Mia sat beside David in the disco bar as others sat around the table.

     "Come on, drink up." David held the solo cup to Mia's mouth.

   "I.. I don't want more." Mia threw her head backwards. She was drunk to stupor and David was giving her more.

    "Sweetheart come on." He placed the cup between her lips. "You said you wanted to have fun baby." He kissed her cheek.

    "I don't think it's right to let her drink more." Fiona could see that Mia was restless.

   "Okay fine." Mia allowed David pour the alcohol into her mouth. "Ugh, this one tastes bitter." Mia wiped her mouth. She felt weird and had no control of what she was doing.

    "She's fine." David nodded to Fiona.

    "Let's stack the cups. I'll go first." Nick, the black American said to them.

     They were having fun, drinking and laughing.

    "Chug chug chug chug!!!" They all shouted, hailing Mia as she drank from a bottle while standing on the round table.

    She finished her tenth bottle... "Winner!!" She laughed stupidly.

    "Yeah!" David said clapping.

    Mia staggered as she struggled to keep her balance intact while standing on the table. "Whoa." She spread her arms. 

    "Are you sure she's okay up there?" Fiona was concerned in case Mia fell off the table.

    "She's fine. Don't worry." Olivia assured her.

    "I'm okay!" Mia laughed drunkly. "Okay wait! I wanna sing a song dedicated to you guys, do you wanna hear it?" She stumbled slightly.

    "Go for it!" Nick yelled out.

   "Alright, but first, you... You must hail me." She giggled like a child.

     "Mia! Mia! Mia! Mia!!" They all chanted her name.

   David handed her a bottle as a substitute for microphone.

    "This one's by p¡nk." Mia then started singing... "Right from the start you were a thief, you stole my heart and I your willing victim..." Mia laughed and then hiccuped. "I let you see the parts of me, that weren't all that pretty. And with every touch you fixed them... " Mia's voice screeched as the audience kept chanting her name louder.

  Mia went straight to the chorus. "Just give me a reason, just a little bit's enough, just a second we're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again. It's in the stars, it's been written in the scars of our heart." Her speech was slurring, her head was spinning, she was dizzy and her vision was getting blurry.

  She slowed down in her singing. "We're not broken just bent... And we can learn..." Mia held her throbbing head and soon she was gasping for breath, the bottle slipped from her hand, breaking to pieces on the table.

    "Mia! Shit!" David panicked when he saw her body giving out. He caught her as she fell backwards.

    "Water! She needs water!" Nick yelled out. Everyone gathered around.

   Fiona took took bottles and handed them to David. "What's wrong with her?"

   Mia groaned in pain...

   David rested her head on his body while Mia sat on the table. "She needs space. Sweetheart, you'll be fine okay?" David was extremely worried for Mia as she had fainted.

    "She's unconscious! She needs help!" Olivia became alarmed.

   "What's going on?" Ryan's voice was intimidating as he entered.

    "Something's wrong with Mia." Fiona told him. 

    "What?" Ryan pushed Nick out of his way. "What happened?" Ryan took Mia's head from David and bought it to his own arm. 

   Something was definitely wrong, she looked lifeless and almost dead. 

     "She's not breathing." He said louder. "She's not breathing!" Panic ran down Ryan's spine as he placed a finger under her nostrils. "Someone fucking call the ambulance now!!" Ryan yelled hysterically as he carefully laid her on the floor and started compressions on her chest.

     Everything was happening fast........................................................

    "What the hell were you thinking?!" Ryan shouted at David...

    They were at the hospital. Ryan was able to revive Mia but she was still unconscious.

    "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm." David hadn't gotten over the shock of what happened to Mia. He was still shaking by everything.

     "This could have been worse! She could have died!" Ryan was very furious with David.

    "I didn't know it would affect her this way." David told him.

    "She better be alright!"

   "We both feel the same way. I didn't mean for it to happen. I accept all the blame but I'm just as worried as you are." David frowned. He was a bit surprised why Ryan was acting so different and deeply concerned for Mia. From what he knew, Ryan and Mia didn't quite get along.

    Ryan sighed... David might think his reaction is a bit rash. "Dude I'm sorry. A little pressure is on me." Ryan apologized for yelling at his friend.

    "I understand." David nodded. Just then, the doctor came out of the room.

    "Is she gonna be fine?" Ryan was the first to ask.

     "She's out of danger. Her body reacted to the alcohol, almost causing a minor cardiac arrest." The doctor told her.

     "Her body reacted to the alcohol?" David raised his brow.

   "The alcohol reacted to the pills she's taking." The doctor said.

  Ryan knew exactly what it meant. "She's supposed to have stopped taking them."

    "Are you sure?" The doctor frowned.

    "Not really." Ryan shook his head.

     "You could go in. She's only asleep now." The doctor informed them.

   "Thanks doc." David smiled, giving the doctor a handshake before the doctor took his leave.

    "Are you coming in?" Ryan asked David as soon as his hand touched the door handle.

    "You go in first. I'll join you later." David shook his head.

    "Alright." Ryan opened the door and walked straight in, closing the door behind him.

     Standing beside her, he watched her sleep peacefully, focusing more on the rising of her chest.

    "I really hope you stopped taking those pills." Ryan said silently.

  David hadn't shown up. And so  for hours, he watched her sleep while he sat down on the couch.

   Mia finally stirred, fluttering her eyes open. She looked at her side and saw Ryan staring at her.

     "Am I gonna die?" Mia asked the first question that popped into her head. Her voice was croaky and dry.

    "Stop saying nonsense." Ryan frowned before walking up to her side. "How do you feel?" Ryan asked her.

     "Terrible. I ache all over." Mia sighed. "What are you doing here?" Mia asked him.

     "What am I doing here? You're not supposed to ask me that." Ryan said to her.

     Mia removed some loosed strand of hair from her face. "What happened to me?" She asked.

     "The Benzodiazepines reacted to the excess alcohol." Ryan told her.

    Mia turned away and bit her lip.

    "Mia tell me the truth, are you still taking them? I just want you to be honest with me." He said calmly. Mia didn't respond, she stayed silent. "Mia? Mia? Talk to me." He said to her.

     "I'm sorry." Mia turned to him with her moist eyes. "I'm sorry." Mia apologized.

    Ryan might have emptied the one before, but she still had more. It was something she took for years and stopping might make her go crazy. She knew the repercussions, she was a pharmacist so it wasn't hard to get hold of that kind of pill.

    "I wanted to but... I can't. I tried Ryan, I really tried." Mia allowed tears fall down her cheek. 

   "Stop." Ryan couldn't bear to see her cry. He sat beside her hips on the bed facing her, he leaned forward and placed his hands by the side of her face. Using his thumbs, he wiped the tears off her face.

     "Stop crying. Shhhh. That's enough." Ryan said softly, trying to wipe the nonstop tears falling. "Shhhhhhh." He cooed. "It's okay Mia, it's okay."

    Mia sat up... "I'm sorry." She sniffled.

    "That's enough." He smiled. "You don't want me to think the fierce Mia is a crybaby, do we now?" Ryan joked with a grin on his face.

    She laughed in the midst of her tears. "You're teasing me." She threw an arm around him, giving him a hug. "Can you stay a little longer with me please?" Mia whispered in his ear.

    "I wasn't planning on leaving." Ryan stroked her hair.

   "Thank you." Mia hicupped, pulling her arm away. She rested her head on his chest.

    "Do you want water?" He asked her.

  "No thank you." She shook her head. Mia exhaled and leaned away from Ryan.   "Have you seen, (hicupps) my (hiccups) phone? (Hiccups)." Mia asked him, wiping her eyes.

    "David's with it." Ryan said.

   "Speaking of David, where is he?" Mia asked.

    "He feels guilty for what happened to you. And so he's somewhere sulking." Ryan shrugged. "Don't drink again okay? You got me so scared, I thought I was gonna lose you." Ryan was honest with her.

      Mia could see sadness written in his eyes... "Why do you care so much? Why do I get mixed signals? Sometimes I feel like you're only trying to entice me, other times, I feel that you care deeply. Why?" Mia sighed sadly... "I know it's weird but, I... I feel like I've known you." Mia couldn't understand what she was feeling anymore. 

     "Mia we—"

   "I know I know, we only just met! But I can't help but feel this way." Mia inhaled and exhaled. She looked straight into his eyes. "Have... Have we met before? Sometime in the past? Be honest with me." Mia was looking for answers.

     "I don't think so. If we met then you would remember right?" Ryan frowned... Why did it always seem like Mia was different? She always asked if they knew each other...

    "I know this might sound crazy but I feel like we've met and we know each other." Mia noticed the blank stare Ryan gave her. "I'm sorry I'm sorry. I don't want to scare you away... Sometimes I say crazy things." Mia ruffled her hair. "Don't mind me."

     "You don't sound crazy at all. But if we knew ourselves before, then we would know." Ryan nodded. "But I have to tell you this, you do look like someone I knew before. You have a strong resemblance to her." Ryan leaked out a little truth.

     "Really? Who?" Mia's face rose in curiosity.

    "Well, it's my..." Ryan paused watching her facial expression.  "mom. You look exactly like my mom, you're her replica." Ryan told her.

    He didn't want to tell her about Sophie, not yet anyway.

   Mia's face fell, like she was a bit disappointed. "Your mom. Do you have a picture or..."

     "I'll show you next time. She's been dead for long time now, so I don't really have a —"

   "I'm sorry." Mia quickly said. "I shouldn't have asked for—"

    "No no. It's fine." He nodded. "Why do you think we've met before?" Ryan asked her, building up his own curiosity.

    "It's nothing." She shook her head. "It's based on what I feel, that's all."

     Ryan sensed something was up so he pressed on. "That's all or you don't wanna tell me?"

    "It's not that. I thought you knew me from my past." Mia shrugged. "You see... I can't really remember things from years ago." Mia looked down at her hand, biting her lip.

    "That's okay, we don't remember everything that happened. We don't keep record of everything that happens every minute or second in our brain." Ryan told her.

   "I know. But mine's different. I was in an accident and I lost the memories of seven years ago." Mia looked up at him. "I'm amnesic."

    Ryan frowned, taking an intense look at her. She was amnesic? Accident years ago? 

    Ryan had plenty questions but he ask the one question he needed to know... "Wh-what accident?"

  The look on Ryan's face made Mia frightened. "Can I not talk about it?" Mia wanted the closed chapter.

     "Where did you have the accident?" Ryan asked her.

   "In Italy. But it's not important. Can you do me favor?" Mia said to him.

    "Anything." Ryan nodded.

   "Don't tell anyone about the accident. Please?"

    "There's nothing to tell when didn't say anything about it. Tell me, I wanna know. We're friends right? Friends tell each other things." Ryan was hoping she would open up.

Mia scoffed... "Ryan, honestly, I don't think we're friends. We're so far from being friends." Mia laid down on her bed.

     "Why? Why can't we be friends? You don't like me at all not even a bit?"

   "You're not likable. We're opposites." Mia told him.

     "Haven't you heard opposites attract? I think we're made for each other." Ryan smirked.

       Mia laughed... "You're crazy. Do you realize that you have a girlfriend? We can't be together because I can't stand you." Mia shook her head.

           "I have a girlfriend not a wife."

     "Why are you with her if you're only gonna flirt with another girl? Men, I don't get them at all. You're so eager to cheat on her." Mia shrugged.

   Ryan was silent for some seconds. He didn't like bringing Layla up whenever he was talking to Mia and somehow, Mia found a way to rub it in his face that Layla didn't deserve what he was doing. But he couldn't help it... "Okay. Let's be proper friends. Let's introduce ourselves once again."

    "One question. Why do you want to be friends with me so badly?"

    "Because you seem to be a pretty interesting lady, you make me curious. I wanna know what's behind the fierce looking mask you always have on." Ryan smiled.

   "I don't have a fierce mask on, it's just a front I put on to ward off men who are irresponsible and also to make myself look confident. I can never feel intimidated by anyone." Mia said proudly.

     "I can see that. Have you always been like that?"

    "Well yeah, my mom said she was always afraid that I would turn into a man someday." Mia chuckled. "She told me I was too naughty while growing up." Mia raised her legs, hugging them to her chest.

       Ryan smiled... "What else? Apart from being an event planner, a pharmacist and—"

   "Really? I should have know! You went through my profile. You're such a snoop!" Mia smacked his shoulder.

   "Ouch! I was curious and I knew you wouldn't want to tell me." He rubbed the shoulder she'd hit.

    "What else did you find out about my personal life?"

   "Not much. You lived in America for a while and then you moved to Italy, with your mom. You were a valedictorian at st Louis school Milan. You're a black belter in karate, you're twenty nine? Honestly, you look more like twenty than twenty nine." Ryan said with a shrug.

    Mia laughed, shaking her head. "Well thanks, I get that a lot! I think that's my super power, I don't age, how cool is that?" Mia grinned happily.

    "Really cool." Ryan agreed.

   "But you know, sometimes I don't believe it myself. I kinda feel younger than my age." Mia said and then smirked at Ryan.

    "What?" Ryan noticed the smirk and got confused.

    "How old are you?" Mia asked.

   Ryan is taken aback by her question and he clears his throat. "It doesn't matter how old I am, what matters is—"

   "How old?" Mia knew he was trying to avoid the question.

    "Why do you wanna know?"

  "Tell me. I'm not gonna spilling things about myself and you're not gonna say anything about yourself." Mia reasoned out. "Or maybe I should just keep my mouth shut and stop talking to—" Mia is interrupted.

    "You are manipulative." Ryan frowned at her. She knew that Ryan would not want her to keep her mouth shut.

    Mia batted her lashes at Ryan making her look cute and adorable. "Good you noticed. How old?"

    She was so beautiful when she played cute, all he wanted was a chance to caress her face and tell her how much she's gotten him so hook. "Twenty four." Ryan said to her.

   "Twenty four. So what? I'm much older than you are, yet I look younger. That's funny." Mia said. "I'm like your older sister then."

   "Older sister? No. I don't think I could ever see you as an older sister. That's not happening. It doesn't matter if you're older or younger." Ryan frowned at the thought. Never will he think of her as a sister?! He wanted her but not as an older sister! What was Mia thinking in that head of her?!

   "I've always wanted a younger sibling and I'm offering—"

    "Stop. I can never see you as an older sibling. I don't want to be your sibling, God no!" The thought was making him a bit repulsive.

   Mia laughed seeing his change in mood just because she said he was like a younger brother. "You should see your face! My goodness Ryan, don't worry, we'll keep it in the friends zone okay? Don't get grumpy." Mia laughed. It was funny seeing him so irritated and panicky at the same time.

Ryan relaxed... "Going back to what we were saying. How come you became an event planner in the end?" Ryan asked her.

   Mia licked her dry lips. "I never wanted to be a pharmacist, that was my mom's dream for me." Mia found herself telling Ryan the truth.