Disclaimer: I owe nothing

"so what exactly are you trying to do Damon? Bonnie has been through enough without you playing some game. I've hurt her once…we've hurt her more than once…she deserves to live the rest of her life as peaceful as possible"

"as if her life will ever be peaceful as the anchor between the living and the dead, not to mention she hangs out with vampires daily" Damon wryly replied as he pulled pots out to start dinner.

Stefan sighed and then looked over at his older brother. He seemed content and not bothered at all by the fact that Elena Gilbert had ruined his life and made him hope for something that would never come to fruition.

"So other than stealing people's grimores, how have you been?"

"Fine" Damon replied as he started taking out the ingredients to make a salad.

"And what exactly have you been doing?"

"This and that, some consultation work"

"You actually have a job?"

"Well that favor I've been speaking about. One of the stipulations was I had to make myself useful"

"Anything else they are expecting you to do?"

"Actually yes there is, however I need to speak to Bonnie first before telling anyone else"

"So this is contingent on Bonnie?"

"Yes, which makes sense since it is her magic we are trying to get back"

"And why exactly are we trying to get her magic back?"

Damon finally stopped making the salad and looked at Stefan. Stefan could see the seriousness in Damon's blue eyes as he spoke in a low voice " a long time ago I made a promise to protect the Bennett line. Part of the reason I did was because I was so caught up in Katherine's bullshit that it seemed to make sense. Throughout our time in mystic falls, Bonnie has saved my life over and over again. Yet I was too blind to notice that she had died. The answer was right there staring me in my face every day last summer. There was no possible way Jeremy was alive without a balance of some sort. Who would have been strong enough to do that? Only Bonnie. I was so selfish and happy that Elena had chose me that I forgot to think about anyone else...including you. These past two months have helped me to regain some clarity"

Stefan looked shocked at Damon as he tried to process what he had just said and read between the lines. If he was hearing correctly, Damon cared about Bonnie and not only cared; for whatever reason felt responsible for her death. He also realized that his brother had apologized to him.

"Stefan if I haven't said it, I want you to know how sorry I am that I didn't rescue you when Silas locked you away. I can't take back that horrific experience. I can tell you that I would like to work on having some sort of a relationship with you again."

Damon then turned around and said in an offhand tone "can you let everyone know dinner is ready? This isn't a damn restaurant where you can eat whenever you fancy" with those words he turned his back to start bringing the dishes out to the table.

After dinner Bonnie walked around before finding a room off the main living room. When she stepped inside she could see that it was a library. There were books lining each wall and two arm chairs near the fire place. Off the one side of the wall was a bar. Bonnie snorted, of course there would be a bar in the library.

She walked closer to examine the books before deciding on Pride and Prejudice.

"Good choice" a voice commented from the shadows. Bonnie turned to find Damon standing by the floor length window, a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"Did you ever meet Jane Austen?"

"Who do you think Darcy is based off of?"

"Hmm..egotistical, proud, stubborn, lacking a filter... That makes perfect sense since it describes you to a T"

"Bonnie you have to stop shamefully flirting with me, you know I have absolutely no willpower when you seduce me with your kind words"

Bonnie looked aghast at him before laughing out loud. Damon turned and watched her. He never really took the opportunity to observe Bonnie when she was just being herself...and with a sense of humor. If Bonnie was willing to go through with this plan, he would make sure she always was happy as she seemed in this moment.

"So would you like to share what we need to do in order to get my magic back?" Bonnie asked as she moved closer to him.

"Can we just plan what I should make for thanksgiving and then talk about the heavy stuff on Black Friday?"

Bonnie looked over at Damon. She wasn't always privy to this side of Damon. She found herself liking this side of Damon.

"So of course you are going to make a turkey."

"Of course"

"Stuffing?"

"Yep"

"Candied yams?"

"Sounds about right"

"Do you even know how to make candied yams?"

"I know how to do a lot of things"

"Why is everything out your mouth suggestive?"

"Why does your mind automatically assume I mean something dirty?"

Bonnie had the grace to blush and then replied "so when are you going to start cooking?"

"In a few hours. The turkey is already prepped."

"Do you help with anything?"

"Are you offering your services?"

"Yes, it seems as though you were right. Stefan and Caroline went out...so I'd rather be useful than sit in here alone"

"I'm sorry...I'm just so ancient that I didn't hear you. Did you say I was right?"

Bonnie laughed again before replying "don't be a jerk about it. Yes you were right"

Damon smiled as he stood up, offering his hand to Bonnie to take as she stood up as well. "Sure I could use your help and you can tell me all about your classes this semester"

Hours later Caroline and Stefan walked in to see Damon and Bonnie laughing and Christmas music was playing in the background. Bonnie was chopping vegetables while Damon was at the stove stirring something in a big pot.

"Hey you're finally back" Bonnie said smiling as she stopped chopping and took a small sip of the bourbon that was on the table.

"I told you that I would get you your own glass" Damon said as Bonnie stuck her tongue out at him "so I can get sloppy drunk and have you make fun of me? I think not"

Stefan laughed a little as Caroline glanced at Damon and Bonnie before she smiled and asked "what else needs to be done?"

"you can start by peeling the sweet potatoes since bossy pants over there refused to"

"peeling is boring" Bonnie retorted as she took another sip of bourbon.

Stefan moved to take out ingredients to make an apple pie.

"I didn't know you baked" Caroline said as she watched Stefan expertly start making the base for the pie.

"Damon taught me" Stefan murmured quietly as he glanced at Damon who was smiling softly before adding "Our mother loved to cook and bake and because I loved our mother, that's how I learned. When Stefan was born, she was too sick to continue cooking, so I taught Stefan so he would have a piece of her legacy. I also figured since Stefan would be the one to marry and have a family it would be something he could pass down to the next generation. Of course that never happened"

Stefan looked down as Bonnie and Caroline glanced at each other, both uncomfortable to break the mood that the Salvatore brothers had unknowingly set.

"My grams taught me how to make killer gingerbread cookies since I burnt everything else in sight"

"which is why you missy are only chopping. Don't forget, I've watched over your family for generations. I was able to witness many a cooking lesson gone awry"

"really? I wonder why grams never mentioned it"

"Probably because she didn't really trust me. Not everyone had faith in me as Emily did"

"Well I can't cook at all however I am the best at decorating so I will make sure that table looks beautiful for thanksgiving. Is it only going to be the four of us?"

"yes, although we won't be able to eat until later on. I promised the town that I would help out at the soup kitchen" Damon stated before bending down to check on the turkey.

Caroline, Bonnie and Stefan all looked at one another as Stefan mouthed "soup kitchen?"

"Well that gives me more time to set the table and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade" Caroline finally stated as she moved to take a sip of the bourbon before Damon grabbed the glass out of her hand and stated "there's more in the library, help yourself to your own glass"

Caroline rolled her eyes as Stefan laughed before putting the finishing touches on the pie he was baking and slipping it in the other oven to bake. Once he had done that he went over to the sink to wash his hands. He pretended not to notice when Bonnie took the glass out of Damon's hand to take another sip before asking "mind if I tag along when you go tomorrow?"

Stefan looked over to see how Damon reacted to this request. Damon shrugged and replied "Sure, we're going to leave early though"

"Can I drive the R8?"

"we'll see"