So, there it is, part 2. I have to say, I'm not really happy with it but I don't know what I could do better so…
Another thing, I know it seems like Ariana is kind of obsessing over making sure Stefan likes her but you have to remember that this is the very first time a guy has really paid attention to her, a guy who has no interest in her sister which has never happened before. So yeah, right now she's a little boy-crazy and insecure at the same time but that will change soon, once she really starts to gain more confidence. And remember, this will eventually be a Damon/Ariana story. Stefan is kind of a stepping stone in the way towards Damon and Ariana.
Anyway, enough with the author's note. Hope you like this chapter! Just another thing: Ariana and Elena are not identical. Their face is identical (except for their eyes) and their hair is the same as well except for the fact that Ariana's is naturally wavy. However, their bodies are not the same – though they are the same height.
Pilot, Part 2
They entered the Grill together and once again the attention of every guy their age there – Tyler, Matt, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline – was on them.
Ariana felt suddenly nervous and almost regretted the idea of inviting Stefan to come along. Stefan turned to smile at her in that moment though – did he sense her nervousness somehow? – and she immediately relaxed.
They had barely made ten steps inside the bar when Matt walked over to them. He had a strange look on his face, almost like he was angry about something. What was with Matt lately?
"Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you." He extended his hand towards Stefan in a behavior that seemed a lot like posturing.
"Hi. Stefan." Stefan shook Matt's hand, appearing completely friendly though more reserved that he had ever been with her.
"Hey Matt." Ariana intervened, breaking off the strange face off. "What's up?"
Matt turned to her, smiling a smile that had never directed towards her before, both shy and hopeful. "Hi Ariana. I just wanted to say how glad I am that you forgave me. And also, I wanted to ask you how you were doing…I'm sorry I didn't ask you this morning…" He was rumbling and he looked nervous and Ariana was completely confused.
"Oh, I'm…I'm fine. Yeah." She answered, feeling awkward. "Listen Matt, we have to go now. Caroline, Elena and Bonnie are waiting for us so…"
"Yeah, yeah." Matt replied sounding disappointed. He sent a last, dark look towards Stefan and then joined Tyler that was watching the scene from the pool table. Tyler waved at her and winked when she noticed him looking and she rolled her eyes before turning towards Stefan. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my sister and our friends."
The two of them went to sit at Elena's table and after the introductions were out of the way, Caroline started questioning Stefan, her best preppy, flirty smile poised on him. "So, you were born in Mystic Falls?"
"Mm-Hmm." Stefan answered, patient "And moved when I was still young."
"Parents?" Bonnie asked this time.
A shadow passed over Stefan's eyes at the question. "My parents passed away."
Ariana looked at him and placed her hand over his in a sign of support. Stefan turned towards her and smiled.
"I'm sorry." Elena said as well, looking sad. "Any siblings?"
Stefan turned to her, "None that I talk to. I live with my uncle."
Caroline, whose interest in Stefan was rather obvious, called him. "So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."
"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie explained.
Stefan turned to Ariana, smiling, "Are you going?"
Ariana widened her eyes, not expecting Stefan to still keep his attention on her where Elena was sitting right next to him. Maybe there was hope yet. Ariana finally grinned back at him, feeling shy. "I-I guess I will."
Stefan grinned back. "Good."
The next day at school they were once again in Tanner's class and the teacher was using this hour to question his students about what a specific battle during the Civil War. "The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"
Bonnie looked both startled and clueless. "Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." Tanner mocked her. "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
Matt shrugged carelessly. "It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it."
"How about Miss Ariana Gilbert? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"
Ariana bit her lip, knowing she had read about it somewhere but not remembering the exact number at the moment. "Something like 350 causalities?"
"Too vague of an answer, Miss Gilbert." Tanner replied, not losing any occasion in making his students feel like idiots. "I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons. But the personal excuses ended with summer break."
Ariana gasped at Tanner's words, not expecting anyone – not even Tanner – to comment so callously on her parents' death.
"There were 346 casualties, sir." She heard Stefan's voice say. "Unless you're counting local civilians."
Tanner turned to look at him with a frown. "That's correct. Mister...?"
"Salvatore."
"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"
Stefan's frown deepened. "Distant."
"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Ariana wished she could punch that smug smile off his face.
"Actually, there were 27, sir." Stefan corrected him. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner." Though he wasn't openly smiling there was a definitive smirk in his voice.
Ariana lowered her head to hide her own smirk then, as soon as Tanner had turned away, she sent a smile towards Stefan and mouthed 'thank you' at him. Stefan smiled back.
At the end of the school day Ariana was surprised to see Caroline waiting for her, a look of determination on her face.
"Caroline? Hey." She said in a questioning tone.
"You're going to the party with Stefan, are you?" Caroline immediately asked, not one to beat around the bush.
Ariana shrugged. "Yeah, that's the idea. Why?" She felt suddenly weary. Was Caroline going to scream at her for attracting the attention of a guy she had clearly set her eyes on?
Caroline sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Then we're going shopping."
"What?" Ariana asked, completely taken aback.
"You can't show up at a party with Stefan Salvatore as your date with your usual clothes."
"Why not?" Ariana asked, more and more confused by the conversation.
Caroline gasped like Ariana had said something outrageous. "Because he's Stefan Salvatore, hello? He's like the hottest guy this town has ever seen. He's clearly interested in you but how long is it going to last if you keep dressing like you do?"
Ariana frowned. "I don't think Stefan cares about that."
"Well, maybe he doesn't now. But what's going to happen when he sees your sister all dressed-up and flawless like usual? How long do you think it's going to take for Stefan to change his mind and set his eyes on your sister instead?"
Caroline's blunt words pierced directly into the core of her insecurities. Wasn't exactly what she had been expecting all along? For Stefan to realize that he was interested in the wrong sister, like everybody else before him?
Caroline's harsh gaze softened and she said. "You're just as beautiful as your sister – hell you look almost identical so it's not like it's hard. It's just that you never actually tried before. I think now it would be a good time to do it."
Ariana shook her head. "Why would you help me? I thought you liked Stefan. Why would you help me keep him interested in me or something?"
Caroline shrugged. "Well, it's simple. First, I don't like competing over guys unless it's with Elena. Second, I'm happy that, for once, a guy is not drooling all over Elena. It's getting kind of old, don't you think? Sure, I would have preferred if he had been interested in me but…I'm okay with him being interested in you. You desperately need a boyfriend and Stefan could be the one for you."
"Okay, so you…what? You want to turn me into a second Elena? Because I'm not okay with that."
"What? No. Of course not. Not that you couldn't pull it off, of course. But Elena's style is not really your style, is it? Elena has a girl-next-door kind of style, which works for her. But you…You're more…creative and free-spirited and animal-loving…Don't worry, when I'm done you'll still be you, just a better, sexier version of you."
Ariana hummed, agreeing with Caroline's description of her. "Okay. So, what do you have in mind?"
Caroline smiled her most devious smile. "Boho chic. Trust me, it would totally work on you and would look really sexy without seeming like you're trying too much. In fact, we're going to recreate your wardrobe from top to bottom. Trust me, when I'm done with you, Stefan won't be able to resist you."
Ariana bit her lip and then shrugged, figuring what did she have to lose?
They took Caroline's car and drove to the mall a little out of town. The first order of business was, according to Caroline, getting rid of her glasses. Ariana had never worn contact lenses before but she figured it was never too late to try. That was one of the many things she and Elena had not in common – Elena's sight was perfect.
The difference that a pair of glasses made was rather astonishing. While her face and Elena's were identical, her blue eyes stood out against her olive skin and made her appear different from her sister somehow but not less beautiful.
Next were her hair. She didn't remember the last time she cut them. They actually reached her bottom now. The hairdresser cut the tips off and a few centimeters over it so they reached her mid-back now and then styled her hair in soft, loose, curls. When that was done, she recommended some hair product that would help her obtain the same effect at home.
"Now, let's go to Victoria's Secret. Every girl needs sexy lingerie in her wardrobe. You never know when someone like Stefan will see what's under your clothes."
Ariana blushed to the top of her hair. "We haven't even started to officially date yet. Don't you think you're going a little ahead of yourself?"
Caroline, of course, ignored her protests and dragged her into the store. She asked Ariana what size she was and Ariana shrugged, saying she was the same size as her sister. Turned out, that was wrong, especially when it came to her bust.
"I can't believe you have been wearing the wrong bra size all these years. Didn't you ever go with your mom to buy lingerie together?"
Ariana shook her head. "No. She sometimes went with Elena, but mostly she just bought underwear for both of us and I guess she figured, since we are twins, we have the same size."
"You definitely don't have the same size. Those baggy clothes you insist on wearing definitely kept a lot of things hidden. You must have, like, three-three sizes and a half more than Elena."
"Really?" Ariana said, looking down at her breasts.
"Yes, really. Elena's boobs always look so good because she wears bras that fits her, often push-ups."
"Oh." Ariana merely said in reply, not sure what she was supposed to add.
In the end they left the shop with plenty of bras in her right size, mostly lace and push-ups, lacy underwear and thongs and some baby-dolls as well for the night. For the first time in her life, while wearing that lingerie, Ariana had felt sexy.
Finally they went to buy some clothes. Caroline directed her towards things she thought Ariana would like but mostly let her decide on her own, though she encouraged her to be surer of herself. In the end, Ariana bought tons of short and long dresses for her, skirts, tops and skinny jeans, high heeled sandals and knee-high boots, all in the boho chic style that Caroline thought would suit her.
It did, in fact. It was sexy and comfortable at the same time; it was somewhat still large and baggy (some clothes at least, not everything) but in a flattering way instead of a swallowing-you-whole way. They were made to enhance the body forms instead of hiding them. And Ariana did have to agree with Caroline, she did look good in them.
Finally they bought some makeup and accessories (belts, bags, earrings, bracelets, necklaces etc) and then returned home, just in time to get ready for the party.
They got ready at Caroline's house and Ariana realized that that was what a girls' day felt like. She never really had one of those, only Elena, Bonnie and Caroline were included in shopping sprees and sleepovers (unless it was at her house, in that case Elena couldn't not include her). She went to parties with them, sure, but mostly because she and Elena drove the same car and then, most of the time, Elena would ditch her to be with her friends and she would stand there, awkward in a corner because she didn't have many friends – or she would tag along and she would stand with them but was never really included. She was always the bystander, the outsider looking in into Elena's amazingly perfect life. Ariana knew Elena didn't do it on purpose but it didn't hurt any less.
Ariana tried not to linger on those thoughts and instead let Caroline do her magic. She warned her blonde friend not to overdo it with the makeup – Ariana never wore makeup so that was a first for her – but Caroline merely raised her eyebrow in answer like to say 'Who do you think you're talking to?'.
After a good fifteen minutes, Caroline told her to look at her reflection in the mirror and when Ariana did, she gasped. Caroline had underlined the upper part of her eyes with eyeliner and a natural eyeshadow that became darker at the corner plus a layer of mascara to get a slightly smoky effect. She had a slight veil of blush on her cheeks and red matte lipsticks covered her lips.
"Wow." Was all Ariana was able to say.
Caroline smirked at her. "I know."
Her hair were already done so the only thing left to do was to get dressed. Ariana chose a black crochet short dress with floral designs whose sleeves reached a little below the elbow. It was tight on the front and waist and then opened in a flowy skirt. It was completely see-through so she wore a short skin-tight cotton dress with spaghetti straps underneath. She also wore black, high-heeled sandals to complete the ensemble.
The overall effect looked really good on her. This outfit emphasized her long legs, her small waist and her chest in all the right ways.
"You look even better than I imagined. I have to say, I'm officially jealous." Caroline's voice said from behind her, her blonde reflection appearing in the mirror next to hers.
Ariana rolled her eyes. "You're gorgeous and you know it. You don't need to be jealous."
Caroline grinned. "I know."
They joined the party half an hour later though Stefan still hadn't shown up. Ariana noticed immediately the stares from basically all the people at the party, some curious, some surprised, some jealous, some even lustful but she tried not pay them any attention. She said hi to her sister but she didn't linger, choosing instead to sip on a beer and stick close to Caroline.
Matt came close to them a few minutes later, looking at her with that peculiar look that he had been sporting in the past two days and Ariana felt uncomfortable once again. What the hell was going on with Matt?
Still, Ariana ignored the strange vibes she was getting from Matt and talked with both him and Caroline like nothing was wrong.
They were in the middle of a debate about this year's chances for the football team to win State Championship when Stefan showed up.
"Hum, excuse me. I'll see you later, okay?" Ariana said to them before making her way towards Stefan.
"Hey!" She said to him as soon as they were standing in front of each other. "You made it."
Stefan immediately smiled at her, looking relieved to see a familiar face. "I did."
"So, do you wanna go take a walk?" Ariana asked shily.
"Sure. Lead the way."
After a few steps made in silence, Ariana decided to break it by commenting. "You know, you're kind of the talk of the town."
Stefan turned to her with a grin. "Am I?"
"Well, sure. Hot, new, mysterious guy? Of course you are."
"You think I'm hot?" Stefan said with a larger grin.
Ariana smiled. "Don't let it get it to your head but yeah. Everyone who has eyes would think so."
"Hum. I only care what you think." Stefan said with an intense look.
Ariana brought a strand of her behind her ear in a nervous gesture, missing her glasses. "Well, that's good."
"You know, you have the whole mysterious thing going too. Twinged in sadness."
Ariana laughed nervously. "You think I'm sad?"
"Well, I didn't want to pry yesterday but I thought moonlight sonata wasn't the only reason you were crying."
Ariana sighed, "I have to warn you, this is not exactly party chit-chat."
"I've never really been good at, uh, chit-chat."
"Last spring I went to this party and my parents came to pick me up and drove their car off a bridge with me inside as well, in the backseat. And I survived, for some strange reason, but they didn't…So, that's it."
"You won't be sad forever, Ariana."
Ariana sighed again. "Why does it feel like it then? This summer I did all that I could to just…fill my days so that I wouldn't have to think how much it hurt, figuring it was going to get better sooner or later but…it didn't."
An expression of empathy crossed Stefan's face. "It may seem like a cliché but time really is the method to overcome this kind of hurt. That doesn't meant that it'd ever stop hurting because it probably won't but you will get better. You will be happy again Ariana."
Ariana smiled at him. "Thank you, Stefan, really."
Stefan nodded, a small grin on his lips. Then he turned serious and asked, "So, can I ask you something?"
Ariana frowned. "Sure. What is it?"
"What brought about this change in looks?"
Ariana looked down at herself, feeling suddenly insecure. "You don't like it?" Just her luck, she went out of her way to change her appearance to keep Stefan's attention (or at least that was the intent at the beginning) and Stefan didn't even like it.
Stefan widened his eyes. "No, no. That's not what I meant. You look…breathtaking."
Ariana blushed at his words. "Thank you."
"It's just that, it's not your usual style, is it?"
Ariana shrugged. "No, it's not but…I guess I needed a change. Caroline helped me chose a style that still screams me but it looks good on me at the same time."
"It certainly works. But why did you feel the need to change?"
"If you're trying to get me to admit that I did it to impress you…it's totally true."
Stefan laughed at that. "Well, consider me impressed. But that's not the only reason, is it?"
Ariana shook her head. "No, it's not. It's just…you'll think me silly."
"I promise, I won't."
"It's because of Elena. Not, because because…she didn't do anything wrong, it's just…you see, Elena has always been the outgoing, popular one, since we were kids. Everywhere she went, she made friends and everyone adored her. I was just…me. Shy, awkward…
"So one time during kindergarten, my sister and some friends of hers were jumping with the rope. I wanted to play as well so I stupidly said that I could beat Elena's record of how many consecutive jumps she could do. Elena glared at me and said that I wanted to play just because she was playing. That all I wanted was to copy her. The other kids laughed, of course, and started to call me 'copycat'.
"From that moment on, I tried to be as different from her as possible. If Elena decided to do something that I wanted to do as well, then I would change my mind and decide to do something else instead. Reason why, even if I wanted to do gymnastics when I was little, I did ballet instead, because Elena wanted to do gymnastics, even if she gave that up after two years. It's the reason why I never even tried out for cheerleader, because I knew she wanted to do it. Why I never tried to dress up or wear make-up. I guess I was also afraid people would think I would never compare with Elena, no matter how much I tried."
Stefan had listened to what she was saying without interrupting but at her last words he protested, "You don't need to compete with your sister, you're perfect just as you are."
Ariana smiled slightly at him but the truth was, she wasn't feeling very reassured. Just once she wanted to hear someone say: 'You're better than your sister'. Maybe it was petty on her part but she couldn't help it.
"So, what made you change your mind about 'dressing up'?" Stefan asked her then.
"I guess I just realized that I can look beautiful and find my own style without becoming a copy of my sister."
Stefan opened his mouth to say something but before he could, they both heard Elena's voice screaming, "Somebody help!"
They immediately ran to see what was going on and noticed Elena and Jeremy were carrying Vicki's unconscious and bleeding form.
"Vicki?" Matt called out, coming closer to them. "Vicki, what the hell?!"
"What happened to her?" Tyler, that had joined them as well, asked.
"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt ordered.
Ariana snapped herself out of the shock of seeing such a scene and immediately called for an ambulance.
"Everybody back up, give her some space!" She heard in the background – it was Tyler's voice. Then Elena's, "It's her neck. Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood."
Once she had finished explaining the situation on the phone for the ambulance to come, she hanged up and she realized that Stefan wasn't standing next to her anymore. She looked around, hoping to find him but he was nowhere to be seen.
Stefan returned at the Boarding House in a hurry and immediately Zach's voice from his office called out to him, wanting to know what was going on.
"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." Stefan said, without even stopping. Instead he ran up the stairs to his room.
Immediately a crow appeared from the open window and Stefan turned around, already knowing who he was going to find there.
"Damon."
Damon smirked at him from the balcony. "Hello, brother."
"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?"
Damon shrugged and walked inside. "Wait till you see what I can do with the fog."
"When'd you get here?"
"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school. Your hair's different. I like it."
"It's been 15 years, Damon."
Daon sighed in fake relieve while playing around with the memorabilia in the room. "Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads."
Stefan sighed, exasperatedly. "Why are you here?"
"I miss my little brother."
Stefan almost scoffed at Damon's answer. "You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."
"I've managed to keep myself busy."
"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you."
Damon nodded. "Ah. That can be a problem...for you."
"Why are you here now?"
"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word...Ariana."
"Hey, about I take you home, hum?" Ariana asked Caroline. It looked like she drank more that was wise that evening. She had already made sure that Elena would bring Jeremy home so that was one less thing to worry about.
Caroline nodded at her, stumbling a little on her feet. "Yeah, that would be good." She giggled. "Though you'll have to drive my car, I don't think I can right now…" She laughed again.
Ariana shook her head and took the keys from Caroline's bag before helping her walk to the car. She helped Caroline sit down in the passenger's seat and then revved the engine. A few minutes later, after making sure the coast was clear – meaning that Liz Forbes was nowhere to be seen – she helped Caroline going up the stairs and tucked her into bed.
"Thank you." Caroline mumbled, already half-asleep.
Ariana smiled at her. "Of course. Goodnight, Care."
"Goodnight, Ari."
"You know, I'd figure you would be more interested in Elena than Ariana since she's really identical to Katherine but no…you chose Ariana, why?"
Stefan opened his mouth to answer but Damon continued before he could, "Not that I can blame you. Elena is so painfully ordinary, nothing that particularly stands out about her except for her looks. Just an ordinary human girl. But Ariana…there's something special about her, isn't it? Can't put my finger on what it is and yet, there's something that just draws you in. Is it working, Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?"
"She's not Katherine." Stefan growled at him. "She's nothing like her."
"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"
"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work."
"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon started to hit him, to goad him.
"Stop it."
"Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple girls out there." Damon said, then with a smirk he added, "Or just, let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight for Ariana. She smells delicious, the best thing I've ever smelled in the century and a half I've been on this hearth. I bet you noticed that, didn't you? How could you not, spending so much time around her?"
Stefan felt his eyes go red, black veins appearing at the memory of Ariana's smell suffusing the music room. Her blood pumping underneath her perfect olive skin. "Stop it!" He said through his fangs.
"Imagine what her blood tastes like!" Damon said with a slight moan. Stefan's face completely transformed at that. "I can."
"I said stop!" Stefan screamed at him before running into him and throwing him out of the window. When he landed into the pavement below though, Damon wasn't there.
Damon was already casually standing on his feet, completely unruffled by Stefan's attack.
"I was impressed. I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face...thing." Damon mocked him. "It was good."
Stefan got back on his feet, feeling weary to his very bones. "You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die."
Damon shrugged. "That's a given."
"Not here. I won't allow it."
Damon smirked at him, completely unafraid. "I take that as an invitation."
Stefan sighed. "Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"
"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word."
Stefan glared at him. "Just stay away from Ariana."
Damon ignored him and looked down at Stefan's hand. "Where's your ring? Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes." Stefan started to panic.
"Relax. It's right here." Damon said, reaching out his hand with Stefan's ring on his palm.
Stefan took it from him warily, half-expecting him to take the ring back. Once he had put the ring back on his finger Damon grabbed Stefan by the throat and threw him against the garage with force.
"You should know better than to think you're stronger than me." Damon said to him while Stefan tried to painfully go back on his feet. "You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again." Then he heard noises in the distance and added, "I think we woke Zach up. Sorry, Zach." And with that, he disappeared into the night.
Ariana was just about to ready herself to go to sleep after checking on Jeremy and talking a little with Jenna and Elena – with Elena especially about what had happened that night to Vicki and asking her if she had any news about her – when she heard knocking at the front door. She looked out the window and noticed it was Stefan.
Ariana smiled a little to herself and checked her reflection in the mirror. She was back to her old Ariana – hair collected in a messy bun at the top of her head, glasses on her face and wearing sweatpants and a large t-shirt. She shrugged and figured that if Stefan hadn't run away from her yet, maybe he didn't particularly care how she dressed after all. Though she was definitely going to keep wearing the clothes she had bought with Caroline because she really loved them and she loved how she felt in them, which was the most important thing.
Ariana got down the stairs and opened the door.
Stefan smiled a sheepish smile at her. "I know it's late. But, uh...I needed to know that you were ok. And also apologize for disappearing like I did at the party."
Ariana nodded at him. "It's okay. There was a lot a confusion with what happened with Vicki. And, I'm fine, or at least, as fine as I can be given the circumstances."
Stefan nodded at her. Ariana bit her lip in indecision then she shrugged and decided that she was going to be brave for once. "It's warmer in the house. We can talk if you want. Would you like to come in?"
Stefan's smile widened. "I'd love to." Stefan crossed the threshold.
