Saturday

I pulled up to Liam’s apartment and took a deep breath. I wasn’t really a religious person, but when it came to Mitchell, you better believe I said my prayers, and that’s exactly what I did before getting out of Quin’s car: prayed Mitchell wouldn’t find out where I was and that I was alone with another guy. I was just glad I had a best friend who would let me borrow her car so he wouldn’t follow me here.

I did a once over to make sure I looked okay. I quickly pulled my hair over to one side and lazily braided it, letting a few curls fly free to make up for my lack of bangs. I looked down at my white and orange striped sweater, skinny jeans, and high top black converse. Maybe I should have chosen something else to wear… it was too late now. I saw a curtain move, and I was guessing it was Liam trying to see who was here. I sighed before shutting the mirror on the visor and unbuckling.

I stepped out of the small white Mercedes and walked up to the door. I hesitantly reached my hand up before knocking three times and waiting. No more than ten seconds later, Liam was at the door with his infectious smile plastered across his face. I couldn’t help but smile back. “Why hello, pretty lady.” He stepped to the side, allowing me to walk into the apartment. “How was the drive over?”

“Easy.” I smiled as he leaned in to hug me. I quickly hugged him back before he gave me the grand tour of the living and kitchen area.

“Oh, and the bathroom is just upstairs and to the left.” I nodded, trying to mentally make a map in my head. There were so many doors and windows, I could barely make out up from down. “So, what movie do you want to watch?”

“Whatever you had in mind.” I smiled at him. Liam nodded and motioned towards the couch for me to take a seat. It was strange to be treated like this. He asked my opinion, let me sit down, and he called me pretty before asking me about my drive… genuinely caring. This is what I read about in books… this is how it started with Mitchell. I took a seat on the far left end of the couch, crossing my ankles and my feet slightly hung above the ground. Mitch was right… I am much too short.

“Is Footloose okay?”

“I’ve never seen it.” I shrugged as Liam’s jaw dropped.

“You’ve never seen Footloose?” I shook my head as he put the DVD in, and hit ‘play’. “Oh you’ll love it.” Liam smiled widely and shut off the lights before running over to the couch and hopping down next to me, casually placing his arm behind me.

~*~

“That was amazing!” I said as the credits rolled. By the end of the movie, my legs were casually draped across Liam’s lap, and his hands were playing with the fabric of my skinny jeans as if it were a completely normal, everyday thing. It was incredible how comfortable I was around Liam after knowing him for such a short amount of time.

“I knew you would love it.” He laughed, lifting my legs so he could put the DVD back in its proper case. “I’m gonna go upstairs and run to the bathroom. You can help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” He smiled as he ran up the stairs. Curiosity took over and I wandered around his ginormous apartment in search of the kitchen. By some miracle I made it, and opened his fridge.

“Dear God…” I mumbled as I looked at all the food packed in it. How many people does this guy feed? There was everything from pizza, to salads, to fruit, to mini cheesecakes.

“See anything you like?” Liam asked as he entered the kitchen, wearing a whole new outfit. I raised an eyebrow at his jeans and tight fitting navy blue t-shirt.

“Did you change your clothes?”

“What? No.”

“I could have sworn you were wearing basketball shorts…” I said, walking up to him and tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. “And a looser shirt.” I joked, walking back to the fridge and grabbing two slices of pepperoni pizza.

“You’re just losing your mind.” Liam shrugged and took my plate and setting it in the microwave for me. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Are you sure about that? Because it seems to me like you’re trying to impress me.” The microwave went off and I grabbed my plate before sitting down at the table.

“No… you’re just going crazy.” He sat across from me, with two slices of pizza of his own and a Coke.

“Whatever you say.” I laughed and began to eat. Without thinking, I pushed the sleeves of my sweater up and opened my water.

“Whoa, what are those?” Liam asked as he moved to the chair next to me and delicately took my arm in his hands.

“Nothing.” I lied, jerking my arm away and pulling my sleeves back down.

“They definitely didn’t look like nothing.” I looked up at his worried expression. “Melody it looks like someone got a pretty tight hold of you.”

“Really, Liam, it’s nothing.” I said, finishing my pizza.

Liam’s POV

The bruises on Melody’s arms stayed on my mind as we watched another movie that night. Who would have gotten close enough to grab her like that? Who would be that rough with a lady? Was she snuck up on? No, it would have been someone close to her… someone she trusted.

Quin? No, Quin wouldn’t. She was too nice of a person and she was worried about the way Melody was acting and there was no one else who could get that close to her.

Unless it was her boyfriend.

Was her boyfriend abusing her? Was that where these bruises were from? And the one on her cheek that day at lunch? I looked over at Melody who was now sitting in a recliner by herself as she watched the movie I had picked out. I started noticing little details about her; like how her face was peppered with tiny freckles and how her nose was adorably small. How could anyone even harm such a kind hearted person?

Melody reached up and rubbed her eye, removing some of the makeup from her upper cheek. Was that a scratch? Something was definitely going on. “I think I should probably get going.” Melody’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “I’ve got a test I need to study for.”

“Yeah, no problem.” I yawned and stood up. “Just… real quick, Mels…”

“Yeah?” She turned to me, smiling brightly.

“Those bruises… are they from, uh… Mitchell?” Melody’s face fell and she grabbed her purse from the chair before turning away and heading for the front door. “Mels, wait!” I walked after her, grabbing her arm gently and pulling her back to me.

“Liam, stop. I don’t need a speech from you right now. No. They’re not from Mitchell.” Melody spat and readjusted her purse on her shoulder.

“Then what are they from?” I asked, sincerely worried about her.

“It’s nothing, Liam. Just forget you saw them, okay?”

“If they’re not from your boyfriend then why won’t you tell me where they’re from?” Melody crossed her tiny arms in annoyance. “Come on Mels… we’re friends, remember? You can tell me.”

“No… no I can’t. I’ll text you later.” She turned on her heel and walked out the front door, slamming it behind her. I watched from a window to make sure she made it to the car okay. As she climbed in, she shut the door behind her and rested her forehead on the steering wheel. I sighed and shut the curtain.

“Smooth, Payne.” I said to myself. “Real smooth.” I walked back into the living room and grabbed my phone, calling Quin.

“Hello?” She answered, music coming to an abrupt stop in the background.

“Quin, hey, I have a question about Melody.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Yeah, what about her?”

“Is uhm… this may not be my place to ask, but uh… is her boyfriend, uhm… you know…” I didn’t want to say it out loud in case I was wrong and Quin blew up on me for making assumptions.

“Is he what?” She asked, a spark of hope in her voice.

“Is he you know, uh… hitting… hitting her?” The silence on Quin’s end told me I was right. “He is, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know for certain, but I think he is.”

“God, of all the things to be right about, I was hoping this was the one that was wrong.” I sighed, sitting down on the couch.

“I know… but don’t say anything to her about it, okay? We don’t know for sure and we don’t want to piss her off.”

“Too late.” I muttered and rested my head on the back of my couch. “God, she thinks I’m a dick.”

“Don’t worry, Li… she’ll be okay.” I let out a deep sigh. “I gotta go, she’s here. Bye!” I tossed the phone to the side after hanging up with Quin and shut my eyes. I needed a minute to take this in… and a nap.