Love. The tender emotion that didn't need a word assigned to it, but there it was. Neither surprised to hear it from the other or themself, but both relished in its sound just the same. Bonnie and Caroline were in love with each other. This wasn't a distraction. This wasn't lust. It was romance. The kind that sticks.
"What did you just say?"
Sometimes, even when we know something exists beyond a shadow of a doubt, we like to be reassured. It helps make it more real. Makes us even more sure it's really ours. Makes it less likely to be taken away. Makes it solid. Makes us safe.
"You know perfectly well what I said, Caroline Elizabeth Forbes."
"Say it again."
"I love you."
"No, not that."
"Then what?"
"My name."
"Caroline."
"All of it."
"Caroline. Elizabeth. Forbes."
"God, I don't ever want to hear anyone else saying my name again."
Bonnie moves closer to Caroline and gently places a kiss on her lips after each name.
"Caroline."
A light peck. Barely there. A ghost kiss.
"Elizabeth."
Slightly more pressure. A faint part of the lips. An exchange of hot breath.
"Forbes."
Then, Bonnie's lips surround Caroline's and when she breathes in, she steals much more than just Caroline's own breath with it; greedy for as much of this woman as she can possibly take. She inhaled Caroline's dreams. Her desires. Her soul. She encloses Caroline's hands in her own; traps them there; gently, she feels for a quickening pulse she knows she won't find. It's there in the only way that matters. Caroline tries to break free, but Bonnie stills her. Caroline may be physically stronger, but Bonnie bewitches her in a way that has nothing to do with magic. So, Caroline stands there helpless and bound. And absolutely in love with Bonnie Sheila Bennett.
"You really think I would fall out of love with someone who kisses like that?"
"So, that's why you keep me around, huh?"
"Of course not."
"Good."
"I keep you around for your body too."
"Beauty and wit."
"Traits of a true Miss Mystic Falls."
"Oh God, stop."
"I'm just kidding."
"No, you're not."
"No. I'm not."
"Stop talking."
"Okay."
"But don't think that we're through talking about turning me…"
The rest of Bonnie's thoughts fill Caroline's mouth and the corners of her own threaten into a small smile. Victory.
"You can't just kiss me every time you want to change the subject, you know." Bonnie knew it was a lie as soon as she heard the words fall off her own tongue. The same tongue that she so desperately wanted to put back to work with a certain blonde standing before her. A certain blonde standing before her that was all hers for the rest of her life. A life that she had every intention of making last forever.