"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." ~ Søren Kierkegaard
The Daughter
The memory of New Year still makes me smile, and it was three months ago now. Neither Spencer nor I mentioned the 'I love you' thing, and it wasn't said again after that either.
We'd already declared our love for each other whilst we were in the flooding room, and obviously beneath a blanket of fireworks at new year... but there was something totally different about declaring our love on just an average Tuesday.
Unfortunately, after new year, we didn't really get a lot of time together due to work which was pretty chaotic and non-stop with cases.
Out of work I was kept busy with Jack, especially while Aaron went to visit Beth in New York every second weekend. This wasn't a light decision for him, but after I'd persuaded him that I'd be able to handle Jack for a whole weekend on my own; it became a pretty frequent thing.
Which was great for Jack and I. We had lie-ins and movie-marathons and I got to teach him all about Doctor Who so he'd quit teasing Spencer and I.
Talking of Spencer and I; we'd kind of grown apart since New Year. Which was sad because I really thought we were going places. New Year had showed me the intimate side to Spencer Reid and I loved what I saw. I was finally believing we could be serious together and properly committed. But now... Now I wasn't so sure.
I watched him sleeping from across the jet, chewing on my bottom lip in wonder. He was avoiding me. Wasn't he? If we were paired during cases - which was rare nowadays with Aaron wanting us to be concentrated entirely on the case at hand - he'd only talk stats and only talk about the case.
If I stayed the night - which had only happened a handful of times since New Year - he'd keep the TV on until I fell asleep on the sofa - where I'd wake in the morning.
I wasn't sure what he was frightened of; but there was definite fear there. Was it the intimacy? Was it rejection? Was it committment? I didn't know what Spencer's fear was and I was afraid that I'd never find out.
"Hey Mel," Morgan's voice interrupted my reverie and I looked up to see him sitting down on the lone chair opposite me. "What's up?" He asked and I sighed, giving him a small smile and shaking my head.
"Nothing I'm fine." I lied.
"C'mon," He said in a serious tone, looking at me with an arched eyebrow. "It's me here. What's wrong?" I sighed and looked down at my jacket covering me.
"I think Spencer's going to break up with me." I mumbled in a quiet voice. He was asleep but that didn't count for anything; that boy was a genius and his talents still surprised me.
"What?!" Morgan blurted. "What makes you say that?" He scoffed. I sighed emphatically and turned my eyes to the window beside me.
"Oh I dunno..." I muttered. "He's just been avoiding me lately... We haven't hung out in a while, he hasn't seen Jack in so long and he's starting to ask questions, not to mention what Beth's asking... He barely talks to me at work and is completely avoiding me at all times." I explained a little defensively. Morgan sighed and turned to look over his shoulder at sleeping Spencer.
"Has something happened between you to make him like this?" He asked, turning back to me. "You don't have to tell me what, I'm not prying." I shook my head with a small smile and sparkling eyes; Morgan was trying to help and I appreciated that.
"Nothing's happened at all. Nothing whatsoever Morgan," I explained sadly. "The last thing that happened between us wasn't anything bad and it was way back at New Year." Morgan thought for a moment and frowned.
"Something happened in New York?" He asked in a surprised tone.
"Yeah," I nodded my head and looked down at my hands as I brought them over my jacket. "He told me he loved me." I whispered in a soft voice, kind of hoping he wouldn't hear me.
"He did?" Morgan asked in a happy tone. I looked up to find him smiling brightly down at me. That expression made me smile at the memory of it too. I s'pose Spencer just assumed I was either too drunk afterward to remember what happened at midnight, or that I hadn't entirely heard him. But I could remember everything from that night. It was Spencer who was drunk; not exactly me.
"Did you say it back?" Morgan asked and I bit my lip, shaking my head.
"It takes a lot, you know?" I whispered, realising that I hadn't declared my love at new year.
Had I even said it all?
"I'm still getting used to being surrounded by people, you know?" I continued in a quiet voice and Morgan nodded, smiling sympathetically.
"Like before, sure I worked in a team and I worked with people but I've never ever been close to anybody like I am with you guys. You're my friends and that's strange for me because growing up I never really had that.
"With Aaron and Beth and Jack I have a family and that's the strangest thing for me because I've never ever had that before either. So when Spencer said that to me at New Year... I thought he was..." I sighed.
"I kind of thought he was just saying that because he was drunk... You know he's not used to drinking and he'd had a lot of champagne and it was the joy of new year and..." I trailed off, shaking my head and picking my clear nail-polish.
"The only other time we'd said anything like that was when we were both trapped in a flooding vault convinced we were both going to die..." I signed and shook my head.
"I guess I just find it hard to believe that anybody could love me because nobody has before." I said in a quiet voice, shocked I'd divulged so much.
I was silent for a moment or two before I glanced up at Morgan to see him smiling softly at me.
"Mel," He began in a gentle voice. "Believe me when I say you have seven people here who love you," I looked at him with round and disbelieving eyes.
"Not to mention Jack and Beth and little Henry too," He admitted. "We all love you so don't think for a second that nobody does," He said sternly.
"We all love you as a friend, as a coworker, and as a damn good person. Hotch loves you as a daughter, and a damn strong one too. Reid..." He sighed.
"I think it was maybe... October..." He nodded. "You joined in September right?" He asked and I nodded my head. "Yeah well it was October when JJ and I realised that Reid loved you," I frowned; Spencer and I started dating in November.
"And I know, you weren't even together at that time. And we still called you Joy. But that kid loved you back then, Mel," He said matter-of-factly.
"If anybody can tell when someone loves someone else; it's the people around them. They don't even know it themselves until it's either too late or put right in front of them.
"Reid has loved you for a while now, and he's just scared of having that thrown back in his face, which, believe me, I know isn't going to happen.
"But you've got to understand that Reid hasn't had it easy. There's only been a couple women in his life before you and neither of them have worked out well. He hasn't had loving people easy and he's scared of what's going to happen when he finally admits that he loves you. Maybe to himself, or to you. I just don't know.
"Reid's a hard kid to work out, but when you get there, he's worth it. Even I haven't worked the kid out entirely yet and I've known him for almost twelve years.
"But you know him better than any of us, Mel, believe me when I say that. You've seen sides to Reid nobody else has, and that's a beautiful thing.
"He's just frightened of you not loving him back. Don't think he doesn't want to be with you because of that, just understand he doesn't know how to act because of that."
I nodded my head; that made so much sense and I was surprised I hadn't figured that out myself before now. I guess that's why they said never to mix business with pleasure.
"I dunno what to say Morgan," I admitted in a thick voice. "Thank you." I whispered and he smiled, shaking his head.
"You have nothing to thank me for. That's why I'm here. Did you really think I'd walk by and see your pretty little face looking all sad at pretty-boy?" He scoffed and sniggered and I laughed.
"There it is!" He chimed. "Man, Hotch doesn't pay me enough," He joked. We stopped laughing and Morgan smiled, leaning towards me.
"Listen, why don't you come help me with something when we're home... If you're not too busy?" I frowned intrigued and shook my head.
"No I have nothing planned. Well, apart from looking after Jack I suppose." I shrugged.
"Well Hotch can arrange a babysitter because you my girl are helping me paint a house." I frowned and laughed.
"What?" I asked in a surprised tone.
"Oh yeah, didn't I mention that I have a house that needs to be sold by the end of next week?"
My eyes went wide.
"Uh no, you did not."
"Well, I do. And it's nowhere near finished. Actually, I'm kinda running out of ideas..." He admitted a little reluctantly. "So maybe... I dunno, if you'd like you could help me?" I'd never decorated before. Never really had the need to.
"Wow," I smiled. "Yeah I'd love to."
"Really?" He asked and I nodded. "Excellent. Well that's sorted then. As soon as we're home you're helping me with the house. So, if I were you I'd rest up. There's work to be done." I started laughing and felt myself actually smile honestly for the first time in what felt like too long.
*
When we got back to the BAU Morgan gave me the address of his new house and I drove home to collect painting clothes and break the news to Aaron that I wouldn't be looking after Jack this weekend.
"That's totally fine Mel," Aaron smiled at me warmly. "I've been waiting for this day for a while," He laughed honestly.
"So where's he taking you then?" He asked and I frowned, watching as he loosened his tie and poured himself a cup of coffee. He gestured to the pot but I shook my head as I said,
"Oh no, I'm not going out with Spencer," I explained and he frowned in confusion. "I'm helping Morgan with his refurb," I explained. "The house he bought recently still needs to be decorated by next week. He needs help and I offered." I shrugged.
"So is Spencer going with you?" He asked and I shook my head, folding my arms.
"Nope just me." Aaron narrowed his eyes at me with pursed lips.
"Is everything alright between you two?" He asked and I looked at him blankly, panic whirling through me.
Uh-oh, there it is... The one thing you've been hoping to avoid... another awkward conversation with the father.
"Y-yeah everything's f-fine," I sniggered self-consciously. "Why wouldn't it be?" Aaron arched an eyebrow at me and set his coffee down on the breakfast bar, leaning against it and turning to me with a knowing expression.
"The great thing about you and Spencer, is how similar you both are. You're literally perfect for each other because of the similarities between you and the things you have in common...
"For instance you both have the exact same tell... What's happened between you?" I sighed emphatically; really not wanting to have this conversation right now. Not after admitting everything to Morgan earlier on this morning.
"We're just going through a tough patch right now." I admitted a little airily.
"A tough patch? You and Spencer don't strike me as being the type of couple who go through tough patches." Aaron stated, pushing off the breakfast bar and folding his arms.
"It's just... Difficult for us," I admitted sheepishly. "What with work, and how you're reluctant to pair us and how we rarely get to spend time together... I guess... I guess we're not working out." I shrugged.
"You're finishing?" He asked in a surprised tone; his eyes wide.
I shrugged my shoulders, chewing on my bottom lip.
"I-I-I dunno," I shrugged, feeling a lump form in my throat at the thought. "Maybe... We're just not that good together I suppose."
"Mel..."
"No, it's okay," Aaron could see the tears in my eyes and hear the thickness in my voice. "Really it's fine." I shook my head, trying to rid of my emotion.
There was a time when I was as cold as stone. Where did all of my emotion come from?
"No it's not," Aaron stated as I turned to leave the room. "It's not okay at all and I'm sorry if I've gotten in the way of you and Spencer's relationship," I turned to him with wide eyes; wanting anything but to point the finger of blame on him.
"I understand that I haven't been entirely kind on your relationship Melanie and I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have kept you and Spencer apart at work and I shouldn't have abused your kindness with Jack. I should've realised that you'd want to spend your weekends out of work with Spencer. I'm sorry."
"No," I blurted, shaking my head. "This isn't your fault, Aaron, please don't think that for a second," I smiled broadly at him. "You've known Spencer for a long time now, you know what he can be like."
I sighed desperately. I didn't blame Aaron for any of this. I'd finally found my family after so long, of course I'd want to spend as much time with them as possible. I'd that meant sacrificing date night, then I'd sacrifice date night. I came here for my family, not a love life.
"I mean sure he can be a little hard to get close to, but I haven't helped with that." Aaron continued.
"And neither has Spencer himself," I pointed out. "Sure obstacles have been put in our way but Spencer hasn't done anything to get around them. I have," I shrugged.
"But that's okay," I sighed. "There's going to be things I'm more committed to than other people are," I smiled broadly at him.
"Things'll work out however way they please. Everything happens for a reason, right?" Aaron smiled at me and nodded his head, lifting his coffee from the bar again.
"That they most certainly do mini-Garcia." I chuckled and walked to him, hugging him tightly.
"Thanks for listening." I mumbled against his work shirt.
"That's what I'm here for Mel."
*
"Morgan?" I asked in a questioning tone as we finished painting the first coat.
"Yeah?" He turned to me with questioning eyes, clearly suspicious and apprehensive of what I was about to ask.
"You know before... On the jet... When you said that there'd only been a couple other women in Spencer's life before me...?" Morgan chuckled and nodded his head.
"Typical," He chuckled. "You wanna know about them, don't you?" He asked and I smirked, blushing.
"Am I that obvious?" I asked self-consciously.
"You're his girlfriend, you're bound to wanna know about Reid's past lovers."
"Lovers?" I blurted and Morgan chuckled,
"Okay, so, maybe not lovers... But they were just that I suppose, women in his life. They weren't lovers, and they weren't exactly girlfriends..." He put his roller down and turned to me awkwardly.
"Okay... So... Maeve was his girlfriend I suppose... But Lila... It was only a kiss." He shrugged.
"I know about Maeve," I nodded my head and sighed sadly. "And I really wish that hadn't happened."
"That Maeve hadn't happened?" Morgan asked in surprise.
"No, no, no!" I blurted. "No, I'm so happy that they found each other, I just wish that she hadn't died, that's all..." I said in a thoughtful tone.
"Wow," Morgan whistled under his breath. "You've gotta be the first person I know to be sad that their boyfriend's ex is exactly that."
"It was different with Maeve though Morgan, you know that. You know what happened to her. Hell you were there!" He nodded his head sadly and I shook mine.
"I couldn't even imagine what that must've been like... For Spencer and for you guys. Seeing him so upset, seeing that happen right in front of you all and know there wasn't a thing any of you could've done to stop it."
"There was," He insisted. "We could've shot Turner before she had the chance to shoot herself and Maeve in the process." I nodded my head slowly with a shrug.
"Anyway," I said, clearing my throat. "Who's Lila?" Morgan chuckled and went back to painting.
"Have you heard of the actress Lila Archer?" He asked and I thought about it as I continued painting too.
"The name rings a bell." I admitted after a few thoughtful moments.
"Well she's been in a few TV shows, some low-budget movies, that kinda thing. And well, about nine or so years ago we were called to LAPD after a low-budget Hollywood actress was shot alongside her boyfriend.
"We discovered that the murders were substitutes for the shooter's real target; Lila Archer. Reid was assigned to her house to look after her, and Lila being Lila managed to woo him in the process.
"They had a pretty heated moment in her pool and he saved her life from her supposed 'best friend' who was the shooter.
"On his part, it was pretty incredible work, and to be fair they were a pretty cute couple. But she was totally full of herself and Reid deserved better than that.
"They called each other a couple of times and I think went for coffee a year or so later but that was it. She had a demanding life behind the camera and Reid's career was really taking off in the BAU. The timing wasn't right, and, they weren't right."
"So he was protecting her?" I asked and Morgan nodded his head. "Well, I suppose in a way it could've been tran-"
"Transference," Morgan said at the same time.
"Yeah Reid said the exact same thing. I don't doubt for a second that she was genuinely attracted to the kid, but he deserved better, like I told him after they met up for coffee and all she talked about was herself.
"He stopped answering and returning her calls after that, and when she was totally out of the picture he became happier and moved on. He met Maeve and... Well..." Morgan sighed emphatically. "Now he has you."
I gave a small smile and gave a short nod of my head.
"Oh yeah, that's right," I mumbled. "He has me. Even I forgot."
"Hey," He said, setting his roller down on the tray and stepping back from the completed wall. "Kiddo, he'll come round," He said matter-of-factly. "He just needs to be pushed in the right direction," I smiled a little wider and nodded my head again while Morgan took a look at the finished wall.
"Excellent," He grinned. "I think we can move onto the next coat now, what d'you say?" I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and took a deep breath, painting really wasn't as fun as I thought it was going to be.
He chuckled upon seeing my expression.
"I'm totally psyched for this." I said this with as much enthusiasm as I could muster as Morgan turned to fill the tray with paint.
"Oh damn," He cursed tipping the paint-tin upside down and tapping the bottom. "Looks like we're empty already."
"There's at least twenty tons in the hall." I laughed, rolling my sleeves up to head out of the room for more.
"Uh-" Before I could leave the room Morgan held a hand up to drop me. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, kid," He said apprehensively, eyeing the door next to him. "I was er..." he slowly lowered his hand and avoided meeting my eyes. "I was thinking of..." he looked down at the paint tray, chewing on his lip. "I was thinking of a feature wall," he said suddenly.
"Maybe a blue colour?" He questioned apprehensively, pointing to the back wall behind me.
"Blue?" I questioned, folding my arms. "And what about the gazillion tins of white out there?" I asked, nodding towards the wall.
"Well I mean... they'll get used," he shrugged. "I'll just grab some blue paint from the store." He grinned.
"Just now?" I blurted, dropping my hands by my sides.
"Yeah, spur of the moment decision. Why not? Let's be spontaneous!" He grinned, hurrying from the room.
"Morgan, I-" A moment later he returned with a tin of white from the hall.
"If you wouldn't mind continuing the base coats, I'll be fifteen minutes tops."
"Oh yeah!" I laughed, watching as he cracked open a second tin and began pouring it into my paint tray. "Just you swan off sipping and leave me to do the hard graft."
"English Hotchner I have no clue what you just said but I ain't slackin' if that's what you mean." We both laughed and I shook my head.
"Whatever, just make sure you bring snacks back too."
The Doctor
"Hey pretty-boy," I wasn't in the mood for Morgan. "I need a favour."
"A favour?" I questioned. "What kind of favour?" My eyes narrowed in suspicion and my hand clutched the phone a little tighter. I just wanted a quiet evening with a book and no outside disruption.
"Well I'm doing some redecorating and I've gotten myself into a bit of a situation." Came Morgan's apprehensive response.
"A situation? Are you okay?" I was only slightly concerned. If he'd injured himself, he probably wouldn't be acting so calmly.
"The deadline for decorating is tomorrow and the guy's fitting the floor at noon. I've still got a lot of painting to do and was wondering if you'd mind lending a hand?"
"Painting?" I questioned in complete shock. "You want me to help you paint your new house?"
"Well I hardly need you to build it do I?" Morgan snapped impatiently.
There was a short pause before,
"I'm sorry kid, this is just really getting on top of me. Savannah ain't pleased I'm spending one of our only days off painting this damn house and I promised I'd be done by tomorrow for us to spend some time together..."
"Text me the address and I'll leave in five."
*
"Hello?" I called out, pushing on the already-open front door. The sound of music playing on a cell phone sounded from the back room and my nose crinkled as I realised which boy band was playing.
"Hey i'm in here!" I frowned as I realised that voice belonged to Melanie. "You were right, there is something kind of soulfully restorative to painting and blasting music," She laughed and I frowned deeper. Soulful restoration?
She trailed off as she stuck her head out of the room she was in, laying her eyes on me and cutting herself off.
She'd been smiling and she looked probably the best i'd ever seen her besides from at New Year. Her hair was bundled messily on the top of her head with a small patterned scarf pulled around and tied at the top to keep the hair from falling in front of her face.
She was wearing grey leggings which stopped half-way down her calves and a short-sleeved white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled to her shoulder-blades.
The ankle socks she was wearing were covered in dirt, as was her t-shirt and dirt was smudged on her face while white paint splashes dotted her hair, chest and arms.
Her tattoos stood out on her pale skin in contrast to the lightness of her t-shirt and the paint splashes. Her right hand was covered in white paint too and this hand held her paint roller.
"Spencer?" She said in a small, surprised voice.
"Uh..." I looked down at the clothes I was wearing and gulped. "Morgan said he needed help to finish painting for tomorrow..." alarm bells started ringing in my head as I began piecing Morgan's plan together.
"Oh," She said, clearing her throat. "He never mentioned you'd be stopping by when he left... He just popped out to get some paint..." She trailed off as the pair of us looked down at the pile of tins and I could practically hear her cursing Derek in her head as we realised we'd both been played.
The Daughter
After a long and awkward silence, I turned and headed back inside the back room, my hands shaking with anticipation and anger. I climbed up the stairs and continued painting, figuring that if I just kept busy, this whole thing would be over far quicker.
It was a while before I heard anything else, and for a long time I thought he'd left. That was until I heard him say,
"D'you know where the spare paint brushes are? I'll get to work on this side." I turned to see him standing in the doorway with his hands in the pockets of his khakis.
I didn't say anything, I just pointed towards the box of rollers, trays and brushes in the corner.
I didn't know why he'd stayed. I didn't know why he'd insisted on helping when Morgan hadn't said anything about him stopping by.
Spencer had painted a whole wall and I'd finished the second coat on the ceiling and Morgan still wasn't back yet.
"D'you want a coffee?" I asked, climbing down off the ladder and setting the roller on the tray.
"Oh uh, please." He nodded and I gave a small and patient smile as I left the room. I figured that if Morgan had done this on purpose after everything I'd told him on the jet; then I might as well make the first move and try to make things better.
I checked my phone on the counter as I waited for the pot to heat and shook my head in awe as I realised I had a text from the man himself.
DM: I'm not coming back until (a) the entire house is finished to my standards or (b) You and pretty-boy have kissed and made up.X
Morgan was by far one of the bestest friends I'd ever had.
ME: Yes sir. I'll try hold up my end of the bargain. Spencer however is another issue .x
DM: Oh he'll hold his end up. But not with his hands... Not when he sees your outfit. Lol X
I laughed out-loud myself and shook my head with heated cheeks as I poured the coffees. I didn't know what was so bad with my outfit... Or so good. It was old clothes I didn't mind getting ruined for the purpose of this master-task.
I quickly replied to Morgan and took the coffees into Spencer.
"Thank you." He said as he took the mug.
As soon as the coffee slid over my throat I grimaced; almost in the exact-same moment as Spencer done the same.
"This is yours." We both said at the same time, holding the mugs out to each other. We both laughed and I blushed.
"Sorry," I apologised as we exchanged mugs. "I guess I must've got them mixed up." I shrugged.
"That's okay," He smiled. "We all make mistakes..." He shrugged and I couldn't help but thinking there was another message there.
"Like when I started distancing myself from you..." He added in a small voice.
At first I wasn't entirely sure if he'd said those words at all or if I'd only imagined them. They hung like a dream between us for a long pause and I swallowed hard, looking into my mug as if it held the answers to this conversation.
"I'm sorry, Mel," He eventually said in a soft voice. "I don't know what's been wrong with me lately but I've been taking it out on you... On our relationship and it hasn't been fair on you... I'm sorry. I'm just not very good at this... At the whole sharing thing." He shrugged and I looked up at him.
"Has something happened?" I blurted in panic to which he immediately shook his head.
"No, no, nothing's happened... I just... I've had my reservations about our relationship and instead of discussing them with you and sorting them out, I've just held onto them and in the process I've unconsciously distanced myself from you."
"Spencer..." I said in a gentle tone. "You can talk to me about anything, you know that don't you?" He smiled sadly and nodded his head.
"I do now I guess." He shrugged.
"What were your reservations?" I asked and he sighed emphatically, looking into his cup as he pushed his other hand inside his pocket.
"I guess I was just worried that I'd mess things up..." He said slowly. "I have a habit of not being able to share things... Share my problems. I keep a lot to myself, I try to deal with my problems on my own.
"And I know that in relationships you can't do that. I was worried that that'd come between us. It did anyway, but that wasn't all I was worried about. I guess I worried over our work, and about everything the team had said in the beginning... About fraternisation.
"I worried about how we'd make it work, with the job and the distances and you looking after Jack and me seeing my mom... I guess I over-thought and over-worried and I just panicked. Because I'm not used to this." I nodded my head in understanding.
"Spence we all worry," I said matter-of-factly. "I've worried about us too."
"You have?"
"Yeah, these past couple weeks, today especially, I've worried about us a lot. I thought... Well I thought that you didn't want to be together anymore and I thought you didn't know how to tell me that...
"I worried that you didn't like the thought of being in a relaitionship and wanted out... I worried - like you - that we wouldn't be able to make it work...
"But we can. We can make this work more likely than anyone else because we work together. That's eighty percent of our time together right away without considering weekends.
"We can spend time together as a couple at weekends, with your mum or with Jack. We can make this work and we can deal with our worries and problems and reservations together because that's what couples do.
"I want to be with you Spencer. But I understand if we can't." I added the last words as an after-thought, hoping I wouldn't need to hear him say them too.
"What?" He whispered. "No, Mel, of course I want to be in a relationship with you. I want us to work more than anything... I'm just scared." I gave a smile and nodded my head in understanding.
"And I am too, Spence," I admitted. "But that doesn't mean to say we can't stop each other from being scared."
"You still want to be with me after the way I've treated you these past couple weeks?"
"Spencer, you could've turned full-scale Unsub on me and I still would want to be with you." I joked.
A smile broke across his face and he stepped toward me, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my forehead sweetly.
"Thank you." He mumbled against my skin there.
"What for?" I laughed self consciously.
"For being you." He said simply.
The Doctor
"For being you." I said simply. She grinned up at me and took a further step closer, our chests pressed together. She stretched up on her tiptoes, reaching her free hand into my hair and pulling my face down to hers.
I was aware of my coffee mug in my hand but I didn't particularly care about it as her lips met mine.
After a long two weeks our mouths were finally reunited, and in all that time I hadn't tasted anything better than the way Melanie's lips tasted on mine.
I selfishly pushed the kiss longer, gripping her waist in my free hand and keeping her body pressed against mine while the kiss deepened and my tongue pushed inside her mouth.
I'd never felt a need for something so strongly before, I didn't want this to end. I wanted to get closer to her, I wanted to feel more of her. It wasn't until I was backing her towards one of the walls that I realised both of my hands were pressed against either side of her face and my mug was smashed somewhere on the bare wooden flooring.
Suddenly she stepped into something and slid on the floor, squealing in surprise and tearing away from my lips.
"Mel!" I cried out, gripping her before she could fall. She gripped onto my arms, her own mug smashing on the floor next to us as she quickly stumbled out of the paint-tray she'd stood on.
"Spence!" She moaned, realising I'd backed her onto the paint tray I'd been working from.
I laughed out-loud and righted her on her feet as she whimpered at the feeling of the paint on her skin. It'd splashed all the way up her bare calf and onto her leggings.
"Oh you think this is funny?" She smirked and I stopped laughing, squeezing my lips together in a straight-line while shaking my head.
"Oh you don't?" She suggested, pulling away from me and folding her arms. "Well I know something that'll be just hilarious." In a flash she'd bent down and retrieved my roller from the tray.
My eyes went wide and my mouth opened, but not before she'd ran the roller straight down the middle of my face; coating my lips completely.
"Mel!" I cried out in surprise as her laughter filled my ears. I couldn't help but chuckle too as I tried to wipe the paint from my face to no avail. "That's it!" I cried, jolting for her roller still sat on her paint-tray by the ladders.
"NO!" She squealed as I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back against me, bringing the roller round to the front of our bodies and rolling it down her face, right down her chest and stopping at her waist as she squealed and squirmed against me, slipping out of my arms and turning rapidly, shaking the roller at me so paint splashed everywhere.
"Melly!" I laughed, shaking my roller in return, making paint rain all over her clothes.
Our laughter filled the room as we dipped our rollers into the trays before eventually using our hands and plastering paint all over each other.
"What the Hell is going on in here?" Morgan's high-pitched surprised voice sounded from the doorway. I spun both Mel and I back around to face the door and set her back down on her feet, removing my right hand from the side of her face as we both blushed crimson.
"I accidentally stood on a paint tray." Mel said innocently.
"And you ended up covered from head to toe?" Morgan asked and we both nodded. "Both of you?" He asked.
"Mhmm. I pulled him with me." She explained.
"Both paint trays?" Morgan asked and we both glanced at the distance between the two trays.
"Mhmm." We both agreed.
"And you both dropped your mugs?" He asked, pointing to the two smashed mugs.
"Mhmm." We hummed.
"Thank God you guys aint in an interrogation room, you can't lie for shit." He chuckled and shook his head, whistling under his breath in awe as he left the room.
"You started it." Mel jibed, playfully hitting me over the arm with her blue-covered hand.
"You're the one that slid on the tray." I said, ruffling her hair with my white-covered hand.
"Yeah because you backed me into it." She hissed.
"Hey kids whenever you've finished bickering you might wanna clean up and help me with this wall." We both started chuckling and I reached forward, spinning her back against me and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.
"I'm glad we're talking again." I mumbled against her lips, covering them in paint.
"Me too," She giggled. "Let's not not-talk again."
"Deal."