(Caroline's POV)
Elena texted me saying she was going to miss the first two periods but that she'd meet me before break so we could walk into science class together. During my first couple classes, all I could think about was Mr. Salvatore. How I was at an absolute high with him then at my immediate low once I stepped inside my house. Finally, it was the end of break and Elena and I were walking to science class. I had my large hoodie on. "So tell me again how you messed yourself up so bad?" she asked, laughing as we walked into class, we were the first ones there. "Dude you know me, I'm a klutz. I was going up the steps to my house and completely fell on my face. I was wearing like six-inch heels!" I laughed, damn I was good at lying.
(This Person POV)
When Caroline said that, Stefan looked up confused. That hadn't happened. He watched Caroline sit down at her desk then take her hoodie down. He almost gasped. Her face-he didn't want to believe his gut feeling. Just then, Caroline looked up at him. She saw the look in his eyes but hoped nothing more would come from what was written on his face. She tried her best to smile at him then took out everything she needed for class. The class went on but Stefan's mind was distracted. He too came from an abusive household, his father was an absolute tyrant. He and Damon's mother had died young so it was only the three of them. Even though it was going on when he was little and his father was out of his life now, he still knew the signs. His gut was telling him Caroline was experiencing the same thing. Now he just didn't know what to do.
After class, everyone was walking out. "Caroline," he called, which made her turn to Elena, "I'll catch up with you later." She informed her friend and all Elena could do was wink. Caroline stood before Stefan's desk, which he was sitting at. "Caroline, I wanted to offer you tutoring after school." Her eyes went wide, "What? Am I not doing well in the class? Science and math are like my favorite subjects," she said. The concern and her doe eyes made Stefan's heart skip a beat. "You're doing great and that's why I want to offer you tutoring. If science is something you're really passionate about, then it'd be great to get a head start on things we won't cover this year."
Caroline nodded and Stefan continued, "Also, it'd be a nice way to get or stay out of the house," she broke her gaze from the floor and met Stefan's eyes. She leaned her head to the side and looked confused. "You know, we could set up a tutoring schedule and start for an hour for however many days a week. We could do it in the library after school, and if you ever needed a ride home I could give you one." She nodded, starting to understand the implication. He definitely knew something was up, she just hoped he wouldn't do anything about it except offer his help exactly how he's doing now. No authorities need to get involved but it sure will be nice to get and stay out of the house. Tutoring is a great excuse.
She faintly smiled, "I would really appreciate that Mr. Salvatore, thank you." He took one last saddened look at her busted lip and forehead. "Would you like to start today?" Even though her dad wasn't home she was definitely still going to take the opportunity to hang with Stefan alone. "Yeah, that'd be great." Stefan smiled and she could've sworn her face turned bright red. "Great, I'll meet you in the library after school." She walked out of the classroom smiling like a crazy person. She couldn't wait to meet up with Elena in history class. When she got there, there was a seat waiting for her. "You'll never believe what just happened," she said whispering and leaning over to Elena. Elena looked intrigued, "What?! Don't hold out on me, I want all the details." She just smiled and pointed to my phone which was in her hand, they couldn't risk anyone overhearing.
(Caroline's POV)
"Mr. Salvatore just offered me science tutoring after school, we start today in the library!"
"What do you mean? That makes no sense… You're great at science!"
"I know that's what I said, apparently because science is a passion of mine I should get a head start on things we aren't covering this year."
"Dude WHAT. That is totally an excuse to hang out with you alone! Is this really happening? Is Mr. Salvatore actually hitting on you?"
We were both dying but trying to act so calmly so we didn't raise a ruckus in class.
"I have zero clue, he doesn't act like a creep or anything. He seems like a genuinely nice person who just wants an exceptionally bright student to succeed?"
Elena gave me a look then replied, "I think it can go either way...hopefully, the one we want with a little push from you. We'll see how it goes, don't be afraid to test the waters."
We shared one last scandalous look before putting our phones away. All throughout lunch we couldn't help but talk about the Salvatore situation. We kept going back and forth about our fantasies. Eating lunch with them in their classrooms, getting rides home with them, and eventually making it into their houses for some real alone time. I told Elena that she should totally get tutoring from Mr. S. Her thing was more English and History anyway so it's actually perfect for her to get Math tutoring. Both brothers don't teach class after lunch when we have our free period so we decided that's the perfect time for her to ask him.
At the start of our free period, I walked her over to his classroom. We gave each other a look and tried not to laugh before she walked into his room. "Hi Damon, I mean Mr. S..." was all I heard before I turned away and buried my face in my hands. She walked out of the classroom with an ecstatic look on her face, "He said that he could tutor me during our free period starting tomorrow! Which who gives a fuck about a free period, even though I'll miss you I'm gonna love the alone time with him." I wrapped my arm around her, "I don't blame you," I said smiling.
Our last class was at the gym which went smoothly, except I had to wear sweats and keep my long sleeve, t-shirt combo on. I stuck out like a sore thumb but I could use the cold as an excuse. After gym, I couldn't help but feel excited and nervous. Elena and I both got dressed back into our regular clothes. I had to get dressed in a stall because there were some bruises on the sides and back of my body from when my dad held me down on the floor. Once I was all dressed I stared at myself in the mirror to double-check how I looked. I turned to Elena, "Do I need to fix anything about how I look?" She could see the nervousness in my eyes. She went up to me and played with my hair a little bit then took a step back. "You look perfect, just remember to keep it casual. Do things that could be taken either way, flirty or totally benign. That way it's up to what he really wants to do." I looked at her and nodded, "Okay I totally got this." Elena smiled so wide, "I fucking love my best friend," she put her arm around me and we walked out of the gym.
The senior parking lot was just outside of the gym. Before Elena went to her car she said, "Call or text me later cause I'm gonna need all the details." "Oh you know I will," we hugged then parted ways. On the way to the library, I had to take deep breaths and repeat a mantra in my head. You're okay, just be yourself and remember to do things that could be taken either way. I opened the library doors and looked around, he wasn't there yet. But just then a silent study room's door opened and I saw Mr. Salvatore waving at me. I walked over, smiling and remembering what Elena said. He was holding the door open for me, as I passed him I took my backpack off. I sat down in a chair and he sat down right next to me, "I figured we could do the tutoring sessions in one of these rooms since I think the student council meets in the library after school." I looked over to him and nodded but it was hard to keep eye contact so my gaze met with the floor. "What do you think we should do?" I looked at him sweetly but then blushed when I realized how my words came off. "I mean like where should we start I guess," I said, totally rambling and sounding like an idiot. But hey, maybe he knows I have a little crush on him and that could work well towards my cause. "Well if you'd like we could do today's homework, then go from there?" I smiled and nodded, "That sounds great."
Doing the homework went well, although I was a bit off my game because of how distracted I was by him. He was so gorgeous. "You have a real knack for Physics," he told me once we completed the homework. He patted my back which made me slightly wince in pain. He pushed his chair a bit away from me so his body could completely face mine. "Are you okay?" I could hear how genuine and worried he sounded. Fuck I hope he's not onto me. So I laughed it off and turned to him, "Yeah, I just hurt myself in P.E. I swear I can trip over a flat surface." I could see it in his face-he was torn. Instinctively I put my hand over his, "I swear I'm okay, you didn't hurt me at all." Before he could, I took my hand away, it felt like it was burning, I just felt this need to be closer to him. He looked into my eyes, I had to focus on my breathing. We got so caught up in whatever moment we were having that he had to shake it off.
"I'm sorry, you just need to be more careful, okay? Especially over flat surfaces," he said, going along with the charade. I laughed, "Thanks." "Have you given any thought to a career in the science field?" I smiled, this was something I thought about a lot. The escape that college has to offer. I just get scared of leaving my mom with my dad, but I try not to worry about that and instead focus on the dream of escape. "Most definitely, I love Physics and think being a Physicist would be cool but I have a love for the outdoors that makes being an Astronomer or Geoscientist really compelling." He smiled at me, "That's very sweet, all great options," he added.
It started to feel like a conversation between just two people and not between teacher and student. "I think the earth and space are absolutely beautiful, I'd love to spend my time divulging what I could learn from them," I tried to give him my best flirtation gaze. I leaned my head on my hand, my elbow on the table propped me up. He seemed to get kind of uncomfortable and just coughed, "Well, I could go through those different options and show you some things you'd learn in college and what a career would look like." My eyes lit up and I sat up straight, "That'd be great!" He smiled and seemed a bit more comfortable, "Alright then," he said opening up his laptop. We just looked into the Physicist aspect, which was really cool to learn more information about. Once we talked through that subject, the time was around 4:45. I'd gotten to the library around 3:15 so we spent a good amount of time with each other.
"Oh wow, time really flew by," I said to which he nodded. "Yeah time flies when you're talking science," which made me throw back my head in laughter, "It really does." We shared a look. "Should you tell one of your parents we're wrapping up?" I pursed my lips and looked at my phone, I hadn't thought of a ride home. Whenever my dad leaves my mom takes the opportunity to do the things she feels like she can't when he's home. Like seeing her friends, running errands, and just doing whatever she wants. Usually, we'll have quality time with each other as well, without the looming fear of him being there. Cause when dad's home from work, my mom has to be home and can't leave, or else he flips out. I told her I was getting tutored after school and that I'd find a ride. I know she was so excited to see her friend Rachel today.
"Well my dad is out of town, so my mom is with her friend who she doesn't get to see a lot, here let me call her and see where she's at-" I started but he interrupted me. "You don't have to do that, I can take you home Caroline." My heart started racing. "Are you sure Mr. Salvatore? It's just whenever my dads away my mom gets more time to do the things she'd like to do, I'd feel so bad…" He waved me off, "Caroline it's perfectly fine, we live so close to each other." Yes, we do. "Thank you so much, Mr. Salvatore, for tutoring and for the ride, I really really appreciate it." He seemed to be calculating something, maybe everything I had said to him? Was he piecing it together? Did I want him to? "It's no problem," he said with a smile. We packed up and started walking to the faculty parking lot.
He opened my door for me and I just looked up at him and smiled, he totally saw me blush. Once again I found myself in Stefan's passenger seat and I was loving every second of it. When he turned on the car, the radio came on. It was a 60's radio station, I smiled and I loved classic music. As we pulled out of the school, Patsy Cline's "Crazy" came on, "Oh I love this song!" I said sweetly and turned it up a bit. He chuckled a bit and briefly looked over at me, "You know Patsy Cline?" I held my heart, "Oh, of course, I love older music more than anything." He just smiled and looked back to the road. I enjoyed every second of listening to it in the car with him. Once it ended he turned the radio down, "Who are some of your favorites?" "Oh my goodness I have so many! Billy Idol, The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, The Cranberries… then real old ones like Marty Robbins, Nancy Sinatra, Nina Simone, it's really all over the place." He chuckled, "Well you have a great taste in music and that's exactly how I am too, a little bit of everything." My face was heating up, I wanted him so bad.
We pulled into my driveway, he remembered it from last time which I took a mental note about. I was so relieved to be walking into my house with no worries. When he parked I turned to him, "Thank you again Mr. Salvatore-" he cut me off. "Stefan, you can call me Stefan after school hours." I hope he couldn't hear my heartbeat. "Thank you," I put my hand on his arm, "Stefan," I tried a seductively sweet smile before getting out of the car. I took a deep breath once I was out. Holy shit. I looked back at him and waved as he drove off, he seemed conflicted.