Because We Belong

Meeting Once Again

One Week Later:

It's been a week since  Michael has seen the girl that had stood up to Tyler and his friends on his behalf. Despite everything he'd told Jason, he still found himself thinking about her. No one has ever stood up for him before and he really wanted the chance to thank her.

"Michael, how are you?" His grandfather asked.

"Alright, I guess."

"Want to talk about it?"

Michael shook his head, "Not really, grandpa." He says.

"Well, you know I'm always here if you want to talk." He says.

Michael nods, "I know." He says before making an exit out of the diner.

Ten minutes later Michael found himself on the docks. He'd been roaming aimlessly for a few hours. He didn't want to go home. He knew Donte and Lulu would start asking him questions about the way he's been behaving lately. He was not in the mood to be interrgated.

Melissa rounded the corner of the docks to find Corinthos standing by the edge, looking out into the water. Upon hearing someone approaching, Michael turned around to see HER standing there. She was dressed in a pair of black cotton shorts, a dark purple top beneath her gray coat. She was still as beautiful as she was the first time he saw her.

"Hi." She smiled widely at the moment his eyes met hers.

"Hey." He was nervous. 

"It's so nice to see you again. Though the first time was under an ugly circustance. But it was nice to meet you nevertheless." She says.

Michael forced himself to respond. "Same here."

"Um, if you want to be alone, I can leave." She says.

He shook his head, "It's a free country. You're free to go whereever you please. Please, don't let me stop you."

She smiles softly before turning around and walking over to the bench. "Join me? We could talk if you want." She offers.

Michael hesitated before moving to sit down. "See? I don't bite." She smiles which causes him to chuckle.

"There's that smile." She cooed as she smiles at him."Oh! How rude of me. My name is Melissa Harris but you can call me Mellie or Lisa." She says.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as she waited for his response. "Uh, I'm...my name's..."

"Michael Corinthos." She stated.

He went rigid before getting to his feet. "I shold leave." He went to turn away but she reached out and took his hand. Her hand was so small and soft beneath his. He glanced down at their joined hands.

"Don't. You don't HAVE to leave." She says as she reaches her other hand to his arm and pulls him back down. He was stiff but seemed to relaz the longer her touch was on him. 

"Thank you." He blurts.

"What for, exactly?"

He sighs, "Defending me the other day. I wanted to thank you then but I didn't get the chance to." He says.

Melissa smiled, "It's alright, Michael. "She removed her hands from him, "I'd do it again if I I had to. I couldn't just stand there and let them continue to pick." She says.

"Why did you stick up for me?"

"Why were you about to leavae just now?" SHe asked.

"I asked you first." He says.

"Fine. I did it because I hated that they were giving you a hard time about something that HAD to be done." She says, "Now, your turn."

"I didn't think you'd want to be around me. No one does." He says as he gets to his feets and moves closer to the water water front.

"Why would you think that?"

He looked at her. "Because of who I am. Who my father is. I'm a convicted felon. No one wants to be caught DEAD with me." He confesses.

Smiling, she moved to stand directly in front of him. "I don't care what your name is, Michael. I don't care that your father is Sonny Corinthos, the mobster, or that your uncle is Jason Morgan OR that you'd gone to prison."

Michael frowned a bit, "You don't?

She shook her head, "No, Michael, I don't. You're family does not define who you are...you do. And the whole prison thing...you did what you had to to protect your mother and your little sister. No one should fault you for that and whoever does needs some serious help...mentally." She joked at the end. 

Michael shook his head and scratched the back of his neck, "You believed me?"

She nods, "Why wouldn't I?"

"You don't know who I am." He states.

"That may be true but you don't look like a man who could kill someone without a good enough reason. I don't see you as a killer, Michael, but as a man who'd do whatever it takes to protect his family. Just like Jason Morgan and your father. They are men who just wants to protect what's theres. I can understand that." She says, surprising Mchasel.

She chuckles, "You seem surprised." She points out.

"I am."

"Why?"

"You're not running away from me. You're not scared. You're not keeping your distance like everyone else. You just said you understand my Uncle Jason and my Father and why they do the things that they do." He says.

She nods, "I did. They are not really that hard to understand." 

He just looked at her. She was amazing. She wasn't running away from him, scared of him or judging him or his family but rather very accepting of them and what they do for a living instead of calling them monsters.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You're amaing." He blurts before he is able to stop himself. 

She smiled, "Thank you. So are you, Michael Corinthos." 

He shook his head, "No, I'm not." He says.

Moving closer she glanced up at him, "Why do you say that?"

"I'm a killer. A convicted killer. I killed my step mother." He snapped, angry with himself.

"...in order to save your mother and your little sister. You saved their lives, Michael." 

He scoffed, "The jury didn't see it that way neither does my classmates or the teachers." He laughs bitterly.

"To hell with the jury, our classmates, the teachers and everyone else."

"Mel -"

"Do you regret saving them?"

"What?"

"Do you regret saving your mother and sister?"

"No."

"If you had to do it all over again would you?"

He nods, "Yes."

"Then that's all that matters. Stop letting everyone around you make you feel guilty about something you had to do. It's done. There is no going back." She states, "I mean, after everthing that happened to you while in that place -"

Michael frowned, "What do you mean 'After everthing that happened to you in that place?' What do you know?" He was getting angry. Did she know what happened to him?

"Nothing. I only know what you've told me, Michael, nothing." She says to calm him down.

He looked at her for another three minutes before sighing, "I'm sorry." 

She shook her head, "It's alright. I should learn to stay in my place."

"No, I should learn to control myself."

Glancing at her watch, she sighed, "It was great running into you again, Michael, but I have to go. I hope to see you again." She says.

"So do I." He says as he watched her walk away.