Death, Grudges, and Dancing
Summary: "I told him the whole story. And he didn't look mad, or angry, or disgusted. He didn't judge me or make comments or argue or get frustrated, like Patricia did when I tried to talk to her about this stuff. He just...listened. And it was nice." Moy oneshot, takes place after the Season 2 finale at the dance. HOA ONESHOT DAY
A/N: I wrote this a long time ago, but I decided to post it today for "HOA One-shot Day", which justkeeptyping told me about. Plus, I thought now would be a really good time to post it, since we've just found out that Mick won't be returning next season...which means there will be no possible chance for Moy, at all... *goes into a corner and sobs*
Anyways, this is my very first House of Anubis fanfic! I've been wanting to write a fanfic for this show for forever, because I love it so much, so I'm glad I finally did. And you should definitely expect a lot more (especially a super awesome crossover that I'm writing right now...)
So, I hope you like this, and please review! Oh, and happy HOA Oneshot Day!
Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis!
x.X.x
This was definitely the weirdest night of my entire life.
Well, the night of the dance last term had been pretty crazy too. But tonight had totally, completely, 100% topped it.
I leaned back against the leather couch in the living room, which had been converted into a dance floor for tonight. A plate of crisps and a small bowl of dip was in my lap, and I'd been munching on them for at least half an hour. In fact, I really should probably stop - there were loads of calories in these things - but I couldn't. Eating made me feel better, plus Trudy's dip was to die for.
The party had started almost an hour and a half ago, but it was still going on strong. After we'd all surrounded Nina and Fabian in the entry hall, we'd all come back in to dance. I'd danced with Mara and Patricia for a while, but then I'd gotten tired. So now I was sitting on the couch by myself with a large plate of crisps and dip, looking like a giant loser.
If I was being honest, I was a little shaken up. My stomach felt queasy, too. After all, I had almost died tonight. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was literally dead for at least a minute or so. So call me a loser all you want, but after something like that, I've kind of lost my mood for dancing.
Imagine the worst feeling in the entire world, and then multiply that times a billion. Well, that was what dying felt like. Your whole body goes completely cold, and you feel like you're being suffocated. In fact, it was an awful lot like being underwater with your eyes closed - everything was dark and murky, and I couldn't breathe. I could faintly hear people's voices, but it sounded muffled, and nothing they were saying made any sense. I tried moving, screaming for help, and gasping for breath, but it was as if chains were holding me back. No matter what I did, I couldn't move. I was frozen.
But the worst part was, I couldn't remember anything. I couldn't remember what I was wearing, what I'd eaten for breakfast that morning, my street address, my age, or even my own name. I couldn't remember anything that made me me.
That's how it was at first, anyways. Then, everything started slipping away and I felt like I was falling down a deep chasm until - nothing. It was cold, and it was dark, and there was just nothing.
That was what death felt like.
After the relief of waking up, and then dancing with my friends and having a good time, that scary feeling had been momentarily forgotten. I'd felt happy. But then, the feeling suddenly struck me on the middle of the dance floor, and I felt nauseous. I immediately mumbled some excuse to Patricia and had gone to sit down. The feeling of happiness was fading away. I tried to concentrate on something, anything, but the feeling of being so sure I was going to die kept invading into my brain.
I didn't know if I'd ever be able to let go of it.
Suddenly, I felt someone sit down next to me, and nearly jumped out of my skin. But it was only Mick, who shot me a surprised look. "Someone's jumpy." He shot me a small grin. "Who were you expecting, the boogeyman?" He joked.
Try Rufus Zeno. I shook my head, sighing in relief. "I'm just tired," I lied.
"Oh," said Mick. He was never much of a conversationalist. "Hey, can I have some of those?" He asked, nodding to the plate of crisps and dip in my lap.
I rolled my eyes, smiling, and passed him the plate. "Are you ever not hungry?"
He immediately dug in, grinning. "Thanks," he said with food in his mouth. I wrinkled my nose and looked away.
Mick and I had never been very close. Last term, he'd occasionally hung out with Fabian and Alfie, but he was nearly always with Amber. Unless they were in another over-dramatic fight or something. It'd seemed like they'd be together forever, but life is full of surprises, isn't it? Mara and Mick, the Athlete and the Mathlete. They'd been joined at the hip this term, that is until he went to Australia. Speaking of Mara, why wasn't he dancing with her now?
I scanned the floor, looking for the petite brunette, when I spotted her - dancing with Jerome. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and he was whispering something in her ear. After he was done, she laughed and kissed him on the cheek.
Wow, speaking of surprises. I did not see that one coming.
I glanced at Mick, who had stopped eating and was now watching them. Excuse me, it was more like glaring. I shifted in my seat awkwardly.
Being the journalist and gossip that I am, I was dying to know what had happened. But seeing the pure hatred in Mick's eyes made me realize that now probably wasn't the proper time.
Instead, I moved my gaze over to Patricia and Eddie, who seemed to be arguing more than dancing. Finally, Eddie said something with a smirk on his face and Patricia swatted him, but still wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, causing Eddie to smile to himself, satisfied. I smiled to myself, too. They really were a great couple.
I began scanning the dance floor again. There were Amber and Alfie, dancing. It was a slow song, but Alfie was busy doing something stupid, similar to what Eddie was doing. Amber glared at him and yelled at him to stop, but he just laughed, wrapping his arms around her in a giant hug. Surprisingly, she smiled and hugged him back, burying her face in his shoulder. Yeah, Amber and Alfie were a weird and unexpected couple. But somehow, it worked.
Not too far away from them was Nina and Fabian, with huge grins on their face. Their eyes never left each other as they moved back and forth, looking like they were the happiest people on the planet. I expected a There was Nina and Fabian, dancing and smiling together and looking like they were the happiest people on the planet. I expected a huge twang of jealousy, but instead, received only a tiny, miniscule one. Well, will wonders never cease.
"I guess it's about time they got together," Mick said aloud, nodding to the love-sick couple. Suddenly he cringed, and shot me an apologetic look. "Sorry…I forgot you and him…"
I shook my head. "Don't worry about it," I replied. "Actually…to be quite honest, I think I'm over him."
Mick's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Cuz Mara told me you were still pretty hung up on him..."
Thank you, Mara Jaffray. "Well, I was...but, I think that ship has sailed by now," I said a little jokingly. And it was weird, because it was sort of the truth. There would always be a small part of him that would still love him – he'd been the first person that I'd really, properly liked. And it still hurt to know that the second he was gone, he'd gone pining after the new American girl. But maybe Fabian was right. Maybe we were better off as friends.
"Oh," said Mick, sounding surprised. There was a long awkward stretch of silence. Well, it wasn't much of a silence, because Mick began to shovel crisps and dip into his mouth again. I thought about telling him to learn some manners and chew with his mouth closed, but I didn't want to be rude. Not that that's ever stopped me before.
"So then there were two, huh?" Mick asked, clearing his throat.
"What?"
"Well, everyone else has gotten together except us," Mick explained, gesturing around the room. Huh, I guess he and Mara are really over then. "Nina and Fabian, Alfie and Amber, Patricia and Eddie…speaking of which, when did that happen? I mean who would've thought that Patricia would've found a boyfriend?"
I shoved Mick. "Stop it, that's mean!" I scolded, but I was laughing. "Patricia can be a good person!" Mick raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes!"
"Anyways, the point is, the only people left are us," Mick finished, still chuckling.
"Huh. I guess you're right. Well, I'll probably end up being forever alone with a million cats, anyways," I joked.
Mick laughed. "Come on, Joy, we both know that's not true. Everyone loves you."
I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Yeah, well, I haven't really been feeling the 'Joy-loving' vibe as of late," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Tell me about it." I side-glanced at him. "No, really. Tell me about it."
I shot my eyebrows up. Mick and I had never really had a conversation longer than ten words, much less had he ever asked me to tell myself about him. I took a deep breath. "Well, I guess part of it has been my fault," I admitted, looking down at the rug. "I may or may not have anonymously written a nasty article about Nina and put in the school newspaper..."
Mick widened his eyes. "You're kidding. What did it say?"
So I explained the whole story. How I'd come back, and suddenly everyone was obsessed and in love with Nina, and no one cared about plain old Joy anymore. How I felt hurt that Fabian had immediately forgotten about me as soon as Nina came into the picture. How it felt like Nina had completely replaced me, and took away my friends, Fabian, and even Patricia. How I could barely stand to see Fabian with her, and the enormous amount of jealousy I felt towards her. How talking with Mrs. Valentine had lead me to write the article, posing as Jack Jackal so no one would know it was me. How my plan failed when Jerome and Eddie called me out on it, causing everyone to hate me and want nothing to do with me. How I knew that writing the article was wrong and that I shouldn't have done it, but I honestly didn't really regret writing it. How even Patricia had ditched me for Nina, and how it felt like she was ruining my entire life.
Basically, I told him everything that had happened this entire term - leaving out the Sibuna mystery, of course. And Mick didn't say a word the whole time. He didn't look mad, or angry, or disgusted. He didn't judge me or make comments or argue or get frustrated, like Patricia did when I tried to talk to her about this stuff. He just...listened.
And it was nice.
When I was done, Mick let out a long whistle. "Wow. Sounds like I've missed a lot."
I laughed. "You could say that."
We were quiet for a moment, and then Mick spoke again. "I'm really sorry that you felt that way this term, Joy," he said sincerely. "That sucks. But...I don't think it was Nina's intention to replace you. Believe me, she went through a lot of grief last term. Especially from Patricia."
I laughed. "Patricia, really? I never would have guessed," I said sarcastically.
Mick laughed. "Yeah. I mean, I know how it feels to be left out. I feel left out in this house a lot, too. You know, it feels like Nina and Fabian and Amber and all of them have all these secrets that they're keeping from all of us. It's like they have some secret club or something! What's it that Clarke calls them...the Scooby gang?"
Hmm, Mick's not as oblivious as he seems. "I guess they're just really secretive," I lied, shrugging.
Mick shrugged. "I guess so." He was quiet for a minute, and I thought we'd dropped the subject until he spoke again. "Uh, do you know who Norman Vincent Peale is?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Uh...no."
"He's this American clergyman or something...at least he was, I'm pretty sure he's dead now..." Mick's voice trailed off, and I arched my eyebrows higher. Since when does Mick know what a clergyman is?
"Anyways, he was also a writer. My mum loved him. And he had this one quote that she just loved so much that she hung it up on the wall in our house in big bold letters so every day everyone would walk by it. And they just couldn't help stare at it, cuz it was just so big and it just sort of stood out, you know?" I nodded slowly, and he rolled his eyes. "It was a bit annoying, really. But I suppose it worked for something, because I still remember it." He cleared his throat. "'Resentment or grudges do not harm the person against whom you hold these feelings but every day and every night of your life, they are eating at you.'"
"I'm not really sure why she chose that quote, of all quotes, to hang up, but she did." I stared down at the rug, not really wanting to look up at him. Mick sighed. "I guess, what I'm getting at is...holding a grudge on Nina won't make anything better. I know you're really really mad at her, but it just won't. The only thing that it will do is hurt yourself. It actually won't have any effect on her at all." He chewed his bottom lip. "You see what I'm trying to get at?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do." I gave him a smile. "You know, you're a lot smarter than you seem." Mick laughed and shook his head. "No, really. Have you ever thought about being a therapist or something?"
Mick blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wouldn't say that..." He sighed. "I guess Mara must've rubbed off on me or something."
I laughed. "Thanks, though, Mick. That helped, a lot."
Mick smiled, blushing again. "No problem." He popped a few more crisps into his mouth, and we were quiet for a moment, watching all the couples on the dance floor. "Hey, do you wanna dance?" He blurted out.
I looked up at him curiously. Old Joy would've turned him down then and there. But you know what? I was done with "Old Joy." Instead, I smiled at him. "Sure, why not?"
Mick gave me a goofy smile and we walked towards the makeshift dance floor. I didn't know the song that was playing, but it was very upbeat. I quickly learned that Mick couldn't dance very well, at all. Instead, he ran around me, doing crazy, weird, moves that I wasn't sure even existed. But I didn't really care. I found myself practically rolling on the floor with laughter. "Oh my gosh, you're terrible!" I exclaimed, panting from laughter. Suddenly, I realized I hadn't laughed this hard in a while.
"Don't be jealous," he teased.
Abruptly, the song switched to a slow song. Mick straightened up, and I felt myself turn slightly red. I was thinking about returning to the sofa, but Mick was looking at me uncertainly. "Do you want to…?" Mick's voice trailed off, and he held out his hands, looking at me questioningly.
"Um, sure. I guess," I replied. Awkwardly, he put a hand on my shoulder and another one on my waist, and I put my arms around his neck. Mick twirled me and I looked at him, surprised. "Hm, you're getting better, Campbell," I remarked.
Mick rolled his eyes. "Amber taught me a few moves last year before prom," he explained.
"Right," I replied, trying not to shudder. I did not want to think about last year's prom night. I looked at him suddenly, a little envious. He wasn't involved in any of that. He had innocently danced that whole night, oblivious to the danger that had been going on. Just as he was oblivious to the danger that had gone on tonight, too.
Mick raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"
Realizing I had been staring at him, I blushed. "Sorry," I apologized. "I'm just…"
"Tired?" Mick asked, smirking.
I laughed. "Yeah." He twirled me again, and we lapsed into yet another slightly awkward silence. I looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact. After a while, I snuck a glance at him. His eyes were focused over my shoulder. I turned around to see Jerome and Mara still dancing and staring at each other with big moon eyes. I glanced back at Mick, who looked as though he wanted to strangle someone. Probably Jerome.
Suddenly, he realized I was giving him a confused look, and he shook his head. "Sorry," he muttered.
"It's alright," I said uncertainly. "What exactly happened between you two?" I asked, straight forward. I don't usually beat around the bush.
"Don't ask me," Mick said bitterly, scowling. He paused. "You know, she didn't even properly break up with me."
I arched my eyebrows. "Really?" That was a very un-Mara like thing to do.
"Yeah. I thought everything was great!" Mick exclaimed. "Well, maybe not exactly great, but..." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I come all the way here from freaking Australia, then the next thing I know, she's snogging Clarke, of all people!" He scoffed. "It's like she's completely forgotten about me. It just made me feel so...stupid."
"Wow," I said, looking at him apologetically. I truly felt sorry for him. We all knew how much Mara adored Mick - or at least, had adored him - but I think he adored her just as much. And I definitely knew how it felt to love someone who didn't love you back. "Well. Love stinks," I offered lamely.
Mick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no kidding."
Another twirl. I spotted Patricia over Mick's shoulder. She was standing at the snack table, looking at me curiously. I just shrugged, and looked back at Mick. "So, are you staying?"
"Hm?"
"Are you going to go back to Australia, or do you think you'll move back here?" I asked. I'd been curious about that, anyways.
Mick shrugged. "I dunno. It doesn't really look like I have much to stay for," he said, gesturing to Mara and Jerome, sighing.
We were quiet for a minute. "I think you should stay," I said finally as he twirled me again.
He lifted an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I don't know. It's more fun when you're around." I admitted.
Mick grinned. "Oh, really?"
I smiled slightly, rolling my eyes. "Don't get cocky about it," I teased. "Although with you and Eddie together, we'd never have any food."
Mick laughed, and we stared at each other for a while, neither of us really wanting to look away. I'd always known Mick was attractive – all the girls at the school wanted to be his girlfriend. But I'd never really noticed how attractive he really was. Probably because I'd never stood this close to him before. But when he stared at me with his goofy grin, he'd looked completely adorable. While everyone else had chased Mick down, I'd stayed back. Personally, I never thought he was my type, but why not? Yeah, I usually went for smart guys. But Mick was funny, and sweet.
Another twirl. "You look really pretty," Mick admitted, breaking the silence.
I looked up at him, surprised. I thought about laughing. If only he knew what I've been through tonight, I thought sarcastically. But instead of denying the compliment, I smiled. "Yeah, well. You don't look so bad yourself."
We didn't say much after that. We just danced, looking at each other. At one point, the song changed, but I don't think either of us noticed. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, just looking at each other and dancing.
But it certainly wasn't long enough.
x.X.x
A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! Please review, and don't forget to post your own one-shot for HOA One-shot day! We want the fanbase to get bigger! :)