AN: Hello people, sorry for the long wait but for a while there I had writer's block and I was like, DAMN, not this story too…I just started it!

This was truly a first for me because I've never suffered from writer's block this early on in a story before but to be honest it really began with the last update.

I struggled a lot with that chapter and you can totally tell because it's so bad. And not to sound vain or anything but I'm a huge fan of my stories and I read the updates multiple times once uploaded, and that last chapter...I've only read it once.

Nuff said.

It's clearly my weakest chapter so far and I'm not sure if this update will be any better. Just know that I tried my best and I welcome all constructive criticism for it can only help me with the next update. Thanks guys.

Enjoy?

It was so weird for Bonnie walking to and from school every day without Jamie by her side. Damon had found a charter school for him in the neighboring county especially designed for mentally handicapped children and their specific learning needs. He was able to enroll the boy even though it was a week after the supposed deadline.

Compulsion was a beautiful thing.

And the fourteen year old boy absolutely loved his new school. He woke up each morning with a huge smile on his face, ready to start his day.

Finally, he didn't feel like an outcast. Growing up in a small town where he was the only kid with special needs was so hard and it lifted Jamie's spirit to know that there were other people out there just like him. He didn't feel isolated and alone anymore.

He flourished in this new environment.

The only drawback was the long ass bus rides to and from school every day but it was worth the hassle because at that school no one made fun of him or bullied him but above all else, Jamie now had friends of his very own and that was something more precious to him than gold.

For once in Damon Salvatore's miserable life he'd done something really good and it not only affected Jamie but it completely changed Bonnie's life, giving the girl a chance to be a teenager for once. With Jamie going to this school it allowed Bonnie to have more time for herself and do things she never got to do in the past.

Things like take part in extracurricular activities at school. A spot opened up on the cheerleading team and Bonnie decided to try out for the hell of it and ended up making the squad.

Yes, Bonnie Bennett was now a cheerleader at Mystic Falls High and now her life consisted of pep rallies, football games, and parties. Being a part of a cheerleading squad was wonderful. She had a whole new circle of friends and it didn't take long for the girls to take Bonnie under their wings. But there was one girl who seemed to have a problem with Bonnie, her name was Elena Gilbert and she was a complete bitch. Bonnie didn't understand why this girl disliked her so much but as long as she stayed in her lane then Bonnie wouldn't have to beat that ass.

Hanging around girls was something that Bonnie wasn't use to, so in the beginning, it took some adjustment time. Matt had laughed at Bonnie the first time he walked into the Grille to see her surrounded by all her new friends and they were just talking away and poor Bonnie looked like she was ready to blow her fucking brains out. And when she saw Matt, the girl immediately excused herself and jumped up from the table, running over to him like she was a hostage victim being released after a twenty four hour standoff. He couldn't stop laughing.

But the teenage girls were useful in some ways. They brought Bonnie out of her shell and taught her to embrace her slender curves. She no longer tried to hide herself in over-sized shirts and every now and then she even showed off a little skin.

And she also wore makeup, just lip gloss and mascara but that was really all she needed to enhance what God and her parents had already blessed her with.

Though, she still didn't seem to notice how people looked at her, especially the boys.

Bonnie was absolutely clueless to the effect she had on them. She would literally turn heads on Fridays when she would walk down the halls in her little cheerleading uniform. There was more than one boy interested in the petite beauty but because of that whole thing with Kol, Bonnie shied away from their advances not sure if they were trying to talk to her for the right reasons.

But there was one particular boy that didn't allow Bonnie to dismiss him so easily and his name was Jesse. He was a senior and every girl in school had a crush on him because he was very good looking with his toffee colored skin, deep voice and pretty blue eyes.

Some of the girls on her cheerleading squad were the worst though. They did almost any and everything to get his attention, but Jesse was a weird seventeen year old boy. A girl had to be more than just pretty to gain his attention, which was indeed a rarity for someone his age.

And Jesse's appeal only increased when he became the new captain of the Varsity football team after Kol Mikaelson's freak accident. Matt tried to vouch for him because out of all the guys on the team Jesse seemed the most genuine and down to earth but Bonnie was still wary and fed the boy out of a long handled spoon.

She was taking no chances.

Bonnie's life was so different from a year ago that sometimes it was hard to believe that any of this was real. And, she even felt that way while watching her mother's casket being lowered into the ground and buried. It just didn't feel real to her.

But that's when the nightmares started, after the funeral.

They were horrible.

But the thing was Bonnie could never remember what the dreams were about when she woke up terrified in a cold sweat with her heart beating like an out of control drum.

Just recently, she had one and actually cried out in her sleep and Damon burst into her bedroom to see what was going on and woke her up when he saw that she was having a bad dream.

She shot up from the bed in a wild panic but Damon held her to his bare chest to try and calm her down before she could hurt herself. His big hand cradled the back of her head as he shushed her, rocking her gently back and forth.

It took Bonnie a few seconds to realize what was going on and as the terror from the nightmare began to dissipated, she slowly began to calm and became aware of other things, such as the press of Damon's body against hers. She shuddered and not being able to read her mind, Damon thought it was residue from the bad dream.

His body felt so hard compared to hers, Bonnie thought. He was solid muscle.

There wasn't an ounce of fat on that sculptured body. His skin was smooth and flawless and slightly cool to the touch.

Being in Damon's arms like this was doing strange things to her. It was so different from when her father used to hold her or when Matt held her. Her breathing never once became labored with them and her heart definitely didn't beat just a little bit faster.

Her hands reached up and touched the bare skin of his back and Damon's arms and pecks flexed in response and his embrace went from being innocent to not so innocent.

His hand moved slowly down and rested on the exposed skin at the small of her back, the tips of his fingers sliding under her tank top.

Bonnie turned her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent and her lips accidentally grazed his skin. She lightly gasped and pulled away from him and their mouths were mere centimeters apart as they breathed in each other's warm breath.

What was happening?

Damon licked his lips and she wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss him at that moment.

The thought startled the girl so badly that she immediately scooted back on the bed putting space between them and drew the covers up to her chest. Bonnie's eyes lifted to his and just as quickly looked away.

She felt so confused and embarrassed by what she'd been thinking and the only thing she could do was apologize to Damon for waking him up like that in hopes that he would get the hint and leave her room and thankfully he did after hesitating for only a moment like he didn't want to leave her because he could see that she was still visibly upset.

The encounter left Bonnie troubled and she didn't go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

That had been two nights ago and she still couldn't look him in the eyes.

Bonnie Bennett had become very much aware of Damon Salvatore, as a man. Even the sound of his voice affected her in strange ways, especially whenever he said her name. It sent tingles down her spine.

What was wrong with her?

Yes, he was beyond good looking, but because of their current situation she wasn't supposed to be attracted to him like this. He was her guardian for heaven's sake!

It wasn't right for her to be having these sort of feelings for Damon and yet the young woman couldn't seem to help herself. Anytime Damon came anywhere near her, Bonnie's mouth would get dry and her skin prickled and not in that creepy feeling sort of way like it once did, but in a very acute awareness of his proximity to her.

She'd learned some things about Damon over the past few months that had her seeing him in a different light. She had been right; he wasn't that much older than her, only by seven years but that wasn't the intriguing part.

He spoke six languages, fluently, which she didn't believe at first until he demonstrated for her and Jamie one stormy Saturday afternoon when they all were stuck inside the house with nothing better to do. It became sort of a game, Bonnie and Jamie would say something from off the top of their heads and Damon would translate whatever they said in all six languages.

Needless to say Ms. Bonnie Bennett was more than a little impressed.

Damon was also well read, having read all of the books on her AP English book list that the teacher had handed out on the first day of school. And when Bonnie started to struggle in Chemistry and became frustrated because she wasn't understanding the material; it was Damon who became her unofficial tutor and helped her with her homework.

One day, Bonnie came home early from school, sick and discovered Damon playing the piano and he was really, really good. It made her jaw drop.

It seemed as though there wasn't anything that this man couldn't do. He even played sports. She once woke up to find Damon trying to teach Jamie how to play football. Bonnie stood in front of her bedroom window and watched how excited her brother got when he finally caught one of Damon's long passes.

And as the days began to turn into weeks and then months, Bonnie slowly began to trust Damon with the boy and she watched how they formed a bond which at first was hard for Bonnie because for four years she'd been the central person in Jamie's life, even their own mother having to take a back seat to her because she wasn't able to spend as much time with him as Bonnie did because she worked so much.

But Jamie was now turning to Damon for certain things and Bonnie had to learn to let go.

Just like her, he was growing up and he didn't need Bonnie like he used to, especially since he now had that strong male figure presence in his life. Damon was teaching Jamie things that Bonnie couldn't and the girl realized that, so even though it was hard for her, Bonnie stepped back a little and let Damon assume that lead position but that soon came to a head one Sunday morning when Jamie decided that he wasn't going to attend church anymore.

For some reason after Abby's death, fourteen year old Jamie got it into his head that church wasn't for him. Now both Abby and Rudy Bennett were raised in the church and they did the same with their children, wanting them to have that strong Christian foundation, so every Sunday without fail the family went to church and when Jamie so boldly declared that he wasn't doing that anymore for the first time ever Bonnie lost her cool with her little brother.

He was talking crazy.

She marched over to his closet and pulled out his blue suit and threw it on the bed and stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and told him in no uncertain terms that his ass was going to church either dead or alive and that it was his choice, and if she had to she would not only dress him but then drag him to church herself.

Of course Damon had heard the entire argument and came into Jamie's bedroom to intervene.

The vampire being the soulless fucker that he was didn't see anything wrong with Jamie not wanting to go to church and told Bonnie so. Her mouth dropped.

Damon was the adult of the house and therefore was supposed to set the example and for him to agree that Jamie didn't have to go to church if he didn't want to was blowing her away.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing but once the shock wore off Bonnie stared Damon down and proceeded to tell him that this was family business and that even though he was their guardian she was still Jamie's big sister which meant whatever she said went, especially in matters like this.

Going to church every Sunday had always been a part of their lives and would continue to be so even though it was just the two of them now and that if he, Damon, did not want to hear the Word of God and worship His Holy name then that was on him but whether Jamie liked it or not he was going to church.

Bonnie then turned to her brother with her hands on her hips and told the boy that because his ass was being so difficult lately she was going to march him right up to the alter and get him prayed for.

Damon evil ass wanted to laugh so badly but he didn't and managed to keep a straight face. He stood there and regarded Bonnie for a long moment realizing that this meant a lot to her for them to go to church, so he turned to the boy and told him to get dressed, that he was going and as was becoming the habit, Jamie nodded his head and did as Damon told him.

Bonnie walked out of the bedroom and tried not to let it get to her how Jamie was increasingly taking Damon's word over hers.

The caramel skinned girl entered the boarding house and shut the door behind her. Cheerleading practice had been cancelled today and Jamie wouldn't be home from school until around six, so Bonnie had some extra time on her hands to do as she pleased and decided she might as well do her homework and get it out of the way, but first she wanted to grab a quick snack.

She headed in the direction of the kitchen but stopped when she saw that Damon had a fire going in the library and the flames were blazing violently like he'd squeezed some lighter fluid on it or something.

What the hell was going on, it looked hella dangerous?

Bonnie walked into the warm library and took off her jacket placing it over one of the chairs.

She walked closer to the fire place because the flames were so intensely mesmerizing. She wondered what made the fire blaze so hotly.

"Careful doll face, you're getting a tad too close to the fire…you wouldn't want to get burned." Damon said, standing in the corner of the room.

Bonnie jumped, not having seen him standing there.

And did he just call her doll face?

He had a drink in his hand. Bourbon. Bonnie had gotten used to his daily consumption of the hard liquor. He wasn't a mean drunk, so his drinking didn't bother her much; though she couldn't really call him a drunk because she'd honestly never seen him plastered or even slurring his words for that matter. It was sort of amazing really, the way he was able to hold his liquor like he did.

"You want some?" He asked, when he noticed her staring at his glass.

The ice cubes clinked together softly as he lightly shook the glass to and fro like a baby rattle.

Bonnie's eyebrows shot upward into her forehead. He was offering her alcohol?

After a moment, she shook her head no.

"Oh come on…just a little sip…it is my birthday after all, help me celebrate." He stated bringing the glass up to his lips and taking a drink but his blue eyes remained locked to hers.

She didn't know today was his birthday.

"Well, happy birthday, but I can't…sixteen remember?" She reminded him, sweeping her bangs to the side with her fingertips.

Damon tended to forget that sometimes or maybe he just didn't give a damn.

"There's no one here but us, doll face… and I won't tell." He said, holding out the glass to her.

Contributing to the delinquency of a minor was the least of Damon Salvatore's crimes. After being on this earth for one hundred and seventy three years, letting a pretty sixteen year old girl have a sip of his Bourbon was harmless considering what he could be doing to her if he let himself.

The bastard actually licked his lips at the thought.

Again with the doll face? She hoped that this wasn't his new nickname for her and that it was just the booze talking. "No thanks, I'm good."

This made Damon chuckle and he sat the glass down as he started to move towards her with a swagger that was all his own.

Damon was feeling some type of way today. And his current mood was one where he gave zero fucks.

This particular birthday always had that effect on him because today was the day that his very own baby brother, forced blood down his throat and snapped his neck, forever making him into what he was today, a bloodsucking murderous vampire.

And even though it had happened almost two centuries ago and he and Stefan were able to put the past behind them, this day still got to Damon and darkened his mood, hence the all-day drinking fest.

But lucky for him the lovely Bonnie Bennett walked into the room, looking just like his Emily except with a modern twist that was very much appealing and therefore made for the perfect distraction.

How could he resist?

And he wouldn't.

Two nights ago, he'd almost kissed her but stopped, denying himself of what he wanted yet again, trying to do the right thing.

Not today.

His gaze didn't let up on her as he closed the distance between them. Bonnie's body instantly tensed up and she couldn't help it when her eyes meekly lowered to the floor.

She discovered that it was much easier to look Damon in the eyes from across the room and as an afterthought she wondered exactly when it was that she became a coward.

When you wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him. A tiny voice said in the back of her mind.

His hand touched her chin, lifting it up and forcing her to look at him.

Her heart skipped a beat and she began to get light headed.

"Why did you look down like that?"

Bonnie didn't answer, but Damon didn't seem to notice as he just stood there and stared at her.

Her caramel skin was so pretty and clear. Her eyebrows were perfectly arched. She had beautiful specks of gold in her hazel eyes. Her nose was adorable.

Bonnie moistened her dry lips, drawing Damon's eyes down to that pretty Cupid's bow shaped mouth of hers.

And somehow in that short span of time the hand under her chin became a gentle caress to her face and Bonnie could do nothing but stare up at him, captured by his blue gaze, her body heating up from the inside, out.

"Do you have any idea how fucking beautiful you are?"

His thumb grazed along her bottom lip and Bonnie sucked in a breath.

And her eyes widened when his head began to lower.

Oh god, he was going to kiss her! This was really happening. She couldn't move. Didn't really want to if being honest.

To say that the girl wasn't prepared when his lips touched hers was an understatement, her head slightly jerked back which only made Damon press forward, his lips remaining on top of hers as he kissed her softly, slowly, taking his time with her and savoring every moment.

Bonnie's eyebrows raised up for a short moment before falling back into place and her mind quieted down from all of her rapid thoughts until all that she could do was feel.

She'd never been kissed like this before.

Damon's hands cradled her face as he deepened the kiss ever so slightly, not wanting to frighten her away by being too hungry and lustful which he tended to get especially when he was this turned on.

YES GOTDAMMIT, he was a selfish motherfucker and would probably remain so until the day he died. But he was through with denying himself.

Damon wanted Bonnie and he would have her.

But at least he wasn't being a complete bastard about it. He was being mindful of her age and was only giving her what he thought she could handle.

He was keeping things very PG between them. He wasn't slipping his tongue inside of her mouth or for that matter his hand inside her panties. Hell, he didn't even make a grab for that juicy little booty of hers.

No, he wasn't doing any of those things, YET.

This kiss was everything though.

And for the first time Emily wasn't in the forefront of Damon's mind. No, Bonnie Bennett was now front and center with the spot light shining directly on her.

Damon couldn't get over how soft and warm she was.

Though he would have to let go of her soon . She did have to breathe after all but Damon couldn't seem to make himself stop.

He heard the front door open and then slam shut.

That did it.

He broke the kiss and pull away from Bonnie. Her eyelids fluttered open at the loss of his lips and she looked dazed for a second. Her face was visibly flushed and the natural color of her lips had deepened prettily.

He wanted to lean down and capture her lips with his once again but he didn't because the housekeeper was moments away from entering the library.

Damon had hired the woman about a week after Bonnie and Jamie moved into the boardinghouse to put an end to Bonnie's incessant need to clean the house as if she was the hired help. He wanted her to think of this as her home and not a place where she felt like she had to earn her keep.

Bonnie's back was turned to the door, but that didn't stop Damon from stepping around her and blocking her with his body just before the housekeeper walked through the open door.

"Oh good, you're here." The woman said when she saw him. "I came to pick up my check."

Damon heard Bonnie's heart begin to beat double time at the sound of the woman's voice.

The girl quickly wiped her mouth and turned around running a trembling hand through her hair. She prayed that she didn't look as crazy as she felt.

Damon acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. "And good afternoon to you too Trudy." He said, drily.

He walked across the room to the desk and pulled out the top drawer, getting out his checkbook.

The fiery redhead chuckled, not giving a fuck at his sarcasm. She looked at Bonnie. "No practice today?"

Bonnie tried not to look guilty and forced her eyes to remain level with the woman's and not look away. "It got cancelled at the last minute."

"Lucky you."

"Yeah." Bonnie said, rubbing the back of her neck, her shoulders tense. "Well I'm going to go grab a snack from the kitchen."

The woman watched her leave and then turned to Damon who was bent over the desk, writing out the check. She walked over and stood across from him.

He finally finished and tore the check from the book. "Here you are Trudy…a week's pay for three days of real work." He smirked.

She snorted, snatching the check from his hand and folding it in half, placing it inside of her bra. "I'll see you next week." She said, turning to leave.

But when she got by the door she stopped and turned around. "Oh and by the way that color on your lips is just fabulous!"

Damon narrowed his eyes.

Trudy put her hand to her mouth and zipped her lips, not realizing that little saucy move saved her life.

Damon reached up and wiped his mouth, sure enough there was pink gloss on his hand.

Well, he'd just crossed that line that he said he wouldn't cross with Bonnie.

It was funny how that one little kiss had managed to turn this whole fucking day around.