Disclaimer: I do not own any of Ghost Whisperer, but if I did, the show would
definitely not be over.
Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it as much I did writing it.
After Jim took a shower and got ready for bed, he went into the other guestroom and found Melinda sleeping peacefully. He smiled and hesitated to sleep in the same bed with her. After a few minutes of arguing with himself, Jim turned off all the lights and got comfortable in bed. Melinda opened her eyes to complete darkness. She felt someone next to her.
"Goodnight, Mel." Jim whispered before kissing her cheek. "I love you."
She smiled and let sleep take over her. Jim fell asleep shortly after. The next morning, Melinda woke up in Jim's arms. Her head was laying on his chest and his arm was around her back. Melinda smiled up at his face, admiring how adorable he looked. She kissed his chin and tried to leave the bed without waking him. Suddenly, Jim's arm tightened around her and he turned over so the left side of his body was covering hers. His lips were by her ear.
"You're beautiful, Mel." he murmured sleepily.
"Really?" she looked at him. "Then how come you wouldn't look at me?"
"Oh, I looked at you. And I couldn't take my eyes off of you." he smiled. "But I didn't know if you wanted me to look so I turned around."
"But when I was covered, you didn't want to look." she was confused.
"I didn't want you to see what happened." Jim said.
Melinda tried to figure out what he meant but she couldn't.
"Lets put it this way: My pants got too tight." he said.
Her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Oh." she giggled. "Well, I'm gonna go get ready for breakfast."
"Me too." they both got out of bed.
Rick left for work by the time Jim and Melinda got downstairs. Kate left shortly after breakfast was over to visit a friend.
"So, wanna go swimming?" Jim asked.
"In November?" she asked.
"Yeah." he said.
"No, its too cold." she sighed.
"Uncle Rick has an indoor pool." he smiled.
"Really?" Melinda beamed.
"Yeah. So do you wanna go?" he asked.
"Yeah, lets get ready." she smiled.
"Race ya." he challenged.
Melinda took off running to the guestroom. Jim ran after her. He caught up to her right before they got to the room. Melinda let out a scream as he picked her up from behind.
"I won." she laughed.
"No, it was a tie." he corrected her.
"No, I stepped into the room first." she argued.
"You did not." he smiled.
"Let me go." she giggled.
"Fine." he threw onto the bed and she burst into laughter.
Jim watched her in awe as she tried to contain herself. They way she was sprawled out on the bed was attractive to him. Her arms and legs were stretched out and her chest was moving up and down as she took deep breaths from laughing so hard. Jim couldn't tear his eyes away.
"Melinda." he took a step forward.
"Huh?" she said.
"Never mind." he started walking to the bathroom.
"What?" she sat up.
"Nothing." he shook his head.
"Fine. Don't tell me." she took her shirt and pants off. "I'm ready to go in."
"You're gonna go just like that?" Jim looked at her.
"I don't have any bathing suits with me." she said.
"You're not making this easy for me." he sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Melinda got up off the bed.
"Just forget about it." he walked into the bathroom.
"What am I doing?" she followed him.
"You're just so…" Jim strained.
"What? Spit it out." she was confused at to why he was acting so weird.
"You're just amazing." he smiled.
"Oh. Well thank you." she smiled back. "You're amazing too."
Melinda kissed him softly. Jim tried not to deepen the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Jim placed his hands on her waist, feeling nothing but bare skin, since she was only in her bra and underwear. He pulled away.
"I need to change." he avoided looking at her.
"Okay?" Melinda said. "I'll be downstairs at the pool."
She left the bedroom and went downstairs. While she was walking, she wondered why he was being distant. Jim took a long time to get out of the bathroom after he changed into something to wear in the pool, he paced back and forth.
"You need to control yourself, Jim. She is not ready for that and you can't scare her away. Just don't think about her in that way." he tried to fight the urges.
He took a few deep breaths before going down to the pool. Melinda was already in swimming from one end to the other. Jim watched her through the glass door as she moved through the water gracefully. She jumped out of the pool and sat on the side with her feet still dangling in the water. Jim could see the whole front of her body. Melinda took deep breaths as she smoothed her hair back out of her face. Jim just stood there and continued to watch her. She laid down by the edge of the pool and closed her eyes.
"Just breathe." Jim whispered to himself.
Jim slid open the door and walked into the room.
"Hey." he said.
"Hi." she looked at him and her breath caught.
It was the very first time that she saw him shirtless. He was completely built with his six pack and toned pecs. She bit her lip and closed her eyes again. He sat down on the opposite side of the pool and put his feet into the water. They were quiet for a while. Both of them were trying so hard to control their urges, not knowing that the other wanted the same thing.
"Mel," Jim broke the silence. "I love you."
"I love you, too." she looked at him.
They smiled at each other. Jim jumped into the pool and ducked under the water. Everything was silent after the splashes of water had ceased. Suddenly, Jim resurfaced right next to Melinda and pulled her in. She screamed in shock as she hit the water. Her hands squeezed Jim's shoulders. He kept his hands on her waist and looked at her with a devious smile.
"No." she shook her head, knowing exactly what he was going to do.
"Oh yeah." he smiled before throwing her into the water, getting her completely wet.
Melinda came up and looked pissed.
"That was not funny!" she steamed.
"It was pretty funny." Jim laughed.
Melinda was about to get out when Jim pulled her back to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"No, I'm not gonna talked to you." she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Melinda." he tried to look into her eyes but she turned her head.
"Nope." she said.
He kissed her cheek but she wiped it away. He kissed her cheek again and she wiped it away a second time. He did it again. Melinda grabbed his face in her hands.
"Jim! Stop it! I'm mad at you!" she exclaimed.
"But I love you." Jim pouted like a sad little kid.
"Well I don't care." she said.
"Okay." he said sadly and let her go.
He hung his head and started walking away from her. She sighed and pulled him back to her. Her lips crashed onto his in a passionate kiss. Her arms found their way around his neck as she got lost in the kiss. Jim wrapped his arms around her. They continued to kiss until they needed air. Melinda rested her forehead against his.
They spent the rest of the morning in the pool. They raced each other, played marco polo, and made out every once in a while. Jim and Melinda got out of the pool once lunch rolled around. They went out into town to grab lunch.
"You'll love this bistro." Jim took her to one of his favorite restaurants. "I used to come here all the time."
They were seated immediately in a booth in the corner. Melinda looked around.
"It's so nice and quiet. I would come here all the time, too." she smiled. "Who did you use to come here with?"
"Dan and I use to come here with a couple buddies from my old school. We would just hang out for a while and hit on the hot waitress that works here." Jim smiled.
"So, that's why you wanted to come here." Melinda narrowed her eyes.
"And the food is really good." Jim joked.
She gasped and gently punched him in the arm. They enjoyed their lunch together and took a stroll in the park. The couple walked arm in arm.
"Just tell me the truth." Melinda said.
"Does it really matter?" Jim asked.
"Yes. To me." she said. "Was the waitress prettier than me?"
"Okay. Am I gonna glance at other women? Yes. Am I gonna think they're pretty? Yes. But no one is prettier than you." he kissed her cheek.
"Damn, you're good." she laughed.
"I got skills." Jim stated proudly.
"Yeah, yeah." she smiled before her cell phone started ringing. "Hello?"
"Hey, are you busy?" Andrea said on the other end.
"No, what's up?" Melinda replied.
"Okay. Well, I heard from Holly who heard from Hayden who heard from Bobby who heard from Tim who was talking to Shawn about tonight." Andrea was talking at one hundred miles an hour.
"Andrea, calm down." Melinda said. "What about tonight?"
"Well, I heard that Shawn's parents are gone for the weekend and he's planning a special dinner for the two of us. And you know what that means." Andrea panicked.
"Oh my god!" Melinda stopped walking.
"What?" Jim worried, as he stopped walking too.
"Yeah. And I'm really nervous." Andrea said.
"Well I would be too. But you have to stay calm." Melinda tried to comfort her friend.
"I'm trying but this is really big!" Andrea exclaimed.
"Okay, okay. Umm…" Melinda tried to think of comforting words. "Just… Just go with it. You know, pretend you know nothing out of the ordinary is going on. You've been on romantic dates with Shawn before, so just act like its nothing bigger than that and when the moment comes, act like you know what you're doing."
"Yeah, yeah… that sounds good. Okay, thank you so much! I didn't know what to do." Andrea took a deep breath. "Have you and Jim done it?"
"No." Melinda sighed. "I don't think he wants to."
She looked at Jim, who was looking back at her confused. He could only hear half of the conversation.
"Melinda, even a blind man can tell Jim wants you. I bet he still thinks you don't want to." Andrea said.
"Well, I tried to-" Melinda stopped talking, not wanting to let Jim in on what she was talking about. "I tried to show that I'm ready to give my personal items away but… no matter what I do, they won't take it. I mean, maybe they just don't want it."
"Well, try again. Make it more obvious." Andrea picked up on the code.
"Okay, I'll try." Melinda sighed.
"Okay. And I'll try your plan." Andrea smiled. "I gotta go. Bye."
"Bye." Melinda hung up.
"What was all that about?" Jim asked as they walked back to the car.
"Andrea was worried about what Shawn has planned for tonight." Melinda answered.
"Oh. Yeah, I heard he wanted to well, you know." he said.
"Yeah, and she's nervous as hell." she said.
"I could see why. It's a big deal." he said.
"Yeah, so I just helped her think of a way to calm down." Melinda said.
"You're a good friend." Jim kissed her head.
"Thanks. She helped with something, too, so I returned the favor." she said.
"What did she help you with?" he asked her.
"Oh, this thing I've been trying to do but I wasn't sure if…" she looked up at him, not knowing how to explain it without giving away the whole truth. "Umm, she just gave me some advice."
"You know you could have asked me." Jim opened the car door to the passenger's seat for her once they got to the car.
"Uh, no. This was a girl thing." she smiled.
"Well, then I guess I wouldn't have been much help, would I?" Jim chuckled, closing her door.
"Nope." Melinda chuckled nervously.
Back at the house, Kate had came home before Jim and Melinda returned from visiting the town. She was in the kitchen baking cookies.
"Hey, Aunt Kate." Jim walked into the kitchen with Melinda.
"Hey, Mrs. Payne." Melinda smiled.
"Honey, call me Kate." Kate smiled warmly.
"Whoa, and I have to call you Aunt Kate?" Jim asked.
"Because you're my nephew." Kate told him. "But I guess she's like my niece, so if she wants she can call me Aunt Kate too."
"Okay, Aunt Kate." Melinda smiled.
"That's better." Jim smiled.
"You're so weird." Kate chuckled.
Jim and Melinda helped Kate bake the cookies. They spent hours in the kitchen laughing, talking, and shaping the oversized cookies. There were chocolate chip for Kate, peanut butter for Melinda, m&m for Rick, and sugar cookies for Jim. Jim had stole a chunk of cookie dough from Melinda.
"No, I need that." Melinda pouted.
"I need it more." Jim started shaping the cookie dough."What for?" she asked.
"I'm making something." Jim said.
"Fine. Then I'm taking some of yours." she took a chunk of cookie dough from him.
Kate watched in amusement as she shaped her own cookies. They all made some cookies for Rick too. The cookies were shaped in regular circles, stars, squares, and diamonds. Jim was at the other table secretly making a huge heart shaped cookie for Melinda with the peanut butter cookie dough. What he didn't know was that Melinda was doing the same for him with the sugar cookie dough.
"Alright. Time to bake them." Kate said.
They used four trays to bake all of the cookies. Kate put them all into the oven so Jim and Melinda wouldn't see the other's cookies.
"By the time, they're all done, Rick will be home so he can ice them with us." Kate stated.
"I feel like a little kid." Melinda leaned on the counter. "Baking cookies and fighting for the cookie dough."
"But it was fun." Jim smiled.
"Yeah it was." Melinda smiled.
"You two are hilarious." Kate laughed.
"How?" Jim asked.
"Oh, you'll see." Kate smiled.
"Oh, we should go book our flights back home." Jim turned to Melinda. "We do leave Monday."
"Yeah, we should." Melinda sighed. "I don't want to leave, though."
"Me neither." Jim comfortingly rubbed Melinda's back. "We'll try to come back to visit during the summer."
"You better. I would love to Melinda again." Kate said.
"Aww. I'll definitely be coming back." Melinda smiled.
"And what about me?" Jim pretended to be hurt.
"Oh, yeah. You too." Kate said.
"Oh, I feel loved." Jim said sarcastically.
"Don't worry, I love you." Melinda smiled.
"Ha, Aunt Kate." Jim hugged Melinda. "At least I have Melinda."
Kate looked at Melinda, who shook her head as if it wasn't true. Jim looked at her too, so she stopped shaking her head and smiled at him. Kate burst out laughing, so did Melinda. Jim was totally lost.
"I smell cookies!" Rick walked into the house a few hours later.
"Well, hello to you, too, honey." Kate greeted him in the kitchen.
"We made some for you, too." Melinda smiled.
"That was very sweet of you." Rick smiled back.
"Yeah, they're cooling right now." Kate said.
"Okay. Where's Jim?" Rick took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves to go wash his hands.
"He went upstairs to go book our flights back home." Melinda answered.
"The cookies are ready to be iced." Kate started laying out the cookies.
"I'll go get Jim." Melinda headed upstairs.
Jim was on the computer getting their plane tickets ready. His back was facing her. Melinda walked into the room and hugged him from behind.
"The cookies are ready." she said quietly.
"Okay, I'm coming." he said.
"Are our flights ready?" she asked.
"Yup. Monday afternoon. All set." he said.
"Good." Melinda kissed the side of his neck.
"Yeah, good." Jim couldn't think straight as she sucked on his skin.
Jim slowly got up from the chair and turned to face her. She continued to suck on his neck as he wrapped her in his strong arms. She gently bit down and then kissed it once more before pulling away. She smiled and stared at his purplish bruise.
"Did you just give me a hickey?" he asked.
"Uh-huh." she giggled, then ran downstairs.
The four of them iced their cookies. Jim and Kate were at one table while Rick and Melinda were at the other. Jim wrote a message on the cookie he made for Melinda, while she did the same. When all the cookies were done, Jim gave Melinda the heart-shaped cookie that read: You are my heart and soul. I give everything to you. I love you, always. Melinda had given him his heart-shaped cookie that said: I belong to you. My love is yours. I love you, forever. They smiled at the message they received from each other and share a sweet kiss.
"Why cant you be like that?" Kate slapped Rick's arm.
"Ow." Rick rubbed his arm. "Thanks, Jim."
"You're welcome." Jim smiled smugly.
They ate their cookies after they had dinner, which was Chinese take-out night. Then, they huddle in the living room to watch a movie together. Rick and Kate took the couch. Rick laid down on the couch with Kate laying on top of him, the way Jim and Melinda had been the night before, while the younger couple cuddled on the recliner. They laid side by side with their bodies pressed comfortably together. Jim had his arm around her and Melinda had her arm over his stomach. The lights were turned off and the movie had started. Melinda looked up at Jim's neck and could barely see his hickey in the dim lighting. She smiled and pressed a kiss to it before turning her attention back to the movie.
Please review! Thanks you guys. : )