iCome to Dinner

Melanie Puckett was shaking like a leaf. She was about to do the most utterly terrifying thing in her life. Singing on national television – baring her soul to three hundred million people was a walk in the park compared to what she was about to do this evening. Three hundred million was easy. One woman had Melanie absolutely terrified. Tonight, Melanie Elizabeth Puckett would be joining her boyfriend and his mother for a family dinner.

She was now Manic Mythical Melanie. Her sister certainly hadn't helped.

"But what if she doesn't like me?" Melanie was serious as a heart attack.

"Mel… you're being ridiculous… She barely knows you. She'll love you… How could she not? I certainly do…"

Freddie Benson was such a sweetheart. She knew the he was all she would ever need. She loved him more than words. He invited her to family dinner back at Bushwell for a number of reasons, but, in honesty, every one of his reasons boiled down to one simple fact: Freddie Benson loved her. She was the air he needed to breathe. They'd been apart for far too long. He hadn't intended for them to become as intimate as they'd become as quickly as they had. Not only did he love her, but he respected her – her virtue and her honor – but he knew almost instantaneously that there could be only one – and it was her.

"Honey, you're being ridic—…"

His words died as her mouth met his. They'd been doing this quite a lot lately. They'd been getting quite domestic, much to Carly's amusement and Sam's frustration. Freddie went to school a half-hour away in good traffic, but he didn't give a damn. He couldn't have possibly cared less. Certain classes got blown off if the trade-off was an extra late morning with Mel, the ability to share breakfast together, like grown people… who were occasionally accosted by a half naked she-demon with a love of all things pork.

Freddie, as much as he loved her, was thankful he could breathe once again.

"Honey, you're overreacting. She will love you, I promise…"

She still didn't believe him – not completely – but she knew she needed to trust him. It was absolutely imperative that Marissa Benson love her. For Melanie, it was a pathological need, fueled by years of Pam Puckett's own abject failure as a parent. Carly's mother had gone on and had again become one with all that was years ago. That left Marissa Benson, the woman who, with any luck, would become Melanie Puckett's mother-in-law.

"She's a bit of a crazy mess of a woman, no offense, babe…"

There certainly would be none taken.

"You think you're telling me something I don't already know?"

He smiled at her. She knew he had an ulterior motive when she got this look. She knew he was mentally undressing her again – not that he needed any help. He'd seen her in various stages of undress in the recent past. She knew that he was visualizing her in the leather pants she'd taken to wearing of late, whenever she spent an evening in the studio.

"I know what you're doing, Freddie Benson, and you can stop it right now, Mister…"

She chuckled. He flushed. This is what she got for leaning against the kitchen counter for too long. Reaching for the sticky notepad that was forever floating around the kitchen, she wrote a quick note, sticking it on the counter, in plain view.

Dinner with Freddie. XOXO Mel

"You ready, Babe?" He took her hand. She was as ready as she'd ever be. She just prayed that Carly and Sam would see the note when they arrived home from their own little dinner date. There wasn't time to worry about that now. They were going to be late if they didn't leave now.

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, BUSHWELL PLAZA…

Freddie and Melanie had just arrived at his childhood home, now home to Marissa Benson alone. Freddie was completely prepared to walk right into 8-D, as though he still lived there.

Melanie wasn't having it. She felt electrified. She felt… all… twitchy. Before he could open the door and walk in, hand in hand with Melanie, Freddie Benson was overpowered. Melanie had clearly lost her mind. She'd advanced on him – the way she had, until now, done only in private – pinning his back to the door of the apartment. She kissed him as fully and completely as she had the night before. She really, honestly wasn't this type of girl. She was a proper young lady. She knew the rules of etiquette and decorum. She knew that proper young ladies didn't behave like this. They simply didn't just melt like warm chocolate chip cookies and go all gooey over a man. Not in public. This wasn't appropriate, ladylike behavior – but she didn't care. They'd lost months together, only able to say their 'Good Nights' and their 'I love yous' to a telephone. It was a necessary evil, but it broke her heart. He was here now, in the flesh, and she couldn't help herself. Melanie Puckett, like her mother, was an addict. Freddie Benson was her drug of choice. She didn't simply want to have him – she needed to have him.

She kissed him deeply, breaking their kiss only to whisper her love for him into his ear in a heated rush.

"I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you…"

The next thing Melanie remembered was falling backwards – and the screaming.

Marissa Benson had opened the door. The couple was sent reeling, falling together into the negative space where the door had been, but, remarkably, kept their footing.

"FREDDIE! OHMYGO—… YOU! YOU'RE THE REASON THAT CARLY SHAY WILL NEVER LOVE MY SON! BUT… AREN'T YOU…"

Before things could get any more awkward, Freddie was able to extricate his tongue from Melanie's mouth long enough to speak.

"MOM! REMEMBER? MELANIE? GIRLFRIEND? TWINS?"

It took a brief moment for the fog to lift. Marissa Benson was – instantly – the gracious hostess, playing the incident off as though nothing had happened. Melanie was convinced that her future mother-in-law had to be perhaps just a little bit bipolar. Her next words were to Melanie. She was incredibly – if not overly – sweet. She was clearly trying too hard.

"Oh, Yes, of course… How are you, Melanie, Dear?" Mrs. Benson was incredibly sweet. She struck the blonde as perhaps too sweet. Melanie wondered what the woman's ulterior motive was. It was time to smile demurely and be the proper little lady again.

"I'm just fine, thank you, ma'am. If I may, I'm very sorry about my behavior… I shouldn't have… I'm a guest in your home… I'm sorry…" Melanie hung her head slightly, weakly extending her hand – that proper handshake women only used when greeting other women.

Sam had taught her well. Melanie wasn't sorry in the slightest. She was head-over-spiked-heels in love with Freddie and – like Carly and Sam – owed no one on the planet an apology for her love. She simply told Mrs. Benson what she wanted to hear and what she expected to see. She needed to win this woman over. She needed to see that Freddie wasn't just her little boy anymore. Freddie was Melanie's man and, more than that, he was all Melanie would ever need. He comforted her in ways that she could never describe. He was her warm blanket. He covered her on those cold nights, kept her safe and grounded. He was what her own twin had become to Carly Shay – her knight in shining armor, her protector.

TWO HOURS LATER …

Freddie Benson had no idea what the Hell on Earth had just happened. His mother had started the evening cursing at Melanie and now they were acting like best girl-friends. He gently pulled Melanie aside and whispered to her.

"What the hell is going on?"

She whispered back into his ear.

"You catch more flies with honey, Baby Doll…"

He flushed. She had never called him that in public before.

"Mom, I think we're going to get going… I love you."

Marissa Benson drew her only child into a crushing hug. Freddie figured it was better than a tick bath.

Letting him go, she pulled his pretty blonde girlfriend to her. She'd never had a daughter. She kissed Melanie on the cheek. Melanie was stunned. Freddie thought he would have a stroke.

"Honey, I'm sorry for overreacting, really… If you ever need anything, just know I'm here for you…"

The couple said their goodbyes and, as politely as was possible, rushed out of the apartment.

BACK ON CAMPUS…

It had been another of those evenings for Carly and Sam. She was beginning to think that Sam had put something in the water. At various points this past week, Carly found herself powerless against Sam's advances. It seemed that the slightest provocation would set either of them off.

Carly heard the front door creak open, too into Sam to care. Melanie had apparently been drinking – at least the same tainted water Carly had this past week. She was all over Freddie. She finally bade him good night and walked in the house.

Melanie Puckett loved both of her sisters and saw nothing wrong or uncomfortable in their affections. It was simply too late at night and she'd had a rough enough evening where she simply couldn't handle being confronted with Girly Love the moment she walked in the door. Sam, finally free of the assaults of Carly Shay, shot her sister a look. Melanie looked a troubled hot mess.

"What the hell happened?"

Sam was clearly worried, and ready to finish the job with Freddie Benson, if he'd, as she suspected, been stupid enough to hurt Mel.

Melanie was still in a bit of a haze.

"Freddie's mother… she… she thought I was you… hugged… kissed me… Oh God…"

The color drained from Sam's face.

"I love you both, but seriously… Can't you guys get a room? Do you think I want to walk into the house to find you two joined at the face?"

This was the kind of comment that would normally send Sam into a blind rage. She loved her Cupcake and would never apologize for it – not to anyone. Melanie, however, was a special case. Melanie had an eternal Get Out of Jail Free card. Sam was instantly a whiny, spoiled child again. This is just how she and Melanie were. They fought, but it was play-fighting. They would never hurt one another again.

"Got a room... This one... Oh, and Hey, don't knock it 'til you've tried it, Baby Cakes…"

Melanie chuckled.

"Have fun, Girls… I'm going to bed. Love you…"

She was exhausted. She had to study, write, and record tomorrow. She needed to sleep.

Leaving her sisters to their own devices, Melanie shuffled to the stairs. She climbed them slowly and deliberately. Her bed, though empty, was calling her.