Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

Author's Note: I know Damon wasn't in this chapter but he will be in the next one. I just had to introduce the story.

Elena couldn't remember the last time she had felt so peaceful. After having to survive so many supernatural attacks, she was happy just sitting in the boarding house's sofa and listening to Stefan telling her what he had planned for that day. It had been over a month since they had defeated Klaus and eliminated the Original threat once and for all, but they were only starting to feel safe now. Though Elena was nodding every once in a while, her mind wasn't paying any attention to her boyfriend's speech. She was thinking about how relaxed she felt, about how she had missed feeling safe. She didn't have to look over her shoulder every five minutes, she didn't have to worry about danger being right around the corner. She could lay back and enjoy a day with Stefan, have a date for the first time in months. A smile formed on her lips and she shifted her attention back to where it should have been, realizing that she had already missed a lot.

• Then we could go to this little island and enjoy the calm and peace. What do think? - Stefan asked her, smiling at the thought of enjoying a week with his girlfriend.

• Yes, yes, it sounds great! - She answered, though she had no idea to what she agreeing.

• You weren't listening, were you? - He dropped his hands in defeat and allowed his worry to show. - You've been this way for days! What's going on, Elena?

She sighed, closing her eyes. She didn't understand how he could expect her to know. If she did, she would have already taken care of it. Elena didn't like zoning out and missing parts of conversations, but she couldn't help it. This days, she had been easily distracted and her thoughts had been luring her out of the real world. She supposed that it was the calm that she was finally feeling that was sweeping her concentration away. After all, for over a year Elena had had to think and concentrate in one problem after the other. For the first time, she could relax.

• I don't know, Stefan, but please, drop it. - She told him, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

Stefan nodded and offered her his hand. She took it, smiling, and walked out of the house. They had been talking about this for quite a while and Elena was determined not to let her state of mind spoil it, so she swallowed her desire to just stare at the sky and forget about the world. Stefan opened the car's door for her and she entered. Just as she fastened her seatbelt she felt something watching her. Elena looked around, trying to find the origin of the gaze that was boring into her skull, but failed to see anyone. Stefan looked at her, the worry clear on his face.

• What's wrong, Elena? - He asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

• Nothing. I just thought… never mind. - She shook her head and smiled, hoping that her smile would be enough to convince Stefan that she was fine.

But it didn't matter how hard she tried to forget the incident, the memory of the familiar tingling feeling kept resurfacing, keeping her on high alert. Elena knew it would be hard to conceal her newfound paranoia from her boyfriend, but she would't let that ruin their well-deserved vacation. She wouldn't let anything ruin it, even if she had to lock herself in the bathroom and claim that she was having some trouble putting on her dress. Elena only hoped it wouldn't come to that. She thought about calling Damon, but gave up on the idea once she realized he would probably tell her to come back. Sometimes he could be more protective of her than his brother, and that was saying something.

It felt like an eternity passed before they arrived at they first destination: New York. Stefan had felt that it would be nice for them to visit a large city before isolating themselves in a small town to enjoy the peace. Elena had actually been looking forward to doing some shopping for new outfits, but now the thought of exposing herself was enough to frighten her. However, she took a large breath and climbed out of the car. She needed to relax and the first step to achieving that was showing herself that her apprehension didn't have any foundations.

Stefan took her hand into his and smiled at her, his eyes sparkling with happiness and anticipation. Elena knew that he had planned everything carefully since a week after they defeated Klaus but now she was starting to see problems everywhere. For once, they didn't bring any weapons against supernatural creatures and so they didn't have any means of defense if the New York vampires decided that they looked like a nice target. Sure, vampires didn't attack other vampires if they didn't have any quarrels, but she couldn't help but think of the worst case scenario, not ever since she was reminded of what it felt like to be in danger. Elena discretely closed her eyes, trying to calm her mind. But not discretely enough.

• Is everything okay, Elena? - Stefan asked her, absentmindedly rubbing her hand with his thumb.

• Yes, I'm just a little overwhelmed. I mean, New York is so bright! - Elena answered, a smile forming on her face.

She thought about Stefan, who had defended her in so many occasions she couldn't remember them all. With him by her side, she usually felt safer. But not now. She wanted to go back and stay in the safe burrow the boarding house had become. She wanted to be anywhere but there, out in the open. Calming down was becoming hard. She knew her heartbeat would rise if she kept herself on alert for much longer, and if it rose Stefan would be worried, so she had to stay calm. There was nothing out there and she knew it. But at the same time she didn't. For so long there had been something out there that she just couldn't be sure anymore.

Elena felt Stefan's fingers brush against hers and then their hands disconnected. Her arm instinctively searched for the missing comfort and she heard a chuckle coming from somewhere beside her. Only then it occurred to her to look for her boyfriend. He was standing right beside her, an amused look on his face. She grinned, innerly laughing at her stupidity.

• I'm just going to look for a couple of things. - Stefan stated, smiling at Elena. - Go find yourself some clothes, I'll be right back.

Even though she hadn't really felt safe with him by her side, the minute Stefan disappeared in the crowd of people Elena started to become tenser and tenser. She knew something was going to happen and she knew it was going to happen there. But she didn't quite believe in her prediction. Her logical side told her she had no basis to say something was going to happen, but her supernatural-related side told her to run, to get out that city because she was in danger. However, Elena wouldn't listen to that side. She shut out the little voice begging her to reconsider and walked away, looking at the beautiful storefronts and thinking about the amount of money she would have to spend to buy all the things she wanted. Though Stefan never said anything, Elena knew he didn't like it when she spent money by the slight contraction of the muscles on his face. She respected his concealed wishes and restrained herself from buying anything too fancy.

She knew that Stefan expected her to buy more expensive things now that they were in one of the biggest shopping centers in the world, but she still felt guilty about using his money, so she searched for the cheaper stores that had things she deemed wearable. But it was turning out to be quite hard for her to find a place that didn't sell clothes by a price that she could buy a computer. Elena had been walking around in circles for over an hour, and she had found neither someplace to shop nor Stefan. She was just about to give up when she found what seemed to be the perfect store. The clothes displayed were some of the most beautiful she had ever seen and so were the prices. Elena opened the door and stepped inside. The last thing she saw before blanking out was Stefan tied to a hatstand.