[All right, last chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed this story, or at least felt you had to read till the end to see if Michael was just kidding about the whole gay thing.

He's not.]

So…Max and Michael are very much a couple now.

I mean, they don't hold hands in the hallways or make out against the lockers like most of the couples at AEHS do. But everyone knows they're dating. And while they get whispered about a lot, no one outright hassles them any more, ever since Josh was laughing at them eating lunch together and Max nonchalantly informed him that he was a black belt in karate—pronounced 'kara-tay' here—"These hands are licensed by the government as lethal weapons" as Michael tried to stifle his giggles.

So either Josh thinks Max is criminally insane, or he really is frightened of his martial arts 'skillz'. Either way, it worked.

Away from school, they definitely aren't so shy. Though any time either Lilly or I "accidentally" walk into the living room or den when Michael and Max are in there, they quickly jump apart, cheeks flushed. Lilly's seeing how many times she can interrupt them before Michael really gets pissed off.

At first I was afraid of entering any room where they might be expressing their love for one another, but it's actually kinda sweet. Truth be told, Michael seems much more enthusiastic about kissing Max than swapping spit with me.

Like today, I was standing in the doorway of the den and I witnessed Michael drape his arm loosely over Max's shoulders as they watched the end of Titanic (even though I know for a fact that Michael hates that movie with a passion. Or was he lying, like he does about his Backstreet Boys CDs?)

"I love you," Michael whispered, so softly that I almost couldn't hear him. But I don't think that was top on his list of priorities.

Max leaned his head onto Michael's shoulder, his eyes still glued to the screen. "Ditto."

The mood changed instantly. Michael grabbed a pillow and whacked him in the stomach. "All right, Patrick Swayze." [A/N: The "I love you"…"Ditto" thing comes from 'Ghost' with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze.]

"Ha ha. I only wish I could dance like that. Or at all, really."

I could see the gears working in Michael's head. He looked to the door just as I slipped out of sight. "Mia!" he called. "Lil, is Mia here?"

"Yeah," she shouted back. 'In fact, she's spying on you right now."

Shit.

Michael yelped as I poked my head around the corner, smiling sheepishly.

"What the hell, Thermopolis?" But he seemed to have a tough time getting pissed when Max had a hand on his knee.

"Sorry, I, uh…you wanted to see me?"

Michael grunted, his eyes still narrowed. "Max can't dance and I was thinking you could help me show him how. Since you've seen Dirty Dancing all those times. And your grandmother makes you take dancing lessons."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, and if you do I might be able to forgive you for ogling my boyfriend and me, you pervert." He grinned, but I don't think he'd be smiling if he realized how much he sounded like Lilly right then.

If you told me a month ago that I'd be helping Michael teach his boyfriend how to groove, I would've laughed my head off (or maybe burst into tears).

But really, Max is the nicest guy. And he's seriously hilarious. I laughed my ass off when he launched into the Funky Chicken while Michael was attempting to teach him a little something about rhythm. I think Michael found it sexy, though, because he started shooting me furtive looks and then glancing at the doorway until I took the hint and bid them adieu. As I was walking out, though, Max started dancing closer to Michael and grinning cheekily.

I felt a sudden pang of sadness and sank down onto the living room couch. I'm over Michael, I swear. But I think I'm just a teensy bit jealous because he found love with the one other gay guy at AEHS. And here I am, still bitter and alone.

Okay, I'm being ridiculous. I am, after all, only fourteen. And there is Leaves…

But we've been friends for over two months and he still hasn't made a move. I'm starting to think that Max is just trying to cause trouble. Every time he sees me (without Leaves), he likes to point out little things Leaves does to show his affection for me, like walking with me to my locker every morning and talking with me on the phone all the time and holding my hand during scary parts of movies.

I just act like I don't care, even though my heart is pounding.

Leaves comes over to the loft a lot to do homework (it turns out he's in French, Bio, and Algebra with me). And we usually go to a movie or play mini-golf on the weekends.

We have the most random conversations that tend to last for hours. He has this little thing to his voice (almost like a lisp, but not quite) that makes me want to just grab him and mash my lips against his.

But you can't just do that if the other person doesn't like you, as I learned from my "relationship" with Michael.

The intercom buzzed and Lilly yelled, "Mia, could you get that?" I heard Boris' voice in her room.

God. When did he get here?

Personally, I'm feeling a little queasy about sitting in the middle of the Moscovitzes' Love Shack. I'm the only one here without somebody to release some of my caged lust upon (ha ha ha).

But Lilly wants me to go to Central Park with her and set up a bacon stand (just don't ask), so I feel kind of obligated to stay.

I gladly jumped up and walked to the door (I could hear Max singing "Love Will Keep Us Together" in a falsetto in the den).

And the visitor was none other than 5'10" of adorable. "Hey, Leaves. What's up?"

He blushed for some reason. "Uh, is Max here? We were supposed to meet at Border's about a half an hour ago and he didn't show."

We both stopped to listen as Max held the last note of the song for a ridiculously long amount of time. I laughed nervously and held open the door for him. "He's here. Want me to go get him?"

Leaves turned even pinker as he stepped inside. "Nah. Don't interrupt them."

Whew. Thank God for that.

Since Lilly was a little too occupied with her boyfriend (as was Michael...with his boyfriend, not Boris. I'd like to think Michael has better taste than that. I stopped wondering about Lilly ages ago), I offered Leaves a drink in the kitchen.

"You've been friends with Michael for a while, right?"

I nodded, unscrewing the cap from my water bottle. "Well, we only really started hanging out recently."

"Does it ever weird you out that he's…well, gay?"

I wasn't sure what to say. "Uh, I was really surprised when he told me. What about you with Max?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "He used to be really popular at our school back in Santa Monica. All these girls wanted him and everything, but then he came out in the middle of last year and a lot of his old friends freaked out on him."

Jeez. Now I know why they feel so strongly about each other. Max and Michael, that is. "So I guess I respect it, but it's still odd, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

"He thinks a lot of you. Michael, I mean. He was over at our house the other night watching "Thelma and Louise" with my brother, and he started telling me about how awesome a friend you've been."

Something squirmed inside of me. Either Michael had been lying or he'd completely forgotten about what a spaz I was throughout the whole ordeal.

Leaves scooted his chair a little closer to mine. "I guess you're the kind of person who makes a great friend."

I burst into tears, which only worsened as I saw Michael and Max walk hand-in-hand into his room.

That's all I'll ever be to the guys I love: a good friend.

I JUST WANT ONE HOT MONTH, LEAVES!

Screw friendship.

But Leaves was looking at me all worriedly. "What's wrong, Mia?"

"Everyone just likes me as a friend! Like Michael!"

"You like Michael?" he said, with a strange edge to his voice.

I sniffed loudly, wiping my eyes and feeling like a bit of an idiot. It was embarrassing enough with just Michael and me knowing. "I used to, but then he told me he was gay and just liked me as a friend. And now you…"

"And now me what?" he asked softly.

"Nothing," I said, chewing on my lip nervously. "Wanna go get ice cream or something? I think Lilly's forgotten about me."

He nodded, still looking at me weirdly.

We didn't talk until we got in the elevator and Leaves grabbed for my hand. The last time we had held hands was during Spiderman 2 when the big octopus guy was flying all over the place, so I was kind of confused. Unless Leaves could see something I couldn't.

I glanced over my shoulder for a sign of some large man-octopus, but only saw the wall.

Leaves cleared his throat and looked at me. "You know you're not doomed to be the friend of everyone you like."

"It seems that way," I said, sighing.

Leaves grinned, looking down at the floor. "Believe me, it's not."

Something caught in my throat, and neither of us could meet the other's eyes. Which is really weird, as I'm totally in love with his eyes.

And him.

Oh, shoot. I've done it again, haven't I?

I've fallen for someone who doesn't want me.

Except Leaves says that's not true…but all he knows about is Michael. And obviously, Michael doesn't love me back. Unless that's not who Leaves was talking about…

"Mia," he said tensely. "I'm going to do something right now that may or may not creep you out. But I don't care…I mean, I probably will care later. But right now, I'm just gonna shut up and do it."

I didn't think it was possible for Leaves to stop talking. But he so did.

He stepped toward, pushing me gently against the elevator wall, and kissed me.

Boy, did he kiss me.

And I was not creeped out one little bit.

The doors slid open at the lobby and there stood the Drs. Moscovitz.

Leaves blushed and reached for my hand. "Sorry 'bout that."

And we just strolled out of there as they stared after us, the doors closing on their shocked faces.

Leaves pressed his lips against mine, right in the middle of the lobby, and I stopped laughing.

I was grinning like an idiot, though. Which was totally okay, as Leaves was wearing a goofy smile too.

"So how about that ice cream?" he said, slipping an arm around my waist. "Unless you want to go back upstairs to the Moscovitz Casa of Lust."

"Yeah, no. Not now that the Drs. Moscovitz are part of the party."

He chuckled and we walked outside together.

This was even better than being 'in love' with Michael. Because the feelings were actually reciprocated.

But it's not just that. I fell in love with my idea of Michael. If I had actually loved him, I should've known him well enough to see that he swings the other way.

I'm happy for him, though. And I'm happy for me.

Ecstatically happy.

[So...yeah. Thanks for reading. Even if I (and my co-author, who is sadly not available as I write this) totally freaked you out and you'll never see Michael Moscovitz the same way again (I only wish I had that much influence). And maybe now you'll look at Robert Carmine (who portrayed Michael in the movie) and go 'Oh, wait, he's gay, isn't he?' and I'll laugh and laugh.]