Relapse

"you can have the best of me"

Soundtrack
Be My Escape—Relient K
The Best Of Me—The Starting Line
Cute Without The 'E'—Taking Back Sunday

8

Mia

Mia's hands shook as she carried the tray of cookies she made out to her car to bring to her parents' house. At a stoplight, she wiped at her eyes and put on a fresh swipe of lipgloss. It wasn't until she was in the driveway that she realized they'd think it was strange she didn't drive over with Andy.

Being with Jack often forced Mia to put on a front that everything was just peachy; this dinner would be no different.

Mia already had to plead with Andy for him to not be the one to tell her parents that she and Jack were back together. Brothers. It'd barely been twenty-four hours, but even keeping it hidden for that long made her feel guilty and uneasy and nervous.

When she walked into her parents' house, Mia's dad looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Where's your brother?"

Mia internalized an eye roll. "Oh, well, we came separately."

Her mom popped in from the kitchen. "Hey, Mia."

"Hi, mom."

"Are those chocolate chip cookies?" A fresh smile worked its way over her face.

"Sure are. Baked them just a few hours ago." Mia felt saved by her mediocre baking skills.

"Come, let's put them in the kitchen. Russ," Mia's mom looked at her dad with a smile, "assuming you want one now?"

"This is why I married you," he said, slipping a cookie from under the plastic wrap and kissing Mia's mother.

"Gross."

"Oh, hush, Mia," her mother said. "It's not like you've never been in love."

An awkward silence followed. Her dad shoved the rest of the cookie he had grabbed into his mouth. Her mother coughed. Mia stood there awkwardly, sort of wanting to fall through the floorboards.

"Right, I'll just be taking one more of those from you, Evie."

Mia's dad stole another cookie and then shuffled into the living room.

As Mia helped her mom with the final touches of dinner, the front door opened and Andy announced his presence, but her ears perked up at the sound of a second set of footsteps. Had Andy brought a girl with him? Was her brother secretly dating someone? That may be enough to overshadow Mia's news and take the attention completely off her.

This relief was fleeting though, and the fact that Mia didn't drop the bowl of salad she was holding the moment her eyes met those of Carter was unfathomable.

"Hey Mia, need help with that?" He reached out and took the bowl from her shaking hands, setting it gently on the table. "It's good to see you."

It was as if the dining room were submerged in water; Mia's legs felt leaden as she walked around the table to greet Carter. "You too." She hugged him, immediately regretting it because even that simple gesture made her feel unfaithful to Jack, and then caught sight of her brother behind him.

"Sup, Mia." The grin on his face was all too telling.

Before she could say anything, Evie came around the corner with a basket of rolls. "Right, right. This is why you came separately. It completely slipped my mind that we were having an extra guest tonight! Andy, go grab another chair from downstairs."

"You got it, mom."

The fact that her mother had forgotten she was having someone else over for dinner was something Mia pushed to the back of her mind to be dealt with later. Evie rounded on Carter instantly.