AN: So this is going to be the second to last chapter. I have some other ideas I want to get started on, including a dedicated song fic, and my first Supernatural fic. Thanks again to the people that stayed with me through this one. I didn't want to respond to anyone and give away this chapter, but I do greatly appreciate your input and reviews xo - Vanessa

I Had to Know You – Part VIII

We should leave our lovers, we should, we should leave our lovers
I need you like no other, no I'll never find another
No

…

Three Weeks Later:

Bonnie was happy to throw herself into work as a distraction…however, it meant facing Katherine every day, which was starting to become unbearable. She took every case that hit her desk and used it as an excuse to get out of the building or hide in her office. Anything to avoid the reminder of Damon.

It was bad enough she had to see his name every time he called her; work was the only place she could forget about him and yet he haunted her here too. She fought with herself daily on whether she should answer finally or call him back, if only just to give him a piece of her mind; it had changed from devastated into angry almost overnight, and she had questions she wanted answered. But there was a part of her that knew he could convince her to hear him out, and she was far from ready for that. In fact, she wanted to hold onto the anger as long as she could because the alternative was more than she was prepared to deal with. Instead, she used it to fuel her fire. She avoided all trips to the DA's office, anything within walking distance of his apartment and especially Rocco's. Thankfully, New York City was the best place to get lost in.

She'd barely dug into her next case when she heard the knock on her door. "Come in." she called out distractedly.

"You and I are going on a little field trip." Katherine announced as she walked in confidently. She could tell immediately that something was wrong, and a wave of panic flashed over her. "I have a meeting a client on the Upper East Side, and I want you to be there for it." She stated plainly leaving no room for argument.

But Bonnie tried anyways. Driving across town, mid day, in this traffic? She couldn't do the 40 minutes of awkward silence. "Actually, I have a case that-"

"I wasn't asking, Bonnie." She waved off a flippant hand. "Get one of those new associates to deal with the small stuff, you have bigger fish to fry now." She tilted her head to the door. "Let's go."

It was a long drive, and Katherine spent most of it answering emails. Occasionally, she would throw out a comment or two to the driver, on the best route to take to avoid the grid lock.

"What's this about, Katherine?" she asked, carefully veiling the anxiousness she felt.

Kat's gaze bounced to the driver, before looking back to her, silently saying she wasn't about to discuss it with anyone else present. They pulled over on the side of the street finally, and Bonnie found herself looking up at the towering Fifth Ave building. Bonnie was mesmerized as they were let in by the doorman, admiring all the expensive décor and the priceless art on the walls. She never stepped foot in this building before, but she'd passed it numerous times on her runs around central park. Katherine led them up to the penthouse suite, the two of them waiting – her patiently and Bonnie with her heart hammering in her chest.

When the doors opened, it led right into the open concept living room and kitchen. The kitchen was to the right; all white cabinets and countertops standing out against brushed stainless-steel appliances. To her left was a floating staircase that led to the loft style bedroom and on the other side of the living room were doors that led to the terrace. But there was no one here.

She turned to question Katherine, who tossed her keys on the counter and moved into the kitchen. "Drink?" she asked already grabbing two glasses and a bottle of wine from the liquor cabinet.

Bonnie's panic rose into her throat. She was too comfortable here. "Where's the client Katherine?"

With a heavy sigh, her boss turned to her, meeting her eyes before turning them to the task of pouring them both a glass. "There is no client, Bonnie. This is personal."

The younger woman looked around, wheels turning in her head. "This is your place…?" she drawled slowly.

"Mhm. I grew up here. My dad was one of New York's wealthiest and respectable men before he died. A reputation I was forced to uphold my whole life; the Marsha fucking Brady of the upper east side." She uttered bitterly taking a healthy sip. She came over and passed Bonnie the other glass as she moved around the island. "Sit. I'll be right back." She gestured to the L-shaped couch, and her heels clicked on the hardwood floor as she made her way down the hallway.

Bonnie's palms were sweating, and she slammed back half her wine to calm her nerves as she prepared herself for the worst. With a deep breath she sat down, placing her the glass on the coffee table in front of her. She wiped her hands on her skirt nervously. Okay, Bonnie…this wasn't your fault. You didn't know he was married. As she thought that, something else occurred to her…what kind of married couple lived in different houses? Katherine was already coming back, and she dropped a thick envelope in Bonnie's lap before sitting in the fancy lounge chair across from her. "What is this?" she asked.

"Divorce papers." She sighed, crossing her legs and taking another sip. "My loving husband has decided to sever ties." She grumbled. "As you can imagine, this is a bit of a delicate matter for me. Not something I want babbled about by the office gossip. You'll understand why I wanted to be discrete."

She couldn't believe it. Here she thought Katherine was about to confront her, instead she was confiding in her. "I'm sorry." She apologized. Bonnie wasn't sure what she was apologizing for; was it out of sympathy or guilt? Or the fact that it was likely because of her? "What happened?"

Katherine held her stare for a long time. "Another woman."

The guilt was eating at her. "Look, Katherine…"

"Men, right? They think they can stick their dick in anything that walks, then leave you high and dry when they run out of use for you." Bonnie's brows furrowed as she listened. She had no idea what was happening. Did she know? Why were they here? What did she want from her? "Don't you just want to teach them a lesson?" her eyes steeled, pinning the younger woman with a look that she'd seen before in the courtroom; when she was trying to convince the jury.

Bonnie scoffed. She'd thought of a lot of things she'd wanted to do to him.

Katherine uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "I know, Bonnie. I know about you and Damon." Bonnie looked like a deer in headlights. Where did she even begin to start explaining? "He's a charming man; those eyes, that smile…he's hard to say no to." She continued in an even tone, leaving Bonnie unsure of where this was going.

"I'm so sorry, Katherine. I didn't even know he was married, let alone who he was married to." She dropped her gaze to her hands in guilt. "Not like it makes it okay. Nothing should have started with him to begin with."

"It's not you I'm mad at; Damon hurt you just like he hurt me. He lied to you Bonnie. He led you on, made you think that he cared about you when you were just another notch on his very crowded bedpost. Did you think you were the only one?" She cooed feigning sympathy. Bonnie felt her heart sink, tears springing to her eyes. She felt incredibly stupid because she did think she was the only one. He'd told her as much, and she had wanted so badly to believe it. "We deserve better than this, so I say we do something about it."

The younger woman swiped at a tear that fell. Katherine was right. Why was she still crying over a man that broke her heart? She was smarter than this, she was stronger than this. "What did you have in mind?" she asked meeting her stare again.

Katherine smiled. To Bonnie it looked thankful, but there was a glint in her eyes that held a scheming mischievousness.

…

Damon tossed back the shot that was placed in front of him almost immediately, and gestured for another all while his very sober brother watched in concern. "Will you have a drink, for Christ's sake? You're making me look like an alcoholic here." He grumbled, taking the second shot.

"No, I think drinking alone in a bar at one in the afternoon makes you look like an alcoholic, Damon." Stefan responded dryly. His brother had invited him to lunch; he figured a café or a restaurant…not a bar, and by the looks of it, Damon was on a liquid diet. "Wanna tell me what this is all about? You've been avoiding talking about it since we got here."

It was only a week ago when Stefan and Caroline finalized their move back to the east coast, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Damon had been at a low point, so low he had no idea if he could pull himself out of it, but having his brother there was enough to set him straight. Now, he did what he did best, and took every emotion, all the hurt and he shoved it deep down, and pretended like he hadn't just lost everything that meant something to him. "What's there to talk about?" he shrugged.

Stefan scoffed. "Okay, let's see. Well, you quit your job for starters, you've worn the same shirt three days in a row, and every time I even mention Bonnie you shell up." He shot his brother a knowing look when he could practically see the wall come down. "What happened with you two? I thought you guys were going to give it a real shot." Damon had confided in him about his whole relationship with Bonnie, and in all his years, he'd never heard Damon sound so happy. Until a few weeks ago.

Damon sighed regretfully. "We were, but I fucked it all up, okay. What else is new?" he grumbled spinning the empty shot glass absentmindedly. "She works for Kat." He admitted.

Stefan reeled back. "Wait, Kat…as in your ex?" Damon nodded. "And you knew that…but she didn't." Stefan voiced as he put it all together. His brother nodded again. "Why didn't you tell her?" He asked incredulously.

The older Salvatore swung his gaze to him. "Because technically…we were still married." He waited for the onslaught that came with that admission and Stefan didn't disappoint.

"What! After everything she put you through, why?! Damon…" Stefan huffed in frustration his jaw tensing. "I could punch you right now."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Look, it's a long story okay but it's over now…all of it." That night when Bonnie walked away from him for the last time, he promised himself that no matter the consequences, he'd cut that evil, cancerous bitch out of his life once and for all. He signed the divorce papers the next day, and had her served. He pulled out of the running for DA, and he gracefully resigned from his position at the DA office. None of that mattered to him now. All that mattered was Bonnie…and she was gone. He'd called and texted but she never answered; he sat in Rocco's every day hoping to see her on her lunch, but she never showed. And one time, he swore he saw her leaving the courthouse but she was gone before he could be sure.

"So…what's your plan?" Stefan nodded his chin at him.

"Well, I've got a little money saved for a rainy day, so I'm thinking Mexico." He shot his brother a plastic grin.

"I'm talking about Bonnie." Stefan said seriously. "I mean you're not just going to give up, are you?" The Damon he knew wouldn't.

He shrugged. "I don't really have a choice, Stefan! She won't talk to me. She won't answer my calls; I can't go to her work because Katherine's there…I don't even know where she lives. We always met at my place." He grumbled the last part under his breath.

Stefan's brows shot up as an idea sprang to his head. "Well, actually…I think I might be able to help with that."

That got Damon's attention.

…

Just as Damon was approaching the steps of the apartment building two movers were pushing dollies out the front door. He was quick to catch it before it closed behind them, and he took the stairs up to the 3rd floor. He scoped out the numbers as he passed each door in the hallway, looking for 3B. Apparently Bonnie and Caroline had still been in contact, and Caroline had sent her a birthday card about a month ago.

He got to the door, and took in a deep breath before knocking. There was some shuffling on the other side, and he heard her voice before the door swung open. Her eyes were wide, and she shot a glance over her shoulder before she turned to glare at him, narrowing the gap. "What the hell are you doing here? This is not a good time." She whispered trying to close the door on him.

Damon's hand stopped it. "Well, you didn't really give me much of a choice, Bon, you won't answer my calls."

"It's because I don't want to talk to you. How do you even know where I live?" she demanded.

"Does that really matter? We need to talk." He asserted lowly.

"I can't." she whispered. "You have to go." She pushed his chest back, and he grabbed her hand pulling her closer and out into the hallway with him. "Don't…touch me." She hissed, ripping her hand away.

"Bonnie?" Jeremy called out from inside the bathroom of the apartment. "Was that the door?"

"I got it, Jer!" She said back. Panic rose inside her chest, and she reached back to close the door behind her, giving them a bit of privacy. "You have to go now."

"I know you're angry with me, and you have every right to be." He rushed out taking the only moment he had. "But I promise you, it's over between Katherine and I."

Bonnie crossed her arms. "Yeah, I know. She told me all about it. How could you do that to her, Damon? How many other women were there, hm?" she demanded; lips pulled in a thin line.

He balked for a second, confused. "What? Wait, what did she tell you?" He didn't get an answer because a second later the door opened and Jeremy was standing on the other side.

Bonnie was grateful her back was to him because she needed a moment to compose herself. She turned to him with a weak smile. "Hey, he was just leaving."

Jeremy's stare bounced from Bonnie to the other man and stayed pinned there. "Damon, right?" he questioned with a challenging tone.

His eyes darted to Bonnie's, but hers were focused on a spot of the floor. They darted back to Jeremy, Damon's tone matching his. "Yeah, that's right." He noticed boxes piled up in the living room behind him. "Moving out?" He directed to Bonnie.

Before she could respond, Jeremy answered for both of them. "Well, one of us is." It came out with a sarcastic bitterness.

Bonnie rubbed at the tension forming between her brows with stress refusing to meet Damon's imploring stare. "I don't really think that's any of his business, Jeremy." She ground out tightly.

Jeremy scoffed. "Right…" He looked Damon up and down again before grabbing a box and pushing passed them, heading downstairs to the moving truck.

When they were finally alone, Bonnie was able to release a heavy sigh, thankful that the confrontation was over. "You have to go." She asserted tiredly. "Please."

"You two broke up?" there was a hint of a relieved smile pulling on his lips, but she was quick to wipe it off his face.

"I didn't break up with Jeremy because of you, Damon." She snapped, her jade green eyes narrowing. "It was the right thing to do…for both of us. If I was able to do what I did…then it wasn't worth holding on to." She added pointedly.

He closed in on her, taking away her space. "But that's the thing, Bon, there was no other women; whatever Katherine said to you is a lie!"

"And I'm just supposed to believe that?" Bonnie wasn't convinced.

"It's the truth! You can't believe a word she says; everything out of her mouth is twisted to manipulate you, trust me I know. Katherine Pierce is a pathological liar." He insisted vehemently.

Bonnie scoffed, crossing her arms. "Funny, she said the same thing about you. Look…don't waste your breath, okay." She stepped back, crossing the threshold into her apartment. "You made your bed…now sleep in it." She punctuated it by closing the door in his face. She leaned her back against it, her face twisting as she tried to hold back her sob. On the surface she had come across so strong willed, but inside she was cracking. All she wanted was to believe what he'd told her, but she knew better after everything she found out. She couldn't trust him now.

Damon stood on the other side, staring at the barrier stunned and feeling like she had not only closed the door on him, but on any future they could possibly have. He waited for a beat, hoping she'd rip the door open and fly back into his arms, but she didn't. He left the building in defeat, finding the side door to avoid another confrontation with Jeremy and headed back to his apartment.

When Jeremy got back upstairs, he found Bonnie staring off into nothing at the kitchen, clearly deep in thought. "It was him, wasn't it?" He asked knowingly, jarring her out of her trance. When she ended it with him a couple weeks ago, she mentioned there was someone else, but never told him who. She opened her mouth to respond. "Don't lie to me, Bonnie. I saw the look on your face, he means something to you, doesn't he?"

Bonnie released an exhausted sigh. "He used to."

"I knew it…" he admitted his upper lip curling distastefully. "That night, at the party I knew something was wrong. You didn't know he was married, did you?"

She shook her head. "No. No, I didn't."

He chortled at the irony. "I guess you reap what you sow, huh."

She nodded sadly. "I deserve that. Jeremy…I'm so sorry. I made a mistake. What I had with Damon…it was stupid. I was stupid."

Jeremy walked up to her, tilting her chin up. "I can forgive you. If you want to try this again, I promise you Bonnie, I won't let you down. We can pretend this whole thing never happened." He pleaded with a naïve hopefulness.

"Jer…" she started sadly, pulling his hand off her face. "We can't. Damon was a mistake; one I will live to regret for a very long time, but this…us," she trailed off, her brows slanting empathetically. "It's not working anymore…and we can lie to ourselves and say if we tried harder, it would be different…but it won't." He dropped his head and she squeezed the hand that was still holding hers. "I'm sorry."

He nodded, accepting the fact that they were truly over, but he still had one question that was nagging at him. "Do you love him?"

Her heart leapt in her throat. That wasn't even a question she'd asked herself yet. Probably because she was too afraid of the answer. "I don't know…even if I did, it doesn't matter now." She could see the dejected look on his face, and did her best to reassure him. "I know it's going to take some time…but we can still be friends."

He huffed a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, I don't know about that. I still love you, Bonnie. I'm always going to love you. I don't think we can ever be friends." He stepped away from her.

It stung, and it showed on her face. "Jeremy…" she tried to follow him but he stopped her, holding up his hands.

"Just…stop. It might be easy for you to forget the last fifteen years, but I can't. I think right now, the best thing for us both is space…" he grabbed his keys and wallet off the counter and headed for the door casting a glance back at the rest of the boxes. "I'll send for the rest in a couple days." And with that he was gone, leaving Bonnie alone.

Her heart broke for him, but at the same time she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She was free. For so long, she felt like she was suffocating under the weight of this relationship, and now she could breathe again. Suddenly she was smiling, even as tears ran down her cheeks. The smile turned into a laugh, and for the first time in years Bonnie felt like she was exactly where she was meant to be. Sure, she had her heart broken, and she'd hurt Jeremy, but sometimes there was beauty in the breaking. It all led her to the realization that she could do this on her own; that she deserved better than just settling for what was right in front of her.

…

6 Months Later:

Bonnie felt terrible. She watched as the phone buzzed in her hand flashing with Caroline's name. This was one of many calls and texts over the last few months from her, and Bonnie had ignored every one of them. It wasn't because she didn't want to talk to her, or see her because she did. She just knew where the conversation would go, and she'd been so strong that the last thing she wanted to do was backslide.

"Again?" Katherine groaned leaning against the bar as they waited for their drinks. "That girl just doesn't give up, does she?" Her experience with Caroline was less than pleasant. They butted heads right from the get go.

Bonnie sighed, tucking her phone back in her purse. "She's persistent, I'll give her that." Since their meeting at the penthouse, Bonnie had found herself spending more and more time with Katherine outside of work. It was nice to feel like she had a friend, someone she could relate to and trust…someone that had been burned the same way. Katherine took her under her wing, introduced her to some of the most influential and wealthy people and the last six months had been a non-stop party. They went to the exclusive night clubs; they attended the most prestigious country clubs and ate at restaurants with month long reservation lists. Katherine was right, when you were in, you were in, and for the first time in a long time, she felt like all her hard work was paying off.

Klaus had promoted her to Junior Partner, and with that came a new corner office. She of course, had heard through the grapevine that Damon had resigned from the DA's office, and there was a sense of relief that she no longer had to worry about running into him in court. Jeremy had moved back to Brooklyn to live with Matt while he got back on his feet and while he wasn't ready to see her, they still chatted over text from time to time. Everything was starting to look up.

"You aren't thinking about seeing her, are you?" The older woman asked as if it was a ridiculous idea.

"I wasn't planning on it, but maybe if I just give her the time of day, she'll finally stop calling." Bonnie reasoned, smiling at the cute bartender as he placed their drinks in front of them.

Katherine didn't like the sound of that. "Or she'll feed you a bunch of bullshit to try and get you to talk to him, Bonnie…" She turned to face her. "We've talked about this. Damon is a master manipulator and he's using Caroline to get to you, don't you see that?" She forced a sympathetic sigh, running a comforting hand on Bonnie's arm. "Sweetie…trust me. No good will come out of it. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Bonnie released a sigh of her own smiling gratefully. "You're right. Thank you…you're a good friend Katherine."

There was a victorious smile that pulled on her lips. "Of course I am. Would I ever steer you wrong? Now…we're single, we're hot, and there are several eligible bachelor's eating us up from across the room, so I say…" she linked arms with her. "We go introduce ourselves." She caught the eye of one handsome man, shooting him a wink.

Bonnie laughed, and let Kat lead her away.

…

The blonde's lips twisted ruefully. "She didn't answer."

Damon was pacing the floor of Stefan and Caroline's loft, hands running through his hair. "This is bad, really really bad!" Just yesterday, he caved and took a sneak at her IG, and noticed all the photos with Katherine. She had to be up to something, he was sure of it. Kat didn't make friends with anyone; all she did was use them for her own benefit and no one made it out unscathed. He wasn't under the illusion that she was done with him either. She may have signed and filed the divorce papers but she was far too agreeable about it for Damon to believe she would leave it at that. He knew her better than that. "What the hell kind of game is she playing now?" He grumbled to himself, clenching his hands at his side.

"This is exactly what she wants, Damon." Stefan exclaimed from his spot at the kitchen table. "Look at you; all she did was take her to a couple parties and she has you unravelling at the seams."

Damon snapped a glare in his brother's direction. "You don't know her like I do, Stefan. This is what she does. Kat will treat you like you're her best friend to your face all while she's stabbing you in the back. Who knows what kind of lies she's been telling. Bonnie needs to know what's going on."

Caroline threw her arms up before letting them fall on the small bump of her tummy. "How? She won't answer my calls or texts, she's probably blocked you by now. How do we get through to someone that wants nothing to do with us?"

Damon pondered to himself for a long moment, his blue eyes hard and intense as he racked his brain. "I have an idea."