That ache in his chest returned as she spoke. Ben couldn’t recall feeling more conflicting emotions at once, at least not in any recent memory. His heart went out to her, particularly after her first statement. He wanted to make her happy — and if staying with her in this small room made her happy, if only for a few minutes, he wanted to do it. But a part of him was already feeling the pain of leaving her afterwards, of losing her again, and this time forever. And he was worried, too — worried that she would regret it, whatever she said now. She was emotional and distraught right now — not that he could blame her. Anyone would have been, and Melody had a track record of being level-headed generally — but eventually she’d move past the feeling of this moment, and then what would she think of what was about to happen?

“Listen, no one owns you,” he started, gently. “No matter who you marry. No matter what he does.”

Not that saying it would make her believe it. Merlin, how broken she must have been feeling at the moment. He wished there was something, anything, that he could say to improve things — something he could give her that would make her believe that everything would be all right, in the end — but there wasn’t. This was it; this was all there was. The two of them, hiding in what was essentially a tidied broom closet, killing time until the inevitable.

Well, if that was all that was left to them — and if it was really what she wanted — then he supposed they could kill time the way she wanted to.

Ben glanced down at Melody’s dress briefly, then his eyes met hers again. “If this is what you want,” he said. Was it just him, or had all of the air left the room? He moved his hands back to where they had been when he’d embraced her, pulling her close once again, then gently guided her to turn around. He let one hand wander along the front of her dress, feeling the ribs of the corset beneath. He leaned in to lightly kiss her neck while his other hand moved towards the laces at her back.