Okay, so this is being posted later than I planned but with everything that's been happening over the last couple of days, I couldn't bring myself to upload it yet.. (RIP Cory Monteith)
Congrats to xXPrincess-of-DarknessxXx, who guessed correctly and got the sneak peek.
I feel inclined to warn you that there isn't really any Bonnie in this chapter, but she features quite heavily in the next one so hang tight, she'll be back.
Once again, I tried my best to stay true to Damon's character but he is quite a difficult person to write and as aforementioned this story calls for fluffiness..
So without any further ado, Miss. Elena Gilbert and Mr. Stefan Salvatore..
~ Damon, Stefan and Co. ~
The next morning Stefan and Elena wandered into the kitchen only to find Damon sitting at the table sipping from a mug and glaring at Ms. Flowers. Upon seeing them he placed the mug down gently. "Thank god you're up. The batty old lady won't give me any straight answers. Stefan, she likes you. Talk some sense into her." He ranted, then picked the mug back up and continued his sipping.
Stefan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Elena simply rolled her eyes and proceeded to root in the fridge. At this moment Meredith and Matt entered the kitchen. Meredith's eyes zoned in on the mug in Damon's hands. Matt eyed the mug suspiciously. "Do we even want to know where you got that?" He asked cautiously.
"Probably not." Stefan, Meredith and Damon announced simultaneously. Damon smirked. Elena turned away to hide her smile at their playful banter.
"Whatever. It's too early for this." Meredith huffed and went to join Elena and Ms. Flowers, who were now cooking up breakfast. Matt leaned on the wall by the door, deciding he'd rather stand than sit at the table with Damon. Stefan, however, slumped into the chair opposite Damon.
"Damon… You never did tell us how you… came back?" It was more of a question than a statement.
"Well. To be perfectly honest, it's not a very exciting story. The juice, or whatever, from the exploded starball rained down on the moon and healed me. After a while I was able to move and I spent a while wondering around. I don't really know how long. There isn't really a way to tell time on that horrid planet. Anyway, I wandered for a while and eventually I must have found a door of something because there was this white light then Sage appeared. Oh, did I mention that I had no memory yet? Oh, well… I didn't. Then Sage cleaned me up, gave me blood and kept an eye on me until my memory returned fully. Then he sent me on my way and here I am. Any questions?" Damon's eyes flicked between each set of wide eyes in the room.
"Wait… How did you get your memory back?" Matt asked curiously.
"As I got stronger and drank more blood it came back in bits and pieces. That's why it took me so long to come back here. Fells Church was one of the last things to come back to me."
"But how could the starball heal you? You were dead Damon!" Elena squawked.
"Well Princess, obviously I wasn't dead enough." With that Damon pushed the empty mug away and stood from the table. "Well, if that's everything, I'm going to check on Redbird." He then strode from the room without another word.
Elena waited until they could hear his footsteps on the upstairs floorboards before speaking. "Okay, he is definitely hiding something."
~ Damon ~
Damon gazed intently at the small journal he must have stuffed into the bag. He knew he shouldn't invade her privacy, but if there was something in there that might help he had to read it. Stealing himself he perched in the chair by the bed and opened the first page.
Property of Bonnie McCullough.
Flicking through the pages Damon noticed that some entries were as far back as when he and Stefan first arrived in Fells Church. He noticed the first mention of his name. It was the first time they met. Well, the first that Bonnie could remember. As tempted as he was to read her first impression of him, he skipped forward. There were lengthily gaps after that, Bonnie not having time to write due everything that progressed after the Salvatore's arrival. Damon grimaced. They all would have been better off if he and Stefan had just stayed away.
Damon stopped when he came to the most recent entry. Yesterday. From the first line Damon knew he would regret reading it, but he was already hooked. It was like watching a horror movie. You don't want to watch but you can't look away. Once he finished he read it again, and again, and again. Finally his eyes scanned the page noticing where the words were slightly smudged from tears. He looked sorrowfully at the girl lying lifelessly on the bed. He could have saved her again. If only he had been a few hours earlier.
This was his fault. His death caused her so much pain and it was entirely his own fault. He should have known her feelings for him ran deeper than he had thought. Of course he knew that she had feelings for him but he figured it was just a crush, he should have known better. He shouldn't have used her and kissed her and mixed up her emotions like he did. The overwhelming guilt crushed him. How could he have let this happen to his precious little Redbird?
Then again, her burden of pain and guilt could have been lessened if Stefan and Elena hadn't blamed her for his death. They no doubt mourned his death with no regard or thought for what Bonnie must have been going through. After all it was inevitable that she would blame herself for his death. The last thing she need was her friends blaming her too. Fury boiled in deep within Damon as he thought more about how this situation could have been avoided if his little brother and Elena hadn't been so selfish.
Unable to hold in his rage anymore Damon stormed downstairs to the living room where the others were gathered.
"Oh Damon, we–" Elena cut herself short once she noticed the expression on Damon's face. Also recognising the look, Stefan tensed. An angry Damon was never good.
Damon stamped his way over and slapped the open journal down onto the coffee table. Elena's eyes widened when she noticed what it was and Stefan leaned in, his eyes already scanning the words.
Meredith looked outraged. "Hey-" She started but Damon cut her off with a furious glare.
"You might not be so mad at me Scary Mary when you find out that the reason Redbird is laying lifeless in that bed upstairs is because Stefan and Elena blamed her for my death. Read it and weep little brother, you and Princess here are the reason Bonnie even attempted that incantation." Elena had tears rushing down her cheeks already and Stefan just looked stunned. Meredith and Matt stared at them incredulously.
"Damon." Elena choked. "We…" Her own sob cut her off this time.
"You should have known that she would blame herself for my death! You should have supported her and reassured her, not shut her out! And don't pretend that either of you didn't know how she really felt about me! To be perfectly honest, I'm not really that surprised that Elena did, you only ever think of yourself, but I never thought you would treat your friends half as bad as you treat me and Stefan! And Stefan, for someone who feeds on bunnies because he cares too much about humans, you sure didn't seem to care an awful amount about Bonnie, who - by the way - is supposed to be your friend!" Damon shouted the entire speech as loudly as he could manage and by now Meredith and Matt had the diary between them furiously scanning through the words.
"Sure, I'll admit it, I'm no saint either. I haven't always treated Bonnie the best either, but at least I never pretended that I did. I treated her terribly. I used her for my own selfish reasons many times, but I also saved her life at every possible occasion to make up for how horribly I treated her. But you two, you act all high and mighty and act like you'd do anything for the people you care about. Well, apparently even I care more about Bonnie than you two." Damon took a deep breath. "If anyone wants me I'll be trying to figure out how to wake Bonnie up." He snatched the diary back out of Meredith's hands and stormed back up the stairs.
Meredith glanced between Stefan and Elena, taking in the guilt in their eyes as Elena curled into Stefan's arms and continued to cry. "You know, I think I'm going to go help him." Meredith tried to keep the venom out of her words, but she was incredibly mad at them right now and would rather spend time helping Damon. "You coming Matt?" Matt just nodded his head while he glared at Elena and Stefan. They made their way out of the room leaving a guilt-ridden Stefan and Elena behind.
x . x . x . x . x . x . x
Damon looked up from the journal as Meredith and Matt silently entered the room carrying a small pile of books each. They didn't say a word, just grabbed a book from the pile and found a space on the floor. Realizing that they weren't going to say anything Damon returned his attention to the small diary. He knew he was betraying Bonnie's privacy still but through her thoughts and memories was helping to distract him from the feelings that seemed to overwhelm him every time his gaze fell on her unconscious form. Her innocence and sometimes naivety made him struggle to refrain from chuckling.
He would never admit how startled he actually was when Ms. Flowers wrinkled hand laid lightly on his shoulder, seemingly out of nowhere. Where the hell did she come from?! Though he held on firmly to his blank mask, Damon knew that his eyes must have given him away as Ms. Flowers smiled apologetically at him.
"Don't fret my dear. It was not your fault, and I'm sure you'll figure something out soon." She winked at him before going to speak with Meredith and Matt. Damon's eyes narrowed. What did she mean by that? Once again Damon was positive that the old bat knew something that she wasn't telling them. The question was: why wasn't she telling them? Hmm…Shaking his head Damon decided to let it go for now. The old witch must know what she was doing. He may not trust her that much, but Bonnie did, so he let it go and returned once more to the book in his hands.
He was skimming through one of Bonnie's earlier entries when something caught his eye. It was just shortly after she had discovered her abilities. She was speaking of being able to have telepathic conversations with Meredith and Elena. Wait a minute… Damon flicked on to a later date. He had this earlier but it hadn't clicked in his head. Here Bonnie was recapping the events that had transpired since Elena had died. She mentioned having meetings with Spirit-Elena while she was sleeping, and when she was in a trance. That's it.
"What was that Damon?" Damon realized he must have whispered that thought aloud. Meredith, Matt and Ms. Flowers were staring at him expectantly.
He stood and strode over to the small group. They stood up too as he approached. "Here take a look at this, and this." He showed Meredith the pages he'd just been reading.
"Hmm… What-" She cut herself off as it all started to come together in her head. "You mean… You want to…" She trailed off. She turned to Ms. Flowers presuming that like always the old woman was several steps ahead. "Would it work?" She implored.
Damon turned to her then. "It might." She answered vaguely. That was apparently all the answer they were getting as she then ambled from the room, but it was enough to convince Damon. He had to at least give it a try.
"Wait. What am I missing here?" Matt was standing looking from Meredith to Damon with a confused expression on his face. Damon huffed and strode back to the bed. Meredith took that as her cue.
She glanced at Damon before turning fully to Matt. "Damon wants to try to enter Bonnie's mind."
Dun dun duuuuun! I expect some of you probably saw that coming?
Will Damon's plan work? What will Elena have to say about it? Find out in the next chapter..
I will try to finish it and post it up soon, but I may have bought three John Green books today so it might not go quite according to plan..
So anyway, let me know what y'all thought and I hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time, over and out!
P.S. Damon's little outburst, hmm?