Pretty Persuasion

By: Tracy Cook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creators of Vampire Diaries.

Couple: Bonnie/Damon

Rating: M

Author's Note : Thank you all so much for your wonderful support! Y'all are wonderful!

Second Best

'If You're Angry, Will You Stop It?

I Know That I Was Wrong.'

Instantly, she recognized the judgement swimming around in her best friend's blue eyes. It was the same disapproving look that she got when she found out that Elena had slept with Damon and was choosing him over Stefan. All it took was that one look to know that Caroline already knew the truth and she was not happy about it.

The worst part was, Bonnie didn't blame her. After everything that the man had put her friend through, after compelling her and using her and hurting her, she understood why she hated him. She herself hated him for numerous things that he had done to her, but regardless of her anger toward him, somewhere along the line she had developed feelings toward him. Up until recently she had believed them to be purely platonic, friendly feelings. Now, she was no longer certain what she felt toward Damon Salvatore.

'What happened between the two of us was definitely not friendly that's for sure.'

Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and her jaw tightened as she looked down at the shirt that Bonnie was wearing. Damon's scent was all over the shirt and she recognized it as one of his. "That's a nice shirt you have on, Bonnie." She pointed out.

"Caroline it isn't what it looks like." She started to explain, though she didn't really feel that she needed to explain herself to the blonde after finding out what she had done with Stefan. She still felt terrible. Standing to her feet she tugged anxiously at the shirt.

"Really?" She asked in a sarcastic tone. "What it looks like is you sleeping in Damon's shirt after he slept with another girl that's arousal smells a lot like yours did that one time I accidentally walked in on you and your 'boyfriend' Jeremy fooling around!"

"First of all." Bonnie started with a disgusted look on her face. "It is so gross that you know that."

Caroline merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Second of all, you don't know what you are talking about, Caroline. I didn't do anything with Damon." As she said the words she knew that her body was giving her away. She was stuttering and her face was burning with embarrassment. She knew that her best friend was going to pick up on the lie and she knew that she was going to hate her for what she had done.

The blonde vampire scoffed at her dismissal and she took a few steps toward the other woman staring her down. "I've been your best friend for a really long time, Bonnie. I can tell when you are lying."

Bonnie let out a groan of frustration at Caroline seeing right through her. She hoped that she would not be so transparent when Elena came to her and talked to her about the girl Damon was sleeping with. She didn't want her to know. "Gah! I don't know how it happened Caroline!" She insisted her hands now in her hair and a look of worry on her face. "I was just talking to him about things with Jeremy, only God knows why I would go to him of all people about my relationship problems, and he told me that Jeremy cheated on me and one thing led to another."

Green eyes connected with blue and her voice was nearly pleading as she said, "You can't tell Elena about this, Care. It would destroy her."

Caroline simply stood there with a shocked look on her face and her hands on her hips as she stared the shorter girl down. She had known she was right about it, and yet hearing those words fall from Bonnie's lips and hearing the desperation in her voice was still surprising. She had hoped she was wrong. Honestly, she didn't even know how to respond.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air around them and Bonnie moved closer to her and continued to plead, "Please just don't say anything. It didn't mean anything, it was just a moment of weakness."

As she said the words she felt her chest tighten. She knew that she was lying to Caroline and herself.

'Bonnie and Damon slept together? Damon had sex with Bonnie? BONNIE had sex with Damon? Oh my god what is this an alternative universe!?' Finally, her thoughts caught up with her mouth and she started to speak. "Oh my god, I can't believe you had sex with Damon." The way that she said his name was with complete disgust, her face scrunching up and a visible shudder rattling her body. "Damon of all people! That's just so ugh!" Caroline cried out. "How could you sleep with someone like him?!"

Her friend's judgmental words caused Bonnie to grow defensive. She rolled her eyes and looked away muttering, "Oh, like you can talk."

The blonde scoffed "And what do you mean by that?"

She groaned out and threw her hands in the air, returning her gaze to Caroline. She didn't want to fight with her, she wanted her support and to talk to her about what had happened with Jeremy and Damon. "Nothing! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, tell me what you meant by that."

Bonnie chewed on her cheeks, her frustration growing. She really didn't want to bring up what Damon had told her, but now she was being pushed to do so. "Just that maybe I'm not the only one who slept with one of the men Elena loves." She glared over at her and said, "Damon told me that you are sleeping with Stefan."

"Seriously?" Caroline shouted angrily. "I am not sleeping with Stefan, okay? I mean well, technically Damon walked in on me sleeping with Stefan. But, the key word here is 'sleeping' because that was all that the two of us were doing! I would never do something like that to Elena!"

"But, you want to?" She asked.

"I want to what?"

"Do something like that to Elena? Intensify your relationship with Stefan?"

The silence that filled the room answered Bonnie's question loud and clear. Caroline did want to be intimate with Stefan. She did want to be more than just friends who snuggle on occasion and sleep next to each other. The only thing holding her back was her love for Elena and her dedication to their friendship. She let out a sigh and shook her head dramatically, "Okay, maybe I do, but even if I want to be with Stefan that is still completely different from you wanting to be with Damon!"

"I never said I wanted to be with Damon!"

"You didn't have to say it! You slept with him, Bonnie! That isn't something you of all people just do with any hot guy that passes you by, which means you have to have some kind of feelings for him! I just don't understand, after every shitty thing that he has done to me, to you, how could you have sex with someone like that!?"

"Someone like Klaus?" Bonnie countered with a raise of her brow and a serious look on her face. She was tired of her judging her when Caroline had literally just had sex with one of the worst people on the face of the planet. The man that killed her ex-boyfriend's mother. The man who had attempted to kill all of them at some point.

Her point was made and the other woman couldn't say anything to defend herself.

For just a moment she stood there with her mouth wide open and her mind running a hundred miles per hour.

Eventually, she let out a loud sigh and the word, "Fine!" Caroline walked across the room and wrapped her arm around Bonnie's shoulder, trying to block out the strong sensual scent of Damon on his shirt, as she pulled her friend toward the bed and sat down beside her. "I get why you did it, even if I don't like it."

"Thank you, Care."

"And I won't tell Elena if you don't tell her about Stefan."

"I won't tell her about what is going on with Stefan, but if you really want to start dating him then she is going to find out eventually." Bonnie pointed out. It wasn't like she could hide their relationship from their friend forever.

"Hopefully by then we will have run away to Europe or something." Caroline said with a smile. "Or maybe Elena will have found out you had sex with Damon and then it won't seem so bad." Bonnie glared up at her friend and they both started laughing. It was all that they could do. They had to find the humor in the situation because it was just so fucked up. They were both being intimate with the men who had been fighting over their best friend for as long as they could remember.

A few minutes passed and then Caroline asked, "So, Jeremy really cheated on you?"

"That's what Damon said, but he also said that you and Stefan were having sex so now I'm not so sure." Bonnie felt her heart start pounding in her chest. If Damon had made it seem like things between Caroline and Stefan were more intense than they actually were, then there was a chance he had done the same with Jeremy and Liv. She knew that they had been flirting with each other, they had done so right in front of her, but they hadn't cheated.

"Well, to be fair, he wasn't that far off when he said me and Stefan were interested in each other." She pointed out.

It was strange that Caroline was sort of defending Damon's words. He was the king of lies, especially to her, but Bonnie understood why she was doing it. It wasn't for him, it was for her. She was her best friend and she was trying to make her feel better about what she had done. "Yeah."

"And Jeremy has cheated on you once before." She added. "What did Damon say he saw the two of them doing?"

Bonnie sighed. She hated thinking about Jeremy and Liv being intimate with each other. No matter what had happened between Damon and herself she still loved Jeremy. He was the first person she had ever truly loved and she didn't want to believe that he cared so little about her to cheat on her again. "He said that he caught them flirting and that they might have been kissing."

"Might have been kissing?"

"It's Damon, he always talks like that." She laughed.

"You should probably talk to Jeremy about all of this, hear him out." Caroline said with a smile and a nudge of her side. "Although, I don't think you would have believed Damon if you didn't already have your own doubts."

"Yeah."

'I'm Tired Of Always Being Second Best,

Get Out, And Find That Pseudo Comfort Somewhere Else.'

She missed it.

She missed the soft fabric draping over her shoulders and clinging to her body. She missed the musky scent of Damon's body surrounding her. She missed his shirt. She would have kept the shirt on, but she was going to confront Jeremy about what had happened and she knew that he would know who the shirt belonged to. 'That is such a horrible reason to take it off... You shouldn't want to wear his shirt, Bonnie! What has gotten into you lately? You are starting to sound like his girlfriend or something!'

Jeremy lifted his hands in frustration as Bonnie told him that someone had told her that they had seen him kissing Liv. "Bonnie, this is ridiculous! I told you I would never cheat on you again and I meant it!" He insisted, moving toward his girlfriend and reaching out to take her hands with his as he stared down into her conflicted eyes.

Bonnie wanted to believe him. She also didn't want to believe him.

She had no idea what she wanted anymore.

"I know that you said that, but I saw the way that you looked at her Jeremy and it wasn't exactly innocent." She insisted, lifting her chin confidently. Even if she felt like she was breaking, she did not wish to show him that. She wanted him to know that she was strong in her convictions. She wanted him to know that she was not going to stand around and allow him to lie to her and hurt her like he had in the past. She was not going to settle for being second best.

"The way I looked at her?" He laughed a little and pulled her body closer to his. "She was the one flirting with me, not the other way around."

"Yeah, because you just hated the way that she held your hand right?" She was starting to get angry with him. Yes, technically he had not said anything flirtatious to the blonde, but he hadn't told her to back off either. He loved the attentions that she was giving him. Bonnie watched as her boyfriend hesitated in answering and she quickly interrupted him before he could defend himself, "That's what I thought."

Tears were now filling her eyes and she had to force them not to fall. She didn't want to look weak in front of him. She didn't want him to have any power over her. Pulling her hands away, she threw them in the air, "I just feel so stupid, Jeremy! I can't believe I trusted you again after what you did with Anna!"

Jeremy took a step toward her and said, "Okay, so what! I liked the fact that a pretty girl was hitting on me, is that really so bad? It felt good to know that she liked me, but that doesn't mean I cheated on you with her! I love you and I would never do that to you, Bonnie!" He spoke with such certainty that she was starting to doubt Damon's words. She was starting to believe him. Jeremy took her hands again and lifted them to his lips, placing a gentle kiss to them and watching as tears started to role down his girlfriend's cheeks. He hated seeing her this way.

"You are the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"No, the woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with was Anna." Bonnie knew that she sounded jealous. She knew that on some level she might have been out of line, especially if he hadn't cheated on her with Liv, but she just couldn't trust him.

The past always came back to haunt you. No matter how many times that you say you can let go of it, you never truly can.

It is always there.

"At one point in my life, maybe." He admitted with a small smile as he kissed each of her hands again and stared deep into her eyes. His eyes held honesty behind them and she wanted more than anything to believe him. Though, there was a small part of her that wanted him to be lying. That same part of her that missed wearing Damon's shirt. "But, not anymore. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I want to believe you, Jer, but-"

"-Who told you this anyway?" Jeremy asked suddenly. He wanted to know who was responsible for trying to destroy his relationship with Bonnie.

"It doesn't matter who told me, Jeremy. What matters is if it is true." She said, knowing that if he knew who had told her then he would wonder why she believed him of all people. Just like Caroline had asked her why she had slept with him of all people. What no one could understand was that despite all of the shitty things Damon had done to her and everyone else in the past. For years now he had been trying to make it up to her. He had been protecting her. He didn't wish her harm.

'He's the ONLY reason I am even here to date Jeremy or be friends with Caroline at all... Jeremy didn't love me enough to save me, but he did...'

He could tell that she didn't want to tell him for a reason so he persisted, "Who told you this?"

Bonnie took a step away from him again and she waved her hand in the air, speaking in a tone that told him she knew that it was ridiculous, "I talked to Damon about what was going on with you and Liv and he told me that he saw the two of you kissing."

"Damon?" Jeremy laughed. "Why would you talk to Damon about our relationship?"

"I don't know!" She groaned out, pushing her fingers to her forehead in frustration. She was starting to get a headache. All of these lies were getting to her and she just wanted to know the truth. She just wanted to be free to tell the truth. Either Damon or Jeremy was lying to her and she couldn't tell which one would hurt her more. "I just thought that maybe he would know something about that feeling considering that Elena obviously still has feelings for Stefan too!" She lied. "What does it matter?"

"It matters because that asshole told my girlfriend that he saw me cheating on her, that's why it matters!" He said, anger on his tongue. "And that for whatever reason she believes him of all people over me!"

"I don't believe him over you, Jeremy! I believe what I already saw with my very own eyes! I believe that you have a crush on her, and I know that you have cheated on me in the past!" Bonnie was getting angry too. She had her reasons besides what Damon had said to think that he could possibly be cheating on her. It wasn't like she just blindly believed him. She wasn't stupid. "Just tell me the truth, and we can let it go. Were you kissing her?"

His eyes softened and he moved toward her, reaching up to cup her face and trace his fingers delicately across the skin of her cheek. She should have felt something when he touched her, but she didn't.

"Damon is lying, I swear. The only girl I wanna be kissing is you." With that he lent down and captured her lips in a slow and tentative kiss. It was like he was not sure of what he was doing.

Bonnie found herself kissing him back more out of obligation than passion. She did not feel the same intensity that she felt when she was kissing Damon, she did not feel that ache and need between her thighs, she did not feel the urge to reach up and dig her nails into the skin of his neck as she forced him to kiss her with more passion. She didn't feel much of anything.

In fact, instead of really kissing him back she was thinking things through.

Trying to decide who was telling her the truth and who was lying to her. Bonnie wanted to believe that Jeremy was not cheating on her, because she hated feeling like she was second best. She hated feeling like he did not love her as much as he claimed. She hated feeling like he would lie to her, like she just wasn't enough for him. But, besides those reasons she found that she didn't really care if he cheated with Liv. She didn't feel the same sickness in her stomach that she had felt when she heard Damon and Elena kissing through the door of the closet.

Jeremy tangled his fingers into her hair and intensified the kiss and now she was feeling even less interested in kissing him because she was thinking about Elena and Damon kissing. She hated the thought. She didn't want him kissing anyone else.

'You do not want to date Damon, you want to date Jeremy! The boy who is kissing you and telling you he wants to spend the rest of his life with you, so how about you focus on him and stop this!'

It took everything inside of her to stop thinking about Damon and focus on the way that Jeremy's lips felt against hers. The way that his tongue hesitantly teased her full bottom lip waiting for her to take the initiative. She was always forced to take the initiative with him.

Bonnie opened her mouth and her tongue invaded his and all that she could think about was how different he tasted from Damon. How much she missed the way that his tongue battled hers for dominance. The way that he pulled back and bit her bottom lip hard, the way that his body felt beneath her hands. 'The way that his cock felt against my back...' "Mmm..." She moaned out into Jeremy's lips and he smiled into the kiss, probably feeling proud. All it made her feel was guilt.

She hadn't moaned because of him. She had moaned because of Damon.

'God this is so wrong on so many levels! You can't keep kissing him and thinking about Damon! You don't want Damon! He was probably lying to you about Jeremy kissing Liv just to get back at Elena anyway!'

She couldn't take it anymore. She was too conflicted to be kissing him right now. Hastily, she pulled out of the kiss and bit down on her bottom lip as she stared up into his disappointed eyes.

"Why'd ya stop, Bon? Are you still thinkin' about what Damon said?"

"Yes-I mean no. I just, I'm really confused about things right now and I don't know if I can trust you. I'm sorry, Jeremy." With that, Bonnie turned and started to walk away from him. Internally kicking herself for moaning out while kissing her boyfriend and thinking about Damon. Now was not the time for her to be kissing Jeremy. Not when there were so many lies floating around that needed attended to.

Author's Note :

Y'all are SOO AMAZING! I absolutely loved reading all of your reviews and thank you so much for reading my fic! I am so happy that you guys are all enjoying it! :)) What did y'all think of the Baroline talk? Happy that Bonnie defended herself and that they are still friends? What about the Steroline? Hope it doesn't upset anyone too much. Gonna probably have some Tylena later too, just a warning. What do y'all think about what Jeremy said? Is he telling the truth? We all know Jeremy would NEVER cheat on Bonnie, right!? Also what about Bonnie thinking about Damon while kissing Jer-bear?

Anyhow thank you all so much for reading!

I love you all so much!

-Tracy Cook-