Breakfast and an Explanation.

You wake up with a painful throbbing in the back of your head. You groan as the sunlight comes in from the window and right into your eyes. You briefly forget why you drank so much, since you hate the resulting hangovers, but the memory slowly seeps into your mind. The humiliation and pain you felt. You feel ire and shame rise back up in your throat and you let out an angry grunt.

Suddenly, the sunlight cuts away and you turn to see that the window blinds are now closed again. You now smell something delicious and lift your head off the pillow to see what was going on. Melody is standing several feet away, holding a plate with what looks like a delicious omlette in one hand and a hot cup of coffee in the other.

"Hi." She says shyly and fidgets a bit. "How's your head feel?"

"Grungh?" Is all you manage.

"That bad, huh?" She cocks her head to the side. "Well, it's a good thing I made some coffee for you."

"You made coffee?" You ask, your brain still struggling to catch up.

"Yeah, and a ham and cheese omlette." She gives you a **** smile. You lick your lips subconsiously. The pain she put you through is temporarily pushed out of your mind. Noone makes a better omlette than Melody. "I figured you may be wanting something nice for breakfast. You know...considering last night..." She looks away and the memories come back to the forefront of your mind.

"Uhh...thanks." You say slowly. That omlette looks so good, but part of you is unwilling to accept the gift. "But...I'm not really hungry..."

"Yes you are." She says softly. You give her an odd look. "I've known you for seven years, Jack. You don't think I know what expression you get when you're hungry?"

"Look, Melody, I..."

"Please...you don't need to think of this as a bribe or a peace treaty or anything. I'm not doing this to buy back your trust or your friendship." She holds the plate of food out. "I'm doing this because I want to."

You continue to stare at her and the food for a while, then take the breakfast and set it down on the bed. "Thanks." You say simply and take a sip of coffee.

"I-I want to talk about last night." She says quickly, as if she was afraid she wouldn't be able to bring it up.

"I really don't." You say curtly. You can see her wince from beyond the coffee mug.

"I really hurt you last night, huh?" She asks. You are about to repeat to her that you really didn't want to talk about it, but the look on her face shuts you up. The anguish there seems to resonate with you. It's easy to forget she was dumped last night.

"Yeah. The male ego is a fragile thing." You say simply. "No guy likes to be laughed at or teased like that. Especially by a girl. Especially by...someone they really care about. Like their best friend." She casts her eyes to the ground.

"I don't know what came over me last night...what possessed me to say and do those things." she said.

"It was beyond humiliating." You sigh and take another sip of coffee. "You made me feel about two inches tall."

"I...I know this is going to sound bad, but I think that's why I did it." She says, glancing at you worriedly. You expression seems to fill her face with blush and she stammers on. "I felt the same way when Keith...when Keith dumped me."

"Really?"

"Yes. He...he made me feel so small and insignificant. I wasn't just crushed...I was humiliated. When I came back here...and you told me you spied on me...that was the last straw. It really wasn't even that bad...I don't really care that you peeked at me. But in my current mind set, it made me feel even more humiliated. And I needed to gain control again. I needed to feel like I was no longer the victim. And it seems the only way I could was to make things even...make you feel as small as I did." Her voice grew even softer. "But I overdid it. I felt better as you got more embarrassed. Like now I'm not the lowest thing in the world. Part of me felt downright rotten about doing that to you, but my ego felt slightly less crushed and I couldn't stop myself."

"Melody..."

"It was absolutely horrible of me to do that to you, and I fully realized that as soon as you left. I couldn't believe what I had done. I was as bad as Keith. I hurt you just to make myself feel better." She reached out and grabbed your free hand. "I am so sorry, Jack. I never wanted it to go as far as it did. Hell, I never even wanted it to go anywhere. I just didn't want to feel like the biggest loser in the world. I am so, so sorry."