Thank you for your messages and your reviews. Authors never really know whether people are still interested absent reviews or messages, so I am grateful when you let me know that you are reading, what you like. Reviews and encouragement do help authors write and you have no idea what that motivation does. Thank you once again and get ready to hear about what happened in New York between Damon and Sabine.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

Ch. 8: Flat White

Stefan slowly opened Damon's already cracked office door. Finding his older brother sitting on the couch, half a bottle of bourbon in front of him and holding a glass staring out into nothingness. There were two martini glasses on the coffee table, but no sign of anyone else, "Hey, I thought Bonnie was here?" Stefan looked around, "is she in the bathroom?"

"Nope," Damon slowly swallowed the bourbon that was in his glass and refilled it immediately.

Stefan craned his neck around the office, "Oook, so she left?"

Damon grimaced as he downed his drink, "Oh she sure did."

Stefan's eyes shifted, "Did something happen?"

"Oh yeah."

Closing his eyes, Stefan sighed and braced himself, his brother had a penchant for ruining his relationships with women—whether platonic or not, "What happened?"

"I told Bonnie about me and Sabine," Damon said the words slowly, but he sounded as if it pained him to even admit it at this point. The truth was, it did pain him.

Stefan's eyes went wild, "You did what! Why…why would you do that?"

"Because…" Damon began and then realized that he didn't have a good reason, not a reason that Stefan would be satisfied with, "because I wanted to."

The look of disbelief on Stefan's face was picture worthy as he blinked rapidly, "Ok and what did she say, what did she do?"

"She looked at me like I was garbage, made some excuse about having to go home and pack for her weekend with her new potential boyfriend and that was that," Damon drained the last of the bourbon bottle while Stefan quietly whispered 'Wow' causing Damon to point at him, "so you see, I can't even keep a good ole friendship going with a woman."

"Maybe she was just shocked and didn't know what to say. You two just met not too long ago and she apparently is going away, so she needed to make sure everything was packed."

Damon snorted, "Stop acting like a mother trying to convince her son he's still handsome. It's fine. She bolted when she found out about me. It's ok. We will just have the working relationship. I don't blame her actually, so it is what it is," Damon swallowed the rest of his bourbon trying to convince the words that he just spoke to Stefan were the truth.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

Bonnie rushed into her townhome and closed the door behind her. Rubbing her temples, trying to get her mind to stop spinning from what Damon confessed. She couldn't believe she bolted the way she did. It was rude, it was thoughtless and it was unusual of her. He confessed to sleeping with his friend's mom, besides the ultimate ick factor—she couldn't understand why he would confess that to her, especially like that. Her mind immediately wondered if he told her to push her away or somehow absolve himself of all of sins. Her feelings were a jumble of complete and utter confusion for Damon at this point. She professed to only want friendship from him, but his confession stirred up something unexplainable and that gave way to thoughts that maybe she did want more than friendship from him. Hell, after he confessed that he was sleeping with his best friend's mother or slept with rather, his voice drifted further and further away. Bonnie thought she heard that it was an affair for a couple of months that just officially ended. He wasn't sure what kept him coming back, he just did. As he continued to talk about it, Bonnie felt herself needing to get away from him just so he would stop talking. She remembered mumbling something and racing out of his office and that was it. She hopped in her car and got as far away from Revel as she could. She needed to apologize…and she would, once she figured out what the hell to say.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

Damon walked into his bedroom shedding his suit jacket throwing it on his chaise. Plopping down on the edge of his bed Sandy sat at his feet, giving him a sad expression. "Yeah, I know girl," he mumbled reaching down and touching the top of her head, "I think I may have lost our coffee shop friend tonight," he bent down to face her big brown eyes, "remember, when I told you honesty is the best policy when you chewed up my Italian black loafers…yeah…it's not."

He laid back on the bed and rubbed his hands over his face. So things were awkward now with Bonnie. He'd made it that way and although Stefan didn't read him the riot act for once, he knew his brother was pissed. Standing up, he stripped off his clothes and before stepping into the bathroom, his cell phone vibrated on his bed.

'Bonnie is calling, Bonnie is calling' the speaker in his bathroom announced over and over again. Looking towards his bed, he bit his lip. He wasn't ready for this conversation, but he was a big boy, he sauntered over to the bed and scooped up his cell answering, "Hello."

He heard her breathe out for a few seconds before she spoke. He could tell that she was nervous, "Damon, hi…it's Bonnie."

He smiled, "I know, your name is in my phone."

"Right…I…" she drifted off for a few moments and he knew that she was biting her lip, "I'm sorry for running out the way I did. I shouldn't have…you told me something that I know was hard for you to do and I just ran out on you. It was wrong. Soo…can I get a do-over?"

Damon smiled, "You can, but after you come back from your trip. I shouldn't have laid something so heavy on you before your trip."

"It's ok, we're friends and obviously it's been bothering you…"

Damon gave her a dry chuckle, "Well its definitely not something that I share with most people."

And she felt like shit. He was being self deprecating and all, but for him to confess something so important and secret—it meant something. She needed to be a friend and she would be exactly that, "Ok…we need to talk about this before I come back," she declared, "how about we have a do-over now? It's not too late. I will text you my address."

"Ok, see you soon," Damon found himself saying and not exactly sure why, but he had a want to see her and make things right (if they needed to be right).

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

Seconds after ending the call with Damon, Bonnie hurried around her living room trying to make sure that everything was in its rightful place. Any wayward shoes, purses, jackets, plates and cups were put in their proper places. She fixed framed pictures all around, made sure that magazines and books were straight. There was no good explanation as to why she cared how her place looked for Damon's visit. They were just…friends or something, she guessed. His confession made her feel strange and her inviting him over to discuss it some more was even stranger; completely out of character for her. Her favorite way to deal with something as uncomfortable as a declaration like Damon's was avoidance.

As she placed one of Elena's medical magazines on the coffee table, the doorbell rang and she glanced at herself in the mirror. She had stripped off her work clothes and put on some jeans and a t-shirt. She touched her hair for a moment, fixing a stray hair and headed over to the door. She could see him through the glass and she paused in the hallway to take a deep breath. She resumed walking at the sound of a knock. Unlocking the door, she opened it slowly to Damon standing on the step dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Hi," he stated with a crooked smile allowing his eyes to roam over her body.

"Hi," she stood in the doorway staring at him and when his eyes drifted behind her, she remembered, "oh my god, come in…come in," she moved out of the way as he brushed past her and stood in the foyer.

"Nice," he nodded looking around at the nicely decorated townhouse.

"Yeah, it's a property owned by Elena's family. We moved in after college, the rent's not too bad and its close to our jobs and she's a good roommate, soo…" she rambled realizing that she was slightly nervous. One, because of the conversation that they were about to have and Two, because he was standing in her house for the first time, "why don't you come into the living room?"

Damon nodded following Bonnie into the living room, she took a seat on the couch sitting on her leg and he sat next to her. He rubbed his thighs for a few moments and then turned to her, "First, I didn't expect to say to you what I did earlier. It kind of came out and I apologize for laying it on you like that," he connected with her eyes, "second, I don't blame you for getting the hell away from me as soon as you could," Damon laughed lightly, "but I guess, I just felt comfortable talking to you for some reason," he went on slightly avoiding her gaze.

Bonnie gave him a small smile, "I have to admit that I didn't expect to hear that from you tonight or ever, for that matter. I mean, I could not imagine ever looking at Elena's Dad that way in any, way, shape or form."

Damon snickered, "Well I'm sure that's true. What happened with me and Sabine was…different."

"How? I mean…how do you start an affair with your best friend's mom though?" Bonnie asked in astonishment, "like…did she think about you in that way when you were young?" she whispered as if someone could overhear them.

He shrugged, "I hope not. I don't know. Look, Tanner's dad was cheating on her and she was depressed. I was in New York at the time, Tanner wasn't and he asked me to check up on her…"

"With your penis?" Bonnie asked.

Damon chuckled mockingly, "No. One night, we went to some charity dinner and I was her escort…"

"In more ways than one."

"Bonnie…" Damon narrowed his eyes.

"Sorry!" she shrugged, "go on."

"So we went, had a good time and I drove her home. She invited me in to talk for awhile. She said she was lonely and ever since her husband left, she'd been feeling like she was lost in the world. I get it, my mother used to get in these moods after my father died. So I stayed with her and we talked. She told me about her life when she was younger, a socialite and how she had dreams of being so much more than someone's wife and that's what she ended up being…she told me that she allowed her beauty to fade while being married to a horrible man."

Bonnie stared at him unblinkingly, "She played you," she deadpanned.

Damon shrugged, "Maybe. The next thing I remember, she kissed me. I initially pulled away from her, but she wasn't exactly one to take no for an answer—so she kissed me a little more forcefully. I'm not proud of it, but I enjoyed it."

Bonnie wore a face of disgust staring at him; just the thought of it, "So that night led to more and after that…" Damon looked over at Bonnie who looked like she was sick, "it led to more nights."

Bonnie shook her head to erase the mere thought of Bonnie in bed with a woman old enough to be his mother, "So you say it just ended…why?"

"Well it ended right before I moved back to Mystic Falls. It's actually part of the reason why I moved back to Mystic Falls," Damon glanced over at her as if he was debating if she was ready to hear the rest and she in return leaned forward, she wanted to know what made him end his affair with a woman old enough to be his mama and move back to Mystic Falls, "So what happened? I guess Tanner didn't find out because you two are still friends and you having sex with his mom probably would end that."

"Most definitely."

"So what happened?"

Damon exhaled looking over at Bonnie. He remembered the night like yesterday now and every time he thought about it, it made his blood boil. He hadn't told anyone the full story and here he was about to spill his guts, "Well…it's something of a movie of the week…" he began.

It had been his first night off from the club in weeks. He had successful trained his General Manager, Josie to take over for him. With his favorite bottle of Bourbon chilling in the fridge, he was looking forward to a quiet night with just him and that bottle. The last couple of weeks, he'd been trying to break things off with Sabine. At first, he could admit that their dalliance was the result of a teenage fantasy that he harbored for years, but at this point—it had turned into something else. It was almost as if Sabine was obsessed with him. She would call him all day, show up at the club unannounced, get testy if he wasn't available and then cry buckets of tears every time it appeared that he was about to break things off. She was getting on his last fucking nerve.

He had just walked into his apartment after at least 20 text messages and 10 voice messages from her that day. He wasn't in the mood to speak to her and sure as hell wasn't in the mood to see her. The truth was, his relationship with her was starting to turn into one big Lifetime movie and the sexy and forbidden part had ended weeks ago.

Plopping down on his couch, he flipped on the television and scanned the channels for a baseball game. His phone vibrated on his coffee table and he ignored it. It stopped after a few moments and he went back to his television. His phone started again and he glanced down. It was Sabine again. Fed up, he snatched up his phone and touched the green button, "Hello," he stated tiredly.

"Damon…" Sabine breathed out wearily.

"Sabine, what is going on?" he sighed.

"I need to see you."

Damon closed his eyes, "Sabine, WHY do you need to see me?"

"I need to speak with you."

"You're speaking to me now."

He heard her sob quietly, "I'm not feeling well today and I just need to see you, you make me feel better."

"Sabine, I really need some time by myself."

"Damon…I can't do this anymore."

"You can't do what anymore?" Damon asked leaning back on the couch.

"Life. Damon, everyone I love moves away from me. Richard…Tanner...you," she cried.

Damon sat up, "Sabine…what are you talking about?"

The call ended. Damon glanced down at his phone and shot up from the couch, dialing her number again. The phone went straight to voicemail, "Sabine! Answer the phone!" Damon yelled as his heartbeat increased. His hands shook as he dialed her number again and received her voicemail.

He paced his living room running his hand through his hair. As he dialed her, he received a text photo of a pile of pills and Sabine's small handgun that she kept by her bedside since her husband left was placed next to a glass of vodka (Sabine's drink of choice).

Damon felt as if his heart would beat out of his chest as he grabbed his keys and rushed out of his apartment. Racing down to his car, jumping inside, he peeled out of his garage, speeding towards Sabine's condo. He dialed her repeatedly and there was no answer. He drove avoiding cars, speeding and running lights driving. He dialed her repeatedly begging her to answer the phone. He started to call the police, but if she were alive—she would kill him for causing such a stir and having her name in the papers. He couldn't call Tanner because he was unreachable at the time. His car skidded to a stop across the street from the large luxury condominiums that Sabine lived in. He hopped out of his car and dialed Sabine again and finally she answered, "Damon…I took the pills, you won't have to worry about me anymore," she informed him.

It was as if the entire world stopped and all of the sounds of the street faded away as Damon held onto his phone. He was frozen in place and that's why he didn't hear the tires screech, the screams and the yelling. He did see the lights when he cranked his neck around, the lights of the SUV came towards him and he couldn't move as he felt the impact, pain and then blackness.

"I had a head injury, my arm was broken and to add on to all of that, I went into cardiac arrest right after the accident," Damon recounted for Bonnie, "my heart stopped right there on that street, I'm told. It was amazing, they say, that I was even able to survive what happened to me. I was in a coma for days."

Bonnie stared at Damon. She had no words. It wasn't anything like what she expected he would say, "And she survived clearly," Bonnie shook her head.

Damon's jaw tightened and he squinted. His anger was unmistakable, "She was gas lighting me. She never took any pills, she had no intention on taking pills or killing herself. She just wanted to get me over her place. She had cooked dinner and she bought me a gift, a fucking watch!" Damon stated with complete disdain, "she was one of the people who called 911."

"Wow," Bonnie gasped, "you almost died because of a game she played."

"Because she wanted me not to end what we had. She wanted it to continue," Damon shook his head, "and at first, I didn't remember. I didn't remember about the phone call or anything. My cell phone was destroyed in the accident. She said nothing about it. My mother sat by my bedside and Sabine was there every day as well. She told my mother that she wanted to be there for her."

"That audacity," Bonnie snorted, "so how did you remember what happened?"

Damon breathed out, "Well it took some time, I couldn't remember it. I was in rehab for months. My mother and Stefan told me to come to Mystic Falls, they wanted me to come home and have a quieter lifestyle. They never quite understood how I didn't see the SUV coming before it hit me and I couldn't remember either. So after being in rehab and basically spending hours on memory exercises, I got my replacement phone and the great cloud did it's thing. All of the texts and pictures appeared. It was a mindfuck for sure, I confronted her and she admitted to it…but she painted it as some kind of display of love. It was psychotic."

Bonnie shook her head. It was very rare that she was speechless and she was indeed speechless up until a point, "So if she did all of that, you said that your relationship ended very recently after all that happened—you really went back to her?"

Damon grimaced, "I didn't go back to her per se."

"Soo…"

"When she and Tanner came to town a couple of weeks ago, I invited Sabine over. She has this way of being persistent and I don't know, I guess I do still feel some kind of guilt about her and maybe I shouldn't have entered into a relationship with her. I knew that it would be nothing more than a physical thing between us," Damon explained, "so we had dinner and she asked me for one more night…"

"And you gave her one more night?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

Damon nodded sheepishly, "Yeah and she's called, but I'm not going down that road again."

She shook her head. Damon could see a mixture of disappointment and confusion on Bonnie's face, "I know, it was stupid…" he confessed.

"It was a dumb manly mistake," Bonnie supplied.

"Trust me, I know. But I'm smarter now. I know not to fall for any of her dramatic displays to get me to do anything that she wants. I can't do that."

Bonnie shook her head, "So are you going to tell Tanner?"

Damon immediately shook his head, "No…noooo…no…Tanner is a hot head and I can't do that, he would kill me."

Bonnie chuckled, "Quite a situation you have there Damon and you can trust her not to tell Tanner?"

He shook his head, "No, she won't. Sabine is a proud woman and I think that's what hit her so hard about her husband leaving her. She would never admit that she got dumped by me."

Bonnie chortled out of the sheer craziness of his story.

Damon looked over at her and was a little relieved to see that Bonnie was laughing at his pain. She was laughing at him, but he would take it. The situation was wild and telling someone else about this crazy world he involved himself in made him feel better, "So do you want to run away from me again?" he asked.

Bonnie cracked a smile, "No, despite the fact that I am still weirded out and maybe a little grossed out that you were having sex with your best friend's mom, I don't want to run away from you. I guess we all have our pasts; I mean…mine is not nearly as colorful as yours."

Damon breathed out a sigh of relief, "Yeah…"

"But what made you tell me this?" Bonnie looked over at Damon. Her heartbeat quickened as she met his eyes, they were sitting on her couch and she could feel the room suddenly increase in temperature as she kind of regretted asking him that question.

Her emerald eyes were staring right through him and he opened his mouth to speak. Why did he tell Bonnie his secrets? What made him confess all to her? He smiled, "Because next to Stefan, you are the only person that I feel like I can talk to about this. Bonnie, it's wild to me that I walked into a coffee shop and met someone who I consider one of my closest friends, despite playing that trick on me. So I don't know what made me tell you that tonight. Maybe its because I want you to know that I take our friendship seriously and I want you to trust me?" he confessed, "I don't have many friends and I just want to be honest with you to make sure we stay that way."

"I know that this is something that you don't tell everyone, so I know it means a lot that you are sharing it with me and I do think that our friendship is something I didn't expect either, but as time goes on—I can't imagine us not being friends, you know."

Damon locked eyes with her, "So does this mean, you're not casting me aside because of all my drama?"

Bonnie gazed at Damon and shook her head, "No, I'm not."

"Good because I am low on friends that I can be completely open with," Damon smiled at her.

"Well Damon, I'm not going to stop being your friend because you have an old lady fetish," Bonnie knocked her shoulder with his.

He nodded taking the hit, "Very funny Bonnie."

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

The next afternoon, Bonnie tried to focus on her book that she brought with her on the plane but her thoughts kept floating back to her conversation with Damon. He was open and honest with her and although, she believed he was led around by his dick—she did believe that he was trying to be Captain Save an Old Hoe when he first started with Sabine. At first, she thought he was friend zoning her with the confession, but the way he looked at her when he finished his story and they agreed that they were still friends, stirred something inside of her at least. She understood that he was messy and was in no position to be a boyfriend, but those eyes…that body…the way he made her laugh…the smile he gave her…he sure enough gave an impression of being a boyfriend.

"Get it together Bonnie," she whispered to herself settling down in her seat. She was on her way for her weekend visit with Marcel and pushing whatever feelings for Damon down was at the top of her list…wait…did she just think that? She needed to push her friendship with Damon to the side and enjoy her time with Marcel. He was nice and he had sent her numerous text messages about looking forward to her visit. Marcel was a good guy; one that probably never slept with his best friend's mother, so she needed to give him a real chance. At that moment on the plane, she decided that this weekend would be all about exploring things with Marcel and no one else.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

"You know, I hope this bribe to the Chamber of Commerce gets us some deals along the way. Maybe some percentages off our liquor, furniture, construction?" Damon scribbled his signature on a check handing it over to Stefan.

"It's not a bribe, it's a donation," Stefan tucked the check in his pocket, "we have a table at the gala next Saturday and we need to fill it. Any guesses on who we can invite?"

"Our mother, of course," Damon answered, "and I'm sure you can look in your phone and find one or two women," he glanced up.

"Right and Bonnie?" Stefan asked.

Damon sat back, "We're on good terms, but her company bought a table and she will be there."

"I see and what about Elena?" Stefan asked nonchalantly picking up one of the expensive fountain pens off of Damon's desk.

"Stay away from her," Damon shook his finger at his brother, "the Salvatore brothers have turned over a new leaf and that does not mean pursuing women who are involved with other men."

Stefan sighed, sliding off of the desk, "Relax…Elena gave me some speech about her being devoted to her nice and safe boyfriend," Stefan tucked Damon's pen in his jacket, "so that friendship is pretty much over. I can easily find a date, maybe you should start looking."

Damon closed the checkbook and placed it in the steel safe in his office, shaking his head, he turned to his brother, "I told you, I was taking a break."

"I telling you, you need to find a date—not a girlfriend, maybe you won't be as uptight if you find someone."

"Thanks," Damon mumbled as he watched Stefan leave his office.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDB

"I don't understand why you're staying here," Bianca criticized opening her apartment door with a huff, "you should be with Marcel taking in all his has to offer," licking her lips before plopping down on her couch.

Bonnie lugged in her rolling suitcase and took in Bianca's new apartment in downtown Detroit. It was one of those new loft style luxury apartments, with a kitchen that resembled something from the movie Smart House. Everything was stainless steel, marble and cherry wood with a complete open concept. There was a huge portrait of Bianca lying on a bed, in a black satin dress with pearls and her seducing the camera—think Dorothy Dandridge hanging over the couch. Bonnie snickered, No one could love Bianca more than Bianca, she thought.

Bonnie explained taking a seat on the dark purple couch that Bianca had searched all over for months (and had Bonnie search for as well), "Because Marcel and I are getting to know each other and I didn't want him to think that this is anything more than a get to know each other trip,"

"Right, you'll be giving up the panties by Sunday," Bianca flagged her eliciting a gasp from Bonnie, who threw the pillow towards her head, "Bonnie, I don't know why you try to fool me. I know that you are going through your hoe phase," Bonnie's mouth dropped and Bianca went on, "you were with Enzo the entire time you were in college. One penis, the entire time, all four years. You are making up for it now and it's ok. Do I need to get Grams on the phone so she can give you a talking to?" Bianca picked up her phone and held it up causing Bonnie to leap across the couch and grab the phone, "Don't you dare!" she wrestled the phone from Bianca who collapsed into giggles as Bonnie breathed heavily, "I hate you," Bonnie glared at her sister.

"I know," Bianca winked wrapping her arm around Bonnie, "I miss having you where I am to torture."

Bonnie laughed, "I know you do."

"Maybe once you're done hoeing, you will actually settle down with Marcel and we will be in the same city again," Bianca sighed dreamily. Bonnie glanced up at her twin and smiled. The connection was powerful between them. As hard as they could argue, they loved each other the same way.

"Orrrrr you could just move to Mystic Falls," Bonnie sang.

Bianca looked down, "Not in any way, shape or form as long as planes work."

"Right," Bonnie laughed.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDB

That evening, instead of center court seats, Marcel had seen to it that Bonnie got a seat in one of the Suites where some of the players' wives. It was weird because Bonnie knew of the stories, the stares, the snipes that the wives usually gave some of the Devil girls. Bianca was hard as nails, so she didn't care about their attitudes or their insecurities and Bonnie knew that would shape her evening.

Upon entering the suite, she was met with a world of tight clothes, hair extensions, make up and humongous diamonds. It was enthralling to her to listen to them joke and not so subtlety brag about their luxurious lives and basically ignore her for the first couple of minutes.

"Excuse me, but you look so familiar," a tall chestnut colored woman appeared from the side of Bonnie, as if she teleported.

"I'm Bianca Bennett's sister."

There was a brief look of scorn and detestation that crossed her eyes before she recovered, "Oooh," she answered without completely covering up her loathing, "is she your older sister?" The way she said older made Bonnie's teeth itch. Bonnie smiled, "Actually she is, by two minutes. We're twins and that means, we protect each other by any means necessary," Bonnie eyes narrowed.

"How lovely!" she replied.

"And you are?" Bonnie asked with a smile on her face.

"Lara Richardson, I'm Jason Richardson's wife," she informed Bonnie as if Jason Richardson was the President of the United States and not just the Franchise Player of a Basketball team and one of Bianca's former conquests.

"Oooh Jason! Yes, we've met numerous times! He came to Thanksgiving dinner one year, he loved my mom's mac and cheese," Bonnie beamed causing Lara's nostrils to flair as she turned around quickly and went over to a group of other wives to whisper.

"Bitch," Bonnie mumbled under her breath.

"Indeed," a voice stated next to her.

Bonnie turned to the short woman standing next to her, with a short pixie cut resembling Halle Berry's younger sister, "That was great!"

Bonnie grimaced, "I'm not usually a huge bitch, but when it comes to my sister…"

"And other bitches, I understand. Hi, I'm Jackie Marshall…I'm one of the new wives, married to Brian Marshall," she stuck out her hand, "and not part of the cool squad."

"Well consider yourself lucky."

Jackie nodded, "Absolutely, let's get a drink."

"Let's," Bonnie moved over to the bar with her new friend.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

Damon watched from the bar sipping on a glass of bourbon. Stefan decided that they needed to do some brotherly bonding and so they both left the club to Alaric and they headed out to another bar in town. It wasn't upscale, it was one of those neighborhood bars that the locals frequented. A place where you just ordered drinks straight or with very little ingredients. It was simple and that's what he needed.

He looked around at the pockets of clientele, just people relaxing drinking their beers and eating bad bar food, "Damon…I want you to meet my new friends," Stefan grinned as he was flocked by two women. One was a blond with long, flowing tresses (definitely Stefan's type) and the other was a brunette with hazel eyes, who wouldn't make eye contact with Damon. Damon slid off of the stool—he was intrigued. His relationship with Andie ended months ago and Sabine was blocked and hadn't reached out in any way, shape or form. He wasn't a priest. It wouldn't hurt for him to date or spend time with someone.

"Hi, I'm Damon…the more interesting Brother," he winked holding out his hand.

The brunette giggled holding her hand up to her mouth, "Want to dance?" Damon asked.

"This happens to be my favorite song," she answered as a song from Lady Gaga flowed through the speakers.

"Then I'm in luck," Damon took her hand and led her out to the small dance floor.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

The Detroit Devils were up by 20 points at half time and Bonnie was enjoying herself. Despite the glares from the other wives, she and Jackie enjoyed themselves. The Devil Girls were on the court doing a routine to one of Janet Jackson's dance hits and the crowd were on their feet dancing and mimicking the moves. Bonnie whooped and hollered with Jackie watching her sister dance across the floor.

"Enjoying the show?" a masculine voice whispered in her ear sending quakes down her spine as an arm snaked around her waist pulling her closer. The aromatic smell of his woodsy cologne slowly penetrated her nostrils and she felt tingling all over her body.

"Always," she turned to face Marcel who gazed down at her with his almond shaped eyes and grin, "I didn't expect to see you until after the game."

"Well I snuck up here to see you, make sure everything is ok."

"Everything is fine, having a great time with my friend Jackie here," Bonnie gestured over to her new friend who stood sipping her drink staring with wide eyes.

"Oh yes, hey Jackie!" he nodded towards her.

"Hey Marcel," she nodded back.

Marcel turned his attention back to Bonnie taking in her appearance like he was memorizing every aspect of her face, "I can't wait to spend time with you this weekend and tonight after the game."

"That's what I'm here for," Bonnie smiled.

"Ok, see you soon," Marcel hugged her tightly before letting her go and throwing a wave to the other ladies before leaving the suite.

"So that's why you're also in town?" Jackie saddled up next to her.

Bonnie smiled as she sipped her drink.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

The Devils victory put everyone in a good mood as some members of the team, Bianca, Bonnie and Marcel gathered at a bar across the street from the stadium. Bonnie hung out with the team members whenever she visited Bianca, so she was used to most of them. However, there was one new person who wasn't part of the team who joined their celebration and he interested Bonnie by the way he and Bianca flirted. Bonnie decided to observe for a bit before putting her sister through the third degree.

"Enjoying yourself?" Marcel sat a glass of wine in front of her as they settled in at the bar.

"I am, watching the game was a little intense in that particular suite."

Marcel grimaced, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I guess I didn't think that completely through. The wives can be a little intimidating."

"I wasn't intimidated, I think they were though," Bonnie gave him a satisfied smirk.

"And when you look like that, you remind me of your sister and I'm not sure that's a good thing," Marcel gently took Bonnie's hand and laced his hand through hers, "you know I can't wait for tomorrow, when I can have you all to myself."

"What do you have planned for me?" her eyes danced along with his.

"It's a secret."

With that he had built up her anticipation. First dates were always mysterious and a little exciting to her. She wasn't sure what kind of man Marcel was, but she was confident that he would plan something special for them, "What should I wear?" she gave him a flirtatious smile.

Marcel laughed with a glint in his eyes, "Do you want the PG answer or my real answer?"

The heat from Marcel's stare and comment hit Bonnie in her face, "The PG answer."

"A nice dress," he answered.

"I can do that."

"Good."

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

Damon laughed as the pretty brunette that he danced with over the past hour twirled around in a circle on the dance floor. She was attractive, bubbly and knew how to have fun—some things that he'd missed lately. Melanie was exactly what he needed at this point in his life. After dancing to a couple of songs they moved over to some bar stools, while Damon craned his neck around the bar to find his brother and his blond.

"They went outside to smoke cigars, Kristen likes that type of thing," Melanie shrugged while Damon ordered them both beers.

"Sounds like the kind of woman that my brother would love," Damon gave the bartender some bills.

"And what about you? Who are you besides Damon?" she asked taking her beer from Damon.

Damon mulled over that question. What exactly did she want to know? He decided to give her the Cliff Notes version, "Well my last name is Salvatore and I own a lounge here in Mystic Falls."

"What lounge?" she asked.

"Revel."

Her eyes widened and she almost choked on her beer, "What do you mean…Revel, the lounge over on Greene Street?"

"The one and only," Damon sipped beer.

"Wow, I've been there a couple of times. That place is great and you own it."

"With Stefan, it's a little family business. What about you?"

Melanie laughed, "Well what I do sounds a lot less exciting than what you do. I'm a school teacher, middle school—5th grade."

"That's fun," Damon deadpanned.

"Oh loads," she rolled her eyes, "so how is it that you are single? You're a good looking guy and you have a business, why is your brother looking to hook you up with someone?"

He shrugged. He had no desire to share with her that he had a crazy dating life and it always ended in disaster, mostly because of his own design. The closest relationship he had with the opposite sex at this point was with Bonnie and she was away with another man, "Well I'm not exactly the best candidate for boyfriend material."

"I can't believe that," Melanie fluttered her eyelashes.

Damon laughed long and hard, "Well believe it."

"Maybe I should see for myself," she stated taking out her phone, "what is your phone number Damon?"

Her forwardness turned Damon on. He wasn't interested in a relationship, but Melanie may be exactly what he needed to occupy his time and perhaps his bed (when he was ready to go down that road again). Damon found himself reciting his number to Melanie as she saved it in her phone, "I'm free whenever you are," she whispered in his ear.

Damon found himself grinning from ear to ear at the woman who had him contemplating the pledge he made about taking a step away from dating. "I called you, so you can save my number now," Melanie stated looking down at her phone.

Damon removed his phone from his pocket and glanced down, he saw Melanie's number and he noticed he had a text message from Bonnie. He stole a glance at Melanie who was scrolling through her phone and then opened up Bonnie's text. It was a picture of her wearing a Detroit Devils jersey and jeans, she was standing next to an elderly woman with a Detroit Devils midriff and shorts. The words under the text read, 'Found your next girlfriend!'. The hilarity of the text and the nerve of Bonnie made him snicker out loud. Even in Detroit she was mocking him. 'Ha, ha' he texted back before looking up at Melanie who looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Got your number, are you free tomorrow for an early dinner?" he asked her.

With her eyes shining and wetting her lips, she answered in the affirmative making Damon's night complete.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

The sound of panting gently nudged Damon from his slumber as he opened his eyes slowly to Sandy standing over him breathing heavily and giving him a hopeful look, "Come on Girl, it's too early," he mumbled turning away from her noticing the sunlight drifting through his curtains. It was morning and he felt like he had just fallen asleep.

The panting mixed with whining continued and his eyes shot open, "I know its Saturday, but she's not there," he mumbled hoping and praying that the dog understood what he just said. His hopes were quickly dashed as the feeling of a wet nose prodding him ended whatever dreams he had of sleeping in. He sat up in bed rubbing his eyes, "Ok fine…fine!" he sighed sliding out of bed as Sandy happily followed him wagging her tail.

An hour later he found himself sitting at a table at A Cup of Life with Barry singing one of Beyonce's newest songs behind the counter. Sandy was happily licking her water from the bowl and every time the door opened she looked up as if she was looking for Bonnie, but each time she was disappointed.

"It's ok Girl, she will be back next week," Damon sympathized before taking out his phone and snapping a picture of his coffee cup and then of Sandy. He fired off a text quickly and then sat back satisfied.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

The sound of a text message coming through awoke Bonnie from her stupor and she reached blindly in Bianca's guest room for her phone on the night table. She wasn't sure what time she got in the apartment the previous night, but it was late. She remembered hanging out with Marcel and him driving her home because Bianca was still hanging out at the bar. The conversation was light between them, but she knew over the next two days, they would get to know each other on another level and she was ready…kind of.

She opened her text messages and immediately a text from Damon popped up. The first was a picture of a cup of coffee and it's caption 'Flat White' and the second was a picture of Sandy with a sad face with the caption read 'Not the same…'

"Aww," Bonnie frowned before texting the same sentiment to Damon with a sad face. She shook her head—the momentary feeling of sadness that came over her at that moment was weird. Here she was in Detroit to visit Marcel and Damon and his dog were dominating her morning thoughts. While she turned to place her cell phone on the night table, the guest room door burst open and Bianca entered wearing a huge smile on her face, "Good Morning!" she sang plopping down on the bed next to Bonnie.

"How are you even up right now?" Bonnie wrinkled her nose. Bianca smiled lying back on the bed next to Bonnie, "Hey, I can't help it if I get up bright and early every morning," she shrugged.

"Uh, huh and what time did you make it in last night?" Bonnie asked.

"Maybe 3 or 4, who knows?"

"Yes and who was that guy that you were all booed up with, what was his name Khalil?"

The older twin gave her sister a secretive smile, "Khalil is my friend. He's new."

"So new that you said nothing about him in any of our phone calls," Bonnie narrowed her eyes, "you ask me everything about everyone I may look twice at, but you keep quiet about your own little exploits."

"Oh there's so many," Bianca waved her hand in the air.

"I know, Jason's wife sent me daggers all last night."

Bianca sucked her teeth, "She's a bitch. I'm sure you set her straight," she lifted her fist for Bonnie.

Bonnie bumped fists, "Sure did."

"My Sissy," Bianca hugged her tightly placing her leg over her Bonnie's causing Bonnie to erupt into giggles, "Stooopppp!" she screamed.

"Well this is a vision," a voice said from the doorway causing Bonnie to yelp. It was Khalil and his eyes were dancing in delight. Bonnie hated him already.

"Khalil!" Bianca hopped out of bed and skipped over to him wrapping her arm around him kissing him softly on the lips.

"I wanted to know if you ladies wanted waffles or pancakes. I made some blueberry compote to go on either."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "Khalil's a chef," Bianca beamed and suddenly, Bonnie didn't hate Khalil so much anymore.

Well…a couple things happened in this chapter. Damon is definitely not getting a new girlfriend and neither is Bonnie, but they may find people who they like…but there will be a certain pull perhaps between Bamon that they may not be able to shake any time soon.

What did you think about Damon's confession? Bonnie's reaction? I think Damon coming clean to Bonnie unprompted means something and demonstrates how he feels about their friendship.

Please show your love/like…the next chapter will be pretty interesting.