In the dream, Elena sat in the back seat of her parent's Ford Escape. The conversation lagged, silence enfolding the SUV. Granted, the silence could probably be blamed all on Elena. Her parents weren't being unreasonable angry, they weren't being inconsiderable. Elena had been the cause of this fight. She knew it was all her fault. But now the angry words that had spilled from her lips had been said, and she couldn't take them back.

"Mom, Dad," she said hesitantly.

"We'll talk about this when we get home," her father said gruffly. He flashed a disapproving glance at her in the rearview mirror. Frowning, Elena crossed her arms. Parent's were so stubborn, and she'd been about to apologize.

Without warning, Grayson suddenly slammed on the brakes. Elena heard the solid thump of the Escape hitting something. The vehicle started spinning, having hit a patch of ice. Or, it must have been ice. There was no other reason that the Escape would have spun so wildly. Elena clutched the headrest of the seat in front of her, also managing to grab a handful of her mom's hair. The screech of Miranda further startled her husband, and for a moment he took his eyes off the road.

Elena was overwhelmed by the sensation of flying. The image of riding a roller coaster flashed in her mind. It was the same- the spinning, the sinking feeling in her stomach. Then…nothing. Somewhere in the background her mom screamed. The sound came in slow, drawn out motions. Something hit Elena's head, something hard and solid. Her head gave a vicious snap to the left, and then she saw stars.

With a sharp gasp, Elena sat up in bed. Only a dream, Elena. The thought didn't help her any. Her heart was still racing. Beside her, Stefan slept on, undisturbed by her awakening. She needed a drink. Cautiously, she crept from under the warm blankets.

This was ridiculous. It had only been a dream, but, why? What had forced the memories to rise to the surface? Usually when she thought about something for a long time and dwelled on it, that was when she dreamt about it. With a small groan, she pushed her long hair out of her eyes, smoothing its tousled state.

The wood on the staircase was cold to her bare feet, but she padded along quietly. The Salvatore house got chilly at night. Though technically it was now Elena Gilbert's house. She grinned at the thought that she legally owned such a big house.

The kitchen was dark, the only light coming from the small lamp in the corner by the stove. Elena moved to the cupboards, trying to find a glass. Only, there were so many places they could be. Maybe she should've gotten to know her house a little better. Ah, there they were- a little fancy for just a water glass, perhaps, but her throat was dry. The water was crisp and cold. Elena drank up and turned to put the glass in the sink.

Without warning, a hand shot out of the darkness, grabbing at Elena's throat. She choked, recognizing the ring that decorated the middle finger. "Damon," she gasped. "Let go."

Instantly the hand released her. "This is exactly the downfall of living in the same house with two vampires," she said, rubbing her throat with a angry glance.

"Now, an ordinary person would know better than to go creeping through a house at night. Especially when that person knows there are two vampires inside."

Elena shook her head. "Goodnight, Damon." Turning, she prepared to go back up the stairs.

"Wait, wait." Damon stopped her with his words.

"What?" Not all of the sleep had left her eyes, even though only a moment ago the life had nearly been forced out of her. Her lids were heavy, and the last thing she wanted was a midnight chat with Damon.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm fine."

Something in her voice must have given away the fact that Elena wasn't really as fine as she let on to be. She tried to hide it, to brush it off, but it wasn't working as well as she had hoped. Her sleepiness must have made it harder to do.

"Seriously? You're really going to try that?"

Elena sighed. "Just a bad dream. Reliving old memories, and all that. I'm sure you've had them, too. I'll get over it. Excuse me."

In a flash, Damon was in front of her. He was shirtless, clad only in dark flannel pants. He had that serious look in his eye. Elena was reminded of his speech, made only several hours earlier. I will always choose you, Elena. The memory made her cringe. "With everything that's going on right now," he said, "it's best not to have you're mind focused on other things. If something is bothering you, you need to figure out what it is and get rid of it before it distracts you and makes you do something stupid because you're not thinking clearly."

"I know that." Defensiveness flared up in Elena. She continued to the staircase, but paused suddenly when she was about halfway up. She looked back at Damon, her eyes squinting up and her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Still okay?" Damon asked, puzzled by her state.

"I just…remember…"

"Remember what?" A tiny edge of concern showed in Damon's words.

Elena paused, trying to think of something. Then her brow cleared and she smiled. "Forget it. Never mind," waving a hand in dismissal, she continued up the stairs and slipped back into a warm bed.