Phantom

9

The light in her hand began to ebb, "Damon?" Her voice like wind-chimes as it reached him through the strange darkness that had been all he could see and feel. He stood straight and felt the eyes on him, watching him as if he were volatile. Bonnie's hand, which had come to be on his chest with his difference in height, dropped in response to the flicker of his gaze in her direction. He felt the loss of her body-heat instantaneously, the lovely warmth, and her hand was in his before it could come to rest at her side. He squeezed it gently and let go almost instantly afterwards, though the need to hold any part of her was strong. He looked around him at the two other figures in the room.

"Stefan?" he asked, his voice so quiet and gentle, even as he gazed at his red-bird's stricken face. He had wished never to see the expression she wore now, and certainly not because of him. It was fear he saw etched there, in her eyes, in the trembling of her lower lip, and it was heartache he could hear with every beat. He could not remember how he came to be here, in this kitchen with the one he had been fascinated in much longer than he had anything else. His brother being here with him was not a surprise, however, since he always seemed to be getting himself, and Damon, into trouble almost as regularly as Elena had.

He didn't like to think about her any more, however much Stefan liked to think otherwise. It was as clear as a starry night how much he missed having to compete for her attentions, and it was just as obvious that Elena missed his attraction to her also. But it was just too bad, because Damon had found something much more meaningful than an infatuation to occupy himself with.

"Do you remember anything after you kissed Bonnie?" Stefan asked him, almost as if he was actually curious. Damon doubted it; since when had his stupid little brother cared what he did romantically? When he turned to Bonnie, he noticed that she was blushing, adding a delicious pink shade to her cheeks. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss not only her cheeks, but the luscious red of her parted lips, which seemed so much more inviting. No, he thought, her mouth is all I can remember.

"Why do I feel as if I am missing something important?" Damon asked, his eyebrow raising just a bit. He could tell that there was something, he could see it so clearly in both of their expressions that he knew he could not be wrong. He fixed Stefan with a glare that would have reduced Bonnie to tears had she seen but a glimpse of it, "Tell me, brother." he said.

Stefan began to answer, but Bonnie had already taken Damon's hand in hers and was stroking her thumb across it luxuriously, her smooth skin like a numbing cream, as if preparing him for something that might sting. She was gazing at him in the way she always seemed to, as if she knew more about what he was feeling than he himself did. But unlike him, she seemed worried about something, and it was clear on her face that it was him she feared for.

He felt himself shiver internally, not with cold, but with a pleasure so sincere and pure it was like floating in water that held you safe and warm. He wondered if she would fight him if he took advantage of her closeness to kiss her, or if, by some miracle, she melted into him as he would into her. Was it worth the chance that she would reject him just to kiss her this once? Was it worth the risk of losing her forever?

-Stefan was about to reveal all that had gone on that day, she could tell, but there was really no need to reopen barely healed wounds. Maybe it was selfish of her to want to keep Damon in the dark about this, but it would be just this once, and neither she nor Stefan had any idea what Damon had been through. In time, he might start to remember, and when that time came she knew it would be easier to deal with it without Damon knowing they had been keeping things from him. She would wait until that time, and treasure her time with him until then, however long or short that time might be-

He took her hand in his and gently pulled her into him. She didn't fight or struggle or squirm in his arms, which was a plus he hadn't thought would happen. She felt so good against him and he knew that if it were possible to hold her like this forever he would gladly stand here until the apocalypse. He wanted her like he had never wanted anyone, or anything, ever before in his long life. He didn't know if he would be able to let her go if she wanted to leave him, didn't know if he could stand to see her walk away, but he loved her enough to let her go if that was what she truly desired. "You have no idea how grateful I am to be free," he whispered between kisses, "no idea at all."

"I love you, Damon." she whispered against his chest, her tone a little solemn, almost as if she expected to be punished in some way or another for such a confession, "I never want to feel as if I have lost you again."

That simple sentence mirrored what he was thinking so perfectly that he laughed. "With any luck, neither of us will have to feel that way."

Stefan averted his eyes in embarrassment and the scene before him, of little Bonnie making out with his violent, egotistic, soulless brother as if she would suck his soul from his body. He didn't want to watch but he couldn't help his eyes from wandering.

The End

:-)