A set of arms squeezed him a little tighter as the sun disappeared over the tops of the trees. The road was eerily empty for so early in the night and that, along with the little whirlwinds of fallen leaves dancing across the road, gave this trip an extra moody atmosphere. Moody was kind of Stefan Salvatore's whole thing. He told himself that he was in his element. That this was the life that he was destined to live. It was easier than wishing for something else.
"I'm hungry," said the voice behind him.
"When AREN'T you hungry?" he said, only partly teasing.
Ivy giggled and squeezed him harder. The baby vampire had been the one, decidedly huge, bump in his otherwise seamless escape. Her high spirits had been amplified after turning. And it was kind of endearing but extremely exhausting.
Stefan pulled the motorcycle into the edge of the woods and stepped off, extending a gentlemanly hand to help Ivy do the same. He'd already been teaching her to hunt over the past day or two since he'd found her. She wasn't a huge fan of the bunny diet, even having nothing to compare it to. Well, besides the few drinks she'd had from his neck when she had turned up in the garage, freshly turned.
She scampered off into the woods to find a snack. He leaned against his motorcycle and rubbed the heel of his hands against his eyes. He'd been driving for two days straight and was beginning to get tired. But he worried that stopping somewhere to sleep would be too much temptation for Ivy. She'd proven herself to be quite ravenous already, and he didn't want to risk the lives of anyone by bringing her around people.
He also worried about her sexual appetite, as she hadn't been able to keep her hands from wandering up under his shirt to stroke the skin of his stomach and from fiddling with the button of his jeans. And, while he'd enjoyed their time together when she was human, he had too much on his mind to start a romance with a confused, newbie vampire. And a hotel room together would only give her ideas and make it harder to reject her.
A crunch of leaves from the woods caught his attention and he looked, expecting to see Ivy walking well-fed from the trees.
"Hi Stefan," Caroline said, her normally cotton candy voice dripping with ice.
His jaw fell slightly in surprise and his eyebrow arched.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" she said, continuing to advance toward him on perfect legs in perfect boots with perfect eyes cutting daggers into him.
"About what, exactly?" he lied, crossing his arms across his chest and settling back against the motorcycle more comfortably.
"I know about Enzo, Stefan," she said, "I know you delivered him right into the hands of some psycho vampire hunter to be tortured. Matt told me."
"How does Matt even know anything?" Stefan said, obviously caught but refusing to admit it.
"It doesn't matter! But he does. And so do I," she snapped, hands on hips.
Stefan hesitated for a moment before throwing his hands up in defeat.
"He KILLED Ivy, Caroline," he stated, feeling in the depths of his soul that that should have been reason enough for what he did.
But Caroline knew him. Expected more of him. It was part of the reason he was running. She knew him too well. Watched him. Expected him to hold it together. Because she knew that he could.
"I know, Stefan," she said, softening only a bit, "I know. And it sucks. He sucks. But you're better than that. You're better than him."
Stefan sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes again. His exhaustion weakening his resolve.
"What do you want from me, Caroline?" he asked with a shrug.
She let out a huff of frustration and took another step toward him.
"I want you to come with me. Come with me to save him. Prove to me that you're still YOU."
Stefan rolled his eyes and let out a humorless chuckle. Not that he was surprised. It was obvious what she wanted.
"You honestly expect me to do that, Caroline? After what he did to Ivy? Why would I do that?" he kept on.
"Because Ivy is fine," Ivy's voice came from the woods. She appeared between two orange-leafed trees with a smile.
Stefan lowered his head before looking up at Caroline with one eye open. She stared at Ivy with wide eyes and an open mouth.
"What. the. hell." Caroline said, pausing after each word.
Ivy walked up to join the duo, skin glowing from a fresh feed. She leaned up against the motorcycle beside Stefan and smiled.
"Caroline, was it?" she asked the blonde, cheerily.
"How did this happen?" Caroline asked, gesturing toward Ivy while also ignoring her.
"Why don't you ask your boyfriend Enzo?" Stefan said coldly while climbing back onto his bike, "When YOU find him."
Ivy winced at Stefan's harsh tone and climbed on behind him. They sped away, leaving a shocked and furious Caroline Forbes in the dust. Stefan's mind raced thinking about all of the things he was doing to ruin their relationship. And he thought about why he was ruining their relationship. And if and how he planned on ever fixing it.
A couple of hours passed. The sun was long gone now. The bike sped down the empty road with no particular destination in mind. Ivy complained of exhaustion and hunger. She ran her hands all over Stefan's body while he drove. Stefan whipped the bike to the side of the road and ran his fingers through his hair.
"What are you doing?" Ivy asked, "Are we hunting?" She stood in front of him and slid a finger down his chest and stomach, "Or..something else?"
Stefan gently stopped her hands and held them together between them.
"Ivy," he began, "What do you think about saving Enzo? How do you feel about that?"
Ivy looked up at him and smiled, "Stefan, what's done is done. I don't want anyone tortured, you know that. It won't change what happened. And anyway...I feel kinda great."
Stefan considered her words carefully.
"So, do you want to go with me to save him?" Stefan asked, stroking the backs of her hands gently with the pads of his thumbs.
"Sure, I'll go where ever you take me," she said, cheerily, lifting up on her toes and placing a peck on his lips.
Stefan smiled at this sweet, forgiving girl in admiration.
They climbed back on the motorcycle and started back the way they came. Two days, 10 bunnies, and one near-human-casualty later and they were outside of Elena and Caroline's dorm at Whitmore.
"You're totally sure about this?" Stefan checked with Ivy again.
"Yep, totally sure," Ivy assured him, "Back to college, Stefan? I mean...fun stuff!"
She jumped off the bike and scampered toward the door. Stefan smiled as he watched her, like the excited little kitten that she was. He was amazed how much better this Ivy-is-a-vampire thing was going than he expected.
He turned around to the crunch of gravel behind him. Caroline stood there, bags of groceries in her hands and a look of pure confusion on her face. Stefan stood and met her eyes. For the first time in months, it seemed. They were too powerful. Too full of raw emotion. Too persuasive. So he avoided them. Avoided her.
Her face softened, her eyes glistened. He was almost certain that if her arms weren't full of bags that they'd be wrapped around him by now. He smiled at her. His best friend. She expected so little. All she really wanted for him to be here. And he had denied her that very thing for so long.
She smiled back then. Finally. And nodded once as if to thank him. He nodded back.
Stefan took her grocery bags and they walked wordlessly toward the dorm. They had a long road to recovery. But at least they were headed in the right direction. As they entered the lobby, Caroline seemed to remember something.
"Hey, where's...," she began.
"Caroline!" Ivy said, stepping around a corner with four coffees in hand, obviously ready to make a good first impression.
Caroline whipped her head around to look at Stefan in shock. He chuckled and shrugged.
Ivy handed Caroline a coffee with a playful smile, which Caroline reluctantly returned. And the threesome made their way up to the door room.
"So, when do we eat?" Ivy asked, glancing around to the college kids buzzing to and fro.
Stefan and Caroline exchanged a worried glance as they realized they might have more to worry about than just saving Enzo.