Try as she might, Melody couldn't reseal the burst dam. Her arms wrapped tight around her knees as she cried, her chest heaved for breath before she couldn't calm herself enough to draw in. She cried for the love she dreamt of, for the baby they lost, for all her failures. A desperate part of her yearned to believe him, to allow the man who claimed to love her to hold her through her lowest moment. It would be so easy to sink down a step and fall into his lap. It would be so easy to allow his chivalry to deny the decision she made.

Love wasn't easy, it was so damn hard.

He reached for her to help her through it, and she couldn't let him. Not like this.

Melody allowed him to hold onto her ankle for a beat too long before lifting her head to wipe furiously at her cheeks. "You d- you don't me-mean it." She said through her hiccupping breaths. Then, slowly — deliberately — she pulled away from his touch. "You don't." She shook her head even as the heavy tears kept falling.