A/N: It's been a long time since I have posted anything and I truly apologize for that. Seems that's all I do lately. Apologize. But when people told me that junior year was gonna be hard, they were freaking serious. And on top of that, midterms kicked my butt. *exasperated sigh* So now I have a four day weekend which I plan to spend writing. Reading too, but mostly writing. Don't be surprised if this is the only post you see this weekend. This is literally the shortest post I had on hand to type. Bring Me to Life should be next, but I don't have a specific date.

BTW: I made some edits and minor changes to the previous chapters that aren't really mandatory to be seen, but you can if you want to. And if you haven't noticed yet, the title has changed. That's because I have changed the future plot in a way to separate it from Bring Me to Life (hopefully).

Chapter 4: A Change Has Come

Cassie opened the door to her family's home, the door squeaking on its hinges at the action. The amnesiac brunette following hesitantly behind.

"So, Melody, this is it," Cassie said, her arms stretched out showing the house.

Melody was the name decided for the girl because let's face it, they couldn't keep talking to her in the second person.

At first, Gabriel wanted to call her Anastasia because so many people confuse the name with amnesia. The joke got a whole lotta laughs from the girl. Definitely, more than either Cassie or Gabriel expected. As a matter of fact, 'Mel' as Gabriel called her, couldn't stop laughing and talking with him when she was discharged. So much so that that Cassie ha to force her away with a promise that the deputy would drop by sometime later.

They finally settled on Melody because when Cassie turned the key in the ignition, starting up her car, a medley of different songs began to play from a mixtape her friend made for her, and the girl seemed to immediately adapt and sing along, though she only knew a few words here and there.

Cassie assumed the songs that played were ones the brunette had heard before. Maybe her memories were already slowly beginning to come back.

In a way, that was good, but Cassie was still worried about how traumatic some of her memories might be. She was probably just overreacting. And if she wasn't, she would make the most of Melody's time before she had to deal with the stress of her past.

Melody looked around the house in pure curiosity; the more she saw, the more she relaxed. The house had previously been refurbished while Cassie was away at school, so she did a little observing herself, not really taking the time to do so the night before seeing as though she came in and crashed into her bed in her day clothes.

Though nothing had changed drastically, Cassie did notice some things that were different. Mostly furniture.

All the old couches, automatons, lamps, and even the tv were replaced with newer models of themselves. The house looked old on the outside, and the material of the walls and ceiling made the house look its actual age, but the newer accessories made it look slightly more modern and homey.

Melody made her way into the kitchen, which was on the adjacent wall from the stairs and hallway the two entered, where the front door was.

The first thing that popped out to Melody when she walked into the room was the smell of fresh paint, which told her that the room had also been a part of the renovations that Cassie had mentioned before.

The entire room was like something straight out of a catalog book. The walls were either painted or tiled white. Unlike the popcorn ceiling in the living room, the ceiling was creamy, smooth with a single yet elegant ceiling light.

There was a light brown marble island at the center of the counters, which ran from the entrance to the living room and stopped at another doorway that led to the dining room by the looks of the long table with surrounding chairs, before continuing and ending again at what must have been a back door.

All the kitchen appliances and accessories were a rich onyx that went wonderfully with the white and brown color scheme of the room. The refrigerator looked really expensive, making Melody feel slightly inferior in both size and worth as she stood in front of it. Though that wasn't why it caught her attention.

The immense amount of pictures adorning both the french doors was what made the appliance stand out to her.

The closer she walked towards it, the more she was able to see. There was a lot of pictures of a light-skinned girl of many ages; Melody deduced this must be Cassie. Almost every picture had her in it, either by herself or with someone else.

One of the photos really caught her attention. It was a young couple, a handsome darker skinned black man, and a beautiful white woman. The two were standing in what appeared to be a meadow, though most of it was beautiful, quite a bit of the flower and plant life were withered and dead. But the couple didn't seem to care.

The way they looked at each other, with such devotion and love, made Melody believe that the two had been meant to be together since they met. An instant connection. It actually made the brunette a bit envious.

"Those are my parents not too long after they got married," Cassie's voice resounded through the small space, causing Melody to jump in surprise. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Melody just smiled with a light exhale, turning back to the plethora of pictures. "It's fine. They look so happy together."

"They were." Cassie gave a sad smile as she came to stand beside the younger girl.

Melody's eyes widened and she snapped her head back to look at Cassie. "I'm so sorry. I-I didn't–"

"I know." Cassie cut her off, offering a light smile. "It's okay."

A moment of silence passed between the two, both of them now looking at the photos.

"Can I ask what happened?" Melody asked cautiously, not sure hot the light skinned girl would react to her curiosity, that could easily be interpreted as inconsiderate.

Cassie let out a small sigh. "It was their anniversary, about 3 and a half years ago. They were driving back from a cruise, and started to argue over something trivial. Dad took his eyes off the road for a second to yell something at my mother and he missed the deer walk into the road. Mom survived; Dad didn't." Cassie reached out to take down a photo of her and her parents before continuing. "Mom blamed herself for the accident and has been doing everything she can to forget ever since. She travels a lot to help."

Melody can't even begin to imagine how it would feel to lose her significant other. If she had one. She might, and they might be out there somewhere looking for her, worried about her; not having a clue in the world where she was or even if she was alive. But she just didn't know.

She did know that she wouldn't be able to beat the thought of losing them. She'd love them with her heart and soul. They would mean everything to her and nothing less. Someone whom she'd do anything for just to see them happy, healthy, and alive. And judging by the look on Cassie's mother's face – reflected back in her father's eyes – they felt the same way.

"I miss him like crazy, but I know that if I stop what I was doing before he died, I wouldn't be honoring his memory."

A melancholic smile made its way onto Cassie's face, remembering all the times her father encouraged her to follow her dreams and go to the college she wanted. To meet the right person for her and leave Missouri for someplace bigger and brighter for the star she was.

"Enough about my life, though. I should show you where you're gonna be sleeping."

Melody nodded lightly, following Cassie back out and up the stairs.

Once they reached the top, Cassie took a right and walked down the hall to the furthest door on the left.

"This is the guest bedroom, which you'll be staying in until you're ready to leave. And because you don't have any clothes of your own, you can borrow some of mine until we get you come."

Melody stepped into the room, listening to Cassie explain things while she looked around.

The room was mostly empty, save for a full-size bed, a dresser on one wall, and a door leading to a closet on the other. Not that Melody minded the open space made her feel slightly more comfortable there.

"The bathroom is the first door on the left at the top of the stairs when you need it. We'll get you some toiletries later, but until then, there is a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet. And if you need anything other than that, my room is literally across the hall."

Cassie pointed to the closed door that was across the hall. Melody actually figured Cassie would sleep in one of the rooms farther down the hall, not so close to her. Not that the brunette minded, she felt safer and more content around the light skinned girl.

"Other than that, make yourself at home. You might be here for a while." Cassie said, though not unkindly.

As Cassie turned back from the door, she ran into a soft, warm body and arms immediately wrapped around her. She hadn't even realized how close the younger girl had gotten.

"Thank you, Cassie. For everything," Melody whispered into Cassie's dark hair, causing a shiver to run down the older girl's neck when her warm break hit it. "I don't know where I would be if it hadn't been you that found me."

It took her a moment to come back to herself, but when she did, Cassie wrapped her arms around the brunette, willing her heart to slow down to where it wasn't nearly beating out of her chest.

"I just want to help. It's no trouble at all." Cassie tried to keep her voice as calm and level as possible.

She didn't know what it was about this girl that got her heart pounding. She was a victim of a possibly traumatic event; Cassie was supposed to be helping her through it, not succumbing to her own forbidden desires.

Cassie was the one to end the embrace that, when she came to think of it, last a bit longer than a platonic hug of gratitude should've lasted.

"I should start on lunch," Cassie made her way towards the door, pausing for a moment to look at the girl, who seemed a bit…lost? Confused? "Like I said before, feel free to make yourself at home."

She didn't even wait for a reply or even a confirming glance before she turned and strode intently out of the room.

A/N: R&R please. You can always just say how your day's going. Your favorite quote from SPN. Sam girl? Dean girl? Cas girl? Other? Undecided? Why?