Clay looks away from his laptop and looks at the door he just heard a knock from. Was this even real? He walks over to the door and opens it. His face goes slack as he sees the brunette standing in front of him, drenched in water from the rain. "M-Mia?" Clay questions. He sees the panicked expression on her face. "I-I-I'm sorry, I just had nowhere else to go," Mia whispers blankly like she was empty on the inside. Clay steps aside and she slowly walks in.

"Clay, what are you doing up?" Justin asks, seeing his brother close the door. Justin's eyes move over to the side and he blinks. "Mia?" He slowly gets out of bed. "Are you okay?" Clay asks.

Mia hugs herself, trying not to shiver tremendously. Clay grabs a towel from the bathroom, he walks back over to MIa and cautiously places it over her shoulders. Mia grips the towel, "My mom...she didn't want me in the house." Mia shakes her head slightly.

"Wait--why not? Did you get into an argument?" Justin questions.

Mia gnaws on her lower lip like she always does when she's nervous. "No, no she's...protecting me." Mia answers.

"Protecting you? F-From what?" Clay inquires.

Mia takes a moment to catch her breath. She didn't even want to answer, Clay and Justin, look at each other noting the fear in her body. "He's...he's back..." Mia whispers. "John, he's...they let him off. He's out of prison, my dad...he fucking paid them off." Mia wipes her mouth and exhales sharply.

"What the fuck?" Clay and Justin say with wide eyes. Clay has never seen John before but Justin has. He remembers when John used to live at the Walker house, he remembers John hurting Mia. "I'll kill him," Justin growls.

Clay looks over at Justin, he's never seen him so angry before. "Did you see him, I mean...at your house?" Clay asks.

"No, but he's...he's fucking insane." Mia inhales quickly and exhales more air. She starts to breathe quickly, Clay touches her arm. "Mia, hey..." He whispers.

Mia looks over at him, "What am I supposed to do?" She asks. The brunette looks between the two boys. "I talked to him last semester, you remember?" Mia questions. "And I...I fucking I told him he wasn't getting out and I told him I wasn't afraid of him, but that was a fucking lie!" Mia's knees buckle and she falls to the ground.

Justin steps forward, alert. Clay's eyes widen, he crouches down in front of her and wraps his arms around her. "I'll get her some dry clothes." Justin roots through his things. "Are any of these fucking clean?" Justin questions himself.

After Mia got dried and dressed, she was laying in bed, her eyes glued on the ceiling. "I wish..." Mia whispers, Clay turns to her. "I wish everything could go back to the way it was...when we were a little happy." She finishes.

"I'm sorry, Mia." He whispers.

Mia bites the inside of her cheek, "Yeah, me too." She says softly.

Clay hesitantly moves his hand towards her arm. Mia inhales softly as she feels his thumb trace her skull tattoo on her forearm. Mia turns away from him, she scoots closer to him until her back was against his chest. Clay wraps his arms around her waist, he places his chin against her shoulder.

Mia listens to Clay's breathing, she didn't know why but it always seems to calm her down. Hearing him beside her, staying here with Justin and Clay always made her feel safe.

==========

Mia slowly wakes up, the sun burning her eyes. "Shit..." She groans.

"Well, well, well...look who's awake." The boy says. Mia looks over at the boy and rolls her eyes. "Good morning to you too." She slowly sits up and groans.

"How are you feeling?" Justin asks.

Mia sighs, "Terrible. Like...it's really bad." Mia massages her brow bones.

The brunette looks next to her and sees Clay still sleeping. "This is the first time that he's actually been able to sleep, no screaming, no talking, just...peace." He chuckles.

Mia smirks, "Yeah, same for me too." Mia says.

Justin looks at her. "You did that Mia." Justin states.

Mia presses her lips together. "By the way..." Mia stands on her feet. "Happy Valentine's Day." She says with fake excitement. Mia deadpans and rolls her eyes. "This is the worst time ever." Mia scoffs.

"So...you're not going to the dance with Brett?" Justin asks.

Mia shakes her head, "No. I'm actually kind of been stressing out lately, so...I need a meeting today." Mia shrugs. "Kind of glad I'm missing this dance anyway."

Justin presses his lips together. "I still can't believe your dad got John out." Justin shakes his head with disbelief.

Mia chuckles, "Well...my dad's a piece of shit, so..." She raises her brows for emphasis. "I want to thank you guys, though...for letting me stay here. My mom wanted me gone for a while to make sure he wasn't going to make a visit to kill me--"

"Hey." Justin touches her arm. Mia notices that she was gnawing on her bottom lip and stops. "He's not going to hurt you," Justin says.

"You don't know that," Mia whispers.

Clay stirs in his sleep. Mia and Justin look over to see him staring at the two. "What's going on?" He asks as he notices them in an intense conversation.

Mia inhales, "Oh you know, the usual. Talking about the special day today." Mia slightly smiles. "And about my rapist who is out to kill me." Mia sighs.

Clay opens his mouth, "He won't do that...no." Clay shakes his head, he gets out of bed.

Mia shakes her head. "You guys don't have to worry about that. I'm just grateful that you let me stay here." Mia gives them a genuine smile. Clay's heartthrobs, it was a smile he hasn't seen in a while. He missed seeing her happy.

==========

Mia gnaws on her lower lip and slowly nods her head, pretending to listen to Gwen. She hated acting like everything was fine with Gwen, but she didn't want to worry her. She had her own life, why did she have to worry about Mia's paranoia about John, her guilt about keeping about her brother's death, and not applying to her colleges.

Gwen touches Mia's arms, and she flinches. She turns her head and looks at her friend. "Mia, you good?" She asks.

Mia inhales and exhales slowly, "I'm perfectly fine." She whispers.

"Anybody who says they're 'perfectly fine' is not...perfectly fine." Gwen chuckles.

Mia rolls her lips into her mouth. "Hey..." Gwen touches Mia's arm. "Talk to me." She says.

Mia opens her mouth, but she stops as she sees someone standing in front of her. "H-H-Hey, Mia." Alex waves at her.

Mia's jaw tightens, "Hi...Alex." Mia says in a bitter tone. Murderer. Gwen looks between the two former friends. "This is awkward..." Gwen says in a strained tone.

Alex opens and closes his mouth a few times. "I just...I wanted to see how you were. We haven't talked in a while and--"

"And why is that?" Mia questions.

The guilt that Alex holds in his heart grows as he sees the pain in Mia's eyes. The brunette looks over at Gwen and she inhales. "You know what? Forget it, we don't have to do this now." Mia readjusts her bag on her shoulder and quickly walks past Alex. Gwen looks at Alex, "Uh...she's been very...stressed lately, that's all." Gwen says, dragging her words on. Gwen opens her mouth and just walks away, leaving Alex with his guilt.

==========

"Jensen!" The girl calls out.

Clay looks up from his lunch, he looks at the girl, and his face goes slack. "Gwen, uh...hey..." He drags out his words. "What's up?"

"What? I can't hang out with you because Mia hates your guts?" Gwen questions.

Clay's eyes sadden. "Did she say that...she hates me?" He questions.

Gwen shakes her head, "No, I just added that." She shrugs, "For emphasis." She sits across from him.

"I think that Mia and I are...getting better actually..." Clay shrugs, his mind thinking about Mia staying with him and Justin.

Gwen nods her head, "I actually don't even know why you guys broke up in the first place." Gwen looks at him with interest. "You guys were so...happy and dare I say...perfect for each other." She says wiggling her brows.

Clay chuckles softly, "We just...both wanted different things." Clay states.

Gwen arches a brow, she looks over at Mia who was sitting at another table reading. "Jesus, she's reading those comics again." Gwen presses her hand against her cheek and shakes her head.

Clay shrugs, "They're really good." He defends.

Gwen looks back at him. "Like I said...perfect." She smirks.

Gwen and Clay look at Mia, Gwen's smile falls as she sees Brett walking over to Mia with a teddy bear, chocolate, and flowers. "Oh shit," Gwen whispers.

"What?" Clay questions.

"He's going to ask her to the dance." Gwen answers. "What a dick!" She growls.

Clay blinks, "I don't...get it..." He says, confused.

Gwen sighs, she turns to Clay. "Mia told Brett she wasn't going to the dance tonight, she had a meeting. But he always does this he guilts her into saying yes, by asking her again in front of people." Gwen explains. "Mia feels bad so she then says yes. It's a whole thing with them." Gwen looks back at Mia.

Clay's haw tightens. "What a dick..." Clay growls.

"Exactly."

"Mia Walker," Brett says in a dramatic tone, catching everyone's attention.

Mia looks up from the comic. Her eyes widen and her cheeks heat up. "Brett...what are you doing?" She questions in a quiet tone, even though she already knew the answer.

"Will you go to the dance with me?" He asks.

Mia notices everyone staring at them. Mia's eyes travel around the cafeteria, she spots Gwen and Clay sitting with each other at a table. She pulls her brows together, she wanted to go to her meeting today, but she also didn't want to go with Brett.

Brett follows her eyes, his nose flares as he sees her eyes on Clay. "Uh..." Mia coughs out. "I have to go..." She stands up and stares at Brett. "I need to talk to you." Her voice stern and her eyes cold.

Gwen knew that face. "She's going to dump his ass." She laughs.

Clay knew that face as well, she was angry, embarrassed, and tired. Mia and Brett walk out of the cafeteria.

"Good," Clay says. "She deserves better."

"And who is better?" Gwen presses her lips together and stares at Clay with a teasing smile.

"Shut up..." Clay lightly chuckles.

Gwen laughs, "You still like her don't you?" Gwen leans forward.

Clay looks down at his lunch. I love her.

"You know I'm not going to the dance. I've got a meeting--"

"You always go to your meeting. You should skip it and focus on things that matter." He states, not wanting to talk about this.

Mia scoffs and raises her brows, "So...me trying to stay sober doesn't matter?" Mia folds her arms.

"You don't have to get snappy, all right? I just want to spend time with my girlfriend." He steps forward to cup her cheeks but she pulls away from him.

"Stop doing that." She snaps. "You try to make me look like the bad guy when you're the one who fucks up."

"You treat me like shit, Brett. The only time you talk to me is when you see me talking to Clay--"

"He's your fucking ex-boyfriend! What do you expect?!" He shouts at her.

Mia arches a brow, "You always act like you're this pompous ass who is better than everyone." Mia pinches the bridge of her nose and laughs. "And I'm so stupid to think that you were...the one for me after Clay."

Brett inhales, "You're no better than I am, Walker. You got back with me just to spite Jensen. And it worked, didn't it? Now you don't want me?" He steps towards her in a threatening manner.

Mia steps back, "You're right. And that's my fault, I'm sorry about that. But...I actually thought that we could've been something, but...now I know that...you don't care about me, Brett. Not really. And honestly, we both know that this...wouldn't have been long term." Mia sighs.

"You're not dumping me--"

"Brett, this is me being nice...you try anything and I will scream." Mia threatens. She presses her together, she turns and walks back into the cafeteria.