Thank you for those who reviewed and like this story! Those reviews make my day! Haha. I know it's pretty sad, but they do! School is starting tomorrow for me so I'll try to update as much as I can on the weekends! Enjoy!

Chapter 4

It was Saturday and that meant that Melissa was dog-walking today at 10 A.M.. It wasn't much of a career but it was still a job, right? Anyway, she didn't mind it at all. She loved dogs and it didn't matter if she had to walk nine of them at once.

"Well, I'm off dog-walking," she said to Jackson.

"All right. Have fun. Oh, and make sure that dog doesn't poop on your shoe again. That stunk up the apartment so much last time. The neighbors even got a whiff at that funk," Jackson said with a smile.

"Please, don't remind me. Those were my favorite shoes too," she said trying to remember those nice knee-high boots. "Hey, I got an idea. Wanna go shopping later for the reunion?"

"Can't."

"Why not?" she said with a sad tone.

"Well, we have bills to pay and stuff."

"Yeah, but it's been awhile since we bought anything new."

"Okay, how about we go tomorrow. I have a gig at the café tonight and I'm sure I'll have enough money from it to pay for the bills and your shopping spree."

"Come on, you know you want to buy new clothes too and I'll try to pitch in with the money. Hopefully, I get a good amount today. Hey, does that mean that I get a preview of your new song today?"

"Yeah, but let's see if I finish by the time you get back."

"All right, you better work hard then."

"Don't I always? Hey, you're gonna be late. You should go now."

"All right. See ya around noon. Bye," she said as she waved to him and closed the door behind her.

00000

When Melissa got back at noon, Jackson was still on the couch with his sheets of music in front of him.

He heard her come in but didn't look up and said, "Hey, how was your walk? Fortunately I finished with the song. I told you I was going to fini- What happened?"

Melissa had a rip in her jeans around the knees and she was struggling to limp to the couch. Jackson got up and helped her to the couch by putting his arm around her waist and swinging her arm over his shoulders.

Once she was properly seated, he checked her knee. He moved the hole in her jeans a bit so he could see her injury. She had a deep cut in it and a lot of tiny scrapes around it. He quickly went into the bathroom and got bandages, a clear bottle of alcohol, and some toilet paper.

"Mel, the alcohol is going to make it sting a bit but you have to stay strong. Okay?" he said as he unscrewed the cap to the bottle and placed a bunch of toilet paper below the cut so the alcohol wouldn't spill everywhere.

Melissa just nodded and Jackson said, "Ready. One, two, three."

He poured the alcohol on and he could tell that it hurt. A muffled sound of pain escaped Melissa's mouth and she started to move her leg away from the source of the pain.

"Melissa, come on. Be brave," he said as he held out his hand. "Here, hold my hand."

She squeezed his hand so tightly that he thought it was broken. He tried to clean up the cut with his free hand as best as he could. There was a lot of bleeding but he was able to stop it so there was no need to go to the hospital. Finally, she let go of his hand so he could put the bandage on for her.

She looked down at his handiwork and said with a smile, "Thanks."

"No problem," he said as he was cleaning up the stuff. "How did you get that anyway?"

"Oh, I was thinking about something that's all and I didn't have a tight control on the dogs' leashes. Then I guess they started chasing a squirrel in the park and dragged me along with them and I tripped over a root that was sticking out."

"You should be careful next time. What were you thinking about that made you drift off?"

You and me,she said in her mind.

"Oh, nothing much just… stuff. Things, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess I can relate to that. You're okay now, right? I know the bandaging isn't very good, but at least the bleeding stopped."

"No, it's fine. Thanks for everything. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Yeah, I know I'm that awesome," he said while giving her a comforting smile. "If you didn't have me then you wouldn't be able to be the first one to listen to my songs."

"That's true. So did you finish?"

"Yeah. Do you want to listen to it?"

"Hm… I don't know if it will meet my high standards of music taste," she said while trying to look like she was contemplating.

"Okay, so it's called 'I Won't Stand Alone.'"

0000

"Thank you, everyone," Jackson said as he stepped down from the stage with his guitar.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Another song from our very own Cody Jackson and it's called 'I Won't Stand Alone,'" the café owner announced over the microphone while the customers clapped.

"Jackson, that was great!" Melissa said as she stood up and hugged him.

"Thanks, Mel," he said while his face was in her hair during their hug and then they withdrew from it. "I'll go get us some coffee."

"Okay."

Coffee was something they both had in common. No matter what time it was, they would always enjoy a cup of coffee. It was nine o' clock right now, but she didn't mind enjoying a cup of coffee with him. It just meant that they would stay up all night and talk. There was always something to talk about and the conversations never got boring.

Melissa was waiting at their table while he ordered the coffee. They always sat on the right side of the café at the table against the window. They didn't know why but every time they came, they subconsciously sat there without thinking at all.

"He's very attractive," she heard a woman say at a nearby table. "I wonder if he's single."

"He can't be, Kate," a second woman said. "He always comes in with that girl over by the table and they always leave together."

"How do you know if they're not just friends, Melinda?" Kate said. "Plus, they don't look right as a couple together and she doesn't look like his type."

This made Melissa furious. This random woman saying that they weren't good together! How dare she!

She is so my enemy. How can she say that we're not good as a couple! Please! It's she and Jackson that don't make a good couple! How am I not his type! She doesn't even know him! Well, I know that his type isn't bitches like her!

Melissa just sat there glaring while she was rambling on in her head so she didn't notice someone standing next to her.

"Excuse me," the figure said and Melissa snapped out of her thoughts.

She looked up and saw that the figure was the woman named Kate and said in her most nasty tone, "What do you want?"

Taken aback, Kate said, "I was wondering if you and that singer getting the coffee are… you know, together."

"Why, yes we are," Melissa lied.

"Oh, really? If you don't mind me asking, for how long?"

"Well, long enough for us to get married. In fact we're engaged."

"Huh…"

"Yup," Melissa said with a smile.

"So where's your big diamond ring?" Kate said with curiosity as she looked down at Melissa's bare left hand.

"Oh, it's at home."

"Home?"

"Yeah, you know it's hard having it on when you're… you know, doing it."

"Oh, okay. Well, I hope you two are… happy together," she said with a fake chuckle.

Once she left, Melissa just smiled to herself. She could tell that Kate didn't want to know anymore about their lives.

That was so fun!

"Here you go," Jackson said as he placed Melissa's cup in front of her. "Sorry it took awhile. They messed up the orders."

"No problem. I didn't even notice that you were gone for that long."

"So who was the woman that you were talking to? She looked kinda cute. What's your opinion of her?"

"I heard her name was Kate and don't bother. She's not your type."

"Why? What do you mean?"

"Well, she came over to me because she wanted to ask for my number," Melissa lied.

"Really? She doesn't seem like the type."

"Well, you know, expect the unexpected."

"I didn't know that you seemed… like the type."

"I didn't either, but I guess I just generate something- I don't know- about me," she said.

They both laughed and enjoyed their coffee.

Take that, Kate.