Friends or Enemies?

There’s this part in Vampire Diaries (stay with me here) where this slightly evil character named Catherine professes her love for one of the good guys (seriously, stay with me) and he says, “The problem, Catherine, is that I hate you.”

Then Catherine stabs him (of course) and says, “That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Stefan. Not the end of one.”

How true is this quote?

People say the opposite of love is not hate. People say the opposite of love is apathy. Because hate….hate is such a strong emotion. Hate means you care. And love means you care. So hate and love? It really is a fine line.

I’ve noticed there are two types of romances.

The kind where the hero and heroine start off as friends.
Right away, they care about one another. They are on the same side. They’re working together to reach a common goal. This is the friends-turn-into-romantic-couple story.

On this side, you have Joey and Dawson, or Joey and Pacey. (Who’s having flashbacks?)

Then there’s the other type.

The kind where the hero and heroine start off as enemies. 
They don’t like each other. They rub each other the wrong way. They have opposite goals. This is the enemies-turn-into-romantic-couple story.

On this side, you have Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.

I have to tell you, I’m a sucker for the second type. Only because it lends itself to so much conflict and conflict keeps me glued. I love the chemistry that emerges when a hero and heroine can’t stand each other. I like watching as the author finds ways to bring the two “enemies” together.

Let’s Talk: Which type of story do you prefer? Why? Which type describes your own personal love story?

Last Friday’s post didn’t show up in the blogger dashboard because I messed up when publishing it. So if you didn’t get a chance to read it, it’s all about romantic gestures. People shared some really romantic ones in the comment section!removetweetmeme