Congrats on educating yourself and knowing that VBAC is an option, and a safe one. Here's my story...
Birth #1: Induced 8 days past my due date for high blood pressure. I was very slightly dilated. 51 hours of pitocin with very slow progress and irregular, mild contractions. Most docs would have called in failure to progress after about 12-24 hours and cut me open. I had very patient midwives in a very patient hospital. At around 49 hours I was starting to run a fever. I was dilated 7.5cm and I finally consented to a c-section. The midwife told me to try pushing a bit to see what happened. Well, I pushed for two hours and my (10 pound) daughter came out!
Birth #2: I was terrified that things would go the same way as number one, or worse, but I was hoping for the best. I worried (like you) that my body had never really been "in labor" before. My midwife assured me it doesn't matter - the body knows what to do the second time around. The night before my due date my husband (an acupuncturist) gave me an acupuncture induction treatment. I started having contractions immediately. They were mild and every 10 minutes, but strong enough to wake me up. I had contractions every 10 minutes (on the dot) all night long. I kept waiting to go into more active labor, but never did. The next morning, my due date, the contractions went away completely. That night he gave me a second acupuncture induction treatment and again the 10-minute-apart contractions started. That went on for about 3 hours, I took a bath and got ready for bed. Before going to sleep I timed three more contractions and all of a sudden they came six minutes apart, then four minutes apart, then three minutes apart. Two (very intense) hours later, my son was born (and after only 16 minutes of pushing).
Just sharing this story to let you know that each birth can be completely different. It sounds like you didn't have a true labor with your second birth because your baby and your body were smart and knew better. This time around, if everything is a "green light", then your body your baby will know what to do and you'll have your baby just fine. Keep the faith!
BTW: If you don't go into labor, try the acupuncture induction. It's amazing! Plan for it to take about three days (you'll need a treatment each day). Most acupuncturists won't do it until your due date because it is powerful and you want to make sure baby is ready to come out. My husband's practice is at sassackacupuncture.com and he only charges $35 per treatment, which is more affordable than most places.