20. Do Not Go Gentle
"Nik!" Aria yelled, running into Klaus's art room, where he was busy painting.
"How can I help you Ari?" Klaus asked, not taking his eyes off his painting.
"Tonight's the decade dance" Aria said excitedly.
"So?" Klaus asked.
"You need to ask Caroline for the dance" Aria replied.
Klaus turned to Aria, "And why would I do that?".
"Because you fancy her" Aria replied, "And she fancies you".
"You don't know that" Klaus said, his heart fluttering hearing Aria's words.
"Of course I do, I know everything about Caroline" Aria said, "Now are you going to ask her to the dance, or should I set her up with someone else?".
"No!" Klaus yelled, making Aria smile.
"No, what?" Aria asked, enjoying teasing Klaus, "No, you're not going to ask her to the dance, or no, you don't want me to set her up with someone else?".
"I'll ask her" Klaus said, finally giving up, "Happy now?".
Aria smiled, "Very".
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Klaus asked, seeing Aria still standing there.
"Actually, yes" Aria replied, "I'm looking for Rebekah, she's the head of the dance committee, she's supposed to help me and Caroline set up the dance but we can't get through to her".
Klaus frowned, "That's weird, she came and handed me the last white oak stake she got from Alaric, then left saying she needs to organise the dance".
"Strange" Aria commented, "Maybe she's already at the school, I'll go check".
Klaus nodded, "Call me when you find her".
"Will do" Aria said, walking out of the room.
***
"So Alaric is trying to pull himself together, why is that a bad thing?" Caroline asked Aria, as they set their school hall up for the decade dance.
"Because I feel useless" Aria replied, "I want to help him, but I don't know how", Aria picked up a chandelier, "Where does this go again?".
Caroline looked at the chandelier in disgust, "Argh, I love Rebekah you know I do, but she needs to get a better taste, if she wants this thing hung, then she should've shown up to do it herself".
"That reminds me, where the hell is Rebekah?" Aria asked, worry rising in her heart, "She wasn't with Nik, and she's not here, so where did she go?".
"Maybe she's looking for a date for the dance?" Caroline suggested, also worried.
Aria sighed, "Maybe".
"Don't worry, you know Rebekah, she will never miss a dance, specially since she chose the theme" Caroline assured, turning over to Kol and Jeremy, who were standing on the ladder, hanging the stars from the ceiling, "What are you doing? You can't just hang them, they're supposed to trickle down".
"They're supposed to trickle down" Kol mocked in a girly tone, making Jeremy and Aria laugh.
"I hate you!" Caroline yelled.
"Impossible!" Kol yelled back.
"Stop making me laugh, I will fall" Jeremy warned, laughing at Caroline and Kol's interaction.
"Look at them, all bromancey" Caroline whispered into Aria's ear, making her smile.
"Yeah, since returning from Denver, they've been inseparable" Aria said, "Kol even compelled the manager at the Grill to give Jeremy his old job back".
"That was nice of him" Caroline said, smiling at Kol and Jeremy.
"Yeah it is, I think both of them are helping each other, Kol's taking Jeremy's mind off of Elena and the whole thing with Alaric by including him in all his stupid plans, while Jeremy's helping Kol adjust to everything he missed out while being daggered" Aria said.
"I love their friendship" Caroline gushed, before turning back to her friend, "Anyways change of topic, who are you bringing to the dance?".
"You know who" Aria replied.
"God, you have no idea how happy I am for you and Damon" Caroline said happily, "Damon is your epic love, and I was never going to down without a fight".
"I know you wouldn't have" Aria said, grateful for her friend, "Now, tell me who are you taking to the dance?".
"You know who" Caroline said, playfully glaring at Aria, "You forced him to ask me".
"Okay now that's a bit much, I never forced anyone, I just harmlessly threatened him" Aria joked, making Caroline laugh.
"Right, cause that's so much better" Caroline said.
"Of course it is" Aria said, "Now excuse me, I have to call Damon to ask him for the dance".
"Wait, you still haven't asked him?" Caroline asked.
"No" Aria mumbled, "In my defense, I was a bit busy".
"Unbelievable" Caroline mumbled, "Get out of here and go talk to Damon, I better see you both together at the dance".
"You will" Aria promised, walking out the hall to call Damon.
***
"Missing me already?" Damon teased, answering his phone.
"I have a very important question to ask you" Aria said, getting straight to the topic.
"Which would be what?" Damon asked.
"I'm going to the dance tonight, and I don't want to go alone, so I'm wondering, would you take me?" Aria asked.
Damon smiled hearing Aria, "Of course I will".
"Great" Aria said happily, "Pick me up from Caroline's at 7, don't be late".
"I would never" Damon assured.
***
Aria's hair and dress for the 1920s decade dance.
"Do I look okay?" Aria asked Caroline, nervously tugging on her dress.
"For the hundredth time Aria, yes you do, you look more then okay, you look beautiful" Caroline assured, "Why are you so nervous anyways, this isn't yours and Damon's first dance together".
"It is after our break up" Aria mumbled.
Caroline went to speak, when the doorbell rang.
Caroline opened the door and saw Klaus and Damon standing there, "Hey".
"Hello, love" Klaus said, smiling at Caroline.
"You clean up nice" Caroline commented, seeing Klaus in his white suit.
"Before you two continue you're thing, where's my date?" Damon asked.
"In our room" Caroline replied, Damon nodded and went into the room, while Caroline turned back to Klaus, "I'm sorry that Aria roped you into this, I know this isn't really your scene".
"Don't be silly love" Klaus said, "Even if Aria hadn't forced me to ask you, I would have still asked you to this dance".
"Really?" Caroline asked.
"Really?" Klaus replied, forwarding his arm for Caroline, "Shall we?".
Caroline smiled and looped her arm around Klaus's, "We shall".
Damon entered Caroline and Aria's shared bedroom, to see Aria standing infront of the mirror, talking to herself nervously, not realising Damon's presence.
"What was I thinking wearing this?" Aria mumbled, "This dress is not it Aria, you're such an idiot".
"Well I think you look beautiful" Damon said, standing behind Aria, startling her.
"Damon!" Aria yelled, turning around to face her boyfriend, "You scared me".
"Sorry" Damon said, giving Aria a small smile, "But you do look beautiful".
"I see you've not taken off the iconic leather jacket" Aria teased.
"You know, I would never" Damon said, "Anyways, I bought you something".
"What?" Aria asked confused.
Damon took out a blue flower pin from this jacket, "Caroline told me you were wearing blue, and very subtly told me to bring you something".
Aria laughed, "Subtle and Caroline, don't go together".
"No they don't" Damon agreed, "May I?".
"Of course" Aria replied, Damon very carefully pinned the flower on Aria's dress, "Thank you".
"Are you sure you even want to go to this dance?" Damon asked, lacing his fingers with Aria's, "Given every other dance we went to ended up in a disaster".
"Well this time that's not going to happen" Aria replied.
"No?" Damon asked.
"No" Aria repeated, "Tonight's going to be a fun night, no danger, no problems, nothing, just fun and a little of bit romance".
"Only a little bit of romance?" Damon asked.
Aria smiled, "Depends on how this dance goes".
"Well I better hope this dance goes well then" Damon said, making Aria laugh.
"Shall we leave then?" Aria asked.
"If we must" Damon replied.
Aria laughed at Damon, and with that both of them left for the decade dance.
***
"I hate teenagers" Kol complained, see all the dancing teenagers on the dance floor.
"You hate everyone" Jeremy commented.
"Not true" Kol said.
"So true" Jeremy retorted.
"Why do I even tolerate you?" Kol asked.
"Because you have no other friends" Jeremy replied.
"Neither do you" Kol retorted, "That's why you're hanging out with an Original".
"You're not horrible company" Jeremy defended.
"Of course I'm not, I'm the fun Mikaelson" Kol said.
"Sure you are" Jeremy said sarcastically.
"I've decided I don't like you" Kol said.
Jeremy went to retort, when his eyes landed on Bonnie, who was busy dancing with Jamie.
Kol followed Jeremy's eye, and frowned seeing the Bennett witch, "Oh, the ex".
"Yeah" Jeremy whispered, glaring at her.
"Don't tell me you still have feelings for her?" Kol asked.
"What?" Jeremy asked shocked, "Of course not, it's just, after everything she did, she still has the guts to come here and look so happy, I hate it".
Kol sighed, "Stop ruining your night because of her, she's not worth it, go find another girl and enjoy the night".
"No thanks" Jeremy said, "I don't dance".
"Do you drink alcohol?" Kol asked.
"Do you know who you're talking to?" Jeremy asked, "Of course I drink alcohol".
"Then go drink some" Kol replied.
"I know you've been daggered for a while, but despite that, you should know that this is a school dance" Jeremy reminded, "No alcohol allowed".
"No?" Kol asked,
"No" Jeremy replied.
"Then I wonder what this is" Kol said, pulling out a flask of alcohol from his suit pocket.
"You bought alcohol to the school dance?" Jeremy asked, making sure no one saw it.
"Of course I did, that's the only way I'm surviving this night, you and Ri forced me to attend" Kol complained, taking a swig of the drink.
"Give me some" Jeremy said, snatching the flask from Kol.
Kol chuckled, "What happened to no alcohol at the school dance".
"Shut up" Jeremy said, taking another swig of the drink, making Kol laugh.
***
Damon and Aria entered the decade dance hand in hand, they saw Klaus and Caroline dancing together, they also saw Kol and Jeremy standing on the sidelines, throwing candy at the people on the dance floor.
"You need to teach me some cool dance moves" Aria said.
"Of course" Damon said, grabbing Aria's hand and taking her to the dance floor.
As soon as Damon and Aria stepped on to the dance floor, the fast song changed into a small one, Damon smiled at Aria, and forwarded his hand for her, Aria smiled and placed her hand in his.
For a while Damon and Aria danced in silence, enjoying each other presences to the fullest.
"Caroline seems happy" Damon commented, looking towards Klaus and Caroline, who were also busy slow dancing.
"Yeah" Aria whispered, "They both make each other happy".
"They look good together" Damon commented.
"Hmm" Aria agreed.
"Thank you" Damon said suddenly.
"For what?" Aria asked.
"After everything I put you through, you still decided you wanted to go to this dance with me" Damon replied.
"Damon, you need to let go of that" Aria said.
"I can't Ria" Damon whispered, "I promised never to hurt you, but that's exactly what I did, I decided not to listen to the girl I love instead I listened to my evil brother".
"Look Damon, every relationship goes through some problems, just like ours did, but not every relationship overcomes the problem, but we did, and that's all the matters" Aria assured, "Just remember Damon, our love is pure and it's true, no matter what the future holds for us, Damon and Aria will always find their way back to each other".
"Promise?" Damon asked.
"I promise" Aria replied.
After dancing for a while, Aria saw Damon go into a deep thought.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Aria asked.
Damon sighed, "How about I tell you tomorrow? Tonight's all about fun and romance".
Aria frowned hearing Damon, "Damon, what's wrong?".
"Ria--".
"Don't even think about making a excuse" Aria warned, "Tell me what's wrong?".
"We should talk outside" Damon replied, knowing Aria won't rest till she found out what was happening.
Aria nodded and followed Damon out.
"Where are they going?" Jeremy asked confused, seeing Damon and Aria leave the dance.
"Let's find out" Kol replied, as him and Jeremy followed Aria and Damon out.
***
"Okay so Alaric didn't take the herbs, but that doesn't mean we can't do something else, find another cure" Aria said, as Damon told Aria about finding the herbs she gave Alaric, untouched in his apartment, and then him suspiciously calling Damon that his leaving town to get his head straight.
"We tried medicine, we tried magic" Damon reminded.
"What if we took him off vervain?" Aria suggested, "Maybe compel him?".
"To do what?" Damon asked, "Pretend to be Alaric? Ria I know this is going to hurt you, but the truth is, the guy we knew is gone, we're now talking about someone who not only hates vampires but also vampire sympathisers, which makes one of obvious targets, I don't know, you".
"He won't go after me Damon" Aria said, refusing to believe Alaric will attack her.
"You don't know that" Damon snapped.
"What the hell are you suggesting here?" Aria asked, glaring at the man infront of her.
Damon sighed, he knew his suggestion was going to hurt Aria, but it was the only cure he could think off, "I suggest we put him out of his misery".
"Are you out of your mind?!" Aria yelled.
"No way in hell" Jeremy snapped, walking over to the couple, with Kol beside him.
"Oh, come on, it's what he would want, it's a mercy killing" Damon said.
"You are out of your mind" Jeremy said.
"Agreed" Aria snapped.
Jeremy and Aria walked away from Damon and Kol.
Kol looked towards Damon, "Do you like putting your relationship in jeopardy?".
"Shut up Kol" Damon said, going in the direction Aria and Jeremy had left in.
"I knew I hated teenage dances for a reason" Kol complained, following after Damon.
***
"This is Alaric we're talking about, now he looked out for me and you, we need to do the same for him" Jeremy told Aria, as him and Aria walked in the empty school corridors.
"And we will" Aria assured, "I will figure something out, I promise we are not losing Alaric".
"Hello, Ariana".
Aria and Jeremy turned behind them to see Esther standing there.
"Esther" Aria whispered, shocking Jeremy, who knew all about what the women did to Aria in her past and current life.
Before Aria or Jeremy could do anything, Esther used her magic to throw both of them into the lockers, knocking them out.
***
"Jeremy, wake up" Kol said, shaking the unconscious Gilbert.
Jeremy groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
"What the hell happened to you?" Damon asked, "And where's Ria?".
"Esther" Jeremy whispered, shocking both Kol and Damon.
"Dammit!" Damon yelled, leaving Kol and Jeremy to go find Aria, last time Esther showed her face, Aria stabbed herself and nearly turned into a vampire, Damon couldn't let something like that happen again.
"Jeremy, go find Nik" Kol ordered.
"But Aria--".
"Me and Damon will find her" Kol assured, "You go get Nik".
Jeremy nodded and went back into the dance to find Klaus, while Kol ran after Damon to find Aria.
***
Kol and Damon walked out the school and tried to get out of the premises, but frowned when both of them couldn't step out.
"What the hell" Damon whispered, looking down to see a line of salt surrounding the whole school.
"Salt" Kol said, "It's a binding agent for a spell".
"We're trapped here" Damon realised, both Kol and Damon worried about what Esther was going to do Aria if they didn't get to her in time.
***
Kol and Damon entered the classroom where Bonnie and Jamie were making out in, they wanted nothing to do with the witch but she was the only other witch they knew who could help them.
"Sorry to spoil your seven minutes in heaven" Damon said, disgusted by what he just saw.
"You witch, are coming with us now, or I'm going to rip your dates throat out" Kol threatened, not in a mood for any games.
***
Elena and Esther entered the cemetery together.
"You'll forgive me for taking you from the dance this evening" Esther told Elena, turns out Esther didn't just take Aria, she also took Elena, "That's the burden of you being the doppelganger and Ariana being a Connor witch, I'm afraid, both of your blood is a potent binding agent for a witch's spell".
"Aria?" Elena asked confused, "You took her as well?".
"She's right there" Esther said, pointing to a unconscious Aria, who was laying on the floor of the cemetery, "Had to knock her out, otherwise she would have been a nuisance".
"Are you going to hurt Alaric?" Elena asked.
"She's not hurting me" Alaric replied, walking over to them.
"Ric" Elena whispered, walking towards Alaric, but stopped in her place seeing the look on his face, "What's going on?", Elena turned to Esther, "What are you doing with him?".
"I'm going to remake him" Esther replied.
"Remake him?" Elena asked confused.
"Make him strong" Esther clarified, "Fast, like my children, indestructible, for one final time, I'm going to tap into the dark magic I used a thousand years ago, like my husband Mikael, before him, I will make Alaric into a true hunter, the vampire to end all vampires".
"You can't create another Original" Elena snapped, "What if he turns out to be a even bigger monster than your children?".
"He won't, now that he's embraced his darkest aspect" Esther replied,
"His hatred for them will become more pure and uncompromising, in death, that hatred will be magnified".
"You don't know that" Elena snapped, "You don't know anything about him".
"That is where you're wrong" Esther said, "Each time he died with that ring, during his brief journey into death I was there, on the other side, I spoke to him, I nurtured him, knowing that every death brought him closer to his true self, vampires took everything from him, now he's getting his vengeance".
***
"You would have loved the 1920s, Caroline" Klaus said, as he danced with Caroline, both completely unaware of Esther being back, "Girls were reckless, sexy, fun, they literally used to dance until they dropped".
Caroline laughed, "I would love to go to a place like that, where people danced till they dropped".
Klaus smiled, "Perhaps one day, in a year, or even in a century, you and me will find that place".
"A century, huh?" Caroline asked, smiling at Klaus, "I don't think I can tolerate you for a century".
Klaus chuckled, "I think you are the only one who can tolerate me forever".
"Careful Klaus, if I didn't know better, I'd thinking you're falling for me" Caroline teased.
"Would that be so bad?" Klaus asked.
"I don't know" Caroline replied, "You tell me".
"Caroline, Klaus" A panicked Jeremy said, walking over to Caroline and Klaus, "We have a problem".
Caroline groaned, "We have a problem every dance, what happened this time?".
"Esther is back and she took both Aria and Elena" Jeremy revealed, shocking both Caroline and Klaus.
***
Bonnie stood in the classroom, trying to break Esther's boundary spell, while Damon, Kol, Klaus, Caroline, Jeremy, Jamie and Stefan, who found out about Elena missing, stood near her, impatiently waiting for her to break the spell.
"She does this all the time, right?" A worried Jamie replied, but no one else replied.
"What's taking so long?" Klaus asked, worried for his best friend, "All boundary spells have a loophole".
A panicked Matt entered the classroom, "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier".
"I can leave, I can stop Esther myself, we just gotta find out where she is" Jeremy said, wanting to save Aria.
"I'll come with you" Matt said.
"No need" Jeremy snapped, making Matt frown, Jeremy wasn't just pissed at Bonnie and Elena, he was furious at Matt also for breaking Aria's trust.
"Suicide, Jeremy" Stefan said.
"Who asked you to speak?" Kol snapped, very much on edge right now and being surrounded by his enemies didn't help.
Klaus, having enough of Bonnie, speeded over to Jamie and held him in a choke hold, making it hard for him to breath, "Suicide would be disappointing me", Klaus turned to Bonnie, "Now, work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy".
"Let him go!" Bonnie yelled.
"Not until you get us out of here" Klaus said.
"Ah, don't be stupid Klaus, Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us" Stefan said, "The only reason she's helping right now is to save Caroline and Tyler, you start killing people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell".
"Oh screw off" Caroline snapped, "Bonnie doesn't care about anyone except poor little, backstabbing, Elena".
After a moment, Klaus let go of Bonnie and stepped back, while Jamie fell into a coughing fit.
***
"Ric, this isn't what you want" Elena said, as Esther started lighting the candles, "It's not who you are".
"You don't know who I am, Elena" Alaric said, "You only know the weakest parts of me, the man who lost his way, befriending vampires instead of killing them".
"Fine, maybe I don't know you, but Aria did" Elena said, using Aria to stop Alaric, "You consider her your daughter, think about how she's going to feel when you turn into a Original".
Alaric looked towards an unconscious Aria, and Elena swore for a second she saw the old Alaric, but he disappeared before Elena could say anything.
"I'm doing Aria a favour by getting rid of all the monsters in her life" Alaric replied.
"You don't mean that" Elena said.
"They're all monsters" Alaric snapped, "The blood of their victims is on my hands".
Elena shook her head and stepped back from Alaric while Esther stepped forward, "When you are ready".
"No, Ric, please, don't" Elena pleaded, "Don't do this", Alaric ignored Elena and placed his hand in Esther's, "I won't help you, I'm not gonna give you my blood, you're gonna have to kill me".
"That won't be necessary" Esther assured, using her magic to create a cut in Elena's hand, she then grabbed her hand and forced her blood to fall into the bowl.
"Alaric, if you would" Esther said, gesturing towards Aria.
Alaric nodded, he grabbed an unconscious Aria, and bought her near the alter, where Esther made a cut into her hand as well and made the blood fall into the bowl.
Alaric gently put Aria back down on the ground after there was enough blood.
"Drink, and let it be done" Esther said.
Alaric picked up the bowl.
"No Ric, please don't" Elena pleaded, but he ignored her and drank the blood, "No".
Alaric placed the bowl back down and looked at Esther, "Is it finished?".
"Not just yet" Esther replied.
Elena let out a scream when Esther stabbed Alaric with the white oak stake she made indestructible with the Gilbert ring.
***
Bonnie grabbed a map of Mystic Falls from one of the classrooms and placed it on the table.
"Here" Damon said, handing Bonnie a vile of blood, "Jeremy made a little Gilbert blood donation for your spell, we suspect that where Elena is, that's where we are going to find Ria".
"I have to do this with you three lurking over me?" Bonnie asked Damon, Kol and Klaus.
"Yes you do" Kol snapped, "Now get on with it witch, or god so help me".
"Let's cut the dramatics and begin, shall we?" Klaus asked.
Bonnie poured Jeremy's blood on to the map and started chanting, but nothing happened, "Esther is fighting me".
"Or maybe you're not as strong as you think" Kol snapped, making Bonnie frown, "God, Ri could easily break this spell if she was here".
"Even if Esther is channeling Aria, she couldn't possibly have this much power unless she's channeling something else as well" Klaus said.
"A hot spot" Bonnie realised.
"I know where she is" Kol realised.
"Get the humans ready" Klaus ordered, realising the same thing as Kol.
"Where is she exactly?" Damon asked.
"The place where me and Nik killed her" Kol replied, "The old cemetery".
***
"He'll wake soon" Esther assured Elena, as she took the stake out of Alaric's chest, "When he does, he may, for a time, be his old self, if so, you and Aria can say your goodbyes before his transition is complete".
"Aria's going to kill you" Elena spat.
"Ariana doesn't have it in her to fight me" Esther said.
"That's not true" Elena said, "If Aria couldn't fight you then a thousand years ago you wouldn't have been threatened by her".
"I admit, Ariana was a threat to me then, but right now she hasn't unlocked her full potential, she doesn't even know how to use her banshee powers, she won't be able to harm me" Esther said.
"She stopped you from killing the Originals, didn't she?" Elena asked, glaring at Esther, "Right now, me and Aria are not on the best terms, but I still know her, and I know how much she loves proving people wrong who underestimate her, you said you wanted to undo the evil that you created, but this--this is just as evil".
"Alaric will never be what my children became" Esther argued, "I have granted him enough power to complete his task, then, when the time is right, he will die".
"How? If he's immortal--".
"All you need to know is when this is over, we will have rid Earth of vampires once and for all" Esther said.
"Yeah, but you'll be killing the good along with the bad" Elena said, "You're no better than Klaus".
"Am I not?" Esther asked, "I desire a world where you and your loved ones will not suffer at the hands of vampires, like Aria's parents did".
"Aria's parents died because of the cycle you created!" Elena yelled, "You started the Petrova Connor curse when you brainwashed Tatia to kill Ariana".
"Oh but I didn't start this" Esther said, confusing Elena, "The Connor Petrova feud is much older then me, there's a lot you don't know about it".
Elena looked at Esther in confusion, but before she could ask her any questions, she heard a twig break, following the sound, Esther froze when Matt came out of the shadows, pointing a gun at her, "Don't move" He warned.
"Where's Aria?" Jeremy asked, pointing a crossbow at Esther.
"Jeremy" Elena said.
"Where's Aria?" Jeremy repeated.
"She's still unconscious" Elena replied, feeling a bit hurt that Jeremy didn't care if she was okay or not, "She won't wake up".
"Give her to me" Jeremy ordered Esther, worried for his best friend.
"How foolish of you to risk your lives in defense of those who will kill you" Esther said, "But if that is your choice".
Esther used her magic and made Jeremy and Matt point there weapons at each other.
"Matt!" Jeremy yelled, "Matt, drop your gun!".
"I can't!" Matt yelled, "I'm not controlling it!".
"Esther, stop it!" Elena yelled.
Matt and Jeremy were about to shoot each other, when suddenly Esther's magic stopped, confusing her.
Esther turned around to see a furious Aria standing behind her, "No" Esther whispered, "You shouldn't be able to stop my magic".
"You really underestimate me, bitch" Aria spat, using her magic, to throw a branch towards Esther, and impaling her right through the heart.
"Aria!" Jeremy yelled, running over to the weak witch and steadying her before she fell over.
"Ric" Aria cried, having seen a dead Alaric when she woke up, "Jeremy, Ric".
"What happened to Ric?" Jeremy asked confused.
Before Aria could reply, a confused Alaric came over to them, "Where's my ring?" He asked, he looked at Aria and froze seeing her hysterical state, "What happened?".
***
"Damon's here" Jeremy informed, walking over to Aria and Alaric, "And Klaus took Esther's body".
"Does he know about the stake?" Alaric asked.
"No" Jeremy replied, "I figured it was for the best if Aria told him, if he heard it from her, he would be less mad".
Alaric nodded, "Jeremy, Aria, there's something I need to tell you, I'm not gonna complete the transition".
"No" Aria whispered, "Ric, no, please".
"Aria, my dark side was dangerous enough as a human" Alaric said, "I can't be a vampire".
"So what? We're gonna lock you in here and let you die?" Jeremy snapped.
Alaric stayed silent, letting Aria and Jeremy know his decision, "Ric we will find another way, there's always another way, please".
"Listen guys, it's the right thing to do" Alaric said, "Okay? After everything that's happened, after--after all that I've done, maybe I had it coming".
"Screw that!" Aria yelled, "I've already lost my parents, I lost the Gilbert parents and now I'm losing you to?".
"Please guys, let's not make this any harder than it already is" Alaric pleaded, "You two should go".
"No" Aria cried, "I'm not leaving you".
"Aria--".
"No Ric!" Aria yelled, "If you want to die and leave me, then fine, but I'm not leaving you!".
"Fine" Alaric said, "But Jeremy you're leaving, the less people here the better".
Jeremy slowly nodded and started to walk away.
"Hey, hey" Alaric said, stopping Jeremy.
"Don't" Jeremy said, "Don't give me some crap speech about how I need to be the man of the house".
"Okay" Alaric whispered, he stepped forward and pulled Jeremy into a hug, "I won't".
After Jeremy left, Alaric turned to Aria.
"This my fault" Aria sobbed, "Once again I failed to save someone I care about, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry Ric".
"Don't do that" Alaric warned, "You did save me Aria, by being my daughter you saved me from going down a very dark hole, having you in my life has been the greatest blessing, taking care of you and Jeremy has been the closest I've ever come to the life I always wanted".
Aria stepped forward and hugged Alaric, "Thank you for everything, thank you for being the best father a daughter could ask for".
After their emotional moment, Aria and Alaric stepped out to see Meredith, Jeremy, Kol, Damon, Caroline, even Stefan, Elena, Matt, Bonnie and Tyler, were standing there, all there to say goodbye to Alaric.
Alaric glanced at everyone once and after giving them a small nod, went back inside to wait it out.
***
Kol and Jeremy entered the Grill, Kol grabbed a bottle from the bar and poured himself and Jeremy a shot.
"If we get caught, we are going to get in so much trouble" Jeremy said.
"I can always compel them to ignore us, right now you need this" Kol said, handing Jeremy the shot.
Jeremy picked the shot up, "To Alaric".
"To Alaric" Kol repeated, cheering with Jeremy, then downing the drink.
Jeremy stared at the empty glass, while letting the tears he was holding back finally spill, and Kol let him, knowing that was what he needed.
***
Aria and Damon sat outside the crypt, Damon hugging Aria close to her and letting her cry it out, while they both waited for Meredith to come out.
"I gave him a sedative" Meredith informed, walking over to the couple, "He'll fall asleep first, he'll go comfortably".
"Well, I offered to snap his neck, put him out of his misery, but he didn't take me up on it" Damon said, tightening his hold on Aria who didn't lift her head up, just kept silently crying.
"You seem surprised" Meredith commented.
"Well, you'd just think a guy so used to dying wouldn't wanna drag it out" Damon said.
"Well, it was nice of you to give him the option" Meredith said.
"Mm-hm" Damon whispered, "Apparently, my choices have been a little controversial lately".
"Aria, you shouldn't leave him alone in there, he needs you" Meredith said, to the hysterical witch.
"He wouldn't--he wouldn't let me stay with him" Aria said, "He said he doesn't want me to see him die".
"Is that really what you think he wants?" Meredith asked, walking away from the duo.
***
After crying for a bit more, Aria realised Meredith wasn't right, she needed to be there for Alaric, so she gathered herself together, and both Damon and Aria entered the crypt where Alaric was, a bottle of alcohol in Damon's hand.
"Oh, Ric" Damon whispered, as him and Aria sat either side of him.
"Is this the part where you give me a dream?" Alaric joked, "Rainbows and rolling green hills".
"I was drunk when I told you that" Damon said.
Alaric chuckled, "Yeah, and I told you I'd use it against you".
"Damn you" Damon said, taking a sip of his drink, "I'm sorry I killed you".
"So I have to actually die to get a real apology out of you" Alaric teased.
Damon forwarded the bourbon towards Alaric, "Drink?".
"Actually, I've been thinking about cutting back" Alaric replied.
Damon chuckled, "Yeah, this stuff will kill you".
"You're awfully quiet" Alaric told Aria.
"If I talk, I'm going to burst into tears" Aria whispered.
"Fair enough" Alaric whispered, feeling tears of his own.
Aria and Damon sat there in silent, as they watched Alaric's eyes slowly close.
"I--I need to go" Aria said, suddenly getting up and running out the crypt, all of a sudden having trouble breathing.
Aria ran as fast as she could, she didn't know where she was running or for how long she was running for, she just kept running until her legs couldn't take it anywhere and she fell to the ground and let out a loud scream.
***
Presenting 3x20 of The Vampire Diaries . . .
I hated writing this chapter so much 😢
Anyways, thoughts on Jeremy and Kol's bromance?
Thoughts on Daria and Klaroline at the dance?
Thoughts on Alaric turning into an Original?
Thoughts on Alaric not completing the transition?
Below are some amazing edits the amazing jozzyruby08 made for this book, can I just say how much I love the graphics people keep making for this book, keep sending them I love them so much!