A/N: This is a present for my secret Santa strangesparkling on tumblr. Hope you enjoy, this part 1 of 3. You can find me on tumblr too random-things-about-love
"It's Christmas, Damon." Stefan implores with his brother.
"Yeah, it's Christmas. And I've got better things to do than play house with you and Caroline."
Stefan sighs. "Look the holidays are supposed to be a time spent with family and whether you like it or not I'm the only family you have left. You won't be the third wheel or anything, Caroline invited a coworker over. She just moved here with her brother and he's spending the holidays with his girlfriend."
Damon grabs his glass of whiskey off the coffee table and sits back, "What, hasn't our dear Carebear gotten tired of me breaking her coworker's hearts yet?"
Stefan lets out a deep breath through his nose. Since their family had passed on Damon had only gotten worse with women, he practically had a different one every night. The only thing that Damon seemed to care about these days was the restaurant that their parents had left for them. Giuseppe and Mary Salvatore had died in august of last year, leaving behind only two sons Damon and Stefan. Their parents had moved here to Mystic Falls from Italy and opened up the only restaurant in this tiny little town other than the Mystic Grill which was more of a bar. Coure Di Maria was their parentes pride and joy and when Damon went to collage to keep up the business so that their parents could retire when they chose to, they were ecstatic. Nobody could have known that next year Damon would be handling the business all on his own. Sometimes Stefan thought that it was all that kept his brother from sinking into a stupor of drinks and girls, that it was all that kept him sane. Stefan had Caroline to help him through it all, Damon had no one, and had only started talking to the youngest brother six months after the accident.
"You know that Caroline and I gave up on trying to set you up after what happened last time."
Damon rolled his eyes " How was I supposed to know that she had a husband?" Making Stefan grimace.
"Maybe if you had talked to her before falling into bed with her."
Damon gave his brother a sarcastic grin. He knew that if there anything he could do to make his brother happy he would, he still felt guilty for the months that he ignored him when Stefan needed him most. "What time?"
"Be there at seven, and bring wine."
-/-
It was the mid afternoon on the 25th, Christmas afternoon, and Damon was in his wine cellar trying to choose in between a Don Melchor and a Castello Di Ama. In the end he decided take both them, if he was going to be suffering through a "family gathering" with his brother and Caroline and their unknown guest, he might as do while drinking good wine. He didn't understand why either of them still trying include him, he had made them that he didn't want to play happy family with them.
He snorted "Whatever." He said aloud and went to wrap the presents he had gotten them, a nice Tiffany's necklace that he was sure that Caroline would like, and a watch for Stefan. Then a thought came into his head was he supposed to get the unknown guest a gift?
He groaned, he wouldn't have time order a gift online, and would have to store to hand pick one. Grabbing the gifts and the wine and headed out to his car, heading to the nearest department .
Elena didn't know what to do, Caroline had told her yesterday that Stefan's brother had finally accepted their invite to Christmas dinner, and Elena didn't have a gift for him. She had gotten Caroline a new scarf and a picture frame, for Stefan she had gotten a leather bound journal and a nice pen. She had no clue what she wanted to get the elusive Salvator brother seeing as she never met him before, but from what Caroline had said he didn't want for much. So what did you get a man who you never met and had everything for Christmas? With new determination she grabbed her jacket and keys to head out to the nearest department store.
Once there she got a little lost in where to go and saw what looked to be a store employee going through the men's belt.
She touched his shoulder so he would pay attention to her, "Can you help me, please."
He raised a condescending eyebrow and pointed down to what probably was some very expensive dress shoes, "Do these look like they were bought by a minimum wage job?"
Elena gave a very sarcastic smile back at him and resisted rolling her eyes. "Sorry."
Just as she was turning away he caught her by the arm. "No wait, maybe we can help each . What do you need?"
"A gift for a man I have never met and who apparently has everything. And you?"
"A gift for a woman who I've never met who is my brothers fiancées new bff." He said with a lot more sarcasm then was necessary.
She sighed. "What would you want to get for Christmas?"
"An invitation into your bed." He deadpanned.
She glared at him, her cheeks heating up. He just raised his arms defensively, "Sorry, sorry."