Christian shut off the engine of his motorcycle after pulling up to the corner a block away from the diner.
"Here we are, a safe distance from your place so your parents don't kill me," Christian chuckled as Mia pulled off the helmet.
"Thanks," she said, handing it to him as she climbed off the bike. "So, I'll meet you back here in about half an hour?" She asked.
"I can wait for you," he offered. Mia tilted her head to the side and gave him a quizzical look.
"Don't you need to go home to get your stuff?" She asked.
"My place is on the way to the beach," he said. "Makes more sense for me to wait for you and we just stop there on the way, doesn't it?" He asked. Mia thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I guess it does." She replied. "Well, I'll be back in a few," she said, shrugging a bit to herself before turning and walking away. Once she reached the diner, she crossed her fingers to herself, hoping her arrival wouldn't inspire her parents to have her wait tables. This hope, however, vanished when she walked in and saw the business wasn't short of staff today. It was one of the perks of being in anyway connected to the Rodriguez children—any and all their friends could always count on a summer or after school job in the family business whenever they wanted to earn pocket money. As it was, Eddie's girlfriend Leslie was manning the register while Ricky and Tony's girlfriends Sarah and Janet were waiting tables along with Lucy and Maria and some other friends Sarah, Janet and Lucy had recruited. Ricky and Eddie were doing their busboy duty while Tony and his best friend Greg helped Alex in the kitchen.
"Hey Mia," Leslie called to her as Mia walked in. Mia smiled and waved at her as she made her way to the upstairs apartment.
"You coming to help us out?" Tony called out after catching sight of her from the window in the kitchen. Mia frowned and made a detour to the kitchen. She knew if she replied to Tony he'd just make a crack about her being irresponsible so she decided to address her father.
"Hey, dad, Andy, me and some friends of ours decided to go to the beach, is that alright?" She asked. Alex looked over at his daughter and gave her a nod.
"Sure. You kids deserve a break with that prep class you're taking," he observed. After two days of her and Andy going off to Kira's house, her parents had grown suspicious as to what was going on, and grew even more puzzled when they overheard Andy mentioning something about Kira when he came to pick her up one of the mornings. Because of this, once the parents asked what was going on, Mia said the teacher in question was holding an SAT prep course at her house for a few exceptional students. The explanation seemed to suit her parents just fine and they left it alone. Mia grinned.
"Thanks Dad!" She replied enthusiastically. She went to leave before turning to her father again. "Oh, and would it be alright if I took some drinks?" She asked cautiously.
"Oh, don't ask for too much, Mia, why not ask to take some food too," Tony grumbled. Alex ignored his eldest son and looked at Mia.
"You just go get whatever else you need for the beach, I'll check with your mother to see if we can spare anything," he said. Mia grinned again before running up the stairs. Tony rolled his eyes.
"God dad, just spoil her rotten why don't you?" He muttered. Alex sighed.
"Anthony, why don't you stop commenting on what your sister does and focus on that grilled cheese sandwich you're in the middle of burning to a crisp?" He asked. Anthony just muttered under his breath as he flipped the sandwich over. Upstairs, Mia grabbed her straw beach bag and stuffed the needed essentials into it before rolling up her beach towel and sticking it in there as well. Once her bag was settled she went to her dresser to pick out a bathing suit. After settling on a white tankini she quickly changed into the suit and covered it up with a pair of jean cutoffs and a white sweatshirt that she zipped up to the top. She slipped her sneakers back on before grabbing her bag and jogging back down the stairs, only to have a canvas bag presented to her.
"Mom packed some sodas and snacks," Lucy said as she handed over the bag. Mia, expecting a moderately light package, nearly balked at how heavy it actually was.
"Define 'some'," Mia chuckled as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder.
"Enough to feed an army." Her sister commented. Mia sighed.
"How am I supposed to carry all this?" She muttered to herself. Lucy shrugged.
"Isn't Andy driving his car?" She asked. Mia frowned.
"Uh yeah…….I just mean…….how am I supposed to carry this to the car…." She muttered. Lucy peered at her.
"Where is Andy, anyway?" She asked.
"Getting his stuff from his place," Mia replied.
"So he's picking you up?" Lucy asked.
"Uh, something like that." Mia replied. Lucy crossed her arms over her chest.
"Okay, spill or I'm telling mom and dad," she said. Mia looked at her.
"Tell mom and dad what?" She asked. Lucy shrugged.
"I don't know, but you're obviously hiding something," she replied. Mia sighed.
"Fine, but if I tell you the truth, do you swear to keep this under sister/sister confidentiality and not tell mom, dad, or the guys?" She asked. Lucy grinned a bit. Mia herself didn't have many secrets so for her to use "sister/sister confidentiality", it had to be something important, especially since it hadn't been used since Mia confided in Lucy that she and Andy had slept together two years ago.
"Ugh, fine." Her sister replied.
"You swear?" Mia asked.
"I swear," Lucy replied, rolling her eyes. Mia nodded.
"Okay, Andy's not picking me up in his car," she said.
"Well I was figuring that," Lucy said. Mia sighed.
"Help me carry this stuff out, will you?" She asked. Lucy frowned.
"I thought you were going to tell me-"
"I will, but not where any of our darling brothers or parents can hear us," Mia said. Lucy sighed and took Mia's beach bag, the lighter of the two bags.
"You're lucky I'm on my break," she said.
"Whatever." Mia commented. The two sisters left the diner. "Come with me," she said. Lucy shrugged and followed her as the two walked a block away from the eatery to find Christian sitting on his motorcycle.
"What the hell is this?" Lucy questioned. Christian climbed off his bike and approached the two girls.
"Good to see you too, Lucy, congrats on graduating by the way. I heard you gave a killer valedictorian speech," he said in a nonchalant tone. Lucy narrowed her eyes at him before looking at Mia.
"Why is he here? Please don't tell me he's your ride to the beach." Mia gave her sister a sheepish smile.
"Hence why I swore you to secrecy."
"Okay, since when is he giving you ride worthy? Last I heard you and Andy were trying to take turns ripping him to shreds and the twins were ready to toss him out of the diner when he came by later that evening," Lucy stated, obviously having had heard about what went on a few days ago. Mia rolled her eyes.
"He's in the SAT prep course with us and we're getting along now," she said. Christian gave her an odd look, which she returned with an 'I'll explain later' look. Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Whatever Mia... Now is there anything else?" She demanded. Mia pursed her lips for a moment before shaking her head.
"You won't tell mom and dad, right?" She asked. Lucy sighed and handed her the beach bag.
"Yeah," she said. Mia smiled.
"Thanks sis," she said.
"Yeah, yeah, drive safe," Lucy said before leaving. Mia smiled.
"Thanks." She commented. She jumped a bit at the feel of the canvas bag being lifted off her shoulder. She turned to see Christian taking it from her.
"Man, what's in here? The kitchen sink?" Christian chuckled. Mia sighed.
"I asked if I could take some sodas along and somehow it became mom packing some picnic or something. No idea how we're supposed to carry all this," she said, looking at his bike. Christian simply turned on his heel and walked back to the bike where he lifted the seat of the bike to reveal a medium sized compartment underneath the seat. "Ah, I guess that's how," she muttered. Christian shot her a smile.
"Gotta love having this thing...It comes in handy a lot." He chuckled at her impressed look. "How else do you think I carry stuff to school?" Mia shrugged.
"Never really thought about it honestly. Carried it on your back, I guess?" Christian chuckled a bit before going back to her and taking her beach bag.
"That wouldn't be very safe say there was an accident. Having something on you that could get dragged under something or caught in something…yeah, bad idea," he said.
"I see," Mia replied as she followed him to the bike and watched him stick her beach bag in the compartment before putting the seat back in place. Christian smiled.
"Ready?" He questioned. Mia nodded. Christian handed her the helmet as he climbed back on and waited for her to get on. Mia pulled the helmet on and climbed on behind him before he switched on the ignition and drove away. He drove for twenty minutes before they reached the more rundown part of Destruction Bay. He slowed as they rolled to a stop next to a four-story tall building with broken windows and missing doors. Mia blinked as Christian put down the kickstand.
"Where are we?" She questioned, pulling off the helmet. Christian shrugged.
"My place," he stated simply.
"Clearly...But where exactly is 'your place'?" She questioned.
"An affordable place in town," he grumbled. He climbed off the bike and looked at her. "You can wait here if you want," he said. Mia glanced around, noting older men sauntering towards the bike, eyeing Mia. Mia looked back at Christian and shook her head.
"I think I'll come in." She replied, the fear evident in her voice. She quickly climbed off the bike and stood beside him, unconsciously snaking her arm around his. Christian looked down at her as he felt her arm tighten around his.
"You're safe." He told her gently as they headed towards the building. The two entered the building where he led her to a set of broken stairs that looked to be barely standing. "Careful, some of the steps aren't too all together," he said as he led her up the stairs. True to his words, some of the steps looked broken off with splintering chunks of wood sticking out.
"Uh, can I follow you up?" She questioned. Christian looked at her and nodded.
"Yeah, just watch your step and you'll be fine," he said. He pulled his arm out of her grasp and took hold of her hand as the two walked up the stairs, Mia mirroring which steps he landed on and which ones he skipped. They soon reached a landing and, much to Mia's delight, did not need to continue upwards as Christian led her down the door filled corridor until they reached his apartment. He took his keys out from his pocket and unlocked the door. He pushed the door open after he unlocked it and motioned for Mia to go inside. Mia nodded and carefully walked into the apartment, taking in the space as Christian walked in behind her and shut the door.
"Nice place," Mia said politely. Christian snorted as he walked past her.
"For what it is, it's alright... Granted, it's not something you'd be used to." He commented as he walked over to a dresser that was sitting between the wall and a futon. Mia frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
"I think the look you had on your face the second I pulled up here says what I mean," Christian replied as he opened one of his drawers and rifled through it.
"It's just that...I didn't realize..." She fumbled over her words. Christian grabbed what he was looking for and pulled it out before turning around.
"Mia...It's okay." He replied. Mia sighed.
"No, it's not," she said. "I was….making a judgment and…" she shrugged, "after our conversation at the lake, I told myself I'd hold off from doing any more of that," she muttered. She looked up at him. "I don't mean to pry……but……well……….your bike, it looks pretty expensive…….how could you afford it…….and uh-"
"Why don't I sell it and try to move somewhere nicer?" He supplied. Mia frowned.
"Was trying to find a nicer way to put it…….but yeah," she said.
"It was a gift," he said, seeing it as a suitable enough answer for both queries.
"Oh." Was all she replied with.
"Yeah," he said. "It would probably be more practical to sell it but-"
"It means something to you," Mia nodded. "I understand." Christian gave Mia a half smile.
"Yeah." He replied softly.
"Old girlfriend?" She blurted out, before pausing and shaking her head. "Not that it's any of my business, I'm sorry." Christian slowly approached her.
"It's not?" He asked softly. Mia blinked and shook her head.
"No. I mean…….I don't want to me nosy," she said. "I'm sure whomever gave you the bike is very special and……uh……but even if they're not…….still not my business…." She said, looking down as her words stumbled over one another. She felt Christian come to a stop a few inches away from her. Mia cleared her throat and quickly looked up. "We should go," she abruptly said. She winced at how that might've sounded. "Not that I mean I'm raring to get out of here…Just mean that Andy and Nate might be waiting for us."
"Um, alright." Christian replied. He held up what he had pulled out of the dresser drawer to reveal a pair of shorts. "I'll just go and change and we can head out," he said. Mia nodded and watched as he made his way to the small bathroom at the corner of his apartment. On his way there he picked up an undershirt lying on the ratty and worn couch. "I'll be right out,' he said over his shoulder before shutting the bathroom door.
"Okay," she replied, though she was pretty sure he didn't hear her. Mia sighed and aimlessly walked around the small abode. The bulk of the apartment consisted of a small studio-like apartment in that it was just one room. The dresser and futon made up what was supposed to be his bedroom in one corner of the apartment, while a fridge, small row of counters and a stove that looked like it could be a fire hazard if ever turned on lined themselves on the diagonal end of the place. On the same wall as the kitchen area was the couch with a small TV set propped up on milk crates not too far from it. Mia shrugged a bit to herself and walked over to the couch and sat down. She nearly yelped, not expecting the tattered cushion she planted herself to give way as much as it did and she nearly sank into the couch. She scrambled a bit to regain her footing on the floor and settle on the couch, only to have a loose spring in the couch poke into the small of her back. "Ouch!" She exclaimed, jumping up to her feet. She rubbed her sore back, cursing the wretched spring as the door to the bathroom opened up. She looked up and froze at the sight of Christian coming out in a pair of red board shorts and the white undershirt that he was still in the middle of putting on, giving her a glimpse of his stomach which caught her eye on two fronts—it's nicely toned nature, and the jagged scar she could see that started around his abs and went down past were the shorts covered him.
"Everything okay?" Christian asked as he finished pulling his shirt on. Mia blinked, tearing her eyes away from his stomach and focusing on the floor.
"Uh….your couch…….it doesn't seem to like me," she muttered nervously. Christian looked at her as he walked over.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Mia bit her lip.
"Nothing," she muttered. She knew if she made any sort of comment about the dilapidated couch, it would only come out sounding like a negative judgment on his living situation and she wanted to try her best not to offend him.
"Really?" Christian commented. "Then why the yelling?" He asked as he stopped next to her.
"I uh…….thought I saw a……" She stopped herself mid-excuse, catching herself before she said anything that could be just offensive, if not more so, than any comments about his couch.
"Saw what?" Christian asked.
"Nothing," Mia said, finally looking up at him.
"Mia." Christian commented as he put his hands on her shoulders. "What happened?" Mia sighed and looked away.
"It's stupid really, I went to sit down and…….the couch was a bit deeper than I expected and when I tried to get up a spring poked me in the back," she said in a hurried mumble. "I'm sorry," she then added.
"Are you alright?" Christian asked, worry filling his voice. Mia blinked and looked up at him, surprised. She'd expected him to be annoyed or offended or something of that nature. She definitely wasn't expecting him to be worried about her.
"Uh yeah. I think I was just……..more surprised than hurt, really," she said.
"Would you mind...If I checked to make sure you're not bleeding?" He questioned softly. Mia couldn't help it as a blush crept up her cheeks.
"I'm fine, really," she said. "It just……poked me in the back. It probably didn't even break through my sweatshirt, let alone my bathing suit." Christian gave her a soft smile.
"I'm not going to hurt you... I just want to make sure that you don't need to get a tetanus shot." Mia shook her head.
"I didn't mean to imply that I thought that….you know………I just mean that……." She sighed, shaking her head again. "Yeah, okay," she said, giving up with her protest. Christian nodded and moved to stand behind her.
"Where did you say you were poked?" He asked. Mia crossed her arm over herself and did her best to point to the small of her back.
"Around there," she said.
"Alright," Christian replied. He took hold of the hem of her sweatshirt and bathing suit top and pushed both up gently to expose her mid to lower back. Mia's blush intensified as she was very glad he was behind her and couldn't see the scarlet tint her cheeks had adopted. She took a deep breath and just waited for him to finish. She frowned when she realized he seemed to be staring at her back for a long time.
"Every thing all right back there?" She asked.
"Huh?" Christian replied. Mia rolled her eyes and quickly stepped away, shoving her top and sweatshirt back down.
"Okay peep show's over," she muttered.
"I was just trying to see if you're okay," Christian explained. Mia spun around to face him and narrowed her eyes at him.
"It doesn't take that long to check for blood," she replied.
"I was trying to check...It's a little hard that you happen to have a tattoo in the way." He replied. Mia glared at him, partly feeling stupid for forgetting about the small butterfly she had on the small of her back. "What?" Christian asked. "...Oh, its one of those things that nobody knows about right?" He asked. Mia sighed and reached behind herself, sliding a hand over the small of her back before presenting it to him.
"See, no blood. Let's go, shall we?" She said curtly.
"Sorry." He replied quietly. Mia sighed.
"Sorry, just…." She shrugged, "if we keep Andy and Nathan waiting, it'll be just more for Andy to use against you, like the lake detour earlier," she said, before scoffing a bit. "Though maybe he's not too wrong," she muttered.
"About what?" Christian questioned. Mia shook her head.
"Forget it, let's just go" she said. She looked at him. "You should probably grab a towel," she pointed out. Christian stared at her for a moment.
"What is that Andy's not too wrong about?" He asked again. Mia arched one of her eyebrows his way.
"Nothing," she sneered. "I'm sure you'll think of some plausible excuse for it anyway," she said.
"Oh, that's not cryptic," Christian replied.
"So, let me ask, was showing me your rundown place as a way to illustrate oh so horrible life you have to endure and give off that poor wounded soul needing affection persona……did that little idea pop in when we were in the ice cream parlor or while we were heading to the diner?" She asked, a slight accusing tone in her voice.
"Shockingly enough Mia, not everyone has ulterior motives, as much as you'd like to believe that they do." He replied coolly.
"Oh I know not everyone does, just you," Mia replied with mock sweetness. Christian glared at her. For the second time that day she'd gone from being nice to him to making all sort of harsh conclusions about him. He was sick and tired of it.
"Alright then," he said lowly, stalking over to her. Mia's eyes widened a bit, unsure what he was about to do.
"What are you doing?" She asked, taking a step back. Christian finally came to a stop mere few inches from her.
"Well, since you're so sure I'm some opportunist who just uses any way imaginable to get you alone, I might as well play the part, right?" He hissed. Mia looked at him for a moment before shaking her head.
"Whatever, Chris, grab your towel and let's go, alright?" She said, going to step around him to stand by the door. Christian grabbed her arm and pulled her back, using the momentum he'd caused to back her up into the nearby wall.
"No, no, you're so sure that you're right about me," he stated, effectively trapping her between him and the wall. "So, this is just me following your expectations."
"Get off of me," she said in a low even tone, "or you'll regret it."
"Somehow I doubt that." He replied lowly. Mia tightened her jaw and went to shove him away.
"Get off!" She snarled. This only led to Christian tightening his hold on her.
"I don't think so." He replied dropping his head so that he was eye level with her. Mia swallowed thickly, staring at him defiantly.
"When I'm done kicking your ass, Andy's going to kill you," she said, smirking a bit.
"I doubt that on both accounts," he sneered. Mia glared at him.
"Alright, Chris you had your fun, now let me go," she ordered.
"According to all your little accusations, I haven't had my fun yet, have I?" He replied. Mia rolled her eyes and made another attempt to shove him away.
"So, what?" She spat out. "What are you going to do, Christian?" She stared at him directly in the eyes as she thought about how to get out of this. Her mind quickly went to their previous conversation by the lake. "You're gonna force yourself on me or something? What would Gertrude think of that?" Mia in fact had no idea who Gertrude was or her relationship to Christian but given what he said about her at the lake, Mia figured it was a good enough lifeline as any. The words hit Christian like a slap in the face as he released his grip on Mia. Mia let out a relieved sigh and slumped against the wall. "I'm sure she wouldn't think too highly of that at all," she breathed out. Christian stepped away from her.
"Shut up," he said as he moved to the side slowly before slamming his fist into the wall. Mia jumped, yelping a bit. Okay….so is he going to go all homicidal and kill me now? She wondered as she thought about whether she was safer with him or running out of his apartment at that very moment. She watched as Christian dropped his head against the wall before sliding down until he was sitting down completely, his back facing her. She glanced at the wall and noticed that there were specks of blood in the indent he'd made. She sighed and ran a hand over her face.
"You're bleeding," she stated softly.
"Whatever," came Christian's reply. "You want to go? Then just go already," he grumbled. Sighing, Mia turned towards the bathroom. She returned a few moments later with a small first aid kit in her hands. She knelt in front of Christian and opened it. Christian looked up at her. "What are you doing?" He asked, not bothering to keep the hostile tones out of his voice. "Just leave already." Mia simply shrugged.
"You know what they say about the devil you know being better than the devil you don't know," she said. "Give me your hand."
"Why?" He demanded. "So that you can tell all your friends how much of a psycho I am?"
"Well, as tempting as that might be, I was just planning on taking care of your banged up hand," she replied. "So, are you going to give me your hand or not?" Christian just thrust his hand forward. "Thank you," she said before taking hold of it and setting it down on her lap as she rifled through the first aid kit. She finally found a few packets of alcohol wipes and tore one open. She looked down at the hand and saw the damage he had done to it in punching the wall. It didn't look like he'd broken anything, but his knuckles were red and raw and the ones at his index and middle fingers were bleeding. She stretched his fingers out gently, holding them at the tips while she ran the alcohol wipes over them. Christian flinched as the wipes touched his open cuts.
"That stings," he grumbled.
"Oh don't be such a baby," Mia replied as she continued cleaning his hand.
"I'm not." He replied sourly. Mia bit back a retort as she continued to clean off the blood. There was silence for a few moments before Mia spoke.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"For what?" Christian asked.
"For what I said. If I'd known mentioning Gertrude would cause this much drama, I wouldn't have said what I said," she said. Christian sighed.
"I shouldn't have lost my temper like that..." He replied. "It's just that..." He trailed off.
"It doesn't matter," Mia said, shaking her head as she finished cleaning his cuts. "We were both out of line……..sure one of us more so than the other…." she said, giving him a pointed look. "Let's just finish this up, go to the beach and forget all about this." Christian blinked, looking at her for a moment.
"Don't say that," he ordered. Mia looked up from his hand.
"Don't say what?" She asked.
"Don't just try to sweep this under the rug," he stated firmly. He shook his head. "You're not like that." Mia tilted her head to the side and gave him a quizzical look.
"Not like what?" She asked.
"You're not the little victim who just goes along trying to get along," he replied. Mia frowned and reached into the kit to pull out some gauze to wrap up his knuckles.
"Was Gertrude like that?" She asked. Christian glared at her and snatched his hand away.
"Stop talking about Gertrude. You didn't know her," he said. Mia nodded.
"Alright," she said. "I won't talk about her," she looked at him. "Can I finish taking care of your hand?" Christian simply held out his hand again and let her take it.
"To answer your question, no she wasn't like that," he said as she began to wrap the gauze around his hand.
"Oh." Was all that Mia replied with. "Do you want to tell me who was?" She asked after a moment. Christian was quiet for a long while. Mia shut her mouth and figured she'd overstepped some boundaries and just continued her work on his hand.
"My mother," he breathed out after a while, causing Mia to freeze. After a moment she looked up and spoke.
"What?" She whispered. Christian looked down.
"My dad wasn't a very nice guy," he replied.
"Oh." She trailed off. "Is that how..."
"How what?" Christian asked. Mia bit her lip and slowly extended her hand to his stomach, pointing to where she'd seen the scar. Christian looked down and nodded.
"After she decided she wanted to put a stop of her usual pretend everything's okay and forget it all with the help of booze routine, she left. Apparently she didn't think I was important enough to take with her. Needless to say, my dad wasn't very pleased."
"I……..I'm so sorry," she whispered. Christian shrugged her apology off.
"He got drunk one night and came after me with a broken bottle... Luckily one of my neighbors heard the commotion and called 911." He gave a sardonic chuckle. "Apparently dad didn't understand that broken beer bottles aren't a seven year old's best friend."
"You were seven?!" Mia questioned, horrified. She shook her head. "You were just a kid! How could he do that?" She exclaimed. Christian shrugged.
"He didn't care." He replied honestly. "Are you done yet?" He asked. Mia blinked.
"Huh?" She asked. When Christian began talking about his parents, Mia stopped working on her hand and had almost completely forgotten she hadn't finished wrapping his hand. She looked down. "Oh, no, not yet, sorry," she muttered.
"It's okay." He replied.
"I'm almost done," she said, going back to wrapping his hand. She wasn't sure what else to say about what he had said so she simply focused on her primary task. After a few minutes she placed his hand back down on her lap and fished out the roll of medical tape from the kit and a pair of small scissors.
"You seem to be pretty handy with this stuff," Christian observed. Mia briefly glanced up from cutting off a piece of tape from the roll and gave a tiny half smile.
"Family owns a diner, ergo working in kitchen, ergo possible kitchen mishaps, ergo we all learned basic first aid at a young age," she explained. Christian chuckled a bit.
"I can't be sure, but I think using 'ergo' three times in one sentence is grammatically incorrect," he joked, trying to cut through the tension in the room. Mia giggled as she continued to work on finishing up.
"All done," she said after she secured the gauze with the strip of tape. Christian nodded and pulled his hand away. Mia looked down as the room was engulfed in silence, neither sure what to say or do next.
"I'm sorry," Mia finally said in a small voice.
"So am I." He replied honestly. Then there was silence again. Mia sighed and looked up, her eyes roaming over the apartment, feeling too awkward to look at him.
"We should…..probably not mention this stuff to the others," she muttered. "Andy would have a conniption."
"That he would." Christian agreed.
"Yeah," Mia said. "So….uh…..I guess……um," she mumbled, her words tripping over themselves. "Should……we go?" She asked, unsure what else there was to say. Christian nodded.
"Yeah, I guess so." He replied. The two slowly climbed to their feet. Christian reached out to help her up, only to have her shy away slightly and get to her feet herself.
"Sorry," she muttered. Christian looked at her for a moment, unsure whether to feel hurt or understand her reaction.
"You might not have to say anything to Andy," Christian said, his conflicting emotions creating an even and neutral tone. "He'll catch a whiff of this restraining order atmosphere and know something's up." Mia sighed.
"I didn't mean to…" She said, her voice trailing off.
"Whatever." He replied, turning away.
"Chris...I am sorry." She whispered. Christian simply stood with his back to her. He could understand why she reacted like that, seeing what he had done mere minutes before, but it did hurt. It reminded him of all the times his mother seemed to flinch any time his father even came into the same room before she left them. Mia stepped forward and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. Christian jumped slightly, his gaze snapping to her as the touch got him by surprise. He blinked, his eyes staring at the hand on his shoulder for a long moment before looking up at her face. "I don't think you're..." She began, letting her voice trail off. "If that's what you thought………I mean……." She sighed. "Can you say something please? I'm feeling like a special kind of idiot right now."
"Thank you," he said in such a soft tone, Mia almost didn't hear him.
"Yeah." She replied. The two stood there, looking at each other for a moment. Mia blinked and looked away. "Um………towel," she muttered lamely.
"What?" Christian asked. Mia blinked and looked up at him.
"You need to grab a towel…….for the beach……" she said, her tone not losing its awkward tone.
"Oh, right." He replied. Mia nodded and slipped her hand off his shoulder as he disappeared into the bathroom. Mia looked around before remembering she had left the first aid kit unattended. She shrugged to herself a bit before kneeling down and putting the rolls of gauze and tape and the scissors back into the kit. As she finished, Christian exited the bathroom and watched as Mia stood, kit in hand.
"You didn't have to do that," he said. Mia shrugged.
"I did bring it out here and took all the stuff out, only seemed fair I put the stuff away," she said.
"I can take it." He replied.
"Oh, okay," Mia said, approaching him. "Here, I might as well hold this while you're putting the kit away," she said, going to take the towel from him with one hand as she held the kit out to him with the other. Christian grabbed the kit and handed Mia the towel, his hand lingering against hers for a moment longer than necessary.
"Thanks." he replied. Mia nodded and maneuvered the towel into a tight roll before sticking it under her arm as he put the kit away. She bit her lip, looking down at the hand he had just touched. She had noticed the extended hand contact that had just occurred and couldn't help wonder if it had been intentional or an accident, and even more so, she couldn't help wonder which of the two options she wanted it to be.