The next morning, Stefan awoke early as usual, but today he didn't stay in bed for an extra two hours. He decided to go for that run that he never got yesterday.
He made his way downstairs, quietly, knowing everyone else was still asleep. Except, he was taken by surprise when he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Caroline getting ready to leave.
"Caroline?", he whispered.
She jumped and turned around. "Oh, Stefan! Geez, you scared the hell out of me!" And then Stefan saw a look of worry on her face.
"Damnit, I woke you up, didn't I? I'm so sorry, I'm such a klutz sometimes and I tripped down a couple of the stairs. I didn't think it was that loud but you're awake now which means it was definitely loud. Great, Damon and Elena will probably be awake now too! Ugh, my first morning here and I'm already disturbing the people you live here, awesome!"
Stefan couldn't help but laugh as she rambled on.
When she had finally stopped, Stefan looked at her and smiled, "Caroline, I promise you didn't wake me up. I'm up this early pretty much every day. I just decided to go for a run before everyone else woke up. What are you doing up so early anyways?"
"I was actually going for a run too!"

It was only then that he realized what she was wearing; short shorts and a tank top. He swallowed, hard. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she wasn't wearing any make-up. She was beautiful.

Caroline stood there and noticed the way he was looking her up and down and suddenly felt very self-conscious.

She cleared her throat and Stefan was finally pulled out of his thoughts.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, she spoke up.
"Well, since we're both going running, maybe we can just go together? You must know the best place to go and I'd probably get lost by myself anyways!"
Stefan was embarrassed that she had caught him staring at her and was grateful when she finally filled the silence. He smiled at her, "Yeah, definitely. Let's get going."

Caroline was right next to him as they walked in silence. She couldn't help but to keep stealing glances of him. He was built like a Greek god. He was at least six feet tall, brown hair and piercing green eyes that made her feel like she could melt. And his arms, good god, his arms were the definition of perfect.

They kept walking and she found herself fantasizing what it would be like to be held in his strong arms. She smiled to herself thinking about it and suddenly a wave of memories hit her and her smile disappeared. She didn't deserve someone to hold her. Especially not someone like Stefan Salvatore.
Elena had told her all about Stefan; what an amazing person he was, how he had the biggest heart and would do anything for the people he loved.
She would never find someone like that, because she didn't deserve someone like that.
She could feel the tears threatening to spill over.

Stefan touched her arm and she jumped like she'd been burned.
"I'm so sorry", he said. "I seem to keep scaring you today."
When she looked at him, he swore he could see fear in her eyes.
"Are you okay?", he asked.
She took a deep breath and the tears faded away.
"Yeah, sorry. I've always been kind of jumpy. Can we start running now?"
Before he even had a chance to respond, she had already taken off.

When they stopped, they were both completely out of breath.
"You…run…really…fast", Stefan managed to get out between gasps for breath. "Like, really fast. Like you're running from a monster", he said it with a laugh, trying to be funny.
He saw her entire body tense up when he said it.
After a few seconds, her body language went back to normal and she acted like she hadn't heard what he'd said.
"It really is so nice out here", she said while walking under a tree and into the shade. "Everything about this place is beautiful."
Stefan could only nod his head in agreement. He was about to suggest a race back to the house, when he saw her lift up her tank top to wipe her face, and he saw something on her side. He didn't believe it at first, but it was the biggest bruise he'd ever seen.
He let out a gasp and she immediately dropped the shirt back down and looked at him with a terrified look, knowing what he'd seen.
Stefan walked over to her and went to put a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away from him. He dropped his hands and took a step back.
"Caroline, how did you get that bruise?"
She wouldn't look at him, but she put the fake smile back on as she spoke, "Oh, that? I just walked into a door handle. I told you I was a klutz!"
He didn't believe her, not even for a second, but he knew he didn't know her well enough to push her on the subject.
He nodded his head and suggested they get back to the house for breakfast with Damon and Elena.
She simply said "okay", and they ran back to the house in silence.
They didn't speak at breakfast. She avoided him and stayed in her room for the rest of the day.
Stefan spent the rest of his day feeling like shit. He knew she didn't walk into anything and his mind had gone to the worst possible thought of how she'd actually gotten that bruise. He felt nauseous just at the thought that someone could have hurt her.
He'd only known her for less than 24 hours and he could already see what an amazing person she was, so why would anyone ever want to hurt her?
He didn't know the answer right now but he promised himself that eventually he would make sure he found out.

And that's chapter 3! Any reviews or comments are always appreciated! Thank you guys for reading! Chapter 4 will be posted very soon!