An update? I know that I haven't updated in forever. I'm so sorry!

Chapter 12

It has been six months since that memorable double date. Jackson and Melissa have continued dating Monica and Derek, and both of their relationships were getting serious.

From Melissa's numerous dates with Derek, Jackson had noticed a change in her. Lately, she has been wearing expensive clothes and jewelry on her dates. Jackson didn't doubt that all of her outfits and accessories were gifts from her boyfriend since Jackson and Melissa's salary couldn't even afford one outfit. The change in Melissa bothered Jackson because she was betraying herself. Before Derek came along, she didn't care about what she wore as long as it was clean and comfortable. Now, she has a closet full of outfits and took at least half an hour deciding on what to wear. However, Jackson wasn't positive if the change was for the good or not.

After their date, Derek invited Melissa to his apartment and she accepted. Shortly after they entered into the apartment, Melissa found herself making out with Derek on the couch. The kissing started to get intense and she found herself slowly leaning back against the couch with Derek on top of her. He had his hands on her hips and then she realized what might happen.

Melissa pulled away from the kiss and said, "Derek."

"Yeah?" he managed to say, as he was kissing her neck.

When she was sure of what the kissing was going to lead to, she lightly pushed Derek off of her and immediately stood up. She saw that Derek's reaction was that of confusion and she felt awful. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"It's okay. We've only been together for a couple of months. I should have known that you were gonna be uncomfortable. Sorry. "

"No, no. Don't be sorry," Melissa said, as she sat down on the couch again and held his hand. "It's only been six months, but I feel totally comfortable with you. It's just that I'm kinda waiting until marriage. I hope you understand."

"Really? I totally respect that. If I had known, I wouldn't have tried to... you know."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "I love you."

Derek was a bit surprise at what she said at first since this was the first time that she has said that particular phrase. "I love you, too," he said and kissed her.

Because she was happy about Derek understanding her little rule, Melissa left Derek's apartment with a smile on her face. When she finally arrived home, she was greeted with a dark apartment.

That's strange. Jackson is usually still up. He must have gone to bed early tonight,she thought.

She turned on the lights to the living room in order not to trip over something and noticed a wine bottle with two glasses beside it on the coffee table. One of the glasses still had some wine in it. She concluded that he had a date with Monica that night.

I'm so tired. I'm not gonna help him clean up his mess.

She then turned off the lights and headed toward her bedroom.

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Melissa woke up around nine o' clock the next day. Her first destination was the bathroom, but she heard the shower go off so she directed herself toward the kitchen to brew some coffee.

"Jackson?" she said with wide eyes when she entered the living room.

"Hey, Mel. Morning to you too," he said with a smile, as he picked up the wine glasses.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the one in the shower?"

"Oh, that's Monica."

They slept together? How did this happen? Hold on, Melissa. You're probably just blowing things out of proportion. There has to be an explanation as to why Monica is here other than that she spent the night.

"So... you... you two..." She was struggling with how to phrase it. "So... you two... did it?"

"If you're referring to sex, then yeah," Jackson said nonchalantly.

How can he be so calm? Hasn't he ever learned about the possible chances of STDs or pregnancies? Men! They're unbelievable!

"Oh," she managed to say. "I'll just go make some coffee."

"Don't worry about it. I already took care of it."

"Oh. Thanks, I guess."

An awkward silence came between them since Melissa didn't really know what to say after that weird topic. After a minute or two, the phone broke the silence and Melissa was grateful.

"Hello?"

A familiar voice on the other line said, "Morning, Mel."

"Morning, Derek. How are you?"

"Pretty good. You?"

"I'm not really sure yet," Melissa said while watching Jackson's back as he prepared three cups of coffee.

"That doesn't sound like you. You all right?"

"I'm fine. I'm just kinda tired. I'll get my energy back soon."

"That's good to hear. I guess you're wondering why I'm calling. Do you have time to go on a date with me tonight?"

"Well, I have nothing better to do. But we already had one yesterday."

"What? Is it wrong for a boyfriend to want to see his girl?"

"I suppose not, unless he's asking for something more than a date."

Melissa heard Derek chuckle and then he said, "Trust me. The date is completely innocent. Listen, I gotta get back to work. Bye. I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye."

Melissa hung up the phone and was startled to see Jackson standing behind her.

"You guys already talking about love?" he said with a grin.

"Jackson, I swear I will-"

Jackson put his index finger on her lips and said, "You better watch what you say this morning. There's a witness in the bathroom that might hear your death plan for me."

"I don't mind. I might as well go after her as well."

"Wow. You're cranky this morning. You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need my coffee," she said and then put her face into her hands so she looked tired.

"Long night?" Jackson asked as he placed a cup of coffee in front of Melissa.

"Uh... yeah. Long night." She didn't want to admit it, but she really hated Jackson for sleeping with someone that he barely knew.

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"So what's your big surprise?" Melissa asked, as the waiter served them dessert.

"Well, I have something special for you."

"Derek, you've given me so many dresses and jewelry already. I definitely can't accept anymore from you," Melissa said with a smile.

"I know that the prices of the gifts make you uncomfortable, but I love showering you with gifts. Plus, I'm pretty sure that this special present will top everything else."

"It might top all the gifts, but not my love for you. You know that right?"

"Of course, Melissa. I'm actually really glad that you said that, too," he said, as he reached across the table to hold her hand.

"And why is that?" she asked with a suspicious smile.

He didn't answer but just got out of his seat and walked over to Melissa, still holding her hand. Melissa was so confused in what he was doing. Then all of a sudden he bent down on one knee and all the heads in the restaurant were directed towards them.

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Jackson was lying on the couch while flipping through the channels on the television when Melissa walked into the apartment.

He greeted her with a smile, sat up, and then said, "Hey, come here. We haven't watched TV together in awhile. I saw a commercial on a movie about aliens and it looks pretty cool."

Melissa obeyed him and sat on the couch, but she still remained quiet. Jackson had his eyes fixed on the TV when he said, "So how was your date?"

Jackson faced Melissa when she didn't answer. "Are you all right, Mel? Did something happen."

"Yeah, something did happen," she said and finally showed a smile.

"Well, aren't you gonna tell me?" he said and returned the smile.

"I want to, but I don't really know how to say it. Well, just look," she said, as she showed him her left hand. Jackson was surprised to see a diamond ring on her finger and saw that she was really happy.

"You're engaged?" he asked in a melancholy tone.

"Yeah! Aren't you happy for me?" she said, as she tried to search for his smile.

"You're engaged. He proposed and you said yes? How can I be happy for you?"

Melissa's smiling face turned into a look of confusion and asked, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Everything is. How could you say yes?"

"I said yes because I love him," Melissa said. She was now getting frustrated with Jackson's attitude.

"I know you don't love him because you truly love me."

"What are you talking about! Was it just me or did you talk about not ever wanting to fall in love with me because you're afraid of losing me?"

"I know what I said, but I know you're still in love with me. How can you get married when you're doubting yourself?"

"Who said I was doubting myself? I love Derek, okay? I might have doubted it before but when I found out that you slept with Monica it signified that you moved on."

"That doesn't mean anything. We both had a little too much wine."

"Jackson! We had a little too much wine but all we did was kiss! You and her went all the way to home base! And don't tell me that it didn't mean a thing because I know that's not true!"

"How would you know, Mel? You're barely home anymore to know what's going on in my life! You're always hanging out with Derek and he practically changed you!"

"I'm exactly the same! What are you talking about?"

"Look at the clothes and jewelry you're wearing, Mel! They're not you. They will never be you because you're not the kind of person who cares about those things. Derek might, but not you."

"Listen, I love Derek and sometimes love means sacrificing some things for the other person."

"Love? It's only been a couple of months! You're practically still strangers! The only reason why guys propose so early is if they want to sleep with the girl!" Then Jackson's voice lowered a bit when he said, "Did you tell him that you were waiting?"

Melissa didn't want to answer, but Jackson's stare was unbearable so she said, "So what if I did?"

"Melissa! Don't you understand? He only wants to marry you to get in your pants!"

"You know what, Jackson? I'm done with this argument," she said in a sad tone as she stood up from the couch. "I want you to know that after he proposed to me all I was thinking about was how happy my best friend would be for me when he found out about the news. I was pretty dumb for expecting that, huh? Oh, I just wanted to let you know that I'm moving out tomorrow too. It's sad to know that I will remember this final night when I think about my roommate and best friend."

She walked away to her bedroom, leaving Jackson alone in his own anger.

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Melissa woke up the next morning and absolutely didn't want to get up. She replayed the whole fight from the night before and couldn't believe the things they both said. She truly wished that it didn't happen, but it was too late now.

I'll get up and go to his room. I'll say sorry and hope that this fight just blows over. We'll be back to normal again.

Melissa got up and ended up standing in front of his door. She wasn't sure if she should knock first or just go in. She decided to knock just in case, but there was no answer. She then opened the door but didn't find him in there. She looked throughout the apartment, but there was no sign of Jackson.

He probably went for a walk or something,she concluded.

All morning Melissa and Derek packed all of her belongings into boxes and carried them into his car. By the afternoon, they were done packing and Derek just had to place one more box into the car. While he was gone, Melissa just stood outside her doorway and looked into her room. All that was left was the dresser and bed. She heard the door open again and went to go meet Derek, but instead she saw Jackson.

"Jackson," she said with a smile.

He didn't respond, but instead walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Hey, Jackson. About last night-"

"Uh... since you're moving out, could you leave your key behind?" he said while his face was still looking at the contents of the fridge.

"My key?"

"Yeah, you're not gonna be around anymore anyway so I might as well just give it to Monica."

Jackson's tone of not caring hurt Melissa very much. She was really sad that he didn't even want to look at her. She was wondering why he was still mad about the night before. However, she obeyed and pulled the key out of her pocket and placed it on the counter.

Then Derek walked in and said, "Hey, Mel. The boxes are all set. Hey there, man!" Jackson didn't respond so Derek turned back towards Melissa. "So I'll just leave you two alone to say your good-byes. I'll wait for you in the car."

After Derek closed the door, Jackson and Melissa made eye contact but Jackson broke it by walking toward the counter and picking up the key. He then walked around the counter and Melissa thought he was going to give her a hug, but he just walked past her and went straight to his room. Melissa just stood there pretty much close to tears.

Suddenly Jackson poked his head out of his room and called out, "Hey, Mel."

Melissa then had a smile on her face again, believing that her best friend was back to normal. She turned around and said, "Yeah."

"Do you mind shutting the door on your way out?"

From what he said, Melissa's smiling face turned into a blank one and said, "Uhm... sure. No problem."

Jackson then gave a nod and went back into his room.

He didn't even say good-bye, Melissa thought.