The sun was reflecting off the table. Mia was tired, she's always tired now. Mia dressed the part of a happy girl who was satisfied with her life, but her eyes said another thing.

Nora was worried about her daughter, she knows that she's trying to be fine. But Nora wanted her daughter to be happy and her cooking wasn't really helping that.

Mia looks down at the food and wrinkles her nose a bit with slight disgust. Mia lifts her gaze up at her mother, who was also looking at the food with disgust. "It's uh...it's good, mom." Mia lies.

Nora sighs, "No. It's not." Nora chuckles as she sets her fork down. Mia presses her lips together, "It's fine, practice makes perfect." Mia smiles. "Besides, I'm kind of glad that we don't have a housekeeper now...we're independent women." Mia chuckles.

Nora burns her eyes into Mia's. "I heard that Justin Foley's coming back today," Nora says.

Mia inhales, "Yeah, he told me when I visited him. He's having like this...welcome back party." Mia states.

"Are you going?" Nora asks.

Mia scoffs quietly, "No, I think...I'm just going to stay in today." Mia answers.

"You always stay in, Mia," Nora says, with exhaustion.

Mia smirks, "Have I been annoying you that much?" The brunette questions.

"Of course not, but...ever since your...break up with Clay Jensen, you drifting away from your other friends, and Gwen leaving for Winter Break...you rarely do anything." Nora shrugs, looking down at the food.

Mia presses her lips together, "Yeah, I guess I'm just an all-around disappointment." Mia murmurs.

"Mia, that's not what I meant," Nora says.

Mia shakes her head, "I know, I know it's just...why would I go to a party with people I don't talk to anymore?" Mia shrugs.

"You talk to Justin Foley, having one friend there should make it less awkward, right?" She questions.

Mia looks down at her plate. "Okay, I'll go to the party on one condition." Mia holds her pointer finger up.

"Of course," Nora says.

"You learn how to cook." Mia quips, with a smile tugging at her lips.

Nora lets out a soft laugh. Mia smiles, she stands up and grabs her and her mother's plates. Nora has been smiling more. The only reason Mia would smile is so no one would ask her what's wrong. Her nightmares came back the night Clay told her the truth about Monty and Bryce. I guess staying inside all day doesn't help either.

"I'm glad we can joke about how bad of a cook I am." Nora stands up from the table.

Mia walks over to the sink and starts to wash the dishes. "I can help you at your Yoga facility today." Mia states.

"No, no, no," Nora says. "You have a party to go to," Nora informs the short-haired girl. Mia inhales, dreading this.

==========

Mia stares at the door for a second, her hands were shaking furiously. She could move, but she didn't want to. She bites her lip and exhales through her nose. "Don't be a bitch, Walker," Mia whispers to herself.

She opens the door and she hears shouting. "Welcome home!"

Mia winces and she looks at all of their shocked expressions. "Yeah...Hi..." Mia says awkwardly.

The room was quiet for a second, they haven't seen Mia in weeks. She usually would avoid them in the halls, she didn't work at Monet's anymore since that's where they would hang out. "Mia, what are you doing here?" Tony questions.

Mia sighs, "My mom she wanted me to get out of the house so...here I am." Mia shrugs, she inhales, trying to control her shaky throat.

"Well, it's nice to see you," Jessica says.

Mia presses her lips together and raises her brows. "Yeah, nice to see all of you, too." Mia clenches her jaw. "So...where's the cake?" Mia questions.

"It's not here yet, Clay's getting it." Jessica answers.

Mia nods her head, she knew that they were all waiting for her to scream, cry, or at least tense up at his name. But...nothing, her face was stone cold. It took everything out of Mia to try and be respectful to them all. Mia stands in the corner of the room, away from everyone else. The awkward silence slowly started to go away, and they all started to talk again.

Mia just watches them talk and she could tell that they haven't hung out in a while. They were distant, asking about how their lives were. Mia's eyes land on Alex's. He quickly looks away from her. Her jaw tightens and she inhales, she just had to survive today and she'll never talk to them again.

Jessica's ears perk up as she hears a car outside. "Car coming. Justin's here." Jessica says, she looks at them and waves her hands, signaling them to come over to her. "Come on, everyone, under the banner." She orders.

Mia steps out from the corner and stands under the banner. Besides Tony and Mia, Alex and Charlie were slow as molasses. Jessica didn't like that. "Jesus Christ, how fucking hard is it?" Jessica questions. "Under the banner. Let's go."

"Hey, fucking smile, ok?" Jessica looks at Alex.

Mia smiles as the door opens. But that quickly dies as it was Tyler and Clay that entered the room. "Awesome..." Mia grumbles.

"Um...hi." Clay awkwardly greets them.

"Fuck's sake." Jessica exhales.

Clay looks at all of them, but his eyes stop on the short-haired girl who was averting eye contact. He hasn't seen in her in what feels like years. Her hair was back to her normal chocolate brown color, but she still kept it short. She had dark circles under her eyes, she wasn't sleeping.

He wanted to walk over to her, ask her how she was, he wanted to apologize, but he's apologized to her millions of times, he broke her heart. And worst of all...he betrayed her.

"Clay!" Jessica snaps. Clay rips his eyes off of Mia and turns to the angry girl. "What?" He questions.

"Where's the cake?" She asks.

"Um...I-I still need to get it." He answers.

"All right, stand down." Jessica orders.

Mia exhales, she walks over her to the corner, she folds her arms and takes interest in her shoes. It was quiet, "So..." Mia sighs, catching everyone's attention. "Are you guys quiet like this all the time, or is it because I'm here?" Mia questions, trying to start a conversation.

"Uh..." Charlie says, he turns to Alex.

Jessica shoots up from her seat. "He's here!" She announces. "Everyone under the damn banner. Come on."

As they all stand under the banner, Mia's heart bangs against her chest. Of course, she's standing next to Clay. She slightly steps away from him, the door opens. "Welcome home!" They all say with a bit less enthusiasm.

Zach enters the room, "Oh, I'm home!" Zach makes shooting sounds with his mouth and forms his fingers into guns. Mia rolls her eyes and sighs. She looks over and notices that she's still standing beside Clay.

"Mi--"

She walks away from him and sits on a barstool. Clay stares at her, Please don't punch me in the face. He pleads in his mind as he walks over to her. He sits beside her. Mia turns to him and closes her eyes.

"Clay--"

"Can't we talk?" He questions.

Mia chuckles, "Honestly, I'm only here for Justin. That's it." Mia turns back to him.

She pierces her dark blue eyes into his. "Mia, I'm sorry." He whispers.

"You've already apologized, okay? I just...want you to leave me alone." Mia says in a firm tone.

Clay's eyes cloud with Pain and Mia inhales. Why did she feel bad about hurting his fucking feelings? "Easy...because you still love him." Minty whispers in her ear.

Mi ignores the talking in her ear. Zach reaches between Clay and Mia for a cookie. But they keep their eyes on each other. Zach stops and looks at the brunette. "Hey, guys. Mia's here." Zach points at the girl. "Didn't think you'd be in the same room as any of us ever again." Zach chuckles with a cookie in his mouth.

"Yeah...me neither." She scoff, her eyes still on Clay's.

Mia looks away from him and pinches the bridge of her nose, to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. The door opens, "We're here!" Mrs. Jensen says.

Mia opens her eyes and quickly wipes them. Jessica quickly stands up and starts to clap. Everyone joins in, Mia and Clay stand up and join in with the clapping. If anybody threw Mia a party after she got back from rehab, she would've burned the building to the ground. A small smile forms on Mia's lips as Justin comes into her view.

Clay walks over to Justin, he hugs him. Mr. Jensen sets the food down on the table. "Hope you kids brought your appetites." He says. "Dig in!"

Mia walks over to Justin and smiles. She hugs him, "Have I already told you I'm proud of you?" Mia chuckles.

Clay looks at Mia and Justin. She was so warm with Justin, but she treated Clay so coldly. "Yeah--like fifty times," Justin states, hugging her back.

"Well, I'm going to say it again." Mia separated from him. "I'm proud of you.

==========

MIa gnaws on her lower lip, she didn't want to stay here any longer than she had to. "So that's why we had Charlie take Tyler home. Look..." Ani looks at all of them. "I don't think we have much to worry about. Honestly."

"How do we know he told you the truth about what happened with the cops?" Tony questions.

"Why would he lie?" Clay asks.

"To save himself." Jessica answers.

Charlie enters the room. "Yeah, so I got him home safe. He seemed pretty calm." He answers.

"How the fuck is he calm?" Tony questions.

"Tyler doesn't want the truth to come out any more than we do," Ani informs them. "He did the best he could with the cops. All things considered."

"Let's say he's telling the truth. Just because he thinks he fooled the cops doesn't mean he actually did." Tony retorts. "What if they're watching him now?"

"What if they're watching all of us?" Jessica asks.

"That's what I don't get. Even if the cops didn't believe Tyler about the guns, how does that lead them to us or anything about Bryce?" Charlie questions.

Mia inhales, she closes her eyes and shakes her head. She couldn't do this. Everyone tenses up and turns to the girl.

Mia grabs her purse. Charlie turns to her, "Mia, I'm--"

"You don't really need me here for this." Mia lets out a soft chuckle. "Uh..." She turns to Justin. "Good to see you back." Mia sends him a small smile.

She takes a moment and looks at all of them, but she focuses her eyes on Clay. She inhales, turns on her heel and quickly exits the outhouse.

Zach raises his hand up. "See ya!" He exclaims.

As soon as the door closes. Jessica turns to Zach. "Really?" She questions.

Zach shrugs, "What? I was just being nice." He states.

"No, you were being a dick. Mia is having a hard time like all of us." Jessica reminds him.

"Believe me, I know." He looks at Jessica and scoffs.

Ani sighs, "Are we...are we even sure. Mia is...okay?" She questions.

Clay looks at her. "What do you mean?" He asks.

"I mean...will she...not say anything out...Bryce? Monty?" And shrugs.

"Of course she will...we talked at Monet's--"

"Well, she talked and we listened." Tony says.

"That was pretty badass." Zach chuckles.

"She said she wouldn't say anything. She didn't want anyone else to suffer." Clay reminds them all of her words. "She just wants us to...leave her alone..." Clay looks down at his hands, with sorrow.

"I believe Mia, you all should too."