Hi. Hey. Hello… It's me. How ya doing? I'm sorry it's been so long and I'm also sorry because I can't guarantee that it won't be longer next time. But, I will promise that I will always return to my stories and eventually complete them.

Anyway, quick refresh; Vicki was attacked, Bonnie knows and her and Sheila are going to do a cleanse on her hospital room, and Stefan wants Bonnie something fierce.

Mystic Falls Hospital

Bonnie and her Grams arrived early to the hospital the next day, only to run into Stefan almost immediately. "Hey, I was hoping I would run into you both."

Sheila raised a brow and scoffed as she gazed between her grandbaby and the vampire, "I'll just bet you did." She reached into her bag and pulled out a thick leather bound book. "Bonnie, are you ready to learn your first spell?"

"You betcha, Grams. You said that cleansing her room and her mind would help her, right?"

"Yes. Plus, it balances out the energy surrounding this girl. Unlike Matt, whose energy has always remained pretty balanced, Vicki like her mother has always leaned towards more negative and darker energies. Hopefully, this along with Stefan's compulsion will ease her suffering."

"And I can use any help I get with compelling her." Stefan muttered to himself, but Bonnie heard.

"Why's that?"

"As you know, I feed off of animals, which gets the job done, but it leaves me and my compelling abilities a bit weaker. So, having Vicki's energies and in turn hopefully her mind, more balanced should allow for the compulsion to take deeper."

Sheila nodded, "Speaking of which, we should get to it before someone comes in."

"Right, I'm surprised that Matt hasn't taken up residence at his sister's bedside."

"He has, but I was able to compel him to go waste time trying to find something to eat for the next forty minutes or so."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at Stefan, "Please don't make compelling my friends and family a thing. Because I might have to kick your ass if you are going around messing with their minds."

Stefan raised his hands palms facing Bonnie, "Hey, I would prefer I didn't have to even do this. But if it makes you feel better, I promise that I will only use my ability in dire situations. And if I do, I will always tell you."

With that, they agreed and the two witches got down to doing the cleansing spell and then let Stefan do his thing.

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

Mystic Grill

Elena Gilbert walked into the grill that served as a meet up place for both the teen and adult population in Mystic Falls. She glanced around and grimaced when she saw Caroline sitting at a table. Despite the two of them seeming fine at the party and whatnot, one could never tell with Caroline, she always seemed to lean more towards the enemy side of frenemies.

The Gilbert girl grimaced again as she thought about the previous night and how it ended with Vicki in going to the hospital. She still couldn't believe that she and Jeremy were the ones who found her, what with Jeremy literally tripping over Vicki. She had plans to hang out at the grill for a bit before taking Matt some food later.

Sighing in resignation, Elena decided to make her way over to the blonde. "Hi, Caroline. How are you holding up?"

Caroline looked up at Elena with a look of sadness. "I'm fine. But never mind about me, you were the ones who found Vicki. How are you holding up? How's Jeremy? Don't he and Vicki kind of have a thing?"

"He's shaken up, but what do you mean? Vicki and my little brother have a thing? What?"

"I'm sorry, I so did not mean to expose anything. But I thought you knew, you are always trying to pull him back into some semblance of the Jeremy we used to know. So… I just assumed you knew."

"No. I most certainly did not. But that explains where he was always disappearing to this summer. I just thought he was going to get more drugs or getting high with those drugs. I never even thought that he might be hooking up with Matt's sister."

"Oh, I'm sorry. And to be fair, I don't know that they've actually been hooking up. I just know that they have definitely seemed closer lately. At least, they do when Tyler isn't around. But I get it."

"What?! You do?"

"Granted I don't know what it is like to lose not just one but both parents, no offense. But I do know what grief is like. And sure, mine is for my father leaving us so he can be with a guy (which it's like, I don't care that you are gay, I care that you decided to leave me too! Why can't he be gay here?), but I still felt grief when he left. And it affects people differently. For you, it made you want to pull away from Matt. For Jeremy, it probably made him want to be closer to someone. That someone just so happens to be Vicki."

"Wow… That is incredibly insightful, Caroline."

"Yeah, well. Just because I'm talking all the time doesn't mean I'm not also seeing. Plus, it would obviously be easier for me to notice than you. You do a pretty good job of trying to pull him back from the ledge, but you are also still grieving." She shrugged apologetically and sent a small smile to the brunette sitting across from her.

Elena returned it, feeling like her and Caroline were possibly on the same page for the first time since the beginning of middle school. Thinking of everything she had just learned, Elena glanced over as the door was opened.

"Whoa. Who is that? And how are his eyes so blue?"

Caroline laughed, "If this were just a few days ago, I would so call dibs. But, I think I am going to pass."

Elena looked back at her friend questioningly, "You okay?"

"Yeah. Let's just say, the past couple of days have been interesting. And I'm working through something. But believe me when I say that he is all yours."

"Hmm." The brown eyed girl looked back at the raven haired guy who was taking a seat about two tables away. "Maybe… Maybe, I should take a page out of your book. I mean, he's got to be what? Like at least 23? That's definitely not healthy, right?"

"I don't know much about healthy relationships. My dad married my mom and he's gay. So…"

They both look at each other and then burst out laughing.

"Oh look, there's Stefan!" Elena said, still smiling.

Caroline sent her an impish grin, "Hmm, me thinks we should shake him down for info on him and Bonnie."

Laughing, Elena agreed. "Me thinks you are right."

Turning, they both called out, "Hey Stefan! Over here."

He glanced away from Damon and saw Bonnie's two friends. Deciding to ignore Damon for now, he headed over to the girls' table. "Well, hello Caroline. Hello Elena. Would you be so kind to allow me to join you?"

Smirking as he bowed, the girls nodded and the vampire joined them.

"So, Stefan, tell us more about yourself."

"Well, I traveled a lot as a kid. Military family. I-."

"Blah blah blah. I found all of that out in like ten minutes. What I want to know is if you are someone we need to worry about. You see, while Elena and I aren't always on the same page, there has always been one thing that we can agree upon…"

Elena tilts her head and narrows her eyes. "Bonnie."

The vampire noticed Damon lean toward his drink, but Stefan could tell that his brother was listening to their conversation. Intrigued on what could be keeping his brother in Mystic Falls. And as much as Stefan wished he could put off his brother finding out about Bonnie, he knew that trying to divert the conversation would make it even more obvious how important Bonnie is to him.

"Exactly. Bonnie. She is our very best friend and you could travel the world for a billion years and never find someone as amazing as her. Do you understand? If you ever hurt her we will take you apart piece by piece,"

"With a rusty knife."

"Oh yes! We will take you apart piece by piece with the dullest and rustiest knife there is, and see how long you can stay conscious before finally putting you out of your misery."

Elena nodded in agreement as the two girls gave Stefan the death glare.

Stefan, in turn, waited a beat, appreciating that these two teens were more terrifying in their protective fierceness over someone who had supernatural abilities. "I can honestly say that you two are terrifying. I can also honestly say that I will never hurt Bonnie on purpose, but if I do then I will gladly help you search for that dull and rusty knife."

They looked at him searchingly for another minute or so before deciding that he passed their test.

Elena flagged down a server, before turning back to Stefan. "So, did you kiss yet?"

"Well, I…"

"Please, if he had do you think he'd be here?"

"So true, he'd probably be standing on her porch begging her for another kiss."

"Ha! Oh, and he'd probably craft some sort of ode to her lips. He seems like a poetry type of guy."

"Oh my goodness, yes! 'Your lips are smooth as silk.'"

"'They taste as sweet as honey.'"

Stefan decides to just join in. "'They gleam and taunt and draw me in. I can't tell where they stop and mine begin.'"

He smirks as the girls burst out laughing. "What can I say? I haven't even kissed them yet, and they are already inciting me to write poetry."

Caroline claps her hands together and shouts, "I knew it! I so called that you were the brooding, tortured writer type."

Elena asked, "Where is she, anyway?"

"I saw her and her grandmother at the hospital, visiting the girl that got attacked by the wild animal. Miss Sheila said that she and Bonnie were spending quality time together."

"Probably, to try and convince her that she's a witch," Elena said.

Stefan whipped his eyes to Elena, hoping he heard wrong or that Damon hadn't heard anything at all. "What?"

"Is Grams still going on about that?"

"Yep, Bonnie was telling me about it when she picked me up on the first day of school."

"Normally, this would be the point where I say something about Grams needing to lay off the booze. But I'm going to say that, Bonnie always was able to tell when something was about to go down, or when she was needed. You remember how, she started calling me at 6:37pm for a few days leading up to my father leaving us? After he told my mom, and walked out the door that final time, I looked at the clock and it was 6:37. And Bonnie called exactly on time."

Stefan saw Damon sit up straight, and really pay attention to them.

"She did insist on all of us learning CPR a month or so before the accident with my parents. Granted, the CPR was performed on me but it is weird. Plus, she has always been amazing at finding lost objects."

"So true. Grams is probably the sanest out of all of us."

As the three kept talking the blue eyed brother of the teen vampire a few tables away, processed what he had just learned. His baby bro, was staying in a town that held a clone of the woman they both loved, and his motivation for staying was not the clone, but another teen? A possible witch? What family of witches did Damon know that still reside in Mystic Falls? The answer was easy.

Looked like it was time to look in on his charges. Besides, it had been a while since he had checked on the Bennetts. In fact the last time he had Abbie was just about to pop with the next generation of his witchy charges.

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

Mystic Falls High School Monday Morning

"Hey Care, wait up!"

The blonde stopped a few feet away from her locker to wait for her best friend. "Hey," she said minus most of her usual pep.

"Hey, how are you doing? I wish you would have let us take you home the other night so you wouldn't have had to wait there while your mom finished."

"Well, being that it was some sort of animal attack, my mom was able to pass it off to a few deputies. Especially since they seemed to decide on ignoring the whole, drunk teenagers thing. I just can't believe that that happened. I mean poor Vicki, I know she has been going through her grungy drug phase but she doesn't deserve that. Nobody does."

Bonnie sighed, she really wished she could confide in Caroline about what was going on. Thank goodness she has her Grams and Stefan. "I know. And poor Matt, have you seen him?"

"Yeah, I stopped by the hospital and talked with him for a bit. You?"

"Same. I was just there, and Vicki woke up while I was there; which he was obviously so relieved about."

Caroline immediately turned to fully face Bonnie, with a smile on her face. "OMG! Really? Way to bury the lead, Bennett! How was she? Did she say anything?!"

Bonnie laughed, "No, she didn't really say anything because the doctors didn't want her aggravating the bite and the stitches. But she was able to ask for water, say Matt's name, and smile at him and squeeze his hand, before the entire medical staff descended upon her room. And by that time, I only had a couple more minutes before I had to head here (speaking of which, I promised Matt to get his homework from his teachers, I figured you could get anything from the classes that you two share). But back to the point, I could tell how relieved he was that she seemed okay, well as okay as you can be after something like that."

"Yay! I'm so happy that she's awake. I can't even imagine what it would be like had it been worse, can you? Poor Matty would be alone in that house. And of course I'll totally help with the homework. I figured I could cancel cheerleading practice, and you, me, and Elena could all go visit. Unless you need to do something afterwards with your Grams."

"I do need to do something, but it isn't until later. So that actually works out perfectly." She stops and tilts her head, observing her taller friend.

Caroline fidgets slightly, before she just gets fed up with the staring, "Okay, out with it Bonnie Bennett. Why are you staring at me like that?!"

Bonnie's lips lift on one side of her mouth, "I was just thinking that you seem different."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, and please don't take this the wrong way, you seem calmer and nicer."

"Nicer? Like I should be a total raging bitch and just not care about Matt or his sister."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. I know you care about anyone and everyone you meet. But you don't normally show it so easily out in public like this."

"Sooo, I am a bitch."

"No. You are not. You just normally feel more comfortable if people think you are someone who doesn't have feelings. Never mind the fact that I know you feel things usually so deeply. But, you seem like you decided to throw away that persona. And you also seem like you aren't so consumed with competing with Elena anymore. I mean in the past week we've all had how many conversations together in which A) everyone participated B) they didn't get awkward or uncomfortable or C) ended with me playing mediator? Because I feel like it has been different, or is that me projecting what I want it to be like with my two best friends? Did I make things awkward and uncomfortable, now? Please, tell me I didn't?"

Caroline stared for a few moments before she sighed and nodded in agreement. "Okay, fair. You are right. While you and I have no shortage in real conversations, they don't normally happen outside one of our houses. I guess, I have you to thank for that."

Bonnie yanked her head back in confusion. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. You, the person who always has everyone's back and still calls me on Wednesday night because you know that Wednesdays used to be just for my dad and me, before he left us. For so long, I thought that I had to be in competition with Elena because I was so used to her getting everything without having to even try. I always figured that I had to get to guys first or be more forward and flirty with them to even see me. I thought that if my skirts were shorter and showed more leg, they would focus their attention on me. And it kind of worked, but that's not the type of attention I want."

"I'm confused, how did I help you though?"

"Did you know that, when I saw Stefan I immediately had a crush?"

"Oh God Care! I mean, I know you said the whole thing about a spring wedding… But you were the one who was encouraging me to go out with Stefan, so I thought you were just joking. I'm so sor-!"

"Pish posh, Bennett! I didn't say that to make you feel guilty or to give you a reason to try and distance yourself from Stefan, because don't think I don't know that you would try to do that. No, I told you because I thought the moment that Elena turned those big, sad, hopeful doe eyes on him that that was it. But you know what? He couldn't even see them through the giant ass heart eyes that he had for you. Like, he wasn't rude to anyone or anything, but it was clear to everyone that he wanted only you. And it was," she took a breath shaking her head, "it was amazing!"

"Wait. What?"

"It was like his inoculation to Elena and his immediate infatuation for the absolute best, funniest, fiercest, hottest, and most loyal person I know gave me the ability to see the bigger picture."

"And what was the bigger picture? Because it better be that you finally realized how amazing you are, just like I've been telling you our whole lives." Bonnie pointed mock-threateningly at Caroline.

She laughed, "Well kind of. I realized that the reason it seems like everything happens so easily for Elena is because of me. I'm looking for it and expecting it so of course that's what I'm seeing. Also, who wants someone who seems so desperate and insecure? I'm not saying that I'm magically cured or anything, I wish. But I realized I can't blame Elena for her winning a competition she didn't even know she was in. And not that Elena isn't pretty cool and whatnot, but it never actually made sense for me to be jealous of her out of everyone at school. Because out of everyone in school, hell, everyone in this town, you Bonnie Bennett were always the bigger threat because you are so damn amazing. But then again, that's probably why I picked Elena, because how the hell could I ever even hope to be on your level?"

Bonnie felt like she was about to cry with pride for her best friend, but also in awe that she really felt that way. "Care…"

"And I realized something else."

"What's that?"

"I realized that you may have somehow internalized my jealousy over Elena and this towns lack of smart boys as meaning that you were somehow less than or not worthy. Because, I saw when Stefan asked you out, you seemed utterly confused as if it were impossible. I mean sure, guys have asked you out before, but I think you thought that you were second choice. But I want you to know that Stefan liking you over Elena or me or anyone else isn't a rarity, because it's not the first time. It was just the first time that a guy ever made it so obvious and had enough courage to ask you straight out like so quickly. You are more than any of us could ask for, more than we could ever deserve. I love you, and I want you to know that you deserve the absolute world. I am so happy that Stefan could help make you see that. But you should know that you don't need a man to show you your self-worth, especially not when you could just ask me."

"Or me" The girls heard and turned to see Elena standing there with tears in her eyes. "Caroline is right. You don't need a man when you have us, but I'm so glad that he sees in you what we do. And if he ever hurts you, he will know a world of pain that he could never even contemplate."

Bonnie started laugh crying as her two best friends pulled her in for a tight group hug. The trio of girls all started laughing loudly, not noticing the smiles they seemed to be bringing to the other students faces around them. Not noticing the smile they had brought to Stefan's face.

******Chaptet End******

So, my stories are basically just an excuse for me to write scenes in which one or both of her friends actually show how much they actually care about her. Eh, what can you do?