Hello, my lovely readers. There is more Christmas Madenzoline before the actual day with two more chapters to go. On with the show…

Chapter 2: Gather Round

Lorenzo or Enzo as his friends, (the privilevged few) and his enemies (more numerous than he could account for during a given year), sat on a rock toasting marshmallows. Staring into the glowing embers, his mouth turned upward at one side, in a crooked grin as Matt Donavon tried to place one of the fluffy, sugar filled, pasty things on the end of his stick. Shaking his head, Enzo let out a snort of amusement. "Need help there, mate?" he wondered aloud with another chuckle as Matt glanced up with a glare.

"Not really," Matt snapped. Pulling out his cell, he glanced at it before placing it back in his jeans' pocket.

Enzo shook his head. Matt must think he was some kind of idiot. Of course he knew that Caroline had been sending him texts for the better part of an hour, telling the boy that they were on their way. When you're forced to endure years by yourself, hatching plans to escape your prison, you begin to pick up on details. "Are they getting any warmer?" he asked just to see what Matt would do when he let on that he knew what the boy had been up to all this time.

With his head snapping upward in surprise, Matt stared at Enzo with a sullen look that seemed to be his go to expression, he shrugged. "Maybe."

"Yeah. That's what I thought," Enzo sighed. "Suppose I could take a nap while they drive from the land of fairy dust and all things boring." Closing his eyes, Enzo waited for it. When he felt Matt standing before him with his stick that still had the marshmallow sticking on it haphazardly, Enzo sped around Matt. Grabbing the young man by the neck, he hissed in his ear, "If you want to live to see 2015, I would suggest that you don't tempt me to stick that through your retinas."

Letting go of Matt, Enzo took his seat on the rock and watched the boy rub at his neck. He hated this kidnapping someone he didn't fancy the company of much just so he could get five minutes with his friends. Why did the universe hate him? What had he ever done to it? Then he remembered who the universe was and let out a dry chuckle as Matt sat back down, minus the stick.

Picking up another stick, Enzo jammed a marshmallow on the end and handed it to Matt who appeared confused. "Thanks. I think," Matt muttered before jamming the thing into the fire. "So, why didn't you, like, kidnap a family and make them celebrate with you?"

Enzo sighed heavily, "Your questions are rather stupid."

"And kidnapping someone you don't like is smart?" Matt shot back.

Shaking with amusement, Enzo nodded his head. "Point one for the lad. Not so bad with that one. Maybe if I took you on the road for a year you would become bearable company." Looking at Matt for a long moment, Enzo shook his head, "Or not."

Damon was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel of his Camaro. Best present from baby bro yet. Maybe he should have forced Stef to come with him on this little road trip so that he and Caroline could talk out their issues. Looking at Caroline who was staring at photos of her and her mom, Damon turned his head. Maybe not. "So, Blondie, got anything that you want to do for this bright and sparkling Christmas while you still can?"

"Find a way to cure my mom, but we can't. According to Stefan vampire blood doesn't cure humans of cancer," Caroline replied with tears pooling in her eyes.

Smiling, Damon caught Caroline's eye, "We could turn her. Think of the fun that it could be if the sheriff of Mystic Falls was a vampire? People would come in to report on one of us and your mom would be all 'Grrr.' Problem solved."

"I can't believe that you would make a joke like that," Caroline snapped at Damon who sighed as he stared out the windshield. "That is so typical of you. If you don't like something, then kill it or if you do, kill it anyway."

Rolling his eyes, Damon stopped the car before getting out. "Have it your way. Your mom can die just like Daddy Forbes and we can have another funeral, 'cause we don't have enough of those in our town." The sarcasm might be a bit much but Damon couldn't take Caroline's attitude toward this whole situation. Yeah, sure, Liz was not exactly, "Yeah, Team Vampire! Totally want to join that club right after the Sierra!" That did not mean that Damon wanted to stand idly by as one of his best friends bit it. No, he was not going to watch Liz martyr herself like that. He had not gone to hell to keep her alive just so she could die like this. She deserved another chance. A better chance.

Getting out of the car, Caroline slammed the door as she followed Damon down the road. He was looking around like he expected for Matt and Enzo to be walking along, taking in the sights. Crossing her arms, she glared at his back. She could not believe that he had had the nerve to suggest that they turn her mother. He knew how Liz felt about vampires. Glaring at the back of Damon's head, Caroline waited for him to say something else stupid. Only Damon wasn't talking. He was standing in the road with his hands on his hips. "What are you doing?" Caroline yelled irritably.

Rolling his eyes, Damon turned to glare at Caroline with a look that would have ordinarily made her take a step backward, but she was too angry to deal with his shit right now. "I'm trying to find Enzo and Matt. Enzo said they would be here. Right freakin' here. But do you see them?" Damon waved both his arms with a look like he was going to kill someone before letting out a roar of rage. "Why in the hell did I even come back here? Huh? What the hell? I would be better off in hell. Then at least I would have someone who kind of hated me but at least they appreciated that they weren't alone." Striding over to a tree, Damon punched it before withdrawing his hand and sucking in a breath.

Caroline sighed. He was right. And she hated to admit that Damon was ever right about anything. But they had each other and Bonnie was alone. Feeling more tears prick at her eyes, Caroline walked over to Damon and pressed a hand to his shoulder until he turned. She looked at his balled fist which was bleeding. It would heal soon. "Let's go find Matt and Enzo. 'Kay?"

"Sure," Damon replied as they walked down the road, side by side, intently listening for sounds of their missing friends. Hearing the peal of what sounded like Enzo's chuckle, Caroline's head twisted in that direction. Damon's head also moved in the same direction. Looking at each other, they moved swiftly through the woods and into a nearby clearing. Sure enough Enzo and Matt were eating marshmallows and to Caroline's shock, Matt was smiling at something that Enzo was saying. How long did it take for someone to begin to bond with his kidnapper? He had only been gone a couple of hours. "Matt," Caroline called and Matt looked over at her before getting to his feet.

"Hey, Care. What took you guys so long?" Matt asked Caroline.

"We had to make a pit stop. I got the munchies and ate a deer," Damon said drily before turning to Enzo. "What the hell, Enzo? If this is a cry for help you could have tried calling instead of kidnapping Beavis here," hooking a thumb at Matt, Damon smirked at Enzo.

"I would have but it seems that you only answer if the name is Gilbert or Saltzman, mate," Enzo snapped.

Damon's jaw dropped, "You're not seriously jealous of Elena and Ric?"

"Yeah, and Stefan," Matt added as Caroline's eyebrows rose.

"Shut it, you," Enzo growled.

"Enzo, my mom is in the hospital and she's dying! What is wrong with you?" Caroline yelled at Enzo whose eyes widened.

"I didn't know, gorgeous. No one tells me anything unless I go and kidnap or murder someone. Otherwise I'm just here," Enzo yelled back before heading past them toward the road. "Don't really know why I bothered at all."

Groaning, Caroline looked at Damon who also looked annoyed but guilty. "Enzo!" they called at the same time.

Enzo pivoted on his heel before looking back at them, "Yes?"

"So what's this about you trying to find Sarah Salvatore?" Damon inquired with a deep frown. "I killed that kid when she was still in her mom."

Gasping, Caroline looked horrified and disgusted while staring at Damon.

"That's the other Christmas miracle, Damon," Enzo announced with a wide smile. "You see, Stefan allowed you to go around feeling guilty about something that you didn't even do. Sure, you killed the girl's mum, but Sarah is alive and kicking as we speak."

Staring at Enzo, Damon tried to process the words but they would not fully register. "What?"

"She's alive, Damon. Thought you and I could pay a little visit. There's nothing like seeing family during the holidays," Enzo quipped. "Now, shall we be off, or did you want to stay and look for Bambi?"

Damon shook his head. This was impossible. It would be nothing short of a miracle if the girl had survived. Feeling his head swimming, Damon tried to think logically. Enzo had to have gotten it wrong. "How?"

"See, the sheer beauty of technology is that you can find almost anyone, anywhere, at any time. Took me some time and a trip to a library where I met a sweet, young lady who was quite good with researching. She found Sarah in less than an hour. Not only that, she found the hospital that Stefan and Zach Salvatore took the mother and her child to. Technology, it is a wonderful thing," Enzo told them while Matt frowned and Caroline looked confused. "She also taught me about Facebook."

After a long moment, Damon headed out of the woods. "Damon, where are you going?" Caroline shouted after him and he heard her following close behind.

"I'm going to find out if my brother has been lying to me all these years or not," Damon growled. Now that he had had his moment to digest this information he was royally pissed at Stefan for keeping this a secret from him.

"But you're my ride," Caroline complained.

Stopping in his tracks, Damon glowered down at Caroline. "Look, I'm going to find out if this true and you can hitchhike your way for all I care. Got it?"

"Damon, you're such a jerk," Caroline yelled after him as he stormed off toward his car.

"Whatever, Blondie," Damon snapped back as Enzo hopped into the passenger seat with a satisfied smirk. Damon revved the engine and would have driven off but Caroline was standing in front of the car. "Coming?" he snapped at her.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline walked around the car and glared down at Enzo until he climbed in the back with Matt hopping in beside him. Damon waited for Caroline to sit down before speeding off toward Duke.

"You had better get me home before mom wakes up," Caroline reminded Damon who nodded but he was only half listening. He was preparing himself for what it would be like to meet the girl whose parents he had killed. His humanity had been off both times. However, that didn't really seem like a good excuse. What in the hell was he going to say to her? "Hi, I'm Damon. You could say that I'm your great- great- great-uncle. Give or take a decade." Yeah, that would work out really well. Maybe he could make her cocoa and take her out caroling, too. Shit.

"What are you going to tell her?" Caroline asked quietly.

"Nothing," Damon said. "I just want to see her. I want to know that she's okay. I guess. I don't really know. This is not something I was expecting."

"You mean you didn't expect your supposedly dead relative to still be alive?" Enzo inquired with a snicker.

"I don't think you're helping," Matt pointed out.

"Who asked you?" Enzo snapped.

"What were you two talking about when we arrived?" Caroline asked and the two men quieted, refusing to look her in the eye. "Come on? What's so funny?"

"I kind of told Enzo about that time that Bonnie dared you to dress up as Mrs. Claus. You started doing a cheer routine after drinking Tyler's spiked eggnog and we were out in the middle of the Lockwood's lawn with, like, everyone in Mystic Falls there -" Matt was saying when Caroline yelped.

Damon turned to stare at Caroline who was bright red. "Matt, don't you dare finish that story," she warned.

"I'll finish it," Enzo announced as Caroline slid down in her seat.

"And the costume split while she in the position revealing her under clothing to the entire town. Apparently there were some sort of reindeer knickers with a fluffy tail on the back and little blinking lights on the bra. Now, that is what I would call a Christmas present. Care for a reenactment, gorgeous?" Enzo teased as Caroline screamed, launched herself toward him with Damon laughing as he turned on the radio and began to sing. "And so it was Christmas" while restraining Caroline with one arm so she didn't choke Enzo. Maybe the day was salvageable after all and they still had four hours to go.

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Jessica