Alright friends, let's see what Damon has up his sleeve…

Damon paced back and forth in front of Bonnie's room with her gift in his hands. He looked down at it and it seemed to stare right back at him, mockingly. He grimaced and then straightened himself up. He felt robotic as he rigidly raised his arm and hesitated before knocking on the door.

He threw the gift behind his back and braced against the door frame with his other hand. He heard her feet shuffle across the floor and he gritted his teeth. The door cracked open and his heart surged as he saw a sliver of her face. A single red ringlet framed her face as one starry brown eye peered through the crack. His eyes dropped, catching the way her rosebud pout glistened with whatever lip balm she had on. He watched her one visible eye flash from shock, to turmoil, to anger and she slammed the door.

Damon slapped his previously braced hand onto the door and stopped it from shutting. He briefly thought about just shoving it open. It would be easy. She couldn't fight against his strength. But he wouldn't barge into her room uninvited. He couldn't bring himself to invade her privacy when she looked at him like the monster he was beneath all these human layers. He respected her too much.

"Bonnie, wait!"

"Go away!" she shouted, just like a few nights ago, tears laced in her voice.

His chest ached, the knife wound she had eternally sliced beginning to bleed for the nth time.

"Please just let me talk to you." Damon begged.

Tiny whimpers emanated from the other side of the door.

"I don't want to talk to you."

Damon swallowed the lump forming in his throat, "I just wanted to give you something. Then I'll leave if you want. Please…"

Bonnie stopped pushing back against him and let the door creak open further. A wave of relief flooded Damon as he let out a long held breath and stood upright. Bonnie stood in front of the doorway awkwardly, arms crossed over her chest and head bowed, her eyes looking anywhere but at him. Her fingers shot up to her face, reaching under her curtain of curls to wipe her eyes.

"What?" she breathed shakily.

Damon pulled the gift from behind his back and presented it to her, holding it front of him. He watched Bonnie's watery eyes look up bashfully to glance at his face before landing on the big, ivory bear in his hands. Her eyes softened only slightly as she studied the stuffed animal. His nose was big and brown against his creamy fluff and small, close-together eyes were set in the middle of his oversized head. Fuzz stood crazily about his little rounded ears and along his big body all the way down to his fat feet. In his paws, tied together by a ribbon, was a bouquet of four plush roses, soft and red.

Damon began to explain while Bonnie processed the gift, "I originally just got the bear but then I saw the roses and—they reminded me of you."

Bonnie brows pulled in confusion and Damon was so enraptured with her that the boundaries he should've recalled had faded from memory. Bonnie took the bear into her hands, the size of it taking up half of her body as she examined it, tears dripping down her flushed face. He took the opportunity to list each reason behind the inclusion of the flowers.

Damon reached a hand out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, trailing his finger tips intentionally slow along the ruby tendrils. Bonnie's heart hammered against her ribcage.

"Your hair becomes cherry red in the dark, when all the lights are off and only the moonlight hits."

His fingers grazed the apple of her cheek and Bonnie couldn't breathe.

"Your cheeks go red when you blush…and when you cry."

The pad of his thumb ran across her lower lip and Bonnie's head swam as she fought to stay steady on her feet.

"Your lips…" his eyes lingered there, "they're soft like the petals and just as delicate."

Damon tipped her chin up, forcing her gaze to meet his, "And this is the only flower that can even begin to compare with how beautiful you are…"

Bonnie's lip quivered and she bit down onto it, holding in her sobs.

"I'm s—"

She turned her head, ripping it from Damon's gentle hold. He sighed and let his hand drop back to his side.

"Th-Thank you for the gift. Goodnight." She rushed the words from her mouth and grabbed onto the door.

"Bonnie!" Damon called right as the door slammed in his face.

He braced against the door frame, his fingers crushing into the wood. He pushed himself backwards with a loud, frustrated growl and tore an old picture of past kin from the wall. He threw it at the opposite wall, the wooden frame split as the glass smacked into the hard surface and shattered. Pieces flew in various directions, never to be found. Damon sped to his room and slammed the door.

Meredith sighed from the staircase where she remained crouched so low that her stomach grazed the wooden steps.

"What are you doing?"

Meredith jumped and looked behind her to see Stefan staring at her from the bottom of the stairs like she had just grown a second head. Meredith took in her position and flashed Stefan an abashed smile. She repositioned so that she was sitting on one of the steps.

"I was—well, I guess I was spying. I wanted to see how Damon's apology to Bonnie went." She confessed, still aware Damon was a sensitive topic for the younger Salvatore.

Stefan gave a small "ah" and nodded his head. He walked up and sat down beside Meredith.

"I didn't know Damon had it in him to apologize." Stefan noted.

Meredith shrugged. After seeing what she saw she wasn't so sure either. But the start had exceeded her expectations.

Noticing her defeated expression, Stefan chuckled, "Let me guess, he didn't actually say the words 'I'm sorry,' right?"

Meredith gave him a small nudge with her shoulder against his, "It's like you know him or something…"

Stefan clicked his tongue, "Let's go with 'or something'."

Meredith gave a breathy laugh through her nose, "Well—he almost got there. He probably just should've started with it instead of waiting."

Stefan just snickered and shook his head at the images Meredith was planting there.

"How are you holding up?" Meredith asked sincerely.

Stefan gave her a half-forced smile, "I'm ok."

"We're working on things. There's a lot we've had to talk about." He looked off into some distance she couldn't see.

Meredith place a hand on his knee, "You'll get there. She does love you, ya know…"

Stefan smiled more genuinely and nodded, glancing over at Meredith once more, "I know. Thanks."

He put an arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. She patted his chest with a flat hand.

"You're welcome."

Stefan squeezed her tighter into his side, "So when do we get to fix your drama with Alaric, huh?" he teased.

Meredith sniggered, "It's hard to have relationship drama of my own when I'm spending all my time fixing broken people!"

Stefan looked down at the top of her brunette head, "You don't have to fix us, you know…"

A sneer flashed across Meredith's mouth as she stood from the step with a quick stretch before catching the railing and turning toward the seated vampire.

"Oh, Stefan…" she stuck a hand in his hair and shook it, messing up his clean-cut hairdo, "yes I do."

With that, she ran up the rest of the steps and disappeared into her room. Stefan chuckled to himself as he fixed his hair back in place. What would they do without Meredith?

Later in the night, Damon tossed and turned in his bed, his usual routine. Giving up on sleep, he went over to his dresser across the room and tore a blank piece of paper from a barely used notebook he had lying around. Grabbing the nearest pen, he began to jot down the one thing he never got to say to her.

Folding up the paper, he slid it into his back pocket and ran superhumanly fast around to Bonnie's side of the house. He jumped up with all the precision of a cat, landing stealthily onto the window she always kept open. He studied her dreaming form for a moment before quietly stepping into the room, his bare feet touching the cold, hardwood panels.

Mid-way to her, she shifted, and he halted all motions. She rolled over, facing him, and his eyes softened as he saw the teddy bear he had given her being cuddle tightly in her arms. Part of her nose was buried in its fur, and she repeatedly nuzzled into it.

"Damon…" she mumbled only loud enough for someone with his enhanced hearing to catch.

Seeing her eyes closed, he knew she was dreaming and he padded closer to her. He smirked for the first time in days as he realized she could smell his scent on the bear. He was dying to know what story her dreams played out. Was she running into his arms there, or was she shoving him away?

Pulling the note from his pocket, he laid it down at the bottom corner of her bed, just out of reach of her toes. He knelt down on the edge of the bed beside her and studied her face, watching how it twitched and twisted as her eyes rolled behind her eyelids. Carefully, he wound one of her curls around his finger and then let it twirl around his skin as it unwound from his digit. How he wished for his fingers to be buried in those tresses, sending shivers across her body, hearing the pleasured moans that escaped her throat as she succumbed to him…

Bonnie whined and shifted again, laying one hand out, palm up on the bed. Damon took his hand from her proximity and looked her over once more. His heart yearned for her. Losing her was the biggest mistake of his life. With a sigh, Damon leaned his head down to her open palm and pressed a kiss to the center of it. His eyes never left her face as he did so, but he made the mistake of breathing in and his eyes fluttered, threatening to close as he caught a whiff of her sweet blood.

His eyes darkened and his predatory senses heightened as his ears trained in on the sound of her slow, steady heartbeat. Blood pushed through her veins at every thump, flowing a constant stream of fresh liquid just beneath his mouth. All he had to do was bite. He could feel his eyes shift into their vampiric form as his fangs began to grow sharp and savage. Her blood sang to him, the heat of it rising through her supple flesh. His mouth watered fiercely and before he could stop himself, his tongue had darted out to swipe over the beating part of her wrist. The translucent skin displayed her veins like the most irresistible dessert in the world.

She shifted again, retracting her wrist from his sight. It was enough to knock some sense back into him and he quickly darted away from her and held his face in his hands. Focusing on the most human part of him, he coaxed his vampiric tendencies away and then made a break for the window. He had to get out of the room before he let himself indulge in her flavor as he had done so many times before.

Before jumping back into his own bedroom window, he contemplated. Maybe he should hunt down an unexpecting woman. Any woman out at this time of night would be easy prey. But his appetite dissipated at the thought. Maybe he could try out Stefan's lifestyle and feast on an animal or two, just to hold him over…

His stomach lurched at the mere mental image. With the feeling of utter repulsion, Damon let go of the thought altogether and returned to his bed where he lay for another long hour staring at the ceiling before exhaustion took him out.

Bonnie awoke mid-morning and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The skin around them hurt to touch. She had been rubbing them so much lately that her skin was permanently red around the edges. The typical heartache returned to her awoken form as soon as she stretched. Nothing new.

Bonnie hugged the teddy bear from Damon closer and sniffed in its scent deeply. His scent was still there, but only just. It was mainly her own lavender one now. She frowned and shook away the images of Damon that replayed in her dreams all night. His eyes had been so broken, so sorrowful. She hated looking at him. His words…she had wanted him so badly in that moment. She knew if she hadn't shut him out she would've dragged him into her room and kissed the living daylights out of him. But she knew the reward wouldn't have been worth it. She would've berate herself endlessly for forgiving him so easily, and for letting him back in. Then he would've had the chance to break her heart again, and she feared that if it happened a second time…she may not make it through.

Still, she longed to have him back in her bed. Maybe he would come back and she they could mend thin—no! She shook her head once more. No. He wasn't good for her. She had to keep reminding herself of that. He had presented her with so many red flags already…just as Meredith had once warned her about. She looked down to the red roses at her feet.

A sliver of manilla caught her eye and she squinted, trying to make sense of the oddity. Sitting up, she leaned down and grabbed the piece of paper. Some part of her became nervous for reasons she couldn't fathom. It was just paper. But a part of her knew before she opened it.

The page shook in her trembling fingers as she unfolded it gently. Her palms began to perspire as her heartrate increased dramatically. Her brown orbs widened as they looked over the note:

Bonnie,

I didn't get a chance to say this to you last night, and I need to say it. I'm sorry. For everything that I've done. It was a mistake, what happened with Elena. While I keep hoping that you will forgive me for it, I understand that you can't. I broke your trust, your loyalty, and your heart…and I will never forgive myself for that. So why would I ever expect you to? I have to live with the consequences of my actions, and if that includes living without you, then it's what I deserve. I hope that your heart can mend if I'm unable to pick up the pieces. I'm so sorry.

Sleep well, Redbird

Bonnie was sobbing by the time she finished reading. Crumpling it in her hands, she threw it to the corner of her room. This was such a knotted mess, the start as undiscoverable as the end now. She hated how hard he made her decision to stay away from him. His words played on the strings of her cracked heart, constantly threatening to tie it back together and make her drop to his feet in surrender. She couldn't. She wouldn't. Everything about him was just too complicated, too chaotic. It was too much stress for her body to endure. She was better off this way, separated from him.

At least, that's what she constantly chanted to herself each time he appeared in front of her…

She grabbed her phone to text Meredith, but her hands were too shaky to type out the words. Her heart wouldn't stop its pounding either. Thoughts of him, of the way he kissed her, the way he felt inside of her, the way he held her while she slept—it all flooded her head at once. The memories mixed with the bad, the mean things he said and did, seeing him in an intimate embrace with Elena…

But then her feelings rushed in, pouring more confliction into the overflowing pot that was her mind. She wanted him so badly. She missed his kiss, his taste, his touch. She needed him, she wanted to hear his voice, see his cocky smirks. Then the deepest desires bubbled to the surface. She wanted to feel his fangs, taste his blood, she wanted to be the one giving him blood, she wanted to be the one to draw out those guttural moans from his perfect lips…

Damon, she projected before she even realized what she was doing.

She gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth, praying that Damon was shutting her out. How had that happened?! She hadn't even meant—

Bonnie? Came his surprised telepathic message.

Bonnie berated herself for an entirely different reason now. She knew he was going to come up now, there wasn't a doubt in her mind. She panicked and fumbled for her doorknob's lock as she heard his footsteps walking down the hall. Just as she reached it to twist it in place, the knob turned.

"Bonnie?" came his voice from the other side of the door as he pushed it open slightly.

Bonnie pushed it back, "It was an accident. I-I'm sorry…"

She heard his sigh and then his fingers appeared around the edge of the door.

"Can I come in and talk anyway?"

His tone was so low, and sad, her heart begged her to say "yes." But she chanted her mantra again.

"N-no…"

She watched his fingers tighten around the door.

"…Please?" he breathed.

She chanted so loudly in her head, but the part of her that wanted him broke through her resolve and took control of her movements, if only for a moment. She opened the door just a hare farther and stepped in view. She was sure she looked a mess, with her curls a tangled nest on her head and remnants of sleep still masking her face. But Damon's dark eyes only looked upon her in awe. He took a step forward and her hold on the door tightened.

"No!" Damon froze.

"Y-You can't come in…" she stuttered, keeping a death grip onto her resolve.

Damon's calm demeanor evaporated into thin air and suddenly he was a ball of pure rage. He banged on the wall once with his fist, making a dent as the structure of her bedroom shook.

"Why can't I just talk to you?!"

He flung the door open and she was helpless against his strength. She shrieked softly as she stumbled backwards. He was instantly in her room, instantly in front of her, instantly in her face. Rather, her face was in his hands as he took it up and backed her into the nearest wall. Everything about him that drew her in was too close. She could barely hear her chant anymore. His scent was all around her, lingering in the air to intoxicate her lungs with each quickened breath she took in. His hands were against her bare skin, making soft and gentle swipes despite his eyes blazing in fury. His heady breaths were fanning over her parted lips, pushing the essence of his flavor into her mouth and making her head dizzy. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't even hear the words anymore as her resolve dissolved and she was left fighting against the desire that every crevice of her body ached to relieve. His lips looked so, so soft—and kissable…

The familiar ring of silence snapped her from her daze when she realized Damon had completely stopped talking and was now looking at her with the same intensity that she was sure was blatant in her eyes. She blushed under his fervid gaze and his head dipped down. She reacted, tipping her head up on instinct. But a fragment of her resolve revealed itself.

"Don't…" she whispered, and Damon's lips stopped in place, practically ghosting hers.

Damon growled so lowly that it was almost inaudible.

"Why?" he breathed, intentionally ghosting his lips across hers.

Bonnie whimpered and forced every muscle in her body to stay still or else they would be kissing, and she would be back at square one.

"I c-can't, Damon. It's not s-safe. It's—"

Damon abruptly lifted her into his arms, pressing his body against hers and effectively caging her between himself and the wall.

"No, it's not safe. I'm not safe. But you don't want safe—do you?" he hissed huskily, his face remaining too close for her comfort.

She tried everything to avoid his eyes, but they cornered hers at every aversion until she could do nothing but stare straight into them. Tears streamed down her face.

"I know I fucked up. I know, ok?! And I'm sorry! I am! And I know I'm making things hard for you now, but I can't just walk away from this."

"Why not?! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Bonnie cried, her voice thick with the tears that poured down her red cheeks.

"Because I know you still want me. You're just trying to deny it—because you're scared. And I get it, but—"

"I'm not scared! I want you to go away!" Bonnie attempted to dissuade him, beating her petite, balled up hands against his shoulders.

Damon ghosted his lips over hers once more and held them close so that they brushed against hers as he spoke.

"Then tell me you don't want me—right now."

Bonnie opened her mouth to say just that, but every speech bubble in her mind vanished at the feel of his lips fluttering teasingly against hers.

"…Tell me you didn't sleep with the bear I got you last night."

Bonnie's eyes widened. But of course he had seen. How else would his note have gotten there?

A smirk played at one corner of Damon's lips as he knocked down her walls inch by inch, "Tell me you weren't holding the bear because it had my smell on it, because I gave it to you…"

"Stop…" Bonnie breathed weakly as his forehead touched hers. His words were breaking down the dam that held all of her deepest desires.

"…Tell me you don't dream of me…"

Another sob broke through Bonnie's lips without warning, "I dream of you leaving me."

A dagger dripping with the poison of his deepest regret plunged into his chest and Damon pulled back from her, slowly letting her feet drop back to the floor. The weight of his guilt bombarded him until he was submerged where he stood. Bonnie's face fell into her hands as she wept, the sounds of it creating tiny fissures in his barely beating heart. He wiped the tear that fell down his cheek and took in an unsteady breath. Every wall he had broken down was right back up with reinforcements.

A sudden dizziness captured his head and the room spun. With a hand holding his head, he stumbled and dropped to his knees. Bonnie rushed to his side, kneeling beside him. It was then that she truly noticed how sickly he looked. His skin was ashier, paler than it normally was. His eyes were sunken in too.

"Damon! What's wrong?" she questioned, desperate for the answer as she tried to take his face in her hands. She had never seen him like this.

The smell of her blood distracted every one of his senses, just like last night, as his ears trained in on the sound of her heartbeat, fast and hard. He should've just gone and fed last night, he chided to himself as he felt his face turn into its natural form.

Bonnie shied away slightly as he slowly lifted his head to hers. It wasn't like the times they had blood shared. He had control then. This time reminded her of their first time, when he had attacked her, but even then—there was some control. Now? She didn't see an ounce of his regular control left.

"Damon?" she asked softly, and she jumped as he bared the full length of his fangs.

"Damon…" she said unsurely, beginning to crawl backwards.

He crawled forward, stalking her like prey with his fangs exposed and ready to strike. Her sock covered foot slipped and she yelped as Damon hovered above her. She tried to roll out from underneath him, but his arm came down at her side. She was close to hyperventilating as the ravenous vampire suddenly took her wrists and pinned her to the floor, trapping her beneath him. She squirmed as much as she could to try to get free, but every movement was useless. She had to get her hands free somehow! It was the only way she knew how to save herself.

Looking frantically around the room, she settled on the only idea she had. Lifting her head from the floor, she bit his neck hard. Damon hissed and let go of on wrist to take a fistful of her hair. Acting as fast as humanly possible, she let him yank her head back by her hair and then slapped him hard across the face. Damon only budged slightly, caught off guard. But she watched him gain a little bit of himself back as he looked down at her in horror and shuffled off of her.

Bonnie was too busy trying to calm her racing heart and gasping for breaths to let him know that it was ok, she was ok…

"I-I can't—I have to..." Damon muttered and sped off.

Bonnie found the energy to push herself from the floor and run to the door after him.

"Damon, wait!" she called down the hallway, but it was too late. He was gone.

Yikes! Our lovely Salvatore is having some troubles. But, how did we like the gift? I'm posting a link to the pic of the bear. He does not have roses, I just really wanted to add them because I got a cute plush rose from a fair once as a kid and I absolutely loved it! Haha! I'm really upset that this platform doesn't allow different types of font, because I had a really amazing one picked out for the note. Ugh, it's upsetting, but what can you do?

Anyways, only 3 chapters left. I can't believe it! But I'm very excited for you all to finish up the story. :)

Bear pic link: Melissa-Doug-Roscoe-Stuffed-Animal/dp/B004PBF2LM