Chapter 7

[2:00 AM]

"Home sweet home," Melissa said as she flopped herself down on the couch and took off her shoes.

"I know what you mean. Then again you were the one dancing all night," Jackson replied.

"It was fun, but I have no idea who I was dancing with sometimes," Melissa said with a laugh. You could tell the alcohol got to her already.

She continued, "Did you see the guy do the sprinkler. That was a good dance move."

"Darren Gren sang 'You're Beautiful.' He was so drunk," Jackson said.

"I think someone spiked the punch bowl," Melissa struggled to say while laughing.

They were both cracking up at the events of the night. After a couple of minutes they started to calm down and silence was all they heard.

"Yeah, it was fun. I want to do it again. So did you know the guy who danced with you after me?" he asked with curiosity.

"Uhm... so many guys. Hold on a minute," she said as she contemplated.

"Yeah, his name was Derek McAndrews. I helped him graduate," Melissa said.

"Oh," that was all Jackson could say.

"Why? Are you jealous?"

"No, I didn't say anything."

"Come on. You know that you have feelings for me. Just admit it." The alcohol clearly talking.

"I do love you but-"

"I knew it! See you can't hide these things from me! Took you long enough!"

"What? You're clearly the one who has feelings for me!" Jackson said with a small drunken smile.

"Sure. You're dreaming."

"So if I happen to lean into you right now, you wouldn't have the urge to...say...kiss me?"

"I wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure you will."

As she said this, Jackson leaned into her and they were now face-to-face. They stared at each other, eye-to-eye. Then Melissa leaned in and kissed him. His lips were soft and the kiss was tender. It wasn't passionate but it had a lot of meaning to it.

They kissed for a minute or so and then separated their lips. Jackson lay back down on the couch and immediately went to sleep. Melissa was looking at him and then rested her head on the arm of the couch.

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Morning came rather quickly and Melissa woke up squinting at the sun's rays. She was looking around, unsure of where she was. Then she noticed the sleeping figure next to her. She was still in her dress and he in his suit. She concluded that they crashed on the couch for the night. In fact, it seemed like they slept on the couch more than their own beds. She had a minor headache pounding on the side of her head.

Hangover,she thought.

She was reminiscing over last night. Sitting with Nathan, Daley, Taylor, and Eric. Dancing with Jackson and with other guys. The guy doing the sprinkler and the one who sang "You're Beautiful." Melissa smiled at this thought. Coming home was such a blur. She just remembered sitting on the couch.

Then her eyes shot wide open. She remembered! The kiss! So many thoughts came into her mind. Was she just dreaming it? Was she that drunk? Did he say "I love you?" He kissed her!

She looked over at Jackson. He was sleeping in an awkward position. Nevertheless, he looked comfortable. He has always been a heavy sleeper, just like Melissa. They would sleep through everything from annoying birds chirping to loud music.

She had slept through most of the morning. She didn't know if Jackson remembered anything about the night before. She wasn't even sure herself.

Curse the person who spiked the punch.

She got up quietly and went to her room. She gathered her clothes to wear for the day and took a shower. When she got out, Jackson was still on the couch, except taking over all the seats with his body. She didn't know what she would say to him when he got up. So she decided to take a walk outside. It looked beautiful outside from the window.

Once again she was outside of their apartment doorway and thinking about what to say to Jackson. She decided that maybe she would actually confront him with her feelings. It was practically out in the open since they shared that moment. What if he didn't remember and she went on rambling about what happened? Why was love so complicated? Then again, whoever said it wasn't? It'd be so much easier to live in a world where people could admit their feelings and weren't afraid of rejection. Unfortunately, Melissa didn't live in that world.

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She finally got the courage to open the door. She saw that Jackson was on the couch with his head in his hands. He was probably thinking about something important.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she said and it startled him.

"Oh. Hey, Mel. I was wondering where you went. You didn't leave a note or anything." He didn't show it with his facial expression but his eyes expressed his worry.

"It was a nice morning so I decided to go on a walk. I also bought turkey sandwiches from the deli you like," she said, as she showed him the white paper bag containing the sandwiches.

He gave a small smile at her generousness.

"What time did you wake up?" she asked.

"Just about eleven. The phone was ringing."

"Really? So who called?" she asked, as she made her way toward the kitchen counter and placed the bag on top of it.

"Uh... Derek McAndrews. He asked if you wanted to go out on Saturday night."

"So he asked me out over the phone and to you?"

"Hey, I'm just giving you the facts. You should call him back around 6 PM."

"Oh. Wait did you just say Saturday?" she asked.

Jackson just nodded.

"You're performing at the café on Saturday. There's no way I'd miss it."

"Don't worry about it. It's just a song and a cup of coffee. You're not gonna really be missing much. Plus, I haven't known you to go out with someone before. You should give him a chance before standing him up," he said with a small smile.

"I guess," she said in a bit of a disappointed voice. "But are you sure you want me to go out?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because of... you know...," she dragged on.

She was now eyeing him to see if he remembered about the kiss. He just stared innocently right back at her. By his blank expression, she didn't think that he had a clue of what she was talking about. She was glad that she made sure before she blurted everything out all at once.

"Uhm... come here. Let's eat," she said to break that awkward moment.

They just sat there enjoying their lunches and first meal of the day. Most of the meal was basically Melissa staring at her sandwich or looking around. She was avoiding eye contact with Jackson.

"Hey, Mel," he said and that finally caught her attention.

"What's up?"

"Well, I don't want you to feel awkward or uncomfortable around me because of last night."

"I... uh... so... you...," she said as she struggled to put a sentence together because of her shock.

"Listen. I don't ever want us to be uncomfortable around each other. We're best friends and I don't ever want us to fall apart. Mel, you don't know how much you mean to me or how important you are in my life. I've lost so many people in my life, but I can't afford to lose you too. You're my best friend, Mel. So the kiss last night was just because we were drunk. It could or it could not have meant something but... you know?"

Melissa just nodded. She was both elated and sad. She was elated that Jackson wanted her to be his best friend forever. Their friendship meant a lot to her also and she was glad that he shared her same ideas. However, she was sad to know that the kiss didn't mean anything to him. She didn't want to ruin this sincere moment by saying that she loved him, him not feeling the same way, and them growing apart because of what she said.

"You're my best friend too, Jackson. Don't ever forget that."

After she said that she got up from her seat and walked toward Jackson. She embraced him. He hugged her back. They just stood there embracing, knowing that whatever happened they would always be there for each other.

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So I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again for the reviews! I just saw Flight 29 Down the Movie a couple of minutes ago. It was so good. I'm glad that Jackson and Melissa end up together and Taylor was so mature. Lex was pretty harsh. I was crying on the inside out of happiness and sadness. I'm happy they got rescued but I'm sad that the show is over.