Despite the little voice in her head telling her that she should have left already, Bonnie could not seem to force herself off the Salvatore's couch and out the door. She was completely blaming Damon and the what she was getting from him for this.

The problem was what he was feeling. It seemed to her that he had kind of shut down, at least at first. The longer she sat there, however, the more she felt filtering through. First, shock. Then, confusion and after that, he was such a big mess of warring emotions that it almost gave her a headache.

Just like the night before when he'd been sick and dying, she couldn't seem to leave.

Xxxxxxxx

He certainly didn't look any different. At least Damon didn't think so. I wasn't like he'd suddenly developed a tan. There was no sign pointing to him that said "HUMAN". Still, he felt the change. It was subtle. Everything was a little more muted. It wasn't just his hearing, vision, or strength either.

For one of the first times in his life, he'd been shocked into silence. He'd hardly managed to mumble something about a shower to Stefan before escaping into his bathroom.

He also had no clue how he was supposed to feel about this situation. Hadn't he asked for this? Hadn't he confessed that this was what he'd missed most in the world? That part of him, the part that he'd been ignoring since Stefan had forced him into the change almost a century and a half ago was happy for it, was yelling in triumph.

There was another feeling, however. One he wasn't accustomed to, one he hadn't felt since he was human the first time around and a child, at least not for himself. The sharp, sudden fear was something he hadn't felt even after Tyler had bitten him, even after he'd known he was going to die.

Because what the hell was he supposed to do now? He'd always had goals, obsessions and he'd always, always known who he was. He'd embraced everything that it was to be a vampire.

So, what the hell did this make him?

Xxxxxxx

Bonnie had almost made it to the door, finally decided that she had to leave when she felt it. That sharp, very strong fear. The type of fear she hadn't felt from Damon at all since she'd accidentally created the connection, not even when he'd thought he was going to die, not even with the agony of the poison raging through him.

It stopped her short, that fear and, without thinking, she turned away from the door, towards the stairs. Before she could reach them, however, Stefan appeared at the top and walked slowly down them.

"Are you alright?" Bonnie asked in a wary tone when she caught the shocked look on his face.

"He's..." Stefan trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"I know." She guessed what he might be thinking and chewed her lip. "I'm pretty sure it's temporary."

"Pretty sure?" Stefan sounded a little dazed and he brushed past her, going to sit in the place she'd just vacated.

"I think so." She wasn't completely certain but she sort of hoped it was. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle a permanent connection to Damon and she had the feeling that as long as he was human she was stuck with that connection.

"Look," she started, fighting the instinct to race up the stairs, "I really need to go. I'm sure Elena wants an update and I need to talk to Jeremy."

Stefan's head snapped up at her words and his expression changed. "Right. Bonnie, before you go there is something you should know..."

"What?" She frowned at him. He sounded extremely uncomfortable.

"About last night...when you were helping Damon..."

xxxxxxxx

After Bonnie left, Stefan found Damon in his room again. The curtains were pulled back on his window and daylight streamed into the room. He saw Damon's ring on the nightstand beside the bed and Damon was staring through the window, fully in the sunlight.

"Huh."

Damon didn't even notice he was there and Stefan marveled a moment at the fact that he could sneak up behind his brother without him noticing. He hadn't ever been able to do that.

"Damon?" Stefan called hesitantly, going deeper into the room.

His brother jerked in surprise and spun, blue eyes wide. For a few seconds, he was silent and then he seemed to gain some control over himself.

"Trying to kill me, brother?" The humor in his voice was forced.

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked worriedly. He honestly couldn't tell, couldn't read what Damon was thinking.

"Aren't I always?" Damon walked past him and out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxx

Damon stopped by the large window he'd intended on killing himself in front of before the witch had shown up and offered a way to save his life. Only now, the curtains were open and he wasn't burning.

Still unsure what to do with himself, he did what he'd always done when life through him situation like this. He went for the alcohol, uncaring that it would take a hell of a lot less bourbon to get him drunk this time around.

Xxxxxxxxx

"What are you doing here?" Those were the first words out of Elena's mouth when she opened the door and found Bonnie standing there.

Bonnie frowned at the attitude but from what Stefan had said, she had been sort of expecting it. "I came to talk to Jeremy."

"Why?" Elena put one hand on the frame, blocking her from going inside. "Shouldn't you be with Damon?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Look, I know what you saw but you can't possibly believe there's something going on between me and Damon."

"You guys did look pretty cozy to me," Elena said with an accusing stare.

"Which is why I need to talk to Jeremy."

Elena held up a hand, stopping her again. "I don't think I should let you talk to my brother right now."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "I think Jeremy can make his own decisions about who he wants to talk to." She crossed her arms. "Is this really about me and Jeremy or is it about you and Damon?"

Elena let out a frustrated breath and actually threw up her arms. "Why do people keep asking me that?"

"Because it's obvious," Bonnie pushed her way past Elena finally and turned to her friend. "Look, maybe you should just admit it. You might actually feel better."

"Admit what?" Elena asked stubbornly, starting away from Bonnie.

"That you have feelings for Damon." Bonnie followed after her.

"I love Stefan!" Elena exclaimed.

"So? You can have feelings for two different people, Elena, and I've seen you with Damon."

Elena turned on her when they reached the kitchen. "What about you?"

Bonnie stopped short and frowned. "What about me?"

"Oh, come on Bonnie. I saw you with Damon too. You were holding him, worried about him. All Stefan asked you to do was try and find away to keep the bite from killing him but you stayed with him the whole time."

"Not because I have feelings for him," Bonnie protested with a glare. "You don't know what you're talking about." This time, it was Bonnie who walked away.

Elena grabbed her arm, turning Bonnie back to face her. "I did see you. You don't do all that for someone you hate." She paused and sighed. "Look, you're my best friend and I love you, okay? But Jeremy is my brother so you have to figure this out."

Bonnie stared after her as she went up the stares, incredulous. The notion that she could possibly feel anything for Damon was ridiculous. It was the connection. That was all that had kept her from leaving Damon alone to deal with it all himself.

She did not have feelings for Damon Salvatore.

Xxxxxxxxx

From the slurred speech and the way Damon had wrapped an arm around his shoulders, Stefan was pretty sure that his brother was drunk. It wasn't uncommon, really. It always seemed to Stefan that Damon was never without a glass of some sort of alcohol. The crystal glass had pretty much been glued to his hand since he'd returned to Mystic Falls.

What was making Stefan eye him warily was the fact that Damon did not have the tolerance he'd had. Before, even when he was half way drunk, and it took a lot of alcohol to get that way, he still wasn't stumbling or slurring his words the way he was now.

Damon faced him and put both his hands on Stefan's shoulders. He was pretty sure it was mostly to keep from falling on his face. "Sorry, Stefan," Damon mumbled.

Definitely drunk. Stefan raised an eyebrow and gripped Damon's arms when he swayed on his feet. "You're sorry?"

Damon nodded and got even closer to him. "Meantta say it 'fore. Sorry for..." He shook his head, seemed to lose his train of thought.

"Sorry for what?" Stefan asked, wrinkling his nose at the strong smell of booze.

"Everythin'!" Damon practically yelled. He gripped the sides of Stefan's face and, even though Damon was completely wasted Stefan could see the sincerity in his eyes.

"Blamed you for everythin'." Damon frowned. "I'm Sorry." He leaned forward, wrapping one arm around Stefan's shoulders in a sort of half hug.

Stefan held him up, surprised at his brother's words, even if they were said in a drunken stupor. He honestly never thought he'd ever hear those words come out of Damon's mouth. He'd had hope this past year that maybe he and Damon were getting back some semblance of the relationship they'd had before Katherine had come into their lives.

Damon, of course, decided to ruin the moment when he leaned down and threw up all over both of their shoes. "Sorry," he mumbled again, staring at the mess he'd made and he would have fallen into it if Stefan weren't holding him up.

This time, Stefan rolled his eyes but had to suppress a smile. "Yeah, I can see that."