19. Miss Mystic Falls

Aria woke up and groaned when she heard her phone ringing, without opening her eyes she grabbed her phone from the side table, before she could say anything, her best friend started yelling into her ear.

"Aria Connor!" Caroline yelled into the phone, "Where the hell are you, you haven't answered any of my texts, your not even at school, do you realise how much you have missed?!".

"School?" Aria asked confused, finally opening her eyes and looking at her surrounding in confusion, she realised she was in Damon's bed, that's when everything that had happened last night came crashing back to her.

"Yes school Aria" Caroline said, "You know the place you go to study".

Aria sighed, "I'm sorry Caroline, my alarm didn't go off and I'm guessing I overslept because of that".

"Of course you did" Caroline mumbled, "You realise how much you've missed?".

"And what exactly did I miss again?" Aria asked.

"Well first of all, Bonnie's back" Caroline informed.

"Wait what, seriously?" Aria asked, sitting up on the bed shocked, "You better not be joking with me Care".

"I promise I'm not joking Aria, Bonnie's really back" Caroline said, "Oh and they announced the Miss Mystic Falls competition".

"The what now?" Aria asked confused.

"The Miss Mystic Falls competition" Caroline repeated, "You know the competition me, you and Elena signed up for".

"The competition supermom made me sign up for" Aria whispered, her mind going back to the day Miranda Gilbert dragged Aria out of her bed and made her sign up for the competition, at first Aria hated the idea of it, but Miranda had hyped Aria up, she told Aria the time she had won Miss Mystic Falls and how much she enjoyed it, she had told Aria that at times it was important to get out of their comfort zone and do something they would never do, eventually Miranda had managed to make Aria really excited for the competition, but now, after Miranda's death, Aria no longer had any interest in this competition.

"Yeah" Caroline whispered, in a sympathetic tone, "Anyways, the interview for the competition is happening and you need to be there".

Aria sighed, "I don't know Caroline, I only signed up for this competition because of supermom, I wanted to win for her, but now she's dead, there's no point in me competing".

"Yes there is Aria" Caroline said, "You need to compete in this competition for me, so what if Miranda is not here, I'm here, and I want you to compete and win this competition".

"Caroline, I know you want to win this competition and I don't want to compete with you" Aria said.

"Aria I'm competing with Elena not you, I'll never compete with you, and if you win or I win, it's the same thing" Caroline said.

Aria sighed, "I don't know Care".

"Please Aria" Caroline pleaded, "You can even ask Damon to be your escort".

Just as Caroline said that, Damon walked into the room.

"Damon?" Aria asked, making Damon look at her in confusion.

"Yes Damon" Caroline said, "You need a escort for this competition, so you should totally ask Damon to be your escort".

Aria looked at Damon who was looking at Aria with a smirk, having heard Caroline.

Aria shook her head at Damon, "I don't Caroline, I don't think Damon would be up for it".

Damon rolled his eyes at Aria's words, while Aria just gave him a cheeky smile.

"Of course he will be, just ask him, for me, please Aria" Caroline pleaded.

"Caroline--".

"Nope, can't hear you, see you at the interview" Caroline interrupted, "Oh and don't forget to ask Damon".

After Caroline hanged up, Aria turned to Damon who was already looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"Want to ask me something Ria?" Damon teased.

Aria rolled her eyes at Damon's cockiness, "There's a competition happening, Miss Mystic Falls, and I'm competing in it, along with Caroline and Elena, and I need a escort".

Damon smirked, "You want me to be your escort?".

"You don't have to" Aria said quickly, "Only if you want to, if you don't want to it's fine, I'll just ask Jeremy".

Damon frowned hearing Jeremy's name, "No need, I'll love to be your escort".

Aria looked at Damon with a smile, "Well then your going to have to come to school with me, for the dance rehearsals".

"It will be my honor" Damon said, "But before that, you and me are going to the Founder's Hall".

"Founder's Hall?" Aria asked confused, "Why there?".

"Apparently the Sheriff has some new information for us".

***

"There was a disturbance at the hospital blood bank last night, some of the supply was compromised" Liz informed both Aria and Damon.

"As in stolen?" Aria asked shocked.

Liz nodded, "We almost missed it, the inventory records were altered, but when the manager was questioned, he had no recollection of changing them".

"Meaning the vampire who stole the blood used mind control to hide the theft" John said.

Hearing John's voice, Aria suddenly went stiff, Damon who saw that, quickly grabbed Aria's hand and squeezed it in assurance.

"I know what she meant" Damon said, glaring at John, not liking his presences near Aria. 

"We wouldn't have noticed if John hadn't alerted us to recent discrepancies at other hospital blood banks in the county" Liz said.

"Of course he did" Aria mumbled, which no one but Damon heard.

"How lucky for us we have John" Damon said sarcastically.

"We're stepping up security at the hospital, giving the guards vervain to prevent this from happening again" Liz informed.

"Sheriff might I offer a suggestion? Why don't Damon, Aria and I put our heads together?" John asked, "We could track down whoever's doing this".

"I'll pass" Aria said, glaring at John, "I've got better then things to do then team up with you, Uncle John".

Sensing the tension between John and Aria, Liz spoke again, knowing all to well Aria has never liked John or his company, "Truthfully, I could use extra hands, since Aria said no, Damon would you be willing to team up with John?".

"Well, of course, I mean, if it will help" Damon said.

"I think we'll make a good team" John said, making Aria narrow her eyes at him in suspicion, she didn't like the way he was so eager to work with Damon, "Don't you Damon?".

"John whatever I can do to keep this town safe" Damon replied, "Even if it means spending time with you".

"Even if it's against his better judgment" Aria said, not liking the fact that Damon had agreed to work with John, something told her John's intention with working with Damon was anything but good, and that worried Aria.

***

After talking to John and Liz at the Founder's Hall, Damon and Aria went back to the Salvatore Boarding House since they had some time to spare before they had to be at the school.

"I can't believe you agreed to work with John" Aria said, entering the living room.

"I didn't really have a choice Ria" Damon defended.

"Sure you did, all you had to say was no Damon" Aria snapped, "I'm telling you, John has some ulterior motive in working with you, his up to something, something that isn't going to be good, for any of us".

"Don't you think I know that Ria?" Damon asked, "I know John isn't up to anything good, which is why I agreed to work with him, this is the only way I can find out what his up to and also find out what he knows about--".

"About what?" Aria asked confused, seeing Damon stop mid sentence.

"About the vampire who killed your parents" Damon said.

Aria looked at Damon in shock, "You're working with John to find the killer of my parents?".

Damon nodded, "Damon, you don't need to do this" Aria said.

"Of course I do" Damon said, "The vampire that killed your parents was after you Ria, and if that vampire is still out there, it means your still in danger, and I don't like that, so that vampire needs to go".

"Damon you don't--".

Before Aria could finish her sentence, the doorbell rang, making Damon and Aria look at each other in confusion, not knowing who that could be.

"Hold that thought" Damon told Aria, walking over to the door.

Opening the door, Damon got confused seeing Anna on the other side.

"I suppose I should be grateful, you learned to use the bell" Damon said, glaring at Anna.

"I'm here on behalf of my mother" Anna informed Damon, just as Aria walked over, confused seeing Anna here.

"On behalf of or in spite of?" Damon asked, standing slightly infront of Aria, incase Anna decided to do something stupid.

Anna ignored Damon and turned to Aria, "I'm sorry about what the other vampires did to you and Stefan, abducting, torturing you both, it wasn't supposed to go like that".

"You were playing house with half of a tomb of really pissed off vampires" Damon said, leading Anna into the living room, "What did you think was gonna happen?".

"My mom is devastated" Anna said, "They tried to overthrow her".

"If she's so upset, then why isn't she here?" Aria asked.

"She doesn't really do apologies" Anna said.

"Well, that's a coincidence, I don't do forgiveness, so run along" Damon snapped.

Anna once again ignored Damon and turned to Aria, "You need to know my mother will never hurt you, she will never hurt Natalie's family".

"Natalie?" Aria asked confused, "What does Natalie have to do with this?".

"Natalie was my mother's best friend, she saved my mother's life, my mother owes her, she will never hurt her family" Anna informed.

"Natalie saved Pearl's life?" Aria asked shocked.

Anna nodded, "Natalie saved my mother from my abusive father".

"Sounds like Natalie" Damon said, knowing all about Natalie's obsession with saving people, that's what got her killed after all, "And honestly, we don't care, just if you're gonna continue playing house with your little vampire pets you might wanna stop robbing the blood bank dry because they're on to it".

"I haven't been to the local blood bank in at least a week" Anna informed confused.

"Maybe it's the other vampires" Aria suggested, not knowing who else it will be.

"The others are gone Aria" Anna said.

"And where exactly did they go?" Aria asked, still not convinced.

"They weren't cut out for this town" Anna said, "After what happened with you and Stefan, my mom kicked them out and they took off, it's just us and Harper now".

After hearing Anna, both Damon and Aria exchanged worry glances, if it wasn't the tomb vampires who were stealing the blood bags, then who was it?

***

"How was school?" Damon asked as Stefan entered the house.

"Fine" Stefan replied, giving Aria a small smile, "Hey Aria".

Aria smiled and gave the younger Salvatore a small wave, "Hey".

"You didn't come to school today" Stefan said.

Aria chuckled and looked at Stefan in slight embarrassment, "Yeah, I overslept".

Stefan smiled at Aria, while Damon spoke again, "So same old, same old school? Nothing new? No stories to bring home?".

Stefan looked between Aria and Damon in confusion, "You're making small talk, why?".

"You seem awfully chipper lately, less doom and gloom" Damon replied, "Little more pep in your step".

"And you think it's because I drank human blood again" Stefan said.

"I mean, I don't wanna brag, but I would definitely take responsibility for this new and improved you" Damon said, making Aria shake her head at him.

Aria lightly pushed Damon away from Stefan and stood between the two brothers, "Stefan, you're okay, right?".

"I'm fine Aria" Stefan replied, he then turned to Damon, "I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm clean".

"Yeah, not possible" Damon said.

"Damon" Aria warned, "Maybe he is really fine, maybe your wrong this time".

"Aria's right, you should listen to her" Stefan told his brother.

Damon narrowed his eyes at his younger brother, "Stefan, let's be serious for a second, you've spent the last century and a half being a poster child for Prozac, and now you except me to believe this new you has nothing to do with human blood, nothing".

Stefan shrugged, "I'm clean".

"You're lying" Damon snapped.

"Believe what you want" Stefan said, walking away from the duo.

After Stefan left, Aria turned to Damon, "You really think it's Stefan whose stole all those blood bags?".

"I don't think Aria, I know" Damon said, looking in the direction his brother left in.

***

After his confrontation with Aria and Damon, and talking to Elena on the phone, Stefan walked down to the basement, where he had kept all the blood bags he had stolen.

"Well, well" Damon said, coming out of the shadows, "He's a liar and a thief".

Stefan turned and looked at his brother in shock.

"Where's Aria?" Stefan asked worried, not wanting Aria to find out about his addiction.

"She's gone for her interview for Miss Mystic Falls" Damon informed, making Stefan breathe a sigh of relief, "But you tell me, when were you gonna share?".

"Go ahead, help yourself" Stefan said, pointing to the freezer full of blood bags.

"No, I'm talking about the fact that you're a closet blood junkie" Damon said.

Stefan shrugged, "So I'm drinking blood again, you're the one that shoved it on me, what's your problem? I have it under control".

"Under control?" Damon asked, "You robbed a hospital".

"So, what's your point?" Stefan asked nonchalantly.

"Fine, whatever man, drink up" Damon said sarcastically, "Just remember, we're trying to keep a low profile, why don't you walk up to Sheriff Forbes, ask her to tap a vein?".

"Have my actions negatively impacted you?" Stefan mocked, "I can't imagine what that must feel like".

"Yeah, I know for a fact Aria has no idea about this, but what does Elena think about the new you?" Damon asked.

"Nothing's changed, I'm still the same person" Stefan defended.

"Clearly".

"Elena and Aria don't need to know anything yet" Stefan snapped.

Damon sighed, "You've been off the human stuff for years Stefan, if you're having trouble--".

"I'm not having any trouble" Stefan interrupted, agitated.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I know what it's like" Damon snapped, "Jekyll and Hyde feeling, that switch, sometimes it goes off and you snap, right now is not a good time for me to be worried about you snapping, I'm already worried about Aria, I can't be worried about you as well Stefan".

"Aria?" Stefan asked confused, "What's wrong with Aria?".

"Oh that's right, you don't know" Damon mocked.

"Know what?" Stefan asked confused.

"On the Founder's Party, John informed Aria he knows who killed her parents" Damon informed, shocking Stefan.

"Who?" Stefan asked.

"He didn't tell her, according to him Aria is too attached to vampires and she wouldn't be able to do what is needed" Damon said, "With everything that has happened, I know for a fact Aria is very close to a mental breakdown, and when that happens, she's going to need both of us, so I can't have you snapping".

"I know that it pains you to see this, but I'm fine, okay? I'm fine" Stefan said, "And about being there for Aria, I will always be there for her, even in my worst, I will be there for her", Damon gave Stefan a tight smile hearing his words, while Stefan grabbed a blood bag from the freezer, "So please do me a favor, and back off".

***

"This year's queen will have the special honor of taking centre stage at the 150th Founder's Day Gala" Carol Lockwood informed Aria, "Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you".

"This year, I haven't been that active, not like I used to be anyways, this year I've been quiet distracted and because of my carelessness I let a lot of opportunities slide away, but I know being part of this competition is a huge honor, and I assure you I take this competition very seriously, this competition was really important to my adopted mom, she had always believed in community, family, honor and loyalty, this competition is part of a legacy, a legacy she left behind not only for Elena but also me".

Carol nodded at Aria's response, impressed with her words, while Aria just gave her a small smile.

***

After the interview, Elena, Stefan, Aria and Damon were in the cafeteria, with the other participants of the competition, practicing the Miss Mystic Falls dance.

"Honor your partner" Carol said.

Aria and Damon looked at each other and bowed down, both having smiles on their faces

"Let's focus, right hand around".

Both Damon and Aria lifted their right hand, their hands were close just not close enough to be touching, and both started walking around.

"Flirt with your eyes".

Hearing Carol, Damon winked at Aria, making her laugh.

"Left hand around".

Both Damon and Aria lifted their lift hand and repeated the same step.

"Thanks for doing this" Aria told Damon.

"Both hands".

"Anything for you Ria" Damon said, as both Aria and Damon lifted both their hands and started walking around.

Aria smiled, "Seriously Damon, I know this isn't exactly your scene, but I really appericate you coming here for me".

"Couldn't have you go with someone else, could I now?" Damon asked.

"Why?" Aria asked confused, "Would you have been jealous?".

"Maybe" Damon replied simply, shocking Aria.

"Did Damon Salvatore just admit that he will be jealous seeing me with someone else?" Aria teased, really not excepting Damon to admit that.

"Shut it" Damon said, grabbing Aria's hand and spinning her then dipping her down.

"Damon!" Aria yelled, laughing.

"No, no, no, there's no touching during this part" Carol said, as Damon helped Aria stand up, "It's about the simple intimacy of the near touch".

"Sorry" Aria said, slightly embarrassed, she looked towards Stefan and Elena to see both of them laughing at Aria's embarrassed state, making Aria glare at them.

"I hate you" Aria told Damon, who was looking at Aria with amusement.

"No you don't" Damon replied smirking, continuing their dance practice.

"No I don't" Aria whispered, smiling at Damon.

***

After the dance practice was over, Damon and Aria stood in the corner and were talking about John and him threatening Damon.

"A invention?" Aria asked, "What would John want with a invention?".

Damon shrugged, "I don't know, but something tells me, it isn't for anything good".

Aria nodded, but before she could say anything else her eyes fell to the door, where she saw Bonnie and Caroline enter the cafeteria.

"Bonnie!" Aria exclaimed, running over to the Bennet witch and hugging her, "You're actually back, I can't believe your actually back, I thought Caroline was just messing with me".

Bonnie laughed at Aria's excitement, "Yeah I'm back".

"Told you I wasn't lying" Caroline said.

"Yeah, yeah" Aria said, finally breaking the hug.

"Bonnie, hey" Elena said, walking over to the trio with Stefan and Damon.

"Hey, how are you?" Stefan asked Bonnie.

Bonnie didn't say anything to Stefan, just glared at the two brothers, confusing them and Aria and Elena.

"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt, he had to work today" Caroline said, sensing the awkwardness.

"Bonnie, can we talk?" Aria asked suddenly.

"We only have thirty minutes for rehearsal" Bonnie said, hoping to avoid this conversation.

"It'll only take a minute" Elena said, also wanting to talk to Bonnie, "Please".

After a moment, Bonnie nodded and with that Aria, Elena and Bonnie walked outside, leaving behind a confused Caroline.

"Is something wrong Bonnie?" Aria asked, getting straight to the point.

"It's not worth talking about" Bonnie said.

"It obviously is Bonnie" Aria said, "Elena told me about your cold behavior towards her in the morning, and Caroline also told me how both of you talked everyday when you were away, but whenever me and Elena called, you ignored us".

"Aria's right, you've barely said ten words to me and you won't even look at Stefan" Elena said, she then realised something, "Is that what it is? Is it Stefan?".

Bonnie sighed, "Listen guys, I can't just pretend like everything is okay, everything my grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb, and now they're out, which means she died for nothing".

"I'm so sorry Bonnie" Elena said, while Aria looked down at her feet in sadness, "What can we do to make it better?".

"That's just it" Bonnie said, "There's nothing you both can do, I blame them, Stefan and Damon, and I'm not gonna put you in a situation where you both have to choose sides, specially knowing about Damon and Aria's connection and how it's near impossible for them to stay away from each other, I'm just having a hard time with it, okay?".

Aria sighed, but nonetheless nodded, she wanted to defend Damon and Stefan but she knew whatever she says right now would be taken against her, so she stayed quiet.

***

Aria was in the Gilbert living room, doing last minute preps for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, when there was a knock on the front door, Aria grabbed her dress and opened the door, while Elena also came downstairs with her dress.

"Hey, Jenna told me you're driving us?" Aria asked, seeing Alaric on the other side.

"Hi, yeah I am, here let me get that for you both" Alaric said, grabbing Aria and Elena's dresses.

"Thanks" Aria said.

"Yeah" Alaric said, closing the door behind him, "How, uh, how is Stefan?".

"Stefan?" Aria asked confused.

"You know, he seems on edge" Alaric said.

"He went through a lot" Elena defended, "He was in bad shape for a while, but he's bouncing back now".

Before Alaric could continue the conversation, John walked over to the trio, "Alaric? Hey, buddy, what are you doing here?".

"Well, I'm the chauffeur" Alaric replied.

"Oh I thought I was driving" John said.

"I'd rather walk then sit in a car with you" Aria said, she didn't care if she was being rude, because whenever she saw John, all she remembered was that he knew who killed her parents but refused to tell her, in a way he was protecting the person who killed her parents, and Aria hated him for that.

"Aria's right, we're going with Ric" Jenna said, walking downstairs.

"Are we ready?" Elena asked.

"Mm-hm, Jeremy can ride with you" Jenna told John.

"Poor Jeremy" Aria mumbled, which no one but Alaric heard, who chuckled while leading the three girls to his car.

***

Elena and Aria were now upstairs at the Founder's Hall, where Jenna was helping both the girls get ready.

Currently, Jenna was doing Elena's hair, having already done Aria's hair.

"Thanks for helping us" Elena said, while her and Aria applied their make up.

"Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't gonna burn off" Jenna joked.

"You managed with my hair, I'm sure you will be fine with Elena's" Aria assured.

"You know, I remember when my mom, Aria and I were first applying for this" Elena reminisced.

"She was so excited" Aria said, smiling while remembering the moment.

"So were both of you, if I recall" Jenna said.

"I was only excited because supermom made it sound so much fun" Aria said, looking down at the bracelet Damon had given her, "A lot has changed since then".

Elena nodded in agreement, "I hate to break it to you both, but it's late for cold feet" Jenna said.

"We don't have cold feet, it's just--".

"We both would have enjoyed it a lot more if she was here" Aria finished.

"I'll tell you one thing, both of your hair would have a better chance if she was" Jenna joked, hoping to lighten the situation a bit, which worked as both Aria and Elena let out a small laugh.

Aria sighed and got up from her chair, "I should go put my dress".

"Me to" Elena said, turning to Jenna who was still holding the curler, "Be careful with that thing, don't hurt anybody".

Aria laughed at Elena's words, and with that both of them went to grab their dresses.

***

Elena and Aria went to grab their dresses, where they saw a panicking Amber pacing around.

"Amber, you alright?" Aria asked, slightly worried for the blonde.

"I hate being the center of attention" Amber revealed, "I get panic attacks".

"Do you need some privacy so you can change?" Elena asked.

"Actually, I'm just gonna go get some air" Amber said, quickly walking out.

After Amber left, Aria went to grab her dress that was hanging on the mirror, but gasped seeing Damon's reflection through the mirror.

"You scared me" Aria said, turning around and facing Damon.

"You can't be back here" Elena told Damon.

"We need to talk" Damon said simply.

"Does it have to be right now?" Elena asked.

"Normally I would have a completely different outlook on what I'm about to tell you both but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal" Damon said.

"What is it?" Aria asked confused.

"Stefan's still drinking human blood" Damon informed, shocking Elena and Aria.

"What?" Elena asked.

"Yeah" Damon said, "A month ago, I would've rejoiced, but with the Council back on the alert it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle".

"I know he's been a little edgy, but he said that was normal" Elena defended.

"Damon are you sure?" Aria asked, "He told both of us that his fine".

"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house" Damon informed the two girls.

Elena went and sat on the couch, "Oh my god".

"He has no idea what normal is, his entire existence isn't normal" Damon said, "Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood, but he spent all this time fighting it, when he should've been learning to control it, and now it's controlling him instead".

"I can't believe this, I mean, it's Stefan that we're talking about here" Elena said.

"Stefan on human blood Elena, he'll do anything, he'll say anything because he's not gonna wanna stop" Damon said, "Trust me".

Both Aria and Elena looked at Damon in worry, his words extremely worrying both the girls.

***

"This is all my fault, I'm the one who fed him the blood in the first place" Elena said, pacing around, just as Stefan entered the room.

"Uh, what's going on in here?" Stefan asked confused.

"I'm just filling Elena and Aria in on your extracurricular activities" Damon informed his younger brother.

Stefan looked at Damon in confusion, "What are you talking about?".

"We know about the blood Stefan" Elena said harshly, while Aria just looked at him in sympathy.

"I'm gonna--I'll be downstairs drinking" Damon said, walking out.

"I'm going to go out and get changed" Aria said, knowing Stefan and Elena needed to talk alone.

Aria grabbed her dress and after giving Stefan a small smile, walked out of the room leaving Stefan and Elena alone.

***

"Miss Tina Fell escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore" Mayor Lockwood announced.

It was finally time for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, slowly by surely Mayor Lockwood was calling the girls to come down, now it was only Elena, Caroline and Aria left.

"Has anyone seen Amber?" Carol asked, walking around and looking for the blonde.

"Do you see Stefan down there?" Elena asked, looking down but finding no sign of the younger Salvatore.

Aria and Caroline looked down but they also didn't see Stefan.

Caroline sighed, "Nope, just my boring fill in escort".

"Where's Matt?" Aria asked confused.

"They wouldn't let him out of work" Caroline informed, "Wait what happened to Stefan?" 

Elena sighed, "I don't know, he just disappeared somewhere, I don't know, what am I doing? I never should've gone through with this".

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked confused.

"I need to find Stefan" Elena said, "This isn't me, I'm not this person anymore".

"Elena stop" Aria said, stopping her, "You can't just leave like this".

"Aria's right, you had your chance to drop out" Caroline snapped, "And believe me, I was all for it, because there is no way that I can beat you".

Aria sighed, "Elena, both of us are doing this because it was important to supermom, we can't just back down now".

After a pause, Elena nodded in understanding.

"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort, Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton".

Caroline smiled at the two girls and went downstairs, while Elena turned to Aria.

"Aria, Stefan's not down there, I'm going to get disqualified" Elena said.

"No your not" Aria said, suddenly getting a idea, "Stay here, I'll be right back".

"Aria where are you going?!" Elena asked, seeing Aria run back into the room they got ready in.

"Getting you an escort!" Aria yelled back.

Aria grabbed her phone and dialled Damon.

"Aria?" Damon asked confused, not knowing why Aria would be calling him, specially when her name is about to be called out in a few minutes.

"Damon you need to be Elena's escort" Aria said, getting straight to the point.

"What, why?" Damon asked confused.

"Stefan's missing Damon, and if Elena doesn't have a escort then she's going to get disqualified" Aria said.

"If you don't have a escort then your going to get disqualified" Damon retorted.

"I don't mind getting disqualified Damon, but I can't let Elena get disqualified, be her escort, I'll be fine" Aria said, before Damon could protest, Aria hanged up on him.

"Dammit" Damon said, staring at his phone in anger, "I swear these Connor witches and their obsession with sacrificing their happiness for others".

Damon looked around hoping to find a solution to this problem, when his eyes landed on Jeremy Gilbert.

"Don't worry Elena, Damon's going to fill in for Stefan" Aria said, walking over to her best friend.

"If Damon's going to be my escort then what about you?" Elena asked confused.

"I'd rather me get disqualified then you" Aria said, giving Elena a small smile.

"Aria--".

"Miss Elena Gilbert escorted by Mr Stefan Salvatore".

"No time to argue Elena, it's your turn, go" Aria said, lightly pushing Elena.

Elena sighed and knew better then to argue with Aria, so she quietly went downstairs, feeling extremely guilt for being the reason as to why Aria's going to get disqualified.

After a moment, Aria finally heard her name.

"Miss Aria Connor escorted by Mr Damon Salvatore".

Aria sighed and went downstairs, all ready to see no one waiting for her, but to her shock Damon was standing on the bottom of the stairs.

Damon looked at Aria and he was stunned, she was wearing a red tube dress that had a slit on the front, with her hair down but lightly curled and teased.

"What are you doing here?" Aria whispered.

"Being your escort" Damon whispered back, forwarding his hand for Aria.

"But you were supposed to be Elena's escort" Aria whispered, placing her hand into Damon's.

"Jeremy is Elena's escort" Damon informed, leading Aria outside.

"Jeremy?" Aria asked confused.

"Yeah, he agreed to be Elena's escort" Damon replied smirking.

"He agreed or you threatened him?" Aria asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Does it matter?" Damon asked cheekily, "I can't believe you thought I'll let you get disqualified".

Aria didn't say anything just smiled at Damon, his words making her heart flatter.

Damon and Aria stood in the line with all the other contestants, where Aria saw Elena and Jeremy, Elena looked at Aria and smiled, happy that she didn't get disqualified.

Aria and Damon started dancing, just like they had practised, the whole time Aria and Damon were dancing, their eyes never left each other's, the closeness between them was effecting both of them immensely.

***

Caroline, Elena, Aria and the other participants were now standing on the stage, waiting for the Miss Mystic Falls winner to be announced.

"Where's Amber?" Caroline whispered.

"We don't know" Aria whispered shrugging.

"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community" Mayor Lockwood said, making everyone clap, "So without further ado, it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes".

"Yes!" Aria cheered, hugging Caroline, "You did it Care Bear".

"Oh my god, I can't believe I won" Caroline said happily, hugging Aria back tightly.

"Congratulations" Elena said happily, hugging Caroline.

Caroline stepped forward and the Mayor helped her wear the Miss Mystic Falls sash, while Elena and Aria stood back and happily cheered for their best friend.

***

Aria was talking to Jenna, when Damon came up to her and grabbed her hand.

"Excuse us Jenna" Damon said, dragging Aria to where Elena was, leaving behind a confused Jenna.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked Damon, "Did you find Stefan?".

"There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom" Damon informed the two girls, "There was blood, and that Amber girl is missing".

"Oh my god" Elena whispered.

"We need to find him" Aria said, "It's Stefan, he wouldn't hurt anyone, right?".

"Let's just find him, okay? Let's get both your coats, come on" Damon said, leading both the girls out.

***

"Stefan!" Elena yelled, as her, Aria and Damon ran outside to see Stefan feeding on Amber.

"Stefan" Damon said, as Stefan threw Amber to the floor, "Come on, get in control, come on".

"Stefan it's okay, you're going to be okay" Aria said, hoping to calm Stefan down.

"It's okay, come on" Damon assured, while Elena froze and looked at Stefan in fear.

"It's alright Stefan, just calm down" Aria said, as her and Damon slowly walked over to Stefan, whose eyes kept switching between Aria and Elena, shocked that they saw him like this.

"Breathe through it man" Damon said.

Stefan grabbed Damon and pushed him away, he went to lunge at Aria, but she quickly used her magic and gave Stefan an aneurysm, causing him to fall to the ground while holding his head, just as Bonnie ran up to them, shocked seeing the scene infront of her.

After seeing that Stefan had calmed down, Aria stopped her magic.

"Stefan?" Aria whispered.

Stefan looked between Aria and Elena, and a look of shame came across his face.

"It's okay" Damon assured, "Stefan".

Stefan looked at everyone in a panic and quickly ran away from them.

***

"She doesn't remember what happened" Liz informed the foursome, as a paramedic checked up on Amber.

"It's a good thing the girls got here when they did, she lost a lot of blood" Damon said.

"You didn't see anything?" Liz asked Bonnie and Elena.

Aria and Elena looked at Bonnie, scared she is going to tell Sheriff the truth, but she just shook her head.

"No, we just found her and then called Damon and Aria" Elena said, knowing Liz knows about the fact that Aria is aware of vampires.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Bonnie asked worried.

"It looks like it, yeah" Liz answered.

"Why don't you girls get back to the party, Damon and I can take it from here" Liz said.

"Yeah" Damon agreed.

"Okay" Elena said, walking away with Bonnie while Aria stayed with Damon.

"They didn't see the bite mark?" Liz asked Aria and Damon.

"No, we got here before they got too close" Damon replied, "There was too much blood, they couldn't see it clearly".

Liz sighed and exchanged worried looks with Damon and Aria, who were equally worried.

***

Damon and Aria got out of the car and walked towards the Salvatore's front door, where both of them saw Anna and Pearl.

"All right, now this is getting weird" Damon said.

"We're here to talk" Anna said.

"Not in the mood, today has been a no good, very bad day" Damon snapped.

"Annabelle tells me you're looking for something I took from Johnathan Gilbert" Pearl said.

"We're listening" Damon said, Pearl's words catching his attention.

Pearl handed Damon the thing she stole from Johnathan Gilbert.

"What is that?" Aria asked.

"Johnathan was passionate about his inventions, he confided in me that he had created a detection device meant to track the town's vampire element" Pearl informed.

"But wasn't that the pocket watch?" Aria asked confused.

"That's what it turned out to be, yes" Pearl said, "But that's not what I stole, I discovered my mistake when I saw the watch in Johnathan's hand, the night they took us, it's dial pointed at me".

"So, what is this?" Damon asked, looking at the invention in his hand in confusion.

"I have no idea" Pearl said, "But now it's yours".

"What's the catch?" Damon asked suspiciously.

"There is no catch" Pearl replied simply, "My daughter wants to stay here, I wanna stay here, you both refuse to trust us, and for good reason, consider this an apology".

Aria gave Pearl a small smile, "Apology accepted".

Damon didn't say anything just gave Pearl a small nod, he grabbed Aria's hand and both of them went inside.

***

"Stefan" Aria said, slowly entering Stefan's room and seeing a distressed Stefan looking in the mirror.

"You shouldn't be here" Stefan snapped.

"I know, but I trust you" Aria said, slowly walking over to Stefan, "Plus I can take care of myself if you decide to attack me, which I know you won't".

Stefan turned around and faced Aria, "Now you know, you and Elena both know".

"Stefan don't blame yourself, this isn't your fault" Aria assured.

"But it is Aria" Stefan snapped, "It was absolutely my fault, I'm a monster, a predator, it's who I am".

"That's what the blood makes you" Aria defended, "That's not who you really are".

"The blood brings out what's inside of me" Stefan said, angry that Aria won't give up, "And if you think any differently then you're an idiot".

"Maybe I am" Aria whispered, "But I know for a fact, this isn't you Stefan".

"I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from that girl's body" Stefan said, hoping to scare Aria off.

"Stefan--".

"It's who I am Aria" Stefan interrupted.

"If you want to scare me off, then your going to have to try harder then that" Aria said, refusing to leave Stefan like this.

"Why would you risk it? Why come here" Stefan asked.

"Because I know you Stefan" Aria snapped, "This isn't you, no matter what you say or what you do, I refuse to believe this is you".

"Stop saying that!" Stefan yelled, shoving things from his table to the floor.

Aria ignored Stefan's anger and started walking closer to him.

"Don't come any closer Aria" Stefan warned.

"I'm not leaving" Aria said stubbornly, refusing to leave her friend in misery.

"Stop" Stefan snapped.

"I refuse to give up on you Stefan, I believe in you, you can do this, you can get through this" Aria said.

"Stop! Stop!" Stefan yelled, pinning Aria to the wall and punching the wall near her head.

For a second both Aria and Stefan stood there breathing heavily, both shocked as to what had just happened.

"I'm so sorry" Stefan whispered, coming to his senses.

"It's okay" Aria assured, hugging Stefan, "It's okay, you're going to be okay".

Stefan sobbed into the hug, "I don't know what's happening to me".

"It's alright, you're going to be all right" Aria whispered, with tears in her eyes.

Aria looked towards the door, where she saw Damon standing, she shook her head slightly, letting Damon know she can't do this, but Damon blinked his eyes in assurance and gestured her to do it.

Aria took a deep breath, and slowly took out a vervain dart from her pocket, "I'm so sorry Stefan" Aria whispered, with tears streaming down her face, before Stefan could ask as to what she meant, Aria stabbed him with the vervain dart, making Stefan collapse to the ground.

Damon stepped into Stefan's room, "Are you sure you wanna do this?".

Aria nodded and wiped her tears, "Yeah, it's the only way I could think of to get Stefan back, but stabbing him in the back like this, just felt wrong".

Damon gave Aria a sympathetic smile, and bent down to grab his brother.

***

Damon placed Stefan in the basement, while Aria stood outside, Damon came outside and locked the door behind him.

"There's no guarantee this is gonna work" Damon said.

"There's no guarantee this isn't going to work" Aria retorted.

"What does Elena have to say about you locking her boyfriend up?" Damon asked.

Aria sighed, "Elena doesn't know, she's too scared to face Stefan, but I couldn't just leave him alone like this".

"Why?" Damon asked.

"Why what?" Aria asked confused.

"Why do you refuse to give up on Stefan, when his own girlfriend has given up on him?" Damon asked curious.

"First of all, Elena hasn't given up on him, she's just scared" Aria defended, "Second of all, I'm doing this because his my friend, and his always been there for me when I needed him, so how can I give up on him when he needs me?".

"That's it?" Damon asked unsure, "That's the only reason you refuse to give up on Stefan?".

Aria nodded, "Why, should there be another reason?".

Damon shook his head, "No, just making sure, so Miss Connor, you sleeping here tonight or going home?".

Aria looked at the locked basement and then back at Damon, "I think I'm going to stay here".

"Right, let's go upstairs then" Damon said.

"No" Aria said, "I'm going to stay right here, just incase".

Aria slide down the wall and sat on the floor, Damon paused, and after some thinking sat next to Aria, who smiled at him and placed her head on his shoulder, and both of them started at the locked basement door.

***

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