[It would be easy to back down from Dean. It would be easy to concede, to apologize. And yet it would still be too hard for Elena to walk away.]

[She's physically more powerful than him, but he is still larger. She stands a little taller and looks him in the eye, trying to seem anything more than a stupid little girl.]

I'm a lot more than you're willing to give me credit for, Dean. If you really think saying the same thing over and over again that I don't mean anything to you is going to hurt me? It's not.

[Which isn't entirely true. It's a punch to the gut every time the words come out of his mouth. She can feel the way it makes her resolve waver and the way it ignites some of her anger. Sometimes it's tempting to latch onto either one, but she keeps herself firmly away from those impulses. She's better than that. What she really means is she won't let it get to her. Not without one hell of a fight. Those are things Dean helped to teach her. She won't turn her back on him or his lessons.]

You're not willing to let me in, that's fine. That's your choice. But it's my choice about whether I stay or walk away. Nothing you say or do is going to change that any more than what I say or do is going to change yours.