Chapter 7

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News is so stupid, these days. I mean come on, we have internet we don't need stupid news channels. Yet here I am sitting on the couch watching the news. It's sad, I know.

"Scum ball, Scum bucket." Jenna says from the kitchen table.

I look over my shoulder and give her a weird look, "Who are you talking to?" I ask.

"Him." she says referring to the news reporter.

"The news guy?" I ask amusement in my voice.

"Also known as Logan Scum Fell." she says bitterly. "Did your Mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

I laugh, "No way. You and him?" I ask standing up looking back and forth between Jenna and the news guy. "He's cute." I smirk walking over towards the table.

"He's not cute. There's nothing cute about him." she glares at his picture on the TV. She shakes her head and switches off the TV.

"Hey! I was watching the cute news guy!" I tease. Jenna rolls her eyes and looks over at Elena as she walks in.

"Morning sis." I smile. She mumbles a good morning and grabs a cup of coffee. She grabs a box from the counter and sits down on the table, opening it up. I realize that there old family heirlooms.

"What are you doing with that?" I ask as she starts to clean them.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs.Lockwood that she would loan it to the Founders Council for there heritage display." Elena explains. Jenna picks up a ring and smiles amused.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" she asks.

"Originally it was Great Grandma Mary's wedding ring." Elena smiles. How does she know this shit because I sure as hell don't.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth on like E-Bay?" Jeremy asks picking up one of the heirlooms. Where did he come from? Oh well, guess I am not very good at sensing people.

I reach over and take the thing from his hand. "You're not gonna find out." I smirk and hand it back to Elena.

"That stuff is Mom and Dad's, you can't just give it away." Jeremy argues, walking into the kitchen.

"I'm not giving it away, it's called a loan Jeremy." Elena rolls her eyes.The doorbell rings and we all just stare at the door like a bunch of idiots.

"I'll get it." I say and run to the door. I open it and see Stefan. Yippie.

"Uh, hey Stefan. I'm guessing your here for Elena?" I smile.

"Yeah." he nods awkwardly. I laugh and call out for Elena, she comes quickly.

"Oh, hey Stefan." she smiles. He smiles back and I roll my eyes.

"I'm going to go before I get my eyes scared for life." I say and head up to my room before I see them start to make out or something.

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"You're taking Damon to the Founders party!" I ask pissed off as we walk into the Grill. "What about me?"

"Go with Elena." Caroline shrugs.

"She's taking loner man." I say as we sit down.

"What about Bonnie?" she suggests.

"Good idea, I'll ask her. But I would prefer to go with my best friend." I say glaring at her. "What about your Mom? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"

"And I'm supposed to care why?" Caroline asks in a pissed off tone.

"He's older, sexy danger guy." I say.

"Older, sexy danger guy?" Caroline asks amused. "Plus Damon is not dangerous, he just has a lot of issues with his brother." Caroline says. "Like major deep drama."

"Like?"

Caroline starts to say something but hesitates, "I'm not really supposed to say anything."

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" I ask amused.

"Okay...but you can't tell Elena." she says seriously.

I smirk, "I love keeping things from my sister. Go on."

She smiles and tells me all about the Salvatore brother feud.

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I'm smiling as I walk up the steps to my house but it quickly fades away when I see him. I can't get inside without walking past him.

"Um...excuse me." I say, he spins around and I see him about to say something. "No, Tyler. I don't even want to hear your stupid apologies, understand? What I want is for you to get the hell of my porch and stop tormenting my brother!" I yell before pushing past him and slamming the door in his face. God, that felt good. Like really good.

"Nice." Jeremy smirks and heads up to his room. I laugh and walk into the kitchen. I see Bonnie sitting at the table, looking at nail polish.

"Tough call." Elena says from the sink. "Can we mix them?"

"Look at you getting all pretty for your date." I smirk and sit down with Bonnie at the table. "Oh and Bonnie will you be my date tonight?" I ask flirtatiously.

"I would love to be your date Aria." she smirks back at me.

"I have news I am going to share even though I had direct orders not to. But you see I'm not very good at following orders. But Elena I am warning you, if I say it, it might ruin your happy night." I say.

"Out with it Aria." she says narrowing her eyes and sitting down with us.

"Okay but it has to go in the vault because Care will kill me if it gets back to Damon and she finds out I squealed." I look at Elena and Bonnie, they both nod so I continue my story. "Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story." I tell them.

"Uh huh?" Elena asks pushing for more.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend, Katherine?" I ask Elena.

"I know that they both dated her and thats why they have issues." Elena says.

"Yeah they both dated her, only she chose Damon and it drove Stefan mad. He did horrible things to break them up, he manipulated Katherine, he filled her heads with all these lies until finally it worked and she turned against Damon." I say sadly.

"That sounds like one persons side of the story, meaning Damon." Elena glares.

"Calm down. I just wanted you to know." I say defensively.

"His past relationships are none of my business." Elena says.

"Unless he's a calculative, manipulative liar." Bonnie says looking at the nail polish.

"That is your business." I say backing Bonnie up.

"Stefan is none of those things!" Elena says defending Stefan.

"Ya, how do you know?" Bonnie asks looking over at my sister briefly.

Elena starts to say something but looks at the ground knowing she has lost.

Neither Elena nor I really know anything about the sexy Salvatore brothers.

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We have Imagine Dragons blaring in the background while Bonnie, Elena and I are all trying to put our makeup on and do our hair in our small little bathroom only meant for two. The phone rings and Elena runs to get it.

"Hello." she answers, "Hi, Mrs.Lockwood." she pauses and frowns, "What do you mean? It is? Are you sure?" she asks. Suddenly Elena frowns, "Let me check, I will find it and bring it. Okay Bye." Elena stands up and heads to Jeremy's room. She looks super pissed.

"What's wrong?" I ask amused. She completely ignored me and barged in Jer's room. He didn't even hear her because he had headphones most likely blasting music in his ears. She stalks right up to him and slaps the head phones off.

"Ahhh! God what now!" Jeremy yells, picking up his head phones.

"The pocket watch? Where is it?" she asks.

"What watch?" he glares at her.

"The one you stole from Mom's box. Mrs.Lockwood just called me freaking out. It was on the list Jeremy and she can't find it and she thinks she lost it." Elena says aggravated.

"Well maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it." Jeremy lies, I flinch at Tyler's name.

"Don't play that card. Jeremy you took it. If I go online am I going to find it on E-bay? Is that how you pay for your pot?" Elena asks harshly.

"Screw you." Jeremy stands up and walks over to his dresser. He reaches underneath the shelf and pulls out the pocket watch. He walks over to Elena, "I would never sell this okay?"

"Then why did you take it?" I ask from behind him.

"Because it's supposed to be mine. Dad said it goes to the first born son. Dad said his father gave it to him and then now what?" Jeremy yells and shoves the pocket watch in Elena's hands. Jeremy pushes past her and sits back down.

"And he was going to give it to you." Elena says sadly.

"Yeah." Jeremy says pissed and puts the headphones back on. Elena sighs and walks back over to us, but she turns around at his doorframe.

"Look Jeremy it's still yours, okay? Mom promised Mrs.Lockwood, what do you want me to do?" Elena asks exasperated.

"Just take it and get out." Jeremy glares and turns his music back on. Elena and I look at each other sadly.

We can't break Mom's promise but Jer wants that watch really bad.

What are we supposed to do?

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I look at myself in the mirror and smile. I outdid myself this time, I look really hot. I pulled my hair back with a black chopstick kind of thing, so it is still hanging down in the back and I have one curl hanging lose at the front. I'm wearing a short blue dress with a bow on the side, I know I'm overdoing it but I love dressing up. I can't help it.

I couldn't find any shoes at the last minute so I had to wear my black leather boots. I know, I know, it does not go with it but who gives a shit? Oh, I know! Me!

I roll my eyes and slip on Stefan's bracelet, for some reason I always wear it. I smile at myself in the mirror one more time before heading downstairs. I see Elena and Stefan already waiting down there. Am I that late?

"Wow, Aria you look great." Elena smiles.

"I know." I smirk and look over at Stefan, "You don't look to shabby Stefan."

"Thank you, you both look amazing." he says politely.

"Thank you, us Gilberts clean up well." I smirk and grab my purse. "Let's go shall we?"

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I feel like a third wheel right now. It sucks. Elena has her arm through Stefan's and there totally ignoring me. We walk up the steps of the mayor's house and I smile as I don't see any sign of Tyler.

"Hey, Mayor Lockwood." Elena greets when they get to the door.

Mayor Lockwood smiles and gestures us in, "Hey guys, come on in. Have fun."

"Thank you." Stefan smiles and steps in with Elena. I roll my eyes and continue to follow them. We round the corner and my eyes instantly find Damon. Wow, he looks hot. He catches me looking and smirks, I roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at him. He smirks and starts walking towards me but Caroline intercepts him. A look of anger fills his face for a moment before it's gone, I wave and follow Stefan and Elena down the hall like a lost little puppy.

I follow them down to the study were all the heirlooms and shit are. I see Elena looking at a display frowning so I head over there. I gasp at the sight of my parents wedding rings.

"Your parents?" Stefan asks.

"There's a lot of history here." I say sadly moving onto the next display. I shake my head and make all those sad memories disappear. I want tonight to be a good night, not a sad one.

Wait, where was my date Bonnie? Oh well, I will find her later I guess.

"The Founding Families of Mystic Falls welcome you to the annual council celebration." Elena reads, "Wow look it's the original guest registry." Stefan looks over concerned and walks over to her. Why is he concerned about a guess registry? I shrug and walk over to the list.

"Wow look at all those familiar names, Sherif William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood, and...is that Damon Salvatore?" I ask looking over at Stefan, "And Stefan Salvatore?"

"The original Salvatore brothers." Damon says from behind us. I spin around to see him and Caroline standing there. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon smirks.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan says.

"It's not boring Stefan, I would love to hear more about the Salvatore family." I smile. Damon smirks, happy I took his side.

"Well I'm bored. I want to dance but Damon won't dance with me." Caroline says aggravated. Damon shakes his head dismissing the idea of dancing with anybody.

"Fine Caroline, Stefan and I will accompany you to the dance floor while Aria stays here listening to Damon's depressing story." Elena smiles but I can tell she would rather hear the story and is just trying to be nice.

"Aria should come with us too. Even number then." Stefan suggests.

"Nah, I'll stay here. You guys have fun." I say waving them away. Caroline pulls Stefan away and Elena follows after them. Damon watches them leave and smirks once there out the door.

"I want to apologize to you for being such a world class jerk. The other night when I tried to kiss you, there's no excuses. You just broke up with your boyfriend and I tried kissing you. Low blow." Damon smiles, "My therapist says I'm acting out, trying to punish Stefan."

"Yeah right, like you actually feel sorry and I know you don't have a therapist Damon so don't try to be funny." I glare and walk over to one of the exhibits.

"You look very stunning tonight." Damon whispers in my ear. I turn around and roll my eyes at him.

"I'm still mad at you asshole so leave me alone." I say.

"I thought you wanted to hear more about my family?" Damon asks.

"Ya I did but then I remembered how much of an arrogant bastard you are and changed my mind. So go run back to Caroline now." I glare at him. If only looks could kill.

"Don't be like that Ari, I truly am sorry. Can't a guy make a mistake?" he asks innocently.

I sigh, "Fine, I'll give you one more chance so go on with the Salvatore story, I'm waiting." I say putting my hands on my hips.

Damon smirks and starts to tell the story, "The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town until the war. There was a battle here."

I cut him off, "The Battle of Willow Creak, I may not have listened in History class but I know about it. Confederate soldiers fired on a church that had civilians inside."

"What the history books left out was that the people that were killed, weren't there by accident." Damon says walking over to some house model. "They were believed to be Union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the Confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive" Damon pauses and looks down at the house model. "Damon and Stefan had someone they loved very much in that church and when they went to rescue the person they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" I ask curious.

"A woman, I guess." Damon smirks, "Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?"

I give Damon a sad smile and hug him. "I'm sorry you and Stefan have this thing between you two and I really hope you guys can work it out. But know that I'm here for you if you ever want to talk to someone or you just need a awesome friend." I pull away and see Damon has a thoughtful look on his face.

"I hope so too and thank you Aria, I may need a friend." he smiles at me and I smile back at him.

Why did I forgive him so easily?

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"What'd we miss?" Damon asks as we join the rest of our party outside.

"We were just chatting." Stefan smiles, "Drink Damon?" Stefan offers holding out a glass of Champagne.

"No thanks, I'll pass." Damon says. Stefan smiles and nods starring at his brother. Damon stares back, it's like there in an intense starring competition.

"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena asks ending there competition.

Stefan smiles and takes her hand, "Yes I do." I watch as they walk onto the dance floor and start dancing. They look really cute together, I look over at Caroline and see her silently yelling at me to leave.

"Well, I'm going to go explore. See ya guys." I smile and head off into the party. Ugh, I feel like a loner among those couples. I used to have Tyler but we all know how that worked out. Oh well I will go chill for a while.

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"This is my fault, I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter." I say depressed as I sit on the sofa with my sister. She just had a big fight with Stefan about Damon and other things.

"It's not your fault. I just feel terrible because I said I wouldn't get in the middle of it but that's exactly what I did. I acted all snotty." Elena says ashamed. I am about to reply but I see Mrs.Lockwood coming.

"Elena honey, there you are." she says taking a seat across from us. "I noticed the watch still isn't in the collection."

"Oh, I'm sorry Mrs.Lockwood. I couldn't find it, I guess it's still packed up in my parents stuff somewhere." Elena lies.

"I see. Well please let me know if you do find it." Mrs.Lockwood smiles.

"Okay." Elena says as Mrs.Lockwood walks away.

"You let Jer keep it." I say smiling.

"Well you saw how much he wanted it, I'm not cruel." Elena says. I laugh and stand up.

"I have to go mingle now, I dressed up so I want to show off. See ya later Lena. Go figure things out with Stefan." I smirk and walk into the crowd. I smile and shake my head when I see Jenna talking to news guy. I knew she couldn't stay away. I walk over to the bar and steal a glass of champagne that was sitting on the counter. I could tell no one took a sip so might as well.

I drown the champagne quickly and grab another one. I smile as I set it back down. I needed that but now I am just a little tipsy. Oh well, I am a single, drunk, loner girl. What could be worse?

I see Damon heading outside without Caroline for once and chase after him. "Boo!" I yell quietly, grabbing his arm. He looks over at me and smirks.

"Have you consumed any alcohol tonight Aria?" he asks amused. I put my arm through his and start skipping.

"A little, skip with me Day." I smile.

He sighs, "Uh, no."

"A dance then? Please." I say giving him puppy dog eyes. He sighs and leads me to the dance floor. "Yes!" I yell excited. It's a slow song so I wrap my arms around his neck and he wraps his arms around my waist. We sway to the song and Damon is smiling slightly.

"You're an okay dancer." he says.

"Wait till I am really drunk, I do great lap dances." I joke.

"Well then, I guess I am just going to have to get you drunk." he smirks.

"Yeah, even drunk me wouldn't give you a lap dance." I smile as he laughs.

"I'm sure drunk you would do a lot more than a lap dance with me, sweetie." he does this weird eye thing and smirks. I laugh and hit the backside of his head.

"Damon Salvatore do not flirt with me, you have a girlfriend." I say and narrow my eyes at him. He is about to respond but Elena comes out of nowhere and pushes him away from me.

"There is something seriously wrong with you!" Elena fumes, "Stay the hell away from my sister and Caroline! Or else I will go straight to Caroline's mother, the sheriff. Stay away from them!" Elena grabs my hand and pulls me away.

"What the hell Elena, I was having fun." I say pissed off.

"Aria, I won't let you be around Damon anymore. Stay away from him." she says angrily.

"Why?" I ask, scared to find out the answer.

"He's been hurting Caroline, there were bruises all over her. She's your best friend Aria and he's been abusing her." she fumes.

For some reason tears build up in my eyes, "No, he wouldn't hurt her." I whisper in denial.

"Aria he d-" I cut Elena off.

"No, please just.." I shake my head and walk away from her. I walk out into the

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