Well that's one way to leave a guy hanging.

I wonder what the girl is up to. She's been full of surprises lately. I slowly walk through the halls to kill the next five minutes, taking mental snapshots of the place. Despite the constant jokes I'd make about the ridiculousness of the penthouse, I'm going to miss it.

The abundance of chandeliers, weird abstract paintings and sculptures on display, long halls that echo so much you'd think we were in a cave, and Melody's mismatched décor all over the place. She's told me about her home back in LA, it somehow sounds even more extravagant than this place.

I'm already dreading having to be apart for god knows how long after she flies back to LA. With all of this week's chaos, we still haven't had time to figure out how we're going to do things.

As Melody would say, uncertainty is scary.

I nearly choke on my next sip of champagne when someone comes up and enthusiastically pats me on the back.

"Cole, there you are! We're so happy for you two!" Ophelia gushes. I turn to see her friends approaching from around the corner.

"T-thanks Ophelia," I manage to sputter through my coughs.

Mei makes her way past Ophelia and steps uncomfortably close to me. She's so small she practically has to look straight up at me from that angle. She crosses her arms, making all of her bracelets clank loudly against each other and narrows her eyes at me. "But if you hurt Melody..."

I raise my hands innocently. Why is everyone so protective of Melody? I feel like no one realizes how strong she really is underneath her outer sweet and gentle demeanor.

Not that I'd ever do anything to hurt her.

I take a cautious step backwards. "You don't need to worry about that, Mei. I care about Melody, so much. Anyone who wants to hurt her will have to go through me first."

The corner of Mei's lips twitches as she tries not to smile and break her stern glare.

We suddenly hear some microphone feedback and muffled speaking. Everyone in the area looks at each other curiously and heads towards the noise.

We shuffle through the crowd in the living room. Despite how massive the penthouse is, there definitely isn't enough space for everyone to comfortably cram into one room. Everyone is gathered by the piano, or watching from behind the glass railings up on the second floor. The lights have been dimmed, except for the chandelier that hangs above the piano.

I barely notice all of that though.

Have you ever met someone that was sunshine in human form?

Melody is standing in front of the piano, and I'm finding it difficult to take my eyes off of her. Through my eyes, it's as if she's glowing. She's changed into a fancy looking dress. It looks just like the one she was wearing on the first night we met, except this one is glittery with extra jewels. There's also much more fabric at the bottom, making it look longer and more dramatic. It's like she's a butterfly who has finally gone through its transformation.

Ophelia and I manage to find an empty space by the wall near the living room's entrance. Luckily, we're both tall enough to see over the heads of Melody's relatives standing in front of us.

"Any idea what's happening?" Ophelia leans over and whispers.

"No clue."

Melody lightly taps the microphone she's holding and the quiet chatter in the room dies down. I can't believe the same girl who used me as a human shield is about to willingly speak in front of all these people.

"Hi everyone, thank you for coming tonight." Her tone is still slightly hesitant, but she slowly starts to grow more confident as she continues. "It's been... quite a month for me here. It might sound silly, but I feel completely different from the last time most of you saw me. I thought I was mature before, I thought I had everything figured out. Someone who knew exactly where her life was headed."

She lightly shakes her head, and a quiet chuckle spills from her lips. "But I'm not. Not at all," Melody says with a relaxed grin.

There's a wave of confused murmurs and whispers that echo across the room.

"I realized there's still so much growing up I have to do." Melody's eyes scan the room and they suddenly land on me. She gives me a soft smile. "And someone helped me realize that, that's ok. That's what makes life fun, right? New experiences. I don't think I've been mature enough to realize that until recently."

From the corner of my eye, I spot Melody's mom on the other side of the room. I haven't even gotten a chance to properly meet her in person yet. She arrived at the penthouse barely an hour after we got back this morning and immediately began setting things up for the party.

Her mom sighs a bit and takes out her phone. She makes a couple quick taps on her screen and holds it to her ear. I see her lips moving as whoever she called picks up, and she quietly shuffles through the crowd to leave the room. Melody doesn't seem to notice.

"It's definitely been scary, having to make such life altering decisions," Melody continues, "but I think I've started to get a hang of this whole adulting thing. There are so many possibilities out there, and I'm excited to finally start this new chapter of my life."

"You go Melody!" Ophelia calls and begins to clap. The rest of the crowd follows in stride and the room breaks out into a bright and cheerful wave of whistles and applause.

Melody's face turns a bit pink but she smiles nonetheless. She clears her throat as the room quiets down. "I, um, also wanted to share something with everyone." She walks over to the piano and sits down at the bench. "This is a song I composed recently, inspired by Cole - whom I assume everyone has met tonight. I was hoping we'd get the chance to play it for everyone."

Hold up.

We?

Melody motions for me to come towards the piano.

Everyone curiously turns to try and find me. "Go," Ophelia whispers and gently nudges me.

I feel my heart palpitate erratically as I slowly make my way through the crowd. Playing in front of Melody alone is one thing, playing in front of all these people is a whole other.

She passes me the microphone. Most of her friends and family look at me eagerly. I see the same look of bright excitement as Melody in their eyes. Ophelia and her friends all give me thumbs ups. I can spot Mark and Jake near the back, trying not to laugh. Those assholes.

"Hey everyone, I'd just like to clarify that no one told me about this. So if I sound like crap, it's not my fault."

Everyone laughs as I head over to the piano.

"Thanks for warning me," I grumble as I sit down next to her. I can't believe she's doing this. This is the same Melody who was too shy to play it in front of me every time I asked.

"I thought you'd say no if I asked ahead of time," she snickers. She places the sheet music on the stand, it's much neater this time. It looks like the final copy and not just her chicken scratch. Cara had the hardest time deciphering Melody's writing. "I'll play the right hand, you do the left... I changed a couple parts, by the way."

"What?!" I whisper.

"It'll be ok." She smiles and gently pats my lap.

I nod. I'd probably be losing my shit right now if this were anybody else besides Melody. I try not to let my hand tremble as I hold it over the keys. Toning back the confidence, or as Melody calls it, my arrogance, has left me in some embarrassing situations lately.

Melody quietly counts the beats out loud for us before she begins.

I was mesmerized the first time I heard Cara play the song. It's so cheerful and lively, yet gentle and delicate. Cara explained that it's because it's all played in a major key. The notes dance across the room, bringing calm, relaxed smiles to people's faces. The music makes its way to even the smallest of ears, Melody's baby cousin babbles and giggles - clumsily clapping his little hands together.

Melody said she was inspired by me, but it also seems to perfectly capture how I feel about her. I don't know how to put these emotions into words, but I guess I don't need to. Her music speaks to me - to everyone, even without any words.

I guess I finally understand what that means.

It sounds even nicer than it did the other day. This piano probably costs five times as much as the one on campus. Lower notes sound deeper and fuller, higher notes sound clean and bright. I guess there's also the fact that an award-winning, world famous pianist is playing half of it.

"Good job," she whispers when we make it past difficult parts without any stumbling.

It's still complicated though, I can barely look at anything besides my hands and the sheet music. If you ask me, there are way too many arpeggios and runs in the song for a beginner. Luckily, they're mostly done with the right hand. Melody's hand and fingers dance across the keyboard with ease, and I notice her peeking at me every once in a while. Even without looking at her, I can still feel the tranquil and placid aura she always seems to gives off while playing.

The song finally comes to an end. I made a handful of mistakes, but nothing catastrophic. Melody takes my hand and we walk back over to the microphone. We give everyone a playful bow, and the room breaks into applause. I give her a kiss on the cheek. "You definitely owe me for this one," I mumble into her ear before pulling away.

She just bursts out laughing and gives me a hug. "Thank you everyone! Enjoy the rest of your night."

--------------------

Aww Mel 🥺 But oh how the tables have turned 😂

Thanks for reading!