White Snow

Song Fic

Violet Hill – Coldplay

"Was a long and dark December/From the rooftops I remember/There was snow/White snow"

He hadn't been out of Mystic Falls in a long while, years even. The whole thing with Elena became too much for him to handle, and he needed to get away. He wasn't too sure why he chose to head up into Canada in the dead of winter, not that the cold stopped him any. The air nipped at the bare skin of his hands and face, Stefan scolding himself for not being better prepared.

Night fall came early this time of year, so he wasn't surprised to see that darkness swarmed in quickly. White clumps of snow fell from the sky, starting to bury his foot steps, covering them in a new blanket of snow. He came to a stop and looked towards the driveway. The house hadn't changed much, though he knew nobody lived there anymore. It left the house with a feeling of darkness and everything about it screamed "haunted".

But, it wasn't the house he came to see.

"Clearly I remember/From the windows they were watching/While we froze down below"

He walked past the back of the house, where weeds the survived the cold grew unbearably tall and looked almost threatening. White powder covered everything, adding more to the idea that everything was dead at the moment. The silence was almost unbearable, and Stefan wondered if he should have brought someone along. Caroline, maybe? Even Bonnie would be better than the silence of the winter, but it wasn't long before the memories kicked in.

"Isn't it beautiful?" her voice reflected the awe she felt, looking up at the sky as snow fell down on her face and nose. Stefan stood back, watching her walk around outside in the freezing cold.

He was more worried about her than himself, but even he was noticing the chill in the air.

"Maybe you want to put something warmer on?" he asked, leaning against the gate at the end of the yard, the old boards creaking slightly under his weight. She glanced back at him, a small smile crossing her face.

"This is warm," she said, gesturing down at the black coat she was wearing, long with a fair of thin black gloves and thin looking jeans. Her boots were coated in snow, her cheeks red from the cold.

"You just got to move around some more, you'll warm up," she said with a laugh, moving to go hide behind the big pine tree.

She was like a little kid.

Stefan moved towards the old looking tree, almost expecting to see her face peek around the branches and laugh at him as he would try and grab her and throw her in the snow.

But, once again, nobody was there. He smiled softly at the memory, moving farther out back towards his real destination.

"When the future's architectured/By a carnival of idiots on show/You'd better lie low"

Though, Stefan remembered the days where everything wasn't as fun as that day was. He could never tell with her, jumping from one mood to the next. She blamed it on the snow, stating her love and hate relationship with it.

"After a hot summer," she said, staring out the window at the deep snow covering her yard, "it almost looks like a blessing."

"I can see how it would make you feel trapped," Stefan said, looking out the window with her, "how it seems to grow deeper and deeper everyday."

She turned to look at him, a small smile crossing her face. "I almost froze to death outside once when I was younger, my father used to pull me outside and take me for walks. I had hated them, they were cold and the snow was too deep, but he showed me the beauty of the winter."

Stefan looked at her, interested, she seemed lost in her own thoughts, lips pursed and thoughtful.

"So, I decided one day, when my father had this huge head cold that he could barely get off the couch, I would go out on my own little walk. I was so excited, I was going to go roll around in the snow and make snowmen and other things. I didn't really understand how to dress properly. I just put on what I could find and went out," she continued, shaking her head, "I got lost and, against my own judgement, sat down in the snow to take a rest. I fell asleep somehow, I don't remember exactly why. But, when I woke up, it was nightfall and I couldn't stop shaking. My hands and feet hurt, and I barely made it back home. I never underestimated the dangers of snow after that."

Stefan nodded, looking out of the window again as she stepped away. She wasn't herself for the rest of the day.

"If you love me/Won't you let me know?"

He came to a stop once a small graveyard came into view, the snow covering the stones and the trees looking dead and threatening. All he remembered about the grave yard was the foot steps in the snow the crossed through them, leading up towards something past it.

Nobody came through the small grave yard anymore, the stones looking warn down and a lot of the writing faded. He moved carefully through the graveyard, looking at the stones as he passed. He wondered why she had always insisted living within walking distance from a graveyard. But, she never gave him a proper answer.

"I grew up here, I bet you some of my family is buried there."

He finally reached the end of the graveyard, letting out a small sigh as he knew that the hill was just up ahead.

"Bury me in armour/When I'm dead and hit the ground/My nerves are poles that unfold"

"Sophia?" Stefan called, coming down the stairs. The house was dark, but he had heard her get up. He assumed that she was just getting up to grab something, but after a while, something just didn't feel right.

The house creaked as he walked across the floor towards the living room, and stopped. The sliding door leading into the backyard was open, it was still dark out, but he could make out one set of foot prints in the snow. They were fading, the large clumps of flakes falling onto the ground.

"Is he sleep walking?" he asked himself, pulling on some boots and a jacket, heading out to find her. It was below freezing, meaning that if she was outside without proper clothing she could be freezing by now.

Stefan followed the foot steps, they seemed to stretch on forever. It was like she just wanted to walk off and never stop. He passed the grave yard, heading out towards where a hill was. He saw the foot prints stop below a tree, a black mass sitting at the base of the tree.

"Sophia!" he called across the space, quickly walking towards her. At least she was dressed warmly. But, her cheeks were pale and she was shaking slightly.

"What are you doing?" he asked, leaning down to look at her. Sophia just stared out at the space, shaking her head.

"I don't know..." she muttered, "I-I could have sworn I was following my father out here. Then, I opened my eyes and I was standing on this hill. I don't know where he went..."

"There's only one set of tracks, Soph..." Stefan stated, Sophia looking up at him. She stared at him, a frown crossing her face.

"Really?"

"You must have been dreaming or something," he stated, helping her up. She shivered violently, gripping his shoulders.

"This has never happened before..." she whispered, looking out at the hill.

"Come on, let's get you back, alright?" Stefan asked, starting to pull her away from the tree and back the way he came. Sophia didn't say anything the whole way back towards the grave yard, pulling on him to stop him when they passed a certain grave.

"He wanted to be buried in this graveyard..." she muttered, looking at an unmarked grave, "he told me that in the dream..."

Stefan looked down at the grave, then started to help her along to get her moving again. "It's just a dream, Sophia."

"I know, but it seemed so real..."

"So if you love me/Why'd you let me go?"

Stefan reached the top of the hill, his eyes looking across the land. The snow seemed to blend with the sky, the snow fall heavy. There was no sound, everything completely still.

Dead.

He glanced down, looking for the object that he was searching for. He found it, the small lump covered in snow. Stefan walked towards it, coming to stand above it and swiped his hand across it. Two words were on the rock, eroded and fading.

Sophia's Place

"Where did you go?" Stefan asked, mostly to himself, but also to his friend.

"You're leaving?" Sophia asked, Stefan standing at the front door with his winter gear on.

"It's time I went back," he said, "I've told you all about it."

"I know, but," Sophia said, weighing her words, "I love you, and I don't know when I'll see you again."

"You will," Stefan said, sticking his hands in his pockets, "I'll make sure of it."

"When I'm dead?" Sophia asked, looking outraged. "I don't have all the time in the world like you do, I will die eventually. And then what? You'll come talk to my head stone?"

"It won't be that long," Stefan insisted, Sophia studying him for a few moments. She sighed, leaning against the wall of the hallway.

"You're my best friend," she stated, "if it gets too hard, you can always come back here."

Stefan sat down in the snow, looking out at the snow. He did come back, but Sophia was gone. All her furniture was there, her clothes. The food in the fridge was rotted and looked like it hadn't been touched in ages.

Nobody knew what happened to her, or where she went. It was like she just disappeared one day, and didn't return. All that was left of her was her house and her rock.

Stefan sighed, standing and brushed the snow off his pants. He turned and headed back towards the house, deciding that he would head into town for the night and stay there until morning before heading back to Mystic Falls.

This was pointless, after this many years, he was sure Sophia was dead.

He glanced over at the hill one more time, his eyes landing on a tree. There seemed to be someone standing there, looking at him. It was completely black, hidden behind the tree trunk. The snow and darkness was making it hard to see.

But, it was gone when it cleared enough to see again.

"I took my love down to violet hill/There we sat in snow/All the time she was silent and still"

"If you love me/Won't you let me know?"

A/N: Not too sure what this was. I was having writer's block and needed to write something.