Chapter Text
Her phone trilled in her pocket.
Typical, Bonnie thought to herself, back on the grid for less than a day and already I can't find a moment's peace.
Since posting on her social media that she was back in the land of the free having finished her travels (Christ, had she really been gone three years?), her phone had NOT. STOPPED. RINGING.
Bonnie could have sworn there was less than a minute between hitting the 'post' button and Caroline's call, squealing in excitement at having her best friend back and demanding they meet up for coffee immediately if not sooner to hear all about her trip (though for someone so purportedly interested in hearing about it, Care didn't let her get a word in edgeways). Elena living incognito with Damon to hide the cure had apparently left her sorely lacking a girly BFF. It was only when she had heard Ric shout something about a 'situation' in the library (apparently running a school for magically gifted children occasionally meant dropping everything to deal with an extradimensional portal or two) that Caroline finally ended the call.
An hour or so later, Matt was on the phone, and although his call was brief, it was warm and friendly. She hadn't realised how much she had missed him.
A little after that, Jeremy called, and that had been... interesting. She still felt her heart lurch a little even after so many years at the sound of his voice. She wondered if that would ever properly fade away.
Bonnie frowned a little at the 'unknown caller' displayed on the phone's screen. She ruefully thought that everyone else she knew was either in hiding or dead. Her thumb hovered over the 'End Call' button for a moment, but something - a certain snarky ex-vampire would have called it her 'witchy spidey sense' - told her to answer it.
"Hello?" She said tentatively.
There was nothing on the other end for a moment. She was about to hang up when...
"I missed your voice."
Her heart stopped for a second.
"D-Damon? Oh my god Damon, is that you?"
"The one and only." There was none of his casual arrogance in his tone and his words were indistinct, but it was definitely him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Her heart lurched. She wanted so badly to talk to her best friend, but his safety was more important, so here she was reprimanding him instead. "You're supposed to be in hiding!"
"You remember that time in 1994 when we played hide and go seek, and I cheated and tracked you with the smell of your shampoo, and you wouldn't talk to me for 3 days?" His words were slurred, so he was drunk. Perfect. She pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
"Damon, let me talk to Elena."
He laughed mirthlessly. "No can do, Sabrina."
"Why? You afraid she's gonna beat your ass for getting hammered and blowing your cover. Because god knows you deserve-"
"She left." Those words - so heavy with emotion and pain - cut right through Bonnie like a knife. "She left, and Stefan's dead, and I'm human, and I'm alone, and... and I fucked things up so bad, Bon."
Fuck. If there's one thing more dangerous than risking the location of the cure getting out, it's Damon Salvatore on a self-destructive spiral. Bonnie knew that better than almost anyone.
"Where are you?"
-----
The flight to Colorado had been smooth enough, and the journey from the airport uneventful, but Bonnie may as well have been sat of a bed of nails. Bonnie paid the cab driver and stretched as she silently appraised the bar from the outside. At first appearance, it was a little rough around the edges, but on closer inspection, that was a part of the warmth and homey charm that made it inviting. A half smile spread on her lips - the place practically screamed 'Damon'. She made her way inside.
The bar was as cosy inside as she thought it would be. It was the kind of place she could imagine - in another life - Ric and Damon perched on stools at the bar shooting the shit. She smiled sadly at the thought. The bartender, who was a hipstery guy wearing a black and white flannel shirt not unlike the ones Damon used to wear in the prison world, acknowledged her with a nod and a smile as he cleaned a glass.
"Hey, what can I get you?"
She took in a nervous breath. "Actually I'm looking for Damon. Is he around?"
He gave her a look up and down that was the nonverbal equivalent of 'Really?'. He put down the glass and leaned in sympathetically.
"Look, you seem like a nice girl. Don't take it personally if he didn't call after, okay? You can do better."
Some things never change, she thought ruefully.
"I'm gonna do you a favour and pretend I don't know what you're implying, And you're damn right I can do better." She sighed. "I'm an old friend - where is he?"
Bartender guy looked almost relieved. "Where he's been for the last month and a half." He gestured to the door behind him that she presumed led to the living space upstairs. "Drinking himself into a coma. He gonna be pissed if I let you up there?"
"Well I told him I was coming but he was pretty far gone, so he might have forgotten."
His expression softened a little. "What are your chances at getting some actual food and water into him?"
"That bad, huh?"
"I'm surprised he can still stand."
Bonnie sighed. "I'll do my best."
The bartender seemed to consider that good enough. slid the hatch up and stepped aside to let her past. Bracing herself, Bonnie turned the doorknob and headed up the stairs.