Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for the warm welcome back! You will never know how much I appreciate your support!
I told you I wouldn't leave you hanging for long…
Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own the characters.
"Damon, thank you for coming," Elena commented while concentrating on stitching Bonnie's wound.
He entered the room staring at Bonnie with wide and slightly panicked eyes catching sight of her forehead which sported a 4-inch horizontal bleeding gash, Elena continued speaking as she worked, "She has a slight concussion and…"
"Excuse me Dr. Gilbert, HIPAA!" Bonnie gasped interrupting.
Elena stopped and narrowed her eyes at her best friend.
"Ok, fine," Bonnie rolled her eyes while wincing.
"Anyway," Elena went on while continuing her work, "she has a slight concussion, so I need you to keep an eye on her until I am able to get home probably at around noon or so tomorrow. I'm going to prescribe her light pain medication because my roommate here, spent her evening drinking red wine and I don't want her to end up back here for another reason."
Bonnie glared at Elena from her place on the gurney.
Damon's eyes zeroed in on Bonnie, "Wait…you weren't driving were you?" he asked in almost a whisper.
"No!" Bonnie screeched and then grimaced in agony and then lowered her voice, "no, I was in a rideshare, someone t-boned us, the car flipped."
"Oh ok, it's a miracle you're ok," Damon replied while Bonnie gave him a small smile.
"So, every 2 hours, I want you to check on her," Elena instructed bringing the room back to the subject at hand.
"Ok, I can do that."
Elena stepped back and smiled, "All done! The stiches will have to stay in for at least week. I will get your discharge papers ready," Elena removed her gloves moving towards the doorway throwing them in the red biowaste basket, "and if her headache gets worse, vomiting starts or anything else—you bring her right back here," Elena ordered Damon while heading to the doorway of the pod.
"Will do," Damon stated staring over at Bonnie who was rubbing her temples. Her shirt was covered in dried blood, and he swallowed. When Elena first mentioned a car accident on the phone with Stefan, his heart went in his throat. He wasn't sure he even heard most of what Elena told them until he felt Stefan shaking him and telling him he needed to go pick Bonnie up from the hospital.
"It's only a cut," Bonnie mumbled taking in Damon's look of alarm.
"You have at least 20 stitches in your head," Damon responded.
"It could have been worse," she stated sliding off of the grey gurney and immediately grimacing causing Damon to rush her side, wrapping his arm around her tiny waist, "I'm just a little dizzy, it's been quite a night," she sighed.
Taking a look around the room, Damon searched for her belongings, "Where's your stuff? I will carry it."
"You don't have to," Bonnie argued.
"Bon, you were in a car accident, take it easy," he replied gently.
Between the pounding in her head and the slight pain in her back, she realized that now was not the time to argue with him before she gestured towards her red work tote sitting in a visitor's chair, "That's all I have."
"Ok, I will carry it and when Elena comes back, I'm taking you home…your home," Damon clarified.
She realized her choices in the matter were very slim—so she did the only thing at that point she could, she nodded.
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During the short ride from the hospital to the townhouse, Damon spoke to Bonnie about the new lounge and the renovations non-stop. He spoke about everything he possibly could to keep her engaged and responding to him. In the moments when she stopped responding, he would call her name out loudly and she would jerk awake sending him a death glare that made him relax.
When they pulled up to the townhouse, helping her out of his car was not an easy task because Bonnie insisted on walking on her own until she swayed, and he rushed to grab her. After 3 stops and starts, she finally gave up by allowing him to open the door and lead her inside of the house. Damon only remembered stepping foot in Bonnie's townhome one other time, but this time—it felt different.
Bonnie flipped the on the light in the foyer and slowly every light in the downstairs area began to turn on illuminating the downstairs, "I just want to take a shower, take my pain meds and get some sleep," she mumbled heading towards the stairs.
"I will come upstairs with you," Damon followed closely on her heels causing her to turn around on the stairs meeting him eye to eye.
"Umm…no you won't," she protested.
He rolled his eyes; she was going to be difficult, he could handle difficult, "Bonnie, you heard Elena. I have to watch you and watching you requires making sure you don't drown in the shower."
Bonnie's eyes widened as much as they could with pain and tiredness ravaging her body, "You will not come in the bathroom with me, Damon Salvatore," she hissed.
His face crinkled as she stared down at him with judgey feline like eyes, "What…no…I will sit in your room and wait for you to get out of the shower and listen just in case I hear a thump or something, I'm not coming in the bathroom with you."
She stared at him for a few beats with a narrowed gaze, "Fine," she huffed heading up the stairs with Damon following behind shaking his head.
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As soon as he heard the shower water start, Damon looked around Bonnie's bedroom. It was carefully decorated. There appeared to be a purple and white motif. Abstract paintings of shapes adorned the wall, along with carefully selected black and white photos placed around the room. There were pictures of her, her parents, Bianca, her incredibly charismatic grandmother, Elena and a few with people who he could only imagine from college.
He glanced over at her vanity and noticed that there was a picture of she and Bianca sitting on the steps of what he imagined was their childhood home. They were about 6 or 7, sitting with denim shorts on and red tank tops, heart shaped faces both missing one tooth in the front (Bonnie the left, Bianca the right) and Bianca's arm was tightly around Bonnie's neck pulling her into a hug with wide smiles. They were some cute kids, Damon marveled.
He admired a few other pictures around the room before taking a seat on the small royal purple loveseat under the bay window, when his cell began to vibrate in his pocket. The number blinking on his screen was a Detroit number and he took one guess as to who it could be before answering, "Hello Bianca," he answered with a grin.
There was a slight pause, "What…oh Damon, how did you know it was me?" Bianca asked slyly.
"Well, it's almost midnight, I took a wild guess as to who would be calling me from a Detroit number."
"Yes…well…I wanted to make sure you made it to my sister's home safely," Bianca replied with a hint of suspicion.
Damon smirked, "Yes, I drove her straight home, Bianca. No need to worry."
"Uh, huh and what are you doing right now?"
Damon chuckled, "Waiting for her to get out of the shower," he smirked listening to Bianca gasp.
"Damon, what are you planning to do with my slightly drunk and slight concussed sister?" she asked in an accusatory tone that Damon was almost offended by.
"I will take care of her like Elena asked. Bianca, you know that I'm not that kind of guy," he answered with a hint of annoyance.
Bianca chuckled, "I know you're not; I was hoping that you would be more offended, and I would have a bigger laugh at your expense. How is Bonnie anyway?"
Shaking his head with a slight smile, he answered, "She's fine. Tired and in some pain, she's fighting me, but I will take care of her don't worry."
"Ok, well tell her I called and I will call again in the morning," Bianca replied.
"Will do."
"And thank you Damon for taking care of my sissy," Bianca stated sincerely.
Damon smiled, "Of course," he answered before their call ended.
After her shower, Bonnie kicked Damon out of her room so she could change into her sleepshirt without an audience—so he found himself in the kitchen pouring a glass of water, gathering some pretzels for her to eat and two of the pain meds that Elena prescribed in the emergency room. Entering the living room, Damon found his little charge sitting on the couch going through her phone massaging her temple.
He sat the bowl of pretzels down, handed her the pills and glass of water, "Returning phone calls?" he asked taking a seat next to her.
She popped the pills in her mouth then gulped down the water, "Texting my mom, dad and Grams to let them know that I'm fine. Bianca already texted to let me know that she spoke to you," she glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, she made sure to let me know that I need to be on my best behavior tonight," Damon rolled his eyes picking up the bowl of pretzels and handing them over to Bonnie.
Picking up one of the mini twists, she nibbled, "Thank you for coming to pick me up."
"Well arguing with Stefan about all the money he's spending can wait another day," he gave her a cocky grin.
Bonnie returned his expression, "I bet," she replied, "tonight was just full of surprises."
"Yeah, I bet a car accident was not on your bingo card…"
Bonnie bit her lip, "Even before that," she concentrated on the bowl of pretzels, "Enzo's fiancée happened to be in the same restaurant where I decided to have dinner tonight."
Damon raised an eyebrow. Bonnie mentioned previously that her ex had hooked up with one of her former friends and were engaged—she confessed to not knowing how to feel about it at the time, but it had to sting a little still, "Oh," was all he could say.
"Yes…'oh'…I would answer the same way," Bonnie laughed lightly, "but it wasn't a bad conversation. She joined me at the bar, we drank wine…hashed things out. I think we came to an understanding."
"Well, that's a good thing right?" Damon probed.
Bonnie concentrated on her glass of water before taking a sip and then gripped the glass tightly before loosening her fingers around it, "It is. But the conversation with her made me come to a few realizations about myself."
Damon looked over catching Bonnie concentrating on the glass in her hand as her fingers trembled a little, "Are you ok Bonnie, is your headache worse?" he asked taking the glass from her and placing it on the coffee table.
She closed her eyes tightly for a few moments and then opened them, "No, my headache is starting to subside somewhat or I'm becoming numb to the pain…but no…I just, I had time to think about some of my actions over the years."
Damon felt the air in the room shift and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable, "Bonnie, I'm not sure this is the right time for introspection," he shifted away from her on the couch.
"I was so sure of everything in my life before I met you," she continued as if he hadn't spoke, "I told myself that I was starting a new chapter. I was going to have fun and focus on my career," she twisted her body around to lay her head against the couch cushions staring at Damon, "and I was having soo much fun with Tyler and Ben at one point," she chuckled to herself.
Damon rubbed his hands on his thighs looking everywhere but at Bonnie on the couch, "Umm…I think we should at the very least get you upstairs to bed…"
Bonnie continued in a drowsy voice as her eyes closed while she continued speaking, "And then you and Sandy came into the coffee shop and there was a shift. There was a shift in me, we had such a fun and easy-going friendship. I felt like we could talk about anything, and we started opening up to each other," her voice took on a pensive tone, "I was attracted to you instantly and then after months of dancing around each other, we had sex," she said in a whisper.
Damon shifted on the couch, he really, really, REALLY wanted this conversation to stop, "Bon, you have a concussion and you've ingested a couple of things this evening that I know has your mind kind of loopy right now…"
She smiled at him dreamily continuing, "And it was amazing. Sometimes I still think about that first time and…" she licked her lips and giggled lightly, "and from that moment on, I knew I needed a shield…a shield between us."
As soon as those words left her mouth, Damon abruptly stood up from the couch. He had to stop her from talking or at the very least, he had to stop listening to what she was saying, "Bonnie, how about I get you some more water…" he picked up her empty glass and rushed towards the kitchen.
Damon could barely get away from the living room fast enough as his breathing quickened. She was starting down a road of confession, that he wasn't ready to hear. Walking over to the refrigerator and pressing the glass against the lever to fill the glass of water, he prayed that she had drifted off to sleep during his absence. He didn't want to hear the rest of what Bonnie wanted to say…he shouldn't hear the rest of what she had to say…he couldn't hear the rest of what she had to say. It wasn't fair to her or to him.
Damon stood at the refrigerator for a few beats praying that she had finished her declarations and hadn't noticed that he was gone. Clutching the glass of water, he slowly walked through the dining room, and caught the sound of Bonnie still speaking as if he was still sitting next to her, "…and Marcel, he's nice, he's sweet and he's a man that any woman would be happy to settle down with and build a life…but he's a shield for me. He's a shield to keep me from falling harder for you and having to piece myself back together when I have to face the reality that you don't want to have a relationship with me," she said quietly.
He heard the honesty and dejection in her voice, and he swallowed before drinking the entire glass of water himself.
After a few moments of being frozen in place, his feet remembered how to move, and he made his way over to the couch. Bonnie's eyes were closed, and he noticed her chest moving up and down slowly. Her head still rested against the pillow cushions as if he was sitting next to her listening to all of her confessions.
Sitting down the glass, Damon kneeled down in front of her, gently moving the strands of hair that had fallen like a curtain over her face out of the way, "Bonnie Bennett," he whispered before he stood up bending over, sliding his arms under Bonnie's legs and lifted her off of the couch as she wrapped her arms around his neck almost instinctually while she rested his head on his shoulder. He walked over to the stairs as Bonnie's head shifted slightly, "Sorry I fell asleep, we can do it tomorrow night," she whispered in his ear.
The feeling of her whisper against his skin and the way she held onto him tested every bit of self-restraint he possessed as he climbed the stairs. The things her voice did to him, he thought as he slowly made his way up the stairs to her moonlit bedroom.
Gently placing her on the bed, Damon pulled the purple comforter over Bonnie's body (which was clad in a very short sleepshirt testing many boundaries of decency), he covered her all the way to her neck and took a deep breath before turning to take a seat on the loveseat across from the bed.
He looked over at Bonnie who had repositioned herself to rest her head on her hands with her eyes closed facing him breathing softly, "You know what's funny Bon…" he chuckled, "we all have those shields up one way or the other, but you…you are the one I want to put those shields down for," he whispered staring at her from his place on the love seat before leaning back and closing his eyes.
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Bonnie's eyes opened suddenly as if she'd been in a stasis. She sat up quickly in her bed as a sunbeam hit her directly in her face and she immediately felt the dull ache in her head following by pain in her lower back. Today would definitely be the one where she felt every ache from being in an overturned car. If she hadn't felt the pain, she would have thought last night was all a dream. Looking over at the love seat placed in front of her window, she noticed one of her pillows and a blanket were neatly folded on one side of the cushions. It was only then that she realized that the smell of bacon cooking made its way into her room. He was still here? She thought to herself as she slid out of bed and headed into the bathroom quickly.
She hurriedly brushed her teeth, washed her face and attempted to make herself somewhat presentable with the ugly gash spreading across her forehead and the dark circles under her eyes by dabbing on some light foundation.
Bonnie stood staring at herself in her bathroom mirror for a few moments trying to remember the previous night.
She recalled him bringing her water, her pain meds and pretzels downstairs while she sat on the couch and she remembered talking, but about what exactly? She couldn't remember, "Good going Bonnie," she mumbled.
"Hey, Bonnie…you ok in there?" Damon asked from the other side of the bathroom door.
"Umm…yes, I will be out in a minute," she called.
"Good because I made pancakes!"
Pancakes? She mouthed to herself.
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Damon realized that waking up every two hours to make sure that Bonnie was still breathing really didn't lend itself to a good night's rest and at some point, he gave up on even trying to sleep and started approving purchase orders from liquor distributors in between stealing glances at Bonnie sleeping.
After her confession, his mind raced with questions. Would she remember? Did she mean what she said? What was he supposed to do with this new information? So when 9am hit, he stood up and headed down to the kitchen to at least see what he could find to make breakfast. He figured he would stay away from the omelet after what occurred the last time, he made that particular breakfast dish and settled on pancakes and bacon.
"You didn't have to cook me breakfast," she entered the kitchen wearing a pair of lounge pants and a tank top. Her face looked a little better, but she still looked exhausted and the bandage covering her forehead was rather noticeable.
"I know, but I figured that maybe it would help the headache at least," he slid one of the pancakes on a red plate along with three slices of bacon.
Bonnie took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar and picked up a slice of bacon nibbling on it, "Thank you."
"So how are you feeling?" Damon asked leaning over and staring into her eyes.
She frowned, "Like I was in a car accident, my back is starting to ache a little so I took two of the pain meds. If things get worse, I may be able to get something a little stronger."
Damon nodded as he poured some orange juice for her and slid the glass over.
"You made yourself at home, I see," Bonnie looked around the kitchen where various ingredients were placed on the counter.
Damon shrugged, "I'm glad that you and Elena actually keep a fully stocked refrigerator."
Bonnie smiled as she picked up her fork and looked down at the pancake, "I'm sorry that I fell asleep last night…"
"You were in a car accident, you have a minor concussion—it was expected," Damon gave her a sympathetic look.
"What were we even talking about before I fell asleep?" Bonnie asked.
Damon glanced down for a moment and then over to her shrugging, "You know this and that…you mentioned something about the reopening."
"That's it?" Bonnie asked.
"Pretty much. The rest was gibberish," Damon gave her a reassuring smile.
Bonnie gave him a self-deprecating smile, "I guess that's what you get after a couple of glasses of Pinor Noir and a car accident."
"Guess so," Damon nodded watching her for a few beats.
Bonnie went back to her pancakes and placed a piece in her mouth and immediately closed her eyes, "Damon…wow…what's in this?" she pointed to the round cakey item on her plate.
He grinned winking at her, "My secret recipe."
"Vanilla…hmm…cinnamon," she tapped the fork on her lips for a few moments trying to dissect the tastes on her tongue.
Damon watched her as she took another piece and closed her eyes while licking her lips and the torture was too much, "I lied to you!" he found himself saying louder than he expected.
Bonnie's eyes shot open, "What?!"
Damon wiped his hands on the kitchen towel and stood on the other side of the breakfast bar with both of his hands on the marble, "You said a little more last night and it wasn't about the lounges," he stated quietly.
Bonnie placed her fork down as her eyes became alarmed, "What did I say?"
He opened his mouth trying to find the right words, "You told me you had dinner with Enzo's fiancée last night."
Bonnie froze as her eyes widened and stared back at him wondering what else she said, "Did I say anything else?"
Damon's eyes softened and he took a deep breath, "Bonnie, I think we need to have an honest conversation about our friendship and how it's changed despite how much we say it hasn't," he breathed out.
Bonnie drew an intake of breath as she lost herself in his ocean blues for a few moments, "Damon, I…" she began but the doorbell ringing shattered the moment, "I…I should get that," she mumbled sliding off of the stool as Damon blinked watching her retreating figure.
Bonnie couldn't feel her feet as she made her way towards to the front door. The heat that rose from her stomach to her face at Damon's words made it hard for her to even think logically.
She reached the door and could see the shadow of the visitor through the glass and her body immediately stopped moving for a few seconds and the pain in the front of her head increased.
The sound of more knocking brought shocked her system to keep moving and she found herself opening the door to Marcel, "Baby!" he immediately wrapped her body into a tight hug, "Bianca texted me this morning before I got on the plane…what happened…how are you? She said you were ok, but I had to come and check for myself," he let her go placing his hands on her cheeks, "did that hurt?" he grimaced eyeing her forehead.
"I'm fine…ummm…" she began as he took her hand moving towards the living room out of the foyer.
"I'm sorry I wasn't around last night, but I'm here now and…" Marcel began as his eyes traveled over Bonnie to something, or someone rather, past her shoulder, "Damon?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
Bonnie turned around to see Damon standing in the living room rocking on his heels trying to look everywhere but at Marcel's piercing eyes.
"Damon, I didn't…uh…expect you to be here," Marcel stated dropping Bonnie's hand.
Damon ran his hair through his short raven locks, "I…well…Elena called me last night because she had to work the ER and couldn't be here to…uh…watch Bonnie…so she asked me to come and…you know what, maybe I should go," he stated walking over to the coffee table and picking up his keys and wallet.
"Damon, you don't have to go," Bonnie spoke up feebly.
Damon's eyes went from Bonnie's face to Marcel's glare, "Umm, I think I do. I will check up on you later," he managed to smile before walking towards the door and closing it behind him.
Closing her eyes for a few moments, Bonnie sighed and tried to muster as much strength as she could to handle what was coming, "Damon brought you home from the hospital and stayed here?" Marcel asked in a way that tried hard to not sound like an accusation but was definitely an accusation.
Bonnie took a deep breath, "Elena called him, I had a minor concussion and I needed someone to stay with me. She couldn't leave the hospital because the accident involved multiple cars."
Marcel nodded with his jaw clenched, "And he was the only option."
Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "My family doesn't live here, Elena is my closest friend here next to Damon…"
"Next to Damon," Marcel repeated wryly, "tell me Bonnie, if I was here in town—do you think Elena would have called me instead of him?"
Bonnie shook her head, "But that wasn't the situation," she answered simply walking towards the kitchen.
"But what if it was?" he followed her and stopped in the threshold to observe the breakfast laid out on the counter and exhaled, "Bonnie, what kind of friends are you and Damon?"
She turned to face him, "What do you mean?"
Marcel rubbed his hands over his face, "You two. What kind of friendship do you two have…is it a friendship where you talk and hang out occasionally or is it something more than that?" he clarified using his hands to demonstrate that span of friendships.
"We're friends," Bonnie reiterated.
He shook his head, "Have you two ever had sex?" Marcel asked suddenly.
Bonnie's entire body froze as she stared back at Marcel, "What?!" she asked in almost disbelief that they were even having this conversation in her kitchen after the night she had.
"You two. Have you had sex before? And to be clear, I'm not talking about years ago, I'm talking about months…weeks?" he pressed.
Bonnie shook her head, "I don't see what that has to do with…"
Marcel stared at her, "Bonnie, can you just answer that question—lets be honest here," he pleaded with her.
She was sure the stabbing pain in her head had nothing to do with her concussion at this point, Bonnie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, "Yes, me and Damon…we've slept together before and yes, it was a couple of months ago…" she confessed as Marcel shook his head, "but we are friends. We decided that it was best to remain friends…"
Marcel moved his head from side to side in almost disbelief, "You two are not just friends. You two are more than that," he squinted at her, "I could see it the way you would look at him when you were in each other's presence or the way I would catch him looking at us when we danced or we spoke at his lounge. You two have something else going on," he pointed at her, "I had a feeling that it was more, but I also knew that I had no claim to you. You and I were just figuring things out."
"I'm sorry," Bonnie stated quietly as she swallowed, "I was wrong to allow you to believe that I was ready to explore a relationship with you. You…you made your intentions clear with me and you really made me believe that I could be happy with you, but I know…" she moved closer to him, "I know that I was unfair to you."
Marcel focused on eyes for a few moments and then spoke taking a few steps towards her, "Bonnie, let's say that we continue down this road with all of our cards on the table. I know about your history with Damon. Would you ever consider not having him in your life the way he is now—I'm talking about the friendship only?" he asked moving closer to her and taking her hands in his, "because I may be many things, but I don't think I'm the type of guy who can sit around and have a few laughs with the man who slept with my girl a couple of months ago."
Bonnie met Marcel's gaze, "Marcel, I don't want a relationship…"
Marcel snorted, "Bonnie, that's the funniest and saddest part to all of this, you are in a relationship. You're in a relationship with Damon and I don't know why you're lying to yourself and trying to lie to me."
Bonnie bit her lip, "I'm not lying to you, I was going to say," she inhaled before continuing, "I was going to say to you, that I know I don't want a relationship with you," she confessed as he dropped her hands, "it wouldn't be fair to you. You deserve better than I can give you."
He took a deep breath touching her shoulder and then gave her a half smile, "Bonnie, you are a beautiful and intelligent woman and of course, I went after you with everything I had—but I was always fooling myself; I could never compete with someone who will always be the person those who know and love you call in an emergency because they know the truth, behind the guise of friendship that you two have."
"Marcel, I'm sorry," she answered, "I'm sorry that I led you on."
He shrugged, "Well…I'm sorry about it too," he replied turning away from her as the front door of the townhome opened and Elena came barreling in passing Marcel on his way out.
Bonnie stayed plastered to the spot in the kitchen as Elena came in searching her face, "What happened?" Elena asked concerned.
Bonnie shook her head, "Me and Damon happened," she answered simply shrugging.
Confessions all around…everyone had a sip of truth serum…but when will Bonnie and Damon actually confess to each other's face?
Stay tuned…please show your love/like.