The Five Times Melinda Halliwell Fell in Love
(Or thought she did)
Melinda Halliwell hid shyly behind her mother as they both watched 11-year old Wyatt, 9-year old Chris, and Wyatt's 11-year old half-manticore friend, Michael, chat excitedly about what they were going to do while Michael stayed over at the manor for the weekend, something Wyatt and Chris had been talking about for days.
It wasn't until Wyatt and Chris began up the stairs when Michael noticed the 7-year-old brunette clutching her mother's hand. He told the boys he'd be up in a minute and he walked over to where she was standing, glancing at Piper for approval first. She smiled warmly and released Melinda's hand.
"I'll be in the kitchen, sweetie."
And she left.
"Hi," He said. "I'm Michael."
"I'm Melinda," She said shyly.
"I think I'll call you Little Mel."
And she had fallen in love.
The whole weekend, Melinda was either glancing at Michael every few seconds, following him and her brothers around, or talking to him with a look of awe on her face. It took her a whole two months to get over him and decide that boys were yucky, but her mother and aunts never let it go, even when she was older. But Melinda would never forget the day when he found out.
"Just because Melly here used to have a crush on you," Penny snorted.
Melinda whipped her head around to see him walking in with her older cousin, and just in time to meet his eyes. Of course, since the incident, she never saw him for more than a brother, which made this newfound discovery of his a little more than embarrassing for the young Halliwell.
Michael's face split into a grin, "When was that, Mel?"
"That first weekend you came," Melinda admitted. "I'd never really seen a guy like you, and you gave me a nickname."
"It was love at first sight," Michael joked.
Melinda laughed, "Yeah, and don't get your hopes us, because I'm kind of taken and I see you as a brother, which would make it…"
"Awkward?"
Melinda nodded with a smile. Michael rolled his eyes and gave her a lazy grin, making Melinda remember something else.
"And I though I've told you not to call me that, Peterson."
Melinda's second love had also been a family friend, but he had been liked for other reasons than being nice. See, twelve-year-old Jason had always been quiet, thus being labeled as mysterious by ten-year-old Melinda. She had begun reading more and more books of love between girls and mysterious boys, and no matter what the description was in the book, she thought of Jason.
"What are you doing?"
Melinda jumped slightly, and sat up from where she had been lying on the couch in the living room. Jason was standing there, his eyebrows raised as she blinked rapidly and looked down at her book with flaming cheeks.
"I was reading."
"Reading what?"
"A book."
Jason rolled his eyes, and Melinda had to bite her tongue from sighing at how cute he seemed to be to her. He held out a hand and Melinda gave him the book. After reading the back of the book, he raised his eyebrows again, handing it back to her. She waited expectantly.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"What did you think about it?" Melinda asked impatiently.
"Oh, I thought it was stupid. Those love stories never happen in real life."
"They do too!"
"No, they don't," Jason said. "They're just stories."
"No, they're not!"
"Yes, they are."
"No, they're not!"
Rolling his eye again, Jason grabbed her arm, yanking her up to her feet, and pulled her towards him, where his lips met hers in an awkward kiss. It lasted, like, two seconds, all of which Melinda was waiting for heaven. When he pulled back, he gave her a look, as if he had just proved a point.
"See? That wasn't the kiss of your dreams, was it?"
"Well…no."
And it wasn't. That had been…ridiculous! All it felt like was her kissing a wall, which moistness. It was gross! Melinda wiped her mouth on her sleeve unconsciously, causing Jason to give her an incredulous look.
"Boys are stupid," She snapped, throwing her book at him.
He dodged it as she ran up the stairs to her room to cry over broken fairytales.
Six years later, it was the same situation. Melinda was lying on the couch reading a book when she felt someone standing over her. She looked up with raised eyebrows to see Jason standing over her, watching her read. He held out his hand and she rolled her eyes, tossing it to him. He caught it, read the back, and handed it back.
"Finish your inspection, Detective Jenkins?"
"You're reading about witch lore."
"No more fairytales," She agreed.
Surprising her, he gave a rare smile, "Glad to see my teaching worked."
He turned and walked off. Melinda jumped up and grinned wickedly to herself as she held up her book.
"Hey, Detective?"
And as he turned, he was hit in the face with a book about witch lore, and his ears were filled with laughter from Melinda Halliwell, who just giggled until she finally pulled it together and walked past him up the stairs to her room.
"Boys are still stupid," She grinned as she walked past.
"He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves…"
Thirteen-year-old Melinda paused in her flower picking to see him and his friends walking towards where she, Henry, and Prue were sitting together in the shade of the big tree at school. When Jack made it to where they were standing, he stepped forward and gave Melinda a wry smile.
"Hey, Melinda."
"Oh, er…um, hi Jack," She tossed the flower behind her, trying not to smile guiltily.
"I'm inviting you to go to the dance with me."
"Really? Oh my god, yes! Of course I'll go with you! I mean, um sure. When…er, I mean where…"
"I'll meet you there," Jack shot her a smirk. "And wear something pretty, or I'll dump you."
And he turned and walked away, snickering with his friends. Melinda sighed and picked up her flower, picking off all the leaves again. She heard an angry mumbling behind her and turned to see that both Prue and Henry were glaring at Jack as he and his friends left. Prue then turned on Melinda.
"Why do you let him do that?"
"Do what?"
"He acts like you're his servant. Don't let him treat you that way!"
"He treats you like trash, Mel," Henry agreed. "Tell him off."
"But I like him," Melinda admitted.
"Why?" Prue exploded. "He's a jerk, he's stupid, and he's using you!"
"What?"
"He's just using you because he wants to try and make his ex-girlfriend jealous," Henry said. "I heard them joke about you, Mel."
Melinda's eyes filled with tears, and she wiped them away angrily. She stood and marched after Jack. When she reached him, he smirked and greeted her suavely, obviously trying to impress his friends.
Well, his friends weren't impressed by his black or split lip.
Three years later, Melinda was walking down the streets of San Francisco, struggling to carry all of her groceries to the car, so she could take them back to the manor, since it was her turn to go buy them and bring them home, since her family was either at work or busy.
She stumbled once, and tripped over a small rock, almost toppling over, when hands grasped her waist and steadied her. Then, she was helped by grabbing some of the groceries. She smiled in appreciation and turned to see her rescuer to thank him.
"Oh, thanks, I was—" And she stopped dead, blinking in surprise.
Jack smiled sheepishly, "Hi Melinda."
"Oh…hi Jack."
"Where's your car?" He asked. "I can help you take them."
"It's that green jeep over there," Melinda pointed out her mother's car.
Once all the bags were safely in the trunk of her mother's car, Melinda turned to Jack, ready to give an awkward thanks only to see that he was looking at the ground with a serene expression that made her curious. She put her hands on her hips and gave him an expectant look, since he obviously had something to say.
"I wanted to apologize for what happened when we were thirteen," Jack said, scratching the back of his neck and meeting her eyes.
"Oh. Well, apology accepted," Melinda gave him a warm smile. "It was just a crush."
"Yeah," Jack agreed. "I'm glad you gave me that black eye, though. I deserved it."
"Kind of," Melinda nodded. "But I have to go. My cousin's baseball game is in an hour—"
"Have a good time, Melinda," Jack gave her a brief smile before turning and walking away.
Well, that was weird.
It had been disaster from the beginning for the fifteen-year-old Halliwell. He had repeated exactly the same thing that had happened to Melinda's Aunt Phoebe, and pretended to be a normal guy at her school. He revealed he was a demon while they were kissing him, and told her he loved her, which he truly did.
"How could you not tell me?" Melinda asked, not meeting his eyes.
"Melinda—" Eric started
"No, please don't talk. I don't…I just…"
"Melinda Prudence Halliwell, I love you with every fiber of my being. Please, please accept what I am," He begged. "I love you."
And she broke. Melinda nodded slowly, before looking up at him. When their eyes met, he pulled her in for a kiss. After a few seconds, she pulled back, her eyes searching his for any lies. It was true, he did love her.
"Please don't break my heart," She whispered.
"Never."
Eric loved her. But he also wanted to make her evil, which caused it to end.
A year later, when she was a vampire and happily engaged to Damon Salvatore, he came to visit her while she was in a small coffee shop, admiring her ring with a happy sigh. She tensed when she caught sight of him and instantly put her hand off the table, hiding it from view. He sat down across from her, causing her to get ready to stand and leave.
"Wait," He caught her wrist. "Please, just let me talk."
"Okay," Melinda sat down and crossed her arms. "What?"
"I wanted to say that though I still love you…" Eric ignored the way she rolled her eyes. "…I want you to be happy, so I'm giving you congratulations on your engagement."
Her eyes snapped to meet his and narrowed, "That's it?"
"That's it," Eric nodded. "Goodbye, Melinda. Have a good life."
He stood and made his way towards the door.
"Thank you," She said aloud. "Goodbye."
"This is amazing," Melinda said, smiling and leaning on Damon's chest as they sat in front of the fire on the couch. "We never get any 'us' time."
"Well, since baby brother and Elena are at the lakehouse this weekend, Judgy's been neutralized, Blondie's on a date with some mystery guy, and nobody seems intent on killing us, I think we've got a lot of time."
Melinda glanced up at him with a sly grin, "So we're all alone?"
"Completely," Damon said, smirking down at her.
He pulled her up for a kiss when her arm came up with a pillow in hand and hit him right in the face. Melinda jumped up and ran away, giggling madly. She could practically hear him roll his eyes as she glanced back to see if he was following her. Instead, she ran into something hard, and soon realized it was his chest. She gasped as he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back to him.
"Cheater," She accused with a laugh.
He gave her a smile and kissed her, only to have his arms empty once again as she let loose a laugh and ran away. Damon let out a low growl and chased after her with a determined grin. After catching her and tickling her mercilessly, she finally gave up. They were lying on the couch again, but this time, her eyes were drooping lazily.
Damon was focused on the fire, so he didn't notice the brunette in his arms slowly submitting to sleep. He was about to talk when he realized her breathing had slowed, so he looked down to see her eyes closed. To him, she looked absolutely adorable, not that he would admit to anyone.
When Melinda woke the next morning, she was in Damon's bed and she was comfortably lying on his chest as he watched her. She hummed softly as he twirled pieces of her hair.
"How'd you get me up here last night?"
"Don't tell anyone, but I'm a vampire."
"Mmm, funny."
"I love you," He said, completely out of the blue.
Melinda blinked and looked up at him with a small smile. He was watching her carefully, still playing with her hair.
"I love you," She agreed. "And I always will."
