A/N: And so do we come to the end of this story arc, folks.
As I stated earlier, this arc had just one purpose. To clearly(?) define the relationship between Layton and Melanie.
Is this the end of my SNOWPIERCER stories? Not by a long shot. I have three completed story arcs past this one, and several stand alone stories.
And again, if you want the jump on everyone, these stories are already posted on Ao3. Or, if you dig suspense, just keep reading them here. But eventually both sites will catch up to each other, as I post here much more often than I do on A03.
I hope you have enjoyed this story and that you stick around for the next one.
Chapter 42 Changes - OH CRIKEY! Part VII (Australian)
That night Layton came into their quarters much the same way he had for the past several nights. He silently opened the door and peaked in. Looking around, he didn't immediately see anyone, so with a small sigh, he walked in, only to stop short when he came into view of the kitchen table.
Sitting at it, with her back to him, was Melanie.
Pausing for a moment, he slowly walked into the room, unsure how ready he was for this. His initial thought had been this would be just another clothes exchange and then back out the door, trying to figure where he would be sleeping that night.
But as he came closer, he glanced over her shoulder. Laying on the table in front of her was the same paper they had been communicating through for the past several days. It was laying face up on the side where he had written his last message to her.
Layton paused for a second, then slowly walked around the table so he could now see her face. Just by looking at her he had always been able to ascertain where things stood between them. She was the most expressive woman he had ever known when she let her guard down. She could communicate more to him with a single look than with a 5000 word dissertation.
He breathed a silent sigh of relief at the pure openness of that expression now.
Reaching forward, Melanie slowly slid the paper a little across the table as he sat down opposite her.
"How could I say 'No' to that request?" She started their talk off in a quiet voice.
Layton gave her a small smile in return. "I'm glad you didn't."
"So we talk." Melanie offered.
"So we talk." He echoed her.
But that was as far as things got for a few moments as they both sat at the table simply staring across it at each other.
"Louder." Melanie finally broke the silent standoff, crossing her arms in front of her.
Layton took the warning. Her defenses were coming up. She was uncomfortable and felt the need to protect herself.
"I've missed you." He tried, offering her a small smile.
The arms came back down, resting instead in her lap.
That was good.
"It's been really quiet here when I would stop by...without you. And I've missed coming to cabin each night and having you to talk to." He continued.
Melanie looked up at him, her expression echoing her feelings. "I've missed you, too. And I've missed having you to talk to."
Layton leaned over the table slowly, not wanting to startle her. He knew how stilted this was likely to be for her. But it wasn't much easier for him.
"Melanie...," he stopped, turning to the table for a moment before he turned back to her. "...I would like to say I would change what happened in the wheel house if I could. Pretend it never happened." He slowly shook his head. "But I can't do that. Not in total honesty."
Melanie pulled back a little. She had expected 'It was a mistake.' or 'We just got caught up in everything.'. She hadn't expected him to say that.
Layton smiled at her. "You are one of the most incredibly intelligent, intriguing, sexy women I have ever met." He stopped, watching her eyes. He liked that they gave him the smallest smile back. "But you are also my friend." He added. "And for the life of me, I don't want to mess that up."
Melanie turned slowly to the table, resting her arms over it as she leaned on it. "We already did." She answered him.
Layton shook his head. "I don't accept that. And I'll personally throw myself into the next ravine we cross if I'll let one stupid, impulsive act destroy what we've both worked so hard to build between us."
Melanie stared back at him. That sounded a bit definitive.
"You're my best friend, Melanie." He told her. "And that's exactly where I need you in my life." He gave a soft laugh, reaching for her hand. "You are probably the deepest, most committed relationship I've had in a very long time. The one that least likely should have been, but happened anyway. And I don't want that to change now. I can't have it change now. Not because of one kiss."
He took some encouragement from the fact she didn't evade his touch as he wrapped his hand about her's.
"Best friends don't kiss like that." She stated stoically, staring at their joined hands.
"Sometimes they do." He answered with a smile.
"Really?" Melanie answered, pulling her hand free as she leaned further across the table towards him, lowering her voice again. "Because I'm willing to bet my tongue wasn't even a full inch away from your tonsils, Mr. Layton."
Layton returned a bemused smile, then nodded to her. "OK. If memory serves, I'm going to give you that one."
"And best friends do not rip each others cloths off." She added in the same flat tone.
Layton sighed once more. "Look, I told you, I'd like to say I would change it if I could. But honestly? I wouldn't change one moment of it. Except that you ran away afterwards."
"Is that why you were so angry at me?" She ask, slowly sinking back into her chair. "Because I left?"
"Angry at you?"
"I saw you when you came up the stairs. You looked...like everyone in that room was your personal enemy." Her eyes grew very somber as she looked at him. 'One especially."
Layton paused as he thought back, then suddenly shook his head. "No. I wasn't..." He paused for a moment, but his voice took on a slightly harder tone as he remembered the scene greeting him as he came up the stairs. "I ask you for one moment, Melanie. And you couldn't give it to me. But at the top of those stairs, you had time for everyone else. It felt like...you were brushing me off. Like a bad memory."
Melanie lowered her head. "Maybe I was." She admitted after a few seconds.
Layton watched her, wishing more than anything he could make her see this whole episode in the same light he did. But he had laid out his arguments already. He wasn't going to lie to her. Honesty was best in these situations. And he didn't regret one moment of it.
"Melanie," he said softly, taking her hand again after a few moments passed between them in silence, "it was...stress sex. All right? Nothing more. I'm not going to let it drive any sort of wedge between us. And not just for the sake of a friendship I value, but for the sake of the train."
He knew that would get her attention if nothing else he said did. Her precious train. And it did, as her head snapped back up.
"Snowpiercer needs us, Melanie." He stated. "It doesn't need just you anymore, and it sure doesn't need just me. It needs both of us, working in as close of a union as we can. That's how we'll win. And that's how we'll survive. By working together, and, on at least some level, trusting each other.
And sometimes, when you're that close to someone, those lines get a little muddied, all right?
But the last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable with me now. To think...laying in that bed next to me that you have anything to worry about. Because you don't. I would never hurt you, or do one thing you didn't want me to...spelled out in a legal document...signed in triplicate. And if I ever do get out of line again, you just tell me. And if I don't listen, you deck me. OK?"
Melanie managed a genuine laugh at the statement. "OK." She replied. "But just so you know, I hit like a girl."
Layton smiled at her across the table. "We'll have Till give you some lessons. She'll have you hitting like one of the boys in no time."
Melanie gave him a small nod.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "So, at the risk of sounding cliche, are we good now?"
Melanie paused for a moment before answering him. But the smile remained as she finally nodded. "We're good."
"So, can I come home then, roomie?" He ask past the same smile.
Melanie stared back at him as they both got up from the table at the same time. "These are your quarters as much as mine, Mr. Layton." A smile quickly grew on her lips. "You're always welcome here."
"Just making sure."
But Melanie stopped abruptly as she turned back to him. "I have just one request though." She told him.
Layton stared down at her. "And that would be?"
Melanie paused for a moment, unsure of how he would take what she was going to ask of him. They had, after all, just drawn some pretty clear lines in the sand regarding their unorthodox relationship. And she was going to suggest they simply fly straight in the face of them in under five minutes of making them.
Layton felt himself almost pull back as she stepped into his arms, settling her body against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"This time," she softly said to him, "I'd like to kiss my friend."
Layton relax in her embrace as he smiled down at her, a different fire coming up in his eyes than she had seen before.
"Anytime you want..., 'friend'." He replied with a small chuckle.
Pulling her closer, Layton leaned down towards her. But there was no rush this time. No feverish urgency. Instead, he gently placed his lips over her's and kissed her, taking his time and relishing each moment of it.
Melanie simply melted into that kiss. It was slow and gentle, and she could feel every ounce of love and care that the man felt for her poured into it. She wasn't even sure how long they stayed like that, nor did she really care. It was a warm, safe place where she knew she had absolutely nothing to fear. The only place she ever felt that way in the past seven years.
When she pulled back and looked up at him, she was greeted by that same, welcoming smile.
"So," he ask, "the same?"
Melanie paused for a moment, then slowly shook her head as she returned her own smile.
"Better." She answered him as she settled back into his protective embrace.
