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Damon flipped the channels on the hospital TV trying to find something watchable. He found himself settling on one of those channels that specialized in teeny bopper shows. Picking up his pitcher to pour a cup of water, his eyes met a familiar face in the doorway. "Hello," he said taking a sip of the water and placing the pitcher on the tray.
"It looks like you are on the mend," Rudy entered the hospital room.
"Well it wasn't that serious, Bonnie actually stopped Luke from doing worse."
Rudy nodded, "May I take a seat?" he gestured towards a chair next to Damon's bed. Damon nodded and Rudy sat studying Damon for a few moments, "we've only spoken once before."
"I remember."
"And I think a lot has changed since then."
"Mr. Hopkins, I know that things blew up between me and Bonnie, I'm sure you don't know all of the gory details—but you know enough and I am sorry for hurting her. I don't think there are enough words to describe how sorry I am."
Rudy stared at Damon for a few moments, "Probably not. Words don't mean anything anyway. The only thing that matters are actions. Bonnie believed that you were innocent and she did everything she could to prove exactly that, including almost being murdered. Despite whatever you did or how you hurt her, my daughter pressed forward and saved your ass in more ways then one. So you say that you care about her. You say that you're sorry. Prove It. I've made my mistakes where Bonnie is concerned and I will probably spend the rest of my days making it up to her, I realize that. However, you need to either be serious about her or leave her alone. No more hurting her because if you do, one of my first duties of being the father I should have been years ago would be killing you," Rudy smiled in a way that Damon knew he was making a promise and not a threat.
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Following a goodbye visit from Bonnie, Damon felt compelled to take a little trip upstairs to the ICU to visit an old friend. He stepped off of the elevator holding his stomach, it was a little sore but he had to make sure he did this before he left the hospital. He noticed the officer stationed outside the room and paused. In the back of his mind, he figured that this wouldn't be easy—but he was determined.
"You know you shouldn't be up here."
Damon closed his eyes, "Detective Mikaelson."
Kol walked up beside Damon, "He's not going anywhere, trust me. Bonnie severed his spinal cord with that shot."
Damon grimaced. Not for any sympathy for Luke, but for the simple fact that he knew Bonnie would feel guilt for paralyzing him. No matter how much Luke deserved to die, Bonnie would feel guilt, "Well he deserved so much more."
"No argument here."
Kol sighed, "Look, I will give you 10 minutes in there…but don't touch him."
"I can't promise that," Damon looked over at Kol.
"Try," Kol ordered motioning at the officer in front of the door to join him. Damon nodded as he walked up to Luke's hospital door. His former friend lay in the bed, pale and miserable. It was exactly what he deserved. He didn't know this person anymore. After years of being friends, this is where they were. Damon placed his hand on the knob and turned it slowly, walking inside. Luke looked over at Damon and scoffed, "Of course they would allow you to come in."
Damon studied Luke.
"What…have you come to gloat? The doctors are saying I will never walk again because of that bitch of a lawyer, remind me to thank her when I see her again," Luke glared at Damon.
Damon felt the heat rise, but he fought to control it. If he allowed Luke to get to him, he wouldn't have the time to say what he needed to and he would also be in jail for a murder he committed-so that wouldn't work either, "Do you feel even the tiniest bit of guilt or regret for what you did? What you did to your own cousin?"
Luke turned his head from Damon, "What does it matter?"
"What changed you?" Damon asked narrowing his eyes.
Luke turned to Damon, "Nothing."
"I can't believe that we were friends. Was this always the plan or did Olivia make things complicated for you?"
Luke stayed quiet.
"You're going to jail for the rest of your life. You will be in the wheelchair for the rest of your life. For the rest of your life you will have to think about what you did to your own cousin and I hope it haunts you every day of your life," Damon moved closer and lowered his voice, "but if by chance you ever find yourself out of prison or you get the need to reach out to anyone from there, if you send anything or you come near Bonnie Bennett…I will kill you. Keep her name off of your lips."
Luke smiled, "You think your threats scare me?"
Damon looked down at his friend for over a decade and within a blink of an eye, he had flipped off the machine and grabbed the oxygen tube that stuck out of Luke's nose, he squeezed it in his hand as Luke's eyes grew big as he grabbed for Damon as he gasped for breath, "No one is going to come to a cold blooded murderer's aid and now that I have your attention, once again…come near Bonnie, send her anything, remind her in any way that you still exist and you will cease to exist. If you think I'm kidding, say something else about my threats or her," Damon bent down so that Luke could hear him.
Luke's eyes widened as Damon released his breathing tube and turned the monitors back on, "Glad we understand each other. Have a nice life Lucas," Damon stated before turning around and heading out of the hospital.
As soon as he closed the door to Luke's room, Kol appeared in front of him, "That went a little far, didn't it?"
"He's still alive," Damon shrugged heading towards the elevator feeling a sense of accomplishment.
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"Due to the recent developments, the Commonwealth would like to dismiss the charges of murder in the 2nd degree against Damon Salvatore, Esq. in the matter of the Commonwealth of Virginia v. Damon Salvatore," Logan stood in front of the court a week later, "we will be filing charges against Lucas Parker of New York for the murder of Olivia Parker-Lockwood based on his confession to the crime."
Bonnie stood at the opposing table with a smile on her face with Damon seated next to her.
"Any objections?" Judge Poden turned to her.
"None your honor and I hope that the Commonwealth understands the problems that they caused my client, his reputation and even his life for the unfair charges they brought against him and the flawed investigation of Ms. Parker-Lockwood's murder," Bonnie stated.
Logan shook his head with a smirk looking over at Bonnie and Damon looked up at her in awe thinking how much he truly loved this woman.
"Well Ms. Bennett, I'm sure you will argue that point in a different court setting," Judge Poden smiled, "all charges against Mr. Salvatore will be dismissed. Mr. Salvatore, we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. Thank you for your time," the gavel hit the stand and court was dismissed.
"Thank you, Your Honor," Damon nodded.
Bonnie began packing up her bag as Logan came over to her, "Nice Bennett."
"What will be nice is when the city of Mystic Falls hands over a check to Mr. Salvatore for all of the lost wages, and pain and suffering he endured because of the crap investigation skills of the MFPD and the MF DA's office. I will cut you all a break by not suing you myself due to the fact that you all allowed the real murderer to roam free," Bonnie folded her arms.
"She's a Saint, ain't she?" Damon grinned from beside Bonnie.
Logan looked at Damon and then his eyes drifted to Bonnie, "Bonnie, I'll be in touch. I have a little proposition for you," he winked before turning to walk out of the courtroom.
"I hope that proposition is a professional one," Damon whispered in her ear. Bonnie hated the way her body reacted to his voice. It was like a snake's lullaby.
"I don't think that's any of your business," she answered as they turned to walk out of the courtroom.
"Uh, huh…so my parents got the crazy idea that we need to have a dinner to celebrate that I won't be heading to jail and my mother told me to personally invite you, it wouldn't be possible without you."
"Dinner huh? With your family? I don't think so," Bonnie shook her head while they walked towards the elevator. Damon stopped her touching her arm lightly, "Bon, I'm not trying to rekindle anything tonight. I know that we have a long road until we get to that place. This is just a way for my family to thank you for everything you did and for me too. You did something that not many people would have done. You put your life on the line to defend me and prove that I didn't kill anyone. I didn't deserve it and you still helped me. I appreciate it and I appreciate you."
"I'm not coming to dinner alone," Bonnie warned him and for a second, she could see Damon's mouth turn downwards and she quickly spoke again, "my mom, dad and my Grams are coming with me."
"Oh yes, a dinner with the Bennett-Hopkins family…can't wait."
Bonnie chuckled, "Elena will be there, right?"
"Oh yeah, Elena will be there," he sung.
She grabbed his arm, "What does that mean?"
Damon turned to her, "Ok, but you have to keep a secret."
"What?"
"Stefan's going to ask Elena to become his better half."
She gasped grabbing his arm, "Ow!" he grimaced. "Are you serious!" she shrieked, "oh my god…will her parents be there? We have to tell Caroline, there's no way she can miss this."
"Bonnie, why would Caroline be invited to my victory dinner?"
"Because its also my victory dinner and I want her there, so would Elena," Bonnie folded her arms.
"Fine…tell the blond, but tell her it's a surprise," Damon warned her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Bonnie flagged him as they both stepped on the elevator.
"I'm serious Bon," Damon told her.
"Sure you are," Bonnie snorted as the elevator doors closed.
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Later that evening, Bonnie walked down the stairs of her mother's house dressed in a simple black dress. Rudy was catching up on the football game sitting in a chair. She paused; she couldn't remember the last time her father actually stayed in their home. Abby and Rudy made it clear that they were only sharing this space because of her and that as soon as Rudy was assured that Bonnie was fine, he would be returning to DC. She was fine with that, watching her parents interact at this stage of their lives was kinda weird—especially when she knew her mother was dating one of the fellow teachers at her school.
"Dad, don't look so excited about attending this dinner," Bonnie remarked as she joined him in the living room.
"I'm still suspicious about all of this."
"Why?" Bonnie asked, "they want to celebrate the fact that Damon's not going to jail, can you blame them?"
He shrugged, "I guess not."
"And thank you for your help, by the way. Talking to you about the case in DC made me dig a little deeper and I realized that Luke was definitely someone that deserved a second look."
"I don't know if I should be proud of that or not, considering that you went investigating on your own and he almost killed you."
"Dad, I was going to protect myself no matter what."
Rudy nodded, "And how are you doing? I think you should talk to someone about what happened?"
"Dad, I'm fine."
He gave her a doubtful smirk, "Are you? I hear you walking around at night."
"Dad, they said that I would have some trouble sleeping because of adrenaline. I'm fine, trust me and I made an appointment to speak with the therapist that the DA's office loved to send us to. Trust me, I'm ok. I did what I had to do to keep myself and Damon alive. Luke's not dead, he's in a wheelchair probably for the rest of his life and that's more than what he deserves."
Rudy nodded.
"I agree with your father, Bonnie," Abby walked down the steps, "what happened in your apartment was definitely crazy and terrifying. I would feel better if you were talking to someone about it."
"And I said that I would. It's nice that you two are on the same page," Bonnie winked.
"We often are on the same page about you," Abby hugged her, "so should we be on our way to the restaurant? We have to pick up Mom on our way."
"Yes, we should go…I don't want to be late," Bonnie picked up her purse heading out with her parents.
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"So are you nervous Little Brother?" Damon adjusted his tie standing in the small dinner room that Giuseppe reserved for the evening. There was a part of him that was a little unnerved that his father had taken such an interest in his freedom and his life. However, he would embrace it. After spending months trapped in his home awaiting a trial, it was time for him to embrace life and be happy. If he wanted Bonnie to forgive him, he needed to forgive others.
"Nervous, not at all. Thanks for allowing me to do this during your dinner."
"I figure that it will make Mother happy for awhile and she will get off of my back, so it's a win-win situation," Damon grinned.
"Of course, as long as it helps you," Stefan patted Damon on the back moving over to the other side of the room to join their father.
Damon took a deep breath as Bonnie walked into the room with her parents and her Grandmother. She was wearing a black dress, that hugged all her curves and made him wish for their old days—she looked gorgeous and almost like something he shouldn't be allowed to look at, let alone touch. He found himself taking three long strides over to her and her family, "I'm happy that you all could join us tonight. This is to celebrate the fact that we made it through, but also to celebrate Bonnie. If it weren't for her, I don't know where I would be right now," Damon stared at her, almost directly through her and he noticed how she became slightly self conscious by the way she refused to look at him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "No lies detected there," Sheila mumbled.
"Well we're just happy that you two came out of everything mostly unscathed and thank you Damon for what you did to save my daughter's life," Abby spoke up.
"I would do it all again," Damon stated staring at Bonnie.
"Umm…well, I think there's a bar over there with our names…why don't we leave Bonnie and Damon alone for a few moments," Rudy cleared his throat, looping his arm through Abby and Sheila's and dragging them away to the bar.
"Laying it on thick, aren't you Salvatore?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.
"Can you come somewhere with me for a moment?" he asked.
She stepped back, "Where?"
"Just out of the room for a minute, I want to say something to you without all of the eyes."
"Ok, but no funny business," she warned him. Damon held up his hands, "I promise."
Bonnie allowed him to guide her out of the dining room to a bench out in the common area of the Steakhouse. She couldn't help feeling a little nervous. So much of their time since their break up had been spent talking about exonerating Damon, now that it was over with, she was left with the feelings that she had for him. The feelings of sadness, some anger, frustration and confusion. It was unsettling and she wasn't sure what he was going to say to her.
"I just want to let you know again, how grateful I am that you picked up that phone that night and believed in me," Damon began, "deep down, I know that you should have hung up on me and never stepped foot in that police station, but you did. You made it your duty since that night to prove my innocence and that is more than I could ever ask for from you."
"I was doing my job…"
"Yes, I know. But I thank you either way. Also, what happened with Olivia…"
"Damon, we don't have to talk about that right now."
"I apologize for how things happened with her. I know it hurt you. I know that it was callous and I was an asshole for it. I know that it was something that would have shattered me if you did the same. I was angry at you and I exercised my anger in all of the wrong ways. You didn't deserve what I did and I am sorry. I am so sorry for all of it. You may not believe me, but I still love you Bonnie," he gazed at her sincerely.
She smiled a little as he went on, "And you don't have to say it back to me yet, I don't expect you to. But I want you to know that I am going to win you back Bonnie. I'm starting over with you."
"Starting over huh?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.
"Starting over," Damon smiled, "and Bonnie Bennett, you have no idea what I have up my sleeve."
"Should I be afraid?" Bonnie moved away from him.
Damon grinned at her and she decided she was officially nervous about what Damon had up his sleeve, but nevertheless, she was intrigued.
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"We are here to celebrate the victory that my son has experienced by overcoming an ordeal which threatened to destroy his life. This is a happy time and I am grateful that he prevailed, but I also have to thank his attorney, Bonnie Bennett Esq. She went above and beyond to make sure my son was exonerated and he rightfully was. Thank you," Giuseppe turned to Bonnie seated with her family, "and now my son would like to say a couple of words."
Damon cleared his throat standing from the table with a glass of champagne in his hand, "I thank you all for being here tonight. When I moved to Mystic Falls a couple of months ago. I moved here because of someone, who I thought was a friend, asked me to help someone who was in need. I became an attorney for many reasons, but one major reason was to help those who need help. I wanted to help that person and I did help her. She was a great person and she didn't deserve a lot of what she endured, especially what happened at the end. This is bittersweet because at the end of this, Olivia Parker-Lockwood is still dead and she died at the hands of a family member. It's sad, it's devastating and I hope she can finally rest in peace," Damon held up his champagne glass encouraging everyone to take a sip, "and now, I want to let everyone know that the only reason why I standing here today is because of that young woman right there," he pointed at Bonnie at the end of the long dinner table, "she is the reason why I'm free and not facing murder charges any longer. She was smarter, more determined and braver than many others and she made sure that I came out of this. I want to thank her for everything she did for me."
Bonnie smiled as she blinked. She didn't like the attention and Damon's words and his sincerity made tears appear in her eyes. Then it set in. She could have died. She almost died. She gasped for breath before reaching for a glass of water and downing it. She was crazy. Absolutely nuts.
"And I also want to thank someone else, my brother Stefan. From the moment this happened, Stefan has been by my side being my support and giving me the kick in the ass that I needed sometimes. Stefan, I know I give you a hard time but you definitely kept me from going crazy and I thank you brother and that is why I am handing this time over to you," Damon smiled as Stefan stood up.
Bonnie sat in her seat at the table looking over at Elena for a few moments, but when Damon caught her eye she couldn't help gazing at him. Although she could hear Stefan, his voice was drowned out. She was still angry and hurt by Damon's actions, there was no denying that. However, she still felt something for him. Her heart still skipped a beat when he smiled at her, her body still came alive when he gently touched her, she still had dreams where he was the leading actor and if she allowed herself during quiet moments, she allowed herself to wonder what would happen if they reunited. She wouldn't make it easy for him by any means, but she could definitely see something developing again between them.
"…and that is why Dr. Elena Gilbert, I want to ask you to marry me…will you marry me?" Bonnie focused on Stefan and then at her best friend who instantly put her hands to her face, began to cry and shook her head yes. As Stefan placed the ring on Elena's finger, she was relieved—this meant that Lily Salvatore would give her some room to breathe. As she and Caroline rushed over to hug Elena, her eyes met Lily's and Lily grinned at her…sooo MAYBE she was wrong.
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A week later, after being fussed over by her mother, grandmother and her father, Rudy left for DC and Bonnie promised to come visit him in a couple of weeks, Bonnie returned to her apartment. She hadn't told her mother or grandmother that she was returning, she just did. Almost two weeks passed since the Luke stuff and it was time for her to get back to her life. The first thing she noticed walking up to her condo was that the door had been replaced. She chuckled. For some reason, she never thought that Damon would be able to knock an entire door down, but so he did. She removed her key and stuck it into the keyhole, turning it and entering the apartment. There was a sense of sadness that came over her. She hadn't allowed herself to think much about what happened. There was one article that she peeped at painted her as some kind of Superwoman who took down a knife wielding assailant. It was much sexier than the situation actually was. Even though she remembered that she had the handgun in her living room, she was still scared that Luke would overpower her before she had the chance to defend herself. He was scary. He was terrifying and it still made her a little sick to even think about what happened in her apartment. She placed her keys down on the table and leaned up against the door. Her apartment was immaculate. She was supposed to call a cleaning crew, but apparently someone already did that.
"Well," she whispered as her cell began to ring, she fished it out of her purse and saw that it was Damon, "hey."
"Hi, I wanted to meet up with you. I have something to give you."
"Umm…I'm actually at my apartment, I came to see how much damage there is but apparently there's none. My carpet was replaced, the door too. There's no broken glass, nothing. It looks like nothing ever happened."
"Hmm…ok, can I meet you there?" Damon asked.
"Yes, I will be here for awhile."
"Be there in a few."
"Ok," she ended the call looking around, "ok Bon, you can do this."
Within 30 minutes, Damon was knocking on the door and Bonnie looked through the peephole before opening the door, when she opened the door she was taken back. Damon was dressed in one of his trademark suits that she had become accustomed to before Olivia was murdered. He was a very handsome man and if she didn't have her anger to keep her from jumping him, she would have peeled him out of that suit as soon as the door opened, "They did a good job," he remarked looking around.
"They?"
"I hired some people to take care of your apartment."'
Bonnie blinked, "Damon, you didn't have to do that. I planned to get everything taken care of when I came back."
He turned to look at her with a sincere look, "It was the least I could do, Bon."
Nodding she looked around the apartment, "I may just move."
"Where?" he asked, "in Mystic Falls?"
"Yes, I wouldn't leave town. Even though my father tried every bribe he could think of before he left for DC."
Damon gave her a smile before reaching inside his suit jacket pocket and retrieving an envelope, "Well if you decide to move somewhere in Mystic Falls, this may help. I wanted to bring you a check for your services."
Bonnie took the envelope from his hands and opened it. The amount of zeroes she looked down at rendered her speechless for a few moments. She was sure her mouth dropped open almost to her chest when she looked at the check, "Damon, this is entirely too much…no…you take this back and you give me a check for the amount I billed you," she placed the check back in the envelope and held it out towards him.
Damon looked down at the envelope and touched her hand moving the envelope towards her, "No, that's your payment. You deserve it. You risked your life and reputation to make sure I was exonerated. That's just a small portion of what I owe you for saving my life in more ways than one."
Bonnie felt herself unable to speak. She didn't trust her voice that moment as she stared down at the envelope, "Apparently getting accused of such a heinous crime and being exonerated brings people to you for representation," Damon chuckled, "I am overflowing with clients and I didn't realize how much I missed representing people until I couldn't. Bonnie, you did far more for me than you realize."
She nodded as she held the envelope.
"Hey, what are you doing nowadays?" Damon asked.
"Some pro-bono. Logan wants me to come back to the DA's office, but I know I don't want to do that anymore. So I'm just doing what I want nowadays, some family law cases…some wills and trusts…" she shrugged.
He nodded, "Hey…do you think we could meet for dinner one of these days…" he stated watching her reaction and her eyes soften a little, "just as friends," he added.
Bonnie smiled, "I think we can."
"I will give you a call," he moved towards the door and opened it, "thanks again, Bon."
She nodded watching him walk out. Bonnie opened the envelope again and stared down at the check. A wide smile spread across her face as she did a little dance of victory.
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Damon rode the elevator to the 20th floor of the office building that housed his law firm. As the elevator doors opened and he stepped on the marble floor, he felt a sense of excitement come over him. This would be his first full day back in the office. He grinned as he opened the glass doors leading into the suite, "Good Morning Rosa," he greeted his assistant.
"Good Morning Damon," Rosa returned his greeting with a smile.
He paused at her desk, "I just want to thank you for waiting and believing in me."
Rose shook her head, "You continued to pay me over the past couple of months, how could I walk away from someone who would do that? I never for one moment believed what they accused you of. I'm just happy that everything worked out."
"So am I."
"And besides, where else would I go? No one else would put up with my attitude," she winked at him.
"And vice versa," Damon laughed as he walked into his office, "just give me an hour and then I will be ready for my consultations."
"Got it," Rosa called after him.
Damon entered his office. It had been weeks since he stepped foot in his office. He couldn't do it when he was waiting to see what happened with his case. Damon walked over to window and looked down at the street below and smiled.
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After hours of just sitting on her couch with her arms wrapped around her legs, Bonnie stood up to grab her bag to go back to her my mother's house. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't stay in this apartment alone—not tonight. She headed towards the door, opening it and finding Elena and Caroline on the other side, "What are you two doing here…with overnight bags and wine?" Bonnie asked searching their faces.
"Well, your mom told us that you left her house to come home and we thought that it would be perfect to have a sleepover, look at bridal magazines and just get drunk off of butts and crash on the floor," Caroline beamed.
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"Elena and Caroline are at Bonnie's for the night," Stefan entered Damon's office joining Damon at the window.
"Good, Bonnie won't admit it but being back at that apartment is probably hard for her and since we aren't at the point where I can stay there again—her friends are the next best thing," Damon handed his brother a glass of bourbon.
"So how was your first day?" Stefan asked looking over.
"Perfect. Exactly what I needed it to be. I didn't realize how much I missed all of this until today," Damon turned to Stefan, "and I'm good at it. This is what I was meant to do and the fact that it was almost stolen from me because of Luke…"
"Luke is paying for what he did and you have been cleared. It's in the past now," Stefan sipped his bourbon.
"That it is."
"And when we spoke before…first, you needed to beat the murder case and after that…" Stefan looked over at Damon who met his eyes, "I'm going to do everything that I can to get my woman back," Damon answered.
"Exactly," Stefan stated clinking his glass with Damon's.
Thank you all for reading. Damon has started trying to woo Bonnie back, but we shall see what else happens to get their romance back on track.
Luke paid dearly for his actions, but he should listen to Damon's warning.
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