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Bonnie wasn't sure if the full moon in the sky was an indication of how crazy this night was. Three weeks drifted by since her near death experience with Luke and she got Damon off. Now, it was time to deal with the relationship that had been torched and burned to the ground. She wasn't sure if she could trust Damon fully again, but she was willing to try. There was no denying that she still cared about him deeply and even loved him, but she wasn't sure how ready she was to let him back in. When he texted her the restaurant where they were meeting and the time, she made a point to wear mismatched lingerie because she was determined not to let his eyes, his voice, his body or his words seduce her. She planned to get to know him again and not let the physical get in between them. This would be a brand new beginning.

She handed the valet her car fob, entered the restaurant immediately noticing Damon sitting at the bar with a bouquet of roses in front of him. Her knees buckled a little and she immediately felt something stir inside of her, "Keep it to dinner," she whispered to herself before heading over to the bar, "Started without me?" she smiled greeting him.

"Just one," Damon held up his glass of bourbon near her mouth, "want to finish it for me?"

"Nope…I'm going to keep it to wine tonight," she smiled.

Damon winked downing his glass of bourbon and picking up the bouquet of roses, "And these are for you."

Bonnie took the bouquet of roses resembling fire embers from his hand, "Roses huh? I don't remember you ever bringing my roses before?"

"Well Bonnie," Damon threw money on the counter, "I believe this is the start of something new."

Bonnie looked down at the roses, "So they are," she commented as they headed towards their table.

After settling down at their table and providing the waiter with the drink and food orders they stared at each other for a few moments before they both broke out into chuckles shaking their heads, "What is wrong with us?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, you don't hate me anymore right and we're not in the same place we were in before the whole Lockwood divorce, soo…" Damon shrugged, "so I think we should get it all out the way," he stated as the waiter poured their glasses of wine, "when I got those text messages, I didn't know what to think. I thought that they were some kind of mistake. Then I saw the message, She's using you and I just blacked out. I started going over everything in my head, how you hated me and how things changed…how you didn't tell me about your birthday and I allowed myself to believe that you were using me. I was a fool, I was an asshole, I was everything in between to believe that and I am sorry. I am sorry for what I said to you and I am sorry for what happened afterwards. I want you to believe me. The Olivia thing, I didn't start up with her to get back at you or even for you to find out, I just…I don't know…I was so angry and hurt it just happened and I just didn't stop. I should have never allowed my hurt feelings and pride to destroy us or hurt you and I want you to forgive me."

"I do forgive you Damon," Bonnie answered looking him in the eyes, "at some point, I had to forgive you to defend you. You didn't give me the benefit of the doubt, you never asked me about the report or what I knew regarding it. You acted out because of hurt feelings and I'm sorry for my part in what happened during the Lockwood divorce proceedings. The truth is, I didn't read the report because deep down I knew that something was wrong. I knew that Tyler was hiding something. I knew…" Bonnie shook her head, "that my law firm wanted me to ignore whatever the report said and I allowed that to get in my mind. But I swear to you, the day that Kol sent you those pictures—I was going to read the report and it was gone. It was my fault, I knew better and I allowed other people to get in my head. I wasn't honest and I should have been. So I apologize for my part in it as well."

Damon smiled, "So we really are starting over?"

Bonnie sipped her wine, "Yup."

"Good," Damon grinned sipping his wine.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

A week later, Bonnie opened the large brown door to enter the courtroom. The room was full with litigants awaiting their turn to argue their cases. She noticed Damon at the front of the room, but he was too busy in his own world to notice her slip in and take a seat in the back.

"Your Honor, I know the state is seeking a $20,000 bond, but Laurel is unable to post that type of bond. We have the police reports, the witness accounts, we have evidence that supports the fact that my client was acting in self defense. Mr. Joseph was coming after her and she did whatever she had to do to ensure that she and her children were safe. I ask that you release her on her own recognizance, Your Honor," Damon argued as his client stared straight ahead clutching her Kleenex and wiping her eyes.

"So handsome and smart," a woman sitting next to Bonnie whispered.

Bonnie smirked as Damon went on, "Your Honor, she is a woman of little means…please."

The judge looked from Damon to the District Attorney, "How about a $1,000.00 bond? Is that good enough?"

"We have no objections," the DA answered.

"Thank you Your Honor, that is definitely much better," Damon stated.

"Fine, $1,000.00 bond for Laurel Joseph, we are in recess for an hour," the judge banged his gavel before rising.

Damon whispered a few things to his client and then to her family, before Laurel was led away by the sheriffs. As people began to exit, Bonnie made her way up to Damon who was chatting with Laurel's family. "Thank you Mr. Salvatore," Laurel's father stated as Damon turned to Bonnie with a smile.

"Hi," Bonnie smiled, "very passionate argument there."

Damon shrugged as he gathered his papers up and turned to her, "Well this won't be easy, but I'm confident."

"Well it helps that he's not dead, just maimed," Bonnie added.

"Small miracles, hey do you have time to catch lunch?" Damon turned to her, "I would love to run some things by you."

"Actually, I have some hearings coming up. I just came early because I heard that the handsome and smart Damon Salvatore was in this courtroom," Bonnie gave him a grin, "I wanted to be one of the lucky women in his presence."

"Ha, ha," Damon deadpanned.

"But I am free for dinner, I will send you the time and place," she replied.

"Really?"

"Yes, did you think that I wouldn't set up a date for us?"

"No…I'm just surprised that you want to set up a date with me," Damon confessed.

Bonnie nodded, "Well we're starting over and I have a place that I wanted to try, so I thought it would be good for us." Damon raised an eyebrow, "Should I be afraid?"

Bonnie laughed loudly as she turned to head out of the courtroom, "You fly tiny airplanes, you will be fine."

"They're not tiny!" he called after her as the sound of her laughing echoed in the courtroom.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

Damon pulled up into the parking lot of Lolly's Putt Putt Golf and instantly shook his head. Bonnie was testing him and he was fine with it, "For a minute I thought you got cold feet Salvatore," she stated from outside his car.

"Never," he turned his car off and stepped out, "did you think that you would scare me away with mini golf, I would have you know that I am actually pretty damn good at mini golf annnnnddd real golf."

"I bet you are, but how good are you at air hockey?" she asked, "because tonight, I set up at least 3 different games and we're going to see exactly how competitive you are Mr. Salvatore."

Damon smiled, "What does the winner get?"

Bonnie thought for a moment, "Hmm…to be determined."

"Ok, so how about no winner or loser…how about every time someone wins a game, they get to ask the other a question and they have to answer."

"Well apparently you have no idea how good I am at everything at Lolly's," Bonnie winked at him as they headed into the arcade.

"And why is that?" Damon asked as he removed his wallet from his jeans paying the attendants for a game of Putt Putt golf.

"Oh in case you haven't noticed, this is a popular place for the kiddies around town and I think I came here with every single one of my high school boyfriends," Bonnie picked out her club and headed outside towards the golf course.

"Ok, so this is where you bring all of the guys that you have left with broken hearts?" Damon gave her a wry smile.

"Broken hearts…right," she chuckled, "not even close…so who goes first?"

"Ladies first," Damon gestured towards the first hole.

"You will be sorry," Bonnie warned walking onto the fake green turf and leaning over to set up her stroke. Damon cocked his head to the side admiring her, "Don't think I'm sorry at all," he mumbled as she hit the ball and he watched it bounce off the sides and eventually in the hole. Bonnie jumped up and yelped, "Hole in one!" she announced, "still feeling confident?" she teased.

Damon scoffed, "Beginner's luck."

"Uh, huh…why don't you try to beat me," she stated as Damon took his position on the green and promptly hit the ball, completing missing the hole, "oh this is going to be fun," Bonnie rubbed her hands together laughing.

"I'm a little rusty…must be my injury," Damon gently touched his stomach.

"Lies," Bonnie answered.

"We'll see how long your celebration lasts for," Damon pointed his club at her, before hitting the ball again and sinking it in the hole, "the first was just a warm up Miss Bennett, I'm going to win this one."

"So you think," she answered.

Damon walked up to Bonnie looking down at her, "Oh I know."

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

"So what was that score again?" Bonnie grinned handing Damon a small cup of bourbon before setting down their loaded nachos.

"You know, being a braggart is not exactly attractive," Damon squinted at her as they took seats next to the air hockey table waiting for a game to end.

"I believe it was -8 to -5…the pro had a bad night, I guess," Bonnie sipped her cup of wine.

Damon shrugged.

"So since I won, I get to ask my question," Bonnie faced him.

"Ok…you can ask me anything," he turned to her.

"After everything that happened between us, what made you think that I would help you? What made you think you could trust me?" Bonnie asked biting into a nacho.

"Because despite everything, I knew that you were a good attorney. You are the best. You're smart. I watched you during your representation of Tyler. I knew that you believed that he was a shit client and that there was no way he deserved to get away scot-free, but you were damn sure going to try. You were going to represent him the best way you could and you would put whatever feelings aside to do just that," Damon began, "and despite whatever I felt, I believed that somewhere we made a connection and I knew that a part of you would believe that I wasn't capable of killing someone. I believed that."

"When I answered the phone, I was all set to ignore you," Bonnie looked over at him, "I settled back into bed beside Kol…" she watched Damon grimace, "hey it's true and he questioned the call. In that instant, I realized that I had to come. I needed to know why you called me, why you reached out to me…"

"And when you showed up, that's when I knew that I could trust you," Damon met her eyes.

Bonnie nodded.

"Hey…we're done, you two want the table?" one of the teens called over.

"Oh yeah, I have to redeem myself," Damon stood up as Bonnie followed him.

They took their positions on each side of the table and steadied themselves with their strikers. The table came to life and the puck began to move, "Ready?" Damon asked.

Bonnie nodded with her tongue between her teeth as she moved her striker in front of the hole. She watched the puck drift over to Damon and he sent it shooting across the table and she moved her striker as fast as she could; but not fast enough, because the sound of the puck hitting the goal.

"One point for me," Damon beamed.

"May it be your last," Bonnie warned.

He winked as Bonnie sent the puck flying towards him and he successfully blocked it, sending another puck into the goal, "Two points for me, Bennett," he held up two fingers as she gripped her striker tighter.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

"5 to 2 is not exactly bad," Damon gloated, "although, I thought you would do a tad better," he stated bringing over a cup of wine for Bonnie.

"Ha, ha, ha funny," she deadpanned.

"So this just means we're even as of right now."

"We are and you get to ask your question," Bonnie turned to him.

"Ok, here's my question," he turned to her meeting her eyes, "do you miss Briddle?"

"The law firm?" Bonnie clarified.

"Yes."

Bonnie shrugged, "Honestly? Sometimes. It's not so much that I miss Briddle per se, but I miss the camaraderie. When you win a big case or when you lose a case, there were people to go over it with and talk about it with during. I miss that. I don't want to go back there, but I do miss some of it."

"But you're doing your own thing now, right?"

"I am and I love being able to pick the cases that I take, even if they won't win big…it's nice just to help people, which is part of the reason why I got into this."

"So what about the DA's office?" Damon asked.

Bonnie chuckled, "I think I've dealt with enough criminals showing up at my apartment to last me a lifetime. I am fine and I don't think I will ever go into that field again."

"Understandable."

"I hear that Luke will be paralyzed for the rest of his life," Bonnie focused on her drink.

"So."

"Damon, I know he deserves worse than what he got—but I can't help but feel weird that I'm the one that did that to him."

Damon reached over and gently took Bonnie's hand, exposing her arm, "And you see the scar on your arm? He did that. He would have done much worse if you didn't shoot him. Bonnie, don't waste a moment thinking about or second guessing what happened with him. Luke needs to be nothing more than a nightmare that is thankfully over."

Bonnie nodded, "I know, but he was your friend…how hard is it for you?"

Damon looked around the arcade, "He hasn't been my friend for awhile. I pretty much let it all go when I realized he killed Olivia and set me up to take the fall."

Bonnie nodded sadly.

"And on that note, it's time for me to beat you in some Skee-ball," Damon stood up holding out his hand, which Bonnie took, "You won't win this one, Salvatore," she promised him.

"Oh I will because there is a question that I want to ask, so I'm determined to win," Damon put coins in both of the lanes causing the balls to fall down.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

"I thought you were going to beat me," Bonnie sung as she danced in front Damon while they made their way to their cars.

"A tie is not exactly a win for either of us," Damon watched her amused.

"Yeah, yeah…so we're even."

"But this means…" Damon paused in front of her car, "that we both have questions to answer."

Bonnie was hoping that she wouldn't have to answer anymore of Damon's questions, but alas, he was as good at skee-ball as she was, "Ok, but nothing too deep."

"I will go first, if you prefer…I'm a gentleman," he grinned.

"Ok fine…" Bonnie stared up at him, "the fact is that I still kept something from you. I still lied by omission regarding Tyler and his finances, why do you still want to be with me? What I did wasn't exactly admirable."

"It was indeed a sneaky and shrewd legal maneuver that you tried to do and I was upset, hurt and angry about it but the fact is, I never stopped loving you. Never stopped wanting to see that smile, hearing that laugh, watching those eyes roll when I piss you off. I regret the way things ended, but my feelings…while the situation was complicated and I made a mess out of it…I never stopped wondering if with time, with some serious conversations we could work on us again."

"Even when you were with Olivia," she folded her arms.

"Me and Olivia were using each other, we both knew it. It wasn't meant to last…just like whatever you had with the detective wasn't meant to last," Damon smirked.

"And what makes you so sure?" Bonnie asked barely hiding her smile.

Damon cocked his head to the side, "I just know…"

"Cocky."

"Just a little bit. So I answered and now it's your turn…do you think we have a serious chance to get back to how we were before?"

"No," Bonnie answered simply and she watched Damon's face fall slightly, she moved closer to him, "I think we could be better."

She could visibly see the relief wash over him and she felt a little bad for making him doubt what was happening, but then again—he kinda deserved it, "You are something Bonnie Bennett," Damon shook his head, "and I want to kiss you right now."'

"Nope…you're going to have to settle for a hug," Bonnie held up her arms between them. She was well aware that if he even put his lips on her, her mind would immediately get cloudy and she would probably end up in his bed. Her feelings for him had no bearing on the fact that she was majorly physically attracted to him.

He chuckled, "I will settle for the hug," he brought her towards him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She closed her eyes inhaling his cologne, which smelled of hints of amber…it was intoxicating, "this was a perfect date for us."

She smiled up at him while still wrapped in his arms, "It definitely was."

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

The next evening Bonnie and Caroline walked into Elena's house carrying more bridal magazines, notebooks and wine, "Hopefully tonight, we can nail down some things," Caroline laid the magazines out.

"Caroline, the wedding is in nine months, she doesn't have to decide everything now," Bonnie exchanged looks with Elena. It was unsurprising that Caroline went into super planner mode the same night that Stefan put the ring on Elena's finger. Bonnie remembered how crazy she went after she got engaged to Kol. Caroline nearly had a stroke when Bonnie informed her that she didn't see them actually getting married for another two years. That was all in the past and Bonnie was happy to be a bystander this time.

"Oh yes we do!" Caroline stated almost exasperated, "nine months is barely enough time to plan a proper wedding. The engagement party is next weekend and from there, it will be non-stop."

Elena giggled, "What would I do without you Care?"

"I have no idea," Caroline stated flipping through the magazines.

"Oh hey…both of you got the emails about the Bachelorette and Bachelor parties in Vegas, right?" Elena looked from Bonnie to Caroline.

"Yes, we got them. A combined party in Vegas, are you sure about that Elena?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes, it will be fun. Stefan's not uptight, we can have fun together and apart."

"Sickening aren't they?" Bonnie looked over at Caroline.

"Definitely," Caroline agreed clicking her wine glass with Bonnie's.

"Oh I'm sickening, I heard that you and Damon are acting like two teenagers on dates. Has he made it to first base yet?" Elena asked.

"We are taking things slow."

"Slow? How slow?" Caroline asked, "and you two were already pretty close before, so what's the point of going slow now?"

"The point is our relationship before started out rocky. Lies, competition…it was a mess, so I want it to be better now. It needs to be better or this is the end," Bonnie shrugged.

"But you like him, right?" Caroline asked.

"I do…for good or bad…I do and it's not just because he rushed into my apartment thinking that he was going to save me, but because before everything went to hell, I really liked Damon. I fell in love with him. He made me think about things that I hadn't really thought deeply about."

"So are you going out with anyone else?" Elena asked.

Bonnie shrugged, "I've spoken to a couple of guys, but nothing has really stuck you know."

"Because none of them are Damon," Elena sung with a wide smile on her face.

"Shut up," Bonnie laughed.

"You are giving him hell right?" Caroline asked.

"For Damon…I'm sure our G rated date was definitely hell for him," Bonnie grinned.

"My girl," Caroline hugged her.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

"I swear only our mother would order 1000 cheesecake bites from Susie's," Damon carried one of the pink boxes out of the bakery's door along with Stefan and his two boxes.

"Well you know that's her favorite thing for parties," Stefan loaded the boxes in the trunk of Damon's Camaro.

"And this is an extra special party for her, it's the engagement party to celebrate the blissful engagement of her darling son to his doctor fiancée. I fully expect her to have doves released when you two enter the room."

"Not funny."

"Oh it is funny Brother, the fact that Mother has spent weeks planning this event and she will immerse herself into planning the wedding pleases me a great deal."

"Because it let's you off the hook. How are things going with Bonnie?" Stefan asked sliding into the passenger side of Damon's car.

Damon shrugged, "Fine, I think. We're getting along. It's been two months. Some truths have been laid on the table, she understands me and I understand her. I hurt her and I'm not sure what exactly hurt her the most, what happened between me and Olivia or what happened in that courtroom. Honestly, the relationship we had during that divorce case…it was nice, it was exciting, it was flirty but it was destined for disaster because we were on opposite sides."

"So do you think that you two will work things out eventually."

"I hope so. I know she's not dating anyone and I'm not thinking about anyone else but her."

"You sound pretty committed," Stefan commended Damon.

"I am and I'm serious. I do have something I want to share with her tonight before the party, let's hope that she takes me seriously."

"Oh yes, is that why Michael came over yesterday?"

Damon nodded.

"Well they should be here soon. Elena and Bonnie are riding with Caroline and Matt, so hopefully you will get a chance to speak to her alone."

"That's what I plan on," Damon looked over at Stefan with a reassuring smile.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

Later that evening, after arriving in Cove Neck, Bonnie turned around in the full length mirror at the hotel. Elena left an hour earlier to get ready at the Salvatore house and she was left to drive to the house with Caroline and Matt. She wasn't sure why she was second guessing the dress she decided to wear, but she only brought one—so it would have to do. It was a navy blue and black number that she had only worn once and she decided to wear her hair super straight. She usually wore it with smooth waves, but she thought this would be a little different and she enjoyed driving Damon crazy since they were keeping things very PG. She sat down on the bed to put on her heels when there was a knock on the door. "Caroline, I'm coming!" she called standing up with one heel on and one heel off, heading to the door with her heel in her hand. She flung the door open expecting an excited blond on the other side and instead, she found a dark haired, blue eyed rather tall man who still made her heart skip a beat, "Damon…"

He took a few moments to allow his eyes to move up and down her body drinking her in. His eyes moved to the heel in her hand, "I thought you were Caroline," she explained.

"I know, I told Caroline that I can give you a ride to the party. I wanted to talk to you before the party."

"And Caroline went for that?" Bonnie asked turning from the door, taking a seat on the chaise and putting on her shoe.

"I don't think she did. I think her husband actually convinced her."

"Hmm, so you wanted to bring me to the party for what reason?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

"You look beautiful, you know."

"And you look very handsome," she complimented him, "but why did you decide to come pick me up?"

"I actually have something serious to speak to you about," he looked around.

"What?"

He reached inside his suit jacket and for a brief moment, Bonnie found herself about to hyperventilate for some unknown reason until he pulled out an envelope, "I want to give this to you—but first, I want to say something."

Bonnie looked down at the yellow envelope that he held in his hand, "What do you want to talk about?" she asked feeling the nervousness creep up her chest threatening to choke her.

"First I want to say, that I've always thought that you were a fantastic attorney. Intelligent, strategic, a risk taker…caring…determined and those qualities are what attracted me to you. I meet a lot of attorneys, female and male and very few have come close to you."

"Ok, so what's in the envelope—another check, because Damon…I really don't want any more money from you. It would be uncomfortable," she shook her head.

"Open the envelope Bennett," he stared at her.

Bonnie tore the envelope open and removed the stack of papers. She scanned the words and suddenly the room's temperature shot up. Bonnie felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room, "Damon, what is this?" she looked up at him.

Damon had planned this moment for a couple of weeks, but now that it was here-he wasn't exactly sure what to say, so he just opened his mouth, "I want you to be my partner," he stated looking at her with a hopeful smile.

Well Bamon have been building their romantic relationship up, but Damon has another kind of proposal for Bonnie. What will she say?

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