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Stubborn Love- A Modern/AU Walking Dead Story	By : ImagineLayla131 Category: S through Z > The Walking Dead Views: 2907 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH TWD FRANCHISE NO MONEY/PROFIT IS BEING MADE!

Chapter List
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Hi everybody! Loving the positivity so far surrounding the story! Some more Walking Dead characters will be appearing in this chapter, as well as lots of secrets! I kind of went en route with the comics on what happened to Aiden, I thought it would be a nice bonus for the story. The latest chapter of Forever Rising Phoenix I plan to have up tomorrow, so I've got a busy weekend! :). Also, this is my first attempt at multiple first person narrative, so don't be too hard on me! Lol ;P. Gareth is mentioned in this chapter, and as you can tell, he is quite accomplished. I can't wait to delve further into his character, he'll be making his appearance very soon! :)
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH SKYFALL OR THE WALKING DEAD. ALL PROPERTIES OWNED BY ADELE AND PAUL EPWORTH, FRANK DARABONT AND AMC (TELEVISION SERIES), ROBERT KIRKMAN AND TONY MOORE (COMIC BOOK SERIES), RESPECTIVELY. I ONLY OWN MY OWN ORIGINAL IDEAS AND CHARACTERS.
Chapter Two: Fall, Crumble, Stand Tall, Face It All
LORI
I heavily sighed as soon as Melody walked out of the room, knowing that she had been on the verge of tears. It broke my heart to see her like this, all of ours, actually. The only person who seemed not to care at all was Phillip, and that aggravated me. Why couldn't he put aside his egotistical and domineering ways for just a weekend, if not a day? To tell his daughter that he loved her and it was ok to cry because she was sad and that it would pass? Melody needed her father, it was bad enough that Mom never seemed to keep a stable relationship. At least she had Rick, Merle, and Daryl as male figures to look up to, and while the Dixon brother's lifestyle is a bit questionable, they've always shown how much they genuinely care about Melody in the short time they've known her.
She used to always have a smile on her face that would light up the room, she never let it show how much pain she was really in from her problems growing up, but everything changed after Aiden died. Now, we were lucky if one of us got her to smile at all. I just wish there was something I could do to help bring her out of this devastating depression. I've had long conversations with her friends about it, and they aren't sure what to do, either. They've done their best by getting her out of the house, but it seemed like something was missing. Maybe I should ask my friend Paula to look into getting her a pass for The Big Bang Theory, since her husband works for CBS and Melody loves that show. It is pretty funny, even Rick, Carl, and I have gotten hooked on it, Melody and Carl have matching "Bazinga" shirts, the catchphrase of Jim Parsons' character on the show, Dr. Sheldon Cooper.
Except there had to be something more than that, she needed a fresh start romantically, but I didn't know too many people her age and her friends have already tried to fix her up, but I suddenly thought of a potential wildcard.
There was a young man in his twenties that works for Woodbury. He's only been with the company almost a year, but from what Rick and Shane have told me, he's brought in a lot of business and made them a lot of money, not to mention that he kind of looks like Aiden.
He'd be perfect for Melody!
Smiling, I walked upstairs to get ready, reminding myself to ask Rick what he knew about him after everybody left tonight.
MELODY
AN HOUR LATER
There was nothing like a hot shower to put you at ease. Being a fire sign like Sagittarius never fit me, I'm a natural water baby. Always in a pool, taking too long of showers, I just felt so peaceful surrounded by water. Like it would wash away my issues and cleanse my soul, better than that damn pyramid, although it was a great cure for insomnia.
I looked at myself in the mirror, my hair blown dry, fresh makeup applied to cover my blemishes, dressed in a black velour Juicy Couture outfit. Juicy outfits seemed to be the only thing that fit right now, since I've gained some of the weight back thanks to the damn antidepressants that Dr. Mamet prescribed, I didn't have the confidence to squeeze into my True Religions.
In general though, my body shape is a cross between an hourglass or a lollipop at the top and the rest is more banana shaped, I've always felt oddly misproportioned. My legs are long and hyper extensive, which sometimes makes my thighs look bigger than they are, my waist is long and goes inward, which makes it look like I have love handles, my hips are too low, and my 40DD breasts that I've had since I was thirteen are way too big for my frame, they also make me slightly round shouldered at times, and I was starting to get paranoid that my butt somehow got bigger despite everybody telling me that it was still small and fit my frame. They also tell me that my weight gain isn't too noticeable, that I just need to tone up, but I just feel like I'm a whale. I recently found stretch marks on my stomach and hips, one day they're barely there and the next they're bright red and purple. I know I'll need lots of laser work to get rid of them. Sometimes I wrap my stomach up in Saran wrap and wear shaper tank tops over them to hold in the chubbiness, like right now, in addition to wearing a back posture brace.
This has further messed with my self-esteem. I've always thought of myself as "scurvy", skinny but curvy in the right places, even when I had my forty pounds of baby fat, now I just feel disgusting.
Maybe if you would have lost the weight earlier, Aiden would have dated you, fat ass.
No, that's not it.
Yes, it is.
NO, IT'S NOT!
YES, IT IS! PORKY PORKY PORKY! OINK OINK OINK!
A knock at the door pulled me from my dueling thoughts. "Melody? Can I come in?"
"Yes." I turned around, smiling to see my brother-in-law Rick Grimes in the doorway. "Hi, Rick!"
He smiled at me, his cerulean blue eyes dancing. "How are things today?"
"Fine, I guess. Not so much crying, which is good. Although, I think I'm going to need Botox soon." I walked up closer to him and squinted, pointing to my eyes and forehead. "See, look. Bags under my eyes and crow's feet, and there's some lines in my forehead. Time for those injections."
Rick started laughing and rolled his eyes. "You're crazy for thinking that, Melody. No Botox for you until forty, if not ever. You're twenty years old for crissakes!" He ruffled my hair, which made me laugh. "There's that smile. You ready to come down?"
"Yes, I am, and by the way, I'll be twenty one in a few months."
"I know, I can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday you were learning to walk! What do you want to do for your birthday?"
I'm not gonna lie, I've had a bit of a crush on Rick since I was a little girl, which sounds deeply disturbed since he's known me my whole life and is pretty much like the older brother I never had and always wanted. I couldn't help it, he's just so kind and handsome with his easy going demeanor, intelligence, blue eyes, short brown curly hair, and he had a body that even most guys my age would kill for. Rick was everything I wanted the man of my dreams to be, his one flaw was that he was a bit too short for my liking, only 5"10. He and Lori kind of have a Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman thing going on, she can't wear too high of heels. Since I'm already so short, I love my heels super high, and whomever I end up with needs to be over six feet. Aiden was six foot one and as close to perfect as I thought a guy could be, the next best thing to Rick. I've always been such a hopeless romantic, it's why my heart is hurting so badly. My friends have set me up with a few guys, but it never went anywhere. I get kind of picky, but aren't all girls? I wonder if I'll ever find somebody that truly understands me…
"I'm not sure, but I'll get back to you about it. How was your day?" I asked him as we walked down the hall. There were times when I thought that maybe Rick liked me, too, but that just proved I was further out of my mind than I thought.
"Good. Busy, but good."
"I can't believe you went into work on a Sunday. Then again, anything to avoid those God awful pancakes my sister makes. If I had a dollar for every flour clump I found…"
He smirked, elbowing me affectionately. "Hey, she tries."
"They're pancakes, Rick! What's to screw up? She should just let me make them, maybe it will rub off on her?"
"Maybe. Anyways, I had to go in today. The Big Hero 6 merchandise is being released this week, and Penguins of Madagascar is after that." Rick and his best friend Shane used to be cops for the L.A.P.D. until ten years ago when Rick was shot during a bust in South Central and ended up in a coma for six months. It was a miracle that he came out of it at all, and when he woke up, he had enough of that life. At twenty four years old with a wife and a young child, he couldn't let them down like that. Rick and Shane were college graduates with Bachelor's Degrees in Business from UCSD, but decided to pursue a career in law enforcement until the economy was improved to open up a business. Needless to say, my dad was intrigued, so he decided to take Rick under his wing and show him the ropes of the printing and graphic design business.
Now, ten years later, Rick and Shane had turned Woodbury Communications from a Silicone Valley start up to an international company, taking it beyond what my dad ever dreamed of. They had had lots of success in the past year landing an account with Disney, which was all thanks to this boy wonder from San Francisco. Woodbury had been after Disney since my dad was in charge, and Wonder Boy swayed them in less than twenty minutes. Posters, packaging for the toys and accessories, billboards, etc. The printing for Frozen alone were amongst the company's highest sales, and following Guardians of the Galaxy, they had Big Hero 6, which was expected to be as successful as Frozen. According to Rick, Wonder Boy had suggested they reprint the Marvel Comics. Since Marvel and Disney are merged, they were included as a tie in with the Woodbury contract, and that sent their profits through the roof. He also convinced Rick and Shane to add a television and merchandise department to expand the company. That was pretty cool, because Rick has been bringing home a bunch of toys for Carl and me to test. All I've been hearing about was this kid for the better part of a year, he's obviously a genius, Shane even went as far as to call him "Steve Jobs, Jr." which was quite the compliment. I think his name is Garrett or Gareth, I can't remember and we've never met. He wasn't at the company Christmas party last year and every time I'm at the office he's never around, but his design partner Martin is, who asks me out whenever I stop by despite telling him "No" repeatedly.
Martin was one of the last people my dad hired before going into politics, and while he's a good worker, I'm convinced he's a sexual deviant or something. He always gave off a creepy vibe, leering at me, purposely finding ways to feel up against me in the elevator or in the hallway. I call him "Martin the Moron" like "Marvin The Martian", because he pretty much is that, just a moron, but he's made a lot of money for the business, so he's not going anywhere any time soon. Even though my dad signed everything off to Rick, I still stopped by once a month at the offices in Chatsworth to make sure everything was going well and running smoothly, so it's odd that I haven't meet Garrett/Gareth whatever his name is. Although, I've seen his work and I'm very impressed, hiring him was one of the best decisions that Rick and Shane could have made for Woodbury. Only the employees that have been working there before 2010 know that I'm Phillip Blake's daughter. I know he didn't want the company to be left to me when he died, and Rick felt bad about that, so he changed it to where if anything happened to either him or Shane that I would take over and mentor Carl when he got older. I think if it were up to my dad, I'd never get a dime. Who knows how long he'll pay for my insurance and cellphone for? I'm lucky he kept his promise to buy me a car and I have a company gas card, but there's something he's hiding. He always told my mom that if anything happened to him that Lilly knew what to give me. I'm not sure how much I trust her to keep me in the loop with everything and to not screw me over royally to benefit my sisters, so I've been putting calls into estate lawyers for the past year. It's pathetic that at twenty years old, I have to go through a tedious ordeal to secure that I'm still my father's daughter.
"Eh, I guess you're off the hook with that. It's a huge project, Carl and I are stoked for it to come out, we think Baymax is just freaking rad. Are you scoring tickets for the premiere?"
"I'll see what I can do, Melo."
"Nice! Seriously though, you work waaaay too much, Rick. When are we going to take that vacation?" Rick, Lori, Carl, my mom and I have been talking for years about all of us taking a week long vacation, but the timing never seemed to be in our favor.
"I don't know, maybe this year if everything gets completed on time. It's been a full workload with all the new accounts we've landed, but I'll see what I can do. I think we're all overdue for a vacation." Rick always put needs before wants, it's why he was such a great provider, but he also made sure to devote himself to his family other than financially, which is why he was home at six every night and never missed a baseball game of Carl's.
"Hi! It's so great to see you, you look fantastic!"
We looked over the staircase railing to see Lori at the front door, greeting Andrea with a huge hug as Shane walked in behind her.
Rick smiled. "Ahh, look who's here! Hello, everybody." He walked down the stairs as Andrea and Shane looked up at him, I chose to stay back, hoping to slink my way past the creeper without being noticed.
"Shane, I haven't seen you in so long. What, three hours?" Rick asked, pulling Shane in for a hug, making them laugh.
"You can't get enough of me, man, I'm irresistible." Shane smirked.
"Keep dreaming. Hi, Andrea."
"Hi, Rick." They each gave each other a kiss on the cheek before Rick turned around and motioned to me.
"Elle, come on down."
DAMN IT! MY PLAN WAS RUINED!
"Yeah, ok." I began walking down the stairs, seeing a salacious look in Shane's eyes.
"Hey, Melody. You're looking good." He shot me a wink, and I could feel myself shivering with the creeps.
"Hi." I tried to keep my cool, but just being around him made me break out in a cold sweat.
"Oh, my God! Melody!" Andrea pushed past Rick and met me in the middle of the stairs, tightly embracing me. Even though I've known her for years and I'm usually an affectionate person, for some reason her hug seemed out of character and made me uncomfortable.
"Hi, Andrea."
She pulled back, holding onto my shoulders, with a sad look on her face. "Melody, I am so, so sorry about your boyfriend, Aiden. You two were such a cute couple, it's an absolute tragedy what happened."
My weakly attempted smile now faded, and I could have sworn I saw Lori frantically shaking her head at Andrea all the while she was talking to me, mouthing "No." and swiping her hand across her throat. The foyer was so silent that I could hear the sprinklers going off next door. I know it hadn't been intentional and that she probably was provided false information, but my mind began swirling with the thought of Aiden being brutally stabbed to death. I walked backwards out of Andrea's hold and turned around, going up the stairs and heading back to my room, ignoring the calls behind me.
RICK
"Melody? Melody? God, damn it!" I was so annoyed that I slapped a bronze sculpture off the foyer counter, smashing it to pieces.
"Rick!" Lori scolded, Shane and Andrea in supposed shock.
I looked over at my wife, knowing that I hadn't meant to startle everybody with my outburst, but I was frustrated. "Lori, we just got her out of her room!"
Andrea looked at us with guilt. "I'm so sorry, I thought you told me they were dating, Lori." I'm sure she meant well, but Andrea was one of those people that talked first and thought later. Maybe it's why she was such a successful civil rights lawyer, but it proved to be disastrous outside of a courtroom.
She shook her head. "No, I said that he told her they had important things to discuss, and maybe it could lead to them dating."
I huffed, exasperated. "This is totally going to set her back now."
"Hey, it's better that she doesn't know the truth about what really happened to him."
We all looked over at Shane, puzzled looks on our faces. "What do you mean?" I asked.
Shane heavily sighed and looked down, putting his hands on his hips as he finally looked up at us again. "Aiden Auerbach wasn't stabbed at a party, that's just the story the L.A.P.D. told the press. He was captured off the street and beaten to death with a barbed wire bat. His skull was crushed in, one his eyes popped out, broken jaw and teeth. That wasn't all. He was beaten so badly he was almost unrecognizable. The mother was so traumatized she gave herself a stroke, and it took the mortician a week to fix him up, it was pretty horrific."
All the color from Lori's face drained and she gasped before clinging on to me, crying into my shirt. I could feel my own eyes watering as well. We had all met Aiden several times, at Melody's birthday parties and on their graduation day, he even came over here one time with some friends to hang out with Melody and practice hits with Carl. He was an exceptional young man, and my stomach was sent into a lurch over something so ghastly happening to an innocent boy.
Aiden was raised in a Jewish family, just like Melody and Lori, and in the Jewish religion, an open casket is prohibited. Even if it weren't, they couldn't have considering the amount of damage that had been done. Melody was too distraught to attend Aiden's funeral. With all the cliquey popular kids there, it would have been like walking into the lion's den. She had had such a rough time in high school, those were the last people she wanted to be around, so I took her to the cemetery a few weeks later while Lori and Charlotte sent flowers to the family. After hearing what Shane just told us, for her own benefit, Melody could never know the truth about how heinous Aiden's death really was. I rubbed Lori's shoulder, both of us looking over at Shane.
"How… Why?"
"Leon and Lambert showed me the crime scene photos one night, said the kid's parents paid off the L.A.P.D. and hired a P.R. guy to give a different story to the news." Leon Basset and Lambert "Lam" Kendal were two co-workers of ours that worked in Unit 143 while Shane and I were in Unit 134. Now, they're Unit 162 and since the two of us left the force, Leon and Lam have really succeeded in crime scene investigations, which was surprising because the two of them were pretty dense in general. "As far as "why", I don't know. There are some sick people in the world, that's why. There was blood on his hands that wasn't his own, so he did try to put up a fight, that was a brave move."
Andrea spoke up. "Can you blame him? He was literally fighting for his life."
Lori wiped her tears. "I need to go talk to her." She pushed past me to go up the stairs, but I got a gentle grip on her arm.
"No, no. You stay, it's best if I go."
She shook her head at me. "But I'm her sister-"
"I know, but you're clearly upset over this. Melody is already so depressed. Not a word can ever be spoken about how Aiden really died. I know it may be coming off as devious and immoral, but this is for her own good." Everybody silently nodded. It would kill me, and Lori, for the rest of our lives to have to hold back such a horrible secret, but this was what had to be done in order for Melody to recover. I cared about her too damn much to let her further spiral out of control, and something like this might do permanent damage. I looked over at Lori, giving her a calm look. "I'll go, ok?"
"Ok." She nodded.
I gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked up the stairs, already hearing "Skyfall" by Adele blasting from Melody's room on the third floor.
MELODY
"Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
At skyfall
That skyfall"
I had allowed myself to have a mini breakdown, I ran to my room in the first place just for a release, blasting my Bose stereo to drown out my hyperventilating. At the moment, Adele's soulful voice and intoxicating melody were doing a good job in calming down. What Andrea said just threw me for a loop, but I know I can't always run whenever I hear something unpleasant, I need to try harder to swallow my anguish and keep a brave face on.
"Melody? It's me, Rick." As Rick knocked on my door, the embarrassment further set in. Not just for me, but for Rick and Lori as well, which was very selfish of me, I owed them a major apology. Dabbing gently under my eyes, thankful that I had worn the waterproof Miss Manga mascara and that I hadn't gotten so hysterical to the point where I needed to completely put on more makeup, I took a deep breath and opened the door, seeing the sorrow in Rick's eyes. "Are you ok?"
I nodded, looking down a bit. "Yes, I am now. I'm really sorry about that whole scene, what Andrea said caught me completely off guard, but that's no excuse for my behavior."
"Hey, sweetheart." Rick lifted my chin up, our eyes locking and I could feel my cheeks burn up. "It's alright. We all have our moments, and this is still really fresh, it hasn't even been a year. You're getting better every day, I can see it."
"Really?"
He nodded, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Yes, I can. You're going to beat this, I know you will. So if you feel like you need a moment to yourself to let things out, don't be ashamed to take it, because we're all here waiting for you." Rick smiled at me and I felt my heart fluttering. He really was such an incredible man, and I was so lucky to have him in my life. I just wish I could find somebody like him or that I could have met him first, even though the latter was a fantasy and the former was the more obtainable.
"I won't. Thanks, Rick. I love you." I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.
"I love you, too, Melody."
"Lorelei Callie Grimes! What's wrong with your floor? This is how you let your guests see your house? What's the point of being a kept woman if you're going to live like Cinderella?"
We separated when we heard my grandma's loud voice commenting on the mess in the foyer.
"Looks like Grams has arrived."
"Where's that husband of yours? Get him to clean this up, it will give me an excuse to check out his rear end. I haven't seen an ass that fine since the Truman Administration, and that was only a one night stand with a calendar boy."
"Mom!" I heard my own mother shouting, not even having to be there to know that she was embarrassed. Rick and I looked over at each other and smirked, trying not to laugh, but I could tell he was embarrassed. We could hear Andrea and Shane trying to stifle laughter as well.
"What? After spending years with your father's wrinkled ass and sagging balls, I deserve to ogle a quality looking ass. Lucky for Lorelei's sake, they have enough money for Rick to get his balls lifted. Trust me, during foreplay it's like a damn yo-yo that won't stop spinning."
We could no longer contain ourselves and busted up. My grandma was quite the character, but she has a tendency to take it a bit too far. She also looks and sounds exactly like the actress Margo Martindale from that show The Millers, so it makes everything that much funnier no matter how ridiculous or embarrassing it sounds.
"Riiiii-ccccckkkk! Come here and give Grandma Francis a big kiss!" Grams obviously heard us. I nudged Rick.
"Go on, Cowboy. Have fun getting checked out by a crazy lady."
"I heard that, Melody Jasmine Silverstone-Blake!"
I laughed to myself, already feeling better. I'm really grateful for all that my sister and Rick have done for me. Making sure I get to my doctor's appointments and take my medications, letting me live with them rent-free (in a room that has an adjoining bathroom, so now I really never left my room.), listening to my endless rants about my parents or crying over Aiden. Which is why it kills me every time I look at Rick that I can't tell him that up until two months ago, I was fucking his best friend, or rather, his best friend was fucking me. I can't tell him because I know he would never see me the same way ever again for the rest of my life, just like Shane already doesn't.
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Stubborn Love- A Modern/AU Walking Dead Story