Melody wakes up, her head throbbing as she moves her feet across the soft dark green sheets of Sam’s bed with an icepack pressed against her forehead. Sam saunters back into the room, the springs making a low creaking noise as he sits down next to her.
“How do you feel?” he asks as he switches the ice pack out with a new one; the touch of the ice makes goose bumps rise across the skin on her neck.
She sits up, rubbing her throbbing temples. “My head hurts a little but other than that I'm fine, I guess. How did we get back here?”
Sam takes her fingers from her temples, and massages them with his own. “I walked out of the front door and was back here.” Melody looks over at a few of the cuts on his face from the brawl with Adam.
“You… walked out? Whenever I’ve been there there hasn’t been a door…”
He shrugs and looks down at his lap. “Maybe you were too busy to notice it…”
Her stomach tosses around; that was a jab at her. She touches the one over his eye. “You really did get hurt.”
He nods, massaging the back of her neck now. “The guy had a big punch on him! He was really pissed that I took you.”
Melody drops her gaze from his. “Yeah… he’s gotten kind of attached to me. You should have seen his face when I said that I loved someone else.”
Sam pulls his hand from her neck, sprawling out next to her, resting his head on her knee. She plays with his hair, studying the mix of light brown and gold that isn’t noticeable unless you look carefully for it. She gently kisses the bruise on his cheek.
“So, this is real?” she asks.
Sam licks his lips; his eyes flicker up at her. “I guess so.”
She nods, awkwardly nibbling on her bottom lip as she tries to take in this new information. “I'm sorry.”
He pulls her hands from his hair, lacing them with his own before kissing her knuckles. “I know you are, but you don’t have to be.” He smiles up at her, tired from the rush of adrenalin and proud that he had claimed what was his. Melody’s hands stroke his forehead in such a soothing manner that his eyelids struggle and fight before finally closing. She smiles, a freeing feeling in her chest because she thinks this is all over, but sadly this is only the beginning.
The door clicks behind her as she begins to make her way home, rain still falling against the pavement as she walks back. The sleeves of Sam’s jacket, which she had stolen from his closet when she realized that it was still raining, fall over her hands so she balls her fists inside of them as she walks slowly home. She pushes the door to her apartment open, staring down the hallway to her bed room.
Her apartment is dark and empty compared to Sam’s, but its home. She drops her keys on the end table as she walks sluggishly over to her bed. The sheets are the same tangled mess she had left them in, and now that Sam had scared Adam off she should have nothing to worry about, but she doesn’t feel comfortable in her own bed anymore. She slips into a pair of sweats, pulling a quilt from the closet and rolls up on the couch. She sighs in her sleep, dreaming of nothing other than Sam, relieved that Adam has no role in this dream.
………………………………………..
She runs through a park with Sam, happy and laughing, when she notices that things are beginning to blur and the trees disappear. She stares down at her feet; the dirt ground turns into black and white boxes. Frightened, she looks up around her. Red paint smears around her where there once had been trees. Adam walks up to her, one arm wrapped in a sling, the other ready to reach for her. Melody stays her distance, watching his moves and his eyes as he veers closer to her. Adam holds his free hand out, letting the heart pendant dangle from the chain wrapped around his fingers. She smiles and reaches out for it, fingers nearly grasping the golden chain before he pulls it back, holding a finger to his lips. He slides behind her, brushing the hair off of her neck before draping the cold chain around her, locking it at the back of her neck. She watches the heart sway on her chest, almost not feeling the hot breath on the skin of her shoulders. She slides from him; getting ready to make a run for it. He gives her a hurt look, taking two steps towards her.
“What? Oh, this can’t be about that ‘Sam’ dick, can it?” he sneers.
Melody stares him down, no one talks about Sam that way; she has defended him since the day she met him. “He is not a dick! At least he’s real!”
Adam smiles, lopsided and off putting, as he lets his head fall to the side. His eyes bouncing around her, even though she is dressed in her sweat pants and Sam’s too-big-for-her jacket, she feels naked.
“You don’t think I’m real?” he asks once his eyes have made their way back to hers.
She swallows, nerves prickling the skin around her neck; the smooth, seductiveness of his voice has always done that to her.
“You’re not. This is all just a dream.” she says through gritted teeth.
He stretches his leg out, taking a wide leap forward until he is only inches from her face.