Over the next couple of days, Eve worked endlessly throughout the day and late into every night transforming 221C into her home, the painting distracting her from the thoughts that were never too far away. She couldn't however, stop the thoughts returning when she was asleep, the nightmares leaving her cold every night. It made her feel weak, the fear of him finding her filled her thoughts so often, she knew he was probably back in London himself now, but she refused to let him rule her life, she wanted to remember what normal felt like. She wanted to enjoy the normal things for once, a job, a home, a family, and friends. And there was no way she was going to allow him to stop her living her life anymore, he was a part of her past she would never forget but that was all he would ever be.

It was two days later Sherlock and John returned from Dartmoor, in the morning of the 15th March. Eve had woken up early that morning, from a dreamless sleep which had put her in such a good mood she decided she wanted to properly thank her Gran for helping out so much. So by 9am, she had left the flat to go buy some flowers for her Gran and some baking ingredients, she wanted to surprise her Gran with her favourite little treats, something her Gran had used to do for her when she was at school. She returned home before her Gran had even noticed she was gone and was just putting the trays into the oven when she heard the front door open and her Gran talking. She walked out of her flat to see John and Sherlock standing in the hallway, her Gran smiled at Sherlock as he put his arms around her in a hug, before looking up and noticing Eve.

'Evelyn' he smiled, a genuine and warm smile that reached his eyes she couldn't help but smile a little.

'Sherlock' She replied. 'And it's Eve if you don't mind'

'I do mind' he answered, looking at her. She looked back at him, and for a moment it felt like time was standing still as they looked at each.

'Oh?' Eve said, breaking the moment, but still keep her eyes fixed on him.

'I prefer Evelyn. Evelyn Hudson' He smiled, saying her name slowly, his rich voice making her name sound almost magical. She exhaled slowly as she remembered she had drawn in a breath as he spoke her name, a tiny giggle escaping her lips. Sherlock noticed a smudge of flour on her cheek, and raised his hand to wipe it away but changed his mind with his hand in mid air. Eve looked at him, her eyes locked on him in confusion. He changed his mind again, and wiped the smudge away with his thumb, his fingers resting gently on her jaw line just above her scar, her skin soft and warm beneath his fingers. His hand lingered for a fraction too long and she jerked away, her hand rising to cover her scar, her breath caught in her throat as she tried to work out what had just happened.

His fingers were only millimetres away from her scar, almost touching. It was the first time since it had happened that anyone but doctors had touched that area, and as much as it freaked her out she could feel a tingle where his fingers were only just seconds again. She subconsciously raised her hand to where his had been, her mind running on overdrive. Why was he so bloody difficult to read? She had only met him twice since she'd moved in, and it was like he was two different people. He fascinated her but also annoyed him beyond words, but one thing that never changed was that she couldn't stop thinking about him. And now, he was smiling at her, saying he liked her full name and wiping flour off her cheek…it was all too much at once! She couldn't breathe around him.

'I need to go' she mumbled, quickly turning around and fighting the urge to run. She shut her door quickly, leaning back onto it with a sigh. She couldn't explain why she was acting so irrational, he had only wiped flour of her cheek but she completely freaked out like an idiot and now he must think she's completely mental. She knew she thought that. Sherlock seemed like the type of person she'd get along with, she loved clever people, people who see could have proper conversations with, and someone who would completely understand everything about her was a bloody miracle to come across and she had just made that very person believe she was an irrational idiot!

Sherlock watched in interest and confusion as Eve dashed off suddenly into her flat, leaving only a faint trance of her perfume in her wake. He wanted to go after her but knew it was because of him she had quickly left. He didn't fully understand why, the opposite sex were always a little bit on the confusing side to him, but he knew it was had a least something to do with him touching her face, he could tell by the way she had jerked away and quickly covered her scar, something which he had become to realise had come around by the hands of someone she trusted. It was obvious by the way how a simple gesture had completely freaked her out; he couldn't understand though, how anyone would want to do something like that to her. She was without the doubt one of the most remarkable people he had ever met, she was clearly clever, on the same level as him, but yet she was still so thoughtful and kind, her love for her Gran was plain as day. And she was so carefree, despite the obvious fact that she had bad memories she was running from, and she was beautiful, more beautiful than anyone he had ever known. Simply remarkable. He hesitated for a moment at the bottom of the stairs, wanting to go and check on her, but remembering it was because of him she had gone, walked up to his flat.

A gentle tap on her door bought her out of her thoughts and she opened it to find her Gran standing there looking worried.

'Are you okay Evelyn? You left rather sudden' Mrs Hudson, walking into the flat. She was still amazed at what her granddaughter had done to the place; it didn't even look like the same flat anymore.

'Yer, I'm perfectly fine' Eve lied, closing the door. 'I had to check on a something' she walked into the kitchen, her Gran close behind.

'If you're sure my dear' Mrs Hudson smiled, her concern for Eve not going away.

'I'm perfectly fine, I promise' Eve smiled back, wrapping her Gran into a hug. 'Now, come on, I have a little surprise for you' She lend her Gran into the kitchen and handed her the flowers.

'Oh Evelyn, you shouldn't have' Mrs Hudson beamed, melting away Eve's previous thoughts, a happy relief for her.

'No, you deserve them. See them as a thank you for helping me out once again' Eve replied, peeking into the oven to see how the baking was getting along. 'And there's lemon cake in the oven, almost done'

'Oh Evelyn, you are simply wonderful' Mrs Hudson replied, wiping away a tear. 'I'll just go place these in mine, and then come upstairs, you should get to know your neighbours, they are lovely really. Even if Sherlock can be a bit off, it's just part of who he is my dear.'

'I'll be up in about ten, Gran, I'll bring the cake' Eve answered, mulling over her Gran's last words. Sherlock was a little bit more than off, than was without a doubt true. She had never met anyone quite like him, and she had met some real characters in her time.

After changing out of her previous outfit into a pair of skinny jeans and silk top, Eve grabbed the cake and headed up to 221B. She had managed to block away her thoughts from early until she was able to understand them rational, and was looking forward to getting to know Sherlock and John. She didn't know many people in London, so getting to know her neighbours seemed like a good place to start. And hopefully the interview she had lined up for next week would lead to a few more friends; this time around she was going to do things right. She knocked the door, to which her Gran opened and welcomed her in. Sherlock was sat in a chair by the fireplace, his hands in a prayer like position, thinking about something by the blank expression on his face as he stared off into the kitchen. John was sitting at the desk on his laptop, typing up something on what looked like a blog. He noticed Eve and smiled, closing the laptop down.

'Lovely to meet you again Eve' John smiled, offering her the seat opposite Sherlock, who was still staring off into the distance. 'Don't mind him, he's always like this'

'I've met worse people, believe me' Eve replied, handing the cake to her Gran and sitting down, turning the chair so she wasn't facing Sherlock completely. She took in the room as she barely noticed anything when she first came up here on the day she moved in. She noticed the kitchen was full of things that certainly didn't belong in a kitchen and a Cluedo board was stabbed into the wall. Sherlock watched her silently, as she observed his home. Her eyes lingered on the bookcase, taking in the titles with a small smile on her face.

'You have an interesting taste' She mused, her eyes still on the bookcase. 'I made Lemon cake for my Gran, if anyone would like a piece' she smiled at John and Sherlock, working out how two men who were pretty different managed to live together, or rather, how John managed to live with Sherlock.

As her Gran handed out the cake and they all tucked into it, Eve began to relax. It was good to feel normal for once, sitting eating cake and getting to know people, not running scared, trying to fight away the memories. She knew the memories would never fade, they would always be there, and she knew that one day she would most likely bump into him again but right now she didn't care, she felt normal. And it felt amazing. She was just a normal twenty something starting a new life in London, getting to know new people. The way her life was supposed to be, even if she weren't normal herself.

'So Eve, any plans now you're in London?' John asked, settling back into the chair after helping Mrs Hudson clear up the plates.

'Not many at the moment' Eve replied. 'I'm just taking each moment as it comes, getting my feet back on the ground first. A job at some point would be good too'

'Understandable.' John smiled, Eve noticing his eyes lingers on her scar, just like everyone else's did, something she hated but was going to have to get used to, somehow. 'So Europe? Must had been a great adventure'

'In some aspects' Eve laughed, trying not to linger on the memories of her travels. 'It was great at first, but you know, you make mistakes and they always crept up and screw you over at some point.'

'A mistake that ended with that scar' Sherlock mused, finally coming out of his thoughts and joining the conversation. He had tried to ignore her presence in his living room, but it was impossible, there was something about her that made her hard to ignore. Something he couldn't quite place his finger on.

Eve looked around for her Gran, and when she noticed she was busy singing to herself as she cleared up the kitchen, she turned back to look at Sherlock.

'Yes.' she replied simply, looking him directly in the eye. 'Probably the biggest mistake of my life, but I'm yet to know whether it's one I completely regret'

Sherlock looked at her with interest; he knew exactly why this was. There's only one type of mistake people struggle to decide whether or not to regret it, Love. Fools would give themselves to whoever declared their love for them, often false in the hope of other things, which ended more often than less, in tears.

'I know what you're thinking' Eve said, interrupting his thoughts.

'Oh?'

'How could someone like me fall in love, why waste my mind on such a thing as love.'

She looked away for a moment; she had often thought this before she had fallen in love herself. Why waste yourself on someone that would end up hurting you. But when you fall, like she did, it's unexpected, out of the blue, rational thoughts go out of the window and your heart takes over. It's often for the worst, but sometimes for the best, but at the start you never know which it could be and that's why you give yourself up freely to the motions of love, no matter what how it may end, you never think of the end. Especially the end that Eve had experienced.

'Yes, Love is only a weakness, I only need to look at John's relationships to see that' Sherlock smiled, as John rolled his eyes and pretended to ignore Sherlock.

'I'll have to disagree. Love may be a weakness, a disadvantage. But when it's real, it's a disadvantage worth having. It may make you weak, but it makes you stronger, however it ends' Eve replied, a smile playing on her lips, the look on Sherlock's face making it hard not to laugh, he looked completely bemused.

'That may be so' he eventually answered, returning Eve's Smile. 'But you said when it's real. How do you know when it's real?'

'If I knew, I wouldn't be sitting here with my scar' she answered with an edge to her voice, the truth of her words stinging. She had felt like it was real at first, but then everything changed and that made her doubt everything, even herself. She weren't sure anymore if he had been real or a liar from the start, the thought was often too much to bear, she had spent so much of her life with him, she couldn't handle the fact that all of it could have been a lie.

Sherlock looked at Eve thoughtfully, noticing how her eyes lost their entire spark when she spoke about her time in Europe and love. It was clear that whoever hurt her scarred her more than what showed on the surface. Despite her happy, friendly mask she was still healing from whatever happened, and though he had no idea why, he wanted to comfort her, make that person pay for what they had done. It made no sense to him why he felt like this, but ever since she entered his life; his mind was full of irrational thoughts like this one to comfort her. A moment of silence pasted between them, both deep in their thoughts. Eve sighed, trying to think of something to distract herself from her thoughts.

'Sorry' Sherlock replied, breaking the silence. .

'Its fine, I suppose I should be used to people asking about it by now' Eve gently sighed, softly smiling at Sherlock. 'It's just sometimes hard to know that you're forever going to be different, even when you're already different, you know?'

'I do' He answered, resting his chin on his clasped hands thoughtfully. 'But who would choose to be normal?'

'Me.' Eve laughed, her smile reaching her eyes, making them twinkle. 'I love who I am, but after my experiences, a bit of normal would be good'

'You've moved to the wrong place if you're looking for normal' Sherlock laughed back, his deep laugh making Eve smile even more, it felt good to smile.

'So it seems, realised that when I first moved in, so called detective, carrying a harpoon covered in blood, completely normal' Eve laughed again, her cheeks aching from all the laughing she'd had done in the past few days, she hadn't laughed like this much in what felt ages, it felt good to have a reason to laugh again. Sherlock laughed too, he couldn't help it, there was something about Eve, and she had an infectious personality you just couldn't resist, not matter how hard you tried.

'How long have my Gran and John been gone?' Eve asked when she stopped laughing; looking around the room to find that she was completely alone with Sherlock.

'I dunno' Sherlock answered. 'This seems to happen a lot to me.' He smiled at Eve, who smiled back, fighting back laughter. But one look at each other and the laughter started again.

And they both realised at that moment, they had finally found somebody who understood them for who they were.

It was the beginning of a friendship that would shape their lives.