Damon met Lexi outside of Stefan's hospital room. "Did anything change?" Damon asked as he looked in on his brother.
"No," Lexi said. "Where's Bonnie?"
"Kathrine got her drunk. They're both past out at my place," he said.
Lexi let out a frustrated groan. "So what are we going to do?"
"I took care of it. Qetsiyah is going to help him," he said just as the witch appeared.
"I hope you pulled me out of bed for a good reason," she said walking toward Lexi and Damon.
Damon spent the better half or the next two hours giving Qetsiyah the rundown of their situation. He was sure he broke a million rules by telling her he, Lexi, Bonnie, and Stefan weren't supposed to be in their universe. He left out as much as he could about her creating the other side and making Bonnie the anchor, but she seemed well versed in how all of that would work. She was working on something mixing medicine and herbs. "So in this other world were you're really from you and Bonnie hate each other?" Qetsiyah questioned with a smirk.
They were in the kitchen of the hospital after Damon compelled the staff out. Lexi was keeping watch on Stefan who was conscious after Qetsiyah's spell. It hadn't healed him completely. "Yeah I'm actually the one with Elena," he laughed.
"So you say," Qetsiyah was skeptical of his story, with reason. He sounded crazy. "I've seen how you looked at Bonnie before you came here and you love her."
"And you think she loves me," he laughed.
"Not every answer is as clear as the first, but it doesn't make it wrong," she smiled at him.
"Well it's not real. Here that's what you guys expect from us so that's who we are around you," he smiled.
"Seems like you're not trying to convince me," she said turning back to the boiling pot before her.
"I don't think I'm in love with Bonnie," he said with a wince at the lie that left his lips. Qetsiyah merely snorted laughed and poured her potion into a container. "Look things are complicated. We were both in love with other people. We couldn't stand one another, and then we died together. The next thing I know there's a two year old screaming in my ear, and Bonnie's confessing her love for me, and I kissed her. That was so stupid," he yelled at himself.
"Did it feel stupid when it happened?" Qetsiyah said walking towards the door.
"No," Damon confessed his voice barely above a whisper. "But I just don't know if it was really me, it was instinct."
"Then it must have been you," Qetsiyah said as they walked into the elevator. "Instincts are one of those things you can always trust. There our way of doing what we feel without worrying about why we feel it."
"I guess," Damon said as they walked to Stefan's room.
Caroline paced the floor. Everything was falling apart. Stefan was missing and it just didn't feel right. Yeah he had spent the better half of the last few months in solitude, but he came home. He was also renewing his interest in finding Bonnie and Damon. Caroline searched the boarding house again. Stefan had to be home. She looked down at her phone as it buzzed in her hand. She became annoyed when it wasn't Stefan. "What do you want Enzo, I'm kinda busy at the moment."
"Well I'm sure you're going to want to come and see what I've found, well who I found."
"Stefan," she said and raced out of the house to the car. All she could think about on her way to meet Enzo were how many ways she could call Stefan a dumbass. "I'm going to kill you Stefan Salvatore," she yelled. She speed at vampire speed through the woods to where Enzo was. "Where is he?" she asked once she slowed.
"Look he," Enzo said as she noticed the pile of ash and soot in front of him.
"No," she whispered. "No Enzo. No! That's not," she started but her voice cracked as she started to cry.
Enzo grabbed her and hugged her. "I found this in a bottle cap," he said giving her Stefan's ring.
"No he can't be gone," she said as Elena and Alaric appeared.
"What is she talking about?" Elena asked.
"Stefan was on the roof of the clock-tower in city hall this morning without his ring on," Enzo said filling her and Alaric in.
"No he wouldn't do that. We were going to bring Damon and Bonnie back," she yelled.
"Elena he didn't think there was a way to bring them back," Alaric confessed. "He couldn't move on."
"No, I need him. We need him," she cried.
"It's going to be okay," Ric said as he held her.
"How can you say that? They're gone. They're all gone," she said falling to the ground and sobbing.
The sun came shining through Bonnie's window burning her skin. Though her eyes where still closed it was blinding her still. Bonnie tried to turn around but he was trapped in two strong arms. Soon they pulled her in close and fear moved through her. She felt him nuzzle her hair, his hard chest against her back, and his little friend stabbing her butt cheek.
"Damon," Bonnie said in a whisper.
"Yes Bonnie," he groaned.
"Why are you in my bed?" Bonnie asked.
"Really?"
"Yeah," she said turning to face him.
"You and Katherine drink all my bourbon and two bottles of wine," he said looking into her eyes. They were still a little red.
"That explains why my head is pounding, but not why you too it upon yourself to crawl into my bed," she stressed.
"You told me you loved me, and I kissed you. I wanted to be the first thing you saw when you woke up to remind you that we have a lot to talk about," he said sitting up.
"I thought you were dying," she said. "I just didn't want to be alone."
"You have Lexi, Shelia, and Sarah," he pointed out.
"I just"-
"Love me," He smiled at her.
"I don't this conversation is over," she said getting out of her bed and walking to the door.
Damon got up and cut her off, "I love you too you know," he said causing her to stop. "I felt it the second I saw you and Sarah at the party. You were talking to your Grams and I felt this twinge in the pit of my stomach. You were pissed at me and I just wanted to be close to you. For you to say anything to me, but you refused to glance in my direction."
She hadn't realized it until she felt his hands slide down her arms. I wanted to touch you," he said whispering in her ear. "I told myself that they weren't my feelings, but they were. I always wanted you to care about me, because you cared about everyone. The town, strangers. Hell there was a time you were concerned about Rebekah. I just. I knew you hated me, I knew I deserved it, but I just. I wanted to make up for it."
"Damon I-Elena," she said turning to face him.
"Is somewhere alive because of you, and I'm here because of you," he placed a hand on her cheek. "I love you," he confessed. "The real me, loves you."
Bonnie reached up and kissed Damon. "Damon," Stefan said walking in. "Bonnie-I…I didn't see anything," Stefan said.
"How did you get here?" Bonnie panicked.
"It's a long story," he said.
"What are you doing here?" Damon asked.
"Shelia's downstairs with Sarah. She wants to talk to you guys."
"Why do I feel like I'm about to get put on punishment," Damon asked.
"Oh you'll wish that's all she's going to do," Bonnie laughed.
"Great," Damon said leading them out the door.
