A/N: Here it is, the grand finale. (Unedited, because, duh)

"Elena is not going to be happy." Caroline noted. Stefan hummed softly in agreement before looking to her.

"But the real question is, are we?"

The Ties That Bind – Watch Them Unravel

five years later

"I can't believe you finally tricked me into it." Bonnie laughed as she lifted her long hair off of her shoulders, trying to decided if she wanted it up or down.

"I did no such thing." Damon guffawed. "The only thing I'm responsible for is that we're about to be late to our own wedding."

"And what else would we expect from you two?" Caroline quipped as she let herself in to Damon's bedroom with Stefan following after. "Honestly, the fact you're getting married at all-"

"Yes, we know," Damon interrupted, "You never thought you'd see the day, blah, blah, blah." He waved her off.

"We got married four years ago." The younger Salvatore brother pointed out as he crossed his arms and leaned against the threshold, looking handsome as ever in his tuxedo.

"That's because Caroline has been planning her wedding since she was in the womb and you could never say no to her." Bonnie pointed out sweetly, "Damon and I are different."

"What you two are is a pain in my ass," Caroline griped as she hurried over to take command over Bonnie's beautiful curls, swatting the shorter girls hands away with a stern look, "We've been planning this day for months, and for what? So we could make everyone wait in the garden out back while you two pretend to not be having sex?"

"Look at the glow on her face," Damon exclaimed with a shit-eating grin, "Don't tell me she isn't the picture perfect blushing bride."

"Children," Matt's voice announced his presence as he stepped in, donning a well-tailored navy suit, his amused smile already in place having overheard the tail end of their discussion. With his well-groomed beard, the beginnings of laugh lines and crow's feet, he really looked like the oldest person in the room.

"I believe Pastor Luther has expressed his concern at the absence of the wedding party." In a Caroline-shaped-flurry of movement, Bonnie teetered a little to the side before her best friend's hands steadied her one last time, presenting her to the three men in the room. Taking in Bonnie's perfect appearance Matt cleared his throat and beamed. "I'll tell him you're all ready."

Five years before their wedding day

Bonnie and Damon were wearing matching expressions of disinterest as they watched Elena come undone in what had to be her most hysterical performance to date. Granted, they couldn't blame her - she'd gone from one thing to the next and back again and along the way, had lost all sense of self.

The only problem was, that Elena hadn't been the only one put through the ringer - not by a long shot.

Not only had Caroline Forbes' family been upended in scandal; but after yearning for her father's return, she was repaid for her longing by endless hours of torture at his hand when he refused to accept what she was; a pain only trumped by her mother's dismay. She'd had her heart broken repeatedly; her life blown to smithereens at the loss of her family and had come so far from the bitter cheerleader she was when Stefan first walked the halls of Mystic Falls High.

Damon and Stefan had had whole lifetimes of torture, violence, regret and pain - and these last few years in Mystic Falls had proved to be some of the worst; because they once again stood to lose something precious. This time, that loss took the form of lives that weren't theirs to risk or throw away at the altar of eternity. Lives of friends, people they loved.

Then, Bonnie Bennett. Damon's hand curled around hers, moving closer to her as her fingers wove between his, as he thought of everything she'd been through. He thought of everything he'd personally put her through, Stefan, Caroline, Elena and Jeremy - hell, even Matt had his fair share of neglect toward the last Bennett. She'd started her young life with the loss of her mother, then her grandmother, then her powers, then her life, then her father and then her life again, and again. This woman next to him had done and seen more than he had in his own absurd lifespan, and she didn't look a day over twenty.

The two of them watched as Stefan warded off Elena's sweet nothings; as she tried her damnedest to convince him that the sire bond had stolen the chance of their love away from both of them, that loving Damon couldn't possibly be held against her, because it was something that had been forced on her.

"I'm going to stop you right there." Caroline interrupted. "Need I remind you the nature of a sire bond means that there were feelings before the blood sharing and turning?" Caroline's brows rose. "How dare you try and play the victim when you were actually just in love with Damon and not on autopilot like you'd like Stefan to believe."

"Shut up Caroline, I really don't see how this has anything to do with you right now!" Elena hissed.

"Really?" Stefan frowned, "The girl I'm in love with...you don't see how this has anything to do with her?" Everything went quiet as they all processed his words.

"...You're in love with her?" Elena gasped eventually.

"I am." He nodded. "I don't know how she feels about me, but for some time now I've been dedicating myself to finding a love that was more than a cure for what Katherine did to me, what she did to Damon, to us...I wanted a love that was something so far removed from everything that's broken me, made me this miserable man I am today...and the only times I've ever found that...have been moments with her. And I'll treasure them, if nothing else, for as long as I live." Bonnie looked over to Caroline to see her eyes welling up with tears and she couldn't help but squeeze Damon's hand as she held in a squeal.

God, Caroline deserved this. The undying declaration, the unabashed awe with which Stefan spoke of her. Bonnie wanted to high five her best friend but managed to keep a straight face instead.

Elena's eyes flickered to Bonnie, and then Damon and she scowled.

"I sure as hell will not be the only one being marked as a traitor with Bonnie in the room," Elena decided and there was a unanimous eye-roll that passed over their features as she glowered. "In my sired mind I was Damon's and he claimed to love me, but not even a day later he's declared his love for my best friend like I wasn't the only one under some sire voodoo."

"It's easy to un-love someone in circumstances like these." Damon defended.

"Right, I'm sure fucking Bonnie in the prison world helped." Elena spat.

"That's more your style actually." The witch snapped in return.

"God I'm so stupid to think that any of you in this room even care about me!" Elena cried, "I mean look at how quickly you've turned on me."

"All we've done is care about you!" Caroline yelled.

"You were the only reason Damon and I even met." Bonnie pointed out. "You practically forced him and Stefan down our throats because it was what you wanted."

"I should never have dumped all of my past on you by pursuing you." Stefan admitted, "I know that now, but when I left town, you were the one who left me behind, so I'm happy to call it even."

"I should have never have used you for the closure I never got with Katherine, I know that now. You're your own person, but you also never loved me, and even I deserve better than that." Damon added on.

"And you'll always be my best friend, my sister," Bonnie chimed in, "But I'm done letting that take precedence over my happiness." Elena could only blink in return.

"Ditto," Caroline said with a wobbly smile, "But I'm done pretending that this, our lives, are only about you." the blonde pulled a face, "because no one was happy when things were like that, not when they had you, your love, when you were safe or whatever. We were all bloody miserable and those days are done Elena."

"So, you're saying this is all my fault?"

"Of course not -" Stefan tried. Elena held up a hand.

"No, that's what you're saying." Elena's eyes shone. "You're all...breaking up with me?"

"I guess so." It was Bonnie who spoke. "I don't hate you Elena, a part of me wishes it were that simple; that you were the mastermind behind this entire shit show, but that's not true, we're all accountable...it's just that now, we're invested in other things, in each other."

"I'll have no one." The brunette vampire blubbered.

"That's not true, you'll just have no one at your beck and call," Damon shrugged, "You get used to it, trust me."

A long moment passed as she held the gaze of each of them before nodding to herself.

"Then I guess this is goodbye."

She flashed out of the room and out of their lives.

Six months after Elena left Mystic Falls

It was around three in the afternoon and the festivities were finally dying down. Friends had made their way home and it was just the four of them, making a mess out in the sunlight. Streamers littered the shrubbery and bottles were framing the hedges. They'd moved all the food inside, now all that was left to do - was dance.

Damon and Stefan were chasing each other around the back yard of the Boarding House, drunkenly playing fetch as Bonnie and Caroline decided whether or not they should add more gin to the punch they'd made.

"I think we should move around a little too," Bonnie said with a hiccup as she snickered at Damon tripping over his own two feet, "Drinking while sitting down has taken the dignity of too many, for us not to learn from their mistakes." Caroline snorted.

"Fine. But we're dancing, I'm not getting grass stains on my summer dress."

"It's your favourite dress, I know." Bonnie said, mimicking the blonde's usual flourish when she spoke of fashion. "Besides, I'm not the one you should be scolding about getting grass stains on anything." The witch teased.

"Shut up and play some Crooked Colours," the vampire said with a stretch of her arms above her head, "I wanna get loose."

"Yes ma'am."

Bonnie turned the volume up as much as she could stand it and whooped as Caroline sped up onto one of the couches in the den, doing a wobbly body roll before bursting into a fit of giggles. Damon's arms slid around Bonnie's waist as he appeared behind her, her face lighting up as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Leave Bonnie alone, we're dancing!" Caroline called out.

"You're dancing," Stefan pointed out, standing in front of her with a mile wide smile, "I like it, but I think there's something else we can do about all that pent up energy. What do you say?" Caroline looked over at Bonnie and Damon with their tongues down one another's throats and she grinned back at her fiance.

"I say, best engagement party ever."

A year after Elena left Mystic Falls

Bonnie was walking down the altar with that contagious smile of hers. Dressed in a champagne-coloured chiffon gown, she glided down the petal-littered walkway with the grace of a seasoned dancer.

"You know she could have been wearing white today as well." Stefan muttered to his brother, smiling over at Bonnie as she made her way up to them.

"And deal with Caroline sulking because she had to share her big day, unlikely." Damon mumbled through his teeth before kissing Bonnie on the cheek as she stepped up to stand next to him.

"She looks so beautiful," Bonnie whispered, "I'm definitely going to cry."

"Get in line." Damon mouthed, pointing to his brother who had his eyes peeled on the bride-to-be as she made her way toward him.

They both turned from one another to watch their friend walk calmly towards them, knowing she'd rather be in Stefan's arms already, reciting her new name, Caroline Salvatore, over and over while the sun set.

"I've never seen her this happy." Bonnie sighed, eyes dancing with tears at the sight of her best friend.

Their wedding day

"When you proposed to me," Bonnie was saying as she stood holding his hands in hers, "It all came into focus." She tilted her head with a coy smile belying her emotional state, "It was like I'd been in a daze before those words left your mouth...I literally felt the world around me draw in a deep breath and sigh with content."

"We had always said that one day, if we could, we'd work harder on just being the people we are, and not just the situations we were in - because we've always made a good team, me and you, but I'm glad we're not those people anymore - just like I'm glad we're not in those situations anymore. To see you, my love, be yourself, smiling, laughing, enjoying something because that's all there is to do...it's been such a blessing."

"I adore you. I know, it's bizarre, more still because we're here, in front of all these people, officiating something we had no idea how to wrap our heads around when it first occurred to us. But I'm happy we're doing this, I'm happy that there's been time to do this for each other. It means the world to me to know that everything I have to give, is going to be safe in your hands." She watched as his breathing hitched a little.

"Damon Salvatore, I love you. Before I had this, before I had us, I hadn't stood still in years. I don't know where I was running to or why, but I knew it wouldn't end well, I just didn't think there was anything else for me." She cupped his cheek, she used her thumb to wipe at his tears.

"But there's you; with a heart so big you've had to learn and unlearn what to do with all of it. With your sarcasm, your loyalty, your empathy, your kindness, your willingness to do whatever it is that needs to be done and bear the burden of so many lives within the choices you've had to make. I love you. Every year, of every month, of every day that it took to get to this moment here...I accept this reprieve from being without you all this time and vow to make the most of our lives together, the only way we know how; with levity and love and light." She lifted his hands and kissed his knuckles.

Caroline rattled Stefan's arm as she clung to it from where they stood. Her husband's eyes were shining.

"Ah, Bonnie," Damon began, his blue eyes dancing with a buoyant love, "Where do I even begin?" He closed an inch of space between them (they were in front of a priest after all) and dipped his head to look her dead on. She was wearing a thin-strapped white silk gown that clung to her every curve, a single white rose pinned behind her ear with her curls spilling from the pile atop her head. She was breathtaking.

"Before I say I love you, I want you to know that you're the only reason I even understand what that means when I say it now. Before you arrived, love was this chameleonic thing that became whatever I wanted it to - whenever I needed it to. But that's not love. You taught me that we don't get to tell love what to do, we don't get to undo what love really intends, simply because it's an inconvenience for us and our conscience. God, in your short life you've towered over all I know with your profound understanding of the world around us."

"How lucky a man am I, to get to stand before you, after everything you've been through, and be awarded a place in your heart with such reverence and openness. I will forever be in awe of your endurance, your strength, your courage and your honesty. It amazes me, to this day, that I've gotten to be a part of you being the woman you are. That I am a part of your happiness, your heart, your life, your future."

"There's nothing like us," he went on, "The love we have burns with the sparks that give birth to whole galaxies. This, us? Forget once in a lifetime...the world has been turning with bated breath for this since the beginning of time."

"As long as I've been waiting to be loved and loved in return, not once did it extend to a love of this magnitude. The person I was before you would never have been able to quantify, let alone deserve what you've blessed me with. I love you, Bonnie Bennett. In every way there is to love another, for the rest of my days, and then some, I will be yours to love in return."

Their honeymoon

Bonnie Salvatore was on cloud nine.

Maybe even a little happier than that.

She took another glance down at the wedding ring, ostentatious as it was, and couldn't help the grin on her face.

"Caroline," Bonnie inhaled through her nose as the blonde interrupted again. "Hey, did I call and harass you for details on your honeymoon?

"That's because you and Damon were in Fiji, practically on a honeymoon of your own."

"Semantics."

"Whatever, sis."

"Oh my god we're actually sisters." Bonnie beamed, blowing a kiss at Damon who was on the phone with Stefan as they walked into the sole house on the island Damon had had secured for them. Dead in the centre of the Indian Ocean, guarded by a low tide and coral framing, they'd landed in paradise.

"Please," Caroline scoffed, "we've been sisters this whole time."

"Duh," Bonnie agreed, "But it's kind of cool that it's on paper now too."

"So are you finally going to tell me why you and Damon waited so long to get married and toured most of the planet on this secret quest not even Stefan knows about?" Bonnie chewed her lip and pondered how to phrase herself.

"I'm turning." Was all she decided to say. "We found out that I can be both."

"What do you mean, both?" Caroline hedged nervously.

"After my mom felt a spark of magic, she called me, and then when Damon got wind of it, it became his obsession. He knew my magic was important to me so he wanted to understand all the logistics and eliminate all the obstacles."

"Sounds like Damon."

"So, once I'd weighed up the pros and cons, I made the choice for myself. Damon wanted me to consider all the options you know? But ultimately it was on me. When I said yes to both immortality and him, well, you know the rest."

"So, how does it work?"

"I just need to be turned while casting a spell."

"Turned...as in, killed?"

"Romantic, I know, but I wanted to do it here, while we were alone, so that I could ease myself into a sense of control." Damon hands crept around her middle and her smile was instant. "I gotta go, I have to go see a Salvatore about forever."

"I love you, see you soon."

"Love you, Care."

When Bonnie awoke Damon was wagging a blood bag in front of her.

"Try it." He coaxed.

"I hate it." She admitted, "But I hated you once upon a time, too." He laughed at that.

"I love you Bonnie."

"I love you."

"Forever?" He quirked a brow. She pulled his face to hers.

"And always." She vowed, sealing her lips over his.

A/N: Writing this I realised I'd never written a wedding for Bamon, nevermind their vows. It turned out well, I think.

And that's that on this fic, I'm making my way through all my current fics to tie them up. It's the least I can do before I disappear from this site completely.

Reviews are warm hugs XO