A/N: I started this story a few months ago but I was just waiting for the finale to show before posting since I've never really done an AU TVD fic before. I have a few chapters written now and I'll probably post every week or two probably until season 7 starts or just after. Thanks to iwillforgetdamon for helping me write this and editing. Please tell me what you think!
The road glistened under streetlights as the car drove carefully down its path. It had just rained, the fresh smell usually able to comfort him instead made the tears fall faster. He tried to stay silent but he couldn't help the little gasps that came along with crying.
The officer in the passenger seat turned around and gave him a grimace that was meant to be a reassuring smile. "You doing alright kid? Stefan Salvatore, right?"
He quickly nodded but refrained from speaking until the knot in his throat went away.
"Real sorry about your dad. He was a good man. Guess he's in a better place now, right?"
Stefan closed his eyes for a few seconds as the burning behind them grew stronger. He rested his forehead on the window and sighed. All the lights blurred together from both the moisture on the glass and his face.
"You know where we're taking you, right? Your next of kin is an older brother in Mystic Falls, right?"
A flicker of irritation rose up within Stefan. If the officer said 'right' one more time, he was going to flip out.
"What about that cut on his face?" asked the cop that was driving, flicking his eyes to the rear view mirror to look at Stefan.
"Does it hurt?"
Stefan shook his head but still brought a hand up to his cheek. There was a horizontal cut a few centimeters deep just below his left eye. It had stopped bleeding a while ago but was still a little sticky. He dropped the hand and unconsciously held his side, making himself gasp. He hoped the officers attributed it to his crying and clutched his hands together on his lap.
"It doesn't look too bad but you probably want to get that checked out when we get you home."
Home? Stefan was not going home. He was going 50 miles away to live with his estranged brother in a house that had been passed down for generations. He was going to a place where he practically knew no one with a broken heart and a busted up face.
"Tell your brother we don't miss him at all, alright?" the annoying one chuckled. "He used to always end up in our station, remember? Then that one time Giuseppe dropped him off for being in a fight? He wouldn't stop talking in that holding cell. Thank God he got the hell out of town when he turned eighteen, the neighborhood's been much quieter since then."
Stefan bit his lip to stop from saying anything. He prefered it when the cop asked annoying questions that he didn't answer.
The next forty minutes passed by quietly, at least on Stefan's end. The cops chattered about this or that, a few dozen 'right's dropped in between. They reminisced about Giuseppe Salvatore, the town's savior, and his wife, who unfortunately passed away some years before. They talked a little more about Damon, recalling how they would purposefully stop him on the street because they just knew he was being a nuisance. The conversation slipped onto Stefan and one of the officers wondered if he was mute or just traumatized. No one had ever heard Stefan say much, which was what he preferred. He rolled his eyes and watched the trees go by as they drew closer to Mystic Falls.
When Caroline walked into Mystic Falls High School that Friday, she had the distinct feeling she was being left out of something. And if you knew Caroline, you knew she hated not knowing everything about everything. Whispers were being exchanged throughout the hallways as she walked towards her locker, making her slightly paranoid there was a new rumor about her going around. She had just pulled out her phone and was going to send a text to her besties when she looked up to see someone pass by her.
It wasn't just anyone, though. She had known everyone in this school since she was five years old. While she loved Mystic Falls more than anything, she wished she could go someplace where there were new faces. And one had just walked by her.
Since when had high school boys looked like that? He had dark green eyes, bronze hair, and the most kissable lips she had ever seen. He had a little scrape on his cheek but that was easily fixable. She was entranced as he walked past her and she let her gaze fall down to his ass. Perfect. This boy was just perfect.
"Who was that?" she quickly asked the girl next to her as the boy turned down another hallway.
"I don't know, but I'd like a piece of that," the girl sighed.
Caroline pursed her lips. "I call dibs," she succinctly said before turning on her heels to find her actual friends.
She found Elena and Bonnie equally transfixed on him as she walked them to their history class, which as luck would have it, they shared with him and she didn't.
"Elena, you already have a boyfriend, or had, I don't know what's up with you and Matt," she huffed. "And Bonnie, you know Elena's little brother is obsessed with you. Can I please have him? Pleaseeee?"
"He's not an object, you can't stake a claim on him," Elena frowned. "And don't worry about me and Matt. We're working things out, okay?"
"You think Jeremy likes me?" Bonnie asked, blushing a little.
"That's not the point! The point is I get to him first, okay? If he doesn't want me, then, maybe, possibly, you can start talking to him," Caroline said with her head held high, but on the inside she was a little worried. Yes, she had gone on tons of dates before, but it was always Elena who found the ones who were boyfriend material. And boy, did she want to keep him for more than one night. As long as he stayed away from Elena long enough to start liking Caroline, she thought she would be safe.
Except for the fact that he had class with Elena right now.
Caroline briskly walked away and prayed her little heart out that they sat on opposite sides of the room facing different directions and had absolutely no contact for the rest of the day. This can't be ruined before it even started.
She sulked the entire period she had English and was out the door the second the bell started to ring. She practically sprinted to Mr. Tanner's classroom just in time to see him leave the room.
"Mr. Salvatore." Caroline almost jumped when Mr. Tanner's booming voice traveled down the hall. It's not that it was particularly loud or deep, but the hatred that ran through it made it scary.
The boy had turned around and was heading back to the room. "You can call me Stefan," he said and Caroline almost swooned at his voice. She reminded herself to practice writing Mrs. Stefan Salvatore as soon as possible.
"Mr. Salvatore," Mr. Tanner said sternly. "I don't appreciate when students talk out of turn. Do you understand?"
"Of course, I apologize." He didn't even sound sarcastic, causing her attraction for him to reach heights she never knew existed. Cute and polite was her kryptonite.
"Make sure it doesn't happen again," Mr. Tanner said before heading back into his classroom.
Stefan turned and for a split second, their eyes met. Caroline prayed that she looked calm, cool and collected, but was pretty sure she resembled a lovesick puppy. He didn't pause and kept walking past her to his next class.
The hallways were starting to empty so she quickly went to her algebra class where everything made just about as much sense as Stefan being voted the ugliest student in school. She couldn't help herself from doodling his name in her notes a few times before she decided sixteen was too old to be acting like a preteen with their first crush. Time passed agonizingly slow but eventually class was over and she went to meet Elena for their only class together: chemistry.
"I found out his name," Caroline said in one whoosh, making Elena laugh.
"So did I, he was in my class, remember?" she smirked as they made their way to their lab.
"You didn't talk to him, did you?" As much as she tried not to, some worry must have slipped into her voice because Elena looked at her with slightly raised eyebrows.
"No, he answered a question for me though. Tanner was pissed."
"I saw. After class, he was telling Stefan not to do it again. He should be glad someone is actually willing to answer his stupid questions."
"You saw? Are you stalking him now?" Elena teased her.
Caroline blushed and put her head down, holding her notebook closer to her. "It's not fair, you have class with him and I don't," she pouted.
"Don't speak so soon," Elena smiled as they walked into their classroom. Stefan was standing in the front talking to the teacher, Mr. Pollard.
Heart beating loudly in her ears, Caroline followed Elena as they walked past him to their table. He glanced up at her and actually gave her a once-over before looking back at Mr. Pollard.
She was surprised she didn't trip and fall right then. He looked at her, her, and not Elena first. That was a new one.
When the last few stragglers made it to class, Mr. Pollard cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Okay, class, this is Stefan Salvatore and he'll be joining our class for the rest of the year. Anyone want to volunteer to bring him into their lab group?" Nearly all of the girls' hands shot up but Caroline's was the first. "Alright, you can join Caroline, Elena, and Aimee, second row on the left."
Her heart fluttered as he made his way towards them. He set his bag down and sat across from Caroline, which was next to Aimee.
"You're Stefan, right?" Aimee giggled, acting as if she hadn't heard his name announced just fifteen seconds earlier.
He narrowed his eyes before letting out a chuckle and nodding. "And you are?"
Uh oh. Aimee had her flirty face on. Caroline shot daggers at her as she giggled again and twirled her hair around her finger. "I'm Aimee, aka the way to an easy A in this class. We should... study together sometime."
Caroline was seething with anger. There was no way this bitch was going to take Stefan from her before they had even been properly introduced. "I'm Caroline," she cut in, causing his gaze to move to her. "I'm actually very organized and take great notes so I'm probably a better study partner."
Stefan bit his lip to hold in a smile, but that just made her eyes zoom in on them.
"And I'm Elena, apparently the only sane one here." Caroline shot an annoyed look at her before looking back at Stefan.
"Well, it's nice to meet all of you," he said, flickering his gaze between the three of them. "Shall we get started?"
There wasn't much time to talk about personal things while trying to do a titration, where the slip of a hand would cause them to have to redo the whole lab over. It took them right until the bell to finish and when Caroline looked up after putting everything away, he was gone. Damn.
"Why did you have to make me sound like I'm crazy?" Caroline whined to Elena once they were down the hall.
"Because you are. 'Oh, I'm very organized'. Is that really how you flirt?" Caroline momentarily considered smacking the smirk off Elena's face but decided against it.
"Well you don't have to compete with Aimee freaking Bradley," she grumbled.
"Who says you're competing? I saw the way he looked at you earlier."
"Did you?" A huge smile overtook Caroline's face. "Do you think he likes me?"
"Why don't you go talk to him?" Elena suggested as the reached the cafeteria for lunch. Stefan was sitting at a table alone, slowly eating a sandwhich.
"I can't go over there alone!" she squealed, her heart beating fast again. "You have to come with me."
"I have to eat lunch with Matt, remember? We have some things we need to talk about..." her voice drifted off of her vague explanation.
"Then bring him over with you. And Bonnie and Tyler too, I guess."
After a few pouts and begs, Elena finally agreed and they went to their usual table to round up their group. "Hey guys, we're going to sit somewhere new today," Elena sighed and nodded to Stefan's table.
"Why are we going to sit with that loser?" Tyler asked with his mouth full of hamburger.
"Because Caroline's in love with 'that loser'," Bonnie teased her but gathered her things anyway.
Caroline could feel Tyler's eyes on her but she was too busy looking at Stefan to pay attention to him. Stefan just looked so alone, and so used to being alone, that it was breaking Caroline's heart.
"Elena," Matt said as he pulled on her elbow. "You said that we could talk."
"I know. Let's just put our stuff down over there then we'll talk, alright?"
With everyone else leaving, Tyler grumbled as he got up as well. Caroline happily lead her friends over to the lonely table in the back of the room.
The group of people walking towards him made Stefan look up. He recognized the blonde and the brunette from his chemistry class but he was pretty sure that everyone else was new to him. Or not. It was hard to keep track of an entire school of people he didn't know. He wanted to say something but wasn't sure if they were actually walking to him or just headed in his direction. When Caroline's eyes locked with his, though, it erased every doubt in his mind.
"Hi, Stefan," Caroline said cheerfully. "You looked like you could use some friends so I brought mine over. That's Bonnie, Mr. Grumpy Pants is Tyler, and Elena's special little friend is Matt." Maybe she just said that to take Elena completely off his radar. Or maybe she doesn't really plan what comes out of her mouth. Either way, it seemed to work because he turned more towards her.
"Thanks for coming. I don't really know anyone here," he shrugged, looking down at his food.
"You know me," she smiled at him. Matt and Elena had left leaving Tyler, Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan together at the table.
"Aren't you that new Salvatore guy?" Tyler interrupted them. "Wasn't your dad like murdered or something?"
Stefan's face paled a bit as he stiffened up. He avoided all their eyes and started pulling apart the bread of his sandwich. "He was in an accident," he finally mumbled.
"What about your mom? Why aren't you with her in wherever you're from?"
Caroline pursed her lips at Tyler. Couldn't he see he was making Stefan uncomfortable? Unless that's exactly what he wanted.
"Richmond, and because she died when I was young. My brother is the only one who could take me." His face had finally regained some color and was colored a bright pink.
"Your brother, Damon Salvatore? Who lives in that big house with like a bajillion rooms?" Bonnie asked him, genuinely intrigued.
"Yeah. It's the Salvatore Boarding House. My family owns it."
"You know Elena thinks he's really hot," Bonnie told Caroline.
She almost choked on her juice. "What? Isn't he like thirty?"
"Twenty four, actually," Stefan said. "Isn't she with that guy she left with?"
"Yeah, she's with Matt but their relationship is a little-" Caroline made a hand gesture implying it was unstable.
"I don't know, it's pretty illegal and Damon's a little... intense," Stefan decided on the word.
Everyone knew what he was talking about. Between the stories of all the women he had wooed and the dark feeling he brought whenever he was around left a specific reputation for him.
"Damon's only here because my Uncle Zach didn't want the house anymore. Once I turn eighteen, he's probably going to skip town. Tell Elena not to count on him being around," Stefan added.
A figure walked up behind Bonnie, making everyone look up. It was Elena's younger brother. "Hey, Bonnie," he said, his voice wavering a little in nervousness.
Caroline tried to hold in her laughter. How hadn't Bonnie noticed the way he acted around her before?
"Hey, Jeremy. Did you like the book I gave you?" This was news to Caroline. What book?
"Yeah, I never knew witches and vampires had actual histories, you know? I thought they were just made up for Halloween or something. Anyway, um, it kind of inspired me so I made this drawing." He was already pulling it out before Bonnie could say anything. It was a very mystical drawing of a beautiful witch, who looked suspiciously like Bonnie, floating above ground as she cast a spell on a misshapen vampire. "I want you to have it."
"Wow, Jer, thanks. You're amazing. Please don't ever stop drawing," Bonnie smiled at him.
"Wouldn't dream of it. I'm glad you like it." He glanced around the rest of the table and briefly paused on Stefan as if sizing him up. "Well lunch is almost over and I gotta finish some of my stupid math homework. I'll see you around." Jeremy had already walked a few steps away before he turned around again. "Oh! Tonight is the bonfire, will I see you then?"
"Definitely," Bonnie nodded. Jeremy smiled at her and walked back to his table.
"Bonfire? What's that?" Stefan asked.
"It's kinda like an outdoor party that seniors, juniors, and even sophomores like Jeremy go to. Basically we just get really drunk and dance around this big fire," Caroline explained to him.
"Well that sounds perfectly safe," Stefan chuckled.
"You should come! You'll get to meet everyone, and come on, what else are you going to do tonight?"
Stefan looked down and smiled before nodding. "You're right. I'll be there."
Caroline clapped her hands together in excitement just as the bell rang. "It's down at Fells Park and starts at seven!" she told him just before they went their separate ways.