Chapter nine

"I walk in a field with wings,"- With Wings by Amy Stroup

When Damon returned to the boarding house, the first thing he heard was the roar of a hairdryer coming from his bathroom. He sighed, impatient. Aria took forever and a day to get ready.

"I was hoping we could go out this century, Ria," he shouted casually over the roar, knowing that she could hear him.

"I'm almost ready!" she shouted back. "Just give me five minutes!"

Twenty minutes later, Aria walked down the stairs. Damon groaned and got off of the couch. "Finally," he said. "You were supposed to be ready fifteen min-"

His eyes widened at the sight of his best friend. Aria had put in more effort than usual to look good. She didn't just look good, either. Aria looked hot. Sexy. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Aria looked beautiful.

Her makeup had been applied with a careful hand, meant to accent her lips, highlight her cheekbones, and make her eyes pop. Her golden locks were in perfect corkscrew curls, not a hair out of place. Her big blue eyes were framed with full, dark lashes, making them stand out even more than usual. She wore a simple white dress with spaghetti straps. It fell to her knees, exposing her long, tan legs, and it flattered her curves. All in all, Aria looked drop dead gorgeous. She looked like an angel in Damon's eyes.

Still, Aria looked self-conscious as she shifted uncomfortably and tugged at the fragile fabric her dress was made out of. Aria was usually pretty comfortable in her own skin. After living almost five hundred years, she learned to accept her body and not worry about her flaws. But after Anthony's words to her last night, her confidence had been shaken. That was why she had tried so hard to look her best- she wanted to prove to herself that she was beautiful, that her only flaws were on the inside, not the outside. Aria tried so hard to look beautiful because she needed to feel beautiful.

"What?" she frowned and fidgeted. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is my makeup smudged? Is my dress too slutty? I knew my shade of lipstick was too red-"

"Stop." Damon shook his head, more to clear it than to stop Aria from spending another hour getting ready. "We're going now, Aria. You're not going to redo your makeup twenty seven times. You look fine."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine" was not what Aria wanted to hear. Still, Damon had never had much patience when it came to Aria dolling herself up. "Fine," she said gruffly. "Let's go, Mister Impatient."

Damon forgot how to think while looking at Aria. His brain was shut off, numbed by her beauty. He lost his breath, and his heart would've been racing if it still worked. His best friend shouldn't of affected him as much as she did.

"I got you something." Damon managed to tear his gaze away from her long enough to register the bouquet of sunflowers in his hand.

Aria's big blue eyes widened and she beamed. "For me?" she asked, her favorite flowers brightening her up.

"No, for my other best friend," Damon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her stupid question.

"Alaric?" Aria smirked slightly as she took the bright yellow flowers.

He rolled his eyes again. "Oh, come on Damon, you two have a bromance thing going on. Don't worry, 'I'm not jealous. You need as many friends as you can get," she said lightly.

"Whatever, Ria." Damon offered her his arm, and she took it with a smile. "At least Ric won't make me take him on lame best friend dates."

Aria rolled her eyes. "I know you like going on these things as much as I do, Damon. So don't try to pretend that this is a hardship on your part." They walked outside, to Damon's Camaro, and he opened her door for her.

"You look absolutely stunning by the way," Damon said casually. "As if it isn't obvious."

Aria blushed as she slid into the passenger seat. This, a best friend date, was exactly what she needed.

~EIATT~

"So, am I allowed to ask about what really happened last night?"

Damon raised an eyebrow at Aria from across the table. She tore her bread stick apart, peeling the hard crust away to reveal the soft, warm bread inside. She sighed and took a sip of her red wine before speaking.

"Anthony stopped by and… and he said some not-so nice things," she muttered.

Damon's face darkened. "I knew he had something to do with it." He decided it unwise to mention his run in with the jackass a few hours ago. He finally got Aria back to normal, he didn't want her to crawl back into her depressed shell.

But Aria seemed to want to talk about Anthony. "Don't you want to know about my past with Anthony?" she asked, picking at her steak. Aria, although she was girly, liked to eat. She wasn't a salad, veggie freak. She liked to eat meat. The waitress gave her a dirty look, as if Aria had personally offended her, when Aria ordered enough food to feed several grown men. Damon merely chuckled and ordered the same. He liked that Aria knew how to eat. It was another thing he loved about her.

Damon raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shrugged. "Not really, but I think you deserve to know. I want you to know."

"Then, by all means…" Damon gestured for her to tell her story. Aria took a deep breath and a big gulp of her wine.

"Anthony and I traveled for few centuries together after he changed me. That was when I was the worst version of myself. I don't blame Anthony for what I did, though. Sure, he taught me everything I knew about killing, and pushed me to kill as many as possible, but my actions are my own. I am responsible for them alone." Aria ran a hand through her hair, mussing up her perfect curls.

"Every day Anthony and I were together, he flirted with me, tried to sleep with me. Eventually, I gave in. We slept together for a few decades, and, eventually, I convinced myself that I loved him. And then Anthony ditched me in Rome when my feelings became 'too difficult to deal with.'" She rolled her eyes, feeling resentment boil in her stomach. "But, it turned out to be a good thing. I'd still be running around, tearing out throats if Anthony hadn't let me." She smiled slightly and swallowed a piece of steak.

Damon's eyes were dark. "You were in love with him?" the idea of Aria being with that jackass, sleeping with him, loving him, made Damon want to break something, made him want to kill something.

She shrugged. "More or less."

"What does that mean?" Damon demanded, looking irritable.

Aria narrowed her eyes at him. "It means that I wouldn't trust anything I felt before the 1700's. I blocked most of those centuries out anyway. The blood, the death, it'd drive any sane person crazy."

"Do you still love him, though?" Damon couldn't control the jealousy he felt, the possessiveness. He couldn't stop it and he couldn't control it.

Aria felt her temper rising. "Would you love a person who called you a murdering slut? A monster? A whore?" she exclaimed, causing people from surrounding tables to look curiously at them. "Take a picture, it'll last longer!" she snapped, and the humans looked hastily away.

"What did Anthony call you?" Damon asked in a low voice, his eyes glinting dangerously.

Aria sighed and took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter, Damon. Let's just go. I'm not hungry anymore."

"Is that why you were so depressed? Because you actually believed him?" Damon's eyes widened. He knew he was right.

"Let's just go," she repeated, standing up.

"He wasn't Aria." Damon looked at his best friend thoughtfully, his eyes full of a deep emotion neither could place. "You're not a slut. You're not a monster either. I just wish you'd see that."

Damon stood up then and tossed a few bills on the table. "Come on, let's go," he muttered, handing Aria her jacket. She took it, frowning slightly. They never really talked about Aria's self-loathing. This was the first time Damon ever really openly acknowledged it, and he had been really passionate about it as well.

Sometimes, Aria wished she'd realize she wasn't a monster too.

~EIATT~

They didn't talk the entire ride home. As soon as they got back the boarding house, Aria ran up to the bedroom and washed off her hours of hard work. She took a long, hot bubble bath, then changed into comfortable pajamas with ducks on them.

Aria was just going to crash in one of the many guest bedrooms in the house, but Damon was waiting for her on his bed. Aria didn't spare him a glance, and walked straight towards the door, but he stopped her. "Aria, wait!"

She sighed and turned to face Damon. "Yeah?" she muttered, a beat of water running down the back of her neck.

"We need to talk," he said firmly, standing up and walking towards her.

"About what?" she crossed her arms over her chest and watched her best friend carefully.

Damon surprised her by taking her face in his hands. "I don't know what I can do to make you see how good you are, Ria," he said softly. "You're not a monster. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Aria gasped slightly, her heart melting. "You don't know my past, Damon," she murmured.

"I know that, deep down, you're not a bad person. You're a great person, a great friend. And I need you, Ria. I need you," Damon told her honestly.

That was the first time he had ever said those words out loud. Aria looked up at him, eyes wide. "Really?" she smiled slightly, allowing herself to think them true.

He nodded. "I love you, Aria."

Aria knew that Damon loved her as a friend, but somehow, she knew that wasn't how he meant those words. Her eyes widened even more. Her throat closed up. She could speak, breathe, or think.

Damon's lips came in contact with hers, his calloused hands still holding her face. Slowly, her blue eyes fell closed as she allowed herself to enjoy the moment.

"It really is too easy to get inside your head."

Aria gasped, her eyes flying open. She choked on some water, and sat up. She was still in the bathtub, soapy bubble surrounding her. It had been just a dream. It hadn't happened. It wasn't real.

Anthony smirked at Aria, his eyes wandering down her naked body. She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her breasts. He rolled his eyes at her. "Nothing I haven't seen before, Aria. Besides, they're not even that impressive."

Aria narrowed her eyes at him. "Go to hell," she told him. "And while you're there, why don't you do me a favor and burn too?"

Anthony rolled his eyes again and walked towards the door. "I was just in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. I saw that you were asleep, and I just had to take advantage and check out what's in that pretty little head of yours." He smirked again. "In love with your best friend. That must be rough."

"Get. Out," she snarled at him, glaring.

He raised his hands in surrender. "I'm leaving, I'm leaving."

Anthony left Aria, and she sighed and sunk down into the bubbles again. Oh, how she wished her dream had been real.

Anthony paused outside the living room to see Damon drinking a glass of bourbon and staring into a fire. He smirked to himself. He wasn't going to tell Damon about Aria's feelings just yet- it'd be more fun to just watch that situation play out by itself- but that didn't mean he couldn't cause a little chaos while he was there.

"So," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you still think Aria's perfect?"

Damon turned around and growled at him. But before he could attack, Anthony said quickly, "Why don't you ask Ria about Antonio?"

Damon frowned, confused. Anthony smirked one last time before disappearing. Damon wasn't focused on him, though.

Why would Anthony want Damon to ask Aria about her dead brother?

~EIATT~

A/N: thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, Katerina The Von, roseyv5, TVDDamonSLover for reviewing!

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~Abby :)