Note: Don't ask me where this came from, but do tell me what you think about it xoxox

The Ties That Bind – Watch Them Unravel

Damon usually paid attention to things like these. He usually held his knack for obsessive-compulsiveness in high regard; but somehow this had fallen down the wayside. How could he have forgotten? How could anyone have forgotten?

"Damon, what are you –" He stuck his hand over Bonnie's mouth, ignoring her frown and frail attempts at swatting him away.

"The deal was for you to be quiet remember?" He reminded her and she scowled but relented, crossing her arms to acquiesce, however stubbornly. "I just needed a second." She looked confused but said nothing as she watched him straighten his jacket unnecessarily. Nodding, more so to himself, he stepped away from the pillar where he and Bonnie had stood and made his way over to Elena. She and Jeremy had been catching up, the boy sprouting some mindless drivel about his classes when he wasn't looking over at Bonnie. Each time though, Damon would narrow his eyes or glare, he didn't have the time to consider why beyond his entertainment. When Elena caught wind of him Jeremy was all but forgotten as she turned to Damon, eyes lit, teeth glittering in the soft fairy-light framed reception area. She was beautiful, but so was Katherine…look what that had gotten him. Swallowing, he grinned at her and shooed Jeremy away, muttering about how Bonnie had nothing better to do for the moment anyway so he may as well go say hello. Grumbling Jeremy left and Elena wrapped her arms around his neck, looking like it was her wedding day. "Dance with me?" Damon asked and without waiting for an answer, because he knew what it would be, he led her to the makeshift dance floor where a few couples were already twirling one another around happily.

Bonnie kept her eyes on Damon; something wasn't right. He'd half ripped her away from Caroline's arms, annoying the blonde who'd been in the middle of a lengthy apology for everything she'd done without her emotions. Then, he'd just kept her to his side, not saying anything, while he stared at Elena and her brother. She'd tried to tug on his suit jacket but he didn't respond, then she'd tried to talk and stuck his hand on her face, which, she was still pissy about. Then he'd grabbed her hand, given it a quick squeeze and sauntered off, like the entire exchange made sense.

"Bon, are you even listening?" Her eyes flickered to Jeremy's face and she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I'm just –"

"Staring at…Damon?" Jeremy filled in with a confused expression as he smiled awkwardly.

"Not staring," Bonnie defended, "I'm worried about him." Jeremy's face scrunched up.

"Somehow that's so much worse." Jeremy said seriously and Bonnie sighed, took her eyes off of Damon and gave Jeremy a look. "You can't expect me to buy that you two are friends, can you?" Bonnie shrugged easily.

"Of course not, we're best friends." Her smile was tight and bright and it unnerved the hunter boy somewhat. "So you were telling me about school?"

"I don't want to talk about school." Jeremy said with a slight edge to his tone. They both knew what he really wanted to talk about.

"Well," Bonnie shrugged, "I was just being polite anyway."

"Do you love me?" Damon asked as he looked down at Elena. She frowned a little and pursed her lips, wondering about his angle.

"Damon of course I do, forever, remember?" He nodded and pressed his mouth into a flat line.

"I thought so." Swallowing, he looked around as they moved and spotted Bonnie, she'd just turned to look up at Jeremy, he'd felt her gaze on him and without it he'd faltered somewhat but Elena's curiosity brought his attention back to her. "I want to try something with you, okay?"

"Okay." She was all smiles and happiness, it ate at him. He slowed them down and pulled her closer, this pleased her but it barely registered to him in that moment. Looking her directly in the eye he held her gaze and cleared his throat.

"I release you of this sire bond." He said evenly, sternly, as serious as he'd been all his life. He moved his head away then and watched the emotions play out on her face. First there was confusion, mounting to impatience before it slipped into understanding and then irritation before it dipped into a clear slate as his words took hold and then her eyes fluttered and her mouth opened and closed a few times. Damon stepped away from her as her hand flew to her throat, brows bunched as Damon's realisation sank in. She'd never loved him. Truthfully, he wasn't sure he'd ever loved her other. He'd projected Katherine onto her and then she'd sunk under the grips of his compulsion – they were doomed from the start. Hell, they were doomed the minute they sacrificed Stefan in the name of their 'love'. "Oh, God…" Was all that came out of his mouth.

Bonnie chanced a glance at Damon and Elena and her brows knitted together as she watched Elena gasp and Damon step away from her.

"Uh, excuse…uh, sorry." She stammered as she stepped around Jeremy and made for her best friend. "Damon?"

"It was a sire bond." Damon said softly and Bonnie blinked at him.

"What? Sire bond? Who?" She half squeaked, her eyes on Elena, who was waving her hands in front of her face, like she was having a mild panic attack.

"Stefan." The brunette gasped, ignoring Bonnie and Damon, "Where is Stefan?"

"With Caroline –" The words were barely out of Bonnie's mouth when Elena ran off. "Okay, enough." Bonnie said, turning her stern expression on him. "Start explaining."

"It was a sire bond." Damon explained, "She's never loved me." Bonnie felt the air whoosh out of her, pure shock filled her to the brim.

"…This whole time?" She whispered and he nodded, looking at his feet. "Damon, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Damon sighed, "There's no point." Bonnie scowled then and yanked on his elbow, pulling him away from the wedding reception and into a small clearing in the woods that framed the surrounding area.

"Damon, come on, talk to me." She said when he wouldn't even look at her. She took a step towards him and he tensed, but held his ground. "Hey, come on."

"Bonnie, none of it was real." He said suddenly, heatedly as his fiery gaze finally met hers. "Everything I've known about love has been a lie since I was human… How –" his exasperation cut his voice short and he looked like he might get sick. "I, I wasn't sure you know, when I said it, that's why I needed you there before I could, I don't know, build up the courage –"

"Damon –"

"– And then I said it and it all came slamming down on me, I never had Elena, like I never had Katherine, I thought that a hundred and forty years of waiting was too much to handle but this, Bonnie, I can't live with this."

"Damon…"

"And then, I mean, I remember you and Jeremy and yes, he was an utter waste of space but at least he tried to love you and you tried to love him you know, there was a mutuality there, an understanding…a moment at the very least. But me? Everything I've ever experienced in my life has been draped in some sort of illusion, compulsion, a lie and I think it's all just occurred to me –"

"Damon, listen to me!" Bonnie yelled, "Stop!"

"I can't, Bonnie!" He cried out, eyes shaking as they scoured her face, "Look at me," he hissed, getting right in her face, "Look me in the eye and tell me I'm wrong." His skin was flushed and his nostrils were flared, she was sure his vampiric form was moments from surfacing, apparently she had that effect on him. He was always yelling about something lately.

"You're wrong." She said evenly, chin jutted out as she looked up at him. "Damon," she went on, lifting her brows, "You're wrong."

"…How?" His voice shook but it stayed hard, adamant, disappointed – broken. She looked flabbergasted before she ran her tongue over her bottom lip and tried again.

"Us." She said simply, and then started nodded, even as his face slipped into confusion, "I know you're wrong because of us." She smiled then, "Everything we went through Damon, it was real. We've been fighting death since the day we met and then we did die and we still had to fight and I know that we hurt each other a lot in the beginning of all of it, but that's what makes what I'm about to say so important –" she closed more of the space between them, "What you and Stefan have? That's love. What you and Enzo had? That's love. What you and I have? Love, Damon, there's love here," she waved a hand between them, "Love. I'm sorry it's not the love you wanted but it's real and it's here." She swallowed. "I'm sorry about what happened with Katherine and I'm sorry about what happened with Elena…I am, but I can't let you think you're not loved and that you've never loved because you have…it's one of the reasons I'm standing here right now…you saved me because you love me. That's real to me." He looked down at the floor, at the leaves dusting the forest floor, littered with foliage and Bonnie's breaths. "…Well," she broke the silence, "Say something."

"You're right." He admitted eventually, nodding a little, and looked up, "But you're also wrong."

"…About?" She wondered. He shook his head, "Tell me."

"No, it would ruin the little I have left to myself and my need for it outweighs my selfishness."

"Love." She repeated, with a small grin.

"I do love you." He said and listened to her heart flutter, "Since I got you back all I've wanted you to be is happy, whatever form that took and I guess that's the closest I've ever gotten to loving another person, I couldn't even do that for Stefan." His voice dropped and he looked ashamed. "And, now, I, I, don't even know where to begin, what to do, what to say –"

"Just breathe for now," she interrupted, taking his hand, "I'm here for you Damon, you know that."

"This just confirmed it Bonnie, I'm not good enough, I never have been." She sighed and squeezed his hand.

"Damon, I don't know what it means," she licked her lips and looked up at him through her lashes, "But you're good enough for me."

"Don't," he pulled away from her.

"No, you are." She insisted.

"All I do is take Bonnie, stop feeding into that –"

"I will love you however I want Damon," she snapped, "You think that the answer to all this is pushing everyone away? It's not. You need me, you need Stefan, I don't care what you say…I can see how much it's hurting you Damon, but I know in my heart that you need me."

"That's just it," He hissed, "I need you too much, I couldn't even do right by Elena without you next to me, I couldn't even think straight until I saw you in my kitchen with a plate of pancakes between us, anything good that happens to me Bonnie, I treat it like it won't ever suffice, and I refuse to do that to you because you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for….and somehow, you grew to love me and choose me to be your friend, your best friend, and I'm terrified that I'm going to destroy that because right now, it's the most important thing in the world to me and I don't know if you've noticed but anything I hold dear to my heart is the first thing I ruin." Bonnie stepped towards him and he backed away.

"Damon, please don't do this." She said, her hands out in front of her, begging for compliance. "Please don't shut me out."

"I'm doing it because I love you."

"Then hate me," she countered, "Hate me and stay."

"I could never hate you," he said with a shake of his head, "Never."

"Damon…"

"And I can't live like this either, but I know you'd never forgive me if I just slipped my ring off and walked into the sun…so…"

"Damon, no…" Horror washed over her, "Damon, don't you dare."

"You'll bring me back," he smiled softly, "You knew exactly how to give me hope, how to bring me back from the edge every time…I just need it to stop, I need it to stop plaguing me…just for a while…"

"Damon, I swear to god! –" Her voice shook in terror, he couldn't…he wouldn't –

"Goodbye, Bon. I love you. Look After Stefan." She lurched forward at him, wanting to throttle him, but her arms wrapped around his neck instead. He held her closely, nuzzled into the crook of her shoulder and took a long breath, "Don't ever forget how much you mean to me."

"Don't do this, please." His breathing faltered.

"I'm sorry." He untangled himself from her and stepped away. "…I'm sorry I wasn't man enough to love you the way you deserve to be loved." She gaped at him. "Truly." She watched helplessly as he shut his eyes and took in a deep breath…when he opened them he broke her heart. Smirking at her and giving her a once over. "You're an idiot for believing in me, you know that right?" He snickered, circling her slowly, "And I'd love to stay and chat but I'm starving."

"Damon." The warning was clear in her voice and it brought a delighted grin to his face, but she saw through it, it's hollowness filling her insides with lead and sadness.

"Yes, witchy?" He sang as he dipped his head to dip his nose into the strands of her hair and take a long whiff.

"I love you too." She turned then, craning her neck to look him in the eye as a single tear left hers, "So I'll give you the time you need, but you're coming back to me, mark my words." Then, she stepped away from him and he watched her leave with a curious yet muted expression, unsure what she was trying to stir up in him.

"I wonder how much she'll love me when I raze this place to the ground." He chuckled to himself, speeding off.