CAROLINE'S POV:

I stood with the rest of the team on the Glamour shoot, watching Bonnie work her magic, a wide smile on my face as I watched her doing what she loved the most in the world…

"Hey, how's it going?" Stefan asked, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind

"Great," I replied "she's doing great, and she's having the time of her life…"

"Good, can you come with me?" he questioned

"Why?" I inquired, turning my head to him as he moved away from me

"Dad's here, and he wants to talk to us about the newspaper article." he informed me

Handing my clipboard to the second in command, Stefan having left me in charge of the shoot, I followed him out of the studio, seeing his Dad sat in the reception area…

"Hi, Caroline," he greeted me "sorry to drag you away from work…"

"It's okay." I replied "I just want to get this newspaper article sorted. What do we need to do?"

"Unfortunately our media representative says there's no other way to squash the rumors other than to do a press conference." he informed us "If you're both on board with it, it can go ahead early this evening."

"That soon?" I questioned

"The sooner it's done and the truth is out there, the better," he admitted "but if you don't feel comfortable speaking, which is understandable, our media representative will read a statement issued on your behalf."

"What do you think we should do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Stefan as I turned to him

"I want to sit up there and tell the press exactly what's going on," he informed me "but if you don't want to be there, then it's okay, and you can write something for our representative to read."

"Would that be okay?" I inquired "I wouldn't feel comfortable being up there…"

He nodded his head… "Of course. Could you set it up please, Dad?"

STEFAN'S POV:

"Where's your fiancée, Mr. Salvatore?" a journalist asked as I took a seat the press conference "We hope she and baby are well…"

"She's not my fiancée and we're not having a baby." I replied

"The pictures say otherwise..." another journalist informed me

"We were having an intimate moment that was taken advantage of." I explained

"If we'd like to get started…" our media representative proclaimed "I have a statement from Miss. Forbes which states that she and Mr. Salvatore are in a relationship but are not expecting a child or engaged. They're very happy and in love and wish for the press to not print lies and rumours without knowing the facts first, but she gets that that's the way of the industry. We're not taking any questions. Thank you."

CAROLINE'S POV:

"How did it go?" I asked Stefan as he made his way into the apartment

"All sorted." he informed me "Have you seen Bonnie? How did the rest of the shoot go?"

"She's on cloud nine." I replied "She's so happy she can't wipe the smile off her face."

He smiled at me warmly as I spoke… "Are you both ready to head for dinner? My parents can't wait to meet her and pick her brains. I think they want to give her a full-time contract."

"Seriously?" I inquired

He nodded his head… "That's how my Dad was talking earlier on when we were talking. What do you think she'd say?"

"I think she'd jump at the chance." I admitted "She knows with her passion, it's not always going to be permanent, but to be offered an amazing chance like this from your Mom and Dad, it'd be the major boost she needs."

"Good." he replied "Shall we go?"

STEFAN'S POV:

Caroline, Bonnie and I made our way down to the lobby, seeing a security guard stood outside of the main door to the apartment building, pulling it open for us as he saw us stood there…

"What's going on?" I asked

"Turns out the press conference didn't have as much of an impact as you were hoping for…" he admitted

"Can we get out a back way?" I questioned "I don't want my girlfriend and her friend to be subjected to this…"

"Stefan, it's fine." Caroline assured me

"No it's not." I replied "Back way? Fire exit?"

The security guard nodded and pushed his way through the hoard of press and to the car, the car driving off down the street. Taking Caroline's hand, I led her and Bonnie out of the lobby and down a corridor to the fire exit, the three of us climbing into the waiting car and driving off to the restaurant…

Bonnie's going to be offered a full-time contract with Salvatore Enterprises – how amazing?! And Caroline and Stefan's relationship is still all good, despite the press interference…