Demeter - Ranboo

~twenty-four~

Mom and Dad left me and Willow alone, closing the trapdoor behind them. I was angry. I was sad. I was going to continue to see Ranboo, even if it got me disowned. I would die if I never felt his hands on my waist again, if I never heard his soft chuckles, if I never saw his dorky smile. He was everything to me.

"You don't have to listen to them, you know," Willow whispered as she went back to her own bed. "I never follow Mom and Dad's rules," she chuckled. I had always been the more obedient one, albeit less popular.

"I wasn't planning on it," I sighed, laying back gently onto my bed, my head cradled by my pillow. I could hear her shifting on her mattress.

"Melanie Wright, breaking the rules? Where did you come from?" She laughed softly. She was obviously enjoying this more than I was. I just wanted to be happy. Was that too much to ask?

"I'm going to bed," I said simply before snuffing out the candle at my bedside table. Willow soon followed suit, plunging the room into darkness, the only light being the moon outside.

I dreamt of him. I dreamt of his cool hand against my jaw, and his warm breath on my lips. I dreamt of his touch and I dreamt of his eyes. I wanted him close to me; I yearned for his comforting embrace. When he held me I felt like the world around me was spinning, but I was safe. When he was gone I felt empty, incomplete. He is half of my soul, as the poets say.

I needed his presence. He calmed every racing nerve, steadied every shaky hand. I loved him. I loved him so much. They tell you that you must love yourself before you can love anyone else, but loving him made me forget how much I hated who I was. Every insecurity felt so insignificant whenever he was around. Every nagging voice at the back of my head silenced when he spoke; it was like magic.

Most dreams have some deep-rooted meaning behind them, but my heart and soul and mind agreed on one thing and it was him.

I woke up in the early hours of the morning to people speaking downstairs. It started quietly but quickly escalated.

"What are you doing at my door?" My father said loudly, but somehow Willow was still asleep. Softly I crept to the trapdoor that hid the stairs and lifted it just a tad, knowing that it had a habit of creaking if I opened it too far. I could barely see the back of my father.

"He would like to make sure Melanie is doing alright." Phil's voice. Phil was here again. Who was with him? I knew who I wanted it to be, but I didn't know who it was.

"What, can it not speak English?" My father sneered. Ranboo. He was talking about Ranboo. How dare he talk to him like that. This man was not my father. My father risked it all and married a colored woman, rejecting his inheritance in the pursuit of love. My father was accepting and loving and thought of his children first. My father wasn't some angry old man who wouldn't give a halfling a chance. This man was not my father.

"Sir, I just want to speak to your daughter, nothing more," Ranboo spoke up. His voice was hoarse, and it cracked. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears. It made my heart ache.

"Over my dead body!" The man who called himself my father laughed coldly. "There's no chance in hell that I'm letting a monster near my daughter." He had no right to call Ranboo a monster. My throat began to tighten and my eyes started to sting. I wasn't sad. I was angry.

"Mr. Wright, I swear on my life that I wish no harm to your daughter. She is the kindest, gentlest, friendliest, and most wonderful girl on this planet. I would give the world for her, please trust me," Ranboo begged. Dad told us he had said something along those lines to Mom's father when he asked for her hand in marriage. Surely he had to give in. Please.

"Five minutes. And then I never want to see you near my children again." And then my father stepped aside and stayed in the kitchen. I, for one, panicked and quickly shut the trapdoor and hopped back into bed so it didn't look like I had been eavesdropping the entire time. By this time Willow had woken up and figured out what was happening, and she descended the stairs to go pretend to get a drink from the kitchen.

The moment Ranboo's feet landed on my floor he was at my side, standing on his knees by the bed. His hands cupped my face, worry etched onto his features. There were fresh tear scars down his cheeks.

"Are you okay? What did he do to you? What happened?" The questions kept coming. "God, it's all my fault. No, there was nothing we could've done- But I could have stopped it! Everything is our fault! It was out of my control-" He was talking to himself, it seemed.

"Hey. I'm okay. You're okay. Focus on me," I murmured, holding his head in my hands as well. His ragged breathing calmed down and his eyes stopped darting around the room. He leaned his forehead against mine, a shaky sigh escaping his lips.

"Melanie I'm so sorry I don't even remember what happened I just know that he was there I-"

"Shhh. It's okay, it's okay. I'll remember everything you forget, okay?" I whispered, pulling him into a hug, his hands tentatively resting on my back, his head in the crook of my neck.

"I love you, Melanie," he said. "I love you so much." My heart was finally content. It had heard what it needed to.

"So that girl you said you had your eyes on..?"

"It's you. It's always been you. I knew from the moment we first spoke that it would be you. I just-" He chuckled, sending vibrations through my entire body. "I just had a feeling."

"Ranboo?"

"Yes?"

"I want to run away. When Ophelia comes to check on me this week I'm going to ask her if she knows anywhere I could stay. Because-" My breath hitched. "Because I don't want you to be my secret." He pulled away from the hug, staring into my eyes.

"Melanie-"

"Ranboo I love you and I shouldn't have to be shamed for it. You're interesting and you're different and I like that." I smiled, for the first time in what felt like centuries, I genuinely smiled. The things this boy did to me were unexplainable.

"Oh no. Don't smile. I stop breathing when you smile." But he was grinning ear to ear himself.

Banging on the trapdoor, followed by my father's impatient shouts. Our five minutes were up.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked, but instead of answering, I pressed my lips against his, fighting the smirk threatening to come over my face. One of his hands tangled itself in my hair while the other held my cheek, his thumb drawing small circles on my cheekbone. The feeling of velvet-soft lips smiling against my own. The familiar taste of vanilla and cinnamon. The sensation of his laughter into the kiss, followed by my own.

"Write to me," I whispered, our lips only centimeters apart.

He smiled.

"Of course."

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this chapter took WAY too long to write and I apologize lmao motivation's been in the dumpster recently

n e ways I hope y'all enjoyed some good and wholesome mel and ranboo content bc I sure loved writing it!!

remember to drink water, eat food, take meds, get sleep, and remember that you are loved!!!! so loved!!!! i love you so much!!!!!

see you gems in the next chapter :DDDDD