A/N: Chapter 4 coming at you. I hope you're enjoying the story!

Caroline firmly held onto the tray of baked goods, her cheeks huffed as she impatiently waited for someone to answer the front door. Stefan was beside her, and she could see from the corner of her eye that he was studying her. She refused to look in his direction, frustrated with his callous behavior to go as far as mocking her crush on him with a teasing kiss. That had to be what it was. After swelling her lips, he blatantly disregarded their intimate moment with nothing short of a chuckle and complete dismissal. Therefore, she wasn't going to talk to him until he at the very least explained his actions. He never seemed to notice her dwelling romantic feelings for him before, and Caroline now began to question how genuine that obliviousness was. If he'd always known, why would he choose now to do something about it? Or was he just reminding her of what she couldn't have?

"Caroline," Stefan tried.

"Nope," She kept her eyes trained on the door, her legs shaking anxiously.

"You have to ring the doorbell."

Caroline felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. During her entire inner monologue of ignoring Stefan whilst waiting for someone to invite them in; she'd completely forgotten to ring the doorbell in the first place. Sending a glare his way, she pushed the small button.

"I can carry that if you want," Stefan offered, gesturing toward the cookies. He knew she was fine, but he mostly just trying to get her talking. The attitude began a few short minutes ago and now she'd gone as far as to pretend he wasn't there. The only thing he could relate this outburst to was the kiss, but even then, he wasn't sure why it was entirely his fault. She kissed him back.

"I've got it," she answered sharply.

At that moment, the tall-white picket fence swung open to reveal the home's owner, Antony. He was walking beside another man, laughing as they clanked beers in celebration. He stopped short when he noticed Caroline.

"Neighbor!" He greeted Caroline, reaching to give Stefan a healthy handshake.

"You must be the boyfriend," Antony introduced. "I'm Antony, this is my house. What do you think?" Caroline and Stefan exchanged brief looks at the mention of the 'b' word, but let it slide when Antony didn't stop talking. "This is my friend; he's from out of town."

"Let me get those for you, darlin'." The friend took the cookies from her, giving them a healthy sniff. "I love homemade cookies. I'm gonna bring these out to everyone." He returned to the backyard, leaving Antony behind.

Caroline silently thanked Wal-Mart for their contribution to the party. It wasn't as if she lifted a finger of effort other than the ones she used to do her makeup.

"Your house is… really nice," Stefan attempted to make small-talk, answering his earlier question.

"Anyway, the party's in the back. Feel free to grab a beer from the cooler. Do you guys want burgers, hot dogs or sausages? I know I like all three."

"Uh, whatever's fine."

Within a few minutes, Stefan and Caroline were awkwardly situated on the porch with beers, watching everyone else have a good time. In her desperation to kill the silence, Caroline forgot she was giving Stefan the cold shoulder.

"I used to know how to do this," she said quietly. "Parties, social stuff. I was really good at meeting new people," she took a second to admire the group of friends that briefly resembled the old one they had. Before it was broken. "I guess that's part of…" as she finally looked into Stefan's eyes she trailed off open-endedly. She wasn't prepared for the intensity captured there.

"Let's sit down," he suggested, lightly touching her elbow to guide her to the obviously not-Wal-Mart bought lawn chairs. She didn't respond, but allowed him to move them.

There was a long, drawn out silence as Stefan tried to figure out what he wanted to say and how he could possibly say it without her finding a reason to get angry. "Can we talk?" It was the easiest place to start.

"I figured that's what we were about to do."

Again, he was at a loss for words. Her blue eyes were sparkling under the porch light, cheap fluorescents failing to take away her bright beauty. Her forehead crinkled at her left-brow, a shift between concerned and anxious. She didn't want to have this conversation.

"Why did you kiss me?" Caroline asked confrontationally. If they were going to do this, she wanted it over and done with.

"Excuse me?" Stefan scoffed in disbelief, his mouth agape as he shook his head vigorously. "You kissed me first! You practically assaulted me."

Caroline's eyes uplifted as she pondered her heard. "No I didn't!" She poked his chest with a finger with accusation icing her tone. "You kissed Me."

"I hate to break it you Caroline, but you're wrong. You were standing close to me and it got a little…" He motioned his hands as he tried to find a word, "warm… and you jumped on me with your lips all .." he demonstrated her previous actions with pursed lips, mockingly kissing the air. " – and you wrapped your arms around my neck and practically begged me for it."

Caroline's mouth dropped at his choice of words. "Okay, now I need to be excusing." She blinked as she tried to figure out the verb she should be using. "Excused," She shook her hand in annoyance and clarified, "Someone's doing the excusing here and you need to take a step back, buddy." Her eyes flared up. "Whether I kissed you first or didn't is not the question."

"Uhh," Stefan briefly wondered if she was even living in the same dimension. "Yes it was!" He all but shouted.

Caroline put up a hand, signaling that she wanted him to be silent. "Irregardless, you still kissed me back." She nodded her head at him, sure of herself on this one. "It wasn't just a little one either, it was a big big 'the Notebook' type kiss."

Stefan couldn't help himself, "That good, huh?"

"Stefan," she growled in a warning. "I don't know why we kissed. I don't know why I kissed you or you kissed me or whatever, but it didn't mean anything. We're just friends and we're not together and we never will be!" Caroline was only trying to convince herself, and somehow Stefan ended up with a hurt look on his face in the process.

Having nothing else to say, Caroline adjusted her jacket and quickly made her escape from the porch, joining a couple of people standing by the grill and successfully introducing herself.

Stefan was annoyed and angry. She was just standing there with those strangers laughing and drinking without a care in the world. She was going to act as if she hadn't kissed him, as if she hadn't happily squeaked when his lips pressed back into hers, as if she wasn't disheveled and stumbling in the aftermath.

"You alright?" Antony took position beside Stefan, leaning against the porch's fencing. He did a double take as he realized his new neighbor was staring at the pretty blonde. "Having a spat?"

Stefan grunted in response. He didn't want to talk about his romantic life with a human who didn't know them in the slightest. He couldn't begin to understand their history together.

"David and I used to fight all the time. We just had to communicate better."

"You think we should talk."

"Absolutely. Just go right over there and tell her exactly what you're thinking. She can't read your mind and you can't read hers. Until you both start opening up you'll never fix anything." Antony took a swig of his beer.

"You know what, I will." Stefan felt adrenaline kick in as he sought her out with purpose. "Why does she get to keep it bottled up while I sit here miserable?"

"Well, don't make a scene!" Antony called to his retreating back, suddenly fearing he gave Stefan the wrong advice. With the heaviness of Stefan's stride, the determination in his brow, he was clearly going to do something Antony would regret.

Stefan joined the circle of people talking, smiling at them as they stepped aside to make room for him.

"Stefan," Caroline spoke, surprised. She didn't expect him to want to talk to her after the way she spoke to him. In all truthfulness, she felt really bad about it now.

"Oh, you're the other neighbor," A dark-haired woman shook his hand, the bun raveled in her head tossing as she moved. "Caroline's boyfriend, right?"

"Hmm…" Stefan's eyes linger on Caroline. "No…" He said firmly, gripping his drink tightly without breaking eye contact with her.

"Oh." The woman looked to her friends for help, but they were just as confused. "Antony told us you were an item."

"Nope," Stefan said nonchalantly, taking a step toward Caroline and looking down at her plainly. "We're not together. Never will be," he repeated her earlier words before taking a step back to where he was previously, drinking his beer as if there wasn't a heavy awkwardness in the still air.

Caroline stared at Stefan guiltily, her eyes sinking. She was wrong to say those things in the awful way she did, but she was panicking then. Now, Stefan was intentionally trying to embarrass her by using her own words against her.

"Uhhh…." One of the men began, trying to soothe over the tension pathetically. "Who wants a Bloody Mary?" The silence broke as quickly as the drop of a nickel when a body was thrown across the fence, landing in a sick thud in the middle of the circle of socializing guests.

While everyone else screamed and yelled for ambulances and police, Stefan and Caroline took a closer look. He tilted the man's head to the side to reveal a deep vampire bite, bloody and purple. The man was clearly dead.

As suddenly as Stefan looked up from the body, Kane and a team of his vampires were there. His witch, Magdalen, stood at his side proudly while his vampire-friend Belle hung back with observing eyes.

"Kane," Stefan breathed as Caroline wrapped a hand around his arm, pulling him back from his kneeling position to stand at her side. They needed to be prepared. Whether it was to run or fight was the question. Caroline looked to Stefan, deciding she'd follow his lead on this one. Thankfully, the yard had cleared of the party-goers as they were now running down the street calling law enforcement.

"Stefan, Caroline."

Caroline did not like the threatening way he said her name. Apparently, Stefan didn't either, as his eyes had narrowed dangerously.

"We told you we'd stay away from Charlie and we have." He clenched his fists, knowing full well this wasn't going to end with a corrected misunderstanding and a peaceful agreement.

"This isn't about Charlie."

"Than what's it about?" Stefan demanded gruffly.

"It's about her," Kane pointed directly at Caroline, a grin uplifting his pale mouth.

A/N: Thank you as always for sticking with me and reading this fanfic. I'll try to update in a timely matter, review and follow if you wish!