I do not own any of the music, products or movies mentioned in this fic and as much as I wish I did.........I don't own GhostWhisperer or any of its characters, I do however, own those characters and storylines which appear in this fanfic, but not in the show. No copyright infringement intended!

Let me explain....I've split this in a way that this chapter's really rushed, but the next one is where the drama starts, I had already written the huge plotline and just needed a way to get from A to B...you know what I mean? Anyhow, forgive me for the hurried writing but I really didn't want to write for ages when I had such a huge thing coming up .....you'll see soon enough x I'll update again this evening xx Pweease leave a review xx

"This is IT!!!" Olivia squealed, they had been hiking for over an hour and just found the small clearing, an almost perfect circle, where they were going to camp, Melinda set her rucksack down and plopped down on top of it tiredly, "you okay baby?" Jim asked, she nodded and sighed contentedly, they had set out just before the sun began to set so they were now in near total darkness, "boys, come give me a hand with the tents, girls, will you go fill up the pots with water?" Christopher asked politely, everyone agreed and set off on their tasks, Holly grumbled about her stomach ache the whole way there "it's just not fair! This always happens to me! Damn mother nature" she huffed, her period had come a few days early and she was convinced that it had completely ruined the trip. "Yeah, sucks" Melinda said distantly, she wished she had the same problem, but no, she hadn't had her cycle for months and the doctors said that it probably wouldn't come back unless she got better, Melinda knew what it meant, if she didn't get better then she would never be able to have children of her own. "What about you?" Holly asked, Melinda snapped out of her musings "huh?" she asked "when are you due?", Melinda suddenly became fascinated with the ground "I uh, I don't have...not anymore" she said quietly, Holly looked like she wanted to kill herself for bringing it up "Mel, I'm sorry" she whispered, Melinda shook her head "I'm okay, it's fine" an awkward silence fell over the girls until Alexis squeaked loudly, Melinda peered back into the darkness and burst into laughter, Alexis was flat out on her back looking completely bemused, "what happened?" Olivia asked through her own laughter "rocks" Alexis grumbled as Holly pulled her up. They found the water pumps and filled up their pots carrying them back carefully, Christopher and the boys had already pitched the tents and had a steady fire burning.

"Were having pasta and meat sauce" John announced proudly as he and Mitch poured pasta into pots and left them to boil, Jim disappeared into the tent to finish laying out the sleeping bags and blankets, Melinda held a hand to her throbbing head "Holly, could I have a drink please?" she asked softly so only Holly could hear, she was getting herself a can of soda and handed one to Melinda with a frown "you're not feeling good" she whispered speculatively, Melinda shook her head "you have to tell someone Melinda" she whispered, Melinda shook her head again with a pleading look and pointed to the can in her hand, Holly nodded reluctantly, "okay, but if it gets worse, you have to tell" she warned lovingly, Melinda smiled and kissed her on the cheek surprising her and bringing a smile to her rosy cheeks. Melinda gulped down the can of almost pure sugar and sighed "you're feeling ill" came Alexis' knowing voice, Melinda shook her head "I'm fine, just thirsty" she lied, Alexis rolled her eyes "you're not fooling anyone Melinda, you don't have to pretend for us, we know it's hard" she said kindly, Melinda smiled "I promise, I'm fine" she grinned a wide fake smile and bounced to her tent "Clancy?" she called, Jim popped out of the tent and pulled Melinda in, she squealed as she landed in his lap barely managing to keep the can in her hand from spilling, Jim took the can from her and rested it down pulling her head to his and kissing her deeply, Melinda's heart fluttered and she bit her lip as they pulled away "wow" she whispered, Jim smiled and kissed her again, Melinda wrapped her arms around his neck and shivered as a cool breeze blew through the tent, Jim held her tight and kissed her neck, "I love you babe" he whispered against her skin, "mmm...I love you too" Melinda moaned quietly.

Dinner was served soon after, once they had all finished, except for Melinda who hadn't even eaten half of hers, everyone crawled into their tents and fell asleep quickly after the long day they'd had.

On Wednesday Melinda woke up feeling a little worse but still hadn't told anyone, she could handle it herself. They decided to spend the morning taking a short hike up to a beautiful view point before having a picnic lunch on the beach, Melinda hadn't eaten anything, much to Jim's chagrin, though everyone else seemed to understand that she needed to be left to do it in her own time, the rest of the day was spent lounging around the campsite until the girls worked to prepare a stir-fry supper for everyone, so far Melinda hadn't eaten anything at all...

"No" she replied again, Jim sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose like Christopher often did, he didn't understand why she had stopped trying, she seemed to have been doing so well, "Melinda" a warning tone that reminded her of a father and only frustrated her further, "I said no" she replied angrily before throwing the piece of sandwich back into its plastic box. Jim glared down at it but kept his mouth shut, Melinda had made a fuss over her medication that morning doing everything she could to postpone the inevitable, Jim knew that something had changed, Melinda didn't seem to feel safe anymore, she seemed nervous and jumpy and trembled a little every time Jim touched her.

The rest of dinner was more of the same until Melinda gave in and ate a few small bites but it was not enough to please anyone, they climbed into their tent and lay down tiredly, Melinda changed quickly into a long sleeved t-shirt and sweat pants and Jim did the same, "Melinda, is something bothering you?" Jim asked softly, Melinda froze "uh...no" she said after a moment, Jim sighed "let me hold you" he whispered, Melinda shuffled even closer so that their bodies were pressed together and Jim wrapped his arms around her protectively, "tell me the truth babe" he whispered, "tomorrow...tomorrow I'm expected to celebrate my birthday without my mom and dad here, I don't think I can do that Jim, I really don't" she whispered back tearfully, it all clicked into place in Jim's mind, everything made sense "oh honey, nobody's expecting you to. It's going to be a hard and emotional day for you, everyone knows that, you don't have to fake it for us, I'll be here to hold your hand and wipe your tears away if it gets too hard" he said softly stroking a single tear from her cheek. Melinda looked up at him with gratitude and squeezed his hand "sweet dreams baby, I love you" he said softly kissing Melinda, she smiled against him, "I love you too".

Thursday morning...

Jim's arms tightened around Melinda and she let the tears fall onto his chest, "ssshhh, you're okay Mel, I'm here" he comforted, she let out a quiet sob and held onto his shirt tighter, she had been having nightmares ever since she fell asleep, Melinda nodded tiredly and closed her eyes.

-Mom, dad, I'm hom-" BANG…BANG Melinda let out a scream and ran toward the front room, A tall burly man bolted past her and pushed her aside, he was followed by a smaller man with a dark cap on, a muscular and intimidating looking man came next "well, well, well…what do we have here?" he asked with a sneer, "pretty little one huh?" he ran a finger across Melinda's lips and smiled when she tried to shrink away from him, before she knew what was happening she was being carried out of her house by one of the men, there were four others that she could see. "What are you doing!? MOM! DADDY!! HEL-" a large fist flew into her face and her head snapped back, "shut it kid" the man growled, Melinda cried quietly as she was carried to a huge van, "where are you taking me?" she whimpered, "somewhere far away, real far"-

"Mel, you're shaking" Jim whispered, he sat up and pulled Melinda onto his lap, she was still half asleep and her head fell limply against him before she jolted awake, "hey, you're okay, it was just a bad dream" Jim said softly, Melinda rested her head against him and closed her eyes, "you wanna talk about it?" he asked, Melinda shook her head slightly

-"Happy birthday dear Melinda, Happy birthday to you! Hip hip....hoooray, hip hip....hoooray!"-

Melinda shook her mother's sweet voice and her father's out of tune bellowing from her mind, she wiped hot tears from her cheeks and shuddered against Jim, he pulled a blanket around the two of them and held her close "you're hurting" he whispered knowingly, he took Melinda's hand in his and kissed it. Melinda smiled through her tears and turned so she was straddling Jim's lap before laying her head on his shoulder and relaxing as he stroked her hair. "Melinda, don't hold back, just let yourself feel" Jim whispered into her ear before kissing her neck softly, Melinda pulled his head back from him gently before crashing her lips to his, after a while they got their clothes together and walked down to the showers, Melinda dressed in baby blue Hollister shorts riding low on her hips, a dark blue close fitting tank which barely met her shorts waistband and her knee high Timberland boots. Jim dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans with gray Vans and a gray t-shirt, "Melinda, they're gonna say it" Jim said softly, Melinda nodded, she knew that everyone would want to wish her happy birthday but was grateful that Jim had left her be. "Mel! Happy BIRTHDAY!!!!!" came Holly's excited squeak, Jim reached out and took Melinda's hand in his own "I'm here" he said softly, Melinda nodded and plastered on a fake smile, "thanks!" she chirped back, Holly smiled widely "we have to go open presents, I know what Olivia got you!!!!" she grabbed Melinda's other hand and pulled her back to the camp with Jim jogging behind.

..........

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked, Jim nodded towards Melinda who was sitting cross-legged and softly strumming on her guitar, "I think so" he whispered distantly. Melinda had been acting happy-go lucky all day as the birthday celebrations tortured her, she really was touched by everyone's gifts, Olivia had bought her a brand new customized acoustic guitar-knowing from Lisa that Melinda often played to relax, she had also gotten Melinda a beautiful gold charm bracelet with 10 charms already picked out for her- a treble clef with an eighth-note on either side of it, a pair of diamond-studded dice, a tiny Mickey mouse, a large diamond heart, an octave of piano keys, an electric guitar, a Chinese symbol for 'strength', a single long-stemmed rose, a sparkling surf board and an 'M' bordered by tiny diamonds. Christopher had bought her a matching necklace with her name hanging from a delicate gold chain, it was bordered with small diamonds to match the charms, he had also gotten her a surprise gift which would be waiting at home for her but wouldn't give any details as to what it was, Mitch and Alexis had bought Melinda the new IPhone along with various charms for her bracelet, Holly and John had bought her a new laptop to replace the one she'd had to leave behind along with a huge can of purple glittery paint to colour her door back at home and make it her own as they all had. Jim had promised not to even say happy birthday let alone give her a gift so he decided he would wait until they got some time alone. Everything had been going okay for the day as Melinda had been hiding her true feelings, she was really falling apart, Jim could see it in her eyes even though she denied it, at one point during an informal kind of speech Christopher had mentioned how proud Melinda's mom and dad would be of her working to put her life back together-that was where it all fell apart. The tears hadn't stopped flowing since then, Melinda had politely refused every offer of company and group activity and instead had opted to sit alone with her guitar softly playing various songs. At first everyone had stopped to listen in awe but eventually dispersed so as not to make her uncomfortable.

Jim had told Olivia that he was going to take Melinda back to the cabin and stay there for the night while everyone else camped out again, he hadn't asked Melinda yet but thought it would probably be best.

"Okay then honey, you'll take care of her and call if you need us?" Olivia asked, Jim nodded "love you" he gave her a kiss on the cheek and squeezed her cheek reassuringly "love you to honey, tell Mel I wanna say goodbye to her" she headed back to the huge tent that was being used as a kind of 'lounge' to tell everyone. "Mel..." Jim said softly, her fingers faltered on the strings and silence deafened him "I was thinking, maybe we should go back to the cabin for the night, just us", Melinda nodded without turning to him, Jim kneeled down and gently pulled the guitar from her hands, she kept her eyes fixed on the ground as Jim easily lifted her and pulled her into his lap, "everything's gonna be okay Melinda, I promise you, you're not alone" Melinda sighed and wiped her eyes tiredly, "you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I never wanna let you go" she whispered, Jim smiled and brought his face to hers slowly kissing her, "ahem!" Christopher loudly cleared his throat, "before you guys get too far into your tonsil hockey...I just wanted to ask you to give us a call before bed time so that we know you're okay, Melinda- if you're not feeling good I want you to call me okay, even if Jim can handle it, you still let me know baby, okay?"

Melinda smiled and nodded, "kay...dad" she said softly, Christopher opened his arms and Melinda hugged him tightly, "love you kiddo" he said kissing the top of her head, Melinda looked up at him and smiled "I..I love you too" she replied gently, "Mel, will we see you in the morning? We can go for our second surfing lesson" Holly said hopefully, Melinda smiled "sure, not too early, I think poor Mitch is gonna be unconscious for a while after this" she joked, he had been running around the camps assault course all morning then spent the afternoon with John chopping wood for the night's fire. "love you!!" Holly and Alexis squealed at the same time as they grabbed Melinda into a group hug, "love...you...tooO" Melinda squeaked a word every time she got a chance between the squeezes. The rest of the goodbyes followed and soon Melinda was laying on her stomach on their bed as Jim massaged her, "thank you Jim, for everything, I needed this, some time to just think...to just be together" she said quietly, "I thought you might, you did a good job though...quite the little actress" he complimented sounding impressed as he worked her lower back, Melinda chuckled "I did study performance for six years..." she chuckled. Melinda bit her lip as Jim's smooth hands trailed down her back, her stomach was doing little somersaults and she couldn't think straight, Jim smiled "am I distracting you?" he asked smugly Jim smiled "am I distracting you?" he asked smugly, Melinda nodded "that obvious?", "you stop breathing every time my hands move" he said kissing the back of her neck, Melinda smiled "my heart's going crazy she admitted as she rolled onto her back and sat up, Jim took her hand and pressed it to his own chest, "mine too" Melinda smiled at his racing heartbeat and kissed him deeply, "I'm gonna jump in the shower, you wanna watch a movie?" she asked, Jim smiled "sure, I'll set it up before you're done" Melinda kissed him one more time and disappeared into the bathroom......

THIS STORY IS RATED 'M', THE NEXT PART OF THE CHAPTER SERIOUSLY LIVES UP TO THAT RATING.......GRAB SOME ICE, THINGS ARE ABOUT TO HEAT UP......HOLD ON TIGHT ...............


"Can I please say it now?" Jim asked softly, Melinda came out of the bathroom in her panties and a towel, she sighed as she rummaged through her suitcase "no" she mumbled as she pulled her pyjamas out and threw them at his head giggling when her short fell over his face, Jim chuckled and let them rest in his lap "I have something for you, please let me say it" he pleaded, Melinda smiled "you didn't have to.." "I know, I wanted to" Jim cut her off, Melinda twisted her towel around her body to make it stay up then sat down on the bed next to Jim, "okay...you can say it" she said softly, "...but first, can I ask you something?" she asked. "You can ask me anything you want" he replied, "please don't laugh at me", "I never would honey" he replied honestly "I understand what you said before, but I really want to know....do you want us to be together?...Like together together?" she asked softly with her eyes avoiding his, Jim curled his pointer finger under her chin and ran his thumb over her bottom lip slowly lifting her face to his. "Of course I do, but I don't want that to be the deciding factor in this, you can't take my opinion into account because I want this to be your decision, I love you and I want you, I always will. Whenever you decide to do this, I'll make sure that you know that Melinda..." Jim slid his hand around to the back of her neck and ran his fingers through the soft hair there "I'll make sure that you know you're loved, and you always will be" he whispered before gently kissing her forehead "what made you bring it up now?" he asked curiously.

Melinda blushed crimson "I uh...you wouldn't understand" she said quietly "try me" Jim insisted, "I have these feelings for you...feelings that I've never had before and I want ...to be around you all the time and..... I feel this need, like I need you...all of you" she admitted with her eyes downcast, "look at me" Jim whispered "I may know more about that than you think, I feel it too and of course I understand...I need you too" he said softly, Melinda looked up into his eyes and smiled "I love you", "I love you too, so can I say it?" he asked. Melinda nodded "happy birthday" Jim said with a smile, "thank you", Jim handed her a small cube shaped gift with sparkly purple paper and a pink bow, she unwrapped it carefully to reveal a purple velvet ring box, she opened it slowly and gasped. "Jim.." she whispered in amazement, inside was a band of sparkling diamonds with no border, as the light from the setting sun hit them they threw beautiful rainbows out in every direction, "it's an eternity ring, I know people usually get them when they're married or they have a kid but there are no specific rules, it has the same meaning though, I'm here to stay Melinda...I'll never stop loving you...you're mine and I'm yours" he whispered. Melinda had tears running in her eyes as she pulled the ring out, looking at the inside of the platinum band she read a delicate inscription 'my true love, I'm yours forever' "thank you...thank you so much...oh my god..thank you" Melinda said sincerely, then all of a sudden something clicked into place "is this why Holly had me trying on her entire ring collection?" she asked disbelievingly remembering the day before when Holly had insisted that Melinda borrow a ring so they could match, "I asked her for a little help, I didn't know how to get the size right without giving up the secret" he admitted.

Jim gently took the ring from her and reached out for her left hand, "is this okay?" he asked holding her ring finger between two of his, Melinda was unable to speak and so just nodded, Jim slid the ring onto her finger and kissed it lightly, "forever" Melinda whispered through her tears, "and then some" Jim joked, she laughed tearfully and took a deep breath, Jim wiped the tears from her cheeks and kissed her slowly, Melinda traced his bottom lip with her tongue before exploring his mouth completely, all reservations be damned. Jim moaned into the kiss and Melinda wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and straddled his lap needing to be as close to him as she possibly could, one of Jim's arms went around her waist and the other reached up so he could hold the back of her neck "m'yours" Melinda murmured against his lips as she unfastened the towel from around her and let it fall, "as I am yours" Jim replied breathlessly as he pulled back to look at her properly "god Melinda, you're so beautiful" he said sincerely, she responded by yanking his t-shirt over his head surprising both of them with her speed. Jim trailed his fingers over the naked skin of her shoulders before peppering kisses along her collar bone so lightly that it was like a feather's touch, Melinda lay down slowly pulling Jim with her, she gasped at the feeling of his bare chest against hers and he smiled, "I love you" he said quietly, "I love you too" she replied.

Melinda hitched one leg over Jim's back as he let more of his weight rest on her and his hardness pressed into her which caused her to arch her back into him and grab his broad shoulders just as she had envisioned it, Jim ducked his head under hers and kissed her neck passionately, Melinda threw her head back to give him better access and Jim gently bit down on her soft skin. Melinda tangled one hand in his messy hair and held his head there as he continued his sweet ministrations "Jim" she breathed as he kissed a trail back to her lips, Melinda kissed him back with fire and wrapped her other leg around his back and linked it with the first "we don't have to-" Jim began "I want to" Melinda whispered before biting her lip. Jim nodded and held her face between his hands "are you sure?" he asked searching her eyes for any kind of doubt, Melinda smiled and placed her hands over his "I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

Jim smiled down at Melinda and ran his thumb across her bottom lip, she smiled and he slid his hand between them slowly setting her heart fluttering in her chest and leaving a burning trail everywhere he touched, "just remember, you can say stop at any time if you want to" he whispered as his hand disappeared under her satin panties, she nodded distantly as Jim began gently stroking her. Melinda moaned and grabbed onto Jim's shoulders even tighter "please" she pleaded softly "tell me what you want" Jim whispered as he continued teasing her with light touches "harder" Melinda whispered, "I didn't hear you" he continued with his maddeningly light ministrations with a satisfied smirk "tell me" he said against her lips, "harder, please Jim, harder!" Melinda cried. Jim nodded and claimed her lips in a heavy and forceful kiss as he pressed harder, Melinda kissed his neck as his hand moved against her and suddenly Jim picked up the pace, Melinda moaned against his skin, her breathing became shallow and one hand left his shoulder to hold his head to hers so she could kiss him passionately, when Jim saw that Melinda was close, he bit down on her bottom lip lightly and she arched her back off of the bed, her hands dropped by her sides and she grabbed fistfuls of the pale blue sheets, "Jim!" her moan was covered by Jim's mouth as he pressed his lips to hers, she fell back onto the bed and attempted to catch her breath as Jim held her to his chest and kissed her neck. "Wow..." Melinda whispered breathlessly, Jim gave her a heart-stopping smile and kissed her chest as he slid her panties slowly down her legs.

"Are you ready?" Jim whispered, Melinda gazed at him with lust filled eyes and nodded, "that was amazing" she breathed, he smiled at her and pressed gentle kisses from her stomach to her mouth, Melinda shuffled down under him and slipped her hands into his boxer shorts, she ran her fingers slowly from base to tip soliciting a low hiss from Jim's chest, she pulled his shorts down and he threw them aside. Jim used his forearms to support his weight and Melinda held onto his upper arms, "I love you" Jim whispered as he entered her slowly, Melinda arched her back and bit her lip "I love....you...too" she whispered between moans, Jim smiled down at her and kissed her gently pulling her bottom lip from between her teeth, "are you okay?" Jim asked, Melinda smiled and lifted her hips to his throwing one leg over his back "I want you Jim" she whispered into his ear, Jim growled lowly and began thrusting into her, Melinda threw her head back and circled her hips in time with him causing him to moan loudly. "Jim" Melinda moaned as he sucked the skin of her neck, he smiled at her and trailed one hand down her side, Melinda dragged her nails lightly across Jim's back and he kissed her neck harder as he picked up the pace, "you feel so good baby" Jim mumbled as Melinda threw her other leg over his back and linked her ankles. Melinda began arching her back to meet Jim's thrusts and her mouth opened in a silent moan as Jim moved against her harder, A light sheen of sweat glistened over Jim's rippling muscles and Melinda trailed her fingers down his back slowly then up again, she threw her arms back and let them fall beside her head, Jim smiled down at her and dipped his head to kiss her softly, Melinda's mouth opened beneath his and he deepened the kiss, Melinda moaned into his mouth and he felt the muscles in his stomach tighten.

"You're making me so damn hot!" Melinda moaned as she arched her back against him knowing that she couldn't hold on much longer, Jim nibbled and sucked her lip, using only one hand to support himself he brought his other hand around to her back and held her tightly against his chest, Melinda held back onto his shoulders "just let go" she whispered into his ear biting his earlobe gently before throwing her head back, Jim gripped her waist and kissed her neck as he slammed into her, "Jim! Oh!...Jim!" Melinda screamed out his name as her body shuddered with pleasure, Jim followed only seconds later and Melinda grinded her hips against him.

Melinda moaned breathlessly, her body fell back to the bed as Jim collapsed on top of her, "uh huh" he replied breathlessly into her neck with a smile against her skin, Melinda kept her legs wrapped tightly around him with her ankles locked behind his back, "wow" she whispered "uh huh" he repeated, "amazing" she sighed, "uh huh", "you can't speak anymore?" she asked while tickling his sides, Jim wriggled with a laugh and Melinda moaned at the sensation. "I love you" Jim mumbled against Melinda's skin while sensually sucking and biting at her neck- a personal favourite for both of them, her hands travelled down his bare back then back up slowly until they were lost in his mussed hair and she lightly tugged on it as he moved. "Mmmm love you too, always" she replied with a moan "don't wanna move" Jim mumbled against her shoulder, "nobody's asking you to" Melinda gasped as he captured her lips in a forceful kiss, "God, Mel" he moaned into her mouth as her small hands tugged his hair gently, "you're sure I didn't hurt you?" Jim asked, Melinda giggled "Jim, I'm fine, I feel amazing" Melinda said honestly. Jim rolled over and pulled her up to his level- both of them groaning at the loss- and kissed her gently "me too" he whispered against her lips, his tongue plunged into her mouth and he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist so that her body was pressed against his. Melinda pulled her legs up either side of him and lost her fingers in his tousled hair.

PLEASE REVIEEEEEEEEEEW IT WAS NICE AND LONG, I'LL UPDATE SOOOOOOON XX