01. Pilot

Dear Journal,

Honestly I don't know why I'm even writing to you, the last time I wrote to you was when I found out about Jeremy and Vicki, god remember how heartbroken I was, anyways I'm not writing to you to complain about my one sided love, I'm writing to you because Elena said it will help both of us if we wrote our feelings somewhere, since both of us refused therapy. 

According to her, today will be different, she said that we will smile and it will be believable. Our smiles will say, 'we are fine, thank you', 'yes, we feel much better'. According to Elena we will no longer be the sad little girls who lost their parents, or in my case my second parents. We will start fresh, be someone new, it's the only way we will make it through. 

The thing is, I really want to believe Elena, I really wish it was going to be this easy, but I know its not, no matter what we say, no matter what we do, we will be known as the kids who lost their parents, I will be the girl who lost not only her biological but also her adoptive parents, I just wish what Elena said is true, I just wish this year will be different, I just wish this year I will finally be happy.

"Knock, knock", the knock on her bedroom door brought Aria out of her thoughts.

"Come in!" Aria yelled.

The door opened and Elena peeped her head into Aria's room, a smile forming on her face when she saw Aria's diary placed on her lap, "You listened".

Aria let out a smile as she closed her diary and placed it on her side table, "When do I ever not listen to you Lena" she said, while getting off her bed.

"Did it help?" a slightly hopeful Elena asked

Aria grabbed her school bag and looked at Elena, "Did it help you?" she asked, giving Elena a knowing look.

Elena let out a defeated sigh, "We have to get past this Aria, we can't keep being these broken girls".

"If only life was this easy Lena" Aria said, knowing moving on was much easier said then done, especially when you had to move on from the death of your parents, Aria quickly shook her head and looked at Elena, not wanting her thoughts to go down a dangerous territory, "Now come on, let's go downstairs before Jenna ends up blowing up the house".

Elena let out a laugh, "You have got to give her some credit, she isn't that bad of a cook" she defended, as the two girls walked out Aria's room.

"Trying to convince me or yourself?" Aria asked, as the two girls walked down the stairs.

"A bit of both" Elena admitted, making Aria chuckle.

While laughing Elena and Aria rushed downstairs, and walked towards the kitchen to see their Jenna Sommers, the younger sister of Miranda Gilbert, Elena's mother, standing infront of an open fridge, frantically searching to make something for breakfast.

"Toast, I can make toast" Jenna said, glancing at the two girls, a sheepish look on her face.

"Forget the toast Jenna, it's all about the hot chocolate" Aria said, walking over to the microwave to make herself some hot chocolate.

"Wrong, it's actually all about the coffee" Elena retorted, walking over to the kettle to make herself some coffee.

Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's younger brother, entered the kitchen, "Is there coffee?" he asked.

Jenna rushed around the kitchen in a hurry, "Your first day of school, and I'm totally unprepared".

Jeremy went towards Aria and quickly stole the mug in her hand, Aria did nothing but give him a nervous smile.

Elena, who knew all about Aria's massive crush on her little brother, playfully nudged her, making Aria elbow her, "Don't start" she warned, stealing Elena's mug.

Elena playfully put her hands up in surrender, "I wouldn't dare" she teased, grabbing herself another mug.

Jenna looked at the three teenagers infront of her, "Lunch money?" she asked, holding out a few notes of money.

"We're okay" Elena and Aria said simultaneously.

Jeremy on the other hand, didn't say anything just grabbed the lunch money off of Jenna's hand, making Aria sigh, she knew exactly why he took the money and it was definitely not for lunch, she stayed quiet because she knew nothing she said was going to effect Jeremy, he didn't care for her as much she cared for him.

"Anything else?" Jenna asked, "A number two pencil? What am I missing?".

"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Aria asked.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at--" Jenna checked her watch, "Now, crap", Jenna quickly removed hair from the messy bun it was and attempted to make herself look even slightly presentable.

"Then go, we'll be fine" Elena assured.

After Jenna left, Elena turned to Jeremy, "You okay?".

Jeremy rolled his eyes at Elena, "Don't start" he warned, walking out the kitchen before his sister could give him another lecture.

After Jeremy left, Aria turned to a dejected Elena, "You need to give him some time Elena".

Elena sighed, "I know I do Aria, but I can't help but be worried, he's my little brother and after Mom and Dad he's my responsibility".

Aria gave Elena a sad smile, "Your taking too much on your plate, look just give it a little bit more time, soon enough it will all be alright, now come on, grab your bag, Bonnie should be here any second and you know how much hates waiting".

Elena chuckled and nodded her head in agreement, knowing all to well how impatient her best friend got at times, and with that both the best friends ran out the door for their first day of school after an long and emotional summer.

***

Elena and Aria sat in Bonnie Bennett, their mutual best friend, though if you ask Aria, she would say Bonnie was her great friend, but she was more Elena's best friend then hers, Aria's best friend was a certain blonde who had a mean girl streak at times.

With Elena in the front seat and Aria in the back and Bonnie driving, the three girls made their way over to their high school, Mystic Falls High.

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic, our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that" Bonnie said, "I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this women in a home already, but I started thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands".

Aria placed her head between Elena and Bonnie's seats, "You weren't the only one who your grams told was a witch, according to her I come from one of the most powerful lines of witches, and I don't know about you but that certainly fascinates me, just imagine what we could do with magic, maybe even build our own little fairytale island".

"Weirdo" Bonnie teased, shaking her head in amusement at Aria, she then turned to Elena only to see her looking out the car with a hazy look on her face, Bonnie looked at Aria and gestured towards Elena.

Aria looked towards Elena and sighed, "Elena!" Aria screamed in Elena's ear, startling her while Bonnie laughed, "Back in the car Gilbert".

Elena slightly shook her head and looked at Bonnie and Aria apologetically, "I did it again, didn't I?" she asked, "I'm sorry guys, you both were saying that--".

"That I'm psychic now" Bonnie repeated.

Aria raised her hand up, "And me, well according to Bonnie's Grams anyways".

"Right, okay then you two, predict something about me" Elena said.

Bonnie smiled at her best friend, "I see--"

Before Bonnie could complete her sentence, a crow hit the car's windshield, making her car swerve to the side, all three girls let out a sighs of relief when the car stopped before it could crash into anything or anyone.

Aria leaned her head against the seat and breathed in and out, trying her best not to have a panic attack.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked, looking around frantically, "Oh, my god".

After gathering herself, Aria looked at Elena, "Elena, are you okay?" she asked, worried for her friend.

Elena nodded, "It's okay, I'm fine, are you okay Aria?".

Aria gave Elena a smile, which if Elena made close attention to, she would have realised was completely fake, "Peachy".

"It was a bird or something, it came out of nowhere, I'm so sorry guys" a guilty Bonnie apologised to her two friends.

"Relax Bonnie" Aria said, placing her hand on Bonnie's shoulder in reassurance, "Me and Elena can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of our lives"

Elena nodded her head in agreement, Bonnie looked between Aria and Elena and smiled, "I predict this year is going to be kick-ass, and I predict all the sad and dark times are over, and you both are going to be beyond happy".

"And I predict this will finally be the year that I find my one true love" Aria added.

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

"What about him?" a confused Aria asked.

"She means what about your undying love for Jeremy?" Elena asked.

Aria sighed, "I can't chase Jeremy forever you guys, plus his in love with Vicki and I can never come inbetween two lovers".

Bonnie and Elena smiled at Aria's selflessness, "Well like I said, this year is going to be kick ass for both of you, don't worry Aria you will finally find a guy who will love you unconditionally" Bonnie said.

Aria said nothing just smiled at Bonnie, really hoping her words will come true.

After a moment Bonnie finally started the car again and went towards the school, all three girls completely missing the crow that hit them, sitting on a lamppost, and looking in their direction.

***

Aria, Bonnie and Elena were walking in the crowded hallway of Mystic Falls High School.

"Major lack of male real estate" Bonnie complained, looking around and observing all the students around her, "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech, she looks a hot--", Bonnie turned to Aria and Elena as they arrived at her locker, "Can I still say trannie mess?".

Aria shook her head, "No Bon Bon, that's over, and mind dialing the judgment a little lower".

Bonnie playfully glared at Aria, "Yeah yeah, I forgot how little miss perfect hates gossiping about others".

"Not true, I gossip with Caroline all the time" Aria defended.

"Yeah you just hate gossiping with us" Bonnie teased.

"Sometimes" Aria teased back, making Bonnie laugh.

Neither Bonnie or Elena minded that Aria did things with their other friend Caroline Forbes, that she never did with them, because they knew Aria and Caroline weren't best friends, they were more sisters, they had known each other since the moment they were born, Liz Forbes and Amelia Connor had been best friends since they met in school, so naturally their daughters had to be each other's person from the moment they were born.

"Ugh, find a man and coin a phrase, its a busy year" Bonnie said, glancing behind Elena, her eyes landing on someone, Aria and Elena turned around to see who Bonnie was looking at, only to see Matt Donovan, Elena's ex-boyfriend looking back at them, more so looking at Elena, both Elena and Aria waved at Matt but he simply shut his locker and walked away.

"Okay why did he ignore me, I'm not the one who broke up with him" Aria complained.

Elena sighed and leaned her head against the lockers, "He hates me".

"That's not hate, that's, you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits" Bonnie said,

"Bang on Bennett" Aria said, high fiving Bonnie.

"Aria, Elena, oh my god" Caroline said, rushing towards the two girls and pulling them into a hug.

Aria let out a small laugh, "Hey Care Bear" she said, gladly hugging her best friend back.

"How are you guys?" Caroline broke the hug and looked at the two girls, "Oh, its so good to see you both", Caroline turned to Bonnie, "How are they? Are they good?" she asked Bonnie, she knew if she asked Aria she would just lie and pretend all is right in the world not wanting to worry her, but Caroline couldn't help but worry for the most important person in her life.

"We are literally right here Care" Aria asked, not even shocked with Caroline's behaviour, she knew why Caroline was asking Bonnie instead of directly asking her, Aria never had to say anything for Caroline to just know.

"And we are fine, thank you" Elena said, saying the same rehearsed line she and Aria said in the mirror over and over again last night.

Caroline looked between Aria and Elena, "Really?".

Aria nodded and gave Caroline a tight smile, "Yes, much better".

Caroline, recognising the fake smile on her best friend's face, pulled her into another tight hug, "Oh, you poor thing".

"Not a thing Care" Aria mumbled into the hug.

Caroline finally broke the hug and looked between Elena and Bonnie  "Okay, me and Aria will see you guys later?".

"Okay, yeah" Elena said.

"Bye" Aria waved at Bonnie and Elena, before Caroline grabbed her hand and dragged her away.

Elena looked at Bonnie, amusement shown clearly on her face, "No comment, I'm not gonna say anything" she said, making Bonnie chuckle.

***

Caroline leaned against the lockers, impatiently waiting for Aria to take her books out of her locker.

"So did you hear the new gossip?" Caroline asked.

"Which one?" Aria asked, shuffling through her books, "Oh and what's my first class again?".

Caroline shook her head, "For how smart you are, how can you be so forgetful?" she asked, taking out Aria's history textbook and handing it to her.

"Thanks" Aria said, giving Caroline a grateful smile, "So, what gossip were you talking about?".

"We have a new student joining Mystic Falls High today" Caroline informed.

"Who?" a curious Aria asked.

"I don't know" Caroline admitted.

"You don't know?" Aria asked, slightly shocked, "Don't you make it your business to know everything about new students".

"I do, and I will but that will be between third and fourth period" Caroline said, making Aria laugh, "What? I'm a busy person, okay".

"Yes you are, Care Bear" Aria teased, finally shutting her locker.

Caroline shook her head at Aria, "So I have a theory" she said, looping her arm with Aria's.

"Shoot" Aria said, walking down the hallway with Caroline.

"You know how you promised this will be the year you move on from Jeremy and find someone else?" Caroline reminded.

"Yeah" a confused Aria said, wondering where Caroline was taking this.

"Well, my theory is, what if this new guy is your one true love" Caroline suggested, "I mean, come on, what are the chances that he decided to come to Mystic Falls High the year you decided to forget Jeremy".

"Now you're reaching" Aria said.

"I'm hopeful" Caroline defended.

"You're delusional" Aria teased.

Caroline opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't because as soon as her and Aria turned the corner, Aria bumped right into a very hard chest.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry" Aria apologised.

"No all good, it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going".

Aria finally looked up at the guy she bumped into, only to see bright green eyes staring at her, eyes she had never seen in Mystic Falls High School before, making her realise she had just bumped into the new guy her and Caroline were talking about.

After giving Aria a small smile, the new guy walked away and immediately an excited Caroline started rapidly slapping Aria's arm.

"Ow, Care!" Aria complained, rubbing her now sore arm.

"You and the new guy just had a meet cute" an excited Caroline yelled.

"A what cute?" a confused Aria asked.

"A meet cute" Caroline repeated, "The first meet between two soulmates".

Aria rolled her eyes at her best friend, "Get help".

"After I make sure you find your soulmate" Caroline retorted.

Aria laughed, she put her arm around Caroline's shoulder, "Did I ever tell you that I love you?".

"Everyday" Caroline teased.

"Well I do" Aria said.

Caroline smiled, "I love you too".

"I know" Aria teased, making Caroline laugh.

***

"Once our home state of Virginia joined Confederacy in 1861 it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state" Mr Tanner said, "People in Virginia's Northwest had different ideas from those of the traditional deep South, and Virginia divided--"

Aria zoned Mr Tanner out as he spoke about things Aria already knew about, she was a bookworm, she liked to read, even history books, Aria glanced at Elena, who was sitting infront of her, only to see her and the new hot guy glancing at each other, Aria smiled, Caroline was wrong, the new guy wasn't her one true love, but he might be Elena's, who knows.

Aria glanced at Caroline, who was sitting next to her, only to see her looking between the new guy and Elena with a frown on her face, not happy with what she was seeing, Aria shook her head at her best friends antics, she knew she meant well, all Caroline wanted was Aria to move on from Jeremy, who according to her didn't deserve her one bit, but sometimes she tended to go a bit overboard, but despite that Aria wouldn't change anything about her best friend, she was who she was and Aria loved her for that.

***

After school Elena and Aria decided to go visit the cemetery, while Elena went over to her parents grave, Aria decided to visit her parents grave, she sat infront of her parents tombstone and was wrote about her day in her diary, gifted to her by Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes.

Dear Journal, 

I made it through the day. I said "I'm fine, thanks" so many times that at this point I have lost count. But you want to know what the sad part is, that no matter how many times I say it, not once do I really mean it, but of course no one really noticed, well except Caroline, but thats a given. 

Aria stopped writing for a second and glanced at the stone infront of her, Lucas and Amelia Connor, loving parents, tears welled in Aria's eyes as she thought about her parents, she was ten when they died so Aria didn't have a lot of memoires of them, but the few she did remember, and the many told to her by Liz, are memoires she's going to cherish till the day she dies and gets to meet them again in the after life.

Wanna know why I pretend? Well its simple really, because when someone asks "How are you?", they really don't want a truthful answer.

Aria stopped writing in her diary when she heard a crow, looking up from her diary she saw a crow sitting at the tombstone infront of her.

"Okay, hi bird" Elena said, walking over to Aria after finishing writing in her diary.

"Talking to a bird, is that how bad it is now?" Aria teased, closing her diary and placing it back in her bag.

Elena rolled her eyes at Aria and went back to looking at the bird and saw that it was still there, "That's not creepy or anything".

Aria glanced at the bird and for some reason she wasn't creeped out, instead she was intrigued by it, for some reason the bird gave her a sense of comfort, now that was creepy.

Aria shook her head and looked around to get her thoughts straight, but frowned when she saw fog all around her and Elena, "Uh, Elena".

Elena looked around, "Its okay, its nothing, just a bit of fog".

"Yeah cause there is always fog on a sunny day" Aria said sarcastically.

Aria stood up and walked over to Elena, who went towards the bird and tried to get it to leave, "Shoo!", eventually the crow flew away, "That's what I thought", Elena turned around to face Aria again, when she saw the crow again, this time it was behind Aria, "Aria be careful".

"What happened?" Aria asked confused.

"Look behind you" a panicked Elena said.

Aria looked behind her and was shocked seeing the crow, her and Elena slowly started walking backwards towards the exist of the cemetery.

Aria turned around one last time and that's when amongst all the fog, her eyes landed on a figure behind a statue, she suddenly stopped and looked towards the figure, her eyes narrowed trying to see who was that person.

"Aria!" Elena yelled, coming back to her best friend after realising she wasn't following her.

"Lena look" Aria pointed her finger towards the figure in the distance, Elena followed Aria's finger and her eyes went wide in panic, immediately she grabbed Aria's hand and pulled her along and the two friends took off running together.

While running Elena tripped over a rock, and because of her holding Aria's hand that caused both her and Aria to crash to the ground.

"Oh shit!" Aria laid on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Aria come on!" Elena urged, quickly standing up, she turned to leave but let out a shock gasped when her way was blocked by the new guy she saw in school.

"You both okay?".

Elena let out a sigh, and looked at the new guy in confusion, "Were you following us?".

"No I just-- I saw you both fall".

"Uh-huh, and you just happened to be hanging out in a cemetery" Elena asked harshly, making Aria face palm.

"Oh for gods sake Elena, its a cemetery, ever think his here doing the same thing we are doing?" Aria asked, at times she really did doubt her best friends brain.

Before Elena could say anything, the new guy interrupted, "I'm visiting, I have, uh, family here".

"Oh" Elena said, suddenly very embarrassed, Aria had to stop herself from laughing out loud at at her friends embarrassment.

"Wow Lena, so tactless" Aria teased, finally standing up from the ground.

"I'm sorry" Elena said, "It's the fog, it's making me foggy, then back there, there was this bird, and it was all very Hitchcock for a second, that is the bird movie, right? The Hitchcock?".

Honestly at this point all Aria was missing were some popcorn, watching her friend ramble to a guy she clearly finds attractive was extremely funny.

After she was done with her rambling, Elena took a deep breathe and smiled at the stranger infront of her, "I'm Elena and this is Aria".

Stefan gave Aria a small nod before turning his attention back to Elena, "I'm Stefan".

"I know, we have history together" Elena reminded.

"And English and French" Stefan added.

Elena nodded with a small smile on her face, "Right".

Stefan stepped forward and removed a leaf from Elena's hair, from where Aria was standing to her it seemed that she was watching a romantic movie and this was the first meeting of people who were later most likely going to fall in love with each other.

"Thanks" Elena whispered.

Aria looked at Stefan's hand and notice a huge ring on his middle finger, "Nice ring".

"Oh" Stefan looked at his ring, "Uh, it's a family thing, yeah, kind of stuck with it", Stefan looked at Aria, "It's weird huh?".

"No, it's just there are rings, then there's that" Aria replied, making Stefan smile.

Suddenly Stefan stopped smiling and looked down then back up at Elena, "Did you hurt yourself?".

Elena looked at Stefan confused, "Hmm?".

"Did you hurt yourself?" Stefan repeated.

Elena looked down at her leg, "Oh, uh, I don't know", Elena walked over to an rock and rested her leg on it then rolled her pants up, revealing a pretty bad wound.

"Oh would you look at that" Elena said, looking down at her wound, "That is not pretty".

"Ew blood" Aria said, immediately covering her eyes seeing Elena's blood, ever since Aria found her parents bloody bodies she has developed a horrible fear of blood.

Due to Aria's eyes being closed she didn't see the veins form under Stefan's eyes when he saw Elena's blood.

Elena looked towards Aria and Stefan who were both not looking at her, she knew why Aria wasn't looking, but she was confused by Stefan's reaction, "Are you okay?".

Without looking at her Stefan nodded his head, "You should go, take care of that".

"I second that, cover that thing up Gilbert" Aria said, with her eyes still closed.

Elena rolled her pants down, "Really, its nothing", when she looked up she saw that Stefan was gone, "Where did he go?" 

Aria removed her hands slowly from her face and breathed a sigh relief seeing that Elena had covered her wound, "Oh thank god".

"Aria, did you see where Stefan went?".

"Elena my eyes were closed, how am I suppose to know where he went" Aria said, "Maybe just like me he's scared of blood".

"Yeah, maybe" a disappointed Elena said.

Aria sighed and picked her bag up, "Come on Elena, lets get the hell out of this creepy ass place, I can't take anymore weird things".

Elena laughed but nonetheless followed Aria out of the cemetery and towards their house.

***

Once the sun set, Aria grabbed her coat and turned to Jenna, "Me and Elena are meeting Bonnie and Caroline at the Grill".

"Okay have fun" Jenna said, but suddenly turned around, "Wait, I got this, don't stay out late, it's a school night".

Aria laughed, "Well done Jenna, you nailed it, you're a complete natural".

Jenna smiled at Aria and proudly walked to the kitchen, while Aria shook her head in amusement.

Aria walked towards the bottom of the stairs, "Elena hurry up, we are getting late!".

"Hold on, give me two minutes!" Elena yelled back.

"Fine I'm waiting in the car!" Aria said, walking over to the front door as soon as she opened it she gasped seeing Stefan standing infront of her, "Holy!".

Stefan smiled at her, "Sorry, I was about to knock".

"All good" Aria smiled, "Let me guess, here for Elena?".

Stefan nodded, "I wanted to apologise to her for disappearing earlier today", Stefan held out an green diary, "And also to return this".

"Elena's diary!" Aria exclaimed, "Oh god she has gone crazy looking for that thing, let me just call her, you can wait in the living room if you want".

Stefan looked at the door frame in uncertainty, "Uh no it's okay, I'll wait here".

"Suit yourself", Aria went towards the stairs, "Elena, get your ass down here, there's someone here who wants to meet you!".

"Hold up, I'm coming!" Elena yelled.

Aria smiled and went back to Stefan, "She's coming, I'm going to go wait in the car, but by all means take your time, no rush at all".

Aria quickly ran to the car and sat inside, while looking out the window she saw Stefan and Elena talk, Aria smiled seeing her best friend have a real smile on her face after so many months of faking it.

***

Aria, Elena and Stefan entered the Grill and immediately all eyes were on them, Aria hated the fact that people couldn't just mind their own business and stop sticking their noses in other people's matters.

Aria frowned when she saw Matt walk up to them, she really hoped he wasn't going to create a scene.

Matt forwarded his hand towards Stefan, "Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you".

Stefan shook Matt's hand, "Hi, Stefan".

Aria looked at Matt with a proud expression on her face, she was happy that he was being the bigger person and being happy for Elena even when her happiness wasn't with him.

"Hey Matt" Aria said, side hugging Matt.

"Hey Aria" Matt said, hugging Aria back, "Looking good".

"When do I not" Aria teased.

"Never" Matt said, nudging Aria playfully.

Matt looked at Elena, who smiled at him, "Hey" Elena greeted.

"Hey" Matt said, before walking away to where Tyler was.

Caroline, Bonnie, Elena and Aria sat on a table together with Stefan.

"So you were born in Mystic Falls?" a curious Caroline asked.

Stefan nodded, "Mm-hm, I moved when I was still young".

"Parents?" Bonnie asked.

"My parents passed away" Stefan replied.

Aria looked down at her lap uncomfortably, Caroline squeezed Aria's hand in reassurance, making her give her a small smile.

Elena looked at Stefan sadly, "I'm sorry".

Stefan simply nodded, "Any siblings?" Aria asked.

"None that I talk to, I live with my uncle" Stefan replied.

"So, Stefan, if you're new, you don't know about the party tomorrow" Caroline said.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls" Aria informed.

Stefan looked at Elena, "Are you going?".

"Yes she is, and so is Aria" Caroline replied, making Aria kick her under the table, "Ow!".

"What happened?" a concerned Bonnie asked.

"Nothing a mosquito bit me" Caroline lied, glaring at Aria.

"Tone it down" Aria whispered into Caroline's ear.

"Fine" a grumpy Caroline said.

***

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls" Mr Tanner said, "How many casualties resulted in this battle?" Mr Tanner looked around the class and his eyes landed on Bonnie, "Miss Bennett?".

"Um... A lot?" Bonnie said sheepishly, "I'm not sure, but, like, a whole lot".

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Miss Bennett" Mr Tanner looked towards Matt, "Mr Donovan", a bored Matt looked up at Mr Tanner, "Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your jock stereotype?".

"It's okay Mr Tanner, I'm cool with it" Matt said, making everyone laugh.

"Elena?" Mr Tanner asked, "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most historical events".

Elena shook her head, "I'm sorry, I don't know".

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena" Mr Tanner said, Aria immediately frowned not liking where this was going, "But the personal excuses ended with summer break".

"There were 346 casualties, unless you're counting the local civilians" Aria said, glaring at Mr Tanner.

"That's correct Miss Connor, except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle" Tanner informed.

"Actually, there were 27, sir" Stefan interrupted,  "Confederate soldiers fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons, and they were wrong, it was a night of great loss".

Mr Tanner looked down embarrassed, "The founder's archives are in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr Tanner" Stefan said.

Aria looked at Stefan, an impressed looked on her face.

***

At the back to school bonfire, Aria was standing with Bonnie and Elena, both Aria and Bonnie teasing Elena about Stefan.

"Just admit it Elena" Bonnie said.

"Okay, so he's a little pretty" Elena admitted.

"Pretty, the word every guy wants to hear from a girl" Aria teased, making Elena playfully glare at her.

"He has the romance novel stare" Bonnie stated, "Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul", all three girls started laughing at Bonnie's words.

"So where is he?" Aria asked, looking around but finding no sign of Stefan anywhere.

"I don't know" Elena replied, "You guys tell me, you're both the psychic ones".

"Right, I forgot" Bonnie said.

"It's to late for my psychic to come out, Bonnie its all on you tonight" Aria said.

"Okay, so give me a sec" Bonnie said, closing her eyes, "Grams says I have to concentrate".

"Wait, you need a crystal ball" Elena stated.

"Oh, here" Aria said, handing Bonnie an empty beer bottle.

While grabbing the bottle, Bonnie accidentally touched Aria's hand, causing her to look at her in shock, Aria looked at Bonnie in confusion, suddenly Bonnie removed her hand from the bottle.

"You okay Bonnie?" a concerned Aria asked.

"That was weird" Bonnie stated, "Aria when I touched you, I saw a crow".

Aria looked at Bonnie in shock, her mind automatically going to the crow her and Elena encountered in the cemetery, "What?".

"A crow" Bonnie repeated, "There was fog, a man".

Elena and Aria looked at each other in shock, both of their minds flashing to the cemetery.

"I'm drunk, it's the drinking, there's nothing psychic about it" Bonnie assured Aria, seeing her worried face, when Aria didn't reply, Bonnie grabbed the bottle from her, "Yeah? Okay, I'm gonna get a refill".

Aria turned to Elena, "That was weird".

"Beyond" Elena said.

Both Aria and Elena turned around and gasped in shock seeing Stefan standing infront of them, "Holy hell, dude this is the third time you scared us like this".

"I did it again, didn't I?" Stefan asked, slightly guilty for scaring the two girls.

"Yeah" Elena said, smiling at him.

"I'm sorry, both of you" Stefan said, glancing between Aria and Elena.

"Apology accepted" Aria said, seeing Stefan and Elena looking at each other Aria knew it was her time to leave, "Well I'm going to go find Bonnie and get that refill, see you both later".

Aria quickly ran away from Stefan and Elena and went to go find Bonnie, leaving Elena and Stefan by themselves.

***

Aria was talking to Bonnie and Caroline about something completely random when she heard Elena's yell, "Somebody help!".

Aria looked towards the yell to see Elena and Jeremy come out of the woods with an unconscious Vicki in Jeremy's arms, "Oh my god!", Aria quickly ran to Elena and Jeremy.

"Vicki?" Matt said, running towards them, "Vicki, what the hell?".

"What happened?" Tyler said, running to Vicki.

"Call an ambulance!" Matt yelled.

"Everybody back up!" Tyler said, pushing people away from Vicki, "Give her space".

"It's her neck" Aria said, examining Vicki's bloody neck, the blood making her extremely uneasy, "Something bit her, she's losing a lot of blood".

"Vicki, come on, open your eyes" Matt begged, "Look at me".

Aria stepped back from Vicki and ran her hands through her hair in frustration, the blood on Vicki's neck made Aria want to vomit, Aria's eyes then landed on Stefan, who was looking at Vicki in shock and then just walked away, making Aria frown, wondering what was that about.

***

Stefan ran to the boarding house and slammed the door open, making Zach, his nephew, look at him in both concern and confusion, "What happened?".

"Someone was attacked tonight Zach, and it wasn't me" Stefan said, running up to his room.

Stefan entered his room and looked around when suddenly a crow entered his room, he suddenly froze, and slowly looked back at the balcony, "Damon".

"Hello, brother" Damon greeted, his usual smirk on his face.

Stefan glared at Damon, "The crow's a bit much, don't you think?".

"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog" Damon said.

"When did you get here?" a worried Stefan asked.

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school" Damon walked up to Stefan's book shelf, "You hair's different, I like it".

"It's been fifteen years, Damon" Stefan reminded.

"Thank God" Damon exclaimed, "I couldn't take another day of the '90s, that horrible grunge look did not suit you", Damon walked to the other side of the room, "Remember Stefan, it's important to stay away from the fads".

"Why are you here?".

Damon faced Stefan, "I missed my little brother".

"You hate small towns" Stefan stated, "It's boring, there's nothing for you to do".

Damon smirked, "I've managed to keep myself busy".

"You know, you left the girl alive tonight" Stefan said, "That's very clumsy of you".

Damon turned around to face Stefan, "That could be a problem, for you".

Stefan shook his head slightly, "Why are you here now?".

"I could ask you the same question" Damon said, "However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word, Elena, or wait is it Aria?".

***

Aria and Elena stared at the ambulance that just took Vicki to the hospital, the ambulance bringing back bad memories for both the girls.

Bonnie walked up to the two girls, "Hey, we're gonna go mainline coffee and wait for news".

Elena nodded her head in understanding, "I gotta take Jeremy home".

"I'll come with you guys, but first I want to check on Jeremy" Aria told Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded, she turned to walk away, but then turned to Aria, "Aria, there's no way I'm psychic, I know that, but whatever I saw, or I think I saw I have this feeling--".

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

"--that it's just the beginning".

***

"Both of them took my breath away" Damon said, "Elena, she's a dead ringer for Katherine, then there's Aria, a Connor witch", Damon looked at Stefan, "You do remember what happened when we last came across a Connor witch, right Stefan?", Stefan didn't say anything, just kept glaring at Damon, "Is it working Stefan? Being around them? Being in their world? Does it make you feel alive?".

"Elena is not Katherine, and Aria is not Natalie" Stefan stated.

"Well, lets hope not, we both know how those stories ended" Damon said, standing infront of Stefan, "Tell me, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?".

Stefan turned his face away from Damon, "I know what you're doing Damon, it's not going to work".

"Yeah?" Damon shoved Stefan, "Don't you crave a little?".

"Stop it".

Damon shoved Stefan again, "Let's do it together, I saw a couple girls out there" Damon shoved Stefan again, "Or just-- Let's just cut to the chase" Damon hit Stefan again, "Let's just go straight for Elena and Aria".

Stefan pushed Damon away from him, "Stop it!".

"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Damon yelled, Stefan turned his face away from Damon, "I can!".

"I said stop!" Stefan yelled, vamping out, and pushing Damon through a window and on to the ground.

Stefan groaned and got up and looked towards the now broken window, wondering where his brother went.

"I was impressed" Damon said, standing by a hedge, "I give it a six, you missed on style, but I was pleasantly surprised".

Stefan glared at Damon, "Very good with the whole face rah rah thing, it was good" Damon said, laughing.

"Yeah, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh?" Stefan said, slowly walking towards Damon, "But wherever you go, people die".

Damon shrugged, "That's a given".

Stefan shook his head, "Not here, I won't allow it".

"I take that as an invitation".

"Damon, please" Stefan begged, "After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?".

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keep my word" Damon said, stepping forward.

"Just stay away from Elena and Aria" Stefan warned.

Damon didn't say anything just looked down at Stefan's hand, "Where's your ring?".

Stefan looked down at his hand to see his daylight ring missing, "Oh, yeah, the sun's coming up in a couple hours and, poof, ashes to ashes".

Stefan stared at Damon who just chuckled, "Relax" Damon stood infront of Stefan and showed him his ring, "It's right here".

Stefan took the ring from Damon and put it on, suddenly Damon vamped out and grabbed Stefan by his throat and threw him to the wall.

"You should know better than to think you're stronger than me" Damon said, looking down at an injured Stefan, "You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people, I wouldn't try it again,", Damon smirked hearing noise come from inside the house, "I think we woke Zach up, sorry Zach" Damon said, going inside the house and leaving behind an injured Stefan.

***

Aria finally found Jeremy drinking beer and staring at the police cars, she walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "You okay Jer?".

Jeremy roughly removed Aria's hand off of him, "Don't".

Aria looked down hurt by Jeremy's behaviour, recently it seemed like Jeremy wanted nothing to do with Aria, before they were two peas in pod, but ever since his parents died, its almost like Jeremy has forgotten Aria even exists.

Elena saw her best friend's hurt face and walked up to where her and Jeremy were standing, "I called Jenna, she's on her way", Elena took Aria's hand and squeezed it in assurance, she knows Jeremy's recent behaviour has been getting to her, Aria nodded, while Jeremy said nothing, Elena glanced at the beer in Jeremy's hand, "Those people in uniforms?" Elena said, pointing to the police officers, "Last time I checked, they're the police".

Jeremy didn't reply instead kept drinking, after finishing his bottle he threw it on the floor.

"People are going to stop giving you breaks Jeremy" Aria mumbled quietly, not wanting to upset Jeremy anymore than he already was.

"Aria's right Jer, people just don't care anymore" Elena said, "They don't remember that our parents are dead, they've got their own lives to deal with, the rest of the world has moved on, you should try to".

"I've seen both you and Aria in the cemetery writing in your diaries, is that supposed to be both of you moving on?" Jeremy asked.

Aria shook her head, "Your parents wouldn't have wanted this" Aria glanced at Elena, "For any of us".

Elena, Jeremy and Aria looked at each other then glanced infront of them, all three lost in their own thoughts.

***

Aria sat infront of Caroline at the Grill, Bonnie having gone to get all of them coffee.

"Come on Care, drink that cup coffee before Bonnie brings your second cup" Aria said, "You have to sober up before we get you home, Liz will kill me if she sees you like this".

"Oh please, mom loves you too much to blame you for my mistakes" Caroline said, holding her head in pain, she then looked up and glared at her best friend, "Why didn't you go for him?".

"Because he went for Elena, Care" Aria retorted, knowing who Caroline was talking about.

Caroline sighed, "How come the guys that we want never want us?".

"That's just life Care, we have no control over that" Aria said.

"I'm inappropriate" Caroline said, "I always say the wrong thing, but you're the exact opposite of me, you always say the right thing but despite that how is it always Elena?".

"Caroline, this isn't a competition between us and Elena" Aria reminded.

Caroline looked at Aria, "Yes it is".

Aria sighed, "Okay you know what, I'm going to go find Bonnie and get your second cup of coffee so you can stop your pity party because pity party and Caroline Forbes just don't go well together".

Aria stood up from her seat but before she could leave, Caroline grabbed her wrist and pulled her to sit next to her, "One day you and I are going to find guys who will love us unconditionally, okay?".

Aria smiled at her sleepy best friend, who had now placed her head on her shoulder, "I promise, Care Bear" she whispered, placing her head on top of Caroline's.

***

After a while Bonnie had finally come back and taken Caroline home, while Aria decided she wanted to be alone for a while, so she decided to take a walk on the town square which was currently empty due to the late night, Bonnie, who understood that Aria was feeling a bit low, promised to return to pick her up after she dropped Caroline off, giving Aria some time to get her thoughts straight.

Aria took a seat on one of the benches, she then took her diary out of her purse and proceeded to write.

Dear Journal,

Me and Elena couldn't have been more wrong, we both thought that we could smile and nod our way through it all, pretend like it will all be okay. We had a plan, we wanted to change who we really were, create a whole new life as someone completely different, someone without the past, without the pain, someone alive.

After deciding he had tortured Stefan enough, Damon decided to take a walk down the town square, he sat on a bench and pulled out a photo from his pocket, the photo was of a young girl, around the same age as him, below the photo said the words, Natalie Connor, 1864.

But turns out I was right, its not that easy, no matter what you do the bad things stay with you, they follow you everywhere, no matter where you run, you can't escape them, no matter how much you want to.

Aria flipped her diary to the end, where a photo of her mom and dad was, "I miss you both" she whispered, grabbing the photo in her hand, "I wish you were here to tell me what to do next".

Damon stared at Natalie's photo, "I don't know what to do next Natalie, I wish you were here to tell me".

All we can do is be ready for the good so when it comes, you invite it in because you need it, I need it.

Suddenly, both Damon and Aria looked up from their respective photos at the same time, both of them realising they were not alone anymore, there was someone here with them, Damon titled his head and gave Aria a curious look, he knew who she was, how can he not know someone from his Natalie's line, he wondered, was she liked Natalie or was she liked the person Natalie was connected to, while Aria looked at Damon in confusion, she had never seen him in this town before, who was he and why did she suddenly feel a weird pull towards him.

Without saying a word to each other, both Damon and Aria stood up from their seats and walked in opposite directions of each other, unknown to them that though today their paths were different, there will be a time when the universe will make their path one and Mystic Falls will witness another epic yet tragic love story that will be forever remembered by the stars.

***

Presenting 1x01 of Cold Hearted!

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN WELCOME TO COLD HEARTED!

How was the first chapter?

Thoughts on our OC Aria Connor?

Thoughts on Aria's dynamic with everyone?

Thoughts on Natalie Connor?

Thoughts on the small interaction between Damon and Aria?

Published: 20th August 2020
Edited: 9th January 2024