Dear diary,

It was shocking. Waking up to a bright and sunny day was terribly shocking. There are no vervain necklaces or bracelets. Not a single daylight ring in sight. The sun is warm and people smile outside. I'm learning again not to worry about who I invite into the house. I'm supposed to be careful, as always should, but not in a "I'm a doppelganger and I must be protected" kind of way. The world is simple again, or is it?

The room was quiet. Elena was sound asleep in her cold hospital bed. With the sun coming into the room, glaring her eyes, she slowly began to wake up. While she looked out the window, she started recalling the revelation she had had. Was it even possible that it was all just a dream? If it was, then it means neither Stefan nor Damon are here, they don't even exist. If it was just a dream, can it be that there is no Klaus? No Originals? Bonnie is not a witch? Caroline is not a vampire? Is there even an Alaric? What about Jenna? Can it be that she is alive? Oh my God! Jenna is alive!

Elena leaped in her bed staying now sit instead of laying down. She was immediately more awake than ever. At first Elena didn't quite understand what this could mean. She could only think about how Stefan and Damon wouldn't be there anymore. But now she saw the world besides the brothers. She understood she was not a doppelganger, her friends and family were not in danger anymore and they were alive, human, normal as they should be. There are no witches, nor vampires, let alone hybrids.

Barging into the silence there was a crescent noise, someone was rushing, almost running in the corridor. The sound was getting louder, nearer, until it stopped.

"Oh my God, Elena!"

"Jenna!"

Elena's eyes filled with tears, she wanted to run towards her aunt but the stupid IV's wouldn't let her. Jenna came to her bed and they both hugged so tightly.

"I can't believe you're here."

"I know sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"I missed you Jenna, a lot."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier." They pulled apart. Both their faces were swollen with tears as they were an emotional wreck. "When Jeremy called me saying you had woken up, I came as fast as I possibly could. Now everything will be alright, ok?"

Elena had no idea how she managed her life without Jenna in it.

"When can I come home?"

"I'll talk to the doctor, don't you worry about a thing."

Elena nodded. It felt so good to have a proper adult family member taking care of her. Jeremy wanted to protect her, always, but she is the older sister, and every evil thing that happened was because of her, because she was the doppelganger. So Elena always felt responsible. She was the one who had to take care of Jeremy, not the other way around. When she lost Jenna, she still managed to hold onto Alaric. They both needed a family and he was a teacher, a hunter, a respectable person who always worried and took care of them both. But then he was caught in the middle of the supernatural drama, once again, and Elena lost him too. She felt alone, completely and utterly alone. Bonnie and Caroline had their troubles as well. Stefan gave himself up to Klaus to save Damon, which Elena could understand, she would do anything for Jeremy, but when she went rescue him Stefan didn't seem to want to be saved. He didn't fight to free himself from Klaus. He knew she had gone through hell and back to get him, and he still wouldn't hand over his hand and do a little push so that she could take it. No. Elena did everything in her power, she went against everyone, against Damon, she put her life in danger and the lives of her loved ones in order to save the man she loved, or she thought she did. Now it didn't seem so clear. But somewhere along the line Stefan really abandoned her. And this time, it wasn't to save Damon or anyone, for that matter. This time he just chose not to fight for his heart anymore. The only one constant in her life, her rock, her shoulder to cry on and her support, was Damon. And to her, this revelation was as powerful as her previous one.

Breaking through her thoughts was a knocking from the door. A very familiar woman was standing there. Elena had to let her brain process everything. Just a minute ago she saw Jenna, she hugged her, she got the ultimate proof that she is alive and well. Now, could it be? Is it possible? Is that Rose?

"Rose?" inaudibly mumbled Elena.

"Hello Elena, I'm Dr. Rose. How are you feeling?" she said coming into the room.

"I'm sorry," Elena was confused "doctor Rose?"

"Yes?"

She was exactly like the Rose from her dream, even the accent was the same which meant she wasn't from Mystic Falls. Elena took that as an opportunity to ask questions without seeming nosy, could she really approach her doctor with a "Hi! You are a handful hundred years old vampire from my dream which I thought was as real as…well, you!"? Of course not. This was her chance and she was going to take it. Elena wanted to be in control, she wasn't very keen on having to share her dream with a stranger. However, Rose didn't seem like a stranger, she was Rose after all…

"Your accent, may I ask where are you from?"

"Sure. I'm from Sr. Austell, England." Rose waited for a reaction from Elena but she couldn't say anything. "Is everything ok, Elena?"

"Yes, yes it is." Said Elena now fully concentrated on the doctor in front of her. "I'm sorry, you just remind me of someone." This was extremely weird and Elena was confused, not knowing what to think and how to react. Right at that moment she just wanted to be left alone so that she could make sense of everything. What could this mean? If Rose is a doctor in Mystic Falls, perhaps Stefan and Damon are around as well. But she never saw anyone before her parents' accident and this information doesn't work in her favor.

"Really?" Rose sit on the armchair near Elena's bed.

"Yes, did I know you before the accident?"

"No, that would be impossible. I just moved here a month ago."

It still wasn't making sense to Elena.

"So this is really weird."

"Is it? How so?"

Elena tilted her head to the right and with a cordial and challenging smile she said: "I'm sure you know. I'm sure that by now everyone in Mystic Falls knows that I've turned crazy."

Rose got clearly uncomfortable with Elena's harsh words. She straightened herself up in the chair and leaned a little bit towards Elena.

"First of all, yes Elena, I do know that right now you are slightly confused with what is real and what is not. But that doesn't make you crazy, at all. You shouldn't see yourself as a crazy person just because your life is complicated right now. From where I stand, and from what you're saying and your whole attitude, I can honestly say you are a brave strong woman. Second of all, I would like to properly present myself. I'm Dr. Rose, you can avoid the doctor part, just call me Rose, and I'm your psychiatrist. Once again, don't let this word deceive you. I'm here to talk to you, please look at me as the guardian and keeper of your secret. I'm the one you can share your reality with. I won't judge, that is not my place. I honestly just want to help you adjust to this world. You have been through a lot, Elena, and within yourself you carry a little bit of your pre-accident life, your dream life, and you'll gather new things from this new post-everything life. I'll just be your bridge, my place is in between all these lives of yours making the crossing as smooth as possible."

Elena was speechless. She knew this wasn't the vampire Rose she once knew; nevertheless she was remarkably similar and that was somehow comforting.

"Fine," Elena sighted "how is this going to go then?"

"Right now I would like to talk to you some more. I'd also like to continue seeing you once a week and then we'll probably stretch it a bit."

Elena looked at her with a face as blank as possible. She didn't like people trying to read her, it felt like invading her privacy. When she needed to talk she would go to her diary. It wouldn't respond back, but it wouldn't have expectations as well. Dr. Rose could say she wouldn't judge as much as she wished, opening her heart this way would never feel comfortable. Sure, Rose was being sweet, approachable and all, but it was too much to tell anyone, except Bonnie. Where was she? How come she hasn't visited yet? In Elena's dream Bonnie wasn't very fond of the Salvatores, but that was the Bennet witch inside of her talking. At the end of the day, Elena and Bonnie were like sisters, she could trust her with her life.

"So, Elena, why did you ask if we'd met before?"

"Because you were in my… dream." Elena said reluctantly.

"Really?" Rose was surprised "And why do you have such difficulty using the word dream?"

"It didn't feel like one. It felt real." Elena was surprised how quickly she was able to answer this question. She felt angry, even though she was beyond happy knowing the people she cared about were alive, that all the bad things didn't actually happen, she wasn't able not to feel a little bit betrayed by her unconscious at the same time. It was hard like hell to come to terms with a supernatural reality. And now that wasn't actually reality? What was it then? It just couldn't be a simple, stupid and moronic dream.

"And you're angry about that?"

"Of course I am!" Replied Elena blatantly. "I mean…" she was hesitant now "there are some good things, great actually, about it being just my imagination running wild."

"Can you elaborate, please?" Rose needed to understand what was rooting deep inside Elena.

Elena straightened herself up and leaned towards Rose, as if she was taking a leap of faith telling this to her doctor. Or perhaps, she was choosing not to look at her as a doctor but the woman she once knew.

"I believed that when I woke up after my parents' accident, I had woken up to a world filled with supernatural beings. I was somehow supernatural too. Unfortunately, I was a much requested person and people didn't care about their ways to get to their means. So I saw a lot of people I cared about being hurt, even killed. To actually wake up and realize that nobody's in danger, that I'm still surrounded by those people, it's great, truly amazing."

"Okay," Rose relaxed in her chair not making this situation more uncomfortable or weird than it needed to be. She was grabbing all the trust she could get from Elena. "Then how come you were so angry at first? What do you miss about your dream?"

"I… I'm not sure." She was taken aback. It probably didn't seem like an honest answer, but at that moment it truly was. Saying out loud the good things coming from it all being just a dream made Elena put everything in perspective. She would never trade the lives of her loved ones, her friends and family, for the love of two vampires.

At that moment, Jenna and Dr. Fell came into the room.

"Good morning Elena." Greeted Dr. Fell. "If Dr. Rose agrees, you will be able to go home today."

A smile spread across Elena's face and she looked attentively at Dr. Rose with begging eyes.

"I believe Elena is ready to go home. She is well aware of where she stands." Rose stood up and started writing something in a piece of paper. "Elena, I'm prescribing you some pills that will help you relax. Take them once a day in the morning, but if you can't sleep or feel extra anxious take another one and in half an hour you should feel better."

Elena nodded. All she wanted was to go home and feel like she belonged somewhere again.

"A nurse will come right up to help you get ready while we are taking care of your discharge papers." Dr. Fell said before stepping out of the room followed by Jenna and Dr. Rose.

Elena was relieved to finally see her house and be in her room again. She needed to be surrounded by all her familiar things.

When Elena finally got home it felt strange. So much had happened here and, at the same time, it didn't happen at all. Everybody was expecting her to be depressed because of her parents' death. What they didn't know is that Elena had time to mourn them. She had mourned a lot of people which, in fact, didn't need to be mourned. And that was a relief. Nevertheless, the house felt empty, lacking something while, at the same time, it felt peaceful and safe. Maybe she just wasn't used to that anymore.

Jeremy, who was playing on his Xbox, quickly left his game and came to the door.

"Welcome back home sis."

Elena smiled timidly. She glanced the surroundings but couldn't let herself move.

"Do you need any help, Elena?" asked Jeremy.

"I think I would just like to go to my room. I kind of miss it."

"Sure. I'll be around here so if you need anything just ask. Oh, and I'll order something for dinner, do you miss pizza Elena?"

Elena laughed. It was really comforting seeing Jenna be Jenna again.

"Of course, pizza would be great."

"Here, I'll help you get this to your room." Jeremy offered.

"Thanks."

Just when Elena stepped inside her room, she had to stop. Something was missing. The bed was immaculate, everything was cleaned, everything seemed light and perfect. The window was open, which made Jeremy laugh. Apparently, Jenna had a maternal moment going on and she decided to air out the room.

"So, if you don't need me, I'll be playing some more." Jeremy kissed his sister on her forehead and left.

Elena started going around trying to figure out what was missing. Her teddy bear was in his place on her bed. Her diary was hidden on the second shelf behind that really hideous ceramic mermaid, as it was supposed to. Her mirror filled with pictures and memories from all the important people and moments in her life. And just as Elena looked towards her window, she finally got it. It wasn't something missing, it was someone. Stefan would always come through the door, he was that polished. Only at extreme moments would he resort to her window. It was as if her mind was expecting Damon to be there when she came into her room. It always scared her, to come in and see someone there. But now she missed it. She so badly needed to know what happened after that phone call.

Elena went to her shelf, got her diary and a pen, picked up her teddy bear and settled on her window seat.

Some people would give everything to get a second chance in life. I was awarded that chance. I believe I was supposed to take it without hesitation. That would be the right thing to do. However, I have to know. I have to find a way to dream again, I need to see him again.

Author's note: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This was a hard one to write and I couldn't have done it without Anya's precious help. She is truly the best! I answered all your reviews and I'll keep doing so. Thank you all so much for the love and support :)