Another seal suddenly appeared on the shore, Bonnie didn't see it shed it's skin but she recognised the voice. "Leave the wee lass alone Sean! She's a McCullough and my friend!" yelled Ursilla as she came running up to the shore towards her brother.
Sean turned as she came up and knocked her back with his arm, Ursilla fell heavily on and Bonnie heard the thud as her head hit the rocks. "Stay out of it Ursilla! You've become too attached to the humans" He turned towards Bonnie and held her waist while he started ripping her jeans off with his sharp seal teeth.
Bonnie screamed again and struggled against his grip but he had her tight, she managed to get a leg free and kicked him in the side. She turned to try and run but he had her again, this time he tried to drag her back towards the sea. Bonnie felt powerless and scared, she was trying to keep her head above the rising tide but was becoming weaker every time she struggled.
Then she was free, she struggled up the shore gasping for breath. She turned to see what had happened and didn't know whether to laugh or cry, the Selkie was being lifted clean off the ground by a seething Damon. Ursilla was lying a few feet to his left, unconscious, Bonnie ran towards her friend trying not to look at the vampire who was sinking his teeth into the Selkie's neck, there was blood flying everywhere.
He stopped as quickly as he started, the Selkie was screaming in pain. "Try something like that again and you'll have to go through me. Next time I might loose my temper and do something that you will regret." he hissed.
He looked over to where Ursilla was now sitting up holding her head with a pale Bonnie trying to examine her. Then he looked past Sean towards the sea where the rest of the seal colony was waiting and watching. "Looks as though you're wanted, let me help you," snarled Damon as he threw the Selkie out to sea. He walked over to Bonnie and offered her his hand, she looked at Ursilla who nodded, "I'll be fine lass. You go with your vampire, I'll be seeing ye around, no fear about that."
"Thank you" whispered Bonnie to her friend who slipped her skin on and loped into the sea. She turned towards the outstretched hand which was still waiting for her and took it, Damon pulled her quickly to her feet and before she knew it she was in his arms and he was carrying her back to the car park.
"Thank you, as well" she whispered, Damon raised an eyebrow at the redhead in his arms. "You have to make your mind up soon picolina, I might not always be there to protect you when you disobey your Gran." He set her down gently by a black Range Rover Sport and took his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders.
As he drove her back to the house along the track that she usually walked, Bonnie stared out the window thinking. Could she really go back to Fells Church and Matt after all of this? She was pretty shocked by what had just nearly happened but she felt better now she was in his Landrover.
"Your Gran is away. I suggest you go to bed and stay there, if my brother hears about this he'll be a thorn in my side for the next 500 years." Bonnie turned her face to the window and smiled to herself, she knew that despite his comments Damon cared very much what Stefan thought about him. They drove up to the house and Bonnie shrugged off the jacket that Damon had given her. "Will you come round tomorrow? " Damon arched another eyebrow at her,
"I never say no when a pretty girl invites me round for dinner," he said enthusiastically, Bonnie sighed with as much energy as she could muster. "Can't you behave for 1 minute?!" Damon just laughed causing Bonnie to laugh along with him, again she felt like they were just man and woman, perfectly normal.
When they got back to the house he made no attempts to kiss her, but watched dutifully until she was safely in the front door. Bonnie knew that Damon would be sitting outside the house for the rest of the night, keeping watch on her. She felt dirty, cold and tired after her ordeal, so she took a hot shower and his her jeans in her suitcase. Once in bed, Bonnie didn't feel sleepy at all. She had to choose one, and she had made up her mind that she would make her decision tonight, so she lay there thinking about them both.
When she thought of Matt she felt a twang of guilt, she was married to him and she loved him but a month into their marriage she started to have niggling doubts that she had pushed to the back of her mind until Damon came along. She had to ask herself now, did she love him? Or was it just that in the aftermath of Elena's death and then her return that because people expected them to be together they mistook friendship for love and went along with what people wanted them to do for the sake of normality?
With Damon the intensity of her feelings for him scared her, but what scared her the most was the thought of becoming a vampire, feeding on humans. But then she thought back to the previous night and remembered the coppery taste of his blood in her mouth, that wasn't so bad. Bonnie sighed, since she'd been here she knew deep down who she wanted and it would take her time to get adjusted to the fallout from her decision, but her heart had made it's own mind up; she loved Damon, not Matt.
The next morning she ached all over and had a couple of bruises on her legs and arms but nothing a sweater and jeans couldn't cover up. Her heart was a different matter, should she phone him and break the news or fly back and tell him? If she flew back then so would Damon and then there would be a fight. Not good.
The phone rang. It was Matt, she should have known.
"Hi Matt." she tried to sound cheerful but it was forced cheerfulness.
"Bonnie, I'm sorry. I love you but I think we should break up." Bonnie stood on the phone dumbfounded. "You were going to break up anyway weren't you. I'm beginning to see a pattern emerging here." he laughed humourlessly.
"Oh Matt. We got married too soon, you know that. We had barely been going out for a month before we got engaged!" At that point Bonnie lost control and started crying down the phone.
"I was such a bad wife. I'm so sorry, you deserve someone much better than me. I knew it was wrong to get married but I thought it was nerves." Matt was starting to make sniffling noises himself.
"It's alright Bon. I know. Are you coming back?" Bonnie sighed.
"I don't know Matt. I'll have to let you know," she could sense Damon outside and he knew everything she was saying and thinking, she didn't want him in just yet.
"Alright. Well, good luck Bon. Keep in touch eh." With that Matt hung up.
Damon was standing next to her and she turned and buried her head into his soft black cotton sweater while he just held her until the tears subsided.
When she managed to look up at his face, it was grave. Realisation and horror dawned on Bonnie, "No!!! We have to get Stefan and Elena to stop him!" she rushed upstairs and grabbed her cell phone, dialling Elena's number. Damon stood in the doorway watching her intently.
"Don't just stand there! Do something!" she screamed at him, Damon turned and walked out of the room leaving a hysterical Bonnie dialling Elena's number. He quietly picked up the house phone and dialled a number, he muttered something very softly to the person on the other end and hung up. By the time he got back to the bedroom Bonnie had thrown some things in a bag, grabbed her passport and was rushing out of her room, he stepped in front of her and held her arms tight so she couldn't struggle. "Let me go! I have to stop him!" she yelled, Damon's face was like thunder as she struggled against him. "There's nothing that you or I can do," Bonnie screamed no and kicked him in the shin making him wince. "Stefan's going to go and look for him, there's nothing more that we can do."
Bonnie still struggled against him, "it's all my fault, if I hadn't chose you instead of him…" she trailed off as the tears fell.
This is why I shouldn't get involved with humans thought Damon. "Now listen to me Bonnie. We have to wait for my brother, he'll find Matt and he's going to call." He was trying his best but he knew where this was going to end up, "I couldn't bear it if he died because of me. Because of us.."
Damon sighed and looked up to the ceiling, he was fast loosing his patience. "When you left Fells' Church he knew there was a chance that you wouldn't be coming back to him. He's had two months to prepare himself for this outcome and if you care to remember I have done nothing to force your hand." Bonnie slapped him but he didn't move, "how dare you blame me!" she spat.
"I'm not. I'm simply pointing out that it was a fair contest and the best man won. Besides, as I've already pointed out. Matt knew that there was a 50/50 chance of loosing you." Bonnie rushed away with her head in hands leaving Damon fuming at the top of the stairs.
As soon as he heard the front door go he was outside the house and in front of Bonnie blocking her path. "What do you think you're doing you stupid little fool?!" he snarled, "what do you think!" she yelled back. She knew she'd made him angry, she could feel power radiating from him. "I am sorely tempted to leave you to do whatever the hell you want after all the trouble you've caused me," he hissed. Damon grabbed her arms and Bonnie slumped into them.
An hour later the phone rang, Damon picked it up. "Damon? Is Bonnie there?" Stefan's voice sounded grave. "She's asleep. She was hysterical so I had to influence her and you can tell Matt, that I'll kill him myself next time I see him. She's quite the little hellcat when she gets going."
"I was too late Damon" Stefan's voice was at breaking point. "He, he hung himself. He was dead by the time I got to his house." Damon sighed.
"I'll tell her when she wakes up." Just as he went to hang up Stefan called his name.
"What now?" he asked sharply, in no mood for his brother's lectures.
"Take care of her Damon, please." Damon slammed the phone down and went upstairs to wake Bonnie.
She took it better than he expected, he sat there and held her while she cried her little heart out.
The next day after saying goodbye to her Gran, they started the long journey back to Fells' Church. She barely uttered a word to Damon until he dropped her off at her house, "I'll ring you." and then she disappeared inside.
He went straight to the boarding house where Stefan was on the porch waiting for him. "She's at her house safe and sound." Stefan frowned at his older brother.
"Give her time Damon, you know what it's like." Damon nodded. Elena emerged on the porch looking tired and drained, she took one look at Damon and with hate in her eyes said to him "go away you sick bastard! Matt and Bonnie were fine until you came along, now he's dead and his death is on your conscious!"
Stefan got up and held his girlfriend tenderly "Elena, that's not fair! It's not his fault. Bonnie and Matt were having problems practically from the off." Elena glared at Stefan. "How can you take his side after all the trouble he's caused?!" Damon turned and started to walk away, before Stefan could stop him there was a blur and then the sound of powerful wing beats filled the air as the crow took off.
The next two weeks were a blur to Bonnie, the funeral took place a couple of days later and she felt as though the whole town was blaming her for his death, including herself. But as she slowly started thawing towards the end of the second week she found herself missing Damon, she had asked Stefan where he was but Stefan didn't know and Elena just stormed off in a huff.
Bonnie tried to talk to Elena but Elena shut the door on her but Bonnie was past caring. All that she could think about was Damon and how much she had probably hurt him by blaming him for Matt's death.
Bonnie made up her mind that she had chosen Damon and there was no going back because she really loved him, so she depleted her college fund and booked a cheap hotel in Florence for 2 weeks in the hope that she would be able to find him and that he would forgive her.