Bonnie had been in the middle of preparing to meet up with Matt to hang out on a late Saturday afternoon when she received a phone call from Stefan alerting her to Damon's return. Her first instinct was to drop what she was doing and rush over to the Boarding House to give him a piece of her mind for disappearing on her while maintaining radio silence, but she decided that acting irrationally wasn't in her best interest. She was still emotional over the fact that he had disappeared from her bed claiming that there was some big emergency that he needed to deal with and he didn't even bothered calling her to let her know that he was okay and that he hadn't in fact disappeared off the face of the planet.
Starring at her reflection in the mirror in the hallway, she tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear and narrowed her eyes as she quietly inspected her appearance. Her hair was straighten and half way down her shoulders, she was wearing a hunter green dress with tan knee high boots and she was rocking a smoky eye and a bold burgundy lip. While her friendship with Matt was completely platonic, Bonnie had decided to dress up a little in hopes to attracting the eye of a potential hook up. After the incident with Damon, her feminine pride had taken a blow and she was looking to gain a little confidence back that she had lost.
She was interrupted from her silent inspection when her phone rang. She looked down and smiled as she watched her childhood friend's handsome face pop up on the screen.
"Hey, Matt," she greeted cheerfully as she held her phone between her cheek and shoulder.
"Hey, Bon. Are you on the way? Trivia night is about to start, and I need you to hurry your ass up and get here so we can pick a team name. I was thinking the OG Timberwolves." Bonnie could hear the sound of a sports game playing in the back ground along with glass clinking. It was clear that he had already made it to the bar where they were suppose to meet up at.
Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip softly as she thought of the most gentle way that she could tell Matt that she would have to cancel their hang out session. The silence must had given her intention away because Matt sighed heavily before groaning.
"Let me guess. You are blowing me off?" he asked dryly.
"It's not like that," she protested.
"That's what you said the last time you cancelled when we were suppose to go see the new Quentin Tarantino movie together," he griped.
Bonnie felt guilty at the disappointment she heard in his voice. She had been promising to hang out with him for weeks, but it seemed like every time they were scheduled to get together, something on either his end or hers would come up.
"I'm sorry. Something important came up," she said apologetically.
"I bet," he snorted.
"Don't be that way, Mattie. Damon is back in town and I need to talk to him," she said softly.
"Bonnie, I know it is none of my business, but is everything okay between you two?" he asked gently.
"Why do you ask?" she inquired evasively.
"Because Damon is practically like your shadow, so for him to just up and leave town abruptly without even telling you where he was going is kind of strange, even for him," Matt said suspiciously.
When Bonnie didn't respond right away, Matt continued to dig for information. "Tyler told me everything that happened that night at the Armory. Do you think it's possible that Damon got so freaked out over you getting hurt that he flipped his humanity switch and that was the reason why he bolted?"
Bonnie swallowed deeply. She had allowed herself to consider that possibility multiple of times, but she felt like if Damon would have done something drastic, she would have sensed it, but she was smart enough not to put anything past her impulsive best friend.
"Knowing Damon, anything is possible. That's why I need to go see for myself that he is okay," she said quietly.
"If he is without his humanity, it can be dangerous. Do you want me to meet you over there so I can back you up?" he offered.
Bonnie couldn't fight the smile that was spreading across her lips.
"That won't be necessary, Matt. Damon knows what will happen if he gets violent with me. Besides, Stefan will be there so I don't think that he will try anything stupid."
"Well it is Damon that we are talking about. We both know he can be impulsive and reckless," he reminded her.
Images of Damon kissing her abruptly immediately flashed across her mind.
"I know that all too well," she mumbled trying to think about anything but Damon's tongue inside of her mouth and between her legs.
"Well I'm not going to hold you up. Go take care of what you need to and call me the moment you get home," he said firmly.
"Yes Dad," she sighed amused.
"I prefer daddy," he corrected dryly.
"Bye Matt," she snorted before ending the call.
Taking one last glance in the mirror, Bonnie grabbed her car keys and purse and headed out the house.
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
Stefan looked up from the book he was reading as he heard the sound of something crashing in the room above his head. He narrowed his eyes as he heard the grunts grow louder and the womanly moans hit a feverish high pitch. Looking down at the weathered copy of Animal Farm that was resting on his lap, Stefan smirked as he glanced over the passage that he had just scanned over. Damon definitely was both man and a pig if the way he was screwing that poor girl he bought home with was any indication.
Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to read in peace for the foreseeable future, he sighed heavily and tossed the book onto the coffee table before sitting up on the couch. When Damon had returned earlier that morning, Stefan hadn't been able to grill him on his whereabouts due to the fact that his brother hadn't come home alone. He had stumbled through the doors half drunk with a middle aged woman on his arm. While the woman had been pretty in her own right, there was something about her that seemed...off. The brief moment he had managed to make eye contact had made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and although he didn't' know for sure, he had a feeling that the woman that Damon was currently screwing was not human.
He was interrupted from his internal musings when he heard the door of the Boarding House open and close. He knew that the unexpected visitor was someone in their close circle because only a few people had the privilege of entering the house without announcing their arrival with the customary rapping of knuckles on the door. As he watched Bonnie's silhouette appear in the foyer, a smile fell on his lips as he stood up to greet her.
"Where is Damon?" she inquired trying not to let her anger seep into her voice, "My foot needs to have a conversation with his ass."
Stefan couldn't help but laugh. "You probably should have worn something a little more practical if you intend on roughing my brother up.
"Just because I'm wearing a dress and heels doesn't mean I'm not capable of taking Damon down," she said smugly.
"Duly noted," he murmured giving her a slight nod. "I'm afraid that Damon is a little preoccupied."
Bonnie scoffed as she dropped her purse and car keys on the coffee table next to his book.
"Let me guess. He is knee deep in a Bourbon bath. Typical," she shook her head
"Something like that," he said cryptically, "So how is the leg holding up?"
"I'm completely pain free but unfortunately it seems like Tyler's little nibble left me with a permanent scar," she sighed fiddling anxiously with the hem of her dress, "I guess it's just one more to add to my collection."
Stefan could only stare at the young witch sympathetically as she casually brushed off the incident of her recent trauma. Most humans would probably have had a nervous breakdown if they have dealt with just a fraction of the trauma that Bonnie had suffered, but Bonnie wasn't like most humans. She was a witch, a Bennett witch at that, and she was probably one of the most resilient people that he knew. Despite the fact that she was the textbook version of strength, he appreciated that life hadn't succeeded in making her hard and that there was still a softness about her that was warm and inviting.
"I can't help but feel responsible for what happened to you. You and Damon went to the Armory looking for a way to help me out of my situation, and you got hurt because of it," he said apologetically with a look of regret and self loathing etched into his handsome face.
Bonnie wasn't surprised that Stefan was blaming himself for the incident. That was one of his character flaws that she had grown to accept. He was the kind of guy who would shoulder the blame of anything bad happening because he was such a martyr.
Bonnie smiled softly before addressing him. "Listen, Stefan. What happened that night was not your fault. Yes, Damon and I was there to help you and yes, Tyler did hurt me, but Enzo orchestrated everything that led to me being bitten so he is the only person who is at fault," she said firmly.
Stefan forehead grew a couple of wrinkles as he folded his arms across his chest.
"After I learned what happened, I knew that Enzo needed to be dealt with. It wasn't the first time that he threatened you and tried to kill my brother," he reminded her as his forest green eyes darkened noticeably.
His statement made Bonnie's mind travel back to the time where Enzo had threatened to hurt her when he was on a mission to find out what happened to Maggie James. Stefan and Elena had been held captive and not wanting any harm to come her way, Stefan had lied to Enzo in order to convince him to let her go. Later that night, Stefan had gone after Enzo and they had fought violently only to have Enzo force Stefan to kill him as a way to drive a wedge between Damon and Stefan.
"Just so you know, I paid him a little visit and made sure he knew would think twice before coming near you or Damon ever again.
"What did you do?" she asked softly, her curiosity getting the best of her as she toyed with the crystal tumbler sitting on the wet bar next to Damon's beloved Bourbon.
Stefan joined her at the bar and lifted his favorite bottle of Scotch out of the collection of liquors lined up neatly near the wall.
"I shoved my head into his chest and casually reminded him that I remember what it was like to hold his heart in my hand and if he comes near you again, I will have no problem removing it and sending him straight to hell ," he said his voice low and deadly. "I think I got my point across."
The violence she heard laced in Stefan's voice nearly made her shiver. Bonnie had been around Stefan long enough to see the many different sides of his personality. She knew the love struck Stefan, the sarcastically funny Stefan, the Ripper Stefan, but her favorite was the quiet and brooding Stefan who promised murder to anyone who hurt the people he considered to be close to him. Mostly that look was reserved for Damon, Elena, and Caroline, but Bonnie could recall the one time that she had witnessed that look on her behalf.
It was the time when Ben had kidnapped her and held her and Elena hostage in a hotel room. Bonnie had been terribly afraid that she and her best friend were going to die, but when Stefan had burst into the room like an avenging angel, Bonnie had never felt more relieved in her life. When he had ordered her and Elena to leave the room, she recalled his protective hand brush against her back as she fled. The chilling threat that Bonnie had heard Stefan direct towards Ben who had been frying from the sunlight had stuck with her for weeks.
"What's wrong? Do you disprove of my methods?" he asked when he noticed that she was starring at him pensively.
She shook her head and smiled. "I was just gaining a new appreciation for you and your hero hair."
He chuckled as he shook his head. "I see Damon is starting to rub off on you. I'm not sure if I should be amused or disturbed."
"Probably a little bit of both."
Their conversation was interrupted when Damon suddenly appeared. As he made his way towards them, Bonnie instantly notice that his playful demeanor and mischievous smile was missing and its place was pinched lips and a hard look in his pale blue eyes. She also noticed that he was accompanied by a woman that she never saw before.
"What is she doing here?" Damon directed his question to Stefan while keeping his eyes firmly planted on Bonnie.
"She is your best friend and she was worried when you had skipped town without telling her where you were going. I thought she had the right to know that you made it back home," Stefan explained confused.
Damon turned towards Stefan and snapped, "If I wanted her to know that I was back, I would have told her myself."
"So you were perfectly okay with letting me worry myself sick over you while you ran off and made a new friend?" Bonnie inquired calmly despite the heated look on her pretty face, "Let me guess. This one's name is Crystal with an actual C."
"It's actually Shawnee," Damon corrected her uncomfortably.
As Damon moved his gaze back to his brother, Bonnie forced herself to remain calm. Was she hurt that Damon was entertaining another woman so soon after their brief hook up? Did it piss her off that he basically flaunted another woman in front of her knowing damn well how she felt about him? Was she disgusted at his wanton behavior and careless indiscretion? Yeah, yes, and hell yes. She wanted to yell at him, curse him out and call him every disgusting name under the sun, but she would wait until they were alone to give him an earful. She refused to let some random skank have the satisfaction of seeing her unhinged.
"So, Shawnee, how do you and Damon know each other?" Stefan asked curiously as he observed her closely. Once again, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this woman.
"Let's just say that I was in the possession of something Damon desperately wanted," she said cryptically.
"On that note, I believe our business is concluded. You are free to leave any time now," Damon said flatly.
She shrugged and wiggled her fingers at him. "Later gator."
Seconds later, she was gone.
"Bonnie, that was...," he swallowed back the cliché line knowing that she was too smart to fall for it. Instead he carded his fingers through his hair and exhaled deeply before looking her straight in the eye. "That wasn't what it looked like."
"Damon you could screw your way through the female population and then some and I still wouldn't care," she said trying to sound nonchalant but there was a hard edge in her voice.
Stefan frowned immediately sensing the unspoken tension between his brother and the witch. He knew that they had their occasional tiffs and whatnot, but something about this seemed different and deeply personal. The way that Bonnie had passive aggressively snarked at Damon one night stand and the way Damon had seemingly tried to explain it to her as if he was some guilty philandering boyfriend who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar made it clear that something had transpired between Bonnie and Damon.
"You look nice. You didn't have to get all dolled up to see me," he said teased lightly hoping that flattery would soften her up a little.
"I didn't get dressed up to come see you, Damon. I actually had plans with a friend before Stefan called me to tell me that you were back home," she said curtly.
Damon frowned and Stefan arched an inquisitive eyebrow as the same question crossed their minds. Who was this friend she was suddenly making time for and why did she feel the need to hang out with said friend in a sexy dress and peep toe high heels?
When Damon verbalized his curiosity, Bonnie damn near laughed in his face.
"You decided to just up and leave my house in the middle of the night after what you did and you think I owe you an explanation on who I was planning to go grab a beer with?" she asked in disbelief.
"You don't even like beer," Damon smirked as he swaggered over to her, "Last time I checked, you were a Bourbon girl."
She stared up at him with her moss green eyes hard as emeralds. "Maybe I've out grown certain things."
The implication of her statement made Damon teasing smirk to disappear and he felt a surge of anger and something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on go through him.
"Well it's a good thing that I don't have to worry about you out growing your best friend," he said with more confidence that he actually felt.
"Are we friends?" she challenged.
Damon offered her a half smile. "When we aren't actively trying to kill each other..."
"Nope," she shook her head cutting him off. "I'm not doing that. The insults, the jokes. If we are friends tell me the truth. Why did you leave without having the common decency to tell me why? Was it because you hated me for what happened?"
He sighed wearily scrubbing his face with his right hands. He could sense that the conversation with his witch was about to go tumbling off the rails, and there was probably little to nothing that he could do to stop the train wreck.
"Ok. What's going on with you two?" Stefan asked slowly as his forest green eyes darted between Damon and Bonnie who looked like she was about to take his brother's head off his shoulders.
"Not now Stefan," the dark haired vampire mumbled.
Stefan ignored his older brother and turned his focus onto Bonnie who was clearly unhappy.
"Bonnie, talk to me. What happened?" he asked gently, "What did Damon do?"
Bonnie stared up at the younger Salvatore feeling a muscle tick in her jaw. "Your brother didn't do anything. I made a mistake by even coming here tonight."
She made a move to leave when Damon grabbed her by the arm firmly holding her in place. It took everything inside of Bonnie not to knock the vampire on his ass.
"I'm going to need you to get your hands off of me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"We need to talk," he tried but she cut him off with a murderous look.
"There is nothing to talk about," she hissed before snatching her arm away from him and putting some space between them, "God, I feel so stupid. I should have lis stened to Tyler when he told me that you would hurt me. I told him that he was wrong, that you have changed and that you weren't that inconsiderate, selfish, asshole that you use to be, but I was wrong."
"Tyler?" Damon's face scrunched up with confusion before a sudden thought came to him. "Was Tyler the "friend" you were going to hang out with?" There was absolutely no mistaking the jealousy in his voice and while Bonnie was unbothered, Stefan was confused. Very much like Damon, he was puzzled as to why Bonnie would suddenly befriend the hybrid who had nearly mauled her to death, but he was also at a loss as to why Damon would feel some kind of way about Bonnie keeping Tyler company.
"Not that it's any of your business, but Tyler wasn't the person I was meeting up with," she stated as she licked her lips anxiously, "Tyler came by my house three days after you left."
The thought of the hybrid being anywhere near Bonnie after what had transpired at the Armory made the vampire's blood boil.
"Why would you even speak to him after what he did to you?" he growled clearly irritated.
"Because he wanted to apologize for biting me. Apparently that is when you do when you hurt someone you care about," she said leaning against the wall near the fireplace while pinning him down with her patent judgmental glare.
"Oh so Tyler cares about you? Since when?" he laughed harshly.
"Since he decided to check on me while you decided to skip town with your fucking tail tucked between your legs," she snapped.
Stefan eyes widened for several reasons. One reason was that he had been around Bonnie for years and never once heard her curse. He always assumed that it was because of the way she was bought up. Grams didn't seem like the type of woman who would practice using foul language much less tolerate it being used. The other reason was that the only person who could disrespect Damon and get away with it without some violent response was Elena. Watching how his older brother stared Bonnie down, Stefan took a step forward bracing himself just in case he had to prevent Damon from doing something he would later regret.
Damon approached her slowly with a wary look on his handsome face "Bonnie, I know that I was wrong for leaving the way I did and I'm sorry, but I need you to..."
She was so mad that she began to tremble and the lights in the boarding house began to flicker dangerously.
"If the next words out of your mouth is telling me to calm down, we are going to have a bigger problem than we already have," she promised coldly.
"Stefan give us the room," Damon ordered quietly.
When the younger vampire made no attempt to move, Damon's glare became murderous.
"I'm not going to tell you twice," he warned menacingly.
When Stefan turned his gaze on to Bonnie, it was clear to see that he was reluctant to leave out of concern for her. In less than twenty four hours, Bonnie found herself in the presence of yet another man who was actively seeking to protect her from Damon Salvatore. She couldn't help but wonder if Tyler's warning and Stefan's reluctance to leave her alone with Damon was a sign that she needed to watch her back.
"It's okay, Stefan. I'll be fine," she promised.
He nodded mutely giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze before leaving the room.
"Damon," she started, but before she could get her statement out of her mouth, he was in front of her with his index finger pressed against her lips.
"This conversation between us needs to be private, so before you say another word, I'm going to need you to reach into your little bag of magic bag of tricks of yours and use a spell that will keep my brother from listening to us," he said stiffly.
Bonnie swatted his hand away from her mouth before mumbling in Latin and casting a sound proof spell over the room.
"So now that you don't have to worry about Stefan listening to us, do you want to tell me the reason why you decided to leave?" she asked curtly.
When he refused to answer, Bonnie felt her emotions getting the best of her.
"If you regret what happened between us, just say so!" she exclaimed frustrated feeling her magic surge inside of her veins causing the windows to tremble. "I'm not going to crumble into a million pieces because you reject me."
The question fired from her mouth like a bullet from a loaded gun. Regret? That was a touchy and very dangerous question to answer and he was preparing to brush her off, but there was a peculiar look in her eyes that made him hesitate. He could lie to Bonnie and say that he regretted a lot of things. He could tell her that he regretted not taking her to see Prince in concert when they had the chance, or he could say he regretted not telling her how he truly felt about her for years He could tell her that he regretted hurting her in the past and there was a very good chance he could hurt her in the future, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. He didn't regret hooking up with Bonnie despite the fact that things were awkward and their attempt to be lovers backfired and threatened to jeopardize their friendship.
"I didn't regret it," he swallowed with great difficulty as he found the courage to look her in the eye, "If I had to go back to the night and do it all over again, I wouldn't change anything."
"I don't believe you. If you didn't regret it, you wouldn't have walked away," she said sadly.
"Fine. If you want the truth, the reason why I left was because Elena was in trouble," he confessed helplessly.
Bonnie felt as if she had just suffered a punch in the gut.
"That night when I left, I got a phone call from Shawnee. There was a break in and it seemed that the thieves were targeting Elena's coffin. I went over the security tapes I had planted inside of the container that she was being kept in at the warehouse and it appears that the people who were after her learned that she possessed the cure."
"How the hell could that information have gotten out?" Bonnie asked in horror.
Damon stabbed his fingers through his hair as he began to pace anxiously. "I don't know. All I know is that when I showed up, the vampires who had been threatening Elena had already been neutralized."
"By who?" she asked confused. There is absolutely no way that some random warehouse employee that you compelled was strong enough to take down vampires."
Damon stopped pacing and stared at her directly in the eyes. "Shawnee." Pause. "She's someone that I hired to watch over Elena."
Damon could see the conflicted look on Bonnie's face, and he silently prayed that she would stop asking questions, because if she knew the truth, she would be furious.
"I wish I known that she was responsible for saving Elena's life. I would have thanked her instead of being so unfriendly to her," she said remorsefully.
"I'm sure she will get over it," he said dryly.
"I just can't believe that Elena could have been killed while we were a hundred miles away doing..." she broke off with a look of shame and embarrassment on her face.
"I know," Damon sighed heavily as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What the hell were we thinking?"
"That's the thing, Damon. We weren't thinking," she chuckled sadly as she made her way over to him so they were standing less than a feet apart. "That night should have never happened."
"But it did and we can't go back and change the fact that you and I shared an amazing connection," his voice was soft and honest.
Bonnie stared at him before scoffing with indignation. "Connection? The only thing we shared was poor judgement. You was horny and I was a warm body. Nothing more, nothing less."
Damon was in her space instantly, his eyes hard and narrowed. He grabbed her arms and slammed her against his chest causing her to gasp startled.
Bonnie stared up at him defiantly with her moss green eyes glittering with tears. Damon was standing so close to her that his warm breath was fanning across her face and his mouth was mere inches away from hers.
"You are hurt and upset, and I understand that, but don't you dare stand there and down play what happened between us, "he growled harshly.
"Whatever." She mumbled the spell to lift the sound proof spell from over the room before she brushed past him, intending to leave the parlor.
"Why are you still mad at me?" he demanded.
"Are you really asking me that right now? I would think that the answer is obvious," she snapped.
"I just told you that I left that night because Elena needed," he snarled chasing after her as his ice blue eyes darkened, "If I never got that phone call, I would have never left your bed and I would have never left your side."
"You should have never been in my bed in the first place. If you hadn't kissed me and made me feel like you were capable of seeing me as someone who was more than a friend, we wouldn't be in this predicament right now," she growled whirling back around to face him.
"So this is my fault? I don't exactly remember you asking me to stop when you were moaning my name," he griped rocking on the balls of his heels agitated, "Repeatedly I might add."
"Screw you, Damon," she spat scathingly.
"Do you mean that literally or figuratively, because I wouldn't mind picking up where we left off," he taunted with a wicked smirk on his face.
If looks could kill, Damon would have been dead several times over.
"I know why you are pissed of at me. It wasn't because we fooled around, it's because you actually thought I was choosing you over Elena," he breathed hotly.
Bonnie glared at him with her fist clenched tightly and her magic barely restrained.
"I never expected you to choose me over Elena. I am very much aware at how expendable I am to you," she said tersely before turning to exit the Boarding House.
"Stop walking," he whispered seething.
When she ignored him, he snapped.
"STOP WALKING!" he bellowed causing Bonnie to halt abruptly seconds before she could exit the living room.
Slowly she turned around and faced him with an unreadable expression on her face as a manic laugh began to tumble from his lips..
"I blame you for all of this because you made me feel like I couldn't breathe," he shouted in her face as he trembled with anger and frustration, "It was like I needed to breathe. Ever since Elena was placed under that stupid sleeping spell, I have been walking around feeling like I was numb. I felt like I was suffocating all the fucking time and I just needed to breathe." He paused a moment to calm down before continuing, "When I watched Tyler nearly kill you, I thought for sure that I wouldn't survive losing you. The thought of you dying was more painful than the past three years I spent walking around without Elena and that's when I knew that I didn't just want you to live. I needed you to live because I love you. When I was kissing you, when I was touching you, it was because doing so was the first time in a long time that I felt alive and I didn't feel like I was slowly dying inside. He smiled sadly. "The day I saved you was the day that I broke my promise to Elena to always chose over you. I once told her that if it ever came down to her and you, I would gladly let you die. When the opportunity presented itself, I knew that I couldn't let you die because you found a space in my heart the same way Elena did."
"So where do we go from here?" Bonnie asked growing very still.
Damon swallowed with great difficulty as he prepared to say the one thing that would break both of their hearts.
"If I'm ever going to have a real chance with Elena, I have to respect the relationship that I have with her and I can't do that if you are as close as we are. We did something that was unforgivable and I can't risk that happening again," he said quietly as he stared at a spot on the wall above her head so that he wouldn't have to look her in the eye. "I think we need to go back to the way things were before we were trapped together in the prison world. I think we need boundaries. We can't be Bonnie and Damon. You need to go back to being Bonnie who had her own life and I need to go back to being Damon who only cared about Elena."
The room was so quiet that you could hear a fly sneeze.
"So basically what you are saying is that we can't be friends," she confirmed with a slight tremor in her voice.
One of the most important person his life were looking at him like he had just committed an act of treason.
"I'm not saying that we this is the end," he said weakly as he tried in vain to placate her, "Maybe in a couple of years when you get married to someone and you have a bunch of witchy babies, I will be able to come back around. After all, I am the protector of your bloodline so it's not like I can stay away forever."
The sound of Bonnie's hand meeting Damon's cheek sounded like thunder echoing through out the foyer.
"The other night when I wanted to stop things before we took it to far, what did you ask of me?" she asked quietly.
"Bon," he tried but she cut him off with a heated glare.
"What. Did. You. Ask. Of. Me?" she repeated slowly gritting her teeth so hard that she felt that they might explode into dust.
"I asked you not to run from me," he mumbled unable to make eye contact with her.
"I care about you. I fight for you, I believe in you, I gotdamn risked my life for you and you turn around and just tell me that you are done with me. My best friend. That hurts me. This hurts me."
He clenched his jaw as his eyes widened dramatically. "The last thing I ever wanted to do is hurt you!"
"I've considered you to be a lot of different things, but I never thought I would see the day where you would become a coward."
"What did you just call me?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he towered over her.
"I called you a coward," she spat shoving him causing him to stumbled a couple of feet away from her. "You are so co dependent on Elena that you can't breathe...you can't live in a world without her. You are so blinded by your obsession with her that you don't realize that you have people who is still conscious and breathing who would do anything for you and..." she pauses to laugh bitterly as she shakes her head with her hands on her hip, "And the worse thing about this is that I actually expected better from you. I thought that you we could get over this huge mistake we made and continue to be friends, but I was wrong. You are treating me like I'm just some random hook up that you can casually toss aside and that's not okay."
"None of this okay!" he shouted angrily, " The fact is that by doing what what we did, we both betrayed Elena. What kind of boyfriend does that make me? What kind of best friend does that make you!"
Bonnie felt as if Damon had just slammed his fist inside of her chest and ripped out her heart.
"You were suppose to be the moral and self righteous one out of the two of us. I was on my way to being a better man but you screwed that all up by opening your legs for me," he yelled in her face.
Something inside of her chest twisted so painfully that she felt her breath catch in her throat and she found herself hyperventilating. The couches in the room was levitating, the glass in the floor to ceiling windows were beginning to splinter, the colorful balls on the pool table began to circle in the air like a weird cyclone and the skies that were formally blue began to turn an ominous gray. She could see Stefan speaking and trying to communicate with her, but all she heard was white noise. All she could focus on was the fact that Damon had looked her dead in the eye and told her that he was okay with never seeing her ever again. He was okay with abandoning her and he was perfectly fine with her being left alone. His words and actions made one thing very painfully clear and that was the fact that he didn't give a shit about her. Perhaps he never had and this whole time he was just pretending just so that he didn't have to feel alone. She felt like a fool to have ever trusted him and given him the benefit of the doubt that he was capable of being a decent person.
"Bonnie, stop," Damon pleaded he was cut short when he felt a familiar pain spreading through his skull.
He gritted his teeth and clutched the sides of his head as he stumbled away from her as she cast a very agonizing witchy migraine spell that rendered him speechless. It's been a long time since he had been on the receiving end of Bonnie's magic, and in that moment he was reminded why he had done everything he could to stay on her good side. The pain inside of his head was unbearable, and he could feel blood trickling out of his nose as he fell to his knees convulsing in agony. He begged, he whimpered, he growled for her to stop, but Bonnie was too wrapped up in her emotions of rage and betrayal to even grant him the slightest bit of reprieve or mercy. She felt used, she felt cheap but worse of all, she felt discarded. Damon had treated her in an undignified manner that it made her feel like she was disposable. He stuck his head between her legs, made her feel great before turning around to hook up with some basic bitch that Bonnie was certain that she wouldn't be able to pick out of a line up if she ever seen her again. The more she thought about it, the more her rage surged and soon Damon was on his back screaming in sheer agony from the pain she was putting him through.
She felt a gust of wind at her back and when she blinked, she found Stefan standing in front of her blocking her view of Damon. Before she could say anything, the younger Salvatore entered her personal space.
"Bonnie, look at me," he mouthed cupped her face in his large hands.
She snapped out of her trance and found herself starring into the vampire's imploring gaze feeling completely off her kilter.
"I know that you want to hurt him because of everything that has happened, and you have every right to feel that way, but he's not worth it," he coaxed gently. "Hurting him isn't going to change what he did. Don't let his careless actions make you lose control, because you are better than that."
His words managed to get through to her and she mumbled a few Latin words causing the pain inducing spell to tend. The moment that her mouth stopped moving, Damon's groans of pain stopped and a heavy silence fell over the living room.
"I should go," she whispered sounding defeated as she brushed away the tears that had fallen on her quivering cheek.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to drive when you are this upset," Stefan advised softly.
"If I stay here, there is no telling what I will do to your brother, so it's in both of your best interest to just let me leave," she said her voice void of emotion.
Stefan could tell by the steel resolution in her moss green eyes that she wasn't going to listen to anything that he had to say, so with deep reluctance, he decided to step aside.
"Fine. You can go, but please drive carefully and call me when you get home so that I will know that you arrived safely," he requested rubbing her arm soothingly.
She pulled away from his touch not noticing the look of hurt on his handsome face.
"I will make sure to call a friend," her voice sounded so void of emotion that it chilled both vampires to the bone.
Both pair of vampire eyes are on her retreating form as they realized that while Bonnie had been pushed to the edge many times over the span of her young life, this time might be the time that she had been pushed too far.
As she disappeared out of the Boarding House, Damon scrambled to his feet desperate to go after her when Stefan quickly blocked his path.
"Don't," Stefan warned quietly.
A deep rumble vibrated inside of Damon's chest as he stood nose to nose and toe to toe with his brother. "Move."
"Are you out of your mind?" the caramel haired vampire exclaimed angrilly, "You are in no condition to go after her."
Damon realized that Stefan was right. He had a broken femur, a few cracked ribs, a separated shoulder and one hell of a headache. Growling irritably, he pushed past him and stumbled into the kitchen where he immediately retrieve several blood bags from the fridge. After ripping each bag open with his teeth, he dranked greedilly. He ignored Stefan's disgusted glare as blood dribbled down his chin and made small puddles on the floor. Usually Damon was a neat eater, but in that moment he didn't care about the fact that he would have to clean up a mess after he finished eating, or that the blood he was consuming was currently staining his expensive black Hensley shirt or his favorite pair of black jeans. All he cared about was healing so that he could go after Bonnie and make things right between them.
"She really did a number on you, didn't she?" Stefan whistled as he watched his brother leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen as he slowly began to heal.
"Yeah. If you hadn't intervened when you did, I really think that the next thing out of her mouth would have been a word that rhymes with India," he grumbled.
Stefan's lips twitched as he tried not to smile. "You mean Incendia?"
Damon winced as he massaged the back of his neck trying not to think about the time Bonnie had nearly killed him by setting him on fire. He still had flashbacks about that whenever her smelled smoke.
"At the risk of inspiring the arsonist inside of my little witch, I need to try to fix this."
Damon bumped shoulders with Stefan as he made his way out of the kitchen and towards the staircase where he ascended to head to his room to clean himself up.
"You may not want to hear this, but I'm going to say it anyways," Stefan warned as he followed Damon who pulled his shirt over his head and casually tossed it on the banister, "When it comes to Bonnie, you messed up. Big time. Whatever you need to say to her to fix things can't wait. For the time being, just leave her alone, Damon."
"You are just wasting your breath, brother," Damon said before breezing into his bedroom and casually stripping out of his pants and boxers.
Stefan immediately shut his eyes and whirled around muttering explicit curses under his breath. He knew that Damon stripping naked was his way trying to get a reaction out of him, but it still annoyed him that his brother had little to no shame.
"Of course this terrible night wouldn't be complete without the showcasing of your pale non existent ass," he said flatly.
"You think that I should leave Bonnie alone and I think you should kiss my ass," he said casually as he retrieved a fresh shirt and pair of jeans from his dresser, "Pucker up."
"Bonnie nearly killed you and you are insane if you think she is going to be open to having a civil conversation with you," he pointed out neutrally as he continued to face the wall as Damon slowly got dressed. "She has been through a lot lately with Enzo screwing with her magic and almost being mauled to death by Tyler. Tonight you broke her heart and I think she needs time to deal with everything that has happened with her without you invading her space."
"I want to make things right, so why the hell are you standing in my way?" Damon thundered clenching and unclenching his fist.
"There isn't a single thing that you can say to make things right with her. You can grovel and beg and it's not going to change the fact that you hurt Bonnie." Stefan paused to keep his temper from spiraling out of control. "God, Damon. What the hell were you thinking? Not only did you use poor judgement by being intimate with Bonnie, but you walked away from her without so much of a simple explanation. If that wasn't bad enough, she shows up to see if you are okay and finds you with some random one night stand?"
"I know what I did, Stefan," Damon said brokenly, "I don't need you to stand there and judge me.
Stefan's need to lecture Damon on his bad behavior was immediately replaced by his need to comfort him. Sighing softly, he motioned for his brother to follow him into his bedroom where he proceeded to pull out a very expensive and aged bottle of Scotch before they both took seats on the edge of his bed.
"Bonnie is a good person and we both know that she deserves more than to be used as a replacement for Elena," he started quietly.
"That's not what I was doing," he argued but Stefan cut him off with a pointed look.
"So if Kai and our mother never condemned Elena to that curse and she was awake, who would you be with right now?" he asked bluntly.
Damon opened his mouth to reply but he hesitated, and in that moment of hesitation, he felt that he was betraying Elena and their whole complicated relationship. If someone was to ask him years ago to chose between Bonnie and Elena, he would have said Elena in a heartbeat, but unfortunately things had changed. Damon had done the unexpected and became friends with the annoyingly judgey resident witch. Never in a million years did he expect that he would actually care about Bonnie enough that he would rather see Elena in temporary coma for years rather than see Bonnie permanently dead. When he had made that harrowing decision, he had been forced to admit to himself that Bonnie was more than just someone he considered a friend. While he was convinced that Elena was his eternal soulmate, he knew for certain that Bonnie was his twin flame and rather than sit back and watch her flame snuffed out, he knew it was in her best interest for him to completely cut all ties with her.
"Elena," Damon finally whispered feeling hollow as he swallowed his drink in one gulp..
Stefan sighed heavily not surprised by Damon's answer. He only wished that Damon would have remembered that his heart belonged to Elena before he decided to get physical with Bonnie.
"I don't doubt that you care for Bonnie. I know that you care for her as much as you can care for any woman without being in a sexual relationship, but you corrupted that friendship the very moment you decided to do what you did."
"Tyler told me that I couldn't spend the next sixty years waiting for Elena to wake up without royally screwing up," Damon chuckled bitterly as he pressed the bottle of Bourbon against his forehead while starring down at his feet glumly.
"I hate to say it but, Tyler is was right," Stefan admitted, "You know that if you stay in Bonnie's life you are going to have another slip up like the other night, and next time you won't be able to stop yourself from going all the way. You are going to give into your selfishness and have sex with her and that is going to hurt her worse than anything that you have ever done and could ever do to her. With you it's always about sex and gratification, but Bonnie isn't like that. We both knows that when she loves, she loves hard and you are not going to be able to give her what she needs."
"I know that," Damon whispered.
Stefan nodded as he took the bottle from his brother's hand before taking a small sip. "So what are you going to do, Damon?"
"The truth is that we both know that despite how much I care about Bonnie, I won't truly be happy until Elena wakes up, so what is the point of me even existing? There is no life without her and since I can't be with her there is nothing to stop me from doing fucked up things like putting my best friend's life in jeopardy by asking her to save me from a murderous hybrid or sticking my tongue down her throat when she is vulnerable and at my mercy," he confessed before swallowing the lump of tears lodged inside of his throat. "I think the best thing for me to do is to go and be by Elena's side until she wakes. When I'm next to her, I'm the best version of myself and no one gets hurt."
"If you do this, it will mean that you will never see Bonnie again. This will devastate her worse than anything that you have ever done to her."
"I rather let her down one last time than to let her down for the rest of her life!"
The pain in Damon's voice nearly broke Stefan's heart In that moment he realized something that he hadn't even noticed during this whole conversation with Damon. Damon loved Bonnie. He wasn't sure if it was a deep love or one that could possibly rival the love he had for Elena, but there was a space in his heart occupied by the enchanting Bennett witch and that revelation left Stefan feeling both stunned and sympathetic for his brother. Damon was known to be impossibly selfish in all aspects in his life, especially his love life. Damon went after whatever and whoever he wanted and didn't care who he had destroyed to get his way. He had watched Damon be selfish with Katherine, he had front row seats as he watched as Damon destroy the epic love that he had with Elena. Stefan had been absolutely certain that Damon was only capable of loving the face of a Petrova doppelganger, but seeing how broken Damon appeared to be at the thought of losing Bonnie, made him realize he had been mistaken.
"Holy shit," Stefan breathed rising to his feet, his eyes wide with horror in disbelief. "Are you..."
"Don't you dare. Don't you dare say it, Stefan," Damon warned as he backed away from his brother with a slight tremor in his voice.
"What you feel for Bonnie may be terrifying, but it's not a good enough reason to run away," he coaxed gently as he slowly approached Damon like he was some wounded animal, and for all intensive purposes, he kind of was. He was a man who's heart was fractured in half because he was in love with two women. Stefan suddenly got a glimpse of what Elena must have felt like when it came down to choosing between him and Damon and in t hat moment, he felt overwhelming compassion for his older brother. He always thought someone who found themselves torn between two people were selfish, but looking at the expression on Damon's face, it seemed like being in that position was down right agonizing.
"It's for the best, Stefan," he whispered not bothering to look the other the vampire in the eye.
"How the hell is this for the best, Damon?" he shouted his eyes blazing with anger, "You claim you don't want to lose Bonnie by hurting her, but if you and climb into a coffin next to Elena, you are losing her anyways."
"At least she won't have to worry about me breaking her heart," he said numbly.
"Damon, I know that you think you are doing the right thing, but I promise you that it's not," Stefan pleaded desperately.
"This is my choice. You may not like it or respect it, but you have to except it," he said hoarsely as he turned to walk away.
Stefan grabbed him and firmly held him in place. "I'm not going to let you do this, Damon. I'm not going to just let you abandon me and Bonnie. We have been here when you needed us the most so you just don't get to walk out of her lives like we don't matter," Stefan started, but was cut off when Damon's fist went crashing into his jaw. The younger vampire crumpled to the floor in pain. Before he could recover, Damon used his vampire speed to rush behind him and with one quick and harsh movement of his hands, he snapped Stefan's neck sending his younger brother crumpling into a motionless heap on the floor.
Damon squatted down next to Stefan feeling tears burning the corner of his eyes. He hated that this would be the last memory of their brotherhood that Stefan would have to hold on to for the next sixty years. He hated the fact that he would never get to see Bonnie again and he hated himself for being the reason why his brother and best friend would have to live a life without him. Even though he had been the one to screw up horribly, the two most important people closest to him were the ones that were going to have to pay the price. Maybe they were better off without him. Bonnie would find a best friend who would be capable of loving her and protecting her in the way she needed to be, and maybe Stefan would find someone who could be like the brother that he had always deserved.
"Goodbye, brother," he murmured smiling sadly.
Seconds later, he was gone.