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Mel wasn't quite sure how she got here.
Well, that's not exactly true. She knew how she got here. It was what convinced her to get here that was confusing her.
First, she had agreed to do karaoke with Trinity Santos. When Santos proposed the idea, Mel had thought she was joking, both about doing karaoke and wanting Mel to go with her, but a few hours later, she was following her into a bar. Second, Trinity had convinced her to mix a shot of vodka into her Sprite. Mel had tried one drink on her twenty-first birthday, hated it, and never tried another since. She had never been tipsy before, let alone drunk, but judging by the way her body seemed to lag behind her brain, Trinity had given her a lot more than one shot. Third, she groaned, actually groaned, when the overhead lights of the bar flipped on and Closing Time began playing over the speakers.
"What time is it?" she had asked. Surely it couldn't be much later than midnight. It felt like hardly any time had passed at all.
Trinity laughed at her. "It's nearly 2:00 am, Mel-anis Morissette."
"Oh." Mel furrowed her eyebrows as she began following Trinity outside. "I'm never up this late. I still have so much energy."
"I wonder why," Trinity mumbled, typing away at her phone.
"Do you think it's the alcohol? I don't really drink. Maybe it's the alcohol."
Trinity glanced up at her, eyebrows raised. "I think maybe you're right."
Mel nodded and glanced around at her environment. She watched groups of people pile into the cars of their (hopefully) sober friends, while others made calls or started walking down the street. Oh, right. She also needed to get home. Hopefully she had Pavloved herself with her nighttime routine and would start feeling sleepy the second she stepped through her front door, just like she usually did. "So, I'm just gonna-"
"Do you want to come back to my place?"
Mel shut her mouth. Trinity was looking at her almost… hopefully?
"I just booked an Uber, so if you're not tired yet…" Trinity shrugged. "We could, like, order pizza or something. You could even stay over, if you want, since it's so late. Whitaker is off with his farm girl, so he won't be around to bother us."
Mel blinked, trying to keep up with everything Trinity just said. She was… being invited to her apartment to order pizza and have a sleepover. After they had just gotten drunk and done karaoke together.
Mel never went to bars. She never drank. She had never enjoyed herself so much in an environment that was usually so overstimulating that she was upset when the night was over. She was never not asleep at 2:00 am. But there was something about the fact that she was doing all of these things with Trinity Santos that made her want to keep going.
Mel had spent the ten months that she'd known Trinity trying to figure her out. Trinity almost reminded her of Becca, in an odd way. Growing up, teachers would have a meeting with the class whenever Becca was out of the room, telling all of the students that Becca was a little different from everyone else, and that she was just trying to make friends, but she didn't quite know how.
Mel had recognized, from the day she met her, that Trinity Santos was trying to make friends; she just didn't quite know how.
So maybe that's what convinced Mel to get here.
She could've said, "Yes!", or "Okay, sure!", but instead she verbalized the thing that was confusing her the most: "…Ordering pizza at 2:00 in the morning?"
Trinity looked at her exasperatedly. "Or we could have cereal, or finish off the like, half a bag of chips I have, or not eat anything at all, I don't care. Do you want to come over or not?"
Mel smiled. There was the Trinity she'd come to expect. "Sure, that sounds great!"
So that's how Mel King found herself awkwardly standing in the middle of Trinity Santos's kitchen while she got her fresh pajamas to change into.
Trinity emerged from her bedroom a moment later, now wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, carrying a bundle of clothes. "Here, I wasn't sure what you were most comfortable with, so I brought you some options. You can go ahead and change in my room, and just throw whatever you don't wear on my bed."
Mel thanked her as she took the clothes, and smiled down at them. Trinity had brought her options. She retreated into the room Trinity had just come out of and shut the door behind her.
Trinity's bedroom looked exactly as Mel would've expected it to. Every surface was covered in a random assortment of objects, there was a small pile of clothes shoved into a corner, and her comforter was messily spread over her bed, like it hadn't been made until Trinity realized that someone other than herself would be seeing it. Along the opposite wall was a vanity. Taped to the corner of the attached mirror was a photo strip of a younger Trinity, no older than eighteen, and another girl, both of them making various different faces into the camera. Mel smiled at the images. She would have to ask her about the girl; Trinity never really brought up any of her life pre-med school.
Mel decided on the sweatpants and t-shirt that Trinity had given her, neatly folded the unworn shorts and crewneck options, and placed them on the corner of Trinity's bed. When she returned, she was met with the sight of Trinity sitting cross-legged on her couch, eating a bowl of cereal while watching some show Mel didn't recognize on TV.
"There's cereal in the cabinet next to the fridge," Trinity called, not looking away from the television. "There's also the half-bag of chips, and also some granola bars I forgot about. And some crackers that I'm pretty sure are Dennis's, but he ate all of my avocados, so I don't really care."
Mel opened the cabinet to see exactly what Trinity had described. While the crackers did sound good, she didn't feel like getting involved in whatever roommate feud they had going on; she grabbed one of the granola bars instead.
As Mel sat down beside Trinity on the couch, a strand of her hair fell in front of her eyes. Right. Trinity had taken out her braid. Now her hair was in her face, and down her neck, and under the collar of her t-shirt, and it was all Mel could think about. She grabbed at her wrist for a hair tie that was once there, but was now lost somewhere in the abyss of the bar.
"Um, Trinity, do you, um… have a hair tie?" Mel blinked forcefully, trying to keep her voice and breathing steady.
Trinity glanced over. "Oh, sure, yeah, gimme a sec." She got up from the couch, placing her now-empty bowl in the sink, and dipped into her room. Mel could only manage to nod in response. Trinity returned only a moment later, a hair tie and brush in her hands.
"Do you want me to braid it for you?" Trinity asked, nodding down at the granola bar in Mel's hands. "Since you're eating?"
Mel glanced down. She hadn't even opened the granola bar yet, so she wasn't really sure what Trinity was talking about, but… it had been a while since anyone had done her hair for her.
"If you don't mind," she replied hesitantly.
Trinity shrugged and sat down, instructing Mel to turn around. She began by gently working out the knots that had formed during the night, alternating between using her fingers and the brush. Mel shut her eyes, taking in a deep breath. The feeling of the brush moving through her hair was soothing, in an odd way. It stirred up a memory from deep within her.
"My mom used to braid my hair like this," she said, breaking the silence.
She could feel Trinity pause, just for a moment, before continuing. "Oh?"
"Every morning before school. She was always really busy with Becca, making sure she had her bag packed and her teeth brushed, but… she would always be there to braid my hair."
"That's… very sweet."
Mel hummed. "It was. It's a good thing she died after I went to college, because she had to teach me how to braid it on my own before then. If she'd died any earlier, I would've never learned to do it as well as she did."
Was that a weird thing to say? That kind of felt like a weird thing to say.
Trinity huffed out a laugh behind her. "Well, that's one way of looking at it."
Good. Not weird.
"Exactly! I have to find some good things from it, otherwise I'd just be sad about it all the time."
Trinity patted her back twice, signaling that the braid was done. Mel should've taken that as her cue that the conversation was over. Instead, she just kept talking.
"I struggled for a while to find something good that came from my dad committing suicide when I was twelve, but I guess in the long run, it helped me to prepare for all of the things I would feel when my mom passed, so… I mean, it's not really happy… at all… but it's something."
Trinity didn't have anything to say to that. She looked lost in thought, staring straight ahead, a frown on her face. Mel knew, again, that she should stop, but she never did well in awkward silence.
"It's weird losing someone in that way when you're that young. I barely knew what suicide was, and neither did any of my friends, because we were all twelve, but that was how my dad died. Even adults don't really know what to say when you lose someone like that. Like, everyone knows what to say when you tell them that your mom died of cancer, but never when your dad died by suicide."
Trinity nodded slowly, looking back towards Mel. "My best friend killed herself when we were fifteen.
Mel paused. Even having been through it herself, she, too, did not know what to say. "Oh."
"Um… we did gymnastics together, and our coach was… abusing us. When we finally started telling people, they thought we were making it up for attention, and she just… couldn't handle it anymore. So… I'm not saying I know exactly how you feel, but… I know what you mean. About people not knowing what to say."
Mel took a deep breath. She could not let herself cry over what Trinity had said. Now was not the time. Instead, she put that energy elsewhere. "Is she the girl in the pictures on your mirror?"
Mel could see Trinity's throat bob as she swallowed harshly. "Yeah. That's her."
"She has a really beautiful smile."
Mel watched Trinity's eyebrows relax, and saw the barest hint of a smile grace her lips. "Yeah. She did."
Mel smiled as she turned her attention back to the TV, letting the now-comfortable silence fall over them. She finally unwrapped her granola bar, and tried to follow along with whatever was happening in the show Trinity was watching. All she could see was a bunch of people she vaguely recognized from the tabloids at the grocery store yelling at each other. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. There was so much yelling.
Evidently, Trinity was feeling the same way. "Jesus, this is stupid," she muttered. "Do you wanna watch a movie?"
Mel blinked. "Oh, sure, if you want to. Can it… not be Elf, though?"
"…Why the hell would it be Elf?"
"It's my sister's favorite movie. It's pretty much the only thing we watch… ever. Which is fine! It's a good movie. I really like Elf. But, you know…"
"…It's July, and you don't wanna watch a Christmas movie?"
"Yes! Exactly."
Trinity snorted. "Well, what do you want to watch instead?"
"…What do I want to watch?"
"When Becca's like, 'We should watch Elf!', what's the movie that you wish she would suggest instead?"
Mel paused. She knew exactly what she wanted to watch, but it's not exactly… cool. Trinity is cool. She's probably into gory-horror-slasher movies, the kind that Mel couldn't fathom why anyone would watch. She definitely isn't into the kind of movies that Mel likes.
"Oh, I don't… I dunno. I don't really care. Whatever you want to watch is fine."
Trinity grinned, seeing right through Mel's lame excuse. "What?" she asked coyly, nudging Mel's side with her own.
"Nothing. It's stupid."
"Mel, Whitaker and I just finished binging the Twilight movies, and before that, it was every single fucking Despicable Me movie. I guarantee whatever you're thinking of is not as stupid as that."
Mel worried her lower lip between her teeth and glanced down at her granola bar wrapper. Well, whatever. Trinity teases her enough as-is. What's a little more fuel for the fire? "Maybe… Coco?" she asked timidly.
Trinity nodded, a satisfied look on her face. "Hell yeah. I love Coco," she said, standing up from the couch.
"Y- you do?" Mel asked, slightly bewildered, as she watched Trinity retreat through the apartment.
"Of course I do," Trinity called from her room. "Who doesn't like Coco?" She reemerged a second later, laptop in hand.
"I dunno. You seem like you'd be more into, like, creepy slashers and stuff."
Trinity shrugged, plugging her laptop into the TV. "Nah, not really. I see enough gore every day as is."
Mel laughed. "Oh, that's so true! Once, when I was picking Becca up, this woman at the center asked if I like Grey's Anatomy and other shows like that, but I can't watch any medical dramas. They're way too inaccurate, and-" Mel paused, noticing what Trinity had pulled up on the TV. "What website is that?"
Trinity didn't look up from her laptop as she typed away. "One where we can watch Coco for free."
Mel frowned. "Isn't that illegal?"
Trinity shrugged again. "Why would I want to give any money to the mouse when the ever-reliable One-Two-Three Movies has it right here?" Trinity clicked on the first result and made her way back to the couch as it loaded. "Trust me, they're not gonna use 'once watched a Pixar movie without paying for it' against you in court."
Mel's heart dropped. "They… they wouldn't, right?"
Trinity raised her eyebrows at her, biting back a laugh.
"Oh. You're joking." Mel took a deep breath. When she looked back at the TV, she gasped at what she saw. Instead of Coco, the screen was displaying a very… explicit video.
Trinity burst out laughing. "Oh yeah, it also comes with some very fun ads. You just have to wait for them to play out."
Mel stared down at her lap, eyes wide, blocking the screen from her view with her hand. "That's an ad? For what?"
Trinity stood up. "I can click on it and we can find out…"
Mel looked up at her in horror. "No!"
Trinity laughed again, flopping back down on the couch.
Joking again. Right.
"Look, it's over now. All good."
Mel hesitantly lowered her hand to see that the ad had, in fact, closed, and the TV was now showing the Pixar lamp jumping across the screen. She took in a regulating breath, held it, and let it out slowly.
Almost instantly, Mel was wrapped up in the story unfolding in front of her. It had been a long time since she last let herself relax and watch a movie for herself. It had been a long time since she'd done anything truly for herself. On the nights that she wasn't spending time with Becca, she would get home from work, take a shower, and go straight to bed. On her nights with Becca, they'd do whatever she wanted to do. It was nice to sit, take her brain off of overdrive, and let herself enjoy something just for her. She hardly even registered Trinity getting up once more, until she returned a few minutes later with a giant bowl of popcorn that she placed wordlessly between them. Mel managed to flash her a grateful smile and grab a handful before focusing her attention back on the movie.
The two sat and watched the movie in easy silence. It was odd being around Santos without hearing her usual snide remarks, but Mel had to admit that she liked this side of her. She always knew it was in there somewhere; she's seen the way she handles the patients that she really resonates with. It was nice to finally experience it firsthand.
Mel continued to watch on as Miguel sang Remember Me to Coco, and couldn't stop herself from shedding a few tears. Embarrassed, she tried to hide her face from Trinity inconspicuously. She did not need to be seen crying on her couch, and certainly not over a children's movie. She was so caught up in wiping her hands over her face that she jumped at the feeling of an arm wrapping around her shoulders. She whipped her head around to look at Trinity, who was forcefully blinking away tears of her own.
Oh.
Mel frowned worriedly. She'd seen Trinity's eyes get misty before, no matter how much she'd tried to hide it, but she'd never seen her truly trying not to cry.
"Shut up," Trinity mumbled with no real mirth behind it, staring straight ahead. Mel would've laughed at just how Trinity it was, if they didn't both have tears silently rolling down their cheeks. Slowly, like she was approaching a frightened animal, Mel slid over until she was pressed against Trinity's side, and gently leaned her head on her shoulder.
"I miss my parents," Mel whispered.
Trinity's head slowly tilted until it was pressed against Mel's. She pulled Mel in closer, just an inch. "I miss my best friend."
Trinity smelled nice, Mel thought. Really nice. Something wood-y and jasmine-y. The weight of her arm around her shoulders was comforting, especially now, with her hand brushing up and down Mel's arm. Mel's eyes grew heavy, the events of the day quickly crashing down on her. She allowed herself to rest her eyes, just briefly.
Just for a few minutes. Just until the movie is over.
Mel stirred the next morning, awoken by the smell of coffee and the feeling of lying on a bed that was most certainly not her own. She blinked her eyes open to the blurry sight of a coffee table and TV in front of her, and the events of the night before came flooding back. When had she fallen asleep?
Mel sat up slowly, wrapping the blanket that had been draped over her around herself. She grabbed her glasses that had been sitting on the coffee table and paced her way into the kitchen. There, she was met with the sight of Trinity Santos, hair still slightly mussed from sleep, hovering over the stove as she transferred a pancake from the skillet to a plate.
"Morning," Mel managed tiredly, still wrapping her mind around this entire situation.
Trinity looked up from her work, a bright smile on her face. "Good morning, Mel-ephant," she replied, shockingly cheery.
Mel-ephant?
"Did you sleep okay?" Trinity continued. "I know the couch isn't the best, but trust me, it's better than whatever's going on in Whitaker's room."
"Oh, yeah, fine, thank you. Um…" Mel blinked forcefully, feeling a headache begin to press in on her temples. "Was that… Mel-ephant like elephant?"
Trinity nodded. "I'm workshopping some new ones. You'll have to let me know what you think."
"Oh, okay… cool."
Trinity took one of the now-finished plates of pancakes and held it out to her. "Hungry? I could also make you something else if you want."
"Um…" Mel wanted to argue that she had already more than overstayed her welcome, but… she had to admit that she was having a nice time. Besides, Trinity had already made two plates. It would be silly to reject one of them. "No, that's perfect. Thank you, Trinity!"
The two ate in a comfortable silence, only broken up by a stray comment here and there. Soon enough, Mel was making her way back home, sitting in the back of an Uber. Trinity had offered to drive her home, but Mel insisted that Trinity had already done plenty for her. When Mel arrived back at her townhouse, she glanced down at her phone, noticing one new text.
Trinity: soooo were doing that again soon right?
Mel grinned at the screen and quickly typed out a response
Mel: Yes, of course! Thank you so much for inviting me, Trinity! I had a great time. :)
Mel rocked forward on her toes with glee, before bounding up to her room to change her clothes.
Again, Trinity had said. They were going to do this again.
Maybe next time they could go see those reenactors that had stopped in yesterday.