Mick's POV:

It had been a year. A whole entire year since Coraline had resurfaced into their lives. Mick looked at her for the first time all night, and got lost deep in thought. He absentmindedly walked out onto the balcony and sighed. It had been a year since Beth had staked Coraline and they found out she was human. A year since everything had hit the fan. A year since he had seen Beth's smile. But his photogenic memory wouldn't let it go. Everything was against him lately. He ran his fingers through his tangled hair and looked down into the street. His breath caught as he tried to tell himself that it was just a dream, she wasn't really there. But there she was. She finally saw him and smiled, and his undead heart nearly flew out of his chest. He smiled back at her, still trying to convince himself she was real and then he hurried inside. He wanted all evidence of the experiments and especially Coraline gone before she came up.

He waited by the door, watching the camera, but she never came. He went back outside, quickly to see if she was still sitting there, just in time to see her hang up the phone and pull away. "Probably Josh." He thought bitterly. He went back inside and sat on the couch. He picked up the phone, dialed the first six digits and then hung up the phone. He groaned in frustration and then picked the phone back up. He sighed and called Josef.

"It's been a while, my friend." Mick couldn't help but smile. "You're right, too long." He heard Josef pause. "You've seen her." It was more of a statement than a question. "Yeah. She pulled up outside and…" Josef sighed. "Just call her Mick. It's been a year. I'm sick of you moping." Mick laughed a little. "How is she?" At first, he thought Josef meant Beth, but quickly decided otherwise. "She's stable now." Mick sighed again, he seemed to be doing that a lot. "She's still not awake though." He could feel Josef nod. "If there's anything I can do, let me know." Mick nodded and smiled, despite he knew Josef couldn't see him. "And Mick…" "Yeah?" He heard Josef pause. "Don't be a stranger." And with that, Mick got the dial tone.

Author's Note: Sorry the chapter is so short, work has been slammed today. I'll try to update soon

Stay Beat,

P. Sawyer