Chp 19
Mel's POV

I blinked my eyes to come back from my day dream as I heard the front door. Mark walked in, looking really tired and worn down. His blonde hair was all ruffled - when he was working long hours on something he tended to run his hand through his hair a lot.

I saw the time was just after nine in the evening. He gave a little smile as he saw me. He sighed, putting his stuff down. "Hey." He said, coming to me and threading his fingers through mine whilst resting his forehead against mine. "Hi." I said, smiling as he gently pressed his lips to mine. He drew back and his face was in deep concentration for a moment.

"Oh shit, we had dinner reservations. I was going to take you out." He said, face palming. "I knew there was something I forgot. I'm sorry Mel, if you want I can make reservations tomorrow evening, or -" he started.

I interrupted him by pressing my lips to his. He sighed and kissed back. "Don't stress, it doesn't matter." I said, giving a little smile. It really didn't matter - I was also tired.

He yawned and switched the kettle on. I knew this move. He was going to have espresso to stay awake and then study till late in the evening and then be tired in the morning. I cupped his cheek so he could look at me. "I think you should go have a relaxing shower and then jump in bed." I suggested.

He was hesitant. "Babe, you're tired. I can see that. You'll only feel worse in the morning." I tried to reason. He sighed and let me switch the kettle off and take him to his room. I helped un button his shirt, kissing his cheek when I was done and leaving him to finish undressing and to shower.

I cleaned up all his things for him, straightening his papers and picking up his jacket. One good thing about dating a future neurosurgeon - he's extremely neat and hardly anything is out of order.

I went to his room again and got a pair of my sweat pants and a tank top. I sat on the edge of the bed, slowly plaiting my hair. I closed my eyes and let my mind slowly wander. I opened my eyes again as I felt the bed dip.

I turned around and saw him smiling softly at me, his one knee leaning against the edge of the bed. He came around and sat next to me on my side of the bed. He softly stroked my cheek. "I love you, Melody." He said.

It took my breath away. He had never told me that in the past five months we've been dating. "I love you too, Mark." I said, looking into his beautiful eyes. He cupped my cheek and kissed me. I parted my lips and kissed him sweetly.

I closed my eyes when we lay in each other's arms, loving the warmth and protection I felt in his arms.

~ Next morning ~

I fluttered my eyes open to something new. I was used to waking up and having him resting his study notes on me as he learnt from the early hours in bed. But instead I saw the time was 6:30am and he still had an arm around my waist, holding me close to his chest.

He shifted, rubbing his thumb against my hand that was linked in his. I smiled and rubbed his hand with my thumb, signaling I was awake. He leaned forward and kissed my cheek, making me turn over.

"Morning." He said, propping himself on his elbow, his blonde ruffled hair looking golden in the peeking sunlight. I smiled softly and said, "Morning." We just looked at each other like that for a few moments.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about forgetting about our date and carrying on with the study group. There was just so much to go over and stuff that it slipped my mind." He apologized again. I chuckled at his apology.

"Mark, honestly I didn't feel up to going out anyway. And I guess working late meant you sleeping in a little longer this morning." I said.

He smiled. "I think I have the most amazing girlfriend ever." He said, cupping my cheek. I smiled against his lips as he pressed his lips to mine. I blissfully parted my lips and carried on kissing him.

We broke apart and he smiled at me. A message appeared on my phone, so I leaned over and got my phone. I opened up the message.

"Up for early morning pancakes made by yours truly? :)" - Tony.

I smiled as I opened the picture which was of him smiling at the camera as he mixed pancake mix, someone else taking the photo. "You up to taste the best pancakes on earth?" I asked, smiling at Mark.

~ fifteen minutes later ~

I knocked and opened the front door to the guys' apartment. I grinned as I saw Annabeth sitting by the kitchen counter with a glass of orange juice and Tony making pancakes. Mark helped me slip off my leather jacket and hung it up for me.

"Morning." I said, hugging Annabeth. "Morning Mel, how you?" She asked. "Good." I said, smiling. As Mark and Ann greeted each other, I went and gave a soft kiss on Tony's cheek. It was just a friendly greeting. Was I maybe rubbing the salt in the wound by showing up with Mark?

"How you?" He asked, grinning at me. I smiled. "Good and you?" I asked. "Starved." He said, making me chuckle. Mark came up and smiled at Tony, shaking his hand in greeting. "Howzit?" He said, friendly.

Tony greeted him and returned to cooking. "So where the others?" I asked. She pointed to the bedroom door and I chuckled. "Explains it." I said. We all looked to the door as Percy came in, stretching out his arms.

He was walking in just his boxers, and towards the washing machine. He stopped to kiss Ann's cheek on the way and said, "Morning all." He bent down, getting out a new top and pulling it on. "I can't believe you're up this early." Annabeth said, raising an eyebrow.

"I wasn't going to get up, but it smelt so good." He said, glancing to where Tony was busy. We all laughed at him. We chatted lightly for a little while, watching as he effortlessly made the pancakes. Will and Kieran appeared looking dozy as always. Will kissed my cheek and Kieran smiled form across the table.

"Tony - what happened with your hand?" Kieran asked, frowning at his hand. Tony glanced at his hand, and we all seemed to notice a thin scar trailing up his hand and under his shirt. "Uh, I think it was an accident with a knife." He said, simply, then carried on.

It bothered me for some reason. He never mentioned Claire and his dad getting together, he never mentioned this scar - was there anything else he wasn't telling me? Should it bother me in any case.

After breakfast we went our separate ways, me going to Annabeth and my place. I was just preparing my stuff for my lesson and Annabeth was sitting on my bean bag chair on the floor. "So, you and Mark getting serious?"

I didn't turn around to look at her in fear she would laugh at my bright red face. "Yeah, maybe - I don't know." I said. She chuckled. "Why? Do you think we're getting very serious?" I asked, biting my lil as I turned around to face her.

She smiled. "Maybe, but he's a great guy, I don't doubt him at all." She studied my face for a second. "Why? Didn't he ask you anything?"

I shook my head. "Is it because of Tony?" She asked, tentatively. I swallowed and nodded slightly. "I don't know! I mean, everything has seemed so perfect with Mark like it's meant to be. And then Tony came back, and confused me because I'm in love with both of them."

She didn't say anything, just looked at me. "Please, say something." I begged.

"Why do I have to say anything?" She asked, sitting forward.

"Because I don't know what to do, Ann!" I said. She stood and pulled me down so we were sitting on the bed. "Mel, I can't decide who you really do love for you. You only know that. Even if you think you don't, you really do." She said.

"I know - but I don't know. I mean, Tony and Mark are different in some ways. But they're both amazing." I said. "I mean, you have the prefect relationship. You should know."

She pulled one knee to her chest. "Firstly, we aren't perfect, by far. We just accept our differences and agree to disagree." She pointed out. "And Percy was most definitely not the first guy I really liked. I dated a lot of guys before he had the guts to actually make a move. But your first boyfriend is not necessarily going to be the love of your life."

I sighed. "Tony is always going to want to cook, and he's going to want to work long hours because it's what he loves doing. But it keeps him one place, and he definitely won't be going anywhere once he's settled."

"Mark on the other hand is going into the medicals a bit, like you doing psychology. But he's always going to work till late in the night or early morning. He's always going to be home late. And no matter who you decide you really do love, it's going to have the same problem that broke part you and Tony - Long hours and moving somewhere new."

I soaked it in for a few moments, staring down at the wood floor. "Melody, you're different. You're always going to want to be by your family. You want people to feel optimistic and happy. You want to have relationships where you spend quality time with the people you love."

I looked at her. She gave a little before getting up and touching my shoulder as she walked past me. "You're going to be late."