𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

- 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹 -

{ season one: episode one }

As Aria walks over to the Mystic Grill, she can't help but just stand there as she admires the building that stands tall ahead of her. After a couple of seconds, she goes to open the door as she enters the grill and immediately sits by the bar. 'Can I get you anything, miss?' the bartender asks. Aria doesn't recognise who he is, but he seems nice enough. 'Um.. just a glass of bourbon please' she replies back, as he hurries off to get her drink. 'Just a bourbon huh?' says a strange voice from behind her. As she turns around, she sees the tall, brown haired mystery man that turned up at her door earlier. Damon Salvatore. 'Oh hey.. yeah, bourbons actually my favourite drink' Aria replies, giving Damon a soft smile. 'Really? It's my favourite drink too' he says, as he now has the same soft smile on his face as Aria has on hers. 'Well, you have good tastes in drinks Mr Salvatore' Aria says smiling. 'As do you, Miss Mikaelson' he replies back. He pulls out a small stool from under the bar and sits down next to her as he orders the same drink as Aria did.

They both drink from their glasses as he turns to her with an intrigued look on his face. 'So.. what brought you back to Mystic Falls then?' he asks, as Aria almost spits her drink all over the bar table. 'Oh, I guess I just missed my home' she lied, as she tries to cover up the fact that she almost just chocked to death. 'You lived here before? I'm sure I would've met you way before now, Elena never mentioned you' he says, with a slight smile as he watches her wipe the bourbon from the side of her mouth. 'She didn't?' Aria questions, confused by the fact that her own best friend didn't mention anything about her existence. 'Nope, this is the first time I've heard about you.. or even met you' he replies, as he noticed that Aria's face had dropped a little after he mentioned the fact that Elena's never told him about her. 'I'm sure she just forgot' Aria fake laughs, as she tries to cover up the fact that she's a little pissed off that her own best friend didn't even mention her to the guy.

A few minutes go by where they sit in awkward silence, until Damon speaks up again. 'So anyways.. have you heard from Elena since she called you earlier?' he asks. 'Um no actually I haven't, she's probably just busy I guess' Aria replies, trying to hide the fact that she's disappointed that her best friend wasn't even here to greet her as they haven't seen each other for years. 'She'll probably meet up with me later' Aria adds. 'Yeah maybe.. well it was nice to see you again Aria' he replies as he gulps the last remaining swirls of bourbon that he left in his glass and he gets up from the bar and off his stool as he then tucks it back under the bar. 'You too Damon' Aria replies, as he gives her a soft smile and leaves.

Aria picks out her phone from her back pocket as she tried to dial Elena's number again and this time she answer's first try. 'Aria, what's up? You okay?' she asks. 'Yeah, yeah i'm fine, I was just wondering if you'd like to meet up if you aren't busy? I haven't seen you since I got home' Aria replies back, trying to hide the annoyance in her voice. 'Um, yeah sure. Just let me finish up with Stefan and I'll come meet you. Where are you?' she asks, as Aria can tell she's in a rush to get back to whatever she was doing. 'I'm at the Mystic Grill. Meet me here at 6pm. Don't be late' Aria replies. 'Okay. 6pm. Got it. See you then Aria!' she quickly says as she hangs up the phone before Aria could even say goodbye.