Reviews! Yay! I bask in the glory of my ego. Woohoo!
Umm… anyway this chapter should be called "Maxwell's on the Brink of Destruction" but that title (despite it's accuracy) makes me laugh. So I just I shortened it.
It's a horrible little chapter where the Maxwell's are very close to being separated…
Standard Disclaimer: If I owned Wild Arms… Melody Vilente would writhe in hellfire… umm… wait she does? Ah, well I don't own it regardless.
Here we go…
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February 14th, 12:00 pm- Valentine's Day
Melody was beginning to feel sick to her stomach. Werner and Ekatrina were quarreling and it was her fault. Virginia cried and cried while Clive tried to calm her down… and Malik just sulked in a corner glaring at Melody. He had said he wasn't going to ruin the plan but as flattered as Melody felt, she was also feeling guilty. If Malik wouldn't do the right thing, who would? Ah, it was all his fault!
"I can't believe you'd deny it… especially when I have written evidence!" yelled Ekatrina angrily. She waved the letter in the air.
Werner frowned. He was losing his patience as well. "I didn't write the letter… some one else did," he shouted.
"Who then? Who would do such a thing?" asked Ekatrina.
"I don't know." Werner turned to face Melody. "Where did you say you got the letter?"
Melody inhaled deeply. Here was her chance to come clean… Hmph, yeah right! "I found it in my office, on the floor," she lied. "Someone must have slid it under the door. I was keeping quiet about it, you know, so I could talk to Werner about it in private but somehow Virginia got it."
"This is where I'm to blame," announced Leehalt sounding upset. "I gave the letter to Virginia because I heard Melody promise her that she could see it. Virginia was crying and I figured it'd be the best way to cheer her up. I didn't realize that Melody was purposely trying to keep the letter a secret."
Everyone was silent for a moment. There was something strange about the whole scenario. Leehalt trying to cheer Virginia up?
"I think Leehalt wrote the letter," announced Werner.
This seemed to fuel the fire. "Oh, no Werner, you're not blaming this on Leehalt!" yelled Ekatrina. "You always blame our misfortunes on him."
Werner sighed. "Okay so it probably wasn't Leehalt. But who then?"
"Why don't you stop trying to worm your way out of this; just admit what you did." Ekatrina paused to wipe a tear from her eye. "I don't understand why you want to drag this out… do you enjoy watching us in pain?"
Melody couldn't help but feel that the question was directed at her. She knew it was silly; Ekatrina was clearly speaking to Werner but still… Melody looked around; it seemed that she wasn't the only one being made uncomfortable. Leehalt and Malik were having some qualms too. She knew Leehalt wouldn't tell… but Malik was capable of giving in. If he tells, I'll hate him forever…
"No, I love you both… you know I'd never leave you," assured Werner.
"Then why'd you do it… how do I know you love me if you write something like this to another woman?" demanded Ekatrina.
The room was quiet except for Virginia's hushed sobs. Suddenly, a male voice broke the silence. "I know who did it." Everyone turned to the source of the voice. Duran Bryant had decided to selfless for once. "Malik and Melody devised this very plot to ruin your marriage," he continued.
"Malik and Melody?" questioned Werner in disbelief.
"I can believe that Melody would have done such a thing, but Malik?" exclaimed Ekatrina.
Duran nodded. "Yes, Melody and Malik."
Leehalt shifted uncomfortably. Malik will owe me for this… He gave a sigh then came forward. "Duran's partially right. Melody was involved, but only slightly. It was me; I did most of the plotting. Malik was not involved at all," he mumbled.
Melody frowned. If Leehalt was going to confess she might as well too… "Actually I had a bigger part in the plot than Leehalt chose to tell you all," she announced.
Werner was silent. Leehalt was a given but he still couldn't believe that Melody had done such a thing. "Why did you do it?" he asked of Melody.
Melody didn't know what to say. She didn't know why she had taken a part in the plot. She could say she did it to help Leehalt, but that wasn't the case. She had done it to make Malik jealous and because she loathed Ekatrina. What kind of reasons were those?
"I'll tell you why she did it…" began Duran. "She tried to separate you two because takes joy in destroying people's lives for her own gain. She's a home-wrecker; a slut…"
Before Duran could continue, Melody slammed her fist into his face. He reeled back and clutched at his bleeding mouth. "How dare you!" she roared, "I despise you Duran!" Melody ran out before Duran could reply.
Clive turned to Malik. "Go after her," he mumbled. Malik didn't need to be told; he marched after her before Clive could even finish his sentence.
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Melody vision was slightly blurred by tears anger as she stormed through the hallway. She had done the right thing and was still looked upon with scorn. And she absolutely hated Duran. Whore; Slut… her parents had said the same thing about her. Everyone did… everyone. Why is everyone always so angry at me?
"Melody, wait up…"
Melody stopped for a moment. It was Malik. Why was he following her… At this point she didn't care, she had been completely humiliated. She began to walk faster.
His footsteps sounded closer but she didn't turn to face him. Melody felt Malik's hand clasp her shoulder slowly, tentatively. Melody whirled around, giving him her best glare, before roughly pushing his hand off of her shoulder. She couldn't see very well through her tears but he seemed to look upset.
"Melody talk to me…" he pleaded.
"Leave me the hell alone!" she screamed. Blind with rage, she scratched him, drawing a bit of blood.
Melody watched a thin stream of blood from the side of Malik's face trickle down his neck with a bit of remorse. Almost whispering she scolded, "You idiot, this is the one time you have the right to hit me back, and you don't."
Malik smiled. "Yes, I am pretty ridiculous…" he mumbled.
"Ah, no I am… I shouldn't have hit you." Melody leaned forward to touch the scratch on Malik's face. He winced as she wiped the blood away with her fingers. She pulled her hand back quickly. "Did I hurt you?" she asked.
"Yes, but I don't care…"
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The next chapter is the last one. It's going to be a bit short. (Translated: It's going to be ludicrously short.) It'll be strange… and will be up by Wednesday. It'll be about Werner yelling at Melody, Clive being Clive and Pete trying to bring peace. Please review.