A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews!

Jackpot!

He found it buried underground near one of the old wells that lined the Salvatore planation that had been torched in the late 1800's. Using his exemplary thinking skills the answer came to him swiftly of the place Lily would hide the most important object and means of getting her 'family' back. That led him to the house she shared with the man she loathed.

An adder slithered nearby that Damon ignored. The ascendant was locked inside an iron safe and he listened carefully, straining to hear the spinning dial click each time he got a number of the combination right.

"Voilà," he said victoriously after plugging in the right numbers, cracking open the safe. That square, rust colored object was his until he relinquished it into Bonnie's custody.

Damon debated for a full minute if he should leave a taunting note like he did for Markos after kidnapping his kinfolk. His conscience rang clear: It's probably best not to push Lily, her being a ripper and all, her blood able to make Heretics. She'd go after Bonnie just to spite him leaving no choice but to kill her. And he may have killed his nephew and snapped the neck of his best friend several times, Damon liked to think he reformed and wouldn't stake his mother.

Time would tell.

Stuffing the ascendant into a bag, Damon reburied the safe and hoofed on foot to the B&B.

It was the hottest day of the year so far. Hot enough that the shorts and tee shirts could be broken out while the reprieve from the cold lasted. Bonnie took advantage of the warm weather by inviting Hayden over to help her wash her Prius. It was her first time seeing him since having a slight breakdown at his apartment where she accidentally attacked him.

In his mind they had an amazing night that ended horribly by dawn. But he hadn't run from her, didn't kill their budding relationship by hitting her with a classic: "I don't think we should see each other anymore." Hayden was turning into a keeper but a complication. With Klaus in town and their deal, the last thing Bonnie wanted was Hayden to get caught up in what was about to occur in the coming weeks. Yet, she meant what she said to Damon. Hayden was one of the few good things in her life and she didn't want to let him go.

Staring at his shirtless torso and cargo pants which displayed awesome butt cleavage, she couldn't afford to be selfish, but letting him go didn't seem to be an option either. Now she could better understand the Salvatore's obsession with Elena. Bonnie wouldn't haul off and say she was obsessed with Hayden, far from it. Only she understood their desperation to have any part of someone despite knowing what a danger they posed. Her lifestyle was dangerous and not exactly human friendly. Taking it one step farther, it wasn't friendly to her.

Cold water splashed her legs and ass. Bonnie yelped, glared, and almost made the water shooting out of the hose spray Hayden in the face. She caught herself remembering he didn't know she was a witch. Instead she dunked the sponge in the bucket of sudsy water and flung it at his head.

They ran around her car like children, but she smacked into his chest, and her feet took flight as Hayden lifted her up and spun her around. Laughter, the rich and real kind screamed from her mouth, and Bonnie's face began to hurt from smiling so much.

Lips connected and she melted against Hayden as he crushed her closer.

"You taste good," he whispered in her ear and began nibbling along her jaw before taking her mouth again, inching his tongue inside.

"Ahem."

Bonnie peaked an eye open and saw Damon standing five yards away—nose scrunched. She kissed Hayden one final time and wiggled, reluctantly, out of his arms.

"Hey," she said.

"Sup."

Hayden pivoted toward Damon, looked him up and down. "Hey man."

Damon flashed a here and gone smile before giving his undivided attention back to Bonnie. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah," she glanced up at Hayden reading the question in his eyes. "I'll be right back."

"All right," Hayden kissed her again.

Failing not to blush, Bonnie motioned for Damon to follow her up to her room. He did and couldn't help where his eyes landed. On the individual droplets of water clinging to her curvy legs. Her plump ass and how they filled out her shorts. They were tiny enough he could make out a bare hint of cheek action.

Damon bit into his bottom lip.

Behind closed doors, the witch and vampire faced each other.

"I have something for you," Damon dug into the bag Bonnie just noticed was clutched in his hand. He pulled out what he had been tasked to find.

A smile lit her face, "The ascendant. I could so jump on you right now, but I'm wet," Bonnie's eyes went round. "Wait, that didn't come out right."

Snickering, Damon pointedly eyed the bed then stared at Bonnie, waggled his brows.

"Shut up," she pushed him aside, took the ascendant, and placed it on top of the bureau.

"Word to the wise I wouldn't hide that in a sock drawer."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Did you know there's another masquerade ball being thrown and it's taking place at Klaus'?"

Bonnie gave off no facial indication she was already privy to that information, that she'd be there as Klaus' date. She pressed her butt into the dresser and answered truthfully, "Yes, I did know."

"Are you going?"

"I am."

"With Hayden?"

Bonnie heard the growl in Damon's voice. "Someone else. How long do you think it'll be before your mom discovers the ascendant is gone?"

Damon accepted the change in conversation for what it was. Bonnie didn't want to tell him who her date was, fine. "I'm not sure. Maybe a few days. I'm breaking bread with her and Elena tonight."

"Going to bring up the fact you know her family is composed of witchpires?"

"And ruin the surprise? That'll make her spaz out and she needs to believe we're in the dark about that one catastrophic fact," Damon cracked his knuckles. "Had anymore visions?"

"No." Bonnie wouldn't tell him about the panic attack she had while in the middle of having sex with Hayden. The thought of seeing Kai on top of her made her face pucker.

"That's…good," Damon said uneasily. "Well with Kai's questionable return I think I should hold off in letting Elena know about the cure. At least if anything happens she'll still be a vampire, which means awesome healing capabilities. Does it make me sound like a selfish tool? I mean," he began pacing, "I have the cure to the one thing she never wanted to be and I'm withholding it."

"Whatever you feel is best," Bonnie, for the moment, wasn't in the mood to soothe or quell Damon's anxiety about the cure. She could actually give a damn what he did with it at this point.

"You're not going to argue the merits of being honest?" he grinned.

Considering the secrets she was keeping? "That's a lesson you should know, by now, verbatim," Bonnie responded. "I have a million things running through my mind that's far more important than your 'will you or won't you' give Elena the cure bullshit."

Damon's head jerked back slightly. "I see I touched a nerve."

Crossing her arms, Bonnie sighed, "It's not that. I'm on edge, okay? I'm having visions about the person who repeatedly attacked me, and he may be getting out to finish what he started."

"That's not going to happen," Damon countered.

"Yes it will."

"What's with the defeatist attitude?" Her optimism in the prison world may have driven him crazy, but Damon didn't like to hear Bonnie talk this way. "You have leverage, a trump card. That makes it slightly better, doesn't it?"

Bonnie nodded, attempted a smile. "It's a start," she stood to her full height. "Thank you for giving me the ascendant. I need to get back to Hayden. Don't want him to think we're fooling around or something."

"It's far too quiet to give off that impression," Damon leered.

Viridian eyes rolled, "Cad."

"Do you even know what that means?"

"No," the young witch snickered, "not really." Pause. "This is the third time."

Damon's brows knitted together. "Third time, what?"

"That you've interrupted one of my make out sessions."

Oh that. "Yeah don't remind me. But…I'll grudgingly say Hayden seems to be a step up from the last two losers I caught you kissing."

Bonnie pursed her lips in disapproval.

Without warning, Damon was moving forward, fingers curling around Bonnie's wrist. For a moment neither moved nor spoke a word. His head began to lower, breath was held, and lips came into contact with the plump curve of Bonnie's cheek.

For her part, Bonnie believed she did a convincing job of hiding her shock. Damon pulled away, stared down at her with hooded eyes.

"What was that for?" the flummoxed witch asked.

"I…really don't know. If you're going to be kissed it should be by someone who knows what he's doing."

"You think Hayden doesn't know what he's doing?"

The timbre of the vampire's voice, changed, became raspier. "My eyes weren't on Hayden. They weren't on Jeremy or that other guy either."

The impact of those words seemed to hit them both and Damon immediately released his hold on Bonnie and scrambled to establish a neutral zone between them. A chasm that kept them apart not just physically, but emotionally as well. He was a notorious flirt but what he just said…to his horror sounded like he was genuinely coming on to his best friend.

"Damon…" Bonnie was tongue tied and twisted, didn't know what to say to alleviate the tension that was just delivered between them.

"I…ah…this is awkward," Damon guffawed.

"It's entirely your fault."

Scratching behind his ear, Damon bobbed his head in concurrence. "I should probably take off now."

Bonnie didn't try to stop him. But…

Maybe she was a glutton for punishment but something she thought about during those lonely days and weeks she spent in total isolation, an idea she toyed with bolstered her resolve to ask…

"If you and I were still in 1994 and there was no way to get out…would you have ever…tried to kiss me?"

Hand poised on the doorknob, Damon let it go and stood in front of Bonnie. A voice inside his head was screaming he shouldn't entertain this question because he was in love with someone else. But from the glaze in Bonnie's eyes, Damon sat aside facts and decided to tell a truth of his own.

"I've thought about it. Knowing me, I definitely would have tried."

"What stopped you?"

"You," he answered matter-of-fact.

Bonnie didn't need him to elaborate. "Now? What about now?"

"Are you asking me to kiss you?"

Panic made the witch's heart torpedo. "No, no-no I would never do that. You're with my best friend and that would be cheating."

"It would be and one thing I'm not when I'm with someone is a cheater." Beyond his control, Damon's eyes latched onto Bonnie's lips. "Why do you need to know this, Bonnie?"

"Morbid curiosity."

He didn't smile, smirk, laugh or take any amusement in the moment. A veil did shroud his face, though. "I really need to go."

"Okay."

"I'll call you later."

"All right," Bonnie rasped. She stayed right where she was as Damon left her room.

Sagging to the edge of the bed, Bonnie's fingers traced her bottom lip feeling strangely bereft.

BDBDB

The table was set, wine was poured, and three people were seated together making polite small-talk that eased no one's nerves.

Elena smiled whenever Lily glanced her way and would open her mouth to throw out a compliment about the food; however, Damon often beat her to the punch throwing out jabs about things he didn't remember his mom doing when she was still human.

Underneath the table the doppelganger gripped his knee in a silent rebuke to be a bit more civil. The woman was a ripper underneath her prim and properness, no need in setting her off. However, Damon seemed determine to grind an ax into his mother.

They were working on the third course when Lily changed the topic of discussion focusing primarily on her son. "I ran into your friend at the consignment shop. Bonnie."

Damon roughly swallowed the goose he had been chewing. "You saw Bonnie?" For the last hour he couldn't stop thinking about her, and that worried him for obvious reasons.

"Yes," Lily wore an amiable smile on her face, her real feelings carefully hidden in her bright blue eyes. "She was nice enough to offer me fashion advice for the upcoming masquerade ball. Such a sweet girl; taking the time out of her schedule to help a practical stranger."

Elena laughed uneasily. "That's Bonnie. She's real big on helping those in need. I wouldn't have my life if it wasn't for her. A lot of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

"Oh? You're a close friend of Bonnie's? I thought she was only acquainted with Damon."

Elena's smile dissolved.

"It's just…" Lily stammered, "I've only heard my son talk about her. I just assumed they were closer."

"It's all right," Elena coughed and briefly flicked her eyes to Damon who was in the process of wiping his mouth, but was really concealing a smile. "I see how it might be misconstrued that we're not friends, but we are. She's like a sister to me."

Lily cut into her goose, "As I was telling Damon the other evening, good friends are hard to come by and they shouldn't be squandered. Like my friends," her jaw hardened for a second. She addressed her eldest, "Have you cleared the air with her?"

Damon shifted on the chair, "I have. We're cool." That moment in her suite at the B&B…the antithesis of cool.

"That's good, I suppose," Lily remarked, confused by the vernacular 'cool' but left it alone. "If Stefan wasn't without his humanity I would suggest he call on her. I don't know Bonnie, obviously, but I detected she shares Stefan's quiet temperament."

Damon's grip on his fork tightened and he deadpanned, "I don't think Stefan is Bonnie's type and vice versa."

"Really? I know things are more progressive in this time than were when we were human, but she's beautiful. I don't see any real detriment…"

"She's not his type, mother. Leave it alone."

Lily resisted smirking. "I meant no harm."

"None taken," Elena spoke up for Damon, earning a scowl she didn't acknowledge by looking at him. "I'll agree. Bonnie and Stefan have things in common. She's…she's not the type to go for a guy one of her friends used to love."

Damon almost swallowed his drink down his windpipe.

Lily paused in mid-chew.

"These potatoes are really good," Damon said hoping to shift topics once again.

"Stefan was previously involved with one of Bonnie's friends?" Lily disregarded her son's compliment.

"Ah," Elena felt like she just backed herself into a corner. "Yes…me. He and I dated but it was a while ago."

The doppelganger refused to lower her gaze to her plate ready for whatever recriminations might follow. She wasn't dumb enough not to see how she'd be viewed once the truth of her love life was leaked to the public. People had strong opinions about that sort of thing. She, herself, had at one point, but finally came to grips with her fate. Such as it was.

Lily's ghost white skin remained perfectly alabaster though it was clear by the downturn of her mouth, and her newfound grip on her fork that she wasn't overly thrilled by the revelation that the girl sitting across from her had been involved with both of her sons.

Would she have gone for Giuseppe if he were still alive? Lily wondered.

"I see," she muttered drily, "times certainly have changed. I know I have no right to judge. People married their first cousins in my day. But…a woman drew the line at being involved with brothers."

Ice engulfed the room. Elena's appetite was officially ruined. Damon chewed his food while Lily sighed.

"Well thank God for the free love movement of the 60's. Who's ready for dessert?" Damon slapped a hand on the table.

Lily countered that by asking Elena, "You were in love with Stefan?"

"Y-yes. We met four months after my parents were killed. Our car had gone off a bridge and Stefan saved me."

"He saved you and not your parents?"

Clearing her throat, which mysteriously had turned dry, Elena stalled by taking a sip of water. "Stefan went to help my parents, but my dad motioned for him to save me first. When he went back for them…they were…gone," she cleared her throat again. "After meeting Stefan, I learned so much about myself, and he was there for me when I needed him," she said almost wistfully. Remembering those times her world had been filled with Stefan and hardly anything else.

"And along the way you two fell apart, grew apart?"

Lily's question stomped out Elena's musings. "Kind of it…it's complicated."

"So where does Damon fall into this complication?" Lily swung her gaze between the pair noting Elena's discomfort and Damon's eerily blank face.

He finally intervened, "It doesn't matter where I fall into the scheme of things. Elena fell out of love with Stefan and fell in love with me, and the two of us are trying to live happily ever after."

"Yet it doesn't bother you that she loved your brother, shared intimacies, I'm assuming with him? First?"

"Its water under the bridge," Damon enunciated through clenched teeth. If his mother kept persisting on this topic it would trudge up the dark side of his relationship with Elena and Stefan of which the former didn't remember since her memories were still blocked, and would prove what a real asshole he'd been to the latter.

Knowing when to surrender, Lily forfeited, backed off this line of questioning taking in Damon's agitation. There was more to the story, there always was. At the moment she honestly didn't care. She had something else that was of grave importance to her she wished to discuss.

"I've been giving thought to asking Bonnie if she could do the spell that would release my family."

Damon's fork clanged noisily against his plate. "Absolutely no fucking way."

A series of events happened. Elena gasped at how Damon spoke to his mom, totally not surprised but still surprised at the vehemence in his tone. He tossed his napkin over his unfinished food, and glared. Lily accidentally broke her fork in half, and gritted her teeth.

"You're not going to ask her for shit. She can't help you with that."

Elena felt the temperature in the room drop as she worriedly sat and wondered what to say to salvage things.

Lily balled her hand into a fist so tight her knuckles popped. "I think I should let Bonnie be the judge of that. She would be the one essentially helping me, not you and neither of us needs your permission."

"Try to go over my head on this and you will regret it," Damon promised and stood up so abruptly his chair tipped over. "I'm full. Thanks for the meal."

Lily got to her feet as well, a lethal glint in her eyes. "I don't like resorting to threats but I will if I must. I've been bidding my time, being patient, adapting to the ways of this time, and I'm done," she flashed behind him, spoke over his shoulder. "I've killed thousands, ripped families apart if I was denied something as simple as a 'hello'" she whispered, "Userò la tua puttana sangue di una ragazza contro di voi."

Damon's nostrils flared, his chest expanded as he sneered at his mother.

"Lei è così ansiosa per la mia approvazione, lei mi aiuti," Lily switched back to English. "One way or another I will get what I want. How it's given to me will be determined by your interference or your participation. You want nothing ill to befall your loved ones…give me mine, or I will go over your head…or remove it."

Lily slinked out of the kitchen. Cursing, Damon picked up his wineglass and killed the contents.

Elena's mouth opened and closed before asking, "What did she say in Italian?"

"You don't want to know."

"That went swell," she tried for levity.

Damon snorted. "Now I know where I get my sweet side from."

"I'm worried for Bonnie, Damon."

Yeah, he was too and gripped the back of his neck. "She won't touch her. I won't let it come to that."

"There's a problem," the doppelganger pushed to her feet, "you can't be everywhere at once, and your mom is liable to hurt you just as much. As usual so much is going on right now. What are we going to do?"

"What we do every time we're facing peril and destruction…party."

Bonnie stood on the edge of creation, danced on the tip of the blade before leaping towards an endless bottom. About a year ago she had held the hand of Thanatos (death) and hoped for Hypnos (sleep), but instead was transplanted into a prison world, a replica of what she knew, but a living torture chamber just the same.

At the moment though she didn't feel like anything substantial. Her body didn't feel like its own, her thoughts were fragmented in confusion. She had experienced this kind of disorientation before.

Her lids fluttered open.

Rage and dementia were the two strongest things pumping within Bonnie. Her body hurt and the last few hours of her life she couldn't recall. Had she been with Hayden or Damon? Them both? Her memory was muddled and competed with her sensory output. Satin, she was lying on—it was a couch. A pool of sunlight shined through a nearby window and pierced her eyes. She winced and sat up slowly, looked around. Nothing was recognizable.

Her heeled boots scuffed the floor as she rose shakily to her feet. The young woman's head felt it was being squeezed by a leather strap, but she arched her back, bones popped.

She heard a log crack in the fireplace. Klaus' eyes burned gold as he appeared out of the shadows in the room momentarily taking Bonnie off guard. He crossed over to her, standing far too close for comfort, but she resisted the urge to shrink away.

The hybrid wore his customary smile. It didn't inspire a single drop of friendliness in Bonnie who tempered the need to pummel him for kidnapping her. She'd get to that in a moment.

"Why'd you bring me here?"

The titillating sound of her heart beating made Klaus' ears twitched.

He answered her query. "I brought you here to show you how unprotected you leave yourself, Bonnie. That regardless of how powerful you are, you're still weak." Bonnie flinched at that word. She hated that word. "You're still so easy to get to."

"Yeah, well last I remember I was sleeping, which means yeah, I'll probably be a little vulnerable. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to get to me."

Klaus' grin deepened. "So you believe." He rushed her to the nearest wall, her squeak of surprise proving his point. He held his forearm across her chest that swelled and deflated with each angry breath she inhaled.

Bonnie glared and threw out a spell that yanked Klaus off of her and hurtled him into the farthest wall. He landed on both feet much to her chagrin and wiped plaster, flecks of dry wall, and dust off the shoulders of his shirt.

"Is that the best you can do, witch? After everything you've done and experienced you can't do more than magically push someone off you."

"I'm being kind, Klaus." Fire erupted from Bonnie's nail beds.

That certainly caught the Hybrid's eye. "Something tells me you can't afford to be kind. You have the means to be wicked," he was in front of Bonnie again.

She extinguished the flames. "I'm not interested in being wicked. But I am interested in you delivering what you promised me. I don't have time for a pissing contest."

A rare noise escaped Klaus' ruby red lips. A laugh. "You think I brought you here to play games? Well, you'd be halfway right."

"Seriously, tell me why the hell you brought me here?!"

Klaus was about to say something but green ivy leaves and red dahlia flowers began growing along the crown molding on the walls.

Bonnie noticed in the dim light. "What the hell?"

"It would appear our guest has arrived."

"Guest?"

The door swung open and a woman marched through it wearing a dark coat. Bonnie felt like she had been thrown sideways. The sheer amount of power beaming off the woman who was undoubtedly a witch and one so strong Bonnie's knees nearly buckled under the onslaught.

That! That was what she wanted.

Bonnie stiffened as the woman stared at her, taking her measure. Beauty wasn't the woman's greatest asset, and not one she wielded as a weapon. She was a plain looking woman to the young witch, but her eyes—the size of them was larger than a human's, almost wolf like with their strange color. Her brown hair fell in one length to her breasts, thin lips outlined by wrinkles, her nose almost beak-like. For as unassuming as the witch appeared, it would be a grave mistake and the cost of your life to underestimate her. That didn't need to be vocalized. It thrummed potently from the woman. Even Klaus shrank away, infinitesimally.

"Bonnie," Klaus began the introductions, "I'd like you to meet Dahlia. Dahlia this is the young Bennett witch I was telling you about."

"H-hi," Bonnie stuttered and coughed to clear her throat.

Dahlia said nothing but waved her fingers in the direction of the door telling Klaus to get out without uttering a word.

His face scrunched in displeasure but he didn't argue. For a second Bonnie almost cried out for him to stay, but the fleeting moment passed.

"Come closer, child," Dahlia prompted in a cultured accent that was hard to place.

Even her voice seemed imbued with power, Bonnie thought as she walked over to Dahlia unconsciously because she didn't exactly feel herself moving.

Standing closer, Bonnie forced her spine to remain straight, told herself not to cower. Dahlia didn't seem the type to have the patience for the faint of heart, and she didn't seem to relish in the fear those displayed in her presence, either. In fact, she seemed above a lot of things mostly because she was untouchable. She knew a thousand ways to kill someone and that knowledge reflected in her eyes.

"Give me your hand," Dahlia instructed next.

Without hesitation, Bonnie placed her hand in Dahlia's who pricked her index finger with something sharp. She wiped the drop of blood that formed and tasted it.

Bonnie ordered her face not to shrivel.

"Hmm," Dahlia's irises glittered. "Your blood is...nearly as ancient as mine."

"I have my ancestor Qetsiyah's magic in me."

"No, that's not what I mean. No one has ever told you what you really are."

That wasn't a question but an observation, Bonnie knew. "No one knows who I am. Myself included."

Dahlia nodded in understanding. "Ignorance is the death of many witches. My nephew is right. You do need my help."

"Nephew?"

"Niklaus is my sister Esther's bastard. I'm sure you know this, the bastard part I mean."

"You're Esther's sister?" Bonnie shrieked incredulously. Did that mean this chick was on the same level of craziness as her sister? Probably, hell she might even be worse.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face because Dahlia frowned, severely.

Dahlia released Bonnie's hand. "An inconsequential fact of truth, but not the matter at hand. I don't make it a habit to help those without getting something in return."

Bonnie prevented her eye roll with everything she had. Would it always be tit for tat when it comes to Klaus and his family?

"However, I see something in your eyes, Bonnie. You don't want to hone your craft for frivolous reasons, and you're not obsessed with power," Dahlia began to circle her. "There's fear in you…hatred, and you want them both gone. I will push you in ways, Bonnie that will seem cruel because they are cruel. They will break you not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, but nothing again in this world or the next will be able to touch you. If you're not ready for that then here is your one and only chance to refuse my help."

Dahlia faced Bonnie head on.

The women's gazes didn't waver. Bonnie inhaled, "I've been told repeatedly how powerful my family is but I've only been shown the opposite. I need training because…because I'm tired of my magic ruling me and everyone around me ruling my magic. I can handle whatever you throw at me."

Dahlia smirked in approval. "Well then, we start when the moon is high tomorrow night. Use your magic to find me, witchling."

Anxiety flooded Bonnie the minute Dahlia left the room. What the hell had she just gotten herself into?

Klaus reappeared, tumbler of blood in his hand. "You haven't forgotten what tonight is, have you?"

Bonnie sighed heavily. "The spring masquerade."

"There's no need for you to return to your little hovel at the B&B. Everything you need is right upstairs. Be ready no later than eight o'clock. In the meantime help yourself to these," Klaus removed a damask cloth off a table to reveal seven grimoires. He departed with a wink.

Another call routed straight to voicemail. Elena Gilbert blew out a breath and infused joy into her voice as she left a message for Bonnie. "Hey it's me. We haven't really touched based and that's my fault. Give me a call back when you get this. I hope you're okay."

She was distracted prior to hanging up as Damon traversed out of his closet and over to the full length mirror.

Elena wondered if she would ever get to a point where she'd take his hotness for granted, but watching Damon as he knotted his tie the likelihood of that happening seemed nil. She found her thoughts ridiculous at times how the simple things he did could turn her on, like putting lotion on his arms. She wasn't a prepubescent teen with a crush, but a 20-ish immortal falling in love with someone she had her memories of, erased.

Remnants from last night's dinner bounced around in Elena's head. She was pretty sure Lily hated her—or at least hated the fact she dated both of her sons. Damon had been distracted the last twelve hours hardly standing still long enough for them to talk. Yes, he had a lot on his plate, but she wished he would unload some of his burdens on her. There was more to her than what was between her legs.

However staring at him gave her a one track mind. Damon's kiss made her womb clench, his touch incited butterflies, his smile liquefied her soul, his dick could make her come for hours. Damon was a sexual superconductor in a Brioni tux.

They were slated to go to the spring masquerade, but her traitorous thoughts wanted the both of them to remain sequestered in his bedroom.

Elena stood behind Damon in an instant, arms going around his middle, mindful not to smudge makeup on his shirt. "We have time," she whispered.

A telltale grin bloomed, "Fiend," he teased.

"Our presence won't be missed if we don't go."

"I need to keep tabs on my mother. She'll be there tonight as well as Bonnie."

Oh wow I should know that, Elena mused shamefully. "I should know that my best friend will be there. I've barely hung out with Bonnie and after the hell she's gone through…what's wrong with me, Damon?"

Damon pried Elena's arms from around his middle and slipped his into his tuxedo jacket. "Instead of lamenting about what a piss poor friend you've been why don't you just be one." Elena blinked at his frankness. "We need to go."

In a second floor bedroom, Bonnie ran her fingers over the diaphanous skirt of her gown. A soft tap precipitated the door's opening which she disregarded in favor of watching people bottleneck inside of the estate.

She caught sight of a specific couple emerging from the back of a stretch limo. Her stomach churned uneasily.

"Oh, don't they make quite the pair. I'm surprised they've lasted this long. Suppose I underestimated the doppelganger's codependency."

Bonnie abandoned the windows and resumed putting the finishing touches to her attire. Her throat bobbed as she hooked an earring into her lobe.

Klaus kept her within sight. "You…never seen you look more beautiful."

"Thanks."

"And I'm sure heads will turn."

"I'm sure they will if you hit them right."

The Original laughed and sobered. "How did you find my aunt?"

"Scary."

Klaus elevated an eyebrow but it did little to subtract from the mirth dancing in his blue irises. "Did you expect anything less when it comes to a member of my family?"

Bonnie shook her head. Her talk with Dahlia weighed heavily on Bonnie's mind. Outside of the anxiousness the older sorceress stirred, Sheila Bennett's granddaughter couldn't deny she was looking forward to whatever Dahlia planned to teach her. Making stuff float, catch on fire, or break had pretty much been the crux of her expertise in the beginning. Then her magic matriculated but it wasn't at a pace Bonnie sanctioned. She was ready to graduate, but on her terms.

"Ready?" Klaus' eyes were glued to everything below her neck.

"I've attended my own funeral but I'm not ready for this."

Klaus smirked and held out his arm. Squaring her shoulders, Bonnie marched up to the hybrid and slid hers around the proffered limb.

"If at any point I'm inappropriate…I blame that dress."

A nervous laugh slipped out before Bonnie could stop it. Oh, joy.

Glasses clinked together spilling frothy bubbles on skin. Peels of laughter competed to be heard over enthusiastic chatter where everyone sounded like they were speaking in exclamation points.

Gloved hands reached excitedly for samples of delicacies never before tasted, morsels of gourmet cuisine sliding down throats draped in crystals or cinched in bow ties. Servers dressed as 17th century English courtiers flitted around with gilded trays balanced perfectly on fingertips. It was a lavish affair, the best masquerade ball yet according to the gossip.

Damon happened to look up to the second story of the palatial estate, saw a curtain flutter. With Elena on his arm they followed the flow of traffic inside. It never failed to amaze the blue-eyed vampire how it took so little to impress the people of this town. Their simplicity and ignorance he found grating, but would trade what he knew to be like them. If he could keep the speed, regeneration, and ageless face then he'd be all for it.

He wrestled up drinks, passing a flute of Dom to Elena. He stared at her in the corseted brocade gown amazed at his luck that he could have the girl of his dreams and things were good between them. Yes, he was hiding a secret, but it would be revealed in time, and almost may have kissed her (his) best friend, but he didn't. However, guilt plagued him as if he had.

Damon dropped a kiss on Elena's cheek as a distraction. Her eyes sparkled through the gold face mask she wore.

Covertly, Damon stretched his neck locking on anyone with a caramel complexion. Much too soon he and Elena were back outside. The weather was cool and didn't bother either of them, but quite a few women were shivering in their wraps whereas men stuffed their hands in their tailored pants pockets.

Braziers had been strategically placed throughout the lawn making jeweled gowns and masks glow.

"Do you see Bonnie anywhere?" Elena asked.

Damon shook his head. "I'm sure she'll be here soon enough. Let's go mingle."

Right before they could do as he suggested, Jo and Alaric made their way over to them, a third party trailing behind.

Fireworks exploded in the sky drawing the crowd's attention, quieting conversations. People oohed and awed, many popped out their phones to record the multihued display absorbing the festivities through the lens of a touchscreen rather than the lens of their eye.

"You guys finally made it," Alaric said. "Let me introduce you to Jo's friend, Dr. Evan O'Neal."

Remembering to don his 'human' robes, Damon extended his hand for a shake towards the physician. "Nice to meet you, I'm Damon Salvatore."

"Pleasure."

Out of Damon's peripheral, he caught sight of two figures standing at the top of the stairs that led from the posterior of the house to the lawn.

He did a double take, eyes bulging as he watched.

There was no mistaking that the masked figure was Klaus, damn dimples could be seen from a mile away. Yet Damon's gaze was inexplicably drawn to the woman latched on the hybrid's arm.

Dressed in a gown in the deepest shade of purple known to man that the fabric looked black, it moved like liquid silk around her form. Every time she took a step her entire left leg was exposed in a near crotch high split. The shoulder straps led down to the bosom and crisscrossed over her breasts but left an inverted triangle of skin exposed in her midsection right above her navel where the gown was intricately belted.

Her makeup was the most dramatic he had ever seen it. Full lips painted a shocking shade of black; her lids were a myriad of golds, browns and long, thick lashes. The witch's hair was piled in an ornate updo decorated with gold and diamond hair pins.

By accident, Damon squeezed the long forgotten hand in his, breaking bones. A chorus of expletives was tossed in the air like confetti barely registering with the stunned vampire.

"Damon let go of his gotdamn hand!" Alaric howled. "You're breaking it!"

"What?" he whirled his attention back to Alaric and finally took stock of the death grip he had on Dr. O'Neal. He instantly let go after seeing the man's molten face. "Sorry."

Silently crying and biting into his lips, Evan shuffled from foot to foot. Jo quickly assumed control and ushered the injured doctor away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Alaric demanded.

What was wrong with him? Plenty. The first, Bonnie and Klaus. The second…that dress.

A/N: Cliffhangers, we hate em, I know but I just ran out of steam guys, and so much happened in this chapter. Thanks for reading, please review. I really had a time with this, rewriting it multiple times. So please, feedback won't make it feel I did all this stressing in vain.

Translations:

1) I will use your blood whore of a girlfriend against you.

2) She's so eager for approval she'll help me.