Life was so unpredictable.
A week ago she was homeless, living in an abandoned warehouse full of other street kids just like herself trying to survive and today... she was not.
Bonnie stood under the warm spray of water in Damon's amazing bathroom shower.
Technically she didn't need a shower considering she just had one the night before. This was purely for pleasure. After having gone so long without properly bathing, taking showers had become a new luxury that Bonnie indulged in a lot.
And all it took to get her there was an appendicitis.
Yep.
That was the cause of all the debilitating pain she was experiencing a week ago. The doctor told Bonnie and Damon that if they'd waited another day to bring her to the hospital her appendix would have ruptured and she could have died.
Bonnie was rushed into surgery for an emergency appendectomy and was in the hospital for two days. When Damon said that he was going to call Abbey and let her know what was going on that's when Bonnie calmly filled him in on why she left Mystic Falls.
Damon felt like punching a hole through the wall... or better yet, punching a hole through that bastard who tried to rape Bonnie. And Abbey? Damon honestly didn't know what to think. What the hell would make her choose that fucker over her own daughter?
It was settled.
Bonnie couldn't go back home and she damn sure wasn't going back on the streets to that Shane guy.
Yeah, Bonnie told him all about Shane and how the man taught her how to pick people's pockets. It made Damon's teeth grind to hear her talk about this Shane as if he was some modern day Robin Hood, who only stole from the rich.
Yeah right.
Bonnie sounded like a brain washed cult follower trying to defend Shane's character when Damon said that he was nothing but a low life, manipulating and taking advantage of vulnerable teenage kids.
They went back and forth on this issue for a while before Damon realized that this guy had a pretty strong hold on Bonnie.
She couldn't see that Shane was a bad guy. That wasn't good.
It wasn't good at all.
And it was a culmination of all these things that lead to Damon taking Bonnie into his home. He owed it to Connor to look after her. Somebody had to.
"I hope you saved me some hot water." Damon said when Bonnie came into the room.
"Don't worry. There's plenty." She said coming to take a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen island directly across from where he stood having breakfast.
"Want some?" He asked, pushing his plate towards her.
Without even thinking twice about it Bonnie picked up his half eaten cheese danish and took a bite.
It was so good that it made her mouth water with hurt, causing a tiny sound to escape from her throat.
Neither one of them questioned how easily they fell back into that comfortable sense of familiarity with each other.
Damon may have been her brother's best friend, but Bonnie also spent a lot of time in the Salvatore's home. She was very close to his family, especially Nonna who had a sweet spot for Bonnie the day she saw her at only three weeks old.
Nonna never had a little girl, and she always wanted one, but she was blessed with all boys and they in turn had all boys.
There wasn't a Salvatore baby girl to be had to date, so Nonna immediately took to Bonnie because she was the prettiest little thing she'd ever seen in her life, pulling at the woman's heart strings with those beautiful green eyes of hers.
Nonna loved Bonnie so much that when Abbey and Rudy Bennett got divorced a few years later and Abbey had to go back to work, it was she who stepped in to take care of three year old Bonnie and she did it free of charge.
Thanks to Nonna, Bonnie was fluent in Italian. She taught the young girl how to cook and sew. Basically putting it, everything that Nonna would have taught her own daughter was taught to Bonnie.
She was a permanent fixture in the Salvatore household. It was her second home.
Damon snatched back the pastry after Bonnie had a few bites. "I said some."
She frowned prettily, licking her fingers. "Well, why didn't you get one for me?"
He took a bite out of the danish and then nodded his head to the side. Bonnie looked over and saw the box of fresh pastries from the bakery sitting on the kitchen counter. She immediately got up from her seat and went over to help herself.
They ate in comfortable silence for a few moments, enjoying the pastries.
When Damon was done he licked his fingers. "I talked to my mom last night after you went to sleep."
Bonnie stopped chewing. "Oh yeah...and did you tell her about me...being here?"
"You asked me not to, so I didn't."
Her shoulders visibly relaxed and she nodded her head. "Thank you...it's just that I need some time before everyone...you know." She trailed off quietly.
Yeah, Damon knew better than anyone.
Bonnie had grown up around his family so she knew how overbearing they could be at times. The minute everyone found out where she was they would pressure her to come home.
"How's Nonna?" She asked slipping into speaking Italian.
He answered back in his native language. "Other than worried about you, she's fine...mama says she goes to church every morning to pray for your safe return."
Guilt made Bonnie lower her eyes. She shook her head. "I can't go back there, Damon." She said quietly.
Without saying a word he crossed over to where she stood and pulled her into his arms. "Then you don't have to." He said softly, cradling the back of her head.
Bonnie wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes. He made her feel so safe and she hadn't felt safe in a really long time.
Damon kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry, when the time comes, I'll protect you from my family."
This made her laugh. She pulled away, looking up into his beautiful blue eyes. "Who you kidding, you won't stand a chance against Nonna."
Damon chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Yeah you're right, she'll demolish me."
Damon went to work later that morning and left behind his debit card so that if Bonnie felt up to it she could do a little shopping and get the things she needed.
Before leaving the building though, Damon made it a point to stop and tell his doorman that Bonnie was staying with him so that she wouldn't encounter any problems when she came back from shopping.
And sure enough later on that afternoon when Bonnie returned to Damon's apartment building with her hands full of shopping bags the security guy stopped her when she tried to get on the elevator, but luckily the doorman showed up a minute later, having gone to take a piss, and he vouched for her.
Bonnie got on the elevator and before the doors could close shut she stuck her tongue out at the security guy. She couldn't help it. The guy was an ass hole, grabbing her arm really roughly like she had stole something.
Letting the ugly incident go when she got up to the apartment, Bonnie put away her new clothes and then grabbed the relaxer out of the drug store bag, going into the bathroom to get started on her hair.
She'd never gone this long before without a relaxer. She had so much new growth that it took almost the entire jar of relaxer to do her head.
Afterward, she deep conditioned her dark tresses which made her hair silky soft and did a quick length check, smiling when she saw that her hair reached past her shoulder blades.
She spent the rest of the day styling her hair into soft curls with a curling iron, wanting to look nice after looking like a bum for so long.
Bonnie even bought a new dress. It was a Maxie dress that she found on sale at the mall. It was in Damon's favorite color and everything.
Bonnie had learned a long time ago that Damon was kind of old fashion in a way, liking when girls dressed like girls, looking and smelling pretty.
Tonight was about thanking him for everything that he'd done for her in the last few days. Bonnie couldn't wait to see his face when he saw that she had made his favorite meal.
Damon was going to be so surprised because he had no idea that Nonna had taught her how to cook.
It was almost eight o'clock at night when Bonnie heard Damon unlocking the door. She was so excited that she went to the door opening it before he could with a huge smile on her face. "You're home!"
Damon's blue eyes widened and he burst into a huge smile of his own. "Now there's the Bonnie I remember...you look beautiful." He said reaching out to touch her hair.
Bonnie beamed under his praise.
"So I guess there's no need to ask what you did today."
She laughed, moving back so that he could enter the apartment. But he stopped when the delicious aroma of Beef and Cheese Manicotti baking in the oven hit his nostrils and his eyes swept the apartment like he was looking for someone. "Nonna?"
He turned to Bonnie, his face expectant. "Is Nonna here?" Because damn if he didn't know the smell of his grandmother's cooking.
Bonnie bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to giggle as she shook her head no.
He pointed at her. "You?"
She nodded yes, loving the stunned expression on his handsome face.
"But it smells just like Nonna's cooking."
"It should considering she's the one who taught me how to cook." The oven timer went off. "Are you hungry?" She asked walking towards the kitchen.
"Hell yeah, I'm hungry. You got my mouth watering." He said, following behind her, unloosening his tie and pulling it off.
He stood beside her and watched as she pulled the hot dish from the oven. She placed it on top of the stove and Damon immediately reached for a clean spoon.
"Now let's see if it tastes like my Nonna's delicious Manicotti...you've got big shoes to fill, Baby." He said, digging out a small scoop from the corner of the pan.
Bonnie watched him blow on the steaming hot food for a few seconds, holding her breath when he finally put it into his mouth.
Blue eyes stared down at her as he chewed carefully . After a moment, he swallowed and then shook his head.
Bonnie's pretty face fell.
But then he smiled. "Well I'll be damned...it tastes exactly like hers."
Green eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Exactly." He said honestly. "I would never be able to taste the difference."
Bonnie squealed happily, clapping her hands. That was such a compliment coming from Damon because Nonna was the best cook in the family.
He chuckled. "You did good, Baby." He pulled her in, giving her a quick peck on the forehead. "Come on, let's eat."
Bonnie made Damon sit down at the table while she fixed his plate. He laughed because she was acting exactly like the women in his family who couldn't stand for a man to be in the kitchen while they were trying to do their thing.
And when Bonnie pulled out a chilled bottle of Sangiovese that he kept in his wine selection and poured him a glass, Damon's eyes truly bugged. That was exactly the right red wine to pair with the Manicotti.
He looked up at her with approval. "I see Nonna taught you well."
Bonnie's face heated up in a blush because she could feel him staring at her. She forced herself to meet his eyes when she was done pouring the wine.
"Yes, very well."
Dinner was amazing.
They talked and laughed. Bonnie teased him about straightening his curly hair, calling him a girl.
It was on the tip of Damon's tongue to comment on his sexual prowess in rebuff to her statement, but he stopped himself just in time, remembering it wouldn't be appropriate because of her age.
It was a perfect night. Bonnie wanted it to last forever. But then the doorbell rang.
Damon got up from the table to answer it, his blue eyes widening when he saw Elena standing there. For a second there it looked like he'd forgotten all about her.
"You're back!" He said when she threw herself into his arms.
"Yeah, I just got off the plane... I couldn't wait to see you, so I rushed right over." She said before attacking his mouth.
When Damon had gotten up to answer the door, Bonnie started to clear the table. She froze when she saw Elena jump into his arms and kiss him like she had every right to do so.
"I've been away from you for an entire week and I want to fuck...I want to fuck right now."
The wine glass that was in Bonnie's hand slipped from her grasp and crashed to the floor breaking loudly causing Elena gaze to swing in her direction.
"Who's she?" The gorgeous brunette asked, arching a brow.
Damon frowned because he'd told Elena all about Bonnie. He knew that she had been on a week long vacation with her girls in Mexico, but damn how could she forget so quickly.
"That's Bonnie, Elena...remember?" When she still looked clueless, his jaw tensed. "She's Connor's little sister."
Her brow cleared. "Oh that's right." She walked past him into the apartment. "So we finally get to meet."
Bonnie didn't know what to say so she didn't say anything as Elena came closer. Her green eyes went to Damon in puzzlement and that's when he realized that he hadn't told her about Elena. It wasn't like he was intentionally keeping it from Bonnie, it was just so much was going on that it never came up.
"Um Bonnie, this is Elena...my fiancee."
Her eyes widening slightly was the only outward reaction the girl had.
But on the inside, Bonnie was lamenting.
Her mind did that thing where it kind of went into self preservation mode. Her emotions didn't shut down or anything like that, they sort of just stayed underneath the surface long enough for her to maintain her composure until she could be alone.
Her mouth had gotten so dry in the last few seconds that she had to clear her throat because she knew they were waiting for her to speak.
"Wow...fiancee...I honestly don't know what to say, Damon..." She said, swallowing hard.
"How about congratulations." Elena spoke up.
Bonnie shook her head as if she was trying to clear her mind. "Um y-yeah right...congratulations."
She needed to leave now, so she took a step to do just that, completely forgetting about the shards of glass all over the floor.
The sound of the glass crunching underneath her tiny bare foot could be heard so loudly in the awkward silence.
"Bonnie don't move!" Damon said, rushing over to her. He picked her up into his arms and sat her down on the side of the island away from the broken glass.
"Elena go get the first aid kit. She cut her foot, she's bleeding."
"First aid kit?"
Damon didn't spare her a look as he inspected Bonnie's foot, but his voice was somewhat terse when he said that she would find it in the bathroom inside the medicine cabinet.
When she was gone, Damon looked up at Bonnie, his face angry with worry. "What were you thinking, Baby...you knew there was glass all over the floor?"
The crazy thing was, Bonnie didn't even feel it when the glass pierced through the sole of her foot. She didn't cry out or anything. "I guess I forgot." She said lamely.
Damon looked at her and he knew that she had to be in pain, but her face was completely blank.
"Bonnie?" He said, softly.
Elena came back with the first aid kit and Damon's mind focus back on the issue at hand. He noticed that Bonnie didn't wince once when he had to dig the glass out of her foot or even when he had to pour peroxide on the wound to disinfect it.
"There." He said when he was done wrapping her foot with a clean bandage.
"Thanks." She said in a monotone voice. "I think I'm going to go to my room now."
"Do you want me to carry you?" He asked.
She finally lifted her eyes to meet his and Damon saw the sadness in them.
She tried to smile when she saw his handsome face frown in confusion. "No that's okay, it's really not that bad." Her eyes flickered over Damon's shoulder to Elena who stood right behind him furiously texting on her phone.
"I've experienced things that have hurt a lot worse." She said, swallowing hard.
When Bonnie jumped down from the kitchen island, she politely told both Damon and Elena goodnight before going into her room and closing the door.
Damon Salvatore would never know that he was the only one who ever had the power to make Bonnie Bennett cry her eyes out.