Chapter 15

December 1946

A thick, awkward tension filled the air.

"So, what are you two girls scheming now?"

Three women sat around a small coffee table. There was a tray of pastries in the middle of them, each with a cup of tea in their hands. Caroline froze, looking to Elena before returning her gaze to the older woman in their presence. She cleared her throat to stall for time, preparing her answer.

"We were thinking it might be nice to get away, for a bit."

Elena looked over at her friend, big brown orbs staring at the blonde ready to examine her every move. It had been a few weeks since the last incident that night—when Caroline's gun had magically disappeared from her room.

Elena never brought the weapon up in conversation. To the best of Caroline's knowledge, Elena only knew that Caroline had a fit after a nightmare. That was the end of the story.

And since Caroline had sent the letter in the mail and cleared at least some portion of her conscious, the nightmares had tamed. All she hoped was that any suspicions Elena had were tamed for the time being.

Beth raised an eyebrow, observing how the girls waited nervously for her response. She let out a small scoff, "I hardly think it would be appropriate for the two of you to travel away on your own. I don't see why you won't just agree to bring the boys along. I'm sure Giuseppe would have no issue giving Stefan and Damon a couple of days off to accompany you."

Caroline and Elena wanted to venture off to New Orleans for a girls weekend. They had been planning to do so for a few months, and now they were craving some alone time.

"It's just that Caroline's birthday is coming up soon, and we were hoping to go out and celebrate the two of us. We all know that Stefan is going to hog her to himself when we come back."

"I wish I could let you two go. But it simply isn't appropriate for two young women to go out on their own. I'm afraid your request is out of the question."

Beth watched the disappointment spread over their faces, when she continued, "And it's so close to Christmas. I would like all of us spend time together as a family this time of the year."

The young blonde and brunette exchanged another glance between them. Beth watched closely.

Many always praised Stefan for his perceptiveness, but few had realized that he had inherited such a trait from his mother. Elizabeth Salvatore was a storm of a woman to mess with. She could tell that the dynamic between Caroline and Elena had been off recently. The two were happy as usual, but an unspoken stress now stood in the middle.

"I believe that this discussion is over, ladies. Unless either of you have any business to discuss with my personally, I would very much like to get back to my day."

"Of course," Caroline let out, feeling a weight drown in her chest.

She had been dying to get out of the house, out of Mystic Falls even if for a few moments. It was beginning to stifle her. Not to add, she needed to speak to Elena away from prying eyes and ears to discover what Elena knew about the gun. And if she knew nothing, Caroline still longed to confess even a hint of her history to another soul.

Secrets were weighing her heart down.

While being with Stefan made her unbelievably happy, the burden of her lies was starting to rip through her. She knew he could tell something was wrong with her, but anytime he inquired about it she would shut him down. She'd give him a kiss and tell him not to worry.

"Come on, Caroline," Elena extended her hand to help Caroline up. The light haired girl accepted her graciously, standing to her feet. "Thank you, Beth."

"I'll see you two girls later, then."

Both of them shuffled their way out, the click of the door sounding when they left.

-p-

Caroline stood outside, staring into space at nothing in particular.

There was something so beautiful about snow. White, pure, cold enough not to be water, warm enough not to be hail. It fell from the sky in white flakes.

It was like the snow was mourning the death of all the nature that perished the earlier season. While the trees turned colorful months before, it was all bare branches and a depressing mix of blacks and browns.

"You're going to catch a cold if you keeping going like this," a voice came from behind. She of course recognized who it belonged to, a smile finding its way back to her lips. If it was even possible, it felt like all the anxiety melted away.

She swiveled around, peeking out from behind the scarf around her neck.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, his hands in his pockets as he stepped closer. He could see his breath in the frigid air. "It's almost—" The wind was knocked out of him when she jumped on him, her arms on him.

His hands found their way to her back. "Oh my god, Caroline. You're freezing." He put his hand to her cheek, confirming her icy touch. "How long have you been out here?"

She didn't respond at first, just hoping to keep him in her arms. He steadied her weight with his hands on her waist. "Hey," his tone was softer now, his eyes wide as he held onto her tighter. "Hey, what's going on?"

Caroline stopped, sucking in a breath of cold air.

And then, it was like everything was better. She let go of Stefan and stepped away. "I'm fine," she had another smile on her face. It looked real, at least to anyone who didn't know her as well as he did. She clapped her hands together, "I just missed you, that's all."

He bit the inside of his cheek, looking at her with an analytical eye. She had been unstable recently. Her smile wasn't as bright, and her laugh not as loud.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him expectantly. "What?" she asked once he didn't respond.

He took his hands and removed her arms from his nape and clasped them between his own. "What's going on?" he repeated sternly.

She shook her head, a forced laugh came through her lips. "I just said that I was fine, Stefan. I'm okay. I promise."

He didn't falter, not this time. "Caroline, you know you can tell me anything that's going on, don't you?"

"Of course I know that—"

"Then tell me what's going on in your head right now."

It was always getting more difficult to hide herself from him. She'd let him in so deep that he knew more about her than she was really comfortable even knowing herself.

"I'm just thinking of how happy I am to see you. I don't know how else to—"

Before she could finish he had ripped away from her, propelling backwards. She watched him, her mouth open, as he paced back and forth and ran a hand over his face.

"Stefan, please don't do that."

He didn't say anything.

"Stefan," she pleaded, "Don't do that."

He stopped to look at her.

"Then tell me the truth, Caroline. I don't know how else to do anything. There's something eating at you, for weeks now. And you can't even tell me!" The last part had amplified into a shout. He never raised his voice at her, and the tone made her wince. "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to help you if you don't tell me, if you don't let me in!"

Her line of vision rested on the ground now. She couldn't look at him in the eye. Her head had dropped, her shoulders slumped.

His chest heaved up and down, "You need to tell me. I can't protect you if you aren't honest with me."

And that was what snapped something in her. She was done with all of this, with worrying. She had been protected by people her entire life, and it had done nothing but cause chaos and suffering to her and those she loved.

Matt had to protect her from herself and her father. He was dead now. Tyler had tried to protect her they day she left the city. He was as good as dead too. And now Stefan, the man she loved more than she knew she could love someone, he wanted to protect her too.

"What if I don't need you to protect me?" she whispered, quietly enough that Stefan couldn't hear her.

"What was that?"

"What if I don't need you to protect me?" she said louder this time, raising her head to meet his gaze.

Maybe it was time for her to take care of herself.

"I can protect myself."

He swiveled around toward her now. His eyes were grey and cold. "You think I want to protect you? You think I want to worry about you? You think that I want every thought in my head to be consumed by you?" He was growing louder, his words echoing throughout the vicinity.

They were just outside the house. Surely someone would hear them.

She had never been intimidated by Stefan. But his disposition now, it was almost menacing.

"I wish I could just let you be. That I could just love you and leave it at that. But I can't, Caroline." His hand clasped the bottom half of his face. He took one stride toward her, but she backed away so that they were even farther apart. "I just can't. That's not how I love someone, and that's not how I love you. For this to work, you're going to have to trust me enough to tell me what's happening."

She folded her arms over her chest. The snow was falling again, slowly at first but it was coming down quickly soon enough.

"You do trust me, don't you?"

She didn't open her mouth to say anything in return. She did trust him, perhaps too much. But she needed to look after herself, and look after Stefan too. She didn't want to ruin the image of the girl he'd fallen for.

"What's going on out here?"

The dark haired man appeared next to them, his arms extended out in the air cautiously. Damon had been in the kitchen with Elena when he heard screaming. He left the brunette inside to investigate, telling her to wait for him to come back.

It was strange. Stefan was always so cool headed—he never lost his patience or his temper. Something was up.

"Nothing," Caroline said, her gaze remaining on her shoes. She shoved her way past each of the Salvatore brothers and entered the house again. She couldn't take it anymore.

"What was that?" Damon asked, scrutinizing his brother with narrow eyes.

Stefan flexed his hand in and out of a fist.

"Nothing."

End Chapter 15

A/N: First fight between them? Please review if you'd like me to continue.