Chapter 3- He Found Me

Aria’s POV

I didn’t sleep well that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, everything kept replaying in my head like my mind refused to let it go, and no matter how many times I tried to distract myself or force myself to sleep, it just kept coming back. Ethan’s hand on her waist, the way he leaned in like she was the only person in the room, the way he smiled… and then somehow it would shift to the kiss. To him.

Damon.

I turned in bed more times than I could count, at some point pulling the blanket over my head like that would magically shut everything off, but it didn’t work. Nothing worked. My thoughts were too loud, too stubborn, and I couldn’t make sense of any of it.

By the time morning came, I didn’t even feel like I had slept. I just felt tired, irritated, and somehow still stuck in the same place I was last night.

I stayed in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling, trying not to think, but that didn’t last long.

“Get up,” I muttered to myself quietly, running a hand through my hair. “You’re not about to let this ruin your whole day.” But the truth was, it already had.

My phone started buzzing beside me, and at first I ignored it because I wasn’t ready to deal with anything or anyone, but it didn’t stop. It kept buzzing again and again until I finally reached for it out of frustration, expecting maybe Sophia or even Ethan, but the moment I unlocked it, my stomach dropped.

There were too many notifications.

Messages, missed calls, mentions… things I didn’t even understand at first because everything felt like it was happening too fast. I frowned and opened one, then another, and then I saw it.

A video.

My heart skipped as I tapped on it, and the moment it started playing, I froze. It was me. At the bar. Walking up to him. Kissing him.

“No… no, no…” I whispered, sitting up properly now as I started scrolling, hoping maybe it was just one post, just one angle, but it wasn’t.

It was everywhere. Different accounts. Different angles. People posting it like it was entertainment, like it was something funny or exciting. The comments made it worse. Some people were laughing, some were praising it, some were judging it, and all of them were watching like it was theirs to talk about.

“Oh my God…” My hands felt cold all of a sudden, and my chest tightened in a way that made it hard to breathe properly. This wasn’t just a moment anymore. It wasn’t something that happened and ended there. People had it now. They could replay it, share it, talk about it whenever they wanted.

My phone rang.

Unknown number.

I declined it.

It rang again.

I turned the phone face down this time, like that would somehow make everything stop, but it didn’t. Nothing about this was going away just because I wasn’t ready for it.

I got out of bed and walked to the window, pushing the curtain slightly as I stared outside, trying to calm myself down, trying to think clearly, but my mind was already racing ahead of me.

This is not that serious. It’s just a video. People will forget. But even as I thought it, I didn’t believe it.

A knock came from outside. “Aria?” Sophia’s voice. I closed my eyes briefly before answering. “Come in.”

She walked in almost immediately, already holding her phone like she didn’t even need to say anything for me to know what she was about to talk about.

“You’ve seen it, right?” I nodded. “Yeah.” “It’s everywhere,” she said, sitting down on the bed. “I noticed.” She looked at me more carefully after that. “Are you okay?” I let out a small breath. “I don’t know yet.”

That felt like the only honest answer I had. She nodded slowly. “That’s fair.”

I sat beside her, still holding my phone but not really looking at it anymore. “For what it’s worth,” she added after a moment, “you didn’t look bad." I turned to her. “That’s what you’re focusing on?”

“I’m serious,” she said. “If something is going viral, at least you look good doing it.”

Despite everything, I let out a small laugh. “You’re unbelievable.” “I know.”

We stayed quiet for a bit after that, both of us just sitting there like maybe if we didn’t react too much, the situation would somehow calm down on its own, but deep down I knew it wouldn’t.

Another knock came, louder this time. Sophia frowned slightly. “Are you expecting someone?” “No,” I said immediately.

The knock came again, more firm this time, and something about it made my chest tighten slightly, like I already had a feeling I wasn’t going to like who was on the other side.

“I’ll check,” Sophia said, standing up. I watched her leave the room, my heart beating a little faster now, though I couldn’t explain why. A few seconds passed, and then I heard her voice again, but this time it sounded different.

“Aria…” I stood up slowly. “What?” She stepped back into the room, her expression unreadable, and for a second that alone made me uneasy.

“It’s him.”

My heart dropped. “What?”

She moved slightly, giving me space to see, and the moment I did, I froze.

Damon.

Standing at the door like he had every right to be there. For a second, I just stared because none of this made sense. How did he even find me? Why would he even come here?

“You found my house?” I asked as I walked closer, but not too close. "I asked,” he said simply. Of course he did. “You shouldn’t be here,” I said, even though my voice didn’t sound as firm as I wanted it to. “Probably not,” he replied.That caught me off guard. “Then why are you here?”

He looked at me for a moment before answering. “The video. It’s a problem.” I let out a breath. “I noticed.” “It’s spreading fast.”

“I noticed that too.” He nodded slightly before adding, “Problems like this are better handled early.” I crossed my arms slightly. “Handled how?" He looked at me directly. “By controlling the story.” I frowned. “What does that even mean?”

“It means people already believe something happened between us,” he said calmly.

My stomach tightened slightly. “And instead of denying it, we give them something to believe.”

I stared at him, trying to understand what he meant. “You’re not making sense.” “I am,” he said. “You’re just not used to thinking like this.” That irritated me a little. “Then explain it properly.”

He paused briefly before saying, “Pretend to be my girlfriend.” I blinked. “What?” “It’s simple,” he said. “We act like it wasn’t random. We act like it meant something.”

I let out a short laugh. “You’re joking.” “I’m not.” I shook my head. “No. That’s not happening.”

“You don’t have a better option.”

That made me pause, even though I didn’t want to. “I can ignore it,” I said.  “You can try,” he replied. “But it won’t stop people from talking.” And that was the problem. “But this is worse,” I said. “Not if it works" he said.

I looked at him properly this time, trying to understand how someone could be this calm about something like this. “Why do you even care?” “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said quietly. Something about that made me pause. “How?”

He stepped a little closer, not too much, just enough to make the space between us feel different.

“I don’t like losing control of situations.” I swallowed slightly. “And you think I’ll agree to this?” “I think you understand this isn’t going away.”

He wasn’t wrong and  I hated that. I looked away for a moment, trying to think, trying to find another way out of this that didn’t involve pretending to date a man I barely knew.

There wasn’t one. At least not one that would work. “This is crazy,” I said. “A little,” he admitted. I looked back at him. “And if I say no?” He held my gaze. “Then we both deal with the consequences.” That didn’t sound like a threat. It sounded like the truth. And somehow, that made it worse.

I stayed quiet for a moment longer before finally speaking.

“When does this start?”