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!

Let's Live The Lie

'Don't Point Your Finger, Baby.

This Isn't The Best Time For You To Test Me.'

"I came as quick as I could!" Caroline shouted frantically as she threw open the door to Bonnie's dorm room. Her best friend had called her in tears and told her that she needed to talk, and she knew that it had to be bad. Bonnie Bennett wasn't one to cry or show her pain to anyone. "What's going on!?"

The brunette was sitting up in her bed, legs crossed, with tear-filled eyes and stained cheeks. She looked like she had been crying for quite some time and that really worried the other woman. She rushed across the room and took a seat on the bed next to Bonnie. Her heart was racing as she reached out and pulled her into a tight and comforting hug.

Bonnie found no comfort in Caroline's arms.

All that she could think about was how stupid she had been to trust Jeremy again. How stupid she had been to think that he actually loved her. If he had loved her he never would have cheated on her in the first place. People didn't do things like that to the people that they loved. 'I should have known better...'

"Damon was telling the truth." She laughed a little into blonde curls, but tears were once again rolling down her cheeks. She knew that Damon had been telling the truth. Deep down, she knew the minute that she saw Jeremy look at Liv that he had a crush on her and that she should be worried. She just hadn't wanted to believe it.

Caroline pulled back and stated in a sarcastic tone, "Well, that's a first."

When she realized that she had further upset Bonnie, she quickly apologized. "Sorry. What happened?"

She let out a sigh and started to wipe the tears from her eyes. She really didn't like to cry in front of people. "I went to talk to Jeremy and..." Her voice trailed off and cracked as she recalled what she had witnessed. She was so angry and hurt. "I caught him and Liv together."

Caroline scoffed when she heard it. She too couldn't believe that Jeremy would do something like that to her friend again. She had told him, if he hurt Bonnie again she would kick his ass. "What!?" She practically screamed. "Oh my god! I can't believe he would do that to you again! I swear to god I am going to kick that kid's ass!"

Bonnie smiled a little at the blonde's reaction. It was sweet how much she cared about her.

"Like, seriously!? He said that he would never do that to you again!" Caroline groaned out angrily, throwing her hands around. "How long has it been going on!?"

"Liv said that it's been going on for a month." Her stomach tightened painfully. It amazed her that Jeremy could hide something like that from her for so long. He just kept telling her that he loved her and that he wanted to be with her for the rest of their lives.

She was shocked. "He's been cheating on you for an entire month!?"

Bonnie nodded sadly.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Bonnie!" Caroline said when she realized that her shock was clouding her judgment. Bonnie was in need of a friend and comforting right now. She moved toward her on the bed and placed a comforting hand on the other girl's back, gently tracing a soothing pattern along her spine. She could tell that she was trying her hardest not to have a breakdown. 'How could he do something like this to her!? SHE DIED FOR HIM FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!'

"I just feel so stupid!" She groaned out, digging her fingers into her forehead. She had a headache from crying so much. "Why would I trust him again after everything he did with Anna?"

"Because, you love him."

Bonnie laughed sarcastically and shook her head, "Yeah, but apparently he doesn't love me." She glanced over at her best friend, green eyes connecting with blue. Caroline could see the anger swimming in them and she didn't blame her. If someone had done the same thing to her, she would have been pissed. Hell, Jeremy had done it to Bonnie and she was still pissed. "I mean seriously, am I just destined to be alone?"

"Well." The blonde started in a suggestive and playful tone. "You aren't exactly alone."

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"You still have Damon." Caroline reminded with a disgusted look on her face. "I mean, I don't know what gross things the two of you have been up to, and I don't want to, but you obviously have feelings for him."

Bonnie couldn't comprehend how her best friend could know that she had feelings for Damon. She didn't even know if she had feelings for him. She knew that she enjoyed wearing his shirt, that he drove her crazy in the best and worst ways possible, and that she couldn't stop smiling when she was around him or she thought about him. These were all signs that she did have feelings for him. But, she wondered if they were real or if they were just because of the rebound sex.

Often times a rebound could feel like love.

'Not that I feel like I love him or anything! Gah!'

"I do not have feelings for Damon." Bonnie tried to dismiss the accusation, but her face gave her away. It was evident that she was conflicted about her feelings for him.

"Do too." Bonnie glared at her and Caroline let out a loud over-exaggerated sigh. "Oh come on! Don't look at me like that! It's so obvious that you have feelings for him, Bonnie! You would never sleep with someone like him if you didn't have some sort of feelings for him!"

She knew that it was true. She wasn't the type of person to just sleep with a guy because she was rebounding. She had to have some sort of emotional connection with them. She thought back to that moment right before she kissed Damon and she realized that the reason she had kissed him was because he had told her that he loved her. He had told her that he brought her back from the dead because he loved her. That was why she had kissed him.

There were feelings involved. Strong feelings that she hadn't realized she had until that very moment.

"Okay, let's say that I have feelings for Damon." Bonnie said, which earned a nod from Caroline.

"Because you do." The blonde vampire insisted.

"It doesn't matter, Care. Even if I have feelings for Damon, it's not like I can act on them! Elena is still in love with him and I could never do something like that to her. She would never forgive me."

Sometimes Caroline hated how selfless Bonnie was. "The real question is, what do you want?"

The brunette looked baffled by the question. It was almost sad how little she thought about herself. In this situation she had never contemplated what she wanted. It was always about Jeremy and Elena. "I don't know what I want."

"Well, think about it." She said. "Do you want to actually date Damon? Was this just a one time thing that you want to forget about? Do you think that you could love him? Could you see yourself spending the rest of your life with him?"

Bonnie was overwhelmed by the questions. She didn't get the chance to answer one, before Caroline was asking her another. And honestly, she didn't have any answers. She truly didn't know what she wanted. She knew that she cared about Damon and that she couldn't stop thinking about him. She knew that she wanted to be with him all the time. And, she knew that she didn't want their romantic encounters to stop. She just didn't know what that meant.

"I think it's a little too soon to tell if I'd want to spend my life with him." She laughed a little.

Caroline laughed too, "Yeah, probably a little too soon for that. But, seriously, you need to start thinking about this!" She insisted, wrapping her arm around her shoulder and pulling her body closer to hers. Giving her a small reassuring squeeze. "And I want you to think about what you want for once. Don't think about Elena."

Her blue eyes widened and she flashed Bonnie a toothy grin. "In fact! Let's try this! If Elena was out of the picture completely then what would you want?"

"I guess if Elena was out of the picture..." She started. Her heart was racing in her chest and she was scared to admit what she was thinking aloud. If she said the words then it would make them real. "I would want-"

Bonnie was interrupted by the sound of Caroline's phone ringing. She immediately recognized the ringtone. It was Elena calling. The irony was unsettling. Just when she was about to admit what she wanted with Damon if Elena was out of the picture, she called and reminded them both that she wasn't out of the picture.

The blonde reached for her phone and she looked down at the caller ID. 'Of course she would call right now! God damn it! Bonnie was just about to tell me what she wanted and now she will never admit it!'

"It's Elena." Caroline told her.

"Of course it is." Bonnie laughed at the irony.

Clicking the send button, she lifted the phone to her ear and she listened to her friend rant loudly about what had happened between Damon and herself. Bonnie couldn't really hear what Elena was saying, but from what the blonde was saying back she could sort of piece together the conversation.

"Oh my god, Elena! Calm down!" Caroline shouted into the cellphone. She could barely keep up with what the other woman was saying, because she was talking so fast. "Wait, what!? Ew gross!" She groaned out in disgust. She did not need to hear about how Damon went limp when he saw her friend, that was way too much information. "Seriously? Damon and Liv!?" She laughed. "That's crazy!"

Bonnie listened in on the conversation with wide green eyes and a furrowed brow. Elena really thought that Damon was interested in Liv? They had danced together at the party, but he obviously had been watching her the entire time. 'Does she really think that I am no threat at all!?' For some reason this bothered her. It was like Elena didn't think that Damon could ever possibly have feelings for her.

Plus, the last thing she wanted to think about right now was Damon being interested in Liv.

The thought caused her stomach to twist in disgust. She didn't want him to be interested in anyone other than her.

"No!" Caroline exclaimed. "Damon totally doesn't like anyone else! He so only has eyes for you!" She was speaking in that tone of voice she used when she was lying. It was obvious to everyone and that worried Bonnie who was glaring at her and telling her to shut up with her eyes.

'She is practically giving it away that Damon is interested in someone else and that she knows who it is! Gah, great! Now Elena is going to try and pry it out of her and Caroline sucks at keeping secrets!' The thought of Elena finding out about her and Damon caused her chest to tighten painfully. She was terrified that she was going to lose her best friend. There was a small part of her that wondered if it would be worth it, if being with Damon was worth it. But, she pushed that part away.

"What!?" Caroline's voice heightened suspiciously. "I'm not talking weird!"

'Yes you are.' Bonnie thought.

"I gotta go, Elena!" She told her. "I'm with Bonnie. You're dick of a brother cheated on her again and she needs someone to talk to." She usually wouldn't call Jeremy such names, but this time he deserved it. This was the second time he had cheated on her friend and she was pissed. "Yeah, he did! We can talk about it later, bye!"

Caroline hung up the phone and stared over at the beautiful brunette sitting beside her. Her full lips were parted in shock and she had a look on her face that said, what the fuck?

"Don't worry." The blonde smiled brightly. "She's not suspicious!"

'If It Wasn't You, It's Someone You Would Lie For.

Tell Me, Who Would You Lie For?'

Bonnie tugged her full bottom lip between her teeth and she chewed anxiously on it as she stared at the door to the Salvatore household. It was late. Nearly three in the morning. And she needed to see Damon again.

Caroline had left her dorm room around seven, because Bonnie had asked to be left alone. She had a lot of things on her mind and she just needed some time alone to think about them. But, once the blonde left, all that she could think about was seeing Damon again. She felt like he was the only one who could take the pain of what Jeremy did away. She wanted to kiss him again and get lost in the moment. She wanted to forget the betrayal that she felt, she wanted to forget about Elena, she wanted to forget everything for just one more night.

For hours she had fought with herself about whether she should go and see him or stay home.

And somehow, she had wound up standing outside of his house at three in the morning. Her heart racing and her hand shaking as she lifted it to the door and knocked on it.

It felt like her heart was going to burst through her chest and kill her as she waited impatiently for someone to answer the door. She prayed that it would not be Stefan. She wouldn't be able to explain why she was at the house if it was him.

The door opened and Bonnie jumped a little, shocked by the sound of it.

Standing in the doorway was Damon Salvatore and he looked just as handsome as ever. He was wearing a grey v-neck shirt that clung to his muscular arms perfectly, his blue eyes were glimmering deviously as he stared at her, and his lips immediately twisted up into a smirk. "Couldn't stay away?" He asked her. He had hoped that after she broke up with Jeremy she would show up at his doorstep.

"You were right about Jeremy, Damon." She told him in a pained tone of voice.

Hearing that she was hurting caused his playfulness to dissipate and he hastily became concerned about her. He hated seeing Bonnie hurting. She deserved to always be smiling.

"What happened?" He asked, opening the door so that she could walk inside.

She walked into the house and he closed the door behind her. "I went over to break up with him this morning." Bonnie said, turning to look up at Damon who had his brow furrowed in concern as he stared down into her green eyes. "And Liv was there, Damon!" She felt like she was going to cry, but she held it back. "She told me that he has been cheating on me with her for an entire month!"

'A month!?' Damon was shocked. He had seen the two of them kissing, but he had never expected it to have been going on for so long. He honestly didn't understand. How could Jeremy cheat on someone as breathtakingly gorgeous as Bonnie Bennett? 'And with Liv! Ugh!'

"I just!" She groaned out angrily, her body was shaking. She hated Jeremy for what he did to her and she just wanted to walk right up to him and slap him across the face. Why would he cheat? She didn't understand. If he didn't love her then why did he keep dating her and trying to convince her that he did? "I don't know how I could be so stupid! I mean, of course he was cheating on me!" She laughed. "I'll always be second best to him and everyone else!"

Bonnie's insecurities were coming out.

She was tired. She was tired of being second best.

Damon took a step toward her and he stared down into her eyes. His blue were shimmering with genuine honesty as he lifted his hand and gently traced his fingers along her cheek, cupping it with his hand. He didn't understand his feelings for her. He didn't know when they had started. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that they had always been there. It was confusing. It made him second guess everything he ever felt toward Elena.

"Okay, first of all." He said with a smile. "Jeremy is a moron." He stretched the word and his eyes widened.

Bonnie smiled softly at that and her heart jumped. "Second of all?" She asked.

Damon clenched his jaw tightly. He didn't know how the next words he said were going to impact their relationship, but he had to say them. Today, he had been aroused thinking about Bonnie in the shower and then he had lost his arousal when Elena attempted to be intimate with him. He didn't know what it meant, but today, she definitely wasn't second best to him.

"Elena practically threw herself at me today." He saw the way that her eyes hardened and she grew angry at the statement. She was jealous. He liked it.

'Why would he tell me something like that!? I don't want to hear about Elena throwing herself at him...'

"Oh, let me finish before you look at me with those judgy eyes." Damon teased playfully, which earned a smile from Bonnie.

"Sorry."

"Apology accepted." He grinned and waggled his brow at her, gently caressing her neck with his fingers as he moved even closer to her. He could feel the heat of her body radiating off of her and he ran his tongue over her lips. Green eyes darted down to his lips as he did so and her breath caught in her throat. "The point I was trying to make was, when Elena threw herself at me, I turned her down, because all I could think about was you."

A blush tainted her skin and her heart was racing in her ears. She didn't know what his words meant. Was he saying that he wanted to be with her? Was he saying that he had feelings for her that were more than just sexual impulses?

"So." Damon said. "You aren't always second best."

Bonnie had so many questions rushing through her mind. She knew that they needed to talk about what this meant and what they wanted, but right now she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to kiss Damon and forget about all of the problems in their lives.

Leaning up on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around Damon's neck and dragged his body closer to hers. Crashing their lips together in a passionate and heated kiss. The way that his lips felt against hers, set her body on fire. She wanted him. She needed him. They would talk about what this meant later, right now she just wanted to indulge in him.

'Let's Live The Lie.'

Author's Note:

Thank you all sooo much for reading this fic and leaving me so many wonderful reviews! It means the world to me! I am sorry that this chapter is pretty short, but the next chapter will be really long! There will be lots of smutty goodness and Elena will find out about what is going on between Damon and Bonnie! So, it's gonna be pretty intense! I hope y'all are excited for it! :)) Anyhow, how did y'all like this chapter!? Did you like the Baroline moment? Do you think Caroline gave away too much to Elena? What about the Bamon!?

I hope that you all enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading!

I love you guys!

-Tracy Cook-