Title: Casualties Of Accidental Dating
Author: skysamuelle
Author's Note: Betaed by Emmy/martinigirl15, inspired by impishdragon
Rating: PG 13ish
Timeline: Post 'Fool Me Once'
Summary: Extended version of my drabble ' Accidental First Date' that somehow morphed in a real fic. A series of accidental dates between Bonnie Bennett and Damon Salvatore stir feelings of a deeper nature than anyone would have guessed.
Part 6
IX
Bonnie is not so naïve to even consider that her last slip with Damon Salvatore will remain a secret for long, but that insidious certainty is not enough to convince her to talk about it to Elena or Caroline.
She spends weeks waiting for the other shoe to drop instead, sure that he'll slide in casual conversation with Stefan or Elena some ambiguous comment or clear allusion at the most damaging moment possible.
They pretend to ignore each other in public until they have almost fooled themselves into believing their lie, but the truth is that Damon stalks her, in his animal form more often than in his human one, and she is very aware of his covert scrutiny but does nothing about it.
Even now, playing billiards with Matt, the witch can breathe in the familiarity of his presence around her, the intensity of his eyes boring on her back and making her skin crawl.
It's wrong, so wrong that she knows the last thing she should be doing is keeping this to herself, but at the same time she knows she will never acknowledge it if she can help it.
Matt glances across the room and frowns, looking dubious for a few seconds before looking back to her. "I don't know if you hate each other or you really, really like each other."
"It's an ongoing debate"- Bonnie sighs, leaning back and meeting his calm blue gaze with as much frankness she can- "Probably a bit of both. "
She immediately regrets saying anything because A) Damon has most definitely heard her, courtesy of his fucking super-hearing and B) How can she ask the blonde boy to keep her small confession to himself without making it sound like she has something to hide?
But Matt is already giving her that small, co-conspirator smile he sometimes ha since they were kids and she is reminded of one of his best qualities, that gentle understanding that got him so little credit but made him such a good friend.
"It'll be our secret" he says, and Bonnie feels incredibly relieved, even if she is certain that her friend would be nowhere near so complacent if he knew the whole story about the older Salvatore brother, or her situation with him.
--
That night, Bonnie's dream begins as a memory, although it feels more surreal than that. She is running through the woods, as quick as her legs will carry her and suddenly she is there, exactly in the spot where Emily destroyed the crystal and where Damon had nearly killed her…he's terrifying, jumping on her, lighting fast, all protruding sharp fangs and feverish, midnight-black eyes.
Except this time, she doesn't pass out, and Damon doesn't tear at her throat at all… instead she can feel his weight on her, pinning her down on the cool grass, his mouth wet and hot on her neck and jaw, branding her skin with bruising kisses, his lower body sliding easily between her spread thighs, his cutting whisper in her ear: " Deny it all you want, but you don't crave this game any less than I do."
It becomes all too much then: her painful awareness of every part of him so close to her, the growing, dark anticipation throbbing through her body, the feeling of his lust weighing her down until she is merely a faint, brittle version of herself. It's when she realizes everything is too vividly oppressive to be a simple dream. She tries to wake up and it feels like she is kicking through mobile sand until he lets her go, bidding her goodbye with a lingering kiss on her forehead.
Bonnie comes awake with a sound gasp, clutching her sheets to her chest like they could actually shield her, or at least make her feel a little less raw and exposed.
Something clangs repeatedly against glass and the witch's head turns with startled swiftness toward the window of her bedroom.
The raven on her windowsill caws mockingly, proudly reaping the full credit for her shock.
He flies away before she can torch him alive with the flames promptly bursting from her tingling fingers.
Damn Damon, and damn those romantic fairytales that coach unsuspecting girls to wait for frogs and beasts who transform into princes out of the purest love.
How come nobody ever warns you that in plain old reality, simple wanting can hurt and destroy so much?
X
Over time, Bonnie' s visions grow more consistent and detailed, until it becomes apparent that a very old Master Vampire is keeping a low profile while infiltrating the town with its semi-cult of brain-dead followers. Apparently Mystic Falls is some sort of psychic energy epicenter, and said Mr. Evil is planning to create the first all-vampire town, once he got the gist of which residents are 'deserving' to join his family and which are better suited to become food.
Bonnie and Stefan spend hours digging into the dusty, thick tomes of the Salvatore's library, taking notes and comparing opinions and forwarding suggestions. Elena is often not present and while Damon has occasionally indulged a desire to interrupt their research with idle provocations, he mostly prefers keeping to himself and overhearing their conversations while comfortably sprawled on his bed
He doesn't really think much of the respect and trust so clear in the witch's voice while she is talking to his brother, or the way Stefan's approach to the girl expresses pretty much the same feelings but he still soaks up those quiet interludes that reek of companionship and sympathy.
Damon tells himself he does it to keep track of their progress. He has vague interest in learning Mr. Evil's identity if they can manage to discover it, and it never hurts to know what is happening.
It doesn't explain that hollow, churning sensation at the pit of his stomach whenever he 'accidentally' listens in on Bonnie confiding in his little brother, the nausea her laughter causes him.
-
It turns out that new bad guy's name is Klaus.
Damon can't think of a single reason he should join the useless brigade Stefan and Alaric are putting together in order to stop him. Hell, what has this town got that's worthy of saving?
Elena may have gotten confused at some point in the past year, but she loves Stefan, and now that her choice is made, Damon has learnt he is not all that broken by it.
He can let go, finally and accept that maybe that twisted fascination with his brother's girlfriend was what he needed to move on from Katherine. So Elena never felt for him the way she does for Stefan, and she would prefer dying by his side rather than allowing Damon to keep her safe…it matters little, because Damon never felt for her the way Stefan does.
Maybe it was a nice thought for a while, that he could still be a romantic, a believer, but somewhere, deep down, he knew it wasn't real.
"I heard you're skipping town."
Bonnie leans over his bedroom's threshold, arms crossed over her chest, her narrowing gaze carrying through every accusation her voice refuses to.
"I'm not cut out for the good fight and I don't like joining in a massacre unless I'm directing the show."
He shrugs, broadcasting careless indifference. Let Mystic Falls crumble to the ground- all it has ever done for him is take away the things he valued.
"Stefan could use one more experienced ally watching his back."
"Probably, but it won't be me "
"Really? If he gets himself killed who will you torture forevermore?"
Damon brightens up at the insinuation, struts toward her with a flamboyant smile that doesn't reach his icy eyes. "Interesting interrogative. How about I turn you before you get yourself killed in his self-righteous crusade? "
She rolls her eyes but doesn't move away, not a little bit. "Bad idea, unless you want to wake up every morning for the next century with a bad case of sparkling skin."
He arches his brow condescendingly to her "What is up with those obsessive references to Twilight of yours? "
She smirks a little, reminding him of something he might miss when he will be gone (unless they don't decide to vamp her, which is extremely likely given her witchy abilities). " I like the book so much better since Caroline mentioned you hated it."
"Mature, Little Witch, very mature."
"You can talk, Mr-I'll-leave-my-brother-to-die-because-he-won't-ask-me-to-stay."
"Do you never get tired of nagging like an old woman?"
Again, Bonnie rolls her eyes at him, dismissing his insult with a deep, bored sigh. It disturbs him: nobody can quite make him feel so ineffective as this pretty, bitchy little thing.
"Just stay, Damon. You know you'll regret it if we win without you."
He pretends to consider the option, like he was really just waiting for someone to give him one single reason to stay (it might be true, but he flat out refuses to recognize it), then he smirks a little wider.
"If I stay and save perfect Stefan's sanctimonious ass, what do I get in return?"
She gazes up at him with a blatant distrust that flatters him beyond the possibility of verbal expression.
"Are you working up to really asking for something or are you just fooling around?"
He shakes his head in playful disapproval. "You're not playing it according to the rules. You are supposed to line up everything you are ready to give up in order to bribe me."
"Oh, shut up," she scoffs, half-weary and half-annoyed, and she closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose like this is the longest day she's ever endured.
There's an intentional brush of her tired thoughts against his. 'For the record, I think Stefan is at least as calculating as you are. And possibly more than a little controlling. Not my definition of perfect, at all.'
Damon won't analyze why that random observation of hers makes him want to stay. And perhaps burst into song?
He is not even sure why it makes him want to reach out and touch Bonnie, or about what that rush of warmth inside means, when he leans infinitesimally forward and tucks that dark curl behind her ear.
'I'll stay if you invite me in' the vampire reciprocates.
'In?'
'Your home, silly'
She scowls, looking every bit affronted at his proposition.
'I'm not handing you a free pass to my father's throat!'
'He's never there, anyway, and you can protect yourself just fine.'
There's a very strange, pregnant with hesitation pause, then Bonnie pushes aside the hurt at that careless dig at her father's frequent absences and asks the obvious 'Why would you even want to in my home?'
'As a symbol of my ruthless prevarication of you?'
'Seriously?'
Damon purses his lips and looks at her keenly, like he has something difficult to articulate. 'Trust is a two-way street. I have a tradition of getting screwed in this kind of deal, particularly if Elena and Stefan are somehow involved. You beg me to stay and enjoy the bloodshed. I might not mind, but I want insurance that *you* won't backstab me.'
Bonnie doesn't believe a word of his convoluted reasoning at first, but staring him down has no effect whatsoever. He just stares back blankly, but intensely.
How does inviting Damon in prove anything? He has a standing invitation to the Gilbert household and it doesn't make Elena trustworthy, so what is his real deal?
Is his collaboration even worth the risk? Although, if Damon wanted to kill her dad in retaliation for something, not having any free access to her home wouldn't stop him…and Stefan needs Damon at his side, admit it or not.
"Okay," she nods and hopes it's the right choice.
XI
They wait for Klaus but they don't expect Klaus to come in with Katherine Pierce on his arm.
"You knew it. That's why you insisted I didn't leave."
Bonnie raises her gaze from her homework to her right: Damon is leaning against the window, his shoulder resting on the invisible barrier that keeps him out of the house, like it's the most comfortable position in the world. His pale eyes are a particularly frigid shade of blue, but alit with a predatory light and, although his expression is very bland, she can tell he must feel betrayed.
"I wasn't sure that Stefan was going to be able to deal with her by himself, especially if it comes to…Katherine looks too much like Elena, even if he had not loved her for all those years."
A self-deprecating grin stretches slowly along his lips. "Whereas I would have no problem with killing someone I used to worship."
"Aren't you always going on about the importance of murder and vengeance?" Bonnie questions gently, folding her arms and tilting her head aside while she leans on her side of the window.
"Would it have been easier if I had told you in advance?" She adds after a few seconds, second-guessing her decision to keep that bit of information to herself. Perhaps she had only wanted to know whether Damon was going to be able to make the right choice for the right reasons.
"I don't know, but I don't like being played with." He answers, completely still except for his moving lips, stare so firmly and utterly fixated on her face that it just makes her uncomfortably aware of his inhumanity.
"I get it, manipulation is only acceptable when you are using it on other people, to your exclusive advantage"- the witch breathes out, before frowning- "but that's not what I was doing. I have only omitted that particular part of my visions because I didn't know how to tell it to anyone, and things were already so hard for everyone involved. I guess I kept postponing until the cat was already out of the bag."
"Yes, I gathered that from the shock on my little brother and his girl's faces when our sire showed up."
He taps his fingers on the immaterial barrier between them, silently reminding her of their previous deal. It doesn't take a genius to see it's a test.
"Come in," Bonnie says, voice as unwavering as his gaze, loud and clear.
His mouth twitches in a smile that is both enigmatic and cocky before he climbs over the window, agile like a cat.
"You will help me tear that bitch apart." Damon proclaims once he is inside, moving past her to go and sit on her bed. He pronounces it as an order but the witch perceives it for the question mark it really is.
"Sure."
Secret alliances with Damon Salvatore… what is my world coming to?
But if it's for keeping her best friend safe, Bonnie won't allow a small inconsequentiality like irony to stop her.
They spend the night plotting against the enemy until the dawn.
It's almost fun, when compared to the day they just had.