Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter. A very quick update this time. Not a lot happening in this chapter, but I thought they deserved this break. Do please leave a review if you can.

Chapter 12

"And that is all that happened last evening," reports Caroline. Stefan has accompanied her on her morning ride, and after a long canter, they are resting for a minute on top of a grassy knoll. She feels like she can finally breathe, away from the oppressing atmosphere of the house at present, out here in the open air with her best friend. She lifts her face to the sun and wind, taking a deep breath, before turning to face Stefan. He looks thoughtful.

"How is Bonnie?"

"She was absolutely humiliated and furious of course. But she behaved with great dignity. She put 'Lady' Esther in her place," Caroline purses her lips, looking out over the fresh green fields. It had rained the previous night. "Horrible woman! Kol ran out after her, tried to speak to her but she must have been pretty nasty to him as well, not that I blame her. The mother was affronted! She said a lot of things about how 'our dear girls back at home would never dream of behaving in such an unladylike manner. So impolite. A servant-like behaviour if I know anything about it.'" Caroline concludes in such a terrible imitation of an English accent, Stefan is forced to laugh despite the seriousness of the matter.

"And is that the end of the Mikaelsons?" Stefan asks cautiously. He wants an answer in the positive so desperately.

"I believe so. Kol rode over once again, this morning, and asked to speak to Bonnie. They talked. But I do not think he will be returning." She looks pensive, tugging her gloves, adjusting the reins in her hands. Caroline aimlessly fidgeting is a Caroline whose thoughts are elsewhere and Stefan remains quiet, letting her work out the tangles in her head in silence. "I think she feels betrayed. It was supposed to be an arranged marriage, yes. But the thought of money never even entered our heads, because all we heard was how their grandfather left them vast sums of money. She liked Kol, he was very good to her and he made her believe that he really wanted them to get along with each other. But the whole family turns out to be so mercenary. It is the duplicity that especially upset her. Bonnie hates lies and underhand tricks. If he had not put up such a pretence, she might not have been so hurt. Angry, yes but at least she would not feel like she had been duped."

"Perhaps he really did admire her. Bonnie is very beautiful and worth a great deal of admiration, after all. He may have been telling the truth when he said he wanted them to get along. I mean, I did not like the Mikaelsons but if Bonnie liked Kol, perhaps she should think of that."

"No. Even if that were the case, he should still have been transparent about his family's financial condition. It was an arrangement from both sides, there were no feelings involved. If he had told her the truth she would have appreciated it more. If they were to live mostly on Bonnie's money till Klaus decided to get married, Bonnie or at least Uncle Elijah should have been made aware of the real state of the Mikaelson accounts."

"Speaking of Klaus," Stefan slips in casually, casting her a quick sideways glance, "Has he said anything? To you?"

Caroline laughs. "He would not dare. Uncle was far from gracious and welcoming when he summoned the carriage to take Mrs. and Miss Mikaelson home yesterday. No, I truly think we will not be required to associate with the Mikaelsons outside the obligatory Mystic Falls social affairs henceforth. I am glad. I thought there was something not quite right about Mrs. Mikaelson, that very first day when she did not appear to meet Aunty after her son promised she would."

Stefan hides his relieved grin with great difficulty. Indeed, he is not happy that the elimination of his rival took place in such a terrible manner for Bonnie, but he cannot help but feel almost giddy with excitement about the possibilities of the future. It shall not be simple. As younger son, he cannot look forward to a very large inheritance. Much of the profits from the company are ploughed back into the estate and Damon will need those funds in full. Caroline does not possess very much and he cannot hope to provide her all that she is used to at her Aunt and Uncles'. Giuseppe too will raise problems. He does not like the Bennett family. But there is still a bright ray of light in that it is still the two of them against the world and nobody between him and Caroline. He smiles at her and stretches his arm out in the direction of the Salvatore house.

"Do you want to race me to our stables? And then you can visit the filly I promised you and get acquainted with her."

Caroline lights up before setting her face determinedly. "Alright. But be prepared to loose, Mister Salvatore. On the count of three then...one...two...three..." The sound of gleeful laughter is carried off by the breeze.

X

"Bonnie?" his voice is so soft, so concerned, she must close her eyes against the barrage of tears that threaten to overwhelm her. She knew he would find her today and that is why she came here. To their spot, by the gurgling waters of the stream, where they spent so many hours of their childhood, collecting pebbles, exchanging stories, reading together or simply revelling in the silence. She knew he would come and now that he has, she simply wants to collapse in his arms. To give up this facade of being strong and controlled for a few hours, to not have to hold her head up and smile brilliantly to reassure Momma and Miss Parker and Caroline that she is alright, she is absolutely well when she is not, to forget about her cool meeting with Colum Mikaelson this morning where she assured him that although spoken in the heat of anger, her words of the previous evening still hold true. Damon will take it all away, he will make her forget that the real world exists outside the woods, the world which includes so many more people than just the two of them.

He sits down beside her and after a minute, she leans into his side, setting her head in the hollow between his shoulder and neck, which has always felt like it was made for her. Why did that not alert them to the inevitability of this moment, she wonders muzzily. She is so tired.

"Are you happy?"

Damon looks down at the top of her head with incredulous eyes. How can she ask him that? "How can I be happy when you are so upset, cara?" He can feel her head shake against him, even though his eyes are now on the water.

"You did not like him."

"No, I did not. I hated him. Because you seemed to like him. And that is what makes me all the more unhappy, Bonnie. You trusted him. And he betrayed you. What I would like to do is kill him." He feels her tense. "But I believe that you have dealt with him as you saw fit, and if we can agree on it, we will leave the matter behind."

She lifts her head in order to look at him, a slight smile tipping her lips up at the corners. "You took my words at the ball, to heart. So, you trust me now?"

He tears at the grass with one hand, still keeping the other one around her waist. "I always have trusted you, Bonnie. Never more so than when I laid my heart at your feet and trusted you not to tear it to pieces. You are the one person, other than Stefan that I feel I can give everything for. But I still grow afraid at times, I am afraid of how simple it is for you to make me happy and how appallingly simple it will be for you to break me. And although I know, I know, you would never deliberately do that, I cannot help but feel you could do so much better than me. You deserve so much better. You deserve everything."

"I have everything," she seals her lips to his. And it is slow and sweet as they learn each other's rhythms. Damon is so overwhelmingly sensual, it makes Bonnie's toes curl, as he gently nibbles at her bottom lip and takes it into his mouth, his tongue swiping once, twice, thrice across the seam of her lips before she opens them to let him in. As their tongues meet and tangle, sweet and sensual immediately changes to fire and desperation, as lips, teeth and tongue come together in the most glorious dance Bonnie has ever experienced. His breath is warm and his hands hot as they glide down the slope of her neck, across shoulders and down bare arms, until his fingers slide through hers. His nimble fingertips leave goosebumps in their wake as they stroke her collarbones and walk down her forearms. He tastes so male and Bonnie did not know that could be a taste but she is quickly discovering it to be a favourite.

When he breaks away from her mouth to kiss down her throat, Bonnie finally realises that she is feeling a little faint. She also realises that at some point he has scooped her up from the ground and into his lap. She is breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling, in quick heavy pants. As he gently pulls at the thin skin of her neck with his teeth, her breath hitches again and she tugs his hair a little harder than she intends. She can feel him smile against her skin, the cocky wretch! Feeling vindictive and wanting a reaction from him in turn, she leans forward to lick the hollow beneath his ear before nipping the lobe. Damon shudders in ecstasy, drooping forward to rest his forehead on her shoulder. After a minute of simply breathing in each other, Bonnie climbs off his lap. Damon makes a noise of protest, tugging at their intertwined hands but Bonnie refuses to give in to the temptation.

"What did your father say to you? As regards our conduct at the Ellison ball?"

"We do not need to speak about that. Come here, cara. I want to kiss you again."

"No, Damon. We need to speak about this. Papa and Momma were most displeased, so I can only imagine your father's reaction. I was correct, Damon. We ought not to have gone out onto the balcony. It was improper."

He groans. "I am tired of being proper."

"When have you ever been proper?" she questions in surprised tones. "Even when we were young, you were always the one who got us into trouble. Do you remember the time we stole the colt from Farmer Hopkins' stables?"

"It was not always my idea. Going swimming in the lake at midnight, originated in your head."

"You are attempting to distract me and it is working," she says severely, beginning to pin up strands of hair that have fallen out of their coiffure due to Damon's fingers and then pausing to pick out bits of grass that have inexplicably ended up in the ebony curls. Damon sighs, before answering, his eyes fixed on her quick fingers.

"He threatened to disinherit me and throw me out on the streets if I even thought of marrying you. Why are you pinning that up? It is only going to come undone again, when I do this..." Bonnie suddenly found herself flat on her back, eyes fixed on ice-blue irises glinting with the same mischief that got the children into a million scrapes. They soften, as they take in the vision of her, laid out on the grass, long black hair streaming on the ground, spread around her face like some kind of dark halo. Her jade eyes laugh at him, and she looks so much more happy and relaxed than he has seen her in a while. The tension seems to have bled out of her limbs and she is glad to surrender to him and his whims.

"God, you are so beautiful," he whispers, tracing one cheekbone with the back of a finger. Her lips, her eyes, every part of her seems to smile up at him.

"Did you only now realise that? I am most offended! I do not feel I should associate with you any longer," she pouts.

"You would not be able to live without my glorious presence for a day," he asserts confidently. "You would come back begging, after a tea party, 'Oh please, Damon. Relieve my boredom and save me from death by gossip. I will do anything for you.' And I shall forgive you for leaving me and graciously take you back."

She lays her hand against his cheek, bringing his head down for a series of quick, open-mouthed kisses. She does not know how she could have gone so long without ever being kissed, specifically by Damon. She is quickly getting drunk on them and even the thought of drawing away from him, having to go back to the gloomy Bennett Manor makes her feel miserable. So, instead she revels in the moment, of the feeling of Damon seemingly sipping at her lips. Only once does she draw back to look him in the eye.

"Your father cannot do anything to us. Nor can anybody else. As long as we face whatever life throws at us together, Damon, I will be content. I can withstand anything with you by my side." His eyes are intense as he nods his agreement, pulling her up to cradle her in his arms, as if she is the most precious thing in the world. And to him, she supposes she is.

x-x

That's it for today. A lot of it was only fluff, I suppose. My brain's not working. See you in a few days.