A/N: Totally inspired by that sweet, fluffy Forwood moment in tonight's episode, at the end where she's crying and he kisses her hair and it's cute as hell? That. *sigh*

Ten Things Tyler Lockwood Likes About Caroline Forbes (and One He Loves)

1. She sings. In the shower. Disney songs.

And it's honest-to-God the most adorable damn thing he's ever seen. And he happens to be Tyler-freaking-Lockwood, does he look like the kind of guy who even knows the word "adorable"? But that's what Caroline is sometimes and when she leaves the bathroom door open and he's stretched out on her bed waiting on her, (he'll never admit it, even under torture) he'll sing along to the guy parts.

2. She always smells like vanilla.

Which may not seem like a huge deal to most people, but to him it's the most comforting scent he's ever found, ever. It's not like his mom used to smell like vanilla when he was a kid or something, because she didn't, and anyway, his mom is like the exact opposite of "comforting." But when Care is cuddled up to him smelling like she bathed in cookie dough or something he's never felt more comfortable.

3. She can rap.

Honest to God, rap. To Eminem. And she's good. Truth is, when she's being all tough and mimicking the guy's over-aggressive mannerisms, well, she's never been sexier. Sweet, peppy little Caroline Forbes who baked him mud "cookies" when they were four, is drumming on the steering wheel and rapping about "got em all shook and scared to look in my eyes, I stole that fuckin' clock, I took the time and I came up from behind and pretty much snuck up and butt fucked this game up better be careful when you bring my name up" and she's seriously never been hotter.

4. She trusts him.

Like really, seriously trusts him with her life, her heart, everything. And he's never truly been trusted by a girlfriend, never deserved it, really. But she trusts him, even at the full moon, to not hurt her, to keep her safe and not cheat or leave again and sometimes it's such pressure it scares the shit out of him and "Old Tyler" threatens to make an appearance. Never does though. She has the ability to look at him with so much trust that he wants to kick his own ass for even thinking about it.

5. The way she let him rescue her from her dad's weird torture chamber thing?

That's a mind-fuck and a half. They're supposed to be enemies or some shit, but she's tired and hurting and vulnerable and she's trusting him to keep her safe and to take her home and even though she's gotta be starving for blood, it doesn't even cross her mind to bite him. She loops her arms around his neck and lets him carry her out of there and it sort of kills him to see Caroline so broken, but at the same time he kind of loves being able to save her for once.

6. The sex.

He'd be so full of shit if he tried to pretend he didn't love every second of it. It's hot and hard and he loves that she's pretty un-kill-able because she can take how rough he is and she loves it. She's loud as hell too and it's a major turn on, having her under him, around him, screaming his name, is the most erotic thing he's ever experienced. The way she gets aggressive and tries to take charge and it becomes this total battle of wills? Bonus.

7. The way she bosses him around.

As if there's no chance she'll be disobeyed, "Tyler, grab my purse from the car please?" He'll give her so much shit for it, but in all honesty he'd rather do it and look whipped than let her go get it herself, alone, and risk a repeat of what happened with her dad.

8. The way she stood up to Damon about him.

He remembers Damon snarling at her, telling her it's suicide to date a werewolf (though Damon calls him a "mutt") and her telling Damon that, technically, so was being his blood donor and he can stick his self-serving, self-absorbed, bullshit concerns and shove them where the sun doesn't shine. Damon glares back at her for a moment and then offers them both drinks and she hugs him and calls him "Daddy Vamp" (whatever that means) and Tyler isn't quite sure what's going on, but he thinks Damon threatening to put him down if he ever hurts her is a good thing. He thinks.

9. She's there. Every full moon, she's there.

She may be on the wrong side of a silver-framed door, but she's there, right there with him while he Changes. It scares the shit out of him the first time she opens the door after he's Changed and despite the fact that he could kill her with one bite, she smacks him on the nose and says, "Shut it. We both know you won't hurt me, so lay down and cuddle with me, dammit." and, completely bemused, he obeys.

10. He suspects she may be planning their wedding behind his back.

He's completely not sure, but he keeps finding wedding magazines at her place and there is a suspicious-looking David's Bridal bag in the back of her closet. But that's Caroline, she plans for everything. Thing is... He's okay with this. There is nothing he'd love more than to spend the rest of eternity with Caroline, so maybe they can't have kids, they could adopt or surrogate or something one day, (unfortunately his wolf is entirely entranced by the thought of her pregnant with his... puppies?)

But the thing he loves most is:

She's vulnerable in front of him.

He knows for a fact that Elena and Bonnie and her mom have never seen her cry like this in front of them, not in years, but she's tucked into his chest in her bed after what happened with her dad, sobbing. Yeah, a part of him wants to find her dad and rip his face off, but a bigger part wants to stay and comfort her (crazy, because he's never been great with crying women.) But he knows exactly what she needs here and is more than happy to take care of her like she takes care of him. He's never been in a bed with a girl and not at least tried to get in her pants, but here he is with Caroline as vulnerable and broken as possible, and all he wants to do is hold her until she falls asleep and then watch her sleep.

Watching her sleep is about where it sinks in: That he could possible be in love with Caroline Forbes, like the forever kind of love. And it intimidates him a bit, but it doesn't scare him like it should, it just feels... right. Being with her feels right.

It feels right the first time he takes her on an actual date, the night he asks her to marry him and the evening she actually marries him and all the days in-between. She's his forever.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

I know Tyler and Damon have always been pretty hot, but is anyone else suddenly attracted to "Bad Stefan" at all? I like him better as a Ripper. Oops?