Wow, this is probably the fastest I've ever updated. I think it's partially because this story really flows and partially because I'm currently waiting for another writer to update their story and it's taking FOREVER so I understand what it feels like to wait a long time for another chapter haha. Wrote this one this morning. I knew a moment like this couldn't be cheesy or cliché between Bonnie and Damon so I tried to make it as sincere as possible. Hope you like it. Love, Bamonlove.

"I feel safe now
I feel good
I'm not lonely anymore
I've got something I shouldn't have
and it's you…"

-Not Lonely Anymore by Jessica Lea Mayfield

The complete stillness of the woods gives me goosebumps but I know this is the only place I can truly cast this spell. At this pace, I don't think it will ever happen. I open my eyes to the miles and miles of trees in front of me, the cloudy sky and Damon, standing right in front of me, watching me.

"I can't concentrate when you're staring at me," I say, waving a hand at him to look away or move away.

Damon crosses his arms and smiles. "You think you're going to be all alone every time you need to cast a spell?"

"No," I say, narrowing my eyes, "but I'm sure there's not going to be anyone staring straight at me the whole time."

"Fine," he says, throwing his hands up and taking a few steps away from me. "I'll just walk in circles or something."

"I'm never going to get it," I mutter, rolling my neck to get the tension I felt there out.

"Not on the first try," he says, checking his phone. "You need to be more patient."

"We've been here for an hour," I reply, crossing my arms. "I have only so much patience."

"Yeah because this is so much fun for me," he snaps.

When he sees the annoyed look on my face his own expression calms and he smiles a little.

"Just be patient," he repeats, now a good ten feet away from me. "It will happen."

"I don't even know what's supposed to happen," I admit. "I mean, is this protective shield supposed to be something I feel or see or what? Is it like a bubble or something?"

Damon laughs and shakes his head. "You are asking the wrong person."

"I wonder if Stefan knows," I think aloud.

"Yeah right," he says. "Stefan is about as knowledgeable on this as he is about having fun."

"He seemed to know my Grams pretty well, and Emily," I murmur.

Damon snorts and rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything.

"If you can't stand him so much," I say, sitting down on the floor and crossing my legs, "why don't you just stay away from him?"

Damon looks at me and thinks this over in his head. Lately, he'd been putting a lot of thought into his answers, something he'd never done before. He always seemed to me like the type of person that just said what he felt, anything at all. But now I could see he was going over his thoughts, like a textbook of thoughts that he filtered before he said anything.

"Sometimes, as much as you want to forget that human side of yourself," he begins, walking towards a tree that was directly opposite me, "there are some things you can't forget."

I took in the big space of at least thirty feet between us, he on one side and I on the other.

"Like what?" I ask, curious.

"The love you have for someone," he says, shrugging. "The ability to love someone. I couldn't let go of Stefan even if I wanted to, which believe me I have wanted to many times. At this point I'm screwed because I can't get away from him and I can't get away from you. When you love someone there's no getting away."

I process what he said about Stefan and not being able to let him go. Then, as if I'd only just heard this, I take in the last part of what he said.

"Damon," I say, standing up. "What did you just say?"

He looks up at me and suddenly I see he realizes what he just said out loud. He stands up and backs up against the tree, as if it will keep him from falling back.

"Nothing," he says. "Just stuff about Stefan, you know, blah blah blah. Boring as usual."

"No," I say, pointing my finger at him. "You said something else. The last part."

"Bonnie, you're crazy," he says, making a face that said he was trying to keep calm.

"You said you could never get away from me because when you love someone there's no getting away," I repeated, coming closer to him.

"Did I say that?" he says, backing away from me.

"Yes," I say, following him. "You did."

"I'm clearly delusional," he says, pointing at his head. "Seriously, there's something wrong up here. I'm all Jack Nicholson in the Shining in there."

"Damon," I say, now following him in circles. "You just said indirectly that you love me."

"No I didn't," he says, laughing. "I didn't."

"Yes you did," I shout, laughing. "You love me."

"Bonnie c'mon," he says, rolling his eyes. "Don't be a child."

"Then admit it," I say, smiling as I get closer and closer.

His face turns stoic for a moment and I can tell he's having an internal argument with himself. Finally, after what seems like hours, he breaks down.

"Fine," he says, letting out a big breath and throwing his hands up. "Fine okay, I love you. I love you. Are you happy now? I love you and I admit it and now you're probably just the most smug person on the planet."

I laugh and shake my head, completely unable to believe that he was the first of the two of us to admit it. A part of me wants to jump up and down and rub it in his face and laugh and do a victory dance, as if all along this had been a game to see who would break first. Another part wants to go around town shouting that Damon Salvatore, the hardest of hearts, loves me, Bonnie Bennett. And another part wants to be as calm as possible so he wouldn't regret loving me and admitting to it. I choose the last option.

"Thank you Damon," I say, now only a foot of space between us. "I'm very flattered that your affection is directed at me."

Damon raises his eyebrows slightly, confused.

"That's it?" he says. "That's your response to me saying I love you? You're flattered."

"What do you want me to do?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"Well I don't know," he says, dramatically. "It's been a while since I've really lived in the human world but last I remember the proper reaction would be to say it back."

"Do you want me to say it back?" I ask, having fun making him nervous.

"I don't know Bonnie do you want to say it back?" he asks, getting extremely frustrated.

I can tell I'm going to lose him and his patience at any second so I decide to bring it down a notch. I walk close to him and touch his cheek but he pulls away, a flicker of annoyance flashing in his eyes.

"I love you too Damon," I say, softly so that if there had been anyone else around only he would have heard.

His eyes are still hard and searching my face, as if looking for any sign of insincerity or dishonesty. He finally lets his guard down.

"You really get on my nerves sometimes," he says, seriously.

"You deserve it sometimes," I reply, laughing.

He puts his hands on my face so that his thumbs stroke the part just below my ears. He leans down and kisses me in that way he did the first night. I realize that I'm probably one of the few people who has ever seen this side of him and I my stomach does a flip at the thought.