Author's Note: Hey, guys! Sorry this took so long for me to update, but school was really crazy this semester. This chapter also ended up being really long, so I hope that makes up for the wait a bit. Anyway, I'm going to try to get a few more chapters up while I'm on break. Thanks to everyone who has read, favourited, followed and reviewed this story! I hope you're all still with me! I've been enjoying season 7 and I hope you guys are as well.
Warning: This chapter is probably a really light T for a slightly more heavy subject matter.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.
"No, Melody." Lisbon said firmly into her phone as Jane stood next to her. She was in her office, Melody interrupting paperwork with a phone call after she had finished school.
"Why not?" Melody shot back on the other end.
"Because I said so. That's why."
"That's not a reason."
"It is, and you need to listen to it."
"Why not!? Why can't I go!?"
"Because you're too young to be staying so late by yourself at a boys house alone."
"I'm thirteen, Teresa."
"Exactly my point. You're too young."
"I am not! Come on. I'm responsible. I'll clean the kitchen."
"It's not about that, Melody."
"Come on! What do you want!? We're just going to do homework and watch movies! Why won't you just let me go?"
"Unchaperoned." Lisbon put in.
Jane leaned against Lisbon's desk. Lisbon had turned up the volume on her speaker just loud enough for Jane to hear and held the phone away from her ear slightly. He had decided not to entre the conversation quite yet.
"Yeah, because we're not five."
"My answer is still no. And especially not until nine o'clock. I would need to come pick you up."
"Ew, no. Don't come pick me up."
"Well, you certainly wouldn't be busing home, young lady. And you definitely wouldn't be walking home. And I'm still saying no anyway, so it doesn't make a difference."
"You've let me stay out later than nine before."
"Yes, when you are with Ellie and her parents or Van Pelt or someone else that's trustworthy."
"Am I not trustworthy, myself?" Melody asked, indignantly.
"You aren't the one I don't trust. And I won't have you walking around alone at night, or busing at night by yourself. It's dangerous, Melody."
"Could you stop being a cop for a minute and just be my aunt?"
"As your aunt, it's dangerous and I won't have it. As a cop, it's dangerous and I won't have it."
"He lives in a safe neighbourhood. He lives on the block with all the mansions."
"I don't care where he lives, Melody. It's not safe for you to be walking around by yourself so late."
"Coming from the woman that runs into abandoned warehouses with bombs and killers with guns. Thanks for letting me know what's really safe." Melody replied sarcastically.
"Keep giving me more attitude like that, Melody, and you won't be going anywhere until you graduate high school because you'll be grounded."
"Grounded!?" Melody laughed. "You don't believe in it."
"I may change my mind. I'm considering it."
"All I'm asking is to hang out with my friend. That's it. You're acting like I'm asking to join a gang."
"I am not."
"You are."
"I'm not, Melody. All I'm doing is telling you that you can't go over to that boys house with no chaperon until nine at night with no ride back."
"You make it sound so sketchy and creepy! Just because you don't know him that well-"
"I don't know him at all." Lisbon interjected.
"Just because you don't know him that well," Melody repeated. "Doesn't mean that I can't handle myself."
"Melody, please stop pushing the issue. No and that's it."
"Teresa!"
"Melody."
"Why are you being so mean!?"
"Please don't tell me that you've resorted to that." Lisbon sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Okay, okay." Jane spoke, seeing that the pair wasn't going to come to a conclusion any time soon. He gently took the phone from Lisbon, though she gladly handed it over. He held it so that Lisbon would still be able to hear everything. "Give us the address."
"What?" Melody was shocked.
"This boy -Josh. Give me his address. I'm not saying this has changed the answer, but lets get all the information anyway." Jane grabbed a pen and one of the little note pads Lisbon always had on her desk.
"Um...okay. 1475 Harvard Boulevard."
Jane wrote that down. "Last name?"
"Sellby."
Jane wrote that as well. "Parents names?"
"His mom's name is Delila and his dad has the same first name."
Jane wrinkled his nose as he wrote those names down. He had never liked the thought of giving a child the same first name as one of their parents. "Okay, hold on a second." Jane put the phone down the the receiver wouldn't be able to pick up much sound. He looked at Lisbon, who was frowning at him.
"Don't tell me that you've taken her side." Lisbon whispered harshly. "I said no."
"I know, I know." Jane replied in a hushed tone. "But, we have the boys information, we can have Van Pelt pull up all their information. You can set whatever conditions you want with Melody. We can meet her half way."
"She's only thirteen."
"I know how old she is. Look, this way we can give her some of the freedom she wants and know that we've got some control in the situation. We know where she is and who she's with. We'll know even more once we get Van Pelt on it. James, you and I all agreed that we didn't want Melody to grow up sheltered. She's been through a lot and she's always been mature and she's always handled herself in a good way. I'm skeptical of this boy, too, but we have his information."
Lisbon pursed her lips together.
"You'll wonder if you did the right thing, whether you let her go or not and you know it. She asked if she could go instead of just running around and doing whatever she wanted, maybe we can let her go this one time. She doesn't usually fight back this hard to hang out with friends unless she really wants to. If she needs us, we'll be there."
Lisbon held his gaze for a long moment before nodding and picking the phone up. "Melody?"
"Yeah? I thought you guys hung up on me for a minute."
"No, we didn't." Lisbon cleared her throat. "So, maybe I can let you go-"
"Really!?"
"With a few conditions."
Melody groaned.
"One, if I or anyone else texts or calls you, you have to reply or pick up right away."
"Fine."
"Two, if I for any reason feel that you're not being responsive enough or you give me too much attitude, I am coming to pick you up and you can't object."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Do you want to go or not, because this is the only offer you're getting."
"Okay, fine. But, can you at least pick me up at the end of the block?"
"No. Don't push it, Melody."
Melody sighed heavily.
Taking that as an agreement, Lisbon continued. "Lastly."
"There's another one?"
"Keep talking like that and I'll be back to saying no."
"Okay. Lastly..."
"Lastly," Lisbon repeated, but her voice became gentle when finishing the rest. "If you are uncomfortable or change your mind, you call me, okay? Or you call Patrick. Or one of the team. You call one of us and we'll come get you. No matter what. For anything."
"Okay."
"You've got all that?" Lisbon asked.
"Yeah, I got it, Teresa."
"Good. Have fun, then. And be safe. I love you."
"I love you, too."
And with that, they both disconnected the call. Lisbon sighed and put her phone down.
"How did that feel?" Jane asked, half teasingly and half legitimately concerned.
"I wish she was still four. It seemed so much easier back then."
"I know how you feel." Jane kissed Lisbon's head. "But we can't turn back time."
"How are you doing? With the whole fatherly role?" Lisbon looked up at him. "I mean, I know none of this is new, but...you know..."
Jane gave her a small smile. He knew what she meant. She periodically asked him this when there was disagreements about or with Melody and he knew what she meant. "I'm okay. I do wish I'd had the opportunity to see Charlotte grow up, like I have Melody, but I have come to terms with the fact that it can't happen. I don't like it, but it's how things are and I'm happy that I still have you and everyone else. To be honest, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Melody and Charlotte had been able to meet each other. The more I think about it, the more I think that they would have gotten along. I think Charlotte would have really liked Melody."
Lisbon smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure Melody would have loved Charlotte, too." Lisbon looked down at her temporarily forgotten paperwork.
"Angela would have liked you as well, you know."
Lisbon looked back up at Jane, surprised. "Would she?"
"I think she would." Jane nodded.
"Thank you." Lisbon gave Jane a small smile. "That's nice of you to say."
"I'm not just saying it. She would have liked that you don't let me get away with everything."
Lisbon sighed heavily. "That's debatable."
"You may think so, but if you think about it, I will pull more shenanigans with any other agent than I will with you."
"Because none of the other agents will kick you out of your marriage bed for doing so." Lisbon rolled her eyes.
"Well, it does also scare me when you get so mad that you refuse to talk to me. You really can be quite frightening when you want No wonder your brothers are scared if you when you're mad."
"I'm not that bad." Lisbon protested, blushing.
Jane grinned. "You do what you need to. And I love that about you. Right now, you've got some paperwork, so I'll leave you to it. We'll go out for something to eat in a bit. My treat." With that, Jane placed a kiss to her lips and left her office before Lisbon could say another word.
She watched him walk over to his couch in the bullpen and lie down, shaking her head and smiling to herself, Lisbon went back to her paperwork.
-Mentalist-
The team had gone home really early that night, everyone gone from the bullpen by dinner time. Everyone, except Jane, of course. He lay on his couch, occasionally glancing over at Lisbon's office to see her there working. She had refused to go home until they went to pick Melody up because CBI was closer to the boys address than their place was. Stubborn woman. Jane felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he had forgotten to turn the sound back on after coming back from break time with Lisbon. He lazily slipped his phone out of his pocket, but quickly answered it, seeing the name and picture on the caller ID.
"Melody." Jane bolted into a sitting position.
"Hi." Melody sniffled, sounding very upset. Jane could hear muffled music in the background, sounding like it was coming through a wall.
"Are you okay?" Jane's heart rate increased.
"Please don't tell Teresa."
"Melody. Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"Please don't tell Teresa."
"Tell me what's wrong."
"I need your help, please promise not to tell Teresa." Melody choked back a sob.
Jane looked over at Lisbon, who was still unaware of what was going on. "Okay. I promise not to tell her. Melody, what do you need?"
"Come get me. Please, come get me."
"Are you still at that boy's house?"
"Yes."
"I'm coming to get you."
"But you can't tell Teresa. Please don't. You can't. Please. I'm sorry." Melody sobbed.
"I won't tell her. It'll be okay, Melody. I'm coming to get you." I'll be there soon."
"Call me when you get here."
"No, stay on the line."
"I can't. I forgot to charge my phone. It's running out of battery. There's no outlet near me. I'm sorry."
"I'll call you when I get there, then. But, if anything else happens, you call me. I'm coming."
"Okay." Melody was still sobbing as she hung up the phone.
Jane took a deep breath, trying to calm himself so that he wouldn't frighten Lisbon as he got up and walked into her office. "Hey." He tried to give her a reassuring smile.
Lisbon looked up from her paperwork, smiling back, though she did notice he was a little tense. "Hey. What's up?"
"I just thought I'd let you know that I'm going out for a minute."
Lisbon frowned. "You're going out? It's seven pm. Why are you going out?"
"Just some things occurred to me and I thought I should take care of them."
Lisbon looked concerned. "Patrick. Why are you going out?"
"I just have things that I need to do."
"Does it have something to do with Melody?" Panic showed in Lisbon's eyes. "Is it Melody?"
"Teresa, I'm just going out." His heart broke not telling her, but he had just promised Melody that he wouldn't and he knew breaking that promise at the moment was a very bad idea. Not just because of Melody not wanting Lisbon there, but telling Lisbon and not letting her go would be just as upsetting for Lisbon. And he wasn't sure exactly what it was he could tell Lisbon about Melody.
"Don't lie to me."
"I have things that I need to do, Teresa. Please, let me go do them. I have my reasons." He was pleading with her.
"Go." Lisbon replied hoarsely.
Jane walked over and gave her a quick kiss before heading out. He made sure to keep a normal pace until he was out of sight from Lisbon's office, then he ran to the stairs, not even bothering to wait for the elevator. He was glad they'd taken two separate cars that morning because Lisbon had needed to leave for court early, which meant Jane had to drop Melody off at school. He hurriedly unlocked is car and got in, rushing to get out of the CBI parking lot.
Jane pulled up to the house that Melody had given as the address for Josh. The first thing he noticed was the loud music and all the cars that were parked in the big driveway. Jane pulled out the spare phone from his glove compartment and made a quick call before calling Melody.
"Are you here?" Melody asked after she picked up on the first ring.
"Yes." Jane shut the car door behind him. "Where are you?"
"Upstairs. After you get to the top of the stairs, go left. I'm in the second room on the right. I'm in the closet."
"I'm coming. It's going to be okay." Jane ran into the house, which was filled with college age kids - if not a bit younger - most of which were probably drunk and the majority of them probably weren't quite old enough to be. He ignored them and bounded up the stairs, keeping Melody on the line. He followed her instructions, finding the room with no problem and threw open the closet door to find Melody huddled in the back corner, partially hidden behind a few clothes.
Melody scrambled out of her corner and practically threw herself into Jane's arms, sobbing.
Jane caught her, crouching down and holding her tightly. "Sssshhhhhh." He soothed, rubbing her back. "It's okay. I'm right here. Come on. Lets get you out of here."
Melody responded with some incoherent reply before letting go of Jane to grab her backpack. Jane took off his suit jacket and let Melody put it over her head as he tucked her into his side and they quickly made their way out to his car. Once a the car, Jane threw Melody's backpack in the back seat and waited just long enough for Melody to do up her seat belt with shaking hands before he drove off.
Melody sniffled and wiped at her tears, continuing to shake.
Jane reached a hand to her and gently touched her shoulder, unable to see her face through the veil of dark hair. "It's okay. They can't hurt you."
Melody choked back another sob. "You didn't tell Teresa, did you?"
"No. Just like I promised. But I didn't like not telling her."
"I'm sorry!" Melody cried. "I'm sorry. I'm such a screw up!"
"Melody, I didn't mean it like that. You're not a screw up."
"Yes, I am. I'm so stupid."
"No, Melody. You're not."
"Yes, I am. Teresa was right, but I was really stupid."
"What happened, Melody?"
Melody continued to cry and just shook her head, face buried in her hands.
"Melody." Jane said gently. "You can tell me." He still got no response but a head shake. "I'm not going to hate you for it. I promise. I couldn't ever hate you."
"You can't promise that."
"I can."
"No, you can't."
"I can, whether you want to believe me or not."
"Just take me home. Please."
"We're almost there." Jane turned onto their street. It was only minutes later that they were pulling into the driveway and getting out of the car, both completely disregarding Melody's backpack.
Melody stumbled up the front steps, still shaking, and reached back for her keys, but they were in her bag she'd left in the car. Jane came up behind her and unlocked the door, allowing Melody through first. Jane shut and locked the door behind them as Melody fumbled with her shoes. She lost her balance and nearly fell over, but Jane managed to catch her and held onto her. Melody fumbled some more with her shoes, finally managing to get them off, Jane let go of her, and then Melody slumped forward on the floor.
Jane sat down next to her, rubbing her back. "Maybe you should take a shower." He suggested. "You like your showers." He got no response. Gently, Jane moved some of Melody's hair to tuck it behind her ear so he could see her face, but she flinched and turned her head away with an alarmed squeak. "Please tell me, Melody."
"No." Melody's voice was gravelly from crying. "Don't make me. I don't want to."
"You have to tell someone."
"Why? It's not going to change anything. It's not going to undo what happened."
"Well, go have a shower, then. Maybe it'll help you feel better. I'll order us some take-out. How about Chinese?"
"Okay. Thank you."
"And what about Teresa?"
"Don't tell her." Melody turned her head quickly to look at Jane, giving him the opportunity to see her face. Here eyes were wide with fear, both cheeks covered in tears and a bruise starting on her left one. Their gazes held for a moment before Melody realized her mistake and looked away.
Melody got up and shuffled up the stairs to take a shower without another word, or even so much as a glance back at him.
Once Jane heard the bathroom door close and the shower start, he fished out his phone from his pocket.
-Mentalist-
"Tell me what's-" Lisbon demanded as she entered the house, but Jane was waiting at the door, interrupting her demands with a hand over her mouth.
"Ssssshhhhhh! She's upstairs in the shower. She doesn't know I called you."
"What the hell is going on?" Lisbon demanded in a hushed voice.
"I understand that you're mad, but please just hear me through."
Lisbon took a deep breath to try and calm herself.
Jane stepped closer to Lisbon, taking her hands in his. "You and Melody need to talk."
"Oh, trust me. We will be talking."
"No, Teresa. I don't mean like that."
"Excuse me?"
"I know you're mad, but right now I think she needs some compassion and support."
"Jane-"
"You should tell her about the box."
"What?"
"Your shoe box. The one you keep under the bed."
"No."
"She deserves to know. Annabeth knows, doesn't she?"
"Annabeth is 24 years old."
"Teresa, that's not the point."
"And what good will it do to tell her?"
"She needs it, Teresa. Doesn't she deserve to know what happened in her family's history?"
"It's not a good history."
"But she still needs to know."
"Why so suddenly? Patrick, what aren't you telling me?"
"I'm telling you everything I know."
"You haven't told me anything."
"Exactly."
"What happened? Before you left and after?"
"Melody called me and she sounded scared and upset and she asked me to pick her up. She didn't want me to tell you. I don't know why. She wouldn't say, but I promised and I went to get her. Looked like some kind of house party was going on when I got there and I went upstairs to get Melody. She was hiding in a closet, Teresa. She's just been crying and apologizing. She has a bruise on her cheek. She wouldn't tell me anything except that she was sorry."
The anger melted right out of Lisbon and was replaced with worry. "You sure it's just a bruise?"
"I only saw her face for a moment. That's all I can tell you."
"What am I supposed to tell her?"
"Just let her know that she's not alone."
"I'm sure you already tried that."
"But I'm not you."
"You really think telling her about the box will help?"
Jane nodded.
Lisbon sighed heavily. "Okay. But if this goes bad-"
"Yeah, yeah." Jane interrupted. He leaned forward and kissed her lips. "Hurry up and get upstairs. I'm not sure how much longer Melody will be in the shower."
-Mentalist-
Melody felt marginally better after her shower. At least she had stopped shaking; however she was really beginning to feel that bruise on her cheek. After putting on her pyjamas she looked at herself in the mirror, frowning at her reflection. She took a deep breath, trying to mentally tell herself that she was okay before grabbing her dirty clothes and heading to her room. God, she really just wanted to lie down. She pushed her bedroom door open, not bothering with turning on a light and carelessly threw her laundry in the hamper. She turned to the bed so she could lie down and jumped.
"Oh, my god!" She exclaimed, placing a hand over her chest as if it would calm her heart rate. Her aunt was sat cross-legged on her bed.
"Hi." Lisbon said calmly.
Melody just stared at her aunt, wide eyed, for a moment before responding. Her aunt's calm was more scary than her yelling. Melody tried to keep her voice steady "Hey."
"Bet you're wondering what I'm doing here right now." Lisbon said.
"Patrick called you, didn't he?"
"He did." Lisbon nodded.
"Traitor." Melody mumbled, throwing a glare in the direction of the staircase.
"Don't be mad at Patrick, Melody." Lisbon said, patting the mattress next to her. "Come sit down. Let's talk."
"I'm not sure I really want to." Melody mumbled, hanging her head and staring at her feet.
"I think we should anyway." Lisbon said gently.
Melody shook her head. "I don't want to." She turned to leave.
"Melody." Lisbon warned, but Melody kept going. "Melody Teresa Lisbon." Lisbon said more firmly, stopping Melody with only one foot out the door. Lisbon was one of only two people that Melody allowed to address her by her full name, the other one being her father, and when they did it was not to be taken lightly.
Melody's heart skipped a beat before she slowly turned to face her aunt again.
"please, come sit down." Lisbon's tone was gentle again.
Hesitantly, Melody sat down on her bed next to her aunt; unable to meet the older woman's eyes.
"So." Lisbon broke the silence.
Melody didn't respond.
"What happened, Melody? You can tell me."
Melody just kept staring at the floor and shook her head.
"Okay. Then you'll listen."
Melody tensed, ready for the verbal discipline that she was sure she was in for and deserved. Instead, she felt a picture gently placed in her hand. Confused, she looked at the picture and back at her aunt. "What's this?"
"It's a picture."
Melody looked back at the photograph in her hand. "A family picture. Is that grandma and grandpa?"
"Yes." Lisbon nodded, taking the opportunity to scoot closer to Melody on the mattress.
"I haven't seen this one before. I didn't know there were any other pictures of them besides the ones I've seen."
"This was our last family photo." Lisbon rubbed Melody's back reassuringly.
Melody returned her gaze to her aunt. "Why are you showing me this? Why now?"
"Maybe it's time for you to know."
Melody stared at her aunt. "What happened with them? Grandma died in a car accident. But what else? What about grandpa?"
Lisbon took the picture from Melody and placed it back in the shoe box that was sitting on her lap. "He couldn't deal with it. My father couldn't deal with the loss of my mother."
"If that's your last family photo, why doesn't my dad have a copy? Or Uncle Tommy?"
"They don't know it exists."
"Why not?"
"Mom died not long after it was taken. They come to the house after her funeral and I didn't want to look at them. I put them in the back of my closet and forgot about them until I went away to college and I was cleaning some stuff out of my room."
"Why didn't grandpa take care of them instead?"
"He...He couldn't even handle himself. He became really depressed and he stopped being able to function."
"What happened?"
"He turned to alcohol. The longest he went without a drink was while he was sleeping."
"What did you do?"
"I did what I had to. I had three younger brothers to take care of."
"How old were you?"
"I was fifteen. Not much older than you."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Melody. Don't apologize." Lisbon tucked some wet hair behind Melody's ear.
"Was grandpa mean to you guys?"
"Yeah, he was. Sent my brothers and I to the hospital a few times."
Melody looked alarmed.
"It was a long time ago." Lisbon reminded her and pulled out another picture from the box. She handed it to Melody. "We were never the same after mom died, and I took over her role...but we were still a family. I loved my brothers all the same and I did my best."
Melody looked at the new picture that Lisbon had given her. It was of James, Tommy, Lisbon and Andrew. They were at a park on a slide."
"Who took this photo?"
"Some random stranger that was there. We were having a good day and I wanted to remember it. So I asked one of the parents that was there to take the photo. We weren't perfect, but we were happy. Even if it was in that brief moment." Lisbon took the photo back and placed it in the box, producing a letter. She handed that to Melody.
"What's this?"
"It's from my mother." Lisbon explained. "It was supposed to be given to me when I moved away for college. I found it earlier, but I waited until I moved away to open it."
Melody turned the opened envelope over to examine the handwriting.
"I cried when I read it. She wrote it while she was still pregnant with me, apparently. She said she couldn't wait to meet me and watch me grow up. And she hoped the letter brought me some comfort if I ever got homesick. She encouraged me to call her if I wanted to talk."
Melody handed the letter back to Lisbon, not feeling like she should be holding it anymore.
Lisbon took the letter and put it back in the box. "I missed her. I still miss her. I wondered a lot if she would be happy with me and how I turned out. And if she'd be happy with my brothers and the job I did with them. There were so many times I wished that I could talk to her and ask her advice, but I couldn't. I just did the best I could."
"Why are you telling me this?" Melody's eyes were filled with tears and they spilled over onto her cheeks.
Lisbon started to rub Melody's back again. "I'm not perfect. No one is. I don't know what happened tonight, but I'm not mad at you. I'm not going to get mad at you. I want you to know that you can come to me about anything, Melody. Anything at all. I'm not going to judge you for it. I've made mistakes. I'll probably make some more in my lifetime, but I'll never tell you that you can't talk to me. Being here for you is never going to be a mistake."
Melody's lip quivered.
Lisbon pulled Melody into her, resting Melody's head on her shoulder and stroking her hair.
Melody let out a choked sob and then another before she completely broke down.
"Sssshhhh..." Lisbon soothed. "It's okay. You're safe. You're home."
"I thought he liked me!" Melody wailed. "I thought he actually cared about me!"
"What happened, Melody?"
"You were right! I shouldn't have gone! It was a dumb idea. I'm so stupid! I should have listened to you. I was mean to you. I'm so sorry!"
"No, you're not stupid. You made a mistake, but that's okay. You're not the one to blame for any of this. That boy is. If he mistreated you, that is his fault. It's his shortcoming, not yours. Don't worry about me, either. You and I are going to but heads sometimes. That's normal. We'll say things we don't mean, but I still love you. You couldn't ever do anything to change that. You're my niece and I'll always love you. No matter what. I've always told you that."
Melody cried for a minute before Lisbon spoke again.
"What do you need, Melody? You've got to talk to someone. You can talk to me. Or you can talk to Patrick. If you want me to get you a professional, I will. Whatever you need."
"No." Melody sniffled. "I don't need a professional. I'm okay."
"You're not, Melody. You need to talk to someone."
"I just ant to stay here for a little while. Can you stay here with me?"
"Of course. Maybe we should lie down. It'll be more comfortable."
"Okay." Melody nodded.
Lisbon placed her box on the floor and the both crawled onto the bed and lay down. The both lay on their sides facing each other, and Lisbon hugged Melody tightly.
They didn't say anything for a little while until Melody finally spoke.
"He wasn't interested in me. He just wanted to make his brother to think he was cool and get with me."
"Oh, Melody." Lisbon kissed her head. "I'm so sorry. He should have never treated you like that. It's not right."
"I shouldn't have gone. I should have listened to you." Melody whimpered.
"That doesn't matter, Melody. You're not at fault. It's okay. Tell me exactly what happened. How did you get that bruise? Do you have any others?"
"No, I don't think so. I...I got into a fight. It was all going fine. We did our homework and then we played some video games. I was having fun. Then his brother came home with some friends and kicked us out of the living room. Josh told me he had a TV in his room, so we could play some video games there. But we decided to watch a movie instead so we were sitting on the floor watching the movie. He sat really close to me. I thought he liked me and I wanted him to like me so I felt okay with it. And he put his arm around me. I let him but then he tried to grab my boob and I pushed his arm off and I told him not to do that. He said he was sorry and he wouldn't do it again. So we kept watching the movie, but I wouldn't let him put his arm around me again. Then he grabbed at my leg and I told him to stop again. He told me he was sorry again and I moved away from him because I was annoyed. He tried to sit closer to me and I told him not to. He told me it was his house and he could do what he wanted. So I told him I was leaving."
"Why didn't you call me, then?"
"I didn't want him to grab my phone. I was planning to leave and get out of the house so no one would grab my phone. I got my stuff and went downstairs and his brother and his friends had already started their party. I was leaving and his brother grabbed my arm and asked me if I had a good time, but I didn't want to talk to him so I just said that I had to leave. He asked me if I had even kissed Josh and I said no. I said I never would. He called me a prude. He told me that my brother had clearly picked a loser to get with and some of his friends laughed. I was so mad. I almost told him to choke on his beer, but I just wanted to leave so I didn't say anything and tried to walk away. That's when he tried to punch me, but I dodged it and I tried to run out. But his friends kept pushing me toward him and trying to get us to fight. I didn't know what to do. I was so scared. I was all alone and he pulled me back so that he could fight me. I couldn't get out. I turned to face him and that's when he landed that punch."
"What did you do?"
"I dropped my bag and I punched him back! I punched him really hard. In the nose. And I hoped that would be enough to get me out of there. I know you're probably mad-"
"I'm not mad." Lisbon assured her.
"You're not?" Melody sniffled, looking up at her aunt.
"I don't like you fighting, but you had no choice. You had to defend yourself. I wish you had called earlier, but I understand why you didn't. I'm proud of you for defending yourself. I know I always discipline you for fighting, but I'm not trying to say you shouldn't defend yourself. I don't want you to get hurt. And I don't want to send the message that fighting is okay. But you made a decision to defend yourself and I'm not mad at you for that. I never would be."
Melody buried her face in her aunt's shoulder. "I still had to fight him after that. I pushed him over the couch and that distracted everyone enough for me to run, but they were all blocking the front door. I could only see a path to the stairs so I ran up there. I found an empty room and hid in the closet. I cried for a really long time and then I called Patrick."
"Why didn't you call me?" Lisbon whispered, still hurt by that fact. "Why did you insist that Patrick not tell me?"
"I didn't want to disappoint you." Melody's voice broke. "I just want you to be proud of me. And I didn't want them to harass you, too. I didn't want them to figure out we were related and harass you. They wouldn't harass Patrick because he's a guy."
"Melody, I am proud of you. I am. I'm proud that you're so strong and that you're smart. I wouldn't change you for anything. Not even after this. I understand how you must feel. I felt it a lot after my mother died. I wished I could go back and change my decisions or say something different. We can't change it, though. It happened. We've got to move past it. I know you can. And I'll be here to help you."
"Thank you." Melody hugged Lisbon tighter. "But please don't tell Dad. He doesn't need to worry about me any more than he does."
Lisbon sighed heavily, running a hand through Melody's hair. "I'll give you that. We won't tell your dad. Answer me one more question, though."
"What?"
"That boy...He never got to...he really didn't get you, right?"
"No!"
"Okay. I just want to make sure. You want me to go arrest him and his brother?"
Melody snickered. "Later? I don't ever want to see him again."
"I understand." Lisbon smiled. "Later, then."
"Good."
"Do you want to stay here for a little bit longer? I know Patrick said he was going to order in."
"I want to stay here a little longer." Melody said.
"Okay. We can do that."
-Mentalist-
Jane had ordered the food and it had arrived. He divided it up among three plates and put them in the oven that was set on a low heat to keep them warm before heading upstairs. He made his way up the stairs slowly, listening for any sign that told him to turn around, but didn't hear any. Once at the top of the stairs, he noticed Melody's room door was open. Stealthily, he made his way over to it and peeked around the door frame. The light in the room hadn't been turned on, but from the light shining in from the hallway he could see Lisbon and Melody laying on the bed. He walked quietly into the room, figuring they were both asleep. As he got closer to the bed, he saw that he was right. Lisbon stirred, opening her eyes slightly and blinking rapidly.
"Hey." Jane whispered to her.
Lisbon flinched, not expecting him there, causing Melody to grumble in her sleep but she didn't wake. "Don't do that." Lisbon snapped in a hushed tone, taking a deep breath and continuing calmly. "But, hey."
"It must have gone well." Jane smiled at her.
"I think we came to an understanding." Lisbon smiled back.
"Food's here. I'm keeping it warm in the oven. Chinese."
"Mmm. Sounds good. Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll put your box back for you before I go downstairs again. I think you can get her up."
"Yeah, I can manage that." Lisbon reached out and held Jane's hand for a moment.
Jane smiled and leaned down to kiss her lips affectionately. "I'll see you downstairs."
"Yeah."
With that, Jane picked up Lisbon's box and left the room while Lisbon started to wake Melody up.
Melody and Lisbon entered the kitchen as Jane was placing the full plates on the table.
"Hello." Jane smiled at Melody. "How are you feeling?"
"Better." Melody gave him a small smile. "Thank you."
"Not a problem." Jane enveloped Melody in a hug. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
They all sat down and ate, Jane telling jokes to try and brighten Melody's mood some more.
After dinner and some light conversation, Melody excused herself to bed. Lisbon and Jane could see that she was exhausted, so each gave her a hug and a kiss before she headed upstairs to bed.
"We should probably head off to bed as well." Jane suggested.
"Yeah..."
"You seem distracted. You want to talk about what happened with Melody?"
"Not here." Lisbon cast a glance at the few dishes in the sink.
"Okay." Jane nodded, ushering Lisbon out of the kitchen. "Those can wait until the morning." Jane said before Lisbon could protest.
Lisbon was too tired to insist and allowed herself to be led upstairs to their bedroom. They made sure Melody's door was shut, indicating that Melody was probably in bed. They didn't hear anything that would tell them otherwise. Jane and Lisbon got ready for bed and when Jane returned to their room Lisbon was sprawled out on the bed with her face turned into a pillow.
"Am I sleeping on the couch, or did you just overestimate the size of our bed?" Jane teased as he sat down on the edge of the mattress.
Lisbon shuffled to one side of the bed in way of response.
"You got a nap and I'm the one that seems more awake than you."
"Please." Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Half of your 'activity' at work is napping."
"That's the Teresa I know." Jane smiled.
Lisbon smiled with no real commitment.
Jane took her hand that was resting on the pillow and entwined their fingers, becoming more sincere. "How did it go with Melody?"
"I told her. I showed her the box."
"How much did you tell her?"
"Everything that I needed to."
"How does it feel?"
"Good. She was really receptive. We connected." Lisbon's thumb ran gently over Jane's.
"I'm glad to hear that. I told you it needed to happen. Did Melody tell you anything?"
"Mhm. She told me everything."
Jane lay down on his side so that they could look at each other, not letting go of her hand. "So, what happened?"
Lisbon took a shaky breath before explaining it to Jane, who was equally as horrified by the story as Lisbon was.
"Good. I'm glad the cops are going to get them in trouble."
Lisbon's brows knit together. "What do you mean? We haven't taken legal action against them yet."
"About that. Yeah. They're probably getting arrested for underage drinking, illegal substances, and disturbing the peace. Well, it's been a few hours, so they're probably being booked.
"What are you talking about? How do you know the cops were even called in?"
"Because I called them."
"You called them?"
"Yes."
"When? Why?"
"When I went to pick up Melody, of course. The house was practically vibrating with music and Melody was so upset I figured it would be a nice little bit of payback. I called the cops and pretended to be a neighbour and complained about the noise. Then I hurried in to get Melody and we were out of there before the cops probably showed up. They'll never have to know Melody was there and all those people that were so terrible are going to be punished for it without traumatizing Melody any further."
"What is it with you and Melody doing things I should be mad at you for; but doing them in a way that I'm glad you did them?"
Jane grinned, bringing his free arm to circle her waist and pull her against him. "Maybe we do it because we know you love us enough to see we had the right intentions."
"Can't you do things I approve of with the right intentions, too?"
"What fun would that be?" Jane teased, kissing her lips affectionately. He let go of her hand and hugged her with both arms. "Besides, the most important thing is that we're safe and we're here."
"I'm still going to check tomorrow to see if your noise complaint was taken seriously."
"Please do." Jane agreed. "If it wasn't, then I'll have to come up with something else."
"Patrick." Lisbon groaned.
Jane chuckled. "You love my schemes."
"I really don't."
"Well, you love me."
"I'm starting to reconsider that."
Jane laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. You and I both know that you're not."
Lisbon rolled her eyes and then Jane pulled her in for a long kiss.
"I told you." Jane smirked at her.
"Just go to bed and shut up." Lisbon blushed, swatting his chest.
Jane turned off the bedside light and they settled under the covers. Jane pulled Lisbon against him again and allowed her to snuggle into his chest. Once they were comfortable again Jane said, "maybe I'll start and infestation in their house."
"I swear, I will kick you out of this bed and you'll be sleeping on the couch."
Jane was amused by Lisbon's response and kissed her head. "Whatever you say."
Author's Note: And that's it for now! Please let me know what you think in a review. I always like to hear what you guys think. I'm glad to finally have another chapter for you guys.