A/N: A new chapter already! Aren't you lucky, guys? ;P I have a feeling you're both going to love me and hate me for this one...I'm sorry (but not really).

Happy reading! :D

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.

When I came back from the Duke University, I found Katherine leaned against a tree, hidden by its shadow. She didn't make a move to walk toward me and I was too exhausted by my road trip and all the things that I had learned to talk to her. I was surprised, to say the least, that she didn't try to throw a tantrum or threaten me because of my disappearance under her watch, but I was so lost and overwhelmed by conflicting feelings about everything that had happened during the weekend that I didn't pay further attention to it. Once in the hotel room though, I noticed that she had taken a shower, gotten back her phone and from the perfume still lingering on the paper, read the note I had left for her. But everything else had remained untouched as if she had been careful to respect my space when it was ultimately her bedroom.

I fell into an oblivious sleep as soon as my head touched the pillow, forgetting all the events, fights and information of the last two days, only to be hit by them like a train at full speed the second I woke up the next morning. I needed to clear my head, to wrap my mind around all of this, and I knew the only place that could help me do that was the forest. For a while I hesitated, remembering the intoxicating sensations I had felt the last time I let myself connect with nature. I didn't want to black out again into the creepy version of myself. Eventually, I realized that Katherine was most certainly going to keep a very close eye on me, especially after the little trick I had played on her the day before.

I walked far into the woods at a slow pace, enjoying the peaceful strength exuding from the trees and the ground. I had been right to think that Katherine wouldn't let me wander around alone, but she stayed far enough from me that her presence didn't disturb my need of solitude. I finally sat down cross-legged in a tiny clearing and closed my eyes to take in all the things the nature around had to offer. The warmth of the sun on my skin, the cool breeze in my hair, the comforting smells, the soothing silent and the power vibrating from the unspoiled sanctuary surrounding me. I was finally able to think and face what I had become during a few hours. What I had done, and what I had learned in the last two days.

I was some kind of super warrior fated to defend my tribe, disregarding my feelings or my own existence, but what was I supposed to do when my tribe had disappeared centuries ago? I didn't even have any family left to defend, except for an uncle I barely knew. Were my friends—my new family here in Mystic Falls—my tribe? I had fought vampires, Originals, werewolves and hybrids, not to mention crazy warlocks for them, but wasn't that what you were supposed to do already, as a decent person, for the people that you loved?

The words Vanessa had spoken came flooding back. Immortal. What did it even mean? That I couldn't be killed or that I would just stop aging until I had a baby? Had I already stopped aging? Did I even want a child? I had been gay for as long as I could remember. I never grew up with wedding dreams or the family stereotype in mind.

If I decided to never have kids, did it mean that I would live forever? My heart clenched tightly in my chest at the thought. I would have then to look Elena grow old and eventually die. I would have to lose her, and Bonnie, and Matt. Even Jeremy. I wasn't sure I could survive that. A surge of compassion rushed through me at the thought of what Caroline must have felt when she realized she was no longer like the rest of us.

Thinking about her brought back the memories of the horrible things I had said to all of my friends. Bonnie didn't deserve a single one of the words I had said to her. The transformation into the supernatural version of myself had scared the hell out of me, and I had just looked for someone to blame. It must had been terrifying for her as well. I had been really unfair to her.

I was also able to vaguely recall that I had been incredibly hurtful toward Stefan and I hated myself for that. I knew it came from my resentment towards him for getting the girl since the very beginning, but he couldn't be blamed for it. No to mention that he always had been a very good friend to me. The few snippets I could recall of my rant against Elena convinced me that we would likely never be the same way again. How much I had blurted out, I didn't know. My memory of it was fuzzy. Probably because my creepy twin had started to make an appearance again. Had I vented out what had happened between me and her? Did everybody know now about our kiss? I couldn't tell, and it was making me uncomfortable and nervous to the point of being sick.

The possibility of losing my new family because of what I had done inevitably caused a walk down the memory lane of the one I had already lost. Were my Grandma the same kind of creature that I was? Did she start aging only once she had my mother? But she told me that I was more of a true "sun" that she could never be herself. Could this supernatural gene skip generations? Did I have a great-grandfather somewhere that looked like he was in his forties? Or did my mom managed to hide her abilities from me the entire time? Did they plan to explain everything when they thought the time was right? Suddenly, the pain I always felt at the thought of my parents was exceeded by anger. They had lied to me. Maybe to protect me but now that they were dead, there was no one left to tell me who I was.

A nagging feeling prickling at the back of my neck snapped me out of my inner turmoil. I shot my eyes open and was surprised to find out that the sun was almost done setting. Despite the cool temperature causing a shiver to run along my skin, the nightfall atmosphere appeased me, slowly washing my anger off to only leave a feeling of serenity behind. I took a deep breath of fresh hair and turned my head to the left to look at Katherine. She had come a lot closer and was leaning gracefully against a trunk, patiently waiting for me to come back to reality. When my gaze met hers, she finally spoke.

"You might want to get back inside. Unless you're considering killing yourself with a cold." She titled her head to the side. "Or starvation."

My stomach decided to humiliate me and growled right on cue. The day had flown by in the blink of an eye, and I was only realizing now that I had missed lunch. I entangled my legs from their crossed position and winced at the numbness caused by my too long inactivity.

"Are you going to cook me dinner again?" I asked teasingly. My voice was a bit hoarse from the many hours of silence.

"Not a chance." A lop-sided smile stretched her lips before she casually offered her help. "But I can call your school again if you decide to stay hidden in the woods and miss another day."

"You...called me in sick?" I stared at her in disbelief, wondering where the infamous Katherine Pierce had disappeared to.

"Well, no. It'd mean that I had to get into the trouble of finding your principal's number, and that's way too every-day-life-boring for my taste." There she was. I knew she couldn't have gone too far. "But despite his stubborn habit of claiming that he hates me, Damon did what I told him to do. It may or may not have something to do with the fact that he's in love with you, but who cares, really..."

"He's not in love with me." I was able to affirm that in a steady, relaxed voice now that Damon and I had cleared the air about our relationship.

"Oh no..." She raised an eyebrow before giggling lightly. "This idiot did it again, didn't he? He confessed his feelings to you."

"He's not an idiot. He's actually far from being one. That's why he's my friend and not my secret admirer." I locked my eyes intensely on her. "And if I were you, I wouldn't push my luck. I didn't forget what you did to him to get back at me." She glanced up quickly and clenched her jaw, a hard glint shining in her eyes.

"I was thoughtful enough to get you out of school troubles while reassuring your personal butler that you were perfectly fine, when you were actually playing hooky. But maybe you would've preferred that I told him you were on a road trip all by yourself?" The detached tone, her slightly disdainful attitude and the change of a subject was an obvious attempt to dodge the bullet. I indulged her for the only reason that I was intrigued about something she had just mentioned.

"Why didn't you call the cavalry when you noticed I was missing?" I narrowed my eyes, daring her to lie to my face.

"I figured you deserved a little space to find some of the answers you were looking for." She shrugged carelessly, but her words made my blood freeze in my veins.

"You followed me?" A small mysterious smile tugged on her lips.

"I would've if I had foreseen you'd go to Bonnie's house first." I frowned, both perplexed and amused by her nonchalant reaction.

"I fooled you, even though you had strictly forbidden that I leave the hotel room. Considering your previous records, I can't possibly imagine you being okay with that."

"You forget that there was a reason for all that. Which was keeping your wild side from strolling around the next state's forest." She paused a second to stretch her point. "Now, I saw you look at my car like you had never seen such a thing before, so I figured that if you were capable of driving one, you were doing just fine."

"Then why spy on me all day?"

"Because you're not in a car," she answered matter-of-factly, swirling her forefinger around. I couldn't argue with the fact that the woods had a powerful effect on me that a car definitely had not.

"What makes you think that I was looking for answers?" Amusement made her eyes shine for a second before her gaze drifted away to the edge of the clearing.

"Because that's what I would've done if I had just discovered I could surf trees." She turned her head toward me again. "Did you find anything?" She pretended to be light and distracted about her question but she didn't fool me. I flashed her a lop-sided smirk.

"Nice try."

She leaned her chin against her shoulder, her eyes sparkling with mischief, and huffed in mock offense. Pushing herself off the trunk elegantly, she stood with a hand on her cocked hip.

"So, do we ditch school to avoid overwhelmingly dramatic friends this time?" I glanced up and shot her a harsh look.

"No. I'll go to school tomorrow." The boredom written all over her face made it clear that this wasn't the answer she had wanted to hear.

"Whatever. But if you intend to crash in my bed again tonight, just know that I'll be in it this time." She turned on her heels and started moving away in that swaying walk of hers. "Contrary to you, I'm not so fond of the woods. Three days away from luxury is the longest I can bear."

"Well, you're going to be able to enjoy your room fully! I'm going back home."

"Such a wuss," she let slip over her shoulder, a smile audible in her voice. Laughing at her childish attempt to dare me, I stood up and brushed the dust off my pants. Suddenly, I felt the urge to ask her something. I wasn't sure why I was so curious about it—or even if I was just trying to keep her around for a little longer, knowing that all of my friends were mad at me—but I called her out.

"Katherine?"

"Yes?" she asked from afar, still heading toward the bed and breakfast.

"Where were you going when you found me on the road?" She slowed down her pace to a complete stop and turned around in a deliberate manner, her head tilted to the side.

"It doesn't really matter now, does it?" I frowned, annoyed that my question was denied for the second time.

"Why did you come back?"

"You already know the answer to that." I remained silent for a moment, staring at her. I assumed that the main reason of her decision to return was to drive me back home, but that wasn't exactly what I wanted to know.

"Then why did you stay?"

"You're still asking the wrong question," she purred playfully.

"What changed?" I snapped, frustrated by her little game.

"Now, that's a good question. Unfortunately, I'm not going to answer it...unless you come on a date with me." I surprised us both by bursting out laughing.

"Wow...unbelievable." I raised my arms around hopelessly. "Nobody can be that stubborn! It's impossible. Don't you have anything better to do than harass an eighteen year old girl, seriously?"

"I'm multitasking."

I sighed and paused for a minute to search her face, letting the silence set in again.

"Whether or not you had an ulterior motive in mind, thank you for bringing me back to Mystic Falls," I said honestly.

"Whether or not I had an ulterior motive? That doesn't really sound like a thank you note to me..." She arched a skeptical eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, pretending to be offended.

"Well, you always seem to be around when I'm falling apart so I think that allows reasonable suspicion." She narrowed her eyes as if recalling the said events and nodded briefly, a funny pout on her lips.

"I guess so...but just so you know, both times were completely accidental." I gave her an amused but unconvinced look.

"Anyway, it still doesn't change anything between us."

"And to think I thought the knight in shining armor always gets the girl..."

"I'm serious, Katherine. You may have...rescued me, but you're still a mass murderer."

"I didn't kill anyone lately."

"Which leads me to my second point, you're a liar."

"You're a liar too."

"True. I lied about some aspects of my life, but I never lied about loving, caring or respecting my friends. I don't use people—and I do not kill them just to get exactly what I want. You do. See why it's not going to work?"

"I believe I already told you that it was only one side of me..."

"You're not interested in showing any other side of you, Katherine. Maybe there are parts of you that could outshine all the terrible things that you've done—that would even worth dating. But don't treat me like an idiot. You have no intention of opening up and being vulnerable in front of anyone. You never have, you never will."

I was expecting an icy comeback, but nothing happened. Instead, she remained still and quiet, her piercing eyes locked on mine. I scrutinized her features, trying to decipher what she might think or feel, but her expression was impenetrable. She suddenly broke eye contact, turned around languidly and walked away.

"Goodbye Maya."