70th Bite

The weeks that followed Kai's attack were quiet. Damon and Bonnie had sworn to protect each other and now there was nothing to hide behind.

He's never felt so completely raw before, no pretense or sarcasm to hide behind. Surprisingly, not since he was a kid did he feel as if he was just himself. Not a vampire, not Stefan's older brother, not Katherine's, and not Elena's.

Damon was simply Damon. And maybe Damon was covered in scars, maybe he was the reason for a few scars in others, but none of that mattered now. He didn't have to pretend his past never happened. Instead, he got focus on who he was in the present.

Except, presently, Damon was finding other things harder to wrap his mind around. Things like going to sleep with Bonnie and waking to her body pressed against him. She fit into him so snugly. The heat radiating off of her was irresistible. He put his arm around her, Bonnie wiggled but hadn't stirred. She was aware, at least, that they went to bed together the night before. That it was surely Damon who was wrapped around her. It was how they slept together now.

Damon stopped himself from touching more, from letting his hands roam further, lower, gentler and then rough. He swallowed hard.

"Damon..." she breathed, sleep still in her eyes. It was then he realized he was hovering over her. What the hell was he thinking? He dropped his body on top of her. He didn't want her to see his face. He knew his expression would betray him. "You can't be that hungry..." she mumbled, not particularly bothered by Damon over her. Even though Damon liked to complain about it, wasn't he more and more like her pet every day?

"I am..." he brushed his lips against her neck. She muffled her giggling with the back of her hand. Damon was glad Bonnie was wide open. She fully welcomed him to her body. Damon wasn't so sure he could be trusted now though. Not with these urges, not with this desire.

He bit her, drawing only a small amount of blood. He wasn't hungry. He hasn't felt true hunger since they've been on good terms.

"Bonnie..."

"Hmm?" Bonnie wanted to sleep more now.

"I'll want this.. even when we get back."

Bonnie shifted and stretched. "What are you talking about?"

"Your blood." You.

"My blood. I knew it, all I was to you was a warm blood bag." Bonnie joked, but her grin flattered at Damon's expression. "Damon, we can't." At his silence, Bonnie continued. "Haven't we taken this too far already?"

He touched her cheek with his knuckles. Maybe. "And if we took it a little further?" His eyes peered into hers and for a split second Damon thought he had her, that maybe the concept wasn't so absurd. But as soon as e caught it, her eyes darkened, and it disappeared.

Bonnie's face burned red. "Are we really having this conversation?" It was just like Damon to want to jump without even looking.

"I wasn't planning to... Bonnie..." Damon wished he was as full of tact as his brother. He wanted to be careful with her, tell her in as many sweet words as he could that he felt different. And this different felt right even if it wasn't supposed to be.

"Elena and Jeremy are waiting for us." Bonnie decided on breaking it, his and her feelings. Before it got worse, before it became unforgettable, before they did something unthinkable. Before any of the immeasurable pain settled in.

Damon turned away. He got off of her and moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"We have to stay focused," Bonnie said from behind him. "We have to-"

"Don't tell me what we have to do!" he snapped and immediately regretted it. That's not what he mean, no his tone, not his words.

She shoved him. "Screw You! You think you're on higher ground here?" Bonnie's breath hitches in her throat. "We don't have time to be so careless." Bonnie turned and got off the bed from the other side. "We should sleep in separate beds from now on."

If only Damon hadn't put int into words. If only he hadn't said it out loud, Bonnie was sure they could have just gone on pretending. This house, their days, and their nights weren't really theirs at all. It was all fake.

The days that followed that morning were uneasy and awkward. Bonnie was withdrawn and Damon's irritation reached a new high. He could hear her downstairs in the living room watching The Bodyguard. Ah. He got it now, two tracks that only cross each other for a moment. 1994 wasn't forever and Bonnie understood that.

Damon grunted, running his hands through his hair. He wanted to apologize but what was he sorry for? Of course Bonnie was attractive, of course he'd notice eventually.

Bonnie cried, the sound buzzed in Damon's ears. She was at the part of the movie where they hugged goodbye. She was such a softie when it came to that movie. Not to his surprise, Damon wanted to be there for her. He wanted to sit on the couch and let her cheek fall to his side when she got tired. He wanted his normal 1994 days back.

Suddenly he heard it. Footsteps.

Then, a knock.

Damon cursed under his breath and ran down the stairs. "Bonnie don't!"

Bonnie stopped just before opening the door. But they never locked their doors and when it swung open Kai was grinning behind it.

"Ah, oh, I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. The names Malakai. How do you do?" He bowed deeply with his hand out for a shake. It was almost comical.

"Son of a bitch.." Damon flashed forward and had his hand inside of Kai's chest. "What's stopping me from ripping your heart out where you stand?"

"Hey hey now! Easy big boy, aren't you the least bit curious as to how I'm still alive here?"

Damon pretended to think about it. "Nope," he said easily and ripped Kai's heart out where he stood. He turned around, his hand bloody and still holding tightly to Kai's organ. He caught Bonnie's eyes with his. She was horrified. "Oh come on Bonnie, you should be used to this much at least."

Bonnie shook her head. "He was supposed to be dead..." A chill ran down her spine.

"And now he is."

"Damon, we watched his burn to death... and then he showed up at our door without a scratch."

Damon looks over his shoulder to Kai's body. "Well he definitely looks dead this time too."

"Let's test it, grab his body, we'll lock it up in the basement and see what happens."

Damon shrugged and threw Kai's body over his shoulder like a bag of rice then followed Bonnie to the cellar.

"Ah, the basement dungeons. Looks practically brand new this year."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and opened one. "OK, toss him in. In the mean time I should look up what the hell is going on."

"Maybe no one dies here after all." Damon recalled their plan b. So much for a way out.

"I guess the question now is how he got here in the first place." Bonnie muttered as she turned to go back up the stairs. Damon caught her wrist though. "What?"

"I'm sorry. We don't have to do anything you don't want to.."

"Damon," her voice was grim.

"I mean," he corrected. "We won't do anything that could ruin us or the ones waiting for us back home, ok? There's more to this place than we thought, I'd rather have my best friend not worrying about things she doesn't have to."

Bonnie took a deep breath. "Thank you."

They locked the basement behind them.