A/N: Sorry for the late update, guys! I hope you're going to enjoy this new chapter. :)
Thank you so much for all your reviews and kind words! (Hello Germany ;))
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.
The next day, Caroline and Bonnie bombarded me with about one thousand questions. During classes, between classes, and all day long. They were driving me nuts.
Elena had given them a heads up last night on the phone and was obviously happy that she wasn't the one being hassled anymore. They certainly didn't like the news that Katherine was back in town and were clearly worried about me, so I called on my patience and answered every single of their questions or concerns. Even though I found Caroline a little too enthusiastically curious about Katherine's interest for me.
The day had been quite exhausting but I needed to go to the grocery store if I didn't want to die from starvation. I asked Damon and Stefan if we could walk there together. Staying locked inside my house all day after school was driving me insane. They refused at first but after witnessing my desperation to get some fresh air, they finally went along with the idea.
"Are you settling for a nuclear bomb attack?" Damon asked, staring in disbelief at the four grocery bags Stefan and I were carrying. "Who could even eat that much of bacon anyway?" he mocked, eyeing the inside of one of the bags.
"I love bacon," I said, shooting him a stern look. He waved his hands in front of him in defence.
"Fine. Let's just get you safe and sound inside your house... now that you've cleaned out the entire grocery store," he mumbled with his usual sarcastic smirk. He started to walk in front of me. Stefan was walking by my side and we both shared unfortunate cooking experiences we'd had throughout our lives until we were almost at my house. I abruptly stopped talking and instinctively drove myself behind Damon's back. He gave me a quick surprised glance over his shoulder but finally felt it too. He took a step forward, placing himself between the two of us in a protective way.
"Hello Maya," Katherine sing-songed in a seductive tone, but her eyes were locked on Damon's.
"What do you want?" Damon shot harshly.
"I just want to talk to her," she said softly, pointing to me.
"That's not going to happen." Damon growled and took a menacing step toward her, effectively masking Katherine from my view.
"Damon…" Stefan warned.
"I don't think either of you have anything to say about it," Katherine informed them in a fake light tone. Since Damon was standing right in front of her, she tilted her head to the side to look past his arm and straight at me with an expecting look. The air was so incredibly tense that I was fearful the situation would end in a blood bath. I held her gaze stubbornly but kept my mouth shut.
"I think you have your answer..." Damon drawled icily. "Now, go away!"
Katherine was still looking at me intensely. After a few seconds, she seemed to finally accept that I wasn't going to talk to her.
"Fine," she said, covering up her vexation with a detached tone. "I'll play along. But this isn't over," she added, a devilish smirk on her lips, glaring at Damon with cold eyes. She turned around slowly and stuck her stiletto heel into Damon's foot while walking away nonchalantly. Damon bent down slightly and let escaped a small low groan through his gritted teeth. It must have been really painful. She probably had pierced the entire thickness of his foot, and from the little pool of blood that was coming out of the new hole in his shoe, I knew she had.
"That bitch ruined my shoe!" Damon growled angrily.
"Damon, are you okay?" I asked concerned, reaching my arm out toward him to give him support.
"I'm fine. Let's go," he answered firmly, straightening himself up. His pride had obviously been further damaged than his shoe, so I kept my mouth shut and started walking. He limped awkwardly all the way to my house, leaving little blood stains on the sidewalk behind him.
I stopped at my front door, put down my bags, and turned around to look at them both seriously.
"Okay, I'm going to say it," I started firmly. "It's not working."
"What are you talking about?" Damon asked in an annoyed tone.
"She hurt you Damon!" I shouted angrily.
"It's not like a little snag in my shoe is going to scare me away," he huffed, condescending. "Plus, I had a bunch of stakes for her if she had gotten a little too insistent…" He flashed me a smug smirk while tapping on his inside and back pockets.
"Don't play dumb!" I shot out in exasperation, punching him in the arm.
"Ouch! Has no one ever told you not to shoot a man down?" he whined, rubbing his arm dramatically. I rolled my eyes, knowing perfectly he didn't even feel it.
"She only pierced your foot to make a point, you idiot! It was a little reminder that she could tear you both apart effortlessly, and do whatever she has in mind to me if she wants to!" I stated in an irritated tone, frowning at him.
"You're right," Stefan said calmly. "But you had been off the hook for almost three days. It's better than nothing…"
"I'm thankful for that, but I don't want any of you to get hurt," I answered him strongly. "And she didn't hurt anyone before you two became my personal escorts."
"Don't even think about trying to get rid of us," Damon shot, clenching his jaw. "We're not going anywhere." He stared at me with a burning look.
"If she shows up again with more threats, we're prepared Maya. Don't worry." Stefan used a reassuring tone. I ran my fingers through my hair nervously and then let my hand drop carelessly in defeat.
"Fine," I sighed. "See you tomorrow then…" I added with a week smile on my lips.
I picked up my bags and went straight to the kitchen, putting them down carefully on the counter. While putting away the food I had bought, I realized I was exhausted. It had been a very long day… I was also starving but too lazy to cook anything. I hastily grabbed an apple and dragged myself upstairs. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I woke up all of a sudden, not knowing why. I didn't remember having a nightmare and no matter how hard I listened, the house was perfectly silent. I remained wary for a little longer but finally let my head crash onto my pillow. I reluctantly stretched my arm toward my bedside table to look at the clock: 6am. I sighed heavily in annoyance. Way too early to get ready for school. I buried myself under the covers to go back to sleep but I was too damn awake. After a couple of minutes, I surrendered and got out of bed.
Since I had more than enough time, I decided to treat myself. I went downstairs finally in a good mood and started to cook myself a delicious breakfast.
I took my plate full of pancakes, bacon and strawberries, while carrying my glass of fresh orange juice in the other hand, and put it down on the coffee table. I turned my TV on while taking a sip of my juice and selected an episode of True Blood. My friends didn't understand how I could like it so much- after all, we were sort of living in the middle of our very own vampiric show. They were also baffled that I could watch something gory while eating breakfast, but there was something about this TV show I really enjoyed. I settled myself comfortably on the couch, ready to press the play button.
"Hello sexy…" Katherine purred smoothly. I was so startled that I jumped a little, miraculously managing to not spill my juice all over the couch. I knew she couldn't enter into my house, but her voice made it sound as though she were sitting next to me. It wasn't possible. I swiftly shot my head toward where her voice came from and saw Katherine's face framed into a broken window pane. I opened my eyes widely, my jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked me in a cheeky tone.
I looked at the broken glass on the floor and back up at her.
"What the….. hell?!" I shouted incredulously.
"Oh, that?" she asked lightly, pointing to the broken window. "It wasn't me," she said in an innocent tone. I shot her a furious look, my knuckles turning white around my glass.
"Okay, fine. Maybe it was me…" she continued sheepishly, while looking at me through shy eyelids. "But it's your fault, actually!" she chided me, a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Are you kidding me?" I couldn't believe the nerve of this woman!
"Well, you're the one walking around with two bodyguards…" she explained, pouting. "I had to find a way to talk to you," she continued in a seductive tone, and a playful smile danced on her lips.
I stared at her for a while, blankly, with wide open eyes, and finally turned my head slowly back toward the screen. I decided to ignore the crazy vampire standing at one of my window panes and pressed the play button.
I couldn't tell how Katherine was reacting, since I kept my eyes purposely on the screen but I could guess she was probably not happy with me ignoring her.
"So, what are we watching?" she asked in a bored voice. I took a bite of my pancake as an answer.
"A vampire show? Seriously?" she mocked once the opening credits appeared on the screen. "How cliché of you…" she purred sarcastically. I didn't bother answering her provocation.
When Eric Northman flashed his fangs on the screen, I couldn't possibly hear what he said next because Katherine was laughing heartily.
"What is with those fangs?" she asked in an offended tone. "Was there a plop sound? Do they have to pull a drawer from their mouth to put them back in?" she laughed, obviously enjoying herself. I tried to keep myself from rolling my eyes and continued to eat my breakfast like she wasn't even there.
"By the way, this waitress is beyond dumb. She wouldn't last a second in front of a real vampire," she stated seriously. I restrained myself from telling her that she was a fairy, deciding she didn't deserve wasting my breath. She kept babbling on like that for the fifteen next minutes, making my blood pressure go through the roof. She was obviously making me pay for ignoring her.
"I didn't say anything about the silver nonsense, but those romantic scenes are too much! So kitsch and mushy…" she sighed, annoyed. "I don't even understand how you can watch this thing." I crashed my head backward to the top of the couch in exasperation and pressed the off button on my remote.
"Hey, I was watching that!" she shot, in an upset tone. I raised myself from the couch and passed in front of her to go upstairs.
"That's it?" she asked me, surprised. "You're not going to talk to me at all?" I could hear amusement in her voice.
I took the stairs two at a time, still ignoring her, and headed up to the shower. Thank God the bathroom didn't have a window. Who knew what she would have done with that one…