We are always in search of that individual who reflects the deepest and highest forms of our souls. When we finally meet them, it’s often because we stumbled upon them in the most unusual of circumstances, and when we least expect it. Perhaps you met this person through a relatively non-important task, like waiting for an appointment, sitting in a classroom, filling your gas tank, starting a new job, or picking up coffee.
"Jesus," Bonnie exclaimed, turning to see a man she'd never met before.
He was tall, dark, and undeniably handsome, with piercing blue eyes. Just as she was about to gather her thoughts, he bent down to pick up her phone, handing it back to her.
"Thanks," she said, a bit flustered, and he replied with a nod and a smile.
You might have a casual encounter with someone turn dramatically more meaningful with that glimpse of instantaneous and profound recognition.
As she took her phone, she noticed the intensity of his gaze, and for a second, a strange familiarity washed over her—like she knew him or had seen him before. But she was a hundred percent sure she hadn't; she'd remember those eyes. It was weird.
"Do I know you?" she asked, curiosity threading through her voice as she looked up at him.
His eyebrows rose in response, his enigmatic smile intact. "Would you like to?" he replied, a playful challenge hanging in his tone.
Bonnie's brows furrowed, an intrigued smile creeping onto her face despite herself. She shook her head slightly, before starting to turn back around. But then he offered her his hand.
"Damon," he introduced, his voice smooth and confident.
"Bonnie," she responded, hesitating before shaking his hand.
However there is absolutely no realistic justification for this feeling. Perhaps they brush your hand with theirs, or you shook hands and one of you held on for a moment longer than necessary. Or you bump into one another, and felt that sense of electricity, as if a drawing current is leaping between the two of you. Perhaps his presence startled you. Perhaps the way she looked at you made you feel as if you’ve never truly been loved before that moment.
"I should get back to my..." Bonnie said to Damon, trailing off and finishing by gesturing back to Caroline.
"It was nice meeting you, Damon..." She continued after he nodded. "Maybe I'll see you around."
"I'm sure you will," Damon said. "One of those charms of a small town right."
Her smile widened, and she turned away.
After a few steps, she glanced back. Damon had moved to the end of the checkout line. As she stared, the flicker of recognition she'd felt grew into a nagging sensation that made her pause.
It wasn't rational, but it was real. Real enough for her to make her way back to him.
"Hey," she called softly, and he turned as she approached. "What would you say if I offered to show you around, help you get a handle on the changes?"
Bonnie's smile came in small but quick - a quiet yes.
They look deep within you and at last, maybe even for the very first time in your life, ever, you feel like your soul has been completely exposed, laid bare for the other person to examine fully, and you have no other recourse but to let them. They read you like no other, without judgement, without concern.
Damon's eyes travelled over her, taking her in quietly. After a moment, a subtle smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he looked away, his expression thoughtful.
When he looked back at her, his soft amusement was replaced with hesitation. "That void, the wanting you were talking about yesterday." He started. "I've felt it."
Bonnie's brow furrowed, her confusion palpable as she searched his face for clarity.
"It's actually the reason I left town." He continued, and her heart started beating faster as she processed his words. "...The wanting for me was for something more."
Bonnie nodded in profound agreement. It was exactly what she had been struggling to put into words before.
"It made me join the army."
"Did it make it go away?" she asked, her words barely coming out as a whisper.
"No," he said without hesitation, stopping Bonnie's silent growing hope. But it didn't bother her as much as it should, because for the first time in a long time, she felt... recognised... at a frequency of inimitability, spirituality.
In that moment, a warmth spread through her. She wanted to know everything about him too - wanted to understand if he knew what had brought him to the point of feeling the void, or if like her, he didn't understand when it started, or why it started.
Something will trigger a memory, and you start to think about his hands, or her hair, his voice, her mysterious presence. He touches you once and you are singed for hours, even days later. That is the singular experience where you believe you met -not your soul mate…but your twin soul.
She’d been pushing any and every thought of Damon away since he’d left, and just because he decided to show up again didn’t mean she was just going to chase him down with desperation.
Grams had instilled in her a very long time ago that people would quit on her, and that it was her own job to get up everyday and make sure she never quit on herself.
But that didn’t stop the fact that the first person she wanted to talk to after finding out she was a witch was Damon, and that every time a thought of him slipped through she remembered the kiss that stirred her to euphoria.
(on AO3) https://archiveofourown.org/works/75247846
(on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/story/399468446-bound-by-oath?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_myworks&wp_uname=Sierralov3