Melody POV
The wind outside his penthouse whistled softly, a hush compared to the storm swirling inside me.
I didn't know why I came here.
I told myself it was to talk. To ask him questions I'd locked away for days. But as I stood in front of Marvis's door, holding my breath, I knew the truth.
I missed him.
Not just his presence, but the way he made me feel…like I wasn't just another broken piece trying to fit in. Like maybe I was more than a girl who lived in her car and carried a haunted past.
I knocked twice. Lightly. Almost too soft to be heard.
But he answered. He always did.
His eyes were unreadable at first, but the longer he looked at me, the more the ice in them began to thaw.
"You came," he said, his voice low.
"I… shouldn't have," I murmured. "But I did."
He stepped aside, and I walked in. The room was dimly lit, warm with shadows. I could hear my own heartbeat echoing in my ears.
He watched me carefully, like he was trying to figure out what I wanted.
"I couldn't sleep," I said, letting my eyes drift across the room, avoiding his.
Marvis nodded once, then closed the door behind us.
The silence stretched thin. I couldn't take it anymore.
"I saw you that day," I whispered. "With those women. You didn't even care."
His jaw tensed. "I was angry. At myself. At you. At everything.
"That doesn't mean it meant anything."
"It meant something to me."
"I know."
I swallowed the ache rising in my throat. "I thought I didn't need you. I tried to forget everything, even what happened that night at the party. But it just made it worse."
His gaze darkened. "You think I forgot? You think I stopped wanting to know how you were sleeping, what you were eating, if you were still parked outside that run-down bakery in your car?"
I blinked. "You knew?"
"I always know where you are, Melody."
My heart twisted painfully. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because every time I come close, you run."
"I'm tired of running," I whispered.
And suddenly, the distance between us vanished.
He took one step forward, then another, until I could feel the heat radiating from him. His hand hovered near mine but didn't touch.
Not yet.
"You smell like vanilla," he said quietly, like it was a secret just for him.
I breathed in shakily. "You still remember?"
"Everything."
The silence between us wasn't awkward. It was charged. Like the world had stopped spinning just for this moment.
And then something shifted.
I stepped closer. I didn't know who leaned in first…me or him…but all I knew was that our faces were dangerously close, breaths mingling, hearts racing.
And then it happened.
He pulled me to him…not harshly, but like he couldn't stop himself any longer. It wasn't fast. It wasn't rushed. It was slow and deep and made something in me unravel. My hands found their way to his chest, fingers trembling as they pressed against the beat of his heart.
I felt everything all at once.
The warmth. The chaos. The longing I'd buried for too long.
But just when it grew too intense, I pulled away.
I had to.
I needed air. Space. Something to keep me grounded.
But he didn't let go.
Marvis's hand moved to the back of my neck, drawing me in again…not forcefully, but with a quiet desperation. As if letting go meant losing everything.
I let him.
And in that moment, I didn't think about pain or loss or the years I spent searching for truth. I just thought about now. Him. Us.
When we finally slowed down, his forehead rested gently against mine.
"I wasn't supposed to feel this way," he whispered.
"Neither was I," I said breathlessly.
He touched my cheek. "Do you regret it?"
"No," I said, voice shaking. "Do you?"
His thumb brushed my skin. "Not even for a second."
I leaned against him, letting my head rest on his shoulder. For the first time in days, maybe weeks, I felt like I could breathe again.
"I don't know what happens next," I murmured.
"Neither do I. But you won't face it alone."
His words settled deep in my chest, curling like warmth in a cold room.
The night stretched on around us, heavy with emotion, wrapped in silence. But I didn't care.
Because right here…in his arms…I wasn't Melody the fighter. Or Melody the survivor.
I was just a girl, finally letting herself feel.