Damon gulped down the third glass of scotch as he stared into the fire with a blank expression on his face. His eyes seemed hardened and not a flicker of emotion was visible in him. 

"Katherine Pierce," the clear voice rang in his ears for the hundredth time, "and I expect you might be Damon Salvatore." 

He could still recall the meaningful smile on her face and the way her eyes had sparked on seeing him. The past was haunting him again. He longed to see that face again with no feature less than perfection itself. 

He longed to feel the tingling sensation he felt whenever she would link her delicate arm through his, the mischievous glint in her eyes whenever she would tell him the crime she had managed to pull off and the way her velvety voice coaxed him to do something for her. 

But then a wave of regret would hit him straight like a slap on the face; she loved Stefan. He still remembered the Mystic Ball where all the founding families were invited. He still remembered how she had rejected him that day. 

"Is my love not enough?" he had asked her that day. 

And her reply had haunted him, "no. You're not enough. Its always gonna be Stefan for me. You are a liability." 

He had told her that he cared about her and she had laughed it off, "maybe that's the problem, Damon. You care too much and it is definitely not wanted."  

He remembered clearly the day they had been turned to Vampires. The day when twenty or so other vampires along with Katherine were held hostage in the tomb under Fell's Church and burnt. And when they were struck with bullets for trying to save a Vampire; for trying to save Katherine. 

He might have not been in the state to listen to anything since the pain was blinding and he was undergoing transition but yet he had heard the last words from the voice of the person he had so loved: "I love you Stefan and I'll always come back for you. Always." 

That moment he had shattered. Completely. He too knew she had escaped, she had not perished in the tomb and was alive. Because she was a survivor as she had said so herself. But he denied the fact because even if she was alive, it will always be Stefan for her. 

He hated Stefan for that. He hated him because she loved him and not Damon. He hated the fact that she had just used him as a toy. 

He smashed his fist into the wall leaving cracks on it. He had promised Stefan an eternity of misery and he was hell bent to keep his word. 

He lost his little brother who was more than a friend to him because of Katherine and now he wasn't interested to have him back. 

Melanie was the only little twig that connected them. Or else they had completely drifted apart since the past many centuries.