Melody is sitting on the bed with her back laid on the headboard. She sighed as she didn’t have to see a white wall and hear the beeping machine. All of that stuff just reminds her how bad that place is, and…
…the loss of her baby.
Damian walks in with a bowl of porridge in his hand. He shut the door and took a sit beside her.
“You should eat. Skipping meals is not a good habit,” Damian says.
Melody just agreed in silence. He takes a spoon and scoops the porridge. He blows a bit to make it less hot.
“Open your mouth,” he demands.
“You are feeding me?” Melody asks.
“No. I’m shoving the food right through your throat,” he scoffs. “Damn right, of course I’m feeding you, women.”
She rolls her eyes and opens her mouth. A minute ago, he was just being a soft man, and now, he is back to himself.
“After this meal, I will send you back to the hospital,” Damian speaks.
Hear him saying that makes Melody stiff. She furrows her eyebrows in confusion, “Why?”
“Why? Let me think-oh because you are still not being discharged yet, Mel. You are still fresh from the surgery,” he scolds her. “And guess what? I don’t even know how you managed to move from your bed.”
“I don’t want to go there…” she mumbles.
“Mel, you still need treatment from the doctor,” he firmly said. “Besides…you are not safe here.”
“What do you mean by that? I don’t want to be in that hospital…” she clenched the duvet that lay on her lap.
As much as Damian didn’t want it also, he can’t. His mother wouldn’t like that. Besides, she is not safe to be with her.
“Just… stay in the hospital. Don’t argue with me about this,” he said and put the bowl of porridge on the small table.
He gets up, “Also…maybe after this, you will be living with my parent.”
Melody looks at him with wide eyes. Did she hear him right? The statement is enough to make her heart beat in panic. Not in a good way.
“W-What? Where is that coming from!?” She frowns.
“I know you didn’t want this but it has to be like this. I can’t risk anything happening to you again,” Damian sighs.
“No. No, no and no. I don’t want to. It’s not that I don’t like it-it’s just, please. I want to be here with you and everyone else,” she pleaded.
“I don’t care about the danger. As long as I’m here with you, I’m sure everything will be alright,”
Damian turns to her with a frown, “How did you confirm it will be alright, huh? Don’t you see what happened to you now?”
“You almost lost your life. You got shot by the bullet that MEANT for ME, Mel,” he pressed the word through his gritted teeth. “Not to mention…you lost the baby.”
Her fingers twitched as he mentioned it.
“…And it’s all because of me,” he scoffs.
Matthew standing outside the door, pressed his ear on the door. He had been listening to the conversation since he arrived. As he too focused on the conversation, he didn’t realise Victor and Celestia were standing behind him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Celestia speaks.
“Oh God!! You are scaring me!” Matthew flinches.
“Mat, are you eavesdropping?” Victor frowns, crossing his arms above his chest.
“Shh, I’m listening to their conversation right now,” he shushed them.
Celestia rolls her eyes, “You sure are a nosy one.”
“Oh please, you are the same as me as well,” he scoffs. ”
“Of course, I’m not.”
“Oh really? Don’t you want to know whether Melody will stay or not? I believe it not me only who pray and hope she stays,” Matthew wiggles his eyebrows.
Celestia stares at him for a moment. Then, she grunts and pushes him aside to give her the space as well.
“I knew it,” he grins.
“Shut up,” she glares at him as she presses her ear on the door.
Victor who’s behind them just stands there and sighs, shaking his head. He can’t believe his friends are like this.
Melody sitting there, looking at him with disbelief.
“I don’t want it to happen again. My mother was right. If I didn’t come into your life, all of this wouldn’t be happening. You could have a perfect life.”
“You wouldn’t have to be afraid of everything.”
“You wouldn’t have to lose something precious.”
Damian sighs, running his face over his face in frustration, “Both of us waiting for the baby but…I made you lose it.”
“Once again, my mother was right. I fail as a husband and a father.”
Her hands trembling. “Please, just let me stay with you. You are not the one who causes all of this-”
“Then who!? Tell me!? Who causes all of this other than me, Melody!?” He yells. She fell silent. “Everything starts from me.”
“Don’t you understand yet? Like it or not…you can’t be near me.”
Melody finally broke down. She got up from the bed and went to him. “Please! I know this sounds pathetic but I don’t want to be away from you!”
“I want to be here…where I felt home!! Everyone in this mansion, everyone around me right now treat me like I was born here!”
She holds his hands, crying so hard. “I beg you, please don’t push me away. You didn’t ruin my life. You never did.”
“If it not because of you, I would have died in my step-father’s hand. I wouldn’t be here because of you…”
Damian could feel her body trembling.
“You are not failing as a husband or a father. You are a great person, Dam,” she leans her head on his broad chest. “You are the greatest person I ever met…”
“I…I can’t be away from you. I can’t accept the fact that you will leave me just because of all of this blame.”
“Mel…if anything happened to you-” he was cut off by her.
“I don’t care what will happen!! Stop thinking about the risk!!” She yells.
“I think about it because I fucking care about you, Mel!! I can’t lose you anymore!” Damian raises his voice.
She stiffened.
“I can’t…lose someone that I love…again…” he confessed. “I had enough of it…”
The three of them who are outside looking at each other with shock. It’s their first time to hear Damian saying the ‘love’ word.
“Losing my twin is already enough for me to break down…” he caressed his hand that was covered with gloves. “I can’t bear to lose you like how I lose him…”
“But…I can’t lose you either…” Melody clenched her fist. “You can’t just push me away just because you don’t want to lose me.”
“I want to be with you-it doesn’t matter if the situation is dangerous or not. I need you…”
He lifted his gaze, staring at her eyes, which filled with tears. The way she looked at him was like begging for him not to leave her again.
“I thought…I thought you left me because I lost the baby. But after all of this talk, I finally understand,” she reaches his hand again.
“Please, Damian. Don’t leave me…” she pleaded.
Seeing her like this weakens his heart. He clenched his fist, not knowing what to say.
“I never left you for something like that…” he mumbles. “I don’t know, Mel…I just can’t risk anything happening to you…”
“Can we get through this together? I don’t care about what people say-including your mother. Whatever has happened, I’m here for you…”
Damian stands there. His heart felt like it was going to burst any minute with all of this affection. He lets out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I don’t know what to say. You have been so stubborn since we met,” he sighs.
“You can’t blame me for being like that,” she wipes her tears.
“Fine. But…you have to explain all of it to Mum. I’m 100 per cent sure that she is freaking out right now, seeing you are not in your room.”
Damian quietly grunts as he imagines the expression of her mother right now. Suddenly, the door bursts open. Matthew and Celestia fall on the floor with Victor standing behind them with his blank face.
Melody and Damian look at them with confusion.
“What is going on?” Damian frowns.
“They are eavesdropping on both of you,” Victor smirks.
Celestia smacks Matthew’s head, “I told you not to lean on the fucking door!”
“I didn’t! You are the one who leans on the door! You such a heavy pig!” He pushes her shoulder.
“Why are you guys eavesdropping on us?” Melody softly asks.
Celestia gets up, tapping her clothes to fix her appearance. “It’s not my idea, Melody. Matthew is the one who suggests all of this.”
“Excuse me!?” He abruptly gets up. “Who agreed to join in to know whether Melody is staying or not, huh!?”
“I wouldn’t if you didn’t suggest it,” she scoffs.
“Aww, are you guys hoping I’m staying?” Melody looks at them with adoration.
“Honestly, yes. We grew attached to you-not only us. I believe everyone in the clan.” Matthew explains.
“We just hope…Mr. Damian didn’t let you go…” Celestia added, fiddling with her fingers.
Melody wanted to cry right now, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment. She had already wasted her tears. She looked at Damian, who kept his blank expression.
“You don’t want to break their heart, don’t you?” She whispers.
He looks at her, then rolls his eyes, “I agreed to let you stay, not because of them. Because I want to.”
“Wait. All of the confession you made…you never say those words,” she states.
“What words?” He frowns.
“The ‘I love you’ words, buddy,” Matthew wiggles his eyebrows.
Damian furrows his eyebrows, “Fuck, no. I’d rather die than say those words!”
“Oh really? Not even for me?” She grins.
He gritted his teeth, “Enough with this cheesy stuff. I’m out of here.”
Damian stomps out of the bedroom, making everyone laugh. Melody just smiles, knowing how much it affects him. She lets out a small chuckle and continues with her food.