Denial was a really strong coping mechanism for her. Not the healthiest, maybe, but--it was easier to get through life if she didn't examine too closely things that she'd done. That always led back to the dead body of a friend and a wrecked living room, and then she'd spiral into a place she tried really hard to stay out of most of the time, usually by shrugging things off or making light of them. They were the facts. She couldn't change them. Why dwell?

Almost biting Damon was something she had been trying to file away there, so used to the compartmentalizing skill she honestly hadn't realized why he was upset, because it was easier to focus on the part where she and Damon kicked back with bourbon and popcorn and bad B movies about vampires and werewolves to mock on nights Elena or Jeremy needed Ric time. Now guilt was nagging at her, even if there'd been nothing she really could have done differently--she hadn't bitten him and...

She pushed it away, taking a breath and went ahead and just stripped out of her clothes when they got to the stream, figuring there'd be a lot of splashing to get washed up and not wanting to drench them.