Thank you again for all of your favs/follows and amazing reviews, and your patience with my updates. You all make my day.
This chapter has a lot of character opinions so I hope you like that kinda thing. It's longer than all my others have been so get yourself a cup of tea maybe, or coffee if that's ur jam. Yes I am British, and I feel now is the appropriate time to apologise to my American readers who have to endure my spellings of "colour" and such.
Happy reading darlings x
Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of L J Smith and The CW. I don't own The Vampire Diaries – if I did Kennett would have banged for sure.
When Bonnie opened her eyes, she noticed Stefan first. It was hard not to. He engulfed her entire vision and the worry-stricken way he was looking at her, with such care, such love, was something she hardly recognised – because she could count the amount of people that had looked at her in this way on one hand alone. She wasn't sure how she felt about that except that it formed a lump in her throat, making breathing even more difficult than it already was.
"Bonnie, I – I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't…"
She looked around bewilderedly as Stefan spurted apologies and tears. She wasn't sure why, seeing as none of this was his fault. Finally she noticed Caroline and Elena hovering in the background – they both looked relieved but something was still keeping them tensed.
Stefan reached out and cupped her face gently with both hands as she looked around like a new born child. "Bonnie? Bonnie look at me, please," he begged.
It felt strange to be trapped in her own body again. Stefan's soft warm hands against her skin zinged the cold, vampiric death-like sensation through her, which she had now grown used to after such a time. She let his hands guide her face to look at his.
"Do you…do you feel…okay?"
She wasn't sure exactly how to answer that question. She almost died (or did die? Again, she wasn't sure) not to mention had what she suspected was an OBE. She certainly felt shaken up, but, "I guess I'm okay."
Stefan, Caroline and Elena's bodies all deflated simultaneously as they sighed in relief.
Stefan pulled her into an almost bone crunching hug and scattered quick kisses along her hairline. "Bonnie, promise me you'll never do that again."
She pursed her lips and nodded.
"Bonnie…"
"I won't. I promise."
...
"This isn't working for me," Connor vented as he paced angrily in the dimly lit study. All around him, creepy antiques hung on the wall and trickled from the ceiling, many of them he bet were to do with witchcraft. It made him feel uneasy. "I want to complete the mark, trust me, I do…but-"
"But nothing. You need to grow the mark and Mystic Falls is the best place to do that."
Connor stopped in his tracks and stared at the man who had sent his life spiralling into all kinds of crazy. "I'm all for killing vampires," he said, managing to choke out a half-humoured laugh, "but people? Actual innocent humans? I'm a hunter – not a monster."
Atticus Shane sighed wearily. The bothersome hunter was slowly becoming more trouble than he was worth but unfortunately everything was dependent on that goddamn mark. "Collateral damage," he shrugged.
"I killed two girls today," Connor continued furiously. He wasn't much for caring about the lives of random folk but sacrificing two young girls for a greater good that he wasn't even sure was so good anyways was where he began to draw lines. "Two young mortal girls who had their whole life ahead of them!"
Shane became visibly rigid. "What were their names?"
Connor stared at him with both disgust and confusion. "What does it matter? They're just collateral damage," he quoted cynically.
The professor bit the inside of his cheek as his impatience with this man grew. "Just tell me their names," he commanded in an eerily calm voice.
"I don't fucking know," Connor huffed irritably as he began to pace again, "one was the dead Pastor's daughter…"
Shane closed his eyes briefly. She was important to the plan admittedly but not as important as…
"And I didn't know the name of the other. Some black girl who was acting too big for her boots. She saw too much so I had to end her," Connor said tensely. He tried to put across that he didn't give a damn, and did a good job of it, but murdering two young girls in cold blood…it would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Shane's eyes snapped open. "Excuse me?"
"What?" Connor asked, discontinuing his pacing to glare at the professor, who had risen to stand upright from the desk he had been loitering against.
"Please tell me you didn't kill Bonnie Bennett," Shane said lowly with an unmissable threatening undertone to his voice.
Connor raised a dark eyebrow, "Who?"
Shane took a deep breath to seemingly calm himself and suddenly dashed over to his desk. He pulled out one of the draws roughly and rummaged through the cluttered mess, then finally pulled out what he was looking for. He approached Connor again and shoved a photo of a beautiful young girl with her grandmother in front of his face.
"Tell me this isn't the girl you killed," Shane almost whispered.
Connor ground his molars down on each other as he stared down at Shane irritably. He wasn't afraid of this scrawny little man. "I told you. If anybody gets in my way, they're dead. She got in my way."
"Are-"Shane shut his eyes in desperate frustration again, "are you sure you killed her?"
Connor licked his lips. "I don't know. It was quick and I got out of there before I could check if she was alive or not."
"Okay," Shane breathed, "you can go now."
Connor picked up his rucksack and stormed over to the door. "I'll call you when I kill more vampires," he said over his shoulder.
"Connor," Shane called out, causing the hunter to stop and look back for a moment. "Watch out. I've been tracking Niklaus Mikaelson; if my sources are correct, he's back in town."
Connor scoffed, "excuse me?"
"He's an original hybrid," Shane said, trying to refrain from rolling his eyes at Connor's ignorance, "Very powerful. Very dangerous. Very old. Just…watch out."
Connor nodded slowly before stepping out of the dark office and shutting the door behind him.
Two days later…
Stefan dragged his eyes around the classroom as a sickening nostalgia waved over him. It was their first History lesson since 'Mr Saltzman's' death. He'd never been as close to Alaric as Damon or Elena or Jeremy…
But still. He was a nice man who unfortunately got dealt a crappy set of cards in life.
Now he was just another name on the long list of the people they had lost.
He clenched his jaw and looked to the side. Elena was sitting tensely in her seat beside him, lost in thought, no doubt about her lost substitute guardian. And one seat along from her, sat Bonnie. Her posture was rigid and her bright green eyes intense with…he wasn't sure what exactly.
And Stefan felt there was something unquestionably wrong with that. He knew everything there was to know about Bonnie Bennett: her habits; her mood swings; her favourite colour – everything. They were so in sync he was willing to bet they could tell an entire story to each other through eye contact and a series of nods alone. Yet lately…it was as if she was on a different frequency.
To say Stefan was worried about Bonnie would be the understatement of the century. She had been avoiding him none stop ever since the events of the Memorial – which was the worst thing she could have possibly done with no powers and vampire blood pumping through her veins. He took a deep breath and tried to push the memories out of his mind for now – it haunted him to think of what could have happened if they hadn't found her in time. She could have died or become a vampire – he didn't know which was worse. He knew which Bonnie thought was worse, however. Thankfully she managed to make it through the weekend without dying which had become an unlikely feat for the average citizen of Mystic Falls.
He thought that was why she was avoiding him – because although he hadn't done it himself, he had stepped aside and willingly let Caroline give her blood. She had made it crystal clear to him numerous times that she would rather die than risk becoming a vampire. It wasn't just that though, he was sure of it. Over the past year Stefan had grown to know Bonnie better than anyone else (well perhaps Damon might argue otherwise). He growled unconsciously under his breath which earned him a few weird looks from some of his classmates but he ignored them. Bonnie was definitely acting differently. Even in the way she was sitting; the way she held herself; the way she spoke – heck – even the way she was dressing and doing her hair. She was still Bonnie, undoubtedly, complete with the fierce personality and fiery glint to her forest green eyes. However, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that –
"Morning everyone!" Rebekah announced loudly as she entered the sombre classroom.
"Just like that, I'm no longer feeling sentimental," Elena muttered.
Stefan side-eyed Elena, "It's partially thanks to her you're still alive. Kol was going to kill you and she stopped him so Damon could slip you his blood."
Elena huffed. "Please, Stefan. It's thanks to Damon that I'm alive and she only agreed so she could get into his pants again."
He smirked "do I detect a hint of jealously?"
The long haired brunette blinked furiously. It was true she harboured some feelings for Damon and they had slept together when she was human but it was over now. She understood she only appealed to him because she looked like Katherine – however after the Queen Bitch was released from the tomb and broke baby Damon's heart, apparently he found it difficult to even look at Elena because she reminded him so much of the woman he now hated. So screw him, I always knew he was a dick, she'd thought. But it was getting harder lately – ever since becoming a vampire her hormones had gone haywire and she oftentimes found herself sending lustful gazes his way – not that he noticed. She was thankful for that, in fact. She didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable or even humiliate herself at least. "No," she finally said to Stefan, who appeared unconvinced.
"I'm throwing a little anti-curfew party at my new house," Rebekah continued, "starts fifth period goes till whenever. Spread the word," she schmoozed, handing out colourful posters and invites to passers-by. "You're welcome to join Bonnie, if you're ready to bury the hatchet," she smiled sweetly and let one of the posters flutter onto the witch's desk.
Elena glared at the original whereas Stefan bit the inside of his cheek anxiously.
"Huh?" Bonnie asked with a confused look on her face.
Stefan and Elena exchanged glances. No snarky retort?
Rebekah pouted, equally surprised at Bonnie's civility. "The hatchet, Bennett," she repeated.
Bonnie chanced a look at her two friends who unfortunately didn't give anything away. Back in the old world she'd barely come into contact with Rebekah (fortunately) but who knew what rules applied here? "Um, yeah. Whatever," she replied.
Elena took the opportunity to intervene whilst Rebekah tried to get over her confusion. "New house, huh? Did your brother finally kick you out?"
Rebekah's blue eyes slid over to look at Elena reluctantly. She'd never liked Tatia, and she didn't like the first doppelganger, Katherine. Surprise surprise, she didn't like the second doppelganger. Unfortunately it seemed Elijah was eternally whipped by Petrova vagina so apparently they were here to stay. At least she could be thankful that there wouldn't be another doppelganger due to Elena's new immortality – one of the many reasons she convinced Kol to let her be turned. Was she disappointed that Elena would be around for longer now? Sure. But that didn't mean she couldn't put her down with a wooden stake if she crossed a line.
"He didn't kick me out; I left," Rebekah told her bluntly; even just speaking to the doppelganger made her feel like one by one her brain cells were deteriorating.
"So you left the only person on Earth that actually likes you?" Elena persisted.
Rebekah sighed. She really didn't have the time of day to have petty arguments to justify herself to the one-dimensioned twit but she found her mouth moving without her permission. "You owe me your life, child. Nik may be annoyed at me for my part in turning you but if it were down to Kol you'd be rotting in the ground right now. I only convinced him otherwise to try and get back onto Bonnie's good side. Don't mistake my debt payback for me valuing your life," Rebekah flipped her straight blonde hair over her shoulder as she sat down before adding: "I could easily end you so I suggest you respect your elders."
Bonnie didn't look up from the exercise book she was pretending to read but her eyes were wide with shock. Rebekah hating Elena wasn't exactly new but their arguments were usually cut short before they got as severe as that just did. Truthfully, she was waiting for Stefan to step in and stick up for Elena, like he should really – even as her friend or a gentleman, at least. After a few long seconds of silence she peeked up at him. Of course he was looking right at her and as their eyes met he smirked. She pursed her lips to hide her own smile and looked back down at the book.
It was all wrong. In the pit of her stomach, guilt sloshed around uncomfortably; she couldn't help but feel like she had literally stolen her best friend's life. It certainly wasn't intentional but that didn't mean it was okay.
...
Damon shrugged on his trusty leather jacket as he read the directions to the hunter's house/trailer/vampire-killing-automobile, texted to him by baby Gilbert. According to him and Matt, Connor had been perusing around Mystic High sticking his nose in places it had no business in – including giving Jeremy some weirdo hunter initiation proposal. Not to mention he stole some werewolf venom from Tyler at the hospital. "Seriously need to put this guy down," he mumbled to himself as he made his way out of the front door of the boarding house. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he deliberated whether to call in his partner in crime or not.
She certainly needed the distraction and he took pride in knowing how to put her in a better mood but he was trying to not piss Stefan off today. His thumb hovered over the button to speed dial Bonnie Bennett but after battling with his conscience he shoved his phone into his back pocket. It didn't go unnoticed to him that his humanity was slowly but surely creeping up on him, more and more each day. He shuddered; he was afraid one of these days he was going to become as bad as Stefan. Wimpy and humany and all caring and shit.
His mind wandered into a reverie as he drove. Every day he told himself he didn't care about this crappy town or the people in it and every day it became an even bigger lie. Ever since the day he saw Bonnie Bennett walking around with that godforsaken crystal around her neck. All of the time he'd spent trying to steal it back off her he'd ended up developing some sort of pathetic little crush. At first he could live with himself because it was purely sexual. And who could blame him? He was a man with needs and beautiful little Bonnie fit the bill. Unfortunately Stefan got his foot in the door first so he had to settle with the Katherine look-a-like, which wasn't so bad for a while until he realised how generic she really was.
It wasn't till after the decade dance when he was sold and he may as well have put a sign over his head that stated 'owned by Bonnie Bennett'. The way her petite body felt in his arms and the way she didn't even blush under his burning gaze had him hooked – line and sinker. For most girls all he had to do was fucking glance at them to get them to cream their pants. Bonnie? Nothing. Well – not nothing. Her heart rate increased and she smiled a bit – but Damon wanted more from her. And that was how this game of cat and mouse truly started.
Was he in love with Bonnie?
It was debatable. His feelings certainly got more intense as time passed. He wasn't quite sure himself. Katherine had once mentioned she believed that true love is not real unless it is returned. Well he wasn't so sure about that but the woman had been around a lot longer than him so who knew really.
He shrugged to himself as he parked his car outside of the woods. He'd take the rest of the way on foot.
...
"Are you sure you're okay?" Stefan took Bonnie's hand as they walked down the fluorescently lit corridors of the school during changeover.
Bonnie inhaled deeply before raising her head and nodding. "For the thousandth time," she managed with a smile, "yes."
Stefan stopped walking which caused her to stop too. "Sorry," he laughed without humour, "I know you don't like it when I coddle you…"
She smiled. It was taking some getting used to but she couldn't say she hated it.
She watched his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed. Being around Stefan more often, she was starting to notice new things that she hadn't seen before. Like how in different lights his eye colour ranged from bluish grey to a deep green. How his jaw line was so well cut it must – must – have been shaped by the Gods. How if she blurred her eyes just a little he looked like Justin Bieber's older, sexier, brother.
"No," she grinned, "it's fine."
Stefan reached out and gently tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear; she admonished herself when her cheeks heated up a little. It was remarkable the different sides to his personality she was seeing as of late. She knew she had to remember to keep her distance though. She valued her friendship with Elena, as well as her integrity. In her opinion, it didn't matter that things were different; they could always change back. And how could she live with herself if something happened? It was through sheer avoidance that she'd managed to not kiss him yet, and she wasn't sure how long that would last. After all, what kind of couple never kissed?
"Okay," Stefan said, "I want you to come round tonight."
Bonnie blinked and flustered noticeably. "Oh, um – what about Rebekah's party?"
He shrugged nonchalantly "We can go if you feel like it. But I'd rather spend time with you," he added with a smirk.
She squirmed inwardly but slapped a grin onto her face. "Sure, okay then."
There were only so times you could turn down your own 'boyfriend' and she'd been ignoring Stefan's persistent calls all weekend. It wasn't without reason – she'd spent the whole time pouring over all the Grimoire's she could get her hands on – although to no avail. She was still clueless as to how she got into this little situation, and the not knowing was really beginning to leave a bad taste in her mouth.
Stefan smiled back and it pained her because he still looked a little sad. She knew he knew something was wrong but it wasn't like she could tell him the truth.
"Good. I'll pick you up around six or seven. I gotta go talk to Jeremy so I'll see you later, okay?"
Bonnie nodded and held her breath when she realised Stefan was leaning in.
Oh no. It was happening.
His thumb and forefinger came up to clutch her chin gently as he drew her in like a moth to a flame. She couldn't fight him; she was poisoned by his presence, leaving her right state of mind paralysed. Fighting it would cause more problems rather than diminish them and a small part of her, although she refused to acknowledge it, didn't want to fight. Her eyes drifted shut a millisecond before she felt his soft lips against hers.
It lasted all of two seconds but to Bonnie they could have been standing there for two hours. His fresh masculine scent invaded her senses and her lips scorched from the sensation of his moving against hers. His lips were soft and the kiss was chaste; any more in the hallway would have been inappropriate. Nonetheless, her brain was frazzled; she could feel the raw emotion emanating off of Stefan – and she'd never had someone expose such care or love for her before. Her stomach lurched and as he pulled away she found herself still leaning in for more.
Stefan chuckled lightly and kissed her forehead. "Later."
Her eyes fluttered open as he walked away. Like a switch all rational thought came flooding back, and with it, came the feeling of guilt and the battle of her inner conscience ensued. She pushed away thoughts of Elena and the strange feeling that she was going against nature's intentions. Ever since she began discovering the supernatural, the notion that vampires and witches shouldn't mix had been hammered into her. Not just by her Grams, but by herself.
Christ, Bonnie, get a grip, she thought to herself.
"Dammit!" She huffed and began to walk down the corridor to her next class, trying to ignore the tingling sensation still throbbing in her lips, when her phone started buzzing. She rolled her eyes upon seeing the caller I.D: Damon. If it wasn't one Salvatore, it was the other.
"What do you want, Damon?"
"Again, what makes you think I want something?"
"Okay, bye then."
"Wait wait wait wait – okay, yes, THIS TIME I need your help."
"And there it is," she smirked, "I'm at school, make it quick."
"Hm. Slight little problem with that. I'm gonna need you to skip a class or two."
Bonnie ducked out of the corridor and into an empty classroom. "Are you kidding me?" she hissed irritably into her cell.
"Afraid not, Judgey. But I swear it's important."
She took a deep breath in and out. Of all the things that had changed and he still called her that? Lord have mercy.
"Okay, fine. What is it?"
"I'll text you the directions. See you later."
"What? Damon can't you just tell-"
Bonnie cursed under her breath as the dial tone rung to signal Damon had hung up. Asshole. Her phone bleeped from his text; he'd basically sent her a Google Maps pin. Hudson off Route 13.
Bonnie tapped in a quick reply:
Coming to the rescue. Again.
Damon grimaced as he stared down at the arrow skewered through his chest. There goes another one of my designer shirts.
He pinged the line the arrow was attached to and the bomb on the end of it rattled slightly.
Fucking fantastic.
He had set out on not having to call Bonnie for this simple task but he hadn't anticipated The Hunter having a land mine in his trailer, obviously. Already his flesh had begun to heal around the wound the arrow had created and the brittle metal was scratching against his insides – at least he could be thankful it wasn't absolutely necessary for him to breath.
He craned his neck a little when he heard the door of the trailer creak open.
"What the…?"
"Come in, close the door," Damon hissed.
Bonnie scanned the admittedly expensive looking interior, before she noticed Damon was impaled by the most violently jagged arrow she had ever seen. Her eyes followed the string to the small green box, the words engraved on it 'FRONT TOWARD ENEMY'.
"Tell me that is not a bomb…"
"Okay," Damon grinned, "it's a kitten – it's an adorable, exploding kitten."
"Now is not the time for your stupid remarks! Ugh!" Bonnie spluttered as she moved around him to get a 360 degree view.
"You said-"
"I know what I said!"
He smirked. "Come on, you're here now – and you know this is way more interesting than English Literature or whatever it is you're doing nowadays," he yammered, waving a hand dismissively.
"I'm neither going to admit or deny that. Could you stop moving, please?" she winced.
"Gladly." Damon gestured to a sharp-looking knife that Connor had conveniently left on a side table. "Cut the arrow out and then we can get out of here."
Bonnie nodded and picked up the knife with a shaky hand. Damon waited impatiently as she took a minute to calm her nerves before she started carving out the arrow and odd bits of flesh.
"Hey," Damon murmured, "check this out…"
For a moment Bonnie was worried he was going to do/say something inappropriate but for once he was all business. He held up a weathered looking letter.
She squinted in attempt to read the finely scrawled handwriting. "What is it?"
"A letter from Pastor Young. You know, the crazy dead dude?"
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "He was a nice guy – I know it's not in your nature but could you be just a little more respectful?"
Damon only rose his eyebrows. "Ya, nice crazy guy," he waved the letter in Bonnie's face, "he wrote a letter about sacrifice and war brewing in Mystic Falls."
"Mystic Falls is Mystic Falls. After everything that's happened who are we to say something's far-fetched?" she frowned.
Damon snorted. "Bonnie, he wrote about a greater evil. You'd think we've got just about as evil as it gets, right?"
"You mean the pony-drawing hybrid?"
Damon laughed and dropped the letter back where he found it. "I guess," he finally admitted.
The sound of Damon's flesh squishing filled the air as a beat in the conversation ensued. Bonnie concentrated on avoiding getting too much blood on her fingers.
"Bonnie?"
"Mhmm?"
"There's um…" Pause. "I'm going to the hospital later to ambush the hunter. You want in?"
Bonnie peered at the back of Damon's head curiously before answering. "I'll pass. Stefan's invited me round and Rebekah's having a party…plus I don't really want to see The Hunter ever again, considering…"
"Oh right, yeah. Sure that's cool."
"Damon…"
"No, really. I get it."
She pursed her lips and began to cut quicker. The sooner she could leave, the better.
"I should've been there," he said lowly.
"What?"
"The Hunter…when he got you. I should have been there to stop it but I was looking for him myself and," he let out a sarcastic laugh, "arguing with Stefan. Like always."
For a moment she wanted to laugh at him because it seemed so ridiculous to her that he was actually valuing her life. She didn't mention that she'd sort of been there with them to see the argument. Instead, she sighed. "Damon, for once, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have run off like an idiot, to be honest," she admitted, letting out a sarcastic laugh of her own. "I guess I'm so used to being able to do my own thing and having my powers to protect me that I didn't think."
She was glad that he was trapped in place by the arrow so he couldn't turn around and pin her with those eyes of his.
"Still…" Damon mumbled.
"I'm done," Bonnie announced and she dropped the stained knife back on the table.
"Awesome," he grimaced and pulled out the arrow. "Come on, let's go."
He ushered her out of the trailer and she shrugged his pushing hands off her shoulders.
"You need a ride home?" he asked.
"If you're offering."
He led her to the end of the pathway to his car and opened the door for her, to which she raised her eyebrows and snorted. He rolled his eyes in return. As soon as he'd sat down in the driver's seat and started the engine he got his phone out and dialled a number.
"You know you shouldn't drive and phone someone at the same time, right?" Bonnie sniffed.
He stared at her drolly. "I'm a vampire; I practically have superpowers, Judgey. I think we'll be fine."
"Hello, Damon!"
Bonnie was able to hear the other line vaguely. Her face scrunched in distaste when she recognised the husky accented voice on the other end.
"Klaus? Where's Tyler?" Damon questioned.
Bonnie didn't catch what the head hybrid said in reply but she didn't really care to know either. She stared out of the window and thought about tonight with Stefan. The more she thought about it the more she got anxious. Alone time…with Stefan. What if he started kissing her? What if he wanted…more? She'd spent time with Stefan one-on-one when he was in Ripper-mode and forced her to hide the coffins in the witch house from Klaus but she figured it wasn't quite the same. She rubbed her forehead and tried to no avail to stop worrying.
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