✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

It had been a long week for the shifter ambassador, long days and longs nights, in fact she had barely been home at all since she had accidently stumbled upon something she knew she wasn't supposed to have seen. She was never good at people, preferring to avoid emotional attachment at all costs and avoid getting hurt in the long run. This morning she had almost done three laps of the entire shifter territory and by the time she had shifted back to her human form she was exhausted and knew she would need to head back for a drink and maybe something to drink. By now however she had learned most of Damon's schedule and she planned the times she made her way back to the house to avoid running into him, she knew she was only putting off the inevitable but she couldn't help it, her walls were all that protected her from the pain of losing others and she wasn't ready to face him. Reaching the house she shared with the other shifter she quietly nudged open the door and took off her boots to avoid them clunking against the wooden floors as she made a way to the kitchen.

✓ Damon Ventura

Damon rolled his neck and shoulders as he stepped out the shower. He looked down and saw the muddy clothes he cursed again, stupid kids, they asked him to help and for once he said yes, next time he's tell em to .. well yeah you get the picture. He grabbed a clean towel from the rail and started to rub his tattooed skin dry from the water that ran over it. He wandered back into his room and looked around, it wasn't the same. He knew what had changed, Kiah, she has been avoiding him it was obvious but what for, Damon didn't know. He sighed and changed quickly into to clean clothes, he chewed his lower lip absently as he thought of her, he loved her with all his heart and even vowed to never leave her side, but since coming to Evermore, he wondered if that was even possible now. Throwing the wet towel in the hamper by the door he headed for down stairs, taking the steps two at a time. He just saw the pair of boots by the door out the corner of his eye, they were the princesses, which meant she was home, likely thinking Damon wasn't here. Well he shouldn't be anyway. Rounding the corning he made his way to the kitchen, leaning against the door jan when he saw her stood in there with her back to him.

✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

Kiah had wandered into the kitchen satisfied that the house had seemed empty and grabbed the milk bottle out of the fridge, despite being taught better as a child she had removed the lid and swigged straight from the bottle, as she set the bottle down on the side she heard footsteps behind her and jumped in surprise as she turned around quickly and knocking the glass bottle with her elbow which crashed to the ground with a smash, her hand naturally raised to place over her heart as she caught her breath for a moment "You scared me" she said quickly before shaking her head and making her way across the room to grab a dust pan and brush she knelt down and started cleaning up the glass avoiding eye contact with Damon, she wasn't ready yet and now she was also entirely caught off guard, she knew that this was going to happen sooner or later but she had wished it would be the latter of the two. As she finished sweeping she headed over to the bin tipping in the glass shards and then looked around the room for a mop. "I thought you were out this morning" she said as naturally as she could trying to establish some normality to the situation.

✓ Damon Ventura

Damon tipped his head to the side and small amused expression curling his lips, he rarely caught her off guard, might be a bonus if she wasn't currently looking like she was searching for an escape route. "Ran into a few issues with a ditch and newbie shifters, had to shower and change." He nodded. "I would have asked if you wanted to join me, but then again I would need to see you to ask you." He answered his voice a little cooler than he planned. He pushed away from the door and stepped into the room, watching the ground for any bits of glass against his bare feet. He crossed towards, getting closer and closer. He knew it was a d*** move, but he also knew it would put her off some and in hope it would get him more information on what was going on, he's tried anything.

✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

Kiah spotted a mop in the corner of the room and grabbed it before she started to clean the spilt milk from the floor, she could tell without even looking at him that he would be smug, she was hard to catch off guard and today she had quite literally fallen off a imaginary cliff and had the feeling she was going to drown. "Well that's nice of you to help them out" she commented and allowed a slight smile to cross her lips for a moment and for the first time in far too long she glanced in his direction, she felt bad for doing what she was but she didn't know what else to do, she knew she would never stand in the way of him should he find something that made him happy. Hearing his harsh words she physically winced and broke eye contact with him for a moment, biting gently on the bottom lip she sighed "Okay, maybe I deserved that one" she answered and nodded a little as she set the mop aside she knew that she wasn't going to be able to get away from talking to him so she stiffened her shoulders and then looked up at him, she had to be ready to talk whether she wanted to or not. "I..." she trailed off for a moment "I...uh" great, she had turned into a stuttering idiot. "I found a letter in the room, I didn't mean to snoop but I was cleaning and..." she flicked her eyes down to the floor pressing her lips together.

✓ Damon Ventura

Damon pursed his lips and waited, he wasn't more than a meter away from her. He could she was flustered, the blush creeping across her cheeks, rising up the column of her neck; he will admit he momentarily distracted when his eyes played over her skin, especially that dip at the bottom of her he knew could drive her mad no end. However when her words hit him and they shot straight to hers; well her face, she was looking at the ground again avoiding his eyes. "You what?" he murmured his voice catching briefly as he processed what she was saying. That letter had come from a buddy of his back home in spain, turned out there was shifters there too. They had hit it off and he had been reaching out to Damon yearly to come back and run the business with him. Each year Damon had thrown the letter away as soon as it came, but this year he had kept hold of it because they were in Evermore and Damon really didn't like the city and was only here for Kiah. So sure he had considered it, but it did now explain why Kiah had been acting so off. "And what did you think when you read my letter?" Damon asked, putting a little more enphasis on 'my'

✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

Kiah honestly wanted to run, she didn't want to say the things she knew she was going to say. She heard his shock and slight anger in his voice, she knew he would be mad at her for reading it but she also felt hurt that he would consider it without even telling her, but the worst part of it all was that she expected this to happen at one part or another, somehow everyone in her life eventually left her, somehow she would always end up alone, when he asked his final question she took a few moments to push all of her emotions aside, the anger, the hurt, the fear of being alone was gone when she looked back up at him and all that there was the girl who cared so deeply for the man in front of her. "That you should go" she said honestly as she met his eyes for a moment "That I'm doing nothing but holding you back here and that I know that going home would make you happier than anything and I could never stand in the way of that" she said doing her best to hold back any tears and emotion which was trying to pour out of her, she had a lot of practice with covering up her feelings, it was all she had done for years when people had asked her how she was after Kiel had died.

✓ Damon Ventura

Damon watched her, his hands were fists by his sides and his features were stern. He was angry sure, he hated that she had found the letter before he even had a chance to think it it over. Damon always thought with head, going with his heart would have gotten him killed in the war, so it was a new experience these last few years following Kiah and falling for her hard. When she spoke again he didn't expect the words that came from her lips to come. "Really?" Damon asked shocked, stunned and actually hurt. "You want me to pack my bags and leave?" He asked rounding the table which had previously been an obstacle in movement towards the blonde. He backed her up against the counter top, his eyes following her small shuffling steps back as he moved. His hands rested on the counter either side of body. He crowded against her, head tipping low as he waited for her to lift her head. "Everything we've accomplished and achieved, not just bringing the packs together, but us, as a couple and you want me to leave?" He asked his voice low as he spoke. "Do you forget that I love you? That I want you every moment of every passing day?" He asked his hand reaching up to take her chin between his forefinger and thumb. "Does that mean nothing to you?"

✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

Kiah knew he would be mad, in fact she wanted him to be mad because it would make it easier for him to make the right decision, that's why she had been avoiding him, she knew it would piss him off no end, she knew that her feelings had to come second in this situation, she knew he hated it in Evermore and she hated the fact that she was the one forcing him to stay there, she however hadn't expected for him to come so close, he knew her by now, he knew ways to catch her off her guard and make her vulnerable, he had found ways of getting the truth out of her no matter how much she wanted to hide it. She took each of his sentences as a small blow as he backed her up against the counter and as she felt the counter top dig into her lower back she tilted her head to look up at him, she didn't speak over him, she just stayed quiet looking up at him, taking each of verbal jabs one by one. "I don't forget anything, I just think you're lying to yourself when you tell yourself that I'm enough for you" she spoke sternly her eyes fixed on his as she felt his fingertips against her skin. "It means everything to me which is why I'm trying to put you and your needs first" she said calmly, she wasn't afraid, she knew he'd never do anything to hurt her

✓ Damon Ventura

Damon frowned and tipped his head to the side as he watched her. He knew she was being honest, it was refreshing to hear it, even if he had to be a d*** to get it out of her and play dirty. "Kiah I wouldn't be here if you weren't enough, I wouldn't have following you thousends of miles if what I felt for you meant nothing." Damon bit out harshly. "I know you've experienced more s*** than I could ever imagine, but if you believe for one second I believe that you're doing thiss for my own good then you're very much mistaken." Damon said pushing away from her and taking a step back to given himself room ro breath. "You're pushing me away before I've even had time to think, closing yourself off because you think it's the right thing to do." Damon snapped his voice growing louder. "I'm sick of Kiah, you've barely given US a chance before you're throwing me out the door. I want you so damn much it hurts, I can our future, see everything I've only ever wanted with you ..." He took a breath and turned his eyes to hers. "But honestly I wonder if following your example would be better choice for me, I don't know how long it's been, how long I've been no more than a step behind you, and sure I hate this god awful city, but you for you I'd live in hell; but not once did I really consider taking up his offer. Sure I thought about it, seemed like a good idea; but did I think I would leave?" Damon asked biting his lip and watching her, his eyes blazing with fury. "Not once."

✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

Kiah kept her eyes on him as he spoke, she could see the fury building in his eyes, she had never seen him that way before and as he pushed away from her she let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and pulled herself up to standing and purposely took a step away from the counter placing her feet flat against the ground. "That's the problem" she exclaimed letting go of that emotional switch which she was trying her hardest to keep buried "You weren't even going to consider it because of me, you're going to give up every chance to be your own person in life because I have to stay here" she blinked a few times to compose herself and then looked over to him again. "You have no idea how much it kills me to know that I can't leave with you, if I could I'd leave this city in heartbeat, I'd follow you to the ends of the earth if you asked me to but we both know that I have to finish what I started here" she blew out a long breath, he was so incredibly stubborn at times, especially when it came to her. "I'm not saying that you need to leave right now, I think you'd rip my heart in two if you did that, but I think that you really need to consider what you want from life and don't tell me it's just me, I know you, I know how much working has meant to you in the past and I've stolen so much of your life already" she held her frame still to fight with her inner self which was telling her to beg him not to leave, to stay and to be her everything.

✓ Damon Ventura

"God dammit Kiah I have become my own person ever since you landed in my town and triggered the change!" He shouted fist coming down and slamming onto the table top. "It's my decision on what I do with my life and if I wanted to stay here with you then I would have done so, it was what I wanted!". Damon said turning his attention to her. "I wouldn't have regretted it one little bit Princess." Damon sighed dropping his head as he took a long deep breath. It felt like his head was flooded with every emotion possible and he was struggling to focus on one. "You've given me purpose, given my life purpose, I'm eternally thankful for it." Damon answered. "The fact that you think you've 'stolen' my life makes me feel sick and so angry because it's like you don't know me at all, know that I wouldn't do something If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have started training with the kids if I was going to leave, I wouldn't start considering a future with you which was more than just being your boyfriend or beta." Damon answered defeated. "You want me to leave so bad, then I'm gone." Damon nodded rubbing his hands over his face, scrubbing away the lone tear which had betrayed him so sinfully. Damon turned his back he couldn't look at her anymore, he had to get away, so he walked out the kitchen heading for the stairs. He might as well start packing.

✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

Kiah was a flurry of emotions, her mind raced with all the should dos and what she wanted in the back of her mind, she knew only one thing, it couldn't end like and she wasn't going to let it and her words stunned her, the way he had spoken about their future like he really saw one, she had never had anyone do that for her before, no one had planned on staying around long enough to visage such a life and it scared her no end just to hear those words out in the air. As he walked away it was more than a single tear that betrayed her as the tears came streaming down her cheeks like someone had opened a flood gate, she stood there for a few moments and then wiped vigorously at her eyes seeing her makeup smudge on her hand. After a moment to gather her composure she followed him up the stairs and stood in the doorway of their room watching as he began to pack. "I didn't mean to make you think I ruined you life" she said honestly, her voice was quiet and full of emotion "I've never cared for someone as much as I do you" seeing that she wasn't making much ground she walked into the room and placed her hand over his in an attempt as he looked up at him for a few moments her expression telling the whole story of how she felt for him. "I just want you to be happy, truely happy, without compromising anything, you deserve so much" she blinked a few times and let a genuine smile cross her features "Please, just take some time to think" she wrapped her fingers around his

hand "I love you more than I know how to explain Damon, that's a feeling entirely new to me and I'm still learning how to deal with all of this emotional" she paused for a moment "stuff"

✓ Damon Ventura

Damon took the stairs two at a time crossing the landing and pushing the door open their room, hearing it slam up against the wall the other side. Damon's temper was pretty bad when he was wound up and Kiah always got to him pushing him further than he would like to admit. He dragged his duffel form under the bed and slammed it down on top of their bed. A long breath hissed out between his teeth as he took a moment, he was over reacting, he didn't want to leave, leave her; but she just kept pushing away, she couldn't accept them and if she couldn't do this now, then there was no hope for the future. He moved back and started moving back and forth between the closet and his bag, packing away whatever of his stuff he could get his hands on. He heard her come up the stairs and then stand in the door. "If you 'cared' for me or knew me at all we wouldn't be having this conversation." Damon spat, turning his burning glare towards her before he continued. "Don't." Damon growled snatching his hand away from her. He didn't trust himself not right now. He would never hurt her, but he was furious and his actions were shaky at best. "The thing is Saskiah I've always I've always been happy, never once have I regretted or felt like I was 'compromising' my life for you." Damon stood there fingers linked behind his head and his eyes closed as answered her. "I'll always love you Princess, I don't think that's ever going to change, but I can't even look at you right now." He said blowing out a quick breath and moving quickly to grab his bag. As Damon took that bag he didn't know if he'd come back, he stood there in front of her looking down on her for a moment, before leaning forward and pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Give me some time Princess." Damon said stepping away from her towards the door.

✓ Saskiah  Makenna Raymen

She had seen this scene playing over and over in her head, she saw it every time that she got close to anyone, she wanted to much for him to be happy but she couldn't help but feel she was hindering that, as his gentle kiss pressed against her forehead she allowed a few tears to spill from her eyes as she closed them gently and took a long a heavy breath in which time he had made his way towards the door and no doubts out of the house, she was trying to convince herself in her mind that she was doing the right thing and that she was giving him the chance to do everything he wanted do but there was also a part of her that wanted to hold on so tightly that her knuckles would turn white. As she heard the front door slam she headed to the bedroom door closing it gently and turn around to face the window and as she watched him walk along the drive away from her she squeezed her eyes shut once more sliding down the door until she was curled up in a ball at the base of the door "It's just another goodbye" she whispered to herself as she allowed her sobs to take over.