***

Bonnie was bored and irritated. She passed the time making the bottles of liquor dance through the air around her.

Being 'given' to Eric as a gift – Damon had obviously totally lost it. She had been enraged when they both disappeared, but it was clear that Damon needed help. Maybe he would get it here, thanks to the vampire prince?

Wow, who knew that vampires had princes and princesses? She considered what she really knew of Damon and Stefan. That both were loyal and brave, was a given. But she knew nothing of their vampire lives, how much loss and sacrifice eternal life entailed.

Would Damon really give her away? Wait, why was she even thinking about this? Damon was ruthless in pursuit of his goals, and right now, it was to get rid of Katherine: of course he would trade Bonnie!

Argh. Why had she believed him when he had said that he needed her, that he couldn't live without her... Of course it was all about Katherine. It was always about Katherine.

Well, two can play that game.

If she belonged to the blond prince now, she would play along – make Damon regret what he had just done.

They had pledged themselves to one another that night in the forest... after he had rescued her from a sorcerer who had been attracted to Mystic Falls by her power. After killing the power-broker, Damon had ripped her off the altar and sprinted them both to a dark glade, where he had laid his dark, cruel and ruthless heart at her feet. He hadn't begged, Damon had insisted she take his blood. Then love and lust had taken over, and by the time the knife appeared, she couldn't say no.

She had thought their love was enough. But then Katherine had returned... like a bad penny that refused to stay lost. Pearl had called her back to Mystic Falls after Damon and Alaric killed too many of her followers.

And Damon had gone running back to the b****, as soon as she had turned up at the boarding house.

Then weeks after she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him, he had turned up in the middle of the night, insisting that they had to leave now or Katherine was going to kill her. Well, she wasn't going to wait for the psychopathic ex-girlfriend to turn up, was she? So here they were, in Bumsville, Georgia.

She jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder, and several of the twirling bottles fell to the floor and smashed. She found herself lifted up and slung over the blond Viking's shoulder –

"Time to eat, you can pay for that later. Fortunately, with your gifts, it shouldn't be too hard..."

Eric chuckled, as he flew back to his nest with his latest conquest in his arms, leaving Damon staring up at them from the car park.

Well, age had to have some benefits, right?

***