A/N: One word: Enjoy!

The pearlescent moon was partially concealed behind thick, stratocumulus clouds. Very little moonlight could pierce through, but there was enough of it he could clumsily navigate his way down the steep stairs leading from the patio to the backyard. It had just finished raining. Nocturnal life was delivering its usual symphony, and its noisy rendition of traffic in a major city offered the tired man some comfort.

Jayson Fell dumped a garbage bag in the bin and rummaged around in his coat pocket for his cigarettes. Lighting one, he inhaled the poisonous nicotine, held the toxic smoke in his lungs before blowing it out. The wife had been on his case about getting some video game for their eleven year old son, and his daughter had an attitude because he told her she wasn't old enough to attend some party two towns over. Jayson could hate being a husband and a dad, but at the end of the day, he wouldn't trade his family for the world.

He stared at his hand for a moment. Something hadn't been right with him for the last seven months. The physical he undergone two months ago revealed nothing apart from he needed to quit smoking, cut back on the red meat, and incorporate some form of exercise in his weekly regime. What he felt was a sort of…absence…

Jayson heard a noise, and when his head snapped in its direction, at first he thought he saw a man looming by the clothesline. When he looked again, no one was there. His brows drew together. Weird. Pulling one final time on his cigarette, he tossed it on the ground and snuffed it out with the heel of his boot.

It was already freezing outside. Ice had formed on the patio furniture and grass, but it seemed the temperature dropped ten degrees. Jayson shuddered.

As he turned to go back inside his home, he knew someone was standing behind him. Could feel the person breathing on his neck, and each exhale brought with it a piercing cold that literally began to freeze his blood. He ordered himself not to look, only to run to the house and lock the door, but that idea was killed when a pale-blue hand caressed his arm.

Chancing a look, the hand touching him was in some stage of decomposition.

No one heard him scream.

"I am going to kill Caroline!" Bonnie crawled on her bed and snatched the fuzzy handcuffs, flavored lubrication gel, and edible undies from the center of her bed. Her cheeks flamed hot and she knew it would be ill-advised to make eye contact with Damon at this very moment.

Here she had been on the verge of freaking out that something had broken into her home intent to do harm when it had been her perky best friend.

As mad as Bonnie was she was also a bit…embarrassed but more than that strangely pleased because Caroline remembered.

It used to be tradition the three friends would get one another gag gifts for Christmas to throw each other off what they really bought for their annual gift exchange. It started when they were in junior high and technically old enough to start shopping on their own. The gifts had always been silly: fake teeth, glow jewelry, a back scratcher. It had never been…this.

Bonnie shot her a profane text and huffed a moment later when her friend retorted with an innocent response telling her to have fun.

Damon was thinking of why he hadn't caught Caroline's scent. She always smelled like something fruity. He had smelled decay which usually only happened when a vampire went a week without feeding. He wasn't a hundred percent convinced Caroline had been the one rummaging around in Bonnie's house. However, if she was the culprit and left those 'goodies' behind…

"I'm thinking you should do the opposite and send her a 'thank you' note. I'm sure if we put our minds to it we can find creative ways to—" the fierce look on Bonnie's face shut Damon up. He made a show of pinching his lips together conceding now was not the time to make inappropriate jokes. He was still in the literal doghouse, and simply being re-granted an invitation inside Bonnie's home hadn't changed anything between them.

"I'm guessing my moving in is off the table?" Damon went for levity.

"It was never on the table to start with." Contraband in her possession, Bonnie scooted out of bed and dumped the items in the trashcan. "I need a minute to get changed…so…" she stared pointedly at the door.

Damon nodded and made tracks but stopped beneath the threshold. "I'll make you some hot chocolate spiked with bourbon of course."

"Hold the bourbon. And if you're serious about making it up to me…you can get started on decorating my tree."

By the scrunch to his nose and furrowed brow, Damon had several complaints that he was unhappily swallowing down. He closed the door behind him knowing how Bonnie was about her privacy as he bounded downstairs like a good little manservant to make his mistress her beverage, and begin work on decorating her massive tree. Any other day, Damon would rail against being forced to do manual labor, however in this case, he'd take it over writhing on the floor clutching his head in agony because Bonnie wanted him to atone for his sins in a more painful manner.

Alone, Bonnie extracted Esther's talisman from her tote bag. She stared at the unusual pendant and searched for a place to store it until she could figure out what to do with it. For now, Bonnie stuffed it in a keepsake box and shoved it to the back of her bedside table drawer.

Her curtains fluttered drawing her attention. Bonnie cautiously glanced over her shoulder assuming Damon was back, but he wasn't. The door was still closed. Frowning, Bonnie mucked it up to drafty windows and disrobed.

A few minutes later, wiggling her toes in her socks, Bonnie stood immobile at the top of the stairs. She was giving herself a pep talk. Had been since running into Damon at the library. She never liked living in suspense so she'd hear what he had to say, lay her cards on the table and hopefully by the end of the night they'd move on. Whether that would be individually or together would remain to be seen.

Resolved, Bonnie traipsed downstairs and swept into the living room.

Her head canted to the side as she studied her Christmas tree wondering why it was having a seizure.

"Gotdammit," Damon cursed from behind the massive fir.

Bonnie smothered a giggle and sauntered closer. "What are you doing to my tree? I told you to decorate it not molest it."

"Ha!" Damon brazened sarcastically. "I caught a splinter in between my knuckles while trying to wrap the lights around this stupid thing."

Unearthing himself, Bonnie noticed Damon had gotten more comfortable, too. His boots were off and the sleeves of his thin, heather gray cashmere sweater were bunched at his elbows. She couldn't help it. She ogled what she saw and forced herself to look away. Bonnie cleared her throat and purposely kept her mind from straying upstairs, specifically to what loitered at the bottom of her trashcan.

Damon, on the other hand, his brows were knitted together in frustration as he did what he could to untangle the web of lights.

It would seem the simplest things compounded the vampire. He could drink cases of bourbon and walk away stone-cold sober, yet Zima could make him tipsy. Now he appeared to be losing a battle with a tree and lights.

"You know they do make trees that already come with the lights attached. Save yourself the headache next year and get one of those," Damon suggested.

"And miss the fun of seeing you struggle to string some lights on something that can be used to kill you. I don't think so."

Methane blue orbs narrowed in her direction.

Bonnie moved over to the fireplace to rearrange the holiday themed figurines on the mantle.

Damon abandoned hanging the lights seeing that as a lost cause. He sidled next to Bonnie and started rearranging what she had already arranged. Bonnie sucked her teeth in annoyance to which he smiled but didn't stop. "Ready to chew me out?"

"I'm more so ready to hear whatever it is you think you need to say to me."

The two of them began playing tug-of-war with a reindeer. With one good pull, Damon confiscated it. Catching Bonnie's hand, Damon guided them over to the couch. He placed the reindeer on the table next to her mug of steaming hot chocolate, and rubbed his hands together. He allowed himself to be distracted for a moment, spying the overt and minute changes Bonnie was making to her home. He liked the blood orange color painted on the walls that led to the kitchen, but wasn't feeling the mint green she went with in the formal dining room.

"Are you going to say anything or critique my wall color?"

The tips of Damon's ears burned red. He shifted a bit, angling his body toward hers.

"I'm sorry," Damon began sincerely. "I know I've said it before and I've said it to you a lot, but I really am sorry, Bonnie."

She picked at a loose thread on the couch. "What are you sorry for?"

"For making you think the kiss we shared didn't mean anything. It meant more than I could ever tell you."

Bonnie judged him beneath her thick lashes, "If it meant so much, how was it less than half an hour later you were kissing Elena, and if you weren't out in public I'm sure you would have done a lot more?"

Damon winced. "I know what it looked like and it how it looked, but it wasn't what it looked like."

Bonnie laughed humorlessly, "That makes absolutely no sense. You know those three months that I was dead? I spent a lot of my time watching from the other side because that was the only thing I could do. I saw how psychotically in love you and Elena were. Sure, you and I spent four months together and by default got to know each other…but let's be real here, Damon, it can't compete with your history with Elena and the Petrova before her, and I don't feel like competing. And I'm not going to. If Elena hadn't erased her memories of you…you wouldn't be here right now. We kissed it and it was huge for me…I don't know what it was for you, but apparently it paled."

"It didn't! Bonnie…" Damon agitatedly rubbed the back of his neck. "All right, yes, my history with Elena and Katherine goes way back and I acted like they were my end all be all, but most of it was shitty, and the parts that were good were fleeting, and still somehow tied into my brother. If Jeremy hadn't whored around and actively tried to find a way to bring you back would you be with him?"

That was simple enough to answer. "The Bonnie who was the anchor and was trying to protect people all the time was not the one who came back. It's why I'm not with him now."

"So is it really so hard to believe that I may have gone through a metamorphosis, too? Even before I found out Elena had me erased from her memories, my main focus was helping you, saving you from Kai."

"Any decent person would do that."

"I'm not decent. I think we can agree on that." Bonnie snorted but said nothing to the contrary. Damon resumed his case, "The point is…I've been spending all my free time with you. I put you first because you deserve it…and…it makes me feel good."

Playing with her fingers, Bonnie sniffled a little. Hearing that putting her first made him feel good made Bonnie dizzy. She thought about Jeremy and how he was supposed to love her, but spent his time whining and fucking anything that moved. She thought of her friends and how they probably did look for a loophole, but gave up when no immediate answer could be located. Bonnie had wondered if they would have even tried if Damon hadn't died with her. They probably would have tricked themselves into believing she found peace and called it a day.

Damon hadn't given up on her, and she had no idea his first priority hadn't been sweeping Elena off her feet when she sent him back. A brick on the foundation she was erecting—fell.

"I do bad things and I fuck up people's lives, and I love too hard and selfishly and I say hurtful things when I shouldn't," Damon was saying, "but the one thing I've always been clear on are my feelings. You should know by my record that if I like you, I like you and it's genuine. I'm not interested in playing any sort of game with you, Bonnie, and you're absolutely right about me and my history. I've given you nothing but words, and I want to change that. Elena is right now working on getting her memories back but I told her that even if she does…I can't be part of her future."

The emotionally dazed witch stared at Damon searchingly. "You're not in love with her anymore?"

Damon hadn't pondered this often but he wondered if there really was a difference between loving someone and being in love. Perhaps there were degrees of love but at the end of the day it was still love. You could stop loving someone altogether, or at the very least giving them illustrations you loved them. Love could turn into hate. He still loved Elena. The difference was he didn't want to be with her.

"My feelings for Elena will always be complicated…but she's not who I want to be with."

For her part, Bonnie wasn't entirely sure she believed him. People didn't fall in and out of love like that, not even vampires. Bonnie couldn't ignore the facts. She and Damon were, or had been up until a few days ago, closer than they've ever been. Cohabitated without murdering one another, had inside jokes, shared laughter, had screaming matches that resulted in her storming off but coming back because she secretly hated being at odds with him. He had somehow become her best friend. He was more than the brawn to her brains now. So much more. And that was the scary part. Bonnie was used to having crushes. You couldn't be a teenage girl without catching butterflies for someone at some point. But it was more than finicky butterflies.

"I'm hearing what you're saying and you're talking a sweet game…I just need to know if this is real, and not happening purely by default," Bonnie said.

Damon smiled softly. "Like I said to you the other day, if I didn't want this I wouldn't be here. All I can do is wait for you to come around."

"If I never do...?"

"Then at least I spent time waiting on someone who's actually worth it."

Any other day Bonnie would have ducked her head, shyness taking over, but today she refused to do anything old Bonnie would do. She watched Damon's pupils as they dilated and found herself wishing she could hear his heartbeat to gauge his level of sincerity. But the one thing Damon had always been with her that he rarely was with anyone else was: honest. Still, she had a lot to think about.

That notorious dimple formed above her right eyebrow. "Thank you for being honest." Pause. "About these revenants…"

"Work on that subject change, witchy." Bonnie rolled her eyes. Damon slumped against the couch, crossed his feet at the ankles. He rested his right hand close to his bulge. Bonnie tried not to notice. "Alaric gave me some research he figured the two of us could pour through and come up with one of our legendary Hail Mary passes."

"Those legendary Hail Mary passes typically goes hand–in-hand with my death, and I'm done dying for the greater good, which isn't that good to start with."

Burn. "So are you going to do it? Combine your power with Esther's coven, rebuild the other side and hopefully send the revenants back into their cell?"

Bonnie moistened her lip with the tip of her tongue. "I want to run that by Abby and Lucy first."

Damon tried not to scowl at the mention of Mama Bennett. He may have ruthlessly turned her into a vampire without her permission, but before he held little respect for the woman who abandoned her own daughter to raise some other loser's son.

"What do you think Abby is going to be able to tell you that Lucy wouldn't?" he questioned.

"She might not be able to practice…and might be a piss poor mother, it doesn't negate she may have information I'll need."

Damon looked skeptical at best. They grew quiet. Bonnie stared at her naked tree. It was late and she wasn't in the festive mood to hang up ornaments. She abandoned the couch and sauntered to the kitchen. The tree shaped cookies with green sprinkles she baked earlier were sitting on the center island to which she helped herself to one. Bonnie was unsurprised that Damon had joined her.

He stood across from her on the opposite side, rested his elbows on the granite countertop. "So about those living arrangements…"

"Damon," Bonnie exasperated.

"Stefan and I can't live together forever, and Alaric's apartment smells like crusty feet. Someone broke into your home—"

"—that we established was Caroline."

"—I don't think with everything going on that you should be living alone at the moment."

"Nothing is happening besides your ass getting kidnapped and attacked as usual."

"Which is why I should stay sequestered under the same roof as a powerful witch," Damon began to stalk his way around the island. "You'd have home cooked meals almost every night. Someone to play Monopoly with. Someone to recite the lines to The Bodyguard with."

"I'm not hearing 'pay half of the mortgage' anywhere on this list," Bonnie mumbled and took another bite of her cookie.

Damon towered over Bonnie now. He bent his head and bit off a piece of her cookie. He had the nerve to moan as if seeing him chew wasn't enough of a turn on. He didn't get to be sexy while she was still smarting over him double dealing just nights ago.

"You have to admit you like me being here," his gaze dipped briefly to her mouth before shooting to her eyes once more. "Think of it as us strengthening our friendship."

Bonnie took a step away from him. "You've given me a lot I need to think about, Damon. I'm going to get started on that now. Good night."

He watched as she hastily made her way out of the kitchen.

Christmas was on the horizon. An assortment of smiling, rosy cheeked elves, reindeer, garlands, holly berries, and lights were assembled in boxes around the living room waiting to be used to carry out her vision of a Norman Rockwell painting. Caroline Forbes took inventory of the supplies, double checking she had everything that would be needed.

The front door of her family's cabin opened. In walked her mother with Bonnie bringing up the rear. Caroline slapped on a smile, effectively turning her eyes into crescent moons.

"Hey, you guys finally made it. Twenty more seconds and I was going to get started without you."

Bonnie shed her jacket, dumped her purse on an end table, "Where's the rest of the gang?"

"They'll be here in a few minutes."

"Where do you want us to start?" Liz inquired.

"So glad you asked."

Caroline picked up a folded document, unfurled it, and held it out to her best friend and mother showing the mock-up of her vision. Bonnie and Liz's faces paled with disbelief.

The young witch was sure the only place to look like what Caroline conceptualized was Buckingham Palace.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" the younger Forbes gushed. "I had one of my friends who majors in interior design sketch this. I've already calculated it shouldn't take more than three and a half hours to complete. And, don't be mad," Caroline directed at Liz, "but I have a celebratory bottle of champagne cooling in the refrigerator that I intend to pop open once we're done."

"Wow this is, hmm," Liz was at a loss for words. She was good with pistols and disarming perps…this was a bit out of her league.

"Creatively ambitious," Bonnie piped in.

"I know but we can bang this out. Mom, can you get started on taking measurements?"

Liz moved over to the coffee table and reached for the retractable tape measure. "Sure, sweetie.

Bonnie turned on some music. Adele's voice filled up the square footage. She sidled next to Caroline and could plainly see her friend was pensive about something. "Is Stefan coming?"

"He said he'd be here," Caroline wouldn't admit she was waiting for her phone to ring with Stefan on the other end saying he had to bail. He hadn't been the most reliable friend since Damon died. Now with Damon back, Stefan was slowly reintegrating into the life he had in Mystic Falls.

"You don't think he'll show?" Bonnie clearly read the situation.

Caroline offered Bonnie a pacifying smile she didn't feel. "No one is dying so who knows. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Is the other Salvatore supposed to make an appearance?"

Bonnie's stomach quivered nervously. "You invited him?"

Caroline reached for the garland and stick tacks. "Shoot, I knew I forgot to do something."

"Ha. Funny."

"I'm trying to avoid a holiday disaster. I didn't invite him to help decorate, but he should be in attendance for the party. I haven't heard otherwise…unless something's changed," Caroline eyed Bonnie meaningfully.

Bonnie cleared her throat, her chat with the dark-haired vampire too fresh on her mind. "The only thing that's changed is the locks to my door. I should kill you for leaving that stuff in my bed," she swatted at her friend's arm.

Caroline smiled guiltlessly. "I was merely thinking ahead to the future."

"What's this about the future?"

All three women snapped their attention to the person looming in the threshold. They hadn't heard him come in.

Caroline picked up the first thing her hand landed on and threw it. "What are you doing here?"

Damon caught the spool of red satin ribbon, appraising it curiously. "I was invited."

"By who?"

Liz affected a contrite expression. "Yeah, that was me. The more hands on deck the faster we can get this place just as you want it," she relayed to her daughter.

"So," Damon casually strolled inside, "anyone care to spill the tea on what you gossiping hens were talking about, or will I have to make my usual inferences?"

Salvatore and Bennett locked gazes but it was the witch who looked away first and feigned being busy. She had snuck out of the house before dawn to avoid any lingering awkwardness. The glint to his eyes put Bonnie on notice he didn't like it. She could care less, but found herself swallowing with some difficulty.

"That won't be necessary," Caroline answered. "I won't take it personally if you decide not to stay and lend a helping hand."

"Trying to get rid of me? Nice try. Bonnie knows how good I am at hanging things up," he wagged his brows. Damon chucked the spool of ribbon at Caroline who easily caught it.

Bonnie used too much force opening a box of ornaments at the tail end of that colorful statement. The ornaments exploded, flying in every which direction. Some shattered on the floor; others bounced and rolled under the furniture.

"Dammit," Bonnie cursed and got to her knees to pick up the ones still intact.

A manly, pale white hand slithered into view. Bonnie found it easier to focus of the initial engraved on the gilt of his ring than it was to lift her head the necessary degrees to stare at him head on.

Damon tried to get Bonnie's attention but she was determined to act like he wasn't squatting in front of her. He blindly hand scrapped the shards of broken ornaments into a pile.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I didn't skimp on the ornaments," Caroline said wryly.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie apologized.

"Don't worry about it. They were Dollar Store brand anyways. I'll get the broom and dustpan."

Bonnie finally permitted herself a small peek at Damon who stared at her penetratingly. She immediately looked away and clamored to her feet.

Damon did as well.

Together they moved over to a cardboard box on the sofa, shoulders occasionally brushing. Bonnie swallowed. Damon did as well. Every part of her was aware of him which annoyed her. It was like she had to constantly remind herself she was still mad at him and didn't trust him.

Yet…her mind wanted to play devil's advocate. When had Damon ever explained himself to anyone?

The thrumming of her heart made Damon's little vampire ears twitch. Bonnie was nervous and kept throwing him furtive glances. The sixth time she did it, he held her attention becoming her primary object of focus.

Stop running, judgey. You know you're ready to be caught.

The tension was unbearable. An entity.

Damon leaned forward. Bonnie didn't move. Her lashes lowered cutting off access to those big pools of green.

"All right I have the patio doors measured."

The sound of the sheriff's voice made them jump apart. Just that quickly they forgot they weren't alone.

Bonnie cleared her throat and skirted around Damon.

He watched her pretty much speed walk out of the room inadvertently enticing the blood based monster in him to pursue.

"You know you're being kind of obvious."

Again, Damon startled at Liz's voice. He gifted her with a perfunctory leer. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

Liz smiled a little. "Something tells me if I hadn't been standing in this room, you and Bonnie might not be standing at all," one of her brow's lifted tellingly.

"What? That little moment," Damon air quoted, "it was nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing to me," the good sheriff closed the gap between them, lowered her volume, "I don't make it a habit to interfere or comment on the private lives of those close to me because relationships…doing them right, I don't have all the answers. But I do know it's unwise to get involved with the best friend of the girl you used to or still love."

The amusement on Damon's face flat lined into stoicism.

"Don't be that guy, Damon," Liz patted his shoulder and wandered off.

Caroline returned with the broom and dustpan thrusting them to Damon. He sneered but took them from her hands and commenced sweeping up the mess Bonnie made.

By mid-afternoon, the cabin was only halfway decorated. Jeremy and Matt had shown up in addition to Stefan who only spoke when making a query on where Caroline wanted something to go. She did her best to temper her annoyance and look on the bright side that Stefan was here and making an effort.

In between Stefan's social ineptness, Bonnie and Jeremy's obvious rift, and the witch's clear avoidance of Damon, the Salvatore bros had managed to argue on where the pigeon toe elves should go whereas Matt and Jeremy decided playing football with the angel that was supposed to go on top of the tree was a better idea. Nevertheless, for the first time it felt like Christmas. It would be better if she could be home in Mystic Falls, but since she liked living a possessed-free life, Caroline would make do with the alternative.

Slipping out to the patio, Caroline did some quick calculations in her head about how many boxes of lights it would take to wrap around the railing. A few moments later, her contemplations were interrupted when Bonnie joined her.

"I need a break," Bonnie confided. "I've also come to the conclusion we need more female friends. There's just too much testosterone in that room."

Caroline chuckled lightly. "I'll put out an ad on Craigslist."

"No villainous doppelgangers."

"Or anyone obsessed with enslaving the world."

"Or opening the gates of hell for a family reunion," Bonnie quipped.

"Agreed."

The ladies' attention was thwarted to the barren trees and the light dusting of frost on the grass.

A question—several—had been buzzing through Caroline's head, and now that she had Bonnie alone for the foreseeable future, she decided now was as good a time as any to get those questions answered.

"Bon…"

"I already know what you're going to ask me," the little witch cast Caroline a sidelong glance. "Let's go for a walk."

The two friends descended the stairs and got lost in the surrounding forest. "Damon and I…talked last night."

"And?"

Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Bonnie sighed, "The ball is essentially in my court. He said he told Elena he couldn't be in her future."

"Because you're his future?"

"If I'm to believe he's over her and ready to move on."

"You don't?" it was plain enough by the troubled expression Bonnie wore that she was uncertain about a lot of things and Caroline couldn't blame her.

"Would you?" Bonnie rebutted.

"I've been in your shoes. First with Matt and now again with Stefan to a lesser degree," Caroline disclosed. "I know all about being paranoid and wondering just how over someone claims to be versus how much they really are."

"You wonder if Stefan might feel the same way when it comes to you and Tyler?"

"No," Caroline stated emphatically. "Tyler is with Liv now and considering I slept with the man who killed his mother…Forwood is done." Bonnie arched a brow. "All of our relationships are messy, Bonnie. If someone didn't have a hand in harming or killing someone we loved then they had sex with one of our friends."

"Or both."

"Say it again for those in the back."

The girls made eye contact and burst out into laughter. Caroline sobered first. "I understand your hang up, and you definitely shouldn't rush into anything. What else is bothering you besides the obvious?"

Inside the cabin, Damon eyed his younger brother who strutted around with a wreath of blinking multi-colored lights around his neck like he was the holiday version of Two Chainz. Shaking his head in bemusement, the elder Salvatore continued in his menial task of supervising.

"You've barely been here for three hours and already you're slacking," Stefan complained and dropped the box that was in his arms to the floor.

"Be glad I'm here at all. There's a sofa with my name written on it that's just waiting for me to come home and cuddle."

Stefan approached his brother and clapped him on the shoulder. "Being Scrooge last year was cool because your douche of a friend killed himself, and tried to frame me for it to which I stupidly took the wrap. This year, you're alive, and your baby has been fully restored. Smile you ungrateful bastard," he teased.

Damon shrugged off Stefan's hand and put a dollop of space between them. His lips twitched of their own volition as he tried to fight smiling, but it became easy enough to do once he remembered that his little brother had spent time with his Bonnie. "You and Bonnie had coffee yesterday. Why?"

Stefan jerked a bit by the question. "She didn't tell you?"

"If she had I wouldn't be asking you."

"What was discussed between Bon and I…its private."

Damon's eyes sought out the heavens. "Whatever was discussed between the two of you will eventually make its way to me. So why not cut out the angst and just tell me."

"Maybe I like seeing you angst. Besides, what there is to tell would be better coming from her."

"Fine," Damon sniffed. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air. Excuse me."

Stefan had one more question for Damon. "You like her…don't you?"

Jeremy, who had been surreptitiously listening to the Salvatore's conversation, now openly stared at Damon who was staring right at him. "I thought I was being rather obvious, Stefan."

Outside, Damon inhaled once and that was it. Like he said to Alaric no one had been paying attention if they believed his care and feelings for Bonnie happened overnight. It had been a slow process that was rising to the surface more and more. And he had very little interest in being quiet about it.

He surveyed the yard. Caroline and Bonnie were nowhere in sight so of course the only reasonable thing left to do was try to pinpoint their location by upping the volume of his hearing.

"…What else is bothering you besides the obvious?" he heard Caroline say. It took a moment or two for Bonnie to respond.

"That I'll be the Damon in the relationship."

He frowned. What the hell did that mean?"

"What do you mean by that?" Caroline took the words right out of his mouth.

Bonnie stopped walking once they reached a small embankment that led down to a narrow stream. "Willfully ruining a sixteen year friendship for a guy. Wondering if I'm being compared and contrasted to my best friend as I can only assume Damon feared you know who was comparing him to Stefan."

"Ah, I see what you mean now and I know that all too well. At some point, Bonnie you have to stop letting Elena eclipse the things you want in life. We have a tendency to talk ourselves out of the things we want simply because someone had it first, and I'm not saying you shouldn't because not everything you want is good for you. At the end of the day, she has no say in who you want to be with. And she can't judge you for it, either. You can't keep postponing your moment, Bonnie out of misplaced loyalty to her."

Liz stepped out on the patio capturing Damon's attention. His cheeks were pinker than usual, and it wasn't because of the cold but due to the conversation he eavesdropped on.

"Have you seen Caroline?"

Damon motioned with his head, "She's taking a stroll through the woods with Bonnie."

"There's an emergency at work. A possible missing person's case. I need to go. I'll try to be back as soon as I can."

"I'll let her know."

"Thanks, Damon."

Much like last night they drove to Bonnie's home separately. Damon had more bags with him, a sure sign he was moving into her domicile whether she wanted him there or not.

"A trial living situation," she warned. "You get on my nerves once and you're out."

Damon counted that as a victory. He tried to persuade her to share a nightcap with him, but Bonnie declined and went upstairs getting lost in her room.

Lying under a soft duvet doing her best to quell her anxiety, she endlessly replayed their conversation from last night and the one she had with Caroline today. Damon was so many firsts for her. The first person who scared her. The first person she wanted dead. The first man she lived with. The first vampire she made out with. The first to tell her things she's never heard before. Bonnie realized she didn't want that list of firsts to stop.

Rolling on her side, Bonnie imagined what he was doing downstairs. He was probably walking around, shirtless, as he kept watch at the window looking for any signs of who knew what. He could be restless at times.

She felt stuffy, uncomfortable, but more than that—hot. Hot and bothered. She kicked off the covers and before becoming cognizant of her actions, Bonnie was throwing open her bedroom door.

His form, silhouetted in shadow, barred the way.

Their eyes met. Everything was so silent it was loud. Bonnie distinctly heard the sound of her breathing, the thumping of her heart, her saliva flowing down an esophagus that felt like sandpaper. But what Bonnie heard most of all was the plea in Damon's eyes. A plea for her to finally be honest with herself and him, and not run from whatever was developing between them.

How much longer was she willing to deny herself? How much longer was she willing to hide from what was rapidly becoming the truth each day? How much longer was she going to mire in codes and morals that were no longer applicable since no one's ledger was clean?

Maybe being trapped in a prison world created a self-centered Bonnie and self-centered Bonnie wanted to be fed. However, the food, the nourishment it was being offered no longer appealed to her. Her palate was changing. It was craving something darker, a richer kind of meat.

After all, one cannot survive off the scraps of mediocrity forever.

Her previous relationship had provided Bonnie with an endless sweet tooth. It had been candy canes and lollipops. Milkshakes and Shirley Temples. Glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts that just came out of the oven. A home cooked meal that hit the spot.

Damon, on the other hand, was a spicy soufflé that could hurt your stomach if you ate too much of it too fast. He was bourbon on the rocks. A heavy pasta dish that came with an assortment of ingredients bursting with flavor that kept you guessing what would come next.

Bonnie wanted to feel…alive and not as if her life was being offered up as a sacrifice at every twist and turn. However, in the interim she wanted someone by her side she didn't always have to be strong for.

A rush of excitement and dread passed through Bonnie making her skin pebble, her blood coalesce to places of arousal.

"Bonnie," Damon whispered her name. He touched her face.

I'm only nineteen. I'm only nineteen. I'm reckless. Life should be reckless from time to time. Not everything needed to make sense. Not every situation called for maturity. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. I don't have it altogether. I don't have to be strong and sensible. I don't have to have all the answers. I just want to feel.

Those had been the thoughts playing a harsh game of roller derby in her mind as she grabbed Damon's hand and pulled him inside her room.

She pressed her mouth to his. It took a moment for the action to register and click in Damon's mind. She, Bonnie Bennett was kissing him Damon Salvatore of her own volition, of her own free will. She wasn't compelled. He wasn't dying. He wasn't forcing himself on her. She was doing this. She had initiated this because she wanted him. Wanted him as much as he wanted her. Bonnie had made her choice. She chose him.

Better make this worth it, Damon thought as he assumed control of the kiss.

He wormed his tongue between her lips, and Bonnie responded how he obsessively fantasized that she would. Moaning deeply in the back of her throat. Dueling with him, playing with him, showing him her total sense of submission by letting go of the reins and just letting things ebb and flow.

Damon stove to kiss her everywhere. They tumbled to the mattress, feverishly kissed her jaw before trailing his incessant lips down the graceful column of her neck. His chin brushed her clavicle and he kissed her exposed cleavage in her camisole top. His hand squeezed her hips and brushed over her ass. Bonnie laughed nervously, kissed his forehead and wrenched her leg up as if she meant to wrap it around his waist.

He was dizzy and out of control, greedy and wanted more. Wanted everything! He wanted Bonnie naked and writhing under him. Wanted her whispering encouraging words in his ear as he plowed into her abyss. Wanted her love. Wanted her heart. Wanted her, period. And from the way she was kissing him back almost violently, she wanted the exact same thing, too.

The glorious thing…there wouldn't be any interruptions, but he had to make sure of something first.

It hurt to stop kissing her but Damon managed. He wished the lights were on so he could see Bonnie's flushed face. "I have a real simple question…are you sure about this?"

Her chest rose, up and down for several beats. "Hate to reference him, but one of the last things Kai said to me before I pulled out his heart, he said 'who should the world fear more in being released', the world will be in big trouble if you don't kiss me right fucking now."

Gracing her with an indulgent smile, Damon said, "Yes ma'am."

Liz Forbes knew better than to think the seven-month reprieve from wholesale murder wouldn't come to an end. Though there was very little evidence to support thirty-nine year old Jayson Fell had been murdered, nothing could be ruled out.

There was no blood, no body, absolutely no trace of foul play. His wife reported him missing an hour after he disappeared. According to Nanette Fell, Jayson took out the trash a little after 8 p.m. and never returned inside their single family home.

Of course her concern had been brushed off by deputies who suggested Jayson may have gone for a walk to a friend's house, lost track of time. Morning came, still no sign of Jayson. His keys and cell phone were where he left them after coming home from work the previous day, and he had not reported to work this morning. A round of calls to friends and family in the area turned up nothing as no one had seen or spoken to Jayson in the last twenty-four hours.

Liz fingered the baggie containing a cigarette butt she'd have shipped off for DNA testing. But Nanette confirmed the cigarette was the brand her husband frequently purchased, and a full pack was found in their bedroom.

Down in her bones, Liz knew Jayson's disappearance was the start of something awful to come.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading. It's my avowed hope you'll leave me some golden nuggets behind.