the end is not near, it's here

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'it's just a moment go and seize it
don't be afraid to give your heart to me
and if you do, i know that i won't let you down, no
yeah, so hand it over, trust me with your love
i'll do anything you want me to
cause i can't breathe until i can see your face'
-'my heart is open', maroon 5 and gwen stefani

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a/n: So I wrote this and I couldn't finish it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't put the bow on the ending so I threw the whole chapter out and started over. I hope you like this and get ready for the short sequel. It's coming soon.

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The trees are heavy with blossoms, the sweet perfume of honey in the air.

Not even nine am and Bonnie is up, watching as her little girl takes her first steps with the assistance of her daddy.

Allie's tiny fingers wrap around Damon's and she holds on tight as she toddles forward, her chubby legs trembling under the strain. She beams up at her father with a toothless drooly grin, her raven hair falling over her forehead in heavy curls.

"There ya go, squeaker," Damon chuckles as Allie takes one last step. He catches her cleanly in his arms, whirling her up into an embrace.

Allie giggles loudly, wrapping her little arms around his neck. "Dada fun!"

"Yes, Dada is fun," Damon agrees. "He's the best, right?"

"Damon!" Bonnie yelps, her hands on her hips. "Trying to get our daughter to play favorites?"

"Maybe," Damon says slyly, a smirk creasing the corner of his lips up. "Gotta problem with it?"

"Yes, I would like our daughter to grow up not spoiled rotten to the core!" Bonnie protests.

"Too late. Caroline Forbes is her aunt. Being spoiled to the core is already in her genes."

"I suppose you're right," Bonnie says, smiling at her still grinning daughter as Damon's free arm wraps around her.

Damon kisses her temple before looking back at Allie. "As long as she grows up badass, I don't care how spoiled she is. Oof!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that your stomach I just slapped?"

"If I didn't have your kid in my arms, I'd spank you."

"Maybe later, tiger."

"Aw, you guys are so cute I want to throw up."

Pulled out of their reverie, they look up to see another couple walking down the sidewalk, their three year old son between them and holding their hands.

William Thomas Salvatore was adopted five months ago. A tiny boy left abandoned in a church, having lived in foster care since then until Caroline meets him.

It is all history from there.

"Aren't we adorable?" Bonnie says, gently pulling away from Damon's embrace to greet them. She holds out her arms and a wriggling Will throws himself into them. "Hi Will!"

"Auntie Bon!" Will chirrups happily, his fat fingers accidentally getting tangled in her long hair. Bonnie winces slightly, carefully detangling his hand. She growls lightly, glaring up at Damon. "Did you teach him to call me that?"

Damon, at that moment, is staring at the cherry tree across the street like it is the most interesting thing in the world and whistling 'Whistle While You Work'.

Caroline laughs. "He wouldn't do that, Bonnie. Besides, it's hard for Will to say your full name."

Bonnie shrugs a shoulder, gazing down at the oblivious toddler. "Yeah, well, I still smell some funny business there." She cocks her head to the side, taking in how much the little boy had grown in the past weeks. "Stefan, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that he was your biological son."

"What makes you say that?" Stefan asks, raising a brow.

Bonnie shakes her head. "I dunno. There's something about your munchkin that just - I dunno."

Reuniting with Allie had been the best day of her life.

Stefan had hidden her and Caroline in a cabin deep into the woods outside of Jackson, Mississippi. They were still protected by Bonnie and Damon's sacrifice and unable to be touched. At Sean's demise, Stefan was able to find them again.

Holding her gurgling daughter in her arms, feeling her weight and her softness - the feeling is so incomparable to anything at all. She had been worried that Allie wouldn't take to her after being separated for so long, but those fears were diminished almost immediately.

The instant that a happy weeping Caroline had placed Allie into her arms, the little girl had looked up at her quizically, almost like she was trying to figure out who she was. And then she settled down, her eyes drifting closed.

I know you. You're my mommy.

Damon's own arms wrap around them both, his chin resting on the top of her head. She feels the occasional drop of water on top of her head and pretends she doesn't notice his tears falling into her hair.

Enzo leaves town the following day.

She doesn't get a goodbye or anything. And that royally pisses her off.

"I know why he didn't say goodbye, Bonnie."

Despite her love for Damon, Matt will always be her anchor. His calm voice pulls her back from her angry outburst and she blinks, looking his way.

"Why?"

"Because he's in love with you," Matt says softly. "And if he stays, he fears he will get in the way of what you and Damon are trying to do."

Bonnie sighs out loud, resting her hands on her hips. "Was it that obvious?"

Matt rolls his eyes. "Oh, please. Those looks that he gave you? It was nauseating."

Bonnie sinks down onto her couch, her teeth scraping on her bottom lip so roughly that she almost draws blood. She brushes a palm against her eyes, trying to fight back the tears she knows are going to come.

She had never wanted to hurt Enzo. After everything he had suffered in his lifetime, she knew he deserved a little bit of happiness. But that happiness did not lay with her.

She loved Damon. She would always love Damon and she would always choose him.

It would always be Damon.

"I think he is somewhere outside of New Orleans."

Matt's voice pulls her back to the planet and she turns wide eyes on him.

And pain skates her heart.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" she whispers, her tears spilling over.

Matt leans his head to the side, giving her a tender look. "I have to go," he says. "I need to get out and clear my head."

"But -?" Bonnie opens her mouth to protest but the words die on her lips. "Is Rebekah still living there?" she asks.

Matt nods and lights dance in those blue-blue eyes. "She's waiting."

Her pain dies just a little bit because her friend, her dear, dear friend was trying to be happy. And no one deserved it more than he.

Getting to her feet, Bonnie quickly throws her arms around Matt's neck, pulling him down so she can kiss his forehead.

"If she harms one perfect hair on your head, I will fry her brain into the next century."

Matt chuckles, gently pulling away from her embrace. "You give Squeaker a kiss for me?"

Bonnie sighs. "You too?"

Shrugging a shoulder, Matt laughs. "Hey, it's catchy."

Stepping back, Bonnie smiles, letting her fingers fall away from his. But before he leaves, he reaches into his coat pocket.

"Enzo left this for you," Matt says, handing her a slim envelope. She holds the paper in her hands, recognizing Enzo's lazy scrawl of her name on the front.

Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, Bonnie nods her thanks. She presses her fingers to her lips, blowing the smallest of kisses in her dear friend's direction before he does leave.

"Love you," she whispers, knowing perfectly well he can hear her.

Don't worry. I'll be back.

She's alone when she finally gets up the nerve to read Enzo's letter.

Damon's gone, having gone out scouting colleges in the Jackson area. It took some pushiness from her to even get him to consider the possibility of going back to college, or even finally doing the things he that had wanted to do in his human life. Right now, it was about grabbing onto the moments that meant the most and holding on. Finding a balance.

Bonnie lays on their shared bed, Allie snuggled beside her underneath her arm. Her daughter's gentle breathing soothes her and through that, she finds the strength.

Reaching into her bedside table, she pulls out the envelope. A part of her knows that Damon found it but hadn't said anything. He wasn't stupid. He was perfectly aware of Enzo's feelings for her.

The knowledge of that was still painful.

Careful not to disturb her sleeping baby, Bonnie delicately undoes the folds on the envelope and stretches out the paper. Enzo's handwriting, thick and heavy stands out in the late afternoon light.

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Dear Bonnie lass,

If you are reading this, then Matt has informed you of my departure.

You have every right to hate me, I will understand perfectly. But I just wanted you to understand every reason why.

I can say it, even though it's probably safer to do it this way so your Damon does not hunt me down and put a stake right through my chest.

I never thought I would be capable of letting go of my Maggie. For years, she was everything to me. The mere thought of her and knowing that she was out there somewhere, brought me peace. I was able to hold onto that, to hold onto the memory of her face and her eyes - the sweetness in her voice and find the will to keep going and not just walk out into the sunlight.

Finding out she was dead was probably the most harrowing thing I have ever experienced. And knowing that someone that I loved had taken her life, that made it even worse. I wanted blood, and I wanted to not feel.

And then I met you.

I learned about all the bullshit you had gone through in your too short of a life and my pain seemed like nothing next to yours. Watching you, I learned how to take grief and put it away. To hold onto that but to also push through. To never giving up.

Hearing Alexandra's heartbeat for the first time, I would remember my son. I would remember those human moments that I had then and even after with Maggie. Being around you, not just that beautiful baby, I was reminded how to hold on. To breathe.

I breathe around you. And seeing you with Damon, I cannot.

So I must leave.

I may never let go of my love for you, Bonnie Bennett. I am going to try but it doesn't seem possible.

Be happy. Have that joy, the blissful life that you of all people deserve the most.

Give that ass-kicker daughter of yours my love.

Lorenzo

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Her tears slowly begin to fall down the sides of her cheeks as she folds the letter back up.

In another life, perhaps things would have turned out differently. If it had been Enzo who had landed in the other dimension with her - if...

If ...

Allie snuffles and sighs in her sleep, stretching out her chubby arms and nearly knocking her mother in the shoulder.

"Bonnie?"

She starts suddenly, her eyes darting to the doorway where Damon stood. His eyes are full of concern, face drawn.

"Hi," she sniffles, her hand swiping at her tears. She sits up carefully, gently lacing her arms around Allie.

"Are you okay?" Damon asks. "You're crying."

Bonnie swallows back, using her free hand to hold out the letter to Damon. His eyes narrow for a brief moment before he settles down on the beside her, taking the paper and unfolding it.

She watches him read, mentally preparing herself for the outburst that is sure to come.

Damon lowers the letter after a moment, lightly placing it in her lap.

"What does this change?" he asks.

Bonnie isn't quite sure she heard him right. "Excuse me?"

"What does this change?" Damon asks again. "Are you -?" The rest of the words die on his lips and she sees it. She sees the pain and the fear of her rejection.

Leaning forward, Bonnie presses her lips against his in a chaste kiss. The kiss is short, sweet, and oh so right.

"This changes absolutely nothing," she says softly, her lips still brushing his. "Don't even think it."

The truth is quite liberating for the young woman. Despite Enzo's confession, and even the heartbreaking realization that even though she had made her feelings, her thoughts clear to him, he just couldn't be around and she lost a friend in the process.

Something deep down inside of Bonnie told her that this wasn't the last she would see of Enzo. He had taken a special place in her soul but Damon held her heart.

That was enough.

The next two years go by peacefully, with no problems or worries or threats.

The Salvatore family decides to stay in Jackson. With a little luck (and compulsion), Damon finds a house just down the block from Stefan's that he, Bonnie, and Allie move into.

Stefan asks Caroline to marry him on her birthday.

Laughing, drinking, and helping take care of a whiny toddler turns out to be a pretty good birthday night for Caroline Forbes.

The two year old is ready to drop face first onto the table when the dessert is served. Her hair, fixed up with pink bows that her father keeps complaining are 'too damn girly', is droopy and falling in her face, despite how many times her mother brushes it back.

"Can I put her in your bed?" Bonnie asks, lifting her daughter from the high chair.

"Oh, let me do it," Caroline fusses, holding out her arms. Bonnie complies, gently shifting Allie over into her embrace. The three watch as an oblivious Caroline carries the baby from the room, singing a soft lullaby that they all can hear.

The moment Caroline is gone, Bonnie turns towards Stefan.

"Do you have Caroline's present?" she asks.

Stefan nods, rising from the table himself and walking over to the bookshelf beside the television set. He reaches behind the heavy volumes and pulls out a small jar filled with cotton balls.

"Right here."

Damon rolls his eyes. "I still think this is a corny idea. Ow!" His hand goes up, catching Bonnie's before she can pull away from his shoulder. "I wouldn't propose to you this way," he murmurs lowly.

"No, you would just throw a ring at me and grunt," Bonnie snorts.

"Will both of you shut up before she hears?" Stefan snaps as he sets the jar down on the table. "And get out of here. I would like to do this in private."

"I will have you know that I am here under protest," Bonnie says. "This brother of yours is a buttinsky."

"His favorite," Damon sneers but he does rise up, carefully cradling Bonnie's hand and pulling her with him. "We'll go out onto the patio."

"But we -" Bonnie opens her mouth but catching Damon's look, she snaps it shut.

At that moment, Caroline comes down the stairs, still singing the lullaby.

With haste and a little bit of vampire speed, Bonnie finds herself out on the patio with Damon's arms wrapped around her. She slaps his chest lightly, catching the nosey glint in his eye.

"Why so nosey?"

"Because I want to laugh when Caroline says no," Damon responds, not looking her way.

"She's not going to say no."

"I know that."

"Then why -?" Bonnie asks. Damon holds up a hand, silencing her but still not letting her wriggle out of his arms. They lean to the right, both peeking around the doorframe.

"What are they doing?" Caroline asks, seeing Damon and Bonnie through the glass in an intense whispered argument.

"Being Bonnie and Damon," Stefan says, taking her hand. He cocks his head towards the kitchen. "Because they are so nosey, I'm gonna have to give you your present out in the den."

Caroline giggles as she follows him. "Is it something dirty?"

Stefan rolls his eyes as they walk together. "Nope, we can save that stuff for later."

"Oooh, happy birthday to me," Caroline snorts. They walk into the den and she gasps.

There's nothing but candles and twinkle lights all around. So perfect and so beautiful.

Stefan leads her to the center of the floor, finally stopping and handing her the thing that he was hiding underneath his jacket.

"What's this?" Caroline asks, gazing at the jar full of cotton balls.

Stefan smiles, the tips of his ears reddening. "For your birthday, I decided to give you a wish. And that wish is inside that jar."

Caroline laughs lightly, shaking the jar.

"Don't rattle it, you may bruise the wish," Stefan says, causing Caroline to laugh harder. "Why don't you go ahead and open it?"

Like a child on Christmas, Caroline quickly rips off the lid of the jar and dumps the cotton balls out onto the couch. She catches the ring just in time. Gasping, Caroline holds the ruby and sapphire ring up to the light. "Oh, Stefan...what is this?"

"That is a ring. And that ring is to become engaged," he says softly.

Caroline pulls her eyes away from the ring to look at him. "I don't understand. I thought you never wanted to get married?"

"That was because I had never found the right person," Stefan whispers. "And then I met you."

Tears are already falling down Caroline's cheeks as she gazes at him. Stefan takes the ring from her fingers, slowly going down on one knee. He holds the ring up, the low light dancing off of it's jewels.

"You pulled me from the edge and you gave me a reason to want to live," Stefan says, his green eyes moist and warm. "When I look at you, I see the sun. When I touch you, I feel like I am home."

Caroline snorts out a watery sob.

"I am not going to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me because that's ridiculous when you are us."

"How about eternity?" Caroline offers.

Stefan lets a stubborn sob escape as he slips the ring onto her finger. He didn't even have to say the words because the 'yes' was already on her lips. He rises to his feet, and she is in his arms, both of them gently weeping.

You see, those tears are tears of happiness. But they are also tears of hope and rebirth.

Hope that things will finally be all right.

"Why does that ring look familiar?" Bonnie qualms to Damon later that night.

They are home, on the couch in front of a roaring fire (a safe distance away, of course) with Allie tucked between them. She snores lightly, her head resting on Damon's shoulder.

"It was our mother's," Damon says, stroking a gentle hand over Allie's raven curls.

"Oh, that's right. That picture you showed me, she was wearing it. So Stefan must have acquired it after...?" her voice trails off, her eyes expectant.

Damon shakes his head. "No, I had it."

"But how -?"

"I gave it to him."

The years go by.

Things are right. Things are good.

Will and Allie grow and mature into breath taking kids. They are close as siblings and they fight like cats and dogs when need be. But they are happy kids.

Will looks more and more like Stefan every day.

And one day, Bonnie can't take it anymore.

"I need to do a spell," she whispers to Damon, his ear just a breath's away from her lips.

"What kind of spell?" Damon asks, his eyebrows raised.

"A blood sigil. Um..." Then she tells him, muttering out her fears.

Damon gazes at her like she has grown an extra head when she finishes murmuring out her plans. She expects him to argue, to tell her that she's nuts but he had been there. He had heard Sean's warning that horrible night all those years ago.

So he helps her set up the spell, this stupid spell that they both sincerely hope will come out wrong.

Because Stefan and Damon are brothers, she can use Damon's blood instead for this. He grunts out in pain when she slices into his palm, whispering a small apology before the blood drips from the open wound and down onto the herbs and magical crosses that are chalked onto their expensive coffee table.

Latin words roll off her tongue, sending bites of power and electricity in the air. Damon's hair stands on end as he looks around, searching for any sign that could tell him personally what is going to happen.

Bonnie's shriek of pain nearly sends him crashing. He tries to reach out to her but she holds up a hand, her eyes still shut as she chants.

And then - oh, god -

Bonnie feels like a doctor about to give horrible news to grieving parents.

Caroline stares up at her from Stefan's side, her fingers linked through his. Stefan's eyes are drawn, brow furrowed and broody. The delicious sounds of their children arguing from the kitchen tickle their ears and Bonnie knows she has to say this.

"You have every right to hate me for doing this without telling you," she begins slowly, looking straight at Caroline. "But you can't tell me that you didn't notice it either."

Caroline nods, her blonde mane falling loosely around her shoulders. "I noticed," she says glumly. "At first I thought it was astonishing but then I began to wonder." Her voice crackles just for a moment. "Is he...?"

Bonnie shakes her head. "No," she says quietly. "But he was supposed to be."

"What do you mean, Bonnie?" Stefan asks.

"Will is Tom Avery's biological son."

Stefan's eyes are the worst.

Bonnie thought that it would be Caroline's sobs, her look of total heartbreak but they're not.

Stefan's eyes, full of grief, are the worst.

Things are supposed to be okay. They are supposed to be a family with just some happiness.

"Because of the spell that Hazel put on Tom, something changed," Bonnie explains. "Will was born to be another doppelganger but Hazel's spell worked not to just protect Tom but anyone else related to him. And somehow, that worked a little differently with Will."

"I don't understand," Caroline whispers, her voice still trembling.

"It's still Greek to me too," Damon says from her right.

"Hazel changed Will's face. But he still has doppelganger blood. Silas' blood."

Even as the words leave her mouth, that horrid realization sets in.

Bonnie lets out a quivery sigh, leaning her head down on the table. Damon's hand is gentle on the small of her back, applying the lightest of pressure to keep her grounded into life.

There is a sudden squeaking of chair legs and Caroline rises from the table, delicately brushing away Stefan's hands. She scrubs at the tears on her face, her eyes puffed and swollen. With no other words, she walks from the room to the kitchen where Allie and Will are still bickering over the cookies that their mothers had set them to making before.

Bonnie follows suit, sharing a quick gaze with Damon before she joins Caroline at the doorway.

Her friend stands rigid, her eyes on their children. There is already a floury mess all over the kitchen table but Bonnie doesn't care.

She watches Allie for a moment. Nearly seven and the picture of her father. Her raven hair hangs in a loose braid down her back, which is now speckled with white flour. Her skin, still pale but darkening just a bit is caked with flour and chocolate. She even has chocolate on her face.

Will reaches out a chubby hand and tries to take the spoon that Allie is currently mixing ingredients with. Allie swipes it away, almost too quickly because then the spoon begins to levitate in mid air.

Her cousin laughs out with glee, clapping his hands together. "Do it again, Allie!"

Her daughter casts a look over her shoulder at her mother. "Can I, Momma?"

Bonnie nods her head. "Go on."

Allie climbs down from her chair without breaking the trance. Turning on her small feet, she raises her hands. Clapping them together, the flour rises from the bowl and begins a twister of a dance around the kitchen, whipping and flying through the air but without touching anyone.

Bonnie hears Damon and Stefan's footsteps as they join them in the doorway.

With a final clap, the flour begins to snow down upon all of them, creating a hell of a mess.

But Bonnie doesn't care.

She is reminded of another time, not too long ago, doing the same thing. Except her trick was a bit less messy.

Will laughs again, jumping down from his chair to join his cousin and best friend. He has got an inch of flour resting on top of his head which his mother reaches over to brush away. He leans into her touch, giving her a quick peck on the back of the hand before turning into the dance with Allie.

Standing there, watching her whole life work her beautiful magic, Bonnie makes her choice.

To never give up. Never stop trying.

Despite the treats, they can get through anything.

Damon wraps an arm around her front, and she laces her fingers through his. She leans back, feeling his lips press to the back of her head.

"We'll get through this," he whispers just loud enough for her to hear.

"I know."

~~~END OF PART ONE~~~

Hoo! That was a heck of a ride!

So yes, Will is actually Tom Avery's biological son. I had to tweak the timeline a bit so that Will's mom became pregnant with him just before he was captured by Hazel. Doppelgangers are supposed to be born every five hundred years, correct? Well, since Stefan is close to two hundred and Tom already existed, I thought that any child that Tom created could definitely be a direct doppelganger. Working with the spells that Hazel did, she could have wrapped a protective spell around his family line, even unborn family members, ie his son.

Will is not a doppelganger though. Because he has the blood, he will be hunted. I am working more with his line, Stefan's line and their connections to Silas. I thought that the Silas and Qetsiyah storylines ended way too quickly and I wanted to bring that back. But no worries, no Amara, even though I liked her.

Enzo will be back in the sequel and so will Matt. Rebekah may be making an appearance as well because right now, Matt is living with her in New Orleans and they are together and happy. Enzo is a mystery.

I have also casted face claims for an adult Will and Allie. Will looks a bit like Xavier Samuel, who played Riley in the Eclipse movie. I thought that his resemblance to Paul Wesley was a bit uncanny, especially with the broody forehead and the deep set eyes. Allie looks like the model Astrid Berges-Frisbey. She is pale, yes, but the reason why I chose her is because of her resemblance to Ian. The way I described Allie is that she looks just like her father, right down to the pale skin. And remember, genetics work in the strangest ways.

Anyway, I have to say thank you. Thank you all for the amazing comments, the urges to keep going with this story and to not give up. This ride has been absolutely amazing and I love all of you.

Look for the sequel 'It will never be the same…' soon.

Love you all!