I stared out the window of the taxi, not seeing the building in front of me. Instead, I saw Natalie.
Natalie laughing. Natalie smiling. Natalie painting her toenails. Natalie painting Ella's toenails. Natalie cuddling with Will on the couch, watching a movie. Natalie, Natalie, Natalie.
"Nat," Will's voice said.
"Nat," it repeated.
"Melody!" Harry said loudly. I jumped. No more Natalie. I saw everything around me now. I turned my head to see Harry looking at me with a concerned expression on his face. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
I turned back to the window, staring at the gray siding of the apartment building. "I have to know," I whispered, my hand on the door handle.
"Are you guys gonna get out or not?" the driver said gruffly, looking at us through the rearview mirror.
I pulled the handle back, unlatching the door. I heard Harry shift in his seat. "Alone," I said, not looking at his face. I pushed the door open and stepped out of the car.
Harry stood next to me and took my hand. I opened my mouth to protest, but he spoke before I could. "We're in this together."
I shook my head slowly, squeezing his hand once before dropping it and walking away, trying not to look back at him. When I did, I saw a look of understanding on his face. He nodded once, then got back in the taxi. I turned to the door in front of me and pulled it open, knowing that whatever the outcome of this trip would be, it would change my life forever.

---

I looked at the number on the door in front of me, then looked back at the slip of paper. The numbers matched. I took a deep breath, then knocked on the door.
I can't do this.
I have to do this.
I need to know.
I need Harry.
Why didn't I bring him?
Why did I do this?
God, I'm an idiot!
All these thoughts went through my mind at once. I turned toward the stairs and took a step toward them, then heard the door behind me open.
"Melody?" I turned back around to see Natalie in the doorway, her long, straight brown hair cascading over her shoulder. She grinned. "Melody! What a nice surprise! I haven't seen you in forever! Come in, come in!"
I slowly walked into her apartment and took in my surroundings. The kitchen was to my right, and a bathroom to my left. Past the kitchen was a living room, colorful toys and a few clothes scattered about on the carpet.
"Sorry about the mess. I just got home from work and I haven't had time to do anything." She shrugged, doing an awkward walk/run thing to pick up the clothes. She dropped them in a laundry basket.
"That's okay," I said, running my hand over the granite countertops. "I like messy homes. It makes it look-"
"Lived in," she finished with me, gesturing for me to sit on the couch. She sat on the ottoman. "I remember. That was your excuse to not clean your house. Ever."
I laughed, sitting down. "You know me too well."
A small cry came from somewhere in the apartment. Natalie paused, holding herself very still, and it stopped. She relaxed, then smiled. "So how have you been? What's new?"
I focused on her again. "I've been better, I guess," I admitted for the first time in months. "It's still hard, you know?"
She nodded sympathetically, then brightened the mood again. "No more frownies. How 'bout them brownies? What's something exciting that's happened recently?"
I hesitated, then opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by another cry.
Natalie stood up and smoothed her skirt. "Sorry, I have to go get her," she said, a bit of pink creeping into her cheeks. "I'll be right back."
I froze as she walked away.
Her.
A million things zipped through my mind at once.
"There, that's better, isn't it?" Natalie cooed. I glanced at the clock on the wall -- five minutes had passed.
I looked back at Natalie, who was now holding a small baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
"Melody, meet Melanie." Natalie unwrapped the small child. She held Melanie out to me and I took her, a tear running down my face and landing on hers as I cradled her against my body. "Your niece."

---

"You look just like your daddy did," I cooed at the grinning baby. Melanie was sitting up on my stomach with her back against my thighs, holding the fingers of my left hand as tight as she could as if her life depended on it. She was making lots of different sounds, and I laughed whenever she got excited and kicked her little legs.
After introducing me to my niece, Natalie had basically left us alone, letting us make up for three months of unknown existence.
Scratch that.
A year of unknown existence.
Will had known. He had known since the day Natalie found out, as she told me. Will had been coming home from Natalie's the day he died, two weeks after Natalie had told him. He was coming home to tell us about the baby. He had wanted Natalie to come along, too, but she was leaving for Arizona with her family for her cousin's wedding, so she couldn't.
She was four weeks pregnant.
The note I had found was written by Natalie. She had snuck into my house and hid it in the chocolate, where she knew I would find it eventually, knowing that Will would want me to be the first person he told.
She just thought it would've been earlier that I found it.
There was a knock on the door. "Melody, could you get that, please?" Natalie called from the bathroom.
"Yep!" I shouted back, standing up and walking to the door, being extra careful with Melanie. I started talking to Melanie in my baby voice. "That's probably my boyfriend. He's famous, you know. He has green eyes and dimples. And curly brown hair, but he always has it up in a quiff now, so it looks kinda dumb. Don't laugh at him, though. That's my job!"
I peered through the peephole, then looked back down at the smiling baby in my arms. "Yup! That's my idiot boyfriend!"
I opened the door and grinned up at Harry. "Harold Edward Styles, meet Melanie Avery Musikk," I said dramatically, holding the grinning kid out to the tall guy with curly hair standing in the doorway.
Harry looked at me confusedly, but took Melanie anyway. "Melody? What's with the kid?"
"Melody? Who's this?" Natalie asked, coming up behind me. Harry looked up, and Natalie blushed. "Oh! You're...." she stopped, speechless.
"Her celerity crush," I finished for her, remembering Natalie's obsession with One Direction.
"Well then, I guess that means you both have good taste in men," he said, grinning and taking my hand. I maneuvered myself so that Natalie couldn't see our hands, and he gave me a curious look but didn't question it.
"Harry, this is..." I paused, not knowing what to call Natalie. "My kind-of sister. And this," I said, taking Melanie from him, "is my niece."
"Mel?" Natalie's voice came back to her. "How do you know Harry Styles?"
"Tell her," Harry whispered in my ear.
I took his hand again, this time not hiding it from her. "Planes break down, people get bored, ice is slippery, gravity's a bitch, concerts are loud, tours go places, he's my boyfriend."
She stared at me blankly. "That made no sense."
"I just told you the story of how we met!" I said, laughing. Melanie gurgled and kicked her feet.
She stared at me for a moment more, then closed the door and ushered us inside. "Okay then. Spill. Everything. I want details."

Notes

Who guessed it?

Comment if you had a general idea of what it was going to be or guessed it before you read it.

Now you know who Natalie is.
And what the letter said (kind of).

And Natalie knows about Harody (STILL trying to get cute couple names).

This chapter is just the beginning in a whole series of things.
Let's see if you can guess the next secret. (No, it has absolutely nothing to do with aliens, @fascinated. Sorry. :P )

WARNING:
I WILL NOT BE POSTING ANY MORE CHAPTERS UNTIL I GET AT LEAST FIVE COMMENTS (FROM DIFFERENT PEOPLE) AND THREE SHIP NAME SUGGESTIONS (NO REPEATS OF WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY SUGGESTED, PLEASE!!!).