Mia didn't bother trying to get her leg to stop twitching. She knew she won't have been able to even if she did.

She saw the look of annoyance her neighbor kept shooting her way but she didn't have the attention span available to acknowledge it. She would have only seen his eyes narrowing and his frown growing deeper when his eyes flicked down to her bouncy knee. It was a look she had seen almost every day during the endless hours stuck inside a lab room when she had grown bored.

It seemed the sound of her leg bouncing up and down was just as irritable to her peer as the sound of her tapping her pen incessantly against her notebook had been. She could hear when he looked straight again because he uttered a small huff of annoyance and Mia had never heard anyone else cause an exhalation of breath to hang heavy with so much frustration.

Her eyes had been alternating between the time ticking past on her phone screen and the platform set on the complete opposite side of the room since the minute she took her seat but sped up their rotation as time slipped by.

The speaker standing before the crowd insisted on continuing his droning speech while the sound system of the expansive arena sent his monotone voice all throughout the room. Mia hadn't caught on to who was to be giving the commencement speech and she was glad that she hadn't because now she had no name to blame for her bouncing knee and wringing hands.

At a pause in his speech, a brief moment of silence, Mia leaned forward as she felt the rest of the crowd seated on hard folding chairs all around her do. There was an audible groan from everyone in the arena when the speaker finished his sip of water and continued on.

With a glance up at the stands that ran up the walls, all the way to the roof stories above, Mia could see that the families in attendance looked just as bored as every single one of Mia's peers. But the orator caught everyone by surprise and gave them the blessed gift of relief when he suddenly ended his speech with a mumble of a few last words of vague encouragement for the graduation class and passed the microphone back to the master of ceremonies.

It was obvious the Dean was just as relieved that that particular part of ceremonies was now finished with as the rest of the auditorium was as she took her spot behind the podium. Her words were light and fast as she said a few final words but was quick to signal to the first row of students to stand and start for the stage.

Mia watched as row after row stood and filed out, only to then stand in the aisle as each name was called out through the speakers and cries sent back from the audience in response.

Her eyes were now glued to the passing of time shown on her phone and a hopelessness was descending fast upon her shoulders. There were only a small handful of rows behind where Mia sat, the unfortunate spelling of her last name sending her further back in the queue than was preferable.

Then suddenly, her grumpy lab partner was standing and so was the girl on Mia's other side, who hadn't stopped silently crying since she had taken her seat. Mia had applauded her stamina when she had even managed to shed a few tears during the painful commencement speech but Mia jumped to her feet and quickly hurried to catch up with the rest of the row before she could say anything audibly to her neighbor.

The Dean seemed to have figured something out, but most likely sensed the restlessness from both the students and their families, and soon started calling out names double time. Shorter than most of the females in her class, due to her lack of stilettos and fancy dress, Mia made up for her height difference as best she could while she waited for her name to be called by bouncing slightly, her worn out old converses having plenty of give to accommodate her endless supply of nerves.

"Mia Roberts."

Finally. Mia ran up the few steps and covered the distance that stood between her and freedom in under two seconds.

She heard the distinctive cry of a very enthusiastic group of people, all huddled together in one section of the arena and paused for a moment center stage to lift her diploma above her head. The moment of victory lasted less than half a second and she knew her cheering fans would understand as she took off running.

Taking the descending staircase two at a time and hitting the cement floor hard, Mia turned right as her peers turned left to return to their seats. Her hand reached up to grab a hold of her cap as it lost its grip on her hair and started to slide down the side of her head.

She followed her feet as they led her down corridors only mildly recognizable. There was a total lack of security along the back passages compared to the last time but the cement walls gave off a familiar spark. She had only had gotten the chance to wander these corridors once before but it seemed that was enough as she was running through a pair of double black doors within the minute and hurrying across the arena's empty lobby.

Just past the long row of glass doors that led to the outside and freedom, Mia could see her ride already waiting for her.

The driver, however, was not at her post behind the wheel but instead standing at the edge of the curb with her arms crossed across her chest, standing opposite a policeman that towered over her as her eyes glowed bright and wide. Mia recognized Tori's defensive glare and barely caught a few words of the argument once she pushed through the doors and inhaled a lung-full of fresh air.

"And I'm telling you, I'm waiting for someone! I'll be gone in a second! This is for unloading and reloading, is it not?"

"Tori! Let it go! We're late!"

"Hey, kid! Did you get it?"

Tori's frown vanished the minute she caught sight of Mia barreling straight for her, her diploma waving high above her head.

She sent a sweet smile up at the cop as she hurried to the front seat. There was also some kind of apology mixed with a heavy dose of I-told-you-so thrown his way before her head ducked into the car and she roared the car into life.

Mia's right foot only just made it into the car and her door still hung wide open as Tori spend down the small alleyway, barely pausing before turning and merging head first into traffic.

The sun was hinting at finally heading to bed for the night, despite the later hour. It's warm glow shone over the city to then land on the hoods of the cars lined out in front of them as Tori and Mia raced to the highway to then sit in traffic as they tried to circumvent the city and headed for one of its further neighborhoods.

Although several blocks from the downtown hub, traffic didn't bother to thin as Tori pulled the car off the side-sweeping highway and back onto city streets.

Mia's heighten energy had caught hold of Tori's own excitable personality and if it hadn't been for the wide open windows begging for a breath of cool air off the river to combat the sticky heat, the car itself would have shook with nerves as both Mia and Tori surely did.

They didn't even try to talk. Tori had started in on a congratulations when Mia dove into the car but she had responded with a single shout to "Drive!" As Mia's leg continued to bounce, Tori's finger beat out against the steering wheel. Both sounds and movements bothered the other but neither bothered to say anything and suffered in silence.

Mia could see Tori's eyes stay wide as she navigated the best she could through the crowded streets but only took notice during the few seconds she wasn't counting down the minutes that flashed by on her phone.

Her mind was running through the show, going through the set list. They were late, there was no denying that. But just how late. At eight sharp, she could see the band stepping out from the backstage. She could see Jay take his seat behind the drums and Tommy grab hold of his mic and dive head first into the first show, starting it with a bang.

The sudden sensation of the car coming to a complete stop pulled her out of her head and back to reality.

There was suddenly people coming at them from every direction, the street becoming more of a pedestrian way than a city avenue. The large baseball stadium loomed high overhead directly to their right and the bright lights from the stands were competing with the orange glow from the setting sun. There were jerseys everywhere and no possible chance for Tori to wind her way through the crowd.

"Out! Get out! Go!"

Tori started pushing Mia towards the door, leaving her no other option than to throw her diploma and graduation cap into the back seat and climb out of the car.

A policeman hollered at her as she opened her door and stepped into traffic but she didn't give him much of a chance to usher a warning as she was hustling through the crowd before her car door slammed shut behind her.

She stood out like a sore thumb. At least she would have if she had even paused for a moment to gather a lungful of breath. Her dark green robes were barely hanging onto her shoulders and flapped in the wind behind her as she took off running.

Winding her way through a crowd of blue and red jerseys, she was catching everyone's eye as she passed and soon the people in front of her took notice too. They started to clear a way and she found she had a direct avenue to her final destination.

A familiar face stood at a side door, directly opposite one of the entrances for the baseball stadium. His eyes were searching each face as Mia approached but didn't have to look further when her flowing train of dark green signaled her arrival. She managed to utter a quick "Shut up" in greeting and in response to the laugh about to break out across his face.

She passed through the open door and hurried through the dark and empty lobby. There were a few people at the merchandise tables that lined the walls and Mia caught a glimpse of some familiar faces waving to her from behind one of them.

Her greeter was trying to keep up with her and show her where to go but the layout here was even more familiar than the arena had been. She wouldn't have been able to count just how many times she had made her way through these halls.

She could see the lights from the stage and finally stopped running when her feet nearly took her out from behind the black curtains and onto the lit up the stage.

She was doubled over, breathing fast and shallow, her heart beating hard in her ears and her brain regretting each time she had cheated in PE and claimed she had run four laps when she had actually only run three. When she stood up straight, there was a stab of sharp pain in her side but she was greeted with a sight that helped fling that sensation from her mind.

Jay was laughing from where he sat up on his platform and behind his drums. He wasn't playing and Mia only then became aware that there was no music bursting from the speakers. She gave him a wave as best she could with her lungs feeling on fire and let her hands drop again to rest upon her knees, trying to regain a sense of normal rhythmic breathing.

A small voice in the back of her mind told her just where in the set they were. But she only became aware of Tommy speaking to the crowd as he did every show after the third song when he said her name, causing her to stand upright again, and this time stay there.

"Good evening, everyone and welcome to the show."

Mia felt the thunderous applause more than she heard it.

"Thank you so much for coming out. We love getting the chance to play here in our hometown and we appreciate that you guys never fail to sell this place out."

Mia knew without looking up what the scene looked like beyond the stage. There would be a sea of hands that stretched out to the furthest wall and extended to every corner. A sea that then rose up to the two levels above, faces peering out over the banisters, crowding along the edge in a desperate attempt to get the best view of the stage that they could.

"Tonight is a very special night. Not only are we here playing in our hometown," the crowds roaring response was expected and Tommy waited until they calmed down. "But my main man's main squeeze just graduated college. Can everyone please give Mia a huge round of applause?"

This time Mia was upright to see the applause and felt as Jay beat against his bass drum to the rhythm.

"Mia, I don't know if you're here, but congrats. We're all very proud of you. If you see her, give her a high five. I don't doubt she's here somewhere. She hasn't missed a hometown show yet and I doubt even her own graduation would stop her. She'll probably be still wearing her robes if I know that girl at all."

Jay was already climbing down from his drums as Tommy finished talking and the crowd's cheers grew louder as he neared the edge of the stage.

Mia took a few steps out into the light to meet him. The cheers somehow grew still louder and they were both laughing with wide smiles. Jay didn't let her go very far and wrapped his arms around her so tight she had to respond in kind. It was the first time that she felt just as sweaty as he did.

"See?! I told you!"

Tommy was close to laughing when he turned from the crowd to join in the applause they were all sending her way.

Jay planted one kiss on the top of Mia's head, yelling down at her "Congratulations, babe," before finally letting her go as Tommy started to introduce the next song. She watched him climb back to his spot as she took the few steps back into the shadows.

She was met with a hoard of people who seemed to have materialized from nowhere and were all smiling at her, arms already outstretched. Her smile didn't bother going anywhere as she accepted each of her friends' hugs and cries of congratulations.

Several of them stayed close as she stood at her spot and watched the rest of the show. There had been attempts to joke about her late entrance and the state of her current attire but the music had started up once again and no one bothered to speak while the beat pounded through the speakers, blending magically along with the lyrics Tommy screamed into his mic.

The sun had given up all hold on the day by the time Mia found herself pulling into her mother's driveway. But it hadn't gone without a fight, as there was still a light blue tint to the night sky above when the hour was nearing closer to midnight than nine o'clock.

The lights of the house were still blazing out over the wide front lawn and Mia heard the party raging on inside before she could see it. All the windows were open to welcome in the cool evening breeze.

The volume of the world around her tripled when she pushed open the front door. There was a loud general cry of sound and Mia laughed as she heard a loud exclamation of both "Congratulations!" and "Mia!" coming from every direction. Even the party behind her joined in with the cry as they pushed their way through the front door.

With one hand held firmly in Jay's, Mia led the large entourage into the house. The already riotous party, topping off at a total of fifteen of Mia's closest friends and family, was tripled by the time the last crew member made their way inside.

Mia spotted a large spread of food laid out along the dining room table and saw additional provisions being added to the pile as almost every member of the band and it's touring company queued up and started digging in.

Her stomach made a feeble attempt to growl in hunger but before Mia even thought about following Tommy's lead and piling up a huge plate of food, her vision was suddenly filled with the expressions of every single person she loved, several of whom she wouldn't have been able to say how long it had since they had stood face to face.

An overwhelming sense of love replaced hunger within a minute and Mia dove head first into the party, Jay following close behind.

What followed was a solid hour of near constant talking, of greeting family members and old friends that had flown all the way to watch her graduate, followed then by introductions to every one Jay did not know and a quick session of interrogation from the ones she considered more like brothers than family friends.

They were not dissuaded by the fact that Mia's mother was a major fan of both Jay and his band, nor by the fact that they were nearing their second year anniversary. Mia did little to stop the proceedings and laughed as her friends played the protective older brother and smiled as Jay took it without a second of hesitation.

At long last Mia found herself seated. Not comfortably, as she was squeezed into a picnic table that was sure to have been meant for children. The table had been brought in from the lawn out back to accommodate the mass of new arrivals.

But her stomach was full, her feet were finally getting the chance to rest and she felt the weight of Jay's arm as it rest across her shoulders. She couldn't imagine being more comfortable ever before in her entire life.

Around the small plastic table was huddled the greatest assortment of Mia's social circles she had ever seen. Tommy sat a few people down, deep in a conversation with Tori on a particular theory of existentialist philosophy while Jay was chatting along to Mia's older brother about his time spent in Amsterdam working with deaf dancers.

There was a healthy mix of Mia's family and members of the crew and opening acts, all getting along as if they had been friends for years. Chatter continued on even as Mia found she had little to say, exhaustion hitting her feet first and then her eyes. But it didn't dare touch her smile.

She combated the wave of sleep that kept trying to take her over by observing her two worlds coming together and meddling perfectly. Even her mom stood leaning against the kitchen counter, talking in depth about music and sound engineering with the band's tour manager and two of the sound tech's that had always traveled with them.

All throughout the house, people were getting along and Mia felt that the world within the walls of her mother's home was at complete peace.

It was only with a mild pang of sadness that Mia thought of the pile of luggage waiting just beside the front door and the weeks of travel that lay stretched out ahead that they represented. But it was an easy pain to manage as she was leaving the arms of one family to fall into the folds of what she had long ago come to consider her second.

A/N:

I low-key LOVE this one. I think it's great!

There I go again. Tooting my own horn. You know what??? I don't care!!! I'm gonna keep tooting my own horn!!

🎷🎺 TOOT!

Okay. Five things.

1. I love Tommy.

2. I love Tori.

3. Yes. This chapter is very similar to the first chapter of Where We Were.

Haven't read it yet??? Hmmm! Well!! You should totally go and do that!! It's pretty good if I do say so myself!

🎺🎷 TOOT!

4. The interaction with the police officer at the baseball stadium was based off a real life experience.

I was trying to go see my favorite band in concert but I had a broken foot at the time and my sister had to stop in the middle of traffic to let me and my crutches out so she could go find parking and the policeman did not like it.

There were also a ton of people around because a game was happening at the same time as the concert. That happens way more than it should. They really need to get their ish figured.

5. For our final item of business, that little tidbit about Mia cheating in gym and only running 3 laps instead of 4??

Yup. That one's true as well. Totally me. I worked the system pretty hard to only run 3 laps instead of 4 every time we had to run the mile.

My mile time was horrendous and I hated running. I put major effort into this too. They even changed up the system on how they kept track at one point and I figured out a way around that too!

Me and my co-conspirator were never found out. Shout out to Pattie, where ever she is.