08. 162 Candles

"Where did Vicki say she was going?" Liz asked Aria.

Aria, Jeremy, Elena, Stefan and Matt were currently at the police station, all individually getting interrogated about Vicki's sudden disappearance.

"She didn't say anything to me, we aren't really that close" Aria lied, keeping a straight face and really hoping Liz couldn't sense the guilt radiating from her.

"Did she tell her brother where she was going?" Liz asked.

"I don't know, I haven't talked to Matt since the Halloween Party, but I do know she told Jeremy to tell Matt that she was leaving" Aria informed.

"Is there anyone that I could talk to that may know what happened to her prior to her leaving town?" Liz asked.

"I really don't know Sheriff, like I said me and Vicki were never close, I have no idea who she hung out with" Aria replied.

"Do you know what Stefan Salvatore was doing with Vicki?" Liz asked.

"Stefan was trying to help her out, Elena and me were worried about Jeremy hanging with Vicki because of her drug problem, so Stefan stepped in to help her out" Aria said.

"So Stefan got involved because you and Elena asked him to?" Liz asked.

"Correct, we thought that maybe by helping Vicki, we were helping Jeremy" Aria replied.

"What was her behaviour like those last days before she left?" a curious Liz asked.

"Very sketchy, like she was always high" Aria informed.

"Any signs of aggression or violence?" Liz asked.

"No" Aria replied.

"So you believe Vicki really has left town?" Liz asked.

Aria nodded her head, "Yes".

After Liz finished her questions, both Aria and Elena stepped out of the police station along with Jenna and Jeremy, only to see Stefan waiting for them outside.

"We'll meet you guys at the car" Elena told Jenna.

"Okay" Jenna said, walking away with Jeremy.

Elena and Aria made their way to where Stefan was standing, "You both okay?" a concerned Stefan asked.

"I've been better" Aria replied, giving Stefan a small smile.

"I don't think the sheriff suspected anything" Elena told Stefan, "Jeremy had no memory at all, all he knew was what Damon made him know".

"Thank you" Stefan said, to both Elena and Aria.

Aria didn't say anything just gave him a nod.

"I can't do this Stefan" Elena said, "Every time I look at Matt or Jeremy all I think is that Vicki is never gonna come back, and they'll never know why, around you people get hurt and people die and I just-- I can't, it's just too much".

"Why don't we go somewhere and talk about it?" Stefan pleaded, really not wanting to end things with the girl he liked so much.

"No" Elena denied, "Stefan, you have to stay away from me".

After Elena walked away, Stefan turned to Aria who was giving him a sad look, she knew how much he liked Elena and could tell how much he was hurting because of Elena's words.

"Please don't say I have to stay away from you as well" Stefan pleaded.

Aria gave Stefan a small smile, "Absolutely not Stefan, you saved my life, I don't blame any of this on you, I have officially promoted you to being one of my best friends, there is no way this friendship is ending this soon, I still have a lot to annoy you for".

Stefan gave Aria a grateful smile, times like this was when Aria reminded Stefan of his best friend, Lexi, both the girls stuck by Stefan during his hard times and refused to give up on him, no matter what, "Thank you Aria".

"Always here Stefan" Aria smiled at Stefan, before walking to the car where Elena, Jenna and Jeremy were waiting for her.

***

Elena and Aria were sitting on the couch, both lost in their thoughts, when suddenly Jenna jumped between them.

"Both of you are wallowing" Jenna observed.

"So are you" Elena retorted.

"My wallow is legitimate, I was dumped" Jenna defended.

"Told you not to give that cheating douchebag another chance, but no, when has anyone ever listened to Aria" Aria said, making Jenna hit her in the back of her head, "Ow!".

"Logan's a jerk" Elena said.

"You didn't get a brush off e-mail saying, I'm leaving town, see you" Jenna said.

Aria froze, she knew Logan didn't leave town, he was dead, Vicki had killed him after Aria had knocked him unconscious, something Elena had no clue about, Aria was scared to tell her, she blamed herself for Logan's death, she knocked him out which made it easy for Vicki to kill him, she didn't know how Elena will react to this information, Aria didn't want to get judged because of something she had no control over.

"Wanna keep it down over there?" Jeremy called from the dinning room, bringing Aria out of her thoughts.

"Why? What are you doing?" a confused Jenna asked, turning around to face Jeremy.

"Homework" Jeremy replied, shocking the three girls.

"Home what now?" Aria asked, looking at Jeremy in shock.

"Since when do you do homework?" Elena asked, also turning around.

"I gotta finish this, I'm way behind and I have a quiz tomorrow" Jeremy informed.

"What do you think? Alien?" Elena asked, the other two girls.

"Robot?" Aria asked.

"Some sort of replicant" Jenna replied.

"He can hear you" Jeremy replied, looking at the three girls.

Elena and Aria looked at each other, both wondering the same thing, was this because of what Damon did?

***

Aria was laying in her bed when someone knocked on her door, "Aria?" Bonnie called out, entering Aria's room.

Aria removed the blanket from her face and turned to face Bonnie, "How can I help you Bon?".

"What happened between you and Elena?" Bonnie asked, laying next to Aria.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"Don't think I haven't noticed the tension between you both, now come on spill" Bonnie demanded.

Aria sighed, "Bonnie you know that me and Elena have always been different, but that never caused us to fight, instead it always brought us closer, but these days our differences in personality have been causing so much conflict between us and I don't know how to fix it".

"Have you tried talking to her?" Bonnie asked.

"No" Aria mumbled.

"I knew it" Bonnie said, this was nothing new, Aria and Elena rarely argued but when they did it got bad, both of the girls were too stubborn to apologise to the other, which is why Bonnie always had to step in and force the girls to talk to each other, exactly what she was going to do today.

"Alright get up Aria, we have a friendship to mend" Bonnie said, standing up from Aria's bed and then pulling the Connor girl up and dragging her to Elena's room.

"This is a bad idea" Aria said, but Bonnie simply ignored her and opened Elena's door.

"You up?" Bonnie asked, peeking inside the oldest Gilbert's room.

Bonnie and Aria entered the room to see Elena in the same position that Aria was in a few minutes ago, Aria shook her head fondly, they were different yet so alike.

Elena removed the blanket from her head to see Bonnie and Aria standing at her door, "No".

Bonnie closed the door and went towards Elena and started pulling at her blankets, making Elena protest, "No, no".

"Why haven't you called me back?" Bonnie asked, then turned to Aria, "Either of you".

Aria didn't say anything just got into Elena's bed and placed the blankets over her head.

"I'm sorry" a slightly guilty Elena apologised, she didn't mean to ignore her best friend, she just had too much on her mind.

"Are both of you gonna stay in there forever?" Bonnie asked, looking at her two miserable friends.

"Yep" Elena and Aria replied simultaneously.

Bonnie sighed, "Move over".

Both Aria and Elena shuffled over, making room for Bonnie on the bed.

Bonnie laid down and turned to Elena and Aria, only to see both of them staring at the ceiling, a blank look on their faces.

"I'm officially worried" Bonnie said, "What's going on".

"I'm tired of thinking, of talking" Elena said.

"Can I get a one line version so I can pretend to be helpful?" Bonnie asked.

"Elena and Stefan broke up" Aria informed.

Bonnie gave Elena a sympathetic look, "I'm so sorry, are you okay? Right, stupid question", Bonnie then looked between Aria and Elena, "But that's not the only thing putting you down".

Elena glanced at Aria, who was still staring at the ceiling, seeing both of her friends not saying anything, Bonnie had gotten her answer, she quickly sat up in the bed, "Alright you two, sit up, we are solving whatever's going on between you two once and for all".

Elena and Aria both sat up with a protest, they both knew Bonnie wasn't going to let this go, she never did.

"Alright we are going to do this like we always do, Aria tell Elena whatever you feel, then you tell Aria what you feel Elena" Bonnie instructed.

Aria took a deep breath, this was her chance to come clean about everything, "Okay, Elena I know you don't like me hanging out with him" Aria started, not mentioning Damon's name, as she didn't want Bonnie to know about him just yet, "I know he has done a lot of bad things, but he never hurt me and you need to understand that, I can't explain to you why I feel so safe with him, I know you don't like him and I'm not asking you to like him, I'm just saying don't judge me for hanging out with him or feeling safe with him please, I can take anything but I can't take you thinking differently about me".

Elena sighed, "Aria your my best friend, my unofficial twin sister, I will never think less of you just because of the company you have, I know you, I know the type of person you are, you're selfless, you see good in everyone no matter who they are or what they do, that's why I was so scared of you hanging out with him because I didn't want you to get hurt, I can't imagine what I will do if you were hurt, but I realise that you're a big girl, you know what you're doing, so I promise I won't stop you guys from hanging out, but that doesn't mean I have to like him".

"Deal" Aria said, smiling at Elena with teary eyes, "Also, you don't think differently of me since knowing I can do magic, right?".

"Absolutely not Aria" Elena stated, shocked that Aria could even think something like that, "You having magic doesn't change the fact that you're my best friend, my rock, instead it makes me love you even more".

"So you wouldn't think differently of me either, right?" Bonnie asked.

"What?" a confused Aria asked Bonnie.

Bonnie sighed, she got up from the bed and closed Elena's window, she then grabbed the scissors off of Elena's bedside table and started cutting open her pillow.

"Hey!" Elena protested.

"Shh, let her do what she's doing" Aria asked, looking at Bonnie with fascinated eyes, having a feeling that whatever the Bennett girl was about to do, it's going to blow their minds.

"Be patient" Bonnie said, pulling out all the feathers from the pillow.

"Okay" a confused Elena said.

"I need to swear you both to secrecy" Bonnie said, sitting back on the bed.

"It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff" Elena said, Aria nodded her head in agreement.

"Swear, I'm not supposed to be showing this" Bonnie said.

"Okay we swear" Aria said, eager to find out what Bonnie had learnt.

"Okay, there's no windows open, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Right" Elena confirmed, looking around her room.

"There's no fan, no air conditioning" Bonnie said.

"None, what are you doing?" Elena asked.

"Grams just showed me this, you both are gonna love it, ready?" Bonnie asked

"Born ready" an excited Aria replied.

Bonnie focused her hand on top of a feather, as she lifted her hand, the feather also lifted into the air, making both her friends look at her in awe.

"Bonnie, what's going on?" a slightly shocked Elena asked.

Bonnie rubbed her hands in excitement, and this time using both her hands, she lifted bunch of feathers into the air, she slowly put the feathers down, then suddenly using her mind, she flew the feathers higher into the air.

Elena and Aria looked around in awe, "Wow" they whispered simultaneously.

"Aria you tapped into your magic as well, right?" Bonnie asked, putting the feathers down, Aria nodded her head, "Then try lifting the feathers up".

"How do I do that? Every time I've done magic, it was accidentally" a confused Aria pointed out, the only time she has really used her magic was when the people she cared about were in danger.

"Here" Bonnie grabbed both of Aria's hands and placed them slightly above the feathers, "Now just clear your mind and focus, put all your energy into trying to lift the feathers up".

Aria nodded, she cleared her mind and focused her full attention on the feathers, and after a few moments, Aria managed to lift the feathers from the bed, making all three of the girls laugh in fascination.

"It's true Elena, everything my grams told me and Aria" Bonnie said, watching as Aria lifted more and more feathers up.

"It's impossible, but its true" Aria said, looking around the room in awe, she couldn't believe what she was doing.

"We are witches" Bonnie said.

"I believe you guys" Elena said, looking around her room in amazement.

"It's weird huh? After all this time joking about being psychic, we are really witches" Bonnie said.

"I'd say it's more magical then weird" Aria said, making the other two girls laugh.

"You don't think I'm a freak now, do you?" a slightly scared Bonnie asked Elena, Aria looked at Elena as well, wondering the same thing.

"No, of course not" Elena said, looking at her two best friends, "Bonnie I just-- I don't understand though, if your grams asked you to keep all this a secret, why did you tell us?".

"Both of you are my best friends, I can't keep secrets from you" Bonnie replied.

Aria and Elena looked at Bonnie with a small smile on their faces, guilt was rising in their hearts knowing they were keeping a huge secret from Bonnie despite her telling them everything.

***

After Bonnie left their house, Elena decided she wanted to talk to Stefan, and like always she dragged Aria with her.

Elena rang the doorbell to the Salvatore's house and both her and Aria heard a girl's voice, "It's open, come on in".

Elena and Aria walked into the house, both looked around in confusion, trying to find whose voice had they just heard, when suddenly a blonde girl in a towel came up to them, she looked at both of them in shock, "Oh, my god, how--? Uh..." The girl said, trying to say something but she couldn't form a full sentence for the life of her, "Who--?".

"I'm Elena" Elena introduced.

"I'm Aria" Aria greeted.

"Who are you?" a slightly jealous Elena asked.

"Lexi, a friend of Stefan's" Lexi introduced herself.

"Is he here?" Elena asked.

"He's in the shower" Lexi replied, making Aria's mind go to places it definitely shouldn't have, "Do you wanna wait?".

Just as Aria was about to agree, Elena spoke, "No".

Lexi nodded her head, "I'll tell him you both stopped by".

"That's okay" Elena replied, grabbing Aria's hand and dragging her out.

When Elena and Aria left, Lexi stomped up to Stefan's room, "Are you out of your freaking mind?".

"What are you talking about?" a confused Stefan asked.

Lexi went up to Stefan's desk and grabbed the picture of Katherine and Natalie, "I just met Elena and Aria, you have some serious explaining to do".

***

"You have some serious emotional damage" Lexi told Stefan, sitting on Stefan's bed and applying her make up.

"No, it's not what you think, they are not Katherine and Natalie" Stefan defended.

"Well you already know Natalie and Aria are related, I wouldn't be shocked if Katherine and Elena are related as well, they could be twins" Lexi said.

"I don't know" Stefan said.

"You don't know?" a shocked Lexi asked, "You didn't find out?".

"No, maybe I don't wanna know" Stefan said, "I have no desire to tie Elena to Katherine", Lexi gave Stefan a knowing look, "Okay yes, yes Elena's resemblance to Katherine and Aria's last name is what drew me in, but that's it, Katherine and Elena may look the same on the outside but on the inside they are completely different".

"Oh, so Elena's not a raging bitch then huh?" Lexi asked.

Stefan smiled, "No".

"No, Elena is, Elena's warm and she's kind, and she's caring and she's selfless, and it's real" Stefan said, "And honestly, when I'm around her I completely forget what I am".

"What about Aria?" a curious Lexi asked.

"Aria" Stefan whispered, a smile forming on his face, "Aria is so much like Natalie yet she's so different, Aria will make you smile even in your darkest days, she's the type of girl who will never give up on you no matter what you do, she is always surrounded by this light, whenever you're near her you can't help but be happy, she's so easy to talk to, she has this magic that makes everyone automatically like her, she's one of the purest girl I have ever met".

Lexi looked at Stefan with a smile, "You know, the way you talk about Aria, it seems to me you're way more interested in her than Elena".

"What, no" Stefan denied quickly, "Aria is just a friend, a very good friend, that's it".

"Mhmm, whatever you say" Lexi said, clearly not believing Stefan's words.

"Forget that Lexi, tell me something, how did you know Aria's a Connor witch and is related to Natalie?" a confused Stefan asked, not remembering telling Lexi that.

"You don't know?" a shocked Lexi asked.

"Know what?" a confused Stefan asked.

"Stefan, whenever a Connor witch uses her magic, for a few hours there's this power emitted around them, humans can't feel it but if you're a supernatural being you can easily feel it, you will automatically know that Aria's a Connor witch, one of the most powerful witches to walk this earth".

"That means--".

"That means, whenever your friend does magic, she's going to be a target of every supernatural creature that want's a Connor witch" Lexi said.

Stefan suddenly looked very worried, he knew every supernatural being in this world wanted a Connor witch, Connor witches could do things normal witches couldn't even dream of, and with Aria being the last Connor witch, she was in a lot of danger, but Stefan vowed he wouldn't let anything happen to Aria, he will protect Aria with his life, but he couldn't do it alone, he needed to tell Damon, he needed his help.

***

Aria opened the front door when she heard a knock, opening it she saw Stefan standing infront of her, "Stefan, hey".

"Hey" Stefan greeted, giving Aria a small smile, he could feel the power that Lexi was talking about emitting from Aria, though it wasn't as powerful as it was before, it was still there, Stefan wondered how did he and Damon fail to sense this before.

"What are you doing here?" a confused Elena asked Stefan, coming up to the door and standing next to Aria.

"Um, Lexi said that you two came by and you seemed upset" Stefan said.

"Right, the girl in the towel" Elena said, a bitter tone in her voice.

"The towel?" a confused Stefan asked.

"Mm-hm" Elena confirmed.

"When we came over, Lexi was in nothing but a towel and she told us you were in the shower" Aria clarified.

"Oh, no, no" Stefan said, finally understanding why Elena was upset, "No, no, no".

Stefan laughed, "Not like that no, she's not exactly a girl, Lexi's, um, she's 350 years old".

Aria looked at Stefan in amazement, while Elena looked shocked.

 "Awesome" Aria said, her excitement making Stefan smile.

"You mean she's a--?".

Stefan nodded at Elena, "And she's my oldest friend" Stefan clarified, "Nothing romantic, ever".

"Once again Miss Elena Gilbert just jumped to a conclusion without any proof" Aria teased, "I'm sorry on her behalf".

"Oh, okay, well, she kept staring at me and Aria" Elena said, ignoring Aria, "It was weird".

Stefan nodded, "Well, you know, I've talked about you both a lot, so guess she felt like she knew you both".

Elena nodded her head in understanding, "So why'd you come by?" Stefan asked, hope shown clearly in his eyes.

Aria looked at Elena, really hoping she will finally come clean to Stefan about what she feels for him.

"I, uh--" Elena said, fumbling with her words, "It was a mistake".

Aria sighed, she knew Elena was scared and confused and she needed time, but Aria hated not seeing two people who were clearly in love with each other, not being with each other.

Stefan stepped towards Elena, "Elena talk to me".

"I can't" Elena said.

Aria really wanted to say something, she wanted to put some sense into Elena but she knew it wasn't her place, this was something Elena's supposed to figure out by herself.

"Stefan I can't, and that's the problem" Elena said, "I'm keeping all these secrets from everyone, I can't even tell my best friend, do you know how hard that is? It's like I need to talk to someone but the only person I can talk to is, you and--"

"I want you to know that I will always be here for you, you can come to me about anything, okay?" Stefan asked, Elena nodded in understanding.

"Plus you also have me" Aria pointed out.

Elena smiled at Aria, "I'm always going to have you Aria, that's something I know for a fact will never change".

Stefan smiled at the two best friends, he could tell they had solved whatever was causing them to have tension between them and Stefan was glad, he didn't want such a beautiful bond to break.

Elena turned to Stefan, "Well, thank you for coming by".

Stefan turned to leave but stopped and faced the two girls once again, "Hey, do you both need a ride to the Grill tonight?".

"Are you going to Caroline's party?" a slightly amused Elena asked.

"Lexi's dragging me" Stefan replied, "And it's my birthday".

"What, no way" Aria said excitedly, she went forward and gave Stefan a hug, "Happy birthday Stefan!".

Stefan laughed and hugged Aria back, "Thanks Aria".

"Really?" Elena asked, after Stefan and Aria broke their hug, Stefan nodded, "Wow, um, happy birthday then".

"Thank you" a grateful Stefan said.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna stay in tonight" Elena said.

A dejected Stefan nodded his head, "Okay".

"But hey, can I get a ride?" Aria asked Stefan, "Caroline will murder me if I miss her party, plus I really want to meet my best friend's other bestie".

"Yeah of course" a smiling Stefan said, "Lexi's gonna love you".

"I hope so" Aria said, she then looked between Elena and Stefan, "I'll go wait outside for you, you guys do your thing".

Aria quickly ran outside, leaving Stefan and Elena alone.

"Well, have a goodnight, I'll drop Aria back home safely later" Stefan said, turning around and leaving Elena behind.

***

Stefan and Aria entered the Grill, "Seriously Stefan, tell me what you want for your birthday, I can't not get you anything".

"Aria I'm serious, I want nothing, the fact that you refused to give up on our friendship despite everything, is the best gift for me, I want nothing else" Stefan assured.

"Well I want to give you something else" Aria mumbled, then suddenly Aria came up with an idea.

"What's with the face?" Stefan asked Aria.

"I got the best idea ever" Aria said excitedly, "You're gonna love me for it".

"Aria--" Stefan started.

"Nope, not hearing anything" Aria said, covering her ears, "Now come on I want to meet Lexi and hear all your embarrassing stories".

Stefan laughed, and both him and Aria went further into the Grill trying to find Lexi, when they saw Matt pass by, "Matt!" Stefan called out, running up to Matt.

"Just hear me out please?" Stefan pleaded, "I was just trying to help Vicki, I went through something similar once, I'm really sorry".

"Don't be, it's not the first time she's run off" Matt said, "Turns out Vicki's just like her mother, I can't count on either of them, thanks for trying".

Aria looked down at her feet, she hated the fact that Matt was oblivious about his own sister's death, the guilt was eating her alive, and she hated the fact she couldn't do anything about it.

"Aria" Stefan said, placing a hand on Aria's shoulder, "You okay?".

Aria gave Stefan a small smile, "I will be, but you know Stefan, you really are a nice guy, and Elena is going to realise that very soon, I promise".

Stefan smiled at Aria, thankful for her support, "Come on, let's go find Lexi".

Aria nodded and followed Stefan to find Lexi, unaware of a certain pair of blue eyes watching her.

***

Stefan and Aria had managed to finally locate Lexi, and Stefan was right, Lexi loved Aria, both the girls became instant friends, and now all three of them were dancing on the dance floor.

"Okay, I'm gonna need a little more foot movement" Lexi told Stefan.

"Yeah come on Stefan, be more free" Aria said, dancing with Lexi.

"Yeah I'm not really interested in making a fool out of myself" Stefan told the two girls.

"Come on, you're not that bad" Lexi said.

"Just do me a favor, tell me if you see Damon with his camera phone" Stefan said.

"I don't know about Damon, but if you do embarrass yourself, I'll definitely take a video" Aria teased.

Lexi high fived Aria, "I love her".

Stefan shook his head in amusement at the two girls, he loved the fact that both Aria and Lexi got on so well that to so quickly.

***

After getting tired of dancing, Stefan, Lexi and Aria decided to play pool.

"Whoo!" Stefan said, impressed with his shot.

"Nice" Lexi said, high fiving Stefan.

 "Awesome birthday boy" Aria exclaimed, in awe of Stefan's shot.

Elena entered the Grill to see Stefan laughing and having fun with both Lexi and Aria. Elena stood back and admired not only Stefan but also Aria, who Elena hadn't seen this happy since the death of her parents.

"Stefan smiles, alert the media" Damon said, coming up to Elena, but his eyes still where the three friends were, more so on Aria than anyone.

"You haven't given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately" Elena retorted, not liking the way Damon was looking at Aria.

"No, you're right, poor Stefan" Damon said, frowning when he saw Stefan pull Aria into a hug, "Persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother, does it get tiring, being so righteous?".

Elena scoffed, "It flares up in the presence of psychopaths" Elena said, walking away from Damon.

"Ouch, well consider this psychopath's feelings hurt" Damon said, sarcasm evident in his voice.

Elena sighed and turned out to face Damon, "What did you do to my brother?".

"I'm gonna need a less vague question" Damon said.

"When you did what you did to Jeremy's memory of Vicki, what else did you do to him?" Elena asked, as Damon stepped towards her.

"You asked me to take away his memory of fangs and all the bad stuff" Damon reminded, mock growling, "You wanted me to take away his suffering".

"But he's acting different" Elena said, "He seems okay with everything, and a little too okay, I mean he's studying, he's not doing drugs, he's not drinking, are you sure you didn't do something else?".

"Elena, I took away his suffering" Damon simply said, before walking away from Gilbert.

***

"Three shots of tequila" Lexi ordered the bartender, while Aria stood next to her.

"Make that four" Lexi said, looking at something, Aria turned in the direction Lexi was looking at to see Elena standing there, Aria didn't even realise Elena was here, she was having too much fun with Lexi to notice anyone else.

"I'm gonna need to see some ID" The bartender told Lexi.

"No you don't" Lexi said, compelling the bartender, while Aria watched in awe, for some weird reason she loved watching vampires use their abilities, it fascinated her.

"That will be--".

"Free" Lexi interrupted.

"On the house".

"Thanks" Lexi said, giving Aria her shot and grabbing the other three shot glasses.

"That was awesome" Aria praised, making Lexi smile.

"Ah, the famous Elena" Lexi said, walking over to Elena.

"Towel girl" Elena greeted.

"I've been called worse, here" Lexi said, handing Elena a shot glass.

"I thought you weren't coming, Elena" Aria said, sitting on a table along with Lexi and Elena.

"Changed my mind" Elena replied, she then turned to Lexi, "I didn't know that you guys could drink".

"Oh yeah, it helps curb the cravings" Lexi replied, "But makes for a lot of lushy vamps".

Elena and Aria both laughed, "You know, I've never seen Stefan drunk" Elena said, "He always seem so--".

"Uptight?" Lexi finished.

Elena nodded her head, "Yeah".

"Elena you should see how carefree Stefan is around Lexi, it's honestly amazing, it's like he's a completely different person" Aria said, downing her shot of tequila.

 "Well that's the benefit of knowing someone for over a hundred years" Lexi said, "You can just be yourself".

"Yeah, he can't be himself with me" an upset Elena said.

"Well not yet, the first step was him telling you" Lexi said,

"The rest comes with time" Aria interjected.

"Both of you seem so sure" Elena observed.

"Well I don't know about Aria, but the love of my life was human" Lexi disclosed, "He went through what I imagine you're going through, denial, anger, etc, but at the end of the day love really did conquer all".

"Love always conquers all" Aria said.

"Are you gonna drink that?" Lexi asked Elena after a moment of silence, pointing to her shot.

"Oh, go for it" Elena said, handing Lexi the shot glass, which she gladly downed.

"I'm scared" Elena admitted.

"But you're here" Aria pointed out.

"Because you're crazy about him" Lexi continued, "I get it okay? I mean, what's not to love? Listen, take it from someone who has been around a long time, when it's real, you can't walk away".

"No matter how much you try" Aria said.

Both Aria and Elena laughed when Lexi downed another shot.

"Okay now I'm going to be taking your best friend here with me, I'm only here for a day and I want to spend as mush time with her as possible, she's my new favorite human" Lexi said, grabbing Aria's hand and pulling her along, and a laughing Aria gladly followed.

"Hey Lexi" Elena called out, stopping both Lexi and Aria, "It was really nice meeting you".

"She didn't call you towel girl, I think that means she likes you" Aria said to Lexi, while both of them walked over to Stefan.

Lexi laughed, "What's not to like".

"Nothing" Aria smiled.

Both the girls laughed and went up to Stefan, "Yep, I drank yours, sorry" Lexi informed.

"Thank you" Stefan said to Lexi, then turned to Aria, "Both of you".

"You weren't supposed to be listening" Lexi said, realising Stefan heard their conversation with Elena.

"Tsk tsk Salvatore, eavesdropping girl talk, shame on you" Aria teased, making both Stefan and Lexi laugh.

"We were feeling epic, whatever" Lexi said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Plus I told you, you're going to love me for the gift I give you for your birthday" Aria said, letting Stefan know that pushing Elena in his direction was Aria's gift to him.

Stefan smiled at Aria, then looked in the direction where Elena was only to see her already looking back at him with a small smile on her face

***

"All right, the shots are a bribe, I need you to answer a question" Lexi said, placing two shots of tequila infront of Damon, taking his attention off of Aria who was dancing on the dance floor, "What are you really doing in Mystic Falls?".

"Have you tried the brittle? Wins awards" Damon distracted, dodging Lexi's question.

"Cut the crap" Lexi said, as Damon downed the shots.

"Okay" Damon said, "I have a diabolical master plan".

Lexi nodded, "What is it?".

"Well if I told you, it wouldn't be very diabolical, now would it?" Damon said, looking back at the dance floor.

Lexi looked in the direction that Damon was looking at, only to see Aria dancing, "Oh my god" Lexi realised, "It's you isn't it?".

"It's me what?" Damon said, still looking at Aria, making sure she was safe.

"You're the vampire that Aria is connected to" Lexi connected.

Damon's head snapped to Lexi, "How do you know about that?".

"I just know" Lexi said smirking, knowing she had managed to get under Damon's skin by mentioning that she knew about Connor witches and their little curse of being connected to vampires.

Aria stopped dancing when she saw Sheriff Forbes along with two other deputies, make their way to the bar where both Lexi and Damon were sitting, Aria gasped when she saw the Sheriff inject Lexi with something, causing her to go weak, Aria knew it was vervain, there was nothing else that will affect a vampire like that, which meant they knew what Lexi was, meaning they were going to kill her.

"No, no, no" Aria whispered, running in the direction the deputies took Lexi.

"Can't go out this way" The police officer said to Aria, blocking the entrance, just as Stefan and Elena walked up to Aria and the officers, having seen the deputies take Lexi.

"Stefan, back exist" Aria whispered, and with that all three of them ran to the back exist.

Coming out of the Grill, all three of them heard gun shots, turning around the corner they saw Lexi about to attack Sheriff Forbes but Damon came inbetween them and staked her in the heart, Stefan grabbed both Elena and Aria and covered their mouths before any of them could scream.

"Oh my god" Stefan whispered.

Aria looked at the scene infront of her with tears in her eyes, she hadn't known Lexi for long, but still the girl had managed to make a place for herself in Aria's heart and now she didn't know what to think after seeing Damon murder her.

***

"Stefan!" Aria called out, running behind a devasted Stefan, along with Elena, "Stefan wait!".

"He killed her" Stefan said, turning around to face Aria and Elena, "He kill Zach, he killed Tanner, he turned Vicki, he kidnapped you Aria, I have to kill him".

"No wait Stefan, you can't do that" Aria protested.

"Why are you trying to save him Aria?" a furious Stefan asked, "He's never gonna change, don't you see that? He's never gonna change".

"Stefan, I'm trying to save you" Aria revealed, "Stefan you don't know what this will do to you, it will ruin you Stefan, please don't do it".

"Aria's right Stefan, please don't" Elena pleaded.

"Everywhere that I go, pain and death follow" Stefan said, tears in his eyes, "Damon follows me, no more".

"Stefan please stop, just talk to me, talk to us, let us be there for you please" Aria begged, hating the state Stefan was in.

"No" Stefan said, "You were right to stay away from me Elena, and Aria, we can't be friends, Damon will end up killing you as well and I cant have that".

Stefan walked away from both the girls, Aria let the tears she was stopping from spilling to run wild, she tried being strong for Stefan but she couldn't anymore, in two days this was the second death Aria had witnessed, it was all becoming too much for her, Elena pulled Aria into a hug and let her cry it out, knowing all to well how much death really affected Aria.

***

Damon poured himself a glass of bourbon when he felt a presence behind him, turning around he saw Stefan.

"Told you I'd take care of it" Damon said.

Stefan speeded infront of Damon and punched him in the face, he then grabbed him by his collars and threw him on the floor, Stefan stomped up to Damon and repeatedly punched him, suddenly Damon kicked Stefan across the room, Damon got up and charged towards Stefan, Stefan grabbed him by his collar and slammed him to the wall.

"Come on, I did this for you, to get them off our trail" Damon defended.

"You never do anything for anyone by yourself" Stefan snapped, taking a stake from his back pocket, and stabbing Damon in the stomach.

"You missed" Damon breathed out.

"No" Stefan said, "I'm sparing your life, only because of Aria".

"Aria?" a confused Damon asked.

"Did you know that whenever a Connor witch performs magic, they start emitting this immense power for a few hours, which lets every supernatural creature that is near them to know who they are?" Stefan asked.

"Natalie had told me" Damon breathed out, the stake still stuck in his stomach, "I was hoping it wouldn't happen to Aria".

"Well it is, that's how Lexi knew who Aria was, and if I'm going to protect her, I'm going to need your help, and for some stupid reason Aria doesn't want you dead either" Stefan said, pushing the stake further into Damon making him groan in pain.

Stefan let Damon go, causing him to fall to the ground, and walked out of his room, while Damon took out the stake from his stomach he thought about Stefan's words, the thought of Aria being in danger made him very uneasy.

***

Aria entered her room after saying goodnight to Elena and Jeremy, only to see Damon standing in the middle of her room.

"Leave" Aria said harshly, even though she was glad Stefan hadn't killed Damon, it didn't mean she had forgiven him.

"Aria" Damon stepped forward, only for Aria to step back.

"Don't, please just leave Damon, I can't do this with you right now" Aria said.

"Aria I had to kill Lexi, the council was on to us, I had to divert their attention" Damon explained.

"But why Lexi!" Aria snapped at Damon, "Why did it have to be Lexi Damon!".

Damon stepped forward and pulled Aria into a hug, Aria struggled in the hug, trying to get out of it, but Damon refused to let her go, finally getting tired of fighting, Aria wrapped her arms around Damon and started sobbing into the hug.

"I can't take anymore deaths Damon, I can't, I don't have it in me to watch another person die Damon, I just can't" Aria sobbed.

"Shh Aria, shh" Damon said, hugging Aria tightly.

If Damon knew Aria would be so affected by Lexi's death, then he would have found another plan, for Aria he would have changed his whole plan, but now its too late, and all he could really do is comfort Aria and make sure she won't see anymore deaths.

***

Presenting 1x08 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Bonnie helping Aria and Elena solve everything between them?

Thoughts on Aria and Bonnie showing their magic to Elena?

Thoughts on Elena and Aria meeting Lexi?

Thoughts on Stefan not killing Damon for Aria?

Published: 8th September 2020
Edited: 13th March 2024