21. Before Sunset

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" Jeremy asked Aria, as they prepared to paint Alaric's room at his apartment.

"About what?" Aria asked, carefully sticking tapes up on the walls.

"About the fact that me and Kol found you in the middle of the woods, screaming" Jeremy replied.

Aria sighed, "I couldn't sit there and watch Ric die, so I ran, and suddenly I had this urge to scream, so I screamed".

"According to Kol, that was a banshee scream, that's how he heard it from the Grill" Jeremy informed.

"Yeah" Aria whispered, "I have no idea how these banshee powers work".

"If it helps, no one does" Jeremy said.

"That really doesn't help Jer" Aria said.

Jeremy chuckled, "I tried".

"Next time, you're going to get the paint Jeremy, not me" Kol said, entering the room, with two cans of paint in his hand.

"That bad, huh?" Jeremy asked.

"If that shop keeper wasn't old, I would have smashed his head in" Kol replied.

Jeremy chuckled, "I guess he got lucky then".

"So, it's official, we're going darker?" Aria asked, looking at the dark blue paint Kol had bought.

"Yeap, it's either this or nothing, I am not going back to that horrible place" Kol said.

"Oh come on, Mr. Johnson isn't that bad" Aria said.

"Of course you know his name" Kol mumbled.

"This one time me and Aria decided to renovate my room, we went to the same paint shop you went, we ended up staying there for two hours because Mr. Johnson wouldn't stop talking about everything useless" Jeremy recalled, making Aria laugh, "I was standing there, getting annoyed by the second, while Aria stood there listening to his every word and making conversation with him, after that I promised myself to never go back there, that's why I sent you to get the paint".

"You didn't think to warn me or something?" Kol snapped, glaring at Jeremy.

"No, I didn't" Jeremy said, giving Kol a smug smirk.

"Asshole" Kol said.

"Dickhead" Jeremy retorted.

"You both are children, you know that?" Aria said, interrupting the two before they could continue their petty argument.

"He started it" Kol complained.

"You started it" Jeremy said.

Aria grabbed the masking tape and threw it at Jeremy, while throwing a paint brush at Kol.

"Shut up!" Aria yelled, "And let's get to painting this room, please".

"Are you sure you both want to do this right now?" Kol asked, worried for the two people infront of him.

"I don't know about Jeremy, but I can't just sit there and do nothing, I need to keep moving, keep doing something" Aria replied, "If I do nothing then I start thinking, and that's the last thing I want to do".

"Agreed" Jeremy said.

"Okay, so how can I help?" Kol asked.

Before Aria or Jeremy could reply, the doorbell to Alaric's apartment rang, confusing the three.

"I'll get that" Kol said, going to answer the door.

Kol opened the door and was shocked seeing Damon standing there, with a bloody Bonnie.

"We have a problem" Damon said.

***

"What the hell do you mean he turned?" Kol snapped, as he, Aria, Jeremy, Damon and Bonnie sat in the living room, "I thought you were staying with him till he died?".

"Don't blame me, blame Bonnie the blood bank" Damon snapped, "She snapped my neck and fed him".

"Why the hell did you do this Bonnie?" Aria snapped, glaring at Bonnie, though a small part of her was happy that Alaric wasn't dead, the other part of her was upset, knowing the Alaric alive right now, wasn't the Alaric she knew.

"I had no idea what was happening" Bonnie defended, "The witches led me there, they wanted him to feed so he'd turn".

"Where's the white oak stake?" Jeremy asked.

"Oh you mean the one that can kill an Original and wipe out an entire line of vampires? We don't know" Damon replied, glaring at Bonnie.

"Why isn't she dead yet?" Kol snapped.

"Apparently vampire Alaric decided he didn't want his first kill to be a witch, so he didn't kill her" Damon said, "He just knocked her unconscious".

"I need a minute" Aria said, going back into Ric's room, Jeremy went to follow but Aria stopped him, "Don't follow me".

"Can I kill her?" Kol asked no one in particular, already making his way towards the witch.

"I've been trying to figure out a way to kill Alaric" Bonnie said quickly, stopping Kol in his spot.

"And did you figure it out?" Damon asked.

"A witch can't truly make an immortal creature" Bonnie replied, "There's always a way to undo a spell".

"So, what's the witchy workaround?" Damon asked.

Bonnie glanced between Kol and Damon in uncertainty, "That's the problem" she said, "I don't know".

***

Aria sat in Alaric's room, looking down at a polaroid of her and Alaric, she missed him immensely, the real him.

While Aria was looking down at the picture, her phone started ringing, without looking at who it was, she answered it and froze hearing the voice on the other side.

"Hello, Aria".

"Ric" Aria whispered shocked, she knew he was alive, but listening to his voice just made it all real.

"Listen closely" Alaric said, "I'm at the school, I have Caroline, and if you wanna keep her alive, I need you to get into your car, and come down here right away, if you tell anyone where you are going, I will kill her".

***

"How the hell did she mange to leave this apartment without you two realising?" Jeremy snapped, "You're vampires, with heightened senses!".

After realising Aria hadn't come out of Alaric's room for nearly half an hour, Damon decided to go check on her, and to his surprise she wasn't in the room, somehow Aria had manged to sneak out of the apartment without anyone realising, and gone god knows where.

"And she's a witch, with magical powers" Kol snapped, "She probably used a spell to cloak herself or something".

"Can we not argue right now?" Damon snapped, "Right now, we need to find out where she went".

"What if she went to find Alaric?" Jeremy asked, worry rising in his heart.

"He will kill her" Damon whispered, "He hates vampires and people who sympathise with vampires".

"If that's the case, then Ri would be on top of his list" Kol realised.

***

Aria entered the school and took small and steady steps, keeping a lookout for the new hunter, she started walking faster when she heard Caroline's voice in one of the classrooms.

Aria entered the room and to her shock she saw Alaric, and Caroline, who had pencils stuck in her hands and a cloth tied around her mouth.

"Care" Aria whispered, trying to run towards her best friend but Alaric speeded infront of her, "Move out of my way, Ric!".

"Fine" Alaric said, stepping out of Aria's way, "Free her".

Aria wasted no time in running over to Caroline, "This is going to hurt, okay" Aria whispered, pulling out the wooden pencil from Caroline's hand, it was nearly out when Alaric slammed it back in, making Caroline yell out in pain.

"You said that if I came you would let her go!" Aria yelled, glaring at the man she once regarded as her father.

"How many times do I have to tell you Aria?" Alaric asked, "Stop trusting vampires!".

***

"What do you mean you can't do a locater spell on her?" Kol snapped.

"I mean, somethings wrong" Bonnie replied, "Something's blocking me from locating Aria".

"It's Ria" Damon realised, "She's blocking herself, she doesn't want us to find her".

"Dammit!" Kol yelled.

"Uh guys" A worried Jeremy said, gaining the two worried vampires attention, "Alaric's calling me".

***

"Why have you called me here?" Klaus asked, entering Alaric's apartment.

"I'm sure you already know about Alaric being alive" Damon started.

"I'm aware, Rebekah had a small encounter with him" Klaus revealed, "I was planning on leaving town for a bit, and wanted to tell Ari and Caroline, but for some reason I can't get to them, where are they?".

"Alaric has Ria and Caroline" Damon replied, Alaric having told them through the call, "He said he's going to kill both of them unless you turn yourself over to him".

"You let Ari and Caroline get captured?!" Klaus yelled, furious with the people infront of them.

"Don't blame us!" Kol yelled, "We never knew about Caroline being captured by Alaric, and Ri sneaked out on us".

"Sneaked out on you?!" Klaus asked, glaring at his brother, "How did a human sneak out on two vampires?".

"We're guessing she cloaked herself" Jeremy replied, interrupting the brothers yelling match.

"Did the useless witch over there try a locater spell?" Klaus asked, pointing to Bonnie, who was sitting there, looking completely out of place.

"Yes Nik, she did" Kol snapped, "But Ri's blocked herself, but Alaric called us letting us know his at the school and he wants you and me in exchange for Ri and Caroline".

"Are you going to help us figure out a way to put Alaric down or not?" Damon asked, getting extremely impatient.

***

"Okay, how about Kol and Jeremy sneak in and distract Alaric, while Damon grabs Ari and I grab Caroline, and we carry both of them to safety?" Klaus suggested.

"Awful idea" Kol snapped, "Jeremy's human, Alaric can rip his heart out in a second, and let's not forget he also has a white oak stake, something that can kill me".

"I'm not seeing anything negative there" Klaus snapped.

"Can you two stop arguing for a second" Jeremy snapped, "And think of something useful, please, Aria and Caroline's life is on stake here!".

"I might have an idea" Bonnie said, "My mom used a desiccation spell on Mikael that immobilised him for over 15 years, if I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric".

"If and might, your words inspire such confidence" Klaus said sarcastically.

"I'll get it" Bonnie assured, "But even with the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down, including yours".

"I never said I wasn't helping" Klaus snapped, "It's Caroline and Ari we are talking about here, of course I would help".

"We should also call Stefan" Bonnie suggested.

"What? No" Kol snapped.

"We need everyone we can get Kol" Bonnie snapped.

"Not him" Kol said stubbornly.

Damon sighed, "Bonnie's right" he said, "We need more muscle".

"You can't be serious" Kol said.

"Trust me Kol, I don't want anything to do with that asshole either, but Alaric is stronger then you and Klaus, we need as many people we can get" Damon explained.

"Don't blame me, if I mistake him for Alaric and rip out his heart" Kol snapped.

"I don't think anyone will" Jeremy mumbled.

***

Alaric soaked the cloth with vervain, and made his way over to Caroline.

"No, I don't want to, please no more" Caroline cried.

Aria glared at Alaric, and before he could tie the cloth around Caroline's mouth, she used her magic to break his wrist, causing him to drop the cloth, she then used her magic, and threw Alaric backwards into the back wall.

"I'm not going to let you hurt her" Aria said, glaring at the man infront of her.

Alaric got up and smirked at Aria, before Aria could use her magic again, Alaric speeded over to her and threw her on to the wall.

"Ah!" Aria yelled, laying on the floor in pain.

"Aria!" Caroline yelled, tears welling in her eyes seeing her best friend in pain.

Alaric grabbed the cloth again and tied it around Caroline's mouth, "This keeps the vervain in her system" he explained, "It's like inhaling razor blades with every breath".

Caroline let out a yell, feeling the vervain on her skin.

"Stop" Aria cried, slowly standing up, her body in extreme pain, from hitting the wall so harshly, "Please stop hurting her, hurt me, just let Caroline go".

"I'm just making it easier on you Aria, for when you put her out of her misery" Alaric said, confusing Aria.

"I will never hurt her!" Aria yelled.

"Isn't this what you wanted Aria?" Alaric asked, "For me to teach you how to kill a vampire? Well, here's a vampire, Aria", Alaric forwarded the white oak stake towards Aria, "Kill her".

"I wanted to kill the bad vampires Alaric, not the good ones, not my sister!" Aria snapped.

"She is a bad vampire Aria" Alaric said, grabbing Aria's arm and forcing her to stand infront of Caroline, "All those hours you spent training, getting stronger, you could be a hunter, Aria, imagine how many vampires you would kill with your powers and skills".

***

"Where the hell is your mother, witch?" Kol snapped.

Bonnie sighed, she was getting extremely annoyed with Kol and his comments, he wouldn't stop taunting her, and with Klaus and Damon gone, she was left with Kol and Jeremy, she tried to get Jeremy to help her get rid of Kol, but he made it clear he was done with her and was never helping her do anything.

"Abby will be here, can you have some patient" Bonnie snapped.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm not waiting patiently for your runaway mother with a batch of homemade cookies, when the the girl I love is stuck in a school with a vampire who can't be bloody killed, how bad of me!" Kol snapped.

"Sucks that she will never love you" Bonnie taunted.

"At least I have her in my life, the guy you love wants nothing to do with your lying and backstabbing ass" Kol snapped, making Bonnie frown and glance towards Jeremy, who was ignoring Kol and Bonnie's argument and was just pacing back and forth, impatiently waiting for Abby.

Before Kol and Bonnie could argue anymore, there was a knock on the apartment door.

"That better be her, or god so help me" Kol threatened, as Bonnie went to answer the door.

Bonnie opened the door and was met with her mother.

The night Aria had stabbed herself, stopping Esther from killing the Originals, Stefan had ended up turning Abby into a vampire not realising that it wasn't the Bennett's Esther was channelling, and after nearly attacking her adoptive son Jamie, Abby decided she couldn't be near him and Bonnie, so she once again ran away, leaving behind a devastated Bonnie.

"Hello, Bonnie" Abby greeted.

"Thanks for coming" Bonnie said.

"Jamie's worried about you, he said it was urgent" Abby said, "I just didn't think you'd ever wanna see me again".

"Oh cut the emotional crap" Kol snapped, confusing Abby, "Can we just get to it?".

"Bonnie, what's going on?" Abby asked confused.

"Like Jamie said, it's urgent" Bonnie replied, letting Abby in.

***

Damon, Klaus and Stefan arrived at the school, where Alaric was keeping Aria and Caroline.

"This is where they are?" Stefan asked.

"Just cause we bought you here to help, doesn't mean you get to talk" Damon snapped, looking down at the text Jeremy had sent him, "Abby just showed up".

"Good, perhaps this plan won't be an epic failure after all" Klaus said, leaning against the car, "You know, if this does go off and we drop the history teacher in the Atlantic, you and Ari should leave this god awful town, after the awful few days she has had, she deserves a long vacation".

"I'll go anywhere Ria wants me to" Damon said, making Stefan frown, "As long as I'm with Ria, I don't care where we are, or what we are doing".

"And that's why you're a better option for her then your brother" Klaus taunted.

"Okay, I get it, you both don't like me, but can we stop with the taunting" Stefan snapped.

"Sorry you don't like the truth Stefan" Damon said, walking towards the school.

"This is your own doing Stefan, you're the one who broke the unbreakable bond between the so called Salvatore brothers" Klaus said, following Damon.

***

"Why didn't I have to be invited in?" Abby asked curiously.

"The man who owned this apartment recently turned into a vampire" Bonnie replied.

"Are we done with the questions?" Jeremy asked, "Can we get on with it?".

Bonnie sighed, "We called you here because I need help with a spell, Esther created a vampire that can't be killed, I wanna desiccate him like you did to Mikael".

"Bonnie, it's too dangerous" Abby said, "Your magic comes from the earth, it's pure, this spell asks you to tap into dark places, places of temptation, places you can't handle".

"How about this?" Kol asked, "You help your daughter with the spell, or you watch me torture her over and over again, then heal her, and repeat the cycle".

"And just so you know, his not joking" Jeremy said, "His known as the psychopathic Mikaelson for a reason".

"You don't get it" Abby snapped, slightly scared of the Original infront of her, "The spell allows you to stop a vampire's heart, the blood will stop flowing and his body will desiccate".

"That's exactly what we wanna do" Bonnie said.

"To stop a vampire's heart, you need to find a balance among the living" Abby clarified, shocking Bonnie, "Can you handle that?".

"What does that mean?" Jeremy asked confused.

"It means, the witch needs to stop a human heart" Kol replied.

"Fine, stop my heart then" Jeremy said.

"What?" Kol asked shocked, "Have you lost it Jeremy? That's not an option".

"I still have the Gilbert ring" Jeremy said, showing Kol the ring he was still wearing.

"If anything happens to you, Ri will kill me" Kol snapped, "What happens if Bonnie can't restart your heart and you die with that evil ring and became evil like Alaric, then what?".

"Aria's my best friend" Jeremy snapped, "No one's gonna fight harder for her than me".

"Debatable" Kol snapped, "What am I meant to tell Ri if you don't return to her?".

"You tell her that I love her, and I'm glad I died, doing something for her" Jeremy replied.

"Jeremy--".

"No, Kol" Jeremy interrupted, "Aria's done so much for me, she's always been there for me, always listened to me without any judgement, even when I was a dick to her, she still stayed by my side, now you need to let me do this for her, please".

Kol sighed, "You're not going to let this go, are you?".

"No" Jeremy replied stubbornly.

"Fine" Kol snapped, clearly not happy with Jeremy's decision, he turned to Bonnie, "If you don't bring him back, as the Jeremy we know, then I will be the least of your worries, because then Ri will come after you, and I'm sure you already know what she did to your so called best friend Elena Gilbert when my brother Finn died".

"I won't let anything happen to Jeremy" Bonnie promised.

"I'll believe you, when it happens" Kol said, walking out of the apartment.

***

Bonnie, Jeremy and Kol met up with Klaus, Damon and Stefan at the school.

"Drink this, it's my blood, it bridges us all together, so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's" Bonnie explained, "You'll have to make a physical connection to his bloodstream, a vein, artery, something connected to his heart".

Kol took a swig of Bonnie's blood, "Worst blood I've tasted" He taunted.

"Stop being petty" Damon said, drinking Bonnie's blood and passing it to Stefan.

"If one of gets a clean shot, take it, the other three hold him down" Stefan explained, drinking Bonnie's blood, and passing it on to Klaus.

"Before we all walk through these doors, let's get on the same page, shall we?" Klaus started, "I was the one who created your vampire bloodline, therefore I am responsible for your lives, and Tyler's life, Caroline's life and, of course, Abby's life, should anything go wrong".

"Or you're lying so we protect you" Stefan snapped.

"His not lying" Damon said, "His telling the truth, he was the one who turned Mary Potter".

"Go ahead Stefan, call my bluff" Klaus challenged, "Let the teacher kill me, you'll all be dead soon thereafter", Klaus drank the rest of Bonnie's blood.

"Let's go people, now!" Kol ordered, walking towards the school.

***

"Why are you so hell bent on me killing Caroline?" Aria snapped.

"Because you need me" Alaric replied, "Because you're an 18 year old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore".

"You out of people, don't get to say that to me" Aria snapped, "You have became everything bad about vampires, surely if I'm to kill a vampire, it should be you, not Caroline".

"She's a murderer" Alaric snapped, "She told me she killed someone and liked it, now how is that right?".

"Caroline didn't ask to be a vampire" Aria snapped, "She didn't ask to lose control, she didn't ask for this and I'm not going to punish her over something she couldn't control!".

"Listen, Aria, your adoptive parents, the Gilberts, they led the Council" Alaric said, "It was their life's mission to keep this town safe, they weren't dead six months before you undid it all".

"You never knew them" Aria said, glaring at Alaric, "You don't get to talk about them!".

"Why, am I wrong?" Alaric asked, "Do you actually think that they'd be proud of you?".

"I know my mom is and will always be proud of me" Aria replied, "And if the Gilbert parent's were alive right now, and they knew everything I went though, then yes, they would be proud of me, just like you once were".

"If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them" Alaric spat.

"Then I guess I'm as bad as them" Aria said, using her magic to throw Alaric towards the blackboard, she grabbed the beaker that was filled with vervain and threw it at Alaric, causing him to yell in pain.

Aria ran over to Caroline and quickly removed the pencils from her hands, she untied the cloth around her mouth and helped her stand, "Run Care!".

Both Caroline and Aria ran towards the door, and while Caroline manged to escape, Alaric stepped infront of Aria, stopping her from escaping.

"Not so fast" Alaric said.

Aria glared at Alaric, "You want to kill me?" she asked, "Then go ahead, because I'm never going to let you kill the people I care about".

***

Caroline turned around, and was shocked not seeing Aria behind her, she tried to go back to her best friend, when Klaus speeded behind her and placed his hand over her mouth.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay, it's me" Klaus whispered, comforting a hysterical Caroline, "It's okay, you're safe".

"Aria" Caroline whispered.

"We'll save Ari, you go straight home" Klaus ordered, "You stay inside, do you understand?", when Caroline didn't reply, Klaus turned her around and forced her to look at him, "Do you understand me?".

After a little bit of hesitation, Caroline nodded, "Thank you" she whispered, "But you promise you will save Aria?".

"I promise I won't let anything happen to Ari" Klaus promised, "Now go".

Caroline speeded out the school, while Klaus speeded to save Aria.

***

Alaric slammed Aria on to the lockers, and held her in a choke hold.

"I should kill you, I should gut you like Brian Walters, Bill Forbes and all the cowards I plan on ripping apart" Alaric threatened, "You're the worst offender of them all, Aria, you don't deserve to live".

Aria used her magic to give Alaric an aneurysm, causing him to let go of her and fall to the ground.

"If that's the case, then kill me!" Aria yelled, "Clearly you're no longer the man who used to be my father, you're someone completely different, so what's stopping you from killing me?!".

Alaric stood up and glared at Aria, with veins appearing under her eyes, he stood there for a moment, when the veins underneath his eyes disappeared.

Aria looked at him in confusion, not knowing why Alaric has kept her alive, when suddenly, Stefan and Damon speeded over to Alaric and held him by his arms.

"Do it, now!" Damon yelled.

Alaric pushed Damon away from him and into a locker, he snapped Stefan's neck, and when Damon went to attack him, he snapped his neck to.

Suddenly, Klaus and Kol speeded over to Alaric and tried to get in touch with his bloodstream.

Alaric grabbed both of their hands and broke them, he then pushed both of them to the ground.

Alaric grabbed Klaus and shoved him into a locker, and then snapped his neck.

He then made his way over to Kol and tried to stake him with the white oak stake, but Kol held his hand, trying to prevent him, which was proving harder then normal, when suddenly Alaric was thrown off of him.

Alaric stood up and glared at Aria, who was standing infront of Kol and Klaus, with a piece of broken glass on her neck.

"Don't move forward!" Aria yelled, "If you even try to harm any of them, I will kill myself".

"Put it down, Aria" Alaric warned.

"Not happening" Aria said, "I figured it out, I figured why you wouldn't kill me, there's a reason why Esther used mine and Elena's blood to make you, right? After her children there is no way she would make another immortal thing, so she tied your life to two humans, me and Elena, that way you only have one human lifespan to kill all the Originals, and once either me or Elena dies, you'll also die, I could end this once and for all, if I end my life, you're gone to".

"Ri, don't" Kol warned.

"You're wrong" Alaric said, glaring at the witch.

"Well, let's find out then" Aria challenged, cutting her neck.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Alaric yelled.

Seeing that Alaric was distracted, Kol pushed him away from Aria, he then grabbed her, and speeded out of the school.

***

"Where is she?!" Damon yelled, running into Caroline and Aria's shared bedroom.

Once Kol had speeded away with Aria, Damon and Klaus also woke up, and they saw no sign of Alaric, Kol or Aria, they figured Kol had taken Aria so they also rushed out of the school.

"She's right here" Kol said, pointing to Aria, who was laying on the bed.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked, speeding over to Aria, and looking at her wound, Kol having told him and Klaus everything, "What the hell were you thinking Ria?".

"It's a small cut Damon, I'm fine" Aria assured.

"When are you going to stop doing stupid stuff like this?" Damon asked.

"When all of you stop trying to get yourself killed" Aria replied, "Damon, Kol, what are we going to do about Ric? His life is connected to mine and Elena's".

"Don't worry about that, Nik has all that under control" Kol assured.

Aria frowned, "What do you mean he has it in control?" she asked, "What did he do?".

Damon and Kol exchanged a look, they didn't know if they should tell Aria that Klaus was planning on draining all of Elena's blood, and then killing her so Alaric dies along with her.

***

"Nik!" Aria yelled, walking into the Mikaelson mansion, "Where the bloody hell are you Nik!?".

After Aria asking them over and over again, Kol and Damon finally revealed what Klaus was doing, Aria decided she needed to go talk to Klaus, Kol and Damon tried to follow her but Aria didn't let them, knowing they would never let Aria save Elena.

Aria didn't want to save Elena's live because she cared about her or anything, she just didn't want anymore people's blood on her hands, she was tired of people dying around her, she couldn't take it anymore, even if that person was Elena.

Aria entered the hall and was shocked seeing Tyler and Stefan attacking Klaus.

"No!" Aria yelled, using her magic to push Stefan and Tyler away from Klaus.

"Aria" Tyler whispered.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Aria asked.

"His going to kill Elena" Stefan defended.

"And if any of you even think about harming Nik, I will rip your hearts off" Aria threatened.

"Sorry Aria" Stefan said, speeding over to Aria, and pushing her away from Klaus, causing her head to hit the stairs, and she fell unconscious.

"Ari!" Klaus yelled, as Tyler and Stefan once again took a hold of him.

***

Damon and Kol entered the Mikaelson mansion, after waiting for a bit and receiving no text or call from Aria or Klaus, the two of them grew impatient and decided to check what was going on.

Entering the hall, they were shocked seeing all the furniture broken, Klaus and Elena missing and Aria laying on the floor unconscious.

"Ria!" Damon yelled, as he and Kol ran over to Aria.

"Come on Ri" Kol said, patting Aria's cheek, "Wake up".

Aria groaned and slowly opened her eyes, "Ugh, my head hurts".

"What the hell happened here?" Damon asked.

Aria looked at Damon in confusion, for a second she didn't know what he was on about, but suddenly the memories came back to her, "Nik" Aria whispered.

"What?" Kol asked confused.

"They used the desiccation spell you were meant to use on Alaric on Nik" Aria revealed, shocking Kol and Damon, "We need to find him".

Aria stood up, only to them stumble forward, but Damon caught her before she could fall.

"Aria, you're weak, you need to go home and rest" Damon said.

"No" Aria said, "We need to save Nik".

"Me and Damon will go save him" Kol assured, "You need to go home and rest".

"But--".

"Hey, listen to me" Damon said, making Aria face her, "Do you trust us?".

"What?" Aria asked confused, "What kind of question is that? Of course I trust you both".

"Then trust us, that we will bring your best friend back to you" Damon promised, "But we can only do that, if we don't worry about you".

"Promise, you won't let anything happen to him?" Aria asked.

"We promise" Kol and Damon said simultaneously.

***

"You two are seriously going to walk me to the door?" Aria asked, as they climbed up the stairs towards Alaric's apartment.

"You hit your head too many times today" Damon replied.

"And you refuse to drink any of our blood" Kol said.

"I told you both, I'm fine just a little bit of a headache" Aria assured, "You two should be going to save Nik".

"And we will" Damon said, "After making sure you reach home fine, the sun's about to go down and Ric's gonna be able to terrorise the streets any minute".

"But his not going to hurt me, he can't" Aria said, "It's both of you who need to be careful".

"Relax, he won't be able to find us" Kol said.

Aria opened Alaric's door and turned to the two vampires, "We will will call you when we rescue your best friend" Damon said.

"Just, don't get yourself killed, okay?" Aria said.

"It's not going to be that easy to get rid of us Ri" Kol replied.

"I know, just be careful" Aria said.

"Always" Damon said, winking at Aria, and walking away with Kol.

***

Aria closed the door and walked into the living room, where Caroline and Jeremy were waiting for her.

"Aria" Jeremy said, standing up, "I didn't know Bonnie was doing the spell on Klaus, she told me she was doing it on Alaric, I didn't know I swear if I knew I wouldn't have let Bonnie do the spell".

"I know Jer, you don't have to explain yourself to me" Aria said.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked.

"I was there" Aria replied, tears welling in her eyes, "But I couldn't stop them, I was going to save Elena for them but they still hurt Nik".

"Come here" Jeremy said, hugging Aria, as she started crying, "Kol and Damon are going to save him".

Caroline walked over the duo and joined their hug, "His going to be fine, I promise".

***

"So" Kol started, as Damon drove them where Tyler and Stefan were taking Klaus, they knew they were planning to throw Klaus's body off the Atlantic, and they were hoping they could reach them before that happened, "Turns out, us two together, is the dream team, huh?".

Damon chuckled, "I guess we will find out once we save your brother".

"Who knew the big bad hybrid would one day need someone to save his ass" Kol joked.

"Well I can definitely tell you that I never saw this coming" Damon said, making Kol chuckle, "Hey Kol".

"Hmm?".

"Do you still--do you still love her?" Damon asked.

Kol sighed, "I never stopped, and don't think I ever will".

"If you still love her, then why did you bring us back together again?" Damon asked curiously.

"I already told you, Ri loves you, and I just want her to be happy" Kol replied, "I already experienced her love, a thousand years ago, now it's your turn".

"You know, when I first met you I hated you" Damon said, "I thought you were going to snatch Ria from me".

"And now?" Kol asked.

"I still don't like you, but I don't hate you either" Damon replied.

"Well that's progress" Kol joked.

"Who knew one girl could make a Mikaelson and Salvatore be decent with each other?" Damon teased.

"Well, she's a pretty special girl" Kol replied, "She could do anything she put her mind to".

"Yeah, she could" Damon whispered, a small smile on his face.

***

After Aria clamed down, Caroline suggested they finish painting Alaric's room, not only to distract Aria but also herself, which is how her, Aria and Jeremy ended up in Alaric's room, finishing the painting job they started.

"I hate this room" Jeremy whispered, looking around at the empty room.

"Tell me about it" Caroline said.

"Maybe your parents were right, Jer" Aria whispered, stopping her painting, "Alaric should just kill all the vampires, maybe then all this blood and mayhem will stop", Aria glanced towards Caroline, who was looking back at her in sympathy, "But if I let that happen, I lose my sister, Caroline loses the guy who finally made her his first choice", Caroline chuckled hearing Aria, "I lose Elijah, me and Care lose Rebekah, and I also lose Damon and Kol, so if making sure all these vampires stay alive makes me the bad person, I'm ready to be the bad guy".

"You forget Alaric never wanted any of this" Jeremy reminded, "Once he carries out his plans, what if he decides he doesn't wanna live anymore? And he kills his human connection to end his life, that would mean I would lose you, I'm not gonna let that happen".

"Neither of us are" Caroline promised.

Aria chuckled with tears in her eyes, "You both wouldn't be able to survive without me".

"Well, let's not find out, okay?" Jeremy asked.

Aria nodded, "Okay".

"I'm gonna shower and get some sleep" Jeremy said.

"And I'm going to go make us some coffee" Caroline said.

"Yes please" Aria said, making Jeremy and Caroline chuckle.

After Jeremy and Caroline left, Aria decided to paint a bit more, as she was painting, pain shot through her head, and she fell to the floor, with blood coming out of her nose.

***

Presenting 3x21 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

Disclaimer, this chapter isn't edited so sorry if it's shit and has a bunch of mistakes >.<

Anyways, thoughts on Bonnie helping Alaric turn?

Thought on Kol taunting Bonnie every chance he got?

Thoughts on Aria fighting Alaric and saving Caroline?

Thoughts on Aria passing out in the end?

p.s below are some aesthetics I made for this book, I was working on Kol and Aria's book, which btw is coming next week, so get ready for that! Anyways when I was working on that, I felt creative and made these tell me how these are!