07. My Brother's Keeper

"Stefan and Elena broke up?" Aria asked shocked, as her, Rebekah and Caroline arranged the flowers for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant.

"Yeap" Caroline replied.

"And how did you found that out?" Rebekah asked.

"She's Caroline Forbes, she knows about all the gossip in Mystic Falls" Aria replied.

"Right, how could I forget" Rebekah teased.

"You guys don't think, now that her and Stefan are broken up, Elena's going to try and get with Damon, right?" Aria asked, slightly concerned.

"Knowing her personality, I wouldn't be surprised" Rebekah replied.

"Yeah, if I was you, I'd keep Damon away from her, she might try and do a brother swap" Caroline said.

"I'll murder her" Aria said, glaring across the yard where Elena was.

"We will help" Rebekah assured.

"Of course you both will, it's your job to have my back" Aria teased, wanting to change the subject.

"And we will do our job till the day we die, scouts honour" Caroline said, making her two best friends laugh.

"Aria!" Professor Shane called out, walking over to the three girls.

"Oh kill me now" Aria mumbled.

"I'm a little lost, I'm here to interview contestants" Shane said, "In spite of being absurdly unqualified, I'm awarding a scholarship, so can you please show me the way Aria?".

"Um, well you see--".

"Actually she can't" Rebekah said, jumping into her friends defense, seeing how uncomfortable she looked, "She's really busy, we have a billion more flowers we have to organise".

"The interviews are happening inside the parlor" Caroline informed.

"Right in here?" Shane asked.

"Mhmm" Caroline replied, sending Shane a fake smile.

"Alright, I'll just follow the scent of hairspray and world domination" Shane said, walking away.

"Thanks for helping me guys, I kind of froze" Aria said, grateful to her best friends.

"Is he the creepy professor who told you how to break the hunter's curse?" Rebekah asked, Aria nodded.

"He also knows about my doppelganger, and according to him, her story is repeating itself through me" Aria informed.

"Isn't it weird that he seems to know everything?" Caroline asked.

"It's more creepy then weird" Aria said, "Damon and Kol don't trust him, they are planning to confront him at the event".

"God help him from Damon and Kol" Rebekah said, making Caroline and Aria laugh.

"Yeah, those two together are a nightmare" Caroline said.

"Agreed" Aria said smiling.

***

"So you and April?" Kol teased Jeremy, while both of them unloaded the truck.

"Shut up Kol" Jeremy said, shaking his head at the Original.

"She asked you to be her escort, and you agreed with a huge smile on your face" Kol mocked, "Does Jer Bear have a little crush?".

"You are so annoying, has anyone ever told you that?" Jeremy asked.

"You tell me that, everyday" Kol replied, "Tell me something, do you even know the weird dance they do?".

"Of course I do" Jeremy replied, "When Elena and Aria participated in this, I had to dance with Elena cause Stefan ditched her, and I also went to practice with April".

"Ooo, April and Jeremy, in each others arms, while gazing into each others eyes, how romantic" Kol teased.

"I wish I had something to hit you with" Jeremy mumbled, making Kol laugh.

"You love me, whether you admit it or not" Kol said, going to take the keg out.

"Wait" Jeremy said, stopping Kol, "You wanna see something cool?", Jeremy climbed on the truck, and easily held a keg in each of his hand, a keg that normal humans had trouble carrying with two hands.

"Well that's worrying" Kol said, looking at Jeremy in worry, "You have super strength now?".

Jeremy shrugged, "Ever since I was awoken as a hunter, I've had all this energy" he explained, "Like, all the time".

"Being a hunter means wanting to kill vampires, you know the ones your always surrounded by" Kol reminded, "You need to be really careful Jeremy, what if you turn into Connor, what if you hurt Ri?".

"Hey, I would never hurt my best friend" Jeremy assured.

"Let's hope so" Kol said.

"I'll be fine" Jeremy said, "We all will".

***

"Stop, stop" Caroline ordered, seeing three girls carrying flowers through the front door, "Those flowers go in the back as indicated by the floral chart that you guys had plenty of time to memorize", the girls nodded and walked away, "Yeah, thank you".

"Now, how did I know I'd find you at the helm of this ship?" Klaus asked, walking over to Caroline.

"Klaus" Caroline whispered, a smile forming on her face.

"I was wondering what time I should pick you up tomorrow" Klaus asked.

"You know, you could of just texted me or even called, you didn't have to come all the way here to ask that" Caroline replied.

"I wanted to see you" Klaus informed, "In person".

Caroline smiled, "You Mikaelson's really know how to charm a women, don't you?".

"Yes we do" Klaus replied.

"Pick me up from my house at 2?" Caroline asked.

"I'll be there at one thirty" Klaus said.

Caroline chuckled, "Aren't you eager".

"You have no idea" Klaus said, he stepped closer and placed a kiss on Caroline's cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow Caroline".

"See you tomorrow Klaus" Caroline said, a huge smile on her face.

***

"You woke up with a knife in your hand?" Kol asked, sitting on Jeremy's bed at Ric's apartment, in his black tux, waiting for the youngest Gilbert to get ready, "It's that bloody hunter's mark, it's screwing with you mate".

"What if I'm turning into Alaric?" Jeremy asked, "I probably died too many times with this ring on my finger and I'm developing an alter ego like he did".

"Look what I found" Kol said, reading one of Shane's files that he gave to Aria about the hunter's mark, "Newly awakened hunters may not be fully conscious of their actions, their subconscious pushes through until the urge becomes a basic instinct", Kol stood up, "You don't have a alter ego Jeremy, the hunter in you is slowly coming out, you need to be extra careful around Ri, Caroline and Damon, before you accidentally end up killing them".

Suddenly Jeremy's phone beeped, it was a text from Stefan.

"Stefan just texted me" Jeremy revealed, confusing Kol.

"Why the hell is he messaging you?" Kol asked.

"I don't know" Jeremy replied, "He wants to meet at the Lockwood cellar, alone".

"You can't go Jeremy, you have to be with April, you promised her" Kol reminded.

"You go, tell April I'll be there soon" Jeremy said.

"Jeremy listen--".

"Kol, Stefan and Elena have been too quiet, they are obviously planning something, and we need to find out what before they hurt one of us" Jeremy said.

"Fine, but I'm coming with you" Kol said.

"No" Jeremy said, "You need to get to the pageant, in case I don't make it, you need to be April's escort".

"Ri will kill me when she finds out I let you go alone to meet Stefan" Kol said.

"Your an Original, you can't die" Jeremy reminded.

"And she's a powerful tribrid, I would not be surprise if she somehow manages to kill me" Kol retorted.

"Kol" Jeremy warned.

Kol groaned, "Fine, I'll go, but you need to keep texting me, if I don't get a text from you every ten minutes I'm telling Ri and then your going to have to deal with her anger all by yourself".

"Fine Mom" Jeremy teased, "I'll text you, now can I go?".

"You can, but know, I'm still not happy with this plan" Kol replied.

Jeremy chuckled at Kol, then walked out the door, wondering what Stefan wanted now.

***

Aria's look for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant ^

"Blue" Rebekah and Caroline said simultaneously, helping April choose her dress.

"Really?" April asked, a bit unsure, "The blue seems a little safe".

"Exactly, so I say go with the red, it's really hot" Aria said.

"I say blue" Elena said, entering the room, "Safe is good when it comes to the judges".

"And who asked you again?" Rebekah snapped.

"Exactly, why the hell are you here Elena?" Caroline asked, glaring at the doppelganger.

"Well I came to help my brother's date" Elena replied.

"The same brother who disowned you?" Rebekah taunted, making Elena's smile fall.

"I don't need your help Elena" April said, "Caroline, Rebekah and Aria are helping me".

"My vote is still red, sometimes you need to take a risk" Aria said, completely ignoring Elena's presence.

"I agree with Ria" Damon said, standing at the doorway, in his tux, making both Aria and Elena's breath hitch.

"Get out, lurker" Caroline said, throwing a headband at Damon's face, making Rebekah, Aria and April chuckle, while Elena frowned.

"Ouch" Damon said sarcastically, "Where's Professor Shane?".

"You going to talk to him now?" Aria asked, Damon nodded.

"Check the judges table" Caroline replied.

Damon nodded, he then turned to April, "Red one, definitely".

Rebekah pretend coughed, "Whipped".

"Shut it" Aria said, playfully pushing Rebekah.

"We've already agreed that the red one's a little bit too showy" Caroline argued.

"It's a pageant, it's the whole point" Damon argued back.

"Their arguments always amuse me so much" Rebekah whispered to Aria.

"You and me both sister" Aria whispered.

"Did you win Miss Mystic last year?" Caroline asked, "No, I don't think you did".

"Don't care" Damon said, "Ria wore red and she looked hot".

"Nobody cares what you think" Caroline snapped.

"I care" April and Aria said simultaneously.

Caroline glared at the two girls and mouthed traitors.

"See?" Damon said, "April and Ria care, red right, Ria?".

"I've been saying that for so long" Aria said, a smile on her face.

"The red is pretty" Elena interjected, making the other three girls frown, all wondering why did her opinion change so quickly.

Damon gave Elena an awkward nod, he didn't except her to agree with him, "Ria, see you downstairs?".

"Of course" Aria replied.

"Okay, why have you started to agree with everything Damon says?" Caroline asked Elena, after Damon walked away.

"I don't owe you any explanation Caroline" Elena snapped, walking out the room.

"That bitch" Caroline snapped.

"Just ignore her Care, we need to help April get ready before they call her name" Aria said, but even she couldn't ignore the pit in her stomach, that something was about to go wrong.

***

Damon walked down the stairs, when Elena stopped him.

"Damon" Elena called out.

Damon mentally groaned, he really didn't want to deal with Elena right now, "How can I help you Elena?".

Elena took a deep breath, "We need to talk".

"Can it wait?" Damon asked, "I've got a creepy professor to interrogate".

"Me and Stefan broke up" Elena said.

"Sorry?" Damon offered, not knowing what else to say, he didn't even know why Elena was telling him this.

"Did Stefan tell you why we broke up?" Elena asked, walking down the stairs and stopping right infront of Damon.

"No" Damon replied, "If you didn't know, me and Stefan really aren't on speaking terms".

"So you don't know why?" Elena asked.

"Nope, to be honest, I don't care" Damon replied.

"It was you Damon" Elena revealed.

"Excuse me?" Damon asked shocked.

"Me and Stefan broke up, because I'm in love with you, and Stefan still loves Aria" Elena replied.

"That asshole, his still not over my girl?!" Damon asked, anger shown clearly in his eyes.

Elena frowned, this was not the reaction she was excepting, she went to speak again, but Kol walked over to them.

"Salvatore" Kol said, "Here I bought you a drink".

Damon took the glass of champagne from Kol and downed it in one go.

"Okay then" Kol said, amused, "Anyways, we need to go and find Professor Shane".

Damon nodded, "Let's go".

"Damon--".

"Not now Elena, I've got better things to do then talk to you about how my brother's in love with my girlfriend" Damon snapped, not even acknowledging the fact Elena's in love with him.

"You are so screwed" Kol whispered, as he and Damon walked away from Elena.

"You heard?" Damon asked.

"Everything" Kol replied.

Damon groaned, "Great, just what I needed".

Kol chuckled, "Don't worry, I know you're having  rough day today, I'll tease you tomorrow".

"Oh you are so thoughtful" Damon said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it" Kol joked.

***

"Professor Shane" Kol said, walking over to the Professor with Damon, "Just the guy we wanted to see".

"Kol Mikaelson and Damon Salvatore" Shane greeted.

"You know me?" Damon asked, as long as he remembered, his never had a one on one conversation with the Professor.

"Of course I know you" Shane replied, "You're Aria's boyfriend", both Kol and Damon didn't like how much interest Shane was showing in Aria, "Now, what can I help you both gentlemans with?".

"We need another hunter" Kol replied.

"Hunter?" Shane asked, Damon and Kol nodded, "With a capital H? Why?".

"Same reason anyone needs a hunter, loneliness, drinking buddy, forth for golf" Damon replied.

"Bonnie told me you guys already had a potential" Shane informed.

"Of course she did" Kol mumbled, "You and Bonnie seem close".

"She's my student" Shane defended.

"I believe you" Kol said sarcastically.

"Also the potential ended up being a potential problem" Damon said.

"There's nothing I can do to help you both" Shane told the vampires.

Damon and Kol exchanged a look, then both of them stood infront Shane, blocking his path, "Well, why don't you help us with this?" Damon asked.

"Why the bloody hell are you here?" Kol asked.

"What's in your little lesson plan there, professor?" Damon asked.

"You both think too highly of me" Shane replied, "I'm gonna go find the other judges".

"No pity votes for April Young, okay?" Damon said.

"Yeah, just cause her dad blew up a dozen people doesn't mean she deserves the crown" Kol mocked.

"But Kol, remember, the Professor knew him" Damon said, "Right Professor?".

"Oh that's right, you two had a pretty impressive phone bill" Kol taunted.

Both Kol and Damon had checked Pastor Young's phone records, and they realised Pastor Young and Professor Shane have been talking every month, and the day the Pastor blew up the council, Shane had talked to him twelve times.

"If you both want to know something about me, just ask" Shane said.

"Okay" Damon said, "How did you convince the pastor to kill all those people?".

"And why are you so interested in Aria Connor?" Kol asked.

"First of all, did you just accuse me of mass murder in the middle of a high school pageant?" Shane asked, "And second of all, Aria Connor is the doppelganger of Adriana Amulet, you should wonder whose not interested in that girl and her powers".

Shane walked away from the two vampires, leaving them very uneasy.

***

"Hey, why am I bussing your tables?" Caroline snapped at the waiter, placing two empty champagne glasses on his tray, "I said no empty glasses", Caroline walked over to orchestra band, "Would you guys pick up the tempo? This is a pageant, not a funeral".

"And how am I doing?" Klaus asked, walking over to Caroline.

"You're, perfect" Caroline said, a small smile on her face.

***

"Hi, everyone, I'm Caroline Forbes" Caroline said into the microphone, "As the reigning Miss Mystic Falls it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic Court".

"Hey" Aria said, walking over to Damon.

"Finally" Damon said, pulling Aria into a kiss, "I've been waiting for you for so long".

Aria smiled, "Well I'm here now".

Damon and Aria laced their fingers together and listened to Caroline's speech, unaware of Elena's gaze on them.

"We begin the procession with Valerie Fell, accompanied by Dylan Clark" Caroline announced, "Next we have Amber Wolverton, accompanied by Hector Linsey".

"Ri, have you seen Jeremy?" Kol asked, walking over to Damon and Aria.

"Isn't he with the escorts?" Aria asked, slightly confused.

"Nope" Kol replied, "Rebekah was lining up the escorts and she couldn't find Jeremy anywhere".

"If not here, then where the hell is he?" Aria asked, worried.

"He went to meet Stefan at the Lockwood cellar, but he was supposed to be back by now" Kol replied.

"You let him be alone with my brother?!" Damon snapped.

"Not willingly" Kol snapped back.

"Guys we can't argue right now, Kol go be April's escort, me and Damon will go find Jeremy" Aria said.

"On it" Kol said, running over to April.

"Let's go" Damon said, grabbing Aria's hand and running to find Jeremy.

"And, finally, we have a last minute entry, April Young accompanied by Jeremy Gilbert" Caroline announced.

April looked around but frowned when she saw no sign of Jeremy, she breathed a sigh of relief when Kol walked over to her and offered her his arm.

"Where's Jeremy?" April asked.

"Running late" Kol replied, "Till he comes your stuck with me".

"I guess you'll do, for now" April joked, making Kol chuckle.

"Do you even know this dance?" April asked, as her and Kol stopped at the dance floor, facing each other.

"Nope" Kol replied, "That's why your leading".

April laughed but nonetheless helped Kol through the dance.

***

"It's weird, Elena hated Damon but recently, since she turned into a vampire, Elena has been taking Damon's side on everything, and I know Aria won't say it out loud but she's getting worried as well" Caroline ranted to Klaus, as they walked along the water.

"So being a vampire's changed her" Klaus said.

"But being a vampire only amplifies who you already are, doesn't turn you into a completely different person" Caroline pointed out.

"It's very peculiar" Klaus said, smirking.

"What's that look for?" Caroline asked.

"It'll all make sense eventually" Klaus assured.

"Whatever" Caroline said, sitting on the bench, while Klaus opened up a champagne bottle, "Would you ever take it? Would you ever take the cure?".

"Now why would I want to cure myself of being the most powerful creature on the planet?" Klaus asked.

"After Aria" Caroline reminded.

"After Ri" Klaus repeated.

"So there's not one single moment in your whole life that you wanted to be human?" Caroline asked.

Klaus shrugged, "How about you?".

"I haven't decided yet" Caroline admitted.

"Life used to be a lot easier" Klaus pointed out, standing up and pulling out a paper from his jacket pocket, "Don't you miss the days of being, chair of the Mystic Falls Beautification Committee, and the director of the Policeman's Yearly Raffle?".

Caroline looked at Klaus in shock, "Is that my Miss Mystic application? Where did you get that?!".

Klaus chuckled, "When I'm chosen, I intend to redefine excellence" He read, "Now, I'm really enjoying your use of when here, it's very confident, and above all, I promise to aspire, inspire and perspire, obviously we found a shortage of words ending in spire".

"Yeah, it's very funny, it's hilarious, just--", Caroline tried getting the paper off of Klaus, but he put it behind him, he grabbed Caroline's wrist and pulled her against him.

For a moment, Klaus and Caroline just stared at each other, Klaus then smashed his lips on Caroline's, who responded with equal passion.

"Wow" Caroline whispered after they broke apart, slightly out of breath.

"Wow, indeed love" Klaus whispered, a huge smile on his face.

***

"Oh, it's you two again" Shane said, seeing Kol and Damon enter the room, "I must be the least intimidating mass murderer ever".

"Well, you never gave us a name, and it's kind of urgent" Damon said, Kol having told him about Jeremy's inner hunter coming out slowly.

"Listen, there is no other name" Shane snapped, "Look at any given moment, there are five hunters in existence, most of them have no idea who they are or what their purpose is, that means finding more than one in a lifetime is next to impossible", Shane went to walk away, when both Kol and Damon used their vampire speed and blocked his way, making him chuckle, "Subtle".

"Like you didn't already know" Damon snapped.

"You knew about Ri, which means you know about us" Kol said, "That's why you were shocked when I said my last name".

"You have five seconds to give us another name or you die" Damon threatened.

"Since it's unwise for a vampire to seek out a hunter, it means both of you are interest in the mark" Shane realised, "That's probably because of where it leads, but here's the thing, even if you complete the mark and get the map the thing you're looking for is sealed with a spell that only a certain kind of witch can perform".

"What kind of witch?" Kol asked.

"Come on guys" Shane said, but Kol held his hand and slowly started twisting it.

"You have five seconds before I rip your arm out" Kol threatened.

"I'll speak, because he will do it" Damon said, "What kind of witch?".

"You both are big boys, you can figure this one out" Shane taunted, "Why am I suddenly so interested in Aria Connor?".

"A Connor witch" Damon realised.

"If Ri's the answer, why have you been working with the Bennett witch?" Kol asked.

"She's my backup" Shane replied, "Having Aria on my side was not possible, she made the pretty clear at the school, so I got a Bennett witch on my side, would she able to do the spell? Probably not, but I still like having my options open".

Kol exchanged a look with Damon, both the vampires were extremely annoyed with the Professor, they knew they couldn't kill him because he still had information they needed, but they could still hurt him, so Kol slammed Shane's head on the piano behind them, rendering him unconscious.

"That felt good" Kol commented.

***

"And now the moment you've been waiting for" Carol Lockwood said into the microphone, "Caroline, would you do the honors?".

Caroline walked over to the microphone, while Rebekah and a worried Aria stood behind her with the crown and stash, Aria was worried because she still had no idea where Jeremy was.

"This year's Miss Mystic Falls is", Caroline opened her envelope, "April Young".

Aria gave April a huge smile, while Caroline put the crown on her and Rebekah helped with the stash.

Aria's eyes wondered the crowd, she froze seeing Elena follow Jeremy up the stairs, Aria felt like something was extremely wrong when she saw the murderous look on Jeremy's face.

***

"Hey, where have you been?" Elena asked, entering the room she saw Jeremy go into, she frowned seeing a stake in his hand, "What are you doing with that?", Jeremy slowly stood up, "Put it down".

"Connor was right" Jeremy said, "All I can think about is killing vampires".

"You're nothing like Connor" Elena said.

"I want to believe that" Jeremy said, "And I know I don't want to hurt Aria, but you, your a different case, everything inside of me is telling me to drive this stake through your heart".

Elena looked at Jeremy, in slight fear, "Why would you say that? It's me, Jeremy".

"Exactly Elena, it's you" Jeremy snapped, "A vampire".

"Yeah, but I'm also your sister" Elena defended, she stepped forward and grabbed Jeremy's hand, "Jer, I would never do anything to hurt you", suddenly Elena froze when she saw the blood on Jeremy's hand, causing the veins on her face to appear.

"No" Jeremy said, shaking his head.

"Get it away from me" Elena pleaded.

Jeremy ran forward to stake Elena, but Elena held his hand and pushed him onto the floor.

"Jer? Jer, hey" Elena called out, running to her brother, "Jer, wake up, Jer, please, wake up", suddenly, Jeremy stuck a mini stake into Elena's neck, he stood up and went to stake her, when Aria speeded over to him and held his hand.

"Jeremy, stop!" Aria yelled, pushing Jeremy away from Elena and standing between the two siblings.

"Move out of my way Aria, I need to kill her" Jeremy snapped, walking towards a struggling Elena, but Aria held his arms, trying her best to ignore the blood on his hand.

"Jeremy listen to me, please listen to me" Aria pleaded, "This isn't you Jer, it's the mark speaking, no matter how much you hate Elena, my best friend will never resort to murder, your not a murderer Jeremy, none of us are".

"But she is!" Jeremy yelled, "She killed Finn, your brother".

"I know that!" Aria yelled, "I know that Jeremy, but we can't resort to her level, we are not like her, we are not monsters, please Jeremy listen to me, I'm telling you as your best friend, you don't want your own sisters blood on your hands, because when get out of this hunter phase the fact that you killed your sister will haunt you for the rest of your life".

Jeremy stared at Aria, and after a moment dropped the stake on the ground and fell to the ground, "What's happening to me Aria?".

Aria kneeled infront of Jeremy and pulled him into a hug, "I don't know Jer, I wish did, but I promise I will fix this, your best friend won't let anything happen to you".

Jeremy didn't say anything, just hugged Aria tightly, her presence somehow helped keep his hunter side in control.

While the two best friends were hugging, they didn't notice the three vampires on the door, Stefan ran over to Elena, who was shocked seeing how quickly Aria calmed Jeremy down, while Kol and Damon wondered, why didn't Jeremy attack Aria?

***

Klaus and Caroline proceeded to walk back to the party, hand in hand.

"I never answered your question if I'd ever though about being human" Klaus said, "Once I was on a trek in the Andes and a hummingbird flew up to me, it just hovered there staring at me, it's tiny heart was pattering like a machine gun, and I thought, what a thing, you know to have to work that hard every day just to stay alive, to be constantly on the verge of death, and how satisfying every day must be that it survived, and that was the only time I thought about being human".

Caroline gave Klaus a small smile, "Turns out even evil people have a heart".

Klaus chuckled, "Only when it comes to selective people".

"Well, I really appericate you sharing that story with me" Caroline said.

"Your the first person I ever told that story to" Klaus admitted.

"I promise to keep your secret" Caroline said.

"I know" Klaus said.

***

"You asshole!" Aria yelled, walking over to Stefan, who was tending to Elena.

"Aria--".

"No!" Aria yelled, waving her head and giving Stefan an aneurysm, luckily they were at the front of the Lockwood manor, where no humans were.

"Aria, stop!" Elena yelled.

"You tell you boyfriend to stop Elena!" Aria snapped, finally stopping her magic, "His being going around making vampires, and forcing Jeremy to kill them, and whenever Jeremy kills a vampire his urge to kill keeps getting stronger, your turning him into something he isn't Stefan!".

"We need the map to get the cure" Stefan defended.

"You know" Aria realised.

"About the cure to vampirisim?" Elena asked, "Yes we do, no thanks to you".

"Were you ever going to tell us?" Stefan asked.

"No!" Aria yelled, "Screw both of you! You don't deserve to be human, after everything you've put me through do you actually think I owe you guys anything, that Jeremy owes you anything?! And get one thing straight both of you, my number priority is Jeremy, I will kill every vampire you send his way myself, I am not letting him become something his not, I am not letting any of you strip Jeremy of his humanity".

"He's the only way to fix all this" Stefan snapped, "To fix you and Elena!".

"Fix me?" Aria asked shocked, "I don't need fixing Stefan, I am completely fine with the way I am, and if you can't accept me like this, then it's your lose because I don't care, the people who love me, the guy who I love, care and love me the same way they did when I was human, if somewhere in that cold dead heart of yours you cared of me, you would have accepted me, for who I am, not for who I was".

"Aria--".

"I don't want to hear it" Aria snapped, "Just stay away from me and Jeremy".

After saying everything she needed to say, Aria turned around to leave, she smiled when she saw Damon standing behind her, without wasting any time Aria ran into his arms, really needing his assurance after Stefan's words.

"Vampire or human, I will always love you the same" Damon whispered, causing the small doubt in Aria's heart to immediately disappear.

***

Kol, Caroline, Aria and Rebekah sat in the Forbes living room, all four of them drinking hot chocolate.

"Where's Jeremy?" Rebekah asked.

"Sleeping in mine and Caroline's room" Aria replied, "Till we figure out everything, his going to stay here with Mom, she's human, he won't try to kill her".

"Where are you two going to stay?" Rebekah asked.

"At Ric's apartment" Caroline replied.

"You know Ri, you could probably stay here with Jeremy" Kol said, "If today has proved anything is that Jeremy won't attack you, instead your the key to his humanity".

"I can't, Mom doesn't want to take the chance, but she promised to keep me updated" Aria informed.

"Did we ever figure out why you were able to get him out of killer mode?" Rebekah asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Nope" Aria replied, "And right now, I don't care, I'm too tired to think".

"Oh, my god!" Caroline yelled, standing up in excitement, "I figured it out, I bloody figured it out!".

"Figured what out exactly?" Kol asked.

"Klaus said something about Elena and it's been bothering me ever since, and now I've finally figured it out!" Caroline said excitedly.

"Are you going to tell us what you figured out?" Rebekah asked, "Or do you want us to play the guessing game".

"I was trying to understand why Klaus was so intrigued by Damon and Elena" Caroline said, "He said I'd figure it out, this is what he was talking about".

"Well cut the suspense and spill" Aria demanded.

"Think guys" Caroline urged, "Every time Elena's had a problem, Damon's been the magic solution, when Elena and Aria started feeding Damon said that Aria can only drink from the vein, but Elena heard that, and suddenly she drink only from the vein, and when she tried to drink from animals?s".

"Apparently she couldn't keep it down" Aria replied, slowly realising where Caroline was taking this.

"And blood bags?" Caroline asked.

"Same thing" Rebekah replied.

"Name one vampire in the history vampires who couldn't drink blood from a blood bag?" Caroline asked, "Damon said newbie vampires couldn't, so she couldn't, Damon likes the red dress, Elena likes the red dress".

"Damon says don't kill Connor, Elena says don't kill Connor" Rebekah realised.

"Damon then says kill Connor, so she kills Connor" Aria continued.

"What if it's possible?" Caroline asked, "Damon's blood made her a vampire, right? It's rare, but it happens, what if this is one of those times? What if this is really happening?".

"Ladies, looks like things just got more interesting" Kol said, a smirk on his face, "Seems like the doppelganger is sired to good old Damon Salvatore".

"Kol stop enjoying this so much and instead get your ass up" Aria said, quickly standing up.

"What, why?" Kol asked confused.

"We need to get to Damon and tell him this" Aria replied.

"Now?" Kol asked.

"Now Kol!" Aria yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'm up, let's go" Kol said, as he and Aria ran out the Forbes household.

***

Aria and Kol ran into the boarding house, Damon had come here to collect some of his things, running into the living room both the vampires froze, there standing in front of the fireplace was Damon and Elena, kissing.

"Damon?" Aria whispered shocked, tears welling in her eyes.

Hearing Aria's voice, Damon pushed Elena away from him, he looked towards Aria in shock, his face full of guilt.

"Ria it's not--".

"I don't want to hear it" Aria snapped, running out the door.

"Ria!" Damon yelled, trying to run after Aria but Elena stopped him.

"Let her go Damon" Elena said.

"Shut up Elena!" Damon yelled.

"Leave" Kol ordered Elena.

"I'm not leaving" Elena snapped.

"Leave in the next five seconds or your heart and body will be on two separate places of this house" Kol said, glaring at the doppelganger.

Elena looked at Kol in uncertainty, the look he gave her, she knew he was completely serious, so after sparing Damon one last glance, she went out the same door Aria had ran out of.

"Have you completely lost your mind Damon?!" Kol asked, "What were you thinking?!".

"I screwed up Kol" Damon whispered, staring at the fire, "I screwed up badly".

***

Presenting 4x07 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Kol teasing Jeremy about April?

Thoughts on Shane revealing to Kol and Damon that a Connor witch is needed to reach the cure?

Thoughts on Klaus and Caroline's first kiss?

Thoughts on Aria and Kol seeing Damon and Elena kiss? All I'm going to say is that there's more to the story 🙈