(Okay, on a scale of 1-10 who thinks that Chloe needs karma to kick her in the ass? Maybe physically…And Eddie? Oh, we're SOOOO not going there…stupid boys…)

Melissa's Visit

Eddie and Ian were talking when there was a knock on the door. With a groan, Eddie stood and went to look out the peephole. He was surprised to see Loren's best friend Melissa standing there. Without hesitation, he opened the door to her.

"Melissa, hey," Eddie said, "what're you doing here?"

Melissa placed her hand in the middle of Eddie's chest and shoved him backward hard, making him stumble back into his apartment.

"What did you do to her?!" she demanded.

Ian stood up quickly at the anger in the young woman's voice. Seeing him from the corner of her eye, Melissa stopped and her look softened a fraction.

"Ian, nice to see you again," she smiled.

"Mel," Ian returned, "Maybe I should leave you alone?"

"Oh, no," Melissa returned, "I need a witness here so I don't accidently murder the jackass who just broke my best friend's heart," as she spoke her voice hardened again and she glared at Eddie.

"What are you talking about?" Eddie asked.

Melissa crossed her arms over her chest, "Look, I get that you felt the need to go to the hospital when Chloe OD'ed, more than likely purposefully to get your attention, but I digress. Loren even understood it, but neither of us understands why she was here today."

"How do you know—" Melissa interrupted him before he could finish.

"Loren tried to call you earlier. Chloe answered and told her that you were in the shower."

Ian decided to put his two cents in, "Now Mel, you should know my boy better than that. There's no way—"

Melissa spun around, her hand up to ward off his words, "Look, I appreciate you looking out for your friend, but he's not the one who is terrified that they just screwed up the best thing in their life," she turned to face Eddie again, who was staring at her, hurt; "In all the time I've known Loren, she's never let anyone in as much as she has you. She's my best friend, but even I know that you two share something that she and I never could. And yeah, she's a fan of yours; but she also thought she was your friend. For her, you weren't just her idol anymore Eddie. She didn't have a crush on Eddie Duran, the rock star. She liked Eddie Duran the guy. The one who took the time to listen to her music and fight to get her back into the contest. The one who helped her work through her crippling stage fright. The guy who," she laughed as she said this, "who blew off his video shoot to play foosball with us."

It seemed that she paused to let this sink into his head.

"So when she called you earlier, and Chloe answered your phone; she freaked out. Norah barely managed to talk her down. She came over to my house after she talked to you, she told me what she said and first of all; 'back at ya'?" she shook her head, "no…just…no. Second, if you needed to be alone for a few days, you didn't have to lie to her about some stupid press junction. She would've understood if you'd just said that you needed to clear your head or something," the look on his face had her explaining, "She forgot to ask you when you would be back, and she didn't want to bug you again because you sounded like something was up, so she called Jake's office. Imagine her surprise when Stephen told her that you didn't have a press junction coming up anytime soon. That was a dick move Duran."

Melissa paused again, but this time she wanted to see if Eddie had anything to say for himself. When he didn't say anything, Melissa almost growled in exasperation.

"You've got two choices Duran. You either fix this, or you stay the hell away from Loren. Personally and professionally. Or I will not be held responsible for my resulting actions."

She turned to say goodbye to Ian, and walked out the door; letting it close behind her.