Chapter #6 – We don't have friends, we have family

Back at the house, Damon still damp from the shower, is sitting on the couch, sipping on a second bourbon, the first one went down in a single gulp. Bonnie walks into the room, she sits next to him and grabs his arm, wraps it around her. Enzo appears. Bonnie says "I miss you." Enzo responds "Love, someday we will be together, and my arms will be around you. I must say, as much as I appreciate that you are able to see and talk to me. Having Damon's arms around you, no matter how much of a mate of mine he is, isn't my favorite thing." Damon responds "I get it, no offence, I'd rather have someone a little taller, and a button nose. If we are talking preferences, that is." Damon looked down and winked at Bonnie, then squeezed her a bit tighter. Bonnie looked up "Hey, what's wrong with my nose?"

Bonnie and Enzo continued to talk, while Damon's mind wondered. His thoughts were going places that he needed to talk to Demetrius and now. Damon looks down at Bonnie. Her eyes are full of such a mixture of love and pain. Could he change that? He had to try, she was his best friend, he loved her with a loyalty that only his brother had pulled out of him. Bonnie Bennett had put her life in danger for him how many times, countless. He turned to her, "Bonnie, I have to go for a minute, I'm so sorry, I'll be right back. Enzo, stay with her, please, don't leave her, don't follow me." Damon gets up and yells "STEFAN.. STEFAN" Stefan comes running down the stairs, putting a gray t-shirt on, fresh from the shower, "What is going on? What's wrong?"

Damon, "We need to talk to Demetrius, now. I want to drive back to the temple, Man Cave. We need to go back now." Damon swallows the rest of his Bourbon, "You have to drive, I'm two doubles in, here are the keys." Throwing the keys to Stefan "Damon, Care and I are heading to bed. Can we do this in the morning?"

Damon "No, It's about an idea for Bonnie and Enzo. I want to bring Enzo back." Stefan grabs a jacket from the coat rack and follows Damon out the front door, Damon shuts the car door before Stefan is even in the car. Stefan "What are you talking about? Enzo? You want to bring Enzo back?" Damon "Yes, Let's go?"

Damon fills Stefan in on his idea as they make their way back to the "magical man cave". Less than 10 minutes later, Stefan is opening the car door as Damon is yelling "Demetrius, Grandpa… Hey Grandpa… Ancient Dad…. Come on.. I need to talk to you"

Stefan reminds, "Damon, you really aren't impressing anyone right now. Maybe trying adding tactic with a little less sarcasm." Stefan gives it a try "Demetrius, Sir, my brother and I have a few questions about our magical abilities that need a bit of clarification. We would appreciate a few words of your guidance."

Damon rolls his eyes "Yes, Please Obi One" Stefan punches Damon's shoulder sending Damon into the rock wall. Damon stumbles upright, rubbing his arm "Hey, what did you do that for?" Stefan "You are being a dick. If we have a real shot at bringing Enzo back, we need to know. Damon, if there is a chance. For Bonnie… Damon…Bonnie.. I have to know" Damon bows his head, he knows exactly what Stefan is thinking, Stefan is the one who killed Enzo, who took Enzo away from Bonnie.

An hour later, Damon debates "It wasn't supposed to happen, it was Cade influencing Stefan.. Bad evil Ripper Stefan, we are talking about taking magic that is already in existence, we aren't creating new magic, just transferring to another source. We have his blood, Bennett blood and nature's magic, based on everything you've said, it should work. Demetrius, it should work, we have all the elements, all the ingredients, please tell me something we don't have, something that says it will not work. Bonnie has sacrificed everything for us, all of us, for so many years. Her Grandmother, her mother became a vampire, she died more times than I can count, and Enzo, she lost Enzo because of us. If we can bring him back to her, we have to try."

Demetrius "I honestly, don't know for sure. I do know that if you do this, it will send Enzo soul to peace, it will close the dimension that she has made, Enzo will not be able to reside there and he will be forced to move on. That means that Bonnie will not be able to connect him any longer, even with her magics."

The ride back the boarding house was quiet, neither one of the brothers wanted to speak their thoughts, not the doubts or the hopes. The sound of the car engine is all that is heard as they pull into the garage until Stefan says "We have to let her know, she is the one that has to decide. Damon, it has to be her decision."

Damon doesn't speak until they reach the kitchen "I know it has to be Bonnie's choice. I have to be the one to talk to her. I will explain everything in the morning." Damon paused "Speaking of in the morning, it will be a good idea to keep my sister in law occupied a bit later, maybe a little sleeping in or not sleeping but completely occupied so that her vampire hearing is not tuned in, if you get my meaning, brother." Damon fluttered his eyebrows at Stefan, who rolled his eyes back at his brother. Stefan "Yes, Brother, I get your meaning. I don't need any encouragement to give you some extra time with Bonnie. I'm fully capable of entertaining my wife just because I want to and without doing you a favor. However, since we are still on our honeymoon. And tomorrow mornings agenda has already been discussed. You may be in luck to have a vampire hearing free morning." Stefan left the car with a devilish grin, he realized that all of the jealousy over Damon's lustful actions with Elena were so unfounded. Stefan actually laughed out loud, his big brother was just setting the example of what real love was going to be like. As Stefan passed Damon, he slapped Damon's shoulder "Thanks Big Brother, you are an inspiration." Damon turned to watch Stefan walk into the house, wondering what the hell his brother was talking about.

Damon doesn't follow Stefan to the stairwell, he heads to the living room. The fireplace has calmed, he adds a few logs to the ambers. He lets his mind wander, he looks at the wall alongside the mantle, he lays his hand on the very place he and Elena were started seducing each other for the first time. He smiled as he played the conversation back in his head, she told him that she wanted to dance with him. Elena always told him that she made the first move, Damon countered that he was the one that pulled her in for the kiss that was the first move. As he stood there with his hand on the very stop that she pushed him against and tore his shirt open, he smiled with a smirk, yes, she was right, she made the first move. She seduced him, sired or not, Elena Gilbert made the first move on Damon Salvatore. He would finally admit that to her, it would take a bite out of his mega lover ego, he supposed it could take it since she was the last lover he ever looked at the vaulted ceiling, she was just upstairs in their bed, he reminded himself. It wasn't completely her yet, he thought, she wasn't there, not yet. He didn't know what to do. He longed to go upstairs, just to lie next to her body, he couldn't connect to her mind anymore, it was the one thing that he missed not being a vampire. It was the thing he dreaded the most about being next to her, it was the reason why he wasn't climbing those stairs two at a time right this second. If he lay next to her now, she would be lifeless, cold, no thoughts or dreams to be part of.

A memory of Elena came into his mind before she took the cure, they were on their way back from vampire-proof'ing the Grove Hill B&B with Stef, and locking him and Caroline in it for the next few days. With Lily in Mystic Falls, Damon wanted Elena to himself for just one day, one 24 hour period. He closed the car door "We need a night off, Stefan is tucked away with Care, they are safe and secure. Care is going to be out for at least 36 hours with all the vervain and how much we bled her. Stefan is going to keep an eye on her. We need a night. Just you and me."

Elena started to protest "Damon, there is so much going on. Lily…" Damon takes her hand "You and me, we need a night." Elena "One night, you and your blue eyes, do you always get want you want from me?" Damon's voice lowers and he adds a bit of devilish southern accent charm to his tone "Here's hoping!"

Elena "So Mr. Salvatore, what did you have in mind?" Damon starts the Camaro's engine, "Well, Ms. Gilbert, many many things that aren't for the faint of heart, shall we start with dinner, a romantic human style" He drives to a quiet Bistro in the town square. Damon "Stay put" he gets out of the car, walks to her side, opens the door and extends his hand. Elena takes his hand and stands "I see, we are doing this 1880's style." Damon "Gentlemen's manners are never out of style no matter what the decade is." Damon wraps her arm around his, and leads her into the restaurant.

The hostess greets them "Welcome, do you have reservations?" Damon "Yes, Salvatore, Mr & Mrs Salvatore" Elena looks at Damon. Damon doesn't even flinch when he says 'it', she notices, Elena knows that Damon loves her, the way he talks about their life never has an 'if' involved, it is always 'we' or 'us'. The hostess checks her book, looks up at Damon "Yes, sir, right this way, Mr & Mrs Salvatore, we have your table ready, just as you requested." Elena "Damon" Damon patted Elena's hand and followed the hostess. He held Elena's seat, and slid it slightly as she sat down, he went to his seat, the hostess offered the menus, Damon spoke to the hostess "Thank you". Elena watching Damon with just a bit of erotic glaze "This is lovely. We haven't had a dinner like this in a very long time. Damon, we are completely underdressed for this restaurant."

Damon is distracted for a moment staring at Elena, she has that look in her eye, he matches it with a raised eyebrow "Our money will pay the bill just as well as any of the other patrons. Don't worry about it, you look amazing and beautiful. I always prefer you without clothes." Elena shakes her head. "You are encouragable." The server arrives at the table "Good evening, My name is Edgar, I will be your server this evening. May I interest you in a selection from our wine list this evening?" Damon "Good evening, Edgar, we will have a bottle of 85 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon" Edgar looked twice at Damon "Of course, Sir, a fine choice". Elena "That must have been a good year." Damon answers "One of the best for Cabernet during this century. Only the best for my girl." Elena "I've been demoted, just a few minutes ago, I was the wife, now I'm just the girl." Damon "You are my everything!" Elena puts her hand on the table, Damon takes it "I like 'everything' the best." Edgar returns with the wine, pours a taste for Damon, who performs the ritual of a sommelier to perfection, he nods his head, the server pours into Elena's glass and then Damon's glass.

Edgar is a middle-aged gentleman with dark brown hair and gray-blue eyes, he was dressed in snow white shirt with black half apron, with perfect posture, "Madam, what may the kitchen prepare for your enjoyment this evening?" has he addressed Elena, Damon wasn't sure if it was amazing customer service or flirting, he turned up his vamp hearing just to be on the safe side. Elena answered, "I'll have the broiled artichoke to start, followed by the Lobster bisque and then the Pork Chop for the main, please." Edgar, the server bows his head to the madam "The Chef suggests the pork chop be prepared to a medium, will this be acceptable madam?" Elena "Yes, Edgar, I would prefer to enjoy the meal as intended by the chef."

Elena flashes Edgar a smile that would melt the polar caps, Damon frowns. The server now turns to Damon, and sees the frown on his face, Edgar immediately straightens his posture, "What can the kitchen prepare for Mistre's enjoyment?" Damon wanted to say 'your head on a plate for flirting with my girl' sensing that Elena was staring him down, he chose to keep her calm "I will have the steamed mussels to start, let's also have escargot, and for the main porterhouse rare." Edgar was nervous, "fine choice, sir. I will get the kitchen started on this immediately." Elena took over "Thank you, Edgar." The server bowed and left with haste.

Elena "Damon, knock it off. You are going to give poor Edgar a heart attack." Damon "Serves him right for flirting with a married woman." Elena "There is no one married here, sir." Damon "According to the reservation, you are."

Elena "Ok, Mr. Salvatore, explain to me what this is all about, why are we pretending to be in wedded bliss? What is going through your that spider wedded mind of yours? What are you trying to figure out? Please don't tell me 'nothing' we have had a long hard day. Everything that went on with getting Stefan back, locking up Caroline, I'm too tired to play what is going on in Damon's brain game. You know I love you. Let's talk about it. Please" Damon knows that she will not stop until he talks, so much for a peaceful romantic dinner date. He takes a different approach, "I admit, I have something on my mind. I will also admit that I need to talk to you about it. Can we make a deal about dinner first?" Elena is intrigued "Deal?" Damon sensing he is on the right track "You let me wine and dine you with romance, with the goal of mind-blowing sex at the end of the evening. I agree to fill you in on all the insecure mind-numbing stupid thoughts that are running around in my brain tomorrow morning over coffee." He ends the sentence with an arched eyebrow and flashes her his famous eye sparkle that she can't resist.

Elena knows he has her wrapped around his finger at this point, yes, she should not compromise, getting Damon to talk about his feelings is never an easy task. Getting him to admit that he is having some that are insecure, well that is a Fourth of July Fireworks show. She is willing to wait until the morning for this conversation. She considers her response carefully, "I will only agree to this if you start talking after our first cup of coffee, and while you are cooking breakfast. No emergency, supernatural or otherwise gets in the way, period, Damon NO exceptions. Those are the terms." Damon smiles, he knows exactly how to respond "You are going be really good at the wifey thing. You have yourself a deal. Can I romance you now?" There really wasn't a dance floor, the restaurant only had a few tables were filled with eating guests, none of them were around them, the background music that was playing would do just perfectly. Damon stood up "Mrs. Salvatore, dance with me." He reached for her hand. Elena looked into his eyes and put her hand in his, she stood up and moved into his arms.

Dinner was amazing. The ride back to the boarding house was quiet, Elena sat close to Damon, she laid her head on his shoulder, he reached around her waist and pulled her close so that he could whisper into her ear, "You are my life, my everything, I don't think of my life without you in it." Elena tilts her head to look at his face, she knows he's talking about his worries, those pesky insecure thoughts, "I love you, but I don't deserve you, that is what you told me once when I was sleeping." Damon doesn't look at her, his eyes stay on the road, "You remember that?"

Elena answered, "No, Bonnie told me. You told her, she told me." They arrived at the Boarding House, Damon got out of the car, he held his hand out, Elena took it, "What else did Bon tell you, that I said, while you were sleeping?" Elena continued "She told me, things got really rough for you, you gave up for a short time, but you found your way back, and after that, you changed, a light switch was permanently on. You never gave up after that. She thought that you had figured out something. She told me, she didn't ask you. But one night you both were drinking, you said something about our 20 year wedding anniversary party. Bonnie being Bonnie put 2 & 2 together. She realized that you figured out that all of us plus Mystic Falls having a life, living was what I would expect when I woke up. I would want to meet my nieces and nephews, Bonnie's kids, Matt's kids, everyone would have to be happy and living. So you focused on getting Mystic Falls back, saving Stefan, keeping Bonnie safe. You let everyone see the Damon that you always let me see." They were now inside the Boarding House, Damon was pouring a Bourbon, "Do you want one?" Elena shook her head no. Damon continued "So she told you all that, I'm going to have a talk with Bon about BFF sharing."

Damon took a big swig of the amber liquid courage, he was in this deep, there was no going back now, "As a vampire forever has meaning, for a human forever is 70 or 80 years until someone dies. You haven't been a vampire for long enough to understand what forever really means. You haven't lived through lifetimes watched generations come and go. I have. When I say 'You are my everything'. It means everything forever, for the rest of time. I just don't know that you understand what or how to comprehend or process that. I don't even know if it is right for me to think about you in that way or talk to you about our relationship like that. It might not be fair to you. I love you so much, I have to do right by you."

Elena recognizes this Damon, she isn't going to let this Damon back in, with a voice that is strong and demanding, "You are concerned that I can't understand what a commitment to you means, what forever means to a vampire because I can only comprehend words by human definitions. You have a point. I haven't lived to see my friends or family grow old and die, I've also lost most of my family in death. I don't know what the future brings Damon. I know that I loved you once, I thought you died, I had Alaric compel my love for you away, all my good memories of you, every single thing that made me love you so that I could move on. I know that you came back, within a moment of you coming back, I was compelling my boyfriend to forget me, and helping you find a way to bring Bonnie back. I couldn't stay away from you. I fell in love with you all over again, not just once, but twice in one lifetime. What does that mean Damon? Elena Gilbert falls in love with Damon Salvatore twice in one lifetime despite being set up for failure, despite Stefan, and being compelled to hate you. I don't know about fate or soul mates. I know that in this lifetime, the next or the next 5000 lifetimes, I will fall in love with you during each one of them. You think what you want, you work through your doubts, you go ahead and figure out your internal hang-ups, I've dealt with all of them before, Bonnie has told me that much. I know this fact, vampire or human or spirit Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore will always find their way to each other. You do what you have to do. I have all the time left in eternity to fight for us, to wait for you to figure out what my heart has known since we met. So you Damon Salvatore can sit here and wrestle with all the self-doubts you want to. I'm going to go upstairs to OUR bedroom, get undressed, and wait for you in OUR bed. You can join me when you finally figure out that I'm always going to be our bed waiting for you to trust and know that we are unbreakable forever."

Damon's mind comes back to the present, he is back in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house, staring at the vaulted ceiling. Elena is upstairs, in their bed, exactly where he should be waiting for her to wake up, because "they are unbreakable". Damon goes to the staircase and climbs the stairs two at a time.

The morning came early for Damon. He woke up next to Elena, rolled over and kissed her. He got in the shower and told her what he was up to for the rest of the day. He knew she wasn't going to answer back, there was something comforting about sharing his thoughts with her body, even if her mind couldn't respond. He felt she could hear him for some reason. He finished dressing, gave her a quick kiss goodbye and headed downstairs. He needed to get ready to talk with Bonnie, this wasn't a discussion he was looking forward to having, he was hoping a kitchen that smelled of freshly brewed coffee and crackling bacon would set the right mood.

An hour later, the kitchen swing door starts to move, Bonnie takes a deep breath, "Looks like you've been up for a while, what's on your mind, my friend?" She stares at Damon as she grabs the cup of coffee that is in his extended hand.

Damon stares directly into Bonnie's eyes, "We need to talk" He takes Bonnie into his arms, and Enzo appears. Damon starts to tell them, his idea. "Bonnie, you have dedicated your life so many times for all of us. This is a chance, a slim chance that you can be the one that gets what you want, what you need to be happy. This should not have happened to Enzo. He wasn't supposed to die. Cade caused it, un-natural magic caused Stefan to do it. We think that it can be undone. We think we can bring back Enzo, but as we know there are always consequences with magic. To do it, we can't create new magic, it has to be magic that already exists. When we wake up Elena, all that magic can be transferred somewhere, when we unblock Stefan's magic, that is a 2000 year old spell that we have to transfer, that is a lot of magic that can go somewhere. We have Bennett blood and in your locket, we have Enzo's blood." Damon points to her neck. Bonnie instinctually raises her hand to protect it.

Damon continues, "Stef and I talked to Demetrius, we asked about whether or not we could harness the magic that kept the Gaia's Magic locked for all these centuries, could we use the element magic during the awakening process to collect and redirect all that magic. His answer was yes, all that magic did not have to return to its source. A combo of Bennett and nature's magic to collect Kai's Gemini magic, the outgoing magic and transfer it to Enzo's bones with the combination of bloods to bring him back. We wouldn't be creating new magic, we would be harnessing old magic and repurposing it."

Damon pauses "Bonnie, Now the bad news, if it doesn't work, part of the spell will also close the dimension that you created for Enzo. Enzo soul will not be able to stay there, he will have to move on. If it doesn't work, you will never be able to connect with him again. Bonnie, if this doesn't work, you will not be able to see or talk to him like this again. This connection will be gone forever."

Enzo reaches for her cheek, his spirit hand caresses, she hears his voice say "Love, we have to try. You know I believe that regardless of what may happen, one day we will be together forever. Perhaps today starts forever, perhaps not. Our forever may start when you join me when you have lived this life to its fullest. Living this life to its fullest means taking risks, love, this is a risk worth taking."

Bonnie doesn't move her eyes from Enzo's, she lifts her hands to her necklace and nods 'yes' as she pulls off the chain from her neck. Damon tightens his grip on her shoulders, "We have a lot of work to do, to make this happen, Bon. We are going to make this work." He heard the entire conversation, he knows the emotional heartbreak that they are risking. He was there, Bonnie just handed him her lifeline to Enzo, to seeing him, talking to him, feeling his presences for the next 60 or 70 years, until they met again. He was just there with Elena, he felt all those same emotions, he kissed the top of her head and whispered, making sure to use her high school nickname, "Hey Judgy, we know all the witchy loopholes now. I promise you aren't going to wait for 60 or 70 years. We are going to get him back NOW, I promise."

Bonnie looked up at him, thinking 'did Damon really just read my mind? He isn't a vampire anymore.'