Hello everyone. If you're reading my Scandal story, "Now and Then," I promise that I will finish it but I'm on the outs with Scandal right now. Now that Damon/Bonnie might be about to happen, that's what's inspiring me. I have been off and on with Vampire Diaries. I did watch 5x22, but forgive me if some little details are off. Read and review!

Chapter 1

As Bonnie awoke, her senses returned to her one at a time. First came her hearing, and she was welcomed by the sound of birds chirping just outside the window. Then came the smell of bacon, eggs and pancakes wafting into her nose and beckoning her to wake up and partake. She opened her eyes, expecting to see her room. Instead she was met with the unfamiliar sight of dark curtains, traditional furniture and black satin sheets. She frowned, trying to recall where she was and how she'd gotten there. She moved her body just slightly and quickly realized that she was naked. It wasn't until she tried to get up that she discovered that she wasn't alone. Her body was encased by pair of toned, pale arms.

Slowly, the feeling in the rest of her body caught up and she became acutely aware of a naked male body pressed up against hers at every possible point of contact. She felt soft, even breathing on the back of her neck. Arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Legs curled into the backs of her knees. And a certain body part nestled snugly between her buttocks.

Her cheeks flamed and she panicked. Her first thought was that she had spent the night with Jeremy. But the person behind her didn't feel like Jeremy. He didn't smell like him. The person in bed with her smelled like spice and fresh laundry and sex.

He smelled like Damon.

With all the apprehension in the world, Bonnie slowly turned her head and was met with the sight of none other than Damon Salvatore, smirking at her.

"Morning, Judgey. Nice ass, by the way."

Bonnie screamed and scrambled so hard to get away from him that she fell out of the bed and right onto her butt. Damon casually looked over the edge of the bed and whistled appreciatively.

"Hey, the whole package is nice. Who knew?"

"What. The. FUCK?" she yelled, yanking at the sheets until she had them haphazardly wrapped around her body. "Why the hell are you in bed with me?!"

"Newsflash, little witch, you were in my bed."

It was that moment that Bonnie took stock of her surroundings and realized that she was, in fact, in Damon's room at the boarding house. How she had gotten there, she had no idea.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked aloud, mostly to herself.

"Beats me." He placed his hands behind his head and sprawled out, seemingly unconcerned that Bonnie's taking of the sheets had left him completely nude.

"Aren't you confused as to how we ended up like this?" she screeched.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "I woke up with my dick in between your butt cheeks. I don't care how. I don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Bonnie groaned loudly and finally made it onto her feet. She racked her brain, trying to figure how she would have ever been drunk or high enough to end up in bed with Damon. She closed her eyes, focusing all her energy on remembering, and then it came back to her in a powerful flash. She saw herself and Damon in the woods, holding hands, awaiting death on the Other Side.

"What's the last thing you remember?" she asked.

"Uh...us in the woods, I guess."

"Me too. Do you think...do you think this is the Other Side?"

Damon looked around his room and shrugged. "Not really how I imagined it but yeah I guess so. Maybe we're dead. Like really dead this time, and this is Heaven."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "Or Hell."

Before they could discuss it any further, the door swung open and revealed Elena on the other side. Ice water ran through Bonnie's veins, wondering how she would ever explain this situation to her best friend.

"Elena," she started, holding up one hand. "This is not what it looks like, I swear."

Elena frowned, looked from Bonnie to Damon and back again, and said, "Uh, okay? I was just coming to check on you because I heard a thud and a scream. You okay? You look kind of freaked out right now."

Bonnie's eyes flitted from Elena to Damon, who had the decency to put a pillow over his lower parts. He seemed just as confused as she was.

"You're not mad?" Bonnie asked.

"Mad? About what? It's not like I haven't caught you and Damon doing worse. Don't tell me you already forgot about the unfortunate time I walked in on your guys screwing against the wall." She laughed and shook her head, then closed the door, but not before adding, "Stefan and I made breakfast. Come down when you're finished being weird."

Bonnie snapped her head in Damon's direction. "What was that?"

"Clearly, we are in some kind of freaky alternate universe or something."

"Because Elena wasn't upset?"

"No," he said as he sprung off the bed and dropped his pillow. Bonnie averted her eyes but heard him pulling some pants on. "Because the thought of you actually letting someone fuck you against a wall could only happen in an alternate universe."

"Screw you, Damon," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"Apparently you already did that," he said with a smile. He got right in her face, crowding her personal space as he often did, and she opened her mouth to come back with some witty retort. The comment died on her lips, though, when she became distracted by something else. Damon noticed the frown on her face. "What?" he asked.

"You're warm."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

Bonnie tentatively reached out and placed a hand on his bare chest. She felt the rhythmic pounding of his heart and for some reason she couldn't explain, she smiled.

"You're warm, Damon. And your heart is beating."

His blue eyes widened and he placed his hand over hers, feeling his own heart in his chest. He yanked away from Bonnie and tried to super-speed to the other side of the room, but he couldn't. He looked back at her and stated the obvious.

"I'm human."

"We should just tell Elena and Stefan what happened and see if they have any suggestions."

"Use your head, Bon-Bon. Did you see Elena's face when she walked in on us? She has no idea that we're from a different time or place or whatever the fuck is happening here. We certainly can't tell her or anyone else that I used to be a vampire or you used to be a witch. Not unless we want to end up in a psych ward somewhere."

Bonnie rolled her eyes again. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I suggest that we lay low for a while, get the lay of the land and then make a plan. We're good at making plans, aren't we?"

"I guess," she grumbled.

"Good."

Damon dug out a black t-shirt and pulled it on. He gave Bonnie the once-over and she tightened her sheets a little more.

"I'll leave you to get dressed. Wear something tight so I can visualize that perky ass again."

"Get out!"

He wiggled his eyebrows but shut the door, and Bonnie sighed. She sat on the edge of the bed and held her head in her hands for a moment. She'd lived and died through some truly crazy things in her short life, but this took the cake. Waking up naked with Damon Salvatore was not something she ever imagined she would do. She desperately wished she could make contact with her Grams and get some kind of answers, but she didn't think that was possible. She wanted to freak out, scream or curl up in a ball on the bed and cry.

But for once, she agreed with Damon. If she was going to get out of the situation, she needed to get her head on straight and figure out what was going on. So with the bedsheets still wrapped around her body, she got up and began to explore the closet and drawers. To her surprise, she found several drawers filled with her clothes: underwear, t-shirts, jeans, all folded neatly and placed in storage spaces throughout the room. It didn't escape her that having clothes at Damon's place signaled that their sleeping together wasn't a one-time thing.

Still, Bonnie pushed the thought out of her mind and dressed in a snug white jersey tee and some jeans. She freshened up in the bathroom and when she went down to the kitchen, she saw Damon, Elena and Stefan sitting around the kitchen table, laughing and joking like it was completely normal. She side-eyed Damon, who narrowed his eyes just a bit, warning her to play along.

"Bonnie," Stefan said with a big smile, "good morning. We made your favorite."

She tentatively looked at the spread on the table: eggs, bacon and chocolate chip pancakes. Her stomach grumbled and she realized that she couldn't even recall the last time she ate.

"Wow, it looks great," she said.

She made a plate and then hesitated before sitting next to Damon, who made a show of leaning down to kiss her cheek. It took everything in her not to scowl at him.

"So, Bon, are we still on for shopping today?" Elena asked. "I have so much stuff I need to buy for our trip! I think I'm going to pack nothing but swimsuits. Who needs clothes in the Caribbean, right?"

Bonnie forced a smile and nodded.

"Right."

"Caroline said she could meet us at the mall in a couple of hours. I was thinking we could just leave from here together."

Bonnie knew that she probably should have just nodded and agreed, but she felt like she needed to get out of the house and have some personal time to get her bearings.

"I actually need to run a few errands first. I can meet you guys there, though."

"Okay, so I guess let's just plan to meet at 1. How does that sound?" Elena asked.

"Sounds perfect."

The rest of the breakfast went well, mostly because Bonnie said very little. She let Damon take the helm and he acted like absolutely nothing was out of place. He and Bonnie volunteered to put the dishes up since Elena and Stefan had cooked, and once the two of them were out of earshot, they came up with a plan. Bonnie would try to pick up information from Bonnie and Caroline, and Damon would do the same with Stefan. They agreed to meet up and go over what they had discovered when Bonnie came back for the night, even though she still found it odd that she was going to return and voluntarily sleep in a bed with Damon.

She was very happy when she finally got out of the house and into a Prius that was just like the one she had in her real life. Getting behind the wheel, she took a deep breath and smiled for the first time since waking up. She drove the familiar streets of Mystic Falls and was relieved to find that everything looked the same. When she got to her neighborhood, she slowed down and took notice of the houses and neighbors. Nothing was different. She pulled into the driveway of her house and turned off the engine. She didn't get out immediately, just looked at it for a few minutes. She finally got out and walked onto the porch. She fumbled with her keys, trying to find the right one, and the door opened.

"Bonnie, sweetie, I didn't know you were coming by today," her dad said with a big smile.

Bonnie was so surprised that she just stared for a moment. "Dad?"

"Well don't just stand there, pumpkin, come in."

He ushered her inside and if she was surprised to see her father, she was shocked when she saw her mother in the kitchen, brewing coffee. She nearly called her by her first name but caught herself.

"Mom?" she asked.

"Hi, baby," her mother responded with a smile. "Damon let you out of his sight long enough to come see your parents?"

"That boy acts like he can't breathe unless you're right in his face," Rudy said with only a touch of disapproval. "You two could come over here sometimes, you know. He doesn't always have to hide you at his house. Just because you're marrying him doesn't mean he can take my spot as the number one man in your life yet."

Rudy and Abbie chuckled, but Bonnie froze in place.

Marriage? To Damon? Her mind nearly exploded. Her head was spinning with everything going on, and she felt like she needed to take a seat before she fainted. She chanced a look at her left hand and sure enough, a sparkling diamond ring adorned her fourth finger. How she had missed that earlier, she had no idea.

"Your grandmother wants you to come by and see her," Abbie said.

Bonnie's ears perked up immediately.

"Grams?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

"Yeah, she said you guys are due for one of your heart-to-hearts."

As much as Bonnie wanted to catch up with her parents, knowing that her grandmother was alive and accessible was more important than anything else. She shot out of the house and sped all the way to Grams's house. She knocked impatiently on the door and when her grandma answered, Bonnie pulled her in for a tight hug.

"Oh my God, you're alive," she said. She inhaled her scent and squeezed tighter. She had dreamt of being able to see and touch and listen to her grandmother for so long that to have it again was almost overwhelming.

"You made it," Sheila said with a knowing smile once Bonnie pulled away. She framed her granddaughter's face and shook her head. "I knew you would."

"What is going on here? Please tell me that I haven't lost my mind."

"Come inside, child. No need for the whole neighborhood to hear our business."

She took Bonnie's hand and led her inside, where she already had two hot cups of tea waiting. Bonnie slipped off her shoes and sat down on the couch, immersing herself in the smell of her favorite place with her favorite person.

"Grams, where am I?"

"You're in Mystic Falls, baby, where else would you be?" she answered with a smirk.

"You know what I mean. This is like some kind of different universe or something, right? It's Mystic Falls but everything is different."

"Not everything," Sheila shrugged. "You've got the same friends. You're in college. You drive the same car..."

"My parents are both alive and home and living together. You're here."

She stopped short of mentioning Damon, but Sheila quirked an eyebrow at the omission.

"Is that all?" the older woman asked.

"So I guess you know about the situation with Damon."

"I told you I would look out for you."

"With him? Of all people? Where did that come from?"

"Oh, honey, you're so young and have so much to learn. If I told you why Damon, it would take all the fun out of the discovery."

"But we hate each other!"

"Maybe you did once upon a time, but that's been changing for a while, hasn't it?"

"But...he loves Elena. And I want to be with Jeremy."

"You sure about that?"

"About which part? Him loving Elena or me loving Jeremy?"

"Both."

Sheila retained her mischievous smirk and when Bonnie groaned in frustration, she added, "Bonnie Bennett, you know I would never do anything to lead you astray. Trust me. And trust yourself." She patted Bonnie's knee and said, "now go on, time to meet with your friends. You and I will have plenty of time to catch up and talk."

She scooted Bonnie out, but not before giving her another warm hug.

By the time Bonnie met her friends at the mall, her whole body was in a tailspin. Her entire world had been turned upside down, but in ways that she mostly liked. The only odd thing about the whole situation was Damon. Elena spent the entire shopping trip peppering Bonnie with questions about Damon: why were they acting so weird this morning? They were usually so affectionate and had to be pried apart. Bonnie blamed it on her cycle and that seemed to placate her friends.

When she returned to the boarding house, it was well into the evening. She wandered up to Damon's room and was glad to find it empty. She dropped her shopping bags on the ground and plopped on her back onto the soft mattress. She covered her face with her hands and tried to think of nothing. Of course, that was impossible. She was thinking about everything that had happened during the day, what it all meant, and why her own grandmother thought Damon a fit partner for her in this otherwise perfect world.

Bonnie kept her face covered even after she heard the door open. Boots walked across the hardwood floor, then the bed dipped slightly with the weight of another person. She could tell from his scent that it was Damon, and when she opened her eyes, his electric blue orbs were staring back at her.

"You look spent, Judgey."

"My parents are alive," she said without preamble. "So is Grams. She set this whole thing up."

"I figured as much."

"She wouldn't tell me why or how you and I are a couple."

"Good old Sheila," he said with a wry smile. "Always good for a mind-fuck."

"We're engaged," Bonnie continued. "Did you know that?"

"I saw the ring on your finger when I woke up this morning. I was waiting on you to see it and freak out, but the heavens must have been smiling on me because you were too spaced out to notice."

Bonnie shook her head and covered her face again. "This is so crazy. I know I should be used to crazy shit by now but somehow I'm still taken by surprise."

Damon lay down next to her, bumping her with his shoulder.

"Want to know what I found out today?" he asked.

"Don't tell me we have some little brown-skinned, curly-haired children running around," she mumbled.

"You wish."

She elbowed him.

"So apparently, you and i have been together for about a year. i was a man whore before you tamed me, of course."

"Of course."

"We're head over heels in love and the shopping trip that you and the girls went on today is for a week-long excursion to the Bahamas to celebrate our recent engagement."

Bonnie shook her head, then sat up on her elbows and looked at Damon.

"How are you so calm about this?" she asked. "I mean, you and I barely tolerate each other and the girl you love is with your brother and you're stuck with me."

Damon mimicked her position and sat up. "First of all, you and I have evolved way past tolerating each other, wouldn't you say? Secondly, yes, Elena is with Stefan in this version of the world but I know this is temporary and eventually we'll find our way back home. Trust me, when you've lived as long as I have, you learn to go with the flow and just accept things. And third, you don't give yourself enough credit, little witch. You're hot. And smart. There are certainly worse people I could be stuck with."

Bonnie wasn't sure how to respond because Damon was being sincere and she wasn't used to that. She was used to snarky comments and bickering, so to see his blue eyes trained on her while he tried to make her feel better was a nice change of pace.

"Plus, you've got a sweet ass."

Bonnie couldn't even stop her smile. "And there he is, ladies and gentlemen."

"Gotta keep you on your toes, Bennett." He tapped her nose, then got off the bed. "I'm getting ready for bed. Fair warning, I sleep in the nude."

"Not while you're tethered to me, you don't."

"Don't act like you didn't like it this morning," he said with his signature smirk. "It'll help us bond."

"Clothes on, Damon."

"Pants on, no shirt," he said.

She thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Fine."

"Same for you."

"In your dreams."

He helped her off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Bonnie went through some dresser drawers and found her pajama drawer, which was filled with nothing but see-through nighties, skimpy underwear and worn-in T-shirts that wouldn't even cover her crotch. She bit her lip and settled for a T-shirt, then she rifled through Damon's drawers and pulled on some of his soft cotton pants. She settled into the bed and when he returned from the bathroom, shirtless and with pants hanging off his hips, he turned off the light and joined her in bed. Bonnie made sure to stay on her side of the bed, while Damon had no problem stretching out and touching her with several parts of his body.

"Get your cold feet off of me, please," she said.

"You could warm them up, you know."

"Do you ever stop being a pig?"

"Oink, oink, baby."

She shook her head and turned onto her side, away from him. The room was silent for a while, with only the sound of the crickets outside. Bonnie had almost fallen asleep when Damon spoke again.

"There was one more thing I found today," he said.

"What?" she asked dryly.

"A sex tape of us."

Bonnie shot up in bed and spun to face him. "WHAT?!"

"Shhhh, do you want to wake up everyone?"

"Damon, what the hell? How could you not tell me that?"

"I'm telling you now."

"Where did you find it? What? Oh my God."

"On my computer, saved under 'Damon and Bonnie being freaky.' Subtlety was never my strong suit."

"Oh my God, oh my God," she said over and over. "Are you serious? Did you watch it?"

"Of course I did," he snorted. "It was incredibly hot. You're a naughty little girl."

She smacked him with a pillow.

"You wanna watch?" he asked playfully.

"No. Never. I want you to destroy it and forget you ever saw it."

"No and not possible."

"Damon!"

He laughed and then turned over. "Good night. Lover."