CHAPTER SEVEN | DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME?

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THE FEELING OF DAMON'S HAND WITHIN HER OWN WAS SOMETHING THAT EVELYN NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D FEEL AGAIN. As the couple walked through the corridors of the hospital to check on Alaric, all Evelyn felt was a warmth inside her. There was something about Damon that made her feel alive— complete. And, it was a feeling that had not left her since he returned.

Once they entered Alaric's private room, courtesy of Jo, Evelyn gave a sympathetic smile to the newly-mortal man. Then, she laid a bouquet of flowers on the window ledge. "Well, hey there, mister. How's mortal life treating you?"

"I won't lie to you, I feel amazing." Alaric beamed with a look of gratitude just as his eyes fell to Damon, then he let out a loud high once he saw the Salvatore play with the heart-rate monitor. "Hey, I really don't think you should be playing with all that stuff."

"Stop it," Evelyn said bluntly before she slapped his hand away from the equipment.

Damon turned away in annoyance, then his face softened into a smile, and his lips connected with Evelyn's cheek. He dropped down onto a chair in the corner of the room and pulled her down to sit on his lap. The couple let out a sigh of happiness, neither of them could express how much they enjoyed being in each other's company once again.

Jo, the woman who saved Alaric's life at the border, wandered once she heard Alaric's heart-rate monitor beeping. "Good morning," She spoke in a scolding manner, then leaned forward to mute the beeping sound.

"Hey, I don't know if this is a good time—"

"Just a heads up, Doc." Damon cleared his throat just as Jo turned her attention back to him. "You're gonna be in real high demand with a bunch of vampires who wanna be human again if you could repeat that little healing trick that you did at the border with Ric last night."

"Well, just a heads up." Jo countered in a mocking tone. "But, saving Alaric's life was a matter of treatable death-wound, perfect timing, and fear of losing the most interesting guy I've dated in a while adrenaline." She gave Alaric a smirk, then turned back to Damon. "A hundred percent unrepeatable which is why you will tell no one."

Damon glanced at his best friend with an approving smirk on his face. "She's bossy."

"Mm-hmm." Alaric hummed back with a nod.

"I'm so sorry for his ass-like behavior. Sadly, this is the only way he knows how to make friends," Evelyn shrugged while she gave the doctor an apologetic smile.

"I like her," Damon concluded in Alaric's direction with a chuckle.

"Do you have a nice suit and a clean pair of socks?" Jo asked Alaric, while the couple of vampires gave each other confused looks from their seated position.

"Uh, yeah. I think so." Alaric softly shrugged while he sent the doctor a slight smile.

"Good, I'm releasing you. The hospital fundraiser is tonight. I'm making the interns go, so I need a date. I'll start your paperwork." She gave him a perky smile and then wandered off out of the hospital room.

"Oh, look at you. Your first day as a real human man, and you've already got yourself a date." Evelyn teased before she gave Alaric a smirk.

"You know, I'm really glad that you're happy, Eve," Alaric concluded as he looked between Damon and Evelyn. "And, against my better judgment, I think you guys should come to this fundraiser tonight."

"Well—"

"With an offer like that, how could my darling fiancé and I possibly refuse." Damon wriggled his eyebrows suggestively toward Evelyn, who rolled her eyes.

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After Damon declared that their first official night out since Damon rejoined the land of the living would be the hospital fundraiser. Evelyn went for a black, bodycon dress that finished a little above her knee. It was comfortable yet beautiful, just how Evelyn liked most of her attire. She paired it with some black heels with her hair cast over one shoulder in light, effortless curls.

As she and Damon walked inside, their arms looped, they caught the end of Jo and Alaric's conversation about how the fundraiser was in her honor and Alaric made a joke about her being medical royalty.

"—Or she has a witchy-advantage," Damon concluded as he and Evelyn stepped up toward them while their mouths hung open in surprise. "What? It's supposed to be a secret that she's a witch?"

"I don't practice. So, no witchy-advantage. Just a lot of hard work." Jo, clearly irritated by Damon's presence, rolled her eyes then glanced at Evelyn. "Is he always like this?"

"Afraid so." The Austin vampire chuckled softly just as Damon placed a small kiss on her temple. "You'll get used to it."

"Who invited him, anyway?" She spoke in a hushed tone toward Alaric.

"I did. I figured that he and Evelyn could make up for lost time here. But, if he's gonna be an ass—" Alaric trailed off slowly just as the brunette in Damon's hold vigorously shook her head.

"No. No, I'm not. I'm on my best behavior tonight." Damon smirked and held his hand up. "Scouts honor."

Evelyn scrunched her brows together and then scoffed. "Never do that again. Okay, baby?" As they chuckled to themselves, the entrance of Elena Gilbert caught the couple's eyes. She wandered in, just before another guy took her hand and they headed further into the venue. "Oh. That's new. Who's that?"

"That would be Liam Davis. Valedictorian. Straight A's freshman year. Taking junior-level classes, not to mention medical royalty." Jo listed as she glanced over to Elena and her date.

"Nice to see Elena didn't fall apart after mine and Bonnie's death." Damon scoffed quietly as he grabbed Evelyn's hand within his own. "Okay, Miss Austin, you owe me a dance."

As Damon led the brunette onto the dancefloor and slipped his hands around her waist, Evelyn's eyes locked with his as they continued to sway to the music. Damon's hands effortlessly gripping her hips as she draped her arms around his neck.

"God. I never thought you and I would ever be standing here, like this, ever again." The Austin vampire hummed softly as she felt Damon's grip squeeze against her waist.

"Well, how wrong you were." He chuckled softly as removed his left hand from her waist and cupped her face. "I quite literally went through time and space to get back to you, Evelyn. I made a promise that I'd get back to you, didn't I?"

"Because Damon Salvatore never breaks a promise." Evelyn chuckled under her breath as she watched his shoulders effortlessly shrug. "But, seriously, Damon. I— I thought you were really gone. And, because of that, I did so many stupid things. Reckless things."

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Nothing that happened was your fault, Eve." Damon's eyes flickered between Evelyn's as he watched tears begin to pool within her eyes. "Uh. Okay, come on, let's get out of here."

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Once Damon and Evelyn left the hospital fundraiser, Evelyn had opened up to the Salvatore vampire about everything that happened while he was gone. She felt like she needed to completely get it off of her chest before she could truly appreciate life with him by her side once more.

"My brother's a dick," Damon grumbled irritably under his breath as he and the Austin vampire walked down the empty streets of Mystic Falls.

"He was grieving. I don't blame him." Evelyn lightly shrugged.

"Yeah? Well, I do. He should never have left you." The Salvatore snapped again in a slightly more aggressive manner. "He can give up on me, that's fine, whatever. But, you were falling apart and he just ran?" Evelyn nodded slowly as her eyes flickered back up to Damon. "Yup. I'm gonna kick his ass."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but you're not. To be honest, I didn't even give anyone a chance to help me. I— I turned my humanity off seconds after I said goodbye to you, packed a bag, and left." The Austin vampire pursed her lips while Damon silently listened. "As you said, it's over now. You're back."

A small grin swept across Damon's lips like wildfire. "I'm back."

"So, what was it like?" Evelyn immediately asked as she watched his brows knit together with confusion. "The place you were trapped— the Mystic Falls prison world, thing?"

"Out of all the topics of conversation you could've picked, you chose that one?" The Salvatore scoffed. "Okay. Think this town in 1994; without anyone in it— completely empty. An eclipse once a day, horrific crossword puzzles, and an annoying little witch freak who won't stop yapping."

"That's an awfully rude thing to call Bonnie." Evelyn chuckled softly, then her face fell. "God. I miss her."

"So do I. Never thought I'd say that, but I do." Damon hummed softly as he thought back to Bonnie. He absolutely hated the fact that she had sacrificed herself so that he could go back to the people he loved. The guilt ate him up.

"Well, you came back, right?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow toward the vampire, who nodded soon thereafter. "So, it's possible that maybe Bonnie could come back, too. I mean— there's no reason that we couldn't try, right?"

Damon took a step forward with a light smile on his face. "Absolutely. Bonnie gave herself so that you and I could be together again. So that we could get married, so yes— we get her back, together."

"Woah. Wait a second. Married?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow? "You still— you still want that?"

Damon shook his head, stepped forward, and grabbed hold of her hands. "Why the hell wouldn't I? I am deeply, irrefutably in love with you, and not being able to see you for four months just confirmed all of that."

"But—"

"—But, nothing." Damon hushed her again. "I know it's going to take time and work to get Bonnie Bennett back here, but when we get married, which we will, she's gonna be right there."

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