so let's give 'em hell, wish everybody well

a/n: For any Halestorm lovers out there, listen to the song "Here's To Us" while you read.

She glimpsed him sneaking away at the Miss Mystic Falls competition. She wondered what the hell was his problem and was tempted to follow but then her name was called to go down the stairs for her entrance onto the dance floor. She tried to send a little heads up to Elena that her boyfriend had taken off but Carol Lockwood gave her a quick push down the stairs.

Luckily, Damon was able to step in for his brother when he didn't show up for the dance. Caroline tried to pay attention to her fill in escort but found her eyes drifting over to the place where she had seen him disappear less than an hour before.

It wasn't until later that night when she got a call from Elena telling her that he had gotten hurt and he wouldn't be in school for a couple of days.

Now that was odd.

And very familiar.

. . .

"What's going on with Stefan, Elena?" she found herself asking her exhausted looking friend when he hadn't come back to school after a week.

"He's still recovering, Caroline," sighed Elena. "He got hurt pretty bad."

"Then why isn't he in the hospital?" Caroline shot back. "If he is hurt so bad, then professionals should be taking care of him, not you and Damon."

"It isn't a matter for the hospital."

"Bull."

"Caroline!" Elena looked scandalized.

The blonde shook her head, giving her friend another disbelieving look before turning on her heel and walking away. There was something up with this mysterious lad and she was determined to find out.

. . .

Stefan didn't come back to school until almost the end of November. Elena was right, he did look exhausted and very sickly. And again, she couldn't understand why he wasn't in the hospital.

And again, she wondered exactly what he was hiding.

. . .

She couldn't really help herself. She started to bond with that tall greek god, finding him to be a very interesting, kind and compassionate young man. Normally, she would go right for it but with Stefan Salvatore, she didn't really want too. She just wanted to know him.

It turned out that he loved to take photographs. She did too. It had been a hobby of his for quite some time but he had never entered into any competitions to get his work recognized. Well, she changed that quite quickly. After much badgering, she got him to enter a county film photography contest which concentrated only on the aspects of nature.

Shockingly enough, he won.

And she took second place.

"It's not funny!"

"Come on, it's a little funny."

She glared viciously in his direction as she crossed her arms. "Only you would think it's funny."

"You were the one that wanted to enter the contest so much. You couldn't have flat out expected to win with over three hundred other entries."

"No, Stefan Salvatore, I didn't expect to win. I just didn't expect to come in second to you!" He only laughed more, his laughter reminding her of church bells ringing in the distance. His laugh was exquisite. "Oh, shut up!"

. . .

Stefan and Elena broke up about a month after the photography contest. She found him alone at a picnic table outside the school looking so woebegone that her heart went out to him.

"What's the matter, mopey?" she asked, lowering herself down on the bench in front of him.

"Nothing, I'm fine." His lovely features were almost a pout. He wouldn't look at her.

"Liar."

"Caroline-"

"Listen, Stefan. Does it make you feel better sitting here like this? It's been nearly a month since you guys ended it."

He hated it whenever she was right. "No, it doesn't make me feel better."

"Then how would you like to come with me? I think I can find something that will make you feel loads better."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Okay..."

Within the hour, he was belted into a tiny little car on the tracks of a roller coaster ride.

"I can't believe you talked me into this."

Caroline just cast him a glorious smile that reminded him of the sun rising in the magnificent morning. "I am just really good at what I do."

"Oh, shut up."

. . .

He disappeared after that.

She constantly called, texted, and tried whatever way she could to find out what the hell happened. She even got a hold of his irritating brother Damon and hollered over the phone at him, trying to get Stefan's whereabouts. Of course, it didn't do any good.

"Just go over to his house."

The blonde turned towards her cocoa skinned friend. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You're a moron, Caroline."

. . .

She didn't remember ever seeing a house as marvelous as the Salvatore Boarding House. It was the closest thing to a castle she had ever seen. And it took her breath away.

The skies were darkening quite quickly, alerting her to an incoming storm. She dashes up the steps and to the front door, banging on it with her fist, the knocker, whatever she had at her disposal.

"Stefan! Stefan Salvatore, I know you're in there! Your car's still in the driveway!"

Still nothing.

"Stefan, if you don't let me in right now, I will kick this door down and don't you doubt for one second I can't do it!"

That was when the door popped open all by itself.

"Okay...weird," the blonde remarked as she stuck her head around the heavy mahogany, peering into the darkened room.

There was a fire going in the fireplace, blazing hot and absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. She had always loved fires but had to be very careful around them.

She saw a figure crouched in front of the fireplace, hunched over and obviously brooding. She recognized the waves of dark sandy blond hair sticking up all over his head and fought back a smile. Stefan always hated brushing his hair. It didn't matter, he still looked like an angel that had recently landed on Earth from Heaven.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" she whispered, noticing the tension in his back. He wouldn't look at her.

She stepped a little closer, her eyes adjusting to the strange light in the room.

"Stefan?"

That was when he turned.

And she saw the blood caking his shirt.

Her nostrils flared and she took a tottering step back. "Stefan, what happened?"

"Caroline, I-"

That's when it clicked. She couldn't understand how she never got it before.

"You're a-" She took another step back. "You're a-, oh my god!"

"Caroline, please." His voice was soft. Begging.

Caroline took in another deep breath, trying to steady herself. How did she never know?

Oh, yeah. It's because he never showed any signs of being a true one. His heart...his spirit...she could see it. She could see how pure he truly was. It didn't matter that he was a hunter. Because she knew what kind of a person he really was.

"Elena never told me," she murmured.

"She never told you that I am a monster? I'm not surprised," he muttered, rising to his feet and turning away from her. That didn't last long as he whirled back around and glared viciously at her. "Why aren't you afraid of me?! You should be running for your life now!"

"And why would I do that?" she answered.

"What the hell are you saying?!" He stared. "I got the urge today, the urge. I wanted to find somebody and kill them. I wanted to drain every once of blood from their body and throw away their carcass. How could you not be afraid of me?"

"Because we're the same, Stefan!" she shot back. Stefan stopped, watching her. And then the veins started to protrude underneath her eyes, the fangs slipping down over her bottom lip. "We are the same, you and I."

"Caroline-"

Caroline used her speed to reach him in half of a second, her hands coming up to rest on his neck. She brought her thumbs up, stroking the soft skin of his cheeks.

"You are not a monster, Stefan," she whispered. "You are a hunter. And you know how to get by," she added, glancing down at the blood bags that were scattered around their feet. "None of this is your fault. And you know what? When you feel the urge, you can get through it. You did it today. You just take in a deep breath and tell yourself that you are going to get through it."

Tears were brimming in those emerald eyes. Those eyes that she was sure she could lose herself in if she didn't stop looking into them at this very minute.

"Come here," she murmured, pulling him against her in a feather light, oh so warm and comforting embrace. She could feel his shaky breaths going in and out, in and out. "You're going to be okay."

. . .

"So how old are you?"

"Well, I'm four in vampire years. I'm technically twenty one years old but alas, stuck in the body of a seventeen year old."

"Who turned you?"

"I don't know. I was in a car accident and later I woke up in the hospital like this. It took me nearly a year to get control of it, to find out a better way to get through."

Stefan watched her, sadness still evident in those beautiful eyes. The darkness of those eyes reminded her of the mossy large rocks in a rushing creek, the sunlight dancing off of the water in the early morning. He really had no idea how beautiful he was. She could see that. He still viewed himself as a monster.

"How old are you?" she asked then, turning slightly on the sofa to look at him. It had been almost an hour since she had found him shaking and covered in blood and since then he had showered and changed out of those bloody clothes. She had disposed of them in the wash, soaking them in bleach to rid them of the sweet smell that was causing her nostrils to flare.

He took a deep breath before answering. "162 years old. I was seventeen when I was turned back at the end of the Civil War."

Caroline's eyes widened, absolutely amazed. "I was guessing you were only about a year old-who did this to you?"

"That's not important-"

"It's important to me. Who's the son of a bitch that did this to you?"

"You might want to add another victim to that list."

"What?"

"Damon. He's a vampire too. And we were both turned by a woman named Katherine."

It was then that he produced a picture of Elena. No, wait...it wasn't Elena. This woman had a darker expression on her pretty face, her eyes were laced with something that was definitely not the normal compassion and kindness that she saw in Elena's eyes.

"Who is this woman?" she found herself whispering, almost flinging the picture away from her. Whatever...whoever she was, Caroline could sense the evil and the hate right from that old picture.

Stefan slowly began to tell her the story of when he was turned. How Katherine had come to stay with his family back in 1863 right before Damon left to serve in the Confederate Army. Both had fallen so hard for her and that turned out to be the biggest mistake of their lives. She had compelled him to drink her blood and to not remember her feeding off of him. In Caroline's book, Stefan was Katherine's little plaything. This was one of the farthest things from love she had ever seen.

And then the case of the vampires being rounded up. But Giuseppe Salvatore had known that Katherine was pretty much the sire of most of the vampires and made sure to have her staked before she was tossed in to the church with the rest of them.

That made Caroline slightly sick.

She had made a vow when she got control of herself after being turned that she would never turn anyone else. She had nearly turned her friend Matt at once point but had stopped herself. She had come so close to killing him and that was something she would live with for the rest of her eternal life.

"How about this?" she finally whispered, her fingers slipping through his. "You and me? Against the world?"

For the first time in ages, a real smile slipped across his features. And in that, she felt real peace start to creep it's way into her alive alive alive heart.

This guy made her feel the most alive she had felt in her twenty one years of life.

. . .

"Well, well, well, the infamous Blondie. So nice to finally meet you."

The voice made her skin crawl. She had only heard that voice over the phone and it still caused shivers to slide up her spine.

She whipped around, glaring at him. "Hello, Damon."

"Caroline Forbes," he smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to be another lovely lass that considers my pitiful object worth saving?"

"No, jackass. He is my friend. Don't you dare try to get in the way of his happiness, alright? Because he never did anything to hurt you, buttercup," she snarled. Without warning, she could feel her fangs starting to slide out, showing an air of self defense.

"Oh, yeah? Did he tell you the whole story? About how he forced me to feed? I wanted to die that night. I should have died and so should have he. But did we? No! We have been alive for over one hundred and fifty years longer than we should have, stuck forever in one place. Never moving forward."

"Then go stake yourself," she snapped viciously, not being able to help the growl in her throat. "That wasn't his fault. It was your own choice in a way. Do you think I wanted this?" she held out her arms, gesturing to her permanent seventeen year old body. "No! But it's that need to feed. When the blood is there, you will feed."

"What do you know about it, Blondie? What the hell else do you know about it?!" His own fangs were sliding down. And then he was being slammed into the opposing wall, his head barely missing the sharp edge of the wooden bookshelf.

"That's what I know about it," she growled. Damon's eyes widened in surprise at her strength. "I may be younger than you, Damon but I can still hurt you." She lowered her lips down to his ear and dropped her voice to a whisper. "And you know I can do it."

She released her vice like grip on his upper arms, letting him slump to the floor. She then scuffed her hands together and ran her fingers through her mussed up hair. Damon glared up at her with those icy blue eyes but there was a grim respect there.

He was on his feet in seconds, their eyes meeting. "Can you help him?" he asked quietly. "He needs it."

She took in a gulp of stale air. "He needs you too. He can't survive with you hating him."

. . .

The next time she saw Stefan, it was almost winter.

Winter had always been her favorite season, oddly enough. Winter was a time when the earth was at a standstill, resting and getting itself ready for the beauty of spring. Getting ready for the new year and for the life that was sure to be graced.

It was the last day of class right before Christmas break. She had wrapped her coat around her and slung her bag over her shoulder, heading out for her car. Despite it being a rough year, she was ready for the miracle of Christmas. It had been something she had been taught from the time she had been little. Even before she had been turned by whoever the hell had turned her, she had loved everything about the holidays. About family and about friends.

Friends...damn it, she missed her friend.

And then there he was, materializing out of thin air.

She had to take a couple of quick breaths to steady herself or she was going to jump on him. She tossed her bag onto the backseat of her car and locked it behind her, walking slowly across the crunchy snow covered ground to where he was waiting underneath the big maple tree.

"What happened to you?" she asked quietly. And then she punched his arm with her vampire strength. "You just left!"

Stefan winced slightly, rubbing a hand over his arm before giving her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Caroline."

"You better be. Start talking."

A real smile crossed his lips before he answered her. "I had to clear my head, you know that. And...Damon came with me."

"Damon?"

"We spent a bit of time in Italy. Damon trolled the streets picking up girls and turning them into lunch and I spent the rest of the time cleaning up his little messes. But-"

"Sounds like a real brotherly time."

"Shut up for a second and let me finish," Stefan cut across her. She silenced and blinked, waiting for him to continue. "Other than that, it worked. Whatever you did or said to him, to which I know you did do something, it worked."

He notices her sly grin and starts to laugh. She relishes in the sound. In all the time she had known him, it had been a very rare occasion to hear Stefan Salvatore laugh. It really was beautiful to her.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" she finally whispered, giving him a true and genuine smile.

He blinked before shaking his head. "No, I'm not-" Her hand darts out and cradles his cheek. He leans slightly into her touch, his eyes closing.

"If you say that you are a monster one more time, I will deck you," she breathed.

And then he smiled.

Before he leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her mouth. Gently falling snowflakes clung to their eyelashes, melting into their eyes; making them unsure if they were tears or not.

They finally broke apart when they needed air. Their foreheads rested against each other's, their limbs entwined. They were almost melded into one.

"Thank you for never giving up on me."

. . .

I really think that Stefan and Caroline could have an epic romance. No whining or moping, just solid love and support for one another. He just always seemed so happy around her. I do like Klaroline but I love Steroline. The best part about it is that even Paul Wesley has said that he wants Steroline to happen.

I didn't say who turned Caroline. You will have to make your own decision on who did turn her.

I am waiting for the episode where Caroline lets Stefan have it for leaving her behind without saying goodbye.

Reviews are much appreciated. Thanks loves. Have a great night.