Chapter Eight
She sat on a fallen tree and watched Damon with the tent. Her eyes roamed over his body, watching his muscles moving under his skin smoothly and glancing over his shoulder he caught her watching him and his face broke out into a bright grin.
"Are you perving on me Mrs Salvatore" he chuckled, throwing the tent onto the floor, making his way over to her and she nodded up at him, smiling. "I think we have some crucial unfinished business, don't you" he wriggled his eyebrows and she copied him and taking a deep body shuddering breath he kissed her, pulling her down onto the grass with him. "I wish that we could take the cure now" he told her, brushing her hair away from her face as he stared down at her. "I can't wait to make love to you as a human"
Bonnie's heart started to beat faster and she became breathless again under his gaze. "I'm worried that it will take away my magic and we would get stuck here forever"
He nodded, watching her lips move. "I know" he pulled her on top of him and kissed her again, leaving them both breathless. "Still I cannot wait to be human again, with you" he froze, a fear gripping him tightly and he sat up and stared down at the grass.
"Damon what is wrong?" she sat up, her hand on his back, growing worried.
He shrugged, pulling out strands of grass before watching each one fall softly back onto the ground. "I'm ok" he smiled back at her over his shoulder.
"No" she spoke low, and he could hear her heart breaking for him and he hated himself for always causing her to feel his pain. "I can feel that something is bothering you" she pulled him round to face her, "Damon, please tell me. Don't block me out again"
"I'm worried in case you won't, like the human me" he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look on her face. "I don't know if the human me will be able to offer you the same things as the vampire me and what if you won't" she put her finger to his lips and he looked deeply into her eyes.
"I didn't fall in love with the vampire that is inside of you. I fell in love with you for you and not for what you are" her hand caressed his cheek and he listened intently to her soothing tone. "I love you as a vampire and I will love you as a human. I don't care if you are able to do things for me as a vampire that you can't as a human. I don't even care if you are not the same physically. Just as long as you will remain to be yourself, in here" she laid her hand on his chest and he smiled at her. "Then I will not want for anything"
He heard that she meant every single word and pulling her towards him he kissed her until he felt like he himself was about to pass out.
(new part)
"Climb onto my back" he told her for the tenth time and annoyingly she still shook her head at him. "It will be safer for you if you are on my back where I can keep you safe" he knew that his tone was whiny, but he didn't care.
"I can jump down into a hole on my own without screwing it up, thank you" she bit at him and he felt like grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder, but that would only annoy her and he didn't want to be a caveman with her.
"But there could be anything down there. Wood sticking up and I would never be able to live past that kind of pain if you died on me and I could have prevented it" he pleaded at her with his eyes and reluctantly she gave in and smiling he helped her up onto his back. "Thank you" he said just before he leapt down into the hole and landing softly on the balls of his feet he let her down. "Now that wasn't so bad was it?" he pulled out a flashlight and handed it to her.
"Caveman" she remarked as she took it and switched it on.
"Hey" he laughed at her, turning on his flashlight and following her deeper into the cave. "And I excused your pun"
He burst out laughing at his own joke and stopping abruptly she elbowed him in the stomach and he groaned, doubling over. "See, not as fragile as you wish to think I am" she giggled again and leaping to his feet he grabbed her and pushed her into the wall, pinning her there and she squealed.
"So you want to play rough, uh?"
Bonnie bit his lip, tasting his blood as she kissed him hard and crying out Damon bit her back and both their blood started to combine and tearing off each other's clothes they drank their own blood while he made love to her up against the cave wall.
Damon couldn't believe the feelings that flowed through his body right now. All he wanted to do was be closer to her, he wanted to reach parts of her that no one else ever could and he wanted to make the last time that they made love as vampires the best yet.
He felt his whole body shaking and holding her tightly to him he clutched at her as he felt himself exploding, losing his eyesight he closed his eyes and buried his face into the nape of her neck and kissed her.
"I love you" he breathed, feeling her body still shuddering against his own.
"I love you" she replied, breathless and pulling his head up he kissed her again with such ferocity that he feared he would kill them both.
(new part)
"Oh my god" he couldn't believe what he was seeing now and turning he looked at her before he flew across the cave and picking up the cure he stared down at it in his hand in shock. "I knew it was here, but now that I can see it for real" he turned and looked at her, a slow spreading across his face. "It makes it even more spectacular"
"Wanna go home?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows as she held her hand out for him.
Taking her hand in his he slipped the cure to her and curled her fingers around it before kissing the back and looking up at her with a smile. "I am more than ready to do this with you" Damon took her hand and smiling down at her. "There is no one else that I would ever rather be here with"
He heart lifted a little and she knew that he meant every word and she felt the same. There was no one in the world that she would rather be anywhere with, ever again. Closing her eyes she spoke the words that would lead them out of there.
"We made it" he scooped her up in his arms and swung her around the den. "Do you have it" she nodded, pulling out the cure. "Then destroy the key"
Bonnie went to the dying fire and threw it inside and with Damon at her side they both stood there and watched the key dissolve into nothing more than a lumpy metal mess. "Do I just drink it" she looked down at the small bottle in her hand.
"Yes" he whispered after kissing her on the shoulder. "Don't worry I won't let you fall" she seemed a little reluctant to drink it. "It is ok, Bon"
Bonnie tore open the cure and glanced at him standing behind her now. "Bottom's up" he grinned at her and watched her drink. "Not too bad is" her eyes fluttered closed and she fell back into his arms and carrying her up to his room, he laid her softly down on the bed, brushing her hair away from her face as he sat down by her side.
"I love you" he said to her still form, his heart breaking under his love for her.
Bonnie's eyes fluttered open and he leapt closer to her, clutching at her hand. "How do you feel?" he asked her, anxiously.
She pulled herself up into a sitting position with his help and she looked at him. "It is gone" she smiled at him, shaking her head before laughing again.
"And your magic?" he asked her, praying that it wasn't gone for fear that the one person he would never want too, hating him.
Bonnie looked at the closed curtains and pulled them open and Damon cried out in joy, throwing himself into her arms and smothering her in kisses. "You're back baby" he suddenly became serious. "Now my turn to kill the monster within" he winked at her and her face fell.
"Don't you want to wait a little bit first?"
He shook his head, stroking her cheek with the tips of his fingers. "You will be fine" he promised her and it was her turn to shake her head.
"I mean, don't you want to be a vampire a little bit longer"
Damon laughed lightly and shook his head. "I can't wait to be human with you"
Bonnie tilted her head to the side and closing his eyes Damon leant in and as gently as he could, he bit down and started to drink from her a little and raising his head he smiled at her one of his best smiles before passing out in her arms.
(new part)
"So, how do you really feel?" she asked him for the tenth time that hour and each time he kissed her softly and smiled.
"I'm great" he told her, lying next to her on the bed as night slowly started to draw in outside and he felt like nothing could break into his little cocoon with her. "I am a little blind and so deaf right now, but I feel like I could take on the whole world and win. Just as long as I have you by my side"
The bedroom door knocked and Bonnie sat up and smiling down at Damon lying in her lap she called out for them to come in. They both looked up and saw Stefan standing in the doorway and frowning he looked down at his brother and shook his head laughing.
"I can't believe that you have finally done it. But" he walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, grasping Damon's hand into his. "Welcome to the life of the living brother. How do you feel?"
Pulling himself up, he climbed off the bed and shook himself a little, twisting this way and that way. "I am a little achy, but so great" he started to dance a little around the bedroom and falling back against the tallboy he started to laugh whilst trying to get his breath back. "Now this is something that I am going to have to get used to. Man am I unfit"
Stefan and Bonnie started to laugh and picking up a pillow he hit his brother over the head with it before throwing it at Bonnie.
"And unhealthy" Bonnie laughed, looking at Stefan.
"Not to mention a drunk" Stefan added and they both burst out laughing.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, every funny" Damon said as he grabbed a shirt and pulled it on over his head and looking at Stefan he frowned. "Am I supposed to be craving blood?"
Stefan got to his feet. "It will take time for you to adjust mentally to the change. But it will pass in a few days. "Damon" he laughed, putting his hands on his arms and holding him there. "You have been a vampire for over a hundred and fifty years. You were ruthless and you drank from the vein as well as blood bags"
"Just say I drank people blood" Damon shook his head as he looked over at Bonnie still sitting on the bed and pulled a face to make her laugh.
"Yes, you drank from people, so it might take a little longer for you to accept the change emotionally" Stefan patted him arms. "But I wouldn't try and drink any if I were you"
Damon smiled and nodded at him, taking that as a challenge. "Oh you know me brother, will try anything once. Now" he said to him as he looked back down at Bonnie. "If you would excuse yourself, I am going to be busy with my wife again"
"That is all you have been doing since you woke up" Stefan laughed and shaking his head as he left the room and closed the door behind him.
"That is all I am going to be doing" he jumped on the bed and pulled his back a little and groaned. "That has never happened before" he laughed as he fell into her arms and kissed her.
Bonnie pushed him back a little. "This is the real world now Damon. One where we have to eat"
"Yeah" he said to her in surprise of not coming to that conclusion himself. "You need to eat now"
"We both need to eat now that you are human too" she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him lightly on the tip of his nose. "I'm going to have a shower. Alone" she finished when she saw his eyes light up. "You go and make some dinner, because I am starving"
Damon smiled before he got up and walked out of the room and attempted a run downstairs and gripping hold of the bannister he took a few breaths before walking down and looking at the cellar door he made his way down there.
"Let's see" he said to himself as he was stood in front of the fridge with a blood bag in his hands, his whole being craving the heady aroma.
Tearing into the bag with his teeth he cut his lip a little and winced. He had forgotten how small cuts could hurt so much, but braving it out he started to drink from the bag. He bent over and started to gag at the vile taste of it. He threw up the blood and looking down at it he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shook his head.
"I hate it when he's right" he said to himself as he grabbed a few paper towers from the holder and dropping to his knees he cleaned it up, knowing deep down that he would miss drinking blood and taking another's life force as his own, but he also knew that Bonnie was more than worth losing the biggest part of himself that he had loved for so long.
"Damon" he heard his name being called and looking up he saw Stefan standing there, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and laughing at him. "Don't say that I didn't warn you"
"What is it?" Damon asked him, the same annoyance at his brother still able to rise quickly and he thanked whoever for that.
"There is someone here to see you and I have to go out" Stefan made a move to leave and Damon leapt to his feet and tried to grab Stefan before he moved and being all clumsy now, he missed.
"Who is it" he called after Stefan's retreating back and turning he shrugged his shoulders and ran up the stairs, leaving a confused Damon standing there in his wake.
(new part)
Damon headed into the den and saw him standing there by the fire with his back to him. "Will?"
The tall man turned and smiled at him. "Well aren't you a sight for old eyes" he flew across the room and hugged Damon. "So how have you been keeping?"
Damon sat down and watched Will's every move. "Can't complain" he replied, looking towards the door to make sure that Bonnie didn't come in.
"Damon why are you freaking out by my being here" Will sat down on the edge of the table. "You seem like a cat walking over hot bricks"
Damon laughed lightly, shaking his head. "So what brings you here?"
Will felt a little offended by the question from one of his oldest friends. "I thought I would stay a while if that was ok with you"
Damon nodded, wishing that he wouldn't, but knowing he had no other choice; he had to agree to it. "You can't feed here"
Will's eyes opened wide and he chuckled deeply. "I'm a changed man. I don't feed from the vein any more. I have myself a human girlfriend now and I am on the straight and narrow again" he sat down on the sofa opposite Damon and grinned. "Remember when you and I fought to try and bust Katherine out of a tomb that she was never even in the first place"
"Great times" Damon mumbled, still looking at the door and Bonnie walked in with a bright smile before a second later it fell away as she spotted Will sitting there. "Will, this is my wife, Bonnie"
It was now will's face to drop in shock. "You got married and it wasn't to the doppelganger Elaine" he whistled low.
"Elena and yes" Damon took Bonnie's hand as she sat down next to him. "Will here and I used to be in the army together and he is staying here for a few days"
"Oh" she said in surprise. "Is he staying for dinner with us?"
Damon shook his head. "He is eating here, but I am taking you out to eat" getting to his feet he took her hand and pulled her up. "There are plenty of blood bags in the basement if you have gone veggie and if not, the woods behind the house have lots of vegan options" he smirked at him before leading Bonnie out of the house and opened his car door for her and climbing in he started the car and drove down the driveway and out onto the street. "This is bad" was all he said as they made their way to the restaurant. "Will doesn't come here unless he has an ulterior motive" pulling out his phone he called Stefan. "Whatever you do, don't let on to Will that you have taken the cure" he listened to Stefan. "He will want it for himself. So whatever you do, don't hang around him" ending the call Damon tapped his phone against his bottom lip, deep in thought and Bonnie sat next to him worried.
(new part)
"Just stop it" Bonnie almost yelled at him as she grabbed a hold of his hand, but quickly pulled it back and spoke gently and raising his eyes from spilling the salt onto the table cloth he shrugged at her gloomily. "What is so wrong about Will?"
"Where would you like me to start?" Damon looked back down at the salt on the table and traced patterns in it with the tip of his finger.
"From where you want too" she patted his hand that she now held and looking up at her he smiled a little.
"Will is or was I don't know anymore. I haven't really seen him since the late Nineties" he felt a twinge in his chest and his heart started to beat a little faster, his lips going a little numb, but he ignored it and carried on talking to her. "One of the most ruthless vampires that I have even known"
"Worse than you" she teased him, taking a sip from her wine glass.
"Worse than me at my worst" he told her and her mouth dropped a little. "We all served together. It was Will, Henry, George and I. But all that changed after we all went home and after I met and fell for Katherine, along with Stefan. But little did I know" he told her, shifting a little uneasy in his seat. "She had also met Will when she came to stay with us after the fake fire that had killed her entire family" he made little air quotes and she had to stifle a giggle that he had. "And little did we know, Stefan and me that she was also sleeping with him and feeding him her blood. And after father killed Stefan and I as we fought to free Katherine. Will took his own life and we then fought together to try and free the one woman who both loved"
"And then what?" she asked him and he shook his head and laughed at the same time.
"We turned against each other at every turn and the closer we were to freeing Katherine, the worse to each other we became. He even killed Joseph Salvatore in nineteen fifty three" she gasped and he nodded. "Stefan always blamed me for that one. Now I wouldn't take the" he stopped talking and shook his head again, knowing that he couldn't get away with what he once could. "It was around the time that Jasmine had been found dead and so, as you know Stefan, he always puts two and four together to try and reach five. He assumed that I was lashing out after yet another failed attempt at finding the real killer after I blamed Will and he fled back to New York" he finished finding it harder to breathe.
"Are you ok?" she mouthed at him just as the waiter arrived and he smiled at her, taking her hand into his.
"Never better" he lied smoothly and was glad that he could still lie to her, he didn't want her to know how freaked out he was starting to feel.
"Damon you seem to be getting a lot out of breath lately. You feel ok? And if you say, never better one more time, I'm going to clock you one" she warned him.
"Just a little out of breath" he told her honestly, still fighting to get his breathing back on control. "But I haven't been human since eighteen sixty four and it is going to take me a while to get used to having to remember to breathe"
"I think we should make an appointment at the doctors" she cringed inside over his reaction, but that was quickly replaced by shock when he nodded in agreement. "I mean, it is probably nothing. But we should still get you checked out"
"We'll make it tomorrow" he smiled across the table at her, wishing that they had eaten at home so he could ravish her instead of his steak. "And it will be nothing, probably asthma from all those cigars I used to smoke. No biggie" he reached across the table and cupped her hand in his own. "I promise you that I am going to be fine. Fine and dandy and never better" he winked at her, knowing that would drive her crazy and seeing her face he smiled a little more, knowing that he still had it.
"What if it is something more" she couldn't finish what she wanted to say and Damon slid his chair closer to hers, seeing her in pain caused his heart to beat too fast and he found his breaths coming little and far between again.
Damon brushed the hair away from her face with a little smile. "I will never leave you" he told her, his hands moving to cup her face. "I have waited all my life for you and I am never going anywhere" he kissed her. "I give you my word"
She smiled at him, holding onto his hand that was still holding her face. "I have an idea" she kissed him once before pulling away.
"And what idea might that be?" he asked her with a cheeky smile, hoping that she was about to say what he was thinking and have sex in the coat room.
"That we should lay flowers for Jasmine" she picked up her wine glass and took a sip, watching him for any kind of reaction that she had pulled a bad move.
His face fell into a frown and then brightened up again with a smile. "I think that is a great idea" he grabbed both of her hands in his. "Thank you" he kissed them, looking up and holding her gaze. "I don't know what I have done in my life to deserve you. But whatever it was I am grateful for it and I never want to lose you, no matter what" she stroked his face.
"I'm never going to leave you either" she promised him, and shaking his head he laid his face on her arm, closing his eyes and wishing he had realised his feelings for her a lot sooner than he had allowed himself too.
(new part)
It was a warm day as they both made their way through the cemetery and they each carried a bunch of flowers. Damon held her hand tightly and every few seconds he couldn't help but look at her, his insides on fire just from the sight of her at his side. He still couldn't believe that she was in love with him too. Or that she agreed to marry him.
He knew he had spent his vampire life as an arrogant, mean, twistedly evil jerk. But she still saw past all of that, every single bad trait he had thrown to the surface to keep people away. She had looked past it all and saw the real him underneath all that wit and humour he had used to protect himself. And he would always be grateful to her for saving his life. Even though he hated it. Now he was grateful that she had taken him from Mystic Falls and went with him to his grandparents home in Italy, or he would have died under the hands of Julian's back up dancers and for her, he would cherish that. Because he would never have had all those moments with her. And he would never have known the joy of being a human in love again.
"Why are you eye ball stalking me pervert" she teased him, bumping into him with her hip and he started to chuckle, bumping her back a little.
"I just can't believe that I am lucky enough to have you as my wife" he told her honestly and her eyes glistened over with tears again, and he would never be able to get over the way she looked at him. "And I don't know what you had done to be stick with me, but whatever it was, you were evil" his tone turned teasing and she started to giggle.
Pulling a face she looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. "I think I might have stepped on a snail at some point" she laughed and he bumped her with his hip again. "Nah just kidding" she pulled him to a stop and grabbing him around the waist she pulled him into her and kissed him long and hard, and he became breathless. Bonnie pulled away and looked up at him with a smile. "Whatever I did to have you in my life was one of the best things I could ever have. I love you and I will always be in love with you. So stop with the wit and just accept that you are a good person deep down and I'm the lucky one"
"No, I'm the lucky one" he pulled her closer again and kissed her and when they broke away Bonnie looked past him.
"Is that her?" she pointed to a white stone of a weeping angel and turning round he looked at it and nodded. "What a beautiful headstone" she smiled up at him as she took his hand and they walked towards the grave together.
Damon shook his head. "I have always thought it to be creepy" he admitted out loud for the first time ever.
"What. Why?" she asked him shocked now, looking from him to the kneeling angel. "How can an angel be creepy?" she had no idea what went through his head most of the time.
"When it rains it looks like the angel is crying" he told her and she nodded, biting her lip. "And that is just creepy"
Bonnie let his hand go and walked closer to the graveside and looked down at the inscription. "Here lays Jasmine Elizabeth Davison" she read to herself and felt her heart twist a little for the girl. "She was nineteen years old" her hand flew to her mouth and turning she looked at Damon in sympathy, but he simply shrugged and laid his flowers down and walked off towards the older part of the cemetery and she let him be alone. "Hello" she said as she crouched down, laying her flowers next to Damon's "I'm Bonnie" she touched the weeping face of the angel and smiled faintly. "I know he loved you, a lot. But I promise you that I am going to take great care of him. Because I love him too. Thank you for being in his life. You were special to him and I know he still hurts over your death. But I want you to know that he has found out who killed you and he has made him pay" she choked a little, a tear running down her face for both Damon and Jasmine. "I promise to take care of his heart for you" she stood up and turning she came face to face with Damon, who took her in his arms and held onto her tightly.
"You truly are amazing, do you know that" she shook her head against his chest and he held her while she cried against him, with him stroking her hair. "You are the most amazing woman that I have ever had in my long life and I can't wait to grow old with you" kissing the top of her head he lead her back to the car. "I love you"
Damon opened the car door for her and he felt a sudden twinge inside his chest and he pulled a face. "What is wrong?" she asked him panicking.
"Nothing is wrong" he lied to her with a smile. "I'm fine and dandy, remember" he closed the car door and made a move to walk around the car, but he stood still, his hand clutching at his chest as the world started to spin out on him and grow darker as little bright lights started to dance in front of his eyes and he fell to the floor.
"Damon" he heard her yelling from somewhere in the distance before the darkness swallowed him whole.
"Can I get an ambulance to the Mystic Falls cemetery" she spoke quickly down the phone, kneeling at Damon's side. "He just clutched at his chest and fell to the floor" she told them before hanging up and calling Stefan. "It is Damon" she sobbed into the phone when he answered. "We are at the cemetery by Jasmine's grave and he is just lying there. I think it is his heart"
(new part)
Sitting at his bedside she clutched at his hand, tears flowing down her face nonstop and she had never been so afraid of anything in her entire life. She looked across at Stefan's grave face and he caught her eye and shook his head, biting his lip.
"He is going to be ok" he said as he nodded at her, but he knew that it was more for his own benefit than it was for hers. "Damon is a fighter and he would never give up this easily. Not if it is for something that he really wants"
Bonnie opened her mouth to speak when the door opened and in walked a tall dark haired woman wearing a white doctor's coat.
"I'm doctor, Bronwyn Taylor" she smiled at them both. "You must be Bonnie and Stefan?" she moved around Bonnie and picked up Damon's file and scanned it with her eyes. "His stats are all back to normal and when he wakes up, you can take him home"
"What is wrong with him?" Bonnie asked and the doctor turned and frowned at them both.
"Didn't anyone come and tell you?" she asked them and they both shook their heads. "Damon has a congenital defect in the septum of his heart. Or more commonly known as a hole in the heart" she frowned as she picked up the file again and started to read. "Didn't you know that he had been born with the condition?" again they both shook their heads. "It seems that Damon had been born with a slight hole in his septum that separates the atria. And it should have closed up on its own and I have no idea why it hasn't been detected before now" she read more of his chart and tapping her pen against it she frowned at Bonnie. "And it appears that the hole has started to grow bigger and now his right atrium is lightly pressing down on his left"
"I don't understand" Bonnie looked across at Stefan for help.
"Damon was born with what we would call a secundum heart defect and it should have closed on its own. It is the more common condition. But now it has reached sinus venosus. The hole has now widened to the upper part of his atrial septum instead of remaining in the middle. Currently it is close to a large vein, the superior vena cava, which takes the oxygen-poor blood from the upper body to the right atrium. And that is why he has been getting more out of breath easily due to the left atrium pressing lightly on the right, stopping the flow of oxygen. But he will be fine" she took out a bottle of pills from her pocket and handed them to Bonnie. "He needs to take three four times a day while we wait for surgery"
"Surgery" Bonnie and Stefan both gasped, staring at each other before looking from Damon back to the doctor.
"With those pills he will be fine until we can fit him in. He needs to have open heart surgery to raise his chances at a normal life"
"Will he need a transplant?" Stefan asked her and she looked at him gravely.
"Only if we find more complications after opening him up" she put her hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't seem to be that bad at the moment. We just need to open him up and go inside to try and close up the hole in his septum. Your brother will be in good hands. If you have any more questions, I will be here to answer them" she looked down at her pager. "I will pop back in, in an hour to check on him" and with that she was gone, leaving Bonnie and Stefan staring at each other in shock.
(new part)
Doctor Taylor walked back into the room half an hour later. "There seems to be a little bit of a problem with Damon's paper work" she looked down at the forms in her hand and frowned. "It says here that Damon Giuseppe Salvatore was born on June eighteenth" she looked from Bonnie to Stefan. "Eighteen thirty nine"
"That is ludicrous" Bonnie gasped, not sure how to get out of this one. "Does he look a hundred and seventy seven years old" she shook her head and laughed lightly and looked over at Stefan for help, but he was sat there staring at the doctor, frozen to the spot.
There was a blur and both gasped out loud when they saw Caroline standing in front of the doctor. "I do believe you have his right date of birth written down there as June eighteenth nineteen ninety one. He is twenty four years old. Now leave" she told her and nodding the doctor walked back out of the room and closed the door softly behind her.
"Caroline" Stefan gasped when he saw her and turning slowly she looked at him sitting on the other side of Damon.
"Stefan" she looked thrilled, but there was remorse dropping in her tone. "How are you?" she sat down on the seat next to him, putting her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry I have been MIA since you arrived back from Italy. What with the twins and"
"Me becoming human again" he finished for her and she shook her head.
"No" she cried out in alarm. "I would never do that"
"But you could fall in love with Alaric" he muttered turning to look back at his brother still lying there on the hospital bed.
"You slept with Elena" she said angrily as she got to her feet and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
"I never did" he told Bonnie as she looked across at him in sympathy. "I only drank the cure from her and that was it"
She opened her mouth to speak when she heard Damon say her name and she leapt to her feet and threw her arms around him.
"You are awake" she cried out in joy as Stefan sprung to his feet on the other side of the bed.
"Where am I?" he asked as he looked around wide eyed and confused.
"You collapsed at the cemetery" Stefan told him, taking a hold of his hand.
"Why?" Damon asked them as he tried to sit up, but Bonnie wouldn't let him until a doctor came in and checked him over to make sure he was ok. "I'm fine" he croaked, his throat dry and she handed him a glass of water. "Can it be scotch" he asked raising his eyebrows at her and she shook her head, smiling that he seemed to be his usual self. "Worth a try" he chuckled before gasping for air again and holding up his hand to stop her from pressing the buzzer. "Just a little twinge" he promised her and she looked at him warily. "I give you my word, I'm ok" taking the glass from him she put it on the bedside table and threw herself back into his arms again.
"I thought I'd lost you" she cried into his chest, with him holding on tightly to her head.
"I told you, I'm not going anywhere"
(new part)
"I'm fine" Damon shouted at them both as they fussed over him walking into the house. "Just leave me alone" he went into the den and stood on the top step. "Don't follow me" he told them both over his shoulder and they both backed off and allowed him the space he needed to get his head around it all in his own way.
He was drinking a glass of scotch as Will came into the room and sat down on a chair next to the fire.
"Help yourself" Damon told him as he picked up the poker and nodding his head, Will poured himself a glass and leant on the edge of the table.
"Something is different about you" Will said, looking at Damon in confusion.
"Still the same old me" Damon finished poking the fire and stood up, trying not to wince to show Will how much pain he was in, he needed him to still think of him as his equal.
"No" Will stared at him. "There is something different about you"
Damon shook his head and started to laugh, despite the pain in his chest. "I think you might have had a little too much" he made a drinking motion and Will burst out laughing with him before it fell away to silence and Damon looked at Bonnie as she entered the den.
"You took the cure" he got to his feet quickly and put down his glass. "Didn't you?"
Damon nodded and shrugged at the same time, still feeling his cocky and powerful self. "So what if I did" he glared at him.
Will moved too fast for either Damon or Bonnie to be able to stop him and his teeth hit his neck and he started to drink deeply and Bonnie heard Damon crying out in a strangled scream.
Bonnie clutched at his mind, but Will just stood there and took it while he fervently continued to drink from Damon and she ran at him and threw herself onto his back. But he lashed out and elbowed her in the face and dropping to the floor she felt herself passing out.
"Sorry Damon, but I need it for" Will started to say before he dropped to the floor next to Damon just as Stefan walked in.
"He took the cure from Damon" she sobbed to him when Stefan helped her to sit up and with her heart breaking she crawled across the room and rolled Damon over onto his back. "Is he" she asked Stefan crouching at her side and he shook his head. "What do we do" she asked him as she pulled Damon's head up onto her lap. "What do we do?" she almost yelled when he didn't answer her.
"I don't know" he fell to his knees, his hand on her shoulder, staring past her at Damon lying there on her lap. "All he wanted was to be happy" he crumbled now, his whole soul felt like it was being torn from his body. "He just wanted to be loved in the same intense way that he loved"
"Stefan, I" they both turned and looked at Caroline standing just behind them. "Shall I call an ambulance" she flew across the room, her phone in her hand.
Climbing back to his feet, Stefan shook his head. "There is no point. Will took the cure from him"
"I'll feed him my blood" she tore into her wrist with her teeth, already knowing that it wouldn't do any good.
Stefan took her hand in his and shaking his head. "It wouldn't help him. The cure blocks any kind of magic from working"
Caroline looked down at Bonnie and Damon in front of the fire, her heart was breaking. "Klaus" she said suddenly, having an idea slam into her, almost knocking her for six and Stefan stared at her. "He is the original hybrid. So what if his blood can help save him"
"No" Stefan said. "Nothing helped Katherine"
"We didn't think of it then" Bonnie said to them both, her eyes never leaving Damon's pale face. "Help me get him into the car" she laid Damon's head gently down on the floor and climbed back to her feet.
"Why?" Stefan asked her stooping to pick Damon up.
"I'm taking him to New Orleans to see Klaus" and with that she walked out of the room with both Caroline and Stefan walking out behind her.
"Do you want me to come?" Stefan asked as she climbed into the driver's seat of Damon's Camaro.
"No" she shook her head. "I am going to have to do this one alone" and starting the car she said her goodbyes and drove away, leaving them both staring after her and glancing in her rear view mirror she saw Stefan fall into Caroline's arms, breaking down. "You need to remain strong" she told herself looking at her reflection in the mirror. "He needs you. They all do" pulling out of the driveway she took a left and glanced over her shoulder at Damon still unconscious in the back seat. "I will find a way to save you or die trying" she promised him and taking a deep breath she put her foot down and headed for the highway.
(new part)
Bonnie looked at Damon lying in the back seat, his eyes staring at her and he tried to open his mouth to speak to her but no words would come. He closed his eyes when they came to a stop and opening them again he saw her climb out of the car and leaning into the back she kissed him on the forehead.
"I will be back as soon as I can" he heard the promise in her tone before she closed the car door and looking up at the huge foreboding house she walked across the sidewalk and slipped down the side of the house and walking through the open gate she knocked at the door.
"Bonnie" Elijah said in surprise when he saw her standing on the doorstep and moving back he motioned for her to enter. "What can we do for you?"
"I need to see Klaus" she told him and he heard the urgency in her tone.
"He isn't here right now" Elijah told her leading her through into the sitting room. "But I can call him" she nodded as she sat down and he pulled out his phone.
(new part)
The cold night air was drawing in around him and he shivered a little. He wished that he wasn't so defected and that he could have lived a long and healthy life with Bonnie. But he knew that it was never going to be. He sifted a little on the back seat and tried to sit up but a pain hit his chest and struggling to breathe he fell back down and closed his eyes.
"No" he said to himself, hating himself even more than ever that he was going to have to break the one promise he never wanted to, and leave her. "Not yet" he pleaded to whoever would listen to his plight. "I am not ready to leave her just yet"
An agonising twinge took his breath away as a pain shot through his left arm, he clutched at his chest as tears sprung to his eyes. Everything was starting to turn blurry and gasping for air he clutched at his throat. Praying for time to say goodbye to her.
(new part)
"Then you will leave me no other choice than to take it from you" she screamed at him, wanting to punch him in the throat. "My husband is out there right now in his car, dying" she spat the words with such a force that even Elijah felt the backlash of them from the kitchen. "If I have to kill you myself for just a mouthful of your blood, then so be it" her hands formed tight fists at her side and Klaus laughed at her. "Don't push me" she snarled at him, her anger overtaking her again.
"And what makes you think that my blood is going to save his life" he asked her, filling up a glass with bourbon and took a long slow sip.
"I don't know" she folded and sat down on the edge of the couch, Klaus watching her tears start to fall and he pitied her. "But I have to at least try"
"What if it were you in her positon" Elijah walked in and looked across at his brother. "Imagine Camille was outside in the car, dying, and the only thing that could save her life was the most potent blood in the world"
"Then I would tear the whole world apart until I got it" Klaus replied, looking down at Bonnie and shaking his head he bit into his wrist and filled a clean glass and handed it to her. "Go" he told her as she got to her feet and with shaking hands she took the glass from him, staring at it. "You don't have a lot of time"
"Thank you" she called as she ran towards the door and stopping she turned round and gave them both a weak smile. "Thank you both" and with that she was out the door and running down the stairs and out onto the street. "Damon" she practically threw herself into the back seat and lifting his head up she held the glass to his mouth and he started to drink while she kissed the top of his head that she was now cradling in her arms.
"Bonnie I need to say something to you" his voice was low and she struggled to hear him properly.
"Tell me later" she pressed her face into the top of his head, crying silent tears.
"I need to tell you now" he started to cough and she was hoping he wouldn't cough up the blood he had just drank. "I need you to know this before I" he couldn't bring himself to say it, knowing that she was already breaking down as she held onto him ferociously. "I have loved you since that very first time that I saw you standing there at that cauldron outside the school at that Halloween party. Do you remember?" he asked her, looking up at her and she nodded against him. "I tried to take the crystal from you and you burnt me" he laughed a little and she laughed with him, her heart crushing inside her chest like someone was stepping on it with huge boots on.
"Is that crystal with a K" she tried to lighten the mood and he laughed a little more and she heard the pain buried within it and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, wanting to block out what she knew was coming. "But I was so hell bent on getting Katherine out of that tomb that I didn't allow myself to see you properly to realise. But you intrigued me" he found himself unable to breathe again and taking a few deep breaths he spoke through the pain that was stealing his life away from him. "But If I had to choose between living a hundred years without you or living just for a day with you" he clutched at her hand and started to cough again. "I would rather use my last breath to say I love you" Bonnie's eyes filled with tears and she couldn't bear to let him go. "I have lived for over a hundred and seventy years" he told her, his free hand reaching up to caress her face. "But these past few months have been the happiest of my entire existence. I don't want to die" he admitted to her, but he knew that he was as he was growing weaker by the second. "But I am ready too. I have your love and that is all that is important to me. Just remember that I love you and I will always be with you, in here" his hand touched her heart for just a second before his eyes went flat and he stilled and screaming she threw herself down on top of him in the back seat.
"I'm pregnant" she cried into him, shaking his still body with her own, wishing that she had gotten the chance to tell him before he died.
Looking up she saw Klaus standing outside the car, his face pale as he stared down at Damon lying in her arms and opening the door he helped her out and he pulled her into him and hugged her tightly.
"Let's get you both inside" he let her go and gently lifted Damon from the back seat and closed the door with his foot and walking back towards the compound with Bonnie on his heels, he let a single tear fall down his face.
"Can you make something for Bonnie?" he asked Freya as they climbed the stairs to the landing. "She is pregnant and in shock"
"Yeah" Freya took Bonnie's hand in her own as they both stood there and watched Klaus walking away with Damon. "He will be fine with Klaus" Freya promised her.
"He's dead" Bonnie spoke low, still not wanting to believe that he was herself.
"I know sweetheart" Freya said in soothing tones, squeezing her hand. "But let's get you something for the shock" Bonnie nodded and allowed her to lead her in the opposite direction, but she wanted nothing more than to be with Damon.