"You ready, kid?" Alaric Saltzman looked over at his niece as he stopped the car.

"No," she mumbled, looking out of the window at the building in front of her and fiddling with the strap of her bag which was in her lap. She sighed and turned to look at her uncle, gesturing to the school building. "Seriously? Why do I have to go to the school where you teach? It's going to be hard enough fitting in, being the 'new girl' halfway through the year, but being related to a teacher? That's just… that's great, Uncle Ric, seriously. Note the sarcasm."

"Azaria-"

"Aria," she interrupted him. "I told you, no one calls me Azaria anymore," she mumbled, pushing open the car door and stepping out. "I'll see you later."

"Okay, meet me here when you finish, alright? You'll be fine. Good luck!" Alaric called after her. Aria rolled her eyes and waved at him quickly, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground as she walked through the car park, dodging people and trying not to bump into anyone. Alaric sighed, rubbing his forehead as he watched her.

He knew it was going to be difficult, having her come live with him. She was a 17 year old girl who'd had to leave her home time, her friends, people she'd grown up. She'd had to leave her whole life there behind her, with no idea what had happened to her mother.

"Oh, hey - Elena!" Alaric called, quickly jumping out of his car and locking it behind him. Elena Gilbert stopped, turning round and smiling as she waited for him to catch up with her.

"Hey, Alaric. How are you?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah, I'm good - listen, I don't if Jenna mentioned it to you, but my niece is living with me now."

"She said something about it…" Elena smiled weakly. "How's she doing? Any news on her mother?"

"No, not yet," Alaric frowned, thinking about his younger sister. "Listen, I was wondering if you could do something for me."

"Yeah, sure, anything!"

"I was hoping you could, well…" Alaric sighed. "Can you maybe keep an eye on her? I'm worried about her, starting school halfway through the year isn't easy for anyone, let alone when the whole school knows her mother has gone missing. I just want her to have friends, people she can talk to about things."

"Of course I will! I know how it feels to have everyone staring and whispering behind my back. That was hard enough for me, and I grew up with these people. Don't worry, Ric. I'll talk to Bonnie, we can show her around school and around town. We'll make sure she settles in okay," Elena told him with a smile.

"Thank you, Elena," he smiled gratefully. "Oh, one more thing!" he called after her as she turned to walk away. She looked back at him, eyebrow raised. "Make sure Damon stays away from her."

"Sure thing," Elena laughed. "I'll go get Bonnie now and we'll introduce ourselves to her. She'll be fine, Ric, I promise."

Alaric smiled as he watched Elena walk away from him.

He just hoped that she was right.