"Hey you!"
It had almost become accustom for Melissa to go to a show then casually watch the band that was playing while she eyed the room in search of Jake. Then, once she found him, she would ignore him like she had no idea he was even in the room and wait for him to come over to her. It always worked, too. The moment he saw she was there, he would walk over to greet her.
"Hello! How are you?"
"I'm great!"
"I'm not too bad myself."
"Thanks for coming tonight. And thanks for wearing the shirt. I really appreciate it."
"Anything for you, Jake. You guys rock!"
"Ehh..."
"You do, trust me!"
His modesty was untouchable. He was always thankful and appreciative, but sometimes he couldn't understand what she saw in his band. Ironically, Melissa couldn't understand why the band insisted they sucked. They didn't! They were so good!
Jake laughed as he walked towards their designated table, set up for the sales of merchandise. Melissa smiled but suddenly felt all alone. That happened a lot. She would be in a room with 100 people, sometimes more, and still, she would feel completely alone.
"Melissa?!" A voice yelled from across the room.
"Yea?"
"Come here!" He gestured.
Melissa walked over to the table where Jake was sitting. He was by himself at the time. The other guys were carrying equipment in so Jake was watching the table.
"Yes, sir?" Melissa said jokingly as she sat down next to him. He didn't ask her to sit; she just knew the invitation was there.
They began talking. They talked about everything; whatever they could think of; whatever came to mind: the band that just played, the weird people that had shown up, the shirts that they were selling and how they made no sense at all and so much more. They had fun, they laughed, and they got along. Everything was perfect. At least to Melissa it was.
She had no fears when she sat next to him. Everything in her life made sense when he spoke to her. Her life was complete and her heart was mended, all by his presence in her life.

For the last two months or so, things had been a little different between Jake and Melissa. Not bad, just different. You see, DoS had a show that was about 45 minutes away, back in March. The week before the show, Jake told Melissa not to go because it was too far. He never wanted her to go out of her way to see his shows. In his opinion, she did so much for them already, just by going to their local shows, wearing their shirts, passing out flyers and just being their fan, that he would never ask and didn't expect Melissa to do anything beyond that. He was so grateful for what she did do, but he felt guilty when she did anything more.
Well, besides that fact that Melissa was a very devoted fan of the band, she was also on a mission to make a point. So against Jake's wishes, she attended the concert.
She got a little lost on the way there and ended up missing the majority of the DoS performance, but she did catch the last two songs. Once they had stopped playing, and Jake realized she was there, he was flabbergasted.
"Oh my god, you came!"
"I told you I would."
They played their last song, and began clearing off the stage. Melissa found herself standing there, in front of the stage, waiting.
Waiting... It kind of seemed like Melissa did a lot of that when it came to Jake. She always found herself waiting for him to show up, or waiting for him to notice she was there, or waiting for him to come back, or, in the big picture, waiting for him to come around.
Melissa had been trying to win his heart over since January, but since she was kind of shy, she wasn't too sure how to go about approaching the situation. But after several days of debating, she decided that on this particular night, she would take a risk.
After traveling so far to see DoS, she made an assumption that her actions would speak louder than words to Jake. She thought that by going to the show, he would look between the lines and realize that she was willing to do anything for him. She wanted him to see that she would travel any distance, against all odds, just to be with him. Yes, she enjoyed the music his band played, but on this night, it went far beyond music.
About fifteen minutes later, she turned around right as Jake was walking towards her. He immediately gave her a hug and thanked her for going to the show. Another band was playing, so they had to talk loudly and directly into each other's ears in order to hear. Their bodies brushed against each others as they talked, sending chills down Melissa's back. She had never felt so close to him. Even when they hugged, it was a different feeling than the one she had been experiencing at that moment in time.
If she had it her way, the moment never would have ended and she would have stood there with Jake in complete Nirvana forever. But then, like everything else, it did end and Melissa found herself waiting for Jake to come back as he had claimed he would.
"I'll be right back, okay?"
"Alright," she said with an approving smile that was hiding the loneliness that was beginning to take over once he walked away.
He never made it back, but they did meet up again outside the venue about twenty-five minutes later. They talked for a few more minutes. Jake again thanked her for going so far to see the show. He wanted to make it up to her and also do something to show his gratitude towards her.
"Do you still have my number?"
"Yea."
"Call me before the next show and I'll get you in for free."
"Oh ok, thanks. I appreciate it."
"It's the least I can do."
"You really don't have to."
"Melissa, you spend so much money on us!"
"It's worth it," she wanted to say you're.
He laughed. He appreciated her support, but still, he didn't understand it. That was the problem, too. It was more than just supporting his band, and he didn't understand that.
"I'll see ya around, okay?" He said it so reassuringly, but she couldn't let him leave just yet. She couldn't."
Melissa discretely pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and refused to say good-bye just yet.
"Um...," she stuttered, "I wrote this for you. Read it later."
"Okay."
"Later."
"Okay..."
"Later!" she finally said, trying to convey "privately" to him through her insistence.
"Okay," Jake looked Melissa in the eye as he reassuringly accepted her request.
They both turned around and walked in opposite directions. Melissa instantly wondered if she had just made the right choice, or a big mistake.
It was about three weeks later before she had finally gotten a response from Jake. It wasn't that Jake was avoiding her either. When Melissa wrote the note, she assumed he still had her number, but he didn't. So he had no way of contacting her. It was the night before the next DoS show and as Jake had requested, Melissa called him about getting in for free. For some reason, she felt kind of guilty taking the free admission, but at the same time, it was nice to get something in return.
When she called, she was pretty nervous about the conversation that was about to take place. She wondered if he would mention the note and if he did, she wondered how he would react. But if he didn't... well, she didn't really want to think of that.
The phone rang and rang and rang. Then finally she heard "Don't leave a message, just call back later."
Her heart sank. The anticipation was so built up, only to get his voice mail. He'd call back, though. She knew he would. And she was right.
"Hello?"
"Melissa?" The unsure voice asked.
"Yes..." She played dumb and acted like she had no idea who was calling or why.
"It's Jake."
"Oh, hey!"
"What's up?"
"Not much."
"Yea same here." Out of no where, and much to her surprised, he continued, "By the way, I've been meaning to get back to you about that note. I really appreciate everything you said. It was really sweet of you. Thank you so much. It was very sweet. I appreciate it."
She blushed. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it.
"You're welcome. I was just trying to be honest with you. I was a little apprehensive to give it to you, but I decided that you would be ok with it either way, and just said, ‘What the hell,' and gave it to you."
"Well, I appreciate it. It means a lot to me. I'm glad I can make you feel that way."
"I am too," damn, she thought to herself. Probably should have kept that comment to myself.
The conversation continued on as Jake finalized the free admission to the upcoming show. But it was that brief discussion about a note she had written almost a month ago that changed their relationship... again. Melissa was very anxious to see how Jake would react to her in person after finding out how she felt. He was fine over the phone, but how would he act to her face?
Well, as usual, he greeted her with a hug that night, and everything was fine. He didn't act any differently and neither did she. The only difference was, this time they both knew more than either was letting on.