If Only Tonight

Blurry Dividing Lines:
Chapter Forty Six: It's Just A Fling

The sun was beaming in through the window, lighting up the room with the brightness of day. Poking her eyes, Mia finally gave in and opened them to see morning had indeed come. For a second she was lost, her surroundings had changed. Where am I? She found herself wondering. The blue curtains were open showing sunny green fields outside, the bed she lay in was different, and her sheets were unlike her usual ones.

Suddenly it all came back to her. I'm staying at Matthew's...she thought in awe. Never in her wildest imagination had she thought that she, Mia Brooklyn, would be staying at Matthew Rossi's house.

Taking in her new environment, Mia stretched before rolling over. Had she remembered why she had been hesitant about sleeping on the new bed, Mia would have refrained from doing so.

*CRASH! THUD!*

A loud crash sounded as Mia fell off her bed. A thud followed as she hit the carpeted floor. Staring up at the ceiling, sprawled on her back, Mia could feel her cheeks flush as her side started to thrum in pain.

"Who sleeps on such high beds?" She asked herself, holding her hands above her and opening and closing her fists.

As she started to move, she felt her chest hurt.

"That can't have been good for my ribs..." Mia muttered.

Getting in to a sitting position and viewing the mess she had made, Mia was surprised when she saw Lina rush in to the room.

"Are you okay? I heard a loud noise..." She asked, as she came in.

Nodding, Mia watched as Lina took in the sight. She was tangled in her sheets, and Lina was already smiling.

"You look so cute." Lina said, as she came over to help Mia.

"Never mention it again." Mia mumbled, as Lina helped her untangle herself from the sheets. The older girl offered a hand, allowing Mia to stand up.

Tripping up once more, she caught on to Lina's arm. A laugh escaped her, soon Lina joined her as they set up the bed.

"I still don't understand why the bed can't be lowered..." Mia grumbled, as Lina laughed.

"Sorry, it just doesn't adjust." The other girl said.

Getting her clothes, Mia went to the bathroom as Lina headed back downstairs.

"Can't I bring my old bed from the apartment?" Mia grumbled as she followed Lina out of the room, heading for the bathroom.

"Sorry, but I have a thing against items that do not go with the look and feel of the room." Lina told her, laughing lightly, as she walked down the stairs.

"Aww..." Mia said as she flicked on the light switch.

"Maybe we can get you more pillows..it'll be like a nest." She heard Lina say.

Mia laughed at the thought. I'd probably still fall off...she thought.

-----

Seeing Leon and Lina talking in the living room as he entered, Matthew noticed someone was missing. His cousins looked up as he sat down across from them.

"Did you scare her off?" He asked Lina, pointedly.

"No! Mia's awesome. She went upstairs to get some reading done. Something about being behind in her research papers." Lina told him with a wide smile.

Matthew groaned inwardly. He had known the two of them would get along...but he had hoped it wouldn't happen so fast.

Glancing at his wrist watch Matthew noted he would be leaving in an hour and a half.

"Going somewhere, Romeo?" She asked, trying to get a rise out of him.

"Maybe." He answered cryptically.

"Another boys night out?" Leon joined in.

"Yea...want to come?" He offered Leon, hoping he would come so that he would be spared another one of Lucas' long stories. Lucas could tell a tale that would last the entire car ride.

"Who's driving?" Leon asked.

Matthew had a week left in the mobile cast, he was looking forward to getting rid of it and never speaking of it again.

"Lucas." He winced.

"Good luck." Leon laughed; he had heard Matthew's tales of excruciatingly long car rides.

"Yea yea...anyway, I'm going to go get dressed." He told them, getting up.

"Since you're going upstairs...can you ask Mia if she wants to join us for a movie marathon after dinner?" Lina asked, looking hopeful.

"Sure...what are you guys watching?" Matthew wondered aloud.

"Its the little red riding hood remake...what's it called again?" Leon asked his sister.

"'Red Riding Hood'" Lina replied pointedly. "And we're going to watch 'The Twilight Zone', Rod Sterling was an amazing writer."

"I'll let her know." Matthew said, as he headed out of the room and up the stairs.

"Oh and dinner is in a few minutes! Tell her!" He heard Lina yell.

Walking down the hallway, Matthew noticed that Mia's room door was closed. Please let her be sleeping and not working, Matthew thought, remembering how the doctor had told her to rest.

Knocking on the door, Matthew waited for an answer.

"Come in."

She's awake...Matthew thought, slightly annoyed.

"You do know the doctor told you to rest, right?" Matthew said as he opened the door.

-----

"You do know the doctor told you to rest, right?"

Rolling her eyes, Mia watched as Matthew entered her room. She was getting tired of his rest and relax speeches. He had been using the same one while they had been staying at the dorm.

"I am relaxing. Can't you see?" She motioned around her.

Settled on her bed, Mia was sitting with her laptop. Surrounded by pillows, it looked as though she was in a nest.

"But you're still working..." Matthew gave her a disappointed look.

"No...I'm reading! It's different." She told him with a grin.

"'Cause there is so much difference between the two." Matthew told her sarcastically as he came over to see what she was reading.

As he leaned over to see her laptop screen, Mia noticed she was holding her breath. Her heart was pounding rapidly, as she tried not to look at him. No sooner had he moved away from her, she slowly breathed in deeply, trying to calm her fraying nerves.

"Reading some paper on muscular dystrophy doesn't make for a relaxing read." He told her, a smirk on his face.

He had her there...she had volunteered to read over one of Stacie's grad student's papers...and it was killing her. Trying not to let him win, Mia gave him a defiant look.

"It's interesting." She told him.

"Oh, I bet. You look ready to fall asleep."

"No...I'm just trying to make myself comfortable." Mia shot back. He was grinning widely at her now.

"Anyway, I just came to tell you dinner is almost ready, and Lina and Leon would love if you joined them for a movie marathon...that is if you're not to busy reading."

She tried to look as though she was thinking it through; as though the decision would be tougher than he thought...what Matthew didn't know was Mia had jumped at the word movie.

"Sure, I guess I'll join them." She told him, feigning hesitation.

"Alright." He said, a glint of some unknown emotion in his brilliant blue eyes.

Mia watched as he left her room, closing the door behind him. No sooner had the door shut, Mia closed her laptop. She had had enough of reading the student paper. She would work on it tomorrow. Instead she walked over to her dresser and combed her hair, trying to look presentable for dinner.

-----

Enviously watching his cousins laughing and chatting with Mia, Matthew tried to drown the thoughts of staying behind and watching the movies with them. He watched from the hallway as Lina said something and Mia looked horrified, he was about to step in to the room but he saw them all laughing. How was it that only a day had passed and they were getting along with each other as though they had known each other for several years? Matthew wondered, as he heard the horn call out to him.

Lucas had arrived.

Silently leaving, Matthew took one last look at the three of them. Mia was listening intently as Leon said something, while Lina looked amused.

Locking the door behind him, Matthew walked over to Lucas' BMW. Opening the door, he saw Lucas grin at him.

"How's it going Matt?" He asked.

"Alright."

"Mia's staying with you right? How is she?" Lucas asked.

He was part of the roster Mia took care of, and like Oliver, Nathaniel and himself, Lucas was missing her checking their injuries.

"Yea...she's alright. I still can't get her to stop reading up for work." Matthew told him. Lucas laughed upon hearing this.

"Well you let her know I said hi, and that I hope she comes back soon." Lucas told him.

"Yea, sure."

As the lights on the highway passed them, Matthew looked out in to the darkness. He was still thinking about Mia...maybe he should have stayed behind and watched movies with her.

"So is Oliver coming?" Lucas asked.

Tonight they were going to Indigo.

"No, he's taking Ariana out for dinner." Matthew answered.

As they continued to drive, Lucas reverted back to himself and started to tell Matthew about the time he had missed during practices and a game. Shaking his head slightly, Matthew felt a little cornered. Like I want to know how much time I've missed thanks to Jason's going away present, he thought with annoyance.

When they finally reached the club, Matthew checked himself in the rear view mirror. Checking to see his jeans covered most of his mobile cast, Matthew hobbled out of the car. Just one more week, he thought with further irritation.

Walking in to the club, Matthew could see the party was in full swing. Music was blaring as lights flashed. He saw the other players from his team, Matthew and Lucas walked over to them. Nathaniel was standing off to a side talking to some girl, as soon as he saw Matthew, Nathaniel came over.

"Hey! Where's Mia? Didn't you bring her along?" He asked Matthew, loudly.

Glaring at him, Matthew saw Nathaniel smirk.

"Shut up, Nathaniel. She's with Leon and Lina watching movies." He told him.

"You didn't ask her to come, huh?"

"Nope...she needs to rest."

"Okay..." Nathaniel sounded as though he didn't believe Matthew's intentions.

"She does." He insisted.

"I didn't say she didn't."

"Then what's with the third degree?" Matthew asked, starting to fume.

"I was hoping she'd come...it's so weird not seeing her around." Nathaniel told him.

"Yea..."

An awkward silence settled between them, the music kept playing loudly. Nathaniel shook his head at him.

"I can't wait for you to tell her."

"You're going to be waiting a long time." Matthew snapped.

"You'll wear down soon enough." Nathaniel smirked, as he passed Matthew to go back to talk to the girl, he patted Matthew's shoulder.

"I'll be back...but in case I forget, tell Mia I said hi and that you love her!" He winked as he passed; moving quickly enough so that Matthew wouldn't be able to retaliate.

I need a drink, Matthew thought. All this talk about his feelings for Mia had only served to depress him further. Heading to the bar, Matthew ordered a shot of whiskey. He should have stayed home, he thought once more as he picked up the drink.

"Hey there, stranger." Came a voice.

Turning to see who it was, Matthew saw a familiar looking girl sitting next to him.

"I was wondering when I'd see you again." She smiled at him.

"Have you been stalking me?" Matthew wondered aloud, to his surprise she didn't look offended. Gulping down his drink, Matthew tried to remember where he had last seen the girl.

"You owe me a drink." She told him.

It hit him, she was the girl who had sent him a note through Nathaniel.

"I guess I do...what will you have?"

"Same as you." She answered. "I'm Nevarra, by the way."

"Matthew. It's nice to meet you, again." Matthew told her. He ordered a round of whiskey shots.

"And for the record, I haven't been stalking you...just keeping a lookout if you'd come back here." She told him with a grin, as she downed her drink.

Matthew gave a short chuckle. She was far too interested in him than he was in her.

"So how come I've only seen you here alone? Don't you have a girl?" She asked, unabashedly forward.

"At the moment I'm just not interested in anything long term." He told her, hoping she would be disinterested at his lack of commitment.

He was taken aback when Nevarra smiled. Getting another drink, Matthew felt puzzled. Usually girls hated non-committal guys like him.

Sidling closer to him, a hand was on his knee, as she leaned over.

"What's the harm in having something short term? It's just a fling."