"Drake!" Melody squealed excitedly as she ran to Drake. Before Drake could say another word, Melody kissed him as she pushed him against the door.
"Wow, I guess someone missed me," Drake said when Melody finally broke their kiss.
"Uh-huh. Did you miss me?"
Drake lifted Melody and she wrapped her legs around him. He started to walk toward the bedroom. "I might have missed you a little," he teased.
Melody noticed the direction they were moving in. "I thought we were going to go pack up your apartment."
"I think that can wait. I have something else in mind for now," Drake said with a smile.
-----
As soon as Drake opened the door to his apartment, he noticed something was wrong. There seemed to be a lot more pink things in his apartment than he remembered.
"Did Josh and Mindy decide to redecorate?" Melody asked.
Drake shook his head. "I stopped by before I left and it was definitely not like this."
Melody picked up a pink pillow from the couch. "Maybe Megan decided to punish you for something?"
Drake shook his head, his stomach sinking as he saw an envelope with his name on it. He knew who did this.
"What's that?" Melody asked, noticing the letter Drake was reading.
"Katie was here."
Melody looked confused. "Why would she be here?"
Drake sat on the couch. "I saw her last week."
"And...you weren't going to tell me?" Melody asked, crossing her arms.
"No, it's not like that. I honestly forgot about it. After it happened I went home and talked to Walter and... I just wasn't thinking about it."
Melody's expression softened a little. "What happened?"
"I had just finished a show and Tony told me that he called Katie. I even climbed down a fire escape to try to avoid her. She said how we should get back together and..." Drake held out the letter.
Melody took it. Her eyes quickly scanned over the letter. When she opened her mouth, her voice was high and valley girlish, "Dear Drake, Did you really think I would believe that you're in love with someone else? I don't know why you bother lying to me. It doesn't look like a girl has ever stepped foot in this apartment. Anyway, you can see I made a few modifications. Your landlord was very helpful. Don't be mad. Just think about it, okay? I know you'll change your mind. Love, Katie."
Melody laughed. "Wow, she even dots her i's with little hearts. How sickening is that?" she asked, her voice back to normal.
"You're not mad?" Drake asked.
Melody shrugged and sat on the couch next to Drake. "I am, but not at you. You came home to me. You didn't do anything with her, right?"
Drake shook his head. "She tried to get close and she kissed my cheek, but I kept stepping away. I wanted to push her away but she's pregnant... and it's bad to assault pregnant women."
Melody held Drake's hand. "Would you tell me? Ben always told me... more as a way to hurt me, but he never hid when he cheated on me."
"I'll never do anything like that. I love you. I admit I was a little shaken by Katie. She made a point, I always change my mind. I was a little scared..." Drake sighed before looking at Melody. "I'm not scared when I'm with you. I love you."
Melody gently touched the scar on Drake's jaw. "You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Don't let her hurt you," she said softly. She looked around the apartment. "What are you going to do about all this stuff?"
Drake smiled. "Nothing. I'm moving in with you and I'm going to talk to my landlord. He can do whatever he wants with her stuff"
-----
"Is that the last box?" Drake asked from the couch as Melody came in.
Melody dropped the box she had been carrying. She fell on the couch next to Drake. "No, honey, I didn't want any help with that heavy box full of your crap. Thanks for the offer, though," Melody said sarcastically.
Drake smiled in amusement. "Snack cake?" he asked, holding out the box.
"I don't know how you can eat so many of those. I eat one and I'm bouncing off the walls from a sugar high."
"I have to. If I don't get the right amount of sugar in my system, I break out in a horrible rash. Trust me, it's not a pretty sight."
"Worse than the chickenpox?" Melody asked, reaching for a snack cake.
"At least ten times worse," Drake said seriously.
Melody looked around. "I don't know where we're going to keep all your stuff."
"We'll work something out. Maybe the oven, that's where I kept my bills and such. Maybe we can fit a couple of shoe boxes in there."
"That won't work. I actually use my oven for all those dinners I make you, remember?"
"Oh, right," Drake said nodding. "Speaking of baking, let's go up north. I want to see the leaves falling and pick apples or something."
"And that relates to baking... how?" Melody looked confused.
"Apple pies!" Drake exclaimed.
Melody laughed. "So, you want to go pick apples and you're going to make pies?"
"Well, no. I thought you would bake pies."
"Why do you assume I know anything about baking apple pies?"
"Well, isn't that something you country girls do? Bake pies?"
"I have to consult my country girl handbook. I think I missed that section," Melody said lightly. "Just because I didn't grow up in the city doesn't mean I grew up on a farm. You do know the leaves don't all fall at once, right?"
"Well, they'll be pretty colours, right?" Drake tossed the empty snack cake box on the coffee table and put his arms around Melody, pulling her close.
"Uh-huh. They will be."
"And... pies are good." Drake kissed Melody's neck.
"Yeah... pies are good," Melody said, closing her eyes.
"So, we can go?" Drake asked softly.
"Yeah, I'll tell Gabby that I need time off and we can go next week."
"Why don't you quit that job?"
"Well, I can't just do nothing. I have to have a job. I have bills to pay," Melody said, pulling away from Drake.
"Yeah, but I'm living here now, so I can pay the bills."
Melody frowned. "I don't want you to pay the bills."
"I've been living here for months without paying. You buy groceries and cook and you don't let me pay for anything. Let me help out. I can afford it."
"I don't want to be one of those girls who don't do anything and live off their boyfriend's money."
"This is different." Drake took Melody's hands. "I don't want you to be one of those girls either, but I want you to find something that you really love. You're not going to find that at the coffee shop. Besides, Gabby wants you to start getting out more. Maybe we'll go away and you'll discover that you really like apples, and then you'll want to work on an apple farm or something. You'll never know unless you try new things."
"An apple farm?" Melody asked, amused.
Drake shrugged. "It sounded good."
Melody smiled and settled against Drake again. "Maybe I can start a rock yoga class for kids. Corrupt young minds with loud music and meditation."
"Why don't you give them candy and then try to get them to focus on yoga? That seems just as conflicting as playing rock music during it," Drake teased.
"No, the candy is for after yoga. That way they have a sugar high when I send them back to their parents." Melody giggled.
Drake looked around the apartment. "You know, we could probably build a fort with all these boxes."
Melody sat up. "Do you want to?" she asked, with a big smile on her face.
Drake kissed her. "I love you."