Please send feedback, take care of yourself, and I hope you enjoy! I'm also thinking of doing different chapters in the minds of Lacey, Kiera, James, etc. to give them a spotlight in the story. As a precaution, their relationship isn't rape or incest, okay bye! :)

Melanie didn't talk to me until we were back at her apartment, when we were still in her car.

"I told you to leave him be," Melanie exclaimed.

"He deserved it."

"He may have deserved it, but I really don't want you fighting him, or him fighting you."

"You expected me to just act like everything's fine? He physically violated you. You expected me to not punch him square in the jaw?"

"No, I expected you to listen to me when I told you that I didn't want you to defend me. These are my battles, and I can fight them however I want." She had me there. I bit my tongue and forced down my arguments as I nodded.

"I'm sorry. Can I make it up to you?"

"How?"

"Let's forget about…everything going on and do something. You can go take your test to make sure, but then I'm going to take you somewhere other than the apartment." Melanie looked down at her hands and timidly nodded, while picking at the edges of the cardboard box. I tapped the face of the box twice to make her look up at me.

"You should probably take the test now," I told her. She sighed and scrunched her nose, but nodded and grabbed her water bottle before leaving the car.

"Can you come with me?"

"Of course. Whatever you need." I followed her out of the car and to her apartment. She didn't bother slipping her shoes off, she just took a large gulp of her water bottle and handed it to me, before going to the washroom. I stood with her water bottle for nearly ten minutes, until Melanie came out.

"Three minutes?" I asked.

"Just two." She put the test on the counter and impulsively straightened it out. I put a hand on hers and turned over her palm, so I could intertwine our fingers.

"I will be here no matter what." She smiled, teary-eyed. We both watched the clock on her microwave without saying a word until two minutes passed.

"We'll look together," I suggested. "Close your eyes." She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. I did the same and reached for the test on the counter. I held it in front of us both.

"Three. Two. One." We both opened our eyes, and staring us straight in the face, were two faint pink lines. Melanie dropped the test into my hand and covered her mouth with a shaky hand.

I put the test in her garbage can and hugged her tightly.

"We'll figure this out. You can do whatever you want with it."

"I don't know what I want. I can't support a child, but I've always wanted one. But I don't know if I want to keep it, I don't want a real-life child to remind me of the mistake I made. And what it becomes just like James?"

I didn't know what to do. I could've told her everything would be okay, but it doesn't seem like it. I led her over to the couch and sat down, putting her across my lap and hugging her waist.

"Do you think you're still up for going out today?"

"Yes please," Melanie murmured back. I kissed her cheek multiple times, moving down to her neck and collarbone.

"You are so brave," I whispered.

"I am not."

"You are. You are handling this really well."

"I am?"

"You are," I repeated. "Now we should get going if you want to get out of the apartment for a while. Melanie climbed off my lap and pulled me up after her. When I was standing on my feet, she kissed me deeply and wound her arms around my neck.

"I don't deserve you," Melanie whispered.

"No, I think it's the other way around," I said honestly. She chuckled and pecked me again, grabbing her purse of the counter.

"I'll be okay," she said. "We'll be okay."

"I'll make sure of it," I told her. We went back down to the car and decided on getting Granny's, then going to the park to eat.

The restaurant wasn't very full, but Melanie seemed paranoid. Her shoulders were nearly touching her ears and she was looking at every sudden movement in the room, from Micheal and Aaron waving, to Schaffer scurrying around the kitchen with the coffee pot.

She really wasn't kidding when she said she didn't want anyone touching her but me, and even then, she said she isn't ready for anything more than cuddling. If Rumplestiltskin never 'accidentally' mixed up the curse, then I would've hated her even more than I did in the Enchanted Forest. Because of this screwed-up blessing, I grew to love Melanie, but in turn, Melanie was violated. By her own husband. Once this curse is over, Charming is one fucked-up man. Better for my cause, I suppose, but not for Melanie.

Once we got our order, we both rushed out of the diner, Melanie with tears brimming her jade eyes. When we got into the car, she looked out the window and discreetly wiped at her eyes. I kissed her shoulder and started the car.

The park was empty, so we easily found a spot under a tree to eat. Melanie didn't eat much, but I was betting her morning sickness reared it's ugly head again. After lunch, Melanie was feeling sleepy, so she rested her eyes for a bit, while I layed beside her and tangled my fingers through her short hair.

She woke up an hour later and profusely apologized for falling asleep.

"Dont worry about it, you needed to rest. You look cute when you sleep anyway." Melanie gasped and hung her mouth slightly open.

"I am not!" I didn't want to fight her on this, even though I would win. Instead, I started cleaning up our stuff to leave and let Melanie sleep at the apartment.

"I can't, I have a shift tonight."

"Do you have to go?"

"Yes, I do. I haven't taken a shift for a while."

"How long is 'a while?'"

"A day," Melanie admitted. I chuckled and sighed.

"I'm not going to tell you to stop working, but you need to take care of yourself."

"I know," she said sadly. "I will. And you'll be there to make sure of it."

"Hell yes. I also have a shift tonight, so I won't be lonely," I said humorously. She grinned and giggled slightly. "For now, you can rest in the apartment." Melanie didn't seem to keen on doing that, but she looked tired. Honestly, I was too, a little bit. Melanie insisted on driving us back, but it was less than five minutes, so I didn't bother telling her I was incredibly afraid of her crashing my car.

I wondered what David was doing in that moment. What he was thinking, what woman he was staring after, but honestly, I didn't want to know. I don't want inside the minds of horrible people like James or Leopold. Instead, I'll sink my nails into their minds and still fail to understand the excuses they throw around.

Once we reached the apartment, Melanie collapsed onto the couch and fell asleep fast. I sat at her feet and listened to her breathing. The small sounds she made in her sleep stopped me from leaving and killing James. Too bad I don't have magic here. It would've been nice to rip his heart out.

Then I got an idea. I wasn't sure if Melanie would actually want to do this, but it was worth a shot. If she didn't want to do this, then I would benefit from it.

In the past, I could admit I didn't handle my anger well; I didn't need a therapist to tell me that. I still don't handle it very well, but at least I haven't killed anyone yet. Maybe I won't be Melanie's saving grace. She'll be mine.

She shifted in her sleep and slipped slightly off the edge of the couch. I pushed her back slightly and put her legs over mine.

I remember this one evening in the castle, only a few weeks after my wedding, when Snow fell asleep on my lap with a book. I almost left her on the couch for someone else to deal with, but I carried her back to her room instead. I found it a burden at the time, but a lot more recently, she's been a blessing.

I had to wake Melanie up for work after a half hour, but she looked more energized than before. I couldn't say the same. I took my car, while Melanie took hers, and after a bit of debate, Melanie would come over to my apartment.

Riley had already opened up the bar when I got there, and was reluctantly mixing drinks behind the bar.

"You can go to the kitchen now," I told her. She snickered and grinned as I replaced her behind the counter. Sundays were the slowest days, so I was able to lock up early, with some trouble from a very intoxicated Lacey. I'd rather deal with drunk Lacey than drunk James.

"Why are we at the gun range?" Melanie asked.

"Because I need to take care of my anger, and I thought you would too."

"Not by shooting a gun!"

"Relax. If you don't want to, you don't have to, but we're shooting targets; not humans." Melanie twisted her mouth in thought.

"I'll try it, I guess. I've always wanted to try a gun."

"Really? I didn't think you were a 'gun girl.'"

"Not a 'gun girl,' just curious to see what it feels like when you shoot one."

"Then it's your lucky day, Princess." Melanie rolled her eyes and elbowed me in the ribs as we went inside and to the back, where the instructor showed us how to use each gun. After we were done, we put on the noise cancelling headphones and began shooting. After a few shots, I looked over at Melanie. She was frowning as she shot the target, and between shots, she sometimes let her hand stray to her belly. She wasn't showing quite yet, but she was convinced she was.

After she was finished with her round, I took off my headphones.

"What ar you thinking?"

"I think I might want to keep the baby. I don't know quite yet, but this is as good a time as any to have a child, aside from my…financial situation."

"You know if that's the problem, I'll help you."

"No, I don't want your money. If I'm going to have a child, I don't want to rely on someone to help me do it."

"Okay, but if you ever need it, ask me and it's yours." Melanie smiled softly and nodded. "Are you going to tell James?"

"No. I can lie to him about how far along I am or something. I can't even face him by myself, let alone raise a child with him." I nodded and scrunched my nose.

"Are you sure you don't want me to do something about him?"

"I'm sure." We put on our headphones and started shooting again. Prince Charming is royally fucked. I might have to thank Mr. Gold for doing me a service.