Different Tides

A/N: Hey everyone! So this is my newest fanfic post...a medium-length one-shot starring Bamon of course. I hope everyone likes it.

The next thing I post will probably be an update to Arranging Love.

"I love you Damon."

The words were said with an air of simplicity, because they were completely true. And now, she knew he loved her as well, so there was no longer any reason to hide the truth. None of the old fears were holding her back anymore.

Damon's dark eyes were glassy...but in a subtle way that the only people who would be able to see it were people who knew him well, Bonnie being one of the very few on that short list. It was one of those rare times where the dark vampire was truly at peace. He leaned forward and engulfed her into his arms, his lips at her ear as his silky voice whispered into them.

"Ti amo, uccellino."

Bonnie smiled widely, happiness and warmth spreading spreading throughout her chest as she cuddled further into him. She still couldn't fluently speak Italian, but she had heard that phrase often enough to instantly know what it meant. And no matter how many times she had heard it, the thrill never wore off.

His cool lips press to hers firmly and she is quick to respond, wrapping her arms around his neck as their lips moved together, quickly gaining more passion in their embrace as he laid her down the surface of their soft bed.

Afterwards, she exposed her bare neck to him and braced herself for the normal sting, eventually allowing the peaceful and pleasurable aura of the act to completely wash over and consume her.

They had been together for only five months now. And although that length of time really wasn't that long, their bond was already strong. The fact that they were currently living together played a huge part in that.

Bonnie had been in the middle of cooking herself some breakfast; toast and eggs, when the sound of her phone ringing broke her away from her activity. She placed the plate of scrambled eggs on the table to pick it up, glancing down at the caller ID to see that it was Elena on the other end of the line.

She answered it without a moment's hesitation, raising it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bonnie," she heard Elena's voice respond. But the tone was strained and Bonnie knew that as a clear sign that something was upsetting her.

"What's wrong, Elena?"

"It's Stefan. We...had a disagreement."

Elena then went on to explain the fight she and Stefan had, how he went off impulsively back into the Dark Dimension in order to try to find a cure for his vampire state, which he had failed to do in the end. And how Elena was currently angry at him and wanted some space from him.

She asked to spend some time at Bonnie and Damon's apartment.

"You want to come here?" Bonnie asked, trying to make it sound like she was just asking for clarification and not show Elena how panicked she currently was.

"Yes but only for a week or less," Elena responded, her voice pleading. "Please Bonnie?"

Bonnie contemplated it. Although she hated to admit it and was ashamed at the thought, there was a large, selfish part of her that wanted to tell Elena no...to suggest a difference place for her to stay and take her break from Stefan.

It wasn't because she would be annoyed at her presence or that she didn't want to help her friend in her time of need but...well, she and Damon had only been together for five months now. It had only been five months since Damon had first chosen her and let go of Elena completely. That wasn't a whole lot of time and Bonnie was a little afraid that spending a week in the apartment with Elena might possibly re-awaken Damon's obsession with her. It would be the first time in five months that they would see each other in person, after all.

But in the end, she forced herself to give the dreaded answer. "Okay...sure."

Elena was clearly relieved. "Thank you Bon. I owe you one."

They then went on to make small talk, discussing topics such as 'how has life been', and 'how is school going', until they eventually said their goodbyes and hung up. Bonnie placed the phone down a bit disdainfully.

Elena would be arriving in two days and would be staying in their apartment for up to a week.

Trying to brush aside her growing fear aside, Bonnie made her way back in the direction of her abandoned breakfast plate, reaching out to grab it.

Only to be scooped up in a pair of strong arms.

As soon as she felt the familiar pair of lips brushing across her left cheek, Bonnie let out a girlish giggle and wrapped her arms around the vampire's neck. "Hi."

"Hi." Damon began to trail cool kisses down the side of her neck, causing her to gasp a little but still somehow managing to remain coherent.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was, but then I overheard your sweet voice speaking with someone." He ceased with his assault on her neck to gaze briefly towards the phone, indicating what he meant. "Who were you talking to?"

There was no tone of demand in his voice. Only pure curiosity.

Bonnie bit her lip lightly before answering the question. "It was Elena. She had a fight with Stefan over his recent visit to the Dark Dimension and now...she wants to stay with us. For a week at the most."

If Damon was at all emotionally effected by this news he did a good job at hiding it. His expression remained completely casual as he responded. "When?"

"In a few days...on Tuesday. I couldn't say no to her."

Silence passed over them and Bonnie assumed it was because Damon was quietly pondering the information that had been laid out for him. Bonnie's heart rate quickened in slight fear.

Eventually however, Damon shot her his signature dazzling smile, this time laced with mischief. "Well, then I suppose we should make the best of the minimum time left we have to be alone."

The action and words caused the small amount of worry gnawing at Bonnie to cease a little and a genuine smile crossed her lips. She giggled the entire way as Damon carried her off in the direction of their bedroom.

Everything would be alright. Damon loved her and he always would. He had said as much to her over and over again. And he was over Elena.

Right?

Tuesday had ended up coming much too quickly.

Elena kept her word and arrived at the doorstep of their apartment late into the afternoon, one bag packed with some of her things in hand. She smiled at Bonnie as she opened the door and allowed her entrance into their home, her icy blue eyes displaying clear gratitude.

"I really do appreciate you letting me stay here for a little while."

"It's fine," Bonnie responded. As long as you don't re-awaken Damon's obsession with you.

Elena set her bag down on the floor of the kitchen, taking a moment to glance around the apartment. "Where's Damon?"

Bonnie tried to force back the suspicion that threatened to flare within her at Elena's question. Elena was her friend and a friend in a time of need at that. How could she be thinking like that? Self-shame washed over her.

"He's out hunting," she eventually answered, which was the truth. Damon no longer hunted after pretty females, stating that Bonnie was now the only woman for him, but he was much too prideful to completely give up on drinking blood from humans and although he often fed from her, she couldn't provide him all of the nourishment he needed. So they had made a compromise. Damon would continue drinking blood from other humans under the rule that he wouldn't ever kill anyone and that his encounters with donors would only involve taking their blood and nothing more.

Elena nodded, easily accepting the answer and offering Bonnie a small smile before taking a seat on the small couch in the living room. "Maybe he'll be gone long enough to give us some time to catch up." She patted the spot on the couch beside her, a clear demand and hint.

Despite Bonnie's reservations, this caused a real smile to overtake her lips. It had been a while since she and Elena had seen each other in person.

"Okay. Just let me figure out what to do for dinner first. Are you okay with just ordering a pizza?"

"Sure."

Her catch up time with Elena had been nice and Bonnie found herself really enjoying herself while doing it. Thoughts of Damon's eventual return and what it could mean with Elena now being here with them faded away and instead, she lost herself to the sensation of finally getting to spend some quality time with her best friend. It almost felt like the old days, where they were two high school girls whose worst worries were homework and tests, and the possible failures of one of their schemes.

But of course, that had to come to an end at some point. Damon returned from hunting and although Bonnie was always happy to see him come home, the idea of him and Elena interacting caused a nervous feeling to coil up in her stomach.

It was innocent enough. Damon gave Elena a brief nod and hello before saying goodnight, and Bonnie had been shocked to realize that it was already past midnight. Time seemed to have simply flown by when she and Elena had spent the time talking and catching up.

As always, Damon gently took her hand into his to lead her into their bedroom while Elena stayed out in the living room to sleep on the couch, and Bonnie couldn't help the relieved and happy feeling she felt that he was acting as he normally did, even with Elena there.

The days actually ended up going by fairly fast and none of the things Bonnie had worried would happen occurred. Damon was polite to Elena of course, but most of his attention was too focused on Bonnie to give Elena more than a few glances at a time. Along with that, she could sense a very obviously awkward tension between them...as if they weren't really sure what to say to the other.

Bonnie felt a little guilty for the immense relief she felt at seeing that, but it didn't stop her from feeling it.

Everything was going smoothly. Eventually, Elena would go home and everything in the apartment would go back to normal. She was now so sure of this that the little redhead found herself walking with a pip in her step as she made her way towards home after recently having gotten out of school.

But the sight that graced her when she swung open the door changed her mood completely. She had gone from blissfully relieved to chilled and frightened, making no move to announce her arrival.

Damon and Elena were sitting on the couch beside one another with their arms wrapped around each other. Considering the fact that they had been so oddly distant from each other for the entire week up until now, the sight was shocking at the very least. And then, to top it all off and to make Bonnie's nightmare truly come to life, Elena lifted her head to press her lips against Damon's.

A chocked sob erupted throughout the room.

At the sound, Damon and Elena immediately broke apart from each other, the emotions in both of their widened eyes similar but different at the same time. Elena's gaze reflected shock and an immense amount of guilt, and while Damon shared her shocked expression, there was obvious anger in it as well.

He's probably angry because I interrupted them...

"Bonnie!" Elena stood up, her guilty expression never once changing as she took a step closer, her hand arching out as if she was trying to reach for her. "I...I..."

Damon stood up as well, his stance rigid and still very clearly angry as he regarded. "Little redbird..."

"No!" Bonnie managed to exclaim through her tears. She didn't want to listen to their excuses or their apologies. She didn't want to hear any of it. Ignoring their calls, she bolted back out the door, running as far away from the apartment buildings as she could until we found a spot behind a store that was completely out of the general sight of any passerby's.

Once she was completely isolated and alone, she finally allowed the weight of continuous sobs and tears to overcome her.

She was losing him. Her worst fear was coming true.

Bonnie ended up not coming home that night. She didn't think she could face Damon again after what happened...or Elena if she was still there. She felt as though her heart was slowly breaking in half and her chest hurt. Instead, she used her credit card to pay for one night at a cheap motel. That should give her a little time away from the apartment at least.

Once she was settled inside her room, she sat on the edge of the bed and took her phone out from her pocket, seeing that she had fifteen missed calls and twenty-five new text messages, all from Damon or Elena. She had shut her phone off after the first five or so calls.

Wiping the new onslaught of tears from her eyes, she finally willed herself to listen to one of the voice mails, choosing one from Elena. She figured that it would hurt her a little less to listen to her voice right now rather than Damon's. She opened up the voice mail and pressed the phone to her ear, listening.

"Bonnie? I...listen, I know you're upset with me and you have every right to be. I'm so, so, so sorry." From the shakiness of her voice, Bonnie could tell that Elena had been crying when she left this message. "I don't know what to say to try to justify myself because I know I can't but...can you please pick up the phone? So we can talk?"

The message ended there. Despite the pleading that had been in it, Bonnie knew that she wasn't going to call Elena back. At least not tonight.

She placed her phone on the bedside table and curled up into the bed after shutting off the lamp.

She ended up crying herself to sleep that night.

The next morning, Bonnie knew she would have to leave the apartment and more than likely face Damon...and she dreaded it. She wasn't ready to hear the words he was probably getting ready to say to her...to tell her goodbye and that he was sorry, but he just couldn't let go of Elena like he thought he could. She had been fighting hard to make peace with that idea all night, but that didn't mean she was ready to hear it.

She walked along the streets, trying to avoid as many people as possible. She knew that she didn't look like a pretty sight. Her eyes were red and blotchy from crying and lack of sleep and she was wearing the same clothes that she had worn yesterday. She didn't exactly have time to pack a change of clothes when she stormed out of the apartment.

Her pace grew slower and slower as she neared the apartment, but just as the building finally came into clear view, she felt a hand gently though firmly grab her arm, stopping her in her tracks. A velvety, familiar voice hissed at her angrily. "Where have you been?"

After taking a deep breath, Bonnie turned to face Damon head on, seeing the steely look on his face.

For a few long moments, she wasn't sure what to say to him. But when the tears began to drape down her cheeks, she decided to just bluntly tell the truth in order to avoid having to talk to him for too long. "I stayed at a hotel."

Damon's angry stance seemed to break a little at the sight of her tears, and he sighed, reaching up to brush some of them away gently, his voice remaining stern. "And do you have any idea how worried I was? You wouldn't respond to any of my calls of messages and I hadn't the faintest clue about where you were. I was going out of my mind, redbird."

Bonnie flinched at his touch and swiftly pulled away from him, trying to ignore the look of hurt that crossed his dark eyes. "Don't call me that," she insisted, forcing a glare in his direction. "Don't ever call me that again."

"Redbird..."

"Stop!" Bonnie exclaimed, more tears beginning to gush from her eyes. She was now angered that he wasn't even willing to give her that one simple wish...to never hear him call her his redbird or little bird again. It hurt too much. "Just stop Damon. I...why can't you leave me alone? I...I know that you were angry at me yesterday, for interrupting you and Elena, so..."

"I was not angry at you. I was angry at Elena," Damon cut her off, his jaw tense with obvious frustration. "And you would have known that if you had given me a chance to talk to you before storming off and refusing to allow me to contact you. So right now, I am angry at you."

Bonnie froze. For some reason, she hadn't been expecting to hear anything like that from him. She had been expecting apologies and a farewell before he left the apartment they shared for good...or found her another place to stay. She attempted to make her voice steady again before she asked her next question in a small, soft voice.

"Why were you angry at Elena?"

"Because she kissed me."

Bonnie didn't say anything in response, although her surprise was evident. She didn't know what to say. But it proved to not be too much of a problem, because Damon simply used her silence as an advantage, continuing in his explanation. "While you were at school, Elena was watching TV. I came back to the apartment so I could prepare for your return home, and she approached me. She was...upset about my brother and she was crying. I tried to comfort her, but my words hadn't been helping much. In the end, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug and although I was apprehensive about the whole situation, I believed it would be rude of me to not return the gesture. And then, she kissed me right as you walked into the apartment." He paused, and although his gaze was still overall filled with anger, there was now some pleading in the depths of his black eyes. "But I swear to you, little redbird, that I didn't return her kiss and nor did I welcome it. I was getting ready to immediately push her away before you walked in."

Bonnie wasn't sure how to process all of this information. On one hand, if this was true, she felt extremely stupid and guilty for doubting him, but also relieved. But her poor self-esteem refused to allow her to completely fall into it yet...

Damon suddenly took her hands, the expression on his face hard and serious. "Despite how angry I am right now, I love you, little redbird, and I would never willingly deceive you like that. Please say you believe me."

And his expression and voice were so sincere that Bonnie knew everything he had said was the truth. She wiped the rest of her tears away and gave him a watery, although genuine smile. "I...yes Damon. I believe you. I'm sorry for not giving you a chance to explain earlier."

The vampire then enveloped her in a hug and while holding back a couple of sniffles, Bonnie returned his embrace, burying her face into his chest and allowing herself to get lost int he feeling of being in his arms again, the horrible night before slipping from her mind.

She felt Damon plant a kiss on the top of her head, and his face burrowing into her hair. "Do you really have so little faith in me?"

The question caused another pang of guilt to reverberate through Bonnie's chest. "I'm sorry Damon. I...I know that you love me and I love you. But you wanted Elena for so long...sometimes I can't help but be afraid that your desire for her will one day come back...even if you don't mean for it to happen."

"Well, I want to set the record straight right now. That will never happen. Perhaps I will always care for Elena, but she no longer has any sort of hold over me to that degree. All I want is you and it'll always be that way from here on out."

Despite her feelings of guilt for having doubted Damon so easily, Bonnie managed a small smile as she turned and looked up at him. "Okay. And...I love you too Damon."

She looked away from his chest to gaze into his face, and felt relieved when he gave her a soft, although genuine smile was now on his lips. "I still can't help but feel slightly angry at you for worrying me so much, but overall, i'm more relieved that you're safe and we got most of this straightened out." He then gently took her hand into his. "Let's go home, my little redbird."

But I already am home, Bonnie thought, cuddling into Damon as they began to walk in the direction of their apartment.

And she wasn't ever going to leave her home again.

After about a week of reparations, Damon and Bonnie's relationship was back on track. They had plenty of talks and discussion, concerning Bonnie's fear of Damon's past obsession with Elena, and Damon's brief hurt towards the idea of Bonnie not having complete faith in him, but it had now all been taken care of for the most part.

But now Bonnie would have to talk to Elena.

At some point, Damon had told her that he angrily kicked Elena out of the apartment after Bonnie had fled off, and after Bonnie continued to ignore Elena's calls, they slowly began to stop coming. But it had been a week, and Bonnie knew she would have to talk to her eventually.

So that was why the redhead found herself dialing the phone number of her blonde friend as she sat in the living room alone, Damon having gone out to go hunting and she had decided to use the alone time to her advantage.

Elena ended up answering the phone after only two rings.

"Bonnie?"

"Hi Elena," Bonnie said into the receiver hesitantly.

Elena immediately exploded into a flurry of apologies, pleading, and explanation, and because she was speaking so quickly, Bonnie found that she could only comprehend about half of it.

"Elena please...just tell me the complete truth. Why did you kiss Damon? And he did tell me that you were the one to kiss him."

Bonnie had believed Damon when he said that he hadn't initiated the kiss or wanted it to continue. He had been too sincere to not have been telling the truth. But she wanted to clarify it so that Elena wouldn't think she was judging her without some validation.

"I...yes, I did," Elena admitted guiltily. "And...I honestly don't know how or why it happened. Not entirely anyway. Damon saw me crying because I was in a mood over Stefan, and I asked him to stay and talk to me. I guess my tears won him over because even though I could tell he didn't really want, he did what I asked and sat down next to me. And...he actually made me feel better. He made me laugh and before I knew it, I almost forgot about my problems with Stefan. And then...before I knew it, I had my arms wrapped around him in a hug and in that moment, I completely forgot about everything. I forgot that Damon was now yours...and only yours. But I regretted it the moment I realized I did it. I'm so sorry Bonnie. You let me stay at your apartment and I repay you by kissing your boyfriend."

Bonnie took a few seconds to take in this onslaught of information and confessions, trying to process how exactly she felt about it. She couldn't deny the fact that she still felt mad but she didn't cry this time.

"I...can't say that I forgive you right now Elena. I still feel hurt. But I will eventually."

"I wouldn't ask you to forgive me right away. I don't deserve it that easily." Another brief paused. "But Bonnie...don't be mad at Damon. It wasn't his fault and I know that he didn't want me to kiss him. He was so angry with me after you ran off."

"I know. Damon and I are okay now." Bonnie wasn't sure how to end the conversation but she knew that it should end. They had said everything they needed to say...for now. "I'm going to go now. But...we can talk more later."

"Okay. Bye Bonnie."

The phone call then ended and Bonnie set the phone back into it's rightful place on the table.

She felt better now that she and Elena had finally talked to each other...even if their relationship wasn't completely repaired yet. But now she knew it would be eventually.

"Are you alright, little redbird?"

She turned around at hearing Damon's voice and gave him a soft smile as she watched him step into the apartment. He was finally home.

"I'm fine. I was just talking to Elena and...I think we're going to be okay eventually," Bonnie managed out, even as her voice shook a little due to the distracting and cooling sensation of Damon wrapping his arms around her and peppering kisses up and down the length of her neck. She let out a small, barely audible moan.

"Well that's certainly good to hear. However, I was hoping we could commence with...more entertaining activities before we discuss such matters." He ceased with the assault on her neck to gaze into her eyes, his eyes mischievousness and flirtatious. "I was hoping to take a shower before settling down for the evening. Would you care to join me?"

Bonnie blushed wildly, but her eagerness shined clearly through her brown orbs. "Okay."

He kissed her the entire way as he carried her off towards the bathroom.

The End

A/N: I always believed that Damon's past obsession with Elena and Bonnie's insecurities towards it would be something Bamon would have to overcome if they ever became a couple, so I decided to write this to showcase it a little.

I'm thinking about doing another version of this from Elena's POV, which would deal with Stelena overcoming their relationship problems but i'm not sure yet.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this! :)