1.24 – Breakdown
"Just leave me alone, Damon!" Aria yelled frustratingly as she sprinted down the street from Hanna's house. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew that she had to get out of that place. She couldn't say she was surprised about Damon and Hanna. She knew deep down that they always like each other, but she couldn't handle all this plus her sort of brother being a vampire plus all of this creepy -A stalker stuff, and she didn't even have Stefan to help her deal with these problems. She felt so alone.
Aria stopped on the pavement corner and knelt down, clutching her knees tightly to her chest, she closed her eyes praying that all of this drama would just go away.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar, gruff yet sympathetic voice right beside her that woke her up from this fantasy, "Aria? Please. Can we please just talk?"
Aria opened her eyes and glared at her brother. The fear that she once felt for her 'fake brother' had left and all she now felt towards him were intense feelings of anger and betrayal, "What do you want Damon?" she replied through gritted teeth, "What could you possibly say to me to make this any better? My whole life has been a lie and it's all because of you!"
Damon furrowed his brow and looked at Aria with puppy-dog eyes, "I know. I'm sorry."
Aria stood her place and widened her eyes in disbelief, "I'm sorry?! That's all you can say?" she said as she crossed her arms.
Damon slowly walked towards Aria. Aria looked cautiously back at Damon and held her ground - not backing away from his advances, "Aria. I meant everything I said to you when you saw me arguing with Stefan the other day in the alley way. Aria, trust me. We've always been family, I never made you lose your memory or manipulated you in anyway. I just wanted a family and to stop running after all of these years," Damon spoke in a serious tone.
Aria's eyes began to glisten, she had spent too many days crying over Damon and Stefan and she couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't even think of a response to Damon, "So what? I don't even know why you would want one, and why me? When did you even deci-"
Damon rushed toward Aria until they stood face to face and put his hands on his little sister's shoulders, "Aria, usually I could come up with some witty response but this time I just can't. And not to get into too much of a Lifetime original moment, but we are family. It doesn't matter what lineage or from what time period, technically we are, and I just want that back," Damon replied - a single tear began to make its way down Damon's cheek. He never cried in front of anyone, especially Aria, and especially Hanna. This snarky, cold-hearted vampire had a sense of humanity in him after all.
There was a five second silence. Then, Aria took her hand and wiped the tears from her face, "Damon, I tried to get you to watch one of those movies one time and you threw a pillow at the TV and said 'I want my life back!'" Aria said, laughing nervously as she recalled that funny memory.
Damon's sly smile began to creep back on his face, "Hey, I can only take so much estrogen, PMS-ing fueled content at one time." he replied - he was glad to hear his sister's laugh again.
"Hey, don't be sexist you jerk," Aria said, nudging her brother's arm slightly. She was glad that she had her brother back. No matter what he was, or is, "Can I have my brother back please?" Aria looked up at Damon as if she were five years old again.
Damon smiled and hugged his sister, "You got it."
As they both continued hugging, Stefan and Hanna came running towards them - out of breath - their faces suddenly looked surprised at this nice moment that was happening between Damon and Aria.
"Hey guys," Hanna said awkwardly - breaking up this little sibling moment.
Aria gave Hanna a cheeky smile, "Oh sorry Hanna, didn't me to hog Damon away from you," she replied teasingly.
Hanna smiled at her best friend, "No it's fine, I'm just glad to see you guys are okay," she spoke.
Aria looked at Hanna and then turned her head to face Stefan - now standing apart from her brother, "Well, now that's all settled. What're we going to about this -A situation?" she said, re-crossing her arms matter-of-factly, glancing at Stefan who had remained silent up to this point, "Stefan?"
"Hanna has a plan." Stefan spoke up, smiling slightly at Aria.
Damon and Aria whipped their heads around to look at Hanna with shocked looks on their faces.
"Wow, I always knew you had beauty and brains," Damon said, winking at Hanna as he inched closer to her. Aria began to walk towards Stefan.
Hanna smiled and rolled her eyes at Damon, "We came up with a plan, but we need you guys to be at the school dance that's coming up soon. Can you do that?"
Stefan and Damon exchanged glances, "So... Is this like a date?" Damon replied. Stefan and Damon both exchanged individual looks with Aria and Hanna.
Hanna squinted her eyes annoyingly at Damon. Aria looked up with her doe-like eyes at Stefan, "You could say that..," Hanna spoke up, Aria nodded in agreement.
"Okay it's a date then," Stefan spoke, keeping his gaze on Aria, "Or plan."
"Well, I guess we need a new plan now," Katherine sneered, she was on her third glass of wine, bored and angry over waiting for Klaus to come up with a new idea that wouldn't involve Alison.
"Patience, love," Klaus replied, looking up from his scotch glass, "I have a feeling that Alison leaving won't be as easy as she thinks it will be," a mischievous smile flashed across his face.
"What do you mean?" Katherine said, looking up curiously, trying to match Klaus's expression.
"I mean, there are few things that you don't know about the night that you found Alison."
Katherine set her glass down, "Just spit it out Klaus," she spoke, maintaining her glare at Klaus, "What do you know about that night."
"Well, I'll tell you you weren't that first person to find Alison that night."
Katherine widened her eyes, "Wait- Did you...? No. You didn't...?" she muttered, as she got up hurriedly from her chair and made her way to the fireplace.
"Now come now, love, you're smarter than this," Klaus sneered, taking another gulp from his drink. He so enjoyed taking pleasure from other people's pain and frustration.
Katherine quickly turned around to face Klaus, "She's a hybrid?" she said, pursing her lips,
Within turning his head to face Katherine, Klaus nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement.
"Then why did you let her feed on me then?" Katherine replied, rushing towards Klaus, standing ominously over this man: she needed answers now.
Klaus put down his glass and put his fingers together, "Call it an act of charity, I guess."
"What do you mean?!" Katherine spoke, she was this close to ripping Klaus's head off but she knew that he could easily kill her in two or three different moves.
"Come now, Katherine, you must've known that I had been keeping tabs on you for all those years. I had to watch you get broken up with twice by the two great loves of your life. I thought you deserved to have some love in your life, compelled or not."
Katherine's face had transformed, through her demon-like stare, she prepared to tackle Klaus to the floor, "She was not compelled!" Katherine yelled.
Before she could attack, Klaus waved his finger. Suddenly, Katherine fell to the floor in pain, she felt the blood rush through her brain at a rapid pace, "Okay, okay! Stop, please!" she screamed as she clutched the sides of her head, crying in agony over this intense pain.
Klaus waved his finger again and Katherine stopped writhing on the floor, "I did you a favor, love," he rolled his eyes and picked up his drink again.
Katherine tried to push her up from her lying position but she was too weak, "Everything's been a lie," she muttered to herself.
Klaus looked back down at Katherine with a stern look, "Oh don't be so dramatic, Katherine," he glanced forward, "We have nothing to worry about. Let Alison pretend to think she's one of the 'good guys,' but this can actually work out in our favor," Klaus whispered to himself as he finished his drink and got up from his chair, kneeling down to look at the motionless Katherine, "I have everything taken care of, love, don't worry."
As Klaus walked away, Katherine lay on the floor. Closing her eyes, she couldn't even think about being angry at Klaus, all she could think about was one person: Alison.
Aria, Stefan, Damon and Hanna stood in the middle of Hanna's kitchen. Satisfied with the final details of their upcoming -A plans, their happiness was suddenly shattered by a familiar ringing sound, this time from all of their phones:
"'4 Blind Mice. 4 Blind Mice'
What fun! You all think you're cleverer than me? Think again. You have no idea who you're dealing with, or...do you? –A"
