til eternity - t - bonnie/damon - chapter four [b]
title: you know I will adore you ('til eternity)
category: the vampire diaries
genre: friendship/romance/drama/humor
ship: damon/bonnie
chapter rating: teen/pg-13
overall rating: explicit/nc-17
word count: 8,319
summary: "Run all you want, but it won't change anything, Bonnie. It doesn't matter what world we're in, you'll always be my wife." After being sucked up into what they assumed would be oblivion, Damon and Bonnie soon find themselves in an idyllic little town where they're free to find peace. Which is exactly what they have for fifteen years, until reality comes calling to bring them home.
[return.]
…
"Date night?" Naomi asked, looking over at Bonnie as she came out of the bathroom in a different outfit than she'd been wearing all day.
"Yeah. Damon, being Damon, made the reservations for seven, which means I don't really have time to go home and get ready." She gave a little spin. "What do you think?"
"You'll knock his socks off, honey." Naomi winked at her. "Lucky guy you got there."
"I prefer to think she's the lucky one, but I can't argue," Damon's voice cut in as he crossed the store from the door. He gave a long, appreciative whistle and wiggled his eyebrows. "Looking even more beautiful than usual, Bennett." He reached for her hand and tugged her toward him, raising it so he could press a kiss to her knuckles. "Ready for dinner?"
"Dinner is a means to an end, Salvatore. I was promised dancing."
His mouth curled up in a smirk. "Sure your tiny little feet can take it."
Slapping her clutch against his chest, she said, "You just try and keep up, old man."
He laughed, low and throaty, and gave her a little spin, hugging her against his side before he started for the door.
"Thanks for closing up, Naomi," Bonnie said over her shoulder.
"Happy to, sweetheart. You have a good night!"
"Thanks, I plan to." Turning, she looked up at Damon as they left the shop. "So? Where are we going?"
"Dinner at Giovanni's and then it's a 60's theme night at the hall. It's too bad you don't have that cute go-go dress from before, but this'll do too."
Glancing down at her dress, she argued, "It's not even close to 60's style."
"You'll just have to make up for it in dance moves then." He shrugged. "It's either that or we turn on the radio at home. This town isn't exactly club central."
"60's dance hall it is." She leaned into his side. "Although I might just take you up on that radio later. At least at home I can go barefoot."
"Whatever strikes your fancy," he said, grinning down at her.
Bonnie smiled. "You say that now… Wait until you're the only one on my dance card."
He gave her a squeeze. "Looking forward to it."
…
Damon's heart was in his throat.
Naomi had called three times, but with all the noise of the tools going around him, he hadn't heard it. Finally picking up his phone on his lunch break, he checked his messages, only to get a frantic and worried one from Bonnie's store manager about an accident that resulted in Bonnie being taken to the hospital. Panic seized him then and he was quick to ask Danny to borrow his truck; the hospital was too far for him to go on foot.
The whole ride to the hospital, he was anxious. Naomi hadn't left much to go off of, just that Bonnie was hurt and he should head to the hospital or give them a call as soon as he could. Given all they'd been through in the past, and his long 177 years of experience, his mind went to the worst case scenarios first. What if it was fatal? Was that even possible? What if there were plains of death and she went to a different one, without him? What if he lost her? His hands squeezed tightly around the steering wheel and he had to swallow tightly.
Pulling into the parking lot of the hospital, he left the truck, parked a little crookedly, and ran inside, hurrying to the front desk. "Bonnie Bennett," he said without preamble. "She was injured at work, I… I don't know how. I just… Can you tell me where she is?"
"Are you family?"
"Am I… Yes. Kind of. We're together. It's…" He ran a hand through his hair, agitated. "Just tell me where she is, if she's okay, something."
"Damon!"
He turned abruptly to see Naomi standing just down the hall, a cup of coffee in hand.
Leaving the desk behind, he jogged toward her. "Where is she?" he demanded.
Naomi pointed to a room twenty feet ahead of her. "They just finished putting the cast on. We were in the waiting room for quite a while."
"The cast?"
She didn't have time to answer, however, as he'd already stepped inside to see Bonnie sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, cradling her arm to her chest, wearing a brand new, hot pink cast. The wave of relief that hit him nearly knocked his legs out from beneath him.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath, crossing the room toward her. His hands cupped her face as he stared down at her searchingly. "You all right? What the hell happened?"
"I'm okay," she reassured, nodding. She reached up to cover one of his hands. "Honestly. It was just a dumb mistake. A light bulb went out and I figured I'd change it myself. I got out the ladder, climbed up there, and well… It was a little too close to the door and a customer walked in, and the rest is history… Knocked me right over. I landed on my arm funny, hence…" She glanced down, directing his attention to her cast.
"You're sure that's it? You didn't hit your head or anything?" He looked over her head, his hands sliding up, searching for a goose egg under her hair.
"Damon, I'm fine," she assured, catching one of his wrists with her fingers. "Honestly, the only thing that's bruised is my pride. It was embarrassing."
"I don't care how embarrassing it was." He brought his arm around her and pulled her in close, her face buried against his chest. "I got that call and I thought…" He swallowed tightly, closing his eyes.
Bonnie wrapped her arm around him carefully, her other hand gripping the front of his shirt. "It's okay. I'm fine."
He nodded, but kept her wrapped up in his arms, his face falling to bury at her neck. It was a few minutes before he let go, and even then it had more to do with the doctor arriving than anything else. Bonnie was given a clean bill of health other than her cast and was told she could go home. If there were any other complications, she should come in immediately, but they were pretty sure it was just the arm and that it would heal just fine in time.
Damon kept his arm around her waist as he walked her out of the hospital.
"Don't you have to get back to work?" she wondered.
"Yeah. I need to bring Danny's truck back. Look, get Naomi to bring you back to the store. I'll meet you there and we can go home."
"Damon, honestly, I'm fine. I have a lot to do at the store and-"
He leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers, and she cut herself off, staring up at him.
"I thought I lost you, Bonnie…" His voice was thick, and he swallowed tightly. "I can't just go back to work and pretend that didn't scare five years off my afterlife all right?"
She stared up at him and, after a moment, nodded. "Okay."
"Okay." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, lingering a long moment, and then he let her go, and walked her to Naomi's waiting Volkswagen. He helped Bonnie into the passenger seat and reached past her to do up her seat belt before he stepped back, closing the door behind her. "Twenty minutes, all right?"
She nodded.
After the car left, he made his way over to the truck and started back for the work site. The whole ride there, a little voice repeated, over and over, "She's okay, she's okay, it's okay, she's okay."
Five years ago, he could remember deciding that, if it came down to it, he could sacrifice the witch. There was no love lost between them and, if it came down to it, he would trade her life for Elena's. Things were different now. Dramatically so. The mere thought of losing Bonnie was… terrifying to him. Not because he would be left alone, but because he wouldn't have her there, and he didn't want to know what that was like. He never wanted to know what that felt like. So he wouldn't. He vowed, then and there, he didn't care what it took, he'd keep his little witch alive and well. And his. Always his.
…
"How's Bonnie doing?" Danny wondered. "She still bitching she can't do anything with her cast?"
Damon snorted. "She had me do the books for her last night. She leaned over my shoulder and corrected everything I did. Felt like I was in school again…" He frowned. "I hated school."
"How much longer until it comes off?" Chris asked, topping off each of their glasses with the pitcher of beer he'd bought.
"Two more weeks, tops. She can't wait. I think she marked it down on the calendar." He smiled, amused. "She's driving Naomi nuts, too. Bonnie's getting her to do everything she can't at the store, which, apparently, is a lot."
"Yeah, Brandon said she's been a bit more stressed lately," Chris offered.
"I've got it covered. Tomorrow's her day off and I've got it all planned out. Naomi's going to talk her into a spa day and then I'll pick her up after, take her for dinner and a movie, run her a hot bath, give her a massage, she'll be stress free," he boasted, tipping his beer back.
"Cheers, brother," Danny said. "Now that we got your lady problems figured out, why don't you two help me figure mine out?"
"Carla still talking about having a baby?" Chris asked, half-grinning.
"No, not baby. Babies. Plural. Like, a bucket load of 'em." He shook his head as they laughed. "I don't have the income for that. Hell, I don't have the income for one. And besides, we're not married yet. I always kind of pictured the whole thing before I settled down, y'know?"
"You said 'yet'…" Damon pointed out, eyebrow raised. "Meaning you're planning on marrying her eventually."
Danny sighed, sitting back in his seat. "Yeah, I guess I am."
"I call godfather to at least one of those brats," Chris said. "The cutest one, obviously."
"Keep the cute one, I want the smart one," Damon decided. "She can help her uncle hit it big and retire. Me and Bonnie can live it up in some mansion on the hill and I'll rent the house out to rowdy college kids."
"Still feuding with Gladys?" Danny asked, eyebrow quirked.
His mouth screwed up with distaste and then brightened abruptly. "I'm thinking of starting a garage band… Something loud and angry." He looked between them, smirking. "Who's interested…?"
…
"Happy birthday to you… and many moooore…"
Damon was the loudest singer of them all; Bonnie was pretty sure he could make a competition out of anything.
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes darted around to all the familiar faces surrounding the table. She felt a tiny bit embarrassed by the attention, but, at the same time, incredibly grateful. The cake in front of her was covered in brightly burning candles. She leaned forward, inhaling deeply, and paused, smiling up at Damon as he caught her hair, pulling it behind her so it wouldn't fall into the icing or the flames. He nodded his chin forward and she turned back, looking down at the flickering candle flames. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and made her wish. Abruptly, she blew out her candles, turning her head side to side to get them all. All but one went out, a single candle still burning triumphantly, and she gave it one last blow to add it to the rest.
Naomi reached over then, pulling the cake in her direction to take out all the candles and put them on a little pink paper plate.
The others were talking, a collection of voices filling the room, and Bonnie sat back with a smile, watching them all. Her friends, her employees, people she cared about and who cared about her back. When her eyes burned, she wanted to blame it on the leftover smoke from the candles, but a part of her was blindingly sad that two specific faces weren't added to the mix, while another part of her was just so happy that she had these people with her.
A hand fell to her shoulder, squeezing gently, and Bonnie turned, looking up to see Damon half-smiling down at her. She rested her chin atop his hand for a moment and let her eyes fall to half-mast. She didn't have Caroline or Elena and there was a good chance she never would again. That made her heart ache; it made it clench and burn. But they were okay, they were alive, and they would want her to be happy. Especially today.
So she blinked back her tears, reaching up to swipe quickly beneath her eyes, and then she turned a bright smile on her friends. She accepted the knife Naomi offered and started cutting up the cake to serve out slices to everyone, including Naomi's and Annette's kids, who were running around, playing tag and hide n' seek until cake became a very real option. She handed out each slice and watched the kids scurry off with icing beards.
Forking up a bite of her own, she watched as Damon threw his head back, laughing at whatever he, Chris and Danny were talking about, and something warm settled in her chest.
"So? What'd you wish for?" Naomi wondered.
Bonnie turned, smiling at her close friend. Sincerely, she answered, "Peace."
Naomi bumped her shoulder with hers. "Of the world variety or…?"
"No. Nothing that big. Maybe I'm selfish, but… I just want it for myself."
"We should all want a little peace in or lives," she agreed. "We never really enjoy it when we have it, but you better believe we recognize we need it when it's gone."
Bonnie nodded agreeably. "Definitely. Which is why I'm going to make more of an effort to appreciate what I have. Starting now. Today. No more waiting for the ball to drop or telling myself to relax later. I want peace and I can have it."
Humming, Naomi raised a thoughtful brow. "Is it really a wish if you create it for yourself?"
"Maybe it's more of a promise then, to me."
"Doesn't that take the magic out of it?"
Bonnie grinned. "Realizing I need to give myself a break is probably a miracle, so if anything, I think we can say that's magic enough."
Naomi smiled. "All right then." She reached over, hugging an arm around Bonnie's shoulders. "Well, I can't say I disagree. You deserve a break. Sometimes I look at you and all I see is a giant ball of stress. Where it comes from, I don't know, but I'm always here if you want to talk about it. You know that, right?"
Bonnie rested her head against Naomi's affectionately. "I do. And I might just take you up on that one day."
"Good."
"Who's ready for presents?" Annette suddenly exclaimed.
With that, the party got back on track and Bonnie purposely put any melancholy feelings about the two people she most wanted to be there to the back of her mind. She had to focus on the here and now; it was time to let go of her guilt and her regret and accept that this was life and it could be amazing if she would let it.
Happy birthday to her.
…
Of course, as soon as Bonnie asked for peace, the world offered her the opposite…
She was searching the bookshelves for nothing in particular. It was her day off and she planned on relaxing on the couch with a good book, preferably something that she hadn't read before. Considering the sheer volume of books they owned, that looked like a very real possibility. What she found instead was nothing she'd ever expected. Spine after spine, new and old, she dismissed some on title alone, and others out of familiarity, and then, she found her fingers lingering on a faded brown spine, no title to be seen, but a very familiar split that curved up from the bottom. The book was worn, well used, and increasingly familiar.
Bonnie's fingers began to shake as she very slowly pulled it from the shelf. There was no title on the front, no embellishments. It was simple, old, and very, very important.
A tear tripped down her cheek as she slumped down to her knees, opening the cover and letting her palm rest over the front page of thick, aged parchment. It took her a few moments to gather herself. She flipped through the pages, looking over each spell with affection, a smile turning up one corner of her mouth. Her family grimoire was heavy in her lap, but in the best way possible. For a few minutes, all she could think about was how good it felt to have something so intrinsically hers right there in front of her. She'd been separated from home, from her powers, for so long.
She frowned then. As far as she knew, her powers were still very much gone. She'd long stopped trying to use them, but even without that, she just knew. She could feel their absence. The part of her that was connected to the spirits, to the earth, to her abilities, it was hollow, like a well inside her that couldn't be filled. And it still felt that way. Even now, even holding the book that offered her any number of possibilities, she could feel the absence of her powers like a gaping hole in her gut.
Despite knowing that, however, she immediately started trying to use her powers. She focused on the candle on the coffee table, stared at it with all of her attention, with every fibre of herself, and she said with complete authority, "Incendia."
She waited, hopeful, determined, but nothing. Not a twitch, not a flicker, nothing.
Bonnie tried again.
She tried over and over again. She searched her grimoire for the simplest of spells, but nothing worked. Nothing happened.
She had her grimoire and nothing she could use it for.
Biting down on her lip, she shook her head, dropping her gaze down to the book in front of her. And she couldn't help but wonder, "What are you here for?"
[Next: Chapter Five.]
author's note: so there's definitely a lot more hints toward romantic feelings in this one, but as you can see, there's a bit of a hitch in the situation with the arrival of the grimoire. this was the other mystery I mentioned in the previous chapter. it's also going to cause some tension with bonnie and damon, for reasons you'll understand next chapter.
thank you so much for reading! I'm so happy to read each and every one of your reviews and to see how much you're enjoying the journey so far!
please leave a review if you can! they really keep me going!
thanks,
- lee | fina