Chapter Eleven: if you want to make a run for it, my love, I'd cover you

A/N: Haha, I've been postponing the reason for the breakup until later. Suspenseful, eh? You'll find out soon, though, so don't be too angry with me.

Sorry for the overly long wait. I hate writer's block. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

I love Tilly and the Wall. Love, love, love them.

I adore Adam Green. He is a shexay, shexxxay kangaroo.

(All of this may be irrelevant to the story but who fucking cares?"

Dedicated to Lucie. Like I said. Not a particularly amazing chapter but I didn't want to make you hunt me down and kill me in my sleep or something.

Things happen in this chapter. Big things.

---

Her tears streaked her pale cheeks as she stared sadly at the phone, her hands resting unintentionally over her heart. She heard Rocky singing Christmas carols from the other room, his voice delighted and exuberant, like a child's voice should be. Mia rose from her bed and opened her window. The cold winter air filled the room, freezing her salty tears. "Mia! Come and have some hot cocoa and cookies!" exclaimed Helen from the living room, where Mia supposed they were all sitting around the fireplace, gazing up at the Christmas tree every so often, basking in its artificial lights and glimmering ornaments.

Mia slowly opened her blinds, the streetlights below blinding her tired eyes. The streets were sparse with people, with the exception of an elderly couple walking their pet poodle and a young male lighting up a cigarette. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know why she had cried. The news wasn't as terribly upsetting enough to make her burst out in sobs like that.

"Mia," Adam had said in his usually calm, soothing voice. His deep voice calmed her nerves, it made her feel safe. How would she be able to live without hearing his voice? "Mia…I'm going back to Europe tomorrow. M-My mother is sick…My dad said that she's not doing well. She's been in the hospital for a week but my dad didn't want to worry me…I have to go back. I can't stay in America knowing that my mother…that she might…" Adam seemed unable to go on as his voice trembled. Mia stopped breathing.

"On Christmas Eve?" Mia asked, her voice uncharacteristically small. "You're leaving on Christmas Eve?"

"I…I have to," Adam said softly. "The only plane to Austria is tomorrow. The next flight won't be for another two weeks. Mia, believe me. Under any other circumstances, I would stay to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with you. But, you have to understand. My mother could die…"

Mia gasped for air as her pale eyes rained. "Mia, don't cry," Adam said patiently, sadly. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

"I-I need to see you," Mia murmured. "Before you go. I need to see you."

"The flight's at four in the morning, Mia," Adam said. "I don't want you to get up early just to see me off."

"I have to," Mia said. "I need to."

"Okay, Mia," Adam said. "Will I see you at the JFK airport? Around three?"

"Yes," Mia breathed.

"I love you, Mia."

"I love you too, Adam…" She paused and added with a whisper, "I love you too."

---

Adam carefully placed his belongings into one of his suitcases, piling the heavier items in before his softer, more fragile possessions. He looked up at the clock for a fraction of a second. It was midnight exactly and his plane was to leave in four hours. He needed to be ready to leave in little more than two hours and he was nearly finished packing his last suitcase. "Socks, boxers…" Adam murmured to himself, looking around the spacious bedroom.

"What am I forgetting?" He asked himself as he zipped up the suitcase and carried it, placing it next to the other luggage. He stood in front of the suitcases and bags, his mind tired with confusion and thoughts. He looked around the room, his brow furrowed. He paced around, looking for what he had forgotten, though he didn't know exactly what he had forgotten. "Shit…"

With a small sigh, Adam sat down on his king-sized bed, taking in the atmosphere. This was his last day in New York. Or, rather, fraction of a day. He would be leaving the place he had come to fall in love with to go back to Europe. He'd miss the smell of New York, a mixture of hot dogs, urine, coffee, and smoke, though he didn't really know why. He looked out of the window, the sky pitch black except for the stars that dotted it.

He took a crumpled package of cigarettes from his coat pocket and put one to his lips. He lit it with his black lighter and closed his eyes. It was a horrible habit he had picked up back in school years ago. It had all started with him being stressed out not from schoolwork but from his first love. In the beginning of their two-year relationship, they had been so fascinated with each other. Soon into the relationship, Shelby had started becoming depressed. It seemed as if she no longer had the happiness that once filled her soul. She turned to drinking and drugs. Adam had been startled by Shelby's sudden personality change and realized that he didn't love her anymore.

The first time he had tried to break up with her, Shelby had pleaded for him to stay, crying the most he had ever seen anyone cry. The second time he tried to, she had threatened to commit suicide. He didn't want to be the cause of her untimely death so he stayed with her. This eventually led to Shelby being sent to a mental hospital. Adam missed her, of course he did, but he didn't love her anymore. He couldn't love her anymore.

But now, he was with Mia. Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo of Genovia. He loved her, he honestly did. She was one of the best things to happen to him, along with getting accepted to one of the most prestigious universities in Europe and becoming an uncle to his niece, Charlotte.

He looked around, exasperated, continuing to wonder what he had forgotten. And then, a lightbulb went off in his head and he walked to the nightstand beside his bed. He opened up the drawer and smiled slightly at the small blue box he had hidden under the standard Bible.

He took hold of the box, slowly opening it to reveal a pear-shaped diamond ring. The ring softly reflected the lights overhead, a wide spectrum of colors glowing from the diamond. He closed the tiny box and slipped it into his outer coat pocket, enjoying the sound it made.

He heard and felt his stomach grumble and walked over to the telephone, dialing room service.

--

Michael sat quietly at one of the booths in the Bluebird Lounge drinking his frosty glass of Jack Daniel's, though he would've preferred a bottle. To his current knowledge, Max was off on the dance floor, hooking up with random attractive girls as The Faint blasted in the background. Kristen was probably sipping a Bloody Mary (she, for the most part, disliked the taste of alcohol), while numerous horny men hit on her. David was off in a dark corner, obviously not feeling the whole club scene, probably thinking about his girlfriend. But his eyes kept on Shayne as she laughed with some suspicious-looking guy with way too much gel in his black hair.

She occasionally looked over at Michael, smiling her carefree smile. Michael wasn't sure whether to resume staring at her or try to save her from the big-nosed, greasy haired man, who reminded him of Professor Snape from the Harry Potter movies. Her hair shined under the bright fluorescent lights of the dance floor. The other parts of the club were kept dimly lit so Michael wasn't sure if he was visible to the others.

Shayne's cheeks were a soft, blushing pink, a permanent white smile lifting her face. Her hair was messy, so messy that Michael supposed she had messed it up on purpose. Her cerulean eyes were perfectly resplendent. It didn't take much to make Shayne happy or smile, which Michael found exciting. She was a naturally cheerful, exciting person with such amazing energy. She was different from his other ex-girlfriends (or, rather, girlfriends, for he did not know if he and Shayne where going out or not).

"Hey," Michael heard from his side. He turned and saw a tall girl with amazingly long, shiny chocolate hair. She had a smirk on her face, holding a bottle of beer in her hand. "I'm Jessica. What's your name?" She fluttered her eyelashes, taking the seat from across him.

"Oh. Um, I'm Michael," He said, quite baffled. He wasn't too used to people not recognizing him and was actually fairly surprised that he hadn't been approached for autographs yet. Jessica tipped her beer into her mouth, letting the chilled liquid hit her tongue.

"So, Michael, what's such a gorgeous guy like yourself doing alone on a Saturday night?"

"Well, I'm just here with my b—" Michael stopped himself before he could say 'band.' "My friends. Yeah. My friends." Jessica nodded, Michael not knowing if she was nodding at his response or keeping time with the music. "I'm not much of a clubber, to tell you the truth."

"Oh, yeah, neither am I," Jessica said, grinning. "I'm only here because my boyfriend broke up with me a week ago and I didn't want to spend a Saturday night alone. All of my friends are gone skiing or some other shit like that." She downed the rest of her beer and set the bottle down on the smooth glass table.

"Oh, that sucks," Michael said. "Getting dumped, I mean. Well, your friends being gone probably kind of sucks too but you know…" He stopped himself from rambling on by sipping his beer. He looked past Jessica for a slight moment and saw that Shayne was watching them, a suspicious look on her face.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't much of a boyfriend anyway," Jessica said, looking out the small window above the booth. Michael followed her gaze out of the window and immediately spotted Orion.

"Have you ever wondered about the stars?" Michael muttered almost inaudibly.

"Every time I look out of my window," Jessica said, turning back to Michael. He faced her and saw a sight past her head that shocked him. Shayne was making out with Professor Snape. A disgusted look clouded his face as he watched Professor Snape slowly snake his hand up Shayne's red top. His eyes met Shayne's and her lips curled up into a trace of a smile. Jessica turned her head to see what—or who—Michael was staring at and saw Shayne making out with Professor Snape.

She turned back to Michael, a blank look on her face. "Is that one of your friends?" Jessica said.

"Y-Yeah."

"Oh…Oh! You, um, you like her more than as a friend, I'm guessing?" Jessica said, her eyebrows raised.

"Well, I wouldn't…I mean, I don't—"

"No, no. I get it," Jessica said, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "God, I always hit on hot, taken guys, don't I?" she added, lighting slapping her forehead.

"No, she's not my girlfriend," Michael said finally, exhaling. "We're just…"

"Let me guess: friends with benefits?" Jessica said.

"Yeah. Well, I guess you could say that," Michael said, realizing how refreshing it was to have a relationship with an attractive woman his age that wasn't after his fame or fortune. "We never really made anything official though." So, yes, he was telling a small fib. But he hadn't ever made anything official. Shayne did, apparently, by her former daily "I-love-yous" and affectionate kisses on the cheek.

She was trying to make him jealous by making out with a guy that closely resembled a young Professor Snape. Sure, he may have felt a twinge of jealousy but nothing to make him go postal and attack the poor, helpless guy. He looked away from Shayne and Snape and smiled at Jessica.

"You know, I think I have to go," Michael said, trying his best not to sound too rude. But he desperately needed to get out of there and fast. "I hope we meet again soon. You seem like a rad person." Jessica's cheeks flushed pink and she reached her hand out to shake Michael's.

"I live over in Greenwich," Jessica said. "It's a small blue house with a really unique parrot mailbox. Come over if you feel like it and we can hang out or something."

"Okay, sounds cool," Michael said. "Bye."

"Bye Michael." He grinned and got up from the booth. He walked past Shayne, rolling his eyes as their gaze met, and walked over to David, who appeared to be lost in thought. "Hey, David. I'm going to take a cab back to the Plaza. Want to come?" David looked up with a confused look, as if he had just noticed Michael standing before him.

"Sure," David said. "But what about the others?"

"They can take another cab later," Michael said. "Or we can just call them back when we get back to the Plaza."

"Okay," David said in a somewhat grateful voice. They left the club through the entrance, where burly security guards stood, looking ample and important. The air was warmer than usual, the sky lighter than it should have been on a standard winter day. But the stars shined as brightly as ever.

---

Mia felt sick. There was horrible traffic at exactly two-forty five in the morning and she was worried whether she'd be able to meet Adam in time. His flight was to leave at four a.m. but he had said to meet him at three. She slowly gnawed on her pinkie nail, ruining her perfectly manicured nails that she got done twice a month. She hadn't bitten her nails since her senior year and she didn't feel the need to start again.

"Can you hurry up?" Mia said to Cole, her driver. Lars sat across from her, his eyes shut as his head drooped down.

"I'm sorry, your Highness," Cole said from the driver's seat. "But the traffic hasn't been improving. I think that we might get there in twenty minutes at the earliest." Mia's face wrinkled. Twenty minutes was five minutes later than Mia was supposed to arrive at the JFK airport to see Adam off.

"All right," Mia said, forcing a small smile. So, when she finally arrived to the airport thirty minutes later, she was slightly irritated, but very much relieved to have gotten there before Adam's plane left. He had said that he would be at terminal 22. Mia looked up at the directions that hung overhead. She was at forty. With Lars behind her, she walked as fast as she could to 22.

"Mia!" Adam exclaimed when he looked up from Catcher in the Rye to see his girlfriend feet away from him, breathing heavily. She smiled a smile that reached her gray eyes. "Hi, Adam!" Mia managed to exclaim, sitting down next Adam. Adam looked up at Lars and saw the tired look on his face.

"Hey, Lars," Adam said. "Why don't you sit down and rest?"

"That's a good idea," Lars mumbled before perching down next to Mia and shutting his eyes.

"You're leaving," Mia said several seconds later. Adam shot her a confused look.

"Well. Yes. I am," Adam said. "I'm going to miss you so much. Really."

"I'm going to miss you more," Mia said.

"No, I'm going to miss you more," Adam said, a playful grin on his face.

"No, me," Mia said, thrilled to pieces.

"No, me," Adam said.

"How about we settle on that you'll miss each other a lot, but equally?" Lars said, his eyes still shut. Mia ignored him. She reached into her bag, her hand on her gift for Adam. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "Merry Christmas…Eve." Adam took her free hand.

"Merry Christmas Eve."

"I have something for you," Mia said, taking Adam's present out of her bag. She handed it to him, a radiant look on her face. He looked down at it, surprised. "What is this?" Adam said, eyeing his present with utmost curiosity.

"It's a photo album with pictures of us, beginning with the week of that trip to Australia in our senior year," Mia said down at the album. She didn't want to admit that she had a lot more pictures than the ones that left no space in the photo album. Adam opened the album and immediately beamed at the first picture.

"I remember this," Adam said, scanning the picture of Adam, Mia, and their friend from the university, Taylor. "He had a crush on you, you know. During senior year," he added, pointing at Taylor. The shot was of the three of them in front of one of the university's many fountains, right before Taylor had pushed Adam into the fountain. Adam, though, had grabbed hold of Taylor and they both went splashing into the water while Mia tried unsuccessfully to not laugh.

"He did?" Mia said. Taylor had been one of the first people she had met at the university and they had bonded over their love for greasy Thai food and romantic comedies. "But he was with Robert that year. They were such a cute couple." Adam flipped to the next page, a picture of them at a club in Paris, laughing and talking at a small table.

Adam looked up at Mia. He reached inside his coat pocket. Mia gasped when she saw what was in his hand.

"Are you…are you…" He opened the case, revealing the shimmering diamond ring.

"It's a promise ring," Adam said, gazing down at the ring. He took her right hand and slipped the ring onto her ring finger. The bright lights from above made the diamond appear to be even more brilliant. "It's…It's beautiful," Mia said in a hushed whisper.

"You're beautiful," Adam said, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I love you, Adam," Mia whispered into his ear, her left hand stroking the beautiful ring.

"I love you."

They spent their last twenty-five minutes together talking about what they would do when Adam came back to America. The couple gazed into each other's eyes, wondering the next time that they would be able to do this. Just relax and hold each other's hands, sneaking the occasional kiss in public.

So when Adam got in line and was about to board the plane, he turned back to Mia with unmistakable tears in his eyes. Mia had already been crying for what seemed like ages as Adam stood tall and strong, her Adam. Her Adam was about to leave her alone, all alone, in New York. She felt a certain emptiness in the pit of her stomach as they kissed their last kiss for quite awhile.

"I'll miss you, Mia," Adam murmured, stroking her hair. She weeped and weeped and by the time she was done, he was already gone.