A Second Chance • A.F. {#wattys2018}

Chapter 22

Melody

A couple of days had gone by and I was finally back at my flat in Manchester. The boys were all staying at Andy's place until I had spoken to Elijah, which leads to the scenario now.

I was stood in my kitchen, a glass of wine in my hand, I had already drank half of the bottle to rid the nerves, waiting for Elijah to come over.

He must've known something was about to happen due to the lack of communication we've had over the past few weeks.

My heart dropped to my stomach as I heard the door open and saw a tanned figure walking in. He found me in the kitchen and immediately hugged me and I just sank into his chest.

"I think I know where this is going to go babe" he was lightly rocking us and my body went stiff, scared of his reaction.

"You do?"

"Mel baby, Luke and Kyle can't keep anything quiet, I knew you'd gone to see him but I didn't want to say anything until you had fully decided and since you called me over, I'm guessing it's bad for me?" He smiled down at me as a single tear fell from my eyes but he was quick to wipe it away.

"Hey, why are you crying, it's okay" his hands found their way to my cheeks as I looked at him. "

"Elijah we've had 2 years of unbelievable memories, you've treated me way better than I deserve, you never let me fall and if I did you were there to pick me back up. You always collected my broken pieces and helped mend them together. You always helped me through my episodes when I thought things would never get better. You give me hope and I hate that this is happening right now." The tears were falling properly now and he pulled me back into his chest.

"Melody Grace. You know I want you to be happy no matter what and if he makes you happy then I want you to be with him, even though he's hurt you multiple times, I can tell that he makes the fireworks spark. You know I will always be here to pick up the pieces, whether it's a month from now or a year, I will be there for you" I knew that he had started crying because I felt the tears land on my head but it didn't bother me.

"I just hate that he came back after 3 years and made me fall for him all over again. Elijah I'm scared that he'll hurt me again in the future"

"Melody, he's lucky that you're giving him another chance, I doubt he'd hurt you again and if he did you know you can come to me"

He parted from the hug and I saw his face was now tear stained like my own as he leant down and lightly kissed me for the last time.

He opened the door but stopped and turned around "Goodbye Mel, I love you" and with that he left.

As soon as the door closed my body went limp and my I fell to the floor, the tears falling faster than ever and I called Lydia.

Lydia

I was sat catching up on some TV when I saw Melody calling my phone, I clicked answer and put the phone to my ear.

M: Lydia ?

L: Melody? Hey what's up?

M: Can you come over? I need my best friend right now

L: of course I can, I'll be there in 5

M: okay, I love you Lyds

L: I love you too Mel, see you soon

She hung up the phone and I grabbed my bag and car keys and drove to Melody's place.

                               •••••••••

I decided to let myself in with the spare key that Mel had given me and as soon as I entered, I saw her sat on the kitchen floor, her back pressed against the cupboards.

There was obvious tear marks down her face so I rushed to her side and just hugged her.

"Mel what happened?" I asked while I was stroking her hair, I knew it soothed her.

"I just broke up with Elijah, and although it's what I wanted, I can't help but feel like I've just made an awful decision" the tears continued to roll down her face.

"Oh babe, look at me" I lightly pulled her chin so she was looking at me, Melody was like my sister and seeing her upset and hurt made me sad.

"You know Elijah will always be there for you no matter what happens, he could never leave you broken and even though you two aren't together anymore, you know he'll always be watching over you and checking in on you. He's been a part of your life for years now and obviously you're going to be hurt, it's hard to let memories like that go, but what matters most is that you have those memories and now you can start a new chapter in your life"

She smiled up at me and we sat opposite each other with our legs crossed. "I'm scared that this chapter of my life might be the worst" she sighed and twiddled her thumbs.

"Why?"

"Because Andy lives in Slough, he's always touring and apparently they aren't even allowed to be in relationships so I would love to know Andy's plan for us" she laughed lightly at the end of the sentence which caused me to laugh too.

"Girl we have to go to one of their tours and get drunk, we'd be the life of the show" I giggled and stood up to grab a bottle of wine and two glasses.

I sat back down and poured them out, handing one to Mel and keeping one for myself. "Oh you know we would" she laughed as she took a mouthful of the wine.

"Should we go out tonight?" She looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I swear this was the first time I had seen Melody genuinely happy in ages.

"Don't you have to work?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows.

"Nopee, I had two weeks off, I go back in a couple of days so tonight I'm ready to get drunk and forget about all of my life problems"

"Now you're talking Mel, cmon let's go get ready!!" I grabbed her arm as we both walked to her bedroom and sat down in-front of the mirror and prepared for a great night.