Youngblood

TWENTY|snowflakes

The Vampire Diaries

S4:E9

☄. *. ⋆

Veronica yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she looked over at the letter beside her.

I'll be at your lake house with Elena and Jeremy until later. Stop by tonight and surprise them :)

-Bonnie

Placing the note back down, the girl slipped out of Bonnie's bed; stretching as she slipped on a pair of shoes. Since Elena and Jeremy weren't home, she decided to head over to her old house and get ready there. As much as she appreciated Bonnie's help, she preferred wearing her own clothes.

After slipping on a pair of leggings with a cropped shirt, Veronica drove over to the Mystic Grill. While she was gone, she overheard a few people mentioning an art gallery happening. Seeing as she had nothing to do until later, Veronica decided to check it out.

As soon as she opened the door, the girl felt a set of eyes on her. Glancing around and spotting no one staring, she shrugged it off.

Veronica looked at a few pieces before her gaze fell on one particular painting. Walking over, she studied the artwork.

It was a snowflake, yet at the same time, it was so much more. Veronica had always found it a bit challenging to feel any emotion when looking at artwork. That was, until recently.

Realizing she'd only felt this way about one person's art, Veronica tried to look for the artist. When she was unable to find a name, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Turning around to ask someone if they knew who painted it, she bumped into a body.

Klaus reached his arms out, holding onto the girl's upper arms to steady her.

Veronica smiled sheepishly, her face growing hot.

"Sorry for bumping into you."

"Don't apologize, love. I should have made my presence clear."

She looked down at his hands, then back up to his face. As if just now realizing he was still holding onto her, he gave her arms a squeeze before letting go.

Veronica cleared her throat, gesturing to the painting behind her.

"Don't you think that's a beautiful snowflake? I wonder how long it took the artist."

"Quite a while, I imagine."

She narrowed her eyes, Klaus jokingly returning the gesture.

"You painted this, didn't you?"

He shrugged, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Humming in disapproval, she shot him a small look before walking away.

Within seconds, Klaus was following her like a lost puppy.

"Where are you heading off to, love?"

Veronica scrunched her nose, "The bathroom. Did you wanna hold my hand under the stall door?"

Klaus grinned, "I suppose if you're offering..."

"I don't think that's how friends act around each other," She tsked, "But, I suppose you wouldn't have much practice."

He let out a low whistle, a mock pained look on his face.

Before he could refute her comment, Veronica's ringtone interrupted them. He didn't get a chance to look at the name, but from the way Veronica began to grin, he suddenly grew jealous. Rebekah had let it slip that morning that no one else knew she was alive, so who could possibly be texting her?

"I should take this. The painting is lovely, maybe we can talk later?"

When Veronica received a nod in response, she sent him one last smile before heading over to the door.

As the brunette walked out, Klaus watched her every move. The way her hair flowed side to side in her ponytail and how her hand softly grabbed onto the door handle, allowing others to exit before her. Most of all, he noticed the way her heartbeat. The one sound that had been missing for quite some time finally returned.

☄. *. ⋆

Veronica answered the call, slipping inside of her car and starting it.

"There you are. You haven't responded in days, I was worried about you."

Veronica awed, which she knew caused Marcel to roll his eyes on the other end.

"Sorry about that, I actually ended up dying."

There was a pause, "What did you just say?"

"I drowned. It was actually kind of traumatic and I don't think I fully processed it yet, but I'm alive again. So, that's good I guess."

Marcel whispered something about what the hell is going on in Mystic Falls, but Veronica couldn't hear too well.

Veronica talked to Marcel on the car ride to the lake house, catching him up on everything that happened and him filling her in on news in the French Quarter.

When she arrived, she bid him a farewell and promised she was coming home soon. Putting her car in park, she practically jumped out and skipped over to the front door.

She was about to turn the handle when she heard a low holy shit from behind her. Turning, the girl saw Damon walking towards the house.

Veronica grinned, wiggling her eyebrows, "Missed me?"

Laughing, Damon raced up the steps and brought her into a bear hug. She returned the hug with the same level of enthusiasm.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Bonnie, obviously, and..."

"And," Damon drawled, pulling back.

Veronica sent him a sheepish smile, "Rebekah... And Klaus... And a friend from New Orleans."

He groaned, "Why did you tell them first?"

"Hey! They saw me, I didn't tell anyone anything!"

Damon pursed his lips, shaking his head as he saw the pinks of her cheeks.

Liar.

Throwing an arm around her shoulders nonetheless, he opened the door and ushered her inside.

"A present for Elena and Jeremy," Damon announced in a deep voice.

Veronica could hear Jeremy grumble something under his breath, which earned him a slap over the head by Elena. A few seconds later, they both pop out from behind the wall.

A screech fills the air before Elena came barreling towards Veronica, throwing her off her balance as she buried her in a hug.

Not even a moment later did another pair of arms tangle around her - Jeremy deciding to join in.

As they pulled apart, the two asked how it happened.

"I owe it all to Bonnie." Veronica smiled, then gave the witch a side hug.

"You don't owe me anything."

Sending her a grateful smile anyways, she faced the rest of the group.

"Anyone wanna catch me up on what's going on?"

All night, the Gilbert siblings, Bonnie, and Damon talked in the living room; letting the fireplace warm them up while they discussed all of the things she had missed.