She came into the boarding house through the backdoor and once she had locked it, she yelled, "I'm home." 

Damon glanced down at her from the staircase still mumbling into his phone. She rolled her eyes up at him mockingly. The corners of his mouth turned up in an amused smirk for a second but then he was gone. She placed her bag on the couch and head towards the kitchen to fill herself a glass of water. 

"Hey, how can you be home earlier than me?" Melanie asked seeing Stefan preparing lunch. 

"The perks of having a car," he replied vaguely while spreading cheese into the sandwiches. 

"I wish I had a car too. Its so boring walking to and from school all alone," she spoke. 

Stefan smirked meaningfully, "you could use the exercise. Besides you can always ask Jeremy to accompany you." 

She narrowed her eyes at him but then a thought crossed her mind, "how did you get time to spy on us during school? As far as I know, you were quite busy with Jeremy's sister." 

He shrugged, "so what's wrong with that? She's my girlfriend. Thought I told you about her." 

She sighed dismissively, "of course. Nothing is wrong at all. I absolutely love the fact that she looks exactly like the woman who used to give me cookies when I was three years old and who I adored like an idiot!" 

Stefan noticed the irony in her voice, "she's not Katherine, Mel." 

She stated, "I still don't like her." 

There was an awkward pause but before he could say something in Elena's defense, the silence was broken by a low rumbling laughter. 

They turned around to see Damon, "I appreciate the honesty, Mel. But I think I have missed something. What's going on with you and little Gilbert? Because as far as I know, Saint Stefan would never suggest you to ask Jeremy for company without any reason at all." 

She muttered, "Damon! You're not supposed to change the topic." 

He grabbed a sandwich from her plate as usual, "so I suppose you have met Elena?" 

Instead of replying she questioned him, "have you?" 

He shrugged, "perhaps. I don't really care since she's already taken by Stefan here." 

Melanie asked, "and if she wasn't?" 

Damon gave her mischievous wink, "worth a shot then at least." 

She shook her head, "why are you both so obsessed with girls who look like Katherine?" 

Stefan cleared his throat to gain their attention, "stop discussing, you two. Damon, why don't you ask Mel about her first day at school?" 

He leaned back, "nope that's boring stuff. I'd rather ask something else." 

Melanie narrowed her eyes warningly at him, "I know what you're going to ask, Damon. So better hear this; me and Jeremy are just friends. Best friends to be precise. And you're not supposed to tease me about this anymore." 

He smirked, "who said anything about little Gilbert anyway?" 

She sighed in defeat, "fine. What are you going to ask?" 

He spoke, "you and little Gilbert are best friends, I get that and don't have any problem with it, but how come you hate your best friend's sister? Doesn't make any sense, you know." 

She stated, "it beats me how you both are so dumb not to understand one simple fact. Elena reminds of Katherine. She looks like the monster who tortured me for years and ruined my life. How can you expect me to like her then?" 

Stefan spoke, "but the truth is that she's not like Katherine at all. She's different and she's not a maniac who would kill people for fun. You should give her a chance at least." 

She rolled her eyes wearily, "what difference does it make whether I like her or hate her? I'm not supposed to be interfering in the lives of the infamous Salvatore brothers since right now I'm just Alyssa Grace who knows nothing about this town or it's people." 

Damon squeezed her hand a little, "you're right. But you know we are always going to be there for you. The Elena chick doesn't make any difference and neither will she ever be more important than you." 

She smiled, "I'm not insecure, Damon. I know that. It just becomes difficult to interact with her since she reminds me of every painful experience I had to go through years ago. You guys are fantastic, you know, and I love you. But sometimes it's more than impossible to bury the past. I want to move on. And yet here she is forcing every past memory to the surface." 

Damon stood up and took his car keys, "come on then. We're going for a ride." 

She stared at him in confusion, "what for?" 

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, "you need a break and so do I. I know what you mean by the past getting suffocating. And we're going to take care of it in the best way possible." 

She raised an eyebrow, "and where exactly are you taking me?" 

He was already out in the garage standing by his blue Chevy Camaro, "grab your jacket. It might get a bit cold."

Damon was a fast driver. In no time they were out of Mystic Falls heading towards goodness knows where. Damon wasn't too eager to tell Melanie about the secret destination despite the fact that she kept bugging him. When he thought her mood was getting a bit off he tuned up the car's stereo system. 

"Damon where are we?" Melanie asked about the hundredth time. 

He spoke, "Georgia." 

She was taken aback, "what?" 

He smirked, "seriously we're in Georgia. I'm an efficient driver. Could have qualified easily for those sports car racing championships if not for Saint Stefan's continuous lectures." 

She spoke, "and are we gonna stay for a while in Georgia?" 

He shook his head, "nope. Small places don't interest me. We're going to an Amusement Park. It's called Six Flags over Georgia." 

She asked, "and what's the specialty over there?" 

He smirked, "they have this crazy ride called the Mind Bender. It's a Roller Coaster. I know you'll love it." 

She gasped in alarm, "but I'm scared of heights." 

He shrugged, "you're scared of a lot of things and that probably doesn't make any difference. You're going on the roller coaster with me. And that's final." 

And of course he did as he had said. He dragged Melanie on the roller coaster with him and obviously she was screaming her head off clutching onto him the whole time. 

"That was mind blowing," he said as they got off. 

She was breathless, "never... in my life... will I... ever sit on a... roller coaster again!" 

He laughed and gave her a playful shove, "Scaredy Cat!" 

Later he took her to McDonald's and when the waiter came to take the order, he ordered a Happy Meal for her. 

She sighed wearily, "I hope you remember I'm not a kid anymore." 

He raised an eyebrow, "oh really? Then who was screaming like a kid on the roller coaster?" 

She held her hand in her hands, "Damon, you said I needed a break. But all that I have got right now is a super dose of intolerable Damon behavior. And your idea of a break is not helping at the moment." 

He dropped down his smirk and faced her seriously, "fine. I won't annoy you now. Happy?" 

She nodded, "thanks a bunch." 

The meal arrived and it was a kiddy meal after all since Damon refused to order anything else while he stole more than half of her fries as usual. On the way back, he had bought her an ice cream to cheer her up so she was in a better mood. 

"You can't deny that it wasn't fun riding the roller coaster though," he spoke. 

She leaned back in the car seat, "yup. But I'm tired a lot now." 

He looked over at her slightly drooping eyelids, "you can sleep but after I have a nice little chat with you. About Elena." 

She groaned, "not now, Damon." 

He spoke nevertheless, "I want to make one thing clear to you so that you can stay away from hurting Elena. She's not like Katherine in the least. She's completely different." 

Melanie suppressed a yawn, "I get it. She's an adorable little girl who's spent her whole life among the little birdies and the pretty butterflies." 

Damon muttered, "Melanie, enough of the sarcasm." 

She rolled her eyes, "look who's saying that? I'm your daughter. Your flesh and blood. How can I not be sarcastic? Oh yeah, I'm not sarcastic. I'm satirical." 

His eyes darkened but he kept his gaze fixed on the road ahead, "we don't talk about our blood relations anymore. What I want you to know is, that you're not supposed to hate Elena." 

She spoke, "it doesn't even matter in the first place. Anyhow why does Elena look a lot like her if she's not Katherine? She's supposed to be connected through bloodline to that pathetic woman. And you know I have a sworn enmity over the Katherine bi... forget it." 

A slight smirk was visible on Damon's face, "I know the intensity of your hatred and I'm not saying anything about it. You might be correct about the bloodline thing. Because in the supernatural world there is a term used for people like Elena and Stefan. Doppelganger. I don't care how to spell it though. There's a long history to it all. But I think you're too sleepy right now." 

She straightened and rubbed her eyes, "I love stories. Besides it's a long way to Mystic Falls." 

He laughed a bit, "okay then. The story dates back to about two thousand years ago." He told her about the legend of Silas and Amara. 

"Silas and Amara were the only known completely immortal beings. They had achieved immortality through magic and by the crucial assistance of a powerful witch. By achieving immortality they disrupted the balance of Nature that states that every living being must die. To complete the Balance, Nature itself created a new type of supernatural creatures known as mortal shadow selves or doppelgangers. They looked exactly like Silas and Amara. Stefan is one of Silas's doppelganger while Elena and Katherine are Amara's. These mortal beings were destined to die in the place of the immortal ones and basically they share bloodlines. There have been a lot of such creatures among the centuries. They are said to be mystical and naturally recurring with special blood properties. But they are technically human." 

He turned to look at her who was staring back with wide open eyes. "You should be a lecturer or something," she mumbled. 

He shook his head, "did you understand or not?" 

She spoke, "it is well a bit confusing. But I get it." 

He nodded, "good." 

After a short pause, she mumbled, "Goodnight, Damon." 

When he glanced at her she was already asleep definitely exhausted. A slight smile spread on his face, "goodnight Mel."