15. A Few Good Man

Aria slowly opened her eyes, the bright light hitting her eyes harshly, causing Aria to let a groan and close her eyes again

"Aria" someone called out the Connor witch's name after realising she was slowly waking up.

Aria slowly opened her eyes again and looked around in confusion, she realised she was in Damon's bed, Aria tried to remember how and when she got here but she came up with nothing, the last thing she remembered was talking to Damon outside Anna's motel room, after that everything had gone black for her.

Aria tried to sit up but someone stopped, "Aria stop, you need to rest".

"Elena?" Aria asked confused, "What are you doing here? Why am I here? God why can't I remember anything?".

"That's cause you fainted Ria" Damon said, entering the room with his brother.

"Fainted?" an extremely confused Aria asked, putting her hand on the side of her head that felt very heavy.

"Yeah, turns out the spell took more of you then we anticipated, here have this" Damon said, helping Aria sit up and then handing her a glass of water which she gladly took, her throat felt like sandpaper.

"How you feeling Aria?" Stefan asked, genuinely worried for the young witch.

"Like I've been hit by a truck" Aria confessed.

"Big spells do that to you" Damon said, looking at Aria and making sure she was okay.

Damon would be lying if he said he didn't panic when Aria had fainted in his arms, everything around Damon had turned to blur and the only thing on his mind was Aria, he had rushed her to the boarding house and stayed by her side, he had listened to her heartbeat constantly to make sure she was still breathing, Elena and Stefan had also panicked when Damon told them about Aria fainting, but despite Elena wanting to take Aria back to the Gilbert house, Damon refused to let Aria leave his sight.

"How long was I out for?" a curious Aria asked.

"Two days" Damon replied.

"Two days?" Aria asked shocked, "I was out for two days? God, Grams had mentioned I would feel a bit of weakness, I didn't realise I will feel this much weakness".

Hearing Grams's name, Elena, who was sitting next to Aria, suddenly went stiff, a movement not gone unnoticed by Aria.

"Elena, what's wrong?" Aria asked, confused with her best friend's reaction.

"Nothing" Elena replied quickly, "Nothing's wrong, you should lay down and rest, you need it".

Elena went to get off the bed, but Aria held her hand, stopping her, "You're lying to me Elena, somethings wrong, isn't it? Come on, tell me, what happened?".

"Aria, you have just woken up, you should rest before we tell you" Stefan said.

"Tell me what?!" Aria yelled, getting agitated by everyone's secrecy, "Guys, what's going on, what happened?".

"Aria" Damon said, taking Elena's spot next to Aria, "You need to calm down, you can't stress like this, you have just woken up".

"Damon at least you tell me, tell me what's going on, why do Elena and Stefan look so upset?".

Elena sighed, she knew it was better to tell Aria then to hide it from her, still she didn't want her best friend to take too much stress, she had just gotten her back, she didn't want to lose her again, "It's about Bonnie's Grams".

"Grams?" Aria asked confused, "What about Grams? She's okay right?".

"Aria, I just came back from her funeral" Elena said, looking at her best friend with sympathy, knowing how close she was with Sheila Bennet.

"What?" Aria asked shocked, "Her what now?".

"The spell took a lot from her" Stefan informed.

"No!" Aria yelled, tears streaming down her face, "You're lying, all of you are lying, Grams isn't dead!", Damon quickly hugged Aria, in a hope to lessen her pain, Aria struggled in the hug, "No Damon! She's not dead, she can't be dead!", when Damon refused to let go of her, Aria, having used all her energy up, hugged him back tightly, "I can't, she can't, Damon she can't be".

"Shhh, it's okay Ria" Damon said, running his hand in Aria's hair, "It's going to be okay, you're going to be okay".

Aria didn't say anything just sobbed into the hug. Stefan and Elena exchanged worried looks, they were worried for Aria, but as much as both of them didn't like it, they knew Damon would be able to calm her down, he is the only one who could help her.

***

After much yelling and crying, Aria had decided she wanted to go home, even though both Damon and Stefan had told her that she could stay as long as she wanted, Aria refused, she just wanted to go home, so that's exactly where she went.

Aria sat on the swing on their porch and dialed Bonnie's number, Elena told her that after Gram's funeral, Bonnie had left town to live with her aunt for a bit, wanting to be alone for a while.

"Hey Bon, um, it's me, Aria" Aria said, leaving Bonnie a voicemail, "Elena told me about Grams, god I'm so sorry Bonnie, I didn't know, I'm sorry I missed the funeral, please don't be mad at me, I miss you, Elena also misses you, don't let your aunt drive you too crazy, please come home soon, I love you".

Aria hanged up and quickly wiped the tears that had spilled.

"Aria?" Jenna said, coming up to the Connor witch, with Elena right by her side, "You okay?".

Aria looked at Jenna with teary eyes, "Not really".

Elena sat next to Aria and rubbed her back in comfort, "Not now she isn't, but she will, because she's Aria Connor, one of the strongest girl's I know".

"I'm not that strong" Aria mumbled.

"Sure you are" Elena said, playfully nudging Aria.

Jenna smiled at the two girls, "Are you okay?" Jenna asked Elena.

Elena sighed, "I'm fine, it's just, the funeral for Bonnie's grandma, it brought back a lot about mom and dad" Elena said, Aria squeezed her hand in assurance, "I was wondering, you said that you would do some digging about them, the adoption?".

Jenna nodded, "Right".

"So did you? Dig?".

"Come on inside both of you".

Aria and Elena looked at each other in confusion, but nonetheless followed Jenna in.

"Your dad kept everything from his medical practice" Jenna informed Elena, "Records, logs, old appointment books" Jenna showed the two girls one of Grayson Gilbert's appointment book, "I found an entry from the night you were born, patient and a birthdate, Isobel Peterson".

"Do you think that's her real name?" Elena asked.

"My guess, probably not" Aria said, "She was a pregnant teenage runway afterall".

"First name maybe" Jenna said, "But where'd she get Peterson? A classmate? Best friend? So, I binged it", Jenna typed 'Peterson' 'Grove Hill, Virginia' into her laptop, "I searched for all the Petersons in this area born the same year as Isobel, found three, two men and a women, Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia".

"That's not far from here" Elena realised.

"Well, watch this" Jenna said, typing 'Trudie Peterson' 'Grove Hill High School', she clicked on a alumni page for class of 1993, where the two girls saw a picture of Trudie Peterson and Isobel Flemming.

"Isobel" Elena smiled, looking at her biological mother's picture, "She was a cheerleader".

"Guess it runs in the blood" Aria teased, making Jenna and Elena laugh.

"Trudie still lives there" Jenna said, giving Elena a piece of paper, "This is her address".

"Anything about Isobel?" Aria asked.

"I couldn't find anything about her" Jenna informed.

Elena nodded and sat back down on the chair, opposite of Aria.

Jenna looked at Elena and paused, "Listen, there's something else, Mr. Saltzman, Ric? His wife was from around here, and her name was also Isobel".

"Was?" Aria asked confused.

"She died".

***

"Alaric's wife might have been your mother?" Stefan asked Elena, shocked by this new development.

After Jenna had told Elena and Aria all the information she had about Elena's biological mother, Elena called Stefan, wanting to tell him everything Jenna had told her, which is how Elena, Aria and Stefan ended up in Elena's room, talking about Isobel Flemming.

Elena sighed, "It can't be true, right?" she asked, "I mean, the coincidence alone is just crazy".

"But what if it is true, then what?" Aria asked, looking at her friend in worry, knowing she wouldn't be able to handle her biological mother also being dead.

Elena sighed and turned around, showing Stefan the piece of paper Jenna gave her, "I have the address for her friend Trudie".

"You wanna talk to her" Stefan realised.

"I don't know, I--" Elena said, "I--I don't know, if it's true, and they are the same person, that means that my birth mother is dead, and I don't know if I could handle that".

Aria sighed, she got off of Elena's bed and stood infront of the panicked Gilbert girl, "Elena, listen to me loud and clear, you are Elena bloody Gilbert, you are so strong, stronger then you give yourself credit for, you need to go visit Trudie, you need to find out the truth about your mother, because I know you, if you don't go, then it will keep eating at you, you need to go".

"Did Jenna tell you both anything about Alaric's wife?" a slightly worried Stefan asked, "How she died?".

"Other then the fact that she was killed and the case was never solved?" Aria asked.

"You knew that already?" Elena asked, observing Stefan's facial expressions.

Stefan nodded, "The night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death".

"Well--".

"No, no, no, it's not possible" Stefan interrupted, "The coincidences, it's too much", Elena nodded, "Listen, if you do decide to go talk to Isobel's friend, I'll go with you, yeah?".

"If he doesn't then I'm definitely going with you" Aria told her friend.

Elena gave Aria a small smile, "I just don't know what I'm gonna do yet".

"I think we all know what you should do, the question is are you?" Aria asked.

Elena looked at her best friend, she didn't know what to say to her, she was right, she had to talk to Trudie, but Elena doesn't know if she was ready to find out if her birth mother is dead or not.

"I should get going, I gotta go deal with Damon" Stefan informed the two girls.

"Is he okay?" Aria asked, not having any time to talk to Damon.

"He's dealing, in his own way".

"That's not good" Aria mumbled, worry rising in her heart for the older Salvatore.

***

Elena looked at the note in her hand then up at the house, after Stefan had left to go check up on Damon, Elena decided she wanted to go talk to Trudie Peterson, and instead of taking Stefan with her, she decided to take Aria with her, she wanted her best friend's support in this.

"You ready?" Aria asked, standing beside Elena as they stared at Trudie's house.

Elena sighed, "Not really".

Aria squeezed Elena's hand, "You can do this Elena, plus I'm right here with you".

Elena gave Aria a small smile, "Thanks for coming with me".

Aria smiled, "I'll go anywhere with you, now come on, let's go find out about your birth mother".

Elena nodded, the duo approached the front door and Elena knocked on it, both the girls impatiently waited for someone to answer the door.

After a few seconds, a young woman opened the door, "Trudie? Trudie Peterson?" Elena asked.

"Yes?".

"Uh, my name is Elena Gilbert and this is my friend Aria Connor" Elena introduced, "We wanted to talk to you about Isobel Flemming".

"Well, I haven't heard that name in years" Trudie said, "How do you know her?".

"I think that, um, well--".

"Do you by any chance know if she had a baby that she gave up for adoption?" Aria asked, when she saw Elena struggling with her words.

Trudie looked at Elena and Aria in shock, "Oh my god" she said, "One of you is her daughter, right?".

"She is" Aria said, pointing to Elena.

Trudie smiled at Elena, "I was just gonna make some tea, would you like some?".

Elena nodded with a smile, "Sure".

"Uh, the kitchen's this way" Trudie said, making way for Aria and Elena to enter.

The two girls glanced at each before stepping into Trudie's house.

"I wasn't gonna come, I didn't think I was" Elena informed Trudie, "But I was driving, and I hit this stoplight and it made me think about when I was learning how to drive and my mom would always warn me about this blind turn on the left hand side and then I was thinking about my mom and, I had your address, I'm sorry for barging in".

Trudie shook her head, "It's no problem, um, just a surprise though, I haven't thought about Isobel in years".

"When was the last time you saw her?" a curious Aria asked.

"About seventeen years ago, when she left to go have you" Trudie informed Elena, "We kept in touch for a while, but, well, you know, people drift apart".

"And you don't know where she ended up?" Elena asked.

"She was in Florida for a while" Trudie said, "She was on her own, I know it wasn't easy".

"Do you have any idea who my father is?".

Trudie paused, "I could never get her to fess up" she said, "Anyway, she finally pulled it together, got into college on a scholarship".

"What college?" Aria asked.

"Somewhere in North Carolina" Trudie said, "Duke, I think, smart girl, smart school", suddenly the kettle in the kitchen started going off, "Let me just grab that".

After Trudie left, Aria turned to Elena, "Elena, Alaric, Mr. Saltzman, he also went to Duke".

 Elena and Aria exchanged worried looks, the likely hood of Alaric's wife being Elena's biological mother kept increasing, and if it was true, that would mean Elena's mother is dead, which worried both the girls.

***

"Ah, they came to the games for us, the football team hadn't won in years" Trudie said, showing Elena and Aria old photos of her and Isobel in high school, "We were the stars, well, Izzie was, but I was a damn good backup".

Elena laughed, "This is great, thank you".

"You're welcome" Trudie said, her eyes then landed on Aria and Elena's untouched tea, "You both haven't touched your tea".

"Right" Aria said, both her and Elena picking up their cups, just as Aria was about to drink the tea, she was hit with a familiar smell coming from the cup, a smell she couldn't figure out what it was, "What is in this tea?".

"Oh, it's just some herbal mixture".

Realization crossed Aria's face, she suddenly remembered where she had smelled this smell before, in the bracelet Stefan had given her, "Vervain?".

Trudie looked at Aria shocked, "You know" Elena realised.

"Know what?" Trudie asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"You didn't invite me and Elena in, and on top of that you're serving us tea laced with vervain" Aria connected, "You know".

Trudie gulped nervously, "I think that you two should probably leave".

"Wait" Elena said, "What are you not telling us?".

"Please leave" Trudie said, "Now!".

Elena and Aria got up from their chairs and left Trudie's house.

"Okay, that was weird" Aria said.

"Tell me about it" Elena said.

Elena and Aria approached Elena's car, when Aria's eyes landed on the middle of the road, where a middle aged man was watching her and Elena's every movement.

"Elena, in the car, now" Aria ordered, not liking the way the man was looking at them.

Elena looked in the direction Aria was looking, to see the man staring at them, Aria and Elena quickly got in to the car and drove off, just as the man started walking in their direction.

***

After the whole Trudie disaster, Elena and Aria arrived at the Salvatore Boarding House, Elena wanting to tell Stefan about what had happened at Trudie's while Aria wanted to check up on Damon.

"Stefan?" Elena called, entering Stefan's room with Aria.

"Better" Damon said, coming out of Stefan's bathroom, shirtless, "Me".

"You look, um--" Elena started, not knowing how to describe Damon's current state.

"Dashing? Gorgeous? Irresistible?" Damon asked, standing infront of Aria.

"Wrecked" Aria said, playfully pushing Damon away from her, doing her best to ignore the feeling she got when she touched his bare chest, "You look wrecked vampy".

Damon shrugged, "No reason why Ria" he said, "Do you know that I am one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors?".

"Really?" Aria asked.

"Yeap" Damon said, walking over to the the mirror, "Don't worry Ria, I'll make sure you will win a date with me".

"Can't wait" Aria said, shaking her head at Damon's antics.

"How are you doing?" Elena asked Damon.

"Never better, yep" Damon replied, putting a shirt on, "What can I do for you? I'm a barrel of favors today, it's my newfound purpose, how can I help people?".

"That's unusual" Aria teased, making Damon roll his eyes, a small smile forming on his face.

"I'm just meeting Stefan, we're going to the fundraiser" Elena informed.

"Me on the other hand" Aria said, "Came to check up on you".

"You make my heart melt Ria" Damon teased, turning around to face Aria, "Help a guy out will you?" Damon gestured to his buttons, "Can't get this".

Aria sighed, but nonetheless she stood infront of Damon and started buttoning up his shirt.

"So I found out who my birth mother is" Elena told Damon, who was busy staring at Aria.

"Ugh, who cares?" Damon asked, making Aria hit his chest.

"Be nice".

"She left her Ria, she sucks" Damon said simply.

"Damon logic is something I don't have the energy to argue with" Aria mumbled.

"Because you and me both know it's right logic" Damon said, tucking a strand of hair behind Aria's ear.

Aria looked up into Damon's eyes, and for a second both Aria and Damon got lost in each other's eyes, their trance was broken with Stefan's entry,

"Stefan, there you are" Elena said, grateful seeing her boyfriend as she felt awkward standing there while Aria and Damon had their moment.

"Hey" Stefan said.

"Ugh, I need a bigger jacket" Damon complained, throwing Stefan's suit jacket on to his bed, "Wow, you know, an occasional sorority girl might, you know, help fill you out a little bit".

Damon grabbed Aria's hand and started dragging her out of Stefan's room.

"Damon, where are you taking me?" Aria asked confused.

"To the fundraiser" Damon replied simply.

***

Stefan entered the living room, where Damon and Aria were.

"Where's Elena?" Aria asked Stefan.

"She's on her way to the Grill" Stefan informed, "She figured you will be coming with Damon".

"She figured right" Damon said.

"I wanted to talk to you" Stefan told his brother, showing him a photo, a photo Aria recognised all too well, "This is the women, Isobel, from North Caroline, remember her now?".

"Who wants to know?" Damon asked suspiciously.

"I do".

"Who else wants to know?".

"Did you kill her?" Stefan asked, shocking Aria.

"Sorry, don't know her" Damon said walking away with Aria.

"Damon wait" Aria said, "You go, I need to talk to Stefan for a second, I'll meet you in the car".

Damon looked between Aria and his brother, then after a moment nodded, "Better hurry, the real housewives of Mystic Falls await".

After Damon left, Aria turned to Stefan, "Stefan, what is going on?" Aria asked, "That women in the photo, she's Elena's mother, birth mother, why are you asking Damon if he killed her?".

Stefan sighed, "This women, she's not only Elena's birth mother, she's also Alaric's wife" Stefan said, "One night, when Alaric came home, he saw Damon and his wife, Damon was feeding from her, but there was no body to prove it".

"Oh my god" Aria whispered shocked, "You think Damon killed Elena's mother?".

"I don't know Aria" Stefan said, "That's what I'm trying to find out".

"Does Elena know?".

Stefan shook his head, "No, I wanted to find out what exactly happened between Isobel and Damon before telling Elena".

"She's not going to be happy Stefan".

"I know, I know, but I promise I'll tell her, I just need a bit more time to figure things out".

Aria nodded in understanding, "Okay, if you need my help just tell me".

"Actually Aria, you can help me" Stefan said, "Damon seems to open up to you, I'm hoping you could get him to fess up about what happened that night".

"I'm on it".

***

"He's already been hit on like 35 times, he's total cougar bait" Caroline told Elena.

"Impressive" Elena said.

"More like embarrassing" Matt said.

Caroline laughed, her eyes then landed on Kelly Donovan, who was walking towards the trio, "Hi, Mrs Donovan".

Kelly ignored Caroline, "Elena, honey".

Elena laughed and hugged Kelly, "Hi Kelly, long time no see, how are you doing?".

"Same old, oh, Matty tells me you broke his heart".

"Mom" Matt complained.

"Just kidding, calm down" Kelly said, "He found his rebound girl".

"With all due respect Kelly, Caroline is no rebound girl" Aria said, walking over to the group, "Caroline is one amazing girl, your son is lucky that he is given a chance to date such an incredible person, you should be thankful to her, she makes your son happy, maybe try supporting their relationship instead of putting them down like this".

It was no secret to anyone that Kelly Donovan and Aria Connor never got along, Aria hated her for leaving Matt alone with all these responsibilities, and Kelly hated Aria as she had history with her parents, apparently she dated Aria's father, but he fell in love with Aria's mother, causing Kelly to have a grudge against Aria, if you were to ask Aria, she would say Kelly was just being petty.

Kelly glared at Aria, and without saying anything else, just simply walked away.

Caroline turned to Aria and hugged her tightly, "Thank you".

"Anytime" Aria said, hugging Caroline back, "You know I don't like hearing shit about you".

"I know" Caroline laughed.

Aria broke the hug and turned to Matt, who was looking at the two girls with a small smile on his face.

"Matt, I'm sorry the way I talked to your mom, but you know I can't hear anyone talk bad about Caroline".

"Don't apologise Aria, mom had that coming".

Aria nodded, she then started looking around and that's when her eyes landed on Damon, who was busy flirting with Tyler's mother, Carol Lockwood.

Damon and Aria had arrived at the Grill together, they had separated as Aria wanted to say hi to her friends, while Damon didn't want anything to do with them. Aria had to stop the rising feeling of jealously in her heart when she saw Damon standing so close to Carol.

"I'll be back" Aria told her friends, and walked towards Damon.

"Oh, I've got this big date planned" Damon informed Carol, while drinking his bourbon, "It's a romantic dinner, secluded spot, somewhere woodsy".

"You're making me think I should buy a ticket" Carol said.

"Well, you are in charge, you could always rig it".

"Damon" Aria said, walking over to Carol and Damon.

"Ria, hey" Damon said, "I was just telling Carol about the amazing date I have planned out for the person who wins me tonight".

"I'm sure you have" Aria laughed.

Damon's eyes then landed on Sheriff Forbes, "Pardon us" Damon told Carol, grabbing Aria's hand and walking towards the Sheriff.

"I ran the check on the history teacher" Sheriff informed Damon, Aria frowned hearing that, "You want this before or after your debut?".

"How's it look?" Damon asked.

"He checks out" Sheriff said, showing Damon Alaric's file, "Couple of speeding tickets, rough story though, turns out his wife went missing years back in North Carolina".

"North Caroline?" Damon asked, "She have a name?".

"Yeah, Isobel" Sheriff said, showing Damon Isobel's photo.

"Isobel" Damon said, looking at the photo, she was the same girl Stefan had been asking her about.

After the Sheriff left, Aria grabbed Damon, "Still going to say you don't know Isobel?".

"I don't know Isobel" Damon lied.

"We both know you're lying Damon".

"Guess we will find out Ria" Damon smirked, he then placed a raffle ticket in Aria's hand, "That's my number".

Damon winked at Aria and left to go stand on the stage, leaving behind a confused Aria who was wondering what Damon was up to this time.

***

"And what do you do, Bachelor Number 3?" Carol asked.

Jenna, Elena and Aria sat on the table and watched the auction, fear rising in Aria's heart when she looked at the way Damon was looking at Alaric, she knew Damon was up to something, something that wasn't good at all.

"Yeah, I'm a plumber".

"Well, isn't that wonderful?" Carol said, "We could always use more plumbers, moving on", Carol moved over to Alaric, "Number 4, Alaric Saltzman, wow, that's quite a mouthful".

Aria playfully nudged Jenna, who just shook her head at Aria.

"What do you do?" Carol asked Alaric.

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High" Alaric informed.

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies, this one's a keeper" Carol said, "What do you teach?".

"History".

"History" Carol repeated, "Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy".

Alaric glanced at Damon, making Aria worried, scared Alaric would spill Damon's secret.

"Uh, well--"

"He's probably saving the best stories for his date" Carol said, she then walked over to Damon, "And last but not least, Damon Salvatore, we don't have much on you".

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card" Damon said.

"Do you have any hobbies? Like to travel?".

"Oh, yeah, L.A, New York, couple years ago I was in North Caroline" Damon informed, Aria's heart started beating rapidly, she knew where Damon was taking this and really hoped he would stop before it got messy, "Near the Duke campus, actually, I think Alaric went to school there, didn't you Ric? Yeah, because I know your wife did".

Aria watched Elena's facial expression change drastically, from happiness to confusion, the minute she heard Damon's words.

"I had a drink with her once" Damon said, "She was, phew, she was a great girl, did I ever tell you that? Because she was, delicious".

"Are you okay?" Jenna asked Elena, seeing her devastated face.

"I just need some air" Elena said, getting up and going outside.

"Elena!" Aria called out, running after her friend.

"Elena" Stefan said, coming outside with Aria.

"He killed her? Damon was the vampire that killed her?" Elena asked.

"We don't know that Elena" Aria said, "They never found Isobel's body".

"Oh my god" Elena said.

"I know, I'm sorry" Stefan said, "I wanted to tell you, but I just--I wanted to know more".

"I was feeling sorry for him" Elena snapped, "Hoping that this whole Katherine would change him, I'm so stupid".

"You're not stupid Elena" Aria said, "And Damon doesn't know your and Isobel's connection, we don't know what happened that night, something doesn't add up, if Damon killed Isobel then where's her body?".

"Why are you and Stefan still protecting him Aria?" Elena snapped.

"Because we don't know the full story Elena" Aria snapped back, "We don't know for sure Damon killed Isobel".

"And you and Aria aren't the only ones hoping he might actually change" Stefan said.

Before Aria could say anything else, her eyes landed behind Stefan, where she saw the same man her and Elena saw at Trudie's, "Elena, that man" Aria pointed, gaining Stefan and Elena's attention, "He's the same man we saw outside of Trudie's".

"Get back inside, come on" Stefan ordered.

The girls nodded and quickly ran back into the Grill.

Elena and Aria entered the Grill and bumped right into Damon.

"Whoa, easy, buy a ticket like everyone else" Damon teased, missing the serious expression on the two girl's faces.

"Did you enjoy that?" Elena asked angrily, "Rubbing it in to Alaric Saltzman?".

"What?" Damon asked confused.

"Just as I was starting to think that maybe Aria was right, maybe there is something redeemable about you" Elena said.

"Elena wait" Aria pleaded.

"Am I missing some here?" Damon asked, looking between his brother, Elena and Aria in confusion.

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking, about my mother birth, the one that gave me up?" Elena asked.

"Mm-hm".

"Her name was Isobel" Elena said, causing the smug look on Damon's face to disappear, "Go ahead, reminisce about how you killed her".

Elena and Stefan walked away from Damon, while Aria stayed, wanting to get some answers from him.

***

Aria and Damon entered the Salvatore boarding house.

"Damon come on, tell me the truth" Aria said, following Damon, "I know you're hiding something, you didn't kill Isobel did you? Something else happened that night".

"Why are you so adamant on believing that I didn't kill Elena's mother?" Damon snapped.

"I don't know Damon" Aria snapped back, "But I just know you're hiding something, something doesn't add up here, if you killed Isobel then where's her body, just please tell me, stop pretending to be the bad guy".

"Whose pretending?".

"You are" Aria snapped, "You're not bad Damon, I've seen the good in you".

"You're delusional" Damon said.

"Am I?" Aria asked, "Or are you to lying to not only me but also yourself and everyone around you?".

Damon and Aria glared at each other, both refusing to back down until they have proved their respective points.

Suddenly, something behind Aria caught Damon's eye, "Are you really this stupid?".

Aria turned around to see Alaric standing behind her with a stake in his hand.

"Whoa hold up" Aria said, standing between Damon and Alaric, "Mr. Saltzman, you don't want to do this, trust me when I say this, just walk away and we will all be fine".

"I can't walk away Aria" Alaric said, lunging towards Damon to attack him.

"Guess so" Damon said, very easily shoving Alaric away from him and to the ground.

"Damon stop!" Aria yelled, running over to Alaric and helping him stand up.

"You gonna put down the stake?" Damon ask Alaric, but he ignored him, "Wow, that's courage".

"Where's Isobel?" Alaric asked, "What have you done to my wife?".

Damon slowly walked over to Alaric and Aria, "Want me to tell you I killed her? Will that make you happy? Cause I think you know what happened".

"I saw you feeding on her".

"Yeah, I did, and I wasn't lying" Damon said, "She was delicious".

"Son of a--" Alaric lunged at Damon, but he easily dodged him and once again pushed him to the floor.

"Guys stop!" Aria yelled, but both the men ignored her.

"Oh, come on, what do you think happened?" Damon asked, "Not an inkling? Never considered the possibility?".

"Oh my god" Aria whispered, finally realising what Damon did to Isobel, "You turned her".

"Correct Ria" Damon said smirking, "I turned her".

"Why?" Alaric asked.

"She came to me" Damon said, "All pathetic, looking for vampires, but there was something about her, something I liked, something special".

"You turned her because you liked her?".

"No, I slept with her because I liked her, I turned her because she begged me to" Damon said, "But you knew that too, didn't you? I guess she wasn't happy at home, wasn't happy with life in general, wasn't happy with you".

"Damon enough!" Aria yelled, not wanting Alaric to suffer anymore then he already was.

"I'm just stating the truth Aria" Damon said.

Alaric got up and lunged at Damon with the stake, but Damon quickly caught him and stabbed Alaric in the chest with his own stake, then threw him to the floor.

"No!" Aria yelled, looking at the scene infront of her in shock.

"This is a shame" Damon said, "We're kindred spirits, abandoned by the women we love".

"Natalie never abandoned you, you dickhead!" Aria yelled, kneeling infront of Alaric, and placing her hands on top of his wound, hoping to slow down the bleeding, ignoring the urge to vomit seeing the amount of blood Alaric was losing.

"Sounds like I got a lung" Damon observed, "Which means I get to sit here and watch you die".

"No, no, no" Aria whispered, "Come on Mr. Saltzman, stay with me".

"I guess now you know Aria" Damon said, "I'm full of evilness".

Aria glared at Damon, "Is that why you did this?" Aria snapped, "To prove to me how evil you are, well congratulations, I believe you".

Aria looked down at Alaric, who was in immense pain, Aria remembered a spell Grams had taught her, a spell in which she could take the pain away from people who were hurting, Aria put her hands back on Alaric's wound, she closed her eyes and concentrated, while Damon looked on, the look of regret on his face missed by Aria.

After a while, Alaric gasped, no longer feeling pain, but still dying.

"I'm so sorry" Aria whispered, tears streaming down her face, feeling guilty for not being able to help Alaric.

***

Stefan entered the living room to see Aria kneeling by a now dead Alaric Saltzman, while Damon sat on a nearby couch drinking his bourbon.

"What happened?" Stefan asked, running over to Aria, who was now looking down at her bloody hands, "What did you do?".

"Do what? He attacked me" Damon defended.

"Damon".

"All I did was tell him the truth" Damon defended, "His wife didn't want him anymore, not my fault he couldn't handle it".

"Like you've been handling Katherine and Natalie?" Stefan snapped.

"I'm handling it fine".

"No you're not" Aria said, glaring at Damon, "You're not handling it fine, you're spiraling Damon, and instead of letting the people who care about you help you, you're pushing them away, that's not handling it!".

"I never told you to care for me Aria" Damon snapped, "I don't need anyone's care".

"Trust me, I know that now" Aria said, looking at Damon with teary eyes. "I was stupid, I was stupid thinking you were actually one of the good guys, thanks for opening my eyes".

Damon gave Aria a forced smile, "Glad we're on the same page now" Damon said, he then turned to Stefan, "I assume you'll take care of this?".

After Damon left, Stefan turned to Aria, "You okay?".

"I fought with everyone for him, I fought with Elena for him, I thought he was just misunderstood, I thought there was something good in him Stefan, I thought I saw the good in him, but guess I was wrong" Aria cried, "You didn't see the way he killed Alaric, the way he taunted him about his wife, it was so cold, it was nothing like the Damon I had known, it was like he was a complete different person, a person I didn't know, a person I didn't want to know".

Stefan side hugged Aria in an attempt to comfort, "It's this whole situation with Katherine, it's messed with his head, I don't think even he knows what he's doing".

"I tried to help him, but he pushed me away" Aria said, "He wants me to stay away then that's what I'm going to do, I'm going to stay away from him and leave him alone with his evilness, I no longer care what happens to Damon Salvatore".

Before Stefan could say anything else, Alaric woke up with a gasp, shocking both Stefan and Aria.

"What the hell" a shocked Aria whispered.

"What happened? What's going on?" Alaric asked confused.

"You were just, did Damon turn you?" Stefan asked, checking Alaric's eyes.

"No" Aria protested, "He literally died infront of me, Damon never gave him his blood".

"I went for him, and then he, uh--he stabbed me" Alaric said.

"No, you must have vampire blood in your system" Stefan stated, not knowing how else will Alaric come back to life.

"Stefan trust me, there's no way he had vampire blood in his system" Aria said.

"Maybe somebody slipped it to him" Stefan suggested.

"No, it's, it's something else" Alaric said.

"What else?" Aria asked.

Alaric looked down at the big blue ring on his finger, "Isobel" he remembered, before turning to the vampire and witch infront of him, "This ring protected me".

Stefan shook his head, "That's impossible".

"Not if it's spelled by a witch" Aria said, making Alaric and Stefan look at her, all three wondering what was this new mystery.

***

Presenting 1x15 of Cold Hearted

How was the chapter?

Thought's on Aria's reaction to Gram's death?

Thoughts on Aria deciding to visit Trudie along with Elena?

Thoughts on Aria believing that Damon was hiding something about Isobel's death?

Thoughts on Aria deciding to give up on Damon after he killed Alaric?

Published: 15th October 2020
Edited: 30th August 2024