06. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get

After reuniting with Damon and Kol, Caroline immediately called Klaus and told him to meet her at the crypt.

"Caroline, why did you--?", Klaus entered the Salvatore crypt, confused as to why Caroline called him here, entering the crypt, he was shocked seeing Damon and Kol standing infront of him.

"Hey, Nik" Kol greeted.

"Kol?" Klaus asked shocked, not sure if he was seeing things or not.

"The one and only" Kol replied.

Klaus didn't say anything just stepped forward and hugged his brother.

Kol chuckled, but nonetheless hugged his brother back, "Glad to know that I was missed".

Klaus broke the hug and looked at Kol and Damon, "This is real, right?" he asked.

"It's very real" Caroline assured.

"You didn't think we were, gone, gone, huh?" Damon asked.

Klaus chuckled, "I knew you two were too stubborn to just die" he said, hugging Damon.

***

"What do you mean Damon's back?" Aria asked, as her and Rebekah stood in the dorm room, while the triplets played in their playmats.

"I honestly can't tell you anything, all Caroline told me was that Damon and Kol are back" Rebekah replied.

Aria looked at Rebekah in shock, "Kol's back as well?" she asked.

Rebekah nodded, a huge smile on her face, "They both are back" she said.

"Where exactly are they back from?" Aria asked.

***

"So you both were in the 1994 version of Mystic Falls?" Klaus asked.

"I know, if Amelia Connor and Sheila Bennett were gonna get together and create some space-time purgatory you think they'd pick a better year than then one when Kurt Cobain killed himself" Damon said, "The whole thing was just very depressing".

"So you actually saw her?" Caroline asked, "You saw Amelia mom?".

Kol nodded, "Yeah, her and Sheila Bennett made sure me and Damon didn't disappear once the other side was gone".

"So how exactly did you two get back?" Klaus asked, curious.

"Kai helped us" Kol replied.

"Whose Kai?" Caroline asked confused.

"A guy who likes jam" Kol replied, confusing the other two vampires.

"What?" Klaus asked.

"Look, it's a long story, we came here with a big flash of light, two decades worth of jet lag" Damon replied, "Kol will explain all of our adventures in that flannel hellscape, but I have some people I have to see".

"Hey!" Kol complained, "I want to meet them to".

"You can meet them later, first I need to see them" Damon said.

"You have two hours before I barge in" Kol said.

"Sounds like a deal" Damon said.

Klaus and Caroline exchanged a look, not knowing how to tell Damon about Aria no longer remembering the love both of them used to share.

***

"I can't see him, Beks" Aria said, pacing back and forth.

"Why not?" Rebekah asked.

"What am I supposed to say to him?" Aria asked, "Hey, I know you love me and we have kids together, but I have no memory of you, welcome back home!".

"Well, get Ric to bring your memories back before you see him" Rebekah replied.

"I tried calling Ric, but he's not answering his phone" Aria snapped, "He just left me a text saying I need to find out why Jo can't be compelled".

Rebekah sighed, "Look Aria, before you took your memories away, you had a feeling that Damon would come back to you, and now he's back, you have to meet him, or the least you can do is let him meet his kids, he deserves to meet them after missing their birth".

Aria looked towards the triplets, who were busy playing with each other, she knew Rebekah was right, it didn't matter if Aria couldn't face Damon because of her guilt, she had no right to stop him from meeting his own children.

***

"She did what?!" Damon asked shocked.

"Ari had Alaric compel away your memories from her mind" Klaus informed.

"Why would she do that?" Kol asked shocked.

"Because losing both you and Damon at the same time was killing her" Caroline said, "She felt alone, and depressed, she lost not only her platonic soulmate, but also her actual soulmate, Damon to see you she resorted to drugs, which started making her violent, she was having trouble functioning and that was the only way she could think to make sure she could become a good mother to her children".

***

"Watch, once you and Damon come face to face, you won't be able to stay away from him" Rebekah said, "Your heart won't let you".

"That's not how it works" Aria said.

"It does when it comes to you and Damon" Rebekah said, "You don't need memories to love him, once you meet him, with or without memories, you are going to fall for Damon, that's just how it's always been when it comes to you two".

***

"I just need to see her, Caroline" Damon said, "Our eyes will meet, fireworks will go off, and the balance of nature will be resorted, she loves me, we are soulmates, our love isn't going to just disappear like that".

***

"He's going to hate me for erasing our love" Aria said.

"Damon will never hate you" Rebekah argued, "If it was up to him, he would kiss the ground you walk on".

"Beks, I removed our love and all our memories together, nothing can make that justifiable" Aria said.

"You were heartbroken" Rebekah said, "Heartbroken people are known to do stupid things".

Aria sighed, "I can't think of this right now" she said, "I have to go to the hospital".

"Why?" Rebekah asked confused.

"I told you, Alaric tried compelling Jo to forget about their date last night, but according to him, it didn't work" Aria replied, "And now he is avoiding her and wants me to find out why she can't be compelled".

"You agreed to this because it will help you avoid Damon" Rebekah realised.

"No, it will give me time to think" Aria retorted, "Now help me carry the triplets in my car so I can drop them off at Nik and Caroline's where Mom is very eagerly waiting for them".

Rebekah sighed, "Fine, but after you find out what Jo is, you are no longer allowed to avoid Damon".

"Yeah, yeah" Aria said, picking Mia up.

***

After dropping the triplets with Liz, Aria came back to the dorm room, having forgotten her phone there.

As Aria grabbed her phone, which was placed on her old bed, there was suddenly a knock on the door, "Rebekah isn't here" she called out, walking over to the door.

As Aria was about to open the door, Damon spoke, "I'm not here to see Rebekah" he said from the other side, "I just--I just wanna talk to you".

For a second Aria froze, she didn't know what to say or do, "Damon?".

Damon closed his eyes and relished in hearing Aria's voice again, something he had craved for the past four months.

"Yeah, it's me, Ria" Damon said, "Look, I know why you did what you did, it's not real, you know what's real? Is the way you felt for me, what I felt for you, what we both felt for each other, it could never be described in words, it was the most beautiful and real thing in this world".

Aria sat on the floor, her back to the door, "I'm sorry" she whispered, "I can tell your hurt, and I'm sorry for hurting you".

A small smile formed on Damon's face, he also sat on the floor, with his back touching the door.

"Do you remember when Katherine killed you?" Damon asked.

"Yeah" Aria replied, "She killed both me and Jeremy me when we were looking for the cure".

"I remember seeing your dead body, I remember carrying you and for the longest time, I refused to believe you were dead" Damon said, "But once the reality finally sunk in, it was the worst feeling in the world, you were gone, leaving nothing but your memories behind, I was lucky that you came back to me in a day, I could not imagine living months without you, so I get why you got Alaric to compel your memories but now I'm back, and I don't plan on leaving you anytime, I just want you, me and our children to be a family".

"Do you--do you want to know their names?" Aria asked, realising Damon knew nothing about his own kids.

"Please" Damon pleaded, "I want to know everything about them".

"Our oldest son, his name is Asher Rivers Salvatore, our second son's name is Alec Zion Salvatore, and the baby of the family, our daughter, her name is Mia Amelia Salvatore" Aria informed.

"You kept their last name the same as mine" Damon realised.

"Well, you are their father" Aria said, "I compelled away the love, but not the fact that you are very much part of the reason as to why those three are in my life".

"What are they like?" Damon asked.

"Well, Mia likes to babble a lot to her brothers, and it seems like those two are the only ones who understand her" Aria said, making Damon laugh, "Alec has a special connection to the night sky, like he would be crying a lot but as soon as you show him the night sky, he will immediately be quiet, Caroline said that he got that from his father, and then there's Asher, probably the best behaved child ever, when all three of them grow up, I can definitely see him being the most mature one".

Damon sighed, "Can I--am I allowed to see them?".

Aria sighed, she had been thinking about this the whole time she was driving to Caroline's, "At 8pm, come to Alaric's apartment, that's where me and the triplets live, you can meet them there".

Damon breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you" he said.

"Anytime" Aria said.

"By any chance, are you going to open this door?" Damon asked, looking at the door, he had a sudden urge to break.

"Damon, everything can't just go back to how it was" Aria whispered.

"Yes it can" Damon said, "Just open the door, Aria, please".

Aria sighed, she stood up and started pacing back and forth, "I'm scared" she admitted.

Damon also stood up and faced the door, "Of me?".

"Of seeing love in your eyes, while mine are just blank" Aria clarified.

"That's not possible" Damon said, "Whenever Aria Connor has looked at Damon Salvatore, it's always been with love, even when I was an idiot, Ria, if you are not going to open the door, then the very least, step aside because I'm gonna kick this door in".

"I can't face you right now, Damon" Aria admitted, "I will see you at 8 tonight, and I promise I won't run then".

Before Damon could say anything, he heard the lock on the door click, Damon slowly opened the door, entering the room, he saw no sign of Aria anywhere, he's eyes then landed on the open window, which he guessed Aria used to leave.

***

"You stupid person!" Caroline yelled into the phone, "Instead of meeting the love of your life, you jumped out the window?".

"It was in the moment" Aria defended, "Plus I did promise to meet him at eight, I won't run then".

"You better not" Caroline said, "Damon has been trapped in that stupid prison world for four months, all he wants to do is have some time with you and his kids, he deserves it Aria".

"I know Care" Aria said, "I just, whenever I think about Damon, I feel so much guilt, and I hate it, I don't even want to know what I will feel when I actually see him".

"Love" Caroline said, "You will feel extreme love when you see him".

"I guess we are going to find out tonight" Aria said, entering the hospital, as soon as she entered the Whitmore hospital, her eyes landed on Jo, who walked over to a table, placing her coffee there, she started looking at a x-ray, "Care, I'll call you later, I'm on a mission".

"Wait--", before Caroline could finish her sentence, Aria hanged up on her, she watched as Jo walked away from the x-ray, forgetting her coffee cup, Aria quickly walked over to the cup, and started smelling it, and realised there was no vervain in the cup, she quickly placed the cup back just as Jo came out of a patient's room.

"Aria, hey" Jo greeted, confused seeing the tribrid, "What are you doing here?".

"Visiting" Aria lied.

"Visiting who?" Jo asked.

"Visiting me" Noah replied, walking over to Aria, shocking her.

"I didn't know you two knew each other" Jo said.

"We met last night" Noah replied, and from his uniform, Aria could tell he was a intern.

"Oh okay, well you guys talk, I'm going to check on the patients" Jo said, walking away from the two vampires.

"You work here?" Aria asked shocked.

"As a intern" Noah replied, "Now what are you doing here Aria? You looked a like deer caught in a headlight once Dr. Laughlin asked who you were visiting here, so clearly that was a lie".

"I'm trying to find what Jo is" Aria replied, walking away from a confused Noah.

"Wait, what?" Noah asked, running after Aria.

***

"Professor Saltzman" Damon greeted as Alaric entered his office, "What, you couldn't compel yourself a PhD?".

"I can't believe you're back" Alaric said, as Damon poured him a drink.

"I am" Damon assured, sliding the bourbon glass over to Alaric.

"So how the hell are you?" Alaric asked, sitting down.

"Well, let's see, Ric, I clawed my way out of some retro pocket universe, only to find that I needed to compel myself a new change of clothes, because this anti-magic hamster ball is keeping me from going home" Damon replied, "And then I find out that you, rather than doing anything about it, decided that it was the best use of your time to compel my beautiful and lovely girlfriend to forget that she ever loved me", Damon let out a sarcastic laugh, "I'm great, Ric, thanks for asking".

"Look, Damon--".

"I know she was a train wreck without me, okay?" Damon interrupted, "But a full mind-erase? Seriously?".

Alaric sighed, "Aria figured if you ever to come back, this will exactly what your reaction be".

"What else were you both excepting from me?" Damon asked.

Alaric rolled his eyes, he stood up and walked over to the bookshelf, he pulled out a envelope that was wedged between two books, "Here" he said, handing Damon the envelope.

"What the hell is this?" Damon asked, looking at the envelope in confusion.

"Aria's letter, to you" Alaric replied.

Damon looked at Alaric in shock, he then took the letter out of the envelope and read Aria's letter.

Dear Damon,

If you're reading this, then it means you are back, and you found out what I did, I need you to know that even without my memories, my heart will always love you, it knows who you are and what you mean to me, I bet seeing you, even without my memories, I was immediately drawn to you.

I'm sorry for taking our memories away, but I couldn't live without you Damon, every second, every minute and every hour felt like an eternal hell for me, I know it must have been hard for you as well, but I'm not as strong as you, before whenever I used to fall weak, I had a habit of turning to you, but this time I couldn't do that because you broke your promise, you didn't come back to me, I was left in that cemetery, waiting.

As long as I remember you and your death, I'm going to keep spiraling, I'm starting to rely on herbs to see you Damon, and because of that I'm becoming violent, and I hate that, I'm being an awful mother, I feel like I'm not only letting you down but also our children, so in order to become a good person, good mother, I had to let you go, for a brief time only.

Now that you are back, Ric will bring my memories back, and I will leave it to you if you want to be with me or not, and god forbid if something goes wrong, just make me fall in love you all over again, it wasn't hard the first time, and it won't be hard this time.

With or without her memories, forever yours, Ria <3

"Aria loved you too much" Alaric said, "And it was killing her, it was making her neglect her own children".

Damon looked at Alaric, trying to hide how emotional he felt after reading Aria's letter, "Just get her un-compelled, Ric".

Alaric nodded, "Aria called me, she told me she wants her memories back tomorrow".

"Why not today?" Damon asked confused.

"Today, she wants to focus on making sure her kids meet their father" Alaric replied.

***

"You have a really nice bracelet" Aria said, looking at Jo's bracelet, wondering if it had vervain in it, "Any idea what it's made out of?".

"Really subtle" Noah mumbled, making Aria glare at him, in return he just winked at her.

"No idea" Jo replied to Aria, "But Aria, while you are here, can I get your opinion on something?".

"On what?" Aria asked.

"A female patient" Jo replied, "She had a blunt-force trauma to the head, massive internal hemorrhaging, multiple bone fractures", Jo opened a door, "She was a victim at the corn maze".

"I'm not a doctor, I'm not sure what I can tell you" Aria said, confused as to why Jo was asking her all this, she then looked into the room, and frowned seeing the empty hospital bed, "And, there is no one in there".

"She's probably at Freshman Lit" Jo said.

"Am I suppose to understand what you're saying?" Aria asked.

"See, the patient was never admitted, even with such extensive injuries" Jo replied, "I had left her for a moment, and when I went back, she was all fit and well, and she told me that you helped her, that's a pretty good save for someone who isn't even a doctor".

Aria resisted the urge to facepalm, she made the girl forget that she fed her blood, but not that she saved her, "I think the girl might have lied to you, I don't remember saving anyone" she lied.

"Don't" Jo warned, "I know what Alaric is, and I know what you and Noah are, if any more blood bags go missing, I know who to come to".

After Jo walked away, a shocked Aria turned to a smug looking Noah, "You knew" she realised, when seeing Noah didn't even look slightly shocked that Jo knew what he was.

"Knew what?" Noah asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"You knew, that she knew about us!" Aria whisper yelled.

"In my defense, I knew she knew my reality, not yours" Noah said.

"How did she find out about you?" Aria asked confused.

"I told her" Noah replied simply.

"And why would you do that?" Aria said, feeling extremely confused.

"Well, if a vampire and witch are going to work together without any bullshit, you have to be honest with each other" Noah said.

"Witch?" Aria asked shocked, "Jo is a witch?".

"Yeap" Noah replied.

"And you didn't think tell me that before?!" Aria yelled.

Noah shrugged, "I figured being a witch yourself, you would have sensed her".

Aria looked at Noah in both shock and suspicion, "How do you know what I am?".

Noah smirked, "How do I know anything, Aria?" he said, and before Aria could say anything else, Noah walked away from her.

***

"Well, somebody was thorough" Damon commented, entering the girls dorm room, where Aria's old pictures were still placed, Damon took a sip out of the bottle of bourbon he was holding, he then looked at a picture of Klaus and Elijah with Aria in the streets of New Orleans, it was taken the summer before Aria started college, Damon rolled his eyes and placed the photo face down, "No pictures of Damon anywhere, huh".

Damon walked over to Aria's old bed, on the bedside table he saw a picture of Aria and Kol on prom, grabbing the photo and a sharpie, Damon sat on Aria's bed and drew a stick figure next to her, a stick figure that had two fangs coming out of it's mouth.

"Here's hoping luck would for once be on my side and you somehow come into this room so I don't have to wait till eight to see you, I'm not really a patient person Ria, and it's killing me not seeing you" Damon whispered, staring at Aria's face in the photo.

***

"You don't have your magic" Aria realised, blocking Jo's way.

"Excuse me?" Jo asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"You're a witch, with no magic" Aria replied, "Because Noah is right, if you had your magic then I would have been able to sense that you're a witch, but I couldn't, because you no longer have your magic".

Jo sighed, "How about this Aria, I don't ask you any questions, and you don't ask me any questions".

"Fine" Aria said, "As long as you don't try to out me or Alaric, I'm willing to make that deal with you".

"Sounds like a deal" Jo said, "Oh, and you can tell Alaric that if he wants to avoid a complicated relationship, he doesn't have to hide behind compulsion to do it".

Aria nodded, a small smile on her face, "Got it".

***

After walking the hospital and failing to find Noah, Aria finally left the hospital, she walked over to her car, only to see someone leaning against her door.

"Oh my god" Aria whispered, "Kol?".

Kol looked at Aria and a huge smile formed on his face, "Hey Ri".

Without wasting a second, Aria ran over to the Original and pulled him into a hug.

"I missed you" Aria cried into the hug, "I missed you so much".

"I missed you too, Ri" Kol mumbled, "So much".

Aria broke the hug and lightly shoved the Original, "Why did you take so long to meet me?".

"It wasn't on purpose" Kol defended, "I tried to meet you many times, at first I went to Ric's apartment but you weren't there, I then checked your dorm room but you weren't there either, that's when Caroline told me you were at the hospital, so I came to meet you here".

"Well I'm glad you did" Aria said, smiling at Kol, "There's so much we have to catch up on".

"I agree on that" Kol said, "But before that, I need to meet them".

Aria smiled, "Meet who?" she asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"Don't pretend to be oblivious Ri" Kol replied, "I want to meet the triplets, I've been dying to meet them".

Aria chuckled, "Well, Damon's coming to meet the triplets at 8, if you want so can you".

Kol sighed, "Dammit" he whispered.

"What happened?" Aria asked confused.

"As much as I want to meet the triplets, I know how much Damon wants to meet his kids, so I'll let him meet them tonight, but tomorrow, I'm going to be coming to Ric's apartment early morning to see them" Kol replied.

"Sounds like a plan" Aria said.

"You still have time before you have to meet Damon, so want to go to the café with me?" Kol asked.

"For hot chocolate?" Aria asked.

"Obviously" Kol replied, making Aria laugh.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Aria asked.

"Let's go then" Kol said, forwarding his hand towards Aria, but before she could put her hand in his, her phone started ringing.

"It's Ric" Aria informed, answering the phone, "Hey".

"Tripp, the vampire hunter, has Enzo and Damon and he's going to drive them over the Mystic Falls border" Alaric informed, shocking both Aria and Kol.

***

Damon groaned and slowly woke up, only to realise he was chained up in a moving van, confusing him, the last thing he remembers was passing time in Aria's old dorm room, when Tripp entered the room looking for Aria and Rebekah, seeing the vervain gun in his hand, Damon realised who he was but before he could attack Tripp, two of his apprentices ended up shooting him with multiple vervain darts.

"Morning, sunshine" Enzo greeted.

"Enzo?" Damon asked confused, he looked down at the chains in his hands, "Well, this brings back memories". 

"I'm glad you found a way back, mate" Enzo said, "Afraid it's going to be a short reunion, though, we're headed to Mystic Falls, known for its bridges, quaint small-town charm and a really big vampire bug zapper".

"What I want to know is why did this new hunter come looking for Ria and Rebekah" Damon said, trying to rip the chains off but failing.

"Maybe cause someone told him about them" Enzo said.

"Who?" Damon asked confused.

"The same person who told Tripp about me" Enzo replied.

"Who is that person, Enzo?" Damon snapped.

"Your brother" Enzo replied.

"Stefan?" Damon asked shocked, "Why would Stefan tell Tripp about you three?".

"Well, we might have come across each other in Savanah and I might have killed his new girlfriend, Ivy" Enzo replied, "And also led Tripp to him, so I'm guessing to keep Tripp off of him, he directed him towards Whitmore".

***

While Kol went to help Alaric, Rebekah and Aria drove to the edge of the border of Mystic Falls and Rebekah parked their car in the middle of the road, blocking the road.

"Yeah, Care?" Aria asked, answering her phone.

"Mom is shutting down Route 13" Caroline informed, "Tripp will have to double back and there's only two other ways across the border".

"Me and Rebekah are blocking one way and Alaric and Kol the other" Aria informed, as her and Rebekah got out of the car.

"Alright, be careful, all of you" Caroline said.

"We'll be careful" Aria assured, hanging up.

"Alright, front tire has been punctured" Rebekah informed.

"Great" Aria said, "But does it look like a spin out?".

"Yeap" Rebekah replied.

"So now what?" Aria asked.

"Now we wait" Rebekah replied.

"I don't like waiting" Aria said, pacing back and forth in worry.

"We have no other choice" Rebekah said, equally worried.

"I'm going to check on the guys" Aria said, "You stay here".

"Aria--".

"Rebekah, I can't wait, I just can't" Aria interrupted.

Before Rebekah could stop her, Aria speeded away.

"Unbelievable" Rebekah said, shaking her head in amusement, realising even without her memories, Aria hated the idea of Damon getting hurt.

***

Aria reached the other side of the Mystic Falls border, only to see Tripp smash his car into Alaric's, she watched as the car flipped to it's side and crossed the border, with Alaric dragged along.

Aria ran to help them, when Kol speeded over to her, he grabbed her wrist and stopped her from crossing the border, "Kol, let go of me!" she yelled.

"Ri, relax!" Kol yelled.

"I can't relax, all three of them are going to die if we don't help them!" Aria yelled.

"I'll help them" Kol assured, "I'll help them Ri, but I need you to stay here, please just stay here".

Before Aria could protest, Kol walked past the border and immediately groaned in pain once a sword wound started appearing on his stomach.

"I came back for this?" Damon complained, as a gunshot wound appeared on his stomach.

"Consumption, wasn't much fun the first time around, either" Enzo said, as blood started pouring from his mouth.

Kol grabbed a crowbar from the ground and used it to open the van door.

Aria stood by the border, "Alaric!" she heard, turning around she saw Jo run into the border to help Alaric, Aria finally having enough of waiting, decided to step into the border and help Kol out.

Aria ran to where Kol was, "I thought I told you to stay away" Kol snapped.

"And when have I ever listened to anything you've said?" Aria asked, breaking Damon's chains, while Kol broke Enzo's chains.

Kol grabbed Enzo and helped him across the border, while Aria tried to get Damon across the border.

"Come on Damon" Aria said, putting Damon's arm around her, coughing out blood, "Please, work with me here".

Damon nodded, after giving himself one last push, both Damon and Aria managed to cross the border.

Aria turned around to see where Alaric and Jo were, only to see Jo performing CPR on Alaric and yelling at him to stay with her.

Before anyone could stop her, Aria rushed back into the border.

"Ria!", "Ri!" Damon and Kol yelled, trying to follow her but Enzo stopped them.

Aria ran over to Alaric, and ignoring her pain, she kneeled beside Jo, she pressed her hands over Jo's and helped her give Alaric CPR, "Come on Ric!" she yelled, coughing out more blood.

After a while, Alaric finally gasped and opened his eyes, making both Jo and Aria breath a sigh of relief, both the girls not realising that Alaric was no longer a vampire.

"Ri, get back here!" Kol yelled, as both him and Damon saw Aria about to lose conscious.

"Go" Jo told Aria, "I've got him, you need to go before you die".

Aria looked at Alaric, who gave her a nod, letting her know he's fine, as Aria stood up to leave, her vision suddenly started getting blurry, and suddenly she fell to the ground.

"No!" Damon yelled, ignoring Enzo and Kol's yells, he ran across the border and towards Aria.

Ignoring the pain in his stomach, Damon picked Aria up in his arms and rushed to get her out of Mystic Falls, after rushing out the border, Damon slowly placed Aria on the ground.

"Ria" Damon said, tapping Aria's cheeks, "Come on Ria, wake up!".

"Ri" Kol said, kneeling beside Aria.

"Dammit Aria, wake up!" Damon yelled.

After a moment, Aria gasped and opened her eyes, making both Damon and Kol breathe a sigh of relief.

Without wasting a second, Damon brought Aria into her chest and hugged her, tightly, "Don't you ever scare me like that" he said, kissing the top of Aria's head.

"What a great reunion, very dramatic" Aria whispered, making everyone chuckle.

"We excepted nothing less from you, Ri" Kol said, rubbing Aria's back.

***

After the whole incident, Kol dropped Aria back at the apartment, while Damon and Enzo helped Jo take a human Alaric to the hospital.

"Yeah, you should definitely marry Jo" Aria said into the phone, making Alaric chuckle, "So Ric, how does it feel like being human again?".

"Oh, it hurts, a lot" Alaric admitted.

"You know, there is a certain vampire named Noah there, he can give you some vampire blood" Aria suggested.

"No, I'm good, they have me on a morphine drip, it's the next best thing" Alaric said, making Aria laugh, "Aria, I'm so sorry".

"Don't" Aria warned, "Don't apologise for something you had no control over, I'm just really happy that everyone's okay, and you and Nik keep saying that what me and Damon had was epic, if it really was that epic, that I won't need my memories to love him".

"You crossing the borders for him tonight, proved that" Alaric said.

"I honestly don't know why I did that, I just remembered seeing Damon about to die and every cell my body was telling me to go save him, so that's what I did" Aria admitted.

"That Aria, is called love" Alaric said.

Aria chuckled, "I guess" she said, "Alright, I'm going to let you rest, I have to shower before Nik drops the triplets and Damon comes to meet them".

"Good luck" Alaric said.

"Thank you" Aria said, "I need it".

***

Damon, Enzo and Kol sat in the Whitmore bar, drinking before Damon had to leave.

"We were this close" Damon said, bringing his fingers together, but barely touching, "This close".

"Yeah we know, you've been on about it for the past hour" Enzo said, "If you are excepting an apology then forget it, because none of us gave up on you two".

"Aria did" Damon said.

"She never gave up on you idiot" Enzo snapped, "You and Kol were dead, you don't understand how hard it was for her".

"We might have a slight idea" Kol said, remembering Aria's death a thousand years ago, and when Katherine killed her.

"And you know what, I am so tired of hearing about how hard it was for her" Damon snapped, "It was hard for me as well".

"You had something to come back to Damon" Enzo reminded, "All Aria knew was that your connection was still intact, but she had no idea where you both were or when you were coming back, to her you guys were just gone".

"I guess I still am" Damon said, "Ric said she's happy without me since she's erased me, you know what? I don't want her to be happy, I want her to be miserable, just like I am".

"Don't be an idiot" Kol said, "If tonight proves anything, it's that even without her memories Ri loves you, so get up your ass and go meet her and your kids".

"I want to meet them so badly" Damon admitted, "But what if it doesn't work? What if what me and Aria had isn't strong enough to break the compulsion?".

"If anyone's love is going to break compulsion, it's going to be yours and Aria" Kol replied.

"And you're not going to find out if your love is strong enough by sitting here and moping" Enzo said.

"Exactly" Kol said.

Damon downed his drink, "Here goes everything" he said, standing up and leaving the bar.

***

"You three are going to meet your dad today" Aria told the triplets, she picked Mia up in her arms, while Alec and Asher played in their play mats, "Kind of scared, but mostly happy that you three get to meet him".

Suddenly, Aria received a text, Hey it's Noah, I was wondering if we could meet up and talk?

Aria sighed, I will meet with you only if you are going to be honest with me.

I will, I promise.

Fine, meet tomorrow at Whittemore café, exactly 12pm, don't be late.

Wouldn't dream of it, see you tomorrow!

Just as Aria received Noah's text, there was a knock on the door, making Aria take a deep breath, all of a sudden feeling extremely nervous.

With Mia still in her arms, Aria walked towards the door, putting her hand on the doorknob, Aria slowly opened the door, only to see the father of her kids standing on the other side.

"Hey" Damon greeted.

"Hey" Aria whispered.

Damon's eyes landed on the baby girl in Aria's arms, and immediately tears welled in his eyes, he couldn't believe he had taken part in creating the small being in Aria's arms.

"Damon, meet your daughter, Mia" Aria introduced, realising how overwhelmed Damon must be feeling right now, "Do you want to hold her?".

Damon shook his head, "She's so small, I don't want to hurt her".

"You're her dad, you will never hurt her" Aria assured, "Now come on, I think little bunny here wants her dad to carry her".

Aria handed Mia over to Damon, who made sure he didn't hurt her in any way, "Hey" he whispered to the baby, who was looking at him with her eyes wide open.

"Come in" Aria said, stepping to the side, "There's two more people you need to meet".

Damon nodded and with that both Damon and Aria spent the whole night bonding not only with their children but also each other.

***

Presenting 6x06 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Damon and Aria's first conversation since Damon has been back?

Thoughts on Aria finding about Jo being a witch and Noah knowing about her?

Thoughts on Aria saving Damon from Tripp?

Thoughts on Damon finally meeting his kids?