A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait but here it is. There's a picture of Aria and Xander on the side. Enjoy!
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~Xanders POV~
I can't help but feel jealous. I told Lynn how Aria didn't matter to me when realistically she matters too much because I know if I try to tear her away from Casper then she'll break. Then you have Pheonix who's done so many goddamn terrible things yet gets a soul mate like Lynn on a fucking silver platter and she even goes through the trouble with getting everybody out of the house just so the first time they sleep together it will be romantic.
Great, now I'm being bitter because my brother has a better love life than me. No, instead I get a strong willed, annoying, smart ass soul mate who's smile's so beautiful and laugh so light I cant stop thinking about it.
"This is pointless, I know I cant have her" I mumbled to myself while taking a turn around another building.
I ditched Neal, Nate, and Jade at the movies so I would be able to walk around and clear my head hopefully of the gorgeous doe eyed brunette who keeps invading it. Fuck, this is not working at all.
A whimper from a nearby alley had me picking up my speed, not because I'm trying to be a good person for once, but because something felt wrong. Really wrong.
As soon as I turned the corner and felt a wave of fear pierce into me, I rushed forward, throwing away the two guys who were ganging up on my cute little soul mate who is currently curled into a ball on the ground.
My eyes were stuck on her, not caring if those two fae were on their way back for revenge. I just saw her and there was nothing else, "Aria, Darling, are you alright?"
Her lip shook as she looked up at me, "Xander?" she questioned in a broken voice and I couldn't help but feel her pain.
When her eyes darted behind me I realized that I was too focused on her and the men were coming back. I let out a snarl at the thought that they planned on hurting Aria and turned to rip out their hearts, only I figured might as well get a bit of answers first.
I shot towards the first one, holding him off the ground by his neck while kicking the other man away when he tried to come after me to save his friend.
"Who sent you after her?" I growled out, my eyes glaring red into his.
"Fuck. You" he choked out, making me smirk.
I tightened my hold before dropping him then walking over to his friend and ripping out his heart, keeping it my hand while walking back to the original punk and grabbing him by his throat again and showing him the heart.
"You don't talk mate, and this will be you" I told him nodding towards the heart then gesturing his friend, "If you like I can shove it down your throat until you choke and have that be the way you die, seeing as your friend doesn't need this anymore" I taunted, a light smile on my face.
I heard a gasp from behind me, "Xander" Aria said lightly, reminding me that she was innocent and shouldn't be seeing this kind of stuff.
With a sigh I looked back at the man trying to free himself from my gasp, "Look mate, I'm trying to get in this little beauty's good books so if you could just help me out and give me the name of who sent you, it will save me the trouble of having to torture you and you the pain."
He stayed silent but looked down, "No? Alright, hard way it is" I stated and compelled him to sleep. Soon enough he would be tied up in Pheonix's basement, but before that can happen I need to get Aria somewhere safe.
I dropped the heart and wiped my hands off on my pants, letting my new hostage drop to the ground and turned to face Aria.
My heart broke a little at seeing her sitting there with tears running down her face, "Come here, Dove" I said gently, reaching my hand out to her,
She stared at my hand for a while before finally placing hers in mine, letting me pull her up and into my chest where she hugged herself to me, shivering. I wrapped my arm around her waist and kept her close to me while running my hand gently over her hair.
"You're fine, Aria. Everything's okay now" I whispered to her.
"I c-cant stop shaking and crying. God! Why cant I stop crying!" she yelled while hitting my chest.
I gently caught her little hands and tilted her head so I could fully see into her eyes, "Please don't hate me for this afterwards but I can't keep you safe if you leave a trail of fear to lead them right to us." I paused, thinking how delicate she looked in my arms, "I need you to sleep, darling" I compelled, catching her in my arms when she finally accepted the compulsion.
Before picking her up I fished out my phone and dialed Jade, knowing Pheonix wouldn't want to be interrupted at the moment.
"Yeah?" She asked in only a way Jade could.
"Hey Love, I need you to come pick up a body for me. I have quite some nasty torture planned for him tomorrow so if you could just-"
"Why cant you do it? You know I hate touching them when their all floppy and shit" she whined, making me role my eyes and get a better but gentle grip on Aria.
"Jadabell I have something that requires my current attention. Can you please just come get them?" I asked, knowing she would hear the desperate tone of my voice.
"Of course, where are you?" she asked gently, turning into the sister I love to hate.
Where am I? I finally looked around and noticed I was at the all familiar starbucks where Lynn happened to work. Why the hell was Aria wandering around out here so late? And alone?
"Right outside the starbucks where Lynn works. Its deserted now because of the time but still should anyone find the bodies-"
"No worries, I gotchu bro." she stated happily, letting me slip in a thank you before hanging up.
Turning all of my attention to Aria I decided it was time to take her home where she would be safe with me protecting her and hybrids around every corner. With a smile on my lips I picked her up fully and carried her away in my arms, not being able to help the fact that I loved the shivers that go through my body every time I touch her.
Once I got Aria safe inside the house, I quietly carried her up to my room, trying my hardest not to disturb Pheonix and Lynn who were fast asleep in his bedroom. I finally took in Aria's injuries, seeing how she had a deep cut on her head but that wasn't the only thing I noticed, her clothes were all torn. They better not have touched her.
With a sigh I realized that Pheonix would not like what I was about to do but he's going to have to deal with it. Right now we have one of the people after Lynn and they were most likely using Aria to get to her, and I'm not ever going to let that happen again.
~PHEONIX POV~
The sound of someone opening my bedroom door is what made me remove my arm from around Lynn's naked waist and turn to face the intruder.
"I need your help brother" Xanders voice stated from the door, making me groan and run my hand over my face.
What the hell could he need this early in the morning, when he can clearly see that I don't want to be interrupted. I swear he has the worst timing.
"What do you want Xander?" I growled out, wishing he would just go away.
He sighed, "Look, I know this is a terrible time but I need you to come with me" he said, fidgeting nervously.
I narrowed my eyes at him, he never acts like this, nothing ever worries him. I looked over at Lynn resting peacefully beside me, her beauty hidden by the covers. With a sigh I turned back to Xander, "Xander I don't know what has you all wound up but I'm going to be blunt. Lynn and I just slept together, for the first time. Do you realize how awful a person I would be if she woke up and I wasn't here? She'll think I right up and left her"
Now he looked angry, "I know what you two did but come on, Pheonix! This is the one time I'm asking you for help so wake her up, bring her with, hell, write her a note! I don't care but you need to come help me because her best friend is unconscious in my room and there's about to be a hostage in your basement"
I froze and sat up, "Bloody hell mate, I didn't know you wanted her that bad" I stated in an amused tone.
He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly looking tired, "She's gonna need some clothes and will probably want her best friend when she wakes up" he explained, "And as for the hostage, Jade just got home with him"
After letting out a deep breath I closed my eyes and spoke quietly, "I'll meet you in your room after I wake her up and explain everything and for that you probably shouldn't be here because when it comes to Aria, Lynn gets a tad overprotective and she might just try to kill you"
He nodded, "Understood" then turned to walk out but paused midway through the door, "Thank you, Pheonix" he stated and shut the door behind him, leaving me here to wake up my sleeping beauty.
I ran my thumb gently over her cheek, tracing it around her plump little lips then sighed, hating what I was about to do.
"Lynn, sweetheart?" I questioned quietly. She groaned and nuzzled her face more into the pillow, seemingly trying to ignore me.
I ran my hand down along the side of her hip before trying again, "I'm so sorry Angel, but I need you to wake up."
"No" she mumbled out in her supposed to be angry voice. God she's like my angry little kitten, I love it.
Unfortunately for her I know exactly what it takes to wake her up, "Love, Aria's hurt and she needs you"
At those words she shot up into a sitting position and stared at me, a wild look in her eyes, "What's wrong? What happened? Is she okay?"
A light smile graced my lips at how much those two care about each other, they'd fight for one another till the end and that I had no doubt about.
I stood up, not caring that I had nothing on in front of her, and walked over towards my dresser, grabbing out a pair of jeans and slipping them on, not bothering with a shirt. I did however start to pick out one of my shirts for Lynn but before I could, she stopped me.
She strolled towards me, enchanting me with every step she took, "No Nix, I can pick out my own clothes. Now tell me what happened to Aria"
I watched as she slipped on some blue lace panties and some of her boxer shorts, then stole the shirt out of my hand and slipped it on, not once taking her eyes off me. I knew I was smiling but that didn't matter, she's the only one who ever see's this side of me anyway.
"The only thing I know is someone attacked Aria, apparently Xander found her and brought her back here along with the man who was stupid enough to attack her. He's currently being held hostage in my basement" I explained then leaned towards her, needing to feel her lips against mine, needing to feel her skin against mine.
She smiled and gave me a quick peck before turning to walk out of the room, "So where is she?"
I sighed and shook my head, a little disappointed she wanted to be with her friend more than me but I pushed that feeling aside. After all they had known each other way longer and will probably always be together so I'd have to deal with it.
"She's in Xander's room, he said she'll need some clothes but I don't know what so we can go check on her first" I told her and walked ahead to hold the door open for her.
She stepped out into the hall and paused, turning to face me, "Look I know me and Xander are friends but that doesn't mean I know where his room is" she said with a slight smile on her face. Such a smart ass. I love it.
I smirked, "Of course not, Love. I'll lead the way" I stated deeply before bringing her face up to mine and kissing her.
With a smile on my face I headed towards Xanders room, noticing that there was a bit of yelling going on inside, meaning Aria had woken up.
As soon as I opened the door Lynn pushed her way in front of me, seeing how her friend was sobbing on the bed while yelling at Xander.
"Aria? Ari, you okay? What happened?" Lynn asked, running and sitting on the bed with her friend and pulling her into a tight hug.
Aria wrapped her arms around Lynn and cried into her shoulder, "these guys they- they attacked me and were trying to do stuff and I think they wanted you but no way was I selling you out and they got mad but Xander was there and he saved me and-" her words got stuck in her throat and more sobs came out.
"Shh it's okay, you're okay now I wont let anyone hurt you I promise. Do you want me to call Casper? He's probably worried sick" Lynn asked, and Aria paused. Not the reaction I would have expected.
Aria glanced at Xander and he caught her gaze, keeping it trapped in his until he looked away and spoke, "Yeah Lynn, call him" he stated and walked out of the room.
Lynn moved away from Aria, "Promise I'll be right back" she told her, making Aria sniffle and nod, "could you bring me a new shirt? and maybe some new pants? These ones are ripped and covered in dirt" she asked, her broken gaze never leaving Lynn's.
"Of course," she said and looked at me, "Don't leave her until I get back" Lynn ordered, her emotions pouring into me.
Lynn hesitated at the door and turned back to me, "I won't leave, sweetheart. I promise" I said and she smiled and nodded then left, shutting the door behind her.
I tuned in my hearing to listened to what was going on, "Xander, hold up" she said in the hall before walking closer to him.
"I know what you're going to say, you're mad at me and I messed up I broke your friend-" Lynn cut him off.
"Shut up, Xander. I wanted to say thank you. If it weren't for you I have no idea if my best friend would even be alive right now and-" she sighed, "And I need you to give Aria your blood"
I stiffened and Xander seemed to have the same response because Lynn continued, her words careful, "Aria's damaged in more ways than one and while I'm betraying her trust right now I cant lose her. Your blood will not only heal her but it will also stay in her system so she'll heal quickly if anyone tries to hurt her again anytime soon"
Xander sighed, "It will also bind my emotion to hers which will make it even harder for me to leave her alone to live her own life without me constantly interrupting. While I understand where you're coming from I cant do that. Not to her and not to myself"
Way to take the high road, brother.
I could feel Lynn's anger and guilt seeping into me and then she spoke, "Xander if you care for her at all, you'll do this for me. I need to know she's safe, I can't let her die because of me. If you keep her safe theres a chance her feelings will grow."
Xander growled, "That was a bitch move, kitten" he stated and I heard footsteps headed towards this room.
"What did she do because you look like you cant choose an emotion to stick with" Aria said from the bed, reminding me that I was supposed to be watching her, not eavesdropping on Lynn and Xander's conversation.
Xander opened the door and walked in, his face wiped of any emotion, "Pheonix, I need to talk with Aria for a second" he told me, followed by Lynn walking in and handing Aria some clothes, her face masked from all the guilt she was feeling at forcing Xander to do this and going behind her friends back in order to do it.
"Come on Love, lets leave them to it" I stated, wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her out the door, making sure to shut it behind me.
"Tell me what I did wasn't completely terrible" she stated, turning to face me with all the regret and guilt washing over her face.
I brought her into my arms, a little shocked she knew I would be listening but also proud of her for knowing how I work, "Xander will forgive you and Aria wont find out. This will all work out, Sweetheart. What you did was in no way terrible, I promise" I assured her, resting my chin on her head.
Xander walked out of his room and shut the door behind him then saw Lynn and my arms and walked over towards us, making Lynn step back out of my embrace and turn to face him.
"I'm sorry, Xander. I shouldn't have forced you to do that-" he cut her off and brought her into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly and she hugged herself tight against him.
"Shut up, kitten. What you did was wrong but I understand why you did it and I forgive you. Now call her boyfriend and go comfort your friend. She wont remember me giving her blood, I compelled her not to" he explained and Lynn froze.
"She's wearing vervain and she's your soul mate, she shouldn't be able to be compelled by you" she stated, backing away from him and looking towards his bedroom door.
"I took off her necklace and as long as soul mates trust each other, the compulsion works. It worked earlier and it worked now" he stated and Lynn smiled.
"That means she trusts you" she stated happily, and Xander shook his head and walked away, "Call her damn boyfriend, Lynn" Xander finished and left our view, most likely going downstairs to interrogate our new prisoner.
Lynn walked back into my room and grabbed her new phone then walked back out in the hall, already talking on it.
"Yeah she's here with me but you should come, she wants you. She needs you, I don't know what they did to her but she needs your security" she stated and listened to Casper then said a quick bye and hung up.
Lynn pursed her lips and turned back to face me, "So not that I condone torture but you should probably go help Xander get some information from the attacker dude"
~ARIA'S POV~
At least my heads feeling better, plus the blood stopped rushing down my face so Xander's blood actually helped me then. I'll let him think his compulsion worked on me if it will make him feel better but until he uses it on me for reasons that aren't heroic then everybody gets to think i accepted his compulsion.
Well, there's one thing good that came out of this whole soul mate thing, I get to choose whether or not I actually let his compulsion work.
Lynn walked into Xander's room to join me after I had slipped on her clothes and that seemed to solve all of the angry talking that was going on in the hall. Guess she pissed some people off.
She smiled at me, "Hey, I called Casper, he's on his way. Any reason you didn't jump at the thought of having him come comfort you?" she asked sitting on the bed next to me and pulling something out of her pocket, "By the way, I brought some chocolate" Ugh bless her.
I took the chocolate from her and broke off a piece, plopping it into my mouth before deciding to answer, "There's something about Xander and I cant deny that a part of me, a tiny part, likes that something" I raised a shoulder in a half shrug then continued, "I already cheated on Cas with Mark and now I'm getting feelings for a seriously charming and sexy old vampire who seems to be able to protect me in ways that Casper cant and I don't want him to walk in here and see that in my eyes"
Lynn pursed her lips in contemplation and broke off a piece of my chocolate and munched on that. The bitch, that's my chocolate. With a sigh she met my gaze, "Pheonix and I had sex and I want to be friends with Damon again" she stated while picking at the comforter beneath us.
"Please tell me you weren't thinking about Damon while you two-"
"No! God no! I just mean Damon always made things kind of playful and fun and I miss that because now things are all serious" Lynn explained.
I smiled, "So how was he? Great? Fantastic? Gorgeous?"
She laughed and smiled, avoiding my gaze, "It was really great. Mind blowing even and he is completely gorgeous. And honestly? I just want to stick to him like glue now. Like now that I've had a taste of him I cant get enough"
I laughed, "Could you feel the sparks during it? Cause I mean I know every time Xander touches me there's these zaps that just fill me with this desire-"
"Yeah, they were there. So you and Casper still haven't done it then?" She asked, making me frown.
"See that's the thing. We have but now that I've felt Xander's presence on me, every time we kiss or have sex I can't help but feel like its missing something" I explained, knowing how everything I said just sounds terrible.
She sighed, "I feel different, you know? Did that happen to you? After you had sex for the first time did you feel different? I just feel like something inside of me has changed" she said.
With a forced laugh I responded, "I felt like shit cause I cheated on my boyfriend" I shook my head, "No, I mean I felt more responsible I guess, but nothing like that" I paused and let out a laugh, "Hey, maybe your pregnant"
She joined me in laughing, "I wonder what that's gonna feel like in the future. Not going to be able to have children that are actually yours. I kinda always wanted children, so I don't really know how I feel about this"
I shrugged, "I wouldn't worry about that, since you're still human you could always get a surrogate or adopt a child, but you're right. It's not the same"
Then Casper walked in, as soon as I saw him I couldn't help but smile, we've been through so much together and he's always been there for me and here I am thinking about my feelings for Xander. I'm such a terrible girlfriend.
"Hey hon" he said quietly, bringing me into his arms and rubbing my back soothingly.
For some reason I started crying, "I love you Casper" I told him, running my hand through his hair, "I love you so much".
He leaned back to he could look into my eyes and I was captured by his gorgeous green ones, "I love you too Aria. Are you okay?"
I shook my head and looked down, "Technically I'm okay but I'm not"
He smiled sadly, "well I don't care about technicalities" he said and pulled me back into his chest but then froze.
"Why do you smell so much like Pheonix's brother?" he asked in a low voice.
Lynn stood up, "Guess I'll give you guys some room, I have to go talk to Pheonix anyway" she said and walked out. What a bitch, just bailing and leaving me to answer.
"Well Xander was the one to save me and carry me here plus this is his room so I'm bound to smell like him" I explained, my eyes narrowed in confusion.
Cas shook his head, "No, it's more than that. You smell like him" he paused and leaned in towards me, his lips brushing against my neck while he took a deep breath.
He leaned back, shock on his face, "Did he give you his blood?"
My throat dried up, now I have to either let Xander know his compulsion didn't work and disappoint him by betraying him in a way by ratting him out, or lie to my trusting boyfriend. Sadly, I had already made my choice when I said, "No! What are you talking about?"
He frowned, and I don't know if he believed my lie or not but he seemed to accept it because he shook his head and looked back at me with a smile, "You're right, why would you let him give you blood. You know how intimate it is, I'm just being weird, sorry hon" Ouch. Guilt trip.
I looked away from him, "Are you allowed to take me home or what? Cause I wanna get out of here" Away from Xander and my developing feelings for him.
He stood up and held a hand out for me, "Let's go find out, on the way maybe we'll find Lynn so she can clear a few things up" Hopefully Xander giving me blood isn't one of those things.
Once I placed my hand in his, he pulled me up and into his arms then led me out of the bedroom, his arm wrapped securely around my waist. We got out into the hall and nearly ran into Lynn on the way down the stairs, fortunately she caught herself on the railing.
"Woah, in a hurry much?" she joked, watching Casper who had a hard look in his eyes and the happy look on Lynn's face dropped and became serious.
"What'd I do?" She asked him but he just closed his eyes and shook his head so she looked to me for an answer.
I shrugged and looked at Casper, "Babe whats wrong?"
He stared at me, "She's been everywhere you have, in his room, she hugs him and he carried you, and yet, she doesn't smell like him nearly as much as you do" Casper stated, his hard gaze on me.
Well shit.
At the shameful look on my face he spoke again, "You lied to me, he did give you his blood" guess I'm not as good at lying as I thought.
That's when Lynn spoke up, "No Casper she didn't lie, she had no idea it even happened. I told him to do it and he compelled her after. It was me, so If you want someone to be mad at, make it me, not her. She had no Idea any of this was even going on" Yes I did.
So there it is again, my choice being made. Either let my best friend take the fall for something I knew was going on all along but I could get away with because she doesn't know I wasn't compelled. Or tell the truth to my boyfriend, avoid lying to my best friend, and let Xander know I wasn't compelled.
I can't lie to her. "No I knew. I'm not gonna let Lynn take the blame for something when I knew about it and could have told you but I chose not to. I chose to lie to protect-"
"Him. You chose him over me?" Casper asked both shock and hurt skirting across his sharp features.
I looked to the ground, guilt filling me, "I'm so sorry Casper but you don't understand I couldn't-"
"What?" he yelled, "You couldn't let him get hurt? But you don't mind at all if I do? Are you kidding me Aria? After everything we've been through?"
"Hey" Lynn yelled, getting in front of me because Casper was getting threateningly close and a rage filled vampire is never good. No matter how much they love you, or did love you in my case.
Lynn continued while putting a hand on Casper's chest to get him away from me, "Do not talk to her like that! You don't understand what they are"
Casper scoffed, "What? Fuck buddies? Yeah you're right, I don't understand and I don't want to" Ouch.
Tears were running down my face, "Casper I didn't mean for it to happen but we're soul mates and-"
"Bull shit Aria! Lynn you're seriously backing her up? You never even believed in this shit before Pheonix came around" Casper yelled, trying to turn my best friend against me.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, "You're joking right? She's my best friend and she's right and even if she wasn't I will always take her side over anyone elses you fucking dick so just back off and go home!"
He snarled and his fangs came out, "You know what Lynn? This doesn't even involve you!" Casper said, shoving Lynn away, only we're still on the stairs and he seemed to forget that. Or maybe he didn't I don't know either way dick move.
"Lynn" I yelled, reaching out to grab her hand but she was falling to fast and screaming as she went.
Then Pheonix appeared, catching Lynn safely in his arms, with Xander following not far behind. Pheonix made sure she was safe before gently passing her to Xander and growling, appearing in front of Casper right after, holding him against the wall and far away from me.
"Bad move, mate" Pheonix growled out, Xander appearing beside him, "Agreed" he stated before looking at me, seemingly making sure I was untouched before turning back to Casper, his arm still wrapped around Lynn's waist keeping her steady.
Jealousy stung through me at the thought of them together but I pushed it away, knowing that friends don't get jealous of each other and that I shouldn't be feeling that way about Xander anyway.
Lynn stepped away from Xander and walked towards me but he beat her to it by flashing in front of me, his hands on either side of my face, "You okay, little dove?"
I managed to nod, ignoring the special feeling I got for him giving me a cute nickname, and turned back to face Casper and Pheonix.
"Well?" Pheonix questioned, his gaze only on Xander meaning he gets to make the decision.
Xander shook his head at Pheonix and mumbled, "Let the sod go, brother. It's their problem to work out and while I did give her my blood, I did it because it was the only way to save her after you let her go wandering around in the dark. Alone" he growled out and turned to walk back down the stairs.
Pheonix let go of Casper who looked down at the ground in shame, knowing I was out in the dark so I could get away from him after our fight. When he looked up to meet my eyes again I decided that Lynn was going to have company over here for a little while while Casper and I worked things out.
"Casper, can you just go home? Maybe we should just take a break for a little while and we'll work things out and figure out where to go from there." I told him, wiping the remaining tears from my face.
He nodded, "I'm so sorry for how I just acted and I still love you if that means anything" he said before walking downstairs and shutting the front door behind him.
I leaned back against the wall and slid to the ground, bringing my knees to my chest while I turned to face Lynn who joined me on the ground.
"Why is all of this happening now? Why did Xander have to show up when Casper and I finally got everything worked out?" I mumbled, not knowing what to do now.
"Everything happens for a reason, Ari. You know that" Lynn said quietly.
I sighed knowing she was right. We lie to each other, I have feelings for another man, he pushed my best friend down the stairs after trying to turn her against me. When he vamps out loyalty doesn't matter and I cheated on him with Mark. I guess when I really think about it we were never perfect. I don't know if we ever will be or if there will even continue to be a we.
All I know for the time being is that I feel empty. So completely empty. Numb.