Melanie held tight to Mal's hand as they walked down the street together. The girl's stomach growled loudly as they walked and Mal frowned.
The poor thing had eaten hardly more than a piece of bread in three days. Rotten food wasn't much of a choice and it was said to make you tough, but most of it made Melanie very sick and Mal couldn't force her to eat something they both knew wouldn't stay down long enough to make any difference.
Mal herself hadn't eaten much either. Auradon had been stingy with their scraps for whatever reason the last week or so and she had a hard time finding anything even sort of edible. She'd gone longer without much food, though. She'd be fine. It was her daughter she was worried about. Melanie was tiny and quite clearly not as healthy as she should be. Mal did everything she could, but that wasn't always enough.
They both kept walking past the curious and wondering eyes and the muttering and the staring. Mal hardly ever went out with Melanie, but most people knew about her. No one dared to question the child's existence because they knew very well what Mal would do if they so much as looked at the girl the wrong way.
They walked straight to the little hidden hideaway Mal and her friends shared. It was a broken down house that was covered by vines and obscured by trees- it was small and hidden and perfect.
"There's the squirt," Jay said affectionately to Melanie when she and Mal walked in.
"Hi Jay," Melanie replied happily, letting go of her mother's hand and going to give him a hug. Jay hugged her back. Melanie was the first person ever to hug him regularly and he so very much appreciated it.
Mal smiled a bit. The fact that Melanie and Jay got along so well was nice. And a bit ironic in a sense. Both Mal and Melanie basically owed their lives to him. They'd both have been dead years ago had he not intervened.
Melanie was born very early on a Wednesday morning. Early meaning two a.m. Mal's memories for the next few days following Melanie's birth were little more than a surprising amount of blood, pain, blurry scenes and a newborn's whimpers and the vague recollection of holding the child close.
The birth had not been an easy one, not by any means. But since she had been by herself and was so young, it was even worse.
She was in no condition to move much for quite a while, but come the Tuesday after Melanie was born, she was too hungry to stay put.
It was quite literally freezing and Mal had nothing to put Melanie in for such cold temperatures and she needed both her hands free to gather things, so she decided to wait until Melanie was asleep, run out of the house to grab a few things, and come straight back.
Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.
Melanie cooperated, but she slept all the time anyway. It was the climbing down all the stairs and walking around outside bit that was difficult. Everything hurt. She felt like she was going to throw up and her head was spinning. She could hardly stand. But she had to find something to eat.
She had managed to grab some food, however meager it was, and was slowly making her way back home when a familiar voice called to her.
"Mal!"
She had ignored Jay and continued her slow trek back to the relative comfort of her room and her tiny little girl.
She was surprised to find Melanie awake when she returned. She wasn't screaming or anything, she was just laying there wrapped in a thin blanket staring at the ceiling, but she turned her head towards the door when she heard her mother enter.
Mal had all but collapsed onto the bed beside the baby. The faintest ghost of a smile appeared on her face. Her baby girl was hers and hers alone. And that was kind of special. "Hello, little one."
"Mal!"
The shout had startled the half-fairy back off the bed and into a standing position. She had been shocked to see her old partner in crime standing on the balcony outside her room.
"You can't be here, Jay!" Mal had warned in a loud whisper, approaching the door. "Mother will kill us both if she sees you."
"She won't see me." he replied in his typical cocky way.
"Jay. Leave!" Her voice was sharp and biting, although she just wanted to lay down.
"No. Open up, I want to talk to you."
She opened the door a bit just to get him to quit yelling. "Why?"
He shoved his way into her room and she scowled, but he didn't see. "Because everyone's been wondering what happened to you. There's been a rumor going around saying your mom snapped and killed you and clearly that's a lie. I just want to know the truth."
She bit her lip nervously and he looked at her, baffled. Her eyes filled with tears and she turned away from him. She never cried, at least as far as others were concerned.
"Mal?" Jay's voice was surprisingly gentle.
"You want to know the truth?" she asked in a bitter tone, wiping her eyes.
"I do."
She had walked over to the bed, scooped Melanie up, and thrust the child into his arms in one swift motion. "That's the truth!"
The baby hardly reacted.
Jay looked down at the baby and then to Mal incredulously. "This is... your baby?"
Mal nodded, arms crossed, determined to keep her tears from spilling out any more.
"How?" his tone was still gentle. "You don't have a boyfriend or-"
"Why don't you ask those Juniors you hang out with sometime? I'm sure they'll be more than happy to tell you all about it." She spat. Just the very thought of them, of that night, made her even more nauseous than she already was. She felt like her legs were going to give out on her. She felt so disgusting and dirty when she though about it, so she tried not to, but they always came back to her.
Jay's expression had instantly hardened. He knew exactly who she was talking about. They always talked about girls in ways that worried him, but now they would pay for it. "I'll take care of them. You won't need to worry about them ever again once I talk to 'em."
Mal nodded. She suddenly turned quite greenish and Jay grew concerned. "You're sick."
"I'm not sick. I had a baby." she argued, taking Melanie from his arms. The baby snuggled contentedly against her. Mal swayed precariously enough to make her panic. She leaned against her bedpost.
"Something's wrong then. You look about ready to pass out."
"I'm fine,"
"When's the last time you ate something?"
"Um... Maybe Tuesday?" she replied weakly, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Last Tuesday?
She nodded a bit.
"What's your mother doing now?"
"Who cares?"
"Will she notice if you leave?"
She hadn't left her room in a week, clearly she didnt care enough to check on her. Mal shook her head and instantly regretted it. Her vision blurred and she squeezed her eyes shut.
"I'm taking you both to the nurse." Jay told her with a shake of his own head.
"Nurse?" What nurse? The Isle had no such thing.
"Yeah, Auradon sent a nurse over here for health stuff but no one cares. But you need to go see her and I'm going to take you there."
"Jay, I'll be okay."
"You're not okay. Fourteen year olds shouldn't have babies. Something's wrong besides that too. You need to be checked out."
Before Mal had time to argue any more, Jay had picked her up, Melanie and all, and headed out her bedroom door.
"Tell me how to get out of here." he demanded.
"I can-" she squirmed in his arms, trying to get down. She was fine, absolutely fine. She could prove it. And she also didn't want him touching her.
"Like hell am I letting you take the stairs holding that baby. You can't even stand! Tell me how to get out of here!"
Mal reluctantly directed him out of her house simply because she was in no mood to argue and he took it from there. He wound through the streets, braving the weather and giving dirty looks to anyone who dared to look at them funny, until he arrived at a rather decent looking building. He finally set her on her feet just inside the door.
A kind-looking blonde woman in her early twenties appeared before them, summoned by the sound of the closing door.
"Oh goodness," she muttered, taking one look at Mal. She came closer to them. Mal slunk back towards Jay, nervous about what this woman would do to her.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you." the woman said kindly, keeping her distance. "I'm Vivian, what's your name?"
"Mal," was the unsure reply. She shifted the newborn in her arms.
"It's very nice to meet you, Mal." Vivian said with a smile. She turned her attention to Jay. "And what about you?"
"I'm Jay," he replied. Vivan glance quickly at the baby in Mal's arms and he shook his head, understanding exactly what she wanted to know. "Just a... friend."
"Nice to meet you too, Jay. May I ask why the two of you are here?"
"Something's wrong with her." Jay nodded towards Mal. "She's, like, dizzy."
"I'm fine," Mal said again weakly, clearly not fine.
"Well, even so, it's best to check you out anyway. Would you come with me, Mal?"
Mal hugged Melanie closer to her and didn't move. Why should she go with some lady she'd only just seen for the first time? What she could possibly do to help?
Jay nudged her forward. "I'll be right here," he promised in a voice low enough she could've imagined it.
Mal took a few steps forward and Vivian smiled kindly before heading towards the back of the building. "Come on," Vivian urged.
Mal glanced back over her shoulder at Jay, who nodded, and followed the strange nurse to a tiny room.
This continues next chapter.
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