Melinda Porter was cursed to stop aging once she turned eighteen. It was similar to having immortality, but all she had to do to break the curse was find her soulmate.
After moving to a different town due to looking younger than her supposed age...
Melinda's eyes fluttered open but squinted immediatey at the bright light above her. Her body ached and her joints felt stiff as she tried to sit up, her vision going dark once more from the sudden movement. For a short moment, the girl assumed she was still on her couch back in her small farm house in Forks. She thought the past few hours of her life had been one horrible dream but the soft sound of Edward Cullen's voice and a hand on her back told her differently.
"Melinda, are you alright?" Edward asked in a hushed voice as the girl rubbed at both of her eyes before slowly opening them. She was in a small room with brown and blue wallpaper. Some of the lights were turned off, casting a dim shadow on parts of the space. Melinda sharply inhaled when she saw Bella laying in a hospital bed with an oxygen line wrapped around her head.
"Wha...what...how..." Melinda was at a loss for words at the sight of her friend and could only wonder how she ended up in a hospital room. She remembered every last detail of the previous events except she couldn't recall leaving the ballet studio that had been destroyed by angry vampires or arriving at the hospital. She didn't even know what city she was in, but assumed it was still Phoenix.
"It's okay." Edward gently pulled at Melinda's shoulder so that she was resting against the wall of the room with Edward's arm behind her neck. They were sitting on a slightly uncomfortable bench that had a white sheet on it with a pillow that looked like it had been put to good use.
"Is Bella okay?" Melinda asked as she looked away from the girl and glanced up at Edward. He unsurprisingly didn't have a scratch on him from the fight with James.
"She will be. Her leg is broken and her wrist will need time to heal." Edward replied. His eyebrows were turned downwards as he stared at Bella, thinking that this mess was all his fault.
"What happened to me? I don't remember getting here."
"Carlisle thinks you passed out from the shock of everything going on. It was too overwhelming. I just told the doctors you were sleeping and brought you in here to be with Bella and I. She hasn't woken up yet." Edward explained. It made enough sense to Melinda so she didn't question it further.
"Edward, before Bella wakes up I need to talk to you about something." Melinda stared down at her hands as she spoke, fiddling with her own fingers as a way to distract herself.
"I know you do. But I can't figure out what. You told me to stay out of your thoughts and I've been trying really hard to." Edward said as he pulled his arm away from Melinda and angled his body so that he was facing her more.
"I think it might be easier if you just read my mind because I don't know how to tell you this." Melinda mumbled with a soft chuckle as she tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. "You see...uh...I like you a lot, Edward. But it's not some sort of school crush like you might think it is."
"I know it isn't." Edward replied with a blank expression on his face. He was waiting for Melinda to continue, hoping she'd explain the thoughts that she didn't want him to know about.
"When I was thirteen, I was cursed to stop aging on my eighteenth birthday. The only way to break the curse was to find my soulmate. I moved to Forks because I can't stay in one place for too long or people will wonder why I look so much younger than I actually am." Melinda began her explanation, glancing at Edward's pale face occasionally to see his reaction. So far, he sat contently listening to every word.
"How long have you been cursed?" Edward asked in a quiet voice. He knew exactly what it was like to stop aging and move around constantly.
"I stopped aging in 1925." Melinda replied. She half expected Edward to freak out, but was surprised when all he did was raise his eyebrows in amusement.
"I win. 1918." Edward smirked softly.
"That's how long you've been a vampire for?" Melinda asked and got a simple nod out of Edward in response. The girl looked down at her hands again, a weight dropping on her heart as she realized just how long she and Edward had been alive for but only managed to meet now, at the completely wrong time.
"Anyways, continue on with your story. Has the curse been broken yet?" Edward gently nudged Melinda in the ribs to urge her to carry on. She couldn't find the nerve to look up at him as she continued.
"Yeah, it has. Edward, you are my soulmate. But I think part of the curse is that I will find my soulmate but they won't love me back. My father was set to marry a woman, but chose someone else. That same woman who he was supposed to marry is the one that cursed me."
"I never said anything about not loving you, Melinda. From the moment I met you I've felt some sort of...connection...with you. Like I'd do anything to protect you. The thought of losing you rips me apart. But Bella is..." Edward's voice had grown so quite he was scared of anyone hearing it other than the redhead sitting beside him with her gaze shifted away from his. He trailed off on his words, not knowing what else to say.
"The one you chose. I get it." Melinda finished for him. "That nosebleed I had while with your family, it wasn't just a regular mishap. I've never had a nosebleed before in my life. I think my body was warning me that danger was coming. You were in danger but I took all the pain from it. We are connected, I just don't know how. All I know is that I've been aging every single day since I met you and you picking Bella over me has broken my heart." Melinda's voice began to crack as her eyes glossed over, finally bringing herself to look at Edward. He wore nothing but guilt on his face as his dark eyes peered into Melinda's green ones. Her cheeks were flushed with a bright red that made her freckles almost blend in entirely.
"I'm sorry, Melinda. I'm so sorry." Edward repeated as he didn't know what else to say. Melinda wiped her cheek with her fingertips as a single tear started to roll down before standing up from the bench and looking down at Edward.
"It's just part of the curse. I'm not allowed to be with my soulmate because my father broke some witch's heart. Don't feel too bad about it." Melinda declared with a small smile before walking out of the hospital room. Edward followed her out and gently grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him.
"What can I do to make this better?" The boy asked with a subtle redness under his eyes and a frown on his lips.
"There's nothing you can do." Melinda mumbled before pulling her arm away from Edward's grasp and walking away from him down the hallway of the hospital.
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