Mia saw Blake wake up at the sound of her screams. "What is going on!?" he asked, clutching on to her protectively.

"Look!" she told him with wide eyes, pointing to the shape in the back of the room. Blake turned that way. Mia saw his face go through a series of emotions. First, she saw shock, then fear, and then worry.

The creature continued walking towards them slowly, but Mia noticed that it was speeding up. Had the room been smaller, it would have for sure reached them already. She realized then that she couldn't walk. She was going to die, and knowing Blake, he would do anything to protect her. She couldn't have that. "RUN!" she yelled.

Blake looked at her like she was crazy. "I'm not going anywhere without you," he told her, jumping out of bed and running over to her side before picking her up in bridal style and running out of the room, the monster close behind. Too close. She looked over his shoulder to see that it was inches away from catching them.

"Blake, you need to leave me," she told him. "I'm slowing you down."

"No!" he said, his voice sharp as a knife. "I know this sounds insane, but if you die, I die too."

"You're right! That does sound insane! I don't care what the heck you say. LEAVE ME!" she protested.

"Gosh! It's like you don't even listen!" Mia could hear him running out of breath as he ran. She knew he wouldn't stop because he was a psycho idiot.

"I just want to tell you that... I like you. As more than a friend," she admitted before jumping out of his arms and falling on the floor. She was splayed across the cold tile floor of the small hallway. She knew she couldn't stay in that position so she stood slowly, something she hadn't done on her own in weeks. "GO! I'll be back!" she told him.

"Please don't leave me," he begged but something in his eyes told her that he trusted her enough to let her go.

"I won't. I promise." She knew she couldn't keep it but she could at least try. He ran over to her and cupped her chin in his hands before leaning down and kissing her.

The world seemed to stop. The kiss was passionate but sweet. Her heart was beating loudly and she could barely process what was happening. Finally, Blake was kissing her, and too soon it was over.

"Goodbye."

"Go kill that thing!" he told her. And then he was gone. She turned around to see a wolf that seemed to be made of plants. It looked kind of like a shrub, to be honest. The wolf came closer and looked ready to attack. Okay, she thought. I can do this!

She knew that the only way to defeat it would be to use her powers against it. It was made of plants so it couldn't be that hard to destroy, right?

She concentrated on her emotions. She let the anger surge through her and let it loose, this time, making sure to keep it under control.

The last time she'd used her powers she'd basically destroyed an entire bridge and hurt a good amount of people. This time, she'd make sure that wouldn't happen. She made sure to keep it in her grasp.

The electricity surged out of her. It was bright, almost blinding and it shocked her hands a bit but she kept control.

The wolf came closer, seemingly unaffected by the lightning hitting it. Soon enough it had tackled her to the ground, clawing at Mia's face. This is it, she thought, her eyes shut tight in pain as she screamed. She realized that she wouldn't be able to do anything with her eyes closed so slowly, ignoring the pain in her entire body, she peered her eyes open. That's when she noticed a gem on the beast's back, looking extremely out of place in contrast to the rest of the plants that made up the wolf.

Mia suddenly remembered something about that gem and decided to aim her lightning at the jem and let go of all her emotions. The lightning bolt hit the gem stronger than any other lightning bolt she had created.

She tried to stay awake but the loss of blood, pain, and exhaustion took over and her eyes shut involuntarily before she passed out to a world of darkness.

***

Mia woke up with a jolt. Her first thought was how gross her mouth tasted and then she wondered how long it had been since she'd gotten out of that bed. She looked around the room and saw the same wooden desk, bookcases, and large tv she had come to accompany with her room. She heard a voice and looked to see Blake reading something out loud. She caught a glimpse of the cover and saw Catching Fire. She smiled, remembering their conversation so many nights ago.

"Hey," Mia said, catching his attention.

Blake looked up from his paper and smiled when he saw her.

"We have got to stop getting into these situations," she joked.

"You are the most stupid person ever!" he told her.

"I know, I'm sorry. At least I'm alive, though," she tried to lighten the mood.

"You could have died, Mia."

"I know," she told him. "I'm fine. I knew what I was doing." Lies. She had no idea what she was doing when she stayed behind. All she knew was that she needed to save Blake.

He seemed to know that as he gave her an unconvinced look. "Just because you are a superhero does not mean that you always have to save the day."

"Can we just talk about something else?" she asked, not having the energy to talk about that night.

"Okay, but when you're better, which will probably be in like five years at this rate, we are going to talk about this."

"Fine, whatever."

"I'm sorry for stressing you out. I'm going to go and get Dr. Clarkson."

A thought popped into her head. "Wait! I want to see my family first."

Blake sighed. "Okay," he agreed.

***

Her dad walked in and ran over to her bedside. By his posture, she could tell he desperately wanted to hug her but smartly decided not to. Instead, he sat down in one of the two small chairs placed to the right of her bed.

"Do you know how terrifying it is to have you as a kid!? I mean, seriously, you are the most reckless teenager I have ever met. How do you even get into these situations!?" he asked. Mia could actually feel herself tense up at the question. She knew exactly how she got in those situations but she could not tell him that. The thing was, she was terrible at lying. She could keep secrets like nobody's business but if someone asked her a question directly and she needed to lie she just couldn't.

"I don't know," she told him, trying not to break out into a guilty smile like she did every other time she lied.

Mia was extremely grateful when her father just gave her a weird look and let it go.

"Is Tori coming?" Mia asked. It was weird but she found herself missing her obnoxious, annoying, tiring, little sister.

Her dad smiled, seeming to somehow know what was going on inside her head. "She'll be here after school. She wanted to stay but I wouldn't let her," he told her. That made her wonder why he was there.

"Wait, why are you here? I mean, don't you have work?" she asked.

He gave her a small smile. "You really think I would choose work over my daughter?" he questioned.

"But... I mean, you should be at work!" she protested, knowing how important his work was to him.

"I took a few vacation days. It's fine," he told her.

"A few?" she asked. "How long have I been out?"

"A week."

"WHAT!?" she yelled. "Are you serious!?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm sorry."

"I have missed so much school," she realized randomly.

Her dad chuckled. "You can worry about school later."

"You don't get it! I'm in high school! I need to go to college! How am I going to get into college if I've been gone from school for three months!?" she asked.

Her dad sighed. "I'll talk to your doctor about when you can go back," he told her reluctantly.

Instantly, she felt herself relax. "Do you think that until then they can send me the homework? I need something to do." She hadn't had to do it before because of her extreme traumatic experience. She probably could have gotten out of it this time too but that would just cause her more stress.

"Of course," he agreed.

Mia and her dad talked for hours. Mostly, it was about her friends and basically just what he had missed while she was still at school. It was honestly really nice to talk to her dad.

Mia turned when she heard the door open. Tori walked in looking tired and set her school bag down in the chair. When she looked up and saw Mia she smiled like a mad-man and ran over to her, engulfing her in a hug. Mia cringed in pain but hugged back anyway, laughing slightly.

"You are such a freaking idiot! I mean, do you have any idea how stupid you are!?" she asked.

"You have no idea how many times I've been asked that question today," was her only response as she pulled out of the hug, sitting up in her queen-sized bed. She could see the annoyance in Tori's eyes.

"We need to talk, though. Just you and me. I seriously need to catch you up," she exclaimed. Mia couldn't help but smile. "Dad, can you leave?" she asked bluntly.

"Sure," he chuckled, standing up.

When dad was gone, Tori started talking. "Okay, first of all, you know Talon?" Mia had literally no idea who that was. Tori seemed to understand and clarified. "He's from my choir class. He's super cute and he asked me out yesterday!" Mia could tell that Tori was more excited then she was letting on.

"That's awesome, Tori!" Mia told her. Something came back to her at the mention of a date. "OH MY GOSH!" she exclaimed before clamping a hand over her mouth.

"What!?" Tori asked, looking surprised at her sudden outburst.

"Nothing," she tried to conceal her thoughts.

"Nuh-uh! No way are you gonna yell like that and then expect me to believe that you didn't just think of something! Come on! Spit it out!" she urged.

"I can't tell you," she admitted. It was a lie, of course. It wouldn't be the end of the world but the idea of talking to her little sister about something like that was horrifying.

"Yes, you can! Just spit it out."

"I... well... I might have... maybe kissed Blake," she admitted quietly, covering her ears as Tori squealed.

"Are you serious! I so called it! Bella owes me twenty dollars."

"What are you talking about? When did you talk to Bella?" she asked, confused.

"She's been giving me rides to school since you've been on bed rest for like a month," she told her.

"Wait, so what was that about her owing you money?" Mia asked.

"Right, she thought that you two would kiss at the end of December and I knew that you would kiss at the beginning of November. I'm right so she owes me twenty bucks," she explained, seeming not to notice her sister's wide eyes.

"You know what? I'm just going to ignore that whole thing. So, what else is up?" she asked.

"The ceiling. The sky. The moon. The stars. The-"

"STOP! I get it. You're hilarious. We get it."

"True, true. I am very funny." Tori laughed and Mia couldn't help but join in. There wasn't anything particularly funny about their conversation but neither of them cared. Mia realized how much she'd missed this. Even being the obnoxious, annoying, tiring girl she was, Mia still loved her and always would.

A/N Sooo... that was quite the chapter. 

Mia and Blake kissed. What do you guys think about that? Personally, I love Blake with my whole soul but what do you guys think?

What do you think that gem was about? I know exactly what it's about but I'm not going to tell you because I don't have to. Anyway, I'm going to work on another chapter now. 

Bye beauties

Xoxo - Abby