A/N: First of all, I'm sorry for taking so long but I was out and enjoying the hot temperature and the sun.

Thanks to all of those who reviewed and/ or added the story or me to their alerts or favorites. I can't say how much that means to me. And again, Vie, thank you so much for all your support.

Insert: Currently, I'm working on a Bamon-One-shot. I began writing it sometime last summer and I'm trying to fix and finish it. Here is my dilemma. There is a kind of longer flashback in the story but I have no idea how to write that tense wise. The story is in simple past because I hate to write in presence. So, the flashback is supposed to be in Past Perfect, if I'm not mistaken. But it just sounds strange to write so much in that tense. I tried to separate it from the story but that doesn't work for the atmosphere/ flow of the story.

If anyone can help me with that or has any suggestions, please pm me. I'd appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries or anything connected to it nor anything else you recognize. Neither do I own Blade (that'd be nice though) nor 'Tanz der Vampire'. Any resemblances to persons or enterprises are coincidentally.

For the record: I don't approve a lot of things mentioned in this chapter. So don't try this at home! (My own 'Jackass' warning! :D )

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 9:

Bonnie was chewing on her lower lip. Caroline had decided they needed a girls' night out. Just Bonnie, Elena and herself.

It sounded so easy. Were where the days when all they had to fear was the fury of their parents? Being a vampire Mrs. Forbes didn't really care anymore what Caroline was doing, with her parents and Jenna gone Alaric was out of his depth playing guard for two teenagers, as long as they were alive, had something to eat and did they're usual duties, he didn't get involved. And Bonnie. They only one who'd ever cared if she was out late had been her grams.

The obstacles were gone.

But suddenly the fear of house arrest didn't seem as important anymore. Suddenly, the threat of death was real. It became obvious the last few days, that not only Klaus couldn't be trusted. It was quite possible the threat came out of their own rows.

Least to say, Bonnie wasn't as excited about their girls' night out as she used to be.

What she didn't do for her friends.

Somewhere deep in her mind she still hoped everything would be alright and nothing would happen. And honestly, after the stress of the last few weeks she really needed to let go off some steam.

Bonnie couldn't believe she jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.

Now that the immediate threat of Klaus wasn't immediate – the hell knew what he was doing at the moment –, the witch had thought it'd be time to take a step back, to enjoy theirselves as long as possible.

To top it all off, they had summer break – their last one. Just a few months and they'd be graduating. It called for a celebration – even though no one felt like it.

Once again, Bonnie was shaken out of her reverie by someone knocking on the front door. This time, however, Bonnie knew who it was. Caroline wanted them all to meet up and get ready together. One should think after their past year, the blonde was out of her illusions of the real life being similar to a teenage movie – but no, the young vampire clung more than ever to such things.

It seemed to be Caroline's way of keeping part of her old life alive and who was Bonnie to deny her friend such an important task when all the witch herself wanted to do was to keep those days alive.

As predicted, Caroline stood in front of Bonnie's house, a huge smile adorning her face, cloth bags over her arm, a make-up suit in one hand and two bottles of champagne in the other one. Sometimes being a vampire had its perks. Though it never had been a problem for them to get some alcohol – Bonnie remembered those parties in the woods clearly -, no matter what their parents wanted to think.

"Hey, Care, come in." Bonnie tried to be enthusiastic. Caroline's look, however, showed her she wasn't that convincing yet. The night was long.

While Caroline went up the stairs to Bonnie's room, the witch went into the kitchen and the storage room and brought a lot of snacks (Who'd thought vampires ate that much? Weren't they supposed to just drink blood and not to be able to stomach food?) and bowls to put them in.

The witch was about to unload the snacks on the desk in her room when the bell rang. Good to know. Vampires just knock on the door, humans use the bell. Was it because there weren't bells back when those vampires first lived? But what was it with Caroline then? Or was it the noise of the bell. Probably the later, but it would be so much fun to aggravate Damon with that.

It was weird that a man in his 60ies (one hundred and sixties!) hung out with teenagers. Okay, teenagers and Rick. In every other situation, the media had had his skin. But being caught for all eternity being 22 (at least he was old enough to do anything without a lot of fuss) ensured the hormones of a college guy for all eternity as well. Suddenly, his behavior was a lot more understandable.

Opening the front door, another bright smile greeted Bonnie. Elena had her own clothes bags in her hand. "Hey Bonnie." With a huge hug Elena greeted her. "Is Caroline already here?"

"Ya. She came just a few minutes earlier. Come in, the snacks and drinks are all set up."

Happily talking, Elena did everything to relive their past 'girls' night out's. And even though the voice in the back of her mind reminded the witch about her last encounter with Elena, she blocked that voice. It wasn't worth to lose a life-long friendship over a few words said in distress.

Loud squealing accompanied the welcome hugs of the girls. All three of them knew how fake they were (honestly, who did squeal all the time when they'd seen each other a few hours before?!) but precisely that was the charm of the whole thing. Pretend.

Pretend to be normal. Pretend to be independent. Pretend to live a perfect life like in the movies. Pretend to be always happy. Pretend there is nothing bad going on. Pretend the world is a perfect place.

Pretend.

Looking at each other, the teenage girls weren't able to fight their laughter.

"Okay girls. It's good to see you all. It was about time." Caroline was the first to speak. "Yeah, but that was a tad bit too overjoyed." Bonnie giggled. Caroline and Elena soon joined in the witch's laughter.

With a loud 'plop', Bonnie opened the bottle of champagne while Caroline held three glasses at the ready. Elena hurried to fill the bowls with the snacks.

"So, how are you?" Elena asked her girl friends with raised eyebrows.

"I don't know what you mean. I'm good, we're all alive and we're having our long missed girls' time. So, I'm more than good." Bonnie tried to play dumb. There was no way in hell, she would tell Elena about her mixed feelings about Damon or his gifts for her. Or their shared kisses.

If she wanted to ruin their blissful night, that'd be the way.

Exasperate, Elena fixed Bonnie with a glare. "You know that's not what I meant." After a short moment, however, her gaze softened. "I'm sorry because of Jeremy. But if you want to talk about it you can. Though he's my brother, you are my sister and he was in the wrong to break up with you because you helped someone to survive. Honestly, I think there is a huge possibility that he'll come to his right mind and will ask for your forgiveness. You just have to believe."

Caroline glanced at Bonnie. The witch's features told her everything she needed to know. "Ya, that is that. Me and Tyler, we're great. Who'd ever thought that I, the undecided cheerleader and the man-whore Casanova would be in a solid relationship? He even talked about the future. Ever since the werewolf curse broke out, he's a changed person." Caroline gushed.

Even though Elena shot her an aggravated glare – does she really need to force herself in the center of attention every time? Didn't she see I was trying to comfort Bonnie? Or does she just not care? Caroline is hurting because of their break up. It's obvious. You can plainly see the mixed emotions on her face. – Bonnie was thankful for the vampire's intervention and knew her friend just did that to re-direct the attention.

After a few hours of girl talk – admitted, most people would call it gossip – and styling themselves, the girls were ready to go. There wasn't any need anymore to bribe a doorman or trick their way into a club, they had their own vampire with them. Sometimes compulsion did come in handy.

There was also another advantage being a vampire: their alcohol tolerance was a lot higher than with a common human. Their designed driver was set in stone without anyone sticking strictly to coke.

Driving an hour north out of town they reached '1Night'. The club had opened half a year ago but with Katherine and then Klaus threatening all their lives their hadn't been any time to check out it out.

Walking together to the line in front of the club, Bonnie kind of felt like one of Charlie's Angels: three confident girls strutting along the parking lot in sexy outfits (more or less at least).

Why they needed every. single. time. a few hours and several outfit choices to get ready, Bonnie didn't know. Honestly, they're choices were always similar – just a different model of it. Caroline in a mini-skirt and some glittery top, Elena in a short dress and Bonnie in her beloved skinny jeans. It was more a ritual than anything, Bonnie guessed.

Bewitching the bouncer (or compelling), the girls could walk right into the heat of '1Night' and up to the bar. Why was she against compulsion again? At the moment the witch had no clue. Ordering their beverages and convincing the skeptical bartender that they were 21 years (again thanks to Caroline) the girls went to have a look around the place and find somewhere to sit.

'1Night' was in a huge modern building just on the outskirts of the town. With just one dance floor it differed from the other modern clubs. Besides special theme nights the DJ on the floor played everything from Pop and Dance to Hip Hop, R'n'B and some Rap to various kinds of Rock, from the newest tracks to some 90ies and party classics.

Around the dance floor were several seats and couches with tables scattered giving the impression of being cozy and practical at the same time with their closeness array around the floor. To the girl's dismay, all tables were occupied by groups of people.

"Where to now?" Bonnie asked her friends. "Back to the bar?"

"I suppose we could just sit to someone. The seats are big enough." Elena suggested.

"You can't just sit to a group of friends. And Tyler would kill me if I sat myself to some guys. And don't even think about sitting at the bar, Bonnie. That's the place for lonesome losers waiting desperately for any girl to notice them," stated Caroline. "Oh girls, could you wait a moment for me. I see someone I know. I'm back soon." With those departing words, the vampire girl disappeared into the crowd.

From afar the two dark-haired girls saw the blonde head of their friend bobbing up again making its was towards a group of people. Confused, the girls looked at each other, not recognizing anyone of the group. Where did Caroline met those? It was always like this going out with Caroline. On every corner she met someone she knew.

Making her way around the seats, Caroline greeted every single one of the group with a hug and after a short talk to another blonde girl in the group, she they said their good-byes.

Few moments later Caroline returned to her girl friends.

"Oh, no one. I just met them a few years back, when I was at that cheerleading camp over summer."

Neither Bonnie nor Elena were convinced but left it at that. Glancing back around the club, Bonnie saw Caroline's friends leave their table and it suddenly dawned on Bonnie. Friends my a$$!

"Caroline! What did I tell you about compulsion?" The witch hissed.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked innocently, biting her lower lip and twirled a straw of her hair. Both signs that she was nervous.

"You damn well know what I'm talking about! It's not like we didn't enough of it to get in here. Do you want to call attention. Who knows who's here and what they'll do." Bonnie reprimanded her friend. "It's wrong," she added as an afterthought. That should have been one of my first arguments … What's wrong with me? Compulsion – bad. Not convenient.

"I didn't do anything. I went to say 'hey', we talked a bit and then they said they wanted to dance and I told them that I'd need to get you guys. Now let's go there before anyone else can claim the seats." Stubbornly, Caroline stuck to her story, well knowing that it was a ruse.

Heading towards the empty booth, the girls sat down forming a small triangle at the table to make it easier to talk with one another.

"That's a lot better than to stand there like a dumped girlfriend in the middle of the room", Elena remarked and though Bonnie hated to admit it, she was right. Didn't mean she approved of compulsion.

Absentmindedly, she staked in her cocktail with her straw.

Suddenly, Elena's attention wavered from a wild gesticulating Caroline to something on Bonnie's wrist.

"That's a nice bracelet. Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift." Bonnie answered, a small smile on her lips.

"Really? From whom?" The brunette inquired.

"Uhm … uh … a friend." How am I supposed to answer that question? If she figured out that it's from Damon and I don't how she'll react. I don't want to ruin our normalcy. Bonnie's mind was racing. Oh god, please let Caroline be quiet. Please, don't let her say it.

"Ooh … what kind of friend? He must be pretty close ..." Elena coaxed, ready for juicy details of her nice friend's dire needed love life.

Those words brought the other gifts from Damon upfront and Bonnie started to blush. Luckily, Bonnie's complexion and the darkness of the club did a good job of hiding it.

"Is it someone I know?"

"Guess so. At least, we're getting closer. But it's not like that, we're just friends. So don't read too much into it 'cause there's nothing." The witch tried to satisfy and placate her curious friend at the same time.

A short glance to Caroline revealed a poorly hidden smirk and a knowing glint in the blonde's eyes.

"So, do we know him?" Caroline dug deeper.

At that moment, the witch despised her best friend. She knew she didn't want to say anything about that to Elena. They had talked about that exact topic two nights ago on the phone. She'd told her that her matchmaking wasn't welcome here but Caroline had to get involved in everything – especially when she could one up Elena.

Old rivalries died hard – more so when heightened vampire emotions came into play.

Fortunately for Caroline, the witch wasn't superman and it needed more for her to lighten someone up than just a menacing glare. Otherwise Caroline would have one more thing together with Damon.

"Uh … I met him when I visited my family." There, evasive enough. I was with family, I first met him when we were out in the woods partying. They can't accuse me of lying.

"When you met him almost a year ago, why did he sent you a such a gift now?" Elena wanted to know.

"We kept in contact?" Bonnie more asked than told. "I don't know why he did it, honestly. But it's a nice bracelet, so why shouldn't I wear it?" The witch got defensive. "Anyway, weren't we here to forget all that and just live? Let's dance!"

To the girl's great relief her friends for once listened to her and followed her out on the floor and danced the night away.

Hours later, the three girl were exhausted. Dancing the night away had been a lot easier when all they had to worry about had been high school. Their former lives hadn't made them lose sleep. Mystic Falls 2.0 was a different matter because the things they fought were coming out at night.

When they arrived back in town it was 3 a.m.. Bringing first Elena back home, Caroline drove to the Bennett House.

"So, now that Miss-I-want-both-but-won't-admit-it is gone – tell me. That's that bracelet you told me about. The one Damon gave to you, isn't it?"

She should have know better than to believe that topic was finished for Caroline.

Absentmindedly, Bonnie played with the bracelet and the charms, a small smile settling on her lips. "Yes, it is. With all charms. Ever since he put it on me, I didn't take it off but to shower." The witch answered quietly, her voice barely to hear, a wistful look on her face.

God, I love her, really, but why does she need to be so damn stubborn! It's plain as day that she likes him – if not love. Girl, wake up!

Contrary to her friend, Caroline saw right through all their insecurities and worries and knew that both, Bonnie and Damon, weren't able to resist their urges. They belonged together.

When witch and vampire still had hated each other, they're fights had been an outlet for the fiery passion they shared. Ever since they stopped hating each other and started to get along, their fights were less frequently and less heated.

Suddenly, they had to deal with completely different emotions.

When they couldn't get rid of all the tension between them with fighting anymore, how were they supposed to get rid of it?

A smirk plastered on her face thinking about it. If she could get those kids to see it. Or at least to talk!

Bonnie was a bit frightened by Caroline's smirk – even though Damon's was more expressive. Damn it, girl! Why do you think about him anyway?! And why do you compare facial expressions with his?

"I think you should say thank you to him. I mean, sure you said it before but I know you and when you're taken by surprise by something you don't know how to react. And tell him what you told me just yet."

"Don't, Caroline." Bonnie said exasperate. "Don't start it again. It's late, I'm tired and my feet are hurting so bad. Next time remind to look up some spell against hurting feet. What good does it do to be a witch and still suffer from silly little problems."

"Okay, okay. It was just an idea. Jeez, don't jump down my throat." The blonde gave in. "We're here. Good night, Bonnie."

"Good night, Care. Sleep well."

Caroline waited until her friend had closed the front door behind her before she drove away.

A feeling in her gut let her stop right behind the next corner and wait. For what, she didn't know.

Few minutes later, she saw Bonnie leave her home and go to her blue Toyota. It was nice being a witch and to be able to change the color of your car as you pleased – one day it had still its original blue, the next you drove a white Prius.

Watching the scene unfold, Caroline couldn't hide her smile as she saw the car leaving in the direction of the Boarding House.

Bonnie didn't know what she was doing.

But Caroline's endless rambling put her in a funny mood. She didn't know why she did it, though after Caroline's departure she took her car keys from the table next to the door, went to her car, got in and left in the direction of the Boarding House.

Before she could think her acting through, she reached her destination. Should she really go in there? What would it mean? Could she do it? It was just a thank you nothing more? Or was it? What was she doing there?

Determined, Bonnie left her car and walked to the front door of the Boarding House. Without knocking – she just didn't want to disturb Stefan if he was home – the witch entered the old house and made her way straight up to Damon's room.

Standing right in front of his room, she took one deep breath and put her hand on the door knob and twisted. Oh my god. What if he has company?!

Too late. The door was open and revealed Damon leaning on his dresser smirking her way.

Right, vampire senses. He'd known she was coming, probably even before she turned into their long driveway. At least, he wasn't 'coincidentally' changing right that instant. Or showering. Or something more private.

"Bonnie, what a nice surprise seeing you here." Damon said with a deep and slow voice. A glass of whiskey in one hand, letting the liquid swirl. The other hand was leaning on the dresser.

"Damon." Just once, I'd like to see him do anything in his life without all those theatrics. God, can't he be more Blade and less ''Tanz der Vampire"? And he thinks he has room to trash talk Twilight. As if he doesn't do creepy, stalkerish crap.

Then again, he did look better than those Twilight freaks. And he was the real deal.

In a flourish, he'd put the alcohol on the dresser and advanced on the girl in his room, slowly circling her.

"To what do I owe that pleasure of you being here in my humble abode?" A slow murmur caressed Bonnie's ear and neck as Damon stood behind her.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Bonnie got what was left of her willpower together and stepped away from Damon and his games. That was exactly why she couldn't go there. Not with him.

Damon felt her growing apprehension and stopped preying on her. With a soft sigh he sat down on his comfortable bed, suddenly earnest.

"You know, I came here to thank you again. I wanted to be nice and appreciative because when I'm surprised I don't know how to react. I wanted to tell you that ever since you put that bracelet around my wist I didn't take it off but to shower. I even wore it tonight at our girls' night well knowing it was a high possibility that Caroline and Elena would see it and I would need to explain something I couldn't explain. But I did it anyway 'cause I can't separate from it.

"And now I come here, in the middle of the night just to be treated like all those floozies you go after. I'm not like them. So if you can't treat me with respect, I'm leaving. Good night. I don't even know why I came here." Shaking her head, Bonnie walked to the door.

Before Bonnie was able to take more than a few steps towards the hall, Damon was in front of her and grabbed for her hands.

"I'm … What are you doing here?" Bonnie fought to hide her smile. He was just being yelled at and still couldn't bring himself to apologize out loud. After all the time they knew each other, however, Bonnie knew that his question was meant to start over.

When did I learn to read him so well?

"Well, I don't really know." At that Damon rose his eyebrows. Didn't she mention different things in her complain just now?

"I … Today was our girls' night out. We – Caroline, Elena and I – used to do that once or twice a month before Elena's parents died and you and Stefan came into town. It was nothing special. Sometimes we went to parties – we even had fake Ids, though I'll never know how they could believe us -, sometimes we went somewhere to drink and talk. Just a coke or a hot chocolate in winter. Or we went to the movies. Stuff like that." Bonnie told him with melancholia.

Where was she going with that? Damon was confused. However, her soft voice, her hands in his which seemed to have interlocked on their own and the fact she was telling him something about herself without being forced to, kept him quiet.

"Today was the first time we did anything close to it, since the night Stefan gathered us to go to Caroline and comfort her after her ordeal with that … ha, once it actually fits … that b*tch Jules."

Damon turned his head away from Bonnie. He didn't want her to see him laughing (at her) but it was just too – don't go there, Damon. Don't. - too much to hear righteous Bennett swear like that.

Though the alcohol, which was still in her system, was probably to blame for that. Oh, Bennett could prepare herself for one stern lecture. What did she think she was doing? She could have got herself killed.

"So, we planned to check out that new club. Or not so new, it opened a few months back. We always meet before hand to get ready, to talk. That stuff. Today was the same – besides that we didn't need any fake Ids or flirt or bribe our way into the club. I have to admit, compulsion comes in handy from time to time." A small smile brightened the witch's face.

Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Judgey just say that compulsion can be a good thing? He so needed to remind her of that. Soon, the gentle ministration of her thumbs on his hand distracted him again.

"Anyway, I knew what was planned and I knew more or less what I was going to wear. However it didn't matter. I couldn't bring myself to take it off."

Damon was enraptured on her every move. Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath before she rose her head and looked straight into his eyes.

"Ever since you put it on me, I didn't take it off other then to shower," Bonnie admitted.

Anxiously, she bit her lower lip. How was he going to react? Why did she confessed all that?

She really had said before what he thought he had heard. He couldn't believe it. She truly loved his gift. And it wasn't the most expansive one. She didn't love it because it had cost a lot of money and she didn't love it because she knew now that he could afford such gifts.

She loved the bracelet she'd gotten from him!

Before he could think about what he was doing, he brought their still intertwined hands up to Bonnie's face and kissed her with all he had.

Who cared what it meant? Or how she's react? He could deal with the aftermath later. Now, he was going to enjoy it as long as it lasted.

Bonnie didn't know what she was doing. Didn't she told him not to pull a stunt like that again? Then why was she kissing him back with as much fervor? Right now, she didn't care. To hell with the consequences for once in her life. The next morning could deal with them.

A/N: It's me again. The 'Tanz der Vampire' refers to the successful European (German/ Austria) version of the musical. If you don't know it you can picture 'Phantom of the Opera'. The drama and theatrics are more or less the same in those musicals.

The bracelet. A few days ago I watched the episode 'Our Town' (I know, I need to catch up). The bracelet that Tyler gives Caroline is exactly like Bonnie's (probably a different designer but just to give you an idea)

I added links to the pictures of the gifts to my profile, just scroll to the blue script.

Okay, okay, I'm done. I won't harass you any longer. If you have any suggestions for the story what you like to see, tell me. Though, I won't promise anything. :P