Chapter 16

Bonnie's first official date with Damon came by way of a double date with Caroline and Stefan. They all agreed that a fun outing of bumper cars and putt-putt was a good way to break the ice on both of their new relationships. While the Salvatore brothers waited in the living room (Stefan, patiently, and Damon, not so much), the girls were in Caroline's bathroom, touching up each other's makeup and hair. When they were finished, they looked at one another and grinned.

"How do I look?" Bonnie asked.

"Gorgeous," Caroline said. "And me?"

"Titillating."

That earned a giddy giggle from both of them and Caroline turned to her mirror and flipped her blonde hair a little.

"You and Damon, and me and Stefan," she sighed. "Who'd have thought?"

"I know. I thought they'd die fighting over Elena."

"Have you told her yet?"

"Who?"

"Elena. Have you written it in your journal?"

Bonnie shook her head guiltily. "I want to, I do. I keep picking up the pen to write it down, but I don't know what to say. 'Hey Elena, I know you're head over heels in love with Damon but guess what? He's my boyfriend now. Sorry.' Seems kind of harsh."

"I'm sure you'll figure out the right way to put it." Caroline spun around and shrugged. "And you know what? By the time she reads it, you'll be dead anyway."

"Thanks, Care. You always see the big picture."

"That's why you love me."

"One of the many reasons."

Caroline took Bonnie's hands and said, "come on, let's go get our men."

When the two friends walked into the living room, Stefan stood and smiled at both of them.

"Wow, you ladies look beautiful."

"Thank you," they both said.

All eyes fell to Damon, who was still sitting on the couch. Bonnie's heart rate increased when he finally stood up and sauntered over to her. His intense blue gaze swept over her from head to toe, and then he smirked.

"Bon-Bon," he said. "You look hot." He turned his attention to Caroline. "Blondie. You look slightly more appealing that usual."

"And you look slightly less like a total douchebag," she said with a smile.

"It's always great to see you two getting along," Stefan said with a smile that didn't even look fake. He held out his arm for Caroline and asked, "shall we?" She grinned and looped her arm in his and they led the way out of the apartment.

Bonnie looked to Damon, unsure if he would make the same gesture. She realized that there was a part of her that hoped he would, a part of her that wanted him to scoop her up in his arms and literally sweep her off her feet like a princess. She felt the sting of disappointment when he did none of that and instead held his arm out in front of her and said, "after you." They walked down the apartment breezeway behind Caroline and Stefan, whose hands were entwined and swinging back and forth like young lovers on a beach stroll. Bonnie's hand felt cold and empty from where Damon was not touching her, and when her eyes flitted to him, he smirked and bumped his shoulder against hers. Like they were friends, not soon-to-be lovers.

An odd sensation of discomfort and uncertainty twisted through Bonnie's stomach, and it stayed there throughout the ride to the amusement park. While Stefan drove and he and Caroline chatted easily and freely, still holding hands and laughing, Bonnie and Damon sat in the back, not talking and not touching. The truth was that she had no idea what to do. She didn't know if she should or shouldn't make a move on him, or whether she should let him be the aggressor. By the time they stepped up to the ticket counter, Damon still hadn't done anything and Bonnie's uncertainty gave way to irritation. After Stefan bought tickets for him and Caroline, Bonnie slid in front of Damon and attempted to buy her own ticket.

"One, please," she said to the bored teenager. The kid started to take her money, but Damon put his hand out and stopped her.

"Hold up, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Buying my ticket," she said.

"I know you're a modern, bra-burning, I-am-woman-hear-me-roar type of chick, but I'm old school and I'm paying for this date, whether you like it or not."

Bonnie crossed her arms over chest. "Is it a date?"

"What?" he asked, his dark eyebrows buried deep on his forehead. "Of course it's a date. What are you talking about?"

"Well, it's been kind of hard to tell, with you standing about three feet away from me at all times. I mean, look at Stefan and Caroline," she said, flinging her arm in their direction. The two vampires were still holding hands, laughing and swinging their arms while they walked to the putt-putt area, completely oblivious to everything around them. "They look comfortable and happy. And we look...awkward. I don't know whether I should touch you or not. Or whether you even want me to touch you. Or how or where I can touch you. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea because right now it feels a lot less like a date and lot more like two friends hanging out and chaperoning two other friends."

She waited impatiently and uncomfortably for some kind of response, some kind of assurance that she was totally misreading his distance, but when he only blinked at her, she sighed and shook her head.

"You know what? Let's just forget this altogether."

She started to walk away, only to have Damon grab her arm and pull her back to him. He pulled her body flush against his, which temporarily made her breath catch in her throat.

"First of all, I haven't touched you all night because I know myself and I know that when I like a girl, I can come off a little strong. Believe it or not, I didn't want to scare you off and fuck this whole thing up before it even gets started."

Bonnie's eyes fell to his lips and her irritation melted like snow in the sun.

"Secondly, of course I want you to touch me. All I've thought about all day is you touching me. In fact, I would be fine if we ditched this stupid ass place and went back to your apartment and spent the night touching each other with absolutely no clothes on. But I'm here because I want you to know that this isn't just about sex, even though I plan on having an obscene amount of sex with you sooner rather than later."

Warmth spread from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and she only got hotter when he pulled her even closer, pressing his middle into hers and brushing his lips against hers.

"And lastly, don't compare us to Stefan and Caroline. They've been doing this dance way longer than we have, and their comfort level isn't our comfort level. We'll figure out what works for us as we go along. But for future reference, if you want to hold my hand, then it's yours to hold. If you want to rest your head on my shoulder, then it's yours to use. If you want to touch me and be affectionate with me, then do it. Because all of this..." he said, and he interlaced their fingers together. He dragged their joined hands down his chest, to the crotch of his pants, where he made sure that she got a handful. "All of this is yours. Okay?"

Bonnie's throat dried at the exact same moment that her panties got wet, and all she could do was nod. Damon did that satisfied, asshole-y smile that she had grudgingly come to love, and he leaned down and pressed an all too quick peck on her lips. He dropped their hands from his junk and kept their fingers intertwined while he bought their tickets and Bonnie tried to calm the raging storm in her heart and between her legs. She tried to play it cool when they joined Stefan and Caroline on the putting green, but she could tell from the sly smile on Caroline's face that she had heard the whole exchange. And she approved of the outcome.

"So how are we splitting up the teams?" Stefan asked. "Guys versus girls?"

"You and your lady versus me and mine," Damon said. "Loser buys tickets for Laser Tag."

Stefan nodded at Caroline and Damon winked at Bonnie. "Deal," Stefan said.

Caroline went first, then Bonnie, Stefan and Damon. Bonnie stood on the side and watched in surprise as Damon took his time, measuring his shot, before gently tapping the ball in for a hole-in-one. Knowing him, she expected him to hit it too hard and then complain about how stupid the game was. She was surprised by his soft touch, and after the ball went in, he winked at her and said, "you have to have just the right stroke." Her cheeks burned a little and that only seemed to encourage him. He made several comments about balls and strokes and holes and even managed to throw in a comment about pelvic thrusts.

Several excruciating holes later, she and Damon had won and Damon was marching like a proud peacock as they all walked inside for Laser Tag. He put his arm around Bonnie and kissed the top of her head. All her worries from earlier disappeared and she felt giddy and dreamy even when their sweet moment was interrupted by a disgusted pre-teen.

"Ew, gross, get a room!" the kid said, much to the delight of his friends, who joined in and laughed.

"Oh, please, get a girlfriend, you little mongrel," Damon shot back.

"What are you even doing here?" the kid asked. "Aren't you like, fifty? Aren't you a little old to be playing Laser Tag?"

"Aren't you a little old for your mom to be dressing you and still cutting your hair with a bowl?"

"Oooh, burn!" the other kids said, laughing loudly at their friend.

Damon smiled, way too satisfied with himself, and Bonnie couldn't fight back the amused grin tugging at her lips.

"I'm not sure whether I should be embarrassed that you're arguing with a child, or flattered that you defended my honor."

"Flattered," he said, placing a kiss on her knuckles. "Always flattered. And when we get in there, we're gonna kick his ass."

During all three rounds of Laser Tag, Damon was single-minded in his mission to get the kid who had heckled him and Bonnie. He cheated, of course, by using his vampire speed in the dark room and shooting the kid every chance he got. When Bonnie finally convinced him to hang up his gear and give the kid a break, the four of them split up to do their own individual things. Caroline and Stefan decided to go back to the apartment for some "quality time," and Damon and Bonnie hung out together for the rest of the night, taking advantage of all the fun things at the amusement park. It was well past midnight when they finally got to Bonnie's doorstep.

"Well, that was fun," she said with a big smile.

"Very. I'm a fun guy."

"And so modest."

He smiled, and she shivered a little when he ran his hand down her arm and wound their fingers together.

"So, is this the end of our date?" she asked, unable to control the nervous beating of her heart.

"As much as I would love to come in, yes I think this is the end."

"I seem to recall you promising me an obscene amount of sex."

"And you'll get it," he said with a chuckle. "You just don't strike me as the sex-on-the-first-date type of girl."

"Technically, this is our second date."

Damon continued to smile as he scooted closer to her and cupped her cheek with his free hand. He brushed his thumb over her skin and she wondered how such a small, gentle caress could affect her so much.

"There's no rush, you know," he said. "We don't have to do anything you're not ready for."

"And what if I am ready?"

He eyed her for a few seconds. "You're not. But I'm not going anywhere and I can be incredibly patient when I want to be." He kissed her forehead. "Good night...pumpkin."

Bonnie laughed. "Pumpkin?"

"Yeah. We need some cute pet names for each other. You don't like Pumpkin?"

"No, can't say that I do."

"I'll keep working on it."

"You do that."

They smiled at each other before Bonnie stood on her tiptoes and kissed him a few times.

"Good night," she whispered.

He waited outside while she slid into the apartment and sighed contentedly. She headed to her bedroom and wasted no time calling Damon, and they spoke for his whole ride back to the boarding house.

They talked every day after that, too, always on the phone and usually in person. On the three days a week that Bonnie had morning classes, Damon would show up after her last class with some coffee and a doughnut. She usually spent her weekends with him at his house and sometimes she slept over, but never in the same bed with him. They did kiss and make-out but it never got past groping. As much as Bonnie admired Damon's restraint and his willingness to wait for her, his patience was also driving her crazy. For once, she actually wanted him to be impulsive and throw caution into the wind and take her against every hard and soft surface they encountered.

But she never pushed it, mostly because she knew that he was right. She had to be ready. She had only ever slept with Jeremy and once she went there with Damon, there was no going back.

Her sexual frustrations weren't helping during the last week of class, when she was studying for her physics test. Missing the first few weeks while she was in the hospital and recovering at home certainly didn't help the fact that science wasn't her cup of tea. Every time she tried to read and highlight and do practice tests, it was like her brain shut down.

"Hey there, honey bun," Damon said as he waltzed into her room. He flopped onto her bed and wiggled his eyebrows. "Whatcha doing?"

"Trying and failing to study," she sighed. She left her book on her desk and crawled onto the bed with him. He hugged her into his body and they kissed a few times before she pulled away and groaned. "Of all the hard sciences, why the hell did I take this one?"

"Because you hate biology and chemistry sucks."

She groaned again and rested her head on his chest, while he gently rubbed her back.

"Stefan and I are going to get an apartment here," Damon said, out of the blue. Bonnie's head popped up and she looked at him with surprised eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, why not?" he asked with a shrug. "It's pretty impractical to go back and forth between here and the boarding house, and we're here way more than we're there. We've already signed the lease."

Bonnie's eyes widened even further. "Wow. Okay."

"Worried that I'll bug you all the time?"

"No, it's not that. It's just...really sweet. That you want to be closer to me."

He smirked and said, "well I'm just doing this until you ask me to move in with you."

"Ha, don't hold your breath."

"We were basically living together before, you know."

"Before, we were just friends. Now it's different."

"Because you're desperately in love with me?"

She smiled softly. "Something like that."

He grinned. "I have that effect on women."

"Mm hm, well as much as I love talking about how irresistible you are, I need to get back to studying. I've been reading the same page for hours."

"You know the solution for stress." When she raised an eyebrow, he wiggled his fingers. "A massage from yours truly. You up for that?"

"I'm always up for that."

She sat up and pulled off her hoodie, where she had a tank top on underneath. Damon opened his legs and patted the space in between, and Bonnie slid herself in. He rested his back against her headboard and got to work, starting with her shoulders and neck. Instantly, Bonnie felt better. He had just the right touch, hard enough to work out the kinks but soft enough to feel good. Her head lolled down while he did his magic and he rubbed down her back, burying his knuckles in all the right spots. She was about to fall asleep, when he leaned in from behind and whispered in her ear, "lay down for me. And take off this shirt."

He tugged on her tank top and immediately, all thoughts of sleep and relaxation were banished from her mind. She started to lie down, but then a brilliant idea popped into her head. With her back still to Damon, she pulled off her tank top. She turned her head just enough for him to see the profile of her face as she slid her hand up her back and unclasped her bra. She slid the straps down her arms and tossed the bra onto the ground. She then slinked forward until her front was pressed down on the comforter. Damon didn't respond immediately, but then she felt him move and the weight of his body hovered just slightly over hers.

"You're playing dirty," he whispered in her ear.

Her nipples hardened at the feel of his breath on her, but she shrugged like she wasn't bothered.

"No, I'm just trying to get the full Damon experience," she said.

"Hmph."

He didn't say anything else, but she did hear him rustle around behind her. She heard the sound of her lotion bottle opening, and soon after his hands were rubbing lotion on her bare skin. She didn't fight the moan that escaped when he slid his hands from the small of her back to the tops of her shoulders. Every touch turned her on and her body went on high alert when his hands stroked down her sides, touching the sides of her breasts. He leaned down and brushed his nose against her skin, planting kisses along the way. By the time he finished, she was wet and unable to think of anything but finally taking the plunge with him.

"There," he said in her ear. "Feeling better?"

"Much." She turned her head to the side so that they were looking at each other. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dewdrop."

"You know this pet name thing isn't going to catch on, right?"

"I'll find one you like."

"I like Bon-Bon just fine."

He smiled and brushed his lips against hers. "Bon-Bon it is, then. I'll let you get back to studying."

Mild panic came over Bonnie because she knew he was about to leave. So as he lifted himself off of her, she grabbed his hand and said, "stay." Their eyes held for a minute. When he didn't get up or lie down again, she knew that he was waiting on her to make the first move. So with every bit of courage she had, she wiggled her hips to create some space between them and then turned over. Damon's eyes fell to her bare chest and in the seconds when he didn't say anything, her heart pounded so hard that she was sure it was deafening to him.

When he did move, he slid both of his hands up her stomach but stopped before he got to her breasts.

"May I?" he asked.

She nodded. It felt like an eternity before he touched them, but when he did, he used that same surprisingly gentle touch. He caressed her breasts and ran his thumbs over her hard nipples. She watched as he lay down in between her legs and kissed up her stomach. Her head fell back and she bit her lip to suppress her sounds, but she couldn't stop the satisfied groan when he twirled his tongue over one of her nipples and then sucked it into his mouth. He did that over and over until he switched to the next breast and her fingers threaded into his hair. He was so maddeningly slow and thorough that she felt like she might burst if he didn't give her what she wanted. So she tugged on his hair and pulled his mouth to hers, where all slowness stopped.

Their mouths and tongues ravaged each other while her hands fell to his jeans and his went straight for the waistband of her yoga pants. Damon wasn't helping her cause much because instead of letting her rid him of the damn jeans, he was thrusting into her and swallowing every hungry moan of hers. He pulled her pants down and managed to get them off her legs without ever breaking their kiss. He ran his finger up the center of her panties and the wetness there caused both of them to groan. He finally pulled away from their embrace and sat up on his knees. Bonnie watched with unbridled lust as he stroked himself through his jeans and then slid her panties off her legs.

She expected to be embarrassed the first time she was naked in front of him, but she was too far gone to care and the way he was looking at her assured her that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. He tore his eyes off of her long enough to get off the bed and unzip his jeans. She watched with rapt attention as he stepped out of his pants and revealed a rock-hard erection. Her clit throbbed as he stood there and stroked himself a few times, and then he climbed back on the bed and settled between her legs. He rubbed himself against her entrance and cursed.

"Damn, you're so wet for me," he breathed. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she whispered. Damon rubbed against her a few times before he slowly pushed himself inside her. Bonnie's head fell back again and she closed her eyes and hissed, "yesss" with each torturously slow inch until he was fully inside of her. He was still until she gave him a slight nod that she was ready for more.

And that was when the dance started. At first, he went in and out at a snail's pace, winding Bonnie up like a toy. He circled his hips in an intoxicating rhythm and Bonnie wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him as close to her as possible. She buried her hands in his hair and crashed his mouth into hers, where their tongues battled at the same pace as their lower halves. His hands rubbed her breasts, creating a whole-body experience that had her teetering on the edge of orgasm from the very beginning. She allowed his teasing for as long as she could stand it, but when she felt the tingling build-up of ecstasy in the pit of her stomach, she needed more.

She started to push back against his thrusts, trying to speed up his rhythm. He refused to change his pace and she groaned in his mouth, which made him smile.

"You want it faster?" he asked in a heavy whisper.

"Yes."

"Then say it. Tell me what you want."

The thought of saying what she really wanted temporarily scared her, but all uncertainty was lost when he sped up his thrusts a little bit, but then slowed back down.

"Teasing bastard," she grumbled.

"Tell me. I want to hear you say it."

Every thrust got her closer, but not close enough. Damon nipped at her lips and continued his slow wind until it almost drove her crazy.

"Faster," she begged in a voice that even turned her on. "Harder."

As soon as she said it, Damon granted her request. He upped his tempo until Bonnie was practically screaming with each thrust.

"Oh. God," she said. "I'm. So. Close."

"Come for me, baby. I want to see it so bad."

The combination of his body and words only added to the incredible feeling that had sparked inside of her. It only took a few more movements from Damon's talented hips before an orgasm ripped through her small body. Her butt lifted off the bed and she screamed, and her legs locked him into place while she got every bit of her orgasm. She was still spasming when Damon sat up on his hunches and held her hips in place while he pistoned in and out harder and faster than before. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and just as he exploded, she came again. He collapsed on top of her and they breathed heavily on each other for several long minutes.

"Wow," Bonnie said when she had a voice again.

His head was buried in her neck when he said, "ditto."

A grin broke out on her face and she laughed once, but then couldn't stop laughing. He popped his head up and smirked.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. I don't know," she said, still giggling. "I'm happy."

"I make you happy?"

"Yeah, you do."

He kissed her and said, "I'm glad."

They lay there together for a while, giggling and sharing pillow talk, until they realigned themselves at the top of the bed and cuddled up for sleep. They held each other all night and when Bonnie awoke in the morning, she didn't want to leave his comforting embrace. She was careful to slip out of his arms without waking him and she quietly shut the bathroom door behind her. She used the bathroom and brushed her teeth and took a good long look at herself in the mirror. Her skin looked bright and vibrant and even to her eyes, love looked good on her.

She had plans to crawl back into bed with Damon, when she caught sight of the journal that was poking out from underneath her physics binder. A streak of guilt went through her when she remembered that she still hadn't written anything about her relationship with Damon. As happy as she was, she knew she wouldn't feel fully free until she got it off her chest. So she pulled on a robe and quietly sat down in her chair. She opened the journal and picked up a pen, and before she could chicken out, she wrote the first words that came to her.

April 28, 2014

Dear Elena,

It's been a while since I've written. I won't make up excuses for why because the truth is that I've been avoiding you. The reason is that something has happened and I'm sure you won't be happy about it. I guess it would be easy to just not tell you. After all, there won't be a time where we're together again and maybe all this will fall apart before you even wake up. But it's weighing on me, and I promised to tell you everything that you're missing...especially when it comes to Damon.

So here it is. Damon and I are together, and not just as friends. Maybe you saw this coming. I don't know. You did tell me right before you went to sleep that we could both have what we wanted, just not at the same time. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part that you were talking about Damon.

Even if you didn't see it coming, and even if I'm the worst friend in the world to fall for your boyfriend, please don't hate me. Please know that I never meant for this happen. I was only supposed to look out for him, to make sure that there was something left for you when you wake up. But somewhere along the way, he stopped being a chore and started being my best friend. He became the person I lean on and run to, the person I want to talk to every day or else my day doesn't feel complete. I guess I didn't see it happening. I messed up. I did the one thing I didn't want to do, and I'm so sorry to hurt you. But the truth is that I fell in love with Damon...and I think he might love me, too.

I'm sorry.

Love,

Bonnie