Gently swallowing, I found my eyes drifting over Mia's face as I patiently awaited her response. At this point, I was conscious of her every last breath as her eyes danced between mine.

 I was half-teasing when I'd asked if she was sure about not wanting to kiss me. But now, with the way she was looking at me, and how reluctant she seemed to untangle, the tightened arms I had around her, it seemed anything but a joke. 

Mother of sweet Jesus, was she actually considering it?

Just as I dared to let my eyes fall down to her lips, Mia's eyes suddenly widened, and she abruptly pulled herself back, so my grip around her fell away.

Then with just one move of her eye, the tension between us faded, and I carefully controlled my face to hide my disappointment. Still blinking herself into composure, she twisted a little in my lap and cleared her throat. 

"Y..yeah, I'm sure," she said, tripping over her words.

At that moment, I was genuinely tempted to laugh at myself for even humoring the idea that she'd ever want to kiss me. God, I was stupid. It was a miracle she even wanted to be my friend.

Realizing she was starting to edge her way to the end of my lap, I frowned. What was she doing? Retightening, my grip around her waist, I pulled her right backward till her back was once again flush up against my chest. 

Perfect.

Just as I was about to resume back in with our friend's conversation, I felt Mia shift as though about to stand. But being the selfish bastard I was, I kept my arms firmly rooted around her waist.

Swinging her head back around to face me, she looked me up and down in confusion. "Let go of me, you idiot. Can't you see there's some free seats over there?"

Turning my head, I saw to my annoyance that she was right. Why did those idiots have to leave the food court early? Couldn't they see they were ruining a great opportunity for me?

Letting out a whiny grunt in response, I wrapped my arms a little tighter before sinking my head back into the crook of her neck.

"You're fine here," I mumbled.

Mia let out a heavy sigh and sank back against me, causing me to smile. And to my surprise, I was just able to catch the corner of her lips twitching up into an amused little smile of her own.

-------------------

Speeding through the corridors like my life depended on it, I weaved my way in between the crowds of students that were blocking up the corridor.

 My stupid physics teacher decided to run ten minutes over just because he wanted to go through our damn paper. It was like he knew a hot girl was waiting for me by my car and wanted to do all he could to ruin things for me. And no, I'm not being dramatic.

Mia was supposed to be coming home with me today for another 'tutoring session.' It was debatable whether I could even call it that anymore, considering how little work we did. We mainly just played video games, made something to eat then chatted up in my room. 

So, at this point, I was just praying she didn't care that I was quite obviously looking for more excuses to be alone with her.

Finally making it outside to the parking lot, I walked in fast stride towards my normal parking space. As I rounded the corner, I suddenly came to an abrupt stop as I took in the image before me.

 As expected, Mia was stood by my car, but so was Connor. Instant anger racked my chest as I remembered his earlier threat – his threat to hurt her. Before I got a chance to process my anger, I saw Mia swing her fist back and sock Connor right in the face.

With widened eyes, I blinked back my shock, not expecting her to do that at all. Then my lips twitched up in impress as I saw Connor groan and cradle his face as blood poured profusely from his nose. 

Fuck, that was a good shot.

"You broke my nose, you bitch!" He yelled out angrily. 

His words immediately pulled me back to reality, and realizing that Mia wouldn't punch him without good reason, my anger immediately returned at full force. What had this piece of shit said to her?

With a tightened jaw, I made a direct path over to them with my eyes set firmly on Connor's. His face screwed up as though he was about to say something else to Mia, but before he could, he looked over her shoulder and caught my gaze.

 Still sporting his black eye and a busted lip, he froze up and swallowed. Before I could get within a stride length of him, he scrambled off my car and ran through the gaps of the parked cars.

As I wrestled with the urge to run after him, Mia turned around and looked me up in surprise. Her eyes had a widened fluster about them, clearly still shaken up from whatever had happened. 

At once, any vengeful feelings towards Connor dissipated into worry. Coming to a stop in front of her, I scanned her frantically up and down in search of any bruises or grazes. 

"What the fuck did he do?" I stammered out in panic. A catalog of different possibilities flashed through my mind of what he could have said or done to upset her, and I felt sicker and sicker with each one.

She shook her head, her eyes relaxing. "It's fine, Ethan. I just lost my temper because he insinuated something inappropriate and then touched..."

"Sorry, he fucking touched you?" I interrupted my stomach twisting.

 The thought of someone as disgusting as him touching her in any way was too much, and any hope at peace was lone gone.

 Angling my head to where I could see Connor's distant figure, I let out a bitter laugh. "Just wait here, Mia. I won't be long."

I barely made a step before she lunged out for my arm. "No," she said quickly as she stepped into my path. Her eyes, emotive and beautiful, stilled me in my place. "Ethan, he's not worth getting into trouble for," she explained gently. 

"You've got an amazing future. Don't let this jackass pull you away from it. You're going to be the cute young doctor who gives lollipops to kids after their check-up appointments," she said with a light laugh. Then focusing her eyes back on mine, she smiled. "You're going to be saving people, Ethan. Not hurting them," she finished softly.

Unable to even remember why I was angry anymore, I just focused on her words. And as annoying as it was, I knew she was right. Hurting Connor wouldn't do anything to help her; it would only pull me further away from the life I wanted. 

I gave her a weak smile as a silent way of thanking her for reminding me of that.

"Besides," she started. "I already dosed out his punished," she snickered as she limply lifted up her hand. 

Drawing my eyes downward, I frowned as I saw the skin around her knuckles had started to bruise.

"Oh, Mia," I groaned as I carefully reached out for her hand. "You're an absolute idiot. What have you done?" I mumbled as I turned it over in inspection.

"Well, his face looks equally as jacked up," she joked with a chuckle.

 I playfully rolled my eyes at her and shook my head. "Mia, when you punch someone, you're not supposed to hurt yourself along with them," I lectured.

"Well, that wasn't exactly my intention," she scoffed.

With a sigh, I gently lowered her hand back to her side. "I'll get you some ice for this when we get home; it's just a little bruised," I explained softly. 

Then popping open the passenger side door, I nodded my head for her to climb in. She gave me an odd look as I did but compliantly got in. It was only as I closed the door behind her, did I realize that helping someone into a car was the kind of move a guy might do on a date. 

And if we were going into technicalities, this could in a weird way be considered a date. Well, if it was possible for one party to not know they were on a date...

As I climbed into my side of the car and buckled in, my mind suddenly drew back to what she had done. She had punched someone! In the face! And caused damage! 

God, that was hot...

Unable to help myself, I turned to her with a teasing smile as I started up the engine. "I have to admit, knowing you got all badass on him is kinda sexy," I mumbled.

I let my eyes fan over hers playfully to feign the idea that I was only joking, but I definitely wasn't. I was deadly serious. 

She had no idea how much of a turn-on her dominance was. I didn't dream about her pinning me down for nothing.

Mia's cheeks flushed a little, making my comment worth it. As my smile grew wider, she gave me an incredibly flat look.

"Only you would find someone punching someone in the face sexy," she said as she mockingly shook her head at me. "I think I'm spending too much time with you to even do that in the first place," she laughed.

I bit back a grin, knowing she was probably half-right. "You say that like it's a bad thing," I teased.

My house keys jingled as I unlocked my door. Then stepping aside, I smiled back at Mia and gestured for her to go on ahead of me. She gave me a brief smile, then skipped her way past me just like she always did.

 And though a voice in my head told me that it was wrong, I couldn't help but cheekily look her backside up and down as she walked on ahead. God, those leggings fit her good.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a creepy pervert who's going to hell. But hey, at least I'll go knowing I had a good view.

As I closed the door softly behind me, I was unsurprised to find that Mia had kicked her shoes off and was now making a direct route towards my kitchen. Shaking my head, I made my way after her with a laugh and watched amused as she shoved her hand into a packet of cookies that someone had left on the counter.

"Don't be shy, help yourself to something to eat?" I teased sarcastically as I leaned my hip against the counter.

Mia, unbothered by my comment, just finished swallowing her bite before pointed her cookie-filled hand my way. 

"Why do you always insist we study at your house?" she asked abruptly.

I paused, the answer to her question hitting me in a second: her dad. 

The man looked at me like he could read every horny thought that I'd ever had about his daughter, and wanted to kill me for it. I averted my eyes a little in embarrassment. 

"Because your dad scares the shit out of me...," I mumbled.

Mia immediately started laughing hard, to the point that her eyes started to crinkle up all cutely.

"What can you blame me? He's literally a police investigator. If I make one wrong move, he'll probably have me arrested," I argued, in dead seriousness.

She rolled her eyes at me. "He only pretends to act tough, he's really a big baby."

I let out a breath of a laugh. "Yeah, maybe to you. I'm not sure he feels the same way about guys who lik-," Cutting myself off, I caught myself just in time. "I mean guys who hang out with his daughter," I quickly corrected myself.

Realizing how badly I just fucked up, my heart leaped up in a panic. Please, don't notice. Please don't notice. Please, please be the hopelessly unobservant girl you always are.

Mia just double blinked at me, then shrugged her shoulders before turning around and making her way to the living room.

Oh, thank fuck.

A lot more relaxed now, I suddenly remembered Mia's injured hand and internally cursed myself for not thinking about it the second I got in.

"I'll be there in a second, Chubs. I just need to get some ice for your hand," I called out at her as I made my way over to our fridge.

As I rummaged around the bottom drawer for an icepack, I couldn't help but shake my head as I realized this was the second time I was giving her one. Accidents must just be attracted to her.

Once I'd wrapped it all up in a tea towel, I made my way over to the other room. As I entered, I felt my heart stop in surprise as I found my mum standing in the room, along with Dylan. She was staring at Mia with a confused kind of smile. A smile that clearly seemed to communicate, 'Why is there a random girl sitting on my sofa?'

I nervously handed my icepack over to Mia before turning to greet my mum with an awkward smile. A smile that I was hoping communicated: 'Please don't be mad that I secretly brought home a girl without telling you.'

Rubbing the back of my neck, I looked up at her nervously. "Oh hey, mum, I didn't realize you were coming home early today."

Her eyes that were previously narrowed in on me in suspicion, softened slightly. "Yeah, my client canceled," she sighed. "Anyway, what's going on here?" my mum asked with a faint smile as she looked between an equally looking nervous Mia and myself. 

I was about to tell her that Mia had come over to study with me, but then I paused, figuring why not have a little bit of fun. Turning to Mia with a smirk, I looked her up and down mischievously. "Oh, right, this is Mia. She's my girlfriend," I announced proudly while sending a sly wink her way.

Just as I was expecting, Mia's eyes shot wide open the moment she heard me call her my girlfriend. God, she was cute.

"Really?" My mum called out in surprise. "You have a girlfriend?" she clarified slowly, seeming deathly shocked.

My eyes narrowed, offended at the level of surprise to her tone. I know I'd never dated anyone, but she didn't need to sound that shocked.

I heard Mia rapidly clear her throat, and as I turned back towards her, I could see her cheeks were burning away. 

"I'm not...we're not...I...Ethan is a liar," she stammered out rapidly.

Cracking a smile, I started to chuckle, realizing for Mia's sake that I should probably come clean. "I'm kidding mum, it's Mia. You know, 'the used to hate my guts', Mia. She came over to study," I explained.

I realized my mistake when my mum's eyes shimmered with excitement. "Wait, this is that Mia! Like Mia, Mia?" she said, turning to stare over Mia like she was some rare form of creature.

 I cringed in on myself, knowing I might have mentioned Mia to her one too many times. My mum was well aware that I'd always had a thing for her, and could probably make a dictionary length book of all the mushy, embarrassing things I'd said about her over the past six years. 

If I knew her and Mia were going to meet, I would have prepped my mum to put a filter on that bluntness of hers, but something told me that wasn't going to happen...

Feeling the weight of Mia's eyes on me, I shuffled a little in place. "Maybe...," I mumbled quietly.

"Wow," My mum laughed. "No wonder you couldn't stop going on about her. She is extremely pretty," my mum said as she winked my way. 

The second the words left her lips, a part of my soul genuinely died. It killed itself. Threw itself off a bridge.

Too embarrassed to even look at Mia, I let out a long whine of a groan before burying my head into my hands. "No offense, Mum, but please, please, for the love of God, shut up," I begged, my voice tight with desperation.

I heard Mia laugh beside me, further adding to my humiliation. "No, no, please continue, Mrs. Blythe. What else has he told you about me?" she probed, her smile practically audible.

I snapped my head up fast, knowing I desperately needed to save the situation and fast. Marching my way quickly over to Mia, I grabbed her wrist. 

"That's it, we're studying upstairs," I snapped with finality as I hauled her off the sofa and towards the direction of the stairs. 

I'd done and said far too much crazy shit over the years for me to even humor the idea of leaving them together. She'd know for sure that I liked her in five seconds flat.

"It was incredibly nice to meet you, Mia," I heard my mum call out at us with a laugh. Letting out another growl of annoyance, I towed Mia faster up the stairs.

Once we were safely in my room, I slammed the door loudly behind me to communicate my annoyance back down to my mum. "Little snitch," I muttered sulkily under my breath.

As I turned back around, I found Mia smirking at me with eyes shining with amusement. "Wow, why didn't you tell me your mum was so awesome? She's hilarious," she chuckled.

I gave her a flat look, knowing she was having way too much fun reveling in my misery. "Of course you'd find her funny...," I grumbled as I flopped down onto my bed.

Mia just snickered and lowered herself down onto my bed till she was sat crossed-legged beside me. Despite the fact I was peeved off, I couldn't help but internally grin at the fact she was sitting on my bed. 

Maybe, one day she'd be under the covers...

Interrupting my daydream, Mia nudged my shoulder. "Aww, did mummy Blythe embarrass you?" she teased as she reached out to playfully squeeze my cheeks. Her action made my lips twitch a little, knowing she was copying what I always did to her. 

"Shut up," I mumbled as I weakly swatted away her hands.

"Nah, I don't think I will," she smiled, still leaning over me. "I have a lot more gloating to do," she taunted.

I lifted an eyebrow. "Will you ever be done gloating?" I sighed.

"Er...let me think about it," she said, tapping her chin in pretense thought. "Nope," she snorted.

I let my eyes fan over hers with narrowed eyes, wondering what I could do to gain back some pride. Then the perfect idea hit me.

 A slow smirk stretched its way to my face. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to do this," I smiled as I gave her a once over.

Her eyebrows knotted together in clear confusion. "Do wha-"

Before she got a chance to finish, I quickly rolled myself over and jumped atop of her before starting to tickle her. 

She immediately let out a shriek before fully collapsing down onto her back and starting to shake with laughter. The sight of her laughing had me smiling along with her, and I kept going.

 "Stop, Ethan, Stop," she managed to squeak out in between giggles as she fought for breath.

"I'll stop if you promise you won't bring up what my mum said ever again," I bargained with a smile.

"No way," she screamed in between bouts of laughter as she tried to grab my wrists to still me.

 Chuckling, I easily grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head with one hand, so I could continue my tickle attack with the other.

"All you have to do is promise, Mia," I sang teasingly.

"No," she said stubbornly as she pathetically tried to kick me away from her. 

I just let out a heavy sigh before sitting down on her legs to once against still her. "Say it," I demanded as I continued to tickle her sides.

"Okay, fine, I promise," she screamed. 

Finally satisfied, I let up and stopped. Then leaning over her, I smiled. "Now, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" I taunted, rubbing in my victory.

"You're mean...," she said breathlessly, still tired from laughing. 

I watched hypnotically as her chest heaved up and down from exertion through the thinly made material of her top. Drawing my eyes back to her face, I watched her expression change as she swallowed. 

Her smile had faded, and those beautiful brown eyes of hers looked dazed and were watching me with a foreign expression. It was only at this point; did I notice the intimacy of the position I had her in. I had her arms dominantly pinned above her head, with my legs straddled either side of her waist. 

My heart thumped wildly as I realized just how close we were and how undeniably easy it would be to close the distance and kiss her. It wouldn't be hard – she was just lying there. It was like she was almost frozen in time and waiting for me to move. Waiting for me to kiss her.

A voice in my head screamed and screamed that I should not be doing this, that I could only be trusted to be Mia's friend, and friends don't do this. 

 But then, those brown eyes of her blinked up at me, wide and irresistible, and like that, I was a goner. Flickering my eyes back and forth between hers, I lowered my lips closer to hers, inch by inch.

And despite how selfish it was and how wrong, I couldn't seem to bring myself to stop.  

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Author's note:

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

What scene to come are you most looking forward to?