On Christmas Eve, Damon left early to pick up more liquor for later on as Bonnie looked through her grimores to find what her grandmother was talking about. As she walked around the house, it felt empty without him. This was the first time since she had arrived that they had been apart.
"Are you ready for tonight?" a voice said as Bonnie turned to see her Grams standing next to her.
"I'm ready for Thelma to get what she deserves" Bonnie replied as her Grams asked again "Are you ready for tonight?"
"I think so"
"Good" Grams said before disappearing.
Bonnie looked at the picture they had spent all night hanging up. Her favorite was the most recent one of the four of them last night. She had bought the twins pajamas and then bought matching ones for her self and Damon, never thinking that he would insist they all wear them and take a picture.
"Hello?" a voice said as Bonnie turned to see Caroline and Stefan walk in "Hey" Bonnie said as she walked over to help Caroline with one of her bags.
"Where's Damon?"
"He went to get more liquor"
"Sounds like Damon. This place looks great." Caroline replied as she looked around and then noticed the most recent picture "Who are these adorable kids?"
"Davie and Dora, they're from the orphanage"
"You guys look so great together, have you thought about adoption?"
"Yes" Bonnie replied as Stefan looked over at her and asked "Have you shared that with Damon? The way he speaks about these two its almost as though you have adopted them"
"We have been distracted with other things"
"I bet" Caroline replied as she grabbed her dress bag and said "Are we staying in the same room as last time?"
"Yes"
"Are you almost ready?" Damon asked before stepping inside their bedroom. He glanced over at Bonnie "You look...beautiful"
Bonnie blushed before looking at him "Thanks, you look..hot" she immediately slapped her hand across her mouth as Damon laughed out loud "I always appreciate honesty"
"I meant handsome, you look handsome"
"Promise me all the slow dances" Damon requested as he offered his arm to her.
"What if Stefan wants to dance with me?"
"Only Stefan"
"Only Caroline"
"Agreed"
"Let's kiss on it" Bonnie suggested as she stepped closer and stood on her tiptoes before kissing him.
As they walked down the stairs, Damon could hear whispers. He smirked, he knew how good they looked together but it was always nice when other people echoed that fact. Bonnie gasped as she noticed a live band playing in the background
"I thought we agreed to just playing music through the stereo"
"I wanted this to be a nice event. Don't be too upset, think of it as my second to last guest gift."
"I told you I didn't want anything"
"I know and I told you that was unacceptable so please enjoy it when you receive it, OK?"
"Fine" Bonnie replied as they made their way to the staircase. "I'll catch up with you later" Damon said as he gently squeezed her hand and walked off in search of Stefan and Caroline.
Bonnie and Damon greeted various people separately as Bonnie watched Thelma and Laura Ann walk through the door. Bonnie was surprised to see that Thelma looked really old, however when she looked at her again, she looked how she had looked last week, as young as Bonnie.
"Hello Bonnie, what a nice gathering this is" she said as she gave her wrap to the doorman.
"Thank you for coming" Bonnie said as she smiled at Laura Ann as well.
"Where is Damon?" Laura Ann said before turning to Bonnie " I want to dance with him once before it's too late"
"He's somewhere around" Bonnie replied stiffly as Laura Ann left in search of Damon.
Hours into the dance, Thelma turned to look closely at Bonnie, she seemed different. Something didn't feel right, however before she could reach out to touch her the singer of the band said "Will Miss Bennett make her way to the front of the room?"
"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked Damon as he took the microphone and smirked at her "We wanted to thank everyone for coming out to our Ball and bringing additional gifts for the kids at the Foster Home" Everyone clapped as Damon continued " I also would like to thank Bonnie for all her hard work on making this event such a success. Bonnie told me earlier that she didn't want any Christmas gifts this year, which didn't seem fair. So Bonnie, this is my Christmas gift to you" Damon turned and gave the microphone back to the lead singer and asked "May I have this dance?"
When I was younger I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind.
He broke his own heart and I watched
As he tried to reassemble it.
And my momma swore
That she would never let herself forget.
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love if it does not exist.
"I think I like this sing better than Caroline and Stefan's wedding song" Bonnie admitted as Damon spun her around
"Well that's because it your song" he replied
But darling,
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
"This is probably my last dance with you. I see Thelma has been circling me like a buzzard."
"Damon" Bonnie began
"No, I need to tell you this. The only person I felt has ever truly loved me was my Mother. These past weeks have been the best I have ever had in all the time I've been on this earth. I never thought I would ever feel this way. What I thought was love, can't even measure up to what I feel for you."
Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul
That love never lasts.
And we've got to find other ways to make it alone.
Or keep a straight face.
And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable distance.
And up until now I have sworn to myself
That I'm content with loneliness.
Because none of it was ever worth the risk.
"Bonnie, I love you, and I wish I wasn't dying because I would spend the rest of my life loving you, starting today"
Well you are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
I've got a tight grip on reality,
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here.
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up.
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream.
Oh-oh-oh-ohhh.
Bonnie took a deep breath as tears ran down her face "Damon..."
"What the hell are you doing Bonnie? He made the deal, whatever you think is going to happen will not happen" Thelma yelled as she raised her hands and hit Damon in the chest with a bright red light. He immediately went down as Bonnie raised her hands freezing everyone other than Thelma.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
And I'm on my way to believing.
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing.