It's not like you to say your sorry (Nose/Ginge)

Melanie clutched the letter tightly - or what was left of it anyway.
Even though it was almost completely soaked with the water from her tears, she could still see the few words that made her world crash down.

Your grandmother passed away yesterday.

Another tear slid down her cheeks when she read the words again.
She forced her eyes shut and pulled the letter to her chest so the words weren't visible to her anymore.

She felt so silly, sitting alone in the owlry, crying.
But she hadn't found the strenght to go anywhere yet.
Instead she'd just broken down on the floor and pressed herself upagainst a wall, ignoring the birds around her.

She heard a noise, but didn't pay it any attention, just chugged the letter into the nearest wall and pulled her legs into her chest, rocking back and forth slightly.

Jack entered the owlery that day to post a letter, nothing unusual. He had the envelope in hid hand, name scrawled messily on the front of the strongly worded letter to the boy he had once considered a friend.

However, his thoughts were drawn away from the contents of the parchment when he heard sobbing from around the corner. For a moment he considered coming back later; until he realised exactly who was crying.

Turning the corner, Jack's thoughts were confirmed. Pressed against the wall and crying her eyes out was Melanie Frost.

"Ginge?" He watched her, and then, to his horror, she fell to her knees, huddling against the wall.

"Shit," he cursed, dropping the letter and falling to his knees next to her. "Mel?" he asked gently, placing both his hands on her face.

Mel forced herself to open her eyes when she found hands on her face.
She'd done her best to ignore the voice, but when the person didn't leave she needed to see who it was.
She looked up and at someone she hadn't expected to find at all, Jack.

"Great." she said, her voice breaking. She wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing he had been the one to find her.
She was about to tell him to go away but couldn't force herself to choke up another word, so instead she just closed her mouth and looked away from his face and at the wall behind him.

She felt the tears threatening to fall again, when she spotted the letter she had thrown on the floor. She shook her head, not wanting to start crying more with Jack there to watch, and wiped a hand over her face forcefully.

He almost smiled at the sarcastic eat she greeted him; had she not been crying and Jack had known how to be around a crying girl, he may indeed have.

However, the fact that she kept crying made his pulse inch up a little. Despite the fact that he teased her relentlessly, he didn't want to see her cry. He could deal with her when she was violent, but so upset that she didn't even hit out was a new one, anf he didn't like it.

Instead, he sat and put his arms around her huddled form in a hug. "You want to talk?" he asked gently. "Only if you want."

Melanie looked up and at Jack again when he didn't leave, but sat down next to her.
It seemed rather un-Jack-ish to stay with her like that.

She let herself lean her head on his shoulder, before shrugging slightly.
"I don't know," she bit back a sob. "I .. don't know." she repeted, failing at deciding if she wanted to talk or not.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them again and moved her head so she could stare at his face, a little curiously. "Why are-" she took a break to take in a deep breath to keep the sobs down "-you here?"

"Actually, I was going to post a letter," he told Mel, and he cast his eyes back to the discarded envelope, it seeming very unimportant now.

He shuffled round next to her and put his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "If you want to talk, talk when you're ready," he told her gently. "For now, we'll have to cheer you up."

Mel let herself somewhat snuggle into Jack's body. "Letter?" she asked, her voice not as shaky as before. "Letter to who?"

She then closed her eyes, sighing a little. "You're being nice." She said, rather accousingly. "And how do you plan on doing that? Cheering me up." She forced up a sarcastic laugh.

"The guy whose hair I set on fire that time," Jack said with a small laugh. He rested his head gently on top of hers and pulled her closer to him.

"I can be nice sometimes," he said softly. "Just don't let anyone know."

Jack pulled one knee towards him. "I don't know what's happened, but believe me when I say I am really sorry, whatever it is." He gave her a small squeeze. "If you don't want talk about it then I'm not going to force you, but like hell I'm going to strive to cheer you up."

He thought for a moment. "We will throw a party," he said. "Me, you, Twat and Blondie, even Sandr- Sky."

Mel couldn't stop from laughing. "Yea I remember that, if you ever set my hair on fire, I'm murdering you." she smiled.

She sighed leaning against JAck again. "My gran died that's all, I've talked about it." She shrugged, fighting to keep the tears back.

She then gave away a little sob-giggle and nudged Jack. "Keep calling him Sandra and he'll have to beat your face in dear." she smiled again. "Party..?"

"I really am sorry," Jack told her, smiling sadly. "Was she old?"

"A party," he said. "It's a social event. People drink and dance there. Heard of it?" He nudged her playfully. "How about it?"


(I am so sorry it's short!)