She slept restlessly the rest of that night. She would wake up crying and Justin would jump up out of the chair nearby to soothe her. He'd returned quickly after Stefan had called him. Stefan had gone to pacing out in the hallway.
Bonnie woke up the next morning and put her hair up in a ponytail. She didn't bother to stretch and moved towards the kitchen. She needed coffee. Justin didn't budge. After her first cup she looked around the loft.
"A new day." She said
Setting the cup down, she made her way towards her room. She looked around it. The sun shined in brightly. She remembered where Justin had put the buckets of paint and headed towards the closet. This was as good as any other day to do it. It would keep her busy and busy is exactly what she needed. She wanted to forget about what happened last night. Even more, she was thinking about leaving. Christian knew where she was now and she knew he wouldn't give her peace.
Bonnie popped the top off the first bucket and poured it into a paint roller tray. Letting out a deep breath she started painting her walls. She was glad that she didn't have much wall space. She had three and a half walls. It wouldn't take so long.
"You want help?"
Bonnie turned and saw Justin in the doorway. Shrugging, she went back to painting. Justin grabbed a paint roller and started on the opposite wall. They worked in silence and slowly it was eating Justin's brain away.
"Okay, what exactly happened last night?" he asked
"Exactly?"
"Exactly." He said
"Someone I used to…" she had to pick her words carefully "know showed up. It wasn't exactly one of those happy moments."
"I noticed that with the broken window out in the hall where the vamp is pacing. Is he always like that?"
"Yeah." Bonnie answered
"Huh." He said
Bonnie nodded and dipped her brush back in the tray.
"Nice color." He commented after a few minutes
Bonnie smirked. Justin didn't miss it either. Turning, he made his way quietly across the room. He stuck the paint roller out so it was just a few inches away from her. Then he just rolled it down her back. Bonnie squealed loudly as Justin started laughing and choking simultaneously.
"I can't believe you!" she yelled
"Oh," he laughed "But it is. Your face is priceless."
Bonnie put her hands on her hips defiantly. Stefan bombarded in with a shocked look on his face.
"What happened?" he asked
He saw the paint covered bonnie who just turned on him.
"You might want to leave." She said
It wasn't a suggestion. The look in her eyes said she was more than pissed off. She turned back to Justin and looked down at the paintbrush in her hand.
"It's funny eh?"
Justin was trying to breathe only to laugh a little more. Bonnie's lips pursed in a smile and started walking in his direction. Reaching out, she slid the paintbrush across his chest. The smile on his face quickly faded and was replaced by a vicious look.
"I liked that shirt." He whined
Bonnie was the one who was starting to laugh now. Justin just shook his head.
"Oh it's on." he said darkly
Bonnie just stuck her tongue out and flung more paint at him. Reaching out, he rolled paint all over her front.
"Justin!" she screamed
Stefan heard it from the other side or the door and just scooted away from the door. He was not getting in the middle of that fight. About twenty minutes later though, both of them came out covered in red paint. Stefan bit his lip to hide his laughter.
"Well, tha was fun." Justin said looking down at himself
Bonnie saw Stefan just sitting there on the couch and smiled mischievously. He wanted to laugh and think it's funny? Well, she could make it even better.
"Hey, Stefan." She called "Come here, I want a hug."
He was on his feet in an instant and backing away. He put his hands out as she advanced on him with a wide grin. He nearly tripped over the coffee table in the process. Justin just laughed and headed towards the bathroom.
"No leaving red paint everywhere!" she yelled
"Yeah, yeah." Justin said back rolling his eyes
Bonnie still walked toward Stefan.
"What's so funny?" she asked
"Uh nothing." He said
"You had to be laughing for some reason." She said squinting at him
"Nope…it's just a good look for you." He said chuckling a little
"I'm glad you think so." She said still walking towards him
"Now, Bonnie think about what you're about to do."
"Oh, I'm thinking that it'll wipe that grin off your face." She said
He half laughed and side stepped her. As he went to move around the couch, Bonnie jumped up on the couch and over it tackling him.
"Gotcha." She said as she got up
She smiled feeling proud of herself.
"Catching a vampire." She trailed off "I think that's a first."
Stefan looked down at himself as he sat up. He now had red paint on himself. He just nodded with a stumped look.
"Well…" he said "That's a problem."
"Oh you got attacked by the witch too." Justin cut in "Vicious ain't she?"
There was plenty of sarcasm to go around in his comment. Bonnie rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"You started it." she said pointing at Justin
"You started it." he mocked "What are we? Six?"
She glared at him.
"Uh oh." He said "Whatcha gonna do? Put a curse on me?"
"Nope." She said "It's just not worth it."
"Oh, don't break my heart now. I haven't even had the chance to win yours."
"HA! You should've thought about it before you painted me." She said
"But it was fun." He whined
Bonnie smiled and winked.
"I'm in need of a nice long shower. Then maybe I'll attempt to paint my room again. I'm hoping that I can sleep in it by the end of the week actually." She mumbled the last part to herself
Her mumblings kept going on as she walked past Justin. They both watched her go. Justin meant to because he loved watching her. Stefan couldn't help it, she was a mystery now days. He'd heard her wake p and go straight to working on her room. He knew why. He'd seen it before. To get away from a problem she'd work till her fingers bled. She didn't want to think about it.
"So how long have you known each other? You seem to be quite protective if you're still sticking around." Justin inquired
"A while." Stefan answered "I used to date her best friend."
"Oh? I'm guessing you're moving on to the next best thing." Justin said
"She isn't the next best thing. It isn't even like that!" Stefan exclaimed
"You're damn straight. She is it."
"It's not like that. We both…we both lost something important and then she went and got into trouble. I'm just…I just want to be sure that she'll be okay."
"She'll be fine. She's a witch and if that doesn't help then she has me. She doesn't need you reminding her of what a shitty life she had." Justin snapped "I've been decent with Bonnie around and I don't even care that you're all dead or whatever, but you need to back off and leave her alone now. Let her move on."
Stefan ignored the last part.
"She hasn't used her powers in a long time. Even if she could use them, you don't know what she's capable of. She could kill herself. And you?" he scoffed "These are vampires. They will snap your neck before you can get to that dumbass shotgun."
Justin let out a deep breath.
"I care about her safety. That's why I'm still here. I'll be here for a while so, get over it. It's not like I'm here to corrupt her." Stefan said
Justin just shook his head and stood.
"You already did." He said "Just…just don't make her your rebound or whatever. She's better than that."
Justin left shaking his head and mumbling. He didn't like him hanging around. He was a threat.
