off like she hadn't been affected by his body. "Is there any reason you're standing there without clothes?"
Damon ran his fingers through his damp hair. "I came over to take care of my beard."
Bonnie arched a brow. "And you can't get dressed before you take care of your beard."
"I could but I prefer to do i before getting dressed." Damon returned.
"Why does clothes get in the way of the task at hand." She quirked.
"It doesn't know, I'm perfectly capable of performing certain tasks half naked." He joked.
"If you say so." Bonnie mumbled.
Damon's tone was honest as he said. "All kidding aside, if my current state of dress really bothers you then I could do back and retrieve my clothes from the bank of the lake."
Yes, it bothered her, but not in the negative way that he implied, more so in the hot and bothered direction. There was no way she was going to make him aware of this fact though, so she deflected with a roll of her eyes. "No, you're fine, I'm fine."
Damon added. "In that case, I need you to trim my beard."
"For what?" Bonnie asked perplexed.
"Well, I don't have a mirror to see myself in so, I wouldn't want to screw my beard up with the wrong cut. Plus, since you were the one who mentioned how my beard needed trimming, I figured that you should do it." Damon answered.
"Okay, but I don't see why I would do a better job on your beard than you would." Bonnie commented.
He made his way over to his bag. "Since you brought it up, I trust you to trim it to how exactly you think it will look like."
She just looked at him for a moment.
He questioned her. "Are you going to assist me or not, Bon-Bon."
After thinking about it, she thought what would it hurt. "Sure, I'm all in."
"Great!" Damon began searching through his bag.
"Are you looking for a razor." Bonnie wondered.
"Nope, I don't have a razor." He popped. "I'm looking for the pair of scissors that I have, it should do the trick."
"I suppose it should." Bonnie said.
After a half minute, Damon pulled the scissors out of the bag. "Get them."
Bonnie declared. "Let's get to work then."
Approaching her with the scissors, he handed them to her. "Here you go."
Grabbing them from him, she looked up at him as their height difference entered into the picture. "Uh, I think I would do better if you sit down."
"Of course." Chuckling he scanned their campsite for a place to sit down at. Soon he spotted a tree stump just about the height of an average chair. It provided the perfect source for someone to sit down, without having to sit on the ground.
"Over here." He signaled with his head.
Nodding she followed him over to the tree stump.
Carefully, he sat down on the stump. "Hopefully the towel will protect me from getting splitters in my ass."
"Now, Damon." She laughed.
"It's a precious ass." Damon was half way between serious and kidding around.
"No comment." Bonnie pursed her lips.
"You can get started on the beard at anytime." Damon winked.
Studying his shaggy beard, she tried to think of the correct way to approach it. "I hope to do a good job, barber I'm not."
He told her. "I'm positive you will do you best."
She let out a breath. "Well, okay."
Saying nothing, Damon patiently waited for her to get started.
Grasping the scissors she stepped closer to him, she could smell the mixture of fresh waterfall water and the soap he had used to get clean with. The scent was very appealing to her.
Gently she began trimming his beard, making small cuts to his facial hair which was uneven of looked out of place.
Damon watched her with pure interest as she trimmed his facial hair. He couldn't help but notice how she was standing slightly between his legs to get a better angle and the fact that he was just wearing a towel. Despite the compromising looking position, he remained a gentlemen and was perfectly respectful towards her.
Soon she become very serious about wanting to do a good job, she tucked her tongue at the corner of her mouth in deep concentration.
And he thought that it was the cutest thing.
Bonnie was so focused on making sure that she didn't mess up his beard, that she almost forget he was basically half naked in front of her and how close she was standing to him. She diverted her mind from going too far into the gutter.
Damon found himself very relaxed for some reason, just with her doing the simple task of attending to his facial hair.
After some moments, she was finished trimming his beard. So, she stepped back a ways.
"You're done." Damon guessed.
"Done." Bonnie confirmed.
"How do I look." Once again he ran his hand over his beard, plenty of his hair remained there, yet it felt smoother.
"Ah….." Bonnie paused to study her work.
Damon anticipated. "Well?"
Bonnie had a slip of the tongue. "Handsome."
In response, Damon grinned from ear to ear. "Handsome, huh."
Bonnie quickly went on. "I meant your beard looks great now,"
"Uh huh." Damon showed his teeth, thrilled that she had called him handsome.
"Anyway, I feel like I did a decent job on your beard, looks neater and better if you could see it." Bonnie stated.
"I'll take your word for it, Thanks. At times it's the smallest efforts which I am most grateful for." He told her kindly.
"You're very welcomed." Bonnie gave him as sweet smile.
Damon stood, making sure his towel was secure around his waist. "I'll go back and get those clothes on, then you can have your turn it you'd like."
Bonnie cleared her throat. "Alright."
He walked back in the direction of the lake to go and get his clothes to get dressed.
Waiting until he was out of sight, she released the breath she didn't even realize she was holding.
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
Once he had gotten fully dressed he had returned to the campsite. So, Bonnie gathered up some soap and a washcloth and headed towards the lake, while Damon stayed at the campsite in order to give her the privacy that she needed to bathe.
Once she had reached the lake, she took in the scenery before stripping out of her clothes. Once nude, she jumped into the water and swam over to where the waterfall was. She stepped up on the large flat rock and under one of the flowing waterfalls.
As soon as the water hit her, she let out a verbal sound of content. The water was cool and provided great relief from the dry, vicious heat. She stood there for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the feeling of the water running over her head and body.
Then she moved onto washing herself up. She lathered some soap onto her wash cloth and moved the wash cloth all over her body. Making extra certain to wash away all of the dirt and grime which had piled up on her for the last nine days. Then she lathered more soap to get rid of any body odor stench that might have developed on her.
As she took her natural shower, a thought came to her mind all of a sudden. The thought that Damon just a short time ago was standing under this waterfall, taking a wash up just like she was and had been nude just as she currently was.
A picture entered into her mind of him standing under this very waterfall, with water falling over his entirely naked body. And curiosity got the best of her, wondering how he would look in that position. Then she shook her head to shake the imaginary image of him standing nude under the water from her brain. The last thing she needed was to picture Damon Salvatore naked, especially in her own current naked state.
So, she soaped up her hair and focused on washing her hair. Making herself thinking about other topics instead of a naked Damon.
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
After she was finished with cleaning off her body, washing her hair thoroughly, she swam back to the shore of the lake. She dried herself off and put her clothes back on. Once she was fully dressed she made her way back to the campsite. Damon was there, next to his makeshift sleeping bag flipping through she pages on a book, he placed it down once he saw that she was back.
Suggested that they have something to eat, since they were now both fresh and clean from their waterfall showers. Bonnie agreed that she was ready to eat.
But, first they took all of their available empty bottles to the lake and filled them up with water to have for drinking once they started to travel again. Then Damon commented on how they should have some fish for their next meal, since they were near a body of water.
That was will Bonnie requested that she try a hand in catching their fish instead. He quickly agreed to allow her to do it and made a fishing spear out of a stick just like he had done the time he had fished before. He handed Bonnie the spear, telling her to be careful not to hurt herself.
She returned she would be careful and stepped into the middle of the lake with the spear. Her first handful of attempts at catching fish had failed, causing her to miss several times. On the fifth time she missed, she let out a string of curses.
From the shore where he was standing, Damon gave her a few tips and pointers to better her chances of catching them. Listening to him, she did the tactics he had told her about and after about three more tries she finally stabbed the first fish with the spear.
This made Bonnie yell out in victory.
Seeing her success, Damon shouted out more encouragement from where he was.
She ended up catching two more fish and was very proud of herself for doing so. They proceeded to the campsite and Bonnie cleaned the three fish she had caught. While Damon built up an impressive sized campfire.
Once the fish was cleaned, they grilled them over the campfire. When the fish was cooked they sat down to have their meal. It was early evening by the time they ate, both were very hungry since neither had eaten anything since the light breakfast they had in the morning.
Because there were three fish, they split them in between them, each having one and a half fish. To go along with the fish they also shared a large bag of trail mix, which Damon had found in the countryside high school about ten miles back. They ate together as they enjoyed the tranquilness of the forest around them.
After their meal, they settled down at the campsite for the remainder of the day. Deciding they would do an explore hike in the woods surrounding them the following morning. They spent most of the rest of that day, talking and having conversation with each other. Discussing whatever came to their minds. From small talk to more in depth conversation.
The two of them talked for hours until nightfall came. Damon made sure to keep the campfire going, although it was more for light to allow them to see their way around in the dark than it was for heat. The night time aided by the light of the full moon in the sky. It was about ten o'clock at night and the moon was high in the sky casting a blue-white light over everything.
Bonnie was the first to comment. "A very full moon tonight."
"About the brightness I have ever seen." Damon spoke.
"Also it seems bigger than it usually is." Bonnie looked up.
"Right, I figure it's what they called the supermoon." He had his eyes to the sky.
"Super moon." Bonnie stated. "It's when the moon is closest to the earth during its orbit, isn't it?"
Damon leaned back on his elbows. "I believe it's how they explained it."
Bonnie mumbled. "It's very pretty."
Damon agreed. "And bright enough to see where you are going tonight , without the need of a flashlight."
She was silent, as her brain went into reflection.
"What is on your mind, Bennett." Damon directed after he was aware of her reflection.
"I'm was just remembering." Bonnie released an audible breath.
"Remembering?" Damon questioned.
"About dancing." Bonnie explained.
He shifted and rested his elbows on his knees. "Dancing what about it?"
She observed. "How I used to dance."
This instantly intrigued him. "You danced."
Bonnie went on. "I used to you know, every once and awhile, I would dance to relieve the stress of the bull shit I used to go through. Even though now that I mention it, it's been over a year since I last danced."
"Interesting, what sort of dancing did you do?" Damon wondered.
"Whatever sort of dancing I felt like doing at the time, which was all in good fun." Bonnie raised a shoulder.
"Interesting." He repeated.
"Dancing was one of the few times I allowed myself to let loose and have at it. I would just play a CD or a cassette in a battery powered radio and dance my heart away." She confessed.
Damon eyed her as the campfire they were sitting next to krackled. "I can imagine you were quite the fine dancer."
Bonnie grinned slightly. "I was decent enough, wouldn't when any dance contests though."
His lips curved. "You had fun and that is what matters."
She gave him a bob. "True, you know remembering it, I would love to dance again actually."
"So, what's something you." He waved.
"I don't know." She glanced into the fire.
"You could dance right now." Damon pointed out.
"You really believe I could dance at this moment?" Bonnie asked taken aback by the notion.
He raised his eyebrows. "I don't see why not, dancing is fun to you right."
She blinked. "It is, but we don't have a radio, thus no music to dance to."
He returned. "Who says you need music to dance."
She huffed out. "Kind of ridiculous if someone saw me dancing without music."
"No one else is going to see you besides me and I promise I wouldn't judge." Damon's tone was amused.
"Okay, that's a point. But, I still need music other wise I would feel silly." Bonnie chuckled.
"What kind of music do you listen to?" Damon interrogated.
"I don't have one type really, I'm open minded and will listen to any genre. As long as the song and lyrics appeal to me." Bonnie replied.
"You're correct, great music is great music, no matter what the genre." Damon concuered .
Bonnie queried. "Why does it matter what type of music I like."
Damon told her. "Because you don't need a radio to hear music or dance to it."
Bonnie crinkled her forehead. "Are you getting at something, Damon."
"If you ever want to listen to music, you just bring it up right in here." Damon tapped his temple.
"You mean music can be in your mind." Bonnie understood where he was coming from.
"Exactly. You just store your favorite songs in your mind and bring them up whatever you wish to. No radio needed." Damon was delighted that she collected.
"Maybe…." She said after a pause.
Damon put in. "More than maybe you should give it a try."
Bonnie pouted. "I can't remember the last song I listened to, in order just to bring it up in my mind."
Damon offered. "Perhaps I could assist you."
Bonnie wanted to know. "Assist me how in dancing or coming up with music without a radio."
Damon direct. "How about both."
Her attention was perked up a level. "And how exactly would you do that."
"Dance with me, you'll see," Damon returned.
"You're being sincere, you want me to dance with you." Bonnie gazed towards him.
"You heard me, I would like to dance with you right here and now." Damon confirmed.
"Hmmmm, not sure about that." Bonnie hesitated.
Damon smirked. "Why not, you don't like me enough."
Bonnie laughed a little. "Of course I like you and you know I like you a lot. I just don't usually dance with any guy."
Damon mentioned. "But, I'm not just any guy, I'm your best friend."
She admitted. "You've got me there."
"So, will you dance with me." Damon pressed softly.
"If you insist, what do you have to convince me to dance with you?" She softly challenged.
"Ah, this can be where the music part comes in. I'll sing for you." Damon countered.
"Wow, you'll actually sing for me." Bonnie's eyes widened.
He repeated. "I'll sing for you."
She pursed. "But, you said you wouldn't though, when I asked you about it before. Something along the lines of 'you wish."
He snorted. "You remember me saying so, huh."
"I have a very in depth memory." She tapped her head.
"Alright, consider it a compromise, I'll sing for you if you dance with me." Damon offered,
"Then deal, I'll compromise dancing with you as long as you sing." Bonnie accepted because she really wanted to know if he could sing or not.
"Wonderful!" Damon declared with a smile.
She waited for him to make his next move.
So, Damon stood to his feet, and held out his hand. "Hope you're up to some slow dancing."
Getting to her feet, Bonnie put her hand in his. "I'm up for it."
"See the key to hearing a song without a radio is all based on what you have on the inside of you, you don't need a radio or even a musical tune as long as the song you have inside of you comes from inside of your heart." He said warmly.
"Why don't you show me." She gave him a sweet smile.
With intention he pulled her close to his body, with one hand still holding hers and the other wrapped around her waist. In the way that men held women when they were slow dancing together. "Ready?"
Wrapping her free arm around his neck, Bonnie nodded.
From an outsider who wasn't aware that they claimed to be just best friends, the two of them looked like an couple in sort of a romantic embrace.
He began on the method of slow dancing with her, remaining silent.
Although the start of the dance with him was nice, she wondered if he was going to hold up to his end of the bargain and sing.
Thinking about which song he should sing to her, he came up with the perfect one. It was a song he had written a year and a half back, when he was determined to get another guitar one day to play as he had sang the song.
He had yet to get the other guitar, but he had set the tempo of the song in mind, along with the lyrics. Enough where he didn't need the guitar to actually sing it. It was a slow paced song, so it was ideal for the current dance he was having with Bonnie.
His song was about love and hope in a time of despair and love winning out over pain, even when things seemed most hopeless. The current environment of the world had inspired him to write the song.
This song held a lot of meaning to him, as it was his own creation. He had never sang it in front of anyone before and not for anyone. So, it was a great deal he now choose this song to sing to her. His song and his words of love and hope and choosing to sing it to her, showed how meaningful she was to him and how it was a major symbol of the relationship he shared with her.
Her first thought that she had when the first words of his singing came out of his mouth, was how he had an incredible voice.
Admired by the way that her green eyes sparkled in the moonlight, Damon began to sing the first lyrics of his song to her.
Once again she was impressed by his singing voice, it was a mixture of roughness, yet soft at the same time. It was gritty and haunting. And she can picture him as a rock star, if he had ever had a chance at such a career.
Continuing his song to her, he just didn't sing to her, but voiced the words from his heart. As he slowly danced with her.
The more she listened to his lyrics, the more that she realized it wasn't just any song. It was an epic one of love and hope. And the fact he was singing it to her wasn't lost on her. And it made her heart lift in her chest for him.
At this point, he was looking her deep in her eyes, making sure she knew every single lyric was meant for her.
The more he got into the song, the more into her feelings she got and she was staring into his sapphire eyes, absolutely entranced and mesmerized by him and his words. And at that moment it was as if there was no other care in the world besides him.
And at the very moment, it was like she was the only thing in the entire universe that mattered to him and in a large way she was the only thing that mattered. Out of all of the awful events he had been through or witness in his twenty-two years of life, he had gotten through them.
He learned the one thing he never would be able to get through was losing her. He just couldn't face living his life without Bonnie Bennett. And would do all in his power to maintain her in his life.
She moved with him as they danced, admitting to herself that she definitely felt something more for this man other than friendship, and she wondered to herself if it meant she was in love with him.
In this moment, it was like they were the only two on the face of the whole planet. In this endearing moment which was currently happening between them, the both of them were astounded by what they were feeling for the other. Sharing this tenderness and intimacy that was being exchanged between them. And it sent warmth to their hearts.
The air around them was heavy with the intense, deep, and meaningful feelings they were experiencing. The both of the knew that this wasn't just a friendship type of love, but a love which went to a whole different level. Neither verbally expressed it, yet it was clear in their eyes and how they were staring at each other. They were overwhelmed by what they were presently feeling.
When his song was over, he stopped singing, but he didn't let her go. Their danced had stopped and yet he still held her close to his body like he wished to cherish her in his arms for a while longer.
She swallowed as she just stared into his eyes, with her lips slightly parted.
With how he was feeling at the time, along with the combination of her in his arms, he had the sudden desire to kiss her, so his eyes fell to her lips.
Her heart pounded one she could see the desire that he had in his eyes to kiss her, which prompted the urge inside of her to want to kiss him as well.
Saying no words, he leaned in moving his face closer to hers.
Bonnie closed her eyes, fully prepared and ready to feel his lips on hers.
Even though the desire was strong to kiss her on her lips, he instead settled for somewhere else when he wanted to kiss her. He placed a delicate kiss on her forehead and let it lingered there before pulling away. As his own heart was moved by the gesture.
The movement caught her off guard as she was expecting a kiss on the lips. Yet, his kiss to her forehead caused a major impact to her both, emotionally and physically. The kiss to her forehead had touched her heart and nearly made her wet between the legs at the same time.
He stood there, eyes scanning over her face, as she had them closed.
Her eyes fluttered open to see him watching her with an intense gaze. Because she was at a loss of words, she could any return it with an intense gaze of her own.
For a long minute they just stood in like that in front of each other and staring longingly into each other's eyes. Under the moonlight, as the fire crackled and the nighttime animals made noises around them.
When Damon spoke there was a huskiness to his voice. "I appreciate this dance, Bonnie. Good night to you."
"Good night, Salvatore." She whispered.
And just like that he let her go and walked over to his makeshift sleeping bag.
She stood there for a moment, overwhelmed by what they had just shared. The kiss he placed on her forehead had her weak in the knees, so she went to her own sleeping bag and sat down.
The pair of them fell asleep that night with their dance and the his song he had sung to her on their minds.
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Nearly ten weeks later and it was now presently in the middle of October for them. In those ten weeks they had traveled through the last parts of Texas, into the state of Louisiana and at present they were about halfway through the state of Louisiana.
They didn't discuss much of what had happened at the camp back in Texas. All though they were both fully aware of their growing relationship and that it had meant more than friendship now. She knew that she felt romantic types of feelings towards him and desired him. He knew that he felt romantic types of feelings towards her and desired her. Yet, they individually kept this feelings to themselves. And didn't bring up the subject with the other, as if they weren't sure of the next step to take.
Deep in their hearts they admitted their amorous feelings in the relationship. But officially they kept their relationship or friendships status and mostly interacted like super close friends. Even though at times they couldn't have been have some flirtatious undertones to their conversations and discussions.
It was in the middle of October and summer had left, leaving Fall to come into full course. It showed in how temperatures had cooled and now had grown into chilly. So, chilly that they had to find warmer clothes in an abandoned Louisiana wall they had came upon a couple of weeks ago.
Damon now wore a heavy wool coat, which included a large hood. The hood covered all of his head and completely surrounded the sides of his face.
Bonnie had traded her thin hoodie for a thicker jacket to keep her warmer. Along with the jacket she wore a beanie style hat over her head, which covered her head and came down to halfway covering her ears.
The both of them had also gotten a pair of gloves for when it got even cooler outside. They kept themselves warm at night by spending the night in deserted buildings when they were available. Or building fires if they had to spend the night outside.
On this day, the two of them had spent much of the day traveling on foot, as they entered into the next county.
"It's getting colder and colder which each passing day it seems." Damon commented.
"At least we don't have to deal with the extreme heat anymore." Bonnie made a sound with her nose.
"True that." Damon agreed.
"But, you are correct it does seem to be getting colder with each passing day." She put in.
Placing his hands into the pockets of his coat, "Very chilly especially for the part of the country we are in."
She adjusted the hat on her head. "I know what you mean, It is fall. However, we are in the South and temperatures seem lower than what they usually would be."
He smacked his lips. "Perhaps it means the south will have a colder, harsher winter than normal."
"You believe so, the winter down here will be bad?" Bonnie tilted her head.
"I feel it in my gut that it will be, you know it can happen sometimes with the weather." Damon mentioned.
"Well, if you are correct than I hope we make it to Virginia before the dead of winter hits." Bonnie sighed.
Damon stated, "I'm positive that we will, but even if we don't will deal with it and adjust just as we do with everything else."
Bonnie agreed. "We will."
They walked a little further.
Bonnie added after a while. "You know this colder weather has me thinking about how times flies."
"Yeah?" Damon inquired.
"All the way back in Arizona, it was spring time when we first decided to travel, we went through a part of spring, an whole summer and now we are at Fall." Bonnie described.
"Now that you mention it time has indeed flown." Damon muttered.
"Tell me about it, it's been what about nine and a half months since we have been on this journey to our destination." Bonnie was taken aback as she thought of it.
The Salvatore man confirmed. "Nearly ten months now since we have started our trip to Virginia. Wow, I can't believe that much time has passed."
The Bennett woman said. "Nearly ten months, going through three states and now currently on our fourth. That is really something else."
Damon brought up. "You know what else that means."
She looked ahead as they walked. "What else does it mean."
"It means." He paused. "...we have been together and known each other for about ten months now, almost a full year."
"Whoa, we have been traveling together for almost an whole year and we still have several states to go before we reach Virginia." Bonnie perked.
"A very long trip, just as we suspected it would be when we started out, but at least we are on this journey together." Damon told her.
"Yes, it has taken has quite some time to reach the point where we are now, and be have a bit longer to go, but traveling with you makes it worth it." Bonnie let him know.
Damon smirked. "Hell yeah, Bennett to our journey we have been on so far and to our journey forward."
Bonnie exclaimed. "To our journey forward!"
They briefly grinned at each other.
They then kept up on their walk, about twenty minutes later they came up on a sign.
"Crossway Village." Damon read.
"Sounds like it was a cozy place to live." Bonnie commented.
Up ahead about four hundred yards away, Damon saw what was a start of a line of homes. "Looks like the village is up there, with plenty of homes to explore."
"We'll take our time to search through them, see what we can find." Bonnie stated.
With exploring and searching what they assumed was just another ghost town, they started to move forward.
But, then a loud screech from someone stopped them in their tracks.
The two of them looked at each other surprised and they said at the same time. "We're not alone."
Before they could do anything else, they were disrupted by a middle aged, disheveled looking woman charging at them from nowhere.
"The fuck." Bonnie yelled out.
The woman who looked like she was either high on drugs or just plain crazy ran at them in a threatening manner. She snarled and made growling noises, like a rabid animal and went towards them like she wanted to do them some harm.
Alarmed Damon drew out his revolver. The woman appeared to be unarmed, but from how she was acting he wasn't sure if she could pull out a weapon at anytime. "Don't step any closer."
The woman just snarled at him.
Seeing this woman as threatening, Bonnie drew out her hand gun and warned the woman. "Whoever the hell, you stay away from us."
"I'm going to murder you for being in my way." The woman screamed in response and kept running at them.
"Screw this." Bonnie was ready to shoot as the woman was just a few steps away from them at this point.
Just as they were prepared to shoot the women, she just collapsed to the ground in front of their feet and literally dropped dead as if an heart attack had hit her out of nowhere.
"Damn, she just went out like that." Damon toed the woman's body to make sure she was dead.
"What in the fuck was that?" Bonnie tried to process what just happened.
"I have no fucking clue, it's like she was possessed or something." Damon was equally as confused.
"Or perhaps just crazy. This world can screw with some people's minds." Bonnie shook her head.
Damon looked at the fresh corpse with some pity. "True, you have to be mighty mentally strong in this world, seems like this woman lost it."
Bonnie mumbled. "Tried to kill us for no good reason, then again a lot of people try to murder for no good reason."
Damon grumbled. "Just another damn lesson in how we always have to keep up our guard."
And that lesson was proven as only a short time later, a group of people who have appeared to be following the woman who just died came out. These people surrounded the pair with their guns drawn.
"Now just what." Damon cursed in response.
"More people who wish to kill us." Bonnie scowled.
The group of people surrounded them in a circle, aiming their guns at the two and yelling at them for them to drop their guns.
But, dropping their guns and surrendering wasn't in either of Damon or Bonnie's characteristics.
Damon and Bonnie pressed themselves back to back, in an defensive stance. He with his revolver still out and her with her hand gun.
Again the people yelled at them to drop their guns.
"Hell no, we're going to fight, right." Bonnie said with determination in her face.
"To the death, Bonnie." Damon sneered at the men and women surrounding them.
They remained back to back, prepared to get into a standing off and preparing to get into a shoot out if they needed to.
"Wait, Wait, don't shoot them." Came another male voice.
Damon and Bonnie watched as a man dressed in all black, with dark hair, a goatee and grey-blueish eyes stepped up. "Don't shoot them, they aren't the bad guys."
Whoever this man was he acted like he was the leader of this group.
Damon and Bonnie remained tense and in a defensive stance.
The grey-blueish eyed man ordered the group. "Lower you guns."
The group followed orders and lowered their guns.
However, Bonnie and Damon refused to lower theirs.
"Please, lower your guns." This man turned his attention to Bonnie and Damon.
"We don't mean any harm we're just traveling through." Bonnie returned.
"Neither do we, mean you harm. So, you can put your guns away." This man insisted.
"No way, you're trying to get us to lower our guards and attack." Bonnie retorted.
The grey-bluish eyed man spoke to her. "I assure you that I'm not and this is all just a bad misunderstanding."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."
The grey-bluish eyed man murmured. "You don't seem to be very trusting."
Damon snared. "I happen to share in her sentiments."
"Do you know, I happen to catch her name is Bonnie and yours?" This man questioned.
"Damon, not that it matters to you." Damon narrowed his eyes.
"Damon, Bonnie. I promise you both that we don't want hurt you. So, lower your guns and both of our sides can avoid the unnecessary violence." This man went in a charming tone.
Bonnie questioned on her guard. "What in the hell do you want from us then?"
He answered. "Nothing, we were chasing after that mad lady there and it was just a conwindence that we ran into each other. If you hear me out, I'll explain to you how this is just a misunderstanding and we can all be at peace."
Damon narrowed his eyes. "Before we hear you out, why don't you tell us who the hell that you are."
"My family owns this here village." Was the reply. "And my name is Kai Parker."
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Thanks to you all who read and reviewed the last chapter.
I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors I missed.