Traitor – Part 1

Summary: Season 6 – Damon and Bonnie come back from the prison world together, and Elena never erased her memories. They try to pick up where they left off but Damon eventually realizes that he may see Bonnie as more than just a friend. Written from Elena's POV.

Song Inspiration: Traitor – Olivia Rodrigo

And ain't it funny
How you ran to her
The second that we called it quits?

And ain't it funny
How you said you were friends?
Now it sure as hell don't look like it

You betrayed me
And I know that you'll never feel sorry
For the way I hurt, yeah
You'd talk to her
When we were together
Loved you at your worst
But that didn't matter

It took you two weeks
To go off and date her
Guess you didn't cheat
But you're still a traitor

…

Elena woke up to the sound of voices coming from downstairs. She groaned looking at the clock; 6:43am. Instinctively, she rolled over to cuddle into Damon and try to grab at least another hour, but was met with cold sheets. She got out of bed with a frown, slipping into her long silk robe and padded down the stairs. As she got closer, she realized that the voices were mixed with laughter, and it was coming from the kitchen.

Her brows shot up at the scene in front of her. "Wow…what exploded in here?" she chuckled sardonically, trying to keep the hostility out of her tone at the very domestic display.

Bonnie smiled at her friend from her perch in the corner of the counter top. "Damon is trying to make pancakes, and he's failing…horribly." She nudged him with her bare toe in the back and he light-heartedly swatted at it with the hand towel as he tried to clean up the mess the electric mixer had made. "You'd think after making pancakes everyday for four months, he'd master it by now."

He narrowed his eyes at her playfully. "Hush you." He came around the kitchen island and kissed Elena on the cheek. "Sorry, did we wake you?" he turned and went back to whipping the batter.

A frown creased her brow. A kiss on the cheek? She pulled her robe around her tighter. "Uh, no…I was already up." She lied, running a hand through her hair. Her eyes landed back on Bonnie, who was swinging her legs munching on blueberries from the bowl beside her. "So…what's with the early breakfast?" She came around to sit that the counter stool, eyeing the uncharacteristically chipper mood her boyfriend was in.

"Trying to come up with a game plan. We lost our trigger for Caroline when Stefan flipped the switch. Now we need to find a trigger for Stefan, so he can trigger Blondie and we can all work on taking care of the real problem; which is Kai." Damon explained pouring his second batch of pancakes in the pan.

"I don't see how Kai is our biggest issue right now. Since the merge, he's actually been pretty tolerable. He feels bad for everything he's done." Elena said casually.

Bonnie's face hardened and Damon looked back at her knowingly. "Yeah…I'm not buying it. Kai doesn't have feelings." Damon bit out, shooting Elena a look to drop it.

She didn't pick up on it. "I don't know, I think Luke's qualities have changed him. He came by the hospital the other day to apologize to Jo; said he's trying to make amends for all the people he's hurt. He said he wanted to apologize to you too." She added, looking up to Bonnie.

"That psycho is not getting anywhere near Bonnie. I will tear his head off myself." Damon snapped, flipping the pancakes rather aggressively.

Elena shrugged. "Maybe it will be-"

"Elena!" Bonnie cut her off sharply, as she hopped off the counter. "I don't care about what he needs to feel better about himself. I don't want to see him, I don't want to talk to him, I don't even want to hear his name. He can rot in hell for all I care." She uttered darkly before leaving the kitchen.

The brunette's mouth dropped open in shock at the attitude she was getting from her best friend. "I just think her hearing that he's genuinely sorry would help her heal." she explained to Damon with a slump of her shoulders. Her voice lowered. "She's been different since she's been back, Damon."

Damon dropped what he was doing placing both palms on the counter. "Of course, she is. She was stabbed, siphoned, and hunted by a self-serving sociopath that murdered two thirds of his own family. She'll never be the same." he added with sympathy. He never really went into depth with Elena on what exactly happened in the prison world, and part of him didn't want to burden her with it either. When Bonnie was ready to talk about it with the others she would, but right now he knew she was still processing being back, just like he was. It had only been a couple weeks, and coming back to find out that Liz died was more than enough to keep them distracted; since then, they had just been going through the motions dealing with each thing as it came. He glanced toward the other room, before gesturing to the stove. "Mind watching this?" He didn't give Elena time to respond, and he was rushing out to the parlor room, where Bonnie was slamming back the rest of her drink. "Uh oh…my drinking habits really have rubbed off on you." he joked as he approached.

She scoffed cynically. "Yeah…your temper too." she darted her eyes to him with a little smirk. "I didn't mean to snap at her like that…It just makes me so angry that she can see anything redeemable in him."

Damon soothing rubbed his hands up and down her shoulders. "Hey, she just doesn't understand. What we went through, how K-" Bonnie shot him a glare. "He who shall not be named hurt you…she might never understand. But I do, and I'm not going to let him hurt you ever again, do you hear me?" She nodded with a relieved smile.

Elena listened from the other room, feeling a twinge of bitterness at the gentle tone he took with her. She was shocked by the friendship that had blossomed between them in the short four months that they had been in the prison world, just like everyone else, but Elena welcomed their friendship in the beginning. She was glad that her best friend and boyfriend were finally getting along. But what she didn't expect was for them to be so close. She didn't expect Bonnie to run to Damon whenever there was a problem, or have him light up when he saw her name on his phone, or see them playfully banter while making breakfast in her kitchen. What she also wasn't anticipating was Damon pulling away from her. Since they'd been back, Damon was distant. He still kissed her and they shared a bed, but the intimacy was lacking. At first, she chalked it up to him needing to readjust…but now she wasn't so sure.

They shared breakfast together, the three of them, with Elena mostly observing the easy back and forth between them.

"So now, I'm stuck in political sciences because that's all that was left. But I guess that's what I get for dying in the middle of the semester." she joked as she shoveled a bite of pancakes into her mouth.

Damon chuckled. "Well, I for one, think you would make an excellent president."

"Ha!" She narrowed her eyes on him. "And when exactly would I have the time to run the country when I'm too busy saving your ass?"

Damon raised his brows, cutting into his pancakes. "I will admit, it is a full-time job."

Elena jumped in. "I could compel Professor Raskin to let you into my psychology class."

Her eyes widened. "No, that is the last thing I need right now. It's fine, it could be fun. I love a good debate." Bonnie directed at Elena, but it was Damon who snorted a laugh.

"And don't I know it." he mumbled under his breath cheekily.

She kicked him under the table with a tight plastic smile. "You know what else I love? That brain melty thing you hate."

Damon's eyes held a spirited brightness as he leaned forward tauntingly. "Oh, I dare you Bon-bon. Honestly I was beginning to think you've gone soft."

"Wanna find out?" she shot back snippily.

Elena let out a nervous laugh. "Okay children…simmer down."

Damon and Bonne stared each other down for a long second before they both burst out laughing.

An hour later, Damon walked Bonnie out – she had to head to class and when he turned back, he saw Elena scowling at him with her arms crossed. "What?" he asked cluelessly.

"What the hell was that, Damon?"

He blinked. "You say that as if I'm supposed to know what you're talking about."

She huffed a laugh looking skyward. "You should! I've been quiet about it for the last couple weeks but it's getting a little hard to ignore. What happened over there?" He shook his head confused. "What happened in the prison world between you and Bonnie?" She clarified.

He frowned, reeling back with a tilt of his head. "Please tell me you're joking." he uttered in a quiet but fierce timber.

She shrugged a shoulder, her lips pursing in irritation. "I wish I was, but after what I just witnessed…" she pointed grandly to the kitchen, "I'm having a hard time joking about anything right now."

Damon crossed the floor to her his shoulders pulled back defensively. "She's my best friend!"

She flicked the hair out of her face. "Well, what it looked like was you and Bonnie playing house in our kitchen!"

"Have you completely lost your mind!?" he bellowed back at her, his eyes wild with anger and disbelief. "There is nothing going on between me and Bonnie! How could you even think that?" He was thrown; the veins in his neck bulged.

Elena threw her arms in the air. "Can you blame me? You barely touch me anymore, Damon!" he shook his head turning away from her with a scoff. "Every time she comes around, it's like I'm looking at a totally different person! She reaches you in ways that I can't; you laugh with her, you comfort her. It's almost like she knows you better than I do!" She rambled on, getting out all the thoughts that had been rolling around in her head for weeks.

"You are acting paranoid, Elena!" he exclaimed exasperatedly. "I love you! I literally went through time and space to come back to you!"

"And yet I've never felt further away from you than I do right now." Elena stated miserably.

"Oh…I'm sorry." He glared, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sorry that I died! I'm sorry that being trapped in a supernatural purgatory for the last four months changed me, but I can't just pick up where we left off like nothing ever happened! The last couple weeks haven't exactly been a cake walk."

She threw her arms up. "How would I know, Damon?! It's not like you talked to me about what you went through over there. It's like this big secret the two of you have." Elena blinked away tears. "You think I had it easy? I had to spend the last four months mourning the both of you!" There was so much more she wanted to say, but she knew it would only cause a bigger argument. "Just tell me I'm wrong. Tell me that while you two were alone over there that you didn't feel something for her." She asked with quiet desperation.

Damon released a breath, dropping his eyes to the ground briefly. "Bonnie was all I had to cling onto over there. Day in and day out, she was there…grounding me, giving me hope. What I feel for her…I can't explain it. We bonded." Elena's eyes cast down and she bit her lip trying to keep from crying. "I know that's not what you want to hear…but I promise you; nothing ever happened between us." He stressed, putting emphasis on each word. "I would never do that to you, Elena."

Tears shone in her eyes as she caught his gaze, and she believed him. "Okay." She nodded demurely, gnawing on her lip.

He pulled her into a hug, and she allowed herself to feel comforted by it, but too soon he pulled away, kissing the top of her head. "I need to track down Stefan…before anyone else gets hurt. Do you need a ride to campus?"

She shook her head, and he glided passed her to the door, literally slipping through her fingers.

.

Tracking Stefan down was just an excuse to get out of the house, if he was honest. Elena's inquisition did more than raise a few questions of his own. He thought he had it under control; he thought that when he got back and saw Elena for the first time in months, he'd be able to let go of what ever feelings had developed for the witch. But if anything, they intensified. He felt like he couldn't get through his day without seeing her, or hearing her voice, even if just to make sure she was okay. He hadn't lied – nothing ever happened between them; but he knew that he wasn't alone in his feelings. He could see it every time her gaze lingered on him. Not once had they acted on it; it was the giant elephant in the room they never talked about, but it didn't make it any less wrong.

He sat at Skull bar for what felt like hours, trying to process his thoughts, and as if he manifested her, Bonnie slipped onto the stool next to him. "Hey…you okay?" She tilted her head to look at him, her beautiful green eyes filled with concern.

He turned his head and couldn't help the smile that cracked his face. "Yeah, I'm good Bon." He eyed the worn grimoire she placed on the bar. "Studying?"

"I'm trying to find something in here that we can use against Stefan, maybe try and evoke some kind of emotion…I'm coming up empty. What are you doing here? Elena doesn't have classes today, I thought you'd be hanging out with her."

Damon didn't even know. He debated on a lie, which was sitting on the tip of his tongue, but he knew she'd call him out. "We had a fight…about you." He added lowly, gauging her reaction with a wince. He was expecting her to let out a nervous laugh, or call him ridiculous but she let out a trembling sigh and dropped her eyes to her fidgeting fingers. "You know why, don't you?"

She nodded, too afraid to meet his penetrating cobalt stare. "I'm trying, Damon. I thought that when we got back, things would be easier, you know? I could distance myself from you and try to work things out with Jeremy." Bonnie scoffed cynically; in reality she ended up distancing herself from Jeremy instead. She raised her eyes and found that his were searching hers intensely. "But…I can't help how I feel." She added dejectedly. Damon was shocked into silence, mouth parted as he tried to come up with a reply. "I'm sorry, I'm gonna go." She grabbed her grimoire shoving it in her bag, and rushed off, ignoring his gentle call to her.

He waited, blinking, wondering if he'd just imagined it before running out after her. "Bonnie!" He jogged after her, and grabbed her arm forcing her to face him. Tears shined in her eyes, but she swiped them away, as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Neither can I." he whispered, his gaze darting all over her face adoringly. "I've buried it for so long because I know that it's not right…but I won't lie to you, and I won't lie about what I want." His knuckles brushed along her cheek and her eyes closed.

"But we can't." She whispered back. "We can't do that to Elena." She asserted appalled as she pulled his hand off her face.

He nodded, keeping hold of her hands. "I know. But something changed for me…I love her, but I don't know if I can love her the way she needs me to...not anymore. Not when I'm in love with someone else." Damon waited with bated breath as her eyes widened in realization. When he told Elena he loved her for the first time, he was terrified, even knowing that she wouldn't remember it. But telling Bonnie was a weight off his shoulders; he'd never felt more confident about anything. "I love you Bonnie, and I know there's a part of you that loves me too."

Tears fell down her cheeks unchecked. "I do, you know I do." She confirmed in a small voice "…but Elena is my best friend. This would destroy her. I just-I can't…" Bonnie carefully extracted her hands from his and with one last look of longing, she took off down the street.

Damon's heart sunk to the bottom of his chest as he watched her go.

…

As the days turned into weeks, tensions grew high. Caroline and Stefan were ripping through students, Bonnie and Damon had been doing their best to focus on anything but each other, and it was making them both miserable. They played it off as best they could around the others, but Damon was finding it hard to keep himself from snapping and it manifested into fights and bickering matches with Elena nearly every day.

"What do you want me do, Elena! We've tried everything! Caroline didn't fall for the letter, and with the body count Stefan's racking up, why would he want to feel all that guilt?!" He yelled storming through the front door with her hot on his heels.

"We have to keep trying! I'm not going to give up on them!" she shouted at his back.

"I'm not saying you have to! We should have just given her what she wanted; if any vampire could handle it, it's Caroline. But no, you just had to poke the bear." He grumbled with annoyance.

Her brows shot up. "Oh, so now this is my fault?! Weren't you the one that told Stefan to let her down easy?"

Damon pulled a face. "Don't put this back on me! Stefan's a big boy; he can make his own decisions! This is about you needing to be in control of everything! Elena knows what's best for everyone; do as I say but not as I do, right?" He seethed, his eyes widening as he rounded on her.

Her mouth dropped open and she huffed a humorless laugh. "And let's not forget who forced me to turn it off in the first place! Or did you forget that minor detail?" she sneered in response glaring at him as she stormed up the stairs.

Damon stalked after her. "I did what I had to! You were falling apart; it was the only way you'd get through it! And you did!"

She shook her head, continuing up the stairs without glancing back at him. "But it was my choice, Damon. And you took that from me!"

He rolled his eyes, throwing his arms in the arm. "Oh, here we go again! You know, it's funny when that only matters when it's your choice, Elena! What about Caroline's choice?"

Elena pushed open the bedroom door so aggressively that Damon had to stop it from swinging back and hitting him. "I'm just looking out for my friend. She has no idea what a huge mistake this is."

Damon was feeling drained and increasingly frustrated. "Well, maybe you should let her make her own mistakes! Caroline has been a vampire a lot longer than you; she doesn't need your protection."

She stopped in the middle of the room before spinning around, fixing him with a vexed glare; her lips pulled in a thin line. "Okay…what if it was Bonnie?"

He reeled back, confused by the sudden shift. They hadn't talked about Bonnie since that morning in the foyer and he suddenly felt like he was being pulled under water. "What?"

Her hip cocked and her crossed her arms. "You heard me. What if it was Bonnie, and you were worried about her. Are you telling me you wouldn't do the same thing?" she challenged.

"That's completely redundant; Bonnie's not a vampire." He countered immediately. The water was crawling up his neck.

She slowly walked towards her him, her words careful and calculated. "If Bonnie was a vampire and she wanted to turn off her humanity…would you let her do it, or would you stop her?"

The water was just under his nose. "I'm not doing this with you." He turned to walk away but her voice stopped him.

"You wouldn't, would you. Because you know it would ruin her. I get it now." Her eyes turned skyward as it all started to make sense. "You were selfish with me. You forced your way into my life, and made me fall in love with you…made me bend my morals, question everything I thought I felt so sure about. I thought that being with me changed you, but actually it changed me." She realized with bitterness, as levelled Damon with a hard glance. "And it's different with her, isn't it? She changed you. No, you changed…for her." She couldn't help being angry; not just at him, but at herself for letting her love for Damon cloud her judgement.

He was in over his head now, looking up at the surface as he was dragged under. He channeled it all into rage as he turned back to her. "Well, I'm sorry that falling in love with me was such an inconvenience to you. I never asked for this; I was ready to walk away from you, because that's what you wanted! But you kept pulling me back in. You think I forced my way into your life? Then let me make this easy on you." He took a deep breath, steeling his resolve. "This isn't working anymore; I know you know that. We're over, Elena." He uttered sadly, his words barely above a whisper. "We have to be."

She nodded, staring at a spot on the floor in a haze as she cried silently. She knew this was coming; they fought too much, and when they weren't fighting, they were barely talking. They had broken up before, but this time she knew there was no going back. They were done; they had exhausted the relationship to its breaking point and there wasn't anything left to recover even if they wanted to.

Damon blinked, feeling the water recede and he felt like he could breathe again. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'll find a place to stay for the next few days…give you some time." It felt wrong to say it, but the implication was there. Give you some time to move out. She let out a quiet 'Mhm', and he leaned forward kissing her forehead slowly. "Goodbye, Elena." He walked away briskly, fighting his own emotions.

It wasn't until she heard the door close behind him, that she finally let herself crumble to the floor in anguished sobs.

…

2 Weeks Later:

The word was out; news travelled fast in their group even though it was fractured at the moment. Damon had isolated himself, focused solely on getting Stefan back and was successful finally. He had to dig deep into their childhood for a memory of their mother; the angel young Stefan had sworn visited him after she died. Stefan was able to trigger Caroline's humanity, by telling her everything she longed to hear…the truth.

Elena had moved back to the dorms and Bonnie moved back to her Grams' house. Their friendship had been strained; they hadn't discussed anything, but they both knew the reason.

Bonnie was restless. Her thoughts were racing about what Damon had told her that day in the street and what this all meant. Now that he and Elena were over, what did that mean for them? The last two weeks she was able to distract herself by dealing with Caroline and school, but now she was home and left with nothing but her thoughts.

Just as she was about to head to bed, she heard a pounding on the door; it was frantic and loud, so immediately she was on guard as she flipped the blankets off her, threw on her robe and padded to the front door ready for anything. When she opened the door, the last thing she expected was to see Damon; hands braced on either side of the frame, chest heaving and an unbridled glint in his eyes. His tongue ran over his lip as he set eyes on her for the first time in weeks; she was in dark purple silk camisole, and matching shorts, covered only by the long fluffy blue robe that she neglected to tie up in her haste. The moonlight highlighted her face making her eyes an even brighter green.

"Damon…" She swallowed thickly, taking in his wild appearance. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at her through thick lashes. "Invite me in." he demanded heatedly.

Her stomach tightened and her heart raced. "Come in." He held her gaze for a moment longer before he rushed in, picking her up into his arms and guiding them to the opposite wall as he kissed her with all the passion that had been building between them for the last few months. She succumbed to him instantly, melting into his body and locking her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Their tongues duelled fervently, their hands moving over each other desperately.

Damon took a moment to rest his forehead on hers, breathing her in. "I couldn't stay away. Tell me, Bonnie, please…" his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. "I need to hear you say it." He whispered softly against her lips, his eyes closing when he felt her weave her fingers into his raven locks.

She pulled back slightly, waiting for him to look at her, and her when he did, her eyes darted between the deep pools of cerulean. He was staring at her in a way no man had ever looked at her before; so open and vulnerable, like her next words would make him or break him. She knew what he needed to hear. "I love you." She smiled brightly with a little laugh, as it dawned on her just how badly she had wanted to say it. "I love you, Damon."

He smiled back, a genuine toothy grin that had lately only been reserved for her and crushed his lips hers again, in a slower intimate kiss. "I love you too."

…

Elena eyed them from across the Grill. To their credit, they weren't flaunting the fact that were seeing each other for all to see, but she could smell them all over each other. It had been three months since the break up, and it didn't take long for him to move on. At least Bonnie had the decency to come to her and explain everything and apologize, but Elena knew her relationship with Damon wouldn't have lasted, with or without Bonnie in the picture. It didn't make it any less difficult to see them together.

Bonnie placed her hand on his briefly and then disappeared into the crowd to get them some drinks, and Elena took a deep breath, slipping out of her booth and walking up to the pool table where he was standing.

"Hey." She announced shortly. They hadn't talked since the day he left, and suddenly her nerves were getting the best of her.

He seemed surprised, even though she knew he saw her when they walked in. "Elena…hey." His eyes darted in Bonnie's direction.

"I know she's here too…it's okay. I get it." Her eyes landed on Bonnie, who was chatting with Matt as he poured the drinks. "She looks happy…happier than I've ever seen her." Ugh, why was this so hard? "So do you."

He released a tense breath, leaning on the pool queue. "I am. Are you…?" okay was what he wanted to ask, but she cut him off.

"I'm getting there." She forced a smile, but it slowly fell as she steeled herself for the question, she had been dying to know for the last couple months. "Did you love her, while we were still together?"

His gaze dropped. "Elena…"

"Just tell me the truth. Please? I think you owe me at least that." She pressed gently.

He nodded, unable to meet her sad brown eyes. "Yes." She was silent, and he risked a glance. "But I swear, Elena I never cheated on you." He explained earnestly.

She hardened, her lip curling slightly as her eyes turned cold. "I guess not…" Bonnie was slowly walking over, her wide eyes meeting with Elena's. "But you're still a traitor." She turned and stormed out of the Grill, leaving a devastated Bonnie and a grimacing Damon in her wake.

…

AN: I hope you like this one! There will be a part 2 for this storyline with another Oliva Rodrigo song. I feel like these two go hand in hand, so please stay tuned! I know it would seem a bit off base for Bonnie to start a relationship with Damon so soon after his break up with Elena, but this 'post prison world Bonnie' stopped putting Elena first and started thinking about her own happiness.

I want to thank you for your review on the previous chapters! I look forward to reading them, and it's truly inspiring, so keep em coming lol.

Also, I'm not sure if it's just me, but I love writing Damon/Elena fights! Almost as much as I love writing Damon/Bonnie banter. More will come, rest assured! Please review! - Vanessa