Soundtrack
Be My EscapeâRelient K
The Best Of MeâThe Starting Line
Cute Without The 'E'âTaking Back Sunday
8
Mia
Mia's hands shook as she carried the tray of cookies she made out to her car to bring to her parents' house. At a stoplight, she wiped at her eyes and put on a fresh swipe of lipgloss. It wasn't until she was in the driveway that she realized they'd think it was strange she didn't drive over with Andy.
Being with Jack often forced Mia to put on a front that everything was just peachy; this dinner would be no different.
Mia already had to plead with Andy for him to not be the one to tell her parents that she and Jack were back together. Brothers. It'd barely been twenty-four hours, but even keeping it hidden for that long made her feel guilty and uneasy and nervous.
When she walked into her parents' house, Mia's dad looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Where's your brother?"
Mia internalized an eye roll. "Oh, well, we came separately."
Her mom popped in from the kitchen. "Hey, Mia."
"Hi, mom."
"Are those chocolate chip cookies?" A fresh smile worked its way over her face.
"Sure are. Baked them just a few hours ago." Mia felt saved by her mediocre baking skills.
"Come, let's put them in the kitchen. Russ," Mia's mom looked at her dad with a smile, "assuming you want one now?"
"This is why I married you," he said, slipping a cookie from under the plastic wrap and kissing Mia's mother.
"Gross."
"Oh, hush, Mia," her mother said. "It's not like you've never been in love."
An awkward silence followed. Her dad shoved the rest of the cookie he had grabbed into his mouth. Her mother coughed. Mia stood there awkwardly, sort of wanting to fall through the floorboards.
"Right, I'll just be taking one more of those from you, Evie."
Mia's dad stole another cookie and then shuffled into the living room.
As Mia helped her mom with the final touches of dinner, the front door opened and Andy announced his presence, but her ears perked up at the sound of a second set of footsteps. Had Andy brought a girl with him? Was her brother secretly dating someone? That may be enough to overshadow Mia's news and take the attention completely off her.
This relief was fleeting though, and the fact that Mia didn't drop the bowl of salad she was holding the moment her eyes met those of Carter was unfathomable.
"Hey Mia, need help with that?" He reached out and took the bowl from her shaking hands, setting it gently on the table. "It's good to see you."
It was as if the dining room were submerged in water; Mia's legs felt leaden as she walked around the table to greet Carter. "You too." She hugged him, immediately regretting it because even that simple gesture made her feel unfaithful to Jack, and then caught sight of her brother behind him.
"Sup, Mia." The grin on his face was all too telling.
Before she could say anything, Evie came around the corner with a basket of rolls. "Right, right. This is why you came separately. It completely slipped my mind that we were having an extra guest tonight! Andy, go grab another chair from downstairs."
"You got it, mom."
The fact that her mother had forgotten she was having someone else over for dinner was something Mia pushed to the back of her mind to be dealt with later. Evie rounded on Carter instantly.
"Andy has told us a lot about you. How was the range?"
"Perfect. Not too hot today. Andy's got a good swing on him."
"He won the statewide golf tournament his senior year of high school. I'm glad to know he's still got it."
"Mom." Andy pushed the extra chair up to the table, right beside Mia's usual seat. She glared at him.
"No, please mom. Tell us more about how Andy peaked in high school."
"Mia Rose Clarke, be nice. Your brother has a friend over."
Yes. Andy had a friend over. Mia did not have a potential boyfriend over. She wished Carter wasn't wearing such well-fitting clothes; it didn't help that he was easy to look at.
Her mom disappeared again and Mia looked to Andy. "Reliving your glory days, brother dearest?"
"I go up to the lake for that, little sis."
Mia felt herself turning red. Andy wouldn't have...he didn't...no. Mia shook her head and turned around to take her seat. Andy gestured to the seat next to hers for Carter, and then he took his usual place. Evie and Russ walked in a second later to the awkward silence the rest of them were experiencing.
"So, we'd love to hear about what our son is like at work, Carter," Russ said.
And so the dinner from Mia's own personal hell began; the only thing that could make it worse would be for Jack to show up. She knew that if there were a higher power at play, Jack would be kept as far from her parents' house as possible that night.
Halfway through dinner (in which time the mess of Andy's desk but his charming "I'm on the phone with an important client" voice were exposed by his colleague), Carter nudged Mia's shoulder. She wanted to ignore the slight tingling sensation it sent up her spine.
"Could you hand me another roll?"
"Oh, sure. Gravy, too?"
His perfect teeth beamed. "That'd be great."
She handed both over with a smile, and she caught her mom and dad exchanging a glance; they both looked...happy, satisfied, unworried. That was the one that threw her off; whenever she brought up Jack, an immediate look of concern took over their features. Mia was going to kill Andy for this.
She helped Russ clear the table as Evie, Andy, and Carter got on as if they were all just the very best of friends. Once in the kitchen and out of earshot from the table, her dad started talking as he loaded dishes into the dishwasher.
"Nice boy."
"He's older than me."
"Nice man sounds weird when I still consider you my baby girl."
"Dadâ"
"I take it you didn't know Andy was bringing him?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"Painfully so, dear. Do you like him?"
"Dad."
"What? A father has a right to ask his daughter if she's interested in the nice man sitting in his dining room."
"He's...responsible."
"Change of pace from your last boyfriend, eh?"
"Oh, wellâ"
Evie called out from the dining room. "Can one of you put a pot of coffee on? Waitâ" muffled voices could be heard in the next room. "A kettle of water, too. Carter will have tea."
Of course he will.
"Sure, mom. Be in soon," Mia said.
Her dad passed her with the plate of cookies she'd brought over. "Just think about it. We want you to be happy."
Why was everyone always under the impression that Mia wasn't happy?
By the time she had the carafe of coffee and one of hot water and a variety of tea bags and mugs piled onto a serving tray and made it back into the dining room (like some ridiculous portrait of a 1950's housewife she'd add, if she were bold enough) half of the plate of cookies had been devoured. As she sat down, Carter picked another up and held it towards Evie.
"These are wonderful, Mrs. Clarke."
Mia was mentally facepalming as her mom opened her mouth. "They most certainly are, but I didn't make them. Mia did. She's a wonderful baker. We used to love coming home to the scent of fresh baked goods when she lived here."
Oh my God, mom really does think this is the 1950's. Was that really how she was going to sell Mia to Carter? There was so much wrong with that that her brain felt like it was backfiring.
"No, no. It's a simple recipe, few ingredients. No big deal. Even Andy could make them," Mia protested.
Evie jumped back in with a flick of her hand in Mia's direction. "She's being shy. Mia made me the most delicious triple layer birthday cake last year."
"Maybe we'll have to contract you out for our next work event," Carter teased.
"Oh, I'm sure she'd love to show you her skills, Carter," Andy said, complete with a smirk in Mia's direction.
Mia was fairly certain she was actually dying by that point. Her face had never felt so hot; her palms had never felt so sweaty. She honestly had no response formulated in her mind to even attempt to save herself.
Carter put a warm hand on her shoulder and its heat radiated down her arm, but she just gave him a quick smile and stood from the table. "Dinner was great, but I really need to get...back. Early morning tomorrow and I have some work I need to finish for a meeting before I go to bed. Thanks for having me."
"You never have to thank us, dear." Evie stood up and gave Mia a hug before she rounded back to her dad.
Andy couldn't help himself and threw one last jab in. "See you back home in a bit."
"Yeah...see you there." He knew how much Mia hated lying to their parents, and as much as she loved him, she felt like reminding him he was adopted.
Just as Mia thought she'd made it out of there, Carter pushed his chair back from the table. "I'll walk you out, if that's okay."
Mia didn't feel like she had much of a choice; she also had to keep up the elaborate story her brother was weaving. "Sure, thanks."
Out by her car, Carter smiled, and the setting sun was in his eyes, and Mia was in trouble.
"It was really nice to see you again tonight," he said.
Tell him, tell him, tell him. "Agreed." Why couldn't she get the words out?
"If, er, if you ever want to grab coffee again, I'd love for us to have a do-over of the first time."
Mia's brain was firing off all kinds of truthful responses (everything from "I have a boyfriend" to "He might actually kill you"), none of which left her mouth. "Yeah, I'll let you know when I'm free."
When she got into her car, he closed the door for her and stood there, waiting until her car was down the street. She could only imagine the conversation that happened when he went back into her childhood home.
***
Images of Carter similar to the ones that filled her mind during and after the family barbeque of his that she attended accompanied her on her drive home, but they were wiped out the moment she stepped foot back into her apartment, flashes of glass breaking and Jack's body contorting with anger replaced everything else.
The only light on was the one in their shared kitchen and dining space. Jack was seated at the table, his head hanging low in his hands. As she got closer, the only other things Mia could see on the table were the empty plate of cookies she'd left for him and a pack of cigarettes.
She put a hand on his back as she approached him, the coolness of his t-shirt meeting the warmth of her skin. "Jack?"
"Thank you for the cookies." He didn't look up.
It was clear enough that he hadn't smoked any of the cigarettes. She was more than familiar with the scent of them, but that particular acrid smell wasn't present in their home.
"Of course. Will you tell me what's going on?" She sat across from him and put her hands on his forearms. He'd yet to lift his eyes to meet hers; instead, what she noticed was the horrendously terrible bandaging he'd done to his hand. "Scratch that. What's this?" She gently turned his hand over in hers.
He pulled it away from her. "Don't worry about it. I cleaned it out. It's fine."
"Does it needâ"
"No, Mia. It doesn't need fucking stitches."
She winced, and Jack shook his head before running his hands over his face.
"Sorry. It's been a long day."
Mia reached out again and took his uninjured hand in hers. "Tell me what happened."
His dark shock of hair bounced lightly as he shook his head again. "I don't know what to do. Dad's just enabling her. She freaked out when I tried to even just slightly bring up the fact that the way she's living isn't healthy. I had to walk out of the house to keep myself from saying something I'd regret."
Jack finally looked at Mia, eyes bloodshot, and her heart hammered against her ribs. He spared her from asking about his own bad habits when he muttered, "I haven't had anything."
Jack Moreno didn't cry. Jack Moreno kept his emotions in a steel safe inside his chest. Jack Moreno was cracking, and it was breaking Mia's heart.
"Jack."
"I'm fine." He pulled back when Mia made to rest her palm against his cheek, the evidence that for once he had felt something dried down them in streaks.
"Maybe I can help," Mia said. "I know you don't want me to see her, but maybe, I don't know, maybe her seeing us together will jostle something in her, will make her take a second look at how she's living." She knew how pointless it sounded, but she didn't know what else to offer him.
"You're kind, Mia. Very sweet, and very kind, and I won't ruin you by putting you in the same room as her. I have no idea what she'll say to you." He ran his hands over his face and then locked eyes with her. "I can't risk her hurting you."
"But don't you see that this alone is enough to hurt me? Seeing you like this?"
Jack pushed back on his chair and stood up. "I'm going to bed."
"It's only seven-thirty."
"Don't care. I can't think about this anymore. I need to sleep. If it's not sleep that takes my mind off things it'll beâ"
Mia knew what it would be, and Mia was determined not to let Jack slip down the same path as his mother. "I can come with you, if you want."
He nodded, and she rose from the table, followed him into their bedroom, changed into pajamas, and joined him in bed with a few streaks of golden light still left in the sky.
Under the covers of their bed, Jack pulled her into him. He held on tightly, dearly, throughout the night. Mia was willing to do next to anything to make him happy, to make up for the lackluster childhood he endured. All she wanted was for him to feel whole, no matter the cost for herself.
A/N: HI sorry this is a little late ð¬
This officially ends the rewrite of what I had previously written, so from here on out I'll be writing completely new content, which I'm quite excited for ð¥°
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Have a great week ahead!
xx,
L
Ps. Omggggg I watched all of the Twilight movies this week because I've never seen or read them and WOW they were terrible ð¥´