A/N: I was blown away by all the reviews for the last chapter. Thanks to everyone that left a review. I love hearing what everyone thinks of the story. I also want to thank everyone for sticking around for a story that is so incredibly angst-y. I promise there will be a pay off for your dedication. I can't believe that we have reached the 300 mark for reviews! You all are amazing.
Bonnie barely heard the rest of Dr. Huerta's pep talk. The pamphlets, prescriptions, and sonograms in her trembling hands had her full attention. She felt like a complete failure as a mother. Her one job was to give her babies a healthy place to grow for 40 weeks. Yet her pathetic need to be desirable to Damon meant that she had been underweight even before learning that she was pregnant. To make matters worse, her blood pressure was practically through the roof. Dr. Huerta had decided to prescribe a medication to help regulate her blood pressure. He promised Bonnie that the medication would be safe for her babies as long as she took the prescribed dosage.
The overarching theme of Bonnie's doctor visit was that she needed to take better care of herself. Dr. Huerta believed that reducing stress in her life should be at the very top of her to-do list. His recommendation just made Bonnie feel even guiltier. She had been livid that morning after learning that Damon had postponed his trip to Milazzo for an additional two days. Apparently, her loving husband wanted to spend more time with Katherine. The news from Mason had cut through her like a hot knife. He swore that Damon was delaying his trip to Milazzo because he was concerned about Stefan but she didn't believe him. She thought that he was trying to spare her feelings.
Bonnie was furious because she was bending over backwards to smooth Damon's path to becoming the head of the Salvatore organization. The previous night, she had practically begged Big John to back her husband over Giuseppe. It had been a hard sell considering Bonnie still refused to tell him about the attack. Nevertheless, Big John promised to support Damon's rise to power because Bonnie and her children would greatly benefit from that move. However, his support did not come without a price. He wanted to install several of their people in the U.S. side of the smuggling operation. Big John smelled the blood in the water and wanted to make sure Bonnie had adequate support for her next move.
Rationally, the young mother understood that Damon wasn't jeopardizing his trip by staying in Tenerife for a few days. He wasn't officially scheduled to meet with the capos until Friday. He would be hosting a big dinner at the Salvatore compound in Milazzo. Damon planned to meet not only the captains but also their sons and in some cases grandsons. He wanted to ingratiate himself to the future generations that would serve the Salvatore organization. Bonnie admired the brilliance of Damon's plan. His first few days in Milazzo were supposed to be spent meeting with the Salvatores that never immigrated to the United States. Instead, he chose to fly them to Tenerife for a few days. Having the capos on his side was all well and good but Damon needed his blood to side with him as well.
The gray-haired physician said, "I know that this may all sound discouraging but I still believe that you can have a healthy pregnancy. You will just have to put in more effort than some other expectant mothers do. However, I think that we have a solid plan going forward."
Bonnie nodded numbly and slipped everything she had been given into her designer handbag. She shook his hand as she stood up. "Thank you for your help, Dr. Huerta."
He placed a comforting hand on Bonnie's shoulder. He said, "You are welcome, Bonnie. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call me."
She gave a distracted nod. "I will. Have a good day, Dr. Huerta."
The doctor walked with Bonnie out of his office. "I will see you back here in two weeks."
Tyler shot out of his chair as soon as Bonnie walked into the waiting room. He had been sitting anxiously because her appointment had lasted an hour longer than it should have. His chest tightened at the haunted expression on her face. His first instinct was to pull Bonnie into his arms. However, he couldn't do that in such a public place.
Instead, he put on a stoic expression and met her in the middle of the waiting room. The two friends walked to the elevator and took it to the ground floor of the massive medical complex.
"Do you want to wait here while I go get the car?"
She shook her head and put on her sunglasses. "I'm fine to walk. The cool air actually feels nice."
Tyler and Bonnie walked across the street to the parking garage. He stayed quiet until they made it to the car. He opened Bonnie's door and asked, "Where would you like to go next?"
She climbed into the back of the car and placed her purse on the other seat. "We need to stop by the pharmacy to drop off my prescriptions. Then I'd like to go to the beach house for a little while."
To the outside listener the conversation would sound innocent. However, Tyler understood that Bonnie wanted some time alone with him. He nodded and said, "Okay. What pharmacy would you like to use today?"
"There is a pharmacy near the beach house. I have used it in the past. I think it is on Golden Valley," she explained.
"I'll find it," he replied. Tyler closed her door and then climbed into the car. He searched for the pharmacy's address on his phone before he started the engine. "Would you like to stop somewhere for lunch, too?"
Bonnie shook her head. She didn't have the energy to keep up her façade in public. The girl just wanted to be alone with her best friend for a bit. She smiled tiredly. "I was thinking that we might just get something delivered for lunch."
Tyler nodded as he pulled out of the parking space. "Sounds like a plan to me."
She smiled at him in the rearview mirror and then tried to relax. Getting worked up was the opposite of what she needed right now. Bonnie took out of the nutrition plan she had been given and began to read it. She had only skimmed the information while sitting in Dr. Huerta's office.
Bonnie knew that the right thing to do would be to call her husband. It would be 9 o'clock local time in Tenerife. However, she just couldn't bring herself to pretend right now. She didn't feel like being an actress for his benefit. She was a 21-year-old young woman terrified that her body couldn't support the two little lives in her womb. Bonnie couldn't guarantee that she would not curse out Damon if they spoke now. More than exposing her knowledge of his current location, it would also make her blood pressure rise. Frankly, Damon and his whore weren't worth the lives of her babies. Nothing, not even the family business, was more important than her children were.
At a traffic light, Tyler asked, "Do you want to listen to some music?"
She smiled softly and said, "That would be nice, Ty."
He fiddled with his phone while the light was red.
Bonnie huffed out a startled laugh when she heard Beyonce reciting poetry over the car's speakers. "Seriously?"
Tyler smiled sheepishly as the light turned green. "In my defense, I bought the album when Nikki stayed the weekend with my parents. She is a card-carrying member of the Beyhive. Anyway, Lemonade is actually a pretty good album."
Nikki was Mason and Vicki's oldest daughter. She was 13-years-old and so much like her mother that the two fought constantly. She frequently stayed the weekend with Richard and Carol. They were like her de facto grandparents because of the age difference between the two brothers. Tyler usually ended up staying at his parents' house to keep Nikki occupied.
Bonnie laughed softly as she rested her hands on her stomach. She closed her eyes and tried to relax.
Periodically, he glanced in the rearview mirror to check on Bonnie. He hated feeling as if he were unable to help her. He had been tempted to take her to the hospital last night. Matt had called him shortly after midnight to say that Bonnie had fainted. It had taken every shred of his willpower not to rush over to the Salvatore Manor.
Bonnie had refused to go to the hospital since she had an appointment with Dr. Huerta later in the day. Moreover, Meredith had given the all clear. She believed that Bonnie's fainting spell was caused by dehydration.
Tyler pulled into a parking space at the pharmacy. He lowered the volume of the music and looked over the seat. "Bonnie, we're here."
She pried open her eyes and stifled a yawn. Bonnie dug through her purse and pulled out the four prescriptions and her insurance card. "They should have all of my information on file here but take this just in case."
"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes," he said.
Once Bonnie was alone, she picked up her phone. She typed out a quick message to Lucy asking her to meet them at the beach house. Bonnie had come to a decision on how to handle Damon and Katherine. She would need her older cousin's help to get everything done.
Tyler returned a few minutes later and climbed into the car. He returned Bonnie's insurance card and said, "Your prescriptions will be ready in two hours. We can pick them up when we're on our way back to the manor."
She nodded. "Thanks."
The drive to the beach house was quick since the pharmacy was in the neighborhood. He parked the car in the driveway when they arrived.
He asked, "Any idea what you want to order for lunch?"
Bonnie picked up her purse as she got out of the SUV. She said, "I could really go for a grilled chicken salad and maybe some type of soup."
Tyler considered the local options as he followed her up to the door. He knew the delivery options out there better than Bonnie did. His parents' house was ten minutes away. "I know a place that has a great Italian wedding soup. That's still your favorite, right?"
Her expression brightened. "That sounds so good right now. I think I might want to order two of those with my salad. Oh, and I want Thousand Island dressing and Romano if they have it."
"I'll take care of ordering lunch. Do you want anything else?"
She unlocked the front door and let them into the house. Bonnie stopped by the security panel and entered her code. "No, the salad and soup should be fine. Order something for Lucy, too. I sent her a text while you were inside the pharmacy. She will be here in a bit."
Tyler pulled up the app on his phone and ordered lunch for the three of them. He locked the front door and followed Bonnie into the living room.
She kicked off her shoes and plopped down on the soft couch.
He put away his phone and said, "Lunch will be here in about 35 minutes."
"That's good because I am starving. I didn't eat very much for breakfast."
Tyler had noticed that but didn't say anything. That morning he could tell that she had been throwing up again. He sat on the couch and pulled Bonnie's feet into his lap. "Are you going to tell me how your appointment went?"
She smiled a little as Tyler began massaging her sore feet. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"
He said, "Give me the bad news first."
"My blood pressure is elevated. It is high enough that Dr. Huerta prescribed a blood pressure medicine for me. He thinks the spike in my blood pressure along with mild dehydration is what caused me to faint last night. He is also worried because I only put on two pounds in my first trimester. He prescribed something for the nausea and green lit the nutritional shakes that your mom recommended to me. He had me meet with the on-site nutritionist, too. She gave me a list of do's and don'ts to help manage the high blood pressure and to help with the weight gain. I have to go back in two weeks so that Dr. Huerta can check my progress."
Tyler had been expecting everything but the high blood pressure. His hands stopped massaging Bonnie's feet and he slid closer to her on the couch. He pulled Bonnie into a fierce hug. "Fuck, Bon. Is there anything that I can do?"
"You are already doing so much for me. Just being here for me means everything, Ty," she whispered. She didn't want cry but could feel the tears forming in her eyes.
He promised, "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried. I'm here whenever and however you need me."
She sniffled softly and burrowed deeper into his warm embrace.
Tyler held his friend in silence. He was in no rush to let her go. He kissed the top of her head and asked, "What was the good news?"
"The babies are healthy despite everything going on with me. I'm doing just enough to keep them healthy for now. Dr. Huerta was also able to get really good pictures of the babies today. Do you want to see them?"
"Of course, I do. Let's see em," he said.
Bonnie pulled back from the hug reluctantly and reached into her purse. She pulled out the sonograms and passed them to Tyler. Then she watched his face as he scrutinized the pictures.
He smiled as he looked at the pictures. He couldn't believe that Bonnie was far enough along for the twins to look like actual babies but she was. "Wow. They are amazing, Bon."
"They are amazing and I've got to protect them, Ty."
Tyler looked up when he heard her voice crack. He cupped her cheek. "Protect them from what, Bon?"
"I have to protect them and Sarah from all the shit that left me this broken."
"You are not broken," he swore.
She shook her head as tears slipped down her cheeks. "But I am. You don't know. You don't know what I did."
Tyler put the sonograms on the coffee table and turned to face Bonnie. He took both of her delicate hands into his and said, "You know that you can tell me anything. I always have your back. We will figure it out together."
Bonnie tore her eyes away from Tyler's because his deep concern was too much to bear. She looked down at their hands. "It's my fault that I'm not gaining enough weight."
"You can't help that you are nauseous all the time, Bonnie."
"No. You have to listen to me. Please...don't interrupt because I will just chicken out of telling you the truth."
He kissed both of her hands and said, "Okay. Go ahead."
"I was underweight before I was pregnant. I wasn't just underweight. I was 10 pounds lighter than I should be for my height. During the summer, I started dieting and exercising." She shook her head as more tears fell. "No, that's not the truth. I cut back to eating one meal a day and drinking a protein shake for breakfast. Then I started doing Crossfit. The pounds came off so quickly. I thought that if I were thinner that Damon would be attracted to me. It was so stupid and I stopped as soon as I suspected that I might be pregnant. What if I can't carry this pregnancy full term? I was so pathetic that I tried to starve myself to get Damon's attention. That won't be his fault. It will be all on me and my stupidity."
Tyler tried not to tense because all he could think about was killing Damon slowly. He kissed Bonnie's hands again. "You are not stupid or pathetic. You made a mistake but you can turn this around. If Dr. Huerta really thought you were in danger of losing the babies, he would have admitted you into the hospital. In the hospital, they would have been able to give you a feeding tube and an IV to pump you full of fluids and nutrients."
Bonnie blinked back the tears and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "How do you know that?"
He cleared his throat. "I might have called my cousin in the middle of the night to ask him a few questions. He is a doctor. I needed him to stop me from throwing you over my shoulder and taking you to the hospital."
She huffed out a shocked laugh. Bonnie sniffled. "Well, he's not wrong. Dr. Huerta told me that I would have to be admitted into hospital if the anti-nausea medication doesn't help me."
"I guess Cole really is a doctor," Tyler teased.
"I can't believe anyone actually let Cole become a doctor. He was always such an idiot."
He smirked. "Oh, he's still an idiot. He is just a well-paid idiot now. He's raking in the money as a concierge doctor."
Bonnie asked, "Can I get his number from you?"
"Yeah. I will text it to you. Are you looking for a new doctor?" he asked. Tyler picked up his phone and sent Bonnie his cousin's number.
"Maybe. I just want to explore all of my options. I won't see Dr. Huerta again for two weeks. I would really like someone on-call whenever I need them."
He nodded. "Like when you fainted last night."
Bonnie said, "Yes. I also want someone that I am paying. The Salvatores have a private physician on the payroll but he answers to them. I think it's time to put some distance between myself and the Salvatores. I have to think of my children now. All three of them need me to be my very best. Our world is about to get very dangerous."
He gently smoothed a curl behind Bonnie's ear. "You are going to be okay—all four of you. I'm here for whatever you need."
He hoped that if he reassured Bonnie enough that she would believe him. He knew how difficult it was for her to trust people. Everyone that was supposed to love her had hurt or abandoned her. Even Miss Sheila had sold her off like chattel. He knew that she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop with him.
Bonnie looked into Tyler's eyes and asked, "What if what I need is you?"
"You have always had me, Bon. That will never change," he promised.
The girl squeezed her best friend's hand and said, "I hope you mean that because I have had an epiphany today."
He raised an eyebrow. "I mean it. What sort of epiphany did you have?"
"I think it is high time that I stop behaving as if I am a lovesick teenager. Damon married me because of a business arrangement struck between our families. The possibility of him falling in love with me was more of a bonus, not a guarantee. We have been married for four years. If he is not in love with me now, it is safe to assume that it will never happen."
Tyler felt conflicted after Bonnie's confession. He didn't like that she was hurting because of Damon. However, he was also glad that Bonnie had finally tired of his bullshit. She deserved better than the likes of Damon Salvatore and his equally shitty family. However, he wondered what had inspired this epiphany in Bonnie. If resounding proof of Damon's infidelity were all it took then Bonnie would have stopped trying to gain his affection years ago. It was open knowledge within the family that he hadn't been faithful to her during the entirety of their marriage.
He cleared his throat. "Can I ask what brought on this change of course?"
Bonnie looked down at her horribly expensive wedding ring and smiled wryly. "I am turning into a person that I don't recognize, Ty. I spent the better part of my doctor's appointment plotting how to kill Katherine in the most brutal and inhumane ways possible. I thought of butchering this woman and sending Damon little pieces of her body until he had a life-sized Katherine puzzle to put back together. I don't just want her dead. I want Damon to suffer, too. I want him in prison for a murder that he didn't commit because only then will he truly understand what the fuck he has done to me."
Tyler chuckled quietly because that was a seriously fucked up revenge fantasy even for someone in his line of work. It was most certainly in line with some of Brady's more horrific kills. However, Tyler understood that everyone had a breaking point and Bonnie had reached hers.
She continued, "This is how warped I have become while being married to Damon. I considered torturing and killing a woman whose only crime is screwing my whorish husband. Then I realized that Damon would simply move on to the next warm body. Am I supposed to kill every woman that he decides to screw? Everything I feel for him is too intense. I love him as deeply as I hate him now. I want to rip his heart out the way that he rips mine out every single day. Unfortunately, I can't hurt him that way because I don't mean that much to him. Instead, I imagine of all the ways I could physically hurt him and he lies next to me none the wiser. It's sick and I don't want to be that person. As Lucy would say, I have reached the rat poison phase of my marriage."
Tyler asked, "What?"
"You know that my mother tried to kill my father by lacing his food with rat poison."
He nodded. "Yes, I have heard the story."
Bonnie said, "It is better if I put space between myself and Damon before I lose control in that way. I'm too stressed and it is hurting my babies. I don't know what I would do to him if I miscarried."
Every bone in Tyler's body said that Bonnie knew exactly what she would do and it would be hell to clean up. He cupped her cheek and said, "It won't come to that. What can I do to help you?"
Relief rippled through the young woman's body. She had been expecting shock or recrimination from Tyler. However, he had once again proven that he was always on Bonnie's side. She needed that more than anything else now. "I need you to pack a bag. We'll be making a trip to Tenerife just as soon as Damon is safely in Milazzo."
"Should I be calling Uncle Brady to join us on this trip? He's the best at corpse disposal."
She smiled a little. "No, that won't be necessary. I am not going there to kill Katherine. I just think it is time that the two of us have a chat...woman to woman. We need to establish some ground rules on how things will work from now on. She might not fear Damon but she had better fear me."
Tyler almost felt bad for Damon because Bonnie was about to rain hellfire onto his life. Then he remembered that his best friend was literally sick because of Damon's bullshit and that sympathy quickly evaporated.
"The bottom line is I am going to separate from Damon. I can't do it legally without the press catching wind of it but I am going to make him understand the situation. I know that's not the same thing as leaving him, but I can't go on like this."
He said, "I am proud of you for putting yourself first, Bon."
"Really? You aren't upset that I am not divorcing him?" she asked.
Tyler shook his head. "Why would I be upset?"
She said, "Because if I am still married to Damon then we can't be together openly."
"If we are being honest, I wouldn't be able to be with you publicly even if you did divorce him. Damon doesn't seem like the type to accept his ex-wife moving on with one of his underlings. We would have to hide our relationship whether you are married to him or not."
Her green eyes brightened. "Then you still want me?"
Tyler gently took Bonnie's face in his hands and kissed her tenderly.
Bonnie didn't pull away until she was breathless. "You didn't answer my question."
"I have wanted you since we were teenagers, Bon. I tried to get you out of my system but I couldn't. I know that I am not out of yours either. The night you turned up on my doorstep bruised and battered made me realize that I could have lost you. I could have lost you without ever really having you. I could have married Elena years ago. You are the reason I could never go through with it. I knew deep in my heart that I would always love you more. That's not the way to build a life with someone."
Bonnie's eyes darkened with lust as she grabbed onto the lapels of Tyler's shirt. She pulled him into a crushing kiss as she leaned back against the couch's arm.
Tyler moved more fully onto the couch and settled his weight between Bonnie's outstretched legs. A little voice in the back of his head whispered that he fit perfectly because she was made for him. Everyone else was just too stupid to see that. He devoured Bonnie's lips with the hunger of a starving man.
It felt as if all of Bonnie's senses were tingling. The young woman was consumed by the feeling of his hard body pressed against hers. The smell of his Tom Ford cologne and the cigarette smoke he was so desperately trying to mask intoxicated her. Bonnie could practically taste the whiskey from his flask on his tongue.
Tyler broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers as he tried to catch his breath. "Fuck," he muttered in exasperation.
Bonnie rolled her hips forward teasingly. A thrill went up her spine when his eyes sprang open. Desire clouded the dark brown eyes that she knew so well. However, she also saw the warning in those eyes.
Tyler shuddered as his hands moved up to Bonnie's hips to stop her from moving again. "If you keep that up, you're going to make me cum in my pants like a teenager."
"It wouldn't be the first time," she replied breathlessly.
He smirked. "The last time that happened, I was actually a teenager."
Bonnie laughed softly. It was so lighthearted and genuine that she almost wondered if it had come from her. She stared up at Tyler in silence. She didn't know how to put what she was feeling into words. It was as if a weight had been lifted off Bonnie's shoulders now that she had made a decision.
The doorbell interrupted their heated staring contest.
Tyler groaned and pecked her lips softly before getting up. "That'll be our lunch."
She rolled her eyes as she sat up on the couch. "This has to be the first time in history that a delivery service actually arrived on time."
He chuckled and smoothed down his clothes. He couldn't go to the door looking rumpled. Rumors had been started with less incriminating circumstances. "You need to eat…"
"I know." Bonnie stood up. "I am going to pop upstairs to freshen up."
Tyler watched Bonnie head upstairs. He took a deep breath and decided that he was in trouble. However, it was trouble that he had been waiting a very long time to have.