Chapter Four: the girl in between
A/N: This may or may not eventually be Michael/Mia. Who knows? Even I don't. I had a surprising ending planned for much later but now I don't know if I could go through with it. Well, here's to this story not sucking too badly. Enjoy!
Oh, and to get a good visual of Adam, think of a mix of three guys: Adam Brody, Carrick from EBE, and Chris Marquette. (And I actually took the name 'Adam' from his character on Joan of Arcadia. What can I say?)
I don't own the song "I Love How You Love Me."
---
The sun hadn't yet appeared. Mia lay awake in her bed, so many thoughts running through her mind. Soft breaths escaped from her lips as she tried to fall asleep. Every time she even tried to fall into slumber, Adam's face seemed to cloud her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about him and, quite honestly, she didn't want to stop.
But she couldn't stop thinking about Michael either. He had been her first love and now, well, now he was rich and famous. He probably hadn't recognized her that night. Maybe he had forgotten all about her and how they had…how they had been in love. Michael no longer had that boyish look. Mia was surprised at how different he looked, yet, somehow, he looked the same, just older. His dark brown hair was longer; five o'clock shadow on his cheeks and chin. He was the same height, just lankier than he used to be.
After a few long moments of thinking, Mia decided to go see if Adam was awake. She knew that he was a light sleeper and that he could also function on a mere four hours of sleep. She got out of a bed and very quietly left her room. The door to the guest room was closed but not locked. Mia stepped softly inside and saw Adam sleeping, his hair tousled and flopping neatly onto his closed eyes. Mia walked over to him and bent down, kissing Adam's cheek.
"…Mia?" Adam said sleepily, his eyes still closed. Mia reached out and brushed Adam's hair away from his eyes.
"Hey, you," Mia whispered. "Do you mind if I get into bed with you? I can't get to sleep." Adam slowly opened his eyes and smiled mischievously. A soft groan escaped from his lips and he said, just as softly, "Of course. I was just dreaming about you." And, from his tone, Mia knew that he was telling the truth, not telling her some corny line. He made room for her to get into the bed. Mia was so surprised to see that Adam was wearing only his boxers that she turned crimson. Adam noticed this and half-smiled.
Mia got under the covers, next to Adam. He wrapped one of his arms around her and Mia instantly felt so safe, so warm. Their lips met in a soft, warm kiss. Adam gently nibbled on Mia's lower lip while she ran her fingers slowly down his chest. Mia's lips parted and Adam's tongue slipped into her mouth.
After a few minutes of kissing, Mia and Adam pried their mouths from each other. Adam smiled from ear to ear, so wide that it made Mia smile broadly right back. Adam started nuzzling Mia's neck and later that morning, Mia would wake up and find herself with an arm around Adam's waist, his head gently resting on her chest.
---
Michael sat at the edge of his bed, slowly sipping his steaming cup of coffee. His mind continued to bustle with thought as he scrawled down the second verse to a new song he was writing. "Oh, you're awake." Michael turned his head as Shayne approached him, a sultry smile on her face. Her raven hair cascaded down to her shoulders in choppy layers, streaked with chestnut brown.
"I have been," Michael said, looking back down at the sheet of paper. Shayne popped a blueberry in her mouth and walked up to Michael's side.
"You're writing another song?" Shayne said, chewing vigorously. Michael merely nodded his head, scrawling away in his slightly messy writing. Shayne put her hands on Michael's shoulder, fingering his suede jacket. Michael didn't seem to pay any notice that and continued writing. "Can I read it, then?" Without answering, Michael wrote a few last words and then handed it to Shayne.Let me be born again
In this absentminded ending
Return to the living that you once knew
And follow me, yes, follow me
Don't expect the life you live
To last forever in sorrowShayne paused and smiled. "It's…interesting."
"You don't like it," Michael said flatly.
"No! Uh…Of course I like it," Shayne said earnestly. "It's just…you know…different."
"You say that as if it's a bad thing," Michael said, faking hurt. Shayne playfully shoved him forward. Michael rose from the bed, his mouth gaping open, and softly shoved Shayne back. In a way that he knew didn't hurt. Because he was, after all, a gentleman, and it wouldn't have been very…gentlemanly to shove a member of the opposite sex. They both began to playfully shove each other until Michael let his hand linger a little too long on Shayne's bare arm.
"Uh, I'll go back down to the restaurant. You can…continue writing. Come down if you're hungry," Shayne said and with that, she was gone.
---
"Hello?"
"…Hey, Mom."
"Michael? Is that you? Landon! Michael's on the phone!"
"Yeah. It's me. I was just calling to say—"
"Michael! We miss you so much. You haven't called in weeks!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. We've just been so busy with all of the interviews and the promotion and everything…"
"Of course. I understand, honey. It's so great hearing your voice again, Michael."
"Yeah. Same here."
"I'll go get your father. He'll want to talk to you."
"Okay."
"Hello?"
"Dad…Hey."
"Michael. How are you, son? How's life in the spotlight?"
(Laugh) "It's…great. Really great. I'm actually at the Plaza right now."
"You're at the Plaza and you haven't bothered to come visit?"
"Oh! Uh…"
"When can you come by?"
"Um…I don't think there's anything scheduled tomorrow. So can I come by around four?"
"That'd be great. I'll go tell your mother. Well, Michael, it was great speaking to you.
"You too, Dad. You too."
(Click)
(Pause)
"Michael? Are you still there?"
(Pause)
(Click)
---
"Um…hey. Do you mind if I sit here?" A tall, dark-haired young man inquired, smiling down at the sitting Mia. Mia looked up into the bright green eyes of Adam Carrick, a fellow senior. She almost didn't speak, her throat suddenly seeming to tighten. So instead of saying anything, she nodded. Adam grinned and took the seat next to Mia. After a few moments of tapping his fingers against the desk, Adam turned to Mia. "I'm Adam. Adam Carrick…Hey, you're Princess Amelia, aren't you?" His bright emerald green eyes were lit up with carefree happiness.
"Yes, but I go by Mia for the most part," Mia said. She was used to getting recognized and was well known throughout the campus. It got kind of old after the first few weeks of freshman year, though, and she was a senior now. Mia was used to the constant whispering, questioning looks, and random questions, like 'Does your scepter have sapphires or rubies?'
"Oh, okay. Sorry," Adam said.
"No problem," Mia said, smiling. "Hey, you're not from around here, are you? Europe, I mean."
"No, actually. I've lived in Europe ever since I was seven. I was born in California," Adam said. Mia found herself staring at Adam's light pink lips as he spoke. "Weren't you born in New York? I remember reading an article about you somewhere."
"I lived there until I came here," Mia said, a certain nervousness to her voice. She wasn't too used to talking to guys, especially ones she found as attractive as Adam. But the light, friendly tone he was using instantly made her feel at ease.
"Funny I haven't seen you around much," Adam said, his head tilted, slowly taking in Mia's face in a way that made her heart skip. He had a really nice, not too deep voice, Mia noticed. Professor Beaumont rose from his seat and told them all to settle down, although in French. With one last smile at Mia, Adam looked away.
Mia turned pink and listened to the professor's instructions.
---
As they walked inside the Rockefeller Center, Adam held Mia's hand loosely in his own. Mia was positively bursting with happiness, almost as much as she was overwhelmed by the past three days' events. One day, she bumped into Michael and spoke to him for the first time in six years, even if it was only to utter a few words. And then, the next day, she and Adam were basically expressing their not exactly platonic feelings for each other.
So, it was safe to say that she was happy.
Rocky had begged to come along and Adam almost let him before Mia stepped in and told Rocky that there would probably be a lot of people kissing, seeing as how it was "couples night" (which she had made up). Rocky immediately ran off in disgust. So, Mia was perfectly content with the idea of Adam holding her hand while they skated on the ice, occasionally giving each other passionate looks. Or so she hoped.
Adam paid for both his and Mia's skates and they sat down on a bench to lace them up.
"This rink is almost as big as the one I once skated at in Russia," Adam said after he had laced up his skates. He sat with Mia as she laced up her skate. They both walked toward the ice as soon as she was finished. Adam took Mia's hand lightly and they skated onto the ice.
As they slowly skated, Mia remembered this one time, back in her freshman year of high school, when she had gone ice-skating with her then-boyfriend, Kenny Showalter, Lilly, Boris Pelkowski, Michael, and the girl Mia had thought was his girlfriend, Judith Gershner. Who would've known that Michael loved her? And that Kenny would ask her out?
As Mia skated with Adam, a plethora of memories ran through her mind. She saw the spot on the ice where she had almost bit the tip of her tongue off after falling on top of Kenny because he had absolutely insisted that he drag her around, skating backwards. He had been trying to copy Michael and Judith.
And this somehow reminded her of the day before Michael had left for college when he had sung a song for her. He hadn't written it, but he told Mia that it described how he felt about her.
I love how your eyes close
Whenever you kiss me
And whenever I'm away from you
I love how you miss me
I love the way your kiss is always heavenly
But darling, most of all,
I love how you love me