AN: Hello people, here's another update for your reading pleasure. I seem to be on a little roll with this story but I don't know how long it will last, so enjoy this. And thank you to everyone who reviewed; it really made me happy guys.

You teach people how to treat you.

Bonnie had heard that once on the Dr. Phil Show and the powerful statement always stuck with her and it now came to mind as she sat at her vanity staring at her bruised arm. It hadn't been there last night, so imagine her surprise when she woke up this morning to feel the soreness of her arm and removed the covers to see the bluish green mark on her skin. She'd gotten out of bed to have a better look at her arm in the mirror.

Damon had grabbed her really roughly, holding her tightly but she hadn't felt it in the moment because she'd been too stunned but then that had quickly turned into rage. But this morning, she wasn't running off of adrenaline so she could feel and now see the effects of how roughly he'd handled her and it made the girl angry all over again.

Yes she'd slapped him silly but that didn't teach him because a few minutes later she'd stupidly allowed the bastard to hold and then kiss her like everything was okay.

But this wasn't okay. It was far from it.

Bonnie never came downstairs in her night clothes unless she wore a robe, but not this morning. She wanted Damon Salvatore to see his handy work. So after brushing her teeth, washing her face, and securing the knot to the scarf on her head that had loosened overnight, she went down to breakfast in her cute little matching blue tank and shorts sleepwear.

"Morning." She greeted as she entered the kitchen.

Damon and Jamie were seated at the table having breakfast while Vicki stood over the stove keeping an eye on the bacon frying in a pan.

"Good morning." Only Vicki and Jamie responded. "You want some bacon Bonnie?" She asked.

"No thanks, I think I'll have some cereal." She said reaching to grab a bowl out of the cabinet.

Damon was the only one to notice the oddity of Bonnie coming down in her night clothes without wearing a robe. His eyes followed her around the kitchen. She was still wearing her silk scarf which meant she was waiting until later to come out her wrap.

Damon remembered the first time he saw Bonnie wrap her hair and how amazed he was standing there watching her; the memory made him smile.

He'd come to her room to tell her that he was going out for a while and she was sitting Indian style in the middle of her bed combing her long strands of hair in a circular motion around her head.

He completely forgot what he was going to say and just stood in the doorway and watched.

"What are you doing?" He asked after a while.

The girl jumped slightly not realizing he'd been there. "Wrapping my hair."

"Why, what for?""

Bonnie chuckled as she continued to comb her hair around her head. "I see you've never been in a relationship with a black woman, otherwise you'd know this nightly routine."

That's what you think, Damon thought.

He smirked. "So enlighten me."

She snorted, but complied. "I wrap my hair at night in order to keep it straight. It's an excellent alternative to having to use a flat iron every day which can damage the hair."

His brows knitted together in confusion. "But won't it come undone when you lay down to sleep?"

"Nope. That's what the silk scarf and hair pins are for, to keep it intact." She stated as she finished, laying the comb down beside her on the bed.

He watched as she began to slide the hair pins into her hair and then put on the silk scarf, tying it at the front of her head.

"Tada." She gestured with a flourish of her hands. "Now I can sleep as wild as I want and not worry about my hair coming undone."

With the scarf on her head, Damon thought Bonnie looked like a regal African princess, all imperial and stately, like in any moment she was going to demand that he bow down at her feet. And he would have.

The next morning Damon came to Bonnie's room to tell the girl that one of her little friends was downstairs waiting for her and he got the chance to see her take her hair down. He watched as she combed the wrap out and her hair fell effortlessly down her back in long silky strands. His hand itched to reach out and touch it, but he didn't dare.

As Damon sat at the kitchen table watching Bonnie fix a bowl of cereal, he realized he could touch her now and she wouldn't mind at all.

She came and sat down at the table and that's when Damon noticed the bruise on her left arm.

So that's why she wasn't wearing her robe. She wanted him to see what he did to her last night. His blue eyes lifted to hers and she was staring right at him, her hazel eyes glaring angrily.

Damon reached under the table to caress her knee but Bonnie pushed his hand away. His eyebrows shot up and Bonnie cocked an eyebrow in return.

But there staring contest was interrupted by Vicki when she leaned down to kiss Damon's mouth. "I'll see you later on tonight baby. I gotta go. I'm late."

The twenty-two year old didn't notice that he didn't kiss her back. She turned to Jamie. "There's some extra bacon if you want it."

The boy got up from the table and went to the stove.

"Alright, bye guys." She said leaving.

Jamie stood in front of the table chewing on the bacon. "Is it okay if I go to the library?"

The boy got two totally different answers at the same time, with Bonnie saying no and Damon, yes.

He stood there not knowing which one to listen to.

Damon knew why Bonnie didn't want him to go, so he modified his answer. "You can go Jamie, but you can't stay all day. Be back here in a couple of hours."

Bonnie nodded her head.

The boy smiled. "Thanks Damon!"

It was quiet in the kitchen after he left. They were finally alone. Damon pulled Bonnie's chair to him and leaned down, planting light kisses to her bruised flesh. But when he moved to kiss her mouth, Bonnie stood up and took her bowl with her.

He followed her with his eyes and watched as she poured the cereal down the garbage disposal.

"I said that I was sorry Bonnie."

"I know that. But then I woke up this morning with this bruise and suddenly sorry didn't seem quite good enough."

Damon rolled his eyes and that pissed her off even more.

"So are you one of those guys who get off on beating up women?" She sneered.

Damon's jaw tensed. "I didn't beat you up."

"But that's how it starts Damon, with a grab here and a push there!"

"Oh stop being so fucking dramatic."

Steam was practically coming out of Bonnie's ears. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did you just say?"

Damon turned his gaze away deciding not to say anything else because both of them had explosive tempers, so shit could get real, real fast.

"Yeah, that's what I fucking thought."

Blue eyes snapped up to meet hers. "Okay smart ass, settle down before you go too far."

The teenager scoffed. "What are you going to do Damon, grab my other arm and give me matching bruises?"

Okay that did it. Damon jumped up from the table, his chair falling to the floor. "What do you want me to do Bonnie, I've already said that I'm fucking sorry!" He exploded.

"And I said that it's not enough for you to be sorry!" She yelled back, angrily throwing the bowl into the sink. "You never should have put your gotdamn hands on me in the first place Damon! Do you grab Vicki like that?!"

Damon suddenly started to laugh and Bonnie looked at him like he'd lost his mind. He could go from hot to cold in literally a second.

"Oh now I see." He said shaking his head.

"Huh?" Did she just miss something?

Damon walked over to the confused girl, rubbing her scarf covered head like he sometimes did to Jamie, but Bonnie didn't like it, so she swatted his hand away.

"Stop that." She snapped.

The vampire chuckled. She was a feisty little thing. She was barefoot so the top of her head barely reached his neck.

Damon gently poked Bonnie in the chest. "You're jealous."

She jerked her head back, frowning. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart ache, doll face."

But now as he stood there looking at her Damon thought maybe he should change that to 'fancy face' because she had an elegant look about her with her bone structure standing out beautifully now that her hair was pulled away from her face.

Bonnie just stared at the man in front of her.

"I believe you're insane." She said after a moment.

Damon was pulled from his thoughts and chuckled. "Yes, that too." He acknowledged truthfully.

She touched her temple, scrunching up her brows like she had a headache. "Will you please explain to me how putting your hands on me equate to my being jealous of Vicki?"

Okay granted, when putting it like that it didn't make one bit of sense. But Damon knew what he was talking about, Bonnie was jealous.

The bastard's every intent was to taunt her and get her to admit that she was jealous but then something switched inside of him and he began to caress her face, looking deeply into her eyes.

He became serious. "If you want me to get rid of her, all you have to do is say the word and it's done."

He was staring at her so intensely that Bonnie knew there was more here being said without him actually coming out and saying it.

Damon Salvatore was asking Bonnie to be with him but she had to make the first move.

So many thoughts were running through the girl's mind at that moment, but then common sense set in and she pulled away from him, shaking her head sadly.

"Why do you always seem to forget that I'm only sixteen? Because the people in this town know exactly how old I am. Do you honestly think they'll be okay with me being with you? If anyone were to find out about us, they'd take me and Jamie out of here so fast. They'd split us up and I wouldn't be able to see him again until he's eighteen. That's four years Damon. A lot can happen to him in four years."

The vampire took her face in his hands, shaking his head no. "That won't happen because I won't let it. Do you hear me? I won't let it happen." Pause. "And just for the record, my home will be your home for as long as YOU decide. And no one will ever take Jamie away from you. I promise you that Bonnie."

A tear slipped from her eye. "But Damon, you wouldn't be able to stop them."

His eyes were dead serious. "I would. Trust me on this."

The girl stared at him for a long time because she actually believed him with every fiber of her being. And Bonnie Bennett always followed her instinct. She leaned forward and kissed him sweetly, then rested her forehead against his.

"I trust you."

Damon closed his eyes and then suddenly he lifted Bonnie off her feet, hugging her to him.

A sense of calm settled over the vampire, soothing his black heart.

That same afternoon, just like with her momma, Damon broke things off with Vicki by compelling her. He planted it in her head that she broke up with him because he wasn't the right man for her.

Wow. In the past, Damon Salvatore would have simply snapped Kelly's neck and drained Vicki dry.

The vampire didn't even realize that the reason he didn't kill these two women was because their deaths would have an impact on Bonnie and after personally witnessing her grieve over her mother, he never wanted to see that again, no matter how small.

No one really thought twice about it when Damon began taking and picking Bonnie up from school every day. From the outside, things looked normal enough, as they drove through town and people would never suspect on the inside of the car that Bonnie's leg was Damon's own personal hand rest.

And when Damon suddenly began showing up to every football game, no one batted an eyelash or noticed the stupid grin on his face whenever Bonnie was doing her little cheers with her team.

People were oblivious to the start of this passionate, obsessive love affair that would rock their little town to its very core.

Bonnie's hazel eyes lit up like they always did when she saw Damon waiting for her out in the school parking lot. She always had to stop herself from running into his arms. So she took her time and walked to his car and tried not to smile like an idiot as she approached him. She noticed how the girls were checking him out as he leaned against the side of the car, looking like some GQ model on a photo shoot.

Damon opened the door for her when she got to him. "Hi." His blue eyes taking her in from head to toe.

Bonnie's face heated up with a blush. "Hi."

They would have two hours to themselves before Jamie got home from school. This was definitely Bonnie's favorite time of the day.

Of course, Jamie didn't know anything about what was going on between his sister and Damon. Bonnie thought it was best not to tell him. And it wasn't that hard to keep their relationship from him, especially with Damon's vampire senses. He always knew when the boy was coming.

"Hey Bonnie, hold up!"

The girl turned around to see Jesse jogging up to her. "Hey Jesse what's up?" She asked when he came up to her.

"I'm glad I caught you before you left. Listen, on Saturday me and a few other students are going to be volunteering at the Montgomery Retirement Home and there's this one older lady there who really wants to get her hair and makeup did. Caroline was going to do it but now she can't and I was wondering if you could possibly take her place. You wouldn't have to do anything major, just wash and set her hair, put on a little lip stick and blush. You know, stuff like that."

This made Bonnie laugh. "Jesse what do you know about wash and sets?"

The seventeen year old boy blushed. "Hey, I have a grandma, alright. Sometimes I have to drive her to the beauty salon."

Bonnie found herself really liking him. She had misjudged Jesse. "You know what I'd love to do it, so count me in."

The boy smiled. "Great. Look, we're all riding over together, so I'll pick you up around noon."

Bonnie smiled back, nodding her head. "Okay."

"Hey thank you for doing this Bonnie. I'll see you later."

"Bye Jesse."

The teenager jogged back towards the school, not realizing the blue eyes that followed him.

The girl turned back to the vampire who'd been silent for the whole exchange and noticed the concentrated look on his face. She touched his arm to get his attention.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Damon ignored her question and walked around to the driver's side of the car, getting inside.

Bonnie got into the car as well, shutting the door. "Damon?"

"He's the guy who let you wear his jacket, isn't he?"

Damon had eventually gotten around to asking Bonnie why she smelled of 'cologne' that night and she told him that a guy had let her wear his jacket because she was cold.

"Yeah, that was him. How did you know?" Bonnie asked, surprise evident on her pretty face.

Damon cranked up the car. "Let's just say that I have a keen sense of smell."

Saturday came and Bonnie went to the retirement home with the rest of the students. She did the woman's hair and makeup and it turned out so good that three other ladies wanted their hair and makeup done as well, so Bonnie ended up staying most of the day but the girl didn't mind because she was enjoying herself.

Jesse took all the other volunteers home a few hours ago and came back to the home to wait for Bonnie.

It was a little after eight o'clock at night when the two teenagers were walking to the car.

"I really want to say thank you again Bonnie. I know you were only expecting to do only one lady's hair and makeup today. The fact that you stayed and did the other ladies was really wonderful."

The tired girl smiled. "You don't have to thank me Jesse. I enjoyed myself. Those ladies are amazing. They remind me of my Grams."

"Oh yeah, what's she like?"

Bonnie shook her head. "She died when I was little." Her voice dropping a little.

"I'm sorry Bonnie."

"No, it's okay."

They were silent for the rest of the walk.

When they got to the car, Bonnie smiled. "Today was a really good day."

Jesse smile back. "Yeah, it was."

When Bonnie got home she found Jamie in the living room watching television by himself.

She kissed the top of his head. "Hey you, how was your day?"

He didn't look away from the TV. "Damon took me to get some new shoes and then we went to eat at the Grille."

"Oh yeah, that sounded like fun, so where's he now?"

"He's in the kitchen making dinner."

"Okay, well I'm going to go tell him I'm home, alright?"

The boy nodded his head.

When Bonnie got to the kitchen she found Damon standing over the stove. She walked up and put her arms around his waist, kissing his shoulder blade. And she sighed, pressing her cheek against his back and breathed in his scent.

"I missed you today…did you miss me?"

Damon didn't say anything and that's when the girl noticed how rigid he was in her arms.

Bonnie closed her eyes and pulled away from him, not wanting to fight with him. They hadn't seen each other all day.

"Oh you missed me, huh? Is that why you stayed gone all day with that Jesse guy. You told me that you'd only be gone for a few of hours? You didn't even answer when I fucking called you."

Bonnie rubbed her face in frustration. "A, yes I did miss you, Damon. B, the reason why I ended up staying most of the day was because three other ladies at the home wanted me to do their hair and makeup for them, so I did, because I knew doing this for them would absolutely make their day. C, you know that my phone has been acting up lately because I dropped it down the stairs. And now that I've explained myself, I'm going upstairs. You have a good night Damon."

She left the kitchen.

Bonnie soaked in a long hot bath, trying but failing not to think about Damon. He really pissed her off tonight. Sometimes Damon could be really selfish and she didn't like that about him, but then he would turn around and do something completely selfless and wonderful, and for a while she'd think that she had him completely wrong, until the next time he showed his ass.

Bonnie shook her head as she got out of the bathtub, drying off. Being with Damon was a joy and a chore all at the same time.

The girl put on her nightclothes and was sitting down at her vanity when Damon opened her bedroom door, walking inside.

They stared at each other and then Bonnie sighed, facing forward. "I don't feel like having a fight okay. I'm tired. I don't even feel like wrapping my hair tonight."

He silently walked into the room and stood behind her chair. "Then let me do it for you."

That made her snort. "Yeah right."

"No, I'm being completely serious. You just relax."

He picked up the soft bristle brush with the wooden handle and began to lightly brush her long hair. Once done, he sat the brush down and picked up her comb. When Damon parted her hair on the side, Bonnie's mouth dropped. She was so sure that he wouldn't know to do that. Her hair was cut in layers so she always parted her hair on the side to get that long side swept bang look. He then began to wrap her hair, combing the long soft strands around her head in a clockwise rotation.

Bonnie couldn't believe her eyes. It was like he'd been doing this all of his life.

"Oh my god, you're actually doing…"

He cut her off. "Hush, I'm trying to concentrate."

Bonnie snapped her mouth shut and just watched him work in the mirror.

When he was done, Bonnie tried to reach up to touch her hair but he lightly smacked her hand. "Stop before you mess it up, I have to put in the hair pins."

She began to hand him the hair pins one by one. Damon even used his teeth when he couldn't get them to open with his fingers. It was like he'd studied her every move when he watched her do her hair at night.

When he had all the hair pins in Bonnie looked at his handy work. She couldn't have done a better job herself.

"Is there anything that you can't do Damon?"

He chuckled.

Bonnie grabbed her silk scarf about to put it on when Damon stopped her. "No, let me do that."

The girl shook her head. "No, I got it from here. You wouldn't put it on right."

"Oh ye of little faith." He said, snatching the scarf out of her hand. "Now face forward." He commanded softly.

She did and Bonnie watched transfixed as he put on her scarf and did it perfectly, down to the little knot at the front of her head.

"Look at that." She said in impressed awe when he was finished, trying to find something wrong but couldn't as she turned her head to and fro. It was fucking perfect.

She stared at him in the mirror for a long moment and then finally spoke. "What are you…I mean seriously?"

If Damon Salvatore's heart hadn't stopped beating one hundred and seventy eight years ago, it would have stopped in that moment.

Did he just give himself away by mimicking her every move of doing her hair down to a tee?

Bonnie suddenly giggled happily. "You're unbelievable, you know that." She said, jumping up from her chair and hugging his neck. Her voice became thoughtful. "Even though you have the ability to make me so angry sometimes, you're still the most amazing person I've ever met in my life." She kissed his cheek.

Damon hugged Bonnie back tightly but gently, wondering if she'd feel the same way about him if she knew what he was.

The vampire buried his face in the crook of the girl's neck, his eyes transforming from blue to black at the thought of losing her.