Damon was trying to remember an old adage he'd heard in the past. It fit his current predicament to a tee. 'Becareful what you wish for, you may receive it.' When Damon suggested that Bonnie should fight him in front of the boarding house-he didn't actually mean it. He figured that the baby vampire would chicken out in the face of his superior strength. He certainly thought that Stefan would talk her out of the foolish endeavor. His brother had become even more protective of Bonnie now that his humanity was on again. Nevertheless, she strolled out of the house at ten minutes til 10 o'clock.
Bonnie was dressed in form fitting cotton shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. Her curly hair had been arranged into two French braids to keep it out of her face. Instead of speaking to Damon, she began stretching in preparation for their fight. Stefan joined her a few minutes later. He watched Bonnie stretch in silence. Occasionally, he glanced at his older brother with a wry smile. Damon had the distinct feeling that the pair were up to something. Stefan didn't usually resort to dirty tricks, because he was the honorable Salvatore brother. Damon also knew that his brother wouldn't allow him to harm Bonnie-fair fight or not.
The vampire rolled his eyes skyward because he really didn't know how it had come to this. He had no real desire to fight Bonnie. He knew there was a real chance that he could injure her badly in a fight without trying. Damon didn't like the idea of hurting Bonnie in any way. Moreover, he was certain that it would make wooing her all the more difficult. She wasn't likely to forgive him for injuring her grievously or embarrassing her in front of their friends. Damon had considered throwing the fight but knew his pride wouldn't allow that. His damnable pride was the reason he had even suggested the fight last night. He had been frustrated that his efforts to improve their relationship had gone so poorly. In hindsight, he could see that saying anything disparaging about Sheila had been unwise.
Tyler and Caroline were the next two people to exit the boarding house. Wolf Boy had a smug look on his stupid face that made Damon want to punch him. He still felt a pang of jealousy when he thought about how tender Bonnie had been with him in the cellar. On the other hand, Caroline looked worried. She was actually wringing her hands like a grandmother. Normally, Damon would have rolled his eyes that the girl's theatrics but he wholeheartedly agreed with her. He found himself hoping that Caroline might try to convince Bonnie to abandon the fight. Now that the transition phase was completed, she could be reasonable. That was evidenced by the truce she managed to strike with Elena. If it had been a few days earlier, the doppelganger might have gone missing during that walk in the woods.
Matt, Jeremy, and Elena soon joined the growing group of spectators. All three looked unsettled about the impending fight. However, Elena's eyes seemed to stray to Damon more often than not. They had spoken only briefly since her conversation with Stefan. She had tried to let Damon down easy. The vampire had resisted the urge to laugh. Instead, he took the win and felt glad that he didn't have to cut ties with her. He didn't know how to handle heartbroken girls. Damon was usually in another state before it came to that or he just compelled the sadness away. After all he was a cad, not a sadist.
Alaric and Lucy were the last people to join the fray. His friend had once again brought his trusty crossbow. The metal stake was coated with vervain. Damon wouldn't enjoy being skewered by the metal stake but it would be worth it to protect Bonnie. He had talked to his friend long into the night. Together they devised a way for Damon to throw the fight without losing face. Alaric would shoot Damon with the crossbow when he felt the fight was getting out of hand. Bonnie would get an opportunity to purge her bad feelings without actually being in any danger. Although, two vampires fighting was always dangerous. There was just too much strength for any clash to be predictable.
Stefan walked up to Bonnie as she finished stretching. He kissed her and then asked, "Are you ready?"
She nodded with a crooked grin. "Sure…"
Matt interjected, "Maybe there should be some rules…"
Damon looked to Bonnie and asked, "Do you want to establish some ground rules before we get started, Judgy?"
Bonnie shrugged her shoulders and said, "I guess the obvious of not actually killing each other."
He huffed in annoyance. "Yes, I'm sure that we can agree to not killing each other."
"Don't be so certain about that," she bit out with a heated glare.
Damon rolled his eyes skyward after seeing Bonnie glare at him. Apparently, she was still angry about him insulting Sheila. In all fairness, she had been rather blunt about his failures and weaknesses. Turnabout should have been fair play, but he knew better where women were concerned. They were fickle creatures that could be sensitive without warning. Damon would avoid them altogether if there wasn't so much pleasure to be found between their legs. As his thoughts turned to women's bodies, his eyes strayed to Bonnie's bare legs. He nodded to himself. Yes, throwing a fight against her was certainly worth it.
"Any other conditions?" he asked with an arched brow.
"No," she said carelessly. "Can we fight now?"
Damon gave a pointed look to his younger brother. He was still holding out hope that Stefan might put a stop to this at the last moment.
Stefan only shot Damon an amused smirk before moving away from what would serve as the fighting area.
He muttered, "No using magic, Witchy."
"Yes, I remember your condition from last night, Damon. I won't use my magic against you."
Something tugged at the back of his mind because of the way Bonnie had used 'against'. However, he couldn't figure out why. Finally, he said, "Then let's get started."
Bonnie grinned at Damon and then took off at a blink of an eye. She ran circles around him literally.
Damon was taken aback by Bonnie's speed. He had not seen her using her vampiric abilities enough to know that she was faster than him. It shouldn't have been possible since he was older, but then Bonnie wasn't an ordinary vampire. Damon spun around in a circle trying to anticipate where Bonnie would be next. Just as he found the correct trajectory, she rushed forward and punched Damon with all of her might in the chest.
Elena cried out, "Damon!"
He felt at least on of his ribs break from the impact of the punch. His body flew backwards cartoonishly before hitting the snow covered ground with a muffled thud. Damon growled and sprang to his feet with ease. He looked for Bonnie and found her standing nearby with a grin.
Tyler and Stefan both looked just as pleased by the outcome. Damon realized that they had obviously given her some pointers about fighting another vampire. They had wisely advised Bonnie to lean on her speed instead of strength where Damon had her beat easily.
Damon cracked his neck and said, "That won't work a second time, witchy."
He raced toward Bonnie only for her to evade him easily. Damon changed course and doubled around to catch the girl off guard. He rushed forward to throw Bonnie to the ground.
She used magic to levitate off the ground and out of his grasp.
Damon stumbled forward and ended up face first in the snow. He slapped his hand against the snow and then got to his feet. "We said no magic!"
Bonnie shook her head. "We said that I wouldn't use magic against you. I haven't done that and I won't. I happen to be a woman of my word...unlike you."
Alaric snorted in amusement.
The raven-haired vampire whipped his head around to glare at his best friend.
He shrugged in response to Damon's heated glare. "It's one hell of a loophole. You should have been more specific."
Damon said, "When you inevitably get cirrhosis of the liver, I will not compel you to the top of the transplant list."
Ric smirked. "Sure you will…"
Bonnie cleared her throat. "We're supposed to be fighting. Or are you quitting already."
Damon chuckled darkly and jumped into the air and knocked Bonnie to the ground. He landed on top of her and asked, "You're a cocky little thing aren't you?"
She grunted from the impact. Her back was already throbbing and her chest hurt. "Thanks for the suggestion."
"What suggestion?" Damon asked before howling in pain because Bonnie drove her knee into his groin.
There was a collective intake of breath from the assembled men.
Bonnie struggled to push Damon off her but did before he could recover. She got to her feet and rubbed at her chest to ease the pain. Bonnie kicked Damon in the head while he was still prone on the ground.
Damon grabbed Bonnie's leg and drug her back onto the ground. He headbutted the girl so that they both had matching bloody noses. "You are a dirty fighter."
Stefan looked on in concern. He wouldn't interfere unless Bonnie truly needed his help. He knew that she wanted to do this for herself.
Bonnie reeled back from the pain of the headbutt. She could feel blood trickling down her face. "And you aren't really trying to win. I never took you for a loser."
"Where's the glory in beating a vampire younger and weaker than I am? I'll just look like a bully."
"Since when are you worried about appearances?" she asked.
Damon growled and stood up. He said, "I quit."
Bonnie stood up, too. "You quit?"
He walked up to Bonnie and grabbed her hand. Damon placed it over his heart. "You're pissed that your grams died helping me. I can't say that I blame you for being angry at me. Sheila was the person that raised you...you were willing to die to reunite with her. Nothing I do or say is going to bring her back. An apology won't cut it and this fight isn't going to make it any better. The only satisfaction you're ever going to have is by killing me. You started the job last night...then finish it."
Elena said, "Damon you can't be serious! What are you doing?"
Stefan looked on in confusion. His brother's words had sounded genuine but it wasn't as if he wanted to die. Damon had always put his survival at the top of the list.
Bonnie stared up into Damon's blue eyes. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Bonnie tried to ignore the sparks she felt under her skin from his touch. She snatched her hand out of his grasp. "What if I call your bluff? What then?"
"Then I'm dead and I don't have to care what comes next? But you will.' he replied gazing back her.
Bonnie tried to look for Stefan for guidance because she suddenly felt out of her depth.
"Ah ah ah. This is between the two of us, witchy. My brother doesn't get a say in this matter. Do you want me dead or not?" he demanded.
Elena said, "Somebody do something! This has gotten way out of hand."
Stefan was inclined to agree and he started to move towards the strange stalemate.
"Stay back," Damon snapped at his brother. "Are you going to kill me or not, Witchy? Tick tock! Tick tock!"
Bonnie pulled out of Damon's grasp and stumbled away from him. She spat, "I hate you."
He chuckled and moved closer to her once again. He caressed her cheek. "You don't hate me, Bon-Bon. If you did, my heart would be in your hand right now. Come find me if you decide to change your mind..."
She swallowed thickly and watched as he strutted into the house. Bonnie let out a guttural screech and then took off in the opposite direction at her top speed.
"Bonnie!" Stefan yelled after her.
Bonnie heard Stefan call for her but couldn't make her feet stop. She needed to get away from the boarding house and Damon. So she ran and ran until everything familiar disappeared from view. Bonnie stopped suddenly and looked around in confusion. She had obviously left Mystic Falls behind.
She spun around trying to find any sort of signage that might indicate where she had ended up. However, she knew with certainty that this was the boonies. Bonnie had run from Mystic Falls and ended up in a sparsely populated rural area. She decided to be grateful for that. It wasn't likely that anyone had seen her suddenly appear.
Tyler narrowly avoided Bonnie as he ran towards her. He came to an abrupt stop and looked at her with concern.
Bonnie was startled by his sudden arrival. "What are you doing here?"
"We were all worried about you and I am the fastest in the group...being a hybrid is useful for a few things," he said with a wry smile.
She huffed out a small laugh and sat down on a log fence. "Any idea where we are?"
Tyler looked around and asked, "Somewhere that banjos and missing teeth are commonplace?"
Bonnie laughed genuinely that time. "I was thinking the same thing."
He looked around again and then sat beside her. "It'll be a straight shot back to Mystic Falls. You ran in a straight line."
"That's good to know at least. Thanks for coming after me but you didn't have to do that," she muttered quietly.
He said, "I couldn't let my naptime buddy run off alone."
She laughed a little. Then her mood sobered, "I could have killed him. Why didn't I kill him?"
"It could be that you are a good person. Killing someone in retribution isn't really your style. Maybe you've just gotten used to having Damon around...as annoying as he can be. Or maybe it is the whole soulmate thing," he suggested.
Bonnie's expression darkened at the mention of the soulmate curse. She scoffed, "One of my alleged soulmates is responsible for my grandmother's death and nearly killed me. Witches have a sick sense of humor."
Tyler frowned as he tried to think of something useful to say. This wasn't exactly his area of expertise. He wasn't good at comforting people. He asked, "Can the curse be broken?"
She was startled by the question. "I don't know...maybe."
"I mean Klaus broke his curse. Why can't you break yours?" he asked.
"I don't even know where I would begin looking for clues. Klaus at least new the origins of his curse. He was there when it happened. I...oh," Bonnie said with a grin.
Tyler chuckled. "What's that look for?"
"You are a genius, Tyler!"
He asked, "How hard did Damon heabutt you? No one has ever accused me of being a genius."
"Well, they just didn't know you well enough! A curse is just magic...almost like a woven tapestry. There is usually a way to undo it, you just have to pull the right thread."
"And where will you start pulling?" he asked intrigued and confused.
"At the beginning…" she said.
Stefan was tempted to kill Damon for the stunt he had pulled with Bonnie. His brother was well aware of that and had wisely made himself scarce. Stefan had wanted to chase after Bonnie but she was too fast for him to catch. Fortunately, Tyler was a hybrid and could move at a similar speed. He had volunteered to track her down without prompting from anyone. Bonnie had been gone for almost an hour and it was driving him crazy. He couldn't even call Tyler for an update because he had left the boarding house without his phone. Stefan would just have to wait until they returned.
He sought out Lucy for a much needed conversation about the soulmate curse. Stefan and Bonnie had been stubbornly ignoring what was looking them right in the face. Ancient magic had been injected into their relationship and they couldn't simply ignore it. Stefan's conversation with Lucy had left him educated but largely unsatisfied.
Afterwards, he retreated to his bedroom for some much needed privacy. Stefan could feel his irritation grow the longer everyone stared at him. He decided to lay down but of course his phone started ringing. Stefan hoped that it was Bonnie but should have known better. The incoming call was from none other than Klaus. His former friend/lover had already called a few times that morning. Stefan wasn't sure if it would be more threats or questions. The Original Hybrid had been very curious about his relationship with Bonnie. They had baited the trap perfectly but Stefan was in no mood to toy with their prey.
He ignored Klaus' call and then put the phone on silent. Then he closed his eyes and tried to relax. He trusted that Bonnie would come back. They had both promised not to leave one another. She wouldn't break her promise to him.
An hour later, Bonnie sheepishly entered the room. She glanced at the bed and found Stefan asleep. She slowly closed the door to close it without sound.
"I'm awake," Stefan said in a quiet voice.
Bonnie startled just a little before racing over to the bed. She climbed in beside him and said, "Hi."
He pulled Bonnie closer to him and kissed her lips. "Hi."
She curled up against Stefan and rested her head on his chest.
"Are you better?" he asked.
Bonnie drew circles on his chest with her finger. She nodded. "I just needed to blow off some steam...so I ran."
"Did Tyler catch up to you?" he asked.
"Yes, but I was still...not in the right headspace. So we went running even further," she confessed.
Stefan kissed the top of her head. "I feel like I didn't prepare you enough for the fight. I'm sorry."
She quickly shook her head. "Don't say that, Stefan. You were an amazing coach. I was totally kicking Damon's ass before he decided to change tactics. He caught me off guard, but that was his intention."
"Well, I don't think Damon ever actually wanted to fight you," Stefan said.
"What? Why did he suggest a fight if he didn't want to do it?"
Stefan chuckled dryly, "Because my brother is an idiot. He wants...he wants to get closer to you, Bonnie. He knows that will never happen if you're still holding a grudge against him."
"But I'm not holding a grudge against him. I've accepted what happened to Grams. He's the one that wanted to air out grievances," she replied with a confused look.
"I mentioned that my brother is an idiot. He's not good with relationships."
Bonnie frowned. "We're not in a relationship. I don't want him to be my soulmate."
Stefan stroked her back. "If your reaction outside is anything to go by, you don't have much of a say in the matter."
"Does that upset you?" she murmured.
"It's magic. It's not as if it is something that you can help."
"That's not really an answer…"
Stefan said, "You know my relationship with Damon is complicated but ultimately I do love my brother. I also know when he's being sincere. His affection for you is sincere, Bonnie. He's not going to stop pursuing you."
Bonnie tensed. "Are you breaking up with me?"
He pulled Bonnie on top of him and said, "No, I am not breaking up with you. I am just being realistic, something we haven't been since we found out about the curse. We've been behaving as if you have a choice in the matter when you don't. It's not either or...it is both."
She shook her head. "I don't want him. I want you, Stefan."
He pulled her down for a kiss. He said, "You want us both and we're going to have to find a way to deal with that. Satisfying the parameters of the curse doesn't mean that you have to sleep with Damon. But you will have to start spending more time with him. Lucy said it's the only way to lessen his affect on you."
"You talked to Lucy?" she asked.
He smiled at her. "I had some time on my hands while you were away. And I realized there was a lot that I didn't know about the curse. When my humanity was off, I didn't care about the details. We have to care about the details now."
Bonnie asked, "I just have to spend time with Damon? Nothing else…"
"It won't be easy to resist getting closer to him, Bonnie," he warned.
She worried her bottom lip. "Or I could just look for a way to break the curse."
Stefan looked at her and asked, "Is that an option?"
"I don't know….maybe. It can't hurt to at least try but I am going to need better resources. I need books about old magic-very old magic."
He nodded in understanding. "We're going to need Klaus."
She said, "He has an impressive collection of stolen grimoires and he's old as dirt. He might know something or know someone who could be useful."
"Getting him to cooperate won't be easy," he pointed out.
Bonnie grinned and said, "I think together, you and I could be very convincing. You said yourself that Klaus was intrigued by what little he heard over the phone. I am sure that intrigue would grow exponentially in person."
Stefan asked, "Are you sure about sleeping with Klaus?"
She chuckled, "I am sure. I meant what I said about seeing just how soft his lips are. Did you change your mind?"
He smirked at Bonnie and said, "No, I haven't changed my mind."
"Good," she said excitedly.
"The roads should be clear tomorrow or the day after at the latest. I think it's time to start planning our trip West," he said.
"Okay. Plane or car?" she asked.
"I was looking forward to a road trip with you but Klaus is getting impatient," he confessed.
Bonnie pouted, "Maybe on the way back?"
"Definitely," Stefan agreed. "There are many places I would like to show you."
"Really? I've never been west of the Mississippi River so it will all be new to me."
"Then I am glad that you will get to see it with me. I'm a tour guide and a historian all wrapped up in one."
Bonnie grinned at him. She asked, "Has Klaus called today?"
He rolled his eyes. "Several times…"
"We should call him back. We wouldn't want to be rude. After I get a shower that is."
"Oh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
She nodded and said, " I learned something new about myself today. Fighting makes me horny. We should use that to our advantage."
Stefan chuckled as she climbed out the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.