Previously.
Chris looks down at Sadie and she appears to have drifted off. Chris sighs, then leans down and kisses her temple.
"I love you, Sadie."
"I love you too, Daddy."
Chris' entire body freezes.
His heart falls. His eyes widen. His throat goes dry. He stumbles to a stand, trying not to get too much attention from Sadie, and failing. She opens her eyes and looks to Chris, realizing herself what she'd just said and just how right Melanie was when Melanie had said that Chris would freak out in knowing that he was another father figure to her.
"Are you okay?" Sadie asks.
"J-Just go back to sleep, kiddo, okay? You'll feel better if you just get some rest." Chris says before turning on heel and hurrying out of the room.
She didn't mean that. She couldn't have. She was tired. She was sick. She didn't know what she was saying. She didn't mean it. Chris couldn't be like a father to Sadie. He couldn't...Could he? The worst part about all of this was that he was pretty sure he like the fact that Sadie had called him that. And he liked the fact that he and Melanie almost kissed. He wanted to kiss her. What was that about?! He knew what it was, but he couldn't fully admit it to himself...Could he?
Chris comes downstairs, extremely frazzled.
"Chris?" Melanie asks, "What's wrong?"
Chris puts a hand on the wall and leans against it, looking and feeling like he could pass out at any minute.
"Chris, are you okay?"
"I think I'm in love with you."
Melanie freezes and her heart falls to her stomach. She stands in the middle of the living room and Chris remains at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the wall. Melanie couldn't believe that he'd actually just confessed that and that this was actually happening...
"What?" Melanie asks.
"Yeah, I - I think - I - I think I'm in love with you." Chris stutters.
Neither Chris nor Melanie can think of what to do or say, so they just stand there and stare at each other, waiting for something to happen. It took a terribly long time before finally something did.
Chris swallows, "I've gotta get out of here."
Melanie finally steps forward, "Chris - "
"No, Mel, I just - I've gotta get out of here. I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later." He says before opening the door and walking out of the house.
Melanie stands there in shock a minute, then turns around to face Fred, who had been sitting there the whole time, wagging his tail.
"You saw all that too, right?!" Melanie asks.
x
A few days later.
Chris barely left his house. He knew that if he went out in public at all, there was a chance that he could run into Melanie, and he just didn't know what to say to her...He was in love with Melanie. He knew that now. Why did it have to end up this way? Melanie had tried to get a hold of Chris a bunch of times, but Chris never got back to her because, as previously stated, he just didn't know what to say to her.
Did he want to be with her? If he did, would she want to be with him? But if they were to try it and it didn't work out, what would that do to their friendship? What would that do to Sadie? If Sadie already saw Chris as a father figure, she'd see it that much more if Chris and Melanie were to end up together and if Chris and Melanie were to break up... Chris just had no idea what to do.
When Chris and Melanie were in sixth grade, they rode their bikes to the park one warm weekend and met up with some friends. They'd started out by just talking, hanging out, riding their bikes and messing around on the playground a bit. Eventually though, they decided to sit down in the grass and have a game of truth or dare.
"Melanie, truth or dare?" One of their friends had asked.
"Why do you even ask? She always picks truth."
Melanie scoffed, then looks to the friend that had asked her, "Dare."
"Oooooh..." Everyone said in unison, making Melanie roll her eyes.
"Alright, I gotta think of a good one then. Um...Ooh! I know! I dare you to kiss Chris!"
Both Melanie and Chris immediately scooted away from each other.
"Now you know why I always pick truth." Melanie stated.
Chris nodded, "Yeah, really, you guys. I'm all for us daring Melanie to do something stupid but kissing me is kinda - " but Chris cut himself off when Melanie kissed his cheek. Everyone gave her a deadpanned look.
"What? You didn't say where I had to kiss him." Melanie had said.
Back then, the idea of kissing Melanie was just not an option. Melanie was almost like one of the guys to Chris at one time. Now, all he wanted to do was kiss her. And that thought terrified him.
x
Chris finally let himself listen to the several voicemails that Melanie had left him over the past few days. The first one he listened to was the most recent one.
"Hey, Chris, it's me again, um...I've done a lot of thinking over the past couple of days and, well...I don't know...Maybe I have feelings for you too. Maybe I...I don't know. But I know that I'll know when I see you. I need to see you, Chris. Please...Call me back, please, Chris...Bye."
The rest of the voice mails were similar to that one, with the exception of the last one Chris listened to, which was the first voicemail that Melanie had left him.
"Hi, it's me...I couldn't sleep at ALL last night after everything that happened because I was so confused...But then, this morning, Sadie told me what happened, and...Just please, please talk to me. Please...Call me...Bye."
That was the end of the voicemails. What did Melanie think? What did Sadie think? Chris was just too scared and humiliated to try and find out. He had no idea what to do or what to expect or where to go from here. He was completely clueless. He wanted to try and make things right with Melanie, but he just had no idea where to start.
Chris' phone then begins to ring again. He sighs, half-expecting it to be Melanie again, but when he looks down at his phone, it's the hospital calling. Chris grows worried, not knowing why the hospital would be calling him. He answers and puts the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Ha! I finally got you!"
"Mel?!"
"Good to hear your voice again, butt munch."
"H-How are you calling me from the number of the hospital and - "
"I work at the hospital, idiot. I just called you from the office phone."
Chris gasps, "You bitch..."
"I know you are, but what am I?"
"Crazy."
"I'm crazy?! You haven't answered any of my phone calls in four days! I was getting really worried about you! I just wanted to talk to you...and don't you dare hang up on me or I will hunt you down and kick your ass."
Chris sighs, "I'm sorry, Mel, okay? I just didn't know what to say."
"Will you please come over tonight? Sadie will be with her uncle, I made sure of that so we could talk alone."
"Mel, I don't know if - "
"Please, Chris...Sadie thinks you're mad at her."
Chris' heart falls, "What? Why?"
"Chris, I know what happened. She told me."
"I know, but...I'm not..."
"Please, just come over tonight. Please."
Chris pauses, then looks at the time before speaking, "Seven work for you?"
"Seven would be perfect."
x
Melanie paced her living room, waiting for Chris, biting her nails. Fred could sense her uneasiness and was pacing the living room with her. Fred then leaps toward the door as it's opened by Chris. Melanie's eyes go to Chris and she exhales.
"Thank God." She says before hugging him tightly.
Chris stumbles in surprise, then hugs her back, "Well, hello to you too."
"Don't act like I didn't have a reason to be worried you wouldn't come."
Chris pauses, then sighs, "I know." He says, hugging her tightly to him.
They stay like that for a while, then come apart and Melanie again begins to pace.
"Okay...Okay I'm just gonna get right down to it because I really don't know what else to talk about...The other day, you said that you think you're in love with me, and...Well, you either are or you aren't and I think we need to start with that."
Chris nods, then speaks, "I...I am."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes...I'm in love with you, Mel."
Melanie takes a breath, then gives a very large exhale, "Okay, wow, that's a lot to take in, um...okay, see, the thing is...I-I have the same feelings about you."
Chris' eyebrows shoot up, "You do." He states, "I actually wasn't quite expecting that."
"Well, I gave myself some time to think, you know, like really, really think you know? And I started thinking about all of these moments that you and I have been having and the way Sadie is around you and the way you are with her and the way a lot of our friends and relatives have been saying that you and I should be together and I started to wonder why they thought that and...and I just thought that maybe...maybe we should give it a try."
"You mean, try to be a couple?"
"Yeah, I think we should."
Chris could feel his nerves coming back, "B-But what if something goes wrong? What if we break up? What if we - "
"We can't think that way, Chris. Look, my entire life, I've been good. I've followed the rules and I've done what I'm supposed to. You've always told me to take chances and to take risks, and I've almost never done it. Now I'm doing it. Let's try this. Let's date. Let's be together. I mean, you and I both just confessed that we're in love with each other, so let's DO something about it, Chris! I've never taken risks, Chris, and look where I've gotten. I'm a single mom that's a workaholic and I have no life. You've taken tons of risks in life and look where you are! I think I've just kind of realized that life is about taking chances, so let's take a chance, Chris. Take a chance on us."
Chris thinks about this, about what a huge risk this would in fact be and the consequences it may have...but how wonderful it also could be, and how worth it it could all be...and he slowly begins to nod.
"Okay..."
Melanie's eyebrows raise, "Okay?"
Chris nods a little faster, "Okay. L-Let's try this."
Melanie smiles, "Okay, great!"
There's a pause.
"So what do we do now then?" Melanie asks.
"Good question."
They sit down on the couch in an awkward silence as they try to think of where to go from there. Melanie then gasps and jumps up.
"Oh, I know!" She exclaims, causing Chris to stare at her with wide eyes; she ignores this and continues, "Kiss me."
Chris again just stares at her.
"I mean, you almost kissed me two days in a row now and us agreeing to try and be an actual couple now might be a good place to start..." Melanie says.
Chris blinks, then speaks, "Yeah, that's a good point."
He stares at Melanie a moment longer. She was so beautiful, and he was only really now beginning to realize just how amazing of a woman he had in front of him.
Chris sighs, "I have no idea how to do this."
"Aww, sweetie, is this your first kiss?"
Chris gives her a deadpanned look, "Very funny."
"Do you want us to be together or not?"
"Of course I do, it's just...it's you, Melanie."
"Oh, thanks." Melanie says, sarcastically.
"That's not what I meant."
"Just kiss me like you'd kiss any other girl."
"But...you're not just any other girl."
Melanie softens as she finally understands what he's trying to say. They stare into each other's eyes a moment, then gradually find themselves leaning into each other. Chris didn't want to panic this time. He didn't want to get scared. He knew that if he just let this happen, he'd be able to figure out the things that he needed to figure out.
They continued to lean in and eventually their lips brushed against each other. They were hesitant, but they eventually closed the gap and kissed. It was chaste and only lasted a few seconds, but there was something about it that made Chris and Melanie knew that this was what they wanted.
When they came apart, everything was clear.
"Oh my God..." Melanie whispers.
"I know..." Chris whispers in return, knowing exactly what she meant.
They stare at each other for a moment more, then kiss again; harder this time, and with more passion. Chris puts a hand on the side of Melanie's face and the other hand on her hip. Melanie wraps her arms around Chris' neck and they move themselves closer to each other. Their tongues trace each other and everything about this was completely perfect. Melanie climbs into Chris' lap so that she's straddling him. They come apart and rest their foreheads together.
"Okay, if I didn't already wanna give this a shot, I definitely do now." Chris says.
Melanie shakes her head to herself and smiles, "I can't believe this...You and me. You and me."
"I know, it's crazy."
"Good crazy?"
Chris stares up at her in awe, "Wonderful crazy." He whispers before kissing her chastely again, "You're really beautiful, Melanie."
They kiss again and put every ounce of passion that they could into it. They completely fold themselves into each other and wouldn't have it any other way. Chris stands and lifts Melanie up as she wraps her legs around his torso and he carries her upstairs to her room.
Once there, Chris sets Melanie down and kicks the door shut, not breaking their little make out session as he walks her over to the bed and lays her down on it. They kiss for a little while longer, then come apart for breath and again rest their foreheads against each other. Melanie can't help but smile.
"Oh my God, you're on top of me. You're on top of me. And I like it. What is this sorcery?" She asks.
Chris laughs, "You got me." He says before sighing, "But I suppose we should quit now before we get too carried away, huh?"
"Such a gentlemen."
"Yeah, that's not always a perk." Chris says, rolling off of her. Melanie giggles, then quickly pecks Chris' pierced lips again. They lay on their sides on the bed, facing each other.
"So." Melanie states.
"So." Chris repeats.
"We're, like, dating."
"It would appear so."
Melanie couldn't stop smiling, "It just makes sense now, you know?"
"Very much."
"Why couldn't we have figured this out sooner? Like, in high school or something?"
"Well, then we wouldn't have Sadie."
Melanie loved the way he said "we".
"So...about the whole Sadie thing..." Melanie starts.
"It freaked me out in the moment and I'm sure not quite sure what to think of it because, well, she didn't entirely mean to say it, you know? But you know what? No matter what happens, I will take care of Sadie just as much as I will take care of you."
Melanie smiles, "We're gonna make this work."
Chris nods, "We're gonna make this work. When I first came here, I wouldn't have been so confident in that, but now that I'm actually with you, I...I have to have you forever, Mel. That was...I-I don't even know what that was but it was so amazing and you're so amazing and if this doesn't work out I'm gonna hate myself."
Melanie laughs, then kisses him again.
It was still pretty early in the evening, so for the rest of the night, Chris and Melanie talked about...pretty much everything. They reminisced about the past, they talked about everything going on right now; however, more than anything, they discussed the future. Chris and Melanie were both normally "live in the moment" kind of people that didn't often think too far into the future, but tonight, they did. Most of it was just fantasizing, but they liked talking about having a future together. It made them more confident that their relationship would work out and that they actually had the potential to have a future together.
A few hours later, Melanie forced herself to get out of bed to take the dog outside one last time for the night and to turn off all the lights downstairs. Melanie then went back upstairs and crawled back into bed with Chris. She nuzzled into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"Dating is going to be such a different experience for us. I mean, we already know everything about everything about each other, we already know each other's families, we already know each other's darkest secrets, my kid already adores you."
Chris laughs, "Hell, we might as well just get married now." He jokes.
They laugh, knowing it was intended to be a joke, but the laughter slowly dies down as the two of them slowly begin to think and the wheels begin to turn...
Melanie looks to Chris, "We're not actually gonna..."
"No, no, we're not...are we?"
"I don't know, are we?"
"I don't know, are we?" Chris asks.
The two of them stare at each other a while longer, both of them looking a bit frightened. They slowly relax though, able to have almost a complete conversation with just their facial expressions.
Melanie speaks, "We are, aren't we?"
Chris slowly nods, "Yeah, I think we are..."
They stare at each other a moment longer, then kiss for the longest time. Eventually, after a bit more talking and a few more kisses, they fall asleep in each other's arms.
A/N: Um, WHAT?! What's going on?! You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out ;) but they're finally together! What will Sadie think?! What about everyone else that was insisting on Chris and Melanie getting together? What will the future for them look like?
Tell me what you think!
xoxo, Scissorhands