CAROLINE'S POV:

"Hey." Stefan greeted me

"Hey." I mirrored, looking up to see he was stood in the doorway of my office "What's up?"

"Does anything have to be up for me to come and see my girlfriend?" he inquired

I smiled at him weakly… "I didn't mean to snap. I'm just under a lot of pressure…"

"Are the girls downstairs still giving you grief?" he asked

"Why do you ask that?" I questioned "Has Damon said something?"

"Should Damon have said something?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow at me

I shook my head… "Was there something you wanted? Or did you just come to chit-chat and distract me from actually working?"

"Sorry for wanting to actually communicate with my girlfriend." he scoffed

"Stefan…" I sighed as he turned and walked out of my office

"No, forget it!" he replied, shaking his head as he made his way back down the corridor to his office

STEFAN'S POV:

"She's been really weird…" I admitted, sighing heavily as I sat in Damon's office

"She's always weird. Weirder than girls are normally, actually." he replied

"Hey!" I proclaimed

"Sorry, Mr. Protective." he chuckled, smirking at me as he spoke "She's probably just under a lot of pressure. She's got her work as your assistant to do, as well as brief for her new job, and also she has to find you a new assistant, all by the end of the month. Why don't you take her out or do something to spoil her tonight?"

"You think she'd like that?" I questioned

"I don't know," he admitted "she's your girlfriend. Would she?"

CAROLINE'S POV:

Stefan had left the office before me that evening, and as I arrived back at my apartment, I heard music playing softly in the lounge. Shutting the front door behind me, I set my bag down on the floor and hung my coat up, kicking my shoes off as I did so…

"Hello?" I called as I walked through; smiling as I saw the room was lit by candlelight

"Hey." Stefan greeted from behind me "How was the rest of your day?"

"Good." I informed him "Is this why you left the office early?"

"Maybe…" he replied "Do you like it?"

"I love it." I admitted "Why are you doing all this though? I was a cow earlier…"

"I talked to Damon." he informed me "And he told me you're under a lot of pressure, something I should've realised, and I'm sorry that I didn't, so I'm thinking tonight, we forget about work and just have a night to ourselves, what do you think?"

"I like the sound of that." I replied, smiling at him warmly "What do you have planned?"

"Takeout's on it's way, and a film of your choice." he admitted

"You're letting me choose?" I asked "You must really love me."

"I do." he informed me "More than you could ever know, Caroline."

I smiled at him weakly… "I love you too. I'll be back in a minute; I'm just gonna go and get changed."

Nodding his head in understanding, I pressed my lips against his and left the room, making my way through to my bedroom, dialling Damon's number as I went…

"Hello, Blondie." he greeted me "What can I do for you?"

"I hate this," I admitted "as much as I'm sympathetic to yours and Elena's plight; I wish you'd never told me. I hate lying to Stefan."

"Like I said earlier, it's not lying, it's just not telling him something." he informed me

"But he thinks he's the cause of my stress, when actually, it's you." I sighed

"You want to know the reason I told you?" he questioned

"Why?" I asked

"Because Stefan said you were a good listener," he informed me "he said you gave really good advice and I was hoping you'd be able to give me some on how to help Elena get through this, but you know what? It doesn't even matter…"

"It's not that I don't want to help," I admitted "I just can't, not when I'm lying to Stefan."

"I understand." he replied "You and Stefan have a relationship that's built on trust and communication, but I'm just not ready for the rest of the family to know yet, and neither is Elena."

"How is she?" I inquired

"She's asleep, but her laptop was on when I got in and she's been searching for IVF treatments and other possible means and ways of having a child." he sighed "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Caroline…"

"Be there for her." I informed him "It's all you can do."

"Caroline!" Stefan proclaimed "Takeout's here!"

"How about I meet you for a coffee tomorrow morning?" I suggested

"Caroline!" Stefan's voice called "Have you fallen asleep or something?"

"No, I'm on my way." I informed him

"Coffee sounds good," Damon admitted "thanks, Caroline."

"You're welcome, Damon." I replied "I'll text you and I'll see you tomorrow."

Caroline's getting in deep by keeping this from Stefan, but will he understand when he finds out?