Try and talk to her.

"Melody...What's wrong?" You ask. It may seem like a dumb question, but it's honestly what you think. What you two just did was one of the most mind-numbingly amazing things you've ever experienced. What the hell was she apologizing for?

"Please, Jack...just go away..." She sobs, her words marred by her shaky voice.

"Go away?" You ask, you heart shattering a bit. You don't know what you were expecting after that, but it certainly wasn't complete and utter rejection.

"I can't talk to you right now. Please just leave me alone." You could tell she was crying now. Your guilty conscience tugs at your heart strings. She sounded like she was enjoying it so much before. And now...now look what you've done to her.

"Melody..." You want to so bad to hold her in your arms like you were doing during the storm. But she wouldn't appreciate that. You know that much.

"Okay. I'm leaving." You say softly. "I'm sorry, Melody. I never meant to hurt you." You words are starting to get choked up too and you struggle to stay even.

"Hurt me?" She asks quietly. "You think you...you think you hurt me?"

"Well...I mean, what am I supposed to expect? You're crying and telling me to go away."

"It's not you." She says softly. "Please don't blame yourself. You didn't hurt me. I swear you didn't. It's just that..." She starts to cry some more. "Can...can you just go back to your bed? I'll talk to you later, I promise. Right now I...right now..."

"Okay...it's okay." You say. "I'll wait." You leave her alone and return to your bed. You know that there is no way in Hell you are going to fall asleep after what had just happened. You can still hear Melody crying softly in her bad and you just want to die so you wouldn't have to feel each sob of hers tear through your heart. She eventually gets quiet and the night passes on.

An hour or two later, you hear her bed squeak and Melody gets up and moves toward you. You can't see her, but can hear the footsteps.

"Jack?" She asks, her voice shaking. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." You say weakly.

"Can we...can we talk?" Her voice is small and timid.

"Of course." You shift over and she crawls up into bed with you. She sits on the edge and looks back at her own bed. She is silent for several minutes, but you decide not to push her. She will open up when she's ready. A few more minutes pass, then...

"I am so sorry, Jack." She says. "I didn't mean to push you away like that earlier. I know it was harsh and now that I have a grip on myself, I wish I could take it back."

"It's all right." You respond.

"I knew you would say that." She sighs. "That's what makes you such a great friend. And such a wonderful guy." She gulps and tries to keep her voice steady. "I'm very lucky to have a friend like you. You've been closer to me than anyone else, even my family. You mean a lot to me. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah. I feel the same way too" You say.

"That...that is why I was crying." She takes a deep breath. "I was angry at myself for using you like that."

"Using me?" You ask in confusion.

"To get off." She says. "I had no right to do what I did. I completely abused our friendship and the fact that you would do anything for me." Her voice quivered and it sounded like she was going to cry again. "I used you for my own selfish pleasures and I can't forgive myself for doing it."

"Melody, that's not..." You start, but she cuts you off.

"Don't try and rationalize it. Please. It's simple: I wanted it so bad I couldn't stop myself. I didn't even take you into consideration. There was just this burning want and the need to fufill it."

"But you didn't use me!" You exclaim. "Did you not see that I was into it? I was the one grabbing your ass and moving your underwear and I'm the one who took the iniative on entering you, remember?" She shudders a bit and you know she is remembering it rather vividly.

"I know that you were into it, Jack. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think you would want it. I've seen you sneak glances at me from a distance. The problem is that it wasn't just sex for me." She shakes her head. "Jack...when I say you mean a lot to me, that's a bit of an understatement. You mean EVERYTHING to me."

"Everything?" You ask, your words getting quiet.

"I'm in love with you, Jack. I have been for a long time. You get my heart beating faster whenever I'm near you. Your smile makes my hands shake and my knees quiver. I dream about us at night and the future we could have together. And, as you may guess now, I fantasize about you regularly. And I have a million dreams about what our first time would be like. How I would confess my love for you and give you a kiss that would show you just how much I love you and how badly I wanted you. How I would make it an amazing, wonderful, romantic experience that would be the best you've ever had and make you fall deeper in love with me."

"And that is what breaks my heart. We just had our first time...and I completely blew it. I told you to shut up and used you like some damn sex toy. That isn't how it was supposed to be...I love you and I treated you like just some one night stand." She is now crying again. "We...we didn't even kiss. Not once." She drops her head into her hands and starts bawling again.

Her revelation has absolutly floored you. You are stunned and unable to respond. She loves you! The girl of your dreams loves you back! She has to know the truth! But how do you tell her?