A/N: Thank you so much for your messages! Please keep leaving reviews and feedback, I love to know what you guys think. ;)
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.
"She did what?" Damon shot, his eyes almost popping out of his head.
"Which one did she break?" Stefan asked in a pragmatic tone, looking around at my windows.
"The one next to the couch…" I said, pointing it vaguely with my finger. "But the glazier came by this afternoon to replace it," I added like we were just having a small casual talk.
"Why didn't you tell us this morning?" Damon shouted suddenly, looking at us both incredulously.
"Because I knew you would react like that and I didn't want you to go military crazy all day long…" I deadpanned, finally acknowledging him. "Plus I wanted to have enough time to talk to you both."
"We're not having this conversation again Maya." Damon flashed me a warning look.
"She broke my window, Damon. I'm walking around for four days now with two body guards and she still found a way to make my life miserable!" I spoke up, annoyed.
"What did she want?" Stefan asked calmly.
"Apparently nothing, except spoiling my episode of True Blood."
"You're still watching that show?" Damon asked, surprised. I narrowed my eyes and shot him a nasty look.
"Did she try to hurt you… through the window?" Stefan continued hesitantly, interrupting the staring contest between me and Damon.
"No… and that's the thing actually. From the very start, she has never even tried!" I stated with a sigh.
"Which is highly suspicious…" Damon said quietly, his brows furrowed.
"You'd rather that she hurts me?" I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow at him.
"That's not what I meant," he answered lightly with an exaggerated grin on his lips.
"Damn it, she wants to sleep with me! Hurting me would not be a smart way to make that happen!" My volume increased substantially, the impatience growing inside me.
"How long do you think it's going to last if you don't?" Damon asked, a cocky smirk plastered on his face. I stared at him blankly for a few seconds, realizing he had a point.
"Assuming that that's really the only thing that she wants anyway," he added, full of himself.
I sighed, pinching the ridge of my nose between my fingers.
"I still want you to stop following me everywhere I go," I said tiredly.
"Not going to happen," Damon dodged swiftly.
"The whole point of you two being my body guards was to keep her away! Well, guess what? It's not working!" I shouted exasperatedly. "She's just going to break some more of my windows! Or maybe show up at school, or hurt the both of you, or whatever else her twisted mind can think of…" I continued, feeling tired and beat. "What do you suggest to avoid that, huh? Keeping me locked in a basement?"
"Don't tempt me," Damon growled.
"I'm serious, Damon," I said in an annoyed tone.
"So am I."
"Okay, what are you saying Maya?" Stefan asked seriously. "That you want us to stop protecting you? You really think that's a safe idea?" he continued gently, but he was obviously worried.
"Look. I know Damon has a point about the fact that my… immunity will not last for long. Until then, though, I don't want either of you to get hurt when she's obviously not after me…" I answered gravely. "Well, not like that at least…" I added awkwardly.
"There's another solution," Damon intervened.
Stefan and I both looked at him expectantly.
"We stake the bitch," he stated simply. I looked at him like he just lost his mind.
None of us talked for a few confused seconds until Stefan finally spoke up.
"Damon is right, Maya. It's not like we can go to the police and file a restraining order…" He was clearly trying to use reverse psychology, a half smile on his lips, to make me come around to the idea.
"Actually, that's a good idea!" Damon exclaimed enthusiastically. "We could make Liz get on board and launch a slut hunt with the council."
"Seriously, Damon?" I asked him unbelievingly and let my arms drop in despair.
"I don't know if involving the council is such a good idea, but we could easily build up a plan…" Stefan said softly, giving me a questioning look.
I stared at Stefan, then Damon. They were deadly serious about this.
"No," I refused them sternly.
"No?" Damon repeated, confused.
"Out of the question!"
"And why is that, Miss Maya?" Damon asked in a mockingly distinguished tone, a cocky grin on his lips.
"I can think of two good reasons," I shot back. "First, one of us, if not more than one, will end up hurt or dead, and I'm not going to let that happen until we don't have any other choice."
"You want us to wait until she hurts you first?" Damon said in a know it all tone.
"Have a little faith in me, Damon," I growled, annoyed. "It's not like I'm defenseless… Alaric taught me well!" I continued, shooting him a harsh side glance.
"We know you're not helpless, but it would be a better-"
"The second reason is that she didn't do anything reprehensible," I asserted firmly, cutting off Stefan's remark. "Not since she's been back in town anyway…" I clarified quickly.
"Yet!" Damon added. "Not a good enough reason for me anyway," he concluded sternly through gritted teeth.
"It is for me!" I shouted, stepping closer to Damon and pushing softly on his shoulder, goading him to look at me. "You have already killed a lot of people throughout your lifetime. Both of you have," I continued firmly, my eyes moving back and forth between the two of them. "Killing her based on her previous records would mean that you deserve it too. And I'm absolutely not okay with that." I knew my words were harsh, but I needed them to see from my point of view.
"Plus, believe it or not, I think a vampire life is still a life…" I concluded quietly.
"Never stopped you from killing one before," Damon shot, upset.
"They were actually trying to kill us, Damon…" I answered sharply.
"I heard what you said Maya, and it's very honorable of you," Stefan affirmed with a sad smile on his lips. He hesitated for a few seconds and finally said, "We will respect your choice…"
"Of course you respect her choice!" Damon shouted angrily, glaring at his brother.
"But as soon as it starts getting to be too much or too dangerous…" Stefan trailed off, ignoring his brother, a deadly serious expression on his face.
"I will tell you right away, I promise," I answered resolutely, giving him a thankful smile.
After a dreadful moment of silence, Damon leaned in closer, hovering over me.
"You're going to regret this," he warned dangerously. His manner was threatening and his eyes were piercing my skull but I knew it was his desperate way to make me change my mind.
"Probably," I admitted softly. He searched my face intently for any sign of surrender. I tried my best to soothe him and assure him that everything will be fine through my eyes.
"Let's go Damon," Stefan murmured.
"You go; I'll join you later," Damon answered quietly, stepping away from me slightly.
"Damon…" Stefan warned lowly.
"I'm not happy with any of this, but I will respect Miss Maya's choice, OK?" Damon shot out in irritation, ignoring his brother. Stefan glanced at me with a questioning look, unsure if he should go or stay.
"I just want to spend some alone time with her, damn it!" he added, opening his lower arms around emphatically with his palms up. "How can I charm her if baby bro sticks around, huh?" He continued his tirade in an exaggeratedly comical way. I chuckled at his last comment and gave Stefan a little nod to reassure him that I could handle his brother. Stefan responded in the same way and went for the door.
"Alone... Finally!" Damon exclaimed, waving his eyebrows suggestively at me as soon as Stefan closed the door behind him.
"Where do you want me? On the floor or on the table?" I inquired expressionlessly.
"What?" Damon asked, suddenly confused and uncomfortable.
"Just wanted to get your attention. So, what did you want to talk about, lady killer?" I teased, a mischievous smirk on my lips. I was trying to restrain myself from laughing. His face was just too priceless.
"Actually, you're the one who needs to talk," he said seriously, finally recomposed.
"Really? And what do I need to talk about?" I demanded, raising a brow at him.
"I don't know…" he began, pretending to think about it with narrowed eyes. "Maybe about how you felt Katherine's presence, even before I did?" He stared, an intense, knowing look burning holes in my head.
I had managed so far to conceal my little unusual abilities, mostly due to the fact that I was using them only in the heat of the battle. And everyone was always too busy then to notice anything out of the ordinary so to speak. But with Katherine in town, stalking me, I was having a really hard time fighting my instinct. I scrambled to find a plausible explanation.
"I have magical powers," I said simply. Damon opened his eyes wide and looked at me with both intrigue and intensity at once.
"I'm kidding, Damon," I deadpanned. "You were just so focused on the possible spots she could hide herself in that you didn't even notice she was coming right at us!" I was totally bluffing. I had reacted too impulsively after feeling Katherine's presence to see what Damon was doing at that exact moment. He narrowed his eyes at me, obviously not entirely convinced. But he kept his mouth shut for a moment.
"What about you not wanting a personal escort?" Damon asked suspiciously.
"I thought we already had this conversation…" I dodged the question, a slight frown on my face.
"We did. But, I want to know if there is something more to it," he continued quietly, scrutinizing my reaction.
"Like what?" I really had no clue as to what he was getting at.
"Well, the bitch has some really good tactics," he started carefully. "She's dripping sex pretty much all the time, and surely knows how to seduce anyone crossing her path. Male and female, as a matter of fact," he continued, watching me cautiously. I had to admit that he was trying to be diplomatic for a change, but the message was pretty clear right now.
"Are you seriously asking me if I want to sleep with her?" I confronted him, raising my eyebrows.
"Do you?" Damon asked warily.
"What could possibly make you ask that?" I asked in surprise. His precautions to talk to me were making me even more confused.
"Well, like I said… She leaves no one indifferent. Not even her enemies," he stated simply. "And even though you're a pretty stubborn ass, you're still human," he added, in his usual sarcastic tone. I looked at him right in the eyes, intently, and waited for him to continue. I knew there was something he wasn't telling me. He furrowed his brows, obviously uncomfortable, and took a slow step to stand close to me.
"Is it really that farfetched to think that you could want to sleep with her?" he almost whispered, looking at me as though he could see right through me. My gut was screaming at me that he knew. Somehow he knew. I swallowed hard.
"Are we still talking about Katherine?" I asked softly, my voice coming out a little hoarse. He didn't say anything, but gave me a kind, honest look to encourage me.
"How do you know?" I murmured in a resigned tone, breaking eye contact to look at the ground. He reached my face with his hand to lift my chin up, making me look at him.
"Because there is no way you could have resisted me otherwise…" he said gently, half laughing, with a genuine smile on his lips. He managed to get a smile out of me, but I suddenly gave him a nervous look.
"Don't worry… Your secret is safe with me," he affirmed truthfully, gazing at me with caring eyes. I responded with a shy, thankful smile. I didn't know why, but I needed to make the connection we had just shared physical, too. I raised my hand slowly and rested it delicately on his chest, directly over his heart.
"Thank you," I said quietly. And I meant it with all my heart.