I woke up the next day to the familiar sound of beeping from the heart monitor and random chatter outside the room. “How long has she been in here?” I heard a familiar voice ask quietly.

“Three days.” My doctor’s voice said. “She was found in her room nearly beaten to death. Whoever left her like that is some coward.”

“Thank you for letting me know she’s here.” No… it couldn’t be. I opened my eyes and looked around. It was. “Oh thank God, Mels.” Mitchell approached the bed side and took my hand in his. I instantly jerked it away from his grip.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, scooting to the opposite side of the bed.

“I came to see if you were okay. I was worried about you.” I shook my head and looked around the room again.

“Where’s Liam?”

“He stepped out for a bit. I came in right as he left. Quin’s back at school I’m assuming and your mother is at work.” I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and searched for Liam’s number. “I don’t think you’ll be needing that.” Mitchell said as he took the phone from my hands. I watched as he tossed it to the other side of the room, hopefully not breaking it. “Mels… I’m sorry I did that to you.” Bullshit. “I was angry, and I should have known you didn’t really cheat on me… I…”

“Mels?” I looked up and felt a great relief wash over me as Liam walked into the room. “Who’s this?”

“Liam… this is Mitchell.” Liam’s face hardened and his hands balled into fists the second I said Mitchell’s name.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Liam asked Mitchell as he walked to the other side of the bed to sit down next to me.

“I heard about what happened to her… I was worried and thought ‘hey, I think I’ll go see my girlfriend in the hospital’. I can’t believe anyone would do such a thing to her.” I instinctively moved towards Liam for protection and Mitchell raised his hand to caress my cheek.

“You need to leave for your own good.” Liam placed a hand on the small of my back, letting me know he wasn’t leaving me alone with Mitchell.

“I’m not leaving here until my girlfriend is better. It’s what good guys do.”

“She told me what you did to her. You’re the reason she’s in here in the first place… now leave before I call security on your ass.”

“You’re going to believe what this slut says?” I felt Liam tense up. “She’s a pathological liar, man. She’s lucky I’ve stuck with her for so long.”

“We need to talk.” Liam said through a clenched jaw as he stood up from his chair.

“I’m not leaving her side—“

“Come outside with me. Now.” Mitchell rolled his eyes and stood up, smiling at me lovingly. “I’ll be right back, love.” Liam promised and kissed the top of my head as he lead Mitchell out of the room, down the hall, around the corner, and out of the hospital.

A few minutes later, Quin walked in with two coffees from Starbucks, handing me one and taking a seat. I looked over at her as she stared at me intently. She took a sip from her cup, took a deep breath and said: “You do realize Mitchell and Liam are outside the hospital right now, right?” I nodded and took a drink. Ah, white chocolate mocha. She knew me so well. “And that Liam’s yelling?” I nodded again. “This won’t end well.”

“For Mitchell, I hope.” I sighed and turned on the small tele in the room.

Thirty minutes later, Liam walked back in the room with a swollen lip, a black eye, and scratched up knuckles. “Oh my god, are you okay?” My eyes grew wide as I asked the question.

“I’m fine.” He shrugged and sat down next to the bed. “What’s on?”

“What happened out there?” I asked, turning off the tele.

“Nothing to worry about, love.” He smiled at me and took the remote, turning the TV back on.

“Liam—“

“Nothing that Quin wouldn’t want a picture of…” Quin hopped up from her chair and ran out the door.

“Liam what did you do? And I swear, if you tell me ‘nothing’ one more time I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do, but you’ll regret it.”

“I couldn’t let him get away with one, putting you in here in the first place and two, calling you a lying slut, so I took him outside and we talked… then he hit me and I hit him back.”

“Liam—“

“Don’t ‘Liam’ me, Mels. I couldn’t let him do that to a girl I’m friends with, let alone a girl I love." Wait… what?

“A girl you what?”

“Nothing.” Liam shrugged and leaned over me to push the button to call for my nurse.

“No, you said something!”

“No I didn’t… now your nurse is going to come in and give you your medicines, and you’re going to forget I ever said anything.”

“Liam!”

“Did you call for me, sweetie?” The nurse walked in with my medicines all in three different needles.

“No. No I didn’t I’m—“

“I think she’s in a bit of pain and she needs to rest. Do you think she could have her pain medication a bit early?”

“Of course.” She smiled sweetly and walked over to me, pulling out one of the needles and grabbing my arm. “This might sting a bit.” I knew struggling would only make it worse, so I sat still while she stuck the needle in my arm. ‘I hate you’ I mouthed to Liam as she walked out. I could feel the meds kicking in and before I knew it, I was out cold.

Liam’s POV

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I paced the room as I watched Melody sleep, praying she wouldn’t wake up any time soon. How the hell could I just let it slip that I loved her. Dammit. I needed to choose my words more carefully next time.

“Okay, would you sit down? You’re giving me a headache.” Quin said as she watched me pace. “By the way, great face job you gave Mitchell out there. I loved it.”

“Not now, Quin.” I said and sat down, bouncing my leg.

“Look, I get that you let it slip, but she was out right after that… so maybe she forgot, okay? Don’t stress about it.”

I snorted taking a seat, "Melody doesn't forget anything."

Quin shrugged carelessly, "That's true, but at least you put it out there." Her eyes widened as she leaned forward clutching the arms of her chair excitedly. "Oh my Thor you told her you love her! How did it feel? Are you happy? I bet a weight was lifted off of your shoulders. NOW YOU CAN GET MARRIED AND HAVE PRETTY BABIES!"

My eyes widened as I shushed her quickly. "Calm down Quin. It was a slip of the tongue. She didn't say it back. She doesn't feel the same." I said the last line more to myself than to anyone else.

"You're wrong. She's in love with you. She just doesn't know it yet." Quin shrugged standing to her fight. "I have a night class. I'll be back later and then you can go home and get some proper rest." I nodded as she left. My eyes drifted to the bed where Melody was sound asleep due to the medicines the nurse had feed into her. A deep sigh escaped my lips as I thought back to the night we met. She completely rejected me, but I kept trying (badly). It wasn't completely my idea. Niall had convinced to come out. I spotted Melody as soon as she entered the club, but she was much too busy looking around for someone. That's what I thought then, now I wonder if she was checking to make sure he wasn't there.

I didn't know (when I finally got up the nerve to approach her) that we would hit it off so well. It wasn't obvious then that we would become close friends or that one of us would develop feelings for the other. Now here we were. She was battered in the hospital and I was waiting by her side. I wasn't entirely sure why I was here. Maybe it was my subconscious hoping that she would realize that my feelings weren't one-sided. Or maybe I was just trying to be a good guy.

My thoughts were interrupted by Melody shifting in her sleep. Alert; I looked up as she tossed. She made noises of distress as if she was having a nightmare. Quickly I made my way to her gently shaking her awake.

"Mel." I called to her. "Mel, wake up love."

"Liam?" She asked opening her eyes and sitting up.

I gave a small smile. "Yeah. Are you alright? Were you having a nightmare?"

Melody sighed running a hand through her tangled hair. "What if he comes back?" She asked in the smallest voice I'd ever heard her use. Looking at the beautiful girl in front of me it was clear that she was more beautiful than ever. I motioned for her to move over so that I could join her on the bed. I pulled her into my arms.

"He won't come back. Not after the talk we had. He's going to stay far away from you. The police have his name now and are going to make sure of it."

Melody shook her head. "You don't know him like I do Liam. He has ways. He knows people. He won't quit." Her voice was filled with fear.

"He can't hurt you again Melody. I promise you."

"How do you know?" She asked looking up at me.

I gripped her chin looking directly into her eyes. "Because I will give up my life before I let him take yours." I spoke in a sure voice. Melody's eyes widened as her mouth fished for words. Maybe I was going about this the wrong way, but I meant every word. I loved her and she needed to know that I would do anything for her. I waited silently for her to react and when she did it caught me by surprise. Melody moved her face closer to mine until we were mere centimeters a part.

"I'm really glad you're here. Never leave." She breathed before touching her lips to mine. I sighed into the kiss gripping her tighter in my arms. Her arms snaked around my neck pulling me closer. Our lips touched for what feel forever before we pulled apart for a breath. The wide smile on her face must have been reflected on mine. "Promise?" Melody asked quirking her eyebrow the way she does.

"Promise." I responded pecking her lips.