Note: The role of Alaric Saltzman will be played by Misha Collins, for me, anyway.

Hello, my lovely readers. We've got some Dare Club antics for the first Friendsgiving celebration! On with the show...

Ch. 14 Stuff the Turkey, Not Your Brother!

Thanksgiving was not one of my favorite holidays. Usually, someone picked a fight with a family member. Someone else would end up crying. Another would eat too much-and that person would heave on a second person's new attire. Yes, Thanksgiving was a grand holiday, in theory... But my intention to celebrate this holiday had little to do with me: It had much to do with Caroline Forbes. And, for Caroline, this year meant more than Thanksgivings to-date. This year would begin a new tradition that we would celebrate every year to come...

Walking into the Salvatores' kitchen before my body fully understood that it was meant to be awake; I blinked at the sight before me. "Good morning, Damon. Caroline, love, what are you up to?" Edging ever nearer, I found that Caroline was scanning a clipboard. My hand went up to smother a yawn.

Caroline glanced at me and my hand went into my hair. I offered her a smile and her nose wrinkled as she grinned back up at me. "Welcome to our first Friendsgiving prep." She tapped the clipboard with a pen.

Damon groaned. "You mean Hellsgiving!" He picked up an apron and waved it at me. "Hope you like pansies."

My friend did not give me a moment to think before he tossed the apron at me. Picking up one with a giant, smiling cartoon turkey; Damon pulled it over his head. "Sorry if you get stuck with something in pastel." He turned his smirk on Enzo.

Shrugging, Enzo seemed less than perturbed. "Lavender brings out my eyes." He batted his lashes at Damon who punched his shoulder and they began to laugh.

A loud snore came from the kitchen table. My eyes traveled in that direction, to take in Stefan Salvatore. Poor boy had a bit of drool on his chin. And me, without my camera. Oh, well, I would just have to make a sketch for my darling baby sister, later.

"Ahem!" Caroline's loud cough made us all focus on her. She was still tapping her clipboard. Her pretty, blue eyes had begun to take on that fervent fire that made me fall in love with her, and also scared people. "Stefan, wake up!" she snapped.

Head popping up, Stefan's gaze traveled the room. "Huh? What? I'm awake!"

Damon snickered. "Stef, got a bit of something on your chin." Running his hand under his own chin, Damon smirked at Stefan's mortified look. "Right!" His focus moved to Caroline. "Your were saying?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes before offering all of us a tight smile. "All of you have specific duties." Eyes flicking down to the paper, she began to recite said duties: "Damon. Nik. I have you both on turkey duty."

Sliding off the counter and pointing at me; Damon wiggled his index finger. "Time to play with our bird." Enzo let out a laugh which earned him a glare from me and Caroline. Still chuckling, Enzo shrugged and looked to Caroline.

With an eyeroll, Caroline added. "Enzo. You and Marcel are on pie duty."

"Yes, ma'am." Enzo saluted her and turned to Marcel. They clapped hands before Enzo took a sheet that Caroline extended to him.

Marcel looked at the list. "Three pies? How many people are we feeding?"

Caroline flipped through multiple pieces of paper on her clipboard. After a moment she said, "Twenty-three. Plus, four children under four." She smiled.

I looked to Damon. "It would seem that we should begin prepping the turkey before the mob arrives."

"Seems so," Damon mused. But he did not look worried as he went to open the fridge.

Caroline continued with the kitchen duty list. "Tyler and Matt will be on potatoes-when they show up." There was an edge to her voice on that last bit. Her eyes moved to take in Stefan. The boy held his head aloft with one hand as his eyelids dipped downward. "Stefan!" Caroline snapped. His head jerked upward. "You're making the cranberry sauce. Unless you would prefer to switch with Bekah and work on the napkins?"

"Cranberry sauce?" Stefan slid off the chair. "No biggie. Can opener. Bowl. Presto. Cranberries!" His smile fell as Caroline stated at him with an evil look.

"Fresh cranberries!" Caroline replied through her teeth. "This is an important Friendsgiving-"

"Why?" Damon interrupted. He tugged the turkey out and hauled it over to the counter, still staring at Caroline whose evil look had become open-mouthed horror.

Pointing a finger at the turkey, Caroline inhaled, and shuddered. "Is that... Damon Salvatore... Tell me that turkey is NOT frozen!" she cried, her voice at a pitch that would make the family pets cover their ears.

"Caroline, darling-" I began, moving to place my hands on her shoulders. Unfortunately, Damon had to answer.

"Yeah. No big deal. Last year's was to. Here's the trick. You pop it in the microwave. It'll defrost in no time." Damon picked up the turkey and head for the sink while Caroline began to shake with anger. This would not end well.

At that moment, Tyler and Matt came in. "Hey, Care!" Tyler called. "We're here. Where do ya want us?"

"Ahhh!" Caroline screamed, throwing her clipboard at her feet and kicked it across the room.

Tyler's eyes went wide. He looked to Matt who shook his head. Tyler looked to rest of us. "Something I said?" Tyler whispered, frowning.

No one answered Tyler's question and Caroline went to sit in the kitchen chair, her head in her hands. Instead, Stefan spoke with raised brows. "Is that why I kept puking for the ENTIRE next day?" Now, he glared at Damon. "You tried to kill me, YOU IDIOT!"

Damon scoffed. "I offered to call the Chinese take-out place. But, NO, you had to have turkey and dressing." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to kil-" Stefan rushed at his brother, but Enzo caught him around the waist and spun him into Matt.

Shaking his head, Enzo waved at Caroline. "She's trying to do something nice for us. Why don't we get on with it?" He shook his head at the Salvatores.

"Sorry, Caroline." Stefan muttered. "Can you show me how to make the cranberry sauce?"

Caroline lifted tear-filled eyes. "What's the point? We don't have a turkey!" She rolled her eyes. "And I was trying to do this because of what happened to the Gilbe-"

"Katherine!" Marcel cried out, loudly. All eyes went to Katherine who came marching into the room in a new dress and heels. Her hair was done and her makeup flawless. It looked like she had shown up for a date, not a friend-event. "You look nice."

Katherine scoffed. "I know." Turning to Caroline, Kat hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "Do you know how to deal with a turkey?"

Blinking, Caroline's lower lip stopped wobbling. "I thought you were eating here?"

Eyes widening, Kat let out a laugh. "You're right. This is what parenting does to you. Oh, well. Who wants an extra turkey?" She waved her fingers and smirked as Jeremy came into the room with a raw turkey in a pan.

Hopping to her feet, Caroline moved to inspect the turkey. "It's thawed?"

"Uh-huh." Kat nodded with a bored look. Examining her fingernails, she said, "Yes. Elijah left me instructions on how to make sure it would thaw. But the rest of it...seasoning, and stuffing...it felt very hands-on. And no way would I be doing that. Not with these babies!" She showed us her nails.

Caroline grinned. "You know what, Katherine, you should go in the great room. Relax. You've done plenty."

"Great. Let me know when dinner is ready!" Kat called, leaving the room.

A grunt made us look at Jeremy. "Can I put this thing down, now?" he asked, his hands shaking.

"Yes!" Caroline stared at the bird with fervor. "Kol's working on decorations. Why don't you help him?"

Jeremy groaned. "More work?" He trudged off.

"Alright." Caroline sighed, relaxing. "Tyler. Matt. I need you on potato duty." She pulled out a sheet and handed it to Matt.

"That's a lot of potatoes." Matt whistled.

Tyler took the list. "How bad can it be-Geez, Caroline, are we expecting an army?"

"No. Just most if the club members." Caroline turned back to me and Damon. "Okay. Now, it's turkey time."

"Caroline-" Stefan began.

"I know." Caroline moved to open the fridge. "Let me grab the cranberries-"

"Care?" Damon interrupted. "Are you turkey-napping?"

Whirling around, Caroline placed her hands on her hips. "I am not stealing! They brought the turkey of their own free will!"

"Did someone say: Turkey?" Alaric Saltzman came into the kitchen with a bag. "Just arrived."

"What?" Caroline's brows rose and her lips pursed.

"Cool. Caroline's feeding the army anyway." Tyler shrugged, opening a bag of potatoes.

"Ric, do you know how to make cranberry sauce?" Stefan asked.

Alaric looked confused. "Jenna said you would need a turkey..."

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Sage called as she and Finn came into the room. "I brought us libations. And Finn brought you poultry!" She sat down in the chair that seemed to be getting a lot of action, placing a bottle of wine on the table as Finn came in with a turkey in a pan. "Niklaus, please, pre-heat the oven for me."

"Oh, no, man!" Alaric moved in front of the oven with his turkey. "There is only room for ONE turkey in this oven! And that turkey is MINE!"

Caroline was beginning to get that panicked look in her eye, again. "THREE turkeys?"

"Better than Damon's food-poison-surprise," Stefan grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oh, come on, Stef! One time!" Damon cried. He took his apron off. "And, Caroline, since it looks like you've got turkeys to choose from; I think Nik and I are wasted here." He moved to hook an arm around my shoulders. "Let's go check out a game?" He pulled me in the direction of the doorway when Caroline darted in front of us. She placed her arms outward. "No one leaves this kitchen until this situation is figured out!" Her eyes were alight in a way that made me and Damon gulp.

Caroline inhaled. Opening her mouth, she was about to speak when Finn beat her to the punch: "I believe this is a matter of deciding which of us has the superior turkey?" He sniffed and look down his nose at Alaric's turkey. "Yours has smaller breasts. I could hardly feed Bekah on that bit of meat."

"Yeah?" Alaric glared at Finn's turkey. "Well, yours smells like Boston Market!"

Finn's eyes rounded. "You take that back, this instant, Saltzman!"

Damon nudged me with his elbow. "Guess we get dinner and a show."

Rolling my eyes, I looked to Caroline who looked weary. "There are other ovens. Katherine's will go in this one. Finn. Alaric. Come with me." It looked like Damon and I were still on turkey duty.

"Can someone, PLEASE, help me with the cranberry sauce?" Stefan cried.

Sage nodded. "You open a can and-" Everyone let out a groan in reply.

~0~

An hour later. Caroline had returned to don an apron and begin making bread rolls from scratch while bossing everyone else around. I was probably one of the only people who didn't mind.

"Caroline, we've got a problem!" Marcel said.

"Yes?" Caroline wiped flour on her forehead with the back of her hand.

"There are no pecans. For the pie." Marcel waved at the open cabinet doors.

Sighing, Caroline gave Damon a dark look. "Of course not." She moved to the fridge and opened it. "Well, we need some more supplies, anyway. Does anyone want to make a run to the grocery?" Damon held up his hand. "Okay, Damon."

Caroline grabbed her clipboard and began to make a list. Moving to lean on the counter next to me, Damon nudged my shoulder. "Dare you to come with me! Lots of fun with two-thirds of Mystic Falls trying to grab the last bag of chips."

I shrugged. "Bit of fresh air would be nice."

"Taking me with you!" Tyler whispered.

"Those potatoes won't boil themselves, Tyler!" Caroline called.

"Bye!" Damon wiggled his fingers, pulling me behind him.

~0~

Damon pulled his Camaro into the parking lot of the Mystic Falls Market. One of the joys of small towns would be the limited selection, or, in this case, having one grocery store for an entire town's worth of residents. For his part, Damon did not seem bothered. I, on the other hand, was a bit more reluctant to join the frenzied, and frayed shoppers.

"Come on, Nik! Not afraid of the holiday shoppers, are you?" Damon taunted me.

Narrowing my eyes, I strode forward. "That is what elbows were made for."

A wide grin formed on Damon's face. He threw an arm around my shoulders. "I dare you to snag any of Caroline's list from other carts!"

"I dare you to go down the dairy aisle!"

"Eat a bag of chips before checking out!"

"Kiss an elf!"

"Lick the floor!"

"Buy another turkey!"

"Bring a can of cranberry sauce!"

"Pick up a box of Christmas cookies!"

Our dares were becoming absurd as we made our way closer to the store itself. "Is that Elena?" I questioned Damon. His head whirled and he stared at the back of the brunette's head.

"Lena?" Damon called. At first, she did not move. "E-len-a!" Damon shouted through cupped hands , although we were only seven feet away.

Turning, Elena's eyes rounded. "Hey!" she tucked her hair behind her ear. "What are you guys doing here?"

We moved to stand in front of her. "Why are you here?" Damon replied.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Katherine told me to pick some stuff up." Holding up a list, she waved it with a glum look. "But I just can't go in by myself. This is something I would have done with..." Her eyes went to the parking lot asphalt.

"Well, you're not alone today." I held out a hand. Elena looked at it before taking it. "You're amongst friends. Now, let's sort this list," I held up Caroline's, "and Damon has dares for us to complete."

"Yeah?" Elena turned to stare at Damon.

Damon smirked. "Last one in the store has to do the dishes tonight!"

"No!" Elena and I shouted, running after Damon.

Somehow Elena skidded into the sliding doors ahead of me and Damon and I tried to squeeze in together. "You're both on dish duty!" Elena shouted at us, pointing her fingers at us.

"Lena, baby. Can you get us a cart?" Damon asked sweetly as he popped out of the doors and I fell on the floor.

Elena nodded. She came back with a cart. Damon nodded at me and we walked over. Each of us grabbed Elena by an elbow and lifted her into the cart. "Hey!" Elena cried. Damon grinned and patted her on the head. She made a swipe at his face, with her nails, and I went off to get another cart.

Soon, we were making our way through the aisles. Damon had to venture into the dairy aisle while I looked for chips. When one man had his back turned, I snagged three of his bags and then grabbed a few more from a woman who had too much hair spray in her hair. And off I went.

"Milk. Eggs. Butter. Sour cream. And an elf!" Damon pointed at Elena and I had no idea how she ended up in the costume, but it made me smile. Damon leaned over to kiss his elf when a couple yelled: "They're the ones who stole our butter!"

"Go!" Damon cried. We hurried away and Elena grabbed a couple of trays of assorted cheeses off a table.

"Hey! Is that Tom Cruise!" Damon asked a woman handing out samples of wine. He grabbed three cups and then took off.

Elena began to giggle as we stopped in a snack aisle. Damon tossed packages of Christmas cookies haphazardly into his cart. And his girlfriend opened a package and began to eat them. I looked to Damon and we began to laugh, too. So far, we had everything we needed, plus a drunken elf.

"Don't forget to lick the floor!" Damon told me.

Rolling my eyes, I dropped to the floor and licked it. "You will pay for that, Damon Salvatore!" I informed my friend.

Damon did not seem worried as he moved his cart into a self-check out lane. I followed him and we hurried to finish up while people with five items complained about our having much more than five. We put all the bags in our carts and went into the parking lot. Damon helped Elena out of the cart and she slid into the passenger seat. This left me in the back.

"Oh! Oh!" Elena cried, smacking Damon's arm. "I promised to pick Bonnie up!" She gave her boyfriend a wide-eyed look. "I don't think I can drive!"

"Nope." Damon shook his head. "One witch, coming up."

~0~

Damon parked outside of the Bennetts.' Bonnie came to the door with a bag on her shoulder, and a baby in her arms. "Elena, what are you wearing?" she asked, brows rising.

Elena grinned and twirled. "Klaus dared Damon to kiss an elf! So, elf I am! Why do you have my niece?" Bending over, Elena peered at Davina who scowled at her with a pout.

"Kat dropped the girls off. This one has an earache." Bonnie inclined her head towards Davina who took hold of Bonnie's ear and gave a tug. "And she wants me to feel sympathy pain."

Nadia came running to the door. "Aunt Elena! You're an elf! Do you work for Santa?" The little girl swayed with her hands laced behind her back and a pleased look on her face.

"Nope. Lena's just playing dress-up, for me." Damon's words made Nadia's lower lip pucker outward.

"But Elena does know the special mailbox to send all of your mail to Santa," I added.

"Really?" Nadia grinned up at me.

"Grams, we're leaving!" Bonnie called.

Shelia Bennett came to the door. "Don't stay up too late." She hugged her granddaughter, evaded Davina's grasping hand, and offered the rest of us an amused look. "Elena Gilbert, you do look festive."

Elena grinned. "Have a happy Thanksgiving, Mrs. Bennett."

"You, too." Shelia went back inside and closed the door.

We headed back to Damon's car. "Should we have invited Grams to dinner?" Elena asked, looking at Bonnie.

Bonnie shook her head. "No. Grams is having some of her coven members over for their own celebrations."

"What's with the bag?" Damon asked, opening his door and leaning against the roof.

"Oh?" Bonnie's cheeks flushed. "I'm sleeping over at Caroline's." I knew this wasn't true. Elena looked at Bonnie and shook her head with a grin.

"You and Enzo-" Elena began.

Bonnie shot Elena a long look. "Shut it, Lena. Unless you want me to send you to the North Pole!"

"I want to go!" Nadia cried, jumping up and down.

We all laughed before getting into the car.

~0~

"Where have you been!" Caroline shouted the moment we were in the door. Davina began to cry. She buried her face in my shirt and let out wet cries that soaked it. Eyes softening, Caroline sighed. "Sorry! This is just stressful." Placing her hands on her hips, she looked at Elena. "Wrong holiday."

"Not for some of us." Damon grinned and grabbed Elena's butt. She smacked his arm, but looked happy.

"Tell me you have food!" Jeremy came down the stairs with Kol. They both looked more ready for bed rather than for dinner. "Lights are up. Dining room has all of its stuffed birds and cards and crap." Jeremy said with a yawn.

Kol sat down on the bottom step. "So hungry." This was followed by his falling backwards and letting out a loud snore.

Sage came down the hall. "Got grub?" she asked, leaning against a wall. "And where is Finn?"

"Finn's basting his bird," Caroline said.

Sage smirked. "Not today."

"Oh, my God!" Caroline let out a surprised laugh. "Never tell me what that means!"

Damon held up a hand. "I think it means-"

"Who's ready to party!" Mason Lockwood came in behind us. He held a bag.

Eyes going wide, Caroline held up her hands. "Tell me that is not another turkey!"

Mason shook his head. "Nope. Beer."

"Goody!" Elena held out her hand, "Beer me!"

"No, no!" Damon shook his hand. He took Elena's hand. "You have had enough for one night!"

"But I want beer!" Elena complained as Damon picked her up and carried her away.

Caroline looked to me and I shrugged. "The grocery store was stressful."

"Beer!" Davina said.

"No!" I replied. She grabbed my ear and gave it a vicious tug. "How about we find your mommy?" I carried the girl towards the great room. Katherine was not there. Matt and Tyler were. They cheered on a football team. "What happened to the potatoes?" I asked them.

Matt glanced at me. "Caroline took over. Guess she didn't like what we were doing to them."

"Some people like the skins on the mashed potatoes." Tyler stared at the TV and then jumped to his feet. "Touchdown!"

Davina wailed and rocked in my arms. "I know. I know. It's a stressful day." I rubbed her back and carried her into the living room.

Katherine sat at the table next to Elijah. She was smiling and did not look up when I came in. "Kat, Davina needs you."

"Mommy!" Nadia appeared and went running to climb into Kat's arms. "Auntie Lena's an elf. And Bonnie's sending her to the North Pal." She turned her face to grin up at her mother.

Davina's lips quivered and she grumbled. Elijah got up and held out his arms. "Give her to me." She allowed him to take her. Her face buried in his shirt. "It's alright, little one. Go to sleep." He began to pace the floor while Kat watched him, stroking Nadia's curls.

Turning, I left the dinning room and went into the kitchen. Bonnie had beat me there. She pulled out a pie while Enzo stirred mashed potatoes. "Klaus, could you get the turkey?" Marcel called. He picked up the bowl of cranberry sauce. Stefan had gone back to sleep. He laid, curled up in a corner.

Damon and a giggling Elena came in. They began to put things in the fridge. Laughter came from that area as the bags were unloaded.

"Everyone, is dinner almost done?" Caroline said as I pulled out a turkey.

"Yes!" I told her. She grinned at me as I set the bird on the stovetop.

"Good!" Caroline clapped her hands and took her apron off. "I'll let everyone know."

Picking the turkey back up, I set it on a serving platter and carried it into the dinning room. Marcel, Enzo, and Bonnie, were right behind me. Our friends began to take their seats. Then a sound came from the hallway.

"What is that?" Caroline and I made our way into the hallway to find twenty boys coming down the hall.

"Something smells good," one of them said as Caroline and I stared at each other.

"What's going on?" Caroline hissed as Damon came out to join us. "I thought the school was shut down for the holiday?"

Before I could answer, my father appeared. "Niklaus, what are you doing here?"

Caroline jumped in. "We thought the school was closed. We're having Friendsgiving."

"What?" Father looked at Caroline.

"Thanksgiving. For friends." Damon looked at my father.

"Oh. Well. I will have to go and make sure the boys are fed. The highway was shut down. So, we could not make it to the retreat, this year. There should be things for sandwiches," he muttered to himself. "Boys, go to the Great Room. I will return, briefly." He started to go past us.

I looked at Caroline. "We have three turkeys. Plenty for them, too. And we can make some more pies."

Father turned to stare at us. Caroline smiled. "Come on, kids!" She waved for the boys to follow her. I went in and began to hand out plates.

There weren't enough seats at the table. Some of us had to sit in the Great Room. This is how Damon, Elena, Bonnie, Enzo, Stefan, Rebekah, Caroline, and I, ended up having one of our favorite Friendsgiving meals on the floor of the Great Room. As it turns out, there really was enough food for everyone. And more than enough to be thankful for.

Thank you for reading, faving, following, and reviewing. :)

Be safe,

-J