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

꧁ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴏɴᴇ ꧂
sᴘᴀʀᴋs ғʟʏ

❝Lying is never for my own good. You of all people should know that!❞

♠

EVERYONE IS ONCE again gathered up in the Salvatore Boarding House. Elena and Caroline are helping Bonnie in her recovery, which is quick. She'll be as good as new in no time. However, she can't help but notice her magic inside of her somehow broken. It's like she's able to do magic, but barely.

Tyler, Jeremy, and Matt were appointed as the look-out, to see if Aurora and Camila are still in Mystic Falls, and if so, what are they doing? Stefan told them to just look and don't engage. Aurora's a thousand years old and Camila's a very strong witch, neither of them stand a chance, so they should maintain their distance.

Ric, Stefan, Lucien, and Damon are in the library, discussing what just happened over a drink while they let Paris rest with Meredith before she could tell them what happened.

The four finally walked out of the library and went to the living room where they are settled. Paris retrieves her head from resting upon Meredith's shoulder and she looks at the men before her, which all held bourbon-filled glasses. After the day they just had, I think they deserve at least that.

"Are you ready to tell us?" Stefan asked. Meredith squeezed Paris' hand using her own and Paris relaxed before she nodded.

"I think you need to sit down. What I'm about to tell you will affect you the most." Paris told Damon who held his glass firmly in his hand with a frown clearly plastered across his face.

"My dead witch ex-girlfriend is back to life, I think nothing can surpass that." Damon said before he took a sip.

Damon's attitude towards the subject didn't faze Paris at all. She can't blame him for being on edge, her ex-girlfriend was just resurrected. On edge is normal.

"Fine. I'm going to tell all of you everything I know. So, please, don't interrupt me while I'm speaking. I need to get everything out of my chest because it is suffocating me. Got it?" Paris said.

All of them nodded in agreement. Paris sighs before she started telling them what happened.

"At first, I thought that Aurora was just after the serum, that she's using me to get to Lucien-" Paris glanced at Lucien who squinted his eyes at her as he paid attention. "But that wasn't the reason." Paris said. She slowly turns her gaze towards the raven-haired vampire and looks at him with tenderness.

"She wasn't here for the serum. She was here for Camila. They're in love. They were just using you to get everything they needed. To cover up their relationship. Camila cursed the Fells not because to punish them and to be with you, but to punish them and be with her." Paris said, all while making firm eye contact with Damon, whose forehead is creased and his blue eyes darkening.

"Aurora got tired of the whole body-jumping thing. So, instead of letting Camila inhabit my body, she got Bonnie to get her out and resurrect her. That's all I know." Paris finished.

Damon tightened his grip around his crystal glass in anger. But before it could shatter into pieces, a knock is heard coming from the front door. Each and every one of them shared glances, before Damon sets aside his drink and makes his way towards the front door to answer whoever it is that knocked.

Lucien approaches the fireplace and he stares at it while he takes a sip from his drink. Paris glances at him and remembers the kitten that he had given her. Maybe now is the time to say thank you.

She stands up from the sofa and slowly approaches Lucien. She stopped right beside him and she also looks straight into the dancing fire.

"I never got to say thank you." Paris started, not removing her gaze from the fireplace.

"For what?" Lucien asked, also not withdrawing his eyes from the fire.

"For the kitten. She's amazing." Paris said with a small smile as she thought about the times she had with Luna.

Lucien finally averts his eyes from the fire to turn and look at Paris, noticing her smile planted on her lips, her eyes reflecting the fire, and the fire illuminating her face.

"You're always welcome." He said with a small smile.

The moment was cut short when an irritated voice of Damon was heard from the door.

"You've got to be kidding me." Damon said.

All of them averted their attention, from whatever they were doing, to an annoyed Damon looking down at something.

"What is it?" Stefan asked as he and Lucien walked towards the raven-haired vampire.

As soon as they both stopped and stood beside Damon, there they saw a girl's body covered with rose petals with her throat slashed, her blood blending with the color of the petals. Considering that they have no idea who the girl was, they figured out that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. A victim.

"What is it?" Paris asked while she quickly makes her way towards the front door but Lucien immediately turned around and blocked Paris' path.

"I'd rather not." He said.

Paris' curiosity became more sparked.

"Meredith, why don't you take Paris to one of the guest rooms. She needs rest." Stefan said, glancing at the two sisters for a moment before looking back at the brutal sight before them.

"Yes, she does." Meredith said while she stands up from her seat and approaches Paris to convince her to let this one go.

Meredith places a hand on Paris' back as she encouraged her to go to the direction of the stairs, away from the front door. Paris looks at her sister before she looks at the front door. All she could see from the outside is a pair of legs, on the ground. Paris figured that it may have been some dead body. And she's right.

Paris looks back at her sister before she finally gives in and goes to one of the guest rooms of the Salvatore Boarding House.

She wanted a long, relaxing bath, and that's exactly what Meredith prepared for her. Paris kept telling Meredith that she could prepare her own bath. However, Meredith insisted on being the one to do it, she felt like it was the least she could do after everything that happened to her.

After the long bath she just had, which she labeled to be the best bath she has ever had, she quickly dressed up with the clothes that Meredith had picked up from their house. The two sisters decided to stay at the Salvatores' for a while since they aren't exactly safe in their own house. At least here, there's Damon, Stefan, and Ric. Lucien would happily join them, but he thought that it would be nicer to sleep on his own bed.

A knock was heard from the door of Paris' room and she averts her eyes from the reflection of herself in the mirror before she goes to answer it.

She turns the knob and opens the door to reveal the raven-haired vampire standing behind it.

"Hey there, Sherlock." Damon greeted with his usual smirk.

"You have got to stop calling me that." Paris replied.

"No can do." Damon said, accentuating the o's before he continued to step inside her room, not bothered by Paris' surprised expression.

"Sure, come in." Paris whispered sarcastically.

"It's my house. I don't need an invitation." Damon said while he side-glanced her and continues to walk.

Paris closes the door and approach the vampire, whose back is facing her.

"Are you doing okay?" Paris asked him.

"I have no idea." Damon said, still with his back facing her. He turns around then spoke again. "I mean, it's not every day that your ex gets resurrected, right?" He added.

"You're hurt." Paris whispered as she looked down to the ground.

With the power of vampire hearing, Damon heard her whisper.

"I'm angry." Damon corrected her.

"And hurt." Paris just added.

Damon frowns at what Paris keeps insisting he feels.

"I'm not hurt." Damon said.

Paris rolls her eyes and throws her hands in the air. "Of course you're gonna lie again. It's what you always do." Said Paris before she walks away to go to the bathroom, but Damon didn't let her. He vamp speeds his way towards the brunette and stops in front of her, earning a little jump from Paris.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it was for your own good?" Damon told her.

Paris scrunches her face up in both confusion and disbelief.

"Lying is never for my own good. You of all people should know that!" Paris pointed out, referring to the fact that it was Damon who convinced everyone to tell Paris about the supernatural world instead of lying about it because it was doing everything but protect her.

Damon looks at her for a while. Taking his time as he examines every inch of her face before he responded.

"Of course I'm hurt. I spent a hundred and forty-four years loving her. Since 1866, she was my top priority. Yes, I've seen the error of her ways. I left her. But that doesn't change the fact that I just wasted a century and a half of my life for the bitch." Damon admitted, his face showed minimal pain, since it was mostly hatred.

Paris gave a small sympathetic smile towards the vampire before she looks down to her feet.

Damon suddenly remembers why he even came to see her at all.

"Right. By the way-" he said as he reached to the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out something. A black leather jewelry box. "-I had Bonnie make you something." He added as he gave her the box.

Paris furrows her eyebrows in confusion before she takes the box from his hands and slowly opens it. The box contains a necklace with an amethyst crystal as the pendant.

Paris' lips parted at the sight of the breathtaking necklace. She lets her fingers caress the purple pendant, admiring the beauty of it as Damon spoke again.

"It's a protection charm. It's supposed to alert and protect you from people that has danger written all over them. It also has vervain." Damon explained.

Paris looks up from the necklace to Damon as she smiled slightly at the gesture.

"Put it on me?" Paris asked him. Damon smiles at her before he takes the box from her and takes out the necklace carefully.

He went around Paris and stood behind her. She gathers all of her hair to one side, exposing her neck. He was tempted. He could see the vein in her neck pulsating. But unlike Stefan, he could actually control his urges. So he ignores it.

He clasps the necklace around her neck and then removes her previous vervain necklace. Paris looks down to her chest where the pendant rests before turning back around to face Damon.

She once again smiles at Damon. This is the Damon she adores. The Damon who cares. Not the Damon who constantly lies. But the Damon which she had predicted when she first saw him. The lonely and hurt Damon who cares for his loved ones. Because that way, she could help him heal. She could be there for him. Because otherwise, what will she be for him?

Paris places a hand on his shoulder and gives Damon a kiss on the cheek. Her lips brushed lightly on his skin, making Damon feel both surprised and calm. She backs away and looks straight into his former icy-blue eyes that is now a peaceful and oceanic one.

"Thank you... for the necklace and for being honest with me." Paris whispered.

Paris turns around and went to the bathroom, leaving Damon standing in the middle of her bedroom, astounded by what just happened. But one thing he knows for sure, at that moment, she's everything to him.

Later that night, Meredith brought Luna to the Salvatore house and gave it to Paris, who is currently resting in her room. Luna played with Paris' hair which made Paris laugh a little at the cuteness of the kitten.

Her smile fades knowing that tomorrow is another day filled with drama. Oh, how she wishes for the night to last forever. She removed the thought from her mind and convinced herself to enjoy the peace that she's experiencing at the moment before it all come crashing down the next day.

♠

Everything's been so hectic for all of them, therefore, I wanted them to have a few moments of calmness before everything goes to hell once again in the next chapter.

That's it for this chapter! Please vote, comment, and share!