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Chapter 6

At first, Damon refused to let her try alone.

"Just take me with you," he said simply. As if he were travel size. Small enough to fit in a backpack or in her pockets.

"I don't even know if I can do this," she said, feeling the wind in the bits of hair that had fallen out of her high bun.

"That is exactly why I should go with you. In case you come tumbling down like a character in a bad nursery rhyme."

"What good are you if we both fall out of the sky, huh?"

"I'd cushion the fall."

"And why would I need that? It's not like we can die."

They were wasting time. All his protective act did was prove that he didn't have any more faith in her abilities than she did, and that frustrated her more than she thought it should.

"I hate you for making me say this," he said through clenched teeth, "but I am concerned about you. We may not be able to die, but we can certainly feel pain. Or have you forgotten already?"

"Of course, I haven't forgotten," she said. "I don't think I'll ever forget what I experienced last night. I still have to do this on my own, though."

He threw his hands in the air and took a step back, giving Bonnie the space she would need. The rest depended on her.

"I'll be right here if it all comes crashing down," he said.

"You always struck me as the comforting type."

After a breath, Bonnie began flapping her wings. She hated that word. Flapping. And she thought she should call it something else. Waving, fluttering, something a bit more graceful.

Her wings created a breeze in her hair and his, but she didn't move an inch off the ground. She focused on fluttering harder and faster. Their little part of the clearing became a whirlwind.

"Silly me," Damon said. "This whole time I've been calling them wings when in reality they're just glorified fans."

"You're not helping." The spike in her voice seemed to have an effect on her wings, which beat harder.

Damon braced himself against the torrent and watched her, caught in her own tornado, looking confused by her own actions.

"This isn't working." Her wings stopped. She lost her balance and dropped to her knees in the grass. "I am a flightless bird. A chicken. A gorgeous chicken, but still."

She glared up at him, wondering how even in the darkness surrounding them, his eyes were still bright and clear.

"Gorgeous? Someone thinks highly of herself."

"Right," Bonnie said. "What was that word you used to describe me earlier? Majestic."

"So you need a crash course in sarcasm as well as flying. Stand up." He took her hands and pulled her to her feet.

"What the hell do you know about flying?" she asked, yanking her hands out of his grasp.

"I know that you can't fly in the fetal position."

"I was not in the fetal position."

"You were hugging your arms to your chest and squinting like you thought something was going to jump out at you. You might as well've curled in a ball with your cheek pressed against the ground and your thumb in your mouth, and that is an adventure for another night."

"I think I just threw up a little in my mouth," Bonnie said, turning away from him, but he was right there waiting for her with a cocky smile and excited eyes.

"And there we have our problem. Little Bonnie Bennet wound so tight that if you pull her in any direction, she bounces back like a slinky toy. Even in death, you're boring."

Her wings began to wave as her anger grew.

"I hate you," she sneered.

"You know when you used to look at me like that it meant one of two things. Either my brain was about to explode or you were about to set me on fire. Nice parlor tricks. Marginally intimidating. But now I'm thinking you were just being passive aggressive the whole time because you were too timid to fight."

Bonnie's wings beat faster with every word he spoke. She could feel herself losing control. Her whole body buzzed with hot energy, and it scared her.

"Stop talking," she said, struggling to keep her voice calm.

"Or what?"

The air exploded around them, knocking Damon back a few steps. Bonnie shot into the air and darted toward the ink black darkness above. She felt the night rush around her, swirling in her vision as her mind caught up to what was happening.

She was flying.

Her wings flapped, taking her higher, and then she dove. As she swooped back toward the clearing, she lost her bearings. Her heart pounded as she tried to get control of her wings, but the rhythm was off. She screamed as she fell, and then there were arms around her. She stared into Damon's face, her wings drooped behind her as if in shame.

"And it all came crashing down," he said, studying her face to make sure she was okay. She laughed. Hard and loud.

Confused, he set her on her feet.

"That was amazing," she said.

"Was it?"

"It was like I didn't even know what was happening. Everything felt dizzy and perfect, and it was like I didn't have control over anything at all."

"You say that like it's the first time."

"It might as well be." If she'd ever felt anything like this before, it was all lost to her now. This feeling was completely new, and it excited her beyond all else.

"I want to go again," she said, staring up at the sky. "This time, I'll go higher, and try turning. I just want to control it."

"That's the problem." Damon stood beside her and looked up at the sky as well. "You want to control everything. Always have. That's probably why you hated me to start. Because I'm like a stallion. I can't be broken, but you can take me for a ride if you're lucky."

"Are you quoting your diary right now?" Bonnie asked him.

"Funny, but that's Stefan's thing. My brother," he added for her benefit. "Your thing is squeezing the fun out everything until the world is nice and safe and duller than you."

"So what's your thing?" she asked, looking at him.

"Good question." He positioned himself in front of her. So close she forgot to breathe for a moment. "My thing is helping people get rid of their things."

"You're not going to kiss me right now, are you?" she asked, searching his eyes.

"The thought might have crossed my mind."

She snickered. "Is that why you called me majestic?"

He shook his head and turned away.

"You had to suck the fun out of it."

"Oh, come on. You were going to kiss me? What are we the last two people in the universe?"

"That sounds like something you'd have said when we were still alive."

He side-eyed her and shook his head again. The little bird was two feet tall with giant wings sticking out her back and she had never looked less repulsive.

"The rules don't change just because we're dead and I'm battling a little memory loss," she said.

"Interesting word choice considering that you gave your memories away."

"Yeah, I gave my memories away. So what's your excuse?"

She waited for him to look at her, and when he did, she smiled. In the moment, she could see it. How they could wind up together in the future…as friends.

"I'm going to try again," she said, bouncing in place.

"Your excitement reminds me of myself in a sorority house."

"That's disgusting." She laughed.

"I'm disgusting. Or I should be. This place is making me lose my edge."

"What a shame," she said, circling him. Surprised that she meant it.

"I think you just gave me a compliment." His eyes flashed as he watched her move around him. "If you're flying again, try not to think too much. It's like breathing. You start counting breaths and suddenly your lungs feel foreign."

"So basically, don't be so controlling?" she asked.

"Basically."

She smiled and turned, flapping her wings. Then she took off running, screaming, and waving her hands in the air as her feet left the ground.

It looks like Bonnie and Damon are finally having a little fun, for now.

Thanks again :D