Honesty is the best thing for any relationship. Don't you agree? If you don't have honesty in a communication the relationship falls apart. Without honesty there can be no trust. How can I trust you, Bonnie, trust your feelings for me if you're not honest? are you still seeing him? The drunk? Do you still see him? Love him? Have sex with him? Do you give him your body, Bonnie, the body that by all rights should belong to me? How could you do this? How could you hurt us this way? I TRUSTED YOU. TRUSTED YOU. I GAVE YOU EVERYHTING AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO? SNEAK AROUND WITH THAT DRUNK WHO BROKE YOUR HEART? I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THAT, I REALLY DID. HE CHEATED ON YOU, BROKE YOUR HEART, KILLED YOUR EGO, MASACRED YOUR SELF-ESTEEM, AND DIMINISHED YOUR SELF-WORTH. HE'S A CONFUSED, IMPULSIVE, SELFISH DRUNK AND I SEE THE DISAPPOINTMENT IN YOUR EYES EVERYTIME YOU LOOK AT HIM. HE'S SHATTERED YOU. I'VE LOVED YOU. AND WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU HURT ME THIS WAY FOR HIM? YOU ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT! I KNOW YOU ARE! WHY DO YOU DO THIS? WHY DO YOU HURT YOURSELF OVER AND OVER FOR HIM? WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU ALLOW HIM TO STEAL YOUR SHINE AND MAKE YOU LESS PERFECT. AND NOW WE MUST ALL PAY. YOU. ME. AND HIM.

Bonnie closed her eyes and silently handed the note over to Jesse Boldari. This latest one had been sitting on the Gilbert doorstep and she was lucky to have gotten to it before anyone else could see it. This one had been so different. Angry, yelling, punishing. Before the letters had possessed an air of devotion, an unhealthy opinion of perfection. They had essentially been love letters to her beauty, her intelligence, her bravery, her heart. This one was accusing. And because he seemed less enamored, Bonnie had been afraid enough to have gone straight to Jesse. She opened her eyes to watch him read the note. He never changed expression, never gave any indication that he was the least bit affected. For whatever reason, his cold impassiveness seemed to steady her.

"That was a clear threat to Jeremy, wasn't it?"

Bonnie watched Jesse slowly fold the letter and look her in the eyes, "Yes. He's officially gone over the deep end into insanity."

"He's always been insane." Bonnie felt the need to correct him.

"No. Before he held an unhealthy obsession with you, but he's been too cold, too calculated, too specific to have been really mad. At the edge, yes, over it? No. He had a clear plan and that was to insert himself into your life by steadily removing the obstacles he considered to be competition. He didn't kill too often, nor did he kill randomly. That shows control. No insane person has any control."

Bonnie took a deep breath as the full implications of what he was saying sunk in. The guy hadn't been completely crazy, just cold-blooded. what did it mean for them all, now that he had gone over the deep end?

"What did you make of the letter?"

Jesse looked at Bonnie for a second before he continued. She was handling it, taking it all in, processing it, and dealing with it. Because he respected her enough to understand that she could handle all of it, he continued.

"His mind has completely shattered. The writing here starts out calmly enough and quickly escalades into a full blown rant. The use of all capital letters suggest a childishness, a brain not fully developed. The youthful whining, school yard bully tactics, taunting threats to get what he wants? It all suggests to me that the guy, at some point, has simply stopped growing within the world, and instead built his own place in his mind where he was allowed to never fully grow up. He has reverted back to that place."

"How much trouble is Jeremy in?"

"As much as he's always been in. But to be completely honest with you, I feel like you are in the most immediate danger, Bonnie."

"He wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh, yes. Yes he would. Right now he wants to punish you, wants to see you hurt. he wants to see you suffer. Part of him doesn't see himself as worthy enough to be with you, and so he feels threatened. He wants you to associate betrayal with pain. a sort of lesson for you to never do it again."

Bonnie whipped around and buried her face in her hands. It was just all too much. She honestly didn't know how much more of this she could stand. Matt had been attacked and lay in a hospital, Liz had been brutally murdered, Caroline was destroyed, no one had seen Stefan in days, Damon was on edge, Elena a nervous wreck and now Jeremy's life was on the line. Because of her. All of this because some sick bastard had an obsession with her. How could she ever look her friends in the eye again?

Jesse was silent as he watched Bonnie cry as if the world were ending. Great earth shattering, body wracking sobs that threatened to tear him up inside. He started to reach a hand out to her but thought the better of it. Pity, even sympathy, he knew was not something Bonnie needed or would accept. So he simply stood and waited until she had cried herself out. When she had, he handed her a napkin and then continued.

"Gilbert has demanded that a guard be put on you, and I have to agree after this. He's already paid, and the paper work should be wrapped up by the end of the day. He'll be on you morning til night, 24/7 and will need a room to sleep in and things like that, where ever you will be staying until this is over. Gilbert has requested that you remain at the Gilbert house-"

"No. No way. After this, there is no way I'm staying at Jeremy's house, it's too risky."

Good luck convincing Gilbert of that, Jesse thought it but didn't say it out loud. After talking with the kid a few times himself, Jesse had no doubt that Gilbert would get out of Bonnie what he wanted in the end. He didn't know much about the kid when it came to other matters, but when it came to Bonnie's safety, the guy was a bull dog.

"That'll be something the two of you discuss."

Bonnie sighed and gathered up her coat. They were nowhere. She knew it, felt it in her bones. People were dying and disappearing and they were no closer than they had been. It just wasn't fair.

"Hey."

Bonnie turned back at Jesse's quiet voice.

"We'll get him."

Bonnie was silent as she studied him. Tall, strong, alone. For reasons she couldn't understand, she totally believed him, totally believed in him. "Thank you, Jesse."

Jesse smiled as she walked out. It had been the first time since he's known her, that she'd called him by his first name. *

The snow was absolutely ridiculous. Bonnie hunched further in her fur jacket as she made her way swiftly to her car. Well, as swiftly as anyone could in 6 inches of snow. It was ludicrous! Who could be bothered to walk in snow when they were buried up to their legs in it? Ridiculous! Bonnie punched her car keys into her car lock aggressively and slammed the door once she was inside. Small spurts of anger that did nothing to soothe her. Damn snow. Starting the car, Bonnie eased onto the road. Thankfully she was the only passenger on the road. The snow was such that the outside world looked like one great wall of white. It was like living in a snow globe that has just been top sized. Bonnie's fingers tightened on the steering wheel as she sped up. She would have to speak with Jeremy, let him know that it couldn't continue between them. It killed her. absolutely killed her. They were finally getting back to a good place, talking, laughing, just being together like they hadn't been able to in too long. And now she would have to tell him to leave her alone. Because some asshole was too obsessed with her to see that he wouldn't stand a chance in a million years. The thought of it had Bonnie speeding up a little bit more.

She'd have to face Caroline one of these days. Her friend hadn't uttered a word since they had found out that the mutilated hand had belonged to her mother, and Bonnie had never seen Caroline so dejected. It scared her to see her friend so devoid of life, and because that fear choked her and threatened to steal her breath, she sped up some more.

25...26...27..31...35...42...50...

The road was deserted and so Bonnie just kept going. So many lives ruined. For nothing. When her turn came up, Bonnie put her foot on the brakes and pushed down. Nothing happened. Frowning she pressed down harder and felt her brakes fall uselessly to the floor. Her mouth dropped open as she sped past her exit. For one heart stopping moment, Bonnie was completely frozen, she couldn't move. Her brakes had just fallen to the floor and she was driving at 52 miles per hour. Her hands tightened on the wheel and Bonnie forced herself not to panic. She was on a high cliff and she would need all of her focus to navigate the swift turns and allies that the bend had. Normal cars drove the cliff as 25 mph, Bonnie took it at 52. Brain working frantically for a way out, Bonnie glanced at her gas meter. quarter of a tank. She wouldn't last that long. Bonnie let herself go for just a second and cried and screamed until her throat was sore. Then she began to plan. Making a fast left turn, she headed up the Express way toward the forest. She sent up another silent prayer that no one was on the roads. Making her way into the blessed deserted streets, Bonnie drove onto the pavement, and straight into the woods and to the biggest tree she could find. Moment of truth. Bonnie kept her eyes wide opened and focused all the way until the last possible moment.

"I love you, Jeremy."

and she crashed. The piles and piles of snow, the very snow that she had been complaining about only minutes before, was the one thing that saved her life. *

ARE YOU HAPPY? HUH? DID YOU THINK I WANTED TO DO THAT? I'M SHAKING, CRYING LIKE A LITTLE GIRL! I CAN'T STOP. I CAN'T STOP BONNIE! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME DO THAT TO YOU. I LOVE YOU! ALL I WANT IS YOUR HAPPINESS. YOU THINK I LIKE SEEING YOU LIKE THAT? I COULD HAVE LOST YOU! COULD STILL LOSE YOU! I NEED YOU, CAN'T YOU SEE THAT? STOP BEING SO STUPID! FOR THAT DRUNK! THE ONE WHO CHEATED, LIED, HURT YOU! DO YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT IF HE COULD HAVE THAT SMELLY GHOST THAT HE WOULD CHOOSE YOU? HE WOULDN'T! HE WOULDN'T BECAUSE HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU LIKE I DO! AND NOW LOOK AT YOU. HURT BECAUSE OF HIM, IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE OF HIM. HE DID THIS TO YOU! HE'S HURT YOU! OH GOD OH GOD. HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU TAKE? HE KEEPS HURTING YOU AND NOW HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOU KILLED. LOOK WHAT HE'S DONE. HE'LL PAY. I PROMISE YOU, BONNIE, I WON'T LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS. YOU ARE SO FRAGILE, SO AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL AND HE ALMOST GOT YOU KILLED. HE WILL PAY. I WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE. I promise.