Melody awoke to the sound of a commotion in the hallway. Amidst the stomping, banging, and the arguing, one voice bellowed out above the others, "Where is she?". Melody felt her stomach clench tight, knowing exactly what was coming.
The clock on the bedside table showed it was just past four in the morning. She and Punk had come back to his room and they'd talked for hours, but they must have fallen asleep. This was a grave mistake—she'd abandoned Wade at the party and now he'd come looking for her, and judging by the sound of things, he was drunk and very angry.
By this time, Punk was stirring in the bed beside her.
"What the hell's going on out there?" he asked sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.
There was a massive bang on the door.
"Melody, you filthy whore, I'm ordering you to come out here! NOW!"
She sat frozen on the bed, hurt by his words and fearful of his anger. She heard the voices of several others out in the hallway trying to talk Wade into leaving.
"Melody! I know you're in there with that disgusting ingrate. There's no use hiding—come OUT!"
Another blow cracked against the door.
Punk nudged her gently, breaking her out of her petrified state.
"Do you want me to answer him?"
"No," she whispered. "He's drunk, I can tell. He'll start a fight."
"I'm not afraid of him," Punk said with determination.
She shook her head. "I don't want any fighting."
"Melody!" Wade screamed.
Another resounding blow pummeled the door.
"Then you've got to do something, Mel." He put a reassuring hand on her back. "I'm here for you."
Melody nodded with resolve. She stood and walked slowly to the door. She peered through the peephole at his disheveled appearance and felt a stab of regret that it had come to this.
"Wade," she said gently.
"Melody? Come out here so I can see you!"
"No, Wade. I'm not coming anywhere near you until you sober up."
"I'm perfectly fine," he slurred.
"Perfectly fine? You're stomping down the hallway at four in the morning, beating on doors and screaming at the top of your lungs. You're acting crazy!"
"Acting crazy?" he said incredulously, "You've brought this all upon yourself, you heartless bitch! You send me off so you can fuck that grotbag loser. Is that how it is?"
She closed her eyes and sighed.
"You don't know what you're talking about. Go lay down somewhere, sleep a while, and when you wake up, maybe then I'll think about talking to you again."
There was a long silence. Melody looked through the peephole to see if he hadn't gone. She found him standing there, leaning against the door, his head down. When at last he spoke there was anguish in his voice.
"Don't do this to me, Mel. Don't send me away. I need you."
She faltered, but she could feel Punk's eyes on her, testing her will to withstand Wade's pleas.
"I'll talk to you later. Get some sleep," she said.
She watched as his friends pulled him from the door and guided him away down the hall and out of sight. Melody sank down to the floor, completely exhausted by the confrontation. Punk crawled off the bed and sat down on the floor beside her, pulling her into his embrace.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Not really," she said with a rueful smile, "but it went as well as it could have, I guess."
"Don't feel bad for him. Just remember, before he showed up boo-hooing you were ready to kick him to the curb in front of a party full of his friends and coworkers. I think this way he's getting off easy."
They sat in silence for a while, pondering what had just happened. Melody was in shock about Wade's behavior. She'd seen him drunk plenty of times and she'd seen him angry even more, but he'd never lashed out like that. She knew that he was thinking she'd cheated on him and it would be hard not to providing the circumstances. Even so, she never predicted he would react in that way. It distressed her even further over how distraught he'd become. However, she'd accepted long ago that there was going to be no easy way out of this. A friendly parting of ways was way out of the picture at this point.
Melody looked over at Punk. He'd been sitting in silence for a while now, absentmindedly tracing circles on her back. She could tell something was on his mind.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked him softly.
He hesitated before asking, "When are you going to talk to him?"
"He'll be catching a flight home today. I think I'll see if I can catch a later flight, that way I can talk to him privately at home. I've decided group confrontations are for the birds."
He gazed at her attentively. "I worry about you facing him alone. What if he acts the same way he did tonight?"
"I'm not concerned with him trying to hurt me. He's all talk."
"That's not what I meant. I hope he has better sense than to harm you, because then he'd have to answer to me among others. I meant that I worry that you won't be able to see through his bullshit."
Melody frowned. She wanted to say he was wrong but she knew she had to agree. Wade could put her under his spell in the blink of an eye. Perhaps the hardest part of their coming talk would be ignoring his tricks and seeing things for what they are.
"I know one thing's for certain. When it comes down to it, I'm saying goodbye. It's the only way any of us will be happy again."