Tonight they were gathered together at the Bennett residence for dinner. It's been a while since Stefan had a home cooked meal even though he was fully capable of cooking something himself, he found himself to be too lazy to do anything besides lie around with Bonnie and sometimes by himself. It caused him to eat out a lot more than he's used to so having something made in the comfort of a home was like a breath of fresh air.

"Smells great" Stefan said leaning at the threshold of the kitchen.

Bonnie and Vanessa turned around to smile at him before returning back to their work. The girls decided to do the cooking and neither Stefan nor Rudy complained about that.

They called them in the kitchen when everything was finished and the plates were filled with pasta, salad, and grilled chicken. After blessing the food, they started eating. The table was silent as everyone was stuffing their faces.

"Stefan, I never asked about your parents, how are they?" Rudy asked sipping his wine.

"Actually I haven't talked to my parents in a while. They were alcoholics and used to abuse my older brother and me so we saved up some money and moved out."

"Wow I'm so sorry" Vanessa placed her hand on top of his.

"It's fine, there's no reason for you to apologize."

"Where did you live before?"

"Atlanta. I miss it there sometimes the people are nice and so is the whether."

"I always wanted to go to Atlanta" Bonnie confessed.

"How's your brother?" Rudy change the subject.

"He's doing...well"

Vanessa laughed, "Why did you say it like that?"

"Well he recently found out that he's a father, so seeing him deal with it all is strange."

"Strange in what way?"

"Damon's usually the kind of guy who doesn't care and lives on the wild side of life and seeing him try his best to raise a child is just amazing in a way."

The rest of the conversation transitioned from family matters to life. Bonnie and Stefan learned a lot about each other and they started to feel more connected.

••••

When dinner was over they realized that they didn't have any dessert. Bonnie and Rudy volunteered to go to the store to pick up a cake while Stefan and Vanessa cleaned up.

It was a little awkward for Stefan to being alone with Vanessa because the last time that they were together in a room she tried to kiss him. Luckily Rudy came down the stairs before she made contact saving him for an awkward conversation with Bonnie.

After all the dishes were washed off and in the dishwasher, they sat down on the couch and turned on the TV waiting for them to return.

"I didn't want to say anything at dinner, but my parents were alcoholics too. Fortunately, they got help and went to rehab and now my relationship with them is better than it ever was."

Stefan smiled and nodded his head.

"I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk to someone that can relate to you, can talk to me." She placed her hand on his shoulder and Stefan wanted to remove himself from this situation.

He ran through his head things that he should say to change the subject, but when he was about to open his mouth to speak he felt her lips on his. His eyes went wide and as he was about to push her off he heard a large thud. He turned around to see Bonnie outraged and a chocolate cake on the floor making it look like a lump of mud.

"Bonnie I–"

"How could you?!" She cut him off.

He stood up and walked over to he leaving some space between them.

"Please let me explain"

His head was forced to the left as she slapped him.

"Get out!"

"Bonnie"

"Get out, Stefan!" She pointed to the door.

He looked at her plead-fully and when her face didn't change he walked out.

"What happened?" Rudy asked as he walked in.

"Why don't you ask that slut?!" Tears spewed from her eyes and she ran upstairs to her room slamming the door behind her.

"Vanessa?"

It was his tenth time calling her and every time she wouldn't answer him.

"Bonnie, baby please pick up and let me explain, please. I love you so much and you know that I would never hurt you. You have to know that. Bon–" he was cut off by the beep and he threw his phone angrily.

His fingers ran through his hair and he felt like he was going to explode. He wished that he pushed Vanessa off quicker then Bonnie would've saw that he don't want the kiss her and he blames himself for getting into that situation in the first place. He knew that Vanessa had developed some type of crush on him and that she might try something so he should've taken better measures to assure that nothing would happen.

He didn't even hear her come in let alone the door opening and something in him is telling him that Vanessa did it on purpose. She was the one who was facing the door, maybe she saw the knob turn and kissed him, but he just couldn't figure out the why.

••••

He decided to give her some space. After being cursed out by Caroline and Elena, he explained what really happened and they told him to back off for a while. They told him that they'll talk to her and see where her mind is at and when she's ready that she'll come to him.

He didn't want to wait, he wanted to barge right into that house, stump up the stairs and kick open her door. Once he was in, he would go straight for her lips, push her on the bed and they would have the best rounds of love making in history. Between thrusts and kisses he would remind her how much he loves her and how he would never hurt her. He would tell her that he's sorry repeatedly and remind her that she's the only one for him. If someone were to walk in he wouldn't stop, he would give that person a full view of his white ass and never break their connection until he's good and ready.

He grunted and fell on his back landing on his bed. It's been a week since he's talked to her and he couldn't stand it. She was a major part of his life and he didn't fully realize that until this past week. He found himself bored all the time, whenever something in the slightest bit eventful would happen he would reach for his phone wanting to call and tell her all about it, but then he realized that he couldn't.

The day of his life came when he heard a knock on his bedroom door and she stepped in. The first thing he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and pull her in close but he didn't.

She was wearing one of his favorite sun dresses of hers and his eyes couldn't stop from wandering. It made her skin glow and her legs look irresistible. He stood up from the edge of his bed and took a step towards her.

"Bonnie,"

"I know Stefan. Caroline and Elena told me everything."

"Just let me explain it to you, I want you to hear this from me."

She nodded and then he began. He told her everything from the clean up to the kiss. He explained to her how he never wanted it to happen and how he was going to push her off but she came in before he could.

"I'm so sorry Bon, I will never do anything to hurt you, please I need your forgiveness. Please."

Tears rolled down her face and she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her in as close as he could and kissed her temple.

"I love you so much, I'm so sorry."

"I love you Stefan and I forgive you."

He pulled away and kissed her deeply. He mentally sighed in happiness at the fact that they were finally together. He turned her around in the kiss and walked forward until her back was flat of the bed and that he was on top of her.

And he did to her everything that he fantasized.

Rudy was having a hard time dealing with everything that was going on. When Vanessa told him that she and Stefan kissed, he didn't know how to act. He was acting much like Bonnie for the past week. He was distant and wouldn't talk much. Vanessa had apologized and told him that she'll stay at one of their resorts until he wants to talk.

The only time he smiled was when Bonnie told him that she and Stefan had made up because the smile on her face was contagious.

When he was ready he went to see her. He came unannounced and it caught her off guard for she was ready to gain a small tan by the pool.

"Rudy" she said surprised, "I wasn't expecting you, please come in."

He smiled weakly and walked in the suite and looked around before taking a seat at the end of the bed. He ran his hands down his thighs,

"I want to be with you Vanessa, but what you did I can't even wrap my head around why."

She sighed and sat next to him. There was a silence between them and she ran through her mind of what to say.

"I don't know what got into me I just got caught up in the moment and...yeah."

He shifted from his position so he could look into her eyes, "I love you Vanessa and I want to work on us if you're willing to."

"I'm sorry." She kissed him and they had a similar reunion to Bonnie and Stefan.

A week later Stefan ran to his front door excited for his day with Bonnie.

"Hey babe you're early...Vanessa?"

"Before you close the door on me, I would like to explain myself."

He stepped to the side so she could walk through. She looked around the manor before sitting down on one of the couches. He took a seat across from her and waited for her to start.

"First off I'm sorry for dragging you into this but I couldn't think of another way."

"What do you mean?"

She let out a breath, "I want a divorce. Being with Rudy has been great, but I feel like he's holding me back. I want to expand; I want to travel and see the world while I'm still young and have the energy to. With Rudy having Bonnie I know that he can't join me like I want him to and I'm not going to make him decide between me and her, that's just not fair to any of us."

"Then why kiss me? Why not serve him with papers?"

"Because of the prenup I foolishly signed and if I'm the one to serve him, he gets everything. I worked hard too; I deserve to get my share of the properties, so when you came along it was the only thing that I could think of to make him divorce me." She looked down at her hands before continuing, "Unfortunately, my plan failed, he still wants to be together. I was hoping that Bonnie would persuade him otherwise, but she didn't."

"Listen, I'm sorry about all that I really am, but I would appreciate if you keep me out of another one of you schemes."

"I know and I'm sorry, I promise that I'll never get you involved again. Anyway I should get going; Bonnie is coming over so I don't want her to see me here."

Stefan stood up and walked her to the door.

Ten minutes later after Vanessa left, Bonnie arrived. She could tell that something was troubling him and she wondered what it was. She wanted to ask him about it, but every time she would try he'll interrupt her by changing the subject or by kissing her, and soon she decided to stop trying. If it was something important she knew that he would tell her when he's ready.