a/n: dakota going into the dressing room was problematic and i'm not excusing his behavior

"Wait, pause." Mia said suddenly, cutting him off on his long retelling of his adventures in Sweet Amoris.

"What?" Dakota asked from where he was lying back on her bed, lifting his head to look at where she was sitting on the floor, painting her toenails black.

"You walked in on her changing?" Mia questioned incredulously, hoping that she heard wrong.

"Yeah." Dakota sighed, letting his head drop down onto the bed again.

"Are you serious?" She gaped at him, apparently lost for words.

"Yeah, I know." Was all he said, throwing his arm over his face.

"Wow. I knew you were stupid sometimes but this…" Her mouth twisted into a frown, still wordless.

"If it makes you feel better she gave me a black eye." He offered.

"Ah. I thought there was something weird about your face." She smirked as she said this.

"I know what you're going to say, something about it being weirder than usual." Dakota rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah but wait. Did she say you come in?"

"Well, no."

"Then why did you go in?"

Dakota didn't reply, having no real justifiable reason other than well, being Dakota.

"Well was she still angry after?" Mia continued to ask after it was clear Dakota wasn't going to say anything.

"Well when I went to her school's open house she wasn't mad anymore-"

"You went to her school?" Mia had apparently abandoned the task of painting her nails completely as she interrupted him. "…You must really like her, huh?" She was staring at him with an odd considering look on her face, her elbows resting on her knees. Dakota felt as if she were staring at his soul.

"…What?" He asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence, looking to the side as if she would see something undesirable if she looked in his eyes.

She started grinning, self satisfaction practically leaking from her pores.

"You've got a crush." She didn't seem able to wipe her grin away.

"No way, I just went to see my uncle." He rolled his eyes, trying to shrug off how her words struck something in him.

"I know you, you can't lie to me." Mia countered, having stopped looking so smug except for a small smile.

"Whatever. Are we going to the beach today?" Dakota, obviously uncomfortable with the idea of being romantically attached, tried to change the subject.

"Pfft." Mia allowed it, raising her eyebrows briefly at the obvious deflection. "No thanks, I'll burn to a crisp."

"I'll never understand how you're so pale in Australia of all places." He marveled idly, something he'd said a few times before.

"Ancient Goth secret." She replied as she usually did, rolling her eyes.

"It's weird." Dakota mumbled, having nothing to do other than stare at the band posters on her wall.

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Fake Tan freak-"

"-It's real!" He interjected loudly. "I can prove it!" He sat up slightly as if he were going to rip his shirt off then and there.

"Calm down, Jacob." She rolled her eyes, having sensed what he was about to do. "Tell me about how your uncle was."

Dakota relaxed onto the bed again, a smile lighting up his face at the mention of Boris.

"Oh he was great-"

Dakota talked for so long that Mia managed two extra coats of nail polish, including lengthy drying time in between coats.