I'm sorry. There are things going on in my life and that's why it's taken this long to put this out. I'm really sorry.

And I want you in my life
And I need you in my life

Damon sat quietly as the pale girl in front of him spoke. Her eyes were glossy behind her thickly rimmed glasses, her face drained of all color, while her knuckles were white from how hard she was clasping her knees. All of this had come as a shock to his system, and he could do nothing but nod every few minutes as all the information was slowly sinking in. He knew that she had to know somewhat of what was going on, but he never expected her to know this much. She was like a tiny, more innocent version of Isobel. She had been studying folklore in Europe while she was in college with her fiancé.

Fiancé. Damon would never be able to get used to that.

It seemed as if his world was crumbling around him, just as it had decades ago when he first thought Katherine was locked in the tomb. He felt lost, and didn't know how to react. He wanted to crawl into the cellar in the basement and never come out again. He wanted to go on a rampage and tear apart this retched town he called home. But most of all, Damon wanted to cry. This was the most human he had felt in ages.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he tried to fight them back, but the war had been won and they spilled over, rolling down his face. Aria's talking slowed once she noticed. She raised her hand slightly, but then placed it back upon her knee as if she had changed her mind. They sat like that for what felt like hours, nothing was said and all that could be heard was their breathing and the crackling of the fire.

"I'm sorry, Damon." Aria sighed, "I didn't put two and two together until now.."

Aria continued on about how she had thought she recognized Elena when they had first met. She had been sure it was Katerina Patrova, but quickly swept the thought out of her mind. She had tried to put that part of her life behind her ever since that night she fled home. She never knew that any of this would happen.

Damon shook his head, not being able to say a word. His mouth was dry, and his throat ached. He moved his gaze to Aria's exposed neck. He could see her jugular pulse with blood and was quickly overwhelmed with an unbearable thirst. Then he did the unthinkable. Damon reached for the girl, roughly pulling her into his lap before she could protest and sank his canines into her beautiful neck.

A loud gasp escaped from Aria's lips as Damon sucked. She tried to get away, but quickly gave up as she knew he was much stronger. "Damon.."

The sound of her calling his name made him suck even harder, his mouth full of blood, causing it to spill out and down her shirt. He slowly moved his hands from her shoulders and placed one in her hair, pulling aggressively so that her neck was more exposed and one on the small of her back. Aria dug her nails into his skin as hard as she could but his only reaction was a smirk pressed against her skin. Damon continued to feed on her until he felt her body go limp, and he quickly realized what he had done.

"Aria?" He grasped her face roughly, shaking it a little. "Aria, can you hear me?"

But no answer came from her and Damon started to panic. He got up from the couch and stared at the lifeless girl, blood trickling down from the spot where he had sunk his teeth into and staining the fabric beneath her. He begun to pace back and forth, picking up his half empty glass of whiskey. He quickly downed it, started at the crystal and then threw it at the fireplace. How could he have let this happen? How could he have done this to her? Damon growled in anger. The ring would fix this, right? He would just have to wait this out, and before he knew it, she'd be awake again. Right?

He didn't want to take that chance.

Damon quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Bonnie's number. After all, she was a witch. Surely she'd be able to help in this situation. After a few rings, he got her voice mail. He hung up and tried Caroline next, but got the same 'leave your message after the beep'. He called a few more people, but none of them answered.

There was only one other way to fix this.

Damon tore open his wrist and forced it upon Aria's pale mouth. He watched as his blood trickled down her throat. Having a newborn vampire in Mystic Falls was never the best idea, but Damon wasn't ready to give up. After all, this wouldn't have been the first time he had to take care of a newborn.. mind you, they usually all wound up with a giant wooden stake through their hearts, but he was sure he could handle Aria.

After a few more moments, Damon removed his wrist from the girl's bloodstained mouth and sighed. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, then began to make his way upstairs to his room. There was no way in hell he would let Stefan or Elena know that he had done this. They would never let him hear the end of it. No, he decided, he was going to handle this on his own. But first thing is first, he needed to clean up the blood on the sofa before it set.

It had been days since Damon's little accident and the town was in shambles. Katherine was out of the tomb, Isobel was back, and Elijah, Dr. Martin and Luka were dead. Jenna and Alaric's relationship had seemed to be put on hold, while Bonnie and Jeremy couldn't be separated. Tyler was still gone, and Caroline had pulled a little stunt with Matt, who now knew about her being a vampire. Everything was going topsy turny, and Elena's constant suspicion of Aria's new attitude was starting to slowly pick at Damon's conscience. Lucky for him, there was too much going on for anyone to really look into it.

"I am going to murder you." Aria mumbled as she slouched in the front seat of Damon's car.

"Yeah, yeah." Damon sighed, "I said I was sorry."

"Are you even sure Bonnie is going to do this?" Aria asked, stretching her arms out and accidentally hitting Damon's bicep quite hard. She was upset with him, but at the same time she wasn't. This was bound to happen at some point, was it not? Better now than later, she thought. "And what about Katherine? You know that she knows."

"Katherine won't say anything. She only wants one thing and she knows if she says anything about this, it will just get in the way." Damon told her, only half sure as he pulled in front of Bonnie's house. "As for Bonnie, she said she will do anything that will help keep Elena safe."

"Getting a ring for me to walk in the sun is going to keep Elena safe?" Aria cocked an eyebrow at the older man, still in her slouched position in the passenger's seat.

"As far as Bonnie is concerned, it is." Damon slammed the car door and began to make his way up to Bonnie's front door. Truth be told, Bonnie had only agreed to this because Damon had practically begged her. It wasn't a proud moment for him, but it needed to be done. In the end Aria could be useful in keeping Elena safe. The more strength and brain power they had, the better. Besides, Aria had studied the originals for a very long time before she came here. From what she had told him, she seemed to know just as much as Elijah had.

In Damon's mind, Aria would be their secret weapon if something happened to Bonnie.

The two walked into Bonnie's house once she opened the door. The living room was covered in candles, which Bonnie had quickly lit with her powers. "I have a date. Can we please do this quickly?"

Damon nodded and placed the azure and gold ring on the cherry wood table in the middle of the room. He then placed a hand on Aria's shoulder and guided her to sit in front of it. She hadn't been too fond of this entire thing, considering she possessed one of the Gilbert rings. Damon had heard her curse at herself for taking it off that night, for she would still be human if she hadn't. Because he felt so terrible about it, he let her pick out a ring instead of him just choosing one for her like he had for Caroline.

The tiny fires on the candle wicks started flickering as Bonnie slowly raised her hands. The room grew cold, and then warmer as the flames grew larger with each Latin word she spoke. After a few moments, everything went dark and Bonnie lowered her hands.

"Done." She told Damon, silently urging them to leave.

"Really?" Aria's eyes wide, "That's it? That's all there is to it?"

"Yeah." Bonnie smiled slightly, then began frowning at Damon, "Not to be rude, but could you please leave? Jeremy is going to be here any second."

"Thank you, Bonnie." Aria smiled sadly as she stood. "I really do appreciate this."

"Anything to help Elena." She told her shortly.

The two moved for the door, and then quickly stepped outside into the cool summer breeze. Damon started walking to the car before he realized that Aria hadn't bugged from the sidewalk in front of Bonnie's house. He turned and faced her, a questionable look played across his face. Aria was staring down at her hand, where her big onyx ring had once been. Instead, there was a new blue and gold one resting on her not-so-delicate finger. She noticed Damon staring at her and begun moving again. She hopped into the passenger seat of the car and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs.

Damon followed in suit, and turned the key in the ignition. "Where to?"

"You know, I've been thinking." Aria ignored him, "What if I gave my ring to Elena to protect her from anything supernatural?"

Damon sat quietly, slightly stunned; that ring had been her engagement ring.

"I mean, it would keep her safer when you and Stefan aren't around, wouldn't it?" She continued, "And it's not like I'm going to be making any use of it any time soon.."

"They don't know you're a vampire, Aria." Damon told her sternly as he began to drive, "They're going to wonder why you're giving it to her. Stefan will figure it out, and as soon as he does, he'll run and tell Elena and then we'll just have a huge fucking mess to clean up."

"They'll find out eventually as long as I'm staying with you." She frowned, "Besides, we both know you think this is a good idea."

"No."

"Damon, stop being stubborn." Aria groaned, "Just give Elena the damned ring and she'll be safe!"

"Elena will not be safe, Aria." He growled back at her, "Elena is not going to be safe until we kill Klaus! And until that happens, I make the decisions. Not you. You don't know anything. You just messed this up even more."

Aria didn't speak after that, not the entire drive home, not even when Damon asked if she was hungry or wanted to grab a drink at The Grill. She didn't say a word to him when he pulled up in the driveway of the Salvatore house, or when he parked the car and stared at her with his icy blue eyes. Instead, what she did was grab her jacket out of the back and power walk into the house, not bothering to close the door behind her. All she had wanted to do was help protect the girl Damon was in love with because what she really wanted to do was protect Damon. But he wouldn't let her, so he left her no choice.

Aria quickly walked into Damon's room, locked the door and grabbed her ring off the nightstand. She listened for a few moments then opened the large window in Damon's room and jumped out, trying to be as stealth as she could. She then made her way down the street and to Elena's house.