Melody's POV
The lamp on the table flickered slightly.
I rubbed my eyes and blinked at the book in front of me. My vision was blurry from hours of reading. Case laws, notes, definitions, theories. They all looked the same now.
It was past 3AM. I was still awake. Still studying.
Still trying to prove to myself that I was still her, the girl who once wanted to become a lawyer. The girl who studied hard. Who believed in justice. Who believed in herself.
But somewhere along the way… I lost her.
So much had happened. My parents were gone. I was caught in a world full of secrets, blood, and revenge. I'd taken lives. I'd walked into fire with no fear. I'd lied, I'd cried, I'd loved…
But I hadn't studied. Not like before.
Not like someone who still had a future.
I sighed and closed my book. My hands were shaking.
"I'm going to fail," I whispered to myself.
I didn't even hear the door open behind me.
But I felt the silence change.
"You won't," came a low voice.
I turned slowly.
Marvis was standing in the doorway, dressed in black joggers and a hoodie, holding a glass of water in one hand.
His hair was messy. His eyes were sleepy.
"What are you doing awake?" I asked, startled.
He walked in quietly and placed the glass on the table beside me.
"Should be asking you that." He glanced at the piles of books around me. "You haven't moved in hours."
I gave a small shrug. "I have an exam tomorrow. Or today. Whatever. It's just… law stuff."
"You're exhausted," he said.
"I have to pass," I replied quickly, maybe too quickly. "I don't care if I haven't been in class or if I've missed things. I have to pass."
He looked at me for a long second, then pulled out the chair beside me and sat down.
"Why do you sound like you've already failed?" he asked gently.
I looked down at my hands. Because I felt like a failure.
Because everything I touched turned to ashes.
Because sometimes, I still saw my parents' blood when I closed my eyes. And no matter how many steps forward I took, the past kept whispering that I didn't deserve a future.
"Because I'm not the same girl anymore," I whispered. "The one who studied hard and dreamed big. I've changed. Too much."
Marvis didn't say anything right away.
Instead, he reached out and closed one of my books.
"You've changed," he said. "But that doesn't mean you're lost."
I looked up at him.
He wasn't trying to fix me. He wasn't telling me it would all be okay.
He was just there.
And sometimes, that was enough.
"You're still Melody Quinn," he said. "You're still the girl who talks about justice with stars in her eyes. You're still the one who can walk into a room and silence it. You survived what most people would break under and you're still here. Studying. Fighting."
His voice lowered even more.
"That's not weakness. That's strength."
I swallowed hard, my throat tight.
He stood up, placed a kiss on top of my head, and whispered:
"Sleep for two hours. Just two. I'll wake you up, and we'll go through one more topic together. Deal?"
I hesitated. Then nodded. I trusted him.
He turned off the lamp, and as I laid my head down, I heard him say from the doorway:
"You're not going to fail. Not on my watch."
And for the first time in a while… I believed him.