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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
- 37
- 38
- 39
Hi everybody! It's been a crazy month! Sorry for the delay. First I had a horrendous case of writer's block, then my grandma had a small stroke almost two weeks ago on her left side. She was in the hospital for two days, then moved to a rehab facility 30 miles away for speech and physical therapy. She's coming home tomorrow, but it has been quite exhausting for me and my mom, so sorry if this chapter kind of sucks. It was pretty long, so I split it up, the next one will be quite juicy. I made the reference to How I Met Your Mother because if Stubborn Love were ever to be on the big screen (which is the ultimate plan) outside of FanFiction, I would want Cobie Smulders, who plays Robin, to play Melody's older sister.
I wanna give a special shout out to 6980085LMFAO, Headwalkerz, Joshua the Terminian, pen123, Prettyprincess45, and SilverSun09. Please check out their stories, because they are freaking awesome! Enjoy the chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH LOVE SHACK. ALL PROPERTIES OWNED BY THE B-52'S, RESPECTIVELY. I ONLY OWN MY OWN ORIGINAL IDEAS AND CHARACTERS.
Chapter Thirty Eight: Sin City Part Three
LORI
The beeping of the key slider and click of the door opening alerted me from my dream like state.
"Come back later! We don't need the bed turned." I said as loud as I could in my sleepiness, assuming it was housekeeping.
After dinner and LOVE last night, Rick and I decided to skip Terminus and go straight to the penthouse. Even though I love to party, pregnancy really wore me out. We spent the rest of the evening watching The Last Five Years, snuggled up in the deluxe king sized bed eating jumbo ice cream sundaes and talking the night away.
When Rick was a sheriff, we spent more evenings together, and although he succeeds in coming home by six, there are still the all nighters that have to be pulled. The holidays were always a stressful time, not to mention the current workload at Woodbury (I'm even surprised the boys were able to take the weekend off), that it was little moments like these that both of us cherished, time for us to relax and be intimate.
"Lori. Psst, Lori!" My sister loudly whispered.
"Mm what? I'm sleeping."
She scoffed, clearly not caring. "I need some sissy time, we gotta talk."
The next thing I felt was the comforter and the sheets tucked in at the end of the bed lift up and then rustle. When I opened my eyes, Melody was struggling to get in between us.
"Jeez, this is a bed for six, it shouldn't be this much of a hassle to be the middle spoon!" She sat up, crossing my arm and Rick's over her once she finally got comfortable.
"Melody, sometimes you are such a pest!"
"Lori, what's going on?" Rick murmured in his sleep.
"Shhh, it's nothing, Rick. Go back to sleep, I'm talking to my sister. Return to the Land of Dreams, Yoda, where light sabers and time machines rule." Melody patted him on his shoulders before turning back to me.
"What time is it?"
"Almost 9. You're the only one I can talk to, Lori. I need my big sissy." She stuck her lower lip out in a pout, her eyes down turned in mock sadness.
With a heavy sigh, I decided not to be agitated and just hear her out. "Melody, what is it and why couldn't it have waited? I was having such a nice dream and you know how hard it is for me to fall asleep lately." I figured it must have been important for her to barge in so early.
Her pout turned into a smile, followed by a squeal. "Yay!"
I put my finger to my lips, shushing her. "Rick is still sleeping."
"Oops, right." Melody hunkered down as we laid on our sides. "Oh, my God. Lorelei Callie Silverstone-Grimes, you missed one hell of a night! You will not believe what happened."
"I did, huh? Enlighten me."
"First off, Terminus has got to be the coolest place around, they even had a mechanical bull in their butcher room! Talk about morbid, huh?"
I nodded with a soundless laugh. "Oh, yeah. Keep going."
"We had the V.I.P. hook ups and everything. I'm on my way back from the bathroom, somebody knocks into me, and I go flying onto this guy's lap. We started talking and he bought me a drink, the next thing I know thirty minutes had passed and Gareth found me still on his lap."
"Wait, you weren't-"
Melody shook her head. "Of course not! Anyways, his name is Crash, he's a makeup artist, too. He and his friends joined us back at the villa for an after party, Crash was about to take his shirt off to show me the rest of his ink when Gareth grabbed me and dragged us back to the master suite. He started shouting madman style, I'm trying to calm him but nothing. I've seen him angry before, never like this. Not gonna lie, he was one step away from turning into The Incredible Hulk."
"Whoa, boy. Why was he so pissed?" Unfortunately, this hadn't been their first fight, and while things had been pretty great since they got back together, they weren't entirely perfect.
The most recent was two days after Thanksgiving; they had actually gotten into an argument over Melody's boobs when he offered to get her a breast augmentation. Gareth had meant it because she has horrendous back pain, but Melody interpreted it as not being respected despite her cup size, and it evolved into a yelling match throughout the whole house, starting at her room and making its way to the foyer, screaming in each other's faces. Rick and I had intervened, only for Melody to shove Gareth out of the house and slam the door in his face. He came back twenty minutes later and they had makeup sex for three hours.
Of course, Melody had received a visit from Mother Nature later that night, which explained why she was so agitated, but this time it was on Gareth.
"Turns out he had taken E with Alex, Glenn, Noah, and Aaron."
My mouth flew open. "No way."
"Not just that, but Aaron kissed him!"
"Shut up! He did not!"
"No, he totally did! I've never seen Gareth so enraged, Lori. He actually..." She leaned in, whispering in my ear, and when she pulled away I was completely flabbergasted.
"I don't think I needed to know that, Melody. Haven't you ever heard of T.M.I.?"
Melody scrunched her eyebrows up, appearing sad. "Huh? What do you mean?
While she was a consenting adult, there were times when it was hard to swallow, like right now. "You're my baby sister, I still see you carrying around your Cowgirl Jessie doll and wearing those rhinestone ponytails, I don't want to think of you in that light. Did you know when you were little that Mom and I used to dress you up and take pictures of you all the time? You had a matching headband for every outfit."
Melody had been such a gorgeous baby, with her dark hair and big eyes, people would have to practically pry her out of my arms to separate us. I smiled to myself thinking of how I used to take her for walks around the neighborhood in her stroller and say she was my baby. In a way, she was, because there were moments where I was like a mother to her, I suppose it's to make up for the time I wasn't there.
She smiled, placing her hand on my stomach. "It'll be like that with Judith, too."
After a very long debate regarding the baby's name, Carl came up with the idea to name her Judith, for my love of Judith Lieber clutches. Although it was old fashioned, Rick and I just fell in love with the idea of having our own little Judith who would hopefully bedazzle the world.
"Anyways, I couldn't tell Mommy, and I was going to tell Beth but I had a feeling if she were in this situation she would tell Maggie first. Come on, don't act like you haven't done it before." My sister grinned devilishly.
"I didn't enjoy it as much as you seemed to."
"Pfft, are you kidding me? I got up this morning and I thought I wasn't going to be able to walk. I don't know when I'll be doing round two anytime soon, but it was sexy. Except for I didn't like how mad he got, he was practically out of his mind. You know I would never do anything to upset him on purpose. Gareth is the Marshall to my Lily, I love him to death. I'd say he's the Ted to my Robin, except we're not gonna wait years and years to end up together like they did."
Even in an uncomfortable situation, Melody almost never failed to emerge with a smile. It was a trait I had worried she lost forever when Aiden died. "I know, honey. Can you really blame him though? You blew him off for a half hour, letting him wonder where you were while you hung out with some guy. I'm not saying it makes what he did ok, but can you see where the problem presented itself?"
She nodded. "Yes. I didn't mean to, I guess I didn't realize I was on his lap or how long I was gone. Not to mention I was drunk. We all make mistakes, but he's one to talk, like when he kissed that French whore Genevieve."
"Melody, that's not fair. She forced herself on him and you know that. Still, you have a point."
"I just now noticed both of those resulted in hot sexual encounters, I wouldn't want him that aggressive again outside the bedroom though, it kind of reminded me how Mom and Daddy would fight. At least he knows his behavior was wrong. I've only seen him cry two other times, and I could have sworn I saw tears in his eyes when he woke me up to apologize."
"I can say with the utmost confidence that Gareth would never do anything to hurt you, because if he did, it's not Rick he has to fear, it's me." A couple times I had gone toe-to-toe with Randall for his idiotic behavior towards my sister, which stemmed from my fierce protection over her. Either way, I don't think I will ever have a situation like that with Gareth... except for I could tell Melody was still irked by the whole experience, she was holding back.
"It's nice to know I've got you on my side, big sister."
"Of course. Jealousy is pretty big with guys. I remember a while back Rick was paranoid I had the hots for Shane."
"What? Really? No way." She bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing out loud.
I nodded. "Yep, true story. It was when Shane would blow off those big business trips at the last minute, Rick and I were arguing a lot more then, also."
Melody gave me a dumbfounded look. "What? I had no idea, Lor. You guys always seemed like the picture perfect couple."
"So do you and Gareth, but every couple fights, some worse than others. I'll give you the secret to a long-lasting relationship: be willing to work through any problem. We all know you have a bit of a stubbornness problem."
"And lots of blowjobs. Just think of it as a big Popsicle. I know I do."
"Oh my god, get your head out of the gutter!" I lightly shoved her as we started to laugh as quietly as possible in order not to wake Rick.
"I should probably get going, everybody will be up soon wondering where I am." Melody got up from the bed and was about to walk out of the room when she turned around. "Oh, and one more thing. Gareth said the craziest thing that Rick paid him to take me out."
"He did?"
"Yeah, right before we started going at it. Then later on he said that that wasn't what he meant, that Rick brought me up when they were discussing his promotion. Please tell me that there isn't a shred of truth to this, that Gareth wasn't bribed to take me out."
"Melody, who do you take me for? Of course it isn't true, the timing was just coincidental."
While the topic of promotion had come up frequently the past few months, Rick offering to reimburse Gareth for the dates was his idea, not mine, thinking of it as an added incentive.
"I figured as such, I'm so relieved. The last thing I'd want was for a My Fair Lady/She's All That moment to happen."
I couldn't tell my sister the truth, she'd feel betrayed by all of us. At the same time, Gareth hadn't presented a single receipt to Rick that I knew of, so perchance it wasn't such a big deal after all? Only time would tell.
11:50 AM
MELODY
"I can't believe you did that!"
I scoffed at Beth as I walked out of the closet. "Shouldn't I be saying that instead? I think I'm in shock you actually did that before me. Little Beth Greene is all grown up now."
"Well, like you said, you do that kind of thing with somebody you love, and I love Noah. Is everything ok though? You seem a little frazzled, but you do look amazing in that bathing suit. I'd kill for your boobs." Beth said as she brushed her golden locks. She looked awesome in a yellow polka dot bikini and denim Daisy Dukes, which was rather revealing for her, but a little change never hurt.
"Trust me, they're not always fun." I checked myself out in the mirror, wearing my brand new swimsuit. It was a black and white bandage Herve Leger one piece with cutouts in the front and sides, paired with a beaded white fringe mini skirt and black sandals. This was the first time I had worn a bathing suit in ages, and while I knew I looked good, I was still a bit self-conscious. "Are you sure I should wear it? Maybe I should have gotten the neon colorblocked one instead." I'm finally getting comfortable in my own skin again and now I'm totally on edge.
"Pfft, no way! Black and white is a timeless classic, you look like a billion bucks!"
"Thanks."
"Are you still upset with Gareth? I notice you've hardly talked to him all morning."
"Kind of. How do I know this isn't the beginning of something bad? Maybe I'm overreacting, but one of my worst fears is whatever relationship I'm in would eventually end up like my parents. You're lucky that Noah was only in Jamaica Mon mode, Gareth was like Jack Torrance from The Shining, i.e. unpredictable and practically foaming at the mouth."
I sighed heavily, looking down at my Love bracelet. The man that I had encountered only hours ago was so different from the man that gave me this gift the night before.
"Melody, I know it wasn't pleasant at all. In fact, it sounds a bit terrifying, but I think it was the drugs blinding his emotions and exasperating things. Gareth adores you completely and would never do anything to hurt you, but I think you should bring it up with him if you're worried about it happening in the future. Maybe he's a little insecure and is too proud to admit it."
Growing up, I didn't exactly have a "relationship role model". Mom and Dad always fought, I couldn't take Lilly seriously and I have no idea what his first marriage was like, either. Later on, it was Rick and Lori and Glenn and Maggie fitting the mold, and I had witnessed more than one argument. All couples fight, I know that, but at the moment I feel like I can't shake off the earlier blowup, it was too fresh.
"If he is, I'm the last person he should be hiding it from. Believe me, I've been wearing Insecure Couture for years, it's nothing new to me and he knows that. I have a bad feeling though that since I lost weight, I'll only be getting more unwanted attention, it's already happening now. What am I supposed to do, I can't control what other guys think or do. We've been so happy, but I think a part of him will always be jaded because of how things with Theresa ended. Doesn't he trust me?"
"I don't think it's that, you were sitting on another guy's lap and fawning all over him. Of course your boyfriend was going to get jealous, but you've got to own up to some of this. It doesn't help that Crash is coming back here for the party."
I nodded. "I know, I guess I don't realize how I come across. He said something last night, about how I'm so bubbly it comes off as flirtatious. Is that true?"
Beth immediately looked down, rubbing her cuticles. "Uh, well..."
"Bethy, come on. Don't lie to me, you're one of the very few people in my whole lifetime I could always count on to be completely honest." This had to be pretty bad if my best friend of nineteen years couldn't even look me in the eye.
She heavily sighed and nodded, finally making eye contact. "A little bit, yeah, but I think you're just not aware. It's something that can be fixed though, you just have to check yourself."
I felt my heart sink, having hoped that Gareth was just being a jerk, but how could I have been so unaware? Between that and the fight, this was all getting to be too much for me to the point where I wanted to break down in tears, but I wouldn't. Although it wasn't wise, I was going to do what I did the night before: get very, very drunk. It would provide me with a much-needed distraction along with liquid courage to approach this touchy subject. There was no way I could contain these concerned feelings forever.
"You're right. Come on, let's get this party started!" I motioned for her to follow me, both of us grabbing our matching pink tinted heart shaped sunglasses. The party was going to start soon, everything was still being set up like the temporary stripper poles, DJ booth and buffet table.
As we made our way into the foyer, I froze a little bit when I saw Gareth talking to Alex and Martin. What if he was telling them about last night?
He looked up at me and smiled the best he could. "Hey there."
"Hi."
Gareth made his way over as Beth passed me to go outside. "You girls were in there for so long I didn't think you'd come out."
"Well, we did." I was trying to make eye contact, but I couldn't. Even though I was still tense, I had to face him eventually, especially since I had been trying to avoid him all morning, starting with sitting at the other end of the table at breakfast with everybody.
"I'm glad." He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me into his bare chest. Rocking a pretty rad pair of zigzag blue, pink, white and green board shorts, Gareth had become more lean and toned since the first time I saw him shirtless two months ago, thanks to frequent training sessions with Lee. For a moment, I forgot everything that was bothering me, inhaling his cologne and melting into his arms.
"You look so sexy in that bathing suit, Melody, but I think I'd rather see it on the floor and your legs wrapped around me."
I pulled away, a look of shocked disgust on my face. "Wow, really? You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" Did he seriously have no conscious or recollection of the night before that he would make such a lewd statement?
His face faltered at my words. "What, you mean last night?"
"Love Shack" by The B-52's started blaring from outside, Beth came back in squealing.
"Melody, Melody! It's our song! Come on!" She grabbed me by the arm outside, barely giving me enough time to put on my sunglasses, let alone answer Gareth's question, who was left dumbfounded. The music washed over me as I rocked out with my bestie, reminding us of when Annette or my mom used to drive us to school or Pee Wee Troops and play "Love Shack" the whole way. The image of the two of us jamming in our car seats to now bikini clad and dancing on a table was enough to crack me up.
"The Love Shack is a little old place where we can get together
Love Shack, bay-bee
Love Shack, baby, Love Shack
Love Shack, baby, Love Shack!"
We were shimming back and forth as we sang and laughed, giving our order to the bartender for a batch of piña coladas ASAP, ready to get my drink on. I was so consumed by the fun that I didn't even notice Gareth had left.
2:45 pm
RICK
"How much did you hear?" Lori asked me as we got off the elevator.
"The whole thing." I had actually woken up even though Melody told me to go back to sleep and overheard the entire story about what happened the night before. Honestly, I wasn't sure what was more shocking: Gareth's jealousy or Melody's promiscuity. Hearing that they had anal sex was kind of jarring, and like Lori said, too much information. "I've seen Gareth get angry before, but never to the kind of extreme she described. Maybe one of us should talk to him?"
"That came to mind also, I think it should be me. She's my sister, Rick, and I'm the one who concocted the idea to set them up. You know how protective I am of her, no matter how old she is."
I nodded. "I know, and you two have gotten better acquainted, maybe Gareth feels more comfortable confiding in you than me."
"Or he'll be more intimidated."
We knocked on the door once before Omid opened it with a smile on his face. "Mr. and Mrs. Grimes! May I offer you a refreshment of sorts?"
Lori shook her head. "No, thank you."
"I'll take a Bud."
"Very good, sir."
"Wow, this place is kind of a madhouse." Lori said. Looking around, she was right. If I had to guess, I would say there were almost two hundred people divided between the outside and inside. They were drinking, swimming in the pool, messing around with the entertainment center. I had no idea who they were, most likely freeloaders that were here through word of mouth.
"Hey, hey, hey! Welcome to mi fiesta ca-sa!" Melody strolled up, wearing a black and white cut out one piece with black sandals and a nearly finished piña colada in her hand as she wrapped an arm around each of us. "I'm so happy to see you guys! It's about time you two showed up! What took so long, were you coming from Jupiter? You could have stopped by the moon and grabbed some cheese for the party!" She put her hand over her mouth to conceal the giggles.
"It takes a little longer than I'd like to get ready nowadays. Honey, where's Gareth?" Lori asked, looking in every which direction to find him, only for Melody to shrug.
"I have no idea where he is, I think I heard he and Glenn went to the casino. I honestly don't care, cuz right now I'm too busy getting crunk in this bitch! Woo-Hoo!" She downed the rest of her drink and set it on the tray once Omid appeared with my beer. "Omid, do not stop the drinks."
"Yes, Miss Melody."
"Rick," she grabbed my hand. "You're coming with me and I'm gonna show you how to party hard. And I won't let you say no, cuz you need to loosen up and have some fun like the rest of us!"
I turned to Lori, both of us had a worried expression on our faces. "I'll stay here and watch her, you go find Gareth."
"Good plan."
I followed Melody outside where Alisha was pouring shots of whiskey.
"Don't you think whiskey is a little strong?"
Alisha shook her head. "Not even! A little Jack Daniels is always good for the soul!" She handed us shots before toasting. "Cheers."
We all tossed our heads back, downing the shot.
"I'm outtie. Peace out, kids!" Alisha made a sideways peace sign and walked off.
"Another shot, brother?" Melody asked with a big smile. While I knew I shouldn't be enabling her, maybe she was right, I did need to loosen up a bit. Considering the night Melody had, perhaps she needed to as well.
"Sure, but just one. Are you alright, Melody? I heard about the fight with Gareth."
She poured the smooth whiskey, avoiding eye contact. "Rick, honey, I am finer than a dandelion. I don't want to talk about Gareth right now, he's in the doghouse."
Melody really was in complete party mode, and I didn't know what to make of it. While a part of me wanted to let her enjoy her birthday weekend, another part of me wanted to shake some sense into her.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure you two will figure it out. He's been a very positive addition."
"I know, but for now he couldn't be further from my mind. I hope you're not mad, but he knows about the kiss." Sadness draped her face while shock enveloped mine. "No, please don't get mad, Rick. I had to tell him, we tell each other everything."
I couldn't help but feel a little betrayed and slightly envious of the fact that she had confided in her boyfriend, while the only person that knew was Dr. Jenner, who also believed it was best to wait until after Judith was born. The guilt had been eating away at Melody and clearly still was, perhaps I should let it slide.
"It's alright, kiddo." I grabbed the shot and sipped it. "You know, things were kind of fuzzy for me after that. I'm sure you saw me checking you out before, but for some time following the kiss, I had actually convinced myself I was in love with you."
Melody gave me a strange expression before laughing, which I couldn't help but join in, a sense of relief washed over me. "That is freaking hilarious! Yeah, like that would ever happen! I'm pissed at Gareth right now, but I love that boy so much. My sister is your soul mate. If you break her heart, I'll have to kill you."
"I wouldn't dare it."
She took her shot before almost dropping the glass when she turned around and squealed.
"CRASH! HI-EE!"
Melody had the biggest smile on her face as she walked up and wrapped her arms around a guy wearing black and white stripped board shorts, which he reciprocated before being led over by the hand.
"Rick, this is Crash Bridges, my new BDFF! Best Dude Friend Forever!"
Crash extended his hand forward with a smile. "Hey, Rick. Melody has told me all about you, Lori, Carl and how excited she is for Baby Judith. Congrats, man. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, good to meet you, too."
"Crash, you and I are gonna show Rick how to have a good time, cuz party rock is in the house, tonight! Schyeah!"
"Sweet! I gotta ask though, where's the Patron at? Everybody knows you can't party without Patron."
"Voilà!" Melody pulled a bottle out from behind the bar, along with a third shot glass.
"Nothing too crazy, kids."
"Hey, it's Saturday and you're on vacation. By Monday morning, you'll be sobered up and back in the office, so why not live a little while you can? Right, buddy?" Crash asked with a smile, proving his point.
"Alright, alright, I can play along." I believed it, I'm a grown man and I know my limits.
"Then we're going to have a blast." We raised our glasses. "Cheers, to Melody."
"To Melody."
"To me!"
I could see where Gareth was envious of Crash. He's good looking, laid back, fun and creative. Those are natural qualities to make even the most confident guy a little jealous, not to mention when his girlfriend is mesmerized by him. Hopefully, Gareth would come around.
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Stubborn Love- A Modern/AU Walking Dead Story