His & Her Rules- A Steroline Story.

Chapter 3- I won't let you down.

You ask me if I'm happy here

no doubt about it

You ask me if my love is clear

want me to shout it

Gave you the best years of my life

woman

I know I failed to treat you right

woman

Since their first meeting Caroline could not stop texting with Stefan, their friendship was going from strength to strength. She knew she had to distance herself from him and remember this was a business transaction to him and nothing more. In a few hours Stefan would be at the apartment ready to begin the road-trip home.

*Knock Knock*

"Hey girl! You all packed?" Bonnie tumbled into the apartment. She wore her dark brown hair in a straight bob swinging a bottle of champagne in her hand. "Not in the slightest, he's so hot Bon, i have nothing that will make me look like i belong with this guy."

"I don't know how you don't see what everybody else sees Care, you're beautiful. You need a confidence boost asap because there is no way you are going to get Tyler back with all your insecurities." A tear rolls down Caroline's cheek as she looks at herself in the mirror. Her complex insecurities stem from a long history of a fighting for her parents love, time and affection. Being hurt by the few men she had gotten close to didn't help anything. "Hey now, no tears, I'll pull some outfit choices out and pack your bag. Call me your fairy godmother. Now in the meantime, go put this on, it'll look fabulous." Bonnie handed Caroline a black halter neck dress and some boots.

*Buzz*

"Hey Bon can you get that for me, it's probably Stefan and i don't think he should see me in the nude." Caroline yelled from the bedroom. Bonnie pushed the buzzer to let Stefan up to the apartment. "Hey Caroline, sorry I'm early, you ready to go?" Stefan said as he entered the apartment. "She's just getting dressed, Shan't be long, i can keep you entertained if you like." She wiggled her eyebrows as she began packing Caroline's lingerie. "Sorry, I believe I'm booked up for the weekend but thanks for the offer."

"I'm only messing around, I'm Bonnie, Caroline's best friend and life coach." She reaches out her hand to shake his. "Oh the infamous Bonnie Bennet, i have heard plenty of things about you."

"All good things i hope? I've heard some things about you too. Maybe you can help me in packing Caroline's bag, you prefer red lingerie or black?" Stefan chucked. "I don't think this arrangement calls for my opinion in lingerie. I'm a simple man, lingerie never stays on for long anyway, why cover up something as beautiful as the human body."

"Look, whilst Caroline is out of earshot please do me a favour. This whole set up was my idea and i don't want her to get hu-"

"Oh I'll ensure Tyler doesn't hurt her." Stefan interrupted. "I don't just mean Tyler, you're a professional and Caroline has a tendency to fall head over heels in love as soon as any somewhat decent man shows interest. You break her heart and I'll break your face."

"Duly noted. I have made our arrangements perfectly clear and she appears to be on the same page. I'm here to do my job that i was paid to do and then leave." What the two didn't see was Caroline eavesdropping from her slightly open bedroom door. He was right this was a business arrangement and the reminder was just what she needed, it still stung her a little though.

Don't let me out of here

don't let me out of here

I won't let you down

won't let you down again

I won't let you down

won't let you down again

I won't let you down

won't let you down again

They had been driving for an hour and Caroline had not said a word since they had left. Stefan took one hand of the wheel and grabbed a handful of potato chips. "You've been really quiet since we left the apartment, are you okay?" She cleared her throat. "Oh I'm sorry I'm just really nervous. I mean what if nobody believes you could be in love with somebody like me, what if Tyler doesn't realise what he's about to loose, what if I'm just going to make a big ass out of myself."

"Do you always overthink everything?"

"Unfortunately so, i have spent way too much time being on my own." She began to chew at her fingers as the butterflies spread throughout her stomach. "What did you mean about me being in love with somebody like you?"

"You have seen you right? You're sweet, kind, hilariously funny and you aren't exactly the worst thing in the world to look at." She scoffed and she grabbed some of the chips before Stefan had a chance to eat them all. "Okay this has to stop, look at yourself." Stefan flipped her sun visor down and opened the mirror. "What do you see when you look at yourself? Because i can tell you exactly what i see. I see a woman who is intelligent, self sufficient, funny, a smile that could light up the entire room and a body that any man would be grateful to hold, even if only for a weekend."

"How much of what I'm paying you did it cost for you to say that?"

"Forget about the money, I'm telling your the truth! The real crime here is you have all these qualities and you don't even know it."

"We're out of chips."

"People will believe that we are together and if Tyler doesn't see what everybody else can see, then he deserves to marry this other woman and forever regret losing you. We'll stop in a bit and stock up on chips."

"Stefan, thank you for doing this for me, i know this is just a job but I'm hoping that after all this i at least have made a friend?' She daren't look at him in the eyes in fear of being let down and disappointed. "I don't usually keep in touch, this job makes everything more complicated but we'll see what happens after this weekend. You may not want to be friends with me after you and Tyler run off together." For a moment she had forgotten what she was doing all this for and it felt good.

Caroline had been flicking through the music stations for a good 20 minutes and had started to agitate Stefan who was trying to focus on the road. "Will you stop that already, you have skipped like 20 decent songs now and it's driving me crazy."

"Well if you had some decent music or something to keep me distracted then i would need to fidget."

"Eh we sound like a couple already, you do realise that."

"Well if you drove a little faster we would be there sooner and we wouldn't be arguing. I feel like I'm in a car with 'Driving Miss Daisy'." She laughed as she wound down the window slightly, letting the cool breeze hit her skin. "If my driving is so bad you know you could always drive."

"Ermm i can't, I don't know how to drive."

"How is that even possible? It's like a right of passage into adulthood." He chuckled. "Growing up, my parents were never around, I was left to fend for myself and any money I earned was spent on bills, food, school and healthcare. I never had the money until i was already into adulthood and its not something i thought about since." The story broke Stefan a little. Not much got to him emotionally but everything was starting to add up. Caroline had never felt love from anybody, not even her own parents. She constantly tried to please people and in the end had completely forgot about herself. "What's on your mind Stefan?"

"Oh nothing really.."

"C'mon you have your usual brooding face on."She giggled. "Brooding face? I don't have a brooding face'"

"I hate to break it to you but you have several, care to share." Stefan pondered for a moment, he never usually got this deep with his clients and he was very wary of blurring any lines he had already drawn with Caroline. "I just like to work people out, understand why they are the way they are, blame the career choice."

"Okay then Stefan PHD, you think you have me figured out? Do tell."

"So i noticed you keep a stack of coupons a mile high on your kitchen counter, pair that with your self sufficiency and eagerness to please people would make me think you've known struggle and hardship. You wolf down food like you don't know when or where your next meal is coming from which leads me to think you've had to fend for yourself for a really long time. Your insecurities about the way your look and act lead me to believe you've probably been hurt or cheated on in every relationship you've ever had. Add a couple of absentee parents, am i close?" Caroline's mouth hung open and for the first time in her life she was speechless. "You've barely scratched the surface, maybe if you stick around long enough this weekend i will tell you more."

"There's more?"

"Oh you have no idea, but hey I'm not the only one who is so easy to read." She smirked as she began to flick through the pages of her fashion magazine. "Do enlighten me Miss Forbes." She turned to him in her seat and placed her magazine in her lap. "You're guarded, you act so cynical and stand off-ish and blame it on your chosen career but i know its because you've been hurt. A girl a long while ago hurt you so bad that you refuse to get close to anybody again. You choose a career involving sex because it's easier for you to get close to somebody without getting hurt. You mask your pain in your sarcasm and humour but deep down you still are not over it. You also have the worst taste in chips." Stefan stayed silent and kept his eyes on the road. Caroline could see his hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight that they began to shake. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh so it's fine for you to pass judgement on who i am and why i am the way i am but nobody can touch you, seems logical." She scoffed. "Her name is Valerie, we met when we were young and i fell for her hard." A tear began to roll down his cheek as he continued. "We were going to get married and i was going to spend the rest of my life with her. She began working at her new job and the hours got later and later. I caught her and her boss fucking on his desk. It had been going on for months whilst i had been breaking myself trying to build a perfect life for us."

"Stefan, I'm sorry i didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, it was wrong of me to make judgements on you. After it all happened i began to drink and it was a downward spiral from there. My brother found me and helped me get better, I've been sober now for 2 years."

"Why didn't she just end it with you if she was so unhappy?"

"I have no idea, she wanted the best of both worlds it seems. I became really insecure with myself, that i couldn't please a woman in any way and that it was my fault she had to seek pleasure somewhere else. This job helped show me otherwise."

"I don't get why anybody would let you go, she must be completely insane." Caroline giggled as she gave him a nudge with her elbow. "Caroline can i ask you something?"

"Sure, ask away."

"What happened with Tyler? What was so great that makes all this seem worth it?" Caroline paused for a second and took a sip of her water. "Tyler and i grew up together, he has always been my best friend. I grew up alone and he would help me. Bring me food when I couldn't scrape together enough money to buy any, hold me when the tears wouldn't stop falling. We fell in love, but i swore to myself i would never go back to being broke again. I worked my ass off to get my dream job and along the way i lost the boy i loved. He couldn't handle the fact that for once i didn't need him, i could fend for myself and we parted ways. It's my biggest regret, i always saw myself settled down, married, with a few kids by now."

"What if he isn't your 'white picket fence' dream guy? What if you are destined for somebody better, that would stand next to you during your successes, admire you for your strength and courage." She blushed as he complimented her. "I won't know unless i try. I've only ever known him, he was my first everything."

"Wait a minute, are you telling me he's the only boy you have ever slept with!"

"So what if i am Stefan, not all of us are as experienced as you." She snatched the chips from his hand and scooted over in her seat. "Please tell me he at least made you orgasm or something."

"That's a very personal question."

"So no then." Stefan sat dumbfounded. "We're almost there Stefan."

"At least somebody is." Stefan laughed as she smacked him on the back of the head. They passed a sign to show they would be arriving shortly at their destination and operation 'steal the groom' would commence.