M I A

Sometimes Kat felt as though she had missed a lot when it came to Mia and her childhood. She had left to go to New York when she was 5 and that meant that a lot of the sister relationship could have been lost. It hadn’t been but that didn’t mean she didn’t regret not being able to see more of her key moments.

Kat nodded slowly as Mia told her what may well be the prognosis of her leg, feeling her heart ache for her sister and the potential loss of a career she had worked hard to achieve. “Well let’s cross that bridge when we come to it; there’s no use making ourselves sick with worry if it turns out they were wrong,” she told her gently before going on, “And if they are right, well, it doesn’t have to be the end… there are so many things you could do and still be in the dance world. Don’t lose hope.”

Mia nodded, listening to her sisters reasoning. It was true, until she was fully healed, she would have no idea what she could and couldn’t do. “I suppose you’re right.” She sighed, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. “We’ll just have to wait and see. It just sucks and I’m going insane not being able to do what I love.”

Mia took another deep breath, composing herself. She decided she was done crying over what she couldn’t change. And then she remembered something that would lighten the mood. “Enough about this stupid ankle. Care to tell me about the guy I saw you with at Nick’s party?” She asked with a slight smirk, raising her eyebrows. 

Kat kept rubbing her back and humming a soft tune to calm her. She didn’t see any point in trying to stop her when everything was always better once you let out bottled up emotions. She knew that herself, which was why she was relieved that Mia still felt she could be so open with her. 

“You don’t need to apologise Mia… I’ve had worse things done on me believe me,” she cracked a small smile then before rubbing her sisters arm sympathetically. “I know it does but the doctor probably only wants to make sure your foot is properly healed before taking the boot off. You’ll be one step closer to Broadway when it finally comes off.”

Mia dropped her head to Kat’s shoulder, letting her sister comfort her. It was so nice to actually have Kat here when she needed her, which hadn’t always been the case over the years. It had been neither of their fault of course, they were just in different parts of the country, doing different things. 

That comment made Mia giggle. Of course, when you had babies, you got a lot worse on you than some tears and a little snot. She nodded, understanding what her sister was saying. “I know that, it’s just hard to hear. And...” she paused, taking a moment to gather her thoughts; things that had been playing on her mind for a while but this was the first time she was voicing them. “The thing is, I don’t know if I will even be able to dance the way I could before. The doctor said I could have limited mobility–– Will I even be able to perform to the standard of Broadway again?”

“I spend most of my days digging around in the dirt but I do enjoy days of not doing much,” Vasya chuckled and nodding, “Fingers crossed for you, even if just for the sake of your tan line!” 

Vasya looked down at her pale body and thought for a moment, “I actually put some on before I left the house but you can never be too careful right? I’d love some, if that’s okay?” She sat back up then, thankful for how nice Mia was being to someone who was a stranger to her. 

“It must be really interesting though. Your job, I mean.” History and Archeology had fascinated her for a short while as a kid. But of course, as with many other things, she had been distracted by the bright lights of showbiz. “Oh god, don’t even talk to me about this horrible tan line I’m going to have. I think I might have to fake tan my lower leg for at least a year until it evens out.” She said with a laugh, noticing that she was already going brown. 

“Of course you can.” Mia quickly said, sitting up fully to grab the bottle of sunscreen out of her bag, handing it to the other girl. “I wouldn’t want you getting burnt.”

Vasilisa only laughed when she heard the girl’s comment and wrapped an arm around her in response. She usually wasn’t one to ever be out drinking in this sort of fashion; downing shots like they were going out of style. But it had been a tough couple of weeks and she had a lot to think about. Tonight, she didn’t want to think of anything like that. So bring on the hangover. “We’ll see,” she chuckled. 

“Oh I’m sure… if you go up there I’ll be expecting no less than Whitney Houston notes belting out of you,” she teased her new friend. Vasya wasn’t the most social of butterflies so the fact she had met and hit it off with Mia surely meant she was getting more comfortable and less awkward around people. “Maybe I’ll take a class! It’s not everyday a broadway star is in town!” She was only half joking. Vasya liked to work out so why not throw in a dance class? “I mean, yes I like it… I’ve met my best friends who I haven’t seen in 14 years. There’s just a lot of memories too though.”

“Whitney Houston?” Mia questioned, raising her eyebrows. “If I’m going up, theres no way I’m singing Whitney Houston.” With that, she grabbed the karaoke book on the table and started flipping through the list of songs. Apparently with those last few shots, she was losing her mind and actually considering getting up and singing. 

“You definitely should come take a class! I’ll even give you the first one for free. If I’m allowed that is.” She laughed, not actually knowing what the gym’s policy was with classes and everything. “That must be amazing to reunite with everyone though! But I understand, it’s been kinda weird for me to come back after ten years.” At that moment, the bartender came over with their new cocktails. They definitely didn’t need any more drinks, but where was the fun in that?

“The pink looks nice on your cheeks.” He smirked, letting her know that he was fully aware that it was he who had made her blush, and that he enjoyed doing it and hoped to do it more and more. Especially now that she would be working in close proximity to him— which was something that he was still pretty surprised about, he didn’t realize she would agree to it so quickly, but maybe it wasn’t just him who needed a change of pace. 

 “Glad to know we’re on the same page.” He chuckled as she threw back his own flirty comments. “And glad to know that this attractive guy is me, too.” A wink came with that one. He took another drink from his smoothie and savored the flavors for a while. This smoothie bar never got old, just like how he couldn’t imagine a day that he would ever be tired of seeing Mia’s face. Dylan was just glad that he seemed to have captivated her attention equally. “That’s for me to know.” He said when she asked him what videos he had seen of her. 

“Music, huh?” He raised both eyebrows at the new piece of information. “Well, now you’ll just have to show me. And don’t act all shy about it because if you were really and truly embarrassed by it, or if it was even the slightest bit horrible, you wouldn’t have brought that up. You would’ve made something up like how you used to eat dirt as a kid.” This made him laugh again, just a short sound. “That was me. I was the kid that ate dirt.” His face visibly cringed at the memory of a much less cool Dylan. Back when he used to still go by Enzo, when he hadn’t grown into his body just yet, and kids bullied him. 

“Yeah?” She asked, biting her lower lip. This blushing thing was something she really needed to get control of if she was going to be working with him soon, but there was something about his charm that just got her every time. “Oh, it’s definitely you.” She replied, doing a quick scope of the place. Nope, he was definitely the most attractive person here by miles. She took a long sip of her smoothie, which was going down far too quickly for her liking. It was honestly the best thing she had tasted. 

“Oh, I’m going to get it out of you, Dylan Valentine.” She spoke, leaning forward, his name rolling off her tongue. “And if you share, maybe you might get to hear some of my music. Maybe.” She laughed at his comment about his childhood. It was so typical of him. “Of course you did.” She giggled, “And I bet you licked lamp posts too?” She added with a raise of her eyebrows. She took another drink of her smoothie, her eyes still on him and the corners of her mouth curved up in a slight smile. 

As soon as Kat saw tears begin to fall, she was on the couch and wrapping her ams around her sister. “Oh Sweetheart, it’s okay, shhh,” she cooed to her sister, allowing her to cry if she needed to. “Sometimes a good cry is needed, you’ll feel better.” For the most part, she was telling Mia the truth; once you get a cry out of the way, things seemed a little clearer.

“Don’t worry too much okay? Just because it’s taking a little longer doesn’t mean it’ll never happened. Healing takes time and sometimes it takes more of it than we expect. We just need to wait to see what the doctor says in 2 weeks and take it from there.” Kat was doing her best to give her what advice she could. She never liked seeing Mia upset and this time was no different.

The second Kat’s arms wrapped around her, she started crying harder. She kept trying to tell herself it was stupid to cry over something like this, but that didn’t help matters. She had been so sure it was going to be good news, that the bad news was destroying her. Getting back on that stage had been her main goal and drive, and now she could barely see it in the distance. 

“Okay.” Mia agreed, sniffing. She pulled away from the hug after a while and wiped her eyes, the tears finally slowing down. “Sorry for crying on you.” Mia gave a half laugh, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. “I’m okay, it just sucks.”

Mia had been putting off this conversation for a few days now. Ever since she had returned from the gym the other day, her head was a mess. And it was all thanks to Kennedy. Mia hadn’t known what she had expected from Dylan; she knew he had a past but she didn’t want to think about that or for it to influence her opinion of him. But that was all fine until his past had walked up to her in the gym and started taunting her. 

But now today, she had wanted to seek comfort in Dylan, but knew she couldn’t until she had a conversation with him. Amongst all this and the bad news from the doctor about her ankle, her head was a mess and she was barely hanging on. She wiped off the smudged mascara under her eyes from her earlier crying session and threw on a hoodie as she waited for Dylan. This time she didn’t care what she looked like. She just needed to talk to him. 

Dylan: where are you? I can swing by in a few.

Dylan: what's up?

Mia: I had a run in with Kennedy at the gym. She approached me.

Vasya could already feel the sun’s rays brightening her mood. She was pretty pale but she tanned a little if she was very careful about sunscreen. Today was one of the days she felt she finally had time to work on not looking like a ghost. She closed her eyes for a moment as she stretched out. 

“For sure, it’s nice to feel as though you’re doing something but nothing at the same time,” she agreed before adding, “Same to you Mia! You’re gonna be out of that boot next month.”

“You’re so right. This is the sort of productivity I get up to nowadays, and I am lowkey okay with it.” Mia let out a soft laugh. “Well, heres to hoping this monstrosity will be gone soon.” She replied, lifting up her booted leg.

“Hey do you want some sunscreen?” She asked as an afterthought. Mia had noticed the pale complexion of the other girl and didn’t want her to burn in the North Carolina sun if she didn’t have her own. Even Mia, who had skin that bronzed beautifully in the sunshine, still burned from time to time if she wasn’t careful. 

Vasya quickly followed Mia’s example and downed another shot. At this rate she was going to be struggling to remember the way home. It felt good to finally really let off steam. She had felt like a total ball of nerves since had arrived so letting loose was something she felt she needed. “Oh no… I do a single performance… don’t want people to lose interest,” she joked. 

“Well you could even pretend to sing poorly; men will probably still be scurrying to buy you a drink as soon as they get the chance!” she teased the dancer. Mia had mentioned to Vasya about being a dancer so was sure she came as a package deal and was able to sing too. “To getting hammered!” she toasted and quickly knocked back the final shot on the table. “Oh that’s great! At least you can get back to dancing in some capacity; warm up to the big lights gradually,” she nudged her before ordering another 2 cocktails for the both of them as a bartender passed, “I’m okay…The excavation is taking way longer than I first thought so it looks like I’ll be around on a permanent basis for a while longer.” 

Mia didn’t know what had gotten into her. Since being back in town, she had hardly drank. Now it was twice in the space of a week, with Nick’s party being the first incident. Apparently she hadn’t learned from that hangover and she was already ready for round two. “Oh honey, I could never lose interest in you.” Mia grinned, planting a kiss on the other girls cheek. “And trust me, I can be very persuasive.”

“Vasya, after this many shots, I’m sure singing poorly will come naturally. I’ve got no chance of holding even the simplest of notes.” She decided to forgo replying to her comment about men buying her drinks. Call it the Valentine effect or whatever, she really wasn’t interested in any other attention since she had started to get to know Dylan. But that wasn’t a conversation for tonight. Right now, it was about drinks and karaoke. “To getting hammered!” Mia cheered, as they tipped back the final shots. “Yeah, I’m exited, I’ve missed dance more than you would believe. “Well, that’s not a bad thing at all! You like it here, right?”

“Yeah, that’s so weird to me!  I walk into the coffee shop and literally every person knows the barista and she’s asking about their wife and kids like it’s her own family.”  Small town life was still difficult for Brayden to understand and he was adapting to the idea that every time he talked to someone the whole town was going to be whispering about whether or not they were dating the next day. “I’m sure you get it though.”  He glanced over at the blonde, glad to have decided to sit down and chat with her.  “So is there any juicy town gossip I should know about? I feel like I need an insider to tell me about all the people here.”

Brayden grinned as he thought about all the injuries he’d gotten over the years, most of them from him doing something dumb without thinking it through.  “I think you’d be surprised.”  He laughed, rubbing at his temple as images flashed through his mind of many hospital trips.  “Guess how many bones I’ve broken.  Shot in the dark, what do you think?”

“Yeah, you’ll get that a lot here until you settle. People tend to spot an outsider and wonder what they’re doing here.” Mia laughed, knowing her hometown well. And then there was the surprise in people when you returned after leaving for so long. “Not that I’m like that.” She added, assuring that she wasn’t being nosy in his reason to moving to town. It was none of her business. “Gossip?” She laughed. “I don’t think I’m the right person to be asking. I’ve been away for a long time. Although I’m sure you’ve met at least a few of the Valentine brothers by now? They’re usually at the centre of town gossip.” She gave another laugh. Her own gossip included, although she wasn’t about to tell him that. But everyone in town knew the family. 

“Oh really?” Mia questioned, raising her eyebrows. She’d had a fair few of hospital trips herself, but most of them were nothing serious. Until the ankle incident of course. “I don’t know, seven?” She said to him, giving a wild guess. 

Kat’s day had not been going particularly well; she had wanted to take Mia to her appointment but somehow the admin staff at the school had messed up the dates for the staff end-of-year meeting and it meant she couldn’t go with her. She had hoped she’d at least be able to pick her up but upon checking her calendar, realised both Poppy and Thomas had places they need to be that evening and it meant that Kat was only just getting in herself well after the scheduled dinner time. The kids were both out so she took the moment to put on the kettle and then she’d perhaps read a magazine. 

She was just pouring some camomile tea into her teapot when she heard Mia’s voice. “In the kitchen! Get settled in the living room and I’ll be right there.” she called to her as she picked up another tea cup and set about putting them on a tray so she could carry it all through. But not before she put a selection of little cakes and cookies on a plate with it. Kat walked through to find Mia, “Hey baby Sis ho-” she immediately stopped speaking and set the tray down on the coffee table so she could go to her, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Mia took a seat on the couch and let out a deep breath, composing herself. Being upset was stupid and didn’t help anything. She just had to move on and deal with it. But the second Mia heard the concern in her sisters voice, the floodgates opened again and fresh hot tears began rolling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped her eyes, trying to stop crying. Kat didn’t need her problems to deal with. It was stupid really, she would just have to be injured for a little while longer.

“It’s nothing.” Mia spoke, sniffling a little and pushing her hair back out of her face. But the way Kat was looking at her, she had to explain even if she didn’t want to. It had been the same ever since they were kids; Kat had always looked out for her. “As you can see, the boot isn’t off.” She mumbled, looking down at the ugly thing. “It’s not healing; they wanna see me in another two weeks, but even then, it might not have healed.” Mia let a few more tears fall, allowing herself to feel sorry for herself. 

Kennedy had already been at the gym when Mia came strolling in and distracted herself with Dylan Valentine. She eyed the blonde as they talked, catching Dylan’s eyes a few times but deciding to focus on her workout instead, she didn’t approach them as much as her instinct told her to.  She had no reason to get involved in something that wasn’t about her, but Kennedy wondered how much Mia knew about her involvement with the Valentine boy. Kennedy had been involved with Dylan for years on and off, somehow always finding themselves in each other’s beds but never taking it past that point.  She didn’t want a boyfriend and even if she did, Dylan was not a relationship guy, everyone knew that.

Everyone except Mia apparently because rumors had been circulating about the two of them and Kennedy had to admit her interest was peaked.  She set down the weights she’d been using as Mia found herself sitting down at a machine.  Kennedy knew she should mind her business but…where was the fun in that?  Water bottle in hand, the brunette made her way over to where Mia was sitting, leaning against the next machine and crossing her legs over one another.

“Dylan Valentine…that’s a bold choice.”  She smiled down at Mia, arms crossed over her chest and head cocked to the side a little.  “Rumor has it that you’ve been shooting heart eyes at each other lately.  That’s so cute.” She giggled and looked back over her shoulder to see if he was watching them but he didn’t seem to be paying any attention.  “Too bad he’s only ever interested in sex right?”

Mia had just finished the first set of reps and was taking a rest when she heard a female voice. She looked up, her eyes laying on a brunette walking over to her. It took a moment but she soon recognised the girl. Kennedy. Mia didn’t dislike many people, but this girl had wormed her way into her list of people to avoid. She didn’t do drama, unless it was on stage of course, and this girl had drama following her everywhere she went. She was going to ignore the girl, but as soon as Dylan’s name was mentioned, she had to speak up. 

“What is it to you?” She spoke bluntly, keeping her cool and trying to keep her focus on her workout. But the second comment infuriated her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She snapped back, starting her second set of reps. Mia was aware Dylan had a shaded past. She knew what he used to be like with woman, but he was different with her. They talked, were getting to know each other and actually cared about one another. At least that was the impression she was getting. Dylan knew she wasn’t the type to be just another notch on his bedpost. Didn’t he?