A/N: The "real" story starts now! Are you ready for it? ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters. This is a work of fiction written for entertainment purposes, but the original characters and original storylines present in "My Paper Heart" are my own work.

I was walking on the sidewalk, heading back to my house when I felt it. There was a vampire around, probably hidden behind the trees along the sidewalk.

I wouldn't have even been able to differentiate a vampire from a witch or a werewolf before I had come to Mystic Falls. But while I knew that my technique had grown stronger from the many battles my friends and I had fought together, I also knew that as a human, I shouldn't be able to hear this predator.

I kept myself from reacting to its presence and continued to walk, looking straight ahead. It was then that I heard footsteps behind me and I could feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

"Hey, Maya!" Elena called out. "Wait for me…" she said a little bit out of breath. I stopped and slowly turned around to look at her. She was wearing a thin black sweater with medium-wash skinny jeans and her favorite black converse.

"Do you mind if I crash at your place? I managed to escape from Caroline after three hours of shopping… she's killing me! I wouldn't want her to find me again," she continued in a half laughing tone, looking nervously around.

"That's not going to happen," I deadpanned.

"What?" Her eyebrows drew together, a look of disbelief on her face. "Why not?"

"Because I don't invite vampires into my house," I answered simply. She looked at me in utter confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, okay. That was a fun conversation. Now I have to go," I said swiftly before turning on my heels. She grabbed my elbow, pulling at it to make me look at her. Her eyes were full of surprise and curiosity.

"How did you know?" she almost whispered, narrowing her eyes at me.

Damn it. I couldn't believe I have been careless after all. I needed to find a good explanation, and fast. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damon coming my way. I stopped a sigh of relief just before it passed my lips.

"Is everything okay over here?" he asked, looking intensely into my eyes.

"Oh, hello Damon…" she purred, immediately running her finger along his chest.

"I don't remember asking for a knight in shining armor," I told Damon, answering his previous question. I was trying to cover up my relief, but a part of me was slightly pissed that he assumed I couldn't handle the situation by myself. She laughed at that.

"I think you just got mocked, Damon," she said, clearly amused. He slapped her hand away, finally acknowledging her presence.

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" Damon questioned bitterly.

"Hmm… don't pretend like you didn't miss me," she answered with a childish smile.

"I didn't. Goodbye, Katherine," he shot back harshly.

"Someone's grumpy today. Did Elena play with your feelings again?" she asked in an innocent tone.

"So pathetic of you to have nothing better to do than drag your unwanted ass in this little town again," he growled lowly.

"You never have been able to keep my ass out of your thoughts, isn't that right Damon?" she shot back in a flirtatious tone.

"Don't flatter yourself bitch," he drawls through gritted teeth.

"Okay, lovebirds. I'm gonna go now," I said in a cheerful voice. They both simultaneously turned their heads toward me, greeting me with a shocked expression and wide-opened eyes. "But don't let me interrupt you. Please, keep going with your lovely chat." And with that, I turned on my heels once again and began to walk in the opposite direction.

Thinking that I was too far away to hear, I heard Katherine ask, "Did she just say lovebirds?" Damon just growled furiously.

I stopped myself from chuckling just in time, but I couldn't restrain the big smile that spread on my face.

Even though I had been able to pretend that I wasn't impressed, or even scared of Katherine at the moment, I had decided to stop at the boarding house instead of going straight home, and was waiting there impatiently for Damon to come back. I needed to know what the Master Chief of Evil Schemes was doing back in town. I figured that she had played her little act with me just for kicks- knowing how much she loved to make a big entrance- but I knew for sure that she hadn't come back just to say hello. That thought only served to make me incredibly tense. My fingers were still trembling from our encounter earlier.

As soon as he opened the door, I couldn't stop the myself from yelling.

"Why is she here?"

"She said that she came back to see for herself if Klaus was really gone," Damon answered quietly.

"And you believe her?"

"Of course not!" he shot back, looking at me like I was stupid.

"Any idea why she could be here?" I asked tentatively.

"Nope. That's the beauty of Katherine. You never know what she's up to until she decides to let you know- and that usually implies blood," he added, crashing on the couch.

"I know." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose tightly. "Great. Back to square one then…" After a moment of dreadful silence, Damon raised his head and narrowed his eyes at me.

"What was that earlier?" he asked in a slightly angry tone. Crap.

It was always difficult for me to admit that I could be afraid. Especially to him. But I figured that telling the truth this time would be less painful than another one of our witty arguments.

"I was trying to cover up my relief to see you arrive," I mumbled, looking up at him through my lashes. I was so sure he was going to jeer at me and walk around swollen with conceit. But to my surprise, he remained silent for a while; seemingly assessing what he was going to answer me.

"How did you know it was Katherine?" he suddenly asked. Oh come on! I had totally forgotten to find a good answer to that, too busy trying to figure out why Katherine might have been here all of a sudden. Plus, it never crossed my mind that he would ask.

I needed a change of friends- and I would start by hanging out with idiots.

"How did you know?" I shot back, trying to buy me some time.

"I heard you ditch her, saying that you don't invite vampires into your house." Convenient. He stared at me expectantly.

"I knew Elena could never have been able to get away from three hours of shopping with Caroline and go back home without at least one bag," I said as firmly as I could muster. He laughed at my statement.

"True. But that's not completely impossible…" he pointed out, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Well, her sneakers were also looking too unused to be Elena's favorite," I blurted out quickly. I was making up explanations as I was talking, hoping it would do it. He gave me a disbelieving look. "What? You're the one who told me once I had a good sense of observation…" I shrugged one of my shoulders at him, a conniving smirk on my lips.

"What were you going to do if I hadn't showed up?" he asked suddenly serious.

"Keep the conversation going while walking back to my house, and hope to be miraculously able to go inside where she can't reach me."

"Considering whom you were dealing with, that sounds like a good plan to me," Damon stated simply. We both looked at each other worried, the threat of Katherine hanging heavily in the air. He lifted his head to look at me straight on, a grin slowly appearing at the corner of his lips.

"What if it really had been Elena?" he asked in an amused tone, obviously trying to light up the mood.

"I would have tried a 'Sorry! I was joking' I guess," I said, laughing.

"She would have been totally pissed at you."

"Absolutely," I agreed, responding to his knowing smirk with a similar one. I walked toward the coffee table to grab my jacket. "So what now? We just wait and see?" I added, serious again.

"I guess. But instead of reading, I will be carving some stakes tonight," he answered, a cruel grin on his face. I gave him a meaningful look while putting on my jacket, and grabbed my bag.

"Your instinct was really impressive on this one, but just in case, put a stake in your purse and keep your weapons bag close, okay?" he added quickly.

"Aaaw… Is Damon Salvatore worried about me? That's cute," I sing-songed, a provocative smile on my lips.

"I'm not. But I couldn't handle it if your besties started to cry over yet another body. It would drive me crazy for good- maybe even kill them myself," he replied dryly. I laughed at his dark humor because I knew that it was his way of saying that he didn't want any more death around our little gang.

"Well, the same goes to you. Don't do you anything stupid, okay Damon?" I warned him sternly.

"Aaaw… Could Maya be worried about me? That's cute," he shot back, mimicking me.

"I'm not. But if you die, who would we possibly blame for every mess happening in Mystic Falls?" I said, a big ironic smile plastered on my face. He narrowed his eyes at me and groaned slightly.

"Fair enough. But lovebirds?" he said in a raising voice, referring to our previous encounter with Katherine. "That was off limits!" he warned, pointing his finger at me.

"Fine," I agreed, laughing and making my way toward the door. "Okay, I'm out of here… Bye Damon."

"I'll drive you." He grabbed his car keys and joined me. When he noticed my raised eyebrow, he spread his lower arms around his sides, palms up. "What? You'd rather be Katherine's rabbit?"

I glanced at him, annoyed, but still mumbled a thank you.

He pulled his car along the sidewalk in front of my house. Reaching for the door, I turned my head toward him to tell him goodnight.

"Be careful. And if she shows up and talks to you again, just tell me, okay?" he said deadly serious. I laughed humorlessly at his comment.

"If she shows up again, it will be to obtain something, and I really don't see why she would come to me for that. But sure..." I answered, opening the car door. He wished me good night before I shut the door and I heard him driving away while I was walking toward my doorstep. I took the few steps and pulled my keys out of my bag.

"Well, hello again," a voice said from the left side of my porch. I was so startled that I almost let drop my keys onto the floor. I was too drawn in my thoughts about the day to feel her presence before she spoke. I cursed at my recklessness inside my head.

"We haven't officially met," she said again, in a distinguish tone. She raised herself up from the bench, and swayed her hips toward me. She had dropped the plain-jane style and her hair was curled again.

"I'm Katherine Pierce." Her hand rose elegantly and she extended it toward me. I looked down at her hand quickly and my eyes darted back up. If she thought I was going to shake the hand of a 500 year old vampire, she have had a really low opinion of me.

"I know who you are," I deadpanned.

"Oh really? How so?" she purred, lowering her hand casually.

"I don't know... maybe because you tried to sell out my best friend. Or because you tried to make her aunt kill herself," I answered, pretending to deeply think about it. I knew I should stop the provocation right here, but I couldn't help myself. "No! Because you actually killed my other best friend... no, no… Because you tried to make Tyler kill Matt to trigger his curse? Oh wait! No! I got it! It's because I helped Damon throw you into the tomb!" I added, the fake enthusiasm thick in my voice- I knew it made me sound like I was happy to have finally put a finger on it.

She shot me a deadly glance, her features suddenly dark and cold. My breath caught in my throat. Did I have a death wish? I knew she could snap my neck like a twig before I could even blink and yet, I couldn't restrain myself to make fun of her. Damn it.
She narrowed her eyes and stared at me intensely. She took a slow step toward me and was now only a foot away. My entire body screamed at me to get the hell out of here, to run like crazy, and yet I was rooted in my spot. Despite my fear, it was my pride that made me go against all of my instincts. I always hated it when someone walked over to me- so I made sure it never happened. Thinking about it, though, now would really be a perfect time to start.

"How did you know?" she almost whispered, curiosity dripping from her voice.

"Know what?" I tried in an innocent tone.

"It wasn't my clothes or my hair, I know that," she continued, ignoring my attempt to postpone the subject. "What was it that gave me away?"

"You didn't have any bag. Elena would have never been able to get away from Caroline without at least one bag," I answered quietly, truly hoping that she was going to buy it like Damon did. She titled her head slightly to one side, amusement shining in her eyes, but didn't say anything.

I felt like it was an opportunity for me to reach my door and lock myself safely inside. I started to walk backward very slowly, not taking my eyes off of her.

"Okay. Now that you have your answer and it's all cleared out, I'm going to go in," I drawled, trying to distract her while I slid and turned my key inside the bolt.

She was still in the same position, her eyes locked on me, but she didn't even pretend to move to keep me from getting inside. I found it extremely suspicious but didn't stop to think about it. I pushed the door open swiftly and almost run inside, a mute relief at the top of my lungs.

When I turned around to close the door behind me, she was standing just in front of me, right outside my doorstep. A gasp almost escaped my lips but I managed to hide my shock. She smiled mischievously at me and started to walk backward toward the street.

"Goodnight Maya," she purred, waving playfully her hand at me. I closed the door in a hurry, and leaned my forehead against it, closing my eyes. My heart was drumming loudly inside my chest and I was trying to catch my breath. I grabbed my phone in the back pocket of my jeans and dialled Damon's number. While waiting him to pick up his phone, I turned around, leaning my head and back against the door.

"Everything okay?" he immediately asked in concern.

"Awesome. Remember when you said to tell you if she showed up again?" I asked in an attempt of humorous tone. I heard nothing but silence for a few seconds.

"When? What did she want? Are you alright?" he blurted out angrily.

"She was on my porch, Damon. Who knows what she wants? She just asked me how I saw through her little act this afternoon." I sighed, suddenly feeling extremely tired.

"What did you say?"

"Same thing as you."

"She believed it?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

"I don't know. But she didn't ask further questions, so…" I trailed off.

"Did she talk about anything else?" he asked softly, probably noticing my own small voice.

"No. Damon?"

"What?"

"I have a bad feeling about this," I said quietly, rubbing my forehead.

"Me too."

"Great. I'm feeling totally relieved now," I answered sarcastically.

"Do you want me to come over?" I froze for a second. It was highly unlike him to be so kind and concerned. The fact he's offered to come over was emphasizing how serious and dangerous this was, and it made me even more worried by the second. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"No, it's fine. I'm safe inside," I said as firmly as I could.

"Okay."

"But… thank you," I added, a small smile on my lips.

"Sure."

The line went silent again for a few seconds.

"Good night Maya," he murmured. "And sleep with a stake beneath your pillow."

I abruptly laughed at his comment. "Bye, Damon."

I hung up and paused for a moment, looking at the closet in front of me. Pushing myself off of the front door and walking toward it, I opened the door quickly, bending down. There was a bag on the floor; I unhooked the leather strap and pulled the stake out of it.