"We're here," I called out with a smile, sparing a look to a half-dazed-looking Mia who sat in the passenger side seat beside me.

Having been peering curiously out the window at the blossoming lawn of my grandmother's home, Mia jumped cutely at the sudden sound of my voice. My lips spread wider with amusement, always enjoying the feeling of catching her off guard.

"Wow, that was a quick drive," Mia breathed out with a genuine laugh of surprise. "Didn't feel like three hours at all," she commented as she sat up tall to stretch out her arms.

She was right. It definitely hadn't felt like three hours. Normally, I was counting down every last agonizing second of the long three-hour drive to my grandma's, but this time with Mia, I would go as far to say it felt short.

Really fucking short, come to think of it. If I'd had more sense, I would have thought to have gotten 'accidentally' lost on the highway, so I would 'accidentally' have to spend an extra hour alone on the road with her. I mean, we had stopped at McDonald's for a bit which on loose terms could be considered a date, but there was so much more I could have done than that. Man, I was a fucking idiot.

Riddled with regret, I found myself briefly distracted as the bottom of Mia's shirt lifted to expose a little of her stomach as she stretched.

Suddenly remembering there was currently a conversation at hand, I blinked rapidly and returned my eyes to hers swiftly before she could notice.

"Well, that's because some of us spent two of those three hours sleeping," I hummed, sending a playfully pointed look her way.

Mia gave me an amusedly daggered look before rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, is there a problem with that?" she laughed as she popped open the car door and climbed out.

Eager to follow her, I shut down the car and followed suit, climbing out of the car after her.

Smirking, I leaned over the top of my car to stare at her. "Actually, no it was great. I took a picture of you while you were sleeping. Drooling and all," I teased, waggling my eyebrows for effect.

As creepy as it sounds, I had taken one small picture of Mia sleeping before I woke her up for our pitstop meal. And, of course, she wasn't drooling at all; she looked annoyingly perfect and cute as per usual (hence why I took it), but it was much more fun to convince her otherwise.

Mia's face instantly took on a picture of horror, and in the next second, she was lunging for me.

I quickly speed-walked around to the other side of the car with a laugh. Mia, let out an adorably low growl of frustration and continued to chase me. Or, more accurately, continued to fail to chase me.

A part of me was just tempted to stand still and let her have at me, and wrestle me for my phone. Because fuck, would it be an experience to get a thorough pat-down by her.

Finally, Mia came to a halt on the opposite side of the car with an exasperated sigh and stared across at me with her head thrown back in an exhausted stance.

"Ethan, just delete it," she snapped.

"No," I snorted with a simple smile.

Mia gave me a gentle, pleading-like stare. "Ethan, please," she asked nicely, blinking softly at me.

She knew exactly what she was doing, blinking those cute brown eyes at me the way she was. Refusing to be weak this time, I used all my strength to firmly shake my head.

"Hell no, this is the perfect material for next year's Christmas card," I joked.

Mia, clearly fed up at this point, let out a low growl again and stomped her foot against the floor childishly like an oversized three-year-old.

Figuring it was about time I eased up, I let my chuckles subside and I rolled my eyes. "Relax, I'm just kidding. The picture I took was cute, and you weren't drooling," I admitted.

Mia let out a breath of relief for a second before suddenly meeting back my eyes with a taunting light.

"But you still took a picture, hmm?" she probed. "Careful, Ethan, or I might think you have a crush on me," she teased, her eyes sparkling playfully.

Feeling as though all the blood coursing through my veins had turned to ice, I stared wide-eyed at Mia while struggling to regain back breath.

No, no, no. She fucking knew!

I blinked once, then twice before slowly recognizing the joking shine in Mia's eyes and realized it wasn't an inference but a joke.

I clearly must have taken too long to say anything in response since the next second, Mia flashed me a small smile and nodded her head over to the house.

"Anyway, do you reckon she's still up," she asked absentmindedly as she made her way to the back of the car to get our stuff.

Hurrying to assist her, I smoothly slid both our bags over my shoulder and ignored the small huff of protest from Mia, who clearly wanted to carry her own bag.

"Yeah, she normally goes to bed at around ten or something," I mumbled in response as the two of us trailed over to the porch.

The second I rang the doorbell, Mia suddenly whipped her head to face me, alarmingly fast. "Wait, crap," she swore, her eyes springing wide. "We haven't practiced what we're going to say. She's going to see right through us," she hissed panickily above a quiet whisper.

I nearly let out a snort at her concern. The last thing I needed was to practice faking up details of Mia and my pretend relationship. I'd been successfully making up shit for the past three years to my grandma without fail. Heck, I even had a fake anniversary date for us.

"Relax," I smiled. "All you have to do is pretend you're obsessed with me, shouldn't be too hard," I teased, flashing her a wink.

Mia gave me a flat look, no doubt unimpressed with my joke. But rather oddly, something else flashed beneath the surface of her eyes at my comment, like she was holding back on saying something.

Before I got a chance to inquire, the door to the house suddenly swung open. The next minute we were greeted by the sight of my wide-smiling grandma, all adorned in her pink dressing gown and slippers, while she looked between the two of us with fondness.

A smile instantly slipped to my lips the second her eyes locked with mine.

"Oh, Ethan," she cried as she rushed her way towards me and embraced me in a hug.

Laughing, I eagerly returned her hug, always enjoying her over-enthusiasm. Pulling back from me, she scanned me from head to toe, her eyes alight with admiration.

"You just keep getting taller and taller, don't you?" she marveled as she looked up and down my full height once again.

Her compliment only made me smile wider, feeling more than smug to receive it with Mia present. I certainly hadn't forgotten how much Mia used to make fun of my height back when we were little. So, now standing over her with more than seven inches between us, I was certainly feeling more than smug.

"Yeah, I know it's a gift," I joked arrogantly, making sure to give Mia a particularly cocky side-look. "I've almost forgotten, what's it like to be short," I bragged, making a point of looking Mia up and down.

As expected, Mia's lips cut into a frown as she gave me the dirtiest of looks. And like the bastard I was, it only made me grin wider.

What? You deal with the girl you like making fun of your height for multiple years, and tell me you wouldn't throw a jab in.

Observing our exchange, my grandma took the focus of her eyes off of me and locked on to Mia's before widening in excitement.

"And you must be the beautiful, Mia. Ethan tells me so much about you," she gushed before rushing forward to Mia and stretching out for a hug.

Mia, of course, laughed in that kind way of hers and reciprocated the hug with a smile. I couldn't help but smile foolishly as I watched the two of them, finding it overwhelmingly satisfying to be presenting Mia to a family member as my girlfriend. It was one of those things I never thought possible.

As they pulled away from each other, Mia turned to face me with a smile and a sassily arched brow. "You sure tell a hell of a lot of your family members about me, huh?" she teased.

The corner of my lip pricked upward, unable to deny the truth of her words. The poor girl didn't even know half the truth of her words. If she thought my mum, and my grandma were the only family members I'd been blabbing on about her to, she was sorely mistaken.

Knowing I had to protect my dignity, I was about to reply with a snide comment of my own before my grandma interrupted.

"Well, of course, he talks about you, you're his girlfriend, after all," my grandma laughed, her eyes shining brightly.

My heart foolishly pounded on the word girlfriend and before I knew what I was doing, I found myself stepping forward and wrapping an arm around Mia's shoulder before pulling her closer.

Mia stumbled towards me in surprise and steadied herself with a hand against my chest. Ignoring the way my skin burned underneath her touch, I flashed a smile at my grandma.

"That she is," I smiled. Then not even caring if I was getting way too into the boyfriend character, I bent down a little and kissed the top of Mia's head and lingered perhaps a little longer than I should have.

What? It's not every day you get to fake-date the hottest girl around. I was taking my opportunity and running with it.

Plus, she smelled really fucking good...

My grandma's smile only broadened, clearly pleased with the show of affection. Stepping aside slightly, my grandma made some more space in the door.

"Anyway, let's get you guys inside and out of the cold," she said as she eagerly guided us in with her hands.

Gesturing for Mia to go on ahead of me, she rolled her eyes and compliantly stepped into the house, and once we were both in, I shut the door quietly behind myself.

Mia, politely cleared her throat as my grandma led us over to the stairs. "It's so kind of you to let me stay, by the way," she spoke out with a slightly nervous laugh.

My grandma waved off her concern with the shake of a hand and a smile. "Don't mention it. You're practically a part of the family," my grandma explained as she looked between the two of us with fondness.

My lip twitched upward for a second time that evening, again liking the idea of Mia one day being my grandma's, granddaughter-in-law a little too much. The chances of that happening were obviously nil to none, but it definitely was more than nice to hear.

"Follow me, I'll show you to your room," my grandma called as she slowly started to climb up the stairs.

The two of us followed after her as she led us to the first landing of the house, and soon, she was leading us to the normal guest room I stayed in, towards the far-left hand side of the hall.

As we entered the room, I did a brief survey around and took note of the usual large window overlooking the garden, the old-fashioned hardwood furniture, and most importantly the beautifully made single queen-sized bed that stood in the center of the room.

A bed that Mia and I would soon have to share.

Failing absolutely miserably at hiding my smile, I stared in victory as my heart thumped around like a runaway train. And despite the underhand and let's face it, immoral tactics I had used to set up this impossible dream, I didn't regret it if it got Mia into bed with me. Not one fucking bit. This, after all, could likely be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I spared a cautious look to Mia who was scanning the room with a slightly furrowed brow.

"So, here we are. I hope you guys have a good night's rest," my grandma called out cheerfully, breaking the silence that filled the air. With a smile flashed towards us, she turned to leave.

"Thanks, grandma," I called out, returning her smile.

Dumping our bags on the bed, I turned to ask Mia for the time before I stopped abruptly, noticing the deeply concerned look in her eyes.

"Wait, wait, I'm confused-" Mia started, causing my grandma to turn back in her tracks. Instantly sensing trouble, my heart froze.

Shit. Shit. Don't ruin this for me, Mia. Please, please don't ruin this for me.

My grandma smiled politely and gave her an expectant look to continue. "Why is there only one bed?" Mia stammered, her voice light and confused.

I nearly let out a cry of frustration, the second her question hit the air. Why was she ruining this for me?

Before I could rack my brain for a conceivable excuse, my grandma shot her a confused smile before looking over at me.

"Oh, when I called, Ethan this morning, he said that you two wouldn't mind sharing. In fact, he said it was a brilliant idea," she explained, blinking softly between the two of us.

That's when I felt my heart concave in on itself, and my very being wither up and die. My grandma had unknowingly just confirmed me a pervert. Something, I indeed was, yes, but something Mia definitely didn't need to know about.

This was great, brilliant, even. What more could I want?

To further drive my panic, Mia looked over at me with slightly narrowed eyes, then back at my grandma.

Her lips fumbled to say something. "But-"

"There's absolutely no problem, grandma," I rushed out, interrupting her next statement before she got a chance to speak. Mia shut her mouth abruptly and turned toward me.

"As my girlfriend, Mia has no problem sharing with me. Right, Mia?" I said as I shot her a pointed and pleading look, begging her to work with me.

Mia engaged me in a silent stare down before rolling her eyes and turning back to my grandma to flash her a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, of course, no problem at all," Mia said, rather tightly, clearly lying straight through her teeth.

Happy with that answer, my grandma's smile returned back to its full size. "Excellent, have a good night's rest," she laughed. Waving us a hand goodbye, she finally left through the door, closing it softly behind us.

The moment she was gone, the most deafening of silences filled the air as I processed just how fucked I was. Mia was simply going to kill me. Sending a cautious look over to her, I found her standing unnervingly still while continuing to face the door. Then slowly, with almost horror movie-like slowness, Mia swerved around to face me.

The moment our eyes met, I swallowed hard, the nasty glare she was sending me hitting me like a sharp slap to the face.

Mia then let out the bitterest of laughs. "You're an idiot! Why didn't you tell me I'd have to share a bed with you, huh?" she hissed, her eyes piercing through me like venom.

Scratching the back of my neck, I smiled awkwardly before looking away. "W-well," I started at a loss for words. "I was worried you might not come, so I kinda left that part out," I mumbled with a slightly nervous laugh, letting the last of my words trail off through the air.

As I returned my eyes to Mia, I found them sharp and narrowed, clearly unimpressed by my line of reasoning. It was a good thing I hadn't told her the full perverted reason for why I had set us up to only have one bed. That certainly wouldn't impress her.

"And why didn't you tell her we were waiting till marriage to share a bed?" she threw out.

I nearly laughed at her question, finding it amusing that Mia thought I'd ever argue against the idea of the two of us sharing a bed. That's the last shit I'd ever do – Moral or not.

I answered with a simple shrug. "Just didn't come to mind," I lied smoothly, blinking softly to emphasize my point.

Not even gracing me with a response, Mia let out a heavy breath and pinched the bridge of her nose with frustration. "Well, I hope you're happy sleeping on the floor then," she finally pronounced sassily.

I immediately frowned. "No, way. I'm not sleeping on the floor," I grumbled. Call me crazy, but I wasn't too fond of lying on the cold hard floor and building myself up some arthritis. Fuck that shit.

Mia let out a deeply aggravated breath. "Fine, then I guess I'll have to," she sighed.

With furrowed brows, I watched as she marched her way over to the bed and started aggressively chucking pillows onto the floor.

Once I realized what she was doing, I grew even more annoyed and rushed over to her. "Hell, no," I snapped as I started to lift the pillows off the floor and back onto the bed. "You must be crazy if you think I'll let you sleep on the floor," I grumbled as I glared back at her.

Sleeping on the floor myself was bad enough, but letting Mia do so, was completely out of the question.

"Then, what am I supposed to do then, Ethan," Mia cried as she threw her arms up in exasperation.

Sighing, I took a step toward her. "It's simple; we can both sleep on the bed. I'll keep to my side, and you'll keep to yours; we'll barely even notice each other are there," I explained softly.

My words were partially true. I did have every intention of trying to stay on my side if that made her comfortable, but there was no way in hell I wouldn't notice she was there. This was Mia Collins we were talking about. And you don't just sleep next to someone like Mia, and forget she was there.

Mia went quiet as she seemed to process my words, then slowly she started to nod her head. "Okay, fine, whatever," she mumbled, finally seeming to give in.

Relieved that the drama was finally over and that I had essentially gotten exactly my way, I tried to bite back a smile at my victory as I headed off for the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Stopping at my bag to rummage for my toothbrush, I finally entered the bathroom and made sure to leave the door cracked open a bit. Since I was planning on getting changed in a minute, I didn't see the harm of giving Mia a little show that she could see through the crack of the door.

What? I might as well do all I could to make her attracted to me.

Once I reached the end of brushing my teeth, I suddenly took notice of the aggravated breaths and groans Mia was making from inside the room like she was throwing some kind of tantrum. Raising a single eyebrow, I let my eyes wander through the crack in the door. To my confusion, I saw Mia chucking out items from her suitcase in a haphazard panic.

More than intrigued now, I wandered over to the door and stuck my head out so she could see me.

"You alright out here? Why are you throwing items around like a weirdo?" I teased as I eyed her up and down with amusement.

Mia, who sat kneeled down on the floor by her bag, ran a frustrated hand through her hair before finally letting out a sigh, and meeting my eyes. For some reason, she looked kind of defeated, like she was preparing to say or do something she really didn't want to.

"I forgot my pajamas," she finally mumbled.

Great, then sleep naked – was my first thought. But I obviously didn't say that and continued to listen while trying to hold back a smile.

Shooting me another nervous look, she swallowed. "So...erm....this is kind of awkward, but do you have anything I could borrow?" she muttered quietly as her cheeks burned slightly red.

Hardly able to believe my luck, I could do nothing to stop my lips from springing up into a smug and happy smile. Sauntering with perhaps a little bit too much enthusiasm towards my bag, I quickly started rummaging around for my spare top.

God, this was going to be so fucking hot. I mean, Mia looked hot in everything, but wearing nothing but an oversized shirt that was owned by me, would truly be something else...

Finally locating my top, I quickly pulled it out. Then meeting back Mia's eyes with a smirk, I confidently threw it over to her, without breaking eye contact once.

With cheeks still as red as ever, Mia just about managed to catch it, which now that I think about it, was a substantial achievement for her.

Stepping forward a little, I looked her cheekily up and down. "Sounds to me like someone might have purposefully forgotten, just so they could wear my clothes," I teased.

Mia gave me a flat look of unimpress. "Maybe in your dreams," she scoffed. My lips twitched upward at the irony of her statement.

As Mia glanced down at the top I'd thrown over, her brows furrowed. "This is just a top. Where's the bottom half?" she asked, glancing back at me with a frown.

I immediately bit my tongue, knowing full well it wasn't by mistake that I had only given her a top. I did have some spare joggers, but Mia, sure as hell didn't need to know that.

"It doesn't exist," I lied with a simple shrug. "I don't have any spare jogging bottoms to spare. You're lucky I even had a spare top," I explained, finishing my clean lie with a scoff.

Suddenly thinking of a joke, I let a small smirk creep onto my face. "Unless you want me to sleep in only my boxers tonight," I sang as I shot her a knowing look.

Mia's eyes sprang wide, and she sharply shook her head. "Nope, no. I'm fine. I'm good," Mia squeaked out abruptly fast.

I gave her a slightly odd look, not expecting her answer to come out so flustered. What was up with her? She had to have known I was joking.

Before I could stare at her any longer, Mia pushed herself off in the direction of the bathroom with my top in hand, clearly with the mission of changing.

Once she'd closed the door behind her, I let out a sigh before wandering over to my bag. Plucking out some joggers, I chucked them on the bed and was about to pull off my jeans so I could change when I paused.

Glancing cautiously back at the bathroom door, I remembered Mia was still in there and could come out at any second. Hesitating for about a second more, I shrugged and started stripping off my jeans. If she walked in on me in my pants, it wouldn't hurt her.

Once I had on my joggers, I quickly pulled off my shirt and stiffened slightly as I felt a chill against my naked chest. I knew Mia would likely have a comment about my half-nakedness, but it was technically her own fault for robbing me of my extra shirt. Not that I was complaining or anything. Sleeping without a shirt beside Mia was absolutely fine by me.

Then making my way over to the bed, I peeled back the covers and climbed my way in. Deciding to be an asshole, I settled myself bang smack in the center of the bed, amused to see what Mia would have to say.

Once comfortable, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and started scrolling my way through my notifications while waiting for Mia to come out.

Finally hearing the squeak of the bathroom door, I kept my head down and focused on my phone in an air of faking nonchalance. There was no reason Mia needed to figure out how excited I was to share a bed with her. How fast my heart was beating was honestly just pathetic at this point.

For whatever reason, several seconds ticked by, and Mia had yet to say anything, and I could feel myself being watched – intensely watched.

Finally, not being able to resist lifting my head, I locked eyes with Mia, and that's all it took for my thoughts to enter a very dark place. Fuck, did she look hot.

Swallowing hard, I observed how the shirt I'd lent her grazed beautifully over her body, dipping distractingly inward at the waist and then tantalizingly back out again at the hips. Letting my eyes drift downward, I noticed my shirt cut off dangerously high on her thighs, showing off those voluptuous, and long tan legs of hers.

Finally, returning my eyes to her, I was snapped out of my daze as I noticed the weird way Mia was looking at me. She was still frozen in place, and her eyes kept flickering from my lower face to my chest with a faraway look to her eyes. Not all sure what was going on, I plucked up an amused brow while she continued to stare.

"Chubs, you alright? Why are you just standing there?" I called out, with a light laugh.

A prominent blush instantly appeared on Mia's face as her eyes whipped up to meet mine. She looked more than flushed now.

"Erm, no reason. I'm fine," she answered, with much too nervous of a laugh.

I gazed at her cautiously, wishing for anything to know what was going inside that head of hers. Because something told me, that whatever was going on in there, was very interesting...

In an attempt to pull herself together, Mia coughed awkwardly and met back my eyes. "Would you mind putting on a t-shirt?" she mumbled, her eyes dipping slightly to stare at my chest as she said that. To stare for a considerable time, might I add.

My lips curved upward, knowing that whether she admitted it or not, I was getting her flustered. "I can't. Someone stole my pajama top, remember?" I teased as I sent a pointed look to the shirt she was wearing.

"Oh," Mia said abruptly, closing her mouth fast.

Deciding to have some fun, I let out a chuckle. "I don't mind though. I think it looks hot on you," I said with a wink before cheekily letting my eyes rake back up and down her body.

Mia immediately rolled her eyes before hitting me with a deadened look. She clearly thought I was trying to take the piss out of her, but I definitely wasn't. I meant every damn word of what I said.

As I drew my attention back to her eyes, I noticed they were narrowed in on me as though annoyed. Before I could inquire, Mia let out a heavy sigh before marching over to me with eyes set ablaze. My heart thumped wild as she put a knee on the bed and leaned her way over me.

Holy shit- was she going to kiss me?

That dream was instantly squashed as I felt Mia roughly tug the cushion propped behind my back out from behind me. With a furrowed brow, I watched her back away and start to collect some of the other cushions.

Realizing what she might be doing, I frowned. "What the hell are you doing? I told you already, you're not sleeping on the floor," I muttered.

"I'm not," she replied with a simple smile. "I'm just ensuring you stick to your side," she snapped. To emphasize her point, she swung back a cushion and whacked me with it, clearly in an attempt to encourage me to one side.

Rolling my eyes, I shuffled over. As soon as I moved over, I watched with a raised brow as Mia started placing cushions down the center of the bed with a weirdly happy smile on her lips.

"See, this is my side, and that's your side," she smiled, gesturing to either side of the bed in turn.

Unable to help myself, I immediately bit my lips while trying to hold back a laugh. With a snort, I grabbed at one of her neatly arranged cushions before rudely chucking it onto the floor.

Mia's jaw dropped open in shock. "Ethan, what the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled.

Chuckling, I looked her up and down. "Chubs, it wasn't exactly like a barrier made of fucking pillows was going to keep me to one side anyway," I shrugged honestly.

Mia just glared. "Whatever dickhead," she muttered as she marched her way over to the light switch.

Once the lights were off, I sunk deeper into bed and silently watched as she made her way slowly over to the bed. A breeze hit against my arm as she peeled back the covers, and soon enough, she was sliding herself smoothly in.

Holding my breath in anticipation, I waited for her to shuffle a little bit closer to me, but she never did. Frowning slightly, I watched her turn away from me and squeeze her way as close to the edge of the bed as humanely possible. As far away as possible from me, clearly.

What did she think I was going to do, eat her?

Several seconds ticked by, and I tried my best to curl myself into my pillow and relax. But I just couldn't. Not knowing Mia was likely all cold and uncomfortable lying off the edge of the bed like that.

Finally snapping, I let out a heavy sigh and shuffled closer to her while trying to hold back my racing heart. Then slowly, I leaned forward, snaked my arms around her waist, and pulled her deeper onto the bed.

As I started to drop my arms away from her, my heart jumped again as Mia suddenly twisted around to face me. I sucked in a breath as I was met face to face with the sight of Mia's two beautiful brown eyes and rosy lips, dimly lit under the shallow light of the room.

Not only that, but she was close – very fucking close. It would have taken no effort in the world to drag her to me and kiss her.

"Ethan!" she whispered, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I stared back at her questioningly. "Yeah, what?" I mumbled slightly sleepily.

"You told me you were going to keep to your side," she whisper shouted back at me.

"Well, sorry, but I was just concerned you might fall off the fucking bed," I laughed in honesty.

Mia clearly not believing me, let her eyes narrow.

"Are you afraid I'm going to bite you or something?" I teased.

"Well, you have come close, haven't you?" she said as she threw a pointed glare down to the faded hickey on her neck.

Looking down at it, I bit back a smile, realizing she did kind of have a point. Not that I regretted it or anything – giving her that hickey was the hottest thing I'd ever done.

"Oh yeah, whoops," I chuckled.

"Well, I don't bite hard then," I corrected with a wink.

Mia gave me a half-raised smile. "You're such an idiot; just go to bed," she said, shaking her head at me. Then twisting herself around, she turned till her back was facing me.

Burying myself a little more into my cushion, I smiled. "Goodnight, Chubs," I whispered.

Then closing my eyes, I did a quick, silent prayer that I wouldn't do anything embarrassing in my sleep. Lord only knows I didn't need another round of moaning her name in my sleep. But it was fine, that wasn't going to happen. Everything was going to be fine – absolutely fine.

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Author's note:

Okay, and there we finally have it, chapter 24 finally done. Took me a while to find the time to write this chapter, but I finally did :)

Can't wait to share the next few chapters with you considering all that happens...

Anyway, hope you enjoyed xx