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—Melanie—

As soon as I reached Main Street, I could breathe easy again, but I also felt lightheaded. I hoped James didn't touch the growing life inside me, but It doesn't feel like I'm pregnant; I'm still processing, it seems. Nothing specific on my body hurt, especially my belly, so I took it as a good sign. Nothing specific but my fists.

They were cut and slightly bleeding, so I didn't go to Roni's. If she saw my fists, bloodied and starting to bruise, she'd throw me on the menu and turn me into Melanie-burgers. Even if I don't go to the bar tonight, though, it'll be hard to hide the bruises and cuts until they heal. I grumbled and parked at the curb in front of the pharmacy to pick up a tube of Polysporin and an Apollo bar. Thankfully, the store was nearly empty, except for Kiera, browsing through a magazine at the counter and holding a tissue in her hand. I quickly put my items on the counter and waited. Normally, I wouldn't care if someone saw my bruised knuckles, but Kiera was Roni's one and only friend in town, if she knew what I did, there was no doubt in my mind that she would tell Roni about it. I didn't get off so easy, though.

"Let me check your pockets before you pay," Kiera instructed.

"What? Why?"

"You're being very protective of your pockets, I have to be cautious. Let's see them." I sighed and pulled out a crumpled napkin, a dime, and a receipt, all while trying to keep my palms facing up.

"What's that?" Kiera asks, pointing out a small patch of smudged blood on the side of my hand. I closed my eyes as I felt her forcefully flipping my hand over. I heard her gasp.

"I was protecting myself," I whispered defeatedly. Kiera didn't respond, just rung up my purchase and opened the tube of Polysporin to rub on my knuckles.

"Who were you protecting yourself from?"

"None of your business," I shot back. Keira raised an eyebrow at me. "Sorry."

"You know damn well it is my business, and if it isn't mine, it's Roni's."

"Don't tell her. Please."

"Why?"

"Because it isn't either of your business's, it's mine. Thank you for the Polysporin, and please don't tell Roni about this." Kiera sighed but nodded.

"My lips are sealed." I gave her a small smile. "Unless you don't tell her first," she muttered to herself. I shot her a tiny glare over my shoulder as I left the pharmacy with both items in hand. I went back to the car, looked around on the street, in case James followed me here, then left.

I felt hungry, even knowing there's a chocolate bar on the seat next to me, so I pulled into The Looking Glass regardless. I ordered myself a burger, fries, and an iced tea, hoping that Roni doesn't show up, even if there's a very slim chance of that happening.

I missed Roni, but that didn't make me want to go to the bar. I just wanted to eat my food, take a nap, and figure out a way to hide my scratches. But for now, I needed to get through each passing minute. Starting my car, turning my key in the ignition, pulling out of the parking lot, and driving to my apartment building.

It was only three o'clock, so I had two hours until I needed to go to work. That would give me enough time to eat, sleep for forty-five minutes, get dressed and make myself look presentable, and find a way to hide my fists. If the marks were anywhere but my hands, it would be so much easier to hide, but I was never coordinated enough to fight with my legs.

I pulled into the parking lot of my building and remained seated, tapping my fingers on the wheel. The only gloves I had were fingerless mesh gloves I wore for my Halloween costume one year, when I was dressed as Red Riding Hood. Maybe I could find some bandages to wrap around my hands and say that I hurt my wrist doing something. Maybe I could blame it on the pregnancy?

I dropped my head to the steering wheel and sighed defeatedly. Regina was smarter than that and would google my pregnancy symptoms before I could say "It's not that bad." I admired how protective she was of me, but I didn't think I deserved it.

It's not a surprise that I have a horrible self-esteem, Roni tells me as much. Out of everyone in town, I'm criticized the most for my outfits, my behaviour before I started dating Regina, everything about me repelled everyone in town, except for my few friends, Roni, and Archie, the town doctor, that doesn't mind my outfits one bit. It was impossible to blame myself for my low self-esteem when everyone was calling me a slut behind my back. Sometimes the old, wrinkled elders would say it to my face, if they were bold enough.

If self-esteem issues weren't enough for me, add on the new features, including vivid nightmares of my raping, abandonment issues, and a severe attachment to my girlfriend.

I had a feeling everyone knew something was wrong. I rarely went out in public, when before, I would go out to the Rabbit Hole every few days with Lacey, a hesitant Riley, and sometimes we'd invite Kiera. If she wasn't with us, then she was with Roni. They were inseparable, which made me feel so much worse about my unhealthy attachment. Roni hasn't left the house much more than I have.

I picked my head up off the steering wheel and fought the oncoming headache. They always happened at the same time each day, but this one was early and much more painful. I left my car and slammed the door shut, wincing when I flexed my hand at a painful angle. I shook off the feeling and went around to the passenger seat of my car, opening the door and then the glove box. I didn't think there would be gloves in there, but Regina has a pair. They weren't in my glove box, but I could find them in her apartment when I finished my shift at the diner. Roni said she would be finished at half-past eight, and my shift ended at eight. Even if Roni got off work before me, I would easily be able to look for her gloves while she was in the shower. I would just have to wear a hoodie and keep my hands stuffed in my pockets until then. Defeatedly, I went through the doors of my apartment building with my food, hopeful that I could hide this. The Polysporin was already working and my knuckles weren't swollen anymore. If it continues healing this quick, I should only have to hide my hands until tomorrow. Roni never had to know.

————————Roni————————

"That imbecile," I ground out. "How could she do this?" I nearly ran into a table as I paced back and forth, playing the image of Melanie kicking a beaten-and-bruised James before rushing back to her car.

"Roni, calm down. You're just angry, you don't mean that. It might not have been Melanie at all," Riley reasoned from another table, squirting table cleaner and wiping the wood surface down with a ragged cloth.

"Nobody has a bright red Camaro with a red glass wolf hanging on the rearview mirror. I'm certain it was her," I ground out from clenched teeth. "Who taught her self-control?" Riley scoffed.

"Have you met Melanie?" I chuckled darkly, but it did nothing to ease my upset.

"What the hell gave her the idea to beat the shit out of James?"

"Well, what did James do?" I bit my lip. I forgot Riley didn't know about...everything. She knew there was something going on, but didn't know the extent of the situation.

"Something bad, but still! She could've hurt herself, or worse, James could've fought back. Hell, he already might've."

"You don't know that Melanie started the fight."

"Have you met Melanie?" I repeated back. Riley grinned and rolled her eyes, putting the cleaner and rag away in the kitchen. It was ten minutes until we were open, which meant I was allowed ten minutes to rant until I started serving the old drunks of this one-star dumpster of a town, filled with even more garbage people. Everyone but Melanie. And maybe Riley and Kiera.

"Either way, that girl is dead meat," I grumbled.

"—Because of James, you are not beating her to a pulp. Unless she's already—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Why are you so...passionate about it?"

"Because I'm protecting her. She can't just decide to beat the crap out of someone without any forethought."

"But she did. Decide to beat the crap out of someone without forethought." I gave Riley a look that had her glueing her mouth shut. I was crossing my fingers that Melanie was okay, even if I was beyond mad at her.

I didn't really have a reason to be mad at her, I'm just angry that she said I couldn't do anything to James, then she suddenly corners him and attacks him. Even worse, the chances of Melanie going off without a punishment if she reported the assault and James shed light on the incident wasn't as likely as I hoped. What made me mad most of all is that she gave no thought to her or the baby's health. I decided I wasn't angry with her, I was angry at her impulsivity. I didn't have the chance to dwell on my anger, because Riley informed me that the bar needed more beers stocked behind the counter.

————————*————————

My feet were aching as I left the bar, and I made the consecutive decision to stop wearing my heels to work. The night was peaceful, with only a quiet bickering couple in the back of the bar to make the night interesting. As I had expected, Melanie didn't show up at the bar, which meant she took the diner shift. My anger had shifted throughout the night to worry and slight irritation, with a lot of fear to top it all off.

Even after letting myself simmer down, I wanted to confront Melanie about it. Even if I wasn't as mad as I was before didn't mean I didn't want answers.

When I arrived at my apartment, Melanie wasn't there yet. She still had half an hour of work left, so I decided to take a quick shower. The hot water felt nice on my aching body, but I felt lonely. I almost always took a shower with Melanie. I wrapped a towel around myself and left the bathroom in search of clothes. As soon as I left the bathroom, I could hear Melanie's keys jingling outside the door, followed with a few confused grunts and Melanie loudly bursting into the room. I went into my room, watching her as she hurriedly put her purse down on the kitchen counter and bolted to the hallway, stopping when she could see me watching her from my bedroom doorway. I decided I wouldn't beat around the bush.

"What the hell did you do?" I asked lowly. Melanie's mouth fell open slightly in shock and her cheeks coloured.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were still at the bar for a half hour more—"

"I saw you today. On the gravel road, near the school. Your car was parked on the side of the road, near the ditch you were fighting James in." Melanie flushed an even deeper crimson and gasped quietly. She stayed silent.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Do you remember what he did to you? Do you know how scared I was? You weren't thinking at all! You're pregnant, for crying out loud! Do you know what I would've done if he hurt you?"

"Roni—"

"—do you realize that if you wanted to report this to Landon, he might not be able to do anything? You assaulted him—"

"I know that!" Melanie shouted at me, tears brimming her eyes. "You don't realize how amazing that felt, though. I needed this, almost as much as I need you. Every single time I hit him, I lost a bit of my fear. I want to be the same person I was before shit went down, and I know you want it too."

"I love every part—"

"No, it's my turn to talk." I bit my tongue as she strode down the hallway. "It was freeing. I don't care if he won't go to jail, because if I didn't do this, I wouldn't have the courage to think about reporting it in the first place. I don't want to be sad anymore. I needed closure, and closure is what I got. I'm not better yet, but I'm closer. That's all that matters."

"That's not all that matters," I said, "you're health is. If you don't remember what happened to start all of this, he was strong enough to violate you. He's certainly strong enough to hurt you after you attack him."

"He didn't hurt me though! I'm perfectly fine!" I sighed and bit the inside of my cheeks.

"He could have though. You have to realize that you need to keep your impulses in check. You're not on your own anymore. You don't have to do any of this on your own, I'm here to take care of you, and give you what you need. I love you more than I can put into words. I can't lose you." A small tear dribbled down Melanie's face and cling to her cheek.

"You love me?"

"I love you." I grinned at her, taking a steady breath out, gauging her reaction.

"I love you too," she breathed, sounding almost shocked by the statement.

"I need you to promise me something."

"Anything," she said immediately. I smiled and cupped her cheek, swiping away a tear.

"Promise me that you'll protect yourself like you would protect me. Can you do that?" Melanie bit her lip, but agreed immediately. I smiled at her and kissed her hard, proving all my love to her in the only way I can. She pulled back and gripped the collar of my shirt.

"Then you have to promise that you'll do the same. Take care of yourself like I would," She begged. I nodded quickly and felt her hands tug my collar down until my lips met hers in another kiss.

"Please don't do that ever again. You scared me so much."

"Okay."

"As corny as it sounds, I don't think I could be without you," I said honestly.

"It's not corny, and I you." I smiled a toothless grin and wrapped my arms around her waist, hoping that I never leave this woman. As hard as it used to be to say, before I was swept up in this curse, I couldn't let go of the woman in my arms.

"Let's take care of your hands now," I whispered into her ear. I felt her shiver, then nod. I smiled and got dressed in a robe, then cheekily picked her up to find a bag of peas to ice her hand. I felt her kiss my hair, then dip down and breath on my ear.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

"I just wish we hadn't said it for the first time in the middle of a fight."

"I don't. It solidifies the meaning." I could already tell she was grinning as she playfully nipped my ear.

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This took an entire week for me to write, and I'm just not in the greatest place, if you know what I mean, but I updated, and that's good! Also, Is it obvious who Kiera is? I'm trying to make these curse-names like the canon curse-names, unless it's a name like James or Roni, but that's different. :)