His Melody

Chapter Three - Hangovers Hurt

Melody awoke in Leonardo's bed, alone.
The weary girl struggled to recall the events from the previous night - her memory had holes in - the last thing she remembered was the prominent fear she had felt when she had crossed paths with Leonardo.

Reluctantly, she sat up and immediately grimaced at the feeling of her head beginning to pound, incessantly. The poor girl felt extremely disorientated - she was frustrated at her lack of memory and, most of all, she hated waking up without her Leo beside her. His side of the bed appeared to be made and Melody wondered if he had slept somewhere else that night - her heart plummeted at the thought.

She stumbled out of bed and took notice of her attire: Leonardo's T-shirt finished at her knees and her cheeks wavered crimson at the thought of the man changing her.

The girl wandered out of the bedroom in hopes of finding Leonardo. She felt awful for upsetting him the previous night and wanted nothing more to reconcile with the man. Melody could not stand Leonardo being mad at her.

With her mind elsewhere, clumsily, the girl tripped down the last few steps leading into the foyer and struggled to regain her balance. Melody had shrieked as she fell and, in doing so, had caught the attention of the people in the room.

"Nyla? What are you doing here?" The confused girl inquired as she looked at her friend who was gazing back at her, worriedly.

"I was just talking to Leonardo," Nyla gestured to the man staring daggers at Melody from the other side of the room. She sent the small girl a smile of reassurance but Melody could see the deep concern behind her eyes. She wondered what had made her friend so anxious.

"Yes, and we're done talking now, so, please, Nyla, get the fuck out." Leonardo elaborated and pointed towards the front door of the house.

Melody despised how the man was bossing her friend around and a sense of maternal protectiveness washed over the girl. "You cannot speak to her like that," she defended.

Leonardo's attention snapped towards the girl. His eyes darkened and his face flushed with anger as his breathing quickened. "Oh? Can I not?"

The girl shivered at the venom lacing his tone but remained oblivious to the threat behind his words, demanding that she did not continue. "No, you can't. It's mean and you should apologise."

As the last word, carelessly, flew out of Melody's mouth, Leonardo lost all restraint. Before she could react, the man had stormed towards the girl and slammed her, forcefully, into the wall behind her - one hand gripped her neck and the other yanked her hair backwards. Melody's vision blurred on impact as her head collided harshly with the brick. Tears clouded her eyes as she looked up, helplessly, at the man.

"I should apologise? I should fucking apologise? She should feel lucky that I am not putting a bullet through her goddamn head for dragging you to that fucking club last night!" He bellowed, spitting in the girl's face as he did.

"She did not force me Leo! I wanted to go." Melody argued as tears streamed down her face.

"Really? So you wanted to get away from me, huh, sweet girl." Leonardo spat, his body now shaking with rage. He tightened his grip on Melody's throat, complicating her ability to breathe.

"No, baby, you know that's not what I meant, but, I am my own person and I should be able to go out if I wish," she choked out. Whilst she was angry with the man, she would never want Leonardo to feel abandoned by her.

"But that's where you're wrong, my love. You are not your own person - I fucking own you Melody. You are mine," he growled. Melody's gaped at his statement - he made the declaration seem like most obvious thing in the world.

"Leonardo, maybe you should-", Nyla began upon realizing the scene playing before her needed an intervention, however she was abruptly interrupted by the man.

"Leave Nyla. Before I lose all patience with you", he warned. In honesty, Leonardo was aware of his tendency to be rather impulsive and though he would never admit it, he cared for Nyla. She had been there for him when nobody else was and he did not want her to be hurt at his hands.

Nyla knew Leonardo just as well as she knew the true meaning behind his demand, but as she watched her best friend gasp for breath she just wanted to help her. When Leonardo's attention returned to his Melody, bravely, Nyla stepped towards the couple. Despite her fear, Melody's eyes snapped to Nyla's and she subtly pleaded her to listen to the man. The small girl was scared but she trusted that Leonardo would not harm her. In that moment, she cared only for the safety of her friend.

Seeing the desperation on Melody's face, reluctantly, Nyla complied. She mouthed out to her that she would call her later, when the situation had been dealt with, before making her way out the house.

Upon hearing the door close, Leonardo threw his Melody over his shoulder before hurriedly clambering up the staircase. Now free from his choke-hold, Melody gasped for air and tried to ignore the nausea churning in her stomach at the man's rapid movements.

Once arrived in the bedroom, Leonardo slammed the door shut before, roughly, throwing the small girl onto the bed who then landed and bounced backwards from his force. The man paced back and forth, pulling at his hair in distress. Finally, he turned to Melody, his features had soften significantly and he wore, an almost, tired expression.

He neared the poor girl, who's cries never faltered and his heart clenched. He sat on the bed and gently clasped her chin with two fingers whilst, ever so carefully, wiping away the tears that poured down her face.
"Sweetheart, what were you thinking?" He asked, curiously. Melody could be difficult at times, but she had never before disobeyed him in such a drastic way. He wondered what had ran through her mind.

"I-I don't know. I just- it seemed like fun," the girl mumbled, childishly. She looked up at the man and her eyes filled with more tears as he looked down at her with such care. She felt awful that she had disappointed him. "God, Leo, I-I am so, so sorry. I-I didn't want to worry you, I'm sorry. Please, please don't h-hate me. I can't lose you. I don't know what- I mean-I-", she stuttered, shaking her head in despair.

Selfishly, Leonardo took some joy from her upset - to him, it was a demonstration of her love for him. "Shhh, sweet girl. I've got you", he cooed as he picked Melody up and cradled the quivering thing to his chest, rocking her, back and forth, soothingly.

In contrast to Leonardo's comforting actions, Melody's body turned rigid. The man's word replayed in her mind on a continuous loop. He had said those words the night before. He had said those words after she had ran from him, after he had threatened her, after he...

Without a second thought and before Leonardo could react, Melody leant backwards and with all her might,
she slapped him.

Leonardo froze. Slowly, he moved his hand up to his reddened cheek. Granted, the slap had not hurt him; he had barely felt anything at all, but it was the intent behind it that burnt.

Finally responding, Leonardo shoved Melody off his lap and onto the floor before opening his mouth to yell when he was interrupted by a pained voice that sounded so broken; so defeated.

"You... you drugged me."

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Hey everyone, I am sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than normal, but I promise that the next one will be very exciting.