Steal a Kiss in the Dark

January 21st, 2014

"Dude, I honestly have no idea where she is. If you hear from her, will you please let me know?" I pleaded with my best friend over the phone.

When Mia left I had no idea where she went. I was gonna give her some time to cool down and come home, but after two hours of hearing nothing from her, I was worried. Yeah, I was worried before when she was on the porch for over an hour and when she left, but this was a whole different level of worry. At least when she was just standing on the porch I knew she was safe and alive, at this point, I had no idea what so ever if she was okay.

"She'll show up, I'm sure of it," Jack replied with confidence before we said our goodbyes and hung up.

I immediately entered Mia's number then.

The phone rang three times before I got the familiar, "Thank you for calling Mia Albrecht. I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now. If you leave your name and number I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I can," followed by a beep.

"Baby girl, it's me. I'm worried sick about you. Please call me back babe."

With nothing but fear in my body, I ended the call. I needed to know she was okay. I needed to know that my blonde haired girl was gonna be just fine. I needed to know she'd be coming home.

Then it hit me. I should call Chrissy to see what she and Mia discussed prior to Mia darting off. Finding Chrissy's number in my phone, I quickly pressed the call button.

"Hi Alex," she solemnly greeted me. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry, but what happened between you and Mia?"

"Did she not tell you?"

I groaned, "No. She stood on the porch for a while visibly upset. When I went out to comfort her she left. She didn't tell me what happened or where she was going."

"I'm going to let Mia tell you what's bothering her. You are the love of her life after all. All I will tell you is that you might want to check Green Mount Cemetery. Her grandmother is buried there and the two of them used to be very close."

"Thank you, Mrs. Albrecht."

"Call me Chrissy, Alex," she said prior to hanging up.

Without a second thought, I grabbed my keys, got into my car, and drove to the cemetery. You would think I would have known she was close to her grandmother given the fact she and I were best friends for nearly twenty years.

As soon as I pulled up to the cemetery I found her blonde hair. She was kneeling in front of a gravestone towards the outer edge of the land. I could tell she was sobbing by the way that her body was shaking with each unsteady breath.

Very carefully I walked up behind her. As I kneeled beside her I gently placed my hand on her back. The second I did that however, she engulfed me in a hug. It wasn't the typical hug. It was her hug that said she just needed to hold someone and be held in return. It was a hug that felt as if she was holding on for her dear life.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," she softly spoke between sobs.

Rubbing her back I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I had no idea what was happening, but I knew it couldn't be good. "It's okay baby girl. It's okay. I'm here for you."

She continued to sob and hold onto me for what had to have been fifteen minutes. Once she pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes she finally looked at me. I could see the pain in her eyes, and it killed me to see her so hurt.

"Alex... my mom has breast cancer," she faintly whispered not breaking eye contact.

I felt my own heart shatter as she said the word cancer. Chrissy was around for a large part of my life as well, and she was the love of my life's mom. "Does she know if she's going to be okay?"

"She said 75% chance of survival." I once again hugged her. It all made so much more sense now as to why she was so freaked out. "This also definitely means I won't be coming on tour with you to do some photography. I need to be here with my mom."

"I get it, baby. I wouldn't go either if I was you right now. It's chilly out. Let's go home."

I helped Mia stand up before the two of us went to our separate cars to drive home. I followed her the whole way home just because I wanted to make sure she made it home safe. She really wasn't in a condition where she should be driving, but neither of us wanted to leave her car sitting in a cemetery in the middle of January.

"I'm gonna go take a nap," Mia quietly spoke as we each got out of our cars. "I need some rest after all of that crying."

I simply nodded to let her know I understood. There was nothing I could say to her. My mom never had cancer, I didn't know how to relate to what Mia was feeling. Personally, I was devastated because Chrissy was like an extra mother to the boys and I, but it didn't compare to what Mia had experienced with her. Chrissy was her full on biological mother, she was the one who raised Mia all by herself. Other than the boys and I, she was the only one Mia had, and a mother is much more important than a band of hooligans.

Once inside myself, I didn't know what to do. Mia wanted to be alone and I respected that completely. Watching TV didn't feel right after finding out that information. Whatever was on was bound to be fairly happy and now was not the time for happy. If this is already this hard for me, I can't imagine how Mia is feeling.