Melanie's POV

My eyes opened slowly. I looked at the ceiling first and then the walls. Smiling to myself, I sat up and stretched. There was a good feeling in me today. Shuffling out of my room, I smelt pancakes. Chocolate chip. My favorite. Sighing I took another breath and kept on walking.

The sight in front of me stopped my breath. Jared. He was right in front of me. If I walked just a little bit closer, I could touch him.

He turned and saw me, a big smile appearing on his face. "Morning, Melanie."

"Morning," I said, the words almost caught in my throat.

Jared came towards me with that huge smile still on his face and put his arms around my waist. He leaned down and kissed me gently. But not entirely gentle either because it wasn't a closed kiss. He pulled back and stared at me.

"What's going on?" I was still a little breathless by the sight of him and then the kiss. I was surprised I could even speak.

He unwrapped his arms around me and stood in front of his counter. "What's it look like? I'm making breakfast for my girlfriend."

My mouth almost popped open. "But -"

"I know," he shook his head and smile still in place. "You told me not to worry about feeding you in the morning when I have work. But I thought you might make an exception today."

"Wh-why?" I stammered. "What's today?"

"Your promotion," he answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're a manager now. Melanie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I smiled and it was my turn to shake my head now. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is absolutely perfect."

"Good."

I walked towards him and stood on my toes to give him a quick kiss. He then looked at the clock and it marked the time he would leave for work. He untangled himself from me and smiled. "We'll continue this later?"

"Yes," I laughed.

He nodded and turned to leave but as he had stood in the open door, he turned back to look at me. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I replied. And he was out the door.

Now my eyes really opened. I turned over to put my head facedown on the pillow and felt the urge to cry. It felt real. Jared holding me, kissing me and telling me he loved me. Even the pancake smell seemed so real.

Why did this have to happen? Every night I dreamed of Jared. Different dreams each time. I wanted it to stop but at the same time, I didn't. I would never get over the guilt I feel about leaving Jared even if I did get over him.

I got up for real this time and saw Wanda standing at the counter. I'd been staying here for five days now and she had already gotten me a job at the diner she waitresses at. I was grateful to Wanda for so many things it seemed like.

As soon as she noticed me, she stood up straight and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." I walked over to get a cup of coffee. "Today's a later shift?"

"Not that much later," she answered. "We're on til 7 today."

I nodded. "Okay, good."

"I made sure Ian knows since it's not the usual hours," she shrugged. "He's still sleeping."

I laughed. "I'm a little surprised. Usually he's up before me."

Now Wanda laughed. "Not today."

I looked at the clock. 8:24. "When do we have to be in?"

"Nine," she answered. "Is that enough time?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I replied. Wanda gave me another smile and sipped more of her own coffee. I drank the rest of mine and went back to my room to get my stuff ready for a quick shower.

Once I was in there, I left the water run down my body as I closed my eyes and relaxed. I was still thinking of that dream. That, in turn, led me to thinking about the last time I saw Jared. Again. I really needed to get him out of my head.

I finished my shower, pushing aside thoughts of what I left behind and got dressed. My uniform was simple. They let me chose my own outfits as long as it wasn't too crazy or offensive. So I just usually picked jeans and a random blank tee shirt. There. Simple.

When I walked back out of the bathroom, Ian was now up and sitting close to Wanda at the small table they had. They were holding hands and leaning towards each other. I felt like I was invading. Instead, I walked back to my room and turned on my phone. Even though I promised myself no more calls on it, I still checeked for messages.

The light lit up and it beeped. There was a message. I checked who it could be from and my heart stopped. Jared called me. And he left me a voicemail. No, no. I needed to not be thinking of him, not listening to his voice on a phone I'm not even supposed to be using.

I turned the phone off and stashed it in my purse. Wanda was now standing up while Ian sat at the table eating his breakfast. He gave me a smile as I passed and I returned it. Time had really moved since last time I checked. "Whoa, Wanda. It's almost time for us to go."

Her eyes followed mine. "Oh, shit! I have to go get some stuff done before."

She raced to her own bedroom, kissing Ian fast and shutting the door behind her. "She has daily morning routines."

"I thought she might," I nodded.

He laughed and stood up, walking to the sink and washing his bowl. "She's just running late because of me. We were talking about her mom."

I leaned against the counter beside him. "What about her mom?"

He shrugged and turned to face the same direction I was. "She doesn't really like that her father approves of this."

"This?" I asked and he gave me a look. Oh. Him and Wanda. I understood. "Oh. She doesn't like you and Wanda living together, does she?"

"Not one bit," he replied. "But her parents are divorced. Go figure, huh? They fought her whole childhood."

"Wow," I whispered. Before I had only thought a death of a parent could make for a hard childhood. I never considered if they didn't get along anymore. "I'm surprised Wanda came out of that so nice."

"Well she's got a lot of her dad in her," he smiled at me. Obviously Ian had met her father.

Just at that moment, Wanda came out of the room and walked right to us. "Okay," she sighed. "All set."

I waved goodbye to Ian and he did the same. Wanda kissed him goodbye and we headed out the door. The car ride was the same as usual, us flipping through the radio until we find a good song. Then we make up insane lyrics that make no sense over the real ones.

By the time we got to work, we were early and I sighed in relief because the traffic wasn't too bad today. For a city, there was sure a lot of cars on the road.

The boss, Doc as we called him, was glad we got in easy and said how it was a packed place today. "You could have had us come in if you needed us," I pointed out.

"Nah," he laughed. "The rest of the staff handled in fine. There wasn't any need to force you in any sooner."

"Well, all right," I said jokingly to him. We got along pretty well to understand each other's sarcasm.

"You crack me up, Melanie," he said as he walked into the back.

And just like that, I started working. My tables were easy today and Wanda made faces at me whenever we passed each other. Thankfully having a full house today didn't make walking with plates of hot fries and etc too hard.

When I got my first break, I just used it to eat a cheeseburger. The food here was delicious so I always ate what I could take. I stared at my purse like I could burn holes through it. That message was in there and it killed me knowing he left one. It had been almost two weeks since I left Jared. What did he want to say now? At this point after I took off?

I shook my head. Not now. I finished off my food and went right back to work.

There was some obnoxious guys at a table Wanda had when I went back out there. I looked at her and knew there wasn't much we could do. We couldn't be rude, we were the staff. I decided to go get Doc.

"Doc?" I said when I walked where his desk was. And yes, he has a desk in a diner.

He looked up. "Yeah?"

"There's some creeps over at table three," I said. "They're hassling Wanda. What do I do?"

"I'll take care of it," he said and stood up, walking out to where she stood near the table.

I felt struck in the moment then finally started moving out that door. By the time I got out there, Doc was speaking in a low voice but even from here, I could tell it was threathening.

Wanda looked at me like 'What did you do?' but then she turned back to our boss and the customers. The first guy stood up, throwing cash on the table and his two friends followed. I mimicked an applause as Doc walked back toward me.

"Problem solved," he said.

Wanda then gave me a grateful smile and went back to work. So did I.

xxxxxxx

Another break. I almost believed I really did burn a hole in my purse this time. I gave up. It didn't matter anymore. It's like I was using the phone for calls. He couldn't track without a GPS and he definitely couldn't track listening to a voicemail.

I turned the phone again, almost impatient this time to hear it. The picture I had of me and Jared didn't help much.

"Melanie, hi," Jared's voice spoke through the phone. My breath caught and I imagined him sitting on his couch talking into his phone. "It's been over a week now. Can't you call at least? Tell me how you are?"

I closed my eyes and his voice continued. "I haven't seen your father since the day you left, Mel. Maybe he's gone. Maybe he's still around looking for you. But he hasn't come banging down my door yet demanding to know where you are. Maybe it's a sign. You could have stayed, Mel. Here. With me."

My eyes stayed closed and I felt ready to break. "I'm going to find you," his voice sounded more determined this time. "I already started to. But I'm going to find you, Melanie. It doesn't end like that."

I agreed but my throat felt dry. It's not like he could hear me anyway. "Bye, Melanie. I love you."

And that was it. I curled myself into a ball, trying to hold my tears in. I hadn't actually cried over Jared since the night I left. I worked very hard not to. Now it was all going to crash down. Because I was desperate enough to listen to the message.

Maybe I didn't need to leave. If my father hadn't been around since that day - No. He could just not have figured it out yet because she's not in town anymore. And she didn't know too many people in town. Just Jared, Wes, and Kyle really. As bad as Kyle was, she didn't think he would squeal on her.

So maybe that was why Jared was safe from him. He might still be in Lowell, just trying to find out information and not succeeding because I left and he didn't even know Jared's name. Yeah. That had to be it. I sighed.

I stood up, straightened myself out and wiped my eyes. I couldn't do this and especially not right now. I went right back to work.

xxxxxxx

"Hey," Wanda came up to me as I put my jacket on once shift was over. "A few of my friends wanna go out tonight. Wanna come?"

"Yes," I said without any thinking. "Sure."

She smiled. "Good. Because you've been here for days and you haven't met three of my best friends yet."

"I can't wait."

We got into her car and drove to a bar. There was three girls waiting outside and they waved when the car got closer. As soon as we were out of the car, Wanda started introducing me to them.

Their names were Alison, Mary and Tasha. Tasha had bright red hair that was in a ponytail and the other two were brunette. They welcomed me right in with hugs.

Mostly they talked about boys or what they were doing in their lives. Me? Honestly I didn't really know what I was doing with my life. Especially not with all this running away. I couldn't answer that either. I let them talk while I sipped at my drink. I didn't even know what it was. Mary had ordered it for me, promising I'd like it. So far she was right.

"Melanie, what about you?"

I snapped to reality and looked at the direction the voice came from. It was Alison. "What about me what?"

The girls laughed and Alison explained for me. "A boyfriend. Do you have one?"

Wanda shook her head. "She's not seeing him anymore."

"Thanks a lot, Wanda," I teased. She laughed.

Tasha pouted. "What happened?"

"I left," I shrugged, trying to play it off. "I couldn't stay in that town anymore. It felt like I suffocating there."

"But the guy!" Mary exclaimed. "How could you leave someone you care about?"

"I don't even know how I did honestly," I said and took another sip of my drink. "It was probably stupid."

"Well where is he now?" Alison asked.

"Same place he was when I left him," I answered.

"Go back to him then," she urged.

I shook my head. "It's not that simple."

"It always is that simple, sweetie," Mary leaned forward and whispered. She then leaned back and I excused myself, grabbing my purse.

In the restroom, I stared at the picture of me and Jared together. It's that simple. I didn't entirely believe that but for some reason they did. It had to mean something. I looked through my contacts again, this time so close to calling Jared's number.

But I can't. I won't.

I shoved the phone back in my purse and hid my face in my hands. "You can do this. You don't break down and especially not over a guy," I whispered to myself and stood up, opening the door of the stall.

And came face to face with Wanda.

"I came to see if you were okay," she said. "Are you?"

I nodded and walked to the sink. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She followed and stopped right beside me. "Did I overstep out there? Mentioning him?"

"No, you didn't," I explained. "It's just - I checked my phone today and I had a voicemail from him. Thinking about him right now, especially talking about him -"

She cut me off. "I get it. Don't worry. Do you want to go home?"

"No," I said. "Let's go back out there and have some fun."

Wanda smiled and put her arm through mine as we walked back to our table.