02. Brave New World

"Wait, you're telling me you and Damon are official now?" a slightly shocked Bonnie asked Aria, "Like boyfriend and girlfriend official?".

Bonnie, Aria and Elena were currently at the school, preparing for the annual carnival.

Aria smiled, "Yeah, we are".

"Wow" Bonnie said, honestly she doesn't know why she was surprised, everyone knew this was going to happen one day, it was just a matter of when, "Are you happy?".

"Of course I am Bon" Aria said, "I love him and being with him makes me the most happy I've been in a very long time".

Bonnie smiled at Aria, she could clearly see the happiness on her face, though she didn't like Damon, she couldn't deny the fact that Damon made Aria happy, and Bonnie was thankful for that, "If you're happy then I'm happy".

"Thank you so much Bon" Aria said, hugging Bonnie happy to have her friend's approval, "Also, I'm really sorry about the way I went off at you on founder's day parade, I was scared I was going to lose Damon and I took it out on you, I'm really sorry".

"So I'm forgiven?" Bonnie asked, with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Of course you are, Bon" Aria replied.

"Bonnie, you seriously have no objection with Aria and Damon's relationship?" Elena asked shocked.

"No Elena" Bonnie replied truthfully, "I might not like Damon, but I can't deny the fact that Damon makes Aria happy, as long as he doesn't hurt her, I'm okay with their relationship".

"Thanks for being a supportive friend Bonnie, unlike some people" Aria said, the tone of taunt in her voice not missed by Bonnie or Elena.

Bonnie looked at Aria in confusion, "What?".

"I don't support Damon and Aria's relationship" Elena clarified.

This morning when Aria woke up, the first thing she wanted to do was call Caroline and tell her about the new development in her and Damon's relationship, but when she called her she didn't answer, Aria figured she was still sleeping so she went to the next best person, Elena, but turns out that was one of the worst decisions Aria could have made, as Elena made it clear to Aria how much she hated her and Damon's new relationship.

"And why's that?" a confused Bonnie asked.

"Because he's Damon, he's going to end up hurting her, that's what he does, he hurts people, and I don't want Aria to get hurt" Elena justified.

Aria scoffed, "These days, you're the one whose hurting me Elena, not Damon, and you know what, I don't care what you think, I know what me and Damon have, I don't need your approval for it, I told you because you were my best friend and I thought as a best friend you would have supported me, but no, why would you do that, all you care about is your hatred for Damon, not about my happiness".

"Aria--".

"Just stop Elena" Aria snapped, "I have always supported you, I even told Jeremy off for you, I threatened Isobel for you, I have always defended you and been there for you and I expected you to do the same, but guess I was wrong".

Bonnie looked at Elena with a disappointed look on her face, she didn't know why Elena was being like this, out of everyone Bonnie thought Elena will be the most happiest as Damon had managed to bring the smile back on Aria's face, but guess she was also wrong.

"Enough is enough you both, leave this topic, as long as your happy Aria that's all it matters, now can we talk about the more important issue" Bonnie said, not wanting the tension between Elena and Aria to get any worse.

"Which is?" Aria asked confused.

"Katherine" Bonnie said, "I mean, she looked just like Elena, it was freakish".

Elena sighed, hating the topic of Katherine, "She is my ancestor, hey I moved the student booths into the cafeteria".

"Your vampire ancestor" Bonnie retorted, "And she didn't just resemble you like a family member would, she was you".

The three girls grabbed some bags of toys and moved them to the booth next to them.

"I don't know, I can't explain it, okay? It's creepy, that's all I got" Elena said.

"How do you know she's still not out there pretending to be you?" Bonnie asked.

"That's the thing Bon, we don't" Aria said, "But we can't just sit down and torture ourselves with the not knowing, instead we can put our minds into something productive, like getting these prizes to the ring toss area".

"Yeah, I really don't wanna talk about anything vampire related today" Elena said, handing Bonnie the toys.

"Copy that" Bonnie said.

"We're humans" Elena said, "And we have to do human stuff otherwise we will all go crazy".

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll focus" Bonnie apologised, "We have to make Caroline proud, or she will kill us".

"Yeah, yesterday when I visited her, she warned me to make sure everything goes perfectly, otherwise she will murder all of us" Aria said, laughing at the memory, for some reason ever since Aria has woken up she's been missing Caroline a lot, maybe it's cause usually every morning the two talked on the phone before coming to school and this morning that didn't happen, or maybe it's something else, Aria just didn't have an answer.

"I don't know how she does this" Bonnie said.

"Because she's not human, obviously" Elena joked.

"Obviously" Bonnie said, laughing along with Aria.

***

When Aria was setting up for the carnival, Damon called her saying they needed to go to the Lockwood mansion and talk to Carol Lockwood about something really important, so Aria agreed to meet him there.

While Bonnie understood, Elena had made a huge deal out of Aria leaving, but at this point Aria no longer cared so after saying her goodbyes to Bonnie and promising to return soon, Aria left the school and went to the Lockwood Mansion.

"So I understand John Gilbert has left town" Carol said, sipping her tea.

Currently, Damon, Aria and Carol were in the Lockwood's study, talking about the recent events that have occurred.

"Have they found the vampire that attacked him?" Carol asked.

"Well the sheriff has asked me to take the lead on that" Damon informed, "And I promise you, I will get to the bottom of it".

"Which brings me to my next subject" Carol said, putting her cup down, "With Richard gone, I'll be acting as interim mayor until the elections, and I'm going to need someone to spearhead the council".

"Hmm".

"I'd like that person to be you" Carol told Damon.

Aria had to stop herself from laughing there and then, she couldn't believe Carol Lockwood was making Damon Salvatore, a vampire, the head of an anti vampire council.

"Whatever you need Carol" Damon said, ignoring Aria's amused face, "As a founding family member, it's something that's very close to me, so I would be honored to help keep this town safe from vampires".

Before Carol could say anything, she heard Tyler and Mason come through the front door, so she quickly got up to close the study door in order to keep both of them out.

"She just gave the council away to the one person who threatens this town the most" Aria whispered to Damon, a playful tinge in her voice.

"Shh" Damon said, playfully nudging Aria, causing her to let a out a small laugh, he then turned to Carol, "Is it safe to talk?".

"It's my brother in law Mason, he's still visiting" Carol explained, sitting back down, "I just don't want him to hear us, he didn't want any part of the council when he lived here and I see no reason to bring him into it now".

Damon nodded, he focused his hearing outside and started eavesdropping on Tyler and Mason's conversation.

"What was that, like seven?" Tyler asked his uncle.

"Six, I don't count the last one" Mason replied, panting, "You crawled it".

"What?" Tyler asked.

"Think Grandma Lockwood actually passed you, in her walker" Mason said laughing.

"Yeah, okay, shoes off, mud, my mom" Tyler said, shaking his head.

"Cool, yeah, yeah" Mason said, sitting down to take his shoes off, "So all this anger and aggression you were talking about, you notice the difference when you exercise?".

Tyler scoffed, "Dude, I played three varsity sports, I work out four times a week and run three, I'm gonna say no".

"Do you have episodes? I mean, what happens exactly?" Mason inquired.

"Starts out normal, I mean, I get angry, typically over nothing" Tyler explained, "I'm an angry guy, you know, it just amplifies and then I go off".

"You black out?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, it's like I go blind with rage" Tyler replied, throwing Mason a bottle of water, which he easily caught.

"Is there a pattern? Like, once a month? Only at night?" Mason asked.

"All I know is I lose myself, you know?" Tyler asked, "For that time, I become something else, and I hate it".

"More tea?" Carol asked, but Damon didn't reply too focused outside, Aria slightly nudged him bringing him back into the room.

"Oh, yes, please, thank you Carol" Damon said.

Aria looked at Damon and gestured as to what was wrong, Damon simply mouthed later.

***

After their talk with Carol, both Damon and Aria left the Lockwood Mansion, but instead of dropping Aria back to the school, Damon took her to the boarding house, claiming he had some important information about the Lockwoods.

Reaching the boarding house, Damon explained to Aria what he heard, about Tyler's aggression and Mason's weird questions, which is how Damon and Aria ended up in the living room, with Aria sitting on the couch with her laptop open, trying to see if she could find any clues as to what the Lockwood's could be, while Damon poured himself some blood from a blood bag.

"Would you care for one?" Damon asked Stefan, as he walked into the living, confused seeing Aria here.

"Hey Stefan" Aria said, not taking her eyes of her laptop.

"Hey Aria" Stefan said, "And no, thank you, not hungry, just ate".

"Aren't you worried that one day all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back? I mean, surely, they talk" Damon joked.

"Yeah, poor Bambi" Aria said, joining in the banter, finally taking her eyes off her laptop.

"Don't join him Aria" Stefan said, laughing at Aria's comment, he then turned to Damon, "I'm just happy that's a blood bag and not a sorority girl supplying your dinner".

"Don't you worry Stefan, I have a reputation I have to keep infront of my girl, no sorority girl here, no, no, no" Damon joked, making Aria laugh.

"Right" Stefan said, "Elena told me, you guys are finally giving your relationship a chance".

"And let me guess, she also told you about our fight" Aria said, her mood suddenly sour.

Stefan nodded, "What fight?" Damon asked confused.

"Nothing" Aria replied, "Elena's just being Elena again".

"She's just worried for you Aria" Stefan said, trying to justify his girlfriend's actions.

"You know, in her worry, Elena's going to create this huge gap between us" Aria said, "A gap that even if I tried to, I won't be able to fill".

"Oh, I get it" Damon said, "Elena's worried that I'm gonna explode and hurt Aria, I bet your worried to, is mine and Aria's relationship your every conversation?".

"Have you heard from Katherine?" Stefan asked, changing the topic, not because he didn't want to reply to his brother but because he didn't want to upset Aria anymore then she already was because of her and Elena's disagreement.

Damon and Aria looked at each other, it was like a unknown promise they made with each other, that no matter what they wouldn't talk about what Katherine had said to Damon.

"I think the Lockwoods have a family secret" Damon said, avoiding Katherine's topic.

"The Gilbert device affected both the mayor and Tyler, however the vervain didn't affect the mayor" Aria explained, "They're not vampires, but they are definitely something supernatural otherwise the Gilbert device should have never worked on them".

"Is this you two's new obsession?" Stefan asked.

"Oh, you'd rather some unknown supernatural element running rampant in our town, fine, I'll drop it" Damon said.

"We haven't seen the last of Katherine, you do know that, right?" Stefan asked, "We have no idea what she's up to".

"Pfft, sure we do, she came back to profess her undying, eternal love for you" Damon mocked, "So I'm gonna let you deal with her, because me and my girl have more important things to do, like explode".

***

After finding nothing on what the Lockwood's could be, Aria went back to the school so she could help do some last minute preparations for the carnival.

"Aria" Bonnie said, running over to the young witch, "The ring toss is out of Bart and Homer dolls and Team Jacob tees".

"On it" Aria said, "I'll go grab some from the science club, right after I find someone who can help with the speaker in the karaoke booth".

"Hey, all good Aria, take a beat, look around, this is a huge success" Bonnie said, looking around the carnival in amazement.

"Bonnie I hardly did anything, all this was done by you and Elena, you guys should be proud of yourselves" Aria said.

"Hey, you helped a lot Aria, give yourself some credit" Bonnie said, playfully nudging Aria's shoulder with hers.

"Yeah, yeah" Aria said, her eyes then landing on someone, "Hey you're Carter right, you're here with the carnival?".

"That'd be me" Carter said, walking over to the two girls.

"Great" Aria said.

"Wow, what you need beautiful?" Carter asked, looking towards Bonnie in awe.

Bonnie let out a nervous laugh, while Aria looked between the two with a small smile forming on her face, "What do you know about karaoke speakers?".

Carter chuckled, "Why don't you show me the problem?".

"Yeah Bonnie, go show him the problem" Aria said, slightly pushing Bonnie towards Carter.

"Okay, come on" Bonnie said, leading Carter to the karaoke booth, leaving behind a smiling Aria.

"Look at you playing match maker" Damon said, walking over to Aria.

"I'm not playing match maker, I'm just trying to organise a high school carnival, and if in doing so some romance happens, that's not my fault" Aria said, happy to see Damon here.

"Mmm, that reminds me" Damon said, walking closer to Aria, he put his finger under her chin and lifted it up, then slowly kissed her, "I've been dying to do this all day".

"Me too" Aria whispered, taking in Damon's presence, "You know, I just want this night to go well, I just want one night without any supernatural drama, one night where I can at least pretend to be a normal teenager".

"Normal is overrated Ria" Damon said, "But if that's what you want, then tonight that's what you're going to be getting, a normal night for a not so normal teenager".

Aria smiled at words Damon, she quickly leaned forward and kissed Damon, "Thank you".

***

"Jeremy, good to see you" Damon said, walking over to the popcorn cart along with Aria.

"Aren't you a little old for a school carnival?" Jeremy asked, glaring at Damon.

"He is here to keep my company" Aria replied, giving Jeremy a small smile.

"Yeah, couldn't have my girlfriend walk around this carnival alone, could I now?" Damon said, giving Jeremy a taunting smile.

"You guys are official now?" Jeremy asked Aria, slightly hurt Aria didn't tell him.

"Yeah" Aria said smiling, "We are".

"Well congrats Aria, I'm happy for you" Jeremy said, "Even though I don't exactly agree with your choice".

"Luckily, no one cares what you think" Damon said, giving Jeremy a mock smile.

"Damon" Aria warned, "And thanks Jer, it means a lot to me".

"Anytime Aria" Jeremy said, walking away from the couple but not before giving Damon one last glare.

After Jeremy left, Aria lightly slapped Damon on the shoulder, "Will it kill you to be nice sometimes?".

"Yes Aria, it actually will" Damon joked.

"You're unbelievable" Aria said, laughing at Damon's antics.

"I know" Damon said, shoving some popcorn into his mouth, "Popcorn?".

***

After eating tons of popcorn, Damon and Aria made their way to the wrestling club's booth, where they saw Tyler win every arm wrestle match, both of them stood in the corner and started observing him, it bothered both of them that they still didn't know what the Lockwood's are.

"Uh-huh, both of you are lurking" Stefan observed, walking over to the couple.

"We're observing" Aria defended.

"More like obsessing" Stefan retorted, "I get Damon, but seriously Aria, you too?".

"Oh come on Stefan, there's too many things that don't add up here, I've know Tyler since I was a kid and I would like nothing more then to know that he is not supernatural, but if he is, shouldn't we know, just in case?" Aria asked, just as Tyler defeated another kid.

"He's got strength" Damon observed.

"He's a triple letter varsity athlete, of course he has strength" Stefan defended, "You guys are reaching".

"And you're in denial" Aria retorted, "You just don't want to accept that there could be something other then vampires and witches out there".

"Not true" Stefan denied.

"Mm-hmm, whatever you say Stefan" Aria said, patting Stefan's shoulder, just as Mason sat opposite Tyler.

"I bet I can take you" Mason said.

"Enter the uncle" Damon said.

"Bring it on, surfer boy" Tyler mocked.

"This is ridiculous" Stefan said, just as Mason very easily beat Tyler.

"Damn!" Tyler said.

Mason laughed, "Is that it?".

"All right, he's the champ" Tyler announced, "Who wants to go next?".

"Stefan does" Aria announced, catching the younger Salvatore off guard.

Stefan glared at Aria while she just gave him a cheeky smile, "Yeah sure, I'll, uh, give it a shot, you know" Stefan said, walking over to Mason and Tyler.

"Nice going" Damon whispered to Aria.

"I know right" Aria teased, "Go Stefan!".

"Get him Stef!" Damon cheered.

"My brother and my friend over there think I can beat you" Stefan told Mason, as he sat infront of him.

"Well they're wrong" Mason said, very confidently.

The bell rang and both Mason and Stefan started their match, both of them were giving each other a tough competition, but despite that Mason easily won.

"You didn't put in any effort at all" Damon accused, as Stefan walked back over to the couple.

"Yeah, actually I did" Stefan revealed, shocking both of them.

"Come with me" Damon said, leading Stefan and Aria away from Mason.

"Is he--?".

"No it wasn't that kind of strength" Stefan interrupted, "But it was more then human, if that makes any sense".

"Not really" Aria commented.

"What is up with that family?" Damon asked, frustrated with not getting any answers, "If they're not vampires then what the hell are they?".

"Ooh, uh, maybe they're ninja turtles?" Stefan mocked.

"You're not funny" Damon said, glaring at his brother, while Aria tired to stop herself from laughing.

"Or no zombies, werewolves" Stefan teased.

"Oh, I like werewolves" Aria said, joining Stefan.

Damon glared at his brother and girlfriend, "None of you have any comedic timing at all".

"I don't know Damon, I think Stefan's pretty funny" Aria teased.

"Thank you Aria" Stefan said smiling, the duo enjoying getting on Damon's nerves.

Damon shook his head at the duo, and turned around to see Carter working on the karaoke speaker.

"What? What are you up to?" Stefan asked his brother, seeing the all to familiar look on his face.

"Since this is reality and there's no such thing as werewolves or combat turtles--".

"Ninja turtles" Aria corrected, as Damon walked over to Carter, "Wait Damon not him", but it was too late.

"Hey, you" Damon said, gaining Carter's attention.

"I have a name" Carter said.

"Yeah, I don't care" Damon snapped, grabbing Carter and making him face him.

"Wha--?".

"I need you to pick a fight with someone" Damon compelled, "Kid named Tyler Lockwood".

"Damon please not him" Aria pleaded, not wanting Bonnie to get upset.

"Relax Ria, I won't let anything happen to your friend's new boy toy, it's just an experiment" Damon said, turning back to Carter, "Get him mad, but don't back down no matter what he does, okay?".

"I won't back down" Carter repeated in a daze.

"I know you won't" Damon said, letting go of Carter and letting him walk away.

"You do realise somebody's gonna get hurt right?" Stefan asked.

"No someone's gonna get mad, as in rage" Damon said.

"Why? What's that gonna accomplish?" Stefan asked confused.

"That Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight" Damon reminded, "Let's see who intervenes, maybe it's the ambiguously supernatural mystery uncle".

"Damon I swear to god, Carter can't get hurt, Bonnie still isn't a huge fan of you and this isn't going to help" Aria snapped, "God, so much for a normal human night".

***

While Damon had disappeared to god knows where, Stefan and Aria decided to follow Tyler.

They saw Tyler walking in the carpark and Carter coming from the opposite side, as he was walking Carter purposely bumped into Tyler.

"Watch where you're going" Tyler snapped.

"You got a problem?" Carter asked.

"Yeah, you walked right into me" Tyler replied.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Carter asked, trying to provoke Tyler.

"You're kidding, right?" Tyler asked.

Carter glared at Tyler and shoved him.

"You better back off" Tyler warned, trying his best to control his anger.

Carter ignored Tyler and this time shoved him even harder.

"You hit me again, I swear to god--".

Before Tyler could finish his sentence, Carter punched him in the face, and with that both Tyler and Carter started fighting.

"Hey! Tyler" Mason yelled, running over to the two and trying to separate them while Aria and Stefan watched on, "Tyler! Hey! Hey, dude, get back", Mason pushed Carter away from Tyler, "What the hell, man?".

Carter went to charge at Tyler again but Mason held him by his neck, so instead Carter punched him, he pushed him into a car causing the car alarm to go off.

Seeing his uncle down, Tyler tried to push Carter but Carter shoved him to the floor, Mason got up and started jumping between the cars, he got infront of Tyler and his eyes glowed yellow.

"Your eyes" Tyler said shocked.

Mason ignored Tyler and turned to Carter and knocked him out with a simple punch, Aria and Stefan looked at each other in shock.

"Come on, gotta go" Mason said, helping Tyler up.

After Mason and Tyler ran away, Stefan and Aria ran towards Carter.

"Hey you okay?" Aria asked, kneeling down infront of Carter.

"Why did I just do that?" Carter asked confused.

"You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time" Stefan replied.

***

"How did this happen, hmm?" Stefan asked.

After the whole Mason and Tyler thing, Stefan and Aria went to the classroom Damon had texted them to meet him at, where they saw Elena and Damon, Damon informed all three of them about his encounter with Caroline, who was now a vampire thanks to Katherine.

"Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her" Damon replied. "And A plus B equals--".

"But why?" Elena asked confused.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative nasty little slut" Damon retorted.

"And she said, game on? I mean what does that even mean?" Stefan asked.

"It's means she's playing dirty, she wants us to know" Damon said.

"But why Caroline?" Aria asked, speaking for the first time since finding out her best friend was now a vampire.

"I don't know" Damon answered truthfully, looking at Aria in worry, knowing how close her and Caroline are.

"Caroline must be completely out of her mind" Stefan said worried, "She has no idea what's happening to her".

"Oh, I think she does" Damon said, "All my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition".

"We have to find her" Stefan said.

"Yep, and kill her" Damon said, shocking Aria.

"What, no!" Aria snapped, glaring at Damon, "You are not killing Caroline".

"She knows who we are" Damon said, "She's officially a liability Ria, we gotta get rid of her".

"No Damon" Aria said sternly, "Caroline is my best friend and I'm not letting you kill her, I was the one who told you to give her your blood, I'm responsible for this, and I need to fix this, I won't let you harm her".

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?" Damon argued, "Caroline out of all people will not make it as a vampire, her mother is a vampire hunter, guys come on, we all know how this story ends, let's just flip to the last chapter and--".

"You're wrong Damon" Aria interrupted, "You're underestimating Caroline, that's what everyone has ever done, what people don't realise is that Caroline Forbes is one strong girl, if anyone can go through this then it's her, she's going to make it through this, because she is not Vicki, she's Caroline freaking Forbes".

Damon looked towards his brother, "Your silence is deafening Stefan, wait wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where history repeats itself, you know I'm right".

Aria glared at the two brothers, "I don't care what both of you think, no one is touching Caroline and if you do then you're going to have to face me, now excuse me while I go find my best friend, whose probably losing her mind".

Before Aria could leave, Damon grabbed her arm, "She could hurt you Ria".

"She's Caroline, she will never hurt me" Aria said, ripping her arm from Damon's grip and running out the door to go find her best friend.

Before Stefan or Elena could say anything, Damon also followed Aria out, not wanting Caroline to end up hurting her.

***

Stefan, Elena and Aria arrived at the back of the carnival to see Damon about to stake a hysterical Caroline, Stefan quickly speeded towards Damon and pushed him away from her.

"Stefan!" an angry Damon yelled.

Elena and Aria quickly ran over to Caroline, but seeing Elena, Caroline started freaking out.

"Get away from me, you killed me" Caroline cried.

"No, no, Caroline, that wasn't me" Elena defended.

"Care it wasn't Elena, it was Katherine" Aria said, trying to calm her best friend down.

"No Aria! Then why does she look like Elena? And why? Why did she do this to me?" Caroline asked, freaking out.

"I'll explain everything to you Caroline, I promise" Aria said, "Just come inside with me, I promise everything will be okay".

"Caroline come with me" Stefan said, walking over to Caroline.

"She will die, it's only a matter of time" Damon said.

"She's not gonna die, Damon!" Aria snapped, "Caroline is not dying, not tonight, not ever".

"I'm sorry Aria" Damon said, grabbing the stake from the ground and charging towards Caroline.

Before Damon could stake Caroline, Aria quickly stood between the two, making Damon halt in his step.

Aria and Damon stood there glaring at each other, both too stubborn to back down, "Damon, she's my best friend, I won't let you kill her".

Damon stood there for a moment and just stared at Aria, "Whatever happens Ria, it's on you".

"I'm okay with that" Aria said, just wanting her best friend to be okay.

Damon didn't say anything else, just simply walked away.

"Let's go inside Care" Aria said, just as Bonnie walked over.

"Caroline?" Bonnie asked, shocked seeing the blood around Caroline's mouth.

"It's okay, come on" Stefan told Caroline.

"No" Bonnie denied, "You're not, you can't, you can't be".

"Bonnie, don't make this harder for her" Aria warned, fully aware of Bonnie's hatred for vampires.

Bonnie ignored Aria and quickly ran over to Caroline and grabbed her hand.

"Bonnie" Caroline cried, as Bonnie looked at her in shock.

Bonnie shook her head and stepped away from Caroline and ran over to a dead Carter, who Caroline killed before everyone got here.

"Bonnie" Caroline cried.

"Care, come with us, we will deal with Bonnie later" Aria said, "Right now we need to get you cleaned up before someone sees you".

Caroline gave Bonnie one last glance, and followed Aria and Stefan to the bathroom.

***

Stefan and Aria quickly led Caroline to the bathroom, Aria grabbed some tissues and after wetting them started cleaning Caroline's face.

"It's okay Caroline, it's all going be okay" Aria promised, her friend's condition bringing tears in her eyes.

"She hates me" Caroline sobbed, "Bonnie hates me".

"She doesn't hate you Care, she's just shocked, but don't worry she will eventually come around" Aria said, "She's your best friend, she loves you, she can never hate you, no matter what you are".

"What about Matt?" Caroline cried, "What am I supposed to do about Matt?".

"Shh" Stefan said, rubbing Caroline's back while Aria cleaned her face, "One thing at a time, let's just get this blood cleaned off".

Caroline nodded and started cleaning the blood from her hand while Aria went to grab more tissues.

"Do you hate me?" Caroline asked, looking at Aria with worry, Aria hating her scared Caroline the most, she could tolerate anything but not Aria hating her.

"No Caroline" Aria said immediately, "I don't hate you, I could never hate you".

"But I'm a murderer, I'm a monster" Caroline cried.

"No Caroline, you're not a monster" Aria assured, "Trust me, you're not a monster".

"Listen to me, your emotions are heightened right now, it's part of the transformation" Stefan explained, "It's completely normal, I promise you, okay?".

A hysterical Caroline looked at herself in the mirror, and saw veins forming under her eyes, "God! And why does this keep happening to my face? I'm hideous", Caroline covered her face and started sobbing.

"Caroline, look at me, look at me" Stefan said, "Look at me", Caroline removed her hands from her face but refused to open her eyes, "Look at my face, look at my face, shh, shh, look, look", Caroline finally opened her eyes and looked at Stefan's face, seeing the same kind of veins appear under his eyes, "See it? You see that? Yeah?", Caroline nodded, "When you feel the blood rush, you tell yourself you're gonna get through it", Caroline shook her head in denial, "That you're strong enough, yes, yes, no matter how good it feels to give yourself over to it, you fight it off, you bury it, watch me, watch me", Caroline watched as the veins under Stefan's eyes disappeared, "That's the only way you're gonna survive this thing, try, shh, try", following Stefan's advice, Caroline started taking deep breaths and eventually the veins under her eyes disappeared, making Aria smile, "That's good".

Aria placed her hand on Caroline's shoulder, "If anyone's going to get through this, then it's going to be you Care Bear, you just have to believe in yourself".

Caroline looked at Aria then back at Stefan, "Why did Katherine do this to me?".

Stefan and Aria glanced at each other, both not knowing the answer, "I don't know, I wish I did" Stefan said.

"Caroline listen to me" Aria said, "I promise you, I'm not going to let anyone harm you, you're going to be okay, one day you're going to look back at this day and laugh at yourself, thinking how I could, Caroline Forbes, think I wasn't going to survive this".

Aria stepped forward and hugged her friend, who gladly hugged her back, Aria's hug giving her immense comfort.

***

After leaving Stefan with Caroline, Aria went back to where Carter's body was, wanting to talk to Bonnie about her behaviour, when she reached there she was shocked seeing Damon laying on the floor in pain with Bonnie standing over him, Aria saw Bonnie bring the gasoline pipe near Damon with her magic.

"I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt" Bonnie said.

"I didn't do this" Damon snapped, clutching his head in pain.

"Bonnie, it wasn't his fault" Elena defended.

"Everything that happens is his fault, Elena!" Bonnie snapped.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" Elena asked, seeing the gasoline spread all the way up to Damon.

Suddenly fire started going towards Damon, shocking both Elena and Aria.

"Bonnie, stop it!" Elena demanded.

The fire went towards Damon at a rapid pace, but right before it could reach Damon, the fire suddenly went off, both Elena and Bonnie looked at it in confusion, they then turned around to see a furious Aria standing behind them, making both the girls realise that Aria had stopped the fire with her magic.

"Why did you stop me Aria?" Bonnie asked, furious at Aria.

"Because you are blaming Damon for our mistake Bonnie!" Aria snapped.

"What?" Bonnie asked confused.

"Oh come on Bonnie, don't pretend to be innocent, because we both you're not" Aria snapped.

"Aria what are you saying?" Elena asked confused.

"Every time Bonnie does something wrong she refuses to take responsibility for it" Aria said, "First, lying to us about the Gilbert device, and now this".

"This isn't my fault Aria" Bonnie said, shocked as to how Aria could even think something like this.

"Yes it is Bonnie!" Aria retorted, "This one is on you and me, we were the ones who insisted that Damon gives his blood to Caroline, we were the ones who didn't want to live without Caroline so we took the easy route, without for even a second thinking about the risks that came with it, and Damon did what we wanted him to do, what you wanted Bonnie, so tell me, in all this, how is it his fault?", Bonnie looked at Aria speechless, she didn't know what to say, deep down in her heart, Bonnie knew Aria was right but she was just too stubborn to admit it, "No words, right Bon?" Aria asked, giving Bonnie a sad smile, "It's because you know I'm right, right now, you should have been with Caroline, the girl whose in this situation because of us, but instead you were so blinded by your hate for vampires that you completely forgot about your best friend, how could you do that to her Bonnie? Caroline needed your support but instead you looked at her with eyes full of hatred, behaviour like this is going to cause Caroline to spiral Bonnie, and if that happens, it's going to be all on you, tell me, are you ready for the guilt that will come with all that?".

Elena stepped towards the two girls, she didn't want things to escalate anymore then they already have, "Bonnie, come on, let's just get you home".

After sparing Aria one last glance, Bonnie left with Elena, leaving behind an exhausted Aria.

***

Aria was leaning against her locker, with her eyes closed, when Damon walked over to her.

"Ria" Damon said, gaining Aria's attention.

"Caroline's okay" Aria said, "Stefan took her home, I'll check up on her later, make sure she doesn't lose it".

"Ria--".

"Did you take care of Carter's body?" Aria interrupted, Damon simply nodded, "Good, that's good", Aria ran her hand through her hair, extremely frustrated with everything that was going on, she then looked towards Damon who was already looking at her, "Damon, do you really think it won't end well for Caroline?".

"Ria listen--".

"What if Stefan worked with her, what if he helped her?" Aria interrupted again.

"I don't know Aria" Damon answered truthfully, "But I do know that Stefan will do everything in his power to prove me wrong".

Aria nodded, tears welling up in her eyes, "Do you know how hard you make it to love you?".

"Then why do you?" Damon asked, stepping closer to Aria.

"Because I'm stupid" Aria cried, "You tried to hurt Caroline, my best friend, and I know in your mind you are right, but how can I accept the fact that you just tried to kill my best friend".

"So you hate me now?" Damon asked, slightly scared of Aria's answer.

"That's the thing Damon, I can't hate you" Aria snapped, "Every part of me wants to hate you, but the love always overpowers the hate, and I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing", Aria grabbed Damon by his shirt, "Why are you making my life so complicated?".

Damon cupped Aria's face in his hands, and wiped her tears, "That was never my intention Ria".

"I know it wasn't" Aria whispered, all her energy gone, "But you still frustrate me to an insane amount vampy".

"I'll try not to next time" Damon said, bringing Aria into his embrace.

"That's impossible" Aria said, hugging Damon back, "Damon, promise me you won't harm Caroline, I promise you she won't be a liability to you, she can survive this Damon, I know she can, please just give her a chance".

Damon sighed, "Fine Ria, I won't try to kill Caroline again, only for you".

"Thank you" Aria whispered.

"You're welcome" Damon whispered, kissing Aria's forehead, Damon looked down at Aria and saw her drowsy state, "Time to get you home Ria", Damon picked Aria up in his arms and started making his way towards his car.

"Would you stay with me?" Aria asked, slowly falling asleep in Damon's arms.

"Always" Damon replied, smiling at Aria's sleepy state.

***

Presenting 2x02 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Elena being against Damon and Aria's relationship?

Thoughts on Damon and Aria trying to figure out what the Lockwoods are?

Thoughts on Damon trying to kill Caroline but Aria stopping him?

Thoughts on Aria going off on Bonnie for her behaviour towards Caroline?

Published: 28th November 2020
Edited: 10th January 2025