Ages:

Jim - 24
Melinda — 20

Jim loved her. He loved Melinda enough to stand outside her apartment, in the freezing rain, with just a jacket over his clothes to keep him warm. It was barely even her place anymore. She hadn't spent a night there in months, but after a fight with him, she had run back there.

Andrea had basically claimed it for her own and she'd even taken her name off the lease. Melinda was just clearing out the last of her things to go move in with Jim but abruptly stopped this afternoon. It was just all so much. What if he got fed up with her?

There were still days when she could see him questioning his trust in her because their relationship was still new, but so far they were strong and still together. She'd carefully built a life around him, despite her worries.

They ingrained each other into their own, daily, and personal lives. She became just as much a part of his daily routine, as he did hers. They carefully built a relationship together. A life.

And one stupid question had ruined it all.

Jim probably wasn't even really thinking when he asked it, was he? It was just an off-hand comment. She looked out the window to see him standing by the buzzer, waiting for her to let him in. His hands were red and chapped from the wind and cold, but he pressed firmly on the button anyway. He probably figured she wouldn't answer.

She pressed carefully down on the blinking red button.

"Melinda," his voice pleaded through the speaker. "Melinda, please hear me out. I'm sorry."

The apartment was dark behind her, the only sign of life was from the glow from the television. She sighed and leaned her head against the wall. "What do you want, Jim?" She asked, tipping back her wine glass to finish it off.

"It was a silly comment, baby. I didn't mean for it to make you upset. I just wish I knew more about you... and I always feel like I'm the only one talking about my past. I know some stuff, and even the one thing you thought would scare me away, but I can tell there is more you are holding back from me." He explained slowly, being careful with his words. "I just want to understand you better, and sometimes when I care too much about someone I say things without thinking, but I mean this… I don't think you're crazy. I just want to talk to you. Please. I love you."

Melinda only shifted on her feet, biting her cheek.

Should she let him in? He had believed the one thing she was so afraid to tell him about, and he seemed to believe her, but how could she tell him everything she went through? Would he call her crazy then?

"Please, Melinda. You know… you know I was just being an idiot. I love you, Melinda. I do. Just let me in," he begged, his voice raw. "It's freezing, and I promise if you don't want me here after I finish saying what I need to then you can kick me to the curb—"

Click.

She let go of the button and pressed the one next to it, reluctantly letting him in. She heard the quick footsteps of the man she loved from downstairs before opening the door and walking away, the cold breeze drifting in.

"Shut it. I pay for this heat... I don't want to waste it." She said and plopped down on the couch, pulling the blanket up to her chin. "You have... five minutes to explain. Go."

Jim inched his way toward the couch, slowly sitting down next to her, and held out his cold hand. He didn't say anything, just sat there, waiting for her to place her hand in his. It may have taken a minute before she allowed herself to let her fingers dance across his palm.

"I just want to know more about you," he said, squeezing her hand in his, a way to try and warm his hand. "I promise that I will try and work less for you. I know how much it sucks when I have to miss one of our dates or anything of that sort." The next moment, he wrapped his arms around her and she tucked her face in the crook of his neck, caving just a little. "Come home with me."

"And what if I'm still mad?" She whispered, pulling back.

Melinda wasn't mad, not really. She'd just used it as an excuse. Jim stared at her in the silence she left, because she wasn't really sure what else she wanted to say.

She opened her mouth to say something but he spoke first, standing as his hand lifted from hers. "I guess I'll be going if you are." He sputtered off. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Jim," she spoke softly, looking at him.

Again, words wouldn't fall out of her mouth. Her love for him caught in her throat. That was when Jim gave her a look as if to say, it's ok, Melinda, I always knew you were too good to be true.

The door closed and she sunk into the couch.

"You can't let him slip away from you like that," came an attitude-filled voice from behind her. "He loves you, Melinda."

She turned around and saw Andrea, in a towel from the shower, her hair tied up in a towel as well. Melinda bit her lip as her friend just stared at her sly smile.

Andrea's advice had never let her down before, but when she remembered Kyle and how he broke her heart. She didn't like the thought of trusting anyone. He'd broken her to the point where she never thought she could never love again.

Though Jim was different, she didn't mind falling more and more in love with him every day. She just worried. She worried about the way Kyle looked at her when he walked away. She'd begged him to talk to her, to look at her, and all he said was, "I can't look at you, and you know how much I love looking at you, Melinda. But maybe I will again, maybe when I'm dead."

Kyle had left her lying on the floor, sobbing over him. Jim would never do that to her. She couldn't imagine seeing that look in his eyes.

"Go after him," Andrea had thrown her jacket, hat, and mittens at her and she pulled them on, shoving her shoes on as she ran out. "And call me after."

"I will," she said before she ran down the two flights of stairs and out the front door, frustrated when she didn't see him around at first.

Until she saw Jim sitting on the stairs. He'd waited, patiently, outside for her.

"I knew you'd come," he whispered, looking back at her as he stood and came over to her. "Or I hoped you would. If you didn't, I was gonna give up for tonight and call you in the morning."

She held his eyes until her eyes fidgeted over his shoulder, to the spirit of a little boy dripping water on the steps below. He was new, or at least she didn't recognize his energy. The small strings of his damp hair dripped water and his sunken-in cheeks lifted with a smile before he disappeared.

She knew he'd be back. They always came back.

"Jim," she whispered.

And from when the kids whispered it to each other in the classrooms when she was little, to when Jim said it now, "Melinda… What were you looking at? A ghost?"

"Yeah," she whispered, stepping down the stairs. "A little boy."

"Oh, that's sad." He sighed, then looked over at him. "Do you see a lot of them in a day?"

She sighed in relief at Jim, who'd been staring at her for the last two minutes. He'd never realized how cute she looked in a knitted hat and gloves, her cheeks pink as she just stared at him in disbelief.

"What if I said yes, I do?" She whispered, a stupid grin spreading across her face. "I see a lot more of them than you'd realize. Things tend to happen to me… and I can't always explain them."

Jim shrugged and smiled back, the snow beginning to fall and stick to his black hair. "Is that what's holding you back from being totally honest with me? I've known for months, Melinda, and I believe you. I think I can handle a little supernatural in my life if it means I get to have you."

"Really?" She whispered, her teeth grazing against her bottom lip. "Because I was so scared you would get sick of it, and that you'd leave me if I talked about it too much."

"What's not to like about you? I'm in love with you, Melinda," he said and pulled her into him then, up off her feet as her arms wrapped around his neck as they kissed. "With every single part of you."

It was a good kiss.

It was flawless, really something and slowly, she felt him kiss back as he slid his arms around down her waist. The snow continued to fall over them, chilling them, but neither seemed to care about the cold as they kissed on the streets of New York that night.

Nothing else really seemed to matter, Jim and Melinda fell into each other at that moment, when they both finally figured everything out. They were meant to be together. This was it. This was all the truth they needed in this world.

He placed her back on her feet, people passing as he leaned her up against the light pole to kiss her again but she ducked. Her eyes squeezed shut as she pulled back and sneezed.

"Sorry," she giggled and then quickly rubbed her nose.

"Looks like we'll have to pick up some medicine on our trek to my place. I don't want you getting sick," he winked and then kissed her cheek. "You ready to move in with me then, ghost whisperer?"

She pulled him in for another hug, whispering her yes in his hair as she kissed his neck. "Take me home, doctor man."