Ever been to Cape Town? No? Well, get ready.
I'm stuck between Team Fahada and Team Lucy. You'll see why ;)
Amelia had said that they should do something; leave the house, see the sights. Bonnie thought it was a terrible idea but her apprehension was quickly shot down with the rare alliance between Caroline and Damon who both boo'd her and told her she didn't have a choice while Enzo cheered them on. Stefan had been called into a private meeting with Amelia while Lucy just looked at them and sighed, realising someone had to be the responsible one. Fahada had followed Bonnie when she'd said that she wanted to change into something else, chuckling when Caroline threatened to dress her herself if she took longer than twenty minutes.
"We're losing daylight!" The blonde had hollered, wiggling her brows when Bonnie looked over her shoulder to roll her eyes.
"Bonnie, you need to feed before you leave." Fahada had said, falling in line with Bonnie's steps as they made their way to the sleeping quarters. Bonnie looked to Fahada and nodded seriously; she wasn't going to take any chances with her newfound hybrid status. Beyond the blinding pull to blood when it was in front of her she'd yet to uncover any negatives but she wouldn't risk presumptuousness. "I'll be right beside you, you're not alone." The words were so simple but they touched Bonnie so wholly, it was strange, to be her age, with all her life experiences, to be so moved with someone's care-giving. She supposed it was because she'd had so little of it of late. Outside of Damon, Lucy and Caroline of course. Enzo too, just a little bit.
"Thank you," Bonnie said a Fahada waved her into the room she'd been sleeping in, "For everything. You've been so…so supportive and kind to us, to me." Fahada smiled then as she sat on the bed and revealed a blood bag Bonnie hadn't seen in her hands before that moment.
"I like you that's why; me… I don't usually like people, or other supernaturals much, at all if we're being honest, but you and Damon – I see you two growing on me. Lucy as well, Stefan if he'd let himself and who doesn't love Caroline, especially when she flushes under Enzo's mischief?" Bonnie couldn't help the warmth that spread through her with Fahada's words, "But Elena is troubled," Fahada said, her tone unwavering from its careful pronunciation and deceptive sweetness, "She needs time to heal, but she needs to do it alone, and that," Fahada emphasised with a raise of her thick brows, "Will be her greatest challenge yet." Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, guilt slamming into her like an anvil from above. "Don't wallow Bonnie, never wallow," Fahada said flashing to stand in front of Bonnie who was standing in the centre of the room looking like she might be sick, "You, when you were younger, your powers, your element was fire was it not?" Bonnie nodded and Fahada smiled, "You were forged in fire, you are resilient, wicked in the kindest of ways and you are built for more than what your past tells you. Whatever is coming, whatever Fate is coming to you, it's going to be incredible and you need to be ready – you need to be selfish now Bonnie, you need to think of yourself, the way Lucy does, the way Damon does, the way you've always thought of everyone but yourself…And I know all this, because you all wear your hearts on your sleeves, your love and care spilling out of every available outlet; eyes, mouths, fingers, whichever. It surely is a sight to behold." Bonnie looked down at her feet.
"I should talk to Elena." Bonnie said, determination in her eyes when she looked up and Fahada made an un-ladylike sound in the back of her throat as she handed the bag to Bonnie and motioned for her to drink.
"You need to go outside and follow whatever silly plan they're all plotting right now, leave Elena to me. I know what to do." Bonnie nodded, took a tentative sip of the blood and shuddered when the headiest mixture of pleasure and pain poured into her mouth. Fahada watched as her blue-green eyes fell to the wayside; black and red surfacing before her eyes closed, the veins dancing at the skin under her eyes. Bonnie pulled at the blood-bag until it was empty. "How do you feel?" Bonnie blew out a large breath from her cheeks and shrugged as her face returned to normal.
"Normal, but also just like I drank blood." Her nose wrinkled and Fahada laughed.
"This, whatever's happening to you," Fahada said a small smirk on her lips, "It's going to change everything. Not just for you and Damon. For the whole supernatural world." Bonnie swallowed.
"That's a lot of pressure." She muttered.
"From yourself mostly no doubt, now hurry and change, Caroline's getting restless." With that Fahada sped out of the room, leaving Bonnie chewing her bottom lip pensively. In a flash she was dressed in high-waisted denim shorts and a loose tank top with a black fedora and matching ballet flats. She'd gotten her hair under control this morning already, cheating and using a little magic to straighten out the flyaways and curls until it ran smooth and sleek, brushing the tops of her shoulders now. Nodding at her reflection in the full length mirror she stepped out of the room just as she saw Elena open her door a little wider for Fahada to step in. Elena locked eyes with her then and Bonnie felt time grind to a halt as they held each other's gaze. Fahada ended the exchange when she patted Elena's shoulder as she stepped into the room, the vampire immediately going inside and shutting the door.
Bonnie was shaking her head even as everyone clamoured into the car. Imran grinned at her from the driver's seat, waving her over. Damon, Caroline, Lucy and Enzo squeezed in the back. Damon grumbled something about Caroline just getting on Enzo's lap already, which the blonde gave him a solid slap to the chest for. Lucy told them off and called for Bonnie to hurry up and get in, "Before I start casting spells." She threatened with a grin on her face. Bonnie tisked but got in the front and turned to face everyone at the back.
"Why doesn't Damon or Enzo sit in the front, I'm sure either of their egos could use the extra space." Enzo laughed dryly while Damon winked at Bonnie.
"Excellent point Bon-Bon, but we're perfectly comfortable here." Damon said.
"Speak for yourself." Lucy whined lowly and he chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulder and taking in a breath as he settled down beside her snugly, much to her dismay.
"Don't tell me," he said, eyes glittering, "You feel better already?" Imran guffawed as he put the car into gear and pulled out of the garage and spun the car, making quick work of reaching the coastal highway.
They ended up on Long Street, eyes wide, well; Bonnie's were as wide as they'd ever been, taking it all in. Pulling off the side he parked the van and shooed them onto the sidewalk. They all hurried out, looking up at the buildings; all bars, restaurants, book stores, second hand clothing stores, tattoo parlours and boutiques. Caroline screamed almost immediately as she spotted a cute dress in the window but Damon gripped her by the back of her shirt, holding her in place as she tried to dash across the road to the store. Bonnie laughed at the sight of them and shook her head. Lucy eyed Enzo out as he stood beside her, his eyes on Caroline as she turned around to give Damon an earful only to be taken gently by the elbow by Imran who booped her nose and told her, and the rest of them to follow him.
"We're going for a quick drink to loosen up before we go sight-seeing." He said and couldn't help but laugh when Caroline started clapping her hands. Bonnie's expression was softer; she'd missed seeing Caroline, missed seeing her like this, happy and giddy – the way she used to be. Damon pulled her out of her thoughts when he threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her along behind Enzo and Lucy that were in the middle of challenging one another to a drink off.
"Oh please," Enzo was saying his expression daring, "I could drink you under the table in half an hour, fifteen minutes if we chug." Lucy snorted as she tugged her hair-tie out and let her long hair fall down her back, fluffing it a little.
"Please," She said waving a hand at him, "I know you missed out on a lot, but I'm sure even you've heard about the Bennett women." Bonnie snickered.
"Ah," Damon said with a loud sigh as he drank in the sights and colours as they approached a bar door, "The Bennett women, can't live with them, can't live without them." Bonnie whacked his chest as they ascended the stairs of a bright yellow walled building called the Beer House. Damon looked down at her and winked again, causing Bonnie to press her mouth together for fear of smiling or indulging him by retorting. They turned the corner of the staircase as it opened up to a wooden floored large room with a high ceiling. There were bright words plastered all over the black and yellow walls and the group quickly discovered why it was called the Beer House.
"Ninety-nine types of beer, huh?" Enzo wondered aloud, making a show of limbering up, "Ready when you are, Bennett." Lucy bumped shoulders with him and winked at Caroline who was rolling her eyes at them good-naturedly. Imran picked up a menu and showed Caroline what he usually preferred while Damon twirled him and Bonnie in a slow circle, his arm still around her shoulder before facing the long bar where there were three men waiting to take orders. Grinning, Damon moved them over and nodded at the nearest man who had just finished up rolling the sleeves on his black shirt.
"What can I get you guys?" He asked, his South African accent making his voice warm and gruff.
"Two tequila shots," Damon said, ignoring Bonnie's sigh, "And, ooh, a cherry beer for the missus and I'll take the local favourite I suppose? It's her first time here and I was a baby when I was here last so..." He beamed, bumping his hip lightly to Bonnie's.
"That would be the Black Label beer, sir." Damon nodded.
"Black Label it is." The bar tender nodded.
"Coming right up, oh, and welcome to Cape Town." He added and tapped the counter before heading off to get their order. Damon said 'thanks' before looking down to Bonnie.
"Don't give me that look, I only ordered the cherry beer for you because I'm having half of it too. You're my new drinking buddy, suck it up." The elder Salvatore sassed.
"So I have no say in this?" Bonnie asked drolly.
"You do, but today, I don't really feel like indulging your unending questions, all we're doing today is making sure that that," he leaned in a little and she smiled as she inched away slowly, "…smile there stays in place."
"…Would you have it any other way?" Fahada pressed, watching with reserved eyes as Elena paced back and forth at inhuman speed as she tried to arrange her thoughts. "Could you possibly be any more selfish?" Elena's head snapped up then and a quick flash of anger shot through her before she remembered it was Fahada she was looking at. "Elena, you threw away every fondness in your heart for Damon…You couldn't possibly have expected that to go over smoothly had he returned… and surely, from what I've gathered, his return was inevitable what with death meaning nothing to your group of friends…You knew, deep down you knew he'd come back but you wouldn't let yourself admit that, you wouldn't let yourself hope, or hurt for him. You were selfish with the loss of Damon, giving little to no thought about what he'd want if you'd have asked for his opinion…"
"You don't know Damon, or me." Elena pointed out her voice heavy, weighed down by an uncontrollable sadness.
"And you do?" Fahada challenged, face even, posture relaxed and casual belying the fierce undertones of her words. "You've stunted your own personal growth by denying yourself the process of love and mourning…how do you expect to evolve? To survive if all you do is hide behind everyone else when worst comes to worst?" Fahada crossed her arms. "I'm sure you could say it helped you to move on, but it wasn't moving on, it wasn't mourning, it was pretending everything was still the way it was when you were human, despite the truth that was screaming at you, snarling in your face…you're a vampire Elena, you're dead, your best friend hollowed herself out bending at your every whim, you toyed between two brothers, your fickle heart causing immense pain but you poured your compassion and humanity over it and you were forgiven for your confusion, for your rampant emotions…you should afford the same courtesy to others when they change their minds as well…" Fahada pressed her mouth shut then, "And I say all this out of care for you, it's not easy watching the people you love change, pull away from you… leave you behind?" Fahada sighed, "You can be the better version of yourself Elena, the best version of yourself in fact, the moment you accept the things you cannot change and take the reins over the things that you can. And you will be loved and you will love, but you cannot expect the love you're used to, the tides have turned and it's time for you to forge your own path, lest you stay this way forever." With that Fahada nodded, almost to herself as she ran her eyes over the walls of the bedroom, "When you wish to go outside for a bit, let me know, I know the perfect place where we can have a drink and watch the sunset…and I hope you'll accompany me."
"This is insane!" Caroline squealed as she held her arms out, feeling like she was on top of the world. They'd all taken a walk up the infamous Lion's Head after a quick drive to the side of Table Mountain. Caroline was standing on a rocky podium of sorts with a pole jutting up next to her as Enzo held her waist as she giggled with the wind whipping her hair every which way. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see to their left while the city swarmed with life and humanity to the right and the rocks underfoot seemed to be the only thing reminding them that they weren't in fact, flying. Imran took a photograph of them with a wide smile on his face. Lucy was avoiding the edge of the cliff as best as she could while she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was an energy in this city, in the air; it was percolating with life and undeniable magic. She heard the soft click of a camera and opened one eye to find Imran had the lens aimed at her face, a small smile crept onto her face as he took another, laughing as she shook her head before walking over to sit down next to him. Crouching, he swivelled on his heel to aim the camera at Bonnie and Damon, their arms extended as they pointed here and there. One of Damon's hands remained at the small of Bonnie's back protectively and there was another click of the camera. Bonnie's head turned up to face Damon and her smile was radiant as the wind tugged at her hair and clothes, Damon said something but she didn't follow to where he pointed, choosing instead to keep her eyes on him. He realised a moment later and looked down to her beaming up at him. Almost instinctually his hand tightened its hold on her as a smile took over his face. They looked at peace here, Imran thought, content and he heard Lucy laugh softly at the sight of them. Adjusting the focus of the lens Imran aimed…
Click.
Mushy goodness. But now it's time for me to up the ante. Ready when you are
Stay excellent.