Ok, it has been so long since I've published anything for this story, most likely no one remembers this one, I admit I had to go over it myself to recall a lot of the details. I've written this chapter at various points but was finally satisfied with this incarnation.

If you are new to this story I hope you would be able to enjoy reading from the beginning :)

Hope you could let me know what you think about this story! Something I always loved about fanfiction is the community and getting to connect with people.

Matt woke up disoriented. He felt like the room had just been shaken. He seemed to be laying in a bed. It was dark all around him except for the occasionally dim light through what appeared to be a curtain. There were some other random dots of light, which appeared around him but Matt was pretty sure he was just seeing things. He couldn't be sure but it felt like the whole room was moving. There was a steady pounding in his head as if his head were a drum. He couldn't quite remember anything that had happened recently and when he tried to, the pain in his head went from a pounding to feeling like a sharp knife.

He set his head back down on the pillow behind him and tried to start by figuring out where he was. There was a single fixture in the middle of the ceiling, which appeared to be a light. The covers on top of him had a red-ish, pink hue. Now that he looked around the whole room seemed to be the same color as the bedspread. On the right of Matt there was a digital clock that read 3:16. It must be 3:16 in the morning seeing as it was so dark. There were a number of pictures also on the wall but he couldn't make out exactly what they were. He moved to the edge of the bed and saw multiple pieces of clothing on the floor next to him. Most of them were dresses. One looked eerily familiar. Matt closed his eyes to think, what was so familiar? Then there was a sort of rush as memories flooded back into his mind.

That was the dress Mimi had worn for the show in Los Angeles! He remembered playing with her the previous night, then going to the party that night, seeing Shawn hurting Mimi, and the fight that ensued. Getting knocked out was a blur to Matt now. He must be in Mimi's tour bus.

He struggled then stumbled to the door in front of him. After pushing it open he found himself in a well-lit room. There was what looked like a restaurant booth to his left and some various instruments and musical equipment. The overall layout of the room seemed to be that of a kitchen. At the stove was Mimi furiously stirring some sauce concoction with her left hand then tossing a stir-fry with her right. It appeared that the oven next to her was going as well. Matt cleared his throat to speak to her. As he did she turned to him

"Oh hey Matt." She said quickly before turning back to her various culinary creations.

"Hey," said Matt giving her a puzzled look, "what are you doing?"

"Cooking!" said Mimi in a somewhat frantic nearing panicked voice, "There's so many recipes I've wanted to try and it won't be long before we get to San Fran."

"Mimi…" Matt started moving closer to her, "Is something wrong?"

Mimi sank to her knees and started sobbing.

"I don't know what to do!" she shouted out painfully. Matt came beside her and helped her up.

"Come on, that's right," he encouraged her as she got to her feet, "can we talk?"

"Yeah," stuttered Mimi as she started to turn the kitchen appliances off, "do you want a cookie?"

Mimi extended an arm and offered Matt a brilliant looking red frosted sugar cookie. He noticed her hand was shaking.

"Sure…" Matt said still looking rather confused, "Mimi what's going on?"

Mimi hands down on the counter and sighed. She turned off the stove then sat down in the booth opposite the stove and started to explain.

"Shawn knocked you out, then security kicked him out. I wasn't sure what to do so I had someone help take you to my bus. You were unconscious for a couple hours." Mimi said still seeming to have trouble keep her voice from wavering.

"Well that explains how I got here." Matt said sitting down in the booth on the other side of Mimi, "But what's with all the cooking?"

"I, uh…" Mimi stammered. She tapped a single finger nervously on the table between the two of them. She avoided eye contact with Matt instead fixing her gaze near the center of the table.

"A lot of times I cook when I'm stressed," she continued, "It helps me to relax."

"Can I ask what's on your mind?" Matt inquired in a soft voice. He had a heavy feeling in his heart as he asked. He had never quite felt such a weight on it before for someone else. Not when he had been with Sora and she cried because her mother was trying to make her a florist, not even when he'd had to hold Takeru late at night when their parents were getting a divorce. There was something about this girl that made him wish he could just hold her in his arms, stop the world, and make her tears all go away.

"It's a pretty long story…" she muttered turning her head to her right side to look out the window.

"We've got a long time before San Francisco," said Matt. He reached out and held Mimi's left hand, which had been tapping the table. She finally looked up into Matt's eyes. Her normally well applied make up and eyeliner was running down her face in lines matching the tears that she cried. Matt saw a soft glimmer of liquid forming in each eye.

"Well alright but can you eat the food I made?" She asked, "It should all be ready. It'd be nice to have someone eat my food."

"I can do that," said Matt, with a small smile, "you ate my food I cooked last time."

Mimi went over to the stove and placed her cooking on a plate for Matt. In front of Matt she placed an ahi tuna steak served with asparagus wrapped in bacon. The fragrant smell Matt had experienced before became much stronger as Mimi put the food on the table.

With that, Mimi opened her mouth and started telling a story. Her voice was raspy and sometimes quivered but Matt hung on each word.

"Listen to me, Dad!" shouts a young girl running into the living room, "I'm Whitney Houston!"

She's wearing her mother's dress and make up. With a toy microphone in hand, She starts singing 'I will always love you'. The performance is nearly flawless. The voice coming out of her sounds almost the same as Whitney Houston. She finishes and takes a little bow.

"Wow, that's actually really something honey! I think we could make you a star." Her father says applauding.

Years later it's dark on a stage as two girls held hands in anticipation. Their heads are down waiting for the moment they had been working hard for, for so long. Then comes the announcement.

"The winner of this year's Miss Japan pageant is Taya Kunagawa!" shouts a voice over a loud speaker. Instantly the whole stage lights up and the air fills with balloons, confetti, and streamers. The crowd rises to its feet as a roar erupts growing louder and louder. Taya raises her arms in triumph while the girl with chestnut hair beside her claps politely.

"And of course let's congratulate our second place finisher, Mimi Tachikawa!" comes the voice from the loudspeaker. The applause continues but the chestnut haired girl feels as though it's showering over Taya while she, herself can only dip her toes in it. She smiles and waves, but in the back of her mind she feels despair for what surely would happen next.

She should be used to it by now, it's almost a ritual at this point. But somehow every time she cries a little more than the last. The chair beneath and the room around her are familiar but each item only reminds her of times she'd failed before.

"Look up at the screen" her father commands.

She keeps looking at the ground. She didn't want to look up at the screen. She had just seen and heard what was playing on the television in front of her. She had just sung it not an hour before. The sound of her voice fills the room singing a hopeful song but the girl only feels dread. She cringed, she just sang a note slightly flat. Not a moment after the note she received a hard blow to the head. It hurt but not quite as much as her father telling her how she once again was not good enough.

Fast forward to high school. The girl's father was out of the picture. He left of his own accord but the girl still carries the scars. She'll show him, she'll still be a star. She works tirelessly, throwing everything else to the wind, improving her singing and trying to catch a break. Finally her band, Zephyr Roses, hits it big. The girl sees her face on screens billboards, and magazine covers and plays in front of thousands of adoring fans every other night. Still there's an emptiness inside of her. She tries to find fulfillment in the wealth of male attention she is now receiving. Yet none them is able to look past her money and fame to care about the little girl who loved singing with a toy microphone.

Then one day she meets a man on the set of a movie for which she's recording. He listens to her and doesn't seem to only focus on her being a celebrity. For a moment everything feels right for the girl. She feels like she's good enough. The feeling is wonderful, so wonderful that when the man starts to be less attentive or loses his temper she tries to ignore or excuse it. But as time goes on the time where she feels wonderful gets to be less and less. At times she tries to muster up the strength to leave but she keeps holding on to the hope of everything being wonderful again.

"And that's where I am right now." Mimi ended, "It seems strange, but I do love Shawn. I care about him. I know I've got to end it though. I know he's not good for me. This shouldn't be how it is. It's just so hard."

Matt hasn't really touched his food. He's been far too engrossed in Mimi's story. He opens his mouth to speak but he doesn't know what to say. He felt as though he had just watched a tragic play and he was the stunned audience.

"After all of this I feel like I can't really trust anyone anymore." Said Mimi breaking the silence. She put her hand on her head and looked out the window gazing at the dark sky.

"Why'd you bring me on this bus?" Matt finally asked. That part didn't really make sense to him. It seems like Kite could have easily arranged for some other means of transportation and before Mimi hadn't really wanted to see him.

"Well the truth is…" Mimi started too say, "You make me feel wonderful."

For a moment time seemed to stop. Matt wasn't sure what to do or even to believe what was happening in this moment. Mimi's eyes still twinkled in the light glowing above the table. Matt stared straight into them and Mimi was staring straight back. He knew what it was like to be intoxicated but this was something different as some sort of drug seemed to course through his whole system. Tension seem to abound in his in his muscles paralyzing him. He was still looking into Mimi's eyes yet now they were right in front of his. Mimi's eyes closed and he felt something warm and wet press against his lips. He closed his eyes as he returned the kiss and all the tension turned into wonderful release. His whole body seemed to tingle with excitement as their bodies and lips drew closer together.

After the first touch it seemed impossible to pull away. After a while Mimi pulled away. Matt opened his eyes and saw the girl in front of him, eyes still wet but with a small smile illuminating the lower part of her face. She laughed a little and sniffed.

"Thank you, Matt," she started to say, "I'm sorry but my head's still kind of spinning from everything that's happened. Can we just call it a night for now?"

Matt was a little taken aback as he was still a little overcome by the heat of the moment and his passions were still running high. He felt the animal side of him wanting to come out and take Mimi.

"It's alright," he said managing a small smile.

"Alright," Mimi said moving in for a little peck on the cheek, "I think I would like to continue that another time."

Mimi gave Matt a less than innocent grin, then took his hand to go back to the bedroom. Matt didn't argue, and followed her back into the pink room at the back of the bus. He lay down and he felt the pain he still had in his head subside a little as consciousness started to slip away. Before he faded to black he felt a smaller hand wrap its fingers around his.

Hope you enjoyed! I just realized, I think this is one of the first chapters I've written where it's all one scene without breaks

Please do let me know what you think!