Chapter 7

Damon hadn't lied about training the very next day. The sun was hardly out before he was up and rousing Bonnie out of sleep. He told her to get up and he took a shower. When he returned and she was still asleep, he ripped the covers off of her, smacked her butt and dragged her into the shower. She grumbled at him but reluctantly stood under the spray that was still running. She was just waking up when she went to her bedroom to find that Damon had already laid her out some clothes: yoga pants, tennis shoes, a thin shirt and a hoodie.

"What the hell are we doing today?" she asked, pulling her shoes on her feet as she walked into the kitchen.

Damon put out a plate of eggs, bacon and pancakes, as well as a glass of orange juice. "Training," he said.

"Yeah, but since when does magic training require me to dress like I'm running a marathon?"

"Oh, Bon-Bon, you have so much to learn," he said with a smile that made her nervous. "Eat. You'll need your energy."

"You're scaring me." He came from behind the counter and she saw that he, too, was in tennis shoes, as well as some long shorts and a white shirt. "And what are you wearing? I've never seen you in anything remotely athletic."

"There's a lot to learn about me, sweet cheeks, and you're gonna learn today. Less talk-y, more eat-y."

Bonnie frowned at him the entire time she ate, even though it was one of his better meals. She frowned even more when she saw him down three blood bags and pack a couple more in a cooler, as well as a sandwich for her. He clapped his hands in a "chop, chop" motion and ushered her out of the door. He drove them to a park about twenty minutes away and once they were out of the car, he started jogging in place.

"All right. Three miles. Let's do it," he said.

Her jaw dropped. "Three miles? What the hell are you talking about? I thought we were training for magic. What does this have to do with magic?"

"Magic is taxing on your body. And just like any other exercise, you need to be in good physical shape if you expect to do it right. So come on, move those perky buns and let's run."

He jogged off ahead of her, and Bonnie stood there in a disbelief for a moment before she gritted her teeth and ran after him. The first half mile wasn't that bad, actually. It was kind of invigorating to be out in the cool autumn air, early in the morning, feeling alive. She almost apologized for complaining. But once they hit a mile, that feeling wore off. After two miles, she stopped and leaned over, huffing.

"Fuck you," she said in between breaths.

"Up, up, up," he said. Damon took her arms and made her stand up, with her arms behind her head. "You're a former cheerleader. You should know that the best way to get oxygen into your lungs is to stand, not bend over like some fat chain smoker."

"I hate you."

"You love me. Come on, keep going."

Bonnie groaned but starting running again. Damon was in front of her, running backwards so that they were facing each other.

"You know, for someone with such a bodacious bod, you're kind of out of shape," he noted.

"Gee, I wonder why," she said, chugging air like she would never get it again. "I've been too busy trying to save all our friends and somehow, I forgot to hit the gym regularly!"

"Oh, pish posh," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Pish posh? Who are you and what have you done with Damon? Oh wait, let me guess, you were also a former drill sergeant in your past lives."

"Could have been," he said with a shrug. "Until that damn Lexie talked me out of joining Stefan in the military. That would been fun for me, you know? Traveling, sexing up a lot of hot foreign women, killing people."

"Do you even know what you're doing? Or did you stay up all night, Googling ways to torture me?"

"Honey, Google ain't got nothing on me," he smirked. "And of course I know what I'm doing. You think you're the first witch I've whipped into shape? Please. I've trained some of the finest out there. Although there training was strenuous in different ways." He wiggled his eyebrows and Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Have you ever met a woman that you didn't bang?"

"Hmmm...no." He grinned as he continued his backwards running pace. "Except you, of course. But we have time to change that."

"I'm too tired to even be disgusted by that right now."

"Only a half mile to go, grasshopper. You can do it."

Although her chest was burning, her thighs were on fire, and her butt muscles were screaming in pain, Bonnie found a way to pull out the last half mile. When Damon told her that she could stop, she collapsed onto the grass and heaved in and out.

"Come here," he said. Damon sat behind her and spread his legs to pull her into the space. He pulled her back to his chest, making her sit up and breathe. "There you go, in and out." He pulled a Gatorade out of his ice pack and handed it to her. She chugged it down in several gulps and then sighed and pressed her head into his chest.

"Oh my God, that was brutal."

"It'll get easier the more we do it."

"I am not doing this again."

"Yes you are. Tomorrow, and the day after that, and every day until you're like a lean mean witchy machine."

She groaned but didn't fight him on it. He produced a blood bag for himself and gave her a protein bar. She took a big bite but grimaced when she chewed.

"This tastes like shit," she said.

"That means it's good for you."

She turned her head to narrow her eyes at him, but she didn't comment as she watched him drink the blood. He noticed her interest and when he finished, he tossed the bag.

"What?" he asked.

"Is it that bad? The blood lust, I mean."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering. You know, in case something happens to me and I have to turn...I'm just curious." She leaned her head against him again. "So is it?"

He didn't answer at first, and the silence between them was filled with the sounds of birds chirping and little squirrels scurrying through the trees.

"Yes," he finally said.

"Wow, thanks for sugarcoating it for me."

She could hear him smile. "It's bad. It's pretty much always this hunger, this need, you know? No matter how hard you try, you kind of always want to drain the nearest person to you, even if you love them. But you learn to control it, mostly. Unless you're Stefan. Or my mother, apparently."

"Hm," was her response. "So is it hard for you to sleep with me? Do you want to drink my blood the whole time?"

"Yep," he said simply. "But I don't. Because you smell good. And you have a nice rump."

Bonnie snorted and gently pressed her elbow into his ribs. They sat quietly for a while, as she recovered from their impromptu run.

"Do you think I'd be a good witchpire?" she asked quietly. She craned her head so she could see him when he answered, and he smiled at her.

"I think you'd be a kick-ass witchpire."

She smiled and he kissed her cheek, before hopping up and holding his hands out for her.

"Break time's over."

"What? We've been sitting for like, five minutes!"

"Yep and if you sit too long, your muscles will get cold."

She reluctantly took his hands and for the next few hours, he worked her like she was training for some kind of decathlon. They didn't run anymore, but he made her do push-ups, sit-ups and every other kind of exercise he could think of. When it was time to do some actual magic, he started small by having her levitate easy things: leaves, birds, the ice bag. She set a couple of things on fire and quickly extinguished them, all with her magic. They took a lunch break and then got right back to it.

As the sun wore down, she figured that they were about to call it a day. But then Damon pointed to a huge tree and said, "pull that tree up by the roots."

"What?" she asked, exhausted beyond belief. "That tree trunk is at least twenty feet around and looks like it's five hundred years old! I can't do that."

"And there's your problem, Bonnie," he said in a sing-song voice. "You're going into it defeated and therefore you won't be able to do it. But let me remind you that you're a Bennett and you have Qetisyah's magic running through your veins. Literally the oldest magic on the planet, running in your judgey little body. Use it."

Bonnie sighed and rubbed her face. Her head hurt and she felt like she could fall out on the ground and sleep right there without a problem.

"I don't know the spell for something that big," she said in an irritated voice.

"You don't need a spell. Despite what you've been taught, magic is not about spells and incantations and special ingredients. You don't need dragon's toenails and virgin's breath to put in some big pot. All you need is to think it, and you can do it. But you have to believe you can do it. So show me that you can. Show yourself that you can."

She wanted to fight him on it, complain, and whine. But she knew it would get her nowhere. Despite his heavy-handed methods, he was trying to help and she knew she would be better off for it. So she stuffed another tasteless protein bar into her mouth and sat down, cross-legged. She breathed in and out slowly, using the meditation techniques that they had been working on. She got herself into a good mental zone, and then she focused.

Bonnie tried to remember what he said as she thought about the tree. She didn't need magic words or special trinkets. She only needed to think it hard enough. So in her mind's eye, she saw the tree and she willed it to move. She chanted the word "lift" over and over in her head, pushing herself as hard as she could. She felt something rumble and when she opened her eyes, she saw the tree limbs shaking. The trunk didn't budge, but it was a start.

"Okay, that's enough," Damon said, holding up his hand.

"I can do more," she said, not wanting to disappoint him. But then he leaned down and wiped under her nose. He had blood on his thumb and she quickly touched for herself and found that her nose was bleeding. He sucked the blood off his finger and helped her up.

"That's enough for today. You did well. We'll work on it tomorrow."

"We can't get an off day or something? My body hurts."

He smirked but then bit into his wrist and offered it to her. She frowned. "It'll make you feel better and it'll stop the nose bleed." She reluctantly accepted his wrist and almost gagged when she took a few sips of his blood. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to that. Still, she did feel better afterwards, so she didn't complain. He slung the ice bag over his shoulder and they made the trek back to the car.

"Thanks for today," she said, once they were on their way back home. "I know I gave you a hard time, but I appreciate it."

"I'm glad."

She relaxed in her leather seat and watched the scenery as they headed back to her apartment. She sat up and looked at Damon, though, as he took a detour onto some roads that she wasn't familiar with.

"Where are we going?"

"You're feeling better, right?" he asked, staring at the road ahead.

"Yeah..." she said slowly. "What are you doing, Damon?"

"I think maybe you need some different motivation to get your magic out." He still wouldn't look at her and she started to feel nervous. "The workout was good but you're more the type of witch that responds to pressure and danger."

"No, seriously, Damon, what are you doing?" Bonnie asked, as a level of panic began to rise.

He took his eyes off of the road momentarily and looked at her. "Don't hate me, okay? Remember that I'm trying to help."

Bonnie's eyes widened with fear as he took a sharp turn into a forest-like area and drove his Camaro like a mad man.

"What are you doing?" she screamed. "Stop! Stop the car before you kill me!"

"Well, you're either save yourself or you'll turn into a vampire," he said. "Your choice."

"What the fuck!" she yelled. She reached over and tried to grab the wheel but he was able to fight her off one-handed. "Stop! Stop!"

But he didn't stop, even as the forest cleared out to show that they were on a course to drive right off of a cliff. Bonnie's heart leapt into her throat and she really beat Damon hard on the arm.

"Stop, you idiot! You'll kill me!"

"Then don't let me," he said, way too calm for the situation.

Her eyes went back to the impending cliff and she grabbed the door handle, intent on jumping out before they could go off the deep end. Damon leapt over her and kept the door locked, all while the car barreled onward.

"No cheating," he said.

"If you go off this cliff, I swear to God that I will never talk to you again!" she said, trying to fight back tears, as well as get herself out of the car.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. We've got five seconds. 5, 4, 3..."

"Damon," she warned.

"2, 1."

And right on time with his counting, the Camaro flew off the edge of the cliff. Bonnie braced her hands on the dashboard and screamed as her stomach and lungs raced up her throat and threatened to spill out in a pile of vomit. The car flew down the valley at an alarming speed and Bonnie's entire life flashed before her eyes. In the few seconds it took before the car was sure to splatter her remains all over the ground, her last thought was that if she made it out alive, she would be a vampire. Or witchpire. Whatever. She didn't want it. And she didn't want to die either.

"STOP," she said with every ounce of feeling in her body.

She closed her eyes, accepting that she was going to die, but the impact never came. She popped one eye open to find that the car was levitating just a foot above the ground of the valley. It dropped harshly once she realized what happened, and with the reflexes of a cat, she jumped out of the car and got onto her feet. Her whole body shook violently, from her feet to her arms, and she couldn't control herself when she threw up all over the ground. She was vaguely aware of the sound of Damon's car door opening and closing, but she was definitely aware of his hand on her shoulder.

"Bonnie..." he started.

She stopped hurling long enough to yank away from him. She pushed him hard and said, "don't touch me." Her voice was shaky, as well as her body, but she pushed him again and again. "Don't ever touch me again."

His blue eyes widened in surprise. "Listen, I know you're upset, but..."

"Upset?" she asked lowly. "Upset doesn't even begin to describe how I feel right now. You almost killed me."

"But I didn't," he said, even throwing in a smile. "I knew you had it in you. I just wanted you to believe it, too."

Bonnie stared at him for a few moments before she slowly wiped her mouth and tried to spit out some of the awful taste of vomit.

"Drive me home," she said.

She pushed past him and got into the car again, and she didn't speak to or look at him the rest of the way. When they got to the apartment, she went inside and slammed the door in his face.

"Hey, Bon," Caroline said, but then her smile dropped when she saw the look on Bonnie's face. "Whoa, are you okay? You're completely pale and shaking. What happened?"

Bonnie walked into her room and slammed the door without answering. Caroline turned her attention to Damon, who had let himself in but was wise enough not to follow Bonnie. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"I may have pushed her a little too far today."

"You may have?" she asked sarcastically. "What did you do, Damon?"

Meanwhile, Bonnie was in her bathroom, brushing her teeth like her life depended on it. She stopped briefly when she heard Caroline scream "you what?!" and she figured that Damon had told her about his little stunt. She rinsed her mouth out three times before she felt a little better, but she was still scared and shaken and for some reason, embarrassed. The jumble of emotions sat like a rock in her stomach and she crawled to her bed. She curled up on the corner, willing herself not to cry. She heard Caroline and Damon arguing in the other room, so she put a pillow over her head to block out the noise.

Some minutes later, the muffled arguing stopped and she heard her door open. She could tell from the tentative steps that it was Damon, so she pressed the pillow harder to herself. The bed dipped some when he sat next to her and when he put his hand on her shoulder, she recoiled. He tried to take the pillow but she held on it for dear life. He managed to maneuver it so that he could at least see her ear and he knew that she could hear him.

"Listen, Bon," he started. He sighed. "I realize that I went too far today. I promise that I was only trying to help, though. I didn't even plan to do that. You know me. I'm impulsive and stupid most of the time. I guess when we were driving and you looked so much better, I just thought that maybe I could pull it out of you and get you to see that you're way stronger than you give yourself credit for. It was a very dumb thing of me to do and I'm sorry. I mean, I'm sorry that I'm scared you. I'm not really sorry that I did it because you just proved that with the right motivation, you know how to use your magic."

Bonnie moved the pillow from her face and glared at him. "The right motivation?" she scoffed. "You call scaring the absolute shit out of me 'the right motivation'?"

"Well...yeah," he said with a shrug. "It worked, didn't it?"

"At what cost?" she asked, her voice getting higher and louder. "I'm still shaking from it, Damon. I'm still terrified because of you!"

"And I said that I'm sorry."

"You call that half-assed explanation an apology? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I'm tired of seeing you be so down on yourself and doubt everything you do," he said, matching her irritated tone. "You have magic practically crackling off your skin and you don't know what to do with it! Yeah, I scared you. But so what? You're still here. You're alive, and you're not a vampire. You're welcome."

"I'm welcome?" she yelled. "Oh, yes, thank you so much for making me nearly shit myself in your car! Thank you for making me throw up on the side of the road and thank you for the inevitable nightmares I'll have! You're such a great trainer."

Bonnie got off the bed and walked out of the room, and he followed. Caroline was still in the living room, acting like she wasn't eavesdropping, but Bonnie knew better.

"Look, I know you're mad but you have to know that I was trying to help," Damon said.

"What I know is that you're the biggest asshole I have ever met," she said, whipping around to spew her words at him.

"Fine," he said as he held up his hands. "I'm an asshole. Not exactly news."

"And you're a moron!"

"Okay..."

"You're just...ugh!" she said, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"Granted. I'm an asshole and a moron. But at least I'm not afraid of my own power."

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"You heard me. You're afraid. You could be the most powerful person on the planet, but you don't want to be because all you want is to be normal. Newsflash, you aren't normal and you never will be. Might as well embrace it and start learning to love it. Maybe if you did, I wouldn't have to sleep with you every night."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Bonnie's eyes widened and she crossed her arms over her chest. He was pretty sure he heard Caroline mutter "uh-oh" under her breath as she tried to look away from the carnage about to take place.

"I didn't realize that was such an inconvenience to you," Bonnie said.

"It's not," he said quickly. "That came out wrong."

"No, I think it came out exactly the way you meant it."

"I promise it didn't. Just let me explain..."

She held up her hand and shook her head.

"What you meant was that you don't want to keep watch over me and babysit every night. I get it. So don't do it anymore. Consider yourself relieved."

"Bonnie," Damon said. He took a step towards her but she backed away and pointed to the door.

"Get out," she said simply.

"Don't do this," he sighed. "Okay? I'm sorry. I fucked up everything and I'm bad with words, you know that. Don't make this bigger than it has to be."

"I'm not. You're right. It's inconsiderate of me to expect you to be here every night to ward away the ghosts and bad dreams. I'm a big girl. I'm a powerful witch, as you keep reminding me. I'll figure it out. You can go."

"I don't want to go."

"Well, I do. So please get out and don't bother coming back."

Damon looked at the ceiling as he tried to collect his thoughts and figure out the right words to smooth the situation over. He looked at Caroline for help, but she refused to look at either of them. He opened his mouth to apologize again, but he could tell from the look on Bonnie's face that she wouldn't hear anything he had to say. So he left. Bonnie followed him out and made sure to lock the door. She also put a spell on the door that essentially un-invited him so that he couldn't get back in.

"You okay?" Caroline asked after Bonnie walked away from the door.

"Yeah."

But it was a lie, and they both knew it. Bonnie was worried about how she would fare without Damon, but she was equally worried about how dependent she had become on him. He'd helped her for a while but now she was going to do it on her own.

Or so she hoped.