A/N: Hi all! With all the Bamon goodness and the speculations of what's to come for the rest of the episodes, I wanted to write a little one-shot on how I would like it to go.

No copyright intended. TVD belongs to its rightful owners.

"Every day I tell you I hate that."

"And every day I do it anyways."

Damon's eyes shot open at the memory. His head was pounding like he had been given numerous amounts of aneurysms and his abilities to heal decided to take it's time performing. He doesn't move, but he knows he's no longer in that cave. He knows he's made it back to present day Mystic Falls, but he doesn't sit up to rejoice like he should have, because he knows that she didn't make it too. He would have been able to feel her lying right beside him in the place that they 'died', if she were.

Over the last several months they spent every day together, repeating the same day over and over again, so he knew what Bonnie's presence felt like. He knew a lot about her actually, and the fact that she wasn't here with him….the fact that she didn't make it back, was making him wish he never got absorbed in that white light to begin with. He would never admit it out loud, and especially to her, but he had grown an attachment towards Bonnie. That love hate relationship they had, fueled him in every way and now… now he felt empty.

"All I've heard you say is that you have no hope, and that this is your hell. So if it's so bad why don't you just end it?"

He remembered her looking at him with sadden yet defiant eyes as she got in his personal space. He remembered shoving her a little because he didn't want her to see his vulnerability, even though he knew she could see right through him.

"Hope is the only thing that's keeping me going Damon! So if you're really done, if you have none, then be done. 'Cause this isn't helping."

He could still remember how it felt when she shoved him. It didn't hurt him physically in the slightest, but mentally…emotionally it was like being burned to death.

And yet before it was all said and done, he ended up having more hope than her to escape their purgatory.

His ears connected with the sounds around him as he got to his feet. He was aware of everything and yet he wasn't aware of anything. He could still remember holding hands with Bonnie as she recited a spell for the device to work. And when they felt an inkling of a vibration on that little ascendant device, Bonnie's hand let go of his and she fell back, after being impaled with an arrow, thanks to Kai.

He wanted to go back not only for Bonnie, but to instill on Kai the worse pain imaginable… worse than what that psychopath did to his family.

He really hoped she wasn't dead.

As he got closer to the noise, he thought about the blood he was about to drain from someone, because he was in dire need to feed. He thought about stalking his prey once he got to his destination, but he was so hungry, he decided he was going to make it a quick and easy death.

Well, that was until he got to his destination.

Standing only a few feet in front of him, he witnessed Alaric and baby Gilbert sparring. He watched them for a moment, before deciding to make his presence known.

"Isn't it past your bed time, little Gilbert?"

That stopped them both in their tracks as their eyes landed on him.

"Miss me?" He questioned with a smirk.

It was silent for a moment before Alaric spoke up. "Damon?"

They wanted to know how he was here standing right in front of them, but he wasn't ready for explanations. He needed blood, and he figured he should have everyone present so he didn't have to explain himself more than once.

Alaric brought him into a hug, almost not even needing an explanation because he himself had just been brought back from the dead a few months ago, so he knew it was possible.

"Damon, where's Bonnie?" He knew Jeremy was going to ask. He just wanted him to wait until after he gorged himself in blood. And right now, he really didn't want to answer.

"There's no reason to be Peter Pessimist."

"First of all, don't nickname. That's my thing."

"Damon?" Alaric's voice snapped him out of another memory.

Damon's eyes connected with both Alaric and Jeremy's. "It's just me." He didn't need to be getting into this right now. Thinking of Bonnie not making it back was killing him.

He had drained at least four bags of blood and before that he took a little from one of Alaric's neighbors. And now he was making nice with a bottle of Bourbon.

It wasn't a surprise to any of them that he took it by the bottle, instead of pouring him a glass.

"The gang should be here soon." Alaric said, walking into the kitchen.

Damon nodded as he took another swig.

"I know there are a million other people we'd both rather be with right now, but…"

He could still feel the soft yet firm touch of her fingers intertwining with his; As if it happened yesterday.

"A couple thousand at most."

The bottle shattered in his hand.

Alaric and Jeremy rushed from the kitchen to see the mess he had made and the only explanation that he could afford to tell him was that being back from Purgatory made him a little clumsy.

Both Alaric and Jeremy knew better than to believe that.

The frantic knocks on the door took their attention away from Damon as Alaric went to go answer it. Caroline was the first person to walk through, her eyes going to Damon, yet looking around in hopes of seeing someone else too. Matt was next, followed by Tyler.

And then there was Stefan.

It wasn't just the look of absolute relief on his face that made Damon's chest tighten, it was the look of a hidden pain that only he could see; that only a brother could see for his brother. Stefan hugged him, and they rarely showed affection like that to one another, and for a moment Damon felt okay.

But that moment didn't last long. His eyes found the entrance again. And there she was. The woman he wanted to come back too in the first place. And yet, how could he forget one of his main purposes for coming back? Seeing her standing in front of him didn't give him that feeling it should have.

Nothing just felt right anymore.

Bonnie Bennett was in pain; and not just the physical pain of being shot with a cross bow, but the emotional, mental pain of being stuck in a dimension to repeat the same day over and over again. She was so mad and yet hurt that nothing even felt real anymore.

As she applied pressure to her bleeding abdomen, she drove Damon's Camaro like a bat out of hell away from the cave that she performed the spell in, that sent practically her other half home.

She was so mind fucked by everything that happened that she couldn't even feel pain anymore to her side, as she parked the car and ran into the empty medical center.

She was in a hospital room, grabbing supplies to clean and get the piece of arrow still stuck in her stomach. She was able to break it off in the cave, but there was still a part that was in there pretty deep. She opened her bag with a few herbs and things she use to perform spells. She poured the herbs in a surgical bowl she found, poured some water in it, recited a spell and drank it almost greedily. It was supposed to have a little more effect than morphine. And she really needed it, because she knew it was going to be painful. The sweat dripping from her head, and the dizzy feeling coursing through her body was starting to take its affect, letting her know that her adrenaline was running thin.

But, Bonnie would do everything in her power to heal herself, because she was not going to die here. If Damon got a chance to go back, she deserved it too.

And yet of course, the stupid ascendant device only had a onetime active working rate. She would find another way though. She wasn't going to give up hope yet. She may have been on the verge tonight, but she wasn't going too anymore. She got her magic back after not having it for a year and she's died several times. So after all of that, she was not going to allow this to be the end of her.

She needed to get home; she needed to surround herself with the people she loved and cared about.

"I knew Bonnie would show up, she always comes back, all 13 times. And I knew with the right motivation, she'd be able to access her magic. Although I did get a little worried with all your bickering that Damon's life wouldn't be enough motivation, but turns out it was. I guess that's just how you two show your love."

And she needed to get back to Damon. The absence she felt of him not being here near her was beginning to cause more damage than the arrow right now. She would give anything to hear him make a lame joke, and bicker all day long.

Putting a cloth in her mouth to clench down on, she used her powers to withdraw the arrow from her side. The herbs hadn't kicked in yet because the pain was a little bit unbearable , and she couldn't help but let a scream escape her lips.

But when she used her magic to stitch up her own wound, she didn't feel a thing. And before she succumbed to sleep, she could have sworn she saw someone standing in the door way.

When her eyes slowly fluttered open to sunlight, Bonnie knew she was no longer at Mystic Falls Medical. She sat up, realizing she was in Damon's bed, and for a moment she thought something happened and she was in present day Mystic Falls.

But when she saw Kai sitting on the end of the bed staring at her, she knew it was too good to be true.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his sinister smile. "If your plan is to steal my magic and kill me, go ahead and do it, I'm dead anyways." That hope she had last night decided to leave again. She wasn't getting out of here. It never ended well for people like her, and she hated it. So many sacrifices she made, and for what? To always being the one who died. It just… it wasn't fair.

But she refused to cry in front of this sociopath.

"Relax, Bon- Bon, I have no need to do that because on the next eclipse you are going to use your wonderful magic to get us out of here."

"Think you can find out ticket out of here Bon-Bon?"

"Hell yeah."

She shook her head of the memory of Damon calling her another nick name other than judgey. And it sound sickening coming from Kai.

"Don't patronize me you raging lunatic; I know the ascendant only works once."

"Don't sell yourself short, you're a powerful witch. You've actually surprised me more than I realized. You're going to make it work again, and you're going to get us home."

Even though that gave her a little ounce of hope, she was really tired of being given orders and expecting her to get something done.

"If I do this, do you really think you're going to tag along with me? This was a prison for you. You shouldn't have massacred your whole family."

"You really like to bring up the past don't you? I've reformed." He shrugged. "Well, I will after I kill those who put me here."

"Well then we're not going anywhere because I'm not letting you out to kill more witches." She said, getting out of bed to go to the bathroom. She really needed a shower to get all the dirt and blood off her skin.

He grabbed her arm and she quickly moved away from him. She knew that he could absorb her power, and though she was still weak, she wasn't going to let that happen.

"We might be having a disagreement, but don't ever put your hands on her."

She brushed off the memory of Damon being protective over her and ignored the instant flutter in her chest, to concentrate back on Kai and his unstableness.

"Do Not. Touch me. Again."

"Ooh, sass, I like that." He winked. "You know we could be a power couple, Bons. Once I get my powers back. You & I could be a force to be reckoned with."

"You shot me with an arrow."

"You shot me as well, we're even. Plus, if that's not love then I don't know what is."

She scoffed and turned to walk away from him again, but his words stopped her.

"I know you want to see your friends again and that boy friend of yours… Jeremy is it? Or is it Damon now? I can't be too sure…"

Bonnie turned around to face him. "Damon and I are…"

"Save me that 'just friend's' bologna." He rolled his eyes. "I've listened to you two for months, and I may not have my powers but I can still feel how your pulse quickened up when you two were next to each other. Don't you want to get back and tell him how you feel?"

Bonnie wasn't going to feed into his delusions, so she kept her mouth closed.

"Look, Bonnie, I'm trying to be as nice as possible." He sat back down on the bed and opened yet another jar of jam. "Make the ascendant work, get us both home, or I will take your power, kill you, and do it myself. " He started eating the jam with his fingers, like he didn't think it was odd and disgusting. "Just so ungrateful."

"Fine." She muttered. And though she agreed, she had a plan of her own.

Damon wasn't in the mood to go around the room to discuss what he had been thankful for. He didn't even want to go to the little Thanksgiving shindig Caroline had planned. If it weren't for Stefan, he wouldn't have.

They were all sitting around the table at the Gilbert Cabin, outside of Mystic Falls, since they still couldn't step foot in it again. Damon was trying to let the liquor drown out everyone sitting at the table, which was an odd bunch. There was his brother sitting at one end with his new girlfriend or whatever, named Ivy, who was now a vampire, thanks to Enzo. Caroline was sitting on the other side of Stefan, even though they were going through some type of emotional something. Damon had no idea when that happened? Enzo was sitting beside Caroline who seemed to be antagonizing her. Alaric was sitting beside Damon. There was also Jeremy, Matt, Tyler, and the twins, Liv and Luke. He honestly didn't know why they were here, but then he saw Liv and Tyler practically eye fucking each other across the table. And last but not least there was Elena who was sitting on Damon's other side. She decided to allow her memories to come back after Alaric erased them, and now she didn't want to be away from him, even though he really could use some space.

Damon's eyes then found the one open chair, and he took another gulp of his glass of bourbon at the thought of who should be there.

"You remember it, don't you? You make pancakes every day because you're punishing yourself. You called this place your hell. That means you feel remorse. That's what makes you different than Kai. It means there's hope for you."

He took another drink. When Bonnie said those words to him, he felt lifted. Like after what he did, all these years later, that there could be some type of hope for him. Yeah, it was wrong beyond so many levels, but Bonnie believed in him, so why shouldn't he believe in himself?

But after everything that happened, his hope was running thin. He tried to contact every witch he could, even going as far as calling on Klaus in New Orleans to give him assistance, but he and the Mikaelson's were having their usual family drama, so he decided not to do any wishful thinking that they could help. He tried to contact Bonnie's cousin, Lucy, but there was no luck there. He almost killed Liv and Luke because they were useless in helping. He was frustrated that no one was doing anything, but him.

He then felt Elena's hand on his thigh.

"You okay?" She whispered, while Enzo was telling the table what he was thankful for.

He looked at Elena; really looked at her, and after a month of being back, he still couldn't bring himself to fully be there with her. He fucked her senseless upon seeing her, and still there was nothing. Apart of him wish she would have kept her memories hidden.

"Yeah." Damon took another swig. He had his brother; he had Elena, so why did he need anything else? Why did he need Bonnie here? Oh right, because she deserved to be here more than him.

"Your turn mate, what are you thankful for?" Enzo gave him a devilish grin. "You might as well save everyone else the heartache, because I know it's me."

Damon took another drink. "And if I'm thankful for nothing?"

Jeremy scoffed. "You should be thankful that you're alive. Some people weren't so lucky."

Damon felt Elena's hand grip his arm, because she didn't want him to kill her little brother, and to be honest, since he couldn't kill Kai like he should have, he was itching to do it to someone else. Jeremy would be the rightful candidate, but he knew Stefan or Alaric would stop him before he could.

"Actually I am thankful for something now that I think about it. I'm thankful that I've summed up enough restraint not to end your life."

Jeremy stood up, causing his chair to hit the ground. "She saved you didn't she Damon? I know you're lying. She did a spell where only you could go back, and not herself. And it's not fair."

Of course it wasn't fair. And of course he had lied to Jeremy about what happened. How was he supposed to explain they were in some warlock's prison and he stabbed Bonnie, and she wasn't able to get in the portal in time? So, he just said the portal only worked for him.

Everyone else believed it, so Jeremy needed to get on the bandwagon before he knocked him the hell out.

"What about all the times she's sacrificed herself for you, you dimwit." Damon stood up as well, ready to pounce on Jeremy if need be. He was really itching for a good fight, everyone else be damn. "How about the reason she had to be on the other side as some stupid anchor in the first place, because she brought your ungrateful ass back when you should have stayed dead."

"Damon, that's not fair…" Elena spoke up.

"That's enough!" Caroline shouted, before anyone else could say another word, and stood up. "Bonnie has always been the one sacrificing herself for all of us. And no, it's not fair that she's not here. It's unbearable and we are all trying to hold it together in our own way, but I need you to stop saying her name before I kill everyone in here! And I won't have to turn off my emotions to do it." Everyone's eyes were on hers. "It's hard… it really is, so instead of you two fighting, sit down and eat this food I prepared," She heard Stefan cough a little. "That I helped Stefan prepare!"

They all sat down.

"Enzo pass the yams!" Caroline all snapped, and snatched the yams away from him. Instead of pouring herself more wine, she drank from the bottle.

"What's a seven letter word for kill me now."

"That joke got old 6 weeks ago."

Damon remembered Bonnie carrying on about the crossword puzzle while he put the pancakes in front of her.

"And I hate pancakes!" She began stabbing his work of art with her pencil.

"Woah….don't take it out on the pancakes."

What he wouldn't give to be that close to her again, he even wanted to hear her talk in her sleep again. Anything just so she was back to the land of the living.

He took a bite of the food on his plate, while everyone ate in an awkward silence. Until a knock at the door, broke it.

"It's been a month, Bonnie, are you really kidding me that you can't get this right?" Kai asked, eating her bowl of chili.

They had been going out to the cave to get the ascendant to work every day for the last month during solar eclipse.

"It's probably not going to work since you did say it could only be used one time." Her voice dripped of sarcasm and frustration. Yes, she had been hanging out with Damon way too long.

"I know what I said, but you should be able to get it to work." He took another bite, "I'm going to enjoy killing you and taking your power."

Bonnie had literally had enough. She was like a ticking time bomb and now she was ready to explode.

She grabbed the butcher knife off of the counter and made her way up to Kai, slammed him against the wall, and held the knife up to his neck. Her magic assisted her in giving her a little strength. Or, it could have been all those times she learned to spar with Damon.

The bowl of chili dropped to the floor and Bonnie didn't care about the mess it made.

"You are constantly threatening me about stealing my magic and killing me, then do it already! Do it! I'm right here, literally touch my arm and do it!" Her eyes bored into his. "That's right, because you can't! That little parlor trick you put on a month ago was nothing but a tease. You won't really kill me. Why is that?"

"You know you're really sexy when you're angry." He smirked.

She tightened the knife against his throat, drawing a little blood. "Tell me why!"

"It's sad that you don't see it. You're a Bennett witch, Bonnie. Your last name actually means something, even if you don't know it. Which is pathetic really; to have so much pent up power and not even know how to use it without making sacrifices and dying. So, I could take your powers, but I can't do the spell without you because I'm not a Bennett witch. But, you can't do it without the ascendant, and my hand will be on it the whole time."

Bonnie's eyes didn't leave his as he spoke.

"Hey brother, buy her a drink first."

She heard Damon's voice like he was in the room with her. She almost thought he was jealous of Kai rubbing up on her; even though he really didn't have any reason to be.

She let him go and stepped away from him. "Let's try it now."

"Not going to work genius, we need the eclipse."

"I'm supposed to be a powerful Bennett witch right? And it hasn't worked anymore with the eclipse. Maybe it doesn't even need the eclipse anymore. Maybe the first time it needed it was to activate it, and now maybe the eclipse deactivates it."

"Beauty and brains." He put his hand to his chest and swooned. Maybe he should have thought of that.

"We do it now." Bonnie was ready to get out of here and be rid of Kai.

She didn't know if minutes or hours passed as she kept repeating the same spell over and over again. Maybe she was wrong, maybe they did need the eclipse, and maybe they did need to be in the cave. No, she wasn't going to second guess herself, not this time.

And that's when she began to feel the vibration of the ascendant. The light shot through it and engulfed both she and Kai, but before it took them anywhere, Bonnie kicked Kai so hard, he fell out of the light, and then she was gone.

She almost thought she heard his raging scream as the ascendant sucked her up and took her to present day Mystic Falls.

Her eyes opened and she stood up. Bonnie knew she was back in the place she stood when the other side went down. She really made it back. And all she could think about was getting to Damon, before anyone else.

The spell she cast led her right to him.

"Oh my gosh!"

It was Caroline's shriek of happiness that gained everyone's attention as she opened the door, and Damon almost jumped out of his seat when he saw why she screamed. Bonnie walked into the room they were in, with Caroline's arm around her.

"Bonnie!" Elena screamed and ran to her best friend, wrapping her in a hug.

Everyone hugged her…well, except the twins and Enzo, but everyone that really mattered in her life hugged her and Caroline didn't want to let her go. And yet the whole time, her eyes kept finding their way to his, and he wouldn't lie; he couldn't stop looking at her.

Damon ignored the fact that she shared a kiss with Jeremy.

"Are you hungry? Of course you're hungry! "Caroline cried. "We have all this food!"

And he watched as tears came out of Bonnie's eyes as well. He knew she was glad to be back, he was glad that she was back. And a tear would have formed in his eye, but Stefan kept staring at him, watching his reaction towards Bonnie and it was getting on his nerves, so he went back to eating.

"I am a little hungry, but I need to take a shower first."

He watched as Elena and Caroline took her upstairs to one of the rooms. He watched as Jeremy had a smile on his face like a Cheshire cat, and that caused him to roll his eyes. He wanted to wipe that smile off his face by pulling out his tongue.

This was a good day. Bonnie was back, and his hope…. it had all been restored.

Bonnie had showered and put on a pair of Elena's shorts and t-shirt. The girls gave her a little space while she showered, but she decided not to make her way downstairs just yet.

And the knock on the door was the reason. She knew he would come see her first.

"Come in Damon."

He walked in, and they stared at each other for a moment.

"Don't worry, I spelled the room so the other vampire ears won't hear us. I don't want anyone to actually think we've become friends or anything." She gave him a smile.

He was really glad to see her smile again as he smirked. "Yeah, wouldn't want them to think that."

She chuckled.

"How'd you get out?" He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, while watching every move she made. He spent every day with her while she wore short shorts, no bra, but why was it all having an effect on him now? Probably because he missed her so much.

"Putting the one up on Kai." She said with confidence. "You would have been proud."

"I'm sure." He then walked up to her and pulled up her shirt a little, inspecting where she was wounded. He saw a scar.

And when he did that move it didn't bother her. Damon was known for being unpredictable, and spending everyday with him for several months, she was use to just about anything.

"I can get rid of that scar for you if you'd like." It still pissed him off that Kai did this to her. He kind of wished he returned as well, so he could rip out his intestines and feed it to him.

"Nah, I think I'll be fine. It'll be my bad ass victory scar from returning."

They were silent for a moment, as Bonnie moved away from him. His hand on her stomach and his smoldering gaze was beginning to become a little too much.

"I tried my best to bring you back. I tried everything… I searched… I couldn't find a witch." Bonnie looked at him. "I'm sorry I failed you."

She walked up to him, and even though he was trying to still remain tough, she knew him, she knew when he was affected by something, but yet tried to mask his pain.

"You didn't fail me, Damon." She grabbed his hands in hers. "Everything happens for a reason right? I honestly believe I was supposed to help myself. I'm always so busy helping everyone else, and along the way I kind of lost myself and gave up on me. I had to learn to save myself for a change."

His hands held on to hers a little tighter, not to hurt her, but afraid to let go. "I'm glad you figured that out. No more sacrificing yourself for others, then?"

She smiled.

"So, I guess we should be getting back out there." She suggested, their hands still connected. "I know Caroline, Elena, and Jeremy will probably be up here soon."

"Speaking of the last two." His eyes never left hers. "I know your glad to see little Gilbert again. I don't see why though."

"He's my boyfriend, just like you missed Elena. I'm surprised you remembered little ol' me." She joked. She then slipped on Jeremy's hoodie. "After you." She said, but he didn't open the door.

He just stood there, lost in thought.

"Damon, are you okay?"

"Can we just…" He didn't even feel like finishing his sentence. He just he pulled her into a hug, and held her tightly yet enough so she wouldn't break. "One minute."

And she didn't need him to explain anymore. She knew what he meant. Now that they were back, them spending every moment, every minute together would stop. And even though they annoyed one another, fought like an old married couple, a connection had been formed… a bond.

"One minute." She whispered, and held on him for dear life.

They stayed in silence for that minute and once it was up, they knew they had to let go.

Bonnie wiped her eyes, at the tears that were forming. She was really glad to be back, but also a part of her wanted to return so it could just be she and Damon.

As they opened the door, Damon made it a point to say, "If Jeremy ever does anything stupid again, I'll kill him for you."

She smirked. "Duly noted."

They made their way down stairs and entered the room at separate times. Bonnie made a seat right between Jeremy and Caroline. A few people had already got up and went to the other room to play video games and chat.

Her eyes found their way back at the head of the table with Elena whispering something to Damon, even though his eyes were on hers.

They both couldn't help but think that just one minute wasn't going to be long enough.

The End

A/N: What did you all think? I would love it if you'd review to let me know! Thanks for reading!