Mel was sleeping in. That was unusual. Mel had a morning routine. Wake up, journal, exercise, and shower. Kassie rechecked the time. 3:30 am. They had 15 minutes to get up and go. 

“Mel?” She said softly.

Mel didn't move from her blanket sanctuary. 

“Mel!” She shouted this time. 

Nothing. 

Kassie put her coffee on her bedside table, planted her feet, and pulled on the blanket Mel was wrapped in, “Time to wake up, hoe!”

She hit the ground. “ I fucking hate you.”

When it was time to go, Mel bypassed her car parked on the street to follow Kassie to her car and got in the passenger seat. 

Kassie sang along softly to the music, mentally creating a to-do list for the day. 

1) Text Aaron.

 2) While Mel is baking, check the schedule and give Derek more hours. 

3) Isn't there soap that cleans oil? Buy it

 4) Figure out what was going on with Mel and fix it. 

She looked over at Mel. She was braiding her long, blonde hair in an intricate French braid.  The car ride seemed to take much longer when they rode in silence. It made Kassie a little twitchy. She shifted a little in her seat, trying to come up with a delicate path of inquiry. 

“ What’s wrong with you?” She asked, completely indelicately. Nailed it.   

Mel looked unimpressed, with one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised. 

“ You’ve been a dick. More than usual. You’re not on your period because I would be too, so tell me what’s up.” 

Mel rearranged herself on the passenger seat. She crossed her long legs and turned towards Kassie. She looked effortlessly beautiful sitting in her passenger seat; the streetlight cast a glow over her cheekbones. Completely unfair. 

“Look. I did something completely stupid a few nights ago. You won’t understand, and the whole thing is frustrating.”

“ If I don't understand, then I can at least be there for you.”

Mel sighed and fiddled with her braid. “My dad called me. And that always gets me in a bad mood. He’s dating this chick, and I guess it's serious. He wants me to meet her and her daughters. The whole thing is fucked up. So, I went out looking for someone to go home with. I didn’t want to be home and see how sad my mom was.”

Kassie didn’t see the problem yet. Mel always had a problem with her dad and isn’t shy about finding someone to spend the night with. She had numbers saved in her phone just for this reason. Kassie nodded her head along.

“The problem was that I drank more than I thought, and I went home with someone, but I don't remember anything.” The silence that followed was stifling. 

Well, that was new. Mel was always careful. She knew her limits and drank just enough to keep her wits. The fact that she left with someone and doesn't remember what happened was worrying. It was scary and dangerous. Horrible situations flashed through Kassie's mind. Her best friend plastered, being half dragged by a stranger to a car, unable to consent, unaware of what was happening to her. She could have left with a stranger and never come back. Her picture printed on a missing person poster. 

“You don't remember anything?” She tried to keep the panic out of her voice. Mel didn’t need her judgment or her terror. She needed her support. 

They had a few more minutes until they reached B’s. Where Mel would leave the car and bury whatever she was feeling. She side-eyed Mel. She had her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her head was against the window. Her eyes were tracking something unseen. 

When she spoke, her voice was soft as a breeze. “ I woke up in an apartment. Whoever it was, wasn't there anymore.” 

Kassie felt nauseous. How does she ask? How does she ask her best friend if the horrible thing that all women fear happened to her?

She settled on, “ Are you hurt?” She willed her voice to be steady. She needed to be steady for Mel. Mel was always her rock, her north star, her safe spot. She needed to be that for Mel. 

Mel took a deep breath. “I don't think so. I don't think it was like that. It doesn't feel like that, you know? But it doesn't feel good.” 

“ What does it feel like?”

“It feels like I’m a fucking idiot !”

Kassie startled and jerked the wheel at the anger in Mel’s voice. 

“I need to go to the clinic and get checked. I don't want to go by myself. Please don’t make me go by myself, Kass.” Mel’s voice was broken. She took a deep breath that broke down into hiccuping sobs. 

Kassie quickly pulled over and parked. Mel took gasping breaths, choking on her sobs, begging Kassie. “Please. Please, Kassie.”

Kassie kneeled in her seat, leaned over the middle console, and crowded Mel with her body. She wrapped her completely in her arms. She ignored the corners of her middle console digging into her stomach. She ignored that she was probably illegally parked on the side of the road at 3:45 in the morning. She ignored everything that wasn't Mel. 

Mel collapsed against her entirely. Her tears and snot wet her shoulder. She could feel the sobs wracking her body, her shuddering breaths as she tried to stop the torrential crying. They sat crowded together in the front seats of her beat-up car. Time was irrelevant. All that mattered was the mess she was holding in her arms. Her mess. Her best friend. 

Eventually, the shaking slowed, and the crying tapered to sniffles. She stopped begging Kassie. The heart-wrenching “please” ended. She awkwardly reached behind and grabbed her phone out of her pocket. She continued to rock Mel as much as she could in the cramped seat. 

There was no way that she and Mel would be able to open. Mel was a disaster; she needed to get to the clinic before she stressed herself into a nervous breakdown. 

Meg would be the best bet. She’s been training with Mel on how to prep and get inventory out in the mornings. She didn't have keys. Kassie would need to call Abraham. 

She should call Tina as well. She has years of experience working at bakeries, and she would make sure Meg didn't make customers cry. 

Mel was completely silent against her.  She called Abraham first. It rang through to voicemail. She took a deep breath. She couldn't start crying. Then both of them would be crying in the car on the side of the road before sunup. That would be ridiculous. Mel has dealt with her mental breakdowns all the time. She could handle Mel’s right now. She called Abraham again. It rang several times before he answered. 

“ Kassandra.” His speech was languid. He was probably half asleep and only answered out of a strong sense of duty. 

“I need you to go open the store. Mel and I won't be in. I’m going to call Meg and Tina, or maybe I’ll call everyone.” She could hear the panic in her voice.  “We can't open Abe! I need your help. You don't have to stay. Just open for whoever I can get there. Please ?” 

Her words came out in a panicky garble. She could hear how close she was to tears. She thought she had a hold on it, but just hearing Abraham’s voice made her want to cry. 

He sounded much more conscious when he answered. 

“Are you alright? Is Mel alright? I’ll be leaving in a minute.” She could hear rustling on the other end of the line. 

“Kassie?” His voice is sharp and assertive. It was a change from his soft-spoken murmur she heard daily in the bookshop. She wanted to ask him to deal with this. She wanted to pass Mel off and have Abraham solve it. 

“Mel’s okay. I have her.” Her fingers ached from how hard she was holding her phone. “I’m calling Meg. I will have her call you.”

“Kassie, you don’t need to call anyone. I have it. Take care of Melody and yourself. I will take care of Buzzy Bees.”

“But we probably need everyone today and I-”

“Kass,” Abraham cut her off loudly. Kassie was stunned. Abraham never interrupted. And he never raised his voice. She felt horrified that she was the one who had made him lose his composure.

“ Take care of yourself and Mel. I have it. Mel has the kitchen very organized. I have this.”

She opened her mouth, but she couldn't think of what to say. This morning has been too much, and it wasn't even daylight yet. 

Abraham continued, untroubled by her inability to speak. “Meg is most definitely a vampire or ghoul of some kind. She doesn't sleep. She’ll come in.” 

He sounded amused. Not angry. She hated asking for help or depending on someone. She never wanted to inconvenience someone, but Abraham was her friend. She should know better by now. 

“Thank you, Abraham. I love you.” She didn't bother with the effort of not crying. Today was doomed. Might as well cry about it. 

“I love you too. I got to go. Text me when you can.”