16. There Goes The Neighborhood
"Damon hasn't said a word to me" Stefan informed Elena, "Every time I try to talk, he shuts me down, like he shut Aria out".
"Stefan, whatever happened between Aria and Damon has really affected Aria, she won't say it but I know she's hurting, way more then she's letting on" Elena said, extremely worried for her best friend.
"Aria is strong Elena, she will get through this, you just need to trust her".
"I do trust her Stefan, but you and me both know how Aria likes to bottle things up, Damon was the only one she opened up to, and with him out of the picture, I'm scared what bottling all this emotions is going to do to her".
Stefan sighed, "I don't know what's going to happen between those two Elena, but I do know is that no matter how angry they are with each other, they will always find a way back to each other".
"Because of their connection?" Elena asked.
Stefan nodded, "Connected people can't stay away from each for too long, sometimes it might get to the point that they will feel physical pain if they stay away from each for too long".
"But what about Katherine?" Elena asked confused, "Since she wasn't in the tomb, I assume she's still out there somewhere, how would she have survived all these years without Natalie, specially when she was the one who got her killed".
"Katherine Pierce never had a heart Elena" Stefan said, "She never felt for anyone, not even Natalie, Damon and Aria on the other, they both feel very much for each other, now I don't know if it's romantic or platonic, I just know that they care for each other, and they will eventually go back to each other".
"I hope so" Elena said, "Because as much as I hate admitting it, Damon brings out the old Aria, the Aria I thought was lost forever", Elena paused, "Think Damon's still trying to find Katherine?".
"I don't know" Stefan replied honestly, "He waited 145 years to get his revenge from Katherine, only to then find out she was never in the tomb and that he had wasted all those years, that he failed Natalie, it's gotta hurt, right?".
"And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy" Elena taunted.
"You have every reason to be upset with him".
"Mm-hm".
"Have you thought any more about what are you gonna do?".
"About what?" Aria asked, walking over to the couple.
"Isobel, my vampire birth mother, who's related to my vampire ancestor, Katherine, who screwed over your witch ancestor Natalie" Elena informed Aria.
"Okay, since when did life get so complicated" Aria said.
"God knows" Elena said, "It'd be nice if we could get through a day without having to deal with any of it, no vampire mother or brother".
"Amen to the sister".
"No vampires at all?" Stefan asked the two girls.
"You know your the exception Stefan, in all the vampires I know, your the only nice one" Aria said, her mind going back to the older Salvatore and their fight last night.
"I just wanna get us back to normal stuff like school and homework" Elena said.
Aria mockingly gasped, "Here's a thought for you boring people, fun".
Stefan mockingly gasped as well, "Ooh, that sounds good to me, when do we start?".
Aria and Elena laughed and walked to class with Stefan right by there side.
***
Stefan, Elena and Aria were standing at Stefan's locker, while Caroline told them the details about the double date she had planned out.
"I'm thinking nothing huge, dinner at the Grill, maybe a late movie--".
"You mean like a double date?" Stefan asked.
"Two pair, plus their mutual friend, out on a Friday night, coupled" Caroline said, "Yeah, a double date".
"Whoa hold up, I'm not coming on your double date" Aria said.
"Yes you are Aria" Caroline said, "Your going to make sure everything goes smoothly and things don't get awkward".
"Caroline, I'm not third wheeling".
"Well you refuse to let me set you up with someone, so yeah your going to third wheel, but don't worry, I'll make sure you don't feel left out, please Aria, do this for me" Caroline pleaded.
"Caroline, are you even sure this is a good idea?" Aria asked, slightly unsure about Caroline's idea.
"Why not?" Caroline asked, "You know, we all haven't gone out together before and I don't want it to be uncomfortable for us, the couple dynamics have changed and there's been a little awkwardness between Elena, Matt and me and I just think it's important that we get over it".
"Well, I definitely agree with the awkwardness bit" Aria said, "Still don't get why I have to be there".
"Because your sulking Aria" Caroline said, "Don't think I haven't noticed, ever since your fight with Damon, on whatever it was that you refused to tell me about, you've been sulking, you need a day out, and that's exactly what I'm going to give you".
"Wait, you know about Aria and Damon's fight?" Elena asked confused.
"Of course I do Elena, Aria tells me everything way before she tells you".
"I doubt she tells you everything".
"Trust me she does, I knew about her being a witch, and her and Damon being connected way before you knew".
"You told her before you told me?" Elena asked Aria, shocked.
"She didn't judge me" Aria mumbled.
"Don't get angry at her, what else did you except we are best friends".
"So are we".
"Okay enough" Aria said, "Elena, you and both know why I didn't tell you, I only told Caroline because I physically can not hide anything from her" Aria then turned to a smug looking Caroline, "And Care, if I say yes to this stupid double date, would you shut your mouth?".
Caroline nodded, "I promise".
"Then guess I'm going" Aria mumbled, clearly not happy with this.
"Are you coming?" Caroline asked Elena and Stefan.
"I don't know" Elena said, still upset with the new information she had just gotten.
"You know what, I think it's a great idea" Stefan interrupted, seeing the obvious tension between Aria and Elena.
"You do?" Elena asked shocked.
"Yeah, a nice evening out with friends" Stefan said, "Sounds fun, as in fun, hm?".
Elena smiled, "A double date it is".
"A double date plus Aria" Caroline corrected.
"Plus Aria" Elena said, still a bit upset with the young witch.
"Okay" Caroline laughed, "So we will see you tonight", Caroline grabbed Aria's hand, "You're coming with me".
"Gladly" Aria mumbled.
After making sure they were a safe distance from Elena and Stefan, Aria lightly pushed Caroline, "You just had to brag to Elena about me telling you things way before I tell her".
Caroline laughed, "I really couldn't help myself, Elena's my friend, but your my best friend, I need her to know that you and me are way more closer then you and her".
Aria intertwined her arm with Caroline's, "Always Care Bear, Caroline and Aria forever".
"Caroline and Aria forever".
"But you really need to stop bragging it to Elena, you know how easily she gets upset".
"Yeah, that's not happening" Caroline said, "She needs to know you and her aren't as close as she thinks you guys are".
Aria laughed at her best friend, and with that both the best friends walked to their next class.
***
Matt, Caroline, Stefan, Elena and Aria were now hanging out at Mystic Grill, the night had just started and Aria already wanted to bang her head on the wall, she hated third wheeling.
"So, uh, Matt, how do you like working here?" Elena asked, attempting to start a conversation.
"Uh, it's not that bad, wait staff tips out pretty good" Matt replied, "They can't keep a bartender to save their lives but, I actually put my mom up for the job".
"Kelly's going to work here?" Aria asked shocked.
"Yeah if things go well" Matt said.
"We are all doomed" Aria whispered, which no one except Caroline, who was sitting next to Aria, and Stefan, with his vampire hearing, heard.
Caroline gently elbowed Aria, making Aria playfully glare at her.
"How's that been, having Kelly back?" Elena asked Matt.
"You know, same old Kelly".
"Trust me, we know" Aria mumbled, which once again Caroline heard, who lightly laughed at her best friend, Aria's commentary always lifted Caroline's mood.
"She's trying, sort of" Matt said.
"Kelly, my mom and Aria's mom were best friends growing up" Elena told Stefan, "That's how Matt, me and Aria first met, we shared a crib together".
"You're kidding" Stefan laughed.
Aria looked towards Caroline and saw her dejected face, she lightly squeezed her best friends hand, knowing fully well she was feeling very insecure about the history Elena and Matt shared.
"Well technically, my mom and Kelly were best frenemies, my mom's real best friend was Liz, Caroline's mom, it was really me and Caroline who shared a crib together".
A smile formed on Caroline's face, "True, I remember our mothers would always hang out, which will automatically mean we had to hang out as well, and whenever we used to hang out we used to get into so much trouble, oh my god remember all the pranks we used to play on our mothers".
"Oh how could I forget" Aria turned to Stefan, "It got to the point, that our mother's refuse to let us a meet for a whole week".
"I remember we were so upset, we refused to talk to our mothers until they let us meet again".
"Yeah and after much emotionally blackmailing our mothers for three days straight, they let us meet again".
Caroline smiled, "The good old days".
Caroline and Aria looked at each other and laughed, completely missing Elena's upset face.
"Yeah, we've all know each other our whole lives" Matt said, looking at Caroline, Elena and Aria.
Suddenly, the five friends heard noise coming from the bar, they looked towards the bar to see Damon, Kelly and Jenna getting drunk.
"Whoo!" Kelly yelled, drinking a shot with Damon and Jenna.
"You got to be kidding me" Matt said.
Caroline and Elena both turned to Aria, who was staring at the scene infront of her with an unreadable expression on her face.
Aria suddenly stood up from the table, "Excuse me".
Without looking at anyone, Aria quickly ran to the bathroom, not knowing why she felt so horrible seeing Damon so close to Kelly, after all she was the one who wanted nothing to do with Damon.
"Aria!" Caroline yelled, running after Aria.
***
"Don't be grumpy, it can't be that bad" Jenna told Damon.
"You'd be surprised" Damon said, "The one person who cared about me, I pushed her away from me, and after today's events, the remains of the shaky ground that I walk on are about to go kaboom".
"You and Aria had a fight, right?" Jenna asked.
"How did you know?" Damon asked sarcastically, drinking a shot.
"Because Aria's been sulking around everywhere, at first I didn't know why she was upset, but now I know".
"You and Aria Connor?" Kelly asked shocked.
"There is no me and Aria now, I ruined that equation" Damon mumbled.
"Oh trust me, you don't want to be with that girl, she has too much attitude" Kelly complained.
Jenna frowned, she went to defend Aria but Damon beat her to it.
"Aria doesn't have a attitude, she is one of the most down to earth person I know, so don't you dare say she has a attitude problem, if anything I think you have a attitude problem" Damon snapped, shocking both Jenna and Kelly.
Jenna smiled at Damon, she felt happy hearing Damon defend Aria like that.
"Alright, let's get hammered" Jenna said, breaking the awkwardness.
"Let's" Damon said, cheering with Jenna, his mood totally spoiled by Kelly.
After Aria had ran to the bathroom, Caroline had followed her and comforted her, sometimes Aria didn't need to say anything for Caroline to know how she was feeling, and right now Caroline knew without Aria telling her anything, that seeing Damon so close to Kelly, hurt Aria. So both Caroline and Aria stood in the bathroom for five minutes in silence, words didn't need to be exchanged between the two best friends, sometimes the mere presence of each other was enough.
After a while, both the girls went back to the other three, who were now at the pool table.
"Everything alright?" Matt asked Caroline and Aria.
"Everything's just fine" Caroline said, smiling at her Aria.
Suddenly the group heard more noise come from the bar, everyone except Aria looked towards them, Aria couldn't look at Damon, it physically hurt her.
"Well at least their having fun" Caroline said, glaring at Damon, she had warned him not to hurt Aria but that's exactly what he was doing, and that pissed Caroline off immensely.
"They're drunk" Elena said.
"Remember when Elena's parents busted us here after homecoming?" Matt asked the three girls.
Caroline laughed, "Oh my god, yes".
"We were wasted" Elena said, smiling at the memory, "It was the first time I got drunk, I blame Matt".
"Her parents got seated at the next booth" Matt informed Stefan.
"Oh, Matt and Aria had me pretend that I was choking so we could get away".
"Hey, we had to get out of that situation somehow, and that was the quickest excuse I could think of" Aria said.
"Except her dad was a doctor, so he jumped up to save her" Matt said.
Elena laughed, "And I ran and slipped on the wet floor and bit it, infront of everyone, do you remember that? Three stiches, a hangover for days and me and Aria were grounded from seeing this one for a week".
Aria laughed, "I remember that, I couldn't stop laughing when you fell, I'm pretty sure I peed myself".
"Well, I'm gonna go to the restroom, I forgot something there" Caroline said interrupting Matt and Elena, "Elena? Aria?".
Aria looked at Caroline in confusion they had just come from the restroom, then why is she going back in there, but nonetheless both Elena and Aria followed Caroline into the restroom.
***
Elena and Caroline washed their hands, while Aria leaned against the wall and played with the bracelet Damon had given her.
"So, um, what are you doing?" Caroline asked Elena.
"What?" Elena asked shocked.
"Well, the point of this was to show him how much you care about Stefan" Caroline snapped, "You know, not to hopscotch down memory lane".
"I was just trying to make conversation" Elena defended.
"Try less" Caroline said, she then turned to Aria, "Let's go".
Aria looked at Caroline, then back at the bracelet, she took her bracelet off and put it in her back pocket, she then went to follow Caroline, when suddenly pain shot through her left shoulder, causing her to scream and fall to the ground.
"Aria" Elena and Caroline yelled, running over to Aria.
"Ahh!" Aria screamed, clutching her left shoulder in pain.
"What's happening to her?" Caroline asked, extremely worried for her best friend.
"Oh my god" Elena realised, "It's Damon".
"Damon?".
"Stefan said if two connected people stay away from each other for too long then they start feeling physical pain".
"We need to get Damon here, now!", Caroline got up to get Damon, but Aria held her hand, stopping her.
"No" Aria breathed out, "Don't get him, I can stop this".
"Aria, you need Damon" Elena said, tears welling in her eyes seeing her friend in pain.
"I know a spell" Aria said, struggling to talk, "Grams taught me a spell that takes away pain, I can take my pain away".
"Aria it would be easier to just call Damon".
Aria ignored Elena and placed her hand on her shoulder, and slowly started chanting, while Elena and Caroline watched.
After a while, Aria gasped, no longer feeling any pain, indicating that her spell worked.
"Did it work?" Caroline asked, still very worried.
Aria nodded, too busy trying to catch her breath.
"Oh thank god" Caroline said, hugging Aria tightly, "Don't ever scare me like this again".
Elena looked Aria in worry, "Aria, you need to talk to Damon and sort out whatever's happening between you two, who knows maybe next time you won't be able to stop the pain".
Aria sighed, "I'll talk to him, just not tonight, tonight is about us friend's hanging out, it's not about me and Damon".
"Fine" Caroline said, "I'll let you go but only for tonight, tomorrow you're talking to Damon no matter what, I don't want to see you in anymore pain".
"Yeah, yeah" Aria said, "Now help me up".
Caroline laughed and grabbed Aria by her arms and helped her stand up, and with that the three girls left the bathroom.
***
"You sure you okay?" Elena asked Aria, coming out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Aria said.
Caroline, Aria and Elena started walking back to the boys, when a man held both Elena and Aria's hand, stopping them from walking any further, "Katherine, Natalie".
Elena and Aria looked at each other in shock, wondering how did this man know the names of their ancestors, suddenly both of them came to the same conclusion, the man infront of them was a vampire. Aria started panicking, realising she had just used her magic, and since her bracelet was off, she was currently emitting power that supernatural creatures could sense and realise she was a Connor witch, that is why this man confused her with Natalie, as she was emitting the same power as Natalie and not only that, she was next to Elena, who looked exactly like Katherine, the vampire Natalie was connected to.
"I'm sorry, you have the wrong people" Elena said.
"Elena, Aria, come on" Caroline said.
The man observed the two girls and after a pause let go of them, "My mistake".
Both Elena and Aria quickly ran over to the boys, not realising that the man was still looking at them.
Stefan looked at Aria in confusion, he could feel the power emitting from her, he wondered why wasn't she wearing the bracelet Damon had given her, but most of all why did she use her magic.
"Is everything okay?" Stefan asked Aria, as she took her bracelet out of her pocket and wore it again.
"Everything's great" Aria said, gesturing her head towards Elena.
Stefan looked towards Elena, just as she showed him her phone.
In the bathroom Aria fell down in pain, I'm guessing it's because of her staying away from Damon for so long but she managed to take her own pain away, also the man over there called me and Aria, Katherine and Natalie.
After reading Elena's text, Stefan looked in the direction she had said the man was in, but found no one, he then looked Aria, who was already looking at him with a worried expression her face, something told the three of them, that trouble was about to start again.
***
"So both of you haven't seen him before?" Stefan asked Elena and Aria.
After the incident at the Grill, Stefan had suggested for everyone to go to the boarding house and hang out. Aria, Stefan and Elena had just arrived at the boarding house and were sitting in their car, talking about the mystery man.
"Nope" Aria said, "He was a complete stranger, never seen him before".
"Yeah Aria's right" Elena said, "There was nothing familiar about him at all".
"Alright, let's call it a night, send Matt and Caroline home?" Stefan asked.
"Absolutely not" Aria said, "The whole point of this night was to be couple of normal teenagers, it was to get away from all this stuff, we must get through at least one night Stefan, one normal night, please".
"But Aria are you sure your okay?" Stefan asked, "You sure your not feeling any more pain?".
"I promise, I'm fine" Aria assured.
"You know, Damon might be inside, maybe you can talk him?" Stefan asked, not wanting Aria to feel anymore pain.
Aria sighed, "Not tonight Stefan, tonight is all about friends, not stupid vampire witch connection thingy".
"But what if you feel the pain again?" Elena asked.
"Elena we will cross that bridge when we get to it, till then I'm going to enjoy this night out with my friends, you know, what normal people do" Aria said, just as Matt pulled over, "Oh look, it's Matt and Caroline, let's go".
Aria quickly got out of the car and ran to Matt and Caroline.
Elena sighed, "Her stubbornness kills me".
Stefan gave Elena a small smile, "Whatever happened between her and Damon hurt her Elena, she's scared to go talk to Damon because she's scared of getting hurt again".
"I know that Stefan, but it annoys me that she doesn't mind being in pain, as long as she doesn't have to talk to Damon, what kind of logic is that?" Elena asked frustrated.
"That's a person whose too scared to get hurt logic" Stefan said, "Elena, you've known Aria longer than me, you should know how quickly she gets attached to people, and when those people hurt her, she feels double the pain any of us can ever feel, whatever happen with Damon, has really hurt her, but I know she's strong, she will eventually go talk to Damon, but she's right, tonight is a night about friends, and if anyone deserves a normal night, without any vampire witch connection complications, then it's Aria, so let's go and give her that night".
Stefan got out of the car and went towards Aria, while Elena sat in the car and thought about Stefan's words, at times it really amazed her how both the Salvatore brothers knew Aria more then her, but at the same time it also made her feel very guilty, like maybe she doesn't know Aria as well as she thinks she does.
***
"Yeah" Caroline said, looking around the Salvatore's living room in amazement, "Uh, yeah, this is much better than watching Damon visit cougar town, no offense".
"Don't remind me" Matt said, "Man I've always wanted to see what it looks like in this place".
"Yeah, I guess it's a bit much" Stefan said.
Matt laughed, "Yeah, my entire house could fit in here, like, twice".
"All our houses can Matt" Aria said, jumping on the couch, "Come on people, get comfortable, feel at home, because I assure you I will be making myself at home here".
"When do you not?" Stefan teased.
"Oh that's right, never" Aria retorted, "We both know Stefan, this might as well be my second home".
Both Aria and Stefan laughed, while Caroline looked at them with a small smile on her face, if Damon wasn't in the picture, Caroline would totally ship Stefan and Aria, they looked really cute together and their friendship was absolutely adorable, if Damon and Aria didn't work out, Caroline wouldn't mind Aria and Stefan together.
"Do you guys wanna watch a movie or something?" Elena asked, interrupting Caroline's thoughts.
"Whoa, these are great" Matt said, walking over to Stefan's toy cars collection.
"That's just a little hobby of mine" Stefan explained.
"I did the entire Mustang series when I was 9" Matt told Stefan.
Stefan smiled, "You like cars?".
"That's an understatement of the year, Matt's obsessed with cars" Aria said, walking over to Stefan and Matt.
"Come with me" Stefan said, leading everyone outside.
***
Stefan led everyone to the garage outside, "Prepare yourself, my friend" Stefan told Matt, removing a cover of a Porsche 356B Karmann Coupe.
"Whoa, wait, how do you have this?" Matt asked, looking at the car in amazement.
"It got passed down through the family" Stefan explained.
"Why don't you...? I mean..." Matt stumbled with his words, he was in too much of a shock seeing such a retro car, "Why don't you drive it?".
"Well, it doesn't run" Stefan said, opening the bonnet, "I mean, at least not that I could figure out".
"Why would you keep a car that doesn't run?" Caroline asked confused.
"Be more of a girl right now" Matt teased, making Caroline give him a sarcastic laugh.
"Well she is a girl afterall" Aria said, playfully nudging Caroline.
"Shut it" Caroline said, lightly slapping Aria on the arm, making her laugh.
"Why don't you come take a look at this?" Stefan asked Matt.
"Aria, Elena, remember the old Camaro Elena's dad used to have?" Matt asked the two girls.
"Of course" Elena said.
"I can never forget that car" Aria said smiling.
"I built and rebuilt that engine 20 times" Matt told Stefan.
"Wow" Stefan said.
"Well, I don't like sports cars" Caroline said.
"And why's that Care Bear?" Aria asked.
"Because Aria, they're too hard to make out in", Aria laughed at Caroline's excuse for hating sports car, it was such a Caroline thing to say.
"No, it wasn't that bad" Matt said, immediately regretting the words that came out of his mouth, as the atmosphere around him all of a sudden got very tense.
Aria looked towards Caroline, who looked visibly upset hearing Matt, without saying anything to Matt, Caroline walked off, Aria sighed and followed her, Elena tried to follow but Aria stopped her, knowing it will be much easier to calm Caroline down without Elena being near them.
***
"Care--".
"I don't wanna talk about it Aria" Caroline said, interrupting Aria.
"Caroline, Matt didn't mean it in the way you think he means it" Aria said, trying to defend Matt.
Caroline scoffed, "Yeah, it's just plain old Caroline being insecure and stupid again, but Aria that doesn't change the fact that Matt is always going to be in love with Elena and I'm always going to be the backup".
"Caroline, Matt doesn't think of you as a backup".
"Yes he does" Caroline snapped, "I'm Matt's Elena backup, I'm Elena's Bonnie backup, hell I was even Damon's Aria backup".
"Screw Matt, screw Damon and screw Elena" Aria said, "Screw everyone who doesn't see you for the amazing person you are".
"I don't want to be everyone's backup Aria" Caroline said, tears pooling in her eyes.
"You're not everyone's backup, you're not my backup for anything Caroline" Aria said, "I love you, you're my best friend, I always come to you when I need advice, when I need to gossip, hell you were the first person to know about me loving Jeremy, you're the only person I told about kissing Damon, and you're the first person who knew about me and Damon being connected, you are my number one person when it comes to anything, don't ever think your a backup for everyone, because that's not true, you're not a backup for me, to me, you're my best friend, people think me and Elena are twins, but the truth is, you're my real twin, I don't think I would have survived my parent's death, then the Gilbert parent's death, without you by my side, everyone was too busy wondering if Elena was okay, but you, you stayed by my side, you made sure I was okay and didn't do any stupid, you understand me like no one else, don't ever think you're a backup for everyone, because you're not, you're never a backup to me".
By the time Aria had finished her mini speech, both Aria and Caroline were crying, Caroline lunged at Aria and tightly hugged her, Aria gladly hugged Caroline back and for a few minutes both the best friends stayed in the hug, they finally broke their hug when they heard a engine running.
Both the best friends turned around and saw Matt bringing out Stefan's car.
"Piece of cake" Matt said, coming out of the car and going towards Aria and Caroline, followed by Stefan and Elena.
Caroline looked down at her feet, sensing the awkward situation, Stefan decided to take charge.
"You know what?" Stefan said, "Why don't you guys go ahead and take it for a spin?".
"Really?" Matt asked shocked.
"Yeah".
Matt opened the door for Caroline, "Caroline".
When Caroline made no movement in getting in, Aria lightly pushed her, "Go".
Caroline sighed, but nonetheless, got in.
After Matt drove off, Stefan turned to Aria, "Were you crying?".
Aria gave Stefan a small smile, "It's nothing, me and Caroline just had a emotional moment".
"Everything okay?" Elena asked.
Aria nodded, "Of course".
***
Caroline and Matt entered the Salvatore house, to see Kelly straddling Damon and making out with him by the stairs.
"Mom?" Matt asked shocked.
"Damon?" Caroline asked, equally as shocked as Matt, really hoping Aria doesn't see this.
"Oh my god, Matt" Kelly said shocked, getting off of Damon, "Oh my god".
Kelly quickly picked up her jacket and attempted to cover up, just as Aria, Elena and Stefan entered, the trio confused seeing the scene infront of them.
"I gotta--".
"It's fine, just go" Caroline told Matt, her focus more on Aria then Matt.
Aria wasn't stupid, she had seen Kelly and Damon's dishevelled appearances, she knew what was going to happen if Matt and Caroline hadn't walked in on them, Aria looked at Damon with teary eyes, she knew she had no right to be angry, she was the one who told Damon she wanted nothing to do with him, but that doesn't mean she wasn't hurt, what surprised Aria is that seeing Damon and Kelly together hurt her way more then the time she saw Vicki and Jeremy together.
Aria quickly turned around and ran out the door.
"Aria!" Caroline yelled, running after her best friend, while Damon looked on.
Aria ran out the boarding house and leaned against a wall and tried to calm herself down by taking deep breathes, but it didn't work, instead it made her even more upset.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Aria yelled, repeatedly hitting her hand on the wall.
"Aria stop!" Caroline said, holding Aria's now bleeding hand, "You're hurting yourself".
"Why does it hurt so much Caroline?" Aria cried, "It didn't even hurt this much seeing Jeremy and Vicki together and I was in love with Jeremy, then why does it hurt so much seeing Damon and Kelly together".
"Shh, it's okay" Caroline said, hugging her best friend.
Aria hugged Caroline back and sobbed into the hug, "I know I was the one who told Damon that I wanted nothing to do with him, I know I have no right to react like this, Damon can do whatever he wants, hook up with whoever he wants, then why does it hurt so much?".
"You will know when the time's right Aria" Caroline said, knowing fully well why her best friend was so hurt, "But for now, let's get you home".
Aria broke the hug, "I can't go home Caroline, I need to talk to him".
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Caroline asked, not wanting Damon to say something that will hurt a already hurt Aria, "Maybe you should wait till tomorrow".
"No", Aria shook her head and wiped her tears, "I need to talk to Damon now, the more I delay it, the more this situation is going to get worse, we need to talk and we need to talk now", Aria looked behind Caroline, to see both Stefan and Elena standing there, giving Aria sympathetic looks, "Will you drop Caroline home Elena?".
"You sure you don't want us to stay with you?" Elena asked.
Aria shook her head, "I'm sure, plus, I'll have Stefan, you both should head home".
Caroline turned to Stefan, "Take care of her please".
Stefan nodded, "Always".
After hugging Aria, both Elena and Caroline left and Stefan turned to Aria.
"You don't have to do this now Aria" Stefan said.
"But I do Stefan, I need to clear things with him now otherwise I'm going to lose my mind".
Stefan placed a comforting hand on Aria's shoulder, "Relax, if things go south, don't worry, I'll be there right next to you".
Aria gave Stefan a small smile, "Thanks".
Aria looked at the front door of the boarding house, and after taking a deep breathe, stepped towards it, "Here goes nothing".
***
Stefan and Aria walked into the living room where Damon was.
"Don't look at me like that" Damon told his brother, seeing the look he was giving him.
"Are you crazy?" Stefan asked.
"Save the lecture, look..."
Before Damon could finish his sentence someone jumped through the glass window and pulled Aria to the floor, shocking both the brothers.
The vampire who Aria recognised from the Grill, held Aria in a choke hold, but Damon pushed him off of her, Damon then helped Aria stand up and stood infront of her, glaring at the mysterious vampire.
Both Damon and mystery vampire started fighting, while Stefan stayed near Aria, making sure she was safe.
Suddenly, a woman came in through the same broken window, catching Stefan's attention, who charged towards her, but the woman held him in a choke hold and threw him on to the floor, seeing Stefan getting overpowered like that, Aria used her magic to throw the woman to the wall, she then ran to Stefan and helped him up.
"You okay?" Aria asked.
"I'm fine" Stefan said.
Aria saw the woman charge towards them again, but Aria quickly used her magic and stuck her to a wall, while Stefan used this opportunity to stake her.
Damon threw the other vampire to the floor, the man got up and looked towards the Salvatore brothers and Aria, his eyes then landed on his dead partner, and after realising he was outnumbered, quickly jumped out of the window and took off.
"Damn it" Damon said, seeing the vampire escape.
Damon turned to Aria, who was holding her bleeding arm, "Are you okay?".
Aria nodded, no longer trusting her voice, she was in too much of a shock as to what had just happened.
Damon examined Aria's injured arm, "Dammit Aria, you're not fine, here" Damon bit into his wrist.
"Damon, it's okay, I'm fine, I don't need you're blood" Aria said.
"Aria stop being stubborn and just drink" Damon snapped.
Aria knew it was no use arguing with Damon, as he would get his way one way or another, so without saying anything else, Aria drank Damon's blood.
After Aria's wounds healed, Stefan spoke, "I remember them, from 1864, they were in the tomb".
"Yeah" Damon said, giving both Stefan and Aria a sheepish look, "About that".
***
Aria sat infront of the fire place, while Stefan stood behind her, talking to Elena. Damon walked over to Aria and sat next to her, both the vampire and witch staring at the fire infront of them.
"You sure you're feeling okay?" Damon asked, finally breaking the silence.
Aria nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, you?".
"Peachy".
"Damon, I need to tell you something" Aria said, the seriousness in her voice worrying Damon, "That mystery vampire, that managed to escape tonight, I met him at the Grill, he called me Natalie".
"What?" Damon asked confused, "Why would he call you Natalie? You don't even look like Natalie".
"I think he sensed my magic and realised I am related to Natalie".
"Not possible" Damon said simply, "That bracelet conceals your power, there's no way he would have realised who you are".
Aria looked at Damon with a guilty expression on her face, "I didn't have the bracelet on then".
"What?!" Damon asked angrily, "What do you mean you didn't have the bracelet on Aria? I told you not to take the bracelet off when you do magic, and yet you took it off, and tell me something why did you even use your magic?".
"To take my pain away" Aria mumbled.
"Your what now?" Damon asked, not sure he heard Aria correctly.
Aria sighed, "Damon, did you know that if two connected people stay away from each for too long, they start feeling physical pain?".
Damon sighed, "You felt it to huh?".
Aria looked at Damon in shock, "You were in pain as well?".
Damon nodded, "It wasn't horrible pain, but I felt something weird, but I drank the weirdness away".
Aria let out a small laugh, "I'm not even surprised, but unfortunately I wasn't so lucky, I felt immense pain and I collapsed to the floor, and I didn't want to face you so I didn't let Caroline and Elena call you, then I remembered a spell Bonnie's Grams told me that takes pain away, you know the same spell I used on Alaric, I used it on me and the pain went away".
"You are one stubborn girl Aria Connor" Damon said, shaking his head, "But tell me, in all this, why the hell did you take your bracelet off?".
Aria sighed, "I took the bracelet before the pain happened, and I took it off because..."
"Because?".
"Because it reminded me of you" Aria whispered, "And when I remembered you, I remembered our fight, and when I remembered our fight, it hurt, it hurt a lot Damon".
Damon sighed, "I'm not the good brother Aria, there's nothing good about me, I'm the selfish and cold hearted brother, but I can't deny the fact that whenever I'm near you, I want to be good, I want to be selfless, my cold heart becomes warm and it's all because of you, I haven't felt like this since Natalie and that scared me, so I did the most logical thing I could do, I pushed you away, showed you that I am the bad guy, which I am, but with you, something changes, and for some reason I turn good, which is absolute bizarre and it scares me, and I know me telling you all this now is useless, as you hate me for killing Alaric, but I just needed you to know how big of a idiot I am".
Aria let out a small laugh, "I should hate you shouldn't I?" Aria asked, "I should hate for all the crap you've done, you hurt Caroline, you tried to kill Vicki, then you turned Vicki, you turned Elena's biological mother, you killed Alaric, you're hell bent on ruining Stefan's life".
"Okay I get it, I'm a horrible person Aria, no need to remind me again" Damon said, slightly upset.
"That's the thing Damon, we both know how bad you are and how many people you've hurt, but the thing is, no matter what you do, no matter who you hurt, I can't get myself to hate you, call me crazy, maybe it's our connection, or maybe it's something else, I just know that I can't hate you, no matter what you do, and at times that frustrates me, but other times it makes me feel kind of special".
"Special?".
"Because I'm the only one whose seen the good in you, you're a villain in everyone's story, except mine, in my story you're the hero, and that makes me feel special, with you I feel special, something I haven't felt with anyone, ever, and tonight I came back to talk to you, I needed to tell you that I lied, I lied when I said I want nothing to do with you, truth is without you I feel lost, it's stupid how much I'm starting to rely on you despite just recently meeting you, and I needed you to know that".
Damon gave Aria a small smile, he then laced his fingers with her's, "If it's any consolation, I felt very lost without you as well".
Both Damon and Aria smiled at each other and went back to staring at the fire, their finger's still laced with each other, things weren't normal between them but they were much better then they were before.
While enjoying each other's presence, Aria and Damon completely forgot about the younger Salvatore, who had heard Damon and Aria's full conversation, Stefan felt happy Damon and Aria had resolved their issues but he couldn't stop the jealous feeling arising in his heart for some reason, his never seen his brother like this with anyone, not even Natalie, and Stefan also knew him and Elena could never match these two, even if they didn't know it yet but it was so obvious Damon and Aria were in love with each other, and the kind of love they had, no one can match up to it, not even him and Elena.
***
words: 6774
©Allrightsreserved ©ShanayaSalvatore™