Jeremy struggled with himself after walking away from Elena. He knew that, no matter what Bonnie had said to her, she was probably on her way to the boarding house at that very moment.

Jeremy stood for a minute in indecision before he turned and starting running back to the parking lot. He should probably go to…make sure nothing bad happened to her.

Xxxxxxxx

Bonnie struggled to keep Damon up off the floor. She pulled him close to her and his forehead came to rest on her shoulder. One of his arms went around her waist and he squeezed her almost hard enough to leave bruises.

Bonnie's anger from before had completely evaporated. In those moments, it didn't matter what he'd done in the past, it didn't matter that they were supposed to hate each other…all that mattered was the gut wrenching, breathtaking agony that radiated through the bond.

Instinctively, Bonnie pulled him closer. One of her hands went to the back of his neck when she heard the sounds he was making. Involuntary tears stung her eyes at what she was feeling through the bond.

All she could think about was stopping it, the basic need overwhelmed her. She tried using the spell she'd used previously on Elena to take away some of his pain but was frustrated when it didn't work.

So, mindless of whom it was she was embracing so closely, she simply wrapped her other arm around him and settled on waiting it out with him.

She was so caught up in his pain that she didn't hear it when the cellar door opened and she didn't see the two people standing there, staring at them in shock.

Xxxxxxxxx

Elena had frozen in the doorway. She'd known that Damon was in the cellar and Alaric, who had given her some privacy had told her Bonnie had disappeared inside with him but she hadn't expected this. Jeremy, who had followed her here stood beside her, just as still.

The embrace was intimate and she doubted Bonnie and Damon could get any closer. Bonnie was practically in Damon's lap. She had one hand resting on the back of his neck and her other arm was wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Damon's head was resting on her shoulder and he had wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

The unexpected stab of jealousy Elena felt at the sight of the embrace was what really stopped her cold. It was how right they looked like that, at how Damon was clinging to Bonnie through the pain she could tell he was feeling.

After a minute of staring, and them still not noticing her presence, she snapped herself out of it and remembered her brother. She made it outside quickly but Jeremy had already gone. Reluctantly, she turned back to the house but before she could go back inside, she was grabbed from behind and Sheriff Forbes spoke in her ear.

Xxxxxxxxx

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the pain filtering through the bond seemed to dull a little. Damon didn't pull back immediately. His breathing was harsh, labored and he left it resting on her shoulder for several more seconds.

Finally however, he released her and they both pulled away, staring at each other. Before she could say anything, his attention was diverted to something behind her.

"You open that?" His voice was hoarse and slightly slurred from the after effects. Bonnie turned and stared at the open door. Alaric wouldn't have opened that…not unless she asked him to. That was when Bonnie heard the footsteps coming down the steps.

Acting on instinct once again, Bonnie rose to her feet and stood in front of Damon when Caroline's mother came into the room, gun raised.

"Move out of the way," Sheriff Forbes stated calmly. Bonnie glanced back at Damon, who without her support, had fallen back completely and was now propping himself up on his elbows.

"You don't understand," Bonnie started. "You can't do this." She simply could not let the woman kill Damon, not after all the trouble she'd gone through to keep him alive. She was still feeling that echo of empathy she had felt only moments before that had made her embrace him like a friend instead of the enemy he had been that she herself had tried to kill.

"How can you defend him?" The sheriff asked in disgust. "What he is-"

"I'm under no delusions about what he is," Bonnie stated firmly. "I still can't let you do this."

The sheriff's gun did not waver and although Bonnie was not afraid the woman would shoot her she felt an unexpected anger rise at the unspoken, if empty, threat. The anger was not hers, it was entirely Damon's and a moment later, he was standing in front of her.

"Liz…" The anger in his voice matched what she felt through the bond and, moving faster than either Bonnie or the sheriff could react to, he threw the older blonde into the nearest wall, knocking her out cold.

He turned to Bonnie then. His eyes were still a little dazed and she stood frozen as he raised one shaking hand to her face. There was a silent thank you there in that touch. When he dropped his hand, however, the his gaze went unfocussed again and an instant later he was gone.

Bonnie stood like that for several more seconds before she was running after him, pulling out her phone as she went.

Xxxxxxxx

Damon stumbled through the town square, the movie playing in the background going unnoticed. He bumped into people, hardly noticing when their attire changed to what was popular back when he was human.

The lucid part of him, the small part that knew he wasn't truly in the town square in 1864 again, wondered why he'd left the cellar. That part of him was still back with her.

Xxxxxxx

"I don't know where he went," Bonnie said in frustration into her phone, driving as fast as she dared. She wasn't completely sure but she did have an idea where Damon might have gone.

"I'll find him," Stefan assured her.

"You better hurry. He's in bad shape. He's been seeing Katherine. I don't know what he'll do if he sees Elena."

Xxxxxxx

Damon stumbled to a stop when he spotted someone else. Katherine stood, just the way he remembered her back then, back when he'd loved her, when she'd meant everything to him, a few feet away.

"Katherine?"

"Damon!" The voice shocked him back to reality and he met Jeremy Gilbert's gaze. When he glanced to the side again, Katherine was gone.

"Where's…" He frowned at Jeremy, trailed off, meaning to ask about Elena but a different name escaped his lips. "Where's Bonnie? I need to see her." He missed the mix of jealousy and anger that crossed over Jeremy's eyes.

Xxxxxxx

Jeremy dumped Damon down in one of the seats at the grill, telling Stefan where they were into the phone. The anger he'd felt when he found Damon hadn't left.

He didn't understand what was going on. How could Bonnie hold Damon like that? She had claimed that she hated the guy on so many occasions and Jeremy knew that Damon's had no love for Bonnie either. The sudden shift in both of their behaviors was unsettling.

He tried to convince himself that it was nothing but couldn't quite pull it off. That embrace had been so…intimate. They had been clinging to each other and Bonnie had gone over there in the first place when she didn't have to.

He felt the anger and jealousy start to burn at the thoughts and the paranoia got the best of him. What if it wasn't sudden? What if they'd always felt something for each other? He remembered that saying, that there was a fine line between love and hate.

Jeremy turned, walked closer to Damon, his anger getting the best of him in that moment. He started around the table Damon was sitting at. Before he could do anything about it, however, Damon stood swiftly with his back to Jeremy. Jeremy caught a glimpse of Sheriff Forbes on the other side of the room. Damon moved just as she fired the gun in her hand and instead of hitting Damon in the chest, the bullet staggered Jeremy and he felt a terrible burn in his left shoulder.

"Oh God!" He heard the sheriff yell just as Stefan and Caroline ran into the room. Jeremy struggled to sit up, gritting his teeth against the pain. Sheriff Forbes came running over. Jeremy glanced from one to the other.

"Where's Bonnie?" He asked finally.

"Looking for Damon," Stefan answered idly, checking Jeremy's wound and unaware of the damage those words caused.

"Of course."

Xxxxxxxx

Bonnie walked quickly though the crowd at the town square, her eyes searching for a certain person. She could feel him still. She knew he was there and she found she could follow that. The closer she got to him, the stronger the bond got. Pain, pain, pain. It was still there, raging beneath the surface.

She stopped suddenly when it became the strongest she had felt since he'd disappeared from his house and turned around. He stood a couple of feet behind her, shaking and sweating. He looked awful, even worse than when she'd last seen him.

"Damon…" She went to him, catching him before he fell and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder. He sagged against her. "Come on, Damon. Work with me. We have to get you out of here."

"Where are we going?" His voice was just as dazed as the look in his eyes and Bonnie knew that he wasn't seeing her in that moment. She felt those familiar emotions she had gotten before when he was having delusions of Katherine.

Just like he had earlier, he instantly went from being barely able to walk to moving faster than she could see. In a moment, he had her backed up against something solid. She stared at him, preparing to use what she could against him if he tried to hurt her.

When he reached for her, however, the touch was surprisingly gentle and she delayed using her power on him. He was already in a great deal of pain, she knew that, and she wasn't sure what it would do to him, if he could even heal himself properly in the state he was in.

He leaned towards her then and she prepared to make him back off anyway but he didn't hurt her. Instead, he pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss.

His lips were soft against hers and he put one hand against the side of her neck, pulling her closer to him. She found herself getting lost in it for just a second, in the emotions she felt coming from him but only for a second. Then she remembered he most likely thought he was kissing Katherine and she did use her power to throw him away from her.

She stood breathing hard, still feeling his lips on hers. Damon hadn't gotten up from where he landed and Bonnie went to him. He stared up at her with confused eyes.

"Judgy?"

"Come on." Bonnie grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. "Let's get you out of here."

Xxxxxxxxx

"You found him?" Stefan sat back in relief where he was still sitting in the grill. Caroline and her mother were still talking and Jeremy had been healed.

"Yeah," Bonnie answered. "He's, well…I'm taking him back to your house."

"Alright. I'll be there-"

"No, Stefan," she cut him off. "You can't be there when I cast the spell and you have to make sure Caroline's not around either. I studied the spell before I went to your house earlier today. It'll affect anyone who's not technically alive around. I'm not sure what it would do to you. It might be harmless but…"

Stefan sighed. "Alright," he said a little reluctantly.

"I'll take care of him," Bonnie promised calmly.

"Thank you, Bonnie," his voice turned sincere and he heard Bonnie sigh.

"Yeah."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Bonnie was breathing heavily herself by the time that she got Damon into his bed. He could barely walk on his own and was getting worse by the second. He had closed his eyes, one hand on his chest, breathing through the pain.

"Still here, Judgy?" He asked breathlessly.

"Still here," Bonnie answered. The sympathy she'd felt before came roaring back at what she was feeling. He was getting weaker as the poison raged through his body. He nearly curled into himself with the agony and, just like she had in the cellar, she held him again. She got into the bed again and pulled him against her, his back against her chest. Just like in the cellar, she didn't think before she did it.

"If it doesn't work…" he got out finally, staring up at her.

"It'll work," Bonnie overrode him. Bonnie let out a sigh. Damon was getting weaker by the moment.

"This is even more pathetic than I thought," he said quietly.

"Don't be melodramatic. You'll only be dead for a few seconds." Bonnie's voice was just as quiet. She brushed his hair back, out of his eyes. She couldn't seem to help herself.

"You know you have a great bedside manner." His voice, even if it was quiet, strained, sounded mildly amused.

"Maybe I would if I had a better patient," she shot back at him, blinking.

He let out another breath and she noticed that was slowing down as well. "Thank you." And she understood what he was thanking her for.

"You're welcome." She paused and he closed his eyes. He was so close. "I really hate you, you know that?"

"Hate you too, Judgy."

And Bonnie hated the lie in her voice and in his. She hated the tears that slipped from her eyes as she felt him die in her arms.