MICHAEL:

Lilly and Tony picked me up at six thirty the next night. "You ready for some cake?" I asked Tony.

"He hasn't eaten all day so he can fill up on cake."

"That's my man," I said giving him a high five.

We liked the first piece they gave us, but we told them we wanted to try others. Lilly wanted to kill us because well, I guess cake does some serious business on her husband. "We have to figure out what we are going to be wearing," I said after we polished off the last piece.

"What does Mia want us to wear?" he asked as we left the caterer's.

I shrugged, "She said she didn't care."

"She's leaving it up to you?" Lilly said, surprised. She wiped some frosting off her husband's lip. She looked at her watch. "Let's go to the Men's Store."

I had Tony trying on all the tuxedos. For fun he tried on a baby blue one like in Dumb and Dumber. Lilly rolled her eyes, "Were you guys like this for our wedding?"

I nodded, "Worse actually. There weren't any girls around to badger us. "

"Do we have to wear tuxes?" Tony asked. "I mean, if we are partying for New Year's after I don't want to be wearing a tux."

I nodded. Good point there. "Maybe suits?"

"I'll call up Gucci in the morning," Lilly replied writing in her palm pilot.

"Gucci? Yeah, I trust myself in that," I replied with a laugh.

"Michael, remember, you are going to be wearing crown jewels. A crown, ya know?" Lilly reminded me.

Tony looked at me. Clearly he had kept his word and not told Lilly. "Yeah. I forget sometimes."

Lilly called Mia early in the day soshe could call and make arrangements with Gucci to make our suits. We then spent the better part of the morning trying on all sorts of different suits.

"Dude, this is pimp," Tony said trying on a red velour jacket.

"Yeah, I'm sure that is what Mia is imagining for her wedding. The groomsmen looking pimp," Lilly replied. "This isn't Britney's wedding."

"I like how the pants are cut," I put in. "They are really trim." All the guys had skinny chicken legs and I didn't want them swimming in the tuxes. "I like this pin stripe one."

Lilly agreed and Tony said whatever, which in Tony talk means he likes it. The stripes were a soft blue so our shirts were going to be blue as well and we weren't going to wear ties. I always hated ties. I had to wear them all through high school every day and then when I briefly worked in California. I don't think Mia would care too much.

We were told to send the rest of the groomsmen in that week to be fitted. I gave them Phillippe's measurements. He wouldn't be coming to the States until right before the wedding. If he came at all. I mean, with all the abdicating going on he might not show up. Mia still hasn't said anything to him about her abdicating.

She had called me in tears about his having cancer again and gave me hell about not telling her what I knew. But she was more upset about her father refusing to talk to her about anything. The wedding. The cancer. Abdicating.

I started writing again a few days later. Things were quiet. Well, as quiet as things can be when everytime I step out of my apartment I have some guy from US Weekly taking my picture so they can get the latest trend (I have sunk to simply wearing the same things when I go out so no one will find out my fashionable duds).

During one writing trip that week I decided to take a break and to go to the Penguin House in Central Park. It was Mia's favorite spot in the entire city.

But I didn't go two feet before I saw her. She was wearing old faded jeans and a bohemian dress over it. She had a scarf as a headband and an open coat. "MICHAEL!" she squeeled, jumping into my arms.

"Hey baby," I said wrapping her into my arms."Why are you here?"

"I missed my penguin friends."

Who says that? Seriously. "When'd you get back?"

"Little while ago. My stuff is being sent to the apartment. I'm freezing."

"Then let's go warm you up," I said with a smile.

We went up to the apartment and started a fire in the fireplace. I went and made some hot chocolate. "So, I have successfully selected a cake and my suit. What else do we have to do?" I asked.

She took a sip of her hot chocolate, "Our rings."

Which is why the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was spent at Tiffany's. After looking at one ring Mia chose the one that was for her. She saw it and fell in love. It was platinum with little diamonds spreading through out the band (A/N, look at under wedding bands on the fourth page and you'll know what I'm talking about). I just got a plain platinum band. We agreed to have the inscription, "Love Eternal 12.31.12 MM & MT".

We were told to pick up the rings right before the wedding. "Are we having flowers?" I asked, cringing.

"Not much," she replied. "I have those all done."
You know, having a fiancée that has done all the work is nice. So I kissed her hard right there on the street.

We got cat calls and a few, "Get a room!"'s

"Michael Moscovitz, what is this about? Public display's of affection?" she teased.

"Michael Moscovitz's are like onions," I started.

She smirked, "Oh?" she asked sniffing me. "You stink? No baby, you smell really nice," she teased.

"Noooo," I replied, wrapping my arm around her as we walked back to our apartment.

"They make you cry?" she asked with an innocent face.

I laughed, "I try not to make people cry. No, Michael Moscovitz's have layers. We both have layers."

"I am realizing that I am the donkey in this little Shrek movie moment reenactment. I can't say I care for it.How about I accept that you have sides that you don't reveal often and you keep showing me them?"

"I think that can be arranged."

I saw her doodling in her notebook later that day. "What ya doing?"

She quickly closed her book.

MIA:

I was writing a song. Well, actually, more like editing one that I had written back in March after I found out about Michael and that girl. (Shania Twain, Raining on Our Love)

Remember me the way I was
The way I'd make you late for work
I had to hold you just because

Remember you the way you'd wake me up
To love me once again
We were lovers, we were friends

But was I chasin' rainbows
Blinded by the sun
And did I take for granted
I'd be the only one?

I didn't know you were so lonely
Am I to blame for makin' you that way?
Did I neglect all that mattered?
With my head so far above
The clouds I didn't see
That it was raining on our love

Remember when, just to feel my touch
Was all you ever needed
Oh it used to be enough

Remember when love
Was a promise we would give our lives to keep
And no river ran as deep

But was I chasin' rainbows
Blinded by the sun
And did I take for granted
I'd be the only one?

I was taking all the love you had to give
But I was too lost in life to know
That without my love in return you could not live
Now she gives the love I did not show

I didn't want him to think I was still upset about that time, because I honestly wasn't. It was in the past.

"You starting a journal again?" he asked. "I remember seeing you with your nose in some notebook when we were in high school."

I shrugged, "I'm just writing stuff."

"Like what?"

"You won't laugh?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Course not."

"I am writing a few songs. Well, hopefully they'll become songs. For now they are just poems."

His face exploded into a smile, "Can I see?"

"You can see one," I said. "Just let me pick it out, okay?"

I chose one I had written a few years ago for Joshua. He had known about Michael, but not this song. (also by Shania)

Just around the eyes
That's where you remind me
Of someone I left behind me
I'm sorry if I stare
But you must have stirred a memory and it caught me by surprise
But it was only for a moment
And just around the eyes

Something in your touch
Took me back a long way
And made me say the wrong name
I wish I could explain
But if I had to tell you
Where a small resemblance lies
It's something in your touch and just around the eyes
I'm over him completely
I rarely think about him at all
So when I look at you
Tell me, what should I do
With the little bit of him that I saw

Only when you smiled
You could have bowled me over
A memory out of nowhere
That came and went so fast
Don't tell me I still love him
That has to be a lie
Its just something in your touch
And only when you smile
And only for a moment
Just around the eyes

"He had blue eyes," Michael said simply afterwards.

I rolled my eyes, "Michael, that wasn't the point. And," I started, "I always thought about you when I looked into his eyes. I always felt like…like yours were peat bogs dragging me in. His were like magnets pulling me to him. See, you don't even get it…it sucks huh?"

He didn't say anything for a full five minutes. He put the notebook on the table and leaned back onto the couch.

"Michael?" I said softly.

"You rarely thought of me?" he asked tentatively.

I sighed, "Of course I did. There were little things that made me think of you, even if I hadn't realized that I was thinking about you. Michael, don't be upset."

"Were you totally over me?"

"Clearly not," I replied. "I mean, if I was would I have fallen back in love with you so quickly? Michael, I wrote this when I was like, twenty two years old. Joshua didn't want to be with me because he thought I was still stuck on you. I was gonna give this to him to prove that I was over you…It's nothing serious. Geez, I wish I hadn't shown you…"I said pulling the book away

"No, I am happy you did. Because the fact that you wrote a song about how you didn't think about me proves that you did," he said with a grin, pulling it back. "You have talent baby."

He kissed my neck softly and let his body fall on top of mine. I love when we are doing totally normal everyday things and we end up making love. Well, we almost made love.

"Ignore the bell," he mumbled breathlessly. He concentrated on unzipping my sweatshirt.

"Michael, just answer the door," I replied.

"If it's important they'll call my cell phone," he replied, still struggling with my zipper.

I giggled, "Michael James, answer the door or you will have to wait for a looong time to be this close to me again."

He pretended to be thinking, "Wait right here and don't change a thing," he said tapping my bare belly.

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh a messenger from MTV. So not worth interrupting us," he said tossing a package onto the arm chair. He let himself fall on top of me again. "So where was I?" he asked.

"What did they bring?" I asked, pushing him off of me. I hustled over to the chair.

He sighed, "It's the video I think."

My eyes widened, "Oh la la!" I said ripping open the package. Then I slipped the DVD into the player and went back to the couch to join my fiancé. "I can't wait to see the acting skills."

He rolled his eyes, so I snuggled up to his chest and started watching the video.

I will admit that it was weird to see him singing to some other girl in a bed with no shirt on. An ex-girlfriend no less. A bit of jealousy filled my heart. He knew it and rubbed my arm with his thumb. "So?" he asked nervously.

"I like it," I replied. And that wasn't a lie. I liked that it was in black and white and that he only looked at Vicky when totally necessary. Otherwise he was staring at the camera, which was weird. I mean, it's weird in the sense that I had the real Michael right next to me.

"But?" he asked.

"Nothing. I like it a lot because she seems to be staring longingly at you and you don't seem so interested…"

"Because I'm not," he replied easily.

I turned and kissed him gently on the lips. "We have to go meet everyone for dinner and drinks tonight."

He audibly grimaced, "I don't want to."

"Why not?" I asked, putting the tag of his shirt back inside.

"Mia, we need to talk about some things."

"Like what?" I asked nervously. Was he dumping me? What the fu-

"They are going for a wide release of the album and we have to do some promotional things. Go on some shows."

"What shows?" (a/n, since Leno is retiring he's totally screwing up my thing here, but go with it. Leno is still on the Tonight Show. Conan is on Late Night.)

"Letterman…Conan…"

"Conan O'Brien?"

"Yeah…"

"So what is there to talk about?"

"Mia, they are going to ask me questions about you. What exactly do you want people to know?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if they ask me about the wedding?"

"Tell them we are getting married but haven't set a date," I replied.

He sighed, "I guess it doesn't matter much huh?"

I smiled, "I think we need a bath," I said grabbing his wrist and bringing him to the bathroom.