Damon rushed into the house, Katherine's body in his hands. He set her gently on the couch and pulled it closer to the fire before rushing down to the basement, hurriedly unlocking the fridge and grabbing a good amount of blood bags before hastening back upstairs. She hadn't moved at all, and in the light from the fire she looked dead. He opened the blood bag and pressed it against her lips before starting to squeeze. For a few moments blood dribbled from her mouth, before she shot up with a gasp and started to take heavy gulps from the bag.

Damon watched as red bled into her eyes and her fangs elongated. She tore through the bag before reaching for another one and he pointed out the straw and demonstrated how to use it before letting her try. She gave him an annoyed look before mimicking him, pursing her lips over the straw before taking slow, measured sips. He watched as the grey in her skin faded away to pale skin, her eyes no longer pitch black and her lips turning from pale blue to the red he loved. He let her drain 3 more blood bag's before gently pulling her away from them. She pouted but stood and allowed him to help her to his bedroom.

He helped her sit on the bed, before going and drawing her water so she could get cleaned up. "You're drawing me a bath?" Katherine questioned, reaching up and touching her throat when her voice came out hoarse. Damon nodded before moving back and lifting her up. He helped her unbutton her dress and set her gently in the tub before starting to rub the grime off her. She was covered in cobwebs, and as he raised his hands to her ratty hair he grimaced at the amount of dead (and living) spiders in there. Dust fell off her skin, and Damon thought she looked like an old relic, lost and forgotten in time. To everyone but me, He thought with a frown.

What would have happened had he listened to Elena and left? Would she have rotted away, slowly and painfully? Or would she have stayed there, weak and wondering if what she saw was a hallucination. He had been through blood withdrawal before. He knew what it did to a person. Had he given up on her, she would have stayed there forever. Katherine seemed to sense his thoughts though. She looked up at him, knitting her brows.

"Damon? Is something wrong?" She asked, tilting her head (Elena doesn't do that, A tiny voice in his head told him) and twisting to look at him. He dismissed the thought before smiling down at her reassuringly.

"Everything is fine. I'm just happy you're here." He told her. She had to know that.

Katherine smiled softly at him.

"I'm happy to, Damon. For years this was merely a dream, a hallucination." He reached out and pressed a hand to her cheek. A silent reassurance that he was there and real. She gave him another smile before letting him rinse out her hair. Lifting her from the tub he dried her body, ignoring his body's reaction to seeing her naked. Her skin glowed, no longer grimy and she smiled at him as he set her on the bed. He handed her a pair of boxers and a shirt before going into the bathroom to grab the hairdryer, sneering at the dress she had worn (later he'd have to burn that).

She was asleep by the time he came back. Smiling softly, he set down the hairdryer to put her under the covers. He set in on his dresser before turning off the light and joining her. Wrapping his arms around her Damon inhaled Katherine's unique scent of lemongrass and honey and bit back a grin. Even after all these years, she still smelled the same.

"Welcome home, Katherine." Damon said quietly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep to her even breaths.