I'd Do Anything

By Kuroneko-sama07

A/N: Thanks so much everyone for reviewing! Appreciate it. ^^ Well, I'm back with Chapter 3! ^_^ And this one is pretty good. ^^ But let's recap: Last time, Gene made a promise to Melfina that he would always want her in his life and that it would only be her, no one else. But he broke that promise when Melfina caught him one night with another woman. Shocked, depressed, and heart-broken, Melfina did the only thing she knew to do. She left. So...where's she gonna go? What's she gonna do? Let's find out, shall we? ^_~

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Chapter 3: Melfina...Where For Art Thou?

Rain poured down and soaked Melfina as she ran down the street. Tears were flowing from her eyes once again, but because of the rain, it was hard to tell what was rain and what was tears. She wished it wasn't raining. She didn't want to get wet; she wanted to go back to Gene's apartment and dry off. But she couldn't go back...not now.

After a few minutes of running, she stopped. She realized she had no idea where she was going. She didn't know what to do anymore. She kept telling herself that there must be somewhere she could go, but no place came to her mind.

She continued to walk down the street in the rain only because she didn't know anything else to do. She was so confused; too much had happened. She just needed some time to think it all over.

As she continued walking, she came across a homeless person sitting on the ground with a cup that had some change in it. Melfina, being the generous person she is, felt very sorry for him and decided to give him a little money. She saw his eyes light up as she fished her hand deep inside her jean pocket and searched for some spare change. But instead of finding change, she found a small slip of paper. She pulled it out and her eyes grew wide as she realized what it was.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I don't have any change," she said hurriedly as she took off running.

~I can't believe this is still in my pocket!~she thought as she looked at the piece of paper that Harry had given her a week or two ago. She hoped that Harry was at home and that he'd let her stay the night, but as she thought about it, she figured he would. After all, she knew that he was still in love with her, so why wouldn't he let her stay?

Finally, after several minutes of running, she came to what she thought was Harry and Ron's apartment building. Their apartment number was B4, which was on the second floor. She raced up the flight of stairs and then ran down the hallway until she reached the right door.

She was a little hesitant at first to knock only because it was almost two in the morning and she figured they probably weren't expecting anyone over...especially her. But anxious to dry off and get inside the warm apartment, her fist rapped on the door. After only a minute or two (but it seemed like an eternity for Melfina), Ron came to the door.

"Mel-Melfina?? What in the hell are you doing here?" he asked, completely bewildered and shocked to find a drenched Melfina standing in his doorway at two o' clock in the morning.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "Did I wake you? I just...really need somewhere to stay."

"Nah, it's okay," he said. "And of course you can stay. Look, come on in and dry off. You can explain later if you want."

She accepted his offer and walked inside.

"Hey, Harry, look who's here," called Ron.

Harry walked into the living room and, just like Ron, was shocked to see a drenched Melfina standing there.

"Melfina??" he asked as he rushed over to her. "What's wrong? What are you doing here?"

She smiled at the attention she was getting. "Well, it's a really long story and I don't know if I want to talk about it, but I guess I do owe you both an explanation." Just as she said that, she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Ron smiling down at her.

"Melfina, you don't have to tell us anything right now if you don't want to," he said reassuringly.

"Yeah, Ron's right," Harry agreed. "Come on, let's get you dried off and I'll show you where you can stay." With that said, he took Melfina by the hand and lead her into a bedroom.

"This is my room, but you can sleep in here for tonight. I'll sleep on the couch," he said.

"Oh, no, Harry, let me sleep on the couch. I don't want to kick you out of your room," she said politely.

"Melfina, don't worry about it. You're not kicking me out of my room; I want you to stay in here. Besides, you're the guest," he said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you so much, Harry. You really don't have to do all this," she said.

"I know, but...I want to," he said quietly as he looked into her eyes, which did make Melfina a little nervous, but at that time, she didn't mind.

"Well, I'll be right back. Let me get you a towel." He walked off, but only a minute later, he returned with a towel.

"Thank you," said Melfina as Harry handed her the towel.

"And since your clothes are soaked, I guess you need something to change into," he said as he quickly looked her over; although, his eyes wished to linger on her longer because the drenched, thin garments clung to her in all the right places. He dug around in some drawers in his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt with a pair of shorts.

"Here," he said as he handed the clothes to her. "They're mine, so they're probably not going to fit well, but they'll have to do for now. Well, I'll leave you so you can get changed and all. If you want to take a shower, feel free to; the bathroom is right across the hall."

Melfina thanked him and he left, shutting the door behind him. Before stripping of her wet clothes, she took a minute to look around his room. It didn't have very many things in it; a double bed, a dresser, a full-length mirror on the back of the door, and a small desk with a chair over in one corner. The walls were plain white, but there were a few posters here and there. But then she noticed something on the wall beside his bed. She walked closer and saw that there were a small collection of pictures of herself and Gene. But each picture of Gene had a dart through it. Melfina couldn't help but giggle at that; she knew Harry had drove the darts through those pictures.

After viewing her surroundings, she began to take off her wet garments and dry herself off with the towel. As she pulled on the dry clothes Harry had let her borrow, she decided she would decline his offer of taking a shower. She was really too tired and she figured she could take one tomorrow.

After she had pulled the large t-shirt over her head, she began to towel dry her wet hair. Once she saw that it was dried as much as it would get, she gathered the towel and wet clothes in her arms and walked out of the room.

She entered the living room and saw Harry sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Um, Harry? What should I do with these?" she said, showing him the wet bundle.

"Oh, here, hand 'em to me," he said as he got up and took the bundle from her arms. "I'll put 'em in the drier so they'll be ready for you in the morning." Melfina thanked him and he walked off.

Melfina took this time to look around the living room. There was a couch with a coffee table in front of it, a TV, a stereo in the corner, and a recliner beside the couch. It was fairly nice; it just looked like a normal living room. Melfina walked over to the couch and sat down. She looked at the TV and saw that Harry was watching "Monster Garage". She was familiar with the program; Gene and Jim had watched it several times.

Finally, Harry returned and came and sat down beside Melfina.

"You can go to bed if you want," he said. "I'm staying up; I'm not really tired."

"Oh, well, I am tired, actually. But may I sit in here with you for a little while? I mean, if you don't mind," she said.

"Of course you can! I don't mind at all," he said. He placed his hand on Melfina's, which caught her attention and she gave him a questioning look. But Harry being, well, Harry, ignored that and just stared into her eyes and smiled. "I'm really glad to have you here, Melfina."

She returned the smile, but slowly moved her hand away. "Yes, if I wasn't here under the circumstances, I'd be happy, too."

"Yeah, do you think you want to tell me about that yet...or not?" he asked. "I mean, you can do whatever you want. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Melfina heard those words, but the look in his eyes told her that he was dying to know what happened. "I'll tell you," she said.

"Really?" he asked. "I mean, you think you want to?"

She nodded. "You deserve to know. But first, where's Ron? I thought he wanted to know, too."

"Yeah, but he went to bed. He was just about to go to bed when you knocked on the door, so I'm sure he's out by now. I'll tell him about tomorrow," Harry replied.

"Oh, okay."

Harry grabbed the remote off the coffee table and put the TV on mute. "So, tell me what happened."

"Well,..." Melfina started. She really didn't know how to put the events in words, nor did she want to, but she knew she needed to tell Harry. He had done alot for her, after all. But finally, she began telling the sad but true story.

Harry listened silently and Melfina's quievering voice made his heart ache. With each sentence, she came more and more closer to tears. Harry knew this, and he did not want to see her cry.

As she neared the most important sentence, she didn't think she could hold it in any longer. She wanted so badly to cry once again, but she felt embarrassed to in front of Harry.

Feeling the tears coming to her eyes once again, Melfina stopped talking. She didn't know if the words could come out without her bursting into tears.

"Melfina?" Harry asked quietly as he laid his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just that...," she started to say something, but stopped and wiped a few tears from her eyes.

"It's just that what?" he asked.

She didn't answer.

"Melfina, do you want to tell me what happened next? You were saying that you moved out from behind the refrigerator and you saw something. What did you see?" he asked.

"I saw...," her voice was shaking badly and more tears were coming to her eyes. "I saw...Gene...with some other...woman," she finally said, but just as the last words came out of her mouth, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.

Harry immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. She buried her face in his chest and continued to cry. Harry hated seeing Melfina like this and hearing what Gene had done made him angry.

"He promised me!" she exclaimed between sobs.

Harry ran his fingers through her soft hair to soothe and calm her. "Melfina...it's okay," he whispered, "It's okay."

"But he promised me!" she said again.

Harry placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pulled her away from him so he could see her face. He placed his hands on the sides of her face and wiped away a few tears with his thumbs. "What do you mean? What did he promise you?"

"He promised me that...that it would always be just us and no one else," she said, but she began to sob again as she exclaimed, "He broke his promise!"

Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and Melfina shyly placed her arms around his neck. He gently nuzzled her neck to soothe her and he could smell the sweet scent of her hair. He wanted so badly to do so much more with her, and he figured that at this moment he could, but that was only because she was so vulnerable. And he was not going to take advantage of her when she was vulnerable.

But soon, his thoughts returned to what she had said about the promise Gene had made her. He thought it was just like Gene to make such a promise and then do exactly the opposite. Harry hated seeing Melfina so sad. And knowing that it was Gene that caused this enraged him.

"Melfina...stay here with me. Forever," he said. "Don't ever go back to Gene. He doesn't deserve you."

At hearing this, Melfina slowly pulled away and her eyes met his. "Harry...I don't know if I can..."

"Of course you can! Please, Melfina...I need you. I want you. I...love you. Gene doesn't!"

"But Harry...he does. He just--" Harry cut her off.

"What do you mean, 'he does'?! No, he doesn't! Didn't you see him with that other woman? Didn't he break his promise to you? He doesn't love you like I do! He never will!" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry, you don't understand..."

"No, you don't understand, Melfina!" yelled Harry. "You don't understand how I feel about you! How much I care about you! How I think about you every minute of every day! How I long to be near you! It's you who doesn't understand, Melfina! Why can't I make you understand?!" Just then, he realized he repeated the same phrase he used when he and Melfina first met. And just then, he wished he had never said it.

Immediately, more tears came to Melfina's eyes and Harry knew that this time, he had caused them.

Just then, Ron walked in.

"Hey, Harry, I'm trying to sleep, but it's kinda hard with all that yelling," he said. "And what's going on, anyway?"

"Nothing, Ron. Sorry," Harry replied as he ran his hand through his long locks of aqua hair.

"Well, just keep it down," he said as he walked off back to his room. He decided to stay out of that one. Smart man.

Harry and Melfina were both silent for what was only a few minutes but it seemed like forever. Finally, Melfina spoke up.

"I should have never come here," she said quietly and as she was about to stand up, Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.

"Melfina, I'm sorry," he said. "I...I didn't mean to yell at you. I just get so...aggravated. You always stand up for Gene, even when he hurts you so bad."

"I know I do, but...no matter what it seems like, Gene does care about me," she said.

"How can you say that?"

"Because I know it's true. I can see it in his eyes. He does care about me. He does need me. He does want me. He does...love me, but...I don't know if it's the same kind of love that I want, you know?" she explained.

"Melfina...you'll never get the kind of love you want staying with him. But I...I can give you the kind of love you want," Harry said quietly. "I don't want you to cry. I don't want to make you cry. You do know that, don't you?"

"Yes...I know," she said. "Gene's the same way. He doesn't want me to cry, but he's the one who makes me..."

Harry didn't like that she was comparing him to Gene, but he decided to not let that get to him. "Melfina, I'll always be here for you. If you ever want me, I'm here. I'll give you whatever you want. I'll give you whatever kind of love you want. Know that."

"Thank you, Harry," she said quietly.

"So, what are you going to do? What about Gene?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "I don't know. I have to think about it. This has just been too much for one day."

"Yeah, I understand," Harry replied.

"Well," said Melfina as she wiped away any remaining tears, "I guess I should go to bed. I'm very tired and my head hurts from all that crying."

"Uh, Melfina, before you go...," said Harry. "Do you remember the last time we saw each other on the Galactic Leyline? We were in cyber space."

"Yes, I remember," she said as a small blush formed on her cheeks at remembering the events that took place then.

"Do you think...I could finish what I started?" he asked.

Melfina knew exactly what he was talking about and a small smile formed on her face. "Well...alright," she agreed.

He smiled back at her, and slowly leaned in closer to her. Finally, he pressed his lips against hers. His kiss was firm but gentle at the same time. His lips were warm and Melfina was surprised that she was enjoying the kiss. She was almost dissappointed when he pulled away.

"Well...good night," she said as she stood up.

"Good night," Harry said.

As she walked into Harry's room, a smile played on her lips and she just couldn't make it go away. And she knew Harry was wearing the same smile.

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"Hey, Gene!" called Jim from the kitchen. "Where's Melfina? Shouldn't she be in here cooking breakfast?"

"Nah, she...she went out somewhere," Gene replied abruptly. He didn't really want to relate last night's events to Jim.

"When'd she leave?"

Why was he so obsessed with where Melfina was?!, Gene kept asking himself. "I don't know! Don't ask me!"

"Well, I'm just wonderin'. You don't have to get all mad, Gene," Jim said.

"I'm not getting mad!" Gene lied. He really was getting aggravated with Jim. He didn't want to think about what had happened the night before. He didn't want to talk about it. And he definitely didn't want to think about Melfina.

"Well, you sure do sound like it!" Jim snapped back.

"I'm only getting annoyed 'cause all you're asking about is Melfina! Melfina, this! Melfina, that! I'm not her caretaker, Jim! It's not my job to find out where she goes and what she's doing!" Gene yelled.

"Yeah, but she's your girlfriend!" Jim yelled back.

Because of that, Gene had no choice but to not respond. Jim was right...Melfina 'was' his girlfriend...but he was supposed to treat her like one.

"Whatever, Jim. I don't want to talk about it anymore," Gene replied in a surly tone. He walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Jim was silent after that; it was too early to be arguing with Gene. But somehow, Jim just knew something was up...something had happened between Gene and Melfina. He could sense it in Gene's attitude. And Jim knew something for sure--if he found out Gene did something to hurt Melfina, he was going to be majorly pissed off!

Gene knew that everyone was going to want to know where Melfina was eventually. It's not like Melfina to just disappear and he knew he couldn't play stupid for too long. But he didn't want to tell them. He knew they would take Melfina's side and get mad at him.

Later on, while Gene and Jim were out back working on a client's car, Jim decided to bring it up once again. Hours had passed and Melfina still hadn't come back; something was definitely wrong. He had to find out what.

"Hey, Gene, seriously,...where's Melfina? You know just as well as I do that it's very unlike her to be gone this long," Jim said. He was speaking in a serious tone; he felt like this was probably a serious situation. Little did he know...it was beyond serious.

Gene immediately dropped his tool. He didn't know whether to just come out and tell him or beat around the bush like he had been doing all day. Jim wasn't stupid; he'd find out eventually.

"Look...," Gene started, "I don't really want to talk about it. All I'm gonna say is that something happened between us last night. She got real upset, and...she walked out. I don't know where she is or if she's ever even coming back."

"Gene! How could you just let her leave?!" Jim exclaimed. He figured this had been the case all along. And Gene didn't want to talk about what had exactly happened, but Jim had a pretty good idea.

"Don't get all pissed off at me, Jim! That's why I didn't want to tell anyone in the first place! I knew you'd just make it all my fault!"

"Because it is all your fault!" Jim yelled, but then his tone changed back to seriousness. "Gene, when you go out and do something stupid and end up hurting the people that really care about you, it is all your fault. You deserve everyone to be pissed off at you."

Gene remained silent; he knew Jim had made a point.

"How could you do that Melfina, Gene?!" Jim continued. "You know she doesn't deserve that! She cares about you so much. Even I see it and I don't even pay attention when you two are together. But even when you're not together...I can just see it in her expression and how she talks about you. But you...you don't even pay attention to her, Gene!"

Still, Gene was silent. He just sat there staring off into space, but Jim knew he was hearing everything he was saying.

Jim continued, "You act like she's nothing! You act like she means nothing to you when you mean everything to her!" Jim was actually surprised that these words were coming out of his mouth. But then again, he cared about Melfina too, and he didn't want to see her hurt.

"She means everything to me," Gene whispered.

"Well, you gotta funny way of showing it, Gene! A real funny way," Jim exclaimed. "You take complete advantage of her, Gene. You know that. You also know, or you should, that Melfina doesn't deserve to be taken advantage of. She doesn't deserve to be treated wrong."

They were both silent for only a minute or two but it seemed like hours. Finally, Gene stood up and began walking off. As he walked, he mumbled, "Don't scold me, Jim. You're not my mother."

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Well, that wraps about chapter 3! ^_^ Very nice, I think...um...alot of anger. lol But I'm very anxious to start writing chapter 4 cuz that's where it starts getting juicy! ^_~ Yep, some good ol' Harry and Melfina stuff. What we've all been waiting for...even me. lol ^_^;;; So, as I conclude this chapter, I'll leave you with these 3 questions: Will Melfina and Harry ever hook up? Will Jim ever stop yelling at Gene? Will I ever stop giving these chapters such ridiculous titles? We will never know...actually, we might...but only in chapter 4. I'll see you then. ^_~