After Hours

The Vampire Diaries #1.5

by L.J. Smith

This is a story about the first time that Bonnie met Damon—the real first time.

Genres: Vampires, Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Short Stories, Romance, Paranormal Romance

32 pages, ebook

First published June 19, 2011

About the author

Smith was born in Villa Park, Orange County, California. In interviews, she has said she realized she wanted to be a writer sometime between kindergarten and first grade, “when a teacher praised a horrible poem I’d written”, and began writing in earnest in elementary school. Smith received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1987, followed by teaching credentials in Elementary education and Special education from San Francisco State University.

She taught kindergarten and special education for several years before becoming a full-time writer. Her first book, The Night of the Solstice, was published by MacMillan in 1987, followed by, Heart of Valor in 1990, and the 4-volume Vampire Diaries series in 1991-2. Three trilogies followed: The Secret Circle (1992), The Forbidden Game (1994), and Dark Visions (1995). The first installment of her popular Night World series was published in 1996, followed by eight more over the next two years. In 1998, Smith began a decade-long hiatus from writing, returning in 2008 with a new Web site and a series of new short stories. The Vampire Diaries series was reissued in 2007, followed by re-printings of The Secret Circle trilogy and Night World series in 2008/2009. The Night of the Solstice and Heart of Valor was also reissued in 2008. Three new Vampire Diaries installments were published in 2009 and 2010.

Smith lived in the San Francisco Bay area “with one dog, three cats, and about ten thousand books.”

She passed away on March 8th, 2025, after a lengthy illness.

Reviews

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious.

But in much need of being checked by an editor as the typing had so many things wrong with it.

[Blaise · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, if you are trying to find this it is located here: http://www.ljanesmith.net/www/stories as a .pdf for free.

It's... disappointing and yet so Damon filled I must like it. Like bad fan-fic but... oh who cares! It's more Damon time. And it's in Fell's Church, and Bonnie is our little red head, and Damon is...

Ok, after sleeping on it I have decided this was actually terrible. They stripped everything I like about Damon away and left me with a really Emo Edward Cullen. Yeah, you didn't think Edward could be more Emo did you? Well he caaaaannn. :)

And Bonnie? WTH? If she "OOOOOhhhhh"ed one more time I swear I was going to kill her myself.

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 1 out of 5]

Συγνώμη... αλλά θέλω πίσω τα 15' που χαράμισα από τη ζωή μου. Όχι, δεν είχα ανάγκη να μάθω πως γνωρίστηκαν "πραγματικά" αυτοί οι δύο, και δεν εξυπηρετεί κανέναν απολύτως λόγο, πέραν του να μας παρουσιάσουν έναν Damon καταθλιπτικό μέχρι αηδίας που έρχεται σε απίστευτα μεγάλη κόντρα με το όλον του, όπως αυτό παρουσιάζεται και "χτίζεται" μέσω της υπόλοιπης σειράς. Απλά... Nope!!!

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though Elena is yet to think she was the first to meet the Salvatore brothers, Bonnie was the first to meet Damon. Set about a year before the first book came out, Bonnie spent the night in her school library to work on a project when creatures of the night decided to target her. Just around the time her grandma revealed the secret of the family and their Druid decent. Damon saved her and they then enjoyed some time together. A very cute short story any Bamon shipper would enjoy. Who knows maybe the ghost writer (Aubrey Clarke) will mention it. Especially when Damon influenced her to forget (like in the show season 3 finale except they made it Elena). I just love how it ends and any reader will too.

I love Bonnie and Damon and wish for more of them in the books, but this will keep fans handled.

[RedAlchemist · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I'd read anything that includes Damon.. He's one of my favorite vampires, and believe it or not, I do want him to like Bonnie instead of Elena!!!

[Azbaqiyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't enjoying reading it with all the grammatical errors!

[whoufflestories · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this!

I'm a huge Bonnie and Damon fan so this is really awesome. Its short but it's really cute.

So, Bonnie is staying late at a library, some werewolves show up, Damon to the rescue. And yeah, I loved the interaction between them!

And being a Bamon fan it's so awesome he met Bonnie before Elena!

[Kushnuma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little story of when Bonnie first met Damon.

[Jamie Coudeville · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never really a Bamon fan, but they were more bearable in the books than the tv show.

[Milagros Guevara Bernabé · Rating 2 out of 5]

Calificación: ⭐✨(1.9)

Opinión:

Bienvenidos al intrigante universo de "After Hours" de L.J. Smith, donde Bonnie y Damon tienen su primer encuentro real. Imagina a Bonnie, decidida a quedarse en la biblioteca para terminar su tarea de historia. Pero espera, ¡no está sola! Dos lobos hambrientos la acechan, ¡un toque moderno de Caperucita Roja! Damon, nuestro valiente vampiro, aparece para salvar el día, rompiendo cuellos de lobos como si fueran ramitas. ¿Caballero andante o exterminador? 🐺🦇

Pero la historia no termina ahí. Damon, el tutor de historia por excelencia, ayuda a Bonnie con su tarea después de una noche de enfrentarse a hombres lobo. ¿Quién necesita sangre cuando puedes tener apuntes de historia medieval? La trama avanza más lento que una tortuga con resaca al principio, pero eventualmente despega con momentos cómicos y el toque distintivo de Damon. 📘😅

Lo más surrealista es ver a Damon jugando el papel de "caballero en brillante armadura" hacia una humana. Salvándola, ayudándola y discutiendo historia medieval después de enfrentarse a criaturas sobrenaturales. ¡Oh, Damon, siempre tan Damon! Y Bonnie, con todo su "ooohing", expresa sus emociones con sonidos, porque, claro, ¿quién necesita diálogo? 🤷‍♂️🔊

En resumen, "After Hours" nos regala una visión única de las interacciones tempranas entre Bonnie y Damon. ¿Te preguntas cómo es un vampiro ayudando con la tarea escolar? ¡Esta historia tiene la respuesta! En un mundo de vampiros y hombres lobo, ¿quién necesita Google cuando Damon puede ser tu tutor personal? 🦇💑📚

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly adorable, innocent little story that, after the slow beginning, had me in hysterics the whole entire time. I think I finally gained an appreciation for this other book-Damon (even though anyone would prefer TV Damon) - maybe because he's a lot more easy with his emotions and not so bent on Elena that he would ignore the situation. As it happens, TV-Damon would never react like this one did but that's what's so refreshing...
And I love the different Bonnie, simply because it's another person and she's not clouding up the TV one or anything. They are both great characters.
And the pairing itself (Bonnie/Damon)would be magic but I'm still not sure it anything should be happening between them in the books (haven't gotten that far yet).

[Clorissa Rene' Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and, plan on reading the other short Vampire Diaries stories. I love the Bonnie/Damon relationship, even though it's not touched on often because of his infatuation with Elena. (Here's to hoping we get more in the future) Also, some people have said that this couldn't of happened since we don't hear about it in the books. Well, I think you're wrong. He clearly influences her to forget in the end. Damon is full of secrets, so I believe, yes this could of happened and, I'd like to think it did.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! Bonnie and Damon are my OTP for these books and to read a short little story about them was nice. Bonnie is my favorite character although she is childish I find her sweet. I don't think LJ Smith is the most talented author out there but I'm a huge huge fan of her works.

[Astra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, I make bad life decisions. Someone please shoot me in the face.

[Edlira Dibrani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uhh boring.

[Felicia [Felicia's Ink(t)] · Rating 4 out of 5]

How someone that dark can have a conscious... we can expect more of him in this series

[Aoife Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this out of curiosity. it felt very nostalgic. it wasn’t very well written and was a bit rushed but for a short story it was enjoyable.

[Hannah Almond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about the first time that Bonnie met Damon—the real first time.
Bonnie decides to stay overnight at the school library to finish her history report . After tricking the librarian, she is finally alone. But books are not her only company! She's attracted the attention of two big bad hungry werewolves, who want to eat her. It kind of reminds me of little red riding hood, but in this case its little redbird, who's not only got one big bad wolf after her ... She has two! But the 'fair maiden' has another creature of the night watching her, but this one has two fangs and a taste for blood! Damon comes to her rescue and saves Bonnie from the two bad wolves , snapping their necks in the process and issuing them with a 1 way ticket to puppy hell. He then helps his little redbird with her history essay, and sends her safely back home , without even leaving two bite marks on her pretty neck! Making sure she never remembers anything that happened that night, or her dark saviour of the shadows .

This is a great little short story and ties in brilliantly with the other vampire diaries books! Although I found it started off a bit slow, It eventually picked up and had some very funny moments. It was interesting to see that supernatural things were already happening to Bonnie before Stefan and Elena got together.
The way Damon dealt with the rescue was in his usual style . I found this bit partially funny as it was just .. Soo Damon :)
"Now then, let me just train these two for a minute," Damon said to the girl, adding, "Bad dogs! No! Sit!" to the werewolves"
It was surreal to see Damon playing a 'knight in shining armour' role towards a human, and even more interesting to see him not only save Bonnie, but to obviously form an attachment to this human who he'd only just met. Without absolutely anything in it for himself! No feeding from her, just a bit of violence towards werewolves, and we all know how he likes violence ;) Weirder still , after saving her .... He then takes the time to help her with her history report !. Which I found hugely humorous seeing as he had just told her her was a vampire and that he drinks blood and the next minute .. After a quick faint , she seems to of excepted this and is sat there doing homework with him ! :D Well I guess who better to help with a history report than someone who was alive during that era .. Even if he is a vampire!
Even funnier when he revealed he was a vampire, and after her 'typical Bonnie''fainting spell, she woke up wondering if he had taken her blood .
When he said "no", "But in any case, I wouldn't take it from you." He first response wasn't relief ... It was "You wouldn't!" the maiden exclaimed indignantly, forgetting to ooh at all. "And why not, might I ask? Just because Meredith and Caroline and Elena all have more more . . ."She was tracing a sort of formless roundness with both hands as if squeezing ripe peaches "more on top, already? I'm getting it, too! I turned seventeen two days ago! If you'd seen me dressed properly, you'd know!"-

It's nice to see Damon form an attachment so quickly to Bonnie, and shows that there is a lot more to Damon than most people think. Beneath all those protective layers, there might be .. Dare I say it .. A good guy!
I also think that if Damon had not erased Bonnie's memories , that she probably would never of got with a werewolf (even a good one) later in the vampire diaries books , as the image and memories of those two nasty repulsive looking werewolves would be ingrained upon her memories every time she looked at him.
"Bonnie thought that all wolves were beautiful and that some people were beautiful, but the creature you got when you combined them was absolutely hideous. Besides being lank and hairy with too-long paws for hands and feet, their beautiful wolf- faces were horribly combined with round human-like skulls, and eyes that faced forward, like a person's."

The only bit of the book I found slightly annoying was all the oooooohing from Bonnie . I mean what's that about ?

I have to say reading this has really made me want to see something happen between Bonnie and Damon! He was clearly drawn to her , before he even set eyes on her just by the faint pulse of her aura. So I really think they could be good together ! He didn't have to save her from the werewolves , and he could of just drained her on the spot , but instead he looked after her, helped her and clearly felt something for her .. His little redbird!

My favourite quote from the book was from Damon ..
"I always say if it's not worth gossiping about, it didn't happen in the first place"

[NovaLesk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the insane new love romance between Bonnie and Damon, and rather funny when Damon helped out his little redbird with her homework, maybe in some other world, they are happy, together, with kids maybe and just living a peaceful life, they have soooo much potential, Bonnie is the healthiest choice for Damon as she should be, considering that they are soulmates who deeply have this unknown link between them.
She is his home, now and forever. . .
Redbird and crow. . .
Building a nest together. . .

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

É uma novela da saga do Diário de um Vampiro, e aqui temos a primeira interação entre Bonnie e Damon, o que é bastante diferente na série, porque a Bonnie da série vai descobrindo que é uma bruxa e que consegue se proteger dos Vampiros e aqui é apenas uma inocente que é amiga da Elena, e que acaba por cair nas graças do Damon. Ansiosa para ler a continuação.

https://aviciadadoslivros.blogspot.co...

[Kendra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Giving this 1 star is me being forcibly generous, because we can't rate things less than that.

I'm a Damon/Bonnie shipper so I was glad to have stumbled upon this.

But then I read it, and I was not glad at all. This was terrible. It read like really, really bad fanfiction, and I'm of the opinion that the author should not write anything ever again.

[Mishma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always liked the Bonnie-Damon pairing and have been one of the many who yearns for more.Even though it's not much,it's nice to read something that does not revolve around Elena and focus on Bonnie and Damon.

[Jenny K]

I dunno the exact date but whatever. I LOVE THIS STORY SOOOO MUCH! awww bonnie should be with damon! wait! NO! ELENA should be with damon! UGHH! I cant make up my mind!

[Stef · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story, even though it was very short. I never really liked Bonnie as a character before but it definitely made me understand Damon's character more.

[Denisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another ratibg: 4/10

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. Poor Bonnie getting attacked by werewolves!

[Natalie Schloss · Rating 1 out of 5]

okayyy this one really had me cringing through it and i'm not that picky, like i read and watch plenty of Not Great things but yeah, this was just not well written

and i'm not sure how it fits in with the rest of the series, one of the reviewers said a year before the first book but that doesn't make sense because stefan had JUST moved to town in the first book.

and if damon had this immediate attachment to bonnie and thought "too bad i'll never see her again" then why is he so obsessed with elena, like sure part of it is to get at stefan but he also clearly likes elena somewhat even if he is terrible towards her and stefan for the first two books, but he knows bonnie is around so why not try to spend time with her. she's clearly interested even with elena's warnings about him lmao

AND he says he wouldn't drink blood from a child as if elena isn't the same age as bonnie??? and not only that but he manipulated her into it by threatening to go after her four year old sister. i can believe in damon growing as a character and i know i liked him in the show though it's been a long time since i watched, but i don't believe in him having more of a conscience in this prequel than he does in the first books of the series, it just doesn't make sense

[Kelly Bravo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was weird.
I used to like this short story because I like Bamon, but upon reading it again I realized that there are a lot of times when Damon thinks of Bonnie as a child and "too young" which was kind of creepy. She said she's 17 and he was supposed to be 19 or 20 when he was turned, so the age gap is not that big, but it's not legal either, even if we overlook the fact that he's +500 years old.
I guess that could be read as Bonnie having to mature mentally and, let's face it, she is pretty immature in the first books, but even if that's the case I didn't like it.
Btw, the thing with the werewolves was not interesting.

[Lexi · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the? Did someone even proofread this? Most of the punctuation was nonexistent. I would be embarrassed to post this on ff.net and this was on a published author's official site.

Besides that, the story was meh and lacked all verisimilitude. Why didn't the library's alarm system go off with Bonnie wandering around after dark? Why is Damon so reluctant to feed from an unconscious seventeen-year-old when he hypnotises Elena and drinks her blood in The Struggle. I can't even with this story right now.

[Hannah Monise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esse conto é o lado Bamon da série! *-* Bonnie decide ficar, escondida, na biblioteca da escola para fazer seu trabalho de História, e nesse tempo, ela então, é ameaçada de morte por dois lobisomens que lá entraram... E quem salvará a donzela? (:
Se passa já na época do primeiro livro, o "Diários do Vampiro - O Despertar".

Acho super legal a autora escrever um conto sobre o suposto romance da série, assim, deixando os fãs com vontade de saber se realmente haverá algo entre eles ou não. A Lisa sabe escrever muito bem, sendo uma grande história, pequena ou apenas parte dela. A série "Diários do Vampiro" está caprichada!