I do not own anything in regards to the Vampire Diaries
Caroline was going through a mild case of withdrawals. She wasn't actually jonesing for a hit or anything; she just needed something to take the edge off. Felix didn't have anything on him so Caroline slipped into Antonia's master bedroom figuring a woman her age had to have some kind of pain pills in her medicine cabinet. And she was right, but it wasn't Antonia's medication that she found, Caroline found some of Benito's old morphine pills that Antonia had yet to get rid of after he died of cancer. Caroline had hit the fucking jackpot, taking five tablets and putting them in her pocket. Caroline went back to her room and cut the tablets in half because she wasn't stupid; she knew that these were powerful ass pills, and she wasn't looking to overdose or kill herself; she just wanted a nice high.
Caroline took a page from Felix's book and kept to her room while she rode that sweet high. She lay on her bed, smiling like an idiot and moving her head to the beat of Rihanna's "We Found Love" that played in the background. She came downstairs a couple of hours later, her high having leveled off. She made her way to the kitchen in search of something to munch on, but changed her mind when she heard Damon and Bonnie in there fooling around. Instead, Caroline went outside to get some fresh air and realized that she'd completely missed the football game, oh well. Caroline walked around the property, wishing that she could live in a house just like this. She stopped in her tracks when a shirtless Dean caught her eye, going into the garage. Caroline's heart started to pound, here was her chance; it was now or never. Caroline tossed her hair to the side and licked her lips and walked in the direction of the garage.
Dean was bent over under the hood of his Impala, working on the engine. Caroline walked up and sat on the hood of Bonnie's car which was parked next to Dean's. "Hi." She said, smiling brightly.
Dean shifted his position to see who it was that was speaking to him. When he saw that it was that Caroline girl, Bonnie's best friend, he went back under the hood of his car totally disregarding her.
Caroline's smile fell. She looked away for a moment before deciding to shake it off. She turned back to his bent over figure, checking out his butt and flipped her hair over her shoulder and did what she did best, talk.
"I just had to get out of that house. Bonnie and Damon are so nauseating to be around. It's like every five minutes he's either shoving his tongue down her throat or backing her up against some wall like he's about to fuck her…I mean dude, come on we can see you…but does he care, hell no…he doesn't give a fuck that me and Felix are right there in the room with them…he's such an asshole…but he doesn't do that shit in front of his mother…when Antonia is around Damon only gives Bonnie little chaste kisses to the forehead or her hand like he's a fucking gentleman or something. Please. I mean get real...he's such a dick. I can't stand him." She said, shaking her head in disgust.
Caroline was so busy running her mouth that she didn't even notice that Dean had stopped working on his car. He straightened up, putting down the hood. "Why are you here?" he deadpanned.
Caroline's eyes widen, caught off guard by his bluntness. "I-I wanted to get some fresh air." Caroline was kicking herself on the inside. Why the hell did she just say that?
Dean wiped his hands with a dirty rag. "So you come into a garage to get some fresh air?"
Shit. What to say? What to say? "No, I meant I came outside to get some fresh air and then I saw you come in here and I thought you might want some company." Yes! Caroline thought.
Dean threw the dirty rag onto a work bench. "You thought wrong…I don't do company."
Caroline swallowed. She lowered her eyes. But then she thought of something. "But when Bonnie got out of the hospital she said that she used to come out here and hang out and talk to you when no one was home…so that's keeping company." Caroline said boldly, calling him out.
Dean remembered those first few weeks following Bonnie's amnesia and how she'd come out to the garage to get away from Damon after they would get into an argument. He could tell how scared and alone she felt. Sometimes she wouldn't even talk, she'd just stand to the side and watch him work on a car. Bonnie would only talk when she had something to say otherwise she remained silent and he liked that. Once he asked her why she came out to the garage and she said, "In here, there's no pressure… there's no burden to try to be someone I no longer am…I can just be." Dean would never forget that moment. For the first time in a long time Dean felt a connection to another person. And after that he would look forward to her little visits and feel a sense of calmness come over him after she'd leave whether they talked or not. It was her presence alone that soothed him.
Damon went to the sink to wash the grim off his hands. "Bonnie lives here…she's Damon's wife…so I can't exactly tell her to get the fuck out, now can I…but you on the other hand…" he trailed off.
Caroline jumped off the hood of Bonnie's car. "What is your problem? All I'm trying to do is talk to you and you're acting so cold and standoffish. Did I somehow offend you…why don't you like me?" she asked pointedly.
Dean dried his now clean hands and slipped on his shirt. "Look, I have work to do, so go keep company with someone else...I'm busy." He told her.
Caroline couldn't believe it. No guy had ever told her to get lost…and in so many words that's exactly what Dean was telling her to do. Caroline would not accept this. So she seductively walked up to Dean, standing in front of him. She trailed her finger down the center of his shirt. "We don't have to talk Dean… there are many ways to keep company." Caroline said, sliding down to her knees.
Dean grabbed her roughly by the arms, pulling her up. Caroline whimpered. His icy green eyes glinted dangerously and Caroline experienced cold hard terror for the first time in her life. "LEAVE, NOW." He seethed, letting her go.
Caroline staggered back, her body trembling. Dean turned his back on her, but not before Caroline saw the disgust on his face. Tears slipped from her eyes as she ran out of the garage.
Bonnie walked out of the kitchen trying to suppress her giggles as Antonia got on Damon about eating the pumpkin tarts. Bonnie made her way down the hall intending to chill out in the library and read a good book when Caroline came through the front door crying.
The argument they'd had just that morning was forgotten as Bonnie ran to Caroline, hugging her. "Oh god, what's wrong...what happened Care?"
Caroline held on tightly to Bonnie, crying into her hair.
Bonnie rubbed her back. "Caroline, you're starting to scare me…please talk to me…what happened?"
Caroline pulled back, trying to form the words to tell Bonnie how humiliated she felt when Damon walked up to them. Caroline's entire body tensed and she looked angrily at Bonnie. "Like you really care." She bit out, running up the stairs.
Bonnie felt like she'd been slapped.
Damon's eyes followed Caroline as she ran up the stairs. "What the hell is going on now?" he inquired.
Bonnie shook her head, speechless. "I-I don't know…she won't talk to me."
Damon pulled her into his arms, but Bonnie didn't want to be held. "No, I have to go see what's wrong with her." She said, pulling away.
Damon held on to her arm, stopping her. "Look Bonnie, leave her alone and let her cool off…she'll come talk to you when she's ready."
Bonnie tried to pull free, but he only held on to her arm tighter. "Damon, not everyone is like you…some people don't like to be left alone when they're upset…now please let go of me."
Damon let her go and Bonnie went after Caroline.
When Bonnie got to Caroline's room the door was wide open. She walked in to see Caroline packing her things. "W-What are you doing?" Bonnie asked, coming up beside Caroline.
Caroline sniffed. "What does it look like, I'm packing." She said, folding up her clothes and putting them in her bag.
"But why?" Bonnie asked, confused.
Caroline went to the closet, grabbing more clothes. "Because it's time for me to go…I told you that I only needed to stay a few days until everything cooled off with my mother."
Bonnie grabbed the clothes out of Caroline's hands and threw them on the bed. "Bullshit! Tyler told me what happened…I know that your mom kicked you out!"
Caroline swore. She was going to kill Tyler. "Tyler had no right to tell you that."
"You're right because you should have told me! I'm your best friend and you couldn't even come talk to me and tell me what's going on!"
Caroline got angry. "How am I supposed to tell you anything when you got your head stuck up Damon's ass 24/7?"
"That is not fair Caroline and you know it. I have always been there for you when you've needed me!" Bonnie said, heatedly.
Caroline scoffed. "Not lately you haven't Bonnie…I've been on my fucking on!"
"Caroline, you have no idea of the things I'm going through…everything is so different now…I…"
Caroline cut her off. "The things you are going through! Are you fucking kidding me? You live like a fucking princess! What the fuck could you possibly be going through that's so bad?" she shouted.
Bonnie backed off, shaking her head. "I'm not going to do this with you Caroline. If you want to leave then I can't stop you. Do you need any money?"
Caroline snorted digustedly. "I don't want his fucking money Bonnie…I'd rather starve than take his money."
Bonnie stiffened. "Where are you going to go?"
Caroline shrugged. "Somebody will let me crash on their couch."
Bonnie turned her head away. "You don't have to go Caroline. I can talk to Damon."
Caroline shook her head vehemently. "No, it's time for me to go." She said, putting on her jacket.
Tears slipped from Bonnie's eyes. "Why do I feel like I've lost you?"
Caroline hugged her, squeezing her tightly. "You haven't lost me Bonnie…you're my sister…I love you, I just can't stay here that's all." She said, pulling back.
Bonnie wiped away her tears. "Stay here and don't move...I'll be right back."
Caroline nodded her head.
Bonnie left the room and came back in less than two minutes. "Here, I want you to have these." She said, handing Caroline the cute, gold hoop earrings and bracelet that she had admired a couple of days ago. "You know that I don't really wear jewelry and I thought these looked really great on you when you had them on…so I want you to have them."
Caroline hugged Bonnie tightly to her. This was just like Bonnie, to do something so sweet and unselfish for her when Caroline knew that she didn't deserve it. But in that moment Caroline didn't know just how sweet Bonnie really was to her. No, she wouldn't find that out until later on that night when she would stuff her car keys into her jacket and find five hundred dollars in the pocket.
"I love you." They both said at the same time.
That night, Bonnie sat in the garden by herself. She didn't know why she felt so lonely, but she did, having Caroline there had brought a sense of home and normalcy to Bonnie. Bonnie wiped away the tears from her eyes.
Damon squatted down in front of her chair, rubbing her leg. "Hey now…stop all that crying…Caroline is going to be fine." He said, reassuringly.
Bonnie didn't say anything, wiping her nose, wishing that she had some tissue. Damon handed her a handkerchief and she smiled sadly, lightly blowing her nose.
Bonnie's heart felt so heavy and troubled because there seemed to be a recurring theme in her life of people leaving her. Fresh tears spilled down her face. "Why does everyone I love leave me?" she said, brokenly.
Damon caressed her cheek, wiping away her tears with the pad of his thumb. "Hey, hey, hey…Caroline is still in your life Bonnie…she hasn't left you."
Bonnie shook her head sadly. "You're wrong Damon, you didn't see it…you weren't there. Caroline is so jealous of my life here that she started to pull away from me. I lost her the moment she stepped foot inside of this house. She thinks I live like some princess in a castle…you believe that? She said, snorting bitterly. "If only she knew, right?" Bonnie said, shaking her head.
Damon leaned forward, kissing her face. He hated to see her hurting like this.
Bonnie released a heavy breath. "You know what's funny, if I told her the truth all of her jealousy would disappear and our friendship would go back to normal, but I know I can't do that without risking her life in some way. I love Caroline, but she has a big mouth…it's better that she doesn't know so telling her isn't even an option. It's like a catch 22 because either way I lose her."
Damon didn't know what to say. What could he say?
It had turned chilly outside. Damon touched Bonnie's hands and just as he suspected, they were cold. "Come on, let's go inside."
"In a minute, okay…you go on ahead… I'll come inside in a little bit."
Bonnie could see that Damon was about to protest so she leaned forward, kissing his mouth greedily. She pulled back and rested her forehead against his. "Damon please."
Damon exhaled slowly, giving in. "Okay." He stood up. "But I'll only give you five minutes and then I'm coming back out to get you." He said, kissing the top of her head, leaving her alone.
Bonnie had been sitting for a while and the chair started to become uncomfortable to sit in, so she got up and walked around the garden. She went down the little path that led to the gazebo and stopped when she saw Dean standing inside. She turned back around.
"Bonnie, you're that afraid of me now…that you can't even be alone with me anymore?" he called out to her.
Bonnie stopped. And Dean thought that she was going to turn around, but she didn't and continued to walk away from him.
Dean grabbed her by the arm, swinging her around to face him and Bonnie gasped. "What are you doing?" she said, startled because she didn't hear him come up behind her.
Dean had been drinking…a lot. "I asked you a question?"
Bonnie tried to jerk free. "Hey…let go of me."
Dean ignored her. "Why are you so afraid of me…I'm the same person I was when you used to come visit me in the garage…I'm the same person Bonnie." He said lowly.
"No you're not. I didn't know who you were…I didn't know you killed people for a living…now let go of me." She said, trying to pull away.
Dean held on tighter to her, not realizing that he was hurting her. Bonnie winced. "Dean, you're hurting me, let me go."
Dean immediately let her go. Bonnie stepped back, rubbing her arm.
"I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean to grab you like that…I would never hurt you Bonnie, never…so don't be afraid of me…you're the only person that I don't want to fear me." He said, softly touching her cheek.
Bonnie gasped, turning her face away. "Don't touch me like that."
Her words stung. Dean took a swig from his bottle of bourbon. And Bonnie realized for the first time that he'd been drinking.
"You let him touch you like that. I watched you two today. Damon acts like he owns you. Does he Bonnie… own you?" he asked, bitterly.
Bonnie's eyes widen. She stepped away from him, backing up. "You've been drinking so I'm going to blame your behavior on the alcohol and forget that this ever happened."
Dean smiled ruefully. "Feigning amnesia Bonnie? You of all people should know that forgetting something doesn't make it go away.
