"I could ask you the same thing, Damon." She replied, tossing the key onto the wooden table beside the door. "But I'm pretty sure your answer will be something along the lines of things got too crazy to live with and you thought you'd get the hell outta Dodge."

Damon felt like Deja vu hit him all over again.

Taking a seat on the bed, Eva looked at him - really looked at him. He didn't look bad, but he didn't look good. "Before you say anything - Stefan called me up, after you stormed out of the boarding house. Asked me to come looking for you, since he didn't want to make things worse than they already are." Sighing softly, Eva shook her head. "He doesn't like what he did, Damon. He feels bad enough without you hating him."

Snorting, Damon leaned against the wall. "You're defending him?"

"I'm not." Eva snapped, her fiery eyes shooting daggers at him. "You, above all people know that I don't particularly like Stefan all that much." She could tolerate him - to a point. But after that, he was much of an annoyance as hearing Katherine's name again after all these years.

Eva touched the deepest part of Damon. Places that he could never see, but somehow, Eva did. She brought out the good in Damon, as much as Elena did. She kept him on his toes, made him second guess his actions. "Wanna talk about it?" He heard Eva questioned as he dragged his eyes from the floor to look at her, raising an eyebrow. He watched her lean against the headboard, patting the bed beside her. This was all too familiar territory for Damon. His feet moved on their own as he walked over to the bed, letting his body melt into the sheets. It wasn't long before Eva took his hand in hers, slipping her fingers between his. Damon felt a moment of comfort as he laid his head on her shoulder. There was no tension, there was nothing holding them back the way it held Damon and Elena back. Eva never recovered from wanting revenge on Katherine, so she never found someone. And she was okay with that. She was okay with being alone.

"She's a vampire- Stefan didn't bother to save her. Instead, he decided to listen- to listen to her wishes and save Mutt." Damon chest constricted just talking about it.

"Granted, Damon, what Stefan did, wasn't right in most of the people's eyes. But it was Elena's choice. Free will and all that. It's a fickle thing to have. Important thing to lose, too. You would of saved her, this I know, whether or not you would of taken her choice or free will into account, is questionable..."

Damon turned his chin up to give her a pointed look.

"Lemme finish." She waved her hand dismissively at him, "But you've yet to have your free will taken from you - not including the time with K-" Eva stopped herself short, biting her tongue before continuing. "-that bitch. Stefan lost his free will to Klaus, the ever bastard of the century, and it lost him Elena in the process. Do you get what I'm saying? He wanted to let her have her choice... but I don't think he knew she'd become a vampire..."

Raising an eyebrow, Damon questioned her. "How do you figure, Novakov?"

Eva raised an eyebrow back at him. "Well... did you not notice when you were beating the shit out of him? He was upset - clearly upset - and he was beating himself up over it. Like he knew he let her die, of course. But I don't think he knew she had vampire blood in her system when she died. He seemed pretty torn up. Why do you think he didn't fight you back? He knew he'd done something stupid and reckless, and wrong."

She had a point. Damon made note of this. Still, it didn't settle with him that his brother, the person that was supposed to love Elena more than anyone in the world, would let his 'true love' drown in a watery grave. It didn't make any sense to Damon. Slowly, Eva's fingers worked their way through his hair, sending shivers through him. She was the only one that knew what it did to him and just how special the move was to him. Whenever Damon was sick, when he was younger, his mother would do the same. It was one of the many secrets he shared with Eva and only she knew the significance of them. "Let's worry about how Stefan is going to deal with this and the consequences tomorrow, for now, you could use some distraction." Letting his eyes close, Damon wasn't going to argue with her there. They sat like that, with Eva running her fingers on one hand through his hair, while the other held onto his hand, for hours.

His mind was at ease, for now. Eva could tell just by looking at his peaceful face. His steady breathing was the only indication that the vampire was even alive. He looked more like a boy than a man when he slept. Eva smiled softly before untangling her fingers from his, laying his head down on the pillow gently. Slowly, she tip toed toward the bathroom. A good hot shower was what she needed. Closing the door, leaving it open a crack, Eva turned on the hot water and let it warm up. She took the bobby pins out of her hair, letting her jet black hair fall in curls behind her back. Her boots were the first to come off. The poor things were so caked in mud, she was sure she'd have to thrown them out soon. She stripped off her clothes, one article at a time, draping them over the towel rack. Staring herself in the mirror, the only thing left on her body, was two necklaces. The blue stone was the only thing that kept her from going up in flames. The other, was a simple ring, with one good sized stone in the middle, surrounded by two little ones on either side. Her engagement ring. It felt like a lifetime ago, that her and Damon were human and happy, ready to live out a normal, happy, human life in the South, in Mystic Falls. Their wedding date was set and everything was picked out. Not but a few days before the wedding, Eva had went into town to do one last fitting before her wedding and that's when she met Katherine.

The next day, a few townspeople had found her body drained of blood in the shop, wearing her wedding gown that she was supposed to walk down the isle in. She awoke hours later, near a lake. A witch had been there, handed her the blue stone, saying 'It is your choice if you wish to die now or later.' At first, she didn't understand what the hell she meant by that, but as the hours ticked by, the scratchy throat was the only indication of what she had to do. And her way of doing it, was something she wasn't proud of. She had only completed her transition when she heard what had happened to the Salvatore brothers. She instantly knew the culprit. Katherine had been the cause of it. She had gotten caught by Damon's father and his followers, and stupidly enough, Damon and Stefan went to save her. She could of smacked them both that night, telling them that it was a trap. Since that day, Eva had plotted her revenge, not only for her sake, but for Damon's as well.

Stepping into the shower, she let the motel's scorching hot water wash away all the bad memories. Under the shower head, Eva didn't notice Damon sneak in. It wasn't until she felt hands around her waist, turning her around, did she open her eyes. Staring into Damon's eyes, was like staring into a universe of possibilities. She felt human all over again in that moment.

"You were supposed to be sleeping." She scolded him, poking his exposed chest with her index finger.

The response she got was Damon smirking. He didn't speak a word. Instead, Damon reached around her for the shampoo, turning her around to face the waterfall. She allowed him to. He was the only person that could control her and properly get away with it at the same time. The next thing she knew, Damon's finger tips were sinking into her scalp, massaging the shampoo into her hair. A soft moan escaped her lips. He always did have a miracle touch.

It was a perfect ending to the night as she heard the Mystic Falls town square clock chime twelve bells; midnight. It was the beginning of another day. Another adventure. Damon's hands turned around her again, pushing her gently under the water. She looked up at him, watching him closely as she rung her hair out under the water. Curiosity getting the better of her, Eva couldn't help herself. "Can I ask you something?"

Damon was a bit confused by her question - that much she could see, but he replied nonetheless. "Spill."

Shifting her weight underneath his gaze, Eva didn't look him in the eye, instead, her fingers played with the ring on the chain she had put it on many years ago. "Would you have still married me... if Katherine didn't get to me?"

She could see Damon pondering the thought of her question. It didn't take him long to respond, which surprised her. Instead of replying with words, Damon shocked her by leaning his head down, his lips gently caressing hers, before fierceness took over and he was kissing her with so much passion, that she thought her vampire heart would explode. A few heart beats later and he lifted his head, releasing her lips in the same moment. She was breathing hard, at a human pace, while Damon looked unaffected. She watched him smirk as he spoke, "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes." She whispered breathlessly. She contemplated her next move for a split second, before she flung her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him off his feet. She had stunned him, that much was for sure, because she could feel his body tense up, before his arms wrapped themselves around her waist, giving her a powerful hug back.

Damon could hardly believe, that after all these years, they could still fall back into their usual routine, as if they were two humans, living out a human life. It made his chest swell with an emotion that he could barely comprehend. It was a feeling that he thought was long gone. Nothing else mattered but this moment. Stefan didn't matter, Katherine didn't matter, hell even Elena didn't matter. What mattered, was the vampire he held in his arms. Kissing her damp hair, Damon chuckled. "This is a nice reunion." He spoke in all honesty. It was nice. It was nice not having Elena around. He almost forgot what it felt like, to not be pining over a woman. Dare he say he was near over Elena?