I need you more than you can know

And if I hurt myself it's just for show

"You've never had a crepe!" Aria was immensely enjoying helping Finn adapt to the modern world he'd missed out on for the last nine hundred years. And while a crepe was not the most revolutionary invention ever, it certainly ranked high on Aria's list of Nobel Peace Prize candidates. It was, after all, a delicious pastry.

"And I still do not understand this cellular device," he stated, fumbling with his iPhone that Klaus had given him. Aria had taken a picture of them together and set it as his background- whatever that was. All Finn knew was that her face was on his phone and he could see it whenever he chose to.

"Maybe you should just give up on modern technology," she suggested around a mouthful of her crepe, "You could pretend you're Amish and no one would ever bother you. You could grow your hair out too, but I'm pretty sure you'd look like a pirate." Pirate. Now there was a concept he was familiar with and he found himself nodding his head as he took another sip of the coffee beverage she had insisted he try. He found he couldn't deny Aria anything, even if it did taste disgusting.

"What is today's agenda?" he asked, having become accustomed to Aria planning their days and filling them to the brim with movies, museums, and tours of the city. But today, it seemed, she had something much less educational in mind.

"We're going to the beach."

Mother I need her, I'm falling apart

Mother I need her, and it's only the start

"You have been spending a great deal of time with Aria," his mother observed later that evening as she sifted through the herbs he had purchased for her. The home they were residing in was a white plantation home his siblings would not be permitted to enter, but Esther did not leave in case one of them decided to end her life. She did not believe any of them would, save for Niklaus who had no qualms with killing her the first time.

"She is very good," Finn said, "She has been teaching me the ways of the modern world." His mother didn't turn towards him, didn't touch his cheek reassuringly and wish his siblings were like him. She simply kept her back towards him and busied herself with her herbs.

"I do not understand why you go through such lengths to learn the ways of the world you will soon be leaving." He had to bite his tongue at her cold response. True, he had agreed to aid her in killing his siblings and undoing this evil she had cast upon them. But since Aria had entered his life and forced him to eat things like crepes and watch films called 'chick flicks, he was beginning to find he wasn't as attracted to the idea of death as he had once been.

"Could you not make us human and leave us at that?" he asked, "We could be a regular family. We could marry and raise children and you could be a grandmother. We would have the life we never had." Esther's back stiffened and she turned to face her most loyal son.

"No," she said, "We cannot. I must atone for the evil I unleashed upon the world and I can only do that if you die. Do not let a sudden attachment to a simple girl change your mind. This is the right thing, Finn, you know that."

He did. He had. Until Aria told him he had beautiful eyes and that he was the nicest vampire she'd ever met. Until she fell down a flight of stairs and he was there to catch her before she could be injured. Until she pulled him out into the sun and shoved him into the ocean. Until she looked at him and told him straightforwardly, "I like you, Finn. I like you a great deal."

I may be nothing now, but I will rise

"I would be sad if you died." He was taken aback by the comment he had not expected. Apparently the conversation with his mother had taken a physical toll on him and when Aria questioned why he was so upset, he found he could not lie to her. So he told her about his mother and the bond and how his siblings were all fated to die.

"That's unfair," she said, "You all die while your mother gets to live. That's totally unfair!" She huffed and folded her hands on the table before crossing her arms over her chest. He wasn't paying attention though, mind still processing her previous words.

"You would be sad?" he asked and Aria's eyes softened as her smile grew. She reached out a hand and grasped his, her warm fingers tangling with his.

"Of course, Finn," she said, "Who else is going to eat crepes and drink terrible coffee and watch chick flicks with me?" She laughed and he smiled because he decided he very much liked her laugh in that moment. Liked it more than he'd ever had.

It was strange, at times, to think of Aria as the woman he'd known when he was human. She did not remember him, but they were becoming very adept at forming their own memories. Still, it often felt as though she were an entirely different person. Not that Finn minded. In a way, he felt as though he were a different person as well.

"I know I was in love with you once," she said, "And that's not why I'm saying I'd miss you if you died. I'd miss you, Finn, because I genuinely like you in this lifetime. You're good and a good person shouldn't have to die."

"But I am not a person," he argued, "I am a vampire." Her hand tightened around his and she fixed him with a very careful gaze.

"You are a man," she said, "You have always been a man and you shall always be a man and if anyone wants to argue that point, they can talk to me."

He decided he loved her all over in that moment. He also had half the mind to introduce her to his mother.

I love the ground you walk with all my heart

[song fic inspired by "Slave Called Shiver" by Porcupine Tree