It's a twofer!

Month 1, Day 4

"Damon, pull your chute! Is there a malfunction? You need to pull your chute!"

The urgent yelling in Damon's ear locked his consciousness into place, but the weightlessness didn't subside. He opened his eyes to stare at a beautifully blue sky with scattered patches of fluffy white clouds, blinked, and found himself staring at a fast approaching ground.

"Pull your chute! Pull your chute!"

He pulled it and was subsequently yanked back by air. His altitude stopped dropping rapidly and instead he floated toward the floor. The body tied to his spasmed violently before gasping awake. She yelped in surprise and looked up as Damon looked down.

"Oh, thank god, it's you," Bonnie shouted. She peeped the ground and quickly looked up, holding on tight to the gear that caged her.

"We're skydiving," Damon said loudly. He continued to steer the parachute.

"I can see that!"

"Glad to see you come to your senses!" the voice in his ear said.

Damon pulled the earbud out and threw it over his shoulder. "Have you ever been skydiving before?"

"No!"

"Well it's mostly safe as long as you know what you're doing, your parachute works, and you pull it on time."

"Good to hear!"

"The bad news is we didn't pull it on time. This universe has really bad timing."

Bonnie stayed silent. Damon cleared his throat. "The good news is I know what I'm doing. But we're gonna land fast and hard."

"How fast and how hard?"

"Like something is going to break hard."

Maybe the universe would pull them out before they landed. Bonnie crossed her fingers.

"Look at me."

Bonnie did what he said and gasped. "Is showing me your vamp face supposed to make me feel better?"

"Knowing I have a vamp face is making me feel better. Shorter recovery time."

"What about me?"

"Curl into a ball and I'll try to take the brunt of the damage. You see the ground coming up?"

With her eyes closed? "No!"

"Well it's soft grass for a reason. We should land in 10, 9, 8…"

Bonnie curled into as small of a ball as she could and clenched her eyes shut as she waited for impact. Damon held his breath, ready for pain but still dreading it. He inhaled sharply and…

Damon raised his feet away from the ground and let them skid across the terrain. He felt friction lessen, disengaged the chute, and planted his feet before hopping forward. He wrapped himself around Bonnie in mid air and they crashed into the ground.

Damon grunted in pain as his right arm broke, but held on tight as he and Bonnie rolled across the ground.
They rolled over 50 feet before finally stopping. Damon rolled onto his back to stare at blue skies again. His chest heaved, taking Bonnie along for the ride. The pressure of her weight on his chest made him feel even more alive. He lifted his left arm to the sky.

"WOOOOOH!" Damon cheered. "HELL YEAH!"

Bonnie wriggled against him like a baby too young to roll onto its back. "Let me off, Damon!"

He kept cheering. "Take it in, Bonnie! We're alive! The universe tried to kill us and WE'RE ALIVE!"

He ripped a tuft of grass and threw the blades in the air to let them sprinkle over them again and again.

"Stop it!" Bonnie sputtered indignantly.

But Damon did what he wanted until he had Bonnie throwing grass at him. They traded throws but tired out quick, opting to lie limply in the grass. Damon could feel his arm adjusting itself to heal in the next few minutes.

Bonnie drew his attention when she began to shake. She burst out laughing as loudly as Damon's cheers.
"Oh my god," she said through tears of mirth, "You're right. You're so right."

Damon pushed his chin into his chest to look at her and Bonnie craned her head back to look at him.

She smiled openly at him. "You saved us. Thank you."

The corner of Damon's mouth lifted effortlessly. "It's what I do."

"Can getting me off of you be something you do too?"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your panties on…or don't."

He eased himself into a sitting position and was awash with a doppleganger memory.

"This place is gorgeous," a young woman gushed, flipping her straight, dark auburn hair over her shoulder.

She followed after Damon and Stefan with her cutely short friend as they toured the estate. Their heels clacked against the polished wood floors and echoed throughout the hallway of the minimum occupancy inn.

Stefan fell into step with her. "Thank you, Miss Gilbert," he said and bowed almost discreetly. He donned a charming smile and held her gaze. She giggled femininely and turned back to the art.

The four passed by a large emblem of the Salvatore seal. Next to it hung a portrait of Giuseppe Salvatore.

"Giuseppe Salvatore. Your father?"

"Yes. He passed a long time ago and left us his land. I don't think either of us had reached 25 when we decided to turn it into a winery," Stefan recounted.

"Slash bed n stay slash skydiving experience," Damon added.

Bonnie ran a finger over the golden engraving. "So Mr. Salvatore, you and Mr. Salvatore-"

"Please, call me Stefan and my brother Damon."

Bonnie smiled convivially. "Then I'm Bonnie and my friend here is Elena."

Elena wiggled her fingers in a friendly wave.

"The two of you manage this whole business by yourselves? Must be really popular with the ladies."

"Usually our guests are couples, Bonnie, and we don't often take vacation," Stefan said smoothly.

Damon stepped forward. "I can't say we've ever had any guests as beautiful as you two either."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Bonnie said.

"What other girls?" Damon asked confused. "I'm only looking at you."

And it was true. From the moment he saw her he couldn't look away. The intensity of his stare bore into her, making her toes tingle. Bonnie's lips parted and spread into a coy smile.

"Who needs a vacation when you live here?" Elena threw in distractedly.

Stefan sighed in relief. "You know everyone who comes here says that to us, but I never believed it from anyone else." It was enough for Elena to allow him a step closer.

"Bonnie!" someone shouted.

"Who is that?" Bonnie wondered aloud.

"...It's...Elena," Damon answered slowly.

"Elena? Just tell me which of these I'm supposed to unbuckle!"

The two figures got closer and closer as Bonnie struggled to yank herself free. Damon's arm set and he finally started to help. Elena and her partner finally reached them. She dropped to her knees and helped take Bonnie's helmet off.

"Oh my god are you okay? I thought you were going to die!" Elena hugged Bonnie as she sat on top of him.

Bonnie patted Elena sympathetically. "I'm fine. We're fine. I think. Are you fine?"

"Now you ask. How about getting off of me?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Now you ask," she mimicked.

Elena helped pull Bonnie to her feet and hugged her again.

"What happened, Damon?" the second man asked. He was olive toned with long hair tied into a tight bun.

"Uh- something hit me. I think it was a baseball. Knocked me out," Damon lied.

The man snorted. "Are you serious?"

Bonnie jumped in, "Yeah! He went slack and I thought I was going to die so I passed out."

"Oh my god!" Elena cried and hugged Bonnie tighter.

"Wow. Um...we're a little off from the landing point but it won't take long to get to the van," he said.

Elena nodded eagerly. "I think everyone could use some wine."

"I think I'll take some bourbon," Damon muttered. He stretched his arm and limped after them.

Being Back, Day 2

Damon sprawled across the living room couch fully nude. He had thrown his clothes in the wash to wear later and now, as he waited, channel surfed on flat screen.

"She even paid for your cable!" he shouted to Bonnie. He guffawed. "Premium channels!"

"Happy for you babe!" Bonnie called down. She threw another piece of clothing onto her bed and stared at her choices, finger tapping on her hip.

"Caroline's really not that bad," Damon said to himself switching to a different channel. His brow furrowed when he heard the front door unlock. Then it opened.

Damon sat up just as Elena walked into the entrance of the living room. He quickly covered his junk with a pillow. "OH, HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY...ELENA."

Bonnie swung her head up so hard she lost her balance on her way into some jeggings. She tripped into her closet and into a pile of clothes. She could still hear Damon's overzealous voice from downstairs, "HOW DID YOU GET INSIDE OF BONNIE'S HOUSE?"

Elena dangled the house key awkwardly. "Caroline let me borrow the key. What are you doing?"

He glanced around the room innocently. "What ever do you mean?"

Elena pointed to the pillow hiding his nether regions.

"Oh- that. I'm just...hanging loose. Catching the breeze! Classic Damon."

Elena tucked her hair behind her ear. "When have you ever covered up for me?"

"Just...being polite?"

Bonnie rushed down the stairs and almost crashed into Elena at the hallway.

"Elena! Hey!" she exclaimed too loudly. She gave her a stiff hug and looked at Damon.

"He's naked," Elena said.

A beat passed before Bonnie reacted to his nudity. "Agh! Damon, what are you doing?" she chastised. She turned to Elena. "His clothes are in the wash."

"I didn't have anything else to wear," Damon said.

"I left you something in the bathroom," Bonnie hissed.

"They didn't fit."

Elena lifted a bag for both to see. "Good thing I brought you clothes then?"

"Oh, thank you!" Bonnie gushed. She reached out for the clothes and Elena handed them over hesitantly.

Bonnie held them out for Damon to take. She looked over Elena as Damon made his way sans pillow. It seemed she hadn't changed a bit. Damon came too close and took the clothes from Bonnie, smiling suspiciously innocent from girl to girl.

Elena cleared her throat. "Are you going to-"

"Go get dressed!" Bonnie commanded through gritted teeth.

Damon's eyebrows raised high. "Oh, right. Excuse me, ladies." He bowed respectfully as he shimmied past Bonnie and upstairs.

Bonnie sighed heavily, then slapped her thighs suddenly.

"So you look good!" she tried and Elena burst out laughing.

"You don't have to force yourself, Bonnie."

"Force myself?"

Elena placed a hand on Bonnie's arm. "I know it's going to be weird to be back. No one wants to rush you into anything." She lifted another bag to Bonnie's eye level. "So I brought some cellphones for when whenever either of you are ready. Our numbers are already programmed."

"Thank you..." Bonnie said graciously.

Elena smiled. "I just wanted to be sure to check on you guys. It's good to have you back, Bon." And this time the hug they shared felt more like old times.

People can't always be so understanding and reassuring!

xoxoxoxo