"Aria I need the money!" Jeremy yells from downstairs. I sigh and set down my book. I grab my wallet from the table and head downstairs. I smile at the pizza guy and open my wallet. I take out 30 dollars and hand him it.
"Keep the change." I smile.
He smiles, "You have yourself a good night." I frown as he walks out the door and shuts it behind him. Uh, since when is a pizza guy that nice? I grab the pizza and head over to the table with Jer. "Pizza is served." I bow. Jeremy laughs and opens the pizza taking a piece.
"It has been too long since we have had pizza." Jeremy sighs in delight as he takes a bite.
"Ugh, I know. Pizza is like heaven on Earth." I smile.
"Hey! You're not allowed to say that because you only ever eat at most 3 pieces." Jeremy frowns like it's a crime.
"It's not my fault I am skinny." I pout.
"Yeah it is, two years ago you ate only carrots for a week because you gained one pound." Jeremy teases.
"Yes but that was when I was a naive 14 year old. Now I am a very mature 16 year old." I smirk.
"Ha mature." Jeremy snorts. I gasp and throw my pepperoni at him. He glares at me then throws some cheese at me. And that is what starts the most epic food fight.
Having a food fight with my brother in the kitchen almost makes me think I have a normal, non-vampire life. Almost.
------
"It's so pretty, thank you." Caroline smiles at me. I gave her a vervain necklace that Elena gave to me who got it from Stefan. "What's the occasion?"
"Can't I just give my best friend a gift?" I playfully glare at her.
"Lesbian friend necklace, cause we're freaky like that." Caroline smirks then winks at me.
"Caroline I would gladly become a lesbian for you." I say in my best lovey, dovey voice.
Caroline laughs, "Well I already have my eye on someone else."
"Ohhh, Matt? Is that why you have been avoiding Elena all week?" I question smiling a little.
"Yeah but we've only hung out a few times. I just feel like we've peeked as friends, you know?" she says.
"Of corse I know, look at me and Tyler. Best friends one day then a couple the next." I smile then frown. "Actually don't use that as an example, I don't think it's the most inspiring one."
But unfortunately Caroline took it to heart. "Thanks for the example Aria, I really needed that." she picks up her stuff and storms off.
"Care! I didn't mean it like that!" I shout but she ignores me. Seriously? Was it that big of a deal? I sigh and open my lunch. I take a bite of my sandwich and feel slightly embarrassed about eating alone.
Ugh, I am such a loner.
------------------------------
"I can't believe you two are adopted." Bonnie says shocked. "I never saw it coming."
"You know what's weird though, on our birth certificates it lists Miranda and Greyson Gilbert as our parents." Elena explains, I sigh and stare at my fry. Does any thing in this world ever make complete sense?
"Which is why you two should ask Jenna." Bonnie urges while Elena and I groan. Elena is not very happy either about Jenna keeping that from us. "First of all the Elena I know will always want the truth, you two Aria."
"And second of all." I roll my eyes.
"Well Elena you just found out your boyfriend is a vampire so unless your birth parents are aliens, how bad could it be?" Bonnie smiles.
"Yeah but they could totally be aliens and kidnap us, taking us to Mars. So yeah it could be pretty bad. But anyways I got to go because my outfit for the dance is lacking accessories. Have fun talking about our alien parents." I smirk before grabbing my bag and heading out.
So tonight there is this 50's decade dance that I'm going to and I really need a better costume with accessories.
My phone starts ringing and I search through my bag trying to find it. I look at the caller ID but it says unknown. "Hello?" I answer cautiously.
"Hello Aria." a deep voice says from the other line.
"Who is this?" I demand, narrowing my eyes.
"You hit me with your car. Is that a new one?" I can hear the smirk in his voice. I frown and look around, nervous. I gasp and hurriedly start to get in my car when I see a hooded figure watching me. "You got away from me the first time Aria but it won't happen again." he threatens before hanging up the phone. I finally unlock the door and jump in the car. I quickly back up and drive away as fast as I can.
Great. Now I am being stalked by a creepy ass vampire. Add that to my list of drama.
I drive as quick as I can to the boarding house, calling Elena and telling her what happened.
When I pull up to the boarding house, I'm still pretty scared so I basically sprint to the front door and knock as loudly as I can. Damon opens the door looking pissed off but his anger disappears when he sees my expression. I push past him and slam the door shut.
"What's up?" he frowns
"You know that guy I hit with my car? Yeah well guess what, he's stalking me now." I panic
"Woah calm down, what happened exactly?" he questions.
"I was walking to my car and my phone started ringing. I saw it was an unknown caller but I still answered because I like to live dangerously. So it turns out it was that asshole who I hit with my car. He says that I am not going to get away again and then I turn around and see him standing there, watching me." I explain.
"Huh." Damon says.
"Seriously?! That's all you can say? Huh! I am freaking out Damon!" I scream.
"Hey, your gonna be fine. Stefan and I won't let anything happen to you." Damon reassures me, well, tries to. Not being able to stop myself I just wrap my arms around Damon, scared out of my mind. For a few moments Damon seems stunned but then he wraps his arms around me.
I sigh and rest my head on his shoulder. Here, hugging Damon, I couldn't feel more safe.
---------------------------
Elena runs up to me as soon as I step inside. I am about to say something but she cuts me off, hugging me so tight I can't breathe. "Elena, I'm fine. Can't breathe though." I laugh in her ear. She pulls away not smiling at all. She hands me Jeremy's pocket watch.
"Stefan gave this to me, to protect myself but you need it more. It detects when a vampire is around." Elena explains.
"Oh a magical pocket watch, wonderful." I mutter.
"Aria it will help keep you safe." Elena scolds. I frown and give the pocket watch back to her.
"Stefan gave it to you, Elena. I want you to be safe, I can take care of myself." I say before heading into the living room where I spot Jenna.
"So I spoke to the insurance company, the car is totaled. You can keep using mine for now." Jenna says. I look at her 50's attire and sigh.
"So you're coming to the dance?" I ask, dreading the answer.
"Alaric asked me to help chaperone." Jenna smiles walking over to me and Elena, who just joined us. I turn around and glare at Jenna.
"Why didn't you tell us, Jenna?" I demand knowing she knows that I'm talking about being adopted.
"Your guys Mom was going to tell you eventually, I never thought I'd have to." Jenna frowns.
"If our Mom was here right now and we asked, she would tell us the truth." Elena glares.
"Your guys Dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was 16, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her twins and gave her a place to stay but a few days later she disappeared. And there you two were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby but it just wasn't happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a Mom." Jenna smiles sadly.
"But why is our parents names on our birth certificates?" I ask.
"Your Dad was a doctor Aria, he took care of it. They didn't want to loose you two so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible." Jenna explains.
"What else do you know about her?" Elena asks. "The girl?"
"Just her name.....Isobel." Jenna answers.
-------------------------
I smile at my reflection in the mirror, I would make a good 50's gal. If any of you have ever seen the movie Grease, I'm dressed up like a Pink Lady. I am wearing black leather pants, a black tank-top with a pink lady jacket. A week ago I bought a pink jacket and had to sew Pink Lady on the back. I am wearing black high heels and my hair is pulled back in a pony tail, extra curly. I also am wearing a black little scarf around my neck. I think I look pretty sexy. Just saying.
I walk out of the bathroom and roll my eyes at the compass sitting open on my bed. While I was changing Elena, must have snuck in and set it there. I frown when I see the compass start to move. Oh my God! I run out into the hall and into Elena's room.
"Elena! The compass is moving!" I yell panicked. Elena looks up at me startled before grabbing her phone.
"I'll call Stefan." she says as I run down the stairs. I am freaking out right now, what if he is outside of our house? I hear something behind me so I spin around and see him. I scream as he speeds over to me sinking his fangs into my neck. Within seconds he is thrown off of me and I fall to the ground, holding my bleeding neck. I see Stefan standing above me, glaring at the guy. The guy growls at Stefan but he speeds around him, disappearing out the door.
Elena rushes down the stairs and over to me. She helps me up and I wrap my arms around her, still shaking. He was in our house. That means someone invited him in. I step away from Elena and look over at Stefan.
"Thank you, I owe you one." I smile.
"No you don't. Are you okay?" he asked worried.
"Yeah, I just hope he didn't ruin my costume." I answer walking over to the mirror. I look at my reflection and thankfully the scarf stopped the blood from going on my jacket. I take the scarf off and look at the bite mark on my neck. It's not that deep, thank God. I put the scarf back on making sure my bite mark and blood is covered up. I see Elena and Stefan talking so I decide not to bother them. Hold up! Shit, I just realized who the guy was!
"Oh my God." I whisper. Both of there heads snap towards me.
"What?" Elena frowns.
"The vampire, he was the pizza guy. Jeremy invited him in." I tell them. Elena gasps and Stefan just looks mad. I walk over to the couch and take a seat, still trying to process everything. I hear someone knocking on the door and I look over at Stefan panicked.
"It's alright, it's just Damon." Stefan says and goes to the door. Damon quickly walks in and over to me.
"You okay?" he asks. I just shrug not knowing how to answer that. "Well how did he even get in?" Damon asks annoyed.
"He was invited in." I respond.
"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan explains.
"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?" Damon questions me.
"No he was too busy trying to eat me and all." I glare at him.
"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan questions Damon, suspicious.
"No." Damon answers while Stefan continues to stare at him suspicious. "Don't look at me like that, I told you we had company." Damon glares at his brother.
"You think there's more than one?" Elena gasps.
"We don't know." Damon shrugs and sits down on the couch next to me. Stefan thinks for a moment before looking at Damon.
"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan says solemnly.
"Then we get him tonight." Damon says before looking over at me. "You up for it?"
"What do I have to do?" I question.
"Go with your sister and her boyfriend to the dance, see who shows up." Damon answers.
"It's a bad idea." Stefan frowns.
"Till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's a worth a shot." Damon insists.
"I'll do it." I say and see Stefan and Elena frown deeply. I smile a little and take Elena's hand. "Don't worry Lena, I'll be with Stefan and Damon. I'll be safe." Elena gives me a little nod before letting go of my hand and taking Stefan's. I look over at Damon and see him shrug. What could go wrong?
-----
I can't help but smile as we walk into the gym. They did a pretty good job decorating it. I loop my arm through Damon's, "So, is this how people partied in the 50's?" I smile.
"No, it was much better than this." Damon smirks and does that eye thing. You know what, I'm just gonna call it ET for the eye thing.
I laugh and shake my head. I see Elena un-loop her arm from Stefan and head over to the table. I follow her, un-looping myself from Damon. As soon as we get to the table Bonnie and Caroline come over to us.
"Having fun?" Elena asks.
"No but this," Caroline gestures to her outfit and hair, "took four hours so I'm at least staying half of that." I laugh, Caroline is so....Caroline. I guess our fight from earlier is forgotten.
"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie glares spotting him behind us.
"He wanted to come, I promise he'll behave." I smile
"So is this like a foursome now? The Gilbert sisters and the Salvatore brothers?" Caroline questions with a bitter smile.
"Damon is my friend and if he wasn't I would have most likely tried to kill him by now." I smile a tight smile, slightly pissed off.
"Well there's a thought." Bonnie smirks.
"I'll help." Caroline smirks also, they both glare at Damon and klink there glasses together. I laugh and shake my head as does Elena. Maybe we can still try to have a little fun tonight before a crazy vamp attacks.
-----
Stefan, Elena and I all head back over to where we left Bonnie and Caroline a few moments ago but the only person there is Damon.
"Where'd they go?" Elena asks.
"I don't know." Damon shrugs and looks around a little.
"What did you do to them?" I ask smiling.
"I was perfectly polite. Aria, would you like to dance?" Damon smirks.
"I would love to. Now where's a dancing partner?" I ask looking around. I hear Stefan laugh. I look back over to a now hurt Damon. "Relax I was kidding, let's dance." he smirks and takes my hand, leading me over to the dance floor.
He spins me once then pulls me to his chest and I wrap my arms around him. It's a slow song, so we just sway to the beat. I smile, loving the moment.
"What's with the big grin?" Damon smiles.
"This is the first time that I'm dancing with you and not drunk." I laugh so does Damon.
"I like it." Damon smirks but he's looking around, not fully focusing. I know he is looking for the vampire and I secretly likes that he wants to protect me.
"Shouldn't you guys be able to sense each other or something?" I question.
"Nope it doesn't work like that Ari." Damon answers, "See him anywhere?"
"No not unless he is wearing a poodle skirt." I joke seeing all the girls behind me with there stupid pink, poodle skirts.
"Not one of the better fashion trends." Damon smiles.
"Oh I'm sure you looked dashing back then." I tease. "Are there pictures?"
"Yes but I'll only show you ones of Stefan. He was quite the hot item back in the 50's." Damon smirks.
"Seriously though, what was it like? The 50's?" I ask. "Because I imagine this whole Grease kind of scene."
"No Aria, there were no Danny Zuko's running around and singing with there girlfriends." Damon laughs.
"Awww. But there was poodle skirts?" I ask, scrunching up my nose in disgust.
"Yes there were." Damon grins from my reaction. Damon spins me once again and then brings me back to his chest. I wrap my arms around his neck once again and give him a big smile.
"You have to teach me the hand-jive." I smile.
"No maybe you could ask Stefan." Damon suggests.
"I asked you, not Stefan." I say.
"So?" Damon smirks. I glare at him and push away.
"Fine be like that. I guess I'll go ask Stefan to dance then." I smile and walk away over to the punch table. I look back over at the spot I left Damon and see it's empty. I look around and now see him leaning against the wall and talking to Mr.S.
I sigh and look back over at Elena and Stefan who are smiling and laughing. I wish I had a boyfriend like that, even if I was still with Tyler he was never that lovey dovey.
I really hate being the loner chick.
--------------------------
I laugh as I see Damon dancing with some girl. When I say dancing I mean more like flirting with style. I look over at Stefan smiling.
"You really can't bring him anywhere can you?" I joke.
"No I can't." Stefan half frowns, half smiles. Elena went to the bathroom so he came over to me in the loner area. It's quite sad. I laugh once again and look around the crowd. My laughing immeaditly stops when I see the him. He's hanging out around the back of the crowd with his usual attire, a black hoodie.
"Stefan, back corner." I whisper turning around. I see Stefan stand up strait and look back at the guy.
"Get Damon." he commands then starts pushing through the crowd towards the guy. I also start to push through the crowd, looking for Damon. He's not where I last saw him and I can't see over all these people. I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket and I answer without looking to see who it is. Bad idea.
"Hello Aria." I can almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Here's what your going to do; there's an exit door behind you, you have five seconds."
"How about...no." I say.
"Do it or your brother dies." I spin around and see Jer pouring punch, the guy standing right behind him. "I can snap his neck so fast no one will even witness it. Now get moving."
"Don't you dare touch him, you asshole." I fume.
"Keep walking through the door." I have no other choice, I turn around and jog out the door. I run down the hallway but almost trip with the heels I am wearing. I throw them off my feet and continue to keep running. I run all the way down the hallway and try to push the doors open but there locked. I turn around panicked and see him standing 10 feet away from me.
I look around and see another door, so I sprint to it. Thankfully it's unlocked so I run inside looking for any way out. I see exit doors and run to them but they're locked also. Shit! I spin around and see him throwing open the doors. Within the blink of an eye he's in front of me. I try to run away but he catches my hair and drags me towards him. I scream out in pain and he throws me over the table. I hit the ground hard and groan from the pain.
He throws the table over trying to get to me and pencils fall all around me. I grab three right before he hauls me up and throws me against the wall. He snarls and shows his fangs before trying to bite me. But before he can eat me again I stab a pencil in his stomach.
I try to stab him again but his hand comes up to block it, causing the pencil to go through his hand. Before he can heal, I stab another one in his throat pushing him down. I run over to the mop and pick it up, breaking it in half with my knee. He appears in front of me and I try to stab him in the stomach again but he catches my hand. He smirks and rips the stake from my hand throwing it across the room. He smirks one more time before his eyes go all veiny and his fangs come out. He tries to bite me for the third time but Stefan throws him off of me before he can even scratch my neck.
Stefan throws him across the room but the guy is up in a second. He's about to come at us again but Damon interrupts him. "Hey dickhead!" the guy spins around and looks at Damon who has a wooden bat resting on his shoulder. "No one wants to kill you, we just want to talk." Damon holds his hands up. The guy doesn't even consider it and lunges at me again. Damon throws the bat to Stefan with vampire strength and Stefan catches it, stabbing it into the guys stomach. That was pretty cool.
"Now you feel like talking?" Damon smirks.
"Screw you." the guy says pained.
Stefan stabs the wood further into the guy. "Wrong answer." Stefan fumes. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because it's fun." the guy smiles causing Stefan to push it more into him. The guy groans out in pain.
"What do you want with Aria?" Stefan demands.
"She looks like Katherine, so does her sister but not as much." the guy answers. Stefan looks up at Damon, who looks curious.
"You knew Katherine?" Damon asks.
"Aww, you thought you were the only ones. You don't even remember me." the guy smirks.
"Tell me how to get into the tomb." Damon questions. Tomb? The one that Katherine is in? I thought he can never get in now that Emily destroyed the necklace.
"No." the guy answers. Again Stefan pushes the wood further into his stomach. The guy screams out in pain.
"The Grim-more." he groans.
"Where is it?!" Damon presses. He doesn't answer so Stefan again does that painful act. The guy screams out louder in pain. I turn away not liking the sight even though this guy is a total dick.
"Check the journal! The Journal! It's in Jonathan Gilbert's journal." the guy cries out clearly in a lot of pain. I frown, whatever you need to open the tomb is in my ancestors journal? What the hell?
"Who else is working with you?" Stefan demands. The guy just glares at him not answering.
"Who else is there!?" Damon yells agitated.
"No." the guy whispers done talking. "You're gonna have to kill me." Damon rolls his eyes and looks over at Stefan. Stefan pulls the wood out of his stomach then stabs it into his heart. I watch in horror as he falls to the ground, gray and covered in veins.
"How....how are you gonna find the others now?" I ask, shaken up from the scene I just witnessed.
"He had to die." Damon says looking over at me. I look over at him, still gasping for breath.
"Aria, he's been in invited in." Stefan states. I look at him in shock, tears running down my face. All of our heads snap to the door when we hear footsteps and see someone out the window.
"Go, I got this." Damon says to Stefan who nods and disappears from the room. I just continue to stare at his body in some sort of daze. Damon wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me to his chest, snapping me out of my daze. "You're okay, Aria." he whispers as I grip his leather jacket, resting my head on his chest.
"No, no I'm not." I answer and just bury my head in his chest. I am surprised to feel him give me a light kiss on the forehead. If I wasn't so shaken up I would have loved it but I don't move at all.
"Let's get you home." Damon says. I nod and let him walk me towards the door. I just want to go home.
--------------------------
I smile as I get out of the shower, I really needed that. As soon as I got home Elena almost suffocated me with her hug. I had to say I'm fine 700 times before she let me go up to my room. Yup, she is a little overbearing sometimes.
I put on some black sweatpants and a purple tank-top, tying up my hair. It's not the most attractive look but I don't really care at the moment. I grab my phone and walk out of my bathroom to almost have a heart attack.
"Damon! You can't just appear in a girls room." I glare at him.
"Why not? You look damn sexy in your PJ's." he smirks. I gasp and grab a pillow off my bed throwing it at him. He laughs and catches it easily throwing it back at me. I unfortunately am too slow and it hits me in the face.
"Asshole." I mutter setting the pillow back down. I sigh and sit down on my bed laying down. Damon lays down next to me and turns on his side so he is facing me.
"You okay?" he asks.
"Yeah, I actually am. I mean at first I was scared out of my mind and....I can't really explain it. But now I'm just happy he's dead. I know that sounds cruel but he tried to kill me 3 times, it's a little aggravating." I say.
"I'm sure it is." Damon smiles a little, obviously humored by my reaction.
"I fought back tonight and damn, did it feel good." I smirk turning over and looking at him.
"That's my girl." Damon laughs.
"Your girl?" I ask, smiling. He doesn't answer and just shrugs. I see his expression go serious and I frown. "What's wrong?" I'm getting a little nervous now.
"Nothing it's just that I haven't given up on getting Katherine out of the tomb. There is another way and I am going to get Jonathan Gilbert's journal to find out how. Stefan told me he will help but I don't believe him." Damon explains.
"I wouldn't either if I were you. But Damon I will help you in any way I can, you know that right?" I don't really want Damon to get the love of his life back but it will make him happy so I have to help.
"I know, you're the only one I trust." Damon smiles. "It's late you should get to sleep, especially after the day you've had." he starts to get up but I grab his wrist.
"Please stay." Damon looks at me for a moment before nodding and laying back down. I smile and snuggle up to him, laying my head on his chest. I was worried about nightmares but with Damon here, I know none will come.