Disclaimer: Characters and situations belong to LJ Smith and respective copyright holders.
SLOPPY SECONDS
6
Bonnie's mind blanks at the sight of Tyler's bloodied claws. She stumbles, gone for what to do, what to say. She's about to die.
Magic. She's a witch. She can do magic. But in her frantic search to recall something, anything that can possibly help her, she finds nothing. Nothing. She's going to die for sure.
Suddenly, the doorbell rings.
Tyler lunges forward. Bonnie screams and instinctively races to the door. Tyler rushes after her. She can feel him behind her. So close, too close. There's only a matter of metres to the door…
Her hand reaches for the knob. Thank goodness for automatic locks. One turn, the door swings open. To reveal Elena, who smiles sunnily, oblivious to the commotion inside, "Hi, Bonnie!"
"Elena!" Bonnie gasps. She turns her head to look back. Tyler's disappeared. "I'm so glad you're here! Tyler's inside. He had these… claws. I'm pretty sure he destroyed my car." Her poor car… "And killed that person yesterday."
"He's a werewolf," Elena says matter-of-factly. "No big deal. Come on, invite me in. We'll talk to him."
Bonnie swipes at her forehead. Her skin's clammy with sweat. "A talk." A frenetic, uncontrollable giggle escapes her lips. "You think him wanting to kill me can be solved with a talk."
Elena laughs. "Oh, Bonnie. You underestimate yourself. We definitely can talk this through. You are a witch after all. We can break it down for him. Explain to him what's happening, since he doesn't seem to understand. And most likely he doesn't. Leaving a body in the woods in sloppy."
Elena's tone is so reassuring. Bonnie's racing heart slows. She tentatively smiles back. "You're right," she says, turning. "Let's go find him."
"Bonnie," Elena's still standing outside.
"What are you waiting for? Come in!" Bonnie tugs Elena by the hand.
Elena steps through. "He must have heard us," she says. "Werewolves have good hearing."
"They would," Bonnie agrees.
Sure enough, rounding the corner, they find Tyler in the kitchen, slumped across the island, his head in his hands. Bonnie and Elena exchange looks, and sit down opposite him.
"Hey, Tyler." Bonnie speaks softly. "You heard everything we said, right?"
"Something about witches." He lifts his dark head, staring at Bonnie with bloodshot eyes. "That's why I couldn't touch you last night."
Gram's spell, Bonnie thinks, shivering. She nods, "Yes." She can barely hear herself. "That's why."
"At the cemetery yesterday, I could smell on you the scent of the man I killed." He shudders, "I would have killed you too."
"I don't doubt it." Bonnie squarely meets his eyes.
Tyler turns to consider Elena. His nostrils flare, "You smell different."
Elena doesn't blink. "New perfume," she responds placidly. "Do you like it, Bonnie?"
She smells like roses. "I guess," Bonnie says distractedly. Her attention is more riveted to the mess on the floor, what used to be granola and tomatoes. "Why are you here, anyway?" she asks, moving towards the broomstick to pick it up.
"You left your jacket." Elena holds up a bag with a smile. "Aren't you lucky I decided to come over here? You could be dead, or cold."
It's the jacket Bonnie wore to the graveyard last night that was already missing this morning. She frowns, "How did it end up at Stefan's?"
"It didn't," Elena responds easily. "I took it from you yesterday." She casts a long look at Tyler, and returns to Bonnie. "Your Grams' magic didn't save you last night, you know. I did, because I'm an excellent friend."
In one horrifying moment, Bonnie knows. It's Katherine. Bonnie recoils in horror. Katherine looks exactly like Elena, and she's got the mannerisms pat, down to the last crinkle of the eyes, the little flip of silky dark hair when she smiles.
"Careful," Katherine quickly beside her, lending a steady arm, "Tyler doesn't know."
"Tyler doesn't know what?" Tyler's confused.
"That I can be very scary when I'm crossed." Katherine's smile is pure sweetness, more sugary than Elena at her most cajoling. She turns to Bonnie, with the same beatific smile. "Let's pretend I was never here."
"You can't. I have vervain." Bonnie's shaking, unable to help herself; petrified, not knowing why Katherine's here, or what she wants.
"I meant him." Katherine says quietly. "I want you to remember. I saved your life. I can be a very good friend, Bonnie. Better than anyone you know."
How does she know?
"Liar." Bonnie's voice trembles.
Katherine comes close, speaking softly so only Bonnie can hear. "Don't let the Salvatore brothers know I was ever here. If you do, you will be sorry."
"A friend wouldn't make such threats."
Katherine smiles that dazzling smile again, "You have little experience in friendship, my dear."
"What if I say no?"
Katherine stands back up and whistles. Bonnie's eyes widen when her dog, Yangtze, comes trotting along.
"Cute dog," Katherine kneels back down and strokes the pug's head. The unsuspecting creature licks her hand. "She's well behaved. I bet you'll miss her, Bonnie."
"What the hell is going on?" Tyler cuts in, brusque. He must've cottoned on to the change in atmosphere.
Heavy dark lashes lower. Katherine's gaze towards Bonnie is coquettish, flirtatious. "He's so protective already. He's very good looking too. You know, I've practically given him to you."
"I can't be given," Tyler snaps.
Katherine whirls around. Suddenly, she's holding his face in her hands, staring deep into his eyes. At this moment, she looks nothing like Elena. Elena's prettiness is like spun sugar, but Katherine's beauty is spun from steel, sharpened to a wicked, serrated edge. "You won't remember me, just Bonnie. You trust Bonnie. Bonnie's here to help you."
Now, she sounds nothing like Elena. Bonnie can't believe she ever made the mistake.
"What do you want from me?" demands Bonnie.
"Nothing much," Katherine says breezily, dropping Tyler's unconscious body on the floor. "I just like befriending witches. I was very good friends with your great, great… to nth degree… grandmother, Emily. She was an impressive woman. A powerful witch."
"I won't do anything for you."
"I'm not asking you to." She steps over Tyler's fallen body delicately, "Yet. The only thing I ask of you is to keep our newfound acquaintance a secret. No taxing task. Speak of this encounter to nobody. If you tell, I will know."
Bonnie sets her jaw. "I won't let you hurt Elena, or any of my friends and family."
Katherine's guileless expression shutters. "Do you think they would do the same for you?"
"Yes." Bonnie's response is automatic.
"Truly?" One magnificently groomed brow raises, "I've followed you for a good many days, Bonnie. You feel very lonely."
Bonnie firms her shoulders. "You've only seen the surface. You have no idea how great my friends are."
Katherine's lips quirk, "I know you doubt them."
She's really been following Bonnie closely. The thought's creepy. "Everyone doubts everyone, sometimes."
"Everyone fails everyone sometimes, too," says Katherine.
"Which is why we won't be friends," Bonnie responds tartly. "You dole harsher punishment than most, for failing."
Those quirked lips widen to a full out grin. "You are quick-witted," Katherine's delighted. "I believe I like you already. We will meet again soon, Bonnie Bennet. Your Tyler is waking, and I must go. Remember my warning."
With that said, Katherine disappears out the door, leaving a lingering scent of roses.
Bonnie stares down to the floor, to a crumpled Tyler.
Katherine's right. She really has delivered Tyler, sealed and packaged, seemingly the perfect solution to all Bonnie's problems.
Seemingly.
Bonnie could certainly appreciate Tyler's toned physique and clean-cut features, his expensive European brand-name clothes and familial connections. Play the cards right, Bonnie could position herself as Tyler's saviour. Swoop in, win Tyler's trust (and heart) forever…
The problem though, is that she doesn't want him.
But she definitely could use a friend right now, and so could he.
Tiredly, she cleans up her dinner from the floor, puts the remainder in the bin. She takes out steak from the freezer and defrosts it on the counter. For herself, she thaws frozen bread in the microwave, toasts it with peanut butter and jelly.
By the time she's onto her seconds, Tyler's up. She points to the bloody steak on the counter. "Help yourself."
Tyler makes a face. "You've got to be kidding me. You aren't cooking it?"
"You're a werewolf," Bonnie says shrugging. "I thought you'd be all over this."
Tyler stares at it for the longest time, and then shakes his head, "No. Please cook it."
"Cook it yourself. There's the stove. Or you can use a microwave. You can add oil and onions."
"I don't know how to cook." A shadow of arrogance crosses his face. "I'm a Lockwood. We have servants."
"If you want someone to talk to about your animal problems, you better learn." Bonnie's unimpressed. "I'll show you how to turn on the stove, put on the pan and oil, but the rest, you have to do yourself. And I expect you to wash up too."
His expression falls further. But he must really want company, because soon enough, he does exactly as she says. And once the meal is polished off, the dishes sparkling clean, the two sit down and talk.
"Someone's in a good mood."
"Someone wants something." Bonnie hugs her schoolbooks tight, hurrying her pace to her car.
Damon falls in step with her. "I missed you at Caroline's party yesterday."
No surprise. She'd noticed he was busy all night. She spotted him snogging Alexis Fell near the ladies' room, shortly after entering the party. Later, she glimpsed him doing shots with a pretty Hispanic girl. Right now, he's all pink and white and sparkly-eyed, well fed and happy. Pity Elena isn't here. "Cut the crap, Damon. What do you want?"
"Answers," he says.
Hallelujah. She's reached her car. Bonnie unloads her books and bags into the trunk. "Answers about what?"
He smirks, "You're a terrible actress," he says. "You know something."
I know many things, Bonnie thinks silently. But for now, she just smiles back. "Something about what?"
A dark grimness enters his eyes. "You don't seem to care about who damaged your car. In fact, you seem a bit too eager to avoid the subject these days."
Bonnie shrugs. "You saw my car. Big, huge gauge marks. Some things are better not worth knowing."
"But you do know."
"About who did it?" Bonnie shakes her head and opens the door. "No, I don't actually. And it hasn't happened again, so I don't care."
"And that's how I know you're lying." Damon slides between her and the car door and slams the door shut with a crash. Bonnie flinches. "You suddenly turn from little Miss Do-good to someone who can't care less. That's suspicious."
"Well, you're suspicious of everyone," Bonnie snaps, ducking away from him. "According to you, I'm hopelessly in love with your brother—"
"You are," he cuts in.
Oh please. "Since you're so genius to figure that out, I'm sure you can similarly invent an excuse for my suspicious behaviour!" Bonnie manages to wriggle in her car. She slams the door and pops the lock.
Damon taps the glass.
She rolls the window down an inch. "Step back, or I'll drive over your foot," she warns.
He doesn't step back.
Bonnie glares at him. "Move!"
"I know," he says simply. "You've met Katherine. I can smell her attar of rose perfume on your jacket. You never told us how you got that back, by the way."
Bonnie looks down at herself in dismay. Stupidly, she didn't think twice before putting the jacket in the morning.
"You haven't told Elena," he continues quietly. "You weren't even planning to, were you?" When Bonnie freezes, his eyes sharpen with coldness. "Dick move," he says.
Bonnie clutches her steering wheel. "She was going to kill my dog."
"You chose your dog over your best friend?" He's incredulous.
"Don't lecture me on loyalty," Bonnie snarls. "You're hardly a great example, with Ste—"
Damon bares his teeth.
"Okay, won't rehash that," Bonnie says quickly, not wanting to provoke him. She opens her hands in an attempt at placation. "Look, I wasn't going to let anything happen to Elena. I wanted my dog to live a little longer. She's really old. I've had her since I was a baby. Knowing Katherine, she would kill Yangtze the worst way possible."
His lip curls. "Cry harder."
Bonnie gloweringly turns on the ignition. "Okay, so I suck. This round, you win. Are we done?" The car engine splutters to start.
"Who damaged your car?" Damon doesn't budge.
Bonnie stills. She promised Tyler that she wouldn't tell anyone, and she intends to keep that promise. "Not Katherine," she says abruptly, "and that's all you need to know. Are you going to move? I'm backing out."
She scrolls up the window without another word. Damon steps out of the way. Bonnie pulls out of the space smoothly.
But even after she turns on the stereo, after she lowers the car shades, she can still feel the relentless burn of Damon's suspicion.
One way or the other, he is going to find out everything.
A/N: This chapter came out just like that, honestly. Reading reviews helped :) but I think also a severe procrastination problem (from studying) also came into play here. I seem to write better when I have exams looming. The next chapter will definitely take another week, though...
Thank you for everyone who gave feedback! Reviews are greatly loved.
And another 'this should kind of be in the story but not' note that should be mentioned: This story mightn't be heaped with romance, but it has an exclusively Bamon focus. There are definitely many other things happening in the background (for example, if this was another kind of fic, the Tonnie scene would have been much longer), but everything has been kind of condensed, because I don't want to waffle on too much. I think this chapter is kind of a turning point... we'll see.