enjoy this chapter! :))

Chapter 8 - Truth Hurts

"I wasn't scared." Stefan defended as he shook his head vehemently.

"Then why did you jump?" Bonnie questioned with a giggle.

"I was surprised! There was no buildup! It was totally uncalled for!" He exclaimed.

The two were walking out of the projection room at the movie theater hand in hand. They had seen a poorly written horror movie and Stefan was a little more rattled by it then he'd like to admit. When Bonnie continued to laugh at him, he sent her a playful glare.

"Maybe I was a little scared." He confessed.

"You were. It was cute." Bonnie replied, looking at him fondly.

His cheeks tinted red and he smiled down at her, the same adoring expression on his face. " You're cute."

"I know." She shrugged with a smile.

He chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. Even in short pecks like this one, their affection for each other was apparent. Butterflies never failed to swarm the stomachs of both lovesick teenagers when they met lips.

They gazed at each other for a minute and then realized they were standing in the middle of a crowded theater lobby. A group of prepubescent boys, all dressed in neon green or neon orange shorts passed by them with looks of disgust on their faces. One specific little red head pointed to the couple and made a gagging noise.

Neither Bonnie or Stefan understood the fuss, it was just a peck. However, Stefan thought their reaction was funny so he awarded them with a smirk. Bonnie actually hissed at them.

Bonnie turned to her boyfriend. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom before we leave. Meet you in the car?"

"Sure." He gave her one last kiss and turned to go wait in his car.

•••

Bonnie left the bathroom stall and walked over to the sink to wash her hands. The theater was packed today and the bathroom was no different. She had to wait in a long line to get into the bathroom and she wanted to be speedy so that she wouldn't hold anyone up.

Just as she was going to make her quick exit, she halted in her tracks because she saw a very familiar face. Camille O'Connell.

"Cami?" She blurted loudly.

"Bonnie?" Cami responded with the same genuine surprise.

They ran towards each other and embraced in a big hug. It had been so long since they'd seen each other, and they were finally realizing how much they'd missed each other. Bonnie was first to pull away when she realized that they were being too affectionate. As much as Bonnie loved Cami, Klaus had won the custody battle when he and the blonde broke up.

Cami didn't seem to notice Bonnie's abrupt halt of affection. If she did she wasn't phased by it. "Why don't we get out of this bathroom? We can catch up outside."

Bonnie nodded as she pulled her out of the bathroom and back out to the lobby.

"So how have you been, girl?" Cami asked with a beam. "Are you here with Stefan?"

Bonnie looked at her brother's ex in confusion. "How did you know?"

"Oh, come on. It was only a matter of time. I remember how you guys were together."

Bonnie tried to stop her blush. "I really like him." She admitted.

"I know you do." Cami replied, smiling softly.

"So, how are you? Are you here alone?" Bonnie had to ask. Cami and Klaus had broken up in late May, and it was early October, so she wouldn't be offended on Klaus' behalf if Cami was seeing someone else.

"Uh, actually, no." Cami pointed to a handsome man who was laughing while he had a conversation with the guy giving out popcorn. "His name is Marcel. This is our first date."

"Oh. He's hot."

"He is, isn't he? He's really extroverted. He can make conversation with anybody."

Bonnie thought for a second. "Do you like him?" She knew she was getting too close with Klaus' ex, but she was more than just 'Klaus' ex' . She was a really great person. And Bonnie's friend.

"I do." Cami said, almost in a whisper.

"Are you-" Bonnie shook off her question. Why would she even think of asking that? "Nevermind."

"You were going to ask if I was over Klaus, weren't you?" Cami asked, tearing her eyes away from Marcel and back to Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded wordlessly.

Cami sighed. "I don't know if I'll ever be completely over him." She looked Bonnie in the eyes. "You know I thought he was the love of my life."

Bonnie knew. She thought Klaus and Cami would get married and have babies and all that but maybe it wasn't meant to be.

"But I'm over him enough to want to start something with Marcel." Cami said decidedly. "Klaus and I loved each other - love each other, but sometimes you need more than just love."

"What do you mean?" Bonnie inquired.

"Love and loyalty don't come hand in hand, Bonnie."

When Bonnie continued to look at Cami like she had three heads, the blonde elaborated.

"He was in love with someone else." Cami said simply.

Bonnie's mouth went dry. "He what?!"

•••

Damon's jaw was in a full tick as he held his mother in his arms as she sobbed.

He wasn't surprised. They had been talking about this for a while and even if they hadn't been, he knew his dad would do it eventually.

"I don't know why I'm so sad!" Lily cried. "I knew he was going to do this!"

"It's okay to be sad, mom. What he did was horrible. You didn't deserve that."

He and his mom had gone full undercover cop mode and followed his father to the scene of the crime the night before. Giuseppe told them he was going to a boys night with his best (and only) friend, Richard Lockwood. It seemed believable, but then Lily got a call from Carol Lockwood. While they were on the phone, Carol asked Lily if she wanted to say hi to Richard who was watching the game at home.

Lily was naturally confused - Richard was supposed to be out bowling with Giuseppe, not watching the game at home! - but she tried her best to stay calm and not jump to conclusions as she summoned Damon. It was just the two of them home that night since Stefan was sleeping over at Bonnie's.

Damon's first reaction was anger. His mother was coming up with every unrealistic rationalization in the book for his sorry excuse of a father.

"That's it, mom." He said with finality and seriousness in his voice that was rare for Damon. "Let's follow him. Then you'll see that he's no good for you. No good for any of us."

Lily was reluctant at first. She had spent so much time preparing for it all to be over. For her marriage to be a distant memory. But it was still so hard. She knew that if she caught him cheating tonight, she wouldn't be able to get back with him. The question was if she wanted to live in blissful denial or not. But really, as she thought about how un blissful the denial was, she knew there wasn't a choice.

They caught him. He begged for Lily's forgiveness (she had to admit she liked that part), but she wouldn't grant it to him. As empowering as it was to kick him out - he was staying at a hotel for now - she was still heartbroken.

She cried and cried into Damon's arms, not noticing how stiff with anger he was as he comforted her.

Damon had been red hot furious since the previous night. He was angry with his dad for cheating, somehow resentful of his mother for kicking his dad out, even though he was the one who encouraged it and mad at Stefan for staying out of it. Really, he was sad, though. But anger was easier than sadness, so he stuck with that.

He wished his dad was a nice and gentle and supportive man instead of the spawn of hell that he got. In anger or in sadness, that fact stayed true.

He knew that the next step was to tell Stefan about what happened. He knew his mom wouldn't, she would probably be immoble for a few days. Understandably. He never gave her enough credit - she was a strong woman. But even strong women needed to take a few days.

Telling Stefan would be tough, especially since he was so happy with Bonnie. Stefan was finally starting to be less weird with Damon about what he said last time they talked about Giuseppe cheating, and this would probably ruin that.

Stefan had such strong emotions - when he found out about this he would isolate himself to be miserable, or throw a tantrum and start vandalizing things and become a delinquent. The possibilities were endless when it came to that kid. Damon didn't want that for his brother. So, he decided that for as long as he could, he wouldn't tell Stefan about what Giuseppe did.

It was for everyone's good.

•••

"He was in love with someone else?" Stefan questioned when Bonnie filled him in about her conversation with Cami.

"I know! So weird!" Bonnie said, still in shock.

They were laying in Bonnie's bed, Stefan's arm around his girlfriend, Bonnie's head snuggled in his chest.

Her conversation with Cami ended pretty quickly (Cami didn't realize that she phazed Bonnie at all. For a therapist, you'd think she'd be more intuitive) and Bonnie sat the entire car ride home looking like she saw a ghost. When they got to Bonnie's house, Stefan finally asked her what the hell was wrong with her and she told him about running into her brother's ex.

"Wow." Stefan mused.

"He always seemed so hopelessly in love with Cams, I just don't know what's going on! He didn't tell anyone why he and Cami broke up, so I- I guess it could be a possibility."

"Well, maybe Cami was only suspecting something. Just because she said so doesn't mean it's true." He offered.

"I know. She just seemed so sure. I know it's not my business. It was just weird."

"It's normal to be extra nosy with him. You're family."

"Yeah." She sighed.

He waited for a beat. "You okay?"

She smiled up at him. That conversation rattled her a bit, but it wasn't enough to completely shatter her mood. "I'm great." She grinned.

"That's too bad, I had something in mind to cheer you up." Stefan smirked handsomely.

Bonnie grinned, catching on. She bit her lip and sat up, climbing on top of him. "And what exactly was that?"

He grabbed her hips and kissed her deeply. He smiled innocently. "Milkshakes at the grille?"

"That's not really what I had in mind." Bonnie deadpanned.

Stefan chuckled. "We can do that too. After the milkshakes of course."

•••

Klaus had to pop a 'Tums'. His stomach wouldn't stop flipping about. It wasn't because he got sick or ate something bad, it was because of the whole roller coaster of emotions that he was feeling. His gut was currently flipping between guilt and happiness.

Hayley called off the engagement. She left Elijah.

He was feeling guilty because he kissed her. He kissed his brother's fiancée. Ex- fiancée, girlfriend at the time, it made no difference. Betraying someone you love never leaves you, even if it was just a kiss.

He was feeling happy because the part of him that loved Hayley - that was in love with Hayley, thought that it was because of him. Thought that she wanted to be with him, not Elijah. The fact that that made him happy made the guilt worsen.

The guilt drove him so crazy that he marched to his car and sped his way over to Hayley's mothers house. He knew she would be there. He knew Hayley.

He pounded on the front door. All this remorse for things he'd done, all for Hayley, made him need to see her. He needed to see her because then it would be worth it. He would take one look into her hazel eyes and the happiness would win over the guilt.

She opened the door timidly, furrowing her brows when she saw Klaus on her mother's doorstep looking helpless.

"What are you doing here, Klaus?"

He didn't answer her question because he was too busy trying to find that part of her that would make the guilt go away. Where was it?

He snapped out of it and made eye contact again. "Why did you do it?"

Hayley knew immediately what he was talking about. She hesitated before inviting him in.

He sat in the living room in a floral decorated loveseat across from her. Her hair was in a messy bun and her face was bare. She looked beautiful as she sipped her tea, but still wasn't easing his pain.

"Mom's not home." She said.

He nodded. "Are you going to answer my question?"

No, was at the tip of her tongue, but looking at his broken eyes made her realize that she needed to set the record straight. The look in his eyes mirrored the look that she wore for months and months. Painful remorse.

"Remember why you broke up with Cami?" Hayley inquired.

He had to chuckle. "Of course I do."

He'd never forget breaking up with Cami. It was the hardest decision of his life. At one point he'd loved her more than anyone. But she didn't deserve him. She deserved someone that gave her all of them - all of their pain, adoration, love . He loved her so much, but he loved Hayley too, and Cami was too good for someone who wasn't putting their all into their relationship.

"It's like that. I couldn't let Elijah fully commit to me knowing that I wasn't fully committed to him." She said quietly.

"You aren't fully…" He trailed off. "What do you mean?"

She scoffed. "I mean that I'm not going to get married to him if I'm in love with his brother. Even if it's only a little bit."

Klaus swallowed. "You love me?"

"Look, Klaus, I'm not going to have a sappy romantic moment with you. I do love you. I kissed you. Even if you kissed me first, I kissed back. You're funny and charming and handsome… you're great. But Elijah is the love of my life. If I'm self aware enough to realize that being with the love of my life is wrong, then I'm self aware enough to know that being with his brother is wrong."

"So you're just giving up? On Elijah, on me, on all of us?" Klaus asked bitterly.

"I'm not giving up. I'm stepping away because it's the right thing to do, Klaus. Maybe one day Elijah and I will reunite. But I can't be with him until my feelings are sorted out."

"And did you tell that to Elijah? Or are you just letting him think that he's the problem?"

She stayed silent. He scoffed.

"It seems that we're not all perfect, hm? I'll see myself out."

He stormed out of the small house without looking back.

bam bam bam! i was writing this late in the night, so it wasn't my best work but i'm happy enough with it to post it. next chapter will have more about elena and what's going on with her, bonnie and stefan. there was a lot i wanted to put in this chapter but ultimately, i was too tired and i didn't want to leave y'all hanging so this is what you get for now. lemme know what you think of it! thanks for reading!