"What are you doing here? "Jace could not understand.

He always knew that something behind the perfect Mia screamed shady, but then again, let's be honest, her utter perfection masked it all.

Not that he wouldn't overlook it even if she was an axe murderer.

"I..uh.. "Mia was at a loss of words, and kept stroking her hair, something Jace had learnt to be a sign of nervousness, and staring down at her feet.

But why would she do that if she had nothing to hide? Besides, people go to the hospital all the time, it didn't mean-

Then he noticed.

He noticed her disheveled self, the tears on her cheek, her shrivelled demeanor.

"Is everything okay? Are you feeling alright? "He couldn't help the concern dripping off his tongue, and if this had been any other day, he would kick himself for sounding like a love-sick puppy.

Mia quickly tried to hide her face beneath her hair but Jace pulled her in for a hug, rubbing her shoulders comfortingly and whispering comforting words into her ear, and for a moment all she could think of was how nice it was to have someone who deeply cared for your well being and knew what you needed even when you hadn't said a word, and then how nice he smelled, a scent that had her burrying her face in his chest.

"It's okay, Mia. Everything's alright. "

And that was all it took to have her break down again.

**************************************

Mandi was restless.

After all the digging she had done, she wasn't able to come up with anything.

Nothing. At. All.

And it was driving her practically insane.

"Ugh, who does she think she is, and what is she hiding?! "She burst into Shane's penthouse and threw her purse at his shocked shirtless state.

"Well, hello to you too! "Shane threw it on his couch.

"I'm just so.. frustrated. And please put a shirt on, your chest isn't all that interesting to look at. "

"Okay, normally you're just a bitch, but today you're specially the Bitch. What is it this time? "

Mandi threw herself on his couch and sighed.

"I hate that Mia. "

"Tell me something I don't know. "

"She's hiding something, I know, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to find out what it is. "

Shane moved her legs over and sat down himself.

"You always think people are hiding something. "

"Shane, did you forget to take your anti-stupidity tabs today? Cause you're really playing dumb. "

Shane shook his head. Just like Mandi to haul insults when she's aggravated, which meant something really was wrong.

"Wait, when you told me you had something planned, was this your big idea? Dig up some dirt on her? "

"Okay, first of all, don't look at me like am stupid cause if anyone is good at digging up dirt, it's me. Secondly, she doesn't seem to have any diet on her though everything about her screams shady to me and thirdly, I found out that her real name is Natasha, so that's at least something. "

"Wait, her name is Natasha? "Shane furrowed his eyebrows.

"That's what I just said."

"That name kinda rings a bell. What's her last name? "

"Well, I couldn't find out, but the name she's going with is Monroe, so.. "

"Monroe? That's also kinda familiar.. "

Shane just couldn't place it, which made Mandi all the more furious.

"You're so dumb it's unnerving. "

"Okay, if you haul one more insult at me, am throwing you out. "

Mandi rolled her eyes.

"You couldn't even if you wanted to. "

Shane turned towards her and lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh, I would. I very much would. What makes you think I wouldn't?"

Mandi smirked and crossed her legs.

"Because you and every other guy in town are obsessed with me and my hot body. "

Shane rolled his eyes and almost choked on the stench of pure confidence and utter ego oozing off the girl in the room.

"Please. Get over yourself. I swear Mandi, your ego is like the size of a country. "

Mandi laughed and reached out for some water.

"It's the truth. "She said.

"You're hot Mandi, but not all that. "

"What is that supposed to mean? "That suspiciously sounded like an insult.

"Geez, do I gotta spell it out, Mandi?And here I thought it was my turn to be dumb for the day. Here's what it means;every guy does want you, but nobody wants to keep you around. "

Mandi sat up straight and dead eyed him.

"Okay, that's a harsh and cruel blow. "

Shane shrugged and smirked at her.

"It's the cold hard truth. "

"Whatever. "

Shane got up and pulled her up, dragging her to the kitchen.

"You know what you need? "He asked, pouring her a green smoothie.

"Not this? "She looked at the drink repulsively.

"You need a workout. "

"Is that your way of saying am fat? "

Shane laughed.

"You couldn't get fat even if you wanted to. "

Mandi rolled her eyes.

She really needed some time away from Shane to get her ego back.

**************************************

By the time Mia had stopped being a crying, stuttering mess and had instead upgraded to a hiccuping mess, Jace had managed to get her away from the stairs into a safe, empty room with a really cozy sofa and an aquarium,  and also managed to get her to calm down and give her a cool drink to sooth her throat.

He was at a loss of words, it wasn't every day you saw such a confident and practical ice queen such as Mia break down, so it was a little unnerving.

He brushed her hair behind her ear and scooted a little closer to her on the sofa, watching her take a deep breath with her eyes closed.

She didn't say anything back, so he figured he should probably give her some more time to digest whatever it is that she had gone through today.
His mind had been wandering off too, trying to establish worst-case scenarios, something that frightened him more than it should.

Maybe her dog died, or maybe she stumped her toe, or she could have been diagnosed with a lethal disease like cancer or found out that someone close to her had died.

The air was thick with chilling suspense, and anything was possible.

"Mia? "He tried again carefully,this time reaching out and holding her hand.

As if by an unseen magical spark, she immediately snapped her eyes open and looked around her like she was seeing the earth for the first time.

She blinked.

Oh no.

As if her day hadn't been hard enough, she came into the realization that she had broken down in front of Jace, of all people, and had proceeded to act out the entire am-broken-help-me thing.

She was so screwed.

"What happened? "Jace asked, noticing that the Mia he knew and probably, sorta, maybe, kind of feared was back.

A part of Mia wanted to tell him everything, he was so kind and caring, but her sane part knew she had to come up with an excuse, and fast. Looking around her, she noticed the stickers on the walls and the board games on the shelf and a puzzle sprawled across the table, and immediately realized they were in the kid's hospital wing.

"Oh, I..I'm  so sorry you had to see that.. I.. "She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "The truth is, I come here really often. "

Jace motioned for her to continue.

She took another deep breath.

"I sort of donate funds to the kids hospital wing, "which was not a lie, "but..my heart just breaks you know, seeing all the sick kids and finding out others died before they had the full chance to experience life, you know, high school, college, marriage. "

She felt bad for using the kids like that, but she didn't have a choice. She couldn't even look Jace in the eyes.

"Is that why.. You were crying?"Jace furrowed his eyebrows, "Not that it's not a sad thing to cry about.. But.. You were practically bawling your eyes out. "

The situation could not get more embarrassing, and right now Mia's cheeks were red as hell fire.

"Yeah.. I really just have a close relationship with all the kids. "

They were quiet for a moment, Jace wondering whether to believe this but partially relieved that something terrible hadn't happened to her, and Mia realising she should probably leave before something blew in her face.

Then again, what was Jace doing here?

As if reading her thoughts, he replied, "I.. Uh.. Come here often, too, you know, to see the kids. "

He scratched his neck awkwardly.

Mia nodded slowly, seeing through the lie, but deciding today was probably not the best day to do some digging.

"I should go. "She hastily got up but Jace grabbed her hand before she could leave.

Mia sucked a breath and turned around, choosing to ignore the electric sparks travelling up her arm right now.

Jace let go of her hand and ran his hand through his hair, contemplating his next move. If he really wanted to be with Mia, then maybe it was time to be completely honest with her. Maybe in the future she would do so too.

He sucked in a breath and looked straight at her.

"I think there's something you should know. "

**********************************
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