The Beginning Of Our Forever [1]

16. A Beautiful Goodbye For A Beautiful Person

As Damon, Stefan, Klaus and Elijah followed the vicar to the room where Bonnie's coffin was being held before the funeral, the rest of them made their way over to the seats the Lizzie and Josie had been saving for them.

Elena and Caroline walked back over with Jeremy, hand in hand, as the rest of the Mikaelsons followed behind them. Hope wasn't too steady on her feet, so Hayley and Freya were at her side, assisting her as they walked along the uneven path to the chairs. Rebekah and Kol were at the back of the group, whispering to one another. Although Elena could hear them, and it was driving her crazy, she chose to ignore it. There were more important things to think about right now.

Elena was pleasantly surprised that when they arrived at the seats, Lizzie, Josie and Hope all began chatting away as if they had known each other for years. It was so lovely to see the three ladies, all at a similar age, getting along so well despite their totally different upbringings.

The chairs were all set out in rows in-front of an area of ground that was to become Bonnie's grave. The front few rows were already filled with what Elena believed to be Sheila's family, and she didn't want to intrude by presuming that she should sit at the front. So Caroline, Elena, the twins and Jeremy all sat on the second to last row of seats, with Hayley, Hope, Rebekah and Kol sitting on the back row behind them.

"Hey Jer, are you doing okay? Do you remember why we are here now?" Elena whispered, as both of them sat down. Jeremy was gazing around at the crowds of people as if he was looking for someone. It was only when Elena placed her hand on his shoulder that he finally began to pay attention to what she was saying. He looked over at her, his eyes glazed over as tears began to form, the first ones escaping and rolling down his tired, wrinkled face.

"This is... Bonnie's funeral isn't it?" he stuttered, his top lip wobbling and tears flooding down his face. Elena couldn't bring herself to speak the words out loud, so simply nodded in response and reached her arm around Jeremy, pulling him in close.

The vicar appeared from behind the rows of chairs and took his place at the front. Once everyone had noticed that he was stood there waiting, they all fell silent. Music began to play as soon as everyone was quiet, which suddenly caused everyone to burst into tears. Elena didn't recognise the music and looked across at Caroline, who was bawling her eyes out,

"Was this song special to Bonnie, Car?" she whispered. Before she had a chance to answer, Jeremy answered Elena's question,

"This was the song we had our first dance to at our wedding, Elena," his face lit up, despite his vision totally impaired by tears. Elena could see that his mind was elsewhere, probably 55 years in the past, as he relived the first time he and Bonnie danced... as man and wife.

Everyone turned to look behind, as they began to hear footsteps along the pebble path, walking towards them.

Damon and Stefan were carrying Bonnie's coffin at the front, with Klaus behind Stefan and Elijah behind Damon. Elijah and Klaus were solemn, their eyes steadily focused in-front. Damon was doing his best to keep a lid on his emotions, frantically chewing his bottom lip to stop new tears from falling. Stefan had puffy red eyes, which clearly showed that he had been crying beforehand.

But no one was looking at them. All eyes were on Bonnie's coffin.

The four guys reached the front of the service and placed the coffin down, above the hole that had been dug for it. Four seats had been reserved at the front for them, so they quickly sat down and then the vicar began.

"Today, we come together to celebrate the life of Mrs Bonnie Gilbert," he announced. Elena fumbled around for Caroline and Jeremy's hand to hold, and was relieved to find that they grabbed her hand in return, both of them as eager for support as she was.

"According to Sheila's wishes, I'm not the one that is going to be speaking a lot to you all today. There are a few people that have organised speeches of their own. Sheila, would you like to come up first?" the vicar continued, before gesturing to a lady in the crowd. Elena tried to look above the crowd to see what Sheila looked like.

An older lady stood up, with mid length curly black hair. She had a black, maxi dress on with bright, bold flowers printed all over the bottom. She looked stunning. As she turned around to face the people in-front of her, Elena gasped. It was as if she was looking at an older version of Bonnie. She had the same face shape and facial features and most of all, the same beautiful smile.

Sheila's cheeks were covered in tear tracks, her eye makeup slightly running down her face too. She gazed across the crowd, her hands shaking ferociously as she clutched the piece of paper with her speech on. She searched and searched, until her eyes finally came in contact with Elena's. Elena was crumbling inside and as she watched Sheila smile at her, it was as if Bonnie was right there with her.

"To start with, I just want to say thank you all for coming," Sheila croaked, her voice choked with tears.
"I know that mum would have been really happy to see all of her family and friends gathered here together... finally, after all these years," Sheila emphasised the last bit, looking right at Elena.
"There are so many things I wanted to say to you all, so many stories I wanted to share with you all about mum and what an amazing woman she was. But now, none of it seems appropriate."

Sheila had to stop talking as she was overcome with emotion and started to cry again. Her husband came up to her side and held her close in a hug. Elena saw that everyone else was crying too, and even saw that Stefan had his arm wrapped around Damon, who had his head bent forward. Elena wished she could go up and comfort him too.

Sheila managed to gain some composure and then carried on talking, "There are not enough words in the world that I can use to sum up the type of person mum was. She was a wonderful mother and wife, a funny, kind and caring friend, and most of all, an all-round selfless person. Always putting others before herself."

Sheila walked back over to her seat and picked up a bunch of roses that she had brought with her. Out of the huge bundle of exquisite red roses, there was a single white one in the middle. The most unique and beautiful of them all. Sheila pulled out the white rose from the bunch and placed it on top of Bonnie's coffin.

Before walking back to her seat she quickly said her last few words,

"I just want to introduce you all to the next person that's going to say a few words about mum. Of all of mum's friends I've had the privilege of meeting, none of them spoke more highly of her than Damon Salvatore. He was such a huge part of mum's life and I know how much she loved him. He was, and still is, without a doubt, her best friend."

Sheila walked back to her seat and Elena sat, stunned, as Damon stood up to hug her and kiss her on the cheek. He walked over to the front of the crowd and Elena noticed that he too, was shaking.

Elena's heart surged with pride, as she watched her Damon, about to speak in-front of so many people at her best friends funeral.

Damon took a few deep breaths and wiped away the tears in his eyes,

"Well, Bon-Bon..." he smiled, looking down at Bonnie's coffin,
"Where do I even start?"