A/N: Going to keep this part short, thanks for the feedback guys! Longer author's note at the bottom.

FLASHBACK.

Caroline was just about ready to rip a couple of pretty little necks.

She crossed her legs and folded her hands on her lap, forcing a smile to the young werewolf sitting in front of her. Everything was going great; two friends enjoying a nice Italian dinner just outside the social circles of Mystic Falls, light conversation, a few laughs, even a few flirty looks and sideways stolen glances. Tyler and Caroline were having fun. That was until their entire high school decided to show up.

'Tyler Lockwood and Caroline Forbes? What's up with that?'

'I swear Caroline and Matt JUST broke up. She moves on quick! And with his best friend of all people?'

'Tyler is such a douche bag. First he bones Matt's sister, then makes out with his mother, and now he's taking Matt's girlfriend? I swear I wouldn't even be talking to him if he wasn't so hot.'

All around them Tyler and Caroline could hear the gossip and whispers coming from their peers. At first the two tried to ignore their so called "friends," their opinions hardly mattered anyway. But it was already more than an hour into their dinner and still the stares and the whispers wouldn't let up. What was everyone's deal?

'I heard a rumour that Caroline is a werewolf and Tyler is a vampire. I know, I know, silly right? I can't even remember who I heard it from. I was probably drunk, but it's funny.'

'The things I would do to Caroline Forbes, unf. Tyler, that's my boy! What a lucky guy.'

'She was in love with Matt for forever. I guess now she's in love with Tyler. Oh my god, Caroline is such a slut.'

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise when Tyler suddenly shot to his feet, his eyes narrowed with murderous intent. She quickly grabbed his hand and squeezed it, catching the werewolf's attention before he could cause a scene. She mouthed "it's okay" to him before giving him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, sit."

Sure, the comments bothered her. But she wasn't about to let Tyler leave a trail of dead bodies from their table to their car. Besides, she had gotten quite good at faking a smile and being strong.

The werewolf hesitated for a moment, and then sat back down with a scowl. "I'm going to beat the shit out of every single one of their boyfriends," he hissed angrily.

Caroline lifted a polished brow. "Feeling violent are we? It's okay Tyler, we're not supposed to hear them remember? They're just gossiping. Women do it all the time."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Right, I forgot I was talking to the queen of gossip in Mystic Falls."

"I can't help it that I'm so good looking; people always tell me things they're not supposed to," she responded proudly, flipping her hair dramatically for effect. "It's part of my charm."

Tyler rolled his eyes again, but this time it was followed by a small grin. "Okay Forbes."

They were about to continue eating their food when another intriguing whisper reached Caroline's ears.

'I'm not surprised they're together. Did you guys know Caroline had a huge crush on Tyler in grade 6?'

Caroline quickly turned rigid. The sudden look of curiosity and sly smile on Tyler Lockwood's face told her that he heard it too. Oh shit, you've got to be joking. He lowered his fork back on his plate and perked up, giving Caroline a look that promised weeks of embarrassment and gloating.

She recognized the gossiping voice. Turning around slightly, she saw Aimee Bradley and three of their other friends on a corner table talking. "Aimee freaking Bradley," she gritted out of her teeth. She hated that girl.

'Yeah, I remember that! It was after gym class and she barged into the girls change room, her face was all red. She said she saw Tyler half naked with a towel in the boys change room!'

Tyler's mouth fell open. Caroline literally wanted to evaporate into thin air. THIS. IS. NOT. HAPPENING.

"Tyler maybe we should leave," she suggested calmly.

"Nope, I want to hear the story."

'That's not even the funny part, remember? We asked her what she was doing in the boy's washroom in the first place...'

"Tyler, pleaaaaaaseeeee let's gooooooo," Caroline pleaded, her face buried in her hands in shame. She knew exactly where this story was headed, and her pride wouldn't be able to survive that beating.

'...and she was practically hyperventilating. She had both her hands on her back and she was trying to hide something!'

"Tyler, I swear no more pet wolf and smelly wet dog jokes. Let's just leave!" Bargaining usually worked. Maybe it would work on Tyler.

'So we kept bothering her to show us what she was hiding behind her back. We backed her to a corner, and when she had nowhere else to go...'

"Oh just bite me and get it over with. Just kill me. Kill me," Caroline whined desperately as she sunk in her chair in an attempt to disappear under the table.

"After Aimee finishes the story," Tyler responded nonchalantly, leaning in closer in their direction.

'...she finally stuck her hands out! She was holding Tyler's rubber ducky boxers! She snatched them from the boy's lockers! HAHAHA!'

Why couldn't she just have been sacrificed for that ritual? It would definitely have been a better choice than hearing Tyler gloat about this story forever. Caroline shot to her feet and bolted out of the restaurant as fast as humanly possible, shouting "Aimee Bradley wet the bed til she was 13!" before she slammed the glass doors behind her and stomped for the car.

The entire restaurant fell silent. Aimee Bradley's jaw dropped as all eyes settled at the dumbfounded werewolf sitting alone. Tyler, who was still in shock, quickly threw a wad of cash on the table and ran after Caroline. On the way out, he spotted Megan, the girl who called Caroline a slut awhile back, and her boyfriend, eating at a table near the exit. Tyler caught Megan's eyes, drew a line across his neck with his thumb, and mouthed 'Your boyfriend's dead' with a threatening smirk before exiting the restaurant.

Megan's boyfriend's eyes widened dramatically with fear. "What the hell did I do!"

"I thought it was Matt's, okay? I saw you half naked, panicked, grabbed the closest boxers and ran for it," Caroline admitted dejectedly.

She only agreed to talk about the rubber ducky boxers incident after she made him promise to never bring it up ever again after today. He agreed to her terms. The pair also agreed that it was a perfect night for a walk, so Tyler drove them to the Mystic Falls memorial park. A stroll under the night sky was exactly what they needed after being stuck in that restaurant for over two hours.

"How'd you know they were mine?" Tyler inquired.

Caroline's lips curved unsurely. "Ah...well...the next day you and matt were playing by the basketball court and...when you, when you took a shot, your shirt sort of...lifted, and we saw you wearing the same kind of rubber ducky boxers."

Tyler "ahh'd" silently, keeping up to stride with Caroline. They strayed off of the pathway with the lights and decided to head up the little hill, where a big lone tree was standing in the middle. The kids of Mystic Falls had dubbed it The Loner Tree, because it was the only tree that stood alone in the park.

"Get that smirk off your face Lockwood, it was grade 6. Everyone had a crush on everybody at least once."

Tyler laughed heartily and raised his hands in defence. "Aha, alright, hey, I didn't say anything."

They continued to walk in silence for a while, just enjoying the warm breeze and the starry sky above them. It was a rare moment of peace, one that both teens learned to treasure in their very hectic lives. Ever since they had both turned, each day that passed involved one crisis after another. It seemed like every day was a never ending struggle to survive. Things were moving so quickly it almost felt suffocating. And with the impending threat of Klaus in the horizon, Tyler and Caroline couldn't help but really appreciate the normality of the time they spent together.

After Tyler's second transformation and Caroline's breakup with Matt, the two teens were practically tied to each other. Tyler had just gotten back to Mystic Falls and wasn't ready to explain to the rest of their friends in school the reason why he suddenly left. Socializing with humans, as odd as that sounded, wasn't something he wanted to do just yet because he didn't have the energy to make up a cover story for the truth. And Caroline, as tough and happy as she seemed on the outside, was a complete emotional wreck on the inside. She had moved in to the Salvatore residence the day after the ritual, fearing that any confrontation with her mother would cause them both to act irrationally. Losing your only parent and your boyfriend can really do a number on your self-esteem; and vampire or not, Caroline had always been an emotional person.

The two found each other; in a sort of twisted Misery loves Company kind of way. It wasn't like they both consciously made decisions to see each other every day. It sort of just happened. An understanding had formed between the two that they would be there for each other as much as they could, as friends.

Friends.

That's what they were, right? When Stefan had noticed that Caroline was spending an awful lot of her time with Tyler, he had questioned their relationship out of concern. Of course, Caroline had told him they were just friends, because they were. They were just good friends.

But friends don't kiss, Caroline. Not like that. A faint blush spread over her cheeks as she discreetly turned away from Tyler, thankful that there wasn't enough light around where they were walking for him to notice her blush.

That kiss. That damned kiss. How it haunted her.

Caroline had been kissed before, numerous times, by many of Mystic Falls' handsome high school bachelors. She wasn't promiscuous or anything of that sort, but she was Caroline Forbes for Christ's sake. Naturally she had her fair share of kissable boys!

But she never experienced a kiss like Tyler Lockwood's. Not even with Matt. And that was what scared her the most. Ever since she could remember, she thought she loved Matt. Matt was her Prince Charming, and she was his Princess. That was the story. Everyone knew it. She had even carved it into her desks! It was the one thing in her life she was certain of. And for that to come crashing down on her with just one kiss from this douche bag jock...it was a frightening thought.

At first Caroline had dismissed the feeling. Maybe it was because he was new, or because they had just shared a special moment together when Tyler first transformed. Maybe it was because she hadn't eaten that night, or maybe, because Tyler was a wolf, and it was practically forbidden for them to kiss since she was a vampire. Maybe the whole Romeo and Juliet aspect of the kiss excited the romantic side of Caroline. She considered every reason, anything, any reason, just not the one reason that screamed in her head every time she saw Tyler.

It seemed ages ago though, that kiss. So many things have happened since then. He found out that she lied to him the next day, he almost let her get killed by his wolf friends, she had slammed the door on his face and told him they would never be friends again, he ran away, he came back, she spilled her insecurities as they were about to die, questioned why he left without a goodbye, almost got sacrificed, watched him transform again, almost got chowed on by him, Matt shot him, seen him naked again, cuddled with him naked under a blanket, spent nearly every single day after together.

Caroline stole a quick glance at the werewolf, and noticed the faraway look on his face.

She often wished a vampire could read minds so she could dive into his. Caroline wanted to know so much about him. Like, does he think about that kiss too? She was probably the only person in the entire world that got him to open up as much as he did, but even so, Tyler Lockwood was still very much an enigma. He avoided lots of topics, especially ones concerning his father. And as much as he was a loud mouthed jerk, Tyler was very quiet when it came to the things he loved. Why it took her this long to be so interested in Tyler was beyond her.

So what's a girl supposed to do? Caroline didn't want to make things awkward and ruin their friendship. Most boys run away when confronted about their feelings, Tyler was no different. Besides, she didn't even know how she herself felt. All she knew was what she felt right now, with him. She was happy, and she was herself.

Is that love?

"Um, so...what did you do with my boxers after you found out they weren't Matt's?" Tyler asked unsurely, as if he was afraid of her answer to the question. To be honest, he was.

Caroline pressed her lips together and cocked her head to the side, giving Tyler a thoughtful glance. "I kept it," was her only response, before she lifted her feet and made a run for The Loner Tree.

Tyler stopped walking and stood for a moment, watching as Caroline's hair fluttered in the wind. He forced himself to look away, for a second, but found himself staring at her again. He frowned at himself.

Why was his heart beating so fast?

Author's Note: To be honest, this was probably my least favourite part to write. I love the sweet/romantic moments of them, but I just hated writing it this early in their relationship when we don't even know Caroline and Tyler as individuals. As much as possible, I want to build their characters first. The show hasn't really given us much to go on, especially with Tyler I think, in terms of their inner struggles and emotions. I really want to get into the action and the blood and really explore the depths of Tyler and Caroline's characters, but to get to that, I have to first explain how they got together and their emotional states right? Don't worry, we'll get to the gritty parts soon, hang in there.

Therefore, because I will be attempting to get into their characters and portray them from my perspective, I'm giving out a couple of early warnings. Please keep an open mind with their characters. Just as with any story, characters develop over time. So if they do things early on that you don't particularly like, give them time to develop in further chapters! And secondly, more importantly, I will be exploring the werewolf aspect of the show a lot. By that I mean, things may get primal...and sexual...soon. So be forewarned! I may switch this fic from a Teen to Mature by the next chapter.