Love Thy Neighbour (a Vampire Diaries fanfiction)

Chapter 3

Seeing as I was clearly not getting anywhere with the darn assignment, I decided to give my MIA muse a day or two to show up again, and so far, it hadn't. It was obviously on a vacation in the Bahamas, or Pluto, since it was nowhere to be seen, or heard. I had seen Rebekah a few times over the past couple of days, and we were planning to go shopping as she wanted to see what the town had to offer in terms of clothes. Kai wanted to tag along obviously, but she insisted it be a girls' day out, much to his dismay.

I was on my way to the library where I work to take the massive piles of second-hand books that had been donated and left at my house, when I received a text from Kai saying he had to cancel. He was supposed to help me take them there, but oh well, my mistake for counting on a guy. Enzo was out of course, which meant I was on my own.

Pulling up my sleeves, I started loading up the car. The library was walking distance, but there was no way I was walking there with seven piles of books. Plus, the heat was not helping. I was wearing a pair of light wash jeans and a lightweight forest green sweater, and it was killing me. Although it was still April, the sun had decided to show up and grace us with its presence, and my, what a presence that was.

Heading for my fourth pile and already sweating like a pig, my legs decided it was the right time to go all kung fu on me and before I knew it, I had landed face first sprawled on the ground, books flying everywhere. Did I mention I am the clumsiest person on the planet? Well now you know why.

"To Kill a Mockingbird. Now why would anyone want to throw this away?"

Crap. Someone is above me, staring right into my soul, isn't there? Crap crap crap.

I lifted my head as high as I could to see who was looking down on me looking like a snail that had just been stomped upon. In front of me, stood a young man, possibly mid-twenties, might I say not bad on the eyes, smiling down at me looking like an angel sent from heaven. Of course someone like this would find me lying flat on the ground, who else? I hate my life.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? Here, let me help you up –"

I slowly came back up to my feet, still staring at the fine creature. Then, I remembered how to speak.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I mean, thanks. I mean, I'm not throwing it out. I'm taking it – these –" gesturing to the rainfall of books around me, "to the library. They were donated."

I did tell you I almost get anxiety attacks when I meet someone new, right? This is what I mean.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?"

I was kind of on the ground, hoping for death, but okay.

"I'm Niklaus, by the way. Most people call me Klaus. Let me help you with these..."

Klaus? I know that name.

"Klaus? You're not new here, by any chance, are you?"

"Why yes, love," he replied, going around my front yard, picking up the books.

"Oh, I met your sister and your brother Elijah the other day. I'm Maya, your new neighbour," I smiled, helping him pick up my mess.

"Ah, Maya! I was wondering when I'd see you."

"Rebekah has told us a lot about you," I heard a voice behind me say. I turned around, and saw who I presumed was the fourth sibling, Kol. And might I say, oh my. The brown eyed brunette, who was topless, I might add, was jogging towards me and I could have sworn he was doing it in slow motion. Curse me and my fantasising brain. I almost had an anxiety attack before; I was probably going to have a heart attack now. Where have these people been all my life?

"Ah, Kol, how nice of you to join."

"Well I wasn't about to let you be the knight in shining armour all by yourself, now, was I, Nik? Pleasure to meet you, Maya," he smiled in a lopsided smile. Oh Lord. I could feel the heart attack coming.

"Uhh... hi," I managed to blurt out.

"The fall really left its effect on you, didn't it?" he laughed. Yeah, it was the fall's fault. Let's go with that. "Don't worry yourself darling. You just sit here on the wall and Nik and I will pick them up in no time."

"Oh no, I couldn't –" I started.

"Please, I insist," he said, staring at me with those chocolate pools of wonder.

"Okay," I smiled, giving up. How could I resist?

I could get used to this.

***

"And you just stood there, looking like a buffoon?"

My, the compliments I get, are just, to die for. Don't my friends love me?

After I had made it to the library in one piece, Caroline, my co-worker and girl best friend, had demanded I tell her what happened when she saw the fresh cut in my jeans. Not that it was flash news, really. I mean, everyone knew that I had a personal record of falling, tripping over, bumping into or breaking something at least twice a day. Minimum. And that the ground and furniture had an obvious vendetta against me. But of course, add boys and suddenly the story is interesting enough to make it on E! Entertainment.

"Well, it's me we're talking about, what did you expect?"

"Uh, I don't know, give them your number?"

"Ugh Caroline, you know how I am around new people. Especially guys. Besides, they live next door. How much closer do you want me to be?"

"I can think of a few places," she grinned.

"Caroline!"

"Ok fine sorry. But what's the problem, anyway? You can talk to guys. You're around Kai all day, aren't you?"

"Yeah but that's different. Kai's... well, he's Kai."

Caroline gave me her typical I'm-not-buying-it face. "Thank you for clearing that up Maya, really."

"Oh shut up," I said, turning to the computer to catalogue the new books.

"Hey! I have an idea," she blurted out suddenly.

Uh oh. "Should I be scared?" I asked.

"Ha ha," she said sarcastically. "No, listen. You should invite them to the barbeque on Saturday. They want to meet the rest of the neighbourhood anyway, and I want to meet them. It's a win-win."

I thought about it. It wasn't a bad idea actually. "You know what? I like it," I said, and she smiled. "I'll text Rebekah about it later."

"Who's Rebekah?"

I stared at her. "Rebekah? Their sister?"

Still, silence.

"Oh, right. Wrong gender. Doesn't interest you. Sorry."

"Just make sure you're there, and they're there, okay?"

"I'll do my best," I said.

"Great!" she grinned. "So tell me," she started, leaning forward, "Do they have a pool?"

"Uhh, yes?"

"Can you see it from your window?"

At that, I had to laugh. "Part of it, yeah."

"Gah! I wish I had your room. It's like your room is perfectly positioned to get the hottest, most amazing views in town," she mumbled, frustrated.

"Yeah, it's awesome like that," I grinned.