A/N: Exams are over! *throws confetti* Thank you so much for the love and support guys-and to each of you who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story! You're awesome.

This story is now officially rated M! Don't get too excited, for now, it's just to be safe...although, Katherine seems to be in full Player Mode in this chapter. I wonder if Maya is going to be able to handle that? Hmm. Happy reading! ;P

PS. "My Paper Heart" has a Tumblr and a Twitter! Check my profile page... ;)

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 past two days had put my sanity to the test. Katherine was obviously enjoying our new way of communication, and saying that she was abusing of it wouldn't have been far from the truth. After finding a new note on my doorknob, asking me to spend my lunch break with her a bit away from the school, I found another one in my bag when I went back to class, saying that she would wait for me on the football field after my basketball practice.

I was pretty certain that I had already had a good overview of Katherine's seductive tricks. Yet, I had clearly underestimated what she was able to do with sunbeams while lying on the grass. If I thought at some point that she couldn't be more luscious than she already was, she showed me how badly mistaken I was.

I also wasn't exactly sure how, later that same day, I managed to resist her strong persuasive measures aiming to get dirty with me under the bleachers.

Elena wasn't really helping me to keep my nerves cool either. She had reached the angry stage in our fight and was taking every opportunity to argue with me about being stubborn and ridiculous-and the fact that I needed all of my friends around me to deal with Katherine.

In the meanwhile, Caroline had thought it was a good idea to fill Bonnie in on that same matter, and they both joined the fray to convince me to make up with Elena. I knew I was going to implode and tell everyone to blow off if they kept coming at me like that, so I eventually complied and agreed to meet Elena on the upcoming Saturday to sort out our issues. But I was aware deep down that I still wasn't ready for that, and two days would not be enough to get me there.

I walked back to my house at the end of this second day of torture, wondering how I was going to survive this week without completely losing it. I was already feeling exhausted and definitely on edge, and Thursday wasn't even finished yet.

As soon as I stepped on my front walkway, I noticed an envelope hanging on my door handle and the mere sight of it made my shoulders slump heavily. I walked reluctantly toward my porch and snatched the piece of paper from the doorknob. I opened it and the note inside confirmed what I already felt.

"In your backyard."

She was here, and she didn't even bother signing the notes anymore. Like we had been doing this for ages, or we were intimate enough to not have to bother with formalities. I sighed deeply and slammed my front door behind me in utter frustration.

KATHERINE'S POV

I heard Maya slam the front door and drop her bag loudly on the floor. She was upset.

Good. That meant I was starting to affect her.

I still wasn't sure what had happened exactly between her and Elena, but her outburst and verbal slips on the subject had confirmed one thing: that annoying little brat was out of the picture. Nothing was in my way to make her mine anymore, and I could feel that she was near breaking point. I restrained a giggle, knowing that she would hear it, and went to stand behind her back door.

"Is it too much to ask for a break?" she breathed out tiredly after she had opened the door.

"Not at all. I have exactly what you need," I replied cheekily, waving the two glasses in front of her and swaying my way over to her garden table.

"The break was meant to be from you." I hid my amused grin before turning around to face her.

"You're the one who requested these little meetings," I pointed out innocently.

"Because you stalking me is so much better…" she drawled dryly.

"Well, I was talking to you more than once a day so, if you prefer to go back to that…" I raised an expectant eyebrow at her, waiting for her answer.

I already knew that she would not back out, since my little sneaking habit was torture for her fiercely independent personality. Not to mention that the fact she never plotted my death or attacked me outside of defending herself, and that she was showing me more respect than all of the people of this boring little town combined, was revealing her as a fair player. When she requested that I stopped stalking her, I was convinced she would feel compelled to display some good will on her part, and would eventually agree to my date proposal.

Even if she was now beginning to regret it, I knew her fair-play would make her bite the bullet and go along with it. And it was so fun to rub her nose in it.

Her mulish silence and the dark glare she was sending my way proved me right. I restrained a very satisfied smirk, pulled one of the chairs out and gestured for her to join the party.

"Why don't you take a seat?"

"Do not invite me at my own table! Or my own bench, for that matter," she shot back in an irritated tone, but started walking toward the chair nonetheless.

"Are we feeling a little bit territorial, tonight?" I teased her lightly.

"Something like that…" She stopped and stood firmly in front of the chair, her arms crossed in front of her chest provocatively. The message that she would not sit down as long as I was near the chair was loud and clear, but I pretended to not notice. She had never been harsher with me than she had been during the last couple of days, and I intended to keep it that way.

She apparently needed to push me away by any means she could, making it obvious that I was affecting her in a way I had never managed to before. A way she seemed having trouble to deal with.

She was so close to falling between my sheets that I could almost taste it. I could almost taste her.

I walked casually around the small, round table and settled down on my chair so the garden table was next to us, not between us. After putting down the glasses, I took the shaker filled with the cocktail I had prepared earlier. Uncapping it unhurriedly, I poured the cold liquid in one of the coupes in a deliberately lascivious way. I could see from the corner of my eye that none of my movements went unnoticed. I pressed my fingers to the base of the glass and pushed it across the table towards her.

"What is it?"

"Piña colada. Since our date was going to be a little more private than usual and take place during the evening, I thought we could go more festive…" I bent slightly forward to push the cocktail glass further, and looked up at her mischievously through my eyelashes. Her icy blue eyes slipped to the top of my newly-exposed chest for a split second before meeting my gaze again.

"Good idea to think that I trust you enough to drink alcohol in your presence…" she stated in a fake light tone, a sarcastic smirk on her lips.

"You trust me enough to make a date with me in your backyard at night."

"Like I have a choice!" she exclaimed, dismayed. "And for God's sake, Katherine, this is not a date!"

"Whatever you say…" I giggled at her insistence on fighting the date label. "So, no drinks for you?"

"Of course not."

"Well…cheers, then!" I brought the glass to my lips and took a sip of the fruity beverage. I moaned with delight at the taste, and let myself fall back into the chair. After taking another quick sip, I crossed gracefully one of my legs over the other. The look on her face was unreadable, but she seemed unable to tear her eyes away from me, making me grin inwardly. "You would do us both a favor if you were finally admitting that you enjoy these meetings, you know?"

"Damn it, you're impossible!" She threw her arms up in exasperation. "I'm going to need that drink if you keep insisting on being such a drag about this," she added, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly.I couldn't help the amusement from showing on my face.

"It would be my pleasure to pour you some."

"I would rather you stop imagining things…" She shot me a dark glare.

"Since you're the one in denial, it's not going to happen." I grabbed the shaker and shook it a couple of times toward her in silent question. She rolled her eyes, sighed and finally nodded. I poured her a generous amount of cocktail, wrapped my hand around the flared part of the glass, and carefully handed it to her. In order to avoid spilling the drink, she would have great difficulty grabbing the glass without at least grazing my hand. I couldn't wait to see how she was going to handle that. Her eyes were locked on my hand, and shot up swiftly to give me an annoyed look. She moved a hand forward to wrap around the base from below, and grabbed the stem warily with her other hand, using only two of her fingers.

She was deploying a wealth of imagination to avoid physical contact with me, but this time was different from the ice cream cup moment. This time, she wasn't afraid of me. From the way her fingers twitched a little when she felt the warmth of my hand reaching her skin, it was easy to tell that she was afraid of herself.

She took the glass away from my hand, probably hoping I wouldn't notice her slight trembling, and gulped down a long mouthful of alcohol. I really liked her style.

The liquid seemed to relax her as she slouched down a little in her chair, bringing her lower leg dangerously close to my foot. As soon as she realized this, she shifted her body discreetly to the side.

"See? You're enjoying this…"

"Oh, make no mistake. I don't like any part of this arrangement," she said bluntly. "Well, maybe the piña colada…"

"Your body language says otherwise."

"Really? And what does my body language tell you?" She looked at me defiantly over the rim of her glass before taking another sip.

"It tells me that you want me," I stated, a cocky smirk on my lips. I didn't know if it was the alcohol or her nerves, but I sure wasn't expecting her to burst out laughing.

"Of course it does. Since that's exactly what you want to see…"

"I don't think I'm the only one to see it." The ironic grin at the corner of her mouth disappeared almost instantly, confirming how right I was about this. "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it, you know..." I drawled huskily, playing with a lock of my hair. Her eyes glazed over for a second as they followed my hand.

"And I guess the temptation is supposed to be you. I believe that Oscar Wilde was actually experimenting temptation when he wrote that down…" she replied wittily.

"Hmm, she knows her classics…I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since the man wrote about morals and decadence."

"Are you going to fantasize about my supposedly wild libido again?" she deadpanned casually. I giggled at her choice of words. Alcohol was obviously starting to make a bit of a mark on her behavior.

"Are you going to deny that too?" I shot back mischievously.

"I'm not even going to answer that question."

"What is so wrong with indulging yourself that makes you fight it so much? You want to sleep with me! And I've been more than clear that I want to have sex with you…so why are you resisting?"

"I have no problem with indulging myself. Truth is, if this whole little game had happened with anyone else but you, I would've probably slept with her even before you skipped town." Her cerulean eyes were locked on mine to make sure every single of her words hit home. The confident smile on her lips disappeared only when she took another mouthful of her drink. I surely did not let it show, but her confession stung me deeper that I would have expected it to. Nobody had ever rejected me. For fuck's sake, people were begging, crawling or killing to be with me. I was the one rejecting them.

"Ouch…" I articulated in a light joking tone. "And what is so terrible about my charming personality that it seems inconceivable to you to have a one night stand with me?" I kept my voice nonchalant and teasing before taking a sip of my cocktail myself. The way she suddenly focused on my mouth and her pupils dilated as I licked a small bead of alcohol off the rim of my glass, was delightful revenge for her harsh statement that I wasn't good enough for her, even as a casual lover. Once she realized that she was lustfully staring at my lips, she seemed to remember the conversation all of a sudden. Resting her elbow on the iron armchair, she slowly tilted her head to let her cheek rest on the tip of her fingers. Her eyes were shining with amused surprise as if I had asked an obvious question.

"I knew from the very beginning how manipulative and heartless you are…and in case that wasn't enough already, I witnessed firsthand the living, deadly nightmare you've been to every single of my friends. I think those are pretty damn good reasons to stay at a very safe distance from you…"

"Then why did you stand up for me and convince the Salvatore brothers not to kill me?" I asked in a defiant way, a smug smirk curling one side of my lips. She froze for a split second and slowly narrowed her eyes at me. I wasn't sure if she was upset about the fact that I had snooped on them and eavesdropped on their conversation, or because she didn't seem to spot my presence at that time. I had known she could tell the difference between humans and vampires since the day we had officially met, but lately, I had also witnessed her react to vampire auras before they even came in sight. Mine included. If she hadn't been able to feel my presence on that day, it implied that her abilities were evolving. Interesting.

"You really think I did such a thing because I like you?" she drawled, arching a skeptical eyebrow. "I just have a humanist and idiotic principle not to kill people unless you have no other choice. And if I stood up for someone, it was for the Salvatores. I didn't want them to be killed, trying to get rid of you."

I straightened myself up slowly, put down my elbow on the edge of the table to rest delicately my chin in my palm, and looked at her intensely for a while.

"I gave you reasons to want to break that principle…" It was risky of me to bring up the memory of that night on her porch when I assaulted her, but if I wanted her to stop pretending she wasn't attracted to me, I needed to play bold.

"And I can tell you right now that if I hadn't collapsed from pain and fever the very next day, I would have…" I could infer from her low and steady voice that she wasn't kidding.

"I can easily imagine what made you want to hurt me back…but I don't think you would've been able to kill me, to be honest," I said in a soft tone, playfully tilting my head to one side.

"Really?" she replied almost instantly, seeming genuinely surprised that I would doubt her murderous instincts. "And why is that? The old 'because I like you' reasoning again?" She chuckled at her own words before raising her glass to her lips.

"Because so far, all you've been able to come up with as reasons to reject me are the same old excuses your Scooby gang has been using for years…"

"Maybe because they're not excuses but damn good and actual reasons!" she exclaimed, waving the arm holding her glass for emphasis.

"And yet, none of them are even remotely polite to me…while you on the other hand, are all casual and chatty." I let a satisfied grin rise on my lips and I coquettishly bit the tip of my little finger. Her eyes dropped to my hand at the move, and she bit her lower lip in response. I wasn't entirely sure if she was aware of it, but her body was responding instinctively to my seduction. Saying that I was enjoying it would have been an understatement.

Her eyelids snapped up, and she suddenly slammed her empty glass a little too strongly on the table before leaning forward to look at me straight in the eye. She wasn't drunk but the cocktail had relaxed her enough so that her behavior was oscillating between being sensual and threatening. It was incredibly alluring.

"Okay. Let's say for a minute that everything you stated is true. That I'm attracted to you…" she announced firmly, her warm breath tickling my lips. "It's still not enough a reason to actually sleep with you."

"No?"

"No. Because I'm not just a body…I also have a brain."

"And what that smarty pants is telling you?" I teased lightly, bending my chest forward ever so slightly.

"That there is no guarantee that you'll leave me alone once you'll have what you claim to want." Her eyes were glimmering with a determination that made her oblivious of how close our faces were from each other's. "How can I know that you will not want something else? That the sex isn't a distraction to get an entirely different thing from me? Or to just kill me? What if you want more and I refuse to give you more…hmm? What tells me that you won't slaughter all my friends in retaliation?"

"Hmm trust me, if I want more sex, you'll be more than happy to comply…" I drawled huskily, a predatory smirk on my lips. "What if I give you my word that I will not touch a single hair of their heads and that I won't hurt you? Well, unless you want me to, of course…" I unfolded my arm to let it rest on the table and leaned even more closely to her, staring into her icy blue eyes provocatively. She didn't move backwards but let a dry laugh burst out of her mouth.

"Your word would mean something if I trusted you even a tiny little bit."

"Then what would it take for you to trust me even a little bit?" I almost whispered, my eyes roaming over her features before staring deeply into her eyes. My question seemed to raise a reasonable doubt in her as she searched my face, trying to decipher if I was serious or playing with her.

"Well, you know…the usual." She shrugged, pretending to think about it. "Just all the things you never do, really. Like revealing your weaknesses, sharing your secrets, acting selfless or even having my back if necessary…" A very satisfied grin curled her lips upward and I could tell she was biting back a laugh. I turned my head to the side so I would have enough room to take the last sip of my drink before looking back at her.

"I don't know about having your back, but your other requests are the kind of things you do on a date, right?" I asked in a genuine tone, causing her amused attitude to disappear instantly.

"I suppose…but only on real ones," she shot back, a smile on her lips that didn't quite reach her eyes. I paused for a few seconds before stretching my arm further across the table to grab the shaker. I didn't really want another drink. It was just an excuse to play with her. Still purposely a few inches too short from the shaker, I bent my chest forward while looking her straight in the eye. She tensed suddenly and I heard a pang coming from her heart as my lips grazed her cheek before they could touch her mouth. I leaned past her to reach the shaker, my upper body now only an inch away from hers. I noticed that she had stopped breathing, and the thought of my scent being too intoxicating for her to handle aroused me. I slowly moved back, enjoying the sound of her heart pounding erratically for the second time since we met. For an entirely different reason this time than me attacking her.

Once in front of her, I stopped even closer than I initially was.

"Then go on a date with me," I whispered silkily. A real laugh burst out her mouth this time and she settled back into her chair.

"You can't possibly be that horny." Her eyes were shining with genuine amusement.

"Maybe I am," I replied in a giggle, tilting my head playfully to the side.

"Well I'm not, so…" She pressed her hands firmly against the arms of the chair, getting up fluidly. "Good night, Katherine."

She disappeared behind her back door with a cocky smile on her lips, but I knew better than that. I grabbed the two glasses on the table in a swift motion and then stood up myself. She could pretend not to be attracted to me all she wanted, but she was on the verge of succumbing.

As I watched her bedroom window plunge into darkness, I knew that tomorrow night she would give her body to me willing.

MAYA'S POV

I woke up in a jolt, my eyes wide open in shock. I looked around in confusion before reading the time on my alarm clock. 4:00 am. It had been only three hours since the garden party Katherine had set up ended.

Still a bit dazed, I sat up and leaned against the headboard, welcoming the cool sensation of the wood against my skin. I reached up to wipe the sweat off my forehead, and squeezed my thighs together as a failed attempt to get rid of the throbbing sensation between them. Hiding my face behind my hands, I growled angrily. I couldn't believe what had just happened. If I could have been compelled, I would have sworn that Katherine had just messed with my head. And I was currently wishing that that could be true. Because the other option was even worse. I was the one responsible for having a wild sex dream about Katherine Pierce.