"I'm not leaving town Klaus! We can't just move away." I argue, not believing that he is even suggesting just moving away from Mystic Falls. I may hate most of the people in this town but it's still my home. My shitty home. But my home.

"Yes we can, and we are." he glares, acting like he makes all my decision for me.

"Mystic Falls is my home. My parents are buried here. I'm not leaving." I yell, not understanding what has gotten into him.

Klaus rolls his eyes, "Your parents are dead, there's no reason to stay here for them. Plus you're going to have to leave this place eventually. You're immortal love, you have to move places."

"You're an ass." I growl, not believing that he is saying these things.

"I could make you leave." Klaus shrugs, his eyes hard.

I let out a disbelieved sigh, "You wouldn't. You know I'd hate you."

"You wouldn't actually love." he smirks, his eyes emotionless. "I would make you think you actually wanted to come. You wouldn't know any different."

"You're unbelievable. That would really make you happy? If we were living in a lie. What's wrong with you right now?" I demand.

"No you're living in a lie Aria. You keep lying to yourself about who I am. I'm not Damon Salvatore, I can't be him for you." he glares, and I'm pretty sure his eyes are changing color.

I let out a bitter laugh, "So now this is about Damon?"

"Would you want to be half loved by the only person you love?" Klaus questions, some emotions finally showing on his face.

"Half loved? What the hell are you talking about? I don't expect you to be Damon." I argue, not knowing how the conversation succumbed to this.

Klaus shakes his head, "You have to make up your mind love. You can either chose me, and leave. Or chose him, and stay."

"Those aren't choices." I whisper, tears gathering in my eyes.

"You're right, they aren't. You can either come with my willingly, or I can make you. You'd never know. So you might as well chose the easy option. Also I compel you to make you think you hate Damon Salvatore. I might even make you kill him." he growls, not sounding like the guy I love anymore.

"You know what Klaus? You just went from being...half-loved, to not loved at all." I scream, before storming out of the room. I didn't half love him but if he wants to think that I'll let him.

Because you know what? He can go screw himself for all I care.

==============

I bang on the door, trying to stop myself from sobbing. I look like a mess right now probably. I cried the whole time I was driving here. I tried listening to upbeat songs. Let me tell you, it didn't help at all.

Stefan opens up the door, his eyes going wide when he sees me. "Aria?"

"Hey Stefan." I whisper, avoiding his gaze.

"Are you alright?" he frowns, taking in my shitty appearance.

"No, I'm so far from alright right now." I cry, before taking a deep breath. "Is Damon home?"

Stefan nods, "He's upstairs in his room."

I speed upstairs to his room, appearing right in front of his bed. He looks up front he book he's reading, startled to see me. Damon's eyes roam over me before a pissed expression comes over his face.

"If he hurt you, I'll fucking kill him. I don't care how strong he is." Damon growls, rushing off his bed and over to me.

I smile slightly at him, "He didn't hurt me...yet."

"What's wrong?" Damon asks, his hand on my arm. I try to push away the feeling when his skin touches mine. I've missed him.

"Klaus wants to leave town, and he wants me to go with him." I say, tears still streaming down my face.

"And you don't want to?" Damon guesses.

"No, I don't. But...he said if I don't come with him willingly, he's going to compel me to come with him. He said he'll make me think I want to go with him. And-and he's going to compel me to hate you." I cry, completely loosing it. I don't want to hate Damon.

"Hey, shh." Damon whispers, wrapping his arms around me. "I'm not going to let him take you away from me, or compel you to hate me. It's nice to know you don't already hate me."

I laugh slightly, my head on his chest. "Of course I don't hate you. I'm just a good actress is all. Can we just put the past behind us for now? I just want it to be like it used to be for a little while."

"I would love to put that God-awful past behind us." Damon smiles, still holding me tightly.

I pull away from him, looking into his blue eyes. "I've never been afraid of Klaus, but right now...I'm terrified of him."

"I'm not going to let him hurt you Aria, not anymore." Damon insists, an intensity in his eyes I haven't seen before.

"That's nice to think." I mutter, before letting out a sigh. Why is my world so messed up?

"Well, the decade dance is tonight and I don't have a date." Damon grins, changing the subject.

"Are you asking me to be your date?" I ask, a small smile on my face.

"A friendly date. Not a romantic one, unless you want that." Damon winks.

"Have you forgotten our terrible past with these things Damon? I don't know if I want to go. Plus Klaus will probably show up. I definitely don't want to face him right now." I say.

"I thought we were putting our past behind us for a while. Acting like things were the way they used to be when we were happy." Damon says, looking at me with those bright blue eyes. "Don't you think it would make Klaus pretty pissed off if he saw you dancing with me? I know it pissed me off when you dance with him."

I roll my eyes, "I don't think this is a good idea Damon."

"I argue that." he smiles.

"Do you forgive me then?" I ask.

"Forgive you for what?" he frowns.

"For being the biggest bitch in the whole world, and only being team Original. I shouldn't have just abandoned you guys, and I did. So I'm sorry." I admit.

"If anyone abandoned someone, it was me. You're the love of my life Aria, I shouldn't have just let you go." he smiles.

I smile back at him, "I'll be your date tonight Day."

He laughs at the use of his old nickname, "Looking forward to it Ari."

==============

Damon and I walk towards the school gym, my arm looped though his. It feels so good to be with him again. Plus I look pretty damn sexy in my 20's costume. I put together a pretty good costume for such short notice. (Outfit pictured)

Stefan and Elena are standing out front of the gym, smiling at us. I frown at them, not understanding why they look happy. Don't they both hate me?

"Aria." Elena grins, surprising me by giving me a quick hug. "I thought that Klaus had hurt you. I'm so glad you're here tonight...with us."

"Um...thanks?" I smile, not knowing is she's being real or not.

Elena laughs, rolling her eyes. "I don't hate you Aria. You're my sister. Damon said everything that has happened is in the past. So we can all move on. Right?"

"Right..." I nod, still a little suspicious. Plus, I still don't like the fact that Damon and Elena made out more than once. But it's not like I'm getting back together with him or anything. I'm still with Klaus...I guess.

"Well, we're going to head inside. Hope you two have fun." Elena grins, her and Stefan heading into the building.

"Is my sister on drugs?" I ask, a frown on my face.

Damon laughs, "She's just happy you're with us tonight is all."

"She's acting all happy like, I don't like it. It freaks me out." I sigh.

Damon rolls his eyes, "Are we going to go inside, or are you just going to stand out here all night complaining that for once people are happy?"

"When you put it like that it makes me sound like some goth vampire, who just wants everyone to die." I grumble.

"But you're my goth vampire, who wants everyone to die." Damon smiles.

I give him a warning look, taking a few steps back. "Friends don't say shit like that to each other."

Damon lets out a sigh, holding up his hands in innocence. "Sorry...friend." Damon phone starts ringing, causing him to frown. "Excuse me." he mutters, taking the call, walking a few steps away from him. I can't hear whoever is on the other line, the dance is too loud.

I close my eyes for a second, but they snap open when I hear Damon curse loud enough to be heard over the music. He slams his phone down, taking a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" I ask, the look on his face troubling me.

"It's Ric...he's gone, completely now. He's not the Ric we used to know." Damon whispers, sounding heartbroken.

I smile sadly, placing my hand on his arm. "What are you going to do?"

"Right now, we're gonna get Stefan and Elena." he sighs, grabbing my hand. We barge into the dance, our eyes searching for Stefan and Elena. I nudge Damon, pointing to Stefan and Elena slow dancing. Damon practically drags me over to them. "Follow us. Now." he commands, giving them a hard look.

We head out into the hallway so they can hear what Damon has to say. Looks like I'm just being pulled right back into there drama again. It's actually...kind of nice in a way.

"Ric is getting a lot worse." Damon states.

"If Alaric is sick, we need to find a cure. Something." Elena insists, not wanting to lose him.

"We tried medicine, we tried magic." Damon sighs.

"Why don't we get him off vervain? Compel him?" Stefan suggests.

"To do what? Pretend to be Alaric?" Damon demands. "The guy that we know is gone. The guy he is now, not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers. Which makes one of his most obvious targets...I don't know, you." Damon glares, once again his concern for Elena surprising me. Oh how things have changes so much.

"You think he'd go after Elena?" I ask.

"And you too." Damon points out, concern showing in his eyes.

"Wait, what do you suggest we do?" Elena questions.

"I'm suggesting we put him out of his misery." Damon states, and I can tell it's hard for him to keep his face emotionless right now.

"What?" Elena demands.

"No way in hell!" Jeremy argues, joining us in the hallway. I look up at my younger brother, not actually having seen him in a very long time. He looks older in a way.

"Oh come on, it's what he would have wanted. It's a mercy killing." Damon says, looking annoyed.

"You're out of your mind." Jeremy growls, before his eyes move over to me. "And I can see why."

"You think I told him to do it?" I frown, not knowing my brother thinks so lowly of me.

"You don't care about any of us anymore, don't act like you do. It's probably easier for you to just kill us all off." Jeremy seethes, storming out of the hallway.

"Why don't you tell me what you really think." I mutter, watching as Elena follows after him. I guess I shouldn't expect me to be welcomed. I've been a major bitch. I look over at Stefan, an annoyed expression on my face. "How'd you integrate back into the world of good guys so easily?"

Stefan smiles at me, "Who said it was easy?"

Jeremy runs back into the hallway, panting slightly. "Elena told me to come get you guys. There's some blond lady outside, with an old British accent. She said she was gonna take Elena."

"Esther." I whisper, my legs already propelling me forward. Damon and Stefan follow close behind me, none of us able to use our handy, dandy vampire speed.

When we get out to the front of the school, Elena and Esther aren't there anymore. Crap, she probably took Elena. I start to walk towards the forest, but suddenly I run straight into an invisible wall. I frown, seeing Damon and Stefan not able to get through either. Jeremy can though.

"Salt." Stefan states, looking down at the floor. I look down and see a thick line of salt. It looks like it goes around the whole school. "It's a binding agent for a spell."

Damon looks like he wants to murder someone, "We're trapped here." he sighs.

At least Klaus can't get in now. Unless he's already here....

==============

"You want me to go and try to look for Klaus?!" I demand, looking at the Salvatore boys with horrified faces.

"Wasn't my plan." Damon smiles bitterly.

"Maybe he can help. He hates his mother." Stefan insists.

"You don't get it! He threatened to compel me to hate you guys and take me away. I don't want to be anywhere near him right now." I glare.

"He will be more worried about his mother being back than about your relationship problems. Plus, he's less likely to kill you than Damon or I." Stefan points out.

I let out a sigh, shaking my head. "I don't want to be near him."

"You asked me how I integrated back into the world of good guys, I did that by doing things I didn't want to do. I get you're scared, but get over it. We don't know what Esther wants with Elena. Also if she's using doppleganger blood for something, it could effect you in a way." Stefan says, trying to give me a pep talk or something.

"Fine, but if he compels who I am away from me. I will so end up killing you." I warn, causing Stefan to smile slightly.

"I'm not going to let you go alone Ari. I'll come with you." Damon says, his eyes shining with worry.

"That'll make it worse Damon. I'll be fine...I think." I smirk, giving the boys a small wave, before heading back into the gym. My eyes immediately spot Klaus leaning against the wall, texting someone. I take a deep breath, storming right up to him.

"Aria." he smiles, like this morning never happened.

"Your mother's back, and she has taken my sister. And she's locked us in this gym, but I figure you've already realized that." I explain, glaring at him. I have not forgotten this morning.

"I see you're still mad about this morning." Klaus observes, ignoring everything I just said.

"Don't even mention this morning asshole." I snap, wanting to ring his neck. "Did you hear me or not? Your psycho mother is back, probably wanting to murder your family. Damon went and got Bonnie to help undo the spell outside and we figured you'd be best suited to help kill your mother. So will you come with me or not?"

"Damon? Is that who you ran off to?" Klaus questions, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, who'd you expect me to run off to?" I smirk. "So you can either follow me, or stay here and play Candy Crush all day." Without waiting for a response, I walk away, heading back towards the hallway.

I really hope he'll follow me or else this night is going to get a lot worse.

=================

Damon, Jeremy, Stefan, Klaus, and Bonnie's date stand around as Bonnie stands in the corner of the room, mumbling latin words. Oh by the way, Bonnie's date is the dude that shot Stefan and I at that barn. I think his name is Jamie or something...

"She does this all the time?" Jamie frowns, looking worried about his date.

"What's taking so long?!" Klaus demands, causing Bonnie to stop chanting. "All boundary spells have a loophole." he sighs, like he's the witch and not Bonnie.

Matt comes storming into the room, making me blink a few times. I haven't see Matty in forever. Oh well, not likes he likes me anymore. "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier." Matt states. Well, duh, it's only for vampires.

"If Matt and I can get out, we can stop Esther ourselves. We just need to find out where she is." Jeremy insists, making me surprised. Where did this confidence come from?

"Suicide Jeremy." Stefan scolds, and I can tell he's fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

Klaus speeds over to Jamie, wrapping his hand around the poor dude's throat. "Suicide would be disappointing me." Klaus warns, before looking over at Bonnie. "Now work your magic witch. Or I'll start killing people you fancy."

"Let him go!" Bonnie cries.

"Not until you get us out of here." Klaus shrugs, looking like he's enjoying himself.

"I believe she said let him go." I growl, surprising Klaus by shoving him away from Jamie. Klaus drops him to the floor, Jamie gasping for breath. "A little tip, don't piss off Bonnie right now. If you start killing the people she actually likes in here, we'll never get out. So keep your damn hands to yourself for once Klaus."

Klaus glares at me, "Watch your tone with me Aria."

"Make me then." I challenge, not really afraid of him at the moment. I know he won't hurt me, he might just compel away who I am though. That would suck pretty bad.

=================

"Here, this is my Gilbert blood for your locater spell. It should still work even though I'm not human." I say, handing Bonnie a vial of my blood. Klaus is leaning against the entrance of the classroom, watching us closely. Damon is right behind me, watching Klaus closely.

"I have to do this with you two lurking over me?" Bonnie snaps, not looking very pleased.

"You're still mad at me for turning your mom and threatening Jeremy. Which I didn't even mean by the way. But, let me apologize anyway, I'm sorry that I had to turn your mother into a vampire to save my sister from an unpleasant death by the hands of my friend. I didn't have much of a choice." I sigh, even though technically I was just doing it for Damon so he didn't have to. It sounds better this way.

"There's always a choice Aria, that's something you've never understood. You've always thought the only option was the one that benefited you. It's always been like that, even when you were human." Bonnie glares.

"Ugh, spare the dramatics and begin, shall we?" Klaus complains, pushing himself off the wall and over to us.

All of us glare at him but he seems unfazed by it. Bonnie closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. She pours the vial of blood onto the map, starting to chant. She chants for a few moments but nothing happens. Bonnie frowns, twitching her head slightly. "Esther is fighting me."

"My mother couldn't possibly have this much power. She's channeling something." Klaus states, leaning against the table, glaring at the map so much I'm afraid it might catch on fire.

"A hot spot." Bonnie says, looking like she figured it out.

"Get the humans ready. I know where she is." Klaus says, the gears in his head finally clicking...or if that's even what gears do.

============

"Jeremy and Matt better be okay. If Esther hurts them, I'll hurt her." I growl, pacing the small classroom.

"Thought you didn't care." Damon smirks.

"Shut up, you know I do in my messed up sort of way." I grumble.

Damon holds his hand out, a small grin on his face. "We never got to dance."

I look at him in disbelief, "Is now really the time to start dancing in the middle of a classroom? It's kind of like a code red right now."

Damon rolls his eyes, "We're trapped in here, there's nothing we can do. So will you dance with me or not Ari?"

I smile at him, placing my hand in his. He grins at me, pulling me towards him. He places his hand on my lower back, holding my other one in his. I place my hand on his shoulder, and together we just sway slowly.

"This is weird without music Damon." I sigh, even though I'm enjoying it.

"Shh, just dance with me Aria. We don't need music." he whispers, staring at me very intently.

"I-I'm sorry for letting Rebekah torture you. I was blinded by my feelings for Klaus and my anger towards you. I was a major bitch. I know I've already said sorry but I feel like it should be said so many more times." I say, trying not to look away from his intent stare.

"I've already