Damon was waiting for Andie to show up at the restaurant he had sent her the location to. He had been on edge ever since he had talked to Melanie and received a lecture on burdening Andie. So he wanted to clear things up.

In a short while, Andie came to the place and spotted him sitting in an isolated corner, she made her way to that booth.

She looked scared and nervous as she took her seat, her eyes flickering in unease toward him.

Right then, he realized that perhaps Melanie, or rather Alyssa, had been right about him becoming toxic to Andie. She was terrified of him but still dutifully looked after each task he gave her. Perhaps his presence was strangling her like a poison but she couldn't do anything to free herself from him.

"Hi," she spoke hesitantly, feeling that he would be angry at her for the way Alyssa had taken her phone from her and scolded him.

But much to her surprise, he did not lash out at her. He was just looking back at her with his blue eyes full of guilt and remorse, an expression she hadn't ever seen there before.

"Damon, are you alright?" She grew concerned, "why are you not saying anything?"

"I am sorry," he spoke up at last, looking into her brown eyes, "I didn't realize how horribly I was treating you all this time. Andie, I... I never meant to take things this far."

She was shocked into silence because an apology was the last she could have expected him to give her. She had been well aware that Damon didn't love her and was only keeping her around because he wanted someone to look after Alyssa. But hearing him sincerely apologize shook that perception.

"Damon, I... I don't know what to say about this. I hadn't expected you would... Is everything okay?"

She was still concerned for him and that made him feel worse. He had used Andie's feelings and manipulated her into following his orders. He shouldn't have done that.

"Everything will be okay," he ran a hand through his hair, taking in a deep breath, "I called you here because I have to tell you something very important."

She straightened, ready to hear whatever he had to say.

"From this day forth, you will no longer be reporting to me," he told her and she blinked, unable to process why he was saying that, "you are not responsible for Melanie anymore. I feel like she has adjusted to her life well by now and doesn't need us to hover over her. If you want, you can come back to Mystic Falls."

"But she's still..." However, her voice trailed off, seeing him raise an eyebrow.

"She's still what?"

"She has been unstable ever since she went into your room and found all her old pictures and cards," Andie told him, feeling slightly less scared to see that he wasn't going to lash out at her, "I think I should stay with her."

"Oh... Okay," he nodded, thinking about it, "and what else has she been up to?"

"She's attending her classes regularly now which is a good thing," Andie began to recount the past few days, "she has made friends too. Actually... That's something I had to report to you. The friend she has made in university is Jeremy Gilbert."

Damon seemed surprised to hear that, "Jeremy? What is he doing here?"

"I don't know. I saw him once or twice with her. She told me he's a transfer student and will be completing the rest of his degree here."

"Oh..." Those blue eyes darkened in a worried look, "but if Jeremy is here and he has met her too, that is not a good thing at all. She will ask him about us, about Mystic Falls, about everything... We have to stop that... We have to keep Jeremy away from her..."

She could feel that he was getting paranoid again so she gently clasped his hand, trying to make him understand, "Damon, no. She has finally started to get better and I think it's because of Jeremy. If he is kept away from her, who knows, she would get worse."

He seemed at a loss of what to do. Having Jeremy Gilbert in close proximity to Alyssa meant that she would eventually unlock all her memories connected to the Salvatore brothers as well as Mystic Falls.

And he didn't want that to happen because to that day, he couldn't forget the haunted look that had been in her wide blue eyes as she had begged him to make her forget everything and take the pain away. He couldn't put her through that again.

"Look, what if we talk to Jeremy?" Andie suggested, garnering his attention at last, "we can tell him that Alyssa had to leave Mystic Falls for her own safety and it's better if she's never taken there. I think he will want what's best for her too. He might agree to help us even."

Damon considered the offer, realizing that Andie's suggestion was plausible.

"Both of them care a lot for each other," she resumed, "I am sure he would want to help. We just have to take him into confidence."

Damon's features hardened into an expressionless look as he spoke, "I can't tell anyone what happened to her. And especially not to little Gilbert."

"But we can tell him at least something... Something enough to make him understand that returning to Mystic Falls is dangerous for her," she tried to persuade him, "maybe we could say she almost got killed by a... You know."

She left the sentence deliberately incomplete, knowing there were a lot of supernatural creatures that the town had to offer to fill up that blank space. They could tell Jeremy that Alyssa had gotten attacked by a vampire or a werewolf and hence Andie was keeping her away from that town for her own safety.

Damon considered once again and then nodded, "alright, I will talk to him myself."

"Please don't say anything that would make him leave," she urged, her grip tightening on his hand, "you may not realize this, Damon, but both of them are helping each other in ways we can't help them. She has been much happier ever since he showed up. Don't make him leave from her life too."

Those words cut through his heart but he nodded, agreeing to her offer, "fine. I won't make him leave."

"Thank you," she breathed out in relief, letting go of his hand at last.

After a while, Andie left but Damon was still there, thinking about how to approach Jeremy and what to tell him. If he told him the truth, it would get too confusing.

He had to think up a believable cover story and hope that little Gilbert would take his word for it even though the chances of that happening were slim.

But Andie was right too. Alyssa no longer had any of the people who truly loved her close to her, Jeremy was the only one she had left. It would be horrible if she lost him too.

It would hurt her and Damon didn't want anything to ever hurt his daughter.

He had failed in ensuring that once before but now that he had the chance to fix things, he would try his best not to repeat his past mistakes.

***