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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! Thank you so much for all the kind words for my grandma, it really means a lot! I've been swept up helping her out as well as my mom who is off of work due to an injury, not to mention my other wisdom tooth that needs to be removed cracked, so needless to say I've been busy! Haha again, sorry if this chapter kind of sucks and I plan on working on Phoenix very soon. This chapter goes out to my hero Jackie Collins, who tragically passed away yesterday from breast cancer and as you know, has been my biggest writing inspiration.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH NOTHIN' BUT A GOOD TIME. ALL PROPERTIES OWNED BY POISON, RESPECTIVELY. I ONLY OWN MY OWN ORIGINAL IDEAS AND CHARACTERS.
Chapter Thirty Nine: Sin City Part Four
AN HOUR LATER, THE PALMS CASINO
GARETH
"She called you an asshole? Man, that's rough. Do you think you deserved it?" Glenn asked, sipping his scotch on the rocks while we waited for my turn at the craps table. After Melody's snub, I decided I needed to blow off some steam, so Glenn and I got dressed and hit the casino.
"Of course I did. I didn't mean to get aggressive, but the whole thing was so unlike me. Honestly, it felt like an out of body experience. I am never doing drugs again."
"I'm sorry you had that trip, I was laughing my ass off from what I can remember. Look, I get it, Gareth."
"You do?"
"It's your turn, sir." The dealer tossed the dice my way.
"Thanks."
"Of course I do! If it were Maggie instead, I wouldn't be all smiles, either. As far as I'm concerned, you're both in the wrong."
"Don't I know it? I've got some serious groveling to do." I rolled the dice in my hand and threw them, smiling when I saw it was bar sixes. "Woo hoo!"
"At least you're getting lucky here."
"Absolutely." I nodded at the dealer. "Double or nothing." I looked over at Glenn as I rolled the dice again. "How would you handle this situation, Glenn?"
He shrugged. "Honestly? I'm pretty non-confrontational, I'd only bring it to the light if it was really becoming an issue. Did you ever think that maybe Melody didn't want the attention or that Crash wasn't hitting on her?"
I stopped for a moment, pondering his question. "I never thought of that, but how could she have been that oblivious?"
"Pretty girls are kind of oblivious when they're insecure, but when you date a pretty girl, you have to accept that they're going to get unwanted attention from men. I've been with Maggie for four years now and guys still hit on her. You may not like it, but you've got to accept it."
Glenn had a point. I suppose I could control myself better, so long as Melody didn't reciprocate anything. Honestly, I don't think I'd be able to bear being cheated on again. It bothered me that I could even allow that thought to cross my mind. Then again, I thought Theresa was devoted to our relationship and look how that turned out, except for Melody wasn't Theresa. Melody had come back to me even after I neglected to tell her about Autumn Montana, and she chose me when she could have had any other guy.
"It'll take some time, but I think I can do that."
"Gareth!"
Upon hearing my name called, I turned around to see Lori walking up. I already knew I was in deep shit with Melody, she had been distant all day. Judging by Lori's body language, I might as well be dead and buried.
"Lori, hi. How are you?"
"Not too well." She looked over at Glenn. "Glenn, would you mind giving us a minute?"
He shook his head. "No, not at all." Glenn patted me on the shoulder. "I'll see you up at the villa, ok?"
"You got it." I waited until he was gone to resume the conversation with Lori. "I think I know why you're here, and I'm not entirely to blame. Maybe you should be having this conversation with your sister instead, ask her why she's sitting on random guy's laps when she's got her so called dream guy by the balls."
The moment the words came out of my mouth, all I wanted was to erase it. How could I have even said that when I came to the realization that I was in the wrong? I had had a little too much to drink, Melody's iciness had me feeling depressed and isolated. Perhaps this was a delayed reaction on her end, even if I had it coming.
Lori was flabbergasted before pulling herself together and glaring at me. "I know you didn't mean that, Gareth. Listen to me and you listen NOW. I am five months pregnant, waddling through a casino reeking of cigarettes, booze and high-class hookers, I do not need shit from anybody else. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes." The only time Lori had ever been hostile towards me was when I pointed out that Aiden's friends were pieces of shit by not inviting Melody to the memorial and that was only because she felt like I was rubbing it in her face.
"Now, talk to me. I want to help if I can. She's my sister and I have her back, but there are two sides to every story. Spill the beans, Gareth."
"Sir, it's your turn to roll." The craps dealer interrupted us. I was on the verge of a big sweep, beating out some pretty big high rollers, which included a Texas oil tycoon and some Silicon Valley genius with coke bottle glasses.
"Just a sec." I turned to Lori, knowing the look on my face said it all. "I was out of control last night, plain and simple. I'm sure you know I was tripping balls, I believe that played a big part in it, but you didn't see this guy, Lori. You didn't see the look Melody had on her face, it's the same way she looks at me, and I've never seen her look at any other guy like that but me. Call it what you want: vulnerable, jaded, insecure. Maybe because things have been going so well for us that this presented itself as a problem."
She raised an eyebrow at me. "Going so well? Like when you didn't tell her that you had a three year old daughter or when she caught you and Genevieve?"
"Yes, ok, you're right, and then we broke up and got back together, it's been great ever since. I adore your sister, but she played a part in this by not backing down."
Lori sighed heavily, I could tell she was feeling some indifference. "I know, Gareth, and I agree. Everybody gets one, let that be your one with her. She would never deliberately hurt you like this."
"I know, at least I hope so, but there's also a part of me that can't explain my actions, too. I apologized but Melody is pissed at me still."
"Can you blame her? It brought her back to a bad place. I wasn't always around when my mom and Phillip fought, but I know it was pretty bad and Melody was worried things would escalate to that level last night."
The thought had never even crossed my mind, but now I understood things from another perspective, and I needed to prove that to Melody.
"Lori, your sister means everything to me. You have my solemn promise that history won't repeat itself with us." I had to assure this to Melody as quickly as possible, tossing the dice over my shoulder. "Come on, let's get back. I've got to do damage control."
"Bar sixes!"
We turned around to see that I had again landed bar sixes, doubling my winnings. Everybody cheered for me as I pumped my fist in the air.
"Yeah!" I grabbed Lori and gave her a big hug.
"Congratulations, Gareth!"
"This is so awesome!"
I was just gathering my chips when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. When I looked down on what it was, I showed Lori.
"Looks like things are getting a little crazy up there."
Glenn had sent me a video of Melody and Rick doing The Robot with Daryl and Rosita grinding up behind either one of them, respectively. Lori looked worried, slapping her palm to her forehead.
"I knew I shouldn't have left. Let's go."
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER
Lori and I walked in to see the villa was a mess. Bottles and cans piling up, silly string and streamers strewn everywhere, at least all the furniture and artwork were still in tact. There were even more people than we planned, I had no idea how they got in.
"Jesus Christ, this is Animal House the Sequel."
"Where the hell is my sister? I think this party is about to end."
We looked over to see Melody dancing on the DJ table, the crowd chanting and screaming for her as they all sang along to "Nothin' But A Good Time" by Poison.
"Don't need nothin' but a good time
How can I resist
Ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time
And it don't get better than this"
She grabbed the microphone as the song ended. "EVERYBODY PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND PARTY LIKE YOU KNOW HOW TO RULE THE WORLD!"
The cheering got even louder as Lori and I made our way to the outdoor entrance.
"Melody!"
Melody turned around with a huge smile on her face. "Hey! I'll come over to you! Rick, saddle up!"
"You got it, cowgirl!"
Rick strolled over in front of the DJ booth for Melody to jump on his back.
"Yee-Haw! Giddy up!"
They were both laughing when they finally got to us.
"Hi! Oh, my big sissy, I love you so much!" Melody hopped off of Rick and threw herself on Lori, hanging on her neck.
"I love you, too, hun."
"You mean so much to me, I hope you know that."
"Yes, and same here." Lori gently removed Melody and looked at Rick. "Rick, what is going on? I'm gone for less than an hour and this is what happens?!"
"Live a little, Lori! You're pregnant, not dead. Look out, everybody! Here comes Officer Buzzkill!" Rick started imitating a police siren before cracking up with Melody.
"Melody, you missed BJ swallow a whole jar of olives and shoot them out of his nose! It was hilarious." Crash walked up behind Melody and wrapped his arm across her chest and around her waist, his hand gracing her butterfly tattoo. The second his hand made contact with her skin, all I saw was red.
"Get your fucking hands off my girlfriend." I said as I shoved him off and grabbed Melody, who pushed me away.
"Gareth, what the fuck?"
Crash held up his hands in defense. "Sorry, man. It's a party, I was just having fun, I didn't mean anything by it."
Rick wrapped his arm around Crash's neck. "Hey hey now, we can all be amicable. Crash, I fucking loove you, man!" The two of them started laughing. I couldn't help but feel hurt. Rick was my mentor, not to mention one of my closest friends, to see him fawning all over my new arch-nemesis killed me.
"I love you, too, bro." Crash looked over at Lori and smiled. "Hey! You're Lori, Melody's big sis!"
She nodded. "Yes, and you're Crash, whom I've heard so much about."
"Likewise, it's great to meet you. Wow! Rick, you're right, she's a fox."
Rick nodded, grinning triumphantly. "Mmhmm, I totally hit it and quit it last night, but I didn't get as far as this one did." He pointed at me before throwing his head back and started howling like a wolf. "AAA-OOOOH!"
"Rick! STOP! You're making an ass out of yourself, I think it's time to call it a day." Lori folded her arms across her chest, clearly annoyed.
"Yeah, because I never got the chance to! I didn't want to have Carl when we did, I wanted to go to keggers and get shitfaced! I grew up too fast and I didn't get to enjoy the young college years like I should have, and it's all because you didn't want to get an abortion."
Even I was offended by Rick's comment. Melody kept her mouth shut, but Lori's reaction hurt the most. Not only had Rick stabbed her in the chest, he twisted the knife so deep it went out her back. She turned on her heel and left, tears in her eyes.
"Lori, wait." Melody tried to go after her, but I held her back by the arm as Rick stormed past us.
"LO-RI! Don't go like this! I'm sorry!"
"Let them work it out on their own, Melody."
She turned around, anger in her gaze. "I don't know what the hell has gotten into you, but you need to stop."
I gave her a puzzled look. "I need to stop? You're the one that's out of control, not me."
"Pfft, I am not! I'm a dance champion!" This was true. At the dance competition, the trio and both group numbers won first place while Soiphia won second by a tenth of a point from first. "Fuck Lena Dunham, I'M the voice of my generation and I'm gonna start a revelation! It's gonna be a revolution, bitches!"
I motioned to Noah to turn the music down before addressing the crowd. "Alright, listen up! Party's over, thanks for coming!" Everybody groaned in protest to my demand.
"What?! No way! He doesn't mean it! Don't go!" She tried to stop people from leaving, but most of them got the message. "Gareth, take it back right now! This is my birthday weekend, not yours."
"Excuse me, but we've received some complaints about the noise."
We turned around to see a good looking cop with a Southern drawl wearing black tinted shades and a hat. Not getting a good feeling, I prayed that it wasn't what I thought it would be.
"Really? You have?" Melody asked.
"Yes, m'am. That it's time to turn up the sexy!" The cop then ripped open his shirt, revealing an insane six pack as five more guys came in behind him, the second tallest carrying a boom box blasting "Party Rock Anthem". One was dressed as a firefighter, another a doctor, and the rest in speedos. It was exactly what I hoped it wasn't.
"Ahh, fuck..."
"Melody!" Maggie came running up with Rosita and Sasha. "Surprise! We got you strippers!"
"Actually, we prefer to be called male entertainers." Said the one in a bright blue speedo.
Melody started laughing. "Oh, my god! This is insane!"
"I take it you're the birthday girl? I'm Tex and we're the Magic Mike Tribute." The cop walked forward, which was when I realized he was supposed to be Dallas, Matthew McConaughey's character in the movie, which I had been dragged to see by Theresa. "And might I say, you are the prettiest thing on legs I've seen all day." Tex grabbed her hand and gave it a kiss, making Melody blush.
"Thank you very much. How is this supposed to work? I'm such a newbie. Like I know what goes on but where do we start?" She was babbling and looking every which way, an indicator that she was nervous.
"All you need to do is take a seat and let the fun begin, princess."
Tex guided Melody over to the couch and started grinding and thrusting on her as "Moves Like Jagger" played. I could feel myself cringe, even when the guys started performing for the rest of the girls. Mellie and Maggs were cracking up, Sasha playfully spanked the doctor, but I could tell Glenn was also uncomfortable.
Alex leaned into me. "Dude, are you serious right now? He's all over your woman!"
Tex had his head in Melody's crotch, whose face was bright red from laughing, before he wrapped her legs around his waist and hoisted her up. He started spinning her all around and contortioning her in different risqué positions, some of the moves would have even put the Cirque dancers last night to shame, which was when I had had enough when he did a standing up 69 position."
"Ok, ok, that's about enough." I walked over, pulling my wallet from my suit jacket. "Here, sorry I had to cut it short but it's been too much bullshit for one day." Luckily, I had enough cash on me to pay them off.
Tex looked at me with slight annoyance. "Hey, man, we were hired for the full hour."
I glanced at him, lowering my voice. "If you know what's good for you, you and your boys will hit the road before things really go to hell."
He stepped back, taking the message. "Got it. Let's roll, boys."
Melody approached me as the girls whined to the guys walking out.
"Gareth, stop! You're ruining everything! What, am I stealing your thunder, Wonderboy? I let you be the star last night, now it's my turn."
"What are you talking about, Melody?" Her behavior was really starting to get on my nerves, it was so unlike her.
"That's the problem, you have no shame at all." She continued talking despite the look on my face. "Oh, yeah. Crash told me about how he saw you looking at him during our little tryst, and from what he said it was quite the show. I gotta ask, what's stopping you from performing Act Two, bay-beh?"
Crash looked in every which way, embarrassed and knowing he had more or less broken the bro code. "Ok, I think that's my cue to go. Gareth, good seeing you again and hopefully everything works out." He turned around, motioning to the rest of the partygoers that had stayed behind to watch the male entertainers. "Hey, everybody! Come with me if you want to get into Wet Republic!"
Everybody cheered and followed him and his friends out of the villa. While I was thankful for that, there was no way in hell he was getting my gratitude when the only thing I wanted to give him was my fist to his face.
"Answer me, damn, it."
"Melody, that's enough."
She started to laugh in a menacing manner. "Come on, Gareth! Shut up and fuck me like the man you are! That's all I'm good for, right? It's what every guy wants from me and that's it. You don't really love me at all, because if you did, you never would have-"
Before she could further her rant, Melody bent down and threw up at my feet. Some of the partygoers grimaced on their way out while others laughed, which made me more agitated.
"Everybody that isn't part of our group, get out, now!" I walked over and picked Melody up, rushing her to the master bathroom. "Don't worry, babe, everything is going to be fine." Unfortunately, considering how much she drank, the upchucking had only just begun.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER
"It's alright, Melody. Let it all out." I soothed Melody the best I could, holding her hair with one hand and rubbing circles on her back with the other while her head was in the toilet. She had been puking her guts out for almost a half hour, luckily there was a grace period between upchucks where I was able to get Melody out of her bathing suit before she stained it (I knew she'd be horrified if that happened) and got her into my Van Halen T-shirt that went to her mid thighs.
Lori and Rick went back to the penthouse from what she replied when I sent a text message asking if she was ok, but I had a feeling they were having an explosive fight. What Rick said was really below the belt and I couldn't believe it, he was totally in the doghouse.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Melody crying into the toilet bowl, her arms wrapped around the seat.
"Honey, don't cry, it's ok. Everybody gets a little too drunk at some point or another I'm sure. I know I did. There was this one night with my brother and Dale-"
She popped her head up and looked at me. "I'm not crying because I'm drunk! I'm crying because this all failed miserably!"
I looked at her in puzzlement. "Huh? What are you talking about? What failed miserably?"
Melody took a deep breath before speaking, her tears stopping for now. "I got really drunk so I could tell you that your behavior last night was despicable and how dare you treat me like that?!"
"Melody, I-"
She shook her head, cutting me off. "No! I'm talking! You have a lot of nerve! First you flip the hell out, then you act so cavalier about the whole thing. When you said that you wanted to see my bathing suit on the floor, I was tempted to just knee you in the balls right in front of everybody."
"I wasn't hiding from anything. Well... I was but I wasn't. I figured we could discuss it later, I wanted you to enjoy the party."
"How could I with all this bullshit in my head? It's the only thing I can think about and I can't stop! How could you do this to me, especially after giving me such a fabulous birthday getaway with all my friends? What if this is the real you and you've been lying all this time?"
"You couldn't possibly think that." Her words were starting to scare me, especially since I had no idea what she would say next.
"I am so mad at you right now, Gareth!" She started swatting at my arms and chest for a moment before stopping herself. "I'm mad that you're making me doubt who you really are and that I'm jumping to conclusions on everything! You freaked me out last night, I kept my cool but I really thought you were going to hurt me. I swore to myself that I would never ever get in the kind of relationship my parents had before they got divorced and I hate feeling so vulnerable after everything we've already been through, I thought that phase was over. This is not what I wanted, it wasn't supposed to get this way!"
Melody buried her face in her hands as the tears started up once more, breaking my heart all over again. It made me wish that I had never taken the Molly, that I didn't overreact like I did.
"Please don't cry, my love." I pulled her into my embrace, wrapping my arms around her even tighter when she tried to push away. "I'm sorry, you know how sorry I am. I didn't mean to lash out like I did. This is one of those instances where I don't have a reason to explain my actions, it just happened, mainly thanks to the ecstasy."
"How do I know it won't happen again?" Melody asked in between her tears. "You think that I'd ruin what we have just to spend the night with some guy I hardly know? I would never!"
"I know you wouldn't. You have to trust me is all. We've had fights before and we're going to have them again. No couple is perfect; Rick and your sister are probably fighting right now. This was all just a series of unfortunate events happening in the wrong place at the wrong time." I lifted her face up so we could see eye to eye, seeing the black mascara tears that stained her lovely face. "You know me better than this, I was high. Before we left, I promised that you would never again have to go through what your mom did with your dad and I meant that."
When I thought back on what I had said and done, I understood why she had been fearful of me. Even though I didn't know who her father was until a month after we started dating, she mentioned the way he would act and some of his backstory.
Phillip was a workaholic who was hoping Charlotte would give him a son and was traumatized that she had Melody instead. His first wife Cailinn had a daughter and attempted to pass it off as Phillip's until he caught her cheating on him. A paternity test proved that the girl was not his and they got divorced, and he remarried Charlotte a year later.
He was a great provider to Lori and Melody (especially since Lori's dad Tony had been killed in a car accident when she was nine), but once Melody started having problems when she was three, he couldn't accept it and help. Phillip told Charlotte that they should institutionalize her or put her on dangerous medications, saying that a short life on a controlled substance would be better than a life full of issues.
Of course, Charlotte was vehemently against it, and the more Melody acted out, the more Phillip and Charlotte fought, he had even hit her on a few occasions. The Silverstone women had an unfortunate history of dating abusive men. Rachelle had accidentally murdered her first husband in self-defense when she raised a gun at him, and then there was Melody's brief tryst with Shane, no wonder she was feeling like I had betrayed her trust.
"I can promise it won't happen again with us, that things will never get that out of hand. If I lost you, I don't know what I'd do. No jealousy is worth it. You're my whole world and I love you."
I leaned in and kissed her, my hand still on the back of her head.
Melody tried to push me away. "Gareth, wait, I need to brush-"
I shook my head, laying her down on the cold tile floor. "I don't care."
She soon reciprocated, her hand on the back of my neck as we slowly kissed.
Life was never easy and there would always be hard times, but I had to remember that our love was so strong that it would prevail over whatever problems we had.
LORI
"Get the fuck away from me, Rick! I don't want to see you!" I threw my suitcase at him as hard as I could before locking myself in the closet. It had started with my clothes, now it was a suitcase, anything to get him out of the way. Unfortunately, he managed to dodge everything with grace and began pounding on the door.
"Lori, stop it! We're gonna talk about this or I'll break the door down!"
"What's to talk about?! You clearly stated how you feel, not to mention embarrassed me. What do you have to say for yourself?" I was practically red I was so enraged, my adrenaline at an all time high. "What about all the nights that I stayed awake worrying about you? You weren't the only one that sacrificed for Carl. Let's not forget what I did as well."
"Then why did you do it, Lori?"
"Because it's what I wanted! I wanted to have a child and be married to you! I've always wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, for as long as I can remember. I love you, Rick, but you fucked up big time! Not only did you embarrass me, you looked like a moron!"
I was safe from my annoyances behind the closet door, free to let my tears fall. Yes, I had sacrificed what would have been a thriving ballet career to have my child, but I know why I did it. It had been done for love and for the dreams I did want, so a family foundation could be built for us. Sometimes I have regrets, but there would never be anything in the world that would make me want to trade Rick or Carl.
After a couple minutes of silence, I could feel him sliding down against the other side of the door. "You know I don't act like this, but I am sorry I mistreated you. I've been stressed out with work and everything. I lost sight of things, I just wanted to have fun. I love you and the kids, you're my reason for living. Can you open the door? Please?"
Life was too short to have grudges over such small things, especially when I knew how he really was and that this wasn't it. With a heavy sigh, I opened the door to find Rick's open arms waiting for me.
"I'm sorry, Lori." He whispered into my hair as he held me tightly. "I love you."
"I know, and I love you, too."
In the end, love conquers all, I just hoped it would always be enough.
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Stubborn Love- A Modern/AU Walking Dead Story