Chapter 2

3 years later

Mystic Falls, Virginia

Damon felt numb. He had felt numb from the moment that Bonnie walked away from him. And he thought about that moment every single day. He thought about his cowardice and guilt, and every night he would fantasize about what his life would have been likely if he had chased after her.

If.

Such a peculiar word that held so much meaning in Damon's life now.

What if he chased after Bonnie?

What if he broke up with Elena?

What if him and Bonnie left Mystic Falls together?

Would he feel this numbness everyday? Would he be happy? Would he not have made the stupid decision of getting engaged to Elena?

He was unhappy and no one seemed to notice, mainly because he wore a mask of normalcy to appease Elena. He had thought about leaving, but the guilt would claw its nails into his back and force him to stay put by Elena's side.

He felt as if owed it to her. He came back to Mystic Falls and played a role all of the unhappy moments in Elena's life. He fought his brother in an emotionally taxing battle for her love. He contributed to Elena's selfish traits, he let her believe that her horrible, self-centered personality was good. He created a Katherine 2.0 and he knew it whenever he looked in her eyes and saw the same glint that Katherine used to have.

It was his fault and he had a moment of weakness. He allowed himself to seek comfort and love in the arms of the woman he truly desired, and in doing so he broke his true love's heart.

No one could win in the situation, so he made the decision to tie his life to Elena's as long as he could in the only way he knew how. Marriage. Because unlike Elena, Bonnie could be saved and she deserved the life of freedom that she so desperately longed for.

So when he sat on his bed, and listened as Bonnie drove far away from Mystic Falls and him, he knew he was doing for good reasons. He wanted Bonnie to live the life she always dreamed of, the life he couldn't give her.

So, he opted for a vanilla, domestic life with Elena. That way could monitor her, keep her in line because for whatever reason, unbeknownst to him, Elena was willing to do anything for him.

He had her trust and her love, and if he kept up the charade that he had playing at for the past few years, he could learn to love Elena the way she wanted to be loved by him.

In true, controlling Damon fashion, Damon became the mayor of Mystic Falls. Everyone in the town held a certain admiration for him. The teenage girls and middle-aged women were obsessed with him physically and the men believed he had a "good head on his shoulders".

All the attention and work that the position required distracted him from his loneliness and numbness. It also got him away from Elena for a few hours.

But all of the avoidance that his job offered disappeared the minute he stepped through the door at the end of the day.

He would be bombarded with wedding details, the latest Mystic Fall gossip and the not so subtle hints that were made about another man hitting on Elena while she was shopping.

It was a constant routine, and today was like no other.

Damon took off his coat and placed his briefcase in his home office as Elena stood behind his desk rambling about her day.

He nodded his head and sang a calm song of "mm-hm's" and "really". It wasn't until he heard her name that he paid attention.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you I got Caroline to text me Bonnie's address and I sent her an invitation." Elena exclaimed.

Damon swiftly turned around to face his fiancee.

"You what!" he practically shouted.

Elena nodded her head with a proud smile on her face.

"Yep, I achieved the seemingly impossible. I haven't seen her in years and when we were kids we both promised each other that we would go to each other's weddings. She's my best friends and I know you guys spent all that time together on the Other Side and I just saw it fitting that she come back to see us for the happiest day of our lives." Elena finished by placing her hands on her hips and sighed a content sigh, mentally patting herself on the back.

Damon's mind blanked. He realized he was letting his mask fall, before gaining composure again.

He slightly coughed, clearing his throat. "Did she um...did she reply?"

"Yes, in fact she called me and said that she was planning to come out here for that month anyway, so it worked out perfectly! She even said she would help me if I needed it. And with Caroline being my maid of honor, it will be like a small Mystic Gang reunion. Doesn't that sound fun, babe?" Elena rambled excitedly.

Damon closed his eyes for a second and thought over the new information he had just received. Bonnie in Mystic Falls for a whole month.

The month of his wedding no less.

"Did she say she was coming with somebody?" Damon regretfully asked.

"Actually, she did. I don't know who, but she did say she had a plus one."

Damon's mind wandered to the worst and his heart shattered. He walked around the desk and gave Elena a small peck on the cheek.

"That's great honey. I'm sorry, but I have to go back to the office, I forgot a file."

Elena's smiled dimmed. "Oh, okay. Well dinner's going to be ready in thirty minutes, so don't take too long. Are you okay Damon?" she asked.

Damon developed a smile that was sure to keep Elena at bay. "Of course, why wouldn't I be? I'm marrying the love of my life in a few weeks."

Elena giggled and placed her hands on the side of Damon's face, pulling him down for a kiss. After a few seconds, Damon slowly pulled away and placed her hands back down to her sides.

"I'll be back soon, I promise." Damon said.

Before Elena could respond, he walked out and headed to his car.

Damon drove twenty minutes to a vacant area right outside of Mystic Falls. He parked in front of a large house and retrieved a key out of the flower pot sitting next to the front. He walked inside the house, the house that he built for her after she left.

After locking the door behind him, Damon poured himself a glass of bourbon and sat on the couch inside the living room.

He sipped his drink and carefully analyzed the picture of him and Bonnie that was framed and situated on the living room table.

He remembered the day they took that picture so clearly in his mind it felt like it was yesterday. He had drove them two towns over and surprised Bonnie with a trip to the carnival. They had been together intimately for only a few weeks, but he wanted to do something special for her, something that would show her he cared.

They ate funnel cake and played games. He won her a small teddy bear and jokingly called it new boyfriend. They rode the ferris wheel and when they reached top he pulled out his phone and kissed her cheek while snapping a picture.

He'll never forget the way she looked at him. He had never seen so much love in someone's eyes before and the fact that that love was directed towards him made it all the better.

Next to the frame, Damon opened a small decorative chest and took out the ring that he would have given Bonnie if he had ever got the chance to ask her to spend the rest of her life with him.

As he examined the ring, he thought about Bonnie coming to his wedding, and for a small moment he allowed himself to imagine having a second chance with the love of his life.

Oakland International Airport

"Hello folks, we will be preparing for take-off to Richmond,Virginia in just a few minutes."

Bonnie turned and looked at Hannah,who was fast asleep,then back out the window as she thought one thing.

"What the hell am I doing?"

"Will you please stop shaking your leg like that, it's unnerving." Hannah pleaded to Bonnie.

They had rented a car and Hannah was driving them to Mystic Falls.

"I'm sorry, I'm just really nervous. I haven't been back here in three years and...I don't know, I have a lot of memories here, most of them not so good."

"Girl, I know you. You have done more in your short life as a witch than most of the elders back in California. You're a Bennett, which means that you're strong and courageous. You can get through a couple weeks back in your hometown."

Bonnie laughed and shook her head.

"I don't know, maybe it's because I scared to see-"

"Nope." Hannah cut her off. "You are not scared to see the man who broke you heart and made you feel like trash. You are not some sorry ass side chick and when we get to Mystic Falls you are gonna show him what he is missing out on."

Bonnie laughed.

"You know, you're right."

"Of course I am." Hannah flipped her hair.

Bonnie giggled and looked out the window.

"Welcome To Mystic Falls"

May 10, 1994

Mystic Falls Prison World

Bonnie and Damon had been living in the 1994 afterlife for six months. They had grown accustomed to certain routine that included their usual banter over insignificant things.

Damon usually made breakfast everyday and Bonnie would complain about his tasteless pancakes. Whenever they watched a movie, Damon would complain about said movie always being The Bodyguard. And every game they they tried to play with each other would always end in both accusing the other of cheating and one or the other storming out of the room, leaving the game to be discarded on the floor.

Bonnie was usually the one who always stormed out of the Boarding House, leaving Damon alone until she came back a couple hours later. Then, they would silently move around each other and pretend as if they didn't just fight about who cheated on Monopoly.

They bickered like an old married couple and this was their day to day for the first five months of being stuck in 1994. It wasn't until the first night of the sixth month that everything changed.

"You know, we've been in this place for six months now and I still feel like I barely know you."

Bonnie sat cross-legged on the living room floor. She was fiddling with an old camcorder that she found in Boarding House attic, while Damon was searching through his endless collection of C.D.'s.

"What are you talking about witchy, I know plenty about you." Damon said as he flipped to another page in the C.D. case.

Bonnie looked up at him and cocked her head. "You know plenty about me because you let me do all of the talking. Now, I'm all out of topics. Besides, I want to hear more about you anyway, all of the years that you've lived, you have to have some good stories to share."

Damon turned around and pursed his lips. "You can barely stand to be in my presence for more than an hour and a half, now all of sudden you want to hear my life stories. What's gotten into you Bennett?"

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, just curious I guess. Plus, it would be nice to hear you talk about something that doesn't involve Elena."

Damon grimaced. "I don't talk about Elena all the time."

Bonnie tilted her head and lifted her eyebrows. "Are you kidding me? You talk about her and your relationship so much that I can tell you what you guys favorite sex positions are."

Damon was thoroughly taken aback. He had never heard Bonnie be so vulgar before and to be quite honest he was liking it. He boisterously laughed. "Wow, I never thought I would see the day where Bonnie Bennett would talk so openly about sex."

Bonnie shrugged. "What? I'm a grown woman. I can talk openly about sex" she said slightly offended.

"Oh really? Now that you've finally decided to drop your Virgin Mary stigma I think we should play a game."

"First off, I don't have a Virgin Mary stigma. Second, every time we play a game, you always cheat." Bonnie crossed her arms.

"Well, you can't cheat in this game."

"Fine, what is it?" Bonnie gave in.

Damon made his way over to Bonnie and sat adjacent to her on the floor. "Well, it's called plead the fifth. We are going to ask each other questions about our sexual history and if a person decides that they don't want to answer a question, aka plead the fifth, they have to take a shot.

"Sex and booze! Could you be anymore of a cliche Damon" Bonnie grimaced.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Well, are you in Withcy?"

Bonnie thought about her options for a minute. She was feeling especially bold today for no particular reason.

"Yeah, I'm in. I'll start. Is Elena the best sex you've ever had?"

Both Damon and Bonnie's eyes enlarged. "Oh my gosh. I can't believe I just asked that. You do not have to answer that question." Bonnie stuttered embarrassingly.

Damon surprised her by laughing. "Hitting me with the hard ones already. To answer your question, no, she is not the best sex I've ever had."

"Who was it then" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Now slow your roll girl, I ask the next question. Was Jeremy you're first?" Damon cocked an eyebrow.

Bonnie breathed out a deep sigh and closed her eyes, afraid to see any traces of shame on Damon's face. "No, he wasn't."

Damon smiled like a cheshire cat. "This is going to be interesting."

Bonnie smirked. She didn't know if it was the drinks or the game or both, but the more she looked at Damon, the more she realized how handsome he was. She was always aware of his good looks, but she was usually turned off by his douchebag attitude. But, the more she got to know him in such an intimate space, the more she noticed things that attracted her.

His piercing blue eyes, his tall and broad frame, his jet black hair, his smirks, his laugh, his condescending and witty comments that could make her laugh or make her mad. She was comfortable around him, and that was something that Bonnie never thought that she could be.

Damon used to be foreign, now he was a safe haven, a partner in an empty world. That's why she always came back to him when she was mad.

Their game went on, and after some back and forth, Damon asked the question that would shift their entire lives.

"What was your first time like?" Damon slightly squinted his eyes at her and tilted his head, genuinely curious about her answer.

Bonnie nervously laughed and rubbed her hands on her thighs. "Well, that's personal."

"You can plead the fifth Bon. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"And let you win, are you serious?" Damon laughed at her sassy comment.

"Okay, let's hear it then," Damon pushed.

"Well, it was the summer before my junior year, right before you came to town. My dad had taken me to Chicago with him because he had to be away for business for a month and he didn't trust my Grams to take care of me. That was before he knew she was a witch and he thought she was just a crazy drunk." Bonnie chuckled.

"Anyways, I was left alone a lot and one day I had decided to go to the art museum. I had been there for about an hour when I met this guy, Marcel. He had to be about twenty five or twenty six, but it didn't really matter to me, he was good looking and interested and I was young. He thought that I was eighteen and I rolled along with it, made up a whole story that I was going to the University of Chicago and everything."

"Wow, never knew Bonnie Bennett could lie. Thought you were too moral."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about Damon." Bonnie gave him piercing look and coyly smiled.

Damon cleared his throat. He thought that maybe it was the immense amount of bourbon and their closeness, but as she told her story, she became more and more captivating. She had him hanging on to every word. "Go on." he said.

"Well, we got to talking and I found out that he lives in New Orleans and he was visiting for the week. So, we spent that whole week together, just talking getting to know each other. He was older, charismatic, sexy. It was fun to be around him, he made me feel mature and wanted, like a woman."

"With him I was no longer Mystic Falls, dependable Bonnie Bennett. I was confident, alluring Bonnie Bennett." She looked down at the floor and started playing with the strings in the rugs, trying to avoid Damon's penetrating stare.

"On his last night, I stayed over at his hotel room. That night he made me feel a way that I have never felt before. He knew I was inexperienced, so he took it slow at first. Asking if I was okay, asking if I was sure, the whole works. Once I felt calmer, we started getting into this intense rhythm. There was a lot of foreplay. I think he wanted to make sure I was comfortable, you know mentally and physically ready." Bonnie cleared her throat and looked back up at Damon.

He was hanging on to her every word,his eyes flickering to her lips every do often. Her vulnerable tone and openness was attractive to Damon, and unbeknownst to him, he was turned on.

"When he finally got to the deed, it was surprisingly more enjoyable than I had thought it would be. You know, I had always heard stories from Caroline and Elena about the pain and the awkwardness, but it wasn't like that. It was romantic and exciting and definitely not painful." Bonnie took a deep breath. She was nervous about his reaction. Bonnie never told anyone that story, not even Elena and Caroline. She was exposing herself and she didn't know why.

"Wow Bonnie, I never would have thought that you out of all people would do something so sinful. Miss Conservative lost her virginity to an older man! How conspicuous." Damon playfully smirked.

Bonnie laughed, grateful for his breaking of the tension. "Well, I can be naughty sometimes. Trust me I have Marcel to vouch for that."

Damon lifted an eyebrow. "Only Marcel? Are you telling me that you and Jeremy never did had sex?"

Bonnie rubbed her arms and looked down, slightly embarrassed."We did have sex, but it was very cookie cutter. It also took us a while to reach to that point of intimacy. Mainly because of him cheating and me dying, but once we finally did, I didn't really feel much. But, Jeremy's younger and not as experienced. Marcel just did for me what Jeremy never could do."

Bonnie was candid with Damon, for what reason she didn't know. Maybe she liked being honest about Jeremy for once. Maybe she liked the attention Damon gave to her. She saw the way that Damon's demeanor changed and she was attracted to the way that he held on to every word.

Damon's eyes got heavy with sexual tension. It was as if there was some gravitational pull that made him move closer to Bonnie. "And you haven't found anyone that could make you feel the way Marcel made you feel or even better."

Bonnie started to breathe heavily her eyes flickering to his lips with every word Damon said. "No. I haven't."

Damon consciously wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. "Maybe we can change that."

The next thing Bonnie knew they were kissing.

Their hands were fumbly searching each other's body. Their tongues fought for dominance. Bonnie moaned as Damon's hand cupped her breast underneath her shirt and she tugged him closer. Her long fingernails scratching at his back, clinging for closeness. It was scorching, passionate, invigorating. Neither of them had ever felt the spark that they felt when their lips touched.

When she finally let go to breath, they were both panting, eyes heavy with desire. Damon touched his forehead with Bonnie's and held her tighter.

"Woah." they said in unison.

April 17, 2016

Mystic Falls, Virginia

"Hey, Bonnie!" Hannah waved a hand in front of her face, snatching Bonnie out of her reprieve.

"Sorry, I was thinking." Bonnie said sheepishly.

"Well, pull it together girl, we're here."

Bonnie looked out the windshield to see they were parked in front of the Boarding House.

Bonnie took a deep breath, "Well, here goes nothin'."

Please leave comments! Sidenote: Marcel will be making a reappearance.