Chapter three

"This will be my last confession,"- Heavy In Your Arms by Florence + the Machine

Aria was a bit of a hypocrite.

She knew that she was a monster, a murderer, and she had stopped killing. Yet, Aria still drank blood straight from its source. She tried to stick to blood bags, but every now and then, she'd bring a hot guy home and sink her fangs into him. Some people didn't understand why she did that, being so convinced that she was evil incarnate. Aria always just shrugged and replied "I'm going to hell anyway- might as well enjoy the ride."

At the small dive bar a few towns over, Aria started to miss the days when she wasn't with Damon. All those years without Damon, she was lonely and worried and fearful, but at least she didn't have to pretend not to be in love with a man who would never love her back.

"So, what shall we do shots of?" Aria asked as they sat down at the bar. "Tequila? Whiskey? Hot bartender?" she smirked at the tall, blonde bartender. Aria and Damon had been friends for so long that she already knew Damon's type. Granted, his type was just hot girls.

"I thought you were on a no biting diet?" he asked.

"I'm on a no killing diet," she corrected. "I try not to tempt myself, but I like to think that I have good self-control. Besides, you need fun and I'll make sure that Blondie will wake up in her bed tomorrow morning, with nothing more than a blurry memory she'll blame on alcohol."

Damon smirked slightly as Aria signaled the bartender. No, she'd make sure the blonde would live. But it was things like how Aria could care less that she was about to use the young woman for a night that made her sure that she was a monster.

"Can I get y'all anythin?" the bartender asked in a southern accent.

"Yes…" Aria looked at her nametag. "Britney, you can. I'd like a shot of tequila and my best friend would like a shot of you." Britney's brown eyes widened for a second before Aria compelled her.

Damon watched curiously as Aria bit the bartender's wrist, and Britney gasped in pain and pleasure. She pulled away and wiped the blood from her mouth. She then stood up, smirked at Damon, and went to compel the rest of the bar.

When she looked back at him, Damon was biting Britney's neck and she was moaning softly. Aria frowned, jealousy surging through her, already regretting introducing Damon to Britney. She shook her head and reminded herself that she was trying to fix Damon's broken heart, to help her hurting friend. That was all that mattered.

But still, when Aria returned to the bar, she sprinkled salt onto the back of her hand, licked it, tossed back her salt of tequila, and bit into her lime wedge. That shot of tequila was followed by more shots and more alcohol. Aria kept drinking until her jealously, love, and self-loathing was gone and all that was left was her and Jack Daniels.

"Ria!"

Somewhere between scotch and bourbon, Aria had fallen down in a booth, laughed her ass off, and found that she was unable to get up. She was probably drunker than she had been during prohibition, where everything was illegal so it made it so much more fun. Damon was a terrible influence on her.

"Aria!" Damon called again, suddenly appearing at her side and pulling her out of the booth. He looked a little drunk, but nowhere near as wasted as Aria. She giggled, her blue eyes wide.

"Ya have pretty eyes!" she exclaimed, falling into his arms.

"You know what I think is unfair? We came here so that I could have fun, yet you're the one wasted," he mused, half-holding up Aria.

But Aria wasn't paying any attention to him. "Les dance!" she announced, gesturing to the bar. Her blue eyes lit up and Damon smirked.

"I think I like drunk Aria better than regular Aria. She's much more fun," he said, leading Aria to the bar. It probably wasn't smart, having a drunk person so wasted that she could barely stand dance on the bar, but Damon would make sure that she didn't fall. Besides, she'd heal.

Every time Aria stumbled, she'd giggle ten times. Damon watched her dance like a maniac with amused eyes. he couldn't imagine not having Aria in his life. He regretted not telling her about his plan to get Katherine back. it had been hard, not having her the past thirty two years. If only he had fallen in love with Aria instead of Katherine.

His eyes widened and he jolted. Damon had never thought of that before, though he supposed it was true. Aria had always just been Aria to him. if he thought about her any other way, it would ruin their friendship- something he held so dear. Sure, he thought that Aria was devastatingly beautiful, but it was more of a notion than a thought.

Damon broke out of his thoughts just in time to see Aria spin around the bar, trip over her own feet, and fall off the bar. In the blink of an eye, Damon was on the ground and he caught her effortlessly.

Aria burst out laughing. "Damon Salvatore, my hero!" she choked out between fits of laughter. He just shook his head at put her down on her own two feet. The only people who understood drunk humor were drunks.

Aria's blue eyes focused in on a man in a corner booth, and she made her way to him. Damon's jaw set as he watched Aria slide into the booth next to the man and shamelessly flirt with him. Damon never liked Aria's boyfriends on principle, but he always chalked that up to protectiveness.

He and Aria were just friends. Best friends. But that didn't mean that they hadn't had close calls of romance in the past.

October 31, 1975

Madison, Wisconsin

It was Halloween, and Aria and Damon had no better place to be than a lame college kegger- and Aria didn't even like beer.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into going," Aria muttered, glowering at the plastic cup of beer in her hand.

"Ria, your boyfriend's the one who invited us in the first place," Damon pointed out, before smirking and handing her a napkin. "Your blood's all smudged."

Aria glared at him and took the napkin. "I can't believe you forced me to dress up- as a vampire, no less- and you get away without one," she complained. Aria was dressed as a very stereotypical vampire, with fake fangs and all. but the blood all around her mouth was real. It belonged to her boyfriend, Steven. "And I really need to break up with him. he's so clingy."

"Well, I'd be happy to assist you with that." Damon smirked and Aria frowned. She knew that Damon still killed, and tried to stop him whenever possible, but she didn't judge. She had been far worse than him, back in the day.

"I think I better break up with him on my own, Damon. that way he'll live," she said, glaring at her beer before handing it to Damon. "Let's go back to the apartment. I have some scotch stashed in my room."

"Aw, but I was having fun." Damon's eyes wandered over to the scantily clad college girls. "The best part of Halloween is that everything is slutty. Slutty cats, slutty nurses, slutty bunnies. Hell, I even saw a slutty pumpkin."

Aria looked down at her costume. A simple bloody corset, leather pants, and a red cape. Yeah, she looked a little slutty. "Please…" Aria gave her best pout and Damon sighed.

"I'll compromise- we can go home and get drunk on something other than cheap beer, if you dance with me." Damon offered her his hand and raised an eyebrow.

Aria grinned and took his hand. Not only were they drinking buddies, but they were dance partners as well. Damon pulled her onto the makeshift dance floor, and promptly spun her in a circle. With an ease from having danced together for many decades, Aria wrapped her arms around Damon's neck and he placed his hands on her waist. They swayed side to side, easily putting the other drunk couples to shame.

Aria gasped when Damon suddenly dipped her low to the ground, and then spun her back up. She spun into him, her back against his chest, and he dipped her again. Their faces were close together, and Aria's breath caught in her throat. Something changed in Damon's icy eyes, and he leaned in even closer to her.

"Hey Aria! There you are!"

Damon dropped Aria and she fell to the ground, landing on her ass. Steven stared at them, confused. She suddenly wanted to rip Steven's throat out. He had just ruined something that she had only dreamed about. But if Damon and Aria had kissed, it would've ruined their friendship. He was in love with Katherine. Aria could never compete with that.

"I'll let you two talk," Damon said gruffly, before walking away. Aria sighed and pushed her blonde hair out of her face. Steven offered her a hand, but she ignored it and stood up on her own.

It would've been a mistake, if they had kissed. And that's what Aria told herself every time she wished that Steven had showed up a minute later than he had.

~EIATT~

A/N: thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

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~Abby :)