You guys. You. Guys. Thank you. Thank you so much for sticking with me until the very end! There are so many people I want to shout out. My supporters from the beginning, those who recommended me to others, those who showed up later in the game. You all are the real mvp's. I'm totally off schedule with this I know and I'm sorry! But please enjoy 33333333333

The storm had mellowed to a light rain as Bonnie and Damon made their way back to the boarding house.

Bonnie wiped water from her face uselessly. "Shouldn't we talk or something?"

"Okay. I'll start."

"Not surprising," Bonnie mumbled under her breath. She gasped when Damon stopped walking to face her.

"You got yourself killed for me."

"I came back."

He scoffed. "That's not the point. Martyrdom isn't a card you play whenever you want to!"

Bonnie wished she had kept her big mouth shut until they had gotten home. At least they wouldn't be in the rain.

"I didn't want to, I had to."

"It doesn't matter. Where did you find that spell?"

Bonnie folded her arms feeling slightly insulted. "I made it."

"You wha-you made it?"

She couldn't tell if the chuckle he let out was strained with admiration or anger.

"Did you even know it was going to work?"

She wiped more water dribbling down her forehead instead of answering. Her silence was enough.

In one of the rarest of moments, Damon looked his age. His eyes reflected the painful eras he had lived through. "This needs to stop Bonnie. You can't do this again. You can't keep killing yourself trying to save people. You are not expendable."

Bonnie knew that. She valued herself more than before. She was lucky to be so loved and she wanted Damon to understand that he was loved too.

"Ever since I had that premonition I've felt like I was on a plane nose-diving to the ground, and I was just waiting for it to crash. That spell was my parachute. I didn't have to wait to crash and burn anymore."

Damon shook off her hand. "You left me on that plane and I crashed and I burned!"

"I didn't leave you. I jumped with you! You're the guy who passed out because you were scared shitless and wakes up thinking you're dead."

"That's not funny."

"I'm sorry, Damon. I did it because I love you."

"I know. That's the problem."

He didn't look at her. He didn't talk to her. Not for the rest of the way back. Every so often he would squeeze her hand as if he wanted to make sure she was still there…to make sure she was still real.

So she stayed quiet. She let him lead her through the mud and rain of the woods, into the front door of the boarding house, up the stairs- avoiding the group that was gathered in the living room- but when they got a few steps before his room he let go of her hand. Bonnie stalled.

"I fed on humans when you were dead. I killed them. I fed to kill."

Bonnie side-eyed him for his accusatory tone.

"Are you blaming me?" she asked.

"Yes. No! I'm not blaming you."

Her stomach clenched uncomfortably. "How many?"

"I don't know. A lot."

He stared so intensely at her as if he were waiting for something. Bonnie wasn't sure what he wanted from her.

"I guess we're just a couple of murderers," she said sheepishly. "But we can fix it. Or at least try."

She didn't know why but Damon looked like he was about to cry and then suddenly he was glaring.

"Get some rest, Bon. Your selfless, taken-for-granted life starts again tomorrow."

He slammed his door in her face and locked it. Bonnie stood rooted to the floor in shock. After half a minute of drenched silence she swallowed her own anger and headed back downstairs. She would deal with him later.

A week and still Damon barely acknowledged her. Sometimes Bonnie felt him when she was sleeping. She'd lumber awake in the middle of the night with a hand caressing her face and tracing her features, or running through her hair.

The first time it happened she tried to pull herself out of her slumber and reach for him but he pusher away, placed a soft kiss on her forehead, and told her to go back to sleep before walking out.

She thought, maybe, that things were getting back to normal and he would talk to her. Instead he was M.I.A the whole next day. She tromped downstairs into the kitchen and paused in the doorway.

"Caroline…"

The blonde stood behind the kitchen table, a steaming cup of coffee set in front of her. She clenched the hem of her rose pink dress as a tear trailed down her cheek.

"Elena told me. She made me promise not to come but…she didn't really expect me not to come, did she? Not when you came back from the dead again. They kept shooing me off because you were sleeping but…"

She hiccupped and then she was crying, which made Bonnie cry too. The two could never cry alone when they were together. They met each other halfway and embraced.

"I just want you to know that this is getting really old," Caroline said.

They both laughed and went to sit down. "Yeah, Damon already told me before he blacklisted me. How many people get mad over someone saving their life?"

"Well in his defense you do like being the sacrificial hero," Caroline replied. "Not that that's an excuse. Elena wasn't this mad after the decade's dance."

"You should tell him that."

"I did. And he told me to get bit by Tyler and find a nice grave to rot in."

Bonnie groaned.

"But then he told me he needed to take care of a few things, patted my head, and left. I think he felt a little guilty. I think he feels guilty about a lot of things like…"

"All those people he killed." Bonnie groaned louder and longer. Now she knew why he was acting so strange the other night.

"I know he doesn't deserve my empathy or sympathy or whatever, but just give him some time. He can't be this disappointing forever."

The fireplace gave the den a warm glow; the crackling firewood intermingled with the playful and competitive jeers of Bonnie, Stefan, and Elena as they played board games.

Bonnie taking out Silas had provided a sense of calm the group severely lacked and desperately needed. Once he was gone and Bonnie safe, there was a domino effect of normalcy throughout the group.

Caroline and Elena were finishing their year of college, and Tyler would join them in the fall. Jeremy was set to graduate high school, and Matt was manager at the Grill and taking business classes. Stefan decided to take the summer to decide what he wanted to do and Bonnie decided to do the same.

She was still not on good enough terms to hear Damon's plans.

It had only been two weeks. The silent treatment had gotten old and they were civil with each other now so they had generic, light conversations. They'd both fall asleep in separate rooms at the boarding house and he'd be gone before she woke up.

There were lingering touches and heartfelt looks, but he kept a noticeable distance from her. Usually, Bonnie wouldn't have the patience for his moods, but she was still getting used to the weird fluctuations of energy inside her body.

She was being really patient with him. All she wanted to do was go home and cuddle up on her couch with him.

She was in the middle of an intense charade act when Damon walked into the den and straight up to her to kiss her. Like a soldier reuniting with his lover after the war, Bonnie melted in his arms instantly.

He lifted her off the floor and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Stefan cleared his throat and brought the couple back to reality. Damon placed Bonnie back on the floor, grabbed her hand, and headed to the front door without a backwards glance, leaving Bonnie to offer a hasty goodbye.

They were two steps out the door when Damon turned to look at her. He studied her face quietly before saying, "Promise me something."

Bonnie looked up at him questioningly but nodded.

"Never, and I mean never, play martyr for anyone ever again."

"I don't think this is necessary."

"Promise me."

Bonnie sighed, squared her shoulders, and looked him straight in the eyes. "I promise to never, and I mean never, play martyr for anyone ever again. Its foolish, irresponsible, and unhealthy in more ways than one."

"Good," Damon said. "I love you."

Bonnie smiled. "I love you too.

He smirked. "I have something for you."

There was a street a little ways from the main square lined with antique, hobby shops, and empty shops available to any risk taking entrepreneur. Damon drove halfway down the street before parking in front of a quaint little shop with its windows curtained. They got out of his Camaro and he led her to the front, pulled out a set of keys, and unlocked the door.

"What is this place?" Bonnie asked. She sniffed at the air. "It smells like sage and ginseng."

Damon closed the door behind her and flipped the light switch. A few scattered antique lamps filled the store with an ethereal glow. There were shelves and shelves of jarred herbs, bottled poultices, candles, and other things. The walls were lined with books pertaining to mainstream witchcraft, medicine, and other means of healing.

"I was thinking you'd call it "Sheila's"."

"This store is yours. You said you wished you could have opened an apothecary with Sheila so I figured it would be apropos. Lucy thought it'd be a great idea."

Bonnie stared wide-eyed at Damon as he shook his head. "Apothecary." He snorted. "This is clearly a witch store. Just like the rest of them. Who do you guys think you're fooling?"

All those early mornings and late nights suddenly made sense. "This is the best gift anyone has ever gotten me."

"There's more," Damon said.

He took her hand and led her past the front counter. They walked through the back door, turned left into a short hallway, and went through another door. Bonnie gasped loudly, having entered a miniature forest.

There was an abundance of green spilling out of vases sitting on the floor and hanging from the glass ceiling. Bonnie stepped to one of the four, 5-tiered tables in a daze and gently examined a group of tall purple plants.

"This is hyssop?"

"Yup."

She wandered around the greenhouse in amazement. She stopped marveling at her greenhouse plants long enough to say, "Damon, this is…I don't even know what to say. It's perfect. It's more than perfect. I don't even know how to begin to thank you…"

"Promise me something else."

"Anything."

"Promise you'll always love me."

"I'll always love-"

She turned around and Damon was bent on one knee half a foot away from her. The ring he had carried around for so long was finally on display for her.

"I've had so many chances for a new life, but nothing changed. Nothing was different. Until you. You were the missing piece and I want my next chance to be with you. I promise you that I'll always love you. And I will always be by your side if you let me. So, Bonnie Bennett, will you marry me?"

As if this all wasn't surreal enough. If it were possible to die from happiness she would have dropped dead three times over.

A half giggle-half sob erupted from her mouth. "Yes. Yes! Yesyesyesyes!"

Damon's face lit up and he couldn't stop himself from beaming as he slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. Damon stood and they kissed in exhilarated bliss.

Bonnie pulled back. "I'm not changing my last name."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Don't ruin the moment."

"I'm just making sure you know."

And they were kissing again, safely wrapped up in their love for each other and, for the first time in a long while, excited for the future.

The end!

Quick notes: Damon sent money to the families of the people he killed. Bonnie will finish a degree in the occult while Damon helps with her newfound business. Its possible I might put out a one-shot sequel for this story.

Thank you again for all your support. I love you guys!