A/N: I guess you can say this is filler. Yep, filler. Lemony filler, but filler nonetheless. Happy reading!

The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again…

She climbed onto Damon's lap, winding one arm around his neck, burrowing her other hand deep into his soft noire hair.

Damon's eyes closed. His insides liquefied the minute Bonnie's delicate mouth sealed over his. She wasn't holding back, had stripped away the walls, lowered the veil as a sign of her trust. Humbled and horny, Damon wrapped his arms around her waist, held her close for a second before slowly ending their kiss. Ending it though was torture since in the past, unbeknownst to her, he had spent a great deal of time either blatantly staring or stealing peeks at her mouth while she talked.

"Why'd you change your mind?" he sounded drunk.

A lone finger silenced his inquisition. "We've been fighting this for weeks," Bonnie whispered, replacing her finger with her lips, sliding her body closer until she was practically sitting on Damon's erection. An erection that was throbbing painfully behind the zipper of his jeans. "We knew it was bound to happen."

That much was true. From the moment he saw her in that towel her first official night back from Kai's prison world, maybe even before then…When Kai hovered too damn close to her and it irked the shit out of him, but Damon had no idea why. Perhaps then his subconscious made a decision that Bonnie was his.

Groaning, Damon tightened his grip around her lithe waist, but it wasn't enough. He needed more as he fed Bonnie his tongue. His toes curled when she sucked that elongated muscle into her own mouth, greedily. This was what their years of fighting and bickering had been leading up to. This moment of heightened, potent sensuality that Damon chuckled darkly they could have been doing this from the beginning.

Bonnie took Damon's hand that was plastered on her warm thigh and placed it on her breast. He didn't need much instruction on what to do next. He kneaded her fatty globe through the cotton of her shirt, but Damon ached for skin-to-skin contact. Wanted to feel the heat and texture of it. He shirked her top leaving her in nothing but her panties. The seat of them already soaked.

Golden-brown flesh reacted to the chilly air, pebbling into goose bumps. Wandering hands soon warmed her up.

Butterfly kisses from Bonnie's chin down to the base of her throat made her convulse. Bloodlust emerged in Damon as the scent her O negative wafted to his nose. He tramped it down even while Bonnie leaned back so that his head could travel farther south, and sample one chocolate nipple that was ripe for attention. She hissed the second Damon's cool tongue drag against her puckered bud, and gripped the back of his head to keep him there.

He growled and switched their positions, lying Bonnie down, burying his face in her neck, hiking her right thigh to his hip bone. For a split second he imagined surging forward, filing her completely, sheathing himself in her wet, tight nectar. He groaned in near agony at the thought. But he wouldn't take liberties. He'd follow Bonnie's lead and pray like hell she wanted to take things to the next level.

Bonnie could feel his struggle as she too dallied on whether or not to cross that precarious line. Was it too soon? Their first kiss only happened a few days ago. Now they were rolling around in her bed, a single millimeter away from having sex. She never moved this fast, yet…

A guttural cry was ripped out of her. Underwear pushed to the side, inquisitive fingers navigated down her slit and dipped into her fount. Her hips moved, keeping in time with Damon's thrusting fingers. It had been so long since Bonnie felt this good and already she was coming.

"Not yet," she said hoping to diffuse things, get Damon to back off who was also trembling and shaking with need.

Their harried breaths matched in pace and speed, foreheads connected.

Wrapping her smooth, brown legs around his tapered waist, Bonnie leaned up and bit Damon's nipple.

"Ah, fuck," he hissed, cupping her head, encouraging the fiery witch to tongue him good. She swabbed his other nipple in the same fashion before flipping him over on his back. He smiled and groaned at the same time. His hips thrust upward seeking out what he wanted to feel most of all. Her pussy. Bonnie's hand on his chest got him to calm down, wait for it.

Damon lay back, amazed. The jiggle of Bonnie's full breasts captured and held his attention, enticing his hands to touch, knead, and pinch her sensitive tips. Bonnie's head fell back at the electric feel that traveled straight to from chest to clit.

"Open your eyes," he commanded throatily.

Her head fell, chin nearly touching her chest, gaze locking with the vampire beneath her. Whoever would have thought they'd be in this position. Halfway naked and ready to fuck. As if they were connected by an invisible wire, Damon was pulled forward, lips fused once more. This kiss was not simple or exploratory, but deep, all-consuming with their tongues constantly massaging one another's. This was beyond passion; it was unhinged eroticism. Tremors began at the crown of her head working their way to the soles of her feet.

Bonnie abruptly ended their lip-lock and climbed off the bed. Damon gaped at her questioningly, yet his wide gaze narrowed on the slender fingers unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans. His pulse was in his dick. Damon lifted his hips and released a quiet groan as his heavy and hard erection smacked against his stomach once it was free. Damon watched Bonnie as she slid off her panties.

Her silhouette in the dark made more blood flow through the veins in his shaft. Seeing her pendulous breasts, the trimmed springy curls covering her sex, toned thighs paled to the quiet confidence Bonnie radiated. Damon licked his lips, surrendered.

She climbed above him like a Valkyrie coming to claim him for her titillating use. Her thighs brushed and settled on both sides of his body, a hand going between them reaching for his engorged member and positioning him at her opening.

"Are you…?" Damon could hardly finish his question because Bonnie slowly bore down, impaling herself on his cock. She was liquid fire and so tight, so undeniably wet and delicious that Damon literally choked on his saliva. "Oh, damn," his back arched, sinking farther into her cunt.

Collectively their eyes rolled.

Filled to the hilt, Bonnie flexed her Kegel muscles once, twice, and a third time. Damon forgot his name. Bonnie sighed at the pleasure/pain feeling of being stretched after so long.

Things started off slow. Shallow thrusts so they could feel one another out, test the waters so to speak. But urgency slammed into the both of them, and it didn't take long for Bonnie to meet Damon thrust for thrust as she spread her thighs wider, falling forward, bracketing his head between the palms of her hands. She rose on her knees high enough that his corded length almost plopped out of her, but she slid down engulfing his cock in her succulent folds. She did it again, this time notching him between her swollen lips, his cleft teasing her clit.

Damon groaned as her hips ground into his, back and forth and then into a figure eight. He shut his eyes against the furious rapture. His balls grew hot and tight as he pounded Bonnie's pussy, making a home for his soul.

Sweat glistened on both and added another delicious sensation neither could get enough of. Blunt teeth scraped along the contour of Bonnie's neck as heat radiated to all major points of her body. Although she couldn't see steam physically rising, she could taste it, smell it. A heady perfume that would take a couple of hours of leaving the windows open to air out. Bonnie didn't mind it though.

She aimed for his lips once more.

Their mouths clashed in a hungry, sloppy kiss with way too much tongue. The only finesse needed was the symmetry of their bodies moving together for a zenith that always felt out of reach. Until Damon started tapping a particular spot.

Bonnie's eyes crossed.

Tingling fired up in the witch's toes and ascended to her legs, womb, hard-as-brick nipples, her throat, reaching the top of her cranium. Damon wrapped his arms around Bonnie, keeping her crushed against him as his hips took over, rutting his stiff dick in and out at a frighteningly fast pace.

Bonnie grabbed one of her bouncing ass cheeks and the fitted sheet and began chanting, "Right there, right there, right there. Ohhhhh. Yessssss."

"Damn, your pussy is good."

She couldn't believe she blushed. Tongue tied and twisted, Bonnie wanted to say something equally as complimentary, but she wasn't sure if words would do what Damon was doing to her any justice. Yet something sprang to mind. She panted in a whisper:

"'There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive'…and I'm alive, Damon."

Gotdamn she was quoting his favorite book, probably his favorite quote. There was no way he could stop the end that was coming like an angry tsunami.

"Shit, baby I'm bout to come!"

Me too, Bonnie wanted to wheeze, but chewed her bottom lip instead.

"Urrgggg," Damon grunted as he pumped hard into Bonnie once, waited half a beat before slamming his hips into the apex of her thighs again, and did so a final time before shuddering. His jizz filled her and coated their joined parts. A drizzle of cum like melted frosting leaked down his shaft and dripped on his balls.

Coarse language floated from his mouth whereas Bonnie stifled a scream as best she could. But her high-pitched wail wouldn't be denied.

Shaking and shivering, Bonnie rode the wave of her orgasm to its all too brief end. Her skin was cold and hot in equal measure, and she couldn't seem to stop jerking.

Damon pulled her head back gently by the hair, and slanted his rosebud mouth over hers.

Slowly he extracted his softening length out of her, squeezing beneath the mushroom head to get every single last drop of cum out. "Damn that was hot. You okay?"

Bonnie could only hold up the thumb's sign.

The burn in her thighs was instantaneous and her legs wobbled uncontrollably for a second. Damon smiled, obviously pleased with himself. He flipped them over.

Damon rested his body on his forearms and moved several sweat slicked pieces of hair from her eyes. He kissed her cheeks, mouth, and tucked his head into the space between her shoulder and neck.

Bonnie chuckled. Damon joined her.

"No regrets?" she asked.

"None on my end. You?"

"I needed that. I needed you."

Damon ran his fingers along her cheek, "I needed you, too. You're in trouble, Bennett." And he showed her how much trouble she had just gotten herself into by sliding back into her completely and fully erect.

Across town, Sia's wailing and soulful voice trilled in the background. Cherise Tomlinson tilted her head to listen better to the lyrics. Due to the buzz of conversations happening around her, and the volume of the music wasn't that great to start with, it made listening difficult.

Tonight was the Blake's holiday party her friends had dragged her out to and the only reason she was there.

Well, that was part of the reason. The other reason had initially ignored her entry the moment she shed her pea coat and was told to enjoy the festivities by the gray-haired maître d. Cherise tried not to let the dismissal bother her. Instead, she had squared her shoulders and tentatively made her rounds through the palatial estate. A place she had partied several times in the past. The house was classical, almost mystical in a way, and as far as Cherise knew, one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the small, beatnik town she called home.

Mystic Falls was not a metropolitan place, or posh in any sense of the word. It didn't herald being a shopping mecca for the wealthy. It didn't boast of having the best golf courses or equestrian barns this side of the Mississippi. There was no ocean view, or mountain trails to hike. The land was flat, but the earth itself was imbued with power.

According to her hair-brained grandmother, that is.

Nevertheless, Cherise was tense. Her head had been hurting for the last three days. She jammed her fingertips into her temples in a poor attempt to staunch its maddening throb. Blood thumped incessantly, pressure built right in the center of her forehead, and was now snaking behind her eyes and to the base of her skull.

She let out an involuntary groan, snapped open her eyes.

Cherise should have kept them closed. Across the room was her ex playing with the end of her rival's fishtail braid. She figured one fake bitch would be in attendance, not two.

Unprepared for seeing them together all secret smiles and flirty looks, Cherise just stared or maybe glared in their direction. Her blood pumped heatedly to a fever pitch she actually wobbled a bit.

Cherise ventured to another corner. Tried to get into the swing of things, but the music was too slow; the people around her weren't the type of crowd to do more than smooch and network. Cherise did her very best to blend, but no matter what, her traitorous eyes strayed back to her ex and rival.

Another hour of monotony had passed, and she was no closer to feeling festive or social. Her friends had found their possible hook ups for the night; therefore, abandoning her to find her jollies elsewhere. Cherise lost sight of the only person who still mattered to her and figured oh well. Wasn't meant to be, them exchanging any kind of words. Her heart was lined with lead, and no one around her cared.

She couldn't take it anymore. Cherise was more than ready to go. She sent a text to her friends letting them know of her intentions to leave with promises to contact them later. With that settled, the frustrated coed sauntered to the front of the estate, collected her jacket and purse. On her way to her car, she saw a figure moving to the woods that surrounded the property. By the color of the gown peeking out underneath the girl's coat, Cherise easily identified that person as her ex, Marissa.

Tapping her fingernails on her car door, Cherise warred on what to do. Should she follow or go home?

That prickling sensation slammed into Cherise again. She tossed her purse into her car, locked the door, and began to head on foot where she saw her ex disappear off to.

The stems of her footwear sank into the moistened ground. There was very little moonlight leaving Cherise to traipse through the woods almost blind. She could just make out her breath on the air each time she exhaled, but that was about it. Her bare legs and exposed toes were taking the brunt of the plummeting temperature, but Cherise mustered on.

She came to a standstill as she heard what sounded like a muffled scream followed by a gurgling noise. She used it as a makeshift compass drawing farther away from the house and deeper into the woods. By now, Cherise's eyesight had adjusted to the night. She could just make out Marissa seemingly standing on the tips of her toes but no one was holding her up, keeping her steady. Was she dancing? Trying to get a better look at something? What?

"Marrisa? What are you doing?"

The reply was a very faint, "….help…me…"

Heart in her throat, Cherise hesitated if she should phone for help or rush to Marissa's aid now. They may have had a bitter breakup but she still loved the chick.

"Marissa!"

As soon as she screamed her name, Marissa dropped to the ground convulsing. Shrieking, Cherise's instincts were firing to rush to her ex-girlfriend's side, but something else came into view.

Mercury irises blinked at Cherise. The young woman lost feeling from the neck down. Whatever she was staring at began hobbling toward her. When it walked in a direct path of moonlight, she swallowed a scream.

She immediately began backing up, crunching dead leaves in her wake. A half decomposed body in tattered clothing was enough to scare someone to death, and it was coming straight for her.

Cherise made an attempt to run, but she was snatched by the hair, spun around, and thrust up against a tree. The force of it knocked the wind out of her.

The frightened young woman didn't know her face was wet with tears until she tasted them. She tried to look away. She honestly did, but the stench of death, the feel of clammy bones encircling her neck paralyzed her. Those silver orbs came closer, bringing with it the metallic aroma of blood. None of this could be real. This wasn't real. It felt real, but no, this couldn't be happening. Her heart hammered so hard Cherise's teeth began chattering. She remembered at the last second she had a canister of mace in her pocket, but the thing holding her shifted and, Cherise felt the blood drain out of her head. Her eyes went wide with shock as ice began devouring her flesh through her layers of clothing. The last thing the woods and a nearly dead Marissa would hear Cherise say was:

"Jenna? Jenna Sommers?"

Nature calling was the reason Bonnie scurried out of bed right at the crack of dawn. She shivered, having forgotten to turn up the heat last night so it was nearly an icebox in her house. She smiled as she thought of the reason why she'd forget a major thing like that. Her body flamed with memories while her womb reacted in kind. Stifling a bout of giggles, Bonnie cleaned herself with a wet wipe, washed her hands and face.

In the mirror she combed the tangles out of her hair, and snapped it into a neat little knot on the crown of her head, turned from side to side as she bounced on her feet. Bonnie brushed her teeth and moistened her lips with apple flavored Vaseline. For a moment she debated if she should spray some perfume, but decided against it. That would have been too much.

Leaving the bathroom, she stopped to admire the naked male body stretched diagonally across the mattress. Swiping her oversized T-shirt off the floor, Bonnie slipped it on, then as quietly as she could, climbed on the bed and kissed Damon's cheek, finger combed some of his disheveled hair.

She waited for him to stir, but he continued to slumber, lips swollen and slightly parted snoring one decibel below a chainsaw. She planted butterfly kisses on his shoulder and left him to catch up on his Z's.

After stuffing her feet in thigh high socks, Bonnie skipped her way first, to the thermostat to bump up the heat, and then to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

Damon awakened to find Bonnie perched on the edge of the bed, plate brimming with fruit and yogurt balanced on her knees. She took a bite out of a buttery and flaky croissant. Sound rumbled in his chest as he stretched his arms and blinked the last remnants of sleep away. He curled on his side and walked two fingers up her spine before tugging on her earlobe.

Bonnie smiled and extended her breakfast pastry which Damon helped himself to a generous bite. "Thank you and good morning."

"Morning. I made coffee. It's downstairs."

"Hmm. How long have you been awake?" he rasped.

"An hour," Bonnie chewed. "Did you sleep well?" her eyes glittered mischievously.

"I slept great."

"Yeah, I know. You hogged the entire bed."

"You can sleep on top of me next time," his brows waggled. "Did you shower already?"

"No. I was waiting on you."

Damon had to stop himself from purring at that. He sank a hand beneath the sheets and stroked his burgeoning erection for a second.

Bonnie watched him as she sank her teeth into the croissant once more. "What are you doing?"

"I think you know."

She snorted gently, nipples tightening at the thought.

He braced himself for weirdness to arrive on the scene prompting him to make up an implausible reason to escape like the way he did when Bonnie first invited him to her room, into her bed after his kidnapping. Damon was content and was having a difficult time remembering the last time he felt so…satisfied. He was curious if Bonnie felt the same. The sparkle in her eyes, the glow of her skin said yes.

"What's on the agenda today?" Damon pondered.

"I don't have anything planned."

"Neither do I. So I guess that means we're staying in. We can go over those files Alaric gave me."

Bonnie wrinkled her nose. She rather put supernatural business aside for one day.

Seeing her reaction Damon tossed out another suggestion. "Or we can act like we're back in 1994, play a board game or two. I'll even let you win."

Emerald eyes rolled. "How generous of you, cheater extraordinaire."

"I do not cheat."

"Damon, you can't even play Gold Fish without cheating."

"Now, you're exaggerating. I'm not that bad. I just happen to look for an advantage to increase my odds of winning," he grinned cheekily.

"Cheaters only cheat because they're insecure about having the necessary skills to win."

And that comment effectively washed the smile right off Damon's face. "Or maybe you do things too much by the book."

Bonnie twisted her lips finding that statement inaccurate. "Have you forgotten I am the veritable queen of loopholes?"

Damon mused for a moment. "I suppose you have me there. But seriously, what are we doing today?"

"I don't know. Do we need to do anything?" she grinned saucily.

The handsome vampire returned her smile with one of his own, leaned forward and captured Bonnie's lips tasting the sweetness of fruit and the saltiness of butter on her tongue. Their kiss ended and Bonnie popped a blueberry in her mouth.

It had been nice waking up with Damon lying beside her, and she wanted nothing to rupture the serenity of the moment. However, Bonnie knew this harmony wouldn't last for much longer. What he didn't know and she did was that his phone rang five times in the hour she had been downstairs preparing breakfast and tidying up her house. Bonnie had peeked at the caller ID, but hadn't touched Damon's phone he left on the coffee table. She let it ring and go to voicemail. The caller made her feel like she touched something that wasn't expressly hers to touch and Bonnie hated the feeling.

Damon could see something weighing on Bonnie's mind, and he had a pretty good idea what that something was. "You have questions about us, about what this all means."

She nodded and looked at him. "What are we? Are we together? Having fun? Exclusive?"

"How about we're having fun exclusively together?" he wheedled.

"Damon, I'm being serious because this is serious. At least it is to me," Bonnie sat the plate on her night table and looked at the immortal.

"It's serious to me, too, Bonnie."

"How serious?"

He was feeling cornered. Last night had been amazing and Damon was hoping for a repeat, but he also aware he needed to think without his penis clouding things. His libido had gotten him into more than enough trouble through the years. Using it indiscriminately, and as a salve to heal his broken pride and hurt feelings. He couldn't charm his way out of this.

"I like you and you like me," he said simply. "But…I'm not ready to fall in love and deal with the heavy shit that comes with it," Damon finished regrettably but resolute.

Disappointment turned the morsel of croissant Bonnie just swallowed into a brick. Her lashes fluttered rapidly and she looked away. Bonnie understood where Damon was coming from, and had said it two nights ago she wasn't persuaded he was completely over his ex. One night together wouldn't overhaul that kind of baggage. Bonnie didn't believe in insta-love. Where after one conversation, one date, one tryst someone believed they were head-over-heels-found their equal in life-in love. She believed you could fall in love with someone's vibe or energy, or have a strong attraction to it. But falling in love with the person specifically, that took time.

Yet Bonnie did want to fall in love again—was already positive she was halfway there. Nevertheless, she feared Damon might never be ready to try again at least during her lifetime on account of his past.

Damon reached for Bonnie's hand sensing her distancing herself. She shied away from his touch and rose from the bed.

He frowned, "Bonnie? I know after last night…it's not what you want to hear, but would you honestly feel secure if I said 'yes, lets jump into a relationship'?"

She turned toward him. "I get it and I understand. I do. I…just have a decision to make."

Damon didn't like the sound of that and scrambled out of bed. "You don't have to decide anything right now, witchy. Everything is new between us. We should enjoy it and not be so quick to slap a label on it."

"You think I'm hung up on a label?"

"I'm not sure what you're hung up on to be totally honest."

"Do you want to see other people in addition to seeing me? I know how it is when you've been in a long-term relationship. You don't want to dive back into something heavy. You want to date around, but I need to know if we're on the same page. Want to move at the same pace," her voice quivered with vulnerability.

Her feet cleared the floor as Damon swept Bonnie into his arms, bridal style. He carried her to the bed and sank down on the mattress. "Let me put your mind at ease. I don't want to see other people, spread my seed around, play the field. None of that shit. I want you. Can you live with that?"

Bonnie weighed his words. "I guess so."

"You don't sound like you're sure."

Her face went blank but then she offered her patented Bonnie smile, the one she used when she wanted no one to know what she was really thinking. "I'm fine with it, Damon."

Her bottom drawer began rattling. Bonnie pulled out of Damon's arms, eyebrow dimpling.

"What the hell is that?" he asked.

Bonnie ignored the question as she got off the bed and stared at the drawer she knew contained Esther's talisman. That thing couldn't pick a finer time to act up, she thought gloomily, and eased forward all the while with Damon watching.

She reached for the knob but the drawer shot open, the necklace flew out and wrapped around Bonnie's neck. Startled, she fell backwards gripping the talisman to yank it off.

"The fuck is going on!" Damon was at her side in an instant, hefting Bonnie to her feet. He glanced down and really thought he was hallucinating for a second. "How the hell do you have Elena's necklace?!"

Bonnie fumbled with the clasp, but had butter fingers and couldn't get it off.

"Bonnie, how did you get—,"

"Stefan!" she snapped. "He gave it to me the other day," Bonnie raced into the bathroom, flipping the light switch with her elbow. She parked right in front of the mirror.

Damon meandered behind her filling up the doorway, eyeing her with suspicion. "My brother gave you the necklace he gave to…"

Bonnie's heavy and loud sigh made Damon swallow whatever conclusion he was attempting to reach. "It wasn't a gift if that's what you're worried about. He said he found it cleaning out Alaric's apartment, kept it with him. One day he found it magnetized to his bedroom window. I think Esther or someone is trying to summon the stupid thing," she cried a moment later as the clasp sliced into her fingers. Blood splattered in the porcelain sink.

The elder Salvatore sprang into action at the sight and smell of her blood. He inspected the shredded skin of her thumbs and index fingers. Damon's hunger flared that he disregarded, yet he nearly succumbed to his thirst and almost sucked Bonnie's injured fingers into his mouth. He cleared his throat and turned on the faucet placing her hands under the running water. Bonnie hissed as the cold water stung her lacerated flesh. Busy with that, Damon tried to unclasp the necklace but wasn't having much better success.

"I'm going to try to break it," he warned.

Bonnie went still. Damon flexed his muscle and tried to break the chain. Nothing happened.

"Are you pulling?" Bonnie asked.

Damon flashed an annoyed look. "Yes. If I use anymore force I might end up accidentally decapitating you," he struggled some more, felt the links in the chain digging unmercifully in his palms.

"Ouch!"

Damon let go and took a step away.

Before he could suggest a spell, Bonnie was already mumbling the words to one. They waited for the necklace to snap off and land in the sink. They waited in vain.

Smacking the counter, Bonnie scowled and chuckled depreciatingly. "This would happen to me," she spied Damon in the mirror. "I hate your brother."

He snorted. "There's got to be some way to get that necklace off you, Bon."

Mind working a thousand beats a second, Bonnie arrived at the only possible solution to this problem. And it was a solution she'd hoped to avoid because it meant relinquishing a potential advantage. "If I were looking for this I'd hope a fellow witch would be the one to find it. Then, find the witch and voilà, do a spell to take it from the witch."

"That's a lot of red tape to cut through for a necklace," Damon remarked.

"Remember our history and the lengths people have gone through for far less."

Damon had the sense that was a dig at him and his pursuit to get into the tomb. He let it slide.

"This thing is a thousand years old…maybe even older," Bonnie informed and stood to her full height. She was beginning to feel its power. "It opened the door to the other side, harnessed the power necessary to create vampires."

"Now it's trapped around your neck, and its previous owner is skulking about," Damon paused for a moment. "My phone is ringing."

"It's been ringing all morning. Go answer it."

"No, whoever's calling can wait."

Bonnie fingered the pendant. "I can't leave the house with this on. Maybe…maybe I can disguise it until I can figure out a way to get it off. If Elena sees it," she turned from the mirror, contemplating. Her contemplations turned into laughter.

Damon stared at her strangely. "What is going on with you?"

She met Damon's quizzical brow with resignation. "I have a pretty good feeling my best friend will feel like I'm trying to take over her life. Think about it. You and I had sex and I'm wearing the necklace given to her by her first so-called epic love. That reeks of a revenge plot."

In Damon's twisted mind he found that kind of kinky. His dick certainly did as it jumped. He shuffled closer to Bonnie deliberately pressing his crotch against her belly. "Was that what last night was about? You fucking me out of revenge?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I fucked you because I wanted to. Trust me, Elena was nowhere in my thoughts while you and I were together. And I'm certainly not trying to take over her life. Mine can be its own self-drag at times. I don't need to take over the quality or lack thereof of someone else's. Especially not hers."

Damon turned Bonnie around to face the mirror. He pulled her shirt off, eyes immediately drawn to that accursed necklace hanging between her tits. The sight should trouble him because it one) brought back memories and two) they couldn't get it off. But…he was aroused, nonetheless. She was standing naked in front of him after all.

Damon rested his chin on Bonnie's shoulder, "Do you think this may have nothing to do with Esther and everything to do with those revenants? Maybe this talisman knows or senses it would take a powerful witch to make them go away, and it's chosen that witch. You."

"I rather be chosen for something less dangerous."

Damon murmured, "I guess this is the catch, Bonnie."

"Catch?"

"Remember your first night back, after your shower you asked: what was the catch in being brought back to life again? Maybe this is it."

"If it is," Bonnie arched her neck, "I want a refund."

"Ah, but there's a bonus to everything that you're overlooking, witchy."

"And what might that bonus be, Damon?"

"Me," he smirked.

Phone pressed between cheek and ear, Caroline Forbes rifled through her purse looking for a receipt to make a purchase return. The sidewalks were crowded as many hurried along, darting from one store to another looking for last minute gifts or just starting their Christmas shopping. Caroline couldn't imagine living on edge like that. If she couldn't get something done in one day, it wouldn't take more than a week to accomplish. She had had her shopping done since Black Friday.

"How much longer do you think you'll be?"

"I don't know, sweetie," Sheriff Forbes replied. "It's a missing person's case. I thought by now it might be wrapped up, but it's still ongoing."

Caroline bit back some choice words and pulled open the door of the Bunbury Bookstore. "Well I'm sure one of your trusted deputies can handle things for a few hours."

"I'm sure one of my deputies could. But…" Liz sighed. "Another person has gone missing and there was an attack. A vampire attack."

A woman knocked into Caroline's shoulder as she rushed down the aisle. "Excuse you!" she shouted indignantly at the woman who didn't slow her stride or stop to apologize. "Sorry, mom," then what Liz said registered in Caroline's brain. She hustled to a corner, lowered her voice. "A vampire attack in Mystic Falls? Are you sure?"

"Seen enough to know what one looks like."

"I don't think it was a vampire. One, we can't enter the town."

"Are you sure?" Liz turned the tables around.

Well, as Caroline thought some more there was a technicality to that rule, but only if one had the right object like a spelled charm. Yet she had another piece of the puzzle her mother had not been made aware of. "All right, it may have been a vampire, but not the kind of vampire we're used to dealing with. There's a lot I need to fill you in on. Tonight."

"Fine, I need to get back to work. I'll try to make it to the cabin as soon as I can, okay? I'll talk to you later."

"All right. Call me if you can't make it."

"Will do."

Caroline plopped herself in the mile long line to return her purchase of a book series her mom already had. While she waited, she sent out a mass text to everyone in the know relaying what her mom shared with her. If the revenants were openly attacking did that mean they were fully integrated in the real world? Her stomach bubbled with nerves and adrenaline.

Caroline returned the books and decided since she was here to go on a hunt for materials she'll need for the spring semester. She headed upstairs.

"Excuse me, but do you know where I can find Bonnie Bennett?"

She paused in mid-reach, balanced precariously on a ladder. Her doe-blue eyes went round at the question, but more specifically at the inquirer because it wasn't coming from anyone she knew in particular, and no one she figured her friend would know either.

Curiosity being her downfall, Caroline turned her head glancing down at the man who stared up at her. She held her position feeling like she was posing while her portrait was being drawn and told herself to relax. The man—correction young man who was probably in his late teens, early twenties, stood at five-nine, hundred and seventy pounds easily, model looks, awesome voice. His eyes were brown with hair that was slightly darker cut low to his scalp. There was something about him that almost reminded Caroline of that warlock Luca Martin.

Her gaze narrowed wondering what he could possibly want with Bonnie. Then she wondered some more if she should play dumb and pretend she had no idea who he was asking about. Bonnie's presence at Whitmore had been spotty, and she hadn't made a ton of new friends before dying again. An involuntary shudder went through Caroline who knew it was time to quit stalling; although no more than five seconds had passed since the man interrupted her search for research materials of the silent film era.

"I'm sorry but you are…?"

"Moreau."

A solitary golden eyebrow rose, waiting. "Moreau? Moreau what?"

"Luc Moreau. I met her about a week ago at the Kappa sorority holiday party."

Caroline hopped down from the ladder and brushed back the bouncy curls that flew into her face. Now that she stood less than a foot away from the weirdo, she picked up hints of sandalwood and…sage? As appealing he smelled and looked it didn't automatically guarantee trust.

Licking her candy pink lips, Caroline skipped the preliminaries and got right down to business. "What do you want with Bonnie Bennett?" she compelled.

Luc went stiff, his eyes went opaque, but a second later he blinked and wagged his head. He glared at Caroline from beneath a crumbled brow that had the vampire take a step back. Caroline managed to keep her cool and not freak out. Maybe this guy was a warlock or on vervain. In any case, she wouldn't try to compel him again and give away what she was.

However, she feared it was far too late.

Luc's mouth ticked up in a smile. "I already know you two are friends, Caroline."

"You know my name?"

"I know a lot."

"What do you want with her?"

"To simply ask her out."

"Why? Who are you? You have two seconds to answer me before I get rough," those maroon veins protruded beneath her eyes, the whites blurring red.

Luc held Caroline's challenging glare. She squeaked a bit when she saw a ring of sapphire blue flash in his dark eyes.

"What the?"

There was immediate pressure in her head like her brain being squished by a leather strap. Her lids fluttered, the picture dimmed, but she fought to remain lucid. Shaking her head, Caroline's vampiric nature rose to the surface beyond her control.

"Stop it!"

"I just want to get in touch with Bonnie. Can you help me, Caroline?"

The vampire went still. Luc watched her for a moment before waving a hand in front of her face.

Caroline snapped to attention, blinked at Luc and offered him a beguiling smile. "Of course I'll put you in touch with Bonnie. Better yet. I'm having a party tonight and she'll be there. You're more than welcome to come."

Luc's lopsided smirked conveyed this was going to be a party unlike any other. "Thank you. I'd love to."

A/N: Thoughts, guesses, comments? Thank you for reading! *If you've read this before and are reading it again, I'm tweaking Luc's appearance since I didn't have anyone I was using as inspiration, but I do now. Tee-hee.**