Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire Diaries or any of the characters.

Mystic Falls June 2006

"I don't think they realize how much their presence complicates the situation."

Giuseppe joined the young intern perched at the window of his office and peered down discretely through the thick curtains at the group of journalist and cameras men that had taken residence at the front of the Court House; he immediately pursed his lips as he noticed a new van that belonged to the WPKW9 TV station.

"Sadly I think they do. They just simply don't care," Giuseppe shook his head and walked away from the sight of bloodthirsty journalist to take a sit on his chair. "They prefer to risk the confidentially of this case and reveal morbid details for just one more point of rating than just think about the damage that they are provoking."

"Damon is here," Kol announced to his boss. He watched Giuseppe's older son parking his expensive car on the parking lot and being immediately ambushed by Mystic Falls' media as he walked to the building entrance. "And people then say that we lawyers are vultures." He smirked as he turned away from the window.

"They are wasting their times," Giuseppe said. "Damon won't say a word. If there is one person who hates the press just like me or more it's him."

Giuseppe's mind took him at a dreadful night where it burned on his retina the image of an eight years old Damon shouting at the reporters to leave him and his family alone. Practically all New York's media was entrenched on their doorway trying to fish more details about the tragic accident that took Antonia Abernathy Salvatore's life, the love of his life and heiress of one of the most prominent families of the city. Giuseppe knew that not all the journalists where soulless creatures, but the media didn't have mercy with their family, even when his sons who were carried without compassion to the spotlight were just mere children at the time, and that was the moment when Giuseppe decided to move them from New York to Mystic Falls, to find quietness in the small town their parents were born.

How wrong he was. It seemed these reporters were the same or worst than the others in the big apple.

Damon entered the three story brick building- with a hipped roof and crowned by an octagonal cupola- ignoring the reporters congratulating him for his new job and engagement; he refrained from the skin of his teeth to stop and ask them how the hell they got that information that belonged to the intimacy of his family and inner circle.

His father's Chamber was located on the third and last floor of the building, away from the Court rooms, so he quickly entered the elevator, greeting a few familiar faces as he pushed the bottom of his floor. In the short trip, he began to think how disgusting was to see how they seemed to be torn between asking questions of his and Bonnie's private life or the new case his father was assigned to.

A case with great repercussion on the State that involved charges for possible human traffic and that had been cold for five years, until by some miracle had been assigned to his father.

Damon stepped out of the elevator and greeted warmly at his father secretary Mary that knew him since he was just a kid, before stopping in the closed big wooden door with the sign, Giuseppe Salvatore District Court Judge, hanging from it. A sense of pride always shot through him when he put foot on the building and saw and feel how much respected and loved his father was in his place of work. And in town

"Good Morning, Dad," He greeted as soon as he entered the study shutting the door quietly behind him. "A promise is a promise." He smirked as he dropped the heavy document on top of Giuseppe's desk.

"Good morning son," Giuseppe looked up from the papers to see at his son clad in an elegant black suit greeting Kol before taking a seat in front of his desk. "How did that little interrogation with the press go?" He asked frowning a little.

Damon scoffed as he sat his leather briefcase on top of the antique desk and looked at his father. "They wanted to congratulate me for the new position in Harrison and associates and the engagement with Bonnie… oh and don't let me forget it, they wanted to know the progress of the case too, all in that order."

Damon gritted his teeth. Three days. Three fucking days had just past since Bonnie agreed to be his wife and they were already nagging at him for details, but he would be damn if he let them enter his life, he had past through that once and he was not interested in doing it again.

"Did I mention how proud I am that you entered one of the most prestigious albeit arrogant Law Firm of the country? Somehow I don't think it would be difficult for you to adapt to that environment."

Damon laughed at his dad's comment.

"Giuseppe," Kol called the attention of his boss. "I'm going to check on those fields that I told you earlier, if I found something of importance I will bring it to you." He informed.

When the older man nodded Kol brought his chocolate brown eyes at Damon and nodded his head in acknowledgement before leaving the office quickly.

"… And for taking the big step with Bonnie, you made a good decision in asking Rudy her hand in marriage first, because that is how we Salvatore do things, the right way." Giuseppe stated proudly.

Damon smirked. "I love Rudy and everything but I asked for his blessing not his permission," He stressed. "Nor would he or anyone have stopped me from asking Bonnie to marry me anyway."

"Ah the Salvatore stubbornness," Giuseppe winked and then sighed as his eyes found the papers on his hands. "Son, thank you for giving me a hand with this case, I know that you will be starting your job in a month and that you probably wanted to spend more time with Bonnie but I needed a person of my extremely trust, I want you to know that I really appreciate that you are here."

"It's ok dad. I couldn't say no to you with this. This time you have a new chance of doing justice to those kids and their families and here I'm going to help you," Damon said before looking at the door and then at his father again. "What's it with Kol? He seemed… weird."

"He was concurring for the same position as you at Harrison and associates." Giuseppe reveled at Damon who winced a little.

Now he probably came off as an insensitive asshole who bragged in front of Kol of a job he obtain instead of him. But in his defense his father hadn't say a word that the youngest of the Mikaelson clan wanted the same job, he would have never mentioned it in the first place if that were the case and he didn't have a crystal ball to know it.

"Have you talked to Stefan today?" Giuseppe asked as he read the tick document over. His younger's son behavior was starting to worry him, he was trying to not interfere on his decisions and giving him some breathing room, after all he was 22 and was a grown man at his eyes, but he was still a father and he often got worried that Stefan could do something stupid.

"I spoke with him yesterday, he told me something about going fishing today with Matt and a few of his friends from high school, some kind of reunion I guess." Damon responded with a shrug of his big shoulders as he read his father's notes with the name of the families doing the demand. He had already read the whole case, since his father personally handed it to him two days ago when he and Bonnie went to the Boarding House him to celebrate their engagement with his family.

"Good. I have been telling him that he needs to get out of the house and clear his head, hang out with friends."

Damon nodded as he kept reading concentrated. He agreed with his dad, Stefan needed to get out and live his life. No explanations to anyone.

His crystal blue eyes focused on the tiny letters, until a too familiar name appeared on one of the pages. Damon licked his suddenly dried lips and looked at his father sitting across from him "Bennett?"

Giuseppe lowered his eyes to see the paper his son was reading and slowly nodded his head.

Damon ran a hand through his dark messy hair. "Bonnie had a brother?" He shook his head suddenly confused with the turning of events. "Dad what's all this?" He all but demanded and explanation. And he wanted to hear it now.

Giuseppe cleared his throat before looking at Damon's questioning eyes. It was time to explain some things. "First of all you know that everything we say here is confidential, right?"

Damon nodded his head and sighed exasperated. Of course he knew! He was just feeling turn, between hearing his father explanation or be kept in the dark. Damon knew that the second was not an option if he was going to help him with the case, but if what the old man was about to tell him, implied potentially had to hid something from Bonnie; he didn't know what he was going to do.

"Rudolph Bennett is one of our clients Damon. He and his ex wife Abby had a boy twenty eight years old. There are nine people detained right now, including an obstetrician. Rudy and 54 more families are demanding Mystic Falls Hospital for encasement in abduction and child traffic."

Damon rubbed his tired eyes and looked back at his watch. It was nearly lunch break and he was still stuck on his dad's office. His father had left hours ago to attend an important trial and Damon decided to stay just a few more hours and call it a day. Bonnie worked until three in the afternoon at Mondays and he wanted to be on their apartment before she arrived. He smiled as he thought of her and leaned back on his sit before closing his eyes to rest his tired eyes. Maybe if he was lucky he would dream of her. Yeah, he would like that, and maybe in the dream they won't be wearing any clothes. His smile grew into a smirk; yeah he would like that very much.

A nock on the door made him opened his eyes and he frowned. Trevor, his father's intern has headed out for lunch not even ten minutes ago and his father hadn't told him about expecting someone.

Damon heaved a heavy sigh and reluctantly stood up, dragging himself with his usual swagger to the door as he fixed his loosened blue tie.

He opened the heavy wooden door and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw who was on the other side. Today it seemed was his lucky day, because his thoughts just materialized in front of him, clad in a tight leather pencil skirt -that left him wondering for a second how the hell did she get into in the first place- a white silky tank top, and five inch black pumps that put her almost at his nose level height.

She smiled with her full lips at him, waving a bag of what it seemed take out in front of his face, before opening her mouth to speak, but Damon didn't give her time as his aim was precisely as he went for her mouth.

Bonnie sighed happily as his lips made contact with hers and she circled her arms around his neck.

Tightly, painfully tightly, afraid to let him go.

"I get that you missed me?" She whispered against his lips as soon as they broke off the kiss, his hands were firmly planted on her hips as he closed the door and walked them backwards until his back hit the big mahogany desk.

"You bet your amazing ass that I did." He answered while grabbing said ass and Bonnie laughed as she ran her hands on his dark hair and pulled from it with force so his face was at her level.

"You just saw me this morning," She smiled up at him as Damon ran his fingers down the side of her face. "I got out of work earlier and I thought why not surprise my boyfriend with lunch?" Because she knew how Damon was when working. He didn't do stops until he had finished and that meant sometimes no eating. And added to that she really needed to see Damon and going back to an empty apartment was going to depressed her more. She just needed to see him.

She sided step him much to Damon's chagrin and went to take a sit around the desk, bag of food dinging of her left hand, until Damon's hand around her wrist stopped her. She looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Fiancé." Damon corrected as he planted a kiss on her left hand above her engagement ring.

Bonnie smiled brightly as he took the food out of her hands and walk past her. She took a sit on Giuseppe's Renaissance armchair and her mossy green eyes took a tour around her future father in law's office as Damon fixed their plates. The room was big with two large arched casement windows that left a great amount of sunlight poured into the chamber, although today wasn't the case, as the sky was grey and it had already started to rain on Mystic Falls. Next to the big mahogany desk there was an enormous bookshelf filled with what Bonnie guessed was a lawyer's wet dream, endless books of law, and an elegant wooden files cabinet.

"I ran into Mason earlier," Bonnie commented as she cut her chicken

Parmesan. "He was doing some paperwork with his grandfather. It seems he is taking over Lockwood's Enterprise, I honestly didn't even think he would stay in town." She confessed.

Damon nodded in agreement as he gulped down his bottle of water. "I talked to him in the party; he was pretty serious about staying, which I'm glad. It's good to have my best friend back. "

"Our best friend," She teased with a smile. "Oh and he is coming over for dinner, also I spoke with Stefan today and he will be coming too."

"Did you go to work today?" He asked with amusement dancing on his eyes but he grew serious when he noted her sudden sullen expression. "Bon what is going on?"

She sighed and bit her lip before looking up at him, her green eyes filled with unshed tears made Damon's concern grew ten times, that he already was out of his seat and next to her. "Bonnie, talk to me." He said softly.

"I don't know if I can do it," She said shaking her head and Damon was sure his heart stop beating as he waited for her to continue. "It's so hard sometimes, today I- I had to leave work earlier because I couldn't do my fucking job Damon." She said running a frustrating hand over her curls.

Was it bad that he was actually relieved? Selfish maybe, Because somehow in his crazy mind Bonnie was going to call off their engagement or some shit like that and Damon wasn't sure how he would react to something like that. A life apart from her, without her, wouldn't be a life for him.

He frowned as she explained how sometimes she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to do her job, because there were things that she saw and had to live through everyday, Realities, that she firmly thought was not prepare to face.

She was mistaken, Damon decided, because Bonnie Bennett was the strongest person he ever met.

"Hey, hey," He said soothingly as he draw her closer and took her face between his hands, focusing his clear blue eyes on her glassy green ones. Bonnie was biting her lower lip and her breathing was elaborated as he stated on his most confidential voice "Listen to me. You are not weak, you are the strongest person that I know, and you are the woman I love… I choose to spend the rest of my life with you, and I know you. You can do this, yeah sometimes it's hard and I know how sensitive you are but think about this in your way of helping this people, I know how much you care about them"

She breathed deeply as she gripped his hands that were planted on her cheeks. She knew she wasn't wrong when she decided to come to see him. Damon was the only person who could calm her, and sometimes just seeing him made her dragged strength from unknown places. She nodded silently and offered him a small smile.

He smiled at her as he planted a quick kiss on her lips "Now eat that we are going home"

Mason had spent all his morning and nearly afternoon- he realized sulkily as he checked his watch and saw that it was a little past two -doing paperwork with his grandfather and their family's attorney.

Thanks to his grandfather contacts, they could accelerate the possession and now everything was ready. He was now the legally owner of Lockwood Enterprises and although Mason honestly had no idea how to ran a chain of expensive restaurants he knew he could do it. Some people would call him arrogant; he liked better the word confident. Needless to say his grandfather was smugger than ever. Mason didn't know why but he had a feeling that he had just given his soul to the devil himself.

An idea struck his brain and he remembered the conversation he had with Damon the day before where the older Salvatore heir told him he was going to be working with his father for the week. Mason decided to pay a surprise visit to his best friend. He took the stairs and arrived at the third floor is less than a minute. The Court House's corridors were empty and dark and oddly there was no one in sight. The lunch break was over; but it looked like people left earlier, even when the business hours were until three. Only in Mystic Falls, Mason shook his head.

He slowly made his way to Giuseppe's chamber and came to a complete stop when he heard voices coming from behind the closed door. He immediately picked up the sound of a voice. Bonnie. He could recognize that voice everywhere; it was the very same that haunted him on his dreams. The other one was from a man and Mason quickly realized belonged to Damon.

He didn't know why he was surprised she was there.

With him

He had actually run into her earlier much to his delight and they shared a briefly conversation. They actually hadn't had the opportunity yet, to talk just the two of them since he arrived. Always someone was on the middle, if not Damon it was Caroline, or today his grandfather. Mason planned to change that and soon.

His spine stiffened when he caught a piece of their conversation. Mason clenched his jaw and couldn't believe what he was thinking, he painfully had to admit that he would had been happier if he was hearing them fucking like rabbits through the door than to hear them declaring their love for each other.

He swallowed hard and turned on his heel, leaving them behind. Mason left the Courthouse as the dark heavy rain began to drop over the town. He realized in that moment that he had not a chance with Bonnie. She was in love with Damon. And if Mason knew one person it was that girl and he knew deep in his heart that hers was in the right place, it wasn't a fickle one. When Bonnie Bennett loved, she loved with all her being. And she wasn't in love with him; she was in love with Damon Salvatore.

"Are you ready?" Mason yelled from the bottom of the staircase of his family house.

At the response of the feminine voice yelling him "In a minute." he gritted his teeth. That had been the same response for nearly fifteen minutes now.

He glanced at his watch on his left wrist and decided to wait for his sister on the truck. Caroline had been acting like his shadow since the moment he arrived from the Courthouse. He really was praying to god that his sister found a new boyfriend to annoy soon and left him in peace because when he told her that he was going to Damon's to watch the game she decided to tag along claiming that she needed to talk something with Bonnie.

A loud slam broke him away from his thoughts and Mason turned to his right to watch his sister fastening the car belt. She was clad in a blue long summer dress and had a big cardboard box on her lap.

"You almost made the door swivel Caroline," He complained as he started the car and pulled away from their doorway. "What do you have on that box?" He asked after ten minutes of deafening silence.

"If you must know Mason," She took her eyes away from the scenery passing by to look at him. "I'm bringing Brides magazines for Bonnie." She said slowly trying to gauge his reaction.

Since she heard Mason and their grandfather conversation Caroline couldn't think in nothing else, she couldn't sleep and she barely ate. The words that Mason said still echoed through her head, but if anything Caroline Forbes Lockwood was a determinate person and she decided that she would be damn if she let her older brother ruin her best friend happiness, she was watching him closely now.

Mason blinked away surprised and made a turn when he reached Damon's street. "How do you have Brides magazines?"

Caroline crossed her arms, okay that was not the reaction that she had been expecting. "I just have them okay." She said defensively.

Mason with his eyes on the road grinned.

"What are you grinning at?"

"You are going to be such a Bridezilla when you get married." He teased her as he search for a place to park his truck, when he found it, Mason killed off the engine and get out of his vehicle.

"No, I'm not," Caroline huffed as she got out of the car and put a gold curl neatly behind her ear. "You are just being an idiot."

"Aww I love you too sis." He flicked her nose and grabbed the box out of her hands before throwing an arm around her shoulders and walking inside the apartment complex with her.

High pitched barking could be heard before Bonnie opened the door and greeted them both with one of her warm smiles and a tiny little dog jumping around on her legs. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a black strapless tube top. To Mason she looked so young and carefree that couldn't help his mind even if he wanted to of traveling in time, to the day he almost confessed his feelings for her.

He paced frantically the front porch of the Bennett household. He had texted Bonnie on his way letting her know that he needed to talk to her urgently. It was a Sunday afternoon and he knew she was having lunch with her father like every week but he couldn't wait more, he needed to come clean with her and tell her he was in love with her.

Bonnie step out of the house wearing black skinny jeans and a green tank top, her long dark curls were down and she smiled wildly when she looked around her front porch and saw him leaning against one of the columns.

"Hey! You are being silly. Why don't you want to come inside?"

"No, I prefer staying here to talk with you." He looked behind her at the closed door before starting to walk away, Bonnie followed closely behind with an intrigued expression.

"Well." She said when they walk further and he was leaning now against his car.

He took a deep breath and run a hand through his hair

"You are starting to scare me." She laughed nervously.

"What I want to tell you is difficult," He sighed and looked at her. "I have a problem and I don't know how to fix it."

"What problem?" She frowned and adopted his position, leaning on the car beside him.

"Bonnie you are very important to me, you know that," He said looking away from her and to the few kids running on her neighbor's front yard. "And Damon is very important to me too" He added.

"Yes, I know that. You are important to me too Mason. You and Damon are my best friends."

Bonnie saw him gulping down. "Is this problem with me?" She questioned alertly.

Yes. He wanted to yell at her but instead he shook his head no.

"Okay," Bonnie bit her lip and her eyes widened suddenly. "Is this about Damon? Oh my god he told you!"

"Tell me what?" Mason asked with a frown adorning his forehead.

Bonnie hesitated for a second before informing with the brightest smile he had ever seen on her. "We are dating."

Mason shook his head and he realized that he may have been a minute silent because when he turned to her she was watching him with an expectant and nervous expression, swallowing the lump on his throat he answered. "No, he didn't tell me anything" Pause. "I just don't want you to suffer Bonnie or Damon; you two are my best friends"

Bonnie sighed softly and put a hand on his arm. "I don't want to suffer and neither does Damon," She said softly "And we don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything but." She paused. "I don't know we all love each other a lot. But Mason that is not going to change, in the contrary, I believe that it will make us closer than ever. Don't you think?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah, yeah it was a stupid idea. What I was thinking?" He looked away from her and was fishing for the keys of his car when he felt slender arms wrapped around his neck hugging him tightly and the smell of vanilla and lavender that was all Bonnie infiltrated his senses. And she whispered on his ear slowly as he held her tightly to him and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Hey! Trust me on this one. I'm never going to let you out of my life. I love you Mason, you are my best friend" She promised.

But then he could only blame himself, he was the one to who left after all.

Something smacked him right on his left cheek, hard, and Mason blinked slowly as he came from his walk on memory lane. He frowned and searched for the source of his reality awakening and he found it inside a diminutive's dog mouth. Mason frowned. He had been hit by a mini Furby?

He watched as Bonnie entered the room laughing, she had changed into a Redskins' jersey, he saw as she went to pick up the little Yorkshire terrier, Romeo he heard she called it, apologizing profusely for the dog that apparently couldn't control its strength when playing with its favorite toy. Damon who was trailing behind Bonnie looked like he was just waking up from a nap, his hair was messy and Mason saw his tired eyes when Damon looked at his direction and smiled in a way of greeting.

A few beers later and when the game was over Bonnie came to sit beside Damon on the couch he and Mason were sharing.

"Ready to eat?" She asked looking at them both.

Mason raised an eyebrow. "You are cooking?"

Bonnie's mouth hanged open in indignation. "Why does everyone ask me that question?"

Mason and Damon quickly shared a look. That fateful night when she tried to cook them just a simple pizza a few years back came into their minds. Bonnie was good at a lot of things. She could speak five languages, dance better than anyone, and was good at sports, but cooking; yeah that was not her thing. The girl couldn't even boil water.

Bonnie crossed her arms as she waited for an answer from any of the two friends.

Mason when he saw her expression shrugged a shoulder and decided to speak the truth. "Well you aren't exactly-"

"I love how you cook." Damon quickly cut off and gave her his mega watt smile.

Bonnie held Damon's intense blue eyes for a spell before shaking her head and pursing her lips to stop smiling. She knew she sucked at cooking and she knew he was lying, the bastard. She appreciated his white lie tough and she pecked him on the lips quickly before making her way to their kitchen, where Stefan and Caroline were cooking.

Mason punched Damon on the shoulder as soon as Bonnie left.

"Coward." He accused him.

Damon took his eyes from Bonnie's swaying hips and quickly lifted his hands in defense. "Hey! You are not the one who has to sleep with her when she is mad."

Mason bit the inside of his cheek and kept silent. Yeah, he knew that.

"I heard you Damon!" Bonnie yelled from the kitchen.

Damon winced a little. "Jesus, she has bionic hearing." He whispered with widened eyes as he opened a can of beer.

Mason snorted. He opened a beer himself and nursed it. He had a lot on his mind in that moment but the question that was plaguing his mind since the night of the Gala on his home was in the front of his brain, and he needed to ask, needed to know.

"How is it?"

Damon had his blue eyes glued on the television screen, watching and hearing the comments of the game. He licked his teeth as he watched again the final result. They got their asses handed to them tonight and to make natter worst by no other than the Dallas Cowboys. He took another sip of his beer before looking at Mason.

He frowned. "How is what?"

Mason locked eyes with Damon. "Fall in love." He knew how it was to fall in love with Bonnie. But his masochist mind wanted to know what Damon felt as he fell for the same woman.

Damon's eyes rounded in surprise. He slowly placed the can of beer on the coffee table and pondered his friend's question on his mind. He guessed Mason was falling in love with this secret girl he had been seeing as of late, and even if Damon didn't like to talk about his feeling he decided to share them if that could helped out a friend. It was easy said it than done it. How could he put all the emotions Bonnie made him feel in a sentence? It was downright impossible for him.

Damon cleared his throat before looking at Mason. "You have to felt it to understand it, but from what I can tell you, is that it's easy. When I'm with Bonnie…" He laughed he was probably going to sound sappy but he didn't care. "You know you love someone when everything that you saw impossible it's easy at her side, when you can't imagine a life without her, at to wake up without her, to plain and simple be without her. And you just can't… because that person had become your own life."

Mason nodded his head in understanding. He knew that feeling all too well. "Then I have never felt that way." He lied.

Chapter End.

A/N: Sorry for the late update I promise to make up for it! Thank you so much for your support for this story. Let's all keep up our love for Bamon. I had been thinking on doing a Rewrite of season one with Bonnie as the main character. What do you guys think?