Stay

“When we met you said we were the same. You know that we’re different; we’re different. And all the times you promised me that everything would work out in the end. You were gravely mistaken. You say you’re weak. You won’t let me down. You won’t let me down. You lie through your teeth. You smile in your sleep. You smile in your sleep. You lie… You lie through your teeth. You won’t let me down. You lie. I deserve better than this.” – Silverstein

Melody stood outside of the house she once called home. It looked the same which seemed weird to her. Everything else had changed why hadn’t the house? Taking a deep breath she followed Nick up the steps to the front door. The same welcome mat lay underneath their feet as Nick unlocked the doors. The house was dark but just the smell of it brought tears to Melody’s eyes, it smelled the same. Once they passed the entrance way into the open living room Nick flicked on the lights cascading light around the room. Melody look away quickly; it still looked the same. She was afraid to look into the nursery, she had heard form Joe that Nick refused to move anything out of the room.

“What did you want to talk about?” Melody asked focusing her gaze on Nick.

He had been watching her waiting for her reaction to the house. He knew it would take time for her to be here without having a bad feeling about it.

“Want to sit down?” Nick asked gesturing towards the couch.

“I suppose.” Melody answered. She slowly sank into the plush couch.

Nick did the same his eyes never leaving Melody. She looked around the room again her expression unreadable.

“I used to sit in this spot a lot.” Melody said quietly. “It was the most comfortable place for me. I don’t know why.”

“I remember that.” Nick said his head hanging low. “I just wanted to apologize.”

“For what?” Melody asked although she already knew.

“For what happened between us.” Nick replied as he looked at Melody she had her head turned away from Nick. “I know it was my fault everything fell apart.”

“Not entirely.” Melody said turning back to him. “But if it wasn’t for you we never would have realized it wasn’t working.”

“But it was working.” Nick said shaking his head. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” Melody asked frowning.

“Act like what we had was wrong.” Nick said frustrated. “We were perfect.”

“Obviously not Nick, if that was true we wouldn’t be like this.”

“Stop.” Nick said his anger getting the better of him. “I know you know that isn’t true. Everything was going fine until I fucked it all up.”

“Stop blaming yourself Nick.” Melody said suddenly just as angry as Nick. “I should have seen it coming. I should have known we wouldn’t last. The baby wasn’t going to save our doomed relationship, no matter how much you want to believe it would have.”

“Why was it meant to fail?” Nick asked. “You always say that.”

“Because from the start we didn’t work and we just kept forcing it.”

“We are supposed to be together Melody.” Nick said meeting Melody’s steady gaze. “No matter how much time passes we always find each other. The sooner you see we are meant for each other the happier you’ll be.”

“I’m happy with the way things are now.” Melody said, it was a lie but she didn’t need Nick to know her true feelings.

“You’re lying.”

“No, Nick, everything is finally working out the way I want it to.”

“What about us? I know you want us to be together.” Nick said taking her small hands into his bigger ones. “Stop fighting it.”

“Nick –“

“Nicholas!”

Nick flinched as soon as he heard the shrill voice that had called his name. He gave Melody an apologetic smile then quickly stood up. He watched as the beautiful brunette entered the room. Of course she looked like she came directly off of a cat walk. Her hair was perfectly straight and the clothes she wore were designer brands. She was the exact opposite of Melody in every way not just in looks. She was rude and felt like she deserved everything. Nick hated being around her but he couldn’t stop himself form calling her on lonely nights when he was missing Melody the most.

Melody recognized her instantly. She looked even more gorgeous in person. She wore a short dress that hugged her body perfectly making Melody look ugly in comparison. She didn’t notice Melody right away her brown eyes were trained on Nick. Her lips were set into a winning smile as she walked into the room.

“Hello Mia, what are you doing here?” Nick asked nervously.

“Well you weren’t answering my calls so I thought I’d stop by and see if you were ok.” Mia answered as she hugged Nick.

“I told you I had to work.” Nick replied giving her a stiff one armed hug.

“Oh I forgot.”

Mia finally noticed she wasn’t alone with Nick. Her eyes zeroed in on Melody she gave her a quick once over and quickly dismissed her as a threat. She looked back at Nick and gave him a small smile.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”

“Um, yeah. This is Melody.” Nick said glancing at Melody. “Melody this is Mia.”

“Nice to meet you.” Mia said giving Melody her practiced, forced, smile.

“You too.” Melody said not even bothering with a fake smile. “I’ll just leave now.”

“No, please stay.” Nick said turning his full attention on her.

“You said what you wanted to say.” Melody said quietly. “And it’s obvious that you’re not ready for what you want.”

Melody walked past Nick and Mia heading swiftly towards the door. Mia watched her go with a satisfied smile.

“Wait, Mel, I am ready.” Nick said following after Melody. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
Melody stopped and turned slowly around. She fixed her cold glare on Nick.

“Have you slept with her?”

Nick opened his mouth to say no but quickly shut it.

“That’s what I thought.” Melody said sadly. “I would have said yes but now I just want you to leave me alone. I mean it this time.”

Nick knew she did mean it. He could see it in her eyes. He had finally lost her and he wasn’t sure he could get her back this time.

**

As soon as Melody was gone Nick kicked Mia out. She wasn’t happy about she took it as an insult that Nick would want nothing to do with her. Nick was perfectly fine with her thinking that. Once she was gone he got out his guitar and wrote the song that was swirling around in his head a plan already forming as to how he would get Melody back.

Not even twenty minutes later Nick had the song written down and perfect. In his excitement to have someone hear it he forgot to check the time. When he showed up at Joe’s house it was almost two in the morning which explained why Nick was met with a grumpy Joe.

“Why the hell are you here at two in the morning?” Joe asked as he opened the door his eyes half closed.

“I wrote a new song I want you to hear.” Nick said pushing past Joe to walk inside. “I want to play it for Melody.”

“And this couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Joe asked as he yawned.

“No, we need to do this soon.” Nick said impatiently. “Are you going to listen or not?”

“Yeah I’ll listen to it.” Joe grumbled. “Let’s go to the studio so Karen won’t hear us.”

Joe was impressed with Nick’s song and promised he would help Nick with his crazy plan. All Joe had to do was throw a party and invite Melody. She wouldn’t know Nick was going to be at the party then he would make a surprise appearance and play the song. It seemed like an easy enough plan to Nick. He just hoped it would work.