AN: I am so sorry for the delay! I thought I was going to be able to get this done over Christmas break, but I was so busy I didn't have the time to get through much. I'm really excited with where this backstory is leading me to, and I hope you all enjoy it too. The backstory is completely original and deviates from the storyline from the show so it was fun to get a bit creative.

Thanks for your patience! - Vanessa

…

Doing the Dance – Part VI

I want to hold you close
Skin pressed against me tight
Lie still, and close your eyes girl
So lovely, it feels so right

…

His face melted back to his human form, his gentle touch pushing her hair off her beautiful neck, mesmerized by the thrumming pulse. "I want to make you mine…forever."

There had to be something wrong with her. She should be running. She should be terrified…instead the next words out of her mouth were quiet and calm. "Forever is a long time."

"It is. Especially if you have to do it alone." He took her hand in his. "Come; I'll explain everything."

This would be enough to make anyone else run for the hills, but Bonnie was even more fascinated with now than she was before. She had learned that he turned while in battle. He didn't know who turned him, or why, but he walked himself through the process relying purely on instinct. He was a hundred and eighty-four years old and hadn't aged a day since he was twenty-five. This new information explained his mystery and the allure she had to him, but the deeper she got, the more she had to know. Vampires were real; that was mind blowing enough as it was, but to see one with her own eyes, to have him taste her blood, to live long enough to want him to do it again…

"So how does it work?" she found herself sitting on the makeshift swing hanging from a branch of a towering oak tree. He had taken her to a spot just off the property; the place he decided to complete his transition.

"You have to die with vampire blood in your system. When you wake up, you need to drink human blood to complete the transition." He explained, standing in front of her. He was relieved by her casual curiosity, it only proved to him that he was right about her.

She swallowed thickly. "What's it like?"

He smirked. "You feel like you could do anything. Be anyone. It's unlike anything you'll ever know in your human life. It transcends basic human conformities. Everything is heightened…" He slowly advanced on her, resting his hands just above hers on the chains. The way the column of her neck called to him as she angled her head up to look was delectable. "Beautiful things are more beautiful. Sex is more passionate. You live more intensely. Love more powerfully." He saw the hope in her eyes, the longing for these things readable on her face. "But it goes both ways. Anger becomes rage. When you're sad, you're in despair. Grief. Loss. It can cripple you." He remembered the first time he felt it; the day Katherine died; it was enough for him to flip the switch forever…until he saw Bonnie.

She must have seen through him because her brows slanted empathetically. "Who was she?" She had no right feeling jealous of a woman who was probably long dead…but she was.

Damon came to stand behind her, pushing her back and forth lightly. "Her name was Katherine Pierce. She was a farmer's daughter; not anyone my father would have approved of. As a human, I loved her and we vowed that when I returned from war, we would run off together." He scoffed at their childish notions. "Of course…things were different then."

Bonnie glanced over her shoulder in question. "What happened?"

"I made the mistake of confiding in my brother. Until I left for war, Stefan and I shared everything; there was no one else in the world I trusted more. I wanted him to come along for the ride." He told her, bitterness rolling off his tongue at his own naivety. "I had no idea what it would turn him into. Stefan became a ripper, and in his blind hunger…he ripped her throat out." He stared off into the distance, the moment replaying in his head as if it were yesterday. "He slaughtered half the town, our father included, and I promised him an eternity of misery ever since."

Bonnie was lost for words. She couldn't imagine the devastation. "How did you survive it?" she whispered.

"I couldn't. That's why so many of us turn our emotions off. It just becomes... too overwhelming." He admitted candidly.

"You can do that? Turn of your emotions…like a light switch?"

"Pretty much. It's easier…for a time." He grabbed the chains firmly on the back swing, catching her before she swung forward and dropping his lips to her ear. "But humanity finds a way of worming its way back in and suddenly you're bathed in light."

Bonnie turned her head, looking up to him, curiosity and desire shining in her eyes. They were close, so close that her lips would brush his at the slightest movement. "And where do you keep your switch these days?" she breathed in a way he could only describe as innocently sensual.

His gaze darted from her eyes to her lips and back again, a devilish quirk to his mouth. "It's never been more turned on." It had happened so seamlessly, he didn't even realize it; maybe it was last week, maybe it was somewhere along the drive, but he had let the light in, and she was the reason. Damon snaked a hand up her neck, guiding her in tilting her head to accommodate his kiss. It started slow, hesitant, allowing Bonnie time to get used to him. It wasn't long before she was craning her head to get closer to him, matching his efforts with her own. His grip on the chains tightened, and with a crack, broke from the wooden branch, sending the swing dangling between them. He caught Bonnie as the seat fell from under her, and sped them to the tree trunk, trapping her between himself and the rough bark. She gasped at the sudden movement, her mouth hung open and her eyes wide with wonder; it was exhilarating, like she was barreling down a rollercoaster, only she wasn't strapped in and there was no safety net to fall to. Damon captured her lips again, swallowing her moan of approval, his hands travelling from her neck, between her heaving breasts and along her hips and thighs. The way he was touching her was possessive but also tender, like he was restraining himself.

"Don't hold back…" she panted, as his lips peppered kisses along her jugular and collarbone. "I'm ready."

He glanced up and was struck with the vision of her kiss stung lips, her hair wild and sexy framing her face. But there was still a fear of uncertainty in her eyes. "We can't…not yet."

"Why not?" she whined, unresolved lust oozing out of her.

Damon pulled back, collecting himself from the spell she had put him under. "This is a huge decision for you. You need to understand what you are giving up, and what comes with it; the good and the bad. It's important to me that you get the choice I never had." He finished looking her dead in the eye.

Bonnie sobered, gaining some clarity from her wonton stupor. "Okay." She agreed easily wanting to do what pleased him. "So then…what's next?"

…

The trip home was made with a pit stop along the way; and Bonnie used this time to learn more. He started with the basics over a dinner at a diner in Scarsdale.

The waitress dropped their plates in front of them, leaving with a tired smile. "So…how can you even eat if technically your supposed to be…" she hesitated. The diner was nearly empty, just an old couple of the far side closer to the exit, but this wasn't exactly a topic you wanted someone to eavesdrop on.

Damon leaned in closer, mischief in his eyes. "Dead? As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood," he whispered, glancing around subtly. "in my system, my body functions pretty normally." He flashed a grin, popping a fry in his mouth.

She was happy to see this side of him, there was something carefree about it, like he let the wall down between who she met that night in the club, and the man from her dreams. "Does it have to be human?" she questioned lowly picking at her own fries.

Damon leaned back in his seat, wiping his fingers on the napkin. "Not really. But I wouldn't recommend it. Animal blood will get you by, but you'll be weak, vulnerable, compulsion accuracy would be sketchy at best."

Bonnie leaned in, intrigued. "Compulsion? What's that?"

The vampire smirked. "A fun party trick. A great way to cover your tracks. Compulsion is the ability to influence someone's emotions or behaviors, control their minds. You could change a memory, erase it completely, or even-"

"Manipulate dreams?"

"Yes." He could tell in the way she said it, that it bothered her some. "You should know, that was the only time I used it on you, Bonnie. You pulled me in, and I couldn't resist. I had no influence on your judgement in any way."

She swallowed thickly, casting her eyes down, nervous under his penetrating stare. "Why? I mean, it would have made it easy for you. You could have made me believe anything you wanted. What stopped you?" It would have made more sense that he would have used this trick on her; why else would she so willingly accept this fate for herself?

"I wanted what you felt for me to be real." He vowed honestly.

She released a grateful exhale. "Good. So do I." If it were any other person before her, she was certain she would have been long gone by now, but there was something about Damon that called to her, that made her want to jump in head first. "What else can you do?" she questioned, sipping her drink.

"Well, all the usual super traits; speed, hearing, strength, a couple other parlor tricks but that comes with time." He explained.

"So how do you walk in the sun? Aren't you supposed to burn to a crisp or sparkle or something?" she joked.

He rolled his eyes. "Please…this isn't some Stephanie Meyer travesty. Those books a far cry from reality. No, I have a ring." He held up his hand. "The lapis lazuli stone paired with a witch's spell protects me from the sun."

She laughed. "Wait…you've read Twilight?"

He shrugged. "Gotta keep up with current trends. You've been around as long as I have, you need to learn how to adapt, how to blend in. The books are bad, but the movies are worse. Pattison's giving vampires a bad rep."

She didn't know what was funnier, the fact that he read Twilight or that he seemed genuinely annoyed by its depiction of his kind. "Any other weaknesses I should know about?"

He pushed his plate out, leaning his forearms on the table and listing them on his fingers. "Wooden stake to the heart, fire, sunlight, and decapitation." He chuckled at the disgusted face she made, crinkling her nose. "Yeah, it's not pretty."

"Garlic?" she teased, a cute purse of her lips as she held back her snicker.

"Myth." He threw her a lopsided smirk.

"Sleeping in coffins?" Her brow arched high and playful.

"A wild misconception and horribly uncomfortable. I personally prefer a California King." He said with a flash of his blue eyes.

She bit her lip to hide her blush. Suddenly a sobering thought came to mind. "Do you…kill people?"

Damon knew this was a question that would come up sooner or later. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. The voice inside cooed in his ear. "Yes. Sometimes." He stated honestly. "It's in my nature. But there are ways around it; ways to hunt without killing."

She nodded stiffly, responding with a waver in her voice. "I don't want to kill anyone."

The voice laughed darkly. You say that now, sweet girl. "I'll help you." The vampire said instead.

…

Somewhere along the journey back to the city, Bonnie fell asleep curled up with her cute bare feet resting on the soft leather between them, her head tucked against her hand on the arm rest under the window. She had accepted him…instantly and without doubt, as if the decision had already been made for her. She was beautiful. If he needed to breath, she would steal the air right out of his lungs. Damon never believed in destiny, or fate…he may have been a hopeless romantic when he was human, but never in a million years did he think he'd find her.

After he had turned, and Katherine was gone, Damon fled Mystic Falls, leaving his brother behind to start over. He lived in the shadows, carefully covering his tracks, moving through the northern hemisphere a lone wolf; he cared for nothing, took joy in nothing, hating what became of himself. It wasn't until he met Sage and her wild little witch in the early 1900's that Damon realized there was more to this new world he had stumbled into. Sage opened his mind to excitement and adventure, showed him that feeding could be fun and that the hunt was for more than survival. And Adelaide; if it wasn't for her preferred taste in striking redheads and her firm beliefs on his future, Damon would have had her for himself. She awakened him sexually and spiritually tapping into the beast within him that hungered for a carnal connection.

.

Damon looked into the young witch's eyes as she rolled off him with a contented sigh. Sage had left their residence to hunt, leaving Adelaide and him to their own devices. Not that Sage wasn't happy to participate, but Damon was drawn to the sultry pixie witch. "When will you give into my devilish charms and let me have what I want? Do I not satisfy you?" he added with a knowing smirk, kissing her olive shoulder.

Adelaide, slipped out of bed with an indulgent roll of her eyes, walking unabashedly naked to her vanity, slipping into a silk robe and sitting in front of the mirror meeting his gaze. "I do not believe that can be questioned." She confirmed, with a lustful smile of her own. She gracefully began brushing through her thick black hair, tangled from their couplings. "But I've told you…I am not yours to covet."

Damon rolled to his side, propping his head up on his hand. "But I have coveted you…many times." He flashed his eyes at her.

With a serious sigh, the witch broke eye contact, resting her hands in her lap. "Physically perhaps…but your heart will belong to another." This was not the first time she had made such claims, and Damon refused to believe it to be true.

Whipping the sheet off him, he slinked on his discarded pants, doing up his buckle as he stalked towards her. He stood behind her peppering kisses along her neck. "And I have told you, my heart has a home already."

She pulled away reluctantly, grasping his hand before it could continue its journey down her chest. "Damon…what you feel for me will pale in comparison. You are still young. All your emotions are amplified; it would be easy to confuse it for love. You cannot have me the way you choose. It would never work." The pad of her thumb brushed over the ring she made for him. "She will be your match in every way; in ways I could never fulfill." She kissed the ring and offered him a sad smile in the mirror.

He frowned. "I find that very hard to believe, Addie."

She glanced up at him sharply her words following suit. "I have seen it. My premonitions are never wrong." She paused, swallowing down her pride. "Although at times I wish they were." She pushed to her feet grabbing her cigarette case and matches as she moved to stand by the window. She was desperate for the distance to clear her mind of his charms. "Besides, you seem to be forgetting that I owe my loyalty to Sage." She struck the match and lit her cigarette, shaking out the flame before tossing it out the window. "Her and I are a package deal."

"I think I have proven I can handle you both." He countered cheekily.

She took a deep drag, a plume of smoke billowing out behind it. "Your heart belongs to another…and so does mine." The witch said with finality. "I enjoy our time together, Damon. But there are lines that cannot be crossed. I'm a witch; we make terrible vampire mates. My powers would be rendered useless if I were to turn, and while I appreciate the benefits…" her eyes raked over him with a leer. "I do not wish it on my worst enemy." She took another drag. After a pensive beat she glanced back at him with a reassuring smile. "But this one…oh she is going to have you by the short hairs. You only choose your mate once as a vampire; you are bound to them, even in death. You have to wait for her; or I guarantee you will live to regret it." She finished gravely. Adelaide's visions were immersive as much as they were visual. Each forewarning came as if she were living them herself, and in good conscious she could not damn him to an eternity without that sense of wholeness that came with that kind of bond.

"What if we do not cross paths?" Damon questioned, temporarily entertaining the thought this woman could exist.

"You will…she will surprise you. Be exactly what you need when you least expected to need it. She will make you face your own monster, and you will win. She will truly be your better half." She was happy for him, and it hadn't even happened yet.

He canted his head with a sexy and sinister look. "I happen to like my monster."

She shook her head. "You will not always feel that way." Adelaide vowed knowingly.

.

Damon lay her softly in his bed, and she immediately curled into his pillow sleepily. He grazed his knuckles across her cheek, like she was the most precious thing in the world, and to him she was.