Both Damon and Bonnie were pulled out of their post coital trance by a loud pounding at the front door.
Damon glanced up at the clock. 5:47. In the morning.
"Who the fuckis that?" Damon spat, his mood instantly ruined. He got up, separating himself from Bonnie, which made him all the madder. Pulling on a pair of discarded jeans from earlier, no boxers, he made his way to the door.
"Wait," Bonnie whispered, wary. "Anything at the door at this time can't be good. I'm coming with you," she said, pulling the sheet around her as she got out the bed.
"Exactly, which is why you're staying here," he said, the finality in his voice leaving little to argue about. As soon as he walked out the room, closing the door behind him, Bonnie hopped out the bed and frantically began dressing. She could hear the banging on the door getting louder and louder, and she began to worry. There was no way this could end well.
From the hallway, Damon could hear Stefan talking in hushed tones to Elena, with him exiting his room an instant later. Stay here, he threw over his shoulder, and Damon could see Elena looking out the doorway, her brown doe eyes filled with worry.
"Who could that be this time of morning?" Stefan mused as they galloped down the stairs towards the door.
"I don't know, but whoever the hell it is must have a death wish," Damon growled and, seeing the disheveled state of his brother, Stefan could guess the source of his frustrations with the interruption.
Damon made it to the door first and swung it open suddenly, the banger's arm still up in mid- knock. Prepared to rip whoever it was a new one, Damon stopped short when he saw that the person was none other than Abby Bennett.
Stefan took in her distressed expression and was the first to break the silence. "Abby, what's wrong? What are you doing here?"
"Is Bonnie here?" the former witch asked, her voice raw from what must have been crying. She pushed past the brothers, manners temporarily forgotten. "I went by the house first, but no one was home, so then I went by my mother's house, but it was empty there too, and I called her phone, but she didn't answer and now I'm worried about her too." It all came out in one, long ramble, the fear obvious in her voice.
"Maybe she didn't answer the phone because it's six o'clock in the godamn morning!" Damon spat, the irritation in his voice almost palpable.
Stefan, always the voice of reason, said "Relax, Bonnie's fine. Yes, she's here. But what do you mean you're worried about her too? Who else is in trouble?"
Abby breathed a sigh of relief at the revelation that her daughter was safe. "Bonnie's safe, good. Now I just need to fi—"
"Abby? What are you doing here?" Everyone looked up at Bonnie coming down the stairs, Elena, also fully dressed now, not far behind her.
"Bonnie, I need you. I'm sorry about the time, but I just started driving, I hadn't realized the time til I actually got here. It's Jamie, he's missing."
Bonnie's face was unreadable. "When was the last time you saw him?"
"Night before last. He said he was going to a party with friends. When he didn't show up that night, I figured he was just having a great time. But when he didn't show up all yesterday, I got worried."
"Sounds like a job for Liz, not Bonnie," Damon said flatly, handing a glass of bourbon to his brother and pouring one for himself.
"No, it has to be supernatural. He wouldn't just not come home like that."
"I agree with you that he might be in danger, but there's no guarantee that it was supernatural," Stefan conceded. "Where's his cell?"
"I don't know, it's been going straight to voicemail, so I'm assuming it's dead. Which is scarier; where would he go where he couldn't charge his phone?"
"So you want me to do a locator spell?" Bonnie said slowly. Damon could hear something… off in her voice, but he couldn't quite place it. He suddenly felt very protective of his little witch and walked over to stand next to her.
"Could you, please? I'm just so worried about him," Abby said, almost in tears. Bonnie's eyes lingered on her mother for a minute before she nodded and walked out the room. "I need a candle," she said, her voice flat. Damon followed her, confused.
"Hey," he whispered, grabbing her by the crook of her arm gently, "you okay? You seemed kind of out of it in there."
"I'm fine, just tired."
"Bonnie…" he said, the tone of his voice indicating that he knew her better than that and that he knew that she was lying.
Bonnie looked up at him, eye to eye, and he felt like he would crumble into a million pieces. There was such a sadness in her eyes that he could do nothing but pull her to him and hold her tightly, almost as if he could squeeze the pain out of her. He felt her arms wrap around him and hold him back even tighter. She didn't have to say anything for him to put two and two together that whatever it was that hurt her had something to do with Abby, and that made him angry.
"Bonnie, did you find the ca—oh," Elena said, coming into the foyer, interrupting the moment. "Sorry," she said quietly, turning back around. Bonnie untangled herself from Damon, grabbed a candle out of the draw by the closet, and followed Elena back into the living room, Damon in tow.
"Okay, let's get this over with," Bonnie mumbled, her face unable to hide her myriad emotions.
"Thank you," Abby said quietly, sensing that something had just happened, but not sure what.
Bonnie set the candle on the table, and it instantly lit. Bonnie just stared into the flame, and for a second, nothing happened.
"Don't you need something of his, or a picture or something?" Abby asked, pulling a picture of him out of her wallet. Bonnie glanced down at the picture and replied with a brisk "no." She returned her gaze to the flame for a few seconds, and then proceeded to close her eyes, but it was obvious that she was seeing something.
Abby was distraught, but she still could appreciate how vastly her daughter's powers had grown. Even her mother had needed something of the person's in every locater spell she'd seen her do, and she was the most powerful witch Abby'd ever met. But here was her daughter, not even old enough to drink, and with little to no magical guidance, doing spells with skills that rivaled Emily's. Abby felt a small sense of pride that she had bought such a beautiful, powerful creature into this world.
"I see him," Bonnie said suddenly. "He's… with a girl?" she said, sounding just as surprised as the rest of them looked.
"Who? Is he okay?" Abby asked, confused.
"I'd bet money that he was fine, seeing as to how they're making out," she said, opening her eyes and looking at the older Bennett.
"Well way to go, Jamie," Damon muttered sarcastically. "At least someone's getting laid this morning," he said, pouring himself another drink.
"I… I don't understand," Abby stuttered. "Why would he just leave without saying anything?"
"Doesn't feel very good, does it?" Bonnie said pointedly, her jade eyes boring into Abby before the flame flickered out. Bonnie turned on her heels and proceeded to throw out the now melted candle away, not bothering to spare her mother another look.
"Bonnie," Abby started, getting ready to follow her daughter.
"Don't." Damon said, his voice like steel.
Something in his voice made Abby turn around. "What do you care anyway? Last time I checked, you didn't give a damn about my daughter."
"Funny, last time I checked, you didn't give a damn about her either!" Damon snarled, the black veins around his eyes starting to show.
"Stop it, both of you," Bonnie said, coming back into the room. "It's too early for this," she noted, as the early morning sun started to shine through the windows. She turned towards her mother. "So what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know; I guess the only thing I can do is go home and hope he comes back. Than—" But Bonnie was already on her way up the stairs.
"Wrong answer." Damon said coldly as he followed his girlfriend up the stairs.
Left standing there, Elena felt awkward, like her and Stefan were intruding on something terribly private. She felt as if she should say something to fill the pregnant silence. "Um, well… uh, I'm gonna… get something to eat. Would you like something, Abby?"
"Actually, blood would real nice right about now," Abby said quietly. "With a shot of something strong," she added. Stefan smiled a little, pouring her a shot of gin.
"Here you go," Elena said, coming back balancing three glasses of blood, a feat she never would have mastered when she was human.
"Thanks," Abby muttered. After taking a sip, "Do you guys know what's wrong with Bonnie? That wasn't just early morning crankiness."
Even though she could admit that they weren't as close as they once were, Elena had known Bonnie long enough to know that it probably was Abby herself. From the look on his face, she figured Stefan had figured the same thing. Apparently, Abby had too.
"Does she really hate me that much?" she asked, almost inaudibly.
"I'm sure she doesn't hate you, she's just still… raw. A lot has happened in between, but you have to remember, it wasn't that long ago that you came back into her life."
"And left again," Elena added. She knew it was mean, but it would true. Two sets of eyes landed on her, and Elena suddenly felt like she'd crossed some line. "I'm going to check on Bonnie," she said, quickly making her way up the staircase.
Upstairs, Bonnie closed the door behind her and flopped on the bed. A second later, Damon came in and sat next to her.
"Bonnie, sweety?" he said softly, brushing her hair out of her face.
"I just want to go back to bed, Damon," she said in a low voice. "She's leaving, and… I just want to go back to bed," the witch repeated.
"Okay," was all Damon said, lightly kissing her on the cheek. He started to get up, then turned back to her. "I'm sorry about earlier. I just… I hate seeing you hurt. But that's still your mother. I'm sorry," he said again.
Bonnie turned over and looked at him. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you, not really." She took his hand and held it to her heart. "I still have you." She paused. "Don't leave, please?"
Damon didn't know if she meant 'don't leave the room,' or not to leave her at all, but it didn't matter. The look on her face made him want to die for the second time that night. "I won't," he whispered. "I promise."
Bonnie sat up and climbed into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Damon cradled her there, her face in his neck. He could feel the tears rolling down his chest, and it was then that he remembered he still had no shirt on. He held her tighter, rubbing her back, until her breathing slowed down. Damon kissed her forehead, brushing her hair behind her ears. "Shhh," he cooed in her ear. "It'll be okay, little bird. You'll always have me. Always."
"I love you, Damon" she whispered hoarsely.
"I love you too, little bird."
They lay like that for a while, until there was a quiet knock on the door. "Bonnie?" Elena whispered. "Bonnie, it's me, Elena."
Damon rolled his eyes, because obviously it was Elena. He walked to the door and opened it. "Bonnie's sleep, Elena."
"Oh, okay. Sorry. How's she doing?"
"How do you think? She's pretty messed up," he said as he closed the door behind him, stepping into the hallway with Elena. "Is Abby still here?"
"Yeah, she's downstairs talking to Stefan."
"Great," he said sarcastically, making his way down the staircase, Elena behind him.
Downstairs, Stefan was asking Abby what'd she been up to since the last time they'd seen each other, in an effort to lighten the mood.
"To be honest, I've just been trying to get a hold of this vampire thing. It's much harder than you guys make it look," she said with a small smile.
"Hey, I never said it was easy. I'm still struggling, and I've been at this much longer than you."
Damon came around the corner, making a beeline for the bar. "Dammit," he said as he poured himself a glass.
"What?" Elena asked, pouring one herself, which surprised Stefan.
"I still forgot to put a shirt on." He smirked, "not that I'm not aware how much you're all enjoying the sight."
Stefan rolled his eyes. "Yes, my bare-chested brother is the highlight of my days," he said flatly.
Elena laughed. "Yeah, you have exactly one fan in this house, and it isn't anyone in this room," she said as she strode over towards her boyfriend.
"Wait, what?" Abby asked. Turning to Damon, "you and… Bonnie?"
Elena's eyes dilated to the size of saucers. "Oops…" she said softly, looking at Damon. The whole room grew still.
Damon paused. "Oh yeah, I forgot that you were late to this party," he said, quickly regaining his bravado. "Yeah, me and Bonnie."
"Since when?" Abby asked, obviously shocked.
Damon thought about it. "About… a year and a half now? Wow, time flies," he said, more to himself than Abby, turning to pour himself another drink.
"…how? I thought you two hated each other?"
"Things change, Abby," was all Damon said as he strode back up the stairs.
Abby looked absolutely dumbfounded as she looked at Stefan and Elena. "I… I have to go," she said absentmindedly as she picked up her coat and headed towards the door.
"Do me a favor and call Bonnie later?" Stefan said as he walked her to the door.
Abby furrowed her brows in confusion. "Why? I think I'd be the last person she'd want to talk to right now."
"You'd be surprised. Plus, I'm sure you and her have a lot to talk about now." Stefan took a step closer to her. "And I have it on good authority that she misses her mother," he said quietly.
Abby looked at him for a moment. "Thanks," she said as she put her coat on and gave Elena a small wave before she turned and walked out the door.
Stefan closed the door and turned around, leading Elena up the stairs towards their room. "That was nice of you," Elena mentioned as they ascended the stairs.
"Well, I figure someone has to be on her side."
Elena smiled up at her boyfriend, the most selfless guy she knew. As they passed Bonnie and Damon's room, Stefan said Goodnight, brother, knowing that he could hear. Right before they closed their door, Elena thought she'd heard the faintest Goodnight, confirmed a moment later by Stefan's small smile.