here's another update just for my amazing and loyal readers :)

Song for this Chapter- Save Me by JJ Heller (thank you Kyliez for telling me about this person)

Chapter 9

Never Have I Ever Felt So Normal

Things have always been complicated for me. Not once in my life has anything been easy. That is until now. Talking to Brady on the phone and making plans for our little trip was one of the most uncomplicated things I've ever had to do. Being able to actually look forward to a good day had been a rare thing for me too.

The past week had been everything I expected it to be. I stayed cooped up in my room as much as I possibly could in an attempt to try and avoid any beatings. Here and there I would find a new bruise on my body, but I had become good at staying away. I had a really good feeling about this week though. For some strange reason I felt…excited.

I wanted to earn some money for myself, so I began to look for a job. Part of the reason why is because my father kept screaming at me about it. Luckily the local grocery store called me back and gave me a job interview. I have yet to find out if I got the job, though. But even if I didn't get the job, at least I was trying. I was trying for Noah.

I pulled up in front of the small red house and honked my horn once. It was only a couple of seconds later that the tall, muscular seventeen year old walked out of the door with the biggest smile on his face. Happiness seemed to be radiating off of him. I had a feeling that that was going to become a regular thing for Brady.

He opened the door to my car without getting inside, "Are you sure you want to drive?"

I nodded, "I probably know how to get there a lot better than you do."

Brady finally sat down in the passenger's seat before responding, "I wouldn't doubt it."

With that being said I started to drive in the direction of the one place that held so many memories. I had yet to find out if I could handle it.

After about a half an hour of us listening to crappy music on the radio we began to ask each other questions about ourselves. His answers all seemed to be true and real while mine were pathetic and vague. It seemed as if he knew what questions were ok to ask and which weren't because of the way he worded each one. That one fact had me a little worried. What if he knew something? What if all of this was just a trick? What if-

"Let's play a game," Brady suggested.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

You're being ridiculous; his voice told me, Stop analyzing every little thing and just live a little.

Fine.

"Ok," I replied simply.

He stuck his hand out the window as he stared at the never ending cluster of green, "Never have I ever…been to Europe."

I glanced at him for a moment and he looked back at me with the same cheesy smile on his face that he was wearing when he walked out of the house, "How are we supposed to keep track?" I asked, knowing how this game was supposed to work.

He shrugged, "We'll figure it out as we go along."

I watched the road as I thought about what I was getting myself into.

Stop thinking about it.

I mentally yelled at my conscience for being annoying, "No, I've never been to Europe. What about you?"

He shook his head, "Nope. Now it's your turn."

I could tell you that I wasn't exactly excited to win, but then I'd be lying, "Never have I ever been told how hot I was…as in looks, not temperature," I smirked.

"That's totally not fair," he whined, "I can't help it."

I shook my head, "You never told me there were rules, so technically it is fair."

He paused for a moment before looking at me, "Alright fine. Winner gets to choose where we're actually going since you never told me there was a certain place. Deal?"

"Deal," I was so going to win, "So how many times have you been told you were hot?"

He groaned, "Too many to keep track," I didn't understand why he sounded so disgusted. Most guys would find that flattering…although I've never actually understood the male species, "Never have I ever worn makeup."

I flinched at that one. Only when I'm trying to cover up bruises, "Yeah I have. There you happy now? We're tied." I tried to look happy when I answered him, but I'm not sure if I actually pulled it off, "Unless-,"

"No, I've never worn makeup," he said defensively, "Don't even start."

I pushed the bad thoughts to the back of my mind, "Hey, you never know."

Brady rolled his eyes at me, "Your turn."

"Ok," I tried to come up with something good, "Never have I ever kissed someone," maybe I shouldn't have said that one, but my curiosity was getting the best of me.

He paused for what seemed like a good ten minutes, "Yeah," it sounded as if he were ashamed of it and I think I actually felt a little…disappointed, "But I regret it."

"Why?" I wanted to slap myself for asking.

"Because it wasn't the right person," I could feel his eyes boring into me and I started to feel exposed again, "I thought they were, but then I realized I was totally wrong."

I daringly looked back at him for a slight second, "What made you realize that?"

He had an extremely intense look in his eyes and I started to get the feeling that this stupid little game was going to get a lot more personal than I thought, "A certain someone," he answered. I started to feel myself slowly become jealous of whoever this 'certain someone' was, "You've never been kissed before?"

I looked at the road again, "No," I muttered, "I've never really felt that way about someone before."

By the way he was smiling I knew that he was happy about this fact. I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. All I kept thinking about was how lame I was compared to him, "Never have I ever smoked."

"No," I answered quickly, "But my brother used to," I could understand why he said that one. I knew that I probably smelled like smoke because I was wearing Noah's sweater today. God, he must think I'm a junkie or something. Which reminds me…

"Never have I ever taken steroids," I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and all he did was laugh.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no. Never in my life have I taken steroids."

"Sorry," I said, "It's just-,"

"Don't worry about it. I know why you would think that. I'm not exactly what most people consider a normal size for a seventeen year old."

So there were rumors going around about him being on steroids. Why did Connor have to believe those idiots? "What about Seth and Collin and all the other guys you hang around with?"

"Nope," he replied.

"Well it's good to know people talk about you as much as they talk about me."

"Oh yes, it's the best feeling in the world to know people have nothing better to do except spread rumors about you," he said, a hint of sarcasm lining each of his words, "Never have I ever…" he paused, "Broken a bone."

I shuddered this time, feeling my heart drop. The memories of a certain day came back to me in a rush.

I put my lunchbox and my backpack down by the door as I began to untie my shoes. As I crouched down to slip my foot out of my shoe, a shadow hovered over me. I looked up and met his cold gaze.

"Get up!" he screamed at me, grabbing my arm and twisting it in his grip. I cried in pain, wishing that Noah didn't go upstairs. Before I knew I was being thrown halfway across the room. Since I was so much weaker and smaller than him I couldn't put up much of a fight. I laid there on the ground and felt the tears start to trickle down my cheeks.

"You told your mother that I hurt you, didn't you?" he shouted.

I sniffled, "P-Please, don't hurt me daddy."

"You told her I hit you!" he lifted his foot off of the ground and then stomped right on my arm with an immense amount of force. I could hear my bone snap from the impact, "You were supposed to keep your mouth shut!"

He brought his foot closer to my face and just as it was going to make contact with my head, Noah came in and grabbed a hold of his ankle, tugging as hard as he could in an attempt to get him away from me, "Leave her alone!" he yelled, "Mel run!" Run Melody!"

"Hit the brake!" I heard a different voice begin to scream at me. My vision was all blurry at the moment and I blinked a couple times to try and clear it, "Melody hit the brake!" I soon realized who it was and once I came to terms with what they were saying I jumped back into reality and finally noticed the deer that must've sprinted out onto the middle of the road. I closed my eyes and immediately stomped my foot on the brake and waited for the glass to shatter, but it never happened. When my eyelids fluttered opened I saw that we were fine and the deer was already sprinting back into the forest where it came from. I let out the breath that I had been holding in and ran my fingers through my hair once.

"Are you ok?" Brady asked, frantically.

I felt my body start to tremble, "I'm fine it's just…I'm so sorry. I should've been paying more attention."

"It's ok. You didn't hit the deer."

"Yeah, but I almost did," almost wasn't even a good enough word for how close I was to hitting it.

"Maybe I should drive the rest of the way," he suggested.

"That'd probably be a good idea," I stared down at my hands as they shook.

Before I knew it, Brady was heading around the front of the truck and over to my side, opening the door slowly, "Are you sure you're ok?"

I peered up, "Yeah, I'm just a little shaken up."

He grabbed my wrist and helped me over to the passenger's side of the car. I shut my eyes for a slight second once I was sitting down, trying to shake off what just happened. My fingers were still trembling from the vivid scene that was brought to my attention by Brady's statement. I didn't think that just one game could hit so close to home, but somehow it did. Somehow I became the frightened little twelve year old again, scared out of her mind because her father had just managed to break her arm all because she told her mommy that daddy had hit her the other day. It would've been better if I told him that she didn't believe me now that I think about it. But I was just a kid. A kid whose brother saved her from getting her face stomped on. A kid who didn't know why her parents didn't love her.

"I have broken a bone," I blurted out. Brady took his eyes off of the road for a second to look at me, "I broke my arm when I was twelve."

He pursed his lips as he stared at me, "You win."

My brows pressed together in confusion, "But we're tied."

He shrugged one shoulder, "So, I think you deserve to win."

"Ok, but we'll never know who truly won the game. It's not as fun knowing you let me win," I smirked.

"Fine, rock paper scissors then to see who the real winner is," he stuck he fist out in my direction.

I somehow got my hands to stop shaking enough to imitate what he was doing. Our eyes met for a second and I felt myself start to melt. I came up with which of the three I wanted to use in my head and then on the count of three we both revealed our choices. Brady chose rock while I chose paper. As soon as this happened I grew a little suspicious.

"Stop letting me win," I said.

He looked at me as if I were nuts, "I didn't let you win. You won all on your own, Melody."

I rolled my eyes, "Sure I did. I could see you holding back your game playing skills, Brady."

His lips pulled up into a small grin, "So, where to?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, "What makes you think I have a place in mind?"

He chuckled, "The fact that you wanted to go to Seattle in the first place, that's what."

"Ugh, fine to Ravenna Park," I felt my stomach drop when I said the name, "I'll tell you where to go," my eyes wandered to the window.

I watched as we passed more and more green, thinking about what I was getting myself into. I was still unsure if this was really what I wanted to do or what I thought I had to do. Ravenna Park was the one place that could either hurt me more or help me heal.

As the ping pong game continued in my head, more and more time passed. Every now and then Brady would ask me something about where we had to go and I would answer him. Other than that I couldn't pry myself away from thinking about Noah long enough to hold a full conversation with Brady.

It seemed as if the closer we got the Seattle, the more unprepared I felt. I started to feel stupid for even considering going to Ravenna Park, but it was way too late to turn back now. I'm pretty sure Brady wasn't ready to go back to La Push, so I really didn't have much of a choice anymore.

When I began to see the park I had to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat during the drive here. It was all becoming too real for me and right when I wanted to say forget it, the door opened. I didn't even realize we had stopped until that happened.

Brady examined me for a moment, "What's wrong?" he asked.

Did I really look that terrified? "Nothing, this place just…brings back a lot of memories."

He nodded once and reached his hand out to take mine. I took one deep breath before I placed my hand in his warm one and stepped out of the truck. The whole time my stomach seemed to be doing flip flops inside of me.

"So, where did you plan on going first?" he questioned.

I looked down at our interlaced hands. I was acting like such a coward. What's the worst that can happen? Maybe I'll think about Noah too much, but isn't it a good thing that I at least think about him and remember him?

Go, I heard him say to me.

"Probably the children's play area," I said, truthfully.

He laughed, "I'm not even going to ask."

"You can't ask, I won remember?" I looked up at him.

"Yeah I remember," he grinned, "Lead the way."

I pulled him along with me to the play area. When I saw the swing set, the jungle gym and all of the slides that hadn't changed since the last time I came here I felt like somehow, Noah was here. As crazy as it sounds I could feel his presence near me. It made me feel like I no longer had to worry, like a huge weight was lifted off of me.

As soon as that happened I headed for the tire swing, which used to be my favorite part of this place. Brady finally let go of my hand as I sat down on one side of the tire swing while he sat on the side opposite of me. I gripped the chains with my fingers around them while my feet barely managed to touch the ground. There was nothing but silence and the sound of our uneven breaths. I stared into his chocolate brown orbs and he did the same to me. Every single time I did that I swear I could feel something tugging me towards him. It was like I had to try and pull myself back just so I wouldn't land in his lap.

"So why the park?" he asked.

I sighed, knowing that I would have to explain my reasoning, "Me and Noah used to come here almost every weekend," once I went over what I just said in my head I realized how weird it all sounded, "You probably think I'm weird."

"Why would I think that?"

My eyes traveled down his neck and over his shoulder until they finally landed on his huge hands, "Because all I talk about is my brother. I mean who wants to listen to someone constantly talk about their dead brother."

"I do," he replied. I watched as his fingers slowly made their way closer to mine, "I think I'd find you weird if you didn't talk about him at all."

I finally allowed my fingertip to touch his, "Really?"

I saw him nod, "So, tell me more about this place."

My heart started to beat rapidly, "We used to visit the university and then come here and fool around. Sometimes we'd stay in Seattle the whole weekend and just hang out here. I don't know, it's kind of stupid," I bowed my head.

He took my chin and lifted my head up so that I was looking directly into his eyes again, "It's not stupid, Melody. Stop putting yourself down."

"I can't, Brady," I whispered.

"Why not?"

I shook my head from side to side, "Because that's what everyone else does," I muttered to myself.

Brady let go of my chin, "Like who?"

I could see it in his eyes. I could see that he already knew who I was talking about even if I didn't directly tell him. Needless to say I wasn't about to say it out loud now. So I kept my mouth clamped shut and stared at both of our hands again.

"You can trust me," he placed his palm on top of my hand, "I swear you can."

He's telling you the truth, Mel.

"I wish I could tell you, Brady," I said, "I wish I could tell the whole world, but it's not that simple."

"It could be," he added.

I shook my head, "Not for me." We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before Brady decided to get up from the tire swing for some reason. I stared at him in confusion, "What are you doing?" I asked.

He cocked his head to the side, "Follow me," he said.

I slowly rose from the spot my butt was practically glued to and did as I was told. We both walked up the stairs of the jungle gym until Brady stopped at an open spot that the ladder was supposed to lead up to. Let's just say it wasn't the safest area for kids to be hanging around since they could fall if any of them were to lose their balance or something. I watched as Brady jumped down from the spot like it was nothing at all.

"Ok, please explain yourself," I raised one eyebrow.

He smiled, "It's called trust, Melody. Turn around; fall backwards and I'll catch you."

My eyes widened, "You're nuts."

"Come on it's not even that high up and I'm standing right here. Nothing's going to happen."

"Yeah, sure you say that now."

Brady sighed, "I'm making this whole trust thing simple for you."

"I think it's a lot more complicated than me falling and hurting myself."

He put on a puppy dog face and attempted to look sad and innocent, "Please?"

I chuckled, "You're really pathetic you know that?"

He stopped his little act and smiled.

I looked down at him from where I was standing and tried to think of the worst that could happen. Well, he could drop me…but his biceps are bigger than my head so I don't think that's really possible. Or he could just not catch me at all and I end up falling on my ass. But he's standing right there…and he's not my father. He wouldn't hurt me.

"Alright fine," I scoffed, turning my body around, "If I get hurt in any way I'm going to sue you."

"I'll let my lawyer know," he laughed. I closed my eyes, "On the count of three, ok?"

"Yeah," I bit my bottom lip.

"One…two…three,"

I slowly started to lean backward until I was no longer touching the ground. Even though it was about a two second drop I felt the adrenaline start to pulse through me, just like the time I jumped off of the cliff. Only this time instead of feeling the freezing cold water envelop me, I felt two big, warm arms catch me.

I opened my eyes one by one and looked at him with a small smile on my face. It was hard to believe that someone that looked as good as he did existed. I felt extremely plain compared to Brady, and yet it seemed like none of that mattered to him. He was just an all around good guy with a minimal amount of flaws. And he was also my friend that I felt myself liking more and more. At that point I didn't feel like I was a waste of space. I felt like I was a part of his life just as he was a part of mine.

"I told you nothing was going to happen," he said.

"Ok, fine you win this round."

"Do you trust me now?" he sounded hopeful that I would say yes.

"A little," I admitted, watching as his face fell, "But a little is a lot more than I've ever trusted anyone," except for my brother.

"Well at least we're getting somewhere."

I never knew what it would feel like to trust someone that wasn't Noah, but now that I was starting to get an idea I kind of liked it. I admit though, never have I ever felt so normal.

i hope everyone liked this chapter :D

it took me a while to figure out what i wanted to do at the end...the whole falling/trust thingy was done on a whim so i'm not sure if everyone will like it or not...let me know what you thought of that

and HOLY CRAP! never in my life have my arms been in so much pain D: this weekend i had to play a gig at this restaurant for two hours straight and needless to say my arms felt like they were going to fall off by the end of it and i had blisters on my fingers...it was painful to write this chapter but totally worth it cause we all made $80 dollars in tips! :D YAY US!

another update will be coming soon...i'm trying to decide whether or not i want to make it in Brady's POV...hmm i'll figure it out

let me know what you guys think in a REVIEW!!!

bye bye

~KK