Chapter 16-September

A/N: This is it, guys. Last chapter of this fanfic. I think I'm getting all teary-eyed just thinking about this story. It was a journey, and a good one at that, and I would like to take this moment and thank everyone who reviewed/commented/favorited this story and me, as an author. It truly meant a lot and I could not have written this story without you all. I hope you all enjoy season 2 and I'll be back next summer with my thoughts and more stories. It was an honor being your writer and you guys are the best readers ever. Thank you again, and let's hope Bamon actually happens on TV :P Enough said, onwards with the last chapter.

Disclaimer: For the last time (for this story), I do not own the Vampire Diaries!

Songs-Set Fire to the Third Bar- Snow Patrol; She Will be loved- Maroon 5; September- Daughtry

Bonnie laughed as she finished telling the story of how she and her friends had defeated Katherine to her friend's child. Bonnie Bennett was 18 when she left Mystic Falls, and left Damon. They had been fighting almost every day and Bonnie told him she was leaving.

Flashback

"I can't do this anymore!" Bonnie shouted as the window in her house shattered, "I'm done with this. I'm leaving."

Damon looked at her angrily and spit out, "What are you waiting for? Go!" Bonnie wiped away her tears and stormed out of the house without another word. Her heart had been broken and he had stupidly said something he'd come to regret. He thought she wouldn't leave, that she was bluffing, but the next morning he came to her house to apologize and found her room vacant. Like she had never even existed.

Damon walked over to the Salvatore house in a daze, not believing that she had left him for good. He entered the house and found a red-eyed Elena who stormed up to him angrily gripping a letter in her hand. "What did you do to her?" Elena screamed, "She's gone because of you." Damon looked up at her, not hearing a word, and silently read the letter in her hand. Stefan held Elena and let her sob into his chest. He looked at Damon questioningly but Damon simply left the letter on the couch and walked upstairs to his room. Stefan rarely saw him thereafter.

Now, Bonnie was 25, and a powerful witch. She still looked like she was 18 and lived in New York City. She hadn't seen Elena, Stefan, or Damon in years and thought about them often.

Bonnie woke up out of her thoughts as the front door opened and she saw her friend walk in. "Thank you so much for watching my baby boy," Her friend gushed as the child ran up and hugged her. "No problem," Bonnie said smiling.

"Mom! Bonnie told me a story about her being a witch and her vampire friends hunting down this evil woman and killing her!" The boy said excitedly. The mother chuckled and said to her, "You always were one to have an imagination. Thank you again, we'll hang out soon!"

Bonnie nodded and smiled as she locked the door behind them. Little did her friend know that the story was true. Bonnie sighed and faced her lonely apartment.

She could hear the sirens of the police cars outside and the honking of other cars. In such a busy, crowded city, she still felt so alone.

Bonnie had tried dating but she felt herself comparing every guy to the man she used to love. Or still does love. The lines were blurred together. She questioned herself on whether leaving Mystic Falls had been a good choice or not. She kept arriving to the same answer – she had to leave Mystic Falls. Damon and she were always fighting and they needed space before they wrecked everything. She didn't know that 'space' would mean 6 years.

She wanted to go back to Mystic Falls to see how Caroline was doing, and whether Elena had been turned. If she was even still with Stefan, or if the Salvatore brothers still lived there. Finally, she decided she'd give a call to Elena. She dug up her phone book and before she knew it, the phone was ringing. This is stupid, Bonnie thought, how do I even know if she still lives there?

"Hello?" She heard a voice say into the phone. Bonnie stifled a gasp and bit her lip. She knew Elena's voice anywhere. "Hi," She whispered into the phone. There was a silence on the phone line for a long time.

"Bonnie?" Elena whispered, feeling her fingers grip the phone harder. She knew Damon and Stefan were in the living room. Before she could even blink, she saw Damon in front of her with his hand out. His eyes were pleading. Elena turned her back to him. She hadn't spoken to her best friend in years because of him, why should she give the phone to him?

"Yeah," Bonnie said into the phone, finding her voice. "How are you? Where are you?" Elena asked excitedly. "New York City," Bonnie whispered.

Elena's heart sunk and she bit her lip as she glanced at Damon's saddened eyes. "Oh. How do you like it there?" Elena asked. She knew Damon could hear what Bonnie was saying. Bonnie sighed and admitted, "It's great, but I miss Mystic Falls."

"So why don't you come home?" Elena said softly. "You know why, Elena…" Bonnie trailed off as she swallowed nervously. Elena felt Damon stiffen and watched his expression. He looked like he wanted to kill himself.

"Listen, next week is Christmas. Think you could spare a week out of your life to come down here and visit the Falls?" Elena said, trying to make her voice sound authoritative. "I can't…" Bonnie said frustrated. Why couldn't Elena understand?

"They won't be here," Elena said. There was a long silence on the phone. "Okay, I guess I could," Bonnie said finally giving in. "Great, I'll see you then," Elena said excitedly, "and Bonnie? Please call me if you need to talk or anything. I miss you so much." "I miss you too, Elena, and Caroline. I can't wait to see you guys," Bonnie said sounding happy. "Wait till you see Caroline and Matt's baby boy," Elena said laughing, "He's so cute." "They have a kid?" Bonnie said gasping. "Yeah, they got married about a year after you left," Elena said, "you disappeared off of the face of the Earth so she couldn't invite you or give you the news…" Bonnie swallowed. She knew she had a whole lot of apologizing to do when she got back.

"God, I need to make it up to her next week," Bonnie sighed, "I'll talk to you soon, Elena." "Alright," She answered, "Bye." Elena hung up and looked at Damon who was staring at her.

"Why'd you lie to her?" He asked. "So she would come home. You have one more chance, Damon. Don't screw it up;" Elena said scowling before she turned around and pranced into the living. Damon heard her say to Stefan, "My best friend is coming home next week!"

Damon stared at the wall. Bonnie was coming back to Mystic Falls. He had tried looking for her, oh believe him, he had. Now, he'd make her come back to him too.

A week passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, Bonnie was at the Mystic Falls airport waiting for Elena to pick her up. She had specifically told the Salvatore brothers to not make any appearances until the night of Christmas Eve when she was going to have a dinner at her house.

They had agreed and they were tucked away in the Salvatore boarding house. "Bonnie!" Elena shouted as she spotted her friend. Bonnie whirled around and saw Elena. They ran towards each other and Bonnie dropped her bags, engulfing her best friend in a hug.

"You haven't changed at all," Elena whispered. "Neither have you," Bonnie whispered. She really meant that Elena hadn't turned into a vampire yet. Elena helped her pick up her bags and on the way to her house, neither of them stopped talking. "So, tell me what I missed," Bonnie asked once they were settled in the car.

"Umm, besides Caroline's wedding and her son's birthdays, not much," Elena admitted. "Are you still with Stefan?" Bonnie asked casually. Elena nodded as she smiled at Bonnie. "We're better than ever," Elena said softly. "He's planning to turn me next year," She added as she looked at Bonnie. Bonnie just nodded.

She pulled up to her house and helped Bonnie get in. "Nothing really has changed," Bonnie breathed as she looked around and shrugged off her jacket. "Grab something to eat, and then we're going over to Caroline's. She wants to see you badly. You have a lot of apologizing to do," Elena chuckled.

Bonnie smiled and went into the kitchen, finally feeling at home for the first time in 6 years.

Days passed by and Elena had noticed Bonnie hadn't even asked about Damon once. She wondered if she still loved him. Finally on the day of Christmas Eve, when they were setting up the house for the dinner that night, Bonnie asked the question. "How is Damon?" Bonnie asked as she focused on the china ware plates Elena had given her to place on the table.

Elena looked at her and paused. "You want the truth?" She asked. Bonnie nodded silently. "Horrible," Elena sighed as she stopped placing ornaments on the tree. She walked over to the couch and plopped down and waited for Bonnie to do the same.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked, concerned. Elena eyed her, "I don't know what caused this split between you, but it left him broken. He is quiet most of the time, and he's not himself. No more snide remarks, flirty phrases. It's like you leaving finally hit him and got him to realize life and people aren't jokes. He's living but he's not alive."

Bonnie looked down at her hands. "I miss him Elena," Bonnie admitted as her eyes welled up, "Honest to god, I miss him so much, but we argued constantly and he'd say hurtful things. I know he didn't mean to and it slips out by accident but enough was enough. It was my fault as it was his."

Elena nodded and said softly, "If it makes you feel any better, he hasn't seen anyone." Bonnie nodded and smiled sadly, "I haven't either." For the first time, Elena could see how much Bonnie had aged. The stress, the worry, it was getting to her. But as fast as it was there, it was quickly gone and left behind a young Bonnie. Elena blinked her eyes and hugged Bonnie tightly. "It'll be alright," Elena said biting her lip. She felt like she was lying to Bonnie by not telling her Damon was coming that night.

Around 6, their friends started arriving. The Lockwoods, Forbes, and Donovan's were invited and by 8 they were all there. Elena greeted them all and they were glad to see Bonnie. Elena's eyes kept flitting from her best friend to the door wondering when they would decide to show up. The doorbell rang at 8 30 and Elena was busy in the kitchen.

"Bonnie, can you get that?" Elena shouted. Bonnie nodded and made her way past the people who were talking to each other, listening to Christmas carols, and watching Home Alone movies. She opened the door and saw Stefan and Damon. Bonnie's breath caught and luckily Stefan made the first move and hugged her.

"Welcome back," He whispered into her ear. She hugged him back and whispered, "Thanks." She stepped aside and let him into the house.

"Hi," Damon said, feeling tongue-tied. "Hi," She said as he stepped through the door. "How's New York City?" Damon asked casually, trying not to make it awkward. "Good, good," Bonnie answered, plastering a smile on her face. Secretly, both of their hearts were thudding.

Damon finally gave up acting and murmured, "We have to talk. Please." Bonnie sighed and knew it was inevitable. They never really had closure.

She opened the door, and grabbed her jacket walking out into the snowy ground. Damon followed and watched her shiver in her red dress and dig her hands deeper into the pockets.

"I'm sorry," Damon said as they walked. "For what?" Bonnie asked softly. "Fighting," Damon said frustrated. "I'm sorry for that too," Bonnie whispered. "I miss you, Bonnie, more than you can imagine," Damon started before Bonnie stopped him. "Stop," Bonnie said as she felt tears roll down her cheeks. She looked away so he wouldn't notice. "You told me to leave. You didn't even try to stop me," Bonnie said as she glanced at the Christmas lights that were blurred by her tears.

"I was an idiot," Damon argued as he stepped into her view and wiped away her tears. "I hated myself for those words, I tried to find you so I could fix what I said, I wanted nothing more than be with you for the past 6 years. I know we fought, but that's what made us stronger. I need to know what you want, Bonnie. I've been trying to guess for so long what you wanted, and I keep thinking you didn't want us because you never called. I love you so much and god, I just need to know because for the first time in my life, I'm fighting for something that's real," Damon said breathlessly as he poured out his heart.

Bonnie stared at him. Now, it was her turn. "For the past 6 years, I kept trying to move on, you know that? Kept trying to see other guys, but I couldn't because they weren't you. I hated myself for loving you," Bonnie said as she stared into his blue defeated eyes.

Damon looked down, about to give up. She's done with me, he thought.

"I hated myself because I could never stop loving you. Ever year, I argued with myself on whether I should call you on your birthday, ever year. I love you so damn much, Damon," Bonnie said angrily. He looked up at her in surprise.

She opened her mouth to say something else but Damon beat her to the punch and kissed her heatedly. Bonnie responded immediately and felt herself being pulled in by him. They were on a deserted street with houses that were lit up, but neither of them cared. Bonnie kissed him passionately, marveling at how perfectly his lips matched hers.

Both of them pulled away at the same time, breathing heavily. "Don't leave me again," Damon whispered as he pulled her into his chest. "Never, I promise," Bonnie whispered as she hugged him tightly. Bonnie Bennett had never felt so right about something in her life.

Alright, so maybe that chapter wasn't exactly short, LOL, I got a bit carried away. I can't wait till Christmas, it's my favorite holiday. Anyway, I hoped you liked it. Thank you all again and please review as a farewell to me. It was a pleasure writing for you guys. Good bye!