(Winter, 2012)
Caroline had lived in Mystic Falls her entire life, and she had never seen it snow as hard as it was coming down outside. It was like hail, except it was soft and generally innocent other than the fact it was piling up so quickly in the streets that cars were racing to get home to avoid it. She loved snow, and she loved wintertime, but she didn't enjoy the idea of being caught in the Mystic Grill for who knew how long until it stopped.
Unfortunately, she'd spent the last two hours telling Matt her sob story, complaining about her life, and now she was stranded here. Matt had long gone home, along with most of the Grill's employees, leaving her standing alone staring out at the snow with her arms hugging her upper body against the cold outside that she couldn't even feel. Being a vampire did that to you.
She no longer felt heat or cold, and she was a steady 98 degrees at all times. It was nice not to worry about sweating or freezing to death, but that didn't make her impervious to a blizzard. Even she couldn't run fast enough to make it home before the snow piled up and began covering the front door. Already bored, she moved away from the door and fiddled with the jukebox, flipping through the songs she'd been listening to since she was a kid.
Suddenly, the floor door flew open, spewing snow and cold air inside and surprising her out of her daydreams. Looking wide-eyed at the intruder, she watched as he stomped the snow off of his boots and pulled his jacket off of his head where he'd had it covering his hair against the dumping snow.
"Klaus," she practically spat as she recognized him. Glancing over at the sound of his name, Klaus smirked slightly at her and walked away, ignoring her and heading for the bar. Unable to resist in her boredom, she followed him, stalking after him as he slid over the bar and grabbed a bottle of bourbon from the shelf. There was no bartender, so it was basically self-serve at this point.
"Can I help you, Caroline?" he asked impishly, opening the bottle and pouring himself a glass which he downed like it was water.
"You're already drunk," she stated accusatorially. He shrugged and drank another whole glass before responding.
"What does it matter to you, love?" he asked with a tweak of his eyebrows and a pointed look. "You're not my mother, and you're not my lover, so stop worrying so much about me, Caroline. People will begin to talk."
Winking at her, he rounded the bar in a flash and was standing right in front of her before she could blink. "You could have taken me up on my offer, you know," he pointed out drunkenly, brushing a blond lock of her hair back from her face and admiring the shape of her jawline.
"Stop touching me," she hissed, smacking his hand away. He glared at her and caught her wrist. "You don't tell me what to do," he growled, pushing her away and going back for more alcohol.
"Is there a problem here?" asked a familiar voice. Caroline sighed in relief as she turned to face Stefan who was standing behind her with a pool stick.
"Actually, there is," Klaus piped in, holding up a bottle of rum in one hand and Jack Daniels in the other. "I'm not drunk enough, and Caroline has decided to reprimand a centuries-old hybrid." He drank directly from the whiskey bottle and spun around in a circle.
Caroline gave Stefan a pained look and rolled her eyes. Stefan smiled slightly and shrugged. "Since we're all stuck here until the snow lets up, how about a game of pool?"
Glancing back at Klaus who was now singing an Irish drinking song to himself, she huffed and nodded, finding her own pool stick to play. She spun the stick in her hand as she stepped up to the pool table and watched Stefan setting up the balls for the opening shot. "Where's Elena?" she asked, finding it strange that he was here by himself.
Stefan's jaw clenched as he leaned over to line up his shot, and he didn't respond right away. Smacking the cue ball perfectly, it split the others with precision before he stood and responded. "She's... elsewhere."
"It's... complicated?" she asked, lining up her own shot, aiming for the blue and white striped ball teetering on the edge of one of the pockets.
"It's complicated," he confirmed, leaning on his pool stick and brooding silently.
"It's not THAT complicated," came Klaus's voice as he arrived next to the table cradling his Jack Daniels in one arm. "Elena is foolish not to want you, Stefan. She's probably sleeping with Damon as we speak."
Caroline turned and shot Klaus a death glare which he ignored, while Stefan ignored him, his jaw clenching tighter. She knew he still had feelings for Elena - everyone knew - but she also knew Elena was torn between the two Salvatore brothers. It was a vicious triangle, and she wished her friend would just make a decision already. Life was only going to get uglier the longer it drug on. Ever since Elena was turned into a vampire, she was bloodthirsty and not like herself, and Caroline imagined Damon loved it. She was like a fresh-21 year old in a world of liquor and parties. Klaus may be right: with Elena out of her mind with bloodlust and adjusting to the vampire life she'd never wanted, she may just be spending too much time with the older Salvatore brother.
Whatever the case, she didn't like how it was affecting Stefan. Stefan had been the main proponent in training her to control herself when Katherine had changed her, and she'd considered him a valuable friend since then.
"How insensitive," she murmured irritably. Klaus laughed and sat on the side of the pool table as Stefan's turn ended and Caroline began lining up the next shot.
"We all know it's a possibility. There's no point in denying it," he commented nonchalantly. "Stefan's thinking it. That's why his jaw looks as if it's about to explode." Klaus smiled that irritatingly adorable smile of his as Stefan's cheek twitched again from his teeth clenching.
"I say we do something more... entertaining to get our minds off of life," Klaus offered, standing and drawing the attention of the only other two people in the entire establishment. "It's snowing... we're stuck here, and I'm bored. We all know it's a bad thing when I'm bored."
Stefan nodded in agreement as Caroline raised an eyebrow and threw out one hip as she stood watching the original hybrid. "What do you have in mind exactly?"
Klaus turned to face them, walking backwards as he reached the jukebox. One finger punched the keypad, programming in a playlist as he kept moving, reaching an alcove near the back of the establishment Caroline had only seen used for private parties. Curious, she followed him and heard Stefan following after her. Gripping the hem of a huge piece of black fabric draped over the contraption in the alcove, Klaus ripped it away to reveal a mechanical bull. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stood watching him with a slight frown on her face. Stefan snorted, and she looked over at him to see he was shaking his head and laughing.
"A mechanical bull," he stated simply, looking at Klaus out of the tops of his eyes in characteristic-Stefan fashion. Klaus beamed triumphantly just as the music on the jukebox kicked in. The song was an upbeat number, perfect for getting the blood flowing and making you want to dance.
"Come on, you two," Klaus drawled plaintively, beckoning them closer. "Stop moping about and have some fun. We're stuck here together, and I don't want to hear Stefan crying over Elena any more than I want to listen to Caroline reprimand me like a child. So start having fun before I have to start inflicting pain to entertain myself." His eyes flashed dangerously, and Caroline didn't doubt he was serious.
"And that's EXACTLY what's wrong with you!" she exclaimed indignantly. "You're always having to prove you're the big bad alpha, and it's annoying! It ran Tyler out of town, and it's driving me insane." She threw her hands up in frustration, and she didn't realize Klaus was advancing on her before it was too late.
His hands grabbed her hips, and she felt herself flying through the air. She had just enough time to shriek before she landed on top of the bull and had to cling to the saddle to keep from falling off. "First ride, princess. Loosen up before I kill us all in annoyance."
Fuming and glaring down at Klaus as Stefan stifled another chuckle, she shifted her weight to get comfortable on the saddle as it began rocking back and forth. The speed was slow at first, easy to manage, and she allowed herself to cool off for the moment. Although she hated to admit it, Klaus was right, and she didn't want to be angry the entire night if they were going to be marooned here.