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3 weeks in the prison world…
“Bon Bon!” In the living room, Damon is laying on his back on the couch, tossing a football up and down. Bonnie is sitting at the kitchen table, nose in a book and her finger grazing the words in her grimoire.
How is her back not broken by now? She’s been hunched over in her seat for the past five hours. Only moving her neck to stare up at a random candle and squint really hard at it. Spoiler alert: nothing happened. Surprise, surprise. He wakes up and they are still stuck in this hell hole.
“What?” Bonnie replies in an annoyed huff, not bothering to glance up at him.
“You’ve been mumbling witchy mojo for a century.”
“You are unbelievable! You nag me day and night to practice! And when I do, you go out of your way to annoy the hell out of me!” Bonnie throws her hands up in the air and pushes out of her seat.
She might be annoyed, but at least she’s finally out of that chair. Mission accomplished. Now, the fun can begin. He’s not even sure if she’s heard of “fun” before. A lazy grin spreads across his face and he sets the football down on the floor. Annoying Bonnie has become one of his favorite hobbies. “I’m bored!” He whines. He never thought he’d see the day that he actually prays to feel Bonnie’s magical migraines.
Rolling her eyes, Bonnie shuts her book. “And I missed the part where that’s my problem.” She hugs her grimoire to her chest and is about to head upstairs when Damon vamp speeds in front of her.
“Where are you going?” He asks, wincing at the desperation beneath his words. He didn’t want her to leave. He was hoping she’d spend time with him. Yeah, yeah. He knows. Bonnie hates him or so she claims to. If that were the case, she wouldn’t be sharing the same air as him.
“Anywhere that’s away from you so I can have some peace!” She exclaims tiredly.
He crosses his arms and has such a smug look on his face that it infuriates her. “If that were true, you’d be staying at your Grams. But, here you are!” He gestures around him. “In mi casa. Clearly, someone enjoys my company.”
“You know what? That’s a great idea! I will go to my Grams!” Bonnie swiftly turns around and marches towards the door. That’s where she should’ve stayed all along. Somehow, Damon convinced her that two heads are better than one.
“Wait—Bonnie! Just take a break!”
At the sound of her name, Bonnie stops. He usually calls her judgy or witchy. He doesn’t call her by her name unless he’s being serious. Turning around, Bonnie is surprised at the genuine panic flash across his eyes. Realization dawns on her. He doesn’t want to be alone either. “Ok!” She relents and she loosens her grip on her grimoire, letting her arms hang by her side. “What did you have in mind?” And maybe a tiny part of her doesn’t want to be alone either.
A goofy grin appears on his face, and she finds her own lips curling upwards as well. “Football, frisbee, truth or dare, or 21 questions?” He schemes, rubbing his hands together.
“Nu-uh!” Bonnie wags a finger in his face and points it at herself. “I get to pick the game this time.”
“Then why’d you ask me?”
“Poor judgment. Besides, remember the frisbee incident?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you have poor reflexes! Even Donovan could catch that frisbee! I don’t know why you’re still pissed—my blood made you brand new!”
“Not the point. Anyway, I’m choosing.”
“Fine.” He spreads his arms. “Choose away!”
She taps her fingers against her chin, thinking over her options. “Let’s play two lies and a truth.”
Leave it to Bonnie to find the most unoriginal game to play. No sense of finesse. “Hmph. Figures.” He walks back towards the couch to lay down on it. His arms are folded behind his head. Bonnie follows him and she stands beside the couch with her hands on her hips.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Leave it to Damon to talk to her in riddles.
He shrugs and says simply, “you like to play it safe.”
At that moment, a brilliant idea comes to mind. Bonnie smirks gleefully as she lies down on the other sofa. He always acts like he has her all figured out. “You know what? I’m adding a twist to it—I am going to say two lies and a truth about you. Then, you do the same for me. Deal?”
“You’re on.” Shouldn’t be too difficult. At least that’s what he thought, but for a while, Damon struggles to figure out a truth about her. He finds that he doesn’t really know her at all. What does she like? What does she dislike?
“A. being the anchor hurt like a bitch B. you love being a judgy little witch C. you love little Gilbert. How am I doing so far? Nailed it!” When he looks over at Bonnie, he can see that he did not. “I tried. What did I get wrong because from where I’m sitting, I’ve got you down to the tee.”
“Actually, you got it right. Only one of those things is true.”
“Let me guess—C.”
“No.”
Damon’s eyes widen and he gets up to a sitting position, leaning forward so his knees are touching the edge of the coffee table. “Now I know you’re toying with me. You died trying to resurrect his ass and you’re saying you don’t love him—”
At that moment, Bonnie's whole body freezes up and beads of sweat drip down her face. She uses her forearm to wipe away the sweat on her forehead. “Can you just drop it?!” She snaps and she rubs her temples in distress.
“Let me guess: it was the sex. It is always the sex—”
“Can you just shut up about it?” Bonnie yells, but her voice comes out as a strained squeak.
At that moment, Damon spots the tears welling up in her eyes. Bonnie turns her head to the side to hide it, but he’s already seen. Immediately, he feels like an ass. He was only teasing…he didn’t know it would effect her that much. All he wanted was for her to smile or to laugh. He holds up his hands in surrender. “Yeah, sure.”
Maybe this game was a bad idea. Leave it to the two of them to start bickering over a simple game. To be fair, Damon had no idea about why Bonnie didn't like talking about Jeremy a lot. It's not something that she wants to share with the whole world. Especially not Damon. Bonnie takes a deep breath and she sits on her hands to stop them from trembling so damn much. “A is my truth.”
He suspected as much. When she came to thank him and invited him to her welcome back party. She had stifled a painful gasp. He hadn’t thought about how much it would cost her to come back to life. He should’ve. He clears his throat. “Bright side of being in this weird dimension is no more anchoring.”
Despite herself, Bonnie cracks a small grin. She throws a teasing look his way and screws up her face. “Down side is being stuck here with you.”
Damon sticks his tongue out at her to which she throws her pillow at him. Bonnie rolls her eyes, but the smile tugging on her lips is enough to brighten his mood.
Bonnie crosses her legs and rubs her chin as she thinks over her next words. “My turn. A. Your favorite color is red B. You love being the bad guy C. You love Elena.”
Bonnie looks so smug that Damon scowls. “You think you have me all figured out.”
“Pretty much, yeah. How am I doing so far?”
Damon frowns. “You took the easy way out. Everyone knows my favorite color is black and that I love Elena…Hold on. You screwed up. You have two truths in there: b.”
Bonnie snorts as her back falls against the sofa. She shakes her head as she gives him an unwavering look. “That is not your truth.”
Damon glowers at her and lets out an annoyed sigh. "Oh, really? Please, please, enlighten me!” He raises an eyebrow, waiting for her answer.
“I don’t have to explain why because you already know.”
“Maybe I want a run down.”
“You want to be a decent person, but you don’t want people to think you can.”
“No. Everyone just wants me to be Stefan.”
“Who says you have to be like your brother to be a decent person?” Bonnie challenges.
Damon frowns as he grasps for a possible answer. He doesn’t have any and for the first time being here, he is speechless. Thankfully, Bonnie saves him from having to answer. “Your turn now, Damon.”
“I want a different game.”
“You’re just a sore loser because I won,” she says while snickering at his pouty face.
“Did I miss something? How did you win?”
“Fine. It was a tie,” she concludes reluctantly.
Damon chuckles. “This is the only game you could win. Tetris—”
“Because you cheated—”
“Whatever you say to help you sleep at night, Bon Bon.”
“Just pick a game, Damon!”
“21 questions and I start it off. What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you?”
Bonnie thinks it over for a second. “Mr.Tanner called me out in class and said that cute becomes stupid in an instant.”
“Heh. He was a douchebag anyway.”
“Real classy, Damon!” Bonnie reprimands. Damon just gives her an innocent ‘what did I do’ face. “Talking shit about a guy you murdered!”
“Why are you acting like he was your uncle or something?”
“It doesn’t matter if he was my uncle! You didn’t have to kill him. He may have been an asshole, but he didn’t deserve to die. If every asshole died, there would be no one left! Including yourself.”
Damon clucks his tongue. He hates it when she’s right. However, he didn’t survive as long as he did by nit-picking at all of his actions. If he did that, he’d never have a moment of peace. Sometimes…he thinks he deserves whatever this hell is, but Bonnie doesn’t deserve this. She probably would have had a better chance at finding peace if she hadn't grabbed his hand before oblivion hit.
For the first week of being here, Bonnie stayed at her grams’ house. She was pissed at him for way back when he kidnapped baby Gilbert. It wasn’t until they argued about it and Bonnie gave him a piece of her mind that she agreed to stay at the boarding house with him. Now, it’s like she’s always been around. To say the least, she's been an interesting roommate. She's only a couple doors away from his room yet he can always hear her mumbling in her sleep which wakes him up. Occasionally, he'll mention her sleep talking but more times that not, he lets her have that. It's one of the only times she actually relaxes.
Bonnie sits up and stretches her legs so that they’re resting on top of the coffee table. “Who is the first person you’ll see first when we get out?”
"If, and that's a very big if, I'd see Stefan."
“Huh…I thought you’d want to see Elena.”
“Not everything is about her.”
Bonnie bites back a chuckle. “Ok…your turn.”
“Same question."
“My mom.”
Damon leans forward, a frown forming on his face. “What?”
“Yeah…I haven’t seen her in a while so…” She mumbles.
“That should tell you something,” he points out.
Bonnie shoots him a warning glare. “I’m not talking about this with you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are the one that turned her into a vampire!” She exclaims with a bitter grin playing on her lips. “Which made her leave all over again—”
“Don’t put that on me! Mama Bennett was going to run out on you anyway. Her being a vampire was just an excuse. If it wasn’t that, it would be her needing to get milk from the damn store. She's flakier than Bella Swan. You should take that up with her, not begging for her attention.” Frankly, Abby Bennett wasn't that great. Like he said, people get stuck in terrible situations all the time. His motto is to just take in stride. Suck it up and deal with it. Not whine and complain, then abandon your kid. If only Bonnie could see that she deserves a lot better than that.
Nobody asks to be a vampire. For centuries, no vampire ever heard of a thing called the cure. They dealt with the pain of losing everyone they loved. It wasn't easy to do, but it had to be done. Sometimes, they had to stop feeling and loving in order to survive immortality. The curse of immortality is knowing that you will outlive all your friends and family. That's the hardest truth to accept, and some chose to ignore it.
"Oh please! You are one to talk about begging for attention! What do you call your whole relationship with Elena--”
“And I’m not talking about Elena with you--" Damon entertains the idea of speeding up the staircase for a quick escape. Bonnie knew just about every single word in the English language.
Bonnie continues on as if she didn't hear Damon say a word. “Oh and A+ for deflecting responsibility for your part in that! Bravo!" Bonnie claps and gives him a thumbs up. "Did you know how much Abby struggled to contain her bloodlust? She almost drained Jamie dry. She didn't want the same thing to happen to me so she left." She shrugs as if it's the most simple explanation in the world.
The problem with Bonnie's logic was why did Abby barely pick up the phone or send a text. Damon wasn't cruel enough to point that out to Bonnie. Instead, he asked the question that had been bothering him the whole time they've been here. "Why do you give your revolving door mother a pass but not me?!" It seems like Bonnie hated him more than her mother. Bizarre. What was even more strange was why he cared if she hated him or not.
Bonnie fidgets on the sofa. For the first time since this line of questioning, Bonnie's eyes blaze with indignant, reluctant acceptance and sorrow. "My mom is the only other person on the planet who shares the same memories with my dad. Who wants to lose another parent if they don't have to?" Bonnie asks, dropping her gaze from Damon's piercing one.
Damon's piercing gaze softens. "My dad was disappointed with me the moment I was born. I was closer to my mom but then she died. I had to practically raise myself. Moral of the story: your mother's foolishness was heightened after being a vampire. That's the only explanation I have for why she'd want to miss out on your incredibly, judgy journey of witchhood."
Despite his attempt to be serious, Bonnie bursts into fits of giggles which Damon joins in. After a couple of moments of silence, Bonnie clears her throat. “Do you think she even knows I’m ‘dead’? Would she even care?” Bonnie asks. She doesn’t give Damon the chance to answer the question. “I’d see Matt. He’s one of my oldest friends and I didn’t get to see him one last time before…” She trails off as she glances away.
“Kaboom!”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t have anyone else you want to surprise like your dad—” Bonnie takes in a sharp breath and Damon curses under his breath. “Shit, Bonnie. I’m sorry—”
“Who was your first crush?” Bonnie asks, desperate to forget about her dad for a moment.
“Evil kitty kat.”
Bonnie groans and smacks her forehead. She picks up a magazine and uses it as a fan to cool her off a bit. “Ugh! I was so hoping you’d give me any other name.”
Damon grimaces. “You and me both. Who was yours?”
“Tyler,” Bonnie confesses happily.
Damon makes a puking motion at her confession. “Teen wolf? Really? Why?”
“He beat up some boys in the neighborhood for picking on me.”
Damon smirks. “If I knew violence was the thing that turned you on…”
“Damon,” Bonnie warns. Was he flirting with her?
Did he just flirt with Bonnie Bennett? He clears his throat. “Kidding…why’d they pick on you?”
“They called me the voodoo queen because of Grams. Having an occult professor for a grandmother didn’t make me the most popular girl in school.”
“Your generation is so weird,” Damon comments.
Bonnie snickers. “Careful, Damon. Your age is showing.” She snarls her lips in disgust, but amusement dances across her eyes. “Okay, my turn. What is one thing you never told Stefan?”
“I regret how me and Elena got together. And you can wipe that shocked look off your face. Yes, I’m not a cruel monster.”
“If I really thought that, I wouldn’t be in this room with you.”
“Or maybe you just don’t want to be alone.”
“Maybe it’s a bit of both. Next question.”
“What is something that you’ve never told the Scooby gang? And please don’t let it be that you had a crush on Stefan!”
“Oh my God! I do not have a crush on Stefan! I mean I did think he had a hot back, but that’s it!”
“Denial! Answer the question!” He sings.
“I wish…I don’t want to play this stupid game anymore.”
“Hold it, shortcake. This whole thing was your brilliant idea.”
Bonnie is quiet for a moment. “I wish that I stayed dead when I brought Jer back to life,” she mumbles, hoping that her words were too incoherent for him to understand. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. She’s surprised to find concern washing over Damon’s features. Quickly, she tries to explain it away. “I don't feel that way anymore. I went to therapy and of course, I'm still struggling with it but I’m not suicidal anymore. I had just seen my dad die in front of me. I was away from the drama. I had my grams and my ancestors. I-I was at peace.” More importantly, nobody needed her.
“And you couldn’t find peace with the living?”
“This is Mystic Falls.”
“You could always leave.”
“I wouldn’t abandon my friends.”
“Maybe you should if all we give you is hell.”
“You don’t know anything—”
“You’d rather just be a ghost? You would rather watch on the sidelines than live your own life? That’s bullshit! Why are you so afraid to tell people no?”
Why the hell was he so angry about this, she wondered. “You make it sound so easy!”
“It is. It’s one little word. We can sound it out together. N-O. You’re making it more difficult than it is.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“You know what I think—”
“Not really.”
“You like being the sacrificial lamb.”
“Damon,” she warns him once again.
“Because you like to feel needed. It makes you feel good about yourself so it can distract you from how useless you feel when you’re invisible to everyone around you.”
“Shut up!” For once, Damon actually listens and shuts up. “If I say you’re right, then it’ll confirm just how truly messed up perfect Bonnie is.”
Damon slides his bourbon over to her. He gives her a sad smile. “You’re talking to the King of messing up. Nobody expects you to be perfect. I think you just expect yourself to be. Here’s my advice: stop taking yourself so seriously.”
Bonnie shrugs and takes a sip of the bourbon. She scrunches up her face at the taste of it. It’s been a while since she drank alcohol. “Thanks, Dr.Phil.”
“Anytime.”
Bonnie is quiet for a moment. “I miss them,” she breathes out softly. Bonnie is taken aback by the vulnerability shining in Damon's ice-blue eyes that are usually guarded. Tonight gave her a rare glimpse into who Damon really is. She never had the chance before and she's kinda scared to see this new side of him. It's weird that they're sitting here, sharing a bottle of bourbon together. Bonnie snorts at the irony. Who would have thought?
A half-smile twitches on his lips as she slides the bourbon back to him. He swipes it off the table and raises the bottle in the air, sadness swimming around in his eyes. “Me too.” In an attempt to cheer her up, Damon asks, “are you cooking tonight?” He motions to the kitchen.
Bonnie shakes her head and crosses her arms defiantly. “Oh, so now you appreciate my cooking?”
“I’m just trying to plan my evening before you burn down the kitchen. Again.”
“You’re so dramatic. That was one time and I did not burn the kitchen down.”
“The smoke alarm going off kinda disagrees—”
“Make your own soup then!” Bonnie says.
Damon snorts at Bonnie’s fussing. “I’m just messing with you.”
Bonnie throws another pillow at him but he ducks out of the way. Before she knows it, her frown is replaced with a genuine smile. It wouldn’t be until a little later that Bonnie realized that Damon made them play a game to distract her a little bit. In these moments, Bonnie didn’t mind being stuck here with Damon for the time being. In fact, Damon wasn’t so bad to be around either.
Although he’d never admit it to Bonnie, Damon was happy to help Bonnie let off some steam. They’ve been here for 3 weeks. All they had was each other to rely on. Reluctantly, Damon didn’t mind being stuck with Bonnie. When she wasn’t being so serious all the time, she was cool company.
For the rest of the night, Damon helps Bonnie make soup in the kitchen. This time, the kitchen did not set on fire. Of course, this wouldn’t be the last time a disaster in the kitchen happened. However, it was always fun when he blew the fire extinguisher on the flames and Bonnie who didn't duck out of the way quick enough. He always hoped her anger at him for his pranks would spark her magic but it never did. For the first time in a while, his dead heart didn't sink at the thought of spending another day alone with the former witch.
This was indeed a strange dimension.