Why You Gotta Be So Cold? – Part III

Fourteen Years & Nine Months Ago:

Damon nursed his fourth drink, sitting at the local bar. It was only three months ago that Bonnie had walked out on him, and he was still trying to figure out what happened. He talked to her dad, her brother, all of her friends…no one could make heads of tails of it, they were just as surprised as he was. No one knew where she was, or why she left; all Rudy got was a phone call from her two months ago saying she was safe, and staying with her Aunt Lucy while she got on her feet. News traveled fast, and it wasn't long before people were whispering about all the possibilities.

For the most part he was able to ignore it, but when he overheard the drunken slur of the guy next to him, who clearly didn't realize who he was, the silent rage he brewed over the last few months came to a boil.

"You heard that Bennett girl hightailed it outta town? It's a damn shame; boy would I have liked to roll in the hay with that one." Damon stood slowly finishing his drink before he reached over and slammed the guy's head into the bar. That got the attention of everyone around them and earned a groan of pain from the guy in question.

"Hey…" he glanced at the name tag on his coveralls. "Jim. You know who I am?" he fixed him with a heated glare, as he pushed his face to the bar.

He nodded, blood spilling from his mouth. "Yeah…yeah, I know who are." He mumbled in fear. Damon had made a name for himself around here; anyone who fought him never wanted to again, and those that hadn't prayed they never did.

"So, then you know that the woman you talked about fucking is my woman…right?" his grip tightened on his cheek, pushing harder in the solid mahogany counter.

"Look, man! I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here, Damon, I swear." He pleaded.

Damon leaned down, whispering in his ear. "You never talk about her again, you hear me? Don't even think about her. 'Cause if I find out you're running your mouth – and trust me, I will find out; I will cut your tongue out and feed it to the wolves. Am I clear?"

"Yeah, yeah! You're clear!" he exclaimed.

Damon released him and when he turned around, nearly everyone in the bar was looking at him. His gaze hardened, and he grabbed the bottle of bourbon from over the counter. "Mac…" the bartender nodded at him. "Put it on my tab, will you?"

"You got it Damon." He smiled, unconcerned about the bloodied patron. He and Damon went way back, and the rules of the bar didn't necessarily apply to him. "Alright, alright…" he spoke to Jim's friends. "Get him out of here."

Damon sauntered out, pulling the spout from the bottle and tossing it to the side as he took deep pull. No one every said anything about Bonnie after that; not to him, or to anyone else. He let out a deep sigh in the cold winter air, when the doors of the bar closed behind him. He thought he was alone, but someone leaning on the brick wall caught his peripheral.

"Hey…" the man pointed at him with a smirk. "You're Damon Salvatore, right? You work on the Bennett Ranch."

Damon eyed him suspiciously. He looked familiar, but couldn't place him. "Who's asking?"

"I'm Jamie's friend…Kol Mikaelson." He held out a hand and Damon shook it. "Care for a drinking partner?"

"Why not." Damon handed him the bottle and leaned against the wall with him.

.

One Month Later:

With the phone to her ear, Lucy looked to her niece, who shook her head. "She's not here right now Damon." He had been calling almost every day in the hopes he'd get a different answer, but so far, she had avoided him.

On the other end of the line, Damon let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand over his face. "Lucy, please…I need to talk to her. I just need to hear her voice; I need to know she's okay."

"She is okay. And when she's ready, she'll talk to you." It broke her heart to say it. "You have to let her go, sweetheart." Lucy had known Damon from when he first got to the ranch, and watching her niece fall head over heels in love with him reminded her of Abby and Rudy.

The pain was evident in his voice. "I can't. Lucy, you tell her that I need to hear from her…or I'm gonna come down there and she can tell me to my face." He promised sternly, before hanging up.

Lucy hung up the phone, and turned to Bonnie. "You're going to have to talk to him sooner or later."

She scoffed. "And tell him what?" Bonnie spread her arms, exposing her growing belly. "How do I explain this, Aunt Lucy?"

"Well, the truth is a good place to start. You didn't do anything wrong, Bon…and neither did he; why are you punishing him?" she asked sitting on the couch next to her.

"I'm not…but I just…I can't face him. Not after what happened." She admitted miserably. "I can barely face myself." It had been a hard choice; and she sat outside the abortion clinic for over an hour before she left without going in. She showed up on her aunt's doorstep, crestfallen and beaten down begging for help and swearing her to secrecy. Lucy was the closest thing she had left to a mother, and that's exactly who she needed right now.

Lucy tucked a stray lock of hair behind Bonnie's ear. "Well…you need to tell him something, baby. Or he's gonna fly down here and find out for himself."

.

The days seemed to drag on forever, and ever since Bonnie left, Damon had no desire to go home. So, after work, he found himself drinking in the bar until it closed; sometimes alone, sometimes with Kol. He had become a tentative friend over the last few weeks and a welcomed distraction.

It was one in the morning by the time Damon got back home; just enough time for him get in a few hours sleep before he did it all over again. But as he walked past the phone, he saw a blinking red light on the answering machine. His heart leapt. No one knew this number…hell, he didn't even use it himself. Hesitantly he pushed the button, and waited.

"Hey…it's me." Her voice flowed through the room, and Damon slowly sank into the sofa chair. "I know you have questions, and someday I'll have the answers…but right now I just need time. There are things I need to work through…alone." Damon's heart sank at her tone. This was her letting him down easy… "I want you to know that I'm okay, and I'll come back when I'm ready…but you can't come here, Damon." There was a long pause, and he could hear the strain in her words. "I'm not ready to see you. Not yet. Just um…just don't wait around for me, okay?" The linked clicked dead and he listened to it ten times, reading between the lines, trying to find any hidden message in her words contrary to what she really said.

But he didn't find one.

.

Three Months Ago:

Boston, MA

Bonnie sat in her car staring out the window. It was only yesterday she got the call about her dad dying, and her first instinct was to come here. It was a three-hour drive from New York, but that didn't matter. Somehow just seeing her was enough to calm her down. She never made contact; she just watched from afar. The students poured out of the building, and Bonnie sat up straighter when the dark bouncing curls of the girl became visible, laughing and walking with her friends. She was growing up so fast; it was hard to believe that fourteen years ago she held her in her arms for the first time…the only time.

She was so beautiful, but yet came from something so ugly. Her name was Nevaeh, and she had no idea that Bonnie was her mother. The plan was to put her up for adoption, but the second Lucy laid eyes on her she begged Bonnie to let her be her guardian, and Bonnie couldn't tell her no. It gave her peace of mind that she would be in good hands, and her aunt always said that she'd be close enough that should she ever change her mind about being in her life, she would be there…although Bonnie had no intention of it. It was a bitter reminder of the worst night of her life, and it was a tease for a life she could have had.

In a perfect world, Bonnie could tell herself that her daughter was Damon's and not Kol's, and she'd promise to be the mother that she never could be before. But that wasn't the reality, and Nevaeh was better off not knowing how she came to be, how evil her father was, and how utterly broken inside her mother was. Bonnie wiped the tears from her cheeks, and put the car in drive, and pulled away.

.

Bonnie helped bring the newly acquired horses into the stables from the horse trailer, and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the figure in the entrance.

"Well…this looks familiar, doesn't it?" She'd never forget that voice. It haunted her.

"Kol…" Her stomach dropped to the floor, and she cautiously stepped back, but her back hit the wall.

"Hello darling…I'd ask you if you missed me, but I think that answer is clear." He chuckled darkly.

She hardened her glare. "You shouldn't be here."

"Yes, you had your little bodyguard cut me loose. I wonder…what kind of tale did you tell him about our time together?" he closed in on her slowly.

"Damon doesn't know anything, and I want to keep it that way." She kept her scowl firmly in place, and looked the devil right in the face.

His brows shot up in surprise. "Is that so? Just our little secret?" He trailed a hand down her arm, and Bonnie forcefully pushed him back.

"Only because I'd rather not see him through plated glass for the rest of his life." She snarked. "The only reason your still alive, Kol, is because I'm allowing it. So, tread lightly."

He shot her a sinister grin. "Ooh, there's that fire I've been missing all this time!" He grabbed her, pinning her back against the wall, but this time she reacted faster, kneeing him between the legs, and punching him across the face when he keeled over. He rolled on the ground, groaning in pain.

"I am not the weak, innocent little girl you took advantage of all those years ago!" she yelled down to him, all her emotions spilling over the surface. "You don't get to touch me, ever again, you sadistic fuck!"

Despite his pain, Kol still chuckled darkly, looking up at her. "I guess that's why Damon and I get along so well…he's got a bit of a dark streak himself."

"You are disgusting! You rape his girlfriend, and then you have the audacity to befriend him afterwards?!" Her voice was raised to a hysterical scream.

…

Damon was just riding into the ranch from the fields, and was headed towards the stables when he heard the voices.

"You don't get to touch me, ever again, you sadistic fuck!"

A man chuckled. "I guess that's why Damon and I get along so well…he's got a bit of a dark streak himself."

"You are disgusting! You rape his girlfriend, and then you have the audacity to befriend him afterwards?!"

His pace quickened when he rounded the corner and saw Bonnie yelling down at Kol who was just getting to his feet. Seeing red, Damon ran over and grabbed him throwing him against the stable walls, and looked him dead in the eyes as he approached him, noticing the fear there. It was all the evidence he needed. Damon repeated broke Kol's face against his fist, until blood spilled from his mouth and nose. Kol was groaning in agony, bringing his arms up to shield the punches, but Damon slugged him in the stomach so hard he dropped to his knees. He didn't even hear Bonnie calling out to him, trying to bring him back from the edge when Kol lost consciousness.

When his assault slowed, Bonnie finally wrapped her arms around him from the back, kissing his back soothingly as she hushed in his ear. "Damon…come on. Come back to me." His chest heaved as he stared down at Kol's beaten body. She turned his chin so he would face her, and tears were streaking her cheeks like rain down a window. "We're okay." She caressed his face, as he took calming breaths.

"You told me-"

She nodded. "I know what I told you…but I was afraid of what you'd do if you knew the truth." She looked down at Kol. "Which, looks like I wasn't wrong."

"He deserves worse." He nearly growled, cradling her face in his hands, and resting his forehead on hers. "You should have let me kill him."

Bonnie shook her head, licking her lips. "I can't let you do that."

He pulled back, the heat back in his eyes. "Why not?!"

"Because I care about you too much to watch you throw your whole life away over someone like him!" she gestured to the still unconscious man on the ground. "I'd do it myself but…I can't do that to you either." She admitted softly.

The anger left his body, and his shoulders deflated. "Tell me everything. I mean it, Bonnie, I need to know everything that happened; between you and Kol, what happened after, why you left, why you never came back, all of it." He demanded.

Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Bonnie nodded. "Okay…let's go." She held out her hand, and he took it in his unbloodied hand and she led him back up to the house. They passed Jamie and the wranglers on the way, and Damon told them to tie him up and lock him in the stable closet until he came back, and without a question they did as he said.

…

Bonnie sat across from him at the table, wringing her hands nervously as Damon processed the night that Kol attacked her. He was so tense that she could see the blood pulsing through his veins. The minutes dragged on in silence, then he finally cleared his throat.

"I guess that explains why you hated Jamie so much…and why you left, although if you had just told me, we could have gotten through it together. I could have been there for you, Bonnie." He turned hurt eyes to her. "Why did you cut me out? Why didn't you come back?"

Sucking in a deep breath, Bonnie reach for her phone in her back pocket, and flipped through it quickly before turning it towards him on the table. Her eyes pooled with tears as she watched his eyes widen. "She's why. Her name is Nevaeh and she's my daughter, Damon."

"Oh my God…" he breathed, his eyes studying the picture of the girl in the photo. "She looks just like you." A hint of a smile pulled on the corner of his lips. "Wait…she's…?" His smile fell when the realization hit him who the father was.

Bonnie nodded. "I had no idea how to explain it to you, or my dad, so when I found out I was pregnant, I knew I couldn't stay here. I wasn't even going to go through with it, but…she deserved a chance; who was I to take it from her. Aunt Lucy became her legal guardian. They live in Boston now." Her voice trailed off to a broken whisper.

He frowned. "Why isn't she with you?"

Bonnie scoffed ironically, glancing away. "Look at me, Damon. I'm a barely hanging on by a thread. The only thing stable about my life is my career…the rest is in complete shambles. I drink until I pass out just so I don't have to think about the things that keep me up at night. I isolate myself from people so I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not, and so I don't disappoint them by being who I am. How can I be a mother to her, when I can barely keep myself together?"

It broke Damon's heart to know he didn't have the chance to prevent this for her. "Do you love her?" It seemed like a simple question to him, but the deer in headlights look she gave him said it was more complicated than that.

"It's been a long time since I've loved anything." She retorted softly. "I want the best for her…but I'm so detached that…" she cut herself off as she swallowed around the knot in her throat. "I know this sounds terrible, but…sometimes when I look at her, I see him; just for a moment. But in that moment…I hate her. I hate that there's a physical reminder of Kol in my life. Because I tried so hard to forget it." She cried, squeezing her eyes shut.

Damon reached out and pulled her into his side, and she buried her face in his chest as she started to sob. His finger soothingly ran through her hair, and he wrapped him arms around her shaking shoulders. He let her cry out all the emotions she had held in for the last fifteen years, probably longer. She was always the rock; strong, unbreakable…but this time he would be the rock she breaks herself against.

…

Later that night, Damon made sure Bonnie was fast asleep, before he snuck out of bed, and slipped out the front door. She let him hold her all night, and he caught a glimpse of the woman he knew was still in there. Now he had to make it right.

He grabbed his hat and jacket after he pulled on his boots, and headed to the stables. Kol was awake, tied up and looking worse for wear. In a panic, he tried to push to his feet, but slipped, falling back to the ground.

"Damon…don't let her delude you about what really happened. I'm your friend." He cooed convincingly.

Damon held his stare. "I know. Get up." He gestured, keeping his tone low and even.

"She's full of lies…what happened between us was completely consensual." He pushed to his feet slowly.

It took everything in him not to rip his head off. "I know. She told me everything. I'm sorry I did this to you." He let Kol lean on him as he led him out of the closet and through the stables.

"Really?" he glanced at him in surprise. "She told you the truth?"

"Damon grimaced not looking him in the eye. "Yeah. Come on…let's get you to the truck."

Kol braced himself on the black truck as he caught his breath. "Where are we going?"

Damon looked at him hard over the hood. "I'm taking you to the train station."

The ride was silent for the most part, but as they approached the spot, the truck slowed and Damon pulled over to the side, throwing it in park. Kol glanced around nervously. They were in the middle of nowhere, few a few yards passed the state lines, at the edge of a deep canyon. "Why are we stopping? This isn't a train station."

"Hm…funny, because this looks like your last stop." Damon quipped, but there was a hollow glower on his face. "Get out."

"What is this…" He demanded.

Reaching behind the seat, Damon grabbed the shot gun and aimed the barrel at Kol. "I said get out."

Kol clamored out of the truck, falling to the ground, and shuffling backwards as Damon hopped out and approached him, with the gun aimed at his head. "Damon…please, you don't want to do this!" he pleaded pushing to his feet, and holding his hands up, backing up and closing the distance between him and the edge.

"Oh, I really do. You see, we have a saying around here...we live by the law of family. That means the law of man doesn't apply when it comes to the ones we love; and you harmed the only person on the earth that I love." He pulled back the hammer.

"No, no! Damon wait-" He didn't get to finish when the shot was fired and echoed loudly against the rock canyons.

The body fell limply to the ground, and Damon pushed him with his boot until he rolled over the edge. The cavern was so deep and littered with rocks at the bottom that there would be no way anyone would ever be able to get down there to find him. There wasn't a town with a sheriff or police department in sight for 250 miles and as far as he was concerned, he wouldn't be missed.

This was his secret. One he'd never tell Bonnie, if only for her own peace of mind. She deserved to have at least that.

…

One Year Later:

Bonnie lounged in the wooden chair, her summer dress blowing softly in the breeze by her bare feet. The cowboy hat sitting atop her head, as she clicked away on her laptop. Sitting in an office all day seemed so mundane now. It was so peaceful here; it was the healing that she needed, coming home.

She gave up her life in New York severing all ties with the life that no longer served her. All she needed was this ranch, and Damon…her family. All this time she should have known that this was how she could face her demons; by looking them in the face and challenging them right back. Falling back in love with Damon was easier than she thought it would be…it was like coming home too. Now the prospect of starting a family here on this ranch wasn't so scary…but before they could think about a family of her own, she needed to deal with the family she already had.

Damon placed a hand on her head, and tilted it back, leaning down to kiss her lips sweetly, and before he could pull away, she slung an arm around his neck, pulling him in for a deeper kiss. "Mmm…hey cowboy."

He smirked against her lips. "Hey baby. You have a good day?"

She nodded. "Business is booming. I think we need to expand." She closed the computer, and put it on the side table.

Damon chuckled. "Expand? We own the biggest piece of land in Montana."

"I meant expand on our services. Farming cattle will only get us so far. Do you know how much money you can make off horse training competitions? I'm talking crazy money! Enough to pay off all the debts, enough to hire new staff and fix the place up…enough for us to expand our family." Her eyes sparkled when she looked at him. He loved how invested she was in their future now; it had taken her time to push through her bad habits, and work on herself, but slowly he noticed over time that she was happy.

"Then let's do it." He pulled her to her feet. "They're here." He held her gaze and watched as she took a deep breath and nodded as he laced his fingers with hers and they walked from the back yard to around the side to the front driveway.

Her heart slammed in her chest when she saw them; her Aunt Lucy and a young woman how looked so much like herself, but taller. "What if she doesn't like me?"

"You're her mother, she'll love you no matter what." He kissed her knuckles and nudged her forward.

Bonnie walled towards them, first giving her aunt a hug after years apart. As they pulled away, Lucy looked down at Nevaeh. "Honey, this is Bonnie, my niece…she's your biological mother." On the way here, Lucy had briefed her on the basics of what happened, and said Bonnie would be able to explain the rest.

Bonnie held her breath as her daughter looked at her for the first time, and suddenly she felt arms get thrown around her tightly, and tears pooled in her eyes as her arms hugged her back just as tightly. "I saw you…" she whispered. "Outside the school. Now I know why…" She smiled wiping her own tears on her sleeve.

Bonnie wiped the away for her, almost by instinct she slipped into a motherly role. "I'm sorry I wasn't ready before…and I don't expect you to call me mom or anything." She both laughed, and to Damon's ears it sounds the same. "But I'll be your family. I'll be whoever you want me to be."

Nevaeh nodded. "Family sounds good."

Bonnie led them inside and thus began the beginning of the Bennett family legacy.

…

AN: Wooo! What a ride that one was 😉 So many highs and lows, and drama! Sorry it took me longer to get this one up, it's been a busy week for me. Hope you enjoy! I think this chapter will answer some of the questions you guys had too.

Side bar: I'm still working 'Bloodstream' but it took a back seat to this chapter so I'm not close to posting yet. I might get a few chapters written before I post anything just so I have the base down. So bare with me on that one! Until then, I'll still have these one-shots! - Vanessa