Chapter 20

Bonnie's heart leapt into her throat as she and Damon stared at each other, her with a look of surprise and him with that smug grin of his. She couldn't help but notice how good he looked, with his short haircut and five o'clock shadow. She could smell him from where she stood and an overwhelming feeling of missing him washed through her, even though he was standing right in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after a long period of silence.

He pushed himself off the door frame and said, "I figured it was time we ended our stalemate."

He walked past her and Bonnie turned and watched him take off his leather jacket. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she shut her door.

"Stalemate?" she asked. "This isn't stalemate. We broke up."

"Yes, because you were concerned about something that hadn't even happened. And just so you know, it still hasn't. Elena is in her coffin, undisturbed and not awake. That heretic was full of shit because his spell didn't work."

"Yet," she reminded him as she folded her arms. "That doesn't mean it won't."

"But it hasn't, so why are we wasting time being broken up over a non-issue?" He looked at her with a smile, like they were just having some little spat. He put his boot on the edge of her bed and frowned at the mattress.

"This place is a dump," he said. "Lucky for you I booked us a couple of nights at the most expensive hotel in Paris, complete with hot tub." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and gestured towards her bag. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

Bonnie just blinked her eyes a few times in disbelief.

"I'm not going with you," she said.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, don't tell me want to stay here. That bed's hardly big enough for you, much less the two of us."

"The two of us?" she asked with wide eyes. She shook her head repeatedly. "What are you talking about? We aren't together anymore. I'm not sleeping in the bed with you or going with you to a hotel or any of that."

He gave her that look he did when he thought she was being ridiculous but she knew she was being perfectly reasonable.

"Are you still mad about the Elena thing? Didn't you hear me say that she's not back?"

"Are you serious right now?" she asked, and her voice climbed with every subsequent word. "I told you before that Elena being back doesn't even matter anymore. It's the fact that you would leave me for her that's the problem."

"I never said that!" His loud voice nearly matched hers. "You said it!"

"Well you sure as hell didn't refute it!"

"What do you want from me, Bonnie?" he screamed. "I gave you some time away to think and be alone. I'm here to try to win you back and you act like nothing's changed."

"Nothing has changed."

"I love you and you love me. Why isn't that good enough?"

"Because you're also in love with someone else!"

He opened his mouth to argue, but they both stopped when there was a soft knock on the door. Bonnie's head whipped around and she snapped, "what?" at the knocker.

"Uh, Bonnie," Lance said through the door. "Are you okay? I can hear a lot of shouting."

"Who is that?" Damon asked.

"None of your business."

She should have known he would take that as a challenge because he marched past her and swung the door open. His face twisted into a sneer when he looked at Lance.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked.

Lance puffed out his chest and stood straight, showing that he was about three inches taller than Damon.

"I'm Bonnie's friend. And you?"

"Damon. I'm sure you've heard of me."

"Yeah, I have. And none of it was good."

Bonnie felt a headache starting to form behind her eyes and she wondered how long it would take for them to just pull down their pants and have a measuring contest.

"Go back to your room," Damon said. "Before I do something regrettable."

"You're threatening me? Pretty sure I could take you."

"Pretty sure you couldn't."

"Oh yeah? I'm a third degree black belt."

"Good to know, Bruce LeRoy. I'll keep that in mind in case I run into some ninjas."

Lance balled up his fists and Bonnie slid in between the two of them before he got himself hurt.

"Lance, I'm fine. I can handle this."

He stared hard at Damon and then gave Bonnie a softer glance.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm positive. We'll try to keep it down and I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

He hesitated but then turned to leave. He gave Damon one last stare and Bonnie shut the door. She pushed Damon back inside and groaned.

"If you came here to ruin my trip, you're doing an excellent job."

"No, that's not why I came here but I didn't know I was going to have to deal with some idiot who thinks he's your knight in shining armor."

"He's a friend who's concerned about me. It's called being a gentleman."

"Oh please. He's just waiting for you to get lonely enough to spread your legs for him. I, being your actual knight in shining armor, am here to save you from that fate."

"Damon," Bonnie sighed. She rubbed her head and then pointed to the door. "Please go. I'm tired and I'm supposed to be here having a good time, not thinking about you. Your being here makes that difficult."

"Come on," he groaned. He walked back to her and put his hands on her hips, even when she tried to wiggle away from him. "You know we're great together. Don't act like you want it to be over."

"That's not what I want."

"Then stop all this and be with me."

"I can't." She looked him in the eyes so he would really hear her for once. "I can't do this."

"What do you want me to do, Bonnie? I can't just stop loving her like that," he said, and he snapped his finger.

"I'm not asking you to."

"Then what are you asking me to do?"

She brought her hands up and encased his cheeks.

"I want you to let me go," she said quietly. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. "You can't give me all of your heart right now and it's not fair to me. Or you. Or Elena. Or anyone involved."

"So that's it," he said, irritated. "You're just going to throw us away like that."

"I'm not throwing us away. I'm trying to save what I can of our relationship so maybe one day, we can be friends again."

Damon squeezed her hips a little and she expected him to argue with her. But he didn't. Instead, he grabbed his jacket and left the room, and Bonnie couldn't help but feel like he was leaving for good. She knew it was for the best but that didn't make it hurt any less. She curled up on her bed and fell into a fitful sleep all night. When morning came, she got ready and met Lance downstairs, where he had just sat down at a small table for breakfast. When he saw her, his eyes widened with worry.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine," she lied.

She sat down without getting any food and he pushed his plate to her but she shook her head.

"Not hungry."

"Okay." He started to eat but his silence didn't last long. "So late night. That was Damon, huh?"

"Yep," she said with a sigh.

"He's kind of a jerk."

Her laugh was empty. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, we don't have to talk about it."

She nodded, thankful for him dropping it, but once he started talking about something else, her mind drifted off to Damon. The smell of his leather jacket was still fresh in her nose. She'd had to fight herself not to hug him when he put his hands on her hips. There was a part of her that ached to just give in to him like he wanted her to do, but she knew she had to stand strong. She wasn't going to be second best to anyone else ever again, especially not when it came to her love life.

"Bonnie," Lance said, and she snapped out her thoughts. She smiled sheepishly at him.

"I'm sorry. I zoned out."

"Yeah, I noticed." He wiped his mouth and leaned a little further across the table. "You want to talk about it?"

"No. Yes. I don't know."

"I'm willing to listen, you know. No judgment."

"Ugh, he's just such an asshole," she grumbled. "I was doing okay and then he had to show up, smelling good and looking good and making me want him. I feel so weak."

"You're definitely not weak. You kicked him out, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but knowing Damon, he'll be back. If not tonight, then tomorrow, or maybe he's just hiding out in my room in Amsterdam."

She didn't notice the disturbed face that Lance made.

"Do you want to stay with me tonight?" he offered. "No funny business or anything, just sleeping."

"Oh, God no," she groaned. When she saw his hurt expression, she quickly added, "not that I don't want to spend time with you. I do. I just...if Damon is still around and I'm staying in your room, he will hit the roof and I'd really like for him not to kill the one person I've connected with on this trip."

Lance frowned and then scooted a little over the table and spoke lowly.

"Uh, Bonnie, I'm sorry if this offends you, but are you in an abusive relationship with Damon?"

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head in shock.

"What? No! Why would you ask me that?"

"Well, I mean, the guy shows up in Paris and hasn't talked to you in two months. Who does that? And then you just said he'd show up in your room, so he sounds like a stalker. And now you're worried that he'll kill me. And to be honest with you, you looked kind of scared last night."

It took Bonnie a moment to wrap her head around all of that, but when she did, she reached over and took his hands.

"Damon does not abuse me," she said seriously. "Okay? We have a volatile relationship."

"Yeah, I gathered that."

"But it's not abusive. He..." She tried to think of the right way to describe him without using the words "vampire with a hair trigger temper." "You'd have to know him to understand what I mean when I talk about him. He's not a stalker but he is kind of rich so he can fly here to see me on short notice. I'm sure my best friend told her boyfriend who just happens to be Damon's brother, and when he found out I was here with you, he showed up to try to work things out."

"And are you?" he asked. "Going to work things out?"

"The way things stand now, no."

He nodded and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"You don't have to apologize. I might think the same thing if I didn't know the situation."

"Well how about this?" He slid his hands out of hers so that his were on top and he gave them a gentle squeeze. "Can we just enjoy the rest of our weekend here, Damon-free? No talking about him, no thinking about him, and hopefully no surprise visits from him. Just you and me and a good time."

Bonnie smiled genuinely and agreed.

"I'd like that."

They spent the rest of the weekend together and Bonnie did a decent job of not thinking about Damon. He didn't show up at her hotel room again, and he didn't show up in Amsterdam, either. She was surprised at how disappointed she was, considering she was the one who told him to back off. She wondered why he chose that time to actually start listening to her.

The rest of her time in Amsterdam was spent trying to enjoy her surroundings and getting to know Lance better. By the time the program was over and they were heading back home, the two of them were basically inseparable. They even sat together on the flight to New York, where they each had to connect to flights to their respective homes. They stood in one of the terminals, about to go their own ways, and Lance took a big breath and smiled.

"So, I guess this is it, huh?"

"It's not it," she promised. "We'll call and text and see each other when we can. We don't live that far apart."

"I guess not, but it is the end of seeing you every day, which I've gotten pretty used to. I don't recall any of the girls at Duke being as pretty and fun to talk to as you."

Bonnie blushed a little and readjusted the bag on her shoulder.

"I'll miss you, too," she said.

"Now boarding Flight 212 to Raleigh-Durham," one of the desk attendants announced.

"That's me," Lance said. "You promise you'll call me? Let me know you made it home safely?"

"I promise."

"It was really great getting to know you, Bonnie. I hope you have a good holiday break."

"You too."

He smiled and turned to walk away, but Bonnie called out to him before he could get too far.

"Hey Lance," she said. He turned and looked at her expectantly. "Caroline throws a big New Year's party every year and it's usually pretty fun. And since I don't have a date this time...do you want to come with me?"

His smiled widened. "I'd love to."

"Ok, great. So we'll talk later to figure out the details?"

"Absolutely."

They smiled at each other until another announcement for his flight caught their attention. He went his way and Bonnie went hers and she felt proud of herself for attempting to move on. When she landed back home in Virginia, Caroline was waiting for her at baggage claim and the blonde threw her arms around Bonnie's neck.

"Oh my God, Bon, you look amazing!" she said as Bonnie laughed at her exuberance and hugged her in return.

"Thanks, Care. So do you."

"I look like the same old boring person but you look like you've been abroad, doing sexy things with a sexy man."

She wiggled her eyebrows and Bonnie rolled her eyes even though she was smiling.

"I see you're still insane."

"Tell me everything and don't leave out a single detail."

Caroline looped her arms in Bonnie's and after they had all the luggage and were loaded into the car, Bonnie recounted the things that she hadn't already told Caroline about, which wasn't really that much.

"Soooo, when you guys said your goodbyes, did you kiss him?" Caroline asked.

"No." Caroline's face dropped, so Bonnie quickly added, "but I did invite him to your New Year's bash."

That earned a big grin, which quickly soured into a frown.

"What?" Bonnie asked.

"Just one thing. We're having the party at the boarding house this year."

Bonnie's brain immediately shot to Damon, and she frowned, too.

"Oh. I guess I need to un-invite him then. I don't want to cause any drama."

"You know what? It'll be fine," Caroline said. "Damon's hardly been around. In fact, I haven't seen him in weeks. I doubt he'll be back for the party because he's a grump and he hates those parties anyway."

Bonnie wasn't completely convinced but she didn't want to tell Lance not to come, so she hoped that Damon kept his distance. She spent Christmas with her mom and when New Year's Eve came around, she and Caroline crashed at the boarding house so Caroline could orchestrate the setup of the party and so Bonnie could be there to help. As people started arriving, Bonnie went upstairs to get ready and she felt butterflies collecting in her stomach. Lance was in town and he'd brought his best friend, and the two of them were staying at a hotel in town. She was nervous to see him but excited, too, and when she put the finishing touches on her makeup, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.

She looked good, if she did say so herself. She'd done her hair in a swoop bang which complemented her face, and the red dress she'd picked was doing all kinds of favors for her body, especially in the butt department. She was just putting her shoes on when Caroline walked in, and her friend grinned in approval.

"You look really hot," Caroline said.

"Thanks. So do you."

"And I was coming to tell you that your boyfriend is here," she sang. "And looking quite dapper."

"He's not my boyfriend," Bonnie told her with a playful nudge as they started to walk down the steps together.

"Not yet anyway." She steered Bonnie's shoulders in Lance's direction and said her ear, "go get him."

Bonnie didn't move at first, mostly because she was trying to take in how handsome he looked. His hair was neat, as always, and he was wearing black pants and a grey dress shirt and black tie. He caught eyes with her and they smiled at each other from across the room. He said something to his friend and then walked over.

"Wow," he said. "You look completely stunning."

"And you don't look so bad yourself."

He opened his arms for a hug, which he happily accepted, and she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"I'm glad you could come," she said.

"Not nearly as glad as I am," he promised.

His hand fell to hers and she was surprised by how natural it felt when their fingers intertwined.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought my roommate," he said. "His folks are all the way in California and he would have been by himself."

"I don't mind at all. I think it's really sweet that you brought him."

"You want a drink or something?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

They got some drinks from the bartender who'd been set up in one of the rooms and spent a little while chatting with Lance's friend. After a couple of drinks, Bonnie took Lance's hand and led him back to the living room, where the DJ was set up and was starting to play the kind of music that Bonnie liked.

"Fair warning," Lance shouted over the music, "I'm not that great a dancer."

"That's okay. I'll do all the work," she said with a laugh.

They found a spot to dance amidst all the other bodies in the room and at first, they kept it simple by moving back and forth while they faced each other. Once Bonnie really started feeling the drinks, though, she felt a little bolder. She put his hands on her hips and turned so that her back was pressing into his front. He leaned down until his lips were near her ear and she shivered a little at the closeness.

"God, you're beautiful," he said.

A warm smile came over her lips and she turned her head just enough that they were looking at each other.

"Yeah?"

He nodded and something about the way his eyes rounded made him look a little shy, and it was a total turn-on. Bonnie's eyes dropped to his lips and she knew she was going to kiss him. She was seriously contemplating doing a lot more than that, especially considering that she didn't have to drive anywhere and she could just take him upstairs to the extra bedroom where she was spending the night.

"Are you gonna kiss me at midnight?" she asked.

His hands squeezed her hips a little and he said, "if I make it that long."

Her smile grew and she decided to throw caution into the wind. She leaned in to kiss him but right before their lips touched, something stopped her. It was a feeling she got like she was being watched. Even among all those people, she could practically feel eyes burning a hole into her. She pulled back and looked around, and her heart dropped into her shoes when she saw Damon leaning against the wall, looking at her with fire in his eyes, and she knew that if looks could kill, she would have been dead.

Things were about to get ugly.