This one is dedicated to spreadthepeace...
It got cold in that damn cabin. It hadn't taken Bonnie long to notice that.
And damn, did it get cold in the winter.
She finally understood why Enzo had insisted on showing her how to start a fire in the fireplace over in the living room area. She had told him she didn't need his help and that she was very capable of doing it on her own - if need be.
But he'd shaken his head and kneeled down by the fireplace anyway, droning on about fuel logs and smaller twigs and paper and kindling, and wet wood and dry wood.
She hated to admit it now, but she'd zoned out almost immediately. This was not a camping trip. Or the Girl Scouts. She didn't need a lesson about building a fire.
But then he'd messaged her late two nights ago.
Won't be able to get out to you till the 22nd.
Nothing more. No explanation, just a random date. A random date roughly a month away. She knew there was plenty of food stowed away in the kitchen cabinets and an adjoining small pantry-like closet. But she'd have to make do without all the fresh vegetables. And fruit. She'd checked. There was still some broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. A lonely zucchini, a bunch of carrots. Onions and garlic en masse.
So much for that old stereotype about vampires, she'd thought when she'd inspected the pantry and found the cloves and cloves of garlic.
She knew she'd be fine. There were still some pretty yummy leftovers, too. She wouldn't starve.
But she might very well just die from the cold.
She sniffled to herself, rubbing her cold nose against the outside of her hand. She needed a tissue, but she also needed to get a friggin' fire started. Preferably stat.
She tried to remember what Enzo had told her. Big logs first. Check. Smaller ones on top. Twigs if she found any. And not too wet. Check, and check. Why then was her fire never catching?
She tried to rearrange the wood yet again, cursing quietly to herself when one big log fell right out and onto the rug in front of her, leaving ugly dirt marks.
"Come on," she cajoled, herself or the fire, she wasn't sure, and then she suddenly remembered. The stupid paper! Something for the fire to hold onto to keep it going, to keep the flame alive long enough to catch onto the bigger logs.
"Aha!" She yelled, looking around herself sheepishly when she realized just how loud she'd yelled the small exclamation. But of course no one was there. It was just the cabin and Bonnie Bennett.
A glorious story, "Bonnie in the cabin". She wondered what it was about. The ache of loneliness? The trials of life? A love story? She laughed a short bright laugh at the last one.
Who was there to love in this dreary little cabin with the well equipped kitchen? Maybe the brownies she'd whipped up the other night when loneliness hadn't let her sleep. Though she overbaked those and instead of fudgy they were cakey and dry.
Too many random thoughts while she crumbled up some paper and tossed it on her pile of wood. Just a couple more for good measure and she was ready to go.
She lit the match, watched the flame burn for a brief moment and then held it against one of the balls of paper. It caught fire immediately. She watched as it slowly spread - and took!
She did it! She finally did it. No more freezing under three blankets like last night, when she'd lain awake, praying for Enzo to get there and save her only to find out he wouldn't.
But since when did Bonnie Bennett need a man - a vampire! - to rescue her, anyways?
She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
o ... o
It was early, still dark, the fire still going, she'd seen to that. She'd camped out on the couch to stay closer to its warmth. And so that she could tend to it if it threatened to die down.
It had gotten even colder in the last few days, way past freezing. She hadn't even set foot outside yesterday because it was that bad.
But it wasn't the fire that had woken her up, it was a sudden noise coming from outside. There was someone at the door. Her heart started racing, and she jumped up off the couch, a thick blanket still wrapped around her, when she remembered what day it was. The 22nd.
He must be back, she realized. Just like he'd said. Not a day shorter. Not a day longer.
With a whoosh of ice cold air, the door was opened and then she saw him. There were snowflakes in his hair, bright white against the dark, and his lips barely had any color in them.
"Geez, you couldn't wait till a more… humane hour to come back here? I was trying to sleep," she said, automatically going for an annoyed tone, and regretting it right away. When she saw his unamused expression, she felt even worse.
He was always one for snarky banter. But right now, the beginnings of a grimace could be seen on his frozen features, and Bonnie looked at him, puzzled.
"That cold?" She asked, already suspecting that he hadn't just walked over from the car a few feet.
He walked straight past her to the fire she'd built hours before, and kneeled down in front of it, holding his hands out to the warmth emanating from it. "Nice job on the fire, Bonnie Bennett," he rasped, giving her an appreciative look. The compliment sounded sincere. She frowned anyway.
"Did you have to walk here or something? You look positively frozen."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"What happened to your vampire speed?"
He almost flinched, but caught himself. "Funny thing about vampire speed: doesn't work as well anymore once it's below freezing," he stared into the flames so intently that she wondered what he saw. She knew that he'd burned once, and couldn't shake the thought that maybe, deep down, he should show more fear of the fiery heat.
She was so preoccupied by the thought that she nearly missed him adding, "Definitely not over a long stretch."
"A long stretch?" From where had he walked, then?
"Car broke down north of here," he raised his eyebrows, clearly annoyed, "before I'd even gotten to the edge of the forest."
That was miles away then. Miles spent in the cold.
As if of her own accord, her legs carried her over to the fireplace, next to where he still sat in front of the warmth, and she sunk down next to him, extending her hands to grab his. They felt like ice under her warm touch and she found herself gently rubbing them.. "Can I get you anything?" She surprised herself by asking him, and he surprised her more by presenting her with the sweetest grateful smile.
"I appreciate it, love. Your beautiful fire is all I need."
Somehow she couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't merely talking about the literal fire, and she gave him a quizzical look, a slow heat creeping up her spine from very far down below.
While he did wiggle his eyebrows potentially suggestively, he was still a bit of an enigma to her. All those mixed signals. Sometimes he was so guarded, sometimes an open book, yet she never truly understood him.
Who knew, maybe one day she'd learn to decipher him, too, like she'd learned to decipher how to build a fire.