02. True Lies

"Megan's memorial outside is growing by the minute" Rebekah told Aria, as her and Caroline entered the dorm.

"What are you eating?" Caroline asked shocked.

"A sandwich" Aria replied simply, eating her sandwich and writing in her diary.

Caroline walked over to Aria, and took her sandwich from her hand.

"Hey!" Aria complained.

"Pickle and cheese?" Caroline asked shocked, "You're eating a pickle and cheese sandwich?".

"Yes, I am" Aria replied, taking the sandwich back from her sister.

"I thought you hated pickles" Rebekah said, equally as confused as Caroline.

"Guys, it's one sandwich relax" Aria said, "I had a sudden craving for a pickle sandwich, so I got one, no big deal".

"The last time I tried to get you to eat pickles, you threatened to stake me" Caroline said, "Then proceeded to throw all the pickles out of our house".

"But I didn't" Aria reminded, "You know I would never do that".

"Aria, are you feeling okay?" Rebekah asked, slightly concerned, "You've been nauseous, extremely exhausted and now you're eating pickles".

"Rebekah, relax, I'm perfectly fine" Aria assured, "Plus it's not just a pickle sandwich, it's a pickle and cheese sandwich, now can we go back to Megan's memorial".

Caroline sighed, "There's nothing to talk about that Aria, collage kids are so dramatic, she was on campus for, like, one day, she couldn't have made that many friends".

"Care, she's dead" Aria reminded, "The least you can do now is be a little sensitive".

"Yeah, you can now stop competing with her" Rebekah said.

"Sorry, I'm in a mood" Caroline said.

"She's missing Nik" Aria told Rebekah.

"Shut up and eat your stupid sandwich" Caroline said, going over and starting to pack Megan's stuff.

"Hey, I'm not judging, I miss Damon to" Aria said.

"We know" Rebekah and Caroline said, making Aria laugh.

"Are you seriously snooping again?" Rebekah asked Caroline.

"Yeah, do we have a explanation as to why our roommate, who drinks vervain water and was killed by a vampire, had a picture of Grayson dad?" Aria asked.

"No" Caroline replied.

"Oh that reminds me" Rebekah said, "I went by the hospital this morning", Rebekah handed a file over to Aria, "Megan's death certificate, says that the cause of her death was suicide".

"There's no mention of the vampire bite in here" Aria said, going through Megan's file.

"Meaning whoever signed her death certificate, was part of the cover up" Rebekah said.

"Like the Founder's Council back home" Aria said.

Caroline took Megan's file from Aria, and read the name of the doctor who signed Megan's death certificate, "Dr. Wesley Maxfield?".

"In other words, our applied microbiology professor" Rebekah replied.

"Um, I didn't take applied microbiology" Aria said, slightly confused.

"I know, I switched our classes" Rebekah said, shocking Aria and Caroline.

"Excuse me?" Aria asked.

"Rebekah, we are supposed to be taking Intro to Communication" Caroline reminded, "What happened to getting drunk and making bad decisions about boys? What happened to our fun freshman year at collage? I am supposed to be a drama major".

"And I'm supposed to be a writer" Aria said.

"None of us will be able to be anything if we get exposed as bloody vampires" Rebekah snapped.

Aria sighed, "As much as I hate admitting this, Rebekah is right".

"Seriously?" Caroline asked.

"Look Care, we can still have our fun year at collage, while at the same time solving a murder mystery" Aria replied, "Remember, the only way Damon kept his secret was by being part of the Founder's Council, plus you have amazing acting skills, you will be fine, we all will".

Caroline looked between her two best friends, and finally nodded, "Fine, let's do this".

Aria smiled, "Time to solve a murder".

***

"Hey, blow-off girl" Jesse greeted Rebekah, as the three best friends entered the microbiology class, "Aren't you a freshman? How are you in this class?".

"Cause I--", Rebekah looked towards her towards best friends, slightly asking for their help, but both of them shook their head at her, letting her know this was all on her, "Cause I love applied microbiology, it's my favorite type of biology".

"She believes that little things are just so cute" Caroline interjected.

"Are you going to the bonfire tonight?" An amused Jesse asked Rebekah, "Or are you just gonna get really close and then turn around and leave again?".

Aria chuckled, "Don't worry, this time she'll be there".

"Sweet" Jesse said, "We'll hang".

"What?" Aria asked, sitting on her seat while Rebekah glared at her, "We are here to make bad decisions about boys, remember?".

"He's cute, and he's interested, what else do you want?" Caroline asked.

"Both of you, shut up" Rebekah snapped, just as the professor walked in.

"Morning, everyone" Dr. Maxfield greeted, "I'm Dr. Maxfield, first name is Wes, but call me Dr. Maxfield, one day, when you're out of med school, you'll understand, so you're all going to this bonfire tonight, right? Well, here's a quick history lesson for you, Whitmore was founded as a hospital during the Civil War, the deadliest war in American history, over 600,00 causalities, disease was so prevalent that once a week they had to gather all the dead rotting bodies, put them in a pile, and light the whole thing on fire".

"I think I'm going to be sick" Aria whispered.

"So tonight, when you're getting drunk and partying, stop for a second, close your eyes, and imagine the rancid smell of a hundred rotting corpses" Wes said.

"Creepy" Caroline whispered.

"Agreed" Aria whispered back.

"His kinda hot though" Rebekah whispered.

"Which brings us to microbiology" Wes said, "Because that rancid smell comes from a specific bacteria, isn't that right, chatty girls in the back?".

Aria, Caroline and Rebekah looked at the Professor, in slight shock, at this moment Aria really wished she had the power to turn invisible, she hated the way everyone was looking at them.

"And what is that bacteria?" Wes asked the three girls.

"Uh, that's the, um--", Caroline struggled to come with an answer.

"We don't know" Rebekah admitted.

"Maybe cause you're freshman who shouldn't be in this class" Wes said, "How do I know? I'm observant, a skill you'll learn in Bio 101, down the hall".

***

"I have never been so embarrassed" Aria said through the phone, "The silence in the room wanted me to hide in my bed and never come out".

"You want me to beat him up?" Damon asked.

"Yes" Aria replied, making Damon chuckle, "But before you do that, I need to know what he knows".

"Did you compel him?" Damon asked.

"No" Aria replied, "Since he covered up the real reason behind Megan's death, it's safe to assume he knows about vampires, meaning he might also know about vervain".

"How about violence?" Damon asked, "Did you threaten him?".

"No, I was too embarrassed to get anything out" Aria replied.

"At least tell me you used torture" Damon said.

Aria laughed, "I didn't use torture either".

"You do realise that you are dating a reformed serial killer, right?" Damon asked.

"You are not reformed" Aria replied.

"I am for you" Damon said.

Aria laughed at her boyfriend, she suddenly stopped laughing seeing the person infront of her, "Stefan?".

"Are you seriously saying Stefan's name, while on the call with me?" Damon asked.

"Damon, Stefan's infront of me" Aria replied.

"What?" Damon asked shocked.

Stefan, who was actually Silas, walked over to Aria, "Turn off your phone".

"Excuse me?" Aria asked, confusing Silas.

"Turn off your phone" Silas repeated.

"And why would I do anything you ask me to do?" Aria asked.

Silas looked at shocked, not knowing why his mind control wasn't working on Aria.

"Ria, get away from him, right now" Damon said, the urgency in his voice confusing Aria.

"What--?", before Aria could ask Damon any questions, Silas took Aria's phone from her, and threw it.

"Hey!" Aria yelled, "What the hell is wrong with you Stefan?".

"Why can't I control you?" Silas asked confused.

"What?" Aria asked confused, when suddenly realisation came over her, "Oh, my god, you're not Stefan are you?".

"Something's protecting you from me" Silas whispered shocked.

"Who are you?" Aria asked, "Damien?".

"Silas" Silas corrected.

"That's not possible" Aria snapped, "I turned you into stone".

"Clearly your boyfriend hasn't been keeping you up to date" Silas said, "There's something different about you, something's protecting you but I can't figure out what?".

"What the hell do you want Silas?" Aria asked.

Silas didn't say anything, just looked at Aria, his eyes then fell on Aria's stomach, and realisation crossed his face, "That's what's protecting you from me" Silas whispered shocked.

"Excuse me?" Aria asked, confused out of her mind.

***

"Damon!" Caroline yelled, when Damon entered the dorm room, "Towel, knock".

"Caroline, no one care, no" Damon said, "Hey, where's Aria?".

"I don't know" Caroline replied, "She probably went with Rebekah to the bonfire to get more intel on our weirdo professor".

"Silas is here, he's with Aria, pretending to be Stefan, get dressed" Damon informed.

"I thought Aria turned him to stone, and Stefan dropped his body in the quarry" Caroline said confused.

"Join the club, get dressed" Damon said, not telling Caroline about Bonnie's death and Silas throwing Stefan into the quarry.

"Oh, my god, Aria was right" Caroline realised, "All summer, she's had this pit in her stomach that something wrong was about to happen".

"What?" Damon asked confused,

"I don't know" Caroline said, "She said she had this weird feeling that something had went wrong".

"Just put some clothes on and meet me out there, we have to find her" Damon said, throwing Caroline's clothes at her, "And call Rebekah to".

"Wait, where's Kol and Jeremy?" Caroline asked confused.

"Keeping Katherine away from Silas and closer to Damien" Damon replied, walking out the dorm.

***

Damon walked around Whitmore campus, keeping an eye out for his girlfriend, but finding her no where, "Hello, brother" Silas greeted, "But I suppose distant nephew is probably more accurate".

Damon walked over to Silas and grabbed his neck, "Where the hell is Aria?".

"There's no need for violence, Damon" Silas replied, removing Damon's hand from his neck, "You'll find her eventually, look, I get why you like her, I mean, I have a soft spot for brunettes too, what I don't get is why she likes you".

"That's because you haven't had sex with me" Damon snapped, extremely on edge with Aria missing.

Stefan chuckled, "Cockiness masking fear, how transparent".

"You except me to believe you came all this way just to talk her?" Damon asked.

"Believe it or not Damon, that's exactly what I came to do" Silas replied, "I told her all the things you've been hiding from her", Silas patted Damon's arm, "Enjoy the bonfire Damon, oh, and congrats on the new member".

"What?" Damon asked confused.

Silas didn't say anything, just gave Damon a smirk, and simply walked away.

***

It was now nighttime, and the bonfire was in full action, Damon, Caroline and Rebekah were still looking for Aria.

"Why would Silas want to hurt her?" Caroline asked confused.

"Because he wants to hurt me" Damon replied.

"You realise, if you had just told Aria about Silas being on the loose, she would have been careful and all this would have been avoided" Rebekah said.

"Gee, thanks, Rebekah, your hindsight is invaluable in this situation" Damon snapped.

As the trio was walking, Damon bumped into one of the collage students.

"Watch where you're going, douche".

"Have you seen Aria Connor?" Damon asked.

"Forbes" Caroline interjected, "Aria Connor-Forbes".

Damon rolled his eye at Caroline, and turned to the collage student, "I have no idea who that is, and if I were her, I'd probably run from you too".

Damon glared at the man infront of him, "Wrong answer" he said, holding the guy by his neck.

Caroline quickly pushed Damon away from the guy, "Forget all this and get out of here" she compelled, she then turned to Damon, "You have to calm down".

"He turned the entire town square into a hunting party for Katherine" Damon snapped, "How am I supposed to calm down, when every single person here could be working for Silas?".

Suddenly, Damon's phone started ringing, taking it out, he realised Aria was calling him.

"Ria?" Damon asked, answering his phone.

"Damon" Aria cried.

"Ria, what's wrong?" Damon asked, "Where are you?".

"At my dorm" Aria replied.

"I'm coming" Damon said.

"Come alone" Aria whispered, "Please, come alone, there's something I need to tell you".

Damon, Rebekah and Caroline exchanged a confused look, not know what was going on with Aria.

"I'm on my way" Damon assured.

"Go" Rebekah said, after Damon hanging up.

"But if me and Rebekah don't hear from you or Aria in half an hour, then both of us are coming to the dorm" Caroline said.

Damon nodded, and quickly ran to the dorm, wanting to make sure Aria was okay.

***

Damon entered the girl's dorm room, and saw Aria sitting on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands.

"Ria" Damon called out, running over to Aria and kneeling infront of her, "Are you okay? What did Silas do to you?".

"Silas didn't do anything" Aria whispered, "He couldn't do anything".

"What?" Damon asked confused.

Aria looked at Damon, "He tried to use his mind control on me, but it didn't work Damon, he said something was protecting me".

"What was protecting you?" Damon asked.

"Remember the time I felt nauseous, and ended up vomiting?" Aria asked.

Damon nodded, "Yeah, you said it was because of the fish Kol bought".

"That wasn't the only time I felt nauseous" Aria revealed, "The day we moved in here, I ended up vomiting, and recently I've been so exhausted and then I eat a pickle and cheese sandwich".

"But you hate pickles" Damon said confused.

"Exactly" Aria said, "And then when I met Silas, he said something was protecting me from him, and he told me what that was".

"What was it?" Damon asked.

Aria grabbed Damon's hand and placed it on her stomach.

"Ria, what are you doing?" Damon asked confused.

"Listen" Aria said simply, "Just listen".

Damon looked at Aria in confusion, but nonetheless, focused on her Aria's stomach and focused his hearing, and suddenly, he heard a faint heartbeat, it was small and it was faint, but it was there.

"Oh my god" Damon whispered shocked, "You're--you--oh my god".

"I'm pregnant Damon" Aria whispered.

"You're pregnant" Damon whispered shocked, "I'm going to be a father".

Aria nodded, "Our baby isn't even here yet and it's already protecting us".

"I'm going to be a father" Damon repeated, still very shock.

"I can't tell if you're happy shocked or sad shocked" Aria said.

"We're going to be parents?" Damon asked.

Aria nodded, "Yeah, we're going to be parents".

Damon quickly stood up and stepped away from Aria, making Aria frown, "Oh my god".

"Damon?" Aria said confused, standing up, "Are you okay?".

"I'm going to be a father" Damon whispered, the reality slowly sinking in.

"Yeah" Aria said, "And can you please tell me if you're okay with it or not cause your reaction is kind of freaking me out".

Damon looked at Aria, and before Aria could realise what was happening, he stepped forward and smashed his lips on to her Aria's.

"I'm guessing that means you're happy?" Aria asked.

"Beyond" Damon replied, "I'm beyond happy Ria, we're going to be parents, in a few months, there's going to be mini us, this is the best news you could have ever given me", Damon kneeled down and talked to Aria's stomach, "I can't wait to meet you, my little princess".

"Prince" Aria corrected, "We're going to have a boy".

"Girl" Damon said, standing up, "We're having a girl Ria".

"Boy" Aria said.

"Girl" Damon retorted.

"Damon, I am carrying this child in my stomach for nine months, we already have a connection, I can tell it's going to be a boy" Aria said.

"I am the father of the child you are carrying Ria, it's a girl, trust me" Damon said.

"Damon, it's a boy, I know it is" Aria said.

"Ria--", before Damon could complete his sentence, the door bursted open and Caroline and Rebekah came in.

"Aria, are you okay?" Rebekah asked.

"Why didn't you call us that you found her?" Caroline asked Damon.

"We were having a moment" Damon replied.

"There's something you two need to know" Aria said.

"What?" Rebekah asked.

Aria looked at Damon, who gave her a reassuring nod, "We're having a baby".

Rebekah and Caroline looked at Aria in shock, waiting for Damon and Aria to start laughing and telling them that they were joking.

"Gee guys, thanks for enthusiasm" Damon said sarcastically.

"Wait, you're serious?" Caroline asked shocked.

Aria put her hands on her stomach, "Listen" she said.

Both Rebekah and Caroline focused their hearing on Aria's stomach, and both of them looked at Aria in shock, when they heard the faint heartbeat of her baby.

"Oh my god!" Caroline yelled, jumping up and down in excitement, "I'm going to be a aunt!".

"So am I!" Rebekah yelled, hugging Caroline.

"We are going to be the best aunts ever!" Caroline yelled.

"Hey, where's my hug?" Aria asked.

"Come here" Caroline said, grabbing Aria's hand and pulling her into the hug.

"Be careful" Damon said.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Relax Damon, we're just hugging her".

"Shopping" Rebekah said, "We have to go shopping, there's so much things we need to buy, baby furniture".

"Baby clothes" Caroline said.

"Baby food" Rebekah said.

"Beks, I don't think I'm even a month pregnant, we don't need baby food just yet" Aria said, amused at her two best friends.

"You can never be too careful" Rebekah said.

"Rebekah come with me, we need to write down a list of all the things we need to buy" Caroline said, grabbing Rebekah's hand and taking her with him.

Damon walked over to Aria, and back hugged her, "Thank you".

"What for?" Aria asked confused.

"For making the most happiest man, alive" Damon replied, kissing the side of Aria's head.

"Anytime" Aria teased.

***

"Are you sure you both are okay with this?" Aria asked, as her, Caroline and Rebekah put her bags in Damon's trunk.

"Of course we are okay" Caroline assured, "You're pregnant Aria, your first priority has to be your baby, not collage".

"I'll be back" Aria assured, "I read somewhere that the first three months are the most important months of a pregnancy, I think once those months are over, I'll come back".

"You sure you want to be a collage student while being pregnant?" Rebekah asked.

"Guys, we are supposed to go through collage, together" Aria replied, "And that's exactly what I plan to do, we're going to get through collage, together, no matter what".

Caroline hugged Aria, "You better record mom's reaction when you tell her about the pregnancy, okay? I want to see it".

"I will" Aria assured.

"Take care" Rebekah said, hugging Aria.

"I will, you guy also take care" Aria said.

"We will" Rebekah assured.

"I didn't think Aria Connor would give up so easily" Wes said, walking over to Aria, after Caroline and Rebekah had walked away, "Sorry about being a hard ass earlier, it's kind of my thing, you're Lucas Connor's daughter, aren't you?".

Aria looked at Wes in shock, "You knew my dad?".

"Knew of him" Wes clarified, "He's a legend around here, brilliant, I've studied all his research that he did with Grayson Gilbert, I can only hope to do the kind of work they both did".

"I don't know about Grayson Gilbert, but my dad, he would never forge death certificates" Aria said.

"And here I thought you were just passionate about microbiology" Wes said, "I have office hours tomorrow, come by, we can chat".

"I would love to, but I'm leaving for a few weeks, maybe when I get back?" Aria asked.

"Sure, let me know when you're back, I would love to chat with you" Wes replied, walking away from Aria.

"Isn't he awfully nice" Damon said, walking over to Aria.

"I thought it was only Grayson dad who had a connection to this place, but apparently my dad does to" Aria said extremely confused.

"Do you want to stay?" Damon asked.

"No" Aria replied, "Caroline and Rebekah will take over this investigation, we have something more important to take care of".

Damon glanced at Aria's stomach, "We do, don't we?".

"You think we got this?" Aria asked, slightly scared, "This isn't like defeating evil people, this is about a life, that we both made, are you sure we can do right by him?".

Damon put his hands on Aria's waist, and pulled her closer to him, "We got this Ria, trust me, we are going to do right by her?".

Aria chuckled, she wrapped her arms around Damon and hugged him, "Just so you know, it's a boy".

"It's a girl Ria" Damon said, hugging Aria back, "I just know it is".

Before Aria could argue back, Damon's phone started ringing.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"We found something" Liz said through the phone.

***

"Elena had come to us and told us that Stefan was in somewhere in the quarry, apparently, Silas had informed her, so we decided to search the quarry just in case" Liz informed her daughter and Damon, "We didn't find anything in the quarry but a deputy found this a few mile away, he didn't open it", Liz started to open the safe, "If Stefan's been in there for three months, chance are he's hungry".

Damon and Aria exchanged a worried look, and Damon stood infront of Aria, and opened the safe.

"Oh, my god" Aria whispered, feeling extremely sick seeing the dead body in the safe, "That's not Stefan".

"But you're right, he was hungry" Damon realised, "Bet he still is".

"I need to go" Aria said, quickly speeding away, turns out her pregnancy was really effecting her bloodlust, because seeing the dead body, suddenly made her really hungry.

"What's wrong with her?" Liz asked worried for her daughter.

"She isn't feeling herself" Damon replied, speeding after Aria.

Aria stood by Damon's car, devouring a blood bag.

"Ria, you okay?" Damon asked concerned.

"I think our child is effecting my bloodlust" Aria replied, grabbing another blood bag.

"Alright, come on, let's get you home before you end my attacking someone" Damon said.

"Good thinking" Aria said, quickly sitting in the car.

***

Aria and Damon entered the boarding house, Aria having controlled her hunger, as soon as the couple entered the house, three people jumped from the shadows.

"Congratulations!" April, Jeremy and Kol yelled.

"Ahh!" Aria yelled, clutching Damon's arm in fright, making him laugh.

"Aria!" April yelled, running over to Aria and pulling her into a hug, "Congrats Aria, you're going to be a mom".

"How did you three find out?" Damon asked confused.

"Caroline called" Jeremy replied, "She just couldn't keep it in".

Aria laughed, "Of course".

"Congrats Aria" Jeremy said, hugging his best friend, "I'm so happy".

"You're going to be a father" Kol said, punching Damon in the arm, "Does this mean you're finally going to be responsible now?".

Damon chuckled, "Shut up".

"Ri!" Kol yelled, hugging the tribrid, "I'm so happy for you, shot gun on being the godfather".

"No!" Jeremy yelled, "I'm her best friend, I get to be the godfather".

"Have you guys decided which room is going to be the baby room?" April asked Aria.

"The baby needs to have the biggest room" Kol said, before Aria could say anything.

"We need a lot of baby furniture" Jeremy said.

"And cute little baby clothes" April said.

"April, Jeremy, come with me, let's decide what room that baby gets" Kol said running up the stairs, with Jeremy and April.

"These nine months are going to be the most entertaining nine month of our lives" Damon said, very amused.

Aria chuckled, "Couldn't agree more".

***

Presenting 5x02 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was this chapter? I enjoyed writing this chapter so much, this might be one of my favorite chapters of this book!

Thoughts on Wes knowing Aria's father?

Thoughts on our favorite Mystic Falls couple about to be parents?

Thought on Aria and Damon's baby protecting Aria from Silas's mind control?

Thoughts on everyone's reaction regarding Aria's pregnancy?

blooming_amethyst made another aesthetic for me and it's dedicated to all the soulmates, I love it so much, once again thank you for being one of Daria's number one supporter!