Author's Note : Well, here we are. The last chapter. Buckle up!
Uncomfortable silence is one of the nastiest atmospheres in the world. Imagine that atmosphere in an 8 foot by 8 foot metal box, and it intensifies by a hundred.
Finally Mia could stand it no longer.
"Michael? Are you going to ignore me for ever?"
"That'd be pretty hard, seeing as you're at my place all the time, and I tutor you in Algebra every day."
"You don't have to, if you don't want."
"I wouldn't bail on you Mia. I want to help you." He paused, as if deciding whether or not to say his next sentence. "I know what I want."
Mia looked away, hurt and shame clouding her grey eyes. As Michael watched her, he saw a tear slide slowly down one cheek. He made a motion, as if he was going to comfort her, then stopped himself with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. 'Hold fast, Moscovitz,' he thought to himself in a private pep-talk. 'She's hurting both of you.' Then his heart kicked in and overrode his brain. 'You love her, idiot, don't just sit and watch her cry.'
Shuffling across the elevator, Michael wrapped an arm around her. To his surprise she pulled away.
"Don't," she sniffed. "Kenny."
"Forget him," Michael replied shortly.
"I can't!" Mia asserted angrily, her voice becoming uncharacteristically loud. "Don't you see? This whole thing is so messed up, and I can't get myself out of it without hurting someone, whether it be you or Kenny."
"So you'd rather hurt yourself?"
"If that's what it takes."
"Argh, Mia!" Michael threw up a hand and hit his palm against his forehead. "You have to quit putting others before yourself. Think of yourself for once, and do what makes you happy."
"Not hurting others makes me happy," she replied stubbornly. Michael could see the doubt in her eyes, but all of a sudden he didn't care. Irrationality kicked in, fuelled by his tiredness and despair at being cooped up for three hours, and he couldn't stand it any longer. Any of it.
"Fine, if that's what you want." She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "You've made your decision, now lets just get the hell out of here and never mention it again."
On cue, the elevator gave a sudden jerk. Mia stumbled and a flicker of terror crossed her features, but Michael acted against his instincts and ignored it. Instead he punched the air, as the elevator started to move upwards.
"Hallelujah!"
Both turned to face the doors, side by side, arms almost touching – but never had they been further apart or less united.
The elevator shuddered to a halt and the door slid open, revealing the Drs. Moscovitz, Lilly, Mia's mom and Mr. Gianini. Relieved expressions spread over all their faces.
Michael stepped out of the elevator, his mom grabbing him and planting a kiss on his cheek. He wriggled out of her grasp, only to have Lilly punch him on the arm. "Only you could get stuck in an elevator. Dinkus."
"Leave it, Lil," he muttered, and pushed past the group. He walked into his apartment and slammed the door behind him, without even glancing at Mia.
As Helen wrapped Mia into a hug, she looked over her mother's shoulder at the closed door. She'd blown it, she knew – but already it felt as if the past few hours had been a dream.
She was in the real world now, where she was dating Kenny Showalter, her mom was married to her algebra teacher, she was the heir to a European principality, and she was nothing to Michael Moscovitz other than his little sister's best friend.
Back to reality.
A/N : Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed the ride!
It may not seem like a happy ending but that doesn't matter, because this is just meant to slot into the real books, and we all know how that turns out in the end!
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, every single review is important to me and makes me smile!
I was thinking about continueing this, but I don't want to change what happens in the books. This is supposed to just be something that could have happened within the confines of the actual Princess Diaries.
But don't despair...I will be back, with a brand new PD fic! But look out for it being under the pen name of butterfly kisses!!
I would love it if one of you kind, lovely people could do me a huge favour...
For my next PD fic I need to know about the American school system. What grades are there, from kindergarten to high school? What are the names of the different schools (Middle school? Junior High?)? Which grades are in each school? What ages are the people in each grade? If someone could e-mail me the above information to the address on my bio, i'll be forever grateful!
Thank you!!
Oh, and another thing...I really fancy trying something different, so if anyone has an idea for a one-shot PD challenge fic, e-mail me at the address on my bio. Give me either an idea for a mini storyline, and/or a list of characters/things it has to include and I'll write it, and then e-mail it to you to read first, before posting it. Thanks!!