15. Stand By Me

Bonnie Bennett was currently sleeping in the Gilbert's living room, as none of them had realised that Aria's death had broken the spell.

While Bonnie was sleeping, she was suddenly standing in the cemetery, Bonnie looked around confused, not knowing why she was here or how she got here, suddenly her eyes landed on something, shocking her, on the grave stone infront of her it said, Aria Connor.

"Aria's death will bring horrible consequences".

Bonnie gasped and turned around in shock when she heard someone behind, turning around she was met with a women.

"Who are you?" Bonnie asked confused.

"My name is Qetsiyah, and I need your help".

"My help?" Bonnie asked confused.

"You need to let me in" Qetsiyah replied, "I have to bring her back, it's not her time yet".

"Bring who back?" Bonnie asked.

"Aria" Qetsiyah replied.

"Aria's really dead?" Bonnie asked shocked.

Qetsiyah nodded, "But I can bring her back, she's the only one who can stop him, you need to let me in".

"Let you in where?" Bonnie asked confused.

Qetsiyah didn't say anything, she stepped forward and placed both her hands on Bonnie's head, causing her to scream in pain.

Back at the Gilbert's living room, Bonnie gasped, and sat up in shock.

"Bonnie, you okay?" Stefan asked.

"I must go" Bonnie replied, in a monotone.

"You can't go Bonnie, we are trapped here" Elena reminded.

Bonnie ignored Elena and stepped out of the Gilbert's living room and out the front door, shocking both Elena and Stefan.

"How?" Elena asked confused.

"The spells down" Stefan realised.

"But I thought we were stuck here till the next full moon" Elena said.

"Unless something happened to the witch who did the spell" Stefan said, worry rising in his heart.

"What?" Elena asked confused, "You think something has happened to Aria?".

"I don't know Elena" Stefan whispered, "I don't know

***

"No!" Damon yelled, as he and Kol ran over to Aria, "No, no, no!", Damon pulled the stake out of Aria's heart, and bought her to his chest, "You're not dead, you can't be dead!".

"You're going be okay" Kol mumbled, "You're going to come back, you have to come back".

"Don't you dare say it Rebekah!" Klaus yelled into the phone, "Don't say it!".

Rebekah sat by the beach, talking to Klaus, while leaving Kol and Damon alone with Aria and Jeremy's dead bodies, "She's gone Nik" Rebekah cried, "She left us, again".

"No!" Klaus yelled, "She can't be Rebekah, she can't be gone!".

"It was Katherine" Rebekah informed, "I think she was following us this whole time, the cure and Silas and Damien are also gone".

"What am I supposed to tell Caroline?" Klaus whispered, "She's waiting for Aria to return, she's planned this whole movie night, what am I supposed to say to her? How can I tell her that her sister's never coming back to her? How can I accept the fact that my best friend is gone again?".

Hearing Klaus, Rebekah started crying harder, "Nik" Rebekah cried, "Damon and Kol are with Aria's body, they both refuse to let her go, they believe that she will somehow wake up, and Kol saw the Gilbert ring on Jeremy's so he thinks his also coming back, but Nik he was part of the five, a hunter".

"His supernatural" Klaus realised, "The ring's not going to work on him".

"None of them are willing to accept Jeremy and Aria's death, it's bad Nik, it's really bad, I don't know what to do" Rebekah cried.

"Rebekah come back" Klaus said, "Bring all of them back".

Rebekah nodded, "I will tell, you need to call Elijah and tell Caroline as well".

"I know" Klaus whispered, dreading telling Caroline.

***

"Hey, your here" Caroline smiled, seeing Klaus enter Alaric's apartment, "Okay, so I was thinking of baking brownies, Aria loves chocolate brownies and she got Rebekah hooked on it as well, after they both come back from being on that horrible island for so long, I think they deserve something good".

"Caroline" Klaus whispered.

"Yeah?" Caroline asked, rummaging through Ric's cupboards.

"Caroline" Klaus repeated, grabbing Caroline's hand and making her face him.

"What?" Caroline asked, "Have you been crying, your eyes are red".

"Come with me" Klaus said, ignoring Caroline's question and forcing her to sit on the couch.

"Klaus, what's going on?" Caroline asked, fear rising in her heart.

"Caroline, something happend at the island" Klaus replied, tears welling in his eyes.

"What happened?" Caroline asked worried, "Is everyone okay?".

"Katherine had followed them to the island" Klaus replied, shocking Caroline, "She raised Silas and Damien by--".

"By what Klaus?" Caroline snapped, not liking the suspense.

"By feeding them Jeremy" Klaus replied.

"What?" Caroline whispered, "Is he--, is he okay?".

"His neck was snapped Caroline" Klaus replied, shocking Caroline, "Jeremy's dead".

"Oh my god" Caroline cried, "Oh my god, Jeremy's dead, oh my god", Caroline looked at Klaus with teary eyes, "How's Aria? She must be so devastated, how is she going to get through this? She can't lose anyone else, this will break her".

"There's something else" Klaus said, he told Caroline about Jeremy first, wanting to delay this as much as possible, "It's about Aria".

"What happened to Aria?" Caroline asked.

"Caroline, Ari, she's--".

"She's what Klaus?!" Caroline yelled.

"Katherine killed her" Klaus whispered.

"No" Caroline whispered, shaking her head, "No, you're lying, tell me you're lying!".

"Caroline--".

"No!" Caroline yelled, standing up, "She's not dead! My sister is not dead, okay?! She probably just passed out and because she's a vampire she has no pulse".

"Caroline, calm down--".

"How can I calm down?!" Caroline yelled, "I need to see her! Where is she?! Please tell me where is she Klaus?".

"They are on their way back" Klaus informed, "They should be back soon".

"She's not dead" Caroline whispered, sitting back on the couch, "She's not dead".

Klaus didn't say anything, just sat next to Caroline and pulled her into a hug.

***

After a while, the front door to Ric's apartment opened and in came Rebekah, Damon and Kol. with Damon carrying Aria, and Kol carrying Jeremy.

"Aria--", Caroline tried to go to Aria, but Damon ignored everyone and went straight into Aria's room, Kol following closely behind with Jeremy.

"Have they said anything?" Klaus asked Rebekah.

An upset Rebekah shook her head, "The whole journey, none of them have said a word, they are still waiting for Aria and Jeremy to wake up".

Caroline didn't say anything to anyone, instead ran into the room where he saw Damon laying Aria down, but still holding on to her hand.

"Aria" Caroline whispered, slowly walking towards the dead witch.

"She's okay" Damon whispered, while Kol stood by the window, "She's just being a bit stubborn, you know how she is, she loves scaring us".

Caroline looked between Damon, Aria and Kol, seeing Damon and Kol's reaction, Caroline couldn't take it anymore, so she ran out of them and straight into Klaus's arms.

"I can't" Caroline cried, "I can't take this, bring her back Klaus, bring my best friend back please".

"I wish I could" Klaus whispered, tears slipping down his face, "I wish I could".

***

"Do you both want something?" Rebekah asked, entering the room and trying her best not to burst into tears.

"No" Kol replied, while Damon simply shook his head, "We are just waiting for them to wake up, it shouldn't be long now".

"Guys--".

"They are going to wake up" Damon interrupted, before Rebekah could say anything, "She's going to wake up, she promised me we are forever, and Aria Connor doesn't break her promises".

"Call Dr. Fell" Kol said, "Maybe she can give them something that will wake them up a bit faster".

Rebekah sighed, but said nothing and quietly walked out the room.

***

"Where's Caroline?" Rebekah asked, preparing tea for everyone.

"With Kol and Damon, she also believes that Ari's going to eventually wake up" Klaus replied.

"Did you call Elijah?" Rebekah asked.

Before Klaus could reply, there was a knock on the door.

"That must be Dr. Fell" Rebekah said, opening the door, but not finding Dr. Fell on the other side.

"Hello, sister".

"Elijah" Rebekah whispered.

"Where is she?" Elijah asked.

"Kol, Damon and Caroline are in the room with her, waiting for her to wake up" Rebekah replied, leading Elijah into the kitchen where Klaus was.

"Niklaus" Elijah whispered.

"She's gone Elijah" Klaus whispered, "She left us".

Elijah didn't say anything, just stepped forward and pulled his brother into a hug, knowing that's what they all needed right now.

"You can't fall weak Niklaus" Elijah said, "Kol, Damon and Caroline need all of us, we have to be strong for them".

"They keep saying that they are waiting for them to wake up" Rebekah informed  Elijah, "None of them refuse to accept the fact that--", Rebekah stopped talking, she didn't have it in her to finish the sentence.

"We are talking about Damon, Kol and Caroline here" Klaus replied, "Damon and Kol who love that girl in there more then their own life, and Caroline, the girl who says that Aria is her twin, that they are platonic soulmates, that they are forever, how do you accept those people to let Aria go so easily?".

"When they actually accept reality, all hell will break loose" Elijah said, "Right now, their denial is stopping them from raging out on this town, from turning off their humanity".

"But they can't be in denial forever" Rebekah said.

"We know" Klaus said, "But none of us want to be the ones who break the news to them".

"We are not in denial" Caroline said, walking over to the trio, "I know that vampires are killed through a stake in their heart, but Aria's not just a vampire, she's also a banshee and a witch, maybe normal rules don't apply to her, when you guys get staked in the heart, you guys come back, so what's stopping her from coming back, it's possible, right?".

"Caroline--".

"It's possible, Rebekah" Caroline snapped, "There's still hope, okay? It's a tiny hope, I know that, but it's still hope, and I am not letting go of that hope that my sister is going to come back to me, because if I don't hope, then I have to accept that she's gone, and I can't accept that".

***

"Damon" Meredith Fell said, entering the room in which Kol and Damon were, the stench of the dead bodies nearly making her gag.

"Finally" Kol said, "Hurry up and give them something, wake them up".

Meredith nodded, she walked over to Aria, "Damon, can I check on her?" Meredith asked, but Damon didn't say anything, didn't even move, just kept staring at Aria.

"Check on Jeremy first" Kol replied, "Maybe once Jeremy wakes up, then Ri will wake up too".

Meredith nodded and walked over to Jeremy, she grabbed his hand and tried to find a pulse.

"There's not going to be any pulse" Kol informed, "It's the same thing that used to happen to Ric, he'd be dead one second and alive the next, the more times they died, the longer they took in coming back, so it's given Jeremy's taking this long to wake up", Meredith nodded, "Alaric died four times before he went psycho, little Gilbert has died a few times too so we are going to have to keep an eye on him, we can't let him go psycho as well".

Meredith turned to Kol, just as Elijah entered the room, "Kol, it looks like Jeremy died of extreme blood loss" Meredith said, "His neck also appears to be broken, the lack of blood explains why there's no lividity, but his muscles have tightened past the point of rigor mortis".

"No" Kol said, shaking his head.

"If he's left unattended to, soon he'll start to bloat" Meredith said, "Same with Aria, her body will start to deteriorate, within a few hours, Jeremy's skin will discolor--".

"Shut up" Kol snapped, "His not dead, none of them are!".

"I need you to release their bodies to me, we'll get them to a funeral home" Meredith said, "Prepare them for viewing where you and your friends can say goodbye".

"No!" Kol yelled, vamping out and slamming Meredith to the wall, "They are not dead!".

"Kol, enough!" Elijah yelled, pushing Kol away from Meredith.

"They are not dead Elijah!" Kol yelled, struggling in Elijah's grip, "And why are you all of a sudden talking about science? Where the hell was your science when you used Damon's blood to heal Aria? There is no science, this is magic, something a stupid human like you wouldn't understand!".

"Kol".

Kol and Elijah looked towards the door, to see April standing there, Rebekah having informed her about Aria and Jeremy's death.

April looked towards the two dead bodies and tears started welling in her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay" Kol said, walking over to April, "It's fine, they're fine", Kol hugged April, "They are just being stubborn, I mean you've met them, they are the two of the most stubborn people I've ever met, they are fine, they will wake up, they have to".

April didn't say anything, she tightened her grip on Kol and started sobbing, she realised she didn't get to tell him, she didn't get to tell Jeremy that she was in love with him.

***

While Kol and Damon were with Aria and Jeremy, someones phone started to ring.

"It's Aria's phone" Caroline whispered, recognising the ringtone.

Without saying anything, Damon took the phone from Caroline and answered it without seeing who it was.

"Hello?".

"Damon" Stefan said, shocked, not excepting his brother to answer Aria's phone, "I was just calling to inform Aria that the spell she did on the Gilbert's living room, it's gone, so I wanted to check on Aria and make sure she's okay".

Damon looked at Aria, "She's not okay" he whispered.

"What happened?" A worried Stefan asked.

"Aria and Jeremy are dead" Damon replied, the cold tone in his voice making Kol, Caroline and April flinch.

As Damon hanged up on his shocked brother, Rebekah, Klaus and Elijah entered the room.

"Damon--".

"She's dead" Damon whispered, tears slipping from his eyes, "She's dead, she left me, she broke her promise".

"No" Kol said shaking his head, "They are not dead Damon!".

"Look at them Kol!" Damon yelled, standing up and getting away from Aria, "They are not waking up, not now, not ever! Jeremy and Aria are dead and they've been dead this entire time!".

"No!" Kol yelled, grabbing the nearby lamp and throwing it on the floor.

"Damon, please stop" Caroline whispered, tears flowing down her face.

"No, you stop!" Damon yelled, "You and Kol need to wake up! Aria's dead! Kol, the women you've loved for a thousand years is gone! Caroline, your sister, the girl you claimed was your platonic soulmate, she's gone, and she's never coming back! April, the guy you started to love, his gone too, they are both gone!".

"Stop, please stop" April cried.

"God, how long have they been smelling like this?" Damon asked, finally realising his surroundings.

"Damon, stop, Aria wouldn't want you to break like this" April said.

"Aria's dead, April!" Damon yelled, "It doesn't matter what she wants, cause she is gone!", Damon looked at Aria's dead body, "You lied to me, you promised we were going to stay together forever, you lied to me Aria!".

Damon fell to the floor, sobbing hard, Caroline, who couldn't see Damon like that, kneeled down and hugged him.

"She's gone Caroline" Damon cried, "She's gone!".

Kol looked between Aria and Jeremy, and Damon and Caroline, not wanting to be in this room anymore, Kol speeded out of the room.

"Kol" Rebekah yelled.

"I'll go after him" Elijah said, speeding after Kol.

"I need her Caroline" Damon sobbed, "I can't live without her, tell her to come back, please tell her to come back to me".

Caroline didn't say anything, even if she wanted to, no words were going to be enough for Damon, so she just hugged him and both of them cried for their loss.

Eventually, Damon broke the hug, "I need to get out of here".

"Damon listen--".

"No Klaus!" Damon yelled, "I can't be here, this smell is too much, I can't see her like this, I need to go".

"Go" Caroline said, "Go, I've got this".

Damon nodded and speeded out.

"We need to do something about their bodies" Caroline realised, "We need to make a cover story as well, maybe that they got into a car accident", Caroline realised what she said, and started laughing, "Car accident, that's ironic right? I mean the first time Aria died it was because her and Jeremy got into a car accident, I--".

"Caroline, calm down" Klaus said, as Caroline went from laughing to crying.

"I can't calm down!" Caroline yelled, "She's gone Klaus, a stupid Petrova doppelganger killed her, Aria was supposed to be the one who beat the prophecy, she wasn't supposed to die in the hands of Katherine, she was supposed to live, she was supposed to have children, get married, live eternity with Damon, this wasn't supposed to happen! I'm going to kill her! I'm going to end Katherine Pierce for this!".

Rebekah stepped forward and hugged Caroline, "We both will! I promise you Caroline, we will find Katherine, and we will kill her for what she did".

"My Mom doesn't know" Caroline whispered, "I don't know how to tell her".

"I'll tell her" Klaus suggested.

"No" Caroline said, shaking her head, "I need to do this, I have to be the one to tell her". 

***

"Where is she?!" Liz said, barging into the apartment.

"Liz--".

"Where's my daughter Klaus?!" Liz yelled.

"Mom" Caroline whispered, coming out of the room.

"Tell me you were lying Caroline, tell me she's not gone, tell me she's still here!" Liz yelled.

"Mom" Caroline cried, "She's gone, Aria's gone".

"No" Liz sobbed, "Where is she?".

"In her room" Caroline replied.

Liz didn't waste a second, she ran into the room, and the sight infront of her, made her want to vomit, her daughter, and the boy who she basically raised after his parents death, were laying on the bed, dead.

"No" Liz whispered, shaking her head, "No!".

Caroline grabbed her mother by her forearms, steadying her so she didn't fall over.

"I was supposed to protect her!" Liz yelled, "She was my responsibility! Amelia left her daughter to me, what am I meant to tell her? How will she react when she finds out I failed her daughter!".

Hearing her mother break down like this, caused Caroline to sob even harder, no one knew how they were going to come out of this loss.

***

It was dark outside, and Kol Mikaelson was aimlessly walking in the empty town square, Aria's memories, her words, her actions, spinning around in his head.

Kol sat on the bench, and looked up at the sky, he remembered when Finn had died, Aria told him that if he ever missed Finn, then to look up at the sky, according to her, the people we lose turned into stars and watched over the people they love.

"I don't know if you both are watching me" Kol cried, "I don't know if what you told me was true Ri, I know I probably look like a crazy person, sitting in the middle of the empty town square, talking to the sky like a crazy person, but I--I don't know what else to do, I lost my best friend and the girl I love in the same day, I'm losing my mind here, I need you both, I don't know how to go on with my life, I just want to stop feeling, I just want to turn it off and never turn it back on, but I know I can't, I don't want to disappoint you two, that's the last thing I would ever want to do, but I don't know how long I can keep this up, I don't how long I can pretend that I'm okay, because I'm not, I need you guys, please, come back, just come back to me, please".

Kol gripped the bench in his hands and started crying, this was the first time since Jeremy and Aria's death that Kol had let himself cry, till now he believed that they will come back, but as more time went on, the painful reality finally sank in, Kol lost both Jeremy and Aria, he failed to protect Aria, again.

"Kol".

Kol froze, he looked up at the voice in shock, "No" he whispered, "That's not possible, you're dead, you--".

"You're right, your brother Finn is dead" Finn's lookalike said, "I'm not Finn, my name is Silas, and I'm here to help you".

Kol stood up and looked at Silas in shock, "Help me?".

"Help you bring Aria back" Silas replied.

"You can bring Aria back?" Kol asked shocked.

"Find Bonnie Bennett" Silas replied simply.

"Bonnie Bennett is going to bring Aria back?" Kol asked, "You're shitting out of your ass, Bonnie doesn't have magic anymore".

"Bonnie isn't Bonnie right now" Silas replied, "She is currently being possessed by Qetsiyah, you want to bring Aria back? Find her, she will do it for you".

"Why are you helping me?" Kol asked confused.

"I'm not helping you, I'm helping Aria" Silas replied, "It will be a shame if this world lost her so early on".

"You want something from her" Kol realised, "You want something from her, don't you? That's why you want her alive".

"It doesn't matter Kol" Silas replied, "At the end of the day Aria will be alive, isn't that what you were asking for?".

Kol opened his mouth to reply, when he heard someone behind him, "Kol".

"Elijah" Kol realised.

"Are you okay?" Elijah asked.

Kol looked back as to where he saw Silas, but frowned seeing no one there, "Where did he go?".

"Who?" Elijah asked confused.

"Silas" Kol revealed.

"Silas?" Elijah asked shocked.

"Elijah, I know how to bring her back" Kol replied, "I know how to bring Aria back".

***

Damon stopped draining the girl, he was currently drinking from and took a deep breath.

"Are you satisfied?" the compelled girl asked.

After leaving the apartment, Damon ended up at the road he and Aria had first met at, he was lying on the middle of the road, hoping to wake up from this nightmare, but he didn't, and suddenly, a young girl parked her car near Damon, and Damon realising there was no reason for him to be good anymore, so he compelled the girl to stay still while he drank from.

"No" Damon said, going to take another bite.

"You're going to kill her", Damon froze hearing voice, turning around, Damon was met with the face with his dead, drinking buddy.

"No" Damon whispered, looking at Alaric, "No, you're not him, who the hell are you?!".

"My name is Damien, your ancestor".

"You followed us" Damon realised.

"My intention in following you here isn't bad, I'm here to help you Damon" Damien said.

"I don't want your help" Damon snapped, "I don't want anyone's help, so kindly, leave me alone".

"So you don't want to bring Aria back?" Damien asked.

"Don't" Damon warned, glaring at the person infront of her, "Don't say her name".

"I mean you no harm Damon, I know the pain of losing your soulmate, and I'm here to help you bring her back" Damien said.

"What's the catch?" Damon asked, not believing the man infront of him.

"For thousands of years, I've watched mine and Adriana's descendents untie, then get brutally separated" Damien replied, "I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen again".

"How can you bring her back?" Damon asked, though Damon didn't want to get his hopes up, there was a small part in his heart that hoped and prayed that he was going to get his Aria back.

"You need to find Bonnie Bennett" Damien replied, "She is currently being possessed by Qetsiyah, Adriana's best friend, find her, and she will use your and Kol's connection to Aria to bring her back".

"Aria's death broke our connections" Damon said.

"It's slowly breaking" Damien clarified, "You have less then twenty four hours to find Qetsiyah, after twenty four hours, yours and Kol's connection to Aria will be severed forever, and then they will no bringing her back".

***

Presenting 4x15 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter? I was so emotional writing this chapter, god everyone's reactions just broke my heart 😭

Anyways, thoughts on Elijah returning after hearing about Aria's death?

Thoughts on Qetsiyah possessing Bonnie?

Thoughts on Damon and Kol finally processing Jeremy and Aria's death?

Thoughts on Silas and Damien talking to Kol and Damon respectively, and telling them how to bring Aria back?

Next chapter: Will Kol and Damon be able to bring Aria back?