During their sparring, Damon was surprised that Bonnie didn't lose her temper at all, but apparently she was just not going to be the 'violent' mood swing type. That could change as she got older and more used to the inherent violence of the world, but he would almost rather that than the tears. At least he knew how to handle that. He put her on her ass when she missed a block and she burst into tears. "I'm never gonna get this."

Damon did the only thing he knew how to do with a crying woman and helped her to her feet to pull her into a hug. "You've been a vampire for less than a day, Bon. You'll get it. It just takes time."

"I hate being useless. No magic and I can't even vampire right," she cried against his chest.

"You're not useless," Damon assured her, running a hand through her hair, realizing that he was putting himself right back in the same position he had with Elena. Making himself her rock and giving himself the chance to fall for her. What else could he do though? "You're working to be able to protect yourself. And you will. Because you're stronger than you realize right now."

It was a long moment before she said anything else, trying to pull her emotions under control. She knew he was right. She was just having trouble feeling it right now. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I'm being stupid. I know." She couldn't quite bring herself to step out of his arms though.

"You have at least three more days before I'll hold that stupidity against you," Damon tried a joke.

Bonnie snorted a laugh and forced herself to step away, wiping her tears. "Thank you." For holding her and for being so patient.

"We can stop for the day if you want," he offered.

"No, I'm good. We can keep going," Bonnie assured him. "I'm together now."

Damon scrutinized her for a minute before nodding. "Okay. Back to the speed drills again." The first step was getting her used to her speed and reflexes. Then they could start working in more complicated things. He started throwing punches kicks and sweeps slow enough for her to block them, but fast enough to keep her on her toes. They'd moved to the back garden as well so anyone driving up wouldn't see them moving faster than the human eye could see. There were a few more that she missed and while Damon was good at pulling the punches and kicks back to at least glancing blows, the leg sweeps weren't so easy. She avoided any more breakdowns when she hit the ground though. Once they were done, he made sure to praise her for a good job, trying to keep the good emotions on the surface and they went inside for another drink.

"How do we get blood from the blood banks?" she asked. "Caroline said you always took care of that."

"I'm on record as a representative of a private hospital at the blood banks. Under false names of course," Damon told her. "A little compulsion to get around the ID and they give me all the blood we need."

"Can you put me as a contact person too? Or let me know the names of the hospitals you use so I can do it? It's not fair to put the whole thing on your shoulders especially now that there's three of us."

"I can do that if you want. I'll want to test your compulsions first though to make sure you've got the hang of it. We can do that while we're feeding tonight." If Caroline had ever shown any interest, he would have done the same for her.

"Yeah, I haven't actually tried compulsion yet, so that's probably a good idea."

"It's not that hard to do. It's almost instinctual. The hard part is getting the wording right to avoid loopholes," Damon told her. "Particularly for long-term compulsions like if you were to get a housekeeper to hold your deed. Like if you were to say that they couldn't 'tell' anyone you were a vampire, they could still write it down. Plus, there can be a fine line between keeping yourself protected and taking away a person's free will."

"I see your point. And I definitely don't want to do that. I'd appreciate any tips you can give me." The next half hour was spent that way, with Damon giving compulsion tips and Bonnie asking questions to clarify. That was something else Caroline didn't do much of. She didn't like using compulsions if she could help it, and since she learned how to be a vampire from Stefan who almost never used compulsions due to their weakness from the animal blood, she probably didn't know any of these tips either, so Bonnie was soaking up every bit of wisdom she could.

Once Damon noticed the time, he told her, "I need to get going, but first, who else knows of your change in status?" He didn't want to spill any beans.

"No one. Just you and Caroline. I'm going to wait to tell Elena until I'm more steady and can be around her safely."

"Okay. I won't say anything then," Damon promised as they headed out. "You need a lift home?"

"Only if you don't mind," she said gratefully. She meant to text Caroline for a pickup while they were talking, but she forgot.

"It's mostly on my way," Damon shrugged, and motioned her to the car. During his time with Ric and Elena, he found himself not as drawn to Elena as he usually was, and it wasn't until he was picking up Bonnie that he realized why. She was worming her way into his heart too. Great. Because he was an idiot. Just the fact that she hadn't come to him about being a vampire and apparently didn't want him involved in anything that Caroline could help her with was proof enough that he didn't have a chance with her, but no. His heart was being as stupid as ever. At least it was better than falling for his brother's girl, but only marginally.

He put it out of his mind as she got in the car and they headed towards the city. It wasn't like he was actually fallen for her yet. Hopefully the operative word wasn't yet. He spent the drive giving her tips on how to choose her meals, leaving off the word prey that she would probably be uncomfortable with, and telling her about the heart stutter she would need to listen for. She would need it demonstrated a few times, but he could at least tell her what to be listening for. They would also take some time to teach her to focus on one heartbeat in the cacophony and how to recognize a strong heartbeat from a sick one. That was better demonstrated than explained though.

Caroline had helped Bonnie with isolating specific sounds already, so she had a headstart there, as Bonnie told him when he brought it up. It still took quite a bit of concentration, but she could manage. It would become second nature eventually. Like it was with Damon and with Caroline. Caroline wasn't really on board with the outing this evening, worried that Damon would push her into something she would regret. The same reason she always declined his offers to do so as well. Bonnie assured her it would be fine though and Caroline swore vengeance if it wasn't. Once they got to the city, they found a nice little outdoor café to people watch. Their conversation as Damon pointed out different heartbeats to listen to was too quiet for any human ears to pick up and it wasn't until they finished eating that they started looking for their real meal.

Damon had Bonnie pick the first target, partially to see how well she'd been listening during her lessons and she did well. Both picking the target and compelling him into a deserted alley. Damon followed them and walked up to the compelled guy and pointed out the large artery in his neck. "Now, you'll want to puncture there with your fangs and then drink slowly. If you go too fast you can miss the heart stutter or take too much before you register it. That's usually how the first kill dies. Once you get a taste of the fresh blood it's going to be so good that you'll be tempted to drink it fast. Like I'm sure you did your first blood bag."

"Okay," Bonnie nodded. "Slowly," she repeated to herself as she stepped forward, nerves on full display, and then bit into his neck. She let out a moan at the taste of it and could definitely see what Damon meant. She forced herself to stay slow though, fully aware of Damon's hands on her shoulders, ready to pull her back if needed. And it was needed. She heard the heart stutter. She heard him calling her to stop. But she just couldn't. It was too good. Damon yanked her back when she didn't respond to his voice and it took a second for her to stop struggling in his grip. "Sorry," she said sheepishly once she did.

"Perfectly understandable," Damon assured her. "It'll get easier."

"I'm glad we had that blood bag on the way," Bonnie said relieved. She might not have been able to even stay slow without it.

"Told you it would help," he chuckled. "Let's go grab another." The second one went better. She still had to be pulled away, but she didn't fight him at all. The third she stopped when he called her to. It wasn't until the fourth and last that she managed to stop herself when she heard the heart stutter and he praised her proudly. "We'll come back tomorrow night and even the night after until you've got the hang of it, yeah?"

"Yeah. That'd be great. Thanks," Bonnie said gratefully. Mostly it was thanks for not letting her kill anyone, though the first two left a little woozy. They'd be okay after a decent meal and a good night's sleep, so they headed back to Mystic Falls.