A/N: Well, here it is folks, the final chapter in the A Kiss Goodnight saga. Thank you for your patience as I reloaded the chapters, made special edits, and all that good stuff. I know I promised a sequel to this, and hopefully it'll get written one day. Until then…enjoy! And thank you so much for the continued support! Love you!
Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW (except my OC's). No copyright infringement is intended.
There were no words adequate enough in the English language or in any language in the world that could come remotely close to explaining how euphoric Bonnie was right now. She nearly choked on her toothpaste from her giggles as she attempted to ready for bed but would find herself gazing like a fiend at her engagement ring.
She couldn't help but feel as if she were living on an astral plane in between dimensions because this type of stuff only happened to people in movies and on television. She wasn't supposed to fall madly in love with a sworn enemy, and she certainly wasn't supposed to get engaged at the tender age of eighteen.
Bonnie had reassured her father before he went home that she would have a long engagement; that he wouldn't need to head over to Men's Warehouse to buy a tux for nuptials taking place in three months. Bonnie had always been a practical person. There were still goals and things she wanted to conquer and cross off her list before getting married. She didn't think she'd have the patience to go all four years of college being engaged to Stefan, but she at least wanted to get a year or two of college experience under her belt before tackling on the challenges involved with being a wife.
She spat out her toothpaste and laughed again.
"I don't think that rock is going anywhere if you don't look at it every two seconds," Damon reprimanded as he leaned against the threshold.
Bonnie snapped her head to stare at him drolly and then rinsed her mouth. "Hater," she muttered and wiped the excess toothpaste away from the corners of her mouth.
Damon shook his head. "I'm not hating. I'm actually here to officially welcome you to the Salvatore family. Lord knows it needs some new blood."
Bonnie grinned and then found herself wrapped up in Damon's arms hugging him back. It felt surreal that in another year or so he'd be her brother.
The world tilted uncomfortably for a moment.
"Get off my fiancé, dude," Stefan entered into the suddenly crowded bathroom. But Damon shifted blocking Stefan from reaching Bonnie who began laughing.
"You two are ridiculous," she said and slipped out of Damon's arms and walked back over to the sink to finish her nightly routine.
Stefan grabbed a towel off the rack and began snapping it at Damon's legs who hopped out of the way.
"I get it," Damon said while holding up his hands in surrender. "I know when I'm not wanted," he winked at Bonnie. "Again, welcome to the family."
Bonnie inclined her head. "Thank you."
Once he vacated the room, Stefan closed the door to the bathroom and then hugged Bonnie from the back and kissed her cheek.
"Tell me now if you're having second thoughts."
She stared at his reflection in the mirror. "Why would I have any regrets about agreeing to marry you? It's probably one of the smartest decisions I've made all year."
"No, the smartest decision you've ever made was letting me in your house last September."
Bonnie smiled. "From sexual enslavement to marriage, who would have thought it would be possible."
A smug look overcame his face. "That's just the power of my dick."
Bonnie elbowed his midsection. "Can you do something about that mouth?"
Stefan bent his legs as he began to drop to his knees. "I can," he wiggled his eyebrows. However, Bonnie frowned at him. Stefan sighed and stood to his feet again.
"I have to know…if I had said no back then, would you really have slaughtered my neighbors?"
Stefan rested his chin on top of her shoulder. "Maybe…I was awfully bored that night."
Bonnie could do nothing but shake her head. "In all seriousness, Stefan, why did you sleep with me?"
He balked for a second. "Apparently you haven't seen you naked."
Bonnie reached backwards and popped him on the back of the head. "I'm not talking about that, dum-dum, what I want to know is…why did you even want to take things there with me? I seriously didn't think I was your type—at all."
Stefan sighed and turned Bonnie until she faced him. "Even after all this time I still have to explain this one fundamental reason to you…you are the reason I wanted to be with you that first night and every night that followed thereafter. I remember your face on the first day I enrolled at Mystic Falls High, and from that day I knew exactly what you were even if you weren't fully aware of it. You were beautiful to me then and you're extraordinarily beautiful to me now. And I've lived long enough to know who I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with."
A corner of her Cupid's bow lips lifted in a smirk and wordlessly they kissed one another, deepening it, and pulling away when Bonnie needed to breathe. She rested her head on his chest.
"You can be a hot mess sometimes, Stefan, but I love you and I can't wait to be your wife."
"And I can't wait for you to use my last name. Here let's practice. Bonnie Salvatore. Has a nice ring to it."
Bonnie held up her left hand and grinned. "It certainly does. But I have to question, why a rose gold band?"
"So it can match your grandmother's necklace."
Bonnie's jaw dropped in astonishment that he would remember that her favorite piece of jewelry was her Grams' rose gold wreath necklace.
Without warning, Stefan's mouth was being invaded by small pink lips and an urgent tongue. He chuckled before kissing Bonnie with as much power as she was using. This he certainly would never get tired of. Her love for him.
The next morning
A black town car pulled up outside of the boardinghouse. Stefan armed with Bonnie's bags dumped everything on the brick pathway and shook hands with the driver who began to load the trunk. His future wifey came out of the house with Caroline and Elena flanking her. Damon followed the procession outside squinting against the brightness of the morning sun.
"Call me as soon as you land in Switzerland. I don't care what time it is, call me," Caroline said and leaned in for a hug.
When she pulled away she had to wipe the tears away from her face. "And you better not do something incredibly selfish like elope," Caroline threatened and then brought her cornflower blue eyes over to Stefan. "Because if I find out that you've talked my girl into eloping I will take great pleasure in dismembering you."
Stefan snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother," he said sarcastically.
Elena kind of pushed Caroline aside so she could get her last hug in. "I know you're coming back in six weeks but I don't know why I feel like I'm never going to see you again."
"You will," Bonnie promised.
The two girls smiled at one another and tried their hardest to fight the incoming onslaught of tears and snot.
"But who knows," Elena went on to say. "Jeremy is considering finishing school out in Denver."
Bonnie's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Really? When did he decide that?"
Elena shrugged and looked uncomfortable for a minute. "Sometime ago, but I think last night probably hammered the decision, which actually I think a change of scenery would be good for him. And," the brunette began to beam, "if he goes then I can transfer to another school. NC State isn't that far from Duke."
Inwardly Stefan groaned. The last thing he wanted was Mystic Falls to follow him and Bonnie to North Carolina. He could see it now in his mind that he and Bonnie would be forced to settle in some gated suburban community and Caroline would insist they all live in the same cul-de-sac and have barbeques every single weekend. He'd never have a moment of peace.
"Elena that would be great!" The girls hugged again.
Damon caught his brother's eye and snickered.
"As wonderful as that all sounds," Stefan interrupted their 90210 moment, "Bonnie and I have an international flight to catch," he reached in between the girls for Bonnie's hand and began to pull her towards the waiting car.
Everyone began talking simultaneously making declarations and promises to remain in touch over the summer break. Damon and Stefan inclined their heads towards one another. They weren't big on brotherly PDA.
Bonnie waved and then slid into the car, but then Caroline approached and detained Stefan.
"Oh, I have a favor to ask you," she said. "Can I drive the Maserati?"
And of course he stared at Caroline as if he wanted to say "Are you out of your fucking mind? That's a two-hundred thousand dollar car."
But Caroline interrupted his "no" as if they were playing double dutch. "I promise not to crash it, get a scratch on it, and I'll wash it. Please? It would be criminal to let it sit in the garage and collect dust."
Well, she did have a point but that car…it's just a car he thought and could always get another one if she wrecked it.
Stefan relented. "Fine. The keys are in the kitchen."
Caroline beamed and then spontaneously leaned over and quickly pecked his cheek. Bemused, Stefan slipped his aviator shades on, threw up the deuces sign and folded neatly into the town car.
The driver pulled away and Bonnie and Stefan entwined their hands.
"That was really nice of you," she complimented and nibbled on his neck.
He grinned devilishly. "How nice?"
"Really, really nice," her hand began to travel down the center of his chest prompting Stefan to raise the partition that separated the driver from staring in the backseat. He then turned and captured Bonnie's lips.
The driver snorted as he heard giggles and zippers being lowered. "Horn dogs," he muttered and merged on the highway.
Somewhere off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
Navy blue eyes stared out into the calm crystalline waters. For weeks he had done nothing but move from place to place trying to understand the new life he was now apart of. As much as he enjoyed learning about his family there was the side of him that felt he was still missing a vital piece of himself.
Raphael didn't acknowledge the person joining him on the patio. There was only one person with him in this large seaside villa. After spending months alone with Klaus he could honestly say he was tired of looking at his face.
Funny considering he was his twin.
Klaus, slipping on imported wine saddled up to his despondent looking twin, snorted unsympathetically before staring out into the water.
"Something the matter?' he asked and took a sip.
"Do you actually care?"
Klaus cocked a shoulder in the air. "Assuming I'm the elder between us it would be within my right to look after the welfare of my siblings."
Raphael finally brought his eyes over to his brother, his blood red lips curled into a sarcastic grin. "Is that a long-winded way of saying 'no'."
Klaus laughed and clapped Raphael on the shoulder. "Tell me what troubles you."
Raphael looked away. It seemed hypocritical of Klaus to sprout how much his family meant to him yet they still remained locked away in coffins with daggers sticking out of their chests. Repeatedly he had asked Klaus when he would wake the rest of their family, and his answer had always been the same: they needed time to acclimate to one another before bringing in the rest of the battalion.
But Raphael had always been a shrewd person and he knew the real reason why Klaus was avoiding waking up the rest of their siblings: fear.
More than likely they'd all attempt to kill him or hurt him because of the way he treated them for centuries. And Raphael wouldn't lift a finger to intervene. Klaus would deserve whatever treatment he'd get from their siblings because come on who does that? Lock their loved one away and tote them around like corpses?
But unfortunately other than Klaus' mindless hybrids Raphael's social circle was severely lacking.
"I was thinking about love actually," Raphael finally admitted.
Klaus rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, "Jesus."
Raphael heard him anyways and as a result his lips flattened into a thin line. "I want her for myself. She has so much passion and her loyalty knows no bounds."
Klaus began to lean against the stone railing just like his brother. "You still fancy yourself in love with the witch and you've known her for a total of a few hours. I should warn you, mate, that climbing Mount Everest without hands or feet would be much less complicated than trying to get Bonnie to love you."
Raphael chuckled.
Klaus continued. "I told you that she is still very much in love with Stefan. Your little trick to dissolve their relationship backfired. She's a vengeful person in the making, that one. I'd watch my back if I were you."
"You think I care anything about that? You've loved a woman haven't you?"
Klaus' jaw began to tick as he thought of the only woman he ever loved and the ruthless way she was taken from him.
"So you can understand my plight. I've given her enough time to be with that lesser vampire. She needs someone like me in her life."
Klaus snorted and finished the rest of his wine. "Are you seriously going to complain about this for the next fifty years? You do realize she's human and will die one day?"
Raphael held up his wrist. "And I have the means to extend her life. All I need is opportunity. And you have to help me."
"Why? Why should I have to do anything you tell or ask of me?" Klaus demanded straightening to his full height. Raphael matched his defensive pose.
"You don't have a choice, Niklaus. For all the things you've taken from others, in one night I can clean out your lot of hybrids or simply place my head in a guillotine and it'd be over for the both of us. Or I can wake up our brothers and sister and tell them who really killed our mother. I'm sure that'll be fun times for you."
Klaus glared at him.
Raphael laid his hands on his brother's shoulders. "You help me with this and I will find the means to unbind our lives. I'll disappear and never bother you again. The decision is yours."
Klaus would be a world-class idiot if he passed up the opportunity to gain his freedom back, to be his own person again. For months he denied the reason why he walked on eggshells whenever he had to deal with Raphael because with one wrong move, Raphael might do something spiteful and end the both of them. Klaus couldn't be compelled so he could only explain feeling how he was presently feeling to compulsion. And it sucked!
If it meant breaking up a happy couple for his neurotic twin brother all to gain his freedom, there were worse things out there he could do to obtain it. But Klaus genuinely liked Bonnie and even had a soft spot for Stefan in his heart—what was left of it anyways—but Klaus loved himself more and that would never change.
Klaus reluctantly dug in his back pocket for his phone. "I want your word that the minute you get Bonnie to have you, that you undo whatever you had done that's tied our fates together."
"You have it," Raphael stretched out his hand. Klaus looked carefully into his eyes before extending his and the two shook on it.
"All right," Klaus said and punched in the familiar numbers. "Let's go get your girl, but we'll need reinforcements." He held the device up to his ear and waited for the line to be connected. Once it did and he heard the soft feminine voice, Klaus smiled. "Abby, how are you, love? We need to talk."
The end.
A/N: Once again, thank you for reading this story and taking this Stefonnie journey with me. Much love and appreciation. You guys are awesome! Love you!