If someone else shows their face at his door he's going to sell entry tickets, he thinks as he watches Matt walking towards the others, sitting on his sofa. The exchange of pleasantries is so boring that he tunes it out, but Jeremy's hand on Bonnie's knees makes him grind his teeth.

The boy pats her knee and holds it in a supportive gesture. Damon would like to tear his hand off his wrist and use it to play retrieve with the dog. He'll buy one just for that and call him stupid ex-boyfriend.

He lost half their deep and meaningful comforting conversation while tearing limbs of Jeremy apart in his mind but he catches on the important part.

"She just needs time to process what really happened," Elena says.

"You know her," Matt cuts in with his perpetual good smile, "She can't really hold a grudge more than a few hours, and not against you. I'm pretty sure she's already sorry about what happened between you two."

This gets him a smile from Bonnie and she mutters a thanks.

"She got rid of her cellphone and Tyler's when they left town so there was no way to contact her when... I mean, after you got better," the young Gilbert says.

The scene would be boring him to tears if it wasn't that Jeremy's hand is still there, on Bonnie's knee. Seriously, is it glued?

Damon feel the muscles in his shoulders relaxing a bit when the boy takes away his hand, but then he placed it in the middle of her back, stroking her in a slow motion as he whispers "I know you did the best you could," and leans in to touch her temple with his forehead, and Damon needs to leave the fucking room before he snaps. His neck, again, that is. He knows he would never hear the end of it.

Bonnie is such a spoilsport when it comes to him having too much fun.

"I was thinking that maybe I could-"

"You're not really trying to say what I think you're trying to say, are you?" Damon cuts in before Bonnie can actually finish her sentence.

"This is been going on too long," she answers.

Elena looks at them trying to pick up on their conversation but it's too blurry considering they don't actually say anything consistent.

"That's why a few days more won't change a thing," Damon says trying his best to sound reasonable. He's not good at this. He likes to have his way, one way or the other. Act first, make a fake apology later.

"I think I can-"

"So you wanna bet with my life?" he asks, stopping her.

He's not going to fall for her weak reasons and give her back her powers so that she can make Caroline happy. She can't be sure she can fix this mess and not kill them all in the process. And she is always so tired lately; falling asleep against his shoulders as they watch movies or as she reads books. What if it's the last straw for her body?

He's not going to give her his blessing to kill herself, and he knows nothing works better against her then guilt; moreover he can't really say his true reasons aloud without causing some wrongguessing about his feelings, that's why he plays the selfish card: his self-preservation.

Damon holds her gaze and she lets it go.

"I need a glass of blood, anyone care to join me?" he asks, and he's not used to have Elena following him to the kitchen to share his liquid meal, and yet she's the one drinking with him.

Her hands hold the glass and she takes a sip, looking like a child having her milk. Her upper lip is wet with blood and she licks it away.

It slips past him the fact that he doesn't find the scene endearing or sexy; his mind is not really in the room with her right now.

"It seems like you and Bonnie are... coming to terms with each other," she says, with a careful, safe choice of her words.

"Really?" he asks, "Yeah, I suppose," he adds shrugging.

Watching his face it looks like Bonnie is a subject that makes him weary, yet Elena has this feeling that won't let her be assured by his uncaring facade. There are moments, like right before, when they seem to share a private language. They won't let each other finish a sentence or explain themselves before replying, like they don't need the amount of words all the others need to understand.

She feels cut out and she hates it. It's petty, it's stupid, she knows that, but her life is such a mess and Damon is her safety net and he's not there for her anymore. It's yet another certain that slips away from her.

"Stefan said you don't mind that we are hosting her surprise party here," she says, trying to get more out of him.

"You know I could never deny anything to you," he says with a charming smile. She wants to feel reassured by his words; his blind dedication towards her could always move something in her - even if she could never tell herself if her vanity or her heart - but now his words sound so trite, so empty, like a scene which is been repeated so many times that the actor lost its feeling.

"Needless to say, I count on being adequately repaid," he says with a wink, taking a sip from his glass.

Elena smiles flirt-y; it's almost a reflex, really, like a panic reaction. She doesn't mean to, she just can't help herself.

His smile sobers a bit and he finally looks at her like he really sees her.

"How are you adjusting to your new diet?"

"I can't look at my stuffed bunnies anymore. Dirty conscience," she replies with a smile, "and I miss chocolate, but all considered I think I'm doing well."

"When you get tired of the marry-go-round I can take you on a real ride," he offers.

She feels tempted. She's curious to give a look on the wild side. Be adventurous; enjoy the thrills of being a vampire.
Part of her wants to take his offer, see the world next to him. Enjoy his passion, his adoration, everything he can offer to her.

"Wouldn't it be nice?" she whispers, almost to herself.

The other part of her asks her if Stefan would join her on this ride.

For how tempted she is she knows in the end she can't do anything that would force her to part from Stefan. What joy can you find in experience things if you don't have a heart to love them? Stefan is that for her. Her very heart.

She can be weak and fickle and he's her rock. It's a fair exchange: she makes him human and he makes her better.

Damon cups her cheek and she closes her eyes for a moment, to enjoy the feeling. Oh, greedy Elena, she scolds herself, and yet lately he's so distant, so unfocused on her, what's wrong in keeping him just a bit? There's a little voice inside her mind that reminds her that he had promised to be there for her, he had sworn he loved her and only her and so it's not thatwrong of her to demand that he keeps his word.

"What it is?" he asks making her open her eyes, "What it is that keep us apart?"

He built himself a place in her heart and was there for her during Stefan's absence and yet the passion he could entice in her didn't stop her from going back to his brother. Her humanity made her so pure and yet now that she is a vampire and so less chained by her previous nature nothing really changed. Nothing ever will, and it feels quite comforting.

"I know you have feelings for me," he says, "I know you love me," and she takes a step back abandoning his touch.

"Tell me the truth," but he hears no eagerness in his own voice, he feels no desire in his heart as he asks her.

"I... do love you," she answers, "I love your way to hold on to the people you love and the way you're so dedicated. Sometimes you make me feel so careless, so powerful and I like that."

He should feel better after this confession and yet he doesn't. There's something missing into this conversation.

"And what it is that you love about my brother?"

Elena blinks and shakes her head "I don't know."

"It doesn't make sense," he says, sounding like he's talking to himself.

"I can't point it out... I don't have a reason to love him, you know," she admits, trying to explain herself the better she can but knowing that words cannot explain it "When I found out he was a vampire I told myself I could not love him. I made lists of reasons," she says almost laughing "why I could not love him and I had to move on but my heart wouldn't let me. Maybe I could find someone else like him but it wasn't Stefan and I just couldn't bear the thought," she shrugs, "I can never not love him."

He realizes that Elena is a promise meant to not be kept and, strangely, it doesn't hurt so much.

When he hugs her - closing both her in his arms and a wound he thought he would be picking at forever - he doesn't realize Bonnie is standing at the door, watching them.

#

"The golden couple has gone scaring bunnies?"

His voice stops her on the stairs, and Bonnie turns her head to see him at the feet of the flight. She doesn't answer immediately but he already knows where Elena and Stefan went, and that they'll be back soon; the only purpose of asking was to stop her from going back to her room.

"Already going to bed?" he asks, "This way you'll be missing out on the best part of the night."

"Which would be?"

"Me, of course."

The ghosts of a smile touches her lips but it's not enough, he thinks. He wants her to smile at him.

"Only if one has really low standards," she answers. She's tired; of this golden prison, of this triangle drama, of her heart aching every time she thinks that itis almost over.

"You wound me, little bird," he says bringing a hand to his chest and faking pain, "C'mon, don't leave me," he jokes, and yet he sounds more serious then what he had planned to.

Bonnie sighs and looks like she's considering it over.

"You could even gain something for your good deed," he says, making her turn her eyes with curiosity, "Let's say... a gift, who knows."

"How many possibilities do I have to gain this hypothetical gift?" she asks turning and taking a step towards him.

"Are we bargaining on the rate of return, or it's more like service change? Because in that case it depends on the service."

"I'm not servicing you in any way," she clarifies stark, crossing her arms under her breast.

"You just ruined a perfectly romantic moment," he accuses her with a pout.

"I think you have a strange idea about romantic stuff," she says.

"Nonsense, everyone enjoys a good spanking and some leather every once in a while," he answers, "if it's not with your prison roommate named Brutus."

She does her best not to laugh, "Do you ever have a single conversation that does not end in sexual proposals?"

"What? Did you say something?" he asks back, looking confused, "I was busy watching your breast," he adds, but before she can say anything he take the steps between them and offers her his hand.

"I'm asking you to accord me a little of your time," he tells her with a rare, sincere light smile, "You can even keep your clothes on if you feel like it, it's not like that can stop me anyway," he jokes and winks at her.

"Don't you have some conscience? C'mon. I could burn down the house because of the unbearable boredom."

Bonnie rolls her eyes but takes his hand following him down the stairs.

"Fine, I'll give you half an hour, not one minute more," she concedes.

"Good. I'm taking it."

"But, after that, I'll go," she says, almost like she's warning him, "You won't keep me forever."

Damon shrugs, tugging her after him towards the manor hall and enjoying the feeling of her warm hand in his, but, he thinks, the idea of forever is actually not that bad. Not that bad, at all.

#

"What?" she asks, hiding her pouting mouth behind her glass of bourbon. That stuff smells so strongly that she must hold her breath to not throw up on the spot and Damon looks at her intently, waiting for the right moment to make fun of her poor ability to drink liquors.

"I can still make you a mug of hot milk," he says, "I would even add some cacao to make it more risky."

Bonnie hold her chin high and takes a gulp of bourbon doing her best not to cringe too much for the burning taste in her mouth, but as soon as the liquid reaches her stomach she starts coughing and Damon is suddenly next to her patting her back and saying in a mocking tone "There, there."

She slaps his arm away but that only makes him choke on a laugh.

He stupidly feels like tickling her, slip his hands under her shirt and then make love to her on that couch. Indulge in such a fantasy is so easy, especially now that he knows the taste of her mouth and the warmth of being inside her, and he must keep himself under control every single second to not slip and kiss her out of the blue.

For the un-life of him he cannot keep up with the effect she has on him. Shouldn't he be somewhere drowning his sorrow in alcohol and reminiscing his time with the fair Elena? Why is he so merry on Bonnie?

"Right," he says, sounding all reasonable "I'll wait here until you faint and then I'll give you a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

She turns to him with a scowl but Damon thinks that she only managed to look delectable, so he turns, resting his back against the cushion behind him and crosses his legs at the ankles, just to keep himself from ruining everything with the wrong move.

"You're a terrible drinking buddy," he says.

"You're terrible in general," she replies flat, holding her glass with both hands, "Everything's alright?"

It takes him a moment to get her question. She doesn't even turns her head towards him, just steals a glance at him.

"I came in the kitchen before... but you and Elena didn't hear me..." she says, without explaining further. The lines of her serious face are tense.

"Are you worried about me or about Stefan?" he asks.

Bonnie turns to him, her eyes accuse him to be unreasonable and yet he has no intention to be otherwise.

"Can't I be worried about both?" she asks.

"No, you can't. I'd like to have the exclusive right for once," and his blue eyes fix themselves on her pinning her down on the couch "So pick one and stick with it."

Yes, he's childish, unreasonable, hot blooded and half the time he deserves to be kicked in the ass and then some. He's not going to pretend he is anything else but what he is, and she should not pretend she's not the only one who can take him.

"Okay then," she just says and he looks like he's hanging from a thread, waiting for her to snap it. Bonnie thinks she can understand him; this is why she amuses him and his childish behavior.

"I'm picking you," she adds and it sounds so good. He knows that it doesn't mean much, and yet she's picking him. Only his judgy witch would pick the homicidal vampire she grills on regular basis over the righteous brother.

There's a smile in his eyes and he can't really manage his emotions right now so he stands and takes a step from the couch turning to ask her "So, do you want your gift now?"

He's still looking for a decent birthday gift but the moment he saw it through the glass of the store he just brought it on instinct. He had told himself it was for him, that he was bored and brought something like every American with trouble sleeping and commercial channels does but in the end he wanted her to have it.

"I deserve it for putting up with such a vain creature."

"Shh," he says, raising his index to his pink lips, "Be tactful. What if my brother hears you?"

Bonnie scowl at him again and, as he leaves the room, she reminds him "Tick, tock,"

Hey angels there,over her head,

tell me the time hasn't come

He didn't wrap it because it seemed pointless and so the sleeve lays there, on display, on his nightstand. The cover has soft tones of blue and pink and it shows logs reflected on the tranquil water. In the middle stands out the title Islands and he thinks that someway it suits them.

Have mercy, please, on the one that I love

Her body is too weary to run

He goes down the stairs turning the sleeve in his hands, to check what number it is the track she loves. He's sure she'll skip all the others to listen to that one first.
On the doorstep he sees her half lying on the couch, eyes closed and hair half covering her lovely cheek, and he is torn about waking her up. Damon decides he can let her have a few minutes, maybe he can put on the cd he brought for her, wake her up with the music she likes, but as he frees the sleeve from the plastic protection he realizes that the silence in the room is deafening, terrible and his ears almost hurt as he strives to hear.

Now suddenly a thunderous sound,

like wings have takes flight.

Straight up, straight out from under the ground.

She's gone in the darkening sky.

He turns around to look at her. His arms fall at his sides and Ludovico Einaudi's essential crashes to the floor producing a sharp, empty sound. Damon flashes at her side, kneeling next to her to adjust her body and open her mouth. With a cruel bite at his wrists he fills her mouth with blood. If she was alive she would probably be chocking on it right now, but she is not. Not anymore. The sound of her heart is lost to his ear and the blood going down her throat can't bring her back.

Oh my love,

Stay my love...

In his hands she's nothing much then an empty doll made of flesh. A flesh witch will become stiff and will start to rot soon, his mind tells him, yet he can't hear a thing, not even his own voice repeating "Bonnie. You're fine, aren't you?" over the delicate sound of hers warning him I'll go, you won't keep me forever.

His mind rebuilds the last thirty minutes over and over trying to find the moment when he could have seen this happening but it can't. And it can't be happening.

Little bird, C'mon, don't leave me, I'm asking you to accord me a little of your time - Fine, I'll give you half an hour, not one minute more. But, after that, I'll go. You won't keep me forever. Tick, tock.

"It's not happening," he says, his voice so far like he's at the bottom of the ocean, "Not happening" so much so that he's about to scream. But its Elena's scream that breaks the air first. She reaches the couch in a flash to shake Bonnie out of her final sleep and somehow ends up pushing Damon away from the lifeless body of her friend in the process. The new vampire cries her friend's name, laments how unfair it is for her to die now, asks Why? What happened? She repeats Bonnie, no please. Stefan tries his best to calm her down and push back his own tears as he holds her back and watches Bonnie's eyes closed and her mouth and chin dirty with his brother's blood.

Oh my love,

Stay my love

Damon is petrified, with icy eyes wide open. His brain is numb as his cold skin. He feels nothing anymore.

Tick, tock.

#

Note: This story is getting harder to write and I hope I can keep on updating regularly, but I can make no promise. Let's cross our fingers. The song I used in this chapter is "Darkening Sky" by Peter Bradley Adams.