Chapter 15
Melinda
I pressed my back against the door, and tried to control my breathing. Why was he here, and what the hell did I ever do to deserve this?
“Mel?” he pounded on the wood. “We need to talk!”
“Go home, Aaron,” I shouted back just as my mom came around the corner.
She wrinkled her brow as she stared at me sitting there on the floor with Brooklyn happily clapping beside me. He thought it was a game of some kind, and between the three of them, I was ready to break down again.
“Who’s at the door, honey?” she reached down and picked up Brooklyn.
“It’s nobody,” I muttered as I kissed my son goodnight. I nodded a silent ‘thank you’ before watching as she carried him up to bed.
“You should deal with ‘nobody’ before the neighbors start to notice,” she tipped her head toward the door just as Aaron pounded again.
“Melinda! Please?” his voice became muffled like he was leaning against the door, and my heart cracked a little more as I ignored it. Nothing good would come of us talking. He had to see. Now that he knew about Brooklyn, how could we ever work?
Aaron
What just happened? How did we go from one of the best weeks I have had in a long time to me begging her to open her door and talk to me? How did I not know that she has a son? How did Emma not know this? I thought they talked about everything. I thought girls didn’t keep secrets from each other.
I stood there like an idiot, staring at the door to her house. I could hear muffled voices on the other side, and then the porch light went out. I cursed as I backed up and looked up at the house. Lights from inside slowly went out until I was bathed in darkness. She really wasn’t going to let me in, and what little hope I’d been clinging to was slowly slipping away.
I made my way back to my Jeep, and climbed in. It was getting late, but I didn’t plan on leaving. There was no way I was going to drive home tonight. Tomorrow was Sunday. I wouldn’t have class, so I had planned to stay. I’d foolishly thought that once she saw me she’d be so excited and happy that she’d beg me stay. We’d spend all night making love and wake up in each other’s arms. I must have been delusional. Mel wasn’t even going to let me talk. She’d completely shut me out. Well, I wasn’t going to give up that easy.
I pulled the blanket that I kept in the back of my car out, and covered myself up. It wasn’t freezing out since it was spring, but the nights were still chilly. I said a small prayer hoping that tomorrow would be better, and then fell into a fitful sleep by the curb of her house.
I was awoken to tapping on my window the next morning. I blinked against the sun, and shielded my eyes as the man standing outside my Jeep tapped at the window again. “Can I help you?” I rolled it down and sat up.
“I’m just wondering what you’re doing in front of my house?” he crossed his arms over his chest and in that moment, I saw where she got it from. This was Mr. Brooks, Mel’s father.
“I’m waiting to talk to someone,” I cleared my throat.
“You’re the boy from the beach,” he nodded thoughtfully. “I knew there had to be one.”
“Excuse me?” I sat up straighter.
“She came back here all sullen. Been snapping at her mother, and threw herself completely into Brook. I knew there had to a guy involved. I haven’t seen her this twisted up since she told us she was pregnant,” he shook his head. “She must really like you.”
“I slept in my car,” I pointed at myself. “All I wanted to do was talk. If she liked me that much, I would think she’d at least talk to me.”
“You’re not trying hard enough,” he tucked the newspaper he was carrying under his arm.
“Huh?” I started to open my door, and froze when the front door to their house slowly opened, revealing Mel dressed in a pair of sleep shorts and a sweatshirt.
“She’s a tough cookie, and she’s not thinking for just her anymore. She has him to consider,” he pointed in the direction I was staring and that’s when I noticed the little boy from the night before clinging to her leg. Her eyes met mine and she just stared. “I’ll get her to talk to you, but you better have something to say.” Before I could respond, he was walking toward the door.
I watched as he said something to her, and then took the little boy’s hand. He led him into the house, leaving Mel to stand there and continue staring. She didn’t blink, not even once, as she watched me. Her head slowly shook like she was warning me of something before she followed the same path her father had, leaving me there alone once again.
Melinda
“I don’t think he’s going anywhere anytime soon,” my mom’s teasing voice filtered through the kitchen. I’d made lunch for Brooklyn and myself, and Mom was cleaning up the dishes. Aaron had been sitting in his Jeep in front of our house, since last night apparently. I don’t know what he was trying to prove, but whatever it was wasn’t going to work.
“You should at least talk to him,” she urged as I peeled another banana and placed it on the high chair.
“There’s nothing to say to him. I told him not to come here, and he did. I told him we couldn’t have more than something simple, and he made it complicated,” I warned her off, but she wasn’t taking the hint.
“Don’t you think you’ve paid your penance enough, baby?” Mom turned as she placed the dishrag on the counter. “You made a mistake, but look how wonderful it turned out.”
“Yeah, wonderful. Having a baby at eighteen is exactly what I wanted,” I grimaced as the words left my lips. Brooklyn was oblivious to what was going on, and I needed him to stay that way forever. Jason and I had made a mistake. We didn’t think about what we were doing, and despite loving my son, I wanted normal. I’d had it once, but my life was never going to be that way again. I was proof. My parents were still helping me.
“You need to stop punishing yourself for what you did back then,” Dad rounded the corner. Great, I guess he hadn’t moved past the eavesdropping. “That boy out there is determined to talk to you. I promised I’d get you out there, so you need to go so I can keep my word.”
“But Daddy,” I whined and turned to glance at Brook. He was stuffing banana in his mouth with both hands all the while babbling something that only he could understand.
“Don’t but Daddy me,” he shook his head. “Go out there and talk to him, and take him something to eat. Who knows when his last meal was. You should hear him out. If you don’t like what you hear, then you can stay in here and I’ll send him away.”
“Right. I know him,” I jammed my finger in the air. “Nothing you say to him is going to make him leave.”
“You may know him, but you also know me. You ever seen your old man not get what he wants?” he smiled, and it put me right back at my childhood.
“Fine,” I stood and moved toward the fridge to make him a sandwich.
“Here,” Mom’s hand flew out in front of me with a plate in it. “I figured I’d save you the trouble while you were having your debate.” She smiled as I took the plate from her.
“He needs a nap when he’s finished,” I motioned to where Brooklyn was rubbing his banana covered hands on his head.
“And apparently a bath,” Dad chuckled.
“Thanks,” I sighed as I made my way to the front door, sandwich in hand.
When I stepped out onto the front porch, Aaron was looking at his phone. He didn’t notice me as I walked across the lawn and up to his Jeep. I knocked on the passenger window, causing him to jump. He dropped the phone and I heard a muffled curse as he fumbled to get the door open for me.
“Hey,” I leaned in and handed him the plate. “Thought you might be hungry.”
He lifted the sandwich to his mouth and sighed as he took a bite. “Thanks, I’m starving.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank my mom,” I looked back at the house as I debated whether I really wanted to stay out here.
“Can we talk?” he sighed as he practically inhaled his lunch.
“There’s not much to talk about,” I snapped. “We had fun. It’s over now,” I crossed my arms over my chest.
He motioned to the passenger seat and I rolled my eyes as I climbed in. “That’s all I was to you? A fun time?” he looked hurt as he stared at me in disbelief.
“Sucks, doesn’t it,” I was being a bitch, but I didn’t care. “Now you know how all your girlfriends feel.”
“You were never just a girlfriend to me,” he murmured. “You were different. We were different. I cared about you. Why can’t you see that?”
“Right,” I rolled my eyes as I leaned back in the seat. “You cared so much.”
“I spent the entire week with YOU,” he pointed at me. “I’ve made countless trips out here for YOU. Hell, I just spent a night in my car hoping to get five minutes of your time. I don’t know what else I can do to prove I’m in this,” he flung his arms out to the side.
“It’s not just about me,” my voice raised to match his. “It’s about HIM,” I pointed to the house. “Everything I do is about HIM. You see, I don’t get what I want anymore. He does. He comes first in every decision I make. I forgot about that last weekend. I let my wants come first. I can’t do that. EVER!” I stressed. “You will never understand that.”
Aaron
“I do understand,” I ground out, matching her anger. She hadn’t even given me a chance. She’d decided all on her own that this wasn’t going to work. “I do understand,” I said again as I lowered my voice.
We both sat there staring at each other before she slumped back against the seat. A single tear slipped down her cheek and she angrily wiped at it.
I swallowed before I began to speak. “I used to be him,” I murmured. “Fuck!” I hissed. I hadn’t talked about my past much. Melinda knew a little, but not all of it. Very few people knew all of it. My dad had taken me to therapy for months when I was little to get over it, and now here I was seventeen years later dredging it all up again. “I told you Avery wasn’t my mom,” I began. My dad got my mom pregnant when they were barely out of high school. She left us right after I was born,” I glanced at Mel to see she was watching me intently. “He raised me with the help of my grandmother. He was older than you, but still… I was his whole world. He didn’t date. I never even met Avery until a year after they started seeing each other. My mom came back when I was four. My dad didn’t like it, but he tried really hard for me to have a relationship with her. I didn’t remember her, but she was my mom.” I swallowed as I remembered what it was like in that house. My mom, Sarah, was a weak, spineless individual. She dated losers, and she brought those losers around me. She didn’t stand up for me like my dad did. He never would have let someone touch me, but she did. She let her boyfriend hit me.” I closed my eyes as I the memories began to swamp me. I still remembered the last time he hit me. What it felt like, and how she just watched. I remember my dad and how he came and got me. How he and Avery took care of me, and loved me. They fought for me, and made sure that no one ever hurt me again.
“I’m sorry,” she sniffed as she turned to look at me.
“I get it. I know what you’re doing, but I would never hurt him,” I pointed at the house. “Don’t you see? He’s just like me only he has a mom looking out for him, and from what I can tell, she’s a good one.” She bit her lip as she stared at me. “I know you didn’t know all this shit that’s my life, but you still could have told me. When you care about someone, you tell them everything,” he smiled as he reached across the console and grabbed my hand.
She nodded her head before whispering, “You wanna meet him?”
“Sure, but not right now,” her face fell, but I squeezed her hand. “Right now, I kinda just wanna sit with you. Maybe we could all have dinner together tonight?”
“That sounds nice,” she smiled softly before leaning her head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry I ran off like that. I was scared, and I didn’t know what to do with the feelings I was having.”
“It’s ok. This is new to me too,” I smiled before I worked up the courage to tell her what I really wanted to say.
“We can learn together,” she giggled and I pressed a kiss to her head. “But can we do it inside? It’ll be more comfortable.”
“Sure,” I chuckled. “I owe your dad anyway.”