Dedicated to ClumsyMeggie for taking me to see 5SOS! Thank you so much, what a great night! x
Edit by me, whoop!
"FINALLY, THE DAY IS OVER," Melanie huffed as she left the English classroom and headed for her locker, Louis following closely behind her with an amused grin on his lips. Melanie was thankful for him returning to visit her when he had - she didn't know how she would have survived without his company. It had been a long and stressful day back at school.
"Not yet," Lucifer reminded her, glancing up at the clock in the hallway. "There's still quite a measurable amount of time left of the day. I won't be leaving until midnight."
"Lucky me," Melanie said, grinning. "I should take you shopping before you leave. You can experience life as a human being on Earth."
"Ew, Muggles," Louis said and Melanie spun round to face him with shock on her face.
"Harry Potter reference?" she asked. "You know Harry Potter? I think I love you even more, Satan."
"Well, I am very lovable, dear Melanie," Louis said as he stood with his back to the lockers. "I mean, who couldn't love a bit of this?" He gestured to his body and Melanie simply raised a brow.
"Hm, well a lot of women favour a man with a reasonable length..." she began, noticing the way his face dropped at the mention of his genitals again. "And, dear Lucifer, I do believe you're lacking in that area."
"Next time you find yourself in an accident and are whisked off to The Beyond, I'll make sure to put you straight in Hell for all of these nasty assumptions about my manhood."
"You do that, Satan," Melanie teased before closing her locker and zipping up her back. She had purposely spent ten minutes longer in the bathroom to make sure the majority of the school was empty. The last thing she needed was to be questioned about who she was talking to as she left the building on her first day back.
At one point during History, Melanie had been telling Louis to stop playing with her pencil case and had been caught talking louder than she had originally thought. Louis gave her an innocent grin as the teacher requested she stay behind to talk with him for interrupting the lesson on her first day back. She had slapped Louis on her way out of the room.
"So, you're going to your school dance, huh?" Louis asked casually as they left the school and turned left to head for the high street.
"Yep, and you're coming with me. You said you can make your presence known and unknown to anyone you like so at the dance you can become visible so I don't end up looking like a twát dancing by myself."
"Aw, what a shame," Louis teased, poking Melanie's cheek. "You don't want to be seen without a date. Why not take Quinn with you?"
"Michael has a girlfriend, in case you missed that during the long discussion we had together in The Beyond."
"Oops," Louis said in disinterest. "How does she cope with him?"
"Stop it, I'm serious Louis. He has done nothing wrong, so please just treat him nicely? He died too, you know?"
"Oh, trust me, I know," Louis laughed sarcastically. "I remember the dismal time very clearly. Thank Hell you were there."
"Aw, Louis, you softie," she said, laughing at him.
The pair of them bickered as they neared the park, the circle of trees surrounding the playground coming up first. Melanie stepped over pine cones and rocks while Louis silently walked beside her. She looked over at him curiously and caught a glimpse of .... something on his face. He looked almost forlorn.
"Satan?" she said, slowing her walking. "You alright?"
"Yes," he told her, looking up at the sky briefly. "Just wondering what's all going on back in The Beyond. There will no doubt be a good few people up there waiting for my help."
"If you wish to leave..." Melanie started, looking at her hands as she spoke. "I mean, if your job is needing done right this instant, then you can go. I mean, we have lots of other times for you to visit me."
"Mel, I'm not going anywhere. You amuse me too much," Louis said, grinning. "Those people up there can wait. Time works differently up there so it will be as if I were gone only for a moment."
"I feel like I should write a book about a girl who died and met The Devil in this strange world between life and death. I mean, I have all of my sources and life experiences."
Louis chucked. "And death experiences."
She slapped his arm gently and leaned on the tree beside her, pressing a hand to her chest carefully. From time to time, the pain would resurface out of nowhere for a brief moment. Almost like a stitch after a run - it was there for a moment and then gone.
"You OK?" Louis asked, taking a step towards her. She nodded and turned her back to the tree so she could face him properly. A glimpse of concern was plastered on his face and Melanie just gave him a reassuring smile.
"I'm good," she told him. "Just a little irritation is all. I'll be completely healed by the the time you come to see me next time, you watch."
"Oh, I know you will be. You strong little thing."
Melanie just smiled again and closed her eyes momentarily. It was nice to just take a moment to realise she had an everlasting friend in Louis. Even in death, she had the opportunity to be with him if she so wished. It almost seemed too surreal to even be considered truth. Why would Louis even ask someone like her to be his companion in Hell? Surely there were other girls - maybe boys - that tickled his fancy, that were more attractive and funnier than her.
"Melanie?" Louis asked, snapping her out of her day dream. She shook her head and looked up, shocked to see Louis standing in front of her now, his arms on either side of her frame, flat against the tree behind her.
"Sorry," she muttered. "Just had a moment," he told him.
"You were so deep in thought," he whispered, reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear. She slapped his hand away gently and pushed him back so she could stand and show him the way to the café she was planning on taking him to.
"Become visible," she told him, enjoying the annoyance in his eyes. "I don't want to look like a loner with two cups of coffee. It'll look like I'm waiting for my imaginary boyfriend to show up."
"So I get to play the boyfriend?" he asked, a brow raised. "Works for me. Does that also include playing the part of the boyfriend fully?"
"What are you trying to suggest, Lucifer?" Melanie asked as the pair stepped out of the thicket of trees and out into the open greenery of the park. Melanie pushed open the metal gate and took a seat on one of the swings, memories stirring within her. Louis remembered also, she could see it in his eyes.
"This is where I said goodbye to you," he spoke quietly, taking a seat in he other swing.
Melanie nodded, recalling the rainy day in The Beyond, minutes before they kissed passionately and then parted ways, Lucifer and his world spinning away into nothingness before she woke up in agony inside a hospital bed. It was good and bad all mixed into one.
"Funny that we should be here now, huh?" she asked him, gently nudging her shoulder into his. He just rolled his eyes and glanced over at a small group of children who had pushed through the gate to play. "So, should we go? I know a great coffee place across the road."
Louis nodded and stood before her, holding his hand out for her to take. She noticed a small boy standing glancing curiously at the pair of them. Probably just wants the swings for himself, she realised as she took Louis' hand and stood, showing The Devil the way to go.
"It's quite odd, don't you think?" Melanie started, looking up at Louis as she spoke. "Odd that those children and now some people in a café are about to see you and not even realise who you truly are. I mean, they're seeing Satan, of all people, and they're not even knowing it."
"Well, you didn't know it to begin with either ... or believe it. I think everyone is in the same boat to begin with," Louis said, swinging their hands back and forth. "I hate to admit it but I'm glad I confided in someone finally. I usually keep everything bottled up in side you know? So, thanks, Mel. Thank you for ... dying?"
"Wow, romantic line of the year," Melanie huffed, rolling her eyes. "You're welcome. Glad someone got some good out of it!"
"You know what I mean," Louis said. "There's not really any other way to say it, is there? How else would you have ended up in The Beyond if you hadn't been murdered?"
"True," Melanie said. "I suppose we're both lucky. We made friends out of one death."
"Wow, we became friends in the weirdest of ways, didn't we? Usually it's though similar interests or through friends but nope! Because of death, we met."
"Story of the year," Melanie said as she pushed open the door to a small blue building. As they entered, the aroma of coffee and baked goods filled their nostrils and Melanie smiled as she saw Louis looking round in what looked like curiosity. "When was the last time you were on the Land of The Living?" Melanie chuckled quietly.
"Last month," Louis said. "However, if you meant when the last time I was in a café was, then absolute ages."
"What would you like? I like the lattes and banana bread," Melanie said with a smile. "I'll buy - it's the least I could do as a thank you."
"Aw, it's almost like you finally care about my wonderful talents, Cooper."
"Shut up and pick something or I'll pick for you. I'll make sure it's the worst thing on the menu."
"Meanie," Lucifer said before pointing out his order. "I'll go find us a seat."
Melanie waited patiently for the lade behind the counter to place the food on a couple of plates and make the drinks. Melanie took them over to the table Louis had chosen - a small one by the window just large enough for the two of them. He had already pulled out a seat for her and she sat down with a smile before picking up a couple of sachets of sugar.
"I like the window seats," Melanie said as Louis sipped at his latte, a smile forming on her lips as he took a moment to evaluate the taste.
"I approve," he finally said before taking a bite of his chocolate cake. "I too, like this."
"What do you usually eat?" Melanie wondered. "Do you have massive buffets in Hell on Sundays?"
"Yes," he said, completely serious. "While people go to church, I laugh in the face of everything holy and stuff my face."
"Hey, be nice," Melanie said. "Some people will believe in God because it's something they have been brought up with. I get that you're all scary and evil and whatnot but maybe tone it with the hatred while we're here? What if someone over hears you and tries to talk you into going to church? You'd like ... erupt into flames like a vampire!"
"Melanie, I understand but what you also need to understand is that I've been led to dislike everything in relation since my banishment."
"Sorry," Melanie said with a shrug. "I just think you abuse everything holy whenever you get the chance, Satan."
Louis shrugged. "Sorry," he said eventually. "But like you said, some will believe and love and others won't be quite the same about it all. We all have our differences and similarities."
"Moving on," Melanie said all of a sudden, smiling as she bit into a slice of banana bread. "What are you going to be wearing when accompanying me to the school dance?"
"Oh, wait, you were serious about me going with you?" Louis asked, frowning. "Melanie, is it even on the day I'm due to visit?"
"Yeah, funnily enough," Melanie said. "Last day of the month."
"Damn," Louis muttered under his breath and Melanie just scowled at him.
"Hey, it'll be good fun ... maybe."
"It'd better be," Louis laughed. "I don't want to get all dressed up for nothing."
"Get dressed up for me," Melanie said. "And I'll get dressed up for you."
"And then what? We can both get dressed down for each other?" Louis teased, winking at her.
"Lucifer, you are being inappropriate," she told him, slapping his arm gently. "I will not stand for this kind of immaturity."
"You won't be able to stand after the amount of immaturity we'll participate in together," he said, slowly, almost seductively. Melanie involuntarily blushed. Louis noticed and laughed quietly before taking another sip from his coffee, Melanie just rolled her eyes at him and copied his actions, glancing at him over the rim of her mug. Their eyes remained locked and Melanie squirmed in her seat, his words playing over and over in her mind.
Please let me know what you think!
Cazza