My very first Bamon story. Normally I write Stefan/Damon, but I thought I'd try my hand at Damon/Bonnie. The title is taken from the Ray Bradbury novel of the same name and the movie the book was based on.

Bonnie pulls the books from her locker and shuts it with a bang; she winces at the sound and sighs. Her headache hasn't gotten any better despite the painkillers she'd been taking. She rests her head against the cool metal of the locker and takes a deep breath. Blocking the world out for just a moment is soothing and the ache is almost gone until-

"Bonnie? Are you okay?" Elena's voice brings the headache back stronger than ever and the witch offers her a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine. Just tired." She holds her books to her chest and they walk outside, ready to go home when Elena catches sight of Stefan. "Go! You know you want to!" Bonnie watches her race away and puts a hand to her temple. This day couldn't get any worse.

"Hello, Bonnie." Apparently, it could. She turns and sees a curly brown haired teenager standing next to her, a smile on his face.

"Hi, Andrew." This boy is new, a stranger to the town and Bonnie had taken it upon herself to help him out. However, he had been bothering her for the past few days in an irritatingly polite way, being as nice as could be, but Bonnie has just been annoyed. Andrew's a nice guy, cute and sweet, but around him, her headache just seemed to get worse.

"Listen, Bonnie, I was just wondering if you could help me study for the Chem test Friday." His voice is warm and friendly; the pain shoots behind her eyes and almost makes her scream.

"Sorry, Andrew. Chemistry isn't my thing. Maybe Elena would help you." She's struggling not to run and just lock herself in her room with the lights off and the curtains drawn.

"Actually, Bonnie, I-" He looks embarrassed. "I was hoping that we could hang out." Andrew steps forward, reaching up to brush a lock of hair from her face; his touch causes enough pain that she drops her books and jumps back. "Are you-"

"Bonnie." She's on the verge of falling when her back hits something sturdy; arms wrap around her, steadying her.

She knows who it is without even glancing behind her. "Damon! What are-"

But Damon's ignoring her; instead, he's glaring at Andrew, who looks shocked and a little angry. "Who are you?"

"Andrew Bellmont. Who are you?" For the first time since they've met, the boy doesn't look friendly; if he were a dog, he'd be snarling.

"Damon Salvatore." His arm is still around her waist and Bonnie doesn't try pulling away; for whatever reason, her head doesn't feel as bad with Damon so close.

"Salvatore? The name doesn't ring a bell." Andrew shrugs with a sneer; the grip around Bonnie's waist tightens. "Are you her boyfriend or something?"

The smile that spreads across Damon's face is sinister in its intent and Bonnie quickly grabs his wrist. He looks down at her and then back at Andrew. "Or something." He releases her and gently(since when has Damon been gentle?) shoves her behind him. "This game you're playing? It'd better stop if you don't want to get hurt."

"You better tell your boyfriend to back off, Bonnie. I wouldn't want him to get hurt." Andrew tries to direct his gaze to her, but Damon won't let him make eye contact; Bonnie focuses on scooping up her discarded books.

"Don't look at her." The vampire's voice is a growl, something feral that Bonnie's never heard before, not even when Emily broke the necklace. "Whatever you're doing needs to stop now because it isn't working. You're just hurting her and if you keep doing it, I'm going to make sure you feel twice as much pain as she does."

With that final word, Damon turns and practically drags Bonnie away, leaving Andrew to simmer. "Are you going to tell me what that was about?"

"Later." He's obviously in no mood to talk so she lets herself be manhandled into his car without a word; she's just glad she caught a ride to school today with Elena.

Ten minutes go by and still not one word. She finally turns in her seat. "It's later."

"Cute." His voice lets her know he thinks it's anything but.

"So are you going to tell me?" She's anxious. If whatever Andrew was doing caused Damon of all people to be protective, then there must be a problem.

Damon looks reluctant to answer and if she thought she was nervous before, Damon's answer was going to send her into a panic attack. "Let's just say the Bennetts aren't the only witches in town."