Author's Note: Here is a short one. I have a confession to make. I am re-writing the ending to this story so it's going to take longer to post. I need to buy time for myself and I don't have much to begin with. So pleeeease bear with me.
Scorcho: Move on. You will never see Lucie again. Or wait…maybe you will….time will only tell.
Madam: Her nose ring.
Hgill: That storyline was taken by one of my esteemed colleagues and I am not going to copy her.
Living: It is sweet, isn't it? Hmmm
Michael:
When we got down to the bus I saw Mia sipping her Starbucks Carmel Frappachino and talking animatedly with Lilly.
"Where are you playing tonight?" a voice asked from behind me. I turned and saw the girl from Connecticut. The one that I had been flirting with for about two minutes before I realized she was totally a lesbian and just wanted career advice.
"Hey, Shannon, right?" I asked with a smile.
"Yeah."
"Stalker much?" I teased.
She laughed, "No. Here for orientation. I am going to Tulane in the fall."
I nodded, "Well, we're off to…." I said looking away trying to remember.
" Alexandria," Manny replied, coming up to us. "Hi, I'm Manny O'Reilly. I'm the drummer."
She smirked, "I know. I'm a fan of the band. But I gotta go. It was really great seeing you guys again."
I looked over Manny's shoulder and saw that Mia didn't even notice that exchange. She was too involved in conversation with Orlando and Lilly. Laughing at something he had said. That guy never says anything funny. Not in the Mia sense of the word.
"Hey, what's so funny?" I asked, coming up behind Mia and surprising her.
"Oh, nothing," Lilly said, holding back her laughter.
"Really, nothing," Mia said looking at me with laughter filling her eyes. "I'm going on the bus."
I glared at Orlando and then followed Mia onto our bus. We went all the way to the back before she turned and started kissing me like crazy. "I wish we could have stayed in bed longer," she said sadly. "You know, just cuddling. It was cold after you left," she said softly.
I lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist. "I won't leave anymore," I promised leaning my forehead against hers. "I'll keep you warm." After a few more minutes of kissing, "What was so funny out there?"
She smiled, " Orlando was doing his imitation of your dancing."
I smiled, "I'm not bad, am I?"
She put on a vixenish smile, "Not horizontally."
I pulled her down onto a bunk and started making out with her. Whispered silly stupid things that girls like to hear. Things that I meant with every part of my soul. "What time are we going to be at the hotel?" I asked, cuddling into the nook of her neck.
"It's about a five hour drive. Then we have to do sound check. Then dinner and performing. No hotel tonight. We start driving to St. Louis right after the show. We have a long drive ahead of us."
"Could you do me a favor?" I asked, circling my index finger around her belly button.
"Of course."
"Don't flirt with the other guys. Just me."
"Is that a hint of jealousy coming from Michael Moscovitz?" she teased.
I gave her a look, "No….It's just I think they get the wrong idea. Especially Orlando."
"Michael, a really amazing guy reminded me how silly jealousy is. He reminded me that flirting means nothing if I have another to go home to. That I'm going home to you."
I leaned down to kiss her but we heard footsteps coming toward us. We pretended to be napping.
"Guys, come on," Lilly said. "Get out. We have the day free."
I opened one eye, "What are you talking about?"
"The venue was shut down for fire hazards. We just got the fax. Mia, we have to go shopping."
"Sleep is much better," she argued.
"Mia," Lilly said in a tone that meant more than her shopping ambitions.
So Mia got up and left with her. And then Kevin came back, "Come on Moscovitz. We're playing PS2."
I got up reluctantly. I liked how the pillow already smelled like Mia.
So the guys spent the day lounging in the bus, losing brain cells by playing video games. I kept thinking about the night before and how perfect it had been. And how I would manage to get Mia alone again.
MIA:
"What's going on?" I asked as we went into the center of the town we were in. We weren't really going to shop. Lilly hates shopping. Lilly needed to talk.
"I'm late."
I looked at my watch. "No you aren't. We aren't due in St. Louis for three days."
"No. LATE."
I looked at her for a full minute before I realized what she meant. "Oh my God!" I said stopping our walk. "No way! Manny-"
She shook her head.
"Oh God Lilly. You haven't told him-"
"No, I'm shaking my head because it's not him."
"Oh dear…. I told you sleeping with complete strangers on the road wasn't good. It-"
"It wasn't a stranger. I haven't done that in ages."
I stared hard at her, then looked around at a few people glancing our way. I pulled her into a shop that looked pretty deserted. "Then who? One of the guys-"
"Louie."
I grabbed hold of a shelf.
"Is there anything I can help you with M'am?" the man behind the counter asked, looking at me worriedly.
I shook my head quickly. "No…no…." I then left the store. I was getting claustrophobic.
"Mia, c'mon, say something. Anything," Lilly said, following my quick pace down the street. A big feat considering her legs are half the length of my own.
"How can you already be pregnant? But you only saw him last week."
"And about two months ago at your birthday."
So that's where they disappeared to. "Lilly!My birthday! Now it's tainted by you and my brother…." I hissed.
"You're one to talk-"
"That's a little different."
"Oh please, how is it different?"
"Because neither of us are in a serious relationship. Never really have been. We have always loved each other. You love Manny. He loves Kate- Oh God. What about Kate? Wait…does Manny know?"
"I said no."
"I meant that you slept with-"
"That's the thing. We had a break, remember? To see if becoming exclusive was in the cards, ya know? And then Louie kind of consoled me while Manny was hitting on all the girls at your party and then one thing led to another…."
"I don't want details. So he doesn't know?"
"No. He says he wasn't with anyone else anyways."
Lie. "Well, that's….neither here nor there. You need to get a test."
"No…not yet. I'm too scared to."
Wow. Lilly is scared of something. Shock. "I'll support you no matter what," I replied slowly. Shit. My brother's entire life is about to change. Will Kate even take him back? What the…. "But I think you should talk to the guys."
She stopped at a hair salon. "I need a hair cut," she said suddenly changing the subject. "Come in with me?"
I threw my arms in the air, "Fine."
Her stylist name was Jenny and she had my old hair. My old dirty blonde hair. "Hey, does anyone here have time for a foil?" I asked. "And a cut?"
We walked back to where the bus was parked four hours later. "It looks great," Lilly said with a smile. "I have my old best friend back."
I smiled weakly. I hadn't had short hair in years. Felix had liked my hair dark and long. My neck felt naked. "Think they'll freak out?"
"Well, you are going through a lot of changes. Did you see Michael's face when he saw you and Orlando this morning?"
My breath got caught in my throat at the sound of his name. "No."
She went on a ten minute monologue about how Michael was acting like a chauvinistic pig and that I deserve better blah blah blah. I couldn't even talk about him. Too many thoughts ran through my head when he was brought up. The night before kept repeating in my mind.
The way he was so gentle with me. Like he was afraid of breaking me. How he said he loved me and always had.
Lilly stepped onto the bus first and none of them noticed her cut. I stepped on and no one looked away from the video game. "I'm going to take a nap," I announced, glancing casually at Michael.
Those jerks. They didn't even notice that I cut off about ten inches of hair…oh, and changed my hair color.
"Hey," Michael said, coming back to the sleeping area. "What did you do-" he stopped himself when he noticed my lack of hair and the brown. "Wow."
I ran my fingers through it. "You like it?"
"Love it," he replied coming closer to me. "You are you again. Body and soul."
I giggled. "Soul?"
"Well, you were always the same Mia. But this is the Mia I originally fell in love with. Not Felix's Mia. Mine."
My cheeks turned red. "You like it then…."
He pulled me to the bed. "I wanted to take you out tonight," he whispered. "To dinner and a movie or something. A real date, ya know?"
"But we are driving tonight," I finished for him.
"But I will take you out on a real date. Not just to bed."
"Then lets pretend," I replied. "Where would you bring me on a date? Anywhere in the world is open."
"First," he replied, "I'd take you to that Beauty and the Beast thing you are always talking about."
We felt the bus lurch forward and he grabbed hold of me. "Then I'd take you to 'Round the Clock for pancakes. Then we'd walk around New York City and make ourselves get lost."
I smiled. It sounded like the ideal date. "I would take you first to a bookstore where we'd each find incredibly obscure books of poetry. Then we'd find a really quiet and private spot in the store and read to one another." I hoped he didn't think that was too dorky. But we did both enjoy poetry. We were songwriters. "Then we'd go to Serendipity where I'd get a shrimp salad sandwich and you would get the bisensual burger," I said with a smile. We'd gone there last Valentine's Day. Felix had been out of town for research. Elle was working at some club.
"Then we'd get our frrrozen hot chocolates," he replied, remembering. "Mine would be the white chocolate but you'd get the peanut butter one."
I smiled. Why hadn't we seen this before? "And then humble pie for dessert."
"You are trying to fatten me up?" he asked with his hand on my belly.
"Totally. Can't have those girls fawning all over this muscle," I teased.
He leaned in and kissed me. Not a heavy kiss, but not a light one either. A just right one. "Are you feeling okay today?" he asked, pushing my hair aside, staring at it.
"Of course I am. I had fun last night," I added softly.
"We're not taking this too fast, are we?" he asked suddenly.
Great. He was having second thoughts now. I stood up and turned my back to him. I wouldn't cry. I was not going to let him see me cry at least. "What's wrong baby?" he asked in a worried tone.
"I um….I'm gonna go see Lilly."
"No, come back here. Come back to bed babe."
I turned to him. I liked how he called me babe. "Why did you just ask me that?"
"Why'd I ask what was wrong? Probably because you got up-"
"No, if we were going too fast."
He smiled and laughed a little. "Because I was worried about pushing you. You just got out of a really serious relationship."
I sat down next to where he was lying. "No. I'm fine. I think I got out of that relationship a long time ago."
"This is the best part isn't it?" he asked, playing with my earring.
"What?" I asked.
"When you break up with someone you can be with someone you just…you never wanna be apart from them."
I laid down and got under the covers with him. I smiled. "Are we ever going to tell people? Let them see?"
"I just gotta end it with Elle-" and right on cue his phone rang.
We both looked at his cell and saw her name. "Hello?" he asked hoarsely.
