Love's Broken Road

Chapter 6 - Out with the Trash

Dakota’s P.O.V.

The sunlight streaming through the windows of my truck woke me. As I began stirring, the pounding in my head stopped me from moving. I ended up sleeping in the front seat because I was too drunk to drive home. I inched myself up into a sitting position, blinking my eyes to adjust to the daylight. The clock in the truck told me it was eight in the morning. I scanned the field and saw a few trucks left. I started stirring, trying to find my keys, stopping when I heard something in the back seat.

“Good morning,” Melody smiled.

“Good morning, good looking. What are you doing back there?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to leave you by yourself, so I slept back here,” she said, getting up to stretch.

She reached up and touched my left eye with a look of concern. The swelling had gone away and turned a dark purple. I leaned into her touch, then reached up and grabbed her hand.

“It was a lucky punch. I will be fine,” I said.

She leaned up and kissed the bruise. The pain melted away when her lips touched my face.

“That should make it better,” she whispered.

I blushed, too flustered to say a word.

“You want to go get breakfast? My treat,” I asked.

“Yes, I’m starving,” she said with a smile.

She hopped out of the backseat and jumped in the passenger door.

I got my keys out and started up the truck. Then we headed for the road.

“So, what happened to everyone else?” I asked her.

“Shea ended up driving Jay back to her house. Coby left a half-hour later. You wanted to sleep in your truck. I helped you in, and you were out. I decided someone should stay with you, so I slept in the backseat,” she said.

“You didn’t have to stay with me. I know that backseat is not very comfortable,” I said.

“It wasn’t too awful. I didn’t want you to wake up in a field by yourself,” she said.

I reached over and squeezed her thigh and smiled at her, “Thank you.”

She smiled back, reaching over and giving my hand a squeeze, which caused me to wince in pain.

“I’m sorry.” she gasped.

“It’s fine, still sore,” I said.

She lifted my arm behind her and slid over to the middle seat beside me. I draped my arm over her shoulders, squeezing her. I pulled onto the highway, heading for the diner. My stomach was growling, and I needed coffee. My brain does not work until I have my morning joe. I pulled into the diner parking lot. We both hopped out, heading into the diner. The waitress led us to our seats and took our drinks orders.

“Two coffees, please,” I said.

She headed to the back to get our cups.

“So, how are you getting on now?” Melody asked me.

“Ask me again after I get my coffee,” I said, still not awake.

She giggled, aware I have a coffee addiction. The waitress returned with the best thing on the planet, coffee. She put our cups on the table and took our orders before heading to the back again.

I took a sip of my coffee, “Ahh, that’s good.”

“Better now?” she asked again.

“Fine as frog hair,” I smiled.

“Frogs don’t have hair,” she laughed.

“Yes, they do, but it’s so fine you can’t see it,” I said with a straight face.

She shook her head and laughed, “That is terrible.”

“What’s so terrible about that?” I said, giving her a sly grin.

She shook her head and took a drink of her coffee.

We sat there in comfortable silence while we waited on our food. Melody pulled her ponytail out to fix it. Her hair fell over her shoulders. I watched her as she pulled her hair back up into a ponytail.

“Why are you staring at me?” she grinned.

“You look good with your hair natural,” I smiled.

Her face turned a bright red again with a hint of a smile, “Thanks.”

Our food showed up then to ease the tension at the table. We ate in silence as the waitress came back to refill our coffee. The thumping inside my head had subsided thanks to the coffee and food.

Melody broke the silence, “So what were you and Shea talking over when you went for your walk?”

I damn near choked on my food. I’m not sure I should tell Mel that we were talking about her.

“We were discussing the b***h since she got a front-row seat to me turning into the Hulk. Then we started discussing the crap I’ve dealt with within the last few weeks. She was trying to help me get out of my funk. She is nice, better than most of the bimbos your brother dates.” I fibbed.

Melody nodded, “Yeah, she wasn’t a bitch.”

Melody hated most of Jayden’s girlfriends. It must be a sister thing. Then I realized she liked no one I dated either. She hated Nicole with a passion. If we hung out with Jayden, Melody left. Not the room, but the house. Melody couldn’t stand to be anywhere near her. Guess she knew better than I did.

“So what are you getting into today?” she asked.

“No idea. A few chores need doing around the house I’ve been avoiding. It will be another lazy Sunday. What are you going to do?” I said.

“Nothing, you want any company today? I don’t want to sit at home twiddling my thumbs,” she asked, trying to hide the fact that she was biting her bottom lip.

“Um… it’s messy. That is part of the stuff I have been avoiding,” I said with a chuckle, trying to cover my embarrassment.

“That is OK. I can help you get that done. You don’t want to be doing it the entire day,” she said with a smile.

“OK, but I warned you,” I said with a smirk.

“I need to stop at home to change first,” she said.

“No problem,” I said.

It was a typical single guy’s place. Clothes everywhere, beer cans everywhere, a sink full of dishes, and the list goes on forever. I didn’t give a f**k for the last couple of weeks because of my plight. I felt awful for agreeing to let her help me clean it.

We finished up breakfast. Then I paid for it and headed back out to the truck. I pulled out of the parking lot, heading for her house. She still lived at home with her parents since she was getting ready to start college. Jayden still lived there too. That surprises many people, but he enjoys spending his money on vehicles. Therefore he can’t afford to move out on his own. I could let him live with me, but that is a terrible idea.

I pulled into the driveway at Melody’s house and parked the truck. Melody hopped out and headed inside to get changed. I went into the garage where Jayden was with his head under the hood of his vehicle.

“Now, what did you break?” I said without letting him know I was there.

“s**t!” he yelled as he jumped up and banged his head on the hood.

I could only laugh.

“Christ, you scared the s**t out of me,” he said.

I was still too busy laughing to say a word.

“When did you get here?” he asked.

“Just a minute ago, I took Melody out for breakfast since you left me by myself,” I said.

“Whatever, your drunk ass was not driving anywhere. Besides, Shea had to go home,” he said.

“What broke on this truck?” I asked.

“I think I broke the timing chain,” he said, sounding annoyed.

“Yeah, that sucks. Guess we get to rebuild another motor.” I said.

He’s nodded in confirmation.

“OK, I’m ready,” Melody said, walking into the garage.

“Where are you going?” Jayden asked.

“I’m going over to Dakota’s helping him around the house, as a good friend should,” she said, glaring at him. “Why does it matter to you?”

He looked over at me, “You’re not going to help me pull this motor?”

“Nope, you’re on your own today. I’ll be back later to help you put it back together,” I said with a chuckle.

“Dickhead!” he bellowed.

“Sorry, got other plans,” I said, still chuckling.

“Whatever, go away before I smack you,” he growled.

Melody and I headed to the truck and made our way to my place. I didn’t live too far away, only a few miles. Melody sat in the middle of the front seat, fiddling with the radio. I had my arm behind her, resting on the top of the seatback. She found a song she liked, singing along as we made our way to my place. Five minutes later, I pulled the truck into my driveway, and we hopped out. It was a small place, but it worked for me. Being by myself meant I didn’t need a large house. I headed to the door and unlocked it. Mel went in as I followed behind, and she turned and looked at me, her eyes wide.

“Yeah, I told you. It’s been a rough couple of weeks. I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“Have you done a thing?” she asked, looking around at my mess.

“Other than eating and sleeping, no,” I mumbled, my eyes focusing on the floor. I was feeling embarrassed at this moment.

“Hey, look at me,” Melody demanded.

I raised my head until my eyes met hers. Her next move surprised me. Instead of saying a word, she walked over to me and gave me a hug, her head buried in my chest. The tears began welling up in my eyes. I wrapped my arms around Melody and held on to her. My hand reached up and wiped my eyes before the tears fell, not wanting her to see me cry. She released her hold of me and stepped back, looking up at me again.

She reached out, grabbing my hands.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were struggling this much. You needed to say something,” Mel squeaked.

“I didn’t want to depress everyone else with my issues,” I said, staring at the ground again.

Melody raised her hand to my chin. She lifted my chin until I was looking at her in the eyes again.

“You don’t have to do everything by yourself. You are not alone in this. We care for you and hate to see you hurting,” Mel pleaded.

I nodded, not knowing what to say. I guess I figured my friends had their problems, so there was no need to drag them into mine.

“OK, so starting right now when you need to, call me. Got it?” Melody said, giving me one of her crooked smiles.

“Got it,” I nodded and returned her smile.

“OK, now let’s get this pigpen cleaned up,” she laughed.

“Hey, now you’re calling me a pig?” I pouted.

“If you are living here, then yes,” she smirked at me.

I threw up my hands. It was pointless to argue. I started going around the house, picking up my dirty clothes. Why are my clothes are everywhere? Did they fall off me as I walked through the house? Melody stayed in the kitchen, washing the mound of dishes stacked in the sink. I headed to the laundry room, starting the washing machine with the first load of many that needed doing. I wondered if I had any clean clothes left.

We spent the next hour cleaning up the mess I had made of my home. Having a small house makes it much easier to clean. I decided I should make lunch. I finished fixing lunch and sat at my now clean table to eat.

“Thank you for helping me clean this mess,” I said as we ate.

“Oh, I’m not done yet. I still see one more thing that needs doing,” Melody stated.

I looked at her, wondering what she had in mind. My house has not been this clean in weeks. We finished eating, and I cleaned up the dishes while Melody disappeared into the house. She came back carrying the pictures I had of Nicole around the house.

“It’s time these go in the trash where they belong. That girl was trash. You don’t need them around to depress you again,” she said.

I nodded and said, “OK.”

She was right. They only added to my depression. With that, she tossed them in the trash. Part of me didn’t want to get rid of them, but I knew keeping the pictures was a dangerous idea. I breathed out a heavy sigh as I realized the last four years felt as if I threw them out in the trash.

Melody came over to me and gave me another hug.

“This will be for the best. You don’t need any reminders of that b***h,” Mel reminded me.

I nodded as I hugged her back.