Hey Guys!

Welcome to the 2nd week of Love Hurts! Hope you're all doing well.

JamieT- Thanks for your review, it was good to see Andy evolve and now work in law wasn't it? More on that later… Yes Mel was a little too hasty to threw out Linds' letter, but I think she just couldn't handle it at that moment. Thanks again for your review.

Mdexter2010- Welcome back! Nice to have you back onboard for the 3rd book in the series! I think forgiving people for putting you through something like that would have to be one of the toughest things to ever do. Thanks for your request of B, I will ensure he comes back into the book! Any others you want to see?

Ok guys, here we chapter 2…

"*"

Dear Diary,

Well today's the day! Happy fricken 39th birthday to me!

Well this is it. I told Mel she had until today to come and visit me, if she does we may just have a chance to work things out. If not our relationship will definitely be over and believe me, I'll be the one filing for divorce, I already found out how I can do it from in here.

What kind of self-respecting wife waits more than 6 months to come and visit her significant other? Oh well, it's my birthday so I'm not going to let that get me down.

Maybe if she doesn't come tonight they'll give me 3 of those blue pills instead of 2.

Linds.

CHAPTER TWO – The tough decision.

Jay was in shock, the last person he expected to see was his ex boyfriend and the man that kept him from getting to hospital after he was tortured at the old warehouse.

"Get out," Lauren said darkly to the man, matching the tone of his re-applied Goth looking make-up. "You're not welcome here."

Jay had never heard Lauren talk like this to anyone while at work. Normally it was more of a chipper How can we help you with this? Or We're not happy unless you are! But Jay appreciated it nonetheless, especially considering he felt incapacitated to say anything himself.

"Now, now Lauren," Edward replied equally as dark. "I only came to say good bye."

"Ok then," Lauren replied satisfied. "The door is that-a-way, have a nice life…next!"

But Edward wasn't listening to her. In fact he didn't really even know this woman that well at all. Aside from being the owner of this hotel, if he could call it that, he'd really had no interaction with her. All of this time he had interacted with Andy.

Jay hadn't even known that he had secretly gone undercover to infiltrate the search party while he was being tortured.

"Jay?" Edward asked slowly noticing he wasn't moving. "I'm going back to Pittsburg; I just wanted you to know. I won't be coming back here, so you'll be free of me at last."

Jay wasn't even looking at Edward now; his eyes were totally fixated on the reception desk below him.

"I just want to wish you all the best with Andy," Edward continued, feeling the fear radiating from his ex and genuinely feeling terrible for what he had done. "And I can tell you're not ready to accept my apology yet, but I am sorry."

Lauren's jaw had unconsciously dropped 5 minutes ago, but she now closed it and looked at Jay noticing that he wasn't about to move or talk for anyone. Just then a bulked-up man walked up to the desk.

"Lauren?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you Tristan," Lauren replied nodding towards Edward.

The man dressed in black got the point and turned on the spot making his way out of the hotel followed by the latest security guard to be hired at the hotel.

Lauren turned to Jay and soothingly rubbed his back for comfort.

"Come on honey," she said. "Let's get you some hot cocoa and some pot pie."

Jay smiled up at Lauren. It was much less for her comfort and more that pot-pie seemed to always be her fix-it whenever anything went wrong.

"You know," Jay replied as Lauren steered him into the dining area. "Now that Chef Ramoan has retired, you'll need to come up with another signature comfort dish."

"Your right!" Lauren mocked in shock. "Maybe we can write a list together! Don't move I'll be right back."

As Jay took a seat at dining table 7, he couldn't help but curse himself for even mentioning it out loud. Right now if there was anything he desperately needed it was to be alone to process his thoughts and if not that to have Andy by his side.

"*"

Speaking of Andy, he was just finishing up his schedule for the following day. There was always a lot to do at the firm and only working there 3 days a week had really left not a lot of time to get things finished.

"You just about done?" a very tired looking Mel asked.

"Almost," Andy replied continuing to type away hastily on his keyboard.

"Well if you're quick I'll give you a lift home," she offered. "I'm leaving now anyway."

"Aaaaaand done," Andy finished as he saved his work and shut down the PC.

Standing up he grabbed his bag and sunglasses and followed his friend to the elevator. It was amazing to think just how cold it had been 6 months ago when many of his friends were stranded at that old warehouse and yet now it was so hot outside that you could hardly walk down the street without almost melting.

But that was summer for you, the weather never stopped imposing its effects no matter what anyone was going through.

"So what did you find out?" Mel asked as she hit the basement button in the elevator.

"Well according to my research only 10% of women found guilty of killing their domestically abusive husbands are actually acquitted."

"Oh great!" Mel replied disdainfully. "Any defense on this thing?"

"Well you can site defence of provocation," Andy noted. "It has been used before and basically sees the killing as a justified response."

"Oh that's good!" Mel replied.

"Yeah, but sadly it doesn't allow for acknowledgement of her experience of fear, despair or anger from the abuse. So you'd need to go down a more this is a once off sort of path."

The door's opened and Andy strode out towards the car, it was always fulfilling being at the office, but by the time the day came to an end he was always ready to go home.

"Ok, so I couldn't say anything to her defense other than that she'll never do it again?" Mel asked. "Seems kind of lame."

"Yeah," Andy agreed. "And honestly there's been a lot of criticism about it. Not a lot of judges go for it either."

"Oh I wonder why," Mel replied, not seeing any judge in their right mind accepting that defense.

Beep Beep!

Mel unlocked the car and after stowing their bags in the back the pair got in and put their seat belts on.

"I've emailed a further 10 defenses to you though," Andy concluded. "My personal favourite is excessive self-defence. It puts the burden souly on the Prosecutor to prove that her intent was absolutely and unequivocally malicious."

"Good work dude," Mel admitted as she rounded the corner and made her way into the parking lot at the Dètendez-Vouz.

This had become a regular pattern for the pair. Now that Mel was living with Andy and Jay, they would come home together, picking Jay up from work on their way.

"I'll be back," Andy smiled as he got out of the car.

"No problems," Mel replied taking out her cell and going straight to her emails.

Thank god, she thought. Something to distract me for a while.

"*"

As Andy made his way into the Dètendez-Vouz he noticed Rein was on her way out.

"Hey Rein!" Andy exclaimed delighted.

He hadn't seen her since the day the verdicts had been handed out as she had left for Fes a couple of days later.

"I didn't know you'd returned!"

"Got back 2 days ago," Rein replied.

"How was Fes?" Andy asked.

"Everything I hoped for and more!" Rein said. "Morocco is an amazing city!"

"So I've heard!" Andy replied. "Well it's great to have you back Rein. I've missed your bubbliness to around here."

"You mean my keeping mom in check right?" she winked.

"No," And replied. "I missed you, I feel like we don't spend a lot of time together these days. I still never thanked you properly for everything you did to help find Jay."

"Yes you did you goose!" Rein replied. "You thanked me everyday! But if it'll make you feel any better we'll do lunch in a few days. I'll be at the campus anyway."

Though she was still working for the paper Rein had started to resent her job and was now only working casually. But this helped as it allowed her to do more, like go to Fes on whim.

"Or Cheesie-Fries!" the sound of an overly-excited Jay could be heard.

"Or Haagen-Dazs!" they could hear Lauren reply equally as excited.

"And that's my cue to leave," Rein said quickly giving Andy a kiss on the cheek. "Thursday at 3 sound good?"

"Sounds great Rein," Andy replied. "See you then."

Without waiting another moment Rein raced out to the carpark and it seemed, within moments she was gone.

"Ding Dongs!" Jay had continued now getting much closer.

"Jussipussi!" Lauren offered up just as excited as before.

Suddenly, upon noticing Andy they stopped.

"Oh, hey Andy!" Lauren said. "What's up?"

"Nothing as exciting as ding-dongs and jussipussi that's for sure," he replied hugging his best friend.

"What exactly is a jussipussi anyway?" Andy asked.

"And how the heck do we stay the heck away from it?" Jay put in.

"It's bread from Finland you two!" Lauren replied shaking her finger at them. "And don't let the name throw you off, it's actually really good!"

Andy grabbed Jay by the arm and pulled him out of the hotel trying very hard to stifle the laugher that was clearly about to burst out from both of them.

"Boys," Lauren said to herself smiling at their innocence and happy to see that Jay was happy once again.

"*"

After dinner Mel could be found buried deep in paper work and furiously typing away on her laptop. Andy tapped lightly on the door.

"Yeah?" Mel replied not looking up even once.

"We ah," Andy began, noticing something being very off about his friend. "Made some tea-cake for desert…Mel are-are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Mel dismissed typing even faster now. "It's just these damn laptops and their being prone to freezing that…Damn it!"

She slammed her hands onto the desk and stared at the Laptop as though a parent daring a child to talk back at her.

"Here, let me-" Andy offered.

But Mel put her hands up to stop him as he placed the cake onto the desk.

"No Andy," she replied.

"It's fine Mel," he continued. "We just need to-"

"I TOLD YOU IT'S FINE!" Mel snapped.

Andy couldn't help but jump, Mel had never talked to him like this before. Back before everything had gone down with Linds' and team-evil Andy would have even slowly slinked out of the room. But not now, not after everything they had all been through.

"Ok maybe IT is," he replied. "But YOU'RE clearly not! What's going on Mel?!"

Mel took a moment before taking her glasses off, rubbing her eyes and sighing.

"I'm lost Andy," she replied. "I don't know what to do."

"*"

Moments later Mel, Andy and Jay were all seated at the kitchen table. Jay had poured some wine for himself and Mel, while Andy who didn't drink at the best of times, had opted for coffee. Mel had explained the situation to the both of them and admitted she still had no idea what to do.

"In an hour it's midnight and I'm still up in the air about it. Thanks Jay," she acknowledged seeing him refill her now empty glass.

"It's understandable," Andy replied empathizing with her. "After everything she put us all through, including you, it's a tough decision."

"Mel," Jay sighed, putting the bottle of wine down after refilling his own glass. "I'll stand by you no matter what, but I can't say that I'd be rushing to see her if it were me."

"Jay!" Andy replied. "What an impertinent thing to say!"

While he completely understood that if not for Linds' evil plans Jay would not have gone into a coma and only just survived it, he couldn't help but feel that it was not his place to impart a view to Mel.

"Calm down Andy," Mel replied. "This is why we're discussing it. I want to know what you guys think."

"Mel," Jay sighed. "As I said I'll stand by you no matter what."

"Thanks Jay," she smiled. "I mean yes she did torture all of us and if not for Andy I could very well be dead right now…"

Mel trailed off as she recalled Lind's coming towards her with a gun aimed at her head. What was it she had said again? That's right, she'd said: I promise to disgrace, neglect and defy. The exact opposite to love, honor and obey. Fortunately Andy had managed to shove Lind's just in the nick of time allowing for the bullet she'd fired to shoot off upwards completely missing Mel.

As Mel came out of the memory a single tear fell from her eyes.

"She never used to be like this," Mel continued. "Things were looking good, despite the fact that she wanted another child."

"She did?!" Andy questioned, baffled considering their child Gus had only just turned 2 recently.

Unbeknown to others, Linds' had dropped Gus off to her mother's place not long after she'd left Mel. It was a hasty decision, but she had felt it necessary at the time. Mel had naturally tried to fight for custody, but somehow the courts had decided that Linds' mother would actually be a better carer.

"Oh yeah," Mel replied. "She felt that having another child would be a great idea, only this time I was offering to carry it."

During their discussions leading up to have Gus, Linds' had offered to carry the baby. Mel had appreciated it at the time, but wanted her own turn this time round. How things had changed since then.

Jay glanced up at the digital wall clock that Andy had recently purchased owing to the smile it had brought to Jay's eyes as the salesman showed them the quirky noises it made every hour. Jay had been intrigued by the fact that one of the settings had been an old grandfather clock noise and the beam radiating from his face had been enough for Andy to make the purchase.

Just as he glanced up the clock ticked over to midnight and chimed 12 times.

"I'd better get to bed," Jay said regretfully. "Sorry Mel, I have to be up in 7 hours."

"That's ok Jay," Mel replied genuinely. "Thanks though."

As Jay picked himself up he gave Mel a quick kiss and then passionately kissed his boyfriend.

"Don't stay up too late you two," he smiled cheekily, before heading off to the land of nod.

"*"

The next morning Linds' awoke with a start. She'd had a terrible nightmare about Mel who had come to visit her after all but had come armed. Just as Linds' had been about to scream Mel had leapt forward and silenced her by placing thick tape across her mouth and spouting hateful words.

"You're an abomination to society!" Mel had said. "You don't deserve to live! Happy birthday Linds' sweetie, I wonder how they celebrate birthday's in hell!"

Just as Mel had pulled the trigger Linds had woken up and sat bolt upright in bed. A bell rang out signaling breakfast time and she grabbed her dressing gown before quickly marching down to get some coffee. Anything to try and get that image out of her mind.

But as she walked into the dining area, which was by Linds' standards inadequately named owing to it's utter shabbiness, Nurse Best blocked her path.

"Good Morning Ms Peterson!" she exclaimed in that way too bright and chirpy voice that Linds had come to resent.

The being locked away here was one thing, being forced to go to classes another, but…urgh…that voice! Linds thought to herself. She needs to be fired!

But Linds' knew that as much as she controlled the throne room, she had absolutely no authority whatsoever here and so begrudgingly, politely, smiled back.

"Morning Nurse Best!" Linds' faked with a smile to match.

"You have a visitor!" the nurses shrill voice continued.

"Oh?" Linds replied. "I do?"

"Yes Ms Peterson this way," the nurse finished, leading Linds over to the visitor's day room.

As Linds' sat down she wondered who would be visiting her. By now she had dealt with Mel not coming to see her and wondered if it was her lawyer. Then again she still had at least another 6 months, so it couldn't be her.

But a voice as smooth as honey, yet as cold as ice made her look up.

"Hello Lindsay," Mel said looking down at her.

"*"

So there you go! Mel did go to see Linds'. Wonder what's going to happen there?

What did you think of Edward's appearance? What about Mel snapping and the convo between the 3 of them? And finally, what will go down between Mel and Linds?

Please review and let me know.

Next Monday in one of the longest chapters even written.

(Linds): "So what are you doing here?"

Could flashbacks keep love apart?

(Ben to Mel in Cold in the Rain): "How much longer?"

(Mel to Ben): "8 minutes, Hurry!"

Or just push them to new heights of emotion?

(Mel): "I want to yell at you and throw things at you and just scream!"

But what has everyone else worried?

(Jay): "Put 2 and 2 together A!"

(Andy): "She went to visit Linds!"

And who makes a welcome return to the Series?

(Lauren): "Carmita!"

(Carmita): "Lauren!"

But just when everything seems to be settling back down…

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..WHAT-WILL-MEL-TELL-ANDY?

(Andy): "She-… and then I-… and then she's all-... How can she do this to me?!"

In a very long chapter, all this and more.

Love Hurts, Next Monday.