Alright, everyone! Next chapter we will finally be out of the flashbacks! Thank you for being so patient!
The Characters and whom I envision playing them:
Bonnie Bennett – Kat Graham
Damon Salvatore – Ian Somerhalder
Stefan Salvatore – Paul Wesley
Elena Gilbert/Salvatore – Nina Dobrev
Caroline Forbes/Salvatore – Candice King
Disclaimer: These Characters Belong to LJ Smith/CW Network. No Copyright infringement is intended.
Sophia Archambeau – Young Tawny Cypress (25)
Bastien Archambeau- Jesse Williams
Sabre Archambeau – Logan Browning
2023 continued:
Damon stayed there on the couch with a sleeping Bonnie on his lap, debating on whether he should get up or stay, somehow feeling like this would be the last time they'd be this physically close for a while. He rubbed her head softly before stopping to place a strand of hair behind her ear. He then slowly got up and quickly placed a pillow underneath her head in place of his lap. After a quick stretch, he finally went to check his phone that was left on the entry table near the front door. He checked his missed texts and calls and noticed Elena had called him about an hour prior around 11 pm. Damon, not wanting to wake Bonnie, headed into his bedroom to return Elena's call.
After a few rings, Elena finally answered.
"Hey" Elena answered, feeling relieved Damon had called her back.
"Hey, is everything okay? I thought you and our girl went to bed a few hours ago" Damon laid on his bed and stared up into the ceiling wondering at what point did hearing Elena's voice not bring him the same amount of warmth and safety it had in the past.
"Yeah, everything's okay, Caroline woke me up before I called you and I figured it was the perfect moment to have some Christmas sugar cookies and I've been kind of awake ever since - are you not at the bar? I thought you were going to go ahead and help tonight while you're there." Elena remarked in between bites of more sugar cookies.
"Yeah..plans changed last minute, I actually might go check on Marcus while they're still open." Damon said playing with the spelled ring on his finger.
"Oh..okay, well I want to give you a heads up, Caroline mentioned that Bastien wants to meet with us tomorrow. He already asked Caroline and Matt, he knows how close we are to Bonnie and wants to ask us for Bonnie's hand in marriage. He's going to propose while they're here Damon, isn't that great?" Elena inquired, smiling into the phone on the other end.
Damon closed his eyes for a brief moment before answering.
"What's great is blondie can't keep a secret, I'm surprised she hasn't harassed Bonnie with clues and unsubtle hints, since the moment he asked her" Damon remarked, audibly annoyed.
"You know Damon, it's been a few years since I've been back, and we still haven't gotten married, I mean I'm pregnant with our second child - I'm not complaining because I know we don't need a piece of paper to prove our love to the world, but I want to share the same last name with my kids and you. We should start planning something soon" Elena sounded hopeful on the other end of the call.
Damon grew more annoyed because Elena was the one who told him multiple times, she wanted to wait to officially get married when she was done with residency, she had been fine with not getting married and still having kids, but he knew her mind would change the moment Bonnie, her best friend would get a wedding before she did.
"Let's talk about this when I get back from New York, I have to head to the bar" Damon responded.
"He really loves her Damon, more than anyone I know, more than Jeremy ever did - I've never seen her this happy, he really is the man of her dreams," Elena said, more to make her feel better about her nagging feelings of Damon and Bonnie than saying it as a genuine statement.
"I have to go Elena" Damon stated after a moment of silence.
"Love you too Damon" Elena retorted and then hung up the phone.
Damon felt a pang of guilt for letting another conversation regarding Bonnie end with passive aggressiveness from either or both sides.
At least this time wasn't a full-blown argument Damon had pondered.
Damon also thought to himself that these were the times he really needed his brother to come in with his annoying wise insight about how Damon even got here to this point. It wasn't Elena who had really changed regarding her unconditional love for him, she was always persistent to a fault about her feelings for Damon, ignoring the many red flags and the toxicity of the way they loved each other. Damon didn't have to work too hard to gain back Elena's favor, which over time made him question whether it was her undying love for him, or her problematic codependency that made her so forgiving.
Damon sent a text to Bonnie letting her know he was heading out to the bar to help close up for the night and that he would be back soon.
Once he made it to the bar, he smiled to himself at how busy it was again and was proud to have something that was his. A healthy outlet to deal with his emotions that weren't destructive. He poured a lot of his grief and mourning for his brother into the bar as well as his anger and resentment he started to have for the supernatural world for being the reason for so many bad things happening to him, but yet missing it because of all the good things it brought him as well, which would then make him resent being human again and being limited to what he could and couldn't get away with. He often thought if he were still a vampire and never actually took the cure, Elena would have eventually moved on and found a nice fellow medical student or former jock to settle down with and have a family, and he would maybe have had a chance of seeing what would happen between him and Bonnie, if she would still love him as she admitted in Kyoto, as a vampire.
"The man of the hour! Salvatore!" Marcus boasted as he was cleaning a beer mug while Damon walked behind the bar to greet him.
"Hey Man" Damon responded while they both went in for a hug and Marcus patted Damon on the back.
"We need to talk" Marcus ordered while pointing at Damon and then himself.
"Yo Casey! Boss man and I are going into the office, let me know if you and Harry Berry need some hands" Marcus shouted over the music with Casey and Harrison shooting him a nod and then a quick wave at Damon.
"Alright buddy, what's going on I promise I'm making it down in a few days for the Johnson party" Damon promised as he and Marcus both took a seat in the office.
"Yeah, I'll believe it when you and that pretty hair of yours come flowing through the door" Marcus joked which made Damon laugh.
"Speaking of pretty hair, next time you decided to throw around a pretty brown woman on my bar - clean up the broken glass! What is wrong with you, trynna get us a lawsuit and make me look bad" Marcus teased and laughed when Damon widened his eyes and then closed his eyes wincing remembering the cameras.
"Uh -huh..thinkin I wouldn't check to see where the broken glass came from" Marcus laughed again shaking his head.
"I thought I got it all, I'm sorry man," Damon said apologetically.
"Now, we've been real cool for a minute, so I have to ask, do you know what you're doing? I don't need your mess coming in here to fuck up what we got goin on" Marcus narrowed his eyes in at Damon who nodded in agreement.
"You should know me better to know that I don't, it's not going to happen again anyways" Damon muttered, grabbing an unopened water bottle to take a drink.
"We hadn't touched on it in a minute, but I do know is you can't live the rest of ya life, one foot in a relationship with the mother of your kids and one foot in a complicated relationship with a woman who is in a relationship with another man, do I have that correct?" Marcus asked, raising his eyebrows genuinely wanting to know and Damon answered with a nod.
"Lemme ask you this, which one do you see yourself waking up next to for the rest of your sorry ass life" Marcus teasingly questioned already knowing the answer.
"Bonnie" Damon answered quickly, shocking no one in the room.
Marcus had grown into a brother-like figure over the years when they met at another local bar in NYC and bonded over bourbon, burgers, and many deep conversations with one another, so Marcus knew the versions of Damon's stories that didn't involve the supernatural elements, which made It hard to fully describe certain situations, but Marcus could understand the feelings Damon would express and didn't judge Damon for the predicament he had found himself in over the years.
"So, tell me why again you don't just tell Elena how you feel and then tell Bonnie, who by the way, looks better than the pictures, 'cause damn" Marcus smiled and nodded, almost proud of Damon for getting a woman like Bonnie to look his way.
"You know I've tried, Elena will change the subject before I can get out what I know she doesn't want to hear" Damon responded remembering the times Elena sometimes forcibly would change the subject.
"Nope, wrong answer" Marcus quickly interjected. Which made Damon look everywhere but at Marcus.
"Look, what it sounds like to me, is that you know Elena will always be a sure thing, and for some reason, Bonnie is not giving you the energy you need to move forward with her, and you're scared that you'll lose both for good if you choose wrong" Marcus cocked his head to the side trying to read Damon's expression.
"It's not about choosing, it's not a choice, the choices have been made for me. If it were my choice I wouldn't be here right now. Do I love Elena? Of course, I love Elena, the majority of my life choices have been to have and be with Elena. She loved me at a time when I thought I was unlovable, that I thought I made too many wrong choices to still end up with a girl like her. I still don't think I deserve her or the life I have with her. We fell in love during a time of constant traumatic events that it became easy to cling to one another." Before Damon could keep going Marcus interjected.
"So now it almost feels like you both are together out of fear that maybe without one another you don't know what you did it all for..yeah..I got it..my girl calls that a trauma bond" Marcus and Damon both sat there and nodded in agreement about Marcus' statement before Damon changed the subject to Bonnie.
"And Bonnie, Bonnie kind've snuck up on me. I knew her family in a way before we met and knew that there was absolutely no way, no shot, I would end up with someone from her family, not because of me not wanting to, because trust me I would've loved to, but they would never allow anyone in that family to get close to me in that way. If anything, they're still a big reason as to why we aren't together right now and Bonnie, is under their spell in a way. But Bonnie and I eventually found our way and I started to love her in a different way that scared me because I wasn't supposed to have feelings for anyone other than Elena. I felt it more when Elena wasn't around which also scared me, I had to keep Elena close to keep those feelings hidden because there was no way - in any kind of hell, Bonnie would've loved me in that way."
"Until she did..damn, but you're saying she let her family get in her head and now she's in love with this new guy, and now you have this whole ass family – you know I love you right?" Marcus asked and Damon nodded.
"Sometimes if you love something you gotta let it go" Marcus and Damon both nodded intently at each other before laughing at how ridiculous they both sounded.
Casey, their employee, soon after, interrupted them to have them help with the last call.
After Damon helped close and clean the bar he made his way back to his apartment. Once he made it through the front door, he noticed Bonnie had moved from the couch. He first checked his room and then the guest room and saw her curled up in the blankets. He stood in the doorway and leaned on the frame smiling at her, before turning around to head to his room until he heard Bonnie say his name.
"Damon?" Bonnie muttered sleepily.
"Yeah, I'm here" Damon responded softly.
"I think I was having a bad dream" Bonnie muttered again.
"Is this code for you want me to wait for you to fall asleep before I go to bed?" Damon said, remembering the times they had done that for one another in the prison world.
Bonnie opened her eyes slightly to look at him and then smiled and nodded. Damon then took off his shoes and jacket and climbed into bed with Bonnie sitting up while she lay on her side looking up at him. Damon thought about the times they had done this in the prison world when Bonnie would have night terrors, he made sure not to tease her in those moments knowing he needed her as much as she needed him. It was in those moments that he realized but didn't want to admit that it was the first time in a long time he felt safe and at peace.
Lying next to her reminded him of one thing he missed about being a vampire, being able to take in her scents, the smell of her, her blood, and the sound of her heartbeat when she'd finally drifted off to sleep. He found solace in those moments with his senses filled with Bonnie, he often wondered how she felt during those moments too. He could tell when his closeness would make her heartbeat faster, and when her glances at him became more frequent. He often brought up Jeremy to see where her head was and thought of the times, she'd bring up Elena doing the same, both dancing around what they had both been feeling and hiding behind their love for both Gilberts.
He would have never crossed the line first he thought, it would have had to be Bonnie to do it first like she did earlier that day in the bar. He would have never looked back knowing it was okay to want her, to love her because she did too. Damon thought that he could selfishly remind her, force her to realize what her ancestors were keeping from her, but he couldn't risk the fallout from that, and what it would do to Bonnie who was now in love with another man, and not the love she had with Jeremy or Enzo, this time, it was different. Damon also knew as a human he'd only be a liability when a powerful threat would come along, and now had to worry about his kids who would be affected like Sophia had mentioned when the threat would come and threaten the lives of all supernatural beings. Damon knew at the end of the day, Bonnie would be torn between doing what she needed to do to protect all her loved ones and risking everything for a now, short human life with him. He knew Bonnie deserved a real chance at love without any baggage, with no strings attached. He thought that if he could live his life again, he would've become a vampire just to be alive long enough to love Bonnie when she was ready, he would've done so many things differently, and he would've been a better man so that one day he would deserve Bonnie's love and affection.
After a while in deep thought, Damon realized he had been running his hand along Bonnie's arm for a while and realized she was fast asleep with her arm around his waist. Damon smiled to himself and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep as well.
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During their long drive back to Mystic Falls filled with music, brief conversations, and long moments of silence, Bonnie and Damon took each other in with glances, smiles, and handholds, both saying what they needed to say without saying anything. Bonnie did still remember what happened the day prior by bringing it up, surprising Damon until she laughed it off saying they both needed a moment to be reckless before officially growing up and making fun of Damon for somehow hooking up with all three of them and that there are more girls out in the world than just the ones in Mystic Falls. Damon thought about why she remembered what had happened the day prior but then had a sinking feeling that it was because it was the first time, she may have loved someone else more, and the memories she had of Damon, the ones that hadn't been buried away, weren't enough to keep her from moving forward with Bastien.
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After making it to Bonnie's home, they hugged and said their goodbyes, before Bastien came out to greet them and invited both Damon and Elena to dinner the next night at their house, while Bonnie was going out with Sophia and Caroline. Damon knew why, Bonnie on the other hand had no idea but didn't question it.
Once the next night came, Damon and Elena went over after Bonnie and Sophia finally left to meet Caroline to do some local Christmas shopping.
"Hey, thank you both for coming, Bonnie thinks we're talking about your history as supernatural's to help with some textbooks our people back home will help publish and create for the school, which I would like to at some point but that's not what tonight is about," Bastien explained as he led both Damon and Elena inside and into the dining room where Bastien made a dinner of Elena's current pregnancy dinner cravings, crusted and herbed chicken with kraft mac and cheese and asparagus, and smores dip with graham crackers for dessert. Elena looked at the spread in awe and Damon gave an unconvincing smile as they both sat down.
"Thank you for inviting us over, any excuse to go out with other adults and no kids is fine with me – especially getting to eat some of my favorite foods, I'm so excited!" Elena boasted with genuine excitement.
All three spoke about their experiences of being supernatural, Elena and Damon being human again, and what that experience was like. Elena spoke mostly for Damon, who kept mentioning the worst things he had done as a vampire and Elena would keep interjecting about why Damon had done those things, making excuses for him yet again which amused Damon.
After the dinner was nearing an end, Bastien got the text that Bonnie, Sophia, and Caroline were on their way to their house, which led him to finally bring up the subject of proposing to Bonnie, also glad to change the subject, not wanting to involve himself anymore in the emotional whiplash of Elena and Damon as they recounted their time together.
"I want to ask you both something, I know you both have played an enormous role in Bonnie's life and are now two of the closest people she has to family, so it was only right that I ask for both of your permission to marry Bonnie, she's undoubtedly the love of my life and the reason I've been alive for so long. I promise that I will take care of her for the rest of our lives and will fight alongside her and love her until our lives come to an end thousands of years from now hopefully" Bastien smiled and Elena beaming, began to tear up while Damon furrowed his brows at the "thousands of years from now" comment.
"Of course, we would love nothing more, she deserves it more than anyone I know Bastien, right Damon?" A tearful Elena looked up at Damon who was not sharing the same sentiments.
"Thousands of years from now? No one from her line has lived that long" Damon retorted.
"Well, in our wedding ceremony, we will perform a blood-sharing ritual that grants her the same semi-immortality we have to continue our line, we can still die from fatal wounds, but to die of old age would take hundreds of thousands of years if possible. Two of the other ancient coven leaders are older than my mother" Bastien stated.
Before Damon could respond, the girls had made it inside and Caroline locked eyes with a tearful, happy Elena and did a quick happy dance where Bonnie couldn't see.
"Bastien, you have my blessing, I'm going to go talk to the girls," Elena said quietly with an earnest smile at Bastien before heading over to greet them. Sophia and Bastien made quick eye contact as Sophia was trying to read the situation with Bastien and Damon at the table.
"How about we go for a drive, I need to talk to you without the peanut gallery watching our every move," Damon said glancing and waving at Caroline, Bonnie, Sophia, and Elena, with Bonnie shooting Damon a look and mouthing "be nice" to Damon.
Bonnie then went upstairs with the other girls to go over the different things they had bought. Bastien agreed to go on a drive with Damon in his 1969 Chevy Camaro.
"This is nice Damon, you have to make it to France one of these days, I have so many of these types of cars in storage, you can have your pick" Bastien glanced over at Damon to read his expression.
"I'm a pretty busy guy, you know dad thing and all" Damon responded, looking ahead as they drove out of the neighborhood.
"I get that, congratulations, by the way, you and Elena have a beautiful family, after the stories I've heard I think it's amazing you guys get a chance at a normal life." Bastien looked out the front of the windshield wishing he could read Damon's emotions.
"Yeah, it's a real love story isn't it, Taylor Swift would be jealous" Damon joked with a serious face which made Bastien chuckle to himself.
"Damon, you're a really hard person to read you know that? I'm usually really good at reading people even without my powers, but you – I see how you've gotten yourself out of a lot of bad situations" Bastien stated, which made Damon chuckle thinking he had no idea how many bad situations.
Damon finally made it to their destination - Mystic Falls Highschool after a few moments of awkward silence and letting Damon's playlist play in the silence.
Bastien didn't ask any questions as soon as they parked, and Damon led them to the front entrance of the school.
"Due to my unfortunate human strength, I need you to do your witchy woo thing and open the doors for us" Damon looked at Bastien with impatience and Bastien looked back and shook his head and incanted a French mixed with Latin spell to open the doors once they walked in Bastien incanted another spell to close the doors behind them.
"I've done a lot of thinking and really tried to pinpoint the moment I first started having feelings for Bonnie." Damon walked down the halls with Bastien next to him who surprisingly didn't react to the admission.
"And then it hit me when I drove by this godforsaken school the night, I dropped her off with you, the other night when I didn't want to go home yet" Damon led Bastien into the cafeteria and sat on top of the table with Bastien following suit, still listening.
"You see, I was always physically attracted to Bonnie, there's no denying that, even though she had the personality of a nun back in those days and was incredibly annoying, she never let you get away with anything, thinking about it now, if she wasn't a witch she'd be a good cop" Damon furrowed his brows at all the memories of Bonnie constantly calling out Damon's bad behavior, Bastien chuckling at the thought of it.
"But Bonnie – she had something no one I knew back then had, genuine strength, and grit for what was right, she didn't pretend to be a martyr as Elena did, I used to think that was cute you know, I blame it on my frozen in time brain – anyway, she at such a young age could and would take on the world, for the love of the people closest to her. I used to wish I was a part of that category, the people she loves, the reason she fought so hard, she saved my ass for Elena in the beginning, not because of me, definitely not because of me." Damon winced at the memories of when Bonnie despised him.
"For a moment though, at one of the one too many decade dances where everything always went to shit – I wanted her, and toyed around with the idea of what she would do if I made a move, she was the only one out of everyone in this town that would rather join a nunnery than to be with someone like me – but it was that night when she faced real danger that I realized that not only was she the most badass woman I have ever met in my life, but if I ever had the chance I would take it and would dedicate the rest of my life chasing her, pissing her off, making her laugh, protecting her, making her safe, keeping her alive, just so that one day she may fall in love with me. But, as all things would have it, being as self-righteous as she was and having enough of a moral compass for all of us fuck-ups combined, the moments when she started to feel the same way, she would never admit it, and the times when she could – it was just never good timing, I… or life would always find a way to get in the way. So, this room is where my spark for the Bonnie Bennett ignited." Damon let out a deep sigh and looked around the room waiting for Bastien to interject.
"Okay, that is…a lot to take in" Bastien thought to himself about now having the final pieces of the puzzle of Damon and Bonnie put together.
"With that being said, I'm always going to be in love with Bonnie, and a part of her, will always be in love with me too, no matter how buried her feelings are for me" Damon still furrowing his brows looked ahead at the cafeteria wall in front of him.
Bastien let out a deep sigh.
"I know – you've probably been wondering why I would say all of this when I have a family and may one day still marry Elena. I'm telling you this because I need you to know how much I love Bonnie and will always love her, which is why you have my blessing." Damon took off his ring so Bastien could finally read his emotions.
Bastien looked at Damon intently, now getting a rush of Damon's emotions, regret, fear, sadness, anger, and so much love.
"It's not my place to explain in depth why we cannot be together, you won't get those answers from her either, at least the real answers, but what I do know, is that you are able to protect her in ways I am no longer able to, and maybe in another life it'll work out for us, but in this one, she deserves someone like you" Damon patted Bastien on the shoulder and smirked, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes.
"My mother mentioned to me that she'll never truly be mine, I'm beginning to think she may have picked up on your bond with Bonnie and didn't want to tell me because I'd end up getting hurt, but – I'm not going to give up my bond with Bonnie. Should she ever realize I'm not the man for her – fine, but I feel how tortured you are regarding your love for her, and not to pour salt in open wounds but..I don't want to live the rest of my long life that way" Bastien said calmly to Damon who nodded at the end of Bastien's statement.
"Yeah – well, what's another 60 or 70 years, it's the long-running theme of my life, at least there's an end date" Damon joked, but Bastien could tell it wasn't fully a joke.
"I have a beautiful daughter, and a son on the way, and they deserve to have a present, loving father in their life, I can't be selfish anymore and I'm now in a race against time. They deserve to have the father Stefan and I never had, and Elena, I still love her, I care about her, and she deserves to have her fairytale ending she fought for." Damon shot Bastien a smile as Bastien felt his emotions, both choosing to ignore how Damon really felt about what he just said.
"While I have this off, you may need to say a spell that erases both of us from what could be on their security cameras, I can't compel people to not ask why two grown men who didn't attend this high school are sitting in the middle of it on Christmas break" Damon finally gave Bastien a genuine smile while Bastien laughed and agreed.
"Thank you for your blessing, Damon, I'll keep this between us, you know, you're welcome to our home in France still, anytime," Bastien said as they both got up from the table.
"Yeah – I'd rather not be reminded of the trajectory of my life, thanks though" Damon stated and Bastien nodded in response.
They both continued to talk about Bonnie, both accepting that their love for her is the only thing they have in common and is what will allow the other to tolerate one another. As they left Bastien incanted a spell erasing the footage on the security tape, and locking the doors shut as they made it back to the car.
As soon as they made it back to the house, Damon and Bastien both patted each other on the back and nodded to each other in agreement with their new understanding of each other. Damon and Bastien both went to find the girls and saw that Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena had all fallen asleep in Bastien's and Bonnie's bed. Damon and Bastien both stood in the doorway smiling at them all snuggled up to each other, all safe and sound, Damon thought about how Stefan should have been there as well and could somehow sense him in the room, Bastien looked over at Damon and nodded, he could also sense Stefan's presence near Damon and then near Caroline.
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On the ride home the next morning after Elena finally woke up, they were on their way to pick up Stefanie from Jeremy's house.
"How did last night go?" Elena asked, looking over at Damon, wondering what was going on in his mind.
"It went well, just a typical guy's night, I like him…for Bonnie" Damon shot Elena a smirk which made her roll her eyes and laugh. After Elena was done laughing, she looked out the window to her hometown and reflected on her life up to this point.
"Damon, I want you to know, I'm not dumb, I know that at the end of the day, you didn't want to be human, I know in the moment, the day of Alaric and Jo's wedding you did, but we were also on a high, I know that had Kai not done what he had done, we would've fought about it at least once or twice more" Elena said smiling knowing the reality of their relationship and who Damon was to his core. Damon stared ahead at the road.
"But we don't have to get married if you don't want to.. if you're not ready, I'm not one of those girls that has to go the traditional route, I mean nothing in my life has been traditional. But I just need to know whether I should expect you 100% to show up for us, for our relationship, for our family, or should I always expect a variation of 50 to 80%." Elena looked down at her belly and rubbed it, preparing herself for whatever he would say.
Damon stopped the car to park on the side of the road. Once he got out, he walked over to the passenger side and opened the door, and unbuckled her seat belt so she could turn to face him.
"I've been a shitty friend and a shitty boyfriend..fiance, whatever I am to you and I'm sorry. I love our kids and I love you Elena, I don't love being human and I force myself every day to try and find things other than being a dad and a bar owner to keep me going. You're not wrong to think that I've changed, I changed a long time ago, it's all just catching up to me now, and I know that's not fair to you" Damon said standing up and looking down at Elena who was still sitting in the car facing Damon.
"Are we breaking up Damon?" Elena said now, starting to feel anxious.
"Elena, I am in.." Before Damon could finish his sentence Elena interjected.
"Damon! I don't care whatever the end of that sentence is I do not care, and I will never forgive you for telling me while I am pregnant with your son, all I need to know is whether you are in this or not, because if not I need to prepare myself now rather than later" Elena demanded.
Damon bent down to Elena's level and went in to place a kiss on her belly and rub it before pulling back to look at Elena at face level.
"Okay" Damon said taking in a deep breath.
"Okay?" Elena returned.
"I'm in this" Damon said continuing to rub Elena's belly.
"Okay" Elena replied, placing a hand on the hand Damon had on her belly. They both smiled at each other before Damon leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead.
"I need some time in the meantime to work some things out with myself, after the New Year and we go back to New York, I want to take Stef on a road trip when you go back to school, I want to tell her some stories about me and her uncle and have some real bonding time before our son gets here." Damon said now standing back up.
"I'd love that Damon, and so would she" Elena smiled with tears in her eyes. Damon bent back down to place his forehead on Elena's while they both closed their eyes. Damon then pulled away and got back up to close the door and continue their way to pick up their daughter.
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It's Christmas Eve and everyone is at Bonnie's house to open presents and have Christmas Eve dinner. Caroline insisted that they all dress up, which gave Bonnie an excuse to wear the long tight red silk dress that had mysteriously appeared in her closet. Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie all got ready together, Elena did Bonnie's makeup and made sure to have her put on the best waterproof mascara and setting spray while Caroline made sure to apply the best hairspray to keep Bonnie's wavy curls perfectly shiny and in place as her hair cascaded down her back.
When Bonnie finally walked downstairs, everyone made comments about how hot and beautiful, she looked, and Caroline made sure to have her do a few twirls, catching Damon's attention who watched with a glass of bourbon and a genuine smile only looking away once Bastien went to greet her with a kiss. Once dinner was over, it was time to open the presents. Bonnie noticed that she hadn't seen one from Bastien yet, and before she could ask about it, Lizzie and Jo told their aunt Bonnie that there was one last present as they giggled and glanced at Bastien who nodded at them. They both ran into the kitchen to open a drawer and grabbed a small box to give to Bastien. When Bonnie and everyone realized what was happening the whole room was filled with gasps and stifled squeals. Bonnie immediately started tearing up and shaking as Elena and Caroline held her hands on both sides of her, crying.
"Bonnie, you came into my life like a whirlwind that I thank all the gods you did every single day. You are the most beautiful woman inside and out that I have ever met and have given me a new reason to wake up every day. You are the sun in this world, you are intelligent, kind, and incredibly sexy and I am absolutely crazy about you, all of you, even your burnt pizza rolls on at-home date nights, will you do me the honor of marrying me and being my forever partner in this crazy life we live" Bastien got on one knee and opened the velvet green box to a marquise cut diamond with an ivy shaped band.
"Yes" Bonnie could barely get out as she put out her left hand when Caroline and Elena let go of her hands, to have Bastien place the ring on her finger as everyone cheered and shouted. Caroline pointed at Matt to press the play button on the speaker to play Adorn by Miguel. Bastien picked up Bonnie and kissed her before spinning her around. She continued to kiss Bastien before he kissed every part of her face making her giggle, when she opened her eyes again and laid her head on Bastien's shoulder, she looked up and saw Damon, still wrapped up in Bastien with her hands on the back of his head and back, she mouthed thank you, knowing that Bastien asked for his blessing, Damon smiled back and held up his glass mouthing I love you back to her as she nodded and teared up more before placing her attention back onto Bastien. Elena caught the interaction and before she could take it in, Bastien put Bonnie back down so she could scream and hug her friends.
Once it was getting around 11 pm, the kids were sent upstairs to sleep in the spare bedroom as the adults stayed down to party into the night. During all the dancing and celebrating, Bonnie noticed Caroline kept sneaking away on her phone. Everyone at this point was pretty drunk and while the guys were out in the back smoking cigars, Elena was making frozen pizzas to help sober everyone up, Bonnie made her way into the bathroom Caroline kept going in.
"CARE what is so important here that you are not dancing with me right now," Bonnie said slurring her words.
"Is it blood because I got a lot to spare!" Bonnie said hysterically laughing while Caroline looked behind Bonnie frantically closing the door and shushing her.
"I'm just answering some texts in private so I'm not surrounded by so many nosey eyes, I can't concentrate with all the noise," Caroline said in a quiet voice, confusing Bonnie.
"Whom are you texting Care everyone is here" Bonnie slurred now looking in the mirror and quickly taking a hair tie from the drawer to throw her hair up into a bun.
"None of your business" Caroline shot Bonnie a sarcastic smile before returning to her phone.
Bonnie drunkenly held out her hand and spelled Caroline's phone into Bonnie's hand.
"HEY no fair Bonnie! I hate these new powers!" Caroline yelled trying to lunge at Bonnie who with her other hand was easily able to hold Caroline back with her magic.
Bonnie looked at who was texting her and saw that Sabre had sent her a picture of herself in a bathing suit in some spa in another country.
"Oh my god CAROLINE" Bonnie shouted opening her mouth wide in shock.
"It's not what you think Bonnie! I was giving her updates of the proposal and she was sending me pictures of different places we should have the bachelorette party!" Caroline argued giving up on fighting against Caroline's magic.
"Okay, and that means sending thirst traps? She doesn't even like me Care Oh my god this is amazing" Bonnie continued to laugh and then quickly directed her attention to the song that was playing, which was Cuff It by Beyonce.
"C'mon let's GO" Bonnie then dropped the spell and grabbed Caroline by her hand to head back into the living room to continue dancing. Bonnie and the rest of the girls made all the boys come back inside to dance with them.
"Damon!" Bonnie yelled grabbing Damon on the dance floor.
"Yeah – we need to get you some water Bonnie, anytime you force me to dance we're either fighting a Mikaelson, or you're wasted." Bonnie shot him an annoyed look and Damon took Bonnie's hand into the kitchen where Elena was taking out the pizzas.
"Elena thank you both for being here and making pizzas I cannot believe we're all here, me engaged" Bonnie drunkenly flashed her ring which made Elena giggle.
"And me pregnant not being able to drink with you, I cannot drive all these people home so I'm going to start ordering some Ubers" Elena said as she was cutting the slices of pizza.
"I'm going to take these in there, Damon, get her some Pedialyte and Tylenol, she'll need it" Elena ordered as she walked past them both with the pizzas. Damon quickly got out the Tylenol and Pedialyte.
"Hey Bon, take this" Damon ordered as he poured her a cup of Pedialyte and gave it to Bonnie before grabbing the Tylenol.
"Damon, you haven't called me judgey in a while or any of my nicknames" Bonnie said pouting, taking sips of the Pedialyte.
"That's not true, plus I think you've made you're way out of the convent and into the world of deviancy" Damon teased.
"Mmm you might be right; we're going to be okay right? Me and you?" Bonnie asked giving Damon the most adorable puppy eyes. Damon bent down to Bonnie's ear.
"Always Bon-Bon" Damon whispered and then placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Now bottoms up Coyote Ugly" Damon joked, smirking at Bonnie, which earned him an eye-roll and then a smile from Bonnie as she took the Tylenol.
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As time went on Bonnie, Sophia, and Caroline went into wedding mode, and Bonnie promised to not get married until Elena had the baby, so all the kids could be at the wedding. Bonnie didn't remember much of what happened after her 6th shot of tequila, the night of her engagement, so she didn't bring up what she saw in Caroline's texts with Sabre. She did note that because of Caroline, Sabre pretended to be interested in the wedding planning, but brushed it off because Caroline never gave her a reason to think any more about the weird friendship they had. Damon grew busy juggling his time now being a dad of two after Elena gave birth to their son Dante and the bar which continued to pick up business, and Bastien continued to follow up on the leads Sophia and Sabre gave him so they could focus on all wedding things.
Bastien and Bonnie decided on a wedding date of September 17th, 2024, in Mystic Falls at the Lockwood Mansion that now housed Matt and his family. They needed a full moon to complete the ritual of Bastien's coven. Many people from the Archambeau's town in France, came to the wedding as well as various other supernatural beings and of course Bonnie's loved ones from Mystic Falls.
The wedding was an evening wedding so the moon would be in attendance as well. Matt and Jeremy's wives thankfully were familiar with the supernatural world so weren't shocked at the different supernatural beings there. Bonnie's bridesmaids, Caroline, Elena, and Sabre all wore the color green in different types of satin dresses. Elena's green dress had a deep v cut, while Caroline's had a low square neck and Sabre's dress was a one-shoulder dress. Bonnie's dress was long, ethereal, and covered in a lacy overlay filled with stars and moons, she had a gold tiara in the shape of Ivy's perfectly placed on her long full wavy curls, she looked as if she had stepped straight out of the moon into the world of the living. Once it was time for the processional, the girls and Bonnie's mom said bye to Bonnie, trying not to cry as they headed out with the groomsmen, and Bonnie's mom to her seat up front, after the kids went out to spread flower petals down the walkway. Bonnie could hear the music from the harps playing knowing that it was almost time, wishing her Grams could be there but also feeling her presence.
Bonnie heard a quick knock on the door and yelled for the person to come in, as the door opened, she turned around to see Damon in a suit looking yet again, even more annoyingly handsome than ever.
"Damon, what are you doing here? It's about to start!" Bonnie nervously questioned Damon, straightening out the skirt of her dress and blushing at the sight of him.
"It's not bad luck because I'm unfortunately not marrying you" Damon teased, trying not to gawk at how magical Bonnie looked.
"I just wanted to make sure we didn't have a runaway bride situation on our hands," Damon teased again.
"I'm not entertaining that thought, but really what are you doing here?" Bonnie asked again.
"I know you didn't really want to go out on your own, and I know you wish your dad was here to walk you down or even Sheila, so naturally, next, or third best thing is your best friend," Damon said softly as he smiled at Bonnie and walked closer to her.
Bonnie's heart skipped a beat and Damon noticed her breathing was becoming more frequent as her breasts heaved up and down in her dress.
"Dammit, I can't cry yet Damon," Bonnie said as her eyes started to well up.
Damon walked over to Bonnie and ran his thumb under her eye to wipe the tear that fell, and then bent down to place a lingering kiss on top of her forehead.
"I also have your something blue," Damon said softly as he pulled out a blue sapphire and diamond bracelet and slowly placed it on her wrist. They both stayed there for a moment taking each other in before Damon lifted his arm to take in Bonnie's as they heard Bonnie's cue Peggy Sue's version of "Fools Rush In".
"Shall we?" Damon looked down and smiled at Bonnie, and Bonnie quickly nodded as she headed out of her room and down the stairs with Damon to give her away at the altar. Both felt that this was the last of their Bonnie and Damon moments which meant something different to Bonnie than it did to Damon. Damon knew now that he had to let her go, as he saw how Bastien and Bonnie looked at each other as they walked down the aisle.
The ceremony was mixed with a traditional ceremony and then transitioned into the ceremony of Bastien's coven that was performed by Sophia. After they cut their hands with a spelled knife, and recited a spell in ancient Latin, the blood was placed in a goblet that they both took sips of. Once Bonnie took in the mixture of hers and Bastien's blood, the world around her started to change. Bastien prepared her on how it would feel at first, colors would be more vibrant, smells would slightly be more noticeable along with her hearing, like how vampires feel as they transition but less jarring and intense.
Bonnie's whole being seemed to change slightly as well, she felt the magic coursing throughout her body and felt even stronger than before. When it was time to seal the ceremony with a kiss, Bonnie immediately felt how different the kiss was, physical touch felt more powerful, and she could feel everything as her body felt electrified. When they were both presented to the crowd of their loved ones as the Bennett-Archambeaus, Bonnie looked ahead and saw her grams smiling at her at the end of the aisle which made her tear up even more.
The whole reception was magical both literally and figuratively and lasted throughout the night after midnight before it was time to wrap up the event. Sophia especially was extremely happy for both Bastien and Bonnie and happy that this was the first time some of her people had been to the States to experience what it was like to be with humans, vampires, and werewolves all together and have it be harmonious, with everyone eating and dancing together. Even Sabre was enjoying herself dancing with everyone.
Once the night was over Bonnie and Bastien headed to the home they shared in Mystic Falls to have their first night together as a married couple before they prepared to go on their normal honeymoon together. They promised to use minimal magic while Bonnie was getting used to the surge of power she now had. The next day they had brunch at the Lockwood mansion outside in the backyard, with Bonnie's mom, Bastien's family, and Caroline, Elena, Damon, and Matt's family before leaving for the airport.
Elena and Damon ended up bringing their kids because it was easier to just bring them so they could head back to New York after brunch. With everyone at the table, Sophia made a toast.
"I just want to thank everyone for making last night so beautiful for my son and daughter - in law, you also have made it possible for some of the covens I am close with and the ones in our town to see the vision I have for the future of the world of magic and that one day we can all coexist with each other to fight for the good of this world, so a big congratulations to the couple and a big thank you to all of you, Cheers" Everyone raised their glass to Sophia and smiled and nodded in agreement.
After a while of everyone eating, discussing the wedding, and Caroline's excitement over Bonnie now being semi-immortal with her, and Abby Bonnie's mom, Elena, feeling slightly sad about the conversation excused herself to use the bathroom, Sabre helped Matt and his wife pick up the plates to take them inside and Bastien got up to help as well. As they all went inside, they left Caroline, Sophia, Abby, Bonnie, Damon, and his kids both at the table.
"Damon, I feel like we've barely been able to have a conversation from yesterday, I want to thank you for eve-" Before Bonnie could finish a word of what she was saying a wooden bullet flew past Bonnie and into Caroline's back narrowly missing her heart causing her to fall over screaming in pain. Before Bonnie could assess the situation she saw more bullets fly toward them hitting Abby through the neck and Damon in his leg.
Not seeing where the bullets were coming from with another one going toward Damon's head and another going towards Sabre, before she or Sabre could make a split decision due to the events happening so fast, Bonnie used her magic to quickly throw Damon and his kids out of the way and turned around to see an already hit Sophia whose veins were turning black as she was coughing up blood, Bonnie in shock ran over to her trying to heal her but it wouldn't work.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me" Sophia sputtered out. Bonnie frantically tried to incant spells, since her new magic wasn't doing anything, any spell that would work as Damon's kids were screaming and crying in the distance.
The commotion caused everyone to run out with Bastien and Sabre running towards their mom and Elena towards Damon and her kids, Matt yelled at his wife to go inside and lock the doors.
Once Bastien and Sabre made it to Bonnie and Sophia, Sabre incanted a spell at Bonnie that flew her away and against a tree taking the wind out of her before turning back towards her mom bawling and asking what happened and Bastien knowing it wasn't the time to yell at Sabre for hurting Bonnie told his mom he'd be right back as he ran towards Bonnie.
"Poisssionn" Sophia muttered as she pointed to her bullet wound with one hand and clung to her necklace with the other. Caroline and Abby both now coming to after healing from the wooden bullet laced with poison that was thankfully and unthankfully laced with a substance that only affects witches. Before Caroline and Abby could assess what was happening, they both heard the howls of werewolves in the distance before Sabre, Bastien, and Bonnie did and yelled at everyone to go inside.
Sabre looked at Sophia in confusion before incanting a spell and sending Sophia's body inside. Sabre then turned around and looked at Caroline in shock.
"Take them inside Caroline, protect them and my mom" Sabre ordered as she nodded her head toward Damon and Elena's direction as they were trying to make their way inside, Damon had a bullet graze his leg which hurt putting any weight on it. Caroline and Abby both vamp sped and grabbed the kids first to hand to Matt, and then grabbed Damon and then Elena and locked the doors behind them.
Bonnie angrily closed her eyes to focus on the world around them, as she reached out, she felt the power of three witches and four werewolves coming their way.
"Three witches, four werewolves," Bonnie said with her eyes still closed, Bastien and Sophia looked at her and then at each other in shock.
The werewolves came into sight first, Bonnie quickly picked up two of the werewolves with her magic and slammed them into the other two causing them to whelp and roll into each other hard.
Before Bonnie could focus on the witches to break through the spell they were using to conceal themselves, one appeared behind Sabre quickly, grabbing her, and then both disappearing. Bastien made his way to the hurt werewolves incanting a spell to reverse one of the werewolves into their human form. Bonnie fell to her knees in a panic attack looking around her and trying to catch her mind up to what all just happened.
When the werewolf appeared in his human form hurt and shaken Bastien looked at his face trying to place where he may know him from, he couldn't feel his emotions either, which was making him angry.
"Resurgunt" the man said to Bastien smiling through the pain, before the man and the other three werewolves disappeared into thin air.
Bastien stood there for a moment angry before making his way back to Bonnie.
"Bast I'm so, I'm so sorry this is all my fault, this is all my fault," Bonnie said anxiously, before breaking out into a sob.
"It's not your fault, we need to find Sabre," Bastien said to Bonnie, holding her shoulders, she nodded in agreement. Before they used their magic to look for her, Sabre appeared, seeming unphased and emotionless.
"She's gone," Sabre said looking at Bastien, who also felt the loss of her mother at the same time as Sabre. Bastien started to sob as Sabre looked at both Bastien and Bonnie, before heading her way inside to meet everyone.
"Sabre I'm so sorry," Caroline said crying and shaking her head as she looked up at Sabre who made her way inside. Sabre walked past Caroline and to her mom who had a tablecloth Matt placed, over her. She looked over at Damon who was getting bandaged up by Matt and his wife, since Damon can't have vampire blood heal him, and glared at him, which Caroline took note of before walking over to Sabre to place an arm around her.
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Earlier -
"I am going to kill you, your entire waste of magic coven, and I'm going to take so much joy in it as I feel every single emotion you have before your last breath," Sabre said to Hana recognizing her as the sister of one of the Czech coven members who attended the wedding the night before.
"So sure of that aren't you, I proved to you where that witches' loyalty lies, why would you ever trust a Bennett that has a soft spot for vampires, your mom was foolish to trust her and your brother for marrying her, there's a war coming, Sabre, and whose side will you be on, a witch who is now more powerful and will grow to be more who shares your mother's sick and twisted ideas that we should all come together one day? Knowing what killed your father, and so many of the other people you've loved. Sabre, you can have all the power you want and more, rid the world of vampires as it should be and any witch to stand in your way and reclaim what's yours, your birthright, now that you share blood with that Bennett witch, the necklace will go to her, but you can help us get the one we really need, to set him free and the-" Before Hana finished her speech Sabre in one word caused Hana's heart to burst.
"You can both come out of hiding now, without her you're so much weaker, hardly a fight if you ask me" Sabre ordered causing the other two witches in cloaks to appear before her.
"Really? Poisoned wooden bullets?" Sabre asked looking at their rifles.
Petr and Ivan both looked at each other and then at Sabre.
They both said "resurgunt" as they both vanished.
Sabre took in what Hana said before heading back to the Lockwood Mansion, now knowing what her new purpose would be once she buried her mother.
I am so pumped soooo pumped for what's coming! Thank you everyone for reading!