#and maybe drew starts going a little nuts with jealousy after bad blood and starts going after punk for real to claim him :3

[fantasticalleigh]

🫣it feels so DAUNTING to write and post fic for a new fandom!! i haven't felt this way in such a long time, it's exhiliarating, but I'm pleased to finally present chapter one of my punkintyre fic, between your teeth. please pay attention to the tags/warnings/author's notes and thank you for giving it a chance 💖💖💖

[browneyedmissy]

The Women of Edenbrook

Summary: Or, an anthology in which Casey Valentine wins over the women at the hospital.

Author's Note: Was watching Legally Blonde the other night and thought about how Elle Woods had positive relationships with all the women in her life and I thought about how it would play out in Edenbrook. This is what resulted!

Playlist: That’s My Girl by Fifth Harmony, Woman by Kesha, Stronger by Kelly Clarkson, Brave by Sara Bareilles, Wings by Little Mix

Sienna Trinh was the first of the girls at Edenbrook Casey Valentine won over.

Her first few hours at the hospital had been… lonely. She had started with an early morning train ride to the hospital. Wayne had worked a long shift at work so she hadn’t seen him since the morning before. It was kinda nice to have time to herself, but she was definitely nervous. It was a new city, new people, and she hadn’t met any people besides Wayne’s coworkers so far.

And the other interns… they were all nice enough, but the reality was that they were all competing against each other. Sienna felt like they were all at job interviews, sizing each other up and it made her uneasy. She wasn’t expecting to really make friends the first day, but getting stuck inside her head was driving her nuts.

She just wanted someone to understand. She wasn’t terribly competitive- and she never had been. She knew that probably didn’t make her a very interesting intern but she wanted to help people.

Honestly, she missed having someone to talk to. She had friends from college, but she stopped seeing them as often when she started dating Wayne and pretty soon, her life got busy and contact between her and her friends became less frequent.

Sienna paused as she heard voices coming from down the hall. One of them sounded disapproving and she spotted the back of Dr. Ramsey’s head talking to what looked like a fellow intern. Sienna glimpsed wavy, shoulder length brown hair. What was her name... Casey?

Whatever it was, Dr. Ramsey didn’t sound too pleased with her at the moment. There were people tiptoeing past the door, not willing to intervene for her and Sienna bit her lip and peaked into the room.

She couldn’t see Ramsey’s face but Sienna could see Casey’s. Casey’s head was held high but Sienna could see her bottom lip trembling, possibly on the verge of tears. Her heart ached for Casey - if this had been part of day, well, Sienna would have already broken down.

And, well, Casey seemed nice. She had a face of someone who was nice.

Sienna made her way into the room and made up an excuse to get Dr. Ramsey out of the room, her heart quickening slightly as she lied. She let out a breath when he cursed under his breath as he left.

When Sienna revealed to Casey that she lied to get Dr. Ramsey out of her hair, Casey flashed her the kindest, most genuine smile she had seen all day.

“Thank you.”

And in that moment, Sienna knew that she was right about the person she thought Casey might be.

After she had left Casey to do the rest of her round, the rest of the day had gone better. The positive interaction had reminded her that people were kind and most of the interns were just nervous and anxious- just like her. She was able to pull some smiles out of her fellow interns and her patients and she felt lighter as the end of her day approached.

Sienna made her way to the cafeteria before the rest of her coworkers got off work and hummed to herself as she observed everyone else beginning to pile in.

“Excuse me, Dr. Trinh?” Sienna looked up to see a nurse with a cup of something in his hands. He had a sweet face and an easy grin and she felt her a heart skip a beat.

“Dr. Valentine gave me money to buy you this.” Sienna took the cup to see some hot chocolate with marshmallows and cinnamon sprinkled on top. She smiled - it was nice to feel appreciated and to know that Casey had arranged this. “She said to say thank you and she was really happy to have met you.”

“That’s very sweet of her, thank you...” She trailed off, realizing she didn’t know the name of the nurse with the sweet face.

“Danny.”

“Danny. Call me Sienna. Or, umm, Doctor Trinh if that’s what you want. Would you like to join me? It’d be nice to have some company.”

“Of course. That was a very thoughtful thing for Dr. Valentine to do.” Danny smiled. “It’s like she’s…”

“A dolphin?” Sienna grinned to herself.

Jackie Varma’s first thought when she saw Casey was damn, that girl’s already covered in blood.

Her second thought was that Casey Valentine knew how to take care of herself.

She knew that Casey was going to be easy to like, just from that first interaction. Bryce was already fond of her after their first meeting- although that might not have been just her personality, judging by the way he had looked at her that first night at Donohue's.

She brought together their ragtag little group, won over them all easily. There was something about Casey Valentine that drew you to her and she was so good at listening.

And she was just so… nice. When the rankings came out, she didn't bat an eye over the fact that she was lower than the rest of her roommates and just resolved to do better.

And it worked. Jackie couldn't help but feel jealousy- between Aurora being the chief's niece and Casey getting more time with Ramsey, she couldn't help but feel like it was unfair. She had started out so far ahead but Casey’s star was rising.

She couldn't help but resent her for it. It was easy to try to hate her if she just let herself stew over the rumors. Some of them were starting to get nasty, too, between Casey toying with Bryce Lahela’s heart and trading sexual favors in exchange for better cases.

Jackie wanted to avoid her, which was difficult when they lived together. Part of her wanted the rumors to be true and hoped Casey was getting an unfair advantage. Because if that were the truth, Jackie could blame the system.

And Jackie knew that was unfair of her. Unfair to Casey.

“I work my ass off and you’re basically as good as a lot of the attendings here.” She grumbled as she set down her shot glass. It was hard to admit that she actually really, really liked Casey. Jackie had felt smug when she had first thought that she could intimidate her in the locker rooms when they first met but Casey shook it off and held her head high.

And it wasn’t just that Casey was a damn good doctor. She cared about her patients. Jackie knew, part of what was holding her- and Landry for that matter, was that Casey cared deeply about her patients. She knew that Casey had stayed all night at the hospital when Dr. Ramsey’s friend delivered her baby. She was able to diagnose some of the patients Jackie was stuck on because she listened. And she took every case that she could and didn’t complain about it because Casey Valentine wanted to make a difference.

"Was it better when you thought you were better than me?"

Her question threw Jackie off guard. Was that what is was? Part of it, yeah. The other part was she was just angry at herself because Casey was just such a good person that she made her feel bad about herself.

"I'm used to being the best. I thought that there was only room for one smart badass bitch but I guess that was pretty ‘I’m not like other girls’ of me." Jackie finally replied. She looked Casey straight in the eye. "The fact that I'm not means I have to figure out how I fit in."

“You know I don't care about any of that."

"I know. I… I guess I'm frustrated because I know you're my rival. You're a badass babe in internal and you shouldn't be my friend. But you're also probably one of the best people I've ever met. I should hate you, but I don’t."

There was a silence before Casey took a sip of her beer and spoke.

“You know, Bryce told me that the first thought that you have is what you’re conditioned to think. The second thought you have is what you actually think.” She said thoughtfully.

“That’s pretty wise of him.” Jackie said begrudgingly.

“Yeah, I think he read it somewhere on the internet. He then tried to show me the drama llama meme afterwards.” Her face broke out into a grin as she said the next words. “Maybe your first thought is that you’re jealous and your second thought is that we’re actually friends?”

No, there was no way Casey Valentine was cheating or getting an unfair advantage. Not when she had fought against entering the competition for so long. Casey cared, Jackie thought. And she was lucky that Casey liked her.

“I guess if I have to have friends… I’m glad you’re one of them.” Jackie finally voiced aloud.

Casey’s face broke into a grin.

“Let it be known folks, that Jackie Varma has admitted that I am her friend! Can I get that on video? Lahela owes me dinner, he lost the bet.”

“Your bet was whether or not we were friends?”

Casey shook her head.

“I knew that we were friends. Our bet was whether you could admit it.”

Aurora Emery couldn’t breathe.

She stared at the three patients in front of her. There was so much blood- she had never seen  that amount before and it paralyzed her. She knew that the possibility of something like this was possible. But it had been something that haunted her nightmares and this- well, this was even worse than she had dreamed.

She couldn’t think. She was not unfamiliar with panic attacks: she had had one when she was studying for medical school, one when she had gotten accepted into the hospital where her world renowned aunt worked, one when she realized how much expectation there was because of her aunt…

She felt a light touch on her arm.

“Aurora, breathe in for four.”

A voice sounded muffled in her ear and Aurora focused on her words and she breathed in, counting for four.

“Now exhale for four.”

Aurora let go of the breath she had been holding. She blinked as Casey Valentine came into better focus.

“You know how to do this, Aurora.” Her rival said steadily, gesturing to the people in front of her. “You were the top intern for a reason and these people need you right now.”

Aurora felt her chest tighten. “But what if I do this wrong? What if I make a mistake? I could kill someone if I call this wrong!”

“You need to believe in yourself. You can do this. Your patients need you.”

She focused on those last words. Your patients need you.

Casey was right. If Aurora hesitated, then more people would die. She had to act fast.

With Casey’s help, Aurora quickly analyzed what her patients needed and got them to the right places. Soon, it got easier and easier to breath- it wasn’t any easier to see the patients coming in as they did, but she just kept repeating Casey’s words in her head.

As the last patients were classified, Aurora Emery let out the breath she had been holding.

She quickly slipped away and found herself in the deserted doctor’s lounge. She needed a second to breath, to not think about the people who had come in screaming, crying into the hospital…

She had done all she could do.

"Aurora? Can I come in?"

Casey was standing in front of her, holding a warm cup of apple cinnamon tea- her favorite. She nodded and Casey set down the mug in front of her before taking a seat on the couch opposite of her.

They sat in silence and Aurora thought about how calm Casey had been during the triage.

"How did you do it?"

“My patients needed me.” Casey said quietly, thoughtfully. Aurora took a sip of the tea and felt her heartbeat finally slowing down. “I’ve hesitated enough times to know that it doesn’t help anything and at some point I just need to figure out how to take action.”

Casey hesitated before speaking the next words. “Did you know, I went into the supply closet and cried my first day here?

Aurora didn’t. Casey Valentine seemed to be so put together so much of the time. She got along with so many of their fellow interns and the patients seemed to adore her. She was popular amongst the hospital staff too because it was obvious she valued her relationships.

They all adored her. Until she had started climbing in the rankings.

Aurora knew how lonely that was. When she had been number one on that first list, she knew had put a target on herself. The attendings had an eye on her from day one because of her aunt which made everything she did have to spectacular. The other interns doubted her because of her pedigree.

The interns doubted Casey because they thought she was sleeping her way to the top with Ramsey.

There was also that rumor about her trash talking the nurses and rumor of sabotage in the locker room. It made her physically ill because Casey Valentine was the last person to speak badly of anyone. It was like she always considered what she wanted and what the group wanted and always chose the later.

"Ethan Ramsey chewed me out for Annie, do you remember that? It made me doubt me being here. Even though I went to medical school for four years, I let him doubt myself." She reminisced. “I cried in there until Bryce Lahela from surgery came in and calmed me down. He’s good at being supportive like that.”

She trailed off and looked back at Aurora.

“If Bryce hadn’t come in to check on me, I would have probably still stayed in the program, but he made me feel better about myself. And he made me realize that I wasn’t alone in my feelings.”

There was silence in the lounge and Aurora felt her loneliness hit her. She had always ignored personal relationships in order to be the most successful but it was moments like this where she longed for someone to talk to.

Aurora steadied her voice and found the next words.

“You helped me during the triage. I know I said thank you, but…”

“I know what anxiety looks like- I- I’m more than familiar with it. There’s a lot of pressure in this program, Aurora.” Casey acknowledged. “You’re still an amazing doctor- your worth isn’t tied to your aunt. And your mistakes don’t define your worth.”

How was she still so kind? How was she able to say the things that people wanted to hear? Whatever the rumors, Casey Valentine was observant and she made conclusions without judgements.

“The fact that you were so certain I didn’t tell about Mrs. Martinez or sabotaged you… I really appreciate it. And I didn’t spread those rumors to the nurses or about you and Dr. Ramsey.” Aurora blurted.

She didn’t know why she said it. She hadn’t needed the approval of anyone in such a long time, not even her aunt. But something about Casey Valentine, in this moment, standing in front of her so sincere- Aurora felt the need for Casey to understand her.

To like her.

Casey blinked at her before the corner of her lips turned up into a smile. “I believe you. You have too much to prove to use dirty tricks or get caught up in that type of behavior.”

A beeper sound came from Casey’s coat broke the second silence and Casey checked it. Her brow furrowed and she looked apologetically at Aurora. “I’ve got a patient right now…”

She made to leave and then hesitated at the door. “Look, Aurora, it doesn’t have to be me, but you should find someone to talk to. It’ll make these next few years easier…” She paused, struggling to find the next words. “I’ll see you later, maybe?”

“Yeah.” Aurora felt herself smile as Casey slipped through the door.

Two weeks later, Casey’s phone pinged and when she checked it, a smile lit across her face.

Do you want to go get drinks with me after work? - Aurora

I’d love to. Donohue’s? - Casey

Harper Emery thought Casey Valentine was both simultaneously one of the most noble and foolish people she had ever met.

Harper sighed as she sat at her desk, sorting through the paperwork. She had a gut feeling that Casey had interfered with Mrs. Martinez’s treatment which was such a shame. She didn’t want to be biased, but Casey Valentine and Bryce Lahela were probably some of the strongest interns out of the program.

Well, aside from her and Ethan, of course.

And now, there was a possibility that Casey Valentine would lose her medical license.

Honestly, she thought that Casey had done the right thing, if not the smartest. Everyone loved Theresa Martinez and knew that those last few weeks were probably the happiest of her life. Even if they had been a few short weeks…

She had to wonder if Ethan knew about what Casey did. She sighed, her fingers twitching towards the phone. She was angry at Ethan for leaving without talking to her first- even though his rash behavior was exactly to be expected. She could remember his anger flaring up especially when they had to deal with people like Declan Nash…

And Naveen. Her heart sank. She knew why Ethan hadn’t trusted her with that. She was his boss, the chief of the hospital now and she was under strict protocols. They both still respected each other, even after their relationship fell apart but as for trust…

Ethan trusted Casey Valentine now.

There was a knock on the door and Harper called her unexpected visitor in.

Speak of the devil.

“I came to tell you that I was the one who gave the drug to Mrs. Martinez.” Casey said bluntly. Harper raised an eyebrow.

This was unexpected.

“I’ve been thinking long about it, and I don’t regret it. Nor do I want it to hang over my head for the rest of my life. I made my decision and I’m owning up to it. I want my chance to defend myself at an ethics trial.”

Harper fought back a smile. This girl was causing hell for the hospital with the investigations but she still fought. No wonder why she was so popular amongst some of the doctors. Sienna Trinh, Jackie Varma, Elijah Greene, Bryce Lahela… They all adored this girl and for good reason.

She wanted Naveen to come and tell her what to do, so badly. In moments like this, the thought of Casey’s fate being left to the board made her ill, especially when she thought of snakes like Declan Nash.

“Casey… if you lose, you might lose your chance to practice medicine.”

“I know. I’m prepared to face those consequences.”

Harper stared at her, but Casey held her gaze unflinchingly.

“Alright, I’ll call one for you and we’ll hold an ethics trial.” Harper sighed. She jotted something down on a piece of paper before looking at Casey again. “Can I ask, why are you willing to risk your career for this?”

Harper watched as Casey pondered the question.

“I think that a lot of what we do at the hospital is to please the people that fund our hospital and to not step on people’s toes. It’s a system that allowed us to help people, but there’s also a lot that is unfair.” She said thoughtfully. “Theresa Martinez… Her case was what we wanted- for her to live more and more years in treatment as opposed to what she wanted - to go and see the world. She knew the risks of the medicine and I think that giving her a choice as opposed to sticking to our system was the right one.”

“And besides… the system isn't always fair either, is it? One of my friends- Dr. Greene, well, he felt like a burden for most of his life because he couldn't get access to what he needed. I don't think it was right that he had to feel like that for his entire life because it was what the system dictated. I came into medicine to help people, Chief Emery and I think this is a hill I’m willing to die on."

There was a silence and Harper Emery finally worked up a smile.

"You know, this is part of the reason why you were first place in the rankings." Harper mused. Casey blinked back, surprised at her.

"It wasn't because I'm basically the only intern that Ethan knows by name?" She blurted. Harper frowned and Casey finally looked away, at the ground. "One of the other interns said that I had preferential treatment because of all of the time I spent with Dr. Ramsey and sabotaged me to level the playing field. I… I wasn't sure if he was right."

Harper studied her carefully. This woman was a wonder to her. She was so good, maybe even better than her niece but she didn't act like she was.

It also made her angry- that someone would purposely jeopardize the health of the patients and because of what? Because Casey Valentine was a better doctor than him/her? That she couldn’t have done it without dirty tricks? She wasn’t oblivious- she knew about the rumors that were whispered about Casey. She saw the way that Ethan’s eyes immediately found her when she walked into a room.

But Ethan was professional, first and foremost and even if he did have feelings for Casey Valentine, it would not affect her rankings.

"Not that it should matter, Casey,” Harper began. “But you came with high praise from both the attendings and the patients. You work hard, you stay after with the patients… you’re exactly like your mentor was when he was an intern. And Ethan Ramsey, for all of his faults, is a great doctor.”

Casey nodded and moved to leave. Right before she closed the door, Harper felt the words burst out of her mouth.

“Dr. Valentine… Good luck.”

[sixmorningsafter]

Chapter 14 Review - Intimacy and evasiveness in equal measure

Thank you so so much for this chapter; you are freaking awesome. At this point, your fic is longer than most PhD thesis. You’re completely bonkers, in the absolute best way. Please never change. Seriously, the level of interactivity in this fic is such fun and thank you for encouraging that. Some of the recent fancasts have been beyond amazing.

Gabi: “the level of interactivity in this fic is such fun” - you mean how I take fifty fucking years to respond to reviews that legitimately make my life!?!?!?!?! THAT LEVEL OF INTERACTIVITY!?!?! LMAO, gurl, can I just say before I dive into any of this that this review literally made me go back and edit some parts, that’s how helpful it was, and yet here I am, answering it an entire CHAPTER LATER!? For some reason the feedback for fourteen was really slow at first and then all of a sudden like 10 giant reviews came in at the same time, and I just took way too long to get around to all of them and kept answering the short ones first (because they take less thought/time), and then once I was done answering the short ones I was drained because I’m weak and wouldn’t survive the winter. BUT HERE I AM. Ten years later. Ready to friggin go. LET’S DO IT.

Firstly, I can’t believe you stopped before the Steroline sex! Rude. I would have been devastated (melodramatic OTT much) had you not given us one of the best SC kisses ever. Honestly, I think I might have sighed a little out loud. And after Stefan’s stupid assed, jealousy mental meltdown, Caroline demonstrates exactly why he has no need to be jealous in one sentence - “Damon could do all those things without it once being intimate.” It’s really obvious that ‘intimate’ is a mental thing for Caroline, I loved watching the switch click in Caroline’s mind from non intimate to intimate. Oh Caroline - you poor silly girl, you’ve got it bad!

Gabi: So, the plus side of answering this once 15 is already up is that I don’t have to feel bad about blue ballsing anyone anymore, muahahaha. Steroline sex is officially up and out there and there’s no taking it back now. Re: 14, though, love alllll of these insights and the particular moments of theirs that you choose to compare and contrast. They’re both stupid levels of in denial here, but the good news is the end of 15 and hopefully the majority of 16 is a bit of a new era for them - one where they actually try, I don’t know, communicating? It’s going to be wild. 

The part where they are watching YouTube videos together and eating Caroline’s secret food stash (naughty Caroline keeping treats from the other inmates of 2B - tsk, tsk) was very sweet and surprisingly intimate in it’s own right. I love how they have elements of easy friendship that they don’t even seem to recognise. I’m very interested in how their sexy timez are going to go because they could be hot, sweet or kind of silly/jokey or maybe all three. I think it’s going to get intimate whether Caroline likes it or not; Stefan may even bust out some of his Disney Prince romance vibes. I’m so intrigued as to who their third wheel could be.

Gabi: I really enjoyed writing that scene for exactly that reason - that somehow, these two super awkward people with a bunch of confusion and tension between them keep finding themselves in random moments of easygoing camaraderie, and all it really takes for that to happen is time and/or a distraction. I’m trying to hint at a possible future for them that doesn’t have all of this drama, that’s actually driven by a genuine enjoyment of spending time together and light-hearted banter and a warm hum of affection, but their poor coping/communication skills from their past experiences are just getting in that way of it. And hahaha, re: sexy timez, now you know! Disney Prince romance vibes definitely happened and Caroline, well... had some conflicts with it. As for the silly/jokey thing, I wouldn’t rule that out just yet for future scenes.

I know you are trying to achieve balance between your characters. At this point, I feel I know a lot about Stefan, Bonnie and Caroline, but with Damon, he’s still a mystery.

I both love and hate that we don’t know more.

Love - because I know you are being all clever and writery and keeping it from us on purpose. That having us see Damon through the other characters’ eyes is a clever way of 'revealing’ titbits without revealing them. Even Damon’s internal monologue is super evasive and kind of shallow (compared to Bonnie’s about him which was downright hilarious and completely nuts especially the hitman, Bonnie the world’s most boring mark lmao).

Hate - because I am such an impatient spoiler seeking nut bag, I need to know everything! Look honestly though, if you had told me before this started that I would actually be interested in Damon as a character himself, not as Bonnie’s boyfriend or Stefan’s brother, I would have scoffed at you. See Gabi, this is the power you wield. Use it wisely! Mwah ha ha.

Gabi: SOOO it was definitely still in the typical evasive flashes-of-insight format that Damon’s PoV tends to operate in, but I think 15 hopefully gave you a little more of what you were looking for regarding him? His guard was forcibly down for a bit, and his head went more into his complicated relationship with his mom, and part of the reason why I didn’t tie his panic attack fully up in 15 was because I’m carrying that arc into 16. There’s definitely aftermath, there’s definitely Bonnie the Hufflepuff making him feel unsettling things and think more about his life, and there’s also some Kai/Damon stuff that’ll have echoes of Damon/Tyler. So much more Damon ahead! And GURL, you don’t even know how happy it makes me to hear that re: ‘if you had told me before this started that I would actually be interested in Damon as a character’. That’s like the biggest compliment to me for some reason, like it gets me so hyped, so thanks so, so much for telling me! It’s tough to get people to like characters even when they’re blank slates, so getting someone to actually come around to someone they weren’t about before is like YAAAAAAS. 

In all seriousness, Damon didn’t deserve the kicking he got from Stefan in the opening scene. Sorry Stef, that was uncalled for even if Damon did start it. While this scene was all about Stefan’s pov and his reactions, Damon’s evasiveness is totally in character. Even though he’s oh-so-not-bothered, Stefan’s assessment of him has to smart a bit. I hope these two crazy kids work it out. I need my drigh!brotp back together. (Quick aside about Stefan – I hope at some point, he’s going to fess up that it wasn’t about Damon, Bonnie, Caroline or even Elena. It was about his own feelings of insecurity. It’s like Bonnie’s rampage of self-destruction as the person most hurt by this is himself. It’s actually very canon Stefan.)

Gabi: He definitely didn’t deserve it, and I wanted to write it that way because I wanted to show that Stefan, like everyone else in this godforsaken headache of a story, is a flawed character who gives into emotional reactions and insecurity sometimes and acts out. Like I really wanted to make it clear that Stefan was in the wrong there, and I really wanted to do it at Damon’s expense because at the shallowest of glances, Damon would be the guy you’d assume can be asshole sometimes and Stefan would be the guy you’d label as the patient, understanding saint, and 14 chapters in, I really wanted to flip that. As harmlessly trolly as Damon can be to Stefan about Caroline, turns out that Stefan is the one who drew first blood between them, you know? And I think you’re totally right about the oh-so-bothered-but-not-really thing re: Damon - he’s been called terrible things his whole life, so he’s learned how to let them slide off him like butter, but even butter leaves a trail, you know? They definitely add up to a perception he has of himself that’s probably darker/less flattering than it needs to be, and Bonnie absolutely confronts that in 16. She’s kind of like, ‘hey, newsflash dark and twisty, you’re a good guy’. She has a little speech I’ve written out that I really like. Lots of feelsiness coming in 16, man. Including Stefan insights and realizations about insecurity!

I’m still super interested by Damon’s two identities. Are the two different dates of birth significant? Him not mentioning anything after Bonnie fessing up to poking in his wallet - evasive much? So he doesn’t take his Fell ID out normally? I need more details, here, stop trying to kill me.

Gabi: lololol, got a little more of this in 15! I’m not sure how much was obvious from the story because Damon’s thoughts about his past always come out super jagged when I write them (and obviously I know the whole thing ‘cause I’m making it up, lmao), but I think I gave enough to kind of explain why he had that ID on him? Maybe?

Bonnie telling him all about her sex dreams had him speechless and I loved that. Yes, he was very much – that’s ok Bon, sexy daydreams are fine, but I still think there was an element of him being chuffed about it. That was really cute; I liked that his reaction wasn’t to grab her and lay one on her - she did that instead (oh Bon, you saucy minx). I loved their kiss, so hot; I really like their connection, it has a more brutal honesty to it than Steroline’s. By that I mean that Caroline lets Stefan get away with more introspection because that’s what suits her, whereas Damon pushes Bonnie to lay out her soul for him because he really wants someone to do it back to him, deep down. I may be over analysing this and be completely wrong.

Gabi: LMAOOO, ‘you saucy minx’ - she really is. And Damon is all about it. And no, you’re 100% spot on in your analysis of the two ships, assss usual - I think that’s a brilliant way to put it. Damon doesn’t wonder as much about Bonnie because he pushes, in more ways than one, till she gives him answers. He’s confrontational. Blunt. And Bonnie needs that, because her insecurities and problems are so deeply, deeply entrenched into her that they’re basically covered in layers of cement. You can’t slowly uncover that, you need a jack hammer (vs. for Caroline and Stefan, the wounds are still a little too fresh and shallow for a jackhammer to do anything except make it worse. They need the gentle discovery). Damon’s a bit of a paradox in that he’s either 100% blithe and flippant and dgaf, or he’s 100% blunt and real talk, and generally he uses the first mode to evade and the second mode to investigate. Problem is, Bonnie’s a bit of a jackhammer herself, and I think 15 was the beginning of the tide shifting to Damon being the one under the spotlight. And we’ll see how he likes that moving forward. Payback’s a bitch.

Did I detect that Damon might have a slight bird phobia? A dove in your shower is never good, but he seemed more than a little nervous. Also how is his hand doing? Dr Bon needs to follow up her patients better. I am kind of surprised how prompt he was for Kai’s dinner. Does Damon have immaculate time keeping? Or he is genuinely terrified of Kai? I guess I’m kind of struggling to find Kai scary, a bit loopy, somewhat odd, but I was really surprised that Damon would be scared of him (I have blanked out the crossbow in his face episode). We know he can handle himself in a fight (thank you for that Caroline) and he’s survived that gunshot as a child. Damon strikes me as being hard as nails (except around Bon) - Kai should be a cakewalk. Does he recognise something in Kai that he might have experienced in his past? Chapter 15 should be illuminating - I really hope we get plenty from his pov. I can’t wait.

Gabi: You did and it was totally unintentional. I actually went back and read over the way I’d written it after this feedback and totally got the same vibe (it was meant to be humorous but definitely came across as a little deeper than that), so thanks so much for pointing this out! I did a few little edits that I think put forth a more accurate picture of both the bird reaction (annoyance, bafflement, Damon in general being a growly diva) and his immaculate time-keeping (which was definitely supposed to be the focus more so than any actual fear of Kai, which, lmao, I think 15 makes pretty clear doesn’t exist). I think I could maybe argue that getting attacked by a dove in the shower could carry a bit of trauma from his basement-with-rats days, but even so, he’d hide that, so. Edited and more accurate thanks to bomb feedback!

ANYWAY, THIS IS ONCE AGAIN 600 YEARS LATE but oddly, it was kind of fun answering it with 15 already written? In any case, I’m so friggin’ sorry it took me this long to respond, and your feedback, as always, is one of my fave things about writing this fic because it’s always so hilarious and insightful. Thanks so, so much for this review, and hopefully 15 delivered the things you were after and 16 will deliver them even more. LOVE YA, BABE!