Mia's eyelids fluttered open. The first thing she felt was a hint of familiarity. That's when she realized where she was. She was in Blake's house. The same room she'd stayed in so many other times. And she was not happy about that.

To her side, she could see Blake reading a book and realized that it was Mockingjay. She felt a surge of hate for him fill her. But she didn't know why. She didn't even like the feeling. She wanted to like him. Her thoughts were just her thinking about how grateful she was to have him in her life and how much she missed him. But her heart... her heart could only seem to hate him and she hated it.

Mia looked to her right to see that Charlie was gripping her hand only he was asleep on his chair. "What are you doing here?" she asked Blake. The words seemed to just blurt out of her mouth before she could only think about them.

"Mia! I am so happy that you're alive," he said.

Mia was about to say something hateful but she forced herself to stop and think about her words carefully. "I'm sorry I worried you. You know that this is a part of the job. Were there any fatal or serious injuries?" she asked, pushing her feelings aside, at least momentarily.

"No," he told her, a smile on his face. "Thanks to you, everybody was able to stay safe. I mean, you got pretty badly injured but other than that, everyone's fine," he told her.

Mia sighed in relief before feeling a shift to her right. She looked over to see that Charlie had woken up. She tried to keep a clear head, but as soon as Charlie woke up, her emotions were amplified.

Charlie turned his attention to Blake. "Could you give us the room?" he asked.

Blake looked at Mia, obviously hesitant to leave them alone. Eventually, after a bit of glaring from Charlie, he left.

As soon as Blake left the room, Charlie's face went from calm and relieved, to angry. Mia shriveled up in the bed as Charlie turned to face her. "You mess up everything!" he yelled. "Because of you, everything is ruined. It's all your fault. You don't even deserve love."

His hand flew to her face as it had done once before. This time, though, she was expecting it. But she didn't stop it. He was right. She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve anything. Mia felt another surge of hate flood her. But this time, it wasn't towards Blake.

It was towards herself.

Mia felt tears fall down her cheeks. It hurt even more than last time. She knew that her face must have been scratched up from the fight and the slap didn't help.

He was about to slap Mia again when the door burst open. Blake came rushing in. "I knew it!" he yelled, running over to Charlie.

Mia saw Blake punch Charlie. Mia felt screams coat her voice. "Leave him alone!" she screamed. She wasn't even sure who she was yelling at.

She stood up slowly. She would have been faster but her injuries were restraining her. She went over to the boys as quickly as possible, which wasn't very fast.

She tried to get in between the boys but could never get a firm enough stance. Then, Charlie noticed her again. His fist curled like it had when he was punching Blake. Only this time, it was aimed at her.

Charlie's fist connected with Mia's jaw and she fell on the floor. She'd had enough. "Charlie. It's time for you to go," she told him, making sure not to let any of her emotions get in the way of her head.

"What?" he asked, wonderment clear in his shocked expression. "You can't talk to me like that! Don't you love me?"

Mia wanted to say yes. She so much wanted to say yes and let him sweep her off her feet. But she knew she had to be strong. "Yes. Sadly, I do. But I won't let that affect me. Get away from me Charlie," she told him as she watched him approach her.

Blake stood up and walked towards her. She felt a mix of disgust, hatred, and anger flare through her. She shoved it aside as was beginning to become second nature.

Blake guarded her, standing in front of her as Charlie tried to get closer. "It's time for you to leave," he told Charlie.

"You don't even know what's coming for you," he threatened before starting to walk away from Mia. When Blake saw that Charlie was far enough away for Blake to move, he grabbed Charlie's arm before dragging him out of the room.

Mia tried to stand up but made the mistake of putting pressure on her wrist. She winced in pain. Mia was gonna try again when Blake came back. He saw her situation and ran over to her.

Mia put a hand to her head. It was weird. For some reason, all of her hate-filled emotions were gone. They were replaced with everything she'd felt before. But, it was stronger than it had been. At least, she thought so. It was hard to tell though.

"I thought you were supposed to be like a genius," he started. Continuing, "so why are you trying to get up without help while your wrist is broken?

"Just help me," she responded, not answering his question. He wrapped his arms under her knees and shoulders, lifting her up bridal style.

Blake walked over to the bed before laying her down gently, careful of her wrist. Mia got under the covers before scooching over. She used her right hand to pat the spot beside her, inviting Blake to get in.

"Come on," she encouraged.

Blake got on the bed as he had done so many times before. It was kind of weird though. It had been a while since he'd helped her sleep and then the thing with Charlie happened and... it was just very weird.

Mia was about to fall asleep, her head resting on her pillow, when Blake pulled her closer to him.

She was shocked at first, but that soon faded into comfort. It had been such a long time since she'd felt so safe. But with Blake by her side, she finally did.

"We'll call the cops in the morning," he told her.

"No, I just want to forget it all. Plus, he could probably get you in trouble," she joked. "You know, because you beat the crap out of him."

"I really did, didn't I?" he asked with a smug grin on his face.

"Whatever. I'm just glad he's gone," she admitted. It was weird. Ever since she'd met him, she'd been obsessed and now she was angry at him. No. More than that. She hated him.

"I have a question," Blake admitted. "Why did you ever go out with him?"

"I honestly don't know. When I was around him, I had these really strong feelings for him but then when I wasn't around him, they always faded and the fe-" she cut herself off. She was gonna talk about her feelings for him which was definitely not the smartest idea.

"What were you gonna say?" he asked, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Nothing. It's not important," she mumbled, burying her head in his shoulder.

"But it is," he continued.

"And how would you know? It's not like I finished my sentence."

"I don't know. But I do know that it was important. I can read you. You always forget that," he joked.

"Pshh, you don't know me that well," she said.

"But I do, though."

"Just tell me. I know that you'll crack. You aren't very stubborn." That just made her want to be more stubborn.

"You know you just made me want to tell you less, right?"

"Yep," he said with a wide smile. "But I'm not too worried. I can get anything out of you."

"Yeah right."

"Hmmm... I wonder how I'll ever get it out of you." Blake started leaning closer to her.

She was surprised when she felt hands tickling her side. She'd thought he was gonna do something else. She immediately started laughing and moving around. Thankfully, she was careful of her left wrist and so was he.

"FINE!" she yelled and he immediately stopped.

He was lying on top of her and their faces were only inches apart. He noticed their position and rolled to the side, clearing his throat. "So you were saying," he reminded her, a smile on his face yet again.

Mia opened her mouth and sucked in a breath. Before she responded, she ran. She hopped out of the bed which was hard in itself and then she ran. She knew a lot of the house so she knew exactly where to go.

The kitchen.

It might not have been the smartest move but hey, she was hungry.

When Mia got there, she grabbed some microwave popcorn. Not totally healthy but she worked out daily. She'd be fine.

Mia plopped down on a seat and waited for her popcorn to be done. She tapped her fingers on the tiled counter.

Her popcorn beeped and she was about to get it when she felt hands on her waist. She tensed and looked over her shoulder to see Blake with a smug grin. Before she knew it, Blake was tickling her again.

"S-STOOOP," she pleaded, laughs erupting from her lips.

"I'm not gonna give up until you tell me," he told her.

"FINE!" Blake stopped tickling her and turned her around, still holding onto her waist. Apparently he didn't trust her not to run.

"Spill," he told her.

"I was just gonna say that when I wasn't around him." She hushed her voice to a whisper before continuing, "my feelings for you always came back," she whispered.

"Huh? What was that?" he asked with a smug grin on his face.

"My feelings for you came back," she said a bit louder through gritted teeth.

"One more time," he urged.

"My feelings for you came back!" she told him, almost yelling.

Before she even knew what was really happening, Blake was kissing her. She didn't respond at first due to shock but a few seconds after, she kissed him back. She wrapped her right arm (the one that wasn't broken) around his neck and pulled him closer, standing on her tiptoes.

Mia wondered how anybody could be as amazing as Blake was. Mia felt her heartbeat speeding up in her chest and a swarm of butterflies filling her stomach. She kissed him until she ran out of breath and even then, it was reluctant.

She pulled away from the kiss and he rested his forehead against hers as they caught their breath. "Will you go out with me?" Blake asked, completely taking Mia off guard.

"Yes," she responded without a second thought.

Blake looked into her eyes before kissing her once more. She couldn't focus on anything else. All she could think of, was the fact that she was going out with Blake. She was kissing Blake. She lo- wait, what?

Nope, let's not, she thought, pushing any thoughts of love out of her mind. She could not deal with that right then. She had just broken up with Charlie and was just now going out with Blake. She could not deal with emotions that strong.

Mia pulled away slowly. "You are so incredible," Blake whispered.

Mia giggled. "You're not too bad yourself."

***

Mia sighed, lying on her bed. "I can't believe it," she told Bella. "I am so excited!"

Bella just grinned. "I knew that Charlie wouldn't last. I never liked him!" she admitted. "He just gave me this bad vibe, you know?"

"Yeah, I really don't know why I was so entranced. I mean, I really despise him now."

"I'm glad."

"But seriously, I'm going out with Blake! It's crazy but I'm so happy," she gushed. "Is that weird?"

"No, it's really not. I always knew you had a thing for him. I'm so smart. I'm like a super genius. You should call me something cool like... Professor Gravy."

Mia burst out laughing. "Your last name is Gravy?" she wondered.

Bella blushed. "That's... just shut up."

"Gravy," Mia mumbled, still laughing to herself.

"You're the worst! At least I didn't stay with a guy that I didn't even like!" she retorted.

Mia was about to respond when she realized that she didn't even know what to say. What was she supposed to say? Bella was right. She didn't like him. So why did she stay with him?

Why would she stay with someone she didn't like unless he was around her?