The Inconvenience of Feelings

Chapter 2

Klaus Mikaelson; If Damon never heard that name again it would be to soon. He’d never even heard of an original vampire before Klaus showed up in Mystic Falls and now he wished he never had. He’d always known that vampires had to originate from somewhere. He just didn’t know that whomever it was would be a 1000 year old douchebag hell bent on wreaking havoc wherever he went, all in the name of breaking some damn curse. Which, in a not so shocking turn of events, requires a doppelganger -cause why not- and said doppelganger just happens to be Elena.

He had no idea why trouble seemed to latch on to that girl like a magnet, but he sure wished whatever cosmic monster that was making his life hell for whatever reason, would give him a break. He needed just a few moments of peace, but apparently that was too much to ask for in a town like Mystic Falls. It’s no wonder he had always hated it here.

As per usual, Damon was stuck figuring out a way to stop Klaus from completing some stupid ritual that would make it possible for all vampires to walk in the sun. Damon didn’t necessarily   have a problem with that, he did have a problem however, with the fact that Elena had to be sacrificed to complete the ritual. That was a no-go for Damon.

“Elijah said if I could harness the power of the dead witches, we could defeat Klaus. The only problem is, I have no clue where they were burned.”

Bonnie’s voice broke through his little reverie. She came to the boarding house to brainstorm about how to stop Klaus after they retrieved the grimoires from the Martin’s place and of course she had to bring her new favorite shadow. It annoyed Damon to admit it, but their little relationship was starting to grate on his nerves.

He glanced over in her direction and rolled his eyes in disgust. Little Gilbert might as well be wrapped around her like a damn pretzel. It seemed like ever since she and Jeremy had gotten together Jeremy was attached to her at the hip. It was nauseating to say the least. Damon just wanted to shove him away from her and tell him to let her breathe. He knew she would probably give him a witchy migraine for his efforts though, so he contained his impulses. Plus he didn’t need anybody getting the wrong idea.

He just chalked it up to not wanting another lovey dovey couple running around. Elena and Stefan were sickeningly romantic enough. Too much of that nonsense would make any self respecting vampire want to puke.

So Damon just donned his signature smirk and said, “Well lucky for you, I happen to know where that is.” He loved rubbing his usefulness in Bonnie’s face seeing as how her boyfriend was the complete opposite of useful.

Bonnie looked at him surprised and narrowed her eyes skeptically. “You know where the witches were burned?”

“Don’t looked so surprised judgy. I’ve been around for a long time and plus witches are kind of my thing.” Damon’s eyes went wide and he wiggled his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t make me puke.”

Damon scowled. “Whatever, do you want to go to the witches house or not?”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice,” she replied somberly.

“Hold on, wait a minute,” Jeremy said as he grabbed Bonnie’s arm gently and pulled her farther away from Damon. Like that could keep him from hearing their conversation. Hello…vampire hearing. Damon for his part made a show of heading to the bar and pouring himself a glass of bourbon. Partly because he needed a drink and partly to keep his mind from wondering to places it shouldn’t be. Like how he wanted to rip Jeremy’s hand off every time he touched Bonnie.

“What’s wrong Jer?” she asked curiously.

“I just don’t know how I feel about you harnessing the power of a hundred dead witches Bonnie,” he started softly. “Call me crazy, but that seems incredibly dangerous and you don’t know what the consequences might be.”

Loathe as Damon was to admit it, baby Gilbert made a decent point. They didn’t have a clue what would happen or how it would affect the little witch, but he also knew Bonnie would do whatever it took to protect Elena. She wouldn’t care about the consequences as long as she could save her best friend. She had a serious martyr complex.

Bonnie moved into Jeremy’s personal space and wrapped her arms around his neck. Damon’s eye twitched. “Jer, I love that you are so concerned about me. I really do, but I have to do this. It’s the only way to defeat Klaus and save Elena. I can’t let anything happen to her Jer. You of all people should understand that. ”

She stood on her tippy toes to give him a kiss on the lips. Jeremy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him to deepen the kiss. Damon’s jaw clenched and he downed his bourbon. He allowed himself just a moment of wondering what it would feel like to have Bonnie’s petite little body wrapped in his arms and how her lips would feel against his. Anybody who wasn't blind could see she had curves in all the right places, even though she tried to hide them behind flowy hippy tops and pants that fit just slightly too loose.

Damon cleared his throat before things escalated and he got the urge to break Jeremy’s neck. “If you two are done being disgusting. The dead witches, remember them? We should go and get this over with. ”

They simultaneously rolled their eyes and untangled themselves from one another. Bonnie walked over and grabbed her grimoire off of the table she sat it on and then her and Jeremy headed to the door without so much as a backward glance at Damon. When Bonnie realized Damon wasn’t following them she turned around and asked with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised, “You coming?”

“I don’t know witchy, you’re not making me feel very welcome right now.” As a matter of fact Damon was highly annoyed at their dismissive behavior towards him. Well not so much baby Gilbert, he couldn’t care less about him. Bonnie however, her lack of acknowledgement really rubbed him the wrong way.

“Damon, don’t pretend like you want to be doing this with us anymore than we want to be doing this with you. We have a mutual understanding of how much we dislike one another so what’s the point of trying to make with the false pretense?”

Damon had always taken what the little witch said with a grain of salt because he never cared what she thought of him before. He still didn’t care and yet; something twisted in his stomach when she admitted to not liking him. He already knew it to be true, but to hear the words come out of her mouth…it effected him more than it should have.

Damon schooled his features and shoved passed them. “Fine, but we’re taking my car.”

Bonnie was a bit taken aback by the look on Damon’s face when she told him they disliked one another. It was gone in the blink of an eye, but she had caught it. He almost looked upset by the revelation, which struck her as odd because last she knew he hated her just as much as she hated him. So what was with the look? She shook it off as he walked passed and followed him to his car. She had to give him one thing, he had damn good taste in cars. She’d never tell anyone obviously, but she secretly loved riding in his 1969 Chevy Camaro. She especially loved that it’s a convertible, but again she'd never say that out loud.

“Jer, you can sit up front.”

Damon stopped short from opening the driver side door and shook his head. “Nope, baby Gilbert’s sit in the backseat. It’s the safest place for children.”

Jeremy clenched his jaw and his fists. “God you’re such an ass.”

Bonnie put her hand on Jeremy’s arm and told him calmly, “Don’t let him get to you Jer. Besides it’s fine, I’ll sit in the back with you. I’d rather sit with you anyway.” She looked directly at Damon when she said that last part.

“Whatever,” Damon sneered. “Just get in the damn car.”

The drive over to the witches house was tense, at least it was for Damon. The couple in the backseat looked as comfortable as ever though. Damon had to use all the willpower he possessed to keep from looking in the rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of Bonnie. He had no idea what was going on with him lately, but whatever it was he needed to get it in check. It was starting to get embarrassing.

He finally succumbed to his desire to look at her however and snuck a glance, but when he did his ice blue eyes were met with two beautiful green ones and in complete un-Damon like fashion, he got spooked and looked away quickly. He kicked himself in the ass for being such a pansy. What in the hell was she doing to him? He was starting to wonder if she had performed some sort of witchy juju on him. He quickly let go of that notion however, because he knew Bonnie wouldn’t do that. Mainly because she couldn’t be bothered to think about him for more than two seconds, let alone put some kind of spell on him.

Nope, this was all Damon. Whatever this was anyway. Damnit.

BDBDBDBDB

They arrived at the witches house and Damon was the only one who wasn’t taken aback by the sight of it. The once grand white plantation house looked every bit like it had been through a terrible fire. Windows were broken, soot covered the majority of the outside and dead vines wrapped up and around the pillars on the front of the house. All in all, it looked like one hell of a haunted house, but they wouldn’t be your run of the mill ghosts, no, these were witches. Powerful pissed off witches who were burned alive. Damon sighed. He was not looking forward to going in there.

Bonnie stopped short and put her hand over her mouth in shock. “Oh my goodness.” She stated quietly. She couldn’t believe that a hundred witches had been burned alive in this place. What an absolutely tragic way to die and all for practicing their craft. She couldn’t imagine. She was suddenly glad she was born in the time she was.

“Come on, “Damon started walking to the door. “Let’s get this over with.” He didn’t like being here anymore than the rest of them. These witches hated him. He didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary.

Jeremy for his part, put a comforting hand on Bonnie’s lower back and lead her into the severely burned building.

As soon as they entered the building and Damon was standing in a spot where the light was shining through the windows, they all knew something was wrong. Damon’s skin started to smoke and slowly melt off. He was burning like he didn’t have a daylight ring on. He hurriedly sped over to a spot that was completely shaded and the burning stopped. He patted his leather jacket to put out any residual flames. To say he was angry was an understatement. He did not like being burned alive and he immediately knew who was responsible for this trickery.

“I don’t think the witches want you here Damon.” Bonnie got some sort of sadistic kick out of watching the dead witches set Damon’s ass on fire. She had done it once herself, but stopped as a courtesy to her best friend. Biggest mistake she had ever made if you asked her.

The smarmy smirk on Bonnie’s face made Damon want to drive his fangs into her jugular.  “Screw you Judgy,” he snapped. “And screw you too Emily!”

He heard Jeremy snicker from his place next to Bonnie in a spot where the sunlight was beaming through the windows. “Why don’t you come over into the shade with me and laugh you little shit?”

Jeremy sobered up pretty quickly, but still rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just leave Damon. It doesn’t seem like the witches want you here anyway.”

He hated that Jeremy was right. He could stay and be confined to one spot or he could leave and forget he ever bothered to set foot here. The latter was definitely the more appealing option.

“Fine. I hope you get what you came for little witch.”  And with that he sped out of the house as fast as he could so as to not get turned into a crispy critter again. He was already going to have to buy a new leather jacket. He didn’t want to have to nurse too many burns on his perfect skin as well. Vampire healing was quick, but it still took time and the pain was severely unpleasant and Damon preferred all of his pain to happen in the bedroom.

He contemplated leaving and saying screw the both of them, but there was something in his head telling him to wait for the troublesome little witch to make sure she made it out in one piece. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was bothering to listen to whatever the hell it was, but he found himself resting against the hood of his car with his arms crossed awaiting her return with a scowl firmly in place. God he needed help.

BDBDBDBDB

It took some time, well a lot of time, way more than he liked, but they finally emerged from the house looking like two kids on Christmas.

“Am I to assume by the look on your face witchy that the plan worked?”

Bonnie didn’t say anything, she just closed her eyes, held out her hands and let the magic flowing in her veins speak for itself. She’d never felt anything like it before. She could feel them, all of them. Vibrating just beneath her skin, it was almost overwhelming. She concentrated on showing Jeremy and Damon what she was capable of now.

Damon watched in awe-but without showing it of course-as the wind kicked up and the colorful fall leaves on the ground started whipping around unnaturally. The trees starting swaying back and forth and Damon had to plant his feet to keep from being moved by the force of it all. He was struck by her ethereal beauty, her hair flew around her asymmetric face wildly, but other than that she was completely calm and unmoved. She was completely in her element. She was powerful before, but Damon knew she was a force to be reckoned with now. It was in that moment that Damon realized that they were going to beat Klaus.

“Bonnie.” Jeremy placed his hand on her shoulder to break her out of her trance. She looked up at him and smiled and he returned it with one of his own. “Wow. That was incredible Bonnie.”

She jumped into Jeremy’s arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. He picked her up off the ground and swung her around while they both laughed happily.

Damon watched the couple as they lived in their happy little moment, but he only saw Bonnie. The way her eyes were closed and how the slight but contented smile that was plastered on her face made her face light up.

He was so caught up in the moment, he didn’t notice that Bonnie had been watching him as well. When Jeremy finally put her down, but was still holding onto her, she happened to open her eyes and seen Damon looking at them with a look on his face that she couldn’t quite place and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

When Damon finally realized that he was staring at Bonnie and she was staring right back at him, he narrowed his eyes and held her gaze for a few seconds longer before looking away and walking around to the driver side of his car and sliding into the seat. He slammed the door- not too hard, he loved his car- to get their attention and asked snarkily, “You guys coming or are we going to stand out here all day holding hands and singing kumbaya?”

They pulled apart for the second time that day, but were slightly less annoyed this time.  Bonnie was in a great mood and Damon’s attitude wouldn't bring her down. Jeremy opened the passenger door for Bonnie and let her slide into the backseat first and then followed suit. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she happily rested her head on his and that’s how they sat the whole ride back to the boarding house.

Needless to say it nauseated Damon to no end. He couldn’t wait to be rid of the two of them for the day or maybe the week. He needed to put some serious distance between himself and the happy couple. He especially needed some distance from the juiced up little witch. When he wasn’t with her, it was like his head was clear and he could think straight, but when he was near her, there was this Bonnie sized fog that clouded his brain and made him think and feel certain things for the witch and he hated it. He wasn’t suppose to feel anything for her except contempt.

BDBDBDBDB

Damon pulled into the boarding house driveway and promptly exited his car. “Well you got what you needed today Judgy. Feel free to mosey on home and practice your new found witchy juju or whatever it is you do in your free time.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but still wouldn’t let him get to her. “Don’t worry Damon, we’re leaving. I think we’ve all spent enough time together for one day.” She grabbed Jeremy’s hand and started leading him to her car. “Come on Jer. Let’s go back to my house.”

Jeremy followed obediently and Damon wanted to vomit. He didn't want to think about what they might do alone at Bonnie’s house. He did however, feel the need to get a rise of out the seemingly nonplussed witch and called after her, “Don’t say I never did anything for you Judgy.”

She stopped and looked at him over the roof of her Prius and replied calmly, “You didn’t do this for me Damon. You did it for Elena.” She gave him just the tiniest hint of a smile and entered her car, put the key in the ignition and drove off.

Damon stood and watched as she drove away and contemplated what she said and whether or not it was the truth. It was obviously the truth, he knew that everything they were doing was to save Elena and yet, he felt a stirring deep down inside that said he needed to make sure that Bonnie came out of this unscathed as well. He realized he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he might care about the witch. He grimaced. God when did that happen? He shook his head and turned to go into the house. He needed a drink.