...

There had been a certain moment in Enzo's life when he had realized that Bonnie Bennett was not simply an extraordinary person, a powerful if opinionated witch, but also someone truly special: caring, selfless, and attentive.

"Where have you been? You just fell off the face of the earth." She had asked the question with equal parts suspicion and interest, though it had been quite obvious that she had tried to hide the latter.

He had pretty much vanished from the earth for a while there and no one, literally no one but her had inquired as to what could have happened to him, or where he could have gone. No one had cared. Their lives had gone on as usual, and he had never really been a part of any of it, anyway. He had always remained on the sidelines of Mystic Falls. Involved, yes; a part of it? No.

But Bonnie Bennett had noticed his disappearance nonetheless.

It had been such a mundane moment, really, and she might not even remember it now or hadn't realized it back then, but when he had met her at that hospital, back when an aged Rayna the huntress had almost choked Bonnie, and he had come to her rescue (if, granted, for very selfish reasons) she had asked him where he had been.

When no one else had looked for him or asked about him or anything - not even when Lily Salvatore had died and they should have wondered why he hadn't shown up to honor her and give her his last respects, Bonnie Bennett had noticed and he had been able to tell from the way she had asked that she had actually cared.

Of course she had tried really hard to sound casual, and like she didn't care much at all, but he had seen it in her eyes. Her beautiful expressive green eyes.

"I didn't miss you," she had continued, "I'm curious as to your recent whereabouts. There's a difference."

But he had seen through her; and he had smiled.

He had honestly been touched hearing that one person had cared. Just one person, it was all he ever wanted anyway. One person to care about him.

He hadn't even been upset about Damon seemingly not noticing he was gone. That was just typical Damon. He had done way worse to Enzo, and somehow Enzo still always ended up forgiving him. That bastard could charm his way out of anything, really.

A reaction from Bonnie Bennett, however, that had been like winning the lottery.

…

Maybe that was why, later, he decided to look out for her when his distant cousin Alexandria decided that the Armory needed a Bennett witch - that they needed Bonnie - for one of their rather suspicious interests and activities. He hadn't trusted the woman one bit, and she hadn't trusted him. She had left him in the dark about her plans (about everything, really) and he had decided to rather side with Bonnie than with her.

They had dangled a carrot in front of him for way too long by then, promising him information about his family, making him do their dirty work for them without ever really giving him anything in return. All he had wanted was to learn more about his parents, about his origins. But had these people given him anything? Did they even know much?

So when they told him they were setting out to capture Bonnie Bennett and make her do their bidding, at all costs, he made a decision. He was not going to help them. Instead, he was going to help her.

He wouldn't ever let anyone be locked away like he had been locked away - most certainly not someone like Bonnie Bennett with her kind heart.

She had saved him once before, after all, when he had been on the Other Side. Surprisingly, strangely, she had cared about him back then, too, and she had held onto him and saved him from oblivion, given him another chance at life.

And he was going to honor that, to earn it...

...

...

She had been so so nervous about this, but in the end, it turned out great.

It had been Enzo's idea, of course. That man knew how to pick up clues and how to listen. All this time later, he had still remembered what Damon had told them once, about that dream he'd had when he had suffered the heart attack. The dream about the wedding.

Damon had later joked about it all, and had offhandedly mentioned how he should have known it was a dream because "Bon Bon sang a song with you, mate, and it was actually really quite good," as he had recounted, addressing Enzo.

Enzo had only smirked back then, not shown more of a reaction and definitely not graced it with a comment. But later, Bonnie had learned that he must have secretly filed it away in that amazing brain of his, only to bring it up again when Bonnie was desperate and near tears because she - Elena's oldest friend! - could not come up with a worthy wedding gift, deserving of their special friendship.

"Let's write that song, love. Together," he had suggested, smiling at her as if it was the most obvious thing to do. And she could only wrap her arms around him and kiss him and tell him, "You're an amazing man, do you even know that, Lorenzo St. John?"

They had tirelessly worked on it, they had found the words together, while he had tried to match it with a melody. No, not tried. He had succeeded. It always seemed to come so naturally to him, music, and she was so awed to watch him, to witness how the music just poured out of him, translated onto the guitar.

It was always rather… arousing to watch him play. Especially when she could see the muscles work in his bare arms and watch his long fingers strum the instrument as if it was a caress.

Many a session back then had ended with the inevitable: them naked on the floor, or the couch, or once even splayed out rather awkwardly on the kitchen island just as James started crying in his crib.

His fingers had strummed her then, their bodies had made the music.

Then finally, and just in time, the song had been ready, or they had been ready to accept it as the final version, and now here they were, watching Elena and Damon dance while they performed their song.

Bonnie had been so ridiculously nervous. She had almost lost her voice because of it and she was only a little ashamed to admit that she had used a bit of magic to soothe her throat to be able to sing.

Ulterior motives, right? This was for her friends, her best friends.

Once they were done, Enzo as cool as always, but Bonnie flushed and exhilarated, everyone clapped and asked for an encore. She was feeling a bit shy, but Enzo simply nodded to her and asked in a whisper whether she knew the lyrics to a song called "The luckiest" at all. But she didn't.

So he smiled at her for a moment, then sang it by himself, his eyes on her most of the time, as if he was serenading her; and for a while she forgot completely where they even were. She had only eyes for him.

…

Later, when Elena threw her bouquet, Bonnie wasn't even in the crowd of unmarried women. She stood a little to the side, hugging Enzo close, and maybe also trying to hide a little in his embrace. She had never liked this part of a wedding. She had been single at a wedding too many times in the past and had always felt so awkward, so glaringly alone.

But suddenly she saw something from the corner of her eye, something flying straight at her, and thanks to her enhanced senses, she plucked it right out of the air only to realize it was the bundle of white flowers. She caught Elena's eyes, and saw her friend wink at her. Bonnie rolled her eyes but smiled. She wasn't actually annoyed. Enzo pulled her closer again, smiling, and kissed her. While she felt all eyes on them and felt heat creep into her face again, he was yet again unfazed and just so unnervingly calm and sure of himself. Sure of them.

…

It was so very late when they finally left. Damon and Elena had long vanished to do their thing and leave their guests to party on in their name.

Bonnie still saw Jeremy chat with Alaric, each one holding a sleeping little girl in their arms, while Caroline still danced a slow waltz with Stefan, drowning in his eyes.

Matt was still entangled with that Vampire Hunter girl that Bonnie couldn't stand (or trust), and a group of fellow medical students of Elena's was drunkenly chatting away at a table to the back.

"Shall we?" Enzo asked, giving her another kiss for good measure as he pulled her against his side, baby James already snapped into his car seat that was now dangling from his father's free arm.

"Yes," she muttered, and she took her shoes off before they went on their way, tip toeing alongside him until they reached the parking lot.

"I guess I'll have to do the gentlemanly thing and help you over the cold and hard asphalt," he smirked and before she knew it, he had hoisted her up, fireman style, and was carrying her - and their baby - over to their car.

She laughed. "Stop it, Enzo!" she begged, but he only let her back down once they had reached their destination. She looked up into his eyes, her smile making room for something else as she pulled herself up to kiss him.

"Such a gentleman," she whispered, and he smiled at her briefly, then they reluctantly disentangled again and worked together quickly to snap the car seat back in place before heading into the night.

…

The car ride was quiet, the night was brightly lit by a gorgeous full moon, and the street in front of them meandered along peacefully like a river of black. Bonnie felt herself almost doze off, listening to Enzo hum beside her, steering their car safely on its way, and it took her a while to notice that he wasn't headed home at all. Frowning, she called him out on it.

"Where are we going? This is not the way home."

"Do you trust me, love?" He briefly shot her a sideways glance, his expression unreadable.

Duh, she thought, but aloud she asked, "Should I?"

He smiled at her without saying anything, then redirected his gaze out the windshield once more. There was a light snow coming down, beautiful whisky flakes. It was getting cold.

They drove on for a while, her hand on his leg. She had so many questions, but he was quiet and wasn't going to answer any of them.

When they finally got to their destination, she couldn't help but smile. It was… beautiful. The clearing was covered in a light blanket of snow, bits of green and brown still poking through in places. And in the middle: the cabin. Their cabin.

"But it burnt to the ground," she breathed, deeply moved, already knowing what he would reply.

"I rebuilt it. For you. For us." He smiled at her, leaning his forehead against hers as he wiped away the tears she couldn't quite hold back.

She quickly put the Uggs on she had kept in the car for when it was time to get out again, then they stepped out onto the slight crunch of the ground and he came around the car to guide her over to the house.

He held a thankfully still sleeping James against his shoulder and chest, tucking him under his jacket, and together, their little family walked until they reached the door. Enzo looked at her, then procured a key from his pocket.

"After you, love," he rasped. "I would carry you over the threshold but..." He nodded to where James was resting against him, and she smiled at them both. With a sigh of anticipation, she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

It was all redone, but better somehow. Nicer. She couldn't see it all in the darkness, but it looked like home. She saw him extend an arm and turn the switch situated on the wall beside the door, and suddenly there were lights everywhere. So many string lights, just like on their very first date… Bonnie gasped.

"It's… beautiful, Enzo. When did you even manage to do all this?"

He had been with her for most of the time during the last months, ever since their baby was born… He couldn't have possibly done all this by himself, could he?

"I snuck away here and there," he explained, "when you and James were out together, or asleep… When I said I was helping Damon with accounting, I was actually here, too… But I'm not gonna lie, it came in rather useful that I have vampire strength." He grinned.

Bonnie was stunned. He had built her a house. A home.

"I hope you like it, love. Because I was hoping we could have our homebase here, a place to raise James. Where it all began…"

"Homebase?" She stumbled over the word, and he smiled at her. He gently put James down in the little crib that was standing by the couch, then walked back to her.

He looked at her for a long moment, not saying anything, tracing her lips with his finger. Then he slowly knelt down, and Bonnie forgot to breathe… He opened a small box, holding it out to her. There was a ring in it, simple, beautiful. A rose gold that would look beautiful with her skin tone.

"Bonnie Bennett," he began, looking up to her, so very earnestly, so handsome, and she could see the world behind his eyes, "will you-"

"Yes!" She blurted out, before he had even finished speaking and he started smirking.

"Will you at least let me finish? Or you'll never know what you just carelessly agreed to," he warned her playfully, and Bonnie had to laugh. She touched her ear in a sudden shy gesture, then did a little apologetic curtsy. Her emotions had gotten away with her, obviously. But she didn't care.

"Alright, dear Lorenzo St. John," she began, "What did I just carelessly agree to then?"

She felt her cheeks flush again as she waited for his reply, but not with embarrassment so much as with arousal.

"To be my wife; that's what you agreed to. - So, love, just to make sure: will you marry me?"

She felt more tears come and tried to blink them away. "Always," she muttered, then, laughing, "Yes. Yes, I will!"

Enzo got up swiftly and stood right in front of her, putting the ring on her finger agonizingly slowly, and then he kissed her. She leaned into him, she let him lift her up, and together they made their way over to the couch, trying to be quiet so as not to wake their sleeping child.

She was going to marry him. Of course she was! Bonnie Bennett was going to marry Lorenzo St. John.

He finally had a family, a real family. The only family that mattered. And he was so very happy.

They were happy.