Hollywood ***

"You really are a waste of space," her step-father yelled as he punched her.

She stared at the ground as she fell. Her mother just watched and contributed to the beating, slapping her daughter as she turned to look at them.

Melody didn't say a word; instead, she waited for them to leave. She just waited until she was able to see her next door neighbor and her best friend, Brian. He knew what went on at her house. Hell, their entire group knew. Each one of them offered her to stay with one of them but Melody refused. She said that they would come after her and she'd get the worst beating of her life. Her actual father wanted to have custody of her but her mother was stubborn and kept denying him it. Even though none of them had met her father, they all knew that she'd be better off with him.

After what felt like an eternity of screaming, yelling, and pain, they left. Probably to get drunk. Either way, Melody didn't care. If they died drunk, she'd be perfectly find with it. She cleaned the blood that came from her split lip and grabbed her jacket. It was bad enough that her friends knew about her home life, she didn't want her other neighbors knowing as well.

"What are you doing here, Mel," Brian asked when he opened his front door.

He didn't even look a bit concerned when he looked at her bruised face and body. In fact, there was the scent of alcohol in his breath.

"Brian, I-"

"Can't you see I'm busy," he snapped.

She could see a girl waiting for him on the couch of his living room. Melody sighed and she knew. Brian found himself another whore to relieve his testerone problems with.

"Fine," Melody replied, "I'm going to see Jimmy. And I thought you were my best friend, Brian."

She just turned around and headed down the street, leaving Brian standing there. She heard him slam his front door shut. It took about five minutes until she reached her desired destination: the Sullivan's house. Melody took a deep breath as she knocked on the front door, hoping that she wouldn't get the same reaction from Jimmy.

As soon as Jimmy opened the front door, he instantly knew and took her into his embrace. He let her cry into his shoulder. He felt some of his own blood boil when she told him what Brian had done, knowing that she had feelings for her best friend but chose to keep them a secret.

"You need to call your dad," Jimmy said as she finally calmed down.

Melody looked at him as he grabbed some ice from the freezer and placed it on the side of her bruised face. She was dead scared to do anything about her home life. Her mother and step-father had threatened her to a point that she was scared to do anything.

"I can't, Jimmy," she whispered.

"Mel, look at you. You need to get out," Jimmy exclaimed, "You're beaten every fucking day and you're scared shitless all the fucking time. You need to go to your dad."

After a few minutes of him giving her every reason that she needed to call her father, Melody dialed the familiar number of her father's house. After a few rings, his soothing voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Daddy," Melody asked, trying not to cry, "Its me."

"Mel, what's wrong," he asked, instantly knowing that there was a reason why his daughter called him, "Did something happen? Did Johnathan hit you again?"

"Yes," she whispered, "I'm at my friend, Jimmy's, house and he told me that I need to call you to get me."

Her father sighed as some shuffling could be heard on his end of the line. "I'm coming to get you. Where does he live?"

"Down the street from Mom's."

"I'm getting you and you are going to live with me because I am going to have full custody of you," he said.

"Alright."

"I'll miss you," Jimmy said as he helped her sneak back into her mom's house and pack up all her clothes.

She gave him a small smile and said, "You guys are going to get big and one day, you'll see me in the crowd and I'll be happy for you."

He sighed as he tossed her bags out the window and into the bush. Melody laughed at him and he smiled. "There's the Mel laugh that I miss," Jimmy said.

"Thanks Jimmy," Melody said as they carried her bags back to his house where her father waited for her.

He looked at his daughter and instantly tensed seeing what was done to her. Melody just bit her lower lip as she stared at the ground. Her father instantly hugged her and told her that everything was going to be okay. She believed him because her father was the only one in her family that didn't scare her.

"Thank you, Jimmy," he said as they placed her bags in the back of his car.

Jimmy just nodded as he looked at Melody. "Take care, Mel."

"You too, Jimmy Jim Jim," she said, giving him a hug, "Tell everyone I said bye, will you?"

He nodded as she got into the car and her father got in as well. The engine started and soon she was gone. Gone from Huntington Beach, gone from her mother and step-father.

"Where's Melody," Matt asked as they gathered the next day for lunch.

Jimmy stared at the table, not wanting to say anything. Brian opened his soda and said, "She stopped by at my house and then she went to see Jimmy."

Eyes and attention turned to him and Jimmy sighed, "She's gone. She finally called her father and now she's gone. Since Brian was being a drunken jackass, she went to my house and I watched her leave."

"What," Val asked, "She's gone as in gone not coming back gone?"

Jimmy nodded, "She told me to say bye to you guys for her."

Brian bit his lower lip. The last time he saw Melody Romanov was him telling her to go away so that he could fuck one of the cheerleaders. Zacky sighed and said, "Well, at least we all know that she's finally out of that Hell that she had to deal with when she was with her mom and step-father."

"Yeah."