Oh my goodness! It feels good to be back writing! Sorry for the long, long , long wait! This chapter is shorter because I wanted to dip my toes back into this world slowly. Thank you all for your continued support!

Bonnie Bennett – Kat Graham

Damon Salvatore – Ian Somerhalder

Stefan Salvatore – Paul Wesley

Lexi – Arielle Kebel

Caroline Forbes/Salvatore – Candice King

Katherine Pierce – Nina Dobrev

Disclaimer: These Characters Belong to LJ Smith/CW Network. No Copyright infringement is intended.

Bastien Archambeau- Jesse Williams

Emeline Archambeau Bennett- Whitney Peak

Present year…

Surprisingly, the journey back to France was not as awkward as Bastien and Bonnie had feared. Their conversations were filled with strategic discussions, calls to other prominent magical houses, and the exchange of intelligence with trusted council members. By the time they reached Archambeau Manor, they had a clearer plan for the challenges ahead.

As they arrived, Ash greeted them, her expression a mix of relief and concern. She had been informed of her brother's potential condition while Bonnie and Bastien were still in transit. The reunion was bittersweet, yet Ash was undeniably glad to have them back.

"Thank you, Ash, for everything," Bonnie said, offering a warm smile as she squeezed Ash's hand.

"Oh it was nothing! Just a few clean-up spells and a lot of bribing—" Ash began, but Bastien interrupted with a chuckle.

"We don't mean the house. You did good, kid. What's the mood like around here?" Bastien asked, glancing around the manor's entrance with a hint of nervousness. He was aware of the difficult conversations that awaited them.

Ash giggled nervously. "Uhm, you're the empath."

"Ah—" Bastien replied, cracking a smile as he patted Ash's shoulder before heading inside.

"I thought it was funny," Bonnie said, sharing a brief smile with Ash.

"A lot has happened," Ash remarked, her tone growing serious.

"That it has," Bonnie acknowledged, biting her lip.

"I just want you to know, you have more allies than you think," Ash said, her voice wavering. "Allies who wouldn't care... about whom you choose to have by your side."

Bonnie gave Ash another grateful smile before turning her attention to the manor. She knew there were bigger issues to address and felt a pang of annoyance at the notion that her personal life could overshadow her years of service to their world.

Inside the foyer, Bonnie greeted the supernatural allies who had gathered to welcome her. After formal introductions, she and Bastien excused themselves to prepare for the council meeting, cleverly disguised as a dinner.

In the bedroom they once shared, both hesitated at the door. Bastien finally spoke, breaking the silence. "I meant to tell you, I sent out a message to Eamon to have my things moved to one of the spare bedrooms down the hall."

Bonnie felt a wave of tension as she took in the changes to the room. "You think of everything, don't you?" she remarked, running her hand along his old side of the bed.

"I didn't want to make things more awkward than they needed to be, but I see that's unavoidable," Bastien sighed.

"Okay, well, we don't have time to waste. I'm going to freshen up," Bonnie said quickly, eager to dispel the lingering awkwardness.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Bastien reassured her. "They'll see that nothing has changed and that we are still very much a team."

Despite his words, Bonnie's frustration grew as the weight of everyone's expectations bore down on her. She feared their announcement might deter support against Adonis and felt the guilt gnawing at her as many lives including her daughter's were at stake.

She nodded with a smile, taking a long look at Bastien as he stood in the doorway. Everything felt surreal—so much had changed since they were last at the manor.

Bastien gave a strained smile and closed the door behind him, allowing Bonnie to finally relax. She moved to her large walk-in closet, now void of Bastien's belongings. Instead, her clothes, freshly hung and folded, filled the space. A leather jacket caught her eye, a gift from Damon decades earlier, bringing a small smile to her face.

Bonnie touched the sleeve, wishing Damon were there with her. It was a familiar longing she had felt many times before. Now that she understood the true nature of those feelings, a wave of emotion overtook her, and she found herself on the verge of tears. The years of suppressed emotions and unacknowledged desires crashed over her like a tidal wave, leaving her breathless.

She sank to the floor, cradling her knees as she sobbed silently. It was as though a dam had broken within her, releasing a flood of sadness. Grasping her chest in an attempt to quell the storm, she felt a familiar presence—a comforting essence she recognized as her Grams.

Looking up, Bonnie saw Grams, barely there, holding onto the smallest thread of Bonnie's humanity to reach her. Bonnie said nothing and closed her eyes as she reached deep within her magic, to block her Grams from reaching her.

Bonnie wiped her tears, taking a moment to steady herself before standing up. She took a deep breath, her mind still swirling with emotions, and made her way to the familiar sanctuary of her bathroom. She turned on the shower, cautiously sticking her hand into the spray to test the water's warmth. As the steam began to fill the room, she shed her clothes and stepped into the comforting cascade.

The warm water hit her weary shoulders, and for a brief moment, she allowed herself to let go of the burdens she carried. It had been too long since she had experienced something so mundane and personal, a simple act that offered a rare chance to reflect on everything that had transpired since that fateful day that changed her life.

As she stood under the stream, Bonnie's thoughts drifted to her escapades—nights spent with Kenji, and the unexpected, exhilarating night with both Kenji and Katherine. The memory caused her eyes to widen momentarily before her thoughts shifted, as they always did, to Damon.

She closed her eyes, letting the water wash over her as she relived the moments they had shared. Each memory ignited a longing in her heart, mind, and body, a pull toward him that was undeniable. As she lathered soap over her skin, she felt a thrill of excitement, particularly as she lingered over the places where Damon had made his presence felt, places that now felt like home to him.

Bonnie hadn't realized how caught up she had become in her thoughts until she found herself gasping for air. A soft moan escaped her lips as she surrendered to the wave of release that overtook her. Her head fell back, eyes closing in the moment's intensity.

Meanwhile back at the Salvator Boarding School –

"Damon, for this to work, you have to focus on Elena. You are her strongest connection out of all of us," Emeline pleaded, her voice carrying the urgency of the task at hand. They finally had everything they needed to properly summon Elena. The ritual now all depended on Damon.

"Yeah, yeah, I know—" Damon replied, distracted. "Do you guys not smell that?" He couldn't shake the scent of warm vanilla that seemed to suddenly envelop him.

Emeline, exasperated, exchanged a glance with Stefan, who turned to Lexi, all silently wondering if this was yet another of Damon's excuses to avoid contacting Elena.

"The only thing we smell is the sweat on Stefan's brow because you're purposely dragging this out. If Bonnie knew you were sabotaging our way to help—" Caroline began, frustration creeping into her voice.

"Caroline! God, do you ever stop for one moment? It's—" Damon retorted, but his words faltered as he felt a strange sensation, as though his body was being summoned elsewhere.

"Something's happening," Damon continued, noticing a drop of water hit his lip. He looked up, puzzled. "Is there a leak?" He stood up, peering at the ceiling, prompting the others to follow his gaze, searching for what he might have seen.

"Okay, I don't have time for this," Katherine quipped, already heading for the door. "I'm going to check on our patient zeros downstairs. I doubt Elena would come with me in the room anyway." Her words drew collective eye rolls from everyone, but they knew better than to argue with Katherine's whims.

As Damon's eyes involuntarily closed, he was pulled into a vision of an unfamiliar bathroom. The vanilla scent intensified, wrapping around him like a familiar embrace. He stepped forward, drawn to the source of the aroma, and through the foggy glass doors of the shower, he saw the outline of a svelte figure.

It was Bonnie, his green-eyed witch. The sight of her pleasantly caught him off guard, and his heart quickened at the unexpected vision.

He walked closer and realized she was touching herself while calling out his name. As he stepped closer, he tried to open the glass door but couldn't as his hand went right through it.

"What? No way," Damon muttered aloud, frustration etched on his face as he realized he was missing the best show of his life. He tried to focus again but had no luck.

"If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up," Damon growled, his voice low and intense. "But if I don't get to see or touch you in this dream, Bonnie, don't be surprised if I ditch all your plans to save the world and come straight to you."

Damon stood back in frustration as he could tell Bonnie was reaching the peak of her pleasure as she called out to him in that moment, Damon grabbed the handle to the glass door again and successfully opened it.

As Bonnie brought her head back down and opened her eyes, she jumped back and grabbed at her parts to hide them as if Damon hadn't explored every inch in detail.

"Damon?!" Bonnie exclaimed, still trying to catch her breath. Damon held out his hand to pull Bonnie into him and immediately crashed his lips into hers not wanting to waste what weird connection this was.

Bonnie was the first to pull away, still confused at what was happening. "Is this real?" Bonnie asked as she touched his face in curiosity, because she could still very well be deep in her fantasy.

"I don't know I think so, but I don't know how, who cares? I'm getting naked" Damon widened his eyes with a smirk before he felt himself slipping from whatever grasp he had with Bonnie in her bathroom.

"Damon?!" Bonnie yelled as he started evaporating before her eyes.

As Damon opened up his eyes, he was back in the study, this time with just Stefan in the room.

"I don't want to know, but you are so lucky, Emeline and Lana stepped away before you started to have an erection with your eyes closed, I don't care to know, whatever that was, but you have 10 minutes to get your shit together Damon" Stefan said as he threw a pillow at Damon, trying to stifle his own amusement as Damon scowled.

Damon quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket and called Bonnie. She picked up on the second ring.

"Was that real?" Damon blurted out, holding a decorative pillow discreetly in front of him.

"Yes, I'm barely getting a robe back on," Bonnie replied, her voice tinged with embarrassment.

"Well, don't cover up on my account," Damon teased. "In fact, send a picture. A hologram, maybe? Is that technology available yet?"

"Damon, I'm serious," Bonnie said, trying to focus. "That...that's never happened before. Not like that. I didn't even incant a spell or—" She paused, closing her eyes as she considered the implications of what had just occurred.

Damon scrunched his face in confusion until the realization hit him, making him grin. "You summoned me from a—"

"Damon, do NOT finish that sentence. I have to go," Bonnie interrupted, quickly hanging up the phone.

"Hey!" Damon called out, surprised she had hung up on him.

Stefan, who had been listening, chimed in with a smirk, "If this is going to be a frequent thing, can she summon your entire body and not just an astral projection? Some of us want to be able to keep our appetites intact."

Damon rolled his eyes at his brother's teasing. Before he could retort, the girls re-entered the study carrying more candles.

"Okay, do we need to revisit whatever's been distracting you, or are you ready to take this seriously?" Emeline asked, setting the candles around them with a wave of her hand.

"It's best if we move on," Damon said, widening his eyes at Stefan, who chuckled at the absurdity of it all.

"Alright," Damon stated in a more serious tone, "I'm ready."

"Okay, let's get this started, shall we?" Emeline motioned for Damon to hold out his hands as they prepared to begin the ritual.