Chapter 16

Caroline kept good on her promise of throwing a welcome back party. A few days after Bonnie was released from the hospital, Caroline turned the Grill into a festive party scene, complete with balloons, a banner that read "WELCOME BACK, BONNIE! (and Damon)" and a DJ that was playing Bonnie's favorite music all night. The bar was up and running and everyone in the town showed up to welcome back two of its natives. Anyone who asked where the pair had disappeared was simply compelled to not ask questions and enjoy the party.

Damon arrived and received a surprisingly warm welcome from everyone, even Caroline. He ordered a drink and headed to the pool table, where he played a few games with Stefan and Alaric. He was thrilled to have Ric back and he was even happy to see Stefan. He laughed and talked and felt completely loose for the first time in many years. Elena walked up to the table, draped herself over him and planted a big kiss on his lips. She looked beautiful with her hair down, a small amount of makeup and a short dress that showed off her legs.

"I missed you so much," she whispered against his lips.

As much as Damon knew he should want and bask in her attention, a nagging part of him felt guilty about showing affection in front of Stefan. He backed off a little bit and shot his brother an apologetic look, but Stefan only shrugged and nodded at Caroline.

"You and Barbie, huh?" Damon asked.

"Me and Barbie," Stefan confirmed with a smile.

"I'll try not take offense to that," Caroline said as she leaned her head on Stefan's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

It kind of felt like the Twilight Zone to Damon: everyone getting along with no drama and no baddies to fight. But it also felt light. The weight of sibling rivalry was apparently a thing of the past and he couldn't say that he missed it. He'd finally won and it felt good.

Still...something pulled at him. Every time the doors to the Grill opened, his eyes shot to the entrance. He would never admit it out loud but he was waiting for Bonnie. Ever since the moment he'd woken up next to her in the forest, she had been on his mind. He wanted to see her, be near her, talk to her, and tease her. It was the craziest feeling and he didn't understand it. He'd always had something of a soft spot for the witch, despite outward appearances, but this was unlike anything he'd felt for her before.

He smelled her arrival before he saw it. Her witch blood called to him and her sweet heavy scent was very different from Elena's light, powdery smell. Elena's fragrance was airy and uncomplicated, much like her: pleasant but not much beneath the surface. Bonnie on the other hand smelled of fire and roses and passion and honey. Hers was the kind of scent that would drive a man crazy. How he hadn't noticed it before was beyond him.

Damon discreetly stepped away from the table and allowed Stefan to hit the balls while his blue eyes finally made contact with the object of his thoughts. Bonnie appeared like a vision amongst the crowd, her smile brightening the entire room. Her hair had been cut in a short bob with swooping bangs across her forehead. The style complimented her asymmetrical face well. His eyes traveled down to the tight sweater she wore and he immediately wondered if her breasts had always been that size: two perfect handfuls of flesh. He continued his visual journey down to her tight jeans, where he got a side view of a butt that had definitely expanded in the most pleasurable way.

She was laughing at something Jeremy said, and it wasn't until that moment that Damon even noticed the youngest Gilbert on her arm. Jeremy looked like the cat who caught the canary and he leaned down for a kiss.

MINE!

The thought slammed through Damon so hard and so fast that he snapped his poolstick with one hand. Stefan, Elena, Caroline and Alaric all looked in his direction, and his eyes widened in surprise. He had no idea where that thought came from.

"Hey, you okay?" Elena asked gently, brushing some dark hair off his forehead.

"Yeah, fine," he said. He even threw in a dazzling smile. "Guess I'm still getting used to my strength again."

Everyone seemed to accept his answer, so he took one last look at Bonnie before returning his attention to the pool table. He purposely ignored the sounds of her boots getting closer. But he could only ignore her presence for so long as she hugged everyone else and Caroline screeched about how happy she was that Bonnie had come.

"Of course," she laughed. "I couldn't miss my own party."

"Your drinks are free all night," Caroline said with a proud smile. "And they're playing your favorite songs."

"Aw, Care, guys, this is so sweet," Bonnie said with a big grin. "Really, I feel very loved."

"Well, you should. Because you are." Caroline flipped her hand in Damon's direction. "I even told them to throw in a couple of those old man songs that Damon likes."

"Hey, be nice," Bonnie said. "Damon was gone too."

He smirked at Caroline, who rolled her eyes but then smiled. Damon's gaze fell to Bonnie, who walked right in front of him. He itched to reach out and move her bangs out of her face so he could fully see her pretty eyes, but he managed to keep his hands to himself.

"Hi," she said with a bright smile. At that moment, he couldn't recall a time where she had smiled like that for him.

"Hello, little witch."

She opened her arms for a hug and he allowed it. She wrapped her slim, soft arms around his waist and her scent overtook every sense in his body, especially when she rested her head on his chest. A powerful urge to claim her and keep her close propelled Damon as he buried his nose in her hair and kissed the top of her head. She pulled away enough to look at him, her eyebrow raised in a silent question. Instead of letting her go like all the alarms in his head were telling him to, he reached up and finger-combed the bangs away from her eyes.

"There," he said. "I like it better when I can see your face."

She looked stunned at his comment, and when he looked around the pool table area, so did everyone else. Stefan's large forehead was pushed all the way back. Caroline's jaw was nearly on the floor. Ric's eyes were as wide as saucers. Jeremy's lips formed a thin, angry line. Elena's mouth was open and her eyes narrowed.

And Damon had no idea why he did what he did, other than he wanted to. Why in the world did he want to? He scrambled to cover up with his usual snark.

"Wouldn't want to miss those judgey eyes," he said.

And just like that, the awkwardness was over. Bonnie cracked a half-smile and moved away from him, leaving a cold spot on his chest where she had been. He wanted to pull her close again but he figured that he had been weird enough for one day. He had to get away from her if he was going to keep any semblance of sanity.

"I'm going to get a drink," he announced. "Anybody else want one?"

He had no takers so he excused himself and headed to the bar. He ordered a scotch and sat down on a stool, eyeing his friends at the pool table. Of course, his gaze kept going to Bonnie and everything she did caused some reaction in his body. Her smile made him smile. Her laugh made him dead heart flutter. Her gentle caresses of Jeremy's arms made him feel a murderous rage. When Jeremy leaned against the wall and pulled her against him so that her behind was nestled between his legs, Damon very nearly flew off the stool and ripped the Gilbert boy's head off. It didn't help but that Bonnie smiled shyly, whispering something sweet in her boyfriend's ear.

"Hey," Elena said, popping into his line of vision.

Damon snapped his attention to her, his girlfriend, and he smiled.

"Hey."

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You're acting kind of weird."

"I'm fine," he said.

"Yeah? Because you keep spacing out. And that hug with Bonnie was...unexpected."

He waved his hand as if it was nothing because he didn't trust himself to say anything.

"So, you wanna dance?" she asked, with one of those big smiles that used to melt his heart.

"Sure."

He knocked back the rest of his drink and allowed her to lead him to the dance floor. The DJ was playing something fast but Elena wrapped her arms around his neck and they moved slowly, totally disregarding the rhythm of the song. Damon stared into her dark brown eyes and told himself that she was what he wanted. Elena. ELENA. It was always about Elena. Definitely not about her really hot, fiery, witchy best friend.

"You have no idea how much I missed you," she said lowly as she played with the back of his neck. "I swear, I thought I was going crazy. I was seeing you in places where you weren't because I wanted you back so badly."

"Turning all Bella Swan on me, huh?" he teased.

"It's funny now because you're home but it was just sad while you were gone. I know everyone was getting tired of my crap. I think at one point even Stefan wanted to kill me."

Damon offered a sympathetic laugh.

"So what else has been going on while I was gone?" he asked. "Stefan and Caroline?"

"They've been circling each other for a while. I think she was just scared to say something to me. But it really wouldn't have been fair for me to object, so I told them it was cool."

"Is it?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

Elena sighed and shrugged. "Yeah. I think it is. Especially now that I have you. Nothing else matters."

She pressed her lips to his and they engaged in a sweet kiss. It wasn't until she slid her tongue into his mouth that something felt wrong. She didn't taste right. It wasn't like she tasted bad or had bad breath or something, but hers wasn't the taste he wanted in his mouth. When she pulled away, she smiled and he kissed her forehead. She rested her head on his chest and they danced for a while. Damon tried to focus just on the woman in his arms, but then Bonnie was on the dance floor with Jeremy. Bonnie stood in front of her boyfriend, winding her hips suggestively while he held on for dear life. She giggled as he struggled to keep up with her movements but she didn't stop.

She must have felt Damon burning a hole through her head because she looked up and their eyes met. She didn't stop moving but she did slow down just a touch. She kept looking at him as she bit her lip and circled her lips like she was putting Jeremy's body in a trance. Damon was sure that she didn't mean to look so sexy but damn it, she did. He wasn't sure whether to be jealous of Jeremy or happy that her attention was on him. He wanted nothing more than to rip her away from the kid's arms and beg her to gyrate her small body on him instead.

Come put it on me, he thought.

Bonnie suddenly stopped and narrowed her eyes at Damon. He mirrored her stance, silently asking her what was wrong. Before she could respond, Elena's head lifted and she smiled dreamily.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked.

"Uh...sorry. I thought I heard something."

"Well keep going. I'm enjoying this."

She resumed her swaying and Damon joined her, although his eyes flitted back to Bonnie, who seemed to have forgotten their little exchange. She was too busy being sexy on that idiot, Jeremy. The kid was holding onto her hips and trying to follow her movements and doing a terrible job. Damon glared at them for several straight songs. All he could think about was how much better a partner he would be for Bonnie. He would have been able to keep up with her and maybe even show her a thing or two.

With that in mind, he spun Elena around and she yelped. He secured her backside against him and leaned down to her ear to whisper, "show me what you got." She laughed like a school girl and proceeded to dance on him. She wasn't as good as Bonnie but she did an admirable job. She was able to match the pulse of the song and she even swung her hair around a few times, which made him smile. He was actually enjoying her little attempt at seduction when he felt Bonnie's eyes on him. He looked at her and found her frowning and he winked.

You're not the only one who can get freaky on the dance floor, he thought.

And again, Bonnie halted her movements and looked at him strangely. He watched her pull out her phone and type something, then he felt a buzz in his pocket. He managed to keep his dancing going while he extracted the phone and he saw the message from Bonnie.

come see me tonight

That shouldn't have excited him as much as it did, but he masked it with a look of indifference and a subtle nod. Of course, he couldn't get her off his mind for the rest of the night and he anxiously checked his watch until the party eventually started to die down. Bonnie and Jeremy left first, and Damon waited a respectable time before leaving with Elena. When they got back to the house, Elena tried to finish what they started in the club but he was too distracted with thoughts of Bonnie. He managed to convince her that he needed to hunt, but he ended up at Bonnie's house instead. He climbed up the tree and spotted her on her bed, a grimoire spread over her legs. She looked keenly focused on something, and her head snapped up when he tapped on the window.

He smirked at the look of irritation on her face as she slid the glass up.

"You know, they invented doors so creepy old men like you don't have to sit outside of windows like perverts."

"And hello to you, too," he said sarcastically.

"Get in here before someone sees you and calls the cops."

He slithered inside and took up residence on the edge of her bed.

"Little Gilbert let you out of his sight for the evening?" he asked.

"Yes. I told him I had a headache."

"And do you?"

He arched an eyebrow and gave her a sleazy smile.

"I feel one coming on," she said dryly.

"If I knew you were just going to insult me all night, I'm not sure I would have accepted your invitation."

She sighed. "I didn't call you over to insult you. Not exclusively, anyway."

"Then why did you?"

"Because I thought you should know that I can hear your thoughts."

His eyes bugged out. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Tonight at the party, a couple of times when were dancing with Jeremy and Elena, you thought things and I heard them."

Damon replayed those moments in his head. "Is that why you were looking at me weird?"

"Yes. Among other reasons."

He noticed that she looked down and there was a little blush in her brown cheeks. He recalled thinking something about wanting her to put it on him and he grinned.

"Aw, don't tell me you're getting shy because I had an impure thought about my judgey little witch."

She pushed his shoulder and said, "I'm not getting shy. And I'm not your witch."

The hell you aren't.

"Stop doing that!" she said. "I don't want to hear inside your nasty head."

He reached out and took her wrist and pulled her until she was standing in between his open legs.

"You think I can hear your thoughts, too?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, let's try. Think something. And make it sexy."

He wiggled his eyebrows and she scoffed, but then she looked directly into his eyes and he could tell that she was concentrating on projecting her thoughts.

Can you hear me?

"Oh, come on, you can do better than that!" he said.

"So you did hear it?" she asked.

"Loud and clear."

She looked surprised but he only smiled.

"This will be fun, Bon-Bon. We can have our own silent language. We'll be besties!" He squealed and waved his hands like a girl and she laughed in spite of herself.

"Shut up."

"You think Caroline will be mad when she realizes I've replaced her as your BFF?"

"Not gonna happen."

She looked at him with those beautiful green eyes and he started feeling that pull again. That attraction. That desire and hunger for her. He could feel the black veins swirling around his eyes and his fangs beginning to descend. He looked away, but Bonnie's hands gently cupped his face and she made him look at her.

"Are you...hungry?" she asked softly.

If by hungry you mean horny as hell, yes.

Her cheeks reddened again.

I'm sure Elena can take care of that for you.

Yeah, I'm sure she could.

He didn't add the part about maybe he wanted someone else to take care of it for him but it was implied by his tone and the way he was looking at her. Like he was hungry and she was dessert. Bonnie did the smartest thing she could do and stepped away from him. She cleared her throat and pointed to the window.

"So I guess I'll see you later?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay."

He didn't move from his spot on the bed and she didn't stop looking at him. He finally stood up and purposely brushed past her. He slid out of the window and didn't look back. He ran all the way home, intent on taking his raging hormones out on a very willing Elena. Only when he opened his bedroom door, she was asleep on his bed. He leaned against the door frame and watched her for a while, thinking about all the underhanded and deceitful things he'd done to finally win her love. He didn't know what had changed during his time with Bonnie, but something obviously had. Because when he looked at Elena, he no longer felt that burning need for her. He loved her, sure, but it was different. He didn't long for her.

He longed for Bonnie.

And that thought scared the shit out of him.