Notes: Forwood, because they're damn fierce. The song is Enchanted, by Taylor Swift

like passing notes in secrecy.

All I can say is I was enchhanted to meet you

He's staring at her from the other side of the room. She can feel his eyes on her. It's been like that the whole evening.

Doesn't he get tired? She wonders.

No. She smiles. He never gets tired.

Suddenly, he moves. He crosses the room towards her. She likes the way he walks, it's manly, yet so very graceful. Well, it's logical, she thinks.

"Enjoying the banquet, Forbes?"

She should feel offended, because of what he's implying, but he has that smirk on his face, the one that is almost playful. The one that he uses only with her. The one that takes her back a long, long time.

She is ten. She is dressed like a doll, with a very very nice white dress, with ribbons and flounces and lace. And her blonde hair falls down her back in perfect ringlets.

It's her second ball, and she is bored out of her mind.

"She is so pretty."

"Isn't she adorable?"

She smiles and tries to hide behind her mother, because she is tired of people staring at her, and smiling at her, and touching her perfect, perfect hair.

But then her mother leaves, and she is left alone, standing in a corner.

There's a boy staring at her from the other side of the room. He looks nice, with his tux and all, but he is frowning and it kind of scares her a little.

He walks up to her slowly, making his way though the room full of adults in fancy dresses like he was walking though an empty field.

"You're not that pretty" He says, when he reaches her "You look like a cake"

She is furious, like, really, really mad. Because she happens to love her dress, and her sparkling shoes, and her perfect, perfect hair. If she could have, she would have worn a crown, too.

"You're mean, and...and...and ugly!" She's not used to insulting people, and she doesn't really like it.

He looks surprised for a moment, but then he grins and insults her back, and she responds, and, somewhere in the middle, she decides that insulting him is kind of fun.

When she leaves the party with her mom, all she can think of is that she is really happy that she'd met Tyler Lockwood.

"Have you found something to hunt, Lockwood?"

"Not really" He eyes her long, white dress and his grin grows "People that dress like a pastry are not my prey of choice"

She takes a step back and spins, the thin gauze of her dress floating around her.

"Yo should invite me to dance, then" She says when she stops, staring back at him with an innocent smile.

"I should do that" He answers, still grinning.

And she laughs all the way as he takes her hand and guides her to the dance floor.

They are both very good dancers, it's been years of practice, and dance lessons and balls for both. And they are comfortable with each other, after all, they have years and years of practice on being the leftover kids.

She remembers the time when she realized that she was never going to be good enough, and that Tyler was just like her.

She's in yet another ball, but she is older now. She is thirteen, her dress is less pompous and her shoes have heels. Her hair, though, is still cascading perfectly down her back.

She is no longer the center of attention. She is still pretty, but now there's Elena, who is so much pretty, and so much charming, and so much funny...and so much better than her.

She spots Tyler leaning against a column, at the opposite side of the room. He is staring at Elena, too, who is accompanied by Matt. Caroline thinks she knows what Tyler is thinking. Matt is jut like Elena: so perfect, so nice, so handsome, and overall, so much better tan him.

It's her who walks up to him this time, smiling slightly.

"Lovesick, much?" She knows he doesn't like Elena, he barely even notices her at all most of the time. But she likes the offended look he gives her.

"Scorned, much? Does it feel bad, not being on the spotlight anymore, princess?"

She has been getting better, so her remark is quick, and his, even quicker. It's like a language only they understand. He's grinning now, and she's laughing, and neither of them thinks about Matt or Elena or no one else for the rest of the evening.

Caroline smiles at the memory. Tyler never notices Elena, even now. But he does notice her.

"I am pretty certain Matt want's to kill me right now"

He whispers in her ear as she spins and spins and spins in his arms.

"Matt never really loved me, you know? It's always been Elena. He would choose Elena over me any time"

He laughs and presses hard against her, grinning.

"Bullshit. That doesn't make sense"

She laughs. Only Tyler thinks that. Because nobody would choose Tyler, and nobody would choose her. So it's only fair they choose each other.

They're closer now than they have ever been, and it feels nice. They're both...dealing with stuff nobody understands. But it's okay. They're used to being alone with each other. Everyone is out there worried about Elena, and they're left alone dealing with the fact that their lives have changed forever.

But it's okay. They're at their best when alone.

She's ten and leaving the party. There's something she want's to tell him, but she doesn't think it'll be okay, because all they did is insult each other, so what she wants to say doesn't really make any sense. He would make fun of her, for sure, for being so strange.

So she leaves without saying anything.

She regrets it later, and, as she grows up, she tries to tell him at the end of every party they go. But it gets more difficult as time goes by, because they have an established dynamic, and what she want's to say doesn't really fit.

So she says nothing. But it's always there, lingering in the back of her mind.

It's the end of the night.

They've danced and they've laughed and they've talked, but it's time to go, and she finds herself wishing it wasn't.

They say their goodbyes, and he's about to leave when she suddenly reaches for him and grabs his arm.

He turns to her and raises a questioning eyebrow, but she hesitates.

"Wolf got your tongue, princess?"

She relaxes a little. She can deal with this. This is their language, this is how they work. No one else would ever understand.

"Do you remember the first time we met, when you said I was ugly?"

He shots her an amused look and nods.

"That time, when I left, there was something I wanted to tell you."

"What's that?"

She takes a deep breath, gives him a kiss on the cheek, and smiles.

"I was enchanted to meet you, Tyler."

He is serious for a moment, then his lips curve into a smirk.

"Me too, Caroline."

Their dynamic has just changed.

They could be good together, Caroline thinks. Yes, they could be good together.

This is me praying that this was the very first page, not where the storyline ends