23. Graduation

Aria groaned and slowly opened her eyes, the bright light instantly hurting her eyes.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty".

"Damon?" Aria said, slowly sitting up and looking at her surroundings in slight confusion, she realised she was in Damon's room.

"It's me Ria" Damon said, sitting by Aria and handing her a glass of water.

"I passed out again, didn't I?" Aria asked, taking a sip of the water.

"Yes you did" Damon replied, "How you feeling?".

"Exhausted" Aria replied, suddenly she heard music coming from the living room, "What's going on?".

Damon smirked, "Come see for yourself".

Damon grabbed Aria's hand and led her towards the music, "Oh my god" Aria whispered, standing on the stairs and looking at the scene infront of her.

Kol, Jeremy and Finn were drinking shots, while Alaric stood by them, shaking his head at their behaviour, Grams sat with Caroline and Rebekah talking about their upcoming graduation, while Lexi and Natalie were busy dancing around the room, just seeing the scene infront of her caused a huge smile to come on Aria's face.

"My favorite human!" Lexi yelled, seeing Aria on the stairs, gaining everyone's attention.

"She's not a human Lexi" Caroline said.

"Oh right, my favorite tribrid!" Lexi yelled, running over to Aria and pulling her into a hug, "Gosh I missed you".

Aria chuckled, "I missed you too, Lexi".

"Come on, let's celebrate your high school graduation" Lexi said, grabbing Aria's hand and dragging her towards the middle of the living room.

"Wait, how are you guys still here?" Aria asked confused.

"We don't know" Natalie replied, "We think something went wrong with your spell".

"You're Natalie, right?" Aria asked, "I don't think we've ever met".

"No we haven't" Natalie replied, "It's good to finally meet the girl who has Damon wrapped around her finger".

Damon rolled his eyes, and without saying anything, just walked over to Kol and stole his shot glass and downed the drink.

"Hey" Kol complained, "That was mine".

"This is my house" Damon retorted.

"I bought the alcohol" Kol snapped.

"If you bring alcohol into my house, it becomes mine" Damon said.

"That's just not correct" Jeremy said.

"Jer" Aria said, "Did my spell work?".

Jeremy smiled, "Of course it worked, I'm back Aria".

Aria laughed and hugged Jeremy, "I am so happy you're back, now I have to go and see what went wrong".

"No" Rebekah said, "You can do that later, right now, have some fun with us".

"But--".

"Come on Aria" Caroline said, grabbing Aria's hand and twirling her around, "It's our graduation, party with us for a while and then go and save Mystic Falls, like you always do".

Aria looked towards Grams, knowing she will always tell her the right thing, "Have fun with your friends Aria, you anyways have to wait for the full moon tonight to have the power to pull the veil back up".

Aria nodded, "Okay".

***

After spending some time with everyone, Aria, Jeremy, and Alaric decided to have a family lunch together, and they knew they couldn't eat at the Grill as both Jeremy and Alaric were technically dead for the whole town, so they decided to eat at the cemetery.

"Oh, my god" Alaric said, relishing his burger, as Jeremy did the same thing.

"Does the other side offer no food?" Aria teased.

"You've been on the other side Aria, you should know" Jeremy teased.

"Touché" Aria said.

"You have no idea how much I miss this" Alaric said, he then pulled out a bottle of bourbon, "And this".

"Oh, alcohol" Aria said, grabbing the bottle from Alaric.

"No, hey, hey" Alaric protested, as Aria took a swing of the bourbon.

"She just defeated a two thousand year old immortal, let her live a little" Jeremy said.

"Thank you" Aria said, "Want some?".

"Yes, please" Jeremy replied, taking the bottle from Aria.

"You both are horrible influences on each other" Alaric said, amused.

"No" Aria said, "We are great influences on each other".

"Exactly" Jeremy said, giving Aria a high five.

Alaric looked between Aria and Jeremy, with a huge smile on his face, "It's nice to see you both smile like this".

"I'm smiling this much after so many days, it honestly feels weird" Aria admitted.

"Well things are getting better, so you will have lots of reasons to smile" Alaric said.

"I hope so" Aria said, just as her phone started ringing, "It's from the Grill".

"The Grill?" Jeremy asked confused, "Whose calling you from the Grill?".

"I don't know" Aria replied, answering the phone, "Hello?".

"Hello, Aria, it's your old dead friend Connor, remember me?".

"Oh my god" Aria whispered.

***

Kol and Damon were at the boarding house, when someone rang the bell, Damon opened the door, only to see Vaughn, the hunter they encountered at the island they went to get the cure.

"Vaughn" Damon said confused, as Kol also came up to the door, equally as confused as Damon.

Vaughn didn't say anything, just shot at both Damon and Kol, "Got a little message for you, laddie" he said, "Straight from the mouth of the witch Qetsiyah".

***

"We want Silas and Damien, and we want the cure" Connor told Aria.

"I don't know where Silas or Damien are, they are no longer my problem, so I guess I can't help you with that" Aria snapped, she was still angry at Damien for giving the cure to Silas.

"Huh, know who's gonna need some help?" Connor asked, "Grandma and Grandpa Jones in town for the big high-school graduation, along with Auntie Sue and Uncle Mark and in fact everybody here at the Mystic Grill for graduation brunch".

"Keep him talking" Alaric mouthed, Aria nodded, as Alaric and Jeremy left to deal with Connor.

"You either get me what I want, or they die" Connor threatened.

"I've defeated you before Connor, I can do it again" Aria snapped.

***

Damon and Kol groaned in pain as they took the bullets out of their body.

"Yeah, borrowed it from a jarhead friend Connor" Vaughn said, showing his gun off, "Shoots wood like lead".

"Come on, man" Damon said, "We didn't kill you".

"No but your friend fed me to Damien" Vaughn snapped.

"Don't ever call that bitch our friend" Kol snapped back.

"There I was, alone on the other side, till Qetsiyah found me and reminded me of my supernatural destiny" Vaughn said, ignoring Kol's words, "Cure Silas and Damien, and then kill Silas and Damien, end of story".

While Vaughn was busy talking to Damon, Kol quickly stood up and ripped Vaughn's heart out.

"Couldn't you have done that sooner?" Damon asked.

"I was shot" Kol snapped.

***

"I swear to god Connor, if you hurt anyone in that Grill, I will make it my personal mission to make sure you never find Silas and Damien or the cure" Aria snapped.

"Find the brothers and the cure Aria, then no one will get hurt" Connor said, hanging up on Aria.

"So you get off on terrorizing innocent people?" Alaric asked, standing behind Connor.

"And who might you be?" Connor asked confused.

"The guy responsible for the eighteen year old you just threatened" Alaric replied.

"That eighteen year old is a abomination" Connor snapped.

"Don't call her that" Alaric warned, "Because I also taught that eighteen year old how to snap a person's neck with her bare hands".

Connor chuckled, "That's ironic, you must not know a damn thing about fighting if you're trying to intimidate a dead guy packing C-4", Connor unzipped his jacket, showing Alaric the C-4.

"This is my bar, pal" Alaric said, "Nobody's gonna blow it up".

Connor pressed the button that will set the bomb off, but before it could cause major damage, Alaric grabbed him and speeded out the bar.

***

Aria entered Damon's room, to see both Damon and Kol arguing about something.

"Hey" Aria said, gaining their attention, "Is everything okay?".

"Ri--".

"Everything's fine" Damon interrupted Kol, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your graduation?".

"I actually came to ask you both if you were coming to my graduation?" Aria asked.

"Of course we are" Damon replied, "Wouldn't miss it for the world".

"Unless we die, then we will have to miss it" Kol interjected, making Damon glare at him.

"What?" Aria asked, "What's going on between you two?".

"Tell her Damon" Kol replied, "She needs to know".

"No she doesn't" Damon snapped, "Keep your mouth shut Kol".

"Damon's dying Ri" Kol said, shocking Aria.

"What?" Aria asked, she looked at Damon and frowned seeing a bullet hole in Damon's shirt, without saying anything, Aria stepped forward and checked under Damon's shirt, "Why isn't this healing?".

"Because the bullet was laced with werewolf venom, okay?" Damon said, "Hunters are dick, they shot both me and Kol".

Aria looked towards Kol, "You're poisoned as well?".

"I'm an Original, Ri" Kol reminded, "Werewolf venom won't kill me, but it will kill Damon".

"Nik is coming for our graduation, he will give you his blood and you will be alright, there's no need for anyone to panic" Aria told Damon, but both Kol and Damon could tell Aria was panicking.

"Ria" Damon said, gaining Aria's attention, "I'm going to be fine, okay? Nothing is going to happen to me, like you said, Klaus is coming soon, I will be fine".

"I can't lose you, I won't lose you" Aria said.

"And you won't" Damon assured.

"We need a back up plan" Aria said, "In case Klaus doesn't make it, we need to have a back up plan to save your life".

"There is no other way Ri" Kol said.

"How about the cure?" Jeremy suggested, standing on the doorway, having heard everything.

"If Damon's human then the werewolf venom won't hurt him" Aria realised, "The cure's at Alaric's apartment, I can get it".

"I'm not taking the cure" Damon snapped.

"Damon--".

"Sounds like Vaughn's awake" Damon said, walking away from Aria.

"Ri, get to your graduation" Kol said.

"I'm not leaving Damon" Aria snapped.

"I'm here with Damon, I will make sure nothing happens to him, but right now you need to graduate" Kol said.

"But--".

"Kol's right Aria" Jeremy said, "Damon will be fine, you need to get to school, you can't miss your own graduation".

"Promise me you will stay with him, if push comes to shove, you will shove the cure down this throat?" Aria asked.

"I promise" Kol assured, "Now go graduate Ri".

***

"Nik, I've called both you and Elijah so many times, please call me back" Aria said, into the phone, "Both Kol and Damon have been poisoned by werewolf venom, Kol will heal but only after experiencing horrible hallucinations, and Damon won't heal, he will just die, so for the love god tell me if you're coming or not".

"Finally" Caroline said, seeing Aria walk over to her, "Where's Rebekah?".

"I'm here" Rebekah said, running over to her best friends.

"Where have you been?" Caroline asked Rebekah.

"Dodging my crazy dead ex boyfriend" Rebekah replied.

"The hunter?" Aria asked, Rebekah nodded.

Caroline smiled, she looked between her two best friends, "I can't believe it, we're actually all here, us three are all here together".

"Yeah we are" Aria whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

"Aria Connor-Forbes, are you crying?" Caroline asked.

"It's just after everything we've all been through, we are actually graduating, together" Aria replied.

"Also, it's our last huge event before we are officially collage students" Rebekah said.

"What if collage isn't for us?" Aria asked, slightly scared to go to collage.

"Well, that's the perks of being a vampire, we can go wherever we wanna go" Caroline replied, "In collage, we can choose our own roommates, we could get a triple room, or if collage doesn't work for us, we can travel the whole world, as long as we are with each other, we can do anything we want to do".

"God, I'm so happy, I'm graduating with you two by my side" Aria said.

"Aw, group hug" Caroline said.

Rebekah and Aria laughed, but nonetheless, the three girls hugged each other, happy to finally be graduating high school.

***

"Welcome parents, family and friends, what a beautiful day for graduation, thank you for joining us today on this special day as we celebrate our graduates, so let's get started, John Albrick, David Bass, Sarah Beasley, not to play favorites, but I'm especially proud of this next graduate, my lovely daughter, Bonnie Bennett".

Bonnie went on stage and hugged her father.

Mayor Hopkins gave Bonnie a small smile and went back to announcing the graduates, "Savannah Davis, Matt Donovan, William Duncan, Caroline Forbes".

"Thank you" Caroline said, walking on the stage with a huge smile on her face.

"Aria Connor-Forbes" Mayor Hopkins announced.

Aria walked on the stage and shook the Mayor's hand, she grabbed her diploma and looked towards the crowd, on the back she saw Jeremy, Alaric, Finn and Grams standing with Liz and Jenna, cheering Aria and the other girls on, causing Aria to have a huge smile on her face.

"Rebekah Mikaelson" Mayor Hopkins announced.

Aria and Caroline cheered loudly as they saw their best friend go on stage and grab her diploma.

***

"Jenna!" Aria yelled, hugging her once guardian.

"You did it Aria!" Jenna yelled, hugging Aria back, "You're officially a high school graduate".

"I did it" Aria said, happily.

"Yes you did" Sheila said, walking over to Aria with Liz, "Congratulations my child".

"Thank you so much Grams" Aria said, hugging the older witch.

"Mom!" Caroline yelled, running over to her mom and hugging her, "I did it!".

Liz chuckled, "Yes you did".

"Aria, join the hug" Caroline said, grabbing Aria's wrist and dragging her towards their mother.

Aria chuckled but nonetheless hugged Liz, "I'm so proud of you both" Liz told her daughters.

Aria and Caroline gave their mother a huge smile.

***

After meeting Jenna, Liz and Grams, Caroline and Aria met up with Rebekah behind the stands, talking to Alaric on the phone, who after seeing Aria's graduation went to meet up with Damon and Kol, along with Finn.

"I would love nothing more than to get out of here before Vaughn comes back to life" Alaric said, "But Damon won't take the cure".

"Why not?" Aria asked.

"His an stubborn asshole that's why" Kol snapped.

"Caroline and Rebekah are calling Nik and Elijah, they should be here soon" Aria said.

"Aria, the hunter shot Damon with more werewolf venom" Finn informed, "His running out of time".

"I'm not going to stand here and watch him die" Kol snapped, looking at a unconscious Damon, "If I have to I will shove this cure down his throat".

Aria went to reply to Kol, but her, Caroline and Rebekah, fell to the ground, clutching their heads in pain.

"Remember us, Aria?" One of the witches Aria killed said, coming up to the three girls with the other witches Aria killed behind her.

Before she could cause much damage, two graduation caps were thrown at the front two witches, ripping their heads off.

Aria, Rebekah and Caroline looked from where the caps came from, to see both Klaus and Elijah standing there.

"There are plenty more of these to go around" Klaus said, "Who's next?".

"My brother and I can do this all day" Elijah said.

***

"How'd you get here so fast?" Caroline asked, as Klaus walked over her.

"I was already on my way" Klaus replied, "I received yours, Rebekah's and Ari's graduation announcements, it was very subtle, I assume you guys were expecting cash?".

"That, or a mini-fridge" Caroline replied.

"Well, I had considered offering you a first-class ticket to join me in New Orleans" Klaus said, "But I knew what your answer would be, so I opted for something I knew you would accept, something I wanted to say to you before I left town".

"What?" Caroline asked confused.

"I love you" Klaus said, shocking Caroline.

"What?" Caroline asked, not sure if she heard Klaus right.

"I'm in love you with you Caroline Forbes" Klaus admitted.

Caroline smiled, and without wasting another second, she stepped forward and kissed Klaus.

"I'm in love with you too" Caroline admitted, making Klaus smile, "And it doesn't matter if you're in Mystic Falls or New Orleans, I will always wait for you to come back to me".

"And I will always come back to you" Klaus promised.

"I know" Caroline whispered, once again kissing Klaus.

***

Damon was sitting on his bed, when Aria walked into his room.

"Why are you so damn stubborn?" Aria asked.

"I wanted to apologise" Damon replied.

"Then apologise" Aria said.

"Let me finish Ria, I said I wanted to" Damon said, "But sitting here, waiting for you to come to me, made me realise, I'm not sorry".

"Let me get this straight, you would rather die a gruesome death then take the bloody cure and be human?" Aria asked shocked.

"Yes" Damon replied simply.

"You realise, I'm not okay with that, right?" Aria asked.

"I never asked you to be okay with it" Damon replied, "I'm selfish Ria, when it comes to us, I am selfish, yes, I would've rather have died than take the cure and be human, I'd rather die now then not get to spend the rest of eternity with you by my side, I'd rather die right now than spend my final years remembering how good I had it and how happy I was with you, because that's who I am, Aria, and I'm not gonna change".

"Are you done?" Aria asked, "Can I talk now, or do you have more to say?".

"I'm done" Damon replied.

"Good" Aria said, stepping towards Damon, "Now you need to listen to me, do you actually think I would do anything to sabotage the idea of you and me spending eternity together, of course I wouldn't, but you were dying Damon, and Klaus was no where to be seen, if you were in my position you would have shoved the cure down my throat, and don't you dare lie saying you wouldn't".

Damon looked at Aria, knowing she was right, if Aria was dying, and the cure was the only way to save her, Damon would gladly force her to take the cure.

"You know before I met you, I was in a very dark place, I was smiling, but from the inside I was breaking, no one ever understood what was happening to me, maybe except Caroline, but then you came, you made me question everything, what I thought was right and wrong, no longer seemed right or wrong, you made me feel so much happiness, something I thought I would never feel again, when I died and turned into a vampire, it was only the thought of you and me being together forever, that helped me get through this transition" Aria said, "But I'm not going to apologise for trying to get you to take the cure Damon, because I would rather you be human and live the rest of your entire human life in happiness, then die from werewolf venom, despite knowing that I won't be able to live without you, that eventually I will lose you, but the thought you died happy would be enough for me to spend the rest of eternity in your memory, so if you're selfish Damon, then so am I, when it comes to you, and your happiness, then I am selfish Damon, and I am not going to apologise for that, because you know why, because I'm in love with you Damon Salvatore, not just for now, but for the rest of my immortal life".

Damon stared at Aria for a moment, "Say something then" Aria said.

Damon didn't say anything, he just walked over to Aria and pulled her into a kiss.

"I love you so much" Damon whispered.

Aria smiled, "Forever?".

"And ever" Damon replied, pulling Aria into another kiss.

***

After spending some time together, Aria and Damon went downstairs where everyone was, they stood by stairs and watched everyone.

Kol, Finn, Klaus, Elijah, Alaric and Jeremy were drinking bourbon and catching up with each other. Lexi, Natalie, Caroline and Rebekah were dancing together. Grams, Liz and Jenna were sitting by the fireplace and talking.

"This feels nice" Aria whispered, "It feels like home".

Damon put his arms around Aria's waist, "That's cause we are surrounded by family".

"Damon, join us" Elijah said, seeing the couple enter.

"Aria, it's time to get smashed and dance till we disappear again" Lexi said.

Damon and Aria looked at each other and smiled, they walked down the remaining stairs, and Damon joined the guys in drinking and mocking each other, while Aria joined the girls in dancing the night away.

"So, did Ari slap you?" Klaus asked Damon.

"No" Damon replied.

"Did you finally get laid?" Kol asked, making Finn hit the back of his head.

"Do you ever say something that's not vulgar?" Jeremy asked.

"No" Finn, Elijah and Klaus said, making the rest of the guys laugh, and Kol glare at them.

"So Klaus, I heard you got the girl" Alaric said.

"About bloody time" Kol said.

"Don't screw it up" Damon said, "She's got a very powerful tribrid by her side".

"Wouldn't dream of it" Klaus said.

"Jenna, Grams, mom, join us" Aria said, grabbing Jenna and Grams hand, while Caroline grabbed Liz's hand, pulling them up, "Your favorite girls have finally graduated hell, the least you can do is dance with them".

"I'm down" Jenna said, joining the girls.

Sheila and Liz exchanged an amused look, but nonetheless joined the dance party.

As the girls were partying, someone knocked on the front door, "I'll go see who it is" Aria said, walking towards the front door.

Opening the front door, Aria was met with nothing but a letter, Aria picked it up in confusion, not knowing who it was from.

Dear  Aria, 

I know I have broken your trust by giving the cure to my brother, but I had no other choice, if I hadn't done that, then my brother would have made yours and Damon's life a living hell, something I couldn't have. I know you wanted to reunite me with Adriana, but I can't face her, she deserves better, she deserves someone who would protect her from his brother and his obsessed lover, not someone like me, who failed in protecting the one girl he vowed to protect with his life.

You need to know that you and Damon are not me and Adriana, you both are better then us, Damon will fight his brother for you, hell he will fight the whole world for you, you would do the same for him, I know everyone believes me and Adriana doomed our descendants and maybe we did, but you and Damon are different, you will not have the same fate as us, your story has just started Aria, your happily ever after has just started.

If you or Damon ever need me, know that I will always come to your aid, hopefully one day you both will trust my intentions, and you will forgive me for betraying your trust.

Forever Adriana's, Damien

"Ria" Damon said, walking over to Aria, "What's wrong? Everyone's waiting for you".

Aria didn't say anything, just handed the letter to Damon.

Damon read the letter, and sighed, "I get it".

"Get what?" Aria asked.

"Why Damien doesn't want to reunite with Adriana" Damon replied, "If I was to ever kill you, even if it was because I was ending your pain, I would never forgive myself, I would spend the rest of eternity feeling guilty, and I wouldn't have it in me to ever face you again".

"Damon, if you killed me to end my suffering, then I would be waiting for you to come to me, just like I know for a fact, Adriana is waiting for Damien, her suffering hasn't stopped, it won't stop until her and Damien reunite" Aria said.

Before Damon could say anything, Caroline called them.

"Damon, Aria" she said, gaining their attention.

"What?" Damon asked.

"The full moon is here, which means the veil is up" Caroline replied.

Aria and Damon turned around to see Caroline, Elijah, Klaus, Rebekah, Kol, Jeremy, Jenna and Liz standing there, everyone else having disappeared.

***

Presenting 4x23 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

EEKKKK! SEASON FOUR OF THE VAMPIRES DIARIES IS OFFICALLY DONE! How was this season overall? What were your favorite moments? What were you least favorite moments?

What do we think will happen next season? Any suggestions?

Anyways, how was this chapter?

Thoughts on meeting so many old faces in this chapter?

Thoughts on our three favorite girls finally graduating high school?

Thoughts on everybody spending some quality time at the boarding house?

Thoughts on Damien's letter to Aria?

See you guys next season! Spoiler alert: Daria will be welcoming a new family member, hopefully! 👀