AN: I have to say that I was shocked that this story has gotten the attention that it has. I was for sure thinking that no one would like it. I want to thank everyone for their reviews. Some have been so funny, while others have expressed the anger and dislike for Jeremy and the frustration with Bonnie and how she acts. I love it all! And I told you this was not going to be an easy ride, but getting to the destination will be worth it, at least I hope so. I hope everyone is having a safe and great start to 2021, please continue to stay safe and to be good people, which the world is in need of greatly these days.

Chapter 2

The night was dark and the road was lonely and mostly deserted with very few cars passing them by. Bonnie was still a bit aggravated with Jeremy but she tried to get over it but it didn't help that he didn't listen to her and now they were nowhere near their destination, lost in the dark driving down a deserted road and it was starting to rain.

"I told you not to go this way. The directions said to turn on SR 285 not SR19." Bonnie insisted.

"I'm not stupid Bonnie, I know how to read and how to drive. Fuck! This is a more direct way, bypassing a lot of useless driving. I saw it on google map, just fucking trust me. Why do you have to nag so much? You're always cutting off my balls!"

"I'm not nagging you or cutting off your balls. I am just telling you what the directions said. I didn't see any other route to take and clearly this is not right. So fucking sue me for trying to keep us from being stranded out in BFE. I swear sometimes Jeremy I just don't get it. Lately you act like it bothers you that I breathe much less speak. Like you can't stand me to do anything other than fuck you, buy for you or cook for you" Bonnie calmly spoke but she wanted to scream, he was so immature and selfish sometimes.

"Well maybe it's because you do bother me Bonnie. You act like I can't do shit. And you are always doing the most and acting high and mighty, overly smart and so fucking mature. You know you aren't that much older than me but you act like you're as old as your grandmother and hell even she ran off to have fun. I just get so fucking tired of you putting me down. I can do things, I'm a man for fuck sake. I just need you to let me handle this. I know what I'm doing." Jeremy shouted, checking his phone for a signal.

"I told you that reception would be bad in this area because it is so woodend. The gps won't work, which is why I printed out the directions as well and for all your shit about knowing what you are doing, they don't say take SR19. And since I bother you so fucking much, you can figure out how to get us out of this mess you made. Oh and I never put you down, if anything I try to encourage you and help you, so if you feel like you are being put down then check yourself. And because I don't want to get high all the time and play games and shit doesn't mean I don't want to have fun just mean my standards of fun are higher than yours." She sobbed frustratedly, not meaning to, while rubbing her forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. Clearly this trip was a bust, maybe she should have listened to Care.

"Great Bonnie," he said stressing the syllables in her name, "Have a fucking cry and an attitude and sit there trying to make me feel like shit. You are so fucking manipulative. I'll show you that you aren't always right. We aren't lost." He raked his hand through his hair, "Why do I even try with you, fuck shit!" He yelled.

"You...what the fuck...WHY do I try?" She retorted back just as loudly now. She had to get a grip on her emotions and calm down. Lately she was having issues with keeping her emotions in check and her migraines were getting worse. Meditation stopped working, tea stopped working, reading, cleaning and even soaking in the tub stopped working. She found herself restless and irritable, only feeling content in her bookstore. Putting up with Jeremy's shit was increasingly getting more and more difficult.

Realizing he may have gone too far he decided to backtrack when he saw her just staring ahead not saying anything with a dazed look. Grabbing her hand he sweetly said, "Hey baby, I'm just a little tired. I didn't mean what I said. You know that I love you." Jeremy squeezed her hand then brought it to his lips to kiss it. "Please believe me baby, I really appreciate you. Please forgive me for acting like a stupid child." He smiled giving her that boyish grin that melted her. She smiled back, not wanting to be angry with him.

"I just wish you wouldn't say the things you do even in anger. It hurts my feelings." She openly admitted.

"I'm sorry babe." Jeremy smiled while he thought to himself how good he was smoothing things over. He had to handle Bonnie with kid-gloves. He realized that since Anna left him he really had been having a hard time dealing with Bonnie's shit. He had to get Anna back.

"It's okay, let's just forget about it." Bonnie said, thinking that maybe she did treat him more like a child than a man, forgetting that he isn't the emo kid cutting school anymore. She didn't say anything else. She looked out the window watching as raindrops began hitting the window.

…

When they continued to see nothing but more trees and more road, Jeremy decided to make a quick u-turn to go back the way they came, turning sharply on the wet pavement caused them to hydroplane. As Jeremy frantically pushed down on the brakes the car crossed into the opposite lane running over debris blown into the street.

Suddenly a loud pop was heard and the car swerved wildly slinging the occupants of the vehicle about. Jeremy, trying to gain control, turned the wheel harshly overcorrecting, causing them to spin uncontrollably. The car spun several times ending in a shallow ditch just missing hitting a tree by a mere few feet.

...

They walked several miles, Bonnie was sure, in the dark, along the road at first until they thought they saw lights to which they tried to follow, however wherever the lights where they didn't find them, getting turned around in the dense foliage of the woods. Bonnie saw what looked like a path and decided to follow it instead of just aimlessly walking.

She had grabbed her phone from the car hoping to get a faint signal, but there was nothing and then her phone died, luckily for her she also grabbed her charger. Jeremy snickered at her for just bringing her purse and nothing else until being encumbered with his suitcase began to grate on his nerve, which didn't take long.

He left the suitcase along the way opting to get it later after they got assistance. It was late and Bonnie doubted they would get roadside assistance at such a late hour, but she said nothing. She didn't want to start another argument. She figured his things would still be wherever they left them.

They were soaking wet when they knocked on the door of a house located in the middle of the woods. It looked like it might be deserted, there were no outside lights on and no vehicles visible, but in the dark it was hard to see much of anything. The night sky was cloudy although the rain had stopped, there was a quarter moon which gave little light when it wasn't covered by the clouds.

Bonnie had a weird sense of foreboding, or maybe it was deja vu or at the very least a feeling of being in a really bad horror movie where the protagonists were about to make a stupid decision.

Walking up to the house, behind Jeremy, Bonnie noticed, even in the dark, that it didn't seem as if it was in disrepair, but there was an ominous feeling to it. Maybe not ominous she chided herself, but unwelcoming or maybe stoic.

She didn't walk up the steps, but rather opted to stand in the shadows. It wasn't fear that made her hesitant but a feeling of anxiety. It washed over her making her uncomfortable; she was expecting something and not sure if it was good or bad.

To be fair to her senses, the house was stuck out in the middle of nowhere and therefore could be the home of some psycho killer, yet she didn't feel like she was in danger, but every stupid girl in the movies probably felt that way, she surmised. In the dark part of her mind she thought better for Jeremy to go first so I have time to run if need be. As quickly as that thought rose to the surface, she rebuked it, scolding herself for having such wicked thoughts.

She wondered what was going on with her, of late, her thoughts were darker and at times morose. Sometimes thinking of her friends or Mystic Falls caused her to erupt in surges of rage. She felt caged in, a caricature of herself, a lesser representation of herself. She needed to talk to Grams because she was afraid she was becoming like Abby. Maybe she inherited her mental instability. She could be losing her mind, but a small voice cautioned back, maybe they are driving you crazy….maybe he is...maybe you should let go?

Shaking her out of her reverie, she heard Jeremy knocking on the door. Jeremy knocked again when there was no answer or visible movement from inside the house after the first knock. After a few minutes, causing them to believe the house was empty, slowly the door crept opened. A man with strikingly blue eyes, that Bonnie could see through the dark, stood looking at Jeremy with mild curiosity and hursh irritation written all over his countenance.

"What do you want?" Said the man rather brutishly with a smooth accented voice that did something to Bonnie's senses. It sounded like an English accent but with a distinct hint of another accent, maybe Scandinavian or something close. At any rate, it tickled Bonnie's senses...all of them.

"We broke down a few miles back. We were hoping we could use your phone." Jeremy said, using the pronoun 'we' hoping it garnered more sympathy since most people would be more inclined to help a man if he was with a woman.

"No." The refusal was short and the voice clipped. The tone left no room for begging, bartering or any other form of persuasion. He was in a dark mood and entertaining unwelcome visitors was not on his list of things to do.

Jeremy looked at the stranger with anger, shocked into silence at his refusal to help. He just stood there not knowing what to say since what he wanted to say was fuck you, but there was something about the man that made him pause.

"You may leave now. Get off my property." The stranger ordered.

Bonnie walked out of the shadows grabbing onto Jeremy's arm, she urged him, "Come on, the rain has stopped, we can walk back to the car or maybe find someone else to help us."

As they started walking away they heard his voice, "Perhaps I was a bit hasty. How far away did you say you left your vehicle?"

"About six miles or so." Bonnie elaborated as she turned around.

"Forgive me, I was rather rude, please allow me to be a good samaritan and offer my home to you." Said the stranger, now very interested in the couple standing in front of him, moreso the woman. In his haste to be rid of the unwanted intrusion he hadn't paid attention to the woman hiding in the shadows, but now he could smell her and her scent was, of course, divine.

"Are...are you sure? We don't want to be an inconvenience." Bonnie asked nervously, not missing his sudden interest and hospitality. Serial killer was flashing in her head like a bright red neon sign. She also didn't miss the change in posture and tone of his voice now velvety smooth and inviting. It seemed now he was oozing with charm and contrition. Bonnie's head was telling her no, but her body was saying yes with a capital Y.

"Bonnie, fuck, you heard the man, don't try to talk him out of helping," Jeremy whispered in a hiss, but the stranger heard him and his eyes turned a dark shade of yellow and quickly changed back to icy oceanic blue.

"I insist. It would be my pleasure, please," he offered as he extended his hand and opened the door wider ushering her in. Jeremy not taking the hint, walked in first in front of Bonnie. As she walked by she noticed the stranger's expression of disgust at Jeremy's non chivolous ways, she lowered her head in embarrassment. "Thank you." She said as she passed over the threshold.

"Never look down. One such as you should never hold her head down." The stranger sternly replied as he closed the door behind her.

…

The stranger ushered them into his study, motioning for them to sit near the fire. "I will get you towels to dry off. But first would you like a drink to warm you, I have the smoothest bourbon this side of the Mason Dixon line," he asked as he walked to his small bar, preparing himself a drink.

"Yea, thanks, I'll have a beer," Jeremy said crassly.

The stranger looked to Bonnie, she nodded, "Yes please, a shot of bourbon. Would you possibly have any tea as well?"

Jeremy scoffed, " Really Bon, seriously? I have never heard of drinking bourbon then chasing it with tea. It's weird for sure, a girly thing, must be." Jeremy smiled at the stranger assuming he would agree with him, yet he missed the deadly look in his eyes.

"Would you like your tea with bourbon?" The stranger asked with a wink to Bonnie.

She smiled, "No, shot first, I like the burn, then the tea to soothe."

"It's not often that you find a woman that knows the importance of soothing the burn without killing the effect. I am afraid that Theresa, my housekeeper isn't here tonight, I hope you don't mind my poor manish attempt at making a perfect pot of tea." He offered with a chuckle.

"I am sure you are quite capable. Do you have vervain or rosemary?"

The stranger arched his brow, but quickly schooled his face, "I am unaware of vervain as a tea, although I hear it has other rather unique uses due to its properties."

"Oh, yes it does wonders for migraines and insomnia…some folklore says it wards off creatures of the night and such...if you believe in that sort of thing," Bonnie blushed, "But anyway, if you don't have it that's okay... chamomile will do nicely." Bonnie rambled out quickly having seen his expression, thinking that she may have offended him somehow.

Jeremy shook his head, "Bonnie stop embarrassing yourself, you know you believe in all that hocus pocus crap. You sound crazy just like your grandmother. You fill your head full of all that nonsense." He said, sounding disgusted.

"Jeremy, just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it isn't real or doesn't have merit." She scoffed back at him softly.

"Well, I agree that there is much that humans do not know and may never know until at the moment of their death." The stranger said. There was an ominous and almost threatening tone to the comment, but with his matter-of-factly candace coupled with his pleasant accent belied the danger making Bonnie wonder if she had imagined it. Then he continued sweetly, "And yes I know we have chamomile tea, Theresa swears by it." He smiled and Bonnie was sure she imagined the sinister undertone.

During their discussion he handed Bonnie her drink. To Jeremy he said, "I find today's concept of ale to be a slight step above piss-water which is why I do not keep such beverages stocked in my bar. However I am sure that Theresa has something else in the kitchen that would be more to your liking, perhaps milk, juice or water?"

Bonnie nearly choked on her glup of the fiery liquid. Jeremy looked at her with a guarded gaze, returning his attention back to the tall, dark-blonde gentleman standing in front of him, he replied, "Nah...I'll take that glass of bourbon then, thanks." He hated the smirk on the other man's face.

Jeremy inched closer to Bonnie stroking her thigh. He didn't like the way the guy was watching her and talking to her and he definitely didn't like the way Bonnie was reacting to him.

"By the way my name is Niklaus Mikaelson and I have gathered already that you, enchantress, are Ms. Bonnie," he took her hand and kissed the back of it, clearly not as concerned with Jeremy's show of possession as Jeremy wanted. "It is very nice to make your acquaintance." Then he moved away ignoring Jeremy.

"I'm Jeremy, her boyfriend," he said. Without missing a beat Niklaus replied, " A woman shouldn't have a boyfriend, she should have a man. Now, if you will excuse me I will go prepare your tea and bring you some towels." And with a slight bow towards Bonnie he walked away leaving the two alone.

…