Disclaimer: I own nothing.

FLUFFIER THAN THE FLUFFY WHITE SNOW

EVE

The doorbell rings but Stefan ignores it, putting a pillow over his head.

It's Christmas eve and and he's determined to sleep off the big part of day. He doesn't hate holidays but, more than anything, Stefan hates the day-before's. The day before his birthday. The day before New Year. The day before Christmas. There's something about the waiting—all the unnecessary suspense for such a fleeting and short-lived celebration—that just doesn't sit right with him.

The doorbell rings again, twice, thrice, before he forces himself to rise from the bed.

It's a particularly chilly morning, he left the windows open last night, and the first snowfall of Christmas left patches of melted snow on his wooden floor. Regardless, he treads downstairs in his bare feet, as he lazily puts on a cotton shirt a bit too thin for this cold season. It's a good thing vampires don't get colds.

What greets him when he answers the door are two snowballs put haphazardly over the other, standing just until his knee, with two coal black stones for the eyes.

Someone had just left a little snowman on his porch.

He stands there, a bit lost for a moment, when his ears pick up a familiar sweet laugh.

"Caro—"

He doesn't even finish uttering her name when the said blonde pounces on him, throwing her arms around his neck. Stefan staggers back a bit, instinctively wrapping his arms on her waist for balance as she nuzzles against his neck—the same way she did when he last saw her two years ago.

"Surprised?" Caroline asks excitedly when she finally pulls back.

"Very." He furrows his brows. "I heard you're in Italy."

"Well Nik's in Italy." She says as she then pushes past him into the boarding house. "But I'm here."

"Alone?" He questions, following her to the living room and cocking his head when she turns to face him. "He knows you're here, right?"

She bites her lower lip in response, instantly cuing Stefan that she's hesitating.

"He... may or may not know that I'm here."

"Caroline."

"What?" The blonde mumbles too innocently. She unties her lavender coat and tosses it aside with her white beanie before unceremoniously flopping down the couch.

The younger Salvatore sighs. She's being too easygoing about this. Everyone knows Klaus rarely lets her out of his sight and he doesn't even want to imagine what the hybrid's reaction will be once he realizes she had just left on her own without a bodyguard.

He forms a speech in mind, ready to give Caroline a good long scolding when she begins to speak.

"I'm here to see my mom, Stefan." She says in a small voice and he pauses, eyes softening.

"It's okay." She assures him as he falls on the seat beside her. He reaches out to hold her hand but playfully she snatches it away, a wide grin on her face.

"Dude, seriously, it's fine." Getting up from the couch, Caroline stands before him, her arms crossed. "Plus, I think you're gonna spend Christmas all alone and broody again so..."

Stefan chuckles. "I'm not."

She raises a brow in question.

"Well you're here now, right?" He tells her and, at once, the warmest of smiles graces her face. She pulls Stefan up from his seat and proceeds to push him towards the hallway.

"Come on, you're house needs a serious Christmas facelift."

They scour the whole mall for everything sparkly and bright, all the while Caroline was barking questions to an absolutely uninterested Stefan. If there's one thing he didn't miss about her, it's her seemingly unlimited vigor for shopping.

"Do you want a traditional red and green or a very wintry blue and silver?"

"What about stockings?"

"Oooh, Christmas lights!"

"Stefan." Caroline whines as she drags him again into another store.

"What?" He chortles in amusement and she rolls her eyes. There it is. A sliver of Mystic Falls Caroline. Bossy control freak, shopper extraordinaire. But most of all, his best friend.

Some things never change.

That night, the house is red and gold against the snowy night sky. It's hardly a New York Christmas but it certainly is a far cry from the 'bat cave' (as Caroline puts it) Stefan's living in.

Inside, a spruce tree is aglow with various decorations, the brightest of which is a star glimmering on top. Stefan is sprawled on the couch beside it, a tattered copy of Notes from Underground in his hands while Caroline sits on the floor browsing through the pictures in his laptop. She stops by a particular photograph, a poignant look in her eyes.

"Too bad you couldn't come." Stefan remarks. "Bonnie was so happy."

"I know." She murmurs quietly. "But she hates me right now. Looks like I'm going to spend eternity making up for missing my only godchild's wedding."

"That's not true." He tells her as he joins her on the floor. "They miss you, is all. Even Damon said so."

"I miss them too." She giggles, bumping her shoulders to his. "I miss this."

"Well obviously, seeing that you raided my house and all."

"Sorry." Caroline pouts. "Holidays in hotels sucks. I missed having a home to decorate. No, wait. I missed having a home. Period."

Despite the humor, he can sense the longing in her voice. He has felt it too, countless of times in his long life. That constant yearning. Like being homesick to a place that doesn't even exist*. It's an emotion you'll live with for the rest of eternity and, sometimes it's a good to have something—anything—to hold on to. Something that will never change while everything else changes right before your very eyes.

To Stefan, that is Mystic Falls. The Salvatore boarding house.

"You can stay, you know." He offers. "This is your home, too."

She shakes her head in response and hugs her knees to her chest. "You know I can't, Stef."

He frowns. "He's too greedy with you."

"Oh no, on the contrary, I'm too greedy with him. " She laughs, unconsciously fiddling the linked lemniscates on her wrists. "Even now that I hate him, I still miss him."

"So you were fighting."

"We're always fighting, Stefan, and every single one is just as scary as the next."

Instantly, his brows shoot up in alarm.

"No, no, not scary scary..." Caroline then clarifies. "But... I mean..." She takes a deep breath. "Nik's been with me for forty years, which is like a mere fraction of his actual age, but I've been with him for almost the whole of my vampire life. And somehow... It scares me to think how much I need him. How I will die if something bad happens to him or if he goes away and leaves me." She gives him a weak smile. "While he's there in fucking Italy without even the slightest idea that I'm gone."

"I seriously doubt that, Care."

"Well, even still." She counters. "Who leaves his wife alone in the holidays? I mean, I'm well aware of his aversion to these 'human traditions' but you know... He could hate all he want—glare at the Christmas tree all day, cover his ears when I sing Christmas songs—but just be there with me. For me." Caroline explains.

Stefan studies her for a moment, letting her emotions subside before speaking.

"I think..." He begins in a solemn tone. "That maybe... You are underestimating how much he cares about you. You need to give him a little more credit, Caroline. He may not always love you the way you want him to but he loves you." He rests a hand on her cheek. "Only an idiot would ever deny that."

Love is an ever elusive thing for Stefan and he is by no means a romantic. But through the years, he has seen glimpses of it. And, although he doubted it at first, he knows even by just that infinitesimal moment when they'll meet each other's eyes—a split-second where everything else ceases exists but the two of them—he cannot deny that theirs is one of most genuine glimpses he has seen. She is his rock, his home, and he is hers too.

She leans in to his touch and closes her eyes. "Maybe I am an idiot."

"Yes." Stefan chuckles. "And a big stubborn one at that."

Quickly she opens her eyes to glare at him and he chuckles harder. He removes his hold on her face but only to grasp her hand in his.

"Do you want to see Liz now?" He asks.

Liz wasn't fond of holidays, she tells him as they trudge through the snow.

"If she's here right now she'll probably be like, 'What are you doing here? Go back to your husband'." She says, mustering her best impersonation of her mother. "Ugh, God knows how long it was before she could even say 'husband' without visibly cringing." She adds with a roll of her eyes.

Stefan laughs at this until his gaze falls ahead of them.

"Speaking of..." He begins and she hums questioningly, following his line of sight.

There, beside the grave of the late Elizabeth Forbes, is the aforementioned husband. He looks tired in his unruly hair and heavy-lidded eyes. His pristine black coat is snowed, hinting them that he's been standing there for a while.

"Nik?" Calls the wife and, at once, the hybrid's face lights up as he looks at them with a smirk.

"Hello, love." Klaus greets in his deep voice.

He was preparing their villa, he says.

But she didn't want to go to the villa, she says.

Behind them, the younger Salvatore sitting on a stone bench rolls his eyes.

Let it be clear that Stefan doesn't mean to listen to their love quarrel. But really, who can blame him if they are both screaming at the top of their lungs, hot to lay down their own arguments without actually hearing out one another?

"And that warranties you going behind my back, breaking my hybrid's neck, and wandering off a thousand of miles away without a word?" Klaus demands.

"I did not just 'wandered off' as you so lightly put it." Caroline scoffs as she closes and opens her eyes for a second, clearly shaking the anger. "I know you hate Christmas but... I'm here for my mom, Nik. Twice we missed her death anniversary." She says after a moment, her voice falling to a soft murmur. "Yes, you promised we'd go before this year ends but I don't know... I'm just not sure with you anymore, Nik. You don't really have a good track record when it comes to promises."

Klaus pauses, hearing the hurt in her voice, as she turns her back to him, the heels of her hands on her eyes. He learns from a long time ago that she only does this when she's really really angry.

"Caroline..."

"Save it." She snaps and Klaus sighs.

He marches up in front of her and holds down her wrists to see her face. She tries to resist but of course he's a lot stronger.

"Caroline." He calls her again, almost pleadingly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." He repeats when she doesn't answer. Still grasping her hands, he circles her arms around his waist, forcing her into an awkward hug. She cranes her neck, not wanting to lean on his chest.

"I'm sorry." Klaus says the third time. "I've only said it thrice but that's most I have said it in a whole lifetime." He rests his chin on the crown of her head. "And I'm not going to stop saying it until I get you to look at me, love."

She senses the intensity of his voice and tentatively, she allows him to lock his gaze with hers. The warm smile he gives her then completely melts away her anger.

"You know I would have fulfilled this promise if only you had given me the chance." He explains. "I hate myself for giving you a reason to doubt me. I know I could only push my chances with you for so much before you get tired of me. And believe it or not, I was... frightened. Horribly so, when I thought you had left me." He breathes. "For the first time in my entire existence, I've never felt so helpless."

His admission sends chills down her spine and finally she lets herself submit to the embrace. She feels him sigh in relief as she willingly envelops him in her arms.

"I never wanted to doubt you, Nik." She murmurs against his chest. "I never wanted to doubt 'us'."

"Hmmm." Klaus hums in agreement. "I love that word."

"I know."

Klaus kisses her temple. "I've missed you, my love. Even now that you're here in my arms, I still miss you."

She giggles, hugging him tighter. "Same here."

"Then let's go home, Caroline."

"I'm sorry." Caroline tells Stefan as she gives him a goodbye hug.

"For letting me watch Klaus maul you with his mouth? Oh please it's totally fine." Stefan says sardonically and she smacks him on the head.

"I'm serious." The blonde declares, pulling back to stare at his eyes. "I feel bad. I guess you're spending Christmas alone after all."

"I told you, I'm not."

She throws him an incredulous look but he just shrugs in response.

"I'm glad I spent Christmas Eve with you though." Stefan offers.

"Ditto." She replies and he places a light kiss on her cheek.

He remembers then that he hadn't given her a proper greeting yet for Christmas but she's already running back to Klaus, giggling as the grinning hybrid leads her to their car. They're in their own little world now and Stefan knows better that two intrude.

He watches them as they drive away, leaving visible tire tracks on the snow-covered floor, and a little while later, he feels a presence stand beside him.

"I thought they're not gonna leave. Ugh, they're so dramatic."

Stefan rolls his eyes. "Says the most dramatic woman I know."

"Shut up."

"Is it midnight yet?"

"In a bit." She mutters, flipping her curly brunette locks. "Don't worry, I can wait. Knowing how you hate the eve and all."

He chuckles. "Perhaps we can make an exception though. Just this once."

"Wait. Don't bother." She says, checking her wristwatch for the second time. "It just struck twelve."

"Oh." He responds lightheartedly as he offers his arm to her. "Well then... Merry Christmas, Pierce."

And Katherine smiles as she loops her arm around his, her brown doe eyes sparkling against the snowy night.

"Merry Christmas, Salvatore."

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A/N: My first Steroline fic. Yey! This is more of friendship story between them though and I have yet to explore the romance territory of Steroline. Soon.

HAVE A VERY KLAROLINE CHRISTMAS! (yes that's a legit greeting)

*OH WAIT. The line "homesick for a place that doesn't even exist" is taken from the painfully beautiful film Garden State. Go watch it!

THIS IS UNBETA'D Y'ALL.