No matter where you were someone was always watching. Some valued safety in numbers while others believed there could be no safety found in a large crowd. Being supernatural there were things one always had to be aware of even when one seemingly wasn't paying attention.

Eyes had been affixed on her all night, watching her every move. But she never once noticed or seemed to detect that she had drawn someone's interest.

"What kind of bird is that?"

A woman inclined her head to stare up at the tree they were seated under. Black feathers, massive and deadly looking talons gripped the rough branch the bird was perched on. The bird didn't look all that unusual to her, but once she took in its strange yellow-orange eyes as it stared intently at her…the hairs on the nape of her neck began to rise.

"I-I don't know. Let's go find our friends," she tugged her date along.

The bird shrugged and returned its focus to its object of study.

Across the vast lawn the revelers were still gorging themselves on the never ending champagne and taste bud bursting eats.

A certain doppelganger felt her slower-than-human heart beat, beat double at the tail end of Caroline's unsolicited observation.

Slowly, like a deranged elf, the blonde smiled at the brunette.

Elena waited until Caroline pranced off because had she made a move while the blonde tauntingly lingered, she would have felt exactly like a jilted and jealous girlfriend. The doppelganger wanted to believe she wasn't experiencing those emotions, but she needed to end the practice of lying to herself.

Looking at Damon and Bonnie dance, deepening their bond, bothered her. And Elena felt she was well within her right to be bothered. Somewhere in the far recesses of her mind she felt she had placed Stefan in this exact position. Enforced sidelining while she grew feelings for his brother. It didn't feel great wearing the other shoe. Elena could reason Damon was being overly attentive to her friend because she showed up as Klaus' date, and his mother was hell-bent on lobbying Bonnie's help to get her family. However, she couldn't ignore what was right in front of her, or what she saw a few days ago at Whitmore. The two of them walking across campus with Damon's arm slung over Bonnie's shoulder; the brief moment their fingers were intertwined. And she definitely couldn't stop hearing Caroline's crude assessment about one of them wanting to fuck the other.

Before she could bring her horses to heel, Elena straightened her shoulders and made her way through the crowd arriving right next to Bonnie, eyes on her boyfriend who seemed a bit surprised to see her as if he had forgotten they showed up here together.

Elena added a smile to her voice that she didn't feel, tapped Bonnie's shoulder. "Mind if I cut in? He's been hogged long enough."

Bonnie glanced at Elena taking in her slightly flared nostrils and the burgeoning mania brightening the hue of her brown eyes. She diverted to Damon and slid away while he appeared distracted.

Elena happily slid in Bonnie's place draping her arms around Damon's neck, threading her fingers through his hair. The cogs in Damon's mind were slow to process the fact that Bonnie bowed out and his girlfriend was acting uncharacteristically territorial. Damon, prior to being trapped in 1994 would have eaten this up with a spoon and asked for seconds, but Damon post 1994 found what Elena said a bit rude.

Inertia made him move, leading his girlfriend into a simple two step that was far from elaborate. All the while, Damon tracked Bonnie as she headed for the tables peppered throughout the lawn.

A moment later, his brow furrowed when Stefan popped up out of nowhere and extended a hand to Bonnie. Elena was sighing contently, which Damon disregarded in lieu of eavesdropping on the exchange happening between his brother and the witch.

"You've danced with Klaus, my brother…I feel it's my turn, Bonnie."

"Why would I want to dance with you, Stefan?"

"You want me to list reasons?" he slithered closer, smiled slyly. "Well, let's see. I'm much better at dancing than my cum stain of a brother, and I'm almost positive I'm sexier than that two-faced hybrid. Plus you and I…we've never danced vertically or horizontally before. Why not give it a shot?"

Bonnie wove her arms across her chest. Stefan had no shame in checking out her cleavage. "I think I've had all the dancing I can stand tonight. Sorry."

She attempted to flee but Stefan caught Bonnie around the wrist, not enough to hurt but enough for her to feel and immediately tense. Being touched without invitation was one of her triggers, and the flames of a nearby tripod began to rage startling quite a few people. Damon stopped moving altogether prepared to intervene and knock Stefan's teeth out if he did anything to Bonnie.

"What's going on? Why'd you stop?" Elena questioned. The music was still playing and couples were still dancing.

Her query went unanswered. Damon was about to drop his hold on his girlfriend but Stefan spun Bonnie around, her back pressed along his front, hand dropping to her waist, chin on her shoulder.

"Remember when I held you like this?" Stefan whispered and at that moment deliberately made eye contact with Damon whose face was extremely pinched. "When you fell beneath the church and I saved you. I turned you around like this, wrapped my arms around you just so," he demonstrated, hugging Bonnie's middle, "and I told you to close your eyes?"

For a second Damon was willing to haul off and call Stefan a liar because he hadn't heard this particular story before. When the hell did this happen? he pondered. He glared at Bonnie who was staring at something only she could see.

"Yes, I remember that, Stefan but what is your point?" she maneuvered out of his arms, uncomfortable with having him behind her.

"I was so saintly back then," he snorted derisively, picking up Bonnie's left hand and placed it on his shoulder. "When I first gave you blood…no one stopped to question why I had to place my ear right on your chest to detect a heartbeat when my hearing is far better than a dolphin's," his grin inspired shivers to run across Bonnie's flesh. "I may have had a soft spot for you."

Unbeknownst to Bonnie, she and Stefan were swaying to the music. "Are you trying to tell me I'm your emotional trigger?" she laughed humorlessly.

Stefan frowned. "No, you're missing the point. The point I'm trying to make is that I wanted to fu—"

"All right, I think that's enough chit-chatting between you two," Damon flashed over, eyes crazed.

Bonnie jumped at his sudden appearance whereas Stefan was mildly annoyed and amused.

Unwilling to be left out of the drama, Elena barreled her way through the crowd and hissed to her boyfriend, "What are you doing?"

"Yes, Damon what are you doing?" Stefan mocked.

Bonnie muttered, "I could so be eating pie right now."

Damon spoke over everyone, "All I'm trying to do is save your ass from being lit up tonight," he speared his brother with a scowl.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. She did have some self-control. But then she thought, nostalgically, it had been a while since she flame broiled a vampire. Her fingertips began tingling.

Stefan was arguing, "Somehow I don't believe that's why you came over here intruding on something that's really none of your business."

"It is my business when I see your defective ass trying to make a move on Bonnie," Damon fired back.

"What?" that was Elena.

"Excuse me?" that was Bonnie.

Stefan grinned while Damon began to backpedal once it computed what he said and how it could be misinterpreted.

The dark-haired vampire shuffled in his designer loafers taking care not to look at anything or more to the matter anyone too intently. He felt lasers beaming from his girlfriend and could count the dimples in Bonnie's forehead.

Damon tugged on his sleeve, "I'm looking out for Bonnie as a friend." Lowly for Stefan to hear which unfortunately Elena heard as well, Damon gritted, "Go find another pair of legs to crawl between."

"—as much as I appreciate you trying to look out for me, Damon what I don't need is this pissing contest," Bonnie was saying amid the brothers stare down.

It didn't escape Damon that his little brother's wandering gaze landed on Elena when he advised him to look for pussy elsewhere.

"You might want to take care of that problem, brother. Your erection for a certain witch is showing." Stefan enunciated in perfect Italian. The girls were taken aback since it was their first time hearing him speak his ancestral language. He smiled charmingly at them both.

Damon graced Stefan with a dark look.

"Damon, can I talk to you or a second?" Elena petitioned.

"Yeah—"

Klaus showed up becoming another tentacle on this malformed octopus. He chugged from a flute of champagne having regrettably overheard the Salvatore brothers squabble. The doppelganger was fuming, irritable that the attention wasn't focused on her for once, if Klaus had to guess while Bonnie looked ready to bolt. He had been somewhat neglectful of her for the last hour of so. It was time he corrected that.

"Hate to interrupt your nth discussion about absolutely nothing. I'm sure my date would like to take her leave," Klaus extended an arm waiting for Bonnie's compliance.

Instead of taking the out she was being given, Bonnie gathered the hem of her dress and took off in the opposite direction.

No one had been in danger of dying, but the night was slowly becoming a waste of her time. Bonnie figured she'd done her duty and was now free to go.

Caroline, who stood some distance away heard what her one night stand said and surveyed as Klaus trailed after Bonnie. The hybrid caught up with the Bennett witch flashing in front of her. From the downturned corners of his mouth he didn't like being snubbed. It was a feeling they both shared.

She was pissed Stefan rather feed off the tart who he failed to drain during the Miss Mystic Falls pageant way back when. She'd never seen a vampire fail at being a vampire like Stefan…wait there was Elena. Never mind. In addition, Klaus hadn't picked up on her presence. So much for being her last love if he couldn't even detect her pheromones or however it worked. Fuck him.

Perhaps if she compelled a few losers and ordered them to cause a little mayhem that might do the trick. Attention was attention whether positive or negative. The goal was to be the center of someone's priorities. Now it was a matter of selecting someone. There were a lot to choose from. Ms. Scott the guidance counselor? Mr. Freeman the post office supervisor?

"You can do better than that," Caroline whispered to herself.

"Caroline."

She went still. A corner of her eye narrowed. The blonde vampire forewent turning to the summons electing to remain facing forward. "What do you want…Tyler?"

Tyler Lockwood sidled up to his ex in a black suit and tie. He offered her his hand. "Dance with me."

Snorting a laugh, Caroline tossed her curls on her opposite shoulder. "You think a twirl around the dance floor will trigger some emotion and my humanity will come flooding back in?"

Tyler hunched a shoulder. "I didn't say anything about any of that. I just want to dance with my friend. That dress is gorgeous…shouldn't go to waste."

Well, Caroline could say she agreed. Tyler did have a way of appealing to the superficial and well put together side of her. As she drew a measured eye over Tyler he sure as hell was wearing the fuck out of his suit. "Fine. Whatever," she slapped her hand in his, refusing to give credence to the small spark that zipped up her arm at the contact of their skin.

Bonnie wondered why her male counterparts were exhibiting such enthusiasm to be in her face all night. They had certainly never gone out of their way at dances and parties in the past to be paraded on her arm like a purse. Part of her wanted to laugh because she was so done, yet the other half of her was ready to crush a few toes if it meant she could have some breathing room. She glowered at Klaus curious as to when he'd stop blowing hot air out of his mouth because she stopped listening to him the second he blocked her way to freedom.

"Suck it, Klaus," Bonnie interrupted. "The night is done for me." She skirted around the Original, and checked to make sure he wasn't shadowing her once she got some distance away. Bonnie was sort of…relieved that he was engrossed with a particular dancing couple. Bonnie sort of a did a double take. Caroline and Tyler? Wow, she didn't even know they were here.

She heard a pair of heels fall in step behind her. Casting a quick glance over her shoulder she saw who it was. Lily Salvatore.

Bonnie released a long suffering sigh. She stopped and regarded the woman knowing it was inevitable, trading pleasantries and subtle threats. "Hello, Mrs. Salvatore."

"Bonnie, please call me Lily. You look…very becoming. I can see why my son is…well never mind. I was hoping to get a chance to converse with you. However, getting a moment of your time seemed to be next to impossible."

"What did you want to talk about?"

Lily stood only a foot away from the witch. "Perhaps now isn't the occasion. I'd like to extend you an invitation to dine with me at the Mystic Grill. Tomorrow at noon, will that work?"

"Unfortunately tomorrow isn't good for me. In fact this whole week I'm busy."

Lily frowned. "That's…disappointing to hear. However, I think you can squeeze me in for a drink at the least."

And that didn't sound like a request Bonnie noted. "I'll see what I can do, Mrs. Salvatore."

Lily cinched her teeth on top of one another, but smiled. "Let me give you my number," she plowed into her clutch and extracted a piece of paper with her number already scribbled on it. She handed it over to Bonnie. "Enjoy the ball. I'm going to retire now."

Bonnie said nothing, merely stepped aside as Lily journeyed to the house. She balled the paper in her hand—made sure no one was watching and, incinerated it.

However someone did see.

It was the sliver of time where night was close to conceding to dawn. She was tired but unable to rest because of the noise. Bonnie left the confines of the house unsurprised the party was still in full swing. She hung back surveying the scene. Some of the attendees were barely able to remain upright, a few sat at tables conversing. She could count the number of couples who loitered on the dance floor not even pretending to dance in time with the music anymore. Clearly they were battling exhaustion.

Bonnie maneuvered out of the way as a woman fumbled to reach the house, hand clamped tightly over her mouth. She didn't make it to a bathroom.

"Eww, gross," Bonnie moved away from the splatter and headed across the lawn. She stopped one of the serves and told him to check up on the woman, and offer her a glass of water.

A brawl broke out. The last thing anyone needed at what was supposed to be a civilized event.

"Idiots," she chided. Yep it was time for these people to go home.

Bonnie had just reached the edge of the dance floor.

"WATCH OUT!"

But it was too late. One man pushed the other and he went hurtling backwards knocking over a tripod. The burning coals flew through the air which wouldn't have been that big of a problem had Bonnie not been in the literal line of fire.

A smoldering coal hit her dress at the thigh, igniting the fabric. People screamed, stared in horror as a tiny flame grew into a wave of fire that used her gown as kindling.

Everyone froze.

Bonnie stared down at herself, then up. Heat waves skewered her vision of the gawking crowd, but she could see someone flying into action. A man grabbed a pail with watered down ice and began rushing toward her, spilling most of the contents on the ground while a woman screamed for her to stop, drop, and roll.

It was a vampire, however, with glacial eyes who shrugged off his coat ready to use it to fight off the flames. He arrived at her side first.

Yet Bonnie took a step, flames engulfing her feet, her clothing nothing more than a memory. As she looked at them…she realized they kind of tickled, like a feather being dragged along her flesh though she was sure it didn't look as harmless as it felt. She didn't look away from Damon—flames reflected in her irises as she kept walking. Step by step, droplets of fire like rain fell away. Soon enough the red-orange flames receded as if being sucked into a vacuum, ebbed until they were billows of light gray smoke and then nothing at all.

There was a resounding gasp. For a second Damon was one of those staring in horrified awe before mentally shaking his head. Without question, Damon vampire sped Bonnie to a secluded area of the estate.

"Are you hurt?" Damon gripped Bonnie's arms and twisted them frantically searching for any singed skin.

He found nothing.

"I channel fire, Damon. It can't hurt me."

A corner of his mouth kicked up at the corner. He grazed her arm and felt how warm she was. Seeing her on fire made his balls find their new home in his throat, but he should have known better. As he examined her he had to hold back a groan.

Damon threw his jacket over Bonnie's shoulders. She gave him a curious look. "You may be fine but your dress isn't. Your ass is hanging out."

Bonnie frowned then fought off a smile. "So that's where that draft is coming from."

Elena was by their side, eyes wide with disturbed excitement. "Ohmygod, Bonnie are you okay?" she asked in that breathy voice of hers.

Nodding stiffy Bonnie traded a look with Damon. "I need to go change."

"I'll come with you," Elena volunteered.

"No, it's okay. I think I remember how to dress myself. Work on damage control," Bonnie jerked her chin at those who were clustered together in groups, whispering fiercely to one another if they thought what they had seen had actually happened. "About a hundred people just witnessed me catching on fire. Definitely don't need that popping up on the news."

Damon became aware of that mentally complaining about the number of people he'd have to compel. But she was right. By the time he gave Bonnie his undivided attention again she was scurrying off to the house.

"The party is over when the guest of honor becomes a literal girl on fire."

Bonnie said nothing as Klaus joined her in the spare bedroom. His tie was gone as well as his tuxedo jacket, and those damnable lips of his were still bright, cherry red.

She zipped up her jeans. "And where were you while your date was on fire?" the young witch glared and it wasn't a playful one.

If he was chagrined it was difficult to tell. His eyes were flat. "Dealing with an unforeseeable revelation. Why are you packing? I thought it was agreed you'd stay here."

"Come on, you and I both know that I was never going to lie under the same roof as you. Being your date was part of the terms and I've fulfilled that. Being your roomie wasn't in the fine print, and trust I checked to make sure."

Klaus' dimples winked at her. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. Bonnie could tell there was something he wanted to say.

"What?" she threw out.

"I figured it would be a hard sell to convince you to remain here so…I may have made other arrangements."

"What other arrangements?"

Klaus withdrew a key from his pocket, "My sister Rebekah has a nice little cottage on the outskirts of town. It's yours for the duration of our partnership."

Bonnie was sure her mouth was hanging open in a very unattractive manner. She recovered swiftly enough. "I-I can't stay in her home. What if she decides to pop in for a visit?"

The expression on Klaus' face changed, but only a fraction and since Bonnie didn't know him well enough she had no idea what it could possibly mean.

"You don't have to worry about my sister showing up unannounced at her own home. It's yours," he placed the key on the bureau along with a folded note. "Directions on how to get there." Klaus flashed his dimples once more. "Thank you for the…interesting evening."

In an instant he was gone.

"Are you ready?" Elena wrapped her shawl around her shoulders once leaving the foyer and joining Damon outside.

"You can head on to the house. I'm going to hang around here for a while. Make sure Bonnie gets home without anything catastrophic happening."

As much as Elena would like to give points to her boyfriend for being such an awesome friend to Bonnie, she couldn't get rid of the sting of jealousy she felt and anger toward herself for being ridiculous. Everyone had the capacity to care about more than one or two people at a time, but Damon's friendship with Bonnie seemed like it was more than that.

Her words, "She means something different to you," bit Elena on the ass.

Damon sensed she was pouting even if she weren't outwardly showing it. He pulled Elena into his chest and kissed her soundly on the mouth. She was dazed and smiley when they broke apart and Damon was thankful their limo pulled around at that time. He nudged his girlfriend toward it.

She hesitated not wanting to get inside right away. "Tonight was crazy and I'm sure Bonnie is glad it's over…but if she was able to survive being accidentally sat on fire…I think she'll make it home okay."

"You want to say that to her face?" Damon challenged.

The doppelganger swallowed, stared at her feet. "Da—"

"I know tonight didn't pan out how you were expecting but I hope you understand the circumstances."

"I do."

"Good. Nothing's changed," the dark-haired vampire arched a brow hoping Elena got the message. Her smile said she was appeased for now, but he knew this topic was going to be brought up and butchered to death later.

Elena climbed into the limo and arranged her skirts.

Damon shut the door and turned on his heel the minute the limo drove away. He found Bonnie attired in her usual threads still with a full face of makeup. She was cramming things into a suitcase while another bag was packed and zippered on the bed.

"Need a ride?"

Bonnie jerked around to face Damon. "I have a ride."

"Need a chaperone, then?"

She smirked, "I guess you'll do."

Damon grabbed the bag off the bed to expedite the process. "What the hell do you have in here? Klaus' silverware?"

Bonnie chuckled darkly, "Something a bit more valuable than that. Grimoires to teach me the many ways to kill those who oppose me."

Lips turned down at the corner, Damon shrugged, "Wonderful. After you, milady."

The duo stored Bonnie's luggage into the trunk of her Prius. She peeled off into the night mentally following the directions Klaus had given her.

"Where exactly are we going because this isn't the way to the B&B?" Damon stated from the passenger seat five minutes into their drive.

"How observant you are, Mr. Salvatore. We're not going there but to a temporary spot. So…what was up with you tonight?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I was trying not to dance with your brother but he seemed determined to make it happen. Why'd you rush over like that? I hope you know you're planting all sorts of ideas into your girlfriend's head."

"Ideas about what? Was it wrong that I stopped my brother from polluting your virgin ears?"

Bonnie laughed. "These ears are far from being virgin especially after living with you." Damon chortled. "Besides there's nothing about me that is a virgin."

Damon made an indecipherable noise in the back of his throat. "You were with Jeremy that automatically makes you one."

A tiny fist swung out and smacked him in the chest. Damon was positive he heard a bone crack. The pain was immediate and he actually doubled over. "Ouch," he wheezed.

"Say one more piece of nonsense. You'll be limping home."

"All right, chill Grace Jones."

"Shut up. Now answer my question. Why did you literally leave Elena in the dust to stick your nose where it didn't belong in that moment?"

"I thought you just told me to shut up."

"Damon."

He slouched deeper in the cushiony seat. "I don't know. Blame it on impulse because I know how Stefan is when his humanity is nowhere to be found. A lot of people have said a lot of shit to you and…I guess…I wanted to spare you from hearing anymore."

Bonnie took her eyes off the winding road to slight Damon with a look. "I suppose that's a…nice thing to do for a friend."

"It is," Damon sniffed. "Now back to these ideas you think I'm putting in Elena's head." He knew he shouldn't enjoy the thought of Jealous Elena and being caught in the middle and unintentionally fought over, but Damon couldn't resist feeling like the last slice of cake in a room full of sweet tooth junkies.

Bonnie rolled a shoulder and flicked on her left turn signal taking the road that would lead to her new home.

"Think about it, Damon. You showed up with your girlfriend but you spent a majority of the night with me. It looks…sketchy."

"We're friends so what's there to be sketchy about? Besides, I think you catching on fire should excuse my lack of being the perfect doting boyfriend."

"And going home with me? How can you explain that?"

"Klaus is in town, I don't trust him and I have no idea where the hell you're going and I need to know. My mother is an issue as well, gunning for you because she has it in her head that you'll help her get her 'family' back." The bitterness and rage in Damon's voice was unmistakable. "You have a bad habit of dying and not letting people know, Bonnie. Sorry if I just want to make sure you don't do it again. If Elena can't understand that then…"

"Then what?"

Damon stared at her profile. "Then I guess she's not as compassionate as we've all been saying she is."

Bonnie couldn't argue with that but she was still…well it was weird and different to hear and see someone show so much concern for her. Being on the receiving end of that was…peculiar.

"About your mother," Bonnie readjusted in the seat, sitting taller. "She cornered me tonight, invited me to have lunch with her, and gave me her number."

"I hope you said no and lost her number."

"I did turn her down and I did better than lose a slip of paper…" her eyes twinkled as she looked at him, "I burned it."

"Good girl." Pause. "I know you want to keep me in the dark…but do you have a failsafe in place in the event my mother gets in one of her sentimental moods and decides she wants to visit where she buried the ascendant?"

"I do have something in mind. Something I learned earlier today."

Damon leaned over the console. "Don't be a tease, witchy. Tell me."

"I rather be a tease."

Damon poked out his bottom lip.

The two said nothing, didn't even make a sound as Bonnie rolled her car to a stop in front of the 'cottage' which was in fact a two story house nestled in a patch of trees. It was cute and rustic from the outside painted white with blue shutters and flower beds with budding rhododendrons. Seeing them made Bonnie think back to the masked figure at the ball who handed her a bouquet of those flowers. Klaus had divulged their meaning: Beware. Was what happened to her tonight connected to the person who handed her that parcel of flowers? Or could she chuck it up to coincidence? Or, and this made her throat tighten, had it been a test from Dahlia? Though her training was set for tomorrow night maybe the ancient witch wanted to see how she'd handle a spontaneous crisis.

She may never know.

Witch and vampire exited the car. As soon as they did, motion sensor floodlights popped on.

Damon had graciously retrieved her bags while Bonnie opened the front door.

The lights automatically turned on. Bonnie crept inside taking everything in. The furniture was very New England if she had to describe it, oversized everything in neutral colors, no florals. Pine floors in the living room, cream carpet in the dining area offset of the kitchen which had tile. The stone fireplace in the living room was exactly that, a stone fireplace made of individual rocks placed with precision and care. Adjacent to it were a set of built-in shelves full of books.

Damon whistled as he leaned into the doorjamb. "Nice."

"It is."

"Gonna invite me in?"

Bonnie cocked her head to the side. "You mean you can't get in? The owner is a vampire."

"I'm merely trying to be polite."

"Come in, Damon."

He bounded inside dragging her luggage behind him, smirking. "I actually couldn't get in. And what vampire owns this place?"

"Rebekah."

"Great," Damon muttered insincerely.

Bonnie closed the door and dropped the key on the coffee table. She rubbed her arms. It was freezing inside and she went on a search for the thermostat, finding it on the wall that separated the kitchen and living room. She switched on the heat and bumped the temperature to seventy-five.

Damon shed his jacket draping it on the arm of the sofa. He flung himself on the couch that nearly swallowed him, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. He looked at Bonnie and patted the cushion beside him, wagging his brows.

She shook her head. "You've seen me home…I think it's time for you to go to yours."

"Boo. The least you can do is offer me a drink before dismissing me."

"I don't know if there's food here or anything to drink."

"Well, go look."

"How bout you look. You're the one who's thirsty."

Damon made a show of rising from the couch, grunting unnecessarily. "You need to work on your hospitality," he sniffed as he strode by Bonnie, actually brushed against her in the process.

Bonnie wandered around her new home, running her fingers along figurines, pillows, opening a few books, scanning their content.

"Bingo!" Damon emerged from the kitchen with a bottle of wine. "It's a Bordeaux. 1992…my favorite year," he waggled his brows again.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Just open it already."

Damon popped the cork, inhaled the scent of the merlot, his eyes momentarily found their way to the back of his head. The proper way to drink wine was to let it breathe, but he just didn't have the patience for it. Damon upturned the bottle but stopped, and stretched it out to Bonnie.

"This is your home for now…you should have the first swig."

"How thoughtful of you," Bonnie approached and took the bottle into her possession. She held it aloft, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Here's to…learning from mistakes and not repeating old ones while making new memories. Cheers," she downed at least two shots worth of wine, grimaced at its strength, and handed it off to Damon.

He leered, "Lightweight." Damon guzzled like it was water.

Being a messy drinker, a drop of rose colored wine landed on his white button down.

"You spilled wine on your shirt."

Damon shrugged. "It's just a shirt. Unless…this is your roundabout way of saying you want me to take my top off. Bonnie, I'm shocked!"

"You are stupid," she snatched the bottle from Damon and helped herself to more than a mere swallow the second time around.

Her bottom lip was moist with wine and Damon for the life of him couldn't stop staring at it. He went with his impulse to wipe it away using the pad of his thumb. Bonnie's eyebrows jumped but she relaxed into the action. Her breath rushed out tickling the tip of his thumb.

Damon shuffled closer unbeknownst to himself. He didn't know why, but he wanted to pull her hair free, watch it tumble down her to shoulders. He had always had a predilection for pretty girls with long hair. It wasn't until now that Damon could say he secretly hated Bonnie had chopped her hair off into a bob. And now that his brain was on this particular frequency, Damon wondered idly why Bonnie's hair never grew a single inch in the four months they had been trapped together, or during the ten months she had spent in the prison world altogether. Had she trimmed it? Because he still had to shave everyday, and clipped his own hair that had always been somewhat of a lost cause.

Bonnie craned her neck further. She had to in order to maintain eye contact. She pressed a hand on Damon's chest to discourage him from getting any closer. He was staring, boring holes actually which made her self-consciousness flare. This wasn't so dissimilar from earlier tonight while Damon talked her down from a proverbial ledge and she had asked him to tell her she looked nice. What was he thinking? Did she even want to know?

Bonnie diverted her gaze to Damon's chest, her hand on his chest. Now it was registering how muscled he was. She had always known that but touching him put things in clearer perspective. Another thought, more...unadulterated in nature flashed through her mind, which Bonnie sucked in a breath. She smoothed her hand up his chest and circled around his neck. Rising on her toes, Bonnie hugged Damon and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for being there for me tonight."

Drawing away, Bonnie covered up a yawn as she shuffled to drag her suitcase upstairs. Damon's head buzzed like he had a hangover, but he couldn't say if it was from taking the wine straight back, or from feeling a little witch's lips on his cheek.

"Are you going home, Damon?"

Her question startled him. "I should."

However he wasn't exactly ready to leave. He had a bottle of wine to finish after all. At least that's what he told himself.

He lumbered deeper into the living room until he could see Bonnie who stood poised on the staircase. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."

"That may take a while. It's hard for me to fall asleep in a foreign bed."

"I'm not in a rush."

Bonnie's head tilted as she seemingly examined him. Her eyes crinkled but a moment later she shook her head, tugged her suitcase after her. The whole while she thought, "you should be."

At the boardinghouse, Elena disrobed and donned her pajamas, which was one of Damon's T-shirts. She eyed her cell, gnawed the inside of her cheek. An hour had gone by with no sign of her boyfriend. It shouldn't take this long for Damon to make sure Bonnie made it home, she worried. What was taking so long?

"I know your head is a bowl of cabbage when it comes to certain memories…"

Elena whipped around. Stefan loomed in the threshold. "What are you doing here?"

"Last I checked this was my house. As I was saying," he pushed away from the doorjamb and entered his brother's room. "There's one memory of yours in particular that I'm curious if you remember."

Elena crossed her arms horribly conscious of the fact she was braless and her nipples were reacting to the chill of the room. "What might that be?"

Stefan stared unabashedly at her chest for a second. "The party in the woods…the night I saved you when you fell off the bleachers…the night we were almost barbequed alive. I came to your house real late that night and we…"

Elena flushed and slapped a hand over her ex's lips. Yes, she remembered with acute clarity and had to repress a shiver. Stefan had come to her room, stone face and Elena thought he was going to kill her, but he moved forward seizing her mouth frighteningly possessive, and the submissive part of her yielded, giving into his wantonness with a perverse amount of ardor.

Their clothes came off. Stefan had ridden her harder, fucked her like never before that night. Elena had loved it so much she didn't feel used when she woke up alone the next morning.

"What's your point?"

Stefan plucked her hand off his mouth then sucked her index finger into his mouth. Elena snatched her hand away wiping her digit clean of his saliva.

"You remember how wet I made you? I still have the scratches on my back from that night," he smirked evilly. "My point, Elena is we can relive that moment and he wouldn't have to know."

She scoffed, placed the room between herself and her ex. "That's never going to happen, Stefan. Get out."

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

Stefan leered. "All right. Well you know where to find me if you change your mind," he made tracks to the door yet paused. "Here's another question for you, Elena. Where's your boyfriend now?"

A/N: Good question, Stefan? Will prior flames be resurrected? Hmm. Was Bonnie tested tonight by a certain 1000 year old witch, stay tuned to find out, and how did we like the Bamon? Thanks for reading and please, don't forget to review, leave behind a few words of encouragement, anything to keep this muse of mine going.