-1A/N: Still busy getting ready for college! I leave in 4 days, and have had no time to sit down and write. But here we go!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Whisperer or any of it's characters.
This is Who We Are
Chapter 9:
To Melinda, the morning came too soon. To Jim, it hadn't come fast enough. He had a rough night, being to preoccupied with wondering where Melinda had gone, and not been able to sleep well. He was really curious to know where she had gone to, but he knew she needed rest, so he let her sleep.
He awoke early that morning and decided to go downstairs. He went into the living room, and sat on the couch to do some thinking.
He hadn't been used to her running out at all hours of the night. For the past few weeks their lives had been…well, normal.
In all honesty, he hadn't liked it all that much. Life just seemed less interesting when there were no ghost stories to hear. Life seemed boring when he had no personal records to look up for Melinda.
But he had never said a word of this to her. Because she was happy. If she was happy without the ghosts, then he would be too.
He didn't realize how wrong he was until the morning before, when Melinda had told him that the only reason she was happy was because she thought that's what he wanted.
So they both liked the abnormal life that they shared. At times it made things more complex, but if they both wanted it, then Jim knew things would be okay in the end. He just wished there was more he could do to help her.
He turned to look to the stairs when he heard footsteps coming down them. A few seconds later Melinda had made her way into the living room, and was sitting on the couch with her husband.
"Morning sunshine," said Jim.
"Morning" said Melinda, leaning in for a good morning kiss, "Why are you sitting down here?"
"No reason. Got up early is all. Thought I'd do something productive with my morning," replied Jim.
"Since when is sitting on the couch productive?" asked Melinda.
"Well, I got up and walked down the stairs. That seems pretty productive to me," he said, smiling.
Melinda gave him a playful shove.
"So you're okay then?" she asked him.
After a brief pause, he replied, "Yeah. I'm good, but-"
"But you want to know what happened last night," Melinda finished for him, knowing to well he was going to pry sooner or later.
"Well, it would make me feel a lot better," he said.
"Fine, fine," she said walking into the kitchen, Jim following.
Melinda went to the fridge, and started rummaging through it. Jim knew she was stalling for time. Once it seemed she had looked through the entire fridge, she went into the freezer. Jim didn't say anything to her though. He knew it was best to let her tell him in her own time.
"Mel?" he asked, trying to get her attention.
"Why do you insist on keeping these pizza Frisbees?" she asked him, obviously trying to postpone talking about her visit to Ryan's house.
"Mel." he said. She rolled her eyes, almost as a reflex.
"Fine," she muttered, "I went to see the Sullivan's last night."
"By yourself?" asked Jim, trying not to sound too overprotective.
"Yes by myself. I can handle some things myself you know."
"I didn't mean it like that Mel."
"I know," she said, letting out a breath, "I'm sorry. I know you get worried when you're not in the loop."
"I worry because I care," said Jim.
Melinda couldn't help but laugh at his sweetness…or corniness. She couldn't tell which.
"Anyways," said Jim, "What happened there?"
"Well, for starters I found Ryan."
"You did? Who is he?"
"Michelle's father."
"Michelle…Michelle, Carly's friend?" asked Jim, more confused than ever.
"That's the one."
"What happened?"
"Well, when I got there Michelle answered the door. I told her I needed to see her father. So she called him in, no questions asked. I sat down with him, and told him I needed to talk to him about Carly. I asked him what happened. He basically told me he thought it was all Carly's fault, that she was a bad influence on Michelle."
Melinda took a breath before continuing.
"Then Michelle wanted to talk. And there was really no way working around what I knew, so I came out and told her Carly's ghost came to me, and told me the truth what happened. She got really angry, and started yelling. Her father heard her yelling, which is when I left."
After processing what she had just told him, Jim spoke.
"So, you think what Carly told you was the truth then? About Michelle shooting her?"
"Yeah, I really do," said Melinda sighing.
An awkward silence then followed, and Jim could tell she was thinking about something.
"Mel," he said sternly.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Mel. You're not going back there."
"Jim, I have to!"
"You can't! For god's sake Mel. You caused the man's child to have an emotional breakdown. There's no way he's letting you in his house anyways," said Jim.
Melinda didn't have a response to this, because she knew Jim was right. What if Michelle had told her father what she had said? Not only had she claimed to see Carly's ghost, but she had accused the poor girl of murder. If she had told her father, there was no way Melinda would be allowed back in the house. But she had to try. She had to tell Ryan. If not, there would be no way of getting Carly to crossover.
"Mel, just promise me you won't go back there," said Jim, seriously.
Melinda looked up from the ground, which she hadn't noticed she was even staring at.
"Fine. I won't go back there," said Melinda. It felt bad to lie to Jim, but it had to be done.
"Thank you," said Jim, pulling her into a hug.
"Well, I better get ready," said Melinda.
"Yeah, me too," replied Jim.
"Dibs on the shower!" squealed Melinda as she turned and ran up the stairs to the bathroom. Jim laughed, and followed. But she won. And even if he ended up winning, he would have let her go first. Jim knew better than to stand in the way of a woman and the bathroom in the morning.
Shortly after they were both ready for work, and left the house to head to their jobs.
As Melinda was approaching the doors to the antique shop, she spotted Andrea crossing the street. Melinda decided to wait for her before unlocking. Andrea waited until the traffic had slowed, and crossed the street, over to her friend.
"Morning," said Andrea.
"Morning," responded Melinda, who had now started to unlock the door. Once it was unlocked the two women went inside. Melinda turned on the lights, and Andrea flipped the sign so it said 'Open.' Once everything was all settled they took their seats behind the counter and talked. Like they did every morning.
"So, what'd you do last night after work?" asked Andrea.
"What makes you think I did anything?" asked Melinda.
"Well, the fact that Jim called me last night, asking if I'd seen you," replied Andrea.
"He called you? He didn't tell me that," said Melinda.
"I told him you were probably fine, that you were probably just doing something to help Carly," Andrea told her.
"Hey!" exclaimed Melinda, "What if I wasn't fine? What if something bad had happened to me? Do you always assume that I'm okay if my husband calls you at night, telling you I'm not home yet?"
"I figured you could handle yourself," said Andrea laughing.
"Last night," started Melinda, "I went to visit Ryan."
"You found out who he was?" asked Andrea, "Was it a boyfriend? Or a brother?"
"Ryan is Michelle's father," said Melinda.
"What?" asked Andrea, "Why in the world would Carly want you to tell Michelle's father that his daughter killed her?"
"Because, according to her, Ryan never liked Carly, and was always saying she should be more like Michelle. She just wants him to know that she wasn't perfect, and that Carly wasn't as bad of a person as he thought," she replied.
"Wow. That puts you in a pretty awkward situation, huh? So what happened with Ryan?"
"Well, I asked him for his side of what happened. And it was basically Carly's a bad influence, she deserved what she got. Then I talked to Michelle, and told her I knew the truth because Carly's spirit had come to me."
"And how did that go over?"
"Not so well," said Melinda, "I don't think she believed me when I told her about Carly. But when I told her I knew what really happened, she started yelling and screaming, and Ryan came back and told me to leave. So I did."
"Wow," said Andrea, once again, "So now what?"
"Well, I have to go back there eventually and talk to Ryan."
"What about Michelle?" asked Andrea.
"I don't know. I mean, I think I should talk to her, but she doesn't want to listen to anything I have to say."
"Make her listen," said Andrea simply.
"Right, and how am I supposed to do that? She probably wouldn't even let me in her house. She'd probably just shut the door in my fa-" Melinda stopped abruptly when something caught her eye outside. She got up off her chair and walked over to the window to get a closer look. There, sitting on a bench by the monument was a young girl.
She was angry looking. Empty almost. And Melinda knew that empty look anywhere.
"Michelle," she muttered under her breath.
