"Hey Bonnie, are you feeling better today?" Elena asked as she and Caroline walked up to her. It had been two days since Bonnie had once again woken up next to the one and only Damon Salvatore and she hadn't spoken to him since. She couldn't believe how comfortable she was around Damon. It wasn't right, or at least it shouldn't be. He was a blood-sucking monster for crying out loud, she shouldn't feel that way around him. Or at least that's what she was thinking when she woke up next to him Sunday morning and quickly left before he woke up. And now she doesn't know what to do. She misses him, although she doesn't want to admit it. She doesn't want to accept the fact the same vampire that has caused so much trouble in her town is finally starting to grow on her. But she can't exactly deny the fact either. So, she's been avoiding him. Hoping that maybe if she spent time away from him she would go back to realizing how terrible of a person he was. Unbeknownst to her, Damon was hoping the same thing. When he woke up to a bed with only him in it he instantly felt like an idiot for being such a softie. He assumed that she regretted agreeing to come over to his house and figured he might as well just forget about the Bennett witch, but that was a lot harder to do than he thought it would be. He couldn't get her out of his head. And Bonnie couldn't get him out of hers'.
"Bonnie." Caroline said loudly, interrupting Bonnie's internal thoughts about Damon.
"Oh, hey guys. What's up?"
"We asked how you feeling? Are you sure you're up for school today." Elena questioned. It was Bonnie's first day back since the incident at the Grille. She hadn't gone to school on Monday and instead told her friends she wasn't feeling well. It wasn't a complete lie for Bonnie was still sore from her attack and what not but the real reason she stayed home was because she was afraid she would freeze up again like she did at the Grill. Damon definitely wouldn't be there to save the day like he had been when she freaked out before. She had been nervous about coming today but decided she couldn't afford to get behind on school work. She figured the sooner she faced her fear the quicker she could get over it. She was glad Elena and Caroline had found her though. She was sure having them around would calm her.
"I'm feeling better, don't worry." Bonnie made sure to put own a reassuring smile to convince her friends she was ok. They seemed to accept her answer and Caroline changed the topic to talking about the latest gossip as they walked into the school.
Bonnie was glad to find that she felt no fear as they walked through the halls to the first class. As a matter of fact, Bonnie was able to get through the whole day without feeling scared at all. She'll admit she did feel a little weary at some points but as more time passed she began to feel comfortable. She was even able to talk to Stefan, Tyler and Matt at lunch without even feeling nervous. Although her school day went surprisingly well, it all went downhill when the final bell rang. She was walking quickly towards her car; determine to leave as soon as possible, when a hard body suddenly blocked her path, causing her to bump into the person.
"I'm sorry. I…" Bonnie stopped instantly when she looked up to find Trey, the same guy she had run into at the Grill. Once she realized who it was she immediately turned to leave, not wanting to talk to him.
"Hey come on now." Trey said as he grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Your boyfriend's not here, is he? I think you owe me a drink?"
"Let me go." Bonnie said yanking her arm out of his grasp. "I have to go?" She started to walk away but was once again stopped by Trey as he grabbed her again, this time his grip was tighter.
"But I don't want you to go." The look in his eye caused Bonnie to freeze with fear. It reminded her of the look the vampire that attacked her had given her. "I want you, and I always get what I want."
"Please… just-"Bonnie began but she was interrupted when Trey was roughly pulled back.
"Hey, let go of her. Bonnie's not a slut like your usual girls Trey, stay away from her." Bonnie's eyes shot up to find Jeremy Gilbert face to face with Trey, glaring at him intently. Trey's eyes darted to Bonnie quickly then back to Jeremy's before he nodded and walked away, deciding she wasn't worth the trouble. Bonnie let out a sigh of relief as she watched him get into his car and drive off. She looked over to Jeremey only to find him staring at her.
"Thanks Jer." She said with a small smile which he returned.
"Anytime Bonnie, just let me know if he bothers you again? I'll be more than happy to kick his ass." Bonnie smiled at this, finding it ironic that her best friends little brother was concerned about her. However, the smile soon disappeared when Jeremy stepped closer to her. She wasn't afraid of him but she wasn't necessarily comfortable either. Recently Bonnie had noticed a change in the way Jeremy acted around her. He was no longer the annoying little brother of her best friend. Actually the two of them had become pretty good friends themselves. But right now Bonnie couldn't help but notice he was standing closer than he had to and looking at her in an entirely different way than someone who is just a friend would. Bonnie usually felt fine around Jeremy but at the moment she was beginning to feel uncomfortable and all she wanted to do was leave. So, she stepped back from him and turned to walk to her car after saying a quick goodbye, leaving before he could even respond.
It was Friday when Bonnie finally talked to Damon. School had gotten out and she went straight to her car. She just wanted to get home. Although Bonnie had survived the whole week without freaking out in any of her classes she was glad the weekend had finally come and just wanted to go home and relax. But when she made it to her car she found Damon leaning casually against it. She had barely seen him all week, only a few times when he was with Stefan and Elena and each time he completely ignored her. That had made her mad. She knew she had no right to be mad since technically she was ignoring him to but she hated how he was able to act like nothing happened between them. Truthfully, she was beginning to think nothing happened at all. Maybe he hadn't really cared about her.
Whether he cared or not, she still wasn't really in the mood to talk with him which is why she completely ignored his presence and went to get in the driver's seat. She barely even opened the door before a large hand slammed it shut.
"Ah ah ah witchy." Damon said waving his finger. "We need to talk."
Bonnie looked him curiously. "About what?"
"About us. Things have been a bit… awkward between us since last week." He said slowly."
"I don't know why. It's hard for things to be awkward when we never even talked to each other." She raised her voice, glaring at him.
"Well sorry Bennett. I thought you didn't want to talk to me." He practically spat the words out glaring right back at her, "Or was that not the message you were trying to send when you left before I even woke up. I hope you can understand my confusion."
Her face softened at his words. She realized he was right, she had been giving him mixed signals. Plus she was ignoring him too so in all honesty she had no right to be angry with him.
"I'm sorry Damon." The features on his face relaxed as he realized she was no longer angry. She could have sworn she saw his eyes soften if only for a second before his usual uncaring look came back.
"Its fine, it really didn't matter at all I just don't appreciate being yelled at." He was trying to act as if her leaving hadn't bothered him but deep down it drove him crazy. He was mad at her for leaving and mad at himself for being so disappointed to wake up without her. But he wasn't about to let her know how he felt, or anyone else of that matter. "But I didn't come here to argue with you, I just wanted to make sure everything was cool between us. With all the shit happening we need to be able to work together."
She took a moment to think about what he said and realized he was right. They were on the same side of what seemed like a never-ending battle to keep Elena and the town safe and they couldn't let things be weird between them. Sure they had never really gotten along before but things were never awkward or uncomfortable between them.
"Everything's fine between us Damon." She said slowly. "I overreacted about the situation, don't worry I won't even bring it up again."
"Its fine, I think we both overreacted a bit." He gave her a smile to which she returned. Suddenly Bonnie's head jerked up, remembering something she had been meaning to ask him since before everything between them had even happened.
"Since we are allies, could I ask you a favor?"
"Sure why not witchy."
"Well I was wondering, since you know so much about witches, could you help me train. I'm having difficult learning a few techniques an since I don't really have anyone to help me with witchcraft since…" She trailed off not wanting to get on the topic of her grandmother's death. She was surprised the flash of guilt that passed across Damon's face. She knew he was sorry that his actions practically killed her grandmother but he was never really one to show remorse.
"Yeah I'll help you." He said quietly. "How about you meet me by the waterfalls in the woods by the boarding house tomorrow morning at 10:30?"
"That works thanks."
"I'll see you then." And with that he was off, using his vampire speed to go wherever it was he was going.
Bonnie arrived in the woods at 10 o'clock the next morning. She knew she was early but she couldn't wait to practice her witchcraft and had figured she could just start without Damon until he arrived. But she was shocked to find him already there when she arrived. His back was turned to her as he stared into the water of the pond before him but he knew she had arrived. He heard her coming from miles away and knew it was her by her scent. She smelt of sweet honey and lavender and he would recognize it anywhere. He turned around to face her.
"You're early." He stated matter-of-factly.
"So are you." She replied, not missing a beat. He smirked at her.
"Well I guess we may as well start then." He said looking at her. She nodded in agreement. "Firstly, why don't you tell me what you would like to work on?"
"Well one of my main problems is that I get too tired to do the spells. Sometimes I get nosebleeds and I've even passed out after doing certain spells before. Is that supposed to happen?
"Well…yes and no. You're just over exhausting your powers; your body can't handle doing big spells. It'll get easier over time but your still pretty new at the whole thing so even doing small spells could tire you out. One way to help though is to get help."
"From where."
"Where do you think." He said gesturing to the forest around him. "From nature." He turned to her. "Concentrate on the air around you.
She closed her eyes and focused on the breeze that tickled her arms.
"Can you feel it? The wind moving around you, the energy swirling in it?" She nodded her head in response "Good, now grab at it. Pull it with your mind whichever way you want."
She did as he told her and slowly the air around her started moving backwards. She changed its direction and pushed a blast of air forwards, nearly knocking Damon over. She was moving it in all different directions causing the leaves to move around when she heard Damon's voice.
"Open your eyes Bonnie." She opened them and let out a small gasp followed by a soft laugh when she saw the leaves twirling around her. She couldn't hold back the smile that covered her face. She had never felt so alive. Usually magic tired her out but right now she felt as if she were gaining power from it. She was happier than she had been in a long while as she played with her new technique making the wind go in different directions moving the leaves and tree branches with it.
Damon stood watching her from a safe distance. He too had a smile on his face. Seeing the little witch so happy made him happy too. As she started to let the wind calm down he walked towards her.
"Good job Bennett. You're a natural." He smiled at her not prepared for what she was about to do. With a smile on her face she ran at him and wrapped her arms around him, catching him off guard.
"Thank you so much Damon." He slowly got over his shock and wrapped his own arms around her waist, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms.
"No problem Bennett." If he had known this was how she would thank him he would have helped her weeks ago. She pulled back and he had to fight the urge to yank her straight back to him and never let her go. Instead he let his arms drop to the side and suggested that they call it a day. He noticed that she seemed a bit disappointed that they were ending so soon but he figured if she kept going she would get tired. Plus he wasn't sure how much longer he could be around her without practically jumping her so it was probably best to just call it a day. So they both said their goodbyes after deciding when they would meet up again and then went their separate ways.