A/N: So sorry about the lack of an update. To make up for it I have two chapters that will be updated this week. And here is the first one. Sorry if there are any grammatical errors wanted to update as soon as possible.

Chapter 11

"I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it." ~Unknown

"Lies were like acid, corrosive: They could dissolve trust in a heartbeat." ~Rob Thurman, Nightlife

Josh sat outside on the back porch enjoying the breakfast that Jasmine had prepared. Looking over the beautiful yard he saw Bonnie and Damon sitting at another bench talking to one another. The vampire had his hands entwined with hers. The two were smiling and he figured that something funny must've been said.

His eyes moved to the curve of Bonnie's lips as she smiled. The smile that could make him do anything that she asked. He watched as the two were having an adorable moment.

"Hey man. What are you doing?" The sound of Nate's voice rang through his ear. Turning his attention to his best friend he smiled.

"Nothing just enjoying this wonderful breakfast your wife made."

"Don't lie to me man I've been watching you for the past five minutes. And my wife's food may be delicious but that's not what you were looking at. Your eyes were on something or shall I say someone else." Nate's eyes flicked over to Damon and Bonnie still embracing each other.

"That obvious."

"Yeah besides you had that stupid grin on your face. That's only present when Bonnie is near."

"I do not have a stupid grin."

"Oh yes you do." Evan said taking a seat on the other side of Nate. "It's sorta goofy and cute at the same time." Josh turned his head away from his friends. They always teased him when it came to Bonnie.

"So what's with the long face?"Evan said placing a fork full of eggs in his mouth.

"A few days ago, Sara asked me something." Evan and Nate waited while he continued. "She asked me to either stay away from Bonnie or lose her for good."

"Ohhhhh." The two said in unison.

"So that's why you're looking at Bonnie. What did you tell her?" Evan said interested in his friend's decision.

"I haven't answered yet but what do you think I should say?" He asked his friends.

"Look I love you both. Bonnie's my cousin and you're my best friend but you're with Sara now. You should do whatever she asks of you." Josh knew that Nate was saying the right thing but that's not what he wanted to hear. "Besides after this is all over I'm pretty sure we won't be hearing from Bonnie anymore."

"See I don't agree with the first part. Bonnie will always mean something to you. So that isn't right of her to say that Bonnie can't be in your life at all." Josh dropped his head into his arms. "I mean even if she leaves again you would probably want to keep in touch with her this time around."

"I can't make up my mind and neither of you are helping."

"How about this. Do you love Sara?" Nate asked. Josh looked through the window of the house to see Sara talking to Jasmine and Elena. She was an elegant beauty. She was sophisticated and she enjoyed almost everything he did. Books, culture the arts. He could talk to her about that kind of stuff.

"Yes. I love her."

"Okay and do you still love Bonnie?" Evan asked. Looking back at her smiling, he didn't have to think about it. His answer was automatic.

"Yeah I still do." There's was plenty of things he loved about Bonnie. Even though they were both witches they were still completely different. While he had his cultured life Bonnie lived the life of someone loved pop culture. He loved books and Bonnie watched the movies of those books. But even after all that she gave him an energy he didn't know he had. Something that bonded them in a different type of way.

"Well I guess you have your answer."

"Which is?" Josh asked not sure if his friends were trying to help him or trying to confuse the hell out of him.

"It's obvious so if you can't figure it out we have a bigger problem on our hands." Josh sipped his drink as he looked over to his friends.

"Dude either way you're screwed."

"Thanks for that."

"It's what I'm here for." Evan smiled as he took another bite out of his eggs.

Bonnie and Damon had decided that today would just be about them. She wanted to spend some alone time with her man without the interference of any other people. But honestly both had different motives for wanting to spend alone time together. So after they had breakfast out back they planned on going out and seeing what they could do. Bonnie had been talking to someone in the hall when Damon heard Stefan come in. "Hey Stefan. How can I help you today?"

"You sound happy."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason. I'm happy that you finally are." Stefan leaned up against the wall. He seemed to be figuring out if she should say something else. "I never told you that and I think it's something you should know."

"Is that all?" He asked his brother who moved to the door and shut it some. Damon didn't know what his brother was about to say but he gave him his full attention.

"I have to tell you something that I think you should know."

"What is it?"

"It's about Bonnie. You know that day when they went out to some club. I'm not supposed to be telling you this. But Bonnie was caught with another man."

"What do you mean by caught?"

"She and him were in a VIP suite?"

"Where they alone?"

"No, there was a stripper and a few other people."

"Well maybe they were just friends." Damon said not paying much attention to his brother now.

"All the girls saw her. Elena had promised me not tell you but she was letting some vampire rub and feel up on her."

"Why would she do that? There's no reason."

"I don't know."

"I know you're trying to help me Stefan but I don't have anything to worry about when it comes to Bonnie. I love her and she loves me."

"I know that Damon but aren't you a bit curious."

"Maybe but Bonnie's a beautiful woman. It's not to be suspected."

"What happened to the man that I heard used to get into bar fights because of something like that?" Stefan asked curious as to why his brother wasn't ready to hunt down the vampire and decapitate him.

"I'm trying not to be like that anymore."

"Well you chose a good time to do so." Stefan said still not satisfied with his brothers response to the information.

"I know you are just trying to look out for me but you don't have to anymore. Besides I'm the big brother."

"Doesn't mean anything to me. I'll be looking out for you until the day I face the true death." Damon smiled at his brother who returned the gesture. "Please be careful. Like you said I'm trying to look out for you. I'm your brother and I know you better than anybody. If you have a problem with something you won't deal with it until it's too much for you to handle by yourself."

"Thank you brother for telling me but it's not a problem. I'm not insecure. Not anymore."

"Okay. I just thought I should tell you because we are brothers first and foremost and I don't want you getting hurt. Just know this one more thing. Please don't let your love for her blind you from other things." The blue eyed vampire stared eyes wide at his brother as he sat on the edge of the bed. Those were almost the exact same words that Alaric and Anna had been saying to him. He wasn't going to let them get to him. "I'll leave you alone." Stefan left his brother sitting there glass of blood in his hand. He hadn't been paying attention when the witch had walked in.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked standing by the bed. She headed to the mirror and picked up a pair of earrings as he answered.

"Yeah. Just let me know when you're ready. I'll be downstairs." Bonnie nodded as she continued to put her earring in. When she picked up the other earring and looked in the mirror she could see Josh staring in back at her.

"Getting ready to go out?"

"Yeah, I'm taking Damon to Tony's for Dinner."

"Bonnie do you think we can talk."

"Sure. What's wrong?"

"Not here. Do you remember the bridge we use to go to when we dated?"

"The one by Alcove River."

"Meet me there later at around 9."

"Is everything okay?" She stopped and turned to look at him. He placed his hands in his pocket and nodded.

"There's something I need to tell you and I don't want you to hear it from anybody but me."

"Okay I'll be there."

"Thank you." He walked out the room and saw Sara standing there. She slammed the door shut to their room and he dropped his head and went downstairs.

Throughout their time together today Bonnie could feel that Damon's thoughts were elsewhere and he was barely here with her. She figured he was trying to be interested in whatever she had to say but had something else on his mind.

Damon knew he wasn't paying Bonnie much attention but his brother's words were sinking in along with the psychics and Anna's. They were all warning him about Bonnie. Plus the terrible thing was he did feel something was off with Bonnie and this wasn't a recent feeling, it had been there ever since that morning they had come home after killing Klaus, Kat, and Grace. Looking up at her at the table, she smiled at him and he could feel the suspicion slipping away. The way it always did when she looked at him.

There was a silence that wasn't helping Damon's dilemma. To prove that this feeling inside of him wasn't wrong he figured he could test the waters but before he could try he was interrupted.

The waiter walked up to the table with a bottle of champagne in his hand. "This is from the owner. It's on the house."

"Why?" Bonnie asked smiling as Damon broke away from his stupor.

"The owner said he wanted to congratulate you and your boyfriend for being together for this long." The waiter read Bonnie and Damon's face and knew something was off. "Are you not Bonnie and Joshua?"

Damon angrily looked away and tried to compose himself, "Are you fucking kidding me?" he said lowly but the waiter and Bonnie could still hear him.

Bonnie tried nicely to fix the problem. "Yes I'm Bonnie but Josh and I aren't together anymore. This is my boyfriend of 2 years."

"3." He corrected her.

"Two continuous years."

"I'm so sorry mam."

"It's okay." The man left with an angry Damon looking at Bonnie. "Damon, don't be mad. It was a harmless mistake."

"No a harmless mistake would've been bringing me the wrong sauce. The owner of this restaurant just mistook me for you ex. That doesn't sit well in my book."

"It's not that big a deal." He didn't like that she brushed the mistake off like it was nothing. The two sat in silence for a minute before Bonnie spoke again.

"Damon?"

"Yeah" he spoke eyes moving to her and away from his glass.

"I thought you should know that I'm going to meet Josh tonight after we finish here at Alcove River."

"Really you tell me this right now. What does he want?"

"I don't know but it seems important."

"So you have no idea what this man wants but you are going to meet him somewhere away from seeing eyes."

"I trust Josh."

"Doesn't mean I do."

"He hasn't given you any reason not to."

"You mean besides the reason that I can see he is still in love with you."

"No he's not. He's with Sara. He loves her."

"That doesn't mean a damn thing." Damon's voice had risen so much that the people sitting at the table next to them were staring.

"Can you calm down?"

"Sure. I don't know why you told me anyway. I don't know why you didn't just keep it a secret." Bonnie ignored him as the waiter came back and the check was paid for. They were now sitting in the car and she could feel that Damon needed to get something off his chest.

"Is there something you need to say to me?" He looked over to her.

"Yeah I do." He could disprove his brother right now by asking her this. "Does the name Howie ring any bells?" She had looked taken aback by the question and Damon could see that. She tried playing it off by looking out the window.

"No. I'm not sure what they are talking about. Maybe they got a little too drunk." He couldn't believe that she was lying right to his face and what did she mean they. His brother wouldn't have come to him if he wasn't sure about this. Hell if Elena was lying to Stefan he would've known and never came to tell him. Damon thought he could keep trying because just maybe she hadn't heard him clearly.

"So you've never met anyone named Howie."

"Maybe. I don't remember."

"Are you lying to me Bonnie?"

"Don't you trust me?" Damon had stopped the car by the river and he looked down to see Josh standing by the water. Glancing from him to Bonnie. He sighed and answered her.

"I trust you Bonnie." She smiled at him as she leaned over to kiss him chastely on his lips. "I'll see you later okay?"

"Okay." He answered watching her open her door.

"Bye." Damon watched Bonnie as she left him there. Starting the ignition and turning to go back to the boarding house he was listening to his gut and he didn't like what it was telling him now. Because it didn't go along with what he just said. It was telling him that she was hiding something from him and he didn't trust the woman he loved.

Josh sat on the dock looking down at the water. He had heard Bonnie and Damon pull up and turned around as the two said their goodbyes. His decision had been made and he knew what he had to do.

He could hear her sighing as he walked up to him. She seemed pressured by something. "Is everything alright? You seem a little stressed?"

"I'll be fine."She stopped a few feet away from him and tried to compose herself. "I can't believe this place it looks so different."

"Remember how we use to go kayaking down there with everyone."

"Kayaking wasn't you're sport." Bonnie said finally standing next to him.

"I was good at it."

"No you weren't."

"Okay but I was good at other sports."

"Like?" She waited for an answer as she ogled at him.

Josh Stuttered as he thought of a sport he was good at. "I'm great at soccer."

"No Evan's great at soccer, Nate is okay, you can barely kick the ball without tripping over your own foot. So scratch soccer off."

"Okay how about basketball? I won that big snake didn't I?"

"Your okay but Jasmine still has you beat."

"Baseball?"

"Meagan and Nate."

"Football?"

"Nate and Evan. Even Meagan has an arm on her."

"You know what I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Why you bought it up? How about I find a sport you can do really well? Umm let me see?" Josh waited as Bonnie continued to think.

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"Wait I got one, chess."

"That's not a sport."

"I think of it as a sport. It's a competition between two sides to see who can trap the King."

"No. Choose another one."

"Don't be a baby about it?" Bonnie said laughing as she crossed her arms. "It's nothing wrong with being good at not so manly sports."

"Archery."

"What?"

"I'm good at archery." She shrugged her shoulders. "And paintball."

"Since you're so sensitive about the subject I'll give you archery."

"What about paintball?"

"Meagan still beats you at that. And I'm only giving you a little extra when it comes to archery but Jazz is real close on that too."

"I can't win with you can I."

"I don't know why you keep trying." The two shared a laugh. Bonnie had actually felt better after her dinner with Damon. That's the thing she loved about Josh. He could still relax her and be her friend even if they weren't together anymore. She had forgotten how fun it was to actually have a normal argument and it be kind of fun. She missed it and dealing with Damon she could use a friend in her life like Josh, especially with Matt so far away.

"So why'd you call me out here to have a conversation."

"Before we get to that do you remember the night I first bought you here?"

"It was the first time you told me you loved me."

"And that I always would." He finished. "Sara doesn't want me to spend time around you anymore."

"What? Why?"

"I don't really know but she has made her decision. If this is what she wants then I have to grant her that but I don't like the fact that we won't be spending any time together."

"So what's your choice?"

"Before I give you my answer I have one question. Do you ever think about us?" Bonnie looked deep into his green eyes. Of course she still thought about him. Occasionally when she picked up a certain book he loved or when she was doing her magic. And though she loved Damon there was a small flame she would hold in her heart for Josh that would most likely never go out.

"Will this affect your choice?"

"Maybe it will, Maybe it won't." He said honestly.

"No." She finally let out and she knew that wasn't what he was expecting to hear. Truthfully she wasn't expecting to lie to him.

"Well I guess this won't matter anyway." He answered not looking in her eyes and she knew he was hurt by her answer.

"So we aren't going to be allowed to speak to each other anymore." Bonnie said her eyes filling with sadness.

"Not like we use to. No."

"I don't understand why?"

"She doesn't think that I'm over you. And after thinking about it I don't either. I want to keep her in my life. Even if I have to give you up." Bonnie could feel the tear come down her cheek. Josh lifted her face and wiped it away with his thumb.

"That's why you bought me here, to end our friendship at the place where it all started."

"Poetic huh." He said with a grin.

"So you're letting me go."

"I wouldn't say that. I'll never be able to let you go after all that we've been through. I'm just trying to move on with my life. Like you have."

"Does she make you happy?"

"She does."

"Good because if she ever does anything to hurt you I'll turn her ass to dust."

"I know you would."

"I want you to know that even though you may not love me anymore. I still do love you and you'll always be my soul mate and my other half. My bunny." At the mention of her old nickname new tears formed. "I know you love Damon and he makes you happy. You deserve it more than anybody I know."

"So do you."

"Yeah I just wish we could have shared that happiness together."

"So this is really the last we'll speak to each other." Saying it again because she couldn't, no wouldn't believe it.

"Yeah, I wish we didn't have to stop talking to each other."

"Me too." He brought her into his arms and hugged her tightly. Bonnie knew this was the right thing to do. Maybe if she told him she didn't think about him anymore Josh would finally be happy. She didn't want him to wait another 8 years for a chance to be with her. He needed to move on and truthfully so did she.

Damon had been pacing and thinking about everything that had to deal with Bonnie and some things didn't add up. And the more he tried to forget about it something new popped up. "Hey sorry to bother you, Do you guys have Tylenol? I had an intense training today and I scraped me arm and sliced my leg up."

"I don't know. I know Bonnie has some type of pain reliever. You can check." Megan moved to the side drawer that he pointed to. Shuffling through the items she found a small medicine bottle in the back of the drawer. Examining the container she noticed it wasn't a name brand medicine. It had some logo on it that probably meant it was the cheap kind. Opening the bottle there were two pills that were so dark they could have been black. Maybe that's what the cheap stuff looks like. She shrugged it off and turned to Damon who she knew wasn't even really paying attention to her.

"It's only two left so I'm taking the whole bottle. Tell her I'll buy her a new one." As Megan walked out Damon focused back to his thoughts. He needed to know more about his girlfriend. Picking up his phone he scrolled to the second name at the top of his list and pressed call.

"Hello." He answered.

"Damon. Look I've been meaning to call and apologize about that night. It's just I think it's something off about Bonnie."

"Its fine Anna. I was actually calling to ask you to do me a favor. I need you to see if you can do some more digging on Bonnie." Damon heard silence on the other end of the phone. "Hello are you still there?"

"Are you sure Damon? I don't want to do anything that you'll regret later."

"Yes I need to know some answers that Bonnie's not giving me?"

"Like what?"

"Let's start with the year she left eight years ago and work from there. Call me when you find something." He hung up the phone and fell back on the bed. There were two ways this whole thing could end. Either this was him being crazy and it all being a part of his imagination. Or…or his gut and intuition were right all along. He was praying like hell that it was the latter of the two because the thought of not trusting someone you love was a feeling he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy.

A/N: So Bonnie lied to Damon, Stefan helps to ignite the distrust his brother feels for his lover, Josh made his decision (a stupid one might I add), What were those pills Meg took, Damon called in the troops and it looks like he may be getting his answers after all. So tell me what you think of this chapter or you know don't. It's up to you. Tootles!