Damon woke with his arm still bent at the elbow - an empty space beside him - warm and littered with her scent. There were hints of sage and rosemary, no doubt used in the last spell she'd attempted, traces of vanilla ice cream, and him. Jeremy Gilbert's lust, desire, and love were all over her skin, in her hair, covering he clothes.

It made him nauseous.

A maniacal grin curved his lips as he stretched, Damon was proud of himself, despite the insults he'd thrown in her direction during their standoff in the back yard the night before, the hateful glares he leveled, and damn near pushing of her tiny frame off the steps when she tried to follow him in the house; she'd stayed and spent the night in his bed. Even the zealous Mr. Gilbert couldn't boast about that one.

Then he remembered he woke up alone.

Bonnie was gone.

She'd left without a goodbye.

His hand reached for the phone beside the bed. The screen was blank, there were no unread messages. No curses or cute phrases scribbled in shiny gloss on his mirror. Not even one torn piece of page with her gigantic handwriting; just the overpowering scent of bleach drifting from the basement to his room. Stefan was home and cleaning up his older brother's mess.

He rushed down the stairs, hoping to catch a note of her voice, when he paused mid stride, realization...awareness of the unspoken feelings...circling in the center of his chest.

"Shit."

Stefan stood at the base of the stairs, hands folded behind his back, and his brows knitted in disapproval.

"I have no time for your shit this morning, brother."

Damon whizzed past his younger sibling, foregoing the coffee when he accepted the fact that Bonnie was no longer present in his home. He walked to the bar and opted for his preferred beverage.

"You know my problem with you Damon?"

He groaned, forging through the cabinets for a full bottle of scotch, bourbon, or whiskey, anything to drown out the meddlesome tone his brother was forcing upon his ears.

"I'm sure you're going to tell me."

Stefan lifted a crystal bottle from the second shelf and passed it to Damon.

"You don't fully weigh the consequences of your actions."

Damon swallowed his glass and poured a second, "Rose was just a friend - she knew the risks of this life."

Stefan shook his head, a tiny sound of amusement escaping his lips, "I'm not talking about Rose."

He watched as the younger Salvatore's face held a shit eating grin as he poured a glass of liquor for his enjoyment.

"Bonnie - what did you think would happen?"

Damon waved off his brother's concern. Pushing past him as he fought for position in front of the window, he fumbled with the hem of his shirt before throwing the glass into the wall.

"Take your holier-than-thou act somewhere else..."

Stefan interrupted, "You pushed her to Jeremy, after spending weeks alone with her. The teasing, the inside jokes, I saw this coming a mile away."

"Jeremy Gilbert is a horny teenager with a woody for all things supernatural. She's a shiny new toy for him, when the newness wears off..."

"She'll be heartbroken..." Stefan stepped closer, his judgment filled gaze trained on Damon's face.

"And I'll care because?"

"She's not a shiny new toy for you, somewhere - somehow - big, bad, mean Damon Salvatore started to care about Bonnie Bennett. This is different than easing your bruised ego over Katherine or trying to get revenge on me by winning Elena's heart. You feel something..."

"Shut the fuck up and try your Freud act on somebody else." Damon grabbed the open bottle, "Monsters don't have feelings. The witch is hot, young, and virginal. Did you forget how fresh and ripe they taste brother?"

Years apart made it hard for Stefan to read Damon. For that the older Salvatore was thankful. He had believed all the empty words he'd thrown at him. In fact Damon had almost believed his own hype.

Until a freshly showered, sweats covered Bonnie walked into the front door, carrying a new mop, two gallons of bleach, and a bag that at one time or another was property of the Mystic Falls Medical System. She'd stolen blood for him and if he had been able to breathe, the breath would have caught in the back of his throat.

She felt the tension in the air.

"I missed a hell of a brotherly disagreement."

Stefan rushed to remove the supplies from her arms, while Damon remained rooted to the ground. She rushed from the room when her phone buzzed. He picked up Jeremy's voice on the other end, rolling his eyes internally, half listening to her conversation as she reported her whereabouts and her plans, no the happy couple's plans for the day.

"You're lying to yourself Damon."

He cringed at the sound of her breathy laughter. The gaping hole in his chest grew as she filled that human in on every detail. Why did that snotty nosed brat need to know that he was taking anything hard? If he didn't want Bonnie here, then he should come over and tell Damon to stay away from his girl.

He was a punk.

Damon centered his thoughts and worked to poke holes in his brother's argument.

"Bonnie needs a challenge, not some goofy kid trying to play Mr. Perfect."

Unfortunately he gave him the ammunition he needed.

A huge smile spread across Stefan's face, "She doesn't need you either."

He noticed his brother shivered when their eyes met, "I know that." Damon took a slow sip from the bottle, "This ends today." His eyes darkened as the liquid tore a new path down his throat.

The only way for Damon to stop what was increasing between them, was to push her away. They'd made the descent from frenemies to friends and he was dangerously close to falling in...if he were honest...he was already there. He'd pushed her to Jeremy, so now he'd let go.

That was his only option.

Bonnie didn't want Damon.

She sure as hell didn't need him.

It would be better this way.