take a chance (on me) | s. filan & westlife

𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

flashback to chapter one

after finishing the filming of her youtube video of her covering abba's song chiquitita, her older brother shane had just informed her that it was 6pm and dinner time, wondering if she was hungry. realising she was, the young filan rushed to put on a jacket due how cold she just realised she was as she calls out to her brother that she'd only be a second. 

after rugging up even more with some fluffy socks over her leggings and a zip jacket over her blue crop top, melodie emerged from her filming studio and into the filan dining room. since the losses of both the matriarch and patriarch of the family, mae and peter filan, dinner at the filan household had been quite quiet and eerie-like. but not too eerie that it couldn't be lived in any longer and it was the first filan family dinner that melodie was coming back to after refusing to eat with the family after the deaths of mae and peter. thankfully though, melodie still lived in the house, along with her brother shane and sister-in-law gillian and their three children dropping by the most frequently out of the siblings to check in on the younger girl. however, since all of the filan kids were now adults, when mae and peter were still alive, they would often invite the children and their families over to have breakfast, lunch or dinner whilst melodie still lived at the childhood home whilst also alternating living with shane, gillian and their children. that was until she was able to get her own house or apartment to then sell the childhood home. 

grabbing some food that had been made by her older brother peter, not to be mistaken as the patriarch peter filan sr and peter jr's partner, melodie smiled as she squeezed herself in between shane and her nephew shane jr, or as everyone called him, shayj, as everyone else excitedly dug into their delectable meal that melodie's brother and sister-in-law had spent what seemed like ages making and perfecting. whilst melodie adored all of her siblings' kids, she had the softest spot for shane and gillian's three children, nicole, patrick and shane jr the most and it did sometimes cause arguments. however, that was only when the extended family were visiting, you know, the really nosy and stuck-up extended family? yeah those family members always made a big deal out of the fact that melodie 'favoured' shane and gillian's kids more than the rest of the family for reasons completely unture, made-up and straight-up bullshit. when in reality, the reason why melodie 'favoured' nicole, patric and shane jr was because those were the niece and nephews that she was always visiting and seeing since she does occasionally live with the brother and sister-in-law that were the parents of those three kids. she rarely ever saw her other nieces and nephews that were the kids of her other siblings. yet, it always annoyed melodie to the moon having to constantly explain the reasons for her 'favouritism' of nicole, patrick and shane jr over the other children. now though, that the three kids were way older now than when this whole argument/feud first started, the kids find the entire thing utterly hilarious when the extended family continue to whine and sulk over those three being liked better than the rest of the family. and in all truthfulness, shane and gillian, even though they are the adults and shouldn't be encouraging it at all, they also enjoy the whole drama and are head-deep in the gossip of it all. 

dinner continued quietly, no one really talking since everyone was so hungry and clearly enjoying the food that had been made so conversation didn't feel like a necessity. that was until nicole spoke up, turning her entire body over to her aunty melodie. 

"aunty melodie, what song were you singing today? it sounded gorgeous and i was curious to know what it was," nicole speaks up suddenly as melodie giggles but feels heat rising in her cheeks, shane and gillian smiling at their daughter's sweet question