"I'm bored!" Evelyn exclaimed in exasperation, falling back onto the bed.

"Wow, really?" Damon gasped from where he stood at the door frame. "I had no idea!"

"Why haven't you guys called Bonnie yet?" she questioned. "And why did you take my phone?"

"If you get a daylight ring, you go outside. If you go outside, you risk Katherine or one of her minions seeing you," he explained. "And because of that, we don't need you calling Bonnie and to make you a ring."

"Hmm," she huffed as she sat up in the bed, "I could just straighten my hair and pretend to be Elena. It's not that difficult, I've been doing it my whole life."

"Just quit the whining," Damon stated when there was a knock on the door downstairs.

"Stay put until you know it's safe," Damon warned and he vamp-sped downstairs.

"I need to talk to you," Jeremy's voice entered her ears. Finally, human contact. Evelyn hopped off the bed and ran down the stairs as quietly as possible.

"And why do I need to talk to you?" Damon asked before attempting to close the door on him.

"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet."

"Wow, fascinating. Not enough," he said before going to shut the door but Jeremy pushed back.

"But Mason Lockwood is and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here."

"A moonstone?"

"And I know where it is."

"And you're bringing me this why?"

"Do I need a reason? Look, I just want to help, okay?"

"What does Elena say about this little discovery?" he asked, knowing fully well Evelyn was listening in. "Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"

"Well, Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this."

Jeremy tried to enter but Damon pushed him back out.

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow. Your search for life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic."

"You going to let me in or not?" Jeremy asked and Damon stepped aside before shutting the door behind him.

Evelyn walked down the stairs, revealing myself to the two.

"I told you to stay put," Damon stated.

"Uh, no. You said to stay put until I knew I was safe. Jeremy isn't going to tell Katherine I'm alive," she looked at him, "You aren't that pissed at me. Are you?"

Jeremy said nothing but she knew the answer. He wouldn't do that to me.

"Why are you such a know-it-all?" Damon questioned.

"Why are you such a dick?"

"Touché."

-

"Ric!" Damon shouted. They walked back to where they left Jeremy and saw Alaric with a box of Isobel's old stuff.

"What are you doing here?" Alaric asked Jeremy.

"Helping Damon. I'm the one who found out about the moonstone."

Alaric looked at Damon who shrugged before glancing at Evelyn and looking back at Jeremy, "Does Elena know you're here?"

"Not exactly."

"Speaking of," Damon said, turning to Evelyn, "Time for you to make your way back upstairs."

"I can hear everything you're doing and saying. What difference does where I am physically make?"

"You're a distraction and I don't like being distracted."

"Bu-"

"Go."

"Fine," she pouted before reluctantly going upstairs.

-

"Here," Bonnie said holding up her hand.

"What?" Evelyn said when she saw the ring.

"You can walk in daylight now," she took her hand and placed the ring on her palm.

"Thank you," she replied gratefully, enclosing the ring in her hand. Bonnie nodded and turned to walk away but she stopped her.

"Look," Evelyn said and she didn't turn, "I know you hate vampires because they lead to bad things but I'm still me. I'm Evelyn. The Evelyn you grew up with. And I-I miss you."

She could hear Bonnie sigh and she looked over her shoulder briefly, "I miss you too."

And then she left.

-

"No," I begged, "Damon please. I thought you cared about me. I thought we were...I thought we were connecting."

"As if anyone could care about you," Damon spat out with a maniacal laugh.

"I'm so, so sorry," I apologized for the millionth time, sliding down the wall. I shook my head as tears streamed down my face and Damon crouched down in front of me.

"Oh no," he said, looking sincere and wiping away a tear with his thumb, "No need for tears. It'll only hurt for a moment."

Before Evelyn could wrap her head around what he meant, she shot up with a shout. Panting, with sweat covering her body, she groped for the closest thing she could grab.

"Evelyn," a familiar voice spoke soothingly.

She looked up to find Damon looking at her with his eyes wide with worry. She quickly pulled her hand away and pushed herself up against the headboard of her bed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't kill me."

"What?" he asked, utterly confused, "Why would I kill you?"

"Whatever I did, I'm sorry!" Evelyn sobbed, clutching her legs to her sweat coated body.

"Evie?" her twins voice entered her ears and she peaked out of her huddled shape.

"Elena?" she croaked, her voice raspy from the crying.

"I don't know what happened," Damon explained from his position beside her bed, "She was screaming so I came in to make sure she was okay and then she started begging me not to kill her."

A wave of realisation washed over Elena's face and she looked up at Stefan, "It's happening again. I figured once she became a vampire, they would stop."

"What would stop?" Damon asked as Evelyn shivered in her bed not exactly sure of what was happening around her.

"She's sleeping," Elena explained, "It happened a lot before she was diagnosed. I can take care of her."

Elena approached her with a caring smile, "He's not going to hurt you, I promise. Let's get you a shower."

At first, Evelyn was cautious but then she gave in, nodding slowly. She helped her stand up and guided her out of the room.

"Diagnosed with what?" Damon seemed to ask.

"That's for Evie to tell you," Stefan answered simply.

As the cold water hit her skin, she seemed to snap out of her trance. She looked around in confusion and turned to Elena whose outline was clear, even through the curtain.

"It happened again," she groaned, "Didn't it?" Her figure nodded and Evelyn ran her hand through her tangled hair, pulling apart some of the knots. "What happened this time?"

"You thought Damon was trying to kill you."

"Oh no," Evelyn whispered before continuing louder, "Did I do anything?"

"No, you cried and you begged him not to kill you."

"I thought they would stop when I turned."

"So did I."

"I'm going to have to explain to him what happened, aren't I?"

"Up to you."

"I have to tell him," she concluded.

"Okay, take your time. I'll tell him to wait for you in your room. Your new clothes are on the counter."

"Thank you."

The shadow nodded and she left.

-

After Evelyn felt calm enough to talk without losing it, she changed and made her way back to her 'room.'

She paced back and forth in front of him, he followed her with his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Evelyn stopped and looked at him briefly before swiftly resuming her pacing.

"I'm just going to go," he said, standing up.

"No!" she shouted abruptly, "I mean...sit. Please?"

He sat back on the bed awkwardly, "Okay..."

She took a deep breath and stood in front of him. A short distance from the door in case a fast escape was necessary.

"I love you."

She was surprised with herself. That's not what she intended to say. Well, yes, she loved him but she didn't mean for it to come out like that. She was going to ease into it. Not scare him. But she had a long history of just blurting things out.

His eyes widened, clearly not expecting this. He opened his mouth to say something but she stopped him.

"It doesn't matter what it means to you because it's what I feel. Whether you feel the same or not, well that's just something I'm going to have to deal with. So yeah, I guess that's the whole thing. I'm going to go now so I don't have to deal with the embarrassment of your rejection."

Evelyn b-lined for the door but Damon vamp-sped in front of her before she could make her exit.

He searched her face, for what though, she couldn't be sure, before crashing his lips into hers.

She couldn't help but smile into the kiss. They pulled apart briefly. He looked down at her before speaking in a hushed whisper, only for her to hear, "I love you."

So she told him. She told him about freshman year, leaving out Scott but telling him everything that was relevant. She told him about how when we they, she was going to a school that was helping her get better. About how she relapsed after she killed Vicki and again shortly after that. He sat and he listened, not interrupting her even for a moment.

It wasn't like the other times she had told people, she wasn't embarrassed and she didn't feel forced. She was comfortable and she felt at home here.

It felt like home because he was home.

Damon was her home.