Chapter 10

Could You Go and Run Into Me?


Waking up disoriented and not knowing where you were was one thing, but waking up disoriented and unsure of the year was another thing entirely.

Bonnie, after opening her eyes and finding herself in her old bedroom in the boarding house, momentarily thought she was back in the 1994 prison world. Panic swept through her, and nausea followed soon after. In a flurry, she rushed out of the bed, throwing open the door to the attached bathroom and depositing the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Somewhere between the bed and the bathroom, she remembered this was 2010, she had time traveled to the past, and Damon had picked her up from a party the previous night.

Moving back from the toilet, she leaned her head against the cabinet under the sink and lazily pried it open with an index finger, reaching inside for one of the spare toothbrushes underneath. Slowly, using the edge of the sink, she rose to her feet and proceeded to brush her teeth. In front of her, the mirror's reflection showed her hair was a mess, and her make-up was a bit smudged but mostly intact. She spit, placed the toothbrush on the sink, and reached up to take her hair down from the bun, combing her fingers through the curly tresses until it was slightly less messy.

He was downstairs, she knew. And she checked her dress, smoothing down the front and pulling the black jersey fabric back down to mid-thigh after it had rolled up in the night. At some point, she must've shirked the jacket off in her sleep because it was back on the bed in a crumpled heap. She grabbed it, deciding to keep it off, then bent to pick up her shoes which she must've pried off at some point.

A memory flashed of her in his arms being carried up the steps. She had wrapped her own around him, had snuggled against him, had pressed her nose into his skin. It was a lot. Not at all like herself, but she could blame it on the alcohol.

Aside from that, most of the night before that was a blur. It was a haze of drinking, dancing, and socializing with Leah's friends. Then she was rescuing that girl and killing or almost killing her attacker. Damon was the only person she could really call, so she called.

And she wasn't surprised that he came. As cold as he could be, he wouldn't have been able to resist someone he knew being in distress, and as much as he was a bad guy, he did have a heart sometimes. Though he also probably considered it wouldn't be a bad idea to have her further indebted to him.

Barefoot, she walked down the steps with her shoes dangling from her fingers and saw him across the room in the kitchen, waiting. His eyes were on her, scrutinizing as he drank from a cup of warmed up blood and she stopped with the island between them and cleared her throat. She thanked him for the night before, and just like she thought, he was tallying up favors.

She hadn't remembered what happened right before she went to sleep until he mentioned it, and she was mortified. It was stupid of her. She shouldn't have, but she'd been out of it, tired and drunk, and she'd forgotten when she was.

It took a second, but after getting over her embarrassment and refuting his claim of owing three favors instead of two, Bonnie asked him for a ride. Unfortunately he was busy, off to Chicago that day to search for Stefan. Pulling his jacket on, he left her there, telling her to see herself out and to try not to kill anyone while she was gone. And so she was alone again.

But not for long.

The day after tomorrow she was due to meet her father and spend time with her extended family in Maryland. So she went home from the boarding house and started packing.

Two days later she was off.


For the most part she enjoyed the time she spent with her family. Her cousins annoyed the hell out of her, but she couldn't deny the warmth she felt in the presence of relatives. The food had been delicious too. Her aunt was an amazing cook and Bonnie often found herself helping her in the kitchen for something to do.

She missed them after returning to Mystic Falls a week and a half later, and almost regretted not staying for the rest of the summer, but she missed the freedom to practice magic on her own even more.

Knowing what was coming, there wasn't a lot of time before her senior year of school started and she wanted to get in as much practice as she could, so she returned to the same routine she had before she visited her family, except she went out a lot less.

Leah had invited her a few times to more parties, but for all that she enjoyed herself the one time she did go (aside from almost killing that guy), Bonnie was no longer eager to relive her college days. A drink at the bar was enough, but she stopped going there as much too, opting to stay home instead.

This led to her drinking a bit too much of her father's stash, and one afternoon after practicing magic, she ventured out to replace a bottle she'd nearly finished.

She hadn't expected to run into Damon. She could tell he was in town, but it surprised her to feel her bond to him so strongly after leaving the liquor store and there he was in the parking lot, looking casually beautiful as he strolled towards the entrance.

He slowed when he saw her, and she saw something that might've resembled concern flicker across his face.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said as he stood in front of her, a light smirk pulling at his lips. "Killed any more frat boys lately."

"No, I've been staying home." She brushed some of her hair, loose and free, back behind her ear and tried to keep her eyes on his.

His gaze darted down to the bag in her hand. "What have you got there?"

Her fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle, lifting it out of the bag a little so he could see the label.

"Jack Daniel's? Is that what you like?" He sounded displeased.

She shrugged. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the absolute worst. "It's what I've been drinking."

"At home…"

"Yeah."

"Alone." His head tilted to the side.

"Mhm."

He seemed like he had something to say about that, but he held his tongue on the matter.

"There are better whiskeys than that," he said instead.

She indulged him. "Oh? What do you recommend?"

She was curious to see if he would list off the same brands as always and she wasn't disappointed. Half of them were too expensive for her to justify buying though, and she mentioned as much.

His head briefly inclined towards the direction behind him. "There's some at the boarding house."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that an invite?"

"It's an offer of drinks to cement our truce."

He quirked an eyebrow back as if he was daring her to deny the truce existed when she had all but said it did that one night at Sullivan's. "I'll think about it."

She walked to her car, but not without looking back to see him doing the same as he entered the store.


She never went to the boarding house. There was a time or two that she mulled over the idea, but she never did. It would've been far too much.

She knew this Damon didn't do friends, that there was a loneliness there waiting to be fulfilled. Somehow, she'd gotten him to crack open the door for her. Somehow, she'd melted a bit of that ice encasing him. But looking back, she really didn't understand how. Her actions had been minimal, and her slip ups were subtle. Was he so starved for love and friendship that those little moments were all it took? Did all she have to do was be a little nicer to him and give him a chance?

There were only a few weeks left of summer, four months until she would be able to go home to the future. She had unintentionally meddled enough in her relationship with him, and yet would it hurt for them to be friends this early?

She didn't want to dwell on that question lest she give into temptation to sate her own loneliness.

And in that vein, she was tempted when it came to Caroline too. Caroline kept in contact with her every once in a while since her rescue and Bonnie lied, telling her that she had left to visit family again. For a time, that lie was true, but she kept it up even after she returned. Hanging out with Caroline was just as dangerous as hanging out with Damon, maybe even more so, because with Caroline, Bonnie would want to tell her everything, and either she would cave or the vigilant blonde would figure out something was wrong. So she remained distant until the last week of summer on the day of the annual Lockwood Potluck.

She and Caroline met Elena at her house where there were fake happy reunions all around. Bonnie's smile was plastered on as she hugged the doppelganger, and when she stepped back, Elena took a proper look at her.

"I knew this would look good on you," she beamed. Bonnie was wearing the red floral sundress she'd helped her pick out.

"Thanks."

Jeremy appeared from the staircase, excited to see her though Bonnie couldn't say the same. When they hugged, she buried her face in his chest before he could kiss her, then stepped back and quickly fell into conversation with the other girls. Elena was busy finishing off a chili casserole for the potluck, and Bonnie helped.

Caroline looked on. "Since when did you learn how to cook?"

Elena wore a guilty smile. "Damon helped a little."

Bonnie froze for a moment, a spike of jealousy stiffening her spine. It took some effort to smother it. "So Damon's helping you cook now?" Irritation still leaked into her tone, but Elena shrugged it off.

"Both of you stop judging. He's just trying to be a good friend."

She was not this naïve, but maybe she was trying to fool herself into believing that. Maybe she was playing naïve so she would feel less guilty about betraying Stefan.

Whatever the case, Bonnie was distracted as something in the atmosphere changed. With all the practicing she'd been doing, Bonnie was sensitive to the magic in the air and could feel the magical force as it acted upon her necklace. Elena yelped as it burned her skin and there was speculation as to what might be the cause before Bonnie asked to have it for safe keeping.

She was supposed to figure out who was looking for it, and Bonnie was certain it was another witch working for Klaus, so she didn't even bother to look for a spell that might allow her to figure out who was trying to find it.

Instead, while they were at the potluck, she perused the chili dishes on display and grabbed a small bowl.

"Boo." Damon was close enough that his breath tickled the tip of her ear, but he failed to scare her since she'd already known he was behind her. She rolled her eyes and turned to face him. "I see you're out of hiding." His eyes skimmed down her quick, her shoulders catching his attention with the thin spaghetti straps of her dress.

"Hi Damon." Bonnie tried and failed not to notice how good he looked in that fitted leather jacket. She hadn't seen him since she ran into him outside the liquor store, and every time they ran into each other like this, she was reminded of how much she missed him and tried not to show how happy she was to see him on her face.

He gave her half a smirk. "Enjoying the potluck?"

"It's alright so far." She ate a spoonful of chili and let out a short hum at the burst of flavor in her mouth.

"Good?" He watched her mouth, and she held out the bowl without thinking.

"Want a taste?" She asked, expecting him to refuse once she saw the way his eyes widened at the offer, but he took her spoon, dipped it into the chili, and ate a bite. He had no real reaction as he chewed and swallowed, and she tilted her head with a raise of her eyebrows as if to ask his opinion.

"I've tasted better." His eyes flicked down the row of chili pots on the table. "Did you try Elena's? I helped."

She wished he hadn't reminded her. "I heard." She ate another spoonful. "I've actually already tasted it."

"And the verdict?"

She pursed her lips as she thought about it. "It was okay. Could've used a little more seasoning."

His nose wrinkled in disappointment, and his gaze bore down on her as if his next words would change her mind just because he said them. "Don't lie. It was good."

"I'm not lying. It was mediocre. Grams could cook circles around you and Elena."

"Hm, I don't doubt it." She hadn't realized how close they were standing until he shifted his stance to raise his head and look around.

"What are you up to today?" She ventured to ask, bringing his attention back to her.

"Oh, the usual." Him being vague made her suspicious. "I'm looking for Alaric. Seen him anywhere?" He scanned the area again.

"No."

Just as she answered, he found him. "Ah, there he is."

He brushed past her and she watched him walk away, only to turn around and run into Caroline.

The blonde had a look on her face that was somewhere between shocked and accusatory, her perfectly shaped eyebrows reaching towards the sky. "Uh, what was that? Did I just witness you have a civil conversation with Damon?"

Bonnie shrugged. "We've called a truce."

"When did this happen?" Her pitch raised to the next level of incredulity.

"A while ago."

"I thought you hated him."

"I never hated him…I was just upset." Though thinking back, maybe she did hate him a little, but it was so hard to remember what that felt like. She had loved him for far too many years to recall.

"And now you've forgiven him?"

Caroline looked almost betrayed at the notion, and Bonnie hung her head apologetically. "Not necessarily."

She sighed. "Right. Well, be careful because he's bound to fuck up somehow."

"Trust me, you don't have to tell me that. I know he will."


Bonnie could feel the dark magic pouring through the necklace. Jeremy was sitting across from her on the floor while she examined it. He'd insisted upon her coming over, wanting to spend time with her and she thought it odd to deny him when they were together and she hadn't spent any time with him over the summer. So he went through her grimoires while she held the necklace and tried an identification spell just for the hell of it.

Her fist closed around it and she whispered the incantation. The necklace quaked in her palm and she could feel a separate magical force pushing back. Bonnie quelled it with her magic, not letting it expand and an image popped into her head of a tall black woman with short blonde hair and Stefan laid out on a table before her with hand prints burned into his skin.

As soon as the image appeared it was gone, and Bonnie let go of the spell.

"Did it work?" Jeremy asked.

"It didn't." She said, putting the necklace down on top of the grimoire in front of her. She was sure she had never known that Stefan was the one being used to find the necklace, so she remained mum. But this wasn't how Klaus figured out Elena was alive, was it? Bonnie couldn't be entirely certain about that, especially since Katherine would come sniffing around the necklace soon.

He looked at the space next to her for a moment as if something was there and Bonnie narrowed her eyes. A second later, the grimoires burst into flames, and Bonnie quickly put them out.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked him.

"What just happened."

"I'm not sure," she said.

Jeremy excused himself to the bathroom and Bonnie started to clean up the fire's mess. On the other side of the bathroom door, she heard Jeremy start talking to himself, which pretty much confirmed her suspicions.

She cracked it open and peeped in. "Who are you talking to?"

His eyes lowered as guilt flooded them, and she waited for him to explain himself. "Bonnie…I haven't been completely honest with you. When you brought me back to life, something happened. I started seeing things, ghosts."

She played dumb. "Ghosts? Of who?"

"Sometimes Vicky, sometimes Anna."

"And you were just talking to…"

"Anna."

"Your ex-girlfriend."

He raised his hands. "Nothing's happened. Nothing can happen. She's a ghost."

"Right. But think about how you talking to her behind my back might make me feel. You never broke up with her. She died. So it's obvious you still have feelings for her."

A headache was starting in the back of her head.

"I don't." He stepped towards her, pleading. "I'm with you Bonnie. You're my girlfriend, and I would never do anything to jeopardize our relationship."

Staring up at him, his brown eyes were honest as if he truly believed that, and maybe he did in that moment.

Blinking, she lowered her gaze. "Alright. I trust you," she said, but of course she didn't trust him for shit.

"Thank you."

She sighed and looked at her watch. "It's late. I should probably get going."

She walked back into his room and started gathering up the slightly burnt grimoires. Jeremy helped her and together, they took them out to the trunk of her car. There was a tense silence between them the entire time, and when Bonnie closed the trunk and turned towards him, he stared at her with hopeful eyes and grabbed her hand.

"Talk tomorrow?"

"Yeah." She gently pulled her hand out of his, and went to get in her car.

Her headache worsened behind the wheel, and at first she intended to go home, but she didn't. She found herself driving aimlessly until she was on a certain street that lead to a certain boarding house where she knew a certain vampire would be. She went past it at first, turning the corner, but then she made a U-turn at the end of the street and went back.

Okay, so maybe the drive hadn't entirely been without aim.

Two minutes passed of her sitting in her car outside the house, telling herself that she shouldn't be there and she shouldn't go inside before she got out anyway and walked up to the door. Raising a hand, she knocked and waited until Damon opened it with a hint of surprise on his face.

"Look who it is."

He opened the door further, and she slipped past him, moving straight to where he kept the drinks. She chose a random not so expensive bottle, and pulled out a glass, intending to pour herself a drink, but he took the bottle from her, put it back, and reached behind another to pull out an unopened bottle of Eagle Rare she hadn't seen in the back. That was one of her favorites and would've been the first one she went to if she'd seen it. He was the one who originally introduced her to it long after they became friends, so she was surprised he picked it out right away as something she would like.

"Try this one," he said, going to fill the glass with ice and pouring her drink for her.

"Thanks." Her eyes followed him across the room as he returned and handed it to her while she took a seat on the sofa. She brought it to her lips, noticing her headache had lessened a bit.

"You look like you're in a mood." He watched her carefully as he took a seat on the sofa opposite her, his own drink in hand.

A small noise of assent sounded in the back of her throat.

"Do you…want to talk about it?"

They stared at one another, and Bonnie almost said no. Her relationship drama was the last thing he would want to hear about, but the words tumbled out of her mouth anyway. "Jeremy's been talking to his dead girlfriends all summer."

"What?"

"He's gone all 'I see dead people' on me."

Damon snorted a short laugh at that, and the sound made her heart flip. "A regular Cole Sear. So what, he's been hanging out with his girlfriends, talking to them behind your back."

"Yeah, and honestly, it's not as if I care because there are worse things I've been hiding from him, but it still bothers me."

"Then kick him to the curb." Damon leaned back, looking comfortable as he spread an arm across the back of the sofa.

"The moment he cheats, I will," Bonnie said, and it wasn't long before he would.

"Good." He nodded his head in approval. He wasn't the type to care about relationship drama outside of himself, but he meant what he just said and she appreciated it.

"Hmm. You're actually being a good listener." And why was she thinking about rewarding him for it in the worst way. Climbing into his lap and promising to do the dirtiest things later. It was a curse how easily she could slip into memories of old habits around this man.

"That's what drinking buddies do." He pointedly raised his drink to her while she tried to get her thoughts under wraps.

"Drinking buddies?" So soon? She wondered.

"I'm in the market for a new one and you're the only viable candidate."

"I thought Alaric was your drinking buddy."

"Alaric is pissed off at me." He canted his head to the side as his eyes went across the room, no longer meeting hers. A subtle sign of guilt.

She frowned. "What did you do?"

His shrug was too innocent.

"What did you do Damon?"

"I may have killed him… after he tried to stop me from killing Caroline's dad."

"Why?"

"Do I need a reason?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what I expected. Maybe you've grown a bit as a person, but you're still no better than a petulant child sometimes." She downed her drink and stood, crossing the room, debating on leaving.

Damon stood as well, placing his drink on the side table. "Everyone is trying to control me, so I backslid into some bad behavior. Sue me."

His flippant attitude annoyed the hell out of her. She faced him, wondering again why she let herself come here even though she already knew the answer. "Why do you think you're like this?"

He blew out a breath. "Why is the sky blue?"

"Humor me. I'm genuinely curious."

"I don't think about the why."

"Maybe you don't think about it, but I think you know."

"If I wanted a therapy session, I'd have gone to a therapist, judgey."

"God knows you need one," she grumbled under her breath.

"Watch it." His eyes darkened.

Exasperated, she rolled her eyes at him. "Or what, Damon?"

Air shifted and he was in front of her in an instant, a scare tactic that didn't faze her in the slightest. "If I were you, I wouldn't test me."

"Or what?" She pushed. "Are you gonna kill me too?" The thought was almost laughable.

Cold blue eyes weighed down on her green ones and his face inched towards hers until their noses were an inch apart. "I might have turned over a new leaf, but I'm not entirely above snapping that pretty little neck."

All this over a petty little comment made under her breath. Talk about overreactions and an empty threat if she'd ever heard one. She blinked, knowing her heart was speeding up a little and not because she was afraid of him. He was so close to her, she almost had to strain her neck to look up at him. He could break it easily, break her easily, but she was certain she could have him on his knees before he got the chance, that she could break him first. And she almost wanted him to try just so she could show him how quickly she could make him submit to her.

She licked her lips. "I think you are, but only because you need me too much to kill me."

His fingers flexed at his sides. "You aren't the only witch I know."

She stepped closer, close enough that her chest grazed his. "But I'm the only one willing to tolerate you right now, and how inconvenient would it be if you had to go out and find someone willing to help you protect Elena for nothing in return?"

He remained silent, his muscles visibly tensing.

"Hm, that's what I thought." She stepped back from him and exhaled a heavy breath. "But I will say that I do see that you've been trying to some extent lately. Maybe not entirely for the right reasons, but you have been, and I can tell you've been stuck in this mindset for a long time. Change doesn't happen overnight. But learn to apologize for Christ's sake, and be better."

By some miracle, she could see a hint of contriteness. He masked it with irritation though.

"Thanks for the drink." She turned on her heels and left.


A day passed since Bonnie turned up at the boarding house and scolded Damon on his behavior.

She was at The Grill, finishing off some summer homework when Elena walked up to her.

Only it wasn't Elena.

The aura Katherine gave off was wholly different to her doppelganger. She leaked confidence from every bone. It was a wonder she had ever mistook them for one another in the past.

"Hey Bonnie," she greeted, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear in a way that Elena might.

"Elena."

"I just saw Jeremy. He said that you still have my necklace."

She would give Katherine the necklace in the past unaware, but Bonnie was curious to know the overview of the situation, of what exactly Katherine was planning, so if she needed to make a small change, she could.

"And what do you want with the necklace, Katherine?"

The vampire doppelganger dropped the facade immediately. "Aren't you astute." She eyed the necklace. "Trust me. It's better off in my hands than yours. Do you know who's looking for it, who it belongs to?"

"I have an inkling."

"Then you should know that it's dangerous to be the one holding onto it."

"If it's so dangerous, then what do you want it for."

Katherine narrowed her eyes. "I was going to find a witch who could use it to find the one person who might be able to kill Klaus."

"And who is that?" Bonnie asked even though she already knew the answer.

She frowned as more details came back to her. Katherine was looking for Mikael. That was how Klaus had been run off the first time, but wasn't it Jeremy who found that out from Anna?

"I don't know. The only person who knew is dead."

Ah, and that was why she had kidnapped Jeremy. "I know a person who might be able to help with that. Since he died, Jeremy just so happens to have a direct line to his dead girlfriends."

"You can't be happy about that." She snorted.

"There's nothing I can do about it, but if they can be used for information, then why not use them?"

Katherine arched a perfect eyebrow. "How pragmatic of you. You know, you're being rather amenable."

Bonnie mirrored her expression, arching one of her own brows. "We want the same thing, don't we?"

"I'm just surprised you're able to see that."

Bonnie pulled out her phone. "I'll call him, convince him to go along with you. He probably won't otherwise."

"It would be easier if you just came with."

Mulling that over, she was tempted, but Bonnie didn't think it was a good idea. "I'm too busy right now."

"Alright."

Katherine held her hand out expectantly, and Bonnie handed her the necklace.

The vampire doppelganger went to leave, but paused for a moment, regarding Bonnie with an odd look. "You seem different."

"I don't know why," Bonnie responded innocently.

She tilted her head, then sped away, probably off to Elena's house.

On the phone, it took a while for Jeremy to respond, and he wasn't the least bit happy at Bonnie's request. He wanted nothing to do with Katherine, but after Bonnie explained the situation logically, he begrudgingly agreed.

Not moments later, Bonnie received a message from Caroline about senior prank night which was about to go horribly wrong.


A/N:

So it's a bit late for a Christmas miracle, but maybe I should call this update a birthday miracle since today's my birthday lol. Anyway, Happy Holidays ya'll! Updates are still probably going to be slow because I'm going through it right now, but I truly appreciate everyone who's still reading this and leaving reviews and comments! Thank you guys!

Chapter title from "Lasso" by Phoenix.