[Paris' outfit for this chapter is at the very top.]

꧁ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ ꧂
ᴄᴏɴғᴇssɪᴏɴs & ᴄᴏɴsᴇǫᴜᴇɴᴄᴇs

❝You're so hellbent on not letting our enemies hurt me that you forgot to include yourself. You hurt me, Damon.❞
 

♠

     HER GREEN eyes stared right at his icy blue ones, hers with betrayal, and his with regret. The room fell silent as they waited for Damon's explanation. The only sound that can be heard was the loudness of Damon's heart pounding in his chest, well, at least it was the only thing he could hear.

"Answer me, Damon." Paris said. She didn't say it with anger, rather, she said it with hurt. Damon sighs in defeat before he responded.

"Yes. That was me." He answered.

Paris' jaw clenched at his response. Her eyes watered as it remained fixated at the raven-haired vampire as he searched her eyes for any forgiveness. There was none.

"I have been struggling, hurting, killing people! And yet here you are, hiding the truth." Paris said, each word laced with the pain she's greatly feeling at the moment.

"I was going to handle it." Damon justified.

"And how's that working out for you?" Paris retorted.

Damon gritted his teeth because he knows that it is, indeed, not going well.

"Leave us. Please." Paris told the three watching them without removing her gaze at Damon.

Meredith was about to protest but Paris made herself clear. "I said, leave us alone." Paris repeated.

The three of them hesitated as they shared glances. Meredith looks at Damon as a warning before they stepped out of the room. Now it was only the two of them.

"Tell me, when we first met, did you know that I was going to be Camila's next victim?" Paris asked.

Damon swallowed. He did already know that Paris will be next, he had a witch confirm it. And with that question alone, made him even more guilty.

"Yes. I did." He answered truthfully. Just as he thought things couldn't get possibly worse, he was proved wrong.

"So you only approached me because of Camila. You bonded with me because of Camila. Here I thought we actually have something." Paris said, a tear escaping her eye.

Damon's tightly closed lips opened immediately to explain while he sat next to her.

"No. I mean, yes I approached you because of her, but all those times we spent together wasn't because of her. I bonded with you because of you. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're challenging. I enjoy your company." Damon said.

"Then you could've told me all of this. You saw how much I'm struggling. If I really am your friend then you should've told me! Why didn't you tell me?" Paris said with frustration.

"Because I like you, Paris!" Damon said as he stood up again. "I like you and I didn't want to mess it up. I tried to hate you, I even tried to make you hate me. But none of it was working. I was scared to lose you. I still am. When I saw you soaked in your own blood when Klaus compelled you to cut yourself, I lost my mind. That's when I told myself that I won't let anyone hurt you, not even Camila." Damon explained.

Paris was surprised at Damon's sudden confession, but she didn't let it faze her. She knows that deep down, she feels the same way. But she keeps it buried, didn't want to let it dominate her and cloud her judgments.

"You're so hellbent on not letting our enemies hurt me that you forgot to include yourself. You hurt me, Damon." Paris said. Damon's gaze falls to the floor, feeling disappointed with himself because her statement was on point. He didn't want anyone to hurt her that he didn't realize that he was already hurting her.

The two of them stayed there in silence. The tension thick, the sadness overflowing. It pains Paris to experience this, like they are nearing the end of their friendship. But she can't just deny what Damon did.

When Damon felt that Paris wasn't going to say anything anymore, he spoke up before he planned to leave.

"I'll see you around, Sherlock." Damon said, every word difficult for him to say as it meant that everything between them would probably change. Every word difficult for Paris to digest as it means that this could be the end of their friendship.

The two stared at each other until Paris was now only looking at the wall. Damon was gone. And that's when she broke down.

♠

After Paris and Damon's intense conversation, Bonnie had concocted a temporary solution for the Fell curse. She made Paris drink this weird green substance that's supposed to keep Camila locked away, but still in her body.

It was the best they could do until they figure out how to permanently get rid of her.

As the hours passed by, all that was on Paris' mind was, Camila inside her body, the things she had done, Damon confessing to her, and repeat. Then slowly, sleep took over her.

♠

It was dark and cold. The floor underneath her bare feet is freezing, sending goosebumps through her whole body.

She took multiple glances around her, but saw nothing. Literally nothing. Just blackness, and isolation.

"Hello?" Paris called out. The emptiness caused her voice to echo throughout the place.

"Hello?" She called out again.

"Paris Althea Fell." Someone from behind her said.

She quickly turned around to face whoever spoke her name. There she saw a familiar face. A face that she had once seen in her dream.

"Camila?" Paris muttered under her breath as she takes a step back.

Camila grinned after she heard Paris say her name. Her long black hair was as dark as the place they are in. Her brown eyes outshined everything else. Her aura resembles that of a diabolical person.

"Where am I?" Paris asked, setting up a shield to pretend that she wasn't scared of her. A shield that is likely to crumble in pieces.

"In your mind, silly girl. You and your witchy friend are keeping me here. But that doesn't mean I can't keep you here with me." Camila said as she took a few steps towards a cautious brunette.

"You don't scare me." Paris said. Her teeth are gritted, her hands are balled into fists, and her eyes are glaring at her ancestor.

"Is that so? Well, maybe I should give you something to be scared about." Camila said as she approached Paris at a fast pace. Before Paris could protect herself or at least run, Camila clutched Paris' head with both her hands, causing Paris to let out a throaty scream.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Paris did the same. The scream alerted Ric and Meredith who were talking downstairs.

The two made its way to Paris' room and found her still asleep. But obviously, something is wrong with her.

"Paris? Paris, wake up!" Meredith said as she shook her. Although, Paris remains asleep.

Ric and Meredith shared a worried glance before Ric took out his phone from his pocket and dialed Bonnie's phone.

Bonnie and Damon are currently in the Salvatore Boarding House. She was asking him about what had happened between him and Paris and at the same time, scolding him for not telling them that he knew what was happening all along.

"I never meant to hurt her." Damon said while he stared at the fire dancing in the fireplace.

"But you did. That's why you have to earn her trust again. If she would still let you." Bonnie said.

Damon sighs in defeat before he swallowed his drink.

Bonnie's phone vibrated on top of the coffee table, causing both of them to look.

She reached for her phone and saw the caller's ID. "It's Ric." She said.

Damon completely turned his body around as a sign that he would listen in on their conversation.

Bonnie answered the call and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Ric. Is everything all right?" Bonnie asked.

"On the contrary, something's wrong with Paris. You need to get here, now!" Ric said before he hung up.

Bonnie looked at her phone and then at Damon with confusion and concern. The two of then gathered everything they need before they went to the car and drove towards the Fell's Residence.

It only took them a few minutes for them to arrive at their location. As soon as their car pulled over in front of the Fell's house, Damon speeds out and into the house, making his way towards Paris' room, where he feels the presence of Meredith and Ric as well.

"What happened?" Damon said with wide eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Meredith said, furious at Damon's appearance.

"I'm here to help."

"We don't need your help!" Meredith said.

Bonnie finally caught up and saw the unconscious Paris with her body shaking. "Yes, we do. We need Damon." Bonnie said.

Inside Paris' mind, bits of images flashed around them as Camila searched her mind for her worst fears. Once she was satisfied with the intel that she had gathered, she finally lets go of Paris.

She collapsed to the ground while she catches her breath and glares at Camila.

"Such a tragic past you have there, Paris." Camila stated.

Paris' glare turned soft. Her lips parted because she knew what she was talking about.

"Poor Chloe. It was meant to be one of the greatest days of her life. But it turned out to be the worst. And it became yours, too." Camila said.

Paris' hands curled into fists so hard that her nails start to dig into her palms, drawing blood.

"Thalassophobia. That's what they call it, right? Let's try that, shall we?" Camila said before she held her hands up in front of her and the scene changed.

They weren't surrounded by darkness anymore, in fact, they're at the edge of a cliff, and below is an ocean.

The familiar scene made Paris hitch her breath in her throat.

"No. No." Paris whispered as she steps back. Her hands shaking as her fear starts to kick in.

She turns around to run the opposite direction but as soon as she turned, she was greeted with Camila's devilish smirk. And with that, she pushed Paris off the cliff.

Paris screams while she fell several feet into the ocean. Once she made contact with the ocean water, it completely swallowed her whole.

She tried to swim to the surface but the harsh waves made it impossible for her. She lets out a muffled scream from under the water as she desperately reaches upwards.

In the real world, Paris' unconscious body starts to cough up a large amount of water. Ric, Meredith, Bonnie and Damon stared at Paris with wide eyes. The look in their faces were obviously filled with fear.

"Damon, we need to hurry. You're a vampire, you can get inside her head. Grab her hand and tell us what you see." Bonnie ordered him.

Damon quickly held her hand in his and closed his eyes to focus. A few seconds later, he saw glimpses of Paris drowning, kicking around, reaching to the surface, gasping for air.

"She's drowning. She's in an ocean and she couldn't get to the surface." Damon said. He opened his eyes and looked at Bonnie.

"What do I do?" Damon asked.

"Technically, it's a dream. Vampires can make anyone dream what they want them to dream, right?" Bonnie said and Damon nodded.

"Make her dream something else. Something that would relax her. Just, get her out of there!" Bonnie said.

Damon dives back in her head. He once again saw a struggling Paris being swallowed by the vast emptiness of the ocean. He could hear her stifled screams for help.

He couldn't take a second of it anymore. Thus, he focused on changing the scenario. A few seconds later, Paris found herself sitting on the edge of the Wickery Bridge.

She immediately catches her breath and looks around her. She recognized this location as the meeting place that she and Damon used to go to.

She searched for Camila but she was nowhere to be found, instead, she found someone else.

"Damon." She said. Before a gasp leaves Paris' lips from the real world and her eyes jerked open.

Damon opens his eyes and lets go of her hand as Meredith launched herself to her sister.

"Oh my God. You've got to stop scaring me like that!" Meredith said as she hugged her baby sister tightly.

Paris released a relieved sigh as she wraps her arms around Meredith as well. Her eyes landed on Damon who is standing next to her bed. A small smile forms in her lips since she knows that it was him who pulled her out of the nightmare.

She mouthed "thank you" towards Damon while she embraced her sister.  Damon smiled as well and mouthed "you're welcome" in return.

That's when Bonnie thought, there's still hope for them after all.

♠

A slow update, I know. But here it is. The green substance that Bonnie made Paris drink is the same one she gave to Alaric to keep his evil side from showing up, which is due to the multiple deaths and resurrections he had experienced with the Gilbert ring.

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