Chapter 1 - Friends don't treat me like you do

"Why didn't he go for me?" A completely drunk and heartbroken Caroline asked Bonnie.

Bonnie just gave her friend a sympathetic nod. She didn't know what to say. Caroline's heart was in pieces... There was nothing she could say.

"How come the guys that I want... Never want me?" Caroline asked. She was drowning in her pain and her voice showed it.

"I'm not touching that." Bonnie smiled, not realizing the full extent of hurt her friend was feeling.

"I'm inappropriate." Caroline whispered. "I always say the wrong thing...and"

She pauses not sure if she wants to continue her sentence. But eventually she does. "Katherine always says the right thing. God, she doesn't even try, and he just picks her. And she's always the one that every one picks, for everything. And I try so hard and... I'm never the one."

"It's not a competition, Caroline." Bonnie said.

"Yeah it is." Caroline said, glancing over to the other side of the room where her best friend, Stefan, was with his girlfriend,Katherine.

"This is about Stefan." Bonnie concluded out loud.

"I care about him, Bon." Caroline smiled, letting a single tear fall. "But he's so blinded by his love for her that he doesn't see the way she looks at Damon, it's the same way stefan looks at her."

"You think Katherine loves Damon?" Bonnie shrieked.

"I saw her with him in the back alley, yesterday. I didn't tell him because it's going to crush him."

"Are you sure that this isn't something more than just caring about him?" Bonnie suggested.

"I'm so sick of people saying that." Caroline snapped. "We're just friends."

"I'm sorry." Bonnie raised in surrender. "But, Care, you guys live together... He knows things about you that even I don't! It's okay if you've started seeing this as something more..."

Caroline froze. She wasn't developing feelings for Stefan, was she? No, this would all fade away when she woke up.

"We're just friends." Caroline smiled, standing up and getting ready to leave the grill.

"Okay." Bonnie hugged her best friend. "I believe you. But if Katherine isn't completely in love with Stefan, I think he deserves to know."

"You're right." Caroline smiled. "I'll tell him tonight... When he gets home."

•••••

"Hey you." Stefan smiled as he walked in the front door.

He and Caroline had bought this apartment their first year in college. The week after they met... They were already great friends and figured it didn't have to be weird. They could be roommates. Without turning into the boy-girl friendship stereotypes.

"Hey." Caroline said, jumping up from her place on the couch

"I brought you something." He said sheepishly, taking out a bottle of tequila from the brown bag in his hand.

"My favorite." She laughed.

"So you said you wanted to talk about something..." He said.

"I did... I do." She smiled. "It's pretty serious stuff though so you have to decide whether you want to get drunk before or after..?"

"I'm gonna go with both." He laughed, sitting down beside her on the couch.

"Great." She smiled. " I'll go get the glasses now."

"Okay." He said. "I'm just going to change out of this... I hate wearing suits."

"I know... Probably shouldn't have gotten a job as a lawyer then." She smirked.

"Don't be a smartass." He said.

"I'll try." She joked. "Okay... Two shot glasses? Check. One bottle of cheap alcohol? Check. Someone to get drunk with? Stefan where the heck are you?"

"I'm coming... I'm coming." He said. Once he was sitting next to her, he lifted up his glass. "So let's get started."

"Okay... I'll tell you the news, five shots in... Deal?" She asked, as she filled the glasses.

"Deal." He said as he threw back his liquor and cringed at the pain.

"We need some music." She said, running to turn on her iPod.

"No...no." Stefan cringed. "I'm not drunk enough to listen the lame stuff that you call music."

"Rude." She joked.

•••••

"Okay.." He said. "5 shots... What did you want to tell me?"

"You're hot... Did you know that?" She winked at him.

"Caroline!" He said even though he felt his face going red. "What were you going to tell me?"

"I saw Katherine." She laughed.

"What do you mean you saw her?" He asked.

"Why are you serious all the time?" She smiled. "You should let loose more often."

"Duly noted." He said. "Please but tell me now."

" ... Fine." She managed to control herself. "I saw Katherine kissing Damon."

"Oh." Stefan sighed.

"Oh?" She snapped. "I just told you I saw your girlfriend kissing your brother and all you have to say is Oh?"

"I already knew, Care." He whispered. "Katherine told me, she also told me it was an accident and that she felt horrible about it."

"Oh." Caroline said... She couldn't help it, she broke down right then. Within a minute, she found her eyes sore because of how much she'd already cried.

"Hey... What's wrong?" Stefan whispered, wrapping an arm around her and moving closer.

"How can you do that?" She whispered it as though she admired what he was doing, because she did.

"Do what?" He asked.

"How can you still love her? How is she still the one for you?" She sobbed. "I'm horrible at relationships, I'm horrible at everything, because I'm never the one. That's exactly what Matt said to me when we broke up. He said he loved me but I wasn't the one. That's why most of my relationships end, so tell me how you know Katherine is the one for you... Because I want to be the one... For somebody. For anybody. I just want to be the one. So please tell me what i have to do to be the one?"

"I don't." He whispered, stroking his thumb on her forehead.

"What?" She asked.

"I don't know if Katherine is the one for me..." He sighed.

None of them knew what was happening until it already happened.

He leaned and searched her eyes for rejection. When he didn't find it, he kissed her.

It was gentle, they were still getting used to the taste... It was different, but not in a bad way.

She lifted her hands to his cheeks and he roped his fingers in her hair. They were in sync. He started to unbutton her shirt when she pulled away.

"Stop. Stefan, stop." She sighed.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I don't think we should do this." She said, quickly standing up. "We're friends... Just friends. I don't want to ruin that."

"We ju-." He paused and the room stood still for a while as they stared at each other in silence. "You're right... We should probably get some rest."

"Goodnight." She said, slowly walking towards her bedroom.

"Yeah... Um. Goodnight." He whispered back.

AUTHORS NOTE:

• I REALLY HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS.. PLS LET ME KNOW WITH A REVIEW... LET ME KNOW IF ITS TOO FAST OR IF WRITING THIS IS JUST A WASTE OF MY TIME.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN NEXT? HOW WILL STEFAN REACT TO BEING TURNED DOWN (SORT OF)? AND HOW DO YOU THINK CAROLINE FEELS ABOUT ALL OF THIS?