A/N: Hey, I've uploaded a new story! It would be awesome if you guys checked it out after this. I am going to miss this fic, though. Hope you all enjoy this last update.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement intended.

"You guys are annoying," Damon told his brother and best friend as they crept up the driveway of the Salvatore mansion in Stefan's car.

"You don't think it's annoying that we had to leave and go get you," Alaric quipped. "In Richton! Who the fuck goes to Richton?"

"Did you not see the women in there?" Damon said. "You need to get out of Mystic Falls a little more, professor." His tone was biting. Stefan parked the car and quickly got out. He was annoyed he'd already missed so much because of his brother. He wasn't that big into these types of parties, but he wanted to be there to support Caroline, and admittedly, he wanted to spend time with Bonnie. They hadn't hung out much since their impromptu sleepover, even in a group setting, and he wanted to catch up with her.

"Let's go!" He yelled to his brother. Damon hopped out of the car in a huff. He was not looking forward to what was in store for him.

Inside, Elena and Bonnie had just finished a toast in honor of Caroline and Klaus. When Bonnie held her glass up, she nearly had a panic attack when she looked at her arm.

00:00:00:00:12s

She needed to get some air. Now. She put her glass down and made a beeline for the exit. Elena turned to say something to her and spotted her practically power walking out of the room. Curious about her friend's hasty exit, she started to follow her.

As Bonnie was walking out into the foyer, Stefan was walking in, two men trailing behind him. She and Stefan stopped at the sight of each other, and her TiMER counted down to zero. The sound of a melodious tune rang obnoxiously loud out into the air. Bonnie's heart stopped.

Stefan's brow furrowed and Damon stepped up beside him. Now, Stefan's heart dropped into his stomach. This could not be. The sound of the music that was coming from Bonnie was also coming from his brother. Damon slowly pulled up the sleeve of his shirt. His TiMER read 00:00:00:00:00. He looked from his to Bonnie's, the expression on his face unreadable. The sound of the devices had drawn the party guests to the foyer, and realization was slowly kicking in for everybody. Including Elena.

Realizing she was now beside her, Bonnie turned to her best friend. "Elena..."

Elena slowly shook her head. "No." She had no other words. "No...this can't...no..." She was certain this was a nightmare she would soon wake up from, but the horror and embarrassment she was feeling with all these eyes on her, felt all too real. She turned and flew from the room, tears pouring from her eyes. Caroline quickly followed her, but Damon was glued to his spot, still staring at Bonnie in disbelief. Bonnie gave him another look, before turning and following Elena. Bonnie, Stefan, Damon, Elena, Caroline, and everyone at that party, knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

Two Weeks Later...

Bonnie exited her final class of the day, grateful to be done with the last mid-term before vacation. Whitmore College was a good school and she liked being a student there, but she was more than ready to take a break from the books, and the papers, and the lectures, and especially the labs. At the same time she wasn't fully ready to go back to Mystic Falls and face whatever was waiting for her back there. Maybe she could hide out in her dad's house for the entire vacation, and maybe they wouldn't drive each other completely crazy.

As she was contemplating this and walking the large campus toward her dorm, a muscular body clad in jeans and a black, leather jacket creeped up beside her.

"How was your test, Bon Bon?"

"What the hell are you doing here, Damon?" Bonnie asked, incredulously.

"Nostalgia," he replied, casually strolling alongside her. "Wanted to reminisce about my good old days as a Whitmore student. Thought I might check in on you since you've been avoiding me like the plague for the past sixteen days."

"I can't do this right now, Damon," Bonnie said, picking up her pace.

"You can't run from this forever, Bonnie!" Damon called after, putting his pace to a halt.

"What the hell am I supposed to do!" Bonnie cried out, whirling around to face him. "What am I supposed to say to you?! My best friend has been heartbroken and crying for weeks! She can barely stand to look at me, let alone speak to me. And it's your fault."

How is it my fault? I have no control over this thing?!"

"You had control over if you were going to get the damn thing in the first place!" Bonnie reminded. "You had swore up and down you wouldn't!"

"If I had known the outcome I wouldn't have," Damon responded in a biting tone. "Look, I'm sure there's a million other people you would have preferred to TiME Out with, but what happened happened, and there's nothing we can do to change it."

"You're right," Bonnie said, shifting the books in her arm. "All we can do is move on. That's what I've been doing." Damon was silent for a long moment as he caught a glimpse of her right arm.

"You got it removed," he realized. Bonnie sighed.

"Why did you come here?" She asked. "What did you expect to happen? We can't be each other's soul mates. We don't even like each other!"

"Hey, I feel the same way!" Damon snapped. "I wasn't climbing up any walls in joy either, Bonnie, but this is the world we live in now! You may have removed it in an effort to remove me, but you can't remove what it has already shown us! According to science and technology-"

"Fuck technology!" Bonnie snapped, a sentiment she'd picked up from a dear friend. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Caroline. Neither the Universe nor Science gets to decide who I should be with. I do!" She turned and stalked away. After deliberating for a moment, Damon quickly caught up to her and gently grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

"Look, we never gave us a chance to get along," he said, in a much softer tone. "It's not too late to change that. We need to start over. Let's go to dinner. Tonight, 7pm." Bonnie was shocked by this.

She shook her head. "I don't think so, Damon."

He put his hands up with an innocent look. "I promise to be nice," he said. "It'll be like a do-over, and we can try and get to know each other. If the evening starts to go sour, we can call it a night before we fall back into our typical Damon/Bonnie routine. It can be the first step to starting over. Nothing romantic."

Bonnie sighed. "I guess you're right," she said. "Fine, we can try it. But no nicknames tonight! I am not Judgy, I am not Bon Bon. I am Bonnie."

"Okay, okay," he said, innocently. "Bonnie. I'll be taking you to Amore's, Bonnie. Best Italian food in Virginia."

"Sounds nice," she replied. "You can pick me up from my dad's."

"Fine. It's a date."

"No, it's not a date!" Bonnie quickly corrected.

"Friend date!" Damon threw back. "Potential friends, sharing a meal."

"Fine." Bonnie started away. "Don't be late!" She threw back.

"I wouldn't dare!" Damon called after her. "I'll be there at 6:58!"

He watched her go for a moment longer before turning and leaving himself. When Bonnie got back to her dorm, she went into the bathroom and caught a glance of herself in the mirror. She stopped to look a moment longer, as she barely recognized herself. She was doing something she hadn't done in weeks. Smiling.

The End.

A/N: And we have reached the end of this little fic! I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'm sorry if it didn't end how you wanted but there could only be one. Although, I was hoping there would have been more Team Stefonnie support than there was, lol. I ship Bonnie with everyone so it really could have gone either way for me, but Damon just felt right for this particular fic. I loved writing this story and had thought about continuing it in the future, but it seems like without the TiMER being a factor anymore it defeats the purpose. Oh, and I'm sorry for the ones who were seeking out Enzo. I had casually mentioned him in chapter 1 but I never planned for him to be in this story. There really wasn't a place for him. Anyway, let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!