Author's Note: Yay! Loved the responses from the prologue; I'm glad that you guys are excited about the story. Just a heads up that this story will contain time jumps (flashbacks, etc.) but you will be aware of what time period everything is taking place. Well, without further ado, he's the first official chapter of Decisions.

Present Day

Enzo stared aimlessly at Elena's coffin, contemplating what he would do if she happened to awaken from her slumber. The moment her eyes would open would mark the death of the love of his life, Bonnie Bennett. She had been missing for about a year, and none of her friends in Mystic Falls had the slightest idea at where she could be. They weren't sure if she had been abducted, or if she had simply run away.

Caroline theorized that she had met someone else and ran off with him. Enzo didn't dare believe it—he knew how much she loved him. There was a brief period where they had broken up due to mild issues, but their love prevailed and they came back stronger than ever. He wouldn't allow himself to consider that possibility.

Stefan theorized that she was in hiding from a supernatural being unknown to the group. He felt that she probably wanted to protect them from whomever or whatever it was that was after her, so she left no trace of where she could be. Enzo slightly considered that option, knowing better than anyone else that Bonnie was completely capable of doing so. Even then, he gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Damon theorized that she was simply fed up with all of them. He shed light to the fact that they absentmindedly used her to their own benefit on several occasions, and she had grown tired of it. Enzo couldn't deny that he weighed that option heavily compared to the others. One of the things that intrigued him about Bonnie was her strength and bravery. He commented on several occasions that she was worth so much more than what her friends gave her credit for. A tremendous reason why their relationship was able to blossom on a romantic level was because he had seen something in her that no one else seemed to notice.

He slowly rose from the wooden chair, peering down into the casket. As long as Elena's eyes were shut, there was still hope in his heart. He was going to find his girlfriend, and he wouldn't dare stop until he did.

…

Enzo stormed into the Salvatore mansion and headed straight for the kitchen. He watched as Damon set up a line of shot glasses, twisting the cap off of a fresh bottle of Bourbon.

"Are you throwing some sort of party?" Enzo questioned. Damon looked up, slightly startled by Enzo's appearance. He shrugged him off as he released the contents of the bottle into the mini glasses.

"You could say that," he muttered, taking hold of one of the shots. He downed it seconds later, barely wincing from the strong taste.

"Where are the rest of your party guests?" he asked sarcastically, staring at the several shots that remained. Damon grabbed another glass and mirrored his earlier action.

"These shots go out to my dear friends Grumpy, Sleepy, Dopey, Sneezy, Doc and Bashful. Unfortunately, Happy couldn't make it," he spat, gulping down another. Enzo watched him intently as he inched his way toward him. He understood that Damon was hurting, just as he was. Damon and Bonnie had grown to be best friends, and her absence affected him just as much as it did Enzo. It was a sensitive topic that neither of them enjoyed discussing, so they found ways to cope with it on their own.

Enzo grabbed a shot from the table, watching as Damon shot him a fiery glare. He downed it without a second thought, slightly jarred by the toxic taste—he wasn't much of a drinker.

"I miss her too," Enzo whispered, setting the glass down on the table. Damon paused briefly, caught off guard by the mention of Bonnie's disappearance.

"Did I tell you that you could drink my liquor?" he asked, dismissing his prior words. Talking about Bonnie hurt too much, which is why he drank—it was a distraction.

"Damon," Enzo spoke, unfazed by his words. He knew that he was merely putting up a front.

"I mean, if you'd ask, I wouldn't mind. It's just common courtesy," he continued, grabbing the last shot. He wiggled his eyebrows tauntingly at Enzo before ridding the glass of its contents.

"We're going to have to talk about this sooner or later," he demanded, growing tired of Damon's pointless games. He could sense the heated aura from Damon as they stared at each other fixedly.

"We don't have to talk about anything," Damon affirmed, dragging the words out agonizingly slow. It angered Enzo.

"You guys can continue to pretend like she never fucking existed but you're not making things any better!" he shouted. Damon slammed the shot glass against the tile, watching as it shattered into a million pieces.

"What the hell do you expect me to do? I tried to find her; I looked everywhere I could I have possibly imagined! Tell me what the fuck you want from me?" he yelled back as his face turned a dark shade of red. He was clearly still dealing with the situation on his own, and his coping method wasn't doing him any justice. He missed her just as much as he did the day that he found out she was gone.

"She's not dead, Damon," Enzo responded. "She's still out there."

"Yeah? Well she might as well be, because she's made sure of it that we'll never fucking see her again," Damon retorted. Enzo allowed those words to sink in as his eyes fell to the floor. Everyone had given up hope except for him.

"I guess we don't have anything to talk about, then," Enzo finally said, backing up instinctively. Damon avoided his gaze as he twisted the top off of the bottle once again.

"If you don't mind, I have a party to get back to," Damon let out as he angrily filled the glasses back up to their tips. Enzo shook his head slowly as he exited the kitchen, making his way toward the front door. He couldn't believe that Damon, of all people, had given up on the idea of ever seeing Bonnie again. It infuriated him, but he realized what that meant—he had to work all the more harder to ensure that Bonnie returned to Mystic Falls.

…

Damon lay across the couch, passed out from the numerous bottles of Bourbon that he had managed to consume. The evidence of his binge was sprawled across the living room with traces of shot glasses and broken glass shards.

Stefan inched his way into the living room, turning up his nose at the display. He couldn't deny the fact that this was something that he was unfortunately used to; Damon was a mess after Bonnie's disappearance, and it worried Stefan incredibly. While he personally missed the witch, he felt confident in the fact that Bonnie wouldn't have abandoned them if it weren't for a valid purpose. Even then, he wondered what had actually happened to her.

He trailed over to Damon's passed out body, tapping him lightly. He received no response. He shook him this time, adding extra force. Still nothing.

He grabbed a bottle from the table, examining the tiny amount that remained. He contemplated his actions before dumping the rest of its contents onto Damon's face. He shot up instinctively as he reached for the bat that sat next to the couch. Stefan backed up, alarmed at Damon's current stance. He had the bat above his head, aimed in Stefan's direction. After Damon realized that it was Stefan who woke him, he lowered the bat slowly.

"Everything alright, brother?" Stefan asked warily. Damon's dilated pupils slowly adjusted to his surroundings as his blurry vision sharpened.

"Everything's just grand," Damon slurred as he tossed the bat to the side. Stefan made his way over to the bat, kicking it across the room and out of Damon's view. This wasn't the first time that Stefan had caught Damon sleeping next to dangerous objects. Last time, it was a tire iron.

It worried him that Damon had started sleeping with weapons next to him, because he had no idea why. He wasn't even able to ask due to Damon's consistent drinking pattern. He'd never receive an audible response from him.

"Maybe you should take it easy on the Bourbon," Stefan recommended as he inched closer to his brother. Damon stepped back and raised his hands in defense.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do," he spat hazily. "You and Enzo need to do me a favor and just leave me the hell alone."

"We're worried about you, Damon," Stefan responded calmly. He hadn't even known that Enzo stopped by, but he knew that out of everyone, Damon was taking Bonnie's disappearance the hardest.

"Don't you have something else that you can do with your life? Go worry about what color wallpaper Caroline is going to be bitching about for your guys' new apartment. Don't worry about me, alright?" Damon spoke. Stefan pretended to be unaffected by his words.

"Bonnie wouldn't have wanted you to be like this," Stefan whispered. Fire flickered in Damon's eyes as he clenched his teeth.

"Don't tell me what she would have wanted. I think I know better than anyone what she would have wanted," he shot back. Stefan narrowed his eyes confusedly.

"What are you saying?" he asked. Damon laughed out roughly as his mind reflected on the memories of Bonnie that he tried so hard to suppress.

"I loved her," he whispered after a long while of silence. Stefan gasped lightly, alarmed to hear those words come from Damon's mouth. He wasn't exactly sure of where his words were coming from, but they were dangerous nonetheless.

"Damon, listen to me," he began, standing directly in front of him. "I don't care how drunk you are… never say those words again. Do you hear me?"

Damon stared at him blindly as he refused to meet his gaze. He couldn't handle all of the Bonnie talk that kept occurring that day; he needed to get away from it.

"If you need me, I'll be passed out on the bathroom floor," he grumbled as he roughly brushed past Stefan.

Stefan's eyes lingered after his brother as he watched him exit.

I loved her.

Stefan understood that he could have meant anything by it, but for a moment, he considered something that he hadn't allowed himself to properly dwell on. Had there been something more between Damon and Bonnie that no one knew about?

He shook his head quickly, completely dismissing the thought.

Bonnie was with Enzo and Damon was still helplessly in love with Elena. There was no way that anything remotely romantic could have had the chance to develop between the two.

At least, he hoped.

…

Bonnie sighed heavily as the persistent cries rang from the baby monitor. She had finally managed to close her eyes for the first time that day; since the birth of Eliza, Bonnie could count with one hand the amount of hours that she had slept.

She pulled herself out of bed and pushed her feet into the small nursery, switching on the light. Eliza was wailing helplessly as her tiny eyes searched around the room confusedly. Her three-month-old curiosity was at its peak, and Bonnie knew that her baby was extraordinary. She was a Bennett, after all.

She slowly lifted the infant from the crib, cradling her to her chest.

"Shhh, it's okay; mommy's here," she whispered as she rocked the child soothingly. She kissed the top of her head, reveling in the beauty of Eliza's smooth curls. Her cries let up as swayed her pacifyingly. She drawled her head back to stare at Eliza, smiling softly at the serene look on her face. She was so beautiful; from her luminous tanned skin, to her piercing hazel eyes, she was truly radiant.

Bonnie walked over to the nursery's rocking chair, relaxing into it softly. She stared at the clock, taking note that it was a little past eight p.m. Her eyes shifted to the window as she stared out into the atmosphere around her. After her abrupt escape, she knew that she had to go into hiding in a place where no one would think to look for her. Her gut landed her on Macquarie Island.

It was a remote island in Australia with a rough population of 20. The island itself was beautiful, and while it was lonely, Bonnie knew that she had everything that she needed right there in her arms.

Even though she left for her and Eliza's safety, she couldn't deny the incredible ache that lingered in her chest. It devastated her to know that she'd never be able to see her friends again. It broke her heart even further when she realized that Enzo would never be able to see his beautiful baby girl.

Some days, she caught herself feeling selfish. She could only imagine the Hell that her friends were enduring; having such a close friend disappear without a trace was definitely a tragedy, and she hated that she had to be the one to put them through something so horrific. Then, she was reminded of why she did so. If Eliza had any hopes at leading a normal life, she had to be as far away from the supernatural as possible. If Bonnie knew anything, she knew that it was her sole duty to protect her child, and she'd do anything to ensure Eliza's safety.

She looked down, comforted to see that Eliza had fallen back asleep. It was only a matter of time before she'd wake again, so Bonnie decided to take advantage of the moment. She cozied her head against the chair as her eyes fell closed. With the clear image of Enzo's smiling face and Damon's cunning smirk etched into her head, she fell off into a deep sleep.

Author's Note: What are you guys thinking of the story so far? Please let me know in a review!