13. The Day I Tried To Live

"Finally" Jeremy said, seeing Aria come out of her car, in her hands were a bunch of birthday balloons.

"What happened?" Aria asked, seeing Jeremy's worried face.

"Enzo and Kol burnt the cupcakes" Jeremy informed.

Aria sighed, "Those two had one job, I should have never left them alone".

"Don't worry, Damon's on cupcake duty now" Jeremy assured.

"If Damon's on cupcake duty, then what are Kol and Enzo up to?" Aria asked, "Jer, we need to make them do something otherwise they will just get bored and start setting things on fire".

Jeremy chuckled, "I know, which is why Klaus and Caroline are now forcing those two to help decorate the boarding house".

"And where's April?" Aria asked.

"Her and Rebekah are in Damon's room with all the kids, she's babysitting and at the same time making sure Rebekah doesn't come down and see her birthday decorations before we're done" Jeremy replied.

"Perfect" Aria said, "Everything is going as plan".

"Yes it is" Jeremy said.

"Which means we have time to talk about you and April going to art school" Aria said, giving her best friend a knowing look, "Oh wait, we can talk about April going because she submitted her application while your one was found in the garbage" Jeremy looked at Aria in shock, not excepting her to know about that, "Jer, what's going on, you and April both told me that you guys have decided to go to art school together, so why didn't you send your application in?".

"Because I'm not going to make it to art, Aria" Jeremy replied, "The only class I'm passing is study hall, they'll never let me in".

"Does April know you haven't sent your application in?" Aria asked.

Jeremy shook his head, "She thinks I sent my application".

Aria looked at her best friend in disbelief, "Why are you acting like a such a dumbass?".

"What?" Jeremy asked confused.

"Have you thought about what April's reaction will be when she will realises you lied to her?" Aria asked, "And honestly Jer, you are surrounded by vampires, god forbid, if they do reject you, any of us will gladly compel you in, but you know what I believe? I believe that I have a very talented best friend, who sucks at studying but when it comes to art, he is bloody amazing".

 "It's too late now Aria, the deadline was this morning" Jeremy said, if he was to be honest, he did regret not taking a chance, but there was nothing he could about it now, just step back and let April fulfil her dreams and make sure he doesn't hold her back.

"Well, lucky for you I sent your application in last night" Aria informed, walking away from Jeremy.

"Wait, what?" Jeremy asked shocked.

"You and April are going to art school, Jer!" Aria yelled, running into the boarding house, leaving behind an amused Jeremy.

***

"Hey, no touching" Damon said, slapping Aria's hand away from the cupcakes.

"Why not?" Aria asked.

"Because Caroline will fry us in the sun if even one of these cupcakes goes missing" Damon replied.

"She's my sister, she will never fry me" Aria said, grabbing a cupcake and taking a huge bite out of it, "Oh, my god" she moaned, "Since when are you such a good baker?".

"I've lived for over a century, Ria" Damon reminded, "It would be embarrassing if I didn't know how to make cupcakes".

"Kol has lived for a thousand, and he has no idea how to even turn a stove on" Aria pointed out.

"Yeah, well, he's Kol Mikaelson, I don't even want to start thinking how his brain works" Damon said.

"Yet you love him" Aria teased, taking another bite from her cupcake.

Damon playfully glared at Aria, he stepped towards her and with his thumb wiped a piece of crumb from her bottom lip, "I love you and our kids, that's it".

Aria looked into Damon's eyes, and for a second the intensity in his eyes scared her, but then suddenly a sense of familiarity started setting in, she didn't know what she was feeling, but whatever it was, she liked it.

"You should take me out on a date" Aria suddenly said.

Damon looked at Aria in amusement, "You want me to take you on a date?".

Aria nodded, "Mhmm" she said, "Look, it's clear we're restarting our relationship, and before I start making out with you and all, I need to know that you can take me out on a good date".

"So, what I'm hearing is that you want to make out with me but aren't sure if I can plan a good date?" Damon asked, amusement evident on his face.

"No!" Aria said quickly, "I don't want to make out with you, not even one bit".

"Really?" Damon said, taking slow step towards Aria, which then caused her to start walking backwards.

"Damon" Aria warned.

"Aria" Damon teased.

"Don't come any closer" Aria said, as she hit the counter.

"Why?" Damon asked, trapping Aria behind the kitchen counter and himself, "You don't want to make out with me, which means me being this close to you shouldn't have any effect on you, right?".

Damon leaned down and his lips hovered over Aria's, lightly touching but not fully touching her lips for it to count as kissing.

"Right" Aria whispered, looking between Damon's lips and eyes.

Before Damon could smash his lips on to Aria's, the two soulmates moment was broken when they heard a certain siphoner witch.

"Hello!" Kai yelled.

Damon groaned in annoyance and stepped away from Aria just as Kai entered the kitchen, "This house has too many people" he mumbled, making Aria laugh.

"Did I interrupt something?" Kai asked Damon and Aria.

"No" Aria assured.

"Yes" Damon snapped, "You're all merged, so why aren't you all packed and on your way to Portland?".

Instead of merging with Jo, Kai ended up merging with Luke who had come to his sister's rescue, and in the end Luke ended up losing the merge along with his life, devasting both Liv and Aria, and with her mother's nearing death and Luke's death combined, Aria was starting to get really overwhelmed, which is why, once finding out it was Rebekah's birthday, Liz ordered both her daughters to make sure Rebekah has an amazing birthday, hoping to distract them for a while, which worked as both the sisters immediately got into planning mode, though Aria usually left planning to Caroline, this time she decided to participate in the planning process in order to stop herself from constantly thinking about Luke and her mother.

"I forgot how massive this house was" Kai said, completely ignoring Damon's question, "Yum, cupcakes".

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked, extremely annoyed.

"Funniest thing" Kai replied, "I need your help".

"With what?" Aria asked confused.

Kai pulled out a letter from his inside pocket, his sister, Josette's name, written on the envelope.

"You want us to give Jo a letter?" Aria asked, extremely confused with what Kai was up to.

"I haven't been able to find her using a locator spell" Kai replied, "And, you know, good on her cause under normal circumstances, I'd be supper jazzed to gouge out her belly button".

"Why do you want our help Kai?" Aria asked.

"Well, in case you haven't figured out by now, I'm a sociopath" Kai replied.

"Oh trust me, I know" Aria assured.

"And I like being a sociopath, you know" Kai said, "I'm not burned by things like guilt or love, so then, this merge happened with my brother Luke, and I won, which was great, because I absorbed his ability to do magic but now I can't stop thinking about how Luke died, how Liv's life is ruined, how Aria, you have lost a member of your already pretty small coven, for some horrible reason, I can't shake how badly I feel about it".

"Kai Parker, is feeling guilt?" Aria asked, slightly shocked.

"Yeah, so when I absorbed Luke's magic I must have gotten some of his qualities or something, like empathy" Kai explained, "So I googled how to process emotional pain and they said if you write everything down in a letter and burn it, you'll be healed".

"That's not how pain works, but continue" Aria said.

"So I started writing and this water literally started pooling in my eyes" Kai said, "Has that ever happened to you? Like, water just oozing out of my eyeballs like I'm some alien creature excreting fluids".

"That's called crying, Kai" Aria answered, "And that has happened to me, a lot actually, hell you even saw me cry outside the hospital, remember?".

"Yeah, well, these emotions suit you Aria, not me" Kai said, "Anyways, after that was done, I burned the letter, but the feelings, they're still there, so I really feel strongly that Jo needs to know how sorry I am for destroying our family, but let's face it, guys, all right? I mean, Aria, you out of all people should be willing to look past the things questionable I've done to see that there's good somewhere in me, you did it with Damon and Kol".

"I did it with a lot of people" Aria corrected, "Look Kai, Jo has made it clear she doesn't want to see you, and I'm not going force her to meet you, however, if you are sincere about making things right with your sister, then I am willing to make sure that letter reaches her".

Kai smiled at Aria, "Thank you, see, I knew there was a reason I liked you".

"Okay, now that's done, leave" Damon snapped, still annoyed at Kai for ruining his and Aria's moment.

"Or you can stay for Rebekah's birthday" Aria offered, making Damon face palm.

"Ooo, a party, sounds fun" Kai said, leaving the kitchen after handing Aria the letter.

After Kai left, Damon looked at Aria, but before he could say anything, Aria quickly interrupted him, "I should go check on our kids".

"Ria--".

"Bye!" Aria yelled, running out of the kitchen.

"What am I going to do with her?" Damon whispered, shaking his head at the tribrid.

***

"What in the world?!" Caroline yelled.

Hearing Caroline's yell, Aria and Rebekah rushed downstairs, and the sight infront of them left them shocked.

"What the hell happened here?" Aria asked.

"Did you guys use the confetti cannons before the party even started?!" Caroline asked, looking around the the Salvatore living room and finding nothing but confetti everywhere, "Do you realise how long this is going to take to clean up?!".

"Who made this mess?" Rebekah asked.

Kai pointed towards Kol, who pointed towards Enzo, who then pointed at Kai, making the three girls look at them in disbelief.

"Honestly, at times I get really confused as to who the toddlers in this house are" Aria said.

Caroline turned to Klaus and Damon, who were standing in the corner, with smirks on their face, "And while these three were behaving like idiots, what the hell were you two doing, why the hell didn't you stop them?!".

"Because of the very reaction you're currently giving, Blondie" Damon said.

"You!" Caroline went to lunge at an amused Damon but Aria and Rebekah quickly grabbed her.

"Relax, Care" Aria said.

"They ruined the plan Aria!" Caroline said, "We were all supposed to use the cannons when Rebekah cuts her cake, not now".

"Don't worry, Jeremy will go get more confetti cannons" Aria assured, "Your plan is still in motion".

"And what about this mess?" Caroline asked.

"The people who made it will clean it up" Rebekah replied.

"Absolutely not" Kol snapped.

"Yeah, I don't clean" Kai said.

"Sorry, gorgeous, that's not happening" Enzo said.

"You guys can't say no to me" Rebekah said, "It's my birthday".

"So?" Kol asked.

"So you have to do what I want, all day long" Rebekah replied, "And right now, I want you three to clean your mess up".

Kol opened his mouth to protest but one glare from the three girls immediately shut him up.

"And you two" Caroline turned to Damon and Klaus, "Help them".

"We didn't do this though" Klaus protested.

"Yeah, but you didn't stop them either, Nik" Aria said.

"Now excuse us, we have five very impatient toddlers to get ready, make sure everything is clean, knowing our children, if this mess isn't clean then at least one of them is putting this rubbish in their mouth, my bets on Mia, so chop, chop, I don't want my niece to choke on confetti" Caroline ordered.

After ordering the guys to clean up, Caroline went upstairs and amused Aria and Rebekah followed her, leaving behind five very grumpy men.

***

After helping the guys clean the living room up, Damon entered his room, only to Mia and Asher playing on their playmat, while a frustrated Aria tried to get fussy Alec to wear his clothes.

"Alec, come on" Aria pleaded, when her son refused to let his mother put his pants on, "You can't go downstairs without pants on".

"Technically, he can" Damon said, walking over to Aria and their son, "He's a baby, no one will judge him".

"But I want him and Asher to wear matching clothes at Rebekah's party" Aria complained.

"Then take Asher's pants off as well" Damon suggested.

Aria glared at Damon, "You are no help" she snapped, Aria turned back to Alec, who was about to put the hairbrush in his mouth, "Hey! None of that", Aria took the hairbrush from Alec's hand, and once again tried to make him wear his pants but he kept kicking it off, "Ugh!".

"Give it to me" Damon said, taking Alec's pants from Aria's hands.

"If he didn't let me put his pants on, I don't think he's going to let you either" Aria said.

"Wanna bet?" Damon asked, turning to his son, who was smiling at his father.

"Go on" Aria urged, "I wanna see your see face when he doesn't let you either".

Damon chuckled, "Come on, buddy" he told Alec, "Let's prove your mom wrong".

Aria looked at the father and son duo in shock once she saw Alec let Damon put his pants on without any fuss.

After finishing with Alec, Damon picked him up in his arms and turned to Aria, "So, what were you saying?" he asked a fuming Aria.

Aria ignored Damon and turned to Alec, "You're a traitor" she said, making Damon laugh, and seeing his father laugh, Alec also started smiling, "Oh my god, his another you".

"Yeap" Damon said, kissing Alec's cheek.

"He's going to give me a hard time when he grows up, isn't he?" Aria asked.

"Most likely" Damon replied, playing with Alec.

"Lovely" Aria whispered, shaking her head at the father son duo, who were now busy in their own little world.

***

"I told you!" Aria yelled in happiness, "Asher's on my team, take that, Salvatore!".

Damon chuckled at Aria's antics, he then turned to his oldest son, who was currently in Aria's arms, while Alec and Mia laid on the bed, when Damon tried to carry him, Asher had refused to let him carry him and started wailing, only wanting to be in his mother's arms.

"Have Asher on your team, I have Alec and my princess on my team, right Mia?" Damon asked, picking his daughter up in his arms, Mia looked at her father, clapping her hands in happiness, making Aria shake her head at her two kids.

"Unbelievable" Aria said, she turned to Asher, who was busy playing with his mother's hair, "At least I have you".

Seeing his sister in his father's arm, Alec let out a loud wail, startling his siblings, who after seeing their brother crying also started crying.

"What just happened?" Damon asked confused.

"That is your son getting jealous of his own sister" Aria replied, laying Asher next to Alec, not even surprised with Alec's behavior, as over the time she had realised out of all her children Alec was definitely the most possessive one, for not only his parents but also his siblings.

"How do we stop them from crying?" Damon asked, not liking the sounds of his children crying.

"Just watch" Aria replied, taking Mia from Damon's arms and laying her on the other side of Alec.

Damon watched in fascination as all three of his children stopped crying once they were next to each other.

"Asher might be on my team, and Alec and Mia might be on your team, but that will never change the fact that our kids need each other more then anything in this world, maybe even more then us" Aria said, stepping back and watching her kids babble to each other.

Damon smiled at his children, he walked over to Aria and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against him, "Thank you" he said.

Aria looked at Damon in confusion, "What for?" she asked.

"For making my dream come true, a dream I never thought would come true after I turned into a vampire" Damon replied.

"What was the dream?" Aria asked curiously.

"To one day, have my own little small, but crazy family" Damon replied.

Aria smiled at Damon, "They're definitely crazy".

"They get that from us" Damon said.

Aria chuckled, "Yes, they do".

Damon smiled at Aria, he placed a kiss on the top of her head, and both the vampires went back to admiring their little bundles of joy, who were busy in their own little world with each other.

***

"The cake is here!" Caroline yelled, entering the living with Rebekah's birthday cake.

"The camera is recording" Aria informed, placing the camera on the table and recording everything, wanting to send it to Elijah and Finn in New Orleans, who couldn't make it on time.

"So what are we waiting for?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, cut the damn cake, Rebekah" Kol said, really wanting to use the confetti canons.

"I am, geez" Rebekah said, as Caroline placed the birthday cake on the table infront of her.

"Wait!" Aria said, before Rebekah could cut her cake.

"What now?" Enzo asked, all day both Caroline and Aria have been making the guys do something or the other, annoying them a lot, but they knew better then to argue with the two sisters.

"Nik, Damon, did you put the soundproof earphones on the kids, I don't want the confetti canons to scare them" Aria said.

"Relax Ari, the kids won't hear the confetti canons" Klaus assured, looking at the five kids, who were placed on their playmats and were busy playing with each other.

"Now, can we please cut the damn cake?" Damon asked.

"Agreed" Jeremy said.

"Why are you guys so impatient?" April asked.

"Right?" Aria said.

"Oh my god, Rebekah, cut the damn cake!" Kol snapped.

"First sing happy birthday to me" Rebekah said.

"Wait!" Caroline said.

"What, now?!" Kai snapped, wanting to eat cake.

"Aria" Caroline turned to her sister.

Aria nodded in understanding, and using her magic, she lit the candle on the cake.

"Okay, we're ready now" Caroline said.

"Finally" Enzo said, "Blow the candle out, gorgeous".

"Don't forget to make a wish" April reminded.

Rebekah nodded, she closed her eyes and made a wish, and then blew the candle out, while everyone started singing happy birthday to her.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Rebekah! Happy birthday to you!".

As soon as Rebekah cut the cake, everyone popped their confetti canons.

"Happy birthday Beks!" Aria yelled, hugging her best friend.

"Happy birthday, Rebekah!" Caroline yelled, joining the hug.

"Happy birthday!" April yelled, also joining the girls group hug.

"I'm taking the cake now" Kai informed everyone, making everyone laugh.

"Go for it" Caroline said.

"Thank you" Rebekah told Aria and Caroline, "This is the best birthday I've had in a very long time".

Aria and Caroline smiled, "You're welcome" Caroline said, smiling at her friend.

***

"A cupcake for my best friend" Jeremy said, walking over to Aria, who was watching over the kids while the others were busy eating and dancing around.

"Thank you" Aria said, taking the cupcake from Jeremy's hand.

"So" Jeremy started, "I told April the truth about my application".

"And what was her reaction?" Aria asked.

"She was mad at first, but then glad that you sent my application in" Jeremy replied.

"So you two are good?" Aria asked, not wanting this to effect Jeremy and April's relationship.

"We're good" Jeremy replied, "We talked it out, she understood my point of view, and I realised what I did wasn't the smartest thing".

"That's good" Aria said, "So you're ready to go to art school now?".

Jeremy nodded, "I'm ready" he replied, "But can I ask, why are you so adamant on sending me to art school, are you sick of my presence?".

"So sick" Aria teased, making Jeremy chuckle, "But on a serious note, you need to realise that it's okay to move on from Mystic Falls, to move on from the supernatural world and just live in peace with April, I mean that's what Jenna did, and look how happy she is, I'm adamant on sending you to art school because I know that's your dream, it always has been and I don't want this world to take that away from you, sometimes Jer, it's okay to want a normal life, go out there, and find the life that you want, the life you deserve to have, and be happy with April, you two deserve all the happiness in this world".

"What about you?" Jeremy asked, "Will you be fine without me?".

"I'll be sad" Aria replied honestly, "After Caroline, it's you whose been there for me my entire life, and seeing you go away is going to hurt, but I'll also be happy knowing you are happy, plus it's not like we're going to cut ourselves from each others lives, we will talk everyday, and we'll text non-stop".

Jeremy looked at Aria, a smile on his face, he stood up and pulled Aria into a hug, "Thank you, for everything" he whispered.

"Thank you as well" Aria whispered back, hugging Jeremy back, her talk with Jeremy suddenly causing her to realise something.

***

"Are they asleep?" Damon asked as Aria entered his room after making sure the triplets fell asleep.

Aria nodded, "Yeap" she replied, "You know, you never told me when you got the time to make a nursery for the triplets".

"Me and Kol made it the day we were able to step back in Mystic Falls" Damon informed.

"Well, it's a beautiful nursery, really like the brown color scheme you guys chose" Aria said.

"Thank you" Damon said, feeling proud of himself, "So, I heard from Kol that Jer's applying to art school, might want to compel him a decent portfolio, because he ain't that great".

"Hey! He's amazing" Aria defended, making Damon chuckle, "And I think this is going to be a good change for him and April, both of them need to move on from Mystic Falls, and while talking to Jeremy I realised that I need to move on from the past as well".

Damon looked at Aria in confusion, "I'm not sure I'm a fan of that transition".

"Since I found out about me being a witch, I've made some questionable decisions" Aria admitted, "But giving us a chance, wasn't a questionable decision, and I know me making Alaric compel away our love will make people doubt on my love for you, but I don't care about what other people think about me, I care about what you think Damon, you're the only one that matters, when Katherine killed me, I came back, for you, when you died, you came back, for me, and now when I've removed all of my love for you, somehow, someway, I still found my way back to you, no matter where you and I go, we always come back to each other, I was keeping my distance from you because I wanted my memories back before deciding anything, but now I realise, I'm not that patient, I don't care if I have my memories or not".

"What are you saying Ria?" Damon asked, not wanting to get his hopes up until Aria says the words herself.

"I'm saying screw my memories, I might get them back one day, or I might not, but I'm not going to let that stop me anymore" Aria replied, stepping closer to Damon, "All I know is that ever since you've come back, I can't help myself from being drawn to you, Damon Salvatore, I love you, forever and ever".

Hearing Aria's words, Damon looked at her in shock, and not being able to stop himself, he stepped towards her, getting rid of the space between them, and smashed his lips on to hers, while kissing Aria, Damon picked her up and Aria wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him lead her towards the bed.

Damon placed Aria on the bed, and for a second just looked at her, taking her presence in.

"What?" Aria asked.

"I love you, forever and ever" Damon admitted, making Aria smile.

"I know" Aria said, pulling Damon into a kiss.

***

Presenting 6x13 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on the gang celebrating Rebekah's birthday?

Thoughts on the Salvatore family bonding?

Thoughts on Jeremy and April going to art school together?

Thoughts on Damon and Aria finally rekindling their relationship? Fun fact, they weren't supposed to rekindle their relationship in this chapter, but I wrote that as a, I'm really sorry for updating so late, I hope it makes it up for it >.<