Chapter 11: Busted

Bonnie clearly overstayed her welcome at the hotel. She tried to leave and planned to leave after the first but then was another and then one more so she fell asleep. Now in terrible cliche, she was slipping back into her underwear and then her clothes from yesterday to participate in the walk of shame. There was a knock at the door and she ceased her actions.

"I'm not leaving this easily like I did last night, brother!" Damon yelled from the other-side of the door.

She panicked and woke Stefan up as quietly as she could. He rubbed his eyes and sat up with nothing but his boxers on. Bonnie bit her lip at sight of him and released it. His hand traveled to her now lubricated lips and rubbed it.

"Who are you thinking about?"

"I..." The brown beauty wandered and swallowed, straightening up. His gaze was too intense. "You," she finally said in a more confident voice.

"Good." He was planning to close the space between their mouths.

"I will kick this door down, Stefan!" Damon exclaimed, causing the both of them groan.

They had to assemble a plan quickly and hiding Bonnie was the main objective. No one could know that the two were together, the consequences would be deadly. Bonnie was being led in the bathroom and pushed against the wall. Stefan put a finger to her lip once again, effectively shutting her up.

"He'll be gone 5 minutes, tops," He promises to her.

Quickly, Stefan slipped on his jogging pants that were carelessly on the floor and headed towards the door. On the other end was none other than his only sibling. Damon smiled and brushed right past him to sniff through his room as if he had the nose of a bloodhound.

"You know, last night I gave you the benefit of the doubt when I came here," The blue-eyed man revealed in devilish voice "Whoever that was in here sounded insanely hot, it definitely wasn't Rebekah, I know what that ass sounds like miles away."

It made Stefan's blood boil the way his brother talked about Bonnie even if he didn't know it was her. He had to choose his words carefully because Bonnie was still in the room listening to every word. Plus, throwing Damon off was also apart of this challenge.

"I think you're mishearing things, must have been been the people next door," He responded calmly.

Damon sang song, "Bullshit." He took a seat on the living couch. "I did not hear whimpering and moaning, which was actually delightful by the way, contrasted by your primal grunting."

"You think you're fucking funny, don't you?"

"Oh, let's not get hasty now. Maybe this one is special which is why you're protecting her," The older brother teased. "Tsk, the last special one was Elena and look how at that ended. That girl left the party so fast as soon as she found out you were in the building."

Stefan did recount not seeing her throughout the night. "I—shit, I didn't even realize...why are you bringing her up?"

"No one really knows why you two broke up and with this mystery woman that was with you last night, you're starting to look like the bad guy here." Damon took in his surroundings. "Isn't this a suite?"

"It is, why?"

"I'm actually proud of you baby brother, you bought this with your own salary and not Mom and Dad's," Damon said with a slow clap.

"Fuck them and their money, I don't need it."

"Ooh," Damon mused. "Someone's mad. Their money got you through school and you clearly benefited from that."

"It was an investment, actually and I paid them back," Stefan clarified.

"Alright, I think I've got all the information I need from this visit," Damon started to get up. "I'll just tell everyone that Stefan was in his suite dreading about going back to his ironically idyllic life in Jersey where he has no friends or family."

"Bye, Damon," Stefan told him before loudly slamming the door. He exhaled before telling Bonnie she could leave the bathroom. She came out in her underwear looking completely disheveled.

"I am such an idiot." Bonnie scoffed and frantically started looking for her clothing. "Hiding in bathrooms like I'm college again," She muttered.

"You're leaving?"

"I learned from the best, didn't I?" He stood in front of her. "Move," Bonnie told him in a defiant voice.

"This is why we should have talked first, I never wanted to leave you, Bonnie."

The now agitated woman made a noise. "This is why I didn't want to talk because you did leave me. Now get out of my way."

"Fine, but tell me last night didn't mean anything of change how you feel about me," Stefan challenged.

"Last night was perfect just like I dreamed it to be, but it can never happen again. I have successfully fucked you out of my system."

"That's cute."

"It's true, deflate your ego for a second, just one." She smiled when he finally stepped out of her line of exit.

"I left because I was falling in love with you and I couldn't keep being unfair to Elena. As soon as the job opened, I took it and never looked back so I'm sorry. Just stay, please."

Bonnie didn't turn around once but instead unlocked the door. "I'm not the woman you should be apologizing to. Your absence hurt me, it did, but I managed well without you. Take care, Stefan."

September 3rd. It was date Caroline Forbes chose to be her wedding date. And they were also two numbers Bonnie would never forget as her blonde friend kept repeating them. She was happy for her engaged friend but her mind wandered other places. Elena was one of them, her family, her career since she was still waiting to see if she'd be going on tour or not and finally her tryst at the Hilton loomed in her head.

Caroline touched her shoulder with great concern. "Sweetie, you okay?"

"I-" Bonnie took a deep breath. "Thanks for asking, I'm fine, just thinking about something stupid I did a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, my god, my party. You totally hooked up with someone."

"Um," The woman coughed, blushing. "Not at your party but that same weekend, yeah."

"Wow, my parties are getting classier now that I'm going to be a Misses," Caroline said aloud thoughtlessly and Bonnie laughs genuinely. The blonde popped back up with more theories about the beau her recently broken up with friend had fooled around with.

"It was so Kol, it's like the universe wants us to be sister-in-laws. You two are gorgeous and would make some pretty ass babies."

Bonnie's eyes went wide but soon turned back to their normal state. She had officially had a lie to maintain with and a secret to bury even deeper. It wasn't like Caroline would ask Kol for further reference on this alleged hookup. She gave a weak smile and laughed. "Yep, sex with my ex, we belong in a cheesy sitcom where we can never get it right."

"One day, you'll get it right and the four of us will be in the Mikaelson family vacation home in Antigua every Christmas. Bonnie and Caroline MIkaelson-it has a nice ring to it."

"I like that."

Elena stood in front of her mirror brushing her long hair. Her brown locks were always praised by her inner circle and she knew personally her boyfriends loved them. At this point of her life where she was hopelessly single by choice, she wasn't trying to please the male perspective. So, she was currently cutting her hair and after it was done, it fell right above her shoulder. Her therapist encouraged change and this could be one of her biggest.

She brushed the excess hair off of her shoulders and hopped in the shower. She knew she had to debut her new hair but not to the people she knew since their opinions would be limitless. A bar would be nice to hit up. Her attire was daring; a black latex dress that hugged her figure and leather boots to match

It's a place she somewhat trusts and planned to get completely wasted at. The nurse only does this once in a while when she wants feel something other than nothingness. She dusts off her seat before sitting down and returns gazes to her admirers. It was what single people did—play the field.

"I got a seat you can dust off," A man crudely tells her.

"Oh really?" Elena lips curbed flirtatiously. "Buy me a drink and I'll consider it."

The male grinned and continued to buy her drinks all night. This was going to be an increasingly easy lay for him tonight. A lost girl traveling into a bar after a few drinks would have booth loose lips and loose legs.

It's 3 AM and some random number is calling Bonnie's phone. She almost doesn't pick up the late night call.

"Yeah, you Bonnie?" An irritated man asked.

"This is her, what's up?"

"Bonnie, my friend! She is soooo my bestest friend in the whole world," A drunken Elena chants.

"You need me to come pick her up don't you?" The dancer inquired.

Elena woke up with a pounding headache and mumbled. She was slick with sweat on her living room couch. Maybe she couldn't make it to her own bedroom due to her intoxicated state. She propped her head on the back of the couch to see her short best friend fixing a smoothie in the kitchen. A smile graced her lips.

"Well, hello my knight in shining armor," Elena said tiredly with charismatic tone.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and handed her the green concoction. "That should help you with your hangover."

"Hangover? No, I don't get those," The brunette scoffed. "Shit, maybe I do."

"You're welcome."

Elena drank it slowly before putting the cup on the side table. "So, what now, you gonna leave me?"

"Not before making sure you were OK." Bonnie sighed. "I'm getting back together with Kol."

"That's...that's great. Predictable, but good for you, I'm sure Abby is ecstatic."

"Elena, it isn't like that. You know I like him and it has nothing to do with her."

"He's the safe choice but not necessarily the right one," The brunette told her.

Bonnie didn't counter her opinion and shrugged. If anything, her going back to Kol was less severe than sleeping with her ex. Elena's reaction was less harsh than she expected. Still, the dancer couldn't tell her about the night she shared with Stefan two weeks ago.

"What do you know about Stefan's parents?" Bonnie asked her.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Almost nothing except for the fact that he hates them. Do you know anything else?"

"I did some searching, purely out of random curiosity and apparently his dad was a state senator," Bonnie informed, leaving some key information out that she was eavesdropping the conversation between him and his brother.

Elena went searching for her phone and did a quick Google search herself. She was fascinated with the people she found and couldn't find a visual link between her ex boyfriend and his alleged parents. Their house was in the most prestigious "cities" in the land.

"Jupiter fucking Island? That shit is like an open secret, all those rich people live there but no one ever talks about it and it says they lived there for years here look." Elena stood up to show her friend the pictures who was skeptical.

"I just don't see Stefan in a snobby atmosphere like this he's way too humble."

"Was humble. We don't know what he's like now, speaking of him can you believe he sent me a text the night before he had to leave?"

Bonnie cleared her throat out of sheer nervousness. "Um. Did you go see him?"

"No, I mean I thought about it for the longest and even drove to that Hilton tower but I just couldn't do it? I ended up driving off because I know I would have to tell you first," Elena said honestly.

The sapphic woman's eyes started to water and then overflow as her friend came to comfort her. She wanted to convince herself of not having any guilt but with Elena's confession, it was becoming impossible. Bonnie couldn't tell her what really happened because it would fracture their friendship even further. So instead, she pretends to cry about missing him and being the one who got his call. She can give Elena this temporary feeling of superiority.

It's a crazy idea but the two of them decide to go to Jupiter Island the week after. Honestly, it's Elena persisting and Bonnie just wanting to make her happy attending. The brunette was smoking while driving and what's bothering Bonnie is the girl smoking a joint.

"Are you really getting baked before we go see your ex's parents?" Elena gave her a bored look.

"He met my parents so it's only fair that I get to meet his and yes, my parents loved him. Besides, weed won't kill you."

"It just seems like another vice of yours," The dancer muttered before scrolling through her phone again. She was getting no decent reception and didn't want to be forced to talk to her troubled friend.

"Maybe I had to pick up a couple of them to cope with my breakup then a dozen more because of you." She threw her joint out the window and put her left hand back on the wheel. Bonnie doesn't say a word when she realizes the girl hadn't even been inhaling the plant fully. Her driving was decent enough for them to avoid the law. Maybe everything Elena was doing was solely for her very attention.

...

"I'm sorry about security dear, my husband has made a lot of controversial decisions throughout his career. Any deranged person could come here and harm us."

"Controversial is one way to put it," Bonnie muttered, causing Elena to put a hand on her upper thigh to placate her.

"We completely understand the precautions, Mrs. Salvatore. Having to show old photos of me and your son was...challenging to say the least." The brunette's tone was sorrowful but her eyes told a contradicting story.

Lily sighed and stood up. "I'll get out the good aged stuff that my husband thinks he can keep hidden from me and that isn't the only thing he thinks he can cover up." They both chuckle while Bonnie remains quiet. The older woman tells them she'll be back in 10 minutes. Bonnie turns to Elena since they're the only two in the room apart from the maids who are doing more snooping than cleaning. From the looks of it, the two women on the couch were not regular visitors and probably would never return.

"Okay, we got closure or whatever, these people suck. Can we leave now?"

Elena scoffed; "Leave now? We've barely scraped the surface, I want to know why he hates them so much and honestly I don't know how you even know he hates them."

The dancer coughed, looking around and unable to meet her friend's inquisitive eye. "Okay, we'll stay but don't expect me to say or do much." Elena relaxed in her seat and made mental note of Bonnie narrowly avoiding her question.

After spending an entire afternoon with Stefan's mother, she can see there is not one evil bone in her body. She isn't some trophy wife either, her salary as a former architect was no petty penny. They learn that she even designed the home herself back in the 90's and had it recently renovated as of late last year. It now had a sleek interior and easy access for visitors. Lily was showing them baby pictures of her youngest son and found herself tearing up. Elena, being the compassionate one, rubbed her arm for support. "It gets better."

"I'm sure you two were good to eachother, sometimes relationships just don't work out." The brunette just nodded in agreement. "Finding your way back to said relationship isn't exactly impossible."

Elena pressed her lips together. "Reconcilation is the last thing on my mind, right now."

"I understand dear." Lily smoothed out her dress and turned towards Bonnie with a friendly smile on her face. The girl had spoken less than 15 words throughout the entire day, which begged the question: What place did Bonnie Bennett have in their split?

"Well, how well did you know Stefan?"

"Me?" Bonnie pointed towards herself and Lily nodded. "I'm just a friend, m'aam."

"Quite a friend you are."

"No offense, but we don't really understand why he doesn't be around this," The dancer waves her hand around the grand house they're sitting in. "Or you."

"I..I was afraid that this question would come up." Lily took a sip of her beverage. "We have parties and functions at our home but rarely no one ever visits, it's vast here. All the bedrooms, up kept furniture, the exterior is just a façade. We're unhappy here."

Bonnie and Elena's expressions were very sympathetic as the mother spoke candidly. Her family was the living proof that money couldn't buy happiness.

"To answer your second question, I lost my family by making the worst decision of my life. I had an affair—in Paris on a job. I was supposed to be there 3 months but I kept prolonging it because truthfully I was happier there but Gio took it out on my boys and I can't tell you what he did, but my housekeepers told me all they could grasp. When I came back home, everything was strained and broken."

Lilian took out a Kleenex and dotted her watering eyes. "I hope that answered everything."

Bonnie took a deep breath. "But what if you didn't go to France? It sounds amazing there."

"Oh, it was and I don't regret it, had I not gone I would have been stuck as a wife and mother and I was fine with that for the most part."

"And the other part?" Elena asked.

Lily smiled, a bittersweet emotion overtaking her. "The other part of me had to feel what Paris felt like."

...

The car ride back to Miami is quieter than before, quieter than the inside of the big houses all over Jupiter Island. Elena wasn't sure if she got full closure but she knew that she had answers. She pressed the brakes of her car in front of Bonnie's home before parking.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" The brunette faced her friend. "I think we both know something is up…"

"I came with you on this impromptu trip, so I'm sorry if I'm out of my element at the moment," Bonnie responded. "Am I free to go?"

Elena turned her car back on, preparing to leave. "Go ahead." She squinted as she saw Bonnie walk into her house. Her hands shook as she dialed the number and her world would come crashing down no matter if he answered or not.

Stefan.