15. The Dinner Party

"Damon, why are we at the lakehouse?" Aria asked, looking at the Gilbert lakehouse infront of her in confusion.

Damon stood behind Aria and back hugged her, "With Rose's death, the werewolf attacking you, and all the stuff with Kol and Klaus, I thought you and me deserved a romantic getaway".

"But aren't Stefan and Elena here?" Aria asked.

"Nope" Damon replied, "Turns out the werewolfs didn't just attack us yesterday, they also attacked Stefan and Elena, they wanted the doppelganger, after Stefan saved Elena they decided they didn't want to stay here, so they are back home, while we are here".

"Is it a good idea?" Aria asked, slightly unsure, "I mean with everything thats been going on, should we even be here?".

Damon didn't say anything, he just picked Aria up in his arms, "Damon!" Aria yelled, shocked with his actions.

Damon laughed at Aria's shocked face, "This is exactly where we are supposed to be, I just want two very romantic days with my lovely girlfriend, is that too much to ask for?".

Aria smiled at Damon's words, "No, it's not".

If Damon was to be completely honest, he brought Aria to the lakehouse not only to give her the best two days of her life, but also to make sure she doesn't get hurt anymore, in the past few days, Aria had suffered a lot, and Damon didn't want her to suffer anymore.

After Elijah and Damon's talk last night, both the males decided it was best to take Aria away from Mystic Falls for a few days, Damon hadn't told Aria about his and Elijah's new friendship, because then he would have to tell her how both of them are going to let Elena die, knowing all to well Aria will oppose to it and will try saving Elena on the cost of her life, something Damon or Elijah didn't agree with. Which is why, Damon and Aria were at the lakehouse, while Elijah and Caroline, who Damon told everything to, were back in Mystic Falls, trying to figure out what to do next.

***

"When someone doesn't answer your first five calls, you should really take a hint and realise they don't want to talk to you Stefan" Damon said into the phone.

While Aria was in the shower, Damon decided to go out on to the docks and talk to Stefan who has been calling him since the morning.

"Did you know?" Stefan asked, getting straight to the point.

"Did I know what?" Damon asked confused.

"Did you know that Elijah was planning to sacrifice Elena this whole time?" Stefan asked.

Damon sighed, "How did you find out?".

"Bonnie did a hypothesis spell on Luka, who spilled how Elijah is planning to sacrifice Elena but save Aria" Stefan informed.

"I told you before Stefan, I'm not going to let history repeat itself, I told you I will gladly let Elena die if it meant Aria was safe" Damon said, showing no remorse in siding with Elijah and not his brother.

"Yeah and have you thought how Aria will feel?" Stefan asked, "How will she feel when she realises you killed her best friend just to save her? She will you hate you Damon".

"She will be alive Stefan" Damon snapped, "I will gladly let Aria hate me, if it meant she was alive".

"I'm going to save both of them Damon, not just one of them" Stefan said.

"Stefan, don't do anything stupid" Damon warned.

"You really should have hid the dagger John Gilbert gave you in a better spot" Stefan said.

"No, Stefan don't you dare--", before Damon could complete his sentence, Stefan had already hanged up.

"Dammit!" Damon yelled in anger, he was angry his brother's stupidity is going to cost Aria her life.

***

After calming himself down, Damon went back into the lakehouse to see Aria sitting infront of the fire, reading one of Johnathan Gilbert's journals, Damon went towards Aria, he picked her up and placed her in his lap.

"What are you reading?" Damon asked.

"It's Johnathan Gilbert's journal" Aria replied, "He wrote so much, it's kind of insane, a lot of these things he kept from the founding families, stuff that only he knew and nobody else, stuff that you and Stefan never told me or Elena".

Damon looked at Aria in confusion, not knowing what she was on about, Aria handed him the journal, and Damon realised she was talking about the fact how after Katherine and Natalie's death, both Stefan and Damon went on a killing spree and started killing founding family members.

Damon sighed, "Me and Stefan, we were hurt, we were heartbroken, but most of all we were angry at the founding families, because we believed they caused Katherine and Natalie's death, Emily hadn't told me yet that it was Katherine who got Natalie killed and not the founding families, so I blamed the founding families for taking away the one girl who I vowed to protect with my life, so I wanted revenge, at that time, me and Stefan had no idea about the Gilbert's magical ring, we didn't know that he would magically survive".

"In the journal, he said that you and Stefan were monsters" Aria said.

"Because that's what we were, that's what I still am" Damon said.

"You're not a monster Damon" Aria said, "You're anything but a monster".

"How can you say that to me?" Damon asked, "After knowing what I did, how could say that I'm not a monster?".

"You were heartbroken" Aria said, "The girl you loved died in your arms, I'm not saying going on a killing spree was right, but I get why you did it, seeing someone you love die right infront of you is never easy".

"Which is why I'm not going to let you die" Damon said, cupping Aria's face in his hand, "Aria, I can't let you die, and in doing so I might do things that you won't like, hell you might hate me for it, but just know whatever I do or did, it was to make sure I don't lose you".

"And you're not" Aria promised, "We just got each other, I'm not ready for this to end Damon".

"And it won't" Damon promised.

Aria smiled and hugged Damon, who gladly hugged her back, Damon realised no matter what happens, he couldn't live without Aria, he managed to survive 145 years without Natalie but he doesn't think he will survive even a day without Aria, which is why he decided he will do everything in his power to save Aria, even if it meant going against his brother.

***

"Ria this is not how you cut vegetables" Damon said, amusement shown clearly in his voice.

"Listen vampy, you let me cut my vegetables the way I want to, stop interfering" Aria said, trying to cut the carrots the way Damon showed her but failing miserably.

"So your saying I should order take out?" Damon asked.

Aria looked down at the vegetables and the back up at Damon, "Yeah, you probably should".

Damon chuckled and went into the living room where his phone was, picking up his phone, he frowned when he realised Caroline had called him three times, but due to his phone being on silent he didn't realise, making sure Aria wasn't following him, Damon went out to the docks and called Caroline.

"About time you called me back" Caroline snapped, panic and stress evident in her voice.

"What happened Blondie?" Damon asked.

"Stefan went to Katherine to make sure the dagger John Gilbert gave you was legit, and Katherine let him know that the dagger is very legit, and very capable of killing an Original, so now a certain Original is coming to dinner" Caroline informed, all in one breath.

"Elijah accepted Stefan's dinner offer?" Damon asked shocked.

"Yeap" Caroline replied, "I'm guessing he doesn't realise it's a trap".

"Surely he knows my brother isn't going to invite him to bond" Damon snapped, "Blondie, you need to make sure Stefan doesn't kill Elijah, if Elijah dies then the one thing that can save Aria is also gone".

"I won't let that happen" Caroline said, "I will do everything in my power to stop Stefan, I'm not going to lose my best friend because of him".

"Keep it me updated" Damon said.

"Will do".

***

After hanging up on Caroline, Damon entered the living room to see Aria sitting and reading more of Jonathan Gilbert's journal.

"Where did you go?" Aria asked, not taking her eyes off the journal.

"Just ordered some pizza" Damon lied, sitting next to Aria, "Still reading about crazy Gilbert?".

"He got crazier and crazier as time went on" Aria said, "Is this what happens to you when you dedicate your life to obsessing over vampires?".

"Obsessing over something the world doesn't thing is real, that's surely bound to make you go crazy" Damon said.

"I guess" Aria said, she kept reading what Jonathan Gilbert wrote, when her eyes landed on something shocking, "Oh my god".

"What?" Damon asked confused.

"Damon, he researched about the Originals" Aria revealed.

"Seriously?" Damon asked, slightly shocked.

"Yeah, look" Aria said, showing Damon the book, "There's so many pages full of questions and scribbles about the Originals", Aria kept turning the pages, when her and Damon's eyes landed on a drawing, a drawing of the dagger John Gilbert had given Damon.

"Damon, this is the dagger that could kill an Original" Aria said.

"What did Jonathan Gilbert write about it?" Damon asked curiously.

"The wood from one tree and one tree alone, an ancient white oak would bring death to an Original vampire" Aria read, "When the tree burned, all hope was thought lost".

"So he was trying to figure out to kill an Original?" Damon asked.

"Seems like it" Aria replied, continuing her reading, "But the ash from the tree was saved and witches forged a dagger to which the ash could be bonded, this alchemic bond provides the necessary poison to kill an Original, it must be brandished by humans alone for it will bring death to all demons who wield it".

"What?" Damon asked shocked, taking the book from Aria's hand and reading it, "Dammit! John tried to set me up".

"But it didn't work" Aria said, "You hid the dagger, you're not going to kill Elijah, meaning John's bait didn't work".

Damon looked at Aria in worry, "Not on me it didn't, but Stefan has invited Elijah to the house today, his going to try to kill him".

"What?!" Aria yelled, standing up shocked, "Damon we need to call Stefan and stop him".

Damon nodded and quickly grabbed his phone and called Stefan.

***

After Stefan hadn't answered his call, Damon had called Caroline and told her to warn Stefan, and now both Damon and Aria were waiting for Caroline's call, wanting to know if Stefan is okay or not.

"Why is she taking so long in calling us back?" Aria snapped, pacing up and down in worry, not only for Stefan but also for Elijah.

Before Damon could assure Aria, his phone started ringing, catching the attention of Aria, "Is it Care?".

Damon nodded and answered the phone, "Please tell me you stopped Stefan".

"Stefan's alive" Caroline informed the couple.

"And Elijah?" Aria asked worried.

Caroline sighed, "After I told Stefan that using the dagger would kill him, I wanted to go tell Elijah about the dagger but before I could Bonnie knocked me out with her stupid magic and when I woke up, Elena had already daggered Elijah".

"Elijah's daggered?" Aria asked shocked.

"Yeah" Caroline whispered, knowing how much Aria had started to care for Elijah in such a short span of time, she hated Elena and Stefan for hurting Aria again,  "I'm sorry Aria, I tried but I couldn't stop them, I tried to get the dagger out but Bonnie did some kind of protection spell making it that only her or Elena could take the dagger out of Elijah".

Aria slumped down on to the couch, trying to register the fact that despite her telling him not to, Stefan still went after Elijah and her so called best friend ended up killing him.

***

Aria and Damon barged into the Salvatore Boarding House, both of them were furious. Damon was furious that because of Stefan and Elena the one person who could save Aria was gone, and Aria was angry that despite her telling Stefan that she trusted Elijah, that he was like her family, he went behind her back and daggered him.

Damon and Aria walked into the living room where they saw Bonnie, Stefan and Elena sitting down, with a furious Caroline glaring at them, from the looks of it she had just finished giving the trio a piece of her mind.

"How could you!" Aria yelled, catching the attention of everyone.

"Aria--".

"How many times did I tell you that Elijah could be trusted?" Aria snapped, glaring at a guilty Stefan, "How could you kill him Stefan?!".

"Aria, he was planning to give me to Klaus" Elena said, in an attempt to defend their actions.

"He was helping you Elena!" Aria yelled, "How many times has he saved all your sorry asses?! And how did you guys repay him for that? By bloody daggering him!".

"Aria, Luka told me that all this time Elijah has been lying to you and Elena, he was going to save you but he was going to let Klaus kill Elena" Bonnie informed, "Something both Caroline and Damon knew about but didn't inform anyone".

Aria looked at Caroline and Damon, both of them who didn't even look slightly apologetic for hiding this, now she got what Damon meant when he said that to save Aria he will have to do things she wouldn't like.

"I'm not apologising for trying to make sure my best friend lives" Caroline snapped.

"I'm also your best friend" Elena snapped, "Yet you will let me die but save Aria?".

"Your hardly my best friend" Caroline said, glaring at Elena, "You are not the one who listens to me day and night, who is my shoulder to cry on, who has been there for me whenever I needed her, you've never done that for me, instead you and Bonnie always made me feel like an outsider, if it wasn't for Aria I would have lost my mind years ago", Caroline turned to Bonnie, "And if we are going to use the best friend card, isn't Aria your best friend, but you just sold her soul to the devil, you took away the one thing that could save her life, some best friend you are".

"Caroline, Aria is my best friend, of course I want to save her life but unlike you I don't differentiate between my friends" Bonnie snapped, "I want to save both Elena and Aria's life, not sacrifice one for the other".

Before Caroline could say anything, Aria whispered, "You guys don't trust me".

"Aria it's not that" Stefan said, stepping towards Aria, but she quickly stepped back causing her to bump into Damon, Damon quickly grabbed her by her arms and steadied her before she could fall.

Aria turned to Damon, the broken look on her face made not only Damon but everyone who was present heart hurt, "They don't trust me Damon".

"Shh" Damon said, wiping Aria's tears, "It's okay, it's gonna be okay".

"I always put these people first, but they never put me first" Aria cried, "I know they don't understand mine and Elijah's connection, but why couldn't they trust me, do they really think I will let Elena die, is that how little they think of me?".

Damon didn't say anything just hugged Aria and let her cry it out.

Seeing Aria so broken, made guilt rise in Bonnie, Elena and Stefan's heart, it was true they didn't understand Elijah and Aria's connection, but they never thought Aria would be this distraught over them daggering him.

Elena and Bonnie stepped forward to comfort Aria, but Damon quickly held his hand out, stopping them in their spot, "Don't" he warned, "You guys have done enough damage".

Damon picked a still hysterical Aria into his arms and took her up to his room, Caroline following behind.

***

Damon and Caroline had stayed by a hysterical Aria's side, who felt extremely guilty and blamed herself for Elijah, she felt like she could have warned him, she should have warned him, after much assuring from both Caroline and Damon that it wasn't her fault, both Aria and Caroline fell asleep, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to both of them.

Damon placed a blanket over the two girls and after placing a kiss on Aria's forehead, went downstairs to deal with his brother.

Entering the living room, Damon got confused seeing Stefan glaring at Elena, but it didn't take him long to realise that the girl infront of them wasn't Elena.

"Hello, Damon" Katherine smirked, seeing the older Salvatore enter.

"How did you get out?" Damon asked, he knew Elijah had compelled Katherine to stay in the tomb till Klaus arrived.

"I knew that if I begged Stefan not to kill Elijah, that's exactly what he'd do" Katherine said, "Little known fact, Originals can compel vampires, but soon as they die, compulsion wears off".

"And you knew" Damon realised.

"And I'm still here" Katherine turned to Stefan, "I didn't run, I meant what I said Stefan, I'm going to help you".

After Katherine had walked away, Damon turned to Stefan, "Congrats brother, not only did you lose Aria's trust by daggering Elijah, because of you the girl who murdered her parents is now free, great going Stefan".

***

words: 2939

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