Thank you everyone once again for your support with this fic. Pressing on because I know what happens next is what everyone has on their minds…

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Damon struggled to get his bearings together watching security drag Tanner out of the front doors shouting how he would kill him. Stefan pushed through the crowd in the chaos following security out and Damon touched his face, which he was sure was swelling moment by moment. He looked at Bonnie who held the microphone in her hand for a few seconds staring down at him as her team members over to the side looked at her with wide eyes, Bonnie closed her eyes for a few moments and then turned back to the crowd with a smile, "Well…you can't ever say that Damon Salvatore is not a team player!" she plastered a wide smile on her face and forced a chuckle, "what you just witnessed is exactly what we just showed you…did you notice the wrath and lust all wrapped in one in that little dramatic performance! I want to thank that fantastic actor from the Mystic Falls Theater for giving us that great moment! And also…" she turned to Damon gesturing for him to come near her after he lifted himself from the floor, "and let's give it up to Damon Salvatore for taking a punch the way he did, I think he may have got clipped a little too hard…let's give him a few moments because I am pretty sure that Damon may just revel in a little bit of vanity," Bonnie winked as the crowd began to laugh and clap, "please…drink up and eat up! And welcome to Revel!" she added before turning off the mic as the crowd returned to normal all speaking excited about what they just witnessed.

Bonnie turned to Damon, "We're going to your office, Jane will bring some ice up," she whispered taking his hand as she led him up the stairs.

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"I will fucking kill him! Let me back in there!" Tanner fought against the three security men holding him back from the front door and pushing him towards the alley adjacent to Revel.

"You're not stepping foot in our place!" Stefan barreled over with his eyes blazing, "and if you come near my brother again, you won't get any more sucker punches in, we will beat you into the ground and you will end up in jail on top of it all!"

"Your brother slept with my mother! Took advantage of her! You think I'm going to let it go!" Tanner raged.

Stefan stared back at Tanner as he heard two sets of heels come outside behind him, Stefan's eyes narrowed, "Damon didn't take advantage of your mother, your mother almost got my brother killed because she couldn't accept the fact that he wanted to walk away from her. Here's a little information for you Tanner," Stefan snarled, "your mother manipulated my brother with false suicide attempts and when he walked away from her for good, do you know what she did?" Stefan moved closer to Tanner who was breathing heavily, "she called him, threatening to end her life, showing him how she planned to do it and when he raced to check on her something that you neglected to do…he was hit by a fucking SUV! My brother almost died because of your mother's manipulations and she's the problem, not my fucking brother! If you have a problem, go take it up with her and if you come around here again, you will regret it!" Stefan threatened.

"Damon was my best friend," Tanner replied dejectedly as he calmed down.

"And your mother should have remembered that!" Stefan spat out.

"Pathetic," Bianca moving from behind Stefan to glare at Tanner.

"Do you see that Damon was wrong, he was sleeping with my mom?" Tanner asked looking for anyone to understand his plight.

Bianca moved closer to Tanner as Stefan touched her arm lightly to stop her, "Stefan, Tanner is speaking to me…I am going to answer him," she replied sweetly.

Stefan held up his hands and backed away.

"I don't care what Damon did to your hoe ass, pathetic, borderline creepy mother," Bianca spat out, "…but you ruined my sister's night," Bianca hissed before balling up her fist and punching Tanner in the face, "and I don't appreciate that!"

Tanner's eyes blazed while he touched his face and looked back at Bianca as Stefan moved in front of her.

"Go home Tanner," a voice said from behind Bianca and Stefan.

"Ms. Lily…" Tanner croaked out looking over at Lily Salvatore standing in the alley.

"Go home," Lily repeated through her teeth, "now."

Tanner looked at the faces standing around him, "Damon slept with my mother, what am I supposed to do about that?"

"Get your mother some help," Stefan answered, "now get away from our place."

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Damon rested his head against the couch cushions as Bonnie held the ice pack against his bruised upper cheek, "Jane and Raj told me that the guests are buying that it was just an act, so that's good," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry," Damon replied softly.

Bonnie stared back at him for a few beats before speaking, "When was that picture taken, Damon…was it in New York?" she asked with uneasiness in her voice.

Damon placed his hand over hers sitting up, "No…no…it was from the last time me and Sabine were together, way before New York. I ignored her in New York. Bonnie, I was honest with you about me and Sabine, you trust me don't you?"

Bonnie sighed, "I trust you, but do you think she told Tanner to get back at you?"

Damon shook his head, "She wouldn't do that, she's too proud for that. He must've found out another way. I'm sorry Bonnie, I can't say that enough. He called me, Sabine even called me and I didn't return their calls…I thought I could talk to Tanner after the reopening."

Bonnie shook her head in disgust, "That woman…"

"Does…does this change anything between us?" Damon swallowed looking into her eyes.

She could see the anxiety in his eyes. Watching her boyfriend get punched in the face by his (former) best friend who happened to be the son of his ex-lover who happened to be the best friend of her boyfriend's mother was not something she expected to happen during one of the biggest nights of her career. However, Damon was honest about his relationship with Sabine, and she couldn't hold what happened against him. The honesty in their relationship was what they both held onto through it all and it was what brought them together.

Bonnie cracked a smile, "You told me about what happened with Sabine, you didn't hide it from me, and I fell in love with you in spite your passing fancy for women old enough to be your mother."

"One woman," Damon held up a finger correcting her.

"Right, but no…it doesn't change anything…I still love you as much I did before the craziness downstairs," Bonnie leaning over kissing him on the lips.

"Thank you," Damon mumbled against her lips, "I love you too."

A throat cleared from the doorway causing them to turn their attention to Lily Salvatore standing in the doorway wearing a tight smile, "Bonnie, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think I need to have a conversation with my son," Lily stared directly at Damon.

Bonnie looked at Damon, who's eyes appeared more fearful than she ever witnessed. He, in return, grabbed her hand tightly, "Damon, let me go," she whispered looking down at him.

Lily looked at the death grip that Damon had on Bonnie's hand, "Oh Damon, please let Bonnie go. She should go downstairs and celebrate how she managed to recover the evening rather successfully, I might add. Everyone is raving about the exciting dramatic performance from earlier, let her go Damon…besides I'm your mother," Lily plastered a smile on her face that Damon hadn't seen since he was young boy who had a tantrum in a clothing story.

He reluctantly let Bonnie's hand go and she sent him a sympathetic smile as she made a hasty retreat out of the office closing the door behind her.

Lily looked at the closed door for a few beats, "She's brilliant, she turned what could have been a literal disaster into one of the most successful and probably most talked about nights this city's seen in ages," Lily stated standing in front of Damon with her arms folded.

"She's definitely amazing among other things," Damon mumbled.

He and his mother stared at each other for a few moments more before Lily spoke in an even tone, "How long?" she asked simply.

"Mother, we don't have to talk about this…I really don't want to talk about," Damon grimaced touching his cheek.

"You don't have a choice, my son," Lily chillingly smiled, "so how long were you having a sexual relationship with Sabine? I want to know when she made a move on you and want to know when it ended and I want to know exactly what happened the night you were hit by that SUV and put in a coma for a week and don't you dare leave anything out about that particular night," Lily stated.

Damon took a deep breath—he wondered if Tanner was still around to hit him harder to render him unconscious.

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Bonnie walked away from Damon's office door taking in the guests below who were happily drinking and dining on the food being passed around. Damon's mother was right, it seemed like after what occurred between Damon and Tanner dissipated, the party continued in full swing.

She softly touched her chest as she felt her heartbeat return to a normal pace.

For several terrifying seconds when Tanner first came near the stairs, she momentarily thought that he would do more than punch Damon. She even surprised herself with how quickly she was able to recover from her stunned state.

"You ok?" Stefan asked coming up next to her looking down at the crowd.

"Yes," Bonnie nodded, "your brother may not be, he's in there speaking to your mother."

"How about we go downstairs in case she starts screaming," Stefan smirked taking Bonnie's hand, "and I think you need a few shots."

"How about a hundred," Bonnie chuckled as Stefan led her down the stairs.

Within two minutes, Stefan was opening his office door to Bianca sitting at his desk with her hand in an ice bucket, a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey in front of her and three shot glasses. "What happened to you!" Bonnie asked gesturing towards Bianca's hand in the ice bucket.

"Well your sister has quite the punch, I think that Tanner will have a blacker eye than Damon tomorrow," Stefan remarked.

Bonnie's eyes widened, "You punched Tanner because he hit Damon?"

Bianca scoffed, "No, if Damon slept with his mother…that's nasty. I punched him because this was your night and his little display of white-on-white crime almost ruined it…plus, he seems like an asshole," she shrugged.

"Sissy…" Bonnie shook her head.

"And please tell me that Grams is not your competition where your boyfriend is concerned," Bianca rolled her eyes.

"Stefan…give her a shot," Bonnie said.

Stefan laughed as he poured three shots, "Well…the Bennett sisters definitely proved tonight that they are not to be underestimated," Stefan held up his shot glass filled with brown liquid.

"Never ever," Bonnie winked at Bianca as they clinked their glasses and swallowed the shots.

"Oh and Bon, if Damon brought you that very expensive necklace around your neck…he better get you some earrings to match after tonight," Bianca stated as she motioned for Stefan to pour another shot.

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If there was ever a moment that Damon wanted to be swallowed up into a hole in the floor was the moment, he began to tell his mother how her best friend kissed him in her penthouse and they fell into bed together repeatedly. Then it would be followed by the moment, he told his mother that her best friend sent him numerous pictures of pills and alcohol and he raced to her apartment only to get hit by a SUV.

When he finished speaking Lily just stared back at him with eyes that he couldn't read. After a few moments of silence, she cleared her throat, "Well…that was quite a recap," she replied quietly.

"I'm sorry for all of this. I never wanted you to know about this because its…"

"It's very upsetting," she replied, "she sat by your hospital bedside for days while you were in the coma, when you were out of it—she sat with me and held my hand. She cried with me when she knew the entire…the entire time how and why it all happened," she shook her head in disgust before standing up from her place on the couch.

"It's as much my fault as Sabine's…"

Lily cut her eyes at him immediately causing him to shut his mouth, "She knew you since you were a child, Damon. It makes me sick," Lily raised her voice slightly and then brought it back down, "tonight was a success for you and your brother," she reached out and touched his non-bruised cheek, "I want you to revel in that. I should be getting home," she replied.

"I'm sorry…"

Lily smiled at him, "Oh no Damon, you shouldn't be sorry," she said in a voice that sent a chill down Damon's spine.

"Knock, knock…I wanted to make sure that you didn't kill him and if you did, I would help hide the body," Stefan opened the door with a sly smile on his face.

Lily smiled warmly, "I was just telling Damon that I need to go home, it's been a long night."

"I will call a driver for you," Damon said walking over to his office phone.

"Thank you and you two should thank Bonnie for a successful evening," Lily replied.

"I definitely will," Stefan answered.

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Bonnie joined Elena and Caroline on the couches after Bianca decided she had enough of Stefan's office, "That was a show," Caroline grinned, "I thought it was real at first!"

"Actors," Bianca shrugged.

"Is Damon ok?" Elena asked, "that punch looked pretty serious."

"He will have some swelling and bruising, but he will be ok."

"Good," Elena nodded.

"Bonnie!" Caroline gasped focusing on the necklace around Bonnie's neck, "where did you get that?"

Bonnie touched the necklace for a few moments, "Damon gave it to me as a thank you."

"That's from Tiffany's," Caroline gaped as she moved closer to Bonnie.

"Calm down Caroline, my sister deserves all the fine jewelry after tonight, she pulled off a great rebranding and party," Bianca wrapped her arm around Bonnie's shoulder.

"You totally did Bonnie, so are you going to get a chance to enjoy tonight?" Elena asked.

"My team members are already on the dance floor, so I guess I should go out there too," Bonnie pulled Bianca on the dance floor along with Elena and Caroline following.

DBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

After making sure Lily was safely in a car on her way home, Stefan came back to Damon's office to Damon pouring bourbon in a glass, "Want a glass?" Damon asked.

"Oh no, I had about 4 shots with Bonnie and Bianca downstairs."

"Ah," Damon nodded in understanding before downing his glass.

Stefan took a deep breath, "That was something downstairs, wasn't it?"

Damon nodded while downing another shot, "Oh it definitely was, I apologize for that."

Stefan waved it away, "Tanner is the one who should apologize, and the guests really do believe that it was part of the presentation. I spoke with VJ and he is tearing his team a new one for allowing Tanner in the lounge in that condition."

Damon plopped down on the couch rubbing his eyes, "The picture Tanner showed, it had to be the last time me and Sabine were together. That was Sabine's phone, Tanner is too much of an techy person to have that phone."

"You think she showed it to him?" Stefan asked.

Damon shook his head, "I don't know what she would do. A part of me thinks no, but who really knows with her?" he shrugged.

"Ok, so what did Mother say when you told her…did you tell her everything?" Stefan grimaced.

"I told her much more than I would ever want to tell my mother. She didn't say much, but I could see the quiet fury. She seems to blame Sabine completely," Damon replied.

Stefan nodded, "She should."

"Stefan, I'm a grown man. I made the decision to fall into bed with Sabine and continue it for months. Yes, what happened with the accident—she did contribute to it, but I have responsibility in this and I should have told Tanner."

"All that is true, but I don't think Mother sees it that way. Sabine is…or was her best friend. She sees you as her son. I know she's angry. She told Tanner to go home outside and her voice was quite lethal when she said it. He immediately left."

Damon chuckled, "Not surprised."

Stefan stood up from his chair, "So we need to address the guests, so are you up for it? They will probably give you a standing ovation because they are in awe of the way you took that punch…very committed."

Damon laughed, "I am so glad my misfortune can be used to our benefit, but I'm ready."

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Sure enough as soon as Damon and Stefan reached the bottom of the stairs, the remaining guests did began to applaud as Damon laughed while they whistled at him, "Well…well…thank you," Damon replied taking the microphone at Raj as Bonnie moved towards the front along with Elena, Bianca and who he assumed was Caroline from her blond hair, "you really shouldn't give me applause, but I will accept it," he bowed as the crowd laughed, "but honestly, I want to thank you all for sharing in this evening with myself and my brother. Now, Stefan would like to say a few words."

Stefan took the microphone from Damon and looked out at the crowd, "We came together a couple of years ago with an idea to transform the nightlife of Mystic Falls. Salvatore REI made a name for itself over the last couple of years, greater than our father could have ever imagined. Revel was the brainchild of myself and Damon and we have definitely transformed our idea into a place where people can come unwind after the day's trials and tribulations begin to fade away. Like our esteemed PR expert Bonnie Bennett stated earlier, we want you to revel in enjoying yourselves while you are here. We thank you and we hope that you can join us during our opening of our new lounge next week…you will all receive invitations very shortly," Stefan smiled as Damon took the microphone.

"I just want to say one last thing before we wrap up this evening and you go back to enjoying the night…I want to thank the associates from Jay and Jones for all the work they put in to pull this night together. Jane and Raj…" Damon gestured towards them on the dance floor, "were always available when we Salvatores had a question or a concern, needed reassurance or had an idea," Jane and Raj grinned and waved, "and then there is Bonnie Bennett, she is a PR exec extraordinaire!" Damon focused on the petite woman in front of him smiling warmly, "most of what you experienced tonight was due to her creativity that is completely unmatched. Trust me, if you ever need a public relations expert or need to make your business memorable or magical, please remember Bonnie Bennett," he winked at her as she brought her hands to her mouth in embarrassment with a blush, "so with that said. Thank you everyone for coming and please continue to eat our food and drink our booze, because after tonight…it will cost you!" he grinned as the crowd applauded and laughed.

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After most of the guest had filtered out, Damon sat at the bar sipping his drink as Bonnie met with Raj and Jane tying up loose ends with the media. "Soooo…old ladies get you going huh?" Bianca saddled up next to him with a sardonic smile.

Damon chuckled, "No, petite brown skinned women do," he looked over at her.

Bianca rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, "You're lucky Bonnie told me that those pictures were old or you would be sporting a bruise on the other side of that alabaster face," she replied taking a sip of the martini Alaric set in front of her.

"I can assure you that the photo was taken way before Bonnie and I decided to have a relationship. I told her about that ah…event."

"Good," she turned fully to face Damon and he met her eyes, "my sister is the best person I know in this world, Damon. She deserves everything good in this world and if you can give it to her and you are committed to giving it to her, then I approve," Bianca replied, "continue to show my sister your worthiness every day and we will be the besttest friends, but if you don't…I will have you murdered. You know our Gram is a witch, right?"

Damon's eyes widened, "Oh trust me Bianca, I know. I never want to get on your bad side…or Bonnie's or your Gram's."

"Because you love her?" Bianca asked with a raised eyebrow.

Damon laughed, "I definitely love her, but I think you already know that."

Bianca sipped her martini, "I had to push you along to realize it, but nevertheless it worked."

"Eventually it did," Damon agreed.

"But you should also show your love with your money. After tonight, she deserves matching earrings to match that very, very expensive necklace."

"Matching earrings huh?" Damon raised an eyebrow.

Bianca stared back at him unflinching, " ."

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After the guests left for the evening and the lounge was officially closed, Bianca, Elena and Stefan headed out for late night drinks at a bar near the lounge and Bonnie decided it was time for Damon to go home, take some pain killers and relax after the night's events.

As soon as they entered the house, Sandy trotted over immediately pawing Damon's pants, "I will take her out…you take two painkillers and take a shower, then I will join you…"

"In the shower?" Damon smirked.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as she bent down leashing Sandy, "Sure, in the shower," she replied before heading out the front door with Sandy.

Damon smiled for a few moments thinking just how lucky he was to have Bonnie and after all this time, she looked at him the way she did—with so much love and trust. He turned to head up the stairs as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Removing it slowly, he saw Sabine's name come up. Ignoring her calls before is what got him into the mess earlier that evening, so he touched the green button, "You have two minutes," he answered.

"Damon! I tried to call you numerous times!" Sabine said breathlessly, "Tanner saw the pictures on my phone and…"

"How did he just so happen to see pictures that I had no idea existed? I know they're from the last time we were together, when I told you that it was completely over. I noticed the scar on my chest from almost dying after one of your manipulations. You took pictures of me while I was sleeping. You're sick!" Damon snarled.

Sabine whimpered, "Damon, I would never show Tanner those pictures. I would never do that. He was updating my phone, you know how he is very adamant about that and he must have looked through my pictures…I don't know Damon, but I didn't tell him. He tore out of here before I could even explain."

"The pictures should have never existed!" Damon roared, "do you know what happened? He came into my lounge during our reopening party and made a scene! So many people watched as your son punched me in the face. Everyone was there, Sabine! My mother was there."

He heard Sabine take a breath, "Lily knows…"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Yes, she knows. After your son came marching in like I deflowered some virgin, she asked me tell her everything and I did—I left some things out of course, but she knows about the relationship."

"Damon…"

"Save it. The relationship with you was a mistake. I made a mistake. I almost ruined my life…hell I almost died because of it. I've dealt with the consequences of my mistake and now you need to deal with yours!" Damon ended the call and promptly blocked Sabine's number before throwing his phone on the couch and heading up the stairs.

Damon tore into his bedroom, ripping his tie off throwing it on the floor. He quickly removed his clothes dropping them on the floor and stalked into the bathroom staring into the mirror at his bruised cheek which started to turn purple. Bringing his two fingers to his cheek, he grimaced and hissed as he touched the swollen skin.

Grabbing two pills from the medicine cabinet, he quickly swallowed them with water and turned to his shower turning on the water allowing steam to build up. Stepping onto the tiled shower floor, he allowed the water to cascade over his body as he closed his eyes hoping that the water at the very least would aid in allowing the events of the night to leave his body. He ran his hand through his hair as he stood with his hand against the slick shower wall.

He stood there for a few moments before the glass door of the shower opened, bringing a gust of cold air in. Within moments he felt Bonnie's arms wrap around him with her hands resting on his chest. Slowly he placed his hands over hers before turning around to face her. She smiled at him and he felt his lips slowly morphing into a smile to mirror hers. Raising his hand, he softly caressed the right side of her face. "Thank you for loving me," he whispered.

"Of course," she whispered back before he touched her chin softly tilting her head up so that he could seize her lips into a kiss. Bonnie wrapped her arms tighter around his body as he moved closer to her backing her into the wall of the shower under the other showerhead drenching her hair while water flowed over her body. Bending down, he placed his arms under her legs and hoisted her against the wall, giving her the ability to wrap her legs around his waist allowing him to slowly slide inside of her causing her to gasp while his lips found their way to her neck. The evening had not progressed exactly the way Damon envisioned it, but the ending was all he could have hoped for.

Well there are some loose ends...in the next chapter, Tanner and Damon have an honest conversation and there's another surprising development. Oh and what exactly will happen to Sabine now…

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