06. Lost Girls

Aria slowly opened her eyes, and immediately she winced as her head started pounding the moment she opened her eyes, an extremely confused Aria slowly sat up and started looking around, looking around, she realised someone had brought her to the cemetery, and around her a bunch of bodies were on fire, bodies that were all drained of blood.

"Oh my god" a shocked and terrified Aria whispered, wondering if the same thing was going to happen to her.

"I want my ring Stefan, or my next stop's Elena's, or wait I might eat Aria since she is already here with me" Aria heard Damon say into his phone.

"What do you mean Aria's with you?" a worried Stefan asked, not trusting his brother to not hurt the Connor girl.

"You heard me Stefan, don't worry she isn't hurt, yet" Damon said, not realising that Aria was awake and was currently listening to his conversation with Stefan.

"I already want you dead, don't give me another reason to make it happen" Stefan warned.

"Don't give me a reason to rip you apart" Damon threatened.

"Yeah?" Stefan asked, "Is that before or after you get your ring back?".

"Just get it" Damon demanded, hanging up the phone on his brother, he then turned to where he had laid Aria down and that's when he realised she was awake, "You're awake", Damon took a step towards Aria, only for her to crawl back, "And you're scared".

"Please don't hurt me" Aria whispered, tears streaming down her face, "I don't want to die".

Damon sighed, "You heard everything" he realised.

Damon took small steps towards the terrified girl, once he was sure that Aria wasn't going to run away from him, he crouched infront of her, "I would never hurt you, Aria".

"Yes you will, you just told Stefan you will" Aria whispered.

"I lied to Stefan, I needed to motivate him, but trust me when I say this, I will never hurt you" Damon whispered, tucking Aria's hair behind her ear.

"Then why am I here?" a confused Aria asked.

"Well I promised you answers didn't I?" Damon reminded.

"And you had to kidnap me for that?" Aria asked.

"I didn't have to, but it was the only way I could get you to stay" Damon defended.

Aria shook her head at the man infront of her, she then looked at the burnt bodies around her, "These bodies?".

"I killed them" Damon informed, with no hint of guilt in his voice, Aria looked at Damon wide eyed, seeing Aria's shocked face, Damon sighed, "Aria, I'm a vampire who was stuck in the basement without any blood for four days, I needed blood I was weak".

"You couldn't get blood from bloodbags or animals, did it have to be humans?" Aria asked.

"In order to get my strength back I needed to drink from the vein, plus these people were junkies, no one will miss them" Damon said.

"Except their families" Aria retorted.

"Well it was either them or you, and I chose them" Damon stated.

Aria looked at Damon in confusion, "Why?".

"Why, what?" Damon asked.

"Why didn't you drink from me?" a confused Aria asked.

Damon gave Aria a small smile, "I already told you Aria, I would never hurt you".

Before Aria could say anything, both her and Damon heard someone coughing.

Aria turned her head towards the noise, only to see Vicki lying on the floor with a huge bite on her neck, "Oh my god Vicki!", Aria quickly got up, ignoring her headache, she ran to where Vicki laid, "Hey, hey, hey Vicki, open your eyes, come on".

Damon walked up to Vicki and Aria and crouched next to them, "You just don't wanna die, do you?" he asked an unconscious Vicki.

"Damon please don't" Aria pleaded, "Please don't kill her".

"And why not?" Damon asked, "Isn't she the girl whose coming inbetween you and little Gilbert?".

"Damon please" Aria pleaded, "Please don't kill her, she's not only the girl Jeremy loves, but she's also Matt, one of my best friend's, sister".

Damon sighed, "Fine, I'll spare her life, but on one condition".

"What condition?" Aria asked.

"I'll spare her life, but you're going to stay with me till Stefan gives me my ring back, deal?" Damon asked.

After thinking about it for a bit, Aria nodded her head, "Deal".

***

"Where are you Stefan? I'm trapped at the house" Damon said, into his phone, "And I'm getting really bored and really impatient and I don't do bored and impatient" Damon opened up a bottle of bourbon and started pouring himself a drink, "Bring me my ring".

After leaving his younger brother the angry voicemail, Damon grabbed his drink and turned to where he left Vicki and Aria, Vicki was still unconscious, but she did have a towel pressed to her wound, a towel Damon gave to her after much pleading from Aria.

Aria was sitting on the couch next to her, rubbing her head, the more time passed the more bad her headache got, she was scared she had an concussion.

Damon sighed and made his way over to Aria, he bit into his wrist and forwarded it towards Aria, "Drink".

Aria looked at Damon in confusion, "What?".

"My blood will help get rid of the headache" Damon explained.

Aria looked at Damon's wrist in uncertainty, "I don't want to turn into a vampire".

Damon chuckled, "Relax, you won't turn into a vampire, in order for you to turn, you need to die with vampire blood in your system, and I assure you, you won't be dying anytime soon".

"Promise?" Aria asked, still a bit vary.

"Promise" Damon assured, "Now come on, drink up, if you're going to be keeping me company, I need you to be top notch".

After a bit more complementing, Aria finally grabbed Damon's wrist and drank some of his blood while Damon gently stroked her hair, trying his best not to show on his face how he felt with Aria drinking his blood.

After she finished, Aria turned to Damon, amazement shown clearly on her face, "Wow, my headache's gone".

Damon smirked, "Yeah, vampire blood does that".

Aria gave Damon a thankful smile.

Damon then turned to a unconscious Vicki, "Oh, don't get blood on the couch, please?", Damon removed the towel from Vicki's neck and examined the bite, "I got you good, didn't I?", Damon looked at Vicki's unconscious figure, "Well, you're not gonna be any fun today, guess it's just me and Aria".

Aria looked between Vicki and Damon, "Damon, can't you just heal her?".

"And why will I do that?" a confused Damon asked.

Aria tried to think of a reasonable excuse, "Well, you wanted to have fun and I hear Vicki here is really fun, way more fun than me".

Damon looked at Aria in amusement, "Your excuses are horrible Aria" Damon looked at Vicki then at Aria and let out a annoyed sigh, "I'm so gonna regret this", Damon bit into his wrist and placed it on Vicki's mouth, he wasn't being gentle, not like he was with Aria anyways, "Okay, okay, drink up, drink it up", after struggling for a bit, Vicki grabbed Damon's wrist and started willingly drinking the blood, "Don't drip, there you go, good girl, that's it".

Aria watched in fascination, as the more blood Vicki drank, the more quickly her wound healed.

***

Damon and Aria were sitting in the Salvatore's living room while Vicki was in the shower.

"Damon, I have a question" Aria said, breaking the silence between the two.

"Shoot" Damon said, honestly he was surprised it took Aria this long to start questioning him.

"When I opened the basement door for you to get out, you told me that we have a connection, what did you mean by that?" a curious Aria asked.

Damon sighed, "You're a Connor witch, you come from one of the most powerful lines of witches, so powerful that other witches were scared with what you guys could do, so they decided to curse the Connor bloodline, past, future and present, little did they know, they weren't really cursing you guys".

"What do you mean?" a confused and fascinated Aria asked, she was fascinated learning more about her family, she always wanted to know, but there was no one to tell her.

"Well the curse made it that every Connor witch, past, present and future, would be connected to a vampire, a vampire they will eventually come across in their lifetime, they were bound to" Damon explained, standing up and pouring himself a drink.

"Connected?" a confused Aria asked.

"Meaning the connected vampire and witch felt a sense of protectiveness over each other, they would always protect each other, support each other, hell they might even die for each other, their bond is something people can't explain, now it doesn't have to be romantic, hell most of the time it's not romantic at all, some are platonic, some share a siblings relationship, some might share a professional relationship" Damon explained, downing his bourbon.

"How is that a curse then?" Aria asked.

"Because this isn't what the witches had in plan, they wanted a spell that would make it that no vampire could stand a Connor witch, that whenever a vampire came across a Connor witch, they automatically killed them, but as you can see their spell went wrong" Damon continued.

"How?" a curious Aria asked.

"Well I don't know how it really happened, but I do know that a long time ago there was this man, his name was Kol, he was in love with a Connor witch but he was a vampire, so he couldn't let the other witches separate him and his love, he ended up doing something to the spell" Damon revealed.

Aria nodded, she paused and let all this information sink in, "So we are connected?", Damon nodded, "How did you know?".

Damon shrugged, "Vampire's just know, I can't really explain it, but I just knew since the time I saw you at the cemetery".

"The cemetery?" Aria asked confused, suddenly realisation crossed her face, "Oh my god, the mystery man who me and Elena saw in the cemetery, that was you?".

"Guilty" a smirking Damon confirmed.

Aria shook her head at Damon, honestly she wasn't even surprised at this point, "Forget that, tell me, how do you know so much about Connor witches?".

"Because she told me" Damon said.

"She who?" Aria asked confused.

"Natalie Connor" Damon said, a reminiscing look forming on his face as he remembered Natalie, his first love.

"Wait, where did you learn this game?" Stefan asked, chasing after Damon.

"Camp outside Atlanta, one officer picked it up at Harvard, catch" Damon replied, throwing the football to Stefan, which he easily caught.

"Wait, wait, what are the rules?" Stefan asked Damon, who was trying to tackle him, "What are the rules?!".

"Who needs rules?" Katherine asked coming outside, followed by a shy and timid Natalie Connor, "Mind if we join you?".

"Well, you could get hurt" a concerned Stefan replied, "My brother likes to play rough".

"We are not afraid of getting hurt" Natalie said, smiling at Damon, who was looking at her stunned.

Katherine laughed, "Somehow, I think that you play rougher".

Katherine stepped closer to Stefan, and quickly grabbed the ball off of him and ran away, leaving behind a stunned Stefan.

"Why are you just standing there? That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased" Damon pointed out.

"Then you chase her" Stefan retorted.

"No, I have better things to do" Damon said looking at Natalie, who had walked away from the brothers and was now admiring the various flowers growing in the Salvatore backyard.

Aria looked at Damon in shock, "You knew another Connor witch?".

"I didn't just know her Aria" Damon clarified.

Aria looked at Damon and observed his facial expression, whenever he mentioned Natalie, the soft look that formed on his face was completely unmissable, a look that only formed on the face of someone in love, "You loved her", Damon didn't say anything, just kept staring ahead of him, with his grip on his glass tightening with each passing second, something not gone unnoticed by Aria, "Were you guys connected, like me and you?".

Damon shook his head, "I met her when I was still human, she was actually connected to Katherine".

"Katherine?" a shocked Aria asked, "As in yours and Stefan's ex, Katherine?".

"Oh please, Katherine was never my ex" Damon clarified.

"I'm sorry what?" a shocked Aria asked.

"Aria, mine and Natalie's love was forbidden, which is why I had to pretend to be in love with Katherine" Damon revealed.

"Stefan doesn't really know the truth, does he?" Aria asked, realising this whole time what Stefan has been thinking is the truth, is actually far from it.

"Like I said Aria, our love was forbidden" Damon said.

After a moment of silence, Aria spoke again, "Damon, how long ago was this?".

"Me and Stefan met Katherine and Natalie in 1864" Damon replied.

"145 years ago?" a shocked Aria asked, Damon nodded his head in confirmation, "But that night, at the dinner party, you made it seem you were so heartbroken about Katherine, like it happened yesterday".

"Oh I am heartbroken, just not about Katherine" Damon said.

Realization crossed Aria's face, "She's dead isn't she, Natalie's dead".

Damon nodded his head, "You're the last living Connor witch, Aria".

Aria knew that much, she knew after her, there was no one who would take the name Connor, neither from dad's side or her mom's, she had no one, no cousins, no aunties, no uncles, no grandparents.

"Can you tell me more about her?" Aria asked, making Damon look at her in confusion, "About Natalie".

"Natalie" Damon whispered, a smile forming on his face, "She wasn't like any other girl I'd ever met".

Natalie and Katherine ran around the maze with Stefan trying to catch them.

"Ha! We win, what's our prize?" Katherine asked Stefan, when her and Natalie had reached the finishing line before Stefan.

"What would you like it to be?".

All three of them looked towards the voice to see Damon sitting down on the rock, Natalie smiled seeing him, a smiled not missed by Damon.

"They extended your leave?" Stefan asked.

"I was simply having too much fun to return to battle" Damon replied.

"Your commitment to the confederacy is inspiring" Stefan teased, stepping forward and hugging his brother.

"Well this works out wonderfully for us" Katherine said, making the Salvatore brothers look at her in confusion.

"How's that, Miss Katherine?" a curious Damon asked.

"Now me and Natalie will have both of you to keep us entertained" Katherine replied, "First and foremost, we need you both to escort us to the Founder's Ball".

"I would be honored", "With pleasure" Stefan and Damon said simultaneously, making Katherine smirk.

"The smart and kind Salvatore brothers both coming to my rescue" Katherine said, "How will I ever choose?".

"You didn't want to take Katherine to the ball, did you?" Aria asked.

"Nope, I wanted to take Natalie, but both Katherine and Stefan assumed I wanted to take Katherine to the ball, only me and Natalie knew who I really wanted to be my date" Damon said.

"So was she?" Aria asked, "Was Natalie your date?".

Damon nodded, a small smile forming on his face, "Yeah, Katherine ended up choosing Stefan, which meant I had to go with Natalie, Stefan thought I was angry, but I wasn't, I was beyond happy".

"Damon, how did she die?" Aria asked finally, the question bugging her ever since she found out that Natalie was dead.

Damon froze, he hated talking about Natalie's death, it brought back too much horrible memories.

Aria noticed Damon's reaction and frowned, "I'm so sorry, that was really insensitive, you don't have to tell me".

Damon shook his head, "No, I do, you deserve to know the truth" Damon took a deep breath, "She was shot with a bullet the night me and Stefan turned".

Aria frowned seeing Damon's heartbroken face, she placed her hand on top is his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, Damon looked at her, and without say anything, laced his fingers with Aria's.

***

After finishing her shower, Vicki had finally come downstairs, and the three of them decided to get drunk and dance around the boarding house, Aria knew she should probably go home, or at least call Elena and let her know she was okay, but she didn't want to, she wanted to have a day to herself, she wanted a day where she didn't have to pretend to be someone she wasn't.

Which is how they ended up with Vicki and Aria dancing around the living room and Damon drinking bourbon direct from the bottle, with his shirt buttons open.

"I'm so over Tyler, so over him" Vicki yelled over the music, "I knew from the beginning I was only a piece of ass to him but I thought if he got to know me he might see something more, but no".

"Here's to getting over guys who will never see the real you" Aria said, making Damon smirk, he knew exactly who she was talking about.

"You to?" Vicki asked, Aria simply nodded her head.

"Now Jeremy on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is more and I like that" Vicki said laying on the floor, her words making Aria frown.

"Jeremy huh?" Damon asked, frowning when he saw Aria's hurt expression, "Elena's brother?".

"Yeah" Vicki said, getting up and going back to dancing, while Aria laid down on the couch and closed her eyes, not wanting to hear about Vicki and Jeremy, "So Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and--Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're cool and so hot".

"I know" Damon replied, a smirk forming on his face.

"Don't feed his ego" Aria said with her eyes still closed, making Damon roll his eyes.

"Don't you wanna be in love?" Vicki asked, ignoring Aria.

"I've been in love" Damon said, joining the dancing party, "It's painful and pointless and overrated".

Damon grabbed Aria from the couch and started spinning her around making her laugh, "Except when it isn't" Aria said, knowing Damon didn't really believe that.

"No more talking, let's dance" Damon said, dancing around the whole living room with Aria.

Damon picked Aria around and spinned her around making laugh, he then grabbed her and vamp sped them to the railing making Aria scream, "Damon!".

"Dance Aria, dance!" Damon yelled.

Aria laughed at Damon, she trusted Damon enough to know he wasn't going to let her fall so she started dancing along with him.

Somehow while dancing, all three of them ended up in Stefan's room and started messing around with all his things.

Vicki and Aria were jumping on Stefan's bed, when Damon's eyes landed on a photo on Stefan's desk, it was a photo of Katherine and Natalie, below it is said Katherine and Natalie 1864.

Damon then looked towards the bed at Vicki and Aria, more so at Aria, looking at her being so happy, made a smile form on Damon's face, so he put the photo down and went back to dancing.

After some time, Damon and Aria were still in Stefan's room, but were now slow dancing with each other, "Damon, can I spoil the happy mood with my never ending questions?".

Damon laughed against Aria's neck, "Ask away".

"Why did you tell me about you and Natalie?" Aria asked, "I mean you didn't even tell Stefan, yet you told me".

"Because I trust you, but I don't trust Stefan" Damon said.

"That's it?" a slightly skeptic Aria asked.

"That's it" Damon repeated.

Aria tighten her hold on Damon, his words making her heart flutter, "Then I promise you, I won't tell anyone what you told me, not Stefan, not Elena, no one, your secret is safe with me".

"I know" Damon replied, in all honesty when Damon was telling Aria about Natalie, not once did the thought cross his mind that Aria might end up spilling everything to Stefan, he knew her, he knew she will never say anything to anyone, he trusted her more than he trusted his own brother.

Suddenly Vicki came up to Damon and Aria, she pushed Aria away from Damon, making her foot hit Stefan's desk, she winced in pain.

Damon frowned seeing Aria in pain, before he could go to her, Vicki came infront of Damon, "You've been dancing with Aria this whole time, now it's my time".

Vicki grabbed Damon and started slowly dancing with him, Aria frowned at Vicki, she then sat down on the bed and examined her foot that hit the desk.

Damon frowned seeing Aria's red foot, he then turned to Vicki, "You are so damaged".

"Yep" Vicki confirmed.

"I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem" Damon continued.

"Nope, none" Vicki said.

"I think I know what can help you" Damon said.

"What's that?" Vicki asked.

"Death" Damon said, snapping Vicki's neck.

"Damon!" a shocked Aria yelled, standing up and trying to walk to Vicki but Damon stopped her, "What the hell Damon, you killed her, you said you wouldn't do that!".

"Relax Aria, I didn't kill her, she has my blood in her system" Damon reminded, while making Aria sit back on the bed and checking her foot.

Aria looked at Damon in shock, "She's going to come back as a vampire?".

"Ding ding ding" Damon confirmed, still examining Aria's foot, "Nothing seems broken, your foot is just red because it hit the table harshly".

"Damon why did you kill her?" a confused Aria asked.

"Because I felt like it" Damon lied, he wasn't going to tell Aria he killed her because she hurt Aria, "Plus the girl will thank me for what I did, she has a pathetic life, I'm only helping her".

Aria sighed, she knows she should be at angry at Damon, but she just couldn't be mad, call her a bad person, but she didn't care enough about Vicki to be mad at Damon, "What am I going to do with you Damon?".

Damon smirked, "How about finishing that slow dance?".

Aria laughed, she put her hand in Damon's and they both continued to dance, while waiting for Vicki to wake up.

***

After they finished dancing, Aria sat on Stefan's bed, reading one of his books, while Damon was by the window trying to see how much the sunlight really burned him, when Vicki woke up with a groan catching both Aria and Damon's attention.

"What happened? We were dancing and then--".

"Then Damon killed you" Aria finished, giving Vicki a sympathetic look.

"What?" a shocked Vicki asked.

"You're dead" Damon informed.

"I'm dead" Vicki said, not believing Damon's words.

"Let's not make a big deal out of it, you drank my blood, I killed you, now you have to feed in order to complete the process" Damon explained.

"You're wasted, ugh" Vicki said, slowly standing up, grabbing her things and making her way out.

"You don't wanna be out there all alone" Damon said, when Vicki didn't reply he quickly used his vamp speed to stand infront of her, "You're about to get really freaky".

Vicki looked at Damon in confusion, "Look, I had a really good time, I just wanna go home".

"You're gonna start craving blood, until you get it, you're gonna feel out of it, you have to be careful" Damon warned.

Vicki pushed Damon away from her, "Come on, move".

"Vicki you should seriously listen to him" a worried Aria said.

"You're already starting to fall apart" Damon said to Vicki, as she stumbled on her feet.

"I'm going home now" Vicki said, ignoring both Damon and Aria's warning.

"Okay, fine, I'm just warning you" Damon said nonchalantly, he could care less about Vicki and what happens to her, "Actually, you know what? You should go, in fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house".

Aria looked at Damon in shock, "What no!, No, Vicki don't go near Jeremy!".

"Yeah, whatever, bye" Vicki said, completely ignoring Aria.

"Tell Elena I said hi" Damon said, grabbing Aria and stopping her from following Vicki out, "And if you see Stefan tell him to call me!".

"No! Damon let go of me!" Aria yelled, trying to get out of Damon's grip, "Why would you tell her to go to Jeremy, she could end up hurting him, Damon!".

"Because I know Stefan will be there, and trust me he won't let anything happen to your precious Jeremy" Damon assured.

"That doesn't make this okay Damon, I ignored you turning Vicki into a vampire, but I can't ignore you risking Jeremy's life, let go of me, I need to get to Jeremy" Aria said, still struggling in Damon's grip.

Damon sighed, he realised he couldn't stop Aria, once her mind was made, it was made, and nothing can stop her, "Okay, okay, hold up, I'll take you to Jeremy myself, just wait a few minutes for sunset".

"I can't wait!" Aria yelled in frustration, "What if by the time we get there Jeremy's already hurt?".

"Aria, Vicki is so out of it, she's going to take her sweet time getting to Jeremy, you need to relax, all I'm asking is just wait a few more minutes, okay?".

Aria sighed, she finally stopped struggling in Damon's grip, and instead fell back into his arms, "Damon, I don't know what I will do if Jeremy gets hurt".

"He won't get hurt Aria, I promise" Damon said holding Aria close to him, and trying his best to ignore the jealous feeling arising in his heart after seeing how much Aria cares for Jeremy.

***

Once the sun had set, Damon and Aria finally made their way to the Gilbert house, Aria ran up to the porch and rang the bell rapidly.

Elena opened the door, she smiled in relief seeing Aria, Stefan had told her that Damon had Aria and was using her as leverage, but that smile immediately fell when her eyes landed on Damon, who was standing behind Aria.

"Aria get away from him" a terrified Elena warned.

Aria paid no attention to Elena, instead she looked at Jeremy, "Jer, are you okay?".

"I'm fine Aria, whose the guy?" a curious Jeremy asked, looking at Damon.

"He's--".

"No one" Elena interrupted, "Jeremy, go upstairs".

Jeremy didn't say anything, just looked between Aria and Elena in confusion then made his way upstairs.

From Elena's reaction, Aria could tell she knew what Stefan and Damon were, and apparently Damon thought the same thing.

"You're afraid of me" Damon observed, "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess, Stefan finally fessed up".

"Stay away from me" Elena warned, "Aria you need to get away from him, you don't know what he is".

"Elena I know he's a vampire" Aria said, shocking Elena, "I've known since the Founder's party".

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Elena asked, feeling betrayed.

"Tell you what exactly Elena?" Aria asked, "That your new boyfriend is a vampire, as if you would've believed me".

"You didn't even try to tell me Aria, and on top of that you brought Damon here" Elena said.

"I tried to warn you about Stefan" an angry Aria reminded, "But you completely ignored my warning, so I'm sorry that I thought you wouldn't believe me this time as well, plus this wasn't my secret to tell Elena, it was Stefan's, and only he had the right to tell you".

"Alright ladies cut it out" Damon said, seeing how upset Aria was getting, "I'm just here looking for Stefan, may I come in? Oh, wait, of course I can, I've been invited".

Damon entered the house while Elena stepped back from him in fear, "We can cut to the chase if you want, I'm not gonna kill you right now, that wouldn't serve my greater agenda, so, where's Stefan?".

"He's out looking for Vicki" Elena replied, glaring at the oldest Salvatore.

"Don't look at me with those judge-y little eyes, girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her" Damon said, stepping towards Elena only for her to step back.

"Did you thank Katherine?" Elena asked.

Damon paused, after a second he smirked and stepped away from Elena, "Got the whole life story, huh?".

"I got enough" Elena replied.

"No you didn't" Aria said, confusing Elena, "You don't even know half of it".

"Oh and you do?" Elena spat, refusing to believe Stefan would hide something from her.

"Oh yeah" Damon replied, "She knows a lot more than you will ever know, anyways, tell my brother I'm looking for him" Damon walked towards the door then turned to Aria, "Coming?".

Aria nodded and went to follow Damon out, but got stopped by Elena, "What no! Aria's not going anywhere with you!".

"Aria's a big girl, Elena" Damon reminded, "Let her take her own decisions".

"Elena, I have to go" Aria said.

"No you don't Aria, his dangerous, he will hurt you" a scared Elena said, not trusting Damon to not hurt the Connor girl.

"I promised him I will stay with him till Stefan returns his ring, you know I don't break my promises" Aria said, her eyes then met Damon's, "And trust me when I say this, he will never hurt me".

Before Elena could say anything else, Damon grabbed Aria's wrist, he pulled her towards him and after putting his hand around her waist, he used his vamp speed to leave the Gilbert's house, leaving behind a shocked Elena, who couldn't understand how Aria could trust someone like Damon.

***

Damon and Aria arrived at the cemetery, just in time to see Logan about to stake Stefan.

Seeing Stefan in danger, there was only one thing in Aria's mind, that she needed to save him, she couldn't let Stefan die, "No!" Aria yelled, lifting her hands up, and suddenly Logan was flung away from Stefan.

Aria looked at the scene infront of her in shock, she then looked down at her hands, not believing what she just did, "Aria" Damon said, getting Aria's attention.

"How did I do that?" an extremely confused Aria asked.

"You're a witch" Damon simply said.

Aria looked at Logan's unconscious body in shock, "Did I, oh my god, is he dead?".

Damon shook his head, "Relax, he's just unconscious, and stop feeling bad, if you hadn't done that then he would have killed Stefan".

Stefan's name brought Aria back to reality, "Oh my god Stefan!" Aria yelled, running to Stefan.

Damon quickly bent down and removed the bullet from Stefan's body, making him groan in pain, taking the bullet out, Damon observed it, "It's wood, they know", Damon then looked at his brother, "If anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me, my ring".

Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out Damon's ring, Damon quickly took it from him and wore it, "Mm-hm".

Stefan looked towards a still shocked Aria, "Thank you".

Aria simply gave Stefan a small smile, when suddenly all three of them heard feeding noises.

"No, no, Vicki!" Stefan yelled, seeing Vicki feed from Logan.

"Oh my god" Aria said, turning away, she couldn't bear to look at Vicki's face that was covered in blood.

"I'm sorry" a guilty Vicki said, wiping some of the blood from her mouth and then running away.

"Oops" Damon said, standing up, that's when his eyes fell on the pocket watch lying by Logan's dead body.

Picking the pocket watch up, Damon put his arm around Aria's waist and speeded away, leaving Stefan behind.

***

After spending some time with Damon, Aria reached the Gilbert house just in time to see Elena run inside, leaving behind an upset Stefan, Aria sighed, she knew exactly what had happened, this is another reason she didn't tell Elena, knowing she wouldn't be able to handle it and will end up ending her and Stefan's relationship, something Aria didn't want as Stefan returned the smile on Elena's face that has been missing since her parents death.

"Stefan".

Stefan looked behind him to see Aria approaching him, he sighed in relief seeing that she was okay, "You're okay".

"Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?" Aria asked.

"I thought Damon hurt you" a concerned Stefan said.

"Damon will never hurt me Stefan" Aria assured.

"Elena told me you knew about me and Damon since the Founder's party" Stefan reminded, Aria nodded, "How?".

"Damon told me" Aria revealed.

"Damon told you?" a shocked Stefan asked, not knowing why Damon will tell Aria.

"Yeah" Aria confirmed.

"But why?" a confused Stefan asked.

"Look you're going to have to ask him on that one" Aria said, "I also know about Katherine and Natalie".

Stefan looked at Aria in shock, Damon never tells anyone about Katherine and Natalie, so him telling Aria was a huge deal, "What exactly did he tell you?".

"He told me about how he first met them, and then he told me about the first Founder's party" Aria said, giving Stefan a vague answer.

"Aria I don't know what game Damon's playing with you, but you need to stay away before you end up getting hurt" Stefan warned.

Aria sighed, "I know you're not going to believe me, but I trust Damon, I don't why, I just do, I don't think he's going hurt me".

Stefan looked at Aria, "You're too trusting of someone whose turned his humanity off".

"Are you sure he's humanity is off?" Aria asked, "Maybe he just doesn't like showing his emotions, doesn't mean he doesn't feel, now I'm very tired I'm going to go to bed, good night Stefan".

Stefan nodded, "Goodnight Aria".

Aria turned to leave, but Stefan held her wrist stopping her, "Thank you once again for saving my life, Aria".

"Anything for my friend" Aria replied, smiling at Stefan.

After Aria left, Stefan stood at the porch with a small smile on his face.

***

Presenting 1x06 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Damon asking Aria to stay with him?

Thoughts on Damon telling Aria about Natalie?

Thoughts on Damon killing Vicki for hurting Aria?

Thoughts on the conversation between Stefan and Aria?

Published: 4th September 2024
Edited: 3rd March 2024