...{love is passionate}...

"So Stefan, with this dating thing," She puffed out air. "Are we exclusive...or non-exclusive?"

His eyebrows knitted together, his mouth slightly ajar. She had caught him off guard.

See Caroline, this is why you should keep your mouth shut sometimes.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Um, well Caroline, I don't necessarily kn–"

"I only ask because Tyler asked if I wanted to go to the Grill and hangout." She interrupted. "And I didn't know how to answer him, because I needed to know what–what we are, what are relationship is."

Stefan looked up at her. "Well Caroline, it's not up to me whether or not you hang out with Tyler. You can, I won't not allow you to."

She nodded. "Okay, so I'll let him know that I can hang–"

"Go on a date with him." Stefan finished.

Caroline looked at him, shocked. "Well, it's not a date."

"Are you sure he knows that?"

She played with her hands. "I–I–I don't know."

...{love is jealous}...

"Tyler, stop it!" Caroline laughed as Tyler tickled her.

"No, say you surrender!" Tyler grinned as he picked Caroline up and put her over his right shoulder, still attacking her with tickles.

"Never!" Caroline laughed. "J–just please, s–stop, I can't breathe." She giggled. "I can't breathe!"

Tyler laughed as he spun her around.

"Tyler!" Caroline shrieked.

Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed as they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Caroline's head shot in the direction of the doorway and saw Stefan standing there, a stern look on his face, jaw clenched and his body stiff. He glared at Tyler, his eyes never leaving him as Tyler placed Caroline down once he noticed she had stopped laughing and realized why. Caroline moved her hair out of her face and gave Stefan a little smile.

"Stefan!" Caroline's smile grew as she walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I missed you." She whispered into his neck.

"I missed you too." Stefan said, keeping his eyes on Tyler as he held back a growl from escaping.

Tyler held his gaze, a slight stare down happened between the two men before Tyler broke it and looked down.

He looked up at Caroline. "I better go."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Okay, I'll see you later."

Tyler looked back at her as he started walking out. "Bye, Caroline."

"Bye Tyler." She called after him.

Stefan was still stiff. It wasn't until they heard Tyler's car speed away when she felt Stefan relax.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked, worried.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Tyler lately, what's that about?"

Caroline sighed. "We're friends Stefan. And what's wrong with you?"

Stefan looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Back there, with Tyler. You were uncomfortable, I could tell, and you looked like you wanted to kill him."

"Well, of course I was uncomfortable; his hands were all over you." Stefan said, his tone getting protective.

"So?"

"So? So nothing, he shouldn't be doing that–"

"We're just friends, Stefan." Caroline interjected. "We were just playing around." She said defensively.

"Care–"

She sighed in frustration and turned away from him, starting to pace.

"God, why are you acting like this?" Her brow furrowed in anger.

"Because I don't like him," Stefan yelled. "I don't trust him. I don't trust him around you."

"Well, I do trust him Stefan. And whether you like him or not, I'm still going to spend time with him." She sighed. "It's like you're jealous or something."

Stefan looked away, his jaw clenched.

Caroline's jaw dropped as her eyes grew big. "Are you?"

Stefan looked at her. "No, I just don't want you getting too close with him. He could hurt you Caroline." His voice was softening.

She took a step towards him and grabbed one of his hands, squeezing it. "But he won't." She looked into his light green eyes. "I need you to trust me, okay? Trust me when I say he won't hurt me, because I know him and I trust him. He will not hurt me. You have nothing to worry about."

Stefan looked down at her and nodded. "Okay."

Caroline placed one hand on his chest while the other played with his hair. "Good." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Come on, let's go hunt. I'm starving."

A/N: This totally has nothing to do with The Vampire Diaries, or my story. But I started watching True Blood, and I must say it's a pretty *Swedish accent* shveet show! I love Eric and Sookie!