Someone Willing to Stay

Sing It, Handsome

"Smiley face fries?"
Mel smiles, looking down on her plate with a reminiscing stare. She picks up one of the golden circles with the eyes and mouth cut into it, holding it in front of her face even though it only covers the tip of her nose.
I snort, "You're such a child."
"I haven't been here in forever, let me be sentimental." She whines.
I look down at my double cheeseburger she claims is extraordinary. It's decently sized, with everything on it, like a normal burger.
"Just try it."
With a doubtful glance in her direction, I pick up the burger and take a bite.
     Oh my God.
It's fucking delicious. Oh my God. Wow.
A small moan escapes my lips and I smile sheepishly as Mel giggles.
"I told you." She says triumphantly.
She was right.
"This is amazing." My mouth is full but I don't care.
"Who's the child now?" She smirks, taking a bite of her fry.
I ignore her, continuing to eat my food and she does the same.
It's twelve o'clock, I have eight more hours. Eight more hours with her. But I never want this moment to end. I don't want to leave this place. Not just because of the food.
She hasn't stopped smiling for a second. The smile that makes her eyes glow and her little button nose to scrunch up. I want her to smile like this forever. I want her to eat as many of those stupid smiley fries as she can. And just keep being happy.
"Stop looking at me like that, you're freaking me out." Mel looks at me confused.
I shake my head, "Sorry, you just have something right there."
Her eyes open out of embarrassment, "Oh my God, where?"
Her hands start wiping random spots on her face and I resist the urge to chuckle.
"No," I say, "Right here."
I swipe some ketchup off of my plate with my finger and quickly wipe it on her nose.
She gasps.
"What are you ten?"
I grin, "Guilty as charged."
She throws a ketchup covered fry that nails me in the middle of the forehead.
"Nice shot, Melanie!" A voice calls from behind the counter.
"Thanks for the support, Mike." I yell back earning a round of laughter from Mel.
I wipe the ketchup off of my face with a napkin and she does the same.
"Truce?" I ask.
She nods.
Her eyes light up as she sees something behind me, "I'll be right back."
I nod and continue to eat, stealing one of her fries.
It's seconds later that an upbeat tune starts to play and I turn around.
Mel is walking away from the jukebox with a smile, bouncing up and down to the beat.
We're the only two customers in here, so there's no reason why she shouldn't be acting like we're the only ones in the room. But it's so out of character for her, it makes me smile.
"I stay out too late, got nothin in my brain," she sings along while walking towards me, "at least that's what people say."
I stare at her and the way she's bouncing to the beat. She stops in front of me and smiles.
"Come on, you know you want to."
"Sing it, Handsome!" Carlie yells from behind the counter.
I roll my eyes but it it my half eaten burger down, "I go on too many dates, but I can't make 'em stay. At least that's what people say."
Mel nods with a grin, motioning for me to stand up with her.
I do so with a fake sigh and stand next to her, watching as she dances along to the words.
"But I keep cruising, can't stop, won't stop moving."
"It's like I got this music, in my mind saying it's gonna be alright."
And suddenly we're both jumping up and down to the beat blaring throughout the restaurant. Screaming the words like Carlie and Mike aren't staring at us with knowing smiles.
"Cuz the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate," we both look at each other and shake our wrists like we had gotten a hand cramp, "baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off."
It's like we're both eight years old again, sitting in my mom's van on the way to the park.
I grab her hand and twirl her around, she giggles, looking at me the whole time.
We've danced our way through every corner of the room, and by the time the song's almost over, Carlie and Mike and doing their own dance behind the counter.
It's this moment. The moment that we're dancing and I don't feel stupid because she doesn't make me feel stupid. And she's not afraid because with me there's nothing to be afraid of. This moment, I want it to last forever.
"My ex-man brought his new girlfriend and she's like oh my god, baby I'm just gonna shake it to the fella over there with the hella good hair, won't you come on over baby we can shake, shake, shake." She's impossibly close to me, the bouncing has stopped. And we're looking at each other breathlessly with these goofy smiles that just won't go away.
Then the beat drops again and her head shakes and she's dancing again, shaking my stare off of her.
We keep dancing until the end of the song, when the final note plays and we're standing on opposite ends of the room, looking at each other like we're kids again.
God, I wish we were kids again. I wish I had never left.
"That was fun." Mel tells me as she walks toward me and I meet her in the middle.
I'm looking down at her. Her cheeks are flushed and her chest is rising up and down heavily. She's perfect.
There's a flash of light and the both of us spin around to see Carlie holding a Polaroid camera.
"What," she asks innocently but her smirk shows otherwise, "y'all are too cute."
She shakes the picture so it develops quicker and then holds it out.
I walk up to it and grab it.
There we are, with the booths in the back ground. She's looking up at me with a breathless smile and I'm looking down at her like she's the only person in the world. And in that moment, she was.
"Thanks." I tell Carlie.
She nods.
"Come on, let's box up our food." Mel insists.
I follow her instructions and take the box that Mike hands me, walking back over to our table to our the remainder of our meals in it.
"It was nice seeing you again." Mel tells Carlie after I box everything up and stand by the door waiting patiently.
Carlie gives her another bear hug that sweeps her off of her feet, "Don't be a stranger, Melanie. And bring this boy around sometime, he's good eye candy."
Mel rolls her eyes, "Goodbye. Mike." She calls.
"Bye, Sweetheart."
I laugh as Carlie comes up to me while Mel runs to give Mike a hug.
"Just so you know," Carlie says with a smile, "this is the happiest she's been in a while."
I smile.

________
Hey guys! 330 reads?? It's a fricking dream come true. Thank you guys so much for reading and voting, it means the world to me! Love you bunches, hope you enjoyed.