"You ready?" Blake asked.

"Not at all," she told him.

"Come on, it won't be that bad."

"You don't have burn wounds all over your chest," she responded. "You don't understand."

"Look, I know it's not going to be easy, but I'll be there. Doesn't that make it a little better?" he asked.

"Psh, why would you being there make it better?" He pretended to look wounded. "You're just annoying," she continued.

"I am not annoying."

"Okay, sweetheart. Whatever you say."

"And you say I'm the annoying one."

"I'm joking. Thank you for coming with me," she told him.

"Finally, you realize my awesome-ness," he joked with a cute grin.

Mia smiled. She couldn't help it! He was just too darn cute. It was starting to get irritating.

"Okay," she agreed. "I need to get in the wheelchair. Can you help me?" She asked.

"Of course," he agreed. Mia watched him stand up and walk towards her. She decided to make it easier for him by sitting up. That in itself was a struggle, so how was she going to walk?

"Don't exert yourself too much. Here, let me help," he told her, slipping an arm under her knees and back, careful to avoid the front of her body, which is where she got the worst wounds.

"Thanks, Blake." He walked her over to where the wheelchair was parked. She grimaced as she sat down in the chair. Luckily, her arms were mostly fine so she was able to wheel herself out of the room with Blake walking next to her. They made their way down the elevator (yes, Blake does have an elevator in his house) and to the dining room.

At the sight of pancakes, Blake left her side and rushed to the heaping stack sitting on a plate. He grabbed five and set them on a plate from the cabinet. He got some utensils, sat down at the table, and started eating.

Smiling, Mia made my way over to the plate and took two pancakes, setting them down on a plate. She rolled over to the spot next to Blake and began eating.

I heard a door open and saw Mr. Payson walk in. "Have you seen Laura?" Blake asked in between bites. "I need to thank her for the awesome pancakes," he explained. Laura must be the chef, Mia decided.

"I think she's finishing up the bacon in the kitchen," Mr. Payson told them with a smile. "Anyway, I have to go. I have to start working on a new movie today so I won't be around as much," he told them, mostly Blake, with a small frown.

"It's okay, I have Mia to keep me company now," Blake said. "Okay, that sounded really creepy. I just meant that I have another friend so I won't be completely bored out of my mind," he clarified.

Mr. Payson laughed. "That's good. Anyway, I have to go now. I'll see you at 9:00."

"Bye, Dad," Blake told him, turning his attention back to the pancakes in front of him.

"Bye, Mr. Payson," Mia added.

Mr. Payson grabbed a to-go cup of coffee before walking out the door.

"Wait for a second," Blake ordered, eyes widening with some sort of recognition. "Did he say Laura was working on bacon?" he asked.

"Yep," she told him. Suddenly she understood what he'd asked. "Oh my gosh! Bacon!" she yelled, her eyes going wide. "Will you get me some?" she asked, pouting her bottom lip and widening her eyes in hopes that he would give in.

He looked at her for a while and she could see him start to give in. "Ugh! Why do you have to be so cute?" he asked. She could feel her face redden as she watched him blush at what he had said. "I mean in a friend way. Like you're a cute friend. I don't like you or anything."

Gosh, he was so adorable when he ranted. He kept talking and she just looked at him while he went on about how he didn't like her for a good five or so minutes.

"Blake?" he stopped talking and looked into his eyes. "I get it. You don't like me."

"I like you. Just not like that," he told her. "I only like you as a friend."

Although he had gone ranting about that for five minutes earlier it didn't hurt as much as it did just then. It seemed more genuine this time. It hurt to think he actually only thought of her as a friend. She used to think that he liked her at least a little bit but she must have been wrong.

"Good to know," she told him, trying to play it off as a joke. Inside, however, her heart was crushed. "Can you get me some bacon?" she asked, returning to their previous conversation.

"Sure," he told her. He looked happy to have an excuse to leave but she couldn't stand being away from him. They'd gotten really close the past few days because of how much time they were forced to be together.

"Thanks."

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the breakfast.

***

Mia and Blake started making their way over to the same gym where Mia had first started training to use her powers. The walk was quiet which annoyed Mia beyond measure.

She already knew he didn't like her and now he wouldn't even talk to her. She didn't know how the day could get any worse. At least, until she walked into the gym. Then she remembered why she was there.

Dr. Clarkson was waiting when they walked in. Mia sucked in a breath and Blake seemed to know what she was thinking. "Hey, it's gonna be fine," he consoled. "I'm right here."

"I know." Mia started wheeling herself to the railing where Dr. Clarkson was standing.

"Hello, Mia. How are you today?" she asked, smiling. Normally, just the presence of Dr. Clarkson would have made Mia smile but today was different. She had the feeling that no matter what Dr. Clarkson said, she couldn't make Mia smile.

"I'm fine," Mia told her, trying not to think about what was about to happen too much.

"Are you ready?" Dr. Clarkson asked.

Of course not! Why in the world would you think I'd be ready for this!? Mia thought. Instead of speaking her thoughts, she said. "Yeah, I can do this." Once the words came out of Mia's mouth she decided that she would at least try to believe them.

"We're going to start with just standing up. It's probably going to hurt due to the severity of your burns but I honestly believe that you can do it," she told me.

"Okay," the word came out of Mia's mouth slowly, as if she was scared to say it.

She took a deep breath and prepared herself. Blake stood next to her as she gripped the armrests of her wheelchair, steadying herself to stand. She used the arm rests to push herself up. It was slow and very wobbly but she was able to do that. Of course, the searing pain that shot through her at the movement wasn't great and she almost fell immediately but still... she was standing.

She could feel her feet give way and felt Blake grab her. She could tell he was sure to be gentle but pain still climbed up her arm even though the burns there weren't even that bad.

"You okay?" Blake asked as she sat down again. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern.

"Yeah, it's harder than it looks, okay?" she laughed. Blake cracked a small smile but she could tell that it was mostly just for her sake. "Can we try again?" she asked.

"I'm not going to let you go again," he told her. She sighed. She had suspected as much.

She stood up again, slower this time, and holding onto Blake's arm tightly.

She didn't fall which she took as a pretty good sign. "Hey! Look at me!" she said excitedly. "I'm standing!"

Blake laughed. "I can see that."

She shoved him lightly before laughing with him although she was careful to stay steady so that she wouldn't fall.

"Are you ready to try and walk?" Dr. Clarkson asked.

"Totally! I can do it," she told them with new-found confidence.

Sadly, confidence didn't mean success. She fell again. And was caught by Blake again. She couldn't shake the feeling of adrenaline at his touch. It happened whenever the two came in physical contact. She hated it, especially now that he had told her that he didn't like her.

"Let's try again," Blake suggested. Mia did. She fell again.

Mia had been trying for a while and it was getting really tiring. She could feel tears well up in her eyes. It should not have been that hard to walk.

"I give up. I can't do it," she told them, sitting back down in her wheelchair.

"Just try one more time. If you can't do it then we can go back in and you can try again tomorrow," he told her.

"Fine, whatever." She stood up again with the help of Blake and tried to walk again. She fell.

"Told you." Blake's frown was almost enough to make her cry again. "Can we just get out of here?" she begged.

"Okay." She wheeled herself out without saying goodbye to Dr. Clarkson.

The rest of the day was spent sulking. She read occasionally to try and get her mind off of everything but even that didn't help.

Next, she tried art. She hadn't drawn in a while because she'd honestly just been busy but now, she needed it.

Mia rolled over to her desk, a large wooden box with a hole right in the center where she could park her chair and a few drawers. She took out the sketchbook that Tori had brought from home and the awesome pencils that Blake had given her.

She couldn't decide what to sketch so she just sketched. First, she drew an eye, like she always drew. She was a bit rusty but it was pretty good. Next, she drew a girl. It wasn't anyone she knew but she was proud of the detail she was able to put on paper. She then drew some flowers and a few cats before running out of ideas so she just let her hand flow across the paper. Okay, maybe she knew what she was drawing but it didn't sound so creepy when it was like her subconscious doing it.

She looked down at her drawing to see Blake. Even though she'd known what she was drawing that didn't make it any less embarrassing and she felt a blush creep up to her cheeks as she looked at the details. The way his hair was perfect even though he didn't style it and his gorgeous smile. His tan skin made his whole face seem to light up. Not only that, but his jawline was incredible. She could see the sharp edge and wondered how someone could look that perfect. Even without all the muscles that some guys had he was still amazing and she hadn't even focused on his eyes yet. She knew that none of her drawings, no matter how detailed, could express the perfection that was Blake's eyes. You could see the emotion and there was something so deep about them, as if she looked for too long she would drown.

Mia soon realized how creepy she was being. What was happening to her? No, seriously, what the heck had happened? She had never even liked a boy, much less been this head-over-heels for one.

For some reason, at that moment, Blake walked in. She looked at the clock to see that it was already 10:00. Mia realized that it was time to go to bed and was suddenly glad that she'd changed into her pajamas before she started drawing.

"Hey, Mia," he greeted, yawning. Mia rolled over to near the door where she had been parking it during the night. Blake picked her up bridal style as he had done that morning and walked her over to the bed. She clung to his neck, never wanting to let go.

Okay, this is starting to get creepy, she thought, loosening her grip on him and trying to regain control of her crazy thoughts.

Blake gently set her down on the bed and sat down next to her. She covered herself in the blankets as Blake did the same. Mia got comfortable on her pillow, deciding not to rest her head on his chest that night.

Blake gently grabbed her and pulled him to her, forcing her to rest her head against his chest. If she hadn't wanted it so much she might have been mad.

A few moments later Blake fell asleep but Mia couldn't. She just sat there for a while before she saw something in the corner coming closer and Mia screamed.