Secret Love {Melody}

The soon as Melody turned around and Brendan saw that smile on her face he knew she remembered him, so his own smile got even bigger, just emphasising his dimples all the more. Her smile always did light up her face, and he was happy to see that hadn’t changed. When she spoke, calling him Mr. Newspaper Man and how could she forget him, he tilted his head to the side, eyes sparkling with his hair still flopping over them. “Glad ya ain’ forgotten me, because I sure as hell ain’ forgotten yerself.” He then watched as Melody put her stuff down and soon her arms were around his neck, Brendan didn’t hesitate then in wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her right back. When she said it had been far too long, Brendan felt himself drag her into the hug a little more. “Damn righ’ it’s been too long.” He chuckled, when she let go of him then and stepped back, Brendan found he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Damn she’s gorgeous he thought to himself.

Melody then spoke some more, commenting on his hair being longer, a lot longer and he was much taller than she remembered him, but other than that he hadn’t changed much. “Yeah, guess I take ma height off ma dad, as fer the hair, jus’ felt like a change, an’ reckon I kinda suit it, so it stayed.” He chuckled and then continued, “Ya ain’ changed much either to be honest Melody, jus’ got even more beautiful if am allowed to say such things to ya?” He winked and tilted his head to the side once more as he kept looking at her, the whole time finding it very difficult to stop smiling at her. How he hadn’t fallen for her back in his school days was amazing, but then, he hadn’t fallen for Olivia either, funny it should have been that way, when both of them were good friends to Brendan, then one came back into his life and he messed it up, now the other had just come back into his life, and his head was giving the warning bells to take it slow, but his heart was telling him something different.

Melody then said she had to pack away her things into the van and asked if he wanted to grab some lunch. She then beckoned with her hand for him to follow, so he did just that. He looked at his watch, and realising there was plenty of time before Libby was due home from school, he reckoned he could do lunch, although if he felt he was going to run late, he knew he could just text Grayson and make sure he’d be home for Libby, or he would go and collect, the two of them were thick as thieves. Brendan had to shake his head a little as he thought about how much trouble the pair of them had conjured together since he came into their lives. Brendan couldn’t believe he had gone from having one sister, to a brother and a daughter in a matter of a few months. His family had changed so much and for the better. “Yeah, lunch would be good Melody, I ain’ got nowhere to be jus’ yet.”

Once Melody was finished packing away her things she told her cameraman to go and get some lunch and she would meet him back at the station later in the afternoon, and soon she seemed to be all Brendan’s so to speak. “Well I know this little place we could go to if yer interested, it ain’ tha’ far from here, an’ I totally recommend it.” Brendan suggested as he grinned at her. In truth the place he was speaking of, a restaurant called Aureole was far from small, in fact it was a big lavish restaurant with plush seats, but Brendan never did do things by half, and if he was going to take Melody for lunch, he was going to do it in style. He then waited for her reply before heading off in the general direction of the said restaurant.

Brendan chuckled and winked when Melody commented that he still had a way with words and continued saying he was allowed to say nice things to her. His eyes were sparkling as he continued to grin at her, someone who could take his compliments without telling him to stop, or trying to deny what he had said to them. The touch of her hand on his arm set another alarm going off in his head and his heart. It certainly sounded like his head and heart were going to have a lot of arguments over the way he felt about Melody before their little impromptu meeting was over. “Well, am sure glad ya don’ mind me complimentin’ ya, cause a woman should always be complimented an’ treated like a princess in ma eyes, jus’ tha’ sometimes ya get the odd female who like the bad guy type ya know?” He winked and chuckled again, Melody had then picked up her stuff and gestured for him to follow her to the van which he had done.

Had it really been that long? Twelve years? Of course it had, Brendan was almost thirty-one. It was quite frightening to think it had been that long and yet a lot of the times he felt like it were yesterday. Then he only had to think of Libby and knew it was longer than just yesterday, she was ten years old, soon to be eleven, and that meant that it would indeed by almost twelve years since they had seen each other. “Damn Melody, ya don’ think it’s quite as long until ya think back. I reckon we migh’ jus’ have quite a bit to talk abou’ don’ ya think?” He chuckled, he couldn’t wait to just sit down with her and start a good conversation and catch up on each other’s lives.

Brendan had then suggested a place they could go to for their lunch date, knowing full well Melody would have no idea of the sort of place he was talking about, especially when he had spoken of it as a little place. Brendan liked to surprise people, and if they liked the surprise, then all the better. Melody then went on to say she thought she knew what place it was he was talking about as they had done a few reviews on the news. Brendan chuckled, “Maybe ya have heard of it, jus’ hafta wait an’ see.” He winked, he wasn’t about to give anything away, he wanted to wow her, even though they had only just met up again after all those years, but something deep inside was telling him to wow her, to impress her, she was the one. Then his head laughed, yeah right, that’s what you said about Megan and Stacey and Olivia, who are you trying to kid. Brendan’s heart was now thumping in his chest; he hated having personal arguments between his head and his heart. Not that they happened all that often, well, at least not recently, he thought he had got over all of that a few years ago.

Brendan grinned at her when she told him to lead the way. “I sure will madam.” He shook his head and chuckled, and then he felt Melody link her arm through his, now that sure felt good, but he had to stop himself from saying it out loud. Whatever would she think if he just blurted out that her linking his arm felt so good? For all he knew she still just looked at Brendan as a friend, and in many ways that’s what he saw in Melody, a friend, but now he wondered if there could be so much more. When they were in school, even though she was put ahead into his year, there was a clear age gap between them, but now, not so much. As they began to walk to the place he had in mind, Melody asked how he was and that he and his high school sweetheart must be married by now. Brendan tilted his head as he looked at her, “Ain’ married Melody, should’a been, an’ it wasn’ to ma high school sweetheart either, but no, I ain’ married, yet.” He then wondered if he should tell her about Libby, thinking that he would have to tell her about his daughter at some point anyway, even if they just remained good friends.

“Got maself a daughter though. Never knew she existed, an’ she only came inta ma life abou’ six months ago, but I wouldn’ be without her now to be honest. She’s a real sweetheart, call her ma little Kitten, she’s ten years old, soon eleven. A bit of a long story as to how she came inta ma life an’ I sure as hell don’ mind tellin’ ya, but I don’ wanna bore ya with the details, unless yer interested?” They weren’t too far away from the place where he wanted to take her, and by the time had had finished telling her about Libby, they were virtually outside the place. “Well, we’re here Melody.” Brendan said, as he held the door open for her, and made his way inside. The restaurant was massive, it had a huge ceiling, which was decorated with chandelier lighting which was dimmed, every table had a fresh single red rose in a vase and two candles lit, the seats were huge red plush velvet, the whole look of the inside of the restaurant looked expensive and it was expensive, but then money wasn’t an option to Brendan, it never had been and never would be either. Brendan went there often, but usually either treating his parents or his sister, and more recently Grayson and Libby.

He walked up to the welcoming table, “Table fer two please Ricardo.” He smiled at Brendan warmly, “Good afternoon Brendan.” He then looked toward Melody, “I see you have brought special lady I not seen before. I know she be special, because you have only ever brought your family here if I remember correctly? So special table for the special couple?” Ricardo said in his faint Italian accent. Brendan couldn’t help but shake his head, as he side glanced to Melody to see what her reaction was going to be like to that little outburst from Ricardo. He then began to lead them toward the back of the huge restaurant, where there were tables in closed off booths. “Yeah, that’ll do jus’ fine thanks Ricardo.” Ricardo then bowed and handed them both a menu and left them to it.

Brendan immediately went and pulled the chair out for Melody to sit down. Once she had, he took his own seat and then looked at her, “So wha’ d’ya think? Is this a place ya’ve reviewed or wha’?” He was interested to know, because he wasn’t sure this was a restaurant which would have made the local news or not, but he certainly hadn’t ever seen a report on it, but then Brendan wasn’t always at home to watch the news on television.

{ooc - 1199 words in the end - and I did want to do David's post, but want to get on in the morning, so going to sleep now, half hour later than planned, but oh well.}

{ooc - wasn't sure you wanted to go over the Libby thing again cuz we did in the other thread with April, meant to put that in my previous post but anyway... lol}

When Melody asked him why would she mind him complimenting her he wasn’t sure what to say, as he didn’t want to bad mouth any previous relationship he had been in, but he had been with one or two females in the past through the years that seemed to find it difficult to take compliments for some reason or another. “Ain’ sure why I thought ya’d mind, but glad ya don’, cause ya migh’ very well got a lot of them from me if we happen to spend more time together.” He hoped he wasn’t pushing anything by saying that, he just meant that if they were going to see each more as friends, then there was a chance the odd compliment might slip, because it was just a part of who Brendan was. When Melody spoke next Brendan laughed out loud and then looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “Wha’ever d’ya mean by tha’ Melody Webb? Am always a good guy, migh’ be a bit devilish at times, but most women I’ve found like tha’ abou’ me.” He was so tempted to playfully slap her backside then, but thought better of it, she might not like it, and they had only just got re-acquainted.

When Melody agreed it had indeed been that long and they did have a lot to talk about Brendan gave her a warm smile, he couldn’t wait to sit down and catch up with her and for him to get her up to speed on what had been going on in his life as well. It was only natural that they would both want to find out as much about each other as possible, it was the reporter in them, but Brendan would never push Melody because she was a friend, and he knew she would feel the same way. When Brendan said maybe she had heard of the place he chuckled at her response. “Well ya don’ hafta wait long to find out, it ain’ too far from here, an’ I always was one fer givin’ surprises.” Even in school Brendan was always springing surprises on his friends, some good and some devilish because he was in a teasing mood. His mind went back to the one major surprise he had sprung for Stacey, the flight to Paris, and how she had taken sick on the plane, and immediately put it down to a fear of flying. That hadn’t been as good a surprise as it could have been sadly.

As they walked to the place he wanted to take Melody, he soon felt her other arm linking through his same one, almost like she was cuddling into him, and he was near tempted to just wrap his free arm around her waist, and yet holding back again, just in case. He was scared to push anything too soon, because of how everything had turned out with his previous recent relationships. When Melody spoke about old times, only now they were older and more mature, Brendan chuckled, “Yeah, more mature, an’ yet probably don’ even act our ages, ‘cause I sure as hell don’ think I do.” He laughed out loud and then he felt Melody lean her head on his arm, he immediately moved his head to look and a smile spread across his face. He then bent his own head down and kissed the top of Melody’s head just before she straightened up. “An’ yeah, yer righ’, it does feel nice.” It felt more than nice, it felt damn fantastic.

After Brendan told Melody that he wasn’t married yet, even though he should have been she didn’t question it, and at that moment he was glad, because he wasn’t sure he wanted to go into it all right then. He had just got his friend back in his life, the last thing he wanted to do was scare her away talking about previous women especially when one of them was an ex fiancée. He would of course tell her about it at some point, when he felt it was the right time. Her words did melt his heart slightly though, it would seem quite a few thought he would be a good catch for a woman, he just hadn’t been lucky enough to get one who really mattered to him yet, other than Stacey and he had thrown that one away. Even though he was trying to keep these underlying feelings from growing, he couldn’t stop himself from saying the next few words, “So, ya think I’d make a good catch, is tha’ a hint by any chance Melody? Cause I sure as hell don’ remember us makin’ some sort of pact tha’ if I weren’ married by the time I was thirty we’d marry each other, not tha’ I’d be against the idea or nothin’.” Okay, did he really just say all of that out loud? He could have sworn he was thinking those words, but no, he had definitely said them, damn, damn, damn he thought. Now he was waiting for the slap across the face reaction.

Brendan really wouldn’t mind if something were to happen between himself and Melody, but because of the three past relationships and how they had gone he knew a small part of him wouldn’t want to rush into anything, but it really was only a small part of him, it would seem his head and heart hadn’t stopped arguing yet and it was driving him insane.

He had then mentioned Libby in a slightly abbreviated version, because he hadn’t wanted to bore her with the details unless she was interested to hear them. Of course Melody said she loved long stories especially when they came from her best friend. He knew he was definitely her best friend, but was that all he would ever be? Just a friend? He hoped he might be able to come much more than that to her, maybe Melody should have been his school sweetheart? He was about to answer, when she then added he could tell her in his own time, as she didn’t want him running off on her, when she had only just got him back in her life. “I only jus’ got ya back in ma life an’ all, I ain’ goin’ nowhere sweetheart.” Brendan stopped for a breath and then continued, “Libby’s mom Faith, well we kinda took things too far the nigh’ of the graduation prom, she never told me she was pregnant, so I couldn’a done anythin’ fer her, but I would’a if I’d known. Anyway, Faith was killed, an’ poor Libby found her, she also thought she had no other family as Faith never told her abou’ me, an’ course, I didn’ know abou’ her. Social services found me an’ next thing I know I got this beautiful little girl to take care of, an’ ain’ looked back since.”

Once they had reached the restaurant, and he had held the door open, she thanked him, which he acknowledged with a nod of his head and a smile, her reaction once inside made him chuckle slightly. “Well I ain’ no president of a casino, but I am Assistant Editor of The Chronicle, an’ I’ll be payin’ fer this an’ all, ain’ no objections from yerself either.” He chuckled, and winked at her, before making his way over to the welcome desk. Naturally Ricardo had to point out the fact Melody must be special if he was bringing her to their restaurant. “I’ve been here a few times, with family tha’s all, I ain’ brought a woman here yet.” He might have brought Stacey once they had gotten married, but they hadn’t got that far. Maybe he and Melody weren’t even engaged, but they were friends from school, she was already special in that aspect alone. Maybe if both of them played their cards right, she would be family, eventually.

Melody then wrapped her arms around his body when Ricardo mentioned about her being a special lady, he wrapped his arm around her then without even thinking. “Tha’s righ’ Ricardo, she’s special alrigh’.” When she reached up and pinched his cheek, he shook his head and grinned, and then his hand did what he had stopped it doing earlier, and playfully slapped her ass. Well, if she was allowed to squeeze his cheek, then he was allowed to slap hers, what difference did it make if it was a completely different type of cheek?

Once they were both sitting down Brendan had then asked her if this was a place she had reviewed or not. He grinned at her response, because he didn’t think this place would have been reviewed, “So, it was a surprise fer ya then? An’ one I hope ya like.” Somehow he didn’t really need the answer to that, he had a feeling she liked it alright, she was soon looking at the menu and then she began telling him what she would have. “Alrigh’ tha’s noted, an’ wha’ abou’ a dessert fer after, anythin’ ya fancy?” He knew how that could be taken, but he didn’t care, he had to ask if she wanted a dessert or not, as they may as well place the order at the one time for everything. “An’ there ain’ no need fer apologies, ya don’ hafta apologise fer wha’ ya like to eat.” Brendan wasn’t even sure what he wanted himself yet as he continued to look at the menu. “Migh’ get maself the spaghetti bolognaise, yeah I like the sound of tha’, an’ I’ll get maself a beer an’ all.”

Brendan gave Melody a warm smile when she said that she would like it very much if he were to throw more compliments her way if they happened to spend more time together. “Tha’s good to hear.” Strike one, he thought, someone who really doesn’t mind getting compliments, that was the one main thing a woman had to like if they were with Brendan, that and having money spent on them all the time, but the most important thing of all, they had to accept his daughter Libby, if they couldn’t do that, then there would be no point in pushing forward with anything. The next thing Melody said made Brendan smile all the more, what she said was true, there was no reason why they couldn’t spend more time together, and yes, they sure did have a lot to catch up on. “So true Melody, so true.” She then went into a fit of laughter, and Brendan just raised his eyebrow at her, but found himself chuckling along with her.

When Melody said a bad boy was always good and she was sure he had been up to enough mischief since she last saw him, when he looked in her direction she was facing the sky with a cheeky grin on her face. Brendan just shook his head, eyes sparkling and laughed out loud. “Guess I ain’ always the goody good boy righ’ enough, an’ yer righ’ a bit of bad ain’ gonna do any harm every now an’ then. Am pretty sure ma naughty side migh’ show itself, ya’ll jus’ hafta wait an’ see.” Now it was Brendan’s turn to laugh a lot. Brendan had slapped a few female asses in his time, which he deemed as being partly naughty, he might just be tempted to playfully slap Melody’s before their little date was over with.

Brendan felt really bad for a few seconds when Melody mentioned that she never got any of his surprises and wondered why that was. He saw that look on her face, even if she was playing around with him it still managed to get to him. “Well, ya see, the age thing ain’ much of a problem now, but back then, it was kinda quite somethin’ ya know? Maybe I jus’ thought the kinda surprises I quite liked to give at the time weren’ suitable fer ya, ya know?” He looked down at her and winked and then followed it with a chuckle. It was well known that Brendan Harris was a bit of a lad during his school years, but he had calmed down a lot after he graduated, realising women weren’t toys and they were there to be treasured and cared for and loved.

Brendan laughed out loud when Melody admitted she had done some immature things, even as recent as a couple of years ago. He looked down at her, with his eyes laughing, “An’ jus’ wha’ would those have been Melody Webb?” His immaturity went down to being addicted to game consoles and more recently desperately trying to beat Libby and Grayson at the most silliest of games. He usually always lost, but he just loved the thrill it gave and pretended to throw a strop when he lost. He began chuckling just thinking about it. It was always funny, especially when Libby would turn round and start chanting ‘loser’ at him.

As they continued walking and Melody had rested her head against his arm he had bent down and kissed the top of her head, thinking back to when she said he never gave her any surprises, he began to wonder what he could do to change that, when she asked him what the kiss was for. He grinned at her, showing off those dimples of his, “Count it as the start of yer surprises from me.” He then winked at her, hell yeah there would be plenty more of those kind of surprises if they continued to see each other, and to quote Melody earlier, why wouldn’t they? There were definitely some underlying feelings Brendan never thought existed for Melody, he was sure she was always just one of the boys, the friends, but no, looking at her now, there was far more than that to Melody Webb. He was just a tiny bit reluctant to pursue anything with her, because he was sure to have Gray on his back about jumping in too soon again. Brendan Harris had always worn his heart on his sleeve, and he figured he probably always would, and the way he saw it, was if you felt something for a woman, you didn’t hold back, and he never did, and he probably never would.

Melody then went on to say he hadn’t done any of that before, and mentioned the fact she had only been fifteen at the time and probably not ready for that sort of relationship. “Yeah, pretty much like I was sayin’ afore ya know, but I think we’ve both grown a lot since then, so maybe the time’s righ’ now, ya jus’ never know.” Between Melody saying she might not have been ready for that kind of relationship then, and Brendan saying maybe the time was right now, what were both of them actually saying? However, his head took over his heart at that moment telling him not to push things and to calm down and he knew his head was right, so he backed out of thinking about all of that at that moment. If it was meant to be, then it would happen gradually between them, now that he knew she lived in Las Vegas, he would make sure they saw each other as often as possible.

When Brendan had asked Melody if she reckoned he was a good catch she stopped walking and turned to him and said she did in fact think he would be a good catch and went on to say he said all the right things, gave surprises, he was tall and handsome and what more did a girl want or need. He was about to answer her, but she then went on to say that no, they hadn’t made a pact, but if he was suggesting they did that, she wouldn’t say no if he asked. His heart skipped a few beats then, which made him wonder once more if this was all about to lead up to something. “Well, am sure glad ya think tha’ way abou’ me Melody, jus’ a pity I ain’ been able to keep a hold of a woman long enough. An’ to be honest with ya, am pushin’ thirty-one now, so if we were to do tha’ pact, we’d hafta agree on it pretty soon ya know.” He grinned, and raised his eyebrows, and then chuckled, he sure as hell wouldn’t say no to making a pact with her, hell, he wouldn’t say no to proposing to her either, but no, no immediate proposals, not this time. Well, maybe, he would just have to see how things played out with them over the next week or so.

When the conversation went a little dark between them as he spoke about Faith, and how Libby had come into his life, he really appreciated Melody’s words, and when she had squeezed his hand, he felt his skin tingle all over. It sure had felt nice. “Thanks Melody, Libby an’ I sorta come in a package deal now so to speak, oh, tha’ an’ I have ma brother stayin’ with us an’ all, but he’s great.” Brendan had no idea why he had actually said that, no, of course he did, he was trying to get it over to Melody that if she was in anyway interested in him, she would have to understand, that he was no longer alone, he had his daughter and brother in his life, pretty much on a daily basis. Her reaction to that might be the only green light he would need to start pursuing things further with Melody. “I like to think am a good father to her, she certainly ain’ complained, so guess tha’s somethin’ huh?” He chuckled after saying that, he thought it was cute the way Libby called him daddy, he hadn’t expected a child of almost eleven still calling their father daddy, he thought he’d have gotten dad by now, then he thought it was her way of making up for all the years of never having a father to call daddy. That thought made him smile warmly.

When Melody said she wouldn’t say no to a free meal and followed it with a bit of a giggle, Brendan grinned, “Well tha’s good, ‘cause I wasn’ gonna take no fer an answer anyway.” In other words, it wouldn’t have mattered what Melody said, how much she might have objected, he was paying for their meal, so he was glad he didn’t have to argue the point with her. When Melody said she felt honoured over being the first woman he had brought to the restaurant who wasn’t family, Brendan winked at her, and leaned in, “Make tha’ surprise number two then.” After Melody had squeezed at his cheeks, Brendan hadn’t hesitated then in playfully slapping her ass, the look on her face just made him chuckle, but then she grabbed at his ass and squeezed. Brendan pretended to flinch, but then whispered into her ear, “Melody, I didn’ think ya cared.” He then chuckled. Yes, there was definitely underlying feelings for him, which were slowly raising their way to the surface, and he had a pretty good feeling they might be boiling over by the time they were finished their lunch date.

When Melody said the restaurant was a nice surprise Brendan grinned at her, he was glad she had liked the surprise of the restaurant, so that was two, he was going to have to think of some more surprises for her before she had to head back to work. After Melody had rambled what she would like and Brendan told her there was no need for apologies, he asked what she would like for dessert, of course he knew there could have been a sexual innuendo there, but he was desperately trying to behave himself, which for someone like Brendan wasn’t always that easy. Her response didn’t help the situation any and he ran a hand through his hair, “Alrigh’ then, we’ll order dessert after, unless...” He trailed off and leaned over the table to be closer to her, “...yer thinkin’ abou’ somethin’ which ain’ on the menu, ‘cause I ain’ gonna deny it, the same thought was goin’ through ma own head an’ all.” He raised his eyebrows a couple of times and then gave her a massive grin as he tilted his head to the side. As he looked at her this time, her eyes suddenly stood out to him, they were so bright, he was still trying to think of a nickname for her, and Bright Eyes stood out, but then he shook his head, she mightn’t like being given a nickname of a rabbit which was killed, he usually found nicknames so easy, but he was struggling with Melody, maybe it was because there wasn’t a need for one, she had a gorgeous name, why waste using it. He sighed, as it wasn’t him not to have a nickname, then he thought to the movie that Libby had watched the other night, Beauty and the Beast, and wondered if Belle would suit her, then he shook his head, no, he would have to think on some more.

Soon the waiter was there, and Brendan placed their orders, and told him they would get back to him for a dessert if they wished any, the waiter bowed and left them to it. “Am real glad I met ya today Melody.” For some reason, he just felt he needed to say that.

{ooc - 2030 words LOL sorry}

When Melody said she couldn’t wait for his naughty side to show its face Brendan just smirked slightly, well she might not have too long to wait. Back in school he would never have dreamed of showing off his naughty side much to her, the age gap was just too severe then when they were in their teens, but not now. Three years wasn’t a lot now that Melody was almost twenty eight and he was almost thirty one. He would still have to try and behave himself, and remember not to go too far, they had only just got reacquainted, and right now they were still only friends, right?

Brendan had then explained in great detail why she hadn’t got many of his surprises back in school, and he had to smile warmly at her when she said she understood. He had a feeling she would, just looking at her now, things were so different. Back then she was just little Melody Webb, like the younger sibling he was looking out for or something, but now, she was far from little, she was a blossoming beautiful woman. He couldn’t remember Melody ever making his heart flutter before, but boy was it doing it now, and so many times since they started talking, he had lost count.

Naturally Brendan had to ask her in a teasing way what she was talking about when she said she had done some immature things in her time, and as recently as just a couple of years ago. So, when Melody said if you must know then I must tell you, Brendan chuckled. “Go on then, am sure interested to hear wha’ it is ya know.” He was teasing her but soon, put on as straight a face as possible, and listened to what she was telling him. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Even Brendan didn’t have a tattoo. If he had taken a drink, he’d have choked on it at that point, “Ya got a wha’?!” He said in shock exclamation trying to keep his voice low, and then she continued, well the sound of the butterflies sounded rather nice, and then she went on to say the guy chose the place, and it sounded even better. Brendan didn’t just feel his heart fluttering this time, oh no, something was a stirring elsewhere at the prospect of those butterflies and the need to check them out. When she was finished talking, Brendan couldn’t help but have a massive grin on his face.

“Well, I migh’ jus’ hafta go checkin’ them out fer maself ya know.” He then tugged at her waistband and pretended to have a look, “Jus’ how far did ya say they go down?” He then let go and began to laugh out loud, it wasn’t exactly the right place or time to be doing something like that, but he was sure as hell not going to let the chance pass him by again if they were ever alone. Then he began to wonder if they ever would be alone properly, was this the start of something really special between them? It would have to be special if he wanted to get to see those butterflies and how far down they went.

After Brendan told Melody the kiss on the top of her head was the start of the surprises from him, she thanked him. He looked down at her and smiled warmly, he didn’t really know what else to do or say. Everything just seemed to be falling naturally into place with Melody, it wasn’t even as if either of them were trying to move things along, they just seemed to be happening. Maybe he had always felt that way for Melody and kept it hidden because she was so much younger than him, and a relationship would have been awkward, because even though he would have been old enough when he turned eighteen, she wouldn’t have been. Well, they were damn well both old enough now. When Brendan had commented about the time being right now, he saw Melody nod her head, but there were no spoken words, so he wasn’t sure how to take that sign from her, and decided not to push the issue, if there was one thing about Brendan, he rarely pushed issues, especially with females.

When Melody spoke more about the supposed pact they never made, he liked what she was saying. He began nodding his head as she spoke, and when she was finished, he decided to reply to her, “Well, I tell ya wha’ then , ya let me see them butterflies, an’ I migh’ just propose to ya a few weeks later, how does tha’ sound?” He then moved his hand which was on her back and began to trail his finger up and down the area, where he roughly thought the tattoo might be. He was sort of teasing her with the bribe, but not removing his finger, and keeping it trailing around that area he continued, “Actually, make this our first official date, an’ we’ll see how it ends, an’ ya migh’ jus’ get tha’ proposal sooner than ya think.” What the hell was he saying, hadn’t he proposed to Stacey within a few weeks and look how that turned out, it was a complete disaster, wasn’t it? Although they did have a happy few months together he couldn’t deny that, maybe Brendan was destined to forever wear his heart on his sleeve and jump in head first. He could say that his feelings were different this time, that he had never felt this way about a female before, but he’d be lying, because he thought the exact same thing when he’d met Megan, Stacey, Olivia, and now he was thinking the same thing all over again. Maybe he should wait a couple of weeks and see how he was feeling about things then?

Brendan smiled warmly at Melody when she said it sounded like he had a pretty good life now and then she went on to say she didn’t have any children, but she adored her brother’s kids. He had to chuckle when she spoke about not dealing with kids who were soon eleven, and then mentioned her younger brother, so maybe she had. “I do have a pretty good life now Melody, but it ain’ perfect, I don’ have a woman in ma life, Libby needs a mother figure, an’ I’ve sure tried to find her one, jus’ ain’ worked out so far, fer either of us. An’ I’d always make sure ya were doin’ alrigh’ now an’ all. An’ I reckon ya’d love Libby, she’s an angel, she don’ know how to speak ill of anyone, even ma ex Stacey, she still speaks fondly abou’ her, think she misses her actually.” Brendan’s face fell a little then, and he began to wonder if he actually missed Stacey himself. Sometimes he felt he did, and other times, when he thought to the baby and who the father was, it was enough to stop those thoughts, besides as he looked back at Melody, something told him, he didn’t need to miss Stacey, he could have the woman he wanted, she was standing right beside him.

He then grinned at her, “However, tha’ part of ma life is over, it’s time to move on, jus’ need that special someone to move on with, who knows, maybe I’ve found her, jus’ need to know if she migh’ feel the same way. An’ I’ll let ya in on a secret.” He then leaned in to her ear and whispered, “She’s got a butterfly tattoo I really wanna see.” He then kissed the edge of her ear, and then moved and kissed her neck gently, before stopping and standing, turning Melody to face him, his face was smiling, but he was serious with what he was about to say. “Ya can slap me, tell me to go to hell if ya wanna, but I think there migh’ be somethin’ happenin’ between us, an’ I like it. Maybe ya’ve always been the one, maybe the others never worked out ‘cause I was waitin’ fer ya all along?” He wondered what she would say to that. Some people would think it crazy that he could admit feelings like that after only speaking to her for a short time, but they wouldn’t know that they had been friends for years before now, what did it matter if it had been a few years since they had seen each other, it wasn’t as if they were strangers at all.

Once they were inside the restaurant and the conversation got to ordering dessert, Brendan had asked Melody if what she was wanting wasn’t on the menu, he was basically teasing her wondering if he might have been the dessert she had planned, sometimes he just couldn’t help that rude mind of his, but he assumed that Melody knew him well enough by now, to know the way his mind ticked, and something told him she had been thinking the same thing herself. So when Melody replied, Brendan was a little stumped for words. Saying what she wanted wasn’t on the menu and leaving it at that would have made him think she was talking about himself, but for her to then add that what wanted wasn’t even in the restaurant, got him frowning slightly, because, well he was damn well in the restaurant, so it couldn’t be him.

He was about to answer her, but then he saw she began to look a little down, and Brendan immediately wondered what could be wrong with his Little Butterfly, and that was it. The nickname, it just rolled off his tongue, it was going back to when she spoke about the tattoo she had got. He leaned over the table again, even though they were in a private booth anyway, “Now if ya’d stopped at wha’ ya wanted ain’ bein’ on the menu, I’d have felt quite happy an’ probably agreed with ya, but when ya said it ain’ even in the restaurant an’ I see tha’ face of yers lookin’ so sad, it makes me wonder wha’ the hell’s wrong. Wha’s wrong with ma Little Butterfly?” He sure as hell hoped she would tell him what was wrong before the waiter came back with their food, because he didn’t want to eat when he was worried, he never enjoyed his food the same when that happened.

Brendan hadn’t meant to act so shocked when Melody told him about getting a tattoo, but he just hadn’t ever thought of Melody with one of those, and when he had began to laugh after tugging at her waistband pretending to look at them, he had asked her how far down they went, knowing full well what she had said, he was teasing the life out of her. Her face was bright red, so red, you could have cooked an egg on it, he was pretty sure. “Yer face is lookin’ pretty flushed there sweetheart, ya could cook an egg on tha’ face of yers.” When Melody then answered him saying she had told him how far they went and he couldn’t have been listening, pouting, Brendan stopped laughing, “Oh I was listenin’ alrigh’, I jus’ wanted to see them fer maself, tha’s all. Am the one whose gonna get the privilege to see them righ’?” He was still teasing her, but in a way he was half serious also, because there were definitely hidden feelings for Melody which were surfacing.

They had then began teasing each other about supposed pacts and marrying each other, Brendan then got serious after pretending to bribe her over her butterflies, and told her if they made this an official date, they would see how it went and she might get the proposal sooner than she thinks. Melody then said okay and she couldn’t wait. When he saw that warm smile of hers, it made him smile warmly back. He couldn’t wait either, he needed to know if what he was feeling was real or not, because he’d had those feelings so often in the past, except there was just something telling Brendan this time he might just have got it right. That sounded like it might fit into a song he thought to himself, taking a mental note of it, it would be another surprise for her; he would write a song just for Melody. “Me neither.” He eventually whispered into her ear.

When Melody said Libby sounded like the perfect daughter and she couldn’t wait to meet her whenever he was up for a visitor, Brendan grinned, “Hell we’re always up fer visitors, an’ ya migh’ jus’ get to meet ma brother Gray an’ all.” He said might, because sometimes Gray shut himself away in his bedroom which was like a bungalow apartment in itself, or sometimes he went out to the clubs, but he was always on hand to take of Libby when Brendan couldn’t himself. To be honest he couldn’t wait to introduce Melody to Gray, for some reason he had never really taken to Stacey and Brendan never did figure it out why, but he would never have given up his brother for a woman because Grayson had only just came into his life at that point. However, Melody was a whole different person, there wasn’t anything you couldn’t love about her, she was gorgeous, cheery, and didn’t appear to mind compliments being given, or having money spent on her, in fact she had the perfect personality for Brendan, because she had the cheekiness to go with it.

Brendan had then went all out with Melody telling her he felt there was something happening between them and he liked it, he then hoped that he wouldn’t get a slap for his efforts or told to go to hell, he was glad when neither happened. He watched as she bit her lip and then looked down; Brendan took that as a bad sign and immediately began to think he’d said the wrong thing after all. Then she slowly began to look up at him, and Brendan’s eyes were darting from left to right taking in her features as he waited for her to say something. When she did finally speak, he had to hold back a massive loud sigh of relief. She was saying he might be right, and their little chance meeting might have been written in the stars so to speak. “Tha’s exactly wha’s been goin’ through ma mind Melody.” He then felt her arms wrap around his body, and she hugged into him, so Brendan wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head gently on top of her own, it just felt so nice. When he felt Melody pull away from the hug, his hand went to her chin and he tilted her face up slightly and he couldn’t help himself but lean down and kiss her. It wasn’t a passionate, lust filled kiss or anything, just a sweet tender soft kiss on the lips as if he was wishing her a happy birthday but there was definitely love behind it.

He had then pulled away, and made their way to the restaurant, which they were now inside, and the mood had been brought down slightly. Brendan knew it wasn’t done on purpose, but he was worried about what it was that was on her mind, especially when it all stemmed from the joke about dessert. Melody then began to tell him what was on her mind in a quiet voice, saying she had got the sex thing with the banter over the dessert and there was something he should know if and when sex was going to happen between them. Brendan raised his eyebrow, but kept a soft smile on his face, as he kept looking at her with a slight tilt to the head. He then reached a hand over and placed it on top of her own clenched ones together and used a thumb to caress the back of one of her hands. “Go on then.” He gave her another smile, one which he hoped was encouraging, as he listened to her tell him the rest of what was on her mind. She seemed to be finding the words a struggle, and Brendan gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “Wha’ever it is Melody it ain’ gonna be as bad as some of the things I’ve heard.” He was trying to give her reassurance that whatever she was going to tell him, he would be fine with.

When she finally got the words out, Brendan didn’t remove his hand, nor did he look shocked or burst out into laughter, in fact in a lot of ways Brendan thought it was very sweet. There weren’t many females these days at Melody’s age that would have been a virgin still, and at least he would know if she found out she was pregnant, there was no chance of it being another man’s baby if there was a chance he might be her first. It was actually making Brendan feel sort of special as well to think that he might be the one she would lose her virginity to. Brendan then let go of her hands and got up and went round to her side and bent down, he then took one of her hands and unclenched it, so that he was holding one of her hands in his own.

“Melody, fer a start, it ain’ nothin’ to be ashamed abou’, in fact, ya should be proud yer still a virgin, ain’ many women yer age who can say tha’ now. An’ not tha’ I wanna blow ma own trumpet so to speak, but if am the one ya decide to lose it to, well tha’s jus’ gonna make it all the more special. I migh’ joke abou’ it a lot, but I’ve grown up a lot since ma school days, I don’ go around usin’ women the same anymore. They should be treated with respect. I don’ sleep with a woman on the first date, hell, I seldom sleep with them within the first week now, I always make sure it’s exactly wha’ we both wanna do, an’ I always make sure it’s with someone I love.” He then lifted up her hand and pressed his lips against it and kissed it, “We’ll take things as slow as ya wanna, an’ when ya feel the time’s righ’, and I promise ya I’d be gentle. I ain’ gonna go anywhere, ya’ve always been special to me, jus’ sorry it took me so long to realise tha’ ma Little Butterfly was always meant to be the one.”

With that Brendan reached his arms out to wrap around her neck and hugged her to him. He kissed her forehead, and then her nose, and then her cheek, and then her lips softly, before breaking away from her, “Besides, it’s all the little things tha’ really count ya ask me.” Just then the waiter appeared, and Brendan stood up, gave her one more quick kiss and went back to his side of the table taking in the aroma of the meals, they smelled delicious and he was glad that Melody felt he could tell him what was on her mind, he looked over at her and gave her the brightest smile, dimples in full flow, and eyes sparkling. Yeah it was true, Brendan was in love with Melody Webb, maybe he always had been and he never knew it, as he looked at her, he knew there was something else there that wasn’t there with the others, despite how often he had thought that with Stacey about Megan, with Olivia about Stacey, this time there was something there that he hadn’t had with the others, an unbreakable bond.