Author's Note: Nobody, nobody, NOBODY, but the good Lord above, knows how dreadfully difficult it has been to update this story! You know it's been a while, and I took it for granted, thinking I could just jump back into the scheme of things... I'm not the same writer I was before. I forgot the style in which I began this story. (Thank you to the Guest reviewer who reminded me.) I forgot the heart and soul of this story.
I set out to write this update, a week before the finale aired. There were so many times I nearly just posted – but I was determined to put up something you guys deserved reading. I was determined to put up my best. What you are about to view still may not be that... but it is the product of many, many nights of prayer. Ceaseless praying. This is not my own. I give all honor and credit to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have to. Because I was just about ready to give up on this, nothing was turning out right! I sincerely hope you can see the time and the effort poured into this. I hope you can witness the power of the holy spirit, and the beauty he has worked out of me. Please enjoy my wonderful, beautiful, and greatly treasured readers...
Bamon
The Final Chapter:
Part 1
"Gabe?" Bonnie whispers hesitantly, head tilted sideways as she regards the handsome being before her with confusion.
Several sets of bewildered eyes immediately land on the witch, but she ignores them in favor of holding her breath and oggling the young man before her, who merely stares blankly back. He just stares and stares for a couple of painful moments, while the gang glares back and forth between the two of them, until a small smile worms its way onto his features.
"Hi, mom."
"Alright! Time to go!" spiked hair suddenly exclaims, at the collective gasp of nearly the entire cave. "Nice going, G! Cover? Yeah, blown! Real smooth!" the vampire rattles off, taking the opportunity to move around the stupor of supernaturals, and toward the cave exit. "Hate to run out like this, but we've got other engagements!"
"Take care of yourselves. – Oh and here! It's caused more problems than I ever thought possible!" the beautiful female wordlessly removes the leather jacket on her shoulder's and shoves it into Bonnie's hands. "Don't ask." she waves slightly and darts around the group, as the green eyed enchantress perplexedly studies what appears to be her missing leather jacket from Damon.
"See you later, family!" spiked hair shouts, before disappearing out of the cave.
"Sorry, Dad"
"What did you do?" Damon asks with slightly narrowed eyes at the girl with her hand upon his shoulder, seemingly already slipping into father mode, as she smiles sheepishly, before yelping as Gabriel pulls her away and dashes toward the cave exit.
"Love you!" the hybrid shouts, before disappearing into the darkness.
"Oooooh they're SO in trouble!" Caroline declares, while Elena scratches her head, immensely flustered.
"What just happened?"
Gabriel Zachary Salvatore can do nothing but stare on with furrowed brows and a pensive frown, as the onslaught of presumptions, questions, and hypothesis cannonade about the cave the next instant.
Theories on the impossible arrival of the Salvatore 2nd generation, ridiculous hunches on the involvement of the missing jacket in the grand scheme of things; Caroline even has the group aimlessly guessing the names of Bonnie and Damon's other children at some point. - It's sad when Ron and Hermione are amongst the more normal pairs. Cause really? Aloysius and Matilda? Who the heck did they think was naming the kids?
Innocent blue eyes narrow as the hybrid continues solely focusing on one realization, like Sherlock Holmes and The Hardy Boys...
The strong and powerful warlock, who he'd felt the most odd, familiar tranquility around, was him?
The 4 year old begins to scratch his head in confusion, – before abruptly moving the chubby digits to cover his mouth.
Thoughts darting with the trademark hyper attentiveness of a child, his eyes widen to the size of quarters, heart speeding delightfully, doing thousands of little tumbles and somersaults, as his mouth quickly stretches into an uncontrollable grin.
"Jared and Lisa! David and Danielle! Bobby and Monica!" Gabriel enthusiastically joins in on the guessing game the next instant, utterly enraptured with the comprehension of having siblings.
He would have a brother and a sister! They would have so much fun together! He would protect them with a fierceness, he vows, already feeling an unbreakable kinship to the unborn.
The hybrid meets his parent's gazes, like magnets drawn together, and somehow he knows they know the assertions of his heart, the way his father beams exuberantly down at him, before releasing his mother's fingers, as she bends and hugs him tightly, in celebration...
"Greg and Marsha!"
"Edward and Bella!" Elena gleefully echoes Tyler, with not an end to the endeavor in sight.
Until Matt poses the question of why they are still in the cave...
Intelligent inquiry made and quickly received, Gabriel immediately follows his mother's instructions, holding onto his aunt, uncle, and Dad, while she takes care of everyone else.
They materialize, at once, back to the entrance of Grotto Del Vento.
Thank God for the vindication of transportation spells... If posed with the journey twice, he's sure his Aunt Lena's legs would have fallen off, shriveled up, and died somewhere.
Stefan Salvatore on the other hand, wonders if he might've preferred the trip, wobbling slightly, as he releases a sudden exhalation into the winter night. He's traveled with the spell a handful of times, and still feels the same magnitude of nausea as his cardinal enterprise.
Being thrust suddenly from one environment into an entirely different one was dizzying to say the least. Add in the variable of adjusting temperatures, and one might surely risk catching hypothermia.
At least the gray eyed vampire is sure of it...
Orbs seeing two of everything, he takes a deep breath, and swallows several times, in attempt to gain the bearings of this new terrain.
Elena's warm hands wrapping tightly around his left and right biceps seem to finally gain him the center he so desperately seeks. Her brown eyes burn into him with a twinkle of amusement, as she smiles softy at him.
"Better?"
'It's not funny!' he wants to childishly whine to the woman who thought it kind to always tease him of his intense reaction...
Instead he takes her breath away, deeply kissing her pink lips, instantly silencing her with the sudden and steamy smooch, because the urge to do that is far more forceful.
The man simpers handsomely at the glaze in his wife's eyes, as he breaks away from her. Without warning his glare lasers into her the next moment, however, with stifling precision. Lips parting slightly, he is suddenly emotionally overwrought by a heavy awareness.
Stefan's eyes move around Elena, to land on his brother... From his brother, they slide to Bonnie... From Bonnie to Gabriel... and all around the mystical group, they soar, until landing on Matt Donovan.
The blonde sports a pretty impressive shiner and a tattered shirt, fit for the garbage. Jeremy's bloody nose is stuffed with tissues, the deep wound on his chest, trickling steadily, and his right arm broken... but they're all alive.
The youngest Salvatore's return to the wooded earth seems to couple his arrival back to planet earth, with the euphoric realization.
Everything is finally over. Done. Finished... It is such an incredible and inconceivable awareness, he can barely grasp it properly.
Bonnie is here. Standing directly across from him, in fact. They've rescued her...
Only a few steps away from him, Gabriel resides. Not a single mark on his butterscotch skin. They've protected him...
After days spent looking over their shoulders... sleepless nights filled with prophetic nightmares... and a week of literally evading imminent death, the Gin Sorcerer is indeed truly dead. History. Destroyed.
.
Stormy eyes lethargically take in supernatural companions standing stalk still, feet glued to the forest floor, with meaningful stares darting, and somehow they know they've unanimously come to the realization of the same phenomenon.
The dangers were extreme.
The stakes even more sovereign.
By the grace of God they've all made it out.
Time seems to stand still. Stefan's heart pounds in his ears. His labored breathing echoes loudly, in harmony. It is all the man can apprehend, as sound seems to scratch into a resounding mute.
Meaningful stares quickly turn into watering eyes for lots, during the poignant moment of placatory understanding, that threatens to stretch on for minutes, hours, and days. Until Bonnie suddenly reaches out. Her caramel arms pull Elena close, and embrace her tightly.
It's like the lifting of a freezing curse, the way Damon immediately grips Stefan thereafter, while Matt grabs onto Tyler. They'd all been in so much danger. Such eminent danger. Mere moments ago. And yet... here they are.
"It's nice to have the whole gang back together." Stefan smiles in the midst of his bear clasp with JP, registering Caroline's oddly affectionate words to his brother. "Leave again, and you'll return much swifter than 5 years. In a body bag."
The gray eyed vampire laughs out loud, before entering a sudden coughing fit, at the happy smile he finds on Damon's face, when stealing a glance out of the corner of his eyes.
"You'd be putting me out of my misery, cause I'd have to be certifiable."
Hugs cannot be initiated quick enough, praises uttered, and tears shed. Katherine even gifts a couple of polite head nods, and what could strangely be conceived for a small smile, at a thanking Gabriel...
"So, what now?"
The inquiry of the attractive vampire seductress seems to echo into the quiet night.
It brings an ultimate halt to the seemingly endless love fest. Because...
What now, indeed? Now that they can finally breathe... now that they can once again live... What will be the Mystic Falls gang's next move?
"Now... we rest. Aren't you guys exhausted?"
"The word almost doesn't cover it... " Stefan's pink lips move into an amicable smile, at his wife's fleeting echo of his inquiry. He catches her with ease, as she falls back into his awaiting arms, uttering one of the most beautiful phrases known to man. "Let's go home."
"Are you kidding me? Hell no."
Thirteen pairs of eyes fly over to the younger Gilbert, with the incredulous vocalization.
The more innocent pairs, with a bit of dismay...
"We're in freakin Italy – one of the most romantic countries in the entire world, in case you need reminding! Don't you think we should at least experience it while we're in the neighborhood?"
Tyler Lockwood wastes not a moment in jubilantly patting his friend on the back, a huge grin invading his handsome face.
"See, that's why you're my right hand man... You know Italian women can cook too?!"
"Fulfilling more than one appetite, my friend!"
"You two are despicable."
The frown on Elena's face is immediate, and only to the slight diminishing of the suggestive smirk on Jeremy's. "When are you going to settle down and get married?"
Stefan has to physically shake his head to rid himself of the sudden vision of the men, 80 and gray, finally 'popping the question.' Probably to some 30 year olds, no less...
The duo were virtual nomads, moving from city to city, state to state, country to country. Continent to continent... Their architecture firm, JT Incorporated, was the praise and rave of A list celebrities and top government officials. Plus, Tyler was a Denver Bronco, to boot. Their pockets were so deep and their heads so big, it was a wonder they didn't topple over while walking.
"When we feel like ruthlessly breaking the heart of every female on the globe."
"Please, Clifford."
For the first time, Katherine isn't alone in her scoff and heavenward eye roll... In fact, it's a near unanimous action.
"Can we, mom?! Can't we stay just one more night?! And maybe in the morning we can even go see the leaning tower of pizza! You think they allow you to eat it?"
"They have to! Or it'd be such a rip off!" Blaine passionately echoes his cousin.
Because of course they'd remember the initial conversation topic. They probably hadn't heard a thing after it... The witch in question looks to Damon, before meeting the eyes of Caroline, Matt, Elena, and Stefan.
It was Italy. The country renowned for it's mouthwatering cuisine, historically aesthetic landmarks, breathtaking scenery, and yes, arresting romance... Mere mortals only dreamed of visiting in their lifetime.
"What do you think?"
"It's actually not a bad idea..." a slow grin breaks onto the eldest Salvatore's face, while JP abruptly thrusts a victorious fist into the air.
"Well, in that case! I hope you weren't too attached to the cabin, cause we're ditching that dump! It's time we live in Italy the correct way."
"LET'S GO!"
The enthused charge of the enraptured youths, has the adults shaking their heads in amusement.
Although a very similar excitement bubbles beneath their pores, as they follow, briskly en route to the awaiting vehicles.
Until Bonnie notices something...
So does Katherine.
Like an abrupt thunderstorm on a summer's day...
The sudden buzz of a credit card decline, at the cash register...
Like an abrupt flat tire, progressing to blissful vacation, is the robust reminder that everything is not sunshine and roses. It is, in fact, not unicorns and rainbows...
The previously silent and dazedly hugging Jackson, trudges off in the opposite direction of them all...
A very distinct slit cripples the the witch's heart at the sight.
"Where are you going?"
The women question near simultaneous.
"Home."
Slowly... but surely, the rigid Latino turns back... visage meeting jade eyes with potent dark brown that have her pink lips quivering helplessly.
"There's nothing left for me here. Is there?!"
"Yes, there is! An explanation."
Her deliriously fervent declaration brings about a gaping silence.
It seems to stretch for hours, but really only 7 seconds...
"And you may not want to give me the peace of telling you one, but I owe and need to give you the respect in hearing it. So please..."
The enchantress frantically absorbs saliva down her sudden desert like throat, watching the vampire as he watches her, staring her down for the actual longest, most pregnant of moments. So many emotions flash through those dark irises... distrust, anger, sadness, fury, despair... emptiness...
He finally sighs heavily, languidly heading for the red 300.
At the action, a desperate exhalation shoots out of Bonnie, she'd been unaware of holding. She runs a weakened hand over her face, dazed and disoriented as she feels, more than registers, herself being moved, guided over to Matt's Hummer.
Somewhere in the inner recesses of her mind, she acknowledges that it is Damon's strong arm around her, his hand squeezing her shoulder, protective... comforting, while she wrenches her eyes closed fighting off tears. Gone is the jovial atmosphere from mere minutes ago. Completely evaporated and vanished.
All Jackson ever did was love and care for her! And now...
She can't bare to think of the damage she's doing to his heart. Because she can't literally think at all.
"Never cry in front of me, over another man."
"Never cry in front of me, over another man."
"Never cry in front of me, over another man."
The mandate repeats incessantly in the woman's head.
Enraged words, spoken to a heartbroken 17 year old many years ago...
At the age of 24, however, Bonnie still remembers with stifling precision. The dominant demand, inciting their first night together and procuring their inevitable relationship...
Yet here she was. Undoubtedly bending the souls of both Damon and Jackson.
That first lone tear finally trickles out of her eye, with the frantic musings. Sliding down her cheek, as she dimly realizes the leather-clad vampire slowly moving a seat belt around her and buckling her in.
"I'm sorry, Damon!"
She doesn't want to cause him pain. The last thing on earth she ever wants to do is hurt him, – and she knows, without a shadow of a doubt, he is angry!
He's livid. He's bruised. He's heartbroken...
"It's just something I have to do!" her water filled orbs agonizingly move up with the graceless outcry, pleading immersed to the dark haired supernatural.
She chokes on a sob, when she discovers the odd and spine tingling gentility found in his gaze.
Damon deliberately leans into Bonnie.
He kisses her tear stained left cheek... he kisses her right cheek... He slowly moves down, a whimper escaping her mouth, as his lips delicately caress over her chin... her closed eyelids... her forehead... temple... and finally... her lips.
Her heart defenselessly skips a beat each time.
The witch sincerely wonders if the man has any idea what his mere touch does to her, let alone his kiss.
It sets her on fire, body and soul. And yet... crashes wave after wave of calm upon her, she knows her wonderful vampire was going for.
"Don't be sorry." astonished orbs shoot ajar, as the backs of fingers pad most tenderly down her damp cheek, nearly evoking a whole new onslaught of waterworks. The passion and intent churning in the open cerulean pools, is enough to seize and drown.
"I did this. I left. I made it possible for another man to get close to your heart. I know that."
Each unadulterated proclamation threatens to thrust the woman further into the depths of bereavement, her heart pounding fiercely within her chest.
"You care about him... And that's okay, because I also now know that you're in love with me. So, I'm not jealous. No. – I'm just grateful and thankful, because, after five years of being a raving idiot, you still were even able to look at me with those green eyes!"
The vampire guffaws hysterically, before glaring passionately into the aforementioned emeralds. Bonnie's breath rises into her throat.
"After a while you even blessed me with that beautiful smile." he grins, enthralled and affectionately running his thumb over her soft, pink lips. "You still chose me, you still forgave me ... you still love me!"
The uttering of each individual, beautiful appraisal... the power of each consuming stare... the burning of his every caress, has the witch's heart hammering increasingly powerful within her chest. They collectively threaten to send the organ sporadically breaking free, by reason of uncontainable joy.
She blinks profusely and swallows essentially, trying to tether herself to the leather she sits upon, as something distinct builds within her very core...
Something unaccustomed brims higher and higher, paramount, luminous, and spreading... overtaking and begging her for some form of release and solace.
'So gorgeous... The most gorgeous being I've ever been privileged to lay eyes on.' the unprotected meditation, not of her own, propels the witch closer to the unknown destination.
" So...You can take all the time in the world you need with this guy, Bonnie. Okay? – Hey, in the meantime maybe I'll attempt to ease down from this damn cloud I'm floating on."
"I love you, Damon."
It is almost overwhelming how much.
The mounting warmth finally detonates within her, at the breathy declaration. Overthrowing every pore, every molecule, every atom of her being with euphoric, explosive, and intoxicating elation. Crushing her heart with pride, affection, and confounding adoration, as her arms connect vice like around the man.
She clutches him close, needing desperately nothing more than to feel his strong arms around her, boxing her in, possessing her, protecting her.
She isn't let down.
"And I, you. So very much."
Bonnie melts like a carton of ice cream in a hot car. Like a snow man in California. Every worry, every guilt, every heartbreak, and stress, permeating her being like dirt in a hot shower.
Damon kisses her curls, and she kisses the patch of skin below his left ear, enchantingly taking in the supernatural like serenity his embrace has always seemed to offer, and forever will offer her.
They remain cemented for a solid 3 minutes. Noses deeply inhaling... fingers fiercely griping... and lips obliviously uttering the sweetest of nothings... before the witch finally sighs amicably, gradually disentangling their limbs.
"I'm exhausted."
"You look it."
"Thanks."
"Well, you've given me about a million gray hairs tonight, I figured I owed you at least one sassy remark."
Essence continuously beaming blissfully, Bonnie relaxes further into her seat, Damon grinning his trademark smirk, as she seems to finally register the people around her...
Jeremy on the other side of him, arguing passionately with Tyler in the seat before them, about the hottest Italian supermodels or other some trivial bull crap... Gabriel and Blaine firing off question after question to Matt and Caroline about Italian pizza, pasta, and leaning towers...
This is what good things are made of. This is what life should consist of. The witch grins tiredly, before stifling a yawn, and finally answering her vampire's wisecrack. "I don't even have the energy to reply to that."
"Hey. Lean on me... when you're not strong..." the glowing man begins to sing, Bonnie smiling sardonically, while resting her head upon his shoulder, nonetheless.
"Shut up."
He angles his head down, gently kissing her temple. He sends a horde of blissfully fluttering butterflies into her stomach.
"Ti amo."
"Mmm..."
It's cheesy as mozzarella, but as long as the rascal is next to her, she's sure she can overcome every demon life throws her way. Painful break ups and all...
Pale and caramel fingers intertwine, as long eyelashes flutter closed, the beauty at last drifting into the most deep, lovely, and peaceful sleep she's had in days... weeks... years.
****B****A****M****O****N****
"Mommy... Mom... Mother... Bonnie Bennett!" the woman in question is awoken hours later by the tiny voice of her son, and an incredulous guffaw from her tired lips.
"Ha! You want to repeat that again?"
"Mommy?" the hybrid attempts sheepishly, before handing off a beautiful beige envelope. "We're here! And Daddy wanted me to give you this..."
At the precise moment, Bonnie peers through sleep narrowed eyes, dizzily registering the gang piling out of the car around her, indeed sans Damon.
Her orbs meld closed, as she stifles a yawn, teetering dangerously on the thread of dream and reality. She remains corpse like still for a couple of beats, before finally wiping a drop of drool from her lips, stretching her arms and back, and resigning herself to consciousness, glancing down at the Italian lined casing with her name written neatly at it's front.
An unheralded surge of longing and need shoots through the enchantress at the sight of her vampire's handwriting. She physically blushes at the powerful weight of her vulnerability, but she can't hide her essentiality. She doesn't want to be apart from him. It'd been a long torturous night, and before that, 5 extreme years. She wants Damon Salvatore glued to her side. She needs him.
"Where'd he go?"
"I don't know." comes the flawless answer.
But a mother knows these things...
"Gabriel Zachary Salvatore."
"Mommy, I can't break guy code!"
"You can't – what?" beautiful green eyes glare into passionately protesting blue orbs, with barely contained incredulity, because really? What the heck? "How do you even know?! – Stop growing up. You're four, alright? Act your darn age..."
"Yes mam..."
The hybrid's gaze rolls skyward, as he follows his mother out of the vehicle, face overtaken by a barely contained happy beam.
"Alright, gang! You've got two hours to do whatever the heck it is you want to do, but after that... your presence is demanded at the suite of Mr. and Mrs. Stefan Salvatore, alright?"
Silence.
An announcement to the wildlife allegedly, as it penetrates not a single ear of the Mystic Fall's gang. Not even Elena can muster up the will to listen, as she takes in the breathtaking vegetation and stifling enormity of the utterly gorgeous Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotel/Resort. It is that luxurious... and a welcomed distraction to the yearning, caramel skinned enchantress. This setting of novels... This resting place of royalty.
"JP and I are gonna whip up a meal fit for kings!"
It's ironically fitting.
Hearing is miraculously reinstated with the final declaration. Especially for Tyler, who's stomach promptly lets out a vicious rumble.
"AWESOME!"
Bonnie smiles a secret smile, continuing to gaze at the extravagant lodging, as she imagines the sure meaningful sparkle in Caroline's eyes as she looks to her and Elena. Shopping!
"Can I hang out with Blaine, Aunt Care, and Uncle Matt?!" Gabriel echoes his cousin's exclamation, to the airy sighing of the addressed enchantress, who will do just about anything for the happiness of the little man...
She turns to her friends with hope in her eyes, all images of spending sprees immediately perished.
"What do you guys say? Have room for a fourth and fifth wheel –
"We have room for a fourth. But I believe you have other plans, Bon..."
"Plans you would be aware of, if you'd look at your letter! That's what they're for, you know?! To convey messages..." Caroline saucily piggyback's her husband's answer, as the witch runs a hand through her hair, suddenly wondering if she's somehow missed something during her deathlike slumber.
She's beginning to feel like the clueless coward left out on the master plan...
Apparently Caroline's idea of shopping was purely imagination...
"Read."
Elena either appears out of thin air, or Bonnie is that deep into her musings, as the brunette suddenly approaches. She retrieves the parchment from the envelope, for her friend, and breezily places it into her hands as the woman scoffs indignantly.
"Gabriel's in good hands; we're in good hands! So we'll see you in a couple of hours, okay?..."
A rhetorical question apparently, as the doppelganger doesn't wait two seconds for an answer, quickly backing away from the witch, in exit.
The rest of the gang instantly follows suit, so that Bonnie is left staring widely after them all, oddly reminded of that one Dorothy line from "The Wizard of Oz." 'People come and go so quickly here!'
"See ya, mommy! Love ya!"
"Love you too, baby..." the mother skeptically returns her son's embrace...
He's gone so fast she suspects magical dematerialization.
And then there was one... the statement seems to echo on a loop.
Just like that, Elena is gone. Tyler and Jeremy, gone. Matt and Caroline... JP, Stefan, and Blaine all gone. Gabriel gone. And she'd never seen Damon, Jackson or Katherine at the hotel to begin with!
Bonnie chews into her bottom lip...
Arches an eyebrow...
Ultimately scoffs in disbelief of her absurd and abrupt isolation...
Before curiosity gets the better of her, because who is she kidding? She's dying for some form of connection with her vampire!
Slowly but surely, she focuses onto the paper in hand, carefully unfolding the parchment, the velocity of her heart helplessly picking up at the continued sight of his penmanship.
Hey, beautiful... wonderful, sexy, incredible...
It's been an exhausting couple of days, and an obliterating week
altogether, so I'm imploring you do me a few favors.
First, please go to this suite and take the hottest, most
relaxing shower of your life.
Then, take this card, go shopping
and get yourself something gorgeous to wear.
And maybe a little something luscious to garb beneath...
(I'm wiggling my eyebrows right now, thinking highly indecent things)
After this... go to Jackson, and take care of that.
(Look at me being mature. Are you proud? A little turned on?)
...
Get the work done first, baby, alright? And finally,
when all of that's through, come play with me.
I'll be in Stelena's suite, cooking up the feast of fantasies!
I Love you. Always.
Damon
Tears painfully prick the woman's eyes, as she wordlessly folds the stationary and places it into her pocket.
***B***A***M***O***N***
Bonnie's dazzling emeralds slide effortlessly closed, of their own volition.
She sighs...
She purrs...
At one point she even sings, as she carries out the instructions of Damon's first request...
The 160 jet spray of the 8" stainless Rain Shower Head in the Italian bath puts the Salvatore's washroom to shame, and that's saying something. High pressured purification is just what the witch needs. The vigorous aqua soothes, massages, and completely obliterates all residual grime and tension of the day. Powerfully heating her skin, it warms her core, till she's blissfully clean, tingling...
And filled near inebriated musings...
I know I know. Somehow...
During the ludicrous guessing game 3 hours ago in the cave, she'd remained silent. Not because she was too tired to participate in the silliness. But because she was most sure. She was most sure she knew...
The woman blindly lathers delectably scented shampoo into her long locks, recalling the encounter of spiked hair and hazel brown eyes. She's sure with unreasonable certainty that she knows exactly the name of her two youngest children.
Her twins...
So, my premonition will come true...
Pink lips grin dazedly, before frowning slightly.
But what did they do?
She sighs as the hot water from the additional heavy duty handheld rinses her hair and warms her scalp.
What does my jacket have to do with anything? How did they get here? Where are they now?
She's too drunk off bliss to give the inquiries proper speculation.
Especially with thoughts of her vampire endlessly simmering in her subconscious...
Thoughts of his letter to her.
So endearing... so mindful...
So forbearing, from the man who'd once suggested she put an enchantment on herself, instantly hexing any man who dared to look her way!
He's growing up, she amazingly and fondly muses. And it is absolutely a turn on...
Never before has Bonnie felt so cared for.
She feels so cherished, so very loved, she sincerely fears she might explode from the staggering weight of the passion. It's euphoric... orgasmic, coupled with the heavenly shower, the witch seriously contemplates the option of forever remaining under...
But then her fingers begin to prune.
Jasmine scent returned to its rightful prominence, Bonnie next carries out Damon's second request, wonderfully experiencing the top fashion, life changing, and jaw dropping world of Italian shopping.
She purchases and changes into an oversized gray sweater, coupled with dark denim skinny jeans, and black winter boots.Simple diamond studs adorn her ears, as she pulls her hair into a high and messy, bun.
Such a waste.
But the enchantress has morbid business to attend to...
Plus, seasoning sophistication or not, she intimately knows her vampire's harebrained levels of possessiveness. So she bypasses the highly trendy dresses and blouses, and goes for the plain and simple. It's more considerate for Jackson that way, as well.
Jackson...
The mere contemplation of the Latino brings a lump to the woman's throat and a fiercely painful ache to her heart, because he'd been her rock!
He'd been her strength. On many occasions, he'd been her reason to smile. The man who'd quite literally swept into her life, taking an immediate interest in her, despite her constant rebuttals...
Her inevitable friend, who'd turned into so much more...
She will miss him. Terribly.
Lost in the melancholy recollections of past love, the witch doesn't even seem to realize the destination her feet have mindlessly carried her to. Until her green gaze lands upon the object of her musings...
Her third assignment.
The breath is literally knocked out of Bonnie, as she comes to stand before the slouching Jackson Gutierrez.
Lounging at the extravagant bar top of the hotel restaurant, nursing a bottle of Jack Daniels, he doesn't even spare her a glance of acknowledgment at her presence...
Striking eyes move painfully over the man, taking in his disheveled hair and same messy clothes from earlier... his defeated posture... his empty eyes...
It's all her. She's the reason. She's done this to him... They'd been together not even a week ago.
Not only together, but engaged to be married, excitedly planning their future together!
A million different flashbacks begin to assault the witch's conscious, abruptly – without warning or consent. Every smile... every conversation... every hug they'd shared...
"Speaking might help."
"Yeah" comes the breathy exhalation of the enchantress, as she finally recalls how to use her lungs. Chewing into her bottom lip, she wrings her fingers.
"Just a theory..."
Deep brown eyes finally settle onto her, and she wonders how in the world she will possibly get through this. Until pink lips quirk suddenly, blessing her with a startling and unforeseen slight smile.
A smile that immediately reminds her of downright enchanting occasions with their owner, and why this explanation is so very imperative.
A smile that favors a smirk, and prompts a new blitz of visions centering astronomic nights and days spent with her heart's owner...
A smile that has the woman sighing peacefully... determinedly, and throwing herself onto the stool next to the Latino, the next instant.
"How could I give this up?"
"I keep asking myself ..."
"I love him, Jackson."
Bonnie swallows thickly, strong eyes steady trained powerfully on the gorgeous vampire who was almost her's.
She absently envisions the blood on her hands, from his ripped heart... the sting against his skin, from the savagely rented band aid, she has no privilege of easing off.
It would be far more cruel to twist and undulate the organ back and forth, just to loosen...
"And while I also loved you, don't ever question that... it's just two entirely different kinds of love."
She can do this.
She has to do this.
For Jackson. For Damon... For herself.
"He's the love of my life! That one in a million, once in a blue moon, that infuriating man... He's the other half of my soul, the mirror image of my very being, reflected back to me, and no matter how hard I tried to fight it –
"He's always gonna be the one for you."
Spoken as a heavy exhalation...
Bonnie's eyes slowly move down, as she chews into her bottom lip.
"...Yeah."
"I know. I don't need the sordid details."
The man takes a very long gulp of alcohol, while the witch swallows a particularly large lump down her her throat.
"I'm sorry, Jackson! I'm so very sorry. The last thing I ever wanted to do was cause you sorrow!"
She bites into her left cheek... blinks her eyes profusely,... but that first agonizing tear vengefully breaks free from her right eyelid, swiftly sliding down her cheek, as she glares helplessly... sickly... self depreciating...
"You don't deserve this... You deserve so much better than this!"
Bonnie's heart nearly jumps out of her chest, at the sudden feel of the thumb padding down her face. Her green eyes flash up to meet brown abruptly devoid of all bitterness.
"I understand."
The emeralds widen impossibly under the gentle scrutiny filled with understanding and affection. So stifling, beautiful, awing... amazing. Jackson even nods his head for emphasis.
For a second, Bonnie merely nurtures the notion of breathing again.
"I do. And I know you tried to fight off your feelings for him; I'm just hurting right now... I'm disappointed. I'm angry. And I don't wanna be, but I'm human, right?! Well, somewhat..."
The supernatural completes the declaration with a sheepish smile, while several tears erupt the enchantress's eyes.
It's a misery resembling that of incurable diseases, his words to her... Coupled with a peace, pure heaven like.
Blessed air fills her lungs.
The suffocating ache in her heart dissipates.
She goes back to weighing 135 pounds instead of 550, because Jackson understands...
He's disappointed. – But he understands...
He doesn't hate her with the fire of a thousand suns. It's a consolation that has the witch grinning deliriously through her lamentation.
"Damon just doesn't know the huge thanks he owes you..."
Distractedly handing off a napkin to his sobbing ex, the Latino vampire runs a hand through his hair, a pensive and solemn look upon his face, as he experiences his own sudden weight loss.
"Believe it or not, maybe he does... Idiot tracked me down about an hour before you showed up, wanting to shake my hand. He even let me punch him across the jaw..."
A whole new wave of tears burst forth, as jade eyes widen in wonderment, and Bonnie finds herself scoffing, before all out laughing hysterically.
"If I ever see that asshole again, I might – just be his friend or something!"
"He did?! He really let you punch him?" the witch giggles gleefully, filled with a joy and peace near overpowering.
"Yeah. And it felt pretty amazing."
"That man..." she smiles thoughtfully, affectionately... before abruptly focusing on the one before her, with an intent and watery glare. "Well, he expressed his gratitude, so let me express mine."
Finally putting good use to her gift napkin, she determinedly rids her face of every last trace of saltwater, before meeting the brown eyed supernatural with a headstrong and unwavering beam.
She has to make sure she does this right. "Thank you, Jackson."
And my gosh, this is happening. This is actually happening.
"If it weren't for you, I never would've had the strength, nor the heart, to accept Damon back into my life. – You ... You lowered my guard, and taught me how to trust again – how to love again! And it's something I will never be able to repay you for..."
His hand atop hers softens the intent of her eyes, and returns the ease of her smile, as only a dearest friend is capable of.
"You know you can, actually. If you just do me one favor..."
"Anything."
Fingertips move, until he is tenderly holding her hand.
"Be happy."
She's euphorically joyous.
Any lingering worry, stress, or sadness withheld in her heart, completely vanishes with the request. Bonnie sighs exuberantly. Smiles widely... and nods her head contentedly.
"You too, okay? Please. And... and... be my friend again?"
"... I don't know if that's possible."
The distant sadness the firm answer seems to bring out in the green orbs, assuredly inspires the change in reply.
"But who knows. Maybe sometime... in the future..."
Bonnie squeezes Jackson's large hand within her grasp, before conclusively tugging the dazzling piece of jewelry from her fourth finger. She hands it over to him.
And she's done it.
She's apologized. She's made things right. She's honored and paid her respect. She's finally broken things off with this amazing man... and she couldn't be more ecstatic.
"You know you're gonna make some woman obnoxiously happy?!"
"Jealous?"
"Very"
The enchantress grins widely as the Latino pulls her into one equally tight and tender embrace.
"Goodbye, Bonnie Bennett."
She frowns slightly within his hold.
"Why do you make it sound so finite?"
"I don't know. I just – … ever since some time back at the cave, I've been feeling this... I don't know – calling... like I need to go somewhere... be somewhere..." he breaks away from the woman, with a slight shrug. "Go figure."
"Well, don't go moving to Antarctica without letting Stefan or somebody know, will you?"
Jackson rolls his eyes playfully, as Bonnie begins to walk inversely away from him. "Yeah yeah."
She came in with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Now she feels light as a feather.
With the knowledge of the imminence of her final task, she feels downright weightless...
At last, reaching the entryway of the luxurious lounge, the witch twirls around, holding her right hand up in one final farewell, a solemn smile in place...
Back at the bar, the dark and handsome vampire does the same, before resolutely refocusing on the mixologist before him. He seems to order another drink.
"Goodbye, Jackson Gutierrez... And thank you." Bonnie speaks softly to herself, before exiting the establishment.
**B**A**M**O**N**
"WE'RE GLADIATORS!"
The green eyed woman is virtually attacked, upon entrance into the grand and classical Petronious suite, Gabriel and Blaine sprinting up to her, grinning from ear to ear, in quite the unusual ensemble.
"Hear us roar!"
"We're mighty, brave, and strong!"
She'd already been on a cloud far higher than 9... but the pure celestial joy that flutters her heart, at the sight of her son, is hard to put into words.
'What in the world?'
"What in the world?"
The confused enchantress can't help but laugh out loud, as she takes in the sight of her son and nephew, both equipped with a plastic shield and sword, red cloaks about their backs, helmets over their heads, and chests puffed out adorably. They resemble the sure offspring of Maximus Decimus Meridius...
"Don't we look cool, mom?!"
"It was so awesome, Auntie Bonnie!"
"What did you do?" the woman grins uncontrollably as the boy's figuratively and literally tumble over the other in merry excitement, greatly resembling Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from Alice in Wonderland.
"We learned about how the Gladiators were slaves who had to fight one another -
"Sometimes, remember?! Cause mostly they fought animals! How crazy is that, mommy?!"
Her beam quickly diminishes.
"They fought lions, tigers, bears, and all sorts of creatures!"
"Sometimes they even got killed! –
"AHEM!"
The sporadic exclamations only come to an abrupt halt with the throat clearing and entrance of one Caroline Donovan.
She fixes the duo with a pointed look, to the immediate straightening of their posters, as they look to the caramel skinned mom/aunt, rattling off skillfully.
"But being a gladiator is nothing to idolize or fantasize about, as they were beings treated with a substantial lack of humanity and brutal cruelty."
Bonnie nearly chokes on the scoff of disbelief.
"Do you know half of what you're saying?"
"Mostly! … Kind of!" the cousins defend passionately, while a perfectly arched eyebrow and green eyes focus onto a blonde.
"You took our children... Gladiator training?"
"It's one of the family activities here at the hotel! And yes, it's for kids age 7 and above, but Blaine and Gabriel are mature! They wanted to go so badly, Bonnie! Plus this one was little to no help with his matching puppy dog pout and baby blue eyes." the female vampire concludes the scattered vindication, lightly elbowing her husband in the stomach, as he timidly moves into the room.
"It was incredible, Bon. They taught us how to fight like Gladiators..."
All she can do is blink profusely.
If one best friend wasn't teaching inappropriate card games, the other was training to kill...
The witch fixes the man with a stare of deadpan, at his grin of childlike innocence, before stonily approaching.
"How old are you again? Dork..."
She breaks the hardhearted act, ruffling his hair good-natured, before setting eyes onto the younger party of the room.
"I'm glad you two had fun. Just don't try any of that stuff at home. Seriously. Okay?"
"Yes mam!"
"Okay?!" Bonnie repeats, magically pulling the boys over to her.
She proceeds to vehemently kiss them all over, faces, foreheads and cheeks, plastic helmets tumbling to the floor with the spirited actions.
"Okay!" Gabriel and Blaine giggle uncontrollably.
"We won't!"
"We promise!"
"You two look cute enough to eat!"
"Aunt Bonnie!"
"Mommyyyy!"
The whines of protest, bring a moderating end to the love fest, as the enchantress ruffles their hair, and
kisses them each once more on the forehead, for good measure.
She satirically rolls her eyes. "Boys... Speaking of big kids though," her gaze lands pointedly at Matt, before looking to Caroline. "Where's mine?"
"In there."
Her heart takes flight.
She longed for him as soon as she discovered his absence, arriving at the hotel. Upon her breakup with Jackson her yearning became unbearable.
She's at ease. At peace. Happy. Elated. And there's two individuals she needs to share it with most... One is at her side. The other, a couple of rooms away. It's only been a couple of hours, but she misses him desperately.
She swallows and scoffs to herself, absently wondering if she will forever be like a teenage girl around him? Brightening at the mere prospect of seeing him...
"Who? Daddy? Daddy's not a big kid, Mommy, he's a grown up."
Bonnie heads off in the direction the blonde angles her head, confused Gabriel hot on her tail.
"Baby, trust me; your father stopped aging at 25, on the outside. But on the inside, he's never gone past 8..."
"Really?"
The mother has to pause her travels briefly, looking down to her son. Her son with her nose, his eyes, and her smile... She stares at him with the utmost affection, at the innocence and wonder in his voice.
"I love you. I love you more than anything in this world, Gabriel Zachary Salvatore. You know that?!"
She hugs him closely, kissing the top of his curls. He happily kisses her cheek.
"I love you too, Mommy."
It literally hurts. The weight of her affections for him.
He may be extremely smart and mature for his age, but he still possesses that wide-eyed unsuspecting trust of a child. Her little boy, whom she cares for more than any language can describe...
The witch straightens, restarting their journey, as she grabs onto his small hand, finally answering the one worded question from before.
"No. Mommy's just kidding -
"Just kidding!"
The conversation subject matter seems to appear out of nowhere, bursting into the doorway of the dining room, just as the duo goes to enter it...
"Jinx! You owe me a soda. Or in this case, a moment of your time..."
Great. Now it seems she's just lied to their son...
"Seriously?" Bonnie arches an eyebrow at the vampire with azure orbs full of life and mischief that ardently set her soul ablaze.
He nods heartily.
"I do a pretty darn good job, if I do say so myself. But no one prepares them like the originator of the recipe..." the man grabs onto his son and witch, briskly leading them over to a counter top of the luxurious room. Or more specifically, the griddle atop it.
"Why don't you help me finish off this feast, and show our son how mouthwatering Bonnie Bennett chocolate chip pancakes can really be?"
She's pretty sure she inhaled delectable Italian cuisine on the way in...
"They don't even go with the contents of the rest of the meal!"
"You don't go with the contents of the rest of the meal!" the joyous beam on Damon's face is mesmerizing. The meaningful twinkle in his eyes is heart stopping, and the organ was already thunderously pounding at the sight of him.
"Please, mommy?! Pretty please!"
"With sugar on top, mommy?!" her vampire echoes Gabriel, both males looking up to the woman with pleading blue pools.
She suddenly understands why her son and nephew ended up in a Gladiator training session that night/morning...
"Fine."
Her blonde bestie never stood a chance...
"Hooray!" Gabriel immediately shouts with glee, hugging his mother tightly as she affectionately rakes a hand over his curls, the duo's contagious glee, quickly gripping her as well.
"Good." the father echoes, moving over to a stainless steel refrigerator looking wildly out of place amongst the extraordinary French artwork, antiques, and furniture of the room.
"Cause it'd be a shame to waste good food. – Can you believe none of these rooms come with a kitchen? I had to go out and buy that thing!" he gestures over to the griddle. "Stefan and JP had to compel the hotel staff to use one of their restaurant kitchens to cook everything in!"
"Wow. I guess the rich and famous have no use to cook. They just eat out and order in..."
"Yeah! Uppity bunch ruining it for the rest of us..."
Her soul sparks.
Not much will ever compare to this. Their effortless back and forth... Their endless conversation about nothing, and everything that mattered in the world..
Damon resurfaces from the cooler with a box of Bisquick, a carton of eggs, a gallon of milk, and a package of Nestle chocolate chips.
"No, sir." Bonnie swoops over to him the next instant, quickly swiping the pancake mix away from the other ingredients on counter top. "Baby, the first thing you need to know about making Bonnie Bennett chocolate chip pancakes, is that you don't use no box."
She directs to Gabriel, but fixes his father with a look ,at the completion of the statement. "Homemade all the way. Only the best quality..."
"I forgot... Well, I had to modify that instruction over the years; not everyone has your cooking skills!"
"Touche." the green eyed woman smiles secretly at the words, gaze absently wandering over a muscular built, before she shakes her head, refocusing. "Do we have flour? Cinnamon? Sugar?"
"Stefan and JP brought back basically every ingredient known to man, so..."
"We'll also need baking powder, butter, and vanilla abstract." the witch lists off, as the vampire suddenly looks to their son.
"What do you say, Gabe? Up for a treasure hunt?"
"Let's do it."
The conspiring and purposeful determination in the statement, makes the woman guffaw happily. She's thoroughly convinced her kid can't help but be cute and lovable...
"Bet you can't in less than one minute!"
"You're on!" the guys swiftly answer the challenge, before darting over to the refrigerator.
They retrieve it in 20 seconds.
The duo is so in sync working together, the mother is literally blown away... and very near reduced to a blubbering mess. She has to blink profusely to fight off tears.
"Pfft! A minute? You should've at least tried to make it challenging, Bon!"
"Yeah, that was way too much time for us, Mom!"
Something has changed.
Something is different.
So natural it's almost unnoticeable... But it's too beautiful for that.
The light in their eyes... The ease in their hearts... The permanent shift in their relationships...
They are finally what they were meant to be all along.
A family.
"Could you try to be less like this guy?" the witch fixes her hybrid with a look, angling her head back at his father, to which the boy shrugs gleefully.
"I can't help it!"
"That's right, Gabe! Like Father, like son!" the pair high five, and Bonnie's eyes roll so far back they, threaten to get stuck.
She is absolutely powerless to erase the exuberant grin on her face, however...
It puts quite the damper on her look of annoyance.
"Okay, you, I need 1 and ¼ cups of flour, poured." the sentimental sap instructs her son in attempt to not spontaneously squeeze him like a Boa constrictor.
She helps the four year old in measuring the ingredient, before watching him pour it into the large bowl the third part of their trinity dutifully retrieves, and has waiting on the counter top for them.
"Now, one tablespoon of sugar."
The blue eyed boy diligently obeys, before, inspired, requesting they all participate in the adding of ingredients.
The family then takes turns building onto the sweet mixture. Bonnie adds ¼ a teaspoon of cinnamon. Damon contributes 1 table spoon of baking powder. Gabriel tosses in ¼ a teaspoon of salt.
They continue taking turns, supplying 2 eggs, a cup of milk, 4 tablespoons of of melted butter, and ¾ a teaspoon of vanilla.
Somehow by the end of the concocting, the lady ends up with a perfect spot of powder about the center of her nose, the gentleman of the trio chivalrously points out to her.
"Don't look at me!" he immediately defends, hands up in defense, at the knowing look in green eyes.
He even helps her remove the mess to prove his innocence, approaching suddenly, with purposeful eyes. He abruptly leans down, kissing her nose, swiftly sucking the flower into his mouth.
"Ew! Dad! Not in front of the kid!"
The witch breaks away from the vampire, before he can feel the shudder vibrating through her. It could be his undoing. It could surely be hers. She is barely hanging on.
The hunger, desire, and dire need is a roaring requirement and ultimatum, at this point. It's been five extensive years without him...
"Now, this is the most important part of the recipe. Because once you've worked so hard on the a batter, you deserve a reward, so..." Bonnie purposefully rattles off, before breaking into the bag of chocolate chips.
"One for the batter; one for you." she places a candy into Gabriel's mouth. "One for the batter, none for you."
"Hey!"
"Oh, quit whining, you big baby..."
She flirts helplessly, feeding the pouting supernatural a chocolate treat, while savoring the previously stolen one in her mouth. She even gives him some "extra sugar" to appease, gripping his chin firmly, and kissing his cheek affectionately.
"Me too?"
"You too." the enchantress grins widely, kissing her son's cheek likewise, albeit less lingering.
"Hey!"
The hybrid licks his tongue out at his dismayed Father, who sputters indignantly at him, before finally conceding, ending the dramatics and ruffling his hair.
The mother happily smirks to herself, pouring the entire bag of chocolates into the mix, before finally focusing on the skillet. Griddle fired up and batter spooned onto it, the family subsequently watches the pancakes truly manifest.
As Damon and Bonnie flip the flapjacks, Gabriel gushes further detail on his exciting night, to the point where Damon is bristling with enthusiasm, and both he and Gabriel begging and declaring their return to training in the morning.
So Bonnie skillfully brings up the "leaning tower of pizza..."
'What?! There is pizza there! They probably sell it even at the churches over here!' the witch immediately defends, under the judgmental gaze of her vampire.
She skillfully ignores his scoff in her head, as she assists their eager hybrid in bravely turning over a couple of pancakes himself, before the blissful family time is unfortunately and abruptly cut short.
Blaine calls Gabriel into the other room to check out some "cool" movie he and the others have stumbled upon...
But it's okay.
In time they will create many many more moments...
Suddenly finding themselves alone, Bonnie having just returned from sending their son off to watch what appeared to be "How to Train Your Dragon," she stills in the doorway of the dining area.
Leaning into the archway, her gaze travels freely... taking in dark boots, form fitting Levi jeans, and a surprising brick red tank.
Damon looks absolutely ravishing. The gifted visualization of his tinged and muscular arms and chest cause Bonnie to lick her lips. Sharp jades zeroing in on the man, she shoots a mental arrow at his bulls eye.
Mine.
The blissful thought has been absently in the recesses of her mind, since her arrival to the suite...
At their sudden isolation it becomes much more prominent.
The witch bites into her bottom lip, head resting gently against the room frame, as she takes the beautiful creature in, with content tranquility. The mischievous, witty, sarcastic... confident, arrogant, caring... loving, protective, possessive, jealous, loyal, and headstrong man...
Mine.
Suddenly she recalls every argument, every smile, every laugh, every touch, every kiss, every deep conversation, every break up, every epic make up... every evil baddie they've taken down. Every trial they've overcome... she and this incorrigible thief who'd stolen her heart many years ago, and never conceived returning it.
The woman is moving behind him, within a matter of seconds. Wrapping her slender arms around his waist, and nuzzling her nose into his back, she inhales the familiar heady scent found therein.
The slumping of shoulders and harmonious exhalation at the embrace, is immediate and as second nature as breathing to the man.
Bonnie's arms separate slightly, moving vertically on him, until she is holding him yet even closer, hands half grasping cloth, and half, blissfully warm shoulders.
Damon hums, as she kisses the cotton covered area between his shoulder blades, heart concussing a mile a minute, as she merely clutches him to her.
'C'mon, Bon; what are you doing with this prick?' she abruptly remembers her first time hearing his voice after five long years... 'I can't stop, Bonnie. I can't stop pouring my heart out to you, any easier than I can stop loving you.' She can't seem to drown out the thought of him first declaring his continued love for her... 'Fuck Jackson. Just give us a chance. Give me a chance. I love you, Bonnie. Let me in; stop fighting me.' words uttered before one of the most sweltering kisses of her life.
She can't help recalling it all, melded to her blue eyed vampire...
Because it'd literally broke her heart to look at him. Every conversation threatened to have her in tears... She'd hated herself for continuing to care for him. She felt like dying, the way he split her heart in two.
And now... After all of the declarations... after all of the angst... after all of the crying – after everything! He is finally hers.
He is hers...
The paper is suddenly ripped from Bonnie's pocket, as she holds it proudly before Damon.
"This. I believe this is the single most beautiful letter you've ever written me."
"Don't even kid." comes his immediate low scoff, so beautiful and melodious to her ears. "I've written far more romantic than that..."
"But none as compassionate and selfless."
Their positions are switched within a supersonic eye blink.
"So you went to break things off with Jackass looking this delicious, when you know how it riles me?" strong arms wrap possessively around the woman's waist.
She can't help but lean back into their confining embrace, enjoying the feel of the rock hard chest and abs, as she scoffs. "Please, I picked out the most plain Jane thing in the store!"
"But there will never be anything plain Jane about you, Bonnie Bennett." the throaty whisper tickles her ear, causing her to shiver and close her eyes once more.
"Sweet talker..."
"You okay?"
The hand suddenly burning her cheek, coercing her gaze into open, honest, and concerned, entrancing blues, further illustrate the weight of the words.
"Mmm hmm." the witch bemusedly bites into her bottom lip, nodding honestly.
"You all mine now?"
"All yours."
A giddy smile breaks onto the vampire's face with the easy answer, as she turns fully in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck, heart skipping a beat at the sight of it.
'How will I ever live without him?!' the frenetic musing immobilizes her thought process, without warning. The question that'd ultimately answered the query endlessly plaguing her...
She could think about a life without Jackson. She could no longer contemplate living without Damon. She loved Jackson. She was helplessly, passionately, and irrevocably in love with Damon.
"Say it again."
"I'm all yours, Damon Salvatore."
The pink lipped smile morphs into a white toothed grin, at the utterance of his name.
"Ooh stepped it up a bit."
"Well, I had to, when you're going around acting like an adult or something!" the woman beams widely, kissing the man's chin. "You went to see Jackson? You let him hit you?"
"Prick didn't have to go telling everyone and their sister..."
"Aren't you just the cutest thing in the whole world?" Bonnie pinches Damon's cheeks at the sight of his eye roll, the deep frown upon his face, but most importantly, it's the slight rose tinge to his face, she can't resist.
"Hey!"
"Hey."
She smiles tenderly into him.
"That was really big of you, Damon. And I don't think I've ever been more proud."
"Really?" blue eyes glimmer with sudden, heartwarming hope.
"Really."
The witch finally allows her lips to fuse to the vampire's, sweet like fine wine, caressing like velvet, claiming with fervor.
Mine.
He passionately counterclaims, deepening their kiss, invading his tongue, although she happily accepts it. They take their time, slowly reacquainting... exploring... possessing...
Bonnie whimpers with need, moving her fingers into Damon's hair, bringing him closer to her. He growls, nipping lightly at her lips, hoisting her suddenly around his waist.
"Won't you two get a room?"
Not even the teasing words of Stefan Salvatore can drive the two beings apart.
"Plan on it, brother." the dark haired man, presses a sudden fiery kiss to the witch's neck.
"I believe there are a good 4 to 5 floors that separate us, Stef, and I'm still fearful you will hear my Bonnie."
"Later on tonight, right?... After you finish burning the pancakes."
"Oh my gosh!"
Author's Note: So sorry for the abrupt end! :'( However words cannot DESCRIBE how excited I am for the next chapter! I sincerely hope and pray you even semi-enjoyed this one! I plan to go back and re-read this entire work, correcting any inconsistencies in storytelling, and then, Lord's willing, posting the FINAL chapter, before the end of the summer! That is my prayer. Pray with me, please! :)
Thanks again for your continued interest in this story, and you love and support! God bless!
WORDS OF WISDOM: I've probably said this before, but it can NEVER be said enough! It is SO VERY important that we do not get stagnant and complacent with where we are in our life's journey.
A lot of us think we don't need church, we don't need to read the bible, we've got the Lord figured out and we know right from wrong! … WRONG! We need the Lord every second, every minute, every hour! More specifically, we need His word.
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalms 119:105
In the Bible lies the literal road map to this mystery called life. In the Bible are the tools to overcome each trial and tribulation that come to make us stronger! Within the bible we realize it is impossible, even for the Christian, to live a storm free life. But with his word, we can in fact live a storm PROOF life! "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." Proverbs 24:16
I'm sharing from experience, people! It's when things are going most good, that I often fall into temptation. :/ My flesh is too weak, and the lusts of this world too strong, for me to defeat them alone. I've got to stay prayed up and read up! Reading the bible from cover to cover, learning more about my loving and powerful creator, and what he requires of me! (I know there is SO MUCH he has planned for us all! We cannot begin to fathom!)
I encourage you all to do the same! Let's read the word MORE – DAILY, and get to know our incredible Father! After all, every kid should know his Father, right?! Gabriel agrees with me! ;) Thank you so much for reading this, and please, PLEASE be blessed! God love you, and God bless!
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Timothy 3:16-17