Elena awoke feeling refreshed. She'd been dream free for the past three nights. She was surprised to realize she was actually looking forward to the Lockwood's party tonight. In fact, she was feeling so cheery she decided to go downstairs and make breakfast for everyone.

Jena was the first one up—technically—but by the way she was staring into her coffee mug like an endless abyss Elena thought it would have been better for Jena to chill and sleep in a bit. She was trying so hard as their guardian; it pained Elena to see her so exhausted. "Jena?" There was no response. "Hey, Jena?" Elena was louder this time.

Jena looked startled. "Oh, Elena. Good morning." She tried out a smile but it fell flat.

"Ha, good morning for me, but you…not so much. I think you should go back to bed."

"What? No, I'm fine."

"You don't need to get up so early every morning. I know you're up late each night working on your thesis. Jeremy and I are past the bottle feeding stage. We know how to poor cereal. Now, go back to bed, Jena." Elena commanded in her best authoritative tone.

And it worked. Without another word Jena trudged back up the stairs. "Huh, I should have tried that sooner." Elena said to herself as she went to work in the kitchen.

Damon wasn't cheery per say, because Damon was never cheery, but he was in a significantly better mood than a few days ago. It had been three nights since he'd dreamt; now he could write it all off as a weird fluke. Damon's cell phone rang. His brows knitted when he saw it was Liz Forbes.

"Liz, is something wrong?" Sherriff Forbes only called him when there was an urgent vampire situation.

"Hey Damon, no there isn't anything really wrong." She paused not sure how to continue. "You've said we're friends, right?"

"Of course." Damon had an uneasy feeling about where this conversation was headed.

"Well, I was hoping as a friend that you would do me a favor." She picked up her pace. "You see, Caroline was going to go with Matt to the Lockwood party tonight but I guess they got in a big fight and now Caroline is planning on going with a blind date."

"Uh huh"

"I know there hasn't been any vampire activity recently but I just don't feel like I can let my guard down yet and I wouldn't want her going with a stranger anyhow." She paused. "Damon, will you take Caroline tonight?"

Damon could hear that she was holding her breath in anticipation of his answer. He was not happy about this but he knew how important it was to keep his relationship with the sheriff as peachy as possible. He groaned inwardly. "You know I would do anything for you, but are you sure Caroline will agree to this?"

"She will agree or she won't be going at all." Damon realized Liz was going to use him as an ultimatum. Caroline wasn't his biggest fan but she was a socialite and she wouldn't miss this party for anything.

"I see. Well then, it would be my pleasure, Liz."

"Oh, Damon, thank you."

"Yup, don't mention it." Please don't mention it ever again. Damon's good mood was tanking quickly.

Elena's perched in her window seat, journaling, when her cell phone's beeping interrupted her. It was a "911" text from Caroline. Elena rolled her eyes. Caroline's 911 texts were becoming reminiscent of the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf'. Elena called her immediately anyway.

"Elena! This is a disaster! I hate my mother. Hate her!"

"Whoa, calm down Caroline. What's a disaster?"

"You know how Matt and I got in a fight and I had to find a new date for tonight? When I told my mom she totally freaked about it being a blind date!" Caroline was in full tantrum mode.

"Okay?"

"My bitch of a mother called Damon!" Caroline whined out his name.

"She called Damon?" Elena asked incredulously.

"Yes, she called Damon, and asked him to take me. How mortifying is that?"

Elena's stomach was beginning to sink. "But, you're not going with Damon, right?"

"I have to or my mom won't let me go at all."

"Maybe you shouldn't go then? What's one skipped dance out of thousands?"

This was not the response Caroline was expecting. "Don't go?" She stopped. "Is this about something else Elena?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Elena cringed hearing the high pitch of her voice.

"Do you not want me to go with Damon?" She asked suspiciously.

"Caroline, you're the one who doesn't want to go with Damon. Why would I care if you go with Damon?" Elena was using her best 'reasonable voice'.

"Don't act coy, Elena. I've seen the way you and Damon flirt."

"We do not!"

"Oh, that's right, you call it bantering."

"Caroline, this is getting ridiculous. You knew from the beginning of this conversation that you were going with Damon; you just wanted to be dramatic about it. I have to go. I'll see you there." Elena hung up.

Caroline's mouth fell open as she looked at her phone. How dare she hang up! Caroline hmmphed and started dialing Bonnie.

This shouldn't be happening, Elena thought. Damon was Caroline's date in that horrible dream. Elena had felt assurance from the fact that Damon and Caroline would never happen again. It helped her laugh the nightmare away, but now they were going together? Elena needed more information.

Damon's phone beeped signaling he had a text. He picked his phone up and was surprised to see it was from Elena. "Ur taking Caroline 2 the dance 2nite?"

How did Elena know and why did she care? More interestingly, why was she letting him know she cared? Damon thought a minute before responding. "Ya…y?" was all he came up with.

Elena wasn't expecting such a vague answer. "I dont no…dont u think thats weird?

Weird? Damon thought to himself. Unexpected? Yes. Undesirable? Definitely yes. But what did Elena mean by weird? "I dunno…Liz asked me 2 so I said yes."

Elena was getting frustrated with his vague answers. Why had she texted Damon anyway? She decided to end the conversation. "Ok".

Damon frowned at her one word response. He'd wanted this unexpected conversation to last a little longer. "Will u b there?"

"Yup"

"Ok…save me a dance"

Elena was surprised and didn't end up responding to the request.

Jena opened the door to a very handsome looking Stefan. "Hey Stefan, Elena will be down in a minute." She stepped to the side to let Stefan pass.

"Jena, you look very pretty. I didn't know you were going tonight."

"Oh, I'm not. Ric and I are going out." Jena smiled looking a bit like a giddy schoolgirl.

Elena heard Stefan and Jena talking downstairs and hurried to check herself in the mirror one last time. After feeling bored with her long, straight hair she'd decided to wear it up tonight. She'd styled it with a lot of volume and hairspray and now she was worried she may have gone overboard. She'd gone with smoky eye shadow to compliment the slate coloring of her purple dress. Grabbing her jacket and sliding another coat of gloss over her lips Elena began her descent downstairs.

Stefan visibly gasped at the sight of Elena. She looked beautiful. But Elena always looked beautiful to Stefan. Tonight, Elena looked like a sensual sophisticated woman. Elena was pleased with Stefan's response. She gave him a teasing smile. "You like?"

Stefan swallowed. "You look," he took a deep breath searching for the right words, "absolutely stunning."

"Well you look pretty darn good yourself." She tugged on his lapel wanting a kiss.

Elena and Stefan parted at the sound of returning footsteps.

"Wow. Elena, you look gorgeous. You look like your mother." Jena smiled a bittersweet smile.

Returning the smile, Elena thanked Jena and Stefan cleared his throat. "Well, we better get going" they said in unison and began chuckling. Hand in hand they left the house. "Too cute." Jena murmured to herself.

Damon and Caroline's night was not off to a good start. Caroline barely acknowledged Damon when he'd come to pick her up. Instead she just stood with her arms crossed glaring at her mother.

Damon was trying both to remember and forget his dream. He was trying to remember it to keep from repeating things and he was trying to forget it because he hated feeling subservient in any way, even if it were to his own unconscious.

Anyhow, he'd remembered Caroline being peeved with him in the dream when he neglected to tell her she looked pretty. However, after the scowl he received when he did compliment her he wished he hadn't bothered.

He was thankful when they began making their way towards the door. Then he sighed realizing leaving Caroline's only marked the beginning of what may be a very long night. "Bye, Liz. Don't worry; we'll have a great time." He lied. Caroline rolled her eyes.

For show, Damon opened the passenger side door for Caroline but shut it more forcefully than needed. Once he pulled out of the driveway Caroline perked up. "Thanks for complimenting my dress. I know some of the girls are going to gossip that the gold is tacky. What they don't know is that gold is totally in for autumn and this is the Harvest Ball after all." Damon nodded in understanding. Grumpy Caroline had been an act for her mother.

As Damon and Caroline pulled up to the Lockwood Mansion Damon tried to prepare himself for the night. He was trying to return to the good mood he'd woken up to. Caroline's incessant rambling wasn't making it easy.

"Ow, ow! There's something in my eye!" Caroline suddenly shrieked.

"Calm down." An annoyed Damon instructed as he flipped on the overhead light. "Let me see." With his hand cupping Caroline's chin he guided her face closer for inspection. He trapped her fluttering eyelid beneath his pointer finger. "I don't see anything."

"What? No, there's something in there." Caroline insisted. Her breathing was a little shallow in such close proximity to Damon.

Damon looked closer, just inches from Caroline's face. He was unaware of Elena and Stefan pulling in next to them.

Elena's breath caught at the sight of Damon and Caroline. He was cupping Caroline's face, gazing in to her eyes. Were they about to kiss? Elena couldn't believe it. An ugly, green monster was taking form in Elena's gut.

"Oh, yup, it's an eyelash." Damon smirked at the fragility of humans. You would have thought Caroline had been staked in the eye the way she was shrieking. "Oh." Caroline blushed at her reaction. With feather like fingers Damon swiped away the intruding eyelash. "Ready to go now?" Damon asked tugging on the door handle. "You could have at least let me make a wish." Caroline pouted.

"I didn't know seventeen year-olds still—"Damon's car door smashed into something metal-sounding. "What the hell." Damon shot out of driver's seat coming face to face with an angry Elena.

"Jesus, Damon, watch what you're doing!" Elena shouted. "You almost sliced me in two between our doors, God!" Distracted with Caroline, Damon hadn't sensed a car pulling in next to them, leading him to fling his door open just as Elena was doing the same.

Damon was speechless. Damon was speechless for two reasons. First, he'd never seen Elena looking so sexual and womanly. Secondly, she was wearing the dress—the slate purple dress with a sweetheart neckline—the exact one he'd dreamt of.

"Your dress…" Damon half-whispered unintentionally.

Elena looked at him as if he were slow. "Yes, girls wear them sometimes when they dress up. If you didn't notice your date has one on too." Elena wasn't sure why she was still being so snippy.

Damon grew very serious for a moment, almost transfixed. "Elena, you're no girl." He leaned in to where his lips were almost grazing her ear. "You, Elena, are the most beautiful woman. The. Most. Beautiful." His bottom lip brushed against her lobe. Elena and Damon shivered together simultaneously. The shivering shook Damon back to the present; he straightened not sure what had come over him. They held each other's gaze until a spying Caroline piped up. "Okay, car door crisis averted. Let's go."

Damon and Elena made sure to stay away from each other for the next few hours. Neither of their dates had been thrilled with them after they witnessed Damon and Elena's moment together. Elena had been going to extra lengths with Stefan since then and it was beginning to grate on his nerves.

"Elena, stop laughing unusually hard, stop pushing all the extra small talk, and stop kissing me every thirty seconds." Stefan heard himself seethe and added "please" with a deep exhale. Elena looked like she'd been shot. Her eyes darted about as she was unsure of how to proceed. Stefan began feeling guilty for snapping at her. But then he felt annoyed again. He was allowed to feel irritated with her. He excused himself from Elena's company without saying where he was going.

Elena stood mortified as water began to well in her eyes. She headed towards the restroom and Bonnie noticed. "Elena, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I made Stefan mad." She managed to squeak out. Bonnie looked concerned.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened." Elena said getting visibly more upset.

"Whoa, okay, slow down and talk to me." Bonnie placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

Mute, Elena came to a standstill in one of the many hallways of the Lockwood mansion. A tear rolled down her cheek and Bonnie wiped it away. "Oh, Elena, what's wrong?"

"You know I hate Damon, right?" Bonnie wasn't sure about Elena hating Damon but she nodded along anyhow. "He," she paused, "has been in a couple of my dreams lately." Bonnie waited for her to go on.

"And tonight, he almost killed me— Elena registered Bonnie's instantaneous fury, "No, no! It was just a silly accident, but I think my emotions were heightened or something from it and we had this moment and he told me I was beautiful and-" Elena began crying. Bonnie cradled Elena's head, petting her hair.

"Shhhh. Shhhh. It's okay." She reassured.

"It's not okay!" Elena exclaimed with a renewed energy. "I hurt Stefan. A single moment planted a seed of doubt. I know he's thinking about Katherine now. How he and Damon fought for Katherine's affection. I can see it in his eyes." Elena's face was full of remorse.

"Elena, you are not Katherine. Stefan knows that. Please don't be so hard on yourself."

Once Caroline let momentarily, Stefan approached Damon and offered him the extra drink in his hand. Damon accepted with an air "cheers" and raised brows. Stefan's lips were parted, about to say something when the brothers' vampire hearing narrowed in on Elena's voice.

"And tonight, he almost killed me…No, no! It was just a silly accident but I think my emotions were heightened or something…"

As they continued listening, Damon and Stefan glared at one another challenging each other's eavesdropping rights.

"This is about me" Damon was indignant.

"It's not about you and I'm the one dating Elena, Damon." Stefan spat.

"Yes, aren't relationships supposed to be about trust or something? How would Elena feel if she knew you were eavesdropping on her?"

Bonnie's voice interrupted them. "Elena, you are not Katherine. Stefan knows that. Please don't be so hard on yourself."

"I know, I know. You're right. I just feel so guilty about my reaction to Damon's touch. One brush of Stefan's lips doesn't send shivers down my spine." Elena confessed as if she were on trial for 1st degree homicide.

At that comment Damon's eyes grew wide and pain washed over Stefan's face until he swallowed it down.

"Elena, it only happened once. It's not something you can control. Don't blame yourself so much."

"Yeah." Elena agreed, unconvinced. "Okay, let's get you to a sink. Your face is a mess of mascara." Bonnie tried to chuckle light-heartedly.

The brothers heard retreating footsteps. "Yes, you shouldn't blame her Stefan. Her attraction to me isn't something she can control." Damon spun Bonnie's words and threw them in his brother's face.

Stefan was beginning to rage inside. "Like Bonnie said, it was a one-time thing, Damon."

"A one-time thing? That's not what I heard her say. I heard that it's only happened once, so far…" Damon left the last words hanging.

At that, Stefan snared Damon's arm and dragged him forcefully towards the balcony. Stefan only had the upper hand because he'd surprised Damon and Damon still had the sense not to make a super-natural scene at the vampire-suspicious Lockwood home. "Brother, you are drawing unwanted attention our way." Damon spoke through gritted teeth.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm capable of making this look like a normal human fight. I just can't wait to punch that smug look off of your damned face."

Stefan shoved Damon onto the balcony while still holding on to his hair. "I want to make something very clear, Damon." He yanked upward, tearing hair from Damon's roots but bringing Damon's face to his own the way he wanted. "In no way is Elena going to be a repeat of Katherine. I love Elena and you never will. Elena loves me and hates you. Katherine was a manipulative, self-centered bitch of a vampire and Elena is a sweet, tender, innocent human being."

Damon noticed as fireworks had begun popping off half-way through Stefan's stupid, heroic speech. No one was paying any attention to them. Damon lurched from Stefan's grasp causing a handful of hair to rip from Damon's scalp but Damon gained the upper hand with his palms closed around Stefan's throat.

"You want to know what I think little brother?" Damon asked squeezing harder. "I think Elena will be a repeat of Katherine as soon as I want her to be. I just haven't decided if I'm interested or not yet."

Stefan's eyes raged under Damon's hold until finally his fury lent him a bolt of strength. A half-second later Damon was flying through the air and then crashing into the balcony's cement balustrade. Before he could fully wonder what the hell? Elena was crashing on top of him from a fifteen foot lunge she'd taken two milliseconds ago. Except Elena wasn't Elena. Elena was Stefan? Damon shook his head trying to separate dream from reality.

Just as his head was clearing from the impact of hitting the cement a second wave of pain came. Except the pain grew more and more agonizing. In his haze, Damon noticed Stefan dropped to ground holding his head between his hands also. Damon's eyes landed on Bonnie. Damn it! She'd come from nowhere and Elena was at her side.

Stefan was on his knees, crippled with pain. He could see Elena screaming at Bonnie to stop but the sounds of her pleas were muffled as if traveling through hundreds of feet of ocean. Finally, in an instant all the pain subsided and Bonnie's verbal wrath began. How stupid could they be starting a fight here at the Lockwood's? Did they want to get found out? Did they want to make Elena feel this way? And on and on.

Elena finally succeeded in quieting Bonnie and rushed to Stefan. She fussed over him, touching him and asking if he was okay. Damon choked in disgust as he watched Elena rain gentle kisses over Stefan's head.

Damon reached up to inspect his own head. There was blood on his hand but the ripped hair had grown back in. Right then he remembered his dream and how he'd wondered whether hair would grow back or not. Except in his dream he'd wanted to rip his own hair out because of Caroline. Where was she anyway?

No one noticed Bonnie, a few feet away, as she picked up and pocketed Damon's fallen locks.

For a split second Damon and Elena locked eyes, unknowingly thinking the same thing. Huh. The night ended with a fight on the balcony after all.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review! Do you guys prefer short chapters with more frequent updates or longer chapters less frequently?