19. Heart Of Darkness
"Klaus!" Caroline yelled, barging into Klaus's room.
"Hello, love" Klaus greeted.
"I need your help" Caroline said, getting straight to the topic.
"Help with what?" Klaus asked.
"I have a plan to make Damon and Aria spend some alone together" Caroline replied, "And I need your help in executing the plan".
"May I first know the plan?" Klaus asked.
"Okay, so now that we know that whenever an Original dies, their whole sire line dies along with them, me and Damon don't know which Original sired us, because the vampires who could tell us are all dead, right?" Caroline said, "I've talked to Jeremy and Kol and they are in, basically we send Damon and Aria on a road trip to Denver, telling them they need to talk to Jeremy so he can talk to a dead Rose so we can find who me and Damon are sired from, road trips are Aria and Damon's thing, last time they went on a road trip they ended up having their first kiss, maybe this time they will get back together".
"And how are you going to convince them to go on a road trip together?" Klaus asked, looking at Caroline in amusement.
"That's where I'm going to need your help, I can convince Damon easily, but convincing Aria is going to be hard, so I need you to do that for me" Caroline replied.
Klaus sighed, "Fine, I'll entertain you, but if this doesn't work, you better be ready for Ari's anger".
"Yay!" Caroline said, jumping up and down, "Mission bring Aria and Damon back together, is officially on".
***
Aria entered the basement of the Mikaelson mansion, where Alaric was being kept.
Last night, Stefan had gone to get the last white oak stake from where he hid it, but he found nothing, but an unconscious Alaric laying there, they all came to the conclusion, that Aria's spell didn't work, somehow dark Alaric figured out where Stefan had kept the stake, and now his hid it so no one can find it, which is why Alaric was now being kept in the cellar of the Mikaelson mansion, they were waiting for dark Alaric to surface so they can get the location out of him.
"Ric?" Aria called out, not knowing which Alaric she was talking to.
"Yep" Alaric replied, "Still me".
Aria opened the cellar door and entered the room.
"You know you shouldn't be in here" Alaric said, "It defeats the point of the whole being locked in a cellar thing".
"If dark Alaric tries to surface while I'm here, I can take care of myself" Aria said, placing a bag infront of Alaric, "I bought you some basic necessities such as a toothbrush, some spare clothes, some books that might put you to sleep".
"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Alaric asked amused.
"You've got to admit, it's pretty funny" Aria replied, giving Alaric a cheeky smile.
"At least one of us still has a sense of humor" Alaric commented.
"Ric, are you sure you want to stay here?" Aria asked, worried about the man infront of her.
"Yeah I'm sure, this is the right place for me to be" Alaric replied, "At least until you guys can convince my highly uncooperative alter ego to fess up to where I--or he hid the white oak stake".
"We looked everywhere" Aria informed, giving Alaric a sympathetic smile, knowing he felt guilty, "The dark you hid it very well".
"What's Klaus gonna do if you can't find it?" Alaric asked.
"Nik isn't going to do anything" Aria replied, "He knows if he tries to harm you, I won't tolerate it, so just relax, right now, Caroline is going to watch over you, her and Klaus are forcing me and Damon to go on a road trip to Denver to see Jeremy, they want us to find out what Original does Damon and Caroline sire from, though it makes no sense to me why they want to know, like it's going to make any difference".
When Klaus had told Aria about this, Aria bluntly refused, she didn't want to be alone with Damon right now, but Klaus wouldn't take no for an answer, so against her better judgement, Aria is going on a road trip with Damon.
Alaric smiled, he knew what Klaus and Caroline were planning, and like them, he also hoped their plan would make some sort of difference.
"You and Damon alone, huh?" Alaric teased.
"Don't tease me Ric" Aria said, "This is going to be so awkward".
"It will only be awkward if you let it be awkward" Alaric said, "Maybe this road trip is exactly what you and Damon need, to talk, to spend some alone time with each other, plus you also get to meet Jeremy, I'm not seeing a lot of negatives to this road trip Aria".
Aria sighed, "I guess we will see".
***
"Ready to go?" Caroline asked, as her and Klaus walked over to Damon.
"Yeap, all the bags are secured in the car" Damon replied.
"Demon, use this alone time with Aria to your advantage, Aria's hurt so she isn't going to make it easy for you, but if you're serious about her, then don't give up" Caroline said.
"And for the love of god, don't screw up this time" Klaus said.
"I won't" Damon said, as Aria walked over to them, "Aria, ever flown first class?".
"I thought we were driving?" Aria asked confused.
"It's too long of a drive" Damon replied.
"Who'd you compel for the first class tickets?" Aria asked.
"Pfft, please, I used miles" Damon replied.
"Of course" Aria mumbled, "Hurry up and do your thing, I'm waiting for you outside".
"Bye Ari" Klaus said, waving at Aria.
Aria glared at Klaus and Caroline, and without saying anything to them, walked out of the door.
"Yeah, she's not happy with us" Caroline commented.
"At least she made a small joke with me, I call that progress" Damon said, following Aria out.
"Be safe!" Caroline yelled.
"When am I not!" Damon yelled back.
"You realise, this trip might end up horribly wrong for them, right?" Klaus said to Caroline.
"Well, that's why Jeremy and Kol are also in the plan, they are going to make sure, Damon and Aria don't make things worse with each other" Caroline said.
"You really do have everything planned, don't you?" Klaus asked.
"Of course, I do" Caroline replied, "This is Damon and Aria we are talking about, two very important people in my life, I need them to be okay, I can't tolerate the tension between them anymore".
"Fair enough" Klaus said, "Now, pancakes or french toast?".
Caroline smiled at Klaus, "Pancakes, obviously".
***
"Jeremy!" Aria yelled, running into Jeremy's arms.
"Aria~" Jeremy yelled, spinning Aria around, making her laugh, "God, I missed you".
"I missed you to, how are you?" Aria asked, breaking the hug.
"I'm good, how are you?" Jeremy asked, "Kol told me everything Elena did to you, how could not tell me Aria".
Aria sighed, she figured Kol had told Jeremy, "I tried, but you were so happy here and I didn't want to ruin your happiness".
"You were in so much pain, and I was here oblivious to everything" Jeremy said, "God, I am so sorry for everything Elena did to you".
"Don't apologise because of Elena, Jer" Aria said.
"I'm just glad you're alive" Jeremy said, pulling Aria into another hug.
Aria didn't say anything, just relished Jeremy's hug, she missed him and his comfy hugs, they always reminded her of home.
***
Aria and Jeremy, now stood with Kol and Damon.
"I sired Caroline, Katherine sired me, Rose sired Katherine" Damon listed, "All we need to do is find out who sired Rose".
"You want me to talk to a dead vampire?" Jeremy asked.
"Can you?" Aria asked.
"I don't know, I never talked to anyone another then Anna and Vicki, and that was because I knew them" Jeremy replied, "I never even met Rose".
"What good is you coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" Damon asked.
"Rose was close to me and Damon, maybe you can use us to make a connection" Aria suggested.
"Alright I'll try, but not now" Jeremy said.
"If not now, then when?" Kol asked.
"After I beat Aria in a baseball match" Jeremy replied.
Aria smiled at Jeremy, "Oh, you are on".
"You can't be serious" Damon said.
"Unfortunately mate, those are their serious faces" Kol teased, as Jeremy and Aria ran to of the batting cages, "So, Nik was right".
"About?" Damon asked, as both the boys watched Jeremy and Aria play less but mess around more.
"About Ri needing Jeremy" Kol replied, "The smile that was missing on her face for days, has automatically returned".
Damon nodded, he went to speak when his eyes landed on the entrance of the batting cages where his brother and Elena were entering, "Oh you gotta be kidding me".
Kol followed Damon's sight and groaned seeing Elena and Stefan, "Did they not learn their lesson?".
"Looks like even Stefan wants to know who his sired from" Damon replied, "Jeremy! Aria! Come back here".
Aria and Jeremy ran over to Damon.
"What happened?" Jeremy asked.
"We have incoming" Kol said, pointing towards Elena and Stefan.
"Jer, get back, he's an Original" Elena ordered, seeing Jeremy standing next to Kol.
"And?" Jeremy asked, confusing Stefan and Elena, "You're standing next to a ripper, don't be a hypocrite Elena".
"Oh that was a good one" Kol said, high fiving Jeremy.
"Did you compel my brother?" Elena snapped.
"I see your boyfriend healed you" Aria said, before Kol could say anything, she knew for a fact none of the Mikaelsons healed Elena, they just threw her and Stefan out of the house.
"Jeremy, you don't know what Aria did to me" Elena said, "Come here, she's dangerous, you need to stay away from her".
"She's dangerous?!" Jeremy yelled, "She didn't hand the girl she once called her best friend over to a thousand year old witch, she didn't go around killing your family Elena!".
"You know" Elena realised.
"Yes, I know everything" Jeremy snapped, "And before you go blaming Aria, she didn't tell me anything, Kol did"
"Guilty" Kol said, shrugging nonchalantly.
"You now before Aria broke her relationship with you, now I'm breaking my relation with you" Jeremy said, "You can't be my sister, you're not my sister!".
"Jeremy, you can't talk to her like that" Stefan said.
"Stay out of this Stefan" Damon warned.
"Jer please just listen to me" Elena pleaded.
"No!" Jeremy yelled, "I only have two family members left, Jenna and Aria, you no longer mean anything to me Elena, I know why you and Stefan are here, you want my help you find out which Original, but I will never help you, I will never help you kill another one of Aria's family members".
"Now that we have that clear" Kol said, speeding over to Stefan and snapping his neck.
"Stefan!" Elena yelled.
"Oh stop being so dramatic, I just snapped his neck, it's to make sure you don't follow us" Kol said, as he grabbed Jeremy, and Damon grabbed Aria and they speeded away.
***
"One room for me and little Gilbert" Kol said, hanging Jeremy a room key, "One room for Damon and Ri", Kol handed Damon the other room key.
"Wait, me and Damon are sharing a room?" Aria asked shocked.
"Well yeah, me and you sharing a room would be a bit awkward, and me and Damon sharing a room would just be a disaster" Kol replied.
Aria narrowed her eyes at Kol, "Right".
"So where are we?" Jeremy asked, taking Aria's attention off of Kol.
"Corner of somewhere and nowhere, where your sister and my brother can't find us" Damon replied.
"I've cloaked us so they can't use Bonnie to locate us, but we can't be too careful" Aria said.
The group of four entered Damon and Aria's shared motel room.
"Would this room work for you to do your thing?" Kol asked.
"Yeah, it doesn't really matter" Jeremy replied.
"All right, Whoopi" Damon said, closing the door behind them, "What do you need? Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?".
"That's not how it works" Jeremy replied.
"I know, I know" Damon said, "They push from the other side, and you pull from this one".
"You, uh, you got a picture of her?" Jeremy asked.
"Picture?" Damon asked, "From what? Our trip to Disneyland?".
"I do" Aria interrupted, showing Jeremy a selfie of her and Rose, they took it when they went to Richmond with Damon to meet Salter.
"Of course she does" Damon mumbled, making Kol chuckle, "Come on Rose, you're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me".
Aria scoffed, "Please, we both know she liked me better".
"Now that, I believe" Kol said, plopping down on to the bed.
Jeremy chuckled then turned back to Damon, "All right, uh, tell me something about her".
"And say something that matters" Kol said, shutting Damon before he could open his mouth.
Damon hesitated for a moment, but the small nod from Aria, urged him to speak, "She spent her last day in paradise, soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human, and when death came, she didn't fear it".
Aria looked down at her hands and started playing with her fingers, hearing Damon's words, made her want to cry, she missed Rose, they didn't spend much time together, but the time they did spend, was going to stay with Aria forever.
"All this happened in the dream you and Aria gave her" Jeremy said, making Damon and Aria look at him, "She's here".
***
"Jer, ask her, if it's lonely on the other side" Aria said, her mind going back to Finn also being on the other side.
"No, I enjoy it, I was running so much when I was alive, now I have the freedom to do whatever I want" Rose said, sitting next to Aria, who felt her presence.
"She says not to worry, she's happy" Jeremy assured.
"Is she sitting next to me?" Aria asked.
Jeremy nodded, "How did you know?".
"I just do" Aria replied, looking at Rose and smiling, she couldn't see her but she knew she was here.
"Another perk of being a banshee" Kol commented.
"Tell Damon and Aria that they broke their promise" Rose said.
"She said, you both broke your promise" Jeremy said, slightly confused.
Damon and Aria glanced at each other, they knew Rose was talking about the fact that they had promised Rose to always be together, but they broke that promise.
"I didn't break it" Aria mumbled, making Damon look down in guilt.
"Also tell them that I miss them" Rose said.
"She misses both of you" Jeremy said.
"And tell them that I'm still rooting for them" Rose said.
"She also said that she's till rooting for you both" Jeremy said.
"Aren't we all" Kol commented, making Aria throw a pillow at him.
"Shut up" Aria said.
"Throwing a pillow at me isn't going to change the facts Ri" Kol said.
Rose smiled at Kol and Aria's antics, "Unfortunately, I don't have any news on the siring front, Klaus didn't sire me, no Original did, it was Mary Porter".
"She was sired by somebody named Mary Porter" Jeremy revealed.
Kol groaned, "Ugh, I remember her, I know exactly who sired her".
"And who might that be?" Aria asked.
"Nik" Kol replied.
"Great" Damon mumbled.
"I also know where to find Mary" Kol said.
"Why would we need to find Mary?" Aria asked confused.
"To kill her" Kol revealed, shocking Jeremy and Aria.
"Excuse me?" Jeremy asked.
"Did you both forget the fact that Stefan and Elena are also here, it won't be long before they find out about Mary" Kol replied, "We need to get to Mary before them, we need to make sure they never find out about Stefan being part of Nik's sireline".
"Can't you just compel Mary to forget about Nik turning her?" Aria asked.
"I could" Kol replied, "But what's the fun in that".
"Kol" Aria warned.
"Look, we will see what we have to do when we find her, right now, it's late and I want to go to bed, you guys should sleep to, we leave first thing in the morning" Kol said, getting up from the bed, "Let's go little Gilbert".
"Goodnight" Jeremy said, placing a quick kiss on the top of Aria's head and following Kol out, leaving Aria and Damon alone.
***
A shirtless Damon came out of the bathroom and grabbed the alcohol he bought from the bar downstairs, and walked near the window.
Aria laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying her best not to stare at Damon.
Damon poured himself a drink and sat on the chair drinking it, while Aria looked towards him, but as soon as he looked towards her, she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep, a small smile formed on Damon's face.
Damon put his drink down and made his way over to the bed and laid next to Aria, who finally opened her eyes.
"Hey" Damon whispered.
"Hey" Aria whispered.
Damon ran a finger from Aria's shoulder to her hand, causing shivers to run down Aria's spine, "I'm sorry".
"Damon--".
"Just let me talk" Damon interrupted, "Aria, I've never felt so much love in my life before, I knew you love me, I do, but in the back of my mind, I know I don't deserve you, you can do so much better then me, and I'm scared one day you're going to realise that".
"That's the problem" Aria whispered, "I can do better, but I don't want to, somehow, even after everything you said to me, about me loving Kol and all that shit, I still love you, I can't get rid of the love, no matter how much I try".
"I know I screwed up, and no matter how many times I apologise it's not going to be enough" Damon said, placing his hand on Aria's cheek, "So I'm not going to apologise again, I'm just going to let you know that I love you more then I love anything in this world, when I think about my future, I imagine you and me together, maybe with a mini us, you're my future Ria".
"You called me Ria" Aria observed.
"Huh?".
"Recently you've been calling me Aria, not Ria" Aria clarified, "It felt nice hearing Ria from you".
"I didn't feel like I deserved calling you Ria" Damon said.
Aria and Damon stared at each other for a moment, Damon slowly intertwined their hands together, and shuffled closer to Aria, he slowly started leaning in, he stopped just as his and Aria's lips were about to touch.
"Stop me now Ria" Damon whispered, against Aria's lips, "Otherwise I won't be able to stop".
Aria looked into Damon's eyes, then looked at his lips, and without warning, smashed her lips on to his.
Damon wrapped his arm around Aria's waist and pulled her right against him, Aria pushed Damon back, she got on top of him and took her shirt off, Damon grabbed the back of Aria's neck and pulled her into another heated kiss.
Aria broke the kiss and kissed down Damon's chest, eventually Damon pulled Aria up and flipped their position, with him now hovering over Aria.
"You sure?" Damon asked, and Aria immediately nodded.
And that was all the conformation Damon Salvatore needed to make Aria Connor his again.
***
"This is the address?" Stefan asked, as he and Elena arrived at Mary Porter's scary house.
"Yeah, this is the last location Jeremy's phone was at" Elena replied, "Stefan, don't you find it a bit suspicious, all this time Jeremy's GPS was off but now all of a sudden he turned it on".
"I don't know Elena, but I need to find out who sired my bloodline, you can stay out here if you're so scared" Stefan said, walking towards the house.
Elena looked at her surroundings and realising she didn't want to be here alone, ran after Stefan.
***
Stefan and Elena entered Mary's house and they were met with pure darkness, Elena turned the light on her phone so they could walk around easily.
"Who is this Mary person?" Elena asked curiously.
"I never knew her personally, I just know that she's scary, old and super creepy" Stefan replied, walking further into the room, "Also her and Damon had a brief fling".
"Of course they did" Elena mumbled disgusted.
A loud crash behind them, startled the vampire and human, they exchanged a look and followed the noise into a room, where they were met with a dead Mary staked to the wall.
"Mary" Stefan whispered.
"Quite contrary" Kol said, turning on the light.
A startled Stefan and Elena turned around to see Kol and Damon sitting behind them.
***
"Shame about Mary, she used to be a blast" Kol said, "I don't quite know what happened, I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her, she was a bit of an Original groupie".
"And were you her favorite?" Elena asked.
"You mean, did I turn her?" Kol asked, "I don't know, did I Damon?".
"Don't be stupid Kol, it was Rebekah" Damon replied, leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face.
"You're being stupid mate, we can't forget the Klaus period" Kol said.
"Didn't you mention something about a Elijah affair?" Damon teased.
"We know you're trying to find out who you descended from" Kol told Stefan, he looked at Mary's corpse, "Now you never will, so--", Kol tapped his bat on the ground, "Where did we leave off?".
Kol hit Stefan on the legs with the aluminum bat, causing him to fall to the ground, he repeatedly hit him, taking out all his pent up frustration.
"Elena, get out of here" Stefan groaned.
Elena tried to run, but Damon blocked her way, "According to Klaus, only Ria can hurt you, for the rest of us you're off limits, so don't test us".
Damon grabbed Elena and pushed her on to the ground, angering Stefan, who got up from the floor and held Damon by his neck, "Don't touch her".
Damon headbutted Stefan causing him to fall to the floor again.
"Oh dear, looks like you've hit a nerve mate" Kol told Damon, walking over to Stefan, "Relax darling, we just want us to be even, you killed my brother, you nearly killed Ri, and then you sabotaged Damon and Ri's relationship".
"May I?" Damon asked.
"Of course" Kol replied, handing Damon the bat, who didn't waste a second in hitting his so called brother numerous times, "Now we're even".
***
Aria and Jeremy stood outside Mary's house, waiting for Damon and Kol to return, both of them were banned from entering the house.
"This is so stupid" Aria complained, pacing back and forth.
"Pacing back and forth isn't going to make them come faster" Jeremy said, sitting on the hood of their rental car, eating ice cream, "Come up here and help me finish this ice cream".
Aria sighed, she knew Jeremy was right, so she jumped on the hood of the car and shared the ice cream with Jeremy.
"God, this is so good" Aria said.
"Stop eating it all" Jeremy said, taking the spoon from Aria.
"I'm hungry" Aria complained.
"So am I" Jeremy retorted, Aria stuck her tongue out at Jeremy, making him chuckle, "Very mature".
"Hey Jer, is Rose still here?" Aria asked, feeling her presence but not knowing where she was.
Jeremy looked towards the tree infront of them where Rose was standing, "Yeah, she is".
"Can she hear me?" Aria asked, Jeremy nodded, "Rose, umm, I just wanted you to know that I miss you, and I'm happy that you're at peace, and I'm sorry I couldn't save you".
"Tell her that not everyone's her responsibility, she can't save everyone, and that's okay" Rose said.
"She said, not everyone's your responsibility, you can't save everyone and that's okay" Jeremy repeated.
"I know" Aria whispered, "Doesn't mean I'm not going to try".
"She's too pure for this world" Rose told Jeremy, "Protect her from your sister, she doesn't deserve the pain she gives her".
Jeremy looked at Aria, who was now happily eating the ice cream, then back at Rose, and nodded, letting her know he will always protect Aria from Elena.
***
Aria, Damon, Kol and Jeremy were now back in the car, going back to Mystic Falls, with Damon driving, Aria sitting shot gun, Jeremy and Kol in the back, Kol unaware that Rose was also sitting next to him, but Jeremy and Aria knew.
"Are we there yet?" Rose asked Jeremy, who shook his head, "Don't tell them I'm here, things are much better between them now, and I know you can sense it to", Jeremy nodded, "She makes him a better person, but it's not just that, he changes her too, he gives her the strength she needs to fight people like your sister, he challenges her beliefs, surprises her, he makes her question everything she ever knew, if I was to ever imagine what soulmates would look like, I would think it's them", once again Jeremy nodded, letting Rose know he agreed with her.
Damon and Aria glanced at each other and smiled, Damon grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with her, not seeing the smile on Kol, Rose and Jeremy's face.
***
"What are you doing on my bed?" Klaus asked Caroline, entering his room, and seeing Caroline laying in his bed.
"My Mom's doing a overnight shift at the station, and Aria isn't returning till tomorrow, meaning I would have been alone at home, and I don't like being alone so I came here" Caroline admitted, a bit embarrassed, making Klaus smile.
"You came to the right place" Klaus said, laying next to Caroline and pulling the covers over them.
"You're making me feel weird things Klaus" Caroline whispered, as Klaus turned the lights off.
"You're making me feel weird things too love" Klaus admitted.
"What does this mean?" Caroline asked.
"I don't know" Klaus replied.
"Something the big bad wolf doesn't know, must be something big then" Caroline teased.
Klaus chuckled, "Must be".
Caroline gave Klaus a small smile, "Good night Klaus".
"Good night Caroline" Klaus said, placing a small kiss on Caroline's forehead.
***
Presenting 3x19 of The Vampire Diaries . . .
God, I missed Rose so much >.<
Anyways, thoughts on Jeremy and Aria reuniting?
Thoughts on Rose coming back and still rooting for Daria?
Thoughts on Damon and Aria's moment at the motel? I tried writing something steamy but I'm so bad at those, hopefully you guys enjoyed the little I could write 😂
Thoughts on Damon and Kol partnering together to terrorise Stefan and Elena?