Elena had been a little scared walking into the hairdressers, knowing she was about to make a big step in her own moving forward. It might have seemed trivial to some, but this was an important start.

Upon leaving, she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. She'd given her stylist freedom, for the most part, to do what she wished. The end result of a long bob clipping her collarbone was the best possible result. She felt more herself than she had been in a while, and the plus side of looking more mature definitely didn't hurt.

Her first day of work sped by. Having had a wonderful send off after lunch by Jeremy and a (mostly) awake and sober Alaric, she had made another step towards her new life. She had decided at last upon that very same dress that had made its home upon Jeremy's head, figuring that her favourite daffodil-yellow dress would give her the confidence she needed today to face whatever happened.

The rickety old bookstore was a dream, the owner a doddery old man named Vincent Fell. He was obviously some relation to the founding families but seemed to happily keep himself out of the limelight and all the drama, instead focusing on his one true love- literature. Standing a solid few inches shorter than Elena herself, he looked upon first inspection as though he could be blown over by the slightest breeze. A few hours later, however, she knew the opposite to be true. That may be a walking stick by his side, but she wouldn't put it past him to bash someone who got on the wrong side of him or his books! He struck her as a person to take family very seriously, and his slightly warped sense of humour and quiet way about him endeared him to her almost instantly.

The hours sped by, and with what felt like no time at all, she was helping Vincent close down the store for the day and heading home. As she walked towards her car parked down the street, Elena could've sworn she saw a shadow following her but after putting it down to her now permanent paranoia, she gave it no mind.

Grabbing a few slices of pizza the boys had left out on the kitchen countertop, she shouted a general greeting at the house and made her way upstairs. She had barely had the chance to throw her bag by her bed and turn her light on when it happened.

"Hello, Elena. Did you miss me?"

Elena barely held back a shriek, stumbling back towards her bedroom doorway. She should've trusted her gut instinct and known she wasn't alone earlier, damn it.

Eventually regaining the power of speech and easing her breathing back to a normal speed, she looked up into the icy blue eyes of none other than Damon Salvatore.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"She hissed, her heart already sinking. The last thing she knew, Damon was off with his latest squeeze after she lashed out in frustration and he couldn't handle the truth of her words.

"I just had to check that you hadn't found a way to martyr yourself while I was gone. I mean, you do have a tendency to try and do that, don't you?" The last person she wanted to see blinked at her in typical Damon fashion as the carefully constructed walls inside her started to crumble. Elena had done her best to block the Salvatore brothers out of her recovery the past couple of months, unable to deal with either. Damon, surprise surprise, hadn't been able to stop his over-protective bad guy act, and she needed her space.

Elena paused for a moment before answering as she chose her words carefully. "As you can see quite clearly, I'm well and alive" she began calmly, no emotion in her voice. "Now, please, if you wouldn't mind, I would quite like you to leave."

Damon looked thoughtful and the side of his mouth curled up into his trademark smirk, looking as though he was about to have some fun with this.

"NOW." Before he could say a word, she repeated herself, far more firmly this time. Having previously crossed her arms and taken a deep breath, she now indicated towards the open window which he had obviously made his entry through.

Before she could blink, he was gone.

Elena felt her chest seizing up, and her breathing became more difficult. She hadn't anticipated how hard it would be seeing him again after so long, after trying to block him out of her life.

Her chest hurt, and before she knew it she could feel the tears falling down her face. Elena reached for her phone, dialling a number on autopilot. As a rather cheery voice answered, all Elena could get out was, "Care, can we make that movie night tonight?" before bursting into floods of tears.

She really shouldn't have been surprised when Caroline came flying through her door but minutes later. The perks of being a vampire, eh.

Bonnie's arrival soon after that, however, was slightly more unexpected and Caroline expressed her surprise as such when she stormed through the door.

"Elena's worth a few speeding tickets." Was the answer the witch gave to Caroline's inquisitive look, laughing as she made her way to her oldest friend who was crumpled on the floor.

As Elena's sobs subsided, the arms of her friends holding her tightly, she groaned.

"Really?!" She lamented, "I've had months to prepare myself for that, and what happens? I break down as soon as I get him to leave. I thought I was doing better, y'know..."

"Hey, at least you didn't try and stake him? Oooooh and I love your hair, when did you get that done? It looks so much better like that and..." Of course that was Caroline's input on the matter, and before they knew it, she was off on one.

Always the more level one, Bonnie gave her friend an encouraging smile. "You are doing better, Elena. You've just got to give it time, you'll see. Damon's not worth those tears though, so you'd better buckle up and prepare for what Caroline's got in store!"

Caroline cheered to that, jumping up to grab the pillows off of Elena's bed. A gleeful expression on her face, she whipped a DVD out from nowhere. "And guess what we're waaaaatching?"

Elena and Bonnie groaned in unison, the latter pleading with Caroline. Elena couldn't help the laugh that spilled out though, "Twilight again... really, Caroline?! How can you still stand to watch it after all that's happened to us?!"

"That's the point, you guys" the blonde grinned. "I can still dream that a sparkly Robert Pattison will come and save me from it all". She emphasised her point by pretending to faint, while the other two just shook their heads and laughed.

Elena turned to Bonnie, offering her a blanket as they collected her bed linens up to take downstairs for movie night. "I guess it's nice to know that the worst could happen and Caroline would still want a fairy tale!"

"Speaaaaaaking of which," Caroline interrupted, provoking groans. "I know what we're doing tomorrow night! We're going to find Elena her dream guy!"

Bonnie looked rather doubtful, a feeling that Elena seconded.

"I know I told you guys about my moving on with my life and all that, but surely it's too soon? I just wanted to start off easy, y'know, let the rest follow..." Elena wasn't convinced but knew she'd have a hard time redirecting Caroline if she was on a mission. Besides, knowing all this town had to offer and not being drawn in by that – Matt was her best bet and look where that ended up- she didn't think she was ready in any way to do the whole love and relationships thing yet. She hadn't finished sorting through her Salvatore problems, let alone give herself time to heal.

Bonnie, catching onto Elena's train of thought as only the witch seemed to have a knack to do, suggested an alternative. "How about we just head to the grill for a few drinks and see where the night takes us?"

Caroline clapped her hands together with delight, "So... Just a hook up then?"

The only response she got was a pillow to the head from Bonnie and a groan of, "Carolineeee" from Elena as they settled in to watch Twilight.

Could be worse, Elena thought to herself. She could be insisting we spill all our secrets and play truth or dare... One day into my new life, I'd say I'm doing alright.