A/N: Thank you to everyone who has left a review so far. I adore you guys!!


Drake was patient for three weeks. Though, it didn't feel like he had to be patient. He stopped thinking about the non-kissing thing. That's because he was spending every day with Melody. He hung out at the coffee shop. They went out to eat or to the bar or to the movies nearly every night.

At the moment, Drake was sitting on the couch in Melody's apartment as she got changed. He tossed the newspaper he had on the coffee table with a sigh. He leaned back on the couch. "Melody, how 'bout we just order some Chinese food and stay in tonight?" He called out.

Melody came out of her room. She was wearing a red dress. "I thought you wanted to check out that new restaurant?"

"Yeah, but I'm kinda tired, and I thought we'd try something new. We haven't just had a night in yet." Drake turned to look over his shoulder. "I'm sorry. You're all dressed, we can go..." He said standing up.

"Don't be silly. We can stay in." Melody said. She turned to go back to her room.

"You look beautiful." Drake said.

"Thanks. You wanna call for the food?"

"Sure." Drake called the Chinese food place. After that, he sat on the couch again. He picked up the remote and started flipping through channels. "You wanna watch a movie?"

Instead of an answer, a body suddenly appeared on Drake's lap and was kissing him. After the initial shock, Drake let his hands rest lightly on Melody's waist.

Melody broke the kiss and sat next to Drake. "Wow." Drake said, feeling breathless. "What was that for?"

"For being so patient." She said softly.

Drake put his arm around Melody and pulled her closer. He glanced down at her penguin pajama pants. "Cute."

"Am I still beautiful, even in my pajamas?"

Drake kissed her. "You're always beautiful."

Melody rested her head on Drake's shoulder. "Thank you." She sighed softly. "The last guy I was with never told me I was beautiful."

"I don't know how he couldn't. I feel like I'm not saying it enough."

"You say it enough. You say it even when I'm drunk and my hair is all over the place." Melody said with a small laugh.

"That's because you are beautiful when you're drunk." Drake said. They were silent for a couple of minutes when Drake asked, "How long were you with him?"

"Three years. It was kinda on and off the whole time, but we were together about three years."

"Three years and he never told you how beautiful you are?" Drake couldn't believe it.

"Not once."

The doorbell rang. Drake kissed Melody's cheek. "I'll be right back, beautiful."

"Speaking of celebrity babies, Katie Winters was positively glowing as she was out shopping this past weekend. Katie is due in December. Still no official word from the father, Drake Parker..." The host of some entertainment show said.

Melody turned off the TV when she heard Drake sigh. He sat next to her and put the food on the coffee table. Melody started looking through the cartons of food. Drake just watched her feeling a little bit of disbelief. "Aren't you going to ask me?"

"Meh?" Melody questioned, mouth full of white rice.

"About Katie, and the baby and everything?" Drake asked in a slightly irritated tone.

Melody swallowed the mouthful of food and smiled. "Drake, do you want to tell me about Katie and the baby and EVERYTHING?" She asked as dramatically as Drake had asked his last question.

Drake realized she was mocking him and frowned. "Sorry." He said. He realized he shouldn't be upset that she didn't ask, but for some reason it irked him.

"Do you want to talk about it? I didn't ask about it because I didn't think you wanted to talk about it." Melody said seriously.

"No, it's fine. I guess this is new for me. Katie used to drill me about everything. You're just so laid back. You don't really ask questions."

"Do you want me to question you all the time?"

"No. I'm sorry." Drake rubbed his jaw absently.

"How did you get that scar?" Melody asked.

"What scar?" Drake asked, the question had caught him off guard.

Melody put her food down. She reached over and touched Drake's jaw. "Here." She said, tracing the scar lightly with her finger. "Whenever you look like you're worried about something, you rub your hand over that scar."

Drake frowned, he didn't realize that he did that.

"See, I do care. I may not ask a lot of questions, but I notice the little things like that." Melody said softly.

Drake suddenly lost his appetite. "I'm going to put some of this away. I'm not really hungry." He stood up and started collecting the cartons. He went to the kitchen and put the food in the fridge. When he turned, Melody was behind him with the rest of the food.

"You could have finished." He said softly.

"It's fine." Melody said, putting the rest of the food in the fridge. She followed Drake back to the couch. She waited for him to talk.

"I was in a car accident." Drake said, after a few minutes. "Almost four months ago."

Melody gently took Drake's hand. He was surprised to find how concerned she looked. His insides ached. He didn't want to lie to her.

"Everyone thinks that scar is from the accident. It happened the same night. I never told anyone what really happened." Drake sighed.

"It's okay." Melody said softly, squeezing Drake's hand gently.

"I was at my mom's house in San Diego. We all were. Megan, Josh, Mindy were there too. Walter finally won weatherman of the year, so we were celebrating. Katie and I had broken up three months before that. She called me that weekend. She was in California and wanted to see me. So, in the middle of the night I snuck out of the house and drove an hour to her hotel." Drake sighed, he spent so much time trying to forget about it. He didn't really want to talk about it anymore, but he had gotten this far...

"She kissed me as soon as she opened the door. I don't think I missed her. I don't think she missed me either. She was drunk and I was weak. We had sex and I realized what a big mistake it was right after. I guess I sort of realized that is how it would always be, she would be drunk and neither of us would really care. We got into a fight, because I tried to tell her it was over." Drake looked down. He wouldn't be able to say anymore if he looked at Melody's caring eyes any longer.

"Words were said, Katie threw things. She was always breaking things. I had gotten dressed when she pushed me against the wall. Not really a big deal, except she had a piece of glass from a vase she had broken. She told me how pathetic I am and how I would always go back to her, no matter what she did to me." Drake rubbed his scar again. "I guess I'm lucky she cut my jaw instead of my throat."

"Anyway, I pushed her away from me and left. They said the accident wasn't my fault. The other guy was drunk and he ran the light and he didn't have a scratch on him. I just keep wondering, if I wasn't thinking about Katie, if I had only paid a little more attention to the road, if I hadn't gone to see her in the first place, then I wouldn't have gotten into that accident. I never would have hurt my arm. I might be a father because I was weak. And because she won't get a paternity test until after the kid is born, I have to spend the next five months worrying about it!"

Drake could feel his whole body shaking. He couldn't believe how emotional he felt, saying the whole thing out loud. Melody wrapped her arms around him.

"Drake, I'm so sorry." She said softly. She gently ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek. Drake was starting to calm down. "Let's go to bed." Melody said.

"What?" Drake asked, surprised.

"Stay with me. I don't want you to be by yourself."

"I'll be fine." Drake said, without any conviction.

Melody just took his hand and led him to her room. "I would offer you some pajamas, but they're probably a little too small for you."

"I'm fine with my boxers." Drake said, taking his jeans off. "Are you sure about this?"

Melody laughed softly. "I think I can handle some cuddling." She sat on the bed and look at Drake expectantly. Drake slid into bed next to her. He got comfortable and the pulled Melody close to him. She rested her head on his chest and Drake gently played with her hair.

"My boyfriend used to hit me." Melody said softly. "Not all the time, and God knows I hit back most of the time... but sometimes... I was weak. I kept taking him back."

Drake held Melody a little tighter. He couldn't stand the thought of anyone hurting her. "I'm sorry."

"He wasn't a nice guy. It's my fault, I hung out with the wrong crowd. That friend I lived with when I moved to the city was friends with him. They were always stoned or drunk. Well, so was I. Suddenly I didn't have anyone to tell me what not to do. I was kinda a wild child. Though, it's kinda weird. Ben and I didn't start dating until I stopped all that." Melody let out a small humorless laugh. "I stopped smoking pot and Ben moved on to harder drugs, that's when we got together. I should have know. Even before that we were always fighting. We were always moving in opposite directions."

"I'll never hurt you like that." Drake said gently. He kissed the top of Melody's head.

"I know you won't." Melody sighed. "You know, I won't hurt you like she did."

"I know."

"If the baby is yours. It won't change anything between us."

"Really?" Drake was surprised.

"Not if you don't want it to. I really do care about you."

"I..." The word 'love' was on the tip of Drake's tongue but he stopped himself. It was much too soon. He felt Melody's body relax a little more. She was starting to fall asleep. "I care about you, too."