[Paris' outfit for this chapter is at the very top.]
꧁ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ ꧂
sʜᴇ's sᴏ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ
❝Mystery allures her. She's tempted to unravel things that she doesn't understand.❞
♠
A NORMAL HUMAN would think that 'It's Mystic Falls. Nothing bad ever happens here.' They would think that Mystic Falls is just a small town with little happenings. They would think that Mystic Falls is just a small, normal, town. Or so they thought.
The town has no idea that they are among the presence of the creatures who were once slaves by the sun and now lives by the blood of the mundanes, creatures that are controlled by the full moon and turn into beasts, and creatures that have incredible magic radiating off of every chant they say.
Sometimes, there are also creatures that are two predators combined, making them even more dangerous than the formers.
A lot has happened in this town. Though the normal ones think that it's just another mundane problem. Oh how wrong they were. The things happening around them are even more complicated to the point where they just decide for themselves what that is and just move on.
Not Paris though. No, she doesn't turn a blind eye over everything that has happened. In fact, she's been investigating everything but she's later on caught by her sister Meredith for doing it. Said that it's dangerous.
Meredith Fell is a doctor in the Mystic Falls hospital. But unlike her, Paris wants to help people in a different way. She wants to be a detective. That's why she always butt in every time there's a new case in the small town.
Meredith tried her best to keep her from knowing the darker side of the town since she's too young to be handling all of it. Elena was too young when she got involved in supernatural business, but that's because she actually has a connection with it. She's a Petrova doppelganger. She has to know everything to be able to protect herself and her loved ones.
But Paris. She's... normal. She's pure human.
"She's so... human." said the guy with icy blue eyes and raven black hair. One of the creatures that are burdened with bloodlust. A vampire. "Yes, she is. And I'd like to keep her that way." said Meredith as they watch her sister jog on the sidewalk with earphones on.
"I was told that she sees herself as little miss Sherlock." the vampire, Damon, joked, though indicating the fact that her sister's poking in on somebody else's darker business.
"Mystery allures her. She's tempted to unravel things that she doesn't understand." Meredith explained. The brunette is no longer in sight, but their gazes rest on the direction they last saw her.
"I'm a mystery." Damon said with a smirk at the end. Meredith realized what he's implying and she turns to him. "You are not going anywhere near my sister." she said. But Damon, being stubborn as he usually is, does otherwise.
"Too late." He said before he uses his vampire speed to catch up with Meredith's younger sister. He stops just behind her and examines the young lady.
Paris feels a presence near her, making her stop and think for a moment before she reaches for her phone and stops the music. She slowly turns around while she remove the earbuds from her ears.
She is greeted by an icy blue gaze and a devilish smirk that implies that he's up to something. Paris fully turns her body to face him and she scans him with furrowed eyebrows.
"Can I help you?" The young brunette asked. Damon is amused since she just ask him exactly what he wanted her to ask.
"You can, actually..." he said as he takes a few steps forward, stopping when they're only two feet apart. "... You see, somebody told me that you're kind of a mystery-solver. I was wondering if you could help me solve a mystery of mine." He added.
The sound of the word 'mystery' made her ears wide open. But the thought of having this conversation with a complete stranger made her think otherwise.
"I don't even know you."
"That's what makes this even more mysterious."
Paris doesn't bother to refuse since she knows that even if every nerve in her body protests, she would still end up doing it.
"What mystery?" she finally asked. A smirk forms on his lips once again knowing that he finally has her full attention.
"Me."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm the mystery. Who do you think I am?"
The young lady mentally scolds herself for actually believing that this conversation would go somewhere.
"If this is some kind of way to pick up girls, I'm not interested." she said. She turns around and is ready to jog away from him until Damon yet again responded.
"I assure you it's not... I prefer blondes." Damon replied while still standing on the same position he has been throughout their conversation.
Paris turns to face him again and thought that she got nothing to lose if she just has this one, little conversation with the handsome stranger.
"Fine... I think you're alone---"
"I'm not alone."
"Physically you're not. But emotionally, you are..." she trailed off and she swears she sees his jaw clenches at her response, so she continued while she take back the steps she took when she was about to jog away from him.
"...You're lonely. And you hate it. You want attention but you don't want them to know. You act as if you don't care but inside, you care so deeply that it's almost eating you up. You pretend that you don't have a heart when in reality, it's the purest part of who you are..." she trailed off again and she sees his face trying desperately to hide exactly what his reaction is.
"...I also think that you very much prefer brunettes over blondes." The young lady added and places a smirk on her lips as she ended her statement.
Damon's body tenses at Paris's accurate observation of him. His forehead creases as she eyes him sternly. But of course, Damon is known for being secretive so he doesn't let any of his emotions show.
"Eee! Wrong. Nice try though." he said, he even imitated a buzzer sound. He was going to leave the young lady all by herself when he turns around to face her again and say one more thing.
"You are right about the last part..." Damon said. The girl remains in her position as Damon continues, "... I do prefer brunettes over blondes." he added and he gives one last smirk before he starts to walk away.
Paris smiles to herself and turns around to continue jogging. But before she could, a question in her head has been bugging her and she couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey, what's your-----" she said as she turns around but the raven-haired man is nowhere to be seen. "---name." she muttered with a confused look on her face. He was just here a second ago The young lady thought.
Still, with confusion in her mind, she turns around and continues her jogging.
♠
The girl jogged back to her house and found Alaric standing on their porch. The brunette removes her earphones and approaches her history teacher that's dating her sister.
"Mr. Saltzman." Paris called. Alaric averts his eyes to Paris and he smiles genuinely. "Hey, Paris. You do know it's Sunday, right?" he said.
Paris gives a laugh in return before she responds. "Okay, Ric. Meredith's not home, actually. " she replied.
"Really? I'll come back later then. How 'bout you? How's your morning run?"
"I'd say it's the usual, but a certain raven-haired and blue-eyed man approaches me and talks about mystery."
Alaric's face went from soft to surprised, considering that he might know who Paris is talking about.
"Leather jacket? Devilish smirk?" he asked. Paris raises her eyebrows when those descriptions actually fit the person she was talking to earlier. "Yeah. You know him?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, I do." Alaric is aggravated by the fact that Damon just approached his girlfriend's little sister, risking her safety.
"Who is he?" Paris asked. Alaric knows Paris well enough to know that she doesn't give up until she gets what she wants, so he didn't bother to keep it from her.
"Damon Salvatore. He's a member of the town council." Ric explained. Paris recognizes the surname Salvatore as one of the respected founding families of Mystic Falls, but she recognizes the name Damon Salvatore completely different.
"Oh." she said while she nods in realization. Alaric looks at her in confusion before he spoke. "You've heard of him?" he asked.
"Just that he's narcissistic and annoying."
Alaric laughs at her statement, given that it is actually true. But he still needs to talk to Damon about why he went near Paris, when he knows he could be risking her safety.
"That's true. Anyway, I should get going. I'll come back later." Ric said and they waved their goodbyes before Paris enters her house.
She goes straight to the kitchen and opens the fridge to get some water. She pulls out a bottle of water and drinks from it before she sits down on a stool and rests her arms on top of the kitchen counter.
"Damon Salvatore." she whispered. A small smile forms on her lips after she whispered his name.
Meanwhile, Damon is at the grill waiting for his drinking buddy to come over and occupy the seat he reserved for him. Just as he was about to take a sip from his drink, Alaric grabs his glass and yanks it off his grip, placing it down harshly on the bar counter.
"Rude." said Damon without giving Alaric a glance.
"What were you thinking?" Ric said, talking about the fact that he spoke to Paris.
"Fifty Shades of Grey. Have you read the book? It's so... explicit."
"You know what I mean, Damon."
Damon's gaze turns to Alaric and he faked a reaction of realization. "Oh, you mean your girlfriend's sister. What's her name? Right, Paris Althea Fell. Nice." he said.
"You weren't supposed to go near her." Ric said, clearly annoyed at his behavior right now. "Come on Ric, we just talked."
"And that talk is enough for Paris to be sucked into all of this."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is."
"No. It's. Not."
"Yes----"
"She said I'm lonely, Ric. And I'm not mad because she's making it up. I'm mad because she's actually right. My brother's busy snuggling with Elena. You're with the doctor who uses vamp blood to heal her patients. Caroline and Bonnie have their own lives to take care of and that leaves me with nothing." Damon ranted, surprising himself that he actually said all those things when he was supposed to bury all of it deeply just like usual.
Alaric remains silent and he felt a hint of guilt as he watches his best friend drowns himself with every shot of bourbon he drinks. He knows that Damon isn't the type that opens up, therefore he knows that by the time he does, he just wants all of it to pass.
Thus, Alaric raises his hand to get the attention of the bartender and asks for the same drink that Damon has before he sits beside him.
Damon side-glances his best friend and gives him a small smile that's almost not visible to the eyes, then they proceed with what they do best together. Drink.
♠
I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of Delicate and Fragile as much as I enjoyed writing it!