A/N- MERRY CHRISTMAS...Eve!

Anymawhosits, this chapter is probably my favorite, so ENJOY!

Chapter 10

"Oh my god, Mia…"

I threw myself onto the bed crying. "I can't, Lilly! I can't go through with this!"

"Tell Parliament."

"I can't back out without a legitimate reason."

"Not being in love isn't a legitimate reason?"

"No."

"Mia, that's bullshit and you know it. You deserve to be happy."

"I'm trapped, Lilly! I can't get out of this!" And I continued to sob my poor little heart out. I was getting married to a suit.

Just great.

I was at the hospital the next day with puffy red eyes and sluggish movements. Michelle and Caroline both noticed, but didn't say anything, for fear of my sensitive nature.

When I finally got off break, I waved a small goodbye to anyone who would care and walked out, feeling slightly less depressed than when I walked in.

I was a mile away from the hospital when I heard someone call my name from a distance. I turned around and found a grinning Michael walking towards me. Then suddenly I heard a panicked shriek that made me jump a mile high.

"HELP!" A young woman cried, standing over an unconscious man lying on the concrete sidewalk. "HELP SOMEONE! CALL AN AMBULANCE, MY HUSBAND JUST HAD A HEART ATTACK!"

I ran to the woman and said, "Do you know CPR?"

"No," The woman sobbed.

"Do you think he injured his back?"

"No, I don't think so."

I nodded. "Then go call 9-1-1. Please stand aside." And I leaned over the man, checking for pulse and breathing. Then I began the cycle of fifteen chest compressions to two life-breaths.

After two cycles, the man began breathing on his own and I felt a faint pulse. By then, the ambulance arrived and the paramedics gently put the man on a stretcher. The young woman gave me a quick and tearful thank you before getting in the back of the ambulance.

I sighed as I watched the ambulance zoom off. When they had disappeared around the corner, I tucked my purse safely underneath my arm and walked off. I had completely forgotten Michael, therefore my reaction was totally warranted when he touched me.

"AHH!" I shrieked.

"Whoa, calm down Mia." He grinned when I turned around and. "Don't freak out on me."

I gave him a small smile. "Hi. What's up?"

"I saw you back there, giving that guy CPR." He said with a strange emotion in his voice and eyes. "You were really impressive."

I shrugged. "Lilly taught me."

He smirked. "But you forgot the protective barrier between his mouth and yours."

I smirked back. "Maybe I just wanted go mouth to mouth."

He laughed. It was wonderful, ringing sound and he lost himself in it. He threw his head back and let his shoulders shake. "So that's how you get your cheap feels."

I grinned mischievously. "What can I say? I get hot like that."

We walked around the corner and found a quaint little coffee shop. As soon as we were inside, Michael asked, "So what happened to you yesterday? I didn't see you afterwards."

I looked down at the table. "I spent the rest of the day in my room. I wasn't feeling too good."

He reached for my hand across the table. "Mia, what's wrong?"

I took a deep breath. Michael was my friend. He deserved to know. I looked down at his shirt, refusing to meet his eyes. "Edward and I are getting married on November 7."

I could almost see his face going pale and his eyes getting angrier. "What?" He exploded. "That's only four weeks from now!"

I nodded miserably, still not looking into his face. "I know."

"Mia, you can't marry him! You said so yourself, you don't even love him!"

"I have to!" I screamed. "It's my duty, it's my job as the queen to do what needs to be done for Genovia! I can't back out now, too many people are counting on me!"

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Michael countered. "There's another reason that you're not telling me."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it, Michael."

And before he could stop me, I pulled a ten out of my purse and put it on the table. "I'll see you later, alright? I have to go see to some wedding details."

The next day, Michael insisted on going dress shopping with Lilly and me. We warned him that he wouldn't like it, that he would be bored out of his skull, but he just shook his head. "I'll just make it interesting," He said as he waggled his eyebrows.

We rolled our eyes, but said nothing.

While we were in the car, Michael asked, "So Mia, why aren't you getting fitted by your cousin, Sebastiano or whatever his name is?"

"We got in a fight," I said simply. "He wouldn't listen to me and I told him if he kept on going the way he was, I wasn't going to let him design my wedding dress. He didn't believe me."

Lilly shook her head. "God, you both can yell really loud."

When we got to the quaint little fashion boutique, I was immediately surrounded by four attendants and was whisked off with Lilly and Michael at my heels.

"How about this one, Your Highness?" The first attendant asked.

"Ooh, yes! And this one next!" The second one said as she threw the dress at me.

"And this one!"

"And this one!

Dresses were flying at me, left to right. I was beginning to get a little more than overwhelmed when Lilly stepped in. "Okay!" She called out, stopping all activity. "First things first. We need to take her measurements."

"Oh, right!" One of the attendants giggled as she winked cheekily at Michael. "Silly us. We forgot."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

When they had taken my measurements, we went around the room looking for designs that would look good on me.

While I was searching the racks, Lilly gestured for me to come closer. "Here," she said as she handed me the dress and pushed me into the dressing room. "This one's in your size."

I looked at the dress and shrugged. Whatever, I thought as I slipped into it and zipped it up. When I turned around to look at myself in the mirror, I nearly gasped.

The dress was perfect on me. The bodice was made of silver-white silk that hugged my curves and made my chest look larger than it was. It was sleeveless with a heart shaped neckline edged with lace. A length of satin ribbon lined the princess-cut waistline. The skirt wasn't overly poufy, but nor was it too flat. There were several layers of chiffon underneath a flowing silver-white skirt. In the back, there was a long train that was sewn on with a lacy bow.

I gathered the skirt carefully as I stepped out of the dressing room.

The reactions were not what I expected. The attendants smiled sappily and Lilly gasped.

But Michael stood there slack jawed.

I turned around nervously. "So what do you think?" I asked as I compulsively smoothed the skirt out.

"Mia, you look lovely," Lilly gushed as she circled around me, observing the dress from every angle. "I think this one's the one."

Then I looked up at Michael. I felt a strange blush creep up my neck and into my cheeks under his gaze. "Well?" I asked. "What do you think?"

He slowly walked closer to me, never breaking our eye contact. "You're breathtaking."

At that moment, there was no one else in that room. It was just Michael and me, standing there. That look in his eyes made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world.

"I think we'll take this one," Lilly said to the attendants, effectively interrupting my reverie. "This one's good."

I quickly turned away from Michael and made my way back into the dressing room, but I still felt his gaze burning into my skin.

Lilly handed me a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a spoon. "So…" She said as she slipped the lid off her own carton.

"So…" I replied back.

"I think my brother is slightly torn."

"Oh God, not this again."

"What? I'm just saying that I don't think he's going to devote his heart completely to Phantom Phoenix just yet."

"Am I supposed to ask why?"

"You should have seen the look he gave you when he saw you in that dress."

The blush from earlier that day had never really left my cheeks, but as she mentioned it, my face was set aflame again. "What look?"

"A look like he wanted to take you in his arms and fly you away to some distant land and forget all about us peasants."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay."

"I'm serious! Mia, I think he likes you."

I nodded like she had lost her mind and was not aware of it. "Okay."

"Mia!"

"Lilly, I honestly don't see a guy like your brother falling for me, okay?"

"What do you mean by that? I thought you said you loved him!"

"I do. But guys as beautiful as your brother tend to fall for girls that are in their league. It's like Joey said: you only go for someone that's one rating higher or lower than you."

It was Lilly's turn to roll her eyes. "Really? And pray tell, what would my brother's rating be?"

"Nine."

"Why nine?"

"He would be a ten, but he's kinda pale."

"So what would your rating be?"

"Four."

"God, you have a really low self-esteem."

"Hello, ladies," Michael said as he entered the room. "What are we talking about?"

Lilly and I exchanged apprehensive glances. Had he heard any of our conversation?

"We were talking about the attractiveness scale."

"Really?" He asked as he took a spoonful of my ice cream. "You mean, like on that show Joey?"

"Yeah," Lilly said. "What would you rate Mia?"

He took a good a long look at me and that blush fired up again. "Nine." He said firmly.

I just kind of stared at him for a little while. "What?"

"Nine," He repeated simply.

"Four."

He shook his head disbelievingly. "God, you have a really low self-esteem."

"That's what I said!" Lilly cried. "See, Mia, you're prettier than you think."

I rolled my eyes to hide my embarrassment. "I'm just being practical, you guys."

But for the rest of the conversation, I was aware that Michael was staring at me the whole time. Like he was observing me carefully. I couldn't help but hope that Lilly might be right. That he might actually like me.

Then I remembered I'm engaged.

A/N- Sooo...Robtaymattlouned is not allowed to complain, because I updated, so there.

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