Bonnie woke up with a start because she couldn't breathe. Taking deep breathes she finally calmed down, and found that it was barely light outside and there was a tap at her door.
She got her house coat and went over to the door, and found that Matt was standing there with a tray of food for her breakfast, and what looked like his own.
"I didn't wake you, I hope." He said, looking slightly nervous. It gave him the boyish cuteness that attracted Elena and herself at first.
"Oh no, I just woke up. What is that in your hands?" she asked him, already aware of the answer.
"I thought we could have breakfast together, only I was hoping to surprise you with breakfast in bed." He said, and she noted that the tray had legs to stand on.
"Well, I can get back into bed." She said, crawling back onto her bed and grinning at Matt. She didn't care that he was the worst boyfriend in the world. She was going to make the best of this week full of dates, just in case her dreams truly were about herself.
"Well, here you are My Lady, breakfast in bed." He said, and she laughed. "I would feed you myself, but I am sort of a klutz at feeding myself. So I believe you would do better on your own." She giggled and set to eating the delicious breakfast.
The rest of the date went pretty well, considering they spent most of the day in the game room. She beat him so many times at pool that she had to calm him down before going to dinner, reminding him that to win her heart he had to behave like a gentleman and let her win.
The next date she had was with Sir Ryan. And he only wanted her to watch him as he showed her what he could do. They went hunting around noon after eating breakfast alone in the large dining room with her Royal family, and fishing at dawn, which bored her to what she'd only hoped would be death, she didn't know what was so exciting about fishing. And had a big dinner out on the patio that was outside of his room, he was obviously hinting at other things though as he spoke about how beautiful she looked and how he knew he would win her heart.
She didn't like that one either, and found out that night while talking to Elena and Meredith while Sir Ryan went to yell at the maids for the horrible state of the game room, that Matt had disappeared. She talked to Joe-Anne and Lisa too, somehow, and found that they hadn't seen him either. She wasn't worried, maybe he was just sick and to angry at her to show his face.
The next date was with Stefan, which turned out to be rather fun. He did about the same thing Matt did, only he managed to surprise her at breakfast, with it ready to put in her lap.
"Ah, so you made it this time." She grinned at him.
"Of course I did, I always do." He smiled back. Then he pulled up a chair to her bed and watched silently as she ate, she knew why he didn't eat so it didn't bother her or make her uneasy that he wasn't 'chowing down'.
"So what are our plans for today?" she asked him between chews of her eggs.
"I thought I would teach you how to ride a horse, I've noticed how you look at them when you walked by them so many times. So I thought you would like to learn." She couldn't help smiling.
"Finally, someone who knows how, and isn't afraid to ride one." She giggled, and finished her breakfast.
They went out, and on Bonnie's insistence, skipped lunch so that she would learn how to ride the horse well enough. When she felt comfortable enough on one she called to Stefan that it was time she fed herself human food or she would faint and be stomped on by the horse. Stefan had simply laughed and lead then to the stables and then inside to clean up for dinner.
Then for dinner, they had a candle light dinner under the stars on the patio facing the gardens. It was so perfect between them that she forgot about the other horrible dates. They even had lasagna, home made from Stefan though he wasn't supposed to, and fed each other, it was fun.
He even walked her up to her room after the date, as if that was where she lived, like a proper gentle man. So she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and went in.
The next day she had her date with Scott, and unlike Matt he liked to go outside more often, though he was still a game freak. So she ended up helping set up a basket ball hoop and playing one-on-one with him. Of course he let her beat him, though he didn't have to try hard. Short she may be, bad at sports she wasn't. Then they went to the big pond and he through her in, and then jumped in after her, starting a water war between the two of them.
After that, they went in, and had a small pick-nick outside under the setting sun for their dinner, it was just as beautiful as being under the stars, and it fit in perfectly with the type of person Scott was.
After each date, she would sneak out to the garden around midnight, and write in her diary. It was only after Scotts date that she looked back on the entrees to refresh her mind on the dates and try to figure out which she wanted to be married to before she left.
Dear Diary, The days have been so much fun lately, with all the dates. I wish I could keep this up. Nothing has gone wrong with any of them, even though no one has seen Matt since his date with me. Which worries me, he is the only person I know that would have asked me at least a few times whether he was the favorite of the dates. So maybe he's hurt somewhere?
I haven't had my date with Damon yet, and I'm still waiting anxiously for it. It may be because there is a competition for my love, or maybe it's just because he feels more comfortable on familiar grounds here at the Castle(since its close to his giant Villa home in Italy), but he's been extremely nice to me, and that's saying lot for Damon.
After my date with him, I have two days to decide on whom I 'love' most. They said the real Princess had a week, a week! Two days is plenty enough for me. I'd be having doubts after a few days if I had a week.
The dreams haven't stopped either, just so that you know, they have gotten clearer though, which is good, maybe I'll find out soon who it is that wants me dead, and possibly stop him before it happens. The mystery love boy I've been dreaming of is Damon, if you hadn't already guessed it. I think it's this Castle that's made them clearer.
I'll write you tomorrow hopefully about the date with Damon, and then I'll write you after the ball to tell you who I picked and what happened. I hope I have a lot to talk about.
Bonnie.
"So they have gotten clearer?" a musical voice asked her, from slightly behind her, maybe to the right. She knew who it was, and the voice sent chills down her spine.
"Yes. I hope they get over with soon, because it is so hard on me to live like this. And it's not even me that's in the dreams. The person looks a lot like me, but it's not me." she said as he sat down next to her under the tree. She wondered if she made any sense just then.
"I know she does. Her hairs longer than yours is, right?" he asked, and she nodded. "And her skin is paler then yours is, right?" again she nodded. "The person you've been dreaming of is Princess Angel." He said softly, and when she turned she could see that he was looking her in the eyes.
"But why am I dreaming about her? And why does she always die at the ball I see?" she looked back across the dark waves of the water as a leaf touched it, slowly sinking into its depths. "Is she my grandmother or something? Or is it just her restless soul trying to communicate with us to get us to find her murderer?"
"It may be both." He said softly, looking off in the distance. "I knew Angel, personally. That's why the guards were looking at me funnily when we first met. I was the one she wanted to marry."
"Really?" Bonnie asked, trying to imagine Damon, of all people, falling in love enough to marry someone. "What happened?" she asked.
"She died." He said softly, sounding as if he blamed himself. "One of the Princes' that wanted to become the Heir to her father's vast kingdom killed her, and as far as I know was killed himself by the guards. But she died in my arms that night, in front of all the court." He looked down into his arms, and she could feel waves of despair radiating from him. Then they stopped, as he tried to compose himself into Damon Salvatore, evil vampire and lady killer.
"It wasn't your fault then. There was nothing you could do. You weren't even a Vampire then were you?" she asked, turning slightly so that she was facing him.
"I was, in fact for almost a century. But I couldn't change her, for one thing I was still too weak, I hadn't fed in a long while. Love makes you do silly things." He laughed, and she could see his eyes sparkling brightly. "And even at that, I couldn't change her in front of all those people, not when they all saw her die in my arms. They would wonder about her, and I couldn't make her live in the Dark lonely nights, even if she would be with me, it's not worth it."
She looked at him, and just then he looked younger then he already looked. Like a lost child, looking for its home. She felt something at her tugging, softly, almost not noticeably.
She put her arms around him, not tightly, but tight enough to show she was there for him. And he leaned into it, and felt his relief that she still wanted to stay beside him, and that she didn't care about what he'd done before.
'I don't care.' She whispered softly in his mind, sending as much comfort and love to him as she could. 'That was before, and now I know that you only did most of it because you were hurt, right?' he nodded softly, so she sat back against the tree, and let him lay against her tummy.
'And what makes it worse, is that she's come back, like she promised. And every time she was killed, before I could get her to remember. God, one time she was killed when she was only fifteen.' He whispered, and she could feel anguish emanating from him.
'How many times has she come back?' she asked, gently stroking his hair, and looking up to the stars that were slowly fading away into the daylight hours.
'Three after the first time I met her. I miss her so much, I'm still looking for her. And when I find her I won't let anything happen to her, no matter what.' She could feel determination now, and that made her feel more comfortable. She was at least a little used to having Damon look as if he wanted something to happen for himself.
'I'll help any way I can.' She promised, sending a smile to him.
Soon though, she fell asleep, and the last thing she remembered was being picked up by gentle hands, that held her like something precious.
*~~*~~*
She woke up in her bed, with Damon talking at the door with someone. She couldn't help it and yawned, causing Damon to turn around and smile at her. She looked at the clock and laughed, she'd slept till noon!
She crawled out of bed, and got a dress to wear, and went into the bath room to change, so that Damon didn't have the pleasure of seeing her in her birthday suit.
She came back out, and smiled warmly at Damon, in his jeans and cotton shirt.
"What would you like to do on this morning, My Lady?" he asked, grinning at her.
She felt her mind submerge itself with what felt like memories and emotions. Her grinning up at him, her feeling scared out of her mind, her feeling his arms around her, tight and protective. Before she thought about what she was saying, she heard herself asking him, "Can we go horseback riding?"
She could feel a little shock coming from him. "Do you know how?" he asked, making more scenes come to her.
She shut them out, and concentrated on him. "Stefan taught me, for our date." She laughed as he frowned at the thought of her spending time with his younger brother. "So how about it?" she gave him a puppy dog smile. And saw that he gave in quickly.
"All right. Anything for you." He smiled, and led her out to the stables in the back. "Hold on just a moment, I want to pick up something before we go." He said, disappearing into the kitchen for a moment, then coming back out with a basket on his left arm, and taking Bonnie on his right.
She asked him what was in the basket, but all he said was a surprise. She tried probing his mind, and he only laughed and kept walking. When they reached the stables, he found a beautiful black horse, that had unusually dark hair, it looked almost purple in the light. She, herself, found one of the more tamer ones, since she was only a beginner.
Damon tied the basket securely to the back of his horse, not hers, and helped her get on and settled.
"Where are we going to go?" she asked, making sure her saddle was going to stay on.
"I know a little clearing in the woods that I… found… one night." He grinned up at her, and she giggled. She knew what 'found' meant, that he'd just stumbled on it while feeding. "I thought it would be a good place to sit and talk a little. I'm sure that girls still like the 'I wanna get to know you better in a good way' thing, right?" he asked, climbing up on his horse and walking it over to her.
"Of course, at least this girl does." She smiled, and got her horse off with him.
They trotted around a little, mainly so that they could both get used to the horses, Damon hadn't rode one in nearly a Century, and Bonnie was still learning so she needed to get used to it again, and find her rhythm.
After that, Damon went off towards one of the paths in the woods, with Bonnie beside him since the path was big enough for three horses. He pointed out some different flowers, and colorful trees to her, and she was surprised he knew as much as he did. He seemed like the one who wouldn't like this stuff. But she liked it, because she'd read about them, and thought they were more beautiful in real life then in the books she'd read.
They were only about twenty or so yards from the clearing, at least according to Damon, when she heard something whistle by her ear. She thought it was a bee, until something hit her horse, and she heard it. It was a soft thud near the rear of the horse, and it scared her.
It scared the horse more, and he started running off with her bouncing wildly, too scared to scream very loudly. She remembered something, but was too scared to analyze it, because she was trying to pull on the reins attached to her horse to slow him down.
She heard something behind her, and then felt someone jump onto the horse with her. Even then she was too scared to look behind her and see who it was, but something in the back of her mind told her to trust it. As soon as it had landed on her horse, though, the horse stopped dead in its tracks and stood up on its back legs.
If it hadn't been for whoever was behind her, she'd have fallen off, but she felt herself lean against its tensely muscled body, still holding on so tight to the reins that her knuckles were white. The horse sat down again, and she could hear its poor heart beating through the silence that followed, she could also feel the person who was holding her tightly heart beating just a little faster than normal.
Her own heart was going one hundred miles an hour, her breathing slowly going back to something more normal. And as she began to relax, her mind led her into the memories that were flooding her mind, and she saw what had just happened to her but in another life time. Something in the back of her head whispered that Damon was holding her. This made sense, because he was the only other person out here with her.
She relaxed a little, feeling him relax with her now that he knew they were all right. Neither of them were thinking of anything, she could feel that, other than knowing that they were OK, and that the horse probably needed some water. Damon slid off, and helped Bonnie down, and as her feet touched the ground she realized she wouldn't be able to hold herself up.
She collapsed in his arms.