Fire Heart

She was sitting alone in a small restaurant in Mystic Falls, The Grill. She was concentrating on a small postcard and hoping the words would write themselves. She had moved from New York to Virginia to start over, create a new life for herself but she still felt guilty for leaving her family behind, without a second glance. That was how she coped, she didn't share her emotions because that's how people get hurt. Pain is her weakness, she can't stand being looked at as incompetent and unable. The waiter, a teenager with a boyish smile with pain and confusion guarded behind is blue eyes asked her what she would like to drink, she answered with a simple glass of water, remembering her manners, she quickly uttered a thank you before the waiter departed with her order.

The girl sighed and sat straighter in her chair, determined to write this long awaited postcard to her mother only it was hard, there was so many words left unspoken and too many to write without bringing back the bad memories. The waiter came back and put the water in front of her on the table and she instantly moved it further away so that she would not spill it with her clumsy actions, she knew she would knock it over before she left. The boy laughed and shook his head and reached out to shake her hand.

"Hey, I'm Matt. I don't think we've met before." He spoke calmly and nicely, genuine was the word she thought of. She smiled and extended her hand too and shook Matt' hand.

"Laurel" She gave. Matt smirked and replied,

"Like the tree?" They both laughed quietly, almost awkwardly at the bad attempt at a joke.

"Of course it would have had to have been a pretty tree" Matt flirted, Laurel blushed but brushed off the comment lightly and smiled up at Matt.

"And if it wasn't?" she challenged, grinning slightly as she reached for her glass. Matt, a little taken aback by her comment quickly searched for an answer equally as charming as hers but knew she had won their small banter. Somebody from a table shouted for a waiter and Matt had to say goodbye to Laurel, he was interested in her, definitely interested, she wasn't like Elena or Caroline, she seemed grounded and hidden, like him.

Laurel finally gave up on writing the postcard, it was a lovely day and she thought maybe the weather would inspire her so she gathered up her things and took her reading glasses off and put them in their case. When she left The Grill her eyes had to adjust to the lighting change, it was so bright outside that it instantly brightened her mood. She eyed a bench across the road and began to make her way to it but suddenly she felt like she had walked into a car, for a second she thought maybe she really had been hit but when she opened her eyes she found that she has bumped into a tall man, he had dark hair and was sporting a leather jacket, he looked mean but she could just tell he wasn't.

"Sorry, my fault" she whispered, looking away from his cold eyes and trying to pry her way out of his arms. He steadied her and then picked up her bag from the ground, it was an remarkable bag, keepsakes attached to it, postcards, badges, napkins from different countries and different pieces of fabric incorporated on to it, just from the bag Damon could tell that this girl was a traveller of some sort, he also noted she was new around and he should keep an eye on her, she could have something to do with the murders happening in town. Damon introduced himself and asked who she was and she replied with a very pretty name that he, even with all the years he has been around, had rarely heard. He had to admit she was a very attractive girl, but she could only have been 16, 17 at least. She had long, curly chestnut coloured hair that reminded him of Katherine's. Laurels face looked kinder, softer and she looked like a gentle person, she didn't look capable of murder but looks could be deceiving.

"I haven't seen you in town before." He stated, looking at her nervous glance towards the bench.

"I er, I just got into town, literally" She said, pointing to the underwear that had fallen from her bag. Damon quickly picked up the underwear and examined them inhumanely fast and gave them to Laurel discretely, quite impressed with her choice. Laurel blushed deep pink and thanked him, she shoved the clothes back into her bag and gave a small wave in his direction before turning and walking across the street. She had been in Mystic Falls a few hours and felt like she had been here before, although she knew she has never set foot in this town before today. She saw a small souvenir shop and her curiosity got the better of her and she quickly diverted away from the bench and ran to the building, barely managing to haul her bag along with her. When she entered the shop, the woman behind the counter couldn't seem to control her surprise and ushered Laurel inside and asked if she would like some tea. Laurel graciously declined and asked if she could browse, the woman was more than ready to let Laurel buy the whole shop, apparently Mystic Falls didn't get many tourists. Laurel saw a small locket, it was sliver and had a spiral pattern engraved throughout the whole of it, inside the engravings where tiny red crystals, the woman said they were fake but it didn't stop Laurel from falling in love with the jewellery. It was perfect. She opened the locket and found it was empty, it emitted a smell of what she thought the past would smell like, old and fancy. She bought the necklace and left the shop and the jolly woman behind, glad she made her cheery. Laurel stood for a moment, attaching the locket on to her bag and when she was happy it was secure, she made her way to the bench.

Once she sat down, she found the postcard she needed to write and began finding the words to pen. She started with gentle text.

'Dear Family, I'm sorry I left you in the middle of a crisis but I have never been good during pressure. I know this is no excuse and I know I have done wrong by you. I hope one day you will be able to forgive me but until that day I promise I won't bother you any longer. I love you all so very much. I have faith that you are all well and healthy. You have to understand why I left and understand I will never forgive myself for acting so selfishly, but enough was enough and I did not deserve to be used so much by my own blood. I forgive you, please forgive me? - Laurel'

The wind picked up and the postcard ripped away from Laurels grasp, she ran after it, cursing herself for being so careless. She saw a few feet away that the postcard had hit a tall guy on the head, he was facing away from her but managed to retrieve the postcard, he glanced at it for a second and then looked for the owner, then his eyes met hers and suddenly the conversation he was having with his brother didn't matter half as much to him as Laurels brown eyes did.