It was three drinks later when Bonnie got the message from Elena that Damon was leaving, so she said goodbye to Caroline and headed to meet him at the Salvatore house. She didn't want him to go feeding without her. Assuming he was even planning to go home first or go out that night at all. She usually only went a few times a week herself, but there was nothing wrong with two days in a row. She ended up pulling up at almost the same time as Damon, which wasn't surprising since Ric's gym/apartment was just across the square from the grill where she'd been. He got out of his car and scrutinized her. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought maybe we could go into the city for dinner. If you're feeling up to it," she shrugged.

"Even after last night?" Damon asked confused. Was she planning to set him up somehow?

"Of course," Bonnie said nonchalantly. "I told you it didn't bother me."

"My killing people doesn't bother you," he said skeptically as he headed into the house leaving her to follow.

"Well, I mean, it does a little bit, but not like in a making you a bad person way. I'm sad that those people died and all, but we're vampires. Predators. We can't be held to human standards. Just because I choose not to kill doesn't mean I'm going to judge you for it. Hell, maybe in a few decades or a century or whatever I won't mind killing either."

Damon offered her a drink which she took as he sat down with his own. "It does get easier to consider such things the further you get from your own humanity," he admitted. It had taken him a long time before killing stopped bothering him as much too. It still stung a bit for those who deserved it like last night and was worse for those who didn't which was why he tried not to kill true innocents unless he just completely lost it, but it was a lot easier than it was the first few decades when he tore himself apart for every death, no matter how justified.

"Mostly I just didn't want you to think that my cancelling this morning had anything to do with not wanting to be around you," Bonnie shrugged. "I just wanted to catch Caroline early and try to smooth things over."

"Good luck with that," Damon snorted derisively.

"It actually went pretty well," Bonnie told him. "I mean, she doesn't actually like it, or you right now, but he was her father so that's to be expected. She doesn't hate you for it though and understands why you did it and she'll get over the rest in time."

"Is that so," Damon said with narrowed eyes before he finished his drink and stood up. "Well you mentioned dinner, so we might as well go." If he was about to walk into some sort of ambush or trap, he would rather get it over with before he actually let himself believe her acceptance. Bonnie got up and followed him out. Conversation during the drive was kept light as Damon tried to make things make sense in his head. Assuming she was telling the truth about being good with him, of course.

"A club?" Bonnie asked with raised eyebrows when they pulled up in front of it.

"I think you have enough control and experience now to learn to 'graze'. If you're feeling up to it," he smirked. Changing up the routine was the best way to foil any attempted ambush after all. Their attempts to change their plans to match would give him plenty of opportunities to notice and avoid it. Changes like that caused sloppiness.

"Yeah, absolutely," Bonnie grinned. "Let's go party it up." She hadn't exactly gone clubbing a /lot/ in the future, but she always enjoyed it when she did. She remembered the frat party when Damon had taken Elena to teach her to feed and how horrified she'd been at the time with some guilt. This was her chance to make up for that. At least in her own mind. Since it hadn't happened yet, and wouldn't now, she didn't need to make it up to anyone else.

Bonnie and Damon hit the dance floor as he told her in her ear the best ways to go about it and they soon grabbed a third for their dance so he could demonstrate. Their next third was double dipped, and he warned her to drink less and slower so they didn't drain her completely with two of them feeding. From there they split up to find their own meals, coming back together every so often. Bonnie could definitely understand the reactions at that frat party now. Between the intoxicating atmosphere, the thrill of the 'hunt' and the alcohol and drugs they were pulling in the blood from the other people which seemed so much more potent that way she was teetering on the most incredible edge. It was better than the best high she'd ever experienced. When she found her way back to Damon once her hunger was as sated as it was going to get, the sensuality of their dancing just drove her even higher. She wasn't out of control though as she'd once accused Elena of being. She was just letting the experience take her over. She was reveling in it and having fun.

Damon had kept a good eye out over the course of the night for any danger or anything suspicious, including anyone watching him in ways that wouldn't be expected just from being the hottest guy in the room, but eventually relaxed when it didn't seem like anything was coming. He pushed his confusion and inner turmoil over that fact aside and just let himself cut loose and have fun. Let himself get lost in the atmosphere just like Bonnie seemed to be doing and he soon managed to forget all about the possibility of a setup or an ambush as he partied his way through the crowd. He never took his half an eye off Bonnie though, telling himself that it was mostly just to make sure she didn't lose control. This wasn't the time or the place to consider whether there was more to it than that, but when they ended up dancing together and she met him motion for motion that danced on the edge of foreplay, it came back to his mind with a vengeance. He knew that she could feel his very physical reaction and didn't care in the slightest. Especially since it didn't seem like she did either. He did hold himself back from kissing her though, tempting though it was.

They ended up closing the place down before he took her back, giving her a goodnight once they got out of his car, not inviting her in. It was late, they were still coming down from their highs, and he had a lot to think about and get straight in his head before he even considered starting something, romantic /or/ sexual, with someone he was so close to. One-night stands were one thing, but with friends it tended to get messy if they weren't careful. He needed to know exactly what he was thinking and feeling before taking that step. And if it was just sexual, make sure that they were on the same page first. Spurning a vampire wasn't that much better than spurning a witch after all. At least he'd taken the edge off in a few dark corners with some willing and eager ladies over the course of the night, so it was easier to let her go without his libido protesting.

Once he got inside, he went to shower and lay down while he tried to process. He had tried not to let himself consider Bonnie romantically before, but that was over now. Before he'd been able to hold onto the feelings for Elena to prevent it, and then once those finally snapped, he'd killed people in front of her and thought she was pulling away, so it really had been best not to think about it. It was different now though. At least it seemed like it. Unlike Elena, Bonnie wasn't trying to change him or 'tame' him. She accepted him, as he was, darkness and all. That was what didn't make sense to him. He was too dark for the light and too light for the dark. No one ever accepted him for all of himself. He'd come to terms with that a long time ago for the most part. Katherine had been his only hope of that for so long, but that ended up a bust.

He'd tried again with Elena, thought that if he could show her that he wasn't all bad, that there were good parts too, she could learn to accept him, but she had just taken the good parts and tried to force them to take over. He had still tried though, to be what she wanted, stupid as it was. He'd known deep down that it would never work, but he thought it was worth a try at least. Maybe if he picked a side of the line, he could not have to be so alone anymore. It had blown up in his face though. He just couldn't be someone he wasn't. He might have kept trying though if not for the entrance of Bonnie, who actually seemed to accept him as he was. But then accepting him as a friend and accepting him as more than that were two very different things.

She hadn't shied away from his more sexual attention at all at the club, but then it was a charged atmosphere and she'd lost herself in it as much as he had so that wasn't exactly a good test. Dancing, no matter how suggestively, didn't mean anything. Especially when one was as 'high' as they were. He just couldn't get past the fact that she'd become a vampire without even talking to him about it first. Even after they'd become friends. She'd pushed him away from every part of her change except the parts that Caroline /couldn't/ help her with. Even as just a friend, shouldn't she have wanted him involved? Get his opinions? Even just talk to him about the subject first? Caroline had been a vampire for a few months. He had a much better long-term view on the subject. When he thought she was just trying to keep her distance from him in general, it made sense, but the more evidence he got to the contrary, the less sense it made. He finally managed to put it out of his mind and sleep, making the decision that if she showed up for sparring in the morning, he would ask her why before he let himself fully fall.