Chapter 40

ONE YEAR LATER...

Bonnie walked along the beautiful beach as afternoon turned to evening. As she passed a bar hut she noticed a woman with light brown hair sitting on a stool chatting and laughing with the barman. As the woman turned away she suddenly became distracted. She stared to her left and Bonnie followed her line of sight.

A tall blonde haired man stood looking out towards the sea. The woman couldn't take her eyes off him. He reminded her of someone she knew… someone she'd known.

Her expression became dark and Bonnie swore she saw vamp veins appear under the woman's eyes. Yep, she was definitely a vampire. And the blonde haired man was about to become her next victim.

As the woman got up out of her seat and started to walk towards the man Bonnie felt something moving against her arm. She started to lose focus and everything became darker until it went completely black and Bonnie woke up from her dream

#

"Hmmm… You weren't watching me sleep were you?" she said to Enzo, who smirked at her in response.

She lay on her stomach on the beach towel feeling the heat of the sun on her back, while Enzo continued to stroke her arm with the backs of his fingers.

They were on vacation in Hawaii enjoying some rest and relaxation. It was one of several getaways they'd had in the last year. They'd only been there for four days and it was already one of the best vacations they'd had so far.

Enzo plucked the strap of the dark violet coloured bikini that Bonnie was wearing, which matched the colour of her hair. She looked at him lazily admiring the muscles of his arms and his back as he lay next to her on his stomach too, on a separate beach towel.

"What time is it?" she asked.

He reached for his cellphone and gazed at the screen. "Nearly 2 'o' clock." He chuckled quietly as he continued to look at the screen. "Message from Marco, asking if we've actually left the hotel room to enjoy the beautiful sights of Hawaii yet."

Bonnie snorted, while Enzo replied to the text message stating, 'Yes, finally.'

"Woulda got a different answer if he'd asked us yesterday," she said to Enzo.

Enzo laughed and then his expression became serious as he continued to look at the phone.

He sat up and Bonnie followed.

"What?" she asked, genuinely worried now.

"It's ready," he said as he turned to look at her.

"Are you?" she asked him.

He looked at her confused. "Do you even have to ask?"

Nikita and her coven had finally figured out how to recreate the cure for vampirism. Enzo had offered to be the first guinea pig. He and Bonnie had complete confidence in the coven and once he tested it out, he and Bonnie planned to seek out other vampires all over the world who wanted to become human again too.

Not only could the cure help vampires who wanted to use it to have a normal life, but Bonnie planned to use it to help her as a Huntress. She wanted to see if she could use it get some of the deviant vampires she targeted put away in prison once they became human again. Their victim's families deserved to feel like they got some kind of justice by knowing who killed their loved ones, rather than the cases remaining unsolved and without motive. To some it was a crazy idea, but she knew from personal experience that not knowing the truth could make life worse.

Looking at Enzo Bonnie smiled. Over his shoulder a couple with a baby caught her eye. She looked at them wistfully and Enzo followed her gaze.

"That could be us in a few years," he commented, watching the young family too.

Bonnie touched her stomach subconsciously and Enzo turned back towards her, noticing the small movement and imagining her carrying his child. Even before they knew for sure that Nikita would be successful in figuring out the cure, Bonnie and Enzo eventually came to the conclusion that if they could have children they would. Bonnie wanted three children and Enzo was satisfied with that number… But, he told her that more would be fine with him too.

If they had a girl they agreed that they would have to name her Nikita after the witch who made her existence possible. And a boy would be named Nicholas, after Enzo's father.

"Of course, there's something else we need to do first..." Enzo announced, interrupting Bonnie's thoughts.

"Oh, what's that?" she teased him, knowing full well where the conversation was heading.

He tickled her waist in revenge for her teasing.

"Stop!" she giggled, but he ignored her. "Enzo…!" she said laughing.

Suddenly he stopped and his expression became serious.

"What?" she asked.

He looked at her intensely. "Let's do it here."

"Seriously?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't you want to marry me anymore, Bonnie Bennett?" he said with a smile.

She looked away thoughtfully. "Caroline would kill us if we did it without her."

"Then we'll tell her to come here," he suggested, taking her hand in his and stroking the palm of her hand with his thumb. "And everyone else too."

"They have lives you know," she scoffed.

"And I'm sure they'll be happy to spare a few days to celebrate with us," he responded with determination.

She watched him and he returned her stare without even blinking. "Why are you in such a rush to do this all of a sudden?"

He laughed. "All of a sudden… I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been ready to marry you since the day I asked you 2 months ago. You know how much I love you… and I've waited for over a century to find someone like you to enjoy life with… Life's too short. Why waste anymore time?"

She smiled at him warmly. "You are such a sap at times."

"Yeah, but that's one of the reasons you love me... Balances out your badass persona."

She rolled her eyes at him, but the cocky look on his gorgeous face kept her smiling. "Out of all the reasons I love you being a sap has to be at the bottom of the list."

Enzo smirked at her. "I'm shocked by the way."

"What? Why?"

He continued to stroke her hand with his thumb gently, looking down at where their skin made contact as he spoke. "You don't usually say those three little words so casually. I usually have to prompt you to get them out of you."

Bonnie shrug casually. "I don't need to say them. You know how I feel about you."

He looked up at her face. "Doesn't hurt to hear it sometimes though," he told her with a beautiful smile.

She gazed at him, admiring how much more open he was about his feelings than she was. But she couldn't resist teasing him again. "Sap!"

He tickled her again until she said the words he always loved to hear from her mouth. "I love you Enzo St. John," she said sincerely.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she slid her fingers into his hair pulling him towards her for a sweet kiss. When their mouths parted Bonnie became distracted by something behind Enzo. He turned around and the only thing he could see was a tall, blonde haired man.

"You're checking out another man after you just told me you love me?" he joked.

"No… ummm," Bonnie murmured.

"You know him…?" Enzo asked since she was still staring at the man.

"Ummm..."

Enzo recognised the expression on her face, he'd seen it so many times before. "Really… we can't enjoy one bloody holiday without you having to go into Huntress mode?" He was a little pissed off, but he was used to this kind of thing happening. So he took it in his stride.

"I can't help my legacy," Bonnie told him apologetically. "I'll make it up to you… As soon as I take care of my bloodsucking friend we'll get that cure into you. Then, we have a wedding to organize and..."

He cut her off with a kiss.

After a minute Enzo broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied.

He brushed his nose against hers then pulled away from her completely. "Come on..." He gathered their belongings in a backpack and pulled her up onto her feet. Holding the backpack in one hand, he lifted Bonnie up with one arm and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her along the beach.

"What are you doing?" she asked laughing.

"I'm bored with the beach."

"We haven't even explored the island yet."

"I'd much rather explore you," he told her in a seductive tone. "And afterwards we can talk some more about this amazing future we have planned… So what do you think of the beach as a venue for the wedding…?"

THE END

Well, there it is. I hope you've enjoyed this fic and I really appreciate the fact that there are people out there who have actually followed it. There are about a million things I would change about this story and I've had plenty of 'why the hell did I write that, it doesn't even make sense moments?' (usually immediately after posting a chapter!). But… once it's out there, it's too late to make major changes.

Anyway, the story might not be perfect, but I'm pleased, and frankly amazed, with the fact that for the first time in my life I have planned and completed a multi-chapter story from start to finish.

So, once again thanks for reading!