45

I pulled a white cardigan over the plain black t-shirt and then frantically ran out of my room to enter the hallway into the open living room and pause speechless.

There was nothing left that would have hinted at a party. Micah was standing in the kitchen to my left, cleaning the kitchen island and had two large blue sacks hanging from his legs.

My gaze dropped open-mouthed to the right, where Adam was running a vacuum around the couch and Zayn was helping Mandy place my mom's baby turtles neatly back on the wall unit.

"Mia?" Micah snapped me out of my rigidity and turned around to face him again before walking towards him.

"Yes?" I looked at him questioningly, leaning against the kitchen island to grab my pounding head for a moment. The sun that lit up the room and the loud vacuum cleaner bothered me more than I would have thought.

"How are you? Well, I mean... do we want to do something tomorrow? Just to distract you?"

He gave me a sympathetic look and when I nodded his head in agreement, he beamed all over his face and then put the sponge in the sink behind him to pick up the two blue sacks.

"I'll have to go and sleep then. I'll write to you tomorrow and if anything happens, let me know, no matter when and what it's about."

He gave me a comforting smile and then said goodbye to the others to leave this perfectly shiny house.

Crap! I didn't even thank him, but I made up my mind to do it tomorrow.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I then turned to the others, before I would forget about them as well, and Mandy immediately stepped next to me and put her arm around my shoulders.

"You're welcome. You went through enough last night, so it's the least we can do to help you," she explained, looking at me just as sympathetically as Micah had before.

I didn't want pity, but I guess that couldn't be avoided after all that had happened.

"It's okay. What happened happened," I tried to look casual in front of them, but inside I was still crying after my drawings and I knew that this broken feeling would stay for quite a while.

Zayn took his college jacket off the couch, put it on and then stepped next to Adam to put the vacuum cleaner away with him. Apparently he didn't think the blond wouldn't be able to do it alone, which was kind of sweet, but also had a bitter aftertaste since last night, because I now knew why Adam was looking so helpless and lost in thought. Apparently it affected him the most.

"Let's go then," the boys came to us and Zayn immediately took Mandy's hand and pulled her behind him to the front door. A really sweet sight that put a smile on my face.

"I can only say thank you again," I looked after the three, but Zayn just waved him off.

"Not for that," he said and then Adam and Mandy waved at me before the door closed and I immediately ran to the cupboard in the kitchen where Thomas had given me the headache pill.

I took a pill out of the wrapper, then grabbed another glass and filled it with cold water at the sink, then quickly washed the pill down.

It shook me briefly and I was hopeful that the roar would soon go away.

Still standing at the sink, glass in hand, the memory of the morning-after pill struck me and I put the glass down to disappear back into my room and pick up my phone.

As I sat cross-legged on my bed, I immediately saw a message from Kiyan, who I still had saved under Idiot. A smile broke out on my lips and with a pleasant tingle in my stomach I opened the message.

Good morning, Little . I need longer than expected. Looking forward to later:-

I looked at that kissing smiley with a silly grin and immediately got goosebumps on my arms when I thought back to last night. His touch and his caresses made everything bad seem tiny again and again... like magic...

I am also pleased :-

I then wrote back and then opened up Google to curiously type in the name of this weird pill.

I was amazed at how many side effects were written about, and this pill was so tiny that it was almost absurd what it was supposed to trigger. Shocked, I closed Google again and decided to ask my gynecologist about the normal pill on Monday.

How crazy was it for us to just sleep together without contraception... Actually, I've always been very sensible, but he seemed to make not only my heart but my brain skip a beat, which made me grin stupidly again .

I was about to get up and go to my desk to check out Zayn's craft when I heard the keys in the front door, followed immediately by my mother's high-pitched voice, which made me roll my eyes in tension even though I hadn't even seen her.

With a queasy feeling in my stomach, I walked out of my room into the living room and wanted to roll my eyes again as soon as I saw Thomas and my mother holding hands in the front door.

"Ohhhh, Mia," my mother immediately came up to me and took me tightly in her arms, which made me hold my breath in irritation. "We absolutely have to show you something!"

She pulled me by the hand behind her past Thomas, who put away her suitcases and then stood with me in the sun outside the front door. Only now, as I took a closer look at her, did I notice that expensive looking fur coat on her that looked really awful.

"And what did you want to show me?" I asked her, still confused, whereupon I followed her delighted gaze and stared straight at a black Porsche.

I gave her a reproachful look, disbelieving that she seemed to be throwing her inheritance out the window, and her eyes immediately darkened.

"You can never be happy for me either!" she snapped at me and immediately I took an angry deep breath.

"Dad has money problems and instead of helping him out, are you buying a car for yourself?" I asked her in a loud voice, but she just shook her head.

"I bought it for me and Thomas," she said so proudly that I really started to question her sanity. It even occurred to me that Thomas was secretly giving her drugs. Nobody could be that stupid and naive.

"I thought Thomas had so much money? Then why are you buying him a car? Pay him off and he can finally leave!" I hissed and angrily ran into the house, but as soon as I got to the kitchen, she slammed the door angrily and caught up with me.

"How dare you tell me who can and can't live here?!! This is my house!!!" she yelled and I immediately gave her a warning look.

"This is James' house! Do you remember? The man who paid for all this?" I asked her in a trembling voice and her poisonous green eyes blazed with anger.

"You're just a kid! You don't know anything about money or love, so don't interfere in my affairs any longer!"

I balled my hands into fists and wanted to explode. "At least money isn't so important to me that I would bring a criminal into my house!"

In a matter of seconds, she swung back and slapped me hard, the sound echoing through my mind several times. My hair flew to the side with my face and I clutched my flushed cheek in disbelief before disappearing into my room with tears in my eyes.

KIYAN

I was amazed when a brand new black Porsche was parked in front of the house where I was living at the time.

Right behind him I parked Thomas's Mercedes, which I had just finished washing, and then got out to take a closer look at the more expensive-looking car.

It was beautiful and I could only imagine how expensive it was and I still wondered who owned it.

"I knew you liked it," I heard Thomas behind me and turned to him to look at him questioningly.

"Yours?"

"Only half," he winked, then came over to stand next to me. "To your stepmother's other half."

"She's not my stepmother," I replied disgustedly and was about to go in to Mia's when he grabbed my sleeve of my denim jacket.

"I wouldn't go in there," he looked at me intently and nodded towards the door while I broke free and took a few steps back from him.

"And why?"

He looked me up and down, coming closer to me again and a disgusting grin broke out on his lips. "Mia said she had to make me out to be a criminal, so her mother hit her," he then explained and this sick shit apparently amused him too.

I immediately turned away from him, wanted to check on Mia, but he tried to hold me back, so I turned around and angrily grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Keep your hands off me!" I warned him, but my outburst only amused him more and as soon as I realized that, I left him and ran inside to where Gabrielle was sitting at the glass table, crying.

She glanced at me, wiped away her tears with a handkerchief and I just walked on to Mia's door to knock on it softly, but she didn't open it.

I knocked louder again, but again nothing.

"She won't open anyone," Gabrielle suddenly stood behind me and sobbed to herself before disappearing into the bedroom.

I regretted driving this morning. How could I leave her alone in this madhouse for even a second? Why were they both back so early anyway? And didn't Mia's father want to come by?

With all the questions in my head, I ran out of the house again, noticed that the Porsche was gone and then ran to her room window, which was wide open.

It was somehow clear that she was on the run again. Who could blame her? Certainly not me.

I pulled out my cell phone and tried to call her, but voicemail answered immediately. I was unsuccessful the second or third time and then, worried about her, rushed to the Mercedes to start it up before dialing Micah's number.

Yes?

Hey, Kiyan here. Is Mia with you?

... no, how come? Did something happen?

I had no intention of talking to others about their problems behind their back, so I didn't say anything.

No, everything is OK.

Without saying another word, I hung up and shortly after received a message from Zayn.

Hi, my battery is dead and I couldn't reach you. I'm with Zayn. Mia

I breathed a sigh of relief and then drove off to Zayn's apartment, which I reached quickly.

As soon as I got out of the elevator, I knocked on the old wood and a sleepy Zayn, standing in front of me only in boxer shorts, gave me a weary nod.

"Couldn't you please put some clothes on when Mia gets here?" I looked him up and down and he just grinned stupidly.

"My house, my rules," he yawned, then made way for me to enter through the narrow hallway.

What I then saw in the living room was anything but beautiful.

Mia was sitting on the couch with her legs bent. Her cheek was stained red, her eyes swollen. Even from here I could see the slight tremor in her hands and she kept sobbing softly.

"I'll leave you alone," Zayn whispered and patted my shoulder before disappearing into his bedroom.

Mia looked at me with her teary eyes and at first I didn't know what to do until I slowly walked towards her, sat down next to her and she immediately put her head on my lap to come up to me watch. Her otherwise bright green eyes just looked broken and this sight alone gave me another stab in the middle of my heart.

"What happened?" I then asked her worriedly, taking hers with one hand while gently stroking her soft brown hair with the other.

"My mother is disturbed," she sobbed, then shook her head slightly. "She throws all the money out the window instead of helping dad and when I said that Thomas was a criminal, she hit me," she then explained and sobbed again before wiping a few tears from her face.

"Shit," I said softly, squeezing her hand a little tighter because she was right. Thomas was a criminal and even I couldn't understand how he could wrap her mother around his dirty fingers.

"Shit?" she looked at me with a raised eyebrow and then jerked to her feet to sit next to me and stare at me questioningly. "Is that all you can think of?", she then grinned tearfully and slightly rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, it sucks, too," I grinned back and when her gaze fell on my lips, the sparkle in her eyes came back, which calmed me down again. I didn't want to see her so sad and broken, it hurt too much.

"I'm really starting to think she has something to do with her psyche," she then said, taking my hand in hers to lean against my shoulder, breathing heavily.

"I rather think that Thomas is to blame. He has a manipulative narcissist and has your mother completely under control," I replied and she immediately looked at me thoughtfully.

"Maybe, but it was she who hit me and not him. Kiyan, I can't imagine ever entering this house again. It's been so nice the last few days... and now everything is pure again pile of rubble," she whispered, and I immediately shook my head, laughing.

"You found the last few days nice?" I asked amused and she frowned at me. "You almost got into a fight with Chloe, your party got out of hand and you loved that?"

I still had to smile and she suddenly smiled too. "Of course not. I meant the time with you," she explained sweetly and looked deep into my eyes, which made my heart skip a few beats, she cast a spell over me that much.

"When it gets dark I'll show you something and don't worry we're not going home tonight."

I gave her a gentle kiss on her salty-tasting lips, then leaned back and let her snuggle into me, just enjoying her closeness for a while.