Chapter Twenty-Three
"But if you admit that you loved him, Bonnie, I promise it will be like a weight lifting from your chest."
Okay, so nothing changing had turned about to be a lie. Bonnie had kissed him for a second time against her better judgement, and now she was debating on whether or not to avoid him again.
Damon wouldn't allow it for long, not while there was a situation to be dealt with. He had latched himself onto her problems and she didn't doubt his intention to see this through. His goal, after all, was apparently to see her happy.
The thought of his words licked at her stomach and her mind wandered back to the memory of kissing him.
She bit her lip.
Bonnie could hardly focus on the spell in front of her because of the strange twinge in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought about Damon. She knew what it was, and it was embarrassing to admit. She hadn't been intimate with anyone for over six months, and now she was craving that closeness and the satisfaction that came with sex. The kisses they shared were laden with the promise of pleasure and gratification, and she couldn't get it out of her head. She was technically thirty years old for Christ's sake, and here she was obsessing over a kiss. It was irritating, and she was irrationally irritated with him for her obsessive thinking, but she was at fault too because she allowed it to happen twice now.
There was no excuse. At some point, she decided that she no longer cared about the consequences, and she no longer cared to wallow in her negative feelings toward Damon. Slowly, she was letting go of it. It helped her to feel lighter amongst the weight of all the other negative emotions she was keeping bottled up. However, there was still a desire to steer clear of him. She didn't like the way he was breaking her walls down, wiggling his way back into her heart, and dredging up feelings she had once acknowledged and buried.
Still, it would take longer to trust him enough to call him friend again. There was no forgetting the pain of his abandonment, yet somewhere deep inside her, against her will, she was beginning to. It was hard to ignore all that he was doing, and his steadfast devotion to making things right with her no matter what.
A few days ago after the first time she kissed Damon, Bonnie had confided in Rebekah:
The original vampire waltzed into Bonnie's kitchen and sat beside her at the kitchen table.
"I'm glad you haven't decided to suddenly pack your bags and go on the run again."
"Yeah…" Bonnie said, knowing she still had a bag packed and sitting underneath her bed just in case.
Rebekah changed topics. "Will you come to the memorial Marcel is organizing?"
"I don't think I'm going to." Ever since this hunter thing had started, Bonnie had been to one too many of those.
She pinned Bonnie with a worried glare. "Please don't become a shut in. You don't even know if she's found you for certain."
"I don't want to take any risks Beks."
Her gaze softened, and Rebekah grabbed her hand. "I know I've said this a million times, but-"
Bonnie smiled. "If I need anything I only have to ask. I know."
A second passed where Rebekah seemed to wait for her to ask for something.
Bonnie had called her up somewhat out of the blue asking her to come over whenever she was free, so Rebekah was probably thinking she needed something with regards to Vanessa, but Bonnie had called her for an entirely different reason. "So why have you summoned me?" Rebekah let go of her hand and sat back in the seat.
"'Summon' is a bit much."
She fingered a blonde curl, examining Bonnie's demeanor. "Does this have something to do with a certain vampire stalker of yours?"
Bonnie chewed on her lip, and at the look on her face, Rebekah's eyes widened. A grin spread across her face. "Finally. It took you long enough. How was it?"
"I didn't do what you think I did with him."
She lost some of the excitement in her expression. "Oh."
"I kissed him, well, made out with him really."
She raised her eyebrows. "And was it good?"
"It was…fine."
"You're going to have to lie better than that."
"Okay, it was better than good."
"And?"
"And I can't stop thinking about it. It's distracting me from things I should be worrying about."
"You know what would probably help with that?"
"What?"
"Having sex with him."
Bonnie blew out an exasperated breath. "I don't know why I expected you to say something else."
"What did you want me to say? And what's the issue Bon? Is it guilt? Please don't tell me it's guilt."
"He told me they're on a break now," Bonnie said, neither confirming nor denying that it was guilt.
"Since he came to New Orleans, it was only a matter of time. You really are his new obsession, and the doppelganger has practically become a non-factor at this point."
Bonnie wasn't sure about that, nor was she sure about Elena not mattering in the grand scheme of things. "Damon said they were on a break, not broken up."
"Oh please, a break is merely a break up for people who aren't ready to let go of each other. That being said, they are officially not together, so taking advantage of that fact is not a crime. You should do as you please when it comes to him, though I've always thought that regardless of his relationship status."
"A break also means there's a chance that he might run back to her though." Bonnie responded.
"Sure, but I doubt very much that he would go back to her. Him practically breaking up with her in order to be here for you means that you've become a priority over the person he's 'supposed' to love the most. Let that sink in Bon."
She let it sink in, and she still wasn't ready to accept what it might mean because she didn't think it was possible.
Her grin widened. "And now that you've fanned the flames, I guarantee he won't be able to resist you."
Rebekah had been smirking the whole time, an "I told you so" on the cusp of her lips. A long time ago she had predicted that if, for some reason, Damon did wake up, he would eventually realize that he was wasted on Elena. Things weren't exactly the way Rebekah had predicted, but Damon was drifting further and further away from her and towards Bonnie.
The message Elena had left her before Damon had dropped by was scathing and a clear indication of how far their friendship had fallen. She had blamed Bonnie for the downfall of her relationship, and basically said that Damon would only ever truly love her. The thing was, Bonnie couldn't bring herself to care. She had bigger problems to worry about than petty boyfriend drama.
When or if Elena found out about what she did to her brother, Bonnie was certain she would receive another phone call. It had been easier to torture him than she expected it to be, but ever since her hunter days, it had been easy to switch off the part of her that cared about the other person. She just hadn't expected to be able to do so for someone who she had once been so close to. Thinking about the threat he posed, however, had made it easy enough. She would do anything to protect what she had here, especially after all that had been done for her.
It scared her though. The Bonnie from ten years ago would hate what she had become and that she had become capable of such a thing. But she was able to compartmentalize the guilt and let it go so long as she believed her actions were worth it.
Her phone began to buzz on the couch beside her. She looked over and saw Damon's name as she picked it up and answered the phone.
"Hey, I'm coming over." His voice came low through the phone and her insides twisted at the tone.
"Is it related to Vanessa?"
"Yeah."
Bonnie looked over behind her at the island in her kitchen, biting her lips. It was probably a bad idea to let him back in here, and yet…
"Alright," she said.
Not two minutes later, Damon was outside knocking. Bonnie looked down at herself. It was late morning, and she was in a long oversized grey sweatshirt with a pair of leggings on with her hair up in a messy bun.
Before she answered the door, she stopped to check herself in a mirror on the wall, pushing some strands behind her ears. Her fingers slowed as she realized it was probably better if she looked a mess even if she was inclined to make herself presentable before he came.
When she turned the knob and pulled, he stood in front of her, staring at her. She tensed under his gaze, her fingers tightening on the doorknob as she shifted her weight. The corner of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. "Are you going to let me in?"
She moved to the side and he walked past her. Locking the door behind him, Bonnie trailed after him into the living room where he took a seat on the couch. She sat beside him, tucking her bare feet under her. "So what is it?" She asked.
"Do you know the St. James Infirmary Jazz Club?"
"I've been there a few times, why?"
"I was having a drink there with Eric yesterday-"
That was unexpected. "Look at you making friends," Bonnie ribbed before she could stop herself.
His eyebrows went up at that. "We're not friends. He insisted on buying me a drink because I saved his life even though he helped save mine."
"Sounds like the beginning of a friendship to me," Bonnie said, knowing it would annoy him.
"Anyway," Damon pulled her back to the topic at hand. "Eric was telling me about the history of the place which he heard from Josh. Apparently it used to be a safehouse for the Mikaelson kid from her crazy Aunt Dahlia."
"I heard about the thing with Dahlia from Freya. What are you getting at?" She asked just as the lightbulb went off in her head. "Wait, are you talking about the spell used to block witches form using their power."
"If you can trap her with that-"
Bonnie shook her head. "Dahlia was able to break that spell, and if Dahlia was able to break it, then Vanessa will definitely be able to break it."
"Can't you make it stronger somehow?"
"Maybe, but I would need to look at the spell first and the person who cast that spell was Josephine LaRue, the former leader of the Garden District coven and Amy LaRue's cousin. She's the one who has the grimoire and she's not likely to help without wanting an explanation, and I'm not willing to give her one." If Bonnie told Amy what was going on, she would have to tell her about Vanessa and she would most assuredly blame Bonnie for everything that was happening, then probably rally more witches against her. She could always come up with a lie, but Bonnie would rather avoid dealing with her altogether.
"Then steal it. Shouldn't that be a piece of cake for you?"
"I don't know where it is," Bonnie said.
"You don't know anyone who does?"
She sighed, remembering a certain recently turned vampire who used to be a member of Amy's coven. "Brendan might know."
Damon's mouth turned downwards. "You mean the guy who's been trying to get into your pants."
"You sound a little upset about that."
"He's beneath you and not worth your time."
"And you are?"
"I never said that, but in comparison, you have to admit that I'm far more attractive."
"Hmm."
He grinned. "That's not a denial," he said in a sing-song voice.
Bonnie ignored him, reaching for her phone sitting on the coffee table in front of them. She dialed up Brendan who answered after the second ring. "Hey, are you busy right now?" Bonnie asked lightly.
"Not particularly, why? What's up?"
"Can you meet me at the coffee shop on Iberville St.? I need to ask you about something." The coffee shop was less than three minutes from her apartment. Bonnie was not trying to go too far.
"Yeah, I can be there in forty-five."
"Great." Bonnie hung up.
Damon looked a little miffed. "You couldn't just ask him over the phone?"
She gave him a look. "You should know that it's easier to pressure people for information in person."
Bonnie stood up and disappeared down the hallway to her bedroom.
Damon was still there when she came out a half hour later. He had made himself comfortable sprawled across her couch with a grimoire open in front of him. Bonnie folded her arms across her chest when he finally looked up at her.
She wore a tight black skirt with a grey t-shirt and a long black cardigan on top. His eyes lingered on her skin appreciatively as he closed the grimoire and stood as if he was going to go with her. "Ready to go?" He approached her.
"You're not coming with me." He stood too close as usual, and as usual Bonnie didn't move away.
"Why not?"
"Because you clearly don't like Brendan."
"What even is there to like? He's a lost puppy licking at the heels of a lioness." His gaze swept down her body again.
"And what does that make you?"
"I'm certainly no puppy."
Bonnie arched her brows. "But you're still licking at my heels all the same," she shot back. Though he was definitely more like a predator with the way he was looking at her, a wolf if they were keeping with the dog metaphor.
"I'm trying to protect you. There's a difference. But let's not pretend you don't like the control you have over me so long as I would do anything to make up for past mistakes."
"Anything?" This was the first she was hearing of that, but she didn't doubt it was true. Her mind unfortunately went straight the gutter though, and Damon's train of thought seemed to follow hers if the way his look became heated was any indication.
"Anything," he confirmed, his voice lowering.
"Hmm," she hummed, breaking his gaze.
He glanced over at the door. "Should we go then? I promise I'll behave."
He started to move past Bonnie towards the entrance behind her, but she put a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. She didn't believe that he would behave for a second. "If you'll do anything for me, then you'll stay here." Their faces were too close for comfort, and Bonnie glanced down at his lips. Underneath her hand, she could feel the slow thump of his heart.
After a moment, he gave in. "Fine," he moved to sit back down on the couch, "but don't take too long."
The walk to the café was a short one, and when Bonnie walked in she approached Brendan who was sitting in a corner with a cup of coffee in front of him. He stood up when he saw her, a smile spreading across his face, revealing a set of dimples on either side of his cheeks. She greeted him and gave him a hug before they both took a seat across from one another.
"As much as I'd love to think this was a date, you sounded like this was something serious over the phone."
"It is and I won't beat around the bush about it. I need a spell from one of Josephine LaRue's grimoires, and I need to know where they're kept."
He leaned back in his seat, surprised. "Are you planning on stealing it?"
"I'm only looking for a particular spell, so no I don't plan on stealing the whole thing."
"What's the spell for?"
"A personal matter." She kept the details to herself. "So, do you know where Amy keeps her grimoires?"
He grinned. "If I tell you, what's in this for me?"
Bonnie sighed. "What do you want?"
"A real date."
"Brendan…"
"If you're not interested Bonnie, then just say so."
"If you're looking for a relationship beyond friends from me, I can't give it to you."
"Because of that guy?"
"Things are complicated with him, but he isn't the only reason."
"But he is a reason?"
"I would be lying to you if I said he wasn't."
Brendan tilted his head in thought. "Hm, he doesn't seem like your type, but then again you and Klaus used to date."
She frowned, her eyes narrowing. With that, he was venturing over onto her bad side. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Ah," at her tone, he seemed to regret his last statement. "Only that they give off similar vibes."
"Those two are completely different, and Klaus and I didn't really date, but that's none of your business." The whole thing with Klaus was more of a frenemies with benefits situation which was completely beside the point. "Are you going to help me out or not?"
He stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. "She keeps her grimoires in a chest in a basement of her house."
Bonnie nodded. "Thank you. You've saved me some time. I owe you one."
"It's fine Bonnie, I just hope you know what you're doing."
When anyone walked into Bonnie's apartment, they could immediately see Bonnie's living room from the short hallway connected to the door. Her sofa faced the wall to the left where a television sat on a stand and a matching lounge chair was beside the sofa. In the lounge chair was where Damon waited for her while holding a certain leather jacket she had stashed in the back of her closet a long time ago.
"Look what I happened to find."
"You went rummaging through my stuff?"
"I was merely exploring your apartment and happened to see this in the back of your open walk-in. And does it even count as rummaging through your things if I find something that's mine?"
"It does."
"So what are you doing with my jacket?"
She looked away from him. Five years ago, Stefan had thrown Caroline a birthday party at the boarding house. At the party, Bonnie had gotten drunk and wandered into Damon's room against her better judgement. She ended up in his closet and came across his favorite leather jacket. She had remembered a time when he let her wear it, and after thinking about the memory, she got upset with herself for reminiscing about him. Deciding to be petty, she took the jacket with the thought that he could just replace it when he woke up anyway.
"If you want it back, you can have it."
"No. You can keep it since you missed me so much."
"I didn't miss you that much."
"Sure, you keep telling yourself that." He smirked. "So how was the date?"
"It went fine. Josephine's grimoires are apparently in the basement of Amy's house."
"Does this mean we're doing a break-in?"
Bonnie nodded. "Yes it does, and I need you to be lookout."
Damon grinned. "When do we leave?"
Amy's house was old with an expansive garden in the back. A car was parked out front in the short driveway, but inside, Bonnie didn't hear movement. She confirmed with Damon that there was likely no one inside, then they approached the wooden gate in the fence surrounding the backyard.
Making sure no one was watching, they broke the lock and entered into the yard, winding their way through an overflowing garden of herbs and flowers to a cellar door that led to the basement. After becoming a vampire-witch, Bonnie had once been invited to a party inside, so she had the necessary invitation to enter the home. Damon, however, did not.
After breaking the lock on the cellar, Bonnie went inside, leaving Damon behind to warn her if he heard someone coming. The basement was dusty from lack of use, but Bonnie quickly found the chest in question and a few LaRue family grimoires inside. She looked through the one that was obviously Josephine's first and after a long five minutes, she found the spell she was looking for and carefully ripped the pages out of the grimoire.
Standing up, she returned everything to the way it was before walking back up the steps through the cellar door.
"Took you long enough," Damon said.
"Let's go." Bonnie fixed the locks that were broken with a spell, then they left, leaving no trace of their intrusion.
"Well, that was easier than expected."
Back at Bonnie's apartment, she read over the spell twice. Damon was fixing them both some warm blood and walked over to where she sat on the couch again.
"It might need some altering, but I could bind it to the moon to make it stronger although the spell would only work at night," Bonnie was saying. "Then there's the question of where to set it up as a trap and how to get her inside of it without her realizing beforehand. And with a spell this powerful, she might sense the magic, but if I had a way to activate it once she was inside the chosen place, it might work," she rambled.
Damon brought Bonnie her mug of blood. She grabbed it from his hand without looking at him, taking a drink.
He sat beside her, drinking from his own mug before placing it between two grimoires on the coffee table and leaning back with an arm spread over the back of the couch.
"But there's still a chance it won't."
"You won't know if you don't try, but if you need contingencies why not just throw everything you can at her at once."
"That's... actually a good idea. If I could use multiple spells on her at once, this might work. But if I enter the space, I won't have my magic either, though I will still be a vampire. Using the rope is also a possible back-up plan in case the spell isn't strong enough. In any case," she picked up her phone off the table and began to type into it, "I need you to run out and get some of these herbs so I can start preparing the spell." Since he said he said he would do anything for her, Bonnie thought it was time to take advantage of that.
She sent him her list via text message, and he opened his phone to look at it.
"Really? He complained.
"You said you would do anything to help, didn't you?" She couldn't stop the small smirk rising on her lips.
"I'm starting to regret saying that," he grumbled, standing. "Where am I supposed to get this stuff from?"
Bonnie explained where the closest apothecary was and Damon left to go fill her order. She grabbed the pages of the grimoire and set to work on writing down her alterations to the spell, along with looking over some other potential spells.
The night before, Bonnie hadn't slept again, meaning she had been up for more than twenty-four hours at this point. It was easy for her to disregard any hint of exhaustion as a vampire, but she needed to keep her strength up. So after about thirty minutes, Bonnie decided to take a quick nap before Damon returned. Grabbing one of the couch pillows, she laid back onto the arm rest and quickly fell asleep.
Lately, Bonnie hadn't had many dreams. She still had a ring on for protection from nightmares, but unexpectedly, she found herself in the midst of one, and of course it was all about Damon.
Her vision was dark, but she could feel his breath tickling her ear. "Bonnie," he said, and the need in his voice made her tremble. She opened her eyes, meeting his, the heady look in them making her bite her lip. He was close, and she slowly became aware of his touch, of his strong arms wrapped around her waist, holding her to him.
Leaning forward, his nose brushed against her neck, tingles running through her nerves as he planted a soft kiss against her pulse.
"What do I have to do?" His voice licked along her skin.
"Hmm?" Distracted, she adjusted her head, giving him more purchase along her neck.
"What do I have to do to make you forgive me?" His lips found her pulse again with a lingering kiss.
"Damon," Bonnie sighed, her hands sliding up his arms to come around his neck. "We've already talked about this. I can't."
He raised his head to her ear, his cheek resting against hers. "But I'm sorry," he breathed against the shell of her ear, planting another kiss just below it.
"Actions speak louder than words"
"They do, don't they." He leaned back a little and nipped at her jaw.
The look in his eyes was determined, but offset by the way his mouth tipped up at the corner. His hands lowered to her hips, then he began to lower himself. Her hands loosed from around his neck, resting on his shoulder as he ended up on his knees before her.
Looking down upon him, he leaned his chin against her thigh, looking up at her with his best puppy dog eyes. "Forgive me?" His palms moved lower on her thighs, electricity from his touch running straight between her legs.
"What are you doing?" His fingers were quick in unbuttoning her pants. Slowly, he eased them down her waist.
His focus turned to getting her jeans off, the thumbs over the waistline on both sides and brushing against her bare thighs on the way down. Anticipation heightened as she watched him, stepping out of the jeans once they were at her ankles, and then they were gone. Damon took in the sight of her black lace underwear, and the dark spot in the center of them. He smirked.
"I'm doing what I should've done the moment I came here." He glanced up at her while lifting her left leg off the ground and placing it on his shoulder. His fingers dug into the thigh on his shoulder as she placed a hand on the wall behind her for balance. He leaned in close, her body drawn tight as she waited for him to move.
"Consider this me groveling." His blue eyes darkened, and her stomach clenched.
In one motion, he tore her panties off and buried his face between her legs, his skilled tongue swirling between her folds. Bonnie's head fell back and she bit her lip as she tried not to moan too loudly, but it was too hard not to, and she found herself opening her mouth to cry out his name.
The moment she did, the dream was lost and her eyes opened to the sound of her door closing. Disoriented and beyond turned on from her dream, Bonnie shifted her legs together to sit up and found her underwear soaked through. She rushed into her bedroom before Damon could see or smell how turned on she was, leaving him to walk into her empty living room.
"Where do you want this stuff?" Damon called out.
"Just put it beside the coffee table."
Bonnie quickly erased all evidence of her dream, changed her underwear, and smoothed her hair down, taking it out of the mussed ponytail it had been in and re-doing it.
When she walked back out into the living room, cool as a cucumber, Damon was sitting on her couch in his usual spot. She pushed the memory of the dream out of her mind, refusing to dwell on it. But when their eyes crossed paths, she felt herself start to heat up. Bonnie clamped down on her rising emotions and cursed herself for having a dream like that. His eyes followed her across the room, aware of her every move as she walked over to the bag he brought in and inspected the contents.
Bonnie started pulling them out and organizing them on the floor. She was in the middle of pulling out the witch hazel when her phone rang. It was on the end table beside the couch and closer to Damon than it was to her so he picked it up, intending to hand it to her until he saw who it was and decided to answer instead.
"Bonnie's phone, she's too busy to talk right now, so don't leave a-"
"Damon, put Bonnie on." Rebekah's annoyed voice filtered through, and Bonnie reached over to snatch the phone from him.
"Hey." She stood up, walking a little ways away from Damon and partially into the kitchen.
"Are you still not coming to the memorial tonight?"
"I didn't plan on it."
"You should take a break, and it would be good for people to see you there."
Bonnie shook her head."Now that I know Vanessa is working with the hunters, I would much rather focus on making preparations for her."
"I understand. He'll be disappointed you didn't come though."
"Give Marcel my apologies." In his seat on the couch, she could see Damon's mouth twitch downward in her peripheral.
"I will. And call me if anything comes up."
"Okay."
They both hung up.
A second passed.
"'Give Marcel my apologies'" Damon mocked in a high voice as he got up from the couch. "You've been here so long you're starting to sound like them."
Bonnie frowned. "You can leave, you know."
"I could, but I'm not going to." He walked over to her liquor cabinet beside her. Opening it, he browsed through her selection. She really only kept her favorites, a few champagnes, wines, tequila, and a few different bourbons. She watched as he pulled out the priciest bottle in there.
"You have expensive tastes I see," he said, pulling out the Pappy Van Winkle.
"That was actually a gift from Klaus." She side-eyed his reaction, watching as he paused for a second, a hint of a frown on his face.
"For a drink preference that I cultivated."
She leaned against the side of her counter. "Is that what you were doing when you turned me into your drinking buddy? Cultivating my preferences?"
"Among other things." He put the bottle back, grabbing the Black Maple instead.
"Other things being?"
He walked over to the cabinet full of drinking glasses and pulled out two, pouring their glasses straight. "I may have also been softening you up to me." He handed her the glass.
"Is that what you're doing now?" She looked at him over the rim as she drank, well aware that she was treading a line into flirtation. The brown liquor went down smooth.
He smirked. "Who says I haven't already done it?"
The confidence in his expression was irking. He was becoming too comfortable around her. "Don't be so sure. I could just be using you, taking advantage of the control that I supposedly have over you since you want so badly to be forgiven."
He leaned forward, placing his glass on the counter. "I don't think you are."
As if to prove a point, he touched her, one hand on her hip, and when she didn't move, his other hand went to the other side.
They stood, staring at each other, Bonnie with her drink still hovering near her lips. The dream flashed in the back of her mind, but she couldn't go there with him. She wouldn't.
He stared at her lips.
Bonnie sighed, looking away to put her drink down beside his. "Damon…" When she turned to look at him again, his mouth was an inch away from hers and the words fell off her lips as she glanced down at his. He leaned forward, his nose brushing hers and his lids low with his gaze steady on her mouth. Her lips parted of their own accord, a rush of something running underneath her skin as the anticipation mounted, but to her complete and utter disappointment, he leaned away.
Gaze sweeping the length of her instead, Bonnie's whole body warmed. The way the disappointment shot through her was shocking. But when she took into account her earlier dream, it probably shouldn't have been. She wanted to question why he didn't kiss her, but that was a bad idea, and she would be teased for it. She needed to diffuse some of this tension. "You and Elena-"
"Are technically not together right now," he cut her off.
"Right now," she echoed to make a point. He could still go back is what she told herself, but in her mind, there was that little devil on her shoulder telling her to give him a reason not to. She ignored that voice. "In the past, you two have never not been together for long."
His stare grew heavier and even more meaningful. "I'm not sure I'm going to go back to her. I think I probably shouldn't go back to her."
"Oh." The why was none of her business, but she wanted to ask. Her own ideas for his reasons were already floating around in her head, but she was curious to know if he would give an answer. "And why's that?"
"Because…" he trailed off, stare unwavering and entranced as if she had cast a spell on him and it was finally starting to take effect. "I'm pretty sure I might be in…" in love with you, her brain filled in the unfinished statement based upon the look in his eyes, the sudden gentle brush of fingers along her neck, but there was hesitance, like he wasn't sure whether he should jump into the feeling, like he wasn't sure how she would respond or whether he should even be saying anything in the first place.
Bonnie wasn't sure how to react either. Unable to retain any sense of stoicism, her eyes had widened. Suddenly, she was doubly flustered to the point where she felt almost human. Her heart was loud in her ears. "You think you might be…?" She pushed for the rest just to be sure she wasn't imagining the way he was looking at her or twisting it to mean something it didn't. But how could it not. Bonnie could see through Damon easily, and his expression was as open as it had ever been in moments of honesty.
He shook head from side to side in a subtle movement. "Nevermind. Forget it," he said, and he moved away as the unsaid words hung between them.
The loss of his touch didn't cause her to grow cold, but left her hot. She needed some air. She needed to go outside. Why was she so warm? She glanced at his face, and saw the way he watched her react, the intensity of his stare, and then she couldn't look at him. She licked her lips, unsure of what she was feeling, of that deepening twinge in her stomach that maybe didn't have anything to do with simply wanting sex and intimacy. For her, this was too much to think about so she defaulted. Everything is as it was because she still didn't entirely forgive him. She said as much to him and his mouth curved into a determined smirk.
"We should get back to working on the plan then."
She nodded as he walked back into the living room, and she took a few seconds to gather herself before she went to join him.
A/N: So I finally made it to season 5 of my re-watch and my love-hate feelings towards this show have gradually turned into hate-hate. If y'all heard the way I've been yelling at the tv, you'd probably think I was insane lol. Lowkey thinking about doing my own version of that season, but idk, I think I need to finish this fic first, and there's already something else I'm thinking about posting too.
But thanks for reading guys!