The Mending Of Hearts | 𝑫𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆

twenty

[ updated 4/7/21 ]

As we arrived at the boarding house, Damon and I had been arguing for the past hour over who would retrieve the blood. I didn't want him to risk his life and possibly get marked, and he didn't want me to fall prey to the witches and get killed. Quite frankly, I felt insulted that he assumed I wouldn't be able to do it.

"I'm not arguing about this anymore, Damon," I say as I walked to the front door.

"I'm glad we're on the same page about something!" he exclaimed. I ignored him as Stefan opened the door. His face was plastered with a frown, and my heart dropped.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. He looked behind me as I felt Damon's presence inches away from mine.

"Yeah, just... come in," I exchanged a confused glance with Damon as we walked in. Halfway inside the house, I froze as Jayce emerged from the living room. His lips were pressed together in a thin line as he glared at me. God, I almost forgot how scary he looked when he was angry.

"Jayce. You came back," it was more a statement than a question. He crossed his arms over his chest, his movements slight.

"I did. You can imagine my surprise when I couldn't find you and Stefan informed me about your... whereabouts," he sneered. I stayed silent, afraid to speak, knowing whatever I would say would still upset him. He stalked closer, and I felt Damon inch closer to me. "You weren't going to tell me?" he asked after the longing silence.

I exhaled and took a step closer to him, "I didn't want you to worry."

"So you didn't want to tell me you were dying?" he snapped, and I felt myself flinch. No one dared mention my possible death, and hearing it out loud made reality set in.

"We found a cure I'm gonna be-"

"You don't think I had the right to know if my sister was hurt? That she was dying and I was halfway across the world clueless and helpless?" I sighed, and the tension I felt in my body started to subside. I understood why he was so upset.

"You're not helpless, Jayce. After everything you've been through, I didn't want to burden you with something I knew I could handle. I just... I knew if I told you, you would go above and beyond to save me, and I didn't want that. If anything happened to you again, I wouldn't be able to bear it," my voice was on the edge of breaking. His features softened, and he ran a hand through his hair. It has grown longer since I've last seen him.

"I still had a right to know Melina," he said softly. "You almost died trying to save me. How is this any different?" I felt Damon wince as he said those last words.

"Because you were trapped, Jay. That was the only way to save you. We found a cure, and I knew I wouldn't need your help even if you wanted to give it to me." He stayed silent for a few minutes as his gaze went from me to the ground.

"Alright," he said after a few minutes. I released the breath I was holding, and I felt Damon's hand on my back. "You said you found something?"

"Yeah, um-"

"We found a cure. It should remove the mark off her wrist and her life," Damon finished off for me.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jayce asked.

"It's um, well, it's pretty... complicated," I cleared my throat, and I felt Jayce twitch.

"Complicated?" Stefan and Jayce said at the same time. I gave them both a forced smile as I wished I was halfway across the world right now.

"There are two elements for the cure. The concoction the witch made for us and something else," Damon started.

"Something else? Spit it out we don't have all day," Jayce huffed in irritation. I glanced at Damon as he glared at my brother.