<USS Avalon> "Blindsided"

"Blindsided"
By: Lt. Jg Elijah Dareth and Lt. Melanie Redgrave
 
    
 
 
The last few days had been an emotionally taxing and physically draining  
rollacoaster for Melanie. She was beyond expressing the way she felt about  
finally finding out about her past and she felt really good about the  
reestablished relationship with Georgia. She and Elijah had spent the whole day 
 with 
Georgia and Eliza Mae before heading back to Elijah’s place in  Tennessee.  


The day after that, Melanie had slept pretty much the whole day with her  arm 
wrapped tightly around the teddy bear Georgia had given her. Elijah had been  
wonderful about allowing her to heal and after she’d emerged from the  guest 
room, he’d gone out of his way to show her a good time. She had had a  
wonderful time in Nashville and had made Elijah promise to bring her  back. 

His family had been so kind and open and welcoming to  Melanie that she truly 
hated leaving. Well, most of them had been, Melanie  couldn’t help but think 
that someone really needed to sit down and have a chat  with Mister Dareth, 
but she figured that at this stage it wasn’t her place  to.  
 
Mrs. Dareth had made a huge breakfast for them that morning and Melanie had  
found herself once again unable to tell her hosts she didn’t really eat meat, 
 
but she couldn’t help but indulge herself, and even now as she and Elijah 
made  they way from the transport station in central London, she was finding 
herself  hoping that Mrs. Evans hadn't gone out of her way in making a large 
dinner  'cause there was no way she‘d be able to eat.   


Elijah had been to the other side of the pond a time or two, but he had  
never really enjoyed the city.  At least not like he was enjoying this trip  
with 
Melanie.  It was different being there with someone who grew up in the  town 
and pointed out the most interesting places.  However, Eli was more  than 
nervous about meeting Melanie's mother.  They still hadn't really  worked out 
just 
what they were to each other yet...nothing official and it  nagged at Eli who 
liked things nice and organized.  He wished he could be  better company, but 
Elijah couldn't stop his nerves from jangling and he became  rather quiet.  
 
Melanie sifted the strap of her bag as she took Elijah’s hand and headed up  
the slightly inclined street that would lead them to her home. As they walked  
past the large homes with their small cast iron garden gates, Melanie could  
sense Elijah’s nervousness. She stopped suddenly and nearly laughed when 
Elijah  kept walking until he was jerked back by the arm Melanie had a hold  
of.  


When he turned to face her, she smiled at him. "What’s the matter, Eli?"  She 
asked softly, closing the distance between them, and then brushing his hair  
from his forehead. "And don’t tell me nothing. The more time we spend 
together 
 the easier you get to read."

"Bloody fruitbats in my stomach," he  grinned at using her vernacular.  
 
A bright smile lit up her face as she laughed. She thought it was cute when  
he used her more colorful phases. She knew deep down that if he were ever to  
tell someone to sod off she’d go hysterical. Gathering her good sense again,  
Melanie leaned in and kissed his cheek. "There’s nothing to be so nervous 
about,  Eli, but I understand. I felt the same way going to your home. I 
promise it
’ll  be ok and if you're too uncomfortable we can go to one of the hotels 
back in  the main part of the city."


"No, it's okay.  Really.  I just feel...out of place.  But  you did this for 
me.  I can do this for you, Mel.  I want to."   He took a moment to study her 
and brush her hair back from her face.  "Ah,  the middle of the sidewalk isn't 
the place for a heart to heart," he said,  sighing.  Taking a deep breath, 
"I'm ready to meet your mum. And I'll do my  best to be my witty and charming 
self."  He laughed lightly.  
 
Melanie kissed him on the lips quickly and the retook his hand. "My mum’s  
going to like you, Eli. Especially since the last boyfriend I had had a spiked  
green mohawk, a safety pin in his nose, and wore only black  leather." 

It hadn’t gone unnoticed to Melanie that she’d said boyfriend, but she  
laughed anyway and tried to push the thought from her mind. They hadn’t even  
talked about what this thing between them was, although she was pretty sure 
that  
kiss under the tree near the spring was a sign of where it could be going. 
 
"I'm okay, Mel, really.  Don't worry." He followed her lead, trying to  
picture Melanie with a leather clad green mohawked fellow without laughing. 
 
The flowers in the front garden were no longer the soft orange tea roses of  
late summer like they had been the last time Melanie had come home, which to  
Melanie felt more like years instead of the mere couple of months it had been. 
 The flowers were now deeper reds, a sure sign that the winter season was 
coming.  In a matter of weeks the set of stone steps that she was now leading 
Elijah up  would be lined with poinsettias. Melanie smiled when they reached 
the 
top of the  landing. She reached out and patted the brass lion door knocker, 
as was her  custom, and greeted him warmly. “Hello Max.” A sudden grip took 
hold of her  chest when she realized she’d unknowingly giving the door 
knocker 
her birth  father’s nick name. 

After shaking off the sudden rush of pain she felt, Melanie smiled again  and 
opened the front door. She stepped into the foyer and looked around.  "’
Ello?" She called out as she dropped her bag on the floor. "Any one home?" The  
only response was the sound of dog claws that were a tad too long, running on  
hardwood floors. Melanie crouched down just in time to see a white and tan  
colored Brittany spaniel come barreling around the corner from the kitchen.  
"Patches!" 

Elijah smiled at the sight of Melanie with her dog.  The house  was elegant 
and tastefully decorated.  Very different from  the open, but cosy, house in 
Nashville.  While his parent's house  was quite simple, this was almost regal, 
but warm.  It was an  interesting contrast.  
 
After allowing the dog to greet Melanie properly, he knelt down and  
scratched it behind the ears.  "Hey there," he said.  Eli loved pets  and they 
usually 
loved him.
 
Melanie watched as Patches went over to Elijah and checked him out before  
sitting down in front of him and allowing him to pet him. "He likes you. 
That’s  
a first. He didn’t even like T’Arah at first."  


She smiled at Elijah, watching him closely, and finding it hard to turn  away 
from him. When she finally did, it was just to look down the hall where the  
dog had come from. "I wonder where everyone is?" She asked aloud as she stood  
slowly and shouted once more. "Moth...."

"Really, Melanie," a  soft voice with an accent even more elegant then Melanie
’s said. "There is  certainly no need for shouting." Melanie looked up at the 
staircase and smiled.  She watched as a woman with short, dark, sandy blonde 
hair and the bluest eyes  eve,r walked down the stairs towards her.
  
The woman, who was in her late sixties, moved down the  curving stair case 
with the grace of a twenty year old. She smiled warmly as she  reached the 
bottom and approached Melanie. "After all my dear, ladies do not  shout," she 
said 
as she tapped the end of Melanie’s nose with her index finger  before hugging 
her. 

Melanie smiled and hugged back. "Sorry  Mother." 


At the first sound of Melanie's mother's voice, Elijah quickly stood back  
upright, nearly at attention.  He closely watched the exchange between  Melanie 
and her mother.  For some reason it occurred to him that his mother  and Mel's 
mother would get along really well.  They both had that sort of  graceful 
aire about them.
 
When Melanie was released from her mother’s hug she stood still long enough  
for her mother to look her over. She could see the thoughts forming in the 
older  woman’s head and before she could scold her about the lack of personal 
care she  was seeing, she took hold of her mother’s arm and turned them 
towards 
Elijah.  "Mother I’d like for you to meet a friend of mine. The one I called 
and told you  was coming with me." The two woman took a few steps towards 
Elijah 
and Melanie  smiled.  


"Mother, this is Elijah Dareth. Eli, my mother Juliana Redgrave." Melanie  
purposefully left off the trifling British title her mother had, she didn’t 
want 
 to make him any more uneasy than he already was. 


Elijah reached out to shake her hand and smiled his most charming  smile.  
"It is truly a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Redgrave."  And he  meant it.  That 
was the one thing that made Elijah so appealing - he liked  people and that 
honest emotion readily showed. 
 
Juliana smiled warmly as she took the young man’s hand. She studied him  ever 
so covertly before repling honestly. "It is a pleasure to make your  
acquaintance as well, Mister Dareth. Melanie tells me that you‘ve been quite 
the  
friend to her over the past few weeks. Though she refuses to give me details." 
.  


With that Juliana looked over her shoulder at Melanie who just stood there  
rolling her eyes. "Melanie dear, don’t roll your eyes like that. It isn’t 
very 
 lady like," Juliana teased as she took Elijah’s arm, leading him towards the 
 sitting room. "Alice has made up the guest room for you Mister Dareth. I 
hope we  can make your stay with us a pleasant one."
 
"I appreciate the effort, Mrs. Redgrave.  And, please, call me  Elijah," his 
accent really showed through in all his nervousness, but it was the  only 
tell-tale sign.  "You have a beautiful home.  I was comparing a  bit to my 
parent's home in Tennessee and they're quite different."
 
Melanie followed her mother and Elijah into the sitting room shaking her  
head and smiling. She wondered if Elijah knew that her mother was pretty much  
sizing him up, but figured it was pretty safe for now. Her mother knew that  
they were friends and that nothing else had been  defined. 

"Thank you, Elijah," Juliana said as she took a seat  in her chair. She waved 
the children towards a matching sofa and then sat back,  crossing her long 
legs at the ankle and tucking them slightly under her chair.  "I can imagine 
the 
homes would be quite different," she smiled a bit, "but I’m  sure your home 
is just as lovely. Melanie seemed quite taken with  it." 

Melanie sat down next to Elijah on the sofa and smiled.  "It was positively 
breath taking, Mother, and his family was so sweet to me. I  rather think 
you’d 
get along well with Mrs. Dareth." 
 
Juliana smiled. "Perhaps I will have the opportunity to meet her  someday." 

To anyone else that wouldn't  have seemed as sly as it was meant to be but 
Melanie knew  better. "Mother." 
 
Juliana only smiled and then turned her head to watch as a rather plump  
woman with gray streaked red hair came into the room pushing a small cart. The  
woman didn’t say anything as she set about fixing tea. She handed one to 
Juliana 
 and then fixed anther and handed it to Melanie. "Welcome home,  Miss." 

Melanie smiled and touched the woman’s hand fondly.  "Thank you Mrs. Evans."
 
"Would you like some tea, Elijah?" Juliana asked as she settled back into  
her chair. 


"Yes, please.  And thank you, Mrs. Evans," he addressed the elder  woman.  
"No sugar and a bit of cream, please."  Elijah knew that he  was sort of on 
trial here and he couldn't say it was a feeling he enjoyed.   Mrs. Redgrave was 
a 
completely lovely woman, but Melanie hadn't prepared him for  all this.  She 
never once mentioned that she had grown up so wealthy and  ... cultured.  
 
He felt positively foolish sitting there drinking tea in such an  atmosphere. 
 It was something out of a movie, not something for a country  boy to be 
doing.    He was doing the best he could to muddle  through, but just knew he 
would do something atrocious sooner or later to show  his lack of cultured 
upbringing.  He didn't want to embarass  Melanie. 
 
Melanie could tell that Elijah felt out of place. She’d been afraid to give  
him too many details about her home and family, she’d thought if he’d known 
 
she’d grown up like this, he’d somehow think less of her. "I didn’t think 
you 
 yanks drank cream in your tea," Melanie teased in a faint hope of easing the 
 stuffiness that loomed lightly in the room. 
 
"It was something my mom was fond of," he told her, perhaps a little more  
bluntly than he meant to.  This, all this, made him feel  so...inferior.
 
"Your mother," Juliana said warmly, as she sipped her tea. "is a professor  
of law, is she not?" She smiled warmly despite the looks she was getting from  
Melanie. "And you're an officer in security? She must be very proud of you." 
 
Melanie lost all color in her face when she realized her mother had been  
snooping and just sort of sat there with her mouth open. "Melanie, dear," her  
mother warned, and she quickly closed it. 

Juliana then looked  at Elijah, who’d become tense. "Really, Elijah dear, 
there’s no need to look so  timid. No need to be so nervous." 
 
"I'm sorry if I seem nervous, ma'am.  I can't say that I was  
adequately...prepared for such a grand reception," he told her honestly, though 
 he was 
admittedly a little irritated.  At what, he wasn't quite sure.   "To answer 
your 
questions, ma'am, yes, my mother is a law professor and is  rather proud of my 
career choice.  And yes, I serve as a security officer  aboard the Avalon.  It 
can get quite interesting."
 
Melanie seemed to sink into the sofa under the look her mother was giving  
her after hearing Elijah say he hadn’t been given many details either. "I  
apologize for the ‘grand reception’ Elijah. It would appear that I am not 
the  
only one whom Melanie feels that there is no need to inform property of certain 
 
details of her life."

"That’s not fair, I said I’d fill you in,"  Melanie huffed. 
 
Juliana nodded her head slightly, "Indeed." She then looked at Elijah again  
and smiled. "I do hope you’ll grow more comfortable here, Elijah. If you need 
 
anything don’t be afraid to ask Mrs. Evans. And I hope I haven’t made you 
feel  unwelcome. I do tend to be rather... British.. at times. I really can be 
far  less.. stuffy, I think is the word floating around my daughter’s  
thoughts."


"I apologize if I've seemed offensive, Mrs. Redgrave.  That was not my  
intent.  I'm just, very ...how should I say it?...very much a country  boy.  
This 
is all quite new to me.  A bit overwhelming.  You have  been the perfect 
hostess," he told her, nearly wishing he could just disappear. 
 
"There is nothing wrong with being a country boy, Elijah," Juliana said,  
although the term country boy seemed to sound strange coming from her. Then she 
 
smiled as she rose from her chair and walked gracefully over to the sofa. She  
placed a delicate hand on his shoulder and squeezed it  sincerely.  


"Do not let first impressions fool you, young man. After all, it wasn’t to  
long ago that I was spending blissful summers on a sheep farm just outside  
Brussels. All of this," she waved her other hand around the room, "is merely  
polish." Juliana smiled down at the young man again. "Now if you’ll excuse 
me, I  
think I shall take my leave of you both until dinner. I think Melanie needs 
to  explain why she didn’t prepare you better for my onslaught."
 
Elijah stood and smiled at Melanie's mother as she left the room.  Her  words 
had been kind and reassuring and he very much appreciated them.  Once  Mrs. 
Redgrave and Mrs. Evans had left the room, Elijah walked over to stare out  the 
large window.
 
Melanie watched as the room cleared out and then looked over at Elijah. She  
felt all of two inches tall and hated the fact that even at her age, her 
mother  had that power over her. She sighed as she ran her finger along the 
edge of 
the  china tea cup in her hand. "She likes you," she offered as an olive 
branch. 
 
"She's a very beautiful woman," he said, still staring out the  window.  
"Liza would have a field day here," he said with a half-hearted  smile.  
 
"I used to wish that I looked like her. I’ve always thought she was the  most 
beautiful and enchanting woman in the world," Melanie said softly, as she  
sat the cup down. "She still is, even when she’s being a complete bugger."  
Melanie got up from the sofa and walked over to stand just behind Elijah.  
"Though 
I guess this time I’m the complete bugger." 
 
He turned around to face Melanie.  "I've always thought you were  beautiful," 
he told her simply, choosing to ignore her last words.
 
Melanie didn’t even bother to hide her blush. “I can hardly take credit for 
 
it. I’m only what my mothers made me to be.” Suddenly the rug under their 
feet  became very eye catching to Melanie. “You both have a right to be angry 
with me.  It was unfair to broadside you like this.”

"I agree."
 
Elijah’s quick response made Melanie’s head snap up. "Would you have come  
if I’d told you? Can you tell me straight out that if I told you that I lived 
 
like this, that we had servants, and a house on Down street, and that my  
mother has some stupid title, that you wouldn’t look at me like you did when 
I  
was just plain old Mel?" Melanie wasn’t sure why she’d suddenly become  
defensive, she’d honestly been working her way up to an apology. 
 
"Have I ever judged you?  I'm actually rather insulted that you'd  think I 
would," he told her calmly.
 
"No you haven’t," she said softly before her voice rose again. "Well,  excuse 
me for being scared and unsure and for having a moment of weakness," she  
snapped at him. "We’re still getting to know each other, Eli, and yes for a  
moment I thought that perhaps all of this," she waved her hand in a perfect  
match 
for the way her mother had a moment ago, "would scare you off and that  
thought terrified me." 
 
He flinched at her words.  "Hey now," he said quietly, reaching for  her 
hands.  "There's no reason to yell at me, Melanie."  Suddenly her  words sunk 
in.  
"The thought of scaring me off terrifies you?"  He  asked, genuinely 
surprised.  
 
"Yes," she said in an almost whisper as she held tightly to his  hands.  
 
"I'm not goin' anywhere, Mel," he said, dropping one of her hands and  
tipping her chin up until she looked him in the eyes.
 
The words she was looking for seemed to be out of reach. She wanted to  
explain what she was feeling and what she wanted for them, but she couldn’t.  
Maybe 
it still wasn’t time or maybe the grip she was gaining on her emotions  
wasn't as solid as she’d thought. The only thing Melanie could think to do 
was  
act. She stepped into him, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him like 
he’d  
kissed her under the tree in Tennessee.  
 
Elijah was surprised at Melanie's boldness.  After the several sweet  and 
fleeting kisses on his cheek, it was a pleasant surprise to have her kiss  him 
like this.  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer,  
deepening the kiss a bit.  
 
When they ended the kiss, he pressed his lips gently to her forehead and  
then hugged her, resting his chin on top of her head.  "That was nice," he  
whispered.
 
Melanie smiled as she hugged him. "I’ve wanted to do that since we left  
Georgia’s," she admitted. Melanie let Elijah hold her a little longer and the 
 
pulled away a little. She looked up at him and smiled as she wiped the light  
pink lip gloss smudge from his lips. Then with her hand still resting on his  
cheek she said softly, "I’m sorry for not telling you about all of this. I 
hope  
your not too angry with me for long." 
 
"I'll get over it," he told her.  "I was just a little  blind-sided.  I 
should've had the time to work myself into a nervous frenzy  over what horrors 
were 
possibly waiting for me, that way when I found this it  would've been a 
relief," he laughed slightly to let her know he wasn't too  angry. 
 
"Things will go a lot smoother once I talk to her about what happened in  
Mississippi. She’s been a little unnerved by my looking into my birth 
family,"  
she told him, still not pulling completely away from him. "But until I get a  
chance to do that why don’t we get settled in and then head out to do what 
ever 
 you’d like?" 
 
Perhaps it wasn't the right time, but it was the best chance he'd gotten so  
far... "Melanie?" he asked, turning her back to face him, where she had begun 
to  turn away, "would it be okay if ... I mean for me to ... Good golly, I 
feel like  a grade schooler.  Melanie, would you be my girlfriend?  Like  
officially?"  
 
Melanie’s eyes lit up as she smiled. She was touched by the innocence  behind 
the gesture and nearly started to cry. She’d never had anyone ask  her to be 
their girlfriend like that. Normally they just fell into a pattern and  
assumed the labels fit. This was so much better. "I’d love to be your  
girlfriend," 
she answered, as she stepped in and kissed him again.

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