"Michael! You're about to pull my arm out of the socket!!" Mia yelled as they ran up to Mia's apartment. She laughed and tried to pull her wrist out of Michael's grasp. As Michael skidded to a stop outside her apartment, the door was yanked open and Mia's mother looked at them with a relieved expression on her face.

"Mia!" She said, and threw her arms around Mia's shoulders.

"Mom, I—can't—breathe!!" She tried to wiggle out of her mother's arms. Michael stood back and waited until Mia's mom invited him in. It took a long time of Mia explaining where she was, and her mom apologizing for telling her about the move in such an awkward way, but after the neighbors came out to see what the fuss was, they finally moved into Mia's apartment.

"You're home! Thank God you're okay!" Mr G said, standing up and dropping his newspaper in his chair.

"Mr G, I'm fine." Mia said, as she grabbed Michael's wrist and pulled him over to the sofa. Rocky appeared at his bedroom door, rubbing his little red eyes and sniffing. He ran over to the sofa and climbed up on Mia's lap.

"We thought you runned away!" He said into her sweater, still sniffing. Mia put her arms around him and rubbed his back.

"I'm home now Rocks. Look who else is here! It's Michael!" She said, as Rocky looked up and climbed into Michael's lap.

"Hey Rocky," Michael laughed.

"Hi Michael!" Rocky said. Helen went over to the sofa and lifted Rocky off Michael.

"Sorry," She apologized, "I'll be right back. Let me put Rocky back in bed. Say goodnight Rocky."

"G'Night." He called from the bedroom. Mia's mom appeared a few minutes later and gently closed Rocky's door. She walked over to the sofa opposite Michael and Mia and sat down next to Mr G. She placed a hand on his knee as he put his arm around her.

"Mom, Mr G----Michael wanted to tell you something." Mia said, smiling in Michael's direction. Michael ran a hand through his hair and looked at Mia's mother and stepdad.

"I—we—the gang doesn't want Mia to move to California. She has friends here, and at our age, it's kind of hard to make friends in new places... "He looked at Mia and she slipped her hand subtley over to Michael and touched his arm. If her mom noticed, she hadn't said anything.

"Michael, I know how you all feel about Mia's leaving, but we can't really help it. We, Frank and I, really want to move to California. It's a new opportunity for my painting, Frank needs to see his family more, and there are good schools for Rocky and Mia." Her mother said.

"I know, but there are also wonderful schools in New York. As I'm sure you already know, Mia submitted her application to Columbia and got accepted. She has a life here. I know you'll sell the apartment when you leave, and Mia, I know you don't want to live in a dorm, so I have a proposition to make." Michael said, twisting his hands nervously.

"Go on." Mr G said.

"Well, I've bought a new apartment. I thought maybe Mia could live with me." Michael, seeing the shocked expression on Mia' s mother's face, held up his hands and continued. "Now, I don't mean Mia live with me in a romantic, boyfriend/ girlfriend kind of way. My apartment has two bedrooms, two baths, and is big enough for two people. She can have her own life. It doesn't have to include me in any way. You know we haven't been seeing each other for awhile, so..." Michael drifted off, seeing the dazed look on their faces. After a few minutes of silence, Michael looked at his watch, 1:30 in the morning.

"I, uh, I probably need to go." He said, standing up quickly.

"I'll go lock up after him," Mia said, following him into the front room. "Michael, that was—very sweet. Thank you." She looked over her shoulder to make sure her mom wasn't watching and pecked Michael on the cheek. Michael squeezed her waist and opened the door.

"It's no big deal. Just—call me tomorrow to see how things go." He said. Then he was gone. Mia smiled and locked the door. She walked back into the living room and stood by the sofa. She noticed Michael had left his hat, so she grabbed it.

"I'll give it back to him tomorrow." She said to her mom, and started to go back to her room.

"Sit." Her mother said quickly. Mia dropped onto the couch. "Do you want to move in with him?" Her mom asked. Mia nodded.

"Very much." She whispered. Her mom looked at Mr G.

"Frank?" She asked, looking like she was going to cry. Mr G looked at Mia, then back at his wife.

"How about this, Mia, you go on to bed. Your mother and I can talk about this, and we'll get back to you in the morning." Mia and her mother agreed that this was the best plan. Mia stood and kissed her mom goodnight. When she got to Mr G, she started to give him a high-five, but at the last minute, hugged him instead and whispered, "Thanks" , into his ear. She ran off into her room and shut the door. She was changing clothes when she heard a noise come from her computer. She walked over and exited her away message. The minute she did, an instant message popped up on her screen.

CracKing: Mia, are they mad? I knew I should have asked you first. I'm so sorry.

FtLouie: No Michael, they're fine. They're going to talk about it tonight and get back to me in the morning. Actually, I think Mr. G might be on our side.

CracKing: Good, I'm glad. But are you angry I didn't ask you first?

FtLouie: No! I wouldn't have had the guts to ask them! I'm happy you didn't ask! I hope they say it's alright. I'd love to live with you.

CracKing: I love you.

FtLouie: Really?

CracKing: Ah, yeah. Yeah I do.

FtLouie: I love you too. Michael?

CracKing: ?

FtLouie: Thanks.

CracKing: For what?

FtLouie: Seeing me when I was invisible.

CracKing: You were never invisible to me. You were the first thing I saw when I woke up and the last thing I saw when I went to sleep.

There was a long, awkward pause.

FtLouie: 'Thanks. I've got to go, it's late, and I'm tired.

CracKing: Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then?

FtLouie: Yeah, see you.

Then she signed off.

"He loves me?" She said quietly, then she yelled, "Oh my God!! He loves me!" And jumped up on her bed.

"Mia, are you okay?" Her mother yelled from the living room.

"I'm fine!" She said, falling onto her bed and grabbing a pillow. She lay down and wrapped her arms around it.

"He loves me." She said again, then turned off her light and pulled up her covers, and soon she'd fallen asleep.