Melody sighed as she packed her bag. Three days away from the city had done her some good, but a text from Roni that morning had reminded her she had to return to reality. Roni had to take a trip out of town and Melody had to split bartending shifts with Remy until she came back. With a last look around the bare motel room she'd rented, she just sighed.

Other than responding to Roni's text, Melody had tried to go off-grid. She'd talked to Henry and Rogers once each, and Sabine twice, but for the most part, she'd tried to retreat as far from Hyperion Heights as she could. She'd hoped it would reset her mood.

But as she shut the light off and rolled her suitcase behind her and out the door, Melody realized it hadn't worked that way. All it had done was make her miss her friends ten times over. Sabine had let her know that Lucy had officially been given over to Jacinda, and they were throwing a mini party that night if she got back in town in time. It sounded fun. But honestly, Melody wanted to see Rogers first.

It had been five days since Eloise Gardener had been found. She'd not seen him since he'd run off to confront Weaver. She'd been too upset over her own misfortune to dedicate her energy to his cause. And now that she had gotten to rest and recuperate, she did want to celebrate his achievement with him.

It took a little over two hours to get back into Seattle. Clouds had started to cover the twilight sky when the taxi dropped her at home. As it pulled off, she stood silent on the sidewalk, suitcase at her side. She still needed to stop in at Roni's to get a store key from Remy and part of her wanted to spend the night busking. Her guitar hadn't gone with her on vacation.

After standing outside for a minute, she headed in. The scuffed steps up to the third floor creaked under the weight of each footfall. She pulled out her key. Jostling with the door, it finally opened and she found herself in her slightly cluttered living room, light from the setting sun just breaking through the clouds to bathe her furniture in a warm glow.

It didn't take long to unpack and before she had time to collapse into her furniture, she was hurrying back down the stairs. Her legs ached from the long taxi ride, almost as much as her pocketbook from the vacation, and she hoped the walk to the bar would help. With music playing in her earbuds, she stuck her hands in her pockets and set off down the sidewalk. Melody yawned.

The bar had less than ten people in it as she walked in, braced for a busy night crowd. Remy stood behind the bar messing with some of the equipment. At her entrance, he offered a tight smile.

"How was your time off?" He left the bar, leading her into the cash room where they kept the keys. "Enjoy it?"

Melody offered him a smile. "Yeah, it was nice. Good to be back though."

"No accounting for taste," he joked.

She grabbed a drink before heading back out, key in hand. Remy was a good guy, not the most talkative but she enjoyed his company. He liked to talk about his cooking. He had dreams of becoming a master chef some day, and it always made her feel good to listen to him speak so enthusiastically about his dreams.

Melody took the key back to her apartment before going anywhere else. She had no interest in losing it. That was just asking to get fired, no matter how great of a boss Roni was.

Trading the key for her guitar, she set off towards Hyperion Plaza. It felt good to get back to some sense of normalcy. Street performing near the Hyperion Theater did the trick for her.

An hour into her playing, she heard Sabine call her name. She glanced right. Sabine, Jacinda, Lucy, and a man she'd never met strolled down the sidewalk. Melody stopped her playing and waited for them.

"Welcome back," Sabine said, grinning. She gestured to the guitar. "Some things never change."

Melody just laughed. "Gotta make back some of the money I spent on my motel."

"Melody, this is Nick," Jacinda said. She then turned to him. "Nick, this is Melody."

"Nice to meet you." Melody let her guitar hang free and extended her hand. He took it, echoing her sentiments, and then she smiled at them. "What are you all up to?"

Lucy answered before anyone else. She offered a smile and then pointed down the sidewalk. "We're going for ice cream."

"That sounds fun!"

Sabine grinned. She winked down at Lucy before turning back to Melody. Nick, Jacinda, and Lucy started down the sidewalk but Sabine stayed where she was. "You coming over tonight? The invite stands."

But Melody just shrugged. She hadn't decided if she wanted to join them in their little apartment party. She'd wanted nothing more than to see friends while she'd been outside Seattle, but now, as she stood on the streets of Hyperion Heights, she realized how much she'd missed her music.

"Maybe," Melody told her. "I don't know. I've got some stuff to catch back up on now that I'm back."

"Like finding Rogers?" Sabine teased.

Melody scoffed, but she could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks. She hoped in the darkening twilight that it wasn't noticeable. "Maybe. I haven't heard from him today. But I've got the day shift at Roni's tomorrow, and I need some sleep."

"Suit yourself," Sabine said. With a mischievous smile, she followed the trio towards the local frozen yogurt place.

With the group gone, Melody turned her focus back to playing. Someone had hung up holiday lights around the Plaza while she'd been gone and it made it that much more enjoyable to play when surrounded by the colored fairy lights. Inspired by the cheer, she threw in a few Christmas songs to her setlist.

No one could resist Carol of the Bells. As the bills and coins began to fill her guitar case, she tried to immerse herself in the music. This was what she'd missed in her three-day getaway. By the end of the next hour she found herself able to smile, something that had been rare in the past week.

"Thought I might find you here."

Melody turned to the left. She broke into a smile as she saw Rogers making his way over, steaming coffee cup in hand. In the light of the streetlamps, he almost glowed.

"There's the hero of the week," she said. Melody smirked as he brushed away her comment sheepishly. "How's it been?"

"Lonely," he admitted. Rogers moved closer as she took her guitar off and leaned it against the wall. He just shrugged. With a small frown, he sighed. "I'd been working on that case for so bloody long. I don't know what to do with myself now."

Melody nodded. "Understandable. Sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth for a while."

With a small laugh, he shook his head. "Yes, love, how dare you take a vacation."

She laughed too. It made her feel better, the laughter and the smiles, and seeing the same on his face. Crouching next to her guitar, she did a quick count of the money. She'd done enough for the night.

"There's a food truck down the road that sells donuts," Melody said. As she sorted the bills, she glanced up at him. "I think you deserve a celebratory donut for solving your case. My treat."

Rogers crouched down and helped her. "Sounds good to me."

Once she'd picked up her space, they started down the sidewalk. Her guitar felt heavy in her right hand. She needed sleep, but she really did want to grab donuts with him. It felt nice, being with Rogers. Like she had an anchor point, a reason for being in Hyperion Heights. She hadn't felt that in years. She'd done nothing but float around wasting time and effort on pointless pursuits.

With donuts in hand, they started walking back towards Melody's neighborhood. They had quite a ways to go. Rogers told her about the talk he'd had with Tilly, about how he felt that maybe if shown some kindness, she'd see she didn't need Weaver to be helpful around. Melody couldn't stop her smile. It seemed Rogers went from helping one lost girl to another. A true knight in shining armor.

"How is Eloise?" Melody asked. She hadn't seen the woman yet, but he'd mentioned her occasionally as he'd regaled her with tales from the precinct. "She doing okay?"

He sighed. "About as well as can be expected. I gave her my number to reach out if she needs anything." With a frown, he just shook his head. "I'll admit, I expected to feel a bit more excited when I closed the case."

Melody looked at him. They stopped to wait for a crosswalk signal, donuts long since gone. "You've been focused on it for so long, it makes sense that it would be hard to let it go. You need to find something else to focus on." She smirked. "A new hobby, as Roni said."

Rogers just laughed. "When you two team up, it's bloody terrifying."

"And think, I'm running the bar for the next few days. I'll be even harder to ignore," she said.

They started across the street as the signal turned from red to white. Her apartment sat just on the other side. She stopped on the street corner, turning to him.

"Trust me, love, you're already hard to ignore." 

She stopped breathing for a moment. Heat flushed her cheeks as he just looked at her, searching every inch of her face. Melody felt like she was being inspected and it made it hard to breathe. She couldn't help but grin.

"Good," she said. "I don't like being ignored."

Rogers just let out a small laugh. She could feel his warm beeath, he stood close. With a tiny smirk of his own, he leaned in and added, "I wouldn't dream of it. Maybe I don't need a hobby. Maybe something else."

Her breath caught. As his lips met hers, she closed her eyes. It felt right, a feeling that had been elusive for as long as Melody could remember Hyperion Heights. Warm, close. His skin on hers, a beacon in the chilly winter air around them. She forgot about her sisters as he leaned in harder. She forgot about the pain. She forgot about the broken world all around her. All she could think was how perfect that kiss was.

When she split apart, she couldn't help the tiny laugh that broke the sparking tension between them. "Wow," she breathed.

Rogers just watched her for a moment, thoroughly taken by her, before offering her a smile. "Aye, love."

Melody grinned. She shook her head, turning away for a moment. Heat filled her whole body, replacing the exhaustion. She looked at Rogers again. Trying to recover her voice, she said, "I'd, uh, offer you a drink, but I have an early shift."

He broke out laughing. With a quick wink, he took a step back. "As do I." Rogers nodded. "I'll call you after work, love."

"Good."

She didn't want to turn away, but she had to. With her guitar in one sweaty palm and the other wrapped around the strap of her backpack, Melody headed inside. At the door, she turned back. Rogers' retreating form made her smile again. Suddenly being back in Hyperion Heights offered her a bit more excitement. With a spring in her step, she took the stairs up to 317. She needed a shower, and she needed a drink.