Caroline Forbes groaned and plummeted onto her mattress with great relief. It had been a long day and she was grateful to be home, snuggled up in her fluffy down comforter and guarded from the harsh winter's chill outside. Her mother hadn't been there when she had arrived home from school, of course, but Caroline had left a cheerful voice message on her phone, assuring her that she had had a pleasant first day at Mystic Falls High School. And it wasn't a lie, Caroline had enjoyed herself. After Nik helped her navigate her way around the school, her classes had been a breeze. Caroline found it a little strange that Nik shared the same off hour as she did and that he happened to have five out of six total classes with her. And the class that Caroline didn't have with Nik, had his sister, Rebekkah, in attendance. Rebekkah. Despite her ice queen exterior, she had turned out to be quite friendly and took Caroline under her wing when lunchtime came around. She happily filled Caroline in on all the juicy scandals that were currently running the rumor mill at Mystic Falls. First there was Tyler Lockwood, the richest boy in school with serious anger management issues. Then there was Bonnie Bennett, the peculiar girl that was convinced she was physic. But the best rumor of all was that which pertained to Elena Gilbert. Elena Gilbert, the most popular girl in school, all demure and caring and sugary sweet. Rebekkah had told Caroline that Elena was "double dipping" when it came to boys. Gossip said that she was in love with both of the two Salvatore brothers, Stefan and Damon; apparently her fragile, fickle heart just couldn't decide which one to stick with so she'd bounce back between the two of them from time to time. Predictable, thought Caroline with a sigh, two boys pining after a girl that doesn't even have enough sense to choose the right one. And all the while, no one's eyes have so much as flickered towards me. No one's eyes ever did. Caroline had grown to accept this. Maybe she was just too focused on her studies to catch a guy's interest? She didn't know but at times she appreciated the fact that she didn't seem to have any suitors constantly vying for her affections, it certainly saved her a lot of time. Caroline hadn't had to worry about piling on pounds of makeup in the mornings or possessing a pristine hairstyle. She could simply be herself, not cowering behind any sort of mask. It was quite liberating honestly.

Later that evening, as Caroline lounged on the couch while catching up on the Law and Order: SVU episodes she had missed, her phone buzzed. Caroline reached for her phone and quickly skimmed over the text message.

It read: Hey love, are you doing anything tonight?

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the sender's number. It was foreign to her but Caroline was fairly sure that she knew who had sent her the message. Nik. Who else would call her love?

Nik? How'd you get my number? And no, I don't have plans…why?, Caroline texted back.

A moment later her phone chimed again and Caroline's heart sped up tenfold.

Bekkah gave it to me. I was wondering if you would be my companion for the evening. After all, it's Friday night and I would assume you could use a friend, Klaus replied with an endearing smiley face at the end of the text message.

Caroline glowed at this. Nik wanted to hang out with her and he was correct, she really could benefit from some company. So she hastily shot back a reply with her address and the time that Nik could pick her upand bounded form the couch and nearly skipped into her bedroom.

Half an hour later, there was a knock at Caroline's front door. She swung the door open and her gaze fell upon Nik. He stood outside in the snow waiting for Caroline with a lazy grin spread across his devilishly handsome face.

"Hey, ready to go?" Nik asked casually.

Caroline stared at him for a bit, her mind seemed to absorb every detail about the boy before her and file it neatly away in her memory. Nik wore a pair of black jeans and what looked like a white light sweater under a bulky wool coat. A set of timberlands graced his feet and a beanie adorned his head, shielding the burnt honey blonde locks that were underneath it.

"Almost just let me get my coat. You can come in, it's freezing out there," Caroline replied at last.

Nik smiled and nodded his head in gratitude. He started to move but hesitated just a moment at the door's threshold. Caroline didn't notice.

Once Nik was inside her home and the door was firmly shut, Caroline scurried about in search of a scarf and coat. She found one of each and quickly wrapped and tugged them on her body.

"I didn't notice that you wore glasses before," Nik remarked curiously.

Caroline flushed a bright pink hue, "Oh yeah, I do," she replied, awkwardly running a hand through her hair.

"They look nice on you…you look nice," Nik told her with a smile that could almost be pegged for as sheepish.

Every nerve in Caroline's body went numb at this. Her eyes mechanically cast themselves downward and she felt her blood swirl and heat to a fever pitch in her veins. Caroline blinked down at her attire. A coat, scarf, leggings, knock-off Ugg boots and a billowy shift dress was that she wore. She hadn't put an ounce of thought into her outfit while dressing this morning. She'd just gone for something that would provide warmth in the nearly subzero temperatures that never failed to accompany the dead of winter in Virginia.

"Thank you, you too," Caroline managed, sounding quite chipper.

Nik grinned, "No problem love. Should we get going? I've got something brilliant planned for us to do," he said and gestured towards Caroline's door with a wave of his hand.

Caroline nodded and turned the door knob, "Yeah, I'm pretty excited," she said, clenching her teeth and bracing herself for the cold.

Nik chuckled softly and slung an arm around Caroline as he braved the outside world with her, "Good."

"You know when you said you had something brilliant planned, I didn't think it was going to be a movie," Caroline remarked teasingly. Nik turned to her and flashed the most menacing scowl that he could muster. It quickly faded and was replaced by the sparkle in his eyes. "I'm sorry. There just isn't much to do in Mystic Falls, let alone when it's five degrees out," he told her.

Caroline smiled and reached out to brush her hand against Nik's arm lightly, "Hey, I was only kidding," she justified.

"I know, I was hoping to scare you so you'd faint into my arms again," Nik said, his wolfish grin on full display.

Caroline laughed, "Well you won't be able to."

Nik chuckled, we'll see about that.

*A/N*- Hello my lovelies and happy Valentine 's Day! Sadly I'm single and don't have a valentine this year :( But I'm hoping that all you fabulous ladies and gents accept the proposal of being my virtual valentine! Haha. Anyway on to the story… not a lot happened in this chapter, you'll see more of Nik and Caroline's "date" next chapter. Basically the purpose of this chapter was to start building on their friendship and to get Caroline more in-the-know about her new high school, i.e. the juicy rumors bit! I hope you all enjoyed this and are craving the next chapter as much as I am! PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!

Xoxo, Stacie.