Author's Note: So this chapter doesn't contain Tony. It was going to but I just figured that Mia probably wouldn't make up her mind about the biography that quick and easy. It was always going to take longer. This chapter also contains a flashback at the beginning which takes up half of the chapter. This is probably the longest chapter in the story so far. I promise that Tony's in the next chapter though.

For the readers of my other story, I'm planning on updating Some Things Never Sleep next. I'm about a little less than half way through with the next chapter. I'll either update this story after that or update the rewrite of Undisclosed Desires which is now called The Palace.

I know there's no Tony in this chapter but in future chapters could you guys maybe tell me whether or not I'm doing a good job with keeping him in character. Usually I think I do a good job but I've never written a story with this much Tony in it so I'm a little worried.

Is anyone watching the new Emma Stone and Jonah Hill show Maniac? It's one of the trippiest shows I've seen. I'm only on the fourth or fifth episode so I'm still watching it but it's really interesting so far. I'm also a huge fan of the director because he directed the first season of True Detective which is one of my favorite shows ever(excluding the second season) and he also directed my favorite adaptation of Jane Eyre.

Warning: This chapter contains a scene featuring drug abuse.

Athena05: I don't really mind negative reviews about my story but as long as the person tells me why they don't like it. I hate reviews like the one on STNS because the person isn't telling me why they think my story is trash. They just left a one worded rude review to...I don't know be a dick or something. Thank you for your support though and I'm so happy you love the stories.

Snapplecrackles: I totally get what you mean about Tony and Mia. They're both kind of silly in their own right but their attitudes are way different. Tony's Tony and Mia's Mia. Thank you for the support for STNS. I really appreciate it.

Purplestan: Snow White came along because I think Tony just finds Mia very wide eyed and innocent looking. Tony seems to have nicknames for everyone so it just made sense. It's a nickname we'll probably be seeing more of in the future.

Guest: This review was from the last chapter but I didn't get it until late so I'll just respond to it now. I wouldn't say that Mia and Tony aren't getting along so far. Tony just has this way of pushing people's boundaries and Mia's just very wary of him right now. She'll probably grow to like him a little more once she gets to know him better. She's just a little worried about the whole situation with Tony and the biography right now because it's really stressing her out. I'm glad you're liking the slowburn. I always hated reading slowburns in the past because I hated waiting but now I just find that they make for a better story. It's very rare that I'll find a story that isn't a slowburn that I like. If you couldn't tell already, I absolutely love writing slowburns.

Amelia: Providence of the Universe by toniestark. It's a slowburn too and it's honestly one of the best fanfics I've read in a long time. I know I'm always talking about that fanfic on here but I'm really in love with it. Metamorphosis by Jagged Hearts is really good too. If you have any trouble finding them you can find them on the favorites section of my profile page.

heartee: That made me laugh so much. I didn't think anyone noticed Mia's cute moment when she got so worried about getting crumbs on the Hemingway book. Only she would freak out that much. I mean...I would probably panic too but most people wouldn't.

Thanks to WinnieThePoohLover, abstract0118, and Love. Fiction. 2018 for reviewing as well. Thanks to all the favorites and follows. We're currently at just over a hundred follows. Let me know what you think of the chapter.


2006

Michael wasn't perfect.

Their relationship wasn't perfect either. Mia was perfectly aware of this even years after his death. After he died she always managed to put him on a pedestal but the truth was that he was far from perfect. The opposite of perfect, actually. He probably wasn't a healthy choice for her either, especially at that age, but she loved him nonetheless. She loved him despite his many faults and even though she probably should've left him, she never did. Mia sometimes wondered if she was just drawn to dangerous and broken people. More than likely but she didn't know why.

It was only about two months into her relationship with Michael that she discovered the truth about him. What he had been hiding from her all this time. It had happened over a conversation she had with Emily. Mia thought the conversation was just girl talk like what she used to hear Holly and her girlfriends back home talking about. Those were the days when Mia's only friends were Holly's friends and wherever Holly went, Mia went too.

"How is it going with Michael by the way?" Emily questioned as the two girls sat in the living room watching TV. It was one of the rare occasions that Emily didn't actually feel like going out. Mia thought it was because Emily got into a fight with some girl over a guy at one of the clubs she frequented. Emily was a big talker so Mia guessed that the wealthy girl wasn't too keen on going back to the club and getting her face clawed out by a Scottish girl.

"It's going really good, actually." Mia said with a happy smile on her face. She and Michael had been on quite a few dates so far in the past couple months. It was still early on in their relationship but Mia thought it was enough to be able to call him her boyfriend. Wow…boyfriend. Mia had never really had a boyfriend before. When she was in the second grade she dated Nick Shulman for three days but then he left her for Melanie Laker. Mia was heartbroken for two hours until her father took her out for ice cream and she forgot all about Nick Shulman. Those were the days when Mia actually had a nice relationship with her father. Before the divorce and before her dad became a total asshole.

Mia had talked a little about her father to Michael who had grown quite uncomfortable with the topic for some reason. Mia didn't really understand why. Maybe he was just afraid at the prospect of meeting her father someday. Some fathers were really overprotective but Mia didn't think her and her father were close enough for that. He'd probably just act like an asshole towards Michael which wasn't out of character for him. Her father was an asshole to everyone. Even so, Mia had tried asking Michael about his family but he didn't really give her a lot of information. She thought maybe he just had problems with his family like she had problems with hers. However, she never thought the issue would be more complicated than that.

Mia was gravely mistaken.

"So you've had sex then?" Emily asked her bluntly as she continued to paint her toe nails a startling shade of blue. Mia blushed at the blunt question.

"Well, no…not exactly." Mia told the blonde shyly. "We've kissed a few times though."

"Oh my god, Mia. You've kissed? Really?" Emily said sarcastically before taking a big sip of her glass of scotch. She then gave the brunette a more curious look as she noticed the way she blushed even more. A look of realization then came over her face. "You've never had sex before, have you? You're a virgin. I should've fucking known."

"I already told you that I've never had a boyfriend before." Mia said shyly and Emily just shook her head.

"Just because you've never had a boyfriend before doesn't mean that you couldn't have had sex." Emily told her friend and Mia just stared at her incredulously as the blonde began to pull a single cigarette out of a pack of a probably expensive brand that Mia didn't recognize. Mia wrinkled her nose in disgust as the girl lit her cigarette before taking a long drag from it.

Emily's bad habits were always a pet peeve of Mia's. From her large amounts of binge drinking to her smoking habit and even the times that Mia would catch the blonde smoking weed. Mia didn't know why she was friends with this girl. She didn't know if it was because she was afraid Emily would die if she left or if it was because she found her morbidly interesting. Mia would never know.

"It does for me. I don't want to have sex with a random stranger. I want my first time to be more romantic than that…with someone I care about." Mia said quietly and Emily immediately started laughing at her.

"Did you write that down in your diary when you were thirteen?" Emily questioned sarcastically again before shaking her head in amusement before exhaling and blowing out smoke. The expensive cigarette smoke wafted through the air. It smelled both sweet and bitter. "It's actually pretty ironic considering who the man you're dating is." Mia gave her friend a confused look as she said that.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mia questioned and Emily just looked at her.

"Come on, you know exactly what I mean." Emily told her and Mia shook her head, still not having a clue as to what her friend was talking about.

"I don't think I do, Emily." Mia told her. Emily scoffed.

"Mia, you do know Michael's not as innocent as yourself, right?" Emily questioned and Mia blushed once more.

"Well, I might've guessed it. He's a few years older than me, after all. I guess I assumed that he's probably been with a couple girls in the past." Mia told her friend and Emily scoffed.

"That's the understatement of the year." Emily replied but she was only making Mia more confused.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mia told her and Emily just raised her eyebrows.

"Mia, your little boyfriend's sure made his way across town. I'm just saying." Emily told her and deep down Mia knew what she was talking about but she didn't want to admit it to herself.

"How would you know?" Mia asked as she glared at her friend but Emily didn't look deterred.

"I've known Michael for years." Emily told her much to Mia's surprise. The brunette's eyes widened as she felt at a loss for words.

"What?" She questioned and Emily nodded as she took another drag from her cigarette.

"Well, you know how it is with all the families. All the wealthy and pretentious snobs." Emily explained casually. "While all our parents were off sucking up to each other, all the children would be sectioned off into whatever playroom they saw fit."

"How could you have known Michael? I thought your father was some lord and lived in Mr. Darcy's house." Mia said, still trying to make sense of everything. Emily snorted.

"My family lives at Beaumont Hall. We have nothing to do with Mr. Darcy because Mr. Darcy's a fictional character." Emily informed Mia before the conversation took a more surprising turn. "And…well, Michael's father is a lord too. Lord Timothy Orson Andrew McCallum of Chaddleworth House in Mildenshire." Mia's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Excuse me?!" Mia said, feeling her heart racing in her chest at what her friend just told her. Emily didn't seem disturbed by this news as she then took a big sip of her scotch.

"He never told you?" Emily asked but she didn't seem bothered either way. Mia just shook her head furiously, completely floored at this new information. "He's from one of England's wealthiest and oldest families."

"That can't be right." Mia said as she tried to deny what Emily was telling her. "Michael's not English. He's Scottish."

"His mother's Scottish and he was born and raised here in Scotland but his father's as English as they come." Emily informed her much to Mia's disbelief.

"His father's English?" Mia asked as she tried to get a grasp on this but she was having a difficult time processing everything. The man she considered to be her boyfriend never told her any of this. He never even gave her the slightest indication that he came from a wealthy or even noble family. Mia never got that vibe from him either. He didn't act like how she thought a son of a lord would act. That was for certain.

"Well, I'm sure he possibly has some Scottish ancestry somewhere with a name like McCallum but yes…his father's certainly English. Not to mention a complete cold hearted bastard." Emily said as she began to ramble on as she always did whenever she was drunk. "That man is the strangest man I've ever met in my life. I was always so terrified of him when I was a child…well, I'm still terrified. I think everyone's terrified of that man."

"I don't understand this." Mia said softly as she looked back up at Emily, starting to feel hurt that she had to find all this out from her friend instead of her boyfriend. "I never got the impression from him that he came from money. He works as a bartender and he shares an apartment with two other guys. I always thought he was the starving artist type."

"That's because his parents cut him off." Emily said as she spilled more of Michael's past to Mia. "No one knows exactly what happened but a couple years ago he left home and they just cut him off. Some people say it's because he decided to study art instead of something more practical but I think that's rubbish."

"You do?" Mia questioned, becoming more and more invested in Emily's information about Michael. "Why?"

"Because it's not like any one of us ever studies something practical. Mia, you'll find that most of our families spend our days sitting around and doing absolutely nothing." Emily told her honestly. "It's different than your American elites like Tony Stark or Justin Hammer, for instance. That's all new money…hard earned money. People who still work for their own wealth." Emily only briefly paused as she continued to explain the way things were in her family to Mia.

"We're old money. We spend our whole lives doing absolutely nothing and living off the wealth and titles of our ancestors." Emily said casually as Mia hung onto her every word. "Some of us are not even wealthy anymore. Some of us just have titles which is all we have left."

"So you don't think that's why he was cut off? Because he's an artist?" Mia inquired and Emily shook her head.

"No. I don't see why it would matter either way. His parents never cared before." Emily sighed as she considered her theories thoughtfully before continuing. "No, I think that it's something else. He and his parents always had a complicated relationship. I think kids like us all have complicated relationships with our parents but with him it was different. I don't know."

"I just can't believe any of this. I thought you only knew Michael from the bar." Mia said as she shook her head in disbelief although Mia was very interested in what Michael's deal was with his parents. This was all just so overwhelming for her. "I never thought you actually knew him since childhood."

"I didn't know him well." Emily insisted, trying to make her friend feel a little better about not knowing about any of this. "I only spent time with him when we went on holiday at Michael's parent's house here in Scotland. Probably every other summer but we never got on very well. He was always so miserable and quiet. Definitely not my sort of scene."

"You didn't um…sleep with him, did you?" Mia asked quietly although she really wondered what could've made Michael so miserable as a child. Emily just stared at her for a minute before scoffing as she looked at her friend in disbelief.

"Me and Michael?" Emily questioned incredulously. "No, of course not. What a ridiculous thing to say. He's not my type at all. A bit too wild for my liking and coming from me that's saying a lot."

"Really?" Mia questioned. "And when you say wild, just how wild are you talking about?" Emily stopped herself from taking another drag from her cigarette as she gave her friend another odd look. She couldn't believe Mia.

"Has he seriously not told you anything about any of this?" Emily asked her and Mia blushed before shaking her head. "He really has no idea how to go about this relationship thing. Poor Michael. He was always fucking clueless."

"Just tell me." Mia finally said because she was really starting to get the feeling that whatever Michael was hiding wasn't just his family. She was starting to feel like that was only half of it. Emily sighed heavily as she finally became serious which was rare for the blonde.

"You should know he has a lot of problems, Amelia. I'm actually pretty fucking pissed that he's lied to you about all of this." Emily said as she looked up at the brunette with sad eyes. Mia just stared back at her, her heart racing, because she didn't know how to feel. She didn't know what to expect either. "You're a nice person but you're also very naïve."

"Michael's…well, I don't particularly know how to put this." Emily said as she tried to find the right words but then discovered that there probably wasn't any right words. Mia just watched her in confusion, trying to piece this puzzle together. "He's got a problem. A lot of problems actually."

"A problem?" Mia questioned and Emily nodded.

"A drug problem…but alcohol too." Emily informed her much to Mia's astonishment. "I'm not talking about my level of alcohol problems. It's not going out all night and partying hard. He legitimately has a lot of problems."

"What? Like weed and booze?" Mia asked her, her eyes wide with fear and hurt. Emily gave her a sympathetic look before slowly shaking her head.

"I'm afraid not, Amelia." Emily told her quietly. "I was referring to cocaine, heroin, pills…just lots of pills and who knows what else he puts into his body." Emily paused as she looked back over at Mia who looked utterly stunned and hurt by this news.

"I'm so sorry, Mia. I thought maybe he would've told you he had a problem." Emily said softly. "It's not fair to you that he hid it. You don't deserve this."

Mia tried to process what her friend was telling her. A part of her didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe the fact that her boyfriend was a junkie. None of it made sense to her. Not Michael. Not Michael who was sweet yet cocky. Michael who was overtly romantic and always made her feel like the prettiest girl in the room. Michael who Mia was falling for. This couldn't be right. This had to be some kind of nightmare or mistake.

"This doesn't make sense." Mia said in disbelief but she was mostly just talking to herself at this point. "That can't be true. He's not a…junkie. He's Michael. Michael's never shown any signs. He's happy, nice…and he's functional. I…"

"He hasn't acted odd lately?" Emily asked her as she raised an eyebrow doubtfully. Mia was about to reply no when she stopped herself. She never really thought anything of it before but there did happen to be a couple of times that he acted odd. Jittery or maybe even anxious. Mia suddenly felt sick…like her whole world was being flipped upside down. Did she even know who Michael McCallum was? Mia wasn't sure anymore.

"Yes. I think so." Mia said quietly, still sounding quite lost but also shocked. Her eyes were flooding with tears and she felt betrayed. She had been lied to by someone she really cared about. "Oh my god. I'm so stupid, aren't I?"

"No. It's not your fault. You didn't know." Emily told her, trying to reassure Mia. "It's Michael's own stupid fault. He should've told you or made it clear to you from the beginning."

"This is so typical." Mia said bitterly through the tears. "The first guy I actually like…the first guy I start falling for and this happens. I just feel like the person you're talking about and the person I've been getting to know these past couple months are two completely different people."

"That happens a lot with addicts." Emily said calmly but she didn't think she was making the brunette feel any better about the situation. "I always liked Michael better when he was sober Michael. That's probably the Michael you've been dating. Drunk and high Michael is a different person."

"What do I even do now?" Mia said at a loss for what she was supposed to do. When Holly talked boys with her she never told Mia what to do if you found out your boyfriend was the son of some lord and was also a drug addict. What was a person supposed to even do in a situation like this? Mia didn't have a clue.

"What do you want to do?" Emily asked her and Mia was speechless. She didn't have an answer for Emily because she honestly had no idea. Her boyfriend was apparently a junkie and had been lying to her ever since they first met. Mia felt utterly betrayed. Maybe even more so than when her father left but this couldn't be compared to that. This was different and maybe that's what hurt. Mia didn't know for sure about anything right now but she knew she'd never get the answers she needed unless she went to Michael herself.

Michael was the only person who could give her the answers she needed.


So Mia found herself at Michael's apartment an hour later. She had never been to Michael's apartment before but maybe this was why. Michael was hiding this whole other life from her. She didn't know how she felt at this point. There was a whole combination of emotions swirling inside of her. Anger, hurt, betrayal, and even confusion. Those were all the emotions that seemed to take priority of everything else.

Emily had informed Mia that Michael and his roommates kept a spare key under the doormat to their apartment so Mia didn't even bother knocking. She wanted to get the jump on Michael. A part of her hoped that this was all some kind of nightmare and Michael would tell her that she was crazy. That none of this was true and Emily was playing some horrible prank on her. Mia didn't want Emily to be right about this. She wanted more than anything for Emily to be wrong. However, it was seldom that Mia ever got what she wanted.

The brunette walked through the front door of the apartment after unlocking it with the hidden key. It was dark in the apartment but also quiet. At first Mia thought that maybe Michael and his roommates weren't home. She thought he might've already left for work or something like that. But she was wrong. He was home. He was home and he wasn't in a state Mia had ever seen him in.

Michael was lying on the couch and any other person would've assumed he was sound asleep. It was only then that Mia saw what was lying on the table in front of the couch where her boyfriend was sleeping. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of what must've been some kind of drug on the table. Mia wasn't sure what kind of drug it was. Possibly a pill of some kind smashed up and lines drawn with the remnants across the surface. Mia had never seen drugs in real life. Well, she had seen Emily smoking weed in the apartment a couple of times but Mia just ignored her and stayed inside her bedroom. Emily complained of her being a goody goody but Mia just didn't want anything to do with drugs.

"What the fuck?!" Mia finally said as she looked from the obvious evidence of drug use and over to her boyfriend on the couch. Michael groaned as he lazily opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Amelia…is that you?" Michael asked her as a smile began to make its way across his face. It was clear to Mia that he must've been very high. He didn't seem concerned at all that she was at his apartment and was now seeing him in the state he was. Not to mention the fact that his eyes were blood shot. Mia was starting to think that maybe he hadn't been asleep. Maybe he had passed out from whatever he just took.

"No shit, it's me. Oh my god, Michael. What is this?" Mia said, finally voicing the anger and frustration that had slowly been building up inside her all night. Michael was clearly in a dazed state as he lazily looked around the room, his movements slow and long.

"What…are you…doing here?" He asked slowly, practically slurring his words. Mia just looked at him in disbelief, still not believing that this was happening. Despite everything Emily told her and everything she was seeing right now, she still couldn't believe it. This wasn't the charming and cocky Michael she had seen on dates. The one who flirted with her all night and held doors open for her like a true gentlemen. This was someone else. That much was clear.

"Emily was right." Mia said but she was really just talking to herself at this point. "She was right. You do have a problem."

"No…I'm fine." He continued to slur and Mia just shook her head furiously as she scoffed.

"You're not fine. Look at you." Mia said angrily, enraged that she had been lied to…that the person she thought she might've been falling for might not be real. Prince Charming might've just been a clever ruse but most of all she was hurt because it hurt to see someone you cared about in a state like this.

"I don't know what you're…talking about." Michael said slowly and it clear to her he was beyond high at this point. Mia worried about what drug he had taken. What if it was something really bad? What if he overdosed? Mia didn't know anything about drugs. Just what she had seen in movies.

"It looks like fucking Scarface in here." Mia hissed. Usually Mia never swore this much or even got this angry but she was beyond pissed at this point. She had been lied to and deceived for far too long to not be pissed. Mia was starting to wonder if there was any part of their relationship that wasn't a lie.

"Just go home. I'll be fine." He tried to tell her but Mia knew that she couldn't do that. She didn't know what she had been planning to do when she came down here. Mia hadn't even had anything planned to say which was unusual for her since she usually had everything planned. She just thought she'd confront him and demand the truth. Mia never expected to actually find him in this state and now that she was faced with Michael high, on whatever kind of drug he took, she knew she couldn't leave him. If she left then he might overdose and Mia didn't want that. Despite how angry she was at him, she knew she cared about him a lot. Mia thought she might've even been in love with him.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to call an ambulance." Mia told him and Michael waved his hand dismissively before it fell limply to his side.

"Don't do that. It's not a big deal." Michael told her much to Mia's disbelief and disgust. "This isn't my first time, love." Mia didn't know if she liked him calling her "love". It was something he seemed to call her on occasion but she didn't think she liked him calling her that in the state he was in. It was wrong. It was like someone else calling her that name.

"Michael, you're not okay. You need to see a doctor." Mia said, trying to be responsible even though all she wanted to do was yell at him and be angry with him. She couldn't do that right now. He clearly wasn't well. "What did you take?"

"Nothing." He mumbled and Mia glared at him furiously.

"What. Did. You. Take?" Mia asked again, her voice more firm and cold than the last time. Even in the that state he was in, Michael must've detected that she was pissed because he answered her this time.

"Quaaludes." Michael said softly and Mia stared back at him in confusion. Mia didn't recognize the name of the drug. Mia had no idea what Quaaludes were. She had never heard the name before tonight. "I've taken them before. It's nothing to worry about."

"I need to take you to a doctor." Mia said abruptly. She didn't know what else to do. She didn't know if this was a very dangerous drug or if it was something you could get at a pharmacy. Mia didn't know.

"No…I'm fine." He tried to tell her and Mia was becoming angry with him again. She shook her head.

"You're not fine, Michael. You're clearly not fine." Mia said as she struggled not to yell at him. "I can barely understand anything you're saying right now."

"Don't…no doctor." Michael told her slowly. "My parents cannot find out."

"You could die! You know that?!" Mia said, her voice rising in frustration at the fact that Michael was concerned about his parents finding out of all things. She took a deep breath as she fought to control her anger.

"You could die, Michael. I don't know what Quaaludes are but I'm guessing they're not safe." Mia said more calmly this time. It was then that he gave her a more pleading and desperate look. Mia swallowed hard as she could feel herself suddenly melting at the sight of those sad beautiful blue eyes. He looked like he was in so much pain. That really stunned Mia who never would've guessed that the happy and confident Michael McCallum could be in so much pain. He never gave her that impression but Mia supposed that maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought she did.

"Just stay with me." He pleaded and Mia began to feel herself caving into him because he looked so lonely…so lost. It was like he needed her and Mia was too scared to even think about leaving him in that moment. "Please stay."

"Michael, I don't know…" She trailed off softly. Michael seemed to sense that she was slowly caving into him because he reached out and grabbed her hand. Her small hand fitting perfectly into his much larger one. This was something he had done on many dates. It was a loving gesture but this time it was different. This time his hand wasn't warm and comforting. This time his hand was basked in cold sweat.

"Please." He begged and just like that, Mia caved into him. She didn't think she had much strength in her otherwise. She was practically in love with him and he was in pain. Mia thought she would've done anything for him at that point. Anything to make him feel safe and happy.

"Okay." She finally relented although deep down she knew it was wrong for her to do this. Mia really should've taken him to a hospital or maybe she should've even called his parents for help but she didn't. She didn't do the right thing because he didn't want her to. Michael would always have that kind of power over her. Even in the future. It wasn't something that he intentionally did nor was he a controlling lover. Michael McCallum just happened to be Mia's number one weakness. Maybe she just loved him too much. Maybe that was the problem. She got punished for loving someone too much because maybe you weren't supposed to love someone that much.

"Thank you." He said in content but Mia wasn't comforted by this. She knew deep down that this wasn't the right thing to do but she did it anyways. So Mia just stayed with him like he requested. There was several times during the night that she thought that he wasn't breathing but only to find out that she was mistaken. Each time she had one of those scares, she felt like her heart was going to fly out of her chest. The stress and panic over wondering whether or not her boyfriend had overdosed was too much to bear. She couldn't focus on anything other than the pattern of his breathing.

The small brunette, in the midst of her panicked state, had time to think over her current predicament as she spent the whole night watching her boyfriend to make sure he hadn't died. She spent the whole night wondering if this was what it was like to date an addict. Well, she supposed most addict's girlfriends must've been addicts themselves but this was the single most stressful and terrifying experience Mia had ever faced in her sheltered life. Nothing her parents had ever taught her could've ever prepared her for something like this.

Mia wondered if this was what life with Michael was going to be like. Would it just consume of her constantly making sure he hadn't overdosed and died? Mia didn't know if she could do that. Had she originally planned to break-up with Michael after hearing about all the lies he told her? Maybe. Mia hadn't exactly been sure then but maybe she was sure now. She knew she cared about him a lot and she might've even loved him but she didn't think she could do this. She didn't think she could just stay by his side and watch him destroy himself like this.

So when morning came, Mia had already made up her mind. She was cleaning the dishes in the kitchen when he had finally come out of the bathroom after taking a shower. He was still a bit out of it but definitely way more sober and coherent than before. He looked more like the Michael she was accustomed to. Not like the Michael she had seen last night.

"I'm guessing we should probably talk?" Michael said quietly as he leaned against the doorway of the kitchen. He seemed both embarrassed and hesitant. Mia fought the urge to make a sarcastic remark as she glared down at the dishes in the sink.

"You lied to me." She said abruptly which caused Michael to tense up as he looked at her. He had never seen Mia angry before. He wondered if this was her being angry. Michael was guessing it was. She looked absolutely livid. "For these past two months all you've done is lie to me."

"That's not true. I haven't-" He started to say but Mia interrupted him as she gave him a look of disbelief.

"Oh, so you haven't lied to me about being the son of Lord what's his name from Derbeyshire or whatever the hell it's called?!" Mia said angrily, clearly pissed off that Michael had lied to her so much. She felt stupid and she felt hurt by the fact that she didn't even know who her boyfriend was. "You haven't lied to me about this drug addiction you seem to have either? Those weren't lies?"

"I never told you about my parents because I'm not exactly in a good place with them right now." Michael told her and it was evident that he could see the sense behind all the lies. However, Mia just couldn't understand why he lied. "As for…my problem. Well, it's quite easy to quit. People always make a huge deal about quitting but it's not that hard."

"It's not that hard to quit?!" Mia questioned as she stepped away from the sink and slowly made her way over to him. "If it's not so hard then why are you still doing it? The way Emily was talking, it sounds to me like it's a hell of a lot more than just a simple problem. You're an addict."

"I can manage it." Michael told her stubbornly and Mia just scoffed as she shook her head in disbelief. "It doesn't control me. I'm fine."

"When has drugs ever not controlled a person?" Mia said and Michael just glared at her. "You're clearly not fine, Michael."

"Look, you don't know what you're talking about. You're just a sheltered little girl living in a bubble your parents put you in." Michael accused and Mia was taken back at the way he was speaking to her. He never talked to her like this before. He never sounded so bitter and…well, mean. "You know nothing because mummy and daddy kept you protected and sheltered. Not all of us are so lucky to have parents like that."

"That might be true." Mia said as she glared back at the much taller and imposing man. "My parents might've kept me in a bubble and I'll admit that I've never smoked a joint or so much as a cigarette in my life but I know what I saw last night, Michael." His gaze softened as tears flooded the small brunette's eyes. He knew then that he had hurt her a lot which was something he never wanted to do.

"Five times. Five times I thought you had stopped breathing and I didn't know what to do." Mia said, sounding terrified as a lone tear fell down her face. It seemed like the lone tear was the one to cause the next avalanche of tears that then streamed down her face. "I should've called an ambulance or taken you to the hospital but I didn't because you begged me not to. You shouldn't have asked me to do that. You could've died."

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Michael said almost coldly and Mia slapped him. She didn't know what made her do it. She was never a violent person and Mia had never so much as raised a hand to anyone in her entire life but something about his response pushed her over the edge. It was like he didn't care whether or not he died. That was what pissed Mia off the most.

Michael stood there in surprise as he felt a stinging sensation across his cheek. It was a miracle that Mia had even been able to slap him in the first place. He was a lot taller than her and she shouldn't have been able to reach his face but somehow she had. Mia stood there in shock too because she was surprised that she had even done it. It took a moment for her to collect her thoughts.

"You might not care about what happens to you but I do." Mia told him quietly as a guilty look came across Michael's face. He knew that he was causing her a great amount of pain which was never his intention. "I just can't stand by and watch you do this to yourself. I-I care about you, Michael. I can't force you to stop doing this but I can't stay here either."

"Are you saying you want to break up?" Michael asked her, his voice full of fear at the prospect. Mia slowly nodded as she looked up at him and locked eyes with his.

"I think so." Mia told him even though it hurt to speak the words aloud. She didn't want to break up with him. Not when she was falling in love with him but she didn't have a choice. Mia was only nineteen and she didn't think she was mature enough to handle someone who obviously needed a caretaker. He needed help but Mia didn't think she could be the person to help him.

"Please don't say that, love." Michael pleaded with her and Mia had to force herself to look away from him. "Please don't leave me. I'll get clean. I promise. It'll be easy…you'll see." Mia just shook her head.

"It can't just be for me, Michael." Mia said as she tried to stop the tears from escaping but it was no use at this point. There was no point in not crying. "You need to do this for yourself. Living like this isn't healthy. You're going to end up dead if you keep doing this."

"I know. I know." Michael said as he desperately pleaded for her to stay. Anything to just stop her from leaving him. She was the best thing in his life. His life was shitty up until she showed up. Michael knew that she might be the one to save him but she couldn't save him if he had already fucked this relationship up. "I'll stop though. I promise. Please…just please don't leave."

"I'm not the right person for you. I can't help you. I'm nineteen and I don't know how." Mia told him honestly, fear in her eyes. She wasn't scared for herself. No, she was scared for Michael. Scared at what could happen to him. Mia wanted to help but she couldn't. She could end up making this much worse for him. Mia was just too young. "You need real help, Michael. Rehab or maybe your family can help you. People who care about you."

"My family doesn't give a shit about me." Michael said bitterly and Mia was starting to think his issues didn't just end with the drugs and alcohol. Maybe it was bigger than that. Maybe it all connected back to something else. "They don't care and the feeling's mutual. It's you that I care about and I know you feel the same way. I-I think I might even be falling for you." Mia flinched when he said that.

"Don't say that." She told him and she could feel herself on the verge of breaking down and fully sobbing at this point. The feeling of betrayal was lingering and it was clear that the feeling wasn't going to leave any time soon. "Please don't say that."

"Why not?" Michael questioned as he frowned at her. Mia blinked away some of the tears before she looked back up at him.

"Because I can't know if you really mean it. I don't know if it's you or the drugs talking." Mia said, pain and sadness lingering in her voice. She was hurt that he would say something like that because it felt like he was playing with her emotions. Mia knew she felt the same way about him but the difference was that she was sober. Michael wasn't. "I don't even think I know you."

"How could you say such a thing?" Michael questioned as he looked down at her, clearly hurt by her statement. "Of course you know me. We've spent the past two months together. That's plenty of time to get to know a person."

"You lied to me for those past two months." Mia told him in disbelief. "Is there anything about you that wasn't a lie? You lied to me about your family and you kept this drug addiction from me too."

"I didn't want to hurt you." Michael said softly and Mia just shook her head.

"But you have hurt me, Michael. You've hurt me by lying. I've never felt this way about anyone else. Not once yet you've hurt me so much." Mia said and Michael felt guilty. He felt guilty because he thought he had been protecting her by lying to her but he knew he had made the situation even worse. Michael was a person with a lot of problems and he had no business dragging Mia into it. Mia who was kind, sweet, and honest. She was innocent and yet he had been so selfish that he couldn't stay away from her.

"I'm sorry." Michael apologized but sorry wasn't enough. Not for Mia.

"I can't do this, Michael. You need help but not from me." She told him sadly. Breaking up with him was hard but she knew that she was doing the right thing. At this point Michael didn't think anything he said would be able to stop her from leaving. Her mind was already made up.

"I should leave." Mia said a moment later when Michael didn't respond. She started to walk past him to the front door and he didn't try to stop her this time. Mia briefly paused, her hand on the door knob, as she looked back at him. Her gaze was soft as she looked at a man who was clearly broken on the inside but kept up appearances on the outside. "Please take care of yourself, Michael."

And with that, Mia walked out the door. Her heart was hammering inside her chest as she left his apartment because she never realized how difficult breaking up with someone could be. Maybe it wasn't like that with everyone. Maybe Mia just found it difficult because of how much she cared for Michael…how much it hurt seeing him like that and knowing that she couldn't help him. She wasn't that naïve. Mia knew she wasn't mature enough to help him and that he needed someone else to help him. She just hoped that he took her advice and hopefully didn't ignore her. Mia didn't think she could take it if anything ever happened to him.

This wasn't the end of their relationship though.

It was only the beginning. Mia would go to London with Emily for her summer internship with Cosmopolitan before returning for the new school year in Edinburgh. She thought she had left Michael behind but when she came back, he would be a new person. A new person with new promises but issues beyond Mia's comprehension. The smart thing would've been for her to move on but Mia was only kidding herself at that point. She was already in love with him. Staying away from Michael was a useless concept and Mia never regretted taking him back. She didn't think she ever would even if the end result caused her a lot of pain.

Mia had zero regrets when it came to loving Michael.


2016

It was a few days after the meeting with Tony Stark and Mia still hadn't quite come up with a decision over what to do. She was currently debating whether or not she should take the man up on his offer or just turn him down. Mia wanted to say that her life was too busy to just simply go off and write his biography but that would be a lie. Her life was the opposite of busy which was something that became obvious to her as she sat across from her old friend at an expensive restaurant in Manhattan. It was quite a ways away from Brooklyn but Mia made the trip because she hadn't seen her friend in ages.

"So Felipe took me to this little paradise on the west side of the island and you should've seen it, Mia. Oh, it was so lovely. You would've loved it." Emily Blackstone told her as she told Mia about one of her many adventures. The blonde seemed to have a lot of adventures and spent most of her time traveling across the world and vacationing. Mia supposed that's what the descendants of English nobility did. She couldn't really say. "The water was the deepest of blue…just spectacular. Felipe showed me this cute little coral reef and then we headed back to the resort by nightfall. It was all so romantic, Amelia."

"Everything's romantic to you, Emily." Mia said as she smiled at her friend. "I can't think of a single story of yours that hasn't contained some kind of romantic Casanova in it. You always seem to find some guy wherever you go. It's really amazing."

"I haven't found a guy everywhere I've been." Emily retorted and Mia gave her a doubtful look. However, Emily wasn't offended. This was just how their normal teasing went. Mia would make fun of Emily for her adventurous and lavish lifestyle while Emily would make fun of Mia for her boring lifestyle.

"Anyways…enough about me. How are you doing? How are Holly and the kids?" Emily inquired but Mia knew Emily could really give a shit less about Holly's kids. She was just miserably attempting to be polite.

"Holly and the kids are doing amazing, actually. Alyssa's about to finish first grade and Finn's going to start kindergarten next year." Mia told her and Emily just nodded, clearly not caring about Mia's niece and nephew.

"Good. What about you? What's going on in the famous Amelia McCallum's life?" Emily questioned as she smirked at her friend. Mia just rolled her eyes at the English girl.

"Just the usual." Mia answered as she glanced down at her plate nervously. "Working on the book and screenplay."

"Oh, you mean the book that you've been working on for as long as I can remember?" Emily questioned sarcastically. "And the screenplay no one cares about?" Mia glared at her friend.

"It's a long process, okay? The book just needs a little more time." Mia said defensively but Emily didn't look fazed by her friend's annoyance. "As for the screenplay…well, it pays the bills."

"Oh, please. You and I both know you don't need the money. You're just using that screenplay as a distraction." Emily told her and Mia wondered how she knew her that well. She always thought Emily never paid attention to anything other than herself but maybe she was wrong.

"Something else interesting happened." Mia said, badly wanting to change the subject. She didn't need another lecture about her sanity from Emily of all people. Mia had already gotten multiple lectures from Holly, Carter, and her mother. She didn't want to add Emily to the list too.

"Really?" Emily questioned as she looked at the brunette in interest. Mia nodded and she felt relieved to have her friend's attention on something other than the book or screenplay.

"Yes." Mia said before deciding to discuss the issue of Tony Stark with someone other than Carter or Holly. "The publishing company wants me to write a biography."

"A biography?" Emily questioned, seeming confused by this notion. "I wasn't aware that biographies were really your…thing."

"That's what I told them but they really want me to write this biography." Mia said as she agreed with her friend.

"And who will you be writing biography about?" Emily inquired and Mia took a deep breath before answering. She knew this whole biography thing wasn't exactly an easy topic of conversation. It was both ridiculous and almost impossible to believe.

"Tony Stark." Mia said quietly and Emily's eyes widened as she looked at her friend in surprise. She immediately set her glass of wine down on the table, clearly not quite comprehending what her friend just told her.

"Tony Stark?" Emily questioned, feeling at a loss of words. "Like the Tony Stark? Like Iron Man Tony Stark?"

"The very same one." Mia replied but her voice was void of any amusement. She still clearly didn't appreciate the way the eccentric billionaire had flipped her world upside down.

"You're talking about an unauthorized biography, right?" Emily questioned and Mia shook her head.

"No, it's a real one. He actually came down to Random House Headquarters in person a few days ago." Mia told her as she recollected the event. "He really wants me to write this biography for some reason."

"Why you?" Emily questioned and Mia shrugged.

"We met at a charity auction a couple weeks ago but I don't think that's it. I don't really know why he wants me to write this book." Mia mentioned and Emily's eyes widened once more at this information.

"Did you sleep with him?" Emily asked her bluntly and Mia looked up at her friend in shock.

"What?" She questioned.

"After the auction…did you have sex with him or something? Maybe that's why." Emily elaborated but Mia was evidently not amused by her friend's suggestion. She glared at Emily as she scoffed.

"I did not sleep with Tony Stark. I don't make a habit of going around and sleeping with celebrities like some people in this room." Mia said as she gave her a friend a pointed look but Emily wasn't the least bit offended.

"Slut shaming much?" She retorted and Mia rolled her eyes.

"I'm not slut shaming. I'm just saying that I don't have to sleep my way up to the top for work." Mia told her friend. "I've built up my career as a writer on my own merit. I certainly didn't need any help from anyone and especially not by sleeping with famous rich men. I'm not Christine Everhart."

"Who the fuck's Christine Everhart?" Emily questioned and Mia sighed heavily.

"Never mind." Mia said before continuing. "Anyways…I really have no clue why he wants me to write this biography but he does for some reason. This whole thing has really been stressing me out. His intentions are…questionable."

"Are you going to do it?" Emily asked her as Mia looked back at the blonde. "Are you going to write the biography?" Mia sighed once more.

"I really don't know, Emily. I mean…it might be different if I had never met him before." Mia told Emily honestly as she collected her thoughts over the matter at hand. "That way his motives wouldn't be suspicious since he couldn't possibly know me but it's just weird."

"What's weird about it?" Emily asked, not completely understanding what had her friend in such a state of panic.

"It's just weird that he wants me to write his biography after meeting for fifteen minutes at a charity auction weeks ago." Mia said before telling Emily another weird part about this whole ordeal with Tony Stark. "You know, he sent me a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar book last week too?"

"What?" Emily questioned and Mia nodded.

"That's right. He sent me probably one of the most expensive things I've ever touched in my entire life. It was a first edition signed copy of A Farewell to Arms." Mia explained and Emily rolled her eyes at her. "He just sent it to me like it was an iTunes giftcard. Who does that?"

"You're such a dork, Amelia. A book? You're freaking out over a book?" Emily questioned and Mia shook her head in exasperation.

"It was a book worth a quarter of a million dollars." Mia defended and Emily had to give her that.

"Right. Well, that is a little strange." Emily admitted reluctantly. "I mean, the only times guys send me expensive gifts is when they want to sleep with me but no man has ever sent me that much of an expensive gift. Although, I think I would file a restraining order against them if someone sent me a book. That's quite possibly the lamest gift idea I've ever heard of."

"Well, it was actually kind of sweet of him to do that. You see, Ernest Hemingway is one of my favorite authors and I tried to bid on the book at the-" Mia said, unknowingly starting to defend Tony Stark's actions and Emily interrupted her with a wide smirk on her face.

"Look at you, Amelia. You're half way in love with the man already." Emily told her smugly and Mia blushed. "If all it took was for a man to send you a book then I would've had those guys, I set you up with, send you all the books of your heart's desire ages ago."

"I'm not in love with Tony Stark." Mia muttered as she glared at Emily. "I'm just saying that while the gift was ridiculous and expensive, it was actually very thoughtful of him."

"Thoughtful, was it?" Emily questioned, the smirk on her face unwavering. "Look, no one will judge you for being sexually attracted to Tony Stark. Most women are." Mia groaned at her friend's immaturity. Emily really hadn't changed much since they were in college together.

"He's old, Emily. I'm not sexually attracted to someone who's almost my dad's age." Mia argued but this didn't faze the blonde.

"Well, you do have a lot of issues with your dad so it would probably make sense if you were looking for a-" Emily started to say but Mia interrupted her with a disgusted look on her face.

"I don't have daddy issues, Emily. Don't be disgusting." Mia said angrily before shaking her head as she started to wonder how they had come to this. "How did we even get from talking about a biography to daddy issues?"

"You're the one who said you found him attractive." Emily told her as she shrugged nonchalantly. Mia scoffed.

"I never said that. You did." Mia argued before shaking her head once more but this time in disbelief, realizing that there was no point in arguing with her friend. "You know what? Never mind."

"So where's this expensive book now?" Emily questioned and Mia sighed before looking up at her.

"I sent it back to him." Mia told her and Emily's eyes widened in surprise.

"You what?" She questioned.

"I sent it back. It's way too expensive and I don't know what he wants." Mia said, quickly growing tired of explaining her actions to Emily.

"So?" Emily questioned before rolling her eyes at the brunette. "God, you're a complete square sometimes, Amelia. If you didn't like the gift then you could've at least sold it for a decent amount of money." Mia glared at the English woman.

"Sometimes I wonder why we're friends. You're literally the worst person I've ever met." Mia told her bitterly and Emily just smirked at her.

"I don't know why I'm friends with you either. You're the most boring person I've ever met." Emily retorted and Mia just shook her head before Emily changed the subject. "So are you going to do it or not?"

"Do what?" Mia asked, the expression on her face morphing into one of confusion. Emily sighed tiredly because Mia really wasn't getting this.

"Are you going to write the biography?" Emily asked her as if it were obvious. Well, she had asked her the very same question several minutes ago before they veered off from the topic at hand. Mia's face relaxed as she pondered Emily's question for a moment. It was a fair question and it was also a question Mia had thought a lot about over the past few days. Was she going to write the biography? Well, that was a question she still didn't know the answer to. Mia had no idea whether or not she should write the biography.

"I don't really have a clue at this point." Mia admitted, the same answer as before, but Emily still didn't look fazed.

"None whatsoever?" She inquired and Mia shook her head.

"No." A thoughtful look then passed over Emily's face as she became a more serious version of herself. It was seldom that Emily was ever serious about anything but when she was then she could actually become quite helpful. Mia knew that was shocking but it was true. Emily was smart despite how much she wanted everyone to think she wasn't.

"Why don't you do that annoying thing you always used to do back in college?" Emily asked her and Mia gave her a confused look.

"What thing?" She questioned and Emily just looked at her.

"The stupid thing where you list all the pro's and con's before making a decision." Emily informed her much to Mia's surprise. "That's what you did before applying for that internship at Cosmopolitan. It's what you did before you decided to take Michael's sorry ass back and it's also what you did before you married him."

"I didn't really think of that." Mia said to herself.

"I always thought it was stupid but if it helps you in the long run then who really cares?" Emily told her and Mia just nodded to herself as she did exactly what Emily suggested. Emily was right. This was perfect opportunity to make a list of pro's and con's.

"Okay…so what are some pro's?" Mia said as she mulled over her own question.

"You'd probably make a ton of money by writing Tony Stark's biography." Emily told her, giving her a mischievous smile. "So much that you could buy a new little condo somewhere warm with a nice sandy beach."

"Con?" Mia said as she pointedly ignored her friend. "Let me see here. How about how creepy it is that Tony Stark decides to send me an expensive book before showing up at my work and requesting that I write his biography after only meeting me once briefly?"

"That definitely could be considered a con." Emily agreed as she nodded along to what Mia was saying. "Tony Stark has reached high levels of creepy with that little move."

"Pro?" Mia questioned and Emily smirked at her.

"You could have sex with Tony Stark." Emily told her and Mia immediately gave her friend a glare. "What? This girl I knew, back when we were staying at my aunt's house in London, went home with him when I was at this party you refused to go to. From what I heard, he's really good in bed. A very attentive lover."

"I'm just surprised you haven't slept with him." Mia said insultingly but Emily just shrugged.

"It's not for a lack of trying. I basically threw myself at him and he told me that he wasn't interested in little girls." Emily said and it became clear to Mia that Emily was still deeply offended by this rejection. At least that was kind of amusing. "I was fucking nineteen which is perfectly legal by the way. Little girl? Yeah, right."

"You never told me that you were rejected by Tony Stark." Mia said and the blonde glared at her.

"I wasn't rejected by him. We just had a small disagreement." Emily corrected before explaining herself. "And I did tell you about this by the way. You were just so busy moping around about Michael after you broke up that one time that you probably didn't listen."

"Well…I, for one, am definitely not going to be sleeping with Tony Stark. If I were to write this book, and I can't stress the word "if" enough, then I'm going to be perfectly professional." Mia said, sounding perfectly sure of herself. "I'll make sure Mr. Stark is aware of that too. I'm an established writer with a reputation to keep up and I'm sure as hell not going to end up like Christine Everhart. I'm smarter than that and I also have a lot more dignity."

"Again…who the fuck is Christine Everhart?" Emily questioned but she went ignored by Mia.

"Anyways, another pro. Well, Random House Publishing said that if I did this book then it would end my three book deal contract but then they'd start a new contract." Mia mentioned and Emily furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"What kind of new contract?" Emily inquired and Mia looked back up at her.

"One where Random House will publish however many books I want…as long as they approve of them but still." Mia answered and Emily just nodded.

"That's actually a really good pro." Emily told her but Mia still wasn't sure.

"But a con is the politics of the situation. Tony Stark is a really political person which has me worried." Mia said, looking very torn over this dilemma. Emily nodded in understanding.

"You're worried that people will think that you're trying to use your writing to push your own political views." Emily elaborated and Mia just gave her friend a slightly panicked look.

"I don't have any political views, Emily." Mia said worriedly. "I'm a vegetarian and that's as political as I get."

"Being a vegetarian isn't political." Emily told her and Mia shook her head.

"It is if you care about animals." Mia told her and Emily just rolled her eyes at her. "Did you see the documentary Blackfish? What about the one about Ivory?"

"Are you going to go on about fucking Seaworld again? I don't want to hear it, Amelia." Emily told her but Mia was adamant to prove her point.

"Those whales are trapped inside a tiny glass box, Emily. They belong in the ocean." Mia told her seriously and Emily sighed. Same old Amelia, Emily thought to herself. She always cared about animals despite never having a pet. Emily just assumed she cared about pets so much because she was never allowed to have one when she was a kid and she now lived in an apartment where she wasn't allowed to have one either. Emily even thought Mia was going to throw herself off a bridge that time in college when she ate a bunch of haggis when she was drunk. Mia was still mad at her for that.

"Yes, I know…because you've made me watch that movie five times. It was depressing as fuck." Emily stated before moving the conversation forward. "Let's not get off topic which is so incredibly easy with you. So Tony Stark's political…who cares?"

"I care, Emily." Mia told her seriously. "I don't want people thinking that I'm trying to shove my beliefs down their throat. I hate when people do that to me. Do you know how much shit I get at family reunions from my mother's hundred year old widowed aunts?" Mia only briefly paused before mimicking the old batty women she was unfortunately related to.

"Do you still go to church, Amelia?" Mia said as she did the best impression of her Great Aunt Ethel that she could think of. Emily snorted into her glass of wine. Mia never ceased to amuse her. "Why don't you go? Some would say that it's very heathen of you to stay at home on Sundays when you could be taking in the word of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. You can also always find a nice young man at church. Only nice men go to church." Emily scoffed.

"Yeah, right. I'll believe that when I fucking see it." Emily told her. "And besides…people aren't going to think you're shoving your beliefs down their throats because this would be Tony Stark's beliefs. Not yours."

"Sounds fair enough. Carter and Mr. Stark said something similar to me at the meeting." Mia mumbled and Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Stark? Do you seriously call him that?" Emily asked in amusement and Mia just glared at the blonde. "Is he your teacher or something? Ooh…that could be kind of kinky, actually."

"It's a professional courtesy." Mia told her and her friend rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay…so next pro or con?" Emily asked her and Mia sighed heavily before responding.

"Con…I don't know why he's doing this." Mia finally said which was the biggest con of all to her. This was the very thing that gave her a lot of concern when debating over this issue of writing Tony Stark's biography.

"Who cares about why he's doing this." Emily told her but this didn't give Mia any comfort.

"I care because I don't like the fact that he's doing this." Mia said and she felt like she was just repeating herself at this point. "I just don't know what his intentions are and it makes me uncomfortable."

"You're being so melodramatic, Amelia. Just write the damn book." Emily said, quickly growing bored of this debate. Mia gave her an unsure look.

"I don't know, Emily." Mia said, still sounding unsure. Emily just sighed before deciding to make a point to her friend's logic. A point which would be hard for Mia to ignore.

"Look at it this way, do you want to go your whole life wondering what it would've been like to write that book?" Emily inquired and Mia gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, not knowing what her friend was talking about.

"I mean that someday, when you're a lonely old lady with fifty cats, you're going to wonder what it would've been like to write that book about Tony Stark." Emily explained while Mia just watched her silently. "You're going to just sit there with all these regrets and you'll also wonder what it would've been like to sleep with an Avenger." Mia just gave her friend a disgusted look before rolling her eyes as Emily continued.

"You'll wonder if he was as good of a lover as everyone says and then you'll feel guilty that you never got to tell your best friend Emily what he was really like in bed." Emily said as she finished speaking. Thank god.

"Very funny." Mia said sarcastically. "But on a more serious note, I don't think I'll wonder what life would be like without Tony Stark when I'm an old lady. Despite what he may think, the world doesn't revolve around him."

"I'm just saying that you might as well just write the stupid book." Emily said as she ignored everything her friend just said. "It's not like anything bad will happen. Even if something does go wrong then at least you won't think back and wonder about what would've happened. You'll say, "Wow…that fucking sucked", and then you can move on with your life."

"I guess, that's a good point." Mia told her quietly. She had to admit that Emily was kind of right about this whole biography thing. If she didn't take the book deal then she might possibly have regrets down the road. Mia had to admit that she was curious about Tony Stark as well. She was curious about why he wanted her to write this book and she was a little bit curious about him in general. If she did happen to take the book deal then at least she would be able to satisfy that curiosity. Even if the whole experience sucked then at least she tried. Maybe Emily was way smarter than what Mia gave her credit for.

"Can we finally be finished with this whole book talk?" Emily asked, sounding bored out of her mind. "I want to tell you about this amazing little area I found when I was in Japan. It was so beautiful, Amelia. You should've seen it."

"I'd love to hear about this place." Mia told her with a small smile on her face. She listened to her friend go on about Japan but she also deeply considered Emily's advice. Maybe Emily and Carter were right about writing this book. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It's not like she would be working for him or anything. She'd technically be working for herself since this was part of her three book contract with her publishing company. Yes, she wasn't a biographer but how hard could writing a biography be? She'd just listen to what Tony Stark had to say and then she'd write it down.

What could be so hard about that?


Mia must've put off calling Carter for hours. She had gotten back from her lunch with Emily hours ago but Mia still hadn't made a move to grab the phone. Her mind was already made up about the biography. She was just scared to finally make the phone call because it made everything that much more real. Mia didn't know why she was freaking out about a job. It shouldn't have made that much of a difference to her but it did. Maybe it was because it was the first commitment she was making since she was married.

Mia wasn't stupid. She knew how weird that sounded but it was true. She hadn't made such a large commitment in a long time. Excluding her Hulu subscription, of course, but this was slightly bigger than that. There was a lot to consider but then there also wasn't a lot to consider either. It was either write the book to finish her three book contract and then be allowed to write whatever book she wanted or she could just keep putting off finishing a book she didn't think she would ever finish. At least writing this biography would provide her with a nice break from writer's block.

The decision seemed like an easy one to make but it was also quite difficult in mustering the courage to finally take a more important step in her life…making the first big commitment she had made in years. After Michael died, Mia had been too scared to commit to anything. She was even so scared of making any life defining decisions that she had canceled and uncanceled her Apple Music subscription more times than she could count. Mia changed soul cycle and yoga classes on an almost monthly basis, never sticking to the same place very long. The only two things she stuck to were her favorite coffee shop as well as the pho place her and Michael used to go to. They always has the best pho and Mia didn't mind going even if the place was filled of reminders of how much happier her life used to be.

Mia could say that she had no idea why she was so afraid of committing, even to the smallest of things, but that was a lie. She knew exactly why. It might've sounded crazy to other people but Mia just didn't feel like making any friends…or growing attached to people. She knew, perhaps better than most people, that not everyone was going to there the next day. People died and people left. Old Mia wouldn't have been this cynical but she had changed a lot in the time since her husband's death.

"Why aren't you over me, Mia? It's been three years. This isn't healthy." She could imagine him saying to her with that worried look on his face.

"I know it's not healthy but I don't know how else to act." Mia would say back to him. It was true. Three years and Mia didn't know how to be a healthy, functional human being. Mia had spent the past three years living in a state of confusion and unsure of how to ever move past that state of confusion. Maybe she just expected to snap out of it one of these days or maybe she just thought she'd spend the rest of her life like this.

Mia really didn't know.

Even so, there was quite a few things she did know contrary to popular belief. People usually just assumed she was this twenty something year old mess of a girl but she had learned a lot in her twenty nine year on this planet. Especially when it was announced to everyone that she and Michael were to be married. People seemed almost too eager to give you advice on marriage. Everyone seemed to think of themselves as experts but Mia didn't believe marriage experts existed. Every marriage was different so how could anyone be an expert on it? Most of the people who gave Mia advice had problems of their own. She tried not taking their advice to heart but sometimes Mia caught herself doing that very same thing.

Sometimes.

There were actually a lot of things they told you when you got married. Mia remembered getting a lot of advice from family members about marriage. Her Great Aunt Ethel used to tell her all the ways she could make her husband happy which might've been cool if Mia lived in 1954 but this was the twenty first century, after all. Her sister told her that communication was important and to make sure to still do romantic like things like going on dates. Her mother gave Mia the do's and don'ts of marriage after learning a lot from the divorce from Mia's father. Mia's whole point about all this semi-useful/semi-useless advice was that everyone had given her advice on how to be a wife but no one had given her advice on how to be a widow.

No one told her how difficult it was going to be.

A few weeks after he died Mia had started going to group therapy sessions with other people who had lost their spouses. It only took Mia a short time to realize that she was always going to be the youngest one there. Sure there were a couple people in their late thirties but they were still a lot older than Mia. So young, they used to whisper in hushed voices they thought she couldn't hear. Mia stopped going after that. It was just so hard talking about Michael to people. People who would look sympathetic for her sake but secretly wonder why it wasn't the drugs he had died from. They'd remark at how ironic it was that a former drug addict hadn't died from an overdose but from a freak accident.

"It's quite funny if you think about it, actually." Michael would say and Mia would shake her head, giving him a very unimpressed look.

"Not to me." Mia would say in response.

It was harder when his death was still a new concept to her. Sometimes Mia would forget that he was gone. She'd be washing the dishes in the kitchen and casually sneak a glance into the living room, fully expecting to see him there sprawled out across the couch as he watched one of his stupid shows. It only took her a second before she realized that he was dead…never to return to his favorite couch and never to watch his stupid show again either. Those were the days that the realization hit her the hardest. She'd bawl her eyes out for what felt like hours until she was too exhausted to cry anymore.

However, it was different now.

She no longer forgot the fact that he was dead. The concept was familiar to her as time passed. Mia would still sometimes see him in little areas of her apartment. She wasn't talking about ghosts but just memories. Sometimes Mia would glance into her closet and remember an old memory. It would play like a movie inside her head. For instance, the time he couldn't find his tie when they were running late for dinner with her sister and Mark. Mia would briefly smile at the memory before turning away but she didn't cry like she used to. She wasn't even sure if she really felt that sad anymore.

Just numb.

"What do you think I should do?" Mia would ask Michael about the situation at hand. She always used to ask him for his opinion on things. His opinion had mattered so much to her...the most, actually.

"You should do it. I think it would be good for you." He'd tell her. Mia knew without a doubt that Michael would be completely for her doing this. He probably thought it would be cool. Michael always had a weird man crush on Tony Stark so she knew he'd be trying to convince her to introduce him to the famous billionaire.

"Really?" She would question doubtfully and he would nod.

"Yes. You need some change in your life and I think this is the change you need." He would tell her wisely as she patiently listened. "It's not like it'll hurt. It's just a job."

"It's just such a large and important commitment. I'm not sure if I can handle it." Mia would say as she would start to doubt herself like she always did. He would just smile and shake his head at her.

"You're only going to be writing this guy's book, Mia. It's not like you'll be marrying him." He'd reply and Mia would nod to herself because that actually made a lot of sense. He always made sense. It was something she always adored about him because he had a way of getting her out of her head and bringing her back down to earth. Michael had been the voice of reason whenever Mia began to panic. She should've listened to him since the beginning…or listened to the memory of his voice anyways.

"You're right." Mia finally said aloud. She wasn't crazy. She knew Michael wasn't really telling her to do this but she knew this is what he would've wanted for her. Holly was right too. Michael wouldn't have wanted her to be moping around like this. Maybe the best solution was to just get out there and do normal things like talk to people. Tony Stark could be the first step in doing that because even Mia knew that it wasn't exactly healthy to lock herself up in her apartment all week.

"I always am, love." He would say to her with that cocky smile on his face. This was just her conscience. Mia was fully aware of that even if her conscience sounded exactly like Michael. She wasn't insane but she thought she might listen to her conscience this time. Maybe her very Michael sounding conscience had a point.

Maybe this would be good for her.

Without giving herself any time to change her mind, Mia immediately reached for her iPhone. She didn't waste any time searching through her contacts for Carter's number. Mia's thumb hesitated over the call symbol for only a brief moment before she decided to stop overthinking this too much. Everyone was right. It's not like this would hurt anyone. It was just a job and when it was over then Mia would be able to write whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. This was actually the best sort of deal.

Mia just couldn't really stop comparing this situation with Tony Stark to signing a deal with the devil. She wasn't naïve. Mia knew this was going to be difficult but she was willing to try if it meant taking a step forward in her life. It's not like she had a life anyways. It was either write this biography or spend the entire day watching a show on Netflix. Netflix sounded more appealing but Tony Stark was probably the healthier option. This was also probably the rare occurrence where Tony Stark was the healthier option to anything.

"Hello." Carter said once he finally picked up the phone after a couple rings. Mia smiled softly before answering him. It was either now or never.

"Carter, it's me. So about that Tony Stark thing…"