Hello there peoples. Remember me? ;)

Lawd I am so sorry for the horrendously delayed update. I am incredibly bogged down with my coursework and exams. Gotta love deadline season (not.)

In my absence this story surpassed 200 reviews. When it did I almost cried because I knew I wouldn't be able to update soon after as a thank you. I really, really do appreciate every single review I have received for this story and every single one of you who has stuck with me. I really can't thank you enough.

Also, I hate to do this and single one person out of all of my supporters, but I must give a quick shout out to Kiara who reviewed more recently, not once, not twice, but five times asking me to update. Unfortunately you were on a guest account so I couldn't message you but girl thank you for kicking my butt into gear. I'm humbled you love the fic so much.

This chap is a bit choppy for my liking but it is Bamon heavy which I know a lot of people will enjoy. Happy reading everyone.

Stefan examined the small wooden stake curiously and let his fingers trace over the tribal-like engravings gently. "So what is all this?"

"Some personal items that I snaked from the vampire hunter's RV," Damon said as he walked into the boarding house living room with a box balanced on his shoulder. "May he Rest in Peace."

Damon placed the box on one of their many antique tables and began to rummage through it. "I'm looking for his supernatural handbook."

"And you know for a fact he was supernatural?" Stefan asked.

"Well he definitely wasn't natural," Damon snorted. "The guy magically appeared just as someone blew up the entire founder's council. He's covered in a tattoo that Jeremy Gilbert, of all people in the world, seems to be able to see. Klaus mentioned something about him being one of 'The Five'. And he kamikazes himself with explosives. Does that sound natural to you?"

"What's The Five?" Stefan questioned, choosing to ignore Damon's spiel.

"That's what I'm hoping is in the first chapter of the supernatural handbook," Damon smirked. He placed a complicated looking science experiment on the table and frowned. "Have you spoken to Bonnie?"

Stefan's shoulders slumped and he scratched at the grain of the wooden stake with his bitten thumbnail. "She's not returning my calls but I know that she's in her house which Klaus isn't invited into. So at least for now I know she's safe."

Damon swallowed and stared intensely into the middle distance. If Stefan didn't know any better he might actually think Damon was in the middle of feeling guilty right now. "She should have called me. You are my brother; I should have made the deal and I should be the one indebted to Klaus," Damon reasoned.

"Klaus wouldn't have made a deal with you," Stefan pointed out, "he'd have nothing to gain."

"What could he possibly gain from a witch that has no powers?"

Stefan crossed his arms over his broad torso. "Maybe Klaus knows something we don't."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Damon said bitterly. His phone rang loudly in his pocket, cutting off their conversation. "Liz Forbes, my favourite sheriff," he greeted, balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder.

Stefan took the time to search through one of the boxes himself whilst Damon had what sounded like a brief yet grim conversation. He wasn't even sure what he was looking for, or why; his thoughts were so consumed with the memories from last night that if he did happen to come across anything important he'd miss it.

It was eating him alive not knowing what Klaus wanted from Bonnie. He supposed it was possible that as of yet, he didn't want anything and was just using the insurance as a safety blanket should anything pop up. Stefan knew better to think that though; Klaus was notorious for always being one step ahead.

Stefan laid his palms flat on the dark wooden table as Damon hung up and pocketed his phone. "What was that then?" he asked impatiently.

"Can't tell you, it's private," Damon said, "we're in a fight."

Stefan was aware that perhaps his left eye had twitched in that moment. They were in the middle of several crises, he had nearly died last night, and they were still going through this shit? "You're in a fight. I'm not in a fight; I'm over it. I've been over it."

Damon pulled a face of disbelief. "You're not still mad at me for pulling Bonnie out of school?"

"You can't seem to stay away from my girlfriend and I'm always gonna be mad at you but we're not in a 'fight'" he stated, emphasising the point by raising his hands to make quotations.

"Very well then," Damon conceded, resisting the urge to smirk, "They didn't find any remains at the explosion site."

"So Connor's still out there?" Stefan deduced.

"Apparently so." Damon chucked an empty box onto the floor frustratedly. "I'm gonna need you to get on this today. I have to take Bonnie to college."

Stefan's eyes snapped up in shock; he wasn't sure if he had imagined Damon had the audacity to say something like that, or if he actually did. "I'm sorry; you have to do, what, exactly?"

Damon endured Stefan's stare for a few moments before explaining. "A guy called Professor Shane sent her an email inviting her to an open day. The one that took over her Gram's class after…"

His voice trailed off and he swallowed back the lump in his throat that always resurfaced whenever he thought about that. Damon felt single-handedly responsible for the passing of Bonnie's most beloved relative in his unrelenting quest to find Katherine. Barely a day went by that he didn't hate himself for his foolishness. He had no idea whether Bonnie had forgiven him or not but he couldn't say he blamed her if she didn't.

Stefan opened his mouth ready to protest but Damon had already disappeared from the room.

His hands balled up into fists of their own accord as he thought about his damn brother spending time with Bonnie again when she wouldn't even pick up the damn phone to speak to him. Why was she avoiding him? And after he nearly died last night! She wasn't even giving him a chance to thank her, or tell her what a pickle she'd gotten herself into? Or see her one last time before Klaus took her away.

Maybe he wouldn't take her away. Klaus probably wasn't going to be leaving Mystic Falls anytime soon, anyway. Right?

Stefan quickly found himself pacing from one end of the room to the other and then back again, the whole time with his phone in his hand, pressing the button to speed dial Bonnie, over and over again until he was sure she'd pick up if only to tell him to stop calling.

But she didn't.

Every time it cut to voicemail his frustration grew. Why wouldn't she pick up?

Stefan stilled suddenly as he remembered what happened last night. What had he done? What did he do – or say – when he was under the influence of the werewolf venom?

"Shit!" Stefan cursed and kicked over a chair.

Early afternoon sunshine streamed in through cream curtains and Stefan rolled over onto his back, pushing the duvet down to his mid-torso. He gazed towards the window and watched gold flecks of dust dance through the light, before they were obstructed by the silhouette of a beautiful hourglass caramel body. A lazy smile stretched across his face and he pulled the girl – no, woman – down onto the king-sized bed with him gently. She giggled lightly and pressed a soft kiss against his lips; he breathed in her scent, her aura, her entire being until nothing in the world existed except for his Bonnie.

Until other smaller, louder, but equally important pieces of his world came rushing in.

"Mummy! Daddy! Get up! Get up!"

The mattress bounced under the weight of two jumping children, with olive toned skin and dark frizzy hair, and grey-green eyes that sparkled like emeralds in the sunlight.

Bonnie laughed and rolled off of her husband.

The youngest child, a girl of about ten with missing front teeth and pigtails, jumped atop of Stefan and he coughed from the impact. "Wake up Daddy! Wake up!"

"I am awake," Stefan croaked with a laugh.

Bonnie came into view again, only now her skin was weathered and her hair a light silvery-white. Alas, even in age she was the most beautiful thing he would ever see. She cupped his cheek; his soft, forever young skin, gently with an aged hand, an unnaturally cold hand. Or maybe it just felt that way because he, as he just realised, was unbearably hot. Feverish, in fact.

"You're awake," she whispered softly as a tear slipped down her cheek. "He's here to heal you…"

Stefan gazed at her questioningly. What was she talking about? He could never be healed. He was cursed. Cursed to forever walk the Earth alone after she was gone; cursed to never hold a child of his own blood.

He lifted his head off of the pillow, which took much more energy than it ought to, and fading stars blurred his vision. He was in his bedroom, in the boarding house, and it was night time. Bonnie had left his side but he could still hear her, somewhere, above the pounding of his head.

"You know you're the only one that can heal him, Klaus. Please."

His eyes rolled into the back of his head and when he focussed again he saw Damon sat at the end of the bed. What was he doing here?

"Emily asked me to protect the Bennett line," Damon hissed, "She's not yours and she never will be. Bonnie was mine before she was even born."

Stefan breathed heavily as red hot anger bubbled up inside of him – or was it just the fever rising? It was hard to tell at this point.

"Bonnie…" Stefan murmured, "No…"

A shadow stood over him and he waited for death to consume him…maybe he and Bonnie could find each other on The Other Side…

Stefan coughed…death tasted strangely coppery…

Bonnie eyed the buzzing phone on her bed whilst she stuffed random possessions into a backpack. It was Stefan calling, again, and she figured by now Damon would have managed to show off the fact that they were going to Whitmore College together. It had been on the cards for a while and Bonnie had invited Damon to come with her, during the time when she had been too nervous to be alone with Stefan, and well, she couldn't go back on her invitation now. (Well, she could, but she didn't want to.) She didn't know how long she'd have before Klaus came along to collect so before she had to basically give up her free will, she wanted to see what she'd be missing out on, one of those things being college.

"Going somewhere?"

Bonnie shrieked and dropped her bag but Caroline flashed forward to catch it before it could hit the carpet.

"What are you doing here?" she breathed.

"Watching you ignore Stefan's calls, apparently," Caroline said with raised eyebrows.

Bonnie sighed as she took her bag out of Caroline's raised hand. "I just need a few minutes to myself. I'm still trying to get my head around last night."

Caroline nodded. It was to her knowledge that Bonnie had stayed awake, watching Stefan sleep until leaving in the early hours of the morning before he awoke. During that time the two best friends had managed to slip in an hour long phone conversation or two.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come to Whitmore with you?"

Bonnie nodded. "I got Elena coming anyway. I want Damon to teach her how to feed seeing as she can't do blood bags for some reason."

Caroline laughed dryly. "Trust Elena. Since when were you so approving of the livestock diet?"

"I'm not," Bonnie grimaced, "If I could spell her out of this, I would. But I can't."

A moment of silence settled between the two in which Bonnie's mind wandered back to Klaus' past words. If he was telling the truth, and did know of people who could help her get her powers back, then maybe she could prevent innocents dying at Elena's hands. Although, it seemed at this point only she still had the mentality that Elena was the centre of everything. Nobody else seemed to give much of a crap.

"Damon's here," Caroline said unexpectedly causing Bonnie to jump out of her musings. A second later there was a knock on the door. "And that's my cue to leave," Caroline said, forcing a smile. Bonnie nodded understandingly and the two quickly hugged goodbye. Even in this time Damon was yet to apologise for his actions toward Caroline.

Bonnie headed for the front door whilst Caroline exited through the back. Damon watched the door swing open to reveal Bonnie, dressed in a pair of curve-hugging olive trousers and a dark wash denim jacket. Her long hair was left down but she had straightened away her natural curls, and a cute bird necklace rested against her exposed collar bones. In short, she was stunning without even trying. He cleared his throat. "You ready?"

The girl in question rose a brow. This was the first time she'd seen Damon since yesterday afternoon and they were yet to catch up over the night's events. "You're not going to question me and tell me what an idiot I am?"

Damon smirked. "We have a whole thirty minute drive ahead of us for that."

"Great," Bonnie mumbled as she stepped outside and locked the door behind her. She followed Damon down the drive and he held the door open to the passenger seat for her. She stared at the sentiment for a moment (she'd never, ever, ever get used to this) before sliding into the seat. "Where's Elena?"

Damon walked round to the driver's side and lowered himself into the car before answering, "How should I know?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Just drive to the Gilbert's."

Klaus dabbed his brush into a deep burgundy palette and poised it carefully over a brand new canvas. He hadn't really planned exactly what he was about to paint – he just knew in light of recent events his good mood had caused his muse to perk up.

He had no idea what kind of twisted karma allowed such conveniences to him, but he wasn't one to philosophise. The Brotherhood of The Five had been reborn (or so it seemed) and he was the only person in town who knew about their legacy – aside from Rebekah, of course.

He practically had the map to the cure in the palm of his hands; The Hunter was strapped up in his living room with – as far as he could tell – no way of escaping. The only thing was hecouldn't see the tattoo. A crying shame, but fortunately Jeremy Gilbert could see it, and Klaus was sure that with some…'persuasion' he would get what he wanted in the end. He always did.

What he wanted to do with the so-called cure; he wasn't quite sure yet. He could always give it to Elena so he could make more hybrids but there was something beautifully poetic about simply destroying it and then murdering every last disrespectful little ant in Mystic Falls.

Apart from Bonnie, of course. She was a diamond in the rough, a queen amongst peasants. All she needed was a push in the right direction. And maybe he could spare Stefan too, if he would stop being so uptight in his morals.

Scratch that, Klaus thought, shaking his head. It was true he was partial to his old friend from the twenties but he knew he could never truly have the witch if her 'epic love' was still hanging around.

Speaking of the Bennett witch…

Klaus grinned unconsciously. The poor girl had practically walked right into his metaphorically open arms. It made everything so much easier. In truth, all he wanted to do was harness her potential. He'd be doing her a favour. To tempt her unto the dark side and show her she literally had – or could have – the world at her feet. And of course, get under her skin and pin some loyalty into her so she would never leave his side.

It never hurt to have a witch by your side.

…or writhing in pleasure beneath you – apples, oranges.

Advancing footsteps behind him pulled him from his fantasies and from the scent alone, Klaus knew who was waiting behind him before he turned. "Stefan," he grinned, "Nice to see you up and on your feet again."

"I'm not here for pleasantries, Klaus."

Klaus stepped away from the canvas which was still yet to have any colour on it and set down his paintbrush leisurely, testing Stefan's patience before finally responding. "No I thought not. If you're here to bargain for Bonnie's freedom then I'm afraid you're wasting your time."

"Let me take her place," Stefan offered, trying and failing to hide his desperation.

Klaus laughed to himself quietly. "I don't think so. I spent all summer with you, Stefan, and you weren't exactly the best wingman. I just want to see if your little girlfriend is any better."

Now it was Stefan's turn to laugh. "If you thought I was stubborn believe me when I say Bonnie is on a whole other level. She'll never cooperate with whatever twisted plan it is you have up your sleeve."

"True," Klaus mused, "but even if she doesn't I'm sure you will."

Stefan's interest peaked and he narrowed his eyes at his former brother-from-another-mother. "Excuse me?"

Klaus grinned. "Rebekah and I are in the middle of a minor spat. But call her over and we can tell you everything you need to know about The Five."

"And what makes you think I care about The Five?"

"Trust me Stefan," Klaus said seriously, "it's the key to everything you've ever wanted."

"How's Stefan doing?" Bonnie finally asked as Damon pulled up the Chevy into Whitmore College's campus.

They had been avoiding that particular topic for the whole journey. It hadn't been hard, what with Damon and Elena's constant bickering and the news that Connor was still alive (much to Bonnie's chagrin).

"He's been calling you all day," Damon reminded her, "why don't you ask him yourself?"

Bonnie bit her lip but didn't reply. It would be no use in telling Damon that she couldn't possibly speak to Stefan right now. She doubted he'd have the level of sensitivity to understand the truth.

What was the truth?

The truth was she realised several hours after Stefan was healed, that she would have had no idea what to do with herself if he had actually died. Stefan had grown on her like a rash and no matter how much she scratched at it, told herself she was wrong, she couldn't escape what was developing. He had become her closest friend in this crazy new world and if she could admit to nothing else, she depended on him.

But he scared her. For her, they had been in a relationship (a very one-sided relationship) for a couple weeks. For him, they had been in a relationship for over a year. Whatever he felt must be 365 times stronger than whatever tiny flutter she felt and she didn't like the position that put her – or him – in. It made her feel terrible for some reason. Every time Stefan said 'I love you' she couldn't say it back. And some of the things he'd mumbled in his sleep last night and during the hallucinations…

Damon rolled his eyes and decided to tell her since she looked so worried. "He was a little confused when he woke up, surprised to be alive, et cetera. General brooding, followed by intense brooding after I told him what had happened," he sighed dramatically, "you know the usual."

"Sounds like Stefan," Bonnie mumbled as she looked around at the green grass verges and clean paths. There were students everywhere; walking, biking, hanging out. "It's actually kinda nice here."

"Too bad something tells me college isn't in our futures anymore," Elena said bitterly. "Let's just go to the class."

Bonnie nibbled at her lip and followed her friend's lead. But Elena was right: Bonnie wasn't even sure she'd live long enough to make the choice of coming to college or not.

"I don't believe it."

Rebekah blinked harshly to push away the burning feeling in her eyes that came whenever she was in danger of crying. Thinking about Alexander brought back memories and showed weaknesses she'd rather leave buried under layers of sarcasm and bitchiness. "It's true."

"There is no cure for vampirism," Stefan stated again. He couldn't even fathom the thought that after all these years he'd spent torturing himself over his curse, killing innocents because he couldn't control his bloodlust – thinking he was burdened with this for all eternity… there was a cure? He shook his head in denial – this had to be a lie.

"He's telling the truth, Stefan," Rebekah repeated as she stood from the dining table.

"Then why wouldn't you have searched for it? Found it?"

"Because," Klaus said, reminding them of his presence from the other side of the grand room, "when the hunters drew their final breath that night," he said, in reference to when he slaughtered the first generation of The Five centuries ago, "the marks disappeared from their body; the map was gone; the brotherhood of The Five extinct...For nine hundred years there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend in there showed up in town."

Stefan looked in the direction Klaus was pointing; the door to the room which the Hunter was trapped behind. Jeremy Gilbert was in there too, sketching away in order to show everyone what the tattoo looked like.

"Well now we have the map what do we do?" Rebekah sighed.

"We don't do anything, little sister. You can't be trusted – you'll go blabbing to the first boy that calls you pretty," Klaus smirked as he took a sip from a glass of whiskey. He turned to Stefan, "You'd think she would have learned by now from the endless years of betrayal."

Rebekah glared at her brother. "But I haven't. Instead I stayed with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life. You just use people, Nik!" she spat. "You want the cure for Elena don't you? So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids. Well Nik, you can stuff your cure."

Stefan watched as Rebekah blinked away more tears and fled from the room. Deep down, he felt sorry for her. After all, it couldn't be easy being related to – he turned to look at Klaus – that. He made Damon look like brother of the year. "Well I hope you got what you wanted from her before you chased her off."

"She never would have told me what I needed to know," Klaus said in a matter-of-factly way, "but she'll tell you."

Stefan looked away from Klaus' expectant grin. How did it always come down to this? Klaus managing to bend everyone to his will? "What do you need me to find out?" he finally asked.

"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it."

"…The sword," Stefan realised.

"She knows where it is," Klaus nodded, "and you're going to get her to tell you."

Stefan looked Klaus in the eye but he wasn't so sure about this plan. He'd double-crossed Rebekah one too many times and it wasn't something he was raring to do again.

"You have a chance to give Bonnie all the things you wish you could," Klaus continued, "grow old together; be a father. You will no longer be an abomination to her…" Klaus smiled as he could see he had said exactly what Stefan had needed to hear. "You can call it a deal with the devil if you like…but you know you won't walk away from it."

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up," Bonnie said to Damon and Elena after Professor Shane had finished his lecture.

Damon raised his eyebrows and smirked. "Staying behind for a chat with Professor Creepy?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes at him but found herself smiling anyway. She hugged Elena briefly and then hopped down the steps to the front of the room where Shane was organising his papers. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed all the seats were empty now; they were alone.

Shane glanced up as he heard someone approaching and smiled when he saw a petite dark skinned girl approaching. "You must be Bonnie Bennett," he greeted, offering his hand.

She gave a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you, Professor. Thanks for inviting me, that was a great class," she said honestly. It was actually interesting to hear him speak about witches and the supernatural. He seemed like an expert.

"Oh, no problem," Shane said, waving her off. He could barely contain his excitement and relief that this girl was actually alive. It would have put a big kink in his plans if she weren't.

He could tell immediately she was smart, and old for her age. She'd been through a lot, seen a lot, and so wasn't as naïve as your average eighteen year old. However, he knew all the tricks and shortcuts from every culture around the world to gaining someone's unwavering trust.

"How long are you in town for?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"Well, all of Sheila's old stuff I found is actually up in my office…so," he turned and picked up a colourful sheet of paper off the podium, "here is a flyer to a gathering that is happening below my office," he paused and laughed at Bonnie's surprised expression, "don't ask. You should come. Get a taste of college life and I'll pass onto you what I found."

Bonnie took the flyer out of his hands tentatively. "Thanks. I guess I'll, uh, see you later then, maybe."

They said an awkward goodbye and Bonnie left the classroom and took the first exit she saw out of the small building. She spotted Elena and Damon in the distance, and it looked like they were arguing, as usual. At least that was one thing that had remained the same.

"What's going on?" she asked once she'd reached them.

"Nothing," Damon said as he turned to face her. "Elena's educating me on the importance of feelings," he shuddered.

"Did you talk to the Professor?" Elena asked, ignoring Damon.

"For a second. He found some stuff of my Gram's in his office and he said he's gonna dig it up for me," Bonnie smiled. "Oh and uh, this."

She showed Damon and Elena the flyer the professor had handed her.

"Murder House: come as your favourite Victim or Killer," Elena read out loud.

Damon raised his eyebrows. "So what do you wanna go as? Victims or Killers?"

Damon strode towards the frat house dressed as Jack the Ripper with Bonnie and Elena playing victims at his side. To tell the truth, he was having trouble keeping his eyes forward because Bonnie's legs seemed to go on forever in the get up she was wearing.

He shook his head as they approached the entrance. Focus, Damon.

The moment they entered they were greeted by a college kid with a cocktail in his hand. "Hey! I'm Frankie – unassuming serial killer," he joked, pointing to his casual outfit.

"I'm Jack," Damon said, "and these are the lovely ladies I just…rippered."

Bonnie and Elena gave Damon an unamused look which he shrugged off.

"Welcome to The Murder House," Frankie grinned, "Bloody Mary is free till midnight. Enjoy."

Frankie gave each of them a drink before disappearing off into the crowd.

"Well, hats off to these idiots. Hey, look," Damon pointed to the top of the stairs, "it's Professor Creepy!"

"His name is Professor Shane and he is not creepy," Bonnie told him sternly although she almost laughed. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"I'll come with you," Damon began as she handed Elena her drink.

"No," Bonnie said quickly, "stay down here and help Elena."

Damon pouted and downed his drink as Bonnie pushed up the stairs. "Got it," he said and then turned to Elena, "Let's go find dinner, then."

Bonnie stared fondly at the photograph of herself and her Grams. It had been a long time since she'd seen this photo. For her, it represented simpler times; before she knew she was a witch, when she just thought her Grams was a crazy drunk who loved to tell stories. Before vampires came to town and they all got caught up in supernatural crap.

Bonnie sighed sadly. Her Grams never wanted this.

She wanted her to believe in her heritage and maybe, one day, practice some light magic. Never in her Gram's worst nightmares would she have thought her granddaughter would get caught up with Originals and Dark Magic.

"She was an incredible woman," Shane commented as Bonnie's fingers ran over the glossy finish of the photograph.

"Yeah, she was," Bonnie murmured.

"Do you practice?"

Bonnie looked up at him cautiously.

"Like she did," he added.

"Uh," Bonnie placed the photo in the box they had been putting all the stuff they'd found in, "No. Not anymore," she swallowed, "I lost control and there were consequences."

Shane smiled sadly. "Witches love their consequences, don't they?"

Bonnie glanced up at him, and for a moment, felt like someone was taking the time to understand her. It was true that right now, everyone was…more caring for her…but none of them knew about magic; knew the right things to say. None of them had answers.

Shane was different. He had all this knowledge. He understood. Sure, Klaus might like to think he understood, but he was a vampire. None of them understood.

Plus, she doubted Shane was more dangerous than Klaus.

"You know, there are other ways to practice magic," Shane continued, "If you're interested."

Bonnie looked at him curiously. She didn't know this man but he seemed to know a lot. But…there was something off about him. "I don't know. I think I'm done with magic…it never ends well."

"But that's the thing," Shane pressed, "there are ways to practice magic without the spirits. I can show you."

"I don't know," Bonnie admitted, "maybe. I'll let you know if I do."

Shane screamed internally but gave nothing away.

"I actually better go back downstairs," Bonnie said, as she suddenly grew uneasy. "My friends are down there."

"Sure," Shane replied, offering her a tight lipped smile.

Bonnie stepped out of the door which Shane had already opened for her and descended carefully down the stairs, made a slightly difficult feat considering the height of her heels.

"Told you he was creepy."

"Gah!" Bonnie shrieked at his sudden appearance. "Jesus-fucking-Christ Damon!"

"Sorry," he amended, "In my defence you're supposed to be psychic."

"Oh ha-ha," Bonnie said sarcastically.

"There is no way that weirdo is teaching you magic," Damon told her as they entered a room where students were bumping and grinding to a bass-heavy song which neither of them knew.

"Like you can tell me what to do?"

Bonnie picked up a drink and began to pump in time with the beat.

"I'm just saying. In my one hundred and sixty plus years I've only ever met one witch who did magic without the spirits and let me tell you, she was batshit crazy."

Damon took the cocktail from Bonnie and took a sip from the sparkly straw and cringed. It was way too sweet and he handed it back.

"You say all witches are crazy, Damon," she reminded him as she closed her eyes and listened to the music, felt the atmosphere, and drank in the moment. The vibrations from the speakers, where ever they were, were pulsing through the floor and up into her body. Bonnie loved music and had been told she was a natural mover. She was sure she could smell weed and the aftertaste of the alcohol from the cocktail lingered in the back of her throat.

College life: she was going to miss missing it.

A foreign hand found its way to rest on her waist and slowly slid down to her hips. Whoever it was made the wise decision to stop there, but then a second hand joined and held her other side and pulled her fast towards them.

She gasped and at the same time her eyes shot open. The first thing she saw was Damon's gunmetal blue orbs surrounded by heavy lidded dark lashes. His cool breath tickled her lips which were tingling desperately for…she didn't want to admit what.

Bonnie took a quick shallow breath and stepped away from him abruptly, realising her actions. "We should be getting back to Mystic Falls," she almost whispered. It didn't matter that the music was so loud; Damon was so close he could hear every word.

His right hand rose up from her side to trace her jawline with his fingertips. For a moment, Damon's face was gentle, his armour down, his heart on his sleeve. His hand dropped and then like a light gone out, his eyes were hard, his jawline set, and any evidence of what he would believe to be weakness was gone.

Damon nodded. "Find Elena. I'll be waiting outside."

Bonnie watched him walk away, wondering what the hell was happening to her.

After dropping Elena off, Damon finally pulled up his Chevy outside Bonnie's house. All the lights were out so he guessed her father wasn't in.

He looked over to his left at the girl in the passenger seat and sighed silently. He almost laughed; the position she was sleeping in couldn't be comfortable by any stretch of the imagination. But she looked peaceful. For the first time in a long time. And for that, he wished he didn't have to do what he was about to do. He wished he could take her home, pick her up, and place her in his bed, where he could blissfully doze into peace beside her.

Damon straightened his back and slapped himself back into character.

"Wake up, witchy."

Bonnie made a small noise of protest and slumped down even further into the leather upholstery.

"Bonnieeeeee," Damon's voice sang, "unless you want me to carry you inside?"

At that her eyes shot open and she sat up straight. She groaned, stretched and cricked her stiff neck before grabbing the box full of her Gram's old stuff and wiggling out of Damon's car. She bent her legs to peer back into the car to say goodbye to Damon, but to her surprise he had left his seat.

"What are you doing?" he asked from behind her, making her jump.

"Uh," she blinked, "I was gonna say bye?"

Damon stared at her as if she'd grown a second head. "Sure," he said curiously, stretching the word out. "Come on, I'll walk you to your door."

Before she could protest, Damon slammed the car door shut and placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her towards her house.

She opened her mouth to say, 'that really isn't necessary,' but he beat her to it:

"It's called being a gentleman Bennett, take it or leave it."

She pursed her lips tightly but he managed to get a smirk out of her when their eyes met for a moment.

When they reached the thick blue oak door she fumbled around in her bag for her keys. Damn, it was dark.

"Here," Damon said, reaching out to take the box of trinkets "let me hold that for you."

She stilled briefly before nodding and letting him take it. She gulped as she watched him stand there with a box full of her Grams' old stuff. Although they were kind of friends now it twisted her insides to think of the part Damon had played in her Grams' death. She shook herself of the memories and looked back down into her bag to search for her keys.

"Need some help?"

Her eyes flicked up to glare at him. "No, I'm fine thank you."

"You sure?" he grinned, "Not like vampires can see perfectly at night time or anything."

Bonnie gritted her teeth and smiled widely when she felt her fingers clasp around the cold jaggedy metal key and the furry fuzz-ball that was her key ring. "Ha!" she said, pulling them out and jingling them in front of his face, "see – found them."

He rose a brow, unimpressed, but then sobered. "How are you feeling?"

She sniffed and pulled at the hairs on her fluffy key ring. It was true that Damon had been a big help in helping to keep her mind off of things today, but that didn't mean she wouldn't rather pretend that their little 'dance' hadn't happened. "Better, I guess," she forced herself to smile shakily and looked up to meet his eyes, "Thanks for today."

"Well…" The corner of his lips quirked upwards. "Thank you for inviting me to come."

She smiled and shrugged. "It's cool. And thanks for helping with Elena. I think she really made progress today."

"No kidding," he snorted, "as long as she's not throwing up everywhere and relying on my blood, anything I can do."

"So no more blood sharing?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You care?"

"No," she said quickly, shuffling her feet, "I could just tell it was taking its toll on her. You know, as you said, it's kind of a…personal thing and, well, you know she still has feelings for you."

Damon gazed down at her from his towering height in comparison. He was doing that annoying thing where he stared at you with those eyes until you felt like you had nowhere to hide. She quickly turned away to escape and jammed her key into the door.

"I'll call you when I plan on visiting Stefan," Bonnie said as she stepped inside.

Damon nodded and handed back the box.

"Thanks," she said, ignoring the warmth she felt when his fingers brushed against hers, "see you."

"Bye Bonnie," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets as she closed the door.

As soon as it was shut, and she was alone, she exhaled heavily and pressed her back against the door. She closed her eyes, and simply stood there – for how long she didn't know. But slowly, she felt her body relaxing from its ever constant state of alertness.

Three sharp knocks on the front door made her jump away from it as if it had electrocuted her. And with that, she was suddenly on edge again. She stared at the door for a few seconds as her heartbeat slowly but surely accelerated. Without opening it she already knew who was on the other side.

With a shaky hand, she reached for the handle and pulled the door open; however, as soon as he could see her, she turned on her fearless, icy demeanour.

"I've come to collect."

"Klaus," she started carefully.

"Pack your bags, love," he said seriously, but then a foreboding smile grew on his face, "we're going to Italy."

And there you have it. Sorry if this chapter felt to similar to the show :/

Also, I noticed over the course of the chapter reviews so far some of you have expressed concern that we don't want Bonnie turning into Elena 2.0. TRUST ME that is not where I am going with this lol. You might see kind of flickers of it because basically, ATM everyone is treating Bonnie like how they treat Elena, and it is affecting her. But no, I am not going to develop her into someone we hate, but I am going to be putting her through somethings that will make her question things and we will see how she comes out the other side.

Please please review! I understand updates have been spotty but they really do help in every way possible.

That's all, folks.