A/N: This chapter is named after the song Left Alone by Fiona Apple
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Julius and my words.
2 - Left Alone
Bonnie stood stock still, contemplating her next move. Cookies 'n' Cream or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough? After a moment of deliberation, she sighed and grabbed the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Who was she kidding? She always got the same thing. There was no reason to switch up now. As she approached the cashier to check out, she felt her phone vibrating. She didn't even make a move to answer it. She knew it was one out of three people, none of whom she felt like speaking to at the moment. The other night both Elena and Caroline had bailed on her at the last minute and she hadn't picked up their calls or replied to any of their texts, pleading for forgiveness, since. She was taking a breather from Jeremy as well. With her dad out of town on yet another business trip, she'd spent the last couple days alone.
She walked out of the grocery store, thinking about what movie she should watch while she gorged on the entire quart of ice cream. She reached the Prius, dug into her pocket and sucked her teeth in annoyance when she dropped her keys. Cursing to herself, she dropped down and fished them out from beneath the car. When she stood back up, she shrieked at the unexpected sight of a man reflected in the window, standing so close behind her he was practically breathing down her neck.
"So you're a witch?" The question was casual as Bonnie dropped her keys again.
"Fuck!" Bonnie shouted, her face twisted in anger. "You scared the shit out of me!"
Julius wore a smug smile that she wanted to smack off his face. "Really? I thought you were fearless."
"What, are you stalking me or something?" She bent down to pick up her keys but they were swiped from the ground before she could even touch them. Julius stood in his place, his movement almost too fast to detect, looking even more smug.
"Well, I was going to hold a grudge after you set my brain on fire for no apparent reason but I decided I wanted to have another conversation with you," he said. "A nice, civil conversation, unlike our last meeting."
"I set your brain on fire to make a point," Bonnie said through gritted teeth. "I don't want anything to do with you. I thought I made it clear I wanted you gone. Mystic Falls doesn't need another vampire."
"That's kind of racist, Bonnie."
"You're not funny. Give me my keys," she huffed. "And how the hell do you know my name?"
"Small town," he replied, with a shrug. "Not that many Bennetts. You weren't all that hard to find." He held up her keys. "All I want is to sit down and have a conversation with you. I'll gladly give these back if you agree." Bonnie refused to feed into his games. In an instant, he felt the explosion inside his head. He cried out and brought his palms to his temple, dropping her keys in the process. He fell back against the car behind him, and his cries of pain were drawing stares across the parking lot. Bonnie quickly grabbed her keys, unlocked the car door, and hopped in. She stopped the aneurysm she was giving him, as to not draw anymore attention their way. He was grabbing the car door before she could slam it shut.
"Dammit, I wish you wouldn't fucking do that!" He hissed angrily.
"Wiped that infuriating smirk off your face," Bonnie gloated. "Get away from my car. Now."
"Please, Bonnie, I just need your help."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course! There's never a vampire that doesn't need my help!"
"If you keep shouting vampire people are going to think you're crazy."
Bonnie snorted. "You really are new to Mystic Falls." She quickly grew serious again, eyes narrowed at him. "I am not going to help you. Leave me alone, Julius. Forever." Crestfallen, Julius released his hold on the door.
"Please..." His sentence went unfinished as Bonnie slammed the door shut and started up her car. She didn't look in his direction as she sped out of the parking lot. As she awaited the opportunity to merge onto the street, she looked in her rearview mirror. He was still standing in the same spot, looking at her. He continued to stand there, watching as she drove away, and she couldn't help but feel like she may have just made a mistake.
Elena entered the Gilbert home, Damon trailing behind her. It had been a few days since she'd stepped foot in the house, but she figured it was a good idea to stop by and check on her brother. She walked into the living-room to find Jeremy sprawled across the couch, game controller in hand.
"Of course..." Damon rolled his eyes at the sight of him.
"What are you doing here?" Jeremy questioned.
"I live here," Elena responded in an "duh" tone.
"Are you sure?" Jeremy asked, sitting up. "You're barely ever here anymore." He shot Damon a look.
Damon shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? I'm a lot more fun to hang with, Gilbert. Shouldn't you be at work, or chasing behind Bonnie, or doing something. Anything other than this. Again."
"Have you seen Bonnie?" Elena asked, curiously.
"No, not for a couple days," Jeremy revealed. "I texted her but she didn't reply."
"You didn't go see her?" Elena asked, incredulously.
"Of course he didn't," Damon intervened. "That would require him getting up and doing something."
"Last time I spoke to her it was obvious she wanted some space," Jeremy informed them. "I thought I'd let her have it for now."
"Since when has she ever wanted space from you?" Elena asked. Jeremy cast his eyes down and nodded.
"I'll check on her tonight," he promised.
Elena looked to Damon. "I'm going to go grab some stuff. I'll be back down in a minute." Damon nodded and she flitted off to the stairs.
"Move over, Gilbert," Damon demanded, grabbing the second controller and sitting. "I am going to destroy you."
Once Elena was in her room she pulled out her iPhone and hit one of the numbers in her most recent calls. Caroline picked up on the first ring. "I was just about to call you," she revealed. The usual cheer in her voice was absent.
"Have you talked to Bonnie?" Elena questioned.
"No, that's what I was going to call you about," Caroline said. "I can't believe she's still not talking to us."
"Or Jeremy," Elena told her. "I think we should go see her."
"Yes, we need to run damage control," Caroline agreed. "I also have something I want to ask her about."
"What?"
"I talked to Matt and he said he saw her at the Grill that night we were supposed to meet her," Caroline explained. "He said he saw her talking to some guy at the bar. He didn't recognize him. He said she left with him."
"That doesn't sound like Bonnie."
"I think something is going on with her," the blonde said worriedly. "We need to go check on her."
Bonnie's heart jumped at the sound of knocking at the front door. She had been jumpy ever since coming back home. She got up from the couch and approached the door slowly. She was sure she'd made an enemy of yet another vampire, and he'd made it clear that he could find her. There was a 99% chance he already knew where she lived, and if he had been watching her he would know she'd been alone. She would never invite him in, but she was still uneasy with the thought of someone stalking around her home, waiting for the opportunity to rip her throat out.
She peered through the peephole and relaxed at the sight of Elena and Caroline. Not her two favorite people right now, but at least they didn't mean her any physical harm. She opened the door, and both girls beamed at her.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked, not at all the reaction they were used to from her.
"We came to see our best friend!" Caroline exclaimed. "And we brought your favorite snacks."
"We've got chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream," Elena added with a smile.
"I already have some, thanks."
"We also brought movies," Elena said. "You never did reschedule that movie night you cancelled."
"What better time than now for girls night," Caroline said. "Now, come on, let us in."
"I don't know if I'm really in the mood..."
"Bonnie, we miss you," Elena said, pleading with her chocolate brown eyes.
"And we are so sorry for standing you up the other night," Caroline apologized. "We promise it won't happen again." They stood there, lips poked out, giving her the puppy dog eyes. Bonnie sighed and stepped aside.
"As if I could stay mad at you guys," she said with an eye roll. Caroline squealed and they hustled inside. No formal invitation was needed. The girls had been in and out the Bennett house plenty since becoming vampires. Bonnie took a quick look outside and seeing no one shut the door. Maybe Julius had gotten the message. Maybe she would never see him again.
A short while later, the girls were in the kitchen, laughing and catching up as they put together their snacks for the movie. "I still can't believe this is our last summer before college," Caroline was saying. "We've waited for this moment for years. Pretty soon it'll be college papers, parties..."
"College boys," Elena added with a giggle.
"If we were smart we would be going single," Caroline joked.
"Either way I feel single," Bonnie said. The laughter ceased.
"Is everything okay with you and Jeremy?" Caroline asked.
"It just doesn't feel the same with us," Bonnie admitted.
Elena sighed and reached out to put a comforting arm on Bonnie's shoulder. "I know Jer hasn't been boyfriend of the year lately, but he loves you."
"Yeah, I'm sure you guys will work it out," Caroline cosigned. "Every relationship has their rough patch. It's so hard for me with Tyler being away but I still love him, and I know when he comes back we'll be okay. Which better be sooner than later!" Bonnie and Elena both chuckled.
"Damon and I had a rough couple of years before I fell for him," Elena said. "There was even times I felt I hated him. Now, I could never imagine feeling that way toward him."
"Have you spoken to Stefan at all?" Bonnie questioned. Elena shook her head.
"I've been tempted to call him," Elena admitted. "Just check up on him, make sure he's okay. I never meant to hurt him. Damon is sure he'll be back in town soon enough, and everything will be fine." Bonnie wasn't going to say it out loud, but she was sure Damon was just saying that for Elena's benefit. She had broken Stefan's heart when she chose Damon, and he left because he couldn't bear to be around it. It would most likely be longer than awhile before he came back to Mystic Falls. if he ever did.
"Speaking of boys," Caroline segued the conversation. "Matt said he saw you at the bar the other day."
Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, I always see him there, Care. He works there."
"I know, Bonnie, it's just that..." Caroline looked to Elena. "He said he saw you talking to some guy and that you left with him." Bonnie looked from Caroline to Elena, both were staring at her with the utmost curiosity. She couldn't help but feel irritated at Matt reporting her every move to her friends.
"I ran into an old friend," she said with a shrug, trying to sound casual. "We stepped outside for a minute to talk. What's the big deal?"
"Who was he?" Elena asked.
"Just some guy I used to know." The annoyance was creeping into Bonnie's voice.
"Matt said he didn't recognize him," Caroline pushed.
"Maybe Matt hasn't met every single person to ever step foot in Mystic Falls!" Bonnie snapped, standing up. "What's with the third degree? I had a conversation with someone, that is all." She grabbed the DVDs Caroline had brought off the counter. "You guys can grill each other. I'm going to set up the movie." She stalked out of the room.
"She's being really sensitive about the subject," Caroline pointed out to Elena once Bonnie was out of earshot. "Do you think she's hiding something?"
"Why would she feel the need to do that?" Elena wondered. "She never hides anything from us."
Caroline sighed. "Maybe we're reading too much into this and she really did just run into someone she knew."
Elena nodded uncertainly. "You're right. Let's just drop it for now."
"Ready to go," Bonnie announced, walking back into the kitchen. "First up is Bridesmaids, then Pitch Perfect."
"Perfect," Elena said with a smile, picking up the bowl of popcorn. "Let's go." She headed off to the living-room.
"Right behind you," Caroline called after her but she didn't budge. Bonnie went to the freezer and fished out the ice-cream. She heard the faucet turn on behind her, and when she turned around Caroline was directly behind her. Bonnie yelped and nearly dropped the ice-cream.
"Shit, I wish people would stop doing that," Bonnie hissed.
"Bonnie, who was he?" Caroline questioned, concern etched on her face.
"Care, I already told you."
"You know you can tell me the truth," the blonde persisted. "Are you seeing another guy."
"Of course not!" Bonnie cried. "I would never do that to Jeremy."
"Matt said you never came back."
"By the time we were done talking you and Elena had already texted me that you weren't coming," Bonnie explained.
"What's his name? How do you know him?"
"His name is Adam. He used to work for my father," Bonnie quickly lied. "Why are we even still talking about this? Is this your way of detracting from the fact that you and Elena have been sucky friends lately?!"
"What's going on?"
Neither Bonnie nor Caroline had heard Elena enter. "I'm tired, that's what." Bonnie went over to the sink and turned off the faucet. "What was the point of this, anyway? We all know what's going to happen. At some point Damon is going to text Elena and she's going to leave early. Caroline, you probably have some function you've been helping to plan that you have to be up early for so you're going to leave right after her. I'll text Jeremy and he'll tell me he's busy or too tired to come over, if he even replies before tomorrow afternoon, and I'll be in bed by 10. By myself. That's how it always ends! You guys didn't come over to spend time with me, you came over here to dig up some dirt."
"Bonnie, that's not true-" Elena began.
"Of course it's not Elena," Bonnie snapped, sarcastically. "Because you're so kind and thoughtful and never mean to hurt anyone!"
"Bonnie!" There was shock in Caroline's voice. Bonnie had never went off on them like this.
"I don't want to hear it Caroline," Bonnie said. "I'm going to bed. You two can see yourselves out." She stormed past Elena out the kitchen. Caroline was shaken by the sound of her bedroom door slamming. It sounded like she was slamming the door on their friendship.