A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and the amazing reviews! You guys make me want to update faster even when it does take me awhile lol. I'm not extremely proud of this chapter but I hope you all like it. Xoxo.

"I've been sleeping with Jeremy."

Bonnie was glad that the hot chocolate she was consuming had already made its way down her throat before Caroline let those five words escape her lips. Her eyes couldn't help but widen a bit as she looked at her best friend.

"What? When?... How?" Bonnie knew that she just won the award of the most absurd questions, but she was just trying to process everything. Last she knew, Caroline was sleeping with Tyler.

"Well Bonnie B, I think the how is a no brainer." Katherine decided to answer as she turned around to look at the two.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "No one invited you in the conversation, Kat." She knew that Katherine wasn't very fond of that nickname.

"My little brother is my business, Care-bear." She smirked, knowing that Caroline only let her little friends call her that name. "Plus, Jer already came to me."

"He did?" The shock in Caroline's voice was not missed. Jeremy never said he talked to Katherine about them.

"Surprised?" Katherine used to be known as one of the biggest bitches on the east coast before Elijah, but even then, Jeremy always came to her for advice. He and Elena were a lot closer, but Katherine was a lot less judgmental then her twin.

"He really likes you, you know?" she continued softly, "When he did tell me, I could just tell that… what he feels for you is different than what it was with Anna. So, yeah..." She then turned around and gently grabbed Elijah's hand in hers and he gave her a soft smile. Even though her sister's friends could be annoying at times, Katherine wouldn't deny that she had somewhat of a soft spot for them.

Caroline was surprised about Katherine's revelation because she truly expected crude humor from her best friend's twin.

"I want you to be okay with it." She said, focusing her attention back at Bonnie.

Bonnie smiled and grabbed her hand, "Of course I'm okay with it, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that Jeremy is younger, and you're my best friend and I just want you to approve you know?"

"Care, it's Jeremy, he's a great guy, and he's only like one year younger than you," She smiled, "I'm guessing you love him?"

She nodded with a smile.

"When are you going to tell Elena?"

Caroline's face expression told Bonnie everything, "I was hoping you would help me out with that." When Bonnie made the face expression that Caroline knew all too well, she added, "I just don't want it to be weird."

"It won't be. Elena loves you and I know she will be happy that Jeremy found someone amazing."

"Have I told you how much I loved you today and that you are like my sister in every way possible?" Caroline asked, giving Bonnie a hug.

"I don't mind hearing it again," Bonnie smiled.

Before anything else could be said between the two, the loud snoring of Marcel in the back seat interrupted them, bringing laughter to fill the car.

"You like her don't you?" Stefan asked his brother out of nowhere.

Damon's eyes shifted towards his rearview mirror to connect eyes with his brother before he concentrated back on the road. "Of course I like Rose, I brought her didn't I?"

"You know I'm not talking about Rose." Stefan tried keeping his voice down due to his girlfriend asleep on his shoulder, Rose asleep in the front seat, and Mason asleep in the back.

Damon didn't respond because he knew that he was referring to Bonnie. And for a mere moment he was glad the car arrangements turned out the way they did since Stefan decided to bring this up.

"If it does go anywhere…" Stefan continued.

"She was just my patient, that's it." Damon was good at bending the truth. He essentially had to have that quality in his place of employment, but Stefan was one of the only ones who could see right through it all.

"The way you are always looking at her doesn't signify that. And today when you taught her how to ski and gave a big fuck you to everyone else…. Just don't hurt her okay? She's been through a lot and she's one of the good ones."

"Duly noted brother." He rolled his eyes. Damon loved Stefan more than anything in this world, but sometimes his demands were annoying and useless.

"You know the way you talk," Damon added. "I would think you had a thing for her too. Trouble in paradise with the twin?" He really only wanted to know so he could end that little fantasy quick.

Stefan's eyes went to his girlfriend resting on his lap, and then he softly caressed her sleeping form. "No trouble brother, but Bonnie is important to me as you know. So, just keep that in mind."

Damon then focused his attention solely back onto his driving. He didn't even bother to glance at Rose's sleeping form beside him. He and Stefan were probably two of the closest brothers in the world. It wasn't a secret that they both had different personalities and got on each others nerves more times a day than most, but they were always there for one another. Stefan was a big part in helping Damon recover from his addiction and they had been through so much during that time that it came to a point that whatever was important to Stefan, and whatever he needed, Damon would oblige no questions ask.

"Look, I know you will always have love for him. I understand that, but do you really think this is what you want for the rest of your life? I love Marcel and I have grown fond of you, but you guys are killing each other more than you are loving each other." Rebekah responded to Meredith who confided in her about how she was feeling towards Marcel. She was going to bring it up first but she decided not to, due to the fact it wasn't her business, but since Meredith asked, she might as well put her two sense in. "You two break up and get back together more times than you actually stay together. And I'm not saying that you two aren't meant to be down the road, but I think you both need to work on yourselves before you can truly be there for one another."

"You're right," Meredith agreed, sinking down into her seat. "I just… I don't know… I love him so much. But you're right. He and I need to sit down and talk and figure some things out."

Rebekah smiled and grabbed her hand in comfort. "It will all be okay. If you two are meant to be, if you both decide to take a break, it won't last for long." The only other girl Rebekah comforted was usually Bonnie, but she felt that Meredith needed it.

She then focused back on the road as Klaus drove, and there was light snoring coming from Bonnie's friends, Tyler and Jeremy in the back.

With a few more minutes of fighting to keep her eyes open, she lost that battle and succumbed to sleep herself.

By the time everyone pulled up to the cabin, the only people that were awake were the drivers, Damon, Elijah, and Klaus. After waking everyone up, they all dispersed to different areas of the house.

Bonnie found herself in one of the studies that was probably the size of her house. She just needed a moment to be alone as she nestled into one of the chairs that was so comfy she probably wouldn't get up for awhile. When she fell asleep in the car, her dreams instantly revolved around Matt. It was nice to have dreams about him, but she couldn't deny that when she woke up, she felt completely fucked up. It was as if her mind hadn't got done going through withdrawal symptoms.

"Hey do you have a minute?" Bonnie would have thought it was her best friend's voice pulling her away from her thoughts, but as soon as she looked towards the door, she knew it was Katherine.

Letting Matt drift to the back of her mind, she focused her attention on her best friend's twin. "Yeah what's up?"

"You have a thing for Damon don't you?" Katherine asked sitting down across from her.

Even though Bonnie's eyes widened a little at Katherine's question, her defense walls immediately went up. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but when my business becomes yours I'll let you know." She didn't mean to snap because she had grown fond of Katherine, but ever since she went down the wrong path, she still had her moments.

"Touché, Bennett. I respect that." She smirked, "Anyways I want you to be one of my bridesmaids."

Wait what? "What?"

"Even though you and my sister and Caroline can get extremely annoying, I don't dislike you or anything. Plus, you've always stood up to me, and you've never taken my shit. So, I admire that. What do you say?"

Bonnie wouldn't lie; Katherine confused her sometimes. But, after a moment of processing everything she agreed.

"Now," Katherine added, changing the subject, "Since I'm not a complete heartless bitch, how are you?"

"I'm okay," Bonnie answered. It was still surprising that she could actually talk to Katherine now, especially after so many years not even wanting to be around her.

"Well, good." Katherine had never been a fan of probing, so she left it at that. "Well, I think I'm going to go head to the Jacuzzi now. See ya later."

As Katherine was walking through the door, Bonnie's words stopped her, "I can't stop dreaming about him. And it scares me, because sometimes I feel like I could go back to that person anytime and seeing Shane didn't help. I don't want the dreams to stop but I don't want to go back to being some coked out junkie."

Katherine walked back up to Bonnie, sat down, and rolled up her sleeve, revealing a few scars in the shape of cuts her wrist and arm.

"I think we all have those moments where we feel like we can go back to being that person we use to be." She then put down her sleeve. "I think we're all fighting battles internally and we think that we could go back any moment… that's what makes us human you know? But you're strong…stronger than you think."

Bonnie didn't know if she was tearing up over Katherine's compliment or the fact that Katherine use to cut herself. But she appreciated her.

"Now, I'm leaving. All this sentimental shit is making me feel weird."

As she walked up to leave, Bonnie stopped her once more, "Katherine…the strongest people fight battles we know nothing about."

Katherine let a small smile form to her face as she walked out.

About an hour later, Bonnie was in the kitchen with Damon, Klaus, and Rebekah as Damon prepared the Salvatore famous pasta for their Italian night.

As Damon brought the wooden spoon coated with the red homemade meat sauce to Bonnie's mouth, she had to stop herself from saying it was orgasmic. "This is really good."

The look on Bonnie's face showing satisfaction almost made his dick hard. Good thing he had the counter blocking him just in case his flag decided to fly.

"You two should open up a restaurant together." She looked between Damon and Klaus.

"We would probably kill each other, darling." Klaus admitted.

"Yes, Bons, my brother and Damon can be overbearing wankers when they both try to be in charge." Rebekah added, doing a little taste testing of her own.

"And our perfect Bexs here think she rules the world." Damon joked.

"The underworld." Klaus laughed, causing Rebekah to throw a cut up tomato at his head.

"Mmm it smells good in here," Elena walked in, "Is it ready yet?"

The door bell ringing left her question unanswered.

When Rebekah made her way to the front door she opened it and immediately hugged the person on the opposite side, "It's good to see you. I thought you weren't getting in until tomorrow."

"We were able to get on another flight."

Before Rebekah could say anything, Stefan came from downstairs to see his best friend standing in the doorway, "Lexie!"

"Stefan!" She squealed in excitement, before giving him a hug.

Stefan was more than glad to see his best friend that he hadn't seen in about a year. "Is she here? Do I finally get to meet her?"

No soon as Stefan asked, another woman walked through the door with a suitcase dragging behind her.

"Guys," Lexie said to Stefan and Rebekah, "This is Lucy, Lucy Bennett."

Stefan was glad to meet the woman who captured Lexie's heart; a heart that had been trampled on repeatedly, but the last name stuck in his head.

"Bennett?" Rebekah asked, obviously sticking in her head as well.

"Ah, Alexia," Klaus entered, "So nice of you to join us, you are a day late as usual pet."

Lexie smiled and rolled her eyes, "Good to see you too Niklaus, still annoying as usual I presume." She said, imitating his accent and giving him a hug.

"Ah and this must be Lucy." He said looking at her, "You can do much better than Alexia sweetheart."

Lexie slapped him in the head, "Please excuse Nik, he likes to keep his foot in his mouth."

As they walked into the kitchen, Damon was putting the finishing touches on his food, as Rose had joined him and Bonnie and Elena were nitpicking at the different pasta.

Bonnie's eyes went towards the entrance of the kitchen and her eyes widened upon seeing the cousin that she hadn't seen in several years.

Things were pleasant and refreshing here. Being around friends and family was a major relief after so many years of bringing torment to herself. Being able to reunite with a cousin she hadn't seen in several years was truly a blessing. Before the food was finished Bonnie and Lucy were able to have a nice talk to catch up and after everyone pigged out on enough pasta to have to wear oversize clothes just to feel comfortable, Bonnie was content. Everyone was content.

Caroline, Elena, and Marcel were in the room that looked like a Movie Theater, watching World War Z. Klaus, Lexie, Lucy, and Rebekah were in the Jacuzzi, trading stories as Klaus and Rebekah playfully bickered at one another. Meredith decided to call it a night and head upstairs to sleep. Jeremy, Tyler, and Mason were playing video games trying to see who would become the alpha male. Elijah and Katherine were doing God knows what in their room. Damon and Rose were upstairs probably doing things Bonnie didn't want to think about, and that left Stefan Salvatore, one of the men she liked to call her savior.

He was sitting outside in the back, his eyes fully on their beautiful landscape, but his mind completely somewhere else.

"It's freezing out here," Bonnie took a seat beside him and handed him a cup of hot chocolate.

"Thanks." He replied. "You know this was always one of my favorite places as a child. Every time we got asked where we wanted to go on vacation, I would always choose here, no matter what time of year."

"I would have killed to be somewhere like this growing up." Bonnie confessed, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Well you're welcome here anytime."

Bonnie could hear the sincerity in his voice, but for some reason she could also hear the pain behind it.

"Are you alright, Stefan?"

"What do you do when the girl you've loved for four years cheats on you with a guy who I welcomed on this trip?" His eyes never connected with hers.

Bonnie wasn't able to find her voice at then moment.

"You knew?" He wasn't accusing, wasn't angry, just wanted to know.

"I knew." She admitted softly.

He nodded. "Any Idea what I should do?"

"What do you want to do?"

"A part of me would love to go in there and beat the crap out of that guy, but I've known for awhile now and I invited him here knowing."

Bonnie grabbed onto his hand gently, trying to provide comfort.

"I'm usually the one with all the answers, but I don't have an answer this time. Elena was the first girl I've ever loved. It's hard to look into her eyes and know that I'm not the only one she sees anymore."

Bonnie squeezed his hand a little as they sat in silence. Sometimes the best source of comfort was not saying anything at all.

After Rebekah and Lucy left the Jacuzzi, Lexie and Klaus stayed back to catch up.

"So, Alexia, decided on coming back to work for me, love?"

"Eh, I think I'll pass. I don't know how Marcel does it. You're too commanding."

"Maybe that's why we always bumped heads…. But I wasn't talking about the artwork, love."

Lexi looked at him, "You're still…?"

"Never thought about stopping."

"I got out of that the moment I found Lucy. I don't want her around that life… around that part of me anymore."

Lexi remembered the first time she found out about the extracurricular activities he and Marcel and sometimes Damon participated in. She had just been beaten almost to the point of death by an ex boyfriend several years ago. Klaus said he would handle it, because he saw her as a sister, and no one would hurt his family and get away with it. With that being said, Lexi found overheard a conversation between Marcel and Klaus that shouldn't be for anyone's ears. Too make a long story short, it was by Lexie's hand that her ex would never be able too hurt anyone again.

She found herself participating in those 'activities' from time to time, but once she found Lucy all of that changed and she just couldn't go back to doing it.

"Understandable dear; if you ever want to come back…. You know where I am."

Bonnie had every intention of going to join Marcel, Elena, and Caroline to at least finish up the last half of the movie, but she was extremely tired. She and Stefan talked for a good hour before they decided to call it a night. Bonnie actually wanted to go use and abuse the Jacuzzi style bath tub before Caroline got done so she made an exit to her room.

On the way to her room, she ran smack dab into Damon coming out his room without a shirt on.

It should be illegal to walk around without a shirt when you have a body of a thousand gods, she thought as heat instantly rose to her cheeks.

But when she noticed that his demeanor was off and he seemed upset, she couldn't help but be concerned.

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy," He smirked and walked past her.

"Damon?" What was wrong with him?

He turned around and she could see a hint of anger in his eyes. "What?"

"What's wrong?" She was really concerned.

"Does Elena know? I mean being her best friend and all I didn't think you of all people would do something like that."

Okay, what? "Something like what?"

"I saw you outside holding hands with my 'oh so dutiful' brother. I even saw the kiss. I knew he had a thing for you, but I just thought you…"

"You just thought I what? Instead of assuming that I would ever hurt my best friend in that way, is a fucking joke." His accusation pissed her off. "I was just comforting your brother because he was upset; like he did for me, and all you saw was me giving him a kiss on his forehead; not that you deserve any explanation."

Damon knew he was being a first class jack ass, but he whatever he was feeling for Bonnie was leaving him extremely conflicted, and the she seemed to have a connection with Stefan was driving him a bit crazy. He knew he was being pathetic.

And without saying another word; without thinking, he pulled her into a kiss catching her off guard.

Even though Bonnie was thrown off, she did find herself falling into the kiss for a moment, before pushing him off and walking away.

Rebekah and Bonnie were up early taking a run down the trail she use to run as a kid.

"He likes you Bonnie, I'm not sure what you're not seeing, love." Rebekah managed to say as she tried to keep her breath even and not pass out.

"He had a funny way of showing it last night."

"That's Damon for you. He can be insufferable, especially when he can't get what he wants, and that lady…. is you."

Bonnie stopped running causing Rebekah to stop, "Thank heavens, I didn't know how long I would be able to continue."

"He doesn't want me, Rebekah."

"Really, Bons, because I know you are not dense. He kisses you, gets jealous, and only teaches you to ski. He was practically moping around for several months because you did not email him. Even though, I'm still stuck on the fact you both did exchange numbers."

"Wait, really?"

Rebekah nodded, still trying to catch her breath. "You guys have something, Bonnie. You know that, he knows that."

"But he's with Rose."

"He's not with Rose. Yes they may be shagging, but Rose is like that friend you go to for sex when it's convenient. That's the way they both look at each other."

"And that should make me feel better?"

"No, but all I'm saying is that the way Damon looks at you, it's like no other way I've seen him look at anyone before. The Damon Salvatore either works or fucks… that's who he is; he's never been in love or in a real relationship. But the way he is with you…. He cares about you Bonnie.

As Bonnie began to stretch out her sore muscles, she said, "I'm just not sure what to do, Damon was my therapist. Aren't there laws against that or something?"

"You are a legal adult and he only took that job to help Stefan. I just say when he tries to talk to you; which I know he will because he cares about you, let him explain what happened last night; hear him out."

Bonnie didn't say anything.

"Plus it's obvious you like him. You blush every time you're around him." Rebekah added, "Yes, I notice."

"I blush around Marcel, Klaus and Elijah too… hell even Stefan; you have some fine men in your life."

Rebekah shook off the disturbed feeling of hearing the compliments about her brothers. "New subject, can we get back now. I'm starving."

After eating a full course breakfast with everyone, Bonnie was full to the point where she almost couldn't breathe. She knew that she would be gaining weight on this trip and Thanksgiving was still a couple of days away.

As everyone went there separate ways after breakfast, she found herself back in one of the many studies this home held, letting the fireplace warm her up. Just sitting and staring at the flames took her thoughts elsewhere.

Past

"How do you feel?"

"Like I'm fucking floating," Bonnie slurred her words at Hayley's question. As the Heroin was slipping into her skin, the effects of ecstasy made it feel like an orgasmic balance. She never wanted it to stop.

"I told you." Hayley said as she held the blunt to her lips. She then looked over to Matt who was having the same affects. "So guys I was thinking, since we're all really close friends, we should expand on that friendship."

Bonnie could hear everything that Hayley said, but she really wanted her to shut the hell up and let her enjoy the new feeling she was experiencing.

"I don't think Bons would want to do something like that, Hayley." Matt answered, his eyes never opening as he drowned in the effects.

Bonnie's eyes immediately shot open and looked at her two friends, "I'm always up for trying something new."

As she was about to move closer to them, her phone rang.

Once she hung up, she looked at them, disregarding their earlier conversation, "Shane's outside, gotta go."

Matt rolled his eyes, "You know you don't have to jump every time he says how high?"

"Screw you." She snapped and walked out.

Present

"Mind if I take a seat?" Damon asked, pulling Bonnie out of her thoughts.

"It's your place; you can do whatever you want." She snapped; even though she shouldn't have. The particular memory she had of her past made her feel a bit uneasy.

He took a seat, "I deserve that."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Look Bonnie, I don't do apologies, I never have to other people who are not my family, and I barely do it to them. So, bare with me okay?"

"Why were you such an ass last night when all I was doing was helping your brother?" she asked. She knew Rebekah had already filled her in on 'why' but she didn't want to assume.

"I wish I knew. I was trying to think about it last night, and I don't know. I guess being near you the whole day and not being able to actually have just a minute alone with you and then seeing you with my brother. I just took it the wrong way and I'm sorry." It was hard for him to admit that so openly to her.

They stayed silent for a moment, and then he continued, "Like you said yesterday, I think we have something."

"But I think what you have with Rose could get in the way of that."

"Rose is… Rose is someone that if we need each other when we're bored or there's no one else… but I'm not going to look past the fact that you're someone I care about. And before you say anything, this goes beyond what we shared in New York."

They sat in silence for a moment and Damon was a bit surprised when Bonnie intertwined her fingers with his.

"I care about you too," She confessed.

"So where does that leave us?" Damon asked, letting her know that the ball was in her court.

Bonnie's eyes connected with his, "I like you, Damon, but I don't know if I'm ready yet to jump into anything." She had to be completely honest. She could picture herself with him, but at this point in her life, with Matt invading her mind every minute, she wasn't sure if she could fully give herself to Damon in any capacity, and that wouldn't be fair to him.

"I can be good at moving slow," No he couldn't, but he would learn. Damon was nowhere near suitable to be in a relationship or be anyone's boyfriend. Yes, he liked Bonnie and he cared a lot about her, but even he would need to work up to that. So, maybe while they were moving slow he could learn.

Bonnie chuckled, "Really? So, you kissing me last night was your definition of slow?"

Yes, he immediately thought, "I never said I was an expert at this."

Bonnie smiled at his confession. This was going to be interesting for the both of them.

A/N: Thank you all for reading this chapter! I wasn't really happy with the Bamon ending. Yes, I love the slow build but I have a bit a writer's block with their build. I have a lot of scenes for them in later chapters but just not right now and I hope that doesn't drive anyone away. I'm giving these characters some drama free moments even though there is a bit of drama here and there. So I guess I'm giving you all that calm before the storm in later chapters.

Also, I just wanted to inform everyone again that as you saw in this chapter, the flashbacks aren't over. Bonnie went through a lot when she was addicted to drugs and a lot of it came out in therapy but that wasn't all of it. Again, I hope you all enjoyed and please review =) xoxo.