Here's a little something for when Bonnie saved herself and finally returned back to Mystic Falls.

Unbelievably Disappointing

Boarding House Kitchen

She was making pancakes, not because she actually liked them, but because of what they represented.

Damon walked in wearing a suit, "Bonnie?"

"The one and only."

He opened his arms wide and she ran to him and jumped into the safety that they provided. He hugged her to him and picked her up and spun her around slightly.

"How?"

"I found the atlas, with the notes by the island in Nova Scotia. I drove there, I flew for part of it, remind me to tell you about that experience. Then I took command of a boat and made my way until I found it. Let me tell you, it would have been a lot easier if I had been trapped in a prison world of like, now. GPS sure would have saved me a lot of time that I spent going in circles."

Damon took her in, she'd lost weight that her body really couldn't afford to lose. But she still managed to have a glow, despite her somewhat haggard appearance.

"I'm so glad. I tried to bring you home, Bon. I swear I tried. The first time, Kai came back and almost killed the witch we were using and he ruined the ascendant. Then, after Kai merged with his brother Luke, he felt guilty and came to the house only to see the really sad and depressing birthday party we were having for you. Like it was a pretty sad party, Caroline felt so bad about everything that she really focused on the party. And then, she said something about Miss Cuddles judging her and her and Stefan went out into the woods to try to find and locate where she had buried the original one. Which…." He sped out quickly, only to return with two stuffed bears that may have once looked alike. One still looked fairly new, while the other had stains on its fur and was poorly sewn together with one eye. "I think this belong to you."

She laughed, "What in the world?" She decided it didn't matter and absorbed her magic from the 1994 bear. "It's weird."

"What? Being back? Because I still feel the same way."

"No. I mean, yes. But I still have Qetsiyah's magic and now I have mine again, thanks to this bear."

"Which, by the way was the only thing that really gave me hope that you were alive and there was a chance I could save you."

She smirked. "I'm glad, but like I was saying… Qetsiyah's magic doesn't feel foreign. It feels like it has mixed with my own and is now a part of me. Like, I'm not sure I could return this magic back to nature, without it hurting me the way it did to put my magic in that bear."

Damon looked at her in awe. "Wow. So you are like a supercharged witch now. Pretty cool, witchy."

She gave him a small smile, not saying anything.

"I wish you wouldn't have saved me, Bon. I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you, and that you had to save yourself. I... We… We went back to try and help you on your birthday." He said this quietly, looking sadder than Bonnie had ever seen Damon look.

"What? You did? I didn't-" she froze, realizing. She cleared her throat, "No. Please tell me you didn't see anything."

"I'm so sorry, Bon. I'm so sorry that I left you and you were stuck with Kai, who terrorized you and then left you alone. I'm so sorry, Bonnie. God, please forgive me." At this point he was kneeling in front of her, holding her hands to his face.

"Damon, it wasn't your fault. I should have been stronger."

Damon reared back, as if she slapped him. "Bullshit. That's bullshit, Bonnie, and you know it. You are the strongest person I know. If I had been in your place, I would have taken my ring of and walked into the sunlight after a week alone. You are so fucking strong, and it pisses me off that you think differently. You survived Kai's torture, you flew a fucking plane, captained a boat, and absorbed power from a tombstone, turned around and did it all again so you could return back home. That's amazing, Bon. But you shouldn't have had to do it. I should have been able to bring you home. I should have met you in the middle, and not let fucking Elena wonder around the home she fucking burned down. I SHOULD HAVE SAVED YOU!"

She watched as he broke down crying and slowly removed her hands from his. She reached around and pulled him into a hug, which he quickly returned while crying into her shoulder.

"Damon, what's going on?"

"Liz is dead."

She felt like she had been punched in the gut. "What?" She whispered.

"She had a brain tumor. A fucking brain tumor, and there was nothing we could do. Our blood can't heal cancer. What is the fucking point if it can't heal cancer? She died yesterday and her funeral was today. I gave the eulogy. I couldn't save her, I didn't save you. What the fuck good am I?"

"Damon… Don't. You did save me, in a way."

He snorted. "Yeah, how?"

If it wasn't for your notes in that atlas I would still be trapped over there. So, yeah. You helped save me."

"That's only because Kai brought us over, so we could try and get you to see where to go."

"What?"

He explained everything that had happened, from Kai feeling remorse to his sister stabbing him. Him having to compel Alaric to steal the device from his girlfriend Jo, to Elena having Ric compel her love of Damon away. Apparently Tyler and Liv had a thing, and that was more important than helping Bonnie.

"Wow." She stared unseeing at a wall, before something Damon said struck a chord. "Wait, Damon. Liz died yesterday, and you guys already planned and had the funeral?"

"Yeah. Barbie was super focused and didn't want to waste any time."

"Give me your phone."

"Uh… okay."

She pulled up his contacts and selected the one labeled 'Barbie.'

"Damon, what do you want?" Caroline answered, tears affecting her voice.

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Care… I'm so sorry about your mom."

Caroline sobbed, "Bonnie? Bonnie, please tell me this isn't some sick twisted joke."

"It's not a joke. Please, I need to see you and I have a feeling you need to see me, too."

"I…"

"Caroline Forbes, get your ass over to the Boarding house and give your best friend a 'welcome home' hug."

Caroline gave a teary laugh, "Yes, ma'am."

They hung up and Bonnie gave Damon back his phone.

"Okay, Judgey… I get that you miss her, but want to tell me what that was about?"

"I think Caroline was about to do something she would regret."

Damon's brow wrinkled in confusion, before understanding smoothed it back out. "You think she was going to flip her switch."

"Yeah."

"Shit."

Before she could reply, she felt a breeze and was suddenly wrapped in the arms of her blonde, vampire friend. Neither sad anything, they were just laughing and crying in joint relief and pain.

Damon observed the two girls' reunion, and for the first time since he returned he felt calm.

Caroline finally pulled back. "I'm so happy you are here, Bonnie. I'm so happy, but I'm so sad. My mom is gone."

Bonnie walked her friend over to the couch and they sat down.

"You were going to turn it off."

"How… How did you know? No one knew, and they all saw me."

"I know, because I know you. Your mom is what kept you grounded, especially after you guys became so much closer. I know."

"I'm sorry you had to come back to this. I'm sorry if I disappointed you." Caroline looked down at her hands.

"Hey," Bonnie smoothed the blonde's hair behind her ear. "Don't apologize. When Kai was there I was constantly fluctuating between a fear, being tortured, and annoyance. But at least he was company. After he left me, I… I was so alone over there. I had never felt as hopeful and happy, when I heard Elena and Damon's voice. And I never felt more despair and pain when I ran to Elena's front porch to find they weren't there. I waited." She was crying now. "I waited on that front porch for two days, before it really sank in that they weren't coming."

Damon stared at her, teary eyed.

"I tried to keep my hope up. I continued to keep track of the days, so I knew when it was Christmas. I cut down a pine tree from the woods and dragged it to the school parking lot. I was fine, till I wasn't and I burned it down. And by the time my birthday came around, I had lost all hope. I was just so lonely. So… I opened the bottle, you know the one Damon." He nodded, not saying anything or looking away. "You see, Damon and I made a pact. If we both couldn't take it anymore, we would open that bottle, drink it all, and-"

"Kill ourselves," Damon whispered.

Not that it mattered, because with Caroline's vampire hearing she heard him just fine. She looked at both of them in shock, before settling her gaze back on the witch. "Bonnie? No. No. Oh, God."

"I drank most of the bottle, and I walked into the garage, shut the door and started the engine. I made a video saying goodbye to you, Care. And to everyone else. I could barely move, but something in me fought back. The garage door opened, I had a really bad cough for the next week, but I was alive. When I walked back inside, I saw the atlas on the floor and when I picked it up, that's when I noticed Damon's handwriting by Silas' island. Just like that, I had hope again. I know my situation isn't the same as yours, but as someone who has both parents, one due to her abandoning me twice and another who I had to watch his throat get sliced open by Silas."

"Good, Bonnie!" Caroline was so shocked. She never thought that Bonne of all people would try to kill herself and she never knew that she had to witness her father's death.

"Bonnie, why didn't you say anything? Why?" Damon shook his head in horror at what Bonnie just revealed.

"I'm not trying to say that to make you guys feel bad, I'm just letting you know how deep into the darkness I was. So... Caroline, how about we make a pact? Don't worry, this one isn't a suicide pact. How about you and I help each other through our pain? Because I know you are going to need me, I'm here. And I know that I will definitely need you, I'll need you both."

"I'm in. Of course, we will both be here. You know Elena will want to help you through-"

"Actually, I was talking about you and Damon."

Damon sighed as he felt a fluttering in his stomach. "Bonnie, you'd have to magically pry me from your side. I'm not leaving you… Not again. Not ever, Bon. You are stuck with me."

Caroline was shook. She had never observed a look quite like that on Damon's face. He looked completely dedicated and honest. She only knew a little about what happened, but whatever it was had changed Bonnie's and his relationship for the better. She knew that he could be honest and have a real friendship, her mother was proof of that. But this was a Damon she had never witnessed before. "Right. We, uh, we will both be here for you. And I'm sure that-"

Just then, the front door opened and the rest of their 'friends' piled in. They each had different expressions on their faces, from relief to annoyance (that was Liv's) to confusion (Jo) to happiness to hurt.

Jeremy ran forward and tried to hug her, only to have Bonnie quickly back away until she was hit Damon's front. He reached up to steady her, and whispered, "Hey, you're okay. It's just Jeremy."

Everyone else, having seen Bonnie's reaction approached her much slower.

"Hey Bonnie," Elena tried.

Bonnie clenched her jaw and glared at the others who entered. They just looked confused now.

"Is she okay? Does she not remember who we are?" Jeremy asked.

"Is this like when Stefan came back from the safe and had amnesia?" Tyler wondered aloud.

"No. I know who each one of you are."

Alaric raised a brow, "Then why do you look like we are about to attack you?"

"I figured it's better to hedge my bets."

"What? What are you talking about? Why would you need to do that with us? We are your family?" Jeremy said.

"Yeah? Tell me why your idea of trying to help Caroline and Alaric find a way to save us, was to get drunk and sleep with anyone who moved. I mean, sure, you were there to try to prevent me from killing myself in the prison, but big deal." Everyone looked shocked at her confession. "And Stefan, you stopped looking for your brother pretty quickly, but that's fine. That's your prerogative and something that you have to live with. We were never friends so… whatevs. But I thought you could have put slightly more effort into trying to save me. Tyler, you didn't care about me whatsoever. I mean, I'm not some pretty little blonde, who you are trying to sleep with. Never mind that I helped you on numerous occasions, knew you from childhood, or brought you back to life. I'm only Bonnie. Alaric, thanks for helping Care look for a way to bring me back… But seriously, you were dead for years, I brought you back to life and Damon seriously had to compel you to help him get the ascendant? Good to know. Liv, I never liked nor did I trust you, but I am sorry about Luke. Jo, sorry that you had to see Kai again… But to be honest, I was trapped over there with him alone for weeks." She lifted her shirt so they could see her scars. "This was from an arrow he shot at me, I had to remove it and stitch myself together. Only for him to lock me in the trunk of Damon's car for the entire trip to your childhood home. He stabbed me repeatedly, absorbed the power from your knife, Jo, and left me alone in that deserted world. You'll forgive me if I think I had it worse than you.

And Elena, I truly do not know how I feel about you. Currently, the only thing I am feeling is anger. Seriously, Damon was only gone for four months and you couldn't handle that? You had to have Alaric erase your love for him and replace them with only bad ones? It's funny that you had to use the drugs to hallucinate Damon and you needed your memories of Damon to be erased, but you had no problem with the idea of my being dead. God, you are the worse. Couldn't hack it as a vampire, even though Caroline was doing just fine… Welp, got to find that cure. Jeremy dies because of the search for the cure, and you can't handle it and burn down the house… Stefan and Damon better turn off your emotions. You become a raging bitch, try to kill me, give the cure to Katherine of all people, and give a pretty half ass apology… I forgive you, because it is expected of me, and bring your brother back. You forgive Damon and Stefan for every horrible thing that they have done, to not just random people but to your supposed best friends and your own brother… And we are just meant to accept it."

Elena looked slightly shocked, but mostly pissed. She put a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. "Huh… Seems like you are quite cozy with Damon, now."

"Fuck off Elena. How is it that you are jealous, even without those memories? Is it that you still feel the love for Damon, or that you don't like that Damon is giving me attention? Relax, I'm fine with Damon now because, although I don't forgive any of his past misdeeds, I have moved passed them. I don't let him off the hook and I expect him to be better, which he is. He and I became friends, he fought for me, and he tried for me! That is more than I can say for you. The only one outside of Caroline and Damon that I want to see, is Matt. The rest of you, go shove your apologies and your hurt and your relationships, which are so freaking important, up your fucking asses."

Elena looked at Damon, "Are you just going to let her talk to me like this?"

"It has been made abundantly clear that you and I are not a couple. Not just that, but our relationship was toxic. You forgave me for everything and I dragged you down. Or maybe, I just brought out the real you. Whichever it is, I'm done."

"Then why did you try so hard to get me to remember?"

"Because, even if we aren't together I never would have chosen to forget my good memories of you. Plus, everything was falling apart! Liz was sick and I couldn't help her! Bonnie was trapped and everyone was fighting me at every turn, from saving her. Then, my only actual hope of being able to get her was stolen. You were the only thing that I had to hold onto, and I didn't even have that!"

"So, I was just a consolation prize?!"

"Yes! Yes, okay? Yes. I admit it. I realized that I wasn't in love with you, but I couldn't get the person I wanted. So… yeah. I focused on you. For that, you will have to forgive me."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Damon's confession. No one had ever seen him talk to Elena like that. They had never heard him talk about anything like that. I guess it was true that Damon had changed for the better, and it was thanks to Bonnie.

Bonnie stared at Damon, who in turn looked semi-uncomfortable but didn't break eye contact. As if he was doubling down on what he had just said, and didn't want Bonnie to doubt him. Slowly, a smile stretched across her face and Damon let out a breath he had been holding. He pulled her into his side, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "Later."

He looked up, towards the others and smiled. "Right. If you aren't named Barbie or Stefan, you can all get the hell out of our house. If you guys want to sit down and chit chat, expect to do some major groveling."

"Damon, I'm sorry, but you-"

"Fuck off, Alaric. I didn't mean that you should apologize to be. I meant that you all should grovel at Bonnie's feet; she's the only reason any of us are alive. Especially you, Jeremy. She brought you back, and you cheated on her with a ghost. And then, you die again and she brings you back at the price of her own life. Alaric, you almost killed her, and sure you were all crazy Ric the vampire, but she still made sure to bring you back. Stefan… you were going to kill her, if I hadn't killed her mother. She still brought you back and she even tried to bring me back. Elena, she has bled so fucking much for you. She's given you everything and still it wasn't enough. Dog… I don't like you, but you should have been a hell of a lot more loyal to Bonnie, because she deserved it. Liv, you've betrayed us a couple of times. Jo… I don't really have a problem with you, but you were in my way. Sorry, I guess.

The point is that Bonnie has forgiven all of us for horrible things; she's tried to see the best in everyone. I told her the worst thing that I have ever down and," he looked down at her to see Bonnie's eyes on him, "she told me I still had hope. She is the absolute best of all of us, and we have failed her time and time again. Me especially. Although, I do plan on spending the rest of my life trying to make it up to her. So… Like I said, Barbie and Stefan, you are free to stay. Although Stefan, you should probably make yourself scarce. The rest of you, kick rocks."

****END****

So, this was a pretty long one shot but oh well. I thought she would just be going off on everyone, like in previous chapters. Turned into a semi love story. What can I say?

Until next time… ciao!