Caroline and Bonnie sat and chatted for a little while, coming to terms with things a little more as Bonnie explained more of Damon's point of view, but then Bonnie got up. "I really need to go talk to Elena today too, preferably before her session with Damon where she tears him a new one and sets him off again."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Caroline agreed. "I'll come too?"

"If you're willing then yeah. I'm not gonna put you in a position to argue for his side right now though if you don't want to," Bonnie told her.

"I don't plan to /argue/ for his side. Just make it clear that I accept the facts as they are," Caroline shrugged.

"That's good enough. But there's more that happened after you left that you should know. I can explain that on the way." That meant they were riding together to Elena's house and they found her on the porch writing in her journal and partially lost in thought.

No sooner than they came up and sat down, Elena asked, "Do you think I'm trying to turn Damon into Stefan?"

"Yeah," both girls said without hesitation in unison.

When Elena looked a little betrayed at the quickness of the answer, Bonnie said apologetically, "Sorry, but you kinda are. Damon isn't the type to lay down for threats like Stefan is. And it's a good thing too because we would all be dead many times over if he was. If someone comes after him or the people he cares about, which includes all of us, he's going to handle it however he has to whether we like it or not."

"She's right," Caroline sighed. "The fact is that he tried to compel my father, who it turned out was immune to compulsion naturally. My father, rather than let things lie, came after Damon, but Damon wasn't going to kill him. He was trying to send a message. Because since everyone kept calling him down and he kept listening, my father made the mistake of thinking that he was tame and no threat and that he could hurt us all without consequences. I'm not going to say that Damon was right to do what he did. I'm not objective there and I know it. But I will say that there was no good answer. It was a lose-lose situation."

The fact that Caroline of all people thought that was enough to give Elena pause. She hadn't known that Mr. Forbes was immune to compulsion or that Damon had already tried that. She hadn't known that he was threatening them all. She hadn't known that Damon wouldn't have killed him. Would that have made a difference in how she reacted if she'd known all that? No, probably not. Because he was still using violence as an answer. He was still feeding on a living person, whether he intended to kill him or not. So why did that bother her so much more now than it used to. When she realized the answer, she sighed heavily, only admitting it because it was her two best friends. "I think I'm developing feelings for Damon."

Bonnie winced as Caroline just gaped at her. "You really don't want to go there, Elena. I'm serious," Bonnie said with a frown.

"Okay that came from a different person than I expected," Elena said confused. "I didn't think you had any problems with Damon."

"I don't. I just...don't think you two would be good together."

"Why not...oh!" Elena's eyes widened. "You /like/ him."

Bonnie blushed and looked away, but that was enough of an answer in itself. "Wait, she's right?!" Caroline asked Bonnie incredulously. "You have a thing for Damon?"

"Yeah. I do, okay," Bonnie said with a shrug.

"Like how much of a thing?" Elena asked. "Like you just think he's hot or..."

"I'm in love with him," Bonnie admitted, also only because it was her two best friends.

"Holy crap, how did I not see this coming?" Caroline gasped. She was used to being the one that could spot stuff like that a mile away and she'd missed it in her own best friend.

"Then I'll back off," Elena promised. She still had Stefan anyway and didn't need the confusion. "Even if I didn't have Stefan already, I wouldn't go after the guy my best friend wants."

"I appreciate that," Bonnie said relieved. At least that crisis had been averted. From one side anyway. She still had to work Damon's side.

"I have to agree with Bonnie that you and Damon could never have worked anyway," Caroline said, trying to make her feel better about her decision. "Bonnie seems to get him in a way that neither of us could."

"So you're okay with me and Damon? I mean, if there ever /is/ a me and Damon," Bonnie asked them both.

"You know I don't like him much, but I don't hate him like I used to either. He's not a /bad/ guy. Just not a very good one. I think you deserve better. But if you really love him, then yeah. You've got my support," Caroline nodded.

"Just don't let him drag you into the darkness with him okay? Keep him on the right side of the line?" Elena asked hopefully.

"I'm not going to try and keep him on a leash," Bonnie said with a frown. "He's not dark, but he's not light either. He's grey. And so am I. I'm a lighter shade of grey than he is, but he knows and accepts that just like I'll accept his darker shade of grey. Though it's only as friends right now, but I'll still be the same if it ends up being more and I'm sure he will too."

"I guess I can live with that then," Elena nodded. As long as Bonnie wouldn't let him change her. She could never live with his shade of grey, but if Bonnie could then she was welcome to him. Clearly changing him wasn't working anyway after the way he'd lashed out last night.

"But please stay out of it? No matchmaking attempts or anything?" Bonnie asked hopefully.

"I'm not likely to push you into his arms /faster/," Caroline shuddered at the thought. "If it happens I'll deal, but until then I'll just pretend you're going to come to your senses sooner or later," she chuckled.

"That sounds like a good stance, yeah," Elena agreed amusedly.

"Gee thanks guys," Bonnie rolled her eyes. At least she wouldn't lose her friends by loving Damon. That was the important thing. They would get used to him eventually. He and Caroline even ended up rather close in her other future. Elena didn't even bear mentioning there, but maybe she could be better this time without all the push and pull of Damon vs Stefan yanking her around. She'd gotten the hint that she'd been trying to change Damon because of her feelings for him so maybe dropping those feelings would get her to lay off. She could hope at least.

"Speak of the devil, almost literally," she chuckled. "I need to get going to meet him and Ric."

"Let me know when you guys are done?" Bonnie asked hopefully. She hadn't realized until she was already home and in bed that he'd probably seen her cancelling this morning as a form of rejection so she wanted to make it clear that it wasn't.

"Gonna make your move already?" Caroline teased.

"Nothing like that. Just make sure he's okay after the mess last night," Bonnie shrugged.

"I'll let you know," Elena promised as the three of them got up to leave.

"Come on. Let's go compel some drinks at the grill," Caroline grinned. "I happen to know the bartender isn't on vervain."

"That sounds like fun," Bonnie agreed as they got back in Caroline's car which they'd brought to Elena's.

Once they were sitting at the bar with their drinks, Caroline asked, "So what is it about Damon really?"

"He's just...wild. Free. Spirited," Bonnie said wistfully. "I know you guys think he has no morals, but you're wrong. His moral compass is a little different than hours, but he sticks to it a lot more rigidly. He lives by his own code and doesn't let anyone tell him otherwise. He's comfortable with who he is, despite the fact that he doesn't think anyone else can accept him that way."

"But you can," Caroline said. "Are you sure about that? That you're not just getting swept away with the whole fantasy thing?"

"I'm sure," Bonnie nodded. "No, I don't agree with everything he does, but nothing is bad enough that I can't accept his right to do it if he wants, you know?"

"What if you're wrong? What if he really /is/ as bad as we think?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"Then I've made a mistake and have to hope my friends will support me in my heartbreak," Bonnie chuckled. "But I'm not wrong. I know it's easy to see all the big things he's done wrong and all, without knowing the circumstances that might justify it, I might add, but does anyone ever look at the little things? That tells you a lot more about who he is than anything else."

"Like what?" Caroline asked, wondering what it was that Bonnie saw that they didn't. She'd already come to terms with the fact that she'd misjudged him in the past, and knowing the 'circumstances' as Bonnie had put it behind what happened last night with her father, she could understand what Bonnie meant about that too.

"Did you ever notice that, no matter how much he grumbles and argues about it, he's still /there/ when any of us need his help?" Bonnie asked. "Like teaching me and Elena both to fight. Like taking me under his wing for the vampire stuff that you can't help me with. Like stepping in at that pageant to save Elena the embarrassment of being stood up. Like saving you from that ritual. Like being on the front lines to protect this whole town."

"Yeah, I see your point," Caroline admitted. His attitude agreed with the bad parts so it was easy to overlook the rest. "So maybe you're right that he's a good guy. But we'll still be here to put your shattered heart back together if you're wrong," she said as she slung an arm over Bonnie's shoulders.