Melody's P.O.V.

I stared at the pills in my hand. One, two, three and.... now newly added four!! Normally, I would take only one pill and it I'm too disturbed, then two pills at a time. But after the library incident, the number increased to four. Sighing, I closed my eyes thinking how I'm getting addicted to these pills. Having a terrible history on drugs for years, it's so low of me for still willing to get into another addiction. Apart from nightmares, the other main reason for the growing dosage of sleeping pills was Hunter. He's already risking so much for me. The least I can do is to let him sleep peacefully without bothering him with my nightmares and screams at night.

A hand wrapped on my wrist stopping me just when I was about to gulp them. I jerked of the sudden touch and saw Hunter narrowing his eyes at me.

"What are these?"

Damn it!! When did he came?!

"Umm.... Hunter, I didn't notice you" I said trying to dodge his question, "It's not nice to enter into the washroom when I'm here even if this is your room."

He lifted his brow up, "Good try. But I'm still waiting for your answer."

"It's nothing. J....Just some vi....vitamins" I lied as usual stuttering through my lie.

"Really? Why are you stuttering?"

"N–No" I gulped replying back confidently, "I'm not lying."

He smirked, "I didn't said that you're lying. Just asked why you are stuttering."

Glaring, I snapped at him, "Don't twist the words, Hunter. You don't need to say it directly, you implied!"

He pulled me with a jerk so suddenly that I landed on his chest. His grip on my wrist tightened a little not enough to give me pain, but only makes hard to get away from him.

"Are you not?" He questioned gritting his teeth, "Don't test my patience, Melody. Tell me what are these tablets for."

Without answering, I started looking around making sure to not meet his eyes. His hand on my waist squeezed me a bit harshly that I hissed faintly. But I still didn't dared raise my eyes at him.

"Look at me" a command in his voice instantly brought my gaze to him. Studying my face, he sighed.

"You told me everything about your past, Melody. I don't know what's bothering you to share this simple thing."

Exhaling defeated, I answered, "Sleeping pills."

"Figured that" he mumbled and gave me an understanding look, "For nightmares?"

I nodded slightly hoping he'd drop this matter here. But alas!! When did a thing ever happened what I wished for?!

Hunter glanced at the pills and frowned hard.

"Why are you taking four? It's a heavy dose."

I fumbled a little in search of words. What should I say?!

"Nightmares are increasingly day by day. If I don't take these, I'll end up screaming top of my lungs disturbing your sleep." Uh oh.... Wrong thing to say!!

I bit my lip at the slip of my words but the damage was already done. Hunter scowled his eyes at me.

"So..... You're taking extra dose to not disturb my sleep."

His looks alone said he was disappointed with me. I just couldn't hold his gaze anymore, so I quickly averted my eyes from him. He snatched the pills from my palm and threw them in a corner of the washroom. My jaw dropped at his action and suddenly, he lifted me in his arms strolling to the bed room. It took a good two minutes to understand his doings.

Hunter set me down on the bed gently and he too layed beside me wrapping his arms round my waist, pulling half of my body upon him. In this position, I feel so intimate.... and connected with him as I placed my head on his chest.... should probably say on his heart listening to it's steady and strong beats. For a second, I thought his heart is singing a lullaby to me.

"From when you started to take those pills?"

His question brought me back to my senses. At first, I thought to lie but realized what's the use of it. He already knows too much about me. This one doesn't make any difference, right?

"Few months after I escaped from him. For a long time, I was living on streets. I don't know where to go and what to do. My life was a complete unpredictable mess at that time. And I couldn't take any risk of being acknowledged by anyone, it's the last thing I want. No one was there to look after me and I was terrified to be alone."

"In that circumstances, I had to adapt the new changes in my life like sleeping for just few hours for a day, to control my hunger with water, building up the courage to be alone at nights, doing small jobs for money to move out of places..... It was a daily routine for me. And to top of that nightmares became more often after I moved in here. I got the job, settled in a small house and most importantly, no one knows about me. But I was still not satisfied because of these nightmares. When I becomes unbearable for me, I decided to go to a psychiatrist" I gulped hard thinking how difficult it was for me to take that huge decision.

"Was it that worse?" Hunter's pained voice reached me.

"Beyond worse" I admitted, "It had been months since I slept for more than 4 or 5 hours, been unhealthy for a long time. At that time, I literally looked like a skeleton walking around. People would give me weird looks and some even pitied me. I hated that. It's then I had to take the biggest and hardest decision of my life. And it became the best one too. My doctor helped me a lot with my problems. At first, it was very difficult for me to come out of my drug addiction. It took a lot of time for the medicines to work on me with the amount of drugs injected in my body. After the treatment, I was so much better. It almost became rare to use medication regularly. The only time I happened to take the pills was when I'm worried or scared."

"You don't need to be scared or worried when I'm with you, Melody. Then why don't you just stop taking those sleeping pills? And moreover, why do you need to take extra dose? Excess use of them is not good for your health!"

A warm smile graced my lips at his concern.

"Don't worry. I increased the dosage since few weeks only. It's not too long, I'll try to lessen it" I assured him though it's highly impossible for me to do so. But I'm willing to try like I said.

He nodded still somewhat not believing me, but didn't say anything. I tilted my head up to see him deep in thoughts.

"What are you thinking?"

Hunter glanced down at me, "Nothing. Close your eyes now. You planned so much work tomorrow. Need energy to complete them."

At his words, my thoughts drifted to Cara. Sighing, I snuggled close to him.

"Hope she forgives me."

"She would. Don't worry and with your gift, she'd definitely forget all her anger towards you."

"Why did she thought that I won't come back?" I whispered.

I heard him sigh heavily before answering, "Cassidy."

Furrowing my eyes in confusion at his reply, I asked, "What?"

"Hmm....." Hunter explained, "When Cara grew enough to understand things, Cassidy told that her mom left because she hates Cara and she don't want a dumb girl to be her daughter. You should have seen her that time, Melody. It nearly became impossible for us to control her. Cara was depressed and started being aloof from all of us. Before that she was a little bundle of joy. So energetic and lively. But that incident changed her entirety. She stopped coming close to us. It took a lot of time to convince her that we won't leave her like her mother did. Even then Cara  was not back to normal again and maintained distance with everyone. Her dad is the only person she's little more close to. And when you left after you broke through her walls easily without even trying, she couldn't take it and thought that she's the reason you left."

I had an instant urge to get up, got to Cassidy and pull her hair out, slap her to my hearts content for talking rubbish to Cara.

"Cassidy is such a—" I trailed off not knowing what to call her.

"A bitch. I know" Hunter completed my sentence.

"More than that!"

I hit him on his chest when he chuckled hearing my grumbles.

"Stop laughing. I'm saying the truth only. How can anyone be that cruel to a kid? I just want to kill her for what she had done!"

Suddenly, an idea popped in my mind making me grin dangerously.

"I just had another idea about what I should do for Cara!!" I exclaimed getting up from his warm embrace and sat on my knees clapping my hands not able to control my excitement, "Just wait and watch, Hunter. This one will gonna be the BLAST!!" I shouted and began to think of a way to proceed the plan.

When I gazed at Hunter, he lifted his brow watching me with amusement filled his eyes.

"What?"

He shook his head negatively and pulled me suddenly. Not expecting this move, I fell on him landing on his chest. Me breathe hitched when our fronts collided hard.

"H–Hunter.... What are you doing? Leave me" I tried to get up.

But he didn't budged my efforts and tighten his hold more with a smug look. In the complete silent room, the only sound is my harsh gasps. My breasts heaved heavily with our proximity. Hunter's eyes darkened with the desire that made me gulp and so suddenly I am feeling extremely hot even with the full-on AC.

"You look angelic while smile."

Hearing his words, the smile which I don't know I have on my face disappeared instantly.

"I lost the reason to smile years back" I mumbled falling back into my past.

Hunter's face clouded with rage but still in a soft voice, he replied, "I'll give you thousands of reasons if you let me."

He locked his legs around my ankles keeping me steady above him and kissed my forehead. I sighed closing my eyes finding peace in his arms. But his next words literally gave me a jolt of shock.

"Be my girlfriend and let's make this official."

He chuckled looking at my wide eyes. I opened my mouth but closed it in next minute unable to find words to reply.

"You are already mine, Melody. My women. And I know you feel something for me, same goes with me too. But I still want to ask you..... Will you let me in your life? I'm not good with words, but I can promise you one thing that I'll give you every happiness in the world."

***

"I WILL KILL YOU BOTH IF YOU TOUCH THE CAKE AGAIN!" hissing, I twisted Tyson's and Alec's ears.

"Ouch, Mel! It hurts. Leave me" Tyson cried out trying to get away from my hold. But I twisted his ear more while he screamed in pain.

"I want to taste it. What if you forgot to add something in it?" Alec pouted and Tyson readily agreed to him.

A smile crept to my face at their childishness and excuses to get the cake, but with a stern face, I replied.

"You've already tasted it few times and I had to decorate it each time you spoiled. Now I want you both to leave this kitchen and don't come near the cake until the party begins."

They nodded very obediently that a doubt rose in my mind. Confirming my thoughts, in a second, before I could comprehend what's happening, they swiped the large amount of cream off the cake and licked their fingers grinning at me mischievously. I gasped in surprise at their action and dragged them out of kitchen.

"Get out!! And dare to enter this area again without my permission" I glared sharply, "It's my mistake to let you taste the cake for the first time. Now both of you turned like hungry lions pouncing on it every chance you got! I'm working on it for the past 5 hours to make it look perfect and here, you both are hell bent on spoiling it. This is my last warning..... If I see you both here again, I won't make your favourites anymore."

Both of their eyes widen at my threat. I very well know about their weakness for the raspberry pie bars I make. Now that I got a chance, it'd be stupid of me to not use it against them.

"Noooo....." they screamed at the same time and ran towards the opposite direction.

I chuckled looking at their backs. Who could believe that these men would be so cute?!

As soon as I turned around, my head hits the wall, "Ahh...."

Hissing, I rubbed my head closing my eyes in pain. Wait!! There's no wall in the middle of kitchen, isn't it??

Lifting my head, I saw Hunter with a killer smirk which is undoubtedly enough for my heart to skip a beat. I could instantly feel a red hue spreading over my cheeks.

He gently stroked my forehead, "You okay?"

I nodded ducking my head shyly as he chuckled.

"After the party over, were going out. Be ready" he informed.

"B...But—" I tried to explain that I couldn't step outside. I'm too scared to do that.

Hunter cupped my face stopping my words.

"Don't hesitate for coming out, Melody. You can't be locked up forever. It's been nearly 20 days since you stepped out of the club."

I sighed hearing him, "Its not like I don't want to, Hunter. But t–there's this constant dear in me that has me uncertain of everything I do" I mumbled, "I'm scared."

"Don't! I'll be with you every minute. Trust me."

I agreed reluctantly, though I'm somewhat relieved that he will not leave me alone, this fear won't leave me till all my problems are solved. But when will that be?!

"Will you please check if the gift arrived yet? The party's gonna be starting in half an hour or so. I don't want it to be delayed" I asked.

"Yeah! Sure." he replied and watched me for a moment.

"Don't think too much. Cara will love the gift and becomes normal with you again" he assured.

"I don't know..... She's been avoiding me these days. What if she doesn't like me anymore?"

He chuckled amusedly, "Who won't like you?! It's impossible. So stop pressuring your little mind with these negative thoughts, okay."

Nodding at him, I smiled slightly hoping he'd true.

"And start thinking about my answer" he smirked.

I gasped involuntarily at his sudden reminder of the question he asked two days back.

I was yet to give him my answer. A huge part of me wants nothing more than to say yes. But there was also a small part that constantly reminding that it's not for good, I don't deserve him. Though it's just a tiny thought, it's doing enough job to stop me from giving a positive reply to Hunter.

Nodding, I looked around not able to meet his eyes. Feeling a kiss on my forehead, I blushed with a smile.

Glancing at his retreating figure, I sighed painfully. I hope it was easy for me to accept you, Hunter.

While I was still frosting the cake one last time, Daisy rushed to me screaming at the top of her voice.

"Mel!! Party's about to begin.... Come fast."

"Coming!!"

When I stepped into hall, everything is arranged just perfectly. The decorations are exactly how Cara would love. A smile came to my face instantly satisfied with all these.

Daisy came next to me wrapping an arm around my shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Cara will surely love this cake, Mel."

"I hope so" I smiled at her.

Though I'm not an expert in making cakes, I put all my efforts in this. It's a small pink creamy cake with a beautiful tiara on its top. I made this keeping in my mind that she's everyone's princess.

And with the other gift I have in store for her, I'm sure there's more than maximum chances she'd jump with happiness. I smirked thinking how her reaction would be after seeing that.

Just then, Kade brought Cara blindfolded. Anyone could clearly see confusion in her face.

"Okay, princess. Are you ready for the surprise?" Kade asked while untying the blindfold. Cara nodded slightly.

As soon as she opened her eyes, all of us shouted loudly.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!!"

Cara's eyes sparkled like thousands of fireworks and she gasped staring at the decorations. For few minutes, everyone hovered over her wishing and giving numerous kisses continuously. I stayed back silently holding my gift for my turn.

As expected, when she came in front of me, her smiling face turned into a pout and crossed her arms looking at me. I thinned my lips to stop myself from smiling at her cute face. Kneeling before her, I extended my hands asking her to come to me. She shook her head turning her face away, but I could see her stealing glances at me. By now, everyone became completely silent watching both of us intently. Chuckling to myself, I held her hands bringing her close to me.

"I'm so sorry, Princess" I signed but Cara lowered her eyes.

Pouting slightly, I held my ears and asked, "Won't you forgive your best friend?"

She glanced at me, her eyes teared up instantly and throw her arms around my neck hugging me tightly. As I'm on my knees, I fell back, but nevertheless embraced her just as hard laughing loudly in ecstasy that she forgives me. Everyone hollered looking at us.

"Now it's time for the cake!!" Tyson screamed obviously impatient to eat it.

Daisy smacked his head glaring at him. He narrowed his eyes at her completely displeased.

"You need to stop hitting me everytime, flower."

"Okay, okay. Don't start again" I interrupted, " If I don't stop them, they will keep on fighting till Cara's next birthday without getting tired" I mumbled rolling my eyes.

Cara gazed at the cake in awe, her mouth wide open in surprise looking so adorable.

Do you like it?" I asked.

"It's awesome!!" She signed excitedly. Cutting the small piece of cake, she brought it to my lips.

I shook my head rejecting, "Your dad first, Cara" cupping her face, I said, "No matter how much we all live you, your dad's love is greatest of all. He should be your first priority always, okay?"

She smiled and nodded, feeding the cake to Kade and then to me. Taking a little bit of cream, I rubbed it in her nose and laughed at her pout.

"Happy birthday, Princess" I gave my gift basket, I crossed my fingers wishing she'd like it. Soon as she opened the basket, she gasped as it comes out. A puppy!!

Cara hiccuped glancing at me, her eyes welled up. "This is for me?" She signed.

I nodded and in next minute, she enveloped me completely and started showering me with her kisses. Laughing, I twirled her around along with the puppy and couldn't help but giggle when it licked my cheek.

"So, what do you want to name him?"

After thinking for some time, Cara asked me to decide.

"Hmm.... How about Blaz?"

The puppy yipped excitedly, seems like he loves the name. Cara approved of it immediately.

"Do you know what Blaz means?" I asked her.

She nodded a 'no.'

"It means a resolute protector. And this little one is going to be your protector from now on. Promise me Cara, you should always keep him with you, okay?"

She agreed promising making me relieved. While all are busy pampering her with their gifts, a loud piercing scream from upstairs makes everyone alert. I went to Cara picking her up in my arms, I whispered slowly.

"Enjoy the drama."

All glanced towards the stairs hearing the steps running down. And when the person came down finally, everyone rooted at their spot with shock written all over their faces. The next second, the entire hall resonated with the loud laughter, why wouldn't they? When Cassidy was standing there fuming with her new GREEN HAIR!!!

Even I couldn't hold back my giggles seeing her with the most weirdest and brightest green colour hair.

"I WON'T LEAVE WHOEVER DID THIS!!" Cassidy shouted.

"You're looking like Joker Cassidy" Daisy stated bursting out laughing clutching her stomach.

Hearing her words, another fit of laughter filled the hall. Some are even fell on the floor not able to control themselves. Cara giggled at her and clapped her hands cheerfully.

Her happiness mattered most for me in that moment. Embarrassed and humiliated to stand in front of everyone with her joker look, Cassidy threw one last glare at us before running back to her room.

Feeling a kiss on my cheek, I inclined my head towards Cara who is grinning at me.

" You did that?" she signed.

Leaning closer, I whispered, "Yes! But don't tell anyone. It's a secret between us" I grinned back holding out my finger to her, "Pinky promise?"

Cara linked her finger with mine giggling silently. I put her down as she rushed back to her dad. Looking around, I saw all are enjoying, cracking jokes, munching their food happily..... This is what a family looks like. Now that I'm also a part of it, I couldn't be more than happy for it. The only thing that is bothering me is Stephen.

A strong hand circled around my waist from behind making me jerk in fear and tried to get out of the grip.

"Shh....." A soft whisper in my ears immediately calms my raging heart and I started to think rationally. This touch is familiar to me..... Hunter!!

I sagged back in relief allowing my head to rest against his shoulder. Just a mere sudden touch is enough to shook me to the core. When will this fear goes away?

"Shall we go?" Hunter questioned.

Right! He's taking me somewhere!

I nodded. Soon, we both are out of the club and took his car. Still consuming with various thoughts,  I didn't notice where he's going and when he stopped. Hearing the door open, I saw Hunter holding his hand for me. Giving him mine tentatively, I got out of the car and looked at the surroundings.

It's an open place and nothing much to see. Why did he brought me here?! When I glanced at Hunter confusedly, he turned me around. And what I saw infront of me took my breath away. I am too much in loss of words to say anything due to the shock. Understanding why Hunter brought me here only arises a question in me.

Where is he taking me in a freaking JET?!!!