**Chapter fifty eight**

Bonding

*Hailey*

It was around four in the morning, the sun not even up yet. I couldn't sleep, and just kept staring up at the ceiling, as Damon slept next to me. It had been a couple days since Damon and I had decided on our future, and I had yet to tell Elena or Stefan. I was worried about what their opinion would be, and I had just gotten my best friend back.

It had to be nerves that were keeping me up. I gave up on trying to sleep, and snuck out of the room, careful not to wake up Damon. I walked down to the kitchen, and decided to make cookies.

I was a decent cool, but even in the same galaxy as Damon. I had learned how to cook from my dad. I had his super-secret chocolate chip cookie recipe memorized, and set about gathering ingredients. I tried not to make too much noise as I mixed up the ingredients, and the stirring calmed my nerves.

I had a feeling of foreboding that I couldn't explain. I just had a bad feeling about today, like I shouldn't of have gotten out of bed this morning. Too late.

"Are you aware that it's four thirty in the morning?"

Arms wrapped themselves around my waist, and Damon rested his chin on the top of my head. I smiled softly, as I added vanilla to my mixture. "I can't sleep, so I'm making cookies," I said, as Damon kissed a bite mark on my neck.

"That's a reasonable solution to insomnia," he said sarcastically, stealing some cookie dough from the bowl. I slapped his hand away with the wooden spoon I was using.

"Hey, if you eat all of the dough, I can't make cookies," I pointed out, moving the bowl out of his reach.

Damon smirked, as he leaned against the counter. He was shirtless and had bed hair. He looked tired, but seemed determined not to leave me alone. I was thankful; I wasn't in a mood to be left alone with my thoughts.

"Why can't you sleep?' Damon asked, as I added chocolate chips to the dough.

I shrugged, as I started spooning the dough onto the baking sheet. "You're not… having second thoughts, are you? Because it's okay if you are. It's an irreversible decision," he said quickly. I knew that Damon was happy that I was changing for him, but he didn't want to pressure me into it.

I smirked at him. "Don't try to get rid of me now, Damon. It's not that- I'm a hundred percent sure on that- It's more like a bad feeling. Something bad is coming, I know it."

Damon frowned, as I stuck the cookies into the oven. I could tell that something was bothering him. I smiled, and wrapped my arms around his waist. "We have twenty minutes to kill before the cookies are done. Wanna try to fix my sleeping problem?" I asked with a seductive smirk, before stretching up to kiss him.

Damon kissed me back, and lifted me up onto the counter. But not even sex could make his worries go away, no matter how good it was.

~LMF~

"Ready for our girl's day, Lena Bear?" I asked, as I burst into her house. My insomnia cookies were in one hand, and the key to the perfect girl's day in the other. I had movies, makeover kits, ice cream, raw cookie dough, and the latest magazines.

It was eight and a half hours later, and I was over at Elena's for our bonding day. Damon and Stefan were having their own brotherly bonding day, and I was teasing Damon a lot about it. Elena and I were alone in her house. As she ordered pizza, I popped in Mean Girls.

I started munching on my insomnia cookies, and Elena started painting my nails. I decided that now was a good time to spill to Elena about my decision, since we promised no more secrets.

"So Lena, I have something to share," I started, flipping absentmindedly through a magazine.

"How big is it?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Life altering. It's good news, though. I'm really happy, yet terrified," I said honestly.

"Hailey, are you pregnant?" she teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Last time I checked, I'm dating a vampire, and they can't knock people up. But how funny is it, that the topic of vampires came up? Especially since I have plans to become one," I said casually.

Elena gaped at me. "What?" she exclaimed.

"Damon and I agreed, that once everything settles down, he's going to change me," I said, biting my lip.

Elena sighed. "Are you really sure about this, Hailey? You can't go back. You'll have to deal with your humanity. You'll probably kill people. You'll become a blood crazed maniac. You'll watch all of your friends and family grow old and die. You'll never be able to have kids- the list goes on."

I could tell by the look in Elena's brown eyes that she had spent many nights thinking about this list. I sighed. "This world needs my spawn like they need the plaque. I don't want kids- I can barely take care of myself. Besides, in eighty years, I'm going to be old, wrinkly and gross- probably even dead. Damon will still be young, hot, and sexy. This is what I have to do to be with him forever, Elena. The rest doesn't matter. Not to me."

Elena sighed. "There's no way that I can change your mind, is there?"

"Nope. Besides, you have the same problem, Elena," I told her.

"I don't know what to do about that… but I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, just tell me if and when you decide to join me in vampirism," I told her, as the doorbell rang.

"Is that even a word?" she asked, as she stood up to answer it.

I followed her to the door, to see a guy in his early twenties checking both of us out. I raised an eyebrow at him, as I took the pizza.

"Sorry delivery boy, but both of us are spoken for. And our boyfriends are the jealous type," I told him, as Elena paid, and then I shut the door in his face.

"Was that necessary?" she asked, as I dug into the pizza.

"Is anything I do ever really necessary?" I retorted with a smirk.

"Touché."

~LMF~

"So, why are we whispering?" Damon asked, as he talked to Hailey on his cellphone.

"Because it's against girl's day rules to talk to boys," she whispered, and he smirked.

"I hope you know that Stefan's on the phone with Elena right now."

"Well, then she can't get mad at me," Hailey said, her voice rising. Damon chuckled.

"Are your spidey senses still tingling?" he asked, and Hailey laughed.

"I still feel like shit's gonna go down, but I'm ignoring it," she said.

"You shouldn't ignore your spidey senses, Hailey? Damon told her.

"It's probably nothing, Damon. I'm not worried," she said, her tone implying that they would be dropping the subject.

"So, how's the bonding with your little brother going?" she asked to change the subject.

"Weird and awkward. I can't believe that I let you talk me into this," he said, amazed over the control Hailey had over him. He was whipped, though he would never, ever admit it.

"Damon, just admit that ever since I've moved in, you two have started to become brothers again. Don't ruin it by becoming the jackass you become whenever things are going good, and you're scared that they'll go bad. So you make them go bad before they can on their own. So just go play pool and don't screw it up," she told him.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Why is it so important to you that Stefan and I bond?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Because I think that it would be good for you, to have your brother back," Hailey replied softly. Damon heard footsteps on the other line. "That's Elena, I gotta go. I love you." She told him, before hanging up.

Damon sighed before walking back to the pool table, where Stefan was waiting for him. Damon made his move, playing pool, without talking, and Stefan followed his lead. They played silently for a few minutes.

"Do I become a jackass when things are going good for me?" Damon blurted out suddenly.

"Yeah, but you're a jackass most of the time," Stefan retorted with a grin.

Damon snorted, before blurting out, "I'm changing Hailey into a vampire- once things settle down."

Stefan raised his eyebrows. "Things are that serious? Well, I'm happy for you two," he said, making his move,

Damon smiled slightly, knowing deep down that he did like having his brother back. The two brothers continued to make small talk, and they started to shift back to how they were pre-Katherine. They started acting like brothers again.

An hour later, Damon walked back to the pool table with drinks in his hands. He handed Stefan a glass, and he blurted out, "So why did you want to do this whole bonding thing anyway? Last time we did this, you had a diabolical plan."

Damon smirked. "Nothing like that, brother. I just have a very pushy fairy who is hard to say no to."

Stefan smiled, and sipped his drink silently. Both of them knew that they were on the road to fixing their screwed up relationship. Even though it could never be like it was before, it could me much better than it was.

That's when Damon got the phone call, and the red head who had been watching them since they entered the Mystic Grill smirked to herself. That's when it all went to hell.

~LMF~

Elena and I were gossiping about Sheila Rain- who went to our school- when I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit. Nausea rolled in my stomach, and a horrible feeling overcame me.

"Hailey, what's-" Elena started to say, as I doubled over. She was cut off when the door was suddenly kicked down.

Vampires suddenly swarmed into the room, too many to count. Twisted smiles formed on their lips. Elena and I were stunned, and we just stared at him. Suddenly, I broke out of the shock, and jumped into action. "Run Elena, now!" I shouted.

Elena bolted to her room, as I started waving my hands madly. I sent vampires flying in every direction, and sprinted up the stairs. The tomb vampires followed me, as I kept sending them into walls and down the stairs. My energy was draining fast. Even as I fought, I knew that I had no chance of taking on all the vampires by myself. There was no hope.

Elena slammed her bedroom door shut behind her. She heard Hailey fighting the tomb vampires through the walls. She grabbed Hailey's cellphone from her bed, and dialed Damon's number.

"I thought that talking to boys was against girl's day rules?" Damon teased when he picked up, softness in his voice reserved for Hailey only.

"Damon, they're here! They're in my house!" Elena shouted, her voice filled with fear and urgency. She searched for something that could be used as a stake.

"Elena? How are they in your house?" Damon said, instantly alert.

"I don't know! Please, Hailey's fighting them, but there are so many!" Elena said, terrified for her and Elena's life.

"We're on our way, Elena," Damon assured her, but it was too late.

Hailey flew into Elena's room, blood running from her neck. Elena screamed, dropped the cellphone, and ran to Hailey. She was out cold.

"Elena!" Damon shouted from the phone on the ground.

"Hello, Elena."

Elena looked up, only to have her head slammed against the wall by Markus, and fall unconscious.

"Take them, and hurry. Candace just texted me, saying that the brothers are on their way," he said coldly to his minions, as they grabbed the girls' bodies.

Markus looked down at the dropped cellphone curiously, and picked it up. "Elena?" he heard Damon Salvatore say desperately into the phone.

"I am afraid that Miss Gilbert is unavailable at this moment, Mister Salvatore," Markus said coolly.

"Markus," Damon hissed. "If you hurt them, I swear to god, I'll rip your heart out, if it's the last thing I do."

"Good luck," was all Markus said, before the line went dead,

~LMF~

A/N: thank you to: colleenrawr, jacquline, Kelsey, CassieSalvatore, Samantha meyers, SomebodyWhoCares, and vdemily for reviewing!

Reviews inspire me ;)

~Abby!