Chapter 14

Elena opened the front door of her house with a heavy sigh, dropping her bag by the stairs. She turned as Bonnie followed her in and closed the door, leaning against it. Heavy silence lingered between them making the air thick and stagnant.

Finally Bonnie sucked in a sharp breath and squared her shoulders, looking Elena in the eye. "Say it."

"Say what?" Elena hedged, ducking her head so her hair fell in a thick curtain across her face.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Don't do that, Elena. I know you, remember? We've been best friends since elementary school. I know when something's bothering you."

Ever since they had left the Salvatore house, Elena had been eerily quiet. Elena had wanted to come back and take a quick shower before they all went back to the cabin to see Jeremy, and Bonnie had offered to go with her, knowing she needed some time to sort things out with her best friend. But Bonnie hadn't forced the issue on the drive over; she wanted to give Elena her space and let her figure things out.

Elena looked up, her dark eyes worried. "I'm scared for you, Bonnie."

"I'm scared, too," Bonnie admitted, shrugging helplessly.

"Then why did you trust Damon?" Elena asked desperately, genuinely worried.

Bonnie frowned. "So, you can trust Damon, but I can't?"

Elena clenched her teeth. "That's not what I mean, and you know it."

"Then what exactly do you mean, Elena?"

"You were the one who came home and said you would never trust a vampire, let alone one like Damon! You said that this was too much for you!" Elena finally snapped.

"Things change," Bonnie replied softly. "And I don't like trusting Damon … I'm not even sure I trust him." She knew that was a lie even as she said it. She did trust Damon, whether she liked it or not.

"But you're … bonded to him?"

Bonnie nodded slowly, her mind going briefly to the bond. She was somewhat amused and somewhat dismayed to know that even with miles between them she could focus on Damon. She could sense that something was annoying him at that precise moment. And he was hungry.

"I don't understand the bond yet," Bonnie said finally when she noticed Elena was still waiting for a response. "All I know is that Damon was the lesser of two evils."

"You mean Katherine."

"She came to my house, Elena," Bonnie whispered brokenly. "She was right next to my father. She could have killed him and I was completely powerless to stop her. I can't let her kill the people I love when there's something I can do."

"So you sold your soul to the devil?" Elena asked with a small smile after a minute.

Bonnie giggled, breaking the tension. "Something like that."

Elena sobered and stepped forward, taking Bonnie's hands in hers. "I need you to promise me something."

"OK."

"If this gets to be too much," Elena started slowly, "you'll say something. Stefan and I will figure something else out that doesn't involve you being tied to Damon. We can figure out a way to end this bond thing between you two. We all owe you that much."

Bonnie reigned in a sigh. If only it were that simple, but she had a feeling that there was no easy way to break the bond she and Damon had forged. That she was in this for the long haul. Even right now she felt on edge, jittery and anxious. She knew it had something to do with the fact that she wasn't in close proximity to Damon, and she also knew that she should be bothered by that and yet wasn't.

But staring at Elena's face, seeing the worry etched into her soft features twisted something in Bonnie's heart.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around Elena. "I promise," she lied again.

"Seriously, you need to let this go," Damon ground out at his brother. He tried to sidestep Stefan, and groaned with barely concealed fury when Stefan countered his move, effectively blocking him.

"Bonnie isn't something you can play with." Stefan's brow lowered, his dark eyes going obsidian as he stared hard at Damon.

Damon smirked. "Actually? That's exactly what she is."

Stefan reached out, fisting Damon's shirt in his hands and shoving him hard into the wall. "I mean it, Damon. She had no idea what she's in for. I consider Bonnie my friend and I won't let you use her like some … blood whore so you can get your next fix. I get how strong her blood is, but this isn't the way."

Damon looked bored, his eyes drifting down to where Stefan had grabbed him. "You need to let me go now."

"I won't—"

He never finished the sentence. Damon's hands came up swiftly, shoving Stefan away from him with bruising force and knocking him back several feet.

"You're not stronger than me," Damon warned him coldly. "Not since I've had her blood and you've given up feeding on humans. Again." His tone was laced with acid.

Stefan started to pick himself up, only to go sprawling when Damon planted a heavy booted foot on his back.

"I don't expect you to understand what I've done," Damon continued conversationally, not the least bit bothered by his brother's discomfort, "but I do expect you to stay the hell out of it." He removed his foot and backed off so Stefan could get up. He started to walk back down the hallway.

"What about Katherine?" Stefan called.

Damon paused and turned. "What about her?"

"Katherine made it clear she wanted Bonnie. How do you think she's going to feel about taking something that she wanted? We both know Katherine never learned to share."

Damon's eyes hardened. "It doesn't matter."

"No?"

"No," Damon repeated. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Bonnie is mine now."

Elena closed her phone slowly, tears filling her eyes as she dropped her head into her arms on the kitchen table. Bonnie sat beside her, her hand immediately going to her best friend's back in support.

"Jenna's a mess," Elena whispered. "She's … filing a missing person's report for Jeremy. God, what have I done?"

"You did what you thought was best," Bonnie told her gently but firmly.

Elena looked up, tears clinging to her dark lashes. "But what if I made the wrong choice?"

Bonnie hesitated for a fraction of a second. "I don't really think there was a right choice to be made, Elena. Either way, Jenna was going to lose Jeremy. At least this way, you didn't have to lose him, too."

"But he hates me. Now more than ever," she protested, sniffling. She swiped at her eyes, but more tears took their place.

"He's confused and upset," Bonnie allowed with a swallow. "You need to give him time right now."

"You think that will help? What if … what if he never accepts what I did to him?"

Bonnie studied Elena for a second, taking in her long dark hair that was still damp from her shower and the pale pallor to her skin. Her dark eyes looked luminous and overwhelmed. Elena looked ready to fall apart.

Sighing, she took Elena's hands in hers. "I think you need to just let him know you accept him for what he is, and don't try to change him. He's never going to be the same little brother who used to chase after us when we were outside playing. He's seen too much, been through too much. If you accept him for who he is now, maybe he can eventually accept himself, too."

Elena nodded slowly, taking in Bonnie's words. She drew in a deep, resolved breath and squared her shoulders. "You're right."

Bonnie winked. "I usually am."

Elena's lips twisted into a small smile. "I really missed you."

"I missed you, too." Bonnie returned her smile easily despite the headache that was beginning to build behind her eyes again.

Elena stood up and glanced at the clock over the oven. "Stefan and Damon should be here soon so we can go see Jeremy."

Bonnie nodded, trying not the wince as the pain steadily increased. She clenched her teeth together, but tried to smile anyway.

Elena tapped a nail against the countertop. "It's getting close to dusk," she murmured. "I wonder when they'll be—"

"They're here," Bonnie interrupted her, sensing Damon close now. She was on her feet before they had the front door open, her anxiety reaching a new pitch. She gripped the back of the chair as the pain sharpened suddenly. Her eyes slid shut and she groped blindly, not at all surprised when her fingers curled around something hard and cold.

Damon.

"What's wrong?" Elena's voice hitched with panic as she looked wildly at Damon. She had heard the door open, but her human eyes hadn't been able to see how fast he was moving until he literally appeared at Bonnie's side. Stefan came into the kitchen slower, more apprehensive.

"Another headache?" Damon said softly, keeping his voice low as he guiding Bonnie back into her chair.

"No," she forced out through her teeth. "It's something—"

The words died on her lips as her knees suddenly gave out from the blinding pain. She wasn't even aware of the way Damon effortlessly caught her, keeping her from collapsing on the floor.

It was all she could do not to scream as the vision assaulted her, blinding in its fury and intensity. The small flashes of premonitions she had gotten the last few months were nothing compared to this. This was like high definition with surround sound in her head, and her mind was going into overload. It was too much, too fast. She could barely keep up, and the pain simply kept growing. It felt like her skull was being cracked in half.

And then, gradually, the pain was receding. It slowly ebbed out of her and she became more conscious of where she was.

She felt the cool sensation against her face and realized Damon had pressed his forehead to hers and was draining away some of the pain. The vision blurred out of focus, but it didn't matter. She had seen what she needed to see.

Bonnie didn't realize her arms were around Damon's neck for a moment. His hands framed her face as he knelt in front of her, his thumbs gently sweeping across her cheeks. She focused on evening her breathing and slowing her pulse, taking the comfort Damon was offering her through the bond. It was like he had thrown her a lifeline and was slowly pulling her back in.

With a shuddering breath, she opened her eyes. She blinked back the residual tears of pain that lingered, momentarily stunned by how brilliantly blue his eyes were. She could feel his worry—worry for her—through their connection.

"I'm OK," she assured him after a second, her fingers smoothing across the back of his neck.

He still look unconvinced, the skin around his eyes tightening ever so slightly.

"Bonnie!" Elena's voice was shrill with panic and she was suddenly throwing herself at her best friend.

Bonnie saw Damon's jaw clench and felt what he was about to do a moment before it happened. She twisted and tried to warn her friend.

"Elena, don't!"

Just as Elena's hand closed around Bonnie's shoulder tightly, Damon's arm shot up and struck Elena in the chest, knocking her back. Elena went backwards, nearly slamming into the wall when Stefan caught her around the waist.

Stefan's eyes went wide, holding firmly to Elena as he stared down at Damon. Damon had moved in front of Bonnie, basic animal instincts kicking in to protect her. He was blocking her from both of them with his body, his jaw set and expression lethal.

Bonnie grabbed at his wrist. She had felt his protective instincts flare up when Elena moved towards them, and knew Damon was too closely linked in their bond to see that it was just Elena and not a real threat to them, to her. Damon had reacted purely out of an animalistic need to guard her.

"It's OK," she repeated softly to him, tugging at his arm. She could feel the confusion rolling in him as he struggled to control his vampire nature.

He took in a slow breath after a second, his face smoothing out. He pressed his lips together and glanced at Elena. "Sorry."

"It's … OK," she said slowly after a second, her wide-eyed gaze going to Bonnie. "Are you OK?"

Bonnie nodded slowly. The painful remnants of the vision were gone now. She started to get up, letting Damon hold her arm to steady her. When they were both on their feet, he still didn't move away from her.

"What was that?" Stefan asked softly after a moment, looking to Bonnie rather than Damon.

"A vision," she answered quietly.

Damon turned, his eyes wide. "You get those a lot?"

"Not like that one," she answered. "That one was …" She shuddered and ran a hand through her hair.

Damon stepped closer to her, barely inches away. "What did you see?"

Her green eyes came up, flashing with remembrance as she looked at him. Her lips curved into a slow, knowing smile. "I know what Katherine wants."

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, guys, but thanks so much for all the awesome reviews. This chapter was a bitch to write for some reason. I'm going on vacation the end of this week, and I'll be without internet access. I'll be taking my computer to keep writing, but I probably won't update for another 2 weeks. See you when I get back!

~Iz