Falling Away

chapter sixteen: all this masquerading's started my façade fading

a/n: Haha, I know that kissing may not seem much of a big deal to you all but consider what kind of girl Mia is and you'll know why she made such a big deal out of it. Poor Adam. But, then again, maybe Adam isn't so innocent himself…

And, uh, you guys sure read carefully.

-

Michael sat on the edge of his bed, one of his acoustic guitars in his lap. He strummed a few chords, trying to find the right tune. This tour was officially beginning in two days and he was a nervous wreck. The tour was about to start and Michael had yet to perfect his cover of "Ballad of Big Nothing," an Elliott Smith song, that he was planning to play at some of the shows. He was to play all alone, only his guitar in hand.

Throwing candy out to the crowd

Dragging down the main

The helpless little thing with the dirty mouth

Who's always got something to say

You're sitting around at home now

Waiting for your brother to call

I saw him down in the alley

Having had enough of it all

He stopped playing, suddenly out of breath. Even after his long talk with Jessica, he was still feeling sad. Mia, the tour, his conscience…everything seemed to be nagging at him constantly. Why couldn't it all stop? Why couldn't he stop thinking about Mia and her sparkling gray eyes? Why was he constantly thinking about how soft her lips were, how she still smelled like flowers as she had so many years before?

The song had a lively, upbeat tempo but once you really listened to the lyrics, you saw how truly sad they really were. Probably not the kind of sad Michael was experiencing (as the song was about drug addiction and he rarely did any drugs…give or take a joint here and there) but he felt it strongly all the same.

What are you going to do, Moscovitz? Michael rose from the bed, looking back once at his oddly shiny guitar. What the hell are you going to do? He ran a hand through his dark curls, walking toward the door. He was about to open it when someone knocked on it. Michael stepped back, slightly surprised. He opened the door.

Michael rose from the bed, looking back once at his oddly shiny guitar. He ran a hand through his dark curls, walking toward the door. He was about to open it when someone knocked on it. Michael stepped back, slightly surprised. He opened the door.

"Um, hey," Shayne said, standing in front of him. She smelled like honeysuckle and cigarettes. "Can I talk to you?" Michael nodded, letting her in. She smiled gratefully and he shut the door behind her. She walked to his bed and sat down, grinning slightly at the guitar on his bed. She looked back up at Michael with her shockingly blue eyes.

"I'm your fuck buddy," Shayne said slowly, clearly. Michael eyebrows raised. He walked closer to her.

"I've always been that one person you had no emotional attachment to but went to for sex. That's true, isn't it?"

Michael sighed, walking until he was right in front of her. He took her hands into his, a frown on his face.

What he said next she fully didn't expect.

"You're right, Shayne. I only used you for sex. I mean, you're a good friend and all but…I could never see us being anything more than that. I guess I was just in it for the physical gratification."

She looked up at him coldly. She took his hands from his, raised her right hand, and slapped him hard across his cheek. A surprised look clouded his face.

"Okay, I deserved that," Michael said after the initial shock wore off.

He guessed it wasn't a good time to tell her that her hooking up with Professor Snape hadn't made him jealous in the least.

"You, Michael Robert Moscovitz, are a complete and utter asshole," Shayne said, her voice a hushed, furious whisper. The harshness of her words didn't seem to affect him in the least. She looked at him with one last cold glare and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Michael sighed.

How in the hell would this tour work out?

-

Mia found herself in Barneys, a confused look on her face. What am I doing here? Mia asked herself. Michael's twenty-fourth birthday was on January 5th and the Glances and Stares tour was starting then too. She didn't quite know why she was buying Michael a gift. But she was. And she was hoping he'd like it.

What she didn't know was that Michael's assistant was also shopping for a gift, though not for Michael. Kate Harlow stood in front of the Rolex watches counter, looking for the one that would go with David's personality. David from Mission for Recognition. The same David that was supposedly madly in love with his long-term girlfriend.

It had begun as a friendship but had developed in so much more than that. It had started innocently enough: One day, Kate found David alone in Mission for Recognition's tour bus, close to tears. She had asked him what was wrong. His girlfriend had suddenly said that she never got to see him, that he was away all of the time. Which, of course, was true. His girlfriend had suggested that they break up.

"She can't do this to me," David had murmured softly, his eyes downcast. Kate had stepped forward, catching David in an embrace. What happened next was totally unexpected, totally wrong, and definitely amazing.

Their affair had been going on for some six months. Kate tried to forget the fact that David had a serious girlfriend (who, in the end, hadn't ended up breaking with him at all) when she kissed him or as he made a trail on kisses down her stomach. But it was slowly eating at her. But she liked him too much. She loved him too much.

Mia stood near Kate, totally oblivious to the people around her.

"Would he like that one?" Mia asked herself quietly, not even taking notice that most of the watches had leather bands. They were beautiful. Would he even want a watch? What would he want? No, make that what could he want? Michael, by now Mia was sure, was filthy rich. He could buy anything he wanted. Then what was the point of buying him something he might already own?

Mia's head hurt by the time she walked across from the watches into the vast men's section. Would he even want clothing? She was about to turn around to exit the store when she saw the most beautiful gray blazer. It had a very sexy rock-and-roll feel. It was perfect.

She looked through the rack and found one that looked approximately Michael's size. She felt the material, smiling to herself, almost carefully. It wasn't soft but wasn't scratchy, either. Was this too forward, buying a gift for her ex-boyfriend from six years before?

Mia walked to the nearest cashier, grinning.

"Hi," said the clean-cut, nice-smelling man behind the counter. "Is that all for today?"

"Uh, yes," Mia said.

"Did you have any trouble finding things?" He asked in a voice that suggested he had asked this question many, many times before.

"Oh. No," Mia said, looking down at the blazer. She handed the blazer to the cashier, whose name, judging from his name tag, was Jeremy. He scanned the blazer's tag, a cheesy smile on his face. He looked up into her eyes and his mouth became a perfect "O."

"Oh, my," He said, gasping. "You're Princess Amelia."

"…Yes," Mia said. "I am." She didn't say it matter-of-factly. She simply stated the truth.

"It's…it's such an honor to be selling you this blazer, Your Majesty," Jeremy said in his happiest voice, but even that sounded rehearsed. Fake.

Mia didn't quite know how to respond to this so she just smiled, waiting for him to tell her the total cost.

"That will be three-hundred and eighty-five dollars, fifteen cents, Your Majesty," Jeremy said. "Will you be paying by cash, credit card, or check?"

"Credit card," Mia said, handing him her American Express. The blazer was a bit steeper than she would've usually bought a semi-boyfriend but, she knew, it was worth it. The look on Michael's face would be enough. She just hoped, as any girl would, that the look wouldn't be one of pure revulsion.

Jeremy put the blazer into a bag for Mia.

"Would you like the receipt with you or in the bag, Princess?" Jeremy asked softly, adoringly.

"In the bag, please," Mia replied, looking at him oddly. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Your Majesty," Jeremy said.

"Mia," Mia corrected. "Just call me Mia."

"I'msorry, Mia."

He gave her the bag, a wide smile on his face. Mia took the bag and turned to leave when she ran right into Kate, whom was holding the same blazer Mia had just bought.

"Oh!" The women said at once.

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Mia said genuinely.

"Oh, no, no. It was my fault. I…I shouldn't have been standing so close to you," Kate said, sounding embarrassed.

"Really. I'm such a klutz sometimes," Mia said, a small smile appearing on her face. Kate looked at Mia a bit closer. She looked oddly familiar…

Mia looked at what Kate was holding and smiled. "Oh, I see that you're buying that beautiful blazer…I just bought one for my…" She paused, not knowing what to call Michael.

"Boyfriend," Mia finished, blushing slightly. "I'm sure whoever you're buying that for will love it."

"Thanks," Kate said brightly.

"Well, sorry again," Mia said.

"No problem," Kate said, clutching the blazer harder.

"Uh…bye," Mia said, and with a waggle of her fingers, she walked away.

Strange how people that are connected so closely don't even know it.

Mia stepped outside, the cold winter air hitting her face. She began walking right when she saw someone familiar walking toward her. When she got a better view of who it was, she nearly ran in the other direction.

Too bad he saw her before she could.