A/N: Copyright infringement not intended. I do not own the characters. They are written the way I wished that they were portrayed on the show.
***** This story is an AU/OOC. Let's pretend all this shit happened on the show…LOL! *****
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Thank you all for reading my work and supporting me.
Please leave a review! I love reading what you all have to say!
Enjoy!
Oblivion Chapter 16: Bonds and Ties
Damon rushed in to the house and start packing up their things. Bonnie leisurely followed behind him.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"We're leaving this fucking hell hole, so I'm packing up our shit. You should start packing, too," he said, throwing all kinds of random things in to a large leather bag.
Bonnie crossed her arms and giggled. "Damon, do these things really matter to you? Back home, you have everything a person could possibly ever want," she reminded sweetly.
Damon's eyes narrowed as he remembered his belongings back in Mystic Falls. "Oh, yeah."
He dropped the stuff on the floor and starts walking towards her. "Come on. Let's go get Stefan and Miss., crazy pants and get the hell out of here," he said, walking by her and taking her hand while on the move. Bonnie cemented her body, stopping him in his tracks.
He whipped a puzzling regard back around to her. "Bonnie, what's up? We need to leave, now," he articulated strongly.
"Damon, we can't leave. What if we need to escape to this planet, again, someday… for God knows what, it would help to have allies. Don't you think?"
"No, Bonnie, we won't ever have to come back here. The only reason why we are here now, is because your grandmother had a plan to save your life, and she did. This planet has served its purpose, saving us, so let's get the hell out of here!" He was now adamantly demanding.
"Damon, we need to do what's right by these people. We can't just go around burning bridges. Stefan needs to turn himself in to the council. I have faith in Tupac. I know he will find a way to have the charges brought against Stefan dropped. He will make whatever sacrifices he needs to make to ensure that Stefan isn't sentenced to death," she explained gently.
Damon's eyes bulged with irate. "Are you crazy? You have been drinking that yellow shit for far too long Bonnie. It is time we return home before you completely lose yourself."
"I'm not crazy Damon, because I believe in doing the right thing. Don't you trust me?"
"Of course, I trust you, but on this—no!" He thrust a hand madly into the air, his face going flush with agitation.
She walked over to him and tried taking him by the hands, but he yanked them away, placing them on his hips. He looked down at her with an angry dirty look.
"There use to be a time when my opinion mattered to you."
"Yeah, that was when you had your friends' best interest at heart, but now you seem to only care about these jilted people and this damn town."
"That is not true Damon. I want nothing more than to see all of us go home with our health and our sanity, and I would burn this entire world to embers before I let anyone hurt a hair on yours or Stefan's head, no matter how many innocent lives he has taken, but your brother needs to start answering for his crimes."
"You know what." Damon shook his head angrily at her. "Ugh!" He punched the wall.
"Why does your Hollier than thou opinion the only one that matters? Huh? Explain that to me?"
"Damon. Why are you being this way? Why don't you trust me? I love you!"
He stood there, still wearing that same infuriated appearance.
His anger soon softened. "Bonnie, you are making this about me trusting you, and that's not fair. My brother lost me, but I knew that one day that I would return home to him, but you are asking me to let these people take him away from me permanently. I can't let you do that. I don't care about your good opinion or how stand up it would be to do the right thing. All I care about is my brother."
Bonnie went and sat down on the sofa, a faraway look in her eyes. "…so, this is the way it is going to be between us. You not trusting me, and me being insecure about your love. I don't know how I ever thought that we could be a couple."
Damon frowned at Bonnie. "…and neither can I," he said and left the house, fuming. Once again, a slammed door was Bonnie's and Damon's refuge.
::::::
After a two day's journey, Tessa and Stefan arrived at her home. Her humble little bungalow was miles away from the nearest town.
"Oh, my God! Home sweet home!" Tessa shouted for joy as she went and threw herself down onto the chaise longue.
"Quint little place you got here. Now where's the damn shower," Stefan inquired rudely.
"Wow, and here I thought you seeing your brother almost die before your very eyes would bring back your humanity or at least some semblance of a gentleman."
"Now how could that selfish bastard bring back my humanity? I love the asshole, but that fucking bastard left me, desiccating in a safe, all summer long, while he lay up fucking that unfaithful bitch," he said coolly.
Tessa dimmed her eyes, surprised by Stefan's mindset. "Stefan, that was almost a year ago or more. I'm surprised you're steal holding on to that."
"Yeah, me too. Now bathroom, shower, soap, chop, chop."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, buckets in the bathroom. There is a well out back. You'll find soap on the shelf."
"You need a shower, too. You want to join me?" He winked.
Her face glittered with surprise. "I have a second washroom because I entertain visitors on a regular due to my business ventures, so as tempting as showering with you might be, I'll pass."
"Suit yourself." He grinned. He went to the washroom and grabbed the buckets. "I want my dinner on the table by six," he joshed, tapping on his invisible watch as he made his way outside.
"You're very amusing!" she shouted and gave a glowing grin.
Tessa went to the kitchen and pulled out all her favorite ingredients to make a hearty vegetable soup. She hadn't had a home cooked meal in a few days.
She dillydallied around in the kitchen, cooking, and cleaning. She even thought enough about Stefan to siphon some of her blood for him to feed. She hoped that he would sit down to dinner with her and keep her company.
The house was way too quiet. Tessa began to think the worst when she didn't hear Stefan stirring about the cottage. She stepped outside onto the grand porch of her little chalet. She looked out at her yard to notice that Stefan had unsaddled her horse and put it back in its run in shed. She smiled once seeing him hiking up the walkway with a large staff on his shoulders, helping him to carry six over flowing pails of water.
"Wow, look at you!" she gleamed.
"Yup, look at me doing all the dirty work for the little lady with the fragile condition, and here I thought I was the only swinging dick in your life." He winked.
"Must you be so crass?" She gave him a reprimanding aspect. "…and to think I was going to thank you for collecting the pails of water and for putting my Blue Bell away."
"I'm a fucking monster, Tessa, but even I can appreciate the beauty of someone in your situation."
"Uh, thanks. I guess." She frowned, curious by his odd statement.
"Anytime. Well, I'm off to take a shower. You think if I clean up a bit—I can get laid?"
"No, because like you said—you're not the only swinging dick in my life."
"Ouch." He pressed a hand to his chest, feigning offense. "That hurt so good baby."
"Shut up and go take your shower." She giggled, her cheeks turning all rosy with a blush.
Tessa went back to preparing her homemade stew. She poured her veggies in to the boiling water, added her favorite herbs and spices, and generously stirred her pottage.
She smiled when she heard Stefan singing all off key in the shower. "He's so different from that sad, little miserable boy he was back in Mystic Falls. Good for you Stefan."
Tessa could no longer ignore how sticky and filthy she felt.
She rushed off to the washroom, hurrying out of her garments, swept her hair up in a whimsical bond, and stepped under the already cascading water. The entire time she undressed, she kept thinking about Stefan being in the other room.
She wanted to sleep with him all over again, but she wanted their second time to be different from the carnal and spontaneous moment they shared in the forest.
"Tessa stop this. He shares the face of your one true love. Ugh, who am I kidding. There was nothing true about Silas's love." She blacked out all the desperate thoughts, churning in her mind and got serious about cleaning her sticky and dirty skin. The water was heaven to her, causing her to daydream about Stefan all over, again.
"Oh, shit! The waters running out!" she squealed. She jumped out of the shower and poured more water in to the bucket, only to find that it was ice cold. She screamed as the cold water trickled down over her body, rinsing the remaining soap from her skin. She moaned and twittered at herself.
"Mm, she's in their masturbating." Stefan smirked devilishly. "Tessa, you little freak." He lamented as he pranced around in the mirror.
Tessa covered and doused herself with her favorite scented creams and perfumes. A special visitor prompted her to pay exceptional attention to herself, more so than she had in the days and months passed.
She came out of the washroom several minutes later, a bathrobe wrapped tightly around her, and her glorious scent floating in the air. She gathered up some clothes for Stefan. She hurried across her little hut with the spare clothes in hand. He was sitting in her living area, butt naked on the couch, legs spread wide as he sat comfortable back on the sofa, eyes closed.
Tessa's blinkers enlarged with a blush. She threw the change of clothes in his lap. "Get dressed," she commanded.
"Hey!" Stefan jumped up, startled by the clothes landing on his manhood. "I was trying to take a nap," he nagged.
"The guest bedroom is down the hall on the left. You can take a nap in there." She replied as she made her way over to the stove to stir her stew and sample its flavor. "Mm, delicious."
"Needs more salt," Stefan said, putting on his bottoms.
"You tasted this?" She smiled.
"Yup, I did. I wanted to see if you were as good a cook as you are a lay." He gave her a conceited smirk as he plonked back down on the sofa. Tessa grabbed a cup and flung it at him, only for him to catch it midair. He gave a hearty laugh, and she gave him an irritated sideways glance.
Tessa poured herself a cup of tea and sat down at the table. She took out her knitting needles and yarn and started knitting.
Stefan observed her for a little while, wearing a little simper on his face. "It's getting dark out. Would you like for me to close the door?" he asked.
"Yes, make yourself useful," she teased, not affording him a glimpse.
He closed and locked the door and then joined her at the table, still grinning. "You're not very hospitable."
"Oh, yeah. Tell me something I don't know," she replied coolly.
"Aren't you going to pour me a cup of your blood or some of that shit you're drinking?"
"Nope, but you can pour yourself some of this shit I'm drinking." She flashed him a smug grin. "A canister of my blood is in the cupboard. You can heat it if you like it warm, or you can drink it cold, either way—I don't care."
He chuckled handsomely. He got up, poured himself a cup of tea, and sat back down at the table. "This taste like shit," he frowned down at his tea.
"You're not ready to feed? I am surprised. Your appetite has been so insatiable," she said, preoccupied.
"I have a hankering for something else," he said seductively.
She gave a giggle and blushed. "Mhm, I bet you do."
"You come in here—smelling all delicious. You're making homemade stew in your spicy little robe, with your hair in that sexy little messy ponytail, strands of your locks, cascading down your back. I want to eat that pussy Tessa." He hummed with a pleasing thought, propping his chin up on his hand.
Tessa could hardly knit as her hands trembled with nervousness and her cheeks went red as beets. She could not stop radiating. "Will you stop? You're making me mess up my blanket." She laughed gushingly.
"Did Sili si perform oral sex on you Tessa?"
"I'm not going to tell you that! Drink your tea!"
"Okay, I'll leave you alone—for now." He sat there, drumming his fingers on the table, looking around the house. His lashes swiftly lifted as if a question had popped into the forefront of his mind.
"Are you afraid to fall asleep, knowing that I'll be in the next room?" he inquired seriously.
"…and aren't you afraid that I'll set your ass on fire as soon as you step one foot in my bedroom?" She gave him a defiant smirk.
He laughed. "Calm down. I am only asking this because you're pregnant and it would seem that a woman in your delicate state wouldn't want to be roommates with a blood sucking, murderous leech, such as myself."
Tessa's eyes went bright as flashlights. She winched her stunned gaze up to his. "I'm not pregnant. What do you mean? Are you fucking with me?" she questioned, frantic.
"No, I'm not fucking with you. I'm a vampire. I can hear a fucking pin drop. I can hear your baby's heartbeat."
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God," she sputtered, getting to her feet, and pressing a hand to her belly.
She quickly looked back over at him. "What all did you eat or feed on before you ran into me by the pond?" Her voice fractured with worry and fear.
"Wow, okay. Let's see. This planet has a plethora of fruit trees. There's plenty of that yellow shit that kind of reminds me of mango's, and then there's that green fruit that puts me in the mind of kiwi."
"Green fruit? Kiwi?" she uttered winded, by the overwhelming discouragement she felt.
"Yeah, that shit had my balls feeling damn good." He laughed. "One night I mixed the green fruit with some of the purple eggplant looking shit, and when I woke up, I was face down in the dirt, my pajama bottoms around my ankles, and the purple fruit had a big gaping hole straight through. I don't know what the hell that was all about, but it got a lot of stress off my back—if you know what I mean." He snickered with a wink and took another sip of his now, cold beverage. "Okay, I can't drink this fucking shit. I'm going to need your blood to wash the taste of this shit down."
He hastily made his way to the cupboard, removing the canister, containing her blood.
Tessa simply turned around, stumbled despairingly back to her room, and closed the door.
"Hey, I'm not going to watch this shit you got cooking on the stove!" Stefan yelled.
~ (Caro, Elena, Enzo) ~
Months went by and Elena found herself still trying to cope with the loss of Damon, and now Stefan.
She found herself for the sixth time in one week going back to the Salvatore house to see Lucy in the hopes that there were new developments on how to bring Stefan and Damon home.
She whipped her SUV in to the driveway. She rushed to the front entrance and barged in like she owned the place. Elena frowned when she saw Enzo and Caroline sitting on the couch looking through ratty old spell books.
Elena was still upset that Stefan had declared his love to Caroline before his forceful departure. She was not at all happy about her friend possibly being in love with her ex.
"Hello," Enzo greeted after noticing Elena.
"Hey," she replied dryly as she fold her arms over her chest and moseyed over to them. "Where's, Lucy?"
"Klaus drove her home. She had to check on her house and take care of some personal things," Enzo answered.
"She went home?!" Elena spat.
"Ugh," Caroline grunted as she tilted her head back to the ceiling.
"…and what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Elena asked nastily.
"It means people have lives. There is nothing more Lucy can do."
"Does she not care about Bonnie?"
"She cares a lot more about Bonnie, than you," Caroline slighted.
Enzo stood up, turning his head to and fro at the verbal ping pong match between Caroline and Elena as they bounced heated remarks off each other.
"You are so full of it," Elena said, shaking her head at Caroline.
"…and how am I full of it?" Caroline jumped up.
"You say you love Stefan, but if you did, you would do whatever it took to get him back." She paused. "You didn't deserve his love."
"…and what, you did?" Caroline spat.
"I loved Stefan!"
"Yet, you always found your way back into Damon's bed," Caroline replied coldly.
Elena stiffened. "It's not my fault that I have a connection with both of them."
"Oh, wow. You are a real piece of work Elena. Do you really think that Damon and Stefan are going to return home and come chasing after you?"
"Damon will always love me. He would never give up on me, and Stefan and I are good friends. I will always love him, and he will always love me."
"Come on, ladies. You two are friends," Enzo finally interrupted their catty war of words.
"Correction, we were friends, but now I'm just fed up with the bullshit. Come on, Enzo; let's get the hell out of here." Caroline grabbed her purse and stormed out. Enzo gave Elena a guilty little smirk and took off after Caroline.
~ (Elena) ~
Elena watched as the door shut behind them. She went upstairs to Damon's room. She scoped out his space with a blank look in her eyes. She walked over to a photo of her and Damon, sitting on his bedside table. She tried to remember happy times with Damon, but all she could recall was how they screwed each other's brains out and snogged on varies pieces of furniture in every room of the house every chance they got.
She looked down at the bed and ran her fingers across the red comforter. She pictured herself laying on one side of the bed with her back to Damon and him on the other side with his back to her.
She looked back down at his picture as her brain recalled the moment when she declared her love to him, and they danced by the fireplace. This memory evoked her to shed a tear.
"I should have done more Damon. I should not have been so concerned about Stefan. I should have been more loyal to you," she whispered.
She sat the picture back down on the table; she walked slowly to the exit. She passed over the threshold and then looked back out at his room, her eyes watery.
She forged ahead in the direction of Stefan's room as if being guided there by some unknown force.
Once in front of his bedroom door, she froze. A plethora of emotions instantly overwhelmed her, weighing her down, making it hard for her to function. She closed her eyes, shaking off the abundance of feelings and butterflies that fluttered violently in her abdomen.
She finally found the strength to open the door. She loudly exhaled once inside. She walked over to Stefan's dresser. She trailed her fingers over the dark wood as she put one foot in front of the other, crossing the floor.
Her fingertips danced over his bottles of cologne, his hair brush, and other inanimate objects that lay on his dresser. A profound sensation welled up inside of her as she stood amid his things. She recognized feelings that she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt warm, lighthearted, and a faint sense of tranquility.
Elena picked up one of Stefan's t-shirts laying on his bed. She bunched the fabric up in her hands before lifting the shirt to her nose. She closed her eyes and inhaled. Her lips curled into her cheek as memories of Stefan flooded her brain.
She vividly remembered her ride on the Ferris wheel with him and all the times that he told her that he loved her, and lastly, she remembered choosing Stefan, in her dying moments with nothing but a cell wall standing between them.
"I love them both. I love them both," she cried.
~ (Carenzo) ~
Enzo and Caroline escaped the boarding house and went straight to the Grill. Caroline sipped on her ice, cold tea and mindlessly ate her fries as she looked vacantly out into the restaurant.
She was completely oblivious to Enzo staring at her as she ate with his arms crossed on top of the table.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Ugh," she sighed loudly, annoyed with his question. "Like you care," Caroline sassed.
"Don't be that way Care Bear. I'm only trying to be your friend."
"I don't need your friendship, and since when have you wanted to be friends with anyone? All you do is kill innocent people," she said sarcastically.
"I resent that. I only kill useless humans. It's either them, or me, and I choose me."
"You use to be one of those useless human beings you know, and what about your one true love? She was human."
"…and she was one of a kind. There'll never be another like Maggie," he answered seriously, a saddened look in his eyes.
Caroline's expression softened as she offered Enzo an empathetic look.
"I'm sorry, Enzo. I know it must have been hard losing her, and to your best friend no less."
"Yes, it hurt like hell, but Damon didn't know."
"Can you be so sure that he wouldn't have killed her even if he had known? Damon hasn't always been a standup guy you know," she said cynically.
"Well, I choose to believe that he wouldn't have, and I'm glad I never had to find out otherwise." Enzo smirked.
They looked awkwardly at each other before Enzo took a swig of his beer.
"…so, how long have you been in love with Stefan?"
Caroline's eyes amplified, astounded by his question.
"I told you, Enzo. I don't need your friendship," she sassed.
"Unf, I thought we were friends. We have been around each other every day since Stefan was taken, searching through spell book after spell book, talking about everything, including the weather. Isn't that what friends do?" Enzo asked, disappointed.
"What the hell, it's not like I have anyone else to talk to about this, and you are okay—I guess." She smirked, amused by her own remark. "To answer your question, I've always liked Stefan, but after he and Elena broke up, I subconsciously let down my guard, I guess," she explained innocently and smiled.
"You're a great girl. I can't see why he wouldn't want to return your affections, and I'm sure he will once he returns," he assured, looking at her caringly.
Caroline became nervous under his intense gaze.
"I guess it doesn't matter if he loves me. We'll never find a way to bring him and Bonnie home anyway," she said sadly.
"Lucy is a very determined woman. She's going to find a way to bring them back, and you'll get a chance to tell him that you love him."
Caroline beamed. "You really think so?" she asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.
"I really think so."
"You are kind of cool, Enzo, and I'm sorry I've been such a jerk to you."
"Don't let my charm and good looks fool you, love. I really am the devil." Enzo winked at Caroline and grinned.
~ (Lucy & Klaus) ~
"Welcome to my humble abode!" Lucy said to Klaus, stepping inside her condominium in New York.
"Nice foyer. Maybe you'll invite me inside to see the rest of the place." He gave her a sex, and flirty, lopsided grin.
She turned back around to see Klaus standing on the opposite side of her front door.
She giggled. "Come inside," she said, stretching her hand out to take his.
He entered her home slowly. His eyes round with amazement. "I can't believe you invited me into your home," he stated.
"We've literally spent the last few weeks, getting to know each other, and you've been thinking I wouldn't invite you inside my home?"
"Let me rephrase. I can't believe I'm standing inside Lucy Bennett's home."
They laughed.
"Listen, Klaus. I want to thank you for how helpful you've been in aiding me in my efforts to bring Bonnie back home." She gave a light chortle. "When I first met you, I thought you were a little weird."
"Yeah, I do give off that weird type of vibe, and it's been my pleasure to help you. I have given Bonnie and her little crew a tough time from the moment I stepped a foot into their lives, but Bonnie, she has always been a stand-up girl, and she helped me against her better judgement. If anyway deserves a second chance at anything, it's her, not Stefan, nor Damon, in my humble opinion."
"I'm glad you see it that way, because she is my main focus, but I know she won't allow me to save her and not her friends, too, it is what it is." She shrugged.
"…so, you are not the least bit concerned about Stefan, giving that you two have a little bit of history?"
"I dig Stefan; I do, but he's a murderous vampire, and I'm not sure that he has his humanity back, so no, I think he'll be better off—wherever the hell I sent him." She amused by her own remark.
"It is good that you know how to remove your emotions from a situation and do what needs to be done." He paused. "Mm, you are so fascinating," he said dreamily and sighed.
Lucy chuckled.
"You know Lucy—I've been thinking about your struggles in trying to save Bonnie. Have you ever thought that maybe she can save herself?" Klaus asked seriously.
Lucy stood in thought for a moment. "You've mentioned this before, yes, so why isn't she here?" she replied, frustrated. "If Bonnie was able to save herself and her friends, why aren't they here with us right now?"
"Lucy, my goal is not to upset you. Come; let us sit down. We've been on the road all day." He took her by the hand and led her to the sofa.
"Lucy, you're not having any fun." He chortled.
Lucy laughed, too. "You think!"
"You only think about finding Bonnie. You eat and sleep, searching for Bonnie. You do not go anywhere unless it involves a lead. You do not watch TV. You do not go shopping with Melissa, not even grocery shopping. You sleep all day, and you are up all night?" He paused. "I don't think you are good for anyone not even yourself right now."
Lucy fell back into the sofa, a devastated look in her eyes. "Oh, my God. What happened to me?"
Klaus laid a hand on her thigh and softly stroked. "Talk to me. Why are you driving yourself so hard?"
"I met Bonnie once. She did not have anyone, not her mom, not her grandmother, and her dad was always away on business. She had to learn magic all on her own. When she met me, she couldn't believe that I was a Bennett witch." Her thoughts dangled as guilt and remorse covered and immobilized her.
"I left Bonnie, all alone. I never looked back. I never thought about that girl, and one day it hit me, when I found myself all alone in my lavish home, getting older, and doing everything I could for two young witches that are no relation to me whatsoever—that I wasn't shit." Tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
"I'm not shit because I abandoned my own family. Who does that?" She looked at him, sniveling and wiping away her tears.
"We all do stupid things, and we all make terrible decisions. If you knew how many times, I have gone to war with my siblings. We've literally tried to kill and desiccate each other." He laughed.
"You guys have a fucked up relationship, but at least you stick together in crucial times, but do you know how many times Bonnie has died for those little brats? If I were here, none of that shit would have ever happened," she proclaimed.
"I don't think Bonnie will mind if you have a little fun. Let me show you a good time. I am not asking you to give up on your search for Bonnie, but I am asking you to take a step back. I am asking you to think about yourself. Bonnie will understand, and we're in the Big Apple. It can't get much better than this!"
"…but what if?"
Klaus stopped her with a passionate pucker to her lips.
"Did you just kiss me?" She sent him a wide-eyed and flabbergasted gawk.
"Uh… uh," he stuttered. "Too soon? Should I have asked first?" He strongly pointed his brow, confounded.
Lucy grabbed his cheeks and crashed her lips into his. Klaus's eyes enlarged and slowly closed at the initial shock of Lucy grabbing and kissing him. She floated them down on the sofa, kissing him more profoundly.
Klaus fondled her ass and thighs aggressively. Lucy opened her legs and slow grind against the bulge in his jeans. She thrust herself against the prominence of his pants, working up a wonderful friction between their bodies. She quickly sat up, removing her—off the shoulder sweater. He grabbed her breast. He sucked and licked her nipple and around her areola zealously. They dry humped, kissed, and fondled each other until Lucy's pussy drenched.
"Take off your pants," she panted, getting to her knees.
"No." Klaus grabbed her hands, stopping her. "I want to take things slow with you."
Lucy's eyes met his. She could not believe the words that he had spoken. "You want to take it slow?"
"Yes." He held out his hand. She skated her fingers into the palm of his hand. He directed her back up on the couch. She lay on top of him. He closed his eyes and held her in his arms.
"At first I was hot. Now I feel nippy." She giggled.
He grabbed the throw from the back of the couch and covered her.
"I want to pamper you Lucy." He kissed her forehead. "I want to gift you with diamonds and random, lame drawings of ponies and shit." He gave a hearty chuckle and kissed her forehead, again. She laughed at his joke. "I want to fly you to Paris for lunch." He rested his sweet lips against her brow once more.
He squeezed her to him, grinning with his eyes closed. She relaxed into his arms and embraced him firmly. A couple of minutes went by when Lucy's eyes popped open. "Tell me some other stuff that you want to do for me," she stated innocently.
He belted out a larger than life laugh. "I'm going to buy you a penthouse in New York and a cabin in Colorado?" He kissed her forehead.
"Oh, I want a Bentley!"
She had him hysterically laughing all over again.
::::::
Damon hiked down to the creek, utterly pissed with Bonnie due to her beliefs, regarding the welfare of his brother. Stefan was now back in his life, and here she was, asking him to allow these foreign people to take his brother's precious life into their hands.
"I don't want to be the better man. I want my brother. I want my fucking brother!"
He screamed to the heavens. He kicked dirt, pulled up plants, and threw rocks. He had a full-on temper tantrum right in the middle of the forest. After releasing all his physical anger, he fell to the ground, sprawled out on the forest floor, and looked up at the sky. His mind went calling back to when he and his brother were kids. The happy memories flooded his brain and made him feel worse than he already did.
"I am the big brother. I am supposed to take care of Stefan and protect him."
His recollections of Stefan bleed into memories that he had made with Bonnie on new Earth. He beamed when he thought about every little moment they had, from him nurturing her sprang knee when they first arrived, from him setting up their little house in the cave, to them frolicking around by the pond, and lastly, his brain played the day she declared her love for him, and how they celebrated her pregnancy.
"My baby can't be without his uncle," he blurted, rushing to sit up.
Damon jumped up and raced back home to Bonnie. He came bursting through the door of their home, the full gust of the wind he kicked up trailing him.
"Bonnie, I don't want my brother to turn himself in to the authorities. Stefan is my only family. He is the only family that our child will have outside his parents."
"I know this Damon, but-," Her dialogue was cut short.
"I am the big brother Bonnie. I am supposed to look out for my baby brother," he stated with conviction, walking over to her. He rested his hands on the back of a chair, looking down at her with confusion in his eyes.
"Damon, being the big brother comes with responsibility, and one of those duties is to make sure you teach your younger sibling right from wrong. You must lead by example. You are going to be a father Damon; it's time that you start being more responsible."
He clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the chair, not liking Bonnie's advice.
"I know I have said this to you already, but I can't trust these people with my brother's life. Their way of thinking is so backwards and primitive. I'm surprised that they have such high regards for witches and vampires."
"…and it is because of their high regard for people like us that I believe their intellect is not completely closed to rational thinking. Did you not see Tupac's face last night? Did you not hear what he said to the other council members? He doesn't want to execute Stefan. He can convince his people to do what is in the best interest of this town, and we are Gardenia's best interest Damon. He can pull rank. He is the town's leader, so no, I am not asking you to give them complete autonomy over your brother's life. I'm asking you to let things play out."
Bonnie got up and walked over to him and took him by the shoulders.
"Damon, this is not like the days when you were forced to trust me to deactivate the Gilbert device." She tickled, but Damon didn't see the humor.
"I'm asking you to trust in me because of all we've gone through. I'm asking you to trust me because you love me."
"What if they kill my brother? How will we make it through that Bonnie?"
Bonnie's lashes fluttered with worry. She internally quivered at the thought of his words coming to pass. "I guess I better be right."
"Yeah." Damon looked at her for a moment as if he were waiting for her to say something else. He left the kitchen and went to the spare bedroom. He quietly shut the door.
Damon had put doubt in Bonnie's mind where there once was hope and confidence. She had never been so unsure about a decision that she had made in all her life.
::::::
Tessa lay in her room going through all the stages of grief, anguish over being pregnant by a man that didn't give a damn about her, heartache over being pregnant by the man that shared the face of the bane of her existence, and grief over being knocked up from having a one-night stand. She had never felt so embarrassed, not even when she was left at the altar by the love of her life.
She was flabbergasted at finding out she was pregnant; she was completely angry with herself, and now she lay here numb.
Tessa raised herself tiredly from her mattress. She sniffed the air, not catching the scent of burnt food. She went to the kitchen to check on her stew and get a cool, cup of water.
"Stefan." She was surprised to see him, sitting on the couch, reading a book by only the light of the moon, streaming through the windows.
"Why you little slut. You read porn." Stefan grinned, holding a book, containing images of Kama Sutra and different sex positions.
"Yes," Tessa garbled, hanging her head low. She walked swiftly through the living area to the kitchen, refusing to look upon him.
She looked at the stove to notice her pot of stew was sitting on the counter and the fire extinguished on the stove. "Thank you for tending to my soup."
"Yeah, I figure I'd better put out the fire. I don't want to die and give those sons of bitches of Gardenia the satisfaction," he answered distractedly, still thumbing through the pages of the book.
Tessa sat down at the table and took sips of her water, not bothering to light a candle.
"Stefan, you were curious as to how Damon was able to get Bonnie pregnant."
"Oh, yeah! How the fuck did that happen? Isn't that some shit." He laughed. "Ole' Bonnie is into some voodoo type shit, but I'm happy for them though. Bonnie's a good girl. She's a little too complacent and stuck up for my taste, but she's all right," he explained nonchalantly, his nose still pushed down in the book. "Too bad I didn't fuck her before they got all exclusive and shit," he regretted.
"Stefan, she's not into voodoo. The green fruit that you believe looks like kiwi is how Damon was able to impregnate her, it's the same fruit that allowed you to impregnate me."
Stefan rapidly blinked his eyes, not believing what he was hearing as he quickly dropped the book to his lap. "Excuse me? Huh? What? Come again?"
"This is your child Stefan. Silas is the last man I was with and that was two-thousand years ago. With me being dead and intent on making Silas's life a living hell after I returned from the other side, I didn't have much time for a social life." She giggled bashfully.
"Well—uh, well, uh… well, well, well, maybe you got pregnant by numb nuts before you died, and now that you're alive, again, the baby is alive. You know, alive, coming to life, and flourishing, and growing and shit, and stuff," he vocalized. His hands did all the explaining as they moved animatedly about, making him appear well versed on the matter.
Tessa found him to be adorable. She bent all over, splitting her sides with amusement.
"Stefan, you're so cute, but you know, and I know, that's not the case here."
"Look, Tessa. I'm not angry that you are having my kid and all, but you can't possibly think that I might not eat the baby." He gave a grin, but he was dead serious. Tessa laughed, yet again.
"You are going to make a great dad, even with your humanity off."
"Yeah, and you are so beautiful—simply gorgeous, but you are one fucking delusional chick. You know that, right?" he complemented and insulted her all in one breathe.
::::::
Bonnie woke up at first light and got dressed. She did a locator spell to find Qetsiyah and Stefan. She walked with reluctance to the nursery to wake Damon. She dreaded dealing with him because things were so tense between them. She grabbed the handled on the door but decided against popping in on him, so she knocked.
"Come in," he said, sounding alert. She came inside to see him sitting in the rocking chair fully clothed.
"Hey." She stood, observing him.
"Hey," he answered back, his attention on Mr. Cuddles.
"Did you get any sleep?" she asked.
"Nope, you?"
"A little." She continued to observe him as he played with the stuffed animal.
"I know where Tessa took Stefan; it'll take us two days to get to them. One, if we ride all night."
Damon placed the toy inside the bassinet. He dazed at the baby bed for the longest before standing up. "Okay, let's go." He grabbed the door and opened it wider for her to exit.
She stopped and stared up at him for a moment. Bonnie wrapped her arms around his waist, shutting her eyes. "It's going to be okay Damon. I love you," she declared, still hugging him.
"Come on, we need to get on the road," he said, gently pushing her away. She stepped slowly away from him, lifting her brokenhearted specs up at him. Damon sent her a discourteous gape and walked away.
~ ( - ) ~
Damon trotted yards ahead of Bonnie. He looked back several times to see if she was still there. He would slow down to wait for her, but she would lag, pissing Damon off further.
"I think we should stick together Bon Bon."
"You don't get to call me that," she huffed.
Damon brought his horse to a complete stop. He turned her a calculated glower.
"I. Think. We. Should. Stick. Together," he enunciated rudely.
"I. Think. You. Should. Shut. The. Fuck. Up," she countered.
"Fine!" he bellowed. "Gets on my damn nerves," he grumbled. Damon kicked his horse and start galloping through the forest.
"You don't even know the way. Asshole," Bonnie mouthed under her breath, hot under the collar.
Damon came galloping back to her moments later. "Will you come on! I don't know where the hell we're going!"
"Serves your hot-headed ass right!" she snapped.
Now it was her turn to go dashing off. Soon they were racing each other through the woods. Bonnie was pissed when Damon caught up to her, but she prevailed once again. Now Damon was extremely irascible, so he pushed himself even harder to conquer Bonnie. They were neck and neck, but in a blank, he was far ahead, so far ahead, that he did not see Bonnie drop back before coming full stop. She climbed off her horse and start unloading her things.
"I'll be camping here tonight. Your dad can do what the hell he wants." She rubbed her belly and gave a wily grin.
She gathered up wood to start a fire. She rolled out her bedding and pulled out her pot. She started a fire, speaking one word, "Incendia." She put a little salt meat on the pot and broke bread.
A half an hour later, Daman came, gallivanting up to her. He jumped off his horse, pissed. He flung his bags down on the ground. He sat way on the opposite side of Bonnie, grinding his jaw, and glowering at her.
"That was so fucked up what you did."
"You mean like when you rebuffed my affections this morning?"
"I'm angry Bonnie."
"Why Damon?" She sent him an incredulous glance.
"…because! Nothing is going my way! You don't want me. My brother's due to stand trial, even though he has already been sentenced to death, and we're bringing a child into a broken home." He rattled off, incensed.
"I never said that I didn't want you Damon. I said I needed space, jeez. Calm down."
"Whatever." He grabbed his bedding and laid it out on the ground. He laid down and propped his head up with his hand.
"I thought you were the fun brother. All you do is bitch and whine, like a child," she nagged.
"Ha. Ha. You're so funny, except when you're not."
Quietness fell. The fire crackled, a light wind rustled the leaves, and bugs chirped and sang, but inside Damon's head, it was loud and chaotic. Inside Bonnie's brain rolled doubt, insecurity, and fear.
"Where did we go so wrong Damon?"
Minutes went by before he would answer.
"I rushed you, and I rushed myself the way I always do." He lingered. "I wanted you so bad romantically, that I didn't think about how us being together would affect our friendship once we crossed that line."
"Now it's all about our love and not our friendship," she added.
"You got it," he said, his mien pensive.
"How can we have it all? How can I love you as my soulmate and keep my best friend, too?" She questioned, tears in her eyes. He sat up, hiking up his legs, and relaxed his arms on his knees.
"I think it might help if I were more honest with you."
"Hm, that's a good start," she said and gave a knowing shrug.
"The reason why I don't want to talk about Elena." He blew out his cheeks, wary. "…because I still care very deeply for her, and I don't want to break her heart." He found himself not able to look Bonnie in the eye.
"I feel guilty, returning home and having to have that awkward conversation with her about my new life, my new girl, who is your best friend by the way, and oh yeah—we're having a baby."
"Mhm, so now you finally understand how I felt not too long ago." Bonnie tittered.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He grinned. "I feel like total shit for putting you through all the hell I did about not thinking about yourself, our baby, and for not being a, 'Narcissistic bitch,' like Elena. I apologize."
They laughed.
"I forgive you." She bestowed him with an angelic smirk. "I kind of suspected that you still loved her." She dropped off. "…and you know what—I am okay with that."
"Bonnie I do love you. I have made my choice. I want you in my life—forever. I choose you. I may love her, but I don't want Elena."
"You say that now because it is easy to say when you have not seen Elena in months Damon."
"No, it's easy for me to say this, because I know you are the right one for me."
"Logically, she could be right for you, too. Soul mates can be opposites, balancing each other out, or they can be exactly alike."
"Don't do that." He grimaced.
"What Damon?"
"Don't push me away by making an argument for why I should be with Elena and not with you."
"That's not my intention," she advised.
A reflective hush fell over them, again.
"…so, where do we go from here?" she asked somberly.
"I think you were right. We do need space."
"I agree, but don't think that us being apart means that I don't love you, because I do love you very much Damon," she avowed.
"…and I need you know that I love you, too Bonnie. I don't want to be selfish with you. I love you too much."
She beamed. "Do you love me enough to snuggle with me and keep me warm tonight?" She flirted with a bat of her lashes.
Damon blushed. He got up, grabbed his bedding, and walked over to her. Bonnie wrapped up her dinner and put it away in her knapsack, sealing the aroma of her warm salt meat from escaping into the air. Damon laid down on the bedding, stretching out his arm to pillow her head. She laid down next to him, snuggling into his armpit and swathe his chest with her arm. He enfolded her tiny body up into his strong arms and nestled his nose into her hair.
"I can't believe you are having my baby," he whispered, his voice sensual and deep.
"I'm happy to be having your baby."
"I thought of some names," he informed.
"Tell me."
"If it's a boy, I want to name him Marco or Rene."
"I like those names. I thought of some girl names," she updated.
"Oh, yeah." He grinned.
"I like Natasha or Arnice, and now that you've said Rene… I like that one, too." She let out a hearty laugh. Damon followed.
"Give me your spelling for Rene?" he asked.
"R… E… N… E… E, you?"
"I spell it with one E," he pronounced proudly.
"You've got to have another E," she corrected playfully.
"No, it's just one E if it's a boy." He squinted, baffled.
"No, it should be two."
A playful argument ensued.
"No, Bonnie, it's one E if it's a boy. Let me google this shit and show you," he protested.
"Damon you are not in Mystic Falls." She laughed.
"God dammit!"
::::::
"Shit! Shit! Bonnie and Damon are riding up!" Tessa screeched, pulling her shutters close.
"Don't tell them about the baby. Promise me?" She looked over at Stefan, who was doing push-ups, and she was panicking.
"My lips are sealed, baby," he replied, still doing his hunky push-ups.
"Get the door! I need to freshen up." Tessa went running off to the washroom.
Bonnie and Damon walked leisurely to the entrance.
"This house is nice. Why can't the people of Gardenia build houses like this?" Damon nagged.
"You forget that Tessa lived in our time for a spell."
"Look at this Bonnie? Her porch wraps all around the house," Damon marveled, vampire speeding around the structure, carefully inspecting her cottage style home.
"Damon, do you want to build a house like this one next door to Tessa's?" Bonnie teased.
"Hell no! I want to go back to my home, in Mystic Falls, where the booze is strong, and the beds are big."
Bonnie simply grinned. She rapt on the door. Stefan took his time answering.
"Damon! Bonnie! How the hell are you? I knocked up Tessa! Come in and pull up a chair. She'll tell you all about how I got her pregnant."
Tessa came strolling out of the washroom, a nervous smirk on her face. Bonnie and Damon gawked at her with their eyes like mushrooms and their mouths wide open, shocked.
"Oh, hey you two. You look like you've seen a ghost," Tessa said, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.
"Oh, my God, Tessa. I'm so sorry," Bonnie said, walking over to her, wrapping her arms, comfortingly around her.
"Oh, okay. What's going on?" Tessa's eyes inspected their demeanor.
"Duh, you're pregnant!" Damon spat.
Tessa jerked an angry scowl over at Stefan. "You told them? You bastard!"
"You're welcome!" Stefan grinned.
"Can bad shit stop happening? Can shit go right for once?" Damon was fuming.
"Excuse you, but my child is not bad shit. I want my baby. I love my baby," Tessa said, rubbing her stomach.
"…and I just might eat our baby, so all is good on this end," Stefan said.
"That's nothing to joke about Stefan. You're not funny," Bonnie reprimanded.
Damon rolled his eyes at his brother.
"Well, you both know why we're here. Stefan, you need to return to Gardenia with us. You have to answer for what you did to Keme."
"…or, we can go home! We are all here together! Nothing is standing in the way of us leaving. Let's leave this place Bonnie!" Damon argued.
"…so, this is why you tagged alone, to persuade me to send us all back home?" Bonnie glared at him.
He rushed to her proximity, taking her by the shoulders. "Bonnie, you said yourself that you don't believe you can get the proper prenatal care here, and not to mention that Tessa is also pregnant. What about what she needs? What about her child?"
Fear radiated in Tessa's eyes. Stefan did not have a care in the world as he sat on the couch, thumbing through Tessa's book of various sex positions.
"We should leave this place Bonnie. I've been here for quite some time now, and these people have rudimentary laws," said Tessa.
"Okay, if you want to leave, then leave. Tessa can open your damn portal, but I'm going back to Gardenia to make things right with these people."
Damon went mad, slamming his hand down on the kitchen table. "Why are you being so difficult?"
"…and why are you being so selfish Damon?" Stefan said, still looking through the book.
Damon's and Tessa's eyes followed the path, leading to a calm, and collected Stefan.
"I'm trying to save your life and you got jokes." Damon went rigid with anger.
"Nope, I'm going back to Gardenia with Bonnie," Stefan informed.
"Stefan!" Tessa called out, worry covering her.
"You are?" Bonnie's brow buckled, perplexed, and stunned all in one.
"Yup, why not. I'm going to beat the charges anyway, and besides." He paused as he got up off the sofa. He walked over to Bonnie, resting his hands on her shoulders and start giving her a massage. "Bonnie wouldn't let anything happen to me. She is my little sanctified hero. Hell… if it weren't for her, I'd still be locked up in that shithole they call a cell." Stefan wrapped an arm around Bonnie and fondled her tit.
Bonnie slapped his hand away and stood on the other side of the room.
"Stefan, I can't lose you. If something happens to you, I'll resent everyone and everything," Damon continued to protest the matter.
His remark made Bonnie recoil with offense.
Stefan laughed. "You're funny Damon. You were so ready to get rid of me after you, 'Got the girl.' You could not wait for me to leave town. Hell, you didn't even bother to look for me, because you were too busy fucking Elena to even care if I were alive or dead." He gave his brother a smug grin, looking him directly in the eye.
"Stefan, that's not true."
"Oh, yeah, well who initiated the search for me Damon? Who was the one that felt that something was wrong and that I was in trouble?"
Damon frowned at his brother. "Okay, so I've been a shitty brother, but being God knows how many light years away from you, I now know my mistakes, and I realize how much you mean to me. I love you Stefan, and I want to mend our relationship. I want to be the brother that you've always wanted me to be."
"That's a very touching speech Damon, but I'll believe that shit when I see it, but for now, we need to get back to Gardenia, because I can't wait to see my good friend Abena."
"Quite the bullshit Stefan." Damon grabbed his brother by the arm, using his supreme strength. "You don't want to go back because you give a damn about those people; this is about me; you want to hurt me. Okay, you've made your point; I'm a terrible fucking person, so game over?"
Stefan looked smugly down at his brother's hand, holding his arm in a death grip. He slowly lifted his green, shimmery rocks back up at Damon, and in a flutter of an eyelash. He dug his hand deep into Damon's chest, wrapping his fingers around his heart, and flashed him up against the wall.
Damon cried out in agony, and Bonnie and Tessa went on alert.
"Everything is always about you Damon? You and Elena, the entire universe, must circle you two like you are some gift to the world. Yes, I'm doing this shit because of you motherfucker. I want to be just like you, my big brother. I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl." Stefan gave his brother a demonic grin, slightly pulling at his heart, stretching its muscles.
"Stefan, let him go right now, or so help me God," Bonnie threatened. Tessa gave Bonnie an apprehensive squint.
Stefan turned his sadistic peepers to Bonnie. "I think your kid would be better off if Damon weren't its father."
Stefan released his brother and grabbed his temples. He beat his head up against the wall, trying to eradicate the pain. "Tessa," he bemoaned as his skin blackened and smoked, due to Bonnie's magic being deployed against him.
"Bonnie!" Damon rushed to her side.
"Dammit Bonnie, stop this! You're killing him!" Tessa screamed as she leaned over Stefan.
Damon slowly wrapped his arms around Bonnie, enfolding her into him. "It's okay B. It's okay, baby," he whispered calmly into her ear, combing her chocolate tresses with his fingers.
"Oh, my God. What have I done?" Bonnie was thunderstruck when she saw what she had done to Stefan.
"It's okay, he's healing."
"No, it's not okay. I almost killed him."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Stefan yelled. "You could have killed me! You, fucking lunatic!"
Damon's face contorted with a cold-blooded gape because Stefan slighted Bonnie. He walked over to Stefan and stomped him in the face with his boot, knocking him out cold.
~( - )~
"Okay, you have my brother. Now what the fuck are you going to do to free him?" Damon barked, marching in to Tupac's office.
"Hello to you, too," Tupac greeted and gave him a little smirk.
"Why are you grinning? There's nothing funny about my brother being sentenced to death."
"I have some good news my friend. Abena suddenly can't remember how or when her husband was murdered."
Bonnie snatched her sights over to Zinnia, who was avoiding direct eye contact. "Is this true Zinnia?"
"It's true."
"…and what about your testimony?" Bonnie asked hesitantly.
"I believe I should do what is best for my people. We've heard several accounts this morning on how Damon's brother and Tessa saved their lives, and giving the lives saved, I can't see sentencing a person to death for an alleged murder."
Bonnie walked over to Zinnia, taking her hands as she sat down in the seat next to her. "…but you were there?"
"Seriously Bonnie," Damon snapped.
"I'm not trying to change her mind Damon! Damn!" Bonnie chided crudely, her eyes still on Zinnia.
"Bonnie, I'd rather lie, then to hurt you and Damon. I'm so sorry for my behavior. I promise you that my mind is more open then what I revealed to you on that unfaithful day. I love you as if you were my sister," Zinnia declared.
"I love you, too. I'm so glad you don't hate me." Bonnie took Zinnia up in her arms. Tupac grinned from ear to ear. A tiny smile crept across Damon's lips as he tried to hold on to his male bravado.
"…so, what did the council decide?" Damon asked, getting things back on track.
"Well, given that Abena only remembers Damon's brother saving her life and ordering her back inside her home, there's not much evidence to hold him accountable for Keme's murder, Stefan and Tessa Bennett are free to go. You know—it is odd that Tessa is from this planet, but she shares your name Bonnie," Tupac revealed with a dim of his eye, thinking.
"Yup, that's really odd." Bonnie tried hiding her amusement.
"Tessa Bennett, unf," Damon murmured, squinting his eyes, and seesawing on his feet.
"Well, Damon. I guess we should tell Stefan and Tessa." Bonnie bestowed him with a shimmery smile.
"Yup," Damon replied indifferently.
"Thank you, Tupac and Zinnia, for everything." Bonnie rushed to give Tupac a hug.
"You're welcome my friend," he said, getting up to accept her warm gesture.
"Damon," Bonnie called, looking wearily over at him. He held up and arm to escort her out of Tupac's office.
"Damon, I want to apologize to you for assuming you could be so understanding about placing your brother's well-being into the hands of strangers," she said contritely, her eyes focused on dirt.
"Bonnie, you don't owe me an apology. In fact, I apologize for not trusting you, and your opinion does matter to me."
"When I think about how things could have gone so very wrong." Bonnie's thoughts loitered as her gaze met Damon's. "I can't bear the thought of losing you or your trust."
"Bonnie," he said sweetly, drawing her near with the embrace of her shoulders. "It doesn't matter what the outcome would have been, I know you would have never let anything happen to my brother, to any of us for that matter." He gave her a beatific grin.
"I am so glad that you realize this! You don't know how worried I've been," she sniffled with happiness.
"No need to worry." Damon pulled her in for a tight squeeze with the close of his eyes. He held her snugly, rocking her in his arms. Bonnie nuzzled into his chest, a happy roll up of her lips.
~ (In the Cell) ~
"Stefan, I can't believe you willingly gave yourself up. What the hell were you thinking?" Tessa bitched as she hung her arms off the cell bars, dividing them.
"Yup, I made the ultimate sacrifice." He gave a deceitful grin. "…and I don't remember asking you to tag along. Why are you here? You're pregnant, remember?" he questioned with a roll of his eyes.
"You're the father of my child. I will not let these people hurt you."
"Quit the bullshit Tessa. You like me. Admit that you're in love with me?" he mocked.
"You are so full of yourself," she said with malice.
Stefan walked to the cell wall. He threaded a hand through the bars and caressed her face with his fingers. "You are so desperate for Silas, you'll fuck and fall in love with any monster with his face," he said coldly.
Tessa stuck her hands through the railing, clawed, and slapped at his face. Stefan feebly blocked her hits, laughing all the while.
"Hey. Hey," he crooned, grabbing her, and sweetly kissed her palms and the back of her hands. Tessa's anger softened to a bewildering aspect. "Calm down. You're pregnant. You need to think about the baby. Give me a kiss baby." He pushed his lips through the bars and Tessa popped him in the mouth with her fist.
"God damnit Tessa! "What the hell is wrong with you?"
She gave a malicious chortle and a crude cut of her eyes. "You think you can insult me and then kiss me. You are nothing more than a poor imitation of Silas. You're a mutant, an insignificant piece of dust floating about. You sicken me," she affronted and spit at his foot to further attack his dignity.
Stefan went and sat down. He dazed across the small room, looking at her with a wounded look on his face.
"You're wrong about me," he murmured.
"I don't think I am wrong about you Stefan. Every word out of your mouth is your true feelings."
"Did you ever think that my comment could be perceived as jealousy to some? I'm surprised you didn't perceive my statement as such but given that my face is nothing but a second chance for you to have a go at Silas, that's probably why," he explained nonchalantly. He got up and walked to the cell door, turning his back on her.
She marched over to the chamber wall, "You don't know how I feel. You cannot see into my heart, nor my mind. You have ten times the compassion as Silas, and I would love to have a man like you, despite his face or his skin tone, but we'll never know what can become of us because you've gone and turned off your humanity," she passionately argued. Stefan was still looking out at the jailhouse.
"It doesn't matter if my humanity is on or off anyway, because the minute I catch the scent of our baby's blood in the air, I'm sure I'm going to eat him, and you'll hate me forever," he stated aloofly.
"You think you're going to be in the room with me when I give birth, then you are a bigger idiot than I thought, because not only will you not be by my side when I have this baby, you won't even be on the same planet as me."
"Tessa, you're not returning to Mystic Falls with us?" Damon came rushing up to them, Bonnie on his heels.
"No, I'm not. This is my home."
"You can't have a baby without its father. What the hell is wrong with you Bennett women?" Damon bustled.
Bonnie loudly cleared her throat, wounding her eyes nastily at Damon.
"Tessa, given your beliefs about the laws and the ways of the people on this planet, are you sure you want to stay here? In Mystic Falls, you'll have family," Bonnie enlightened.
"Bonnie, you are my descendant. We are not directly related."
"…yet you are using my families name. Tessa Bennett? Really?" Bonnie gave her a nasty sideways glance.
"I didn't mean to offend you Bonnie."
"Tessa, you're being ridiculous. Come back with us. Your child will have the best that life has to offer. I will personally see to that," Damon persuaded.
"No, there's too much bad history in Mystic Falls. Here is where I need to be," she said looking at Stefan who still had his back to her.
"Well, if they sentence you to life in prison, you won't have that great of a life here," Stefan said, finding his voice.
"Actually, that's why we are here. They're dropping the charges. Abena can't remember what happened, and Zinnia feels more comfortable, keeping her silence, so you two are free to go." Bonnie grinned.
"You two are heroes. Although, I can't imagine why?" Damon's face twisted at the absurdity of it all.
"Ah, the power of Compulsion," Stefan gave a honeyed grin.
"I figured you had something to do with Abena forgetting." Bonnie gave an annoyed huff.
~ (Salvatore Brother's) ~
"These people know how to party, but too, bad their reefer and booze is nothing short of koolaid and oregano," said Stefan.
He and Damon sat on the porch of Bonnie's and Damon's little bungalow, allowing Bonnie and Tessa to rest after the Gardenian's lavished them with a fancy going away party.
"I am glad to be leaving this place tomorrow. I'm tired of being around these fucking savages," Stefan slighted.
"Show some fucking respect Stefan. These, 'Savages,' spared your life," Damon lectured.
"I saved my own life by compelling Abena; these people didn't do shit. Don't tell me you're not happy that I compelled the old hag, you know—since you were so gun-ho about saving my life and all."
"Yeah, don't make me regret wanting to see you alive. I am still pissed at you for the shit you pulled at Tessa's house. Were you really going to kill me?" Damon's voice pitched as he eyed his brother with a serious and bewildered guise.
Stefan drank his liquor and peered out at the world, a void in his eyes, not answering his brother's imperative question.
"You're not going to answer me?"
Damon grind his teeth. "Stefan, once I realized you were truly missing, I was completely on board with finding you. How could you think that I don't care about what happens to you?" Damon contested sharply.
"Let's face it Damon. All you care about is Elena. You turned into a certifiable crybaby over that bitch. I've never seen a grown ass man display so much man pain. Elena must have sucked strawberries out your asshole for you to have your nose so firmly stuck up her ass."
"Fuck you!" Damon snarled.
"We can't; we're brother's bitch."
"Do you have an off button?" Damon inflamed with rage.
"…so, what's up with you and Bonnie? Is she a one-night stand? Are you two friends with benefits, or did you just have hate sex, because if so, I always knew you two needed to fuck. There was so much sexual tension between you two."
"It's hardly none of your business, but if you must know, I love Bonnie. I'm in love with her!"
"Does she know how much you love Elena, because if not, someone should tell her?"
"Don't change the subject asshole! We are brother's Stefan. Are you really going to let some girl come between us?"
"Why not? You did." Stefan gave him a smug sneer.
"Your humanity is off Stefan! You cannot possibly be having feelings for Elena right now. Hell, how are you even still in love with her? She chose me."
"Wow. You egocentric motherfucker." Stefan sat down his drink and slayed his brother with madness in his eyes. "Me loving Elena never stopped you, from always being there, for always running in behind her, nor did it drive you to tell that unfaithful bitch, to stay the fuck away from you, but you have the fucking gall to tell me that I should have stopped loving her because she chose you?" Stefan's eyes narrowed to a crimson rage.
"Stefan." Damon's voice wavered.
"The last thing I did before I died, was declare my love for that bitch, and I called out your name. You mean everything to me Damon, but I mean nothing to you, nothing," he strongly enunciated, pushing his nose into Damon's face.
Damon's eyes slowly blinked, and his jawbone intensely pulsed. "How can I prove to you how much I love you Stefan?"
Stefan ran his hand tiredly down his face, a meditative look in his eyes.
"You can prove how much you mean to me, by given it all up. Give up Bonnie. Give up your baby. Give up your happiness, because lord knows you don't deserve a shred of happiness." Stefan remained shooting him dagger eyes as he blindly lifted up his jug of liquor to take a drink.
"Stefan, I can't do that. Please."
"Well this conversation was a waste of my fucking time," Stefan said as he woozily got to his feet.
"Stefan!" Damon bellowed, hastily standing. He took his brother's face and looked him deep in the eye. "I love you brother."
Stefan's eyes met Damon's passionate, love-struck orbs, only to watch the flicker of love in his eyes leave and the light in his pale blue pupils darken.
Stefan bestowed his brother with a loving grin. He held Damon's face in his hands and rested his forehead against his.
Damon gave his distinguishing, lopsided evil smirk.
"My brother," Stefan whispered ominously.
A/N: *** Please, go easy on Stefan. He does the unforgivable to Bamon in this chapter. ***