Chapter Fifty-Eight

I Need You

I own nothing except Melissa, Kate, and any other OC's that I mention.

No blog entries in this chapter. I thought that it was fine by itself.

Oh, and I had a dream last night that I was having sex with Norrington! It was...weird...to say the least.

Melissa woke up the next morning at 7:30. She remembered that she had slept with Jack on the couch. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. She was no longer facing Jack. Instead, she was curled up, facing the window, the bright sun streaming through the blinds. She knew that there was no point in going back to sleep. Melissa was an early riser to begin with. She had rarely indulged in sleeping late.

Melissa stood up, in her shorts and t-shirt from yesterday, and walked upstairs. She poured herself a glass of iced tea from the pitcher in the refrigerator, poured a packet of Splenda in it, then went back downstairs. She started up the computer, then went to the bathroom to put her messy hair in a ponytail. Melissa then went back to the computer and typed in a real estate site. She looked at Jack sleeping and smiled. She wondered what it would be like to have him wake up next to her every morning.

She did a local search for apartments and townhouses. She saw that the homes ranged from $440,00 to $141,000. She started on the lower-priced end and skimmed through the different houses available. None of them appealed to her on the outside except a cream colored town-home that went for $141,500. She took the virtual tour and thought maybe that was something Jack might want to look at.

She book marked the page, then closed out of it. When would they start searching for a home? She hoped it would be soon. She wanted to have a home, or even an apartment that she and Jack could call their own. She made a mental note to go to a real estate agent's office soon.

Melissa took her mug of iced tea and brought it with her to her bedroom. She opened her closet and put her mug down on the shelf. She fished through her clothes until she got to the back of her closet. She pulled out the silky red nightgown – the first thing that Jack saw her in. She gently touched the fabric. Just two weeks ago, she had done the same thing, reminiscing, last time in anger and regret. Now it was reminiscing in a good way.

She hung it up in the front of her closet this time, not in the back. She was not angered by that memory anymore. She decided that she could create another memory with it sometime soon.

Melissa closed the doors of her closet and looked at her neatly made bed. Would she be the only one sleeping in it tonight?

Just a week ago she started letting her guard down around Jack. Was it really that short of a time ago? Melissa realized, possibly for the first time, Kate's point of view with Jack. You wanted something so bad, but knew at the same time that it wasn't what you should be doing. She did not want to break the vow she had worked eighteen years and two months to keep. Was this how Kate felt each time she had seen Jack?

Why did Kate have to be away for this weekend? This is when she needed her best friend most! She needed her to tell her that this was the wrong choice that she was making with Jack. She needed her to steer her clear and tell her what her priorities were!

But at the same time, Melissa really wanted to give into Jack. She lusted for just one night where she could truly love someone more than she had before.

Melissa flipped open her pink Razor and dialed Kate's cell number. She walked to the foot of her bed and sat down on it. The phone rang three times, then went to voicemail.

"Hey, this is Kate. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave me a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a nice day!"

The recording beeped.

"Hey, Kate, it's me. Melissa. Um...I understand if you're busy this weekend or just don't want to take calls, but please call me back. I don't mean to burden you, but I really need you. I hope you're having fun, and I'm sorry if this woke you up or if it was moment between you and Will that I interrupted...Talk to you later. Bye."

She hung up and held the phone in her hand. She really loved Jack, but was it worth him deflowering her?

Melissa leaned back and laid on the bed. She needed Jack. Why, she didn't know. She didn't even know why she felt this way. The logical Melissa that she knew would say no such things. But then there was a new Melissa starting to form inside her, one that told her to take a risk. It had formed ever since she met Jack, like kissing him a day after they met without even knowing much about one another. And she had grown to know and trust Jack so much, so why couldn't she just do this?

"Were ya talking to yerself?" Jack asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Speak of the devil, she thought, sitting up, looking at Jack leaning against her doorway.

"No," she said. "I was trying to call Kate. She didn't answer, so I left a voice mail. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Ya woke me when I 'eard th' closet door openin'."

"Oh," she replied. "I'm sorry."

"Eh," he said. "Good t' see ye up so soon. But ya did fall asleep so very early last night."

"I must have been tired," she said. "I don't usually fall asleep during movies. I fell asleep on your hand, though."

Jack flexed his hand. "Nope, doesn't feel any different."

Melissa laughed lightly. "That's good."

Jack sat next to her at the foot of her bed. Those brown eyes made her heart speed up more than ever.

"Today's 7/7/07," she said. "It's a lucky day."

"A lucky day fer gettin' lucky?"

"Of course not," Melissa said. "I would never do such a thing!"

Sure you wouldn't , she thought. Then what were you thinking of this morning?

"I'm sure that ya wouldn't," Jack said primly.

"That's right," she said. "I'm glad you realize that."

A mischievous smile came onto Jack's face. "Of course."

That smile made Melissa uneasy. "What's that smile for?"

"I'm glad ye're realizin' what ye're realizin'."

"I'm only realizing that you're not going to get lucky. I've realized that all along!"

Deep down, she knew what he was talking about. What she really was realizing was that tonight would be a new beginning for her.

Goodbye old Melissa. Hello new one.

It was around 10:30 when Kate checked the voicemail on her phone. She was sitting on her bed in the hotel room. Will was downstairs in the lobby looking for a good place for lunch. The screen that she had one missed call. She listened to it.

"Hey, Kate, it's Melissa," the recording said. "Um...I understand if you're busy this weekend or just don't want to take calls, but please call me back. I don't mean to burden you, but I really need you..."

The message went on. Panic quickly rose in Kate. Was something wrong? Did someone get hurt? She quickly dialed the number, but there was no response and got Melissa's voicemail. That struck Kate as a bit odd. Melissa always had her cell phone near her. Instead of playing phone tag, she hung up. She'd try again. And if it was important, Melissa wouldn't have called her cell once – three hours ago, nonetheless.

Kate flipped her black phone shut and sat on the bed and looked out at the bridge. The could see the large silver lift bridge, which was nice, but she loved the water. It shimmered in the sunlight beautifully. She wondered when she and Will were going to take a walk on the beach. She hoped soon. Or perhaps that would be after dinner? Yes, that was more like him, to take her on a sunset stroll.

Kate's mind kept racing back to what was so important. Should she give Melissa another call or leave her a voicemail? She decided against both options. If it was urgent, like Kate said, she would have tried again.

Jack lead Melissa to the couch and sat her down. He took out a thin stick of kohl and sharpened it with a knife that she saw him take out earlier from his coat pocket. The black shavings fell onto oak table.

"Jack, what are you doing?" she said. "I have to clean that up, you know."

"I'm sharpenin' some kohl," Jack replied. "I've always wanted t' see what it looks like on you."

"They have sharpeners for that nowadays. And it's not called kohl anymore. It's called eyeliner. And not many men wear eyeliner. It's mostly women that do."

"Ah, all the better, love," Jack said.

"I've tried eyeliner once. I thought it made me look like a racoon."

"That's what I think you'll look like, too. But ye'd be a very ravishin' racoon!"

"Oh, well, that's rather kind of you," she said, not sure whether to take that as a compliment or insult.

He stopped sharpening the kohl and blew on it. He held her jaw steady. She looked upwards and heard her cell phone playing "Goodbye My Lover" in her bedroom.

"Um...can I get that?" she asked. "It could be Kate."

"If it's important, she'll call back."

"But I called her for something important."

"Ah, so if she deems your issue important, she'll make it an important priority to call ya back, eh?"

"What?" Melissa asked.

"Don't frown, it's hard to apply kohl when ya frown."

"It's eyeliner."

"Kohl, eyeliner, what's the difference?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I saw that," Jack said.

She started laughing right as Jack was about to start putting the kohl on her. One of her hands covered her mouth to hide her laugh. He accidently got some on her cheek before she put her face in her hands. She withdrew her hand, and Jack licked his thumb and gently rubbed the kohl away. Her smile quickly faded when she saw the expression Jack had. It was serious and intimate, something she had never seen on him before.

"Stay still," he said, holding her jaw steady.

She felt the kohl go on her lower eyelids. He was gentle, obviously aware of what he was doing. He moved on to her other eye, smoothly applying the kohl.

He let go of the jaw that he held so tenderly. She wanted his hand to stay there. His touch was like something she had never felt before.

"Go see what ya look like, ya ravishin' racoon," Jack said.

She smiled and got up. She didn't look like a racoon, actually. She looked like Melissa, the one who loved Jack, who had so beautifully applied the kohl. Melissa loved it.

She went back to the couch and sat across from him. "You did good, Jack," she said. "Am I ravishing racoon?"

"No," he replied. "Ye're just plain ravishin'."

Melissa kissed him passionately, her hand gently on his neck. Jack kissed her back with equal passion. In return, he put his hand on her neck. Just that one touch made her nearly go crazy. How could Jack have this much of an effect on her?

It was at that moment that Melissa realized she was not the same girl that she used to be. She was not the good girl that she was but a month ago. This one was going to take a risk and show Jack how much that she loved him and make him remember 7/7/07.

She needed him.