Chapter 14

Bonnie couldn't recall a time that she had been so nervous. As she and Damon drove to her parents' house for Sunday dinner, she couldn't shake the nerves. They were going to tell her parents about their decision to get married immediately and she had no idea how they would take it. She had already told Caroline and Elena, who had in turn told Stefan and Matt, and they were shocked, to say the least. Caroline was disappointed that she wouldn't get to plan a big shindig, but everyone was supportive and excited. Bonnie had also told Grams, who only smiled knowingly and requested to be their officiant.

"Hey judgey," Damon said, as he turned his car into their neighborhood. "You keep shaking like that and you'll jar your brain loose."

"Shut up," she said, taking a swat at his arm. "I'm nervous."

"No, really?" he teased. He reached over and took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. "Just calm down. It'll be fine."

"But they're going to have so many questions," she whined.

"And we've already agreed on what we'll tell them. They really can't get mad anyway. They know we're getting married. It's just a little sooner than expected."

Bonnie knew he was right but that didn't stop her heart from racing. When Damon pulled into the driveway of her parents' home, she took a deep breath and waited for him to open the door for her. He helped her out and kissed her forehead in a silent show of support. She nodded and they held hands as they walked up the porch and rang the doorbell.

"Sweetie!" Abby said excitedly as soon as she opened the door. She pulled Bonnie in for a hug and kissed her cheek. "Hi. Damon, hi," she said with a big smile.

"Mrs. Bennett, looking lovely as always," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, you flatterer," she laughed. "Come inside, guys. I made your favorite, sweet pea."

Bonnie's nerves eased just a little when she smelled fried chicken and her mom's mouth-watering homemade macaroni and cheese. When she was younger, she would get full off several plates of that macaroni and nothing else. Her stomach rumbled and her mouth watered and she abandoned Damon to join her mom in the kitchen. She heard Rudy and Damon exchange manly greetings and talk about football. They set the table while Bonnie and her mom brought out all the food: chicken, macaroni, potato salad and honey-butter rolls.

God, she was going to miss her mom's food when they went back.

Once they all dug in to eat, Bonnie relaxed and had a good time with three of her favorite people in the world. Her dad and Damon had a funny relationship that she wished she could carry with her back home. She had always dreamed of a tight-knit family, one where her blood relatives and her friends loved each other as much as she loved them. The thought of returning to Mystic Falls, where she had no parents and no Grams, was enough to diminish the smile on her face.

"Are you okay, honey?" Rudy asked, breaking her from her depressing thoughts.

Three sets of eyes fell on her and Bonnie briefly looked at Damon. He lifted his eyebrows, quietly asking when she was going to break the news, and she decided it was as good a time as any.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," she said. "But there is something that Damon and I would like to tell you guys."

Both Rudy and Abby looked apprehensive.

"I'm not pregnant," Bonnie blurted out and they looked relieved.

"Maybe lead with that next time," Damon suggested in a not-so-quiet whisper. She slapped his arm.

"What is it?" Abby asked.

"Well...as you know, Damon and I are getting married. And we've decided on a date."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" her mom said excitedly. "When?"

Bonnie's heart sped up and she again looked at Damon before saying, "Wednesday."

Rudy choked on his Coke and Abby's eyes widened.

"Wednesday?" she asked. "Like...this Wednesday?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Rudy asked, having gotten control of his esophagus again. "What's the rush?"

"We just don't see the point in waiting," Bonnie said. "Things happen every day. Bad things. Unexpected things. I guess I would just hate to put off something this important and possibly have someone I love miss it. Grams isn't getting any younger and I'm afraid that we wait for a year or longer, she might not be there to see it."

All of that was true.

"Oh, honey," Abby said, reaching over and taking her daughter's hand. "Your Grams is strong and she's got a lot of years left. She's in wonderful health."

"I know, but none of us can guarantee tomorrow and this is really important to me. I know it's sudden and maybe you guys don't approve, but we're getting married on Wednesday and I want both of you there to support us."

Bonnie expected some kind of backlash or pushback, but both of her parents nodded.

"Okay, sweetie," Abby said. "Of course we'll be there."

"With bells on," her dad added.

And just like that, all of her anxiety washed away and she was again thankful for the opportunity to have her parents in this life. When they were around, they were actually kind of awesome.

The rest of dinner went off without a hitch. They talked about the details of the wedding over some peach cobbler and when they were finished, Damon and Rudy cleared the dishes and washed them. Bonnie sat on the back porch while Abby excused herself for a moment. When she returned, she sat next to her daughter and smiled.

"You know I'm proud of you, right?" she asked. "You've turned into such a beautiful, smart, loving young woman and I couldn't be happier for you."

Bonnie's heart swelled knowing that she had her mother's love and acceptance, things she sorely missed in her real life.

"I have something I want to give you," Abby continued. She produced from behind her back a necklace with a brilliant blue stone set in the middle of it. She motioned for Bonnie to turn around and then she clasped it behind her back. "This was your grandmother's, and her mother's before that, and hers before that. Each Bennett woman passes it down to her daughter and I want you to have this as your something old and something blue."

"It's beautiful, Mom," Bonnie said with a genuine smile. "Thank you." She looked down at the gem and touched it, and it seemed to brighten underneath her fingers.

"Legend has it that if you wish on the gem, your wish will come true." Abby rolled her eyes. "You know your Grams with all her superstitions."

"Did you wish on it?"

"I did."

"What'd you wish for?"

"Well, your dad and I had issues getting pregnant. We had been married for some years and really wanted a family, but it just wasn't happening. One night, in complete desperation, I wished for a child. And I got you." She smiled softly and cupped Bonnie's cheek. "Use it wisely. It just might work."

Bonnie and Damon left an hour later, and the ride back to the boarding house was pleasant. They rode with the windows down and Damon held her hand on one side and drove with the other.

"You seem a lot happier now than you were on the way over here," he noted.

"The pressure's off," she laughed. "They took it surprisingly well."

"They probably figure the sooner you marry me, the sooner they can get some grandkids. Maybe we should work on that tonight."

Bonnie snickered and rolled her head to the side, letting the wind rush past her face and hair. She was going to ask Damon to just keep driving, and as if he could read her mind, he bypassed the boardinghouse and kept going for a while. When they finally got home and curled up against each other in bed, she ran her hand over her new necklace and Damon looked at it.

"That's nice," he said. "Where'd you get it?"

"My mom. It's been passed down through the family. It allegedly grants wishes."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mm hm."

"Okay, make a wish then."

"Hm, well I would like to wish for us to stay here but I don't think that's a possibility so I won't waste it on that."

"So what do you wish for?" he asked, rubbing his nose against hers. Bonnie's eyes fluttered closed and she planted a soft kiss against his lips.

"I wish that whatever happens between us when we go back, we won't lose this feeling."

"Agreed." He rolled on top of her and smirked. "Now get naked and make my wishes come true."

...

When Wednesday morning rolled around, Bonnie's stomach was in knots. She hadn't been able to sleep at all because her thoughts were on the wedding and how everything would go. She'd already been through her checklist five million times and she knew that everything was in order but she couldn't shake the jitters.

"I think I'm gonna vomit," she said as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror and looked at herself. Her hair was in about fifty different rollers and her makeup was exquisitely done. She had on underwear and her garter belt and the only left to do was put on her dress, a perfectly marvelous one that she had managed to find off the rack at the local dress store.

"Bon, this is totally normal," Elena assured her, as she stood next to her and finished curling her own hair.

"Yeah, people get super nervous before their weddings all the time," Caroline said, plucking a few hairs from her eyebrows. "You look fabulous. All you need to do is put on your dress, say 'I do,' and don't call him the wrong name."

"Great, now that you've put that into my head, I'll probably call him Stefan or something," Bonnie said as another lump of anxiety formed in the pit of her stomach.

"I was kidding!"

"I'm going to take a walk. I'll be back."

"Don't run off!" Caroline called behind her. "I have the nose of a bloodhound! I'll track you down."

Bonnie managed to chuckle. She left the girls in the bathroom and closed the door, leaving herself alone in Damon's mammoth bedroom. He had been banned from the house since the night before, considering that the groom was not supposed to see the bride before the wedding for fear of bad luck. He had tried his damndest to stay but Caroline was pretty insistent that he follow the rules.

For the moment, Bonnie was happy for the solitude. She sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed loudly. She was such a jumble of emotions but underneath all the nerves, she was happy. Even though she had never been one of the girls who'd dreamed of her wedding since kindergarten, she wanted to get married to a good man who would be a good partner. Somehow, that person ended up being Damon. If someone had told her that five years earlier, she wouldn't have believed it. Now, she couldn't imagine it being anyone else.

A soft knock on the door drew her from her thoughts and she pulled on a robe and tightened it. She opened the door, not expecting to find her almost-husband behind it.

"Well, hello, sexy," he said with a wolfish smirk.

"Damon!" she said. She looked behind her to make sure the girls hadn't heard, and she joined him out in the hallway. "What the hell? You're not supposed to see me until the wedding!"

"I've always been a rule-breaker. You look hot."

He tried to touch her and she smacked his hand away.

"If Caroline sees you, she'll kill you."

"I'll take my chances."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her before she could protest. He sucked her lips into his mouth and despite her best intentions, she gave in and swept her tongue across his. She felt him smile, which caused her to do the same thing. They kissed for a few minutes until he finally relinquished her. There was a slight ringing in her ears that she attributed to being aroused and excited and nervous. Her feelings must have shown on her face because Damon frowned a little.

"You okay?" he asked.

Bonnie opened her mouth to answer, but she stopped when the slight ringing became a shrill, persistent assault. Her knees buckled and she grabbed her head.

"Bonnie," Damon said, worried. "Bonnie, what's wrong? Talk to me."

"My...head," was all she could get out. The sound was only getting louder and louder and soon it was all she could hear. She saw Damon's lips moving and his eyes wide with fear but she couldn't understand what he was saying. She must have been screaming because Stefan appeared and assisted Damon in helping her up. Caroline and Elena ran out and the hallway became a panic area.

Bonnie could do nothing but clutch her head and cry out in pain. She was sure that her ears were bleeding and something told her that it wouldn't get better unless she went towards the sound. She broke away from the group and ran downstairs, trying to hold herself up even though the pain was crippling. She grabbed Damon's keys and stumbled outside to his car. She tried and failed to get inside and she jumped when he came from behind and turned her around to face him. His blue eyes were large and worried and he kept trying to say something, but she didn't know what.

"Drive," she said.

She shoved the keys in his hand and he helped her get into the passenger seat. He peeled out of the boarding house and Bonnie had to point and give him monosyllabic words to direct him. She did start to feel some relief as they got closer to the woods and the constant ringing became more like a loud pulsing sound. Damon skidded to a stop and Bonnie was able to force herself out. He came to her side and she followed the sound. It became duller and duller until it finally stopped, and they were in the exact same spot where she had woken up. A swirling hole was suspended a few feet off the ground.

"The portal," she said softly.

Bonnie turned to Damon and they shared a sad look of recognition. It was time to go home.

"Kind of shitty timing, huh?" he asked dryly. "They couldn't have waited until after I made you Mrs. Salvatore?"

"Mrs. Bennett-Salvatore," she corrected. And she gave him a little smile.

"You modern women."

He tried to sound like he was joking, but he just sounded sad. Kind of like how she felt.

"This sucks," she said.

"Yeah."

The portal swirled in front of them but neither of them moved. It wasn't until the ringing in her ears started again that Bonnie realized it wouldn't stop unless they went through.

"We have to go back, Damon," she said in a resigned sigh.

"Is that what you want?"

"Not even a little bit. But unless you want this portal to fry my brain, we don't have a choice."

He ran his hands through his hair and she knew that he was still trying to think of some loophole. When he came up with nothing, she took his hands and leaned up for a kiss.

"Whatever happens, I want you to know that this has been the best time of my life. Kinda sad that it had to happen when I'm technically dead, but thank you. For everything. For being yourself and for loving me."

He gave her a half-smile and tucked hair behind her ear.

"You never have to thank me for that. You're somewhat easy to love."

"Somewhat?" she smiled.

"Yeah. When you're not being judgey and bossy."

"I see you're getting back into the swing of things," she teased. "Is this what I can expect when we go back? Bickering?"

"No. You can expect this."

He capture her lips in his and they kissed wildly, like it would be their last time. When they pulled away, he pressed his forehead against hers.

"I know we didn't get to have the wedding or exchange vows, but just for the record, I do," he said.

Bonnie smiled against his lips and nodded her head. "I do, too."

And with that, they turned towards the portal, hand-in-hand, and walked through.